Weekend in Paris

Hello everyone!

I hope you all had a good weekend back home! I thought I'd give you an update on how I spent my weekend in Paris :)

I started by going to La Défense with a couple of friends Friday after class. La Défense is a suburb of Paris that has more modern architecture and commercial space- it's home to the skyscrapers and business district that is kept outside of central Paris in order to maintain the architecture and skyline that is historically significant and one of the defining characteristics of Paris itself.

It is also home to the Grande Arche, which is supposed to be (I'm going to Wikipedia for this one) "a 20th century version of the Arc de Triomphe: a monument to humanity and humanitarian ideals rather than military victories."

On the way home we also were able to catch the wonderful view down Champs-Élysées of the Grande Arche on one side and the Arc de Triomphe on the other.

Friday night a few of us met up to explore the city and see a few of the sights lit up at night while enjoying a bit of French win. We started at the Louvre....

 And then began our walk to the Eiffel Tower....

The walk to the Eiffel Tower from the Louvre should take about twenty minutes, maybe a half hour.... It took us two hours. We got very distracted by things such as this giant statue of Thomas Jefferson....

It was a very fun walk though. We arrived at the Eiffel Tower and watched a light show while enjoying a bit of cheese that one of the girls had kindly brought with (which, by the way, I cannot stop eating now!).

On Saturday I walked around Montmartre (a neighborhood in the 18th arrondissement) with one of my friends. We did a bit of shopping and intended to go to a famous cemetery there, but it was closed by the time we finally got over there. That night a group of people from my program went out for drinks and I went with. It was a lot of fun, it was nice being able to hang out with them outside of class, especially since I was in Germany the first weekend of the semester. And it really reiterated my initial impression that I am with a very wonderfully friendly and nice group of people.

Sunday morning I went to the market at Bastille with a group of friends. I mentioned this market and posted pictures in a previous entry, in case you have been reading my blog and remember that far back :) It was a lot of fun, and a wonderful place to get cheap fresh produce!

Today was back to the grind with class from 9am until 6pm, but I'm actually enjoying the classes quite a bit. Especially the French class! It's so wonderful to slowly be learning to communicate here. I appreciate so much having simple communication skills - like asking how much things are at the market, and understanding what cashiers are saying to me in grocery stores instead of just nodding dumbly and hoping that they're saying something that it makes sense for me to nod to! And actually I've been quite blessed with new friends here that are more experienced in French and are willing to help me a LOT with my French. Without them I absolutely would not be learning as much of the language as I am!

On that note, ever since I mentioned the market I've been thinking about the kiwis I have from there... I am going to go eat some! I hope everyone is doing well back home. I feel like I will be home soon, time is flying by!

I love you all and miss you!