Friday, February 7, 2014

THE EIFFEL TOWER IS WHY I STUDIED ABROAD HERE

FAVORITE DAY BY FAR BECAUSE I GOT TO GO TO THE EIFFEL TOWER.  But anyway. I woke up this morning to my host mom practically waiting for me to wake up. We finally got to get to know each other a little bit and I learned that my home stay will be perfect for me. We match each other very well and agree on lots of things. She said on Saturday she'll take me for a walk around the neighborhood and show me the best places to buy groceries, bread and whatnot. I learned not to buy baguettes during the day. Only in the early morning or at night when they're fresh out of the oven! I adventurously made myself breakfast, just some toast, coffee and an orange. But it's still a little awkward, I'm not sure what I can and can't do at the house. After breakfast I took a European shower, meaning it was très vite (very fast!) and without a shower curtain. Those apparently aren't a thing here, so of course the entire floor was soaked. I couldn't even figure out how to turn on the shower, there are so many nobs and hoses. I asked my host mom for help and she didn't even know how to either. Haha.. She said "I'll ask the cleaning lady" I figured it out eventually lol.

Later in the day, I had a group lunch with the other students in my program au Petit Colbert, a traditional french restaurant. We had a traditional three-course meal, meaning everything took very long and was very french.

crusted goat cheese with salad and beetroots

chicken and mashed potatoes…I had to

caramel cream cake and coffee

The whole lunch took three hours; maybe that's why french people are so slim but can still eat so much. There were about 20 minutes or more between each course. If that happened in American restaurants people would complain. Everything was delicious besides the dessert. The texture of the cake was something like uncooked tofu and I unfortunately just couldn't eat it. :( The coffee is extremely strong,  but delicious. It's most common to drink it black. They know you're american if you ask for un café au lait..coffee with milk. And if you just ask for "un café" you will be given an espresso. It's necessary to clarify that you want a whole cup of coffee (café longue or café allongé). The other students in my program said they think the coffee is so good here that they don't even need creamer/milk. But I'm struggling. The stores don't even sell creamer. Our server was very helpful with knowing we're not experts at french and helped us pronounce all the food correctly. She also continuously brought bottles of Evian water for us..knowing we're american and we like to chug the water. I'm so dehydrated. French people do not drink water like we do. It's super american to carry around a water bottle and people look at me weird since I have been. If you sit down at a restaurant you won't get water unless you ask. Then once you ask you will get a small cup only filled halfway and without ice. 

After lunch, a number of us wanted to walk off all the food we had just eaten. So we walked to the Louvre!  
Musée du Louvre

 Musée du Louvre

 Musée du Louvre

Musée du Louvre

It was sooooo beautiful. I had no clue how gigantic it was. We didn't go inside because we'll be going with our Art History class. Just walking around the outside was incredible; the beauty of the architecture is breathtaking. I love seeing these places but every touristy place like this has tons of people trying to sell you trinkets and tourist items, or many people begging for money. I've seen many people playing music in the street with cups to throw change in, people pretending to be deaf or blind to earn money (or trying to distract you while a friend attempts to pickpocket), on the metro people try to sell things to you, today there was a man with a whole karaoke system on the metro singing his heart out and then asking for money. 

After the Louvre we walked a long time along the Seine, to the Eiffel Tower!!!!! 

La Seine. If you look closely you can see Notre Dame in the distance!


We could see it in the distance from the Louvre. The closer we got the bigger it got. I was freaking out. It was perfect timing too because we were walking just as the sun was starting to set..so when we got near, the sun was shining right behind it. 


So obviously today was my favorite day yet. <3 <3 <3 More amazing adventures to come!!


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