My Final Post :)

When I got back to Paris I had to go to Centre Georges Pompidou for my art history class. There was this amazing painting of a man’s face on the side of the building and a fountain with the strangest sculptures outside. In the building I saw so great contemporary art. I especially liked the giant mushroom! Haha Since Lesley went to Germany for her free weekend I heard all of these amazing things about Germany, and since my roommate, Lauren, went to Dublin, I heard great things about there too! Hopefully I will get to visit both one day!

That night my friends and I had our final dinner together! Lesley made dinner and her, Emily, and I ate in their apartment! It was wonderful I slept over because the next morning, Lesley and I went to Claude Monet’s house in Giverny!

After we had visited the Museé de l’Orangerie, and saw Monet’s water lilies, we really wanted to go to the garden that inspired him. We took the metro, then the train, then a bus, and then walked to his house! And though it was a long way and we had to get up early, it was totally worth it. The garden was beautiful, magical, out of this world, what other words can I use to make sure you understand that it was amazing? Haha Just look at the photos! I loved the bamboo, the little streams, and the pond with the lily pads and weeping willows. I’m so happy we went.

When we got back we went to Montmartre and Sacré Coeur with our art history class, but we didn’t really do much we just got there and were allowed to wander. We did some presentations at a little park before we left and there was a wall that said “I love you” in hundreds of different languages. <3

Lesley and I looked at a bunch of different artwork, walked around Sacre Coeur, and then sat in a park that overlooked Paris while she ate a crepe and I had my final pistachio gelato. Mmm…

That night I had my last dinner with my host family. I was the luckiest girl in the world to stay with François and Laurence and be roomates with Lauren. It truly was a special experience that I will never forget.

On Wednesday, my final full day in Paris I walked to Le Jardin de Plants and saw the most beautiful flowers. I took tons of pictures and then walked over to one of my favorite areas in Paris, the Latin Quarter. I got 2 pastries for lunch, an apple crumble and a citrus tart, just because I wanted too, and then ran into Emily! I went to ISA with her and talked to a bunch of the girls. Then I left because I had to go to class, but instead I did my last minute shopping! I bought gifts for my family and friends and went to Shakespeare and Co to get a book because they put their famous stamp in it. I literally picked a section, mystery/thriller, and picked the first book that sounded good, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. I hope it’s good! I met up with my class at Museé Gustave Moreau and heard the final presentations. Then Lesley, Nicole and I hung out for a while, for the last time. ;(

On my way to my ISA farewell dinner I bought a bunch of jam to take home! Haha Then at dinner I sat with Emily, Resa, Maria, Lauren, Allison, and tons more people and just had a great time. The food was okay, but dessert was awesome! After dinner, we went to the Eiffel Tower and watched it light up for the last time….and yes I cried…

On Thursday morning, Lauren and I got up late, of course, lol but we managed to catch our shuttle to the airport. We said goodbye to our host parents, which was really sad, and the next thing you know I was at the airport. Luckily I was on my flight to Newark with Lynnsey so we sat together and talked until our flight. It was so nice to have someone to talk to because we were there hours early. Then I got on the plane, and hours later I was back in the USA!!

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This is my last post about my 5 week adventure in Paris, France and I would like to end it by saying that I had the most amazing time, met the most incredible people, and would do it again in a heartbeat. <3

~ Z

VALERIE!!!!!!

Whoops! I forgot to upload the pictures from Wednesday night at the Louvre, so I included them here!

On Thursday I had my last day of French class which was sad because I really liked all of the students in my class and my teacher Pierre. We had a picnic in Le Jardin de Luxembourg. I bought cheese and juice, Jiwoo made delicious Korean rice balls, Rosanne made this egg dish that was great and I got to talk to Melodie for a while. She is so awesome and nice and I hope I can go to Texas and see her! We went to Cinémathèque Française for Art History class. It had some cool props from movies, but it was disappointingly small. I did my presentation on the instruments I had seen the night before. That night I made my American dinner for my family! I made cheeseburgers with grilled onions and peppers, and this delicious pasta salad. We had a picnic in le Place des Vosges…but we forgot the cups haha and then the park closed! lol So we finished dinner at home!

On Friday I had my last phonetics class, which I left early because I had to catch a train to go see Valerie!! Since I was early I walked around Madeline and saw the most amazing things! There were many super fancy/expensive stores there so I saw these amazing dishes, vases, and clothing displays (especially at Lanvin with the paint.) Then I took my train to Le Havre, which is a small city in the north of France where it rains a lot! Haha but Valerie says I was lucky because it did not rain much when I was there! I spent the weekend visiting Valerie and I had the honor of being her first visitor! When I arrived we were walking back from the train station when we saw a boy from her class, Mahendra. We spent hours talking with him at a local coffee shop and the men there played a prank on Mahendra by covering his bike with all of these random things from the store! Haha Mahendra came over to Valerie’s for dinner and then we went to a bar to watch the Olympics opening ceremony, but since it was on mute it made no sense! haha

On Saturday Valerie took me to the Hanging Gardens in Le Havre, which are these beautiful gardens planted in an old fort. Right outside of the walls there is an amazing rose garden and inside there are greenhouses and outdoor gardens that contain plants from all over the world. I climbed a tree and took ton of photos of flowers, which I’m sure Olivia will love! We had lunch there at one spot where we could see the channel. It was so nice, but I fell asleep and burned the back of my legs, lol. Then we went to the beach and saw the strangest free performances. The first one said that it was “circus/dance” but all the guy did was put these sticks in a teepee formation and then bow…it was so strange, even the French people were confused! The second performance was even weirder! It was two women or drag queens (no sure) who sang comedic opera. Yeah it was as weird as it sounds! Haha And finally there were trampolines set up and Valerie said that there was no way you could mess up trampolines…oh was she wrong. Instead of jumping on them link normal people, they did some strange contemporary dance on and around them…haha so weird, but it was an experience! That night we had dinner with a girl from Le Havre that Mahendra had met. It was so nice and we had awesome food—sauerkraut with a variety of sausages, mussels, and then this apple pie-ish dessert! After dinner we went to a small local bar that Mahendra’s friend goes to a lot. It was really awesome. It was Australian themed and the bar tenders were very friendly.

On Sunday it was rainy so we went to the city’s museum. It was very nice and I was surprised that there were works by some famous artists like Monet and Rodin. Valerie told me to buy Speculoos when we were at the supermarket. It’s amazing! It’s like a cookie in a spreadable form! Ahh so good!  We also when to the pier where they have this huge shopping center! That night I just stayed out with Val and Mahendra and had a blast!

On Monday morning I got on the train to go home. I am so glad that I got to visit Valerie. <3

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Gorgeous Chatueas and Up the Eiffel Tower!

Hello there! So my final 2 weeks in Paris were amazing and fun and jampacked! So much so that I never found time to write about them in my blog! And although the memories are fading even as I type now,  I will attempt to document my final adventures before they become a blur.

For our final trip with ISA on our second to last weekend, we visited three amazing chateaus in the Loire Valley. To be honest I don’t remember the name of the 1st one, but that’s not important because I didn’t like that one that much haha. Oh and this trip was especially awesome because Lesley came on it with me! Although she did oversleep, which caused her to miss the bus! So she took the train and met up with us! After we toured the chateau, Diane, Rochelle, and I wandered around the adorable little farmers market in the town and  I bought a fresh apple. It was so sweet! The second chateau we went to was Chateau de Chenonceau. This one was incredible. It is built on a bridge across a river! It was nice because it was a much smaller chateau then the 1st and 3rd, which gave it a more intimate feel. That day we toured a cave where they make and store wine and had a wine tasting! The Loire Valley in famous for it’s wine and it definitely lived up to expectations! We tasted white, red, and dessert wine. I bought 2 bottles of the white and gave one to Valerie as a gift when I saw her on the last weekend! The goat cheese they served it with was phenomenal! Actually the next day Lesley and I saw a little farmers market and bought that goat cheese!! That night we stayed in Tours. Lesley and I had dinner at this Irish pub where the beer was so cheap!!! It was really nice to sit outside in the center of town and have pasta.

On Sunday we visited the final chateau, Chateau de Chambord, which was gigantic! I really liked the double helix staircase at the center, but I was so tired that I zoned out during the tour! haha  Afterwards Lesley, Rochelle, Diane, and I had a picnic lunch on the grounds which was really nice. ISA organized a cookie tasting which was awesome!

On Monday, I had French class and that night Lauren and Lynnsey made an American dish for our host family. We had jambalaya with rice. It was tasty.

On Tuesday after French class our art history class went to Muse Rodin. I really liked the rose garden and Le Penser, but I didn’t really like his sculptures and Rodin was kind of a putz…haha

On Tuesday night I had a lovely dinner at a French restaurant with Emily, Lesley, Diane, and Rochelle. I finally had Escargot!! Lesley and I shared some and it was really good! It had this awesome pesto like sauce that was so good. (The best part was using the bread to sop up the sauce at the end!) Then we climbed up the Eiffel Tower!!! Finally, I know! But we all agreed that we needed to do it or else we would be shamed at home for coming all the way to Paris and not going up the Eiffel Tower! Everyone warned us that the line would take hours and it was a big pain in the neck…but we had no problems. (Probably because it was a Tuesday night) We climbed up the first two levels and then took the elevator to the top! We got there just in time to see the sun set which was gorgeous. However there were so many people I felt like a sardine! I took pictures of Lesley and Diane’s faces showing how they felt about being squished haha! However after a little while as people descended and they stopped letting people up it was nice and roomy. Lesley, Diane, and I took pictures with the wall that said how high up we were! It’s funny how much taller Diane is then me! While on line we had met a girl, Vicky, who was an au pair in Germany and on a trip with her family to Paris. She was really cool and had an interesting life story. After a while we lost Diane and Rochelle, who went home because they live far away, but Lesley and I stayed up there to watch the city light up. Lesley really wanted to figure out where Versailles was and you can see her studying the map. We took some modeling shots and then this one with our hands in a heart which is my absolute favorite! <3 We got up there at like 9:30 and stayed until after midnight. We had met a guy from Canada (bc Lesley and I were speaking in English so he began to talk to us.) He as backpacking alone and was really awesome. We talked for like an hour and a half. And then the craziest thing happened! Earlier Lesley and I were looking out when she grabbed the fencing and said, I feel like Spiderman up here! And then later right next to us was SPIDERBOY! Haha some family had dressed up their son like Spiderman! It was so funny! Lesley and I took a picture with him! Lesley took lots of awesome pictures from atop the Eiffel Tower with my camera, so photo credit goes to her J The Eiffel Tower lit up three times when we were up there so we got to be part of the light show! And we felt like celebrities bc you could see all of the flashes of people’s camera’s from the ground as they took pictures of the Eiffel Tower! Haha It was an awesome night and one I won’t forget. <3

On Wednesday like a third of my art history class met at the St. Paul stop for class before we realized that we had all received texts that said class was cancelled because Leora was sick! But it was okay because I went to this amazing vintage store called the Kilo Shop with Alice, Krista, and a few other girls! It was lots of fun, Alice is hilarious! (the sparkly suspenders “I prefer to buy my nipple stars used” haha so funny)  On Wednesday night the Louvre was open late so Lesley and I went there. I took a bunch of photos of these ancient sculptures, they were so fascinating. I love how they portrayed the human body and the exaggerations of the indicators of the sexes.  I also saw this awesome exhibit on Ancient Egyptian musical instruments and games. Then Lesley and I had wine along the Seine which I had been wanting to do so badly! It was so nice and beautiful to sit along the water and see Notre Dame lit up at night. We had banana nutella crepes and watched all of the boats float by.

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Week 3 :)

Yes I have almost completed my 3rd week in Paris, can you believe it? Well I can’t! haha Although it hasn’t been perfect, it as been very close to it! On Monday I got a bit sick, (probably from dancing in the rain on Friday.) My throat hurt, but I went to french class anyway. After school I spent the day with myself, relaxing.

That night I couldn’t sleep and I woke up feeling like crap, so I stayed home, drank tea, read, napped, and felt 10x better by that afternoon! So I went to my art history class at the Cimetière du Père-Lachaise. This cemetery is huge and filled with the graves of very rich/famous people. We saw the graves of Jim Morrison, Edith Pilaf, Oscar Wilde, and beautiful memorials for the victims of the Holocaust.

On Wednesday I had French class and then our second art history class at the Louvre. We saw the famous works from the Italian Renaissance. However, I didn’t really enjoy class this day because there were so many people in this area of the museum and they were all very rude and pushy. It was ridiculous, I couldn’t even get within 30ft of the Mona Lisa. ( I got a picture of all the crazy people trying to take pictures of the Mona Lisa!) However we saw some wonderful works like, Le Radeau de la Medusa, and La Grande Odalisque. I went to a show with ISA called, “How to Become Parisian in One Hour.” It was very funny, and the guy was crazy!

On Thursday, I had a quiz in French, which was kind of hard, oh well! Though I feel like I have vastly improved since I have come here. Don’t expect me to be fluent or anything, but with the classes and talking in French with my homestay parents, I have definitely gotten a lot better. We went to the Musée d’Orsay, and it was beautiful. The museum is a converted train station and it has amazing architecture because of it. I loved the self portrait of Van Gogh, the works of Monet, the Neoimpressionist works, and the Art Nouveau furniture!

Today I had phonetics class, which is funny and hard at the same time! I just had a few spoonfuls of Nutella so I am feeling pretty awesome

~Z

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Versailles…wow, just wow

So on Sunday, ISA kindly paid for our train tickets and admission to go visit Versailles! (And by paid for, I mean I already paid for it, lol they just organized it which is awesome.) We got there and the line was CRAZY LONG! There are so many tourists there it’s insane. Even from the outside I was astonished by how much gold leafing there was everywhere–the fence, the gate the walls–and I thought it was pretty crazy…until I went inside. Holy moly were these kings rich, no wonder there was a bloody revolution! The masses were starving in the street and the kings were more concerned with building this massive gold block, with a little but of building thrown in, then feeding their people. Don’t get me wrong, I though Versailles was beautiful, yet the extreme opulence of it was somewhat overwhelming. I especially loved the queen’s bedchamber and that they were running a very modern exhibit on Portuguese artists at the palace. I love when old and new styles are mixed.

After the other girls bought ridiculously expensive lunches ( I packed my own I know daddy will be proud, lol.) We walked through the gardens….actually I should say, we ‘hiked’ through the gardens! They were HUGE! It’s actually ridiculous how big these gardens are. We were there for hours and we probably only saw like a third of it. The French-style parts were pretty intense, very beautiful, but very rigid and symmetrical. I preferred Marie Antoinette’s English garden. The French gardens had amazing fountains though. I especially loved the Fountain of Apollo. We were lucky enough to be there when it was running (since there is a timed schedule when they turn on certain fountains) and it was spectacular.

I enjoyed a little ice cream along the Grand Canal with Rochelle, Lesley, and Diane before making the long walk to Marie Antoinette’s garden. Although it took forever, it was worth it. The English Gardens were breathtaking. I felt like I was in a fairy tale! With the quaint chateaus, small streams, Temple of Love, farm animals and wild flowers. It was truly breathtaking and I really loved it. All of Versailles was incredible, overwhelming, but incredible and my pictures do not do any of it justice. Guess you’ll just have to come yourself one day!

~Z

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BASTILLE DAY!!!!

Yes, it’s true! I was lucky enough to be here, in Paris, on BASTILLE DAY!!!
On July 14, 1789 the French people stormed the fortress known as Bastille, and destroyed this building which symbolized their oppressive government. And now to celebrate this start of the revolution, there are parties and fireworks! It was actually perfect because even though I missed July 4th in the US, I got to experience the same type of holiday here in France!

In Paris, in order to celebrate Bastille Day, there are these parties known as the “Bal de Pompiers,” or Fireman’s Ball. There are a bunch of them around Paris, and they vary with how formal they are. Some are like actual balls, but the one I went to had more of a club-type atmosphere. So on Friday the 13th (haha, yes, though don’t worry nothing bad happened) I went to the Bal de Pompiers with my friends and had lots of fun dancing in the rain! I even got a picture with a French Marine! haha

The next morning I dragged myself out of bed so I could go watch the parade. After being redirected like 5 times because we didn’t buy tickets to be in some special area, and standing around for hours, we finally got a spot to watch the parade! I saw the President, François Hollande, which was pretty cool and when it started these planes flew over and released smoke in the colors of the French flag. There were lots of military personnel and machines.

That night, Lesley, Emily, Zaki, Diane, Rochelle and I enjoyed a lovely picnic by the Eiffel Tower! We had rhubarb jam, camembert cheese, Orangina, and cookies! There were so many people there because of the FIREWORKS!!! The theme was 70s and Disco, so there was a giant disco ball in the Eiffel Tower and they played music from that era during the show. It was awesome, and I especially loved when everyone did the YMCA! Haha

I had an awesome time on Bastille Day and I feel so lucky to have had the chance to experience it in Paris, and so thankful that I had awesome friends who made it amazing!

~Z

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Many Memorable Moments at St. Malo & Mont. St. Michel!

This weekend was frickin AWESOME! Our program, ISA took us to St. Malo and Mont. St. Michel. We left on Saturday morning, and after a looooooong bus ride (5 hours) we arrived at the cute, little town of St. Malo. St. Malo is located on a peninsula in Brittany. When we arrived to the small walled-in section, that is the location of the historic part of the town, we had a tour with a spunky little Malouine (what the natives call themselves.) Thought the town looks very quaint now, we learned how the people constantly fought of nations who tried to annex them, and then at one point they were privateers! The French government, in essence, used to employ the townspeople to attack and loot (mainly British XP) ships.

ISA put us up in a really nice hotel right on the main street within the walled city. There is an annual boat race for young people ages 16-25ish from many different countries in Europe, that makes a stop in St. Malo! So we got to see all of their beautiful boats stationed in the harbor and watch them parade through the town. Then Emily, Diane, Rochelle, Allison, Teresa, and I went down to the beach to take pictures. The beach was really breathtaking, and it was amazing to walk out onto rocks on the beach to take pictures, and then the next morning see that they were totally covered with water because of the 30ft change in tides!

We lost Emily, Diane, adn Rochelle on the beach lol, but Allison, Resa and I had fun wandering in the town. I shared a delicious apricot filled beignet with Teresa, and we walked all around the town with sugar on our faces! lol We had crepes for dinner, and mine had cheese and ratatouille and it was delicious. Resa and I also got gelato which was ah-mazing.

That night I chilled at local pub with a bunch of the girls from the program and met some locals who were really nice. They talked to us in a mix of French and English and said that if we come back to France we should come visit them in St. Malo!

The next morning we left one charming town and journeyed for one hour to another–Mont. St. Michel. This place is really incredible because of the crazy changes in tides. We took a tour all the way up to the chapel on top of the mountain and saw many cool rooms inside. I took a lot of lovely pictures. After the tour, Gabi, Christa, and I had omelets and they were awesome. They are known for their omelets there so we had to try it. I got mine avec jambon et fromage. I don’t usually eat a lot of pork at home, but the French really love their pig and they make it taste amazing.

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We took the long bus ride home to Paris, where I went for a run at 8:30pm. I know I sound crazy, but I was stuck in a bus for hours, I needed some air. I ran around the Batille area, and then along the Seine to Notre Dame. It was adorable to see all of the couples and groups of friends chilling on the Seine. I saw a group of street performers outside Notre Dame. They were roller blading up a ramp and jumping over a pole, it was crazy! I strolled around the crazy/awesome Latin Quarter and I also went into the famous Shakespeare and Co. It was very cozy and quirky and just wonderful. I read some of the notes that people have left in the store over the years and by the end I was smiling ear to ear

***

This week has been pretty calm. The weather here has been pretty crappy, like rainy and stuff, but at least it only rains for like 10 minutes at a time! (Thanks for the umbrella Dad!) On Monday I had french in the morning and then inthe afternoon I went shopping with Resa and Lynnsey. I didn’t buy anything, but they did! lol I had a nice dinner with my host family and then passed out…it was pathetic.

Tuesday was pretty much the same, just chillin. But our art history class went to Saint Chapelle. The chapel is gorgeous with it’s humongous stained glass windows. When you walk up the stairs you are just hit with the brilliant light streaming through them.

On Wednesday I had my first French test and I did…kinda bad, lol. But whatever I do feel like I’m learning, there are just so many damn rules in this language! Our art history class went to the Musée de Carnavalet, which is a wonderful museum that outlines the history of Paris. I really liked the portraits of the royal families and the gorgeous Rococo style rooms, especially the jewelry store one. That night I had dinner with my host family and it was nice to speak in French, I do think I am improving, though I am still pretty bad. XD Since we were in the Marais area, Lesley and I went shopping after class. We wandered around looking at gorgeous–albeit expensive–shoes and then found a store called, Le Palais Des Thés. They had the most amazing smelling teas and I bought 2 types of iced-tea bags to take home! I had heard that there were good vintage shops in the area so we asked the woman at the tea sh0p. Se told us to go the the Kilo Store. After getting a bit lost, like usual, we found it! It was AMAZING! There were tons and tons of second-hand, vintage clothing and I bought a blue leather jacket, 2 jean jackets, an 2 scarfs all for a grand total of 36 euros. No bad, eh

On Thursday, I had a written test in French and I hope I did better then I did on the other test, lol. Our class went to the Musée de l’Orangerie where we saw the breath-taking Monet Water Lillies. We couldn’t take any pictures, but  I will just say that I felt as if I was in the garden. The paintings were just so massive and had so many layers of colors, it was fantastic. Since the museum is located in the Tuilerie Gardens, I got a nice picture of the big fountain there. That night I went to see an acrobatics show that I found online at the Parc de la Villette, in the 19th arrondissement. I went with Diane and Rochelle and show was amazing. The performers were to fluid and strong. I especially liked near the end when all of the performers sang a song as they performed.

Today I had my phonetics class, which was good but always makes me feel like an idiot because we are sitting there with headsets on going, “oooh, eeeh, uhuhuh, ah ah ah, oh oh oh…” haha I had a hamburger for lunch with Melodie, Vienna, Valerie, and Lauren and then went back to the Kilo Shop to show them lol! I met Resa and Allison there and I got a shirt and 2 scarves for 7 euro, it’s just amazing.  I I’m resting now because tomorrow is Bastille Day, which means tonight WE PARTY!!! On my way home I saw that they decorated Hotel de Ville for Bastille Day so I took some pictures! Enjoy<3

~Z

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Paris, How I Love Thee!

Salut! Sorry I didn’t update for a few days, I’m just so busy and when I finally get home I’m too tired to do anything! haha

So I have completed my first full week in Paris and it was lovely. I’ll be honest there were some times when I felt a bit lonely or tired, but that’s expected. And besides there have been so many more wonderful moments that distract me from any sorrows!

French class has been a bit tough, but more because I have to focus for 3 HOURS! I can pretty much understand everything that the professor is talking about, however there are some moments when I space out and then am totally lost when my mind finally makes it’s way back to the classroom! haha We have our first test on Wednesday, wish me luck!!

I have also had my first week of Art History and oh my gosh I feel so lucky to have gotten such an amazing teacher! She is kind, sweet, insightful, brilliant, a strong liberal (like me,) and not afraid to speak her mind! She is from Boston, so I am looking forward to emailing her to go get coffee while I am up at school! We visited the Musee de Cluny on Wednesday, Notre Dame on Thursday, and the Louvre on Friday.

The Musee de Cluny was a museum for Medieval Art. Being in this Art History class is great because it allows me to see all of the important sites with a built in tour guide! As we strolled up to the museum we saw the remains of 2,000 year old bath houses from Roman times! It’s amazing that they have survived this long! Inside the museum we saw these beautiful gold ornaments with purple stones, the head of St. John the Baptist on a plate (so strange, lol,) the decapitated heads of the Biblical kings from the cathedral of Notre Dame (they were taken off by revolutionaries who thought they were statues of French kings,) and the incredible La Dame et la Licorne. Having seen the Unicorn Tapestries at the Cloisters in NYC, it was truly amazing to be able to see these tapestries, which shared so many common themes with the other unicorn tapestries. I don’t really like medieval art, because I find it flat and repetitious, but these tapestries were amazing and I wish my camera could have really captured the beauty, but you’ll just have to come and see for yourself! That night we had a boat ride along the Seine and I got lovely pictures of Le Louvre and la Tour Eiffel! That night Lesley, Zaki, Diane, Rochelle, Emily, and I went to la Tour Eiffel to watch it light up! It was beautiful! There were thousands of light bulbs all over the tower that twinkled like stars!

On Thursday we saw the magnificent Notre Dame. First, though, we met at the St. Michel metro stop where we saw la Fontaine Saint-Michel. The statues on the fountain were beautiful and our teacher told us the history of how the fountain was made to remember the students who were part of the resistance. Even though the Nazi’s occupied France and the government was supporting the Nazis, these students fought for what they believed in and the fountain in a wonderful tribute to their courage. There were also some awesome street performers that were dance fighting! We walked over to le Cathédrale de Notre Dame and stood outside as our teacher told us the history behind the facade of the front of the cathedral. It was really fascinating! We spent over an hour talking about it and that was only one side! It’s amazing how many stories are carved into the cathedral, and could you imagine being able to have seen it when it was painted! It must have been brilliant The inside was gorgeous. I love blue stained glass and the cathedral is filled with it! I really want to go back during mass, I’m sure it will be amazing to hear the choir!

Finally on Friday we went to the Louvre! We only saw a small part of it, but I was blown away! I think we have 2 more classes there and we all got unlimited passes for the month so I am definitely going back again, and again, and again We first saw the Victory of Samothrace statue. It is a winged, curvy, headless woman and it is beautiful. We were discussing how the idea of beauty has been so corrupted now. The statues of the women in the Louvre show gorgeous shapely woman, and today the media tells us that to be beautiful one must be thin. It was a really lovely discussion. Then we saw the Venus de Milo, Michelangelo’s statue of the Dying Slave and the Rebellious slave, Hermaphrodite, and a few more statues. They were all beautiful and they showed the magnificence of the real human form! I loved the deep discussions we had with our teacher, and I especially enjoyed hearing what all of the other students had to say.

On Friday after class I took a walk to Le Marais, an area known for Jews, gays, and vintage shops, lol! It was really nice, though at one point there was a crazy 5 minute downpour! It was frustrating because I tried to call my friends, but the entire Orange cell service was down for like 6 hours! But I had a lovely walk, and I bought a pretty picture and an awesome cloche hat. That night I walked over the the Eiffel tower and had some Japanese food, it was yummy.

We went to St. Malo and Mont Saint Michel, but that trip deserves a nice long blog and seeing as we are about to have dinner (at 8:40, yes they eat late here) I will save it for the next blog!

Bon Soir,

~Z

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Let the Classes, BEGIN!!

So yesterday was our first day of classes and it was fine, like a good fine. The french class was good, not too hard but not too easy by any means. I wasn’t always sure what our teacher was saying, but for the most part I was able to use context clues to figure it out! There are about 14 students in our class, and only  half of them are from the United States! They are all different ages and from places like Brazil, Korea, Turkey and more. I really enjoyed my first day and yes I actually did my homework!! (woot yeah for summer hw, lol)

After walking from the university to the ISA building b/c I wanted to see how long it would take (it took 40 minutes) I found the building…okay okay I did get a bit lost right at the end, but I was literally standing right in front of it and did not see it, the signs are so damn small!! lol Anyway the office is cute and very airy. I went down the road a ways to grab a sandwich at a boulongerie. I got un sandwich avec du jambon et du fromage. It was awesome, I cannot stress enough how FRICKIN AWESOME the bread here is! omg it’s really awesome…just saying

We had our intro course for art history and we met our teacher who is really cool and fun. Then Zaki, Leslie and I wandered over the Notre Dame and had coffee while sitting on a boat that was docked on the Seine. I had a cappuccino, it was great! After navigating the metro and getting a little lost on the streets we finally found the famous Champs Elysees! It was magnificent. The street was giant and the stores there was soooo expensive. We went into Louis Vuitton…there were no prices on anything!! The displays in the stores were exquisite and we only got to see a few of them! (So we will definitely be going back!!!) This store (LV) was so epic that we got in an elevator (yes it was 4 levels) and the guy operating it was like,”So it’s going to be dark for 13 seconds.” It was pitch black and when the doors opened we arrived at an art gallery on the top floor! It was wicked, “trippy” was the work Leslie used to describe it! haha

Finally we saw the Arc de Triomphe! It was beautiful, though we didn’t go up b/c we are cheap, haha! After a wonderful dinner with my host family, where I spoke more in French, I went out with Leslie, Zaki, Diana, and Rochelle! It was awesome, we went to so bar that is well know place for foreign students, the Frog and Princess.

 

Overall yesterday was awesome and I can’t wait for more! (Just saying I have been posting pretty consistently, as I get busier they will be more spaced out. Don’t worry that just means I’m busy having fun!! lol)

~Z

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The First of Many Wonderful Days

So today was the first official day that I have been in Paris and it was awesome! I had trouble sleeping last night, which is expected, but since I kept waking up and falling back asleep I had some really awesome dreams (all related to France, it was so strangely cool!)

We had our orientation, which was long but necessary, and then a break for dejeuner (lunch!) I had une quiche avec spinach et saumon (a quiche with spinach and salmon) and une pomme (an apple.)

Then we had ur oral test…uhh yeah….>.<

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kidding! lol it was actually not that bad, I think I showed her exactly what my level of French is. Then we visited the Luxenbourg Gardens which were beautiful!

After a presentation on the culture in Paris and about out housing myself, Lauren, Lauren, and Meghan visited the beautiful Notre Dame and shared a bottle of wine in one of the cute restaurants in the beautifully windy alleyways of Paris!

All in all it was an awesome first day and I can’t wait to experience many many more!

~Z

 

Slideshow Description: The 1st 4 are from the Luxembourg Gardens, the rest are from Notre Dame and the surrounding area!

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