Parisian Impressions

I started this blog as a way to chronicle my adventures in Paris, but when I got here I got so caught up trying to explore and matriculate into my host university, Sciences Po, that blogging got put on the back burner.  In fact, the only reason that i'm sitting here posting  now is that I cut my foot running along the Seine last night trying to make it to the dock before me and my friends got left by the croisière (boat cruise). Now that I have the time to lay down my thoughts, I find that they're-for the most part- jumbled up, out of chronological order, and lacking any type of connecting theme. I figure i'll just get the ball rolling with the obligatory : "Hey-guys-look-at-me-in-front-of-the-Eiffel-Tower!" pic:

A rundonwn of some of the more touristy things i've done so far:

• Aforementioned nighttime cruise down the Seine
• Aforementioned Eiffel Tower visit
• Visit to Notre Dame
• Hung out in bars around St. Michel and in Le Marais
• Visited La Bastille in the 11th 
• Walked down the Champs-Elysee
• Hung out with a bunch of other USC peeps under the Arc du Triomphe
• Walked around the Louvre (i'm saving my serious visits for when I have adequate time)

In terms of actual Parisians, I haven't met any yet, other than my madame, but then again I spend most of my time with the people I've met during welcome week, who are also foreigners. Or "furriners" as my Australian friends say when imitating an "American" accent. I did, however, meet a very nice french boy in the cyber cafe beneath the main building of Science Po who very graciously showed me how to use the coffee vending machine (America-get on this). He was from a town on the western coast of France called Bretagne, and it was amazing how a) he knew right away that I was American and b) how good his English was in comparison to my French. A little envy-inducing to be sure. I think it's interesting how whenever I open my mouth, pretty much all Parisians know I'm from the US. I'd be sad that my French accent is so unconvincing, except for the fact that apparently guys here like girls with American accents. Who knew? I know I certainly like guys with french accents... ;)