First weekend

This weekend has been insanely exhausting but so much fun!
Friday was our first trip to IES. Megan had orientation from 10-12 and I had it from 12-2 so we went together at 10. While she was in orientation, I went to the Cimetière Montparnasse and saw the graves of Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre. It was really quiet and peaceful there, with tons of beautiful sculpture on all the graves. Even when it started raining it was nice. Then I met Hayley for lunch, we went to this adorable boulangerie-patisserie on the same street as the school. Then orientation, which was totally useless except for making a few new friends. Then we bought cell phones and went to the Eiffel Tower with a few people. We didn't go up the tower because it was raining but it was still fun to see! Then back home to eat dinner with our host family. They showed us pictures of their daughter's wedding and we had some really great conversation about movies and the election and stuff.
On Saturday, Megan, Becky, Hayley, our new friend Maria, and I went to Versailles. First we walked around the town to look for a place to eat. The town is this gorgeous little village (after the Starbucks when you first exit the train). We settled on a crêperie. For our main course, I had a crêpe with egg and cheese, and then for dessert we shared a pears-and-chocolate crêpe. Then we stopped at the Cathedrâle St. Louis and the nearby open market before going to the château.
Versailles is just indescribably gorgeous. We went to the grounds first...the gardens are unbelievably beautiful and massive. Flowers and fountains and statues, even piped-in classical music! We all took a rowboat on the Grand Canal, which was amazingly fun. Then we walked to the Grand Trianon and Petit Trianon. The Grand Trianon was a family retreat (it's about a 20-minute walk from the château), and the Petit Trianon was for Louis XV's mistress, Madame du Pompadour. Then, we arrived at Le Hameau de la Reine, or the Queen's Hamlet. It's literally a little village that Marie Antoinette had constructed as a retreat. It looks like something out of a Disney movie. By this time we were exhausted and our feet really hurt, so we took the tram back to the château so we could see it. We went everywhere from the chapel to the Queen's bedroom to the Hall of Mirrors. Everything is completely amazing, ornate, crafted to the tiniest detail. I took 86 pictures at Versailles. We then got back to Paris (the train ride to the center of Paris is really quick, just 15 or 20 minutes, but taking the metro back home was another 20-30) and ate dinner with our host family again.
After dinner, our host dad took us on the promised car tour of Paris by night. We went everywhere-La Défense, L'Arc du Triomphe, the opera, Victor Hugo's house, the Eiffel Tower, Montmartre and Sacré-Coeur, the Louvre, Pont des Arts, le Marais (the gay and Jewish neighborhood), le rue Mouffetard (near the Sorbonne in the Latin Quarter, where all the students hang out), etc etc. It took three hours but it was the most amazing experience ever. Paris is the most beautiful city in the world, I think. At night it was breathtaking. It's obvious why it's called the City of Lights. Paris, and France in general, kind of seem like one big fairy tale bubble. It's unreal how beautiful everything is.
Today Megan, Becky, and I met up to go to Mass at Notre Dame. We ended up there for the international mass, which was cool but overwhelming because of all the people. Then we walked around the cathedral and went off to explore le quartier Latin. We walked down the Boulevard St-Michel and looked for a place to eat lunch. We found this one amazing street with a ton of restuarants, both French and all types of ethnic food, and one in particular with a 10-euro prix fixe menu. I had soupe a l'oignon and poulet-frites. Then we went across the street to an amazing gelati place, where I got one scoop of Nutella gelati (the best thing ever) and one of mixed berries. Delicieux! Then we walked to les Jardins du Luxembourg and walked around those. They're really pretty. Last on the agenda was the Panthéon, where famous French men (and one woman!) are buried. We saw the graves of Rousseau, Voltaire, Victor Hugo, Pierre and Marie Curie, etc etc. It was really gorgeous on the inside, because it's a big domed building.
After all that, my feet really hurt and I am exhausted, but I'm really loving Paris! My host family is really amazing, our host mom is so sweet (she said we speak French better than any other students they've hosted) and our host dad is really good about helping us find stuff to do--he loves museums and stuff and is really supportive of our going out to do stuff as much as possible. And all the food, especially dessert, has been delicious! I tried goat cheese yesterday and it was actually good!
Tomorrow orientation starts for real, and Megan and I have to get our own food tomorrow. We have our own mini-fridge in our bathroom so that our host brother won't eat all the food we buy, haha. Hope everything is going well dans les Etats-Unis!
For more pictures, here are the links to my Facebook albums (so even those who aren't on Facebook can see them):
(first album--mostly home and Montparnasse, some Eiffel Tower and Versailles)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2051825&l=07ebd&id=15805278
(second album-Versailles)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2051962&l=e1d23&id=15805278
(third album-Versailles, night tour, Notre Dame)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2051964&l=9a9e8&id=15805278
(fourth album-Jardins du Luxembourg, Pantheon)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2052009&l=2926e&id=15805278