Bon soir tout le monde! It’s my fourth day in Paris and I am finally getting used to the time difference, but that is pretty much the only thing I am used to so far. Everything in Paris is very different, however, not as different from the United States as I thought. There are little things: people walking their dogs EVERYWHERE in the city, Vespa scooters driving everywhere (including the sideway), a toilet separate from the actual bathroom, and of course, the unbelievable amount of smoking. I also never used public transportation more than a couple times before. That changed on the first day of orientation when I took 2 different metros to and from the IES Abroad center. There are 20 metro lines, and various other RER buses, gares (trains) and the night bus, “le bus noctilien.”
the beginning of a culture shock
Last night I had my first experience with the bus noctilien. After going out to a local pub with some friends I met, we missed the last metro and had to take the night bus. It is much more difficult than the metro, especially for first-timers, and also more dangerous because it is later at night. The bus ended up taking us further away from home and we ended up having to get on another one and maneuvering our way through Paris until we finally got home.
I have not made it to many sites yet since orientation has been taking up most of my time, but today a group of us went to the Shakespeare Bookstore, then to Notre Dame. Of course my camera died as soon as I tried to take a picture, so I will make another trip there soon and be able to post a picture of the extravagant castle. I also saw the Eiffel Tower lit up from a boat I was on at dinner last night. The boat did not take us close enough to touch, but we saw the entire tower lit up in the night sky. That was when I truly felt like I was finally in Paris!
Soon my camera will be fully charged and pictures of la Belle Paris will be up! A bientot!