Meredith's Travel Journal (Public view)

  11 June 2010  Alright, so when I last left you I was at the Paris train station surrounded by drunken men and electronic train schedules.  Now I am sitting at my own desk, in my own room, in a HOUSE in Bern, Switzerland (well actually I’m in Kehrastz, a small suburb about 15 mins outside ...

9 June 2010  So now this update is getting far too long for my liking and we going to do the SparkNotes version of the rest of the family time in Paris – Day 1: Wander Montmartre.  We see Sacre Coeur, street artists galore, and bond over cocktail hour at a small café.  My mother buys somet...

9 June 2010 I am now in Gare de Lyon in Paris waiting for my train to Bern, Switzerland.  My train won’t be here for another 4 hours, which gives me a lot of time to finish this update.  Why did I get to the train station so early?  Well, in all honesty, I’m kind of sick of Paris.  It&...

8 June 2010 After an afternoon and night in Paris, Mom, Dad, Travis and I boarded the TGV for a two hour ride to Lyon, France.  It was kind of cool to show them all how to navigate the metro and TGV.  Once we reached Lyon we made a somewhat snap decision to travel for two more hours to the beautifu...

8 June 2010  Sorry that it’s been such a long time since I’ve updated you all – I hope you haven’t forgotten about me!  I’ve been without the time or internet connection to keep a steady blogging pace, but I’m now hunkered down in my Paris hostel with two goals in mind.&nbs...

  24 May 2010 You’re not going to believe this, but today is another jour férié! The French have off today for Pentecost.  This culture’s relationship with religion is extremely complicated; I can’t decide if I think France is more religious than the US or not.&nbs...

14 May 2010 People often tell me I’m brave for doing this.  My grandma Rupp was one of those people.  Once I told her I was going to France, she started spouting off stories of her friends who had traveled to France and she kept telling me how impressed she was that I was leaving everything I knew behi...

  14 May 2010 Today was ANOTHER public holiday.  When I talk with the French about this, they just chuckle and tell me that May doesn’t even count as a real month; no one works.  The majority of the population is going to prendre la pont (take the bridge), meaning that they w...

12 May 2010 We’re amid finals in France yet life has never been calmer.   I actually finished my last final today and now all I have left is a mock debate next week in my oral expression class.  After that, I will be COMPLETELY finished with graded work in France.  I cannot believe it. ...

17 May 2010 After 5 days, I finally have Internet in my room.  Someone broke the router in my building on Wednesday and since Thursday was a public holiday, no one would fix it.  Come Saturday it was working for most people, but I was not one of them.  I called the company but they weren’t open u...