I'm definitely not in Paris anymore.

This weekend I went to the Provence region of France. I went with the entire API group so there was over 70 of us. We spent Friday and part of Saturday in Aix en Provence which was cute, it was a little off the coast. It was a very old town and reminded me of Italy. Well we found out that it was built in Ancient Rome so I guess there is a reason why it felt like I was in Italy. The first day we went to this restaurant that had extremely fresh seafood. I ate these mussels that literally just came out of the ocean there was still seaweed stuck to them. They were amazing salty. Then Allie my roomie for the weekend, and I went and took a three hour long nap which was very nice because all though we only stayed in a two star hotel the beds were way more comfortable then what we have at the dorms. We went to dinner with a couple others who went on a tour earlier in the day that we missed. We walked to this really tiny street that was filled with restaurants and actually got chinese food it wasn't half bad, but it was nothing like chinese food from say Imperial Wok which is my favorite.
On Saturday in the morning we went to the markets of Aix. We first went to the flower market which was absolutely amazing. I felt like I could smell the flowers blocks away, it was very nice. The markets here reminded me of Beauty and the Beast. Then we went to the food market, which was spectacular we got some cheese that was delish and then I bought a bottle of pink wine that was made in Provence and pink colored wine is known to be from that area so I'm excited to try it! We then went to the clothing market, it was very cool because they had like booths for everything; hats, marfs (man scarf), furs, pants, dresses. This market also had an amazing selection of old vintage books. I bought a Shirley Temple book that looks super old, it has an edition number on the front so only a certain amount were made, and it is in French so maybe it will help me learn French. The second half of the day we went to Cassis, which is where I'm moving to when I have enough money. It was literally the most amazing town ever. The sites were beautiful no matter where you were. All though it was raining the views were still spectacular. It is right on the Mediterranean sea, meaning the water is super blue. Oh! So I decided that I am going to collect like rocks from different places I visit, like tiny river rocks. I got one from Cassis and Marseille. These smaller towns are very hilly like if you aren't in shape you will definitely need to take a break.
So, Marseille. I didn't like it. It's one of the largest cities in France. I thought it was really gross, and it reminded me of like Communist Russia it was really run down and I felt like it could have crumbled. I mean I'm sure there are nice places their, but where we were it was super gross. They did have this beautiful church which is considered the Notre Dame of the south but when we got there my camera died so I dont have a picture but it was beautiful. I guess Marseille has that.
I'm glad to be back in Paris though, it was an exhausting weekend. I also cant believe I have been here for two weeks already it doesn't feel that long at all. I miss everyone, especially Scarlett. I have a full day of class tomorrow (7 hours) and my second class I have to present a project on a French film director so that should be interesting haha. My friend from home is coming to visit this wednesday. Her name is Sarah, she is studying abroad in Italy! I can't wait to see her its going to be nice to see a familiar face for a few days.
Conclusion of the weekend go to Cassis, whenever you have the chance, and when it is warm.

<3

Furro' Dance

So during the day wasn't exciting had French class, got really frustrated because of how long the class was and that I felt like I wasn't learning anything. I think it will get better soon.
Tonight I met up with a family friend Caroline and her boyfriend they were super nice and they gave us a lot of food, that was delicious. We had french food that Caroline explained to us what part of France it came from but I forgot hehe. Afterwards two of their friends joined us and we went to the bar Bizart. When I walked in I felt like I was in a scene out of Dirty Dancing Havana Nights. The bar had a Brazilian night where everyone danced this dance called the Furro' literally the sexiest dance I have ever seen. I am determined to learn it by the end of this trip. I felt like my jaw was on the floor the entire time watching these people move, it was insane. Every dance couple had their own style but all similar moves that was just beautiful. Debbie came with me and we both attempted to do it, she was way better then I. It's almost like a salsa dance just extremely harder and complicated but if you got the moves it looks so amazing.
Here is an example of it... its hard to imagine it because this is in a studio and not in a dim-lit bar with a live band and a lot of people dancing the same thing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfNfL5NK14o&feature=related
but its like the club scenes in this video...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9keThUYOi7c&feature=related

Needless to say it was a lot of fun, and I want to go there every week.

Politely Rude

Fact #1 the Les Halles metro stop off line 4 takes you to a partially underground mall, it has a 3 story H &M which leads me to...

Fact #2 H&M is a thousand times better here then it is in the states they had some really cute stuff, but more expensive then H&M at home.

Fact #3 I'm obsessed with Zara and all the amazing French stores, that I have decided to eat less and shop more.

Fact #4 I saw a Parisian actually yell at another Parisian today; I thought the Parisians were only supposed to be politely rude? Guess not, this guy was going at it.

Fact #5 The crepes that you see that are made in front of you instead of heated up are so much better, so check to see if they make a new one or just take it from a huge plate of them.

Fact #6 It has to stop raining I cant deal.

Fact #7 I can't wait to go to Provence.

Fact # 8 I went to buy books today at Gibert Jeune and there are like three of the same store on the same street and each one is dedicated to different subjects.

Fact #9 I'm listening to John Mayer right now.

My First Day of Classes

Well today was interesting. I don't remember the last time I had a 7 hour class day. I don't even know how I am still awake from it, but to say the least the classes weren't half bad. I was really frustrated this morning when my metro card didn't work, and I had to buy a ticket and the woman at the counter and I couldn't understand each other and then I got off the metro and my friend Caley and I couldn't find the school we kept walking in the opposite direction, luckily here everything is way slower paced so when class starts at 10 they mean 10:15 which is perfectly acceptable in my book.
Then when I walked in to class my professor doesn't speak english, well she does but she wouldn't speak it. I mean I am in Paris and I'm trying to learn French but on the first day of the lowest possible level of French I mean come on at least wait a week. She had to repeat herself like 20 times because some people understood but the majority was just shaking their heads and guessing. So that was extremely frustrating. I had an hour and a half break and went to my second class which is Contemporary French Cinema which was awesome because it is completely taught in english and I could participate, and the professor was so cool. He actually goes back and forth between London and Paris for teaching which is really intense but he's great, so I don't mind.
I think I'll be able to deal with my French class as long as the electives I am taking are more exciting and fun.
One thing that sucks is that the metro stop thats literally right outside of my school is closing next Monday so I have to get off a stop before but I'm not really complaining because I need the exercise and I have to go home skinny, its my goal. So sitting here eating Golden Grahams isn't helping haha.. but they're so good.
I asked for a Berger today thinking I'd get a burger but I got a crepe with provolone cheese and goat cheese on it I almost vommed, but when I mixed it with the side salad it wasn't half bad. I need to go learn the French alphabet, I need all the help I can get!!

<3

Le feu!

So I just learned that in France when the Fire Alarm goes off you don't have to throw on whatever is closest to you and run out the door and down 6 flights of stairs and stand out in the cold because they just disregard the fire alarm all together. At least all my fire drills during elementary school paid off and I know that I'll be the safest one here haha.

Montmartre & the Moulin Rouge

Last night I went out in Paris for the first time, it was a lot of fun we went to this Irish bar called Le Hideout all the people there were super nice and when that closed for the night we went to an Australian bar right across the street and when we realized we were allowed to walk around with our drinks outside we did, we were in the Bastille area which has a lot of bars, but when the metros closed we ended up taking a taxi back which wasn't half bad (price wise) except I really had to pee so I literally ran in to my dorm. I definitely want to go back that area. I feel like at the bars I'm going to end up only drinking beer because its the cheapest and its still like 4,50 euro, thats like 7 or 8 USD. Crazy.
Well today I went to McDonalds for a Royal with Cheese which dates back to Pulp Fiction, it was delish. My friend Allie came along with me through out the whole day she is from Long Island. We then walked over to a market that was in the central part of Bastille and Allie bought this awesome mirror that was a Jewish hand symbol (i dont remember the name) but it's also an Israel symbol, it was decorated with tin foil and the decoration on it was incredible for tin foil work. We then proceeded to go to the wrong National Opera House for the ballet we had tickets for and we were too late to travel to the other side of Paris to make the show, so we hopped on the metro and went to the artsy area Montmartre which is in the 18th arrondissement. When we walked up the million stair spiral staircase to reach the open air from the metro, we walked in to this really pretty church it was smaller then most churches in France but it had intricate detail it almost looked spanish at least from the stonework that I saw. After we checked that out we walked down a large hill which takes some practice because the streets are made of different stones not pavement.
When we got down to the bottom we found ourselves in the sex district, store after store of sex stuff and door after door of strip joints, and at last we found the Moulin Rouge which was really cool because I love that movie. So we took several pictures and then went to the Cimetiere de Montmartre it housed famous French artists, politicians, writers, actors any profession you could think of in this cemetery. The cemetery was nothing like at home, it felt more like a little village, because they don't have tomb stones really they have the little houses instead. After we exited the cemetery I saw a golden retriever puppy and it made me miss Scarlett so much. The puppy was jumping up and down and having a blast. We then proceeded to walk back up the hill to go to the church Sacre Coeur, which was incredible it was on the tippy top of the hill and you can see all of Paris from its steps it was so beautiful (again pictures coming soon). I ran in to what I thought was a pick pocketer and gave him the death stare and walked away. Then we hopped on the metro and I just got back home, so I'm exhausted.

Tomorrow is my first day of classes! Wish me luck!!

The passing of a loved one

Well I know this is a blog for my travels but last night my grandma passed away of whom I called Farmor. So I just wanted to write a little something for her, and then I will proceed with writing about my travels another day.

The sun danced on to the horizon
and knocked at your door.
The birds hummed their usual song, frozen
you wish they were when you'd walk along the shore.
You would play your battery powered card games,
as you lighted up your beautiful deadly obsession.
You laughed a lot and sometimes confused our names,
but I didn't mind I thought it was funny, is this a confession?
The wide-eyed look that you'd give me
when I said something crazy,
Our chuckles gathered and collected like dust
and it would seem that our conversation was a little hazy.
I loved you so with your charm and grace.
I'll miss you thick and through and I will always remember that beautiful face.

Anyway I'm going to dinner, and I'll post something maybe later. Miss you all!

Till next time...

Mona Lisa smile

So today was an early day. We had to get up at 7:30 and go to our school to take the oral exam which in my case was entertaining because I don't know how to speak French. After that I had my first food shopping experience which was pleasant, and I also picked up a little rug for my even littler room. Milk here tastes way different then milk from home I would do anything for a Nesquick right now haha.

Then we had our last orientation meeting that was actually the best one, it was about shopping in Paris and the do's and dont's sort of thing. I think I may be catching a cold because I've been sneezing on and off all day. We then went to the Louvre which was amazing. I learned that if you look at each piece for 3 seconds it will take you three months to see every piece. I saw the Mona Lisa which just made me laugh because it is the only painting with a glass box over it and there is a minimum like 10 feet barricade around it so no one can get close. I did get a picture so that was good. They had some beautiful pieces especially from Ancient Greece, but I definitely have to go back there because I would say we saw roughly 2 % of it or less, and we were there for almost 2 hours. By the time that was over I thought my feet were going to fall off because they hurt so much from walking around.
Today I was able to order something from a bakery in French and they didn't ask me to repeat it, that was the first time... so yay me! Tomorrow we are going to the Notre Dame and then I want to go up to the Opera house and go shopping around there, supposedly there are huge dept stores similar to Macys and such!
Miss you!!

Till next time.

Bienvenue Paris!!!

So the first day was quite exhausting, but I met a lot of great people almost everyone from the group except for number two of the two guys on this program because he missed his flight but I feel like he had cold feet and then his parents made him come but those are just my thoughts. Actually my flight was wonderful the stewardess was very nice and spoke french. When I arrived I had to find a cafe to meet the director to take me to the hotel which took me forever to find but finally I did. Everyone in the program is super nice and pleasant. The first four girls I met we ended up eating like the whole day which is wonderful haha. We ordered coffee from McDonalds because it was the only place with to-go coffee.

On the second day we took a metro tour which was exciting and complicated and then some of us branched off and went to the eiffel tower which is marvelous. It is better then any picture, its hard to explain how magnificent it is.
I then started to realize that restaurants seem to try to make the most awkward mixture of foods ever because I went to a little cafe and had a bagel that had guac and tuna on it, don't recommend it. Later on that night, I got stuck in the hotel elevator for an hour and a half with 8 other students that are from my group. I freaked out for the first five minutes but then all of us started talking and we actually got to know each other pretty well.
The third day I ate my first crepe!! It was amazing. I had a banana and chocolate crepe literally to die for, a lot better then Skinny Pancake in VT. I also moved in to my dorm which is brand new but extremely tiny and definitely made for la francais petit, not for 6 foot people. Our building has a soiree every wednesday where the other students meet for drinks in the basement (its refinished) and have 1 euro beer and wine at the bar that is down there, so that was cool except it seemed very cliquy and everyone spoke a hundred mile an hour french, so it was impossible for me to understand.
Today we had to wake up early and go to the center for a meeting where we got our schedule, mines pretty cool I'm taking some neat classes but they seem to be 4 hours long each. They start next Monday so we will see how that goes. Then after that we went to the Musee d'Orsay which was spectacular, there were mostly impressionist painters; monet, van gogh, and certain french painters that I can't remember but the cool thing about this museum is that it used to be a train station but then it grew to small so it was abandoned and then in the 70's the pres decided to make it a museum and the works that are in the museum are only between the periods of the end of the French Monarchy and the start of world war 1 all the other works are housed in the Louvre (I'm going there tomorrow). I went to a place called Berts for lunch and it was a really great sandwich shop they had amazing food. For dinner a couple of us just went up the street to this italian place that was pretty cheap for France and got a pizza.
Its great so far but I can't wait to see whats next!

Till next time. Au revior!!