midterms

I have my first midterm before my second class even starts. Yeah, cool. My Latin American lit professor is going to the States next week so she's giving us an "early midterm" a week from today. My Sorbonne classes start the Monday after that. She says it doesn't count much, and it's basically just a short essay, but still kind of annoying.

In other news, I finally found the entrance to the Val de Grace church..and then discovered you can't visit it. It took so long! It's in the middle of huge hospital grounds and I had no idea how to get in. Turns out you can't, but I did find where I could get in if I had a card, or something.

I walked home from the church, going a back way I've only gone once. I'm not that familiar with the route, but it goes down Rue de la Santé, which is the road that prison is on (see previous entry). So I was walking along, trying to ignore the ridiculous winds blowing in my face, when I start to pass by a building with a high stone wall. I figured it was the prison. Then I saw that a gate I was about to pass was wide open, and the sign said "a la Maison de la Sante", which again led me to believe it was the prison. I was surprised they'd leave the gate open, but it seemed to be a drop-off or pick-up point. Whatever. I kept walking, and a little while later a door in the wall was just completely open! You could see the courtyard inside, and this was clearly connected to the buildings attached to the wall. I actually stopped and stared for a second or two before getting a little uneasy and rushing off...and then while rushing off I noticed another sign said "Maison des Sœurs Augustines de la Santé" - it was a convent. These French need to stop naming everything in one area the same thing!

Also on that walk I followed a kid who was walking backwards, presumably so he had his back to the wind. It was possibly not the best strategy for a city street, but worked for him. He had a Harry Potter backpack, and looked like a very young Harry Potter - glasses and all. No scar, though.