Update #2

Here is the view out my window during the day, as opposed to the abyss you saw in the video.

Most cars in Paris look kind of like this. Many are newer, of course, but not generally much larger. And they often park halfway onto the sidewalk. The parking spots are actually painted onto the sidewalk on the side streets because they aren't wide enough to have parking otherwise.

This is a house just down the street, about half a block from Lidl.
French Bench!

Happy Weekend!
Yesterday was my first official day of French study. We had orientation on Thursday but the teacher spoke English the whole time so it didn't count. My initial impression is "Oh wow." The guys who sit on either side of me know more French than I do. When the teacher is saying something unintelligible they have the annoying tendency to get very excited and reply to the teacher with phrases we haven't learned yet. Fortunately, none of the girls in the class know French, so I'm not the only dazed and confused pupil with a glaze over my pupils. Fortunately our teacher uses Calvin and Hobbs and other cartoons to illustrate ideas. It makes me happy inside.
I also found some comic books in the library. Those are a fantastic way to study French, since the pictures help eliminate the need to pull out the dictionary for 3 out of every 4 words.
My adventures outside of the school have consisted mainly of trips to the local superstore. The last time I was there we shopped for school supplies. This was challenging for two reasons. First, everything was extremely expensive. The notebooks cost 2-4 euros, which is $3-6. Second, they don't have anything "normal." Take notebooks for example. They do not have notebooks with blue horizontal lines. They have notebooks with a grid pattern, which makes me want to draw floor plans, and they have books with a similar grid pattern broken up into thousands of little rectangles by 3 light horizontal lines for every 1 solid horizontal line. My Australian friends call it the "crazy pattern" and refuse to use it, claiming it will drive them batty. They were planning to have their friends back home ship them notebooks, but I found some "normal" paper at another store today, so for $.06 per page they can have their paper. I'm a cheapskate, so I bought the French stuff and figured I'll deal with any psychological consequences as they come. :-)
Other basics that are lacking are single-hole paper punches (and the 4 hole punches cost $23) and regular folders. After scouring the shelves I finally bought a 5 pack of folders that looked like they might possibly be the regular two-pocket American style folders. They weren't sold individually, so I couldn't be sure. When I opened them I found 25 nested folders that didn't have pockets. Just a front cover and a back cover. How am I supposed to carry papers to class in a bottomless folder? They would be all over the floor. So I cut up two of the 20 folders that I didn't need and went to town with the tape and stapler that I thankfully packed in my luggage. Soon I had four workable folders.
The Australians (Peter and Kathryn) had me over for supper two nights ago and introduced me to a new game. It is similar to... nothing, really. Perhaps Settlers of Cataan. It was fun, and I came close enough to winning that my friend didn't feel the least bit satisfied about beating me, which is always great for a beginner.
I finally got to the nearby park. It is quite large and has a number of walking trails. I wanted to take some pictures but my battery died after the first one. I later wandered out with a new set of batteries and got a couple more pictures before the sun went down.
Today I ventured to the Library with another of the students and went through a book called "Orbitale" by National Geographic. It had very cool pictures of Earth from space, accompanied by French text. So I picked through the text and enjoyed the pictures. After that I wandered to a nearby grocery store, where I found PEANUT BUTTER!!! It was buried under about 50 shelves of Nuttella, but I found it. French people and their Nuttella. The only things they like more are cheese and wine. Anyway, I was very excited to find my peanut butter from Madagascar, or wherever it came from, and a big old jar of honey.
Most of my groceries are going to be coming from the little 'Lidl" store just down the road. It has a limited selection but it is much cheaper than the superstore. I think it might be owned by the same company that runs ALDI. They have the same policies and general layout. The food is obviously more French, though.
Well, since the internet is up I should do the online part of my homework assignment. I no longer have an excuse and I don't know how long it will be up. If the internet stays up, I may add a video later.