First day in Paris

Well today felt like the longest day of my life! I am finally back in my hotel room, time for some sleep! We got our host family assignments, I'll meet mine tomorrow. It's just one lady, who lives in downtown Paris, only 2 metro stops away from the Institute. So we'll see how it goes! The info sheet says she has a country house that she likes to take her students to, so that could be really fun!

Basically after flying all night, we walked around all of Paris today, and I am soooo tired. But it was a lot of fun! I forgot how beautiful Paris is, everything is so pretty! We went on a boat ride down the Seine to see it all. My favorite part though was wandering around in the Latin Quarter. I wandered down this little alley, which was bustling with all sorts of people and every kind of shop right next to each other. My first thought was "Diagon Alley" haha. Hopefully that gives you an idea of the atmosphere! I will post pictures tomorrow if I can find time. Needless to say Paris is awesome!

Mont-Saint-Michel

So for my study abroad class, most (if not all) our assignments, are blog posts. One of these assignments is a before/after post about something we are excited about seeing in Paris. This is my before post, enjoy!

Musée de l'Homme

So my original plan was to write about the Musée de l'Homme (its name means the Museum of Man, which is ironic because it is the famous anthropology museum in Paris.) It is really close to all of the other famous things in the middle of Paris, as you can see with the Eiffel Tower in the background, and it would have been really cool to see it. But as it turns out, it is closed for renovations until 2012, when I will no longer be in Paris. Bummer.

Mont-Saint-Michel

Plan B: Mont-Saint-Michel.
 I am actually very excited to see this. Like I mentioned previously, I love how OLD everything is in Europe. This medieval fortress was originally a Roman stronghold until the Franks took it over in AD 460. At high tide it is an island, and at low tide it is surrounded by quicksand. (For some reason the quicksand makes it way cooler). According to one of my French professors, the best crepes in France are found here, they even beat the ones in Paris. Definitely psyched for that. 

So besides its incredibly old history, I am also excited to see the architecture! This is a picture of the cloister at Mont-Saint-Michel, I love the arches! According to Wikipedia, you can see the different time periods in the abbey-it started out more of a Romanesque style, but later Gothic-style renovations were added after a fire. It should be really cool.

So I am super excited to see it in person! I hope it's all it's cracked up to be.

P.S. I leave for Paris tomorrow morning! 13 hours away, yikes!

Paris

Paris!

I leave for Paris in 4 days for a study abroad! I can't believe it is so soon, it really hasn't sunk in yet. But, even if my mind refuses to accept that I am actually going, it's true. So I am starting a blog to document my adventures, hopefully you will enjoy hearing about them!


The picture on the left is one that I took on my last trip to Paris, I love these street lamps! There is something about them that just says "french." Classy, sophisticated and elegant. I'm excited to meet my host family and see what a true French family is like. 




Well, 4 days and counting! Let the adventures begin...