First day of School!

As I suspected! I have already arrived in Paris and it is already Tuesday night! Many things have happened since my last post, but I will share the highlights!

On Thursday there was a strike in France! (My first one to witness!) Many people were against extending the age of retirement, so they decided to take the day off from work and walk down the main roads in one big group! It was, in my opinion, pretty anti-climactic. But, good to witness nonetheless (we saw them as we were getting lunch).

Friday was the last day of class in Tours and it was a bit bittersweet. We only had a half day so there was time to hang out with the friends we had made that were outside of our program, and also there was time to pack.

Saturday I left Tours, and although I was feeling sad, I was very anxious to get to Paris! Once we arrived at the train station, Jenna and I took a taxi to our foyer (French style dorm, though not located on a university campus, so people that go to several different universities will live in one building). Thankfully, our rooms were both located on the first floor (there is no elevator in the building so it would have been rather difficult getting up stairs). For the past few days I have had a French roommate named Ymanne. She is very sweet and is from Normandy! (But unfortunately will be leaving on Thursday to go back home.) She had already made my bed for me and was eager to show me in the ins and outs of our foyer.

Sunday I had the opportunity to go to Hillsong Paris and my oh my, it was such a blessing! Before I even arrived in France I had been praying that God would provide a strong Christian Community to plug in to, and He definitely did! It was pretty amazing to worship and learn more about God in French (and in English, it is a translated service). Words cannot accurately grasp exactly how I felt on Sunday, though the whole time I could feel God's love for me. I even met a few new people, Michael, Marco, and Alexandra. All three of them are students here in Paris (though they just met at church). I also met up later that day with my friends Roanne and Emily at a metro station called Opéra. There we walked around the 1st quarter of Paris and explored a bit! (They wanted to see one of CoCo Chanel's original boutiques.) I must say though, wandering around Paris is pretty fun. There are lots of things to see - interesting shops, buildings, and monuments, and of course, even more interesting people!

Monday the whole program went to obtain metro passes - FREEDOM! We all purchased unlimited rides for the week and for the next month. The metro/RER/bus system in Paris really isn't bad/scary at all. The maps are very easy to navigate and people are very helpful! A group of us went to a store called Tati (think of it as the French version of Wal Mart) for some odds and ends, and then to another store called Monoprix (the French version of Target). Later that afternoon, Dustin and I went to the Eiffel Tower! (yep, with these metro passes you can pretty much go anywhere within the city limits of Paris, and the subway runs so frequently you are hardly waiting for a train to arrive) It wasn't as pretty as I thought it would be, but still enormously impressive.

Tuesday (today) we started classes at the Catholic Institute. I only have one class on Tuesdays (la mode et stylisme) from 2pm-5pm. After class, Kelly, Emily, Dustin and I ventured out to the Musée d'Orsay, and to the Louvre (though we didn't go in . . . there wasn't time and there are days when students can get in for free).

Tonight I was able to meet many new girls that live in my foyer and I must say, they are all pretty nice! I even did laundry tonight and they were very helpful with tips about each of the machines.

Well, it's time to get my clothes out of the dryer, and also Ymanne is trying to sleep! (She told me to stay in the room while on the computer because it's cold outside of our room, how kind of her!) So here are the ending pictures. There are more on Facebook!

Last day of class in Tours

Leaving the Tours station for Paris

A random band that walked out of the Music Academy in Paris

Walking around - there are fun advertisements here!

Oh look! The Eiffel Tower!

Kelly, Emily, and Me over the river Seine

Oh hey! We're at the Louvre!