JUNE 30: The Eiffel Tower

Today was another amazing day. It all started with a nice french breakfast with bread, a croissant, and some coffee. After that morning was mostly filled with an info session for our safety and other important information. Lunch crept up in no time. We went over to a little place close by and I had a very delicious salad,fruit salad, and drink that was only 8€ (about $8.88). I later went with a small group to go grocery shopping and got myself a few mini gâchés aux éclats de chocolat (bread with chocolate baked in it). I absolutely love these in the morning but not every morning for that is way too much chocolate. After that we went back over near Notre Dame and went to more of the shopping district. I gained some really nice post cards and saw a few stores I'll have to visit when I have more time.

The highlight of the day is when we went to the Eiffel Tower. It was magnificent! There was even a giant soccer ball hanging in the center for games.

A member of our group gave a presentation on the Eiffel Tower that was amazing. Some of the facts I learned was that the tower is:

• It stands about 1,063 feet tall (including the antenna).
• The entire tower is painted frequently and 60 tons of paint are used. It's painted with a darker shade at the bottom and a lighter shade at the top to give it better definition when looking at it.
• There are three platforms on the tower. Eiffel, who oversaw construction and payed 80% for its creation, had an apartment on the 3 level (899 feet up).
• The Eiffel Tower was supposed to be torn down after 20 years. But due to popular demand and some practice use it was kept.
• Funny fact: it is illegal to video tap the light show that happens every night as it is considered art and you need the artist permission due to copyright laws.

They is so much more interesting facts about it. A small party of us took the elevators up to the very top floor. The view was amazing and you could see all of Paris. On the third floor was even a champagne vender so you could enjoy a sip up there. Inside an area on the upper walls were flags around the world with the destination and monument there with a comparison to the Eiffel Tower’s height. For the United States there was New York, Washington D.C., Chicago and San Francisco.

On the second floor there was another amazing sight of the Trocadéro. There were also some placards and wall art of design structure and history of the tower.

Lastly the first level had some fast food restaurants and glass walkways that allowed to see yourself at a different angle that high. Underneath the tower was a cool view of the hanging soccer ball.

We took a bit of a break to rest our feet. We went to a little crêpe place and I enjoyed some wonderful cafe au lait (coffee with milk) and a crêpe avec nutella (crêpe with Nutella). We the. Walked back to the Eiffel Tower and took in a spectacular sight of it covered in lights. I have to say that that was an amazing end for an amazing day.

JUNE 29: My First Day!

So today was amazing and crazy all in one. I left little Minnesota to go to Paris, France for a program through the University to learn some french and about France. The flight was good but super long (8+ hours long) and for some reason I couldn't get any sleep but I didn't let that keep me down. Let me tell you airplane food is better than cafeteria food from my day. The flight itself was so amazing. The clouds looked like a giant field of snow. It layered the whole sky and was simply beautiful.

Landing was even more amazing as it appeared as if the ground itself was a patchwork quilt. The towns and cities were so close that you could walk to the next one no problem.

The group I’m with later went to the place we're staying at for our classes. The place is called Fondation des États-Unis. It was built in the 1920s during the first World War as a place to promote peace. It is part of another 40+ buildings that each represent a different country. In the room I’m in I have a wonderful view of this little garden type space and a view of the building standing for Mexico. It's truly wonderful.

After settling in we went out for our first meal. Lunch. Now I was super afraid of ordering. I had no idea what to exactly say and I didn’t want to say anything stupid or offensive. Luckily we had the most amazing coordinator to helps out and even order for us. With her help I ending up having a very awesome lunch composed of a baguette de poulet (chicken baguette sandwich) and some macaroons.

Later after a break and some tours of the building and some of the surrounding buildings we went to Notre Dame in Paris. It was a quick visit as we have plans to go again but that short amount of time was monumental. The cathedral is absolutely amazing I loved it and more. There was amazing texture work and the flow of the peaks and drops into new rooms and open spaces was beautiful. The stain glass windows were lite up in the most beautiful colors. The structure alone was an amazing sight.

Afterwords we walked by la seine and went to a restaurant for dinner called Les Bougresses. It was a nice place with a really good relaxing atmosphere. I had amazing food with tartar de salmón (raw salmon) for an appetizer, ravioli for main course, and fruit salad for dessert.

Overall it was a wonderful day and I can’t wait for more.