A lot has happened in the last few days. Last Friday, the class took a walking tour of Paris. Paris is only 10 miles west of Versailles, but surprisingly it takes about 30 minutes to get there by train. The tour started in the oldest section of the city at Notre-Dame de Paris. We then walked around Paris for 10 miles and ended near the Eiffel Tower at the newest building in the city, which was recently completed by Jean Nouvel. I took a few pictures but you can expect many more from Paris as I will be spending a lot of time there in the next 9 months.

For the weekend six other students and I decided to catch some Mediterranean sun while we still had a chance. So we took the TGV, the fastest train in the world, to Marseille in Southern France. We saw the ports, the beaches and some architecture along the way. It was a great way to spend the first weekend.

I'm sure you're all wondering how exactly this study abroad program works. I am officially studying at L'Ecole Nationale Supereure d'Architecture de Versailles. The academic year is modified to allow us to travel; a 12 day sketch trip each semester, a 2 week winter break and a 3 week travel break in April after classes are over. To do this, we have 6 intense hours of class Monday through Friday, roughly between 9:30-5:30 (somewhat similar to high school). The French students do not begin class until the beginning of October, so the 36 students from the University of Illinois spend the first couple weeks in an orientation program. The orientation segment includes a French language course, sketching activities, weekly visiting lectures, and a structures and history class. Once the school opens we will begin working in our design studios and continue with structures and history. There are 5 faculty members that work very closely with us throughout the entire program. The intimate size of the program, its relative organization, and even our historic location makes me feel like I'm at Hogwarts.