“There’s a lot of old sh*t”

I’ve officially been in France for a week! I think I’ve managed to kick jet lag to the curb and now just have to remember to not text people at 10am Paris time (4am EST). It’s been such an exciting adventure so far, I’ve seen many adorable French towns, incredible churches, and stereotypical French people (for real, does everyone carry baguettes around?). I have been thoroughly impressed by the transportation system in France overall, what would take a 3 1/2-4 hour car ride only took a 2ish hour train ride (can Amtrak please be faster and can my metro station at home be open).

Before class started, my family took a little side vacation to the West Coast of France to see some other parts of the country, such as the Bayeux Tapestry, Mont Saint-Michel, and the beaches of Normandy (think d-day or in French jour-j). In the town of Bayeux we got to experience a very unique Medieval festival and parade (with people on stilts doing stunts with fire). It was awesome and we got to try some good food, like cake made on a stick! (Side note, there’s lots of Pizza vending machine places in these towns, and the pizza isn’t bad!) As we walked past the Cathedral in the center of town, there was a little glass opening in the ground, which showed remnants of the Roman wall that was there. My brother commented on how that was super cool and old and my mom said to my brother “yeah, there’s a lot of old sh*t in France,” which was the theme we took for that day (and the title I’m using for this first blog post). That day, we had seen the Bayeux Tapestry (dating approx 11th century) which had survived astonishingly over the years, the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Bayeux (the main church in town dating to the 11th century), and the roman wall, not evening including the long history of the town of Bayeux itself. So many interesting places to explore.

As we have continued this trip, everything we see is so much older than anything we get to see in the United States. I think I forget how much my timeline of history has been skewed living in the United States, as it’s such a young country compared to Europe. I mean, some of the stuff I’ve seen has been 500 years older than the United States itself! It has amazed me to think about how the city developed, and the different uses that buildings have had over time. In modern times, I feel like a lot of buildings are built with a single purpose in mind, and seeing the different uses the buildings have had over time is interesting. I am looking forward to seeing so much more history in the coming weeks.

Also happy Fourth of July in the US, I suppose it’s okay to say that because the French helped the United States win the war, thanks Lafayette and Rochambeau.

Au Revoir from Ellie in Paris 

(not Emily in Paris, she is such an embarrassing American)

More pictures from Paris!