Padam, Padam, Padam...

I just returned yesterday from my first outing from the city of lights to Normandy and Mont St. Michel, and what a whirlwind of a weekend it was.

Friday morning my roommate Erik and I woke up at 6:15 to meet everyone from our program at the ISA offices on the other side of the city. We loaded up our double-decker charter bus, and were on our way around 8:00. The trip was planned to drive the 3 hours to Normandy on Saturday, Mont St. Michel on Sunday, and return that Sunday night for school the next morning.

After dozing off a couple of times, the trip over was surprisingly easy. We arrived at Le Memorial de Caen around 11:00. This museum is dedicated to the Normandy invasion, and is constructed in a way that schools and big groups can view it in an orderly manner. Among lots of videos and pictures, some really cool Nazi artifacts were in the museum. We learned all about D-day and the invasion, and watched two short films of footage from the war where we saw places of the attack.

After having lunch in the museum (très cher), we were on the bus again for our next destination: Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery. Upon arrival, I could tell everyone was excited to be out of the city for a moment and in wide-open air. We all walked down onto the massive shore of Omaha Beach. This beach is amazing beautiful, and very somber at the same time. Only an hour ago had we watched footage of soldiers running on this shoreline to liberate the countries’ people. After spending a good amount of time taking pictures and walking the beach, we trekked back up the winding stairs to the American Cemetery.

The American cemetery is full of American soldiers that died on French soil during the invasion of France in WW2. As a gift to America, France gave the U.S. the area of land in commemoration of those lost. It was nice to be on American soil, even if it was only technically. I walked the grounds of the cemetery with a sense of pride for the soldiers of our country. How honorable these men were to come across the ocean to help fight for their ally country.

After the American Cemetery, we took a short bus ride over to Point d'Hoc. This beautiful area was another point of invasion from the war. We got to see the hiding places of the Germans and the barbed wire from the 40's.

Hopping on the bus again, we were told that a surprise was in store later that day. Our directors drove us to a Cider Farm in the countryside of Normandy! We got a great tour of how the farm makes their apple juice, cider, and alcohols. It was amazing to see how tiny the company was; yet they seemed to have a very lucrative business. We got to have a taste test after the tour, and let me tell you: the best apple juice I have ever had in my life. I bought two bottles of it before leaving it was so good! “Simply Apple” in the states does not even compare.

That night was spent in the city of Caen, (pronounced kind of like “con” as in pro-con, but without the n) a great town in the Normandy region. I would love to go back there someday to actually get a sense of the city, as we only had a stormy night to explore.

The next morning I awoke to rain on my window, and my moods were not as high as I had hoped. I had wanted to visit Mont St. Michel for a very long time, so rain was not an option for me. We arrived there in the middle of a storm, so we could barely see the Mont through our bus windows. The directors told us that we shouldn’t bring our umbrellas because the wind would ruin them. I never could have imagined how right they were! As soon as I got out of the bus, I was almost knocked over by the gusts of wind!

For those who don’t know, Mont St. Michel is a very old Monastery that was turned into a prison for a while, and then converted back into a church/tourist site. What is amazing about this place, however, is during two times of the year, during extreme high tide; the site is completely surrounded by water, making it an island!

We were given the opportunity to have an amazing tour of the inside of the monastery, snapping pictures of everything because it was so beautiful! The rain was almost unbearable to watch ruin a lot of my pictures, but I kept snapping them anyway. I had a goat cheese salad for lunch in a great hotel on the Mont, (who knew you could stay overnight there?!) came out of the restaurant , and was greeted by intense sunshine! I was so happy to have the opportunity to finally get a better sense of the views and architecture of my surroundings. By that time, I had found my new favorite site in France. Something about it is so breathtaking to me.

A five-hour bus ride followed Mont St. Michel, and I almost immediately fell asleep as my head hit the pillow back in Paris. It was such an odd feeling to see the Eiffel Tower and think, “Ah, I’m almost home to my bed.” I had to remind myself over again how lucky I am to be here having this experience.

A crazy, intensely-packed weekend trip? Yes. Amazing? Yes.

School is now going to be my focus, which is good…I suppose!

Affectueusement,

George.

Sunday 21 February 2010

If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.

I have officially been in Paris one week as of right now. It blows my mind that I have done so many things within these short seven days, and yet I have gone through so many cultural transitions in my everyday life.

The rest of my week has been full of monuments, amazing food, and lots of people. The biggest shock to me thus far is the immense amount of people around you anywhere you go. It is a lucky instance when you find yourself walking a street alone. Near my home, by the Gare du Nord, it is rarely not busy. I find this to be more comforting than anything, and interesting to watch the countless travelers with their suitcases hustle to their trains on time. The area I live in is definitely alive day and night, and one especially has to be careful after nightfall. It’s not a horrible area, but anywhere near a big train station has some rough characters.

Wednesday, I had my oral placement exam at my school. This test was just to ensure that I was in the correct classes according to my ability to speak and understand French. As one can imagine, with me doing horribly in those areas, I was extremely nervous for the test. We all lined up outside a classroom and a teacher would call you in to take the exam. Sitting down, I realized how unsuccessful I currently am at understanding spoken French. The professor asked me a simple question, and I nervously mumbled an answer, and then continued to speak several sentences (that I had practiced numerous times beforehand) to her. She stated that the classes I had signed up for will be good for me, and that I will be challenged, but it will be good for me. I am very happy with my schedule:

Monday, from 14:30-18:30 (yes, four hours), I have contemporary French cinema. Somehow, I ended up signing up for this class because I had to have 16 credits instead of the 12 that I thought you could take as a minimum. I am actually excited for it, however. I think it will be really interesting to watch the movies and discover different styles of film in France.

Tuesday, I have French Language Intermediate from 10:00-13:00. This is basically like a general French language course, teaching grammar, vocabulary, and things like that.

Wednesday, I have Phonetics. I am really amped for this course, because I have heard that taking phonetics in any language can really boost your ability to comprehend the spoken language and spelling.

Thursday, I have French Language Intermediate again from 10:00-13:00, then Oral French from 14:00-17:00.

Friday, I have…nothing! A great three weekend means weekend getaways! I have to figure out where I want to go, but I know I will be traveling as much as I can afford.

If you are wondering about the odd times, over here they use the 24-hour clock system. It is actually easier if you think about it; they never have to use a.m. or p.m. when telling the time. An easy trick I have found when trying to convert the times into the 12-hour clock, is to take the second number and minus it by two. For instance, for 16:00, I would take 6-2=4, so 16:00 is 4:00 p.m. (for Central time).

Mon amie Claire.

After my oral placement, a handful of students and I went to a Le Crous, which are several student cafeterias located around Paris. You can get several different combinations of meals, all for only 2.90£. Considering the cost of everything else in this city, I am looking forward to many meals in these cafeterias. After lunch, I went wondering the city per usual with three others from the program. We got really tired, so we decided to go to the Louvre to warm up from the cold and relax for a bit. It was completely packed upon arrival, and it was suffocating inside. We saw the Mona Lisa for my friend Betsy who hadn’t been there yet, then went and saw a mummy in the Egyptian area.

Mia, a friend from the program as well, had to get her computer fixed in the one Apple store in Paris. Can you guess where the store is located? Correct: the Louvre. Underneath one of the main glass pyramids, lies a large Mac Apple store, identical to the ones in the States. I found this extremely humorous, and thanked the Louvre for its great taste in quality computers.

Later that evening, we all were given tickets from our program to go on a Bateaux-Mouches, which is a boat tour along the Seine River. It was awesome to see all the monuments and buildings from a different angle and at nighttime.

Thursday was spent in the Bastille area, a great place full of restaurants. I had the most amazing Panini of my life, and will most definitely be going back there again soon. Next, we visited Notre Dame again and finally went into Shakespeare and Company. It is an awesome little bookstore, completely English owned, full of books in English. The look and feel of the place is what really makes it awesome. It looks like a small quant house that has been overrun by books. Really cool!

This weekend I walked north from my house with some friends to the Montmartre area, which has a great vibe and really cool street performers along the stairs of Sacre Coeur. The view doesn’t hurt either! We basically walked all across Paris within the next two days, as the sun came out for most of the time.

Today, I joined my friends down in the 15e (arrondissement) to celebrate the Chinese New Year in the Parisian Chinatown. Somehow, my friend Johanna and I ended up walking in the parade, taking pictures of all the performers and people in costumes. Lots of amazing colors and drums were the highlights of the parade.

Tomorrow is the beginning of classes, and I am so excited! It has been hard to try and pick up as much French as I can just being here without having been in French class for more than two months prior. It will be great to be in a learning setting again and gaining more ground on the language. I’m sure the next few weeks will fly by, but I plan on exploring and discovering as many things as I can just as much!

Affectueusement,

George.

Sunday, 21 February 2010

La Vie en Rose.

Where to begin.

I guess this is a good starting point.

I feel like I have done a month’s worth of activities in just these three short days that I have been here in Paris. From the moment I stepped off the plane until now, it seems like I have not stopped moving.

Saturday evening I arrived at my terminal and quickly met the two other people from my program that were taking the same flight as I was. Both were very nice, and it was a sigh of relief that I was not alone in my endeavor over the pond.

After waiting 45 minutes on the runway to leave, we were off to France! I, luckily, had the seat next to me empty, making it much easier of a flight. I had hoped that I would eat dinner, watch part of the movie being shown, and then pop my Advil P.M. and fall fast asleep for the remainder of the flight. My hopes were in vain, as I unsuccessfully tried to sleep hunched over in my two vacant seats. After an hour of frustration and numb legs, I decided to sit up and just accept the fact that I would be really tired on the first day upon arrival. The airplane screens flashed our current location on a world map, along with the outside temperature, speed, etc. I noticed that our flight plan was not as I imagined it would be. We were flying up into Canada, over the tip of Greenland, and passing straight through Scotland. I looked out my window, expecting to see nothing but black sky and an empty sea, but I was in for a big surprise. Right out my window, in HD view, was the Aurora Borealis. I couldn’t believe it! I looked out my window several times over the next two hours, and I was in awe each time. After that awesome experience, I finally fell “asleep” for around 45 minutes. The trip over was not horrible, but it was definitely not ideal.

After landing at the airport Charles de Gaulle, I found one of the ISA workers, and a handful of students were finally able to meet each other. We were quickly shipped away in a tram to our individual homestay residences. I have to admit, when the driver dropped me off, I was nervous. I didn’t have a worker to introduce me or help me wade into the waters of my new situation, so it was full-on nerves when it came time to meet my homestay family. As soon as I got inside, the woman I am staying with, (her name is Mme Forest) began speaking to me in fast Parisian French. Of course I had no idea what she was saying, and I instantly acted like I knew and just nodded and said “oui” several times. After getting into the flat, she offered me bread and juice, and I got to sink in my surroundings. The flat I live in is on the 5^th floor on La Rue De Saint-Vincent de Paul in the 10^th Arrondissement. Less than a block away from our home to the right is Le Gare du Nord, one of the busiest and most well known train stations in Paris, as well as Le Gare de l’Est. At the north end of our short street is L’Hopital Lariboisiere, and just beyond the south end is L’Eglise (Church) St-Vincent de Paul. As you can imagine, my neighborhood is bustling with people most hours of the day and night!

The living room of my flat.

The rest of the day was spent unpacking, trying to understand my family (Mme Forest and Mr. Pascal), and waiting for my roommate to arrive. After he arrived from the airport, I was relieved that he was able to understand much more than I can, which will be a big help in the beginning. We enjoyed a nice dinner and then Erik (my roommate) and I took a ten-minute stroll to Sacre-Coeur. One of my favorite places in Paris, Sacre Couer, has an amazing view day or night, and the Church is beautiful inside and out. I love that it is so close to our home!

The first night trying to sleep was very interesting. Now, mind you, I was running on roughly 45 minutes of actual sleep in the past 30 hours, so it would be normal to assume I would sleep like a rock. Wrong. Jet lag is a funny thing that affects every person differently. I went to bed at 9:30 p.m. PT (Paris Time), and slept soundly. I woke up to dark skies and figured it was five or six in the morning. Wrong again. In actuality, I had slept three ½ hours and arose wide-awake. An hour later I luckily fell asleep again off and on until 7:30 A.M. (12:30 a.m. US time).

The next day I awoke with the surprise that I was in Paris. After a true Parisian breakfast with bread, butter, jam, and a very brilliant cup of coffee, I was on my way to L’Institut Catholique de Paris for orientation with the directors of ISA. I am lucky, as my metro line goes straight to the school and ISA offices. As luck would have it, Erik and I got off the metro and were completely turned around to where we were. Besides it being a new place, Parisian streets are not like how we in America see street paths. One can’t say, “Go north three blocks and then west two.” In Paris, streets curve, turn around, and go any which-way you can imagine. After searching for a good 20 minutes, we finally located the school.

One of the buildings of my school.

Orientation was fairly easy to sit through, and by the end of it we had received our passes and new phone plans for our semester. Many cards were issued out to each student, including a NaviGo pass (which is for the RER, bus and metro, and you charge it each month), a card for free visits to the Louvre for a year (!), school I.D., medical cards, and several booklets on popular discounts/ places to go. Did I mention they used the same horrific passport picture for every card? The kind where some kid at Walgreen quickly snaps the photo and yells at you not to smile? Yea, that one. They started the orientation by displaying each picture on the big screen and we announced our names.

After the meetings, we had the rest of the day to do as we pleased. I walked with some new friends around the corner to the Luxembourg gardens. They will definitely be great to hang out in during the springtime. Next was the Panteon, then the Latin Quartier, Notre Dame and Hotel de Ville. Going back home, I had dinner with my family and then Erik and I met up with two classmates to walk the Champs Elysees, Arc de Triumph and a great night view of the Eiffel Tower.

This morning was still rough, as I woke up at 5:30. My jet lag should go away within the week, so I just have to tough it out. We went to two more meetings in the morning/afternoon, and then had free time. A group of students and I traveled to Le Printemps and Le Galleries de Lafayettes, two of the most famous stores in Paris. For Ladies reading this, just try to imagine this; in each store there was an entire floor dedicated to shoes, one for purses, one for perfume, etc. And I’m talking Dior, Gucci, Marc Jacobs, some of the most famous designers out there. Very expensive places, to say the least. After another trip to the Eiffel Tower, I came home for dinner. A great meal of chicken and mushrooms (amazingly good mushrooms), I believe some form of pea or lima bean soup, and dessert.

The view from my terrace at night.

Needless to say, I am exhausted and completely scrambled. My body is tired at odd hours of the day, I am dealing with strange smells and some creepy people on the metro, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world! I know that this semester is going to help my listening and speaking skills immensely, and I can already see small improvements here and there. I feel as if I have been here weeks, and yet it’s only been three days. I can tell I am going to find very interesting sides to Paris, and can’t wait to start classes and become more acquainted with my new way of life!

Affectueusement,

George.

Tuesday, 16 February 2010

The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.

Less than 24 hours! The final countdown begins.

Wednesday was my last day of work, and needless to say, I was ecstatic to realize that I won't have a job for another four months. All I will have on my responsibility plate will be school. Most likely, this won't happen again for the rest of my life. I would like to take a moment and relish in what is about to happen. Ah.

Packing for my trip has proven to be a feat in every aspect of the word. I feel like my clothes have gone through a process much like American Idol, with eliminations and lots of cynical opinions from my mother. After taking out half of what I originally wanted to take, I can now say that I am able to fit it all into one suitcase, an Adidas duffel bag, and a computer backpack. I have a feeling I might need to buy another suitcase by the end of all of this.

My flight leaves tomorrow at 5:30 P.M., and I will be landing in Paris 8:30 A.M. Paris time (1:30 A.M. Central U.S. time). From there, I will be taken to my homestay apartement, where I will meet my Parisian "mother" for the next four months. Of course I have Google-earthed my way around my neighborhood and street, and cannot wait to see it all in person.

I cannot wait for tomorrow to come! The next time I write, I will be across the pond.

Affectueusement,

George