Central College Abroad

Salut!

We finally made it to Paris! Everything here is always new and exciting. I am staying in a dorm called La Vigie. It is on the Isle St. Louis which is in the smack dab center of Paris. I was amazed on my first day, when wondering around I ran into Notre Dame!

I pass it everyday on my way to the metro, which is surreal after spending years passing corn fields to get to school. I am taking classes at the Insitute Catholique.  It is much harder than I thought it would be to take 15 hours of classes in French a week.  It is exhausting, but being in Paris makes up for it.  I have been doing a lot of exploring. There are so many things to see and do.

Last Friday, my friends and I went to the Eiffel tower at night.  On the train ride there, I was buzzing with excitement, and the tower at night did not disappoint.  It was magnificent all lit up. We bought a bottle of wine and cookies and sat on the lawn with the multitudes of other students and hung out all night.

On Saturday we went to Versailles. We lucked out and it was a beautiful day. There were hordes of tourists in the actual castle, so I enjoyed the grounds more. The building is so extravagant, it makes you understand why there was a revolution.

This week Shelley, our resident director, took us to a jazz concert on Thursday, and Chartres on Saturday. Chartres is a town outside Pairs that has one of the best preserved medieval cathedrals in Europe.

Last night was “Nuit Blanche”, which is an all night party thrown by the mayor of Paris. It was really awesome because the metro and some of the museums were open all night, and there were art installations through out the city. There was a giant disco ball in the middle of the Luxembourg Gardens! When I  finally called it a night around 5 am, and the streets were still packed with people.

Well, I am beat from my all-nighter,

Aurevoir!