Bonjour!

Last weekend I went to Paris and it was a beautiful place. Paris is near the top of my list of favorite European cities!

We got there at about 10AM and we immediately went to the Sacre Coeur which was about a 5 minute walk from our hotel.

We had cappuccino at a little cafe looking at the Basilique.

Then we moved on to Cathedrale de Notre Dame. It was so cool to see this after hearing about it so much. The gargoyles were intense!

We continued into the Latin Quarter and did some shopping at cute little stores and browsed around at stores that have to unlock the doors to let you in because the jewelry inside is so expensive. We went into one because it looked somewhat reasonably priced compared to the other ones, but no. We were mistaken, I think it might have been worse than any other store. The watch we picked out was £4000. That is more than $8,000!

That night we went out to dinner and I had some sort of soup, that was orange. We asked what was in it, but the waitress just told us it was good and we'll like it. So we got it. It was carrot colored, but kind of tasted like sweet potatoes. And had a weird texture. Anyway, I loved it.

Then we went to the Louvre because it is free on Friday nights to students. That was incredible. We saw the Mona Lisa and Venus De Milo.

The building is massive. "They" say if you stopped and looked at everything for 3 seconds, it would take you 3 months to see everything.

After that, we went to the Eiffel Tower. It was all lit up and while we were walking towards it and it started to shimmer! Quite lovely.

The next day we went to les Champs-Elysees for some shopping. And of course we went to the Morgan store - http://morgandetoi.com/

We went and saw Arc de Triomphe and took pictures there.

Finally, we went to the Eiffel Tower to climb it! We climbed up the first two flights and then took the elevator to the top. It was a lot higher than it seems. It cast a really cool shadow over the city.

Once we got down from there, which took awhile with all the lines we decided to take a canal ride. It told us the history about the city and buildings. We realized we should have done that first, instead of last!

I had French Onion Soup for dinner. It was the best I have ever had!

Today it is pouring, pouring in Swansea Wales. And I looked at the 10 day forecast. It looks like rain for almost the rest of the time that I am here which is less than a week. No surprise about the rain really. That probably means a couple of sunny days. You never know over here. But I did look at the Willimantic forecast and I am excited to see some snow. The day after I get back, it says scattered snow showers! I can't wait. It's not even cold like winter here, it's early spring all the time in Wales.




Last night we had a potluck dinner with all the Americans and it was probably one of the last times that we will all be together. And it was probably one of the last nights a lot of us will go out to Wind Street!

Today, Swansea felt like Troy to me. It was raining, cold and windy. It didn't help that I had tons of work to do. So I sat in the library, looking out a window. And although I'm in Wales, you cannot beat the views from the 4th floor of Folsom.

I love the people here. Everyone is much more friendly than RPI. Everyone wants to have fun, and everyone wants to experience new things. No one walks like they are on a mission to get to class, no one runs when they are late. It's a nice change, that I will miss.

Everything that RPI has lacked for me, I have found here in Swansea.

The week that my family was here was excellent. We got to do a lot around Wales before we went to London. We visited Gower and had perfect weather there. We also were able to go see a few castles which were very exciting. That is what Wales is known for.

We got to go to all the tourist attractions in London. Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Trifalgar Square, Parliament, The Eye, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral and more. The last day my brother and I went to Notting Hill for the Portobello Market, which was one of my favorite places. We got crepes on the street = delicious!

The underground was my favorite part of London. Not that I haven't been on subways all the time in NYC but it was more exciting! I could ride around on them all day. They are a lot cleaner and more exciting than the subway in NYC. Only a couple mice, no rats!

It was my birthday and Tim's while we were in London so that was exciting! We went out to dinner at some cute places and out for drinks at different bars. It was overall, a wonderful week, a great thanksgiving. I cannot wait to come home in 2 weeks. Although, I am a bit worried about packing everything up again and getting it all home. It might not fit in the suitcases that I have. I sent some stuff home with Riley, but I don't think that I sent enough home. It could be a problem in the end!

I finally have schoolwork to do. Unfortunately, it is all at once and all due within the last two weeks. So it's a little overwhelming. I haven't had to do any work since May, so I think my brain is in shock!

More importantly, I leave for Paris on Thursday night!

My parents got here late on Friday night, and of course all bars and pubs stop serving food at around 8. So to begin their stay in Wales, we got Chinese food. But the next day we got up and it was sunny, thankfully. So I took them to the Gower, which is one of the most beautiful sights here in Wales. It was a very windy day, but we had a great time. They rented a car for the week and they got a jeep. Most roads in Wales are meant for little compact cars. Parking spaces are not even big enough for SUVs. So it is very interesting to watch my dad try and drive here. He gets nervous!

When you go out to dinner here, you go up to the bar and order your meal and you pay right then. And they give you a spoon with your table number.

Riley arrived yesterday and we went to a Christmas Parade here in Swansea. Christmas starts on the 18th of November, because they don't celebrate Thanksgiving. Anyway, it was a bizarre parade and it rained the entire time!

Sarah, Matt and Tim get here today. I'm excited!

The past weekend, I went to Ediburgh which is in Scotland and it was a beautiful city. It was extremely cold and windy but so much fun. The bus ride there was 11 hours and we got there at 10Am but couldn't check into our hostel until 2. Our hostel was about 30 minutes away from the city, so we had to take a bus in. We went to the Edinburgh castle which was huge and we spent a good chunk of the day there. We went to lunch at this really cute pub and I had fish and chips, my favorite! We also went to the Cathedral in Edinburgh and it was gorgeous inside. Our last night, a couple of us went to a pub, and got Haggis, Neeps and Tatties. It was interesting tasting. Almost like meatloaf but spicy and not really the same texture.

Anyway, I had a really good time there, and we did a lot of fun things.

I saw lots of men in kilts which was kind of exciting!