10:24PM RST

Thus begins my third day in Poitiers, but I should update you on the past few days first.

Joanna left us on the morning on the 1st and we ended up sleeping in until about 10AM. We decided to indulge in a little taste of home: McDonalds. It may not have been the most luxurious thing to eat in Paris, but it was certainly on of the cheapest. We then ventured out to meet the person who was holding Alma's train tickets and to purchase our own tickets for the next day to Poitiers. After this was all accomplished, we carried out our plans to visit Notre Dame Cathedral, which was very amazing in itself.

The following day, Alma left for Switzerland at 7 and Eric and I took our train to Poitiers a couple of hours later. Everything ran perfectly on time and we met Mr. Phillipe Gervis shortly after 12PM. He was a very nice gentleman, as I had heard, and should be a great landlord. We are both quite pleased with our apartments.

The past three days in Poitiers have combined exploring the area, planning trips to take this week with Eric, planning Sarah's trip to visit me in February/March, and being a little homesick. I am antsy for the other students to arrive and for school to begin. My apartment, which will house 7 students, is currently resided in by me alone.

Eric and I are taking a day trip to Bordeaux tomorrow and then a trip to London and Cambridge from Monday to Thursday. The airport here flies directly to London and the entire trip, including airfare, bus fare, and hostels will only cost me $225 CAD. Should pass the time by quite quickly before I get into school and am able to meet the other students.

As a side note, I began posting pictures a few days ago here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/briancleveland/

11AM RST

Good morning!

Last night, after spending some time at the hotel lounging around, we went to the Moose, but the owner who has spoke with Alma was not in and the tables were all reserved. Therefore, we decided to go eat somewhere first and to then come back to the bar. We ate at a restaurant that had Mexican and American food and I had a club sandwich while the rest had nachos.

Back at the Moose, we met some American hockey players our age that said it was a great stop. I decided to try a French beer to see what it would be like. It was very light. After some time at the bar, we began speaking with two Austrians our age that ended up following us to the Eiffel Tower region for fireworks. The street between the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe, Champ D’Elysees, was packed with thousands of people and it was very exciting.

Around 1AM, we took the metro back to the hotel at which time the other three decided to call home and I spent some time on MSN speaking to Sarah and Heather. Overall, it was a very eventful day.

Joanna had to leave early this morning to catch her train to Germany and then to Denmark. We intend to purchase our train tickets today and then to visit some additional sites. Until then:

Happy and healthy New Year to everyone!

6:42 PM RST

I am sure the next five months will have more sporadic and short entries, but I have had quite an exciting and filled time thus far.

Yesterday, after Eric and I had a much-needed shower and woke up the girls, we left our hotel to find somewhere to eat. The concierge at our hotel recommended a cheap restaurant to go eat at, but it was around 3PM and they were closed until 6PM. I had forgotten that they eat at different times here and many restaurants open and close throughout the day. We then ate at a different restaurant across the street: authentic French onion soup (ours is better, ha!), chicken, and chocolate mousse. A bit pricey (€22), but it was filling enough to count as lunch and supper.

We then ventured to see the Eiffel Tower. An unbelievable structure, but a bit gaudy with neon lights and other stuff clearly marketed towards the tourists. We did see it light up at 6PM with flashing lights, as it does on the hour, which was beautiful. We went back to the hotel and I spent some time talking to Sarah and Heather on MSN and replying to some e-mail. As my battery ran out and the outlet was in use, I returned to my room at 8PM to watch a bit of TV. I subsequently watched for about 10 minutes before passing out for another 10. When Eric returned at 8:20PM, we were both ready for bed. Hence, I went to sleep at 8:30PM and set an alarm for 8:15AM as we both wanted to get up early. As far as I can tell, we both slept soundly until the alarm went off and was then turned off as we both slept for another hour.

I did not have any jet lag, but now I am quite well rested as I got up this morning at about 9:15AM to a mild day which has been cloudy and about 8 degrees Celsius. I then got ready, and spent some time checking my e-mail and hockey pool in which I had a 10-point night to put me in 6-point lead and first place. Went we for a breakfast at a café where I ordered dejeuner d’Anglais: sunny side up eggs, bacon, croissants, coffee, and one of the best glasses of orange juice I have ever had.

We decided against our original plan to take a bus tour and figured we would spend much of our day at the Louvre. Admission was only 8€50 and I took many pictures of some amazing sculptures and artifacts. As expected, photography is forbidden at the Mona Lisa and Venus De Milo. The crowds around some of these more popular exhibits were large and filled with people trying to sneak a quick picture. Joanna has a great guide to Paris which told us where many of the pieces we wanted to see were. Funny enough, there was a guided tour for the Da Vinci Code. I could not believe that the Louvre embraced such a cheesy idea, though a quick way to make some extra money from foolish American tourists. We then went outside and took many photos of the surrounding area, which included glass pyramids, ponds, a large Ferris wheel, and unimaginably large buildings we had just traversed.

As we trekked the few kilometers back to the metro, we saw many beautiful sites and passed by the Eiffel Tower, which looks even more spectacular and impressive in the day. Not sure if we will eventually, but we have twice decided against waiting in the very long line to go to the top of the tower. We stopped in some shops before coming back to the hotel as we wanted to purchase some water and snacks at about half the prices that they were at the over-priced tourist traps.

The other three purchased some wine and beer, but I decided against it for tonight. It is still a bit early in the trip for that, though I did enjoy a nice wine on the flight from Toronto to Paris. We plan on going to the Moosehead bar in Paris that Alma (who has spent her last two co-op terms working for the Moosehead marketing department in Saint John) was told about. It is supposed to be very nice and serves food we may be a bit more accustomed to. As well, we should be able to see the fireworks at the Eiffel Tower, which would be a zoo, from there. The year has come by very fast and it certainly does not feel like it is almost 2007 already.

I have many, many pictures, which I will be uploading tonight or tomorrow onto a Flickr account a created tonight.