Thursday night, I went to a reception for Amherst alums living in Paris and for current students who are studying in France! It was actually just up the road from my house which was extremely convenient! Lots of nice people and good food and a gorgeous apartment! It was very interesting to meet the Amherst alums and learn more about what brought them (and keeps them) in Paris.
Friday was mostly a lazy day -- well, kind of. I went to swimming in the morning and my coach asked me if I came because I couldn't come that night, and I said no, so I kind of got guilted into going again on Friday night...whoops. During the day I did some work and hung around -- I still am not feeling stellar, so I gave myself permission to lounge about the house a bit.
Yesterday, I finally got to sleep in! Henry Weaver (Amherst '13) had come up from Bordeaux for the Amherst reception on Thursday, and so we met up and went out to the Chateau de Vincennes which is just on the outskirts of Paris. It was really interesting! And an absolutely beautiful day. We saw the "donjon" which is where the "maitre" of the chateau would have lived, and then because the chapel didn't open until 3 (we couldn't figure out why), we ended up taking a nice walk through a park right next to the Chateau which had lots of odd buildings with plant displays in them -- but they were all closed...The signs said the "Parc Floral de Paris", so we assumed that's what it was...but it was bizarre. Also, lots of bikers.
Around 3, we made our way back to the chapel which was indeed quite beautiful -- a bit simple, but very attractive none the less. We decided to head back into the city after that and made our way to St. Germain des Pres. From there, we wandered around a bit -- we even made our way into this wine store (which happened to be run by a woman from LA and a guy from New Zealand?) and we got to chatting with them and even got to taste some wine! Pretty cool.
Henry had to meet up with someone around 4:30, so I dropped him off in front of the church and then headed back home. I briefly went to swimming and then went out to Porte de Clichy to the Ateliers Berthier theater to see Cendrillon (also known as Cinderella!) for my theater class. It was quite an interesting spectacle -- very different from any rendition I've ever seen -- or thought of, but overall, it was extremely entertaining. The theater was different from the others we've been to -- quite stark and simple. But we'll certainly have a lot to talk about in class tomorrow. I would definitely recommend the play to someone who's looking to see some theater in Paris -- while it might be easier to understand knowing French, it's fairly easy to follow just knowing the fairy tale (at least I would think it would be).
TODAY, I competed in my first French swim meet! Hooray! I woke up to Marilu and Alain's granddaughters calling out for Marilu this morning around 6:30, which was roughly when I had to get up anyways...and then I met one of the swim team families at the Porte de Versailles metro station so that they could give me a ride to the pool! It took about 25 minutes to get there, but it was really nice to be in a car for a change, and see the neighborhoods around Paris. I swam the 100 IM this morning (in short course meters) and came in 3rd. No touch pads or timing system of any kind....it was very much a YMCA-style meet.
After the morning session, I bought a sandwich at the concession stand along with Matthieu (my coach) and some of the other swimmers -- and you could tell it was a French concession stand because they were making crepes of all kind as well as sandwhiches (or half-baguettes with 1 piece of ham and 1 piece of cheese). We all walked across the street to a beautiful park -- again the weather was spectacular -- and walked to the top of the hill where we sat and ate, and then eventually most of us fell asleep for a while.
Around 2, we headed back to the pool for the afternoon session. I swam the 100 back and came in 2nd, and then I anchored the 15 x 50 free relay....yes. 15 people each doing a 50m free. The timer for my lane told me that I should have been disqualified because I had done a relay start beginning at the back of the block and then stepped forward before diving in (with my feet still on the block when the girl touched the wall) -- and he was convinced that I wasn't allowed to move AT ALL on the block until the girl ahead of my had touched the wall. Although I didn't believe him, I acquiesed and said that I would look out for that next time. It turns out that he was indeed the one that was mistaken, and he actually found me in the pool lobby as I was leaving to tell me that I was correct and he thanked me for helping him learn a new rule....
The other interesting story of the day was when I was talking to one of the swim dads at the pool in French, and he asked if I was American to which I replied yes....and I then said I was from Rochester but I went to school in Massachusetts. He asked me where in Massachusetts, and I said Amherst -- he looked a bit dumbfounded, and then told me that he was Amherst Class of '86. Small world! It was really nice to have made that connection though!
It took us over an hour to get home because of the traffic, but it was still fun because I got to chat with the girls in the car! They were nice enough to drop me off chez moi! I took a nice bath when I got home, and Marilu fixed her amazing pasta dish, but with REAL Italian pasta -- which was amazing.
OK! I believe that's about it. It's been a wonderful few days! I would really like to start feeling better though -- and so I'm going to head to bed now. But Paris is treating me quite well, and I do truly feel like I am coming home each night, which is a wonderful feeling.
Here are a few pictures from yesterday -- it was the kind of day that just made Paris seem like the best place to be in the whole world.
A bientot!
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