Champagne, A Cathedral, and Christmas Shopping!

After a generally uneventful week, I got to take a day off from city living and ventured out into Reims, a small(ish) town about 2 hours outside of Paris. This was sweetened by the fact that the day trip was provided by the Sweetbriar (no pun intended) program, which meant that I got to hang out with all my American friends who will be leaving me here almost all by myself in just a few short weeks. Also, I didn't have to spend much in the way of money. So it was totally a win-win trip. We got to visit a gorgeous cathedral, have some real champagne straight from the source, and visit the cutest outdoor Christmas market. I may have been freezing my little Texas behind off most of the time, but I sure had a blast!

A couple of fun anecdotes

It's been a while since I posted anything, so I thought I'd just do a general update. There haven't been any major events lately, but a few fun little anecdotes that I think you'll like. I've really been getting a rhythm down now that I've been in Paris for nearly 2 months. I do very few touristy things these days because they're generally pretty expensive and I find I'd rather hang out in areas where actual French culture is all around me instead of places where everyone is trying to sell me a souvenir. It's been really nice. When I'm not in class or doing homework I've been exploring the area where I live which is sort of removed from all the tourists. The Moulin Rouge is sorta close, but not close enough for the tourists to overflow into my area. Sacre Cœur is relatively close as well, but it's far enough away that there are very few tourist traps around. On good days I've been walking around and exploring the area and all the little secrets it has to offer.

Normandy, etc.

Day 1: Normandy

This past weekend, I went on a little vacation out of the city, which was awesome. on our first day, we went to Bayeux, a small town close to the famous Normandy D-Day beaches and home to the famous Bayeux Tapestry. To fully understand the tapestry experience, you have to see it, but I'll do my best to give you a general idea. When you walk into the room with the tapestry, it's dark with a lighted display case about 18-24 inches tall at eye-level.

Splashing & Crashing, a good book, and my date with a sandwich

After my first full week of classes both with the Sweetbriar program and at the Sorbonne, I feel like I'm finally starting to get the hang of life in Paris. I'm not saying I don't make linguistic blunders (stay tuned for the latest) and I'm no longer immediately recognized as an American by locals, but I know how everything works and I'm confidant that I can make myself understood in most situations. This week was full of some really fun little stories that I think everyone will get a kick out of; they involve a hilarious grammatical error, an amazing literary experience, and a grammar lesson that changed my life.

Weekend Catastrophe

So this is one of those stories that is going to sound really bad and scary when I tell it; I'm warning you so no one reads this, freaks out, and jumps on the next plane to Paris. It all worked out in the end, so there's no need to panic. It is also one of those stories that really sucked while it was actually happening, but at the same time I knew it would be a good story to tell after it was all over. So no panicking. Just read through to the end and try not to be scandalized, ok?

Arrival in Paris

 I have been in Paris now for 3 full days, and they've been fabulous! I guess I'll start with the host family and work from there. I'm living in a 2-parent home with 5 kids; 4 boys and 1 girl. They are between the ages of 14-22. The two oldest, the girl and boy #1 don't live in the house full time, but they come for dinner or something sometimes. But the family is also playing host to another young boy, about 12 or 13 who's living with them for the year so he can go to the private middle school (collège) that he wants to. This isn't that uncommon, as I understand it. So the apartment is HUGE for

"Americain"

So several times in the last couple of weeks, I've run into this idea that Americans speak "Americain" and English people (as in from the UK) speak "Anglais". More than one French person has said things like "oh, you speak American? I only speak a little English." This struck me as completely bizarre. So a few nights ago when my host Mom asked me how to say something in American, My American roomie and I decided to start a conversation about this perplexing phenomenon. We asked why she said American, and not English; and she said it was because they were two different languages, right? I'm not talking like different dialects or accents, she was under the impression that they were two separate languages, like Spanish and

Food!

I have had some interesting experiences involving food lately. So to start off, I'm mildly lactose intolerant, which can be a bit of a problem here in the cream and cheese capital of the world. Probably not as bad as poor Claire who has Celiac, but still can be difficult to maneuver if I don't have my lactase on me. But the food in general is just so different here that it's worth talking about even without the added complication of the lactose intolerance.

Classes at l'Institute de Touraine and a truly French encounter...

So today marks the half-way point of my time in Tours, France. Tours is a small city about 3 hours outside Paris, on the Loire River. During these first two weeks, I have been attending classes about 3 hours a day at l'Institute de Touraine with the other 78 students in the program. They've divided us up into four classes with 15-20 people in each of them for our grammar classes. The grammar class lasts two hours every day, from 9:45-11:45am. It is taught by a French professor who speaks minimal to no English. Apart from the fact that there is no English spoken in the class, it's your normal French grammar class with written work and some discussion of the proper usage of certain tenses, modes, etc. For example, yesterday we each wrote an exciting

Settling in

So I've been here a week and now have figured a few things out. Not everything, but the super duper important things, like where and how to send a postcard to the States, how to order something at a restaurant/understand what the menu says about the items, and find the nearest bus stop. It's a start, definitely. And I generally understand everything that is said to me, but formulating a response can take me a bit sometimes. So here's a general run-down of what I've been doing this week.

In the program, there are 79 other students from universities all over the country; the biggest groups (I think) are from Northwestern (20), Whittier (about 10), and Amherst (around 7); I am the only one from Agnes Scott.

Utterly exhausted after a really exciting day. Just going to put up some pics for you all to see :D Bonne nuit!

I have arrived! We flew in this morning, arriving in Paris at about 11 am local time. While this was one of the most exhausting trips I have ever taken, it was fabulous nearly every step of the way, if you can get over the whole not sleeping thing. Yep. I haven't slept since Tuesday night, but honestly my adrenaline and all-consuming excitement about everything going on has been helping me function somehow. So here are some highlights: