The First Days

Well my arrival in Paris was smooth and everything has gone swimmingly so far. Paris is, of course, a beautiful city and the second I arrived I knew I was in another world than the one I had been living in my whole life.

After we got off of the plane, our coordinator Dr. Costello picked up the 8 of us who were on the group flight. None of us knew what vehicle would be big enough to cart all of us and all of our luggage to the foyer. But sure enough, when we went outside there was a full sized charter bus waiting for the 8 of us. Needless to say the ride was spacious.

We cruised through Paris in our big bus, and the first thing that I noticed oddly enough was that the Pharmacies were all flashy and lit up like they belonged on the Las Vegas strip. Very different from what we have at home.

We made it to the dorms and didn't have any meetings so myself and 5 other people from the dorms went exploring a little bit with Chloe, who has been here for a month now already and knows the place a little bit. Of course, we wanted a tasty beverage on our way, so we bought a few bottles of wine and a cork screw (the Key to Fun as I like to refer to it now) and popped a squat on one of the rues of Paris and sipped on cheap wine and chatted for an hour. After which, we proceeded to walk around the 5th and 6th quarter a bit before finally calling it a night and went back to the dorms to crash on our terribly uncomfortable mattresses.

The next day we had our first lesson in geographie and learned all about the layout of Paris, transportation, and some of the major attractions. After our meeting, we had a break, whcih I believe was spent by everyone napping. At about 1600 we had a guided tour with a very knowledgeable tour guide M. Peigne who took us around Le Marais. Our most notable stop was the Notre Dame Cathedral, which is by far the most stunning work of architecture that I have ever seen. I don't have pictures of it yet because I forgot my camera but when I do you will see what I mean.

After our tour we came back and Katy and I shopped around for apartments a little bit since our good friend the landlord has apparently decided to ignore us. After browsing the apartments, a few friends and I decided we wanted to see the magnificent Eiffel Tower lit up at night. I grabbed the Key to Fun and we were off. We stopped just before le Rue de Montparnasse and sat on a bench and drank our first bottle of wine, and then proceeded to walk through the area of town known as Montparnasse. This was a fantastic little area because it was all lit up with tons of restaurants and places to see. I have quite a few pictures of Montparnasse and basically every restaurant you see in those pictures are ones that I decided were noteworthy enough to take pictures of.
After venturing through Montparnasse we came across a courtyard about 10 minutes away from the Eiffel Tower which had about 200 students waiting in it. Of course, being with 3 girls around male students, they were subsequently cat called and eventually 2 of our friends went to talk to their suitors. A young gentlemen who was friends with the cat-callers approached myself and Sarah and began speaking to us in rather good English. I was suspicious at first, but it turns out he was just a really nice Frenchman and was just looking for conversation with us. After about a half hour of chit chat, we finally decided to head to the Eiffel Tower, and Christophe offered to be our guide. We went there and of course took tons of pictures and left just before the sparkling began right before they were going to turn off the lights. It was an awesome sight.

The ensuing walk back was loooooong but Christophe was nice enough to point out some notable buildings. After finally arriving to the dorm and being locked out for a few minutes, I was finally able to go up to my room and go to bed. I did not sleep well last night though the uncomfortable bed was a welcoming sight. I think I'm still getting through the jet lag.

I hope this first post clues you in on what I'll be doing here. I miss all of those who are still at home but hope that I can share a little bit of my experience with you as time goes on. Please continue to keep in touch for these first couple months. I hear it is easy to get homesick and I wouldn't want to be a Debbie downer because I didn't hear from you.

A Bientot!

Justin