Pics or it's not true!

It has been quite a relaxing week in Paris. Last Monday, Jacob and I went to the Musée de l'Orangerie (after a failed trip to the Musée d'Orsay), and it was amazing.  There are full rooms covered with wall-sized Monet paintings; allows you to get lost in a world of swirling colors and perfectly planned haphazardness.  Unfortunately, all of my pictures from that day got erased due to my camera spazzing out; thanks a lot camera.
Thursday, I finally made it into the ever-elusive Musée d'Orsay, and as it turns out, it was well worth the THIRD attempted visit of the week.  The entire fifth floor was filled to the brim with eager tourists salivating over some of the most recognizable Impressionist-era paintings of all time.  I joined them.  But, as amazing as the paintings were, and as awesome as the sculptures on the ground floor were, there was a guy sketching a single figure from one of the sculptures, at least 65 years old, who blew me away.  Picture of him below (couldn't get his drawing in without being awkward):

Dude gets it like I never will.

Saturday afternoon, I went to a zoo! Although not a great zoo, it was a great time just seeing the Paris side of something I am so accustomed to seeing back home.  This week has been uber successful so far (even though I haven't done any work): went to an expo on Doisneau Monday morning with a class that was both entertaining and informative, explored all of Paris that afternoon, and have dined like a king the past couple of nights.  Life as it should be.

Used to be a train station, now Musée d'Orsay

Thomas Jefferson taking a place in Paris.

Says it all

If you stand behind a clock... you go back in time!

Europa, name of my first kid for sure

It was just one of those days...

Large snow leopard in not large cage, kind of depressing.

Someone say dinner?!?

Really great jazz/solo thing they had going.

Sky, you're lookin warmer ;)

discreet accordion photo

Imagine in the spring time...

You can't smoke out of that in public! (actually played it really well)

It was only a matter of time...

Went to the Marché aux Puces yesterday, bought a ridiculously awesome sweatshirt thing that is basically the senegalese version of a pancho.  Also, went for ear coverings but bought a large furry hat with ear flaps.  So, although it was not succesful, it was super successful. And thus begins the part of my stay where I stop dressing nice every day.
Besides that, had a pretty relaxing week due to the fact that I'm getting a little sick.  I did go to the Louvre (turns out they let you in to museums, you don't just have to take pictures of the outside!).  Turns out it is one of the most impressive places I have ever been in my life, not even counting the actual artwork inside.  The building itself is also an amazing piece of art, so massive, yet so comfortable at the same time.  I checked out the floor with the Mona Lisa on it (had to for my first time), and although she was underwhelming, there were rooms that were spectacular.  So, I have seen about 1% of the museum even though I was there for 2 hours... too big.
Also, I am now part of a water polo team, for the Racing Club of France in Paris.  Luckily, though, we don't do any racing, just water polo stuff.  It is relieving to get back in the pool playing polo again.  The coach is russian and speaks french, so it is really hard to understand him, but water polo is water polo, and it turns out knowing a lot about it translates into any language.  He yells at his players for the same things my coaches do, he emphasizes the same skills, and runs basically the same drills.  Sports are multicultural and span language so easily.  My plan is to just play well at practice so that I don't have to try to understand his heavily accented french. Guys on the team are chillers as well.
Museum today I think? Either Centre Pompidou or Orangerie, and Musée d'Orsay tomorrow.  Gettin' all cultured and stuff... À la prochaine fois!

Winged Victory

Mona Lisa, you so popular!

like everyone warned, very underwhelming...

a massive, massive painting

for some reason my favorite paintings on the whole floor. maybe I was hungry

Louvre, vewy pwetty

Ceiling of my room at home... but actually just a ceiling at the Louvre

Getting her sun tan on

Selfie in the pyramid yayuh.

Moon over some buildings near mon appartement

Friends!

Friends. I have them, I promise. Here are some pics to prove it:

Stanton (looking too happy) and JBrown

JBrown et Moi(looking not very happy)!

Yes, taking pics on the metro causes all French people around to laugh at us/think less of us.  But, sometimes a good pic is necessary.  Plus, there are times when I ponder if Parisians know how to actually have fun. Night y'all.

Moins Sept

So, I woke up today, getting ready for phonetics class at 9:30 (it was a blast) and my host mom says : "OOO il est moins sept!" while looking at the thermometer outside.  Being from a place where it has been at least 75 degrees F all month, I thought I missed a "que" in there, thinking she said, "il est moins que sept" meaning that it was less than seven degrees Celsius. I thought, "well that is not too bad." Turns out I heard her perfectly, it was moins sept degrees, -7 degrees Celsius. Granted that is still 20 degrees F, but it was less than enjoyable.  Needless to say my gloves saved my hands from becoming an Edward Scissorhands ice sculpture.
Tonight might have been my best night in Paris, and it had nothing to do with a club, a party, or dancing in general (at least not at first).  No, tonight, I dined like I have never dined before.  After signing up for a cooking class, I headed over to a super nice neighborhood and entered into a top floor where you can see the Jardin de Luxembourg out of one wall of windows and the Eiffel Tower out of the other.  Me and four others learned from a semi-professional, self taught chef (that happens to also be Phoebe's host mother) how to make an amazing salad with scallops in it, lightly cooked goose and duck with potatoes au gratin, and a desert called "ouefs dans la neige," which literally translates to eggs in the snow.  So we five made this delicious meal (with timing help from the chef lady) and sat down and ate it.  I have never been more content in my life.  Every food was impossible to put down, and we left feeling like we were going to explode.  There was one point where we were eating the goose and duck, looking at the Eiffel Tower as it sparkled, listening to classical music, and watching the snow fall (because it started snowing while we were eating!).  Never, in my entire life, has the expression "C'est la vie" been more applicable, in an unbelievably great way.
Classes went great this week, I actually understood most of them, and hittin up a museum or two tomorrow with JBrown.  It is currently 4 in the morning and I still feel like I am going to explode from that meal.  Livin the sweet, savory, mouth-watering Parisian life.

The strangest tour boat on the Seine I have ever seen...

Notre Dame, shortly after I took a 45 min nap in Shakespeare and Company...