Today is our last day of class...and of course the day I decide to get all excited and talk a ton in class. Hopefully it will win me a few points...if I'm lucky. Right now we are taking une petite pose and then we will have a little less than 1.5 hours left of class. It's very crazy to think in just a few days we will be boarding a plane again for the return trip to America ( yes that is what I keep calling it haha...). Anyway, it's been a fun, stressful, yet very rewarding experience at L'institut Catholique, so if you ever come to study French or anything else and you know French, I would recommend this university à toi.
It is now after noon, therefore I am FREEEEE. Class has finished and we are now free until our Musée d'Orsay visit at 2pm. We may get to see Monet there, so then we won't have to track down his paintings elsewhere.
Monday, we had class and that afternoon we went to Le Centre Pompidou, which is a contemporary/modern art museum. Some of the stuff there was very weird and definitely did not appeal to me, but there were some statues, a urinal and some very colorful paintings that made me laugh or that I thought were cool. All of the piping and tubing for that building is on the outside too, so even without going in, you can see the modern art theme with the blue, white, red; etc tubing colors. After the museum a group of us went to check out the huge cathedral, Notre Dame. It is sooo pretty inside and there was kind of a service or ceremony going on up front, so that was kind of fun to see. We were going to go in the crypts too, but we were too late for that visit. For dinner that night, Melissa and I had noodles with this pork/meat mixture on top, salad and some leftover rabbit. I really do enjoy the food here, and that is something i will definitely miss!!
Yesterday, we of course had our 6 hours of class, spent a few hours on the computers at school and then headed home. WE had pizza again last night, but it was a little different and was good. One was a spicy beef and the other was cheese. We also started watching a movie (Meet the Fockers) in French. Good thing I had seen it before...It was a little difficult without French subtitles. We also got to have popsicles/ice cream bars last night and I was way excited for that, because I haven't had ice cream here until last night. The bars were super tiny, but they were definitely worth it!!For our evening entertainment, we took our boat ride on the Seine River with the Bateaux Mouches company. It was really pretty but hard to get good photos because of our speed. I did manage some though, so that's good. It was a very nice and relaxing ride though...=) Yay for Paris at nighttime!
This may or may not be the last time I write until my return home,since this is my last day at school. Tonight, the group is having a dinner together, but Melissa and I are having our last family dinner, since they will be gone tomorrow. However, we get to go out tomorrow with Dr. Hagan and his sister, who has accompanied us for the last weekish. Otherwise we just have a little shopping and seeing left to do before we leave. Tomorrow is another group picnic and we will start our presentations there as well. I am doing mine on family life/observations i have made, and I know Melissa is doing hers on Notre Dame. There will probably be all kinds of topics, so I will have to wait and see!!!
Well that's all for now. If I don't write again... Bon Voyage et Au Revoir Paris...=(
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
Je retourne à vous!
Alors!! It has been several days since I have written, but I have been out of computer reach for a few days now. Don't worry though; I am back!
Friday, we had class as usual, then we had most of the afternoon off. AFter trekking in the rain to find a post office, we mailed our postcards home and headed back to our room for a nap. I don't know why, but it seems the older you get, the more you should be allowed to have naps haha. Anyway, we eventually had to pull ourselves up to head to the Louvre, which made for a good excuse to get up anyway. We got to see some cool paintings and sculptures while perusing the Louvre, though it would have been much cooler to just kind of walk around and look...Oh well, it was still cool to hear Karen talk about one of the pictures she had done research on for school. Yay Karen! A little after 8pm, we were finally free of our guided tour and proceeded to try and find some paintings by Monet. Apparently, we failed, but today in class, we did hear of a place that houses several paintings, so we may have to go there before our departure. We arrived home Friday night just in time to eat with our family. For the first time eve, I had rabbit, and it was actually good. It looked more like chicken too, so that helped me not to think of the little, fuzzy animals.
Saturday, we got up at 6am so we could take a train toward St. Mt. Michel. The ride itself was kind of cool. I colored and most people slept or listened to music. Our guide for the weekend, Rose, met us at the train station in Caen and we all got on an orange bus (convenient, yes?) and started our touring. We stopped at a German cemetary, an Amercian cemetary and two German bunkers from WWII. The cemeteries were cool, but it was hard to see all the stones and crosses of many boys who were younger than we are now. The bunkers were interesting to see too. There were holes and craters all around from bombs and cannon balls that had fallen around the bunkers. There were a few you could go inside as well and a lot of destroyed concrete from the attacks sustained. I got several pictures in little crevices and holes around the area that i could squeeze into. The fun, however, had me and Melissa late for the meeting at the bus. It's the first time all trip that we have been late though, and I'm pretty sure we are the only ones that can say that too... We're almost always the first ones anywhere =). Yes mom, I know that's hard to believe...
Saturday dinner and Sunday breakfast were eaten at a little bed and breakfast down the street fom the hotel were were staying at. There were wax soldiers in the dining room that freaked a few people out, but the hospitality and food were delicious! For supper we had chicken with a mushroom sauce, fried round potato balls, and tons of appetizers. Dessert was an apple tart and sweet rice, which was like a rice pudding and was super delicous! Breakfast the next morning was the tart again, cereal, boiled eggs and of course coffee, tea or hot chocolate. MMMM the chocolat chaud was very good! We all got orange juice and baguette pieces as well.
One of the coolest things I've seen on this trip I saw on Sunday. We drove up to Mt. St. Michel, which is a monastery on top of a bunch of huge rocks. During high tide, the water comes all the way up to the road, so people have to pack at the end of it instead of the parking lots. We weren't there during high tide, but we did see pictures and it's crazy!! It's also why the sheep have a salty taste when you eat them, because the grass they eat has been drenched in salt water haha.
Anyway, we got to look around the monastery and see the rooms where the monks ate and the chapel and the big wheel (like a hamster wheel) that 6 monks used to run in to lift up supplies from below. Quite the system if you ask me! Then we had some time to shop and eat, before being hurried to the bus for an emegency departure due to the double booking of our bus driver. It was definitely fun though and so peaceful, quiet and lovely, even with the wind blowing.
Today we just got done with class and lunch. I had a baguette today again, but Melissa ordered a sandwich, so I also got une tarte aux fruits rouges, aka a tart with red fruit like raspberries,cranberries and a strawberry on top. MMMM soo good! Then again, what isn't good at a patisserie, except the things they ruin by adding nuts.... =P
In a little bit we are off to Le Centre Pompidou, which is a modern art museum. C'est Dommage....=( Needless to say, we're not thrilled about that, but we'll make it. I guess that's all for the time being!!! Only 4 more days til we leave.... Crazy..... Salut!
Jen
Friday, we had class as usual, then we had most of the afternoon off. AFter trekking in the rain to find a post office, we mailed our postcards home and headed back to our room for a nap. I don't know why, but it seems the older you get, the more you should be allowed to have naps haha. Anyway, we eventually had to pull ourselves up to head to the Louvre, which made for a good excuse to get up anyway. We got to see some cool paintings and sculptures while perusing the Louvre, though it would have been much cooler to just kind of walk around and look...Oh well, it was still cool to hear Karen talk about one of the pictures she had done research on for school. Yay Karen! A little after 8pm, we were finally free of our guided tour and proceeded to try and find some paintings by Monet. Apparently, we failed, but today in class, we did hear of a place that houses several paintings, so we may have to go there before our departure. We arrived home Friday night just in time to eat with our family. For the first time eve, I had rabbit, and it was actually good. It looked more like chicken too, so that helped me not to think of the little, fuzzy animals.
Saturday, we got up at 6am so we could take a train toward St. Mt. Michel. The ride itself was kind of cool. I colored and most people slept or listened to music. Our guide for the weekend, Rose, met us at the train station in Caen and we all got on an orange bus (convenient, yes?) and started our touring. We stopped at a German cemetary, an Amercian cemetary and two German bunkers from WWII. The cemeteries were cool, but it was hard to see all the stones and crosses of many boys who were younger than we are now. The bunkers were interesting to see too. There were holes and craters all around from bombs and cannon balls that had fallen around the bunkers. There were a few you could go inside as well and a lot of destroyed concrete from the attacks sustained. I got several pictures in little crevices and holes around the area that i could squeeze into. The fun, however, had me and Melissa late for the meeting at the bus. It's the first time all trip that we have been late though, and I'm pretty sure we are the only ones that can say that too... We're almost always the first ones anywhere =). Yes mom, I know that's hard to believe...
Saturday dinner and Sunday breakfast were eaten at a little bed and breakfast down the street fom the hotel were were staying at. There were wax soldiers in the dining room that freaked a few people out, but the hospitality and food were delicious! For supper we had chicken with a mushroom sauce, fried round potato balls, and tons of appetizers. Dessert was an apple tart and sweet rice, which was like a rice pudding and was super delicous! Breakfast the next morning was the tart again, cereal, boiled eggs and of course coffee, tea or hot chocolate. MMMM the chocolat chaud was very good! We all got orange juice and baguette pieces as well.
One of the coolest things I've seen on this trip I saw on Sunday. We drove up to Mt. St. Michel, which is a monastery on top of a bunch of huge rocks. During high tide, the water comes all the way up to the road, so people have to pack at the end of it instead of the parking lots. We weren't there during high tide, but we did see pictures and it's crazy!! It's also why the sheep have a salty taste when you eat them, because the grass they eat has been drenched in salt water haha.
Anyway, we got to look around the monastery and see the rooms where the monks ate and the chapel and the big wheel (like a hamster wheel) that 6 monks used to run in to lift up supplies from below. Quite the system if you ask me! Then we had some time to shop and eat, before being hurried to the bus for an emegency departure due to the double booking of our bus driver. It was definitely fun though and so peaceful, quiet and lovely, even with the wind blowing.
Today we just got done with class and lunch. I had a baguette today again, but Melissa ordered a sandwich, so I also got une tarte aux fruits rouges, aka a tart with red fruit like raspberries,cranberries and a strawberry on top. MMMM soo good! Then again, what isn't good at a patisserie, except the things they ruin by adding nuts.... =P
In a little bit we are off to Le Centre Pompidou, which is a modern art museum. C'est Dommage....=( Needless to say, we're not thrilled about that, but we'll make it. I guess that's all for the time being!!! Only 4 more days til we leave.... Crazy..... Salut!
Jen
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Il pleut encore...
Well, it has decided to begin raining again, so it's another wet day outside. We just finished with our morning class and lunch, so now we're just killing time until our afternoon class in about 45 mins.
The picnic we had yesterday was fantastique!! Il y avait beucoup de nourriture!!! It was very yummy!!! We had baguettes, lots of different cheeses ( goat, cambert, herb, la vache qui rit (laughing cow)), ham, sausage, two kinds of paté, chocolat ( caramel, dark, milk and salt ( very good!!)), and of course du vin. Yes, I actually drank some wine. I still don't really like it, but the white we had was kind of appleish, so it was tolerable. Most of the time we just spent talking and lounging in the grass and Melissa even stuck little flowers in my braids. It was quite fun, especially since the sun decided to grace us with its prescence again =).
Last night, we went back to the house and took a nap until supper. Then we were summoned to the table, which was a little weird,since it was just us kids again, but we actually had a sit-down dinner, so it made sense. WE had breaded chicken and spaghetti noodles, so it was pretty good. There was quite the spectacle though, because the kids all put ketchup on their noodles. It was very weird for me, because it seems like something an American kid would do... And of course it was the two Americans that didn't do it. Oh well...
After dinner, we did our homework, showered, listened to music and just hung out until bedtime. It seems like the further into this trip we get, the more tired we become. We haven't even done anything the past few days.... so that may be why, but still.... It's crazy!!
Okay, that's all for today!!! à demain!!
Jen
The picnic we had yesterday was fantastique!! Il y avait beucoup de nourriture!!! It was very yummy!!! We had baguettes, lots of different cheeses ( goat, cambert, herb, la vache qui rit (laughing cow)), ham, sausage, two kinds of paté, chocolat ( caramel, dark, milk and salt ( very good!!)), and of course du vin. Yes, I actually drank some wine. I still don't really like it, but the white we had was kind of appleish, so it was tolerable. Most of the time we just spent talking and lounging in the grass and Melissa even stuck little flowers in my braids. It was quite fun, especially since the sun decided to grace us with its prescence again =).
Last night, we went back to the house and took a nap until supper. Then we were summoned to the table, which was a little weird,since it was just us kids again, but we actually had a sit-down dinner, so it made sense. WE had breaded chicken and spaghetti noodles, so it was pretty good. There was quite the spectacle though, because the kids all put ketchup on their noodles. It was very weird for me, because it seems like something an American kid would do... And of course it was the two Americans that didn't do it. Oh well...
After dinner, we did our homework, showered, listened to music and just hung out until bedtime. It seems like the further into this trip we get, the more tired we become. We haven't even done anything the past few days.... so that may be why, but still.... It's crazy!!
Okay, that's all for today!!! à demain!!
Jen
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
La pluie a quitté
Ahhh the weather is once again very nice. It's much cooler in France than in the US, but it's really nice not to have sweat all the time either, though I do still receive sunburnage (coup de soleil). It's been raining the past few days, but since it has decided to cooperate today,we can go ahead with our plans to have a picnic in a park. It should be très amusant I think! Who knows what all we will have, but I'm sure there will be tons of food. There is also the option for a bike tour around the park, which I'm sure several people will engage themselves in, but since I am having lots of problems with my back today, and I want to stay with my buddy, who is not fond of two-wheeled, pedalled vehicles.
Yesterday was pretty much just another school day. We took a test ( très petit) and had class for 6hrs. Not a whole lot of excitement there I guess. We tried to use the computers after class, but after only a few minutes, the server must have shut down, because the internet wouldn't work anywhere. It was a little sad, but we had nothing else to do, so we went home. Dinner last night was kind of a crazy affair. Melissa and I were playing Boggle ( Somehow, I managed to win every game....) before dinner and all of a sudden our two French sisters started yelling at each other. It was kind of scary, but I think they were fighting about not having knives... In the end it was kind of pointless, because we had pizza for dinner and didn't need cutlery ( les couverts) at all!! The pizza was really good. It was thin-crusted with ham,cheese and onions on it. MMMMM. You could defitely tell that the parents weren't home last night though, because the tv was on during dinner, one of our sisters was eating her bread on the couch, and our brothe was sitting at the computer with his pizza and bottle of ketchup. It vaguely reminded me of things I've done when my parents haven't been home =O!
After dinner, we went back upstairs, listened to music for awhile and of course colored in my lovely coloring books. It was quite fun. It wasn't until after Melissa was asleep that I realized we hadn't done our homework,but it took about 5 mins before/at the beginning of class to do, so it was all okay. It wasn't collected either. I guess we should stop being so tired at night, so we can do our homework.
Ok enough for now. Please comment... It makes us feel loved!!! Merci
Yesterday was pretty much just another school day. We took a test ( très petit) and had class for 6hrs. Not a whole lot of excitement there I guess. We tried to use the computers after class, but after only a few minutes, the server must have shut down, because the internet wouldn't work anywhere. It was a little sad, but we had nothing else to do, so we went home. Dinner last night was kind of a crazy affair. Melissa and I were playing Boggle ( Somehow, I managed to win every game....) before dinner and all of a sudden our two French sisters started yelling at each other. It was kind of scary, but I think they were fighting about not having knives... In the end it was kind of pointless, because we had pizza for dinner and didn't need cutlery ( les couverts) at all!! The pizza was really good. It was thin-crusted with ham,cheese and onions on it. MMMMM. You could defitely tell that the parents weren't home last night though, because the tv was on during dinner, one of our sisters was eating her bread on the couch, and our brothe was sitting at the computer with his pizza and bottle of ketchup. It vaguely reminded me of things I've done when my parents haven't been home =O!
After dinner, we went back upstairs, listened to music for awhile and of course colored in my lovely coloring books. It was quite fun. It wasn't until after Melissa was asleep that I realized we hadn't done our homework,but it took about 5 mins before/at the beginning of class to do, so it was all okay. It wasn't collected either. I guess we should stop being so tired at night, so we can do our homework.
Ok enough for now. Please comment... It makes us feel loved!!! Merci
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Une autre semaine...
Well today we begin a new week of school... Get ready for some more intense French fun!!! But I should talk about my super cool ( say with French accent) weekend libre ( free weekend) with my buddy Melissa.
Saturday for the first time in a long time, we got to sleep in and got up a little after 10am. It was quite refreshing. After a quick breakfast and probably some more computer time ( we're addicted now that we have access back), we headed out to Le Centre Pompidou to meet up with Melissa's friend from high school. It was slightly after noon when we collected him, and then we were off. I'm not sure I remember the order of all the stops, because there were so many, but these are the places we visited: L'Opera, a big chuch, a cemetary that was unfortunately closed, Nicolas Flammel's house ( he's a character in Harry Potter but was also a real person), a French bookstore ( yes i bought two books in French!!) and of course Melissa's carefully researched fabric store ( she's making a quilt with fabric from everywhere she travels). We got home fairly early in the afternoon and had the house to ourselves, since our family was gone for the weekend, so we mainly just took turns on the computer and journalled. I cooked hamburgers and scrambled eggs for supper, so that was fairly exciting, but the rest of our night was pretty boring.
Sunday
We also slept in on Sunday, but it may have been a little later or earlier; I don't remember which. Our sequence of stops included mostly big Parisian icons like the Eiffel Tower, L'Arc de Triomphe and the Moulin Rouge. We got pictures of the Moulin Rouge and then headed off to the Arch. Once there I suggested to Melissa t hat we try to use our orange cards that Dr. Hagan made for us saying that we are art history students. We figured we would get in for a discounted rate, but when we showed them at the ticket counter, we got complementary tickets! We were so excited and couldn't stop talking about it for quite some time =); Thanks Dr. Hagan! After our excitement we entered the Arch's base and proceeded to climb the 284 stairs up to the top. The view was magnificient and of course we could see La Tour Eiffel, Les Invalides, Sacré Cour and a ton of surrounding Paris. It was pretty cool. After our experience there, we headed to the Eiffel Tower to try again. This time the lady didn't really pay attention to our cards, but since we had decided to climb à pied ( yes on foot) up to the second floor, it was fairly cheap anyway. Apparently we thought 284 escaliers at L'Arch de Triomphe x2 was not enough, so we had to take ourselves up the 669 stairs to the 2nd floor of the Eiffel Tower and then back down too. Of course, being up that high was worth the climb, but our legs were definitely shaking when we found the ground again. We definitely got our steps in!!! After such a feat, we treated ourselves to more expensive ( we usually only spend about 2€ 35 together on lunch) food at the Eiffel Tower food stand. Then we headed back up to our metro stop and and our long ride home. We proceeded to take a nap and then hung out for awhile journalling and watching Saddle Club and The Simpsons in French on TV with our host brother Valentin. Dinner was a really good mix of rice and shrimp with some peanuts thrown in and then we had rhubarb applesauce, yogurt and cookies for dessert. Melissa and I also tried a traditional Greek alcohol, Ouzo ( yes i looked it up), which tastes strongly of black licorace and has a strong aftertaste as well. That night, we turned in early because alas, it is a new school week.
Monday
So far today, we have had 3hrs of class.. It has been raining/spitting on and off and in a little bit we are headed to Les Invalides, where Napoleon is buried. Hopefully the sun comes back out soon!!!
Je vous remercie pour regarder ma blog!!! ( I thank you again for looking at my blog=P)
Saturday for the first time in a long time, we got to sleep in and got up a little after 10am. It was quite refreshing. After a quick breakfast and probably some more computer time ( we're addicted now that we have access back), we headed out to Le Centre Pompidou to meet up with Melissa's friend from high school. It was slightly after noon when we collected him, and then we were off. I'm not sure I remember the order of all the stops, because there were so many, but these are the places we visited: L'Opera, a big chuch, a cemetary that was unfortunately closed, Nicolas Flammel's house ( he's a character in Harry Potter but was also a real person), a French bookstore ( yes i bought two books in French!!) and of course Melissa's carefully researched fabric store ( she's making a quilt with fabric from everywhere she travels). We got home fairly early in the afternoon and had the house to ourselves, since our family was gone for the weekend, so we mainly just took turns on the computer and journalled. I cooked hamburgers and scrambled eggs for supper, so that was fairly exciting, but the rest of our night was pretty boring.
Sunday
We also slept in on Sunday, but it may have been a little later or earlier; I don't remember which. Our sequence of stops included mostly big Parisian icons like the Eiffel Tower, L'Arc de Triomphe and the Moulin Rouge. We got pictures of the Moulin Rouge and then headed off to the Arch. Once there I suggested to Melissa t hat we try to use our orange cards that Dr. Hagan made for us saying that we are art history students. We figured we would get in for a discounted rate, but when we showed them at the ticket counter, we got complementary tickets! We were so excited and couldn't stop talking about it for quite some time =); Thanks Dr. Hagan! After our excitement we entered the Arch's base and proceeded to climb the 284 stairs up to the top. The view was magnificient and of course we could see La Tour Eiffel, Les Invalides, Sacré Cour and a ton of surrounding Paris. It was pretty cool. After our experience there, we headed to the Eiffel Tower to try again. This time the lady didn't really pay attention to our cards, but since we had decided to climb à pied ( yes on foot) up to the second floor, it was fairly cheap anyway. Apparently we thought 284 escaliers at L'Arch de Triomphe x2 was not enough, so we had to take ourselves up the 669 stairs to the 2nd floor of the Eiffel Tower and then back down too. Of course, being up that high was worth the climb, but our legs were definitely shaking when we found the ground again. We definitely got our steps in!!! After such a feat, we treated ourselves to more expensive ( we usually only spend about 2€ 35 together on lunch) food at the Eiffel Tower food stand. Then we headed back up to our metro stop and and our long ride home. We proceeded to take a nap and then hung out for awhile journalling and watching Saddle Club and The Simpsons in French on TV with our host brother Valentin. Dinner was a really good mix of rice and shrimp with some peanuts thrown in and then we had rhubarb applesauce, yogurt and cookies for dessert. Melissa and I also tried a traditional Greek alcohol, Ouzo ( yes i looked it up), which tastes strongly of black licorace and has a strong aftertaste as well. That night, we turned in early because alas, it is a new school week.
Monday
So far today, we have had 3hrs of class.. It has been raining/spitting on and off and in a little bit we are headed to Les Invalides, where Napoleon is buried. Hopefully the sun comes back out soon!!!
Je vous remercie pour regarder ma blog!!! ( I thank you again for looking at my blog=P)
Friday, May 8, 2009
Jour libre!
Today is a French holiday, instead of going to school we went to Versailles instead. From what I remember, today is the end of some war or fight that occured against or with the US involved, so I'm thinking that's a good thing. That way I can be here without worrying about angry anti-American mobs and such! Phew...
Anyway, we got up later than normal today, which was very nice, got ready, ate breakfast and left a little after 8:45 to catch our metro. We had one stop to travel before we caught the train. It was only about 9:00 when the train pulled up by the platform we were at. We had no idea how to tell if it was what we wanted, since our plan was to catch a later train, but we got on anyway and started following along stops on our route until we reached Versailles, the stop for the castle. We got off and wandered behind a big crowd until we found the castle. Being over an hour early (reservation @ 10:30), we didn't want to wait at the gate, so where did we go??? Starbucks of course!!!! In case you didn't knoz, Melissa and I are pretty much always the first to show up anywhere on this trip...by usually at least 20ish minutes lol =P. Anyway, we met up with others at Starbucks a little while later, finished our coffees and met up with the guide and rest of the group just inside the castle gates.
Versaille Castle is HUGE!! There are 700 rooms and over 2000 windows. There are tons of pictures all over the ceilings, and of course we got to look at different rooms that the kings and queens used. I even found the caduceus ( two-snake staff of Asclepius, symbolizing medicine) in the corner of the ceiling and in one of the paitings. Thank you Amanda Gahler for getting me a non blurry picture! AFter viewing the castle, we went outside to view the extensive land and garden, maze-like things. It was kind of chilly today, but the sun did come out so that Melissa bought some interesting but yummy Italien ice cream. We have some pictures of flowers, giant ice cream cones, landscaping and of course the time when they turn all the fountains on. Very cool.
This weekend Melissa and I have the apt to ourselves, so it's kind of nice to have the stress of no class, not a ton of French or the structure of stuff. We can just explore and relax. We ate dinner and watched two episodes of bones and actually have gotten to be on the computer, since the kids aren't here. We pretty much just use it at school now.
C'est tout pour maintenant. We are doing a bunch of exploring and seeing of things since this is our free weekend, so we'll probably head to bed soon!!
Bon nuit!
Jen
Anyway, we got up later than normal today, which was very nice, got ready, ate breakfast and left a little after 8:45 to catch our metro. We had one stop to travel before we caught the train. It was only about 9:00 when the train pulled up by the platform we were at. We had no idea how to tell if it was what we wanted, since our plan was to catch a later train, but we got on anyway and started following along stops on our route until we reached Versailles, the stop for the castle. We got off and wandered behind a big crowd until we found the castle. Being over an hour early (reservation @ 10:30), we didn't want to wait at the gate, so where did we go??? Starbucks of course!!!! In case you didn't knoz, Melissa and I are pretty much always the first to show up anywhere on this trip...by usually at least 20ish minutes lol =P. Anyway, we met up with others at Starbucks a little while later, finished our coffees and met up with the guide and rest of the group just inside the castle gates.
Versaille Castle is HUGE!! There are 700 rooms and over 2000 windows. There are tons of pictures all over the ceilings, and of course we got to look at different rooms that the kings and queens used. I even found the caduceus ( two-snake staff of Asclepius, symbolizing medicine) in the corner of the ceiling and in one of the paitings. Thank you Amanda Gahler for getting me a non blurry picture! AFter viewing the castle, we went outside to view the extensive land and garden, maze-like things. It was kind of chilly today, but the sun did come out so that Melissa bought some interesting but yummy Italien ice cream. We have some pictures of flowers, giant ice cream cones, landscaping and of course the time when they turn all the fountains on. Very cool.
This weekend Melissa and I have the apt to ourselves, so it's kind of nice to have the stress of no class, not a ton of French or the structure of stuff. We can just explore and relax. We ate dinner and watched two episodes of bones and actually have gotten to be on the computer, since the kids aren't here. We pretty much just use it at school now.
C'est tout pour maintenant. We are doing a bunch of exploring and seeing of things since this is our free weekend, so we'll probably head to bed soon!!
Bon nuit!
Jen
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Le fin de la semaine...
Bonjour all my loving admirers,
I have just finished my first ''week'' at school. We started class on Tuesday and tomorrow is a holiday, so instead of coming to school, we will get to sleep in a little bit before we catch a train to Versailles.
So far all the things we have done in school have been review for me, but it's been good to review and practice things again! Its especially nice when i never fully grasped some of the grammar and verb conjugation anyway... I did get told today though that I have nice/pretty French when I right, so I should speak more, but if you know me..... well I'm slightly timid. I do get called on to read or give answers though, because the teachers have discovered this timidness.
A bunch of people are taking the boat ride tonight on the Seine river to see Paris all lit up, but we have to give our family more notice than that, so we will go another night. Its kind of a bummer, but at least we will get to do it.
This weekend is our free weekend in Paris, and our host family will be gone, so we are going exploring and get to cook our own meals and such. It should be fun!!
Things I should note:
~Unisex bathrooms are kind of freaky...
~people smoke on the train when they get angry
~we have water for dinner every night
~Each french course gets a new plate
~toilets have their own room
~French is spoken tres vite, especially by hyper little kids
I have so many differences and observations, so you should ask to read them or have me read them to you when i get home!!
Merci Beaucoup!
Jen
I have just finished my first ''week'' at school. We started class on Tuesday and tomorrow is a holiday, so instead of coming to school, we will get to sleep in a little bit before we catch a train to Versailles.
So far all the things we have done in school have been review for me, but it's been good to review and practice things again! Its especially nice when i never fully grasped some of the grammar and verb conjugation anyway... I did get told today though that I have nice/pretty French when I right, so I should speak more, but if you know me..... well I'm slightly timid. I do get called on to read or give answers though, because the teachers have discovered this timidness.
A bunch of people are taking the boat ride tonight on the Seine river to see Paris all lit up, but we have to give our family more notice than that, so we will go another night. Its kind of a bummer, but at least we will get to do it.
This weekend is our free weekend in Paris, and our host family will be gone, so we are going exploring and get to cook our own meals and such. It should be fun!!
Things I should note:
~Unisex bathrooms are kind of freaky...
~people smoke on the train when they get angry
~we have water for dinner every night
~Each french course gets a new plate
~toilets have their own room
~French is spoken tres vite, especially by hyper little kids
I have so many differences and observations, so you should ask to read them or have me read them to you when i get home!!
Merci Beaucoup!
Jen
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
La baguette et le fromage
Allo tout le monde!
I have just finished with another day at school. Its a little weird to only have one class for 3 hrs, since the only time I have was last May Term. We did actually have more of a lesson today though, so it was a little more structured. We work in partners a lot with students who are different nationalities when possible. The girl I have been working with is from Taiwan but she has excellent English and has been studying in England for quite a while anyway. I am getting more comfortable speaking and know that most of the class is at my level or slightly above (more so below though). I would say those of us at Wartburg who have taken French are decently prepared =).
Later today we will visit the Rodin Museum, so that should be cool. Im not sure what it is all about but I will certainly find out! A thank you to those who have actually read my blog and an even bigger one to my sister for commenting!
Right now we are just killing time before heading to the museum, and Melissa and I finished our lunch. We have found that we can buy a baguette and some spreadable cheese for a little over 2€, so we share that for lunch. It is way exciting to only spend about a euro a day. Then I will have more for souvenirs.
Ok enough babble! Catcha laters! Au Revoir!
I have just finished with another day at school. Its a little weird to only have one class for 3 hrs, since the only time I have was last May Term. We did actually have more of a lesson today though, so it was a little more structured. We work in partners a lot with students who are different nationalities when possible. The girl I have been working with is from Taiwan but she has excellent English and has been studying in England for quite a while anyway. I am getting more comfortable speaking and know that most of the class is at my level or slightly above (more so below though). I would say those of us at Wartburg who have taken French are decently prepared =).
Later today we will visit the Rodin Museum, so that should be cool. Im not sure what it is all about but I will certainly find out! A thank you to those who have actually read my blog and an even bigger one to my sister for commenting!
Right now we are just killing time before heading to the museum, and Melissa and I finished our lunch. We have found that we can buy a baguette and some spreadable cheese for a little over 2€, so we share that for lunch. It is way exciting to only spend about a euro a day. Then I will have more for souvenirs.
Ok enough babble! Catcha laters! Au Revoir!
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
à l'école
Today is my official first day of class at L'Institut Catholique in Paris. Yesterday we came to the school at 9am and took a test to place us into classes for the month. I was a little nervous, but it went ok. If you know hoz Melissa Sechrist and I are together, you will know that we are kind of a package deal. So it seems fitting then that we managed to end up in the same class =). Acutually there are 4 of us from Wartburg in the same class. Karen Summerson, and Audrey are the other two. So far it seems to be going ok. It is a little hard to understand what exactly we are supposed to do, but I do understand what is being said. That's usually the biggest hurdle, right? Anyway, we have class from 9am to 12pm monday through friday and also 2pm to 4pm ( or 5?) on tuesday and thursday. We havent done much in class yet, but I will let you know later.
At the school there is a cafeteria and a computer lab for us to use, so it is very convenient. Melissa and I have decided that we may just get a baguette and some cheese for lunches, because it is very cheap.
I don't think we have plans for tonight, but eventually we are going on a boat ride at sunset to see Paris lit up at night. I am definitely looking forward to that!
Im not sure that anyone is reading this anyway, but if any questions are to be had, please ask.
Merci Beaucoup!
Jen
At the school there is a cafeteria and a computer lab for us to use, so it is very convenient. Melissa and I have decided that we may just get a baguette and some cheese for lunches, because it is very cheap.
I don't think we have plans for tonight, but eventually we are going on a boat ride at sunset to see Paris lit up at night. I am definitely looking forward to that!
Im not sure that anyone is reading this anyway, but if any questions are to be had, please ask.
Merci Beaucoup!
Jen
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Les Chateax
Bonjour again
I canùt believe its already Sunday... Tomorrow I have my first day at school. I guess I'm lucky compared to other Wartburgers but it's still a little scary.
Yesterday we visited 3 castles in France: Chambord, Blois et Chanonceau. Chambord and Blois were cool and Blois was slightly boring, but it was cool to see anyway.
For lunch we all ate together at a little restaurant outside. We had chicken,rice, green beans, bread, salad, cheese and a chocolate cake! it was very good and was kind of typical of a full courses meal.
Today we are going to Saint Chappele and possibly on a boat ride on the Seine river around sunset. Im only za little sunburnt so far haha but it's been lots of fun. I also discovered last night that i can look out my window to the right and have an awesome view of the Eiffel Tower.
Ok time to go for now. It's hard to fight for the computer here sometimes. Au Revoir! Jen
I canùt believe its already Sunday... Tomorrow I have my first day at school. I guess I'm lucky compared to other Wartburgers but it's still a little scary.
Yesterday we visited 3 castles in France: Chambord, Blois et Chanonceau. Chambord and Blois were cool and Blois was slightly boring, but it was cool to see anyway.
For lunch we all ate together at a little restaurant outside. We had chicken,rice, green beans, bread, salad, cheese and a chocolate cake! it was very good and was kind of typical of a full courses meal.
Today we are going to Saint Chappele and possibly on a boat ride on the Seine river around sunset. Im only za little sunburnt so far haha but it's been lots of fun. I also discovered last night that i can look out my window to the right and have an awesome view of the Eiffel Tower.
Ok time to go for now. It's hard to fight for the computer here sometimes. Au Revoir! Jen
Thursday, April 30, 2009
En Paris!
Well we made it. After a 7.5hr flight that left our brains somewhere else, we arrived. After some running on le métro we were sent off on our own to find our host family and place of residence. We only had a few problems not remembering their last name, but once we got inside, Melissa recognized it and we got in. So far it's just been a lot of exploring on our own, but we have seen Notre Dame and La Tour Eiffel from afar. It's still unreal. I guess that is all for now.
à bientot
Jen
à bientot
Jen
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Le depart
Today is the big day. Yes, I realize it is about 2am... and yes I leave for chicago in 8hrs. Plenty of time!! I'm always up late the night before I leave anywhere anyway... it's like some tradition I have. I'm a night person anyway. Anyway, I've been more/less packed for the past few days. I just have a few things to throw in after I use them in the morning. It will take 2.2 seconds. Anyway, I suppose I am way excited to embark on this journey to a country where I actually speak the language (that's not English) and know a little bit (not a lot) about the culture. I love travelling, learning new things, eating different cuisines... you name it, I'll probably do it if I can. I'm also going to say that I am TERRIFIED. I'm slightly on the quiet side when it comes to speaking French, but don't try to pull anything past me, because I understand quite well. ;) I don't want to make a fool out of myself and I don't want to offend someone, so I may be fairly tentative at first. I'm sure I'll warm up though. Plus, I will have some great people to share in this experience with. I think I'm ready. Let's go!! (( before I change my mind... just kidding))
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