home sweet home.

well, i'm back.

my last night in paris was fantastic - group farewell dinner and then hanging out by the seine. it's pretty incredible how great of friends we all became and a lot of people cried when we said goodbye...but i guess i was just too excited to go home to be terribly sad. i know i'll see them all again at some point! i'm also used to not seeing people for long periods of time. i think it's been about 2 years since i last saw sof and we're still like best friends.

being home is awesome. i went to the cheesecake factory with my parents last night, as requested =] and then i got to see brandon. i missed him so much. and then this morning i had coffee and breakfast on the porch with my mom...i missed that, too. i actually just got back from work, but it still feels like summer to me, finally. maybe because it was about a million degrees today but tomorrow i can't wait to just sit outside and do pretty much whatever i want. it's going to be swell.

things i'm going to miss:

cheap, delicious sandwiches on baguettes

speculos

my friends

the black and gold boulangerie on the corner

seeing the eiffel tower everywhere

pretty buildings

speaking french in random places

monoprix

things i'm not going to miss:

my hard-as-a-rock mattress

being woken up by the RER at 5:30 daily

6 hour days of french class

creepy boys

the metro

not being able to dance

it's good to be back =]

le centre pompidou!

i can't believe it's already friday. i mean, i totally can i just think this week was easier for me to get through...probably because i knew i would be going home TOMORROW =D

it was a good week, nonetheless. tuesday was for class and recuperating from nice and wednesday i went to the pompidou centre with sonia and carley! it was so fantastic. i haven't been there in quite a few years and it just reminded me how much i love modern art. everyone in my program thought i was crazy for not going to places like the louvre and orsay but i honestly just wanted to see more modern things. l'orangerie is pretty with monet's water lilies, but i did that last time i was here. anyway! i got some cool photos of my favorite artwork. the entire 4th floor was all female artists so there were a lot of controversial pieces and feminist pieces that i thought were really interesting.

there was also an outdoor exhibit like, on the building. there were all these shacks built outside. jodi told me that her teacher said it was to show that your house represents your social class but a house isn't as stable as you think it is no matter what...or something? hmm. maybe i should find more information about that before writing it on here...

yesterday after class i wandered around trying to find souvenirs for some of my friends, but the truth is nothing is worth spending money on. i just feel like some things are SO tacky like berets that say i love paris on them. like really!? no. sooo today i went and looked again and just got some small things. last night after dinner...

(carley and jodi and i went to fondue!)

...a bunch of us went to the eiffel tower for a picnic!! and by picnic i mean with just wine. a looot of wine. i, of course, brought my own bottle and drank it in its entirety (hey, mom and dad).

it was really fun, though and now if i don't get to go out tonight because people are tired/broke (including myself) i won't feel so badly. we have a farewell dinner tonight and then who knows what! i leave in the morning for CDG and i get into ny in the afternoon. i will of course be dining at the cheesecake factory for my first meal back in the states. YES. okay, enough. next time i write it'll be from my house! au revoir =]

my weekend in nice...

...was effing SICK.

my three days in the south of france could probably be summed up in the following three words: beaches, baguettes and beer - but it was a lot of other things, too =]

we got to Nice at about 8pm on friday night. we dropped off our stuff at the hostel (which was actually pretty sweet! i've never stayed in a hostel before but this one seemed fairly popular...and clean!) and then went to dinner up the street at an italian place. we got some wine and then went exploring in town. Nice is a really cute town. i guess they call it the old city, actually. lots of colorful little buildings near the beach. our hostel was actually next to the main road that led down there, so that was nice. we ended up at a little pub for just a drink and then went back home to get sleep before our first day at the beach!

saturday morning we got up at 9 and went to the monoprix for champagne, orange juice, baguettes and fruit! we brought everything to the beach and laid there, on the rock beach, for about four hours. it was glorious. and the weather was perfect.

at around 2:30, we decided to do more wandering and get some gelato! afterwards, we went to get ready for dinner (again, italian. again, delicious.) and grab some wine 'cause it's so much cheaper than buying it out. we hung out at the hostel with a bunch of people because they were giving out free champagne! i swear, the owner of that place is so chill. he must love his job. but yeah, we ended up at the same pub as friday night 'cause this bar wayne's was too full for us. sad days. still fun, though.

sunday we woke up early and it was pouring. we decided to spend some time getting a nice breakfast out (with coffee, thank goodness) and then we figured we'd just take a walk once it stopped raining, kind of, buuuut absolutely nothing is open on sundays? meh. good thing it cleared up around noon because i went for a hike with some of the girls and their roommates, stephen and william! we climbed up this mountain to a waterfall you can see from the beach. turns out there's this whole park thing up there...it was SO gorgeous and frankly kind of nice to do some exercise.

we went to meet the rest of the girls at the beach, but it was a bit chilly and cloudy so that didn't last long. we went back to get ready for dinner and then went out with chris and hannah, more roommates! we got more beer/wine and pregamed at the hostel with a ton of people. i guess chris knew some of the people there already from another city so we all played cards and hung out (and got more free champagne!!). we eventually did make it to wayne's and it was AWESOME. incredibly crowded and hot, but the live band was awesome. all in all, the most fun i've had in awhile.

yesterday, monday, we woke up early again, went to the monoprix and then back to the beach for our last day of sunshine! there wasn't a single cloud in the sky, i couldn't even believe it. we sat there for like, 5 hours or something ridiculous and it was so perfect. some of the girls went parasailing but i videotaped 'cause i've done it before and then we just hung out!

chris met us at the beach, so that was cool, and then we had to head back to the hostel around 4 to check out/grab dinner for the train. i was so sad to leave, it was legit my favorite weekend in a really long time. and, of course, the second we got back to paris it was cold and we couldn't catch a cab and i remembered how excited i was to go home. haha. i can't believe it's already tuesday night, though. i'm already like halfway packed for home, too! all my grades are in so it's really just smooth sailing for the rest of the week. pompidou centre tomorrow with sonia and carley and who knows what else! i'll keep ya posted, as usual =]

the ballet!

so funny story - yesterday morning i went to class super early because i was in a new classroom and had to give a presentation and therefore wanted to leave myself plenty of time to find the building. when i got to the class i had written down, there was another professor there. i immediately panicked and went back out into the street to try and find someone from my class and instead, came across my prof from the afternoon, fabrice. since fabrice is pretty much the nicest person ever, he literally left his own class on their own and took me to the office to find out the right room. the secretary made a series of calls and concluded that my class should, in fact, be in the classroom i had previously visited. i then trekked back up to the 4th floor feeling really stupid, but alas, it was still the other prof. in the end, i resorted to sitting in the courtyard of the catho waiting for my class to go on break so i could find out the room. 90 minutes later, they came out. turns out they were in A42, not E42 so whoever wrote it down wrong in the office is DUMB. buuuut it's totally fine because i ended up being the only one to give a presentation anyway since everyone else was absent and i did a pretty swell job, if i may say so myself.

the rest of the day turned out to be quite fabulous, really, which is odd since it was the 14th...and usually the 14th is really unlucky for me? oh well, no complaints because for lunch a bunch of us went to get falafel! and we were supposed to go to the pompidou centre, but someone told us it was closed...even though it was actually open! but instead of going, brittney and i went grocery shopping and then decided to go to the opera to see if we could get rush tickets for the ballet! and guess what? we got them =] it was only 15 euros and we were in the 10th row!!!! oh and it was so beautiful.

it seriously made me want to run home and stretch and put on my pointe shoes. i can't wait to get paid to do what i love. and by can't wait i mean i really hope i get to...

today was pretty solid, too, despite the 6 hours of french class. turns out school goes quickly when you just have to listen to people talk about random crap for 3 hours at a time. afterwards, i came back to the dorms for some dinner before heading back out to go shopping with carley, steph, sammy and brittney. i wasn't actually planning on buying anything, but i figured that since i ate about 18 of these:

...i should go take a walk. no really, i had 18...but brittney insists that they're just crackers and not cookies so maybe that's better...aaaanyways, i did end up getting a bag in the latin quarter that i had seen. it was only 20 euros and it's really adorable. plus, it's really the only souvenir i'm buying myself from here and i know i'll use it all the time. [i took a really crappy picture of it, but i'll take another better one and post it tomorrow.]

okay i think that's it! i only have one more test for my class on friday and then i'm done! i don't quite know what we'll be doing all of next week, but whatever. tomorrow is more class, more shopping with brittney and carley, a comedy show and GOING OUT. FINALLY. THANK YOU.

10 days 'til home =]

not awesome: this weekend.

i'm ready to go home.

yesterday was freezing and gross. we went to versailles early in the morning. i'm not quite sure what made me think i would be interested in going a second time, especially in such awful weather, but i went nonetheless. in fact, we were all in terrible moods, really. i don't regret going, but we didn't even stay to see the gardens because we were all just so tired. here are a couple decent shots...

from the hall of mirrors (aka where the treaty of versailles was signed)

and the gardens we didn't bother exploring.

and last night all i wanted to do was go out dancing, but everyone was still too tired even though we all took naps. i did go to dinner in the latin quarter with carley and steph, which was fun. we got falafel and crepes again (super delicious) but i was ready to go out when we came home...alas, no plans were formed for our only saturday night here. lamelamelame.

today was okay, i guess? i got breakfast with jodi, saw heather at the market in the middle of the day, and then came home to work on my presentation for tomorrow. i just got really, really homesick. i think a lot of people are really smitten with paris because they can "eat lunch at the gardens" and "there's so much to do here," but i really believe paris is like 80% similar to new york. i always eat my lunch at the park or by a river (i miss the hudson...) and i always am out and about in the city. i guess i'm just used to this lifestyle so it's less exciting for me? not to mention i've done all the tourist-y things before so now what i really want to experience is the nightlife...and no one will do that with me when i can actually go out and not study for a giant exam i will probably fail. i'm just ready to go back. only 12 days left as of tomorrow...

today dad sent me this:

i really miss her, too. and one last picture of us from mike's last week. i actually really like this:

bonsoir.

dieu merci, c'est vendredi!

bonjour =] aside from my awful, awful 2 hour exam this morning, today was really quite swell. and i'm just happy that's over...oddly enough i think my oral portion wasn't too bad? i guess we'll see. i've never really had to worry about passing a class before (lie, calc and economics, fall '08...) so this is kind of stressful.

anyway! last night after a long day of class, jodi, carley and i ventured to the latin quarter for a super cheap meal. it wasn't super great, but it was fun and that's really all that matters. i then came home and got to study for 3 hours while everyone else went to club rex. fml. today was great, though. after my exam i had lunch - a baguette with brie and green apple - and then met up with heather for coffee! it was so great seeing her, and kind of weird at the same time because the last time we hung out it was only my 3rd day here...so i had different opinions on everything. when i got back to the dorm i did some laundry and then met up with stephanie and sammy to go get dinner/walk along the champs elysees. first was falafel:

so damn tasty. steph had a crepe (one of those with egg and cheese is next on my list) and then we hopped back on the metro for the champs elysees. we just went in some stores and got to see the arc de triomphe when we realized that all we wanted was gelato. and you'll be surprised to know that along that entire stupid street, there is no gelato. how? i have no idea. needless to say, we jumped BACK on the metro to the latin quarter AGAIN and came across the most amazing gelato in all of paris. or, the most amazing gelato i personally have come across in paris. i got coconut and this flavor called stipulos (aka biscuit aka cinnamon-y goodness). blew my mind.

aaand now i'm back. versailles tomorrow morning - leaving at 8:15. bright and early. hopefully a nap will be taken sometime in late afternoon so i can be refreshed for a night of going OUT. enough of this studying, it's summer. i do have an oral presentation monday, but i'm good at criticizing the french educational system, so i'm not worried. =]

bonsoir!

dinner parties.

alas, i do not have any photos from our cute little dinner together at mike's apartment last night because i forgot my camera =[ sammy took a few, but she hasn't put them up. in any case, about 10 of us ventured out to the um...i-don't-know-which-arrondissement because mike cooked us a delicious dinner at his fantastic pad. some people brought cheese and baguettes, so we munched on those while sipping on some wine (obviously i chose to bring that...). then we had onion soup, salad and steak! oh and spaghetti! he really went all out. for dessert, we had french cookies that kristen brought and then watched the light show at the eiffel tower from the balcony. so amazing.

as for days before that, monday was pretty standard with a side of sheer exhaustion. after class, i booked my trip to nice (YES) and then came back to my room to get some stuff done before i met up with jodi, steph and sammy for some picnicking on the seine! see? told you i'd do it everyday. i made a salad to bring with me and the other girls had baguettes and cheese. people eat that a lot in paris, in case you haven't noticed...and jodi took a few cute pictures so i'm just going to steal them =]

sammy hard at work...

the four of us!

tuesday, aka yesterday, was long as anything. class all day and then i rushed to get the wine to bring to the dinner party...which i already told you about...and then today i was absolutely shot for some reason. in fact, i'm pretty shot everyday for some reason. or no reason? i don't know. i have a midterm friday, which BLOWS, but then i've got versailles on saturday and i fully plan on going out clubbing this weekend since i'll be missing thursday night's festivities to study. ohhh summer school. wish me luck?

p.s. i still miss you.

listening to LA radio in Paris...

is awesome.

homework now, picnic on the seine later. life is brilliant.

sunshine, gardens and wine tastings!

what a sick weekend.

friday night, carley, jodi and i went by the seine after dinner to chill for a little and check out the eiffel tower. it was awesome, not to mention ridiculously relaxing? i legit wanna do that every single day for the next 2 weeks and 5 days that i'm here. afterwards, we went and sat down on the lawn by the tower and watched the light show. there were a million people there with wine and picnics and it was so adorable. i definitely wanna do that at some point, too. sitting there just made me so happy, it was ridiculous.

saturday morning, aka yesterday, we left for the loire valley at 7:30. our first stop was the chateau de chenonceau. it was really beautiful (and built on top of a bridge, which is really cool), but it was kind of a disappointment. the front was being renovated so there was a huge tarp, and the guided tour was really cramped because the rooms were small and well, there are 80 of us. still, it was cool to see it.

the second stop was da vinci's manor. it was absolutely beautiful. we just walked through his house and got to see all of his inventions and things. sam and i got ice cream and checked out the garden in the back, which was the most beautiful of all. it was just kind of overgrown and natural with cute little paths and streams and things. i loved it.

the last place we went to was actually a "surprise," and a lovely one, at that. gabriel took us to a winery and we had the owner explain to us how the wine is made. the best part was that afterwards we all go to try the red, white and rose with goat cheese because "the french don't drink without eating." lol. i think he just tells us that so we don't aim to get drunk at these things...at around 8pm, we got to the hotel, grabbed some dinner in town (totally delicious and not a baguette, thank you very much) and then passed out. we had breakfast in the hotel this morning and then headed out for chambord at 9:30. today was by far my favorite day of the excursions, so far. the chateau was ginormous. they said it took over 30 years to make and on the 4 floors there were over 300 rooms. the staircases were all double helixes and when you walk on one side, you'll never see the people on the other side, even though you're right next to them. crazy!

we obviously took a ton of pictures and then had some lunch. our second "surprise" was either a bike ride or a boat ride at the chateau...but we all know that since i can't ride a bike, i didn't exactly have a choice. haha. the boat was actually really cute, and i love sonia so it was a good time.

cutie =]

our last surprise was a cookie tasting...um, yum. i almost bought a bag, but figured it would be a waste since i'd probably just be eating them all right now for dinner. no good. overall, it was SUCH a great weekend. now i've got to attend to homework, another week of class, and then versailles on saturday! oh! and i'm going to nice in the south of france my last weekend here =]

au revoir, lovelies.

le quartier latin!

bonjour! and happy friday =]

the past few days have been quite busy with class and homework (ew? it's summer. oh well.), but we all managed to make out it out wednesday night! a bunch of us headed to the latin quarter around 10:30. that place is hoppin', to say the least. i felt a little like i was in times sqaure...except times square sucks and the latin quarter is awesome. we wandered around for quite a bit browsing for a chill bar and ended up sitting down at this place that played really loud, good music and had sparklers on every drink. sick? pretty much.

it was all around good times, but i had to leave with a few girls a little early because i had to be up at 8 for class...which ended up being totally fine and resulting in the most ridiculous thing that's happened to me in Paris yet. apparently it's normal here for a boy to grab your face and kiss you as he's walking past you on the subway and then return 5 minutes later to do it again, sit next to you and then tells you he loves you, baby. only 18, too...ballsy.

aaaaanyway, yesterday was class alll day, aka 9-5, but our lunch break was nice. i got something other than a baguette (again, awesome) and a few of us sat in the luxembourg gardens. the weather is finally getting nice, thank goodness. paris is so much easier to appreciate when i don't have to hold an umbrella in front of my face. after class, we had a group trip on a bateau mouche on the seine...

...which jodi and i failed to attend because we ended up getting stuck at a cafe. instead of telling us they didn't serve dinner until 7, the waiter told us our food would be ready in 10 minutes. IT TOOK 40. we literally ate our food in 3 minutes (it was delicious, by the way) and RAN to the subway. unfortunately, the bateau mouche was about 45 minutes away and there was absolutely no way we were going to make it...so we got on a later one, just the two of us, and it actually worked out perfectly fine...well, more than fine! and i got some good pictures.

today was just class in the morning and then jodi and i went for a walk/to the ISA meeting. i'm just hanging out now, but we're going to the eiffel tower or seine or something with a bottle of wine later so that should be lovely. i can't believe it's already friday afternoon. things are going by really quickly, yet i feel like i've been here for so much longer than 2 weeks. i have a feeling the next 3 are going to fly, but i'll have to sit through about 70 hours of french before this is over so that doesn't sound very appealing...oh well. i'll be sure to do fun things in between. donc, c'est tout! au revoir, mes amis...vous me manquez beaucoup.

oh dorm life, how i missed thee.

okay maybe not a lot, but i think it's pretty awesome when all of your friends are max 5 minutes away from you.

i haven't updated in the past few days because monday i had an oral placement exam and then i went gallavanting with brittney. we were all so stressed out about that test that we figured we deserved some time to shop. first, we grabbed lunch (baguette and orangina, obviously) and brittney got a really cute mini pain au chocolat...

i, however, did not because i've sworn off croissants and crepes until two days before i go home. i will absolutely blow up like a balloon if i continue that habit! oh, i also randomly found the restaurant i ate at for my 13th birthday =] it was really exciting.

anyway, yesterday was my first day of class/we found out which levels we were placed into. i seriously thought i spoke terribly during my examen, but apparently not because i got bumped up from intermediate 2 into intermediate 3/advanced? curious. it's kind of awesome and kind of really terrifying at the same time. class was a total of 6 hours yesterday, as it will be every tuesday and thursday, but mondays, wednesdays and fridays are only 9am-12pm. thank goodness. after class i moved into the fondation des etats-unis!

i was actually having a terrible evening - i screwed up my internet so i had to wait until this afternoon to get it back, i needed to do laundry but only one machine was working for the entire building, and i was starving but the cafeteria is gross. it's all good though, because everything got done and i still got to hang out with jodi, steph, sammy and carley. today after class, carley came with me to zara again because i wanted to try on some shorts...and i got these:

i wonder when i'm going to stop dressing like i'm 12 years old...

okay, that's all for now. i think i'm going to a bar with the girls later? 3 weeks and 4 days left!!! but hey, who's counting? oops...