Galeries Lafayette

Like to shop?  Well then Galeries Lafayette is your mecca!  Holy cow I don't think I've ever seen a department store quite like this one!  It is absolutely huge and quite breathtaking might I add.  A couple of days ago I decided to hit up Galeries Lafayette because I had heard it was a sight to see and I was definitely not dissapointed.  As I'm sure this place is usually crowded, I think I probably picked the worst day (other than black Friday) to venture to this shopping extravaganza.  I went the day after Christmas, you know the day where everyone is taking back what they don't like or buying themselves whatever they didn't get as gifts from others.  But I didn't mind the crowd.  I saw quite a few other tourists like myself snapping photos of the giant Christmas tree in the middle of the store, along with the beautiful dome where light shines in.

And check out the Chanel counter...every possible perfume/cologne they have ever come out with

I spent several hours roaming through all the different ins and outs of this store.  I believe it has a total of 8 different floors.  Each level containing a different theme.  Designer, Childrens, Outerwear, Accessories, Shoes, Lingerie, and so forth.  On the very top floor they have a cafe so I decided to have a little bite to eat and then I happened upon this little gem!

So apparently they DO have Tex-Mex here in Paris (even if it does come in the form of a sandwich).  Although I was tempted I opted not to try that sandwich since it was pre-packaged.  I would hate for it to "ruin" Tex-Mex for me.  Instead I got a pita stuffed with veggies, cheese, and tomatoes.  I didn't capture a picture of it, sorry.  Galeries also had a rooftop terrace that overlooked the city which was pretty neat.  I climbed up the stairs (no elevator to the terrace) to grab a quick shot.

After talking myself out of several purchases which included a yummy smelling candle (which I'll go back for when the 2 that I have run dry) and some Chai Tea packets (hot tea is huge over here, so when in Rome...I mean Paris) I decided to make my grand exit.  As I was leaving a sales girl for Juicy Couture perfume sprayed some on me, with my permission of course, and I think I've found a new fave!  When my Burberry runs out I think I'll go back and get that perfume.  Anywho, it was dark by the time I left the store and here's a glimpse from the outside. (P.S. I like to use parentheses)

I decided to take the subway back home since I had walked there earlier from my apt. Plus walking around the store itself all day, my feet were spent. Since it was Saturday night, later on I decided to go to the same Irish Pub that landed me in bed for an entire day due to a hangover.  Another good time was had. I may have found my hangout spot.  Always meet some nice and interesting people from all over when I'm there.  Plus I've started getting a hookup on my drinks, and that doesn't suck since they are EUR 6.50 for a pint.  Sunday I didn't do a whole lot, kinda lazed around the apt.  Today, which is Monday, I got up early.  And by early I mean 10:30am. Walked to the TATI which is a discount store to try and search for a blow dryer since mine doesn't work here.  Even with a converter it's too much power. Found one for 18 euro which I didn't think was too terribly bad.  I also bought another pillow for my bed along with a mattress pad to help give it a little more cushion.  Later in the day I made my way over to the 15th to visit the Fat Tire Bike Tours shop to introduce myself.  I had interviewed with them awhile back and just wanted to meet the guys I had spoken to over the phone.  They were very friendly and I told them I would be back this week to take the tour!  Tomorrow morning my friend Lauren (Ross) from high school and college arrives to visit me for a week!  I will take the RER train and meet her at the airport.  I've been holding off on doing most of the tourist type stuff until she gets here so we can do it together.  I didn't want to do it twice, and more importantly pay for it all twice!  I'm on a budget...don't judge me!  It's almost 1am here so I need to get to bed so I'm not a zombie tomorrow when I go to meet her.  It may be awhile before I update again.  Most likely after she leaves on the 5th.  I'm glad she'll be here to spend New Year's with me....Paris, watch out!

Christmas Holidays

Merry Christmas everyone!  It's almost 8pm here in Paris and I just got back to my apartment from catching a movie a bit earlier.  I decided since I was spending Christmas by myself that I needed to get out of the house for a little bit!  I went to the Pathe movie theatre near the Opera House.  There is one much closer and in walking distance to my apt. in Place de Clichy but they weren't showing the movie I wanted to see in it's original version i.e. in English!  I'm so glad I decided to go to the one near the Opera...when I stepped out onto the street from the subway station I got a glimpse of this gorgeous sight!

This is the main Opera House here in Paris and it is absolutely gorgeous!  The picture doesn't do it any justice since you can't really see all the gold trimming that it is adorned with!  Anywho, back to the movie.  I decided to see "It's Complicated" with Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, and Steve Martin.  I had seen previews for it back in the states and thought it looked like a cute movie so that's what I went with.  The movie cost Euro 7.90 but that was actually for student pricing.  I think the regular ticket is around EUR 9.  The guy at the ticket counter suggested a student and so I just agreed with him.  He then asked me for my student ID (which clearly I didn't have since I'm NOT a student) and I said I didn't have it and if he needed to charge me then no big deal.  He then said "oh well, it's Christmas" and ended up giving me the student discount!  I thought that was very nice of him.  So a little bit about the theatre.  As we all know in the states you should always bring a light jacket with you, because for whatever reason it's usually always a little chilly/cold in the theatre. Welp, not here kids!  They have the theatre's heat cranked up here!  It was actually nice and I was glad I didn't have to wear my big thick coat the entire time!  Here is a picture from inside the theatre.

So let's back it up a few days.  Each day is a new experience for me.  I try to get at least 1 goal accomplished a day (hey I know it's not a lot) and sometimes that doesn't quite work out!  For example I have spent the previous 2 days just trying to get some money exchanged!  *Warning* you are about to encounter a rant!  So I think I have written in a previous post how most of my money has been invested into American Express Travelers Cheques.  Huge Mistake!!!  Apparently no one likes to deal with Travelers Cheques anymore.  And yes that is how you spell Cheques, I'm not trying to be fancy or British.  So when I was living in the small town outside of Paris I was getting them exchanged at the local Post Office so I thought I would have no problems doing that here in Paris since it's a much bigger city.  Well I thought wrong.  I went to 2 different post office's near my apt and neither one said they exchanged them.  The second post office sent me to another larger one that was a bit more of a walk for me, but hey I need the exercise.  So I wait in line and get to the counter and the guy said yes they do exchange.  He had me fill out a form, asked for my passport and then dissapeared into the back which isn't unsual since they have to call AMEX and get an authorization code. Finally some light at the end of the tunnel.  Wrong!  He comes back and says he can't do it and blamed it on American Express for some reason.  But then he told me to come back tomorrow and try.  What?  Okay whatever.  I go home, call AMEX and see what the deal is, they tell me that I can also exchange them at a certain bank that they are in agreement with called BNP Paribas.  I take down that information and she gives me a couple of locations that are no where near me.  At this point it was starting to get late and I figured I would pick back up tomorrow and start this process again.  I mean I thought Travelers Cheques were pretty common?  A safe way to travel b/c if they got stolen they could be reimbursed?  Apparently they are the biggest pain in the ass, at least they have been for me!  Okay so the next day I go back to that same post office that I knew exchanged the cheques and guess what?  Today they don't!  Supposedly they got a call telling them not to exchange them anymore.  What a load of bull!  So I then decide to try out one of the BNP Paribas near my place and they don't exchange either!  Am I being punked?  On the American Express website they give a list of places that they recommend to go and get the cheques exchanged and those places won't even do it!  Hahahaha, I mean this is quite laughable.  So basically I have decided to send these cheques back with my friend Lauren (hi Lauren, if you're reading this, we haven't discussed this matter yet so we'll talk about it when you get here!) when she comes to visit me.  I will then have my mom deposit them back to my checking account and will from now on just deal with getting money through the ATM.  I got my daily amount I can take out upped and the fee is only $5 bucks!  Problem solved. Rant over. Moral of the story is basically don't use TC when you go on vacay, they are more trouble than they are worth.  I hear it snowed in Texas the past couple of days, that is awesome.  Twice in one year.  That's gotta be a record right?  Don't pack away your flip flops just yet, I'm sure it will be back into the 70's by early next week!

City Dwelling

Ahhh, it's been 10 days since I last posted!  My apologies.  Let's see, where to pick up?  Well it decided to become quite the blizzard last week, dumping some good snow on the greater Paris area.  I woke up one morning and couldn't see out the skylight in my room and to my amazement it was covered with SNOW!  I'm so glad I got to see some this year, as I had already left Texas when they got snow!  Here's a pic of the street I was living on with the family!

The powdery stuff was everywhere!  Here's a pic of Lisa and her mom trying to build a snowman but instead Lisa had rather engage in a snowball fight, haha!

So the exciting news as of late is that I finally moved into the city of Paris.  If you've been keeping up with the blog, you know that I have been staying with a family in a little suburb south of Paris.  This past Sunday, I made the move into the big city.  As mentioned in a previous post I'm living in little area called Montmartre. The apartment is very cute, take a look at some of the pictures!

This is the living room/sitting area

And here is the kitchen (where I won't be spending much time)

And here is my bedroom with a real working fireplace and a nice little balcony as well!

And the street below from my balcony, I'm on the 5th floor.

My first night in Paris, I decided to go explore a little bit.  The Moulin Rouge isn't too far from my apartment on Place de Clichy.  My real intentions were to go find some food and a few postcards.  But alas it was Sunday and kind of late so I just decided to pop into a fast food joint called Quick Burger.  I thought I was ordering a hamburger but somehow ended up with chicken, but it was tasty and hit the spot so no complaints I suppose.  A highlight of the meal was getting a little tub of mayo to dip my fries in!  The Quick Burger was actually next door to the Moulin Rouge so of course, like any good tourist would, I broke out my iPhone and took a quick snapshot!

I tried locating some postcards along the street but had no luck so I decided to walk back towards my apt.  I figured first though, I would pop into a little Irish Pub I had seen.  I'm so glad I stopped in, what a fun little joint!  Other than the beer's being way too expensive (EUR 6.50 for a pint), I had a blast.  Everyone spoke English and I finally had some real conversation!  The girl sitting next to me was from England and actually has lived in Paris for the last 4 years and is a dancer at the Moulin Rouge.  Her boyfriend was a bartender at the place and his name was Olivier.  And what a small world we live in, as he was born and raised in Houston, TX!  So we chatted a little bit about that.  Another cool bartender was a guy named Eddie who was Dutch.  He also spoke great english and gave me a free shot of Jameson Whiskey.  So I stayed at the bar for quite awhile as I was having a splendid time.  That is until a guy name Laurent showed up.  Apparently he is a regular at the bar and everyone knows him, but somehow he took a liking to me.  He was probably in his 50's and drunk as a skunk.  Two girls that were sitting at a booth not to far away seemed like they were a bit concerned for me.  At one point they held up a piece of paper that said really big "S.O.S?"  I shook my head YES!  So the two girls came to my rescue and acted like we were long lost friends who hadn't seen each other in years.  For the remainder of the night I sat and talked with them.  They are students here in Paris and are my age.  They are both French and their names are Emanuelle and Priscilla aka Life Savers! We had a great time chatting and I exchanged info with them so hopefully we will hang out again soon.  Finally we closed the place down around 3:00 am, but since the bartenders knew the girls I was with we were invited to stay after the bar closed to drink and hang out a bit longer.  Needless to say I rang in my first night in Paris pretty damn good.  Got home around 5:00 am and didn't get up out of bed until Tuesday!  Holy hangover!

Today I decided I needed to go buy a few groceries.  There is a supermarket not too far from my apt. called Champion.  I was probably roaming around the store for well over an hour just trying to figure out what kind of food to buy.  I knew for sure I wanted to buy some lunch meat so I first went to that section.  Ummm, can you please tell me why the largest amount of meat I could buy was 6 SLICES!  Say whhhaaa?  I can put 6 slices on 1 sandwich alone!  Of course I bought to 2 packages.  The sad thing is they even sold some with just 2 slices in a package.  Now why on earth would someone spend money on a measley 2 slices?  The highlight of the grocery store trip was happening upon a bag of Old El Paso Guacamole flavored tortilla chips.  And I busted into those bad boys tonight for dinner and let me tell ya, they are delish!  I also took the subway to the Latin Quarter this evening to finally find some postcards!  I remembered seeing a lot of souvenir shops in that area so I just decided to go there to find some since I didn't have any luck around my neck of the woods.  Well speaking of postcards I think I'll end this banter and fill out a few of them!

Taking It Easy

So far this week has been pretty chillax.  Haven't done a whole lot of exciting stuff, mostly just hanging out in the little town that I'm currently living in.  On Wednesday I did  go into Paris, however, and met with the girl I will soon be living with!  I finally found a place in the city...yippee!!! I will be living in the 18th Arrondissement in a little area called Montmartre.  This area is know for it's village type atmosphere and it's also where a lot of artists live.  The Salvadore Dali Museum (famous for his melting clock painting) is located in Montmartre and I was actually able to visit this museum the last time I was in France. 

The girl's name I will be living with is Magali.  She is a native Frenchy but speaks great English!  Pictures of the new place will come as soon as I move in.  Today (Saturday) I went to the grocery store with Lori to pick out some food for tomorrow evening.  Lori  and Moez are havng a couple of their friends over for dinner.  After the grocery store we went across the street to the Christmas market that's going on.  It was mostly for kids, but fun to walk and browse around.  Lisa (the little girl) got some strawberry flavored cotton candy and I got some Churros sprinkled with sugar! 

Italy comes to Paris

So I believe I last left off telling you that 2 friends of Lory's were coming in from Torino, Italy.  What a fun weekend!  Both of the ladies, Bea and TiTi, were fabulous and spoke some English, which is always a plus in my book!  We picked the ladies up from the train station here in town on Friday afternoon and the fun started soon after!

First I will back it up just a smidge and say that on early Friday afternoon I got a hankering to do a little bit of sightseeing around the town I'm currently living in.  Here are a few snaps from my walk around town.

Here is the church...it's about a 2 min walk from the house and also the closest bus stop!

I like this picture 'cause I think the trees are a bit odd and cool looking.

This is the Don Jon, which I was told basically means "castle" it even has a moat!

And of course, random bathrooms on the street are always fun and interesting to look at.

Okay, so after we picked the ladies up from the station Friday afternoon we came back to the house where I had some new experiences.  The first was trying a Panache which was beer and sprite mixed together, or something similar at least.  Afterwards we had a "make your own crepe" party which was pretty exciting.  You poured the batter onto a little skillet like machine and then you could fill your crepe with whatever toppings you like.  We had cheese, tomato, mushrooms, ham, and cooked hot dogs cut up into little pieces.  Since I was new to all this, here is how my first crepe turned out...

Let's just say I wasn't a "natural", haha! My second try proved to be a success, however!

"Look, Ma, no holes this time!"

On Saturday myself and the ladies did a little shopping at a nearby strip center called The Croix Blanche.  I didn't buy anything but had a fun time looking around and seeing how the fashion varies from France and America.  Saturday evening Moez and Lory (the couple I'm staying with) had their neighbor's over, Jean-Pierre and I forget his wife's name!  Apparently Moez and Lory were over at their house a few weeks ago for dinner so they wanted to return the favor and invite them over.  It was recently Lory's birthday so that was part of the occasion as well.  Lory cooked a fabulous dinner of Shrimp Risotto, Chicken in a cream sauce with peas, and salad.  And of course for dessert we had home made tiramisu...these people like to eat!

Needless to say, I was stuffed after the delicious meal!  On Sunday me and the ladies took the RER into Paris to continue the shopping craze.  We walked down the Champs-Elysees which is the famous street that has all the designer stores...Louis Vuitton, Dior, Chanel, etc.  We walked into the Sephora and I was in heaven! You should see the place, it's quite incredible!  Afterwards we walked over to the Latin Quarter near the Notre Dame Cathedral.  Took a gorgeous picture of ND at dusk with my iPhone...

After walking around the latin quarter I decided to exchange some money at one of the foreign currency exchange booths....NEVER AGAIN!  I seriously got robbed!  The only thing I bought the entire day was my own money!  I exchanged $100 dollars and got a whopping 47 EUR! Along with the crummy exchange rate was a 12.5% fee!  So I have learned that the post office is actually a better rate afterall! Even though the money exchange was a bummer, just walking around Paris and seeing the sights puts a smile on my face...

Here's a bit of a creepy story for ya.  On our way back from Paris, me and the 2 ladies were on the train and saw a gentleman get on and start staring at me.  I actually didn't really notice it but TiTi did and told me not to look at him.  Well at one of the stops a girl that was sitting pretty close to us, got up and got off.  The creeper then moved and sat in her seat to be closer!  Finally it was our stop to get off (or so we thought). We go stand by the doors of the train to exit and sure enough here he comes...are you kidding?!  Well we soon realize we weren't at the right stop to get off, so he exits and hangs a right while we stay on.  Just as the train is about to close the doors we see him turn around and go the opposite direction!  I guess he realized we didn't get off!  Thankfully he wasn't able to get back on and we left his ass in the dust!  I'm glad the women were with me, otherwise I may have had to round-house kick him in the face.  I do carry mase on me at all times which is a nice little weapon to have!  Tomorrow I must get up fairly early to head into Paris to meet with the girl I'm supposed to live with in the city.  Ciao, my friends!

PARISdise!

Alas, I have found my way to Paris!  I arrived on Sunday, Nov. 29th all in one piece!  My flights were decent, but I've had better.  A little bumpy from Chicago to Paris but my feet are on the ground, none the less!  I am also thankful that all my luggage arrived...here's a pic of what I brought with me!

During the beginning of my stay here in Paris, I am living with some friends of the family in a little suburb south of Paris called Sainte Genevieve des Bois.  This was a really special treat for me to be able to stay with them while I try to find an apartment and roommate in the city of Paris.  It is nice to have someone pick you up from the airport, have a roof over your head, and some good eats...otherwise I'd probably be roughing it on the streets of Paris!  When I walked in the door the little girl of the family, Lisa 5 yrs old, said she had a surprise for me.  And here it is...

How cute is this sign, I didn't even care that my name was spelled wrong!  I have it propped up on the wall in my room!  Speaking of my room here are some pictures of my cute little chambre (french for room). I very much enjoy the skylight in my room for 2 reasons.  One because the moon shines right through and two, when it rains the droplets hit the glass and it's very soothing to listen too!

Also here is a picture of the little girl, Lisa, who made me my welcome sign and her little brother Luca.  They are precious.  She tries to speak to me in English and sadly her English is better than my French!  She also speaks Italian...very impressive!

So far I have only gone into the city of Paris once and that was to meet with a girl and look at a room in her apartment that she wanted to rent out.  That has probably been the most exciting day so far.  I indeed mastered the art of Public Transportation!  I did pretty well I think for not being able to speak/read French!  I first walked to the bus stop from the house.  Took the bus to the train staion where I rode the train for about 30 minutes.  From the train I then took the subway into the neighborhood of Montmartre.  The subway system is amazingly easy to understand and a great way to get around this huge ass city (and a good spot to people watch)!  Here's a picture of one of the subway stations.

I also went to a public park the other day here in St. G, where they had farm animals!  It was like a mini zoo and you didn't have to pay.  My favorite animal was this gigantic pig like creature that was about the size of me if not bigger.  See for yourself!

Today's highlights were going to the post office to exchange some travelers checks into Euros and getting absolutely cheated out of my money!  I cashed in $100 US dollars and got 58 EUROS and some change!  For 1 EUR it is $1.58 American!  Plus the post office charged me a 4.50 euro fee to exchange the money.  Basically our economy needs to get better, and fast!  After the money dissapointment we rolled on over to Carrefour (which is similar to a Wal-Mart and the second largest retail chain in the World, second only to...surprise surprise, Wal-Mart) to pick up some groceries.  While there I was fascinated by the seafood section so I decided to be a tourist and take a couple of photos.

I think I've pretty much updated what has gone on so far.  I'll write again soon about what goes on over the weekend!  Lorydana, the wife who lives here, is having 2 of her best friends come in from Italy to visit so I'm sure some good eats and good laughs are to be had!  'Till then, au revoir!