How do you get from sea level to the highest point in the Alps? Easy, miss your train to Nimes. So the plan was to head to Provence Thursday afternoon (friday class was cancelled). Wednesday we went to town and made our reservations for the high speed TGV train to Nimes. We had it written on a piece of paper, checked it on the lady's computer screen to confirm our reservation. Well, on the train to Paris from Rouen, we were looking at our tickets. Departure from Paris was at 11:30 for the TGV, not the 4:00 we thought we booked. [View Full Entry]

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Saturday morning we caught the RER train out to Versailles, 20 minute trip. Arrived in the town by 9, it's an easy 5 minute walk to the chatuea (it's pretty hard to miss). It's big, really big. It's a grand entrance into the complex, the buildings standing over you, extending in all directions. We toured the king and queen's state apartments and all the various rooms accompanying those (for example, the queen has a guard room, a room for her guests to wait in, her bedroom, changing rooms....). Every room is opulent, decked out in gold leaf, gold embroidery, fine fabrics, [View Full Entry]

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Once again we had great weather for the weekend. James (study abroad student, just got here last week) and I caught the 13:00 train to Paris from Rouen, just made it by a few minutes. Picked up the Paris museum pass and headed to the d'Orsay, home of the main impressionist paintings, which is the main attraction. It's a relatively new museum (1986), built within an old train station that was to be demolished. I really enjoyed this museum, after seeing so many religious paintings, it's nice to see something involving nature and is a little more abstract. There were a [View Full Entry]

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We left Bagnoles by 08:00, surprisingly everyone was ready. We stopped for breakfast around 9, just stopped in a village on the road. Grabbed some croisants, then went to a bar to get some coffee. We tried to take the backroads up to the coast, but we eventually ended up on the super highway. After a few detours through the outskirts of Caen and near St. Mere Eglise (didn't make it all the way there), we found our way to Ponte du Hoc by 11:30. Ponte du Hoc was a strategic location for the main artillery protecting both utah and omaha [View Full Entry]

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Our road trip started saturday morning. We rented a car from Hertz outside the train station. The guy there was really helpful and we ended up being able to get a 7 person van, originally we had two reservations for small cars. (They wanted 35 euros/day for a young driver charge, but luckily Evelina is 25.) We barely made it out of the tiny parking garage without harm, and we were quickly on our way. We went straight to Mount Saint Michele. The "interstates" here are just like at home. However, every five miles the advertisements of fast food restaurants and [View Full Entry]

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Today is sweden's nation day, so let's break out a smorgasbord of celebration! Apparently, it's not a big deal in Sweden, so we'll settle with going into town tonight and maybe some pastry at lunch. We are planning on going to the D-Day beaches this weekend, along with mount saint michelle. Today is the 64th anniversary of the landings. There are a few celebrations going on in Bayeux this weekend, but nothing too major since they are gearing up for next year I believe. I finally got a computer and internet, so hopefully I will post a little more often now. [View Full Entry]

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I wasn’t sure what to expect in Paris, but I think it was everything I thought and more. It’s definitely a different culture than here in Rouen, but that’s like saying New York City is different than Ithaca. There is tons to do and see, you could spend two weeks there and never run out of things to do. It’s big, but very manageable. The metro is fast and efficient. From the center, you can be anywhere of interest in less than 10 minutes. The low buildings of city center makes it less intimidating, you’re not constantly walking among skyscrapers. All [View Full Entry]

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The hookah bar was very interesting. The atmosphere is quite relaxing, plush benches that are low to the ground with pillows, surrounding a few tables in the middle. A big ‘sheet’ (silk?) billows down from the ceiling, producing an upside down arch. And they had some music on. There were a number of these rooms, tucked away in the corners. Definitely a middle eastern feel to the place. The hookah was big, about 3 feet tall. We smoked some mango tobacco, marijuana is illegal in france too (gary). It’s very smooth, you definitely missed out in Istanbul brother eric. We [View Full Entry]

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The sun finally came out yesterday, first time since I got into Rouen. The weather is nice, high 60's, but it has been raining a lot. Our lab flooded yesterday, some pump broke and water came in from the ceiling, it was a big mess. I went shopping for the first time the other day, there is a place like wal mart that is close. A baguette costs 0.32 euro and I bought a bottle of wine for 1.08! (Mom, you could save like 20 dollars a week here!) They have entire aisle for cheese only and then another aisle for [View Full Entry]

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Well I made it to Rouen just fine as you all know. The ride up was nice, rolling hills with wheat and corn. All the fields have scarecrows in them and the ones that didn't had crows in them. Lots of little towns and villages, about 5 or so km apart. They are all quaint with very old buildings and windy streets. Every one has a steeple. The farmers live right on the edge of town, they aren't in the middle of fields. A few towns had a big chateau surrounded by a wall and other outbuildings. The country is relaxing, [View Full Entry]

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