Yesterday I had language class again, fun fun. In the evening I took a little aerobics class where the instructor belted out the words to "I want Candy" as we all jumped up and down, and ran in place. What made it more amusing was that he clearly did not know there was an American in the class because he kept (trying) to sing the songs, which were all old school American songs from the 90s.
It look about four years, but I finally got to see my friend Candice again! Candice and I went to French camp in Nova Scotia together the summer before our junior year in high school (and then she went back again with Alex.) Although she visited Boston, I was at school in Chicago. I hoped to somehow get to Louisiana someday but it never happened. Apparently you have to travel over 3000 miles to see a friend who normally lives in the same time zone as you do. I met up with her and some of her friends at a bar in the Place de la Bastille. She is studying in Paris for the semester as well, but she got here Wednesday. Because EVERYTHING in Paris is expensive, especially the drinks, we decided to try another location. Not digging the 8,5 Euro drinks... However, it really didn't get much better price wise. We wound up at a little bar, with about 15 two-person tables and a 6 foot long bar. It was classic. Raging B.O. and intense music. Needless to say I walked out of there with headache, but it was really fun. Oh and the second girl that I meet here who is Greek back home is guess what..... a Pi Phi! (From University of Indiana) Pi Phis are clearly very cultured and sophisticated women. I got home around 1:30 and crashed.
It was wonderful not to wake up to an alarm this morning. I lazed around for awhile. I was in desperate need of flat (riding) boots. I have been looking in every shoe store, particularly with the sales going on right now. So I asked my sister, Albane, if she had any suggestions and she sent me to a store in the 6e arrondissement called Jonak. There were two parts to the store, one primarily selling flat boots. I was in heaven, especially since it was not very expensive with the sales. I almost walked out with two pairs, but I resisted and bought one beautiful pair of brown leather boots. Mission accomplished. After that I walked around the neighborhood a lot, because as Albane had told me there were a lot of cute boutiques and cafés.
When my brother was in France this past summer with the Zouaris, he went to this awesome hole in the wall bar called Chez Georges. He told me all about it and how it was not that expensive and you go downstairs and it looks like a cave. So I planned on going right away. The first night Candice was here she sent me a text telling me that she was at Chez Georges (however I was elsewhere at that point and did not meet up with her). I figured Alex must have told her about it, but he hadn't somehow she had heard about it too and fell in love with the place as well. Back to today... I am walking down one of the little side streets and looking at a few shoe stores when I see on the wall "Chez Georges." There it was. I had to go in. So I walk into the bar area and order an espresso. It was only 1,2 Euro (not bad for Paris!) After I get my little cup and spoon I walk downstairs into the famous "cave." It really is awesome. The walls are all rock so it really does feel like a cave and I think they purposefully built the rooms crudely into the rock. There was a fire roaring and wooden benches around the room. Even the bathroom was kind of dug into the rock structure. The whole place was such a cool ambiance and I can't wait to go back.
Tonight my host brother and sister (the twins) had their 23rd birthday party together. They had about 40 or so friends over for food (that Albane worked on all day) and plenty of drinks. I talked to some of their friends for awhile about the most random things. One of them kept using all this American slang he had learned, and asked me if I knew what it meant. His first being: "What's poppin'" Some of the conversations were a bit more intellectual. How often do you try to list famous living French writers at a party? Hardly ever. We only came up with Levi-Strauss (actually I came up with that one.) The guys I was talking to said that French writing has come and gone, and in many ways I have to agree. They couldn't name sophisticated contemporary writers from France. One of the guys went on and on about how his favorite writer is Hemingway because of the profound simple style, and that it was accessible to everyone. All of which is true, I just find it interesting that a 23 year old French guy in law school would choose Hemingway as his all time favorite author. More later..
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