Salon du Livre de Paris 2011

Well--I didn't originally mean to click "new post" so soon, but I leaned over to get my tea and it just sort of happened...  So, hello!  I just want to do a recap of my weekend (well, just today, really--Sunday), because it proves that I AM a big girl and can go and do things on my own if I really want to.

So, I hate staying in my building longer than I have to.  What that means, basically, is that if I'm not sleeping, I don't want to be in my room.  It's just irritating.  It's noisy, lonely, and just plain uninteresting.  I finally decorated a bit, so it feels a bit better in here, but overall, it's just not a place I want to spend excessive amounts of time.

The problem with weekends, though, is that I usually reserve them for shopping or otherwise being lazy.  Sundays are especially boring because most things are closed entirely, or close very early in the day.  Grocery shopping is a pain on the weekends because, if you don't get it done by Saturday, you'll basically have to wait til Monday (unless you're very knowledgeable about the area, which I am not).

Lately I've been seeing these posters advertising the Salon du Livre de Paris--a book convention in the city.  These ads are all over the place.  Finally my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to do further research.  The convention, as it turns out, stretches over a period of four days (March 18th-21st), and is free for students under 26 years of age.  That was what caught my attention.  I looked into it more, and finally pre-registered (a requirement for students), thinking, at the very least, that at least I'd be prepared if I did go.  Since I didn't have to pay, then... why not?  In my original plans, I intended to go yesterday (Saturday), but I ended up spending nearly the entire day with my friends Vanessa and Daniel.  More on that later!

Being busy Saturday turned out to be a good thing.  That meant that my normally boring Sunday had a chance to be interesting.  I got up somewhat early (meaning I got up before noon) and headed to the convention via tram (love it).  It was very easy to find, since the stop was right in front of the convention center.  I brought some water and a little bit of food with me so that I wouldn't have to spend a lot on things non-book-related.  Good plan... but I was extremely thrifty anyway!

some familiar-looking ados

I spent about four hours wandering about the convention center.  It was interesting.  I've been to conventions before, but never by myself.  Not only was I on my own, but I was on my own at a convention in a foreign country.  It was mostly a journey of the eyes.  I didn't speak to a lot of people (two brief "conversations" with the cashiers I made purchases with, and another with two women that asked me to take photos for them), but I had a great time.  I felt independent and a little bit proud for finding something I wanted to go to and following through on that desire.

I found a bunch of Folio editions being sold for only 2€ each, so I picked a few that looked interesting and bought those as souvenirs.  A total of 8€ for four books?  Awesome!  Later I stumbled on a bunch of young adult books (for ados, or "adolescents" as they say here) and had fun finding French editions of books I knew from home (and some I had read before).  I collect the French translations of the Harry Potter books (I have the first and second back home), so I bought the third and that was the end of my purchases for the day.  I spent 16,10€ and got five books to show for it... not to mention a few freebies (which really just included programs/flyers/bags/etc but I like that stuff).  I was very pleased.  :)

Mostly, I'm glad that I went because I didn't want to look back on this weekend later and think, "Man, I should've gone to that."  I didn't want to regret not going, you know?  It was free, after all!  I ended up having fun, so it was worth it.

I finally called it quits at around 6pm and left the convention center, only to be approached by some guy trying to sell stuff outside.  It's like that at every public event, I guess.  Concerts, conventions, you name it.  He wanted me to buy some bookmarks, to contribute to a charity, but I honestly don't have a lot of money...  I told him that my French wasn't very good (true fact), but instead of letting me go, he just asked me if I was Canadian (sure, why not) and that he'd speak slowly for me.  Since I was trapped (why did I have to look in his direction?!), I let him talk, but eventually he gave up on me because I was totally a lost cause.  Sorry!  I need money for meals.  :/

I took a very crowded tram back to my building and have been relaxing since.  I meant to do laundry, but there are only 4 washing machines and 3 dryers in a building consisting of 5 floors plus the ground floor...  So, yeah, my clothes are still dirty.  On a Sunday night, there's not much hope of getting that done.  I waited in the laundry room for at least 20 minutes, waiting for a machine to free up (because I think it's rude to take someone's clothes out of the washer), but to no avail.  Another girl that walked in twice, taking note that all the machines were full, apparently did not have a problem opening two of the previously-in-use washing machines, removing the clothes, and shoving her own in there.  I have to wonder what she thought I was doing, sitting there with my bag of laundry in front of me...  Ugh.  Whatever.  Maybe I should've spoken up, but I didn't think it was necessary.  Oh, how I miss doing laundry at home (and for free)!  I've realized since coming here that I would've HATED dorming back in the US.  No one seems to think the way I do.  Some things I would never do, everyone else seems to do without thinking.  Such is life.