True Beauty

Talk about girl on the go. Friday, I had a quiz (I think it went really well! Except for the fact that there were 5 short answer questions, and I only saw 4), then my next class had a field trip to the Cinematheque. It's a museum about movies and film. C'etait tres chouette, and very different than anything I had seen so far in France. I also saw one of the largest libraries in the city-the BNF (Bibliotheque nationale de France). It's usually compared to the library of Congress. The weather was perfect and the TAs gave me a lot of ideas on what else I should see before we leave in three weeks. Three weeks! 

Huge stadium at Bercy for sports and concerts

Inside the museum

Then I headed over to the Latin Quarter and I got lost (on purpose). I found the neatest little shops and hidden alleyways. There were sales everywhere. In french, a sale is "soldes" so I was very confused at first when I saw large signs on windows that said, "soldes!" As my mother told me today, she was shopping vicariously through me ;) 

Fontaine Saint-Michel
in the Latin Quarter

Next, I met up with some people, and I had a panini. (My second one of the day. I missed them that much!) Then we headed over to a haute couture exhibit at Hotel de Ville. The clothes were mostly from the 70's to 90's. We weren't allowed to take pics, but there were some gorgeous dresses that I wish I could have tried on. Nothing was extremely over the top, nothing avant garde, or something crazy that you can see on Project Runway. I can't really describe the dresses because they were so elegant and unlike anything we can buy in America.

Saturday, I did some homework then met a friend in the late afternoon. On the metro, I was sitting across from a mother with four little girls. I'm going to assume they were quadruplets, maybe 4 or 5 years old. They were so adorable. They were talking in baby french and laughing with each other! It was so cute to see them understanding and interacting with their sisters and having a ball on the metro! In French!

My friend and I went to the Chapel of the Miraculous Medal. In short, this is where Mary appeared to Saint Catherine Laboure and there is a famous medal that says, "O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee." In 1832 there was a cholera outbreak. The sisters, Daughters of Charity, at the time distributed thousands of medals throughout the city that have been attributed to numerous cures and prevention of the disease, as well as conversions. The chapel, as you might have seen coming, was absolutely beautiful. It was more beautiful than any haute couture dress. I was even about to change my favorite color from orange to blue for Mary. That's how awestruck I was at the chapel. The place was filled with people praying. You could feel the faith, and you knew Mary was listening to all our pleas. This is not as famous as Notre Dame, so there weren't many tourists taking pictures. I didn't take any pics, but here is a great site  to see the inside and for more explanation. http://www.catholiccompany.com/blog/inside-chapel-our-lady-miraculous-medal

We then went to mass at Notre Dame, and afterwords ate dinner at Breakfast In America. It's an American diner in Paris! The waitresses were even American! We were very excited and I ordered French toast (yeah, inception) an "Obama" milkshake--peanut butter and chocolate sauce-- and we all split nachos. My hosts said, "That's not American!" but we know it secretly is ;)

In between running around the city and chasing metros (and other things I haven't even had space to mention), my hosts have had company over for dinner, which they graciously let me stay for. Sometimes, I understand what they're saying and can follow their conversations, and sometimes their words fly by me, and I just smile and laugh when they laugh. These dinners can be an encouragement that I'm learning something, or a discouragement that I'm not catching on as quickly as I should. I know it's the former, and after I write a blog like this, I can't even think the thought that my trip isn't helping. I'm getting so much out of this experience, and even daily life in Paris is something I'll remember forever. 

Ô Marie, conçue sans péché, priez pour nous qui avons recours à vous.

"Fear is useless, what is needed is trust."

Love and blessings,

Anna