Elle épluche une orange... and many other French phrases

Well, quick recap of yesterday! My internet has not been in tip top shape, thus I was not able to post a blog. Yesterday was "free museums day!" as I mentioned, so Jess and I decided we would get up and go to L'Orangerie. Its a museum in the Tuleries gardens with GIANT Monet paintings that stretch along the walls, as well as some other famous impressionist paintings. Its a small, beautiful museum, and was the perfect choice for a semi-intense day. We knew it was going to be intense when we walked in and there was a sign that said "SILENCE!" (avec une accent francaise, bien sure); complete with a woman sitting in a chair shushing people. There was a great reverence in the room and it was really breath-taking. We had decided not to go to the really 'big' museums because for one, they would be SO crowded... and our feet were still a little sore from the Louvre on Saturday. After seeing the beautiful paintings, and the fun "silence" signs, we went out into the gardens and were greeted by a beautiful breeze; a long stroll through the gardens and some ice cream would finish off our adventure. Then we came home to rest and had some dinner- to bed early because CLASSES BEGAN TODAY!

This morning we had to be up bright and early to meet Jenna to go to our classes. 8AM downstairs and the group was given their sheets about where to meet their professors. We squeezed on the metro (as it was rush hour) and ran to the amphitheater where we were supposed to be (arriving just under 5 minutes late... :/) A few of us were in the same place and waited patiently for our names to be called to follow our teachers. I was in one of the last groups, being placed in an "Intermediate" level course, which, after today, I think will be just right. Not too hard, but definitely challenging enough that I won't be bored. Then, I led a group of the students to our building, because many of them didn't know how to get there. 10-12 is the first part of class which consists of grammar and les choses plus difficile, an hour break, 1-2 phonetics, my personal favorite, and then 2-4 with "les choses moins difficile comme la liturature etc..."; sounds like a pretty great, but busy day! No one from my program is in my class, but there are several nice people that I have already connected with.

After class, a few of us met up and picked up some notebooks and then headed off to the Crepe dinner. Amazing as always. First a salad, then a mushroom and cheese crepe, followed by a crepe chocolate for dessert (the chocolate is made at the restaurant and was a delicious dark chocolate). After stopping by the Monoprix for some necessary items, a few of us came back to La Maison Belges and played soccer with some of the Turkish kids we met. Obviously, they were far better than us, but I think they probably went easy.

Another full day of class tomorrow! I'm really looking forward to it! I've finished my homework and am ready for bed.

Bisous,
Amy