A Sick American in Paris

So I've been a week in Paris!

It's been quite eventful.

I arrived without a problem, although very tired, in the Charles de Gaulle Airport and took a taxi to the wonderful little establishment (ha) known as the Etap Hotel. The rooms kind of reminded me of what I would expect on a space ship. They were...um...contemporary? I don't know what to say about the bunk beds or the completely plastic shower and toilet closets. The thing is that my roommate and I got to stay there 2 nights, instead of just 1 like everyone else because our host family didn't want us until the next day because they had an event to attend.

The first night we went on a boat ride down the Seine River with our whole group.
If you want pictures of that look here.

My favorite bridge in the Seine in Pont Neuf because it has lots of angry faces carved on it.

And by lots, I mean there's dozens. Our tour guide said that each face was for one each of King Louis XVI's counselors who didn't believe his bridge would hold. How's that for getting back at your critics?! Their faces are still there, so I guess they were wrong!

Well. I had been feeling a little bit of a sore throat about the time I got to Paris, very minimal, but when I woke up on Sunday morning at the Etap Hotel I was really, really congested in my throat and head. It felt...weird.

As the week continued, I kept waking up with the same thing except worse every morning. It got to the point that I couldn't eat anything because it hurt to swallow so bad, and I lost 5 pounds in 4 days...not good. Especially when you're in Paris. That's not normal. I also was having trouble breathing easily at night and wasn't sleeping well because I was so sick.

At first, I went to the pharmacienne and they gave me "mal de gorge" throat spray. It was kind of like a super-weak chloraseptic. Um, ok, well that's nice for like one minute to ease the pain, but hello?! people!? I can't breathe at night or eat during the day! A little throat spray is not going to help me.

It's really frustrating to get sick in a foreign country because...it's hard to know what to do. Finally on Wednesday, I knew what I needed to do. I went straight to the institute building where we had classes, asked for a blessing, and asked for help finding a doctor. I thankfully was able to get both and went to the pharmacienne--again, but this time with a prescription--and got this:

On a side note, when the doctor saw my throat she said, "Impressive!" because it was so swollen.

I spent the day in bed yesterday (really exciting when you're in Paris, I know) but today I went out for half the day and spent some time in the Jardin des Tuileries and walked around the Opera area. Taking lots of meds, and finally getting better.

Even though I've been sick, I've still done so much! I've sat on the grass by the Eiffel Tower, walked down the Champs-Elysees, shopped at the Marche des Puces (flea market), bought some fabulous pants at H&M, gotten lost in Boulougne, eaten a delicious pastry from La Duree, took the wrong metro, asked for duct tape and received funny looks, and so many other things!

My next post is going to be on a cute pastry shoppe my roommate and I found by accident :o)