Home Again Home Again...

Back in Tours, But our trip home was not as relaxing as I expected it to be...
Somehow we ended up leaving later than expected from Kim and Scott's and while taking the bus may seem like the best choice it most definitely was not. We realized about halfway there that we were not going to make it to our train before it pulled out of the station. When the bus pulled up in front of the Gare (station) we picked up our bags and ran. Mamie took off and before I could look up again she was gone. I had borrowed her bag for the weekend but it did not like to stay on it's wheels and would tip over every time I tried to run so I tried my best. I was pushing threw people and finally I saw Mamie waiting for me and asking directions. She yelled, "Come on Sierra! It's at platform 1!" We were at platform 18. Grrrr. So we ran again and I seriously felt like I was going to die. The train was still there so we quickly composted our tickets and ran in the first open door. The second we were on I leaned against the wall and didn't move for about 3 minutes. Then as the train started moving we walked down the isles to find a spot to sit, but everything was taken. So we stood there, and finally we went into a room that had about 5 other people in it. It was not too bad. Aaron and Mitchell were on our same train so we both went to talk to them for a while, but I coughed all the way home and actually for the next 2 days. I wonder what that was about...

Anyway, Monday it was 54 degrees. In February! We walked out the door and immediately took our jackets off. I was actually hot by the time I got to class. All the french were still bundled up in their big coats. I guess that's what Minnesota does to a person...haha. It's amazing how much the sun affects my mood. I was so happy Monday. Classes were long but I got through them and it was still warm by the time I got out of class and walked home. That night I went to a movie with Romain, my first French movie. I understood...nothing. It was Sherlock Holms so they spoke pretty fast and there was a lot of fighting and explosions to hear over, but I got most of it just from watching what they were doing. It was good regardless!

Yesterday it was warm again and I had to take off my coat again while walking to class. But I could see it was going to rain as I walked into Tanneurs and I knew I had not brought my umbrella...so I hoped that it would rain during my class and then stop. In class we got our tests back. I think I wrote in one of my posts that I didn't know we had that test...well I got a 14/20. And in the American grading system that isn't great. But in the French grading system...which is hard to explain but I'll try, the AVERAGE is 10. However, you have to make at least a 10 to pass a test...so the average French grade on the American grading system would be a 50%. So getting a 70% on a test I didn't even know I had, isn't bad! I hope you all got that...
When I got out of class everything was wet but the sun was shining and it had stopped raining...perfect.

Then today, I thought it would be warm so I pulled out my leather jacket and little flats to wear to class. I must have seen sun earlier in the day but when I walked outside it was cold. Not rainy, but it had rained earlier, and really windy! So I decided to brave it and just go to class. I stopped by a sandwich place to get something to eat before my class and while I was waiting in line deciding what I wanted I pulled out my ear phones and I heard English behind me. I turned around to Grant, Hallie and Joel. None of them had recognized me at all. Grant said, "Wow Sierra you have become very French." Haha I thought it was pretty funny. It was at least 2 minutes before they even noticed I was there.

My class was cancelled but I met two Scottish girls that had just arrived that were going to take that class. I showed them around and made copies for them of our homework that was due next week, and it made me feel really smart. I like knowing what I'm doing now. I also finally turned in my blue sheet so I am officially enrolled in all my university classes as of yesterday.....only took 2 months. Geez.

After that I went to my bookstore while it was raining and got a Vin Chaud. I sat there for probably 2 hours doing the homework that is due next week. It feels good to have it done. I have choir rehearsal for 4 hours this weekend so it will be nice not to have extra homework.

Tonight dinner was really fun actually. We talked at first about adoption and then we moved on to lots of other subjects but I found that I wasn't as afraid to talk anymore. I feel like I can't speak French until I am in a situation where I need to so now I know I can do it and it makes me feel more confident. Like the other day, my parent's friends have a friend that lives in Tours named Noel. He got a hold of my number and called me one afternoon to invite me to dinner. He speaks no English so I arranged a rendezvous with him and his family next weekend. After that I was a little more willing and confident to speak French.

Alright, so I would like to add one thing into my blog that I don't think I have said yet. Before I came to France all everyone ever told me was that the French hate Americans and that French are snooty. Honestly, I was scared to death. I bought clothes to blend in, I tried not to speak English anywhere anyone would hear me. And I was terrified that I didn't know much about France before coming here. But I have yet to find one person that hasn't been so nice to me and been willing to help or talk to me. I find the French to be very sweet people. Maybe I just got lucky but I love everyone I have met so far. My "buddy", Romain and all his friends, Xavier and Jaqueline, my professors, my choir director, the people that helped me start my classes...they are all wonderful people. So if I don't do anything by writing this blog but help someone understand that that is just a stereotype that's all I want!

Last Day in Paris

Today we woke later than usual on purpose. Today was just a day to see the little random things we missed, and to wander the city. We got up but there was no hot water so instead of showering we packed our bags so we would be ready to leave tonight. We went back to Starbucks to get some chai tea and on the way we picked up pain au chocolat.

We started wandering towards the Eiffel Tower and decided to go see the bridge that Princess Diana died at. There is a big flame there that many people think is to represent the place she died but it was actually there long before that happened. It is there to represent the French-American friendship.

Kim had told us about a market that is set up on the street near the bridge so we went wandering down some streets to find it but we just ended up seeing some pretty streets on Paris. We decided to head back to the Eiffel Tower since it was a sunny day and we could get some better pictures. We walked underneath it and on to the other side towards the Parc du Champs de Mars and the École Militaire. We took a side street of from there and found a cute little place to eat where Mamie and I shared some Ravioli and got some peach ice tea. Afterwards we got some Nutella crepes that were just outside our restaurant. Mmmm. They never get old.

Then the wandering really started. We walked down a random street and just keeps walking wherever we wanted to go. Somehow we ended up and this cute little park, so we decided to sit down and watch the children play in the grass and ride their scooters. We sat there for almost an hour and talked. Then we took the same route back and stopped in some stores that we had seen on our way. Most of it was too expensive so we didn't buy anything.

To find our way home we followed the Eiffel Tower and when we reached it we heard a band playing right under it. They looked like a bunch of friends who just thought it would be a good idea to start a band and play under the Eiffel Tower. They were making a ton of money though. They were really quirky and played some well-known songs which Mamie and I did little dances too. And we gave them some money because they were so fun to watch. Afterwards we were quite tired, so we decided to head back to Kim and Scott's. They were all home because it is the weekend and they were getting ready to go to a movie. We said goodbye and thanked them for letting us stay, after getting directions on how to get back to the train station. Then they left and since we are so exhaused we are just laying around till we head to catch our train. It was a great trip but I'm gonna need a vacation after my vacation. Wow. Paris is beautiful and I'm sad to leave it but I'm pretty sure I'll be back in the spring to see Versailles, and I'm ready to go home to Tours after a great trip.

Some more crazy/interesting things I saw today: There is a poster of a magazine that has a girl with her top off. On the street. And another with a girl flashing a camera. No editing. I couldn't believe it.

There are places all over Paris where you can rent bikes. If you have a French bank card you just swipe it over the circle and it releases the bike. Such a good idea!

We went to that restaurant today and it must have been right over the metro because every time it went under us the whole restaurant shook. Love it!

When we eat at French restaurants we take as long as they want and they don't bother us at all. Nothing like the US where the better 'turn time' you have means the better waiter you are. In-out-you're done. France you are expected to sit for like two hours. But they don't check on you like in the states either. Once you are seated and have your food that's the last time you really see your waiter until you ask for "l'addition" or check, which you do have to ask for by the way. It's not french etiquette to bring it un-asked for.

Le Louvre

We woke up today at 10:00am after being so worn out from the long week. But the sun was shining and since we had only planned to go to the Louvre we decided to change our plans and see if we could hit Sainte Chapelle since we had missed it yesterday. We stood in the long line again for about 1/2 an hour only to put our things through a x-ray belt and walk through a metal detector in a matter of 3 minutes and then we were in. The security was for the Palais de Justice which was apparently right next to us so even the church guests had to go through it.

Inside we had to walk around the church and stand in another line to buy our tickets. Again they were free for European Union students so we just walked up and handed them our students cards. Those things work magic! The walls of this cathedral were just beautiful. They were mostly stained glass and there was one large circular window that looked like Notre Dame, and it was sunny so the whole room just glowed. The estimated time to spend at this church is 1 hour. We stayed 10 minutes. Granted it's beautiful, but I don't know how you could spend 1 full hour in there unless you looked at every different picture in the stained glass. haha!

Directly outside there was a cute little place to eat so Mamie and I went in and grabbed a seat. The little waiter was just as cute as can be and quite flamboyant. I got Quiche Lorraine which was a little more expensive than I normally spend on lunch but it was worth it. Afterwards Mamie and I went and got a Nutella crepe which he made right there in front of us. It was cool to watch and then he loaded it with Nutella again....yum! That was on our way to the Jardin du Luxembourg, where Kim told us is just a beautiful place in the summer. We thought we'd stop by since it was a sunny day and we were in that part of Paris. We sat down for a little while but we found that it was too cold to sit in one place for too song so we decided it was time to head to the Louvre.

We spend most of the rest of the day at the Louvre. When we walked in I almost died. I had no idea what I was getting myself into when we arrived and when Mamie said: "this is it!" I immediately thought I should have slept more last night. We started out looking for the Venus de Milo but the map was a little confusing at first so we ended up in the opposite corner. (Number 15, not Salle 15...oh well) It was a cool part of the Louvre anyway. We walked around the whole first floor and saw all the key parts we wanted to see. Venus de Milo, The Dying Slave by Michelangelo, The Winged Victory, The Wedding Feast, The Sacre de Napolean, and the Mona Lisa. The only thing we missed was the upside down pyramid....don't know how we missed it but, it's not a big deal.

After that we took the metro home and went to another little restaurant on Rue Cler called Café du Marché which was relatively cheap. I got the most amazing chicken I've had here and we both got the cocktail of the day. Pineapple something or other. It was good but had a little more kick that I wanted. Right after that we went home and crashed. I was asleep before 9:00 pm. Long but good day.

French Art at its Finest

Starbucks = First on our list. We stopped by a Patisserie as well and I got a cheesecake with 'framboise' or raspberries. Mmmm! We both ordered chai tea and we ate at a little table in the back of Starbucks. Then we got on the metro to go to Sainte Chapelle. A church with huge stained glass windows. We waited in line for about 1/2 hour and just as we were about 15 people from the door they came up and said it was closed. No warning or anything. It was just closed. However it was really the first problem we had had in our trip at all so we couldn't complain too much.

We wandered over to Notre Dame and though it we could go up in the towers we would try but the line was so long and it just didn't seem worth it since we had already spend the majority of our day waiting in line. So instead we went looking for a little bookstore that my good friend Siri Preston said I had to go to when I was in Paris. I couldn't find it right away so I text some people to ask them if they could tell me where it was, and in the meantime we went into a few souvenir shops. I got a French flag and a large purse with Paris on it! I hadn't got a text back so we decided to wander to find it and we found it right away. It was so cute! The books were stacked up to the ceiling and there were ladders to get up to the high ones. There were little couches and chairs for you to sit in and read, and upstairs was my favorite. There was an old typewriter that you could actually use, but it was out of ink, and a very old piano that barely worked. I played it for a little while and Mamie took a video of me doing it.

From there we left and took the metro to the Musée Rodin where we saw lots of Rodin's sculptures including The Thinker and The Kiss. Pretty neat. The Kiss is my new favorite work of art and I took lots of pictures. Initially we missed that part of the museum and I asked Mamie where it was right before we went into the exhibit and left, so we both went back individually to see two of his most famous pieces of art, while the other held our place in line for the exhibit.

The Thinker and The Kiss by Rodin

After the museum we were exhausted so we came back to Kim and Scott's and took a nice long nap before going to Musée d'Orsay. It was huge. A lot bigger than I thought it would be, but there were some really great pieces of art there. It's actually an old train station they turned into a museum so there is an awesome clock that I took too many pictures of. We stayed there for probably 2.5 hours and then we wandered out to find something to eat. It was about 9:00pm by the time we reached the restaurant but our croque-monsieur was great. I also got a glass of white wine that tasted pretty good. After dinner we walked home and ended up talking to Kim and her oldest son Danny for a good half-hour about the French/American school system. There is quite a big difference and Danny is getting ready to take his Bac (like an ACT but harder) next year. Kim is trying to decide if it's worth it for him to stay here and be killed by the French system of if he should get him out of it somehow. We decided a mix between the two school systems would make it about right. Day 3 in Paris!

(Musee d'Orsay)

Some crazy things I saw: There are no street lanes here in Paris. They are just wide streets and I guess you just drive on one side or the other. I wouldn't try to drive here!

A guy was balancing about four 2 by 4s standing straight up in the air on his moped. I saw him drive by while we were waiting in line at Sainte Chapelle. I wonder if that is illegal here.....

L'Arc de Triomphe

Today started out with French Toast. Kim treats us too nice here! We are as spoiled as queens. After breakfast we headed out to see the Arc de Triomphe! We took the RER train systems instead of the metro and quickly learned that we will never do that again. The signs were confusing and you must pay to get back onto the metro. Not worth it. But when we reached our destination, the stairs back to groud level came up right in front of the Arc de Triomphe. I almost had a heart attack. That thing is huge! That and the traffic around it was mass caos. There were about 60 people standing around us doing the same thing: taking pictures and staring. We walked up by the road and Mamie took a picture of me with my arms in the air and the about 4 other Asian men crowded around her and took pictures of me too. Then they proceeded to each take individual pictures with us. It was ridiculous but quite funny.

We went in the tunnel under the road to get to the Arc. When we came up we were right underneath it. It was huge. I didn't realize that it had 4 legs. I thought it was just a solid mass of rock with an arch in the middle. We took at lot of pictures and then went back down into the tunnel to buy our tickets to go to the top. We climbed all 284 stairs, and by the time we got to the top my legs felt like jello. But outside was an amazing view in every direction. I could see the Sacré Coeur that we went to yesterday, the Eiffel tower and the Champs Elysées straight down to the Place de la Concorde. It wasn't as clear out as the day before but it was still beautiful. The trek down the 284 stairs was easier but I got super dizzy on the spiral staircase. I had to take a few breathers to look around and try to focas.

(The 284 steps up to the top of l'Arc de Triomphe - view from bottom up)

From there we walked down the Champs Elysées. We stopped in a watch store just to look around and then went in the biggest Louis Vuitton store I've ever seen in my life. We went inside just to say that we had been there. But the cheapest thing in the store was a LV keychain for 250 euro. Whoa. So we left empty handed. We continued down the rue to a cute little pizza place and stopped there to have lunch. I got a calzone that had egg in it. Definitely different...and huge...But good nonetheless. When we went back outside the temp had dropped and the weather was doing a nasty haze/rain thing that wasn't enough cause to bring out your umbrella but it was quite unpleasant wihout one. I opted to use mine. We passed by the Grand Palais where Romain told me I must go the first night i met him, as well as the Petit Palais. They were both gorgeous but we didn't go into either. One is for special exibits and the other is an art museum. So we continued on and reached the Place de la Concorde where we got to see the Egyptian Obelisk and beyond that was the Jardin de Tuileries which would be beautiful in the spring but was not much to look at during winter. So instead we went into the Orangerie where Monet's famous panorama water lily paintings are held. For students apart of the European Union it was free so we just went up and handed our french student cards to the lady and she gave us free tickets! The paintings were wonderful. I love Monet. But we didn't get enough of him there so we went a little out of town to the musee Monet where we got to see some of his most famous paintings. One of which I love called The Sunrise in English.

(Louis Vuitton store on Champs Elysees)

(Monet's Water Lilies at l'Orangerie)

By the time we were done there though we were exhausted so we took the metro home and took a nap. I also posted my two blogs from yesterday and the day before if anyone was confused. I didn't bring my computer and I'm writing them on my iPhone. We asked Scott when we came home where a good place to eat would be that night and he pointed us in the right direction. We went to this little café on Rue Cler called Cafe Central. I got Penne Champignon and a carafe of rose wine to share with Mamie. It went great together. After our dinner we went to a little corner cafe and got crepes nutella to go. She loaded them with nutella and I couldn't have been happier. We spent 20€ total tonight on dinner. C'etait parfait!! On our way home we spotted a Starbucks so we're going to run and get some chai tea to start off our morning. I love Paris!

So some funny things I saw/noticed today. (Mom this is for you) A man got pulled over today on the street by the police and I watched him get out of his car and go shake the police officer's hand. What?? You would get shot in the US for doing that. As we were looking for a restaurant on Rue Cler I noticed everyone was sitting on the patios outside. In February. In 30 degree weather! Only in France. At dinner we saw a girl eating a hamburger with a fork and knife.... I say again... Only in France.

The Sights of Paris

Today Mamie and I woke up early to go to Sacré Coeur in Montmartre. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining and the sky was blue, it was impossibe not to take pictures of everything. We found our way to the metro near our house and we took it to Montmartre with only a few connections. The first metro we were on there was a guy preaching in French about extra terrestrials trying to contact us and how we are ruining our planet and should take their advice and get out. Wow.

When we got off at our stop and took a random road upward... Because we knew if we were headed up it would most likely be the right way to Sacré Coeur. It was a beautiful sight after we climbed the 100 some stairs to the top. The view was beautiful of the city and there was a man playing the harp over a loud speaker. We went in the church where I saw some of the most beautiful angels carved into the arched ceiling of the cathedral. It was beautiful inside and some nuns started singing a French song while we were inside. It sounded like angels singing. Afterwards we walked around the back where we saw a man making a string puppet sing and play guitar to a Green Day-Boulevard of Broken Dreams. It was awesome.

(Sacre Coeur)

We then walked down to the Montmartre square where there are tons of artists selling their work or scetching portraits. It was a gorgeous square. I found a painting I liked for 30 euro and another for 100 euro. I kept trying to decide, so Mamie and I hot chocolate and shared 2 crepes at a little café in the square. Our waiter was so my typical French man... I couldn't believe it. He spoke mostly French to us which is always impressive in Paris. Normally they just switch to English if they know you speak it. While we ate our chocolate and banana crepe, and fruit and ice cream crepe, I decided to get the larger 100 euro painting. We asked our waiter where a bank was and he told us how to get there. We got lost on the way so I went into another café and he told me where to find it... Again in French which made me smile. We went to the bank where I got enough money to buy my painting and we trekked back to the square. The man wrapped it up for me and I walked away happily with an original painting from Paris that I will keep forever!

(Montmatre) (The cafe we got hot chocolate at and our waiter)

We started down the road to find Moulin Rouge but our waiter told us the wrong directions or else we didn't understand :/ because again we found ourselves wandering. I asked at a little kiosk and he told us to go back to Sacré Coeur and go from there. When we got back to the top of the hill I pulled out my map and we found our was just fine after stopping in some quaint little shops on the way! (that's where I found my mug you got me, Landon!). We found the Moulin Rouge after walking past I don't know how many sex shops, and we took some pictures and read all about it's history. Then we grabbed a panini to share and hopped in the metro to Notre Dame! In the metro was a man playing the accordian (I immediately thought of you Chantel hahaha). I love paris!

When got there, instead of wandering, I immediatly asked someone where Nortre Dame was. He pointed and said, "Là bas!" so I turn around and there it is peaking out from behind the building. We walked down the rue towards it and there it was, right across the river. It was gorgeous! And so big!! The lighting was just right for pictures so I took plenty! It was really incredible. I had seen it only in pictures before, and from the Eiffel tower yesterday but i didn't know it could be that majestic. I also remembered it is the destination on one of my favorite childhood movies: the Hunchback of Notre Dame. So cool that I've actually seen it now.

Inside blew me away. It's not only one huge stained glass window, but 3! And a whole bunch of smaller ones as well. It was breath taking. We sat down for a while in the pews and decided what to do next. We were both tired and ready to go home but it was only 5:00pm. We decided to see if we could go up into the towers but they were closed because it was slippery. So we instead took the metro home and were greeted the the great smell of dinner.

We walked in and told Kim about our day and she asked us to eat with her and her family. It was the tastiest dinner I've had since I've been in France. And her family is just beautiful. They have 4 kids. 16, 14, 12, and their 7 year old is so mature and polite. I would have thought he was 16 in a 7 year old's body. He's nothing like Matthias, loud and crazy, and who never eats all his food so Xavier always yells every night at dinner MANGE Matthias, MANGE!!! (mange= eat). Instead Matthew joined politely in the conversation and sat with us while we talked. Sweet kid. It's only 9:30 but we're headed to bed so we can get up early tomorrow. We have a full day planned!!

First Day in Paris!!

First day In Paris!! We bought our train tickets online from Tours to Paris for very cheap. When we got to the station we realized why. We had to switch trains in Saint-Pierre-de-Corps which is only about 5 mins from Tours. So we figured we'd take the risky road and get on the train that we were going to get on anyway in Saint-Pierre-de-Corps. No one checked our tickets and our other train was late so we ended up saving ourselves a lot of worry.

We got to Paris and went to find our bus stop but we ended up looking for it for probably half an hour. When we got on, it only took about 25 minutes to reach the house of the friends we are staying with. They are American and live in an apartment above the Eglise Americaine (American Church) in Paris. We thought it would be small but we were greeted with a huge beautiful mansion looking apartment. Kim had set up a bed for Mamie and I in their gigantic living room and when we close the door it's our own private room. We called Valeria and she said they were already at the Eiffel Tower waiting for us, so after some sweet ice tea, a cookie made by Matthew the 7 year old, and a lesson on how to get into the apartment with the keys, we took off into Paris!!!

(Our room)

We met Valeria under the Eiffel Tower. She said they had been to the front of the line 3 times waiting for us to show up. So we bought our tickets and took the elevator to the 2 floor. It was incredible. I took so many pictures! The third floor was closed when we got there, but after about half an hour they opened it again so we went all the way to the top! I felt like I could see all of Paris... And I loved it!! It's a white city. Not like American cities where everything is dark and gray looking. I fell in love.


Then we went to the Palais de Chaillot across the river from Eiffel Tower where we took more photos of us leaning on it or picking it up. We were outside for so long we were all frozen, so we went to a resturant where we bought a bottle of rose wine a warm meal and dessert. I got chicken with fries and flan for dessert. We sat there for almost 3 hours I think! Then we went back to Palais de Chaillot where we waited for 9:00 to roll around so we could see the Eiffel Tower sparkle. It was incredible. These guys kept coming around to sell us little Eiffel tower statues for 1 Euro and I kept just waving them away because I was so enthralled. There, we said goodbye to Valeria and walked home. We talked to Kim and Scott for a little and learned about the church and how they came to live there. Then we crawled into our nice warm bed after planning our next day. Day 1 in Paris!

Snow

I woke up to snow Thursday. I took one look out the window and strongly considered not going to class....but at the last minute I pulled myself out of bed and threw on some clothes and a hat and bundled up to brave the cold. I chose to go a different way to class. Grant said that going on Rue Colbert was faster than the way we had been taking for the last few weeks, so I decided to try it. And I will be taking that way from now on, regardless if it is shorter or not. The street was cobblestone and is lined with the most beautiful buildings: little shops, crêperies, cafés and pubs. The snow was falling in huge flakes from the sky in all directions. I felt like I was in a snow globe. I took my time walking to class because I was enjoying myself and surprisingly, I got there in 15 minutes flat. Class was short and easy, and I met Katie afterwards for lunch in Place Plumereau which was incredible. It started out bad though because I dropped my iPod and cracked the screen...luckily it still works. But I still went out and bought a case for it so that I can protect it. Then Katie and I went for Chocolate Chaud (hot chocolate) at a little pub nearby. It was a relaxing afternoon. On my way home I passed the music building and thought I'd try to find a piano I could use. I wandered up to the 3rd floor and found a small studio with a piano and a great view of the building across the way. I played for almost an hour. It was really great to get my hands back on the keys after almost 2 months! After that I came home and spent the rest of the day in bed watching the snow fall. It was a good day :) :)

Friday I spent with Romain and his Dad. We watched Rugby and ate baguettes while I tried to teach Romain where all the states were in the US using an online game, he got pretty good by about the 4th try. Then we tried my smarts at French cities. I failed. Miserably. But now I know a few. Romain's dad doesn't speak a word of English so I had to speak French all day...good practice :)

Saturday I spent resting getting ready for my trip to Paris this weekend! But nothing notably interesting to talk about. We went out with all of our friends for a little bit that night to a place close by our house. But it was so cold out, even if it is a short walk.

Then today, Valentine's Day. A day I normally dread, but Romain asked me to be his Valentine. And yes, they have Valentine's Day in France. He bought me pink lilies. My favorite flower! Then I went out with him and all his friends - Alban, Aurelien, Thomas, Davy, Romain, and me - to their favorite bar that was closing indefinitely. They all got their French 'mini' coffee and I got a vin chaud (hot wine), which is supposedly a girly drink because they all made fun of me for it, haha. I really enjoy being with all of them even though when they talk fast I only get about 1/4 of what they are saying. Then Alban and Romain took Mamie and I on a double date to the Pasta Café. Honestly, the food wasn't good but it's so fun to be with the two of them making fun of the language barrier that it barely mattered. They got us all champagne and it was just a really good time. Then Romain said to us (in French of course), "Ladies, now we have two choices. One, we could either stay here and eat dessert, or two, we can leave and go to McDonald's and get McFlurries." We opted for McDonald's, so we all hopped in Alban's car and went to get McFlurries! It was a really fun night. Really relaxed. It was just a really good Valentine's Day!!

Tomorrow I'm headed to Paris! My first time and I can't wait! We leave at 10:22 from Gare de Tours Central. It's only Mamie and I going to Paris, but Aaron and his friend from home, Mitchell, are going on the train with us on their way to Amsterdam. If you have any suggestions on where I should go in Paris please comment under this post! I'm not sure I'll have internet but I hope to keep up my blogging while I'm gone! Miss you all!

Dernière semaine avant le repos

This week has been mostly uneventful. I had my Orientation Leader interview on Saturday which went alright. It was hard over the computer...I felt really uneasy, so we'll see if I did alright or not. The rest of saturday was lazy. I got some homework done so I didn't have to worry about cramming it in on the last minute on Sunday.

Sunday we woke up really late. But after brunch we still managed to get ready and go to the Musée de Beaux Arts. It's an art museum right in Tours that we pass to go to school everyday. We went because it is free every 1st Sunday of each month. Honestly the best part about it was the HUGE tree in the garden....I'm not really a huge art museum fan. After than the girls an I went to get a chocolate treat we found in the window of a store. We then went home and split it between the 4 of us. It was wonderful.
That night Romain and Alban came to pick us up and we went to a restaurant and got some hot chocolate and watched the Marseilles soccer game. Marseilles won! So Romain was happy :)

The next day I had class at 2:00pm so I slept most of the day. Monday's are hard because it's 2 two hour classes in a row. I always am falling asleep by the end of my last one because, mainly it gets over at 6, and it's dark out by the time I walk home. I walk home alone so it's not my favorite night. Cold, dark and 30 minute walk isn't a picnick.

Tuesday's are my early morning day. Yuck. I have to walk out the door at 9:00 to get to class on time, but by the time I get there I need a nap. Class was interesting. We have this very outgoing Greek man in my class and he just doesn't quite comprehend anything. He shouts...and when I say shouts I mean SHOUTS out answers that either 1) don't make sense, or 2)that someone has already said just before him. It cracks us all up, but I think after just a few days we're going to be quite annoyed. After than class I went to meet my marraine (litterally translated "godmother" but we call them our 'buddies') Emeline and we went to my first Creperie. Mmmmm So good. I got a crepe with sautéed onions, cheese, and ham. Then we got crepes with Nutella for desert. And if you don't know what Nutella is...I suggest you drop when you are doing, go to the store, and buy a jar. It's expensive, but if you like chocolate you won't regret it!! It's so easy to talk to Emeline in French. I talk so much when she and I are together. I think I need to spend more time with her. She speaks just the right amount of slow...not like pronunciating every word all seperate and slow...but slow/clear enough that I catch everything and she enunciates her words perfectly. I have no trouble understanding...Romain should learn from her haha! I had 2 hours between the time I said goodbye to Emeline, so went to my little bookstore with the café and I got a hot chocolate and planned out my trip to Paris!! After that I went to my new translation class that I started last week. Apparently we had a test that I didn't know about so I had to wing it. It was awful. But somehow I finished it and I may just have made it through.

The guys called us that night. All 3 of them wanted to see us so we met them at a place near our house and just went and spoke some French. We weren't there for long because they had to work i the morning but it was the first time we've really seen them during the week so that was nice. That night the girls and Grant just stayed up and talked for hours. I went to bed way too late, so this morning I didn't wake up too well. I had a lot of homework that I still needed to do so I got in the shower, raced downstairs to eat breakfast, then I worked on my homework and got about half done before I had to run to class. Today was the first day I understood most of what was going on in my class. It made me feel good. After class Romain came to pick me up and we went back to his house for the afternoon. We went to a Boulangerie to get me lunch and to get Valeria a baguette (an inside joke between us Cobbers and Romain). He helped me with some phrases that I've needed since I got here and that I use all the time. I wrote them all down in my little book, along with some french slang that they don't teach us in school. I took the train home because he had soccer practice. The train ride took 9 minutes and cost 1.50 Euro. I walked all the way home with my baguette and it made me feel like I was super French. Haha and that's my story!!
5 days till Paris!!

Les Journées

Friday, yesterday, I woke up late and was being lazy. I didn't want to move even though I knew my friends were going to pick me up at noon. Romain finally called and said they were going to be early I got out of bed and got ready. They took me out to McDonalds, which is nothing like McDonalds in the US. When you walk in there are touch screens where you place your order and then it prints you off a receipt and you take it up to the front where you pay and get your food. And they don't have a Euro Menu like we have the Dollar Menu. They're McDonalds is expensive. Thomas got a sandwich fries and a drink for 11.50 Euro. That's like $15 dollars! I told him that in the US you could have bought all of our meals for maybe $10. They couldn't believe that. But their McDonalds is honestly better than ours. I'll give them that much.

After lunch we went to visit Valeria's man, Aurélien, who we like to call La Poire. It means The Pear, because his last name is Poirier and Thomas gave that nickname to him when they were 14! He was working at a store that sort of resembles Target. And I found some shoes there that he was going to get for me...he gets a 15% discount. :)

Then we went to Romain's house. It's a cute little yellow house with a white picket fence. His room is on the top floor and it's sort of like a loft with low slanted ceilings. He has his own bathroom a large bed and probably the largest movie collection I have ever seen under his big screen tv. We played Sing Star which is sort of like Rockband except with just the voices. I made him sing the songs that I knew, which were Brittany Spears and Spice Girls so it was pretty hilarious. Though he ended up beating me everytime anyway....it's just cuz he's had practice.

Then we put in Monty Python - Life of Brian. Last weekend when we went to the castle I quoted Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and Romain almost died. He said I was the only girl that had quoted Monty Python to him ever. He asked me if I had seen Life of Brian and I said no so that's why we watched it. It was great. I can't believe I hadn't seen it before! It was in English with French subtitles but I found myself reading the subtitles and not listening to them speak. It was really confusing at first but it was fun to try and read the subtitles and understand them. The movie ended too late for me to catch the train home so Romain ended up having to drive me. I got home and we had what I like to call mush for dinner. It's quite good but it definitely looks like green mush. I think it's spinach something or other.

I went to bed fairly early. But Romain had given me some episodes of How I Met Your Mother which is supposedly very funny, so I watch one of those before bed. Mamie was already sleeping but I was laughing out loud. I can see why he likes it so much.

Then today we had brunch at 1:30...we were all starving by the time the bell rang and we all ran downstairs. But I had to eat quickly and get ready because I have an interview for being an Orientation Leader right now. Siri Prestion just added me on Skype so I'm going to go. Wish me luck!

Long Week

It's been a long week. Sunday night they guys picked us up and we went out to dinner and to watch the "handball" championship game. It's a funny game. It seems made up to me. It's a cross between basketball and soccer with a soccer goal but with all the same rules as basketball. The only thing that seems to make it hard is that there is a fairly large blue 1/2 circle around the goal which the players can't cross. Just seems a little funny to me. Anyway, France won!

Monday both Mamie and I woke up to our alarms at 8am. I lied there for about 1/2 hour trying to get myself to get out of bed. Then I heard Mamie's voice from across the room asking, "What time is our class? Cuz I thought it was at 9am but I have it written down in my planner as 2pm." I rolled over to check mine and sure enough...our class was at 2pm. We both went back to bed. It was the first day of our French written language class. We have the same teacher for our Oral class so that was nice. After that I had my French Law class. It's to learn judicial French and also to learn how government works in France. I like it because it's learning about a concept in French other than learning the actual language. Tuesday I changed had the last course of my Level 1 English-French translation. I wasn't getting anything from the class and I sat with one girl from Scotland and another guy from England so we spoke English anyway. I figured I could switch classes to an international student class and get more out of it as well as get more credits. So I went one last time to that course. Nicholas, the guy from England tried to convince me to stay in it. But I can't handle it! I just sit there for 2 hours looking at the wall wishing I could understand her. Not worth it. So I went to the ERASMUS class (for international students) instead. It wasn't great but I've heard it's better so I'll probably enjoy that more.

Wednesday was my full class day. I start class at 1:30 and don't stop till 8:15 that night. First I have Spanish Translation. I like that course but sometimes it's hard to follow both languages. Also my teacher keeps saying things about the US and silly phrases in English. I can't tell if she's making fun of me or if she's just being funny. I think it's the latter. She seems really sweet to me. Next I have creative writing, however it was one of the worst classes I've sat through last week so I decided not to go back since I found out choir counts for credit. Instead I went shopping with Valeria and Mamie. I got a cute new dress and some cute shoes. I have no idea how I'm going to get this all home!! Choir started at 6pm so after shopping I went straight there. It was long for some reason that day because I was falling asleep. But I got the dates for my choir concerts so I know when I'll be singing in the Grand Theatre!
We missed dinner by the time we got home, but so did Mamie and Valeria because of their class so we all ate together. We decided to speak French all through dinner which was really fun...we ended up correcting each other a lot which got to be pretty hilarious. I think we should just do that all the time. We use a lot of Frenglish, but it's better than nothing!

Today I had only one class. Spanish grammar...it's really just to help me not forget my Spanish. I met a girl named Julie. She was nice and she talked really slow so I could understand her. I've decided I need to sit down in introduce myself to the people that I sit by. I'm not speaking enough French.
None of us have class tomorrow so we're going to go dancing tonight. I'm going to wear my new dress and shoes :) Well, I smell dinner so I'm going to go. Love from France!