Day Trip: Versailles

Yesterday I took a day trip to Versailles with some of the other assistants, where we also met up with an old friend of mine (we hadn't seen each other since summer camp in high school!). I visited Versailles during my semester in Nantes, but that trip was in November which meant it was cold, gray and way too unpleasant for visiting the gardens. I was happy to get a second chance to go this year during springtime, which turned out to be a really good decision. We enjoyed the main chateau as well as Marie Antoinette's house, but the best part of the day was walking around the gardens, lunching at an outdoor cafe, and lounging by the lake eating ice cream.

~ Me, Sophia, Haidee, Yirah, and Sarah at the entrance ~

***

~ Hall of Mirrors ~

~ Queen's bedroom wallpaper ~

~ View of the chateau from the gardens ~

***

~ Gardens in the Grand Trianon ~

***

~ Temple de l'Amour ~

My Apartment

Since my first week here, friends have requested pictures of my apartment in Saint-Quentin. It has taken almost seven months for me to get around to responding to those requests, but here we go. I'm living at my school, where an apartment is reserved for the teaching assistants to use. It's small but has everything I need, with nice-sized bedrooms and a cute kitchen. It's been a nice gathering place for the assistants during various pizza dinners, game nights and movies, and I truly appreciate my 30 second commute to work in the morning.

 

~ The German assistant, Alexandra, lived at the apartment too (she left a few weeks ago). As we encountered new vocabulary this year, I illustrated some of our favorite words to decorate the apartment's hallway. These are just a few of the vocab drawings. ~

~ Kitchen ~

~ My room: dresser ~

~ Bed and wardrobe(s) ~

~ Desk nook and window ~

Paris Visit #4

Last weekend I took another day trip to Paris, this time with Sarah, Yirah, and Matteo. We went to a part of Paris I haven't been to before, where we visited the Natural History Museum and took a long afternoon walk. The museum was impressive, and the rest of the day was sunny and perfect for a meandering stroll through the Jardin du Luxembourg, past the Pantheon, and finishing up by the Seine.

~ Inside the Natural History Museum ~

~ Fish! ~

  

~ Chillin ~

~ Pantheon in Paris ~

~ Jardin du Luxembourg ~

~ Springtime at Notre Dame ~