a week in review

This past week was a hurricane. I had a lot of downtime but also - a lot of shaky internet connectivity.

Classes started and I suppose that's where most of my time went. Everything turned out to be good choices except that my Questions of Esthetique class scares me to death. My professor speaks really fast and kind of mumbles ( not to mention around 15 people dropped it after the first day ). But....he writes film and book reviews for french newspaper and so I think it will be a good choice to stick with it. It's all really hard to deal with right now because by the end of my third class I can barely think anymore ( I've been getting used to thinking in french ). Monday night, Dominique and I went to have dinner at her friends house. Her friend is American although she has lived all over the world and has lived in France for awhile now. She was really a fun lady and dinner was a nice break.

Tuesday I just had one class- my french class - and I spent the rest of the day lounging around and doing some exploring. In the evening Kate came over and we continued to watch episodes of the office. Dominique invited her to stay for dinner and we ended up have an intense discussion about politics. It was nice to have somebody else there for a change. Plus, we got to speak in English. Yay!

Wednesday and Thursday were pretty boring. Kate and I made dinner at her and watched the Office apartment Wednesday night. On Thursday I went to a movie after class and walked from the Opera back to my apartment so I could see more of the street I live on. Thursday night we finished the office and ordered pizza. Same old, same old.

So Friday I had my first excursion with school to Giverny ( the town where Monet lived ). It was really a beautiful area and the gardens were awesome. Unfortunately it was really cold and rainy - not the best weather to be walking around outside in. I still enjoyed it though. Friday night we went out but didn't end up doing a whole lot of anything. Lots of walking and lots of money spent on kebabs.

Saturday I slept in really late and woke up to find out we were having lunch with Bastien, his girlfriend, and Domonique's brother. It turned out to be really fun ( except for the foie gras which I had mega issues eating without complaint - I hate foie gras ). I was however 2 hours late to a shopping excursion with the girls. We walked around for awhile but everyone was really depressed and homesick so we decided not to go out for dinner like we had planned. I still wanted to so I convinved Kate to go for food later. We found some random resturaunt that, while very overpriced, had possibly the best onion soup ever.

Today I met Kate to show her Montmartre and Sacre Coeur and to have lunch. We walked around a little bit and enjoyed the nice weather. I think now that October is rolling around everyone is starting to feel torn between Paris and home though. So this weekend was pretty low key and this past week was really stressfull with all the school stuff going on. This week should be interesting though because I start my class at the Sorbonne ( yeahhh....i know.... ) and I'm already scared out of my mind!


I'm working on putting up pictures from Tours from last weekend and Giverny as well. If the internet would ever work for more than 5 min. at a time it would be good. I'll post the link asap :).


love from rainy and cold paris!
g

Whoa - a little catching up

Will anyone believe me if I told them I went an entire weekend without internet? Well, I did. It was not fun. I finally am saved though and I can recount the events of these past few days. So let's see...

THURSDAY
I did nothing very interesting. Well actually I guess sort of. We had class in the morning of course and afterwards Kate and I went to have Thai food. We apparently mistranslated in our excitment and stumbled into a Middle-Eastern restuarant which we thought was Thai...it was actually a Tea restaurant. We are adventurous though I suppose and I had .... I have no idea ... but it was pretty good. He gave us Baklava for free too which was excellent. We went our seperate ways planning on getting together the next night. When I got home I realized how bored I was going to be all alone all night though so I went to the Champs Elysees to do some window shopping and Kate met me there. We walked around and chatted and spent a ridiculous amount of time in Sephora smelling everything and discussing the product design.

FRIDAY
We had a test in our french class today so we got done a little early. My shoes broke so I had to do some shopping and I had also run out of my juice boxes and so I had to find a grocery store as well. I've been trying to learn the various metro lines by heart and now that I have a couple down pretty well and ventured to the other side of my neighborhood to acclimate myself. I made myself a quick diner and went to meet Kate at her apartment. I'm really jealous because she lives in the student housing and the apartments are really cute. We watched the Big Lebowski while we waited for our two other friends Leigh and Sophie. We planned on trying out some bars but we couldn't really find them so we did a lot of walking around. In europe they don't go out any earlier than 10 so needless to say....we were out pretty late. We had an absolute blast. We went back home in between metro opening and closing and all the taxis were booked so we had to take the nightbus. It was fun because it was a couple french people but was for the most part entirely comprised of drunken Irishmen. I slept for a while and ran home quick...

SATURDAY
...before meeting up with Pam! We went up the eiffel tower and had a nice breakfast. :) Thenn I ran back home and packed some stuff before going on to Noisy le Grand to meet Anne and Camille's friend Charlotte. We were on our way to Tours for the night to celebrate Camille's birthday and help her settle into her new apartment. It was fun because her brother Maxime was there and I haven't seen him since I visited back in high school. Camille's aunt came over with food and we had a picnic of various uber french foods and....wine. For desert we had homemade rhubarb tarte and cake. After dinner we went out to have a drink and see the town as much as we could ( it was pretty late ... and pretty dark ).

SUNDAY
Before heading back to Paris we stopped in Amboise to see the castle and have a coffee. We didn't get to go in the castle because of time restrictions but the town was cute and it was really nice outside. The countryside was pretty boring - really flat and lots of farmland. We ran into bad traffic jams and so we had to take a long route into Paris. Thankfully it was more interesting than the countryside - we got to go through little towns instead. I met Kate on my way back home and we got McDonalds for dinner and started our Office Marathon ( in honor of the new episode on Thursday ). It was a pretty slow day and a pretty relaxing night ( except for the very stressfull attempt to figure out the washing machine... ). Class started in the morning so I tried to get to bed as early as possible.

And more....

So let's see -
After class I had Indian food for the first time in my life. Authentic Indian cuisine I should say. Or well, authentic french indian cuisine :). My new friend Kate wanted to try a place and I'm game for expanding my food horizons so I went for it. It was pretty good. We hit the end of their lunchtime hours so we got free rice and free nan. We made a date to try out the Thai restaurant next door tomorrow ( or today I suppose ).
Tonight was the "Welcome Dinner" boat ride on the Seine. I was afraid it would be pretty touristy but actually - we didn't really pay any attention to the sights. It was just pretty much a dinner cruise. Kate and I met up at 7:30 and went to the boat together. It's her first time in Paris so I got to be the one to experience the eiffel tower with her for the first time. Dinner was good - nothing too crazy. It involved mashed potatoes and let me tell you ... I had no idea how much I missed mashed potatoes. After dinner we quick went back to the eiffel tower for some pictures and arrived right on time for when it goes sparkly. That's my favorite second only to right at sunset. Ahh. We did some intense running in heels to make it to the metro before they closed and had to do even more running at our transfer because the people mover wasn't working! Really served its purpose - yeahhh. So anyway - I'm tired, long day, all this french is catching up with me again. I need a vacation :).

brioche heaven

Ah how I missed breakfasts of brioche, nutella and hot chocolate. yumm.
I have to update on yesterday today because I spent the night in Noisy le Grand at Camille's house. I was going to blog but then I realized I couldn't log in because my password ( don't hack in to my account! ) involves a keyboard sequence and their keyboards are different than mine! Oopps. So here I am.

Yesterday was a pretty boring day I guess. I had class. It was really really cold - I wore a jacket and a scarf. I had to do some shopping and also had to find Camille and birthday present for this weekend. I went back to a cute shop on the rue du Rennes that sells all kinds of little things. I found a contraptions for extracting tarts from their cooking compartments. I don't know what the word is in english or french. Anyway when you turn it over the wrong way you it stands up and resembles the shape os a little dog - it has a tail and the triangle part has two holes in it for eyes. It's really cute.
When I got back I got my stuff together and left for the 'burbs. Anne ( Camille's mother ) had invited me for dinner and to stay overnight because the trains at night can be a little sketchy and I have a couple transfers from my station to theirs. We had stuffed tomatoes that were my favorite from when I visited in high school. It was veryveryvery good. Unfortunately I had a lot of homework to do so I just did that and went to bed as soon as I could.
This morning I had breakfast with Anne ( there is no school on Wednesdays ) took a shower and went back home. I had to stop by quick because I had forgotten part of my homework and continued on to school.

Tonight we have a little party with school so that should be interesting. I'll update more later.

Until tonight!
g

Homework? Already...?

Ahhh, back to reality.
For the rest of the week we continue with our french intensive classes. Our merry little group of misfits enjoys being at the bottom of the pack and it has been a reasonably enjoyable two hours of my day so far. A little humiliating but it's starting to come back - slowly but surely.
I had to get up early for a brief follow-up meeting on Housing with Rosa. Everything is pretty decent so far so we didn't have too much to talk about. After that I went to the FNAC to buy a book for my class and do some wandering around. They had a huge display on the biggest tv I've seen to date - a 103" Panasonic HD LCD. I wish I could ship that back home somehow...I could fit that somewhere in my room I'm sure :). My other meeting for the day was to register for my classes. I'm still not sure what exactly I'm going to be doing - I have to decide if I will take a class outside IES or not. It's a tough call. So I will for sure be taking.... "Mahgreb and the Muslim World", "Architecture of Paris", and "Questions of Esthetique" - plus a language class. Should be interesting...I'm just ready to get started so I have some sort of real routine around my day (Although I'm sure I'll look back wishing for the free time I have now).
I spent the afternoon doing homework and reading. It finally rained here ( it's been looking like it should for days now ) and so the weather was really nice - but cold! I had dinner by myself tonight and worked the gas stove without any help and having to use a match ( I'm pretty proud ). Pasta with parmesan cheese and garlic again. :) Very french.
I still have a little bit more homework but my brain can't think in french anymore so I'm off to bed. I added the rest of my pictures to a second album ... ( enjoy! ):
http://minnesota.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2157515&l=d775f&id=16916077


bisous!
g

Veggie Burgers at MickeyDs and Truffles

I would like to reflect on this past weekend as a beautiful blend of different facets of Genevan culture. From one corner of the cultural spectrum, Auntie Pam and I dined at the fine eating establishment of McDonald's not once but twice ( once because we were too late for anything else and once because it was sunday and everything is closed). From another, we walked around the very chic and very old ( and apparently aptly named ) 'Old town'. It really was a perfect weekend trip and honestly...I love Geneva ( I think maybe even more than Paris....!!! Don't tell! ).

So let's see.

We left from Gare de Lyon at 5:30ish which allowed for a great view of the French countryside before it got dark. The sunset was pretty cool over the corn fields and through the little towns. The train ride was about 3 and 1/2 hours to Geneva and by the time we got there is was dark. Our hotel was right across the street from the train station so we had an easy time orientating ourself to our little area of town. It was really nice and the rooms were big ( and what made me happy...they had a big shower ). It was pretty late for eating (even though dinner time is around 9 over here ) so we quick ran out trying to find a someplace that sounded appetizing. We couldn't find anyplace that was still serving food! Actually we probably could have if we had wanted some sort of Asian cuisine. I was absolutely shocked at the number of Asian restaurants - they were everywhere. We decided that Geneva must be where they run all their headquarters and business through but it was still....insane. The only other thing that really surprised me about Geneva was the number of young people. I had imagine Geneva to be a city full of old men and big corporations. Instead we ended up eating at McDonald's with what seemed like the enitre population of Genevan tweens. Back to the hotel for a good night of sleep.

We started off Saturday at the beautiful hour of 10:30 ( that may be giving us the benifit of the doubt... ). We ran downstairs to try and catch breakfast but no luck - we did happen to run into a very nice employee who let us eat croissants and drink coffee/hot chocolate at the bar instead. So I think maybe we took a hint from the fate of not setting an alarm and we took it easy. After running a couple errands we headed over to the old city to spend some time wandering through the market. It was really fun and more than once I wished I could teleport some old treasures back home. On from the market we made our way to some of the big sights of Geneva. We walked through a park that has statues of a few founders of the Protestant reformation and huge chessboards on the sidewalks. Wandering through this area was really interesting because real Geneva was easy to find. It seems to me that they love their outdoor living spaces - most apartments have balconies covered in flowers ( which is I suppose commonly european ). The people are immensely friendly, much happier than in Paris - everyone smiles and "Merci, beaucoup"s their way around town. Geneva is also surprisingly quiet and clean - their trams and buses run on cables ( electric ) and the traffic is rather light. It really is a city of character. After finding our way to a landmark piazza-like area we found our way to the Cathedral St. Pierre. This is the church where John Calvin preached and also ( as we discovered ) has a great view of the city. From the church, we found our way to the Hotel de Ville which houses the Alabama room ( where the Geneva conventions where signed ). We stopped for lunch at a cafe just across the street and had a good time. We found a chocolatier and bought some truffles ( I had forgotten how much I love those ) and I found a cute little mug in the shape of a cow ( which is apparently the symbol of Switzerland ). I think it will be fitting to drink hot chocolate out of it. After that we took a water taxi over to the other shore and took some time to hang out with the locals at one of the piers. It really was beautiful weather and everyone was out and about making the most of it! The skies were clear too so it afforded a pretty decent view of Mont-Blanc way off in the distance. Sometimes I would look around and be suprised to find mountains because the city feels like it should be a beach town. It was a nice thing to look up an see though - huge mountains faintly in the backgroun. For dinner we got a suggestion from the concierge for the best fondue. His suggestions were either 'Edelwiess' ( "Where all the Japenese men go." ) or 'Auberge Sauviese' ( "Where I go." ). Needless to say we went local. We had cheese fondue and meat...fondue ( where you cook it in oil ). In a strange twist of fate...the meat fondue was oriental fondue. It was really good though. Yummm fondue.

Today we woke up and made it to breakfast with plenty of time ( but our friend wasn't there today :( ). We decided to go find the UN and rent bikes to do it. When we realized where we were in relation to the two we decided to just walk all the way. The UN building was pretty cool although all the good stuff was pretty far back from the gated entrance. They still use it for some of their affairs and it was cool to see in person. We went back to the city and had ice cream along the docks while we did some pretty good people watching ( so many people were out either running or walking around in suits - it was so hot out though! ). We took the water taxi over to the other side ( towards the old town ) and just wandered around picking out cool apartments and window shopping ( everything was closed though because of sunday ). We found a nice little park and blended in with the locals for awhile enjoying the beautiful weather and beautiful city. I decided to take the train with Pam to Lausanne before going back to Paris so I could get a feel for the countryside. It was a good choice because it was really beautiful - I'm just amazed by the mountains! We had McDonald's for lunch because there was even less open than in Geneva. It was fun :). We got a chance to look around town for a bit and decided it nice but...doesn't do it like Geneva ( this of course was after like...20 min though so who knows... ). I left for Paris at 6:30ish and got to enjoy some really spectacular views of the sunset from up in the mountains. It was fun because I almost felt like I was taking a train through northern Minnesota - lots of lakes and pine trees and forests.

So now here I am recounting as best I can the weekend although I know I really am not doing it justice. Geneva is a absolutely beautiful city and I can't wait to go back! I'm working on putting up pictures as I write this and hopefully you will enjoy them.

http://minnesota.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2157450&l=1ddf1&id=16916077


( I also would like to dedicate this entry to Katie in hopes that my ramblings are more than enough to make up and also....that they don't make you late for your learning experiences :)!! )

Love and Swiss Cheese!
g

A backwards day

Today was the first day or orientation stuff at my school, IES. Actually though it was barely anything at all. They gave our schedule for the next two weeks ( finally ) and went over some of the basic rules and regulations. I was there at 10 ( they split us in the two groups starting at different times ) and I was done by 12. Everyone else seemed to know each other because almost everone lives on the other side of Paris - I think once we start our french classes it will be easier to make some friends. Today I just went off on my own which is what I prefer to a big group of people anyway.
I visited the cemetary at Monparnasse because it's just a block away from my school. I had read that Baudelaire and Man Ray are buried there among other famous people. The cemetary is really big though ( not as big as Pere Lachaise cemetary ) and it was difficult to remember where I was supposed to look ( they were out of maps of course ). After I wandered around there for awhile I went back to the apartment to drop off my school books and then I left again to do some sight-seeing.
At my school they gave me a pass that allows me to go to the Louvre for free anytime. It's pretty cool and I plan on using it to its full adventage ( even though I actually don't like the Louvre ). So I planned on going there and as I was leaving Dominique told me that the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays. Sooo...instead I went to ( ready for it? ) Conciergerie, Invalides, Notre Dame, and the Eiffel Tower. Uhhh. I was very tired after today that's for sure. Everything was interesting although Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower not as much. I felt like I had to be a tourist for a day because even though I speak French all the time sometimes I forget that I'm in Paris.
I even ate at McDonalds tonight. Or well it was kind of lunch I guess. Either way....McDo is so much better over here and I have no idea way ( maybe it's because they serve beer and salade nicoise.... ).
A funny thing about today is that it was flooded with a mass of Scottish people dressed up in their kilts and whatnot getting drunk and shouting rugby cheers. I saw them at Gare du Nord on my way to school this morning - at the Gare du Nord ( still ) on my way back home - at all the sights I visited today - and at various Metro stations. It was insane. I still hear chants every so often. I don't think their game is even tonight....
:)


Oh and my address in Paris is ( if you want to send anything) :

Gretchen Deuel
c/o IES
77 rue Daguerre
75014 Paris
FRANCE

Calm before the storm?

Well.
I made the move. I am a resident of Paris for real. Well maybe not for real but....:).
I made the voyage sans my huge suitcase and that was a smart decision because my brain was really fried. I got there a little late because my carte d'orange wasn't working and also because I'm just always late ( hopefully this doesn't happen tomorrow ). So my host family is really very nice. Dominique ( but I call her Madame Chatelle of course ) is here as well as her son Bastien ( he is here while he takes a test to move on to the next year in school ) so it's a good number of people. I put a few pictures up for now but it's hard to imagine the apartment - I will try and take some when nobody is here so I don't feel weird. I had a little area seperate from the rest of the apartment by a little hallway which leads to a shower/sink room and my bedroom. So it's nice to feel a little seperated with the option of joining in. I think this will really come in handy later on in this adventure.
So after getting a little acclimated and figuring out how to set up the WiFi Dominique and I went to walk around the arrondisment ( the neighborhood ) where I live now. I actually live in the 10th arrondisment but right on the edge of the 9th ( where Montmartre is ) so we walked around there. We had some tea in a little cafe at Montmartre and went to Sacre Coeur ( because it is my favorite place in all of Paris ). I still feel like I'm in the movie French Kiss because I still haven't seen the eiffel tower. Maybe I'm not really in Paris after all....!
We went back home after she showed me the best Bread and Pastry shops as well as the cheapest grocery store. Anne and Camille brought my suitcase to me around 8:30 and were able to meet Dominique which was good. We ate when they left ( they always eat around 8 or 9 o'clock in France ) and then I unpacked all my stuff ( finally! ). I finished in time to watch Lost with Dominique and Bastien ( it was the season finale which I had seen so they kept trying to make me who guessed right on what would happen next ). Time flies et voila - c'est 1:00!!! Oh well - I didn't expect to have an easy time sleeping tonight.

Love from Paris!
g


( I also put some of the pictures I have so far up on Flickr but I haven't edited them really yet so...good ahead and check them out but some are sideways. It still works though! )

A few photos

I just wanted to upload a couple of pictures to show everyone before I go exploring. I will upload and organize more as time permits!

Just go here (you'll need to open a new window and copy it into the address bar...)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/13162911@N04/

"make like the older people"

Camille told me that today would be very old fashioned and I think she was right ( expect that we returned a movie to "Video Futur" ).

We had a big breakfast on the balcony this morning because it was actually nice out again before we started off. It was good as always but I'm starting to miss frosted flakes and cinnamon rolls. Camille and I went to the market to buy food for lunch and to find flowers for later. She made me take pictures even though I hated too ( there's nothing I dislike more in travelling than feeling like a tourist ). It was fun to just look at the different food they were selling. It certainly was smaller than a market in Paris but it definitely had a lot on the White Bear Farmers market ( naturally ). We had a light lunch and headed off to Vincennes.
Vincennes is a really pretty town that is just next to Paris. It is like a french version of Edina I think - really chic and old ( people and homes ). Camille tells me that it's a wealthy area but I can't really tell the difference...all apartments in Paris are small. We had visited her grandparents when I was here before and it was fun to go back. We went for "l'appertif" ( like appetizers I guess but it lasts for a few hours ) so we drank tea and had little pastries. I was proud because I ate an entire slice of prune tarte - I don't think I ever planned on eating prunes ( I'm always scared to eat different things but I've been trying everything here ). It was good I guess although I will go for a Paris-Brest over a Prune tarte anytime. Anyway, I understood a lot of their discussion but after 2 hours I started to zone out. At least I tried a couple of times to give the American perspective for them and they liked that I was brave enough to contribute. Camille's grandmother gave us both flowering plants to bring to our respective nouvelles maisons ( camille in tours, me in paris ) and we were off.
Before returning home we made a detour to a petite town where there is a petite chateau with a grande garden and a grande view. It was built by the Marquise de Pompadour. We also drove by the huge Nestle chocolate factory which was funny because they have repainted the old buildings with brightly colored designs ( like something out of charlie and the chocolate factory ).

Alors...for dinner we had croque monsieur and ratatouille. Same old, same old. Tomorrow I move to Paris and it should be quite the adventure. :)

Hitting Home

So far, in my adventure, I haven't felt like I'm in a foreign country really. At breakfast I feel strange - eating fresh brioche with homemade jams and drinking my hot choclate and tea from a bowl. When we went to Paris yesterday I think I actually felt like I was in France. Although I still haven't seen the eiffel tower again yet ( everytime I've been I've seen it stat ).

Before we went to Paris though I spent the morning being very American - I watched about 3 hours of television. Yay! Camille had driving lessons ( she is preparing to get her city driving license for when she goes to Tours ) so I got to hang out by myself. I will admit though, most of the time I was about 2 feet away from the tv flipping through my dictionary. It is really a great way to re-acclimate to the language. I did spend a half hour of my time watching a cooking show which didn't re-acclimate me to anything. Anne got home from work ( part of being a teacher is being at work on Saturday for parents to meet with her if they have questions ) and she made lunch of saucisson de lyon ( sausages and boiled potatoes that you dip in different dijon mustards ). It was very good and even better was that we ate on their balcony because it was so nice out.
When Camille got home we left for Paris. My transportation card worked fine and thankfully I haven't lost it yet ( if you lose it you have to buy a new one - it's about 85 euro per month ). We found my school which happens to be on a street very well known for it's food selection. There was every specialty shop I could imagine - jams, fish, fruits, choclate, meat, cheese. It is really "french" as Camille kept reminding me. We stopped at a cafe to have something to drink and destress a little. Then we tried out my metro line from home to school and went looking for my new apartment. It's in a really good area - very close to everything I could need ( even a McDonalds... ) and looks to be ( from the outside at least ) really good and really french.
We were both really tired so we had salads for dinner and rented a movie. My mom_dad_brian called me on Skype and then I went to bed.

Today is a big day so I should get going on that - I won't spoil the plot just yet so more to come later!

Love from The land of Tour Eiffel!
g

The day of Galettes

Yesterday was a pretty slow day - we didn't really end up sticking to our plans and instead just wandered around the mall.
I slept in until 10:30 which was a miracle because I woke up at 4:30 and thought I would never get back to sleep ( thankfully I have like a years supply of dvds with me ). We had breakfast of hot chocolate, brioche (sugared bread), and pain au chocolate (croissants with gobs of choclate in the middle - they're my favorite ) folowed shortly by lunch. I called my school to let them know i had arrived and that turned out to be a big mess - it was the first time using my cell phone ( i didn't realize you don'thear it ring ) and it was difficult to explain that I was with friends not my host family.
Camille and I decided to go to a movie later in the day called "4 mois, 3 semaines, 2 jours" which was an interesting choice because the subject matter was intense and it was in Romanian with french subtitles. I liked it but I don't know if I agree with it recieving the Palme d'Or ( the extremely prestigious prize at Cannes ). Anyway, before and after we wandered around the mall and I ended up buying a sweater because it is really cold here - it has been rainy, grey, and in the 60s.
Camille had an appointment to go to so Anne and I had an apperitif ( the same wine as last night because I love it!! ) and talked while we waited for her to return. Then we got to go out to eat at "Menthir" which is a creperie that specializes in galettes. Galletes are a kind of crepe that you find in the Brittany region of France - they are salty not sweet like I think most people know crepes as. I had Gallette Paysanne which had jambon ( ham ), oignons ( grilled onions ), pommes du terres ( potatoes ), and creme fraiche. It was delicious! For desert I had a nutella crepe with coconut shavings and whipped creme. As is tradition we had cider with our crepes although their cider is spiked with some alcohol ( needless to say I slept well last night )!

Today we go to Paris to test out my carte d'orange and find my apartment and school. I am a little anxious but it's too late to look back now. I hope all is well with everyone - don't hesitate to send emails!!

Love from Noisy le Grand, FRANCE!
g

Starting off

So the hardest thing I've run into thus far...using the keyboards here. I had forgotten how messed up they are!

The flights went well although I almost missed my connecting flight in Iceland. We were late getting off but made it in enough time for me to just make it through customs and also managed to distress a very stern, very icelandic customs officer (i couldn't find the way through...). Iceland was really pretty, from what I saw- it was so rainy and dreary it reminded me of Minnesota in the springtime (very green though). We flew over a golf course on our way in and I thought it was cool because it was right on the ocean.

I found Camille right away at the aiport and we attempted to take the train back to her house although this wasn't as easy as I had imagined with my massive suitcase ( I had to use the handicap entrances to the metro! ). We arrived home and had a snack. I didn't make it long before I had to take a nap. That worked until Camille's neighbor's baby came over and was causing chaos. So I played with him and Camille until Anne ( my french mom ) got home. Anne and I went to the mall and bought my cell phone ( it's very cute I will put a picture of it up later ) and my cqrte d'orange ( for using the metro ). I bought one that covers most zones in Paris so I can visit here all the time. Anne even gave me a key to their apartment which was very very nice of her. For dinner Camille made a zuchinni ( i don't know how to spell this.. ) tarte and we had wine that her aunt had made. It was very good! I will always prefer hot dish to everything else but....french food is very very delicious! :)

Well...I couldn't sleep on the airplane so I listen to my music and watched the entire sunrise. In the process I saw 5 shooting stars. I made some good ones but they were mostly for a good time. Seems to be heqding that way after day one! :)