Today marks the beginning of my fourth week in Paris. I'm sick already--shocker, which means I have some time to start this blog and summarize my first three weeks.
Thursday, January 18th Dad and I flew to Hamburg where I got to spend a day with Grandma and Opa. I spent most of the time sleeping (typical of me), eating (typical of Dad) and figuring out finances (typical of us both). Nevertheless, it was wonderful to see meine Grosseltern.
20.01.07: I flew from Hamburg to Paris and discovered that between the US and EU you are allowed two bags weighing 23 kg each, but within the EU you must pay 10euro for every kg over 20kg! At Charles de Gaulle airport, two of my brothers (Alexis is married and his wife will have a baby in May and Guillaume is 18) picked me up and drove me to our apartment. The elevator is so small that it took two trips to get my luggage up. I quickly learned to be happy I have an elevator at
all...my friend Kevin has to walk up about six flights of stairs! I met my sister Amandine (who is 21) when I got home. That night I had drinks and dinner with Amandine and a few of her friends. Later Kevin came over and we decided to walk to the Eiffel Tower and Champs de Mars--it's only about a five minute walk away! 
[Photos: Kev and Amand in the living room, Kev and I across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower.]
21.01.07: Delicious brunch with Kevin and some friends of Amandine, and then an exhausting walk home from the Louvre area. Guillaume and Amandine love LOST! We spent most of the afternoon watching episodes... At night mere Sophie came home from a weekend in London visiting my French brother Celian. She is wonderful, and I am very happy with my family. [Photo: Amandine in front of the Louvre]
WEEK ONE (22.01.07-28.01.07)
22.01.07: CUPA orientation began. We had a welcome lunch to meet the staff and other students, a language exam, and a lecture about life in Paris... Afterwards, I went to check out Arno's apartment and quickly learned that cafe au lait at the corner cafe costs 4 euro! Later that night after 9:30 pm (!) dinner, Laura (a Georgetown friend) and I met Kevin and his friend Margot at a bar close to my apartment for some 2.50euro pints of beer (quite a steal in this city!).
23.01.07: The second day of orientation included learning about living with a French family--I learned to appreciate Mom and Dad yelling at me to turn the light off in my room or bathroom and forcing me to eat everything on my plate. I imagine the other American students have a lot of learn however. We also had a lecture on French universities--also a bit repetitive after France Orientation at Georgetown. Afterwards I went back to Arno's apartment to get his cell phone which I'm borrowing for my time abroad and then headed to the Orange store to buy a Mobicarte(=pay-as-you-go minutes). I wasn't the only one still trying to figure out the whole cell phone thing, and I ran into a bunch of other CUPA kids. Afterwards we went for crepes and hot chocolate, and I was happy to break out of the Georgetown clique a bit. That night I was finally ready to go out: I met Amandine (who told her mother she was "babysitting" for the night) at the metro, and we went over to the 6th to meet Genny, another friend from Georgetown, at her friend James' apartment--a Georgetown student studying at Sciences Po for the year.
After a cocktail, we went to a wine cellar called Chez Georges [the above photo was taken there: James' friend Tony from Sciences Po, Amandine, James, James' friend Harriet from Sciences Po], which was very hipster and lots of fun. When the bar closed, I headed over to a "late-night" bar called Highlander with Amandine, Tony and two French kids we be-friended. 24.01.07: I was free and I spent my time walking around the city a bit. In the afternoon, I met a bunch of Georgetown girls and we explored the Saint-Germain-de-Pres (the oldest church in Paris) as well as the wonderful boutiques in the area. I showed up to late for lunch, so instead I got my first of many street crepes: sucre et banane=delicieuse.
25.01.07: I met with someone from CUPA to discuss academics and then had my first language class with Sabrina. She is young and so adorable and all of the kids in the program are in love with her! Someone even created a facebook group dedicated to her. That night after dinner, Amandine tagged along again and we met some CUPA friends at a bar and yet again headed to late-night at Highlander afterwards. [Photo: Out with Sandra (CUPA student from Reed College), Di (CUPA student from Bates College), Amandine]
26.01.07: I had literature methodology class. Had I any idea how horribly boring and un-engaging the professor was going to be, I probably would have had a bit less wine the night before. Needless to say, I struggled to stay awake during those two hours. At night, I trekked up the steps to Kevin's apartment, ate his food and hung out with Kevin and Margot. Then we went to meet Kev's "French brother" (from his high school junior year in Rennes) at a club. I didn't love the atmosphere much and had to wake up early the next morning so I didn't stay long. According to Kev and Margot, it was lots of fun about an hour after I left.
27.01.07: I went with some CUPA students on a tour of le Marais guided by an Art History professor who works at CUPA. It was really interesting to learn about the architecture of the various buildings and the history of Paris. Afterwards, Laura and I had a delicious lunch in the area and stopped at various boutiques, shoes stores and clothing stores. We also discovered the Jewish area, and I bought a Challah! At night, I trekked back up the stairs to Kevin's where we shared some food and wine before heading back to the Marais to meet some CUPA kids at a pub to watch a rugby game. I didn't watch much, but I had a wonderful time with my new friends and got a chance to talk about the upcoming presidential elections with two French men.
[Photos: Outside the pub with Joey(CUPA student from Reed College), Sam (CUPA student from Bates College); Catching the last metro home with Laura, Brittany (another Georgetown girl), Yotam (CUPA student from Yale), Hailey (Georgetown)]
28.01.07: I met Kevin and Margot at Notre Dame and nearby we discovered the most delicious
crepes I've ever had. Mine had bananas, chocolate, whipped cream, and ice cream! My Opa 
turned 93 and Christiin and Krisoffer welcomed baby Christian!Lesson of the week: Drink a 2euro bottle of wine from Monoprix (a mix between Fairway, Safeway and Target) before going out to save money.
WEEK TWO (29.01.07-04.02.07)
29.01.07: Art History class, which was really interesting and I'm excited to be taking 3 Art History classes while I'm in Paris. We also learned more about how things work in Paris...kinda silly. Afterwards, I headed to Kevin's again to hang out a bit and say good-bye to Margot (she was just visiting, her term abroad in South America starts sometime soon).
30.01.07: Language class again with Sabrina followed by a session on French politics and the upcoming elections, which was extremely interesting and helpful since they keep telling us "The French talk openly about politics like Americans talk openly about money." I see what they mean about the politics thing, but I'm not sure why they seem to think that Americans discuss their salaries with one another (well I guess asides from right-out-of-college ibankers comparing who got the better package...). That night, three girls from Harvard who are studying with CUPA and living independently invited everyone to their apartment for byob (bring your own booze) "happy hour." I guess they don't teach them at Harvard that happy hour means great deals on pre-dinner
drinks; nevertheless, it was very sweet of them to invited everyone over to drink before going out. When it got to loud, we left and headed out. We tried to go to one lounge type place but the "bouncer" looked us up and down to see if we were all dressed properly, and we decided they didn't deserve the hundreds of euros they'd make 
by serving a group of 15 American students. We ended up settling on a Latin restaurant, and Julie (another Georgetown friend) and I taught one of our Harvard friends how to take a tequilla shot.[Photos: Hoyas Julie(fellow H*yasforChoice board member), Brittany, Flavia, Susannah(coincidentally Uncle David's sister's neighbor in Baltimore) at "happy hour"; Latin restaurant with Emi, Samantha and Abigail (our Harvard hosts), Eva (CUPA student from Yale)].
31.01.07: Another free day. Spent the morning at home and then met up with a group of Georgetown girls and some other CUPA kids for a "Museum Crawl." We went to the Musee de
Vin, which taught us the history of wine production and consumption and included a delicious glass of wine after the museum visit[see photo: Susannah, me, Brittany, Hailey]. Afterwards, we walked through Trocadero (which is a few blocks from my apt) over to the Palais de Tokyo. As it turned out a new exhibit was being set-up, so we crossed the street to the Musee de l'art moderne...Are there any other cities in the world, where you can cross the street from one museum to another?
01.02.07: Another language class followed by a visit to one of the few
remaining boulangeries with a wood brick oven[see photo on left]. We were treated to delicious pastries, tarts, and bread[see photo below]! After dinner, I met Kevin and Kathleen (Georgetown friend visiting from Dublin) at a bar called O'Sullivan's where a live band was playing. My friend Joey came to meet us, and around midnight our Georgetown friends John and Greg as well as some friends they had met abroad arrived from London. I couldn't stay long because I hadn't finished a five page handwritten dissertation that was due the next afternoon.
[Photo: Hoyas--Greg, Kathleen, John, me, Kevin--in Paris]02.02.07: I woke up early to finish explaining my response to the following statement by Voltaire: "Les livres les plus utiles sont ceux dont le lecteur fait lui-mem la moitie." Considering the professor (who was less than wonderful as I already explained) had taught us nothing about Voltaire and his works, the assignment was a bit ridiculous in my opinion. After completing it on the computer, I went in search of either white out or a fountain pen because we needed to write the dissertation by hand without any words scribbled or crossed out and the pen erasers they sell only erase blue ink from a fountain pen--what a country! I couldn't find white out, but I managed to find a cheap fountain pen at a nearby supermarket. With less than an hour before class, I proceeded to the checkout and for the first time had feelings of hatred towards the French. It took about 15 to 20 minutes for me to finally pay and get out of there...first the cashier for my original line announced that she had a doctor's appointment, got up and left; then when there was one more person ahead of me in line, the cashier didn't have the right change and took her sweet time opening a pack of centimes; when it was finally my turn, she realized that she needed more paper for the cash register and shouted about it for a minute or so before she got up and left to go get some for herself; when she returned the manager cut in front of the line with a customer who needed to return something and proceeded to make the exchange as I continued to wait. Finally, I paid and ran back to CUPA to write by hand my five page dissertation and couldn't figure out how to get the ink to come out of the fountain pen so I didn't end up using it in the end! Class was a bit more interesting this time because we discussed a poem rather than listening to her speak in
monotone...that doesn't change the fact that I'm not a huge fan of poetry nor in the French method of breaking down a text. Later at night, I met up with Kevin and the UK visitors for some food and wine. Joanna(one of my best friends and ex-roomie from Georgetown) and Jamie(Horace Mann alum and Georgetown student) arrived and we headed over to Highlander yet again . At midnight, Joanna turned 21 and we had a blast celebrating together! [Photo: Jamie, Joanna and I celebrating Jo's 21st birthday at Highlander!]03.02.07: My alarm was set for 7am, so I would be at the Gare Montparnasse at 8:30 to meet the CUPA group. At 8:15am, I woke up and checked my watch to see how much more time I had to sleep. When I realized my alarm had malfunctioned, I jumped out of bed threw on my clothing and ran out of the house. Luckily, I had slept at Great Uncle Arno's apartment in the 6th (due to its proximity to the train station) and remembered a taxi stand I had seen while walking around the night before. I arrived right on time, and promptly passed out after settling into my seat on the TGV. Two hours later, we arrived in Reims and got on a bus to Saint-Malo. When we got
to Saint-Malo, we dropped off our bags at our hotel [Left photo: Sign indicating our hotel is located where Chateaubriand was born.] and then headed
off in search of lunch. We had what CUPA called "dejeuner libre," which translates as free lunch, but really meant free time to find and pay for your own lunch. Galettes (like crepes but not sweet) are a Bretagne specialty, and although we went to various different restaurants, I think just about everyone ate a galette for lunch followed by a crepe for dessert [Right photo: enjoying galettes with Julie, Brittany and Flavia]. Afterwards, we walked around a bit and then met at the hotel to follow Sabrina (everyone's favorite CUPA staff member) on a tour of the city. 
Recently I counted and discovered that I've been to 21 different countries. With that said, the town and coast of Saint Malo is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen[see photo]. In fact, I venture to say that my aunt and uncle's island house in Norway will from now on have to share its status as my favorite place in the world. The highlight for me was visiting the French poet
Chateaubriand's tomb[see photo on right], on a island right of the coast where he requested he be laid to rest so that he could only hear the wind and the ocean...how poetic! We arrived in Saint-Malo while the tide was still low and were able to walk across to the island. Some of the CUPA students were enthralled by a HOLE IN THE GROUND that they found, however, which lengthened our stay so 
that when we returned to the other side of the island, the walkway was already covered with at least half a foot of freezing cold ocean water. [Photo on left: heading down from the island as the tide quickly comes in and the walkway begins to flood.] Although I thought my comrades' fascination with that hole was absurd, I'm glad they enjoyed it as much as they did because walking back to land was an unforgettable and priceless experience. Most of the "hole kids" hated it, but I loved it despite the fact that my feet and toes hated me for the next hour or so. 
[Photo: Saint-Malo at sunset.] After a bit more free time, we dined in a restaurant that closed for the night in order to serve our massive group. We had two choices: seafood or vegetarian and since neither of those are my forte I ended up not loving so much the two vegetarian dishes I ordered. Luckily, Laura was eying my couscous and veggies and I was eying her salmon and pasta, so half way through the meal we swapped! After the glasses of wine and dinner plus the long day's journey and long night before, I decided that I'd rather be lively and sober at Saint Michel the next day rather than go out with just about every other CUPA student. I got to watch Law&Order:SVU in French and fall asleep peacefully.04.02.07(Rudd is 21!): As far as I know David (CUPA student from Trinity College) and I were the only ones to head home after dinner, and the reasoning behind our decision was reinforced the next morning as we enjoyed breakfast while most of the other students were trying to get out of bed, rehydrate and shake the hang over. At 8:15am we boarded a bus to Mont Saint Michel and
arrived an hour later. The island town was quite beautiful, although I definitely preferred Saint-Malo. In the morning we took a guided tour of the church and abby, parts of which date back to the 900s CE. Our guide was funny and engaging enough that I almost forgot about my frozen hands, nose and toes...almost. [Photo: Approaching Mont Saint Michel--you can see the church and abbey on the top of the mountain.] After the tour, we had a few minutes to explore the tiny city before we met for lunch. I had a goat cheese salad and lamb, which were both delicious. My decision not to go out the night before allowed me to sufficiently enjoy the wine served with lunch although I realized later as I was riding backwards (the CUPA staff didn't know which way the train was going to move) on the train back to Paris that I should have stopped after my third glass.WEEK THREE (05.02.07-11.02.07)
05.02.07: Another early morning art history class followed by language class. Group 3 (my group for orientation classes) discovered that the boulangerie about which other students have raved is closed Mondays. After class Betsy(another Georgetown girl at CUPA) and I took the metro to Champs Elysees to meet Brittany and Flavia at the movie theater to see Moliere.
06.02.07: Last language class with Sabrina ...tear. For lunch, group 3 finally experienced La boulangerie Viennoise and we've never turned back...think delicious sandwiches, pastries, quiche, etc. After our savory lunches, we had two session on universities between which Betsy and I ran back to the boulangerie for meringues. [Photo: Leah, Betsy, Nico(another one from Reed College--his name is actually Nicholas and shortened Niko, but I told him I like Nico with a c better and I'm sticking to it) outside the Viennese Boulangerie.]
07.02.07: My anal side (so basically just about all of me) love this date... In the morning, I met Leah (CUPA friend from Reed College) to walk around the CUPA headquarters area and eventually get lunch at our fave boulangerie. In the afternoon, we had our first history methodology course during which the teacher spent the first hour repeating again the differences between French and American universities and students. After class I realized I would much rather pick up Katy at the Gare du Nord the next day than suffer through that class again.
08.02.07(I'm 21 in 6 months!): I cut history class (great decision since he didn't take attendance and just explained what was already written in the methodology packet we all have) and met Jess Kahn (one of Katy's many Kenyon friends studying in Paris) at the Gare. Kate Whitman Aufses arrives in Paris! We ate a delicious meal--one thing you can always count on in this city--at a Brasserie outside the gare, got groceries and traveled to the 16th to get my clothing for the weekend and download the new episode of LOST. When we got back, we got ready for dinner and drank wonderful cheap wine with Kevin and Nicole(another Kenyon friend studying in Paris). We
wanted to go to Le Comptoir for dinner (Alix--one of my best friends at Georgetown--said it was her favorite restaurant in Paris and I still haven't been), but by the time we arrived they were no longer serving dinner so we ate across the street instead[see above photo]. Following more food and wine, we headed back to my favorite bar: Highlander. Katy was far from shocked to find out that I was already friends with the bouncer. Tiger and Brian (other friends from Horace Mann) arrived in Paris from London but were staying a bit outside the main city so they decided to stay at 
their hotel for the night. After leaving the bar, I was craving a crepe and Kevin was craving a Greek gyro. We figured it was too late to find either; then a block later we miraculously came across a little place that had Greek gyros AND crepes! [Photo: Katy enjoys her first Parisian crepe! I don't even know at this point how many I've had...20? 25? Luckily, I walk all the time in Paris, so I haven't grown out of my pants...yet.]09.02.07: In the morning, Katy finally got to experience the European Special K that we'd all been raving about (even the American brand cereal is different and somehow better here!). Then I dropped her off at the Musee d'Orsay, but didn't have enough time to go in myself since I had my last literature and history methodology courses. Neither was as bad as the previous classes. In literature, she handed back our literature dissertations and commented out loud on each one, without hesitating to tell some people "tu n'as pas de culture litteraire." In history, we learned how to write a history dissertation, which convinced me to take two history classes rather than one history and one literature. After class, I headed to the Louvre with Di to meet Katy and some Kenyon girls (Pippa and Jess Kahn who are studying in Paris and Hilary who was visiting from Rome). Di and I got our student Louvre passes--I was really excited to brag that I had my very own pass to arguably the most famous museum in the world until the woman handed it over and my picture looks as androgynous as the Mona Lisa. Di was tired and headed home after, and I joined the Kenyon girls at the Louvre cafe (where a cafe au lait surprisingly cost less than at most Parisian cafes) where we waited until 7pm when on Friday nights the Louvre becomes free for everyone under 26! Once the time had come, we headed to the Mona Lisa and I discovered that she was in a different place than last time I had seen her--they constructed a wall in the middle of the room and she's in a glass case at the center of the wall. It's quite a sight to see in the middle of a huge old castle and equally amusing to watch people observe the painting who probably know little more than the fact that it's
famous. Afterwards, Katy and I had wine as we got ready for dinner. We planned to meet the Kenyon girls, Brian and Tiger at a restaurant recommended by Arno, but by the time we arrived they were closed. We ended up finding another restaurants a few blocks away, and afterwards went to O'Sullivan's which was a few blocks away. [Photo: HM girls in Paris--me, Tiger and Katy after dinner]10.02.07: Katy and I arrived on time to meet Kenyon girls, Brian and Tiger in le Marais for brunch. Everyone else showed up 30 minutes to an hour later. Finally after waiting 45 minutes, Katy and I were fed up and decided to find a place to eat and let the stragglers meet us there. As we entered the restaurant of choice, the last two Kenyon girls--Alix and Phoebe--arrived, and Alix made a big deal about wanting to go somewhere else(all the Kenyon girls are dramatic and opinionated but Alix most of all). Katy, Brian, Tiger, Jess and I stayed there. The service was less than wonderful--the waiter messed up on just about all of our orders but the food was of course delicious. After lunch, I took the HM kids over to Place des Vosgues--one of my favorite places of Paris ever since the art history teacher explained its history
two weeks ago, and then we visited the Picasso Museum[see photo of my favorite piece of art from the museum]. The rest of the Kenyon crowd came to the museum when they had finished lunch, and so we were forced to wait yet again once we had finished viewing. Again I ran out of patience, and Tiger, Brian and I headed over to my favorite creperie in the Quartier Latin. We all got some version of the same crepe I had my first time: bananas, chocolate, whipped cream and ice cream. As we were finishing, the Kenyon girls showed up and indulged in delicious crepes as well. Afterwards, we said goodbye to Brian and Tiger who were returning to their hotel and leaving in the morning to fly back to London. The rest of us headed to the Eiffel Tower, but Hilary and Pippa realized they didn't have time to go up and make their dinner plans and Nicole made the smart decision to go home. I waited in line with Katy and Phoebe listening to Kenyon gossip for about half and hour and then saw the sign: another half hour wait at the middle to get to the top. I was five minutes from home, so I went back for a siesta while Katy and Phoebe waited to get to the middle and then the top. Again, we returned to Arno's to 
prepare for dinner with wine and cheese. We planned to watch LOST, but it wouldn't let me play the episode for which I had already paid without authorizing the computer which required an internet connection that we didn't have, so I was very disappointed[Photo: attempting to watch LOST]. We had dinner at the famous Cafe de Flore which in the past was frequented by Hemingway, Sartre, and Camus among others. It was awesome to eat at the same place as such well-known intellectuals but otherwise overrated in my opinion. We meet the rest of the Kenyon girls afterwards for drinks and dessert at Pub Saint-Germain, and I headed home early since I was already starting to feel sick.11.02.07(Happy Birthday Mom!): Jess slept over and we woke up early to take Katy to the gare. We ate breakfast there, and then saw her off at the Eurostar gate. I had a CUPA trip to Montmartre, but was feeling horrible so I went back to bed at Arno's until I was able to muster up enough energy to pack up and head home. I spent the rest of the day in bed coughing and blowing my nose.
12.02.07: This morning, I had my first CUPA class: 19th Century French Painting. The professor is great and I'm really excited about the class. We have class twice a week: lecture on Mondays and then visits to the Louvre, Musee d'Orsay and Musee Marmottan on Wednesdays. After class, I got some groceries and headed home, stopping at the pharmacy for some meds for what I think is a nasty virus. Lots of other people at CUPA are sick too, so I got antibacterial hand gel to avoid similar displeasure in the future. I spent the rest of the day creating this blog and resting in bed.
