I'm Back!

And today it has been exactly one month since I left home. I really, really cannot believe it went by so fast! That is crazyy. Anyway, on to my trip.

Thursday: We got up and left for Paris at 11AM. The ride on the TGV only lasted about an hour, but I enjoyed every minute of it! That is seriously such a fun way to travel! The landscape, however; really does not look a whole lot different from a drive through North Dakota or Minnesota, though. It mainly consists of grassy fields and small towns (although the buildings look different).

When we arrived at the Gare Nord in Paris, we met up with Jean-Marie. He took us to Susan's appartment (which we would be staying in). Susan is a good friend of my host mom's, and Jean-Marie is Susan's boyfriend (pretty sure). The appartment was really tiny, but really nice. The whole thing was smaller than a hotel room, I think. The only real closed off room was the bathroom, which I should add, had both the shower & the toilet in the same room! That's the first time I've seen that in France. You basically walk into the main room, and to your left is the door to the bathroom. If you walk in farther, you can turn left again into the kitchen. The main room has a table for eating and a couch and TV. The table is folded up at night and then a bed pulls down from the wall for sleeping. The bed is a full, and it takes up majority of the room. Like I said, this place was small. There was a lot of light coming in, and the room was painted in light colors and had lots of mirrors, so it really didn't feel squishy, though. I actually really liked it.

After dropping off our luggage and eating lunch, my host mom, Pierre, and I took the metro to the hospital for Pierre's appointment. That didn't really last as long as I'd thought, so that was cool. I just hung out in the waiting area and listened to my ipod durring that time. Afterwards, we walked a short distance to the Eiffel Tower! Pierre didn't want to go up, so Jean-Marie and Susan met up with us and took him while my host mom and I took the elevator to the top floor! She pointed out a million different places to me, and I really don't remember them all, but it was cool. It was dusk, too, so the lights were starting to come on. On the inside portion, there were different signs that told you how far away different countries were, and you're all about 6000KM away from me. We then went down to the second level, and the tower lit up! I got some pictures of it, and seriously do plan on putting those on soon. My host mom told me that she didn't know how to do it, so I'm going to have Simon or Thomas help me next time they come over. I think I'd probably be able to figure it out, though, if my options weren't in French. I don't want to click the wrong thing! Ha ha!

After descending the tower, we met up with the others. The five of us walked to an Italian restaurant and met Luc and Alan, my host mom's brother and his friend. Jean-Marie and Susan left, and the rest of us ate together. It was really fun, they were nice. I learned that Luc is a playwright and is actually pretty well known. They also told me that French people generally don't like to travel. They do within the country, but most of them don't leave France very often. Luc told me that he thinks it's because a lot of people are really happy with where they live and don't feel the need to travel. That kind of surprised me. If I lived in Europe, I would travel to different countries ALL the time. I can't imagine living this close to so many different places and not wanting to visit them! Anyway, Luc also told me that he would be going to Quebec in April. I've noticed that a lot of French people go to Canada. That makes complete sense and everything, because they speak French there, but for some reason that still surprised me. Once we'd all finished eating, we said goodbye and Alan gave me a chocolate bar. Then we got on the bus and headed back to the appartment.

FRIDAY: We got up and hung out at the appartment for a while. Pierre was really tired from walking around yesterday, so he stayed at the appartment and my host mom and I went out to buy postcards. If I have your address, you will be getting one. If not, it's not because I don't miss you just as much, it's because you didn't give me your address before I left. I haven't sent them yet, and it takes about a week to get overseas, so don't expect them for a little while. You should probably receive them within the next 2 or 3 weeks, though!

After lunch, my host mom took me back out and this time we went to Notre Dame, the Champs Elysees, and she pointed out a lot of other buildings along the way, too. On the Champs Elysees, I went into the Louis Vitton store, and I seriously don't think I could even afford the air I was breathing. The prices of that stuff is outragious. A coin-purse would have set me back nearly 300 Euros! I also saw the restaurant where the celebrities would eat after the César Awards that night! (That's kind of like the Academy Awards in France.)

We stopped at a fastfood place called Quick for a snack, where Pierre and the others met up with us. After that, Pierre, my host mom, and I went to the Palais de Sport where we would see "Cléopâtre: La Dernière Reinne d'Egypte." That was a musical similar to one that you would see on Broadway in New York. I bought a program book and read through the act descriptions before the play started, so that I would be able to follow it better. I'm really thankful I did! That was probably the only reason I knew what was going on! I really enjoyed the music, though! That was really good. I want to buy the CD, but I don't know if it will work when I get back to the States since CDs are "zoned." :/ It was really late by the time that finished, so we went right back to the appartment and went to bed.

SATURDAY: Yesterday, we kind of took it easy. We got up late, took our time getting ready, ate lunch, and then chilled in the appartment for a while. Late afternoon, we went on a walk through a beautiful park, which reminded me a little of Central Park. It was a big green area in the middle of a huge city. This park was much smaller, though, so I dunno. It had a tonn of lakes, little streams, waterfalls, hills, and a few cliffs and stuff. The landscape was gorgeous!

That evening, we went got ready to leave and then headed to back to the train station. Our train went out a little after 6, and we arrived shortly after 7. I didn't go to the computer thing, because it got over early, so instead i just ate and went to bed.

I really hate to do thisss, but I've been on the computer for hours and my host mom's sister is over and I really feel like I should get off. I'll finish this up later on, hopefully! If not today, then for certain tomorrow! Sorrrrrry!
<3Miranda