"Shhh..... Guys! They speak our language."

The time here at the Abbey gets more and more exciting with each passing day.  This weekend I went with Jacelyn, Amanda, Casey, Charlotte, and Elizabeth to London!  It was spectacular!  We were only there for two days, but that was enough for me to fall in love with the city.

The trip there, however, was not as spectacular.  I had the first anxiety attack of my life between the time Jessica left and the time our train came to pick us up.  I thought a guy was going to blow up our train.  And last but definitely not least, a man tried to steal something out of my backpack while I was walking through the metro in Paris.  Needless to say, getting to London was not the beginning of our trip that I had envisioned. 

The next morning we arrived in London around 8h30.  We went straight to Buckingham Palace to see the Changing of the Guards.  I enjoyed it, but I think I was the only one.  That's mainly because I could see what was going on and they couldn't.


After that, we got lost in Notting Hill looking for our hotel.  We saw four Madeline-like classes walking along the sidewalk before asking a woman where to go.  She had never heard of the street, but told us to get an AtoZ (pronounced zed, not zee), which is a book with maps of all the streets in London.

"Hopeless, Head Over Heels in the Moment"

So I have gotten a few complaints for not having posted in a week, so I figured I might as well.  Last week was the best so far.  Each week gets better and better!  Last week, after we recovered from our Tours excursion, we came back for a week of classes, meeting new faces, and Blois. 

Classes are getting more intense.  We had our first quiz in French, got our history homework back, and were told to read 124 pages in our Leonardo da Vinci book.  It was last week that I realized I really did have school work here. That in and of itself was like culture shock!  Work is not the center of the French culture like it is in the States, and part of coming to France is to experience the culture.  However, our professors push us in the classroom.  I don't understand how this all makes sense, but that's the reality of the situation.

Apart from class, the week went very well.  On Tuesday night about seven of us went to eat with a lady named Michelle.  She is from England and lives next door to Le Commerce, which is where our "meal plan" is.  At Michelle's we had Moroccan meatballs,rice, a carrot salad, and, the French necessity, bread.  For dessert we had an apple and pear crisp that was amazing.  We stayed at Michelle's for a long time talking about a lot of random things with Michelle, Dr. Beaujot (the HIS professor), Jessica (our student coordinator), and Dr. Mackaman (Mr. Abbey Program).  It is so fun to have our Abbey "community" include our professors.  They all make it known that they are available for discussions about religion, history, or the bones under the roads of Pontlevoy (more about that later).

"Let's stay in Tours and Skype our classes from here!"

This weekend was our first full weekend here at L'Abbaye.  In hopes to teach us how to navigate towns other than Pontlevoy, the faculty and staff took the students to the Château de Chenonceau and then to Tours, France.

When we woke up on Friday morning, the staff drove us, caravan style, to Montrichard which is a town about 10 miles away.  This is where the train station is that we will use to go to our various destinations throughout the semester.  The first caravan got to Montrichard about an hour before the train was leaving, so we went to the cathedral and the local bakery.

Madame Faur, my French professor, told us all about the cathedral.  What she told us was not necessarily special for that one cathedral, but more general information about the history of cathedrals in France.  For instance, she told us about the structure and why the heads were cut off of the gargoyles, angels, and animal statues on the church.  During the French Revolution, the people were so upset with the church, that they cut all the heads off.  The bakery was good.  I had a pain au chocolat.  The first of many on this weekend trip!

First Week Down, Tours to Go!

The first week has flown by!  I feel like I've been going constantly, which I have been.  We've had something to do every night until tonight.  Classes have been going well.  The only one that really worried me was history, but after my second day of it, I have realized that it won't be so hard. 

The  town of Pontlevoy is a very quaint little town.  The age is evident and the town takes pride in the rich history of the region.  There is a bakery right down the road that just opened today.  I got a beignet framboise (raspberry).  It was very good, but they were out of chocolate pastries.  I'm VERY excited about those.  Jordan and I went this afternoon while everyone else went this morning, so the bakery did not have as much when we went. 

Tomorrow everyone is going to Tours for our first 'outing'.  It is a day trip to le Château de Chenonceau and a few other places around the city.  We are going by train from Montrichard which is about 15 minutes away.  After we visit the château, everyone has the option of coming back to the Abbey, staying in Tours, or going somewhere else until Sunday.  A small group of us are staying in Tours.  We are going to do some shopping, hopefully go see Valentine's Day in a theater where they show movies in their original language, and eat some GOOD FOOD!  Professor Netter loves Tours and has told us a lot of different things to do.  He told us about inexpensive stores, a road with about twenty-five restaurants with all different types of food, museums, and opera houses.  It should be an exciting weekend!

First day of Class

Yesterday was interesting.  Classes started.  My first one isn't until nine twenty, but somehow, I managed to wake up a little before six and not go back to sleep.  I got to talk to a lot of people on facebook chat, so waking up early wasn't a total waste.  I got to see the sunrise too which was the best part of the morning.

When I went to my first class (French 182), I quickly realized that Madame Faur is definitely goig to challenge us.  She said that she would probably or at least try to speak in French the entire time during class.  It will be difficult at first, but I honestly think that will be the best way to go.

Lunch at Le Commerce was great.  After starving on our first day of making our own meals, eating enough food to fill us up was nice!  we had beef and mashed potatoes.

Je suis ici!

I am finally in Pontlevoy! After getting two hours of sleep on Thursday night, triple checking my packing list, and leaving 3/4 of a Hershey's bar in my car in Memphis, I got to the airport three hours early for my flight at 2:18.  Elizabeth and I barely got through security in enough time to make our plane.  Just kidding.  We still had two and a half hours.  Liz's parents and my dad were able to go to the gate with us.  They waited for a while, but left before us because Caroline and Carly were waiting for them in the main lobby. 

Our flight from Memphis went fine.  We were a little late leaving, but the delays were only beginning.  Our flight took us to Charlotte.  When we arrived, we had an hour to navigate the airport and get to our plane.  When we arrived at our gate, we found out that our plane had been downsized, so we started worrying that we weren't going to make it on board because they were cutting seats.  We did get on board but sat on the plane for a long time after everyone else boarded so the airport people could de-ice our plane because it was snowing.  That flight was thirty minutes late leaving.  During this flight, I began to feel nauseous, but ended up making it out fine.  When we arrived in Philadelphia, we had forty-five minutes to navigate an even larger airport, and make it to our gate.  Yet again, we made it!  This time, we actually had a little time to sit down which was nice because I was still feeling nauseous.

The Countdown Continues...

Two and a half more days until I leave.  There is so much to be done before then.  Luckily, I got a lot accomplished today.  I made my last trip to Wally World with my dad and set up my Skype account.  My clothes are washed and rolled, but I can't make myself pack the rest of my things.  It feels too final.  I have always been a last minute packer, so to have everything packed before 8:30 Friday morning seems unorthodox.  I have been advised, however, to pack everything and make sure that I can carry it by myself, so packing must be finished soon.

One Week

There are seven days until I get on a plane with Elizabeth to start what is quite possibly the most exciting experience this far in our lives.  There have been months of planning into this trip/semester, but the most crucial work will be done in the next few days.... packing.

Packing has typically never been an issue for me.  I wait until the night before, throw twice as many outfits as I need into my suitcase, and any beauty product I think I may use.  This time, however, I will be packing for ninety days.  I can't take 180 outfits.  There will be a lot of thought into each article of clothing that I pack.