Belgium and Paris

Wow, I'm horrible at updating this.

So this past weekend, I decided to make an extended weekend and go to Brussels and Paris.

The original plan was to meet Guillaume, another foreign exchange student from high school, in Brussels on Thursday, but he was in the United States right before that. So, I met a friend of his, Florianne.




So a couple of her friends came over and we made spaghetti. We then went out for a night out:



So after a night out with this motley crew, I spent the night at Florianne's apartment. I was really tired from a long day of travelling and a night out. So I slept in till about 12:30 the next morning. Florianne had an exam that morning...not sure why she went out the night before. Welcome to Belgium????

Guillaume came at about 2, and we went out and did a speed tour of Belgium in about 3 hours. This included the "big arc-y thing" (-Guillaume), the Church of San Michelle, the Grand Plaza, and just walking down some cool streets.










The reason we had to hurry: Because Guillaume had a Boy Scout trip that weekend!


So, I went as a leader on this Boy Scout trip. The problem was, I speak English, which is the 4th most common language in Belgium. All of the other leaders (all between 18-23, because that's how they do in Belgium) spoke English at varying degrees, some extremely well. Of the kids (all between 8-12), the one who had lived in Ohio for 2 years knew English, but he was the only one. About the only English the other kids knew was the song "American Boy" by Estelle.

So the other leaders would translate for me. Most of the kids didn't know my name and I became "le amerikan". To the leaders I became "American dude".

So, some pictures from that:












So, after this fun weekend with the Belgian Scouts, I left for Paris by train. My hostal in Paris was pretty cool, except that I was on the eighth floor with no elevator and had to climb a steep and narrow staircase to get there.



Since I was only there for one day, so I really had to book it to all the sights. It took me about an hour to find the Seine, but once I did, it was easy, since most of the attractions are right along it. Notre Dame was amazing!!! I didn't go into the Louvre, but I saw the outside of it. I didn't quite make it to the Eiffel Tower, but I got some pictures from far away from it.



So I've already spent 2 days writing this blog entry, so I will continue with Paris in the next entry.



Also next entry: SUE IN SEVILLE! Mrs. Berger comes to visit!


Besos!