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Adventures in Paris Part One
After about five days of orientation and feeling like other than people speaking in a different language, I wasn't in a foreign country, the weekend finally arrived. Friday night my friend Kelsey and I went to the movie Neverland (Finding Neverland is the US title) and it was good. It was in version original so it was in english with French subtitles. After that we had some pizza and went home, both exhausted from all the events of the week.
Saturday morning I woke up bright and early and went to Montmartre with some people. We saw the Moulin Rouge, which is in the red light district... interesting to note, to watch strippers cost less than to eat a crepe with nutella. Interesting. Then we proceeded to go to the Sacre Coeur. The stairs that Nino runs up in Amelie were closed because of ice and snow so we went up the staircase on the side. It's an incredible amount of stairs. We sat on the steps of the Sacre Coeur and the view was amazing! I definitely am going to go back for sunrise/sunset at some point during my stay here. Inside the Sacre Coeur it was absolutely breathtaking. I didn't take any pictures becase I don't think they were allowed but the stained glass and the ceilings were beautiful. Upon exiting we went towards the square where all the artists paint, and a ton of people always want to paint your picture. We walked around looking at the paintings people were selling and then we had baguette sandwiches and looked around in some ridiculously priced (as in very cheap but things piled everywhere) stores.
After that Kelsey and I went to the Louvre for a couple of hours and saw the Mona Lisa, which, to be honest, I wasn't that impressed with. I felt bad for the other pictures in the room which get no attention. We then walked around for a while and eventually got dinner at a creperie which was quite good and a pretty good deal. Only in Paris would Evian be a dollar and coca light would be 3.50.
On Sunday I slept in and then met up with Kelsey at the Louvre where we explored for 3 hours. We went back towards the Mona Lisa and saw some African and Oceanic sculptures. We wandered into parts of the Louvre which were parts of the palace and it was so decadent and gaudy it was ridiculous. We saw some of the crowns and jewels which was incredible. Then we wandered some more and saw a beautiful Renoir and then some huge paintings that were basically the size of my house. After that we went to Starbucks because we couldn't find anything open and we were starving. I had an awesome sandwich there though so I can't complain (chevre, spinach on honey panini). After that we went to Notre Dame and just sat around for a while in front of the famous rose window. It was so amazing. Then I bought a crepe with Nutella and almost died from its decadence.
I had classes on Monday, they seem very easy so far so I'm going to wait a week and see before talking to my professor about switching up to the next level.
My family is very nice and we've been getting our dinners from her 24 year old daughter because Madame is in Normandy with her family. The portions are smaller but soo good. And for the most part everyone has been very nice.
Ciao,
Rachel
After about five days of orientation and feeling like other than people speaking in a different language, I wasn't in a foreign country, the weekend finally arrived. Friday night my friend Kelsey and I went to the movie Neverland (Finding Neverland is the US title) and it was good. It was in version original so it was in english with French subtitles. After that we had some pizza and went home, both exhausted from all the events of the week.
Saturday morning I woke up bright and early and went to Montmartre with some people. We saw the Moulin Rouge, which is in the red light district... interesting to note, to watch strippers cost less than to eat a crepe with nutella. Interesting. Then we proceeded to go to the Sacre Coeur. The stairs that Nino runs up in Amelie were closed because of ice and snow so we went up the staircase on the side. It's an incredible amount of stairs. We sat on the steps of the Sacre Coeur and the view was amazing! I definitely am going to go back for sunrise/sunset at some point during my stay here. Inside the Sacre Coeur it was absolutely breathtaking. I didn't take any pictures becase I don't think they were allowed but the stained glass and the ceilings were beautiful. Upon exiting we went towards the square where all the artists paint, and a ton of people always want to paint your picture. We walked around looking at the paintings people were selling and then we had baguette sandwiches and looked around in some ridiculously priced (as in very cheap but things piled everywhere) stores.
After that Kelsey and I went to the Louvre for a couple of hours and saw the Mona Lisa, which, to be honest, I wasn't that impressed with. I felt bad for the other pictures in the room which get no attention. We then walked around for a while and eventually got dinner at a creperie which was quite good and a pretty good deal. Only in Paris would Evian be a dollar and coca light would be 3.50.
On Sunday I slept in and then met up with Kelsey at the Louvre where we explored for 3 hours. We went back towards the Mona Lisa and saw some African and Oceanic sculptures. We wandered into parts of the Louvre which were parts of the palace and it was so decadent and gaudy it was ridiculous. We saw some of the crowns and jewels which was incredible. Then we wandered some more and saw a beautiful Renoir and then some huge paintings that were basically the size of my house. After that we went to Starbucks because we couldn't find anything open and we were starving. I had an awesome sandwich there though so I can't complain (chevre, spinach on honey panini). After that we went to Notre Dame and just sat around for a while in front of the famous rose window. It was so amazing. Then I bought a crepe with Nutella and almost died from its decadence.
I had classes on Monday, they seem very easy so far so I'm going to wait a week and see before talking to my professor about switching up to the next level.
My family is very nice and we've been getting our dinners from her 24 year old daughter because Madame is in Normandy with her family. The portions are smaller but soo good. And for the most part everyone has been very nice.
Ciao,
Rachel