2010-2011 Bucket List

So I'm almost at the halfway point for this semester (which is the shorter of my two semesters here), and lately I've been thinking about some things that I really want to do before l'année scolaire, the school year,  is over.  

• Go to the Musée D'Orsay and see lots of impressionist paintings, especially Renoir who is my absolute favorite.
• Visit Brussels, as it's only 1h30 mins from Paris by train.
• Visit Amsterdam, as it's only 4h from Paris by train.
• Go to a legit club (not one of the Erasmus nights) and stay out until the first AM metro
• Visit Normandy and see where my grandfather fought during World War II
• Learn to cook at least 3 of the delicious meals my host mother has made for me
• Become a 'regular' at my local boulangerie and have the clerk lady actually recognize me. 
• Sit through an entire class where I understand everything the teacher says
• Try escargot (did it in Bourgogne, which will be the next post)
• Go to the Opera. 

I think that many of these items will have to be completed in the second semester, once I've actually earned some money from babysitting and have more time to plan. Can you believe there's less than two months until I go home for Christmas?  Time is flyyyying by. 

This weekend I'm going to Edinburgh to visit my awesome friend Amelia, who's spending a semester at Uni Edinburgh.  Hopefully my flight isn't cancelled (there's supposed to be a big grève (strike) the day of my flight), but I bought travel insurance just in case, so that if it is cancelled I won't lose my money and I can visit her another time.  I'm waiting for my sneakers to arrive (my mom mailed them to me), so that Amelia and I can go hiking and climb Arthur's Seat, which from her pictures, looks really cool!  Hopefully they arrive by Thursday....