It's actually sunny outside today!

So Versailles was beautiful, even during the winter. I started out the day feeling pretty sick but once I found a bathroom and ate breakfast I was fine. I listened to the Marie Antoinette soundtrack from Rachel's i-pod the train ride there! It only took about 20 minutes, I was expecting longer.

Apparently, the advisors forgot to mention that we could buy tickets to go into the palace at the same time when we bought our train tickets. When we got there, there was a huge, enormous line of people waiting to buy tickets to go inside. So my group and I decided not to go inside and just walk around the grounds. Even in winter, the lawns were perfectly manicured and the architecture was impressive.

I took a million pictures, and fed the swans and petted the sheep. I had brought some bread with me so we used a piece to feed the birds. My favorite place to take pictures was the place in Petit Trianon with the black and white checkerboard floor. I recognized it from the Vogue photoshoot with Kirsten Dunst!

I will definitely return sometime in April or May to see the garden in the spring, as well as to go inside. Note: Bring a picnic lunch! The food there is too pricey and it's very pleasant to eat outside on a bench or in a gazebo.

On Monday classes started! I got to school at 9:30 am to change my schedule of classes but still waited in a line for 2 and a half hours that wound up 3 flights of stairs in order to fix my schedule. I dropped art history and wanted to take sculpture but it was full. I'm taking painting instead!

I also took the french placement exam last week and to my surprise, I placed into the intermediate class, not beginner! I'm not even borderline, I'm squarely in intermediate! And this is after practically no official french study. I'm also taking entrepreneurship and human resource management.

I've already gone to the first class for each subject. The 2 business classes seem kind of boring, but not especially difficult. Entrepreneurship has only 10 people in it! French...seemed a little over my head, but I'm eager to learn. Painting seems fun, but I wish I had brought mom's acrylic paints and brushes with me, because I have to buy them here!

That kind of sucks, because I am trying to be as frugal as I can. However, France's semiannual sale ends in a week or two, so I'd better move on with the shopping!