I have arrived! I landed at Charles de Gaul airport this morning around 7:30 a.m. after traveling for 17+ hours. The trip actually was not as bad as I thought it would be, and I was able to sleep about 6 hours total on my planes. Landing in Paris and taking the taxi to our program location was so surreal. Bella and I were some of the first to arrive, as well as a fellow UCSB student who we met at the airport. We attempted to speak French to our taxi driver, who was very nice about our mistakes. Here is a picture of the sunrise outside the window of the plane as we arrived into Paris. It was so fun to look down at all the little towns scattered around France.
After arriving at the abroad center, we dragged our luggage down to our residence. We took a few wrong turns and the 5 minute walked turned into a 20 minute walk. Finally, we found the building and walked up to our room. We have been settling in all day and trying to get things organized.
This is the view of the courtyard from our room. We are surrounded by many other apartments and residences of French families. The neighborhood is very cute with cafes on literally every corner. I will post more pictures of the neighborhood as I explore more. I have to refrain from pulling out my camera and taking pictures of the buildings on every street because they are all so pretty!
Our room is a VERY small apartment, more like a dorm, but it has plenty of space for us. We have started to organize our stuff, but we need to do some shopping for more comfortable blanket, pillows, some containers, and other small things. I have lots of pictures I plan to hang out next to my bed, as well. I am the on the bottom bunk with the pile of stuff sitting on it.
We have a desk, a small table for eating and some storage space to the left, as well as a closet that cannot be seen in the photo to the right, and a bathroom.
Our "kitchen" is across form the closet and contains a microwave, hot plates, a small refrigerator and storage space. It's not much, but we don't really need much more. I am so excited to go to the local market just down the street for fruits and veggies, and of course to the boulangerie for fresh baked goods! Oh, and I didn't post a picture of the bathroom just because it is boring and hard to photograph. All I can say is I have NEVER seen a shower so small.
I am excited to have my first day of orientation tomorrow and have many of my questions answered. I still do not even know which classes I will be taking! There will be multiple weekend excursions planned by the program which we will find out about tomorrow. Bella and I are not sure about the water here yet. We are told that many Parisians drink bottled water, but we aren't sure if that is because they are simply particular about their water or if there is something we should know about what's coming out of the tap. Like I said, I have many questions.
Even though my trip has just started, I already feel like I don't have enough time to explore this amazing city. I know the next few months will be some of the best of my life and I don't want to take for granted one minute of my time here! I hope this blog will grow and become filled with memories and my many experiences here in Paris, as well as all around Europe! I cannot believe I am living here until December. There is SO SO SO much to look forward to!
Much more to come - this is only my first day, after all!
Au revoir!
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