Last weekend we took a trip to Normandie (Normandy in English) with the rest of the ISA program. It was such a great trip! We started our journey at 7:30 am at the ISA
office and headed out on a big bus packed full of 60 people's luggage. Our first stop was the War Museum, which has exhibits for commemorating 
WWI, WWII and the Cold War. While we were there they even had a traveling exhibit on September 11th. It was very emotional, and during our visit we were all invited to watch two movies on the history and happenings of WWII. One was on D Day and it was a great preparation for the next leg of our trip: Omaha Beach and
the American Cemetery. When we first arrived there, I ran down to the beach with Colleen and Roxana. It was so amazing to smell the salty air and feel the sand on my bare feet! We looked up and down the beach in amazement and horror of what happened here so many years ago. I said a silent prayer for 
all of the fallen soldiers and headed up to the American Cemetary. I couldn't believe my eyes. There were rows upon rows upon rows of white crosses and stars of David. Some had names and dates on them while others simply siad, "Here rests in honored glory, A COMRAD IN ARMS, known but to God." Our next stop was just down the coast (I think it was Point du Hoc...I'll make sure) where there are still bunkers. Every single hole in the ground was one bomb that went off during the
battles. We went through the bunkers, where there is still barbed-wire and bullet holes and fallen concrete from the bombs. It was a long day and emotionally draining, but a great lesson on history. At the end of the day we got to go to a local farm to taste some specialties of Normandie: Apple juice, Apple Cider, an Apple apperitif, and of course, Calvados! It was yummy! We checked into our hotel and set off to find dinner! We found a little restaurant off of the main strip that only offered dinner by the menu (not OFF the menu, but BY the 
menu). The menu I chose was an entree, plat, et dessert. They were all specialties of Normandie, and they were all delicious!!
is an extremely old Abbey that is constructed on 4 crypts. It was beautiful!!! Afterward, we took a tour and had a tasting of local cookies...YUM! Which were, of course, specialties of Normandie! All in all, it was a GREAT weekend! Thanks, ISA!
and Roxana. We flew into Shannon airport and stayed the first night in Limerick. The next morning we made our way by bus over to Dublin. We saw the beautiful countryside and the sheep and cows. It was gorgeous! Once in Dublin, we found a youth hostel and booked our beds for the night. 
By that time we were famished, so we set out to get some grub!! We found a cute pub and ate the best Lamb Stew and Irish Coffee ever! Yummm! And for dessert: Bailey's Cheesecake. Delicious! We walked around the
Temple Bar area and explored the city for a while...and then the rain came! We were soaked when we finally made it back to our hostel. We warmed up with a little bit of Jameson's and headed out on the town! We stopped at a pub that was just down the block from our hostel for a little Pear Cider and a dance to some REAL Irish music. It was SO fun! Afterward, we decided 
to walk around a little more and we came across a man playing his guitar on the side of the cobblestone road. He said that he would play us anything we wanted, so Colleen and I started singing a song, he recognized it and started playing and singing along.
We went dancing in another pub and then headed back to our hostel. The next morning our main goal was COFFEE! =) So, we checked out of our hostel and went to get some breakfast. We got to eat eggs for breakfast!! They don't do that in France, so it was a real treat to have some familiar food in the morning. Afterward, we made our way to the Guinness Storehouse and Factory. It was SO cool! We got to see the history of the legendary beer, how it is made, and of course, a tasting! We walked around Dublin some more to see the city and enjoy the beautiful Irish accent until we were hungry again. We stopped at a burger place and had HUGE gourmet burgers and fries- Irish style! On our way back to our hostel to get our bags, we saw the same man who played the
guitar for us the night before! We got a picture with him on the bridge because we were surprised that he remembered us (and our horrible singing) from the night before! How funny!! After picking up our bags from the hostel, we went in search for a taxi. The first one we stumbled upon was available, so we hopped on in. The driver was so, so nice! He even offered us candy and said, "It wouldn't be right for me to be eatin' 
without offerin' yous any. You want a sweet?" He then went on to explain the Irish ways of helping each other out, and how he is going to take his wife to the States for her birthday! We flew back to Paris on RyanAir. Back to the croissants and foreign language. Back to the French people. Back to school. It was such a great weekend that we didn't want to go back!!! The Irish are SO
nice, and they speak ENGLISH! =) It was really wonderful to have a little rest from speaking and thinking in a different way. But when I saw La Tour Eiffel the next day, a little smile came to my face...
Roxana and our friend Matt on Halloween. Before we went in, our goal was to get sick from chocolate...we succeeded, and it was AWESOME! I tasted chocolate from all over the world, including Paris, New York, Chile, Argentina, and Mexico, just to name a few. I had chocolate cake, hot chocolate, chocolate macaroons, chocolate tea, milk chocolate, dark chocolate,
chocolate liqueur, chocolate ganache...and more!!! There was even a fashion show of dresses made out of 
chocolate! I was in heaven for about 3 hours. When Roxana and I went back to our house for dinner, we told Denise and Gallel that it was paradis (heaven)...they laughed! =) So, even though the French really don't celebrate Halloween, Roxana, Matt and I definately got our treat! Yummmmmm....
