Loire we there yet??

Lemme just say, Thursday morning at 7:00 am came very early! But lots of excitement because we were off to the Loire Valley for some sightseeing and wine-tasting. The 3-hour bus ride to the valley was pretty uneventful - most people just napped or listened to music, but it was a pretty drive getting out of Paris.

Our first stop was lunch, thank goodness! It was at this little restaurant and we had some assorted meat and bread for our first course, chicken with potatoes for the entrée and an apple tart (tart aux pommes) for dessert. I was separated from the Skid pack, or PAUD (Paris + squad) as we call ourselves affectionately, but I ended up talking and eating with some other people on the program. 

A little ride later, and we were at our first castle or château - Château de Chenonceau. It was a pretty castle with some gardens and even a labyrinth. Some famous Frenchmen lived there including Henry and Francis who we caught a glimpse of their chambre de lit - or bedrooms. 

We then walked around the gardens and took some pictures of the castle (living out the princess dream!) and then tackled the labyrinth. 

Next stop was a cave for a wine tasting! We tried all white wines, which was perfectly fine by me. We had a nice bubbly wine, another white wine paired with some chèvre, goat's cheese, and then a 35 year old wine!

We got to the hotel we were staying at a little before dinner and got our random room assignments (it's feeling a little like Lizzie McGuire over here lol). The hotel had these little buildings out back divided into apartments which were really nice. Dinner was also a little separated from the Paud, but sat with some people in our grammar class and had a nice meal. The salad we had first had some little bacon pieces and also pieces of (what I later learned were) pig heart!! There's a first time for everything I guess ... 

Dinner for me was polenta with veggies since I don't eat fish and dessert was another crème brulée. Back to the apartments for an early night in.

yes mom, peep the wine with every meal ... when in France!

We had an early start Friday morning again with a nice big breakfast in the hotel. Then it was off to Leonardo da Vinci's studio and workshop where he worked until he died in France. Sidenote- da Vinci died in the Loire Valley and that's why the Louvre has some of his most famous paintings like the Mona Lisa! It was a long tour, but the fact that lunch was next was v promising for all of us. 

Lunch was also in a cave (with wine too). We were very confused by this lunch which started with a salad and then some naan-like bread pockets with pulled fatty pork. We all weren't feeling it, but were stressed that this would be the only lunch food. Luckily, the main course was delicious pork with some veggies and there was even another apple tart for dessert. We were all feeling the wine, which made for a fun visit too ... 

... Chateau Amboise! They really did save the best for last as it was so beautiful! We took lots and lots of pictures and even got to explore the town. Fun fact, this is where Leonardo da Vinci was buried which was cool (and a little creepy) to see!

Then had a nice 3-hour bus ride back and were dropped off at the literal southern gate of Paris, which was a long haul to go get pho for dinner. Now I'm back in the homestay (I've never been so happy to walk up 5 flights of stairs in my life) and am listening to my host mom's friends son (attempt to) play the piano! Good night from Paris!

Bises,

L

FWOTD - vin - wine. Le vin dont nous avons bû, était délicieux. The wine that we drank was delicious!

Weekday Thoughts

Some things that have crossed my mind over the past few days of this last week of orientation ...

• explaining how to use a smartphone to an older French man (photography teacher) in French is very difficile (difficult)
• thanking my lucky stars I had a nice night bonding with my homestay sister and that dinner (French samosas? and mushroom risotto) was delish
• everyone is struggling in the grammar classes which makes me feel a little better 
• wine tasting was amazing and the cheese ... even better!

ooh la la!

• went to my first painting class and painted nude (NUDE!) women
  
  
• walking in on the host fam when they are in the middle of a dinner party is pretty awkward
• French wine is a little stronger than American wine (I was feeling it after one glass during our pre-dinner drink)
• thank goodness for Google maps and its ability to help me whenever I take the wrong Metro exit and end up on the other side of the Tour Montparnasse ... it has only happened once so far

Prancing around Paris

These last few days have been full of adventures! This morning I got to sleep in a little (8:30 woo!) before heading to the IES center for my academic meeting. I walked again to get a little exercise, but it is just about the same time to take the metro vs walk. Had my appointment to go over classes and I added another class I might want to switch, it doesn't sound like the most fun so we will see.

Next, it was the first intensive French grammar course ... oh la la! Luckily there is a bunch of Skidmore kids in the class. Unluckily there is homework tonight. After that we went to get falafel for lunch in the Marais which is a kind of hipster-y district of Paris. Let me tell you - there is a reason l'As du Fallafel is on Lenny Kravitz's places to eat in Paris. C'est delicieux!

falafel!

After lunch, we walked around the city and finally got to do some sight-seeing. First stop was the Seine!

Next we were close enough, so we walked down and saw the Notre Dame! It was so big and so pretty!

Then it was off to Shakespeare & Co. which is a pretty famous bookstore in Paris. Lots of cool things to see. Then we ended our afternoon at a bar in St. Germain which was a lot of fun. We ordered a pitcher of cider for all of us to share as our apértif which is a pre-dinner drink. The bartenders asked us if we were studying abroad in Paris (it was quite obvious as we were speaking English!) and when they heard we were they gave us a round of shots on them! So obviously, new favorite bar as they were very nice and also spoke English. We just hung out and chatted all evening which was a nice way to wrap up our day. Dinner was delish and after me, my homestay sister and host mom all had to do homework.

C'est vendredi! It's Friday and we all couldn't be happier. Breezed through my French grammar class and then grabbed lunch with a few girls from a boulangerie again. French sandwiches hold a special place in my heart - today's was ham, Gruyere, and butter on a baguette. We ate lunch in a park near the center and then walked to Monoprix to pick up school supplies and shampoo.

That night we had another welcome dinner with all of the IES students and staff at this really fancy restaurant. First course was an artichoke soup with truffle oil (heaven in a bowl). Next, the plat principal was haddock but since I don't eat fish I got some duck which was delicious. Dessert was a crème brulée.

We then hit up another Monoprix for bottles of wine and sat near a canal and drank them. It was very French! We tried to get into a bar near where we were but sadly our group of 10 was much too big and they didn't let us in. Luckily we were pretty close to a metro and took the metro to Bastille which has a lot of bars. We split up and went inside in different groups which worked out better. The bar was crowded and we all were pretty tired so most of us left around 12:45 to take the metro home.

Saturday was also full of adventures! I slept in a little and then had (yet another) awkward run in with my host-sister. So far whenever I see her, I am either having trouble opening doors, having the coffee maker overflow, or accidentally taking a shower just as she was. We were meeting some people from IES to go on a street art tour in Belleville in the 10th, so a few of us met up before for some food before our walk. It took about an hour and a half and was pretty chilly. The street art was super cool and our tour guide was energetic which made the tour a lot of fun.

It is necessary to distrust the words ... 

Then, my friend and I took the metro to Montmartre and Sacre-Coeur to meet up with some other friends at the Musée de Montmartre. Let me tell ya - Montmartre really is un mont (a mountain)! We climbed over 300 steps and were pretty tired at the top. But the view was beautiful!

Paris est belle // Paris is beautiful

The museum was chouette (cool)! I finally learned the meaning behind Le Chat Noir, that famous poster that seems to be in everyone's house. After the museum, we had some time before dinner so we went to the 1st arr. for coffee since we all were pretty tired. Dinner was ramen and the perfect thing to warm us all up from this chilly day.

After dinner, half of the group went home while the other half decided to grab a drink. One of us had a better idea to go see La Tour Eiffel. I was 100% on board as that was the one thing I have been dying to see while here in Paris.

... and it was every bit as magical as people say it was. Seeing the lights of the tower against the dark Parisian sky was the prettiest thing I have ever seen. My heart was racing and I got a little teary as the clock turned 9:00 and it began to sparkle. It hit me that I am studying abroad in Paris for a semester - literally the dream!

We walked down closer and saw a crêpe stand, so we bought crêpes to eat while we looked at the beauty that is the Eiffel Tower. With my crêpe citron et sucre (lemon and sugar) looking at the bright lights and listening to La Vie en Rose play on a nearby carousel is something I hope I always remember.

We walked around near the tower across the Seine for a little bit and then walked to find somewhere not too expensive to have a drink. We found a cute little restaurant a little bit of a walk from the tower but the kir au vin blanc was so worth it (mine was peach!) Had another awk host sister encounter but made it into bed!

Sunday morning was a nice, lazy morning where I tried to get some homework (dévoirs) out of the way before we went to Rue de Rivioli for some shopping. I ended up getting a super soft light pink scarf which will come in very handy as it continues to be freezing here. We then met up with some friends at the Jardins de Tuileries in the Louvre - which is huge and beautiful! I'm so excited to come back and see the museum. 

We hit up the same café as yesterday to warm up before dinner. Then back to the homestay, where I've had the apartment to myself tonight which is very nice! I got to show my sister and mom around the apartment on Facetime! Now for a night of Netflix in bed ... 

French Doors are Confusing

Oh la la! What a crazy few full days it has been! Orientation has been go go go nonstop which is a great and exhausting way to get adjusted to the city. I knocked out pretty much right after dinner and slept until my alarm at 8 am. Got dressed and did the things I needed to do before breakfast where Host Mom told me she would teach me how to use the coffee maker. I had some cereal for breakfast along with my piping hot coffee (note : make coffee first before anything because it will burn your tongue when you try to gulp it down before leaving). Then it was off to orientation! Turn out it was a bit of a struggle just leaving the appartement. French doors continue to confuse me and I had to even ask my host mom how to open the door to leave. 5 floors later and I found myself at another door which was an even bigger struggle. At the last door to the outside world, after hunting I found a button to open it.

I decided to walk to orientation because 1) it was a pretty nice day 2) it was a nice way to kind of see the neighborhood 3) I have never taken le Métro before and was nervous. So I set out with my downloaded map and made it to the IES Center after a nice 20-minute walk.

la Tour Montparnasse on my walk to the center!

I'm really lucky my housing is so close! Then I came to .... another door. I tried a bunch of times to put the key code in but the door would never open after it buzzed. There ended up being a whole group of IES students standing as I tried (and failed) to open it. Orientation was an all-day affair with lots of meeting where we learned about safety, mass transportation, and fears. We got an hour lunch break so a few of us found a boulangerie and got sandwiches!

Then we had more meetings after lunch and then had a little break so a group of us went to get our Navigo passes for the metro. We came back and relaxed for a little (I had my pain au chocolat from the boulangerie at lunch) and then opened out bank accounts. Then it was off for a little adventure to the 8th arrondissement to get French SIM cards for our phones. We made it there and back and were even a little early for our Skidmore Welcome Dinner.

Dinner was at a cous cous restaurant and was delicious with vegetables and meat on top of soft cous-cous! Biggest perk of the evening was the glass of wine with dinner ... It was nice to have a nice meal after our long day of running around Paris. I took the metro back with some friends and walked home (after being confused by the doors to leave the station yet again. Paris is nice and quiet at night, quite the change from the busy hustle and bustle of the day. I managed to get both sets of keys to work pretty easily and then said hi to my host parents and gave them a quick summary of my day.

ex-cous cous the pun, but dinner was amazing!

The next morning I had to wake up and be at the center 30 minutes earlier, so I decided to take the metro (even though it would only save me 7 minutes). I decided to start the coffee before I ate my cereal so it would have time to cool and got all of the parts figured out. Everything was going well until it started to boil over. While it was cooling and I was pouring my cereal, my older host sister asked if I had made enough for just myself. Now this was pretty early in the morning, and she was talking pretty quickly but I didn't understand a word she said except for café (coffee). So I stood there looking like a deer caught in the headlights as she repeated herself in English. Not more than 10 minutes later, after an awkward breakfast in silence (I was very jealous of her baguette), I struggled to open the door to leave the house - so she opened it for me. I then booked it down to the Metro stop (I always forget how long walking down 5 flights of stairs is) and took the very crowded train to the center.

the IES center door ...  my old enemy

We had some more hours of orientation, including a picture, and then got free time for lunch. A group of us when to a crêpe place where they had a deal of one savory and one sweet crêpe and a drink (I had a glass of hard cider) for 10,10€. My savory crêpe was goat cheese with tomato, little ham bits and some lettuce with dressing on the top. The sweet crêpe was chocolate (of course!).

holy crêpe!

We had a meeting at the center about Host Families (famille d'acceuil) which would have been helpful before we spent 2 days at their homes. Now I am a little stressed about asking my host mom all these important questions about laundry and what days we should eat dinner together. After the meeting I went to Franprix which is a supermarket and got some shampoo and conditioner and body wash. Now I am sitting in my room writing this and figuring out how to ask if I can help with dinner or with clean up ...

Bises,
Leah

FWotD - une porte (n) - a door. J'ai un peu de la difficulté à ouvrir les portes en France. I have a little difficulty opening doors in France.

French Phrase - Non, merci! (said forcefully) What you are supposed to say if asked to sign a petition (it's probably a scam!) or are getting hit on at a bar. It has been my favorite phrase of orientation and I use it ironically with friends all too often!

First (French) Impressions

Oh boy! I am currently sitting at my cute little Parisian desk writing, but what a crazy past few hours it has been ...

oh la la!

I ended up sitting at the terminal with some other friends from Skidmore which definitely helped pass the time and ease some worries. We boarded and left JFK on time. The flight was super empty so I had a whole row to myself. The flight was pretty good for a 6+ hour flight, we got dinner and breakfast and there were little TVs on the back of every seat. I can never sleep on planes, let alone when I am nervous or excited, so I have had a grand total of 30 minutes of sleep in the past 40 hours!

We landed early and took a train to the baggage claim terminal at Charles de Gaulle. First though, we had to go through customs which was just a bunch of tired people standing in line. Not super exciting, but there is a first time for everything! Our bags came super fast at the baggage claim and then IES (the study abroad program) was supposed to send a representative to greet us, but we couldn't find them. We then all split up and took taxis to our homestays!

After a bit of trouble, the taxi driver figured out what address I was trying to say to him and we headed off through early morning traffic into the city. Paris didn't seem real until we crossed over la Seine and I spotted la Tour Eiffel! It was just a glimpse of the top, but it was enough! I'm also pretty sure we drove past the Notre Dame Cathedral which was pretty cool to see.

Notre Dame

As per usual, I was super nervous when we pulled up to the homestay. I punched in the access code my host family had given me, and after realizing the door pushed instead of pulled, I used the intercom and met my host mom! She helped me with my suitcases, which was a really good thing because let me tell you, 5 flights of stairs + a 46-pound suitcase is a recipe for disaster (let's just say there was a fair amount of heavy breathing involved). Side note: 1 bigger suitcase seems a whole lot easier to lug around than 2 smaller ones.

My host mom then gave me a tour of the house and offered me un café (a coffee) as we talked. My desk is my favorite part so far because of the huge window right beside it ... and also the fact that its right by the heater! Between the lack of sleep and nerves, my French is pretty much at the level of an elementary schooler (I replied yes when she asked what year in school I was and forgot the word for "far"). Then I met my host dad. Thankfully, it seems like they speak a little bit of English which is good, just in case. My host dad is a musician and I spotted a piano on the tour of the house. Right now he has classical music playing which is the most comforting thing in the world because my dad is also a musician!

my bed!

some shelves to hold all the clothes I overpacked ... 

I unpacked and texted some friends on the program to clear up what the plan is for tomorrow and after my host mom offered me a small lunch, or déjeuner, of pasta with olive oil and cheese. We talked some more and I want to say it's getting a little easier. I pretty much just laid low and rested while my host mom went out and my host dad worked. I did get to call my sister and dad (9 hour time differences are pretty difficult) which was nice. We had dinner at about 8:20 pm and it was a delicious vegetable stew with a side of bread (of course) and a salad. We finished with some yogurt which was way better than any yogurt I've had back home. I met the other girl living with us at dinner and host fam was nice enough to grant us one night of speaking in English to get to know each other! It's nice to be living with someone else my age.

Honestly, today has felt like some kind of a weird dream because I am exhausted and slightly overwhelmed. It really hasn't hit me yet that I am living in Paris ... and will be for the next 4 months.

Bises,
Leah

French Word of the Day: loin (adv): far. Ma maison en Californie est très loin de Skidmore. My house in California is very far from Skidmore.

Au Revoir America!

I am sitting here in JFK using the complementary 30 minutes of free wifi (so generous!) and freaking out that January 15th is finally here! I flew from Portland, Maine to New York early this morning with my gram. We then parted ways in the terminal and I headed down to claim my bag. Next step was to hop on the AirTrain and head to Terminal 4 ... unfortunately things usually go a little badly whenever I travel. In my tired state, I took a JetBlue shuttle instead of the AirTrain! It ended up working out because the shuttle dropped us off right to the AirTrain. A short, crowded ride later and I ended up where I needed to be.

the view from my first flight somewhere over Boston

So I panicked a little in the terminal because I couldn't find the Delta check-in line, but things went smoothly through the lines and very crowded security.

The few days leading up to today were a bit hectic with packing and getting everything I needed before leaving. The most stressful was trying to get my visa back from the NY consulate because I was in Maine which is very far from the city (shout-out to my awesome cousin for making not one, but two trips to NYC to help me out!) I ended up packing a medium sized checked suitcase and then a smaller suitcase to carry on the plane along with my backpack. It should be interesting trying to lug everything up to the 5th floor of my homestay as I could barely carry my bags up the steps in the shuttle!

all my stuff fit in 2 suitcases!

So now I'll wait for 5 hours in the airport until my flight leaves tonight! I hope you guys follow along in my adventures abroad!

Bises (kisses) -
Leah