Ok. So first of all, before I begin my story, you must push play in this super nifty youtube video i have up here. Go ahead. Push play. I'll wait.
.... Seriously. I'm waiting. Perfect. Now I can begin :)
Lately it has been very nice in Paris. We're talking sun shining,birds singing, 50+ degrees which is so much warmer than when we got here to 21 degrees tops. I mean last night when I was walking back to my dorm from the bar, the birds were singing. At 2:30 am. And it wasn't that cold! So so nice. The other day, when my petite sœur and I were wandering around, we came across a magic show outside, and a clown making balloon animals and stuff! It was awesome. We stopped and enjoyed the sights for a little bit. It was so wonderful.
Anyways, so like I was raving, its been so nice lately that I decided on Friday after my phonetics class to go wandering around since I assumed CEA was closed. I found out later it was open for two extra hours that day, but i digress. I started wandering around getting closer to the Bastille area, when I remembered the Lover's Bridge was supposed to be somewhere near there. So then my mission became: find the lovers bridge even if I don't have a padlock to put on it myself. I wandered around for about 20 minutes before I found it, along the way seeing a few swans in Le Seine, in which people were feeding them. It was super cute.
And it was so warm! It must have been around 55. I was in these super beautiful tights, knee high boots, a black skirt, red shirt, black blazer, and of course my longer black pea coat and a grey scarf. I ended up taking off the scarf and unbuttoning my coat because I got so hot walking around.
So then I find the bridge, and can I just say, it is GORGEOUS!I fell in love with it. All the beautiful, colorful, hopeful couples who have come here and followed the tradition of placing a lock that either has your name + your lovers name, or a lock with a ribbon attached with your name + your lovers name on the chain links of the fence, then tossing the key into the river. They do this for eternal love! Awww! It made me wish I had someone to write on the lock. Hmm. Maybe I should just place a lock with mine and Ian Harding's name on it? No? I could do Chris Pine instead, or Ryan Gossling, or Chris Hemsworth.... I mean I could be ok with any of those men I think.... ;)
Anyways. Like I said, I definitely fell in love with the bridge. It was kinda magical in its own special way. I would definitely hang out there all the time when its nice. Just sit next to the bridge and people watch. The couples were all so cute too, I loved it! Now, you may be wondering why I had you play that song on youtube, besides the fact that its awesome and beautiful. Its called Pretend (Reprise) by Lights, and it came on over my headphones while I was arriving at the beautiful bridge, and it just felt so perfect. The moment was.... perfect. The song felt like it fit so perfectly for the setting, and it was so beautiful and made a beautiful sight even more lovely. So go ahead, soak in the music as you look at the sights and imagine the sun shining warmly on your back as you take in the sights. Maybe you'll feel a little bit of what I felt with that music playing and seeing so many couples add locks to the bridge, or maybe you wont. Regardless, it was still a wonderful afternoon.
Why the lack of posts lately you may wonder as you visit my blog and see nothing but my thoughts on Harry Potter.
Well the answer to that is because I am sick and haven't had anything exciting to write about.
Let me just tell you, attending difficult French classes with a head cold is the WORST! I can't comprehend anything, nor can I speak since my nose is a congested and French is an extremely nasal language. I felt like a very incompetent idiot for a few days in class.
But of course, as I am starting to feel like I am beating this bug, my head starts to hurt. I fear the worst: a dreaded evil sinus infection. And lo, when I wakeup this morning my face felt the awful feeling of being beat on all night even though I was sleeping in my bed. So now I'm terrified it's a sinus infection. I'd really rather not go to a doctor here but we shall see if this thing really is what I think it is as opposed to being one last "f you" from the cold virus that has been attacking my immune system for the past week.
So. Of course the day after my birthday I get sick. I'm feeling super awful, super congested and with a sinus headache coming on. Which of course means I end up staying in bed as late as possible and just throwing on a long sweatshirt and leggings+boots to go to class. Normal class, a bit overwhelming especially since my brain is particularly sluggish.
But then after class, as I go to one of the main buildings at Cité U to get out some cash and look for the post office, a guy comes up and starts talking to me! This is the first time it has happened since I have been here. He just out of the blue comes up and starts talking to me. He was super nice and forced me to speak French, which was kinda cool. But he spoke English well enough that if I didnt know something in French he could understand when I said it in English. We talked for probably 15 minutes before I had to go. He also pointed out the post office plus another one near there that had better operating hours, so helpful! The bad thing was I was so paranoid the entire time we were talking that my nose was dripping and making my face all disgusting like. Of course I cant just go wipe my nose in the middle of a conversation and look even more disgusting.... So instead the entire time I just kept thinking "please, dont drip!! please please dont be dripping nose!!"
Since la poste was not yet open, I decided to head back to my dorm cause I was feeling pretty crappy. As I was walking back to the dorm a guy was running in the same area, then all the sudden he stopped and turned around and started talking to me! It was a much shorter conversation, and mostly spoken in English but I threw in French whenever I could. He asked me if I go running and I said yes, so he asked if we could go running together sometime. He said he had to stop and talk to me because he thought I had a very nice smile, though I didn't even realize I had smiled at him. Long story short he ended up giving me his e-mail address. I think I'll email him tomorrow since once I got back to my room, and got over the shock of the fact that sick Brittney, who hadn't showered and had no makeup except whatever didn't get wiped off with my Clean and Clear makeup wipes = sexy Brittney to these French men, I ended up sleeping for 3 hours then forced myself to wake up and do French homework since I have my first test tomorrow. Le sigh. But of course I spent more time talking to Sarabear and Nathan than I did studying... but c'est la vie!
Well, I certainly hope that this damn cold goes away by the weekend so I can see who else I can meet!
Ah another birthday. I am not the biggest fan of birthdays, which my friends that have known me a while get why. Valentines day for a birthday is not the greatest day ever, at least not back in les États-Unis. But in Paris, the most romantic city in the world, Valentines day isn't really a big deal. Which I found both odd and kind of awesome. Since I never actually have someone on my Valenbirthday, it can be a pretty lonely day. I usually dread it, or else just try to pretend its just another day.
It was a little difficult to do that here. Everyone kept saying happy birthday and was so sweet and awesome about it, which of course then anyone else around us who didn't know it was my birthday would inevitably ask "Aw its your birthday?!" And of course I would have to tell them that yes indeed it is.
My favorite question though was probably: "So you're going to be 20? 21?" When I'd tell them how old I was really turning they'd be rather surprised, which was both awesome and annoying because then it would kinda make me feel old. But it is what it is, one more year and I get lower car insurance rates for a car I dont have! HURRAH! lol.
Anyways, last night after doing my homework a couple I ventured into the kitchen, which is where everyone tends to hang out, and Maddie, Christy, and Hannah had all bought a few bottles of champagne and a little pastry in honor of my birthday. It was so sweet!!
So we ended up just watching a movie and having a little champagne for the evening. It was pretty nice and relaxing, which was probably the best thing for me since I could feel some congestion starting to creep up in my sinuses. Thank you girls for celebrating my birthday with me :) It was lovely! <3
Thursday, I had my first French class with the Sorbonne. It was pretty intense. I was expecting it to be difficult and only in French, but I was still quite overwhelmed when I got there and nothing but French was spoken. It seemed like everyone in the class had more experience than I did too and was doing better in the class than I was, which didn't help either. Culture shock hit me hard at that point. I was very frustrated and left class feeling like I was going to fail. But I have found one way to overcome culture shock: retail therapy. So I decided to go shopping, since I neglected to bring any of my plain black shirts, which I am fairly certain I have a million of back home. Since people here do the all black without looking goth, and since I am also going as long as possible between washing clothes (ugh more money I need to spend when I could be shopping or traveling!!!) I decided to invest in some less expensive black tops. Dont worry, I was successful and now look even more Parisian than before! Its wonderful.
Speaking of looking Parisian.... The other day (and by other day I mean a week ago) when I was getting on the RER (a train line kinda like the metro only it is above ground and not one of the real bullet trains or anything), this ridiculously good looking man dressed impeccably well asked me something in regards to directions. I was so excited because:
The man was beautiful and he was talking to me
I look Parisian/French enough for people to ask me for directions!!
I was very sad that the only thing I could manage to say was, "je ne parle pas française, desoleil" (I dont speak french, sorry). Le sigh. Soon enough, hopefully, I'll be speaking and understand French well enough so that when the next beautiful and well dressed man who asks me for directions I'll be able to help him and maybe even hit on him. Tee hehehe.... Or just help him. Whatever.
But Friday I had my second Sorbonne class, which I was more prepared for this time around. It was still a little overwhelming at times, but overall it was better. Some of the things I learned before are starting to come back to me slowly, which is good. Its going to be an intense semester, but hopefully it will pay off!!
