Hello all! Sorry, yet again, for the delay in updates! Paris has definitely been keeping me busy! Since my last post, I have had quite a few adventures!

First, I got a chance to go to the Opera house (the one that Phantom of the Opera was based on) with my program to see a ballet, well actually 2 ballets. It was a production of Phedre and Psyche, combined into one evening with an intermission. I don't know about you, but I'm not very versed in Greek mythology once you get past about Hercules, so I was definitely a little confused. But despite not totally understanding the story line, it was really beautiful performance and really cool just to be in such an elegant atmosphere! I will say, though, that whoever built this opera house must not have anticipated anyone over about 5'2" coming to visit because there was no where near enough leg room! But we all worked it out and kind of sat at angle so that hopefully our knees didn't run into the people in front of us too terribly much. Here are a few pictures from the evening:

After the Opera, the next adventure was a "football" game, a.k.a soccer. This was about the closest I was going to get to the atmosphere of my beloved Crimson Tide on game day, so I was pretty excited about it! Getting there on the metro was kind of a nightmare; I don't think I have ever been in contact with so many bodies at once! People kept pushing their way on at each metro stop we came to until we were literally crammed in like sardines. That's definitely the most crowded I have seen the metro so far. But anyways, after I finally got there, the game was really cool! The stadium was HUGE, even compared to Bryant Denny! I must admit that I don't really know anything about soccer (I had to ask if there were periods, quarters, or halves) but it was cool to see everyone so hyped up! I ended up leaving a little early, because I really didn't want a repeat of the ride there, but what I did see was pretty cool.

The weekend after the soccer game was my final big excursion with my program, a trip to the Loire Valley! This was definitely my favorite part of the trip so far! I mean what girl doesn't want to live their childhood dream of being a princess? :) We left bright and early (7:30am!) on Saturday morning and rode directly to the first castle on the agenda, Blois. Blois is really cool because it is composed of 4 totally different architectural styles because it was built in phases by different people. It was also really cool because the inside was restored in the 1800s, so it still had a sense of luxury, but it was also cool that the tour guide pointed out the little inaccuracies of the restoration.

Ornate Celings

Sitting on the throne :)

After a lunch in the market surrounding Blois, we headed to Chenonceau. This was definitely my favorite castle! It was the most "princess-ey" looking. It was also really nice inside because they had it decorated with gorgeous arrangements of flowers that smelled amazing. They also had decorated the kitchen with all sorts of pots and pans from that era. For those of you that know me, you know that I was in heaven seeing all that pretty kitchen equipment! Outside the castle there were also some pretty gardens as well as a small maze that was off in the forest a little bit. My friend accurately said that it felt like we were in Ever After!