Day Off

As the title suggests, today we had the day off. I started off by having some shower troubles - you can't choose the temperature of the water in the Presto showers in the dorms, which means you frequently get FREEZING cold water. Yes, mom colder than our shower gets at home.

After getting ready, we went shopping on Rue de Rivoli and also along some side streets. From there we went across the Seine by Notre Dame where there is larger avenues and more shops to look in.  Because today starts the month long sales in Paris, there were plenty of people about with their shopping bags. Sam, Olivia, and I continually walked until we somehow ended up by Saint Sulpice and went inside to see what it looked like.

Nearby were the Luxembourg Gardens, so we stopped by there to enjoy the greenery. There were plenty of birds, which freak me out entirely so we made a quick exit. From there, Sam left and Olivia and I trekked off to find the infamous Moulin Rouge. After a few quick metro changes, we had made it! It's so much smaller in person and is surrounded by tourist shops and Tabac cafes (a cigar/coffee type shops). By then we were starved and headed to find food near the Eiffel Tower, which turned out to be a lot longer of a trip than we expected. We ended up eating in a cafe that had a beautiful ground view of the tower and also offered cheeseburgers, which Olivia ordered. It looked so delicious! I also got a mojito which was waayy too strong on the tequila, leaving me a bit tipsy. Walking in Paris while a bit off your rocker is quite an interesting experience, and a fun one at that ;) We stopped in a grocery store and got pink wine, and kept walking.. and walking.. and walking.. we walked past the Petit Palais, a bunch of governmental buildings, and the Musee d'Orsay. We also took a bunch of side streets before following the Seine. Finally we arrived back at the Notre Dame by nightfall and saw a bookstore lit up like a jewel. It was quite beautiful actually. Now I am back in the dorm and going to Skype a friend soon. Posting pictures from today next post! :)

some of my pictures from notre dame.

                

                     

We stopped for a pain au chocolat at a bakery named Paul before reaching Notre Dame. As it turns out, Paul is actually a quite well known bakery in Paris.

You can read the wikipedia page here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_(bakery)

or simply read some highlights here :)

-Bakery from 1889 (A lot of time to perfect their treats)

-436 stores total (The one we stopped at turned out to be one of the more famous stores in Paris. There are a few near the subways and metros and in the stations-but I wouldn't recommend because they aren't as freshly made and there's a lot less options)

Another thing I've learned while living in Paris, is that although there are shops and bakeries in the metro station.. doesn't mean you should stop at them. Helene, our CEA helper, told us that the bakeries and groceries bring in their goods from trucks and buses that probably aren't the cleanest and that the smell of the bakery isn't actually the smell of the bakery. The workers have a spray they use in order to portray the idea and sense of a working bakery, when in fact, its quite the opposite. It definitely seems less appetizing now.

Puking in Paris

I know I have not posted in a few days although I promised I would. This is due to the sickness I have which consists of aches, sore throat, swollen lymph nodes, clogged ears, runny nose, fever, and my migraines. For those of you who know me well enough (mom), know that my migraines put me in bed. But today was the tour of the Louvre and there was no way I was going to miss that, sicker than hell or not.  I am back in my dorm now though to spend the rest of the day trying to get better. Later tonight I plan to post my pictures, my details from today, and from Bruges, Belgium. Hope all is well at home and hope to talk to you soon! Grandma- I will email you back sometime later today. I haven't read both emails yet and plan to tonight. Love you and miss you all!

Notre Dame and Latin Quarter.

After yesterday's bout of homesickness and over 14 hours of rest (extremely jet lagged), my group began the morning by taking the metro.. which smells terrible by the way, to st. michel-notre dame stop and walked to the Notre Dame cathedral to meet our tour guide. Along the way we stopped at a fountain and Paul, a bakery with amazing breakfast! The pictures show some of the choices.
At the cathedral, our tour guide taught us the stories of what each doorway to the cathedral meant, one meaning the life of christ, one meaning the virgin mary and son and one meaning... something else? As we went inside the church, it was absolutely breathtaking. There were stain glass windows in each square of pillars which are actually not as old as the rest of the cathedral. When we reached the front we learned about the church and how they used minerals to create the stain glass windows that are the oldest and only had five colors- blue, purple, green, yellow, and red. Then we continued around the front of the church to see the stories sculpted in to wood that beautifully described Jesus' life. Around the whole cathedral were candles you could buy and light for someone or to take home with you. There was also a prayer box in which you could enter your wishes for the world, for others or for yourself. Because this was the cheaper option, I chose to write a note with my prayers for others and a few words to my dad.
Today is also the day in the Catholic faith that the 3 saints came and visited baby Jesus so there was a special display to honor that as well.
After Notre Dame, we visited the Latin Quarter, stopping at Saint Severin Church (my favorite), another church, the Pantheon, and a museum that featured the oldest monument in Paris- a Roman bath.
From there we had lunch and our group went our separate ways. While Sharie, Sam, and Olivia went back to climb the steps of Notre Dame to see the bell, Darcy, Amy and I went to the biggest bookstore I've ever seen!  Gilbert Joseph had 7 stories of books in one building and 3 stories of pens, paper, and such supplies in another. There was so much to see and I ended up purchasing a book. It's half in English and half in French.
  Mom I think you'll like it ;)
 We also walked along the Seine River checking out the green boxes filled with books and postcards. I found a good french book that I took a photo of as well. Wyatt will enjoy this one. :)

Now I am back in my dorm to rest for a few hours before supper and then tomorrow I am off to Belgium for chocolates, waffles, and beeeerrrr!:) It's fun being legal even though I have only had 2 glasses of wine so far. Will post photos from today later tonight with labels !

roast duck and garlic potatoes

a pedestrian street with cheese shops and a fish market

Creme Brûlée - First time, delicious:)

Salmon and Broccoli quiche with salad

Pain au Chocolat with Oasis (clearly a balanced breakfast) ;)

Dorm

 

Will add more of dorm and area around dorm soon

For my first few days in Paris, it has been a whirlwind to say the least. We've already been on a bus tour, been "orientated" and have gone to have a real french lunch and supper. It may not seem like much, but when you're still jet lagged and have never been in another country before, everything is a small achievement. Take for example the bathrooms; they're small, cramped, and remind me of the 7th grade when we would go to the school forest and we would only have a small stall to .. go in, for lack of a better term. While the toilets are flushable and work like modern toilets for the most part, they and the shower water have a certain odor or stank (yes, stank.. its a bad smell) that smells like something most easily described as large amounts of everyone's stagnant old pee. It really truly is something. 

This smell seems almost unavoidable in Paris though. When we went to the metro for the first time, we had to get off at a stop called Chatelet Les Halles. This stop is one of, if not the largest metro stops in Paris., so navigating to our correct exit for the first time was one thing, but the smell that hits you square in the face is almost Paris's uncharming welcome to the city. It really could be one of the worst smells I've had to put up with. And it might not be the actual smell itself, trust me I've smelled mud pots that seeped sulfur and that was god awful in itself. I think it might be more the idea of the smell. The fact that this is Paris and I'm in her dirty underbelly where homeless waste, dog waste, dirt and grime have all accumulated to such an extent that it feels as if the smell itself is becoming a part of you.

Anyways! thats enough about the smell.. 

But another problem I've come to realize will be a main opponent to me and my group for this trip is the very clear and obvious language barrier. Most of us truly don't know a lick of french, myself included, and the stereotype of the rude French person, makes me very nervous to even try. For example, I tried to say pain au chocolat a few times in my head and out loud before I ordered, and completely butchered it when the time to order actually came. The man I said my order to simply smiled tightly and got my breakfast. It's SO intimidating, especially when they can mostly speak two languages, and I only have the ability to speak one. -Although sometimes thats questionable when I get ahead of myself.. haha. 

Another thing to get used to is the Euro. The bills are easy because they are basically what we have at home. Their size varies with the amount they are, but they are still all small enough to carry around like normal. The thing that gets me is the coins. Euro coins can be as large as 2 Euros and it's very easy to forget that I have them in my wallet when making a purchase. This is something I need to work on though, because I guess you can't switch them back in to American dollars once you receive them in coins which seems very odd.

But thats enough explaining for one night!

Going to Notre Dame and the Latin Quarter tomorrow and Bruges, Belgium on Saturday.

I will be sure to bring back chocolate and post updates and photos soon! 

Here we go..

I can't believe the day is finally here. If you've been around me lately, you know just how nervous I've been. With movies like Taken and Hostel, it's hard to get over my irrational fear of something terrible happening while I'm in another country, or something frustrating happen, like completely losing my luggage. But here I am, watching airplanes take off as night falls over Minneapolis.
Not to say I'm not extremely excited about going to another country for two weeks. Or that I'm not ecstatic to go to one of the most famous cities in the world and getting to experience a new culture that I'm sure will be very different than my own. Because let's be honest here, I've been dying to travel to other countries and learn how other people live and see what they consider normal ways of living.
I wish I could expand on this more but frankly, the Dramamine is kicking in and airport wi-fi is charging money I could well be spending on crepes and souvenirs.

Au revoir Wisconsin &
Good luck in the Rose Bowl.