La Premiere Semaine

Hi!

  So I am two weeks behind in blogging about my first week of classes so I'm doing it now before it turns out to be three or four weeks later. I can't believe this is my third weekend in Paris. The time is really flying by and it's starting to freak me out! I'm starting to get that itch to travel and I am happy to say that as of today I am officially going to Oktoberfest!! In real life, that last sentence should be written in all caps because I am so relieved, happy, and excited to have my first trip planned and that I will have the opportunity to attend one of the most popular international festivals! For those of you who don't know what Oktoberfest is, in a nut shell it is a three week festival all about beer. This festival is held in many of the German cities, most notably Munich (which is where I will be next weekend) and can bring in 6 million people. For someone who gets slightly freaked in large crowds...well let's just say this should interesting. But, I am literally SO EXCITED to go. Both of my brothers went last year and I've heard only good things about it. Okay, getting back to the point of this blog post I will now tell you about my first two weeks of school. I'll make it easier for you guys and list out my days rather than write 14 separate paragraphs...you will thank me later.

September 2, 2013: Monday was our first day of french classes at Alliance Francaise which is located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. It is right near the Luxembourg Gardens which are these beautiful gardens which are the home to the French Senate (I talked about them in an earlier blog post). French classes are interesting! There are people from all over the world in my class and they are all different in age. There are people from Bangladesh, Hungary, Japan, Israel, Pakistan, India, Poland, Mexico, United States, Italy, and Spain. It's a really cool experience to be learning a foreign language with people who don't even speak your own native language. I have become friends with this girl from Israel and it's interesting to learn what school was like for her and what it was like to be in the Israeli Army since it is a mandatory requirement. It's these experiences that remind me of how lucky I am to be studying abroad in a place that is so diverse, but also that I have this opportunity to learn about another person's life and culture. French classes are from 9 in the morning to 12 in the afternoon so after our first class a couple friends and I went to a local boulangerie to grab lunch and then eat in the gardens. I love lunches here because you can go to any local cafe and pick up a fresh sandwhich on an amazing french baguette that is larger than any regular American sandwich. After enjoying our meal, my friend Nick and I decided to walk around Paris and ended up by the Seine. It's still so surreal that I am in Paris and can just sit by the Seine after a class. After relaxing on the bank, we then decided to walk around and found ourselves by the Jardin de Plantes. Paris has large gardens all over so this was one of many that we found. They also have a menagerie which is basically a zoo. We decided not to spend 11 euros to see animals that we've probably seen at the National Zoo in D.C. The Jardin de Plantes was a nice place to walk through but definitely not comparable to the Luxembourg Gardens. After walking around, we headed home and I met up with host family right as they were leaving for the park. I decided to join them and enjoyed a nice late afternoon hanging out with my host family and getting to meet some of their family friends. 

Desert in the Gardens

Just lounging by the Seine

Went to buy some school supplies and found
 a little slice of heaven...a wall of pens

Part of the Jardin de Plantes 

Last day of summer for French kids so the park was packed! 

September 3, 2013: Tuesday was another day of French for three hours. After class, I grabbed lunch again with some friends and then walked around with my friend Galia, who is in my french class. She is from Israel and will be living here until November. The next day was Rosh Hashanah which is the Jewish New Year, so I accompanied her as she went to find something for her aunt whom she is living with. It was ironic for me because we went to many different stores and ended up in American Apparel where we ended up getting a sweater. I would have never thought that I would be in Paris buying something from American Apparel. After shopping, I headed home and went for a run and hung out with my host family. 

The view from my run. Lady liberty is right in front of the Eiffel Tower

September 4, 2013: Wednesday was our first day of American Graduate School classes and I started my day at 9:30 with International Marketing and Economic Development. I have never taken an economics class so I figured why not give it a shot in France. I will have to let you know later on how this class goes, but my professor seems pretty cool. She is cambodian who lived in Hong Kong, started her own business, and is now back in France teaching. I had this class for 3 hours because our schedule is a little funky. For example, after two weeks of 4 classes being 3 hours long I don't have this class again for two weeks. It's nice though because we have this class on Wednesday and Fridays so now I have Fridays off which will definitely be used for traveling! After class, we again grabbed lunch & sat in the gardens. We're trying to soak up as much summery weather and nice sun before it becomes fall and cold. My friends and I walked around the right bank of the Seine and around Hotel de Ville. After walking around, we again sat by the Seine and decided to get ice cream at this well known french ice cream place called Berthillon. I mentioned it in an earlier post, but it's an ice cream shop that my dad told me on multiple occasions I had to go to. Well, I did and it was pretty good! I got two scoops--chocolate and cappuccino and it was delicious. Perfect for the hot day! 

Hotel de ville

Emily "swimming" in the Seine

The French don't kid around with street performing...piano and all

The original shop

YUMMMM

September 5, 2013: Thursdays are my busiest days. I have french from 9-12 and then I have public law from 12:30-3:30 and then my History & Diplomacy of France class from 4-8. We got my professor to extend class to 8 which made it so that we didn't have class on Friday which I think we will do every week if possible. I love my Public Law professor! She totally understands that were in France to enjoy it and not be stressing out about studying law. She's also super helpful in giving advice on anything and everything. She even gave us these magazine like papers that have classifieds and ads for people who are new to Paris from America. She just seems pretty awesome. My History & Diplomacy of France professor is pretty cool too! He is a little crazy but is so incredibly smart. He walked into the room, popped in a movie on the history of france and handed out a manuscript that he translated of the movie. Then right after he told us to pack up, we're going for a field trip. It was so awesome. He took us to Lutece Arenas, which is this large arena area where gladiators would fight or where people would try and fight off exotic animals. It was this huge amphitheater that was built in the 1st century AD. Today, it's a park and many people go there to play bocce ball and soccer. It even has wifi. Totally different than when it was first constructed, I know, but it was so cool to be sitting in an ancient amphitheater for a class. After sitting for a little while, we then walked around and he took us to see the Thermes de Cluny which are the remains of the Gallo-Roman thermal baths. We didn't go inside to see them but it's crazy because I've walked by them at least three times and didn't even know that they were there. That's something I love about being here. There is so much history that is located right in the middle of every day life now. After our little field trip, my friends Nick and Emily and I grabbed dinner since we were starving and then returned to our homes. 

Entrance to the Arenes de Lutece

View from my seat in the amphitheater 

September 6, 2013: Finally it was Friday and I had the chance to sleep in! I had class later that afternoon at 1, but after that I hung out with my friends and got ready to go out. First night out and it was interesting. We were near Notre Dame and went to five different bars to check out their scenes. Went to Pub Saint Michel in honor of Saint Mike's and let me just say that Saint Mike's is 1000x better than this bar. It was so lame. But we all got beers and one of the kids on my trip, Mark, even participated in a dance off. 

           

September 7, 2013: On Saturday, Nick, Emily, and I decided to be total tourists for they day and decided to do a double decker bus tour. We found out that if you buy your ticket after 4 pm, it would be valid for the next day so naturally as the frugal students were are we decided to start our tour then. But before then we met in the Tuileries Garden which are located right next to the Louvre. We sat and enjoyed the sun and found lunch and then started our tour. We didn't get off any stops but it was great because we became more orientated with our new city! That night, we decided to try out a bar that was mentioned in my Europe on a Shoestring travel book. It was located in the latin quarter. It was great--locals, cheaper prices, and cozy atmosphere. Even better was that afterwards we went and got crepes. Nothing beats a chocolate and banana crepe. 

The Grand Opera

Tuileries Garden & Palace in the background

Arc de Triomphe

Total tourists

Bastille Monument...but just look at those clouds!!

Nick couldn't stay awake whenever we drove by
Notre Dame 

Asleep by Notre Dame round 2

September 8, 2013: Sunday, I met up with my friends to finish our bus tour and then hang out. It was a pretty relaxing weekend overall!

Phew, now I only have one more week to share about! Hope all is well back in the States!

Steph 

The end of orientation

Hello, hello!

   Sorry I haven't blogged in a little while (aka 2 weeks) but I finally have time to sit down, have some tea, and take some serious time to write about my first full week in Paris! This past week was the first week of classes so naturally it makes the day busier. But, before I start telling you all about my classes I should finish filling you in on our orientation!

   The last time I posted, I was sitting in my new home for the next three and half months and let me say, I still can't believe how lucky I am to be living in this apartment and with such an amazing host family! They're so helpful, fun, and really welcoming. So again, to any of my readers who are planning on going abroad and have a homestay as an option--seriously considerate it! Continuing on, after my last post I was off to meet up with my program group for our last two days of orientation. Saturday, we went to the Musée Rodin, which is where Auguste Rodin's workshop was located. We walked around and saw the many sculptures and statues of his as well as some of the art work he owned which was later donated to the French state along with the land. I personally didn't know much about this artist beforehand, but it was really interesting to walk around the gardens and see his work. The large palace like building, the Hôtel Biron, was open as well so we were able to walk around inside and see the smaller sculptures. Inside, the rooms were organized so that as you walked through one it told about a time in his life. For example, the first one discussed how he worked as an apprentice and another room showed the time he experimented with different materials. But below I have added pictures so you can get a little snippet of the museum!

Musee Rodin (left) & dome of Les Invalides (right)

Musee Rodin's Hotel Biron

Rodin's "Gates of Hell"

The Three Shades with the Eiffel Tower poking out in the back!

Rodin's "The Thinker"

Inside Hotel Biron

The group by "The Thinker"

  After touring around Musee Rodin, we made our way over to the Eiffel Tower for a little hangout, where naturally we had to take some touristy pictures! However, before we got there passed other famous places in Paris such as the Les Invalides which is also known as the Le Hotel de Invalides. It is a museum with all sorts of monuments inside and is even the burial site of Napoleon Bonaparte. We didn't have time to go inside, but if the inside is anything like the outside I am sure it will be amazing! I hope to visit sometime too. I was also mesmerized by how beautiful the dome is. The gold on the top is so bright. 

It's so mesmerizing!

Les Invalides

But after walking by Les Invalides, we made our way over to the Eiffel Tower as mentioned beforehand. It's funny because many people think Paris is a big city, but in reality you can walk from one place to another in a very short amount of time.

Our touristy attempt at spelling PARIS...clearly we need to work on it.

Beautiful every time 

Heyyy Eiffel Tower...thanks to Emily Burke for reminding
 me of how much fun tourist selfies are! 

Sunday, September 1, was our last day of orientation! After that we would be on our own to explore our near home! For the last day we visited Sainte Chapelle and the Conciergie. I probably will say this multiple times in this blog about many things, but Sainte Chapelle is absolutely amazing. It is a medieval gothic church that was commissioned by King Louis IX to house all of his Passion relics. We entered into the lower chapel first where you notice all of the arches that are above you. We learned that these arches are very well known in the Gothic architecture. The lower chapel was pretty with the colored walls but nothing comes close to what we would see upstairs.

Outside of Sante Chapelle

The "Rayonnant" gothic architecture

Saint Louis IX statue

One of the oldest pictures that survived the French
Revolution...of course I forgot the name of it.

When we walked upstairs, we walked into what is one of the prettiest things I think I have ever seen. The entire upstairs is made of these huge stained glass windows that were HANDMADE. I'm talking every piece of glass was handmade and then welded to the lead and put together. It's crazy! And it took only six years! Most of the church is a re-creation due to the French Revolution, but 2/3rds of the stain glass are originals. I tried my best to take pictures that would do this beauty justice, but I don't think it captured it all. But nonetheless, here are pictures to look at!

I'm talking walls of stain glass...so much natural light!!!

The Rose Window, which is commonly found in many French
gothic chapels such as Notre Dame

The entrance to the higher chapel from the balcony

Emily & I clearly enjoying what Sainte Chappelle has to offer!

   After Sainte Chapelle, the group decided to try and get some ice cream at this place called Berthillon. Now before I left for France, my dad who isn't an ice cream kind of man told me multiple...and I mean multiple times that I needed to try this ice cream place. So the group made its way over the original Berthillon shop which of course with our luck was closed. But, I did manage to go back a couple of days after with some friends after class and stop to try this ice cream. It is pretty amazing! Well that was the rest of orientation! Now I am only two weeks worth of blogging left to write about...

I think Berthillon is the Georgetown Cupcakes of France

This double scoop of chocolate and cappuccino
Berthillon ice cream is for you, Dad!

I'll write soon! I promise.

Steph

Is this real life?

     As I sit down to write this post I have officially spent one day in my homestay, and let me say it is absolutely wonderful! Yesterday, August 31st, was our moving day where the students moved into their respective living areas. Surprisingly, myself and one other student, Mark, were the only ones who chose to live with a french family. The other six students chose a dorm style apartment. So when our taxi arrived at the hotel to take Mark and I to our new homes, the other students made their way down the street to their new living arrangements.

    I was the first to be dropped off! After a short taxi ride from Vanves, we arrived in the 16th arrondissement where I would be staying for the next four months. Jenn, our on-site coordinator, walked me to the building and called up to say that I was here. I was on my own from there so when I got on the elevator and rode it up, my heart was pounding pretty fast. Even better, they told Jenn over the intercom that their apartment was on the left so I thought okay easy! Well no, classic Steph moment occurred when I got off the elevator and thought "wait...left when coming out of the elevator or left when coming up the stairs?!" Thankfully, my host family could probably hear me fumbling around with my enormous suitcase in the tiny hall as my host-dad flung open the door and greeted me so warmly! For those wondering, it was left of the elevator not the stairs. As I made my way into my new home, my host parents started speaking french immediately. I think they could tell by the look on my face that I wasn't the one who actually spoke french into the intercom but instead someone else. Fortunately, my host-parents speak english well so, so far we have conversed in English and some French. (Don't worry mom & dad, I plan on speaking more french while living here!!!) They showed me around the apartment which is absolutely beautiful. I can tell I'm my parents daughter because the moment I walked in I noticed the beautiful crown molding that is found on the ceiling and the wainscot on the wall. In all honesty, I was and still am overwhelmed with how lucky I was to be living in a french apartment especially one of this beauty and character. But anyways, they showed me around and brought me to my room which I must say brought my smile wider (if it was even possible!). When you walk into my room, you are immediately drawn to the windows that are almost floor to ceiling. As some of my friends know, I am in love with natural light. Sounds weird, I know, but in my opinion it is one of the best things about a room. So clearly I LOVE my room. Its spacious and even has a whole wall unit dedicated to storage. But anyways, the apartment is great and the family is lovely!

   My host family consists of a mom & dad and my five year old little brother!! My little brother is adorable! He doesn't speak any english and my french is not the best so our conversations are similar to the games of charades. Nonetheless, he is so full of energy, personality and seems like a total goof! My host-mom and host-dad are great too. We have spoken more in english than in french, but that is because its easier to explain things...don't worry though I will be speaking french with them in no time. Overall, I couldn't be happier with my study abroad situation! For those of you who are reading this blog and deciding a) whether to go abroad and b) whether you should do a home stay... my answer to both questions is YES!! Granted I have only been in my home stay for two days now, but I am sure that by the end of this amazing opportunity my answer will still be yes! Classes start tomorrow so I'm sure there will be another post about classes sometime soon. Hope all is well in the States!

Xoxo,

Steph

Paris Is Always a Good Idea -A.H.

Bonjour!

   I have made it! I am in Paris and can proudly say I am beating jet lag (for the most part). I have been here for two days and it has been so much in so little time. So let me lay out these past couple of days for you. The day before I left the United States, I spent time getting lunch with my parents, packing & getting gifts for my host family and trying, although in no way successful, trying to remain calm. The fact that you are going abroad for four months not knowing anyone and choosing to live with a family of whom you've only shared four emails with is surprisingly stressful! But, I have to say that everything is so far so good.

  I left Wednesday evening and arrived in Paris at 5:45 a.m. The rest of my group arrived between 9 and 10 a.m. so I was lucky to have a share the experience similar to Tom Hank's actor in The Terminal for a couple of hours. The group left Charles de Gaulle and headed to Vanves, France which is a town located right outside of the Paris walls. It's a cute town with a family feel.

The church found in the center of Vanves, France

   We are staying in a hotel here for the first two nights while we get to meet everyone and orient ourselves with the city we are to call our home for the next four months! After dropping off our luggage and freshening up a bit, the group headed out to tour around Vanves. We grabbed some sandwiches from a local cafe and ate them in the town square. After, we headed into Paris to visit our new school, the American Graduate School. AGS is located in the Latin Quarter of Paris which is where many of the universities are located such as the Sorbonne. By this time it is around 6 p.m. in Paris which is around noon in America. I was hitting a wall. Having been unable to sleep the night before nor on the plane I was running on maybe three or four hours of sleep. But that didn't stop us! We left for a traditional French dinner that started at 7 p.m. and we didn't leave the restaurant until almost 11 p.m. By the end of the first day I was so excited to see a mattress! Dinner, however tired I was, was still amazing! It is unusual in Paris not to order an entrée which is what Americans would consider to be a personal sized appetizer. For my entrée, I decided to go big and order duck foie gras. For those of you who aren't the next Julia Child, foie gras translated is "fat liver". Therefore, I was eating fat liver of a duck which you spread on some toasted baguette and add cherry compote. It was definitely an interesting appetizer! You will not find me ordering it at every meal, but it was a good thing to try! It also helps to not remind yourself that you are munching on a duck's liver. After clearing the table they brought out our main courses and I had a wonderful beef fillet in port house wine with fries. After dinner, came dessert and by this point I was stuffed! But I had a couple bites of my lemon tart which was delicious! Most people after dinner in Paris enjoy a cafe which is coffee, but at this point I was almost falling asleep at the table and desperately needed a mattress. Finally, we got the the bill and took the metro home.

Duck Foie Gras

Beef Fillet

Dessert of the Day, Lemon Tart

   Today, August 30th, was our second day in Paris. I woke up at 8:15, with surprising ease and our group met for breakfast. We left to go to Alliance Francais, which is conveniently located in the same building as AGS. At Alliance Francais, we had a tour of the building since they are the primary occupants of it, as AGS is only one of the floors. We were also tested to see what French classes we will be taking and I made it into A2 lesson 1...I'm not sure what exactly that means but I will let you know once classes start on Monday. After Alliance Francais, we finished orientation with AGS and grabbed lunch at another cafe down the street from the school. AGS is located right near Luxembourg gardens where we decided to sit down and eat. These gardens are beautiful!! At first it looks like your typical park with trees, benches, and tennis courts, but then you walk further and BAM! This beautiful building comes into sight and these massive fountains and flowers of all different shades of pink are blooming. Even better, the French police's orchestra was playing live music at one of the venues found in the park.

The French Senate

The Medici fountain 

A view from the gardens...so parisian chic!

 After exploring the gardens, our two on-site directors left us and the eight of us wandered around Paris. We were heading towards Notre Dame where we came across the Panthéon. We decided not to go in yet, but just being in front of the building was absolutely stunning. It is currently under renovation, but that doesn't hinder the beauty of this building. We then headed next door to the church, l'Eglise Saint Etienne du Mont. Inside was beautiful as well! We later walked around and found our way over to Notre Dame. We decided not to go in today seeing as we still have 3 months to explore and visit museums. As we walked between the gardens of Notre Dame and the Seine we came to the Lock Bridge, which is a small bridge that has thousands of locked locks on it. People come to this bridge to "lock their secrets away" and throw the key into the Seine where their secrets will forever remain. I hope to take part in this and by the end of the semester have a locked secret of my own forever left in Paris.

French Panthéon

l'Eglise Saint Etienne du Mont

Inside l'Eglise Saint Etienne du Mont

Notre Dame

Our group outside of Notre Dame

The lock bridge with Notre Dame in the back!

He started to do the invisible wall a little later...

   Tonight was our first dinner where we were on our own! So we went to the center of Vanves and ate at this amazing creperie called Giraffe. They had savory and sweet crepes so naturally I had to have both! For dinner, I had a crepe with ham, tomato, cheese, and egg. It was amazing! Following dinner, my friend Daniela and I shared a chocolate and banana crepe which again was delicious! We made it back to the hotel (some sooner rather than later seeing as our half of the group got lost on its way back!) where we relaxed and discussed some of the countries and parts of France we would be excited to travel to. Loads to do in the next four months, but it will be quite the adventure to say the least! We move into our new houses tomorrow! 

Savory Crepe!

Sweet Crepe! Can you say yumm?!

   Myself and one other student chose a home stay for the semester where the rest of the students chose dorm/apartment style. We move in tomorrow which is extremely exciting and nerve-wracking! But not to worry, I will fill you in on all that happens! 


Au Revoir,
Steph