Shopping and more langauge stuff

Hey there!

So the past couple of days have been nice and relaxing here. The weather has finally gotten quite nice. No more cardys (Kathy taught me this word, it is the Austrailian word for cardigan) and scarves. Yesterday, I spent the morning writing my paper, and then class which was a visit to the Bibliotheque Nationale, the old one, of Paris. We saw the Cabinet of Medals which was interesting, but for like fifteen minutes. We see a lot of places here that I'm grateful that we are going to see them because they are the path less travelled, but for some of them, they are kind of boring. But the reading room of the library was amazing. It's no longer used, but you can just imagine all the scholars reading important books there.

After that, I took Kathy up to Montmartre because she wanted to see Sacre Couer. I had only seen the outside of it on the longest tour of our trip, earlier in the semester, so it was fun to go in. It was, unfortunately, raining though, so we didn't get to stick around for long.

The language barrier has been interesting this week. I went into a stationary store at around 5 PM and said "Bonjour" and the guy told me, in French, that between 5 and 9 you have to say "Bon soir." Now mostly with this experience, I was just impressed that I understood what he was saying, but still, I thought it was kind of rude. Then later that night in Montmartre I walked into a store and said "Bon soir" and the woman behind the counter said "Bonjour." Basically, I just can't win. That's why I refuse to feel mad. But then today a woman in Petit Bateau asked if I had a Petit Bateau card and I said no, and I was super happy I understood what she was saying. So it's fun to see what I am picking up. Quite a bit, it seems. I would definitely recommend anyone who is studying French to come to France, I'm sure they would learn even more then what I am learning.

So other than this stuff, I went shopping with Kathy today, and sent her on a route that I mapped out, so she could go while I was studying. I swear, I could be a great tour guide. If this school thing doesn't work out, that's next.

Andrea and I are so funny, we are so similiar. Twice during our trip now we have bought the exact same thing without the other knowing that they had it. I bought this nylon shopping bag in this crazy pattern in this tiny shop on Ile St Louis and she went two days later and bought the exact same bag in the same pattern from the same shop. Today I bought the same cardigan in the same color from the same shop that Andrea got hers a couple of days ago. Andrea says we have good taste, I say we are becoming the same person from living together. Just really crazy how we did that.

Tomorrow, the program is taking us to Le Procope the oldest restaurant in Paris. It's pretty expensive, so I'm glad that they are paying for it. It is in the St. Germain de Pres area of town, which is becoming my favorite area of town. I just read that this French movie star lives there, so no wonder I like it.

Tomorrow Kathy leaves, and my friend Natalie comes. There is also another visit to the Centre Georges Pompidou, which I went to alone a couple of weeks ago, and really loved it. So tomorrow we go with the class so I am looking forward to that. Just fun times!

Love to all!
Emily