Au revoir Paris, bonjour Bordeaux!

So much has happened since I left the states a few weeks ago...where to begin! I'll start with the plane ride from Sac-Chicago-Paris, fairly uneventful but completely sleepless, which put me in Paris somewhat disoriented and starving. Luckily Taylor was waiting for me at baggage claim with fresh croissants, apples, and some yogurt to keep us going during our epic trek back to downtown Paris. After a lot of walking around cobblestones with my INSANELY HEAVY luggage (WHY DID I PACK SO MUCH MOM?!?), we found our hotel (La Cluny Sorbonne), which was in the latin quarter. After one night there, we somehow managed to find Samantha's apartment on Rue Oberkampf (not Rue République..damn french street signs), where we met up with Sam, her boyfriend Julio, and my friends from high school Becky, and Lorenzo. New Years Eve we went to Sacre Coeur for a hazy but beautiful view of the city of lights! Quelle bonne année! The next few days Taylor and I rose early and covered Paris by foot, metro, and sometimes sheer will power, knowing that we were about to eat a crêpe. We saw Notre Dame, the Louvre, le Centre Pompidou, l'Arc de Triomphe, le Champs Elysées, Père Lachaise, la Tour Eiffel, Sacre Coeur, the flea markets at Clignancourt,  with many allotted pitstops for a café crème or a croque monsieur (a grilled cheese and ham sandwich). Perhaps the best part of Paris was meeting up with the Redfords, a family that we know from McClatchy days. One night we met up with them and had a DELICIOUS meal at Café Stella, where we had a gajillion course meal that included steak tartar, 2 bottles of wine, 1 bottle of champagne, escargots (the verdict- damn good!), smoked salmon, frites (fancy french fries), and desserts that literally blew my mind. I'm full just typing it. The night before I left Paris we went to the incredible apartment that the Redfords are renting a block away from Notre Dame and proceeded to eat and drink until we were just barely able to roll ourselves to Sacre Coeur for another view of the city. Needless to say, I was very sad to leave Paris but now that I am in Bordeaux I think I will be very happy here :)

My host family in Bordeaux is adorable: Henri Etcheber is a oceanic science professor at Université de Bordeaux 1, and looks a bit like Dumbledore. Nathalie, his wife, also works at Bordeaux 1 and calls me "ma chère" (my darling). Renaud is their son who is my age, and is really funny. He spent a summer in San Diego working so he understands my need for them to speak at a ridiculously slow pace so that I can actually understand a word they say. But so far so good! The other housemate is a GIGANTIC cat, who puts Marge's girth to shame. They are super welcoming and I feel very at home in my cute room. Today all the students in the EAP program met at University of Bordeaux 3 for orientation, where we got waay too many packets of french grammar. The Intensive Language Program starts tomorrow morning at 8.30 and goes until next week to make sure that we are able to handle French courses at the university. A très bientot!