This past week school started, but I did not have any classes. Only lectures started, and with my schedule full of electives, I got the week off. Among other things I introduced some non-Americans to my famous apple pie. I also visited Versailles and the Catacombs. Most everything I did with a group consisting of a guy from Switzerland and girls from Holland, Australia, and the country of Texas. It’s a fun group of people and Paris continues to offer new things to do. Today it is finally sunny again and I went to a few board game shops in search of a cheap chess board.

The view from my window where my table is

This is from a few days ago when it was actually nice

I got an apartment on the exact day that my hotel stay was scheduled to end. Moving in was a bit hectic bringing luggage up the nine flights of stairs. But my little place is perfect. I’ll just say that the welcome program has continued to be great for meeting people and Paris is a beautiful city.

Looking Up

What I see when I open my door…

Starting the welcome program has been quite hectic, but it’s gone even better than expected and I’ve met some really cool people. For now I’ll just post some pictures from my last day of sight seeing as finding housing is occupying my time now.

Notre Dame

Took un petit voyage to the touristy section of Paris today. Got off at the Louvre metro station and saw it and the palace from the outside. Then I walked through the Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe. I felt a blister coming on and called it quits before going to the Eiffel Tower, but I could see it in the distance.

Here is the Arc

and this was my best view of the Tower

A few notable things happened yesterday. First, I set out on foot to wander around and get lost, but I did a better job than I had hoped. Today my legs are ridiculously sore, but the pain is made up for by the pride in being asked directions twice by French people, and once by a very cute girl. I false thought and then just said je ne sais pas, hoping not to shatter my apparent local image.

Here is the view from my hotel room.

I arrived earlier today in Paris for a five month long sejour to study at Sciences Po. I’m going to attempt to post relatively brief posts detailing the experience along with pictures.

My British Airways flight from Atlanta to London was a little late but otherwise fine. I proved once again that I am not a transportation sleeper and just read and listened to music the whole time, although I did get some good rest. The flight from London to Paris was delayed by an hour, apparently because of a French air traffic control strike.

I took the RER train into the city and then the metro from there. Finding the hotel was hilariously painstaking as I was always within a block or two of it but ended up asking at least four different people, in french, if they had any clue. Most did not, and when I finally got a right answer I dug around for a map to make sure. Most have been quite courteous thus far.

The hotel seems perfectly French. My window looks out into a courtyard and I am on the third floor by way of a spiral staircase.

I took the metro around the city a little bit and tried out a couple cafes. The only picture I got I snapped as an afterthought and it features a nice French trash can front and center, but it was my view from a cafe. The view was actually very cool on the big street so it is impressive that I managed to catch it at its least glamorous. My hotel is just down the street in the center.