On doing nothing

I had the pleasant surprise this morning of waking up and being quite hot. Not a comfortable feeling, HOWEVER, it meant that it was not freezing outside! Yes, it really was 75 degrees in Paris today and unlike most Parisians who are still convinced that October means fall weather and trench coats, I fully embraced global warming and rolled up my jeans and put sandals on. After wearing rain boots and layers under my rain coat for the past week, this was a nice change. But, according to the 10 day forecast on Weather Chanel (which I trust 100% seeing as it was founded by a Culver grad) we are going to drop back down to 50s and rain by the end of the week.

I finally got myself to venture to the OFII (Office of Immigration) this past week. By planning on going with my neighbor (a fellow American au pair, Landy, who works for my family's best friends) I knew I couldn't back out. Having to trek all the way across the city to deal with French bureaucracy was not how I wanted to spend my Tuesday morning, but it had to be done. We have to essentially "register" with the OFII within the first 3 months of being in the country in order to legally be residents. Landy and I were both dreading this visit. After managing to find the OFII office (first step) I was up first. I gave the woman my passport, visa and passport photo and then waited. She asked for what I thought was proof of residence (bank statement, bill, etc) so I handed her my bank statement from my French bank account. She promptly asked me "why are you handing me this?".... I'm now thoroughly confused so I hand her another piece of paper with my Paris address. She then explained that I need to bring something that sounded like proof from the owner of the apartment building that I lived there. What? She ended up letting me proceed to getting a doctor's appointment (the next step I was hoping for) but seemed very hung up on that paper. Oh well. Thankfully, both Landy and I managed to get doctor's appointments and neither of us left with any permanent psychological damage.
SIDE NOTE: If you want to find the most unhappy Parisians, go to the OFII. There, you can get a good healthy dose of angry French people who have much more important things to be doing.

Good thing we were close to a central area of the city and found good coffee and croque monsieurs for lunch.

Other than the OFII, the rest of my week has been pretty relaxing. That's one thing these past 7 weeks have taught me how to do: nothing. Being here has shown me that if you want to sit and just read for a while or want to just walk to a park, it's ok. Not that anyone ever told me it wasn't ok, but normally when I would do things like that I would always feel like there was something more productive that I should be doing. Here, I've realized that no; what I'm doing right now is what's important as long as it's making me happy. And if you aren't happy, change something. It's amazing how much more free will you actually exercise when you aren't constantly surrounded by people who can directly influence your everyday decisions. I'm not trying to sound like a hermit or anything and I can't begin to explain to you how important my friends are to me, but there is a lot to be said for being independent.

But back to one of my main interests: food. On Saturday night I met up with Lottie, Elisa and 2 other girls. Lottie, Elisa and I all played soccer together in middle school and it was wonderful to see Lottie again in Paris, and great to reconnect with Elisa who I haven't seen since 8th grade. We went to a little fondue place in Monmartre called Le Refuge des Fondues and it was the most fun I've ever had at dinner. I don't care that some of the reviews of this place say it was awful and hot inside...those people were probably looking for a much classier establishment. I'm not sure what isn't classy about drinking wine out of a baby bottle. This was a no nonsense kind of place...your choices: cheese or meat and red, white or orange juice. The one guy working had his hands full of rowdy college students but he was hilarious. Be prepared to literally climb over the table to find your seat and even in October it was really hot in there but totally worth it. You're dipping bread in melted cheese while drinking wine...those people who wrote bad review need to lighten up. It's safe to say I will be taking people back to this place.

The aftermath of the fondue

Finishing the weekend off in style, I got macaroons with Amy and Landy and went up the Arc de Triomphe. Unlike the Eiffel Tower, you do not have a choice of stairs vs. elevator. Landy and I were a bit surprised when we entered the north side of the arc and looked up at the pinhole that was the light at the top of the spiral staircase, but who doesn't need the workout? I sure did after fondue and macaroons. The view from the top was breathtaking. It was like being in a map. Not quite in the way that Joey tried to stand on the map when Friends went to London but close. It was the best way to get perspective of where everything is located in the city. I could have stayed up there forever. It's also a good place to people watch and see how close tour buses will get to hitting tourists who are trying to take the classic Arc picture. The answer: too close for comfort.

So while it might seem like I've done a lot this week I've also done a lot of nothing. And been very ok with it. 

Coming up this week and next:
Vacation with my family!
Visitors from Culver and Seattle!
Probably more food adventures.
My attempt to read the Hunger Games in French. 
The decline of my English grammar...not only is my French questionable, but my English is also going downhill...so if spell check won't fix it, I probably won't catch mistakes.

Goodnight from Paris and I hope you can learn to love doing nothing.

Panoramic from Sacre Coeur to la Tour Eiffel taken from the top of l'Arc de Triomphe