Blogs from France, Europe - page 1262

Another day, in another country. Oh, how it makes me smile thinking about it. I needed to rest to return to normal. All this sleep wasn't helping either. I knew that I needed to find the nearest Casino to gamble my money. I went to Casino Croisette and risked $5,000.00. At first, I lost half, but overall, I profited $10,000.00, by playing blackjack, and some Texas holdem poker. With the money, and a reenergized and rejuvenated body and mind, I rejoiced by eating at a fancy restaurant. The cook was exceptional, bringing the food to my table and sitting down with me to have a ling discussion. After I ate, I went to Normandy, and visited the WW2 beach sites. I talked to a group of five men who served during the war. They were ... read more

Well after the long week of having mom here it was time to get back to my crazy traveling schedule. This time around I stayed within France, which is really something I wish I could do more often because there is just so much to see here. Our program provides excursions, so for this time around we took a road trip to Avignon, France. It has come in handy only having three of us in the program this semester, makes the whole traveling thing a lot easier with our directors. It should be interesting next semester for them because there is going to be twenty students. Anyway, we took a road trip from Antibes to Avignon making a stop in Arles along the way to check out some Roman ruins there, such as the amphitheater which ... read more

Day 60 - Saturday, November 10, 2007 This morning we saw some of the art shops of Montmarte as we made our way to the Basilique du Sacre-Coeur (Sacred Heart) which is on top of a hill and offered gorgeous views of the city (except it was a bit overcast today and not quite as clear.) We worked our way down to the city and stopped at the Laffayette Galleries which was a HUGE department store. And I mean huge! One block was a building that held women’s departments and perfume and stuff, the next block was the Men’s and children side, and another building was the Home side. The main building was 6 stories tall and had a huge atrium with by far the biggest Christmas tree I’ve ever seen! After that we went over ... read more

Heipä Hei! Taas on aikaa kulunut kovasti viime kirjoituksesta. Täytyy tunnustaa että kirjapinot alkavat painaa. Olemme muodostaneet symbioosin Lap Topin ja koulun kahviautomaatin kanssa. Mitä sitä ihminen muuta tarvitseekaan? Viikot kuluvat vauhdilla eikä edes perjantaina muista mikä päivä on kyseessä. Lauantai ei eroa paljoa arjesta, koska silloinkin on koulua joko tuntien tai ryhmätöiden merkeissä. Päivät vain soljuvat eteenpäin. Katsotaan millaiset pirttihirmut saapuvat Suomeen joulukuussa. : ) Kiireen keskellä on kuitenkin osattava myös relata ja koulussahan tässä vaan ollaan. 19.-21.10. teimme mahtavan vuorivaellusretken. Koulussamme on lisäksemme kaksi suomalaista opiskelijaa. Toinen heistä on Pietu, joka järjesti vuoristomökkeilyviikonlopun parinkymmenen hengen porukallemme. Pietun ystävän, Pierren, mökki sijaitsi lähellä La Bessen kylää, Le Sertissä. Ja voitte uskoa, maisem... read more

Whew! So I am finally back from my amazing fall break trip, which was just that - amazing. Unlike SLU, which considers a fall break to be a 4-day weekend, all of Europe does fall break justice by giving a whole week off for "rest and recuperation". So, I was able to really see and experience a lot in my 9 day trip without any stress of homework of upcoming tests, which was pretty nice. And 9 days was about perfect for me, as I tend to go stircrazy from any hint of nonproductivity after about a week... I went to Paris with my friend Dan's art class, so Saturday through Wednesday was extremely structured and packed with stuff to do and see. We arrived on Saturday afternoon and went immediately to see le Palais de ... read more