A Typical Day of Pre-Session Life

Mercredi, 28 août.

I realized that I've written a lot about my adventures since being here -- planned excursions, trips downtown, even the life-saving grocery shopping trip of 2013. What I haven't really talked about, however, is what I'm doing the rest of the time. (It's not all picnics and olive tastings.) Over the past 10 days, I've adjusted pretty well to the schedule -- and I've even taken some pictures to help you get a sense of my surroundings! So here it is, a typical day in my "pre-session" life:

For starters, I wake up every morning around 7h. (Per usual, a side note: the "h" stands for "heure" and is used sort of as a replacement of the colon and/or the word "o'clock" in French.) Class starts right at 9h00, so waking up two hours early leaves plenty of time to get ready and go to breakfast first. Of course, seven in the morning isn't really tbat early, but I always set a couple of alarms just in case it's hard to get up! Sometimes, if I'm lucky, I wake up as the sun is rising just behind the building across from me. It's so pretty that it almost makes up for the fact that I live just over a glorified prison yard!

As you saw before, my room is super tiny, so it takes no time at all after my alarm sounds to get dressed and pack my bag for the day. Because Molly didn't have a cell phone until just the other day, she had a more exciting alarm -- me banging on her door in my jammies!

Home Away From Home, No 1

Samedi, 17 Août.

Welcome to my new home-away-from-home! I'm living in a student housing campus called Triolet and, well, it's just about as spartan an existence as you could imagine. My room -- yes, I do have one all to myself -- is on the second floor (which, funnily enough, is really the third floor in France) of Building C in Room 058.

And here's the view out the window! The tennis courts aren't particularly lovely and look a little too much like a prison yard for my taste, but when I'm sitting at the desk, all I can see are the tops of the trees and the pretty blue sky. So that's good.

The bathroom is ... unique. It's all one tiny room with a toilet, sink, mirror, and shower. It's about the size of my entire bathtub at home and you have to press the shower head every couple seconds to keep the water flowing, and yet I like it. It's bright and clean ... and feels sort of like I'm brushing my teeth in a spaceship!

Bon Voyage!

Samedi, 17 août.

Bienvenue from la France! It's just past 8:00 pm here. That means it's currently 2:00 pm in Centreville ... and also means that I have been awake for over 30 straight hours. And let me tell you, fatiguée doesn't even begin to describe my level of exhaustion à ce moment. Earlier this afternoon, I started to fall asleep while sitting straight up on a park bench. So yeah, it's been quite a long day ... but I guess that's because it all began, well, yesterday!

I spent Friday morning packing (and unpacking and repacking) and headed off to the airport around 1 pm for my 4:15 flight. Goodbyes were difficult, but I know I'll be back in Virginia before I know it! As for the trip itself, the flight from Washington Dulles to Charles de Gaulle was a breeze ... well, as much as a trans-Atlantic plane flight can be! Our plane was an absolute goliath, and if you think I'm exaggerating, look up the Air France Airbus A380 -- it's the largest passenger aircraft in the world. Check out this photo of the economy class! I had planned to sleep most of the flight, but between the airline food (say what you want, but I really liked it) to the inflight entertainment (I finally got a chance to watch Lincoln), it was all just too exciting to miss a second!

Here are some helpful hints if you are planning to fly Air France anytime soon:

• Not many things are written in stone anymore, but the Air France baggage weight limits are literally carved in granite and hung over the check-in desk. Just kidding! But actually, they're insanely serious about weight limits. I got my boarding pass and waited in line for 20+ minutes, only to be sent back to repack because my carry-ons were too heavy!
• Allow plenty of time to go through security! I was at Dulles Aiport more than two and a half hours before my flight and didn't have a whole lot of free time after finally getting through security.
• Forget the weather outside: wear your heaviest clothes on the plane. Air France is crazy picky about the size and weight of your luggage, but they don't look twice at the size and weight of YOU. When I went through check-in the second time, I was wearing two jackets, sunglasses, and a digital camera. I'm almost certain that I could have bundled myself up like a sausage without any questions! Besides, it's cold when you're a couple thousand miles up in the air and an extra jacket won't be wasted!
• Do research on your destination airport. Learn the rules, print out a map ... whatever will keep you from dragging a heavy duffel bag in circles around Charles de Gaulle Airport!
• If you can, take the Airbus. It's two stories, has comfy seats with individual TV screens and is basically the definition of chouette. I actually sort of miss it...