Merci, au revoir!

And the semester abroad is over, I'm back in Novi typing this 61st and final blog post. I could tell you the details about the trip back but at the end of the day, I made it! Briefly, there was a 2 hour delay due to the snow at CDG and I had to wait nearly 3 hours just to check my luggage in, imagine this airport the Sunday before Christmas....pretty packed! But it was a normal flight and now I'm back to business and some winter break fun with family and friends...It will be a great break!

I leave you with my final thoughts on the experience, or at least what is on my mind now. Before the trip and really when you tell someone you're studying in France, stereotypes come to mind. Right out of the gate in Paris, it was good to get educated on these. Certainly it can be argued whether some of the typical stereotypes have any truth to them, but I have my ideas after 4 months. Did I see people with berets? Sure, but not everyday, it wasn't crazy, the scarf was way more common. Do people walk around with baguettes? Yes, you buy it and take it back to the house. If you were in France, I'm pretty sure you'd start to love baguettes as much as the French. Now that I'm on the topic, how about French food? It's true that I lunch I ate kebab sandwiches and that is obviously not French, but I had a good share of French meals. They really love food, it can be important in a conversation. Here's my example: after dinner one night Jacqueline's sister called, the first thing that Jacqueline told her after hello and how are you was "The sauce I made tonight was really good!" Try fitting that into our daily conversation! The love for food continues with a passion for pastries and chocolate. As you've seen in some of my pictures, they make little desserts that can look like tiny pieces of art, it is incredible. The only way to find out is to go and see these for yourself. The chocolate places were also great to me here. Each shop has certain traits which make it unique and put places like Godiva and other stores around here to shame.
Another big part of French life is politeness. If study the language you know that there is a formal and informal "you", and this is very important in conversation. But more than that, this carries over to stores and restaurants. This really hit me when I was shopping at a few stores back home here and being helped, the service is totally different! Obviously it helps shopping in your native language, but I could be way more informal when shopping here and talking to the workers.
The national identity is important too. I'm proud to be an American, and the French are proud to be French. I was treated very well over there, and sure at times there were rough moments or times when some people might not've been as nice to me...but overall I met some very nice people who I hope to see in the future.
Speaking of the future, this goes to everyone if you didn't know this, but Paris isn't the only city in France! In fact, I'm not really dying to go back to Paris now, but I will be back in the future to see relatives in Marseille, my favorite city in France. There is more to France than the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Paris shopping..Exploring the rest of the country was incredible, and that has left me with a countless number of memories thoughts as I look forward to a new year with a fresh view on life.

It has been great, I thank all of you for reading, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

Voila!

My host mom Jacqueline and I with Chaussette
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

And there you go, a semester in France....115 nights have past, and I'm here in my room at the Novotel CDG after taking 2 trains and a shuttle to this place. In the morning I will get ready and head over to Terminal 2 to board my plane back to DTW in the early afternoon. It has been an incredible semester and I'll need some time to take it all in and really think about it. It seems like so long ago when I was waking up every Saturday in September and going on excursions. Then Keith and I spent 3 nights with my relatives in Marseille. November came and I got to see my favorite French artist Gerald De Palmas in concert in Lyon, truly an unforgettable night. Then an all-nighter in Nantes seeing Benabar in concert, a trip to Normandy, and now with December my 21st birthday and spending the last night in Angers at a Renan Luce concert....After all of that, here I am at the Novotel the night before leaving and returning to the USA. All I can say right now is that France has been great to me and I am looking forward to using the French language in my future. I look forward to making a final post about the experience on the flip side once I've returned to the US and adjusted to the time change. Until then, here's hoping for a fun 9 hour flight.

Last night in Angers, last day here!

Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

Wow! I'm leaving Angers within the hour to head to the train station..3 hours from now I'll be at my airport hotel near CDG getting ready to spend the last night in France. I still can't believe it! Last night Keith and I saw a great French artist in concert. He's a young guy, Renan Luce. Ironically, this was the smallest venue but we were farther away from the stage than the other 2 concerts. We still had a good spot though, I only posted a few pictures.

Anyways, it has been great and I hope to post sometime soon to wrap things up, but the time has come to get out of here and get ready to come home tomorrow!!

And the "lasts" begin...

The piano I was lucky enough to get to play all semester
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

I'm not a huge fan of "oh this is the last time I'm going to wear a blue shirt with light blue jeans" or "this is the last Tuesday of the year" kind of thing, but really it is incredible to think that these are the last few days in Angers, FR. I can't believe that in 4 days I will be back home. Obviously I'm very excited and ready to come back, but I still can't believe it's over. I've gotten pretty used to this. Speaking of getting used to things, there is the piano I was able to play on all semester. I hope to be able to share some of the songs with you guys in the future, it's been great keeping up the songwriting. Sure enough, tonight was probably the last time I'll play here, but at least I know my digital piano is waiting for back home this weekend.

Also, the tests are finished! To celebrate, I went to my favorite chocolatier and got some good chocolate. What happened after was unexpected. The couple had me scratch off a little ticket and sure enough I won! Not knowing what to expect, Madame Louvigny ran into the back and gave me 2 jars of jam and a bottle of local wine! I was satisfied with the chocolate, but it was pretty cool to experience that. Again I can't tell you how nice these people are, they continue to be very friendly and helpful, an amazing store. The owner told me that within a few years they should have delivery, now that is what I'm talking about.

Finals week

The dogs in action
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

This picture of Trotinette and Chaussette was taken over the weekend, the nice calm weekend of going around the city, starting to pack, studying, and playing piano. That all changed this morning. First was the business final, it was not easy, but I think I did pretty well. Since I'm one of the several students (but not nearly all) leaving before Christmas, we had an extra exam to do, and it was quite lengthy. After a good hour's work, I had a headache but only until I had a nice kebab sandwich and fries at our favorite spot. That would have to last me the afternoon because I went to written expression class, followed by a translation test, then after a little break I took a 2 hr language test.

An hour later, I'm back home and pretty tired, but the hardest day of exam week is behind us!

Songwriting, Last weekend in Angers

No I didn't buy this here!
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

There it is, one of the most important items I brought over with me. Some of you know that over the past year or so I've really gotten into songwriting and my friend and I enjoy writing and playing together back home. When my host mom told me she had a piano, I was really excited. And sure enough I've had the opportunity to play at least 3 times a week and it has been great. I've kept up my songwriting and I've been able to record songs and send them off to people to get some opinions. I really can't wait to get back and share the new material, I'm trying to put together a little CD this weekend to share my recording experiences over here.

With that being said, here we are in the middle of my last weekend in this city. It's going great so far and I need to start getting things organized soon enough. Tonight I'll be recording and then Andrew and I are going to do our best with a flourless peanut butter cookie recipe, we'll let you know how that turns out!

10 Days

Here it is, the last 10 days in France. Pretty crazy to think it's here already, I have 9 nights left in Angers, then one at an airport hotel in Paris, and that will be the end. Having said that, it is now getting down to crunch time in classes and finals will be in full swing next week. This weekend, along with going to the market for the last time, I will be packing things away, donating things, trying my best to make sure that everything will be ready or at least close before next week comes. The last night in Angers will be spent at a popular French artist's concert in our town and then I'll be at the train station the next day! Here's to 10 days of great baguettes, final exams, and fun!

My Favorite Chocolatier!

Chocolate Santa from Louvigny Chocolatier!
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

On Saturday, I headed over to my favorite chocolate place to get a few things. This chocolatier, Louvigny, was recommended to me by Stephane my lang prof. We went back in September and got a really warm welcome from the owners. It is a nice store owned by a young couple, a French man and a Japanese woman. They are really nice. I went in looking for some good chocolate and they took the time to explain a lot to me, give me some samples, and just talk about things. One lady even remembered me from a while ago! They wished me a great trip back to the US but I assured them that I would be back one more time before going. I really love moments like that, when people here are honestly nice and friendly with you. Those people are by far the nicest I have met in Angers, and of course the chocolate is the best I've tasted as well! Hopefully I'll get a chance to bring some of it back home to you guys in a few weeks!

21st Birthday!

Well sure enough, today is my 21st birthday. It feels good, but obviously as far as drinking goes, (not like I drink that much anyways) it means nothing over here. All I had to drink today was a little cherry drink before dinner tonight at a restaurant. Here's how my 21st went in France:
-Got up around 9, surfed the net, responded to the 1st facebook birthday posts.
-Did laundry (one of my last loads) from 11-1.
-Lunch: PB and J on a baguette-obviously a homemade creation.
-Grocery shopping
-Going to my favorite chocolate store and getting a chocolate Santa and other chocolate
-Having dinner downtown.

So it was a good day. I'll tell you 1st about the dinner. I was just wandering around downtown since a lot of the people I'm normally with are off in a different city this weekend. Well I ran across 3 girls in my program and ended up going to an italian restaurant with them. I had lasagna, it was decent...lacking some spices, but not bad. Pretty cool way to have a 21st birthday dinner. I'll write a 2nd post about the chocolate store because I have more I need to say about that. All in all, it was a good birthday that will be even better when I can share it with everyone back home as well.

Angers SCO: Soccer!

Angers SCO, the local soccer team
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

Yesterday my housemate and I made a decision to go see the local soccer team. They are not in the top league here, but they aren't awful. Angers SCO is the name of the team. It was really exciting to see a game and to see how enthused the fans are here about their team. It wasn't really a packed house, it's not often that they have Tuesday night games, so there were around 5,000 people there. Regardless of that, it was really cool to see a soccer game over here and to experience a bit of the passion that the fans have for the local club. It is really important to them. Just like I love the Red Wings, the Angevins and Angevines love their soccer team.

This was something that I'm glad I did, I'm shocked it took me this long to see a game over here, but it was well worth the wait

Salon des Vins et de la Gastronomie

Wine and chocolate!
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

This Saturday I was at the Food and Wine convention, and there was emphasis on the wine. The majority of the booths were wine, with a good amount of foie gras vendors, followed by chocolate, and then other products. It was pretty cool to see and to sample some of the local fare. But this one place caught our eye. Here's a guy who takes wine, and mixes it with chocolate. What you get is an incredible drink. They do one with white chocolate, one with dark, and then they make a cognac as well. I went for the dark chocolate one after tasting it, and if I can, this might be a product to take back. It's really different, and from what I tasted from a tiny sample, it's good! Another funny story, I didn't have enough Euro on me at the moment, so the guy took my American money since he has spent time in the US before, pretty funny. He still gave me a good amount of change back in euros, I think I got a pretty good deal on that small bottle, I'll take it!

November coming to an end

Here we are in the last few days of November, the days are really going by now. I bought my train ticket to get back to Paris. I'll be leaving here 3 weeks from now to go to the train station that is right by the airport. Once I'm there, I'll spend a night at hotel that I need to book a room at soon around the airport, then I'll get up the next day and head back to the US. So we have 3 more weeks in this country and that seems pretty crazy, but it's going to be good. Today, I'm off to a food and wine convention, I can't wait to see how that works. Hopefully I'll get pictures but no promises. Next week the Christmas Market starts up downtown, I'll be checking that out and I'm sure I'll post about it in the next week or so.We have a few normal weeks of classes then exams coming up, the work is starting to pick up a little bit, but I think I'll do fine. Keith and I also got our tickets to see another popular French artist, Renan Luce, in concert on Dec 18. Luckily enough, this one is only a few kilometers south of our city, so it'll be easy. That will be my last night in Angers, and it should be a good way to go out.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and Black Friday if you participated!

La Police!

So here's an interesting story, the most scary and funny thing that has happened to me in this country:

I was walking home from the university after the Normandy excursion, and a black car pulls up to me, a guy rolls down the window and says "Hey, stop it's the police!" And I thought to myself, "oh cmon, like it's actually them." But sure enough, 3 other cars that actually looked like policecars pulled up and before I knew it I was surrounded by 6 people! Of course I had my camera with me, so one officer took that and went it to his car as he sorted through my photos. Another lady asked for my ID and she looked at that in her car. Then I proceeded to get grilled with questions by the remaining people. I did pretty well, but obviously with my Michigan driver's license and my not quite 100% oral comprehension level, they knew I was American. So after the questioning I got my stuff back and they said I could leave. I was pretty curious about why they did this, but as I thought, they just told me that they were doing random checks on the streets because as one officer said, "il y a des fous" (There are crazy people).

As I walked away relieved that I wasn't in trouble with the French government and laughing from the experience, I thought about how crazy it would be if this happened back in the US. Obviously if someone has reason to just randomly stop you because of some kind of suspicious behavior then that's different, but this was rather unexpected. If nothing else, it makes for an interesting story down the road...."Well that one time I was stopped by the French police..."

Normandy

Keith and I with Prof Stephane Morin
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

Yesterday was the final excursion of the semester, and we've certainly saved the best for last: La Normandie. It was an incredible experience. We are shown in this picture at Omaha beach. It was really incredible to see the memorial museum, Omaha beach, and the American cemetery. The other excursions featured the history of France, but this is truly world history. This is the history of the US as well. That is what made it more emotional than the others. I mean, I wasn't walking around crying or anything, but you can't help but stop and just feel for families and also feel grateful for what our soldiers did that day. Standing in the cemetery, you see thousands of white crosses, and it just becomes unreal, it's really incredible, and it's something I can't really do justice in a blog post. The same is true for the beach, sure we are smiling in the picture, but you can't really sum up what it means to be standing on the land where history was made, it was amazing.

Prof Morin, like always, had a lot of great things to tell us and we also learned more about the Normandy region and France in general. For example, many of names of the hundreds of cheeses in France get their name from the region or city they come from, I was shocked that I hadn't learned that before. There is an actual Camembert, France if you want to buy a house and say you live in the city where Camembert orginated, very interesting!

BENABAR EN CONCERT!

Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

Another week and another concert, I feel very lucky. This time Keith and I headed to Nantes (once again) and we saw Benabar, a very famous French artist at the Zenith, which is a great venue. I've been listening to him for quite some time but I didn't know every song. Let me tell you, I don't even know how to describe this concert yet. There was great music of course, comedy, skits, a lot of interaction, and Benabar was all over the stage...plus 2 encores! He has a great crew and certainly a great band, all 10 of them! Violin, clarinet, trumpet, saxophone, trombone, piano/organ, drums, all kinds of things going on. This venue is obviousy way bigger than the one I was in last week, so it was a whole different feel. People were really into it and the production was really high quality. This was really a great cultural experience and I am really happy that I've seen 2 of my favorite French artists in the past week.

La Chanson du Dimanche

Now there are several ways to keep up with the news over here. Obiviously the most simple is to pick up a paper that our university provides to us for free and read. That works quite well and it is interesting learning about what is happening in Angers and all around France. But a more fun way is to simply see what 2 guys are singing about every Sunday. Yes, it's La Chanson du Dimanche. A guitar and a piano player write an entertaining and humorous song about the news and release it online every Sunday with a video. They have been doing this for a while now, and it has become very popular. They have a CD out and are also currently on a good tour of France. So if nothing else, I know that on Sundays I can keep up with the main story by listening to La Chanson du Dimanche crew, it's pretty good. I hope they keep doing this because I could really see this as a great way to keep up with things in the future and possibly something that could help when I get to teach French as well. Check out the site if you get the chance, even if you can't understand it. The lyrics are listed below each song.

www.lachansondudimanche.com

Lyon

Enjoying the view
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

When I wasn't waiting in line to see De Palmas, I actually got to discover a good part of Lyon, which I believe is the most populated city in France besides Paris of course. It's a very interesting city. You have the Saone and Rhone rivers dividing it, and there's the city center, the old part of the city, and all kinds of great monuments in between. I only had a day to see it all and take some photos, but it was fun. I almost got caught up in the huge mall they have there, but I knew that I had to do more in this city than shop. A big highlight was eating at a traditionnal Lyonnais restaurant, called a bouchon. The food was really good there. I have the pictures of the courses: an onion soup, sausage with wine sauce, and an apple crumble dessert. It was a great meal. Although I can't lie, I stopped into an Irish pub for lunch and had a great shepard's pie, that was really good too! Noone said I had to eat French at every meal right? I couldn't resist when I saw "Johnny's Kitchen" and I was really hungry since I didn't get to eat the night before while waiting at the concert. Here's a guy who runs the place with one cook and barely no waitstaff, it was great. I spoke French to order the food and while talking, but at the end I said "hey this is a great place you have here" and he was a little shocked to here me speak English, that was pretty funny. All in all, Lyon is a city that requires more than a day's time, but it was very fun.

DE PALMAS EN CONCERT!

Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

Phew, well I don't even know where to begin. It's vacation at the CIDEF, with the first day falling on Armistice Day Nov 11. I took advantage of this break and as I'm typing this, I'm in Lyon on the east side of France. The city is incredible, but I'll get to all of that later with pictures..etc.. First I'll try to tell you a little about last night...

The day started at 6:15 as I woke up, got ready, and heading to the train station. I took a train around 8 am and got into Lyon around noon. Once here, I went to the hotel, checked in, and got settled. After that, I made my way over to the concert thanks to a recommendation from a fan of De Palmas who I had been in touch with through a fan group online. She wasn't lying. I got to the place around 3 pm, knowing that the doors wouldn't open until around 7. So with 8 people in front of me, all I could do was wait and talk to others outside of the place. Waiting 4 hours outside of a concert hall in the US is something I've never done, not even for my favorite artists. But this was general admission and I really wanted a spot in the front row.

After an endless amount of waiting, we finally got it, and I had secured my spot: dead center, with only one person (luckily shorter than me) between me and the barrier, incredible!! This lead to more waiting, as the concert didn't actually start until 8:30, and De Palmas didn't play until around 9:15.

So after traveling to Lyon, waiting outside and inside for hours, the concert began. Funny enough, the opener (know as the "premiere partie" in French) introduced her songs in French, but sang them in English! She also had a notebook with the lyrics, what the heck is that?!?!? It was clear that noone was there for the opener, she played for 20-25 mins and quickly cleared the way for the French pop icon. De Palmas came on and played an incredible 2 hour show, I don't really know how to describe everything right now besides saying that it was incredible to finally see this artist who I have been listening to since I started studying this language, and there I was singing along just like the rest of the crowd was, what an amazing experience. I hope I have the chance to see him on a future trip, because it was just a great experience going through the whole process and finally getting rewarded with an amazing concert. Check out the photos, I've got to find a place for dinner!

La musique

So I've been studying French for a while, but what really sparked my interest in the beginning was the music. Of course I love music anyways, so I took an interest in French music from the start, and it has really helped with my accent, vocabulary, comprehension...I guess in everyway! I owe a lot of it to my high school teachers, who introduced me to many of the artists I listen to today. I've already brought up Gerald De Palmas, a very popular artist over here. His new CD (which we have all waited 5 years for) is out next week, and it's great to actually be here while these things are happening. As I've said, I'm going to his concert on Wed night, and I'm very excited. It's really special for me, not just because I don't have many chances to do this, but really that is where I began with this language. It all started back in those French classes, where I started to listen and appreciate De Palmas, and now it all comes together Wed night.

There is also Benabar, who Keith and I will see on the 19th in Nantes, another artist introduced to me in high school. It is really great that we are able to see popular singers here, it should be amazing.

Another current singer is Renan Luce, who just happens to be coming to Angers on my last night here before heading to Paris for a day and going back to the US. So we might have to do that one.

All in all, I am really looking forward to these concerts and I know that they will be unforgettable experiences on many different levels.

Things are looking up

Rainbow in Angers
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

Another week of class is over and now there are only 5 days until my trip to Lyon and great concert! A lot of things really came together these last few days. For one, I found out that I will be playing the vibraphone this winter with Redline Percussion when I'm back. For those who don't know, I've spent the last 6 winters either playing or teaching in indoor drumlines. We rehearse on the weekends and perform in competitions around Michigan and the midwest, it's a great activity. So that made me very happy. It was also a good week at the university. Classes went well, and there were some good surprises as well. For example, my language professor baked us a chocolate cake today because some students were giving speeches on French cuisine, that was nice! She also let us out 15 minutes early today, very interesting. This weekend I will do a good amount of studying, prepare for my Lyon trip, and hopefully have some time to record on the piano.

Also, I might have pictures of this eventually, but last night I did some karaoke with friends at a cafe. It was really fun. Of course I only sang French songs, but there were English ones as well. I look forward to returning to this place when I can. It was interesting to note that a group of French students did some Beatles songs. It's not everyday you get to hear 3 French girls sing Across the Universe. With some of the other songs that people performed, the girls would sing along in English too, quite interesting.

Looking ahead and keeping busy

It's November, and it's about to get really exciting again soon. Our break starts pretty much one week from now, it's a 5 day break that starts on Wed the 11th. As I've explained, that gives me the chance to go to the east, the city of Lyon, to see my favorite French artist in concert on that day. I'll be spending a few quick nights there to go to the show and see the incredible city and I'll be back in Angers the morning of the 13th. I'm really, really looking forward to this trip and this concert, how many more times do I need to say this??

Before that comes I have to get through another week of class. Here's what my Wednesday looks like tomorrow. I'll get up around 6, get ready and eat, be at the university by 7:40, then it's Translation at 8, Business French at 9, and Written Expression/Comprehension from 10 to 12. It's the one day where all of my classes fall in order, in the morning. So after that, I'll be able to head back and get homework done, then sometime in the afternoon I'll take my laundry into town and do that, also might get a haircut tomorrow. That's always a great experience, but it works out quite well for the most part. My host mom rehearses with a choir on Wed nights so I have the chance to play her piano and keep my songwriting up, so that's how the day will end tomorrow. I'm looking forward to a busy day, and a good rest of the week.

Window shopping

Amazes me everytime what they can make
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

So I've given up on the Halloween quest, I found a chocolate place that sells a few halloween themed candies so I might check that out later, but I'll explain this picture. Now it's been a good amount of time, and things are starting to get normal, but it is still incredible to imagine how bakers do what they do here. Sure, in the US, we have good bakeries, and cakes, and well-decorated cakes and cupcakes, all of that. But this is another world. Walk down the street and you're never too far from some of the most beautiful and delicious pastries you've seen in your life! This photo is from a place that I like to visit every once in a while, the owner is Laurent Petit. He studied how to make le macaron at Laduree in Paris, the place to go for macarons...That is one of the main products, but as you can see in the picture, he knows how to make other desserts pretty well. I don't know how they do it, but the art of French patisseries and boulangeries is just mind-blowing, every single time.

Funny translations

Propre=clean in French, funny to see this
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

There you go, one of the funniest French-English translations of the week, good old Mr. Clean, had to get a picuture of it when my host mom was cleaning. It's interesting to see how sometimes the english name will be saved and sometimes other words will translated into French, makes for some funny moments. Well October is coming to an end, just pre-ordred Gerald De Palmas' new cd, can't wait for the next few weeks. Enjoy Halloween everyone, I'll let you guys know what I find on Halloween over here.

Something to think about

Top 10 drinks
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

Wow, that picture was taken at a cafe in Paris two months ago! I flew into CDG on Aug 26, and sure enough, here we are in the last week of October. I've seen and learned a lot these first few months, and the next two are going to be just as great, if not better. Everything is getting more normal, I went to the market today even though I thought I wasn't going to, it has just become a habit. Over the weekends, I cook with my housemate Andrew instead of taking meals with my host mom, so we have a little fun. This weekend, our restaurant was certainly open. He made some Monte Cristo sandwiches, sausages, eggs, all kinds of things. I bought some vegetables from this guy at the market who uses no chemicals or anything, things I've never seen in my life. I made some good fries with potatoes on the stove, they were blue potatoes, incredible! He has all kinds of different vegetables that are totally foreign to me, incredible..I'll be back there.

This will be an interesting week to see if the amount of Halloween influence there is over here, I've heard to not expect much. Also, I register for CMU classes on Tues, that should be a little easier than what I had to go through a few weeks ago.

An unexpected, but required trip to the east

Train and Concert ticket, Gerald De Palmas in Lyon!
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

Shown in the picture are train tickets (SNCF) and a concert ticket from FNAC, basically an electronics store, except they also sell tickets to concerts, sporting events, all kinds of things. More useful than an electronic store is obviously the high speed train: the TGV. It is incredible. I'll give an example.

I've probably mentioned that I was going to see my favorite French artist in Nantes in late November, well yesterday Gerald De Palmas cancelled most of his fall tour dates..this made me very mad for a few hours until I saw that a few dates were still on, including one in Lyon..in the east of France. So today I got to FNAC as quick as possible, exchanged my ticket for the show in Lyon, which just happens to fall on my 5 day break starting on Wed Nov 11! With that in hand, I went to the train station and bought my tickets for a great price to Lyon, it's less than 4 hours by train! And just like that, within 24 hours, I had solved my problem and I will be able to see Gerald De Palmas and one of the most interesting, and populated cities in France. at the same time! I'm sure that this concert will be incredible and the city will be just as good. This is all possible thanks to the ease of the TGV.....can't wait for Nov 11!

Daily Life Essential #3

Daily Life Essential #3
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

Voila, an essential item in France, no joke! I've seen everyone from 5 to 85 years old wear these, it is really big over here. So I bought a few, they are pretty cheap so it's fine..of course you can find them in any texture, color, length, whatever you want. I like wearing it with knot but there are several ways to do it. The first day I wore the scarf in public I felt a little weird, because I'm not used to doing it, but I'm used to it now. Also, you don't have to take it off when you're in class, it's as much a style item as it is for warmth, pretty cool. If you're planning on coming here, either get ready to get a few scarves, or pick a few up along the way...coming in 2nd place is the sweater tied around the neck, that's popular too, but not as frequent as the scarf, of course.

And fall continues..

Well it's mid-October and it's starting to get a bit chilly, but that's not stopping the people from getting out to the weekend markets and getting their clothes and food. It was just as crowded today at my local outdoor market as it was in the beginning of September! These people are very dedicated, and this is not 30 or 40 vendors either, it's way more than that.

Also, here we are less than 2 weeks from Halloween and the start of November, and I have yet to eat a piece of pumpkin pie...mind you I haven't searched for it yet, but I could really go for a piece right now, even if I have to sadly attempt to make it myself. Maybe I'll walk into a patisserie one day and there will be a good slice with my name on it, or maybe I'm just dreaming. It's time for the Sunday afternoon homework session, something you can relate to back in the US :)

Daily Life #2: Bread ( mostly the baguette)

Eating a baguette on the way back to the train station
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

I'm legal! Today I went back to Nantes and got everything squared away with a mandatory gov't visit. It feels good to have all of the paperwork behind me...what a great feeling. So I went back to the great wine bar and had a class of good white wine, bought a baguette, walked around Nantes, and came back here..But I had to mention the baguette because it was different than most of the others that I've had here..Now for those who don't know..not all baguettes are created equal. It is just the stereotypical image that we think of like the one you might buy from Panera Bread or the ones you see in pictures, I'll try to show you what I mean eventually, but baguettes can have different widths and textures and all kinds of things, that's what makes going to different boulangeries great..You can get the traditional French baguette, the ordinary baguette, a baguette with corn flour, 7 grains, etc..But the one in the picture was really different, not only does it look really simple compared to a lot of the baguettes I've seen, but the texture was great. The crust was really crunchy but easy to eat, and the inside was perfectly soft, it was like it was just made and it was meant to be. Hah call me silly, but there after a while you notice a difference between good and not so good bread here, and this was exceptional... More on this subject to come, I can't say enough about it!

Daily Life Essentials #1

Daily Life Essentials #1
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

So I figured I'd try to give some of you who don't already know a taste of the daily life, and literally you can get nutella at your local supermarket, so that's good. But this is pretty much as common here as peanut butter is in the US, you can put it on something for breakfast in the morning, have a crepe with nutella, they sell paninis with nutella, all kinds of possibilities! But it is hard to go through a semester, let alone a week, or a day even, without spotting this somewhere. I wish I had my camera at the supermarket the other day, because they had a big shrine of nutella on sale, it comes in all sizes, and it is certainly abundant in France...Personally, I never really had it that much in the US, but now I really like it. I think there's room for nutella in the mornings when I'm back home this winter, that's for sure.

Crazy week at UCO

Setting the schedule
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

As I said before, this was the first week of actual semester classes. And I thought that on Wed I had decided what my 4 option classes were going to be, before trying art history and literature and deciding that neither of those were working out at the moment. So it's French for Business, Translation English to French, Socio-Cultural Studies, and Writing Expression...for now, at least....

At the beginning of the week, they place you in a level with a language professor, and based on that level you get the piece of paper shown in the picture, and you get to go to any class on there and try to set your schedule, a lot different than it is in the US, huh? In fact, I'll be setting my CMU 2nd semester schedule a few weeks from now, unheard of over here right now. So it was a busy week of trying to decide what to take and figure everything out, but I'm pretty happy with how it came out. In other news, I finally won a game at the table tennis club last night, before getting destroyed by a 10 year old kid who had incredible technique, can't win them all..

School is in session

Ok it's day 3 of the first week of semester classes, and I think I have a good schedule after trying some classes out. I'll be taking 6 hours of language per week, that is mandatory, followed by 3 hours of translation english/french, 19th century lit, a writing class, and french for business. It won't be all fun and games, but it'll be good for the future and I will learn a ton! Also Tues and Wed I start at 8 am, so I get up around 6:30, if you think about that a minute, that means that I pretty much get up when some of you are going to bed, gotta love the time change. I wanted to watch the Tigers last game but the time change gave me no chance, no way I'm watching a game that starts at 11 and goes until 2 or so my time when I need to get up 4 hours later, oh well, it was a good season..

Putting it all together

The family!
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

Today was a great last day in the south. Sarhad took us to Aix-en-Provence, a beautiful city with great colorful buildings and art. It is also a big college town as far as French and foreign students go. It was great. After that, we came back and had an amazing dinner with the family (as pictured). Lucie can really cook some incredible dishes, and over the past few days Keith and I have eaten Armenian and French cuisine...nothing like fresh food done right, great stuff! Also, we had the local drink: pastis. It tastes like black licorice gone weird, but it isn't too terrible. I love the French family dinner, afterwards Sarhad and his brother debated about a topic for 30 minutes. They barely looked at each other, and they could never come to a resolution, a great French debate...it was funny for Keith and I to watch.

It's hard to put it all into perspective this soon, but this weekend has really been incredible, meeting the family and friends has been great, and they were nothing but welcoming and loving. It's great that we were able to communicate and share a great weekend here just like any family would.. Now time to get back to Angers and get back to business, bonsoir.

Busy Friday

Cassis, France
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

Wow, what a great day we had. Sarhad and Lucie took us to Cassis, a nice fisherman's town a little ways from Marseille, it was beautiful. We also went in and saw more relatives in town. I'll get better pictures of them tonight because they are coming for dinner, should be fun.

After a busy day, we headed out to town with one of Sarhad's daughters, Seta and her husband..They took us to a spanish place to eat tapas with some of her colleagues, she is a teacher.. It was incredible food..We got to talk to a lot of different people and they were very welcoming to Keith and I. It was a great day and it just made us love the south even more! I look forward to posting the family pictures in the next few days, tonight is our last night here.

For those of you back home, GO BLUE! And hockey has started, GO WINGS!

Marseille: Incredible!!!

Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

Well here we are in Marseille for 3 days, and it's going to be incredible! Keith and I are staying with my distant relatives and they have been incredibly nice. They showed us around the city a little today and then prepared an amazing dinner. They are Armenian by the way, so we had some great stuff tonight. I can't say enough about Marseille so far it is an incredible city!! Maybe it's the sea, or the great views of the city that we saw, or the atmosphere,but it is incredible. I almost want to say that this is my favorite city, but it's a little early to say that, so we'll address that question later. Alright, should be a great weekend, I look forward to sharing more about this place soon!

The week off

Today I had a visit to the doctor and he approved me for playing ping pong, it was necessary to get an exam before playing at the club.. I've just been relaxing these few days and getting ready because Keith and I are heading south to Marseille tomorrow! We'll be staying with my distant relatives so it should be an interesting few days. I'll be sure to take pictures and I'm really excited to see how the south is, should be fun. When we get back on Sunday, it'll be time to prepare for school again as we will meet Monday at 9:30 back in the auditorium to get the semester started.

These few days off also gave me time to walk around town and with the help of my professor, we've found what is in my opinion the best boulanger in Angers, and in most of France. The place is called Le Grenier a Pain, a chain of places across France managed by famous baker Michel Galloyer..In all seriousness, he has figured something out about bread that I have not tasted in other places, I'll post again about this place in the next few weeks.

Fore!!!

Another reason why I didn't hit driver last summer
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

Well we did it, even though I couldn't find my friends at the bus stop, or the market, somehow we all ended up together at the golf course and played. It was situated near a chateau, so it was nice, but the course wasn't great. It's nice to say I've played in France though..and I was able to rent a set of Cleveland clubs, really nice 2009 model Launcher driver, irons, hybrids, great clubs! Obviously after a month off (as you can see in the picture) I didn't put them to great use, but we had a good time. I played with Keith, my friend from CMU, and Adam, my friend from Canada, and we walked 9 holes in a little over 2 hours, so it was fun. Let's just say that it isn't always easy convincing yourself of hitting a shot when you don't know the yardage..that meter to yard conversion was something we had to deal with the whole time..obviously a 130 meter par 3 doesn't play to 130 yards..remember this if you hit the links in France I have a yardage book from the place and a souvenir ball, plus some extra balls that I didn't lose that will be put to good use for the 2010 season! .

The fall break that I never get at CMU

The amphitheatre
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

That's it, the intensive language month is finished, and I'm off until Oct 5, when I begin the actual semester of classes. Last night we had the end of the stage show and party. The director, Marc Melin, gave a speech, and some students showed off talents relating to their culture, it was pretty fun.

Now I've got time to relax, and take care of some things before the semester starts. Tomorrow I'll be playing golf, and you can rest assured that there will be pictures, I'm really excited for that! Then I'll be here in Angers for a few days relaxing before heading south, specifically Marseille on Thursday! We have relatives down there and I'm going to be with them for a few days, I'm really looking forward to seeing them and the south of France!

Have to mention also that I ate dinner at my friend Keith's place on Thursday, well with his host mom, and it was a great meal. It started off with a noodle soup, then the cold plate of a little salad and things, followed by ham, and a potato mixed with something casserole dish, and lastly some eclairs and ice cream. I know I'll be back there before the semester ends.

The end of the stage

Well here we are with 2 days left of classes and things are getting busy. I delivered my speech on my favorite French singers today, it went pretty well. Our class went out to a creperie tonight so that was really good. Tomorrow I'm eating at my friend Keith's house, he has 5 other kids living with him, so it should be a good dinner. Friday, there is a end of the September stage party at the university, then we are off until October 5. What am I going to do for the week? Well once I figure a few things out, I hope to have the chance to head south and see some distant relatives in Marseille. By now, I've seen a decent amount of the west of France, so it's time to head south. Also, I'm golfing with a few guys on Sunday, so you can bet that I'll post pictures and a report on how golf is here, so excited to play! Can't believe that fall is here, we got up to around 24 celsius today, great weather! I'll be updating this weekend, bonsoir!

West Coast Weekend

The megalithes
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

The weekend started off with some ping pong on Friday night at my prof's club. It is a gym only used for ping pong, so it was great. It was nice to play again and try to get into the swing of things, I played ok but still lost to most of the people, I'll be ready next time.

Yesterday we hit the west coast, took a boat ride around the Golfe de Morbihan, visited the historic city Vannes, and had time to enjoy some local crepe and cider...That picture shows our visit to the megalithes, the big rock structures. It was a good last excursion.

Today, I'm resting and getting some things ready for the final week of the September stage. I went out to the market and got a few things, this market was just incredible. I wish I had more time to walk around, it's amazing to see so many great things at once. Boulangers with 6 or 7 different kinds of baguettes, fruit stands everywhere, clothes, cds/dvds, wine, homemade products, cheese, great stuff. I bought a little dried fruit from this one guy, he told me that in a few weeks he would have the kind of dried apples that I'm looking for, so I will return!

The weekend ahead

Alright it's the last day of week 3 of class, so that's good. I've got a test in a few hours, then we are done by 2:30...uh I mean 14:30 today. After class, I'll be out on the street with my friend as we need to survey a few locals about a topic that we picked to do a written report on. I am going to ask people about le petit dejeuner (breakfast) and how it differs from the US. That should be good, then hopefully there will be time to check out this chocolate place that our prof recommended. At night, the same prof is taking me to his table tennis club, so I'll be there, come home, get up early and head off to the final excursion. This one is going to the west coast. Hopefully I'll have a post by Sat night explaining it all, Sunday will be a good day to rest and get ready for the final week of the September stage before we have a week off and the actual semester begins on Oct 5..So I'm looking forward to a great weekend and I'll keep you posted.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Le macaron!

Le macaron!
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

As the days go by, we discover more and more. Something I discovered a few weeks ago was le macaron..a French cookie not to be confused with the macaroon. I'm sure you've all seen these before..the dessert most famously made at Laduree in Paris. These little cookies made out of egg whites, sugar, and whatever else are incredible. They come in all different flavors and colors. Luckily enough, a guy who studied at Laduree opened up a patisserie in Angers, and the macaron are incredible there! Our professor recommended the place to us, so we went and tried them, and le macaron will probably end up being one of the best things I've had on this trip.

Les Chateaux de la Loire

Azay-Le-Rideau
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

On what will probably go down as the best excursion of the year, we got to see several amazing works of art today, buildings that are simply incredible. The program took us to 3 amazing "chateaux de la Loire", Azay-le-Rideau, Chenonceaux, and the best of all in my opinion, Chambord. I only uploaded pictures of the first two because I need to go to bed here, but it was simply incredible. How people managed to build amazing structures like this back then is beyond me..but I am certainly in awe of them. As great as it is on the inside, I could just marvel at the view from the outside of all of these places, it is just amazing. Having access to places like these is something that should not be taken for granted, it is a treat. I bought a nice poster of all of the chateaux in the loire valley for future use in the classroom, pretty good souvenir for the weekend..

This is certainly a great way to start the week if I'm running on the US schedule, but in France, this is a great way to end the week...seeing that the French week runs from Monday to Sunday. So I'll post the Chambord photos tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to a great week ahead!

L'Anjou Troglodytique

Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

Yesterday was the excursion to a village below the surface, to see how the troglodytes lived a long time ago. We visited the caves and things that were actually bedrooms and kitchens back in the day, pretty interesting. From there, we went to a wine cave, and we got to see part of the production process of wine in the loire valley, and had a little tasting to go along with it. But as great as that was, the meal we had at an underground restaurant was even better. The main features were beef and mushrooms, with a little salad, bread, cheese, and apple pie to go along with it. The bread was similar to something you would eat in a middle eastern restaurant, the round football-shaped pita breads, so that was nice.

This morning, my host mom took me to the Decathlon, the euro sports shop, and I got what I needed to play ping pong here for the next few months, so now I'm ready. My professor is in a club, and he got me a discount on a good paddle, so this Thurs I'll be playing a local club, and I'll be playing at his club on Friday night...that should be interesting because it will test my ping pong and language skills at the same time, but it'll be fun. Tomorrow we are off to visit "les chateaux de la loire", or at least some of them, it should be great, and there will be pictures.

Coteaux du Layon

Today we had the honor of visiting le mayor of Angers, and a museum filled with tapestries not typically open to the public. After some kind words, we got to sample a wine from the Loire Valley: Coteaux du Layon. Now many of you know that I do not really drink that much, but this was incredible...needless to say we'll need to find out how to buy some of this from time to time. It was really sweet, but really good....The few glasses of wine I've had these past few weeks have been excellent, early day tomorrow I have class from 8 to 5, then I think I need to do some laundry....the vacation is over

Pat

The house

The house in Angers
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

Here is the view from the front, nothing too elaborate, but it looks nice on the inside. If you go in and head up the stairs, that is where Jacqueline lives..She has a nice living area with a computer and a nice flat screen tv, a good size kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. I live on the first floor with another student in different rooms and we have our own area for preparing meals or eating with a little kitchen and a bathroom...this leads into the pictures of the garden that I posted when I first got here. It is a nice place. In other news, I'm excited to learn about where and how I can play ping pong in France, my professor is going to help me get that info tomorrow, bonsoir!

Mt St Michel: A Great Excursion

Mt St Michel
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

Wow, today started at 6:45 am, loading the bus at the university to go to Mt St Michel, and the city St Malo...We get on the bus to hear our enthusiastic director Marc Melin: "un, deux, trois, bonjour!"...I'll get a picture with him eventually, he is the director of the program that I'm in at the university, and he goes on the excursions and shows us things on the bus. That picture is Mt St Michel, a nice island place that can't really be described in words, but it is incredible. After a great few hours of walking around and taking in the sights there, we headed to St Malo, a city that was bombed during WWII and rebuilt..Now there are a ton of tourist places and creperies mixed in with some good landmarks like chateaus and churches. As I see more of these it's easy to take them for granted, but there are unique features about each place, they are really stunning. So it was a great day of seeing the sites, eating on the rocks at Mt St Michel, and discovering great local crepes with housemade dark chocolate and local cider at St Malo. Now time to get back to school for the week before more excursions next Friday afternoon and Sunday!

What you can always do in a French city

So I've been in France for over a week now and I've spent time in 3 cities. Now there are big differences, but also several similarities between these towns.. Some of these things will seem obvious, but this is the truth as far as I can tell so far from my time in France:

Top 4 things you can always do in a French city (depending on the time of day)
1. Go to the boulangerie and buy a baguette or croissant- easy enough, these places are everywhere, it's up to you to see which ones are better, or to try different breads. I eat normally the demi, the half size, since it's better for one person.

2.Have a drink or eat at a cafe- There are also tons of cafes, not just restaurants, but cafes or brasseries..sometimes you can only have a drink and you can't order any food, but rest assured these places will be around.

3.Go to the pharmacy- And we're not talking like CVS or Rite-Aid, these are places that are on all the streets, noted with a green cross..And they have just about every kind of cream or lotion that you could think of. When I bought sunscreen in Paris, the pharmacist was questioning me like it was a very serious purchase, very different than our idea of a pharmacy.

4.Get a haircut, as simple or as complex as you make it- So I got a haircut in Paris, and I think it took me longer deciding where to go than it did for the actually cut, but these places are not the average chain, there are tons and tons of places, some chains, some not. They are all over the place, and the prices can be anywhere from 10 or a little more to 30, 40 euro for a haircut.. Incredible!

That is what I've noticed in the cities I've been in, obviously there is much more to do than this, but there are the common things that I've seen.

Bon week-end

Bubbly: Perrier, Colbie Caillat, and the Hypermarche

What I bought at the hypermarche
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

So my friend and I were placed in level 4, a little shocking and kind of sad for us, but it was just one test. The material is probably going to be a little easier in September, we will probably bump up to level 5 or higher for October if we do well. That being said, I learned a lot, and I mean a lot..My professor, Stephane Morin, is very smart and funny. He also really enjoys ping pong! Small world, huh?

Anyways, getting to the point of the post, the hypermarche. Obviously there is a supermarket, but then you have a strip of stores like a mall, a clothing part to it, and they sell all kinds of things. So having said that, I was able to get some Perrier ( my drink of choice in France, and sometimes in the US) and the latest Colbie Caillat CD all in one place! I have high hopes for this cd, hopefully it'll calm me down after a long day of intensive language courses..

The positives and negatives of French cuisine

Alright, so I took the test to see which level I fall into for the language classes. We find out what happens tomorrow morning. There are 8 levels, 1 meaning you don't know how to say hello, and 8 means that you can understand pretty much everything the director is saying, so I'll let you know how that turns out. But I wanted to talk about food. Take today for example.
Petit Dejeuner (breakfast) : toasted baguette with homemade peach jam at the house, and a cup of hot chocolate, very good. A simple French meal, a hot drink and some baguette with jam or butter..

Also always assume that lunch and dinner is served with bread.
Dejeuner (lunch): at the university mind you, It started off with a kind of pate, as you know a famous French food of who the heck knows what it is..That didn't sit well with me, followed by salmon, and I really don't eat fish, so now I'm 0 for 2. At least it was salvaged by some tomatoes and rice and a peach pie....but the pitts were still in the peaches! quite odd..

Le diner (normally will be at 7 pm at the house): She made this great Veal with a wine sauce, rice, cucumbers mixed with a cream sauce, and fresh tomatoes from her garden. Very good!! This is the type of cooking I've been waiting for!

I feel great about the food at the house, but I'm not too optimistic about the university cuisine, hopefully it gets better as time goes on..until then, I refuse to eat any more pate..yikes.

Here we go!

My room
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

Here we are, in Angers..just moved in with the host mom, Madame Ramakers. She has two dogs, and I'm staying on the lower level of her house in my own room. She has a beautiful veranda and garden also, and there is a piano so I plan on playing and or recording when I can. Also here in another room is a student from North Carolina who will be studying at the university here as well. It feels great to finally be free of luggage and to have things sorted out a bit. The next few days are going to be interesting as I have a dinner here tonight, and then orientation and a test tomorrow morning at the university. It is going to get very interesting. All of a sudden it is September 1st and school is in session!

And yes, she has wifi, and it took a while but I figured out how to make it work with her help, very useful!

Here goes a semester at the Centre International D'Etudes Francaises!

-Pat

Going out in style

Keith, the owner, and me
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

Well here we are, the 6th and final night of our vacation, everything changes tomorrow afternoon when we arrive in Angers. On this last day, we saw some great cathedrals and castles, incredible! Also, we shopped around at a few of the local shops, including the chain FNAC, basically a French Best Buy on fumes, pretty good store. Also, we hit up the local wine bar again, I actually had a glass of wine this time, it was really good. The owner, in this picture, was really nice to us. We went to this place a few times so he would give us little samples and talk to us about stuff, really cool. I really hope to have these kinds of interactions with the locals in Angers, it's really fun and interesting.

Another highlight was eating a white and milk chocolate golf ball from a chocolate shop, pretty good stuff.

Dinner was at a pretty good restaurant, we had rotisserie chicken with a nice salad. Our breakfast today was from the hotel, they gave us mini baguettes, croissants, and other things along with hot chocolate for a nice start to the day. It's been a good few days in Nantes, but reality (and school) will start setting in tomorrow. I'll let you know how it is when I'm settled in Angers!

-Pat

La ville de Nantes

The flavors!
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

Bonsoir from the west of France, just off the Atlantic in Nantes. A nice city with plenty to see and eat of course. As suggested from my friend Eric, we had Amarino gelato today. Sure it's italian ice cream in France, but it is incredible! As you can see the flavors are amazing. I had vanilla and biscotti gelato and it was absolutely amazing!!

Also in Nantes today, we stopped at wine bar, I wasn't feeling the wine, although Keith had some great wine. I ordered a fresh red grape juice from a French specialist Alain Millait, It was great.

A lot of things were closed today as technically this is the last day on the French calendar every week, tomorrow we will be visiting more of Nantes and exploring what there is to explore. I'm off for my 1st run on the streets of France, need to keep this up with all of the temptations in this country.

-Pat

Au revoir, Paris!

Well sadly this is the last night in Paris, today we saw a lot of places around the Montmartre area, and finished our exploring with the tour bus, then one last walk down the Champs-Elysees. Tomorrow morning we leave for Nantes, a city just off of the Atlantic. We'll spend a few nights there before going to Angers for the semester. Paris has been great, it was capped off by a great meal at the Pasteur Cafe, including some mousse au chocolat! I'll be back here before I leave, for sure the night before I leave in December, but maybe before that depending on things.

Looking forward to a train ride to the west of France,
Pat

That's the library?...wow

Library 2
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

Day 3 started off with a great breakfast...pain au chocolate, a croissant filled with chocolate, awesome. The day got healthier as we went on though, got some fresh fruit from the local stands and a crepe with cheese, throw in a baguette and eventually another dinner at O'Kafe and we were set. Good thing we ate there tonight since they are closed on the weekend, the whole weekend.

Putting food aside, we did a lot with the bus tour today. We saw tons of monuments and attractions from the top of a tour bus, including this photo: the library. 4 big buildings designed to look like open books, pretty impressive lookings. I am very impressed with the amazing architecture in Paris, it is stunning.

Funny moments of the day: Paying way too much for creme solaire (sunscreen) and a haircut, which was an interesting experience in inself. I ended up with a "bonne coupe francaise" that will probably be gone by the morning after I shower..no pics from that yet.

We'll be seeing ( and eating) more tomorrow, already going to be the last day in Paris!

Paris day 2, c'etait excellent.

Me again
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

Today was a great day. We kicked things off with the Eiffel Tower, including a journey to the top of it, where you can check out some of the amazing views. Before we got to the tower, I had one of the best croissants ever..only to be outdone by an amazing cup of chocolat chaud later in the day. We then took a stoll down the Champs-Elysees and got to see the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, Notre Dame, Place de la Concorde, and the Jardin de Tuileries..We will be visiting these places and others soon as we'll have a bus tour that'll help to get us around the town easier.

The night ended with Keith and I eating salads at O'Kafe, one of our favorite spots already just down the street from the hotel. They have great food and great service, we'll be back there. I learned that it's important to know what you want when you get to a cafe..sure it's relaxing, but they are ready to take your order when you sit down!

Looking forward to an excellent day 3 in Paris,
Pat

Paris Day 1

What a great start to the trip! Keith and I made our way, somehow, through the TGV and Metro system and got to our hotel in the early afternoon. It was amazing to note how nice the locals were in helping us move around our luggage and get us on and off the train safely. They were really friendly! After checking in, we made our way to le Queniau, a great cafe here in the Montparasse area! And let me tell you, if this food is a sign of things to come, then we will be eating well! I had a "faux filet", known as a sirloin steak, with fresh fries and a green salad. It was a little rarer than I would've liked, but that was only because I didn't understand how it was being cooked..I now know the vocab after reviewing it quickly in the hotel room :) Putting that aside, it was a great, fresh meal. We also walked around the area today and got a feel for the surroundings, just walking up and down the streets makes one smile. There are a few pictures from our room and one of the restaurant's business card attached, we'll be taking many more pictures tomorrow as we start to hit the attractions. The trip is off to a great start with great food and a great atmosphere.

Finally, I did have a demi baguette tonight, wasn't feeling the whole one, but it was pretty good. I'll talk more about this once we go into the heart of Paris for the really good pastries, breads, and everything else in between.

Looking forward to a great day and semester,
Pat

I've landed

And the trip begins..I've landed in Paris, found my friend Keith who is also participating in the program, and we are on wi-fi right now in the hotel lounge. I should have a few pictures uploaded later today or tomorrow, this city is amazing, and we haven't even had time to do much yet. Look for pictures and details about my first meal, and other random thoughts later on.

-Pat

And we're off

Tonight I leave for Paris at 9:35, I'll be there around 11:30 am Wed morn in Paris! From there I'll hopefully find my friend who is also participating in the program and we'll be off to our hotel to spend the rest of the week in Paris. I'll start updating when I can, hopefully after I have found the first boulangerie (bakery) and bought a fresh baguette..this is actually all I really wanted to do in France: go to a bakery, buy a baguette, eat it, and life is complete..The rest is just icing on the cake.

Bonjour!

Hi everyone,

I hope you will enjoy my posts and updates from France starting later this week. Please leave comments and stay in touch! I'll be updating from Paris by this weekend!

-Pat