The Piano Vache

Bonjour tous et toutes! I have just returned from my usual Tuesday morning routine: open market on the street behind my apartment for fruit/vegetables and usually a pair of shoes. Today I bought pears, peppers, broccoli and a pair of high heels that are honestly super duper and I feel like the prettiest princess. Now I just need to work on getting some decent clothes for clubbing since solid color long sleeves don’t really cut it…

Last night I went out to a bar called The Piano Vache near the Pantheon (which is absolutely stunning at night by the way) with the Italian and his friends. Every Monday night at this bar they have small bands playing and last night it was two guitars and a cello just playing jazz riffs and it was honestly fantastic. There were posters all over the walls for old rock and jazz concerts and the wooden columns in the main room were covered with engravings of names, initials, dates etc. It was cozy and I could imagine coming there often, even during the day or evening to work on homework as weird as that sounds. It didn’t feel like a bar; it felt like a tavern, the benches were covered in old Persian rugs and the chairs were mismatching. The atmosphere was really relaxed and we stayed for nearly two hours just listening to the music and talking during the pauses. Unlike most places, they didn’t force anyone to buy a drink to stay and listen to the music. I still need to figure out what I’m going to ask for in that case; like a coke or an orange juice or whatever. I feel like the French never really have to decide what they’re going to order. They never have to try anything on, there’s never any indecisiveness; they just know. I am obviously in the wrong country but hey that’s how you learn. I thought I had bought the wrong shoe size (and I did the first week we were here but I just use them for shoes around the house now) but I’ve been wearing the heels I bought this morning and they seem to fit fine. It’s incredible how pretty much everyone here wears heels or some sort. I feel like style here is definitely different from the US: everyone follows it here. There are no tried moms wearing sweats; they’re all chasing their toddlers around in kitten heels.

           

I did my laundry here for the first time on Saturday morning, which was definitely an adventure. I was terrified of – worst-case scenario – breaking one of the laundry machines or like getting a broken one and having my clothes come out soaking wet (in which case it would have felt just like being back at Towers). Fortunately there were directions all over the place and it will probably cost 10 euro every time I want to do laundry which isn’t terrible I guess since it’s not any cheaper anywhere else and I HAVE to do it. I was too nervous to leave my laundry there because of all the horror stories I’ve heard about homeless people just wandering in and stealing clothes out of the dryer, so I brought my magazine and stayed and read while I waited for my clothes. The number of people who said hello and goodbye to me as they entered and exited the Laundromat astonished me. I know it’s impolite to enter a store without saying bonjour to the proprietor but I didn’t know that rule extended to fellow citizens in a Laundromat.

I think today I’m going walking around the Marais (6^th arrondissement? 9^th?) with some friends who are searching for vintage shops. There is also talk of falafel so hopefully this falafel experience will be better than the last one…it’s been pretty cloudy and generally gross these past couple of days and the weather says it’s supposed to rain for the next week. Good. That makes me feel like a little less of a loser when I stay home at night. It’s also getting a little chilly out and I woke up 3 times during the night because I was FREEZING. I have a little heater thing in my room but it’s really far away from my bed and I feel sort of weird turning it on before anyone else does. Maybe I just need to keep walking around to keep the blood circulating. I asked the Italian last night if it snows here and he said it does sometimes. I hope I it snows while I’m still here.