Saturday Day 6 London/Paris May 26,2012

Eh it was an early 5am morning of traveling from London to Paris. The bus had to travel under the English Channel so we made our way to the Eurotrain. I have never really seen anything like it before, the cars and buses basically boarded a ferry (train) and it traveled right under the channel. It maybe took about twenty-five minutes so it was not too bad. On the schedule I calculated about 8 hours of road time, but we stopped every 2 hours for snacks and breaks so it all went by really quickly. The scenery was really pretty driving across France. It was filled with green rolling hills, small chateaus, and it looked completely different from Texas's flat plains. During our breaks I noticed the weather was much warmer than London's chilly mornings. Which was perfect, because my suitcase is about 75% dresses and shorts. I also discovered the difficulty of the French and English language barrier on our rest stops. Not all people in France speak English and it's not going to be as easy to stop and ask for directions as frequently as we did in London. On the bus I spent a lot of time uploading pictures, working on last minute journal stuff, and sleeping. It was actually really nice to relax for a little bit. As we got closer to the hotel Dr. Mac announced there will be free wifi! What a relief, we will no longer have to camp outside of a cafe to talk to family and friends back home. Once we arrived I found France to be very different from London. It seems a little rough around the edges and the men are very forward and out spoken; it is a little scary, but it'll be ok with our large group. After we checked in the professors took us to the train station to show us how everything worked. We took the train to Saint Michel to see Notre Dame and to grab some dinner afterwards. The restaurant we found turned out to the best little French restaurant. The waitress was so sweet an understanding. She taught us a few helpful French phrases and we helped her with her English. So far I am having a great time and I have made so many new friends I never even knew existed. Everyone is really cool and we all look out for each other especially the guys which is nice. I am beginning to feel like we are a little family.
xo
victoria