Paris at First Sight

Paris is absolutely fabulous. Yesterday was so wonderful. My view is, as you can see, amazing. I have so many little cafes right outside and I am just a ten minute walk from the Notre Dame. My apartment is in the first arrondissement, which means the HEART of Paris. Today, I had lunch at le pain du pomme where I ate a wonderful ham sandwhich (just ham and butter...yes...butter!) I was sitting alone when a French lady came up and spoke to me in french. She asked if I was sitting with anyone and I said no. She then asked if she could join me (which apparently is quite common) so I had lunch with a true Parisienne. She wanted to speak in English while I spoke in French because her son and daughter-in-law live in Chicago so she wanted to practice her English! It was such a fun experience...after lunch, I took a placement test at la sorbonne to see which level of french classes I will be taking. The rest of the day was spent soaking up la vie quotidienne (every day life of a local)
I was rather happy to discover that out of our group, many people rely on me to be the mediator...which of course I love because I get to practice even more French! I don't believe I have spoken one lick of English out of trouble comprehending :) Tomorrow we have planned to tour the bell towers of Notre Dame, and I will be sure to check up on the hunchback to make sure he is doing well. This is still just such a dream to me, and I am so thankful to be able to experience this. Until next time, Au Revoir!
Pictures Above: the Picture of the Fountain is the view from my room...I know Amazing right? The pictures of the room are of my room (notice the tiny dishwasher!!! It's so cute) The picture of me and one other girl is at our welcome dinner at a small restraunt nearby, Her name is Meade and she is so much fun! We walked to the notre dame and afterwards bought wine and sipped it on the banks of the Seine river (note the picture of me and three other girls) As you can see my group is very nice and I believe we will all get alond very well! Alors...au revoirs et je vous aime!

Mind the Gap

London was just wonderful! I got in at around 9:40 and went straight to the taxis (which are so fun because they are the cliche bubble top cabs) I checked into my hotel and there I met up with Will!!!!! Oh it was absolutely wonderful to be with him and have the best tour guide in all of London. Saturday, we went to Hyde park and ate a quick lunch at Lido Cafe. We both got chicken, hummus, and spicy yogurt sandwhiches, which I must say was simply delightful. We strolled around the park and then headed en foot to Harrods...quite and experience for a first time visitor. After Harrods we hopped on the tube and headed to Gloucester Road (pronounced Glouster) which was my stop for this trip. We then headed to NIDO where Will was staying and then watched the America football match in a French Pub. We pub hopped a bit that night and it was truly so much fun.

Sunday, my group had a three hour bus tour where we saw all of the "must see" sites in London. At noon, I met up with Will in Covent Garden. We ate lunch at Punch & Judy Pub where Will bought me Strongbow Cider...amazing... After that we took a break to watch some more football! It was rather frustrating though because even though England scored, because FIFA does not allow technology to be used, the team did not get their goal :( After the game, we headed to illy right by my underground stop. Fish and Chips is what we ate of course, then we headed off to sussex pub to watch more football, and we finished the evening at the Porterhouse Pub...probably the best place in London. It is full of little corners to sit and chat and has such a wonderful atmosphere.

Today, I finally arrived in Paris!!! My room is simply amazing! It was so hard to have to leave Will seeing as it will be another month and a few days till I get to see him next :( But what a better place to be than Paris?