Bonjour!

What a long weekend! It feels like two days ago was a year.

My flight landed in Paris safely yesterday morning an hour early, around 10am. (We're six hours ahead of U.S. time) Of course, I couldn't find the baggage claim, so after about ten minutes of running to the ends of the airport, I finally asked someone and it seemed I'd left the secure part where you were supposed to pick it up, so he let me back in.

I took a shuttle to our hotel, "Hotel Arotel," and dropped my two boulders (bags) off and took off to find something to eat. It was kind of crazy-I was still in too much shock of being here to actually comprehend my surroundings, (such as the fact that everyone but me was speaking French!) so I walked for a while down La Rue Montparnasse until I finally ventured into a busy patisserie on a streetcorner. (By the way, I love how everyone just holds onto their huge sandwiches (they use a baguette for the roll) and eats them walking down the street, whereas drinking a cup of coffee in a cafe takes about 3 hours.)

Around four, I met some of the new students, as well as another who is doing Central's year-long program (and swears she isn't going home). We went to one of the cafes on a main street, whose claim-to-fame was the list of artists and writers who had once been frequent visitors (Monet, Picasso, Renoir, Hemingway, and Sartre) A little expensive, but definitely the Parisian cafe experience. Even in the winter, everyone still sits outside!

We ate dinner as a group (18 students altogether) in a creperie around the corner from the hotel, and of course, it was absolutely delicious. They served us traditional cider from the Bretagne reigon, and our waiter was even describing how you can separate France into different reigons just through their food and beverages. He told us, "France existe pour deux raisons: pour manger et boire!" When we tried to describe a bagel to him later, he was appalled by the idea of "destroying good bread."

We took a train to Tours at 12:30 today- what a disaster! 18 students with huge bags, walking two blocks to the station, dragging them onto the escalator (I took the stairs- BAD idea. I think my arms are going to fall off) and then fitting them into the tiny overhead compartments was certainly a loud and very "American" adventure. I can't wait until the trip back...
Anyway... once in Tours we met and went home with our host families. My host mom Jacqueline is the librarian in Saint-Pierre de Corps (another part of Tours), and her house is overflowing with books. (It's wonderful!) She made me lunch and I tried a new cheese for dessert- I forget the name, but it was delicious. I also learned that in France, it is impolite to put your bread on your plate- it must be placed on the tablecloth! She told me that every time an American student visits, she has to re-explain the mannerism. Crazy! We then drove around Tours, which is pretty small for a city, but definitely full of life- there's a section that was originally built in the Middle Ages, and there are a million little shops and cafes.

And now.. I am going to attempt to find the Loire river, which is apparently only a few blocks away! A tout a l'heure!