Bonjour!

I've been in Paris for three weeks and needless to say I'm exhausted (and today battling some sort of mystery illness.) So, I've finally forced myself to sit down and write about my experience. First off, after arriving in France I received notice that I was awarded a scholarship to study abroad here! Woot Woot. Second, I've been constantly running it seems since I arrived. I've checked half of my must-sees off my list.

• Eiffel Tower 
• Arc de Triomphe (still need to go to the top of both)
• Musee d'Orsay
• the Louvre
• Normandy
• Cemetery Pere Lachaise (Bonjour Jim Morrison!)
• Shakespeare and Co.
• The Catacombs
• Mont St. Michel
• Notre Dame
• Jardin du Luxembourg
• Champs-Elysee
• Versailles

This was about half of my original list. I've slowed down the sightseeing a bit since classes began. It's hard to go see everything when you are stuck inside a class room for 21-24 hours a week. But, I've been making sure to enjoy the little things in France like nutella, cheap delicious wine, fresh baguette, cafe, creme brulee, pain du chocolat, public transport, and just walking around the city. 

In order to help my french I've picked up a few books for 20 centimes or less to read. My prize win so far was a color copy of the Aristochats...lol. So now I'm breezing through a book about one of my favorite childhood movies in French. C'est marveilleuse.

So far my only negatives are the forwardness of French men, the complete lack of personal space here, and the lacking pleasantries. I like being able to walk to class and say hello to people and smile. But all around it's not too bad.

My favorite quote so far has been "If you give an American man an inch, he takes merely 1/2 an inch, if you give a French man an inch he takes 2 kilometers at least." Je trouve que ce n'est pas faux. 

Mont St. Michel (Tres beau, non?)