Intro to French Men 101 - Part un

Ok so my very first day in France, like a cliche what happens?  Of course, I meet a French man :)

He goes to my school (ESSEC) and he's a 2nd yr in my hospitality MBA program (IMHI)...pls remember these acronyms because I'll refer to them often.  Anyway, so Day 1 in France, I am touring my residence with M, another new American student at IMHI, when we stumble upon one of the gym rooms.  As we're going in, this tall, dark-haired guy is coming out. He obviously just finished working out as he was drenched in sweat and ripling...oooh la la.  We all say bonsoir and keep moving, and then he comes back because he recognized M from facebook; a former student had put them in touch because M had bought some furniture that he was holding.  So we introduce ourselves and he promises to invite us out that weekend.  The next day we get an email from him (he will be known as It Ain't henceforth, you'll find out why) doing just that and we decide to go out with him to dinner at a nearby restaurant and then an ESSEC party in Paris.  Dinner was cool, he seemed really nice, talked quite a bit.  But I got a good vibe from him and boy do these french kids know how to party, 20 bucks, open bar, weird music...I had a blast.  He had some interesting dance moves at the party, I had to laugh at that.  The party had a disco theme and I started doing some move at one point which he immediately recognized from Pulp Fiction, a movie he apparently adores there is even a poster in his room...perhaps it was at that moment that he went gaga.  Lol.  It was a fun night, I met a couple other IMHI students and a good time was had by all.  

After leaving the party, we decide to hang out with a former IMHI student at her place in Paris for a while before heading back home, so the four of us pile into a taxi and head to her place.  She is english, has a fab job and fab apartment in a great part of town, sorry I can't remember which arrondisement but anyway we get to her place, settle down with drinks, some music and she starts rolling her own joint. Loves it!   She speaks like a mile a minute, fluent french and is obviously quite talented so the whole weed thing was really so out of place for my puritan American ass, and I get why France is regarded as such a liberal country.  So anyway, It Ain't gets this name because suddenly while we're chilling at the former IMHI's place he goes it ain't so....and I'm like that is not english, thats not what you should be saying while you're still learning english, leave out such slang till you've become a fluent speaker...and it kinda became a running joke.  

It Ain't comes off as a real gentleman so far, we (me, M and him) finally get home at about 7am that morning and he offers me his extra duvet because I had complained of being cold and the blanket that came with the welcome kit in my room wasn't quite adequate.  I follow him to his room, grab the duvet and leave, no untoward advances, etc.  And he promises to give us a tour of Montmatre in Paris when we are all rested later in the day. Nice huh? 

So later on the three of us head out and meet up with the former IMHI student and we go to Le Marais for a late lunch before heading to Montmartre.  Le Marais is a little touristy but its a lovely district with typical french restaurants, parks, art galleries, boutiques etc.  I loved it and I will definitely be taking you there if you come visit.  After an amazing lunch (pls why is french food always sooo goood?) we head off to Montmartre.  This is a hill which I believe is supposed to be the highest point in Paris and there is a famous old church there called Sacre Coeur.  I mean the views were just to die for, there was a concert in front of the church, the whole city spread out right under our eyes, awesome weather...I felt so at peace with the world just sitting there and taking it all in, of course aided by the good company and some crappy french wine.  Le bon vivre oui...

The Arc de Triomphe, the night before
This was a little of our view from our spot on the hill

Me in the street, tourist shot

The Sacre Coeur at night, I think that means sacred heart...my french is good n'est pas?

Pardon moi, I think I digressed a little...this post was meant to be about It Ain't - the guy who gave me a crash course in french men 101. But I'm sure you don't mind, I will be back with more on this riveting story and others to come.  Off to bed now, its now 2am and I have this class tomorrow at 9, a ton of reading to do and a 4,000 word case report to contribute to. Mind you real classes haven't even started yet this is still just the pre-MBA stuff...