Au revoir Paris, bonjour Montpellier

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I know it's been a little while since I've updated, things got crazy!

To summarize, I went from London down to Brighton for a night, to visit my friend Kotz from Mount Holyoke. We had a great time hanging out, I had a minor problem with my bank which was unfortunate, but the 4am jam session in her hallway made up for it.

Next, I bussed back to London and up to Edinburgh, an overnight bus. I met up with my friend Ben from Wildwood, who is studying abroad there, and stayed with him for a night. I toured Edinburgh, which is BEAUTIFUL, and had a great time visiting with Ben and his roommates and even a Mount Holyoker too. The day I left, which was the day after I got there, Ben and his roommate and I climbed up to Arthur's Seat, a really nice large hill (not even a mountain) with a great view of Edinburgh. I then sat in the Elephant House Coffee shop, the coffee shop where J.K. Rowling wrote the beginnings of Harry Potter. Very cool, and yummy coffee.

Another night bus later, I was in London yet again. I was in the bus station waiting for my bus to Paris and I happened to run into a girl from Jerusalem! I met her in November at a contra dance, and since we were on the same bus to Paris we hung out for the whole 9 hours. It was lots of fun, and we enjoyed brushing up on our french and exploring on the ferry (which we took rather than the chunnel). We got in to Paris and I met Becca's friend from college, Olin, who I stayed with/am staying with.

Paris has been really cool, over all. Really quite chilly at times, but very tastey and nice. I don't have time to write everything right now, but the highlights have been climbing up the Eiffel Tower (only to the second platform, the top was closed), walking around the Musee D'Orsay, exploring Montmatre, walking everywhere, eating french pastries instead of meals (hehe) and practicing my French! I've actually got the hang of it, surprisingly. It was tough to not speak spanish and I slipped up a few times, but I started listening more and more, so now my comprehension is actually quite good, I can read it enough to understand the gist and I can get my point across. I have been speaking with shop keepers in French too, and they clearly know I'm not French but I think the effort is really appreciated. Basically, Paris is huge and really interesting to walk around, but it's a bit too big for me. But I love French culture and food and people, so I'll put up with it for another few hours.

Another few hours, you ask? What happens then? Well, I'm boarding a train bound for Montpellier! I'm going to hang out with another friend from Wildwood, Sarah, for a few days, enjoy being in France a bit longer and to see what life is like outside of Paris. Then I'll be getting on a bus to join my Mommy in Rome! I just booked my ticket and I am so pumped. Then a week later, Dad flies in to Venice, we traipse around the country and later jet off to Israel for a week. Not a bad vacation, and it's not close to over yet!

All is well, I have taken so many pictures (I'm at 1,350 and I have room for another 700, so expect a lot of pictures later...) and I have many more stories to tell.

à la prochaine!
-Kate

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