Paris Plage

Had my first day of work yesterday! I'm working in the lab of Corinne Antignac at the Hopital Necker-Enfants Malades (the latter of which means "sick children"--not only is it a place for research lab, it is also a children's hospital), which is about a 25 minute walk door-to-door from our apartment.

And today I had my first real glimpse into French bureaucracy, when I was told that "hopefully" my Carte de Sejour (kind of like a "working permit" that you need to be legally employed within the country) would be ready by the time Thanksgiving vacation rolls around. I would really like to see my family then, and while there are no restrictions in terms of leaving the country, I may not be able to re-enter France if my Carte de Sejour is not ready...

After our rendezvous for the Carte de Sejour, Claire & I headed up to the Seine to witness "Paris Plage"--a summer tradition during which the city carts in tons of sand and dumps it on the banks of the river to create a kind of "faux-beach". They even have a swimming pool this year. Very cool. A big bonus to today's excursion was my identification of a bona fide comic shop in the Quartier Latine on Rue Saint-Germaine called "Album"--they have a good selection of recent comics from both US & France.

French Words of the Day:
comic book = bande dessinnee
Spider-Man = l'Homme Araignee
the Green Goblin = le Bouffon Vert
the Hulk = le Hulk :)