Bonjour tout le monde!

Okay so this phrase is probably a trademark of our trip. It all started when our program leaders would greet us with, "Bonjour tout le monde". So the literal translater/terrible French speaker I am- I translate it as "hello entire world". So now we walk around saying it in a very loud and exaggerated tone. So funny. Our leaders think we are taking it seriously. But clearly we are not. So this is me and Katherine on a boat ride down the Seine River saying "Bonjour tout le monde"!!

Sooo it has been a while since I have written-consider this a good thing. If I was such an active blogger this just might be a reflection on my lack of a social life. Week 2 was such a great week-see it all started with French placement exams. One by one students were marched into humiliation and forced to take an oral exam.

But the funny thing is--that for me there was no pressure. I have finished all my necessary French classes for school credit. So basically I wanted to be in a low Elementary level while all my friends wanted to be in Elementary 3 or Intermediate 1 or 2. So we all go in and I come out laughing. It took me approx. 30 minutes to figure out she wanted my name. Seriously. But the next day-we go to check and some how I got put in Intermediate 1 and all my friends got put at like Elementary 1 or 2. So funnyyy--they really hated me.

Later in the week we went on a boat cruise down the river that divides Paris. It was super sweet- but me and a few friends almost missed it. It is so embarrassing because we got lost in the Metro and had to run for our lives to make it on time. But the embarrassing part is that as we were running to the boat all of the passengers (including all of our program) were standing on the boat watching us run to catch it. SO Tyler decides to video us stragglers.In the front is Hunter and some girls. They are running. . .then you hear Ty go "wait for her" (referring to me) so there I come running, in the back, with my large purse. But what the video doesn't catch is that Katherine screams out my name-so naturally I wave. But all the camera captures is me waving like an idiot. So everyone is hustling to make it and I'm in the back "waving" to everyone. So embarrassing. They keep threatening to post it on Facebook. I'll defriend them if they do.

This is all of us on the boat as we are crossing in front of the Eiffel Tower (Literally I have to keep asking people how to spell Eiffel-like once a week at least)

Three days a week in the afternoons I have my Art and Architecture class. We meet all over Paris like at the Louvre, Orangerie, Musee d'Orsay, Carnalvalet, etc. It is actually really sweet-but sometimes we "observe" a naked statue, painting, etc for multiple sets of ten minutes. So Tyler takes it upon himself to tell us what in the museum is true to period and what isn't. So this is how it works. We see something and 90% of the time he goes "pretty sure that's not true to period." So funny! For instance, Marie Antoinette's lock of hair.

This is Anna & Ty at the Orangerie. We are surrounded by Monet's paintings-while our teacher reads poetry & cries. You can imagine our ability to control our laughter.

For our 2nd excursion they took us to the Loire Valley.

So in French class we had to read this book called La Princesse de Cleves (now I am going to say I did read this but it was most definately only the "version anglais"). It is about the Valois Dynasty and Francois the First. He basically had a mistress, Diane de Poitier, who went on to be the mistress of his son-really inspiring I know. So nonetheless this first chateau is known as the women's chateau because for so many years it was first built, remodeled, and protected by women. It is now privately owned by a family that makes chocolate. It is called CHENONCEAU.

This is it! We kept imagining ourselves as women in huge dresses only because of how hot it was. Tyler kept laughing saying he would have pretended to faint if he was one of them so he could throw himself into the river.

So this is us as we are about to walk into the chateau. I'm just saying that if anyone wants to make a lifelong investment-there are plently of chateaus available in the Loire Valley. This is only if you are not into electricity or indoor plumbing. This is Tyler, Anna, & Katherine.

Notice his shirt: Tyler the day before went with his French friend to Roland Garros/the French Open. He really wanted this "Roland Garros Red" shirt but it only came in small. So he decided to buy it anyway. Of course I had to do the belly shirt check & he clearly failed. He was embarrassed the rest of the day. I frequently catch him in belly shirts & he frequently gets embarrassed about it. So why does he keep doing it?

Now this is Anna & Hunter. It only looks like a nice, serious picture but really we look nothing like this. We always play the "fake push" game. But for some reason I kept deviating and fake pushing him but not catching him. So Tyler is like Anna so you really just "push" him & I was like well yeah. He gets really mad when I do it-esp. on busy streets and the metro tracks ha.

Ty, Anna, & Scott in the gardens at Chenonceau. This was so long ago I have totally forgotten all the jokes of the day. I do remember being hot and being on a 1970's bus for the homeless. The 70's didn't want and now it is more like a death trap. It was citrus yellow and orange with no air-well only warm air coming from somewhere. It was miserable. This is in comparison to the week before where we had Benz buses-I would have opted for two mediums instead of a high and rock bottom.

Yeah I know I have a wow excited look on my face-clearly it is because we are standing in front of the Mistress' bed (Diane). It is the Aggie pic. How odd is it that you embrace that identity when you are away from it. While I'm immersed in it-I run. Idk.

Oh so after this, you know how last time I mentioned the "surpise" that our leaders gave us- well once again they gave us ANOTHER one. Actually it was really really hot all day. As opposed to the previous weekend where I was dying of cold. Well, this time it was wine tasting. Everyone was excited about this except for myself. I am not sure why. Maybe because we were all tired and hot BUT after the wine everyone was buzz happy minus myself since I don't drink. So awkward? maybe a little. It could have been better had I had some bread to eat. But they blew that for me when they added the fermented cheese to all the bread. I take that back- lesser of two evils it was either moldy cheese or some kind of liver paste or something sick on all the bread.

We also went to Leonardo di Vinci's house- it was super cool but I can't really talk about it right now/post a picture. See my flighty teacher told us that he was gay. Apparently Michael Angelo was gay too & maybe they were even gay together. I am still trying to come to terms with this. Obviously as W (George W.) would say, she's a "revisionist historian" for sure. I don't believe her. Truth is I can't post a pic of it because of computer issues. But it was pretty fascinating.

NEXT DAY!

This is day two! at Chambord. This was a chateau built by French kings. Francois the First only used this ONE hunting season. No other kings really used it- such waste. This is the prime example of why I am not in a homestay-castles do not open up rooms for students. So when they do-I will opt for a homestay.

Anna & Tyler. The weather was great! It was super breezzyyyy. This chateau was huge and the boys have coined the phrase that everything in Paris looks the same. So they are not exactly up for in depth touring of these places--so it was a short tour for us.

I can say that the night before we were all so happy because we stayed in a nice hotel where our feet could actually touch the floor (unlike where we live).

We then had another surprise! Row boats in the moat!! So me and Ty get in one. Of course two are supposed to row but I epically failed. I kept crashing into the stone walls and other boats so finally the man in charge was like ma'am that oar is not supposed to come out-let him do it. This is as the oar is out of its holder and swinging around dangerously. I then became the official picture taker.

I tried to take a video to capture the moment. This one is appropriate unlike the last one I couldn't post.

We actually got one more surprise for the day-cookie tasting. haha I was going to buy a box for my "loved ones" but realized I would eat it all by the time I got home. Apparently they are renowned cookies-ttthe French are always claiming something of theirs to be. It's weird but I dislike apricot things and it's like the French love them. I don't think I can even identify one but it seems like all here is pistachio or apricot flavored.

So this was last weekend. I have lived a full week past this and will post it soon. I have to go to bed because tomorrow I have an early date with friends to picnic at Eiffel (us and all the Jamaicans selling rip-off tourist gear). But before I go to bed I am determined to finish the Sound of Music.

Also, it is really cold here again and feels well cold. Zero humidity. On the misery scale I typically stay below a 4. Tyler, who we nick-named deb (for debbie downer) rarely hits a 8. Also, my pet owl that annoys me daily has taken flight. I am currently sleeping past seven.