I have returned!!
Yes, I am home. I got home Wednesday late that night, and have been trying to get over jet lag and the inevitable depression... haha not really-I'm actually very happy right now, because my mind is still living in France! I loved it so much there, and I really can't wait to go back. Paris was fun (that's where I was the last four days of the trip) but Tours is the city I really loved. I could live there forever! So I'm not sure what to say now, except I had a great time. It would take too long to update on everything I did in Paris, so I'll leave you with a short list:
L'Arc de Triomphe
Le Tour Eiffel (we went here one night at 11 pm and stayed until 1 am just sitting on the lawn in front--it was gorgeous)
L'Opera Garnier (still my favorite thing in Paris)
Le Chateau de Versailles
Notre Dame
L'eglise SaintSulpice
L'eglise SainteEustache
La cathedrale de Sacre Coeur (we went here for sunset one night, it's the most beautiful and spectacular view of Paris from this church on the hill)
Le Musee d'Orsay
Le Louvre
Le Jardin de Luxembourg
Le Jardin des Tuileries
Boat ride on the Seine river
AND MORE!! Can't really remember it all right now... but it was fun.
So thank you all, so so much, for reading this blog while I was away. It was my favorite thing each day to read your comments and to write an update of my latest adventures. So for now, I won't say au revoir, I'll just say a la prochaine, which means until next time. Because one thing is for sure-- this was not my last European adventure.... I'll be back, sooner rather than later.
GROSSES BISES,
Catherine
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Friday, June 22, 2007
Photos!
Pictures are all out of order... but here goes.1. Me and Roberto at fete de la musique
2. Place Plumereau at fete de la musique
3. Roberto and Yves being crazy dancing Belgians
4. and 5. Saying goodbye to my classmates today!
6. Massi and me after we explained "peekles"
7. Alexa and me performing our portrayal of Madame Bovary
8. Massi and me at fete de la musique
9. With Roberto and Yves at fete de la musique
10. Place Plumereau- fete de la musique
Je suis trés fatiguée et trés triste
(I am very tired and very sad)
It's true, I'm very sad about leaving Tours. It's Friday afternoon and I leave here tomorrow morning at 7:30 to go to Paris. I just now finished my paper-it ended up being close to 9 pages, and I still had time to go out everynight this week!! Speaking of, I have only gotten four hours of sleep each night this week, and I feel like I might just crash walking down the street! Complete and total exhaustion, but I'm having a great time.
Last night was La Fête de la Musique-- a national music festival that takes place all over France on the day of the summer solstice, because the sun is out the longest on those days. So here there were thousands of people out on the streets dancing and singing and bands were playing everywhere. If I have time I'll put some pictures up here in a minute. I went to the festival with Roberto and we met up later with Mandy and Jacob, her husband who arrived yesterday from Memphis. He stayed here in Tours yesterday and will go with us to Paris and fly home with us next week. Then later last night we met up again with Yves (reference previous posts if you don't know who these people are) and went to Place Plumereau- the giant square downtown. They had a huge stage set up and a DJ played euro-pop/techno music and everyone was going crazy. It was sooo much fun!!
The night before, Mandy and I went to a cafe with Massi and had a great time. We talked about the differences between Europe and the States. For example, a Hummer limousine is inconceivable in Europe! So if/when Massi comes to visit, I told him we could all rent one and go for a ride. Also, he said he got a BigMac at McDonald's and it had a cucumber on it, but it didn't taste like a cucumber. We figured out he was talking about a pickle, and then we had to explain what a pickle is. Now if you ask Massi, he will say, "A peekle eez sumfing that was borrrn a coo-cum-bear but eez now sumfing dee-ferr-ente, and eet goz on a beeg-mac." Great fun! After that we walked Mandy home and Massi and I met up with Roberto and Yves to go to a Mexican party at a bar. Haha I know, craziness--Catherine with an Italian and two Belgians at a Mexican bar party. Let's just say... I was a little bit in heaven! :)
Tonight, who knows? It's my last night and there are a few people who are very upset that I'm leaving. It's very possible that I won't sleep tonight. I have to go out on the town, pack my bags, and be at the bus at 7:30 in the morning. When my average time to go to bed is 3 am, that doesn't leave much time for sleep. I've just had an incredible time and I really don't want to see this trip end. I miss everyone at home, but I'm sorry-I don't want to come back yet. Forgive me when I have my France withdrawals. It would help if when I return you could all bring me giant loaves of bread, take the ice out of my diet coke, kiss me twice on the cheeks instead of hugging me, and find me a recipe for pain au chocolat. France is home now and I think I'm going to start saving for another trip back here asap. Anyone who wants to join me is welcome to come!
I don't know my status of internet availability for the rest of the trip, because we'll be in Paris and limited to Internet cafes. I will try to post at least once after today, but so you all know, I am returning to the States on Wednesday June 27. I'll get to Atlanta around 5 pm, and then to Memphis later around 9-ish. And then hopefully I'll sleep for the first time in three weeks.
Bisous,
Catherine
It's true, I'm very sad about leaving Tours. It's Friday afternoon and I leave here tomorrow morning at 7:30 to go to Paris. I just now finished my paper-it ended up being close to 9 pages, and I still had time to go out everynight this week!! Speaking of, I have only gotten four hours of sleep each night this week, and I feel like I might just crash walking down the street! Complete and total exhaustion, but I'm having a great time.
Last night was La Fête de la Musique-- a national music festival that takes place all over France on the day of the summer solstice, because the sun is out the longest on those days. So here there were thousands of people out on the streets dancing and singing and bands were playing everywhere. If I have time I'll put some pictures up here in a minute. I went to the festival with Roberto and we met up later with Mandy and Jacob, her husband who arrived yesterday from Memphis. He stayed here in Tours yesterday and will go with us to Paris and fly home with us next week. Then later last night we met up again with Yves (reference previous posts if you don't know who these people are) and went to Place Plumereau- the giant square downtown. They had a huge stage set up and a DJ played euro-pop/techno music and everyone was going crazy. It was sooo much fun!!
The night before, Mandy and I went to a cafe with Massi and had a great time. We talked about the differences between Europe and the States. For example, a Hummer limousine is inconceivable in Europe! So if/when Massi comes to visit, I told him we could all rent one and go for a ride. Also, he said he got a BigMac at McDonald's and it had a cucumber on it, but it didn't taste like a cucumber. We figured out he was talking about a pickle, and then we had to explain what a pickle is. Now if you ask Massi, he will say, "A peekle eez sumfing that was borrrn a coo-cum-bear but eez now sumfing dee-ferr-ente, and eet goz on a beeg-mac." Great fun! After that we walked Mandy home and Massi and I met up with Roberto and Yves to go to a Mexican party at a bar. Haha I know, craziness--Catherine with an Italian and two Belgians at a Mexican bar party. Let's just say... I was a little bit in heaven! :)
Tonight, who knows? It's my last night and there are a few people who are very upset that I'm leaving. It's very possible that I won't sleep tonight. I have to go out on the town, pack my bags, and be at the bus at 7:30 in the morning. When my average time to go to bed is 3 am, that doesn't leave much time for sleep. I've just had an incredible time and I really don't want to see this trip end. I miss everyone at home, but I'm sorry-I don't want to come back yet. Forgive me when I have my France withdrawals. It would help if when I return you could all bring me giant loaves of bread, take the ice out of my diet coke, kiss me twice on the cheeks instead of hugging me, and find me a recipe for pain au chocolat. France is home now and I think I'm going to start saving for another trip back here asap. Anyone who wants to join me is welcome to come!
I don't know my status of internet availability for the rest of the trip, because we'll be in Paris and limited to Internet cafes. I will try to post at least once after today, but so you all know, I am returning to the States on Wednesday June 27. I'll get to Atlanta around 5 pm, and then to Memphis later around 9-ish. And then hopefully I'll sleep for the first time in three weeks.
Bisous,
Catherine
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Une semaine de plus...
(One more week)
This is really crazy to believe I only have one more week in France, and only two more days left in Tours! We head to Paris early, early on Saturday morning, and spend a few days there before heading home. I don't even want to go to Paris. I want to stay in Tours and not come home! I'm sorry to all of you--I really love you and miss you so much, but I love it here and there's a good chance a week or two of depression will set in as soon as I hit the ground in the States. I'm working on my paper right now, or I'm supposed to be at least. I've got about 2 1/2 pages of an 8 minimum... say your prayers for me to finish! Classes are winding down and I'm exhausted-- got another four hours of sleep last night, but I'm still awake nonetheless. Tonight, Mandy and I are heading out for a drink with Massi! :) I haven't really hung out with him much outside of class so it should be fun. My mom is in Malta right now and her phone doesn't work and we're both very upset about it! I want to be able to talk to her! Sad... My phone, however, is working great, and that fact was very evident when I checked my bill yesterday... ouch! Oh well, at least my French social life has been helped by the fact I have a phone with me. I have to let you go for today, and I will put up some pics and a longer post just as soon as I finish my paper.
Bonne journee,
Catherine
This is really crazy to believe I only have one more week in France, and only two more days left in Tours! We head to Paris early, early on Saturday morning, and spend a few days there before heading home. I don't even want to go to Paris. I want to stay in Tours and not come home! I'm sorry to all of you--I really love you and miss you so much, but I love it here and there's a good chance a week or two of depression will set in as soon as I hit the ground in the States. I'm working on my paper right now, or I'm supposed to be at least. I've got about 2 1/2 pages of an 8 minimum... say your prayers for me to finish! Classes are winding down and I'm exhausted-- got another four hours of sleep last night, but I'm still awake nonetheless. Tonight, Mandy and I are heading out for a drink with Massi! :) I haven't really hung out with him much outside of class so it should be fun. My mom is in Malta right now and her phone doesn't work and we're both very upset about it! I want to be able to talk to her! Sad... My phone, however, is working great, and that fact was very evident when I checked my bill yesterday... ouch! Oh well, at least my French social life has been helped by the fact I have a phone with me. I have to let you go for today, and I will put up some pics and a longer post just as soon as I finish my paper.
Bonne journee,
Catherine
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Je suis desolee!
(I'm sorry!)
I really am sorry about the lack of weekend update, but I'm trying to use most of my time on the computer to write my paper. I have two pages written and I need at least six more by Friday!! Roberto let me borrow his laptop while I'm at school so that's making things a little bit easier, but still I don't have much time. I will tell you briefly about the weekend--it involved going out both nights, market shopping, eating, lots of hanging out with boys, and very little sleep. Last night was four hours of sleep--I've decided fun overrules sleep. I can rest when I get home next week. So I might not be awake until next Saturday, even though I get home Wednesday! :) Love you all- pray for me and my mom to be safe, and I'll update you more just as soon as I can!
Catherine
I really am sorry about the lack of weekend update, but I'm trying to use most of my time on the computer to write my paper. I have two pages written and I need at least six more by Friday!! Roberto let me borrow his laptop while I'm at school so that's making things a little bit easier, but still I don't have much time. I will tell you briefly about the weekend--it involved going out both nights, market shopping, eating, lots of hanging out with boys, and very little sleep. Last night was four hours of sleep--I've decided fun overrules sleep. I can rest when I get home next week. So I might not be awake until next Saturday, even though I get home Wednesday! :) Love you all- pray for me and my mom to be safe, and I'll update you more just as soon as I can!
Catherine
Friday, June 15, 2007
Je suis tellement fatiguée
(I am seriously tired)
So, the above pictures are of the guys I hung out with last night! I had soooo much fun. The guy with me is Roberto of course, and the other two are Yves, who is one of Roberto's Belgian friends and Gerart, who is a friend of theirs from Russia. Yes, I spent the night hanging with foreign boys! We went to a pub downtown to hang out and had a great time. Roberto always speaks English with me, but we all spoke in French the whole night. It was awesome! I've been needing to do that for pratice because lately I speak English all the time when I'm with my American friends, and I really just speak French with my host family. But speaking French with two Belgians and a Russian in a pub was very different and very fun! They are all so nice and I hope I get to hang out with them again soon.
I'm finished with school for today so that is exciting. I'm so exhausted from going out this week--every night! I'm living it up for my last two weeks here! In a little while I think Mandy and I are going to walk down Rue Nationale- the big main street with lots of shops and stores- and do some shopping, but tonight I don't know what to do. Massi is getting people from our class to go see "Shrek le troisième" (the third) but I don't know if I'm going to do that. While it would be cool to watch the movie in French, I think I should go out and not sit in a movie theater in France on a Friday night. As for the rest of the weekend-- je ne sais pas! We will see. There will definitely be some sleeping taking place sometime soon. I want you all to feel very sorry for me, because I have to write a paper, on Madame Bovary, 8-10 pages, en français, by next Saturday when we get on the bus to go to Paris at 7:30 in the morning. Yep. One week to write the paper, on a computer in the internet room full of other students. Oh, FYI, European computer paper is longer in length than the USA paper- soooo not fair. Blah! Guess I'll have to squeeze that into my busy schedule of school and going out. :) Remember- no internet on the weekends, so I'll be back Monday with a full report. Miss you all!
Il ne reste que 12 jours....
Catherine
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Une nouvelle photo!
Nothing exciting to write today, but I did want to send you all this picture--it's Massi!I had my camera with me today at school and he was wearing the lace-up shirt again so I had to get a picture. Now you can see my Italian friend! Try not to look at the right side of the picture, I'm not exactly looking my best haha. Hope everyone is having a good Thursday! It's rainy here and I'm tired... so I'm heading home.
Amour et bisous,
Catherine
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