Sunday in Paris

Today I spent the day in Paris. I saw the beginning of the caravane of official cars for the Tour de France near the Place de la Concorde. I strolled around the Louvre and Tuileries areas and then went up to Montmartre. There I met three NUHS students (two former and one current), Ellen, Jenny, and Megan Hills and their lovely French host family for a bite to eat and a stroll around the Place du Tertre. See picture below of the four of us in front of a patisserie. It was great fun to see them all together in France! Finally I went to the Champs-Elysees to catch the end of the Tour.

new pix

Check out the new pix below!

Relaxing in Paris

I'm back in Paris staying with the Tournes. I'm a bit under the weather, so I'm strolling slowly and trying to rest up for the flight home. My new friend Erin, who teaches French in the twin cities, and I had a snack and beverage at a cafe and are just hanging out in the eastern part of Paris. We are both tired from the Lyon experience and glad to just hang out in the city of lights. I'll venture back into the center of Paris tomorrow to catch some of the last day of the Tour de France. The cyclists make a loop around the city and then the award ceremony takes place on the Champs-Elysees.

Apart from being surrounded by the French language and French countryside, the best part of the experience has been making contacts with other people like me from the US. They love the language and culture as much as I do. Yesterday when we all parted, some of the directors and teachers made little speeches to us. One mentioned how he found it amazing that he spent three weeks with a group of Americans, and he never heard any of us speak a word of English. Another person thanked us for propagating the French language in our country.

Beaujolais

Today we are going to the Beaujolais region for a tour and winetasting at the Georges DuBoeuf vineyards. Hooray! Tomorrow is the last day of the program. What a fabulous experience. I have learned so much and made new friends and contacts in my field. I have also made some good progress on gathering data for my dissertation. I will take the TGV to Paris tomorrow, where I'll spend 3 days with Jean-Claude, Viviane, and Delphine.

Wrapping it up

Only a few days left. I have made a few really good friends from Iowa and Minneapolis that I'm sure to keep in touch. with.

I'll be in Paris for the last day of the Tour de France! Gotta go!

Weekend in the south

I have had nearly no computer access for several days and only have a second now...We spent a beautiful Sunday on the Mediterranean coast in Cassis. Then we visited the grand canyon of France in Roussillon. More later!

Week-end en Provence

Yesterday we left for our group excursion to Provence. It was probably my favorite day so far. I don't have much time, but I'll just make a list of what we saw:
-Le Pont du Gard: A roman aqueduct (see photo). Fantastic!
-Avignon : Bustling with people because there's a theatre festival.
-Arles: We saw the cafe where Van Gogh painted Cafe Terrace at Night. Also ruins of a Greek theatre and a roman arena.
-We're staying in Aix-en-Provence.
Everywhere we go, we see lavender, soap, perfume, bright colors, etc. Gorgeous!