Wow so it's been a little while since I last had the drive to make a blog post, and even longer since I actually made my last blog post. Since either of those times, much has happened. Most importantly, I've decided that from now on I'm going to write most of my blog posts in tour book style. This will not be one of them.
I started class a few weeks ago, a major change from my three week vacation when I first arrived in Paris. I then switched into a more advanced French level for my grammar class (as detailed in my previous post). I then also switched into a more advanced French phonetics class. So after I had gotten those French wrinkles ironed out (aka forced the French administrators of their institute for higher education to heed my requests), things started to go more smoothly and I fell into a nice weekly routine. I fell into a little bit too good of a routine, because time started to pass way too quickly. I've been consciously having to remind myself that I'm living in Paris, that the buildings and people around me are actually French, and that the cathedral I walk past every day on my way to class is the real Notre Dame. Most of my physical sense (kinesthetic?) of my location in this world is determined by my scouring of Google maps, but now it's just weird because my default location for Google maps is a view France instead of the US. Clearly this issue is significant. If nothing else, it serves as a constant reminder of where I am.
I think that I recently have been able to actually understand my current location, but that's still questionable. Probably won't comprehend that until I'm back in Mass. That transition will be pretty ridiculous, but not something that I'll talk about for another two months or so, and by that time Jonah and I will be somewhere in Italy after hitting up the coast of Southern France's Provencal region and the Cote d'Azur.
Over the past two weeks I've been to two incredible châteaux, Chenonceau in the Loire Valley, and Fontainebleau, which is in a small town about 45 minutes south of Paris. They vary greatly in terms of architecture, interior decoration, and function, but they are equally impressive in their own ways. The placement of Chenonceau is over an active river, while Fontainebleau has a more standard French palace look and is surrounded by sprawling greens, gardens, and man-made ponds.
Aside from two day trips to see those châteaux, I've spent the entire past few weeks in Paris. Until this past weekend, the weather has been relatively incredible. We had over a full week without rain and nearly without clouds, and temperatures hovered in the low 50s during the day. Trees and various plants are not in bloom yet, but you can feel that the famous Parisian Springtime is not far away.
New discovery: the Paris bus system. I've recently started using the bus system instead of the Metro to get around, and I've found it to be much more pleasant. The only obstacle thus far is that the buses run at less frequent intervals than the trains, so I often find myself weighing risk versus reward in deciding which form of transportation to take. Usually, the reward of taking the bus (above ground, more relaxing, smells better) outweighs the risk of not getting to class on time.
My French has improved significantly since I've been here. I understand nearly everything spoken to me when I have some context, and I'm able to generate complex sentences and expressions without having to translate my thoughts from English. Jonah's progression is far more remarkable, and it's been fascinating to see how quickly he's been able to pick up the language. He will soon be able to identify every item in a clothing store.
Jonah and I both ordered our rail passes to use over our two week spring break. We plan on heading down to the south of France and making our way from west to east until we're in Italy. From there, our destinations include Florence, Rome, and Venice, as well as a stop to hike the Cinque Terre along the north-western coast of Italy.
Until break starts on the 17th of April, we will be kept busy with schoolwork, travel, and visits from distinguished individuals. This upcoming Friday we're heading to London after class to visit the one and only Shomer Negiah Shark. The following weekend we're going on a trip to see the D-Day beaches, and we'll then be spending the night in Caen. Amazingly, the weekend after that if already Wisconsin's spring break, which means that Curren will be traveling from the tundra to the City of Lights to stay with us for a week. Also Jon Goldstein will be visiting Paris at the same time, along with Eckhous and Kelly Maslow. Pretty prettyy cool. The weekend after everyone leaves is my bday weekend, and it also happens to be a three day weekend for us (thank you Easter), which means we'll likely be headed to either Barcelona or Amsterdam.
I think that's enough updating for now. I'm going to try to post more frequently from now on so I can write in more detail about trivial things.
Shoutout to Jeremy and Cody who are looking more relaxed than ever.
Shoutout to Ethan for dressing well today.
Fontainebleau
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