Paris 3 times in 1 week!

I know it has been a while since I last wrote in my blog but I have been super busy with classes now starting. I am finally realizing that this is not just a vacation, that I am actually here for school, too. Two weekends ago, I went with five other girls to Paris for the weekend for my 21st birthday. We stayed in Montmartre and were right down the street from the Sacre Coeur. On Friday we walked around the town and visited the Sacre Coeur. It was absolutely beautiful! We went to a little French bistro for dinner which was absolutely delicious and then headed to a French karaoke bar. Two of the girls went up and sang Happy Birthday to me at midnight and then when they were finished, the whole bar sang it to me in French. It was a lot of fun. We then walked around to some other bars which were fun because we got to see a lot of locals. The next day we went to see the Eiffel Tower, L'Arc de Triomphe, and then spent about 3-4 hours at the Louvre because it was raining and cold (that's what I get for having a birthday in January!!). It was a lot of fun being a tourist and seeing all of these famous sights. We then went to an Italien restaurant for dinner and I bought my first (wink wink) bottle of wine! My host sister, Marie-Benedicte, invited us to her friend's apartment who was having a party so we went there and had a lot of fun meeting her friends and spending time with other French students our age.

The second adventure to Paris was with my host family last Wednesday night. They invited me to go with them to a French concert called La Fete de la Chanson Francais. It was a live concert with about 10 famous French singers and was being recorded for tv (It airs this Saturday so I am going to watch it with my host family and record it to show all of you when I get home!!). The concert was at L'Olympia which is the famous concert hall in Paris. When we walked in, I notcied that we kept walking closer and closer to the front and then realized we were headed towards the front row which was reserved for us! It was a blast! Marie-Benedicte and I were even brought on-stage during one of the songs!! I can't wait to watch it this Saturday!!

Then, this past Saturday, my friend from IU, Brianna, and I went to Paris for the day and saw Sainte Chapelle, Le Conciergerie, and Notre Dame. All three places were absolutely beautiful (I will attach pictures). We then had some time to spare before our train back to Rouen so we walked down the Champs Elysees, which of course I loved!!!

Inbetween my awesome adventures to Paris, I have started my classes. I only had two classes last week and the rest start this week. It is definitely going to take some getting used to because French students are a lot different than American students. The main difference is that the French students will talk during the entire class and not pay attention to the teacher. During my class last week, there were 3 of us from the US (me and two other boys from IU) and the teacher kept calling on us to answer the questions because we were the only ones paying attention to her!!

I am having a wonderful time here and am loving every minute (although it would be nice if it warmed up a little! haha) I will be sure and start attaching some pictures from my trips to Paris!!