The one with what I've been up to

The last few weeks I haven't done any traveling around Europe but that doesn't mean I haven't been active in Paris. I've been to the open air market a few times and did lots of walking around on separate weekends when first Rachel and her friends from Scotland visited, and then when Big Cat and Figs visited the next weekend. As always, we got Berthillon ice cream on l'ile St. Louis, visited Notre Dame and much more. I walked for over 5 hours with Big Cat and Figs and also went back to the Louvre. We had incredible weather all week and I've loved spending so much time outside.

This week I went out to Dinner with a group of French friends at the restaurant, 10. It was quite an experience. First we went to my friend Phillipine's apartment for appetizers and drinks. I tried fish eggs for the first time there. Then we went to the restaurant and met up with a few of Phillipine's French friends so that I could meet more of them. They were really nice and enjoyed practicing their English. I tried some of Greg's fo gras, or duck liver, for an appetizer at the restaurant and it was actually pretty tasty. Then for dinner, I had the fish of the day which was a white fish with scallops in a lobster sauce. It was actually a ton of food considering what French portions are usually like. Then we all got tiramisu for dessert! My favorite :) You can't go wrong with anything that's both coffee and chocolate! It was a really enjoyable dinner and I'm glad I went.

Tuesday I participated in another European experience; I went to a football game! (That's soccer to all Americans.) It was a little rainy but the stadium was huge and the top covered the stands but had a large hole in a middle so the players experienced the temperatures and weather outside. Tuesday's game was France v. Croatia. We sat on the upper deck surrounded by French and the small but full Croatian section was right below us. The entire game, I was amazed because the French would make these huge paper airplanes and throw them down into the Croatian fan section! Then the Croatians basically started a fire in their section of the stands by lighting tons of flares and even threw a few onto the field while the game was going on. It was rowdy and wild. Unfortunately though, the most exciting parts of the night had to do with the fans. The game ended 0-0 tie and I wish I could have really seen the fan's reactions had one of the teams scored. Overall though, we all had a great time and it was a really fun night.

But for now, I'm almost done with another week of classes and finals start next week. I figure I'll start studying for them next week them, because it's time to head off to Barcelona with Courtney for a fun 70 degree and sunny, long weekend!