Nicole Bienvenue La France: Les premiers jours à Compiègne

Hi everyone,

I have decided to start a blog of all my adventures in France. This way everyone can see what is going on with me!

Upon heading to France, I had a smooth arrival to France. Iceland (where my layover was) was not so much icy as it was rainy. Other than that, I arrived in Charles de Gaulle where Nina (a girl who lived in my house last year from France) and Kayla (a girl who I go to URI with) met me at the gate.

We then headed out into the French land where the people are crazy drivers. You think people in Rhode Island drive badly, well you are mistaken. Nina brought me to my dorm first where I dropped off my luggage and then we headed to Kayla's petite maison where we met Mike (another kid from URI) and Alex (another girl from URI) who will all be staying for the month of August. Their house is totes adorable and I have been living with them for the past couple of days. We made pasta for our first meal. I know what you are thinking, not very French, but it hit the spot after a long day of traveling for us. After dinner, we went out to a local bar to meet some of the other kids in the program. I of course ordered a gin tonic as the French call it as my first drink in France. By the time I leave, gin tonics are going to be the new must have French drink!

On Saturday, we all went our separate ways for a little while and I had my first experience at the Simply Market which is the local grocery store. I got everything I needed and headed to my dorm which I convincingly thought was an easy place to get too. Unfortunately, I went straight instead of left and got myself completely lost. I asked a nice Frenchman who happened to be at the bus stop for help and he ended up walking me back to my dorm to make sure I didn't get lost again. He was super nice and gave me his number in case I get lost again. Unfortunately, he was a little old for my liking!

Today, I met my first real friend in Compiègne - an orange cat that lives next door to Kayla. I named him Kitty Kitty. He is super friendly and only really responds to me. We all went to the Monoprix this morning which is basically a target. It is my favorite store here so far, except for the boulangerie where I can get a baguette everyday!! After that we headed to the parc which was absolutely gorgeous. There were tons of gardens and the flowers were magnificent. I ordered my first ice cream there too - chocolat pistache!

There are pictures on Facebook, but here is a little preview as well: