what the French do best

So after a long, but not that involved search, I stumbled upon a video rental place. Finally! And though this should not be very hard, being in a metropolitain center of the western world... it is harder than I imagined. There are only two ways to rent videos in Paris. One is through a vending machine, but I could not figure out how that works at all. And the other is this . Also known as Heaven. seriously. This place is amazing.

Tonight I have my first French Cuisine class. Apparently it is held at an old lady chef's house, and eight-or-so of us meet at her house. We all cook a meal together and then eat it. Hopefully this class will help me accomplish two things: one, learn how to cook an edible meal, two, practice my French. I am sure I will write more on that later.

I will posting more pictures and things as soon as I fix my camera. It is broken. Again. But I am working on it.

l'ennui français.

I am lying around as I have been doing all evening. I was hoping to catch some figure skating on one of the four channels we can pick up on our french television, but they seem to think that unbelievably poorly made sitcoms are more important. Instead, I sat around and missed New York a little bit.
My classes leave a lot to be desired. I will leave it at that for fear of turning this entry into a grumble grumble...
Tonight was lovely. I was cold outside and I drank a bloody mary and ate some tuna and avocado.

I don't have very much to say that should be published in a travel blog. Write me letters. I will write back. I just go to a little cafe and order a tiny cup of coffee, and write you back. That simple. Really.

Tory is still serving the French their measly half-pints of beer. And the club downstairs is playing music with an exceptionally powerful baseline.

I think I will find myself at my second pop-punk concert in Paris. Yellowcard is playing, and Tory somehow ended up with three free tickets. I will let her go into that...
I mean, how can I pass up a free ticket to Yellowcard. After the success of the MXPX show... And what a success it was. The French would not be moshing if it weren't for me.

I better get my rest so that I will have enough energy to yell "PUNK ROCK SHOW" at the top of lungs. Because one can be sure the alterna-parisians will be doing it and everyone knows I was always an alterna at heart.

rodents mostly....

Among other things, I finally acquired a gerbil. (Or as it turns out, dwarf hamster). His Official name is M. Patate Chouette. This of course, means Mr. Cooked-Potato Cool. And he is indeed all of these things.

He enjoys a great many things. Including pockets,

Baskets,

and Ladles.


We are not sure how long gerbil/hamsters live. We are also not sure how old Patate is. So, Anna and Casey, I hope you like rodents. Well, I know Anna does...

Not much has happened lately. I began classes this week, and overall, they should be quite interesting. Tomorrow, in film class we will be watching "A Bout de Souffle", one of my favorite movies. And on Friday, my architecture class will be visiting St. Severin Church.

the past few days...

the other night tory and i had a small house warming soirée. she made the food, i provided the... um... moral support.



we had some friends over, both new and old.




but somehow, the next night tory was not tired of slaving away in the kitchen. so she cooked "the family" a hearty chicken dinner. and while they played scrabble, i took pictures of everybody. i even made some uncautious declerations about charlie...






later that night tory discovered that she may have what the parisians call "le grippe" and was oddly delighted about the whole thing...

Our Greatest Party Trick Yet

Tomorrow, we will get a gerbil at the outdoor rodent market, and it will be named Mr. Chouette (translation: Mr. Cool).

Kidnapping and Movies

ahhhhhh. so we finally hove found some internet that will not cost us 6 euros an hour. and my computer is fixed so time for pictures!!!!
i know in the last post i promised some stories of cannes, but unfortunately (fortunately?) cannes is too far away for me to go into that. for now i am in PARIS. and i am in love. with so many things: rue quincampoix. where i reside.









with my new friends maggie and charlie.


and especially with the seine. though i have not yet had the pleasure of photographing such a river as of yet.
so far in paris, some of the highlight have been baguettes, much MUCH MUCH FROMAGE, the cafés where not only is it ok, but they want you to stay for hours, the Shakespeare & Co bookshop, THE OPERA covered in gold, a french discotec where the french have not yet learned the meaning of the word "dancing", and the Periscop.
AH the Periscop. THis is maybe the most genius idea ever. A book with all of the music, dance, theater and film in paris. Yes, I know, this is nothing special.... BUT the sheer number of films playing in one given day almost gave me a heart attack.
For example, here is an overview of JUST the film festivals happening THIS WEEK: Fellini festival, Passollini festival, Orson Welles festival, Film Noir festival, Ang Lee festival, David Lynch festival, Jim Jarmusch festival, Fassbinder festival, Martin Scorcese festival.... i could go on....
Tory and I found a little cat and we named it Mouchy. We almost convinced it to live with us but then it had an owner next door. Thus begins the attempt to catnap Mouchy from the mean french lady next door. By the end of this trip, that cat will be ours!

Send me letters:
Sarah Winshall
Pierre Renucci
62, rue Quincampoix
75004 Paris FRANCE