"De quoi va t-on parler?"

This week was like all my other Parisian weeks: full of fast cars and faster women. I joke (obviously). But this week was intense! I started at language school, and it became very evident very quickly just how rusty my French had become since I last studied it, over a year ago. Because of the many different nationalities in the classes (in my class, there are Swedish, Italian, Moroccan, Mexican, Spanish, Ukrainian, American, Canadian, German, Austrian and Korean students!) they are taught only in French, which can be a little draining in a two-and-a-half-hour class, and a little confusing when you come across words you don't know and get French explanations of them, rather than English translations. That being said, my French has improved more in the past week than in my first month here, so I must be doing something right!

Me trying to take notes and listen to the teacher at the same time

On Thursday I visited the Musée Maillol for the exhibition 'Les Borgia et leur temps'. It was a great exhibition about the Borgias themselves, their political and social context, and the art they sponsored. Had it not all been in French, I probably would have understood more, but as it was I still learned a lot and saw some unmissable items, such as an early edition of 'The Prince' and an original portrait of Machiavelli, letters signed by Leonardo da Vinci, and some of Michelangelo's sketches for the Sistine Chapel.  There was also a lot of information on the Renaissance, and I was unsurprised to see that England didn't feature highly in the discussion. Everything we were taught about the insignificance of our isle in AS History was true! Awkward moments followed as I found myself  in the modern art wing of the museum. The security guard was watching me so I had to walk around looking like I understood the paintings while actually having no idea what they meant. It made me wonder if that's what everyone does in modern art galleries...

A typically brilliant photo

Friday night was certainly an experience. I went to the beautiful and famous La Pagode cinema to see my first French film since arriving here. It was called 'Elle L'Adore' and was apparently a comedy. My major success of the evening was smuggling a bottle of wine into the cinema, as my understanding of the plot and dialogue was rather limited. Regardless, the cinema was gorgeous, especially the 'salle japonaise' and oriental garden. Hopefully it's the first of many independent cinema trips this year, although I hope to understand more of my next film!

Yeah...I forgot to take photos. 

Saturday presented the first meeting of my French conversation group. After getting lost in Chatelet metro station/shopping centre/black hole for the umpteenth time, I met up with a few other au pairs to practice my French, starting with coffee and extending to a picnic in Place des Vosges, the oldest planned square in Paris in the historic Marais quarter. The sun was out (for most likely the last day of nice weather this year, sob), and I had a baguette, brie, and good company, so a nice afternoon was had by all.

What it may have looked like, had I had my camera.

Saturday night was La Nuit Blanche, the city-wide all-night arts festival  that had been creating buzz all week. Being the artistic, trendy youth I am, I went to bed instead. How bourgeois.