Since my day in Paris sucked on Monday, I just had to go to the places I knew I loved, and what a brilliant idea that was. I stopped in by my language school to pay and take my placement test. It was a lot harder than I had expected, but none the less, it's just a placement test! I can assure you it is Beginner's class for this American!
Afterwards, I simply wandered, bought myself a pastry for breakfast and took it to the Louvre where I sat on a step and ate. This is some serious business I've got going on. And people watching is an actual past time in France. Paris is simply the best place to do it, too. I find it so amusing to watch people from all over the world come to take the same selfies and pictures with ridicules poses in front of every possible building or monument. I was once one of those selfie masters (ok I still have my moments). The pastry I decided on today was called "Orangerie"; an apricot croissant type thing. Once again, so delicious! I have yet to meet a pastry that I don't like.
So I wandered some more, saw the mile long line for the "Game of Thrones" Exhibit at the Louvre, walked, and completely enjoyed my own time. I remembered that The American University was somewhere around that area so my next task was to hunt it down. It's funny trying to find a building or business in France because, unless it has a giant store front window and sign, it is so easy to pass by it without even knowing it was there. The buildings look very similar on the outside and generally the signs or street names are the size of a printer-paper. I walked around one block of buildings a few times before I finally spotted the AUP sign! I swear, Paris is the city of miniscule discoveries; every inch has something new to see.
Not really knowing what I wanted to do there, I just rang the buzzer and walked in. I'm currently deffered from there until Fall 2016 so after talking to the lady at the desk, I decided I'll ask to take a tour. It is not a normal campus like in the US where there are sprawling courtyards or multiple buildings and dorms. It is comprised of a few buildings that have a lot in them in random parts of the city. I'm really curious now to see what it's like!
After setting up a tour for Friday morning, I wandered out and decided to head towards the Eiffel Tower. It was past lunchtime and I was getting pretty hungry again but I'm so frugal, I refused to eat anywhere that you sit down. Plus that requires more French than I know :/ When in doubt, look for a bakery! They usually sell pastries and then sandwiches and quiche and other small lunch type foods. I ordered (in exquisite French, if you ask me) a Quiche Lorraine to go. Before diving in to the buttery, egg, crust-perfection goodness, I trekked over to the Eiffel Tower and parked myself in the grass. Picnic central! I ate, people watched, and enjoyed some very good live music put on by a jazzy/blues singer. It was just perfect.
And then I headed home to pick up the kids.... Good thing I had a relaxing day because it was meltdown central for the 5 year old. Crying and yelling on the sidewalk? Not my cup of tea. But we got through it. Pheew!
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