Visit from the Broski

My brother William visited for the weekend. His arrival was a bit difficult however. He was suppose to take a plane from Philly to Dulles Airport, then fly to France. However, the plane from Philly to Dulles was canceled b/c its landing gear was messed up. Then William's only option was to fly to Chicago of all places, sit in the airport from 11 am to 5 pm, and THEN fly to Paris. That made him be a day later, but he extended his stay a day. He finally got here Thursday morning, but the shuttle company he signed up for was pretty lame. They didn't leave to pick him up until he called them from the airport, and it took about TWO HOURS for them to get to the airport, and he had to sit there and wait. Finally they got there, and then it took about an hour for him to get to my apartment. Needless to say he was pretty exhausted by the time he got here.

Right after he got here we went to an architecture museum and saw the Eiffel tower. Then we came back and William passed out for awhile. Clarice and I cooked Thanksgiving dinner, and it turned out really well! We made mashed potatoes from real potatoes, and we had the cranberry sauce and stuffing that William brought. We had a rotissery chicken and pretended it was turkey. I was a bit homesick, but William being there helped quell the feeling.

The rest of the weekend I took to William to as much sites as possible. He joked about being dragged to so many museums, but I wanted to make his visit worth it! I had another Louvre talk on Friday, and it went well again. William wondered around the museum while I stood in front of my painting. It's so much fun talking to people from around the world! I met several groups of Americans traveling for Thanksgiving. Several French people did rebuke me for only giving my talk to English, lol. Oh well. William and I also went to the Pompidou center (which William liked b/c he thought it looked spacey) Notre Dame, We went up in the Eiffel Tower, Champs Elysee, and Monmartre (the artists' hangout, with Sacre Coeur). Monmartre is up on a hill, and has a gorgeous view of Paris. Even though I had been I still liked seeing the view again. We just got back from going out to dinner. I got some delicious duck. Yum. I have fallen in love with French duck, I order it all the time.

Visiting Romans

This weekend Anna and Janine visited. We’re had so much fun showing them around! They got in Thursday night, very late, so they just settled in. Friday morning I had class, so Clarice took the girls to a little market by our apartment for breakfast. Unfortunately the metro is down for a strike, so we have been doing looooots of walking. Luckily we live near within somewhat reasonable walking distance of all the big stuff, so it is not fatal for our guests. So after the market Clarice, Janine and Anna walked to Musee D’Orsay. I had class at Louvre for my Renaissance art class, which is across the river from the Musee D’Orsay, so I met the group at the D’Orsay. Clarice and I did tag team, because she had to go to her class for the afternoon. I walked with Anna and Janine to Notre Dame. On the way we stopped for lunch and I had an omelet. It was a bit overpriced because it we were in a tourist section, but it was good. Then we continued on to the Notre Dame. Anna and Janine were wowed by the cathedral. Its fun taking visitors to sites, even ones I’ve already been to, because I can relive discovering them through my friends. We went up in the towers of the cathedral, which was the first time for me. We had to walk up a huge spiral staircase, it took forever and I got out of breath. However it was really cool when we made it to the top. We got to see the gargoyles up close and the view was beautiful. After climbing back down the very long spiral staircase we did a bit of shopping. We hit up the touristy shops around the cathedral, and Janine fulfilled her dream of buying a Parisian scarf! She bought a very pretty pale one that matches her coat very well. I finally bought a pair of gloves, as my hands have been freezing for the past two weeks. They are pink and fuzzy, and go with my purple and pink scarf. Then we tried to go to the Cluny museum. However, when we got there we found that it was closing already. The atmosphere was very odd; we saw a demonstration approaching from far away down the street. We were near the Sorbonne, so it was probably a student demonstration. We also saw lots of police vans and police men running around. I was afraid there was going to be some kind of riot or something, with all the metro issues going on. However, I couldn’t see any problems happening, and I didn’t read anything in the news about a massive riot or anything. I guess I’ll never know what was going on. Then we shopped a bit around the Latin Quarter and found some small funky shops. That evening I had my program called Les Jeunes ont La Parole. That’s this cool program AUP has with the Louvre, where on student night at the Louvre, which is Friday from 6 to 9 where students get in free, art history students stand in front of paintings and give little speeches to visitors. It was by far the coolest thing I’ve done yet in Paris. I got to talk to people from all over the world- I talked to a Japanese lady, a Russian couple, Americans, Spanish people, and of course lots of French people. I did my talk on St. Michael Trampling the Devil, by Raphael, 1518. After the Louvre we walked back to our neighborhood and went out to dinner at Clarice and mine’s haunt the restaurant down the street from us. We had a great time catching up. Then we went home and collapsed in bed, exhausted from a long day!

On Saturday we had another busy day. We first went up to Montmartre to get some fondue. Unfortunately metro strikes caused problems again. It took a long time to get there b/c only a couple lines were even barely functioning and we had to go a circuitous route. Then when we found the restaurant we wanted to go to it was closed! I’m guessing b/c the workers couldn’t get there. We went to another restaurant, but they only had meat fondue which was disappointing. Oh well. Then we rushed over to our Riverdance show which was at 3:00. Yes, we saw Riverdance! I’m not a huge Irish dance fan or expert, but I enjoyed it! What surprised me was that the whole show wasn’t just Irish dance; there was also Spanish, Russian, and tap. I knew there were other dances, but it seemed like Irish played a smaller role than I was expecting. But we all really enjoyed the show, it was awesome!! Next we went up the Eiffel Tower! I had been up halfway, because the top was closed. However this time we went all the way up. Clarice once again conquered her fear of heights and went up! We were so happy that she came with us. The view from the top was beautiful; it was cool seeing everything from far away and being to point out everything I’ve been to. The lights were so pretty. Then we made our way home, and Janine cooked us a yummy dinner. I’ve missed Janine’s cooking!

Sunday we fulfilled Anna’s dream of going to the Champs-Elysees. Sadly, all the big name stores were closed! It was weird, the American stores like the Virgin Megastore and the Disney store were open, but none of the super dooper brand names. Well except for Louis Vuitton. I was sorry to disappoint Anna, but it was still fun to window shop and look at clothes that I will never ever be able to afford. And as always I had a great time hanging out with my friends.

That afternoon and evening we were so tired, after a busy weekend, not to mention it was freezing cold. However we did drag ourselves to the Eiffel Tower for a photo shoot, I can’t wait to see Anna’s pictures! We went back to the same restaurant for dinner. Then we turned in early because Anna and Janine had to leave at 5 am!! We all woke up then and Clarice and I made sure Anna and Janine got a taxi to the airport. Then they left L I miss them already!!

London Calling

Two weekends ago Clarice and I went to London on Saturday and Sunday. It was really fun! It was great being in a place where English is spoken, but it made Clarice and I both really homesick! At one point we both turned to each other and were like "uhhhhh I wanna go home!!" But dramatics aside, it was a great time. We saw the British Museum (Rosetta Stone), the National Gallery (Van Eyck's Arnolfini Marriage), the Tower of London (Queen's jewels) the Tate Britain , and the Westminster Abbey. We also saw the Parliament buildings and Big Ben from the outside, and we rode The London Eye. Yes I got Clarice to go up high, I was so proud of her!! And I almost forgot- We went to platform 9 3/4s!! Yes the one from Harry Potter! It was Clarice's idea, and I'm so glad she thought of it. We rode the tube to King's Cross station and found the spot. They have sign in between the two platforms with a shopping cart stuck in the wall, how hilarious is that?? Of course we took many pictures, which I'm sure Clarice will put up soon. So yeah we did all that in two days, it was pretty insane and hectic and we were so dead when we got back. However, I am glad that we saw alot. Despite all that I still feel like we only scratched the surface, there is so much to do in London! It was a cool city and I'd love to go back some day. And P.S. the accents are glorious and I need to marry a British man.

I was so excited because at the Tate Britain there was a big show of Millais, a Pre-Raphaelite artist who is one of my favorites. I have a book of his art that I've read a couple of times, and it was so exciting seeing his work in person! I got a book of postcards from the gift store, one of my favorite souvenirs yet.

Venezia

So I’ve finally gotten around to writing up a summary of my Venice trip. First off, I had an amazing time. I definitely can’t stress that enough. Venice is the most beautiful place I have ever seen. I went for my fall break, which is called Toussaint (All Saints' Day) in Europe. I went on a study trip with AUP, for my history of Venice class. The trip was from Wednesday to Sunday. I traveled all day Wednesday and got in during the evening. As soon as I arrived I knew I would love Venice. We took a boat down the Grand Canal to get to our hotel, and I was immediately struck by the beauty of the city. Out hotel was fine, though there were bugs. But it was a step up from a hostel. We saw so much on the trip, we did sightseeing from 8 am to 6 every day! It was tiring, but I know I saw everything. I can’t remember everything we saw, but some of the main sites were:

1. .Doge’s Palace (Doge means Duke)

2. Piazza San Marco, which is the main square in Venice.

3. Church of San Marco- It has many Byzantine mosaics, reflecting the strong Eastern influence in Venice as a result of all the trade Venice did with the East.

4. Jewish Ghetto- The word ghetto was coined in Venice, and is named such because on the site of the ghetto was a foundry. Ghetto comes from the Venetian word to throw metal. We went in three different synagogues. Today only about two Jewish families remain in the Ghetto. Jews came from all over Europe and Middle East to live in Venice, in the 16^th Century, because of the relatively tolerant laws regarding them. Venetians saw Jewish money lenders and merchants and valuable contributors to trade, so they allowed them to live in the city. However, they were only allowed to live in the Ghetto. The buildings were very cramped, because the Jewish people were densely packed in a small area.

5. St. Giorgione- This is a church designed by Palladio. It is Classical in style. Instead of being ornately decorated like Gothic churches, it has only white and gray stone with lots of light. Usually I find Classical architect somewhat boring, but this church was beautiful. It has a large dome over the crossing of the church. We went up in the bell tower, and were able to see a beautiful view of Venice. I got lots of cool aerial shots.

6. We saw several Scuole, which were guilds of Venice. They had their own buildings for which they commissioned art work.

We saw art work by Giorgione, Bellini, and Tintoretti, the most famous artists of Venice.

I also had some interesting Venetian food. Venetian food features lots of seafood since the city is right on the Adriatic. I had cuttlefish, which is a kind of squid, and pasta. The sauce was made using the black ink of the fish! It sounds weird but it was good. I also had lots of pizza and a cone of gelato.

Venice is famous for masks and glass, and of course the tourist shops are packed with them. I bought two necklaces with glass pendants and some postcards as souvenirs.

Venice is gorgeous. I’ve wanted to go for a long time, I’m so glad I was able to.

Roman Holiday

This past weekend I went to Rome with Clarice to visit Anna and Janine and take in the sites. It was so much fun. I had a great time. Clarice I flew in Friday night. We stayed at a cheap hostel, in a long narrow room with 8 other beds. Kindof sketch and ghetto, but it was all other students there, and we only had to be there at night, we just needed beds to sleep on. Saturday morning we got up early and met Janine and Anna outside a metro stop. Then they gave us a very comprensive tour of the city. First we went to St. Peter’s. It was awesome seeing it, because I have learned out it in art history so many times. It was fun being able to point out all the things I’ve had to memorize over the past couple years. Then we went to the forum, which was the heart of the Roman city. It has the most Roman ruins. It was so awesome, I think that was my favorite part of our trip. I had flashbacks to those two years of Latin I took in high school. The forum had all kinds of ruins like two triumphal arches and some temples. I can’t remember the names of everything that was there. It was crazy walking were ancient Romans once did. The highlight of the forum is of course the colloseum. Unfortunately it was closed so we couldn’t go in. But it was great seeing it in person. I still can’t believe I’ve seen it. We ate lunch at a favorite resturant of Janine and Anna’s, that has 100 different kinds of pasta! I got a pretty traditional kind, with basil, tomatos, and cheese. It was good! Next we went to the Pantheon, an ancient Roman temple that has a huge dome, which was a great innovation at the time. We also saw the Trevi fountain. The tradition here is to make a wish and throw in three coins over your left shoulder. That’s what the video of me on facebook is, it’s on Clarice’s profile. We also saw Trajan’s column, another famous monument. For dinner we got some brick oven pizza. Italian pizza doesn’t have tomato sauce on it. I got sausage, mushroom, and cheese. That night we went out to an Irish pub and just did some more catching up. It was great haning out with Anna and Janine! The next morning we met up for breakfast at a little café. Oh I forgot to mention, Italian pasteries are delicous! On Saturday I got a cannoli, one of my favorite pasteries. Sunday for breakfast I got another yummy pastery and a cappachino. Both were wonderful! After breakfast we walked around an open air market for a bit. Then Clarice and I headed on over to the airport. The ride home was beautiful. We didn’t seen anything on the way in because it was nighttime. However when we flew out I saw the Mediterranean for the first time, and the Alps! The Alps were gorgeous, we took some pictures of them. One of those pictures is currently my desktop background. Okay I only mentioned food a couple times in this blog, hehe

Bel-gee-um

Finally a post that'so not all abut food, lol. Well it's been awhile since I updated this, and I'm a bit behind. But it's midterm time, so I'm just going to post a summary of my Belgium trip. I put Bel-gee-um as my title b/c I took German last semester, and I learned that that's how you say Belgium in German.

So I went to Belgium on a study trip for my Renaissance Art History class. We went to Ghent, Brussels, and Brugge. We saw a lot of art of course. Much of it I have studied many a time, so it was great seeing it in person. One of the most famous pieces of art we saw was the Ghent altarpiece. It was huge, seven by thirteen feet, and filled up the whole room. The colors of it were brilliant, jewel like I would say. Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take pictures of it. We spent the most time in Brugge. Brugge is beautiful. It was a major trade center of the Renaissance. After the Renaissance their economy fell apart, so the city looks the same as it did then. I felt like I was walking onto a movie set or into Disneyland. We got to take a boat ride on the canal, it was so beautiful. We really lucked out with the weather, it was gorgeous fall day. We had a little bit of free time, and I bought some yummy chocolate and a Belgium waffle. My class was a nice group of people, so I had fun hanging out with them and getting to know some new people.

It was weird going to another country where the primary language wasn't English or French. That was a first for me. It was a bit jarring when I got out of the train and the signs were in Dutch. However, apparently Belgium people know like five languages. Everyone knew English, which always seems to be the case! I'm so used to avoiding using English, since French people don't seem to like it when you speak English, and I felt rude speaking English. But the Belgians didn't seem to mind. On Saturday night in Brugge I went out to dinner with some people from my class and out waiter spoke British English! That was funny. Like I said I took German last semester, and I noticed some similar words, like the words for street. I don't think they're too different.

Our way back to Paris was a bit hectic. The plan was to take a train to Brussels, then switch onto another train to get to Paris. When we got on our first train there was no sitting room left, so we had to sit in the aisle on the floor for about an hour! Then it turned out that that train was too slow, and we missed our other train to Paris! There was only one other train left going to Paris that night. My teacher talked to the train people, and they told us there were 19 spots left on the last train, and our class had 20 people in it! Luckily they let us get on. Then they opened up what we think was some emergency seating in the back of the train, and we all got seats. That was a major relief. I was happy to be back in Paris after all that craziness. My teacher was really intense, and she was the fastest walker I'd ever seen! If you didn't keep up she didn't hesitate to leave you behind. So that was a bit stressful. But it was really fun seeing some new cities.

India is just a metro ride away....

As Janine pointed out this blog is rapidly becoming a food blog, lol. Oh well, my adventures of going out to eat on the weekends are the most interesting thing I have to report on for the moment. Friday night Clarice and I returned to the same restaurant we ate at the Friday before, this time with our friend Angela from NYU. Clarice and I both ordered the duck with peach again, because we both liked it so much. We had a different waiter, but once again he was very nice. I like the service at this restaurant. Angela ordered a big plate of clams and French fries. The nice waiter showed her the French way of eating them, where you use one clam to scoop out the meat from another. Angela really likes seafood, and she was very happy with her meal. She loved the ingenuity of using the shell to scoop out the meat. Once again my duck was yummy. The waiter caught on that we were trying to have a “true” French dining experience, and he recommended the crème brulee as a true French dessert. It was delicious. Very rich and creamy, with a touch of egg. Once again we were able to talk for like an hour after we finished eating, because at this restaurant they do not rush you out the door, unlike Chartier! It was very pleasant relaxing and getting to know Angela better.

Saturday Clarice and I decided to have a bit of a dining adventure and go to an Indian restaurant. Clarice is Indian, so I felt like I was in good hands. We looked up Indian restaurants online, and found a positive review for one. Apparently, unbeknownst to me, Paris has a little India! I’ve never heard of city having a Little India before. Chinatown and Little Italy yes, but not little India. It was a bit of a metro ride getting over to the neighborhood. It is by Montmartre, which is on pretty much the opposite side of Paris from us. It was funny, right when we stepped off the metro we knew we were in Little India- we were surrounded by Indian people! For what I think was the first time in my life I was the minority! We found the restaurant easily enough. Clarice helped me pick out something that wasn’t too spicy, as I do not have the taste buds of steel possessed by Indians. It was really good! I don’t really know what it was called, but it was lamb in a sweet tasting curry that I put over rice. We also got side orders of yummy Indian bread. I love Indian bread! The total for one meal was 8.50 Euros! That is the absolute cheapest I have eaten out yet. Usually I pay around 20 Euros. Clarice enjoyed her meal too. She got a very spicy dish. The waiter even warned her, but Clarice said “Bring it on!” Clarice was happy to Indian food once again, as she’s gone about month without it. It was a positive dining experience, and we both would be happy to return. Indian food hits you hard though! Even though my food wasn’t too spicy I felt pretty flushed after eating it and my lips burned a little. And I was so stuffed! My stomach was like “what is this food and how do I digest it?” This was Clarice and mine’s last weekend without someone visiting us or us traveling. Weird! But also good, I’m ready to start traveling. Next week- Belgium!

More Dining Adventures....

Saturday night Clarice and I finally got a chance to “go out” or as we like to say “goaaaaaaaaaahhhh”. We got together with some girls we met at orientation from NYU, Angela and Lauren. Angela brought two friends of her’s- Hannah from Germany and Corinne who’s a freshman. I found a cheap resturant for us by typing in google “cheap french resturants.” We’re poor college students after all. I came up with a resturant called Chartier. According to the website is 100 years old. It first opened to provide cheap eats for the working class, and has stayed cheap ever since. Their formula obviously works, b/c it was packed when we got there and by the time we left there was a huge line out to the street. However, I didn’t really like the food. I got lamb and french fries. The lamb was pretty tough and kindof crispy. Paying was an adventure, as it always seems to be at French resturants. Our waiter wrote down the prices of everything we ordered on our paper tablecloth and added it together. He left and we started to divy up the bill, figuring out what each peron owed. The host of the resturant came and loomed over the end of our table. He was very rude saying “59 euros! 59 euros! We have a very long line waiting to get in!” We paid as fast as we could and got out of there. I don’t think I’ll be going back.

We went across the street to get some crepes. When it was my turn I said “Je voudrais bannane” “I would like bananna.” The worker handed me a bannana! He was kindof making fun of me, but it was funny so we all cracked up. I did end up getting my bannana crepe, and I ate the free bannana for breakfast! Lauren took a picture of me with the bananna, because it was funny. Then the worker making the crepes was like “Take a picture of me!” So Lauren went to take one. The he said “No, with me!” So Lauren stood next to the cart and I took a picture. Right when I was about to take it the other worker stuck another bananna behind Lauren’s head, like giving someone rabbit ears in a picture! Those crepe guys were having fun teasing us, lol.

Then we went to an Irish pub across the street, O’Sullivan’s. Irish people are crazy. A fair size crowd was there to watch the rugby game that night. However it wasn’t a particullary relevent match- Argentina verses Nanambia. However, the Irish men were still going crazy. They were singing drinking songs and dancing around. I can only imagine what they’re like on nights Ireland actually plays! We chilled in big comfy chairs and talked awhile. I ordered my first drink from a bar- it was called an Orgasm, he he. It was alright at first, but then it got really bitter. Clarice said that’s b/c alcohol sinks to the bottom of drinks. I only drank like 1/3 of it, lol.

Finally we walked around the neighborhood for awhile. We kindof got lost, and Clarice and I think we were in a sketchy neighborhood. There weren’t a lot of people around, and we kept seeing cop cars with their sirens on going by! It was getting kindof late-11:30ish. A man hung out of a car and was yelling something at us, I don’t know what. We struggled to find a metro stop. Luckily, using my map Angela figured out where we were and how to find a metro stop. I sure was relieved when we found one! I love the metro, you can get anywhere in Paris so easily. We got home right quick.

Foooooooood

I had a delicious meal. Last night Clarice and I went to a little restaurant down the block from us. We decided to have a genuine French meal. We went with a three course special for 23 Euros, not too bad. First we started with escargot, the classic. We had to get escargot at some point! It was very garlicky. It as kind of like eating crabs. You have a tong that you hold the shell with, and you pick out the meat with a little fork. The meat tasted better with some bread. Then we had duck, a.k.a. Canard, with peach! It was so delicious. Very savory. Then for dessert we got apple tartes. They were green! Not what I was expecting, but French pastries have surprised me on many occasion. It was also tasty, but by that point I was a little on overload with all the rich food and I struggled to finish. I think Clarice and I will definitely return to this restaurant. It had a nice atmosphere, as we were able to sit outside. It was a beautiful evening, and it was wonderful to get outside of our virtually windowless apartment. Something we noticed about French service was it was much more relaxed. We didn’t feel rushed out at all. After we finished eating we just sat and talked for about ½ hour, and we felt perfectly welcome to do so. I felt like we could have sat there all night and talked and the restaurant wouldn’t have minded, and we probably could have. Much different from US restaurants, where you feel you should leave right after you’re done eating. Perhaps visiting Americans may mistake this laissez-faire eating as a sign of rudeness or poor service, but really it’s just a different attitude about eating. You’re supposed to relax and enjoy the food and the company, not rush through it. I enjoyed it. I was very stuffed!

Classy Classy

So I’m done with my first week and half of classes. My classes are looking interesting. Two of my classes, Museum as a Medium and Paris Architecture take fieldtrips every week to different sites around Paris. My Renaissance art class will also have frequent field trips, most of them to the Louvre. I have study trips in two of my classes- I’m going to Venice for my Venice history class and to Belgium for my Renaissance class. Clarice and I are planning two more trips- One to Rome and one to London. We’ll visit our friends Anna and Janine in Rome. We have to go to London- it’s only two hours away by train and Clarice and I both really want to go. My classes have some heavy reading assignments, but hopefully I’ll be able to handle them.

I’m trying to get involved at bit at AUP so I won’t sit around and be bored in the evenings. I signed up to write for the newspaper. I am also going to a meeting for a service club called Roots and Shoots. I have to do community service for Loyola anyway, so I figure this is a good way to be active and take care of that. I also signed up for a program where art history students give pick a painting at the Louvre and give talks about it on three different evenings. I’m a little nervous for that, it sounds pretty intense, but I had to take advantage of it. Giving a lecture at the Louvre- how crazy is that?!!

Speaking of the Louvre, I went for the first time last weekend. I went Friday night with Clarice b/c it’s free for anyone under 26. We hit up all the biggies like the Mona Lisa and Winged Victory. Winged Victory was my favorite. She’s at the top of a flight of stairs and it’s very dramatic. I’ve always loved pictures of this statue, so it was great seeing it in person. Then on Saturday morning I went with my Museums Studies class. We got a tour and learned about the history of the museum. It was really interesting and I enjoyed it. I had to pinch myself- I’m taking a class that often meets in the Louvre!

Yesterday I went on another field trip with my Paris Architecture class to the Notre Dame. I had been earlier, but it was cool to get a lecture on it and learn all about the catherdral. It helped me brush up on my gothic architecture vocab! Then we went to Saint-Chapelle, which was the royal chapel. It was beautiful- like being in a stained glass bubble! Or a greenhouse all made of stained glass.

So I’m glad that I’m seeing lots of the different sites in Paris. I want to see as much as possible!

In the Steps of Van Gogh

I’ve had a busy weekend. On Thursday I met up with an old friend from High School, Tristan. Tristan is French, and was an exchange student at my high school. He drove Clarice and I around Paris, showing us the sites and the layout of the land. It was great getting a tour from a native. That night Clarice and I went on a bus tour sponsored by AUP around Paris. It was awful. Our “tour guide” was an AUP upperclassman. One of his quotes “The Arc de Triomphe was built by Napoleon, after WWII.” It soon resorted to him telling us a bunch of drinking stories. Call me uncool, but some of us signed up for a real tour. We did stop by the Eiffel tower, and I saw it at night for the first time. It was beautiful! I took lots of pictures of course.

The next interesting thing I did was on Saturday. Clarice and I went on a walking tour of Montmartre, where all the artists like Van Gogh hung out in the 1800 and 1900’s. One of the first sites we saw was the Moulin Rouge! That was exciting because I love the movie. How ever I did not see Ewan : ( We saw the Sacre Coeur, a huge white Gothic church. It had an amazing view of Paris. This tour went a bit better, because it was led by an adult. He told us real information, not drinking stories. How novel. Then we went out to a restaurant for fondue. Montmartre is known for fondue. The food was good, we had some raw meat which we cooked in oil and also precooked meat that we dipped in a pot of cheese. We sat with a nice group of people too. Then we walked around a bit with two girls, Lauren and Ashley. We came home around 10.

Today, Sunday, we went to Versailles. Surprise Surprise, the trip was completely unorganized because it was run by AUP. We all bum rushed a metro stop to get the tickets we needed, and that took about an hour for everyone to get their tickets. Then we were shepared through the metros and train routes by several student advisers. We parted ways at the gates of Versailles, with our guides telling us to be back at 3, and they would help us get home. The way to and back Versaille is a bit complicated. So Clarice and I wondered around the palace and the gardens. It was crazy to think this is where Marie Antoinette and Louis 16^th lived and walked. The palace was completely resplendent, as expected. Every surface was gilded and painted. The gardens were huge, Clarice and I probably only saw about 1/8 of them. However, not much was in bloom because its fall, and all the fountains were off. Clarice and I returned to the appointed spot at 3:00. Surprise Surprise, the student advisers didn’t show. We waited 20 minutes and they never came. So we had to find our way to the Versailles train station on our own, which we weren’t sure about. We had to stop a nice old lady for directions. Thank goodness we found it, and then using a metro map we got home.

I love Paris, seeing all these sites has been my dream for as long as I can remember. However, I am so fed up with AUP. Over and over again they have disapointed me with poor organization. Many times they have dropped us off at sites and left it up to us to get home. We’ve only been here for less then a week! It’s ridiculous. So my conclusion is I like Paris but I hate AUP. We’ll see if classes change my opinion. Classes start tomorrow. They sound interesting, let’s hope they redeem my opinion of the school.

Home Sweet Home

Clarice and I found someplace to live! We're living in the heart of Paris, blocks away from the Eiffel Tower. We each have our own bedroom. They're really big, especially by Paris standards where students can expect to live in rooms the size of broom closets! We're on the first floor, a major plus! We're living with an older lady, Madame Fahmy. She has had an interesting life. She grew up in an aristocratic Egyptian family, in Egypt. She lived in a 56 room house! We saw a picture, it was huge. Then there was a revolution and her family lost everything. A dictator took over and eventually she moved to Paris and became a world journalist! Now she's retired and travels around alot. So much in fact that she'll hardly ever be here! We're basically house sitting for her. I like our location. We live next to a boulangerie (bakery) heavens knows I'll be hitting that up alot : ) We also live a block away from a laundrymat and a cheap grocery store, so our location is very convenient! Oh did I mention we live only a few blocks from the the main buildings of our school?
Today I got my classes all set, I got everything I wanted, thank goodness. I'm taking Museum as a Medium, which includeds field trips to the Louvre. I am SO EXCITED for that class. I'm also taking Paris Architecture, History of Venice (which has a study trip to Venice) European art and film between the world wars, and a Renaissance Art history class. The Ren class has a trip to Belgium! Call me a dork, but I'm excited for classes to start : )
Last night Clarice and I went grocery shopping for our dinner! We went to a little cheap place near us called Ed. Selection is pretty sparce, but we picked up a bag of chicken filets, cheese, and some rip off nutella that we've named fauxtella. Clarice also couldn't pass up the 2 euro wine, which was about the cheapest thing in the store! I had my first glass of wine, but I'm sorry to report it was really cheapo wine that tasted like vinegar! We cooked the chicken in a pan in some butter, then we decided to make use of the undrinkable wine and we dumped some in the pan to give the chicken flavor. We also melted slices of cheese on the chicken. It ended up tasting really good! So that's our improvised recipe for chicken- add wine and cheese! Very French, I deem it French Chicken, lol.
The other day Clarice and I had some free time so we took the metro over to Notre Dame. It was so beatiful! Lovely stained glass. We didn't go up in the towers, which costs money, but I'd like to go back and do it. I put up a bunch of pictures on facebook. I can't believe that all these famous sites are within a metro ride of me. YAY!
I have a list of all the things I want to do in Paris, I hope it get to see everything! Tonight I'm going on a night bus tour of Paris, I bet it will be beautiful. Ta Ta for Now!

Settling In

The first few days in Paris have been really hard. My flight was smooth and uneventful, thankfully. However, registration was a mess. I had to stand in line for hours to register and to get dinner. I went at least 36 hours without sleeping and without much food. For orienation I got housed way out in the boondocks of Paris, in the freaking suburbs. I'm almost an hour from school, where all the events are. However, things are starting to look up. I've jumped some hurdles, like getting a metro pass and setting up my phone. My hotel roomate and I have gone on the metro a couple times without getting lost, that makes me feel more confident about getting around. Yesterday was fun, b/c Clarice, my roomie Kim and I had some free time after going to orientatin sessions. We walked around the neigborhood our school is in and we got some food at a really cute little boulangerie. I had my first French Croque-Monsieur, a classic french food. We also got some yummy Pain au Chocolat. We walked up to the Eiffel Tower. We didn't go up, but I'll definately be back! It was crazy seeing the Eiffel tower, so surreal. I can't believe I have actually seen it, I've wanted to for so long. My next two hurdles are figuring out classes and housing. I have a housing meeting today, I hope it goes well! I'm doing a homestay, I can't wait to meet my french family! I think it will be fun, though everyone keeps warning me it might be awkward and what not. I want to move in as soon as possible. I've been meeting alot of cool people, everyone is very nice b/c we're all going through this madness together! I met two nice girls from Saudia Arabia and Finland. I've also been talking to people from Tulane, b/c alot of them are at my hotel. I can't wait to be all settled in!

Countdown

Right now I'm running all over the place, trying to get ready. I have exactly one week! I'm alternating between waves of excitment and anxiety.