Wednesday morning most of our group went to the Louvre. I'd been once before, but it's impossible to see the whole museum in one trip... also, I just felt as if I should go. I'm in Paris. It's just something that you should do. It was free admission if you were European and under 25... alas, I am not European... but I was with two French girls, and they decided to try and see if they could get us in for free. Just as long as we didn't talk (because that would obviously ruin it). The guy at the desk didn't buy it (we needed to show our IDs), but because I had my French visa (FRENCH VISA) I got in for free. Sweet. However, I spent like an hour walking around before I decided I was bored, and then went to the Apple store and played with the iPads. Attempt at being a cultured person = fail.
We had lunch, then went to the museum of Paris. or something. ugh fine let me look it up. le Musée Carnavalet. Afterwards we took a boat tour on the Seine, which I did do the last time I was here, but it was really cool. We got to see the Eiffel Tower, the home of the Academie Française, etc. After that, we headed out for a "real French dinner". I got a croque monsieur (a grilled ham and cheese sandwich, with cheese melted on top. so. good.)
The next morning- Thursday- you following along? we packed up all of our stuff and left Paris. We stopped at la Cathédrale de Chartres and listened to a guide (who has apparently been giving tours for about 50 years- including to people like Yo-Yo Ma and the Reagans) talk to us about the history of the church and the stained glass windows. I'm not a huge history person, but it was interesting to hear about the symbolism in the stained glass windows and statues.
The cathedral at Chartres
After eating lunch, we got back on our way to Rennes. As we were on the bus, one of the directors would pull us up one by one to tell us about our host families. Upon arriving in Rennes, the bus took us right to our university (Université de Haute Bretagne Rennes II) and we all entered this big room where a bunch of families were waiting. Middle school dance moment. All the students on one side, trying to figure out who their family was (based on the quick description we got while we were on the bus)... and the families on the other side (who had absolutely no idea who their kid was, because the families were decided less than 24 hours prior).
Once again, I'm not going to give out too many details, because I'm usually a pretty paranoid person... but my family is a retired couple living a bit north-east of the center of Rennes. They also open their house to students who need a place to stay during the week while they go to college (and then go home on the weekends), work, or look for work. So even though I'm not living with any of their biological children, I am living with 3 other 20-somethings. So that's cool. Everyone's really nice! and so is the food. I can already tell that my blog entries from France will be just as full of full-related posts as those from the Dominican Republic. OmgIlovefood.
Friday we did orientation-type stuff at the university, and tomorrow we're starting a week-long intensive French program. French language class from 9-12, Civ from 130-230, and other orientation stuff from 3-5. This 'other orientation stuff' includes info on the French education system, the French people's perception of the US/Americans, and- of course- wait for it- wait- wait- okay- culture shock. Le choc culturel. After all the meetings we had about it in the DR, I think anyone from our group would be qualified to give a 2-hour presentation on culture shock.
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