Giverny and Brussels

So this weekend has been quite eventful. Friday started out with an IES field trip to Giverny! It was cold when we got there, so my group started out at the American Art museum with a guided tour that discussed American impressionism. It bored me a little because it was early but there was a cool painting of Coney Island! Then we had lunch, and then we got to go see Monet's house and gardens! The house was cool, very prettily decorated, and the gardens were amazing. There were two sections...the one near his house was full of flowers, even in mid-October. (however, it was also full of bees, which was not cool) Then there was an underground tunnel leading under the road to go to the water lily side...the huge water lily pond (there was only one flower left), and weeping willows and huge trees. It was really pretty but not really worth spending a ton of time. It was really great to see where Monet got the inspiration for all his paintings, though! Then when Becky and I got home, we met up with Megan to eat dinner and walk around in the Latin Quarter...we found the two warring philosophers' cafes, Cafe de Deux Magots and Cafe des Flores, and walked past a bunch of churches, and ran into a beggar who meowed at us to ask for change...
Saturday I left for Brussels to meet up with Cristy! Unfortunately I forgot my camera battery and hers was out of battery, which made us both really sad because we saw so many beautiful things. Even though I'd been to Brussels before we hadn't seen a lot of stuff! At first we just walked around a lot and saw the Ste Michel and Ste Gudula Cathedral. Some of the saints' statues were carrying weapons, I have to Wikipedia it and find out why. Then we found the Musee des Beaux-Arts, because I really wanted to see the painting "Death of Marat" by Jacques-Louis David (since we studied it both in high school and in art history). We finally found it and it was so exciting! (after we walked by the Royal Palace and some other really pretty buildings) Then we had some frites, and walked around a lot and saw some more churches, and the Grand-Place and the Manneken-pis (he was dressed up this time!). The sights we saw were so beautiful, I was so sad that I didn't have my camera! We also did a little shopping--we found a lot of really pretty shopping centers, and a store where everything was 10 euros, so we got dresses! We also unsuccessfully searched for cheap haircuts before dinner, but any cheap place was closed. We had dinner at this great Indian/Moroccan/Thai/Lebanese restaurant called Hemispheres, which was delicious, and then went back to the Manneken-Pis and bought massive amounts of chocolate for our friends. Our hotel was so nice--we stayed in a budget hotel that was only slightly more expensive than a hostel, and it was so worth it. It was in a nice area, 15 min walk from the city center, a nice room with a private bathroom and a TV! I'd never watched French TV before so it was so much fun! We had a really great day in Brussels, even though I am still so sad that we were camera-less. Maybe if I come back to Europe someday...
I really realized this weekend how much my French has improved...like everything has finally clicked. Cristy had a lot of trouble with her train ticket in Brussels and then her metro pass in Paris and I was able to talk to a ton of different people in French, even on the phone, and get things sorted out. I watched the French TV and understood everything too. It's really awesome to get the feeling of finally being truly bilingual.