One of the biggest problems in Paris is that the French people often refuse to speak to Americans in French. Even if you speak only in French to them, they will still respond to you in English. It's very annoying when you're doing your best to immerse into the French language and culture, but no one ever said that the Parisians were the friendliest people on earth.
Today after class, some of us went to the Arc de Triomphe on a beautiful and sunny day to take pictures, but unfortunately it was closed for repairs. Lots of the great buildings and monuments in Paris are under construction or cleaning, yet this is necessary to keep the beautiful architecture and history like it is. We ended up at the Musée Rodin, which houses some of the most famous works of Auguste Rodin, the French sculptor. The woman at the ticket counter was a prime example of French rudeness. She asked me for my passport to verify my age as if I was trying to cheat her, because people under 26 are allowed discounted tickets. Luckily, the man at the Bureau de Poste (Post Office) was much nicer, and he helped me mail several cartes postales (post cards) to the United States. It only cost .85 euro or 85 centimes en français.
I am SUPER exciting for my upcoming weekend trips. I am officially booked to Amsterdam this weekend, Nice on the French Riviera next weekend, and Lisbon, Portugal, the weekend after that. It is relatively cheap to travel from country to country in Western Europe, but the prices do add up. Luckily, I have a little birthday money saved up and the Euro is constantly decreasing in value ($1.19 today!). On the note of money, ATMs and money in France are not the same as in the US. The billets (paper money) are all different sizes by denomination, with 1 or 2 euros in coins only and the 20, 50, or 100 euro bills being too large to fit in an American wallet! The ATMs also have no set bill amount to distribute (like only increments $20 in the US at a time). Its is always a guessing game to see what denominations of bills will pop out of the ATM, and many small stores or restaurants will not accept 50 euro bills.
Tomorrow, the class is visiting ARTE, which is a television channel aired in both France and Germany. It is a joint-venture that is meant to further integrate the cultures of Europe. Off to a café (cafe) with my friends for café (coffee) after dinner. Hopefully they will try speaking French with us this time. Au revoir.
No comments:
Post a Comment