Welcome Back

Paris has offered me a very warm welcome upon my return from the States. Compared to the subzero temperatures of Minneapolis, 50 degrees is downright balmy.

I arrived back in Paris yesterday morning and made it back to my apartment by bus around noon. I encountered only one travel-related difficulty which was an angry man on my bus into Paris who demanded that I remove myself and my baggage from the two seats that I was using, insisting that another section of the bus was designated for persons with baggage. Despite the fact that I had long since reserved my place on the bus and felt that I deserved to be seated safely next to my suitcase that was tucked away from the bustling of other bus passengers, I decided that I was lucky to have gotten to sit for over half of my bus ride so I reluctantly gave up my place(s).

Instead of going straight to bed after getting back to Mme C's apartment, I decided to try to defy jetlag and stay up all day, hoping to be tired once a more normal bed-time rolled around. I unpacked my things for a while, ate some fruit salad with Mme C, drank a bit of tea, then decided to head out and enjoy the lovely weather. Being a Sunday, many tobacco shops which sold my cell phone credits were closed so I couldn't go about doing anything productive with my day. Instead, I walked toward the park near Bercy near my house and watched children playing soccer, people walking dogs, a boy on a unicycle. I found the garden / park to be much more beautiful and interesting than I had remembered and can't wait to see it in the springtime.

I crossed the Seine on the Passerelle Simone de Beauvoir- a new pedestrian bridge that was built last year- and walked toward the National Library. I sat in the sun on the verge of the four-story forest that the library's towers surround and read for about an hour and half, waiting for sunset and all of Paris' starlings and sparrows to come roost for the night. I had witnessed a breathtaking display of thousands of birds roosting here before I left for the U.S. and wanted to experience this again. Instead, the sun went down and I got cold, so I went inside the library, warmed up a bit, saw no birds, and went home.

When I got home I ate dinner with Mme C (pumpkin soup!) and happily went to bed around 8 o clock pm, Paris Time. I fell asleep without a problem and thought myself to be sleeping quite soundly, but I woke up in the middle of the night, around midnight, and couldn't get back to sleep. I laid in bed for over an hour trying to convince myself to go back to sleep but my mind just wasn't turning off. I gave up and turned on the lights and stayed awake until about 4am, when I decided that I was finally sleepy again. I slept mostly without interruption until nearly noon.

Today was another day of walking. I recharged my cell phone, visited the IES center to check for mail (None! How sad!), then walked up to Beaubourg and read for a while, walked back to Chatelet, around the Marais with John, back to Rue Daguerre, then decided to come home and call it a night. After another bowl of soup, my feet are happy to be in bed.

I am looking forward to this semester's prospects. My classes should be interesting: Painting, Women's French Literature, Cinema and Society, Translation, and an internship (basically the work that I have been doing for Bike Friday, only now I will get school credit for it). I also look forward to continuing life in such an amazing and beautiful city and can't wait to see spring come to Paris. The grass is still green at this time of year, but to see the leaves come back to the trees will be quite a sight, I am certain.