Can it get any better?

I had a delightful evening watching the movie Fame, which premiers in Paris next week, for free. The best part wasn't the cookies I nibbled on afterwards but the fact that I was in the American Ambassador Charles Rivkin's house! The house was beautiful and ornate as usual. I received an invitation because of the Gilman Scholarship that I received for study abroad through the State Department. There were many different kinds of people in attendance, including the Ambassador and his wife. I chatted with a lawyer woman from New York for a while afterwards.

I'm making a habit of waking up early on Monday mornings. I've started tutoring children in English at Jean Moulin College, which is a middle school. This morning I spent two hours conversing with two 14-year-old boys. It's a great opportunity because French schools are generally very closed. Parents aren't even allowed into schools like they are in America. The teens have been telling me all about their lives and school system, so it's a cultural lesson for me. A few others in my program have been volunteering there too since my professor Gayle suggested it.

On Sunday I went with my friend Caroline to Sainte-Chapelle, the prettiest church I have ever seen. It's colorful and full of stained glass. We happened to arrive just as a free tour was beginning in English. The High Gothic church was originally part of the royal residences, along with the Conciergerie that we also visited. The church has not operated as such since it was trashed during the French Revolution. The Conciergerie housed famous prisoners including Marie-Antoinette and Robespierre.

Saturday night was Nuit Blanche, a Paris festival where artistic light exhibits were displayed along with other entertainment. Cydney and I went to Notre Dame where large illuminated crystals were randomly placed and a concert was going on, a bridge where big, blue, lit-up cubes were, and Luxembourg Gardens where a giant disco ball hung in the air. During the day I had went to Rodin's Gardens and Museum to study. I think it's so cool that I can sit on a bench by The Thinker and do my homework!

I also need to mention the fashion "show" I went to on Friday. Someone got everyone in my program passes, so a group of us went. We received badges that said we were "buyers" - as if! Then we strolled through designers' booths and pretended to shop for accessories and clothes, most of which didn't even have sizes or price tags (can we say unaffordable?). It was designed for people to order articles in bulk to sell.

French Fact: In the 6th century, the first king, Clovis, made Ile-de-la-Cité his home. It was the traditional seat of power for centuries. Sainte-Chapelle and Notre Dame are still located on this island in the Seine.