First update from France

Bonjour everyone!!! Sorry it took me so long to update, but finally I have some time to sit down and write!! As you can imagine, I have been super busy getting settled in and enjoying my time here in France. I have already done many things and seen wonderful pieces of architecture, what this trip is all about!

For starters, I am living with a French family here in Versailles. It is a man and woman with four children, all very young(the oldest is 8, the others are around 3-6). The couple speaks English pretty well, but the children know only very little, so they are always speaking French to me! From the moment I arrived at my housing, I had to muster the little french I knew in order to communicate with the family. They help me with my french, and I help them with english. It is a nice trade off, but is certainly a challenge for me considering I know very little french and am living in an environment where french is spoken all the time! I am definitely making an effort, trying to spit out words here and there and use hand motions, and I am making lots of mistakes, but I look forward to seeing how well I can speak french by the end of the next 8 months!!

My family is super nice and welcoming. They live in a small but beautiful home in a quiet neighborhood. Every day the french come home to eat lunch, so I see lots of kids walking home in groups and I love listening to them speak french! My room is wonderful-I have my own little kitchen area, my own bathroom, and internet access. I really couldn't ask for more. My family invited me to have lunch with them yesterday, and I told them all I could about where I was from and what special hobbies I had, so we got to know eachother better. I feel so lucky with my housing and don't think it could be any better.

As far as my school life is going, our group(all 40 of us), have the same classes so we are with eachother all the time. Right now we are taking history, statics, and french language, but we do not start our studio projects until October, so we have not met the french students yet. As I mentioned earlier, the school is the building where the horses' stables used to be, so that is where we are studying!! It is a beautiful building, right next to the Palace of Versailles.

A group of friends and I went to see the palace and walked around the interior-it is absolutely magnificent. I am planning on seeing the gardens sometime this week...what it shows in my picture above! It is so easy to get to the chateau by bus, and it is right next to the school so we can go there anytime!

I am getting used to getting around Versailles-taking the bus, grocery shopping, getting a cell phone, eating out, etc. and am becoming more and more comfortable with my life here every day. French food is amazing, and their fashion sense is also a lot better than ours, so these are little things I have observed and tried to be sensitive to. They live life differently-they don't use as much water and electricity, so I have accommodated my routine to also using less, because I want to be as 'french' as possible while I am here.

The most fun I have had so far is going to Paris-I have been there twice now with my friends. The first weekend we had a walking tour, where we saw tons of buildings like Notre Dame, walked through the park, circulated among the streets of Paris, and ate out at a fancy cafe. We learned how to use the train system to go to Paris and back to Versailles(well, I'm still struggling with it, but my friends understand :P)

The second weekend(this weekend) in Paris we left early in the morning and stayed there all day, late into the night. We saw the Roman baths of Cluny, la Sorbonne(a really famous prestigious school), the Paris opera house, the Basilique du sacre-coeur, a basicila at the top of the highest point in Paris(which gives you a wonderful view of the city), and of course, the Eiffel tower! After walking around, street shopping, etc. we went to a store to get baguettes, french cheese, wine, and chocolate, and headed to the Eiffel tower for a picnic! We sat in the grass and enjoyed our french meal while having an amazing view of the tower. When it got dark, the tower lit up and it was a beautiful display! Then it started to rain and everyone took out there umbrellas and started to walk past the tower-it was such a cool scene! We took pictures in the rain for a while, and then walked towards another building where a band was playing music, and I learned how to salsa! haha ;P It was a perfect ending to a fabulous day, and I became really good friends with other students on the trip.

I've really enjoyed my time here in Versailles so far. I can't believe it's only been two weeks-I've done and seen so much. My classes are interesting, and there is just so much to see and do in Versailles and Paris alone. I have not yet decided where I'm going for my independent study/travel breaks, but the places I'm interested in are Barcelona, Germany, and Greece. Groups are already forming based on where we want to go, and I am getting really excited to see the world!! :D

I will keep everyone updated with my travels and experiences! Until next time!!!