Un viaje a París

We had a few admirers in Paris: understandable.

Hello all!

I made a flickr account so I can post all of my pictures. Here's a link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/48490668@N07/sets/

So as you'll see in my pictures, some friends and I just went on a trip to Paris. We had such a great time- we saw the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, Dali Museum, ate escargot and crepes, saw some great live music. Here's a video:

We engaged in some nightlife activities and met a bunch of French people. I honestly didn't expect to really like Paris that much. I thought it was probably over romanticized, and we all know the stereotypes about French people. But I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. Most of the French people I met were much friendlier than the average American that I'll run into at home, with the exception of the curmudgeonly staff at our hotel. The food was delicious, and I found the city to be quite charming. This might sound ridiculous, but I was also skeptical about how cool the Eiffel Tower would be. It's just so hyped up that I couldn't imagine it living up to whatever expectations I had. But we climbed as high as they would allow us (not to the tippy-top, but 2/3 of the way up) and it really was worth it. In conclusion, it was a great weekend and I would love to go back sometime. But I would still rather live in Amsterdam- it smells better. Flickr only lets me add so many pictures a month, so I have some more of Paris to come.

In Amsterdam news, my classes are still going well. I gave my first class presentation last week with a friend. I had a midterm paper to write this week which I am very efficiently procrastinating. At least my room and the desktop of my computer have been cleaned.

My bike is a little broken, so fixing that is at the top of my to-do list. I've had a bit of a cold so I've had a pretty uneventful week, but I'm feeling much better now, and the weather is getting really nice. So I really should finish my work and go outside and play.

Today some little Dutch children dressed as cowboys pretended to shoot 2 friends and me. Then they stood and stared at us as we struggled with the key to our apartment: strangely intimidating...