So I feel slightly like a lazy bum seeing as I've been here for almost 2 weeks, and I've written about 3 days...I also feel like maybe I should back track a bit and explain what I'm doing here.
I'm in Paris for roughly 6 weeks with the study abroad program International Studies Abroad (ISA). I am enrolled at the Catholic University of Paris (the Catho) in 90 contact hours/week of French language. I have a grammar class at the Catho Mon-Fri 9-12, and a writing/speaking workshop class Tue & Thur 2-5. I'm also taking a class through Kansas State University with my professor Dr. Clark. The K-State class is basically an on-site historical/cultural history of Paris class where we go to what seems like every museum and church in the city. With ISA, participants have the option to live in a homestay, an apartment, or a dorm; I obviously chose the homestay.
I think that basically sums up what I'm doing in the wonderful city of Paris.
Now, being the bum that I am, a quick run down of the last week, so that I can kinda-sorta be caught up.

Last Thursday...it rained...and rained...and rained some more. And to top off the wonderful day of rain, my sandal broke on my way to a meeting that morning, so I walked around all day with a hair tie keeping my shoe on my foot. Not the greatest day of my life, to say the least. Anywho...I had a meeting with ISA Thursday morning at the Catho, just basic tips on living in Paris and not being a tourist. Afterwards, we met Dr. Clark for an afternoon of class. We walked to the church St. Germain des Pres, one of the oldest churches in the city. Then we took a leisurely stroll through the rain and saw the Square Delacroix (where the famous French artist Delacroix lived), the Art District of Paris, l'Institut Francaise (no lies, literally the institute that decides what words are "French-enough" to be put in the dictionary. That sounds kind of mean, but it's essentially what they do- the institute was created back in the day in an effort to keep the French language pure.), we walked by the Louvre, and crossed the Pont Neuf (beautiful views of the Seine!). We then visited le Conciergerie et la Sainte Chapelle. The Conciergerie was a prison during the Revolution, and you can see reproductions of the cells used (including Marie Antionette's cell). Sainte Chapelle is a beautiful church, full of gorgeous stained glass windows. It's probably the most known for its reliquaries that housed a piece of the Crown of Thorns and a part of the True Cross brought back from the Crusades. Both buildings are located on the Ile de la Cite, the oldest part of the city, next to the Palais du Justice. We then made a quick jaunt over to Notre Dame de Paris in the pouring rain, had a quick discussion about some of the architecture, and called it a day. On my way home, I had my first (and hopefully only) experience with the RER. (The RER is kind of like the metro, only it's a slightly bigger train and runs out into the suburbs.) Unless you are going into the suburbs, or literally across the entire city and the RER doesn't require line changes, take the metro. The metro runs more often between stations and is less crowded than the RER. (Yes the metro can be crowded and jam-packed, but far less so than the RER, trust me.)

Friday we met Dr. Clark at the Pantheon. The Pantheon was commissioned by King Louis XV to replace the Abbey of St. Genevieve (the patron saint of Paris). During/after the revolution, the structure was changed to a mausoleum/tribute to prominent French citizens. Voltaire is buried in the crypt there, Jean Jacque Rousseau, the Curies, and many other people, the names of which escape me at the moment. After the Pantheon we went around the corner to l'Eglise St. Genevieve du Mont, a beautiful church dedicated to the Patron Saint of the City. After l'eglise (the church), we stopped for cafe a la Place du Sorbonne. All of Friday's activities were in the Latin Quarter of the city on le Rive Gauche. I did a bit of quick shopping with Michelle (one of the other K-Staters) on Rue d'Alesia in the southern part of the city. Rue d'Alesia is supposed to be one of the cheaper areas to shop, for people like me who can't afford $300 shirts in Galleries Lafayette or Printemps. I then spent a few leisurely hours exploring la Parc du Villette which is about a 20 minute walk from where I live. The canal Nina and I found last week runs through the park, there's also a science museum/center there and a huge music hall. It's a great place to just wander around.

Saturday and Sunday we spend in Normandy. One of the nice things about the ISA program is the weekend trips they organize for us. For this first weekend, we went to Normandy and visited the D-Day museum, Omaha Beach, the American Cemetery, and Mont St. Michel. We spent most of Saturday at the Museum and Omaha Beach/the American Cemetery. Omaha Beach is absolutely beautiful and completely mind-boggling. Standing on the beach, it's almost impossible to reconcile the images constantly seen from WWII with the image of the beach today. The two images are so at odds with eachother, it just makes what happened there 66 years ago that much more surreal and sobering. An interesting fact about the American Cememtery there: the land was actually gifted to the U.S. government by the French, so when you visit the cemetery, you're on American soil. Again, to walk through the cemetery is such a surreal experience just because of what happened and what it represents. After those visits, we made a surprise stop at a local apple farm, the Ferme de la Sapiniere. Apples are apparently one of the specialties in that particular region of Normandy, so the farms specialize in Jus de Pomme, Cidre, Pommeau, and Calvados (apple juice, and 3 alcohol drinks with increasing strength). I normally hate apple juice in the States, but I have to say the Jus de Pomme is possibly one of the greatest things I have ever had; it's like drinking a crisp, juicy apple, and it's delicious. The production on these farms is a 4 step process, each step resulting in one of the aforementioned drinks. Jus de Pomme is the most basic, an extra processing step results in cidre, then pommeau, and finally calvados, so they are continually producing all 4 drinks. The farm is a fairly small set-up, but they produce a lot of apple products that are bought all over the country. Sunday we went to Mont St. Michel, which is an absolutely beautiful church with a long history of progression that I can't remember right now. Basically, just like every other church in France, it started as a small abbey, and has been added on to and rebuilt, and it has grown into a beautiful structure that crowns a tiny island in a bay. Sorry this isn't more informative, but it's 12:15 am, and I'm tired. After Mont St. Michel was a 4-5 hour drive back to Paris, and lots of sleep.

So I think that's enought rambling for now; I'll finish updating everything (hopefully) tomorrow, and get some pictures of everything uploaded.