Paris partie 2, Geneva, and the beginning of Cambridge (i.e. the weather gets worse as I go...)

The past week has found me in three different countries...phew! Here we go:

Last Wednesday, Jere and I went to Versailles. The place was just as beautiful as I remembered. It was so crowded though! I can only imagine how much more beautful it would be without hordes of people snapping pictures everywhere. It was interesting to see portraits and busts of people we had learned about in school - they seem a little more real in that setting than in the textbook. We also went in to the amazing gardens. It was a bit gray out but nice because it wasn't too hot. We walked down ot the water and by this point it had started to sprinkle. Luckily I had an umbrella! I sat under the trees by the water, which were big enough to keep me dry, at least until it really started raining!

Thursday was my last full day in Paris. I started by going to Musee Rodin, which Alex had recommended to me. It was a gorgeous place, full of Rodin's best sculptures, including The Kiss and The Thinker. I'm tempted to say that I prefer sculpture museums to les peintures, but when I really think about it, they are impossible to compare. Sculptures are so tangible and have real texture and body (no pun intended) to them, yet if you really look at a painting, it too is so complex with subtleties unapparent at first glance. Anyway, after wandering through the museum and gardens (have you noticed there are beaucoup de jardins en Paris?) I went to Invalides to meet Ning, who is studying at Cambridge with me. He has been travelling quite a bit as well, and had come to Paris before going to London and Cambridge. We went to see Napolean's tomb - very large for such a small person haha. I continued on to the Champs d'Elysee to do some (window) shopping and eat a final crepe, and then to Parc des Buttes Chaumont. This was a park that Laura V recommended - not a touristy park (finally!) and very cool. The park had a natural river an dif you walked to the top (which I did, bien sur) you got to a little greek gazebo with a beautiful view of the Sacre Coeur. As I was walking around the park, I was joined by un garcon Parisien, qui a pas plus de 16 ou 17 ans. He walked around the whole park with me and we had a conversation that I about two-thirds understood (although I think he thought my French was much better than it actually is.) He was an interesting person though (wearing an Iron Maiden shirt which he had got at their concert the previous night I think haha). I was supposed to meet Ning for dinner that eveing up at Sacre Coeur, but unfortunately we missed each other. I wandered up there anyway and ate and was pretty aggressively hit on by a Nigerian Professional Tennis player (or so he said...) and then by a 30-something French man. This was the first time the whole trip that I had really had any sort of issue with people buggin me. I never felt like I was really in danger at all, but it was definitely annoying.

I woke up at 5 the next morning to catch my 7am train to Geneva. I got the train just fine, although I was a little suprised that there was no security at all. I was planning to watch the French countryside go by, but fell asleep instead (not surprising - put me in most any moving vehicle and I'm out like a light). Gavin very kindly picked me up from the train station, but had to go to work so I wandered around downtown Geneva. I found a really neat park (Park La Grange and the adjoining Park des Eaux-Vives) with two rose gardens, a playground and Roman Ruins! It was a beautiful day, which was nice after leaving rainy Paris, and I sat on the grass with my Geneva Tribune and fell asleep. I walked around the lake, and then met up with Gavin's friend Max. He took me to the UN, where we took a tour and we briefly looked in a porcelain museum. We went into Old town for a drink (Old town looked a lot like Paris - actually a lot of Geneva looks like a smaller Paris) and then went to meet Gavin at his house. Gavin's parents are so nice and hospitable, and it was awesome of them to let me stay with them! Gavin, Max and I went out to dinner with a few more of his friends and then out a bar.

We spent Saturday swimming in Max's pool and then went to a couple pool/house parties. It was very interesting meeting Gavin's friends since he went to the International School in Geneva, so they are all from different places and many are the kids of diplomats. Saturday night we went out to a club called Bypass. As it seems to be in everywhere except the states, we didn't go out until about 1:30am and stayed out dancing until 6am! Max even put on a Russian accent and got us the best table in the whole place.

Sunday it rained nearly all day so we just hung around and watched Wimbledon, of course cheering for Federer since we were in Switzerland. Gavin's parents took us to a late dinner at a very quaint little restaurant and we had some excellent steak-frites.

Yesterday morning I flew to London and then waited for an hour in the rain to get a bus to Cambridge, which was then an hour and a half ride. I took a taxi from the bus station (since it was still raining) with a guy from Finland and two Russian girls - it really is an international program! I finally got to my college within Cambridge (Selwyn) and even in the rain it looked amazing. It is exactly how you would picture an old English university, with grand brick buildings and grass you aren't allowed to walk on. I have my own little two-room bedroom, with a bed, chairs, sink, desk, closet and drawers. It was so nice to finally unpack! I went into the city centre with Ning and made friends with one of the King's College guards as we walked through. He was so nice and gave us a little tour of the centre and told us the best places to go. The town itself is super cute, with shops, a market and even a mall. It definitely has more than I expected, but it has still kept its charm. When I got back, I ran into several USC students in the hallway along with several students from Florida. We went to dinner in a very Hogwarts-like dining hall, with huge long wooden tables and fairly good food that they actually serve to you - no EVK buffet-style dinners here! After dinner we hung out at the pub in our college and then walked to another pub in town.

Today we had our first day of classes. My 9am class is "Power and Politics in Britain Today" with Richard Yates, and my 11:30 is "Being British: Social Anthropology of Britain" with Nicholas James. Both classes seem pretty interesting, with no more than 20 students. Yates is pretty funny and is definitely a politics buff. James has the stereotypical very deep British voice and is so knowledgeable that you can't help but be interested in what he has to say. After class we went into town and got lunch (the college only feeds us breakfast and dinner) and found a grocery store so we could buy some snacks (since with the exchange rate, going out for lunch everyday would be really expensive). There is a lecture tonight about the University that I may go to, or we may explore the town a bit more. So far though, Cambridge is amazing, and I can't believe I am here everytime I walk outside and see the rich history around me!