Update of past two days!
Sunday
What a day! After waking up at 5am due to jetlag, I fell back asleep at 7am, and woke up around 10:30am. Kirstin and I had a small breakfast in our room (note: I have apparently become lactose intolerant! Cereal this morning did not sit well in my tummy...), and then we went to the organic market with Becca and Sarah. Was funtimes! I bought a peach.
We headed back and rested a bit before meeting the group for our tour of the city. Lucille, our wonderful, lovely tour guide joins us and we take the Paris metro over to Trocadéro, where we see the Eiffel Tower! It was a beautiful day, but very very hot. Did you know that 6 thousand people visit the Eiffel Tower each day?! There were tons of people. Then we headed on a boat tour along the Seine, and saw many large sites - Le Louvre Museum, Le Palais Royal, Assemblée Nationale, Notre Dame, and others. We were all very sunburnt though by the end. After the boat cruise, we went to the first level of the Eiffel Tower and had dinner at the prestigious 58 Tour Eiffel! It was an incredible three-course meal, fully paired with a bottle of red wine, a bottle of white wine, and a glass of champagne (side note: peach champagne is absolutely delicious!). Our appetizer was foie-gras de canard (liver), and then the main course was un filet de pintade rôti. For desert, we had la craquant chocolat (chocolate mousse), with a real gold leaf on top! (?!?!) Masson assured us that there wouldn't be any chemicals in it though, so we ate it. After dinner, we took a tour around the first floor of the Eiffel Tower, before splitting up. A few of us climbed to the second floor, and then we got in line for the elevator to the very top! After hours of wait, we finally made it! It was incredible, and while waiting, the lights also lit up on the tower, and we could see all of Paris. It was spectacular. Finally we made it back to Pont Neuf around 12:30am, and we spent some time sitting by the Seine, before heading back inside into the hotel. What a day!
Monday
Class begins! We have class from 9-12:30pm on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays. We split up into two groups, and have literature and stylistique classes. Monsieur Boyer, the professor of our literature class, talks very very quickly, but he seems very educated. When we asked him to write something on the board, we also couldn't read his hand-writing. But it's ok! We're all going to study together!
After class, a few of us head to Café Buci for some lunch, and then headed to l'Orange to buy our phones and SIM cards. After, we head to Monoprix! The french version of Target. We bought a few things, and then headed to Carrefour for some groceries and wine!
This afternoon, we also had our class visit to Le Marais - the Jewish quarter. We walk lots and lots, all over the whole quartier. We saw lots of beautiful places, including La Place des Vosges - a lovely park where people lounge around and read and hang around. After the 2 hour tour, we say goodbye to Lucille - our lovely tour guide, and we head back into the Marais to find dinner. After dinner, we took a giant walk all the way past Hotel de Ville, past Notre Dame, le Quartier Latin, and all the way back to our hotel! Our feet were super sore by the end. So we ended the night with some wine and cheese!
It's crazy all the things we get to do here! We look out the window, and we are on the Seine, looking out at Notre Dame, and feeling the breeze of the fall Paris air. Everything is so beautiful, and I am so lucky to be on this trip! We have also been speaking French all day (even texting in French!) - though we do make it a rule to stop the French after 11:30pm...But everything is wonderful so far, and I am so blessed to have this opportunity.
I'm sure there'll be more adventures to come, so stay posted! À demain!
Sunday
What a day! After waking up at 5am due to jetlag, I fell back asleep at 7am, and woke up around 10:30am. Kirstin and I had a small breakfast in our room (note: I have apparently become lactose intolerant! Cereal this morning did not sit well in my tummy...), and then we went to the organic market with Becca and Sarah. Was funtimes! I bought a peach.
We headed back and rested a bit before meeting the group for our tour of the city. Lucille, our wonderful, lovely tour guide joins us and we take the Paris metro over to Trocadéro, where we see the Eiffel Tower! It was a beautiful day, but very very hot. Did you know that 6 thousand people visit the Eiffel Tower each day?! There were tons of people. Then we headed on a boat tour along the Seine, and saw many large sites - Le Louvre Museum, Le Palais Royal, Assemblée Nationale, Notre Dame, and others. We were all very sunburnt though by the end. After the boat cruise, we went to the first level of the Eiffel Tower and had dinner at the prestigious 58 Tour Eiffel! It was an incredible three-course meal, fully paired with a bottle of red wine, a bottle of white wine, and a glass of champagne (side note: peach champagne is absolutely delicious!). Our appetizer was foie-gras de canard (liver), and then the main course was un filet de pintade rôti. For desert, we had la craquant chocolat (chocolate mousse), with a real gold leaf on top! (?!?!) Masson assured us that there wouldn't be any chemicals in it though, so we ate it. After dinner, we took a tour around the first floor of the Eiffel Tower, before splitting up. A few of us climbed to the second floor, and then we got in line for the elevator to the very top! After hours of wait, we finally made it! It was incredible, and while waiting, the lights also lit up on the tower, and we could see all of Paris. It was spectacular. Finally we made it back to Pont Neuf around 12:30am, and we spent some time sitting by the Seine, before heading back inside into the hotel. What a day!
 |
| La Tour Eiffel! |
 |
| Gold leaf on my chocolate mousse?! |
 |
| View from the Eiffel Tower - you can see l'Arc de Triomphe there in the distance! |
Monday
Class begins! We have class from 9-12:30pm on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays. We split up into two groups, and have literature and stylistique classes. Monsieur Boyer, the professor of our literature class, talks very very quickly, but he seems very educated. When we asked him to write something on the board, we also couldn't read his hand-writing. But it's ok! We're all going to study together!
After class, a few of us head to Café Buci for some lunch, and then headed to l'Orange to buy our phones and SIM cards. After, we head to Monoprix! The french version of Target. We bought a few things, and then headed to Carrefour for some groceries and wine!
This afternoon, we also had our class visit to Le Marais - the Jewish quarter. We walk lots and lots, all over the whole quartier. We saw lots of beautiful places, including La Place des Vosges - a lovely park where people lounge around and read and hang around. After the 2 hour tour, we say goodbye to Lucille - our lovely tour guide, and we head back into the Marais to find dinner. After dinner, we took a giant walk all the way past Hotel de Ville, past Notre Dame, le Quartier Latin, and all the way back to our hotel! Our feet were super sore by the end. So we ended the night with some wine and cheese!
 |
| La Place des Vosges |
 |
| L'Hotel de Ville |
 |
| Being French |
It's crazy all the things we get to do here! We look out the window, and we are on the Seine, looking out at Notre Dame, and feeling the breeze of the fall Paris air. Everything is so beautiful, and I am so lucky to be on this trip! We have also been speaking French all day (even texting in French!) - though we do make it a rule to stop the French after 11:30pm...But everything is wonderful so far, and I am so blessed to have this opportunity.
I'm sure there'll be more adventures to come, so stay posted! À demain!
Only M/W/F? No fair D:
ReplyDeleteDang that food sounds so good. gg @ becoming lactose intolerant though :|