Paris, pt. deux

I feel like I'm in Beauty & the Beast. Walking down the street, I'm treated to a chorus of men calling out to me from the doors of their shops: Bonjour! Bonjour, Mademoiselle! I've had the opportunity to practice saying 'Bonjour' at least 1800 times.

Everyone warned me about Istanbul but no one warned me about Paris. Walking down the street at 8:30 on a Sunday morning, no less than four different men hit on me in a stretch of less than two city blocks. One actually stopped his vehicle on the side of the road to ask me to have coffee with him. No joke.

My trip to Paris was not without incident, unfortunately. The journey involved three currencies, five forms of transportation, and six cities and there were several minor and major incidents that very nearly prevented my arrival. But I did make it and that's the important thing.

My hotel's a bit of a dump but Paris is just lovely. Nearly everyone I've met has been friendly and helpful. In every other country I've visited, it's been like pulling teeth to get me to say so much as 'hello' in the local language. I always try but then I get tongue-tied and shy and revert back to English. Here, I find it surprisingly easy to converse in French. I mean, my side of the conversation is composed entirely of oui, bonjour, merci, au revoir, s'il vous plaît, and Où sont les toilettes? but I find myself saying those things with a surprising amount of confidence.

I stumbled upon a farmer's market this morning and wanted to buy everything. Unfortunately, I don't have a kitchen yet and I also don't know the French names for numbers or produce. I think I actually do know how to say 'I would like three eggplants' but the truth is that I would not like three eggplants so that seemed like a silly thing to say.

I love Paris for several reasons, most of which are inscrutable to me, but here are four of the most persuasive:

• Paris is absolutely beautiful.
• I speak French so much better than I speak Dutch, German, Czech, Polish, or Hungarian.
• I am a Paris Metro superstar.
• I found 10 € on the sidewalk today!

I also found an apartment. Well, to be more specific, Lauren found the apartment for me (on Craigslist). I went to see it this afternoon and it's amazing. It's sunny and beautiful and in a great, non-touristy neighborhood and it's cheaper than student housing or a homestay through my school. I move in on Tuesday.

School starts tomorrow and I am tres excited. Did I mention that I'm going to be in class almost thirty hours a week??