PARIS!---Jour 1- Vendredi

This past weekend, we were fortunate enough to go on a trip to Paris. Most of the students here at the house had been looking forward to this trip since arriving in France, and I was no exception! Friday morning we woke very early so that we could leave the house at 7am! Have you ever tried to get 18 people out of a house for a weekend at 7am? Trust me, it's difficult! Anyway, we were pretty close to schedule. We left the house while it was still dark, giving us the impression that it was the middle of the night, not a good impression when you are already tired and cold! We walked to the tram stop dragging our luggage behind us, it is about a 10 minute walk or roughly a half mile. This is not easy when your suitcase handle doesn't come up so I was pulling it by the strap. Anyway, after a crowded tram ride down town, we finally ended up at the train station got our tickets and went to the platform to board the train! This was very exciting as most of us had never been on a high speed bullet train before! We arrived in Paris at about 10:40am Friday

morning. We wound our way through the train station and down to the metro to go to our stop then walked another few blocks to FIAP-Jean Monet, the youth center where we were going to stay. It was very nice. After some orientation and our packed lunches, we headed out to see the sites of Paris! We started with the most famous of course, the Eiffel Tower! We went to the lookout and took some pictures, bought some souvenirs from the street vendors and then went on our way. Next stop, Arc de Triomphe! The Arch made in honor of Napoleon's Military victories. We climbed up the stairs to the top and spent some time up there viewing the city. It was absolutely gorgeous! The weather was also very beautiful at this point! From the Arc, we headed down the Champs Elysee- the most famous shopping street in Paris, and also very expensive! Our time was tight for fitting everything in, so we headed on back down to the metro (which we rode MANY times!) and

arrived at our next stop got off and were headed to the next place when it started to pour! So, we ducked into a cafe to wait it out. I don't know if you know this or not, but in order to avoid rain in any place in France, you basically have to buy a drink or they will kick you back out. So, we had some hot drinks all around to warm us up!

Then we headed to St. Chapelle (cathedral with the most stained glass!), the Conciergerie which is where they kept prisoners like Marie Antoinette and Robespierre during the revolution. We also saw the outside of the court house of Paris. Everything was beautiful and historic. After that, most of us were beginning to drag, so we headed to the Louvre for dinner and touring. I had some Moroccan food which was very delicious! We had about 2.5 hours in the Louvre. We were able to see most of the famous works such as the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Winged Victory, Raft of the Medusa and many others! I totally could have spent days in there! It's huge!

When we left the Louvre, it was raining once again but that didn't phase us to bad, we walked down to the Seine river to take a boat ride. It lasted about an hour up and down the river and we passed most of the most famous sites! I really enjoyed it except for how cold I was!!! After the boat ride we made our way back to FIAP and fell into bed exhausted! Our night was short as meeting time was at 8:50am the next morning.

Daily Life in Nantes

There really is nothing quite like waking up in the morning and heading down to centre ville to have coffee and pastries at a street side cafe! It truly is like they say over here about the pace of life and the emphasis on enjoying things like (photo: crepes for dinner!) meals. For as unchristian as this country is, there is a huge emphasis on family time and surprisingly enough, more things are closed here on Sundays than are in the States. This is one of the observations I had the other day when talking to Mrs. Reuber about cultural differences. I also had the opportunity on Saturday night to go down to centre ville with Adam and Tim and seven of the female students from ONIRIS. We had coffee and then ended off the evening at a creperie! It was a great evening of learning some of the different things between the cultures. In other news, I am still very stiff and sore from lots of soccer, basketball and believe it or not rowing! We went out on the Edre river with the ONIRIS students and took a huge "dragon boat" basically a long canoe paddled by 21 people! Then some of us switched off into the other canoes so that others could have a turn. It was lots of fun but very tiring!

Life in NANTES

Well, I am settling into life here in Nantes, France over the past week! Classes have been going well. I take two from Dr. and Mrs. Reuber and then I have two classes via conference call back in the USA. I like them well enough. I enjoy having French/French culture classes everyday though! Today we went to ONIRIS which is the local university that we are affiliated with here in Nantes. At ONIRIS we received tours in English by the students there. They showed us what machines they worked on and how they worked, it was very neat! Tomorrow we are scheduled to have a picnic lunch with them and tour Chinese Dragon Boats.

We play soccer frequently over here, more so than I have recently at home which means that I am way out of shape for sprinting but I am working on getting in shape. Which is kinda difficult with all the bread, pastries, cakes and delicious food they have over here!

Today I was able to head to the laundry mat for the first time! Which was great because my thrifty packing lead to a smaller amount of clothes. Anyway it is Friday night and we are going to head down to Centre Ville to see what there is to do. On Sunday we have to introduce ourselves to the church in French, so you can pray for me concerning that!

(The photo on the left is from the Nantes Cathedral where we visited on Saturday and the photo on the right is from our trip to the beach.)

HELLO NANTES

Well, It finally came! I arrive in Nantes, France on Wednesday September 1, 2010 at 4pm in the afternoon! The trip was very long! But we eventually arrived all in one piece! I have been adjusting well even with jet lag which did not seem to affect me to badly! I love my room here which is in my favorite colors! (blue and green) I also have two wonderful roommates! Becca and Christa! On Thursday we spent the day getting to know our neighborhood by walking around with maps and trying not to get lost! We followed that up with some classes in the afternoon and then headed over to learn how to use the tram system over here by heading out to dinner and to visit the grocery store. The store was probably one of the coolest stores I have ever been to in my whole life! Dr. and Mrs. Reuber had us find our own way back to the study center which thankfully went off without any problems! Today (Friday) we had our first quiz on Nantes history/geography of France. Then we immediately launched into a two hour language intensive session! Followed by lunch and then we headed to Centre Ville( downtown). We saw this fantastic Les Machines de L'Ile which is basically an old ship yard made up of simple machines that you can operate yourself. Very interesting!! pictures to come! Anyway after walking around more and seeing a Basillica, Cathedral and some beautiful gardens, we stopped for dinner at a Creperie. I had my first crepes here. A meal one (gallette) made of steak, cheese and onions. And a dessert one with lemon and whipped cream! All of it was very good! tres bon!

I love it here so far and look forward to more adventures!

Tomorrow's the Big Day!!

Well, the time is here already! Tomorrow I will be flying across the Atlantic to arrive in Paris at the Charles De Gaulle Airport on Wednesday September 1st! It is hard to believe that this day is almost here after all the planning this summer! I don't feel completely ready yet but hopefully by tomorrow I will! Please pray for me while I take this next big step in my life and travel to new, far and distant places. I hope to keep this updated with photos and fun stories of my cross cultural experiences in France, as well as first impressions and awkward language barriers. Until France- Au Revoir!

37 Days and Counting!

Well, with only a little over a month until I head to France, it is time to kick things into high gear! I received my packing list the other night though with all the last minute details for Becky and Kevin's wedding yesterday I didn't have much time to go over it. I am looking for to this tremendous opportunity and I hope that people will continue to pray for my preparations. French lessons are coming along, I still have a LONG way to go!

VISA

Yesterday I went to the French consulate in Washington D.C. The day was slightly overcast with a few showers, the perfect day to sit inside a car for a 6 hour round trip. I arrived at the consulate at 11:30am, the appointed time to arrive for a 12pm appointment. Thankfully, they allowed my mother to come in with me since I was fairly nervous about applying for my visa. When I finally was called up, everything went smoothly, until the lady at the first window asked me my origin. This stumped me until I realized that I am American. Then I was called to a second window and asked to present all the rest of my papers and then told to have a seat until called. After a short wait, the last lady called me up and said that all of my papers were in order and that my visa should arrive in a week or two. Well, I guess that means that it is now time to wait for the passport and visa to arrive. I am looking forward to this trip! Today I realized that it is a mere 2.5 months away! Time is moving quickly!