le neuf

today was mighty fun. we received the results of our placement exam, which i did well in! woot! then after getting lost on our way to finding a metro, we took the yellow line #1 to the stop, St. Paul. this is the central metro stop for the marais (the swamp). this is arguably the most vibrant place in paris, and it is where my family used to have an apartment. we met our walking-tour guide in front of the metro stop. we started with an eglise. i don't remember the name, but apparently it's one of the oldest churches in paris and has been renovated like a bigillion times. the marais was once a forgotten part of paris, the home of almsmen and almswomen along with the rest of the city's destitute population. but thanks to the many fundraisers and the awareness stirred by a local puppeteer, the area was eventually saved and renovated... so the tour guide's story goes.

we then walked the place des vogues. it's pretty much a giant square with a small park in the middle. the building surrounding the park are built as continuous archways, connecting to form an enclosure. four streets enter the square at each of the four corners, creating one way traffic. the center park has a giant statue of louis the 13th, whose wives used to live in the area. he also used to visit and stay at his home-away-from-home in one of the buildings behind the square. besides a motley of mansions and fancy cars, the place houses a 4 star michelin restaurant, the old house of victor hugo, and a variety of shops, art galleries, and restaurants/cafes.

from there and passing a museum that chronicles the entire history of france, we walked to the picasso museum. we only remained outside for a moment... not much to say about it. robyn loves picasso, so i'm sure we'll be back sometime.

finally, we walked toward the area for which le marais is famous: the jewish and gay quarters. la rue des rosiers is the best street in all of paris, in my opinion. it's reminiscent of the middle east/israel/an open air market somewhere in the developed portion of africa. but it's located in the greatest city on earth. as we approached the street, i had told our program director that i had stayed in an apartment on la rue. as the group and i were walking through, i had ridiculous deja vu. i finally found our apartment: 17, rue des rosiers, paris, france 75004. sarah took a picture of me next to the front door. i peaked into the boulangerie on the corner; it's the same salesman from five years ago. l'as du falafel is still there as well. will and i went in to grab a falafel. it was just as delicious as i remember.

we ended the tour in front of one of the synagogues. the architect is the same person who built another famous building in paris. i don't remember which one, which is kind of weird, but i remember being shocked when i heard they were derived from the same brain. regardless, he built it in the shape of the ten commandment slabs. it's pretty impressive.

the rest of the day was spent running all around paris looking for two notebooks and some pens only to get back to my dorm and have my neighbor inform me of a student-based store located only 4 RER stops away. i eventually went there. it has everything imaginable for school needs. i have my first day of school tomorrow. i be excited.

after a nice dinner at the crous with will and some hanging out with les neighbors. it's time for bed. bonne nuit et beaux reves.

cheers, jhabra