C'est vrai

It's been far too long since my last (aka second) post. I obviously suck at this, ha. Anyway...

Last weekend we went to Normandy, our first excursion. We checked out a World War Museum in Caen, Omaha Beach, the American Cemetery, and Mont-Saint-Michel. I've already been to half of the places we went to but it was cool to see them again and to see the places I'd never been to. I took some rocks from the beach and tried to look up if there were any Telker's there but to no avail. We stayed in Caen Saturday night, which had an old fortress that was built by William the Conqueror. There was an adorable little French girl at the place where we ate dinner who kept talking to us and calling us pretty and she kissed our cheeks when she left. It was the cutest thing ever. At Mont-St-Michel, I had some delicious French Onion Soup and finally bought a scarf.

I moved into the dorms Tuesday; no more apartment for me. The rooms are singles and are humongous. There's a bed, closet, desk, drawer chest thing, desk chair, and a sink with a mirror and shelves. Pictures are on Facebook if you're really that curious. There's a huge shelf that spans an entire corner of the room that I'm gonna put my photos from Photography class on. And I think I'll print off some pictures from home (friends, family, favorite places, Remy, etc.) to put all over the walls. Posters are also in consideration.

I finally have my Navigo pass, which, let me tell you, makes life a lot easier. We found a Simply Market that's really close to the dorms so now I can get anything I need (from hangers to hand soap to pears). There's an H&M right by the Catho (aka the Catholic Institute of Paris, our university) which I have a feeling is not a good thing...

Wednesday night, we went out for Kaitlyn's birthday. We had some Kir at a nearby café (it's a mixture of wine and liquor - really good), followed by dinner at a TexMex place (for a little taste of home), a trip to the Charlotte Bar, and a 2 am trip to McDonald's. We literally asked a French policeman where the nearest open McDonald's was haha.

Thursday night the group went on the Bateaux Mouches, a river tour of Paris. After that, some of us walked to the Eiffel Tower - stopping at a market to buy wine, bread, and cheese. We had a picnic under the Tower and watched when it lit up at 10 pm (and again at 11 pm). Very French :)

Tonight I'll be doing laundry with the girls and packing for this weekend's excursion - the Loire Valley.

Until next time,
Lauren

Bonjour Paris!

So I've been here since Saturday morning but due to complications with internet access and finding a way to actually charge my netbook (turns out it needs a three prong outlet hehe) I have not been able to update.

The first two days in Paris were spent at the Campanile Hotel Sud - Porte d'Italie, a very modern hotel with an attached restaurant (which was delicious). Monday I moved into my apartment, which I will only be in for a week before moving into the dorms. Word of advice: don't take the metro when transporting luggage - the hassle and soreness is most definitely not worth it.

From my first impressions of yesterday and today (orientation), I definitely like the people that are in this program - both the students and the coordinators/professors. My roommate's name is Kaitlyn and there are two girls that live below me named Diana and Jordan - all three are great girls. On a more amusing note, my roommate and I have already managed to blow a fuse in our apartment "living" room. Hopefully this won't be too much of a problem to fix...

Classes start tomorrow with Art & Architecture 9 am - noon and Photography 2 pm - 5 pm. It's after 2 am here now so I'm gonna get to sleep. Hopefully future posts will be better planned and not so short/abrupt.

Au revoir mes amis!

Introduction

So this blog is going to be about my study abroad experience, or my European adventure (mon aventure européenne). This is a month in advance actually - I don't leave until May 21st, but I thought I should get this whole blog thing figured out before I go since blogging is something I've never done.

I'm blogging for a couple of reasons: so my friends and family can know what I'm doing without me talking their ear off, for me to fully remember my experience, and to have a written record of my experience for my degree/the Study Abroad Office/the 1hr credit course I'll probably be taking in the fall.

As far as previous experience in Europe goes, I've been to France twice (once with my family when I was nine, and again with my high school when I was seventeen). Unfortunately I haven't been to any other European countries so I'm excited to finally do so. Some goals for France though... if I can fit in a visit to my beloved St. Malo, I will, and I'm determined to find some Moule de Curry in the northwest. There was a family stay included in my high school trip so I might try to contact my French family but that would only be possible if I can get their information from my high school French teacher, I've long since lost the information I had.

The general study abroad plan is to study art, architecture, and photography at the Institut catholique de Paris for five weeks starting May 23rd, which includes excursions to Versailles, the Normandy beaches, Mont Saint Michel, and chateaus in the Loire Valley. At the end of the program, my mom and her sister (Aunt Susie) are flying in to start the second half of my trip. We'll be visiting London, the south of France, Italy, and a little bit of Switzerland. All of this will take about three weeks, with us returning to the US on July 16th.

I'm starting to get pretty excited but I still have this semester to finish, not to mention more study abroad paperwork to complete. Regardless, this summer's gonna be amazing :)