Sunday, September 9, 2007

Viva La France

Let me begin this blog by saying that: 1. I appreciate people reading and liking my blog in all of its ridiculousness. 2. Paris is overrated. Anyways, Paris was great...saw pretty much all of it, but at the same time, it was way too touristy and dirty. I spent so much time walking that my legs almost fell off, which was another downside to the whole thing. However, I am glad to have visited Paris in my lifetime, I know that I sound like a spoiled brat by whining, but really, I am appreciative to have seen it. I really enjoyed the artwork int he Musee D'Orsay, and I loved the Rodin Museum. I also loved our night boat tour of the Siene. Two french men wearing only boxers flashed us as the boat went by...that was amusing. That brings me to my next topic-- French men. French men are insane. They will seriously do anything to get with a lady. I think there must be something in the water over there haha. All of the girls had numerous run-ins with French guys, but the most memorable one was when a limo full of guys drove by us, as they screamed out the window and told us to jump in. Me, being the mother-like figure that I am, did not allow my friends to get in the limo with these men. Yeah, I have to admit that I wanted to run with the spirit of carelessness, seeing as I was in Paree and all, but I also didn't want to be raped, haha. This homeless guy came up to us on the bridge one night and counted us, and then proceeded to follow us, in which case, we ran for our lives to the metro. He was drooling everywhere. We just couldn't escape creepy men the entire time...and people blame that on me, which I accept. I have been known to attract odd types. Following these escapades, we bought some cheap wine and drank by the river, in addition to visiting the Latin Quarter, which was an adventure. We wanted to go to a nightclub, but our only true free night was on a Tuesday n ight, and we were running out of money anyways. Oh well.

St. Malo and Normandy were gorgeous. I really loved St. Malo the best. It was right on the sea, and we took alot of walks along the beach and climbed the rocks. It was nice to breathe some fresh air after the crowded, insane city. It was also nice to be back to cheap food. I tried some cidre when I was there, which is their famous beverage...it was pretty decent. It was only 2 euro a bottle. We went to Mt. St. Micheal one day, which was absolutely breathtaking. It is on this huge mountain that juts into the sky, and is surrounded by sand, that is occasionally taken over by the tides. I just couldn't believe how beautiful it was. Normandy was the same way- breathtaking and unbelieveable. The cemetary really got to me though. I just felt like I was pretty spoiled, being on this expensive trip, when these guys died on this beach at my age fighting in a war. It was all just really haunting. On a lighter note, we spent 4 nights total on the beachs of Northern France, and that was just amazing. However, we were all ready to get back to Leuven after being on the road for 8 days. I feel like we barely had time to settle in here in the first place. I'm not complaining though, because I saw more places this past week than I have seen in my lifetime. I am definately grateful for this opportunity, and that Loyola has such an amazing study abroad program. Leuven really spoils its partcipants, so I can't understand why we only have 11 kids this year...weird. Highlight of the day: I found some awesome trails with cookie today that are on the edges of town. We were running them, when all of the sudden, I tripped over a rock and flew to the ground hahaha. It was hiliarious. The fall was totally worth finding the trails haha. We passed the engineering building on the run, which was cool, because its this big old castle looking thing with swans around the water. This is just another reason why I love Leuven!! It's great to be back.

Just wanted to mention this as well- I planned my first trip today! I booked a flight to Ireland for oct. 31st- nov 4th. We have a long weekend, and I figured that this would be a perfect time to go visit some friends and see Dublin/Cork as well. We are going to stay in Dublin on Halloween night...so cool!! and then take a bus to Cork the next day. I hope to see the coast while I;m there. I'm also planning a trip to London to see my friend Andre and just see London in general in October. We have two daytrips around Belgium coming up, and then we also have a trip to Amsterdam, which is paid for by the school, in November. I might go to Brugges and Germany with my family when they come in November as well...lots of exciting stuff coming up! Well, time to visit with some people and then head to bed...more blogs to come!

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