A Day of Walking

27 avril

The weather here is still cloudy and rainy.  It's never super cold, but still cool enough to need pants and jackets.  I hope it gets warm soon, because I brought mostly summer clothes.  I'm getting quite sick of my two pairs of pants that I have to wear every other day.  

To start the day, we had our host mom's homemade bread for breakfast and then took 3 different trains and about 40 minutes to get to our class at 9 in the morning.  The class I am taking is French Civilization from the 1700s-present.  

After class it was freezing and so we got hot chocolate.  Then me, my roommate Emily, and our friend Macord just decided to start walking around and going wherever we felt.  We ended up walking for 9 hours and saw lots of Paris' famous sites.

Notre Dame

Point Zero--center point of Paris

Montmartre--brought back BYU stairs memories

Sacre Coeur basilica

This church is relatively new and was built in the late 1800s.  The inside was gorgeous also.

Looking out from Sacre Coeur

Roomies

Ma tarte aux framboises

Opera Garnier

Phantom of the Opera was written by Gaston Leroux about this  operas house, l'Opera Garnier

le Madeline

Place de la Concorde--where Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were beheaded at the beginning of the French Revolution

le Grand Palais

Arc de Triomphe

 Around 9pm, we got hungry for dinner but quickly realized that everything was closed! So we had to settle for McDonalds where I got a McBaguette.

La musique au métro

There is always great music in the metro.  People have to audition and get a permit in order to perform there.  This one was particularly incredible--a mini orchestra! 

Orientation/Host Family

26 avril

Today we had our orientation for the study abroad with our professor Dr. Erickson.  We all went over to an apartment near the Eiffel Tower that BYU owns.  It is used for the professors and families that accompany the study abroad programs each semester.  It is a super nice and big apartment, I was impressed.  We got money for food, museum entrance fees, and for the month long metro pass.  Then we went over to the Marais district of Paris to see the LDS church building where we would have class.  This building is across the street from the Centre Pompidou (the modern art museum) and is a gorgeous building that functions as a church visitor's center, institute, classroom, and church building.  

The Pompidou museum around the corner from the church.

The LDS church building where I'll have class everyday.

Eglise de Jesus-Christ des Saints des Derniers Jours

Referred to as the Saint Merri church building

The courtyard inside the church

The church is located by l'Hotel de Ville which is where the mayor of Paris lives and that also functions as a city government center.  Notre Dame is also right across the river from where we have class.  I'm so lucky to be able to be learning in such a beautiful building and atmosphere.

There is super cool graffiti in this area of town

L'Hotel de Ville

 Then we, my roommate Emily and I, got to move out to our host family! They're in a suburb just outside of Paris that is called Asnières-sur-Seine.  It is nice to get away from super tourist Paris and be in a real French community.  Our host mom, Madame Beauvillé is the sweetest thing in her pumps and suit jacket.  After she showed us our rooms, she invited us to have tea and bread with her.  She is so cute with her tea cart that she pushes around and her homemade bread.  We had dinner with her and three of her four kids that night.  I have yet to meet the Dad and one of the sons.  The kids were very nice and patient with our slow and not always correct French.  But when we weren't in the conversation, they talked so incredibly fast and shortened words/phrases and mumbled a lot, so it was quite difficult to understand!  We will have dinner with them 3 times a week.

Tout le monde arrive

25 Avril

Everybody else in the Study Abroad program flew in today.  As the TA, I was there with Dr. Erickson to greet them when they came to the hotel and then give them a bunch of info and papers.  We also all made our Metro cards.  They are legit with our picture on them and everything.  They last for forever and we can just keep putting money on it.  I ran some errands for Dr. Erickson, including going to Carrefour (they are all over and always remind me of China!) to buy some pens and get some euro coins.  Everyone that came in was dead from traveling and from jetlag and so my friend Olivia and I that had come in the day before went out exploring.  We took the metro to Notre Dame and then just walked around and explored.  Notre Dame has always been one of my favorites.  Notre Dame in French is translated to Our Lady and so the church is dedicated to Mary.  I love the Gothic architecture and always have.  I'm sure I'll be back to visit many times in the next few weeks.

Looking up one of the pillars

Every building in Paris is just SO pretty!

The side of the church and the Seine

Next, Olivia and I walked around the Latin Quarter where there were lots of cool bookstores and papetries. 

The Sorbonne--a university in Paris that was founded in the 1200s! 

Electric car charging spot

Statue of the famous French essayist Montaigne

It's hard getting used to speaking French all the time--I mostly just don't talk as much because there are some things that I am unsure of how to say.  But I'll get better hopefully! I love speaking with the Parisians.  They are very helpful and willing to talk to me.  Several people have stopped to ask us for directions in French, and we never know what place they're talking about, but it makes me feel good that I can talk with them.  

We ran into another beautiful church on our walk! 

Right across the street was the Pantheon where a lot of famous French people are buried.  It cost to go inside, so we decided to save that for later.

View looking out from the Pantheon

This isn't the pantheon..but where the mayor if the 5th arrondissement lives.  Paris is divided into 17 or 18 arrondissements (districts).

Pretty Pantheon!

After the Pantheon, we went and saw the Luxembourg gardens which were gorgeous with lots of trees, flowers, and sculptures.  The palace of Luxembourg is also there. 

Apparently there is a replica of the statue of liberty and also marionette shows in these gardens, so I will definitely be back to explore more.

Luxembourg Palace

That night, our whole study abroad group went out to dinner.  We had grilled chicken and then I had a delicious Apple tart. 

After dinner, a group of us went to the Eiffel Tower to see it lit up at night! The Eiffel Tower never fails to disappoint.  It's a cliche tourist spot, but it is so because it is so stunning and magical, especially at night.

Every once in a while, it sparkles with blue lights.

Moi!

With the Seine river

Looking up the middle