Mercredi, Janvier, 2

We were back at it again Wednesday morning. Our class from 9-12 was working with shibori dying. There were several techniques to choose from depending on whether you wanted a geometric pattern, circles, or scrunch. I used the scrunch techniques. I chose to dye my scarf with a teal color and then over dye with forest green and royal blue. It turned out really well! We stayed about 1/2 an hour after class to make sure that we finished our scarves. Our schedule said that we had about 2 hours for lunch but we thought that it was a misprint since every other day we only had an hour for lunch. So we rushed to get a sandwich before heading back to school for our next class only to find out that we actually had 2 hours for lunch. All of the girls just sat around and chatted for about 45 minutes until Monsieur Tritz came to get ready for class. In his class we learned how to make felt hats. It was pretty awesome! He told us that making felt hats was usually a mans work and that women did the accessorizing, so our arms would probably be sore the next day. Kate and I ran to the post office so that I could buy stamps for all of the post card that I want to send out. I couldn’t find any so I asked the cashier, he showed me 2 different types-large ones and small ones. The large ones said they were 89 centimes so I figured that the smaller ones would be cheaper...well I figured wrong :D After we got back to the apartment we had to finish cleaning up our room because we had to move into a new apartment that was closer to school and would have wi-fi. We moved at 6p.m. and the new apartment was amazing! The walls weren’t white and someone had lives here but must rent out the place while they are gone. There are beautiful shelves filled with books, the kitchen has a washing machine, dishwasher, microwave, stove, oven, and a whole set of dishes. The only thing don’t have is wi-fi. Kate, Christy, and I ran to the grocery store to pick up food for the next week. Then we headed back to our new apartment to eat supper and get ready for our upcoming busy day.

My felt hat.

Facing the dining/living/bed room.

My bed.

The living room.

Mardi, Janvier, 1

New Year’s Day!!! Since it was a holiday, and many businesses were closed we had a tour of the city. It was a beautiful day, in the mid to upper 40’s and sunny. Because we had more time in the morning I decided to make an omelet for breakfast. Well it took a little longer than I thought to make the omelet so I had to hurry to school and catch the bus. Our tour started at 10:30a.m. and lasted until about 5:00p.m. We drove past many historical monuments and stopped at a select few. Some of them included the Luxembourg Gardens, St. Germain Church, Sorbonne University, The Bon Marche Department Store, The Grand Palace, Champs Elysees, Place des Victoires, and the Eiffel Tower. When we were at the Eiffel Tower we were given 5 minutes to get as close as we could and take pictures. Kate and I got as close as we could before heading back to the bus. As we got closer to the bus it started to drive away and we almost missed the bus but we started running and were able to catch it. We found out on the bus that they almost left but one of the girls told the driver to stop so that we could get on. We also saw many of the Haute Couture Boutiques such as Givenchy, Valentino, Christian Dior, Balmain, Fendi, Nina Ricci, Versace, Lanvin, Gucci, Prada, John-Paul Gaultier, Hermes, Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent. After the tour we headed back to the apartment to catch up on some much needed rest.

The Luxembourg Palace and Gardens

Me in front of a fountain at St. Germain Church.

Kate and I at the Eiffel Tower!

The Seine River.

Lundi, Decembre, 31

New Year’s Eve day!!! My classes started an hour earlier than the past two days. We had a lot to finish before that evening. We were supposed to wear one of the headpieces that we made to the ballet. Our morning class was finishing the hat base with John-Pierre Tritz. There were a few girls who came in about an hour late to class. Our lunch break was only half an hour because of the time crunch, good thing there are a few restaurants close to the school. After lunch, we had a presentation on feathers which was followed by a hands on feather workshop. We chose to decorate either a headband, barrette, or comb. I chose to add feathers to a gray glittery headband. I was able to finish a little bit early, which was great because we were only scheduled to have an hour and a half to get ready for the ballet. The whole group of girls left the school at 6:30p.m. and walked to the bus stop that would go straight to the Garnier Opera where the ballet would be held. After about a 10-15 minute bus ride we arrived at the Garnier Opera. The building was gorgeous both inside and out!!! The ballet was very interesting, they didn’t dance to the rhythm of the music. I loved the outfits that they wore for the performances. They didn’t allow us to take pictures during the performance. We were seated in our own box on the 4th floor. During the intermission there were hors d'oeuvres, they were delicious! As we were leaving many of the people were plucking the flowers that lined the stairs. It was quite an interesting sight to see people taking the flowers from the topiaries. As we were leaving it was raining, typical weather for Paris in January. After resting at our apartment we went to a small italian restaurant to ring in the New Year. They served us some appetizers and opened a bottle of champagne. After the festivities we went back to the apartment and finished watching the movie from the night before. I didn’t get to bed until probably 3 that morning. Needless to say I had a hard time dragging myself out of bed the next morning.

My feather headband.

The Opera Garnier, where the ballet was held.

Me at the New Year's Eve Party.

Dimanche, Decembre, 30

My first class for the day started at 10. We developed a base for a hat with John-Pierre Tritz. Monsieur Tritz has worked for John-Paul Gaultier for the past 8 years. After having our lunch break from 1-2. I have found that they eat lunch and supper later than we do in the U.S. Lunch is around 1p.m. and supper is at 8p.m. In our second class we learned how to make Sisal hats. While Kate and I were waiting for another girl to finish class we used the wi-fi at school because the internet at the apartment came and went. We started watching a movie on Kate’s computer. I went to bed after Skyping with my family.

The first two days

On the 27th, all of the students left from school at 9 a.m. and flew out of O'Hare at 2:15 p.m. The luggage doors on the bus were all frozen shut so we had to fit all of the luggage in the front of the bus. While on the bus I found out that our apartment which was supposed to have 3 girls was now going to have 4. We also aren't supposed to have internet until the 2nd when we are moving into an apartment that is closer to the PAA. When we got to the airport we had some problems checking in our baggage, so it took us about 2 hours. I think that the airline had problems checking in groups. We had a layover in Detroit and then flew out of Detroit to Paris at 6 p.m. We arrived in Paris at 7:45 a.m. on the 28th. I watched The Help and part of Wall-E while on the plane. I think that I got about 3 hours of sleep in between both movies while on the plane. This was also the first time that I had meals on a plane.

After retrieving all of our luggage we waited for Peter from PAA to pick us up. There was one girl that lost some of her baggage. While we were waiting, there was a passenger from our flight that was standing near us. He was probably in his early 20's. After we had been standing around for about 10-15 minutes he randomly started doing pushups right there in the airport. lol He was acting like it was a natural thing to be doing. It took a lot to keep from bursting out laughing. We finally got on the bus and left after some time. I had no idea how we were going to get out of where we had parked...the traffic was insane :D

It took about an hour to get from the airport to the apartments. We were supplied with some quiche, fresh fruit and orange juice at our room. We were all exhausted so we took about an hour long nap. After our nap, we decided to explore the area a little bit so we walked around the block and found la poste (post office), l'epicerie (grocery store), and several restaurants. We had our orientation meeting at 5 p.m. and then our welcome dinner at 6:45. We ate at this wonderful restaurant only a couple blocks away from the school. Our dinner consisted of a salad, Boeuf Bourguignon, and Tiramisu. We went and used the school wi-fi for about 20 minutes before heading to our apartments and beds.

The 28th started out by waking up refreshed and ready to start our first day in classes. The sun was shining and it was about 50 degrees outside. Breakfast was some of the fresh fruit that had been given to us when we moved in the apartment. We went to a fresh air market that was around the corner from our apartment just to check it out. Our first class that we had was a presentation by Knitwear Designer Xavier Brisoux. He presented on how to create a knitwear collection. We took a break for lunch at 1 p.m. and several of us decided to find a sandwich restaurant that a professor had told us about. I bought a panini au poulet (chicken), it tasted delicious! We started our knitting workshop with Xavier Brisoux at 2. We all learned how to knit, I learned a new way to cast on stitches. All of the students are supposed to have a hat or accessory knitted by the 15th.

Our adventure for the day was going to the super marche to get some groceries for supper. One of my roommates wanted to make lasagna for dinner. The store didn't have most of the ingredients we needed, so we improvised. We bought bow tie pasta instead of lasagna noodles, the tomato paste had more of a tomato soup consistency, pork that we thought was beef, and 2 types of mozzarella instead of a ricotta cheese. We had a hilarious time making the "lasagna", it did turn out delicious though. We had two girls from another apartment join us for supper. After supper I found out that the wi-fi works here so I finally got to skype with my mom and two of my brothers. Yay!

Now it's 2:45 a.m. so I probably better get rested up for tomorrow (today).

Tomorrow is the day!!!

Tomorrow I leave for Paris! 

This whole trip idea started when I decided to transfer colleges and switch my major. The college that I am now at offers a trip to Paris for all of the fashion students. I decided in the early spring that I really wanted to go on this trip. I had to take one semester of French to be able to go on the trip, so I only know un peu (a little) French ;)

I finished my packing this evening, which should be a record, since I started last night haha. I think that my carry-on is actually heavier than my checked luggage, I even had one of my brothers lift them both. I've already said my goodbyes to my friends and relatives. I'll get to see some of my brothers before I leave tomorrow morning. My mom and one of my brothers are going to drop me off at school at 8:45 a.m. and then the bus leaves at 9, which means I probably better head to bed :D