First post in France!

I'm here! After New York, Paris and multiple forms of transportation I am finally settled in Toulouse. The first step of my trip was saying goodbye to my parents at the hotel in New York. After that, I got settled in my room and waited for everyone to arrive. There were 11 of us going to France and other students going to Italy, Austria, and Russia. Our plane left the next day and we were all unbelievably excited and nervous. When the 11 of us got to Paris we waited in the airport for people from other countries. The orientation in Paris was really fun- we got to walk around the Eiffel Tower, take pictures and see other parts of the city through bus.

Throughout the orientation I met some of the most amazing people ever. The girls who I traveled with are some of the nicest, funniest and bravest I have met. We can all relate to each other and help each other out during our exchange. Saying goodbye to them before boarding the train was one of the first challenges this adventure will throw at me.

Picture from the train

From Paris, I rode the high speed train to Toulouse. I rode it with Malia from Rhode Island and Nina from Austria. Malia got off in Bordeaux and it was so cool to watch her meet her host family for the first time.  Nina and I both got off in Toulouse where I met my family! We were both so anxious, nervous and unbelievably excited. When I saw my family it ALL turned to excitement! Nadia, Pierre and Lea have been so great and have already helped my French improve immensely. 

My first full day here I went into the city with Anne; Nadia's friend. We saw the Capitol building, and walked around the streets. I fell in love with Toulouse that day- it is such a pretty city and there are all these little alleyway streets that look like they are from Harry potter. The next day was my first day of school. I am the equivalent of a junior at St. Joseph, my school. In France, when you become a junior you pick a track that determines your classes. You stay on the track until you graduate. The three tracks are L, language, ES, economic and social, and S, which is science and math. I got placed in L because it is the smallest class and they had two exchange students with them in the beginning of the year. The first week was really fun and interesting; everyone in my class is so nice and helpful! 

That week I left after lunch on Friday to go to Winchester, England with my family to visit family friends. We flew into London then took a taxi to Winchester, which was about an hour and a half drive. We were in Winchester for two and a half days. Winchester is the old Capitol of England so there is a lot of history in the city. While there I saw where Jane Austen lived and died, King Arthur's round table, a really old and pretty Cathedral, Winchester College and Winchester Castle. We left that Sunday to go back to Toulouse but our flight ended up being canceled because of snow! We ended up taking the Monday morning flight into Lyon then renting a car and driving about six hours to Toulouse. The car ride was so beautiful and a great way for me to see France. 

Winchester Cathedral

Me, Lea, Emma and Sarah

Jane Austen's House

King Arthur's Round Table

The next day was Tuesday, and Lea went to school and Nadia and Pierre went to work but unfortunately I don't have school this week because there are exams. That day I went over to Anne's house and had lunch with her and her son. After that we drove him to school and then went to the supermarket. This supermarket was huge! It resembled Costco but it was way better!  They had a huge wall of cheese and there were definitely over 100 different types. After that we went and picked her son up from school and went back to her house for hot chocolate and a chocolatine. A chocolatine is a flaky pastry wrapped around two bars of chocolate. It's amazing! 

The next two days I went shopping in Toulouse with Eva, who is a German exchange student who goes to the same school as me. 

Tomorrow starts a two week official school vacation and I leave for the Alps in a few hours!!

Au revoir!