I arrived September 23rd, and ended up sitting in the airport with my resident director, Melissa, for close to four hours waiting for all the others (all girls). The second girl to arrive ended up being from Millbrook (a town 25 minutes from Poughkeepsie), which was a fabulous surprise! We all piled into vans and headed off toward our hotel in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, in an area called Chatelet. We automatically jumped into orientation, so needless to say, the first couple of days are a blur to me. After about 2 days I got driven to my host family's appartment. I was terrified! But, as soon as I walked in I was blown away by the beautiful appartment and automatically felt right at home.
My room.
The family is great. I knew there was a mother (Claire), father (Alban), a 17 year old daughter (Brune), and a 12 year old son (Carl). Turns out my host family has a 20 year old son named Erwan who showed me around the neighborhood soon after I moved in.
The view from my room.
Since moving in, I've just been going out and exploring the city with my friends. The typical places: Louvre, Tour Eiffel, Montmartre, Moulin Rouge...
Me at the Louvre.
My friends and I in Montmartre.
(Sam, Me, Marissa, Kelly)
Us at Sacré Coeur.
(Sam, Quinn, Me, Marissa, Kelly)
Quinn and I posing at Moulin Rouge.
I started classes right after I arrived here - all in French - and I'm quite overwhelmed. I get by, but once mi-semestre arrives, we'll see how I'm ACTUALLY doing. I've also had several amazing academic opportunities presented to me recently, the most important being Les Noctures au Louvre. In December, I will be presenting a painting (Les Baigneuses, par Fragonard) to the art historians of the Louvre museum, and supposedly will become certified by the Louvre for doing so. Very intimidating!
We've also been visiting lesser known places, but mostly at night. My host brother and his best friend Edward took us out a lot at the beginning of our time here.
Edward and Erwan.
Marissa and I.
Quinn, and unwilling Marissa, and myself.
I started classes right after I arrived here - all in French - so don't think I'm just out having fun! They're quite overwhelming. I get by, but once mi-semestre arrives, we'll see how I'm ACTUALLY doing. I've also had several amazing academic opportunities presented to me recently, the most important being Les Noctures au Louvre. In December, I will be presenting a painting (Les Baigneuses, par Fragonard) to the art historians of the Louvre museum, and supposedly will become certified by the Louvre for doing so. Very intimidating!
From here on in, my posts will be shorter, but hopefully less frequent. I won't be posting all of my pictures, but if you like what you see or hear about here, email me and I'll be sure to send you as many as I can!
Gros Bisous!
(Kisses!)
