I am still getting over my cold.  I just went to the pharmacy again and got some cold medicine that I take 4 times a day.  Hopefully this will be the miracle I am looking for.  Last Sasturday I went to Granville France about 3 hours away on the train, which is where Christian Dior's home is.  It is located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, and it is probably my favorite trip so far.  The water is gorgeous, almost like tropical water.  He has some gardens as well that are still maintained.  Inside his PINK house was an exhibition of haute couture ball gowns.  We were not allowed to take any pictures, so I only could sneak one for you guys. :)

For lunch that day we got some sandwiches and the french fries were served on top, kind of crazy.  While we were exploring the town we found this shoe store that creates all of their own merchandise, and the heels on these things were crazy.  They had all these weird shapes like door knobs, pyramids, etc.

On Sunday almost everyone from CEA we went to the castle of Versailles, where among the few king Louis XVI resided with Marie Antionette.  It was all beautiful of course.  My favorite part was seeing Marie Antoinette's bedroom.  It is covered with flowers from head to toe, but her bed is so small!  People then actually slept sitting up because they were concerned about their help (they also didn't shower for that reason haha).  It was really cool that while we were walking around the gardens they had orchestra music playing which sounded like it could be something from the back in the day.  The fountains didn't turn on until later in the day so most of my pictures a little plain but it was still pretty.  I even saw a swan swimming in a fountain, how cliche huh.  I learned in Haute Couture class before that the castle was actually really nasty during the period.  It was dirty and since there was no plumbing people pooped in the hallways.  It also had to be redone because it was stormed a few times during the revolution.  The hall of mirrors I also adored.  I think I am just in love with the 18th century interior design style in general.

I had Starbucks too, even more expensive than in America.  I was really excited for a pumpkin spice latte because they are out in the United States but of course they are non existent here.  OH and prepare yourself for this awesomeness...while waiting for the train to Versailles I happened to glance in a passing train and saw a man wearing a University of Minnesota sweatshirt and hat.  Needless to say I was an excited freak and had to take his picture.

Bus2Alps cancelled our trip to Oktoberfest this weekend.  I guess there weren't enough people signed up since most went the weekend before.  I thought it was a little unprofessional but what can ya do, they didn't think it was worth it.  So it was a really fun day today stressing about how to get there for the same price 3 days before.  We figured it out and will only have to pay an additional 80 euros or so.  I had a moment where I was about to break down and just say screw it, but I'm glad I'm still going.  How many people can say they went to Oktoberfest in Germany?  It should be a fun time.

What's new

Ok so I might as well start this off with a bang.  Paris is on high terrorist alert right now...how lovely.  Last week they had to clear out the Eiffel Tower, but I just thought oh ya know a routine alert whatever.  I'm sure they get thousands of threats everyday.  Then a few days our campus director was like yeah make sure you keep an eye out for stuff and try to avoid touristy attractions, and forwarded us an email for the US Embassy.  Makes me a little nervous but I suppose we are at risk everyday no matter where you are.  There have also been strikes going on in Paris about the retirement age.  I think there were like 3 million people all around France who took part in it.  I would actually like to see it happening myself but I am too busy at school.  Ehh the French...

I have also been sick for the past week.  I had just a stuffy nose at the beginning of the week, which turned into stuffy nose and sore throat, and now I also have a cough.  I had to go to the Pharmacy to get some cough drops, that was an experience.  I walked in and was looking around but I didn't see anything that looked like cough drops, which meant I had to ask the guy.  Turns out they are behind the counter, kinda weird.  So I told him (in french mind you) that I was sick in the throat and I needed some medicine.  He understood but then asked me a question, which I did not.  Turns out he was asking if I wanted spray or losanges but man did I feel like a fool staring at him with a blank face.  They are not strong enough though.  My roommate is sick too now and she got some that are better so at least next time (hopefully there is no next time!) I will have a specific brand to ask for.

I went to a giant flea market last Sunday.  As you would expect quite a portion of it was junk, but there were some really cool pieces of antique furniture and glassware that made me wish I could ship it home.  I did buy a watch which is silver and in the shape of a snake.

Next week I have to wrap up my visa stuff too.  Turns out I still would be illegal in this country if I don't send in more paperwork.  They need two more copies of my passport and visa, a housing statement from school along with an old electricity bill, a picture (which I now have to find somewhere to take one), and the original form I had stamped in Chicago.  Oh and here is the best part...I get to spend 55 euro to have a medical exam that I don't want or need.  Can't wait for that fun day.  They better not take any blood!

School here is actually way more difficult than I thought it would be.  It's not necessarily that the material is hard, it's just trying to find a balance with it all.  Teachers here are a little more critical and vague with what they want in assignments.  I want to do good in classes, yet I want to have friends, and I want to see Paris, and I want to lounge around.  I don't know it's just different I guess..

Did I tell ya'll that I won a french phrase book from CEA?  I haven't used it much but hey it's free.  I also won two tickets to see a show at the Opera next weekend, but I can't go because I already booked Oktoberfest.  That is quite disappointing but I will just have to try and get a cheap student ticket sometime.

Food: I went to a restaurant from the Rick Steves travel book.  It was so delicious!  I had this pastry stuffed with chicken and mashed potatoes.  Then a chocolate cake to die for.  I also had Dominoes that week, delicious bbq pizza but not something I'm too proud to talk about.  AND I had McDonalds, which is almost better over here since it is not as salty and greasy.  For my french class we went to a boulangerie where I got to help the guy crack and egg into the bowl!  No shells...I think.  Then at the end he let us eat what we made, this chocolate cake which was so much more than that.  It tasted like a mix between cake, brownies, and mousse.  That too was just too delicious.  Good thing I don't remember what street it was on. ;)  Today I went to the cafe Les Deux Moulins, which is from the famous french movie Amelie.  It was so cute, and bigger than in the movie.  I had a cheeseburger which was just good, not great.  I also had Indian food!  Granted it was a little bit spicy, but it was still really great.  On the TV in that restaurant some old Bollywood clips were playing, so cute!  I had this chicken mess, spinach dip with garlic bread, and lamb with rice.

I have been trying to find a country bar to go out to, but guess what...the french don't listen to country music.  Bummer huh.  No Toby Keith's I Love This Bar in sight.
I have also been trying to find some websites to watch tv shows from.  I know I won't be able to keep up like I could in the states, but it would be nice to have two shows to watch when I am bored.  In France you cannot stream from abc.com or hulu.com.  Basically you are left with no choice but to try and find some copyrighted illegal website...or pay $3 to watch an episode on iTunes (not happening).
Last week my payment to CEA went through.  That one hurt big time.

I will end this with some good news.  I will be traveling to London over Halloween break, and then that Monday traveling up to Belfast Ireland for the day to see a Lady GaGa concert.  I also will be traveling to Italy during my November fall break.  We just bought our plane tickets online and wait for this... 10 euro!!  So amazing.  But we can only take a backpack on both trips because we will be staying in hostels and I don'y trust my stuff in there and we will be constantly moving from city to city.

 

Catching Up

Sorry it has been so long! I have been super busy and the internet in our apartment decided to quit. Here is what has happened since last time...

- I went up the Eiffel Tower, by elevator not stairs haha. It is so gorgeous and what they say is true, Paris is flat. There is a restaurant halfway up that I would like to eat at. It's kind of expensive so I think it might be a end of semester celebration thing. There is also a bunch of little shops and a little history area to see. I was surprised when I got to the top that there was a restroom and a little champagne bar. I expected it to be much smaller. I really liked seeing this little gold Louis Vuitton lock attached to a safety bar...only in Paris. I did my first bartering while we were waiting in line at the bottom. At all the touristy sites these people buy big packs of water then sell them at a high price from a bucket of ice. Well my friend wanted a bottle of water and the guy was selling them for 2 euro. I had seen other people doing it for only 1 euro so I was like no no too expensive not interested. Then he offered 1.50 euro for 2 bottles. We didn't really want two but he wouldn't go down to 1 euro sooo we just said ok.

- I went to the Louvre museum for one of my assignments in haute couture class, and since my student card says Art History Major from the EU I got in for free! (CEA made everyone art history majors so that this would happen haha) I had to look at a few paintings and describe the style, what century they were from, and so on. While there I also decided to go see a few of the more famous ones like the Mona Lisa and Aphrodite. It is sooo huge though. We were there for three hours and it felt like eternity, so I think its better if I look at art in small doses.

- I went to Disneyland Paris. It was way cool. It pretty much has the same things as in America except there is a lot of french. I thought the dream parade was the best part. I love seeing princesses.

- I went to this grape harvest festival somewhere in Paris with CEA. We sampled a few types of cheese, drank wine, and listened to music. At the end I got to climb up a ladder and pick some grapes! I felt silly though because I couldn't reach the top, even though I walk among the tall. It was kind of difficult though. The people were like higher higher and I was like ugh I'm wearing a dress and its a windy day I can't. Only the little kids were allowed to stomp on the grapes in the barrel.

- I had Coco Chanel's favorite hot chocolate at this place called Angelinas. It was so delicious! This hot chocolate was so thick and rich, I ALMOST couldn't finish my cup...almost. :)

- For my fashion marketing & merchandising class we had this group project were we had to walk around a certain shopping district in Paris. Of course we were presented with the Golden Triangle which consists of all the high fashion designers...what a dream assignment. We walked into a few of the shops and it feels weird knowing you are the outcast in there but everything is so gorgeous I just don't even care. I really like how they have a guy who stands next to the door all day opening it for everyone, classy.

- For haute couture class we had another excursion where we went to the Musee-Cognacq Jay which has this old couple's personal collection of art for view. I really like doing excursions like this, it's so nice to get out of a classroom and experience Paris.

- For international business class we went to La Defense, which is the business district of Paris with all the skyscrapers. It is actually a nice change seeing some of them if you can believe it. It was weird though because it is nothing like other big cities. Everyone is in their offices so it was really quiet walking around below. Then when we had to wrap up our session everyone went to McDonalds to eat and discuss their business compared to little cafes. I was just really excited to eat a double cheeseburger and fries.

- I had Berthillons ice cream. No wonder it is world famous, sooo delish! I think it tastes more like sorbet though.

- So some not so great things happened as well. I lost my camera case, I think it just fell out of my bag because it was unzipped and I got a crack in my cell phone screen. It phone still works but it really ticks me off that I was so stupid and careless with my belongings. Luckily my camera wasn't in the case when this happened.

- Saw the catacombs which were kind of despressing. Millions of french people are literally lined up on the wall, and it goes on forever.

- I went to see the statue of liberty near the eiffel tower...feels like my soon to be home. JK
Phew okay I think that is a good wrap up. Until next time...

2nd Weekend

Alrighty, last Friday I got dinner and walked around the latin quarter with my roommates. On Saturday we had this mystery tour with my program which was kept a secret until 5 minutes before we boarded the train. It was to the American Film Festival in Trouville/Deauville. It is in the region of Normandy home to crepes and cider, and right on the ocean (so seafood as well).  It was so fun! I didn't get to see any celebrities though, all the good ones like Chace Crawford and Zac Efron were coming the next weekend. It was mostly directors and stuff I think. We had these passes to go see the premiere of Mysterious Skin (not good), but I walked on a red carpet so it's all good haha. There was also the premiere of The Runaways but I had already seen that one (very good), so all day I had Joan Jett songs in my head.  Along the ocean there are these little beach houses and near each door are the names of some celebs that have been there.  Of course I was most excited to see Al Pacino, my love.  In Trouville there is the 3rd largest casino in France. They told us it might be hard to get inside but we were able to.  The only problem was once we sat down at a slot we couldn't figure out how to work it!  Oh and I had to pay 0.30 euro to pee on this metal rod of a toilet.  It was quite bizarre. 

On Saturday night I went out dancing with some of my friends to some fancy DJ I guess (I'm from MN so don't know too much about that haha).  We met some more Parisians which is always nice to practice my language skills, but they just end up speaking english.  On Sunday there was free admission to all the museums in Paris so I went to the Musee d'Orsay.  The museum is in an old train station with this giant clock inside.  Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to take any pictures.  There is also this grand ballroom which I think is honestly the most beautiful things inside the whole museum.  I enjoyed the interior design displays of furniture and other household goods most. I saw impressionist paintings, like the Picasso self portrait and the broze dancer statue.  I think I prefer the paintings of Renoir.
The metro situation is going pretty well. I have a pass like a true Parisian.  It feels pretty awesome just holding my bag up to the scanner and walking right through all the weary ticket holders.  You can get to just about anywhere in Paris without having to walk too far.  I have taken it at 10:30pm but that is about as late as I will ride it.  Once again, you just have to maintain a blank stare.  Now the hard part comes, walking around the city to master my map.

I've booked my first trip too! September 30th-October 3rd, Oktoberfest here I come.

week is over

Just finished up the first week of classes!  I've been busy the last couple of days, doing some homework already (ugh) and going out at night to explore the city.  Wednesday I went on a little adventure to find my french book at some random bookstore, and on my way stopped by the famous Shakespear & Co bookstore.  On Wednesday night we went to an Irish pub and met up with my friend's friend and his french friends (one named Paris haha), and then this small bar/club where we met two british gals who were so much fun. Then on Thursday night a bunch of people from my program went to this boat party on the Seine.  I finally saw the Eiffel Tower sparkling.  We met some Hungarian gals and at dinner a guy from Morocco.  It's so different being in a city like this because there are so many types of people!  Speaking of Thursday's dinner...I was adventurous, mistake.  I got carpaccio because I thought it would taste like a salty prosciutto, nope it was blahh practically raw meat.  So I ended up paying 14 Euro for free bread.  Should've stuck with the ravioli.  Lately I noticed a lot of homeless people laying all around the street.  That's a bit different for me to see. Oh, I also tried laundry for the first time today. 9 Euros which is like $12 bucks...what a crazy world we live in.