I've just added a few more paragraphs to the September 9th post. I've changed their text color to pink so that you know what is new. Only a few more things to update on that post and then I can focus on what's going on now.

I finally got to be a legitimate tourist this week and the blisters on my feet are living proof. Parisians must either be born with pre-callused feet or must have really great pedicures once a week.

On Wednesday night, ScPo's Bureau des Eleves (Student Association) rented out a club in St. Michel for all of the international students. We weren't allowed in until 11pm and so you can guess how many people ended up going to class the next day. Lucky for me, my class was at 2pm so I had plenty of time to sleep. As I am not yet 21, I can't compare the club scene to the US but can guess that there are some definite differences. The most prominent being the images of nudity. I knew coming to France that there was a much different idea of the meaning of nudity here but I didn't know the extent. There was a television above the dance floor and for 4 hours I refused to look raise my gaze above eye level. There was a legitimate "Girls Gone Wild" porn-esque display the whole night. I think that by the end of the night I had become completely numb to it. The next morning on my way to class, I was completely unfazed as I passed an advertisement on the side of a semi featuring a stark naked man with a price tag in just right spot: "Plus bas et vous aviez des suprises!" (Lower and you have surprises!)

This weekend marked the "Fete de Patrimonie" in Paris. For 2 days, all of the government buildings that are usually closed off to the public were opened free of charge. This also meant LONG lines. I met Steph at the Jardin de Tuileries at 9am and we spent the day truly "walking" the city. We stopped for breakfast and coffee at St. Michel and were entertained by a man climbing and dancing in the famous fountain. Sitting at a cafe in Paris and staring is completely shameless. In fact, all of the chairs are purposely lined up facing the street and to sit facing the building is unheard of. We wandered our way through the Latin Quarter (filled with shops and tons of tourists) to Notre Dame (we just walked through quickly) to the Ile-St. Louis where we hunted down the renown ice cream shop, Berthillon. We decided to pass on the ice cream until later this month/year..but stood in awe staring at the choices from fig to wild strawberry to dark chocolate...all freshly made that morning.

We then followed music to the Place de Bastille (where the prison that held Marie Antoinette and Louis XIV once stood) and were confronted with hundreds of high school/college age kids dressed to the epitome of "cool". (We had a conversation questioning how they KNOW how to dress like this. They have this unbelievable presence and style that you'd think they were all born with!) We soon learned we had stumbled on the Techno Parade that would last all day looping around Paris. I WISH I could put the pictures up now...I promise they will come. The people were climbing on top of statues and bus stops and following the floats in mobs all while dancing. If I were French. This is how I would be. They were just "that" cool.

I wish this was a motion shot...they are all dancing.
Standing on top of a bus stop. Yes--his shirt DOES say "Life is Techno!"

We decided to escape the mobs and spent a few hours in the Marais. This is now my FAVORITE part of Paris so far. The buildings are gorgeous-- we walked unknowingly into the courtyard of a famous old home that was open for the Fete du Patrimonie and were invited inside to see an exhibit of a famous photographer of haute-couture during the 40's- 60's. Being the girly girls that we are, we decided immediately that our wedding dresses will be nothing short of the dresses we saw and that it is necessary they be purchased in Paris. The Marais is lined with shops but not the touristy ones of the Latin Quarter. Most of the shops are specialty-- paper, shoes, bags, spices, chocolate, etc... but they are also not the chic, outrageously expensive shops of the Champs d'Elysees or St. Germain de Pres. (Though I'm not sure they are perfect for a college budget either...). We did find a few 2nd hand shops though and had fun searching through the 12 Euro crocodile purses fur hats trying to decide if they were real or not. I also found my new favorite store though I can't remember the name, and I'm sure if I will be able to find my way back or not. They carry the Bensimon shoes that are so popular here (much like the slip-on keds but only in pastels) and a bunch of book bags that I will be returning to peruse once my bank card decides to work.

We ended at the Seine, cuddled up on a bench nursing our feet. We had been walking for 7 hours non-stop. A low key night definitely was in demand and we spent it at a jazz club on the Ile St. Louis where I couldn't help dozing off. Steph stayed over at the Cite U with me as her host family's house was a bit out on the metro and we squished in the bed and slept straight through.

By far, the best part of the weekend though was this morning. We went to Notre Dame for mass at 12:45. It was hard for me to imagine the day before what the mass would be like with the hoards of tourists constantly circulating the parameters of the inside of the cathedral (believe it or not they do not stop visiting hours during mass). There were a few flashes of cameras but people were really respectful and it was easy to forget about them once the mass began. Notre Dame is HUGE. No picture could truly describe the immensity of the ceilings and walls. I was in absolute awe the entire time. I think its a pretty great place to go if you have grown up Catholic. Even if you haven't (there were plenty of people attending the mass who didn't rise for communion) it is still amazing. I think for me though, it was just this grand summary of the tradition that I have grown up with all wrapped up in this one place.

Tomorrow morning is registration for classes. I'm working on it, but having trouble deciding what to take. I'm a business major at a political science school but have always loved politics and history so I'm excited to finally take some courses that are different from my major.