So much Paris, so little time

Hello everyone!

I have officially finished my first week of classes here in Paris. It has been an interesting first week, to say the least.

I was originally put into a class level that is a bit too difficult for me and I thought I would be able to switch. But as it turns out there is not enough space in the level below me so I must stay where I am. This has proven to be quite frustrating and difficult. My faculty advisor from Mason advises me that he has the final say on the grade that I will get through Mason and he will take all aspects of the study abroad into consideration, not just the classroom grade from the institut. This is all good news for me.
My class schedule is set up as follows: daily class from 9am-noon, phonetics workshop once a week from 2pm-5pm, and writing workshop once a week from 2pm-5pm. This schedule is giving me a wellrounded approach to learning French. Moreover, I have three professors from which to learn giving me even more exposure to the language.

During this first week, I got to see quite a bit of Paris. On Saturday, the group took a walking/metro tour of Paris.
The first and most interesting stop was the Paris catacombs. Deep under the city lies the final resting place for thousands of people. The bones of these are stacked floor to ceiling through an underground chamber of tunnels. The whole thing is extremely eerie.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Catacombs
Next, we stopped at Canal Saint Martin. This was pretty much only interesting because Audrey Tatou famously skipped rocks at the canal in the film Amelie.
Then we mae a quick stop at the American Embassy just to see it, and then a stop at the home of the French President, Sarcozy.
After this, we stopped by the Moulin Rouge long enough to snap a few pictures and then went to Sacre Coeur.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moulin_Rouge
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilique_du_Sacr%C3%A9-C%C5%93ur,_Paris

On Sunday, a group from our study abroad went to Versailles for the day. This was so much fun. I really enjoyed seeing it. We roamed around the extensive and beautiful gardens for a while, toured the chateau, and stopped by Marie Antoinette's garden home.
We left Versailles just in time to make it to the Eiffel Tower to watch the World Cup final match. Fifa sponsored huge projection screens right next to the Eiffel Tower to show the game. The crowd was overwhelmingly in favor of Spain and went absolutely bananas when the game ended. There was some rioting, some flares, fireworks, and finally some teargas. In the end, we made it out alive. I loved seeing the spirit of the youths out here. I cannot even imagine what Barcelona was like last night.

For those of you with Facebook, keep an eye out for pictures. They are on the way!
Enjoy Bastille Day and thank you for reading!