Thursday, February 3, 2011

La Sorbonne and getting lost

Today I woke up really early (the sun doesn't rise here until about eight o'clock - kind of scary) and got ready to go over to the Sorbonne to register for classes.  This led to a new hobby - getting lost in Paris.  So far, almost every time I have got to a street corner, I've picked a direction at random.  This has led to incredible discoveries, like finding cafés where students sit in the back with café au lait and Sartre and municipal workers stand in the front knocking back espressos and waxing poetic about "les femmes".  Also, does anyone know how much a cup of coffee usually costs in Paris?  I paid 3 euros 20 for mine and can't tell if I was scammed or not.
I got to the place where you register really, really early so I wandered up and down the streets for a while.  Sometimes I think it would be easier if you smoked in Paris because then you could just stand outside with your cigarette and not walk up and down the streets trying to look like you have somewhere to go.  At the same time, how else would I have found my café?
Anyways, upon registering I was told that I can take the placement tests tomorrow so I plan on studying for the rest of the day... but I already love the city!  I love all the flawless-faced, wrapped-in-scarves girls and the fact that although it's February I can go out in a light jacket and jeans (at home there's about two feet of snow on the ground) and the buildings with tall windows and wrought-iron balconies.  In the apartment all of the ceilings are high and there are fireplaces in just about every room.  Already, I love it here.

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