Paris!!!!

Hello folks,

After a long absence from writing, I'm back!! I've been pretty busy over the past two weeks, still trying to settle into the school here. As you might have noticed from my past posts, I have been having some troubles with figuring out my schedule and dealing with the administration in general. I think its a combination of my infamiliarity with the system here and disorganization on their part (no comment on which element of that combination is the most dominant :)

My girlfriend Tanne was here over the past two weeks which has been amazing! We spent some time touring around Lille. We went to the Musee de Beaux Arts in Lille where we found an excellent collection of paintings and historical artifacts from nothern Europe (Holland, Belgium, etc) We also made sure to take advantage of the food and drink available here in Lille, treating ourselves to cheese, wine, beer, bread, sweets and all that good stuff that is so abundant here....

We managed to find a few days to sneak off to Paris, which was fantastic! It being my first time there, I was really excited to see the sites and just experience this place that I had heard so much about. As you can imagine, it didn't disappoint. We checked out la tour Eiffel, Champs d'Elysee, l'Arc de Triomphe, Louvre, Center Pompidou, le Sacre Coeur, etc.. We also did a lot of walking around in various arrondissments. We took a walk around Montmarte, the area around the Sacre Coeur. I found this area really charming. The architecture was interesting and the area had a lot of life to it (as does a lot of Paris :) We also did some walking in the 11th Arrondisement. This is an area often overlooked by tourists, but is also a really cool place. We found a rich ethnic area with cheap goods (Tanne treated herself to a pair of shoes for 8 euro) and services (i treated myself to a haircut for 6 euro) and a plethora of great cafes and restaurants. (see attached photos for an idea of my experience)

Well thats it for now. I will try not to take so long to write again! Hope you enjoy :)