I'M FINALLY 21:)

Weeellll, I'm not officially legal to drink in BOTH countries:) Yesterday was my birthday and I never ever thought that I'd be turning 21 in France!!

Yesterday was a pretty busy day, but it was a good day overall! We had class in the morning from 10-1 and it was our last class with Sandrine. We learned about French cooking and spices they use. We then used some spices to create Hypcras(i'm not sure if I spelled it right). But it's a wine with all of these spices, oranges, sugar, etc. and you let it sit for a week before you are able to drink it. After class, the Brens students started arriving and we worked on a presentation with our group. This was interesting because even though there was a language barrier, we were able to work together and create a good presentation on our vineyard that we visited. After all of the presenations, we had our wine tasting! We tasted about 5 different wines, some white, some rose, and some bubbly. It was fun! Everyone figured out that it was my birthday and they all sang to me and presented me with a bottle of wine. The Brens students thought it was funny that I was now able to drink at home.

After the wine tasting, more guests joined us and we had a dinner party. I told everyone that it was my birthday party and they just didn't know! haha The French families who took some students came and joined us. Also, the students from Albi attended. They brought me a French birthday cake!! I was so excited and it was so nice of them!! So yesterday I had TWO cakes because Owen and Leah also made me one! The dinner was nice and to just socialize with different types of people!

So, I didn't have the traditional 21st birthday celebration, but I had a very good birthday! It was interesting to celebrate it in France and just do the things that we did on my birthday. Oh & Owen got me a very cute bracelet and now I'm just patiently awaiting it's arrival in the mail along with my packages from Mom & Nan!!

Thanks for all of the birthday e-mails and cards! I loved them:)

A day of good weather & good wine!

First off, I hope the link to the pictures worked & you are enjoying them!! Don't worry, I don't expect you to look at them all! haha

Today was an interesting day! We traveled to Brens, about 45minutes to an hour away. Here, we met 6 students who are studying to be in the wine business. First, let me talk about their campus. It is a technical school and there are 3 main divisions: social sciences, agriculture, and the wines. Students spend two years getting their degree there and they spend about 2 weeks in the classroom and then 2 weeks in a job placement and they repeat this throughout the remainder of the year. Compared to our 30some thousand a year, they pay around 5thousand, if that!! They couldn't believe our numbers!! Also, I was able to see one of the "dorm rooms." They are basically VERY tiny cabins that consist of a tiny kicthen/living room combined, a tiny bathroom and two tiny bedrooms. I couldn't believe it! I won't take the size of a room in St. Joan for granted!! haha

Anyways, we had lunch with the students from Brens and we were put into groups. Owen, Leah and I were paired with two very nice students. One spoke pretty good English, but the other struggled a bit. We were able to communicate pretty well though. After lunch they took us to visit a vineyard in the Gaillac region, this is a major wine region in France. The specific one we went to was called Sarrabelle. It is owned by two brothers who took it over in 2000 and they are the 8th generation to do so. They have about 80 acres of vines. It was neat to hear about the process and see some of the equipment used. We saw huge tanks that the wine is processed in, the grape smashing machine ha, and the barrels the wine is stored in until it's ready. It was pretty interesting. After the tour, we had a bit of a wine tasting. We tried about 6 or 7 wines. The students that took us were pros at this and we had NO idea what to do. First you have to smell the wine, then swish it around in your mouth like mouthwash so it reaches all of the pallets on your tounge & then you can spit it or swallow it. We mostly spit because we were trying a good bit of wines. I tasted some I like and some I don't like. haha I'm more of a white wine person I believe!

Tomorrow is another day with the Brens students and we have wine testing as a group here followed by a large dinner; how appropriate because it's my birthday tomorrow:) The big 2-1 and I"m going to be wine tasting! Who knows, maybe I'll drink it then so I celebrate the right way:) haha just kidding, mom!

Picture time!!

I FINALLY took the time to figure out Picasa! It's this website through google where I can upload my pictures to and you will be able to view ALL of them very easily. It will save me a lot of time because I will not have to put them on my blog one by one annnnd you will be able to view all of my pictures & not a select few!! So, I hope this works! :) Don't worry, I'll still want to explain them all when I get home:)

So, here's the link! ..
http://picasaweb.google.com/oxlyndsayxo

I'm about to head to class soon, but I'll just update you real quick. It's GORGEOUS out today!! We had lunch at Nadine's, so we had to walk down and hike back up and we were sweating by the time we finished. We all have our windows open & it feels like spring in Ambialet!!

Okay, time for class!

Back at Ambialet

Our first trip to Paris has come to an end and we are now back in Ambialet. I wasn't really ready to leave Paris because the time went so fast, but I was ready to come back and relax!! The trip to Paris consisted of never-ending days. We were constantly doing something. If I caught myself sitting down to relax I thought to myself, "what am I doing sitting inside?! I'm in Paris!!" Needless to say, it was nice to know that I would come back to Ambialet and have a nice relaxing weekend ahead of me. And that's exactly what this weekend has been!! I had actually gotten sick the last few days of Paris. This was probably due to lack of sleep and just being outside a lot. These past two days were good for me to recouperate and rest up!

So, I haven't written here a lot in the past week and I feel like there is still SO much to say about Paris. I'll do my best and fill you in on the rest of my Paris trip.

Monday morning was quite interesting. Owen had this brilliant idea of going to a flea market. Well, this was an experience! haha Owen, Eric, Matt, Ian, Leah and I got up early Monday morning and ventured to this open market. It was the last stop on the metro and wasn't a very nice part of Paris. We got to the market and we were impressed with what they had. There were tons of clothes, shoes, jewlery, etc. We were expecting antiques and what not. Leah and I got scarves for 5euro a piece and I got a pair of sunglasses. Owen, however, found himself bartering with the shady salesmen; haha. He got what he wanted though -- his fake Rolex! haha. The people there were very shady and Leah and I were a little scared. We left as soon as we were done with the open market. However, the metro station wasn't much better. There were more beggers and crazies in that metro stop that I had seen my whole Paris trip. We tried to get through there as soon as we could and came to the conclusion that we probably wouldn't return there, haha. Monday afternoon we traveled with the group to Montmarte. Here there is a beautiful church up a huge flight of stairs. The story is that a saint was matryed at the bottom of this hill and carried his head to the top. From this spot, we got a GORGEOUS view of Paris!! Around this area, there were tons of painters and little shops. It was really neat. Here is where I had my first real gelato! It was sooooooo good!!!

After the excursion part of the day, we were able to explore a bit. We walked around and came across the Red Light district in Paris. I never ever imagined that there was such a place like this. First off, Moulin Rouge was on this street and it was soo cool to see it. We went into the gift store and saw some of the costumes that the dancers wore; it was really neat. However, there were many provactive and dirty stores, clubs, buildings, etc. that lined tihs street. It was quite distrubing, but I guess it was better that we saw it during the day! haha

Tuesday was the day we traveled to Versailles. This place was AMAZING!! It was the place that King Louis XIV built because he didn't like the rustle and the bustle of the city of Paris. This place is SOO big. We were able to walk through the palace and see all of the different rooms including the king's chamber, the queen's chamber, the hall of mirrors, and many more. We also got a private tour that allowed us to go into the chapel and the king's apartment. It was so neat to see these old rooms and furniture. Most of the furniture, rugs, etc. were the originals that the king used. The gardens were probably the most amazing part. There are SO many! It would really take a few days to walk through them all. The day we visited was pretty cold and windy and nothing was in bloom yet. So, we made a decision to take a day on our next trip to Paris to visit the gardens; I'm pretty excited for that!

On Wednesday, we had the opportunity to visit the Rodin Museum. This museum consisted of many different types of sculptures. One of the famous works we focused on was The Thinker. We all had our chance to pose like the Thinker and get our picture taken. Also, the Gates of Hell was at this museum. This was interesting because it was full of such intricate detail and design. I think it's so crazy to see how one person can create this with the work of his hands.
From the Rodin Museum, we went to the workshop/home of Schlomo Salinger. He is a famous sculptor that has had a pretty interesting life. He is now in his 80's and is a Holocaust survivor. He ultimately survived five deaths during his life and now creates many works to reflect on his past. His works were amazing. He had many at his workshop that we visited and many had been named such names as "The Holocaust" and "The Survivor." He has been commissioned to do many works and many of his works are showcased at some museums. It was so touching to see how someone with such a difficult past was able to overcome the struggles and succeed in life. When we left, his wishes to us were to live a good life and to make the best of it. I realized that he is truly someone who appreciates life and all that goes with it.

Thursday was a free day for us!! We first woke up and headed to the Catacombs. This was actually about a 10 minute walk from where we stayed. However, the Catacombs consists of over 6 million bodies that were thrown undergrown when the cemetries were thought to be unsanitary and over-crowded. We walked down a long flight of stairs and walked a good bit underground through halls and halls of millions of skulls and bones. It was quite disturbing to say the least.

We also decided that we wanted to visit the Science Center in Paris. Well, we reached this building that we thought was the Science Center and we were pretty certain it was correct because of it's design. We later found out that it was the first building to be created from the outside-in I guess? It showed the tunnels and pipes on the outside and it was so interesting. ( I have pictures!) However ,when we got inside we realized that we went to a museum! Needless to say, we were all museumed out. But we stayed for about an hour or so to just check it out. We were pretty upset that we missed out on the science center. After that, Owen and I went off on our own and explored Paris. We walked for about 3 or so hours and it felt like we covered every corner of Paris. We re-visited many of the landmarks we had seen throughout the week. It was a very nice day out and it made the walk even that much better. We also ventured into many name brand stores like Gucci, Channel, and Ralph Lauren. I was so tempted to buy something, haha! We had a really good day just exploring the city and seeing everything at our own pace.

One night we decided to go to the Eiffel Tower to see if sparkle; every hour on the hour, the tower sparkles for ten minutes. This was gorgeous!!!!!! We were there for over an hour just admiring it and taking pictures. We had a lot of fun taking the jumping pictures in front of the tower. Owen almost lost his camera though! haha Apparently people will volunteer to take your picture and then just run off with your camera. This group of kids were begging to take our group picture and said it was their speciality. But, we weren't stupid and Owen practically hugged his camera and we kept telling them no until they left us alone. It was kinda humerous.

We met a good bit of Americans in Paris. Many people recognized we were from America because of Owen's Phillie's hat. It was nice to talk to them and see their outlook on Paris.

It was also really simple to get around in Paris. SO many people knew English making it easy for us. However, the last night we were there we were headed to the metro and this group of kids yelled stuff at us. One started following us then and we were pretty scared so we went into the closest restaurant. The waiter kept asking if we wanted seated and I tried explaining that we were being followed and we wanted to get away. Well, the waiter kept saying, "Ohhh, take your food away?" haha We eventually gave up, sat down for 10 minutes, and then just walked out without ordering.

We didn't really encounter too many scary situations in Paris. That story was pretty much the extent of it. To me, it seemed like there are so many more people walking around and being crazy in NYC. However, there are a lot more beggers in Paris. I noticed if you don't bother them, they won't bother you!

I really enjoyed my time in Paris and I can't wait to get back! I get to go up the Eiffel Tower when I return and I can't wait!!! We have about 2.5 weeks until spring break, so we will be travelling a lot this coming month.

This week we have a lot planned and it's my birthday soon! So, it should be a good week! I'm going to try and get the picture website up and I'll put the link up as soon as I do! I'll update later this week:)

Overall, the Paris trip was a blast!! I'm pretty glad we aren't there the whole semester because I would be broke!! haha.

J'adore paris:)

Well, I haven't really written here for awhile and I feel like there is SO much to tell. Paris is simply amazing. There is so much to see and soo much to do. You can't really go anywhere without something interesting going on. We have been here about 4 days now and I feel like I have already seen SO much. I love it. I will try my best to share my experiences with you and talk about everything that I can.

Anyways, we are staying in a place called the FIAP. It's a pretty interesting place. We were told we would be with all types of students from across the world that are sharing the same experiences with us. Well, we were bombarded by 1st graders Wednesday night at dinner. But, the longer we were here, the more we realized that this place houses all types of people. So there is a variety of ages here, from 1st grade to about 60 years old. It's pretty interesting, haha. The place in general is pretty nice. There is a cafeteria where we eat breakfast and dinner and a bar that we can grab a drink from at night.

Thursday was a really interesting day. I think it was the best way to start out because we were able to see the Eiffel Tower, the thing that I couldn't wait to see! First off, we learned how to do the metro system. At first I was really nervous because it was complicated and I was a little wary. However, the more and more I ride it, the more and more comfortable I get. I actually like riding it -- it gets us to our desired location pretty quick! Thursday was a pretty busy day. We came to a bridge where we had a perfect view of the Eiffel Tower. It was nice because no one really goes to this spot. So we were able to get as many pictures as desired with a beautiful view of the river. Later on that day, we actually walked THROUGH the tower. This was sooo amazing. I NEVER thought I would be doing this in a million years. It's HUGE and so gorgeous. Owen and I are planning to go some night to see it all lit up.

From there, we went and saw the replica of the Statue of Liberty. This was neat because I have never even see OUR statue of liberty up close! haha I learned that the two statues are actually facing one another! We also went to this Opera house. We watched a video of Paris and how it came to be.

On Friday we ventured to the Louvre. This was AMAZING. It was soooooooooo big. It is the world's largest museum and it goes on for blocks and blocks. We actually only went through ONE portion of it and we were there for a good 3 or so hours. Here I saw the Mona Lisa and many other famous works. I saw many statues like the Woman of Victory, the no-armed lady and others. It was really neat. However, I was pretty sick of art after about 3 hours.

Yesterday was another museum day. It was called hte Musee d'Orsay. It was an old train station that was transformed into a museum. It was a huge transition fromt the Louvre. This was much smaller, but still consisted of so much. Since I'm not a big art person, I'm not really sure of everything I saw. However, I do know some of the painters from hearing about them in class and just hearing about them. It is very cool to say that I've seen many of these famous works.

Today was a pretty intersting day. We saw the St. Chappelle church. This is famous for it's stain glass windows. There was only one room open for viewing here, but the stain glass was gorgeous. It was full of stain glass and was so pretty. From there, we ventured over to Notre Dame. This was sooooooo big and soo pretty. We went to 11:30 mass. It was interesting. We went to the international mass, so there were different languages used. Most of it was in French in Latin, but there was one reading in English. It was interesting because the people came and went; it was kind of a tourist attraction and not mass. Also, as mass was going on people we making there way throughout the church. This was basically how the pilgrims did it in the middle ages. The congregation area was roped off and the tourists just made their way around.

Gerry took us to a very good restaurant today that served couscous. We tried four different meats. It was soo good. We had sausage, beef, lamb and chicken. It was soo good!

Shopping here is pretty good! There are stores and shops EVERYWHERE. I haven't really bought much, but I really want to! The other day, we ventured off and found the richy part of Paris I guess. Here there was Louis Vuitton, Dior, Aramani and many others. It was heaven! Too bad I couldn't get anything:( haha

We went out a couple times this weekend. Friday night was our night to go out. We heard of this club called Duplex. It was a four story club with different types of music on each floor. It was kind of pricey, but we said this was our only time to do that. We just wanted to experience the discoteques of Paris, haha. We had a pretty late night, but we were able to get a taxi and get back stuff! It was a really fun experience. Last night, we went to a smaller bar. We didn't really drink; we just went out to see the night life. This was a block of different types of bars and there were soo many people out. It was really interesting. There is so much life in Paris and I'm having a blast!

Yesterday was Valentine's day and I had a really good day! Owen surprised me with flowers and chocolate! I must say, I was VERY surprised! The flowers were sooooo pretty and I'm pretty upset that I have to part with them come Friday:( He also got me a pretty memorable card. It's basically 3-D and folds to stand like a box. When you open it up, there is the Paris skyline with the most important buildings. And the coolest thing is, I will have seen everything on that card by the end of this visit. We also had a very nice dinner together.

I guess this is all I'll say for now. I feel like there is SO much to say, I just don't know WHAT to say. haha But, I'm loving Paris! I was kind of nervous, but there was nothing to be nervous about really. It's so nice and there's so much going on.

I have been taking TONS and TOns of pictures, but I haven't really uploaded any. The internet sucks and I don't get on my computer a lot. I am going to try and figure out how to make a website where you guys can see all of my pictures without me having me to upload them here. I will try to update more often so they aren't so lengthy. That's all for now though:)

Bonjour from Paris!

Just a quick little post to say that I arrived in Paris!! I actually arrived on Wednesday, but I haven't really spent much time on the computer. I will write a formal post later this week about what I've been up to. But so far I would like to say that I love it! We have only had two days of excursions and I feel like I have seen so much! The Eiffel Tower was simply AMAZING & the Louvre is outrageously big! As I walked under the Eiffel Tower, I still couldn't believe that I was actually there. Here's a quick picture!



Photo courtesy of Owen -- who else?! haha

More later!

Paris here I comeeeeee! :)

It's pretty late here, but I just wanted to write a quick post to say .. I'm going to Paris tomorrow!!! I'm all packed and ready to go! (Dad, you'd be proud -- I didn't even fill a suitcase!! haha) Anyways, we won't have internet available to us all of the time; we will be limited on the amount of time we can use it. We are staying in an international dorm, called FIAP, and I don't believe they offer free wifi. So needless to say, I won't be posting as often as I should be. I will post when I get a chance and I'm sure they will be pretty lengthy posts because we are going to be doing soo much.

I'm pretty excited for Paris; I never thought I would get to see this city. As much as I'm excited, I'm a little nervous though. I'm just nervous because it's a biiig city and there are so many 'horror' stories about everything. However, I will have Owen with me and he knows what he's doing for the most part, haha. We are going to be doing soo much. Everything from the Louvre to private meetings with artists and their studios. We will also have free time to see the city! I'm sure it'll be a great time!

Well, it's a little past 1:30 AM here and I have to be up somewhat early. Our flight takes off at 2:30 I believe and we are leaving here around 10:45. So tomorrow at this time I will be in Paris:)