am i blue?

 

hello, everyone.

first, let me reiterate that i am not at all sad, but i made a rookie mistake and managed to turn most of a load of laundry blue.  albeit, a lovely shade of ice creamy pastel blue, but my new white tee shirts are now blue.  aargh!  (does anyone know how to reverse this mistake?)

the first week of school was glorious.  i adore all of my professors, and the classes are fantastic.  i will be able to go to the louvre six times this semester.  [*sigh*]  isn't life grand?  the school is located between les invalides (where napoleon is buried and also down the esplanade from my apartment) and the eiffel tower, so every morning as i walk to my first class, the tower looms in the distance.  how can you not have a fantastic day with that daily view?  my art history class is in the building on bosquet that has cherubs carved into the ceilings and doors of the classrooms.  (had it been any other class than art history, my mind would have drifted to the exquisite architecture.)  simply amazing.

here are things i love about paris:  shopping daily at the outdoor market for very fresh produce; cheese shops that find out what time you will serve your cheese and then squeeze each one until they find the one that will be perfect at that time; watching an older woman stand outside of a building gossiping with her friend inside the building; the hot chocolate at angelina's, cafè de flore, and les deux magots (i prefer it in the last two cafés); the caipiriñhas at le fumoir, although their mojitos leave much to be desired; the yarn shop around the corner from school that sells bouton d'or yarn; the buses that make a trolley car bell sound as they approach the stop (the first time i heard it i did a double-take); how polite men are here (except for the one i met who bickers with me like cary grant did with rosalind russell in his girl friday (he started it), and who better not be the famous movie person his friend said he is or else i will be furious because i have absolutely no time to deal with an ego like that); how ham sandwiches are ham and butter instead of ham and mayonnaise; financiers, simply the best cookie in the world, and i've never found one stateside; speaking french; the cute, inexpensive clothes over here; the fabulous boots; place saint germain; my adorable landlady (she's like a pocket granny); that i have seen more men knitting than women (2-0 (unless i include myself, but the boys still win)); kissing everyone hello; 2-litre bottles of water for 0.19 euro; the phones that do so much that i might marry one, or at least entrust it with my homework; the way children dress here; the yogurt; antiques; the way it stays light so late.  ok, i'll stop.

i am really starting to feel comfortable here.  my professor is always late (always, always, always), so today the class thought we'd play a trick on him and i started teaching the class.  he walked in, said he had to enroll a new student into the class, and left me to continue teaching for another five minutes, giving me a total of 15 minutes of discussion on descartes.  it was very funny, and the class actually had a great discussions about descartes.  i wonder if this school will ever be the same after i leave?  oh well, it's too late to go back now.  professor talcott was not at all upset over my antics and found them quite amusing.  actually, after last monday's class, he asked me to help him out, so i was merely doing what he asked.

ok, gotta go for now!  i miss you all!