Alors...

Well, I know it may be hard to believe, but Paris is still great. I went to the Eiffel Tower yesterday. And I went to the Orsay Museum and Sacré Coeur the day before. I've also been to the Louvre, taken a nighttime boat tour of Paris, and met my French host family since we last spoke. I am going to have dinner with them tonight, and I'm a little nervous because "je ne parle bien le français" (I do not speak French well). I'm sure it will be fine though; they are very nice.

I took a language placement exam today. It does not affect my grades this semester; it is just supposed to determine what level classes I can take. If it actually went anything like I'm afraid it did, I may be taking some beginner courses.

I saw a movie a few nights ago with some of the girls from my program (there are 24 people in my program and two of them, including me, are guys). The movie was a British film called Fish Tank. None of us is sure if the movie will be released in the U.S., but in case it is, we are advising everyone we know to not see it. The movie was terrible and made for one of the most awkward experiences I have ever had with two girls.

I am beginning to get used to the French keyboard, but the "w" key still gives me a lot of trouble. I am just killing time waiting to upload some of my pictures right now.

Go Rockies and I will check back in soon!

Bonjour à Paris!

Well, I'm here; and I'm struggling to write this blog because the French computer keyboard is different than those in the U.S. They are similar enough to think you know what you're doing; but then you try to start typing and... oh yeah, that's where the "a" key is!

Anyway, the flights could not have been much better and I found my hotel with little difficulty. I had my first French lunch yesterday; les steak frites (steak and fries) with a glass of kir (white wine and some kind of liquere). It was pretty good. I slept much of the afternoon and most of the night. Then this morning, I did one of the first things that many of you told me to and bought my first truly French croissant. I gotta' give it to you; all of the ranting and raving that all of you did about how good the French croissants are does not even come close to describing the taste explosion that is the French croissant.

So today I am headed to another hotel, this one only blocks from the Louvre, for the start of my program. I'm trying to decide if I have the arm strength to lug my bags to and from the train station again or if I ought to just take a cab instead. Anyway, go Rockies and I will check back in shortly.

Oh, and all of those rude French people that I've heard so much about so far have dealt with my aweful attempts at speaking their language, helped me rescue one of my suitcases when it almost got eaten by the entrance door to the metro, and were really understanding when I got to the hotel and realized I booked my room for the wrong night. I don't know what it is, maybe the rude French were out sick yesterday.

Getting Ready to Leave

Well, I leave in less than three days. I've been picking up my house, studying French, and generally just getting ready to go. I am pretty sick of doing laundry at this point. I will try to add another post before I leave, but if I don't get to it, wish me luck!

My hotel room

I'm going to be arriving in Paris one day early so I had to find myself a hotel room for one night. I looked around online for a while, compared prices, read reviews, etc. A couple of days ago I booked a three star hotel for $108. I just decided to try to find my hotel on Google Earth and apparently I will be staying in Paris's Indian neighborhood. All the restaurants are Indian, I'm across the street from the the "Asian Sari Center" clothing store and the "Indian Music Center." I hope they have good vindalu!

Where I'll be living in France

So it turns out I won't be living in Paris, I'll actually be in a suburb called Vanves. It's about a 20 minute train ride from Paris. Here's a picture of the house I'll be living in. Technology is amazing isn't it?