Settling into Versailles

MONDAY, SEPT 6

On Monday we had our first day of "classes," though this first day was reserved for introductory meetings rather than actual classwork.  In the morning we headed into a large classroom on the 3rd floor of the ENSA-V school building, and we basically sat for 3 hours learning more about our program as a whole.  We then got a 2 hour lunch break -- apparently the norm for the rest of the year (yay France!) -- and then came back for 4 more hours of introductions, handouts, and question-asking.  We were also able to set up French bank accounts with BNP Paribas, so I'm eager to get that started so I won't have to be charged ATM fees any more. 

During our break, as well as after class, we were able to explore the rest of the building.  I was unable to find any of the actual studio rooms that we'll be using for the next 9 months, but I stumbled across some very cool storage rooms.  In the center of the entire building is an enormous, dome-covered stone hall, with long vaulted hallways leading off of it in three directions.  Right beneath the huge dome stand some of the most beautiful Corinthian columns I've ever seen -- and they're not even supporting anything!  Someone heard that they actually belong to the Louvre Museum and are being restored at our school in Versailles... but I don't even know how they would have put them there, because the giant columns are much taller than any of the nearby ceilings and much wider than any of the doors!  The hall is filled with tons of beautiful marble statues too, all of which deserve to be exhibited in Versailles or the Louvre.

After school I tried to organize the apartment more and do some shopping.  I then discovered the joys of Monoprix, a.k.a. the best store on the planet (or at least in Paris), which has only a tiny storefront but is actually the size of a Target inside!  One of them is on Versailles’ main north-south street, Rue Foch, and it has everything from clothes and home décor to bathroom products and grocery store food (including a lot of American brands). 

That night my friends Jackie, Beth, and Kelsey invited us over to their apartment to watch a movie.  Once again, their apartment seemed awesome compared to ours – they have much more space and more privacy, too.  But we watched the new Pride and Prejudice film again and all was well.  I crashed after a long, information-overloaded day.

TUESDAY, SEPT 7

The next day began with our first real class, History of French Architecture.  Our teacher is this Midwestern lady who's very calm, friendly, and easy to relate to.  Her lecture was very introductory, and we mostly looked at a bunch of boring maps of prehistoric Europe around the Gaul region (later to become France).  But I know I'm going to love that class since we'll be physically visiting and sketching several of the buildings we study.

In the afternoon we had a brief oral placement exam for French class.  All of the teachers were very nice and just talked to us to gauge how easily we can speak.  I got put in the highest level with a couple other people.  French class will only last until November, but I'm glad that we'll be forced to practice and learn a little bit more to help us deal with reality: many people here can speak English, but often they refuse to.  They're usually very nice about talking more slowly in French and helping us out when we don't understand, but they are even more protective of their language than I thought.... they really don't seem to want it to ever change.

At night, we got invited over to Kara, Shachi, and Sam's apartment to have a little wine party.  They lucked out with a great updated place, along with a landlord who doesn't care if they throw parties.  Their place is totally picturesque, and they even have a view of cute shops down the street along with a cat across the street that likes to sit in a window (worthy of a Toulouse-Lautrec painting, I think).  A lot of people came, so it was a lot of fun.  I wasn't at all surprised when a neighbor knocked on the door telling everyone to pipe down... they were blasting music right next to a family trying to sleep!  But we toned it down after that and everyone had a good time until we ran home in the rain around 11pm, having forgotten our umbrellas.

WEDNESDAY, SEPT 8

Today began with our first real French class at ENSA-V.  It was going rather painfully slowly, but I guess our teacher had to start out with simple material to get everyone up to speed.  I just hope I'll have more opportunities to practice speaking rather than just listening to grammar lessons I learned 5 years ago.  In the afternoon we dealt with some computer lab issues.  During our break, Sonia and I visited a highly recommended crêperie situated kind of between our house and the big market.  It lived up to its reputation: the service was great, the food was cheap, and my crêpes were délicieuses.  The first one had bacon, goat cheese, salad, and walnuts; and for dessert I got a plain one with sugar, which was just as good.

After that computer meeting we finally headed over to the Château!  We dropped our backpacks off at Natalie's place and walked up through those beautiful golden gates onto the castle grounds.  Since we had received our student cards, entrance was completely free.  That made me feel like I could wander in there whenever I wanted, which would be pretty awesome.  It was pretty crowded even that late in the afternoon, so we skipped the audio tour and just looked around.  It's been restored and cleaned a lot, so both the interior and the exterior are even more beautiful than I remembered.  The gold shines brighter, the mirrors are clearer, and the chandeliers are even sparklier (...if that's a word.)  I would love to go in the Hall of Mirrors at sunset if possible, because that would really emulate the whole Sun-King-sitting-in-a-room-with-the-sun-shining thing from back in the day!  This might sound lame, but it was also really cool to see where the makers of Marie Antoinette filmed a lot of that movie.  Even though that movie's screenplay was awful, it really helped me visualize how people dressed and behaved during the 1700's.  

We're planning to go explore the gardens when it's a nicer day and we have more time.  

For dinner, Brittany cooked some wings and Sonia made chicken kabobs (...I did the dishes, haha).  I might have difficulty learning how to cook well, especially in this insufficient little kitchen of ours.  It's pretty annoying to have to go to the grocery store every day when all we have is a mini fridge to keep food in.  And not even the grocery store -- Monoprix may have everything, but it's a bit overpriced, so to get the best fresh and cheap food, I'll have to go to several different markets.  The boulangerie has bread, the boucherie has certain meats, the fromagerie has cheese.... you get the idea.  I just can't believe that the stereotype is true: everyone really does walk around with a baguette in their arms!  Versailles being a small town, as opposed to Paris, makes me feel like I'm Belle in Beauty and the Beast when I walk to school in the morning.  Maybe I'll break out into song tomorrow.  :)