Day 6

Looking at the weather forecast last night, I knew this morning before class was going to be my chance to do some sight seeing. Isabelle had to stay in and finish the worksheet and the corridor was dark and silent, so I headed out after breakfast to walk across the Seine towards the Louvre, which is about a 40-minute walk. I stopped in a few grocery stores on the way to continue my epic quest to find decaffeinated tea (I'd brought a box with me from the US, but I've since run out!) and even got mistaken for a Parisian when someone asked me for directions. :-)

I skipped the horrendous lines and made it to the priority entrance (don't I feel special with my year-long, unlimited pass?) in time to spend a good hour looking at the Venus de Milo and the rest of the exhibit of figures from Greek mythology-- so that class I took this spring HAS come in handy! I made it back to St. John's by noon, grabbed some lunch with Isabelle, and headed to class. The light drizzle turned into a deluge as soon as we stepped outside. Luckily, I had an umbrella, but my legs and shoes were soaked through by the time we arrive at l'Ecole.

We chose our oral presentation topics today, and I'm going to present on "the bicycle," which was apparently an important phenomenon during the Belle Epoque. We discussed Maupassant's "A Day in the Country" for a while, then listened to a two-hour lecture on the Dreyfus Affair, which became a bit dull rather quickly. I watched the lightening strike through the window and listened to the downpour, which was punctuated by the occasional crack of thunder.

When we left the classroom, however, the sun was suddenly bright and welcoming. Not having any plans, Isabelle and I tried to catch the others before they all disappeared, with limited success. A few people avoided the question, someone else was going to take a nap, and Sonya and Antonia were off to meet up with a friend. As it was so nice out, we decided to look around the Quartier Latin. It showered twice on our way over, but by the time we got to the Sorbonne, the weather was beautiful, and continued to be so as we wandered through the tourist-filled streets toward the Pantheon and eventually made our way home, cutting through the Jardin du Luxembourg, which was significantly more beautiful in the sunshine than it had been when we first saw it.

After several hours of walking, I'm pretty tired! I tried to meet up with some friends in Branford who are staying with host families, but our plans fell through again :-(  Not sure what I'll be up to tomorrow-- it's supposed to rain and storm some more, but Isabelle and I might try and see the Tuilerie gardens and the Musee d'Orangerie.