This blog will chronicle my time in Paris and the adventures that will ensue during my time here. I’m freeing myself from the task of mass e-mails and hoping that this will prove even more efficient. So, welcome to my space of quips, complaints and tales of Paris!
Myself, Cara, Rachel and Pamela in front of the Tour Eiffel
Thus far, it's been a week in and things are still seem as shiny and new as the first day here. I'm hoping the feeling doesn't wear off for quite some time! This first week has been busy; from exploring the city and our neighborhood to sitting through three hours of orientation classes a day we've had a packed schedule. The schedule, as full as it is, has also given us the opportunity to see quite a lot already and even more as the semester continues.
The group of GW students I am here with are all very nice, it's definitely a different crowd from my friends back home. In fact one girl stated that Jared Diamond was a retard, which would be total blasphemy with many of my friends! Honestly though, a very fun group with whom I hope to become good friends over the course of the semester. I've already become close with quite of a few of the students I live with, we're hoping to travel throughout the semester together to various places. It's hard coordinating so many people, but I think we'll all have an amazing time wherever we go.
At the moment I'll just present the highlights, seeing as we'll soon be heading out to a bar for an international student social. Parents, hold your breath! It's true I'm legal here, but who wants to make a fool of them self in Paris? I'll only be drinking in the most sophisticated way possible... at the Academy of Beer! Just kidding ;) The Academy of Beer does exist though and it just around the corner from us, but I don't think we'll frequent it too often.
The biggest highlight of all thus far as been the meals out; they are a great opportunity to socialize with the other students in the program and the food and drink have consistently delicious! Luckily GW paid for the first couple meals here, but I can tell a large portion of my money spent here will go towards the culinary delights here.
Sarah, you'll appreciate this one and I hope you've already heard of this place. Today, I went with some friends to La Duree, a very well-known shop with huge reputation for their macaroons. First off, these are not macaroons as one may picture them, they're not the mounds of shredded coconut and sugar. They are instead flavored cookies that are extremely light and airy but delicious! I tried the violet-black currant and rose petal flavors, both were full of flavor and they were only two of many options that were all tempting. They are also known for their hot chocolate, but I thought that on top of the macaroons would have been a little excessive. The price is a bit steep (6,90 for 4 mini-macaroons or 1,80 each) but we'll be sure to try them when you come to visit.Today I headed outside of Paris to visit Chateau Fontaineb
leau with a few friends. It was nice to get out of the hustle and bustle of the city for a few hours. Luckily the weather was in our favor and it was great for walking around the gardens. The gardens weren't nearly as ornate as the ones like those in the Loire Valley, but it was beautiful none the less! My favorite part of the entire chateau was the large set of steps in the very front of the building. They were looked much more aged than the rest of the structure, providing a very interesting contrast. Interesting tidbit, apparently this is where Napoleon abdicated the throne. Who would have known?!
leau with a few friends. It was nice to get out of the hustle and bustle of the city for a few hours. Luckily the weather was in our favor and it was great for walking around the gardens. The gardens weren't nearly as ornate as the ones like those in the Loire Valley, but it was beautiful none the less! My favorite part of the entire chateau was the large set of steps in the very front of the building. They were looked much more aged than the rest of the structure, providing a very interesting contrast. Interesting tidbit, apparently this is where Napoleon abdicated the throne. Who would have known?! 
Let me give you a little information about my school, Sciences-Po. It doesn't have a set campus in the traditional sense, their buildings are spread throughout one arrondissement. Thus far I haven't gotten lost trying to navigate from building to building, but come classes, I think I'll need to practice. The school is very well-ranked internationally, 52nd in the world according to one rating in 2006. Another ranking put it 8th, but it was a French company... I think they were biased. The school's enrollment isn't extremely large (about 6,700 students) but it's difficult for French students to be accepted. The international students make up about 1/3 of the entire school, which is nice because we don't feel like outsiders quite as much!
One funny quip about Sciences-Po is their obsession with their drastically over-complicated and thoroughly unhelpful library. At our first day of orientation they would not stop boasting about how fabulous and special their library was. The collection is only one million items, but they state they are one of the largest libraries in Europe. They continually played this library up, so, naturally being a librarian's daughter this spiked my interest. We had a tour as part of our orientation on Friday and my goodness Dad, I wish you could have been there! The building is four stories tall, not including the "secret" basement where the majority of their collection is held in closed-stacks. Basically, 90% of the their items are held in closed-stacks, meaning the students have extremely limited access to them. If I wanted a book from the closed-stacks for a research paper I would have to fill out a form, go to a desk, have the person there send the request down a chute to the basement, and then wait a MINIMUM of 45 minutes for my item to be collected and ready for pick-up. It an excessively complicated system which seems like more of an inconvenience than anything else. The hours are terrible too... as you can tell, the other students and myself are not big fans of this library system.
GW planned a myriad of things for us to do throughout the semester. We'll be visiting Normandy and Burgundy later in the semester, which I'm very excited about because they are both areas that I haven't seen. T
his week they set up a wine and cheese tasting with the head of the Paris American Academy (PAA), whose rooms we are staying in for the semester. PAA is actually an art school here in Paris, the director was a funny and posh little man named Peter. The tasting was great! We tried about six or seven different wines and two champagnes. More than the wine, I enjoyed the cheese! Luckily, the cheese is cheaper than the wine and easily purchased at the market that is open just down the street from me a few days a week. I learned a few things about the wine varieties and which cheese to pair what with, but the group was more interested in the free food than knowing which wine has the best "legs." The best part was that we got to take home the leftover wine & cheese!
his week they set up a wine and cheese tasting with the head of the Paris American Academy (PAA), whose rooms we are staying in for the semester. PAA is actually an art school here in Paris, the director was a funny and posh little man named Peter. The tasting was great! We tried about six or seven different wines and two champagnes. More than the wine, I enjoyed the cheese! Luckily, the cheese is cheaper than the wine and easily purchased at the market that is open just down the street from me a few days a week. I learned a few things about the wine varieties and which cheese to pair what with, but the group was more interested in the free food than knowing which wine has the best "legs." The best part was that we got to take home the leftover wine & cheese! 
This collaboration with PAA is really in our benefit as the gave us great rooms and we get great things to do with them. Next weekend I'll be working backstage at a fashion show during fashion week here in Paris! I don't know the details yet, but we'll be "dressers" for the models backstage. The show is for Elie Saab, an amazing designer who is most well-known in the US for designing the dress that Halle Barry wore to the Oscars the year she won Best Actress. I'm extremely excited about the chance to work the show and will definitely let all of you know how it goes.That's all the news I have for now. I hope to post on this weekly just to keep you all up-to-date on what's going on here! Miss you all!
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