I must say, score one for the bum...it's been a week since I've been on here, sorry. But I have lots to write about now, so here we go...=)

Last Thursday was class all day...woo-hoo. A bunch of us from ISA tried going out Thursday night, and it ended up being more trouble than it was worth. They first club everyone wanted to go to ended up being this horrible techno place, and I had a migrane within 30 minutes. No bueno. So we eventually ended up at another place we went to our first week here that we like. The whole thing was a super pain, and it ended up being a rather annoying night. Oh well...c'est la vie. :)

Friday I had my first test in french class. Yay! Haha, not really. It wasn't anything painful or super challenging really, so it wasn't too bad. After class I met Nina at Les Halles (one of the metro stops here that also has RER connections; the RER is basically a metro that runs out to the suburbs.), and we went out to Val d'Europe where we met her friend Amelie for an afternoon of shopping. I got some cute scarves, so that made me happy! After dinner Friday night we met up with some other girls at Trocadero/the Eiffel Tower to watch the soccer game. It's kind of crazy being outside the U.S. during the World Cup because the entire world, aside from the U.S., LOVES le Coupe de Monde and supporting their soccer teams. So we had a good time cheering for France in their first match, which they tied by the way. (Side note: I am COMPLETELY shocked the U.S. was able to semi-pull it out and tie their game with Britain...dumbfounded really, but go us :) )

Saturday we took the RER out to Versailles. Beautiful chateau, beautiful gardens. If you get a chance to go to Versailles, definately try to visit Marie Antoinette's Hamlet, as well. It's gorgeous and much less imposing than the chateau itself. I took a boat ride on the canal with Bess, Cally, and Laura which was fun, because I didn't do that last time I was there. And possibly the highlight of my week...Saturday night we went to a show at the Moulin Rouge!!! Such a cliche, tourist-y thing to do, I know, but still amazing, and it's not something I'm ever going to do again. It was Jessie's birthday this weekend (one of the ISA girls), and she wanted to do something fun, so she decided to go to the Moulin Rouge and invited me and Nina! It was lots of fun, and the building is beautiful/so much fun! If you have the time and money (tickets are kinda pricey) you definately have to go to the Moulin Rouge...completely worth it!

Sunday Nina and I slept until noon, and it was absolutely AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think 7:30-8ish is the latest we've been able to sleep in this whole time, so noon was absolutely glorious. So when we finally crawled out of the house around 1:30 we were women on a mission...a mission to find McDonald's. Haha, how horrible is that? :) I think we've done well though, because that was the first McDonald's we've had here, and it's been nearly a month. After we got our Mickey D's, we went to this great flea market up by Porte de Clignacourt, one of the metro stops in the north of Paris. The market is called Puces de St. Ouen, and it's one of the biggest in the city. It was a lot of fun, and it's a great place to get souvenirs and gifts because everything really is pretty nice, and it's super cheap. So we spent a few hours there and then headed over to the Eiffel Tower with 2 other ISA girls. We made our official "top of the Eiffel Tower" visit (so much fun, great views!) and then called it a day!

Monday was more class, and then I took Nina up to Montmartre, Sacre Coeur, Place du Tertre, and the I Love You Wall. If anyone actually reads these super longs posts and remembers a few weeks ago when I was walking and my sandal broke, I have a little story for ya. So those sandals were my only pair of sandals here, and I don't want to pay the price of European shoes, plus no one in Europe has the same size monster feet as me, so I decided to fix my sandal and continue wearing it. I safetly pinned and taped the strap, and it was good as new. So I was wearing these sandals yesterday when we were walking in Montmartre, and I get my other sandal, the non-broken one, stuck on a step, and it broke. Only the strap that broke on this one wasn't fixable; so I stole a hair tie from Nina and again walked around with a hair tie around my foot keeping my shoe on. Which was great until we were on our way home and the hairtie snapped. So I finally had to give in and throw away my shoes, and I walked home barefoot. :( It was a sad day for me, saying goodbye to my cute shoes. *tear*

And today was class and more class...nothing exciting today...except that 2 weeks from today I will be in London! I can't believe how quickly time is flying here!