Hello All! This entry could probably be renamed PHOTOFEST 2007.
So get excited.

As most of you know, Patrick and I went to Rome a few weekends ago. I recently received the pictures from this trip, so HERE THEY ARE. :)

The picture above is our first day in Rome. It actually rained for the majority of the first day, and as neither of us had brought umbrellas (who knew it rained in Italy?), we look like bank robbers in a fair few pictures.  The sentiment at this point was "I just spent the night on a train, it's raining, and I'm starving. Smile, we're in Rome!"

Once we'd eaten, we took to seeing the sights. The sign below was affixed to the gate outside the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. You probably can't read it, but here are some highlights:
IT IS ABSOLUTELY FORBIDDEN:
To throwrubbish or to dirty the monument
...
To Clim up the seat of the banisters
To make noise
To have a bad behaviour
To lead animals

We followed the rules for the most part, but we may or may not have throwrubbish-ed.


Once at the top of the Tomb, we noticed we could see the Colluseum  from where we were. Taken this serendipitous event as a cue, we made our way across Rome, moving directly towards the Colluseum. We also met some Norwegian tourists.
Once at the Colluseum, we were swindled by two guys dressed up as gladiators and smoking cigarettes. They insisted we take a picture and then charged 2E. We secretly took two pictures.


Moving along the MUST SEES OF ROME, we decided to go to the Pantheon. We managed to get rather lost, but stumbled upon the Fountains of Trevi. I guess it could have been worse. Though, to be honest, the fountains were probably my least favorite attraction. I have never seen so many Americans eating 7E gelato in my life.



More monuments! The Spanish Steps were (believe it or not) a planned sight, which we successfully found on the map...and then in real life. Yes.
You can't really see them in this picture, but Patrick and I look so lovely, who really minds?



We also visited a castle (of which I've forgotten the name) but it was rather interesting nonetheless. These pictures were taken just before I used the cleanest free public bathroom of my life. Rome was nice that way.



On Saturday, Patrick  and I decided to go to the Vatican. Despite my fears  that I might be immediately repelled from the city upon entrance, we covered our arms and legs and headed out. The line to see St. Peter's (or so we thought) was OUTRAGEOUSLY long, and we thought, "Well, we really just want to go inside the Vatican, not the Basilica." Thus, we set off on a journey around Vatican city, searching for the entrance to the Vatican. Long story short, there is only one entrance to Vatican City. That being said, it's perimeter is roughly 2 miles and we walked it all.
This photo is a fountain just inside Vatican city. There were also public water fountains. That city was great.



To break up our 2 mile walk around Vatican City, we decided to stop and have some lunch. These pizzas were delicious, huge, and lovely 5E. Patrick thought so too.


Having seen all the truly big sights in Rome, we spent our second day on the Tier 2 monuments of Rome (read: things marked on the map but completely unbeknownst to us). This day was a series of less than ideal sight seeing, but was nonetheless a lot of fun. Or at least I thought so.
This picture is from a pyramid I saw marked on the map. It was 4.7 miles from where we were, and it was LAME. Patrick was a good sport, at least until I got us lost in the slums. :)


This is us lost in the slums. We took this picture hoping the hooligans on the balcony behind wouldn't shoot us. I also don't think you can have guns in Italy.


Anyway, Rome was all in all a wonderful weekend. We stayed at a hostel called the Mona Lisa Hostel and the people were very friendly and from all over the world. The food was delicious and for the most part inexpensive, and at one point we found 20E on the ground. So yes, a good trip.


In more recent news, I went to Vienna last weekend with Tony, Garrett, and Freya. Patrick is studying there, so we saw him and all his friends while enjoying the Vienna sights. :)
Originally, Tony, Garrett, Freya, and I were all going to stay in the Intercontinental (Garrett's parents are in the hotel industry) for a delightfully low price, but upon arrival we discovered there was only one bed. Thus, I volunteered to stay at Patrick's, leaving only 3 people for one bed.  The hotel was located at Stadtpark, right by Patrick's school in Vienna. Stadtpark was a lovely park full of trees and busts of famous Austrians.
This is Freya, me, Patrick, and Tony in front of the Danube Canal. We never actually saw the river, as it runs through the suburbs, but from what we hear it's not actually blue.


To begin our visit, we all took a trip to the Belvedere, which used to be a palace but is now an art museum. They have a large collection of Gustav Klimt paintings, which was really neat, among other things. Between the 2 buildings there is a large garden with a reflecting pool, as seen below.


This is us in utter awe of the Belvedere.
I'm actually not sure what we're looking at.



This pictures is amusing for several reasons.



Inside the Belvedere, the architecture was just as interesting as the paintings. The palace (SCHLOSS in German.) was created for Prince Eugene of Savoy and is actually French. Interestingly, he used to live in the smaller building, and used the giant one as a guest house.



At some point, someone on the board of the Belvededre had a wonderful idea for saving museum funds. In one room, instead of chairs, we found what appeared to be exercise balls covered in red velvet. This may have been the best part of our visit. We stayed in this room for about 20 minutes.




After our hard work at the Belvedere, we all thought we could use some refreshment, as well as the fulfillment of being in a place Gustav Mahler used to frequent. Quick to the rescue, Patrick suggested we hit up Cafe Centrale, a posh but fairly reasonably priced cafe in the heart of Vienna. Yes, there was a piano player at a baby grand playing keyboard arrangements of such great hits as "The Emporer Waltz," "The Blue Danube," and "Killing me Softly With His Song."
The apfelstrudel was delicious, though sadly Tony couldn't eat it due to his nut allergy. As his neighbors at the table, Freya and I were more than happy to help him out.


Later Friday night, we decided to go in for some real Austrian Cuisine. Matthias, the Austrian who lives with Patrick, helped us find a delightful is hokey restaurant complete with schnitzel, Sturm, and waiters in traditional wear.
This is Garrett, Tony, and Matthias at the restaurant.



This was also a chance for all of Patrick's and my friends to meet one another. It was awkward at first, but with a little strudel it seemed to be fine. :)
From the left, that's Carol Ann, me, Patrick, Theresa, Ron, and Freya.



I think everyone would agree that the following picture was the best part of the evening. There was a large group of Russians there drinking vodka like it was their job. The woman in the striped shirt is Olga. She managed to start and Austro-Americ-Russian dance party in the restaurant. She also spoke little to no English.



On Saturday, Patrick had a test so Garrett, Tony, Freya, and I decided to go to Baden, a small town outside Vienna known for it's sulfur spas. However, we didn't bring our bathing suits, so we stopped at Shopping City Sud (SCS to Austrians) and bought 2E bathing suits at what appeared to be the Austrian version of a Super Wal-Mart. There also weren't any dressing rooms.


Upon arriving in Baden, we realized we knew neither the name of the place we were going, nor how to say anything besides "UBahn Stadtpark. Ausgehen Linke" (Exit on the left). We went into a cafe to ask for directions, and the conversation went like this:
**please ignore my german spelling. it is phonetic.
Gracie: Hello...Guten Morgen.
Lady: Grosser Gott.
Gracie: Do you speak English?
Lady (nodding head no): Ja.
Gracie: ...Do you know where we can find the Spa?
Lady: (blank stare)
Gracie: ...the Baths?
Lady: (blank stare)
Gracie:...Sulfur springs?
Lady: (blank stare)
Garrett: TOURIST INFORMATION OFFICE?
Lady: JA. I have map. (she pulls out the map and proceeds to start looking for the tourist office.) I do not know really where it is...because I am woman...I find it.
(we find it on the map, and she gives us the map to take)
Gracie, Garrett, Freya: Danke, danke..
Lady: Good map!

...

So then we used the map to find what we thought were the springs (something in German that involved the word Thermo).
However, upon arrival, we discovered it was actually the community pool. The springs were actually on the other side of town. Then, we walked to the springs, walked past three times because we thought it was a post office, and the discovered it was closed.
So we went to eat sausage.
After lunch, we went to THE CUTEST BAKERY IN THE WORLD and used Austrian baked goods to fill the spa-shaped holes in our hearts.
This picture was taken just outside the bakery. I'm holding sachertorte. Yes.
Anyway, that day was probably one of the weirdest days I've ever had. But it was enjoyable.



That night, we walked around town a little before the opera. We stumbled upon a wine and cheese tasting in the center of town and decided to partake. The cheese was DELICIOUS.



Saturday night, we went to go see Elektra at the Wiener Staadtsoper. We got standing room tickets at orchestra level for 3E each. The view was fantastic, and since the opera's so short it wasn't bad at all. The opera itself was outstanding, and only my left foot when numb.

This picture is us all snazzied up for the opera. It is in the elevator of our hotel, which is why it looks like we're in a music video.


While the tickets weren't expensive, the line was a little intense. As you can see, Freya rapidly lost interest.


That night, we hung out with some of Patrick's friends again and enjoyed the Vienna nightlife. This is me displaying my sueprhuman strength.


This is the U Bahn (pronounced OOOO Baaaahnnn). It is run on the honor system, meaning you can ride it without a ticket as long as the control don't catch you. We payed most of the time, but you need a little thrill in your life (or 1E70 in your pocket) sometimes, right?


This photo was taken the last day in Stadtpark. Everything was in lovely fall colors and it was 23324879234 times more beautiful than Paris could ever be. :)


Anyway, that was kind of a novel. This weekend I'm staying in Paris, and to be honest I'm excited not to travel and just to relax. Halloween was on Wednesday, so there will be pictures from that soon...but until then CIAO!

Hello All.
I would like to start by apologizing for my lack of journal posting. Classes have started and (needless to say) my life has become rather busier. However, I am still sorry for my lack of new entries. 
A few weekends ago, I went on a trip with my program to Normandy. We visited the Bayeux Tapestry (which was made in the 10th century), Omaha Beach and most of the D-Day sites, and Mont St. Michel, which is a monastery that was started in 1000 and completed in 1895. The trip was a wonderful weeked away from Paris, and everything proved to be much more interesting than we had anticipated. We at delicious food, and apart from being exhausted the first day had a wonderful time.
The picture on the left was taken in the best restaurant I've visited in France. We found it in Bayeux by chance and it was not expensive, delicious, filling, and the cutest place on earth. From the left, that's Tony, Garrett, Amie, and Freya.
The picture on the right was taken at Omaha Beach, just before we snuck our way into a British tour group. We learned  A LOT from the guide, but it was eventually discovered that we were not actually British. Shame, that. That's Tony, me and Garrett.




Recently, my friend Stuart was visiting Europe and came through Paris for a day. I showed him the main sights, including the Eiffel Tower, of course. It was nice to see someone from home (and speak English!) and I think he enjoyed his visit. It was certainly nice to see a fresh face after 2 months with the same 85 people!


This picture skips a few weekends, but to my credit, it's because Patrick has all the pictures from Rome on his camera. This picture is from the past weekend when Patrick visited me here in France. We went to the Pere LaChaise Cemetery and saw all kinds of famous graves. The one below is Oscar Wilde, and it's covered in lipstick marks. It is tradition to kiss the tomb. We did not do this.


This is me in front of Moliere's grave. YESSSSS.


So, I've started my classes, as I mentioned, and they are going well. The French educational system is remarkably different than the American one, and I have to keep reminding myself of that. Instead of meeting multiple times a week, lecture is generally once (at most twice) a week, and it lasts for 3 hours. 3 hours of French is challenging, and exhausting, but it's nice to only make the commute a few times a week!
Anyway, there is much more travelling ahead, and I promise to (at least try to) post more often. I miss you all (!!!) and while I'm already looking forward to coming home, I know I will miss Paris when I leave. Everyday it feels more like home, and leaving the city really brings that back. When I came back from Rome, I was actually happy to hear people speaking French again. At least I could say SOMETHING to them, unlike Rome. :)
Anyway, Rome pictures will come soon, and until then, BISOU!

As one might have deduced from my lack of posting, my life has become rather more interesting since arriving in Paris. That is to say, there is something to do with every ounce of my vast amount of free time. On the monument front, I've seen the Arc de Triomphe, Pont Alexandre III, the Champs Elysees, several 3 block radius views of the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and the Centre Pompidou, not to mention several other less identifiable ones.
Here's me in front of the pyramid at the Loover.


And here's Amie and Freya in the Greek sculpture exhibit.


Last week and this week I have methodology classes through my program, which are to prepare us for the style and amount of work we'll be facing in our university classes. Last week I took Literature and this coming week I'm taking Political Science and Economics. The interesting (or rather unbelievably UNinteresting) thing about these classes is that we don't so much learn about the subject as we learn about how to learn about the subject. Aye, there's the rub.
However, my university classes also start this week, and as of right now I'm taking Marketing, The Politics of Economics, French Comedic Theatre (<--useless credit-wise, but we go see plays a lot), a writing workshop, and History of the Contemporary World (because the class I actually wanted to take is on Mondays, which I'd like to have off since the rest of my classes meet on Fridays). From what I hear from other Northwestern alums of this program, the French university system is kind of a joke, and the classes weren't overly challenging. To be honest, this wouldn't bother me, since I think the real learning experience here is being in a foreign country.

My family, the Maillards, is super. The father retired last year from playing cello with the Orchestre Nationale de France (as did his sister!), and the mother used to be a literature professor. There are four grown children, 2 of which I've met, and 2 of them are musicians, one is studying to be an orthopaedic surgeon, and one is still in university. The apartment is rather messy, and there's sheet music everywhere, but there is a piano in my room, so I can't complain too much. The only drawback is that being surrounded by this makes me regret not bringing my clarinet, but I think that Paris will probably do a pretty fair job of keeping my mind off it.
To be completely honest, Mme Maillard doesn't cook nearly as well as Martine, but last night we had a hamburger casserole type thing that was delicious in an exceptionally American way.
Here are some pictures of my room:
The armoire on the left was built the same year as Versailles and has a giant key with a cross hole.


And my bed and desk.


Also last week, Garrett and Tony and I waited for about 2.5 hours in the Last Call tickets line at Opera Garnier to see a notably provocative performance of Strauss' Capriccio. IT WAS GREAT. The singers seemed a little tired (and some just not that good) but the staging (or mise-en-scene, if you will) was delightfully inspired and the ending was just beautiful. Overall, it was worth the wait because we had excellent seats and didn't pay that much.
Here's Garrett and I waiting in line, looking disgruntled (or faking it for the picture. It wasn't bad at all.).


And a picture of Garrett to help you appreciate the architecture of this place!



Anyway, there's a lot going on, so it's always difficult to choose what to write, but I think that suffices for now. I'll post again when I take some more pictures, because I know that's the part everyone likes.

Having visited both Chenonceau and the Vouvray vineyards, I feel I am officially a tourist here. Chenonceau was my first castle, but we had a wonderful time. It was a trip for the entire group, but once there we broke into smaller groups to explore. It's very much a woman's castle, and our guide said that it was much prettier than most castles in France (I think. It was in French, so she could also have told me that Matthieu was going to go to the cinema with his friends once he finished his homework). Here's the outside:



And here's a picture of me and Freya in front of the Cher. Tours is bordered on the north by the Loire river and on the south by the Cher.


In other tourist news, we biked yesterday to Villandry, another castle about 17 miles outside of Tours along the Cher. We didn't visit the castle, but the gardens were magnificent. We also stopped in a darling town just before to have some lemonade and relax. It was a wonderful trip, even though we got a flat tire on the way home and had to ride exceptionally slowly for the last 5 miles or so. Everyone was in great spirits and the weather was great, and it was perhaps my favorite activity yet!

The whole ride looked rather like this:



Needless to say, it was wonderful.
Also in recent news, we baked cookies today with our hostess, Martine. We had some trouble with the metric conversions, and added a little bit too much butter, and the cookies were really thin, but Martine loved them nonetheless.  Here's Freya doing some mixing action:

And here the finished product:


Tomorrow I am moving to Paris, and I have to admit, I am sorry to say good bye to Martine. She has been so so wonderful, and I am worried nothing in Paris could be as wonderful as she is. :)
I found out today that my house in Paris is in the 8th arrondissement, which means it's considered "in the city," and not in the bannes-lieus ( = suburbs). I'm about 1.5 km from the Champs-Elysees, so not bad, right? My hostess is named Madame Maillard, and in case any one of you highly tech savvy people want to Google Earth it, my address is 3, rue de Copenhague 75008 Paris.
As much as I'm sad to leave, I'm very excited to go to Paris! I kind of have town fever, and besides, Martine said she's going to come visit us in Paris!
Now I'm going to get ready for our last family dinner, and after that we are hitting Place Plumereau (the cool hang out spot here in this 15th century village) one last time before we leave town.
Next time I write I'll be in Paris!

Salut! This week we started our classes to brush up our French. I have a class for speaking and a class for reading/writing that each meet twice a day. There is also a lot of free time to explore the city and just relax, which is nice and very un-Northwestern.  Yesterday we went down by the Loire and found a bridge to reach the isle in the middle of the river. It seems it's a municipal park, complete with benches and a playground and something with lots of brightly colored wooden poles of which we could not determine the function.
Here's a boat house floating in the Loire:

I also visited one of the many cathedrals here in Tours, St. Michel. Pope John Paul visited there a few years ago, and it was beautiful inside. This picture is only the outside.

After that, Freya and I journeyed home on the bus for the first time, and managed to take the wrong line (our hostess had accidentally told us the wrong one) so we rode it to the end and then got off. We called Martine, and she said she'd come pick us up, so we waited in front of a department store for a fair while (see our disgruntled faces below).

On Monday, we went to a recital for a French soprano which was delightful. She had a lovely voice, and the pianist was fantastic. Before that, we enjoyed a cheap end 3 course dinner at a nearby restaurant and had wine from a local vineyard.
I will write something more interesting soon, for my castle visits begin this weekend.  Also, on Sunday, Freya and I are going to teach Martine how to bake chocolate chip cookies for her son David's birthday. He lived briefly in the United States and is a big fan of them. Here they cost like $2 a piece. Weird, right?
Alright. A bientot!

Bonjour! Right now I'm in Tours. I'm staying with a woman named Martine Levy, and she is delightful. There is another girl with me, Freya, who is from Simmons College.
Today we took placement tests and then explored the city some. We had lunch at a cafe and then coffee at a cafe next to the Loire.
I went and bought an international cell phone (!) and managed to converse with the woman at the store who knew little English ("forty nine" and "you buy minutes like a gift for your telephone") but was nonetheless very friendly.
Now Freya and I are going to go swimming - our home here in Tours is more of a villa, complete with dormer windows, a garden, a heated pool, and un cabriolet (a convertible). We really lucked out in the home department (la department des maisons).
Some pictures of my room:




I miss you all very much, but I am also having a wonderful time. Plus the food is delicious! No offense, Mom, but Martine cooks better than you. :)