A Market and Le Marais

Salut mes amis!
It's hard to believe but I've been in Paris a week(almost)!  It's Friday night here now, and last Friday night I flew out of JFK.  So I may be a few hours off in my calculation, but whatever.  I have some nice French music on in the background to get me in the mood for this blog post. 

I got to sleep in a little bit today, and then I headed out into the misty rain of Paris for a group picture with Sweet Briar.  As I got out of the metro, I was greeted with this delightful scene:

Oui mes amis, un marche!  Gosh I really need to figure out how to add accents because it's really bothering me that all of you are going to read this without the right sounds.  I read a bit of Markets of Paris by Dixon and Ruthanne Long last night as I was going to bed so I guess the market gods were looking out for me on my morning commute. Quelle chance!! I felt like Julia Child walking through all the vendors!  I allowed myself to be touristy and snapped some pics.  Et voila.... 

FROMAGE

Des poissons et des fuits de mer (Fish and Seafood)

Un chacuterie (kind of like a deli)

And yes, those are brains int the middle white case.  I asked my host mom how you cook them and she said that it takes a while and she never makes it at home (phew! dodged a bullet there) but she and her husband like to eat it from time to time at des bons restaurants. 

Apres the group picture, my Sweet Briar group went on a tour of le Marais, another one of the districts.  BUT FIRST we had lunch. I had a crepe, bien sur.  Jambon et fromage encore. 

We stopped into St. Paul, a Jesuit Church.  The outside is undergoing some renovations, so here of some pictures of inside the church!

If there's one thing the French do well, it's build churches.  And their cooking is pretty good too.  And their clothes are fantastic.  And their literature is very well written and engaging which brings us to...Victor Hugo's apartment!

Apparently Victor Hugo had a very large forehead.  All of the caricatures lining the stair case played that feature up.  The prevailing scientific thought at the time was if you had a large skull, your brain was large, and thus intelligent.  Alors, people played up their foreheads with their hairstyles. 

Some scenes from Notre Dame de Paris, which was written by Hugo.  (adapted by Disney for the movie, the Hunchback of Notre Dame)

Hugo was very interest in China, and decorated a room in the Chinese fashion in his mistress's house

Portrait of Victor Hugo

Writing desk used by Victor Hugo, George Sand, and Alexandre Dumas

Victor Hugo's writing desk.  He only worked standing up!

After the tour, I wandered around a bit with the other students, and then caught the metro back to the apartment pour un petit repos before I met up with some camp friends who are here in Paris!  A rainy day, but I'm in Paris, so it was still a good day :)