le 1è mai

So the first of May is a huge holiday here in France; to celebrate and honor the workers (sorry, Workers), we have a day off from work. (Have I mentioned how I love France?) There are also people selling muguets on every street corner - it's the official flower of the day. Anyway the weather is phenomenal, and I think every Parisian must be outdoors today. I picnicked in the Luxembourg Gardens today with K and his friend Wendy, and it took me a good 5 minutes to find them in the mass of humanity on the lawns. I must have walked past three seperate brass bands while walking through the park, as well as some sort of show in the gazeebo. Such festivities! Labor Day has nothing on this.

I was supposed to tutor this afternoon, but got stuck waiting for a tram at Cité Universitaire, at the south end of the city. (European cities are rediscoving the utility and eco-friendliness of electrical trams; this one rings the city at the periphery.) As Armelle's father told me when I called to tell him we'd have to reschedule or I'd be 45 minutes late, "Nothing functions on the first of May.) Glad I went down there, though, because I got to see France's Socialist movement in action! Okay, not exactly in action, but en masse nevertheless; Segolène Royale, the Socialist candidate for president, had a "meeting" at the Stade this afternoon. According to a guy on the street, the Stade was packed, but you couldn't even get within half a mile of the thing for the hundreds of people gathered outside. Everyone was walking around with pins and stickers and posters. It was a pretty young crowd, lots of students, I think. (Voter turnout for the first round of elections was 85% this year, a record for France. Can you imagine where our country would be today if 85% of Americans had voted in 2004?)

While I was down there, though I walked around the Cité Universitaire and fell in love. It's an international student housing complex - kind of - that was founded just after the Great War to foster international understanding. (I think the idea was to get them when they are young... muahaha.) There are about 20 houses for different countries, and an international house for all the others. It's mostly residential and cultural; students who attend the various universites in and around Paris can live there, and they have tons of events. It looks like a college campus, with lawns and trees and things - not like the Parisian Universites at all. I'm going to call and see what kind of hoops you have to jump through to live there.

Why, you ask, would I want to live there? Well. Let me tell you. I got rejected (no soft language here, I was rejected, and [expletive] the waiting list they put me on) from the summer program on medieval churches I wanted to do. I have to be in Dublin on July 24th, though, and I really wanted to stay in Paris, so... I'm staying in Paris. I'll be babysitting and tutoring and working on my thesis. I've been trolling FUSAC, the English classified magazine, as well as Craigslist and various bulletin boards for babysitting gigs and apartments. This is my first apartment search - it's scary! I feel terribly grown up when I call people and ask them questions about their apartments, though. "Excuse me, but is the 650€/month all inclusive? How close is the nearest laundomat?" I've got it down! First appointment to see a place is tomorrow night... wish me luck!