Feet, feet, feet

Our first week of classes est finir! Yay, and not yay, all at the same time. That means we are one week closer to leaving Paris. Yep, I'm one of THOSE people. Classes are going well and I feel like we are up to where I left off after the first week so it'll be more practice for me on all the stuff I need practice on. I am tres sleepy right now. For some reason I couldn't sleep last night and then I woke up at 6am. We went to the Eiffel Tower last night and I somehow got talked into taking the cheap route and walking up the stairs to the 2nd level. The girls probably would have done the whole thing if that wasn't as far as they let you walk. 710 stairs up. I was very impressed with myself at how hard it wasn't. Not that it didn't suck for the last few flights but there were no ambulances required. I'm not sore today which makes me really afraid for tomorrow, especially since we're all going out tonight. My feet are jacked up. Where they aren't cut up from last weeks heels, there are blisters from my Tevas, and now my toenails are jammed because of the shoes from today. I don't care how ridiculous I look I'm going to rock my flipflops proudly from now on.
We were trying to figure out just what it is about the French that they can make the most ridiculous outfits chic. Seriously, if an American tried to pull off some of the stuff they wear we'd be laughed out of existence. After much pondering I think it's two things...or maybe three...lets see where we end up. First, and most important, is the footwear. There are absolutely no tennis shoes or flipflops of any kind for the most part. The right pair of shoes can dress up the most hideous outfit. Second, they actually wear clothes that fit them. Now granted most of them are thin but there are no muffin tops or back fat on the ladies here, even the older ones. Americans simply do not dress for their body or their size. And I suppose lastly, that thin people can pull of alot of stuff that bigger people can't. All of these things in combination give the French a little something extra no matter what they wear. It's slightly intimidating.
I'll have to admit I've been shopping. I can't help it. There are so many cute things here: cute bags, cute shoes, cute shirts, cute dishes, etc. I've reigned it in for the most part but I did purchase a new dress and a new shirt that I totally love. I don't know why but the clothes I proudly wore last summer in Europe feel almost ridiculous at home. The ones I normally wear at home feel ridiculous here. There shouldn't be a difference...but there is.
I finally got pictures to upload to facebook, it was making me nuts. The connection here is great until it comes to pictures. So the plan is to go out tonight. Get up at some point tomorrow and go to Versailles where we are planning on renting bikes to get around the grounds. Sunday we have our program sanctioned day trip to Chartres and the Loire Valley, and I'm very excited about it.
Everyone is trying to make plans for the free weekends and after much research I've decided I'm staying in Paris. Mont St. Michel is someplace I've always wanted to go but its WAY too much money, as is going to Barcelona or Rome. I'm going to try and talk someone into going to Parc Asterix with me which has roller coasters and so on. Plus everyone wants to go to Disneyland so thats an expense and so on and so on. I do have to draw the line somewhere.