Je suis enfin à Paris !

Today, I saw La Tour Eiffel! So, it's official - I'm really in Paris! After our courses at CUPA (which basically lasted all day...), a bunch of us decided to go to the Eiffel Tower. The subway goes above ground before you get there, so I got my first glimpse of it from the subway - actually, I suppose my first glimpse of it was yesterday, when Alexandra and I were at the Panthéon...Anyway, it was all sparkling, which it apparently does every hour, and I even think my pictures weren't too blurry this time. I just uploaded all of my pictures, so I'll attach them to this entry.

At CUPA, in one of our classes, they told us about differences in French home life, and most of them I had already noticed, but they were pretty interesting, so I figured I'd post them. First, French people always close the bathroom door because what goes on in there shouldn't be on public display. I guess it makes sense, but the American way is more practical: if the door is open, no one is inside whereas, if it's closed, you always have to knock. Another thing is that French people try to conserve lots of energy and food and they think Americans are wasteful. That's why their heating in their houses isn't ever very high (like right now - it's always pretty cold in this room). They also eat everything on their plates so they don't waste food. They close their doors too, so they said not to feel unwelcome if, after dinner, your host family hides behind closed doors. In fact, they said that we should close our doors too, because host families have asked about why the American students leave their doors open all the time. These tidbits are good to know, I suppose, but it doesn't seem like I've been spending a ton of time here. I have courses in the morning, so I get up, get ready, have breakfast, and leave. The courses don't end until a little before dinner, so I'm really only here in the morning and at night. After dinner, we watch the news, then I go Skype and read until I go to sleep.

Except tonight, I'm going to do my homework. Thanks for reading and enjoy the pictures!

This last picture is the dome of the Panthéon that I saw yesterday, but it looks cool!