Vin, Chocolat, and English Conversation, OH MY!!

Bonjour tout le monde! Oh what a crazy last two weeks I have had...very busy, but a good busy. I've been to Paris each of the past two weekends, spent some time with my host family, been running back and forth to St Germain en Laye for my French courses, fallen ill, and haven't had much time to talk with anyone from the States, so don't feel neglected, it's not just YOU!

I'll start with last weekend, since that was more or less where I left off, I think. I started off my Saturday in the 9th arrondissement on a secret mission to collect information for my brother. My mission took me to nearly every park in the neighborhood until I finally found the one (I think) I was looking for. I also walked past various cafés without much luck in finding what I was looking for in a café...however, I did get a good feeling of life in the 9th, so I didn't completely fail my mission, it just remains unfinished for the moment. However, I imagine I will finish it next weekend if I am lucky. Since I knew this mission would take me a little time, I arrived in Paris early enough to see the city awake from its slumber into the buzzing metropolis seen in films. In the afternoon, I met up with a friend to go to the Fête des Vendanges in Montmartre (where one can find the Sacré Coeur and complain about the monstrosity known as the Tour Montparnasse, which sticks out in the skyline like a flag-waving, picture-taking American tourist at the Arc de Triomphe who might as well be wearing a sign saying, "STEAL MY MONEY!"). The Fête des Vendanges is a wine festival that features Montmartre's wine, as well as wines from all regions of France and the rest of the world. We went to the parade, which featured old folk-song singing French men and women and a circus-like act of people climbing on top of each other, making sure to put the little children at the top, so that they get injured the most if something goes wrong and everyone falls. Despite the immense crowd, it was quite an enjoyable experience (or maybe that's just the wine talking...). I ended the day with my friend admiring the Parisian skyline and watching the BEST fireworks display I have ever witnessed. Oh yeah...I almost forgot my favorite part of the day, on the way to Montmartre, when I saw a man walking down the tree-lined median of Boulevard de Clichy (boulevard where one finds the Moulin Rouge surrounded by endless streams of sex shops) who decided he had an absolutely fantastic penis and wanted to show it to the world...still trying to get that one out of my head...For pictures of the Fete, see below...

Sunday I spent at home, relaxing, playing with the kids, and trying to get the disturbing images out of my head. Sunday evening was the inaugural english conversation night in Bazemont with many of the adolescents from the village, which was a grand success. It's neat to be able to share something of my culture/life with the French and try to give back some of what they are giving me...and it's also fun to try and figure out what the heck they are saying. Although it may be perfectly formed English, it's not always decipherable through the thick accents. Anyway, I will be continuing these conversation nights every other Sunday evening (except for 2 in a row last week and this week) after the school vacation which begins next weekend. We'll be staying here for the vacation, but we are going to the "Cirque de Plume", which should be interesting.

I was in Paris again yesterday, this time to attend the Salon du Chocolat with a friend. As you can probably guess, this is an exposition devoted entirely (well, almost entirely...) to chocolate. I say almost entirely because they had a stage where there were various dances from around the world (including a capoeira demonstration!) that had absolutely nothing to do with chocolate. For those of you who don't know, capoeira is a Brazilian dance/martial art...for a demonstration, I will refer you to my brother, who can actually do some of these things without pulling a muscle (unlike me). Anyway, the chocolate was absolutely fantastic and I managed to escape after all the free tastings without a stomachache, which I thought was an accomplishment in itself. They also had different items made out of chocolate: a violin, a flute, clothing that they put on mannequins, etc...pictures will be coming soon...Afterwards, I went with my friend to a neat little bookstore near Notre Dame, where I wandered through the labyrinth of shelves while admiring the beauty of a layout that made absolultely no sense. Tonight I'll be leading another English conversation evening before starting another week full of the "normal stuff." Stay tuned for pictures...

Fete Des Vendanges- Montmartre