A little visual tour...

While we can all imagine what it is like to wear someone else's shoes, I decided to show personally where I'm living.




One of the cool things about Europe is their different setup of bathroom stuff. In Mme Poupon's apartment, the toilet (sorry about the neck tilt) and the shower room are two different places. It's not me turning around to take a picture of a different part of the bathroom.



Third is the living room - quite nice actually. There are HUGE paintings on the wall of Napolean's return from the war. He seems to be quite the hero here :)



Here is a picture of the kitchen. You will have to crick your neck to the left, sorry about that! She's a very tiny older woman, so she fits perfectly but I'm finding my American and clumsy hips to sometimes be a problem. It's a bit of a squeeeze.



Here is my room, with a balcony and just about as clean and tidy as it will be for the next four months. Well, in all seriousness, I don't spend enough time in this room to get much more untidy than this, so I'm not too worried about it getting messy.

And that's the apartment. There is another room for my roommate (or flatmate?) but I'm sure she wouldn't appreciate me just going in there and posting pictures of her place of residence. We have, after all, just met. :)

Will update with more adventures (and probably pictures) later. I do have quite a few already of the Eiffel Tower (yeah, yeah, I know, how American of me) that I would like to share, so those will be posted soon.

A Bientot!! Bisous!

Does anyone have any Grey Poupon??

I have safely arrived in Paris and will be moving in with my host family today. I am still jetlagged, so quite tired today, but am still very excited about everything I'm seeing, learning, and experiencing. The directrice of the program - Madame Schneersohn - has been so very helpful with all problems and concerns and has been making sure we are fed plenty of good wine, cheese, and fruit tart.

I had my first café au lait yesterday with my roommate and it was wonderful. I could speak as much as I needed to for the waiter to understand, and it was absolutely one of the coolest feelings to be able to feel like I'm starting to fit in. Being American is not nearly as hard as most people think it is - as many French people (I think) are simply happy to see that I'm trying my best and being polite in the process.

I will keep you posted later! I must be going!

Au revoir et avez-vous une bonne jounée!

Pre-flight jitters

Though I haven't set foot in Paris yet, I can feel my excitement (and nerves) growing steadily. My mom and I have successfully gotten my passport signed, which is a fantastic feeling considering the angst in paperwork we had experienced prior to our drive to Chicago.

I have already been reassured by many people who have traveled abroad and been to Paris that I will have an experience of a lifetime. I'm sure living with a host family and taking classes that are specific to learning more about French as a language will make the experience all the more memorable.

Wish me luck!!