First Day in Lille

So, we arrived in Lille yesterday after a long drive. We met up with every other group that are participating in a study abroad program at the university in Lille. The groups are from something like 25 different universities and 9 different countries. NC State's group, apparently, is the largest group there, so, yeah, Wolfpack in Lille.  We were introduced to the university and brought to our dorms yesterday. The buildings of the university are really cool, old neo-gothic buildings and the dorms are on the same block and are only a minute away. The theme that the students living at the dorm decided to decorate the dorm with is World Cinema, so it's kinda cool to see all decorations and film posters they put up. They also named specific points of the dorm after famous actors, so Tim Burton gets to be my shower (in the co-ed bathroom, where I get to share the toilettes and showers with the ladies..... so, yeah, awkward.....). There wasn't much going on yesterday when we got to Lille, so after we had settled into our dorms and had dinner, I just relaxed in the dorm. We also walked around the neighbor yesterday. It's pleasantly quaint. This morning, we had a little orientation at the university to introduce us to stuff. It was mostly just technical, introductory stuff explained, so not too much to that. After lunch, we had the placement test. It went well. I feel like I'll be placed accordingly. I went back to the dorm and relaxed a little until I went with the program director to see some more parts of Lille, such as the the main square and main train station. I looked through a bookstore in the main square that has six floors and that my program director likes a lot. I don't know if it was just something I didn't quite understand or if I was just being American, but I was slightly disappointed with it. The way the program director was going on about it, I had really high expectations and was expecting something like Barnes & Noble. It's nothing like Barnes & Noble and isn't actually just a book store. It's more like a French version of a combined Staples, local bookstore (like Blue Ridge Books on Main Street in Waynesville or Malaprop's in Downtown Asheville), and Wal-mart. I did get a French-German dictionary though, so I did leave at least somewhat pleased. Once I got back to the dorm, I needed to do laundry because I was out of clean pants. The only option I had to clean clothes was at some super sketch laundromat a few blocks away. It wasn't too expensive and there were locals in there washing clothes too, so I decided to give it a try and it turned out that I was just standing there alone most of the time watching my pants get washed. That then leads us to this current moment where I'm typing this and looking out from my dorm room window watching the last remaining rays of sunlight fall behind the rooftops of the various other buildings in the neighborhood. So, that's all for now. We'll see what happens tomorrow.




Also, along the way to Lille, we took a little side trip to the main cathedral in Amiens. So, here's a few pictures of it.

I kinda like this Cathedral better than Notre-Dame in Paris..... It's very impressive in person and definitely worth more than the 30 minutes spent there. If the actual city of Amiens isn't enough, this cathedral really highlights anything typically French.

An Amazing Beach at Etretat

So, a lot of photos from the beach at Etretat. It was quite the amazing experience getting to walk across the stone beach. The fog, rain, wind, and crashing wash upon the stones all made for quite a dramatic beach walking. For however short we were there, it most certainly made a lasting expression for me. 

The cliffs along the beach have been carved by years of weathering to make magnificent scenes of natural beauty. Getting to climb through the grottoes of the cliffs was one of the most amazing and naturally beautiful experiences I've had traveling throughout Europe. I'll come back someday and buy a beach house here in Etretat. The North Carolina State Museum in Raleigh actually has artwork of the cliffs and beaches of Etretat. It is a very stunning place. Anybody traveling in France must visit Etretat.

 I would say that this beach is among the most beautiful beaches in the world. It may not be sandy, tropical beach in the Pacific or Caribbean, but these kinds of beaches are just as beautiful in my opinion and can actually be more beautiful at times.

 Climbing through the rocks was little scary at times since it was raining, the rocks were very wet, and my shoes didn't have the best traction. But, that was certainly not going to stop me from getting to see all I could and have as much fun I as I could get out of it. The grottoes were mostly under water during high tide, so we had to be sure not to get stuck for too long. And, the ladder below was somewhat nerve-wracking to climb up. But, yet again, nothing was going to stop me from exploring as much as I could.

 I had to get on my hands and knees at times and by the time I made it through, I was all wet and cold and covered with sand and seaweed and sea moss stuff. Totally worth it and I would definitely do it again. It really doesn't get much better that than I think.

 This was one of the the tunnel/caves we had to walk through. It was a lot darker than it appears. It was very exciting to walk through these tunnels. They  are the only ways to get to other parts of the beach.

 Climbing down and up this part of the cliffs was probably the most scary part since the rope that to be used was well worn out and the rocks were quite slippery.

 My green shirt blended in well with the seaweed and sea moss covering the rocks.

 Walking back was rather sad because I really wanted to stay a lot longer just to explore more. But, I'll back soon enough to explore more at the beach at Etretat. It is a beautifully magnificent place. But for now, on towards new adventures and experiences just as amazing!

Last Day in Paris and Travels Through Normandy

            Monday was the last we spent in Paris. There were no group organized adventures planned, so we had the whole day to ourselves. I slept in a little, but not much. I left around 9:30 to go to Sacré-Cœur and Montmartre. The Montmartre area of Paris is one of my favorite areas of the city. It has a very lax atmosphere and lively feeling. The only issue I had there was the African immigrants that try to get you to give them your money. I should of known better, but it didn't occur to me until I got there. I got off the Metro at the nearest station and casually made my way to the place, and right as I turned the corner and looked up at the church, some African guy came up to me, grabbed me by the arm, and tried to get me to pay for the wristbands they were making and were claiming that I looked at them and so had to pay some "looking charge." Fortunately, the guy didn't have a strong grip on my arm, so I was able to shove him away and get away from them without anything significant happening. Aside from that incident, the day was really good. I walked up the hill to the church and looked out from it and looked at the amazing view of the city. One can see most of the city from Sacré-Cœur. I then walked into the church and sat down to look at the interior. I've always enjoyed the churches and cathedrals of Europe. After I left the church, I went over to the artist section of Montmartre. I wanted to buy a painting, but they were expensive and I didn't have much money. But it was nice to see all the painters painting their paintings. I stayed there until around lunch time and then went to the Hard Rock Cafe. I like to collect Hard Rock Cafe shirts, so I had to go there. I had lunch there too. After lunch, I went over the Champs-Élysées and walked along the avenue to the Arc de Triomphe. It was fun to watch people shop along the avenue.

 After the Arc de Triomphe, I went back to the hotel to relax until dinner. For dinner, I went with some of the other people in the group to a fancy restaurant near the Louvre. I had escargots for an appetizer. I had fun having to use the specialized forks to pull the snails out of the shells. After the dinner, we walked along the Seine to the Eiffel Tower and enjoyed watching it light up. It was a great way to spend our last night in Paris. We had to get up early the next morning to make our way to Mont Saint Michel, a cool old church on an island that is only accessible during low tide. We had lunch there at a small creperie that mad the crepes in the small kitchen in front of us. Those were probably the best crepes I've had thus far. After lunch, we took a tour of the church and saw how uniquely constructed the church was, having been built upon itself and incorporating the rock island into its structure. The little community surrounding the church is known for its cookies and I made sure to buy some of their famous butter and sugar cookies. Once we left Mont Saint

 Michel, we made our way to the small town of Bayeux. We got in last night and I relaxed at the hotel for awhile. This morning, we took a tour of the town and saw its cathedral and some of its main parks and streets. We then left the town to go to Omaha Beach. We toured the American Military Cemetery there and learned of the D-Day Invasion and what all went on during the invasion. It was a really amazing experience getting to walk along one of the beaches that the Allied Forces crossed during the invasion and one of the two that America took. It was quite an emotional experience to know that that

 was were our troops crossed during the invasion. To get to walk along that beach is a very powerful experience.

          When we left Omaha Beach, we made our way to Honfleur, a quaint port town on the coast of Normandy. We aren't going to get to do anything here and will have to leave early in the morning. So, after dinner, I walked around the town and saw the port and some of the other main areas. It's a really nice place and will definitely come back some time. But, anyways, that's what I did the past three days. I would have posted sooner, but the internet has been rather inconsistent these past three days. Tomorrow, we leave for Lille, where we'll be do the actual studying part of this trip. We'll make a few stops along the way, but I'm rather excited to finally make it to Lille and see what all the city's like.

 A fancy music-related building. (I want to say the Opera, but I forget.)

 The Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame Cathedral

The Eiffel Tower at night.

Mont Saint Michel

Omaha Beach at high tide

A Bike Named Napoleon Blownaparte

Well, now that my computer and the internet connection seem to working properly now, I can finally start this....

   So, I'm in Paris currently. This is very exciting for me! To start things off, I'll write about my flights to Europe, I guess. It's quite a bit cheaper to fly out of Asheville than it is Atlanta. That's understandable though. Anyways, my flight from Asheville to Charlotte got delayed by about an hour because of a tire. It wasn't flat or anything, they were just wanting to see if worked..... I was getting kinda nervous because I wanted to not miss my flight from Charlotte to Paris. The flight from Asheville to Charlotte was only twenty minutes, though, which was much shorter than I expected, so I still had time when I got to Charlotte. On the flight to Paris, one must remember that it is an international flight. And, food on international flights isn't that great. You aren't going to get a five course dinner tailored to your specific desires. The best you'll get are three pieces of cold chicken and a mixture of weird vegetables and a rice-like substance. It's a small annoyance of mine when people complain about the food on international flights and make too much of a scene about it. It also bothers me when there are these  redneck Kentucky men sitting near me thinking it's cool to clearly and obviously make fun of the French people around them. You're not in Kentucky anymore. But, anyways, that's enough ranting about annoyances on international flights. The flight was fine otherwise. I watched the movie Silver Linings Playbook for the first time on flight. Excellent movie and I would definitely recommend it. Once we landed, I made my way to the baggage claim and just happened upon two other people who are on the program who also just so happened to be on the same flight. This was a good thing because it ended up that I had confused myself on where to go to meet the rest of the group who went on the group flight and I wouldn't have realized that without them. The group flight was also delayed by three hours, so the three of us (delayed by one hour for each of us....) had to sit around doing nothing until the flight finally made it. I was surprised when the professor said that she had to reschedule some tours of Paris because I wasn't expecting that we would be actually doing things more than going to the hotel and maybe having dinner. But, we still were able to make it to the tour of the Louvre. I got in for free because of some special thing the museum was doing. I walked around for about two hours there and got to see the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and all of the other works of art I wanted to see. Afterwards, I had dinner with another person in the group at a fancy little restaurant near the hotel. Veal Liver. It's surprisingly good and will help me in the food eating competition where we can't eat typically American food our professor is making us do. When I got back to the hotel after dinner, I went to sleep soon because we had to leave today at 8 in the morning to go on a biking tour of the city. We got to the tour company and we got to choose out bikes. The tour guides had named the bikes and taped their names to them before we got there. I chose to ride Napoleon Blownaparte. I knew from the moment I saw Napoleon Blownaparte that he would be my bike. So, the tour lasted about four hours, from 9 to 1. We got to see a lot of the biggest attractions of Paris like the Eiffel Tour, the Military School, and Les Invalides. We had a nice lunch at a little outdoor cafe at the Jardin des Tuileries. I had a typical French crepe. After the bike tour, we hung around the Eiffel Tower for about an hour and then went on a boat tour on the Seine and saw some of the buildings located on the the banks of the Seine, such as Notre Dame. After the boat tour, we were free to do whatever we wanted. I was really tired and wasn't feeling too well, so I decided to just go back to the hotel and sleep. I think that was the best thing for me to do since I've gotten very little sleep the past three days and will need as much sleep as possible for the next few days. So, that takes us up to where I am now. Sitting on the bed in the hotel writing this at 11:25 Paris time. Tomorrow, we get to wake up early again to go to the Orsay Museum. I'm excited about that because it has the world's largest selection of impressionist and post-impressionist art and I really like impressionist art. We also get to have lunch at the fancy museum restaurant. After that, we get to have the rest of the day off to do whatever we want. I might get to see some old friends from high school who just happen to be studying abroad here in Paris too. But, anyways, that's all for now. There will be more.

Burritos in the Latin Quarter

    So today was quite enjoyable. We woke up early to go to the Orsay Museum. It is an amazing museum. It is located in an old train station, which I found really cool. Most of the time I spent at the museum was spent in the temporary exhibition they had on Black Romanticism. The exhibition is called L'Ange du Bizarre, which translates into English as The Angel of Strangeness. The theme Black Romanticism relates the darker sides of romantic art, dealing with such themes as death, fallen angels, nightmares, demonic entities, lost hope, and fear. For however negative or 'evil' the genre may seem, I was actually really impressed with the artwork and  enjoyed it quite a lot. I forget the names of the pieces, but the two pieces of the exhibition I liked the most dealt with 1) a romanticized depiction of Satan as a much more nobler fallen angel who had in fact been victimized by Heaven and showed him as a human, not some evil demonic figure, wearing Roman attire standing on hill across a river of lava leading an army of other fallen angels in a battle against Heaven and 2) Death dancing in a ballroom wearing elaborate clothing with various symbols that warned of eminent death and turning towards a frightened man in the background. I know this artwork may seem really negative or creepy, but it was actually really quite fascinating and has played significant roles in art history. We then had lunch in of the fancy restaurants at the museum. Apparently the train station had a hotel, too, and the restaurant comes from the time period when the hotel was a popular hotel for nobles visiting Paris. After lunch, I went to the brighter parts of the museum, seeing the impressionist and post-impressionist works by such artists as Van Gogh, Monet, Manet, Renoir, and Cézanne that the museum is known for. After I left the hotel, I  met up with an old friend from high school who happened to be studying abroad in Paris. We met at the Louvre and walked to the Notre Dame Cathedral, where we sat and talked for a while. We then had ice cream and walked to the Latin Quarter because I wanted to see what it was like. When we were getting off the Metro, we happened to come across a guy my friend had met while taking classes in Paris. He was on his way to have dinner and invited us along. We agreed because he was wanting to go to some Mexican restaurant that happened to be in the Latin Quarter and he said he'd show us around a little. So we ended up at this small Mexican restaurant, of all places, in the Latin Quarter of Paris and had surprisingly good burritos. Not quite the food one would expect in Paris, but it worked. We then walked around awhile and watched people interact in the local markets going on today. We made our way to the Luxembourg Gardens, which is a very lovely and expansive park where locals like to go to relax. Afterwards, I went back to the hotel and looked up where the Hard Rock Cafe is in Paris, because I like to collect their shirts. I went to the neighborhood where it was supposed to be, but for some reason couldn't find it. So I just went back to the hotel and hung out with some of the other people on the program. Afterwards, I go back to the room to write this post. So, all in all, today was a fun and exciting day. I've always appreciated art and got to see both the brighter and darker sides of it today. And, it was nice to get to see an old friend too. Tomorrow is a free day with no planned group plans. I'm thinking about going to Sacré-Cœur and Montmartre. I'll also make sure to actually go to the Hard Rock Cafe to get the shirt I need. But, that's for tomorrow and all I have for today.