Jours 1-7

Bonjour tout le monde!

Jours 1-7

April 23-Aril 29

Hello friends, family and other readers! This part of my blog will contain “Ma vie quotidienne” aka my daily life. My walks and excursions are part of my culture class, but even though this section is also, I am going to be much less formal here. Also, this post will be longer than most because I have a whole week to cover, sorry!

 Paris is AMAZING. I am so in love with this city I cannot even describe it to you. Arriving here in Paris was a little nerve-wracking because I had to find my friend who was supposed to arrive at the same time as me but my flight was an hour late. I had no idea if she was still waiting for me and we both didn’t have a phone but no worries, we found each other fine. The first thing Melissa and I did in Paris? Take a four hour nap. Probably not the best idea but it was amazing. That night we walked to the Eiffel Tower and got lost trying to find this other building that looked pretty. However, a construction worker did help us out and it was so much fun to actually talk to a French person.

The "peace wall" and the eiffel tower I saw on my first day

 On Sunday we had our first church in French. Actually, quite a bit of it was in English but it was still overwhelming and I will be excited for when I can actually speak this language.

On Monday we got to meet our host family! The first thing our mom did was sit us down on the couch and talk to us only in French. It was a little scary but we made it through. While unpacking I got to meet my host sister, Cassandre, and she is the sweetest thing. She took us shopping at La Défense, also known as the “Manhattan” side of Paris, aka the only modern portion of Paris. Also, for dinner I ate fish, radishes, and asparagus, all things that I would’ve avoided with my life back in Paris. Look what France can do!

La défense-I didn't actually take this picture but just so you
have an idea of what it looks like

The Catacombs

Tuesday I went to the market with my host family and got to buy a purse which my mom calls my “do-do”, French for teddy bear, because I bring it everywhere with me. I also went to the Catacombs with some friends which was super cool, and obviously a little creepy. It was also my host sister’s birthday today! Her mom surprised her with a bunch of friends coming to visit which was awesome for Melissa and me because we spoke French with them for four hours. It was a good thing that a lot of them spoke English to help me out but it was so much fun!

The market that I went to with my host family

 

Wednesday I had my first day of classes and my first walk (described in a previous post) and by the end I was exhausted! Thursday went pretty similarly with a walk and a class. However, at the end of our walk on Thursday my friends and I went to Angelina and I drank the best hot chocolate of my life there. It was ridiculously overpriced (8 euros) but it was so amazing and it was so much fun to sit in a posh French restaurant that the experience made up for it.

The delicious, yet expensive, African dark chocolate hot chocolate

Today (Friday) I went to Chartres, one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been to. You can read all about it in my other post.

Another beautiful Picture of Chartres

I know that this has been way too long and you probably didn’t read all of it, however, here are some fun facts that I have learned while here in France.

Fun Facts

1. The Paris Arts card for students is a MIRACLE. I get into almost everything for free, Notre-Dame, art museums, cathedrals, anything.

2.   It seems that Parisians only know two styles of shoes, heals and sneakers.

3.   Cheese comes in many colors. For example, today I ate green and red cheese and it was delicious.

4.  There is no such thing as a butter knife in my home, only steak knives.

À Bientôt,

Claire Hunsaker