Scott and Easter

Well, I just keep getting busier and busier!

Monday night, with almost no time to regroup after my trip to Normandy, I picked up my brother Scott from the aiport :) It was so nice to see him, as he is a grad student in NYC and since I wasn't home for Christmas, I had figured I wouldn't see him 'til Thanksgiving. However, when he told me he planned to do Spring Break "London, Nantes, and Paris" it was a pleasant surprise.

Once again my host family was very gracious and not only allowed him to sleep at the house, but also to eat two home-cooked french meals with us, something my parents missed out on (although I tried my best to replicate them!). Now, the only problem with the week was the timing for my exam. To graduate with a french major, I am require to pass a certification test given by the french government that says I have a certain level of french in all areas (speaking, listening, writing, reading). This isn't all bad, since its nice to have something like that on your resume when you are finished; however, the only testing center near me that would work for the semester was in Angers (45 mins by train) and was taking place over the two full days that Scott was here.

So 5:30am Tuesday morning came and we hopped on a train to Angers, had some breakfast at a local boulangerie (bakery) and I handed Scott the map of Angers, while I went to take my test. Turns out, that while you can't really study for a thing like this, as it was much harder than I expected, I really wish I had had more time/materials to help me prepare, but I did my best under the circumstances. That afternoon, Scott and I did some shopping, bought some paninis, and visited the local Castle (supposedly on the list of most beautiful castles in France) and also went to the Tapestry museum which holds this huge famous tapestry of Revelations, giving a play by play of the Apocalypse. Angers is a cute city, smaller and quainter than Nantes, and also another one of my options of where I could have studied. But I am still satisfied with my choice.

So, Jet lag + 5 hour of sleep = Exhaustion. So we headed back to the house, for a few hours of relaxation before going out to dinner with my families left-over euros(Thanks Dad and Mom!) . We were directed to this little adorable french restaurant called Le Petit Baccus by my host parents and were not dissapointed. The atmosphere was very french ( well...actually kinda international as we were in a corner with a some germans and french) and the food was wonderful, not to mention the 14.50 for 3 courses. So we had a nice night out, took the night bus back, and got to bed early.

Wednesday morning we did some walking around, before I headed to Angers for the afternoon. Scott on the other hand visited the Nantes Castle, Cathedral, large mechanical elephant, and did some shopping before I got back. All while practicing the french phrases he was learning so that he could get around in Paris. That was one of his major goals during his time here, to learn the meaning of every word he saw, and he did pretty well in simply guessing them and, the most difficult part of french, in pronouncing them. So we stopped at bar after I got back to chat with some IES friends for a bit and then headed home for another wonderful home-cooked meal.

Sadly, thursday Scott had a train for Paris at 1pm. So we got up early and did some last minute shopping and exploring before getting him on his train. It was a fun few days, and I wish I had had more time to just hang out, but we made the best of it and it was so nice to see some family during Holy Week.

Which brings me to Easter. Friday after Rock Climbing, I walked in all sweaty and gross only to see a table full of college age guys who had been eating dinner, turn around and stare at me. "Umm....Hi Everybody..?" Needless to say, I was a bit confused. I knew that my 22 yr old host brother Alban was coming home from Paris and that the 25 yr old daughter Alix was heading in from Brussels, but who were all these people? As my host brother Pierre Antoine was there I figured these must be just some friends. My host dad did all the introductions (which include the french cheek kisses..awkward when you are self-conscious that you are all smelly and gross) and I found out one was my host brother I had never met, next to his cousin, and Alix's boyfriend. Turns out, all the women were in the kitchen and bathroom at the time. My reaction: oooooh, I feel stupid. Oh well, first impressions!

It was a bit weird doing easter with another family. One one hand, I really enjoyed seeing all of their traditions, but on the other hand, although they included me in everything, I kind of felt out of the loop because these wern't MY traditions, and I felt like I was just observing. However, everyone was really nice. I made pancakes Saturday morning and got a chance to talk with some of my siblings. Also, Marc, Alix's boyfriend, is german, spent a year in the states, and speaks great english(and french for that matter), but it was nice to not feel like the only foreigner :)

Anyways..Saturday night, we did Easter eve service. No one wanted to get up early Sunday morning so it was agreed upon ahead of time. So we went to this huge cathedral in town that I had never been too, but reminded me of St. Marks in Venice : Big dome mosaic ceilings...old. :) The catholic mass itself was the first one in Europe I have gone to and been able to understand it (St. Marks on Christmas Eve was in Italien and Latin with an occasional flash of English). It started out completely dark, and then, as at the Christmas Eve service, every one lit their candle (which we held still for 90 mins totally lit...I can NOT beleive nothing caught fire) . Then as they read the texts, more and more candles were lit. It really was a beautiful service and although I knew it was long, I didn't realize it had been 2 1/2 hours until I checked my watch at the end!

On Sunday, all of the family came for the big meal : Roasted Lamb...mmmh. It was fun because with all of the kids there, it reminded me of home : everyone talking at the same time, the one child who always feels like everyone disagrees with him, and the look on my host mom's face who was thrilled to have all of her kids home at once.

That afternoon, the college age kids invited me to play poker. Now, I have never really played poker in my life, and am not a huge fan of gambling, but I figured it was some host-sibling-bonding that I couldnt pass up, so I agreed on the terms that they would teach me and help me along. ...So turns out, I rock at poker. hehe. well, at least I did on Sunday. I think having different expressions, and being the least known in the group played into my favor, but after 4 hours of intensity, I ended up splitting the prize (10 Euro) with my host sister Alex because, the only ones left in the game, we didn't want to keep playing. It was a fun afternoon, not just because I won, but because I felt like part of the group and that was nice :)

So the rest of the weekend was spent catching up on homework from the week that I hadn't done, and this week is mostly going to be paper writing since I have 2 due next week. Also, yesterday was our Film Night at IES that I helped put together as VP and I think it went well. It took place after conversation club so I think it gave french and american students the chance to interact in a more informal setting. It was a lot of last minute work all day, since no stores were open this weekend but with that and the Easter Egg Hunt from last week, I think that we have done a few nice things with our limited budget and are going to try to plan a few more (possibly trip to the beach, barbeque, etc.)

Well thats all folks! I'm coming home in almost 7 weeks! Crazy!

Normandy

Saturday morning, we met at IES at 7:45 to take a 3 hour bus ride to Caen, in Normandy. Arriving at lunch time, we explored the local castle (yup, every big city seems to have one) and picniced on the ramparts. Julie and I also found a small "History of Normandy" museum which had free admission and starting in the middle ages, gave to an overview of what this territory had gone through. After a long tumultuous history of viking invasions, the normands invading england in 1066, etc, D-Day in 1944, this country side is now just a quiet peaceful region known for cider, apples, camenbert....and what we experienced for the rest of the weekend....rain.



Thankfully, our afternoon was planned INSIDE, at the Memorial of Caen, a museum that takes you through world history leading up to WWII and then focuses on the D-Day attack of the Norman beaches. It was probably one of the most effectively put together museums I have ever visited and I am glad we had 4 hours to experience it. We started inside this circular dome, on a spiral path moving down a few floors, giving you a brief overview of major world events in the 20th century. When you reached the bottom floor, World War II had broken out. It was immpressive how they used more visuals (photos, artifacts, etc), radio recordings, etc than words to tell the story, although historical descriptions were availiable for reference in both english and french. I guess I had never realized how much France had suffered in the World Wars. I knew it had been damaged..but it was seriously torn apart, given over to Germany by its own government, and was left defenseless against invasions and battles which raged all over France.



My favorite, although the most heart-wrenching, part of the museum for me was when they started going through the typical life of a soldier. They ended this section with a display of letters soldiers had sent their families right before the debarquement. It was amazing the contrast of content. Some soldiers had just been informed that they would be involved in a sizeable attack and were writing their families to let them know that they were finally going to see combat. I couldnt tell if they were actually oblivious to the danger (and death) they would be facing, or if they were just writing in a very casual way so that their famillies would not worry. Written on the top of one such casual letter was written , "This is the last letter my uncle sent." Still others were writing with a more serious tone, the "death notice" only to be sent to their families in the case of their death on the battlefield. It was very difficult to read as one soldier apologized for all the trouble he had caused his family, knowing they had not parted on the best terms, but still wishing them the best, and telling them that they were strong and would be able to deal with his death. As I sat their and read that letter, I was imagining the family opening it...full of regret and sorrow, and I admittedly got choked up and had to stop reading so that I wouldnt be spending the next 15 minutes crying like a blubbering fool. Still, I think that the museum, along with history, gave me an appreciation for soldiers in general, and the families of soldiers. It must be incredibly difficult to go through every day not knowing whether you, or your son, will ever come home again, but, hopefully, knowing they are fighting for a good cause.

However, my whole day did not consist of such depressing thoughts! That evening we checked into our hotel. This was not just any hotel. This hotel rocked! Usually we get the cheapest thing around, so I dont know what happened but we had beautiful spacious rooms with televisions 20 channels (that is incredible for France, which normally has 6). But the best part was the food! Dinner that night was a buffet for every course, soupe, appetizer/salad, entree, dessert. Then the next day, breakfast was even better. I don't think any of us realized just how much we missed American breakfasts, and since they get lots of American tourists in Normandy, they knew just what to make for us: Scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, cold milk, cereal! and then all the best parts of french breakfasts, pain au chocolat (chocolate chip croissant), 6 types of jam, dried apricots....mmmh. Delicious. wow, I miss America!

So on sunday morning, in the pouring rain, we headed over to Omaha beach and the American cemetary. Simply unbeleiveable. I walked through the huge cemetary, stopping to read some of the names. It was freezing cold, and as I had left my umbrella in the car, I was soaking wet and shivering. But at the same time, it seemed very appropriate that the weather not be all sunshine. Still, despite the cold, I decided to walk the whole length of it just so I would have an idea of how long it was. However, when I reached the memorial in the back, I realized, disturbingly, that I was only halfway through, and that another huge field of white crosses lay before me. It was just an incredibly sad feeling to think about, especially after the museum the day before.

After finishing with the cemetary, I made my way down to the beach. In any other circumstances (and perhaps with a bit better weather), these beaches would be a prime spot for hotels,etc. They are huge wide sandy beaches, which slope up into some hills that look down on them. It was unsettling to picture the nazis, with such an advantage high above the beaches, while americans, canadiens, and british did their best to get undercover, on an open air beach with no protection. However, the US was given this land, so the land has not been developped much. There are a few houses and it was weird to learn that the french do swim on those beaches, when to most americans, the thought is simply horrifying.

We all loaded back on the bus and headed down the beach a little ways to Point du Hoc. This was the general quater for the germans, and therefore, strategically, received the most bombing. We walked down a path that led between the huge holes in the ground, left from the bombs, explored some collapesed german bunkers, and really got a feel for how much damage the war caused! I wish we could have stayed longer, since, as with all of these trips, I am never sure if I will have the opportunity to return ever again, but the cold was getting to be too much and my coat, soaked completely through wasn't helping, so the visit was a bit short.

For lunch we stopped in Bayeux, grabbing a pannini and trying to explore without freezing. The main reason for our stop here though was to see the Bayeux Tapestry. This tapestry is 60 meters long and is like a cloth painting of the Battle of Hastings between the Normands and the British in 1066. It was kind of crazy to see it, as it is one of the oldest artifacts of France, and I learned about it freshman year in French Civ I. Thats the best thing about studying abroad, i think. It gives me the opportunity to really SEE all these little things I have always read about, and as a visual learner, I think it sticks better this way.

All in all, it was a very interesting trip, more like a school field trip than a vacation like the other ones have been, but I am so happy I had the opportunity to go and I'll never forget it!

Getting Cultured

Bonjour tout le monde!

Phew...so glad that midterms are over. Well, almost. I have one if a few weeks for Translation, but there is really no way you can prepare for that one other than reading books and learning new vocabulary. So anyways, last week was a busy week for me and wouldn't be too exciting to recount in detail, since it mostly consisted of late night studying for Midterms in my Middle East and European Union class with breaks for some Office Season 3 :) So I'll just give you some highlights.

Since we have 3 weeks total of break, most other students have planned amazing trips for our time off. Going back to school on Monday, it was amazing to hear everyone's stories; however, even more fun to think about what I was going to be doing in April for our 2 weeks off. I orginally was thinking Ireland and Switzerland, since firstly, Ryanair has some great prices to Dublin from Nantes, and secondly Switzerland is a frenchspeaking country so it would be easy to get around. So I started asking around, and found a friend who wanted to go to Ireland too! So Thursday night we stayed up til 12:30 booking our flights, and let me tell you, I'm syched! So sooo excited! We havn't pinned down anything except the planes yet, so all I know is Im going to Ireland for the last 5 days! Sooo cool! For the rest of break, I beleive I will stay in the South of France, but that is still to be decided...

Anyways, Friday was an IES "field-trip" to Paris. We had a few choices, but I ended up deciding to do "Le Senat" (Capital Hill of France) in the morning and a guided tour of the French Painters wing of the Louvre in the afternoon. So 5:30 am, after reserving my Ireland tickets, I woke up bright and early and got the train with the rest of my class. The Senate was interesting enough. I chose it because its not exacly a tourist hot-spot and I didn't think I would ever get the chance to see it at another time. But in reality, its just a big, nicely decorated building, where people make laws. No biggie. For lunch, I dragged a few of my friends over to the Latin Quarter where I promised them a hot, tasty, and reasonably-priced lunch and we were not dissapointed. I dont know if I could ever get tired of grabbing a hot crepe or Gyro and wandering around the streets of Paris looking at the cute shops and famous monuments. So we stopped at the famous Shakespeare & Co bookstore and then wandered over to Notre Dame since some of the people I was with had never been to Paris before. I enjoyed pulling out my Rick Steves' guide to France and reading them some history of the famous monuments :) The afternoon at the Louvre was good as well. It was my third time to the Louvre, so even though we explored a few rooms that I swear I had never seen before (its soo huge!), the whole awe and amazement has started to wear off. Therefore, we decided to go to the statue section of the museum and spent the rest of the afternoon taking pictures recreating the famous poses. The Centaur with an angel riding on his back was extremely challenging. We had a lot of fun, but after walking around in heals all day (had to dress up for the senate) I was so very happy to get on our train, come back to Nantes, and spend an evening relaxing with a book and some American Popcorn :)

The next day I woke up to a light rain. Here in March, the weather is insane. It down-pours for 10 minutes, and then you look up in the sky, its sunny, and you cant find any clouds, then 15 minutes later it rains, or hails (as it did on Sunday). But I happen to find a light rain at 50 degrees Farenheit perfect for running. So, completely energized, I just took off and for an hour I ran next to the river near my house, exploring some of the forest, finding a random field in the middle of nowhere. It was great :) I do not know where it came from, but it was one of those moments where you are just thrilled to be alive and I just took off sprinting up and down hills, loving the feel of wind and rain (or sometimes complete sunshine!) on face. Now, since I havn't been running regularly enough...waking up Sunday morning and feeling the effects of all this wasn't very nice. But it was a good afternoon.

Saturday night was movie night :) I went to a friend's house only to find they were planning on watching one of my favorite movies in the whole wide world : La Vie est Belle/Life is Beautiful/La Vita e Bella (but in French of course.) I brought some of my popcorn, which if I say so myself, was a hit..since most people havn't had it since they left the states. As for the movie, it was great...except that Bonjour, Bonjour Princesse just isn't as good as Bon Giorno Princepesa! There's something about that Italian! (If you have no idea what Im talking about....Go watch the movie)

Sunday morning was my first Nantes Market experience. France is famous for their open-air markets. and in other cities that I have been to, I have loved to walk through and see all the fresh fruits, veggies, cheese, meat, etc. However, I hadn't ever found one in Nantes. Turns out that there are a few bigs one, but just not on any of my normal routes. So since I arrived at Church Sunday morning only to find that the service for the day had been moved to an unknown location, we opted to go check out the Talensac Market. It was very fun and I am pretty sure you could find just about anything there. From the 80 cent crepe-lady to the dried candied fruits to flowers to shoes to almost full cows hanging in the meat sections! The great thing about markets though, is that its the reason why French and Italian food is so good! Its not exactly that they know how to cook a ton better than American chefs, its that ingredients are so fresh and delicious :)

For the afternoon, we had been given tickets to see a modern dance performance at the Theatre Graslin near my school. I was very excited because I walk by this theatre with huge roman collumns and stairs leading up to its doorway every day when I walk downtown, but had never seen the inside. However, it was not what I expected. The theatre was nicely decorated, but could only hold 300-400 people. But the dance was just crazy. I know that I am not an incredibly artistic person, and that sometimes I dont really care for abstract things because I just don't understand them, but this was just nuts. For the first act, 3 people pretty much just ran around the stage while one man sang an opera-like solo. While trying to keep from falling asleep, I thought to myself...I'm pretty sure I could do that, and I havn't been in dance lessons since I was 4. The second one seemed like it was representing a dream-state (as one man started off wearing a goat mask), and although I didn't understand a thing, at least there was technique. However, as the french are much more comfortable with nakedness in general, it was a bit odd to watch a dance where the two woman were wearing dresses that only covered half of their chests. All in all though, I guess I can now say I've gone to a french theater! and at least its a funny memory...This has truley been a week of cultural events.

One last thing before I go. I recently found out that I got into a Research Experience for Undergraduates at Georgetown! So I beleive that is where I will be spending most of my summer. I know I wrote earlier about the stress of finding an internship, and its an incredible releif to know this far ahead of time that I have a job and will be getting some valuable experience to help me decide on grad school! So now, I just have to keep praying that Jim will get one in D.C. as well :)

Well, it seems that my time here isn't going to slow down much, as there is SO much on my schedule! This weekend, we are going to see the famous Normandy beaches of WWII which I have really wanted to see and I think will be very moving. Then, Monday my brother Scott is coming to visit me for a few days! Later that week, I am taking my exam for Certification in the French Language and then its Easter! So I apologize ahead of time if you don't hear from me for a while!

In the mean time, Have a great Palm Sunday and an Incredible Easter! He is Risen! :)

A Week With The Fam.

Wow, these blog titles are getting more and more creative ever time.

My family arrived in Frankfurt on Saturday morning, with the plan to rent a car and drive to Nantes. Of course, they had a bit of trouble since they hadn't slept in 48 hours, not to mention the jet-lag. So they made it as far as Reims, famous for the cathedral where every french King as crowned-King since the first French King, Clovis in 496A.D. Calling me on saturday afternoon to let me know they had arrived, I informed them that they simply couldnt leave the city without visiting the historic site. So they visited that Sunday morning, and arrived in Nantes Sunday evening.

Now, about everyone at IES was leaving friday afternoon for winter break. I beleive that most countries in Europe had at least some IES student in them, so I can't wait to talk to everyone and get advice for my 2 week break in April! However, meanwhile, I realized that I was going to be sitting at my house all weekend waiting for my parents, which as I found out last time that I tried to have a relaxing-do-nothing weekend, can become quite lonely. So I found a friend who wasn't leaving until Saturday morning and we went to see the movie P.S. I Love You in french. The story is basically about a young married couple who are completely in love, and when the husband dies, he sends letters to his wife for a year, helping her to rediscover life and move on. Wow. I have not cried that much in a looong time. Not in A Walk to Remember, not in The Notebook. It was entirely in French so I understood about 90% of it, and although it didnt get great reviews in the states, perhaps watching it in a foreign language made it even better because you had to fill in the parts you didn't understand with your imagination. I finally just stopped wiping away the tears because I figured there would just be more 5 minutes later. So that pretty much sums up my friday night..

Saturday and Sunday, I worked on homework that I knew wouldn't be touched during the week with my fam. I have midterms this next week, so I really have quite a bit of work to do! Sunday night, my family arrived and I made them potage (french pureed vegatable soup) and my version of Croque Monsieurs (hot ham and cheese sandwiches) and I enjoyed introducing them to my home here in France. They also came bearing gifts like Popcorn (which I missed sooo much), girlscout cookies (mmmhh), and the Office Season 3 (eeehhh...so exciting!!!!) from my boyfriend :) I think they made me realize just how much I don't know about France, since every time we went anywhere I was given hundreds of questions that I had no idea how to answer. What is that? Why do the French do that? How much does it cost to do__? Do they just do this at so and so a time or all the time? Now, occasionally I could answer with a nice satisfactory explination or just make something up :) But it was an interesting to hear their view on french customs/way of life.

Monday and Tuesday were basically spent touring Nantes. On monday, we started with the Castle, climbing the ramparts and trying to answer all those Why? What? Where? questions about the way of life of 14th century Dukes. Next we moved on to the huge St. Peter and St. Paul cathedral, walked down some cute french streets, had a street lunch of paninis, quiche, and baguette sandwiches. For the afternoon, I showed them the huge Theatre Graslin, right next to IES where I go to school, and the Fountain of Place Royal. It was kind of strange giving a tour of my every day life, for the simple reason that it is so every-day to me now. I realized how often forget that I am walking next to 14th century cathedrals and buildings built hundreds of years ago. Following French time, we had a nice pasta dinner around 8pm and I taught my family how the French eat in courses instead of simply setting everything on the table. Also, how the French put their bread on the table, not on the plate...something that my parents had a very hard time adjusting to. Tuesday, it rained. Kind of a bummer. But we made the best of it, shopping most of the morning, taking a tram ride to the Fac de Sciences where I take my Microbiology class, and then finally going to see the Machine de l'Ile, a giant mechanical elephant built for tourism that walks down the street, and gives rides to 45 people an hour. The engineers have started to do something every year like this. Last year, it was a giant, who would walk down the streets, sleeping on cars, etc. So that was fun, and I think that Dave, my little brother, really enjoyed that after being dragged about listening to boring history lessons for two days.

Wednesday, my parents decided that we needed to take a train ride somewhere, so since I had not yet been to the sea, we took an hour trip to La Baule, the largest beach in Europe, just west of Nantes. Little did we know that the weather was going to be the worst of the week. Although they enjoyed seeing what trains are really like, at La Baule, it rained all day, which was amplified by the freezing cold wind off the sea. So after about 5 minutes on the soaking wet beach, we retreated into a seaside restaurant to eat Galettes, the Brittany (the region that Nantes was in, before they redrew the borders) specialty. It is basically a crepe with meat, cheese, and vegatables inside, however, its a bit more cruchy. However, they were delicious and one of those dishes that you just cant miss if you go to Brittany.

Next, after spending an hour and a half walking up and down the main streets trying to jump inside any store that was open (Stores often close from 12-2pm for lunch....crazy French), we decided to give up and go see a movie. So, as nothing was in English we decided on a film that they had already seen in the states: "Le Dragon des Mers" or "The Waterhorse." Two funny antedotes. Dave loves french bread. Seriously, everytime we saw a Boulangerie(bakery) he wanted to go inside and buy a baguette. So right before the movie, he says to my dad " If you let me get a baguette, I won't eat popcorn!" So 20 minutes later, Dave and my mom returned right before the start of the movie with a 3 foot long baguette. I think the French people around us were extremly confused. Film and baguette are two things that the French don't even do! But Dave finished this huge baguette in the first 30 minutes of the movie and loved every bite of it :) Secondly, since it was in French my parents and Dave had to go off of what they remembered of the movie to understand it. And even though my mom didnt understand a word, she stilled bawled at the end during the "free willy moment", as I call it, when the lockness monster escapes toward the sea. (oh..oops, movie spoiler)

Thursday, we left Nantes for Rennes, where Marion, the french student that we have hosted for 3 weeks the past 3 summers, lives. On the way, we stopped at Chateaubriand and explored castle ruins. My mom insisted that we have true Chateaubriand(meat and veggies) in Chateaubriand so we ate a 4 course lunch at a local restaurant before continuing to Rennes. We toured the old city, with its pretty wooden midevil houses and I did my best to show them everything that Marion's mother had shown my some weeks before. Then, at 6pm, we arrived at Marions house where her family cooked us this 8 course meal which lasted for 3 hours and allowed us to stay at their home overnight. It was very enjoyable and I was very impressed at how well her parents could speak english. However, I still played the role of translator a bit and experienced again how tiring it is to try to think in both languages at once.

Friday we got up bright and early and headed for Paris. Since this was kind of a spur of the moment trip for my parents, and planning had never become a priority, we had to move a lot around just so that we could visit Paris. However, I think it was worth it. You just can't go to France without seeing Paris. However, not wanting to experience the crazy parisien drivers, we left the rental car at Versailles(the Palance in the country that was stormed during the French revolution) and took the 40 minute train into the city. We started by climbing the first two floors of the Eiffel Tower, getting a beautiful view of Paris. Although there was no snowshoeing, like the last time I was there, it was much warmer and therefore easier to enjoy our time outside in the city. Next, we took the classic boat ride down the Seine river that runs right through Paris and gives you a cute little British audioguide introduction of all the famous buildings that line the river. Following our mini-cruise, we headed over to the Arc de Triomphe right in time for the lighting of the French Tomb of the Unknown soldier and then walked down the Champs Elysee as the sun was setting, enjoying the "New York City" feel and hearing people in so many different languages walking by us. Paris truely is an exciting place. There are so many things to see, and so many interesting people to meet. But I am so happy that I chose Nantes over Paris, not only because I have heard that the IES program in Paris doesn't enfore an only-speak-French rule, but also because I just feel safe and secure here in Nantes, where as in Paris I am always looking over my shoulder making sure Im not getting pick-pocketed. It also is simply HUGE and even with its incredible metro system, takes quite a while to get from one end to the other. However, as this was my Dad and Dave's first time in France, I think they both extremly enjoyed seeing monuments that they had actually heard of :) We finished the day by grabbing some crepes in the Latin Quarter and stopping by the St. Michel Fountain. Its one of my favorite parts of Paris, just because of the nightlife, the people, and the smell in the air (90% of the buildings are restaurants.) The atmosphere is just so lively and fun and I wish we could have spend more time there.

For the evening, we took the train back to Versailles and stayed with an English couple a few miles away from Versailles. My mom and I had stayed with them on our last trip to France and their cute cinderella-ish french neighborhood, their forest full of huge holes from World War II bombings, and even them themselves were exactly as my mother and I had seen them 4 years ago. So we had a relaxing night there, and woke up early again to head back to Versailles to leave the car again. However, we found out that we could tour the gardens of Versailles in our car for only 5 euros, so we visited Marie Anoinettes little Austrian village that she had built so that she could dress up like a peasant when she was feeling homesick, the Temple of Love and other places the King would take his mistresses. Therefore, we got a later start to Paris than we wanted but we spent the day walking around the Tuileries Gardens (the Louvre Palace gardens), the exterieur/courtyards of the Louvre, Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur (my favorite church) and Montmartre(the hill that Sacre Coeur is built on). It is always fun to walk around and look at all the Painters in the famous square next to Sacre Coeur, however, after asking the prices (2500 euros for a 3ft by 2 ft painting) we headed out to find something to eat. Tired and hungry, we finally sat down around 4pm and ordered some "Must-try" food : Escargot (not bad...i think you just eat it for the sauce), Creme Brulee, and some other classic french dishes.


We still hadn't finished our shopping so we tried to quickly head over to Paris's famous shopping district of the "Grands Magasins." Not having much success, we looked at our watches and realized that I still had a train to catch that evening. So, rushing over to the train station, we found out there was a train leaving in 15 minutes for Nantes, and I didnt have a ticket yet! Standing in line, trying to rush the people in front of us, we finally got up the ticket office only to find out that the train, leaving in 3 minutes was full, and the next and last train wasn't leaving for 2 hours and 15 minutes. On any week day, there would have been trains every 45 minutes but it was just our luck that I was trying to get home on a Saturday! But there was nothing we could do, and long story short, (because this blog is getting tooo long), I took my family to their train back to Versailles, said a quick goodbye (for their train was coming in 2 minutes) and went back to the train station to sit, wait, study, and read. I got back to Nantes at about 11:30pm and realized that my parents had been trying to call, but I hadn't heard my phone. So there they were, at their hotel outside of Paris, not being able to sleep because they thought I had been kidnapped or worse. Luckily they decided to call around midnight as I was walking into my room and they were able to sleep peacefully.

So now its Sunday, I am back in Nantes, safe and sound, and am going to spend the rest of my day studying for my midterms! I have European Union, Middle East, and Translation coming up, and these tests are 25% of my grade. So its been a fun and exhausting week, now its back to work! I hope everyone had a great break! Email/Comment/Message me and tell me what you did :)