I had a really fun weekend. I got all my work done, but my roomate and I managed to make some plans with our mutual friends and it was very interesting!

Friday, my roomate and I slept in. When we were talking, we both realized that we were sick of French food and needed something with real flavors, like Asian or Mexican food. Not that we don't eat well here, just in New York we are used to MUCH more variety. So we wandered around our neighborhood, went to the market for groceries, and had a lunch at this Chinese/Thai place in the area. It did the trick and we were glad we wandered around. I also was able to find a organic grocery store that sells soy products! I was so happy because I really haven't been able to find it anywhere else and I was able to buy some fake meat things and get a little closer to how I normally eat.

Saturday I met up with my friends at the Orangerie Museum, which is in the Tuileries Gardens. It is were the Monet Water Lilies series is housed, as well as a huge collection of Impressionist and modern art. I had never been before, but it was cool to see some of my favorite Renoir and Matisse works in person. We went and had some coffee and hung out at one girl's apartment and we decided to find something to do for dinner. We flipped through my guide book and found one places called La Refuge des Fondues. They serve two things: wine and fondue. Apparently it was pretty touristy but it was quite the experience. You get an appetizer, meat or cheese fondue, a dessert and wine for under 20 euros. The most crazy part: the wine is served in baby bottles! It was really bizarre at first and I have no idea where they came up with it, but we just took it as part of the gimmick. We had a good time anyway and I recommend it to anyone who thinks they would find it as amusing as we did. If you don't like crowded spaces and abrupt waiters skip it.

Sunday I had to go meet my friend at a museum for a presentation we were working on for our class. We went through the exhibit fairly quickly and got what we needed. I was also able to meet up with my other friends again and we grabbed some brunch at anohter place we found in my guide book called Breakfast in America, an American diner in Paris. It passed the diner test for us because it had refillable, American coffee that wasn't hot enough and one of my pancakes wasn't totally cooked. Anyway it was a nice little nostalgic place. I don't need to eat that crap every day, but once in a while it is fun to have some comfort food. The crowd was mostly American with some French people who I think think it is cute and funny. Overall it was good.

Now I am just home finishing up work and getting ready for the week ahead. I volunteered a few weeks ago to help run a club called Coffee and News, a student group with American and French students to discuss current events. Our first official event is tomorrow and we will be discussing the conflict in Israel. I am a little wary of those kind of discussions in general with people who don't really understand Israeli politics or who get out of hand with their point of view, but I hope it will be engaging and respectful for everyone. We prepared a lot of background stuff and did what we could to set up a good discussion so I hope people show up!