Pi Phi tries Escargot

Having your friends from home visit you while studying abroad has to be one of the best times had. ever. Although there were ups and downs of all sorts I'm glad to report that myself, Hannah, and Shalyn made it out alive. But lets rewind.

Classes started last week. Mind you, every single one of my classes is three hours long. Although there is "une pause" for fifteen minutes about half way through, I am finally grateful that U of I classes are only 50 minutes. The area where my school is, all of a stones throw from St. Sulpice Church and the Luxembourg Gardens, is amazing, and its giving me a chance to really explore. Everything is old, in a good way, and whether or not you know it, it has some interesting historical fact to offer - the more time I spend here the more I love it. Any who, classes are really easy, meaning no homework and no stress - c'est superbe.

The home stay is arguably getting better every single day. The more I talk to other people who are also with les families d'accueil I'm learning how nice I've got it - dishes, laundry, and coffee is all done for me! Along with getting to play with a dog everyday, I'd say I've got it made.

I digress - Hannah and Shalyn landed in France on Friday but with very little planning on our parts as where to meet up once they wound their ways into the city. Hannah and I were to meet at Porte Maillot around 1 and luckily enough found each other rather easily. (Keep in mind we don't have phones were we can call each other and just be like 'Oh hey! you're in Paris, where ya at?') We proceed to grab some lunch and head towards our "meeting place" with shay. Considering I had just facebook messaged Miss Wismer only a few hours prior, throwing a name of a metro stop at her, I'm surprised we ever found her at all. After walking around in the frigid weather for a solid two hours, in circles, asking for directions several times, and looking like Americans more than once, we logged onto WiFi and surprising had a message from Shay saying she was sitting at a McDonalds (eating a croissant and nice and warm..) Our frozen selves made it to the correct Macdo eventually (she had gotten off at a different metro stop after taking the wrong train to the suburbs, then back to Paris - but she made it eventually!) and reunited LPP.

We proceeded to do what was the most logical idea - buy wine. It was great to catch up with friends and sip some vino. Even though it was not our smartest idea to stay out until the metro re-opened, we (practically) made it, and Saturday we filled our day hitting 7 of some of Paris's most renowned sites: l'ard de triomphe, champs elysees, tour eiffel, notre dame, le louvre, et moulin rouge. I've lost track of how many metro transfers we had to make (along with Hannah getting stopped by French police at one of them asking for her ticket which she threw away resulting in a 30euro fine - still super sorry Hannah! Hope that crepe made up for it a little!) but it was enough to make anyone never want to take public transportation ever again.

Exhausted we slumped to the closest restaurant and ordered some hot wine and escargot. Yum! Who knew something iconically deemed "gross" would be so tasty? We mustered enough energy to make it home and convince ourselves that it was a good idea to go out, even when Shay had a 7AM flight. Needless to say we went back to the bar where we made friends with the bartenders the night before, my iphone got stolen (perhaps lost, I'm hoping its only lost at least), we shoved Shay into a cab around 5, and Hannah missed her later flight but did manage to navigate her way to Orly to grab a different plane back home.

 I don't know about my friends, but I'm still exhausted from this weekend, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Heading to Dublin this weekend with almost the rest of U of I to celebrate a little Illini tradition.

Until next time -

All Moved In

Today marks the third day of living with my host family and second day of classes - both of which are taking some getting used to.

Starting with my host family. My host mom, Catherine, and Lola, are the nicest people ever, but considering how quickly they speak dinners have been delicious yet confusing. Thus far they have served me great meals, all of which I don't know the names of - very french indeed though. I have my own room, furnished with a nice big bed, good view, and loud wallpaper.

 Just like moving into the dorms last week was an adjustment, this is too, but at least I get to unpack my clothes, sleep in a big bed, and practice my french with willing and understanding people! They also have a dog, named Floppy. He is a rambunctious minuscule ball of energy who never tires of running up and down the main hallway, and always will greet you at the door. The only downside thus far is the limited amount of shower time since water in Paris is so expensive - sadly I don't think I'll be getting around this obstacle.

Classes have also started this week. It's nice having structure to my day, but sitting through three hours of the same topic is grueling, especially considering I'm used to 50 minutes, in and out. Most of my classes are populated with girls from all over America (Utah to Maryland) which makes finding friends rather easy. It still hasn't sunk in that I am permanently in Europe for the next four months, and I'm starting to wonder if it ever will?

This past weekend, our group visited Versailles- it was unbelievably ornate. Although you only get to tour about 10% of the entire castle, it isn't hard to imagine what all of the other rooms look like. As cliche as it is, I'd say my favorite part of the actual castle was the Hall of Mirrors - between the gorgeous chandeliers and the floor to ceiling windows with views of the grounds it was breathtaking - even with all of the trees and flowers being dead. Outside of the castle, the grounds roll for, what seems, ever. Comprised of perfectly planted trees, ponds, and gardens, it was all beautiful to experience in the winter. Making it back out there, just to see the gardens, once everything is in bloom, is on my to do list.

Shay and Hannah are visiting Paris this weekend, which should make for some interesting stories, and then Dublin in two weeks for Unofficial!

Until then -

Bienvenue à Paris

Salut de Paris!

Despite a rough start to this whole adventure, I have finally made it the 4,147 miles from Chicago to Paris and am currently nestled in the 14th arrondissement.

This whirlwind of a four months started with me almost missing this adventure to begin with. Thinking my flight was sunday night left me packing saturday night instead of being on a direct flight from ORD to CDG with everyone else. Realizing this over breakfast on sunday made everything even more difficult. After a few tears and a lot of help from my dad, things were resolved and I was in the air by 5:15pm.

After surviving the 8 hour flight, where no sleep was had, we landed in what looked like the countryside, but it was in fact Charles de Gaulle Aeroport. I found a taxi that wound its way the 38 kilometers into the city. Not knowing that the northern parts of Paris are considered rather dubious, it was eye opening to drive past things the resembled the south side of Chicago, or perhaps Urbana. Most of monday we had orientation meetings, followed by large group visits to cell phone stores and grocery stores, which only made us look like complete americans. The perk of these trips though was finding out wifi, and therefore iMessage, does indeed work at Starbucks (sorry Mom and Dad for the lack of communication - our dorm is lacking when it comes to technology).

Despite the complete exhaustion and confusion of all of the french, we have all made it through the first few days with only a few fumbles - one of the largest, we have found, is that we can understand what the French are saying to us, but they can only understand about 50% of everything that is coming out of our mouths. Nevertheless, so far we have strolled the champs élysées, l'arc de triomphe, le petit palais, le palais royale, les invalides, and la jardin du luxembourg, while also admiring several others from afar.

It has been great in between meetings to have the time to wander the city and get lost in the nooks and crannies behind every curve. Today we found a great place for les croques monsieurs et mesdames, and of course, un peu du vin. Other highlights include finding Paris's most famous macaroons, and a charming boulangerie with great pain au chocolate (which they also call chocolatine).  

Today we finally are starting to fit in a little; finally getting a hang of the metro, knowing how to pay, and dividing into small groups, thus harder to pick out as americans right away. We took a boat tour down la Seine, being able to see "La Grande Axe" (the line of monuments from l'arc de triomphe to le Louvre). From that perspective you can see how massive the Louvre is, as well as gorgeous. It also offered great views of la tour eiffel, place de la concorde, and adorabel house boats. As passing under all of les ponts (the bridges) we were intrigued by all of the locks that hung from them, leading to an afternoon excursion admiring all of the locks that lovers have signed their initials onto and left as a symbol of their love for each other. 

The jetlag is still lingering, but we are finally settling into a groove.

Until next time

Paris - je t'aime.