Sitting along the Seine

(Originally written on March 16, 2012)

Today is Friday. Fridays are awesome for a multitude of reasons. Let's see, I have no class, stores are actually open (Paris is pretty much dead on Sundays and Mondays), I have no class, I can sleep in, and I have no class. I try to do something fun in the city on Fridays so that I can, as the French would say, profitez-en.

Today I went and sat on the edge of the wall above the Seine. In the sun. With about 20 bazillion other tourists and Parisians. It's like the beach of Paris. The sun is out in Paris and no one stays inside (hey, it's like PLU, but I don't have to worry about getting beamed in the head by a frisbee....). In other words, it's finally starting to feel like Spring in the city. No more heavy jackets and scarves wrapped all the way up to your nose. Now is the time of flow-y, flowey scarves and light, airy trench coats.Gone is the hoard of black trench coats flowing through the metro, only to be replaced by the lively colors of.....that's right, you guessed it....grey and beige!

Anyway, back to the people watching and my wonderful afternoon. I met a few friends at Odeon (right by where I go to school at la Sorbonne) and people watched right outside of the metro exits white my two friends sketched. There are a lot of college students in that area as well as a lot of amazing crepe, candy, chocolate, and bakery food shops. Soooo much amazing chocolate! Yummmmmm! Eventually we grabbed a few paninis and slowly wandered to the river. Once we had picked out a spot we just sat and enjoyed our food and the fresh air.

The river itself is more of a canal. Boats full of tourists pass by like clockwork; there seems to be an endless stream of Les bateaux mouches. They are predictable (tourists with cameras pointed in every direction while the tour guide's voice--muffled due to distance--can be heard as it gives some interesting fact about Notre Dame) and amusing (making a sign that said "Wave if you can read English" would not be appropriate.....right?). Cameras constantly flashing, hoping to capture the late-afternoon sunlight slowly fading down the front facade of Notre Dame. Sometimes the tourists would wave to us (no sign necessary...) and we'd wave back, provoking a giant grin or two (or twenty). They even took a picture of me and my friends. Do they realize I'm not actually French hahaha? I can just picture it now, three years from now, some woman will be telling her grand kids about her trip to Paris and showing them her pictures: "Here's one of the Parisians laughing along the Seine, sketching and writing in the late-afternoon hours." Well, I'm just glad someone captured that moment...I don't want to forget it...

Eventually my two friends left and it was just me sitting alone among the crowds surrounding me, tourists or otherwise. It was really the first time I'd been along in the city when I wasn't moving to get somewhere. Gogogogogo this city screams at times. It's hard when there's always something new and exciting to explore, to see, to experience. I don't want to leave this city. I love it here.

Speaking of experiences, yesterday is definitely a day I'll remember. But also one I want to forget. I'm pretty sure it would't be overkill to say that hier, c'etait la plus pire journee de ma vie parisienne. Ummmm...where to begin? Oh, right, how about with the fact that group projects in France are just as annoying, problematic, and difficult in Paris/France as they are in the States. Drat. Not everything, it turns out, is better in Paris lol!  Anyway, I had this presentation for a group project yesterday afternoon that, due to extreme lack of means of communication between students and professors in the French higher educational system, I was assigned my partner and project topic three weeks later than everyone else in the class and given a week to complete the project. Funsies with a capital F. Basically, after a few sleepless nights and a lot of stress, I gave the most nerve wracking and worst presentation of my academic career. Awesome opossum. Hey, at least I did it in French at a well-known, respected French institution. If I'm going to make a fool of myself, it might as well be there then, right? No, in all seriousness, I do not regret my decision to take this class, but I would be lying if I said I felt comfortable with or even capable of handling this class. Yet, I'm still proud of myself for taking advantage of this opportunity. It's not everyday you can take a class at a French university...

Yesterday was also yucky or a few other reasons A professor changed the syllabus and for some reason I didn't notice it so I hadn't done the right homework. This sort of thing just doesn't happen to me. I do not NOT do homework. So, while I was kicking myself pretty metaphorically hard, I realized I had scheduled an interview for an internship back at school for the same time that I have to attend a conference or my literature class,. Well, after explaining to my professor that rescheduling the EXTREMELY important interview would be EXTREMELY difficult, she told me that she would have to count me as absent for one class period if I missed this conference--which I want to point out is an extra, irregular even OUTSIDE OF and IN ADDITION TO our regular class schedule--as an absence. Awesome sauce. So now I don't do homework and I skip class. This is soooo not me. On top of all that, my internet connection at my hots family's house decided to not work again jut when I really needed Skype so I could at least talk to someone about my crappy day. Great. After a nap, my host mom came home and I went out to help her make dinner and she and I had a good talk. She really is a very smart woman. She and I  sat on the couch and vented, laughed, and just all around had a great talk about our day/week. It was nice.

After dinner, I went out and had a drink with friends in the Latin quarter. That's always an interesting place at night. Soooo many Greek and Italian restaurant owners trying to convince you that you are in fact (miraculously!) hungry again even though you just thoroughly stuffed your face with really amazing falafel and gelato. Yeah, sorry dude, my food baby is already big enough. Thanks.

Well, the sun is no longer casting a metallic-gold light across the river, so I should probably head back home and leave the river behind for the day. I think I'll be spending a lot more time here. It's safe, sunny, and crawling with smiling, silly tourists. I'm off to find St. Michele so I can catch the 4. Maybe I'll stop by Notre Dame first for a bit...

Love from the Seine,

Sarah