WOAH!

So today for the first time in my life I took on a very big adventure! I left my house in Nantes with Deb who dropped me at the tram stop Petite Porte and I boarded a very full tram! When I switched to the line 1 tram, I ended up being so squished that I fell over backward and landed on some guys bag. Thankfully they were nice enough to help me up! I finally made it to the train station where it was quite full and began my wait for the platform number to show up. Deb called me at about 6pm and told me that my train in the morning was for sure cancelled so I proceeded to validate my ticket and set my mind on getting to Paris. When the train showed up, I boarded the train and went straight to the bar car to wait and see if there would be an open seat. The ticket checkers came by and my ticket was punched without any questions, which caused me to breathe a sigh of relief. Once that was done, I found a seat across from two ladies and sat down to take a nap. When I awoke, the train employees came by again and asked where I was going. Because I had just woken up, I blankly looked at them trying to comprehend. Finally I realized what they were asking and told them that I was going to Paris Charles de Gaulle. Then they asked if I would mind moving so a mother and children could sit there. I said it was fine and moved to the next car for the remainder of the trip. I arrived at the airport and proceeded to follow the crowd of people and hope that I ended up near where I wanted to be. Eventually, I did. I waited for the shuttle and once it finally came, it took me straight to my hotel, Formula 1. Check in went fine and now I am here sitting on my double bed typing about this crazy adventure that I have just had! Tomorrow I head back to the airport to catch my flight to Milan where I will meet Aaron! Mark and Deb called and Mark said that I don't need a chaperon anymore because I am independent. I said, "I don't know about that!" This has definitely made me appreciate all that Mark and Deb do for us with coordinating everything. Here I am now, I guess I feel grown up now. It's kinda weird.

Normandy/Mont St Michel

This past weekend we headed to Normandy for two days. We left early Friday morning and boarded our bus that would take us up to Normandy. The trip is about 3.5 hours long. When we arrived in Normandy, the first thing we did was go to Pont du Hoc. The place where 225 men went to scale the side of a cliff to capture German guns but, by the time they reached the top, there were about 90 left and the guns were not there. This is one of the few places that has been left virtually untouched since June 8, 1944 in honor of the men who died. After visiting that place, we got back on the bus and ate our lunches while we traveled to the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial. This was probably the most emotional spot we went to all weekend. To see all the crosses and then walk down to Omaha beach where they landed was an experience hard to forget. We spent some time there just walking around and looking at the museum/watching a movie about some of the people burred there. From there, we headed to the Arromanches which are large concrete docks (the size of football fields) left in the ocean and on the beach still from when the American/British and Canadians landed on D-Day or (Jour-J). This was pretty crazy to see!

After that, we headed to the hostel where we would be spending the night. It was right on the beach! and had a pool! So, we went swimming right when we got there and then had some dinner (traditional French style) and then took a nice walk on the beach (some of us) and finished up the evening playing psychiatrist. The next morning we met for a traditional French breakfast (bread) and then headed out to the Pegasus Bridge.

The original bridge can be seen at the museum that they have there in memory of it. It was a great tour given by the museum curator, who was British, and then we were able to walk around the museum and look at the different things the soldiers used then. It was very fascinating.

From there we headed to Mont St. Michel, it was a bit of a bus ride, but passed quickly with the telling of stories and riddles and games. We stopped half way there for a picnic lunch at a gas station (not just any gas station, their highway gas stations here are decked out! Showers and everything!) We arrived at Mont St. Michel in the mid afternoon and spend several hours there. We were able to see the abbey and take and audio tour of that, it was amazingly beautiful! And, I am happy to say that I walked through some of the halls singing Ubi Carritas from choir in high school! It was a great time! Then we headed back to the bus and came back home. It was a great time! And I really enjoyed seeing everything!!

PARIS!---Jour 3- Dimanche

Well, Sunday was the big day! Today we would be exploring Paris on our own! It started like most of the other days, wake up early, shower dress as warmly as possible, eat some breakfast, grab a sack lunch and get ready to head out the door! However, today we had to pack our pages and place them in storage for the day as well. My group consisted of Christy, Becca, Adam and I and our first stop was Notre Dame Cathedral! When we arrived, we took a few moments to stand outside of it in awe! The place was amazing! Then we headed inside to see that as well, being that it was Sunday morning, it was full of people both worshiping and those rudely taking photographs. We spent some time there and then went back out again. We went down to the crypt right by Notre Dame which is where you can see old Roman ruins of the city. Then we walked back upstairs and along the garden beside Notre Dame and then over to the Latin quarter where we did some shopping for souvenirs(this is a French word! and it means- to remember!) Anyway, from there we headed to Musee d'Orsay. The impressionistic art museum. We walked around inside there and saw some very beautiful paintings by people such as Van Gogh, Renoir, Monet, Manet, Gauguin and others. We ate our lunch outside of the museum and it once again began to drizzle. So we headed back to the metro to try and find the Pantheon. This proved to be an hopeless situation as we failed miserably and ended up just walking around until we decided to take the metro to the Champs Elysee to do some more shopping. Well we took the metro and got off where we thought was the right place, it ended up not being the right place. Instead, we found a beautiful historic bridge and took photos there and then found some gardens at Tuleries. It was lovely! After asking for directions (In French) from the security guards, we found our way to the other side of the Arc de Triomphe and then to the Champs Elysee. By this time it was raining pretty hard so we ducked into the Bistro Romain to have dessert! It was a good choice! After that, we walked up and down in the different stores doing some shopping and then realized we needed to head back to FIAP. When we got back to FIAP, we picked up our luggage and headed back to the train station where we had some dinner (or didn't). Then we got on the train and made our way back to Nantes all exhausted! We arrived wet and tired and hungry. Most of us ended up cooking some frozen pizza before bed. Never has my bed felt so good as it did that night! All in all, I had a great weekend! :)

PARIS!---Jour 2- Samedi

Saturday was another exciting day in Paris! We woke early, had some breakfast in the small cafeteria downstairs in the center of croissants and nutella and other such French foods! Then we gathered ourselves together and headed to Versailles! Armed with rain gear, cameras and sack lunches (larger than the average person needs!) We boarded the metro and then the train and after about 45minutes or so we arrived at Versailles. We spent from about 11-12 walking around the vast gardens while the fountains were running and they were playing classical music over speakers in the garden! It would have been perfect, if the weather would not have been so rainy/windy. But, we survived alright! After a very enjoyable hour we headed into the palace and toured that on our own (well actually in small groups). I really enjoyed the palace and found it to be very beautiful minus the random modern Japanese art pieces throughout. The hall of mirrors was especially gorgeous! Even better than I imagined it would be! When we were finished the tour and going through the gift shop, we waited for everyone else. However, by this time I was extremely hungry and could not find Adam who had disappeared with my lunch and his out to the gardens.

Once we collected ourselves, we headed back to the train and metros for another 45minutes back into Paris. Which gave me amply opportunity to finally eat my lunch! The next interesting place that we headed was Napoleon's tomb at the Hotel des invalids. There was also a WWI and WWII museum there that we went through. All very interesting! Though I found it strange that they would make such a big deal about Napoleon! After all they exiled him from France twice! Apparently though, the good outweighs the bad for them. There was also a very beautiful organ in the chapel there and if you are a part of the military in France with distinguished honors, you can be married there! By this time in the day we had all hit our afternoon slump and were ready to sit for a while. However, Dr. Reuber would not allow us to quite yet!

We headed up to Montemarte which is the highest point in France. On top of this hill, stand Sacre Coeur, a beautiful Cathedral overlooking the city. We took an incline up the hill and at the top there were all these people standing around and watching people break dance or give puppet shows. It was a little strange! The Church was lovely inside and there was a mass going on, so we were able to see some of that as well. From there we headed to the painters corner where all the painters are and did some shopping and then stopped for dinner. At this point we were on our own in groups. My group wanted to experience a real French meal so we chose a place where the menu(meal of the day) was only 12 Euro. For that, I had salmon terrine, boeuf bourguinon and chocolate mousse. It was very good! My group decided that we wanted to see the Eiffel tower, so we headed over there and waited in line to go up. However, they closed the top floor right before we bought tickets so only 2 people were able to go to the top, and the rest of us went to the second floor. It was very cold!! But, I was very happy to be able to go up and see Paris at night! Nothing like it!

After we finished on the Eiffel, we were all pretty tired, so we headed back to FIAP. However, on the way Mandee and I had to buy a nutella and banane crepe from a street vendor! So good!! Once again a good day was had by all!

For more pictures, check out my facebook page!

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.)