The sun came out in Paris

Unlike the night before, our Monsieur joined us for dinner last night. He's a jolly, older gentleman that speaks mainly French. We were told that the table would be strictly French conversation only last night, so I was a bit worried. To my surprise, though, speaking came quite easy to me. I did struggle with pronunciation of a few words, but both madame helped me when I struggled with words. 

Last night's dinner consisted of kabobs of pork, cheese, and peppers, carrots and zucchini, rice, and bread. Interesting, but not my favorite. Perhaps because the meet was not well seasoned, because we were supposed to dip it into a side sauce. What was this "side sauce", you ask. Its yellow and I have never liked it. You guessed it, MUSTARD. I know what you're thinking, "Its probably a much nicer type of mustard, though. You might have liked it". However, my dislike for mustard is far, far too strong, so I declined the mustard and relied on the seasoning of the vegetables to liven up my meat. Once again, we had a cheese course. The same 2 cheeses were presented. Now, I must admit I'd been feeling guilty for not even trying the cheese the night before. Which explains why, through gritted teeth, accepted the cheese. I cut a tiny piece, grabbed a piece of bread, spread the cheese on, and told myself "its just butter". To my surprise, it wasn't half bad. I didn't hate it, but its not my favorite. (Side note: I'm sure the cheese is very, very nice and quite delicious. I'm just not a cheese lover, so unfortunately I am unable to appreciate it)

One of the liveliest parts of dinner came when Sarah informed our parents she had seen a "drageur" on the metro. A "drageur" is a term used to describe a man who follows a (tourist) women in hopes to charm her and possibly pick pocket her. Our French parents laughed and told her that she must have the wrong word, because they assumed tourists, like us, were unfamiliar with this word. They asked us to describe what we were trying to say. When they realized she actually meant "drageur" they were dumbfounded. They couldn't believe we knew the word. Intrigued, our madame asked me what the English word for "drageur" would be. Sarah and I came up with con artist and pick up artist. Then, she wanted to know what the verb for these "artist", as she called them, would be. After much thought, Sarah declared there really was no verb in the English language. I, however, was a bit more clever. "Hitting on", I said. (Definitely one of those times when you say something in your head and it comes out of your mouth by accident. Ooops!) Sarah and I both bursts out laughing. I, then, had to explain to my host parents the meaning of "hitting on". They understood and thought it was very funny, as well. Madame ran over to the counter (in the middle of dinner) and grabbed a pen and notepad. She asked us to spell the words "pick up artist", "con artist", and "hitting on" so that she could memorize them. "I learn from you, just like you learn from me", she said. Cool, huh?

After our very exciting and encouraging dinner conversation madame told us that of all the students she's hosted, we were the best French speakers. Both Sarah and I were a bit shocked and very flattered. She also said that we should call our parents and tell them they did a wonderful job with us, because we were both such mannerly young ladies. (Snaps for my mom and dad! :] ) 

Later, we took a very short (only 1 metro stop away) trip to the Eiffel Tower to meet our friends. We took about a million touristy pictures at the Eiffel Tower. (I'm the first one to admit that its cheesy, but I mean come on, its teh EIFFEL TOWER!) We decided to give our cameras a break and hit a nearby crepe stand. Best.decision.ever. I had forgotten how delicious French crepes are. (Dad, your crepe's are great, but we all know French crepes are in a league of their own). Once we'd scarfed down the crepes, it was back to more picture taking! We ended the night sitting at a cafe drinking cocas (cokes) and watching the groups of tourists walk by and gawk at the Eiffel Tower. 

Today was the first truly sunny day we've had in Paris! It feels great! I was finally able to break out one of my cute sundresses! My bright cardigan makes me stand out, because the French were very muted/dark colors. Even though I stick out a bit, I continue to wear the cardis. Not even French culture can take my trusty Jcrew cardis from my wardrobe! haha

We had no problem at all getting to CUPA this morning. Its so simple we're not quite sure how we got so turned around! Classes went smoothly, as well. Dr. Bratu is a very funny man. He makes 2310 very interesting. We learned informatique pratique (practical information) like how to order like a true Parisian in the local cafes. With Dr. Uber in 232o we focused a lot on the upcoming trip to Loire Valley. We were assigned 2 readings (in French) on the castles (chateaux) of Loire Valley. (We leave for Loire Valley Monday and return sometime Tuesday.) 

Around 1 we were dismissed from class and headed out in Latin quarter to find some lunch. We ended up at a panini shop around the corner. I had a mozzarella and parmesan panini. It was tasty, and better yet, inexpensive! 

We were all pretty beat after lunch, so we took the metro to our houses to rest and work on homework until dinner time. 

I believe we'll all meet up sometime later on, after dinner. Caroline and Shae might be eating dinner with our family tonight, because our families are friends. None of us have really heard for sure, though. I have my first interro (quiz) tomorrow, so I've got to get to studying some vocabulary!