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.