TRYING TO BOOK TRAVEL PLANS for the semester!!! Also, spent mulllllltiple hours today trying to figure out my schedule! I think I have it down and it includes...duh duh duhnnn a spanish class haha :)
We'll see if I can keep up! I am also taking history of the international system between 1917-1947, a class called "literature francaise moderne et contemporaine", a class on the history of FOOD which only meets one hour a week, and two art history courses including the one taught by the Boston College coordinator! phewww hopefully I stick with these and don't need to change because that would not be an easy feat!
A bientot :) (wish me luck!)
p.s. also met an old friend (kind of ) for the first time (kind of ) haha its a long story!
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
One down! Weekend in Belgium :)
This past weekend, I made it to the first stop on my list of travels: Belgium! I left Paris early enough on Sunday morning that I saw the Richard Lenoir market outside my front door being set up in the dark-that was cool! I took an eight a.m. Thalys train to Bruxelles, and than a local train out to Mortsel, where old family friends live. I first went on a short bike ride to the local bakery, which was made slightly longer by the fact that they are all substantially taller than me, so the bike I was riding was a bit tricky to get a handle on! After much helping and holding and pushing the bike I was on my way (albeit slightly more anxious than usual not to be wearing a helmet!), and each time I had to start up again people helped me, including their good friend that we ran into along the way haha...I was proud that I was able to pull it off, and the last time I started I got going all on my own! I spent a great day eating and talking with them (the food was delicious!!), and then the mom and daughter took me into Antwerp on the tram, and the last leg consisted of walking through a long tunnel that went under the river to cross into the city! We saw some churches, shopping areas, the new Antwerp museum, which was a really interesting style of architecture, and even strolled through the tiny red light district (which they said I had to see since we were there)...it was one of the most bizarre things/concepts I have seen...I was a little weirded out to say the least! I got to watch a weekly television program with them with updates on the Belgian royal family, and then we watched Glee! Apparently it is the dad's (closet) favorite show :) He didn't want to admit how much he liked it, but he laughed when I told him that in the US there is a word for people obssessed with Glee ("Gleeks").
I took the train back into Bruxelles Monday morning and met up with three friends from Paris! Although the Bruxelles tram system through us for a loop initally, we were finally able to figure out where we were going, and made it to the 2Go4 Hostel, five minutes walk away from the Grand Place. After dumping our stuff, we went in search of some lunch and were satisfied with delicious plates of moules-frites! We walked all around the Grand Place, taking pictures, looking for chocolate (which I of course bought some of!), and using our cool interactive maps that we got at the hostel. We saw about three churches Monday, as well as some ancient towers that now had modern buildings built right into them. We got dinner at a great little place, with somewhat of an italian influence, and then went to a bar, Delirium, which one friend had found in her guide book as having the record for most types of beer on tap...not really knowing what any of the options were or tasted like, I ended up getting lucky with a pear beer that was really yummy :)
Tuesday we slept in a bit, left our bags at the hostel, and walked around the city again for almost the full day (two days did seem like enough time to see most of the main sights in the city, and to be able to walk around almost all of the city, although we didn't make it to any museums...) We went into the museum of comic books briefly, the museum of chocolate for a longer time, saw the two biggest cathedrals, went back to the Grand Place for some fries at a "friterie", and waffles, and saw the Royal Palace and adjacent park, as well as Parliament! Whew!! we were so tired out by the time we got to the train station Tuesday evening to come back to Paris. Luckily I had a great book (The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest) with me, that I couldn't put down, so I was able to read quietly on the way back!
It was a great trip, amidst some pretty chilly and drizzly weather, and I had a great time with new and old friends! Now on to my Belgian chocolate!!
A bientot xoxo
Gillian
I took the train back into Bruxelles Monday morning and met up with three friends from Paris! Although the Bruxelles tram system through us for a loop initally, we were finally able to figure out where we were going, and made it to the 2Go4 Hostel, five minutes walk away from the Grand Place. After dumping our stuff, we went in search of some lunch and were satisfied with delicious plates of moules-frites! We walked all around the Grand Place, taking pictures, looking for chocolate (which I of course bought some of!), and using our cool interactive maps that we got at the hostel. We saw about three churches Monday, as well as some ancient towers that now had modern buildings built right into them. We got dinner at a great little place, with somewhat of an italian influence, and then went to a bar, Delirium, which one friend had found in her guide book as having the record for most types of beer on tap...not really knowing what any of the options were or tasted like, I ended up getting lucky with a pear beer that was really yummy :)
Tuesday we slept in a bit, left our bags at the hostel, and walked around the city again for almost the full day (two days did seem like enough time to see most of the main sights in the city, and to be able to walk around almost all of the city, although we didn't make it to any museums...) We went into the museum of comic books briefly, the museum of chocolate for a longer time, saw the two biggest cathedrals, went back to the Grand Place for some fries at a "friterie", and waffles, and saw the Royal Palace and adjacent park, as well as Parliament! Whew!! we were so tired out by the time we got to the train station Tuesday evening to come back to Paris. Luckily I had a great book (The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest) with me, that I couldn't put down, so I was able to read quietly on the way back!
It was a great trip, amidst some pretty chilly and drizzly weather, and I had a great time with new and old friends! Now on to my Belgian chocolate!!
A bientot xoxo
Gillian
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Quasimoto!
Not the best hair day for me today! Slept on wet hair to save myself the time showering this morning, and forgot that my hair doesn't take well to being slept on...ever. Oh well, I will just have to keep working on my well-coiffed Paris "look".
Today, we went on a tour of "les cryptes" underneath Notre Dame; basically the foundations of ancient Paris dating as far back as the Roman Empire! Then we walked around the streets surrounding Notre Dame finding the few buildings that survived the major Haussman reorganization and redesign of Paris in the mid 19th century. In one of the oldest buildings on a street right behind Notre Dame that we went into, a name on one of the mailboxes was "Quasimoto"! How crazy is that!?? We did the obligatory round inside Notre Dame, which was beautiful by the way; I was able to appreciate it more than the first time that I was there, Christmas Day 1999, when I fell asleep during the latin mass :) How the time flies!
Tomorrow I am getting lunch with an old Paris friend who I am so excited to see after a few years :) It is weird and great how I have been able to stay in touch with some of the great friends I made as a child in Paris.
The longer I am here, the more love I feel for the city; it feels comfortable, like it fits me snuggly, and is a perfect mix of new excitement, and old comforts and good friends and family. I had dinner with my host family again last night along with Mme's brother and sister in law! This was a lot of fun as they were all very talkative and it was interesting to talk to them, and listen to them sharing horror stories of building parties, and memories of when Mme first moved into the apartment (right around 28 years ago, before her daughter was born!) The couple is pretty funny to listen to :) Tomorrow I am going to see "Le Bourgeois Gentillhome", and then Thursday we have a visit to le marché Richard Lenoir (my market as I call it, since it is directly outside of the front door to my apartment!), and le Marais. Thursday I am eating dinner with M. and his daughter, who is 28 and is coming over to visit! He told me she speaks better english than he does (which isn't saying much as far as I can tell haha), if I feel like I want a break!
Unfortunately the temperature has sooooort of been plummeting and today I was particularly cold, along with everyone else :( I am on the lookout for some new boots, but have now added to the list a huge knitted scarf and maybe different gloves!
Bisous! A Bientot :) xxx
Today, we went on a tour of "les cryptes" underneath Notre Dame; basically the foundations of ancient Paris dating as far back as the Roman Empire! Then we walked around the streets surrounding Notre Dame finding the few buildings that survived the major Haussman reorganization and redesign of Paris in the mid 19th century. In one of the oldest buildings on a street right behind Notre Dame that we went into, a name on one of the mailboxes was "Quasimoto"! How crazy is that!?? We did the obligatory round inside Notre Dame, which was beautiful by the way; I was able to appreciate it more than the first time that I was there, Christmas Day 1999, when I fell asleep during the latin mass :) How the time flies!
Tomorrow I am getting lunch with an old Paris friend who I am so excited to see after a few years :) It is weird and great how I have been able to stay in touch with some of the great friends I made as a child in Paris.
The longer I am here, the more love I feel for the city; it feels comfortable, like it fits me snuggly, and is a perfect mix of new excitement, and old comforts and good friends and family. I had dinner with my host family again last night along with Mme's brother and sister in law! This was a lot of fun as they were all very talkative and it was interesting to talk to them, and listen to them sharing horror stories of building parties, and memories of when Mme first moved into the apartment (right around 28 years ago, before her daughter was born!) The couple is pretty funny to listen to :) Tomorrow I am going to see "Le Bourgeois Gentillhome", and then Thursday we have a visit to le marché Richard Lenoir (my market as I call it, since it is directly outside of the front door to my apartment!), and le Marais. Thursday I am eating dinner with M. and his daughter, who is 28 and is coming over to visit! He told me she speaks better english than he does (which isn't saying much as far as I can tell haha), if I feel like I want a break!
Unfortunately the temperature has sooooort of been plummeting and today I was particularly cold, along with everyone else :( I am on the lookout for some new boots, but have now added to the list a huge knitted scarf and maybe different gloves!
Bisous! A Bientot :) xxx
Friday, January 13, 2012
The end of a crazy (wonderful) first week...and FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH
I can't believe that I have been in Paris for a week already! I feel like it has been a month... The end of this week I got to do a bunch of really fun things; the only bad thing is my weakling feet have been reacting to the major increase in walking with some pretty anggggry blisters on my toes :(
Yesterday the other girls going to "La Catho" (Institut Catholique de Paris) and I went to check out the course offerings at the school, which wasn't exactly as straight forward of a process as we thought it would be...and then wandered around the 6th and grabbed lunch while finishing up some last minute french homework (which we kind of have a bunch of haha). Last night a bunch of us went to Rue de la Roquette, a street recommended to us by many (primarily my dad) for its many cool bars etc... We ended up at something like Yellow Monkey bar, where our waiter turned out to be from Florida (he figured out we were American preeeetty quickly haha). It was really fun, and super convenient for me, since the street is about a five minute walk from my apartment, which made for an easy walk home!
Today I went back to the 17th arrondissement, right to where I used to live, opened a bank account (felt really grown up/cool doing that in french :), walked by my old school on Van Dyk, through Parc Monceau, where I actually saw my fifth grade english teacher (Mme Pinchon for those of you who remember her!). She not surprisingly did not recognize me, but it was just bizarre and cool to see her from a distance, walking with this year's batch of eager, chatty, loud fifth graders in adaptation, and think that that was me a whole DECADE ago!
I walked up Avenue Hoche all the way to the Arc de Triomphe, took some touristy pictures, and then strolled down the Champs Elysées. I was thinking that the Poncelet market (Rue Poncelet) was on a street right off of the Champs Elysées, but later realized it was off of Place des Ternes. I ended up there an hour or so later, getting lunch with friends, and briefly walked through the market, salivating over the delicious familiar aromas and sounds. It really is a great place.
The weather has been beautiful here, although today was a little nippier than I anticipated! Tonight I am off to get dinner (somewhere?), and then to the Latin Quarter tonight with BC people :) Tomorrow I hope to get some shopping done in Saint German des Pres (aka shoes!) with my fave french cousins :)
A bientot!
Yesterday the other girls going to "La Catho" (Institut Catholique de Paris) and I went to check out the course offerings at the school, which wasn't exactly as straight forward of a process as we thought it would be...and then wandered around the 6th and grabbed lunch while finishing up some last minute french homework (which we kind of have a bunch of haha). Last night a bunch of us went to Rue de la Roquette, a street recommended to us by many (primarily my dad) for its many cool bars etc... We ended up at something like Yellow Monkey bar, where our waiter turned out to be from Florida (he figured out we were American preeeetty quickly haha). It was really fun, and super convenient for me, since the street is about a five minute walk from my apartment, which made for an easy walk home!
Today I went back to the 17th arrondissement, right to where I used to live, opened a bank account (felt really grown up/cool doing that in french :), walked by my old school on Van Dyk, through Parc Monceau, where I actually saw my fifth grade english teacher (Mme Pinchon for those of you who remember her!). She not surprisingly did not recognize me, but it was just bizarre and cool to see her from a distance, walking with this year's batch of eager, chatty, loud fifth graders in adaptation, and think that that was me a whole DECADE ago!
I walked up Avenue Hoche all the way to the Arc de Triomphe, took some touristy pictures, and then strolled down the Champs Elysées. I was thinking that the Poncelet market (Rue Poncelet) was on a street right off of the Champs Elysées, but later realized it was off of Place des Ternes. I ended up there an hour or so later, getting lunch with friends, and briefly walked through the market, salivating over the delicious familiar aromas and sounds. It really is a great place.
The weather has been beautiful here, although today was a little nippier than I anticipated! Tonight I am off to get dinner (somewhere?), and then to the Latin Quarter tonight with BC people :) Tomorrow I hope to get some shopping done in Saint German des Pres (aka shoes!) with my fave french cousins :)
A bientot!
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Je suis...intouchable! (and various fire-cracker-setting french tweens)
Today marked the first day where I got a substantial amount of time to explore the city! All of us walked around Saint-German-des-Pres, popping into churches, shops, and art galleries. The weather was beautiful, and we first popped into Saint-Sulpice, after a quick group photo outside in front of a pretty fountain. Next we happened upon the Saint-German-des-Pres Church, the oldest in Paris, dating back to the 9th century! Descartes is buried there and I happened to be the one to finally find the stone marking his burial place.
We popped into the Adademie des Beaux Arts, even though it is supposed to be visitors only, so we all tried to keep a low profile :)
After taking more pictures in the Pont des Arts, and learning why there are so many padlocks (or cadenas) on the metal railings (couples write or carve their names onto the locks and clasp them onto the bridge <3), I grabbed lunch with a few people in the group and popped into a handful of shops (because the month-long sales began today!!!) around Saint-German, before heading to french class.
We went to see the movie Intouchables, apparently the current most popular film in Paris, and it was really, really good (sort of a Blind Side meets Mar Adentro vibe)! It was a fun ending to a great (albeit long) day!
I have photos coming that I have accumulated this week and am waiting to dump onto my computer this week when I have more time...check back soon!
A bientot :)
Ohhhh and three french boys (young) were literally throwing LOUD sparklers on the side walk! Someone commented that if we were in New York a SWAT team would swarm on them in a matter of seconds!
We popped into the Adademie des Beaux Arts, even though it is supposed to be visitors only, so we all tried to keep a low profile :)
After taking more pictures in the Pont des Arts, and learning why there are so many padlocks (or cadenas) on the metal railings (couples write or carve their names onto the locks and clasp them onto the bridge <3), I grabbed lunch with a few people in the group and popped into a handful of shops (because the month-long sales began today!!!) around Saint-German, before heading to french class.
We went to see the movie Intouchables, apparently the current most popular film in Paris, and it was really, really good (sort of a Blind Side meets Mar Adentro vibe)! It was a fun ending to a great (albeit long) day!
I have photos coming that I have accumulated this week and am waiting to dump onto my computer this week when I have more time...check back soon!
A bientot :)
Ohhhh and three french boys (young) were literally throwing LOUD sparklers on the side walk! Someone commented that if we were in New York a SWAT team would swarm on them in a matter of seconds!
Monday, January 9, 2012
a little bit sleepy to be blogging zzzz...
The past day and a half since I arrived at my homestay family have been fun but also a taaaad bit overwhelming. The combination of everything that has to be set up for school, visa, insurance, bank, rent, transportation, and cellphone plus the constantly having to think, breathe, speak, listen in French is a bit of a shock. That being said-being forced to speak only french at a minimum for three or so hours a day with my host family has already noticeably gotten me to the point where I barely think before answering and the couple have complimented me on "mon accent" et "mon syntex", which is nice reinforcement of my efforts. They also demonstrated their knowledge of American culture tonight during dinner, when it came up that they enjoy watching Desperate Housewives, Miami Vice, NCIS, and Zee Good Wife (haha). It was funny trying to decipher their english accents and listen to them complain about trying to understand people speaking with british, irish, and yes Texas (I think they meant southern American accents in general!) accents...Still feeling a bit homesick, but getting to spend the day with my fellow BC students a Paris and hearing about their similarly awkward and new experiences and talking to my parents briefly helped. Got a little sleepy on a bus tour of Paris, but it was really helpful in terms of mentally visualizing the layout of the city and what is near to what. Still trying to get a grip on coordinating skype with people in the US! I hope to look back next week and realize how well settled I am and relaxed by then compared to now!
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Meeting my homestay family...DUHN DUH!
After two lovely days with the Cooks...where I laughed pretty much constantly :) I finally met my homestay couple and moved into their apartment in the 11th! The location is great and cool because I don't know all that much about it going into it. Both "parents" are really nice and told me my french is great...but there is definitely a bit of "first day living with strangers" awkwardness haha which I'm sure will go away over time! Tomorrow I regroup with the BC group and Ophelie, and get a metro card and potentially a new cell phone...since I just realized that the one my friend gave me from Lyon only functions until March...and I'm here until June/July. Regardless I will have to put credits on whatever phone I end up with...lots to do, even more to take in from my surroundings :) feeling excited/nervous/ a tad homesick/most of all sleepy :) (although this has been my smoothest time zone transition to date, and I've been mostly able to fall asleep and wake up at regular times!
Check back in with me soon-and keep wishing me luck!
xoxo
Check back in with me soon-and keep wishing me luck!
xoxo
Friday, January 6, 2012
Premier Jour!
Hello all! I arrived in London early this morning and then in Paris around 2 p.m. after a couple hour layover at Heathrow. The loveeeely Cook cousins picked me up at CDG airport and I was at least somewhat able to shake off the exhaustion after having slept a few hours on the flight and nodding off during the layover (a girl actually tapped me on the shoulder to wake me up when it was time to board haha lifesaver!). Here's to a great first day a Paris :) can't wait for many more to come!
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Today's the day!
It's the morning of my flight to Paris eeeeek...realized yesterday that I fly out of Dullas, not BWI unfortunately so the fam and I will be trekking it to Dullas a little earlier than planned. Bags are packed (within 0.1 pounds of the baggage weight limit haha so I'm not allowed to touch them before we leave!), documents, ipod, and magazine for the plane are a go. Running through random french words, phrases, tenses in my head...time to warm up for game time!
Saying goodbye to a few more people this morning, and then i thiiiink I'm ready!
See you on the flip side! To people I hope to see in Paris, <A bientot! >
Saying goodbye to a few more people this morning, and then i thiiiink I'm ready!
See you on the flip side! To people I hope to see in Paris, <A bientot! >
Monday, January 2, 2012
I hope the lights are still all up when I get there!
I hope the lights are still all up when I get there!
And away I go!!
SO here it is...the week I go to PARIS :) It feels like I have been waiting for this moment for about the past year!!
Bags are packed (stuffed) ...kinda. I still have some work to do on that!
In one week I will be settled in with my homestay family and have reconvened with the BC group for our first day of "orientation", after spending two fun days with the F Cook cousins :)
I hope my homestay couple are "foodies" as my dad calls it and that I learn a lot from them. I am so excited to be living a stone's throw away from Place des Vosges, one of my favorite places in Paris, as well as La Bastille, Le Marais, potentially with an open air market on my street! Life doesn't get much better than this :)
Re-watched a bit of Paris Je t'Aime in preparation and to get reallllly excited...one of my all-time favorite movies :)
Can't wait to get back to french pens and notebooks haha I realize that is sort of a specific thing to be excited about but it's the truth!
Going to bring a french book on the plane to warm up my vocab haha...but really.
WISH ME LUCK!
A Gillian
Bags are packed (stuffed) ...kinda. I still have some work to do on that!
In one week I will be settled in with my homestay family and have reconvened with the BC group for our first day of "orientation", after spending two fun days with the F Cook cousins :)
I hope my homestay couple are "foodies" as my dad calls it and that I learn a lot from them. I am so excited to be living a stone's throw away from Place des Vosges, one of my favorite places in Paris, as well as La Bastille, Le Marais, potentially with an open air market on my street! Life doesn't get much better than this :)
Re-watched a bit of Paris Je t'Aime in preparation and to get reallllly excited...one of my all-time favorite movies :)
Can't wait to get back to french pens and notebooks haha I realize that is sort of a specific thing to be excited about but it's the truth!
Going to bring a french book on the plane to warm up my vocab haha...but really.
WISH ME LUCK!
A Gillian
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