Over Harbor and City: my epic journey: part one

hej all.

i'm pretty much recovered from my illness, so i think it's about time i write about my adventures. i might have to cut this entry up into sections. in fact, i think i will.

so, part one! france!
the first week of my travel break i went to france with my european culture and history program. it was called a "study tour", but we didn't really have any assignments, just academic visits and such. the trip started with a horrendous 15 hour bus ride to verdun. verdun itself was pretty cool. we visited the battlefields and the fortress there. the fortress was pretty impressive. it was originally built for 700 or so soldiers but usually housed about 4000. the technology was amazing overall. the actual town of verdun was pretty sleepy, but mostly cute. we had our first classic french meal there -- duck and lots of wine.

once we left verdun, we headed towards reims. reims was one of my favorite places from the trip. it was a really cute city and we just generally had a good time there. the cathedral in reims in amazing and far more impressive than notre dame, in my opinion. one of the stained glass windows was designed by marc chagall, which blew me away. besides the cathedral in reims, we got a fair bit of time to wander by ourselves. during this part of the trip, i really bonded with two of my trip-mates, jon and sarah. we had a great time running around reims, looking at facades and escaping the rain. we also visited a champagne cave and had a tour. it was interesting to learn how champagne is made and that some of it is still turned by hand. crazy! we got to sample, as well. i can now say i've had real champagne.

our last stop was paris! as dorky as it sounds, i'll always remember my first glimpse of the eiffel tower. i visited all of the touristy sights in paris, the louvre, the champ elysees, arc de triomphe notre dame, musee d'orsay, and the seine. i also did some less touristy things. with the program, we went on a literary tour about baudelaire. it was maybe the most boring hour of my life. everyone hated it, even the teachers. i visited the pere lachaise cemetery and saw jim morrison's grave. i saw the moulin rouge. we also went to a contemporary dance performance that involved big plastic balls and lots of plants. it was quite odd.

i think sacre coeur was my favorite thing in paris. it is a gorgeous white church that sits on a hill an area of paris called montmarte. the view is incredible and the church is amazing. i also really enjoyed hanging out in cafes. over all, paris was beautiful but the majority of people there were less than friendly. i'm guessing the majority of this relates to my inability to speak french, but it was still a bit off-putting.

now for some pictures!