42 Kilometres

So this past week I have been entertaining the idea of hopping in and joining Dr. Patterson, his brother in law, Brad and his friend Mike, and running the marathon bandit. I started out last week with a 9-miler, then a 7-miler the subsequent day and by day three I was totally feeling my legs. So much so that I kinda just bailed on running all last week. (Yes, it shows!) I was hoping I could make it 16 miles with them but I was a little skeptical after my longer runs monday and tuesday. Last Saturday I told myself I could at least get myself to run the half marathon... pretty respectable, and a little facebook message from Nina was some extra motivation.:) Then of course when I tell Michael I plan on running it he tells me there is no way I could "cold turkey" a marathon. I totally agreed with him, but the ego was hurt (hello pride) therefore I had to remind him the kind of girl his sister is.

I woke up Sunday morning at 5:30 am, NOT in the most pleasant mood, after eating brownies and chips the night before at the Patterson's while watching watching conference, and getting only 6 hours of sleep the night before, but I figured I needed a work out anyways since I had been lazy practically all week, so I trudged to the metro to meet the runners at Patterson's and head for the start at the Arc de Triomphe on the Champs-Elyssees. (longest sentence ever) So we get there about an hour early, long enough for me to really debate on chickening out after seeing all these hardcore runners in their dry fit tank tops, spandex, all goo-ed up and taking shots of gatorade and caffeine. They weren't letting people into the bull-pin unless you showed them your official number so I was thinking I would just meet up with the runners at mile six where their wives would be waiting...Well I totally just bolted in there, found Kelly and the others and started the race with them! Long story short.. I actually finished the marathon! It was so random, but I was feeling good so I just kept on going. Plus a significant amount of grit comes into play when your older brother goes "there's no way you can do it." Michael one word for you: GAAAAAEEE!! haha. so ratty. Michael's comment after I told him I ran the marathon :"yeah that's so cool, see when you are a girl you can run a marathon and get a slow time and it's cool, like if I were to run a marathon I would actually have to get a good time." Typical.

I kind of just set landmarks for myself during the race. Mile six came up so quickly and then I realized I was almost a 1/4th of the way done, then mile 13.. half way, and felt I could totally do what I just did again... so I kept going... Then mile 16 came up three miles later and realized I would be starting the countdown from 10 miles, so I just kept on keeping on to mile 20, same thing... I was thinking of the six mile loop around the river in Eugene and was like I could totally run that right now! then sure enough I was counting down from mile 3, 2, 1... and done. Ran my first marathon. It was cool... a little anti-climatic because I finished by myself and right when I crossed the finish line a guy in French goes "are you registered?" and I said no, then he pointed me to the sidelines. haha. Then I hobbled around for the next hour to wait for everyone to finish and to meet up with their friends and family. But I didn't need a medal to make it feel 'official.' :) Plus, I think it would be so cool to come back and run it having trained and everything and actually get a good time. and be registered:) So I ran it in 4:38 I believe? A little over a 10:30 pace.. painfully slow, but the last 7 miles, I put my ipod in, (I didn't even need it up until that point cuz the course was BEAUTIFUL!) and I made up time and was running a little over 8:30 mm pace. Otherwise, I was feeling totally good. I was so surprised, I didn't have any blisters, injuries, sores, nothing. My joints were totally feeling it, but it was comparable to a state cup game...so yeah, I guess my youth is totally working in my favor!This was taken at mile six. The men stopped and talked to their wives for a little... I don't think I was pleased about stopping or something, I don't even remember this being taken. haha. But Kate Patterson, (Kelly's daughter) took these pics. Thanks Kate!! My mom is grateful! :)

I might have made myself look really hardcore in that paragraph. I hope all those reading this know me well enough to not see this entry as 'oh look what i can do on zero training.' because helllllo I am totally feeling the quads and soreness in my legs, but Burton H. and some ancestor from the Barnes gene pool was looking out for me with these massive tree trunks in the shape of calves and leg muscles, but ibuprofen is my friend so that's helped a lot. Walking downstairs is a joke. In fact I totally ate it yesterday when we were standing in line for the ticket booth outside the Saint Chapelle. But I think it's hilarious when people fall, even myself, so it was a lot funnier than the pain.

Last night at the Patterson's, Dr. Patterson "presented" me with the official Paris marathon shirt in front of the whole group. He also sent out a mass e-mail the night before congratulating me--it really made me feel special! It was so nice of him and I was really touched:) The group also gave me a lot of love and support:) I'm so glad I did it and I'm ready for marathon number two... honolulu of december of '09 perhaps?:)

Here is the site of the marathon, and on there I think you can see the route: http://www.parismarathon.com/marathon/2008/us/index.html

The whole atmosphere was amazing.!! Along the way there were water stops to sponge yourself down, water bottles, bananas, oranges, sugar cubes????, and dried fruit. I obviously mooched. Another hilarious side not were the open air urinals. I saw so much of so many men! Ps there were 35,000 runners! Anyways, I think a couple men and women saw a little too much of Meggers as well, but I just kinda needed to pop-a-squat as is because if I stopped for too long my legs would not have been able to start again.. so again, a daughter after my mothers heart;) She understands the incovenience and having-to-go- so-bad-it-doesn't-matter-where-or-when-factor. And dad I was totally thinking that when I can keep up with you we should totally run a marathon together. I like running buddies. It was a lot easier running with Brad, even though we weren't talking the whole time, than just by myself. And plus, you will push me!

Oh and here are the other pics: First one is of Brad and I. We started the race with Kelly and Mike. Then we went off on our own at mile 10 maybe? Then we split up at mile 20-ish I think. It was fun running with him. Kelly was a good sport running with his friend Mike. I knew he wanted to be up there, PASSING Brad and I, but he stuck with his friend to get him to complete his first marathon! All three of our firsts actually. And Kelly's like 20th? Yeah, I want to be him!
All the finishers! Mike, Kelly, Me, Brad. Kelly was hurt when I told him I hated how I towered over him in this picture. When really it's more embarrassing FOR ME, as his student AND a girl to tower. But he let me borrow his medal for the pic:) And note the Arc de Triomphe in the background!So that's all for now... I'm happy I have checked off one of my life goals and it was one of the best experiences in Paris so far! I feel like I am totally living up this experience.

La foot et la Tour Eiffel

It's been forever since I have written so I'm going to space it out into different blogs so it's not one long boring one. Highlight of the other week: playing soccer with the group under the Eiffel Tower! So much fun! Anything with the group is just a blast, but when we are outside and playing a game, we get so crazy, and I love it. Ok, I should expand upon 'we': Marissa and Jessica get crazy. haha. Marissa takes the cake this time though. She decided to get up on the hedge in between the bball court and soccer court hahaha It was hilarious. I don't know where she comes up with these things but she got totally stuck and she had to shimmy/roll herself off so I could catch her. It was so funny, she was sinking in and screaming and got scratches all over her body. She also makes up these hilarious french songs with the same tune. They are love songs about people in our group -- people will pass us and open their mouths about to ask us if they can hop in but once they see how ridiculous we all are, just laughing and going nuts they just keep walking. This happens SO much. Really putting the American persona out there. Sometimes I wish I could record a video our every day life here with all of Marissa and Jessica's moments and one liners...it cannot be explained, you need the first hand experience!!

Patterson's son Andrew is a big soccer player and he organizes most of our pick up games so I love it. When he gets back from France he is trying out for his high school team.. I'm hoping the weather clears up sometime this week because I told him I would help him with some work outs and ball work... Plus I could use it too! My touch is sooo incredibly off. I have officially crossed over--I'm one of those people you see playing around with a ball and you ask "how long have you been playing" " and I say, oh my whole life" then you play a little one on one and you go : either this girl is a LIAR, or she was warming the bench for the past 15 years. I would love to get my touch back...but either way, it's been a lot of fun playing! Especially looking up and seeing the eiffel tower right in front of me! Still soaking it all in.....

Strasbourg, Colmar, Germany and Choucroute

Our last group trip!! :( It was a really fun trip, but I was so sad that this was the last time all together, traveling and experiencing France. BUT it was a good way to end:)..... with three weeks remaining though!!

We had a lot of down time to explore, do what we want, so it was fun just hanging out with the group and everything. Oh Strasbourg and Colmar are eastern France, right on the border of Germany. I think Alsace was a part of Dad's mission?

So we took the TGV to Strasbourg on thursday and stayed there both nights and spent Friday in Colmar. We arrived and had our first tour there of the cathedrale that was really cool--unfortunately we didn't have good weather this trip, (we've been so lucky though--all the others we've had beautiful weather) so it was a little cold but the guide kept it interesting. He also took us to the place in Strasbourg where the NATO summit will be..Obama is coming to this exact place in a week!

That night we had our first (and last) choucroute experience. Choucroute is a mound of saukraut and all different types of sausage decorating the rim. haha, it was pretty gross but a needed experience. Everyone in Paris was telling us how great it was because it's an Alsatian specialty, so I was happy to try it. I don't think I took a picture but the girls did, so I'll find it and post it.

Friday we went to Riquewhir, a cute medieval city on the way to Colmar. It was rainy, but the whole countryside were vineyards and the little city was built on a hill with such cute houses painted with rusty reds, oranges, and yellows--like snow whites house:) This region is huge on wine and when we came back and told people we went there and didn't try the wine it was like saying we went to disneyland and didn't go on splash mountain. But mom I thought of you because they are known for their "macaroons"--which in Paris have a completely different idea what they are, but Alsace knows whats up. All coconut. You would have diiiied and gone to heaven because they were little macaroons and they let us sample like every flavor--banana chocolate, cafe, almond etc... and they were right out of the oven. So good, but I knew if I bought some they wouldn't make it back to you, sooo just eat a dry hardboiled egg with no salt or pepper and think of how I kind of saved you from a billion calories.:) I think I ate a whole years worth for you so don't worry:)

Then we drove to Colmar, also where NATO leaders are going to be and had a tour of the city. We learned that this area was always fought over between France and Germany so many times that they even have their own dialect here. I was so glad because I thought my French had tanked. We had a lot of down time so we shopped, walked, ate and played cards.

Saturday morning I went on a run with Dr. Patterson and his brother-in-law, Brad. I love running on these group trips--I think morning runs are the best way to experience the city, because when I'm with the group we all tend to be a bunch of complainers and just plop down in a cafe and talk about how much we hate our art teacher haha. So I like running through the old cities, back allies, river paths, around old cathedrales... and DR. PATTERSON ALWAYS CARRIES GOOD CONVERSATION. THEY ARE NEVER BORING AND SERIOUSLY THESE RUNS HAVE BEEN TOP 10 HIGHLIGHTS OF THE TRIP! I'M ALWAYS ATTENTIVE AND REALLY DO LOVE LEARNING FROM HIM AND EVERYTHING HE HAS TO SAY!!!!!!!! Anyways... we ran a little over seven miles and it was a great start to the day. Brad is running his first marathon with Kelly on the 5th! It was fun running with marathoners!

So saturday we took a tour of Strasbourg, and we had the same guide as thursday and we saw a lot of things. I loved this region. It's so cool I was able to get a glimpse of each corner of France! I'm bummed I missed out on s. France but I'm thinking when I return with Erik and Debbers in a year???;) :) we can cruise the beaches of Nice, Marseilles and Biarritz;)

We had a lot of time in Strasbourg before our train left so Caitlin, Jessica, Marissa and I decided to go to Germany! It was about a 40 min. commute by tram and bus and I can say I have been to Germany! We only had an hour and a half there--yes, this trip was all for show-- but we had such a yummy lunch. We asked our waiter to order us the most traditional dishes.. the three girls got some variation of choucroute again and I had yummy white fish. I'm becoming as predictable as my mother...;) But it was fun being just 1/3 of a mile out of France and literally everything was SO different! The language obviously, but people looked different--taller, stronger, and well yeah everything was in German. We kept trying to talk to our waitress in French out of habit but she didn't know any French and would respond in broken english. So weird! But that was really fun. We were worried because on our way back to France there was sooo much traffic over the border and we thought we were going to miss the train. No joke we all said a prayer cuz it took is like double the amt. of time to get back, our phones were either dead or blinking low battery and they didn't work until we were right outside Strasbourg. So we were a little worried that we would have to get left behind --buy another ticket, and catch the later train if possible? Or sleep in the train station for the first morning one? Sound familiar?? Ahh, I need to become a better, more reliable traveler apparently! But we made it 5 mintues before our train back to Paris.

It was a great trip. So much fun! I'm totally going to miss the group and everything about Paris--but especially the time spent with everyone on these group trips. It makes me sad just thinking about leaving here... :( The Patterson's are AMAZING (I'm not trying to kiss butt right now, I would be saying this even if my blog wasn't public;) and I'm so grateful for all the planning and just everything they do for us!

Bapteme!

The biggest news of the week is Melissa baptism! It was such an amazing experience. I'm so happy I was able to share this moment with her and honored that her and the sisters asked me to speak. The next day she was confirmed in sacrament meeting, and the spirit was so strong. The ward and relief society are doing a great job at fellowshipping her. Melissa is so great, with such a strong desire to obey and her testimony amazes me. It was such a great day!!

Here is a picture of Melissa's boyfriend, Melissa, the bishop, Soeur Ernst, Herway, Adams and me:
And a picture of the sisters, Melissa and I. By far some of the best friendships I have made. :)

Cleopatre

Not last night but the night before some people from our group all went to the production of Cleopatra! A kid from our group organized it all, and I'm so happy he did because we never would have known about it. It was so cool, and totally different from any other musical/performance I have seen! It was three hours and that significant because I didn't fall asleep!!!! and I was never bored!!! We are all chipping in a euro for James (our hilarious french teacher) to buy the album, then we're all going to pass it around and import it into our computers. The music was so good! Every song. It was a lot more modern, like hip hop and electric instrumentals, but amazing... I wish I could get a copy of it on dvd or something to show everyone.

It was a little scandalous too, haha. aka why not the whole group went...but I'm surprised how we haven't all adapted to that yet being that there are boobs on just about every street corner sculpture.

Every act, scene or whatever, there was some kind of acrobatics too. Sometimes people would be swinging from these ropes from the ceiling and I literally thought they were going to die. Other times there would be actors on a pole on the stage like holding themselves up with their feet with their bodies parallel to the stage. The tightest thing was when this guy was on two little poles coming out from the stage with the surface to put his hands and he was just break dancing while in hand stand position the whole time, never touching the ground with his hands on these two poles. K I clearly can't describe it, but it was the coolest thing ever.

At first I was trying to pay attention to the plot (obviously it was in French) but then after the first song I just let it go and just paid attention to the colors, background, music, costumes and everything... More enjoyable that way:) I'll figure out the plot later...

So anyways it was the most psychedelic performance ever with the coolest outfits, backgrounds, flashing lights, music, performers I have ever seen. So happy I went and so much fun:) I love France every way I experience it...

Normandy && Mont St. Michel

After a long night spent in the Charles de Gaulle airport, (long story), Thursday morning the group met early at the Pattersons to leave for Normandy! I was dead tired so the three hour bus ride was so necessary.

Our first stop was Caen where we visited the World War II Museum and watched a really well done film. It was a neat exhibit, unfortunately we didn't have a lot of time to spend wandering and I fell asleep during the movie. Then we drove to Bayeux and visited the Tapestry Museum where we had an audio tour of the longest tapestry in the world. I know it sounds really boring, but it was actually pretty interesting-- it explains the events leading up to the 1066 Norman Invasion of England. After that we just walked around the old town of Bayeux and the cathedrale, it is a really cute Medieval city. We all kind of did our own thing for dinner--then we all met back up at the hotel for card games and Mafia. Usually we play in our hotel rooms, (which end up being smelly and musky with 14 people) but this hotel had an upstairs room where we just played games all night. It was seriously the funnest night all together since we've been in France. We played Nertz then played hilarious games of Mafia. My favorite part was making up deaths for people in the group--they were pretty blunt and inappropriate, but hilarious. So much fun!

The next day we headed to Arromanches, where we saw remnants of artificial harbors built in WWII. Today was a really packed day, a lot of bus time, but I love being busy, and it was the coolest day ever. This Normandy trip was easily the best trip yet.
Then we drove to the American Cemetery and Memorial and visitors center at Omaha Beach. This was my favorite. They have this brand new museum built two years ago, and it was amazing. Not the mention the cemetery, the grounds and just walking on the beach where D-day took place was unbelievable. It gave me the chills, so tranquil, so touching.After picnicing at Omaha, we drove to Point du Hoc, where we saw the remains of German defenses and Rangers. I couldn't believe the craters that still exist because of the bombs dropped on D-day. Just seeing the cliffs and being in the actual spot where thousands of American soldiers lost their lives was an amazing experience. Then we headed to Ste. Marie du Mont, where more than 4 hundred planes dropped the American parachutists of the 101st Airborne Division in Normandy.
We went a little further down to Utah Beach, and the same feelings... Here's a group picture of us by the sign and some girls on the beach:We ended the long day by visiting the Ste. Mere Eglise, which is known for the landies of the early paratroopers during the D-day invasion. A well known story displayed in the movie, The Longest day tells of a paratrooper's parachute that got caught on the spire of the town church, and where he could only observe the fighting going on below. He escaped capture by chillin on the spire of the church until the town was taken the next day.

After that we drove to our hotel in Avranches where we had dinner at the hotel as a group, then watched "saving private ryan" that night because we were all in the D-day zone:) This night was also so much fun, a lot of funny stories. The funniest being that my friend Marissa was in the bathroom doing the deed when she hears and sees a rat in the pipes underneath the toilet! haha she was FREAKING out! And it was hilarious. I have it all on video. It was also a lot of fun cuz the four of us girls shared one room so we were just being crazy the whole time, cuddling and laughing. I love hanging out with the group.

The next morning I went on a run with my professor around the old town of Avranches, and so it felt good to finally get out and do something after all the bus time. I love running around these adorable cities. After breakfast we headed for the whole day spent at Mont St. Michel. It was so cool! We had a long time there, maybe too long, but we just roamed the city. It was beautiful weather too... actually all weekend it was great weather, so that just makes everything better! We took an audio tour of the cathedrale and learned a lot. I like audio tours and going at your own pace. So story: Michael moment. As in, I was Michael for the day. Marissa saw this really ugly hat and dared me to wear it for the entire day and she would buy me lunch. a. I could care less--who am I impressing here b. free lunch. Soooo in all my pictures I'm wearing this super asian-touristy, ugly neon orange hat. Everyone thought it was sooo funny. I honestly didn't think it was that big of a deal, but maybe because I didn't actually have to look at myself all day. But everyone in the group got a kick out of it. Group clown. So why did I feel like Michael? Cuz I was the ridiculous guinea pig and getting paid for it.After that, we left home for the three and half hour bus ride back to Paris. It felt good to finally come home and relax after the fun, but tiring trip and bus ride and I think by now I have finally caught up on all my sleep for the past couple weeks:) Yesterday, (sunday) we had stake conference so everyone on our study abroad came out to Versailles to the Palais au Congres where the stake conference was held. It was crazy not to be in a church building or a gym. It's like we were royalty inside an Opera house. France is legit. We were in the building right next to the Versailles chateaux--where Marie Antionette spent most of her life. A general authority spoke and it was such a great talk! He kept it really simple, and it was as if he was targeting new members and investigators. He pretty much outlined Preach My Gospel and just reviewed gospel basics about families and told great stories of how the gospel changes lives. It was a really good meeting! After that I met up with the sisters and Melissa, (our investigator) and they told me that her baptism was still on for this saturday and then asked if I wanted to give a 3-5 minute talk at her baptism! I was so honored and so happy! (and a little scared!) But really thrilled. I can't wait:)

So a perfect ending to the past couple of perfect weeks. It was so beautiful yesterday and today, clear blue skies, about 60 degrees, all sunshine, and that makes me so happy! It's a bummer I have a lot to do this week. I have kind of let my workload pile up these past two months so I need to hit it hard this next month. I'm thinking I'll just do all work no play this week so I can just play the remainer of the time:) Sooo, that's all for now. Feels good to have this all updated so I can start on my homework:) I'll be good this week. I love you and miss you all! 1 month....AHHH :(

Megan and Matt

These pictures are more for Ters than anyone else, haha. Pictures now, stories later:)

Bonne Anniversaire Megan!!!

Best birthday/week EVER!!!

First of all, it was fasting testimony meeting, which I had to miss because I picked up a certain someone from the airport;) but I was able to bear my testimony in Relief Society and it was so cool! I was happy I was able to say what I wanted to say in front of all the women and even though they don't know me--they were able to at least to get to know the most important part of me. I love how much more confident I am in french now.

After that, I left to go pick up Matt from the airport! I was so excited. Best birthday present ever to have a best friend visit me:) ...in Paris. Unfortunately his luggage got lost but he managed for the first couple days. We had a little trouble finding his hotel but once we found it, we dropped his stuff and I opened some presents he had brought. Bliss, Mags and Haley sent me the cutest 'birthday in a bag'. It was so sweet, and I was so touched. I love friends. I have the best friends in the world. They made me feel so special--and still seem to make my day from a billion miles away:) I can't wait to be with them again in the Fall.

Matt and I were going to go to the top of the eiffel tower but it was a foggy day, so we put that off until our last night together, but we met up with the girls in Paris and we wandered for a bit. Then we headed to the girls house for my birthday cake:) Did I mention how I have the best friends in the world? I do. They made this day so special for me:) but it didn't stop there..I came home to my bedroom decorated by my lovely roommate "Caitline" and her and the girls had bought me candy, a crepe pan, flowers and made some hilarious homemade cards. I am so lucky and was SO touched. Then Matt came for my birthday dinner with Madame, (which was a lot less awkward than I had anticipated, yes!) and she had bought me this purple shirt. So sweet of her.

And to top the day off, at night I read my favorite limmericks made by my very own pretty mother:) All around, the best day ever! I can't believe how much love I feel from so many different people in my life. Thank you EVERYONE. I am so blessed, so lucky, so touched, so happy, and pray and think about you all daily.:) And I'm 20 now, YAY!

Loire Valley

I have a lot to catch you up on...

The last week of March the group spent three days in the Loire Valley! It was amazing. Basically it's just chateau after chateau (castles) and it was so cool. Loved it. I remember going with my class in 8th grade, but this time I could appreciate everything so much more--it's like I had never visited it. So Loire Valley. We left Thursday and on pimpin hot pink and purple mercedes charter bus and our first stop was in Blois. Pretty chateau. We had an hour long tour, basically where we learned that it was built by four different people in different centuries, between the 11th and 17th. Yes, I retained some information. then stopped for a photo op outside the Chateau Usse--which was the castle sleeping beauty is based off of. One of the prettiest!That was fun, even though I have never seen sleeping beauty, weird? but it makes me want to be a princess someday:) I have noticed since I have been in France I have a lot more prerequistes for my future husband...

After that we hopped back on the bus to Tours where we stayed both nights. I love bus rides. These trips are seriously the best part about France. I tend to pass out on the bus, (shocker) but when I am awake we play ridiculous inappropriate games like "would you rather" or "ten fingers" or watch movies, play cards, oh eat a ton, pass books around and take pictures...I love our group! And even though there are students who really BUG most of the time... it makes everything even more hilarious. After the long bus ride, Jess and I ran around the city then met up with everyone for dinner. I learned that tartare meant raw. I ordered raw salmon--not good raw unless in sushi I found out.

On friday we headed to Chinon where we had another tour... I can't remember much but it was beautiful and we learned a lot about Jeanne d'Arc, which ended up making me even more confused, but still it was fun.

Then we went to Chenenceau, which is a beautiful castle built on water. We took a self-guided tour and just roamed the grounds. There was a lot of construction to the chateau which was a bummer, but still very beautiful. This was my second favorite castle and one I remembered from middle school. There was a maze of hedges in the gardens that we played in to kill time. It was fun! I felt so BYU playing sardines, buuut I decided to be humble and play haha.... the last time I played sardines was when I visited Michael his freshman year at BYU and I played with these girls him and the boys were friends with in Taylor hall's basement...At the time I was horrified that my BYU Friday nights would be spent playing "hide and go seek" in reverse...but who knew 4 years later I would be my sophomore in high schools self own worst nightmare--and loving it! Times have changed:)

After Chenenceau we got back on the bus to Tours where we stayed another night. That night for dinner we had kebabs--which are pretty much gyros if that helps? Lamb. A greesy lamb hamburger stuffed with fries actually. I can't believe I ate it. But the missionaries always talked about them and I promised I would at least give them a try...I was starved but then wanted to barf. It was an experience.

Saturday morning I went on my first run with my professor. Kelly is a marathon runner so I thought I would be sucking wind the whole time, but I was pleasantly surprised with how much my running has actually paid off. We went for about five miles and we just talked the whole time. We ran around the old city, along the water, I love morning runs. Running buddies are the way to go.

Then saturday we went to Chiverny which was a chateau that a family still lives in. I was so jealous. I took more pictures of the family that actually resides there than the actual castle grounds/castle itself. I'm pathetic. But here's what the outside looked like:But it was so beautiful. We had a great tour with a sweet frenchman then toured the grounds by ourselves. The whole chateau fanasty didn't seem real to me until we came to Chiverny--how people actaully lived like this. The family still owns about 200 hounds for the hunting season. They smelt TERRIBLE. And therefore reminded me of my little basset hound at home. haha. I kept thinking to myself, if mom were here...this would have been her favorite part...she tries convincing me (and herself) that she is not "obsessed" with Lilikoi--but so not true. Very much obsessed.;)

Then we headed to my favorite chateau--Chambord. I also remember this one from pictures in 8th grade. It was AMAZING. So beautiful! We didn't go inside--costed money that the program didn't pay for aaand we are all very cheap--but we didnt need to go inside to see it's beauty. It was such a beautiful day and we spent a couple hours just walking around, playing soccer and hanging out around the castle. This castle has 365 chimneys! One for every day of the year, obviously. And it was just the coolest. The weather this whole trip was perfect, like t-shirt weather! I loved it. I love the SUN. I can't wait for spring.

We headed back home, Paris:), and there ended a great trip to Loire! It was a perfect weekend. I love hanging out with the group, laughing, playing and just spending time together. We had just the right amount of tours and down time, it was perfectly planned. The Patterson's really do a great job. I am so grateful for them. So yes, fantastic trip to Loire Valley!

Italy-Present

So I really apologize for not updating this. I decided I am going to change my blog into a journal when I get home, so not only do I need to step it up for you mom, but for myself! 

Since Italy, not too much has happened though. Let's see, last week, I went on a lot of runs (to make up for Italy,) and taught with the missionaries a lot! Which has been seriously the best experiences I have had here. Soeur Herway and Soeur Adams are the two sisters that I taught with last week, but they got a new sister because of transfers, so they are in a threesome with Soeur Ernst. I love having soeur Ernst with us because she is from Mexico so she only speaks Spanish and French, so it forces us all to speak french to each other instead of english. The sisters have been giving me things to teach too! And Melissa, the investigator is french, so french is really coming along! Last week I taught about the celestial kingdom and faith, the first principle of the gospel, and today I talked about enduring to the end. I love teaching Melissa. She is so amazing and progressing so much, I can't wait for her baptismal date, that we set TODAY... March 22nd! Here is a picture of us... left to right: Soeur Ernst, Soeur Adams, MELISSA, Me, Soeur Herway. 

Last week we did the Latin Quartier walk for our paris walks class and it was so cool! Definitely my favorite quartier/arrondissement of Paris so far. It is so classic Paris, little cobblestone streets, cute Parisien's, little cafes, and just the smell, feel and sound of it is 'Paris'. I also went on a great run last week through the Latin quartier, to Notre Dame back past the Louvre, along the Seine, by the Musee d'Orsay, les Invalides, around the Champs de Mars and the Eiffel tower. Definitely beats the Rexius trail and the DAC. I love Paris, did you know??

Last wed. our fine arts class took a trip to Rouen, which is about an hour train ride west of Paris. It was cool! Our art teacher took it up a notch, good news. We spent sometime in the Rouen museum and saw some early Impressionism art so a lot of Monet originals, which were amazing! Then we had lunch at this cute cafe, that was really french and yummy! After that we walked to the Rouen cathedrale and our art teacher was talking about architecture again...none of our favorites. At lunch we all made a pact no one was allowed to ask questions, just write them down and google them at home. She tends to speak for 20 minutes on things that can be expressed in 3, so we keep our questions to a minimum..best way to learn right?;)

And then this past saturday we played soccer with the elders again, and two sisters came which was fun! I love the missionaries here, they are so funny! And Kathy and Warren, Christopher is a LEGEND here. (I'm addressing you two because I'm sure Christopher does not check this regularly;) I mean it's always my proudest moments whenever I say I am related to the "Barnes" but the elders here were about to bow down and worship me when I said I was related to Elder Christopher Barnes... and they have never even met him! The chinese-speaking elders were all talking about what an amazing missionary Christopher was and how great he was at chinese. Again, none of these missionaries even know him, but have heard of him and look up to him so much! One of them, (this is cute,) said he wrote his mom to have her look Christopher up at BYU so she could send him Christopher's address so he could contact him! He said he remembered Christopher from the MTC, I don't think he was this elders teacher, but he said he knew Christopher worked there. Anyways, I was so proud to be a Barnes, (more than usual) this day! YAY Christopher...rockstar.

SO then that night we went back to hang out with the elders we play soccer with and played pong and made and ate burritos. It was a lot of fun! It reminded me of playing around the world ping pong tournaments downstairs at the Barnes house--GOOD memories:) Good thing it never got competitive either;) 

Elder Oaks came to speak to the youth this past Sunday in Versailles! It was the best experience. Our church ends at 12:30, and Oaks didn't speak until 7 pm, but because it takes about three hours to get to and from church, and we wanted to get good seats, (front row to be exact), so we just hung out at the church all day. Me and the three girls. It was so worth it. Elder Oaks and his wife are so adorable, and so phenomenal, it was amazing. Highlight of the trip hands down.

After that we got home at 10 pm, Madame had left us food out for dinner, which was a little interesting.. we had this cold salmon crap cake thing that was different tasting but looked beautiful and then this potatoe, ham, cheese, pie thing, that was stinky, but I ate it. Then cheese and bread and flan for dessert. I'm getting more and more used to french cheeses....

Yesterday I ran from the institute after world religions to the patterson's and we all just hung out there like we normally do. But then Patterson's 16-year old son, (who plays soccer with us and the missionaries) and I went down to the eiffel tower to kick the ball around. We got kicked off the grass, so we played on a cement soccer court and played a pick-up game with a couple of kids. It was really cool. The whole time we were talking about how we couldnt believe we were dribbling, then we look up and hello Eiffel tower a foot from my face. Our team dominated, even though our goalie was just puffing away like a chimney the whole time--but it was hilarious. He reminded me of Danny Zuko from Grease. It's cool because anyone can play, like there was a little boy on my team who was probably Erik's age, just coming home from school, in his jeans and a polo shirt and we're all just playing a casual game of soccer. I don't think they had ever seen a girl play soccer before so they were like freaking out when they saw I was a decent player-- my chain smoker goalie kept saying "how are you a girl but you play like a boy??" Moment of fame.

And today other than teaching with the sisters I didn't do much other than run, read and take a nap. Everyone in our group is sick. In fact one girl has mono and she had to go home on saturday! :( I couldn't believe it.. I feel so bad for her. Luckily I never really hung out with her, and even if I did, we all calculated it that we wouldn't be showing symptoms until the last week we are here, so no raining on this parade:) ...for now.

Well I think I am pretty much all updated! Tomorrow we are going to the Louvre for art class, then the Loire Valley trip thurs-sat. Then my birthday on Sunday! I'm already prepared for the BEST birthday ever.... CAN'T WAIT! :) :) 

l'Italie!!!

So two weekends ago our professor let us go with a group and travel. Initially he said we could only go somewhere in France, had to be by train, and we could leave no earlier than Friday. Well.... me and five other girls got him to let us go to Italy, by plane and leave wednesday afternoon. Good girls tend to get what they want :) So I was so happy! 

Wednesday after Caitlin's class we left the Institute for the airport to Milan! We were running a little late, and got on the plane just in time for the last boarding call. This dumb French girl wouldn't let us past without our tickets, but we couldn't get our tickets until we were on the other side of the terminal aand I couldn't communicate my frustration very well in French, (probably somewhat a blessing on her behalf) sooo we were a little rushed, but it was okay. Let's just say that pretty much set the tone for the rest of the trip.. our motto in Italy tended to be "just play dumb american" --we played it very well, most of the time without even trying.

So I of course slept the whole plane ride and there was some INTENSE turbulence that woke me up as we were landing. Seriously the whole plane was shrieking. It was so funny. And kinda scary, but more funny than anything. So we got of the plane and it was such beautiful weather! And it lasted the whole trip--we were SO thrilled. As we were walking off the plane we also realized that a. we had no idea where we were staying (we made reservations at the cheapest hostel) but had noo clue how to get there b. that no one in italy speaks a word of english. c. that we did not speak a word of italian. But it was all part of the experience.

We found a bus that took us to the center of Milan and got on that. I fell asleep on the bus, again. So we got to the Milano center and went to go find where to buy tickets for our train ride to Venice. We tried buying them online but it was asking for all this weird stuff like our tax refund numbers or something? I don't even know.. so we just took our chances and hoped we could buy them there...but of course we already paid for our hotel in Venice. Ha. Now that I look back on it, seriously what were we thinking?? So funny how everything just happened to work out. We communicated for about 20 minutes with the guy who was selling train tickets making sure that it was the right train, etc.. he was getting pretty frustrated because we couldn't stop laughing and then having second thoughts about buying the tickets because of the huge language barrier and the high probability of us buying a plane ticket to barcelona or something... Here is what we looked like 95 percent of the trip..... LOST.From there we took 6 trams, 2 metros and walked a couple miles to find our hostel. Oh, and at every block we showed italian strangers our address to see if they knew where our hotel was. (oh and it was a rule from patterson not to show anyone our address..) So after three hours, we found hotel greco! Really not too bad of a place. The guy at the front desk was dreamy italian with a cute pug so naturally he won us all over. We were all starved at that point, so he told us of a good pizzaria to go to. Italian pizza mmm. Not going to lie though, I think Michael has turned me off pizza for life, so I wish he would have been there to enjoy it even more for me, but it was still really good:) 

So we came back to the hostel, hung out for a bit, then went to bed early.Friday morning we woke up and ate large croutons for breakfast. It was hilarious, the guy at the front desk was like "normally we give you croissants, but I ate all of them" haha. So we set off for our first day in Milan! He gave us a map of all the cool places we would want to go (fashion districts, obviously). We took the tram to the Cathedrale Duomo, which I know nothing about other than the fact that it's really spiky and gothicy. (I'm learning so much in my art class, can you tell?) But we went to the top of it and it was so beautiful! Such blue clear sky, sun was out, it was amazing! I had missed sunshine and clear skies. After that we walked around the shops then went and found a cafe for lunch. All of us basically got gnochhi pesto wich was D for Dank, meaning good;) and made really good friends with our waiter. haha, notice a trend in my blogs.. food and boys. ha, shameless. He kept saying "you want menu? no problem" "anything for you beautiful, no problem" so funny. He spoke the most english of anyone else we encountered.

After that we went to search for Leonoardo DaVinci's "Last Supper" painting. On our way we stopped by an old medieval cathedrale thing, and saw a cool fountain and saw it as a great photo opp. Well as we were being ridiculous and taking pictures, Japanese tourists, swarmed us and started taking pictures of us haha. Seriously one minute we were smiling and jumping off the ridge of the fountain, the next asians are pointing, cracking up and taking pictures. Soon enough they wanted to be IN the pictures and even more crowds of people stopped, stared and took pictures. We caused a scene, but it was hilarious. Definitely won over the Japanese. YES. You can see for yourself...

So we figured out the night before we arrived that we needed to make reservations to see the "last supper" painting months in advance AND that it costed like 15 euros AND that you can hardly even see it because of the poor preservation or paint or something, but we were all prepared to just show up and play the dumb american card ... didn't work this time:( Bummer.. but I guess it did save some money. Then we just cruised the streets of Italy a little more, oh and had our first gelatto. So good. I thought of Michael again because I got coconut and I remembered how a year ago this Valentine's day I was running all over center street in 

Provo to find Jess's favorite coconut gelato haha. I missed Michael a lot this trip! I'm sure he doesn't even know I have a blog.... haha oblivious little endearing rat.

So we made our way back to the hotel, for yes, more food. Pizza again! We stopped by this Pizza place on the same street as where we were staying because it was really cheap (and Italy was burning a huge unanticipated hole in our pockets) and we tried to order Pizza but of course, not a word of english was spoken. I have the most hilarious video of my friend Marissa trying to communicate with the guy. Then we called our friend at the front desk at the hotel hoping he could translate and give the guy our order but obviously that didn't work.. It was so funny! If I can upload videos on here, I will try and post it. Worth a watch, maybe you had to be there? But seriously the whole trip we were just laughing at eachother and smiling the entire time. So much fun.

Came back to the hotel, gave our guy our order, then he called the pizza place, had it delivered and we ate in our rooms. We also went and got a whole bunch of Italian chocolate and ate that after the Pizza... I don't want to talk about it ok? Let's say I consumed more calories in Italy than I did all Fall semester.

The next morning we woke up at 5:30 to catch our 8 am train to Venice! The train was a lot of fun! Of course there was assigned seating but of course we got out of it because of the dumb americana flag we waved, so it was fun sitting all together, sleeping, reading, eating of course and laughing. 

So we got off the 2-hour train to beautiful Venice! It was such great weather, our spirits were soaring, first time we could take off our jackets since we have been in Europe. Then we walk out of the train platform and already there is the most amazing, (the best way to describe Venice is honestly, romantic) view. We were also so grateful that people around us were speaking english and looking like even bigger tourists than us! There were so many people, so we didn't stick out very much, even though we were taking so many pictures, being really loud and using the word "obsessed" in every single sentence. Here's a picture of what I saw right outside the train station...unbelievable. 

After that we went to find the bus that would take us to our hotel. We didn't stay on the island of Venice because it was about double the money a night, but we were a 10 minute bus ride away from the island so it worked out perfectly. Transportation in Europe, (for the most part) is so convenient! And the place we stayed at too was a lot nicer than expected. I guess we got the rooms when they had a special promotion online, because it's actually where Yao Ming stayed on his honeymoon. haha, I only know that because he has a shrine like right about the check-in counter. So dad, of course, I thought of you! 

We dropped our stuff off in our rooms and went to lunch to a cute little sit down restaurant right next door. I tried my first calzone. A lot better than the United States. haha, shocker. But it was so good. And of course I ate the whole thing. Oh and it was the size of my head... no big deal. 

Then we went back into Venice and used the map the concierge gave us with all the cool stuff to do. Luckily it was early afternoon, so we had all day to explore. We went to the St. Marks cathedrale, another church, got more gelato (yum) made friends with some cute italianis and other students studying abroad, and pretty much just got lost in the cute little streets. The best part is just the water taxi that takes you everywhere. What a cool city--a boat is your transportation to and from work and school. Do these people realize this life they are living?? We loved it, and yes, took many pictures. I love Venice, and I love how there are no cars, such a cute, romantic, beautiful city. We played all day, walked a lot, window shopped, got terribly lost then came back to the hotel. Traveling kind of takes it out of you, (in a good way.)

We came home, we were all so tired, but of course I was the only one who fell asleep. We were all hanging out in Marissa and Jessica's room, (that ended up being my room because of the China stench in my room, and I couldn't handle it, so singapore Marissa came to the rescue and swapped me:) and I fell asleep on her leg, middle of convo. I think I might be narcaleptic. Seriously, I can pass out so easily, it's embarrassing sometimes. Marissa made a facebook album of me sleeping (haha, sounds creepy) and VERY unflattering, but it's an accurate portrayal of what happens to me when I am on the metro, on the plane, reading a book, listening to music, or just very tired. 

They woke me up and we went to dinner... seriously we ate so much in Italy!! I did damage control the week we got back, but it was worth it. But this meal was terrible, it was this Indian-Italian restaurant, so dirty. And these 50 year old working men bought us a round of fries, haha a. gross. and b. so not only do we have america stamped on our forehead but obviously mormon innocence as well. But I'm okay with the second;) So that was gross, but at least we could laugh about it.

Saturday morning we got an earlier start again, because we were leaving that night, so we had a lot to fit in! We took the water taxi to Murano, which is an island next to Venice, famous for it's glass blowing. It was so neat! We were able to see a live demonstration of this guy making glass and it was awesome. Of course we took a picture with him after. The gift shop was a lot cooler too now that I knew how hard glass was to make, so I have a much greater appreciation:) We walked around Murano for a while, and really all there is to see are the millions of different glass shops with the same stuff, but it was still really cool. It was beautiful weather again so it was fun to aimlessly walk the streets. Oh and did I mention it was Valentine's day!! (Lucky Valentine's day couple on a gondola ride... so pretty!!)

We were laughing the whole time how it was us six girls in one of the most romantic cities, on valentines day of all days. So we wanted to take a picture of all the cute couples we saw on gondola's and what not but decided it would be kind of creepy. But don't think I wasn't seriously considering it...good thing my camera died.

We came back to Venice, and another surprise was that one of the worlds largest carnivals took place starting that weekend! Looks like we planned this thing right, unintentionally. It was like a mini-Mardi Gras slash halloween, and not very mini. Everyone was dressed up in 18, 19th century clothes and I even saw some spidermans, spongebobs and other costumes... So I don't know if they even know what they are celebrating, but it was cool! Everyone was pretty tossed at 10 am, which made it even more hilarious. A couple of us got our face painted (cool thing to do, obviously) so we fit right in and even joined in on a couple of parades. It was a lot of fun, and fun to be a part of! I can't believe the coincidence. 

Then we had our last meal, late lunch at this cute little restaurant in a secluded alley. Of course it was couples galore, and all of us had face painting or masks on... little embarrassing, haha, but they served us anyway! We all got our last pasta dose in, and honestly, I started feeling sick of carbs. Never thought I would have that feeling, so it was great! But of course gelato is dairy so we got our last gelato after and headed for the airport:) Bottom line: Venice is sweet, and we had a total BLAST.

It took us a while to find how to actually get to the airport, and of course we were running late once again, but we made it to the bus stop, got on, hurried to find the ticket line, to find out our plane got delayed by THREE hours. I actually wasn't too bummed because it was the first mishap and I'm so glad it happened on our way home rather than to Venice. So I slept almost the whole time in the terminal, read, listened to music and played cards. Our face paint got itchy too and we decided we didn't want to land in Paris with colored faces so we washed that off too. 

So we got into Charles de Gaulle a little after midnight, which I thought nothing of, but obviously should have because we found out after waiting 30 mins at the metro in the cold that metros stop running at midnight. Lame. So we had to take a taxi to le Vesinet, which ended up being 25 dollars a person, so not too terrible, just a bummer. But we were so tired and ready to be home, the taxi driver probably just picked his price. 

It was a good feeling to be "home." I love how Paris feels like home to me. It really does. And even though Italy was so GREAT and we all had the time of our lives--nothing even compares to Paris. Really, I love it, greatest city ever. I feel so comfortable here, and I love that I know the language! I just got such a great appreciation for French and France while I was away and it felt so good to come "home." I never want to leave....

mecredi a vendredi

Wednesday was fine arts day, YAY! I wish i could actually be excited to tell you about all the things i learned, but im pretty sure we went to the most boring section of the Louvre, told in the boringest way.. since thats a word.. but if it were a word, it would describe our teacher perfectly. She kind of just reads from her notes the whole time, which I would gladly take a copy of so i can bypass the sound of her voice. Ok I am complaining, I need to stop. I'm sure she makes a great mom or something:) So that was very very long, but after the girls and I walked outside the Louvre over the seine, through cobblestone streets and just perused until dinner.Boudemange, (my mommy) couldnt eat with us cuz she was just pimping in paris, but she made spinach with white fish. I was so happy. Really bland, so caitlin and I put the salsa she had brought for her over it.. we have used so much of the salsa actually.. hopefully that's not rude to be eating the gift she got her, but she clearly has no idea it's purpose, so we use it for eggs and just about everything..

Yesterday was a productive day! We got an earlier start, did a walk in la defense, which is sooo industrialized. You would have no idea you were still in Paris. Skyscrapers up the ying yang.. I actually didn't like it at all. I prefer the cultured architecture and small narrow streets and cute little old men with baguettes:) But it was neat to see the transition to modern day style. It was a short walk, but fun with the girls, as always;)

Then the best part!!!! We went to the Rodin museum! It was sooo cool! I remember going there with Michael and how much we loved it! Which is soo weird to think about now considering it is a really sexual museum, but yeah. By far one of the highlights of the trip so far. I definitely want to go back when gardens are in bloom... hopefully I can catch a bit of Spring before I leave... but yeah, LOVE the rodin museum.
After that we went to the Patterson's and were probably there for five hours. I love hanging out there, so much fun! I love how we can just drop in, and so does all the other students. I got a good nap in while everyone watched the office... i figured i would catch up with michael, erik and debbers when i get home:) then as they watched ever after, (lazy day obviously) I read this book im obsessed with called "A New Earth" ... really insightful, all about awakening to life purpose through consciousness and detaching from our ego. It's so cool. After that was Institute, then home. Good day:)And today I was all stoked on going teaching with the missionaries, but unfortunately it got called off because Kalu's aunt (the investigator and my new bff) had to go to work or something, and wanted to meet all of us. So it got rescheduled till Tuesday. Then I did my case study online.. which is the last step for my application to PR. I wish I could tell you I rocked it, but I really didn't. Long story short, I'm sure it will do, (2.5 hours is shorter than it seems) and I'm just glad the head pr guy at byu still accepted it after firefox closed down on me and so I wasn't able to submit it. Then I ran, took some pants to get hemmed......... lil sketch about that........ and now I'm here. Tomorrow morning I'm going to play soccer at our versailles ward then some girls are hosting a breakfast at the Patterson's then I think we're all going to go see a movie. So looks like a fun saturday:) Well, it's only 10 pm and i think im going to bed soon. So happy to be tired this early! And yeah, that's about it for now. Love you all. Pray for you and think of you daily:) bisous.

CHARTRES

On Saturday we made our first day trip to Chartres. It was really cool, and actually one of the colder days of my life. But my fault, I don't think I was paying attention when Patterson told us to bundle. Soo Meggers froze just a tad, but it was okay:)
The day started by waking up at 5:30am and taking the TGV.. which was about an hour long, so obviously I passed out before the train even took off. Once we got there, we went to Mac Donalds to get some warmth, then to the Cathedrale, which is called "Notre Dame a Chartres." Really beautiful. We had a fascinating tour guide. He was this cute old man with an English accent who has studied this church for 51 years!!!! So crazy. He went into detail about six stain glass inside the church, one was about Jesus' geneology, then his life, then his atonement. The others were about Noah's arc, the virgin Mary, Joseph of Egypt... and I think that's it. The church is the oldest medieval church in all of Europe and it has a Mary relic of a piece of silk, so it was a huge pilgrimmage site back in the day. Basically, just a really interesting day, and I learned so much!So sunday, great day. I talked to the sister missionaries and I am going teaching with them on Friday. I can't wait! We are teaching this girl from Zimbabwe, who I met at church. Her name is Kalu, and we apparently really hit it off because she has called me about 11 times since church. She's really cute. She's 17 years old and lives here with her aunt. I don't think she has many friends, (hence the phone calls,) but I'm sure we'll become good friends:) Although, I never would have guessed english was her first language because a. I asked her how long she had been speaking english and she looked at me like I was an idiot then said her whole life, and b. I cannot understand a single word that comes out of that girls mouth. I just laugh when she laughs and say "yeah" and nod when her voice goes up at the end of sentence like a question... soo this relationship could be difficult now that i come to think of it.

So obviously I'm super stoked to go teaching with the sisters and teaching the first lesson! Little bummed it's not in french, but I'm sure there will be many more opportunities:) Then sunday night...superbowl! Yeah. I'm such a hardcore football fan now for going over to the Pattersons and midnight and staying up until 4! haa... I actually have no idea why I went over there because the whole time I was working on a world religions presentation I gave on the following day, buuut fun attempt at the football americain atmosphere I guess...

Yesterday, I was a little out of it, because of the no sleep, and I slept on my professors couch... (yeah no one spread that) then my presentation was a bit of a joke, but I learned a lot about John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff..good guys. ha. obviously. Then Cait and I went home to shower and get cleaned up from our overnight, then back over to Patterson's for dinner and FHE. it took us an hour and a half to get into Paris last night! There was an accident on the metro or something so everything was backed up.. it was soo annoying. But a little hilarious cuz we were literally jam packed and spooning with smelly frenchman, we couldnt stop laughing, we were like crying once we got off. Love her.

Finally today. So no school for me, yay:) Slept in, hotmail wasn't working, so a little bit of morning frustration, but went for a run and cooled off:) Great run today... sorry this is getting annoying to hear. Just assume everyday I'm going for a great run k? But I went for a longer run today so Cait and I missed yoga at the church.. I was kinda bummed. (some girls planned a yoga work out) After that, we just aimlessly wandered Paris. Our new favorite thing to do is close our eyes and just point on a place on the map and go there and browse. So we kiiinda did that today, but got a little sidetracked;) But I also had to be back so I could skype the PR comms department for my over-the-phone interview. It went well though, ask debbers for details Ters;) So we just ate and we had fish! White fish! I'm loving all the protein I'm eating these days.. seriously lifts my spirits so much more than carb overload. (I bought two dozen eggs the other day and plan on finishing them this week... mmm:)

So I think I'm all caught up. I'm still really happy, loving everything, but missing so many people:) A bientot!

St. Germain

So today there were riots so we were not allowed to go into Paris, and the metro was all backed up, so we did everything by foot:) But it was still such a great day!

Started out... with the usual wake up call from Caitlin, along the lines of "yoooo d-o-double g" or "woahhhhza" or some 2pac song she's trying to memorize.. so even though I am not a morning person, my alarm clock is the best ever, in addition to a particular morning e-mail;)... definitely beats Michael and Erik pounding through my bedroom door then jumping on me, crawling under the covers and cracking my toes or rubbing their freeeezing bodies up to mine under the covers...

SO YEAH.. then I went for a GREAT road run... through Vesinet, le Pecq, Criossy, so pretty. I love running the streets of France. Came home, then headed to St. Germain. St Germain is just on the other side of the Seine, and it's a really cute town with a big chateau and garden.

It's actually where Louis XIV was born. We couldn't go inside because it was closed, but it was cool just walking around it. I'm totally running there tomorrow, and just getting lost in the gardens. The view is AMAZING.

We met up with two boys from our group, Jess and Marissa and went to some other boys house to watch step up 2, (great flick), and yeah, just hung out..so that was fun! Cait and I kinda lost track of time though, and we didn't realize how far away their house was from ours so we were a half an hour late for dinner. But Madame was okay with it:) For dinner we had grapefruit, pasta, (I'll come back to that later) a piece of baguette and two cheeses. I think one was a bleu cheese and the other was a softer, less smellier one. Not bad though. Pallet expansion. So the pasta. Caitlin gave Madame a bottle of green salsa as a "thank you gift" for letting us stay here--and after many attempts of trying to describe what salsa is to her, she still did not get her head wrapped around the fact that it is not spaghetti sauce. So. We had noodles with salsa on top for dinner. It was actually good, but so hilarious. Maybe tomorrow will be pot stickers and maple syrup?

Now I'm in my room, skyping=best invention ever, and ready for a big sleep-in tomorrow because, oh yeah, no class! That's all for today. A demain!

just another day in Pari :)

So today I woke up, went for a run on the seine again..... starting to feel more and more like the rexius trail.. but i would LOVE to know how far I am running. It's hard to track because my legs are numb so I can't tell how fast I am going... I heard I can like google map it or something and track my miles? It was funny today. I saw this guy running on the trail awhile a head of me. And sooner or later I caught up to him, (he was old, so it's not like he was a middle aged marathoner..) and it was funny cuz as I was trying to pass him, he totally sped up, so we were running side by side for a minute, ..which is like a fourth of a song, kiiinda a long time, and finally i just bit the bullet and sped up, but then he was on my tail for the entire run. It was so funny. He got so competitive, and naturally I did too cuz I wasn't going to let him pass me after that, so yeah that was fun and i got a better work out. Thanks ego.

After the run, came home, showered, then went back to lafayette gallerie to do our walk-- I wish i had a lot of cool things to say about it but basically it was just walking around looking at architecture on random buildings. Still cool though! One of which was the opera building and we really want to go see an opera or a ballet one of these nights! I told my mom (french mom) I was all excited to go out and get all dressed up and "chic" but she said that I could just wear jeans. daaaaangit. I had a much better idea of the opera in my head I guess.

For dinner tonight we had lentils and brussel sproats. Good thing I'm not a picky eater.....oh wait.....

shopaholic!... but not really..

.... i was THIS close today to making a designer bag purchase today. It was between a 790 euro D&G handbag... 50 percent off!!! soooo approx. 501 u.s dollars. restraint. THEN hello marc jacobs handbag that i have had my eye on for months! buut that was 550 euros soo i didnt need to do that math to realize that i could get it in the u.s. for cheaper, and when i didnt need to live off a budget with no income for the next couple months. 

so this was in the lafayette gallerie... my new fave. so then, i felt the need to try on some silk black formal prom-like dresses, cuz they were on sale obviously! and i hate to say that I had to use restraint not the buy those (yes, plural..) either. I spent an hour and a half on the FIRST floor...don't worry there are 5. you bet your bottom ill be back tomorrow. materialistic?? no no, just a good appreciation for beautiful material things:) 

BUT i guess what my mom would like to hear more about is my first day of classes... so this morning I woke up just as Cait was leaving for her 9 o'clock class, went for a lovely run, then to the institute at 11. So I guess the institute is a lot further than i expected..... good thing I only need to go there two days a week for classes.did i mention i have tuesdays, thursdays and fridays off?? And still taking 12 credits.. pretty legit! hard load. tough life. 

French will be easy-- but fun. and im meeting with the grad student, who is the teacher for my conversation courses and he said he'll set goals with me to make this semester worth my while for french. I'm excited, I need to have a 40 min convo with a native french speaker a week, so hello creeper metro guys.. or security guards? ;) Then world religion I think could be interesting if it weren't so long and there weren't so many things about my professors physique to distract me. and the even bigger problem is how cold the room is. and the only way i deal with coldness is sleeping soooo i'll need to figure out a game plan for getting through that class this semester... considering it is the only lecture, aka real class im taking. 

tonight we went over to the pattersons house for fhe. we had pasta and salad for din and watched she's the man. great flick. but cait and i were really tired so we skipped out a little early. Now I'm home and being a rockstar on day one of my commitment to this blog. Tomorrow we'll be back at lafayette... but this time for a WALK (aka academic credit ok?) and shopping. did i mention end of january is the month of "soldes", sales? shopping will be taken down a notch in feb.-april. BUT in my defense I have purchased LESS than 100 dollars worth. including food. going strong. hopefully michael majors in accounting and can create my budget for the rest of my life.... 

a demain!

ma première semaine !

So I really should write more often than once a week, I apologize, I will try to get better at this. But ok, this week was so packed and has flownnnn by like no other! I feel like I have been here for a month already--in a good way-- and still loving every moment, smell, taste, person, experience etc... SO...We didn't have school this past first week, but it was our time to get acquainted with Paris, the metro system and just to get settled in. We are all taking this "Paris Walks" class and basically what it is is a book of twenty different walks (sights, buildings, cathedrales, chateaus etc..) in Paris, and we choose 16 of them over the course of the semester. The walks range from 1 hour-to 6 hours. The fact that they are "required" make them boring at times, but really I'm so grateful for them because it has kept us busy and seeing a lot of cool things that we probably otherwise would have missed. 

Starting from last sunday-- freaking LOVE church. I go to the Versailles ward and it's so awesome. I was surprised that I could follow every meeting. The spirit was soooo strong the whole way through and I was just eating up every moment of it. Sunday school was fun because we went to the young adults meeting, and it was fun hearing comments of kids my age. Sacrament was also really cool because there were two missionary speakers... a sister, (who is officially my favorite person ever) and an elder. The hymns were my favorite part though. I was focusing a lot more on the words so that I could understand them, so I think that's why they were so special to me. 

On monday we went our whole group at the institute for devotional. Then we cruised Paris a little...went shopping, and ok, I have spent just about nooothing, so I am so proud of myself. But of course the purchases I WANT to make are about a half a grand, so saying that I am using restraint should be more like I'm using common sense. Monday night we had FHE at the Patterson home, (my professor.) They have SUCH a nice place. Two blocks from the eiffel tower, total of 5 rooms, and in the nicest area of Paris. BYU got hoooooked up. So FHE and dinner at their house will be really nice every monday just to chill and be with everyone.. it's funny how it feels like home at their place. I love it, home away from home, but in Paris with people who were strangers just 9 days ago!

On Tuesday we did the "Marcher le nez au vent" walk. The sights and smells around the Madeleine. Everyone in our group is on their own for the walks but Caitlin and I go with two other girls from le Vesinet as well and we have a fun little fouresome going:) ....us four are the only girls in our area, so it's really convenient and we have a really good time together! So we started at l'eglise Madeleine, which was so cool.

 I can't believe these exquisite cathedrales here...stain glass, images and paintings of Christ as so beautiful! I learn a lot every day by seeing the different depictions of Christ, his life and his ministry inside the cathedrales I saw this week. After that we walked down the Rue Royal, which I loved of course cuz Chanel, Dior and Gucci were along the rue. Then we went to laduree which is a really famous patisserie for it's macaroons, (not coconut like the united states,) but they are cute bite-sized cookie sandwich things and we all got a couple to split. So cute! 

Then we went to Moulin Rouge (sketch) .. and obviously "off limits," but we went before dark so it was still semi-safe;) We went to a perfume museum, flower shops as well...

Then wednesday the 21st..... mom's bday!! :) so the best day ever of course! But I was sad I was not with her to celebrate, but I did go to Notre Dame in her honor! It was the "Paris in Layers:Notre Dame, Saint-Chapelle, Ceonciergie" walk. It was definitely one of my favorites since I have been here. We went inside Notre Dame and it was just soooo cool! Better than I remembered. The stain glass is SO SO breathtaking--and I actually remembered some of the gothic architecture history that I learned in my history of creativity class! snaps for meggers.We plan on going to mass in notre dame either next sunday or the sunday after. can't wait! 

After that we walked across the square to the crypt with is underneath the cathedrale of actual archeological sites of the buildings from I don't even know how long ago. But it's something that I normally would have found totally boring, but I guess I actually like learning about boring stuff now! Then we went the Conciergie, which was also really cool. It's basically a prison that housed the prisoners from the Reign of Terror and Marie Antionette and Robespierre. That was also sooo neat. I read a lot and learned a bunch about Marie Antionette. I'm excited to learn more about her as we go to Versailles and see where she lived etc... The chateau is about a mile from our church building and I heard it's amazing. Can't wait. Unfortunately the Saint Chapelle was closed (seriously the French are so inconvenient. Nothing is open mondays, some not even tuesdays, places close SO early, closed during lunch hour, but also not open in the mornings.... ahh! but I still love them:) And want to be one of them:) 

Madame feeds us every Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday and these dinners consist of about five courses. This night we had soup first, this dish that she just heated up, but was very french, and really good actually. I asked her what was in it and she said flour, egg and fish. Kinda weird? I think France will do wonders for my picky pallet. Already has. Mom I like brie cheese now!...it has to be mild though. And really really mild swiss. but that's only when I'm starving...which is very frequent. But I lately I like the feeling of the empty grumbling stomach;) Then we had salad--which is just leaves and this kind of horseradish sauce--again, an experience. Then bread with cheese, followed by an apple. But even though some of the food is pretty wack, I enjoy the culinary experience. And again, everything tastes better when you're super hungry.

On thursday I was really excited about going to the Louvre but I guess that's not even a walk because we do it with our fine arts class, so I was okay with post-poning it until I gain an appreciation for the art in advance:) But it was also suuuuper rainy. The first day I bailed on the early morning run along the seine.. I guess I'm not the rockstar runner like my dad, but I draw the line in wind, freezing rain, darkness.... so I just did a couple more stairs on the metro instead;) Because it was so cold and wet we did the metro walk and met up with some other people in our group. Basically the walk just familiarized us with the metro, and I feel really

 confident on it now! Even though yesterday the girls hoped on the metro and the doors closed and it left me behind:( haha it was really funny though. We also did a the Palais Royal walk that day, which took us near the Louvre and into the Louvre antiquitaire, which are just antiques..and don't worry, I found my future engagement ring:)

 My husband will have to love me a lot for how much I plan on him dropping on my historic Paris rock;) We also went to the Sacre-Coeur.. which I also remember doing with my family and it was SO beautiful!

 Second tallest building in Paris (to the tour eiffel of course) because it's built up high on a hill. But that was amazing! After that walk, we went to institute. That was really cool! I guess institute is like seminary, at night, for young adults, but it was really interesting and spiritual. I love volunteering to read out loud. Even though I stumble a couple times, it's fun trying to lay on a thick french accent because no one makes fun of me! Plus a cute boy Cedric shared his triple with me, and we chatted for a bit, soooo maybe I was trying to show off? ;) Oh and we also had our first crepe today! Oh my gosh it was massive and so rich. But Caitlin and I told each other we wouldnt have anything more than once here so no more crepes for meggers:)

On friday, we decided to have a "chill" day because we have been kind of going non stop all week so we went to the Champs d'Elysees and shopped around at all my favorites... Dolce and Gabbana, Prada, Dior, Chanel, etc.... yeah. my favorites. I wish. The security guards in these places are hilarious. They hoover big time and I'm scared to cough. But Cait and I dressed up so we would blend in just a litte:) We have a lot of fun together! We also saw the Arc de Triomphe! So beautiful. Why is Paris just the coolest city ever?

Then friday night we went over to the other Vesinet girls house and they made dinner for us...pasta, bread, salad and chicken. It kind of felt like I was back at 341 Alpine Village..:) I miss those girls so much! Then Marissa and Jessica's host mom has two grandsons who are our age and they took us to St. Germain to this bar-restaurant and it was really fun! They spoke to us in english and we responded in french. Cute boys. They are going to take us clubbing next weekend in Paris... because I told them how much I wanted to go to a real euro-techno club, so of course, can't wait! So that was a really fun and more laid-back day/night!

Yesterday, (Sat.) we woke up a little late, went running then headed back to the Champs to do the walk. This was my favorite so far. First we visited the Invalides, and saw Napoleon's tomb. So cool! I loved reading about him. Even though he was known as the "butcher of Europe," he was very fascinating stuff. I remember going when I was in third grade with my family, but everything is just so much more real to me now! I love it. I like see my maturity in the fact that I find things interesting now! Then we went next door, (still in the Invalides) to the musee de l'armee which was a lot to take in, but I learned a lot about Frances history of WWI and WWII. I'm afraid it was kind of in one ear-out the other-so I definitely want to go back.

 We all really like that though! It's funny the security guards in the exposition got Jessica's number and I had a date with one of them when his shift was off.. but of course I felt too bad to say 'no' so I just stood him up instead. But he was really nice! And I love practicing my french! I was bummed because the Musee Rodin was included in the walk but it was closed, (again, cool France) becuase of un manifestation, which I think is a riot. So i guess that is a legit reason. So we will go back Tuesday and I can't wait! I remember that being one of Michaels and my favorites when we came here. Gates of Hell, the Thinker, mmm:) I'll start updating this thing every night and get more on the ball so I can go more in depth. Sorry!

Then we went to our professor, Dr. Patterson's house and visited with him and his family. They said we can drop by anytime, and they are so gracious, nice and fun so we will periodically just go over and hang out with them now! They also live in a prime spot, so I'd be happy to drop in :) Then we went to the eiffel tower afterwards to see the lights at night. Really neat. We wanted to go up, but there were such long lines, (smart planning to go on a sat. ..) So we want to go up tomorrow after FHE at their house since it's literally kitty-corner. After we went to this Cafe Marche which was a cute, quaint, cafe right off the main street of the eiffel tower. We loved it!  We love sharing, which is good so we got duck, chicken, salmon and steak and all shared. For dessert we got yummy creme brulee and frozen almond cake and shared that too.. presentaion is everything! I'm definitely picking up culinary traditions and things I want to establish with my family! So yesterday was seriously the best day YET! I love being so happy all the time. I mean, who wouldn't be but, it feels so great to roll out of bed and be like "today I am in Paris...and I'm going to go on an adventure that I will remember the rest of my life!" 

So now, I'm finally updated. Today, we went to church, which was filled with more amazing meetings! I love church. It was funny because in sacrament today there was a whole family of investigators and one of the talks was super deep doctrine on the gathering of Israel, another about differences in the Catholic church and mormon church, (not the best topic for first-time church go-ers,) then a song on our heavenly mother. I was sitting next to two return missionaries and they were kind of shaking their heads the whole meeting because of the talks and hymns and stuff. haha that was funny. But I enjoyed it! 

So that's all for now.... Madame is making dinner as we speak. She just had a party and everyone just left. It's funny because on Friday she had a tubberware/mary kay party-equivalent with these stones her friend sells to make jewelry and that was seriously an all day am to pm party with everyone smoking about 4 packs in 6 hours in a little room, so that was a bit much for my brain and lungs to handle, but when in paris:) Then yesterday we saw her in the morning and she was like "well, I'm going to play bridge at a club tonight, see you tomorrow!" (in french obviously...) then today another party! Basically she's a P.I.M.P. 

Hope you are all well, I certainly am. But I think about you all and pray for you daily! Promise I'll become a better blogger! Much love.