Meanwhile, in Paris...

Hello again to all my friends and family back at home! I've finally arrived in Montpellier. After multiple trips to IKEA, stacks and stacks of paperwork, and a little house cleaning, I'm happy to say I'm settled in. Sorry for posting this so late; I've already been here for a couple a weeks. It's just that I've been so busy up until recently. This post is massive, since I've been working on it on and off without ever finishing it. So, anyway, I'm gonna go back in time a little bit and talk about Paris.

After arriving late the night of the 31st, I was travel-worn and exhausted, so I slept away my first day in Paris. Lucile - a friend of mine who I met during my stay in France last year - was amazing enough to let me stay in her apartment that she lives in during the school semester.

Since it was still technically summer break, I was completely alone in her 2-bedroom Parisian mansion. Luckily, Anne - another friend from last summer - hung out with me and showed me around the city for the weekend. She normally lives in Montpellier, but she's currently doing an internship where she works and lives in Paris. (pics after the jump)

Some buildings in the business district of Paris - La Défense - near where Anne works.

Her dad and step-mom also live in Paris, and they had me over for dinner Thursday, Friday, AND Saturday. At this point, so many families had fed me and given me a place to stay that I felt like a vagrant bum. That being said, after Thursday night I wasn't going to turn them down anymore. I'll let the pictures do the talking... well, and the captions too...

Entrées and apéritifs on the balcony

Paris at dusk with the moon and the top of Sacré-Coeur peeking over the rooftops.

I forgot what kind of fish these were but they were really freaking good. To Katie and Amy: remember that one time in Istanbul?

Homegrown strawberries from the terrace waiting to be smothered in crème fraîche.

You might've guessed by now that Anne's dad and step-mom are amazing cooks. One thing about the French is that they take their meals very seriously. Every ingredient is picked with care and there are always 2-3 courses. I've never been a "foodie"; I'm often just as happy with chips and a turkey sandwich as I would be with a 5 star meal. That being said, the meals I had there were absolutely delicious. But still, I'm a crappy cook and a turkey sandwich sounds really good right now.

View from the rear balcony.

It was nice to be able to see a side of Paris that most visitors don't get to experience, but I still wanted to do typical tourist stuff too. I hadn't even seen the Eiffel Tower before! And so, over the weekend Anne gave me the express tour. Get ready for more pictures of me grinning stupidly in front of world-famous monuments.

First stop: The Louvre

Durrr

We didn't go inside. The next time I go to Paris I'll check it out. I think there's art in there or something.

The gardens of the Louvre with a strange pointed building in the background.

The gardens with the Arc de Triomphe off in the distance. It's about 10am here but hordes of rabid tourists (including me) are already starting to surge through.

Speaking of the Arc de Triomphe...

It's pretty big.

You can go inside it! Here's an insanely detailed model of the Arc de Triomphe WITHIN the Arc de Triomphe. I heard there's another mini model inside this model. Huh.

A view to the Northwest from the top. Those huge buildings in the background mark La Défense.

Montmartre and Sacré-Coeur dominating the Parisian suburbs.

Les Champs-Élysées. That's the Louvre up there in the top center.

Weird pointed structure behind me. Not sure what it is but it looks cool.

Notre-Dame de Paris. If you look closely you can see Quasimodo in the top right peekin out a window.

Typical Parisian art nouveau metro entrance, graffiti and all.

Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to see the Eiffel Tower as I had to be in Montpellier by Monday. I still don't even know what it looks like. All the same, I had a wonderful time in Paris thanks to Anne and Lucile. Before I left I managed to get booked at a pretty big venue for the 8th of October:

This poster was all over the metro. I'll be doing a slam poetry set. If anyone's in town around then you should come.

My train was scheduled to leave Paris around 6am. Instead of saying goodbye the night before, Anne insisted on waking up at 4 and coming over to accompany me to the station. I know I say this a lot, but that girl really is a saint. After sprinting through the still-dark Parisian suburbs - in the rain, 50lb. bags and all - I made my train by a couple of minutes. I tried sleeping on the way to Montpellier, but ended up just nodding and drooling on myself for 3 hours.

When I arrived, there was nobody at the train station to pick me up; it was Sunday morning and my program director was out of town for some reason... so Lucile, for the second time in a week, let me stay at her place. I found my way back to her house by memory; it was pretty grueling since I was going on 2 hours of sleep and lugging nearly everything I own. However, once I arrived, her family had a hot shower and a bed waiting for me. Who says French people are mean?

In the following days I managed to get moved into my apartment - a decent-sized studio close to the city center - and FINALLY unpack. It was such a great feeling to stuff my empty suitcases in a corner. I really love my place. It's in a newly-renovated student housing complex. My school, work, and the city center are all just a 10 minute walk away. I made a few obligatory IKEA runs, and this is what it looks like now:

The kitchen.

The bathroom. My bookshelf is still pretty bare at the moment.

My office/living room/dining room/laundry room/storage closet.

The bedroom.

I'm really happy with the way things have turned out here. I'm almost done with the ludicrous amount of paperwork I had piled on me: opening a bank account, buying social security, applying for student aid, enrolling at the university, etc. The list goes on and on. It's all totally worth it though. I've already started school and I'm taking classes with people my age from all over the world. The coolest thing about it is we're all able to talk to each other because we have at least one language in common. This sounds corny, but I'm constantly amazed at how we all come from such different places, but we're all so similar. I'm the only American in all my classes so I'm trying to respectfully represent our country, which is slightly better than everyone else's. 

Now that I've started my new life for the next year, Louisville seems further away than ever. I miss being able to drive, and playing video games, and anyone who cares about me enough to have read this entire gigantic post. To all my homies, I wish you could be here with me so we could run these streets. To my family: luv y'all. 

P.S. Before I forget, here's my address in case anyone wants to send me those new Scarlett Johansson photos:

Warren Walters

Bâtiment A, Logement 105

Cité Universitaire Boutonnet

119 Rue du Faubourg Boutonnet

34090 Montpellier, France

Yes, Boutonnet is in there twice. On the other hand, if you want me to send you stuff, just e-mail me your address. wawa0708@gmail.com

P.P.S. Also, for anyone wondering why the title picture is a weird groping man: it's the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy.

P.P.P.S. I've managed to change the blog to English, but I think you have to have an account with one of the websites in the dropdown box to leave a comment. I don't know how this works :(