Expect the Unexpected

The next morning we left a little later than normal; I believe it was around 10:30am, which is late for us! I lugged my heavy bag all the way to the bus, which was long walk over cobblestones, and was worn out by the time I loaded my bag. We rode the bus for like 45 minutes to another town on the beach called Etretat. There is a famous painting of the cliffs there; it was a gorgeous view. The water was aqua blue and there were smooth pebbles instead of sand on the beach. We only had an hour there, or I would have explored the cliffs.

We had a quick lunch (Croque Monsieur- grilled cheese) and headed back to the bus to finally drive to Lille! The bus ride was like four or five hours, so I was ready to get off. As we drove into our home for the next few weeks, my eyes didn’t see the image I expected to see of Lille. I imagined Lille as a mini Paris, but it was more dingy and not as pretty. It was a letdown in a way. I’ll explain in detail later.

We all unloaded our bags and headed to our dorm, which was a mess piling into a small room and getting keys and such. The dorm is seven stories, and I by some random luck I am on the first floor along with Claire! I am very happy about this…very convenient. Unfortunately, everyone else is on the 4^th floor and up, but it hasn’t been too bad to deal with so far. I threw my bags into my room and helped carry everyone’s bags to their floors, and then we immediately had a mini tour of Lille by an American student who has studied here since January.

 The tour was interesting to say the least. Noel, our tour guide, did not sugarcoat Lille by any means. One of the first things she mentioned was that there have been four murders in the past 6 months of young men; not exactly the first piece of info I want to know. She also said that of the dorms at the university, we are in the “nerdy” dorm. Great. There is a zero alcohol policy here and quiet hours start at 10pm. NC State is a lot more lax about these type of things, but I’ll deal with it. I hope my R.A., who haven’t met yet, is a laidback person.

We headed for a big Carrefour, a super market, to buy some things. I got an alarm clock, detergent, wine, hangers, yogurt, and hand soap. The store was super crowded and it took forever to check out. A small group of us headed back to the dorm, and I went to a smaller Carrefour to get a little sandwich to eat for dinner. A few of the girls were feeling the same way as me. They were sketched out by Lille so far and not impressed with the city. They had stronger feelings about this than me, but I could tell where they were coming from.

I finally got back to my dorm and unpacked. Unpacking is all I have wanted to do since I landed in Paris. I love not living out of a suitcase! I have a nice dorm you could say. I surprisingly have my own shower too (someone must love me up there). First floor and shower! Others are on higher floors and have a communal shower. They shower isn’t that nice, but hey I have privacy; I am happy. I have a huge mini-fridge, a big wardrobe, a desk (more of a piece of wood balanced on two legs), and a small but comfortable bed with a pink cover. My walls are mint green; it is quite cute. One problem is my window, though. I am on the first floor and my window won’t lock. I am about 10 feet above the street, but I am still scared someone might break in because if someone really wanted to they could. Overall I have a nice room and it’s a lot better than I expected it to be.

 I then hung out with Pranj, who was upset and overwhelmed by Lille. We talked and she felt better, and we then found some of the guys. I drank some of my wine to just loosen up from this hectic and culture shock of a day. After a while, we went to explore Lille and the nightlife along with Noel from earlier. All the girls left the guys and we found Noel who took us to some bar and we all split a fish bowl drink. I spent 2.50 euros since we split the huge drink! We then went and danced at a club, and after a while me and Pranj got separated from our group. We looked forever for them but had no luck, so we decided to try and go home. Problem was that we had no idea where are dorm was. We asked a girl how to get to our dorm, but the language barrier didn’t help things. Me and Pranj roamed the streets, and I felt so sketched out. We eventually got on streets that were empty, and I was so scared. We just ran down the empty streets to get passed them. Eventually we found our dorm. I have no idea how. Again somewhere up there must love me. I am so glad we got home safe and sound. I left a note on Claire’s door explaining we were safe because I knew they must have been freaked out they couldn’t find us.

I got up and showered today and then headed to an orientation. It was pretty boring, but I met some fellow students in the European Summer Program. They were form Tennessee and Canada. We had a tour of the building with our classrooms and had a free lunch. I am now writing this and meeting up with the girls later to layout at some park.

Lille is not what I expected so far! I have gotten over the initial shock and have accepted that Lille is its own city and shouldn’t be like Paris. For some reason, I feel like Paris was safer. It is just weird being in a single dorm. I am used to being with everyone all the time, so it is lonely now. I guess I felt safer there because I was never alone, and now I am. I am getting used to it though, and I appreciate having my own space. I will grow to like Lille more once I get my bearings and can know where I am at all times. It sucks not knowing how to get around. I learned Paris pretty quickly though, so I am sure I will learn how to navigate Lille soon enough. Paris spoiled my expectations of Lille because I expected Lille to be different. I really can’t wait to fall in love with this city; I am already beginning to feel that way. I just need to get over my initial shock.

Normandy

On Tuesday, we went out for Steve’s birthday. I had a lot of fun! We had a few drinks at the hotel and visited two bars. One of which was a bar in a cave! It was a very cool and fun atmosphere. We then went to another bar that served sparklers in drinks…very entertaining.

We left Paris on Wednesday morning. We took a nice, big tour bus to Giverny first and visited Monet’s house and gardens. The traffic out of Paris was awful. It just goes to show that the metro is so convenient. Anyway, the garden was beautiful. There were ponds, streams, and tons of flowers. The house was fun too; each room had a color theme. The dining room was a pastel yellow, and the kitchen was baby blue and had pretty blue tile all over the walls. We then took the bus for a few hours to Saint Mont Michel, which is a cathedral on a little island surrounded by a small, quaint town.

We were supposed to tour the cathedral, but we ran out of time, so we only got to tour the outside and the little town. I am disappointed because we couldn’t see the cathedral, but at least we got to stay in the town. Our hotel was quaint as well, although small, but we only stayed there one night, so it didn’t matter. We watched the tides, and they were so strong  that we could see it coming in. It was an amazing thing to watch. That night we had a group dinner, and we ate an omelet. It was interesting, but it had this foam and t weirded me out, but I still ate most of it. The girls had a girl night afterwards, and that was fun! You could tell the guys missed us, which was funny because they kept trying to get us to hangout and distract us.

We left early this morning to tour Omaha Beach and this American museum about the fallen soldiers of D Day. It was very interesting and heartwarming. One of the first graves I looked at happened to have the last name of Stinson, and I am curious to see if I am related. I am going to look that up at some point! We are now in this (again) quaint, little harbor town. I have no idea what it is called, though haha. We had fish stew (interesting), veal (sad), and this yummy ice cream and interesting meringue for dinner. We all hung out in one of the rooms afterward and had a lot of fun. The guys were sweet and bought wine for the girls, along for themselves, so we had a good night tonight knowing we could sleep in (compared to this past week) tomorrow.

I love my study abroad group so much! We get along so well; it’s crazy how well we get along. I am excited so much for Lille too. I am tired of moving around all the time and carrying my luggage. I just want to settle down and actually live in Lille and not be a tourist. I can’t find half the stuff in my suitcase, so it will be nice to move into my dorm room and have a place for everything. I am just so happy right now. I love France and I love my study abroad family. J

Roaming the City Part Deux

We went to the Musee D’Orsay today. Overall, it was ok, I just am not a fan of museums. I know Europe is all about museums, but I am not a huge fan. We walked up to the museum and there was a huge crowd. We waited for a while and apparently there was a strike, so it was holding us up from entering the museum. I don’t know what the strike was about, but it was chilly this morning, so I was glad to get inside when we did. The museum itself used to be a train station, so the architecture was amazing inside. A group of us headed to the Manet exhibit, and waited in line again. When we finally got in, it was super crowded. It wasn’t easy to navigate at all. They ran out of pamphlets, so I was looking at the art, and I didn’t really know what was going on in the pieces.

We then had lunch at the museum, and the restaurant has a good reputation. It was a tasty meal! I had a salad with bacon bits and walnuts, salmon and rice, and then a pastry peach dessert that was unique and scrumptious. After the meal, we headed to the Arc de Triomphe. It was epic. I am glad I got to see it. The intersection was crazy and fun to watch. I learned a fender bender happens every seven minutes there…not surprising.

I explored Champs Elysees afterwards, and it was full of expensive stores, cool architecture, and lots of people. Bryan and I window shopped, and I went to H & M. I found some pants I wanted to try on, but there was a line, so I decided to not waste time. We then found a shoe store, and Bryan wanted to try on some shoes. We waited like ten minutes and kept wondering why it was taking so long, and then a person walked in the store from the outside with the shoes. We have no idea where they store their shoes, and we thought it was weird! We met up with some people and ended up going back to the shoe store again. I wanted to try on some shoes, but they didn’t have my size. I think I may have a problem finding shoes in France because I guess Europeans have small feet!

We took the metro back to the hotel. While waiting to get on the metro, a French man came up to us and repeated, “pickpockets,” a few times and walked away. I was confused and was wondering if he was trying to pickpocket us, but then we realized he was warning us. There was a group of short girls scanning the crowd and looking sketchy, and they were trying to pickpocket people. I am so glad we were warned because I am sure being American makes us stand out. We didn’t see them pickpocket anyone, but I am sure they were successful at some point unfortunately.

We leave for Normandy tomorrow. I don’t want to leave Paris; I really like this city. I am glad we get to come back here in two weekends. I will be able to go to Versailles, and I may shop some! I am sure Normandy will be great, but I have no idea what to expect. I can’t wait to be in Lille and actually live there and not be a tourist.

Roaming the City...

Today has been utterly exhausting, but that’s a good thing! I woke up at 7am this morning and was surprised I got up so early on my own. I headed down to continental breakfast and some people were there to my surprise. I figured no one would be up so early, so I brought my kindle just in case. We talked and laughed about the previous night’s events and then I headed up to the room for a while and got ready. I eventually went to explore the city with a group of six, and our first stop was the Notre Dame. I hadn’t been to this part of town, so I was excited to see and experience something new. Notre Dame was beautiful and Paris is beautiful in general. I cannot get over it. Every time I walk outside the metro, I am mesmerized by Paris’s beauty over and over again! I am in love with Paris!

Notre Dame was amazing. It’s so big and architecturally beautiful. I can’t describe it. We didn’t go inside because of the wait and having to pay, but I enjoyed the view from outside. I did a little shopping and then ate a hot dog with cheese and a baguette; it was yummy! We then randomly saw an inside out museum meaning all the pipes and such were on the outside. We just walked around outside (again not paying money and going inside).

We then headed to Sacre Coeur, which was GORGEOUS and AMAZING!! It is a beautiful church on a hill that overlooks the entire city of Paris. It was an incredible view. It was so weird to see the city from that point of view because it hasn’t sunk in that I have been in that city the past few days. I can’t describe the feeling. A few of us wanted to see the view from the top of the tower, but it was closed unfortunately. I was exhausted at this point but decided to go the Galeries Lafayette, a seven-story mall with a beautiful, intricate dome. It was full of expensive clothes and tons of other things. I wish I had a lot of money to have done some real shopping there!

We then headed back, and I am so tired right now. From what I’ve heard, everyone wants a low key night. I am fine with that because we have to be ready by 9am tomorrow. We are going to the Musee d’Orsay tomorrow and are having lunch there!

Bike Tours and Bottles of Wine

Well yesterday morning my alarm clock didn’t work, so me and Hannah had five minutes to get ready. We rushed downstairs, and I ate half a crescent, and then we headed to a bike tour of France. The bike tour was a lot of fun…we went everywhere, but I can’t remember half the names of the places unfortunately. After about two hours, we had lunch in the Tuileries Gardens near the Louvre; it was really pretty and quaint. I sat next to our tour guide, and he was so interesting and I want his life. He works 6 months a year in Paris doing bike tours, and then he goes home to Oregon the other six months and lives off his tip money. I’d love to work half a year and live in France! It is definitely an option to consider. We then biked a few more hours, and along the way a car almost hit me. I was lagging behind because I didn’t like being too close to the other bikers. They crossed the street when their light was green, but it was red when I crossed, but I assumed the cars would let me by. That was a bad assumption! The driver who almost hit me just stared at me the whole time and kept going, so I had to slam on my breaks at the last second. I looked like a retarded American, oh well, I learned my lesson!

After the tour, I headed back to the hotel to shower. I hadn’t showered since America, so I was so happy to finally be clean! Hannah and I just hung out in our room relaxing and getting ready for the rest of the afternoon. Later on, we all went to le supermarché to get 2 euro bottles of wine and sandwiches. We took the metro to the Eiffel Tower and ate and drank on the Seine River. It was a good time! We hung out there a few hours until dark, and we saw the Eiffel Tower light up and sometimes it had sparkly lights. It was so pretty! We then headed to the Latin Quarter again to check out the night life, but since it was Sunday, not much was going on. We weren’t allowed into the first place we tried (I think because we were American), but we eventually found some places. One place I had a drink called a Manaco, and it was stella artois, grenadine, and lemonade. It was very tasty! We headed back pretty late, so the metro was closed. We had to take two taxis, and the other taxi was only charged like nine euros, but we were charged 20 for some reason. I just went to bed when we got back, and now I am awake writing this. I have no idea what the plan for today is, but it is a free day for us!

J'aime Paris!!!!!

Well at first I disliked Paris at first, but by the end of the day my feelings have made a 180 degree turn! My 4:50pm flight ended up being delayed even further until 8pm. Luckily Kim, Hannah, Pranj, Walton, and I all had the same flight, so the time went by quicker having people to talk to. Our flight was delayed because of maintenance and then the awful storms in Charlotte, which sketched me out. When we finally boarded the plane, I thought all my problems were over, but it was just the start.

Even after the dilemma with the seats on the airplane, we apparently did not fix the problem. My ticket said 22D as planned, but we found out as we boarded the plane that Hannah’s ticket was for row 24 for some reason. We signed up for row 22, though, so I don’t know how it changed. I was mad at first, but it ended up working out pretty well. Hannah ended up sitting with a girl studying abroad in Paris, and they hit it off. They also had an empty middle seat to themselves. Someone took Pranj’s seat twice, and she randomly chose a seat next to mine before I sat down, so I ended up having a friend to sit with the whole time! The plane itself downright sucked. It didn’t have TV screens in front of each seat. I was on an eight hour flight, and I paid bank for this ticket, so I feel entitled to my own TV screen at least haha. The plane was also sketchy because the overhead compartments kept opening throughout the flight, which can be pretty dangerous if you think about it! Also, our flight was delayed for maintenance, so I was happy to get off that plane ASAP.

The flight itself went well overall. I talked to Pranj, read my kindle, and slept as much as possible (maybe three hours). By the time we got off the plane, we were hoping to catch up with the group flight and ride with them to the hotel. We couldn’t find them however, so we had to make our own way to the hotel. We had a guide in our fascicule (booklet) of various ways to reach the hotel from the airport. We decided to take the Roissy Bus to Paris, and then a metro the rest of the way. First we had trouble pre-paying for bus tickets. Half of us couldn’t buy them with cash (because it ran out of change), and the machine was faulty, so we couldn’t use our credit cards. We then learned you could buy the ticket as you boarded the bus, so I was thankful for that. The bus ride over we were all separated because we had our big, awkward bags to deal with, but the ride was very interested seeing the outskirts of Paris and then Paris itself. The bus dropped us off somewhere in Paris after 45 minutes, and we were pretty lost. We wandered around Paris (with our heavy bags) for a while and asked two people before we finally found the metro. Even though we found the metro it didn’t have the line we needed (4), so we had to take 3 to 4, and somehow we figured it out eventually. It was hot, smelly, and dirty in the metro, and it took getting used to. We had to lug our bags in big crowds and up and down stairs. It was so strenuous and tiring, and I know I will be sore tomorrow! I was so happy to finally reach our hotel after crazy journey.

Madame Beckman and some of my study abroad peers were already there and waiting for us, and me and Hannah got the keys to our room immediately. Our room is so cute and nice! I was expecting worse. We have a nice bathroom and the cutest balcony with a lovely view of Paris. I am very happy with our room. After exploring for a bit, we ate late at a crepe stand. I was so nervous to speak French to lady, but we asked, “Parlez-vous anglais?” to the lady, and she spoke English, so we just asked to have what the guy before us ordered because it looked yummy enough. It was good! A crepe with beef and cheese; I was satisfied!

At this point in my France adventure, I was not excited to be here. I felt weird and guilty feeling that way, but I was so numb to everything and tired from all that had happened. I didn’t feel like going on the boat tour, but I am so glad I did because I ended up having a wonderful evening.

We then went on boat tour, but we took the metro to get there. I was not happy to visit this place again, but I soon learned it is so practical when you just have yourself and not an extra  80 lbs of baggage to worry about. The metro went above ground this time, so I got to see more of the city. We got off at the Eiffel Tower stop, and I got to see the Eiffel Tower up close and personal! That is when it hit me: I am in France! I am in Paris! It was wonderful; that is all I can say. I don’t have any other words for the Eiffel Tower other than it was amazing! We then rode on the Seine for the river boat tour. We got to see the Louvre, Notre Dame, and all sorts of beautiful, historic buildings. I was falling asleep some of the trip though because I was exhausted.

Everyone wanted to go to dinner afterward, and I was tempted just to head back and go to sleep, but I eventually changed my mind and joined everyone. A small group went to the Latin Quarter for dinner, and it was the coolest place ever. It was so historic. It had rustic apartment buildings, cobblestone streets, neon lights, and lively bars and restaurants. We found a pizza and Italian place, and I was incredibly nervous for my first meal with a French waiter. He didn’t speak much English, but I managed to order free water (Je voudrais un carafe d’eau fraiche, s’il vous plais), and a cheese pizza. It was a good meal! The French don’t split checks, so we had a time figuring out how to pay the bill altogether.

Our group grew smaller, but of those who stayed, we decided to walk around and have a few drinks. We roamed around for a while, but we finally spotted an outdoor restaurant and split some wine. I had a blast, and I definitely enjoyed being of age. By this point, I had grown more confident with my French and ordered two rounds of wine and eventually the bill. I am so proud of myself. This morning I was very nervous speaking French, and I feel a lot more comfortable now, and I haven’t been here a full day yet! I can’t imagine how I’ll feel in six weeks!

At the Airport

Well I lied...I am updating this blog, and I still am in America. I am at my gate right now waiting for my plane at 6pm. Originally it was set to leave at 4:50pm, but it got delayed. I hope it isn't delayed anymore because I need to meet up with the group flight in Paris to get a free ride to the hotel. Kim and Hannah are here right now! I am glad I don't have to wait by myself. I was really nervous beforehand but now I am excited since I am not alone. I have two more hours of waiting, but it should go by fast.

I can't believe I am going to France! It hasn't sunk in yet. Well I will update this as soon as possible! I hope I have an uneventful flight!