Paris

Bonjour...So, I've been in Paris for about 2 and a half days so far and it's been pretty great other than the language barrier. Fortunately, unlike us Americans, most people know multiple languages and English happens to be a popular one. The weather has felt like summer...we have finally been able to break out the shorts and dresses and leave the jackets behind. Friday, when we arrived, our professor Danny, Britney and I went to a cafe and ate a late lunch and walked to Notre Dame. Since we walked (and kinda took the long way) we got to see the Seine River, Musee d'Orsay, the Louvre and many other amazing buildings. After that we got some AMAZING gellato in the Latin Quarter which is similar to the French Quarter but for the young crowd. It's a very cool place. We also got to see the gathering fountain that college students supossedly gather around often. We then walked back to the hotel around 7 and because of the long day and month I took a nap and didn't wake up until 11 pm. Then I did a little homework and went to sleep. Saturday, we slept in until about 9 30, went to the Louvre for about 3 hours, ate lunch at another cafe outside to people watch, walked around a few shops, and looked for the catacombs for our scavenger hunt. Unfortunately, by the time we found out where they were, it was closed so we had to postpone it until Sunday. We then visited Frederic Auguste Batholdi's grave for our scavenger hunt. He is who built the Statue of Liberty. After that, we headed back to the hotel to shower and have a mini wine and cheese party in one of the girls' rooms before we went out. We just so happened to be here for the biggest party night of the year. It is at the end of final exams and is a Music festival will small stages with bands all throughout the city. We went back to the Latin Quarter, found a great seat outside a cafe, and watched the night unfold. We left at 2 am with the party still rockin, but we knew we'd have plenty to do the next day. That brings me to today. Alex and I woke up and took the metro to Montmartre and visited the Basilique du Sacre-Coeur which was absolutely beautiful and had a great view at the top of the hill. Then we wandered around the town a little and did some souvenir shopping before heading back to the hotel to meet up with everyone else. We met up and then headed to the catacombs. They were very interesting (although kinda creepy). It took us about an hour in line and about 45 minutes to walk through. It was amazing to see this mass graveyard that someone had actually decoratively arranged bones in the 1800's so that the public could walk through. It had thousands of thousands of human remains which was just astounding to see in person. After that adventure, we headed back to the Latin Quarter for lunch and gellato. Alex and I broke off from the group again and sat for over an hour people watching and eating and talking. I think this has become my favorite part of Paris. It's part of the culture and it's great to just sit back and take in the rest of the world around you. We picked up some more gellaton which was again awesome and took a picture at our last scavenger hunt stop. This is where we called it a day, headed back to the hotel, and I just finished working on our Public Relations presentation that we are giving tomorrow in class! There's so much more to do in the next two days! I'm so excited. I still can't believe I'll be back in Baton Rouge in three days...It just hasn't quite hit me yet!

Auvoir!