One Bouchon at a Time: Sydney || I'm back!

Hello family and friends!

So...I forgot to blog last week. I'll admit. I just completely forgot. Last Thursday, my study abroad group took a 3 day trip to Normandy and we had a really early start. I wanted to make sure I got in bed on time (and did that happen? no...) and I just completely forgot. I'm so sorry!

But I'm here to make up for it :)

If you want to read about my Normandy trip, go to this page :

http://sydneyvoitlemonde.blogspot.fr/2012/10/normandie-normandy.html

This is the blog I have been using as a class project. We're required to journal about significant experiences, group travel, and the walks we take for our Paris Walks class. It's all pretty detailed, so I understand if you don't want to read all the details. Ha. But it is there, nonetheless!

Now, on to other exciting things.

This week for the BYU students in Paris is FRENCH CHALLENGE WEEK. This means that (with very few exceptions - blogging being one of them) we are only allowed to speak in French. Oh la la la la la la, it is hard. But - and here's the cool part - I can tell that I am actually improving. You see, starting Sunday morning, I really haven't spoken that much English. Only to a few people back home, on my blog, and sometimes around the city if someone starts a conversation in English. Other than that, it's been in French! I carry my French-English dictionary around with me like it is my Bible. That thing has saved my life so many times. But I have found that despite how frustrated and confused I have gotten, I am actually better able to speak. I have more confidence and I am able to tell people in audible tones what I want to say. Hahaha. Oh, and a big plus, each day we complete the challenge, we get a macaron! Now THAT is incentive.

On Tuesday a group of my friends and I went on one of our walks around Montmartre. We got to wander around the neighborhood, stop into one of the best chocolate shops in Paris, and we ended it with a long tour of le Jardin du Luxembourg. I love that garden. The last time I was there, it was spring. Everything was green. Now it's fall. While I loved the garden in the spring, I think I might love it more in fall. There are still flowers everywhere, but all the trees are changing color. Seriously, they're all orange and yellow. It was gorgeous.

Today we went to Saint Denis, the oldest Gothic church in France. This cathedral really started the Gothic movement in all of Europe, actually. The neighborhood outside the cathedral is a little sketchy...and I wasn't expecting to love the chapel as much as I did. When I got inside, I fell in love. Les vitraux (stained glass windows) were amazing. I loved the crypte, too. I'm pretty sure that was my favorite part. As creepy as it sounds, it was way cool to see Marie Antoinette's grave, Louis XVIII's heart, and the slightly gruesome carvings on some of the stones. And we had audio guides of the whole thing (for those of you who don't know...I LOVE audio guides with my whole heart).

I may or may not have taken a 2 hour nap today, as well.

I guess I needed it. Just as much as I need to blog! (It's funny saying "I HAVE to blog...but it's true! It's for school! Ha!)

Tomorrow my friends Annie, Sage, and Alicia, and I are going to volunteer at the American Cathedral of Paris. We are going to be serving lunch to the homeless and we're all super excited about it. It's going to be such a great experience.

I love you all, I hope you're doing well! Paris is treating me very well, I think France suits me. It makes me so happy. :)

Plein de bisous,

Syd