To go back to where I left off, I believe I have to go back a whole week. I'm sorry I haven't been the best blogger, but I at least hope that everyone knows that when I do post I'm being as detailed as possible :) Monday of last week I didn't do anything of note. We had class Monday-Wednesday then an excursion on Thursday. Tuesday was the beginning of the Bastille Day festivities, which was VERY exciting. It's like the 4th of July in America. I went with a few people in the program to a Fireman's Ball (which is more like a party than a ball) that they had been advertising all over the city since we've got here. However, the line was SO long. We were waiting for a good 3 hours before we even got to the front! And by that time there was so many people cutting and jumping the fence that it seemed like we would never get in. By then it was pretty late and in addition, I'm still a little afraid of large crowds or mobs, so I decided to leave early. I still had a good time even if we just stood in line for a long time :) Maybe I'll try again some day.
For the actual Bastille day, we took a break in the middle of our school day to go watch what we believed was going to be a parade go down the Rue de Rivoli, which is right outside our door. However after waiting a bit we asked some police officers and they told us that it was actually a fly-over by the French Airforce. Then it started raining very heavily. Most of us took refuge under the Merry-Go-Round which is very close to us. Luckily it stopped right before the fly-over which was very interesting, saw a LOT of planes. 
Afterward, the LBAT program took us out to coffee which was very nice. I think it was probably my first full cup of coffee ever lol. :D But it was free and I didn't want to turn it down. Luckily for me I didn't get wired like I feared. We headed back to the MIJE for the rest of our lessons for the day which was much bearable with our extended break.After class, I headed out into the city to buy some presents for some important people :D Of course I can't say anything about that! When I returned I found that everyone had already left to go watch the fireworks at the Eiffel Tower. The Tower is very far away so I was about to give up and just skype with Brandon instead when I got a call to come join them. So I figured that I should experience Bastille Day in all its splendor since I'm here. So I took three different trains and spend a lot of time looking for my friends, and eventually found them. Just in time too since about 15 minutes later they turned off the Eiffel Tower lights for the show! And I must say that it was one of the most impressive displays of fireworks I've ever seen. Not as long as I expected, but definitely massive. I thought seeing the Eiffel Tower with the fireworks behind it was very beautiful.
Getting back from the show was an adventure all on its own. The metro was being SWARMED by people leaving. The metro security was only letting a certain amount through at one time so that there wouldn't be too many people on the platform at one time which I was very grateful for, even if we had to wait forever. At one point a part of our group decided that they would walk home instead and headed off. There were three of us that took the metro the whole way, and we barely made it! I think that we were truly on the last train of the night. When we arrived at the Saint Paul metro station we had a surprise to find the other group also getting off on the same train! They had walked for a while and hopped on at a different stop and ended up getting back at the same time lol!
The next day was our last official excursion for the trip. We took a charter bus out to Chantilly which is a town about an hour away from Paris. Our destination was the Domaine de Chantilly which is basically a castle. I admit that it made my inner-child very happy to see a real-live castle like in Cinderella :D It didn't disappoint either, it was absolutely gorgeous and not very tourist-y at all since it's a little-known attraction. 
One of the main events for the day were seeing the horse shows they host there. When we got there we headed to the stables to look at the horses and view a demonstration of how they train the horses. The horses were just beautiful and made me miss my days of riding. The demo I couldn't understand entirely since it was all in French and I'm not familiar with the equestrian vocabulary. But it was still very fun.Afterward we headed out to the town to have lunch at a local cafe. I had a croque monsieur which is a very common french meal. After that, we explored the castle which turned out to be more like a museum than anything with lots of paintings and sculptures. It wasn't too exciting since it was like a combination of Versailles and the Louvre, without the gaudiness of Versailles or the masterpieces of the Louvre. However, I did love seeing the large library they had. There were books everywhere, even if you couldn't touch any of them.
Around 2 we headed back to the stables for the large horse-show. They had such elaborate costumes and the horses were expertly trained which made it very exciting. There was a good bit of trick riding as well which was very impressive.After that, we headed back to castle to explore the grounds around it.
Not as large as Versailles, but I liked it better since it was more natural and a bit more intimate. There were lots of little paths and gardens. We eventually crashed and took a 30 minute nap in the middle of this massive field. It was probably one of the best naps I've ever had in my entire life, it was so peaceful. After a bit more exploring, we headed back to the town for dinner.
The Program paid for it as well which was very exciting since we had a rather large individual budget to spend. So I got a steak and a dessert which were both delicious! All of the food was gorgeous and very artistic.
We headed home, full and exhausted after a full-day adventure.Friday I didn't do too much. The only interesting thing was going out to lunch in the Jewish district for some fallafel and hummus. Other than that, just some homework and chatting it up with Brandon a bit.
Today, Saturday, has been very exciting thus-far. A large group of LBAT-ers went to the market that Mom and I went to when she was here and I tagged along. I figured that I could give it another chance to impress me. We went a good bit earlier which I think was a good decision since it wasn't as hot or as crowded. We mainly kept to the outskirts and checked out the goods that weren't antiques. I bought a couple things, but was mostly just wanting to get out and about. Afterward, a couple of us headed to Montmartre which is somewhat close to where we were. Montmartre, for those of you that don't know, is the northern part of Paris. It's the only part of the city that's elevated so you get a fantastic view. The main attraction of Montmartre is the church Sacre Cour which is situated at the very top of the hill.
The church itself is very tall and three of us decided that we would climb to the top. It was over 300 steps and we were absolutely exhausted when we got to the top!! It was probably the tightest cork-screw staircase I've ever seen. But I must say that it was well worth it since it gave us an incredible view of the entirety of Paris.
After climbing back down, which was very treacherous since the steps were so smooth from thousands of feet, we headed into the heart of Montmartre. There was an entire square full of painters willing to paint your portrait or sell you paintings of Paris which I loved :) We grabbed some ice cream which was much needed since it was getting rather hot. Then we headed to Montmartre's other main attraction, the Moulin Rouge. The Moulin Rouge is the historic venue for a Parisian cabaret show. It's very distinctive by the giant red windmill on the top. It's a bit sentimental since Brandon and I watched the movie Moulin Rouge on our first date so I promised that I would get a picture with it. I did! :D
After we just headed back to the metro and went back to the MIJE. And that brings to to my current state :) I'm just waiting for dinner now. I plan on going out several times this last week and enjoy the Parisian cuisine to the fullest extent, but not quite yet since I'm so tired. Believe it or not I might go to Disneyland Paris tomorrow with some people here. It sounded like fun and not too expensive so we'll see if that plays out. It might also be a good place to get a birthday present for a soon-to-be-6-year-old we all know and love :D So with that I will sign off now. Countdown to my return: 6 days 13 hours, 33 minutes, and 27 seconds! :D
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