>Yesterday was my birthday and I didn’t want to spend it alone, so I invited the students who live down my hall for a small party in my room. Also, I invited some people I met at a friends apartment on Saturday…some of the people I have gotten to know here at Cité Universitaire and Kerstin that I met on the plane from Stockholm to Paris. They all came! And many of them brought a friend, in the end about 50 people attended my “fête”! I was exstatic and the party was still going on when I went to bed around 2 am.

Here are some pics.

And I have to tell you about an interesting birthday happening. For lunch on my birthday, I attended a meeting with an adjoining lunch at the Swedish embassy in Paris. I was seated next to a man who cheerfully said as I introduced myself “Oh, Kajsa, that is my wife’s name!”. Minutes later he told me that he almost didn’t make it to the program, because…today was his wife’s birthday! Of course Kajsa and I were introduced and after having eyed eachother in silence, the other birthday-girl-Kajsa exclaimed: “This is an amazing coincidence, I will have to write about it in my diary!”. For you who know me well, you can see how I had to utter “Me too!” for the second time that lunch.

Thank you to all of you who called/sent emails/sms!

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Coffe outdoors

View from my window

My office

Sacre coeur

(notice the barret)

>Here comes a nightly report covering the public transports in Paris at night. After the Metro stops at around 1pm the night busses “Noctilien” start running. To my area ( Porte d’Orleans) a bus leaves every 15 minutes until the Metro starts again! Finding the bus was easy, the ride was smooth and fast. I felt safe as I walked the last block home. Hurray for functional public transport!

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of my new living situation?
A picture says more than a thousand words. I reside in a nice room on the second floor (prèmier étage) in La Fondation Hellénique, one of the 38 student houses at Cité Universitaire.

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Paris

On se rappelle les chansons.
Un soir d’hiver, un frais visage,
La scène à marchands de marrons,
Une chambre au cinquième étage,
Les cafés crèmes du matin,
Montparnasse, le Café du Dôme,
Les faubourgs, le Quartier latin,
Les Tuileries et la Place Vendôme.

Paris, c’était la gaieté,
Paris,C’était la douceur aussi.
C’était notre tendresse.
Paris, tes gamins, tes artisans,
Tes camelots et tes agents
Et tes matins de printemps,
Paris, l’odeur de ton pavé d’oies,
De tes marronniers, du bois,
Je pense à toi sans cesse.
Paris, je m’ennuie de toi, mon vieux.
On se retrouvera tous les deux,
Mon grand Paris.

Évidemment, il y a parfois
Les heures un peu difficiles
Mais tout s’arrange bien, ma foi.
Avec Paris, c’est si facile.
Pour moi, Paris, c’est les beaux jours
Les airs légers, graves ou tendres.
Pour moi, Paris, c’est mes amours
Et mon cœur ne peut se reprendre.

Paris, tu es ma gaieté, Paris.
Tu es ma douceur aussi.
Tu es toute ma tendresse.
Paris, tes gamins, tes artisans,
Tes camelots et tes agents
Et tes matins de printemps,
Paris, l’odeur de ton pavé d’oies,
De tes marronniers, du bois.
Je pense à toi sans cesse.
Paris, je m’ennuie de toi, mon vieux.
On se retrouvera tous les deux,
Mon grand Paris.

–A.Bernheim 1949 sung by Edith Piaf