1. The first thing that I have ever ordered in France turned out to be raw salted fish. See, I knew what everything else on the appetizer menu was, and I knew that I didn't like any of them [salmon salad, for example, or duck pate with peppers], so I went with the one I couldn't translate. It was a filet, with bones, served with cold potato chunks [cooked] and salad in an odd dressing. This has been one of the stronger experiences so far.2. More rationally, all of the flights went okay, though I had to run 56 gates to make the Paris connection. Here is my view outside terminal C2 in Charles de Gaulle; you can see a man smoking [one way to identify the true French] and general craziness. Their airport made almost zero attempt to be aesthetic, which was really different, but they would give you ten minutes of free parking.
3. This is the view outside my temporary lodgings, looking west-ish if I lean out. The day I got to Paris it was raining on and off, but that's okay. I had a few hours until the fateful dinner, so I went walking with my temporary roommate. This seems to be a great time of the year to visit- not too many obvious tourists at all, and everything is in bloom. Coming to the hotel, I got to see a lot of the districts of Paris, which are surprisingly different from one another, and got a bit of a feel for the place. On a few corners I saw places selling plants, flowers, mostly, and every building has at least one window with a window box or balcony outside it full of flowers. Most have several, and almost every window has some kind of railing to hang things off it.4. So what are the odds that the day I arrive in Paris there's a protest march in the square outside my hotel? In addition to the transportation worker's strike that started up that day, this march was going on protesting the French government's wanting to up the retirement age two or three years.
5. We did a boat tour on the Seine the next day, and I quite liked that- it started on the west end of Ile de la Cite, below Pont Neuf, and guys, uploading pictures is a total pain, so I'll have to show you all whenever I get back. Anyways, the weather was great, a few clouds, nice breeze; we went west first, up past the Eiffel to Ile des Cygnes, I think it's called, then back down past the National Assembly, their courthouse, then Notre Dame, around Ile St Louis, etc. After that, we split up. I exchanged some money in the Latin Quarter, so named because people used to speak Latin there, and it's been the student area for over 300 years or something, very cool.[4.5 Forgot to mention that while I was walking about in the morning I ran into a street fair with stalls full of fruit, vegetables, what you would expect, raw fish, a stand that sold fried things, and also jewelry and packages shirts, rows of the same kind of shirt, headscarves; most of the people shopping were older, and my program director's response was rather logical- everyone else was either working or at school, or maybe American like me]
6. THEN I went to Notre Dame, which for an atheist was surprisingly moving, and I liked it a lot. I actually caught the first part of a mass, too, with the archbishop of Paris [I think] leading worship with a small choir [about 8 people]. I took a short video of it, and haven't checked the sound out yet but I'll show it to you guys eventually. THEN I walked around the two islands, and sat on the banks of the Seine where the real French were hanging out, eating and talking and kissing and talking some more, and THEN I walked to the Eiffel Tower, which took a long time, and hung out there until the lights came on. It has sparkle lights sometimes, which I never knew. By the time I got back to the hotel, it was 11.30 and I had another roommate, Jackie, and the original one had left for a hotel [I get the distinct impression she's used to better].
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