French Class, Le Bon Marché, and Le Sorbonne

Place de la Sorbonne

I attended my first French "conversation group" this morning at Ecole Lutèce Langue – a nearby French language school. This is put on 3 days a week by Parler Paris, the French Property group through which I am renting my apartment. The first session is free, and then the cost is €10 per session after that. The attendees are separated into two small groups. My group had 5 – two English speakers – myself and Cler, a retired gentleman living in Paris for 10 months with his wife. And 3 French speakers -- mainly men in their 30's and early 40's I would guess. The first 45 minutes French only is spoken; then the next 45 minutes it’s only English. I found I am able to understand only snipets of French here and there, but am able to speak French decently enough to get by. This presents problems when I’m out and about because I can ask questions but can’t understand the answers!

After French class, I returned to my apartment to change into warmer, more comfortable clothes (rainy and cold today), grab my parapluie, and then it was off to the corner Brasserie for lunch. I finally managed to purchase lunch for €7,50 (instead of €15-18 which is the usual). I eat breakfast here, have lunch out somewhere just so I can eat one fairly decent meal per day, then eat dinner here around 9 pm -- usually soup, salad and bread, or the occasional cheese omelet. After lunch I took a couple of metros to the Bon Marché to visit the Grand Epicurié again – the wonderful gourmet grocery store located on floor “-1” [the basement] of Bon Marché. A quick aside here – the French consider the 1st floor as floor zero, thus our 2nd floor would be the first floor here, and the basement ends up being the “-1” floor. Interesting counting method they have here. What I remembered from last time I visited was all of the beautiful colored sugar they had in large glass barrel-type containers which are no longer there. But it was great fun to look around and I bought a couple of “macarons" to munch on because I wanted to try them. They are nothing like our macaroons which are mainly coconut; these are 2 meringue-like cookies sandwiched together with various types of fillings. I tried chocolate and praline and both were excellent but only 1 or 2 bites each.

On the way to the Grand Épicerie, I came across a wonderful film exhibit set up in one of the hallways of the Bon Marché. There were many still photographs of famous films and film stars, but the most interesting element was the short hallway with live films playing in separate frames along the way. I’ve added a short video of this so you can get the feel of it. Quite impressive.

After that adventure, I was off on another metro to check out the Sorbonne University, something I’ve been wanting to see since I first came to Paris at the tender age of 24. One of my very first boyfriends – a young man I met on the ship on the way to Europe -- was attending the Sorbonne when I met him. The University of Paris is actually 13 separate universities under the “Rectorate of Paris” which has its offices in the Sorbonne. I learned that early on, the name Sorbonne referred to the entire University of Paris system, but today it generally refers to the historical building located in the 5th arrondisement in Paris, better known as the Latin Quarter. This is the area I visited, and I’ve added a picture here of the Place de la Sorbonne located in front of the chapel of the Sorbonne which dates back to 1639. On the way back down rue St Michel from the Sorbonne, I came across a Starbucks and stopped in for a hot chocolate. Wow, a tall drink for only €3,60! Much more economical, and a lot more satisfying, than those teeny tiny espressos at the cafés, but of course less than half the ambience which is very important when you’re in Paris. Starbucks seems to be just as popular here as at home, but unfortunately the lines were just as long as at home as well.

I then took 3 metros back home again, making another quick stop at the Monoprix for some Thon (tuna) for tonight's salad, and now I'm in for the evening. I've been traveling since 10:30 am and arrived home again at 7:30 pm so it’s been quite a day.
Bonne nuit


Bon Marche Film Exhibit