I'm a tourist...I know...

Though I shall always be a tourist in this wonderful city, I'm attempting to get my fill of the famous stuff before the weather gets too cold and also while I truly am new here. Hopefully in a month or so I can pretend at least that I'm a local. ;)

The last week has seen me going to my intensive French practicum for 3 hrs/day while getting in some sightseeing in between. It's been a fun way to start off the city, and as always it's getting easier and easier to talk to people and get myself around. Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur, the Seine, Sainte Chapelle...there are so many beautiful things to see here. Above you'll see first a taste of what the amazing stained glass is like in Sainte Chapelle (which was preserved through WWII because people had sense to take out the 13th century glass) with hardly a true perspective because in person the colors are just so breathtaking, Notre Dame on a lovely fall day, and Paris at night from the base of the Arc de Triomphe. Yeah, you can see why this city attracts so many people.

So, I though I absolutely refuse to eat there at home, after hearing so many people gush about the French version, I finally walked into the infamous MacDo on the Champs-Elysees last Friday night. Whoa, it is tres different than the United States!! Beside the fact that it's colorful, clean, and packed to the brim, French McDonalds have separate dessert bars filled with all the typical French fare you'd see in a patisserie like croissants, macaroons, etc. That was so funny to see! The French really know how to upscale our most basic restaurant. They also had these (surprisingly) delicious potato wedges in addition to the ever classic french fries. I feel like I cheated on my body for tasting things there.

Other than that, it's been a pretty low-key week. Just been going to class, sleeping in, and doing homework. With such late afternoon class, I'm making a promise to myself that next week onward I shall get out of bed earlier and perhaps start some of my days with a trip to Paris' museums (my program has written on our ID cards that we're all "Art History" students so that we can get into all the museums for free!). This weekend also apparently is a special weekend in France where lots of normally private places are open to the public. Apparently I can go to the equivalent of the White House, but I'll need to do some more research on that. I'm also a week away from OKTOBERFEST, so that's starting to get exciting. I hope I can actually drink a beer without gagging. :{

I'll let you all know if I see Sarkozy! A bientot!