Happy Sunday friends! Today marks my first full week in Paris, and well, I survived!!!
My first week goals (before I arrived):
*make it to my apartment in one piece (check)
*learn how to get to work by foot and metro (check and check)
*find a gym (check)
*find a local bar and bar tending friend
*eat crepes and pan au chocolat (check check check)
*figure out how to do laundry
*make a friend (check)
*not get taken (check)
Okay, so clearly my first week has gone pretty well...a lot of goals have been made and a few haven't, but I'm not too broken up about it.
I am kind of sore about my first BodyPump in Paris, however, mostly because, as I should have expected, it was entirely in French. Oh, and because I haven't worked out in a week ;). I thought working out was universal, and that since I knew Body Pump in the States I would be okay. Well, I was wrong. The music was the same (I was pretty stoked when Flo Rida started playing), but I was not so excited when the motivational yelling wasn't motivational. I could follow along using my eyes, until we were on the bench and I couldn't see anymore, or when he was walking around critiquing people and I was scared he would say something to me that I wouldn't even comprehend. I did make it through the class, however, and I only stumbled a few times. I am not sure if the new release we were doing was just easy, or if the French dumb down the routines. Either way, I am going back tomorrow to try again. I am also going to attempt to do Zumba in French. We'll see how that goes!
After my BodyPump experience I met up with my friend for a fun filled shopping day. We went to H&M, Etam, Mango, Texto, Cote a Cote, Naf Naf, pim kle, and half a dozen other stores. Liz finally found a suitable pair of replacement boots while I found an adorable, and not too overpriced leather (pleather) jacket. I must admit, it sure is cute, but it is not really warm or practical the current Parisian weather. Which I found out, when we went to our first Meet Up event.
I had never heard of Meet Up until I got here, but it is an internationally used site that allows people in different cities to organize planned events where, well, you meet up with other people. They are organized by topic like Dining Out, Art and Culture, Pub Crawls, etc. Well, of course, being young, fun loving ladies we selected a pub crawl for our first event.
We got all ready, and walked across the Seine to meet Nick in the orange shirt at the Auld Alliance Scottish Pub. It was a pretty amusing night. We met Aussies, Dutch, Brits, Canadians, Spaniards, and other Americans. We all had to wear garish yellow name tags in order to get specials, and let me tell you; there is nothing special about Parisian drink specials. While we got a chance to meet and make nice with a lot of neat folks, most of the people we met are just passing through Paris for a few days, not hanging out for months like we are.
The brevity of our friendships didn't limit our good time, however. We developed inside jokes including the ridiculousness of hashtags and the stupidity of YOLO and we had an entire yelled discussion about chocolate biscuits across the metro tracks at 1:30 a.m. at which time we also spelled out our names so we could make sure we would cement our friendships in Facebook.
We finally got on the line 5 train at Bastille toward Gare d'Austerlitz so we could get on the 10 train home. Well, we got there two minutes too late, and we missed the LAST metro of the night. We were stranded in the 13th arrondissement, in the dark, in the cold, with sore feet and freezing bodies, because of course, I wore my cute, new jacket and not my warm one. Fortunately, like the nerd that I am, I had a map in my bag.
As we strolled down the Seine toward home we reminisced how we should have left prior to the last stop on the pub crawl, which was a club that was playing music circa 2005. Had we left when I gave the 'I'm freezing let's leave in 45 seconds if we aren't inside yet' countdown we would have had a 15 minute walk instead of a 30 minute one. That being said, we would have not gotten to see the secret French night school that meets at 2:00 am in a random classroom with a dog. I mean, what?! We also got to see a drunk group of Americans throwing glass bottles on the cobblestone streets. Which just reminds us why the French aren't our biggest fans. Anyway, it was quite the night and early morning, and it was a great way to end my first week in Paris.
So, to recap: meet ups are a yes and a repeat, as is BodyPump, but missing the train is not, nor is dressing for cute and not for warmth.
Bisous mes amies.
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