Captivated

As if I needed to fall anymore in LOVE with Paris, today I absolutely did. In regards to my last post, I met up with Antoine today. Yes, I finally got the nerve to call him back. No, he did not answer so I wasted a bunch of time avoiding calling him. Yes, he did call me back. Yes, this time I - myself - did pick up. And, the conversation went rather smoothly if I do say so myself. Besides little errors like "where must we meet" instead of "where should we meet" but he knew what I was trying to say nonetheless.

Not gonna lie, up until this point I`ve worried a little bit that I`ll never become fluent. As much as I DO understand and as much as I CAN say already, there is still always that part of me that thinks it won`t ever happen. Mostly I feel that way because I don`t see that much improvement from day to day. It`s almost like I expect to just wake up each morning and be like, "ohmigosh, I speak French SO much better today than yesterday ! I can so totally tell !" But obvi that just won`t ever happen. I know I have to be patient. Anyway, a week from this upcoming Thursday (so the 24th) I`m taking a train out to the French countryside for a few days to visit Jonas (another exchange student I had) and I`ve been worried that I`ll get there and barely be able to communicate. Well, all those worries and negative thoughts are long and gone out the window after today.

Antoine and I met up at Chatelet - Les Halles which I might point out is not only the biggest metro station in Paris but the biggest metro station in the WORLD! I knew this when he suggested meeting there but not wanting to say anymore than what was absolutely necessary for progression of the conversation I said nothing and figured we`d just deal with it when we got there. So today I stepped out of the RER at exactly 13h00, which was the time we agreed to meet, and he called me at exactly 13h01 asking where I was. All confused and disoriented I mumbled some jibberish of having no idea where I was then the call dropped. How perfect. He called back right as I was stepping onto the street and he asked where I was and I was like, "umm. . .I`m by a foot locker . . .and a Gap. . .hmm Oh ! I`m on Rue de Rivoli !" And he knew where I was (and so did I - shocker) and he told me to wait there and he would arrive momentarily.

It`s funny, really. I had imagined myself waiting in a coffee shop someday expecting to see Jonas walk in but never did I think I`d see or hear from Antoine again. Jonas is really the only one of the exchange students we had that I kept in constant contact with. He has known I`d be moving to France in August of 2009 for years probably (well, definitely at least a year), but I found Antoine on FaceBook literally a week before I left and was pleasantly surprised to find out he lives IN Paris. In the moments leading up to me leaving for Paris I would imagine myself in situations where I`d be meeting Jonas again (or even Edouard) and it would throw me through a loop. They were the kind of thoughts that really made me realize that I was moving to another COUNTRY and how strange it was that I`d be seeing people I had only met once and not seen in four years at least.

So there I was, standing awkwardly on Rue de Rivoli across from the Gap not really knowing what to do with myself. Hmm . . . what is the least awkward way to stand . . . Hand on my hip ? No, I feel like I`m posing for somethang . . . legs crossed or uncrossed ? Should I hold my purse like I do on the metro or does that look too tense ? Hmm . . . which way will he be coming from ? Will I go walking towards him or just stand here smiling all creepily back at him till he gets to me ? Oh crap, how will we greet each other ? The standard American hug or the super cute French bise ? Is that him ? Oh no that`s some random old man . . . should I go sit on that wall ? No, my skirt might get dirty . . . and then in the midst of all my awkwardness I turn my head and Antoine is right there ! My instincts told me to be like, "OMG hey Antoine !" but my brain told me to be more composed and simply say, "Salut Antoine ! *bise, bise* ca va ?" Which I executed flawlessly. I`d have mistaken me for a Parisienne if I saw myself on the streets.

Anyway, we stood on the corner for a little bit just chatting. He mentioned that he realized after he talked to me that Chatelet was huge and probably not the best place for us to meet, and I agreed but said it wasn`t a big deal (ha! I knew I should have said somethang). He proceeded to ask me what I`ve already seen in Paris, and since I really haven`t seen anythang he proposed to go the Louvre and work our way from there. So there we were, walking along the streets of Paris (I can`t say that sentence enough . . . oh you know, just walking the streets of Paris, as always) and conversation just flowed! His French is beautiful, I could understand everythang he said flawlessly. My comprehension is better than my speaking skills, so sometimes I didn`t have much of a response to give which is totally expected, but nonetheless I even surprised myself at how much we were able to talk about.

We didn`t go inside the Louvre, but we walked along the big glass pyramids then through the garden that connects to it (totally forget what it`s called) and then we sat down at this cute little cafe in the garden and drank little coffees (which he paid for, so cute). And when I say little coffees, I mean LITTLE coffees. I felt like I was sipping coffee out of a shot glass, it was absurd. We proceeded to walk along the streets with all the big stores like Chanel and Gucci and Ralph Lauren (not on the Champs Elysees though . . . we hadn`t gotten there yet) and we stopped in this renowned French bakery and he bought me a bunch of different flavors of macaroons. He insisted that I taste a macaroon because Paris is known for them and that I had to have a bunch of flavors so I could find out which one is my favorite (including pistachio, his personal favorite).

Then, to my surprise, he had one of his friends pick us up in his car. Antoine figured that a car would be the best and most efficient way to show me Paris since a bus is stupid and for tourists and we wouldn`t cover enough ground walking. I didn`t think much of it, until his friend pulled up in what looked like a brand new convertible ! This car was beyond chic. It was the definition of class. It was a tiny little coupe convertible barely big enough for two people, let alone three. This guy had sugar daddy written all over him - Prada sunglasses, Armani belt, his car which was some French brand that I don`t remember, it started with a P. And off we went.

I never in a million years imagined that I`d be cruising through Paris riding shot gun in easily the nicest car I had ever been in with Antoine sitting in the back. It was surreal. I saw so much, learned so much, and spoke so much! I think that is probably one of the main reasons today was so amazing for me. Communicating was effortless. They laughed at my jokes, I laughed at theirs, they were amazed at how well I could speak and I cannot emphasize enough how good it makes me feel when French people tell me that I speak French well. It`s a compliment that I will never tire of hearing.

Cutting the story short, we drove around, went and got ice cream at this amazing little ice cream place behind the Notre Dame, walked around some more, drove some more, and eventually they dropped me off back home (I also didn`t even spend a penny . . . so spoiled). I will undoubtedly be spending more time with Antoine and I assume his friend too, whose name I can`t remember by the way . . . oops.

Today was the first day that I really truly in my heart feel that I am going to become a part of this culture, or rather, this culture will become a part of me . . . and there really are no words to describe how that feels. Paris, I am yours.