The Week Off

Well, I had a week off before starting classes, and I just spent a lot of time walking. I didn't have my camera with me much of the time, but I did snap a shot or two with the good ole camera phone.

I registered on Wednesday, and afterwards I walked all the way from Rue Censier to the Opéra Garnier - which is a long walk, I assure you.


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During my walk, I went past some fountains and sculpture on the boulevard leading up to the Luxembourg Gardens.



In other cities, this would have just been some green space, a median with bushes or trees to make it look pretty. But I'm in Paris; so here, there's art in the streets.

I also spent some time in the same area (or at least the part North of the Seine - which is la rive droite, for those of you not in the know on Parisian geographical terminology) when I spent some time with a Parisian woman I met who was interested in practicing her English in exchange for French conversation practice for me. We visited the Palais Royal, which I had never seen on the inside. There's a large garden and a sculpture that takes up a whole courtyard.



I only got out to jog twice during that week; first it was too cold to go out, then it rained non-stop for like three days. The weather is not so good at the moment either, though there is a little bit of sunshine out there today. During my jog, I took a moment to sit and rest and observe; what I saw was a pigeon who seemed to really be looking for something. I stayed long enough to see that in fact, that pigeon was looking for some grub, possibly literally - it was looking for worms. And it actually found one while I was watching it. What a hard little worker; it just wouldn't give up.

From Paris, Fall 2007

The most important thing about that week off was getting scheduled for classes, but I didn't really think that was noteworthy enough in a visual documentation sort of way, so no pictures. So, finally I know what classes I'm taking this fall - contemporary narrative fiction, medieval poetry with a focus on François Villon and Grammaire du texte (which is, obviously, a grammar class, but it's one that focuses on how grammar effects content). I'm attending the University of Paris III, otherwise known as La Sorbonne Nouvelle, and my grammar course is at the Sorbonne. So, I am actually attending classes in the Latin Quarter. Centuries worth of students have studied there, and now, I am too. Lucky me.