France 2012-2013

Day 1

I arrived in Paris around 9 am. The flight was sooo long, but I’m so happy to be back in my favorite country. Chris and Brooke picked me up from the air port. Customs took forever to go through, like 2 hours. As soon as I got to Brooke’s house, I went straight to bed. I kept waking up and going back to sleep, but finally worke up at 9 am.

Day 2

I took two trains and made it to Guyancourt! Max and Mar picked me up from the train station. I love Guyancourt. It feels almost like my own neighborhood. I caught up with my friends and saw Justine too! Her English has gotten sooo good! After about an hour, Maxime asked me if I wanted to go to the mall. Well, he forgot to mention that we were going to pick up Guillaume and Thibaut… Wow lovely. My favorites! Not. Also, we didn’t go to the mall. We went to Carrefour. We ended up filling up an entire shopping cart full of booze. Including 2 cases of German beer. We then proceeded to go back to Maxime’s house where they began a full game of Beer Pong.That went on until Marion called us to the table. She made a lasagna, it was soo good! :) The boys made some pasta and ham dish and they ate both. Maxime’s friends stayed until around 2:30 am. 

Day 3/4 New Years Eve- New Years Day

I ended up sleeping until around 1 in the afternoon. I was still not situated with the time change as it’s totally killing me. For this entire day, I didn’t really go anywhere or do anything. Around 4:30, Marine came! I hadn’t seen her since last time and it was nice to see her again! At about 6, Marion’s boyfriend came. They are adorable together! I totally approve. By 8, everyone had gotten there. I saw a lot of the people I had met before, Mama, Guillaume, Thibault, Clement and Marion, his super clingy girlfriend, P-Lou, I think is his name, Jessica, Maxime’s Alice and some people I had never met before, including some of Justine’s friends! It was a lot of fun. I talked to a lot of the people and learned some new French words!  Everything tasted like it was mixed with nail polish remover. At midnight, we counted down to the new year and then kiss-kissed everyone in the room. It was so fun.  After midnight had come and gone, I hung out in the kitchen with a bunch of Maxime’s friends. Guillaume decided that he wanted to love me and Mama said that he would sing like last time if I was awake at 6 am. He also said that he will never sing Brittany Spears again because he is too mature for that, Lana del Ray is much better. Then I had a nice conversation with a few of Marion’s friends about guns and education in America. We also talked about Obama and health care. It was fascinating. I thought I was going to be asleep, but apparently not, because at 6, Mama didn’t want to sing anymore. :( When I went to go to bed, there were 2 random shirtless guys there. I went back down stairs and told Maxime that if he didn’t move them, I was going to sleep in his bed. He didn’t move them, so guess what, Maxime didn’t have a bed. I slept until around 1:00 in the afternoon and a lot of people had gone home. Maxime made crepes for breakfast/ lunch. I love crepes. This is so cliche, but they’re the best in France. After everyone left, I got my stuff together and said good bye. Marion took me to the train station at about 5. I was doing great until I caught the wrong train. It scared me but I called Brooke and she found me a new train. 

Day 5

Today, I slept in until really late. Almost 1:00. I still haven’t gotten adjusted to this crazy weird time difference. It will happen, I just need time! I was still really sad from saying good bye to my friends in Guyancourt, so I decided it was time for some retail therapy. I went to La Defense, which is the business area of Paris. It looks so cool and extremely modern. It’s like the exact opposite of the heart of Paris. I think I may go there tomorrow. We’ll see! :) 

Day 6

I decided to go to the Champs Elyeeses today to do some retail therapy. Leaving my friends was really tough and I needed to go do something fun. What better than shopping and Paris together. I rode the train to La Defense and from there I took the subway to the end of the Champs. Right outside the Metro station was a Christmas market!!! It’s the last week, so perfect timing on my part! :) They had tons of tiny booths with everything from tea to pizza to barbeque to jewelry. I couldn’t resist myself and ended up getting a Nutella crepe that was the size of a medium pizza before it was folded up. After the Market, I rode the train/ metro back home. On the way, I stopped and got some Mc Donald’s! I am usually completely opposed to eating anything from there, but I wanted some chicken nuggets and that’s the only place to get them. I just have to say that Mc Donald’s in France is a whoooole lot better than it is in the great US of A. I like it in France a whole lot more. After I got my take out, I went back to the Mccarty’s house and at and chilled out! 

Day 7

I woke up around noon again. My sleep schedule hasn’t been normal at all since I arrived in France. It’s almost time for me to go home and I’ll just have to readjust anyways. This is a day that I will never forget. It all started when I was waiting for the train at the station in La Celle Saint Cloud. I had barley missed the train, so I have about a 30 minute wait. The station is really small, the inside just has a few ticket machines, an information booth and 3 or 4 benches. I sat down and began to read a book on my iPad. After a few minutes, this little old lady sits down next to me. She asks me when the next train is, I answer in French and then she starts speaking rapid French back to me. I can’t understand so I tell her that I don’t speak very much French and ask if she speaks English. She then starts to speak perfect English back to me! It turns out she worked some as a museum curator and ended her working time as a representative for a publishing company! Apparently she has been all over the world. She then tells me how much her job meant to her and how traveling is the best way to learn and experience anything.The crazy thing she said that I will never ever forget is “If you love what you’re doing, everything will work out int the end.” This woman’s advice will stick with me forever. This was precisely what I needed to hear. :) 

When I got on the train, I sat next to this other lovely woman who spoke French with me the whole way and taught me all kinds of new phrases and ways to say everyday things. This is why I love France. You actually learn what French people do and say. It’s the best learning experience! :) This was also day was the day I decided to visit Montmartre. This is the mountain outside of Paris where Sacre Coeur is perched. I LOVE Montmartre. It is my favorite area of Paris, I think it might even be my favorite place in the entire world. It makes me feel like I’ve stepped back in time. It’s like how I imagine Paris was like when Ernest Hemingway walked the streets. It’s perfectly unchanged. I decided to treck up the many flights of stairs to the top so that I could visit Sacre Coeur. To me, this is the most beautiful church in Paris, maybe even the world. It just has something about it. I can truly feel the presence of God when I’m in there. It’s powerful. The view from right outside of the church is beyond stunning. You can see all of Paris. It’s the most beautiful view I have ever seen. I just want to sit up there and never leave. 

Day 8

On Saturday, I flew to Toulouse! :) The flight was only about 45 minutest. I am so glad I decided to make the trip to toulouse. I loved it. It is a beautiful little city. It’s full of life and color. Unlike Paris, the buildings are all in various shades of peach and orange brick. It’s beautiful. As soon as I landed in the airport, I saw Alice and her mom! It’s was amazing seeing them. I was supposed to get to visit them over the summer, but that didn’t go as planned. We left the airport and headed straight into down town. As soon as we got there, Alice’s mom let us out at the main metro station. The metro in Toulouse is  a lot smaller than the one in Paris. It only has 2 lines, while Paris has a ton. It was so easy to navigate! Alice and I went into downtown. We walked around and shopped for a while and then we met up with some kids from her school. It was pretty fun, the kids didn’t speak English, which was confusing, but it was really fun. Afterwards, we went to this one kid’s house for a few hours. After we left, we went to McDonald’s again. Haha I love French McDonald’s. It’s delicious. After we ate, we went back to the station at the end of the line nearest Alice’s house. Since she lives in the country there are no regular bus routes. What you have to do is, go to the main station and every 30 minutes a guy comes out and if there are people, he takes this small van like bus to where ever they want! It’s like a taxi service, except it’s only like 2 euros. We got to the stop just in time, which was great because 30 minutes in the cold would have sucked. At the stop there was a couple, a guy and us. The driver asked us all where we need to go and then we got it. When the driver started driving, it was the most terrifying experience of my life. HE WAS A CRAZY DRIVER. It was pretty much a rehashing of the Night Bus in Harry Potter. It was horrifying. Alice and I were pretty terrified. He played with the radio, took turns and round abouts at like 50 miles an hour and it was the scariest experience in a car I’ve ever had. Finally we stopped and he told us that some of  us needed to get out and onto another bus at the stop. We were really excited until we realized that we were the only two that didn’t have to make the connection. That’s right, we rode all the way, the 20 minutes into the country, on the French Night Bus. 

Day 9

This was Sunday. I slept in as usual because I never fully adjusted to the time difference.   When I woke up, it was time for Sunday dinner. At lunch, I saw Florent and got to meet his very sweet girlfriend Jenna. It was fun and I can now say I’ve tried Fois Gras. I didn’t like it, but hey, I tried it! After we ate, Alice’s mom drove us into down town so we didn’t have to ride the dreaded bus again. In Toulouse, almost everything is closed on Sundays. I like this and respect that they keep this tradition alive. This particular Sunday was one of the best Sundays I have ever had. It was because of how peaceful and relaxed it was. This is what I love most about France. The concept of time isn’t a big deal. Everything is done at a leisurely pace. There isn’t a need to hurry. I love it.

Alice and I visited churches in downtown one was called St. Jacob’s something or other, and the other one was the very famous St. Sernin. Both churches were absolutely stunning. I love cathedrals. They are the best things to go see. You get to see so much culture and art all in one place. After we visited the churches, we went to 2 bakeries. One, we went to for me to get a Coca Cola and an eclair, complete with chocolate filling instead of creme, and the other for Alice to get a baguette. I made fun of Alice the entire time because it was just so completely cliche French of her to buy a baguette and walk around the city munching on it. After a while, we were cold and hungry so we called her mom. We thought about going and seeing a movie, but I had an early flight the next morning and she had her first day at school. When her mom came and got us, she asked what I wanted for dinner. I was dying to try a Kebab, a very common Arab dish in Toulouse. I had seen about 20 Kebab restaurants around the city, but alas, it was Sunday. We decided on Pizza. It was a cool idea because now I can say I’ve had pizza from a pizza truck. We drove to a little pizza truck to order the pizzas. On their menu, low and behold, was a kebab pizza! We got that one and the traditional ham and cheese one. Kebab pizza is fabulous. Now I can’t wait to go back and have an actual kebab. After dinner, Alice and I talked and relaxed until it was late and we were exhausted. 

Day 10

Alice and I said our good byes, complete with tears and the knowledge that we would be reunited very, very soon. Alice’s mom took me to the Airport. I was so sad to leave Toulouse. I think I have decided that is where I want to be if I go to school in France. I love it and I love that wonderful family. I felt so at home, even though I was 5500 miles away.

My flight was short and when I arrived back in Paris, I navigated my way through the train back to Brooke’s house. I was relieved to be back in Paris, but it was a very sad day. It was my last and final day of my trip and I had so much to do. I decided that I wanted to go see Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower. I caught the train back and made it there all right. I saw Notre Dame and it was just as beautiful as the first time.  It hasn’t changed at all. After I fought through the tourists, I got on the Metro and went to the Eiffel Tower. :) I saw it in the late afternoon and it was as stunning as always. All was going well until it was time to get on the train back to La Defense. I ended up getting on the wrong platform, which basically meant that I went in the opposite direction. About an hour later, when the train stopped, I was all the way in Guyancourt, where my friends, the Louage family lives. This is about 25 minutes from where I needed to go. I was so freaked out, but thankfully I’d been in that station many times and was able to get where I needed to be. The sad thing was, being lost for 2 hours really exhausts you. By the time I made it back, the mall had closed, ruining all my chances of buying the last souvenirs I needed to get. 

Day 11

The morning I was supposed to leave, Brooke had so wonderfully arranged for a car service to take me to the airport. It was awesome. This large Mercedes came and picked me up. It was the coolest thing. The driver was wearing a suit and everything. We spoke a little about my trip and my love of France on the way. When I got to the airport, he unloaded my luggage and even walked me to my terminal. It was pretty special. When I finally got through the awful security and almost had a fight with Air France, I got to my waiting area and had an hour and a half until boarding began. While I was waiting I ate my very cliche French breakfast. It was all going well until this guy from Africa started blasting African music from his cell phone. The song literally lasted 20 minutes. His phone died for about five minutes, but he unfortunately found a power outlet. :( This sucked. I listed to that for the entire time. I have had enough traditional African music to last me the rest of my life. When I boarded the plane, I was so sad. I hated leaving France. I had so much fun and learned so much about myself on this trip. I cannot wait to return. 

France Day 20

This day is dedicated to Maxime because he hasn't been in the past few days and it's making him sad. Today was my last day in France :"( Marion and I woke up and first went to the bank and then the grocery store to take photos with the alcohol selection.

When we finished there, we came back to the house and left to go to Jessica's for lunch. It was a lot of fun. Helene, Mathilde and Marine met us there. We had a Chinese food feast because Jessica is from China. It was sooo good. I have been wanting an egg roll for the past two weeks. We talked and ate and had a nice time. Saying good bye was very, very sad! I am going to be back to see everyone as soon as I can.

After lunch, Marion and I got on the train and went to Paris one last time. We first went to the Eiffel Tower so I could get some gifts from the street vendors and an "I Love Paris" bag. Before we got on the subway, I got a Nutella crepe and ate it in front of the Eiffel Tower at the Tracadero station.

The last stop of the day was at Sacre Coeur! Finally, I got to see it!! :) It was the most beautiful church I have been in on this trip. I think the inside was better than Notre Dame. Sadly, you can't take any pictures inside, so I only have ones of me in front of it. I really recommend everyone visit there if you are in Paris or France in general. I loved. After we walked around the church, we went outside to walk around and go to some of the souvenir shops. If you didn't know, Sacre Coeur is on a huge hill surrounded by shops and the court yard type place where all the artists hang out and sell their original pieces. It is a wonderful place to be and might be my favorite in all of Paris.

Leaving Paris for the last time was a very sad event. At least I know that I will see it again. SOON. Next summer.

Thank you everyone for reading my blog and looking at my pictures! I am so glad you at least some what enjoyed it, which if you made it this far you must have. Tomorrow I will be back in Texas :(

If I met you on the trip, I am so glad I did! It was so fun getting to experience what life is like in another country.

Marion, I'm going to miss youuuuu!!!!!!! Thanks for sharing you friends and Summer with me. :) <3 (and I guess I'll miss you too, Maxime.)

France Day 19

Today Marion got her results for her national exams. She did very well! :) Go Marion!

A few of Marion's friends came over for lunch. We ate and talked and had a nice time before we went to the bus stop to go to the mall. When we got there a few of the girls had to leave so we said good bye and walked in. I bought SOOOO much stuff! Yesterday was the day that I bought almost all of the presents and a ton of clothes for myself. I ended up with way more that I thought I was going to get. I even found the shoes I've been trying to buy since I got here. I love French stores. The clothes are so classic and aren't cheaply made in China. We shopped all afternoon and got back around 6:30.

I started packing. It's not going to be fun. My suit case is filled to the brim and I am sure I am going to have to get a second carry on. Tomorrow we are going into Paris one last time to walk around Sacre Coeur and to get some little gifts from the street vendors. I am going to miss France so much. I don't want to go home!

I'll update later. I'm sorry this is going up late again. My computer died and my power converter wasn't working properly.

Love you all,

Sara

France Day 18

Today was my 18th day in France and my 18th birthday! I woke up around ten and got ready to catch the bus to the train station. We rode the train into Paris with Marion's sister Justine and friend Marine and found a park to eat our lunch. I had a prosciutto, goat cheese and tomato sandwich that was amazing.

After we ate we walked all the way down the the Champs-Elysees to L'Arc de Triomphe. Along the way I bought a dress from H&M and a skirt at Zara, which is now my favorite store ever. We then walked down to the Abercrombie and Fitch where we got our picture made in front with the Abercrombie models. After we stopped by the Sephora where we all got our makeup done. We walked and shopped all the way to the end and went into the Louis Vuitton store. At the end of the Champs-Elysees, we visited the L'Arc de Triomphe, which is absolutely beautiful and one of my all time favorite things I've seen here.

We finished shopping around five and got back on the train to go home. Marion and I ended up going to Marion's good friend Marine's house for dinner. Her dad planned a special dinner for my birthday. It was amazing. We had all different types of ham and since I am in love with cheeses and breads we had a bunch of different types to eat. For dessert we ate a wonderful fruit salad. The fruit here is the best. It's so fresh and it just tastes so much better than what we have in America. After dinner, I came back to Marion's house to go to bed because I was beginning to get a horrible migraine.

I had an amazing birthday and am so blessed that I got to spend it in Paris! Only 2 more days left :(

Sara

France Day 17

Today was an amazing day and probably one of my favorites so far. We woke up at about 9 and ate breakfast before we headed to Versailles to go to the open market! The open market is really really cool. They have everything. While I was there I took about 50 or so photos of all the fresh produce, meats, spices, cheeses and pastas. While I was there I picked up a few things for my mom and then Marion and I went down the the best bakery ever. This is where we went a few days ago when we went the the gardens at the palace. Their pain au chocolat is to die for.

After the market we went home and had lunch outside again because the weather was amazing. It was cloudless and the high today was about 73. This is the most amazing summer weather I have ever had. Today in Texas it was over 100. When we finished lunch we got everything together and went to the train station and went to Paris!

The train ride is about 30 minutes long. We got off the train at the station closest to Musee D'Orsay. I looooveed this museum. It is a lot smaller than the Louvre. The building is actually a converted train station. Musee D'Orsay, if you don't know, is the modern art museum that houses paintings from the late 1800's to the early 1900's. So impressionism and post-impressionism. With Monet being my favorite artist of all time, this is the perfect museum for me. Marion and I got there around 3 and had to wait in a very, very long line because we totally forgot that all the museums are free to the public the first sunday or every month. Inside the museum you aren't allowed to take pictures so I didn't get one of me with any of my favorite paintings, which is very sad. I did get to see it a huge collection of Monet's most famous paintings and that made me feel better.

After we finished looking around the museum, Marion and I walked around Paris for a few hours. We stopped at these little booths next to the Siene that sell paintings, old books, and random souvenirs. It was soooo much fun! I love Paris so much and was happy just to walk around and soak it all in. We walked all around and took so many pictures, ones that I am actually in this time! We also went to an a sidewalk cafe that had the best ice cream I have ever had in my life. I had pistachio and dark chocolate and Marion had caramel and pear. Seriously, best ice cream everrrr.

Around 7 Marion and I got on the subway and headed to Champs- Elysees to meet everyone else for my birthday dinner! We went to an amazing Italian restaurant. I had Spaghetti Bolognese that was sooooo good. Marion and I shared a Mousse du Chocolat for dessert because we were so full. IT WAS FABULOUS! After dinner we drove around Paris at night. <3 We went to Sacre Coeur, which is on a huge hill on the outskirts of Paris. If you go to the top of the hill and look down, you have the most amazing view of all of Paris. It is breathtaking. After we looked around there and took pictures, I got my picture taken in front of Moulin Rouge. We drove around Paris for a while longer and then stopped at the Eiffel Tower to get so photos of it all lit up. Paris at night is the most enchanting place in the world. If you have never been, you MUST go at least once in your life. I promise, you won't regret it.

Well, I've officially been 18 for almost 2 hours now French time!! Tomorrow we are going to spend the day in Paris again and go shopping on the Champs- Elysees and then go see L'Arc de Triomphe! :) I am so excited. This is going to be my best birthday ever.

Love you all,

Sara

France Day 16

Today I realized something that made this trip so important and life changing for me as a person. Before I say what it is, I need to tell everyone right now, especially if you are my age or younger, that if you have never had a chance to study abroad or have an exchange student or pen pal, get one right now! It is the best thing I have ever done in my entire life. It has opened so many doors and I have learned so much from it.

So my great realization of the day is that the French have one thing that is more important than anything else and it completely makes their culture what it is. Everything revolves around food. Food here is not like anything in America. The appreciation of food is just so different. The food is everything.

In France, meals aren't rushed. Everyone sits down and eats slowly and sometimes dinner can last for over an hour and maybe even longer. I absolutely love this. Usually, at my house, we eat dinner in separate rooms or in the car on the way to something. Sadly, we rarely take an hour to just sit down and eat together. In France, we eat together at least for lunch and dinner.

Food is also a very import part of everyone's social lives. While I've been here, there have been may occasions where either we have gone to someone's house, people have come here or we've gone out to a restaurant and just sat around and talked and ate and enjoyed each other's company. I feel like we don't do that anywhere near enough in America. Everything is rushed because we are trying to get to baseball practice or swimming lessons or study group. If we would just sit down and have meals together, we would be so much closer as families and our relationships would be so much stronger.

I have also learned that by completely immersing myself in another culture, people do things differently and that's ok! Not everyone does things the way it's done inside my little Woodland's, Texas bubble. I love this. I feel like I am a much more well rounded person because I have done this. I am very blessed to have gotten this opportunity. I would not be here right now if I hadn't have stepped outside my comfort zone and hosted Maxime 3 summers ago.

Again, I cannot stress enough how amazing it is to do a cultural exchange. In Europe everyone always sends their kids to other countries to do exchange programs. I think that if we did this more in America, we would have people who were much more open to different cultures and foods and people. I hate to say this, but I think American's are just too closed minded.

So, I hope you enjoyed this because I didn't really do much today. I slept until almost 2 and then we ate lunch outside on the patio. After that I updated my blog post that I didn't have time to do yesterday and then I watched a movie on my laptop. After that Marion and I planned the rest of my trip out and discussed what we will be doing for my birthday on monday. For dinner some of the Louage's old neighbors came and at with us. It was absolutely lovely. We ate and talked and dinner lasted for almost two hours. This is the way it should always be, wonderful food, nice company and just relaxing and living in the moment. This is a huge lesson for me as well.

Love you all,

Sara

France Day 15

I'm sorry this is up a little late, but I didn't get to sleep until after 5:30 and I just woke up for lunch. Last night there was a huge party here for Helene, Marion's friend. Her 18th birthday is today and she decided to have it at the Louage's house.

We woke up and left for the market around ten. We met Helene there. We bought all the food and stuff to make the cupcakes, quiches, and brownies. I bought some chocolate to try so I know what I want to bring back with me. After we left the market, we came home and started baking the sweets and made the quiche and then we had lunch with a few other friends that came to help get ready for the party. At about 2:45 I decided it was time to go get a pain au chocolat. When I got the the bakery it was CLOSED! They decided to close up 15 minutes early. I guess because it was friday, but still! Not cool. At all. I really wanted to get a pain au chocolat!

When I got back from the bakery fail, Maxime, Marion, Marine and Helene went back to the grocery store to get the rest of the stuff for the party. I decided to stay home and read a book and watch a movie on my laptop.

Around 6:30 we got dressed and ready for the guests to start arriving. By 7 most of the people were here. It was really nice to meet some new people and talk to them about how my trip is going or about Texas. I find it very hilarious that the first thing people ask me after I tell them that I am from Texas besides if I own a horse is whether or not we have guns. I, as well as the rest of my family, are members of the NRA... They also think it's very interesting that I attended Christian school because when people thing of Texas they automatically assume we are all cowboys that carry guns and regularly attend the local Baptist church. In some parts of Texas this is not just a steriotype, but in The Woodlands, it isn't the case at all. They also find it very interesting that I don't drink at all. When I tell them that the drinking age is 21 most people are shocked. This is another very huge cultural difference.

Later on in the evening, things got very interesting... There was a quiche fight in the kitchen that I just happened to walk in on right at Guillaume threw quiche and hit me in the head. That was just splendid. I also met some very nice guys that were very curious about American culture and shocked by my fear of horses. I ended up staying up until almost 6 a.m. because I couldn't go to sleep with all the super loudness going on in the entire house. I don't feel like telling all the stories of what happened so I will just give a few bullet points:

- They don't have rainbow fluffy socks here because I got like 10 compliments on them and someone even wanted a picture, which I thought was really creepy...

- Mama, one of Maxime's good friends apparently loves Bohemian Rhapsody and thinks it's the best song ever.

- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow's part two comes out here three days before it releases in the U.S. This is just wrong.

- Maxime has a friend that I think looks exactly like a blond version of Rupert Grint.

-Guillaume kept telling me that he was going to pour water on me while I was asleep and that it was going to be "so fun"... This afternoon, I learned that he actually attempted it, but Jessica and Mathilde, who were staying in my room, stopped him and now he gets to live another day.

- I met Marion and Maxime's cousin, Julie and she is very nice and I enjoyed talking to her.

- The kids that come to these parties are pretty much all going to be either engineers or doctors...

Ok that's enough for now. I am going to go read Harry Potter.

Love,

Sara