La tour Eiffel

We took a metro adventure to the Eiffel Tower on this beautiful day! The sun was shining and we took tons of pictures. We labeled it "selfie sunday" for all the selfie pictures we took. It was great fun. We did the tour and went to the top, where we saw a rainbow!! How awesome is that!!?

Walking tour of Notre Dame and the surrounding streets

Notre Dame

Today we met up and started our walking tour on the rive gauche (left bank). It's called the Quartier Latin. Our first stop was a small street with lots of shops and cafes, followed by Notre Dame cathedral on Il de la Cite. Then we crossed over to the right bank (rive droit) to find more shopping and cafes, as well as the Centre Pompidou (Contemporary art museum/expo). Afterwards we split up and some of us went to the Creperie Beaubourg, where we had a 2-course meal and cider. It was delicieux! Ensuite, we went shopping a bit and explored the area until we got tired and walked back to our apartment. On the way home, we stopped at a chocolate shop where they had the coolest chocolate sculptures!
"Au rive gauche, on pense, et au rive droit, on depense."

Chocolateee

Grocery store followed by wine and cheese

Caroline and I went to the monoprix (grocery store) this morning to grab the essentials. When we got there, the ground level was a clothing boutique, and we took the escalier down to the grocery portion. It was also partly a cafe, partly a bakery, and partly a wine store! Very cool place. We had a little trouble figuring out the fruit situation, but now we have the hang of it! We will eat after all!

After our grocery adventure, we went to an orientation meeting, followed by wine and cheese in a bar called point effemar, right along the seine. It was delish. They also had other hors devours like prosciutto and chicken and caprese kabobs! We left to freshen up for meeting friends later, but ended up falling asleep for several hours. All rested up and ready for tomorrow!

Nous sommes arrivees a paris!

Got here just in time for festivities! Our director, Karl, took us around for a whirlwind tour of the quartier latin (Latin quarter) which is where our apartment is. The apartment is awesome! After our tour we came back to regroup and then met up for an amazing welcome dinner at a restaurant looking over the seine and Notre Dame called Auberge Notre Dame. The wine was fantastic, and the food better than anything you can find in America! After dinner, Caroline and two other girls from the program and I went to a cafe near our apartment and hung out with locals! This is gonna be fantastic! The neighborhoods are a little difficult to navigate, but being here will teach us.

This picture is me and Caroline at the fountain at Place St Michel, a few blocks from where we live!

Pre-departure

Just made my blog for my semester in Paris! I leave in 4 days, recovering from wrist surgery and working on packing with one hand! Ta ta for now!