What a Great Trip

I've been home for a few days now and I can't believe what a wonderful trip that I had. After finishing up the study abroad in Paris, my boyfriend Tyler and I visited London for a few days. While we were there we saw all the sites (such as the London Eye, Big Ben, and the Tower of London). London is so different than Paris. Paris is quite, romantic, and very girlie. London is loud, full of pubs and noisy buses, and manly. I really enjoyed both Paris and London but it was weird at how different they were. After staying in Paris for four days, Tyler and I returned home to the beautiful Colorado. Being away from Colorado made me realize how beautiful Colorado really is.

Overall I really enjoyed my study-abroad experience. Living in Paris for a month was so different than anything I have ever done. Greeley is a relatively small town which made living in a big city even more exciting. It was such an experience to be able to take the metro or public bus to anywhere I needed to go. There where always new things to experience and see. There was never a time when I could be board because the city was full of possibilities. It was so great!

Paris (and Europe in general) is so different than the US. Some of the things that I noticed were:

• Paris is very green. They use very little water in the toilets, smaller packaging sizes, lights are usually on timers, and smart cars.


• The portion sizes of food are much smaller than in the US. Along with this, it's very common to spend a lot of time eating at a restaurant (a couple hours is normal), and you always have to ask for the check.


• People walk or take public transportation as much as possible. This was probably my favorite part. I wish we had a metro system in Colorado, I would use it all the time.


• Dogs are very welcome. They ride on the metro, walk calmly beside their owner (most of the time free from a leash), and wait patiently ouside of stores for their owners.


• Anywhere can become a parking spot and it is normal to "tap" a car or two while parking.
  

School in Paris was really a great experience. It was interesting to see how things can be more relaxed but at the same time seem more uptight. For example, classes may not start on time, but once they do students are expected to be silent and pay close attention. Most of the teachers would not announce that it was time for class to start, they would just sit and wait for everyone to be quite (which sometimes took a really long time). The teachers used mostly the same teaching styles that I am used to, so that made things a little easier. One thing that I noticed the most is that things were not always very well organized. This made things more difficult than they are in the US. There were always technical problems and I think that better organization would of made things a little smoother. Besides this, attending school at EBS was a great experience.

Now that I'm back in Colorado, it's hard to believe that I spent a month in Paris. I feel like I learned so much and am more cultured. I have a new outlook on school and other parts of daily life. I think I will be able to take what I learned while in Paris and apply it to my daily life in Colorado. I am so grateful that I got to experience life in another part of the world and it has made me want to travel more. This trip has open my eyes to the world and now I want to see it all!

Quick Update From London

Well....Tyler and I made it to London. I thought I give a quick Hello to everyone. Internet is hard to come by here and I only have a few minutes left at the Internet Cafe we are at. I just wanted to write to say that London is amazing. It's so different than Paris but still so cool. I do miss Paris and everyone from the trip but it feels good to know that I will be returning to the States tomorrow. When I get home I will write about London. I have a lot to say!!! But I've got to get going!

Cheers Mate!

Paris...I Will Miss You

Today is our last day in Paris. I'm not going to lie....I am very sad. I've grown to love Paris, it was my home for the past month. I am excited because in the morning I am leaving for London!

Today was spent doing some last minute shopping and sight seeing. We spent the evening packing and then watching the soccer game at the local Toast & Pizz (a local pizza place). It was a great way to relax with a bunch of friends! Then Tyler and I walked around La Defense and climbed the stairs of the Grande Arch. From the top there is a great view of the Arc de Triomphe. It's sad to think that I wont get to see the beautiful lights of Paris anymore. The city is so beautiful and amazing, it's going to be hard to be back home.

Yesterday a group of us girls visited Sacre-Coeur, which is a beautiful white church located at the highest point in Paris. It was such a great view and an amazing church. I really enjoyed it. Then we walked through the scary "red-light" district so that we could see Moulin Rouge. It was a very interesting part of town but it was cool to see the famous Moulin Rouge. After finding a little nicer side of town, we enjoyed a nice lunch at a sidewalk cafe.

I've had such a great time in Paris, I wish we could stay forever! I do miss home and my family though. It will be nice to see them when I get home on Thursday!!!

I guess that's all from Paris....I will try to write while I'm in London, but I don't know if I will get internet there. If not, I will write as soon as I get home.

Schools Out For Summer!

Yesterday was our last day at school at EBS. We've been working really hard all week on our projects and yesterday we presented them. I think most all of the groups did a really good job and I am really proud of how our project turned out. My time at EBS was a really great experience. I got to learn about Management and Marketing through three different professors. It was really interesting to see how their points of views differed. I'm so happy that I got to do a study abroad trip. I feel that by being in France, I was more capable of understanding the topics. I do think that EBS is a little less organized than UNC, which made some things difficult. But overall, I had a great time at the European Business School.

Only One Week Left :(

I only have a week left in Paris and I feel that I have so much more to do. There are still places I want to visit, food I would like to try, projects to finish for school, and gifts to buy for family and friends. I have been having so much fun in Paris, the time is really flying by.

We started our last week of school today and that was when it hit me....on Sunday I will be leaving Paris! I'm not going straight home though....Tyler and I will be visiting London for a few days and then returning home from there. I have barely even thought about this part of my trip. We have booked a hotel and bought train tickets, but thats about it. I still can't believe that I've been here for three weeks.

I do miss home a little. I miss being about to drive anywhere I want and go to stores at any time. Here things are open strange hours and most everything is closed on Sundays. When I get home, I can't wait to eat a nice Chipotle burrito! It seems that everyone on the trip has a longing for one! Even though I am missing home, my friends, my family, and my dog, I really do love Paris. It such a change to live in a big city. There is so much to see and do, I have never once been board! Going back to Greeley will be a very big change.

Before I head back home there are still a few things I would like to do.

1. Go up the Eiffel Tower. I orginally did not care if I made the trip to the top, but I have decided that I can't leave Paris without doing it!


2. Go out dancing. We have been to some really cool places, but I haven't been able to get my "dance" on! We are planning on going out on Thursday to celebrate our last day of school!


3. Have a picnic next to the Seine River.


4. I know there are more.....I just can't think of them right now!!!

I feel that I have really experience Paris and hopefully I will be able to do these few last minute things before my time here is up.

Catacombes

On Saturday, Chase, Austin, Tyler, and I took a trip to the Catacombes. It's somewhere I have wanted to go for a while, so I was very excited. For those of you who don't know, the catacombes are an underground ossuary. A maze of tunnels 65 feet below the city streets are filled with human bones from the 1800's.

When we arrived at the Catacombes there was a long line that we had to wait in. (It was the longest line I have had to wait in since arriving in Paris) After the 45 minute wait we were finally at the entrance to the Catacombes. Prior to entering, I had not really thought that it would be very scary but after desending the spiral staircase and entering the tunnal system, I immediatly noticed a creepier atmosphere. After descending through the tunnels for a while, you finally enter the beginning of the bones. It was one of the strangest things I have ever seen in my life. Thousands of human bones were right in front of me. You could literally touch them. The bones were not just thrown in piles carelessly, they were "gently" placed in strange designes and all the skulls were always in rows.

It was about a 45 minute trip through the small portion of the Catacombes that are open to the public. The actual tunnels span for miles and there are over 6 million bodies located inside of them. Even though the trip to the Catacombes was slightly morbid, I really enjoyed seeing a different side of Paris. I'm so happy that we deicided to visit them!

Upon exiting the Catacombes, we were in a different part of town than from where we entered. We walked down the block and to our surprise there was a wonderful pet shop with windows full of adorable puppies! It was a very good mood lifter after a depressing trip to the Catacombes. After awing at the puppies for a while, we continued to wonder. I guess you could say that we were "lost", so we did what any Perisian would do....we stopped at a cafe and had an espresso! After enjoying our beverage for awhile we continued on and easily found a metro station. So I have come to the conclusion that you can never really be "lost" in Paris because there is always a metro station right around the coner.