Paris For the Weekend!

This weekend, Jon and I met up in Paris to spend some time together. And it was absolutely wonderful!

We both arrived Friday but by the time Jon got to the hotel, it was a little late to do anything too exciting. So in the true French fashion, we went out for a late, late dinner at a nearby Chinese restaurant. Haha. It was quite delicious. Afterwards, we spent some time walking around the Bastille area.

Saturday morning, we woke up early, ate some really delicious breakfast and set out for a day of sightseeing since I've never been to Paris before.

We began at the Eiffel Tower, which was incredible. It was entirely too surreal to be standing next to it. Unfortunately, the skies were kind of overcast making the tower a little less visible, but it was still amazing.


Afterwards, we made our way to the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-Elysees. Both were really neat. Although, I was kind of surprised by some of the stores we found. In addition to Cartier and Louis Vuitton, there was a Gap, Adidas, and Virgin Megastore. Not quite the upscale stores I was expecting to find, but neat nonetheless. We walked into the Virgin Megastore and I must say-- if the people around me weren't speaking French and everything wasn't written in French, I'd have no idea that we were in an electronics store in France. A majority of the music was American music. Although, that's not much different from the radio here. I hardly ever hear French music and I've discovered that the French absolutely love themselves some Katy Perry. Which I'm certainly not complaining about.


Then we walked down to the Louvre and the surrounding area which was full of gardens. It was really neat to see the Louvre, but we didn't have the time to go in and check things out. I think I might have to make another trip up to Paris sometime to do that. And the surrounding gardens were really neat. They were full of fountains (which unfortunately weren't on) and exquisite statues. We also checked out the Place de la Concorde on the way which has the giant Egyptian obelisk in its center. It's where Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were beheaded. Which reminds me-- that's one thing I absolutely love about France. Every place you go has some interesting historical value. It feels incredible to think about the things that have happened at the very spot you are standing oh so many years ago. It's so neat. In fact, on a side note, there's an archaeological site called Entremont like 5 minutes up the hill from where I live. Before the Romans took over the area, it's where the Gauls set the roots for Aix so many years ago. I think it's incredible that all these neat historical places are so numerous and accessible.


After the Louvre, we grabbed amazing kebab baguettes (Greek kebab and fries in a French baguette) and Nutella crepes before heading to Notre Dame. It was absolutely beautiful! And we also got to check out the Roman ruins located under the building.

Then we headed back to the hotel to change into nicer clothes and grab dinner. Afterwards, we spent the evening walking around Paris and I even got to see the Eiffel Tower all lit up. So neat!


It truly was a wonderful weekend. I got to spend it with Jon and in Paris so it really couldn't have gotten much better. :D

And of course I have pictures! Clicky here and here!

One of These Things is Not Like the Others...

One thing I've noticed since I've been in France is that I do not fit in here. If you line me up next to three French women and play a game of "One of these things is not like the others..." you will immediately be able to tell that I'm the thing that's not like the others. And in all honesty, it doesn't bother me one bit. In fact, I'm really kind of amused by the whole thing.

So let's take a closer look at this.


Hair. For one, I am probably one of 30 females in Aix with blond hair. And another 4 or 5 of these blonds are girls in my program. All of the French women have brown or black hair.

Shoes. Every French woman I've seen wears heels of some sort in black or brown. Whether it's a nice work shoe or knee high stiletto boots, there's always a 1.5 inch heel. At least. Then there's me. I wear flats everywhere. And depending on the day and outfit, they can either be simple black flats or silver sequined flats. Which leads me to another observation. Have the French never seen sequins before?

Clothes. You know how in the US, flaired or bootcut jeans are the main styles? Sure, there are some girls who wear their skinny jeans. But not many. Well here it's ALL about the skinny jeans. They're everywhere. Regardless of whether or not the people have the shape to wear them. Oh and my coat? It's a very fashionable black/blue/purple design. I get compliments on it all the time. But no way, you won't see anything like it here.

Facial Expressions. Do you smile while you're walking down the street, make eye contact with passerbys or say hello? Might as well brand "I'm American" across your forehead. Here, don't smile while walking, don't say "hello" because that's invading someone's personal space and lastly, don't make any eye contact. That is, unless you think someone is cute. Eye contact essentially means, I'm available and now we're boyfriend and girlfriend.

It's kind of crazy to see how even the tiniest details can set you apart.

Although I think my favorite experience is from yesterday. Yesterday, I took a walk with Lauren to find one of the local parks. She planned on running afterwards so she wore her running shoes, leggings underneath shorts and a longsleeved running fleece. Although with the looks she was getting, you would have thought she was walking down the street in a gorilla costume or something. It was highly amusing.

Obviously, the French just don't fully appreciate our hot American style.

Why yes, I am a genius.

I'm sorry but I have to take a minute here to gush about how incredible I am. I swear I'm not ridiculously egocentric. Rather, I'm very proud of what I just did and feel the need to share it with the world. Haha.

For the past few weeks, the girls and I have been trying to plan our Winter Break. We began thinking London, Dublin, and Paris. But then we realized those are countries which will probably be easier to go to either for a weekend or when we're older. So we decided to check out other places. We began thinking Prague, Vienna, and Zurich. But today, we finally decided on Munich, Prague, and Vienna.

Originally when we were planning our trip to Prague, Vienna and Zurich, we went to a travel agent to discuss prices. He told us 297 Euros. And that was fine with us.

Today, we went back to the travel agent and discussed Munich, Prague and Vienna. Let's just say it was quite a bit pricier.

We returned to school today a bit disappointed because nobody wanted to pay quite so much for vacation. So we decided to take it into our own hands and research buses, trains and flights to get us from place to place. After checking things out we realized we were doing incredibly well on prices. The only problem was that we couldn't find a way home from any of these places. Well, aside from 1400 Euro flights.

So instead of doing homework tonight, I worked on our plans for Winter Break. And this is why I'm proud.

• I found a way to get from Vienna to Aix which seemed utterly impossible.
  
• I found all of the cheapest/most reliable buses and trains and put together a complete itinerary.
• And finally, I completely beat the price that the travel agent had given us. Both the expensive one and the 297 Euros one from when were still planning on Munich/Zurich/Prague.

Alright, time to get working on that homework I put aside. Goodnight all!

I got to touch the Mediterranean Sea! Not even kidding.

Hi! I'm sorry it's been so long, but it has been quite the week. I'll quick go through some of the highlights.

• I had my first creeper experience which the girls and I found completely hilarious. Lauren, Caitlin and I were sitting outside of the Office of Tourism eating ham and cheese crepes and some fluffy, happy guy walked up to us. He looked at me and was like "Are you American or are you English?" I responded that I was from the US and he exclaims "Quelle belle americaine!" Or "What a beautiful American!" We couldn't stop laughing for two minutes straight.
  
• On Friday night, I had the girls over to watch L'Auberge espagnol and eat Nutella. Because that's what we do. I have a feeling it's going to become a weekend tradition. But I'm completely OK with that because it's so much fun and really nice to be able to hang out.
• Today I bought my train ticket to Paris! Jon and I are going to meet up there in two weekends!
  

Now for the really exciting stuff. This past weekend, the program took us on an excursion to Nice, Monaco and Cannes. It was AMAZING. I have fallen in love with the Mediterranean Sea. I never want to leave it.

Nice was incredible and by far my favorite part of the excursion. We walked through the market, climbed up the mountain through the Roman(?) ruins, grabbed lunch from the market and picnicked on the beach for most of the afternoon. It was incredible. The hike up the mountain was quite a doozy, especially in my flats and falling down pants. (I'm sure it was quite the site to watch me.) But it was completely worth it. I'm posting pictures so you'll be able to tell for yourselves. It was really neat because in addition to the ruins, the top of the mountain had a playground and was swarming with families. Afterwards, we grabbed fruit and Sacco, a specialty food of Nice that's essentially a chick pea crepe, from the market and picnicked on the beach. The sea was so blue and the sun felt wonderful. I could have sat there all day without moving once. But eventually, we decided that it would be a good idea to check out the town and grab some gelato before getting back on the bus.




It was still too early to head to the retreat, so we went to Fragonard, a perfume factory, where we got a tour and learned all about how perfume was made. Get this. The person who creates perfumes is called a "nose." They go to school for 3 years learning about different smells and how to distinguish them. Afterwards, they do 7 years of practice, putting their noses to work before actually creating any perfumes. Then they get to work. The only downside of this is that they can't drink, smoke (not that it would bother me), or eat spicy food. Count me out of that job! No spicy food? Poor noses. Oh, and even cooler about this place? It was seated at the bottom of a hill that housed a Medeival city. If we would have had more time, I completely would have climbed that hill.

After the tour, we headed to the "retreat," which I've decided is just a nicer name for a hostel. Because it's precisely what it is. Although, it really was pretty nice-- it was clean, had showers, only five people per room, they fed us, set up a discotheque for us in the evening, and it was staffed by cute German guys with adorable accents. After dinner there, which wasn't all that bad, we headed into Monaco for a little bit. This place is incredible. We saw the casino at Monte Carlo and in the distance we could see the palace. There were video cameras and police everywhere. We walked down a street and there was Chanel, Hermes, Bvlgari, Ferraris, you get the picture. I don't think I've ever felt more out of place in my entire life. Haha. But it was an experience that I'm glad I got. I'm just sad it wasn't light out. I'm sure I would have gotten some incredible photos if it had been. Then we went back to the "retreat" and decided to head to bed while everyone else got drunky drunk and danced at the discotheque. But we were some of the only people who seemed to be in good shape the next morning, so I'm not regretting that choice. I saw a shirt ruined by wine and heard stories about vomitting in top bunks and lost shoes. So I think I made a good choice. Also, the view the following morning was breath-taking. I think you'll agree when you see the photos. We were right on the sea, about two minutes outside of Monaco.




Sunday we headed into Cannes, home of the famous Cannes Film Festival. Not going to lie, I was a little disappointed in the Auditorium. It wasn't glamorous, it wasn't large, and it wasn't even all that clean outside. I mean, it's still awesome that I got to go there and see walk on the same ground as some amazing celebrities, but I wasn't wowed as I had expected to be. (BTW, update: I still haven't run into Johnny Depp yet. But I still have over three months. Also, apparently Brad Pitt and (M)angelina--oh how I despise her-- have a house in or right outside of Aix.) After checking out the Auditorium, we climbed ANOTHER mountain. It was really neat and completely made up for the Auditorium disappointment. On the way up the hill, we stopped by this building that at one point housed the Man in the Iron Mask. You know that movie with Leo DiCaprio about the French king who has his twin imprisoned and forces him to wear an iron mask to conceal his identity? Yeah, I was outside of one of his prisons! Also, if you're into The Count of Monte Cristo, we were able to see the island that inspired Dumas when he wrote the novel. At the top of the hill, there was a museum that had African, Native American, and ancient Egyptian, Roman and Greek art. It was really neat. And there was a tower we climbed up which gave us an amazing view of the city. Afterwards, we grabbed panini for lunch (I swear I have panini at least every other day for lunch-- it's soo good!) and then sat on the beach. It was nice because this beach was more sandy, whereas the beach in Nice was more rocky. After a nice afternoon on the beach, we headed back to Aix and were greeted by sunshine. It was nice considering the fact it's been rainy for the past two weeks straight.




Well, now for the fun part! Pictures! I have three different albums. Clicky: Nice is Nice, Nice is Nice, but Monaco is Exquisite, and Retreat is Just a Nicer Name for Hostel.

Pictures! or So I Finally Gave in and Became a Typical Tourist

Hi everyone! I don't have time to write an entry because Caitlin, Lauren, Erin and maybe Christian are on their way over to watch a movie, but I wanted to let you all know that I have posted my pictures on Facebook. The page is public and you should all be able to see my pictures, but if you can't, please let me know!

Love!

The Beginning: Part III or Yay for Les Soldes!

Today I only had one class-- Provencal History and Civilization. I think it's going to be a wonderful course. In it, we will be studying the history of Provence (obviously) beginning with the Gauls and Romans and ending with present day. One of my favorite things about the course is that we'll get to go on a quite a few field trips to places such as nearby Roman ruins, medieval cathedrals and Marseille. We'll study art, architecture, customs, everything. In fact, our textbook is basically a travel guide to the area. It should be incredibly fascinating. Also, our professor is great. He's very young, very French, and is trying very hard to make this class the best ever. Which he may do. I think this course will be right up there with my course about France during the Occupation and may even end up being better. Although I'm not a huge fan of the 30 minute presentation I'll have to do at the end of the semester... entirely in French. Eek!

After class, I went out with my shopping buddy, Lauren and made my first real purchases in France. Clothing, of course. During January, France has all of its wonderful sales. You can get 20-60% off of pretty much anything (clothing, electronics, housewares, etc) with the exception of brand new items. So today I bought a dress and two shirts from these really adorable and incredibly French boutiques. The clothing at these stores are amazing and I wish I could just redo my entire wardrobe here. And it's been a really nice experience because instead of getting frustrated with our not so perfect French, the owners/workers of these stores have been very polite, kind, and understanding-- not at all what I was expecting.

After shopping for clothing, I headed to the grocery store to buy some lunch supplies with a girl named Phalyn. She's pretty neat, too. I got my ham, cheese, lettuce and bread for sandwiches and some granola bars for snacks. It was amazing how much American food, or I suppose brands, they had at the grocery store. There was Dannon yogurt, Coco Puffs, Special K cereal, etc. But their selections in cheese were obviously WAY better. The cheese and bread here are so good. And I had my first crepe with Nutella today and it was delicious.

I didn't do much tonight other than read for my Contemporary French Novel course. Madame Rosso got stuck in major traffic on the way home and then had to run to her daughter's house to babysit her grandson for a bit. She had asked before she left if I was going out and as of then I hadn't heard of any good plans so I said no. I talked to Caitlin, though, at 9:30 and she said that a bunch of people were going out and that I should join them, but I didn't think it was a good idea because Madame Rosso might get worried about me not being here when she got home. But we plan on going out this weekend.

Also this weekend, we have quite a few things to do. Friday I have one final class to begin (my French language course) and then the entire program is going bowling in the afternoon. On Saturday, we're going to check out the large market in town, do a scavenger hunt put together by the program, then grab dinner and go out since Saturday is our day to fend for ourselves. On Sunday, we're goin to have a picnic lunch at the beach at Cassis. And if I can judge Sunday by the weather today, it's going to be a beautiful, sunny day. I left this morning and was quite cold so I threw on my scarf and jacket. But by my walk home at 2:30ish, it was so incredibly hot that I had to take both off. I believe it may have gotten up into the upper 50s/lower 60s today. Or at least, that's what it felt like. Hopefully Sunday will be a beautiful day as well so we can enjoy the beach. Although that reminds me, I seem to have forgotten my swimsuit at home... Not that I think it would be a good day to swim. Not yet. But I should look into getting mine from home/getting one here so that I'm prepared when it does become the perfect beach weather. :)

The Beginning: Part II or Classes

I think I'm going to combine Tuesday and Wednesday here.


Tuesday was a great, but very uneventful day. We finished up our Orientation stuff and began our courses in the afternoon. Lucky me, however, does not have any Tuesday afternoon courses. So instead I spent the afternoon with this really cool girl named Lauren. She's from Louisiana and is oh so sweet. I really like her and I think that by the end of the semester, we'll be great friends. Also, we've decided that while we're here, we're going to be shopping buddies. We walked around Aix for several hours because neither of us had anything to do and I helped her pick out a pair of really cute boots.


Afterwards, we both headed home for the night. I ate dinner with Madame Rosso and then we watched some television and talked.


Wednesday was a bit more eventful. I had my first three classes and I think it's going to be quite the semester.


The first course I had was Contemporary French Novel. This class is going to be doozy. Not only do I have to read 4 different French books (one every three weeks) and discuss them, but I also have to figure out what the hell my professor saying. Here in Provence, they have their own dialect of French. And my professor most definitely speaks it. Oh mon Dieu!


The second class I had was France During the Occupation (which is thankfully taught in English). I think this course will be very interesting. It's both a history course and a communications course. So every class we will learn some of the history of the Occupation and watch excerpts from a movie to reinforce what we have learned. For this class, I will have to keep a journal of responses/criticisms/questions/etc on the two mandatory texts, four mandatory movies and either three more books or six more movies. It's going to be a lot of work, but I believe it's also going to be a lot of fun. The professor is incredibly nice and very enthusiastic. This may possibly end up being my favorite course of the semester.


The last class I had on Wednesday was Topics in French Contemporary Media. This course doesn't require much of us, other than that we must read French newspapers, watch French news programs and be able to discuss their stories. We will have a few major assignments such as discussing prominent themes within the newspapers (the Sarkozy government, unemployment, environment, etc) but I don't think this course will be all that hard or demanding. I really like this course and already find it to be interesting. Our professor asked us what we thought the number one topic in French newspapers was and it took us probably a good 20 minutes to guess it. I guessed the economy and poverty. Another girl guessed France's high rate of unemployment. And someone else mentioned the environment. Surprisingly, however, the most prominent topic in French news is the conflict between Israel and Palestine. And not simply within the past few weeks. The government is concerned about the conflict because there are so many emigrants from these two countries living in such close quarters in large cities like Paris and Marseille. Personally, I never would have guessed that was such a prominent topic in French journalism. And the professor is incredibly nice and cool. He's one of the younger professors I have and really seems to understand how to work with people our age and is very understanding when it comes to our French language skills, or lack thereof.


After classes were done for the day, I came home, did a bit of homework, ate dinner with Madame Rosso and then we settled ourselves on the couch to watch the big soccer match between Marseille and Lyon. She's a huge fan of the Marseille team and gets very into the game. It's great. And I think she likes the fact that I want to watch the soccer matches with her. I loved every second of it. Although I'm kind of sad that Marseille lost to Lyon (0-1). But she told me that Lyon is the number one team in France so I guess it's to be expected.

The Beginning: Part I or My First Bar Experience in Aix

These past three days have been incredibly busy, so there's much to talk about. I think I will probably break it up into a few posts. I suppose I should begin with Monday.

Monday was the first day of our orientation. We had many things to cover like passport/visa formalities, how to get along with your host family, scheduling meetings and a course called "Aix with Margaux and Friends." Now, Margaux is awesome. She does all the planning for excursions, tells us different things to get involved in around Aix to better immerse ourselves, and is just an incredibly neat woman. For this course, she brought in her son Luic and one of his friends, Pauline. She talked for a little bit and then said, "OK. I'm going to turn things over to my son because I know that you're dying to find out what the young people do and what bars are the best." So she turned it over to him and he told us all about the best cafes, cultural sites, and bars around town.

Feeling the itch to go out, a bunch of us decided that we were going to meet up at IAU at 10PM and walk to Le Passage, a jazz bar Luic had mentioned, because they have live jazz every Monday night. was the first to arrive at IAU since Madame Rosso insisted on driving me. A few minutes later, a girl I hadn't met from IAU, named Ellie, came up to me and asked if I was a part of the group that was going out to celebrate another girl's birthday. I hadn't planned on it, but once the other members of my group arrived and we began walking towards Le Passage, we ran into the birthday group. One of the girls in the birthday group lives in a flat with one other IAU student, two study abroad students from Switzerland (I think), and a young French man. Well, the young French man came out with us because he knows what places around town are good.

Together, our group ended up being nine people, seven girls and two boys. We mentioned that we were heading to Le Passage, but we were told that it was very expensive and that we should grab a drink or two at the Sextius bar before heading there. (Insert: Sextius is apparently derived from the Latin name for Aix, Aquae Sextiae. I learned that in my History of Provence course today.) So we walked to the Sextius bar, only to find out that it was ridiculously crowded. Since we had the French guy with us, we decided to ask him what bar to try next. He said that essentially, you can get the same drinks anywhere you go. So we looked for the nearest cafe/bar, which happened to be right next door.

As we walked in the door, we noticed these guys looking at us strangely, which we attributed to the fact that we were Americans. We proceeded to walk in and ask for a table for nine, and we were promptly seated. After we sat down, we got some "why are you here?" looks from the guys at the table over from us who were playing poker. But nobody really cared and we proceeded to order. That's when things started getting a little strange. Rebekah, one of the girls who came with us, returned from the bathroom and informed us that there were only guys' bathrooms downstairs so all the girls were out of luck. That is after she walked in on a guy. Oops! Haha. Then we began looking around and observing the cafe. There were tons of pictures above the bar... only they were all of half naked men and women kissing... people of their own sex. And on the television, there was a music video of a guy... seducing another guy. So by now it had clicked. Oh damn. We were at a gay bar. And then my drink came out with a glow stick in it.

By now, the other guy who came with us, Christian, had begun looking around. And he noticed that most of the Frenchmen's eyes were focused on him. So we decided that after we had finished our drinks, we would leave. And about 15 minutes later, we did.

Afterwards, we decided to hit up the Sextius Bar even though it was busy. We all ordered drinks and sat down. This bar is out of control. On one side, there's the elegant looking bar with clean cut waiters. On the other side of the cafe, there's the shot bar with the hippy looking man serving flaming B-52s. Meanwhile, the music is blaring. And this music-- it's all in English and it's all either Reggae or Metal. The Sextius Bar is awesome. We plan on going back. Quite often.

First Day Exploring Aix

I got to explore Aix today with Mme Rosso and a friend of hers who is also hosting two students, Ben and Libby. I had a great time getting to know them and exploring the streets. Everything is so picturesque. The streets are full of patisseries with wonderful looking desserts, cafes with many of their patrons choosing to sit outside since the weather is so nice, and people running their errands. It's absolutely wonderful.

After exploring a bit, we went to IAU (my school, Institute for American Universities) for a meet and greet. Everyone seems really nice and I think we're going to have a lot of fun together. I've even met quite a few people from Pennsylvania, including a girl who goes to Penn State Berks. This is her second semester abroad, although she spent her last semester in Beijing. I believe she's an international relations major so studying abroad will be great for her.

After the meet and greet, Erin and I went exploring some more since she hadn't been out yet. We walked around town and then ended up at a cafe called Happy Days. It was kind of awkward going to the cafe because we're not quite sure what to do-- sit down or wait for someone to seat us, take the check to them or wait for them to take it from us. But now that we've done it once, I'm sure things will be smoother next time around.

Tomorrow is beginning of orientation so I'm sure it'll be a busy day. We have tons of meetings about housing, passports/visas, scheduling, Aix itself and we'll also be going on a tour of the city. But I'm sure it will all be helpful information to have.

Finally in Aix!

I am finally in France! After 21 hours of waiting, flying, and transferring airports, I am settled in. I am completely unpacked, might I add. Unfortunately, because we got in so late today, I haven’t gotten a chance to see or explore Aix yet. That’s what we’re beginning with tomorrow. Madame Rosso, several other students, their hosts and I are going to meet up and walk around town to check out the sights and figure out where our school buildings are.

Although I haven’t gotten a chance to see Aix yet, I have been having a great time with Madame Rosso, my host mother. She’s incredibly nice, very sweet, funny and is doing everything possible to make sure I feel at home. And she’s certainly doing a great job. We spent the night sitting on the couch, eating dinner and getting to know one another. From our conversations so far, I know that she works at a very popular French bank in Marseille, has two girls of her own and grandchildren, likes playing cards, has been keeping students from IAU for several years and finds George Clooney to be very attractive. She’s pretty neat.

I’m very excited to get this semester started. It seems like it should be a lot of fun. There’s so much to do, so many places to go, some incredibly nice people like Erin and Kate, and it just feels like it’s going to be a good semester.