Settling in

I woke up this morning at 4:30 am to the sound of a heavy door slamming. Since yesterday was the summer solstice, most people were out very late celebrating. I however didn't make it past 9:00 pm. After waking up, I laid in bed until the sun began to rise around 5:30 am. 

Early morning view out of my window.

At about 7:00 am my growling stomach convinced me to head out in search of some food. Google maps suggested that there was a cafe on the corner of the park that typically opens at 7. I walked over to the cafe on deserted streets and found it closed. At this point I started getting really hungry. I wandered around for another 20 minutes without finding much of anything really and headed back to the vending machine at my place. The vending machine had a pretty decent selection of pastries and coffee. I settled on a raisin swirl pastry and a café au lait for a grand total of €2.10. Not bad!

Once I wasted sufficient time on the internet, I decided to go out exploring again. There are so many people who live around here, surely there is a decent cafe and grocery store around! First, I walked over to the main building of the complex I live in and stopped by the ATM. I was worried that my bank would block my withdrawal so I was holding my breath a bit, but it worked! Hooray for being able to withdraw money! The complex is actually a tourist attraction in its own right. The Cité Internationale is like a small community with 40 houses, each representing a different country (or set of countries). The architecture of some of the houses is quite stunning.

The main building of the Cité Internationale.

 

Houses at the Cité Internationale.

Someone had mentioned to me the location of a good grocery store so I ambled over to it and bought some food. The store was decent but not great. It was definitely a step up from the place I bought sardines and cheese last night, but their baguettes came in plastic bags. That left me a little disappointed. Where is the French cuilinary pride? I mean, Berkeley is also known for its food, but surely the grocery stores in Paris are superior to those in California. I started to get worried that I lived too far away from the city center to have access to good food and bustling Parisian streets. 

Anyway, I bought some fruit, cheese, bread, smoked salmon, yogurt, and salad which will hopefully stave off any fits of starvation like that experienced this morning. The grocery shopping went almost without a hitch, except that when I went to pay for the food, I couldn't find the total price written anywhere on the checkout screen. The woman at the register was impatiently speaking in French to me as I confusedly pulled out some Euros and looked at her. I finally found the total hidden in the corner of the checkout screen and said, "Oh!" and handed her the appropriate number of Euros. I really ought to learn my numbers in French. 

Foods.

Once I had eaten my fill, I decided to venture out to the local telephone store, Orange, to buy a mobile phone. I was hoping that this part of town would be livelier than the other parts I had visited. And finally, it was! There were cute little cheese shops, amazingly snooty looking grocery stores, and an endless supply of cafes, sweet shops, and bakeries, people selling flowers on the street and making music, and lots of bustling people going about their bustling ways. It was wonderful! I feel like I've found the heart of this part of Paris.

Fromagerie (cheese shop) display.

I think Donny would go insane upon the sight of some of these sweets.

Before leaving for Orange, I used google translate to write out, "I would like to buy a prepaid mobile phone and an international calling card to call the United States." in my notebook. Thank goodness I did that. As soon as I entered the store I forgot the few French words I know but was thankfully able to get by with only the words bonjour, merci, and au revoir. The woman who helped me was very patient with me and seemed to know exactly what I wanted. She directed me to the cheapest phone and set me up with a local number and SIM card. There are plenty of foreign students around here so she seemed used to it. Anyway, thank you Orange for your wonderful service.

Now it is 9:00 pm, but the sun is still high in the sky. I think I'll go to bed soon anyway. I wish I had a travel buddy to explore Paris at night with, but right now I still feel a little wary of wandering around alone at night. So, I will sleep and when I wake up I will search for a little cafe that is open on Sunday where I can read for a bit. Also, the weather is supposed to be better tomorrow, it rained all day today, so I hope to spend more time checking out the park by my place. I'd also like to head over to ESPCI so I know how to get there for work on Monday.

Bonne nuit!