Some observations so far...

I spent another day exploring the city, starting with my oral exam at the Institut Catholique (or "Catho") and ending with a delicious dinner near my apartment. The weather was fantastic, the food was even better and I am falling in love with Parisian life! I did find myself continually struck by very obvious differences between life here and at home (at least how I've experienced it). 1. FOOD IS RIDICULOUSLY EXPENSIVE. There is honestly no comparison in price that I've ever seen in the Bay Area, which is also pretty darn pricey. I'm not kidding when I say that it is close to impossible to eat dinner out for less than 6 euros ($9). That will buy you one very simple crepe (ham, cheese and egg) and tap water. If you actually want to be satisfied, you have to realistically plan on paying at least 12 euros ($18) - 20 euros for a meal and a drink is pretty middle of the road. It is possible to buy a sandwich at a boulangerie for 4ish euros, but you can only eat so many sandwiches before even the foodgasmic Parisian baguettes start to get a little old. I am now cooking scrambled eggs in my apartment for breakfast and got some supplies for snacks and salads at the supermarche, but I'm limited in what I can cook and store. Besides, it's so hard to resist the amazing food here!!! 2. GROCERY STORES are waaayy smaller here and carry only the essentials. I think that it would have the same selection as an American Safeway if you just took out all the prepared foods minus cookies (the French do love their biscuits!). Also, when you check out, the cashier just pushes your purchases to the end of the conveyer belt and you have to bag them yourself. There are only small plastic bags, no large paper bags, and most everyone brings their own reusable bags (or rolling carts). I'm not sure how I feel about the bag-your-own thing, but the noticeable conservation of bags is great to see! 3. To branch off of #2, stores here carry either ONE thing or EVERYTHING. I was in a store today called Carrefour that literally was the size of a city block and was essentially a full grocery store plus a Target plus a CVS. I was so overwhelmed. My friend Connie and I were looking for hair straighteners and literally spent an hour combing the store only to discover when we asked someone that it was on the one aisle we had somehow missed. On the other hand, most neighborhoods have very specialized stores that only sell bread, pastries, raw meat, cooked and processed meats, chocolates, wines, cheeses, fruits and veggies, or little 7-11 type things. It feels like the city is stuck between the old ways of going to a vendor with a lot of specialized knowledge and quality product and the modern demands for an "everything" store. I definitely love the feel of the small shops more, but sometimes a girl's got to get a hair straightener, lettuce and laundry soap in the same trip. 4. NO SEAT COVERS. Self-explanatory. 5. THE METRO IS AWESOME and although it's kind of a pain to have to walk a couple of blocks with bags of heavy things from the supermarket, it's also really really nice to not have to deal with cars and parking and gas. There are frequent enough stops that it's really not that bad - although I moan and groan about having to walk 3 or 4 blocks to the nearest one. 6. FRENCH PEOPLE ARE ACTUALLY NICE. No, really. I have not encountered any more rude people here than I do at home, and a lot of people are very friendly and helpful when we ask for directions or help finding something in the store. 7. French people DRESS. Not necessarily fancy, but they obviously take a lot of pride in what they wear and realize that it makes a loud statement to others. I have not seen a single sloppily dressed Parisian - they dress for the most part more conservatively than Americans (less skin for the girls, absolutely NO boxers showing for guys) and no one wears ripped or acid washed jeans or sweats or yoga pants (gasp!). Lots of boots, scarves, dark tailored jeans and flats, few tennis shoes and just a clear attitude that the extra 20 minutes it takes in the morning is worth it. 8. The VAT makes life WAY EASIER. It's such a refreshing change to not have to mentally add tax and tip every time you order food. What you see is what you get, from menus to supermarket aisles. I'm sure we're paying the government through the nose, but everyone gets healthcare and I always know exactly what I'm paying for everything. Lots of round prices and no annoying pennies to collect in the bottom of your wallet. I believe those are the important points :) Of course, this is only the 2nd full day I've had in this beautiful city, so I'll keep you posted on groundbreaking observations. One side note is my new obsession with crepes. I cannot thank the French food gods enough for making something so versatile and so divine. For two nights now I've had a buckwheat crepe with egg, ham (which is SO much better here) and fromage for dinner and split a dessert crepe made with the traditional white flour batter you find at home. Tenny and I shared one called "La Creole" which had bananas and warm, melted dark chocolate folded into a crepe and topped with a scoop of caramel ice cream and whipped cream. I almost died. Now hopefully I can get some sleep tonight - my body woke me up at 3am and was wide awake unil 8am when I had to get up anyway. Boo :( Wish me luck!