Another Week in Paris

Salut!

Hey again! It's been a pretty crazy week here in France, I have just been hanging out and loving it!

Tuesday was such a hard day! Of course we don't get the day AFTER Bastille Day off...but if you did anything on Bastille Day you're not going to get home until super late. So I got home around 1 am Tuesday morning and had class at 8:30...definitely not the best class! But I am understanding my french professor more (except when she went on a 45 minute speech about Victor Hugo's life...I lost her a little while in and never got back) and I seem to be doing slightly better on my dictations. Tuesday I went to the Monoprix (actually, it was a Champion) and bought some food for the week. I try and cook as much as possible because it is a lot cheaper. I find that food in France (when bought in a store, not dining out) is cheaper. I got out of the grocery store for about 15€ with what would have cost me a lot more in the US. And water is extremely cheap! Okay, if you're a tourist its not because you go to the tourist places, but if you go into a grocery store it's practically free! Today, I went into an ED (another grocery store) and bought a 2 liter bottle of water for 0.17€! Yes! 17 cents!!!! It was pretty much awesome.

Also on Tuesday I met up with an old friend from home who now lives in Versailles. It was really nice catching up with her, and she showed me some parts of Paris I hadn't seen yet.

Wednesday was another touristy type day. After I got out of class at 12, Steph and I went to the Champs-Elysées to find a Disney Paris shot glass for her friend. We ended up wandering into some stores and finding some fun stuff. I still haven't bought a lot of souvenirs, I definitely need to get on that!

Later that night, Gabriell and I were hanging out with some of new French friends, trading slang phrases. It was extremely funny trying to explain to this guy what "that's what she said" is used for. And in turn, I learned some good phrases too, like ça me fait cheir!! which means "I'm pissed off!" just slightly more mean....

Today was pretty long. I had my last phonetics class today, which means for the next two weeks I'll be getting out of class at 10:30 every morning. I have some friends that are going to the Institut Catholique and are getting a couple more credits than I am, but they spend so much time in class...like Tuesday and Thursdays they are there from 9 to 5! I really enjoy being able to go walking around the city and being able to enjoy the time I have here in Paris, and not spent all of it in a classroom. I mean, I do like my class, and I am learning from it, but I also feel like I am only here for two more weeks and I should make the most out of it. I don't care if I paid the same amount and I'm getting 3 less credits. Not like I need French anyways for my courses back home...I'm just using this for taking care of my philosophy GE.

BUt I have plans for what I'll do! I really want to go to the Natural History Musuem, and the Doll Museum. I also really would like to go up Tour Montparnasse, which is the only sky scraper in France, and you get to go up to the 56th floor. I am really looking forward to the next two weeks!

Tonight we hung out at the Eiffel Tower, with the rest of our group. We played some games and leared a few french songs; it was a lot of fun.

And this weekend we are off to the Loire Valley, where we will visit 4 castles! Exciting! I have already been to 2 (Chenenceau and Amboise) but I am looking forward to the other two, Bloise and Cheverny. I actually really can't wait to go to Amboise, because I want to see Leonardo Da Vinci's house Clos Lucé again.

Well, it's 11:15 here and I would like to finish my homework and pass out before 12!

A plus!

Lesley