Boo BCN Loft

We arrived back in Paris this morning after a long weekend in Barcelona. Our experience at BCN Loft was not one we would like to remember. We left on an overnight train to Barcelona on Thursday night. We walked into our sleeper cabin not really knowing what to expect. Two nice looking guys joined us, Sebastian from Columbia and Thomas from Germany and they both spoke English. The conductor came by and asked for each of our tickets. She said someone was in the wrong cabin. Apparently girls and guys are not supposed to be in the same cabin, but somehow the 4 of us were put together. She asked if we minded sleeping in the same room and we didn't really care so she said that she'd keep a close eye on the guys and told them to be on their best behavior. Thomas is 25 and was going to hike the Pyrenees by himself. He taught us some very helpful German phrases and we are thankful for him. Sebastian is 23 and is looking for a culinary school to attend in Barcelona. We had a great first train experience.

(Our friend Thomas from Germany)

We got to Barcelona at 8 am on the 25th and gave the address of our hostel to a very nice taxi driver. He plugged the address into his GPS and we were on our way. After about 15 minutes of driving he dropped us off in a small, quiet alley. The office didn't open until 10 am and it was 9:30 so we just thought we'd wait. We went up to the door and didn't see anything that said BCN Loft. We saw a lady walking past and asked her if she spoke English and if we were at the correct address. She sighed and said no and proceeded to tell us where we needed to go. Our taxi cab driver came back and asked if this was it. We said no, and our new friend told him how to get to the correct address. Apparently there are 2 streets with the same name and he took us to the wrong one. He was very apologetic and didn't charge us again. We were so thankful for the lady that the Lord provided for us. One of the main things we have been taught on this trip is that the Lord is in control and he constantly provides.

We got to the office of our hostel and had to wait a little while because our room was not clean yet. We went to a local market and got some fresh squeezed strawberry coconut juice and ate a Dunkin' Donut - the best donut we've ever had. We went back to the office and walked with a representative from BCN Loft about 15 minutes down Las Ramblas, a pretty popular street in Barcelona, and found our loft. We walked into a dirty room - trash, dirt, and unclean sheets. She said the maid would come soon. We were tired and decided to go to the beach to relax. We went to the beach for a couple of hours for some much needed sun and rest. It was so great and we are thankful for the opportunity to go the beach - the Texas coast has nothing on Barcelona.


We went back to our hostel, showered, and Jessica and Anna, two of our classmates, finally arrived. They showered and got dressed and we all had tapas for dinner. The 4 of us walked the rest of the night up and down Las Ramblas and bought some cute dresses at a popular Spanish store.

Day 2 in Barcelona: We woke up around 10:30 and got dressed to go to the beach, but first went to the train station to reserve our seats back to Paris. The four of us met at the beach and laid out and swam for about 5 hours. There were a lot of topless women and even the old ladies were showing off their bodies. Yikes. We opted out of that one and kept our tan lines. We left the beach and had "paella" (rice and seafood mixture) at a little restaurant. We came home, showererd, got dressed, and headed out to find a club or something to do. We wandered around for a while and found a small outdoor cafe to hang out at. We had dessert and just talked and it was great.

Day 3 - Last day in Barcelona: We woke up around 10:30 this morning and the handsome Italian boys in the loft next to us left us a little present on our door. Brittany woke up first and discovered some pink fuzzy handcuffs on the door knob with a note attached that said "I love America!" with 2 phone numbers on it. It was hilarious. They spoke very little English, but were nice and we might try to meet up with them when we visit Rome next week. We checked out of our hostel this morning and left our bags at the office while we walked around. Apparently a lot of shops are closed on Sundays so we walked to an old cathedral. Construction started in the 1880's and it still isn't finished. Our travel book said that it should be done by 2030. Yikes. It was beautiful and the detail was amazing. After this, we walked to sit on a bench in front of a cafe. There was a crazy waiter named Xavier who talked us into staying and having some nachos. He was high on life, not drugs. We sat down and met a guy named Mike who is 23 and is from Connecticut. He has been stduying in Barcelona with 60 other studends all summer. We got to tell him about some fun things to do in Paris because he'll go in a couple of weeks.




(Our friend Xavier)


(Our friend Mike)

We picked up our bags and left for the train station while the other two girls continued shopping because their flight didn't leave Barcelona until this morning. We killed some time by playing cards, a favorite past time of ours. We met 3 guys from A&M tonight on the train - Keith, Jordan (from Arlington), and Eduardo. This is their first time in Paris so we are all going to meet up together this afternoon to see Montmarte and Sacre Coure. It should be fun!

We travel to Germany tomorrow morning so next time you hear from us, we'll be in Munich. Miss y'all and will update again as soon as we can.

Britney Spears at the Eiffel Tower

Top Story:

We took the metro to the Eiffel Tower last night (July 23) and ate some true European Crepes while admiring the tower. The tower is lit with blue lights and flashes with white lights for about 10 minutes. We were in awe. Callie had a chocolate crepe and Brittany had a chocolate banana crepe and it was one of the best foods we've experienced. We are sure to experience disappointment if we ever order a crepe at IHOP.

While we were sitting down, a random young guy approached us. We thought he was selling something and we just shook our heads "no", but he proceeded to sit down. It was obvious he had been drinking and maybe hadn't showered that day as he carried a couple of scents that were not pleasant. We asked what his name was and he showed us his bracelet that said "Alban" and he asked for ours and we told him. For the rest of the conversation he referred to Brittany as "Britney Spears". He held her hand and it was awkward. We concluded from a difficult to understand conversation that he is from Italy, works as a waiter in Paris, and is 21, but will be 22 in 60 days (he wrote this number on his hand.) We talked to him for about 30 minutes and then decided we needed to leave - he wanted to come with us. Callie said "No, you cannot come with us." He said, "But why?" Callie said, "Because we don't know you and you don't know us." He said, "Me? I am good. Come on." We laughed and said, "Yeah...No. Aurevoir." This was the highlight of our night.

Yesterday afternoon we went to Peugeot, one of the leaders in European car manufacturing. We were able to walk through the plant and watch the entire car making process. It was amazing to see the robots and line workers put the car together with ease and to be able to watch the process first-hand, start to finish was a memorable experience. It was a 3 hour walk around the plant and we were all very tired and hungry towards the end.

Today, July 24th, we went to the Louvre with 5 other people from our class. Our tour guide, Dominique from our 3 hour walking tour said that if you spent 1 minute on each piece of art in the Louvre that it would take you 4 months to see the whole thing. The Louvre is now the biggest museum in the world and is just amazing. We saw the Mona Lisa among many other paintings and sculptures.

We will take an overnight train to Barcelona tonight and will be there for the weekend. We are staying at BCN Loft - Backpackers Hostel and will return Monday morning. We are looking forward to a time away from our class project and can't wait to enjoy the beach! We will post more pictures soon! Love y'all!

How cold is cold? Ice Cold.

First, let us apologize for not being able to update the blog for the past 2 days - we haven't had access to the internet until now, free access anyway.

Okay so it wasn't ice cold for the past couple of days, but it has been cold - for Texans. We were told that the locals flee from Paris during this time of the year because it is the hottest time. If they only knew what it was like in Texas they would be thankful for the summer weather. We are thankful for the weather here, it is just a bit chilly in the mornings and when the sun decides to hide its face.

Sunday - July 20th:

We woke up around 11:30, got dressed, packed up and left to meet our group at Hotel Courceilles Etoile. We were sad to leave our first friend we made in Paris, Illeyes (we really don't know what his name is, but this is what it sounded like). He was so helpful the first two days of our adventure and we are forever grateful.

We met at the hotel and had about 2 hours to walk around. We walked around (nowhere in particular) with 2 of our group members to look at the different buildings and architecture. We met up with some other team members and taught them some of the little French we know over a glass of wine.

After everyone got settled in, we took a group boat tour of the Seine (pronounced sin) river. We were able to see Notre Dame, the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower and other building we had seen but weren't sure about their significance. Afterwards, we enjoyed a 3-course meal with our group at a restaurant nearby.

Our new hotel is incredible! Now the color of the room is probably not one we would pick, but the shower is amazing and GREATER than sliced bread. After seeing this shower, eating a loaf of bread whole would not be a big deal. It has 4 shower heads - a rain showerhead above, and 3 sections that spray the rest of your body. We have the luxury of air conditioning (something that we didn't think about when booking our other hostels).

Monday - July 21st:

After enjoying a French croissant with Nutella and some delicious coffee, we met up with Dominique, who was the guide for our walking tour of Paris for the next 3 hours. The French are very proud of their country and Dominique's passion for her country was obvious in the way she spoke and the knowledge she has. Brittany felt like a bum for not knowing more about our country's short history and historical landmarks. We are thankful for Dominique and the knowledge she passed on to us - it really made the sites that much more incredible.

After our tour we stopped at a small bakery for lunch where we split a chicken salad pita and a chocolate croissant for dessert. De-lish. After lunch, we met up with the rest of our group to take a train outside the city for our visit to Schneider Electric. Apparently, our program guide, Jessica, had difficulties obtaining a map from Schneider that accurately showed their location. We walked around for about 1 1/2 hours realizing that we were lost, but weren't given much direction from anyone at Schneider on where to go. Finally, someone walked to meet us and we were nowhere near the site. We were greeted by two friendly representatives at Schneider, Martin Henna and Luz Rojas. They put together a great presentation and helped our class better understand how a global company like Schneider Electric soars to the top in the industry while managing and acquiring companies along the way. Because we arrived late, we skipped the showroom floor and had coffee at their in-house cafe. Brittany was able to meet both Martin and Luz and talk to them about her working for TAC, a company that Schneider Electric owns.

After the corporate visit to Schneider, we went to the train station to reserve our seats on our trains to Barcelona (this weekend) and Nice (August 11) and to receive our ticket to London. We were SO thankful for our representative at the ticket counter; not only did she speak English, but she was also very friendly! We told her to tell her boss (who couldn't understand our English) that she was amazing and needed a raise!

After reserving our tickets we went to a small pizzeria to enjoy the "Pizza de Bari" which included sausage, ham, mozzerella, black olives, and egg. We were interested to see where the egg would be on the pizza and which of it's many forms it would reveal itself in. It came to us sunny-side up, in the center of the pizza and was delicious!

Our friend and team member, Shaun P. Stakem, is an amazing photographer and took the following pictures. Check out his site at http://www.spsphotos.com/ to see more of his work.

Enjoy the pictures and we will update again as soon as we can! Love you!

Oh the places we go!

Today was such a fun day! Brittany had a really hard time going to bed last night and didn't fall asleep until 4:00 am and Callie must have been really tired because we didn't wake up until 3 pm today... Brittany's dad always says, "Listen to your body" so that's what we did.

After we got up Callie decided to straighten her hair. Brittany brought her best investment in life and close friend "Chi" (her hair straightener) and it died shortly after Callie started using it. I guess something happened during the voltage conversion process; it started smelling funny and then stopped working. Rest in peace Chi, rest in peace.

After we got creative with our hair and got ready for the day, we ventured out to "Avenue Des Champs Elysees" which is a pretty popular street here. The metro put us right at the foot of "Arc de Triomphe Etoile" and it was amazing.

We walked around for a good while and rewarded ourselves with coffee from Starbuck's. We then proceeded on down to Ave Montaigne, home of Chanel, Roberto Cavalli, Gucci, Prada... you name it, any famous designer you can think of has a store on this Avenue. We only charged a couple of things from these stores to the credit card. Our thought process was: 1. You only live once. 2. No, we better not. 3. You only live once and if we really do this, our parents will be the ones to end our lives. So we proceeded on to the Eiffel Tower instead.

On our way to Eiffel Tower, we spotted a rowdy group of guys speaking a language unknown to us. We tried to keep our distance, but they all bombarded us at once. We had heard to watch out for busy areas and people bumping into you because you are most likely to get your pocket picked in a situation like this. They were really excited to see us and we really didn't really know what to do or say. They just started gathering around us and taking pictures and the only thing we could say to each other was "This is so awkward!" One of the guys was dressed like a priest and his friends wanted him to get a picture with us too. We think it was his bachelor party or something... It was one of the highlights of our day.

It was apparent when we reached the Eiffel Tower that everyone and their mom, dad, brother, sister and dog wanted to see it too. The lines to get to the top were out of control so we decided to sit in a grassy area below and admire the tower and people watch instead.

After we left the Eiffel Tower, we headed back towards our hostel. There is a park right across from our hostel that is showing movies each night at 22:30 (10:30pm) through mid-August for 2 Euro (about $3.50 USD), and they started last night. Last night was an old French film, so we decided to watch the movie that was showing tonight in English, Casino. This movie is older and stars Sharon Stone and Robert DeNiro. I guess we didn't realize how cold it gets at night... we weren't prepared and people could tell by looking at the dress that Callie was wearing. We didn't really care for the movie or the fact that it was 3 hours long, but it was a fun experience.

Our class arrives tomorrow afternoon so we will meet up with them around 2:00 pm. Our hostel is allowing us to check out late for FREE. If you ever travel to Paris and are on a budget, we recommend "Hotel de Paris".

Here is a video to recap our day. Thank you Callie.

Love and miss you and check back soon for more updates!

Gas or no gas?

This is the question Callie and I were asked when we sat down for dinner tonight. "Water with gas, or no gas?" Callie - Brittany, I think he wants to know if you want ice in your water... I say, "No gas, merci." He returns with a large bottle of water. We soon realize that he was trying to ask us if we wanted tap water (in a glass) or bottled water (no glass). Lesson #1 learned - No gas.

We decided we wanted pizza for dinner. Callie asks how big the pizza is and shows him different sizes with her hands. She also asks for 1 or for 2? He responds for 1. So we get 2 pizzas. He returns with 2 - 12" pizzas. Lesson #2 learned - ask to share and if it's not enough, order another one.

We left at 17:10 from DFW on 7/17 and were able to sleep for about 4 hours on the plane. There were empty seats available so Brittany was able to move to a different row to stretch out. We arrived at the airport around 9:30am and what could have been a short trip, turned into a 3 hour adventure. We are thankful that people here know English, or else we might still be at the airport or in Germany, who knows.

Once we arrived to Hotel de Paris, we were greeted with a warm smile and quickly made a new friend. We got settled and took a 5 hour nap. We woke up around 17:30 and walked around to get acquainted with the area.

We are thankful for the many ways that the Lord provided for us today:

1. Safe travel - we successfully made it from DFW to Paris with no jet lag.

2. Ability to communicate - Thank you to our friend Andrea, we were able to pull out our "Helpful French Phrases" book and point to different phrases. We made a lot of people laugh with our poor French speaking skills today, but it has been fun trying new phrases.

3. Helpful people - Our new friend who works at the hostel and our waiter, PJ, at Cafe de la musique.

Continue to pray for us as we share in this adventure together. Pray that the Lord would be able to speak through us in a way that we would never imagine.

Love you,

Callie and Brittany

One Step Closer...

The Eurail pass has been purchased, hostels have been booked, and an official itinerary has been distributed. Our trip is right around the corner, and I'm still having a hard time picturing myself over there... We'll visit 5 countries and 7 cities (in this order) in 4 weeks: 1. Paris, France 2. Barcelona, Spain 3. Munich, Germany 4. Florence, Italy 5. Rome, Italy 6. London, England, and 7. Nice, France. Our class will visit multiple companies in France and Germany to gain a better understanding of how European businesses operate. While in Paris, our class will visit Schneider Electric, a world leader in Power and Control solutions. To add some icing to the cake, Schneider Electric also owns TAC, the company I work for in Dallas. This will be a meaningful experience for me, and the office visit that I am looking forward to the most.

I have the next month and a half off of work to focus on school and classes started today. We'll have 2 weeks of classes at UNT to get a majority of the class work out of the way and we'll spend about 4 hours a day, Monday-Thursday, in class while we are in Europe.

While in Paris, we'll be studying at Schiller International University and we'll be staying at:

Hotel Courcelles Etoile
184 rue de Courcelles
75017 Paris
France
Phone: +33 (0) 1 47 63 65 30
Fax: +33 (0) 1 46 22 49 44

http://www.courcelles-etoile.com/

While in Munich, we'll be staying at:

A&O Hotel and Hostel München
Arnulfstraße 102
80636 Munich
Germany
Phone: +49 (0) 89 45 23 59 58 01
Fax: +49 (0) 89 45 23 59 - 58 90

http://www.aohostels.com/en/munich/hostel-munich/hostel/info

I've downloaded some French Survival Phrases podcasts, but I haven't made time to listen to them. I should probably jump on that.

That's all I've got for today.

à la prochaine (Until next time.)

Note: In French, one very common way to construct a parting phrase is to start with the article "à" ("until") and follow it with a future moment in time. This ranges from the general to the specific. These are rather perfunctory and can be used in formal and informal contexts, unless otherwise noted.