WeeFee (how the French say WiFi)

Hello sweet friends and family!

Just wanted to write briefly and inform everyone that we currently do not have (and haven't for a couple weeks now) internet in our apartment. We're working on getting it fixed, but it's quite the process over here. Just wanted to let you know, as I've received some emails wondering about me and making sure I was still kickin'. I am! Apologies to those I haven't responded to, but will as soon as I can!

C'est tout! ("That's all!)

-MC

Douce France

Hello friends!

It's been awhile since I've posted, my apologies. But I'm not going to try and recap day by day. Instead, I'll just recap monumental things I can remember in bullet point form, since that's how I think and let's be real, that's sometimes the easiest to read. Apologies in advance for any rambles that ensue. Here we go!

-Had our first week of classes, outside of Le Cours Pratique (our language courses every day from 12-2). I had Architecture and History of Paris on Monday afternoon from 3:30-6, and really enjoyed it! We have a total of 4 days actually IN the classroom, when we'll learn the history of Paris and discuss our readings. Then the rest of the days will be spent out in the city at churches and monuments, learning about their architecture and purpose behind the construction. HOW INTERESTING. I'm really excited for this course and the teacher is BEYOND laid back..he told us day 1 that we would all pass and grades are a silly way to determine one's knowledge of a subject. Then on Thursdays, from 3-5:30, I have class on Multiculturalism in modern France with an energetic little French woman. She's great. It's an interesting course, but may or may not be a struggle to focus completely in, as it's late afternoon on a Thursday, and I don't find her topics exactly stimulating. No matter what though, I know I will leave here more educated and cultured than when I arrived.

-We visited Opera Garnier on Tuesday to tour the beautiful structure without the crowds, as we'll attend a ballet later in the semester. The grandeur and magnificence of the Opera was stunning...something one would picture in the movies or dream of at night. I joyfully anticipate attending the ballet in the next months! Then we walked through the city, seeing different sites and monuments, including the Paris Stock Exchange (shout out to all my finance friends)! It was large and in charge.

-Natalie had some friends visiting in town for a couple days this week. It was wild to look around at dinner on Wednesday night (which Nat and Jess so kindly cooked for us...yummy) and realize that I was sitting at a table with 2 Americans, 1 Australian, and 1 German, all while eating dinner at our apartment in France. Conversation switched between English to French to German to English, etc. WILD. What a fun fun thing to realize and appreciate in life, as it's a rarity.

-Had a lovely Valentine's day, watching men run around and create the perfect day for their amour. I enjoyed riding the metro day, watching people get on and off with bouquet's of flowers. The world just seemed brighter and more alive, as you would see people glowing. Sadly, no proposals found outside the Eiffel Tower. I guess the city of love isn't as cliché as you would think it is! I bought our roomies a beautiful yellow rose, partially because it was less euros and guilty-it's the state flower of Texas! Came home and made a delicious meal of vegetables and salmon-my favorite. Sadly, forgot about dessert, but my usual glass of chocolate milk sufficed!

-Alsoooo found out this craziness-Austin is coming to visit in March!!!! He surprised me and booked a flight to come play over his spring break. WILD. So so SO excited and ready to see that sweet boy.

-It's warmed up some here! Not wearing pairs of tights below pants or layers of tops or gloves and earmuffs anymore! Sadly, it's been quite wet and rainy too. Not the most optimistic weather, but it's Paris!

-We've gotten quite a few solid runs in in the past week or so. Natalie showed us a path down the Seine towards La Place de Concorde...really enjoy that route! We also have done a couple roomie runs, and all 3 been out running together. Make the jog more enjoyable, conversational, and fun! Sadly, we had one fluke this week of a new path. We ran around the Arc to a street that branched off the circle and had nice, open paths and parks. Instead of turning around, like I've done in the past, we decided to continue on, assuming it would somehow curve back around and we'd bisect our street in the end. That was false. We ended up running, and running, and running. Until we ended up at Trocádero and then later at the Marmotton Museum, both were places we had met with other AIFS students to convene via the metro. We were straight up lost. After lots of map consulting and friendly people to point us in the right direction, we made it home safe and sound, just in time for dinner!

-We had dinner with our host mom on Monday night and that was a very enjoyable experience! Who knew that one could have so many segments to a meal. When we arrived, we were seated in the foyer, where we were offered tea and munchies. Then, after about 30 minutes, we were invited into the dining room, where we had a delicious salad and cold fish for our appetizer. Then we had our entrée, followed obviously by a whole course of cheese (a large delicacy in France, usually enjoyed as a dessert, sometimes during the day for snack, but NEVER on a sandwich. At least, not the fancy "fromages" (cheeses) they worship here) and baguettes. Oh, and don't forget the wine. With every course throughout the whole meal. The French can't imagine how Americans enjoy white wine, as they find it too sweet. Le vin rouge (red wine) is a must for meals and throughout the night. Then followed our dessert of chocolate mousse and vanilla glace (ice cream). Then, finishing up the night, we returned to the foyer for some chamomile tea and small talk. It was a wonderful meal, filled with french language, foods, and learning. Madame had invited her two nieces, who are around our age, along with a couple other of her friends to dinner, so it was lovely to discuss topics and matters of life with some French girls our age. I learned so much about the French education system and occupations.  Majority of the time discussing in French. Although I wasn't able to track their conversation fully during the meal, as politics were brought up and ohhhh boy did that bring a line of fire of conversation, but I feel that I was able to converse at ease with the others in French when it was one-on-one. It was an eye-opening and enriching experience to say the least. Made me very appreciative of the experience I get to have here and the opportunity to really expand my language palate!

-Friday night we had an enjoyable night. A friend from class invited us all to meet up at a bar to have a couple drinks and get to know other study abroad students. I made new friends from all sorts of backgrounds-Chinese, Italian, German, Mexican, other Americans, etc. As per the bullet point above, it was so interesting to learn about the different cultures and lives of students around my age, but in a completely different stage of their life due to the education system they were brought up in or what was esteemed and held as honorable in their native country. Sadly, no new French friends, but that will come in due time hopefully! Afterwards, we all went to a local club where we had fun dancing and moving to the music. Despite the fact that I may or may not have misguided us on the RER in the wrong direction at one point, it was still a fun night with some new friends.

-We start phonetics lab this week. It's something we'll have every day for 5 days from 10-11, and then we'll have the next week off. Then pick it back up again for 5 days. Then none. And the cycle continues. It's 30 minutes of working in a classroom with our teacher, whether it be dictation, pronunciation, or working on spelling as she speaks out loud. Then the next 30 minutes is spent in a lab with cubicles and headphones, where we are given phrases to repeat. We then rewind the tape to listen to ourselves and then re-do and work on our pronunciation with the same phrases. Repeat cycle. We'll see how it goes. I'm excited to hopefully improve my speech and pronunciation!

-Nanny things are stagnant right now. I'm searching for a family that fits my schedule and isn't more than a 30-45 minute commute. Sadly, nothing seems to be matching up, which is dismaying as I was so excited for this, but I'll keep on searching!

-Attended Hillsong Church again this morning and it was magnificent. I just can't get enough of singing worship songs in French, or even just reading and learning the translation of phrases, as they post them on the screen. The speaker today was French, so he would speak first, and then they always have a translator who follows. It was exciting to listen to the French pastor and understand parts of what he would explain and be able to partially follow in French, only to have it clarified after in English. I just thoroughly enjoy the French language so much, no matter what form or environment.

-And finally to conclude, there are some fun things I've observed while being in Paris about the Parisian culture which I wanted to share:

1. They wear heels like tennis shoes. No matter where they're going, how far they're walking, or what the weather looks like, you are bound to find at least 10 women on each metro car in heels or wedges. How they do it? I have no idea. I think my feet would fall off after a week of commuting in Paris while wearing heels.

2. I used to be disturbed by the high percentage of lougies we would find all over the sidewalks in France. Having to watch your step or being repulsed by a glob of snot on the ground which someone spit out is a common occurrence. I found this disgusting and unnatural. Until I went running. Maybe it's a mix of the high body temperature and cold weather, or the exercise and large amount of people having a cold in the winter...I'm not sure. All I know, is that running will take the snot right out of you and the Parisians have no issue sharing it publicly. It may be considered revolting and improper in the states, but here in France, I have no issue fitting right in with the locals.

3. While on the topic of running, I think it right to point out how the Parisians don't run in sweats, shorts, or tshirts. Oh no. It's home to the fashion industry. Parisians run in fit, running leggings or capris, under armour tops, or fashionable wind breakers. Nothing against this running attire, I sometimes sport it myself as well. It's just too easy to spot the Americans on the streets, as they jog around in sweat pants/shorts and big, oversized, baggy tshirts. Note to self: to be a local-dress well, make mile 4 look like a breeze, and don't sweat too much while working out. Impossible.

4. And finally, as you can imagine, they kiss everywhere. Over bridges, in parks, while waiting for the metro, while riding the metro, right after getting off the metro, in front of monuments, while having their picture taken, before ascending a set of stairs...together, while waiting on the bus, in the train station, waiting on the cross-walk, stopping mid-stride on a street to kiss, on benches (on Valentine's day... precious). They are enamored with each other, and they're not afraid to show it. It's called the city of love for a reason, and they definitely fill out the title.

Sorry for the novel-long, rambling blog without pictures. It's like giving a child a chapter book, when all they want to see are the illustrations, but our internet just wouldn't permit it. It's a tad fickle and doesn't really ever like to fully work for us, so the pictures will have to wait for another day when our Wifi is in a better mood.

Per usual, I'll leave you with a French phrase (+ history), which also happens to be the title of this post:

"Douce France" which translates to "Sweet France". This is sometimes used when referencing France, in relation to all of the women in France that make French life sweet due to their strong contribution to literature and their history of making it flourish. Fun fact from class.

Know I'm loving life here and learning daily. It's an amazing experience that I could only hope everyone gets to taste at some point in their life.

À bientôt,

Mary Catherine

Souriant

Salut!

Not much new to update you on. Began class on Thursday, with Madame Céline Garelli, where I'll have class every day from 12-2! It was fun to finally be back in the classroom learning new french and implementing what we already know. It's a tad easier than I hoped for, but hopefully she's just starting off light and it will get more challenging. It's also different than I anticipated, in that I thought we'd be taught in English, but we are taught in 100% pure French, as I'm not sure our teacher even knows a lick of English. It's good...it's enriching and challenging..makes you really learn! I enjoy speaking in French and learning daily how to do so better. I just think it's a beautiful language...beautiful enough for me to follow it here!

After class on Thursday, we ran around the city to find our books. Crazy to textbook shop in Paris. To buy my textbooks here. Because I'm studying here. And go to school here. And live in Paris. WILD. Grabbed a quick lunch with Ash, then back to the apartment to gather my things before my interview. Headed off to my interview at 5, which went well! They asked a multitude of questions, ranging from how I would handle different scenarios to why I would like to work with children. I left unsure of how the outcome would turn out, but they said I'd hear by Friday as to whether or not they'll hire me. Came home, ate some dinner, had a fun run around the city and down the Seine with the roomies, and when I returned I already had an email from the company saying that they were pleased with the interview! So I basically was accepted/hired by a company who is the middle man between me and the families, as this company does all the grunt work of hiring people, doing interviews, background checks, etc. and the families go through the company to find nanny's. So I've now been accepted to this company and now can choose which family to nanny for that fits my schedule best! Wahoo! I'm a french nanny! Exciting.

Friday was an early morning, off to take our phonetics placement test. Phonetics lab is something we'll have for 1 hour per day, every other week. So for example, week 1, I'll have phonetics lab from 10-11 AM on Monday, Tuesday, Wed, Thursday, Friday. Then week 2, I won't have it at all. Week 3, lab every day of the week. Week 4, no lab. Etc etc. It's a lab created to help with one's pronunciation and speech of the french language. Sounds very very fun...I'm looking forward to it! Then of to the AIFS office for some things, lunch with Lauren and Ashley and a fun, small cafe that I've grown fond of lately. They have delicious crêpes, paninis, and inexpensive diet cokes...yikes. I'm a sucker for those. Then off to adventure on foot to find our class! After going in the wrong direction, a rude french lady completely bashing Ashley's drink out of her hand, and 25 minutes later, we somehow managed to successfully stumble upon our class. Excitingly, along the way I looked around and realized I recognized this place. Turns out, my classes are only about 2 blocks away from where Anne lives, the sweet lady I had dinner with on Sunday night! Fun fun fun.

Friday after class, Lauren, Thérèse and I ventured off to find this cool dance school one of our AIFS advisors had told us about. Lauren and I have been dying to find a place to take fun, random dance classes while in Paris.  It was the COOLEST place, called Centre de danse du Marais, and they offer a plethora of classes-including Salsa, Tengo, African dance, Modern dance, etc. Very very cool place and hopefully a successful option! Then we did some venturing around the city, finding fun vintage stores and french equivalents of goodwill's, but here they like to sell racks and racks of fur coats for 15 euros...

Then I left to head back home and meet up with Nat and Ashley! We ate some din din and hopped on the Metro to head to the Louvre for "gratuit" (free) entrance into the museum for those under 28 on Friday nights. I know...how cool are we. Three 21 year olds heading to a museum on a Friday night..but it was legitimately amazing! Great choice. Really enjoyable being there with lower crowds and peaceful to admire artwork as the people filtered out at the later hours and one would find themselves in a whole gallery of the Louvre by themselves. There's something to say about being in the Louvre with low crowds and minimal noise. Very serene and different, compared to the hub of the city outside the windows. And lovely TriDelta sisters, sad I missed formal, but wouldn't have traded where I was for anything. While you all were dancing the night away, I was standing in front of this work of art admiring it...

And seeing this beautiful sculpture of Venus...

And this statue of Athena...

And this amazing stone artifact that originally decorated the exterior of the greatest Athenian temple, the Parthenon...

It was definitely a learning evening, and one of the most in-depth history lessons I've learned since arriving. There will be more Friday night Louvre excursions to come...no shame.

The Louvre

Saturday we arose in excitement to go find supposedly Paris's largest food market, only open on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Within walking distance, we were off in the chilly morning temperatures for fresh food, flowers and bread. Sadly, as must happen a handful of times to everyone who travels abroad, we were unsuccessful and finding this local attraction. Slightly defeated and cold to the core, we headed back home, stopping by the local Picard on the way to gather the food we had failed to find fresh. Ate some lunch, then gladly slipped into the slumber of my first nap in Paris. It was DELIGHTFUL. Woke up, and off to see Zirafa in french, a new movie that has recently come out. In suit of our luck for the day, it was yet another unsuccessful trip, where we went to somehow wasn't even showing the movie at all...So back home we head yet again. This left time for necessities, so I did a lot of cleaning of the apartment, picking up my personal things, and some laundry. Then went on another lovely run around the Seine, showered, dinner, and off for the night with Ash and Nat! We went to go find an art/music festival on rue du Rivoli that Ashley had found. It was SO COOL. It was about an 8 story building of artist's studios, where each floor of studios was different and personalized by the artist. It was open to the public, and the artists had work displayed for one to look at, buy, or you could watch some of the artists while they worked and displayed their passion on a canvas. It was very low-key, laid back, as one would typically picture artist studios who are trying to make a living in Paris, but while living life to the fullest. They served wine in plastic cups at the entrance and there was not one inch of wall on the winding staircase that was not painted, decorated, or covered in graffiti. It was awesome. Just to see the unique people and passions, skill and their ability to translate their talent onto canvas, whether through paint, needles, pencil, etc. Then we went to the first floor, where we sat for about 45 minutes and listened to a BEAUTIFUL classical concert of violinists, cellists, and pianists. It was perfect. One of those "Ahh now I feel like I'm officially in Paris. Life is good." moments. So surreal, so magnificent and precious to the ears.

Looking down the spiral staircase of the building 

Decoration on the walls and door of one of the studios

Like I said, every inch contained art

I really liked this artwork on the wall

Mmm

...our dreams of cracked glass.

Successful night, and one my favorite since being abroad. First feeling of finally being a local. Felt wonderful to be in the Parisian environment.

No Hillsong this morning, as we had a not-so-pleasant meeting with Madame, our "host" mother, but basically our landlord. Not even worth discussing on here...all that matters is that we're here and living in Paris! We spent all afternoon working diligently on our homework, which somehow took us a total of around 3 hours...craziness! It's not hard, just feels like busywork and a review. Wish it was more challenging. After feeling so cooped up inside, the 3 of us decided that we needed to get some fresh air and go for a run. We took a new route that had been recommended to us from a friend downstairs. Towards the Arc de Triomphe, around a couple streets, and cut off on another rue that has open parks. It was lovely. So we ran. And kept running. And running. Thinking that we'd just take a different path home. We were so wrong. We somehow arrived at Musée Marmottan Monet, a museum we had traveled to with AIFS last week which had taken us 20 minutes via metro to get there. Oh my. So we turn around, keep running in another direction, only to arrive at Trocadéro, yet another destination we had arrived at for AIFS events via metro rides. We finally had to stop and ask a precious elderly lady to point us in the direction of avenue Marceau. After many twists and turns and map consulatations, we somehow managed to arrive back to home sweet home. After we found ourselves and our location, I realized it was actually quite an enjoyable run to see the city and get a strong exercise in.

Now off to bed for some early morning things, including the heating guy coming to fix our broken heater in our apartment...you think I'm exaggerating when I say we're literally freezing, I'm not. Lunch at the quaint cafe, class with Madame Garelli, and then actually another new class of Architecture in France from 3:30-6. Quite excited for that one!

French word I'll leave you with today: "Songer" which means to dream, to reflect, to muse, to think--so "Songe à ton avenir" means "to think of or consider your future".

Hope all is well wherever you each are in this world.

Bonne nuit!

PS...shout out to Natalie for helping me with the word for the day. Aren't my roommates just the greatest...? This is what below-freezing, chilly nights in Paris will do to your face:

Joie

Hello!

Sorry for not blogging in a couple days...I guess that's a good sign, because that means I'm running around enjoying the city! And as much as I have to write about, I'm going to try and keep this as concise as possible.

Dinner with Anne (family friend of the Millers) on Sunday night was WONDERFUL. She was beyond kind to me. Due to the nasty weather outside, she cooked in for the night and we ate dinner at her flat in the 5th arrondissement. It was exactly what I needed at this point in my adventures. Delicious food with a 3-course meal (and the main dish was salmon...my favorite!), friendly company, a heated apartment--a home. She was so welcoming and easy to talk to. She taught me helpful tricks of the trade for Paris and gave me tips for things like taxis and food. I hadn't realized how much I had missed a home and the love that fills it. Thank you Millers for helping me find a home away from home.

Monday was a productive day I would say! Natalie had flown off to Copenhagen for the first half of the week to see her boy, so it was just Ash and I. We headed off to the AIFS office to take care of a handful of things: signing up for french cuisine classes, making copies of passports, filling out immigration forms so we can legally be here, and discussed some of the rough edges about our housing situation. Afterwards, we slid on over to my/our becoming favorite crêpe place for a hot nutella crêpe...YUM.

Crêpes!

We then caught the metro to Trocadéro, which has the most BEAUTIFUL view of "le Tour Eiffel" while also overlooking Paris. The weather was fair, but the view was impeccable. How lucky am I to get to live in this city for a semester? Once in a lifetime opportunity.

Ash and I then went into the National Marine Museum next door...a museum ddddeefinitely meant for parents to take their little boys. Grown up girls probably didn't find it quite as interesting. Oh well, can't like them all! We caught the metro back to George V (our metro stop on the Champs) and decided to tour the Louis Vuitton Museum. Now, not many people know about this museum, as it's on the 7th floor above the huge Louis Vuitton store, and it's not strongly advertised. We only knew about it because our tour guide had mentioned it in passing. I prepped myself for what I thought would be a hoighty-toighty, high fashion, cut-throat industry kind of museum. I was so wrong. It was the most interesting and unique modern art museum! Due to it's low advertisement, there was only 1 other person in the museum with us. The art was all interactive art and had extensive descriptions to explain what the artist was attempting to depict and achieve through their piece.

One of the art exhibits in Louis Vuitton museum...One instrument playing made all of them play based off of how they are all connected

Tuesday was a big excursion day. We met at 9 to head towards Versailles. It was a beautiful, ginormous, extensive, elaborate palace that Louis XIV had built, and very interesting history to learn about. Kind of fun to picture what it would have been like living in those days and ages. Really enjoyed visiting, and it was even more breathtaking covered in snow from the weekend before.

Front gates of Versailles

Looking out from the gates of Versailles covered in beautiful snow

Hall of Mirrors

The gardens covered in snow

Versailles 

After Versailles, we headed off to Chartres to eat some lunch and see their MAGNIFICENT cathedral, which is one of the oldest Notre Dame's standing and intact. It was quite chilly, but our tour guide was intelligent and informative, as he has been giving tours for 50+ years at the cathedral. It was a tad rough on our bodies though, as the cathedral had no heat, and walking out into the snow to look at the external architecture didn't help much either. After dancing many little jigs to stay warm, we all hauled back to the bus, a haven of heat for the frozen.

The cathedral

Beautiful architecture

Intricate and gorgeous stained glass windows

Today we had a "surprise mystery tour", where one just shows up and follows our guide! It ended up being a tour to Musée des Arts Forains, which was basically a museum set up as a circus/fair back in the day. But not just any museum, an interactive museum which joyfully took us all back to our childhood.

The first carousel...

...which we rode.

And the second carousel...

...which we also rode!

Fun games

Well this has been a blog for pictures galore! A couple last little fun things...

The other day, I was sitting on the metro riding home, when the girl sitting across from me began speaking plain American English with her friend. Usually I wouldn't notice, but they were about my age and seemed to be from the states. So I started up conversation with them, finding out that they were here visiting for the weekend from their study abroad location in Barcelona. We began to discuss where we were from, colleges, etc. and lo and behold, the friend attends Clemson! She's a junior Chi-O studying abroad in Spain for the semester. Just thought that was SO random and such a small world kind of thing. Running into college aged, English speaking, American, Clemson students while on a French metro in the middle of Paris. Craziness. Fun.

Thrilled about my newly purchased flowers. The apartment needed color...or at least I did in this city of black and neutral clothes. Fresh flowers are my closet obsession, even though I sadly don't get to purchase them that often. I just feel like they bring so much more life to a room. I'm currently enjoy them, as they are set directly beside my computer as I type.

Fun fact: I have an interview tomorrow for a potential french nannying position! I just thought it would be exciting to interact with French children while abroad, and my roommate Ashley came across this babysitting/nannying/tutoring business that hires native English speakers to nanny French children so the kids can begin to acquire English as a language as well. They called last week and offered me an interview, so I'll go in tomorrow at 5! Nothing major, if it works out-great. If not-still great! I'M LIVING IN PARIS. No complaints here. Just think it would be enriching to interact with children weekly while abroad. Something about their innocence and childlike joy--I can never get enough.

School begins tomorrow! First classes for French language at noon, so I better get some shut eye. CRAZY to think that I've been out of the states for so long, yet official school hasn't even yet begun! I'd like to attend school like this every semester...But really am excited to get back in classes to learn, be challenged, and put into practice some improved French language. Ready to expand my knowledge on this beautiful language I followed to Paris.

Phrase for the day: "Avoir la joie dans la vie" which means "To have joy in life"

Vous avez joie dans la vie, mes amours.

Les Fleurs

Today I bought flowers. 

Sometimes it's the little things in life that bring us the most joy.

Bonheur

Yesterday we had a low-key morning. I got another nice jog in, this time around the Arc de Triomphe, then back to shower, eat lunch, and off for the afternoon! We decided to spend afternoon strolling around the hilltop of Butte Montmartre, a hilltop neighborhood which still retains some of the untamed rural charm that once drew Impressionist painters and turn-of-the-century bohemians, and which is topped by the bulbous white domes of the Sacré-Coeur Basilica. This is also the location of many other places like Le Chat Noir dance club, Van Gogh's House, Moulin Rouge, Pig Alley, and the list goes on. It was a long, but beautiful hike up the cobblestone streets, and was obviously a huge tourist attraction. From the front of Sacré-Coeur, one could see for miles above the Paris rooftops. 

Montemartre Square

Precious man painting

Rooftops of Paris

The Basilica was absolutely stunning, with so much art and focus on Christ's love for all humanity. Sadly, no pictures were allowed inside the Basilica, so I only have one from the outside, which is still magnificent!

View of Sacré-Coeur from the bottom of the hill

 After a delicious and warm crêpe on the streets of Montmartre, we headed on home to cook us some dinner. We ate, then headed back out to the Champs-Elysees to run around. We made a couple errands, one being to the FNAC (their bookstore, equivalent to a Borders), where I purchased my first French book, Le voleur d'ombres (which translates to "The thief of shadows")! I began it last night, and am thoroughly enjoying it! We also popped into the famous 19th century tea salon/pâtisserie, Ladurée, for some scrumptious macaroons!

nom nom nom

Afterwards we headed back home to warm up and hit the hay!

This morning was one of the most glorious things I've seen yet in Paris. I woke up at a lovely 7:45 AM to see snowflakes softly falling outside my window onto the white blanket of neige ("snow") covering the rooftops of Paris. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL. Not only do I rarely see snow, being a Texan and all, but what other time in my life will I wake up to watch the snow slowly drift past my bedroom window in PARIS. Absolutely stunning. So serene and peaceful. 

Neige! View from my balcony!

Bench covered in snow on the Champs-Elysees on the way to my metro stop

View from my balcony of the Eiffel Tower

Bundling up in 3 pairs of tights, 2 scarves, 2 socks, 2 head/ear warmers, 2 under layers and a dress then my hunter boots, I was off to Hillsong Paris for church! It was a delightful service, with an intricate mix of languages. What a dream to worship in French as I read the English translation below!! What a glorious way to celebrate being abroad and to feel the foreign beautify to the fullest. Hillsong was passionate and alive...full of Christ and a home to His family. Very exciting to meet new people and make some new friends, both French and American! I look forward to returning.

On the way home, I picked up a fresh baguette and cheese for lunch. Then spent the afternoon inside, watching the beautiful weather outside. Now I'm off to meet Anne Guevara, a family friend of the Miller's who lives in Paris permanently, for dinner! I'm quite excited to meet her and learn more about what it's like to live in France!

Tonight is the superbowl...or should I say this morning? Kick-off at 12:30 AM here, and yes, I will be watching from a local bar with some friends. Not quite sure if i'll last the whole time, but I'll watch as much as I can. I miss football season!

French word for the day: "bonheur" which means "happiness"

A bientôt!

Voyage à Reims

Today was quite a fun day! We went on an excursion to Reims, which is also known as the champagne valley. We left Paris around 9:15 and made the 2 hour drive, by bus, to the city of Reim.

French countryside 

Cute little houses

Upon arrival, we went to the Pommery champagne cellar, where we were given a very interesting tour of the cellars! We learned all about the creating, aging, and production process of champagne. It was very interesting to learn about and to be in the actual cellars, where they have to keep it a certain temperature, light and humidity year around. After the hour tour, we returned to daylight to conclude our tour with a very nice champagne tasting. The wine was absolutely delicious!

Stairs down to the cellar

How they label the specific type of champagne

Oldest champagne they own

Fun art decoration

After the wonderful champagne cellars, we dropped by the gothic cathedral and were free to get some lunch. Then, for our final stop, we were off to see the most amazing sight of the excursion. We went to a local high school classroom, where President Eisenhower had set up his headquarters in WWII, after the Allies had occupied France. It was here that the leaders of the Allies and Axis powers met to sign the official document of surrender by Axis powers, thus ending World War II. The room had been preserved exactly as it was the day the Allies were victorious. What an AMAZING part of history to see.

Entrance door to the museum/high school which says above "It is here that on May 7 1945 was signed the act that put an end to the Second World War in Europe"

The flags at the entrance of the Allies

A picture of what the room originally looked like on May 7, 1945

The room today 

With all of its maps intact

The table and chairs with labels where each head leader sat

We then enjoyed the drive home with a beautiful sunset and everyone taking a light nap on the bus. Natalie and I arrived back to our apartment to check on Ashley, who had gotten sick so she stayed home to rest. We made dinner, then off for another beautiful yet chilling run. Was a longer one tonight, but well worth it, as the Eiffel Tower's light is always breathtaking to run with in sight.

It's getting colder and colder here. All the water on the sidewalks and roads is now ice. The lakes we passed on the drive today were all frozen over. They're expecting snow this weekend, most likely on Sunday, and I'm bracing myself for the weather! Good thing I brought my hunter boots, which should do the trick at keeping my toes warm!

French word for the day: "Flocon de neige" which means "snowflake"

Lots of love from the city of love,
Me