Weekend....and sickness

Since my last post my sore throat turned into an all-out cold/virus, so I’ve been congested and icky the last couple days, but managed to get some medicine and am doing a bit better now. Thursday night, I ended up meeting my friends Kristin and Olivia at the sangria bar we went to last week, to have a couple drinks and hang out a bit since none of us have classes on Friday (as our professor said, “In Paris the weekend starts on Thursday!”). It was nice just hanging out and catching up a bit, exchanging stories of awkward moments with the host family or concerning the many “faux-amis” (words in french that sound the same as english words, but that don’t actually mean the same thing, ex. If you say you are “excité” in french, you are not saying you are excited as in I am excited to be here, but rather sexually excited or horny…a common and often hilarious mistake) that get people into trouble. Friday, I didn’t do a whole lot during the day as I woke up feeling even more sick, so ventured out to the Pharmacie by my house and to grab a baguette for lunch before returning home to recover. I did manage to read a small book for my literature class that starts next week (you’re supposed to read the first book before the first class), and then watched some tv and napped pitifully in bed. That night, I had to get out of the house despite not feeling well, so I went over to Alex and Jen’s place to hang out. There was a little concert going on that I would have loved to go to, but I opted to stay at the house with Alex to watch the Sex and the City movie instead as we were both feeling under the weather (like all my friends are sick or getting sick right now, something’s going around). It ended up being a good night, I love that movie and it was nice just hanging out and relaxing for a bit. This morning, after camping out in McDonalds for a bit to use the free WiFi, I headed over to the Gare du Nord to get train tickets to Belgium; I’m going to Belgium next weekend with friends, Brussels and Bruges, so excited! Afterwards, I decided I was feeling well enough to meet up with my friend Olivia, and we took the metro to St. Denis and saw the Basilica, where there are the remains of french royalty. It was really cool exploring the crypt and seeing so many familiar names of such significant figures (the many Louis’, Marie Antoinette, etc.). Afterwards, we headed over to the Sainte Chapelle, where we gained free access using our “history of art” student passes that Sweet Briar gave us-sneaky. It was gorgeous! All the stained glass looked amazing, especially since we were there on a beautiful sunny day. We then went next door to the Conciergerie, used as a Prison during the revolution. Also very cool, and saw the cell where Marie Antoinette was kept. We then went on a walk throughout the city, with Olivia pointing out some sites important to the french revolution (she’s a major history buff), and then went on a quest to find ice cream that wasn’t rediculously priced. Eventually we ended up at a café we had visited before, characterized by cute little chocolate penguins in the window, awww. By that time it was around 6, so we went our separate ways on the metro to go home and rest a bit before dinner. And here I am! We’re planning to go to an Iranian place for dinner (our host family doesn’t feed us on Saturdays), which I will hopefully like….You guys would be proud though, since I’ve been here my host mom has made all kinds of food I’ve never had before, and I’ve tried and like all of it-even Mussels!!! Grandma, you should be very proud.  I even had a salad the other day that I actually liked…big news, I know. Alrighty then, off I go to get ready for dinner! A plus tard!

Classes begin...partially

Hey all,

So I’ve fallen a bit behind in my blogging, partially due to the fact that the computer with internet in my room is not working, and no longer has internet access, sigh. My host mom doesn’t know anything about the computer, or even how it got the internet; apparently her daughter’s boyfriend set it all up in the first place, and he’s in Greece with her daughter on vacation, sigh again. But oh well, hopefully he’ll be able to fix it whenever they get back, and until then I’ve just been having to get a hot chocolate at McDonald’s (or “Mac-Doe” as they say here) and use the free wi-fi. Other than that though, all is going well. Sunday, on Patrimonie, I wound up going to the Hotel de Ville, a gorgeous building normally closed for the public, used for important government meetings/mayor stuff. It’s basically this huge old building filled with wonderful paintings and sculptures, very cool. On Monday, I had to sign up in the morning for my cinema class, which ended up being horrible. I woke up at 745 to get ready so I could meet one of my friends at the metro by the school at 930, that way we could find the school together. However, it ended up taking me forever as it took me forever to find the metro stop on my map, and then my Carte Navigo wouldn’t work because my metro station’s Navigo recharger thing was broken. So, I had to go to the next station, and then wait in line as the machine wont accept American credit cards. Then, already late in a rush, I hopped on the metro, about 30 minutes from my school, and just as I was reaching the stop for my school I realised I had forgotten my Student Card, which was absolutely necessary to enroll in class. I ended up having to go all the way home, where I realized the card I needed was actually at the Sweet Briar office. I then raced over there, got the card, and headed back to find the University, which I eventually did, over an hour late. Luckily, Madame Hervier of Sweet Briar, who is in charge of making sure we get enrolled in our classes, was there waiting for me, and she helped me get all signed up without a problem, yay. So after all that, I did end up getting into the course I wanted, which looks at intercultural approaches in cinema-should be really interesting. Not long after I headed back to Sweet Briar for my course entitled “Atelier d’ecriture”, which basically focuses on improving our french. The class is actually really good, Alex is in it with me as well, and our teacher is really funny and interesting. In just two classes I’ve already learned a lot I didn’t know about the french language, and she manages to keep it light and fun.
On Tuesday, I didn’t have anything I had to do, so I walked around a lot and got some stuff at Monoprix (the french version of a walmart, a bit classier), that I needed for class and such. Later that day Kristin and I met up and went to the Pantheon, which was really cool. We went down to the crypt, housing Victor Hugo, Rousseau, and others. The rest of the Pantheon was covered in nice sculptures and religious paintings, very interesting.
On Wednesday, I had to go back to the University to sign up for my literature class, although I was again late as I misread the time I had to be there. But it was okay, I got there just in time and enrolled in my class entitled “La Bete Humaine”, roughly “The Human Beast”. Afterwards, I walked around a bit to see what was by my school, and stumbled upon this huge garden next to the natural history museum. I walked through, and then walked randomly for a bit to explore and get some exercise. Then, Kristin and I met up to figure out travel stuff. We booked flights for two weekends, one going to Pisa/Florence through Ryanair, which has nice cheap deals on flights, and also for Prague, where we are going for a weekend to stay with Heather and explore the city (yay!). I then had my History of Art class through Sweet Briar, where we have an hour and a half of regular class, in then later in the day we go to the Louvre for an hour and a half. It was really interesting, I think I’m really going to enjoy the class, and of course being able to then go to the Louvre and see original paintings is amazing, so cool. Today, I had my class Atelier d’ecriture again, and then went on a quest to find the books I’m going to need for my litterature class. My search ended up being a long walk through some really cool parts of Paris, until I finally found a big bookstore that had all the books I needed-success! Oh, also, I’ve been a bit sick for the last few days, with a really sore throat and runny nose and such, but I’m feeling better day…Argh, I so don’t want to be sick in Paris! But tomorrow the weekend starts, as I don’t have any classes on Friday, so back to exploring Paris and such, yessss.

Last few days of freedom

Hey everybody, so my sweet briar classes start this week, hence the title, so I got in some more random exploration of Paris before I have to actually think about work (hw? in Paris? not necessary...). So anyways, on Friday I didn't have anything work related to do, so I met up with a group of friends to picnic in front of the Eiffel Tour. It was such a gorgeous day, the weather here has been great lately, although my host mom keeps telling me that it is going to get really cold soon (she seriously hates winter). But yeah, we sat around eating yummy sandwiches and splitting a bottle of wine, best lunch so far. Afterwards, we decided it was time to actually climb the Eiffel Tower, so off we went to wait in line amidst other foreigners speaking about fifty different languages. We proceeded to walk up to the first and second levels of the eiffel tower, over 600 steps. It was tiring, but totally worth it-the view was amazing. After taking pictures and wandering around the second level, we went to buy tickets to take the elevator to the very top (there aren't stairs). However, it turns out they were having technical problems with the elevator, and it would take about an hour for it to be up and running (if that). We decided it wasnt worth waiting for, the second level was high enough, so we took the stairs down and called it a day. Kristin and I headed back to her house, with in walking distance from the Eiffel Tower, to spend some time looking at weekends for travel. Unfortunately, we didnt get very far, as for the places we want to visit we are staying with friends, so we have to wait for them to tell us when a good time to visit is. It was still exciting looking at all the different places, I cant wait to travel around, if only it weren't so expensive! Afterwards, I headed home for dinner with my host mom, and afterwards met up with another group of friends at Bastille's Pub for some drinks. It was a good time-the Bastille area is the place to go at night, where french people actually hang out as opposed to the more touristy areas of the Latin Quarter and such. So yeah, we went to a couple bars, wandered around a bit, got some food, and headed home early enough to take the metro (which stops running at 2am on the weekends); it was a really fun night.
Yesterday there was a huge Techno parade in Paris, in the Bastille area. Sweet Briar organized a fun dance class for us to learn Tektonik, this new dance thats really popular in France and apparently in Belgium. The class was intense, we all looked like idiots trying to mimic this really good techno dancer, but it was a good time as we all looked rediculous together. Afterwards, Axel (a worker for Sweet Briar, in his 20s, very attractive, organizes excursions) led us over to the Parade, which was absolutely INSANE. This huge road leading to the Bastille was comletely blocked off for the parade, and it was full of people drinking and dressed up crazily for the parade. We all walked down to meet up with the parade, which was slowly making its way to the Bastille. It consisted of huge buses blasting techno songs, with people dancing on top, and then huge crowds of people following behind each bus dancing and celebrating. After watching a few buses pass, Axel led us into the parade, and we joined in dancing and having a good time. It was definitely an experience, there were people everywhere, climbing up lamp posts and signs, on top of bus stop stations, everywhere. By the end, we were pretty exhausted, so Kristin and I headed over to the metro to meet up with friends in front of the Louvre. We sat and caught our breath for a while as people arrived, and then those of us who dont get dinner at home on saturday headed over to Saint Michel to find a place to eat. After a delicious dinner we decided to head over to an area around Notre Dame, to find what is supposed to be the best ice cream ever (the brand starts with a B, now im forgetting what its called...) It was a bit of a walk to the ice cream place, so we got to see Notre Dame and the Seine area at night, it was gorgeous, with lots of people, lights, music, etc. Eventually, we got to the area with the ice cream, but after asking around we found out the store was closed (it was already after 9 by this point), but that there was another amazing ice cream place nearby. We found it easily, and all agreed it was the best ice cream ever! Afterwards, we headed back in the direction of the metro we came out of, and checked out the famous bookstore called Shakespeare and Company. We then walked around a bit more, and decided to head back as it was getting late and we were all pretty tired. Another great night in this amazing city.
Today, I need to go run some errands to get ready for travelling and the start of classes, ack! It is also the day of Patrimonie, which means a lot of buildings are open to the public that would normally be closed off. So off I go!
Much love,
Brit

Cemetaries and sangria bars

Life in Paris is still amazing, as I am still discovering new areas and places to visit, this city is neverending! Yesterday, Kristin and I ventured over to Cimetière du Père Lachaise, a huge and amazingly cool cemetary somewhat on the outskirts of paris. We had intended to meet up with a group of people, but the cemetary proved to be so big that we never ended up crossing paths! In any case, we spent hours just walking around the cemetary, the weather was perfect, and used a little map in one of my handy guidebooks (thanks aunt sandy and uncle alex!) to find the most famous, or just interesting graves. We saw that of Oscar Wilden Edith Piaf, Jim Morrison (my personal favorite), Chopin, and several others. So yeah, a little morbid, but really cool. At night, we headed out to a sangria bar to celebrate my friend Olivia's 21st birthday. It was really fun, the only annoying part is most of us had to pull a Cinderella and leave around midnight in order to ensure we caught the last metro, argh...I need to figure out how the night bus works.
Today, I slept in and then headed over to the Sweet Briar building to figure some stuff out about my classes. I'm trying to make it work so that I dont have class on friday, so I will have more time to take trips and such, and now it looks like it's going to work out-yay! We'll see though, everythings still kind of up in the air. After that and a two-hour methodology class Kristin and I met up with our friend Olivia by the Louvre, and then headed over to an art/fashion/design museum nearby. It was really cool; it featured a big Valentino exhibit of all sorts of his dresses. Afterwords, we stopped by a patisserie for a snack before heading home, we were all pretty tired from all the walking and standing around the museum. Anyways, tomorrow I have the entire day free, so hopefully we will get some planning done for weekend trips and such...exciting!

Settling in

So I've been in Paris for a few days now, although it seems like a lot more, and I feel like I'm getting a good feel of the city, and am able to comfortably get around and find my way (it turns out if I pay attention, and find my way on my own, my sense of direction actually isnt as bad as I thought it was...). Of course, there's still so much of Paris to discover, and every day I wake up excited and ready to explore someplace new. Yesterday, we had a meeting at the Sweet Briar headquarters (party of the Alliance Francaise), concerning our particular Paris University. Unfortunately, Paris III still hasn't released the schedule for most of their cinema courses, so I still dont really know what my schedule is going to look like...argh. However, we dont have to actually register for classes until next week, so at least I've got some time. I explored the area around the Alliance, finding lots of stores (including a whole row of my favorites: H&M, Gap, Zara, etc...dangerous!) and such. After the meeting I came home to rest a bit, and watched this french reality show based around who can be the best host (typical), it was amusing, and I was excited to find that I could pretty much understand everything (yay!). After dinner, I met up with my friend Kristin in the 7th arrondisement, and we went to the Eiffel Tower to sit on the lawn and watch the light show, very cool. Afterwards, we went and drank some amazing hot chocolate in a cool cafe not far from her house. It was funny, even at midnight on a monday there were still so many people out, eating a really late dinner or just sitting around and chatting. Today, I went on a big trek around central Paris, checking out the Musee d'Orsay, the Louvre, a famous garden that i'm now forgetting the name of, and other random sites along the way. It was pretty intense :). I then had a methodology class where we talked about how to write for french university classes, as apparently they have very different expectations. Basically, they dont want to know opinion, or what you think, its more based around analysis based on research and such. Also, the french universities dont hold your hand at all, especially not the professor. they are pretty much unavailable unless you have a serious question, you're essentially on your own. Fortunately, the Sweet Briar people will be there to help us out, so it should be okay! alrighty then, thats the update, hope everyone's doing well!
Brit

First days in Paris

Alors, I have been in Paris a couple days now, and am discovering all sorts of cool areas and having a great time exploring the various arrondissements. I've even mastered the metro, and the art of appearing angry and standoffish so you dont get pickpocketed; one of our teachers told us that the easiest way to spot an american on the metro is to look for the people smiling. Yesterday my host mom took me on a walk around the neighborhood, showing me some restaurants and the inexpensive "monoprix", where she spent forever looking for a face product that apparently hasnt come out yet, hehe. In our wanderings, we apparently passed a famous french comedian, which Madame pointed out ; pretty cool. Afterwards, a friend called and we met up for coffee (hot chocolate for me), in the Marais (again), and then we walked around exploring and stumbled upon the hotel de ville, so cool. That night, I went over to Jenn and Alex's to meet up and drink a little wine and hang out; we started watching the movie "broken english", which was really good, although we only watched the beginning before the host sister asked us to watch it somewhere else, sigh. Today, I met up with some friends at Montmartre, one of my favorite places in Paris, and we saw the Sacre coeur, an amazing old church. After trying in vain to find some of the spots filmed in "Amelie", we headed over to the 7eme arrondissement to check out the eiffel tower, also really cool. Now theres a french movie on tv my host mom said i should watch, so off i go!
love,
brit

Paris!

So a lot has happened in the last couple days, as on Thursday we finally arrived in Paris! yayy! We took a four hour bus ride to Paris, where everyone got there luggage and went into this ampatheatre to wait for our host families to come pick us up. It was pretty nerve racking, as we random french people arrived, and then our names were announced as they figured out who was where. I watched as my friends were slowly picked off, until only about 10 of us remained-our host families were late, mainly because the Pope is in Paris this weekend so there are tons of people running around, and a lot of roads are blocked off. Finally, my host mom arrived-a single women in her 60s, and we went off to collect my luggage. She explained that she works every day until 8, except saturday and sunday, and usually catches a ride with her friend to and from work, but alas since she got off a little early today we were going to have to get home on our own. At this point, it went from a sunny, beautiful day to pouring rain, and we couldnt seem to get a cab, again mainly because there are so many people here to see the pope. So, we dragged my suitcases to the nearest bus stop, and then got on the 84, which is known for taking you through some of the most beautiful parts of Paris. My host mom pointed out some sights, and we talked a little bit during the ride. It took her a little while to realize I speak french, which worried me at first because she was only speaking english to me- and i really want to improve my french, but now she realizes and only uses English when I look confused or if she's telling me something really important (like all the locks I have to lock when I leave the apartment). Anyways, we finally arrived at her apartment building, which is prety nice and cute looking, and then we took turns using the tiny elevator to get up to the third floor. The apartment itself is pretty tiny, but its cozy and cute. Its just her living there now, and at least for a while her daughter's crazy but cute cat. She hasn't mentioned a former husband or anything, and in pictures its just her or her and her kids or friends, so I dont really know what the deal is with that. Her two kids are older, the boy is 27, and I think the girl is around 24. I met her son briefly last night, as he came over to pick up some clothes and have his mom trim his hair-apparently he is going to be a witness at a wedding today and wants to look his best. He seemed nice; apparently he will be coming over for dinner some time so I will get to talk to him further. So yeah, at first I was a bit worried about not having a bigger host family, but my host mom is really nice and friendly, and seems really happy to have me here. She talks about the last student she hosted a lot, they got really close, and the student still writes to her and sends little presents, so hopefully we will get along like that as well. My room is pretty tiny, but its cute and has a TV with 5 or 6 channels, and a computer with internet access (yay!). The bed is really comfy, and there is a nice window as well, so life is good.
Yesterday, for my first day in Paris, I slept in a bit and then headed out to explore the city. I basically just started walking, choosing direction at random, and discovered all sorts of cool old buildings, cute shops, and eventually Les Champs Elysées. I even saw l'Arc de Triomphe, all of which is just a walk from my house. After spending a few hours of aimlessly walking around, it was time to meet up with the group for a boat ride across the Seine. The ride was amazing, it was a beautiful day and we saw all sorts of cool stuff that I'm sure I'll get to explore in the months to come. After the boat ride, I went with a group of friends to take the metro to check out the Centre Pompidou, and wander around a nice district (which is actually known as the gay district). We had a good time just walking around, and stopping for crepes/gallettes, and then we went our separate ways to head home for dinner. My host mom doesn't get home from work until around 8, so we eat really late, which is typical for a lot of french families. Personally, I definitely prefer eating earlier, as we eat dinner and shortly after go to sleep, leaving the food sitting, but oh well-it seems to work for them, everyone is so slim here (im guessing from all the walking-ive never walked so much in my life). So that's the update, i'm so happy and excited to be here and to explore Paris!

Un discoteque!

So my last night in Tours ended up being really fun; pretty much everyone from sweet briar went out so i got to see a bunch of friends and have a good time. I started out in a group of about 9 girls; we went to Place Plume, of course, and were surprised to find that there was actually a lot of people there, despite the fact that it was a wednesday night. We just sat and talked and had some pretty, girly drinks; just hanging out and having a good time bar hopping. Eventually we split off, as some of us wanted to go dancing; while others went to another bar. I went with three other girls to try and find a fun discotheque just to dance and have fun, which we finally did at around one in the morning; our first try ended up being a bust; too sketchy for us. the place we did find was this cool little discotque essentially underground; the inside was old and really cool looking, almost like an old church. apparently the discoteque didnt actually get busy until 2am, when all the bars close, so when we got there we ended up being the only ones there, which was perfect for us as we just got to do silly; girly dances, which the dj/bartender encouraged by playing bouncy american pop music from the 70s or 80s. We had a really good time, it was like a scene out of a chick flick-just a bunch of girls singing along to silly pop songs and dancing the night away together :). so yeah, that was my last night in Tours-i will remember it fondly. This morning i had to say goodbye to my host mom and everything-she was so nice, and repeatedly said we could always come back to visit and stay in Tours for the weekend if we wanted. I also finally got a picture of my host family, which i will sned out in my next batch of photos;they're pretty much adorable. But anyways, we board the bus for Paris in an hour or so, so i'm off to meet up with friends and get all ready to go! I hope my host family is nice!

Final day in Tours

9:21 p.m. (I’ve decided that since I don’t always have internet access, I’m just going to type entries and post them later…so I figured I’d put the time when I’m actually writing them at the beginning)
Hello again,
So it’s my last day in Tours, and I must say it’s been really good so far-the weather’s been perfect, my presentation went well, and I went on an awesome excursion to the Chateau de Villandry. Some of the other presentations were interesting-everyone got to choose there topics, and one was on the French views on American topics. They had some interesting statistics, apparently about 84% of French people feel Obama is the best candidate, whereas McCain is at a lowly 6%, or something amazingly low like that…pretty crazy, if only Americans had similar statistics. The biggest news today was we finally found out who our host families are going to be in Paris! My host Mom’s name is Madame de Dreux Brézé (I’m hoping the “de” means she’s from a rich family, we’ll see), and her address is in the 17th arondissement in Paris. Unfortunately, it’s one of the outer arondissements in Paris, but apparently it’s supposed to be a really rich and nice area, and judging by a map I found I’ll be close to a metro access, so it should be good ! Hopefully I won’t have any problems meeting up with my friends in arondissements; since we all have cell phones over here it should be fine, it’ll just take me a few days to get my bearings and figure out how the whole metro thing works. So yeah, we leave for Paris tomorrow at around 2pm, after our morning classes. I’m excited!
As I said, I also went on an excursion to Chateau Villandry, a beautiful chateau surrounded by amazing gardens, one of which had grapes, pears, and apples growing…pretty cool. I took lots of pictures, got a little carried away, it was just so gorgeous and was perfect weather-the best we’ve had for a while. Also, yesterday I learned that there are about 5 students doing the Sweet Briar Program from Mount Holyoke/Holy Oak? (I don’t actually know how to spell it…sorry Grandma). I told them my Grandma went there (glossing over the fact that you transferred); apparently it has gotten a LOT more liberal over there, lots of lesbians running around fighting for their rights I guess ;). Anyways, thought Grandma would find that interesting…good old Mount Holyoke/Holy Oak/whatever.
Alrighty then, since it’s the last night in Tours just about everyone is going out tonight to hit up Place Plume (where all the students/young folk hang out at night) for some drinks, maybe some dancing, we’ll see. Off I go!
Amour,
Brittany (Bree-tah-nee, as they say here)

Last few days in Tours

So i've got some time to kill before lunch, so I figured I'd give a bit of an update. i'm actually using a french keyboard right now, which is proving to be incredibly difficult and time consuming; all the punctuation and some key letters are in different places, argh! but anyways, life in tours is good, although we're running out of things to do and are definitely ready for Paris. Yesterday the 21 year old girl in my host family had a friend over for dinner which was entertaining, although he talked so quickly and used so much slang it was impossible to understand most of what he said. he did, however, say he studied for a bit at UPenn. kristin and i also finished watching "Babe" in french, which was pretty amusing with all the french voiceovers and such. Tomorrow the two of us are giving a presentation comparing french and american holidays/celebrations for our language class; its pretty interesting, we talked about different traditions with a couple who are friends of our host family during dinner. Apparently for Easter chocolate eggs are hidden throughout actual cities and towns, which the kids obviously love; pretty cool. They dont do anything for halloween here; apparently theyve tried it in france but it didnt catch on-the family friends insisted it was against the french spirit and too commercial for them, which i found kind of amusing. they also talked about how amazing it is in paris around christmas time-apparently the stores and the city goes all out on decorations and such, which will be really fun to see..so yeah, not a whole lot going on here-its raining today and has been unusually cold here for this time of year, but that just means i'll have to get some delicious hot chocolate from one of the many cafes :). Everyones just trying to get there work done before the end of these orientation classes, since we actually get grades and credit for them...alrighty then, kind of boring post, but mom wanted details! :)
love,
brit

Tours! my first blog post ever....

Hey everyone!

So due to my inability to email everyone who wants to know what's going on with me, and mom being whiny that i'm not giving enough details, I have decided to start a blog. We shall see how it works, normally I hate these kinds of things, but I think this could actually work out pretty well...

Anyways, to update everyone I haven't talked to, I am currently in Tours, which is about a four-hour bus ride south west of Paris. It's a really cool City, smaller than Paris (obviously), but still really big by my standards. There's basically a whole lot of shopping, random old cathedrals and museums, and random students walking around. The host family I'm staying with is AMAZING. They are pretty much loaded, and have a gorgeous three story house right in the city. My host parents have 5 kids (they beat us...), three of which still live at home (the others are older). The ones living with us include Anaelle (12), Querantain (i have no idea how to spell this, 17), and Claire (who just turned 21, and had a party at the house with lots of french friends we got to meet). Querantain, a boy, is really cute, he actually kind of reminds me of a french version of Jack, except for he smokes (at 17! in front of his mom!). But anyways, the family is basically really nice and friendly, very adorable. Every day they have a nice sit-down dinner (and lunch on the weekends), which includes first some kind of beginner (a slice of melon, salad, carrotes), followed by an AMAZING main course (omelette, homemade pizza-which they cut with regular scissors!, stuffed tomatoes), followed by a cheese course with baguette (which we also eat throughout the email), followed by dessert (which consists of something amazing, or pudding/yogurt or fruit). Basically, i'm eating amazingly well here, but am doing so much walking that it ends up being okay. We also have a cat named LiLi, who is absolutley adorable, a gray tabby.
Right now, in Tours, we're going through Orientation, which consists of a bunch of random meetings, as well as language classes for about three hours every day. We have excursions as well, where we sign up and got with other people in the group around Tours. They're generally pretty cool, I've seen a couple museum exhibits, and we went and saw a play in a french comedy theater, callede "La nuit d'ivresse" (the night of drunkeness). It was funny, from what I could understand, and was amusing in that the french audience got really into it-singing to songs between intermissions and clapping heartily...crazy french people. Yesterday we went to visit a chateau called "Chenonceau", it was gorgeous, I took lots of pictures as you will see. We even took a boat ride that went around the castle, pretty cool.
So during the day, we have class, and then are pretty much free to do what we want. For lunch, we all break off and find cafes and whatnot, which is how I met most of my friends here. It's probably my favorite part of the day, discovering a new place to eat, and spending at least an hour just chatting with other people on the program and loving the baguette sandwhiches. We then just tend to wander around, stumbling upon cool shops and old buildings, including the gorgeous cathedral I took so many pictures of. At night, after dinner (which we don't start till between 730 and 830), depending on the night, we either go out or Kristin and I hang out at the hosue watching American movies in french and catching our breath. Tours has a lot of students hear, so there is a lot to so at night. Everyone goes to "La Place Plume", where there are a lot of bars, a big area in the center full of tables where people just sit and talk, and there are some discoteques/night clubs scattered around the city. It's also popular just to buy a cheap bottle of wine and walk awhile down to La Loire, where lots of people meet up and drink and have a good time by the river. It's always fun just to go to different bars, meeting up with friends and experimenting with the many drinks they have to offer :). Anyways, the night life here is really fun, I've gotta sayI'm enjoying being able to actually buy drinks here (gasp!) under 21.
So overall, life in Tours is very good, I really enjoy the city, and since we walk everywhere I feel like i've really gotten to know it. Today there was a huge open market, starting at 9am, where all the stores put out a bunch of stuff amazingly on sale. It was bascially insane-so many people, and lots of crazed french women trying to take advantage of the amazing deals. I got myself some pretty scarves (which everyone wears here, even if it's like 90 degrees out), as well as a cute tank top from a cute hippie guy. On thursday, we're heading for Paris by bus! I don't know who my host family is yet, but should find out in the next couple days. I'm going to be studying at Paris III (La Nouvelle Sorbonne), where I'm taking two of their classes, one in film studies and one in litterature (although due to the craziness of french scheduling, I don't actually know which ones yet...). I'm also taking two courses through the Sweet Briar program, one in Art History, and another based around improving your French and writing in French. I hear Paris III is in a nice part of Paris, and is close to the Sweet Briar building (where we have our classes), so it should work out perfectly.
Alright...so I think that's enough for now, if anyone has questions or wants more details, ask! I'm going to be putting up pictures, if possible on this....or I might send them out via email.
Okay then, hope everyone is doing well!
Much Love,
Brit