Ok sorry it took me soooo long to write... it's been an insane past couple of days. nothing too too crazy, just really long. So I think i left off when i was on my way to paris from lille after i couldn't land in beauvais. so 2 hours later I arrived at beauvais where I had to take another bus into paris. luckily i figured it out and got onto the bus pretty quickly, but by that time it didn't even matter. I was already late for the pick up from charles de gaulle so i figured i'd just get there as fast as i could without stressing too much. so i got into port maillot and took a cab to the hotel. I walked in the door, and was welcomed by my program director and the assistant who organized the host families, Daniel and Staci. As soon as I walked in they were like, "oh are you erin??" (but of course in french. from the beginning, everything is in french. it takes a little getting used to but i LOVE it). I explained everything that happened and they reassured me that i didn't miss too much. One of les moniteurs (students at the university in Rennes who came to Paris for orientation and help us get around and answer our day to day questions throughout the semester), Pierre-Yves, helped me bring my stuff up to my room, where I met my roommates both named Ashley. I just dropped off my stuff to go right back downstairs to meet with Staci and Daniel so they could fill me in on what I missed. They're sooo nice! Staci is from Milwaulkee, and although she's lived in France for something like 11 years, she still has a mid-west accent with her French, making it a little easier to understand. Also, I've found that I understand women much better than men which is strange. i'm still trying to figure that out. lol.
Anyway, I got the low down on the schedule for the week and they gave me tickets for the metro, some spending money (which was spent solely on food) and a time for my meeting with them so that they can place me with a host family. I went back to my room, a little overwhelmed, and began to organize my stuff. The Ashley's were wandering around the city, so I had some time to myself to change and relax and stuff. I had internet for like 5 minutes before it decided not to work, so I went downstairs and decided to walk around a bit before meeting the group for dinner. Our hotel was right across the bridge from Notre Dame, so I walked to the bridge and just stayed there for a bit to collect my thoughts. The whole day was so overwhelming, I think I just needed a moment.
I went back to the hotel and realized that I had left my key in my other jeans, so I was soooo happy when I knocked and my roommates were both there. We got ready for dinner and headed down a little late. Everyone had left already except Daniel and Staci and a few students in a different program through ciee. So we took the metro and went to dinner with them. I learned there are 4 Ashleys on the trip and 3 Katherines along with a Katie and 2 Rachels. Luckily I'm the only Erin (Thanks Mom for not giving me a super popular name!) because I can't imagine how confusing it must be for them. Anyway, we got to dinner a little late, but we were the first to get there. After a few minutes though, it was a little overwhelming having the entire 42 person group at dinner. We had this awesome fish dish (yes I ate and enjoyed fish... look what morocco and traveling has done to me!) and for dessert... creme brulee! It was a great meal, but more importantly, it was so much fun. Of course it was in French (for the most part) but we had a pretty good time. By the time we were done, i was done for the day. I just wanted to go back to the hotel and go to sleep. So I went back and got ready for bed, read a little (which btw I already finished the Kite Runner) and went to sleep.
The next morning we were up pretty early for breakfast at the hotel, then we went to Montmartre. I LOVE MONTMARTRE! I had been there my first time in France, just after high school and it was just as I remember. It was a little strange seeing it again because the first time is like a distant dream now. I was with completely different people and it was such a different time. But this time we visited Moulin Rouge. It was pretty cool to just be there, but it made me want to watch the movie soooo badly. haha. we went to a cafe not far, then we went back to the hotel for lunch. After lunch we went to the Hotel de Ville, or the old city hall. I'd never been there and apparently it's pretty hard to get a tour. There's a hall that looks VERY similar to the Hall of Mirrors in the palace of Versaille, except on the walls, near the ceiling, there are paintings of women from each part of france. It was pretty neat. I liked the tour a lot, but it was a little long and towards the end we were all just soooo tired. But we quickly regained our excitement after when we left for the Eiffel Tower. I decided not to go up this time, but it was so cool to see it all lit up and beautiful. While some went up, we went to a cafe (my 2nd for the day) and sat and chatted. We had way too much fun just chatting and getting to know each other, then we regrouped and went back to the hotel. We were left on our own for dinner, and one of the Ashleys I guess had made plans with one of the other girls to get dinner right after we got back. The other Ashley and I were like, oh ok well we can get ready fast and go down. But I guess it wasn't an invitation because when Ashley S went to the bathroom, Ashley Z said good bye and that she was going to dinner. I was a little surprised, but Ashley S and I chatted for a while, then decided to go down when we were ready and see if anyone else was going to dinner. We ended up going to dinner with les moniteurs, Clemence, Adeline, Pierre-Yves and Viktor, and a few other students. We went to a greek restaurant for dinner, then to a bar not far for a few drinks. It was hilarious. we ended up at this piano bar -type place and ordered drinks that we had never heard of before. I had only one, but let me tell you that was enough. after not drinking very often in morocco and at home and adding that to my already low tolerance, one was more than enough. My friends though had 2 and were less silly than I was! But it was fun and it was a good night. Ashley and I went back to the room and talked for a long time, until the other ashley came back and talked with us. By the end of the night, we were all exhausted.
The next morning all three of us had our meetings with Staci and Daniel so we had breakfast, then went back to the room to sleep.Ashley S had her appointment first, so I got ready after she left, then I went down a little after she got back. It was the first time I'd showered since... the day I left. Which was Saturday. and it was now Wednesday... Definitely a product of Morocco! My meeting didn't take too long. They asked me whether it mattered if the family smoked, had kids, had pets, etc. They asked what my interests are and asked what my experience in Morocco was like and how my host family was there. I told them how much I loved my host family in Rabat and that nothing really matters, kids, no kids it doesn't matter to me.
When I got back to the room I slept for a while, then I woke up the Ashleys and we went to Notre Dame to see the inside. They had never been inside and I told them it was important. It's sooo beautiful! So we went and came back, a little late for lunch at the hotel again. After lunch we went to le musee carnivalet which was kind of cool, but ultimately I was sooo tired of tours and walking at that point and our tour guide just kept talking. and talking. and talking. as usual, en francais tous les temps. it was a little too much for me, but when we were done we went back to the hotel and hung out until 6, when we walked/ran to our bateau mouche (a boat tour on the Seine). It was so nice! We went down the seine past the small statue of liberty and we passed the eiffel tower just as it lit up (it's always lit at night, but every hour on the hour, they put on lights that make it truly sparkle). It is impossible to describe, but en francais, c'est magnifique!
After the boat tour, we went to dinner with everyone again at a restaurant just across the bridge from Notre Dame. It was a really cute place and the food was great! Some people went out afterwards, but I really didn't have the energy for it. So Ashley S and I went back to the hotel so she could pack and I could sleep, but neither of those things happened. We ended up talking and didn't go to sleep until well after the other Ashley returned from the bar
The next morning we got up far too early because we had to be at breakfast by 7:30am. We left on the bus at 8:30 and arrived in Chartres at around 10 I think. We had another tour of the cathedral, but it was awesome! We walked into the church and stood for a few moments before our guide came. He came over and as soon as he opened his mouth Ashley and I turned to each other and were like "yes!" He was an old english man who reminded me more and more of Bilbo Baggins the more he spoke. He was such a cute old man! and oh man did he know a lot about the cathedral. we sat in the middle while he told us the history and the explained the story on one of the stained glass windows. It was the coolest thing ever. We had lunch in Chartres, then left for Rennes. On the bus Staci called us up to her seat one by one to tell us who was in our host family and where it was. I was so happy I was sitting near the front! We got into Rennes around 6:30 and met our host families at the university. It was so funny because the first meeting is soooo awkward and some were clearly less comfortable than others, but it was pretty clear that everyone was pretty excited. It was actually kind of like a 7th grade dance, girls on one side boys on the other. Except this time it was excited families on one side and anxious students on the other. My host mom met me when they called our names and we talked for a while, then left for her house.
No comments:
Post a Comment