Not much new

So, not much has been going on in the past week. I've just been going to classes and doing the normal hanging out. Yesterday I went back to Sacre Couer with a friend. We wanted to ponder what brought us to Paris for awhile. Neither of us came up with an answer, but we did sing Bob Marley hits along with about 50 other students/Parisians. I had two exams last week, which is the main reason I havent been out and about. I probably wont be out much this week either as I have an extra class this week. I think I'm going somewhere this weekend...either Amsterdam or Dublin. Fun fun!


Sorry, no new pictures either...Blame my classes!!!!


Ok, got to run. Till next week,

Jannae

finally, some pictures!!!

This is a merry-go-round (obviously) in front of Hotel de Ville. Its open everyday with a cotton candy, balloon, waffles, and crepe stand in front of it. There is also an ice skating rink next to it.

This is mine (the pink raspberry macaroon) and my friends' (the opposite one) desert at Laduree. How pretty is that? Not only does it look good, it tastes amazing.

Me about to enjoy my macaroon

This is me and my insane friend christian at Etretat

This is the natural arch at Etretat. It was FREEZING that day.

Here's the view from Sacre Coeur. You can see all the lights of Paris from that view. Its quite the climb though.

Busy, busy, busy

So, its been more than a week since my last post, but I've been incredibly busy! I've been seeing the city like a true Parisian student (going to classes, hanging out at cafes, and riding the metro). A few places I've been since the last time I wrote include:

• Sacre Coeur - BEAUTIFUL! I went on Sunday night. When we got there, there were a bunch of young people hanging out on the steps in front of Sacre Coeur drinking cafes and enjoying the goregeous view. There were also some performers...no one famous of course. Just a guy that played Coldplay on his guitar and an anon 40something woman singing some old french songs. After the performers finished, everyone scatterd into the church which was holding a service. I've never seen a Catholic service before, so for my first one to be in Sacre Coeur was AMAZING. Obviously the view outside was amazing as well. You can see almost all of Paris, including the eiffel tower, from that hill. But boy, what a climb...


• Le Klub - A gay bar/club in Chatelet Les Halles. I went with my gay bff and actually had a really good time. The price to get in was 18 euro though...but it did come with a drink. And the music was good. I needed that night to wig out.


• Pigalle - Its a metro stop where Le Moulin Rouge is located....SEX SHOPS EVERYWHERE! One thing I can say about that area is that they dont discriminate...sex shops, xxx movie cinemas, and prostitutes for anyone and everyone.


• Alot of cafes


• Notre Dame - Its basically the centre of Paris and really close to all of my classes and spots I like to hang out, so I go there alot. If you go, beware of the gypsies!


• The Pantehon - I take classes at the Sorbonne which is right next to the Pantheon, so I pass by and go there alot. Actually, I ate lunch on the steps of the Pantheon this afternoon.


• Etretat and Fecamp - Fishing villages in Northern France just outside of Normandy. Our program hosted a "mysery tour" and these were the locations. Fecamp was ok and had this really cool castle that I took pictures of. When I took pics of that castle, my camera began to smoke, and in the picture theres an orb. I am CONVINCED its a ghost. Hope I didnt piss it off lol. In Etretat, theres an amazing natural arch and a GREAT view of the city/sea. But you have to climb and climb and climb to get the view. Seriously, I'm going to have legs of steel by the time I get back to the U.S.


• Shopping/dining on the champs-elysses - Of course I didnt buy anything but food but my friend bought a Fendi bag. jealous! But I did get to go to this famous macaroon place called 'Laduree'. It was like having high tea with Marie Antoinette. Amazing

Right now, I'm a bit under the weather. Most likely a combination of running around and doing a bunch of things and the weather. It rained for a few days straight with very little sunlight. I'm now fighting an ugly head cold, as are alot of people in my program and it seems most of Paris.

I'm going to attempt to post pictures now. I've decided I will be making this a weekly blog, so I'll write again next Thursday

First Post / 3rd week in Paris

So, I know I'm a bit late, but this is my first post/first blog ever. So, my name is Jannae and I am a university student from the United States. I'm an anthropology major, music minor, with strong interests in health administration. Last year, I had a roomate that went to Spain. This started the spark of an idea that I should also study abroad in a city I've been dreaming of since I was a kid. Thus, here I am, one year later in the City of Lights. I decided to create a blog today (very randomly upon a conversation with a friend) to document and log how my study abroad expierence is going. Ok, so now that my introduction is over I can begin telling you my experiences and thoughts thus far.

Ok...so when I first arrived in the city, my program hired taxi drivers to drop us off to our respective residences (dorms, appartments, home stay houses, etc.) I happened to be lucky enough to land a spot in the U.S. dorms in a single room. So here I am, in a taxi, my only steps in Paris so far being at the airport (which actually isnt in the city). When he drops me off, I am left alone with my 2 50lb bags, a huge laptop, a very heavy purse, and a bag of snacks given to me by my worrisome grandmother. As I look at the door to the "dorms" I notice the address doesnt match the address on the packet my program gave me...Crap. Im alone in a foreign country, with an extremley limited knowledge of the language, and a crapload of luggage. This probably was the best thing that could have happened to me. Before coming to Paris, I was under the notion (from people AND literature I've read about the city) that the people are extremely rude, arrogant, and not very friendly. Quite the opposite. I was helped by every person I met that afternoon. By an tall African man who helped pull my luggage the 5 blocks to my actual dorm, by the women at the several front desks that I went to, and by a french boy who accidently spilled laundry detergent in the elevator and carried my bags up 4 flights of stairs.

Without this stroke of bad luck, I might never have given the French the chance to prove me wrong. Now don't take this the wrong way. Im not saying EVERYONE is nice...there are the meanies out there just like any other city. But thus far, I'm liking the laid back lifestyle of the Parisians.

Au revior till next time,

Jannae