Fontaineblue & Vaux-le Vicomte

That opening picture is our make shift seder plate, but I'll get to that later. I haven't updated my blog in a while and I really am having severe memory loss from the last time I updated. So much has happened in such a short period of time, so I will try to explain all of it, and of course include plenty of pictures. Starting with Friday! My FAMILY came!! Sitting through class Friday was super brutal. I had theater in the morning, and then phonetics in the afternoon. My family arrived in Paris at around 12:30. They had a pretty rough flight. They left Chicago Thursday night, and an hour into their plane ride they had to turn back around and land in Chicago due to technical errors. An hour after that they took off again, so needless to say they were very tired once they got here. I met them after phonetics at five and we hung out in their apartment for a little. Then we ventured off to find a place for dinner. We ate at an Italian restaurant. I didn't order anything because I was super excited to eat the Macaroni and Cheese my parents brought from home, but instead I ate off everyone's plate and all the bread so I wasn't even hungry when we got home. After a few rounds of bananagrams we went to sleep because everyone was pretty exhausted.

Saturday I had to wake up bright and early for an excursion to Fontaineblue and Vaux-le Victome, two chateaus about an hour outside of Paris. The first one was a castle of royalty. It was Napoleon's favorite, and that's really all I understood about it. It was very beautiful and the rooms looked very similar to the one's in Versailles. In this picture the two little specs at the top of the stair well are Erin and me! We walked around for a while listening to our audio guides and when we were done hopped back onto the bus to the next chateau. Vicomte was actually a chateau of a commoner. Of course he was a very wealthy and powerful commener, he was not nobel so it's very interesting that he had is own castle. The castle's inside wasn't that impressive-perhaps the manniquens acting out the scenes made it a bit corny- but the outside and the gardens were beautiful. We walked through the inside pretty quickly and then me and Erin just sat in the gardens and talked for a while until it was time to leave again. Then back on the bus for the hour ride back to Paris.





When I got back I hopped off the bus and straight to the Champs Elysee to meet my family. They really had been sleeping due to jet lag since I got back. We strolled down the street, got some ice cream, and then went to my mom's favorite...the Louis Vitton store. Me and Marley were bored and so we decided to do our hair the same to pass off as twins...what do you think?We waited in the line to get in-yes there actually was a line, with a bouncer- and then my mom explored. She found a purse she wanted, and so did Hayley, so they indulged and now have true Paris Louis Vitton purses! We then continued down the road and went to the Arc de Triomphe. My dad, Marley, Kiley and I went up to the top just in time to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle. Then we ventured back down to find my Mom and Hayley. A metro ride took us back to our area and we had a true French meal, cheese plate and everything. It wasn't great (again I didn't eat in hopes to be hungry for Mac and Cheese) but I did try escargot for the first time! I didn't love it but the sauce was really good. After dinner we got home and of course played bananagrams- no mac and cheese:(

On Sunday I got my family to get up early which, if you know my family, is a HUGE accomplishment. Our first stop of the day was the Bastille market. I introduced my family to Fraise seches, and Comte cheese, both they didn't like. They were intrigued by the market but only ended up getting bakery treats (you can never go wrong with a pain au chocolate). After the market we obviously stopped at Starbucks, but after that we went over to the Marais. A few weeks ago at the Marais music was playing and the place was hopping, but the rain really put a damper on things. It wasn't as exciting, but it is still a great area. We met Julie, Amanda, and Max (visiting) for lunch as L'as du Falafel. Marley, Kiley, and I didn't eat but my Mom and Hayley loved it so it was successful. After that we explored a little but we really didn't want to stay outside becuase of the rain. We went to the Holocaust museum as well. It was interesting, more for me than my family because I can read French, seeing everything from a different perspective. They have some moving exhibits so I was glad we were able to check it out. Poor Kiley was too young and had to sit outside :( After that we headed back home because Hayley, Marley, and I were headed to dinner at Baby Bottles soon. We headed to dinner and got there at 7 for our 14 person reservation. It was nuts but fun to see all the visitors. Melanie and Josh were there, and I even saw Eric Stupinsky- flashback to high school! And Erin, Erin and Caroline our dollar was up!! It was kind of a bust becuase my sisters didn't enjoy the fondue or the wine, but at least they can say they had a going out experience in Paris, that's all that matters right? After dinner I came home and my Mom and I tried to plan the rest of the week. After today I feel like we will just be winging it the rest of the week.

Today we woke up even earlier and headed out to the Louvre. After two hours of standing in line for tickets we finally got in. The night before my mom had circled everything she wanted to see so we tried to hit all those areas. We were pretty succesfful and didn't get too lost. It was so crowded in there. We saw the standards, Venus de Milo, Mona Lisa, and some other beautiful things. After a few hours we went to Angelina's for lunch. While the food wasn't bad, and my family actually liked the hot chocolate, they were not pleased with the French hospitatlity. Just a little culture shock settling in. After lunch we went over to the Eiffel Tower. My dad, Kiley, Marley, and I waited in line for a very long time to go up. We went to the second floor and got a great view of Paris. Afterwards we took millions of pictures and just messed around. Then we walked to the Vel D'Hiv memorial. This was a memorial for the French Jews who were victems of the round up responsible by the French police (not the Nazi's, but under Nazi orders) during the Holocaust. The memorial was little and no one else was there but it was actually very meaningful. The creation of this memorial showed the Holocaust amnesia in France was actually lifted slightly. I personally liked the memorial and was glad I went. After that we went back to our area and was on a frantic search for Seder food. Our guests were arriving at 7:00 and it was 5:30 and we couldn't find any matzoh insight. My dad took a cab over to the Marais frantically but everything was closed, he tried going all over the place, but eventually we told him to come back. Me and my mom found "fruity" red wine... no manishvitz but this was very make shift in general. Then me and Hayley ran out and found rotisserie chickens in a bag that you microwave. We bought three of those, and actually managed to find matzoh at a franprix. Right as we walked in the door all my friends had just gotten there. Lauren, Julie, Amanda and Erin were all guests at the Seder. I was really nervous because Passover is probably my favorite holiday and it is very important in our family but I really couldn't have asked for a better group to come celebrate it. Especially since my dad brought new song books, after dinner all we could do was laugh while singing Jewish paraodies to songs such as YMCA, Barbera Ann, and then some...epic. Then everyone went home and it was off to sleep for us, becuase Isaacson family what are you going to do next? We're going to Disney world! Yup, that's right, Euro Disney in the morning. C ya real soon ( I really hope someone got that reference, maybe a boy that is in his 20s who still works at a camp)!

A Little Taste of Home

As my title says so far this week there have been pieces of home coming up in my daily Paris life, and I'm loving it! On Monday I lounged around till 2:00 for History class. That class really was my favorite from the beginning but it is definitely not holding my interest any more. After class I went with Collie and Maya to Monoprix to run some errands and then I just came back home. I was really exhausted from Berlin. I tried meeting up with Lauren but I went on the wrong metro and then just got confused. I went home to just relax and try and go to bed early. Not quite successful but that's alright.

I couldn't sleep the night before cause I was so excited for Tuesday! That's because Tuesday was when Jen was coming to visit! I woke up super early, caught up on some American television then headed over to the Notre Dame at around 11. I did some homework over there and then met up with Jen at 12:30. We had a really great day of sightseeing. We started at Notre Dame, and did the quick walk through. Then we met up with Lauren and we walked down Saint Michele. We went to my favorite crepe stand where coincidentally class was ending for all my friends so Jen litterally met all of them at one time. A little overwhelming but then we bought our banana and nutella crepes and that made everything all better. We took our food up to the Terrace of my school building (a place I just learned today was off limits for non residences of the dorm). I showed her the beautiful view and we just sat up there and talked for a while. After that we walked through the Jardin du Luxombourg and then I showed her my other school. We hopped on the metro and went over to the Champs Elysee. We walked down it and saw a weird fashion show/music playing thing over at sephora. Only in Paris ha. Then we walked towards the Arc de Triomphe and climbed the 284 steps to the top. Exhuasted we enjoyed the view and took plenty of pictures. After that we went over to Julie and Amandas. After happy hellos and catching up we went to dinner, where at you ask? another crepe place of course. I never thought I would admit it but I was definitely a little creped out by the end of the day. I then went home and got ready to go out. I went back to Amandas and then we went over to Adam's apartment to be with Jen. We were attempting to go to Duplex (my first time!) but they wouldn't let us into the club, bummer. The rest of the night I would rather not discuss.


Wednesday I woke up late and quickly ran to get ready for class and ran there. I ran into Caroline in the metro! That never happens. We were both exhausted from our previous nights so we weren't as excited to see each other at the time. I had theatre class, nothing special. I usually sit in front but I was not feeling that today, I sat in the back and didn't pay attention at all...oops. After class I met up with Lauren and Erin, Beth and I all went for gelato! We went to the Jardin du Luxembourg to eat it and talk. Afterwards we walked Lauren to school and then ran a few errands. Then while walking I ran into Caroline again! The four of us went to starbucks and tried to plan spring break...Greece and Italy here we come!!-maybe. After that I came home for dinner with my host mom and then found myself writing this blog.

I didn't post my blog till Thursday night so I have another day to add! Wednesday night was awesome because I got an email saying my Thursday literature class was canceled! I woke up early and went to Espaces Parisian in the morning. After class me and Maya went over to an Italian restaurant and had some pizza and then got some gelato. After lunch I ran some errands with her, and then I went over to the Institute Catholique. I was waiting for Erin's class to finish because me, Erin, and Beth decided to go to Erin's house for dinner. Her host family is out of town so we made noodles at her place. It was a good dinner and then I had people to walk with to the play for Theatre. We saw the show, Fantasio. I was very exhausted and couldn't keep my eyes open the whole time, but from what I saw it wasn't too bad. I didn't understand much becuase it was in French. I came back home after the play and started majorly cleaning/packing for tomorrow.

My next blog title will be "A Big Taste of Home" because my family comes TOMORROW!!!!!

SURPRISE!

Hi All!! So before I update everyone on my incredible weekend in Berlin I will start with where I left off in the week on Thursday. On Thursday for my Paris class we started out on a walking tour to see different areas and look at the history behind certain buildings and see why they were built in certain ways. It was really interesting and really nice to spend some time out of the class room. After the tour we had a break then discussed about the book we read for that week, Ferragus. After that class I headed over towards literature class and sat through a lovely three hours of note passing with Erin and Caroline. After class I was really excited because Laura and Paige were coming into Paris for the weekend and this was going to be my only chance to see them. Things got skrewed up in translation and I ended up not seeing them but I hope they had an amazing time! Instead me and Julie went to this resturant called Indiana, which was actually pretty politically incorrect considering there was a giant picture of an Indian on the cover of the menu. It was Tex Mex chain and I got some quessidillas. After dinner I showed Julie to her first gelato experience of this trip and we were both in love. This really was such a bad discovery. After gelato we parted ways and I walked home. Living walking distance from Julie and Amanda really is so great and so nice. After I got home I packed and did some other odds and ends before leaving for BERLIN on Friday!

Friday morning I woke up at 7:30 am jumping up and down in bed. I was just so excited to leave for Berlin and see two of my best friends I haven't seen in months! I sat in bed for a while, made sure I had everything packed and ready to go. Then I headed to class with my suitecase in hand. Not the easiest way to travel around the metro but there aren't many other options. First I had theatre, then phonetics. Both really just consisted of counting down the minutes until my flight left! After phonetics I ran out of the building and went on my journey to the airport...alone. Julie and Becca are very lucky people and don't have class on Friday so they got to go early Friday morning. I on the other hand wasn't leaving till 8:50. So my ride started on the metro, then I went to the RER then the shuttle to the airport. It was quite an extensive journey but totally worth it all. I got to the airport super early so just checked in and got some food (I chose a salad over nutella to go....Paris is making me a changed person) and did some homework. After sitting in the wrong gate for an hour I ran over to find the actual gate I was suppose to go to and hopped on the Berlin flight. Who knew that you could sit where ever you wanted on an easy jet flight. I opted for a window seat, and after what felt like five minutes (more like an hour and a half) I was in Berlin. I was so filled with excitement! I ran off the plane and found a taxi. It was about a 20ish minute trip to the hotel. Once I got to the hotel I put my stuff down in Julie's room and ran up to Marissa and Michelles to surprise them...they weren't there. Okay no worries, I'll try again later, and then later, and then finally I found them! The surprise was absolutly great!! Check out the video on my facebook! They had no idea and we were all so excited and happy to see each other. Unfortunately this all took place around 12:30 am so we were all totally exhausted and went to bed shortly after.

Saturday was the day we all knew we had to prepare for. This was when we were visiting Sachsenhausen. This was a concentration camp just outside of Berlin. A little history- This camp inparticualr was actually set up to be a model camp for concentration camps. It wasn't a death camp as much as a work camp. Regardless this was one of the most interesting/scary/eerie experiences of my life. It was something I was very glad I saw, but my stomach was in knots the entire time. The first thing we saw when we came in was the Tower A which was also the gate to get into the camp. On top of the tower was a clock. We learned that it is actually only a painted on clock becuase when the Soviet's liberated the camp they stole the clock and painted on the time 11:07 which is when the camp was liberated. We also saw things like, where the Nazi would hang out, they called it the Camp Casino, the prisoners called it The Green Monster. Walking into the camp was so strange. It was just surreal considering this is an event I have been learning about since I was born. To see something like this in person was unbelievable. We also saw the special barracks where the Jews were kept, the prison that was for the "special prisoners," and the gas chambers. These were all things that were so hard to see. For me the hardest part of the trip was when we left the camp. It was just weird that it is so easy for us just to walk out. We were affected by the horrors in person for 5 hours and then were just able to leave. As we all know this was not the situation during WWII for these people. That was probably the one thing, that in Julie's words, irked me the most. I really don't have the words to describe these emotions so I will leave it at that.

After the camp we had a 40 minute train ride back to Berlin, and our tour guide gave us some suggestions for dinner places. We decided to go to this place called The BallHaus. It was a ballroom/resturant thing. It was fun. They had great pizza! After dinner we all headed back to our hotel and showered. It was pouring rain ( a common theme of the weekend) and everyone was exhausted. We decided to stay in and all get caught up. We went up to Marissa and Michelles room and just joked around and shared stories about all the things we've missed the past two months from each other lives. It was the perfect way to spend the night. After some hours of that we said our goodbyes and all went back to our own rooms.

Sunday morning we woke up super early and had our breakfast at the hotel. The breakfast wasn't half bad I must say, I have started to enjoy granola a lot more. After breakfast we headed to the Jewish Museum. I was really excited to go there but obviously my stomach started to act up and I couldn't even make it there. Julie stayed with me and once I started to feel better we explored the area of the museum and wandered our way and found Checkpoint Charlie (more about that later). After Becca and Steph (her friend from Texas, studying in London) finsihed at the museum the three of them went to the zoo and I went on the walking tour the other girls took on Friday. Even throughout the rain the walking tour was absolutely awesome! I got to see so many sights and learn so much history, and I was able to navigate myself around the Berlin metro system by the end of the day. The walking tour I took was free and it was called the New Berlin Walking Tour. They have them throughout a lot of cities in Europe. We started the tour at the Brandenburg Gate.This is a giant structure in Germany that has been around since the 1700s I think. On either side of the Gate is the American Embassy and the French embassy. There is a statue on the top of the gate that is a sign of peace. When Napoleon came to power in France he took this statue out of Berlin. Later Berlin got it back and changed the face on the statue. Now it looks as it is either watching over the French Embassy, or giving it a dirty look. That is up for interpretation.Also in this area was Hotel Adlon, made famous for Michael Jackson dangling a baby outside one of the windows. We made our way through Berlin seeing the parliment building and then stopping at a Holocaust memorial. There are many memorials throughout Berlin commemerating the different groups of people that were murdered throughout the war. This specific memorial was dedicated to the lost Jews. It was beautiful site, very interesting a different. After that we headed over to where Hitler's old bunker used to be. It is a now a dirt parking lot that people bring there dogs to, to do their buisness on. It was very scary being on that sight as well. So many terrible plans were enforced on the area I was standing on. What a difference 50 years makes in the same area. After that we saw a memorial called the June 17 Memorial. It had something to do with a ralley between East and West Berlin, I can't remember the actual story, but it happened on my sister's birthday. We then saw the Berlin wall, or at least the remains of it, and Checkpoint Charlie. This is a checkpoint at the wall that was very hard to get through from going from one side to another. Once the wall was destroyed people were able to get through checkpoint Charlie and that's when people really realized that the wall was down. We had a quick break after that for lunch. I ran into a girl who I went to camp with for two years, Melissa Stone. I acually ran into her on the concentration camp tour and then again at lunch. I sat with her and her friends because I was all alone on the tour. After the break we saw the Nazi Book Burning memorial. After that I had to leave the tour early and make my way through the pouring rain back to the hotel.

The metro took longer than expected so the girls met me at the metro stop with my bag. We said good bye to Steph becuase she was taking a seperate flight than us at another airport. Then we made our adventure to Tiegel airport. We took the metro to a bus. Rode the bus for about 30 minutes just to find out that we passed the airport 25 minutes before that point. We hopped off the bus and hopped into a cab. Once we got there check in and security was a sinch. I bought some snacks, and a magnet (my one souvenir haha) and waited for the plane. We got on the plane smoothly, me and Becca actually sat together, and it was a smooth, quick flight home. I then proceeded to go tram, RER, then two metro stops, then I finally made it home! Everything about the trip was totally totally worth it. I was so happy I got to see my friends and all the really incredible things that historical Berlin has to offer.

1 Month Anniversary!

Officially one month ago today I arrived in Paris!! A little teary eyed, very tired, and very lost. I can't believe how in the short span of a month how well adjustment has set in. I am very confident with my metro navigation and with the help of a map I can get almost anywhere (after only getting lost one or two times)! I am also adjusting a lot better to the language barrier. Classes are still confusing but I definitely am catching more and more and little by little pacing things together. So let's talk about my week so far.

On Monday I had a pretty lazy morning-per usual- and then went to my class at 2:00. It was history, nothing too exciting this week, kind of boring, but three hours later class was over! After class I went home for dinner with the host mom. She made me noodles, chicken, and now this time added carrots. I have feeling things will be added very slowly each day to my meals. I really didn't do much after dinner. I had some homework to catch up on and just talked with people from home a little bit. Really nothing too exciting.

So if you remember from last week, a few posts ago, my Tuesdays have been very lame. I was determined to make this one more exciting then the last! I woke up early and headed up to go see La Maison de Victor Hugo. I don't know why I wanted to, but in every class he always comes up so I thought it would be something interesting to see. He lived walking distance away from me. So after a brisk walk I went to his house and walked around his apartment which took all of five minutes. It was pretty interesting because he has written so many of the famous stories we've all heard of (ie Les Mis, Notre Dame). I also learned that he used to write standing up. Nope not from visiting his house, my dad just happened to know that fact. After his house I walked around some more, well a lot. I found this beautiful place and learned it was called Hotel de Sully. It was built in 1642 as a private Mansion. I really didn't learn much more about it, but I have the pamphlet if anyone is curious about it.

After that I hopped on a metro and headed towards school. I was meeting some people to go to a museum after they were done with class but I still had an hour to kill. After window shopping down St. Michele I sat with my book, Ferragus by Borus-oops I mean Balzac, in the Jardin du Louxembourg. It was an absolutly beautiful day out. At two I met Diane and Krista at school and we headed over to the Cite de Immagration- the museum we had to go to for our history class. We had a 16 page packet to fill out. It was pretty brutual. The exhibit would've been cool if we weren't doing work along with it. It was all about the people of French colonies and how they were treated in France throughout the decades and all their history. Well after a long two hours later me and Diane went over to the area where Beth lives and met up with Maya, Beth, Kirsten and Kate for some chinese food!!! It was a great deal. 6.50 euro for 3 egg rolls, rice, a meat, and dessert. It was very delicious but of course we went over to a boulangerie afterwards to get some more dessert. Then I headed home for the night exhausted.

Today was my one month anniversary so to do something special I ended up having a very international food day- I'll explain later. So my day started with Theater at 10:30. It wasn't the best start of the day. Our teacher asked us (in French) to tell him about Moliere (a french playwright). I responded "Il a ecrit beaucoup de comedies" (He wrote a lot of comedies). I guess he couldn't hear me that well, or just heard comedies, cause his response was (in French again) of course I can understand your English but we speak French in this class and then he made me say it again. Well that was the last and first time I will ever speak in class!!! I can't believe my French is so bad it sounds like English!! Well after feeling bad about myself throughout the next hour and a half of class, Erin Caroline and I decided to head out to lunch. We found this Greek street for lunch. I got a pita with chicken and french fries in it. So I'm going to throw it out there that I ate Greek for lunch! That's a huge deal if you know me, and know my eating habitats. We ate lunch outside of the Notre Dame and then afterwards walked around that area. After a lof of walking we collectively decided we wanted Geltao. I knew Lauren knew of a good Gelato place so I texted her and she directed us to a place called Amorinos. It was absolutely delicous! I had yogurt and then chocolate with chocolate shavings. Stellar idea getting that Gelato. So that is why my day included international food.

After I came home from walking around I did some homework and just relaxed and got ready for the night. Tonight we were planning on going out for st. patricks day but so was everyone else in Paris. In green shirts we all met up at the metro station ( I made a pit stop for an egg and cheese crepe first) and then went to find bars. We were very unsuccessful and wound up buying candy and just walking around for about an hour and half. I am back home now, exhausted, and ready for bed! Sweet Dreams!

Sweet Transvestite

Hi all! So Thursday started out as a normal long long Thursday. First I had Paris class, then I grabbed a quick crepe du frommage (I like to think of it as the French version of a quesidilla) and sprinted over to the Institute Catholique for literature. I had to give a presentation on the biography of Victor Hugo in litt. I was so nervous I went up there and was basically shaking and speaking the most broken up French ever. After a very nerve wracking class I headed home to have dinner with my host mom. She made her self duck and green beans, I was very nervous that was going to be on my plate too but instead I got noodles and chicken. Needless to say I was very happy about that. After dinner I hopped on the metro over to Laurens stop. She then hopped onto the same metro car that I was in and we headed down to the the seventh to go meet up with some other IPP people for our Thursday night movie. This week the movie was "Le Rafle" and don't be deceived that doesn't mean the raffle. It actually means the round up and it is about the round up of thousands of Jewish men, women, and even children by the French police during the Holocaust. The movie was definitely a tearjerker but since I couldn't understand a single thing they were saying it took some affect away. The movie theater we went to was actually really cool. There were only two theaters and it was very Asian themed with a big garden outside next to it and everything. These are times that I wish I had randomly brought my camera with me. The movie was good and then we all headed our separate ways home.


Friday morning I woke up and headed over to IPP for theater class. After a thrilling hour and a half of theater, I ran over (not without getting a crepe for lunch-egg and cheese this time!) to Insitute Catholique for phonetics. Phonetics wasn't too bad. We went to a room and had to record ourselves speaking and the teacher was able to spy on us and stop us if we were skrewing something up. After class Friday I ran home, took a very quick shower and got ready very quickly because we had 8:30 dinner reservations for a restaurant in the 18eme which is pretty far north. Caroline, Erin, Erin and I went to dinner at this place called "La Refuge de Fondue." It is a pretty big touristy place. I actually ran into two girls I know from U of I there. The restaurants is famous for delicious cheese fondue and serving wine in baby bottles. The wait was long, even with a reservation, but once we sat down we knew it was totally worth it. The fondue was stellar and the bottles were so fun. They have different currencies from all over the world hanging out around the rrestaurant so we all signed a dollar and made them hang it up! After the delicious dinner we went down to this bar called Princess and the Frog. It was pretty crowded so went across the street and actually met some random guy studying in France from Ohio. After the princess frog bar settled down we headed over there as well. Around 2am we left and all headed back home. I would say it was a pretty successful night!

Now Saturday! This was the night I was waiting for. First off during the day Collie, Diane, Kirsten, Alla and I went to a flee market in the north of Paris. It was huge. We started out with some MacDo and then made our way through the streets of the flee market. It was very overwhelming and no one really bought anything but Diane got a purse. There was nothing that really caught my eye, but I wouldn't be opposed to going back. Everyone (but me cause of the MacDo) was hungry so they stopped for some Chinese food. After lunch me and Kirsten decided to head back home. We first stopped and got nutella and banana crepes at this crepe stand everyone raves about. It was fine, nothing special. I really haven't come across a crepe I don't like yet. So once I got home I took a short nap and then got ready to go see The Rocky Horror Picture Show!! I have seen the movie and I have seen the play (hey brian!) but I have never seen them combined. I was so excited for this! We started the night at Tolbiac (Erin's dorm) and all met up to go over to the theater together. Once we got there we all bought tickets and Sean met up with us. When Sean went to go buy a ticket they told him it was sold out. Obviously it was only sold out for boys not girls so I tried to get him a ticket and it worked perfectly..weird? The show started off with a medly of Village People music with people dancing on stage. Then as the actual movie started the antics by the actors were hysterical. The audience got really into it too weather it was throwing rice, or dancing to the time warp. It was really fun and like nothing I have ever seen before. I didn't understand a lot of it because while the movie was in English the actors spoke in French so I will have to check out a performance of it back home. After the show we all just went home because it was already late and we were pretty exhausted.

On Sunday me and Lauren were planning on going to get bagels. We walked all the way to the bagel store just to find out it was closed on Sundays. Bummer. After our failed attempt we just went to Starbucks and had muffins that made us sick. We then ventured to the Bastille Market. This is a huge market open on Thursday and Sunday mornings full of fresh food. Lauren got a lot of healthy foods, mostly veggies, for a salad. I on the other hand got chicken nuggets, dried strawberries, and cheese. After the market we decided to go do something cultural so we went to the Centre Pompidou. The museum from the outside was really awesome. The exhibits on the inside were a little above my head. It is very modern art and I really couldn't decipher most of it's meaning. They had a cool exhibit on collages which Lauren and I both enjoyed. We also went to the top of the museum to see a great view of Paris. We asked a woman to take our picture and she zoomed in only to get our faces in the picture, not the view. Pas successful. After the museum we walked around the Marais on a hunt for bagels. The Jewish quarter was really quite Jewish. They were playing Jewish songs on the street and everyone had yamachas on. I loved it! I went to one place (where i found chopped liver!) and got a bagel. The plan was to save for lunch tomorrow but I couldn't resist and now it's gone :( It was delicious while it lasted. After that we both went home because we were pretty exhausted. Now I've just been looking up hostels, trains, planes, and what not for travel plans and I was getting to frustrated so I took a break to update everyone on my life! I hope all is good everywhere else in the world!

Congrats Hayley getting in the Bandier Program at Syracuse (whatever that is)!!!!!