"It is impossible to overdo luxury." -French proverb

NOTE: This was supposed to be posted yesterday but Blogger wasn't working.

For those of you that haven't heard me wax poetic about my new living situation, let me share it with you. I am living with an older French woman named Mme. de Billy (pronounced DUH-BEE-YEE), in a neighborhood just outside the Paris city limits called Neuilly (NUH-YEE). It is phenomenal - the area is residential, with tree-lined streets and beautiful apartment buildings, but it still has a city feel. I am about a 5-minute walk from the Metro, on the same line as the Accent center, so it's super easy to get into the city!
Mme. de Billy is, in a word, wealthy. We live on the ground floor of this ritzy apartment building. Her apartment is gigantic by Parisian standards, and full of beautiful antiques. My room is the best, though - the walls are covered in beautiful red and yellow toile fabric, and there is a big couch in my room covered in the same fabric. I have a twin bed and several chests of drawers and a beautiful old desk. The walls have gorgeous paintings on them and gilt-framed mirrors. My favorite part, though, is that I have two huge French doors that open into a private walled garden. All in all, not a bad arrangement!
Madame, as I call her, is very sweet. During the week, we eat dinner together between 8:30 and 9 (she seems to have a very set schedule), and then she gives me breakfast in the morning. She's in her late 50s, early 60s I would say and she works in public relations, I think. She's incredibly skinny and very chic - une vraie Parisienne! She's been hosting students in her apartment for years. She always askes for a "nice young lady," so I guess I have to be on my best behavior!
Last night, she had one of her friends over for dinner, and we had dinner in the garden - it was incredible! It was one of those moments where I realized just how lucky I am to be here. Her friend is a widow who is a nurse in Paris, so we had a conversation all about the medical profession in France and I told her my mom was a nurse also, etc. She actually wrote a book all about nursing in France and said she'd give me a copy for my mom. She was very talkative and fun to listen to! According to her, everything was "sympa," or "genial," which means great/nice. We drank a lot of wine and when I hesitated to have more because I didn't want her to think I'm a glutton, she said, "Non, non, Katherine, we don't have a complex here. We are friends of Bacchus [the god of wine]!"
Meals here are so different - we had about 6 different courses last night. We started off with tabouleh, which is this amazing couscous salad with tomatoes, mint, raisins, etc. Then we had ham slices and bread, then a crepe filled with egg and cheese. After that was a green salad with olive oil and chives, followed by a cheese course. I'm not a big smelly cheese fan, but this cheese was amazing! There was this cheese from the Basque region of Spain that you eat with cherry jelly, as well as this really soft cheese with walnuts on top that tasted vaguely maple-y. Mmm. After cheese comes fruit - we had these tiny little plums called Reines-Claudes (I'm not sure on the spelling) that were the most amazing fruit I've ever put in my mouth. They look like tiny green apples, but they have a plummy texture and are super sweet and juicy. I've never seen them in the U.S., but if you ever get the chance to try one, don't pass it up! Finally, we each had a piece of fudge. Heaven!
I get the results of my French language placement exam tomorrow, as well as my class schedule. I also have my first French class tomorrow evening - classes here don't seem to start before noon, and my French class is from 5-7pm every evening.Basically, Paris is absolutely amazing (still) and plein de surprises (full of surprises)!ALSO, you can write to me (or send packages*) to this address:

Kate Sullivan
c/o ACCENT Paris
89, Rue du Faubourg Saint Antoine
75011 Paris
FRANCE

*My mom has probably freaked out and told you I can't receive packages because customs taxes are too high, but as long as you write "NO COMMERCIAL VALUE" on the box, it's fine. Also, please be sure to write AIRMAIL on envelopes/packages.