Gabbym

Today I got to spend more quality time with my friend, Astrid. Astrid lives in a town called Houilles. She was able to show me around her town and it was nice to see what life is like in smaller towns. Surprisingly enough, they don't get online every single day, like most americans do. Anyway, we got lunch together and went to a pool (with a friend of hers). She also took me to a book store and showed me some french songs that she likes. It was a great day because I was able to see what life was like in a small town like the one she lives in. Here is one of the songs (with a music video) that she showed me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDUAnhtt1xM... read more

The Palace of Vincennes is a castle that was built sometime around the 12th century. Louis the VII built it originally as a hunting lodge. To make a long history short, many people lived here. And you are able to tour it. Honestly, before I had done my research about this trip I had not heard of this palace, but I am glad I found out about it. It was a pretty setting and an interesting place.... read more

Today I visited the European Disneyland! I am a huge Disney fan so it was awesome! It's very similar to the Disney parks we have in the U.S., but it was still, somehow, different. I was able to chat with Disney characters in french, which I thought was pretty neat. I was able to have fun and brush up on my french. The most amazing thing was probably the fact that I understood 95% of what they were saying!... read more

Today I actually got to visit the Eiffel Tour! All I have to say is that the Eiffel Tower is HUGE! It stands 324 meters tall! I was very nervous about climbing the tower because it's so tall, but it wasn't that bad. There is a lot of stair climbing (which hurt after my 10.6 km bike ride yesterday) but the view was worth it! It feels like you can see everything from the top of the Eiffel tower! And the cool thing is, I got to learn about the history behind the Eiffel Tower... read more

Today I did a classic walking tour around Paris. The city is so much bigger than you'd expect! Almost everyone walks or rides a bike and the cars are generally smaller! Some of the streets are even made of cobblestone. It's so amazing! Today was a similar tour to last night. I was able to see a lot of monuments, but I didn't go inside of them. I think one of the most interesting things I saw was Napoleon's Tomb, because you don't normally hear people talk about it. I learned that it was originally built in 1676 by King Louis XIV as an exclusive place for worship for the royal family but stopped functioning as a church during the Revolution and is now the tomb for Napoleon! I think that is so interesting because you ... read more