Impending life update:
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| "Flood site illegal to public" |
Guys, Paris is kind of a nightmare right now. It has been raining for
almost a week straight, and it shows no signs of stopping for a while.
This was the rainiest May since 1960, and it is causing a lot of
problems. Due to flooding all over France, soldiers have had to rescue
people from their homes and cars, and one little village was evacuated.
In Paris, the Seine is unbelievably high:
See how high the water is under that bridge? And the water isn’t even done rising yet. YAY
My fashion professor has lived in Paris his entire life, and he said he
has never seen the river like this. He was so appalled that he, and many
other Parisians, stopped to take a picture of it alongside all the
tourists.
Normally, you can walk down some stairs to little walkways along the
Seine. As you can see, those are all gone now, even though I just ate a
crepe down there last week.
They had to close the Louvre yesterday and today so they could start
moving paintings in the vulnerable-to-flooding underground reserves to
the top floors where they would be safe, and the Musée d'Orsay did the same.
Other buildings are suffering too. Both bathrooms in my school building are flooded.
See, there used to be a bathroom at the bottom of these stairs. Now it’s a little swimming pool.
If the rain doesn't stop soon, this blog is going to become a real-life version of Atlantis.
Basically, the rain sucks.
Also, I am going weigh SO MUCH when I return to the United States. All
we eat is bread, all the time. We have toast and/or cereal for
breakfast. We eat it with dinner, or else we have rice or pasta. We eat
it as a snack, when it is rolled up and filled with chocolate and called
a croissant or a crepe. Sometimes they put meat and cheese on it and
call it a sandwich, but it is still mostly bread.
Let it be known that I am not complaining. There are few things on this
earth that I love more than bread, but it is unfortunate that it will be
bikini season when I get home, yet I will look like the Pillsbury dough
boy.
Other things of note that I would like to mention:
I am thoroughly enjoying listening to French people try to speak
English. For instance, my fashion professor was trying to say the word
“thistle” the other day. He kept saying “tistle,” like without the H,
and we were trying to say “no, THistle.” Hilariously, he said “Tistle.
I’m doing it right!” They just can’t really make the H sound because it
is rarely used in the French language, and when it is they just
pronounce it very differently. (Example: the French word for winter is
“hiver,” but it is pronounced “eevair.”)
On the other hand, the French people are getting a kick out of our
American expressions. Our host mom, Claudia, thinks it is very funny
when we use phrases like “that sounds good” or “I’m pretty sure,”
because they don’t actually make any logical sense but we use them all
the time.
So that is life right now. There will be another post soon, hopefully recapping my weekend trip to the Loire Valley!
À bientôt!
Sydne
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Read more from Sydne at http://theyesgirlwrites.blogspot.com/
To find out more about the ISA Paris, France: Arts & French Language at the Institut Catholique de Paris program, check out http://studiesabroad.com/paris
Read more from Sydne at http://theyesgirlwrites.blogspot.com/
To find out more about the ISA Paris, France: Arts & French Language at the Institut Catholique de Paris program, check out http://studiesabroad.com/paris
