Hi Guys,

Welcome to my blog about my semester in Paris! This is where I’m going to post things, which hopefully will be somewhat interesting, about the stuff I do while I’m here. If all goes according to plan, I’m going to try to update this once a week and add new interesting things. I’m sort of new at using blogger, but there’s a little form in the sidebar for you to put in your email address, and then you’ll be notified every time I update this blog; otherwise, just check once every week or so. And leave me comments! There’s a space at the bottom of each post where you can input text and send comments, for those of you who are not so internet-savvy, but you could also comment on my facebook, if you don’t have a blogger ID. Leave lots! I love comments.

At 7:30 tonight (1:30pm EST), I will officially have been with my host family for one whole week. It’s been a whirlwind! Speaking and understanding French all the time is crazy hard! But I’m also having lots of fun, and my family is super nice. I don’t want to post too much about them or where I’m living on here, because the interwebs can be a creepy place, but I’m in a really safe neighborhood, and my family’s been very welcoming, and Paris is sooo pretty!

Robespierre wanted to call the month of July "Thermidor"

All week long my program has had all kinds of orientation activities for us to do, to get to know Paris (and each other). The other day we went to “La Conciergerie,” the prison where Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI were held before they were executed, and the place where Robespierre conducted a lot of his Reign of Terror. It was so creepy! There were reproductions of the cells where prisoners were held, and most of them shared cells with bunches of other prisoners, and slept on straw on the floor. If you were a very rich political prisoner, though, you could buy yourself a private cell about the size of a handicapped toilet stall, with a wooden bed and a desk to write your last letters. On our way out, we ran into a security guard who just happened to know ALL about the last 24 hours of Marie Antoinette’s life.  Our tour guide didn’t even know her, but she spent about 45 minutes telling us all about Marie Antoinette’s imprisonment in vivid detail (and very rapid French). From the way this woman talked, you seriously would have thought she was there in 1793. Apparently before they take you to the guillotine, they cut your hair so that it won’t get into the blade, and the security guard said that when the prison guards came up to Marie Antoinette with giant scissors to cut her hair, she thought they were going to use them to cut her head off! We all thought it was kind of incredible that anyone could know so much about something that happened hundreds of years ago, but our tour guide said that records during the time were very good, and there were people who would have documented as important en event as the beheading of a queen down to the very last detail.

And when I’m not taking guided tours of morbid places, and learning about famous deaths, I do all kinds of things! This weekend I spent a lot of time with my host family, because I wanted to get to know them a little better, but all week I’ve been exploring Paris with other people from my program. A few nights ago we went to Trocadero, a famous plaza that has one of the best views of the Eiffel Tower. It was SO cold, but that was actually kind of a good thing, because hardly anyone was there, and so we didn’t have a lot of competition for the best places to sit (Actually, nothing has really been crowded so far. This isn’t a very touristy season in Paris. The only really crowded places are the stores, because there are “les soldes” right now. In France, things only go on sale twice a year, for three weeks at a time, so all the Parisians are doing their shopping right now. It’s crazy!). So, anyway we sat on a bench and saw the Eiffel Tower at night. And in France it’s totally okay to (1) drink before you’re 21, and (2) drink out in the street in public! So we did that a little bit, which was fun. Try not to be too shocked, Grandma, we were very careful =). We learned that the Eiffel Tower lights up and sparkles for four minutes every hour! It was amazing, sooo pretty. I’m including a picture to give you an idea.

So that’s what I’ve been up to! My first class starts tomorrow. It’s an intensive grammar practicum, which hopefully will help me understand all these strange sounds that are flying around everywhere… I also have an “Atelier Conversation,” a lunch with some kids from my program who want to practice French, and some kids from French universities who want to practice English. We’re going to spend 45 minutes speaking in one language, and 45 minutes in the other. Other than that, I’ll be doing some more exploring this week, and trying to choose the rest of my classes and activities. I’ll keep you posted!

Love,

Emily