Days 9-16: First Class and Trip to Bourgogne (Burgundy)

This week was the start of some classes and for the weekend our entire program went on a trip to Bourgogne or the Burgundy region of France. Monday I didn’t have any classes, but I went to confirm the times and locations of all of my classes at the various French universities. We have been warned that they are not structured like American universities and classes can be cancelled or changed without any notification. I didn’t do too much else during the day, but dinner was exceptional. My family was going to the theatre and then having guests over so they asked the sister of my host dad (or my host aunt?) to have me for dinner. She is an older woman and she hosts two students from my program and a graduate student from NYU in her apartment. Her apartment is big and very nice. She prepared a great dinner for us starting with a tomato and basil soup, next a salad, then chicken champignon, of course some delicious cheeses, and finally a tart for dessert. Everything was delicious and the woman was very interesting because she has lived all over the world and knows a lot of important people. She was telling us that she has known the family of Nicolas Sarkozy (the presidential candidate for the UMP party) since she was young and she also got a call from the Astor family from New York during my visit. Her stories, cooking, and her welcoming personality made it a great night. Finally, she is just like her brother in the way that she makes sure that wine is flowing readily. We enjoyed a really nice white wine with dinner.

Since I didn’t have class until Thursday I spent the most of Tuesday and Wednesday finalizing my schedule and exploring my area. The part of the city I am in is so beautiful and I really enjoyed getting to know my surroundings. I also noticed this when I was walking up one of the streets.Tuesday and Wednesday night I hung out with people from Cornell and went to some bars around the city. Finally Thursday came and I had my first class. It was a little intimidating, but I approached the professor after class and explained that I was a foreign student and she seemed very receptive. The class is about the European economy which is very important for my international studies major. After the class, my weekend began. I made myself dinner and afterwards met some of my friends at a hookah bar in the Latin Quarter. We then went to another bar near there and finally after that bar closed; we decided to go to Montmartre and went to a really fun bar that had a huge dance floor. Everyone let loose, danced, and enjoyed the night. Once again I didn’t get back to my house until after 4:00, but I had nothing to do on Friday so I was able to sleep late. Friday I didn’t do too much. I went to EDUCO to get my mail and make sure I was on top of everything. I then went to a café with my friends and hung out into the evening. Finally I went home, made myself dinner, and went to sleep because we had to be up early to leave for Bourgogne.

We left at about 8:00am on Saturday morning for Bourgogne. We were greeted with fresh croissants and after enjoying one I quickly slept for most of the bus ride. I awoke about an hour before we arrived and saw the French countryside covered in snow. It was really beautiful. Our first stop in the Bourgogne region was in a city called Beaune. We arrived at L’Hotel Dieu which was a complex built in the 1400’s. Next we went to a wine cave a tried 3 different wines and learned a lot about wines of the Bourgogne region. The region is known for its Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Take note that 2000 was a bad year and 2005 was a good year. We ended the day at our hotel which was in the middle of nowhere so we drank wine and ate a lot of food to stay warm for the night. The next morning we woke up early and started again. We first visited l'Abbaye de Fontenay which was an abbey that was built in the 12^th century. It was beautiful because of the old architecture and the layer of snow on the ground. Our next stop was for lunch and a visit to Vézelay where the Basilica dedicated to Saint Madeleine is located. Finally we headed home and a group of us went out to eat fondue and finally I went home to my bed. It was nice getting out of Paris, but the parts we visited were a little dull for my taste. This week I’ll have a few more class and I’ll begin planning my trips throughout Europe. Au revoir!

L'Hotel Dieu (the roof is amazing with its colors and designs)

Basilica dedicated to Saint Madeleine

More pictures to come...