Métro, Boulot, Dodo

Métro, boulot, dodo is the French equivalent of "the daily grind." I now have a daily routine, meaning I'm not stumbling [as] cluelessly around the city anymore, which is kind of cool.

I wake up at about 8am and have a leisurely breakfast of baguette and homemade jam and maybe some cheese or peanut butter (not very French). 

Then I walk about 45 min to school (unless I'm running late, in which case I take the metro -- above is the sign at the Louvre metro station). I either listen to Billie Holiday or read the New Yorker.

I usually have some kind of fruit and pastry or baked good for lunch. Yesterday I had a croissant and Camembert, the most French of french cheeses. It stunk up my backpack, but it was worth it.

Then after class I do some sort of cultural activity or just walk around. Yesterday we went on a tour with my group at l'Hotel de Ville, a very famous, old hotel with paintings of the General Lafayette and such. Then I went to the Musée d'Orsay and drooled over the Impressionists. Pas mal.

It's raining in Paris. Although it's not quite the same as sunning myself all day in Sweden, my routine here leaves me with little to complain about. Yesterday I bought an entire baguette for dinner; the whole thing cost less than the croissant I had for lunch. Walking back home from the Musée d'Orsay, wearing my trench coat, listening to jazz while rain dripped off of my umbrella onto the crust of my bread (of which I ripped off chunks), I felt like such a local. Naturally, if someone had asked me to speak, any illusions of nativeness would have evaporated (and I'm sure I didn't look very Parisian while taking the above photo), but no matter. I'm developing a rhythm here. I know what kinds of cheese I like. I know the position of the Louvre relative to other monuments. Life is good.