Living La Vie En Rose

Hello, all!

It's been an incredible first couple of days in Paris!  I can't believe we've only been here for two days--I feel like I've known the people I'm with here FOREVER and I've already taken over 100 pictures.

Hmm, so after class on Thursday we took the Metro to the Arc de Triomphe and walked down the Champs Elysees all the way to the Louvre.  We grabbed lunch in the park in front of the Louvre then met our professor at the Pyramid (see first picture below).  We did about 45 minutes with her inside the museum, then we all wandered around until we were far too tired to do it any more (the Louvre is BIG).  After rejuvenating ourselves with pains au chocolat from a patisserie, we walked over to the Eiffel Tower and waited in the very long line to take the elevator to the top (see second picture below).  Even though I'm afraid of heights it was still incredible and amazing and beautiful.

After we were done with the Eiffel Tower we realized that we were exhausted and that we hadn't eaten a proper meal in ten hours, so we took the Metro back to the area of our hotel, only to find that almost all of the restaurants were no longer serving dinner.  I finally got a bar owner to recommend a restaurant, and when we got there the owner set us up a table.  He didn't speak much English, but between his hand gestures and my French, we managed to order the most incredible meal and a bottle of red wine for the table (see last picture below).  On the way out, he complemented me on my accent, which was also really nice.  Hopefully we'll still be able to order good food in the cities where no none of us speak the language :-/

This morning after class we went to the Ile de la Cite to see Notre Dame.  When we got there, a girls' choir was singing, which was really wonderful.  We walked all around the cathedral (although we couldn't go up considering the long line, sorry Elly) then went and ate our lunches (chicken and brie sandwiches made from the hotel continental breakfast) at the park at the end of the island.  After some more wandering--and chocolate crepes--we met our professor at the d'Orsay, which I actually enjoyed more than the Louvre.  It was such a beautiful space with such wonderful art inside.

Tonight we're going to a jazz concert downtown for our music class, then tomorrow we're getting a tour of the Opera Garnier (where the Phantom of the Opera is set) and going to the Pompidou, the modern art museum in Paris.  Sunday morning we pack up and leave for Munich!

Thats all for now, time for a nap before dinner!

Dara

First Morning in Europe

Bonjour!  Good morning from Paris!

So I'm sitting in my hotel room (which overlooks the Seine), getting ready for class this morning and I thought I'd do a quick blog post to let everyone know how I'm doing.

Our flights went incredibly smoothly, and we arrived at CDG with little-to-no issues.  I had my smoothest experience EVER through Passport Control (i.e. he asked me zero questions) and we boarded the bus and headed off to our hotel.  Last night we had a big dinner as a group and then all sat around talking for a bit before we went to bed.  Today we have class in the morning and then we're heading to the Louvre for the afternoon.  A bunch of us also want to go see the Eiffel Tower tonight when it's all lit up, but that's going to involve braving the Metro :-)

So my biggest accomplishment thus far is that everyone I've spoken to in French has spoken back to me in French as well (minus the grumpy waitress lady who had to serve fifty Americans last night).  I've been able to understand and help other people in my group, and I even had an entirely French conversation with the officer at Passport Control!  I'm really proud of myself, as silly as that may sound.

Anyway, I should start actually getting ready for class.  Pictures will be forthcoming (hopefully) in the next couple of days.  

Lots of love from across the pond!

Dara

Atlanta Touristing

Hi, everyone!

So I've spent the last couple of days on my own in Atlanta doing all the major tourist things there are to do here.  I went to Centennial Olympic Park, saw the aquarium, went into the World of Coke gift shop (didn't bother with the tour, not much to do for a non-soda drinker), and took a tour of CNN Headquarters.  My favorite part was definitely the Olympic Rings Fountain; there were all of these kids running around and playing, and it kind of made me miss Camp Hadar the teeniest bit.

The highlight of today was definitely my first real Southern food experience--I went to a tearoom that one of the guys on my trip had recommended, and I had real fried chicken with all the fixings, it was amazing.  I also got peach cobbler to go, which I'll be enjoying later tonight :-)

Last night, a few guys from my program invited me out to a movie with them, which was really nice.  I saw Angels & Demons again, but this time whenever we'd see a new painting or sculpture, we'd be like "I know that!  I'm going to see it in a week!"  It was pretty sweet.

Tomorrow we're leaving for Paris (with a stop in London first), which is so exciting!  Although I've definitely enjoyed my time in "the ATL", the best is most definitely yet to come.

The Dream of Atlanta

So we just finished our Atlanta final exams today, and I finally have time to breathe and write about what I've been doing all week.

I landed in Atlanta on Sunday afternoon and made it to the house without any problems (I'm staying at the Pi Kappa Phi house here, for those of you who I haven't told).  I got to bed early and then went to my first class on Monday.  I've been going to two classes per day since then: European Composers in the morning and Art History in the afternoon.  I really like them both--I already feel like I have a greater appreciation for classical music, and I can't believe that we're going to be seeing many of these incredible pieces of art we've been studying in less than a week!  My favorite pieces from art history lecture were Bernini's David and Renoir's La Moulin de la Galette (see below, Renoir is on the left), and as far as music goes I've discovered that I have a bit of a soft spot for Renaissance choral music.  Apparently last year one of the groups actually got to go to a traditional mass at the Vatican (and another went to Notre Dame in Paris), which just sounds incredible.

Everyone's been so nice so far--people from my group are great, and everyone's so friendly in Atlanta!  They seem like a really good bunch, and I'm excited to get to know them better.  I've been hanging out and studying with a few people from the program outside of class, but most people are going home for the weekend to finish packing and say goodbye to their families so I won't really have anyone to hang out with.

Since we had exams today but we leave on Tuesday, I now have three days to myself to chill and explore the city.  Not going to lie, I'm already kind of bored, but tomorrow I'm planning on going on the CNN tour and to get a bit of last-minute shopping done, so hopefully it will get more interesting from here.  Photos will be forthcoming!

Missing you all already...

Dara