bonjour de paris!

hey everyone!

Yes, I arrived in Paris two days ago to spend about six weeks here. My flight went from Rochester to Chicago, and Chicago to Paris (yes, I know, it doesn't make sense to go that diretion, but it's what I did). I hardly slept at all on the plane to Paris, which sucked, because when we got there it was 8:30 am and I had things to do! American Airlines is pretty lame... they only have TVs in the middle of the plane, and they showed the Tooth Fairy and Bride Wars. Some really stellar movies right there...There was an episode of Parks and Rec though, which made me happy.



Upon landing, I went through the passport check, then on out security towards baggage... until I realized that the baggage claim in France comes BEFORE the security doors. Which made things complicated, so I had to have some policiers let me back in. Then I went out to get a taxi, where a man on a motorcycle semi-harassed me to go with him. But I said, "Avec ça?" meaning, with this gigantic suitcase? And he said yes, but I thought to myself, I've seen Taken before, and I'm pretty sure this is the exact same as the scene in the movie where she gets kidnapped and sold into prostitution. Not that I was overly worried about that, but... I went with the, 70-year-old vietnamese man and his roomy taxi. 55 euros later, I was at my hotel.



Okay, I'm writing too much. I'll condense. I took a short nap at the Hotel, then managed my way through the metro system to find Dr. Radi at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, where we got my library card so I could do work at the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal the following day. We were greeted by a grumpy Frenchman who refused to shake my hand when I extended it towards him. "I don't shake hands with people I don't know," he said, his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. Then he asked my nationality and said that Americans are too polite with "inconnus" (strangers), which is not the case in France. When he found out Dr. Radi was Italian, he said that Italians are the Europeans who most copy Americans in general, and she made a quick retort about Sarkozy, and he finally settled down and gave me my card.

Back at the hotel I watched the US triumph in the world cup (I freaked out alone as teh algerians who own the hotel groaned beneath me). I went for a short run on the Seine and hit the sack not long after getting some MacDo. I was way too tired for anything authentically french...

Yesterday, I got up early and did a short run, then headed through the Bastille to the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, which is a beautiful 16th century library. It was a great day, but I'm running out of battery and I'm at McDonalds again using the free wi-fi where I can't find a plug. Here's a photo... I'll update more later! With more pictures!



A toute a l'heure,

Tim