Sofitel Chateau De Versailles

... with my hair! Fantastic.

Our program has a Thanksgiving dinner tradition to make all of us Americans feel like we have a little slice of home. So the 40 students, professors, and some landlords all went to Au Chapeau Gris, taking up the entire top floor of the restaurant. They had told us that we would be having "inflated chicken" for dinner, though I think they were trying to scare us (I mean, we were obsessing about dinner for the entire week ...

... especially in the house because our family is very eco-friendly and don't turn it on until its absolutely necessary
3. ice- everyone tells you this, but you never really think that much into it, but there is no ice here. none. except at mcdonalds, and i try not to go there too much.
4. and of course all you out there that are reading this, and any others that might.its a little weird knowing that I wont see anyone until next June but thats why you have to love modern technology ...

... to see Marie Antoinette's chambers as well as Kiing Louis'. I also got to walk through the famous hall of mirrors which is, as it says, lined with mirrors, each of which is opposite a window, beneath a number of chandeliers.
The garden was massive, its the first time I have seen a forest in France and the garden stretches out into it. And that pretty much took the whole day.

Yesterday was our first day of classes while everyone in the US was celebrating Labor Day. It was more like a bunch of meetings – think syllabus day for your academic as well as your personal life. After what turned out to be a pretty productive day, I left class just before 6 with a new French SIM card for my phone (already unlocked, thank you, Motorola) and a French bank account. Because our schedule is so compact for the ...

... so our main door has statues of horses carved over the top. It's absolutely gorgeous. The entire town of Versailles is like a postcard of France - little cobblestone streets, incredible houses, flowers, the works! I feel like I'm living in Chocolat, but the town here is more upscale and chic. After eating lunch at school and getting a little tour, we had a housing meeting, then had to wait for taxis to come over and pick us up in shifts.

After (barely) fitting five ...

... we need near us. We love the baguettes, crepes, eclaires, and just trying all the street food. We took a loooooooong walk without a map last night to the Eiffel Tower. This thing is blingin'! It starts sparkling every half hour or something and is amazing! Today we went and saw Notre Dame (over hour wait in cold line, tons of stairs to the bell tower, but amazing view), Saint Chapelle, Pantheon, and Luxemburg ...

... completely rude to someone, tho this someone was out to get me. Anyhow, we checked out the cathedral, saw a bit of the mass that was taking place, and walked around the outskirts of the cathedral, taking in all its glorious architecture. We decided not to walk up to the towers because 1) we were exhausted and 2) we just didn't really want to at the time. It may have been a mistake, but oh well. Next time. After this we found a nice sushi place where I, Francis ...

... going up the Eiffel Tower I'll be happy! From the Eiffel Tower we headed to stop #2: Arc de Triomphe. By the time we got there we needed food, so we wandered down Champs Elysees, got lunch and then came back to the Arc. In the center of 12 intersecting streets, the Arc dominates the scene and has to be reached using underground tunnels. As seems to be the theme of this city, things are so big! The Arc is a massive monument to brave soldiers who fought ...

... doing so on my own. I have to say that I have not done any of the tourist excursions as of yet as I have been finding my way around and enjoying the amenities of the Sofitel, my favorite 4 star. But alas all that has come to an end and tonight I spend my first night in a so called 3 star where lets just say the positive thing is that I may close the "french door like" windows, open the min ...

... while in Paris, but it just didn't live up to the standard of the Cathedral in Cologne. In saying that, only six other churches in the world are bigger and more impressive than Cologne's. More interesting for me was what was underneath the Notre Dame. It turns out that people have been using that island for building forts for a very long time. Underneath the road there is a crypt and the remains of foundations of an old fort and food storage facility. Although I ...