Pub Crawling Around Dublin

Except for the travel there and back, I just had the best weekend in Dublin visiting Karissa.  It started off a little rough with my train to the airport being cancelled, but once I made it to Irish soil and in close proximity to a plethora of pubs, everything got infinitely better.

Dublin City Hall

Dublin Castle

wall built behind Dublin Castle to block the Queen's view of the slums during her visit

It was a trip of firsts (taste of Guinness, hostel experience, being in a country where they drive on the opposite side of the road), and I had so much fun.  We started out Friday morning at a coffee shop where I had a mocha and a bagel, neither of which exist in France or are extremely hard to come by, so I was already loving Ireland.  Then, Karissa had scoped out a free walking tour, so we spent a good part of the afternoon hitting up the most well known spots in Dublin.  It was great to have a guide since I knew absolutely nothing about the city before going, not including some minimal Wikipedia research.

Christchurch Cathedral

Temple Bar

We saw Dublin City Hall, Dublin Castle, Christchurch Cathedral and walked through Temple Bar, Trinity College, and St. Stephen’s Green.  Dublin is a cool city, and it was so different from what I’ve gotten used to seeing in France.  The architecture, food, and people were such a departure from the European-ness of France.  Not that I don’t love where I’m living, but Dublin was refreshing, maybe because they speak English.

Trinity College

St. Stephen's Green

After the walking tour, we continued walking around some more, did some shopping, and found a cute restaurant for some soup and brown bread (traditional Irish food).  That night, we went on a traditional Irish music pub crawl and went to three pubs (this fact was a bit shocking to my host dad who, upon hearing about my weekend, said, “So did you remember your night?  Dominique, did you hear that? She went to THREE pubs!”).  Two Irish musicians led the group on the pub crawl, and they played music for us at each one, explaining a little history along the way.  We met some girls from Wisconsin and continued onward after the official tour was over to another pub called O’Donaghue’s.  At the last one, I tried Guinness for the first time.  It wasn’t my favorite drink ever, but when in Dublin…

Artsy picture

GUINNESS

Saturday, we decided to go back to a couple of things we had seen on the walking tour to explore a little more.  We went back to Trinity College first to go into the library and see the Book of Kells, decorated copies of the four gospels dating back to the early 9^th century.  I was mostly excited to see the library, though, because it served as the basis for the Hogwarts library (love me some Harry Potter).  We also went to the Chester Beatty Library to see the collection of Qur’ans dating from the 9^th to 19^th centuries and some of the earliest Gospel and New Testament texts.  Beatty was an American who lived in Ireland and left Dublin an amazing collection of religious paraphernalia. 

Trinity College

St. Patrick's Cathedral

After the museums, we went to walk around a little market in the Temple Bar area, and then we went to St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which, like Christchurch, was so different from the cathedrals I’ve been seeing in France.  We couldn’t go inside but the outside and the surrounding park were beautiful.  We headed to O’Connell Street (the main drag) next and walked around some more before it started to rain (should have been more prepared for that in Ireland).  We went back to the hostel to refresh, and then headed back out to walk around some more. 

St. Patrick's Cathedral

Park outside the cathedral

As we wandered, we walked by a pub, heard some live music, and it sounded like fun, so we stopped in for some cider.  The pubs in Dublin were all so lively and fun, and there was always good music.  Irish people certainly know how to have a good time.  From there, we went to a restaurant in a hotel that had a free Irish dancing show.  I love watching Irish dancing and have always wanted to learn how to do it.

River Liffey

O'Connell Street

Unfortunately, I had to leave on Sunday, but we went out to brunch since my flight and Karissa’s bus back to Galway weren’t until later.  We went to this adorable place called Queen of Tarts where I had an omelet and coffee followed by the most delicious blackberry and apple crumble (I couldn’t refuse a dessert at Queen of Tarts). 

It was so great to see a familiar face, speak a familiar language, and hang out with one of my best friends for the weekend.  I’ve gotten so comfortable in France that it was nice to experience something totally different. 

Too bad my welcome back to France was a canceled train and a travel nightmare.  I literally ran all over Paris to find a way back to Dijon.  Thank the Lord I found my friend Sylvia who is in our Dijon group and her train back was running late, so I had time to get to her station.  I finally made it back to my house around midnight.  I had almost resigned to having to spend the night in Paris, and although it’s not the worst place in the world to be stuck, I was so happy to get back to my bed after a super fun but super exhausting weekend.

Grèves will not get in the way of my trip to DUBLIN.

Although it's been a little calmer the last couple of days, the French are continuing to strike over the impending increase in the retirement age.  While I haven't had a problem with the buses, it's affecting my perfect plan for traveling to Dublin tomorrow.  I had it all set up to take the train directly to Charles de Gaulle airport, but my train got canceled.  NOT COOL.  I'm taking an earlier train, so it'll be fine, but I just have to get myself from Gare de Lyon all the way to the airport.  My host parents helped me figure it all out, and my friends had to do the same thing last week, so I have it all planned out.  I'm just so excited for my first adventure on my own, and I didn't want to deal with all of this.  I'm going to see one of my best friends and roommate from Wake, Karissa, who's studying in Galway, and I CANNOT WAIT to see her and see Ireland.  I'll update you when I get back.
Gros bisous!

A Duck named Gaspard

Bonjour à tous!

It’s been a pretty relaxed week and weekend in Dijon, for me at least.  The rest of France is all worked up about the potential increase of the retirement age, and there was a grève (strike) starting last Tuesday that continued to Saturday.  Mainly the bus drivers and train operators were striking which posed some problems for getting to and from the university campus.  It was also a huge headache for my friends leaving the country this weekend.  They all made it to their respective destinations, but they had to change trains and leave earlier and were all stressed.  Let’s hope they make it back tonight. 

I’m mad at myself for not having my camera, but I saw a huge demonstration in Centre Ville, and then somehow involved myself in the parade of protestors as I walked home.  It was a little frightening, but I eventually made a turn to get away from it.  As I was walking along, I saw a couple of French guys sitting and watching the parade of strikers, drinking wine and eating cheese.  SO stereotypical.  All they were missing was berets. 

For some reason, high school students are the most worked up about this retirement age thing, so I happened to be in Centre Ville another afternoon when a massive group of students was parading through the streets and protesting.  Apparently they don’t actually go to school?  I’m still so confused as to what the big deal is.  Most French people work 35 hour weeks anyway, and the current retirement age is 60, even 55 for some.  Cry me a river. 

Friday night, a couple of girls on my program and I went to an Australian themed bar in Dijon.  It was fun to go out, and we ended up meeting some other Americans who are here studying from Colby College.  The majority of them are freshmen who got deferred and were given the option to either go abroad or start school in January.  It’s a little weird because these kids have never actually been to college, so they’re newbies at the whole going out thing.  We met a few of the juniors on their program, and they basically have to babysit the freshmen.  I’m glad I’m with a self-sufficient group.

A few in kids in my program who are in a different section of classes at the university met a girl from UNC (small world), who is living in Dijon for the year, taking classes and doing research.  She’s way cool, and she invited some of us to her apartment for dinner last night.  Her friend was visiting from London, and they cooked us a feast of roasted duck (named Gaspard) stuffed with sausage and pears and brussel sprouts.  I was super impressed by her cooking skills (since mine are severely lacking), and I felt so sophisticated going to a little dinner party at this amazing apartment in France. 

After a fun weekend, my Sunday will be spent doing homework…not fun. 

À la prochaine!

Back to School

I’m writing to you from a coffee shop in Dijon called Miss Cookies, my current favorite place (decided in the last two minutes).  They have fancy coffee drinks (to go), free wifi, outlets, and chocolate chocolate chip cookies.  What’s not to love?

Since I last wrote, I’ve been in Dijon for a little over a week consecutively, a new record.  I’ve finally had a chance to settle into my home city and homestay a little more, and I’ve gotten over the shock of not being in Paris anymore. 

After the placement test at Université de Bourgogne last Monday, the rest of the week was spent finishing Prof. McNelly’s class.  We had quite a bit of work and a test on Thursday, but now we’re pretty much done with the Wake class, save for a few short papers, and we can focus on our new classes at the university.  We got our placement test results and class schedule on Friday, and luckily, three other girls from the Wake program are in my section.  I’m in one section of level 5 (the highest), so I guess my French is better than I thought!

We started class at the university today, and I had Oral Comprehension.  It seems like it might be a tedious class, but I’m sort of excited to start taking more language focused classes.  Our other class was more history focused, so the vocab is more specific and not exactly useful in everyday conversations. 

Aside from school-related things, I spent a good majority of the weekend sitting by my host family’s pool, trying to make the most of possibly the last warm weekend.  My host sister Marine and I rode bikes into town Saturday morning to look through the market, and later Caroline and Ginny came over, and we had a nail painting party (fyi, greige nails are so in).  That night we made our second foray into Dijon nightlife, and we even made a new French friend!

Sunday, my host family had a big lunch outside by the pool, and I got to meet Mimi, their grandma.  I couldn’t really understand a word she said, but she seemed nice.  Later that afternoon, my host mom and I took Maya, their Bernese mountain dog, on a walk and we went up to the top of the big hill in Fontaine-les-Dijon (the suburb where I live) to see a cool view of the city.  She then drove me to the hill in Talant , another Dijon suburb, to see the view from there and peek into an old church.  I’m feeling so much more comfortable speaking with my host family, and I have much better bearings in Dijon, so the love affair with France continues! 

Rentré à Dijon

Sorry (again) to load post a ton of entries at the same time.  I’m sure you understand that my time was precious in Paris!

I got back to Dijon Saturday afternoon without any problems.  At one point we thought our trains might be affected by a strike going on, but unfortunately, we didn’t get to stay one more day.  It might have been for the best, though, because I was ready to pass out and wake up on Monday morning, I was so tired. 

When I got back to my homestay, my host parents were getting ready to leave for the weekend and visit friends, but my host mom set out some boeuf bourguignon (beef stew) that she had made earlier and a tart made with mirabelles (little plums).  I caught up on some internet browsing and then took a much needed nap.  When I woke up, I had every intention of meeting some others from our group in town for dinner, but I decided I was too tired to catch the bus.  Instead, I made myself some pasta since the rest of my host family was gone and watched the newest episode of Glee.  Oh how I miss American TV.

Sunday was spent recovering from my long trip and trying to get myself organized.  I went for a run (which was a little difficult after 2 weeks with no physical activity), uploaded pictures, and met Brittany in Centre Ville for dinner that night.  My host brother Mathieu was nice enough to give me a ride to and from dinner since there are no buses out to the banlieue (aka suburbs) on Sundays.  It can be a little frustrating living further away from everyone else, but my family is pretty awesome, so I guess it all evens out.

Yesterday morning (Monday), we had our placement test at the university here in Dijon to determine what level of French we’re in.  Most kids from Wake Forest usually place into Level 5 (the highest one), so I wasn’t too worried about it.  We had to do a little reading comprehension, grammar, and writing (like describe your best friend and tell me about your last birthday).  The last two sections were a little harder with questions like, “Why do you think young people read the newspaper less?”  Everyone else in my group had pretty much the same feelings about how they did, so I’m hoping most of us will be in classes together.

I was a little drained after the exam since I hadn’t really used my brain in two weeks, so I spent the afternoon searching for trains to London and Florence instead of doing my homework.  Being back in Dijon and starting up schoolwork again was a bit of a slap in the face after spending a week gallivanting around Paris, so I decided to plan my weekend trips.  Good news is I was successful and am now officially going to both Florence and London!  Now that our group excursions are over (except one to Strasbourg in December), I can go visit friends in other countries.  I adore France, but I’m ready to explore a little more of Europe.

From here on out, I’ll be in Dijon consistently (except for a few weekend trips), and it’ll be more like real life.  The last month and a half has been fantastic, and I’ve seen so many amazing places, but now I have to remember that I’m here for school, too.  It sounds dull, but it’s school in France, so that immediately makes it more appealing.

Don’t worry, I’ll keep you all posted on my next adventures in the land of mustard! 

PARIS, JOUR CINQ

Friday.  Day five.  Paris.

Lock Bridge

Our last day in Paris L.  After our full day on Thursday, we were a little slow to get going, but we had mapped out our week well enough so that we didn’t have too much to do on Friday.  Caroline, Ginny, and I started out with Musée d’Orsay, an old train station converted into a museum.  On the way there, though, we unintentionally crossed over the lock bridge (it goes over the Seine between le Jardin des Tuileries and Musée d’Orsay).  It’s covered in locks that are supposed to signify everlasting love, and people come to put locks on the bridge and then throw the key into the Seine.  So romantic. 

Musee d'Orsay

As for Musée d’Orsay, it’s a museum full of pre-impressionist, impressionist, and post-impressionist art, so there are a lot of paintings by Degas, Manet, Pissarro, Sisley, Renoir, Monet, and Van Gogh.  I’m a fan of all of those artists, so I really liked the museum and would love to go back.  It was a little crowded, which was kind of annoying, and they’re doing some renovations, but even with that, I enjoyed it.

Centre Pompidou

From there, we went to meet Stephanie, grabbed some street food for lunch, and headed to the Centre Pompidou, the modern art museum.  The actual Centre Pompidou building is a work of art in itself; all the escalators are on the outside, as well as all the pipes.  From my picture you can’t really tell, but all the pipes are color coordinated, and I don’t know what’s what, but blue might be all water pipes and green is electric, or whatever.  So even from the outside, I could tell that it was going to be such a departure from all the museums I had been to thus far. 

In a way, the modern art was refreshing after spending weeks in castles and looking at a ton of religious and more stylized art.  I also find modern art a little more approachable since I feel like I could make modern art (if that makes sense?).  I know I could never produce an impressionist-type painting, so modern art, although sometimes bizarre, is more relatable sometimes.  We saw a few Picasso paintings and Matisse paintings, and there were more contemporary pieces that involved photography and video.  There was an entire floor with a feminism exhibit, and we had been warned by Jeff, the straight guy in our group, that it was incredibly disturbing.  Being a girl, it wasn’t as offending to me, but there were still some pretty shocking videos and images.  Centre Pompidou is another museum that I could definitely go back to and explore a little more.

Galeries Lafayette

After the museum, Brittany (who had met us at Pompidou) and I decided to break off and do a little shopping, so we went to Galeries Lafayette.  Naturally, we spent the entire time in the most expensive sections (e.g. Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Cartier, Hèrmes or the haute couture) looking at the beautiful bags and shoes and jewelry and clothes.  The highlight of the day was when we spotted Alessandra Ambrosio (the Victoria’s Secret model) trying on sunglasses at Louis Vuitton.  She is gorgeous in person, so of course we stared at her and contemplated stalking her throughout the store.  We did end up seeing her again upstairs trying on Balenciaga jackets, and I got to check seeing a famous person off my personal list of things to do in Paris.  I wish we could’ve stayed a few days longer since fashion week is going on there now.  There would’ve been so many more famous people to stalk.

Alessandra Ambrosio (if you needed a reference point)

After making the rounds through haute couture, Brittany and I decided to find a café for a snack since we had to meet up with the group soon to go to a long play.  We found one across the street, and I ordered a café au lait and crêpe Nutella, which was perfect for a rainy day in Paris.  It was so fun to sit in a warm café, people watch, drink my coffee, and talk about seeing models running around Paris.  What a perfect afternoon.

That night, our group went to see Molière’s play Les femmes savantes at the Comédie Française.  I was pretty tired by then, so it was difficult to concentrate on the fast French for two hours, but I’m glad I can say I saw a Molière play in Paris.  Needless to say, I had to Wikipedia the play afterwards to completely understand what had happened.

After the play, I was too tired to do anything, so I went back with Caroline to hang out in the hotel and repack my bags.  Five full days in Paris was exhausting, but it was so much fun.  I can’t wait to go back!   

PARIS, JOUR QUATRE

Thursday.  Day four.  Paris.

le Louvre

Since there were still a lot of things to check off on our list, we had to get serious on Thursday.  We got ourselves up and ready to go so we could leave straight from breakfast for the Louvre.  We had a list of specific areas in the Louvre that we had to see, that were mostly French painting, so we concentrated on those rooms.  I had already seen the Big 3 (Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, and Venus de Milo), so I was glad to have some direction as to what else is worth seeing.  The Mona Lisa is really underwhelming, so we decided not to even try and only ended up passing by Winged Victory.  Some of my favorite works of art that I saw were more of the École de Barbizon painters (like the little museum we went to in Barbizon).  After hitting up just about every room we had to see, we left the Louvre.  I think we left at just about the right time, because any more and I would have been ready for a nap.  The Louvre can be so exhausting.

Louvre, encore

We got outside by the pyramid, and Stephanie realized she didn’t have a memory card in her camera, and the rain had cleared, so I wanted to get sunglasses and drop off my raincoat at the hotel.  We took the metro back to the hotel, got our stuff, and then walked to Notre Dame to meet back up with Caroline, Ginny, and Caroline’s friend Lis.  We ate some street food out in front of Notre Dame, and then did a loop through the inside.  After having seen so many other cathedrals, this one didn’t seem all that spectacular in comparison, but I guess it is the Notre Dame de Paris.

Notre Dame de Paris

From there, we tried to go to Sainte Chapelle, but the line to get in was really long, and we still had a lot of things to check off the list.  Instead, we walked to Musée de Cluny to see the famous tapestry La Dame à la licorne aka The Lady and the Unicorn.  The rest of the museum didn’t really interest anyone, so we ran in to see the tapestry and walked on to the Jardin de Luxembourg.  The park was really pretty, and we were tired at that point, so we sat down to rest for a bit.  After the park, we walked to the Pantheon to see it from the outside and check it off the list.

le Jardin de Luxembourg

Pantheon

We had been walking a ton, so everyone was ready for a nap.  We took the metro back to the hotel, but I wasn’t really in the mood to hang out in the hotel, so I decided to wander around our neighborhood.  I bought a raspberry tart from a patisserie, sat on some steps to eat and write down what I had done so far that day, and then did a little shopping.  I found some cute boutiques but a lot of them were a little out of my price range, so I only ended up with a scarf.  It was just nice to kind of explore a little, rather than having a set destination. 

I went back to the hotel to just chill out for a little while, and once everyone woke up and decided to become real people again, we went to a bar I found on my walk.  It was a bar that specialized in tequila and Mexican beer, so we had margaritas and chips and salsa.  The salsa was so good, and I didn’t realize how much I had been missing Mexican food.  Little reminders of home always make everyone so happy.  From there, we walked back to the hotel, and the Seine is close by, so we went to just sit by the river.  It was a pretty low-key night, but I had so much fun.  Seriously, I LOVE Paris.              

              

PARIS, JOUR TROIS

Wednesday.  Day three.  Paris.

My roomies and I were pretty exhausted after our full day before, so we rolled out of bed for breakfast and then got ready to go afterwards.  Ginny, Caroline, and I then hopped on the metro and then RER train to spend the afternoon at Versailles. 

Versailles

It was my second time at Versailles, and it was fun to go back and see it again.  Even though I’d seen it before, the hugeness of the château and the gardens never ceases to impress.  You really can’t get more over the top than Versailles.

Galerie de Glace aka Hall of Mirrors

Murakami art

Our feelings about modern art in Versailles

The French are into juxtaposing modern art and historical sites, so there were sculptures by Japanese artist Takashi Murakami throughout Versailles.  It’s an interesting idea to bring modernity into the 19^th century, but I was not a huge fan of the art.  Murakami’s art is really kitschy and cartoon-like, and I just couldn’t find any sort of connection between Versailles and the modern art.  Ginny is an art history major, so she has more insight than me, and she was struggling with the concept too.  It was definitely interesting, but I felt like it was kind of unnecessary.

Gardens at Versailles

By far the best part of Versailles is Marie-Antoinette’s hamlet.  We walked through the gardens and grabbed sandwiches and then continued walking to the hamlet.  After spending even a couple of hours in the château, it’s completely understandable why Marie-Antoinette would need to escape sometimes.  She would go to her little village and pretend to be a normal person, and if I were her, I’d probably just hang out there all the time.

l'Hameau de Marie-Antoinette

After the hamlet, we headed back to the train station so we could make it back to our hotel in time to walk to the play we saw that night.  The whole group went to see Ionesco’s play La Cantatrice Chauve at a tiny little theater in the Latin Quarter called Théâtre Huchette.  It’s a famous absurdist play, and luckily I had read the play in a class before, so I had some idea what was going on.  It was only an hour, which was nice, and afterwards, I went with a group of girls to meet my friend Brittany’s dad for dinner.  We ate a little restaurant in Place de Vosges where Victor Hugo’s house is.  It was so fun to have a nice, sophisticated dinner in a small group, and it was so generous of Brittany’s dad to take us out!  After dinner we were all pretty full, so we went back to the hotel to crash and psych ourselves up for a full day on Thursday.

PARIS, JOUR DEUX

Tuesday.  Day two.  Paris.

Since Monday was kind of a wash as far as checking things off our list went, we made up for some lost time on Tuesday.  Like every day, we had group breakfast at the hotel and then planned out our day.

We started at L’Opéra Garnier (the opera from Phantom of the Opera) and then walked from there to L’Église de la Madeleine, the inside of which is really cool and totally different than any other church or cathedral we’ve seen.  Next, we hit up La Place de la Concorde to see the Egyptian obelisk and pretty fountains.  The Jardin des Tuileries is right there too, so we walked around there and grabbed sandwiches from a food stand.

l'Opera

la Madeleine

Place de la Concorde

Obelisk in the Place de la Concorde

le Jardin des Tuileries, looking toward the Louvre

From there, we walked straight up the Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe.  On the way, we found a Starbucks and were SO happy to find some take away coffee.  I had been jonesing for a mocha for awhile, so it was pure bliss to walk up the Champs-Élysées, coffee in hand.  Once we got to the end of the road, we climbed up the stairs to the top of the Arc, where we had such a cool view of Paris.  It was fun to go up to the top of the Eiffel Tower, but getting a panoramic view with the Eiffel Tower in it is awesome. 

Arc de Triomphe

view from the Arc de Triomphe

Champs-Elysees, as seen from the Arc de Triomphe

When we climbed back down, we walked back down the Champs-Élysées on the other side of the street and then took the metro to Musée Rodin.  It was a really cool museum, partly outside and partly inside.  I’ve seen some Rodin sculptures other places, so I liked seeing some of his most famous works and learning a little more about his life.

Le Penseur aka The Thinker by Rodin

After the musée, my friend Ginny and I went to the 15^th arrondissement to meet up with a couple girls we know from Wake who are doing the Boston University Paris program.  We met some of their friends from their program and went to dinner and got gelato.  After dinner, we went to hang out in front of Notre Dame just to see it at night.  Everything is equally beautiful at night and during the day here.

Notre Dame de Paris

Since my friend Cara had some homework earlier and couldn’t go to dinner, I went back to the 15^th to meet her at a café near her apartment.  We caught up over tea, and then Cara took me a little way down the road to see a really cool view of the Eiffel Tower and the Seine.  She also showed me the bridge from the movie Inception (which I haven’t seen yet, but those who have will probably know what I’m talking about).  This was another one of those I’minParisthisisAWESOME moments.

It was such a busy day, but I was tired in the best possible way.  I saw so much, but I still have so much left to do in the next couple of days!

PARIS, JOUR UN

Monday.  Day one.  Paris.

Eiffel Tower solo shot

Today was Brittany’s 21st birthday, so we decided to make birthday celebrations the priority, rather than the checklist.  We started with breakfast at the hotel (we have to check in with our professor every morning) and had to go get metro passes (which took forever). Then we came back to the hotel and got ready for a day on the town.  Caroline did fabulous make-up for everyone, and then we headed for the Eiffel Tower.

View from the top (the gold dome is Les Invalides)

Dijon girls on top of the Eiffel Tower

We met up with Lis, Caroline’s friend from Wake, and went up to the top of La Tour Eiffel.  Before we got in line to go up to the top, Ginny and I bought hot dogs that came in a baguette (I mean, this is France).

 We went back down to the ground and walked along the Seine for a bit on our way to Les Invalides.  At one point, we had to cross the street in front of the Eiffel Tower, and as I was running across, I looked up to see the tower and had one of those I’minParisthisisAWESOME moments.  I just had to keep kicking myself.  The actual Eiffel Tower is right there.

Oh, hello again, Eiffel Tower

After that, we stopped in a restaurant to share some desserts and drink wine, to continue the birthday celebrations.  From there, we walked to Les Invalides, took some pics to prove we were there, and found a metro stop.

Les Invalides

By then it was almost 7:30, since we got a late start to the day, so we went back to the hotel to change quickly and go meet Lis at her apartment.  We had some bread and cheese in her fab Paris apartment, and then we took the metro to Montmartre for dinner.  The restaurant we went to serves fondue and the wine comes in baby bottles.  The food wasn’t that great, but the novelty of the baby bottles was the whole point.  We had heard about it from other Wake kids that had gone abroad, and we saw WFU written on the walls in several places, even from as far back as 2003. 

Wake Dijon 2010!

Baby Bottle bar... sketchy? maybe.

After dinner, we took the metro part of the way home.  We were supposed to change trains at one point, but once we got to our change, the metro stopped running.  Luckily, we met a half American/half French guy who helped us get taxis back to the hotel.

All in all, I think Brittany had a successful 21^st.  How many people get to say they spent their 21^st in Paris?