So I suppose it has been a while, hasn't it? I'm sorry, I've just been really busy with life and such.

Last week, me and Z decided to go to Sacre Coeur. It is the highest point in Paris, and it was actually pretty neat! Getting there was a challenge, though, since it is in a pretty shady area of town.



Over the weekend, I slept and adventured down to the local laundromat. Everything, in true French style, was complicated and not so informative, so I basically made myself look like an idiot until someone had pity on me and showed me how to open the door to the washer. I am proud to say that my only drawback, when all was said and done was that I shrunk my clothes a little. But at least my whites were still white. :-)

Monday, I went to my first hip-hop class. It's a fairly new genre called "Girly Style" and it was AWESOME! It was about 4 Metro stops away, and incredibly reasonably priced. I was happy, and now I've found a way to occupy my Monday nights. If you want to see some of what we do every week, go to

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cytLEj4cN0Q&feature=channel_page

Yes, that is actually my instructor in front vamping it up in dreads. I'm pretty sure he's straight, though.

Tuesday, my group went and explored the "galeries" of Paris. They're basicaly streets that have glass ceilings from the 18th and 19th century. Now they're small and kind of touristy, but it's off the beaten path, and a part of Paris that many don't really get to see.



Last night, Z invited me to go to an English pub to see Manchester United play soccer against Arsenal. Z is actually British, so he said that I absolutely had to attend, just for the experience. It reminded me alot of American males on Super Bowl day; yelling and loud. But it was a fun experience, one that I may do again, especially since I understand soccer now.

Today, I took my Art History exam. It raped me. And I'm an art history major, so I can only imagine what my other classmates thought. Another reason to dislike Madame L; last week, she SAID, "this is what you need to study for the exam-- (insert answers here)." Now tell me, were those things she told us last week on the exam? No. Instead it was stupid vague questions that NO ONE knew, like what are the two sculptures by Michelangelo in the Louvre.

How the hell am I supposed to know that!?



ANYWAY.

After class, B and I went to the African quartier (Chateau Rouge) for some hair products. It's that time again, and my head has been looking slightly...lackluster. B was absolutely amazed. There were entire streets where every store front sold weave and black hair care products. Chicago ain't got NOTHIN on this. I wanted to take pictures of this weave-tastic phenomenon, but since we weren't exactly in the best area of town, that would not have been wise.

My host family is back in Creuse (I found out that it the proper way to spell it--embarrassing, no?) for the weekend. I was invited, but I had already scheduled my hair appointment with L and B and I had planned to go to Disneyland Paris(!) on Saturday. Mickey and his ears will wait for no one. Besides, it will be nice to have the apartment to myself this weekend. I miss being able to be alone. But that does mean that I have to fend for myself food-wise this weekend. Maybe I'll go to down to the marche this weekend and try my hand at cooking French cuisine.

...Although they DO have Pizza Hut here.....

A bientot!



--C.

Le Weekend sur la Riviere du Loire

Brace yourselves; there will be a ton of pictures in this post.



So this weekend, my director Madame B took us to the Loire River Valley, where all the great chateaux and castles of France are housed. We took a tour bus, and it dropped us off at various locations for a few hours before picking us up and driving us to tour next destination. It was very cool.

We started the weekend in Chartres, to look at Chartres cathedral. It is the biggest church in France. I remember studying it in my Early Midieval Art class last year, so I was able to fill my friends in on the historical deets of the site. (See, Dad, your money is going somewhere, after all!)



Then we went to the chateau of Blois, where the Duc of Guise was assasinated. It was big, but not my most favorite. Afterwards, me and some friends had lunch at a resturaunt; three courses for 10 euro! It was awesome. I had steak, tomato salad, and the biggest glass of chocolate mousse I have ever seen.



Then we went on to the chateau of Ambroise. It was slightly dissappointed as 75% of the castle was destroyed, and there was only a tiny corner left. But the view was amazing, and the town of Ambroise was really quaint. After the chateau, we walked about 10 minutes to Da Vinci's house. Talk about AWESOME! It must have been totally worth it to be a genius because his crib was pretty sweet. My favorite was the trails and grounds he had, and seeing all of the inventions he came up with.



Da Vinci's House



That evening, we took the bus to Tours and slept there. This hotel was much better than the nightmare that was the first night in Paris. They actually had an elevator. :-) We had the best dinner ever at this tiny resturaunt. I had pintade, which is a petite guinea fowl. It was so good, I swear I'm going to be thinking about it for days.

The next morning, we woke up and went to Villandry. The chateau was nothing special, but the gardens were....Wow. I spent 30 minutes in the cahteau and and hour and a half in the gardens. They just kept on going, and there was so much to see! It was raining, though, so I was a bit cold, but I think the garden shots came out even more beautiful because of all the green.



Next, we went to Chenonceau. It was built over the Loire River, and was really pretty. Mary Stuart stayed here.



The last chateau we visited was Chambourd. It was freakin huge. There were 365 fireplaces. No joke. And it just kept going on and on, like a labrynth. In addition, in the middle of the castle, there was a double spiral staircase. It has two openings at the bottom, and two people can walk on this staircase and see each other through a window, but they will never actually meet on the staircase. It was weird. I just kept imagining that is the perfect set-up for a horror movie or something.



Then, we took the bus home and got ready for the week.

Yesterday and today I had class. And this afternoon, my director made a special announcement;

WE ARE GOING TO THE CANNES FILM FESTIVAL IN MAY.

SERIOUSLY.

I literally shrieked and freaked out when I heard it. It's going to be absolutely amazing.

After class, Co, S, and I took a walk along the Seine for a while. It was so warm, and the sun was out, that it was nice to just take a moment and soak it all in.



Beautiful.

A demain!

--C.