KatyDid47

Fall Break!! Also referred to as the best 6 days of my life! Nice is a gorgeous, friendly city!! People smile and make eye contact, and acknowledge your presence, and let pedestrians cross the street!! The hostel we stayed at is owned by English-speaking expats--a lot of the staff is Australian. They were all very friendly, and we could easily chat with other lodgers, including a Canadian couple--hearing them say "aboot" had me laughing pretty hard. Our room had a mini fridge, and we had our own shower and bathroom, which was a plus, because apparently the hostel bathroom situation can be understandably terrible. The price was fabulous, and the view was PERFECT! You could see the city AND the water, we really lucked out. So, the highlights of the trip... I can't even begin to ... read more

Rouen What an adventure. Again, sorry with the delay, guys! It's my usual procrastination this time. It's like the coffee addiction: I could get better if I wanted to!!! So, without further ado... Rouen is a city roughly the size of Lancaster, but a little bigger. It's the capital of the Haute-Normandie region, that is to say, the capital of "Upper Normandy county," in English. The day we were here, there was a large fair going on, with lots of booths from different social organizations, things like UNICEF and Amnesty International. They had a huge stage set up for various local performers. It was a good day weather-wise for the trip, and whatever was going on in Rouen helped get us through the generic cathedral-monarchy-church business tour...I have to say, I don't think I can handle ... read more

Cathedral and Chartres So this Saturday, we went to a quaint, just-outside-of-Paris town called Chartres, where there is also a huge, ancient cathedral. There are lots of those in France... I have to say my favorite thing about this town was the tea salon where we ate lunch. I found the cutest sea-foam-green tea cup, that I swear I should've tried to buy from the women who worked there. Coffee drinks were astronomically cheaper, being outside of the city. There were lots of gift/garden type stores, and an outdoor market. (Btw, I apologize for being two weeks late on this...I had some computer problems, but everything's worked out!)... read more

Grandeur So! It's been a very busy past two days! The first days of classes are over, which is a relief, and so begins the transition into regular, everyday, normal life! My mind is swimming with French accents, not even words, just these jumbled French sounds. Eventually, I can only hope, they'll assemble into an actual, comprehensible language. Madame and Monsieur are very kind, and eager to improve their English while I improve my French. I'm sure they must be horrified at how terribly I treat their language, but they're still very understanding and welcoming. Donc, today we took a trip to Versailles. It involved a lot of standing and listening, which can be difficult at times, but it was sooo magnificent. I couldn't imagine living in a place like this, and having so many drawing ... read more

Less Jet Lag! Today felt much more like a normal day, especially with the sleep deprivation. An update on the housing situation! (That means you'll have my address!) I won't actually move in with my host family until Friday, due to perfectly legitimate reasons on their end. Obviously I won't post their info on the Internet, but just let me say I'm pretty excited and beyond fortunate to be staying where I am. That said, my address as it concerns folks at home is: Katherine Pflanz C/O Accent 89, rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine 75011 Paris, France BUT taxes on mail are pretty ridiculous...jussayin...don't worry though, I'll be picking up a pack or two of postcards in the next week or so. As of now, I'm staying in the same hotel, just in a single room. That ... read more