My Last Parisian Post!!

By the time you are reading this I will probably be in America! Yay! But that's for another time. Keep checking because I'll probably have stuff I forgot to write about that I post after I'm home!

This is my friend Emily. From the second week we were here we planned out our Louis Vuitton excursion. She had been saving for a long long time, so I was her personal shopper :) and we went to the Louis Store on St. Germain. And it was a good time. The guy was like, "I am here to serve you!" and when Emily didn't like the look of something he would say, "Should I take it away?" To which Emily would reply, "Yes, take it away!" The irony of this picture is that she is digging for the metro ticket she had to buy because she didn't want to pay for another month of Navigo (unlimited metro usage). It's kind of funny I guess... and there's a Louis bag in it. We had fun on the way home on the train too. When people would get to close to the bag we would say PEOPLE! Do you NOT see the name on this bag? Back off. Only to ourselves, don't worry we didn't really yell at people. They wouldn't have been able to understand us anyway.

This was the same day that our apartment building got broken into. The apartment below me had a computer, ipod, and some other expensive things stolen. So Emily was really worried about her Louis while we were in class. She hid them behind the curtains and everything. And that night she had watched an episode of the Tudors that had people getting executed in it, and I had watched a Desperate Housewives where Fairview has a guy who is going around strangling young women. I was too afraid to go to the bathroom :)

This is Emily and my last night out. Sad day. We both took pictures on this bridge near Bastille. We went to a café in front of Notre Dame and had a drink. Then we went to Bastille to have Nachos at Indiana! It was quite delicious. It was FREEZING. But you gotta do what you gotta do to look good in a picture.

Me and Alexa Bear!! We had fun making delicious chicken soup. I missed her a lot and I'm really glad she got to come. We went to Versailles. And got separated from her parents. Really long story short. 5 hours later everyone was randomly reunited at my apartment. And we went to Notre Dame and Ile Saint-Louis. Then the next day she got a really bad eye infection. Which is unfortunate. But I got to play tour guide and showed the Wilcoxes around Paris. I hope I did a good job.

Miss Emily P and myself on the 6 on our way towards the Eiffel on my birthday! Look how young and naive I look right? One of my friends congratulated me on never being a teen mother. I laughed. But anyway, Emily and I went to the Eiffel and I turned 20 in front of it where Hitler stood. I feel like I've written this before. But oh well. I got my picture taken with it right when it started sparkling!

Class let out early one day, so I just went to the Champ de Mars to read a book.. and this was my view. I'm gonna miss this.

I'm more than a little excited to go home and have Taco Bell and White Castle and to see my family and everything. But I'm going to miss Paris! It's been a blast and it's hard to believe I'm leaving. Everything became so ordinary... Oh hey. Want to go shopping on Rivoli today? Nah, I was thinking something more like going to the Louvre or something. This has been my life for the past 4 months. And in Springfield it's pretty much: Do you want to go to the Walmart on Glenstone or the one on Campbell. haha I will adjust I suppose. We shall see.

More to come probably! So for one of the last times-

À tout à l'heure!

So here's the deal

My roommate moved out today. HALLE-freakingLUJAH. But she took all the toilet paper. And the shower gel. To her boyfriend's house. Oh. Actually I meant to her boyfriend's mom's house. Because he's 23. And he lives with his mom. And his girlfriend is moving in. But if he still lives with his mom. I'm pretty sure it's still his mom's responsibility to buy him toilet paper. and shower gel. I'm livid. And it's kind of a downer. Because I was so excited when she left. At least she cleaned the bathroom and swept the hall liked she was supposed to. But left me with the mile high pile of recycling, the trash, the greasy stove, dirty countertops, and sink. But she's gone. So that's the good thing.

I'm done with finals today! Yeah! And I get Taco Bell in T-3 days. So that's exciting.

That's all I got for now.

À tout à l'heure.

This is my friend Emily and I on one of our brutal French Civilization walks. Our class has to walk around Paris while the teacher tells us stuff. Sounds fun right? That's what I thought. But not so much. The professor is always six miles in front of the group and only tells what she has to the two people that can keep up with her. It's so bad that some of the kids pop into the supermarket and get some Heinekens to get it through the walk...and during class people crack open a bottle of cab to make it through. Just to describe how it is.

This is in Lyon :) they have their own Eiffel too. I can't remember if I already posted this. If I did... oops! But it is the same as the top-most section of the Eiffel and they use it as an electrical/satellite hub. So Lyons is basically a mini Paris.

Mom and Catie have deemed this picture "sex-pot" and want me to take it off Facebook. I don't really understand why and I just like to make them mad :) What say you?

One of the girls in my sorority came through Paris on a tour she is taking (she studied in Edinburgh, Scotland) and we threw down the gammas in front of the Eiffel :) We also went to Angelina and while I was waiting for her at the Metro a creepy Moroccan man came up and sat down next to me and asked me if I wanted to get a coffee. When I said no thanks he asked if I wanted a Coke instead. And then he asked me if I wanted to go sit on those benches "just over there." At this point I was calling Ashley to meet her or something... And then she showed up! And then he followed us. So I suddenly needed to go into a souvenir shop to look at something for my mom and he didn't follow us anymore. But I was on the lookout for him for the rest of the day and I firmly believe I successfully avoided being human-trafficked in Marrakech. All in a good day's work right?

That's all for now!!

À tout à l'heure!

Lots has happened

So. I've been to Italy, Germany, and the South of France since my last post.

I don't have a whole bunch to say, but I'll post some pictures with explanations.

Look how cool I am taking a tourist picture at the leaning tower of PISA. I'm not good with awkward tourist pictures.

Me and my dear sweet cousin Rachel at the train station in Cologne. We had a wonderful long weekend together filled with biking, walking, and E4 (a British TV station with American shows).

Theo, lookin too cool for school in my one pound sunglasses from Primark in London. Ain't he cute?

We made chocolate mousse at Alexia's house in Lyons... I love chocolate. (and no I'm not bleeding, it's chocolate)

Alexia's apartment is roundabout the big crayon building. This is a view of Lyons from a Church we walked a mile and a year up steps to get to. When we went out of the house in the morning I didn't sign up for such a trek, but I guess you could say it was worth it in the end.

Now I am back in Paris, soaking up my last few weeks, not quite ready to leave, but ready to see all the friends and family.

À tout à l'heure!

Since I'm Procrastinating Enough Anyway...

So this week I have a presentation, an accounting test, and a persuasive speech. I'm ready for the presentation, don't even know what the test is over in Accounting, and haven't chosen a topic for my persuasive speech... I'm doing fine right? HA. Today wasn't nearly as productive as I had hoped, but I did watch two intense episodes of 24. Which is always a good day. Well, for me, it's not such a good day for Jack Bauer...

Anyway... look at this picture!

While Paden was here we saw a huge march/demonstration. It went from Bastille (above) almost all the way to my street. Which is like a mile and a half. And it didn't start in Bastille, I'm pretty sure it was throughout the city. Paden really really really wanted to go march in it. But I'm a killjoy and said no because for all he knew they were demonstrating to cut the heads off of every third person in Botswana. Turns out it they were the communist party (that's what one of my teachers said at least, but she's kind of an idiot, so who knows). Anyway. They had flares and megaphones and "We hate Sarkozy" stickers. Poor Sarkozy. haha. So that was pretty cool. There were I think 800,000 people who marched in this thing then we saw 2 people that were the opposition that were hold up a piece of cardboard that said "Work less to live better" on the side of the road.
Thank you English man for taking a picture of me and Paden... but we kind of wanted one with the Arc de Triomphe too... Oh well. It was FREEZING this day. And we did lots of walking the whole time he was here. We walked from my apartment to the Louvre a couple times. And we got a falafel in the Marais, which happens to be the Jew/Gay district of Paris. We also went to Angelina that day and got drinking chocolate. Which is probably the most amazing drink in existence. Then we went to Bordeaux and I could only put 6 pictures up at a time, so there is a big time lapse between the picture above and the next one. But in between the two we met mom and dad in Bordeaux, went to some vineyards, Padey left, and then mom and dad and I went to Fontainebleau which is the hunting lodge of the royal family. I can now see that I am going to have to do another post with more pictures because there is a lot more missing than I thought. It will be out of order, but what does it matter to you, the reader. It only matters that I tell you about it :)
So this was Easter at Mont Saint Michel. Mom, Dad and I went there with the Navions. Alexia and I have this picture from 3 years ago in the same spot only we were in shorts and flip flops then. It was really fun to watch mom go around and be in awe of all the stuff at Mont Saint Michel because I had already been there and she hadn't :)
Here you go Sherri! There's momsie and popsicle. We are at the 7th best bar in all of Europe. It's a landmark that can't be changed apparently. But it was really cool. We were in Bretagne, so we HAD to get some calvados right? Mostly right. I got a Malo Saint which is lime juice and cointreau. And then I tasted the calvados. I'm not a fan of the calvados, but cointreau I am in favor of. (And mom really wanted a picture on my blog, so here you go mommy)
This is my French brother Thomas sitting on a wall that is like 40 feet down on the other side. But that's the English channel in the background. It was very pretty, and St. Malo was the perfect place to celebrate Easter. We were going to go to the 11am mass at the cathedral of St. Malo, but it wasn't at 11. It was at 10:30 and the front desk people told us the wrong time. And then wouldn't let us use the upstairs bathroom. They weren't very nice. But we stayed for the end of the service and when they finished the choir sang "Alleluia" and it reverberated in the cathedral. Then we walked outside and the bells were ringing and ringing and ringing. It was very Eastery. And according to Alexia the church bells don't ring from Thursday to Sunday morning, and to celebrate the raising of Christ they ring like crazy after the Easter service. Very cool!

Okay, so there will be more to come about Fontainebleau and Athens in the future. Hopefully this will tide all four of you who read this over :)

À tout à l'heure!

It's been too long

Soooo, I realize it's been about 8 years since I updated everyone. Sorry about that, but unfortunately, this is the best I can do for now. I went on Spring Break, then Paden was here :), and now my parents are here. Then the week they leave I have a test, a speech, and a presentation, then I will be traveling. But hopefully I'll get a good update in there somewhere... But I'm still in Paris! And it's still awesome! The semester has flown by though! I only have a little more than 6 weeks left!

(HI AUNTIE M :) :) )

Le le Loire. Valley that is!

Welcome to the Loire Valley! A group of people took a day trip to see Chenenceau Chateau and Leonardo Da Vinci's house. We had to meet at 7:45, early for a bunch of 20-22 year olds that haven't woken up that early since they pulled themselves out of bed every morning in High School. The bus ride was about 3 hours, so there wasn't much talking on the way there. Our bus was awesome too! When we went to Normandy we ended up with this really sketch bus with two drivers who didn't even know where they were going. I'm sure we got lost a couple of times, but that's a different story. THIS bus was the batman bus. It was all black and when you stepped into it you saw smooth black leather and chrome. There was even a button you could push for coffee (we didn't pay for that option though, so there was no coffee involved). The point being- it was a cool bus. We called her Harmony.

Oh ya know, just Leo's backyard. Or part of it. This was just the view from the back of his Chateau that François I gave him. He also received the same amount as a prince each year (700 units of whatever currency). This was the coolest part of the whole place, it had his inventions scattered throughout and you could play with them too! But the grounds go on forever. There's a couple ponds and some bridges and a movie theater back there too. It looks a lot like the setting of the movie Ever After too, but maybe I just thought that because Da Vinci was in it... The actual chateau (which was behind me when I took this photo) was quite disappointing. Nothing looked original and there was a bunch of random stuff that was really out of place in it. And you weren't allowed to take pictures! I took some anyway, but they aren't very good. My favorite part was the blown up photo copy of the Vitruvian man... it was pretty tacky.

This is a house that is built into a hill in the city of Amboise (where Da Vinci's place is). It was really really neat, this is just one of a few that we saw on the way to Da Vinci's. You can even see the chimney coming out of the top! It'd be awesome to live in a house like this. Amboise is a really cute little town too. After we went to Da Vinci's we were going to go to the Chateau of Amboise, but we got there and found that it was 8€. Everyone agreed that was a little too much to see a chateau (I mean, once you've seen one you've seen 'em all... right...?). So instead we went to a little café and got some hot wine since it was about 3 degrees outside. It was pretty good, it might have to become an alternative to hot cider at Christmas time. Once I'm 21 of course.

This is at Chateau Chenenceau (there's a picture at the bottom) in the gardens. There was a cool maze (like Harry Potter) with a gazebo in the middle of it. When the Navions took the family to Chenenceau we got some good pictures here! The vines actually had flowers on them then though. But I bet you're wondering why we're holding up L's-or at least why some of us are haha. We had a race (boy against girls, there was only one boy) to see who could get to the middle fastest. And we lost. The boy took a victory picture, so we had to take a non-victory picture I guess.

This was a day full of Harry Potter references. If you will notice this tree is a miniature version of the Whomping Willow in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. And if you further examine the photo you will see that I am, indeed, holding a wand and taming the vicious tree, just like in the book (but not the movie). Yes, I realize the implications of this picture, but I took it for my friend Maddy Johnson who is also a Harry Potter aficionado. So hopefully she reads this.

Et voilà, le chateau de Chenenceau. I'm pretty sure Catie doesn't read this, but she says this is her favorite chateau. It was kind of a cold, gray day, and it was under construction, but it's still a very cool chateau! It's famous because it spans the Loire. Henry and Catherine lived here (don't ask me which ones...) and on the inside there are decorations that have an H and a C overlaying each other. And when you do that there are two D's that are formed. Well, Henry had a mistress named Diane, and Catherine couldn't deal with that so she either didn't live here anymore, or she had most of them removed... I don't really remember, as Mom told me this like 3 years ago in passing. So it's also possible that I made most of that up, but it's still a cool story!

But this is definitely a true story: the second level on the left is a long gallery, and during World War I it was used as a hospital for wounded soldiers. I know that one's right!

Well, I hope you enjoyed your petit tour of the Loire, there are about a million and five more chateaus to see, but that's for another time. I should probably go write my speech I have this Thursday or something now...

Oh. and PADEN comes in less than 2 weeks. And Spring Break starts Friday. And after Paden is here my parents come. And then it's APRIL! And I go to Florence and Germany and then it's May... where has this semester gone!?!?

À tout à l'heure!

Oh and I forgot

I forgot to say Alexa and I went to Evensong at St. Paul's. It was hard to pay attention because we kept looking up at the ceiling. And who knew St. Paul's was an Anglican Church?! Well, I do now!

So this is me procrastinating.

So, I have an accounting test tomorrow, so obviously the responsible thing to do would be to update my blog... :) Welcome to my adventures to London! I went to visit my friend Alexa (who is from my school and she is studying in London this semester!). It's a long one, so hang in there!

Upon arriving at Victoria's station in the City of Westminster I found, as I had expected, that Alexa was not there. There was a major highway closed due to an accident, so the bus was about 30 minutes late. So I went into the Subway at Victoria's station and asked the guy who worked there if he knew where her street was and showed him the address. He proceeded to print out a blank receipt and say... oh well, it's in the same zip code and then asked me if I was Australian. Thank you Subway man. Needless to say, I left subway and decided to just start walking somewhere in hopes of just running into Alexa and eventually just getting a cab. And as I was walking down the ramp to Victoria's street I saw a pair of familiar shoes peeking out from behind a sign and knew I'd found Alexa. And the walk to her apartment was super quick, a cabbie would have been like... I'll give you directions for a pound haha. Then we went to her apartment and I ate the best chicken sandwich I've ever had.

The London Eye... We thought about going up in it for a minute, but then we remembered we are poor college kids... but it's still fun to look at! This is the day we walked alllll over the place! We walked from Oxford Circus back to Alexa's apartment (which is in the general proximity of Victoria's Station).

This night we also went to Picadilly to scope out the plays :) We were going to get some icecream at a British place, but it was like 4£ for a tiny scoop. And, keeping with the poor college kid motif, we decided not to get that and tried Ben and Jerry's. Unfortunately it was closed, and even more unfortunately, we ended up at McDonald's and with not only McFlurries, but also a cheeseburger and fries. It's a moment of shame and weakness and that's all I'm going to say on the matter. The only reason I brought it up was to tell you about the creepo that sat down next to me. He was a short little Indian man and asked if anyone was sitting in the seat next to me, and when I said no he asked me where I was from. I hesitated for a moment and said, "Washington DC." To which he responded, "Ahhh, the big apple!" I was just like... sure... and he asked me a few more questions to which I gave the most ambiguous answers possible and then got up and left to go find Alexa who was buying our McFlurries. I am convinced I made some wise decisions and avoided a life of human trafficking. But that's just what I think. After that Miss Alexa and I asked a police officer where Covent Garden was and walked through China town to get there. The Chinese New Year was the week before and all of the decorations were still up. It was pretty neat! I love Chinatown! (Oh and for those of you who are wondering- My friend Emily is from DC and whenever people ask us where we're from when we're out she always says DC and people are like, "Oh okay, cool." Then I say I'm from Missouri and they look at me like I said I'm from the third moon or Venus. So I just say I'm from DC too. So that was the first place that came to mind :)

Diagon Alley!! Nuff said... (Maddy Johnson)

A nice man in the tube station took this picture of Alexa and me before hittin' up Picadilly Circus! It was bizarre being in the tube and hearing people speak English. I was reveling in the English! This was the night we split a 2 liter of cider. That's a lot of liquid for two girlish bellies! (Don't worry mom, it was pretty much soda, promise!)

And lastly, a picture of an English bus. :) Speaking of buses, when I first got to the airport I went to find my bus and while we were driving to the city I got really confused at the first turn. The cars weren't on the wrong side of the road... I was on the left side of the bus, and as I was looking out the window I saw cars approaching and passing just like they should. It took me a minute to realize that it was reflective and the cars I was seeing were, in fact, on the other side of the road. Just as they should be. Then when I was looking out the window on the other side of the bus I got nervous when we were going around the first turn and there was a bus in our lane! :)

In summation, I shall relate to you the worst morning of my life. I got up at 3:30-I had planned to get up at 3 (in the morning) to catch the 4:00 bus to the airport. Well, luckily it got really hot right about 3:30 and I woke up to take off my blankets. I looked at my phone, saw I was late and dashed to get ready as quietly as I could so as not to wake up the apartment full of 5 sleeping teenage girls. I got ready and woke up Alexa to tell her bye and ask how to get to the station and then rushed out the door. When I got to the bus I got on and was feeling good since I didn't miss it. But then I looked in my little wristlet that I carry around now and I was suddenly filled to the brim with dread- my key and metro pass were not in there. I remembered I had taken them out so I wouldn't lose them when we went to Picadilly. I also remembered that I didn't put them back. Well, the bus was leaving in three minutes and if I missed this one I would be late to my flight and then I wouldn't be home in time for class and there would be all sorts of problems. So, although my keys were only a few minutes away I couldn't go back and get them. Uncharacteristically I started crying right there on the EasyBus. It was a combination of leaving the best friend, having to go back to a non-English speaking country, it being 4 in the morning, and not being able to get into my apartment when I got back that made me do it I guess. But there I was, crying on the bus. Luckily it was still dark out and I'm a quiet crier. Anyway. After a while I started to calm down a little. I could just have Alexa send my keys and, as it was March now, my monthly metro pass was expired, so I could just get a new one. So I got on the plane smoothly and then 3 minutes before take off my passport was just missing. I was so baffled! I had to have it to get on the plane, I had it 2 minutes before when I took my boarding pass out to show to the flight attendant. But I looked through my bag, my jacket, even asked the people behind me to check to see if it was on the floor. But it was gone. I told Phillip, the flight attendant, and he was very nice and asked one of the ground crew to go see if I had dropped it. I went back to my seat to look again. So, they were about to kick me off the flight just when I spotted it. It had fallen in between my seat and the my neighbor's who was totally oblivious to the situation and was reading his magazine with his little girlfriend. So that crisis was averted. Then, a bus, a plane, and a couple of trains later I got home and the landlord let me into my apartment. I got on facebook and sent Alexa an urgent message :) asking her to please send my keys overnight (it costs 100€ to replace a key here for some reason unbeknownst to me). She agreed, and went to look but couldn't find them and asked where I thought they were. I thought about it and thought two things simultaneously: the dresser and my purse. Then I knew where they were. I had put my keys and my metro pass in my purse so that I wouldn't lose them when we went to Picadilly. All this happened before 10 am. What have I learned? I'm not exactly sure, but maybe I grew up a little bit more somehow.

And so, if you have stuck with me until the end I salute you :) And thanks for reading! Sorry it was so long, I just had a lot to say!

I even had to take a break. I did some (by some I mean very little) studying and some talking to Paden in between anecdotes.

Now go have a drink! And be happy all that nonsense didn't happen to you!

À tout à l'heure!

Lately

Well, lately a lot has been going on. Besides homework-of course.

Three of us went to an English play near Pont Neuf. The theater was absolutely charming. Basically it was a platform in a tiny basement that looks like a World War II bomb shelter. It was really really cool. The play was called Betrayal by Pinter. It was an interesting story, but it was almost more interesting to watch the old guy in front of us mouth the words to the whole play and then get really angry when the actors didn't deliver a line like he thought they should. Then every once in a while he would swat at the air at a bug that kept flying around. Eventually he killed it by slapping it against his face... ew.

Then later that night, after the play, we had dinner at our apartments then went out to a friend of Alexia's! It was really fun! I got to meet her super sweet boyfriend (hehe :P Alexia) and a couple of her friends that live in Paris. The people I took really enjoyed it, and everyone had fun speaking Franglish :)

I also went to dinner at the Cartier's this week. I got some French speaking in there too. Dr. Cartier had a dinner meeting he had to go to, so he wasn't there. But Geraldine, Vincent, Aliette, and Rianna were there (Rianna family friend who is staying with them while her husband recovers from surgery-I'm pretty sure her name was Rianna! But, unless they were joking she knows karate, and was one of the Vampires in Buffy). We ate genuine fondue! It was really really good. Really really bad for you, I'm sure, as the sauce that was mixed with the cheese was mostly butter. But as Julia Child would say-butter makes it better.

The fondue was a nice mix up as this is my recurring meal- pasta which eggs and tea. Not very nutritious (well, neither is fondue), but it's cheap. A bag of 68 cent pasta lasts about 2 weeks.

Geraldine- Dr. Cartier's daughter was super nice and told me to call her any time. She's on Spring Holiday right now, but I'll try to call her when I get back from London :) More to come on that! She and her boyfriend have been together for 5 years I think, and she wants to go on a double date with me and Paden when he gets here (her boyfriend is half English, so there won't be a language barrier for Padey :)

Well, I suppose that's all for now! Hope you enjoy the pictures!

À tout à l'heure!

A few photos from Normandy

This is from Point du Hac. It was a good day for pictures Ben-overcast :) Well... when it wasn't raining or snowing. It was really muddy up here, so the bus drivers checked peoples shoes and if they weren't clean enough you had to go wipe them off in the grass. Which made your boots...my boots... soaked all the way through again. So I guess I owe a big thank you to the bus drivers for being sick. But ANYWAY. At least I didn't fall and get mud all over my pants and side like on of my other friends did. They weren't going to let her on the bus until she cleaned up, but there wasn't really much possibility of that because the bathrooms were closed. I think someone had a blanket or something that they let her sit on.

This is Omaha Beach. You can walk down a path from the American Cemetery to the beach. It was really windy and through lots of little treed over paths and stuff. It it weren't so solemn it would have been quaint.

This is only part of a part of it. It was incredible. It sounds really lame now, but the only thing you could really think as you were walking through was thank you.

This was taken part way down the path I was talking about earlier.

There was a monument before all of the crosses. We didn't really get a closer look, but I did get a chance to snap a picture.

Watching Jack Bauer being tortured on 24 somehow makes my throat hurt less.

Well. Last night was awesome. NOT! I had a fever and I was freezing even with socks, sweats, 2 blankets, a hat, and the heat turned up all the way. I fell asleep for a couple of hours and had really weird dreams that had Gandhi and Squidward from Spongebob in them. It was bizarre. But then woke up because it was really really really hot. And that's how it went for the rest of the night.

This morning I gargled some salt water- not a good experience. And had some hot tea. And I go to meet Alexia in about 30 minutes.

But before all that happened! Alexia came over and hung out for a while and we tried to work out plans for going to Lyon or Angers :) We're both pretty booked though!! And we were speaking in French! Finally!!

Normandy pictures soon!

À tout à l'heure!

Snow!

These are all but two of the girls in my program :) We had our welcome dinner near l'Opéra and it started snowing! So we got a picture. It's so picturesque :)

More from Normandy later!

Demain

Tomorrow the group is leaving at 8 to go to Normandy to see the DDay Beaches and the American Cemetery and Point du Hac. It should be a good trip!

And then on the way back I am getting dropped off a train station to go to Alexia's house! A friend that I met when I was staying with her is having a birthday party, and she invited me :) So I'll be au Mans for the rest of the weekend.

I'll keep you updated! And there should be lots of pictures from this weekend!

À tout à l'heure!

Greece!

So, today I booked my trip to Greece! My friend Emily and I will be staying at a five start hotel. We're pretty excited about it. It was a super deal too! We have poolside room. With a view of the Acropolis and a rooftop garden/ bar open 365 days a year. Needless to say, it's gonna be a good time. Most def.

That's pretty much all for now! More pictures to come!!

À tout à l'heure!

It's neiging!

Don't worry Missouri!! Paris is getting snow too :) It's not NEARLY as much, but it's still happening!

Oh global warming.

À tout à l'heure!

People do run in Paris!

SO! I just got back from an AWESOME run from my apartment to a nearby monument that I won't say on here so I don't get in trouble for posting things about where I live :) It was about a 1 1/2 miles! It was really really really good! We're going to make it a goal to go from our apartment to the Eiffel Tower!! It's going to be great! We both want to come back and have people be like WOAH! You need to eat more, only we're actually just going to have six packs :) hahaha

Anyway, that's pretty much the only exciting thing that happened since the last time I updated. Literally :) just class and stuff, which isn't exciting!

I think I might be getting sick, and I'm really cold, so I think I'm going to take a bit of a nap and cuddle up in my blankets!!

À tout à l'heure!

Some pictures :)

Alexa making us wait....
My friend Emily and me before we went out on the town :) Waiting for Alexa!

Our little meal :) This is the first meal I made for my roommate and me (or I... can't figure out which one would be better). It's kind of a rendition of something I made for Mom and Dad before I left: Chicken with shallots and garlic with a honey/dijon/mayo sauce (which was a rendition of the Frederick Family Christmas pork loin sauce!) . The carrots, salad and bread are just Frenchie things :)
I think we all know what this is... But this is a sweet sweet victory because it was after our indirect trek there from Notre Dame. Oh what college kids will do to save a buck... or a euro :) (We were avoiding the metro so Alexa didn't have to pay)

Alexa took this one because her camera malfunctioned for a while. But volià la Sacre Coeur! We were pretty close so it was hard to get a good shot.

So this is Notre Dame... with a Christmas Tree in front of it! That's pretty much it. This is right before we went to mass inside of it. Which was really cool! We had a guy take our picture in front of it, but it's on Alexa's camera. So that might be up later.

It's been a while!

Sorry, I've been pretty busy! Alexa got here on Friday. I got two hours of sleep the night before and woke up at 6 in the morning to take three trains to go get her. And when I get there it's just when her plane is arriving and I ask where the gate is because it doesn't say on the sign. The guy tells me that the flight number I said was coming in at 9:30 tonight, so this is the point where I start to get a little nervous. So I walk around and look at the signs a little bit, and see that there is a flight that is one number off that she is probably on, so I go ask where the gate is for that and the guy gave me the number and I wait there for an hour. And it has her flight number and everything on the screen saying the baggage is being unloaded. So I went to the counter and asked if she was on the flight and the lady was like... well... I can't tell you... but yes. So I walk around and I was freeeeeaking out! I just kept thinking to myself, "I lost my best friend in Paris, I lost my best friend in Paris....." so after I had waited and asked around I just went and sat in a corner and tried to figure out what to do. I turned my phone on and texted my mom and Paden and my trip advisor, and at this point I'm pretty much in tears. And I look up and there she is! It was like she was a shining star hahaha. I now know what true relief feels like. I was very very scared. Because I gave her directions to get to the apartment, but, obviously, she didn't write them down.

SO after that crazy moment was over I had to go to Macroeconomics. Which is not going to be fun at all. We'll see how that goes.

So then a group of us went out on the town for a while, and that was pretty fun. We went to Bastille and a couple other places. And we got back home and fell asleep. Then Saturday we went shopping for food and got some bauggettes and made a little lunch at home. Sunday we had a really cool day! We went to the Champs Élysée and went shopping (there were big big sales!) I bought 2 things and both of them were marked at one price and when I got to the register they were even cheaper! Yeah! I love that!

We got an outrageously expensive meal at George V of french fries and hot dogs- it said sausage on the menu, I did not intentionally order a hotdog on the Champs. I got my first citron pressé this trip too, but it was waaaaaay to lemony. After shopping we took the train in the general direction of Notre Dame. We were just going to take pictures of it and then head somewhere else because it was so insanely cold. We bought gloves from this vendor in the metro for 5€ and Alexa put on her new coat and I bought a new overcoat thing. And we were following behind these Americans and they were talking about going to mass. And Alexa and I looked at each other and I was said, "Want to go to mass?" and she was like, "Yes I do." So we followed them in a non-creepy way and we were wondering what church this mass would be in. Turns out it was in Notre Dame. So, you know, we just went to mass at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France... no big. It was pretty cool though. I've only been to a couple of other catholic services, and I always feel weird when I don't take communion, but I guess it's the rules. But it was really interesting to see the people there because it was like a church community, but it was in Notre Dame. They had announcements and offering and the people were greeting each other and babies were crying and everything a church back in Rolla would. But it was in Notre Dame!

Any way, after that we decided to walk to the Eiffel Tower to save Alexa's metro tickets. And we were just following the spot light, so we got a little bit turned around... and then we saw something glittering like it does every hour and we got really excited, but it ended up being a hotel :/ BUT! We FINALLY made it there! And we passed Invalides on the way. We walked up there and took some pictures and we went up to where Hitler got his picture taken and then we came back home, had a bottle of wine, and went to bed!

And now I'm here updating this blog :)

I need to do some homework sometime today... But we're going to go shopping again because the stores on Rue de Rivoli will be open. My brown boots I just got at Christmas are lookin pretty rough because I wear them every day... literally.

:) Sorry it's been a while, I'll have pictures up too, once I get them all on my computer!

À tout à l'heure!

Today

Class was cancelled today. I went to the bookstore to get my books and my card didn't work. I was mad. Now I'm trying to get a Bank of America card because they don't charge usage fees since they are an affiliate bank of BNP, a French bank. And it's Jack Bauer's bank. I have class from 8:30-2:30 tomorrow. Still no cell phone, hopefully tomorrow though. And I have to register my housing with the French Consulate tomorrow too.

I watched movies of Jack today and I got sad because the next time I see him he will be a giant baby!

À tout à l'heure!

First Day of Class!

So! Today was my first day of class! I was planning on making a little trip to the market, but I didn't wake up early enough! But I took my time getting ready and arrived at school about 2 hours before my class started! So I sat at a table and read a book on my phone. I won't say which one so people don't think any less of me (-cough-New Moon-cough) hahaha!

But I walked up to my room and the teacher was a like 10 minutes late and turns out she's from California. But she lived there 23 years ago. Because she's lived in France for 23 years. And she hasn't had a tv for 23 years. She's kind of a nutter. It's my Critical Thinking class and it's writing intensive. So today we had to interview a person and write a succinct paragraph about it. And I have to read 80 pages by next class :/ and I have to interview someone and write an "interview essay."

In other news, I flipped my comforter over today. Now I have some ferocious looking tigers staring up at me. I might start naming them.

I also picked up a paper fully expecting it to be in French

and it was English. But I felt like a Parisian sitting on the train reading a paper. Too bad it was the sports section of USA today.... No wonder it had a picture of the Saints on the front... :) So much for being a Frenchie.

I'm still excited for Alexa Bear to come on Friday!!!!!!!!! I promise I will have pictures then!!

À tout à l'heure!

Wireless!!!!!

So!! I HAVE THE BEST BIG BROTHER IN THE WHOLE WORLD!!! And he remotely controlled my computer and set up my wireless in my apartment so right now I am typing from the bathroom floor with NO wires!!! It's AMAZING! I'm on the bathroom floor because 1:47 am and I don't want to keep her up because Ben's trying to help me out with some more electronic things :)

But I'm so happy right now because there's no more internet sharing! Yaaaaaaay! It's awesome!

I should have a cell phone in the next two days!

I also got unlimited phone calls to any line in the world on skype for just 25€ for 3 months, so I can call home free! It's a pretty sweet deal!

Okay that's all for now! Things just got a lot better in the appartement!! :)

À tout à l'heure!

Louvre passes! Finally!

We finally got our Louvre passes! They were surprisingly inexpensive... only 15€ for an entire year! I'm looking forward to spending time there and just needing to get out of the apartment and deciding to hop on the metro and go to the Louvre. I also thought that if I just can't get homework done in the apartment I can just go to one of the cafés in the Louvre :)

After we got the passes I was planning on doing some shopping, but I didn't get much done because Raymond and Patrick came along too, and I felt really bad being like... okay sit here while I try on 9000 pairs of boots haha! So I'll go back Wednesday before class. I really like Rue de Rivoli, the area is really neat, and it's right by the Louvre, and I'm kind of a dork so it's like cool! Marie Antoinette probably walked around here at some point! Or an angry mob probably rushed towards the Palace right about here... Anyway, we also went to the mall by Les Halles and there was some good stuff there too. Like I said I'm going back Wednesday :)

I did get one sweater from Zara. It's pretty basic, but it's a pinkish color that will be able to go into the Springtime too.

Apparently tomorrow is supposed to be really cold. Bummer. But I'm planning on going to the little market that happens on Sundays and Wednesdays. They have fresh fruit and jewelry and stuff like that and it's right out side the apartment in the little Place that makes up our little neighborhood. I also need to get a notebook for class tomorrow. Hopefully I won't have homework yet though. Today was the first day of classes (I don't have any on Mondays), but they already have group projects that are due next week. I have an organizational behaviors class, so i'll probably have projects.. boo

I got a router today too. But we don't know how to make it work, so a kid who does is going to help us tomorrow. I'm REALLY excited about that!!!!! Reeeeeeally excited. Because this stupid ethernet cable doesn't even click into my computer and it comes out all the time.

I made myself a little dinner tonight too. Salad and carrots and some bauggette and goat cheese. It was really good. The carrottes are really easy to make and salad is too... I picture myself eating this meal a lot. Which is fine by me and it's relatively healthy! I'm excited for mom and dad to come because I'll get fancy food :) But I kind of want to make them a little dinner in my humble little abode.

I'm going to try to get unlimited skype minutes! Apparently it's really cheap!

À tout à l'heure!

This as good as it gets because I got these from Facebook.. :) sorry!

Found the Shopping!!

I emailed mom and she told me where to find the good shopping :) Aka not the Champs Élysée because it's expensive. But I got on the metro and went to the Louvre-Rivoli stop, and voilà there it was! Everything is closed today since it's Sunday, but I will be visiting again tomorrow since I don't have class. :D

I need to find out what I'm going to eat for dinner since the market was closed...

A couple more pictures

Okay so the one with three people is Emily, Corey, and me at our apartment building. At our school all the kids from our building are the best :) Then the one at the Pyramid is Tina (my roommate), Patrick (the only other person from GSE as of now, the other people come in February), me, and Sarah (she is Emily's roommate, and they live right above us). The night one is of Sarah and me if we would have been taking the picture instead the Eiffel Tower would have been in the background... hahaha So there you go! Now I have four pictures in Paris!!

The Only Picture I Have :)

So this is the only picture I have so far... I'm on the left and my friend Emily is on the right. We went to the Bastille neighborhood after we went to the Eiffel Tower and I had my first Bellini! We were just doing funny faces. I promise!

What happened today

I got up pretty late today because it's the weekend and I didn't have to get up for anything in particular. It was pretty nice, although I'm still tired. I guess I'll have to get used to the busy-ness of the city sometime. I walk a looooooot which is awesome, but most of my shoes don't have very good support at all. So it's like walking barefoot. I'll have to invest in some nice boots and flats. It's definitely worth it.

So since you all are dying to know every detail of my day I guess I'll fill you in :P

After I got up and showered I went out and walked around for a while just around my neighborhood. I found a park that has a soccer- excuse me- foutball field with a track around it that is really not far at all that I can run on :) Another girl here wants to run too and went around today to try to find a running route so we'll have to exchange info on what we found. So I walked around for a long time and then got on the metro to go home. I figure I can get as lost as I want because all I need to do is find the metro and I can make it home no matter where I am. That's a really comforting fact. And since I was walking I couldn't get that far so I was still one of the lines my stop is on. So when I tried to get through the gate my Navigo pass wouldn't work (Navigo is a metro pass that you just reload every month and you get unlimited rides). So the guy at the window called me over and saw that it should have worked and gave me a one time pass and said in 8 minutes it would work. So hopefully it does the next time I go! I tried to reload it for this week too, but my card was rejected because it doesn't have a chip in it like French cards do... I don't know if that had anything to do with it. Or maybe it was because my phone and it were in the same pocket? But my phone's on airplane mode so that couldn't have been it.. I have no idea! But as long as it works next time I don't really care!

Then after I got off the metro at my stop I walked to the boulangerie and got a bauggette for dinner and breakfast and lunch tomorrw. Then I walked to the Monoprix to get some l'eau avec gaz and some Coca Light avex limon (in case Aunt Mary is reading this it feels like old times and every time I hear Diana Krall The Girl in the Other Room and drink Coca with Lime I think of our Parisian adventures :) )

Monoprix was so busy... there were tons of people there because it was right after work let out and right before dinner- not the best idea for me to go then. But I got my stuff and walked back to the apartment. I didn't have my bag with me so I got a good upper body workout from walking the couple of blocks and up the stairs to my place hahaha

And now I'm sitting here about to grab the rest of my Kebab from the other night for dinner telling you all every detail about my day.

Hope it wasn't too boring!

À tout à l'heure!

Spring Break Idea :)

I also forgot to add that my school is doing a Spring Break Trip to go skiing in the French Alps for 370€. That's pretty good for a week of skiing! It's all inclusive too :)

Weekend :)

So yesterday we got out of orientation at 1 and went shopping! I went to Gallaries Lafayette and bought a Longchamp purse for 50% off. I love it. I'm on my way to looking like a "vrai Parisienne hahahaha. It will take more than a Longchamp to do that! But before that I looked in H&M with a friend and then we went to the Gallaries together and she looked around while I picked out a purse. It's a messanger bag so if a gypsy throws a baby at me I won't have to drop my bag to catch the baby!

Last night we went (in a group of 9, don't worry Mother) to the Eiffel Tower and walked up to where Hitler got his picture taken with it (I don't remember what it's called). Then we took the Metro to the Bastille and I had my first Bellini at a bar there :) it was pretty tasty!

Later today I'm going to explore my neighborhood a little bit and find a place to run.

The internet is really really fickle and we only have one ethernet cord. I was thinking about finding a wireless router so our room could just use that, but that will probably cost money. Which is a problem.

Mooooore Orientation and stuff..

We had another 2 hours of orientation this morning. We did a workshop on "stereotypes." And we pretty much pointed out all the negatives about Americans and then all the positives about Mexico. I mean, Mexico is cool, but so is America.

Anyway, that was really boring. And then we went on a boat cruise and it went to Notre Dame and turned around and came back. But not before we went through 7 locks on the canal and then through a 2000 meter tunnel... sooooo anyway hahaha it wasn't an incredibly successful boatride.

Then my friend Emily and I went to Tati (it's like a Target... kind of) I got some pillow cases and a comforter for 20€. It's a pretty good deal! And the comforter adds a lot of color to the drab whiteness of the apartment. I'll take some pictures of the apartment soon so you can see it :) it's a very humble abode.

But anyway, on the metro on the way to Tati it was rush hour and we were literally jammed into the metro. I was crushed up against the guy in front of me and the guy behind me and the wall beside me and the lady on the other side. it was actually a little bit ridiculous. I literally couldnt move at all. Not a good metro experience. Next time i'll wait for the next train. Definitely.

Tomorrow we are going to go shopping after our General Meeting for ABS :) I'm pretty excited. I am going to get a Longchamp bag because they are very cheap here, and it's the big sale period too! So things are like 30-70% off! Who knows maybe I'll get two ;)

We are going to go get our Louvre passes tomorrow since it was closed when we tried to go last time. I'm looking forward to being able to just think "I have nothing to do, I think I'll go to the Louvre for a while." I am my mother's daughter!

I'm still a little jetlagged I think. Or maybe I just need to get used to the city. It's pretty stressful just to go from one place to another. I'm not used to all of this and I'm on sensory overload! But I do love it. I wouldn't be surprised if I end up staying a little longer than the semester, or coming back later in life :) hehehe. But I'm really liking it! even though it makes me exhausted.

I, unfortunately, will not be able to take a French language class while I am here. This will be news to my parents when they read this, but I am taking a French Civilization class. Which I don't really have the opportunity to take at Missouri State. Especially not when I can just go outside and walk around the topics of discussion in the class. There was a mix up with the school, and they aren't going to do a placement test so the French language classes are full. But I am very okay with my schedule, and a lot of people are in the same classes as me so I won't have to come home on the metro by myself at night (don't worry mom!! :)

I have been reading more Marie Antoinette and it's very interesting to be in the city where all the horrible stuff that happened to her went on. I'm pretty excited to visit Versailles now that I know more about Marie Antoinette, and know that she spent a lot of her time at Versailles. I really want to visit the little village she created too! I can't think of the name of it right now. It's Petit Trian or something like that... it sounds really cool :)

It's been fun to know what I do about French History (learning from the many museum visits and walking tours given by Mrs. Marilyn Frederick's Guide to Paris) because the other kids ask what this is or what that is and I'm like, well you see... hahahaha and they're like wow.. that's really cool! So that's fun.

Anyway, I'm going to go get some soup and read a little more Marie Antoinette.

I love it when I get comments from you guys :) it lets me know you are actually reading what I write and want to know what's going on en Paris :D

Merci pour le lire!

À tout à l'heure!

Orientation Starts...

We had orientation today from 10-6. We got there at like 10:15 because the metro broke down in front of us, so it was slow going (we left the apartment at around 9:20). The orientation was long. and boring. The first part of it we could have just read through. she read about ethnocentrism and she put herself in the collective "we" of the french "people" and then she did the same thing, only she put herself in the collective of the american people, but she emigrated from Canada... so that was annoying. The second half... I don't even really remember what it was about. The guy who talked was an Irish guy who was born in Austria that moved to Paris 20 years ago... and it was pretty much Americans are stupid, and they need to be more like French people. Which was frustrating.

We have it again tomorrow, but we don't have to go to the whole thing because we are doing a Bateau Mouche ride on the Seine :/ how much more "touristy" does it get? hahahaha if only I had a fanny pack...

I'm going to get my Marie Antoinette book and relax for a little before hittin the sack. :)

Oh! and I forgot! Miss Alexa Wilcox will be coming to Paris next Thursday, January 28 and will be staying until Monday, February 1 :) :) :) soooooooooooo excited!!!!

À tout à l'heure!

First Day on the Town

Today we walked a LOT. Raymond, our trip director, met us in front of the apartment and we got on the metro and rode to Bastille (which is only a few stops from Daumesnil). Then we got off the metro at Bastille and walked from Bastille to the Louvre. Which is a long way when you're walking straight there, but we took the scenic route, so it was quite a ways. We were going to get our Louvre passes (which once you pay, and mine is already prepaid through my program). Once you have the pass you can get in for free for a year! so i can go to the louvre as much as I want! hahaha

what else... thats mostly it i guess. we just walked a lot a lot. And we went to the grocery store and i got a bauggette (finally!!) and some sirop for flavoring water :) and some raspberry applesauce... and a bottle of red wine for 1,65! it's so cheap!

Now that you've read through my shopping list...

tomorrow is our first day of orientation at the American Business School. We have to be there at 10 am which means I should probably get up at like... 8. We have to meet Raymond at 9:30 i think so he can take us there for the first day. We have to learn the exchanges and stuff...

we were going to go to a basketball game (one of the kids who lives here plays for our school) but we found out it's like an hours train ride away... and we're all really tired from walking all day. I think were going to watch a movie later.

So that's it!

À tout à l'heure!

I'm here!

Yeah! I made it! And no Mom, Dad, and Paden it wasn't hard at ALL with two suitcases. I didn't have to pick them up until after going through security, and when I did I used a trolley and I took it all the way out to the cab. And the cab driver put them in the car and took them out and Raymond (trip director) helped me get them into the elevator.

The apartment's pretty tiny, but I have my own room kind of so that's nice. There are two rooms and they are connected to each other and my room is on the way to the bathroom. Which isn't a big deal. The beds are really comfortable so that's good.

That's pretty much it. I'm starting to unpack. I'm kind of putting off a shower, as gross as that is, because the heat is broken in the bathroom and it's pretty cold in there. I might just deal with it after a while though.

The neighborhood I'm in is pretty residential, and there are lots of families living here. It's weird to walk down the street and see little kids speaking French so well haha.

I guess I should get to it.

À tout à l'heure!

More Packing...

So today I put on Harry Potter and brought in all the stuff that was in my car that was in the hall into my room. And I've been sorting through it a little bit and putting stuff away. I have most of what I want to take piled on my bag... I need my mom to go through everything with me though! I have so much stuff I want/should take. I bought some space bags today too. There was only one travel one and the rest were vacuum ones. Well the vacuum's broken, so I just had to squeeze the air out of all of them. They don't really save that much room because my stuff isn't that puffy. But I have a lot to fit in this bag, so every little space counts I guess... This part of the trip isn't that exciting. So more to come later. And hopefully it will be more interesting :)

Packing!

I just started packing today! It feels better to have something done. But then it doesn't feel better because I see how much more I have to do. In 9 days... Oh well, won't worry about that now! :)

Oh. And I don't leave until the 17th. I JUST unloaded my car... and it is all sitting outside my room and I haven't even started to pack. But hopefully it will all come together in the end. I only have 10 days... woah.

So I'm not really sure how this works...

I feel kind of lame starting a blog... but I thought it would be a good way to let everyone know about my trip. So here it is. I guess I need to start telling people about it. So that's my next step.