"Hell yeah, America!" (-C.McG)

Ok, so on Friday, I did some more exploring on my own. My adventures took me to "Les Jardins des Plantes," which is this really pretty park near Gare Austerlitz. I was originally just going to sit there and read and enjoy the sunshine (which has been shining for about 10 days now without the threat of rain), but then I started walking around the area a little. I found the city's mosque, which is really beautiful, and then on my way back to the park, I found the natural history museum. And then I discovered that the museum was free for me since I'm under the age of 26. And that's how my plans for the day changed from reading in the park to looking at fake animals and dinosaur skeletons while in the company of 4 year olds.

(Jardin des Plantes)

(Mosquee de Paris)

(Museum of Natural History that was reminiscent of both Lion King and Jumanji)

On Saturday and Sunday, I went to Normady and Mont St. Michel with everyone from ISA. It felt nice to have an "American" weekend (and technically, we were on American soil too), in spite of having to wake up at an ungodly hour on a Saturday morning. First, we stopped at Le Memorial de Caen, which documents the history of France and Europe from just after WWI until the after-effects of WWII. Then we headed off for the beaches in Normandy- first Omaha Beach, where we also visited the American cemetary, then Pointe du Hoc. The American Cemetary was really beautiful in a haunting sort-of way.

(Memorial Museum)

(American Cemetary at Omaha Beach)

Then we had a surprise visit to an apple farm? And not your average apple farm in the US, but the kind that makes juice and cider and calvados (apple brandy-ish stuff) and let's its customers sample all its products, making everyone on the bus very happy campers. We spent the night in nearby Caen, where I had the BEST crepe ever (Camembert, potatoes, lardon (like bacon) in crepe, topped with an over-easy egg and some kind of cream sauce- pretty much a heart attack on a plate but it was delicious) and all the American students with ISA, myself included, managed to turn the nearby Irish bar into a dance club. Mission accomplished.

Sunday was spent at Mont St. Michel, which is this AMAZING abbey/church/Diagon Alley-looking place on the western coast of France. (Quick backstory: the Archangel Michael asks this bishop Aubert to build a church here. Aubert says no. The Archangel asks again, and again, Aubert says no. So the Archangel visits Aubert for a third time, burns a hole with his finger in the head of Aubert, and asks again. Not surprisingly, Aubert complies with the request.) The structure of this place was just beautiful and I loved the cloister up at the top. All the stairs, not so much.



Driving through the French countryside during the weekend just made me miss home that much more. I miss the open space and trees and being able to feel like I can breathe. In Paris, it can almost feel claustrophobic between everyone on the streets and in the metro. Cities are nice to visit and live in for a short period of time, but I'm definitely a country girl through and through.