Paris, Classes, Spring Break, and everything in between

So I am sorry to have been so lazy in getting things up and published...in a perfect world I would be blogging a minimum of once a week and journaling everyday but it seems that in reality it is becoming journaling once a week and blogging once a month.   Oh well...at least those who really want to know what's up know to just contact my grandmother or mother and they will share all the details that they can with anyone willing to ask as well as many other things I'm sure.

So I will start with Paris since I cannot remember exactly what I left off with but I am pretty sure it was somewhere around there.

We started the day with breakfast on the cafeteria at 8am picking up our sack lunches before loading up the bus for the hour long ride to Nice where we boarded an AirFrance plane for an hour long flight to Paris-Orly.  The trip could have been much more painful and included a 6 hour train ride.  I am very thankful that Sandrine took pity on us and allowed us to fly on a plane instead.  We immediately boarded a bus after that for a 3 hour tour of the city which included all of the major places.  We stopped once to get out and that was at Notredame.

the oldest tree in Paris for sure possibly in France as well

The tree, which kind escapes me right now though I am sure google would be more than happy to inform me, above is from the early 1600's and is one of the most popular places for birds.  It is located in a garden just to the right of Notredame if you are looking at it's front.  In this garden was also a bunch of Japanese Cherry Blossom Trees as well as benches for watching life go by.

Notredame from a rarely taken angle

One of the most famous cathedrals in the world right before my eyes for the second time in my life...I can honestly say that it still amazes me how imposing a sight it is.

Creme Brulee

This yummy goodness was my dessert at our group dinner the first night in Paris.  We ate at a chain restaurant which upset a lot of people but oh well.  The food was decent.  We got to see David Komperda (one of the other French majors from Carthage) since he is in the AIFS Grenoble program and they were also in Paris that weekend eating their group dinner at the same restaurant.

The Obelisque near the Bastille

We got to see this on our walk home.  It is absolutely beautiful both in the day and in the night.  I love Paris at night.  It is definitely one of the best places to be at night and even better when sharing it with good friends.  Thanks Jesse and David.

Emily Denker and I on the Metropolitan on the way to St. Michel Font

I ended up going out of my shell a little bit and hanging out with some new people on our first full day and it ended up working out really well.  Though they are all from the same school and have almost exactly the same majors I didn't feel out of place at all.  We went to Saint Michel to walk along the Seine and look at all the booksellers along the river.  We also wanted to see the Saint Michel Fountain better.

Me and My Chicken and Cheese crepe

This crepe was my lunch.  It was probably the best savory/salty crepe that I have ever eaten.  I absolutely loved it.  It did taste oddly of onion however which I found odd since it was not supposed to have onions on it.  We walked along the Seine for a long time and ended up getting ice cream at the oldest ice cream shop in Paris before walking along the river again towards the Orangerie which is in the Touleries.

The Louvre Pyramid

We got to see this pyramid multiple times over the weekend!  This was the second time, the first being on the bus tour, we were walking through the Louvre on our way to the Orangerie.  The third time was later that night as we headed to the food court for dinner to get out of the rain while waiting for it to hit 7pm when all of us could officially enter the museum for free with our student ids.  I love Europe for this.  Almost everywhere there is either a student discount or students just get in free as long as you have a valid id.  I wish they did this in the US of A.  I went into the Louvre with a very nice girl named Audrey and we had a blast just talking and exploring this impressive building with its gigantic collection of art.  It would take you 3 months spending 24/7 in the museum looking at each piece only 1 minute to see all of the art that there is to see.

the "I Love You" wall

I saw this the first time I went to Paris but had no idea where it was so I didn't think that I would be able to find it again but I did.  We were off to MontMartre on Saturday morning for a walking tour of this hilltop village with the Sacre Coeur (another famous cathedral) and what do you know as we are walking up the steps out of the metro station I immediately recognize where I am and as everyone else in the group got excited about the farm animals that were there in a petting zoo I ran to the park to see the wall...it was there just as I thought it would be.  I promptly told everyone who I had told about it that it was there and took pictures of it just as I had three years before.  It is such a cool thing to see.  The story behind it is really cool too however if you don't speak French I will have to translate the cite for you, just google it for more information.  

Mont Martre

The site of our walking tour.  We saw the apartments of multiple famous artists during this walk as well as pretty flours and statues of bishops.  I got to see David yet again and it was really fun to get to see these things with him.  We ended up hanging out the rest of the day as well and spent sometime with some of the girls in his program who are really nice and welcomed me freely.  We had lunch at a restaurant that was really good and the croque monsieur was possibly the best I have ever had.

L'Arch de Triomphe

We decided to spend time of the Champs-Elysees and try to go up in the arch but the second was not accomplised as there was something official looking event going on that evening.  We still enjoyed ourselves and got lots of walking in.  We also went up to Moulin Rouge (see below) as well as back to MontMartre where we ate dinner.

MOULIN ROUGE

Sainte Chappelle/Conciergerie

On Sunday we went to the Conciergerie and Sainte Chappelle which were absolutely amazing.  Both are parts of an old castle and include the cells in which all of the people who were guillotined during the French Revolution were held in captivity before they were guillotined.   The picture below is the window of Marie-Antionette's cell.

Where Marie Antoinette spent her last days

The eiffel tower at night (the picture was supposed to be tilted).

 Of course no trip to Paris would be complete without the trip to the Eiffel Tower at night.  The other 2 had never seen the Eiffel Tower at night no less while it was "sparkling" so I decided that was a must do.  We ended up having to sit there in the cold for almost an hour to see it but all of us agree that it was definitely worth the wait.

The Eiffel Tower "sparkling"

 When it was originally built for the world's fair, the Eiffel Tower sparkled constantly from sun down to sun up but now so as to save some energy the tower only sparkles for 10 minutes every hour on the hour from 9pm until midnight.

The 3 Carthaginians in Paris (Jesse, Joelle, and David).

Overall the trip to Paris was a great success with tons of fun to be had by all.  It is definitely 4 days that I will not forget anytime soon.

The girls of room 207 do laundry. 

We decided that there was a need to do laundry before we all went off on our adventures for spring break and these outfits are what we were able to come up with to wear while doing the laundry so as to not get more clothing that might be useful during our trips dirty.  The pictures below are Jesse trying on her dress and getting excited that it fits better and that it matches my sweater as well as the mess that was her side of the room just after starting our laundry.

Jesse in her dress and my sweater

Jesse's side of the room pre-cleaning.

rocky runway pic 1

 so we had still yet to do our march photoshoot in Cannes and it was our last day together during the month so Brittany and I went out to the beach to enjoy the sun and while we were out we decided to take advantage of the rocks that protrude out into the water.  The first picture as well as the next 2 are some of the pictures that came out of this shoot.  There are some really really cool pictures.  I am really happy with how they turned out!

rocky runway pic 2

rocky runway pic 3

Wine Tasting

We have activities through our program at least once a week and this one was great! We got to try some top of the line wines and learn how to "taste" correctly.  It was a really interesting lesson.  We all enjoyed the experience and I found a white wine that I actually liked.

sunrise on the way to Nice to catch our flight

WILL WRITE MORE ON SPRING BREAK IN THE UK SOON!