Arrival in Paris!

Hello All!

I am writing this blog to keep everyone updated on my time in Paris. I am here for 5 months (until June), so I will try to write a few posts every week!

After one of the most hectic days of traveling, I arrived in Paris. It is possibly the most beautiful city in the world! I am in awe everywhere I go because of the old buildings and beautiful streets, as well as the extremely well dressed people. We arrived when it was snowing (which apparently is rare in Paris) and it was so pretty! The snow has melted now. This week is orientation so every day I go to a number of activities preparing us for the American University of Paris as well as Paris itself. I've been trying to explore a bit when I am not at orientation. So far, I have checked out "Le Marais" which is a fun shopping district (I did not buy anything because the Euro-Dollar ratio is ridiculous). Today, I went to Rue Mouffetard which has a street market. I bought an extremely delicious lunch and fortunately this market is only a 5 min. walk from my apartment.

The apartment is adorable! But in true French fashion, something breaks every day. So far, our heater has broken, two lights, a door fell off, and our internet is not working. It's quite frustrating to say the least, but besides that the apartment is very cute. Here are some pics:

Our kitchen ,counter, cabinets, and shelves

Dining Room, couch/extra bed, and "living room"

Coat Rack, Scarf Rack, and Closet
Bathroom CounterShower/Washing Machine
Drawers, Fireplace, in Bedroom
My Bed! and side of room
Bri and my Bedroom w/ desk in middle

That's our apartment! It's nice having a roommate (most students here live alone), so thank goodness I have Brianna. We live in the 5th arrondissement which is the Latin Quarter and a big student area. We live across the street from a park, and our apartment is in a little complex with a cute courtyard. All in all, the location/apartment is a success. Besides the 45 min. commute to school.... But we have unlimited monthly metro cards and the metro system is so convenient here. I've never had to wait longer than 3 min. for the metro!

I am in food heaven. You really can't go wrong with any restaurant here. School (which is in the 7th across the street from the Eiffel Tower) is conveniently near 1000's of restaurants and cafes so I will be spending a lot of my time there!