Life in the 5e arrondissement

I got to Paris on the afternoon of Thursday, 18 September, and my mentor, Leïla, was kind enough to pick me up at the airport and to take me to my dorm, which is across the road from the university. The dorm room was a step down from my apartment in Los Alamos, which I suppose makes sense, given relative property values. The view is great, though. If I lean far enough out my window (not a good idea, since I am on the fourth floor--fifth, by American standards), I can see the Panthéon straight down rue d'Ulm. Across the road is the Ecole Normale Supérieure building, and I am about a five-minute walk from the renowned rue Mouffetard (great name, am


azing place), which is hopping with restaurants, bars, and boutiques where young people browse and shop into the wee hours of the morning.

I've been lucky enough to find some friends in Paris. Not being the type of girl who can just go up to people and to make friends with strangers, I was thrilled to discover that Sunita, an MIT friend, would be earning a Master's degree in Paris. On my second night in town, she and I went out for dinner and some nice Parisian walks, passing by l'Eglise Saint-Etienne-du-Mont and la Sorbonne.

Determined to be good tourists, we took advantage of les Journées du patrimoines, which celebrate European culture and heritage. We started with a late lunch in Place de la Bastille--perfect, since I was still recovering from jetlag, and didn't have an alarm clock--and continued onto Place des Vosges and through le Marais.



















I love people-watching in Paris! Some of them are so interesting. From there, we went to l'Hôtel de ville, which houses the city hall of Paris behind a grand Middle Ages edifice. It was far more spectacular than any city hall I've seen in the US, and the view out onto the Seine was breathtaking. For les Journées du Patrimoine, workers from around the city gave exhibitions on how their handiwork keeps the city hall running. I liked watching the chandelier, doorknob, and fake marble makers, but they also had heating people, custodians, people who track fake money, &c.