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Victoria en France: Final Reflection

My program is officially over. This was undoubtedly one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had. Here are some of my final thoughts about my time studying abroad.

I feel that my French really improved. I wasn't fully immersed in the language because my classes were in English and my friends were all American. Because of this, my conversational skills aren't very strong, but I did get really good at reading French. I feel that I'm not too far from being fluent, so over the summer, I am going to watch some shows that are in French with French subtitles. I think how much you improve at a language while living abroad really depends on how much effort you put in. I'm really glad I experienced 5 months of French immersion, because I feel much more comfortable with the language now.

Attending ENSEA was very different from attending Michigan. We had longer lectures, but virtually no homework, so learning felt pretty different. The classes were less challenging, so I didn't need to do as much work outside of class as I do at Michigan. That and all the time off we were given allowed me to make the most of my time in Europe, which was really great. I would say it was my least challenging semester academically, but I wouldn't say I learned any less, because outside of the classroom, I was exploring new cultures and gaining a better understanding of the world we live in.

I was able to travel every weekend, and it was so amazing to be able to visit so many different places. Not only did I get to see about 15 different countries, but I got to have incredible experiences like cold plunging in the Baltic Sea, riding a camel in the desert in Morocco, and climbing a mountain in Italy. I tried new food, saw incredible historic sights, and met people from all over the world. I made so many unforgettable memories throughout the semester, and I've never been happier than when I was traveling. I now feel much more knowledgable about the world and its vast variety of cultures, and I feel so much more aware of who I am and my place in the world.

I was the only FAME student from Michigan, so I knew no one before the program started. I was nervous about finding people to travel with, but I ended up meeting some of the best friends I've ever had. I had an amazing group of like-minded people to travel, explore Paris, and spend time with, and they were what made my semester such a great one. The experiences I had traveling would have been cool on their own, but it was the people I was with that made them such special memories. I will cherish the pictures, inside jokes, and stories from our travels forever. Not only did I get to meet wonderful people in my program, but we would also meet other travelers and study abroad students all over Europe, which was always really fun.

Living in a different culture was a really cool and interesting experience that I'm really glad I had. When I first got to France, I kept noticing all the little things that were different, but by the end it all felt like normal life. It was challenging that things weren't in English at first, especially when grocery shopping, but it didn't take long to learn to navigate living there and pick up the French I needed most for daily life. I'm really glad I got to discover what life is like in Europe- it felt really eye opening, and I think being more aware of cultural differences will make me a much stronger engineer.

I will be starting my internship on Tuesday, and then before long I will be heading back to Ann Arbor for my senior year. It's kind of crazy to me that life is just moving on after such a big experience, but I feel more confident about my future after this semester. I really think I have grown a lot as a person, and I would highly recommend studying abroad to anyone who has the opportunity to do so. It really was life changing, and I'm looking forward to facing life as the person I've become because of this experience. For the final time, au revoir!

Victoria Vizza

Electrical Engineering

IPE: FAME at ENSEA in Cergy-Pontoise, France

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Victoria en France: Week 19

I made it through my final week in France. Tomorrow, I am flying home!

Finals

Finals went pretty well. My roommate and I got our travel app working for Java, and it's pretty cool. You can create an account, log in, add places you visited to your map, view the pins on your map with a list of them below, add friends, and view your friends' maps. The other projects were pretty cool too- the other groups did a physics simulator and a computer game.

For electronics, we were given a 3 stage amplifier and we had to calculate the gain, input and output resistances, time constants, and the biasing point. It was challenging, but a good reflection of what we learned throughout the semester.

My power exam went well, and we had no exam for microprocessors, but I finished up what I was working on for the project in that class. Overall, I feel pretty good about how I ended my classes.

Paris

I am going to miss Paris so much. I tried to spend as much time there as I could this week around studying and packing. We got Nutella banana crêpes (which are the best) from this place we found at the beginning of the semester, and they were so good. I went to watch the sunset at Sacré-Cœur one last time, and I actually went inside the church- it was so pretty. I finally climbed the Arc de Triomphe too, and the views were amazing. You can see all the Paris landmarks from up there, and it's also cool to see the streets extending off into the city in a circle around the arc. For the last night tonight, my friends and I got a big Airbnb in Paris, which I think will be really fun. Goodbye Cergy rats!

Moving on

I just finished packing and am about to leave my apartment for the final time. Overall, I really loved my residence. The only downside was the distance from the train station, since it's not a safe walk back at night, but it was still pretty convenient to be a 10 minute walk from the school and ~12-15 minute walk from the train station/mall/grocery store. It was a really nice apartment- I had a ton of space and no issues.

I enjoyed studying at ENSEA. Since the classes are so small, your teachers actually know who you are, which is nice. It was definitely less challenging than Michigan, but it was really cool to experience the difference in education systems between France and the U.S. and being at a school with 900 students instead of 50,000.

I am going to post my final reflection about my program soon, but I will end by saying that studying abroad was one of the best decisions I ever made. I am ready to go home, but I am definitely sad to be leaving. Going to finish cleaning out my apartment and then make the most of my last night in Paris!

Au revoir,

Victoria Vizza

Electrical Engineering

IPE: FAME at ENSEA in Cergy-Pontoise, France

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Victoria en France: Week 18

Bonjour! I only have 1 week left in my program!

Classes

This past week was my final week of classes, and I am currently preparing for finals this upcoming week.

I am at a library in Paris right now, taking a break from studying for electronics. We have an exam in that class, and that is what I am most nervous for this week. I am working through a bunch of exercises that the professor provided, and am planning to do a thorough review of my notes tomorrow.

For Java, my roommate and I are finishing up our app, and final presentations will take place on Thursday.

On Friday, we had our final lab for Power. We only had 3 labs this semester, which was kind of odd. Our professor brought us breakfast to celebrate the end of the semester, which was really nice. He was my favorite!

FAME

On Tuesday, ENSEA hosted a lunch for the FAME students and professors. This was really nice because we haven't had many FAME events this semester. We have to organize our own social activities, and in fact, we had another potluck get-together that evening, which was really fun. I think we had a great group of students, and am really going to miss my friends when this program is over!

Quick trip

We had a pretty light week of classes, so my friends and I did a 24 hour trip to Ibiza from Wednesday to Thursday. It was nice to have one last trip with the group, but we are definitely ready to have a break from traveling and flying. We made the most of our free time this semester and were traveling nonstop, but the tiredness is catching up to me now. I am looking forward to being at home and chilling for a bit starting next week!

We were planning to spend a lot of time at the beach in Ibiza, but unfortunately it was raining while we were there, so our plans kind of got ruined. The best part of the trip was just spending time with the people I've gotten so close to over the past few months.

Paris

This week and weekend, I've been spending a lot of time in Paris. I am going to miss it so much! On the way home from the library on Monday, I stopped in a thrift store and found 2 new pairs of pants, for 3 euro each, and got to admire how beautiful the city is at sunset.

My friends and I went to Sainte-Chapelle, which was really stunning. We had to wait in line for a bit, but I was really glad I got to see it. The stained glass is so pretty!

We also went to Shakespeare and Company, which is a super cool bookstore. We had to wait in line for that too, but it didn't take super long.

On Saturday night, we went to a ramen place, and we all agreed that it was amazing. My ramen was one of the best meals I've had abroad. It was actually spicy - I love spice and have had trouble finding food in Europe that is spicy enough for me - and it was so delicious.

My final week

This week, I will need to pack. I haven't started yet, but I have started thinking about it. I get a personal item, carry-on, and 2 checked bags for the way home, but I am hoping I won't need to get a second checked bag, because that will be more inconvenient when getting to the airport. We'll see how things go...

I will be finishing up my classes, which I am looking forward to. My classes were less challenging than at Michigan, and since I had more limited options at ENSEA, they weren't quite as relevant to what I am interested in as my classes last semester and next semester. However, I liked the classes I took, and I think what I learned will be useful in my future studies. I am going to work as hard as I can to do well on my final exams and projects.

Stay tuned for my final blog posts next week as I wrap up my semester abroad!

À bientôt,

Victoria Vizza

Electrical Engineering

IPE: FAME at ENSEA in Cergy-Pontoise, France

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Victoria en France: Week 17

Ciao from Palermo airport. Unfortunately this is one of my last blog posts, because I am officially within the last 2 weeks of my program!

Classes

This week was a busy week of classes, especially on Monday when I had 10 hours! I’ve been working a lot on the Java project- in class, at a library in Paris, and in the airport. My roommate and I are making an app where you can track what countries you’ve been to, and I am working on the user accounts - login, registration, connecting with friends, storing user data, etc. I have been using Firebase by Google, and it’s been great to get this new experience. 

I’ve also been working really hard at microprocessors, since that is a challenging class. My friends and I have been slowly going through our project both inside and outside of class, and things are starting to make more sense. Our project uses both C and assembly code, and we are working on sending signals to a serial plotter.

This week will be our last week of classes before finals. Thankfully, the schedule doesn’t look too busy, so I am planning to spend time in Paris studying and working on my final assignments.

Getting ready to return home

Today marks 4 months since I arrived in Europe. Honestly, the thought of going back to the States is kind of weird to me. What do you mean everyone will speak my language? I’m going to miss the food and that people dress more nicely here, especially in Paris. I think I’m going to be noticing the small cultural differences for a while after I get back.

Since I’m leaving soon, I’m definitely going to spend as much time with my friends as possible. We have plans to see each other once the program is over, but after seeing them almost every day and traveling with them almost every weekend, it’s going to be hard to say goodbye. 

I am feeling ready to go back to America and spend the summer there, though. I am going to try to find a French show to watch, that way I can continue to be immersed in the language and keep working towards fluency.

Palermo!

This week, we had another long weekend due to there being another national holiday on Thursday. I was originally going to go to Greece with my friends, but I had issues booking my flights. So, I did my first and only solo trip of the semester. Most of my friends have already solo travelled and really loved it. I went to Palermo, Sicily, and I loved it so much! It's definitely one of my favorite places I've been to. Not only is there beautiful architecture and lots of sunshine, it is on the coast and surrounded by mountains. I think Palermo wins best food I’ve had abroad and city I most want to back to. Also, Sicily is right up there with Morocco for prettiest nature.

I got over 90,000 steps over my 3 days in Palermo, as I experienced the city very thoroughly. Even though I saw a ton of stuff, I still have a long list of things I want to do when I go back. Palermo is a beautiful city, full of history and culture. My favorite thing about it is its liveliness. Everyone eats, drinks, and hangs out on the streets. There is music everywhere - there are always people performing and people love to sing and dance along. It’s a city that’s bound to make you smile.

Some things I did were going on a free walking tour, visiting the Capuchin Catacombs, climbing a mountain for an amazing view of the entire city and coastline, checking out the Palermo Cathedral, botanical gardens, and No Mafia Memorial, and enjoying walking down the streets!

I also booked an excursion to see more of Sicily. They took us to Segesta, where there were ancient ruins of a theater and a temple. We got to see the salt pans in Trapani and the medieval city of Erice, which is on top of a mountain. These places were pretty cool, but the best part of the day was just seeing the Sicilian countryside. I was as in awe as I was in Morocco. The hills and mountains are so beautiful and the Mediterranean was so stunning and blue!

Sicily is known for its food, and I made it my mission to try as much Sicilian food as possible. I’m vegetarian, and it turns out Sicilian food is very vegetarian friendly. Eggplant is one of my favorite foods, and it’s very common in Sicily, which was great. 

Aranchine: fried rice balls and you can choose between different kinds. These were my favorite they are so yummy

Panelle (chickpea) and Crocchè (potato): also fried, the panelle was especially delicious 

Granita: similar to Italian ice

Minni di Sant’Agata: yummy cookie-like pastry 

Busiate (Sicilian pasta shaped like a telephone cord) alla Trapanese (bc I was in Trapani. I also tried it alla Norma, and that was reallyyyyy good but I didn't get a picture)

Pizza (duh)

Cannoli are from Sicily, and I had the best cannolo of my life on this trip. At a former nun convent, the recipe books have been preserved from medieval times. So, this bakery in the convent bakes pastries the original way the nuns did! This cannolo was amazing and definitely lives up to the “best in the world” claim. Also, these things are huge. After buying your sweets, you can enjoy them in a pretty garden.

I went to Italy 4 times this semester to visit 6 different cities, and these were some of my best trips. I love Italy so much and hope to keep going back throughout my life. The scenery, food, and culture are all so amazing!

I am looking forward to wrapping up classes, one last quick trip, and making the most of my final moments in Paris this week. I have had such an amazing semester, and ready for another great week!

À Plus,

Victoria Vizza

Electrical Engineering 

IPE: FAME at ENSEA in Cergy-Pontoise, France

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Victoria en France: Week 16

Hello from Munich airport. I was barely in Cergy this week, as we had a long weekend due to Labor Day being on Thursday. I had a pretty light week of classes Monday-Wednesday, especially as I had no class on Tuesday. I ended up using most of Tuesday to work on a project for Microprocessors, though.

There are still a lot of places we want to visit in Paris, but this week, since we were only there on Monday and Tuesday, we were more focused on appreciating life in Paris. Both nights, we went and sat by the Seine, catching up after break and just talking. Sitting by the Seine in the evening is super nice- there are always a ton of people there and we even met some new friends on Monday.

Wednesday night, we flew to Vienna. Vienna was a super cool city that I've always wanted to see. Once I landed in Austria, I had officially visited 20 countries in my life! While in Vienna, we did a lot of walking around the city to see the major sites. The weather was amazing. We went inside Votive Church, which had really stunning stained glass.

We also went inside Belvedere Palace, which was a museum with a lot of super cool art.

In the evening, we found a hill that had a super great view of the city and the sunset, so we sat there for a bit before going to dinner.

After Vienna, we took a bus to Munich. This was an amazing bus ride- the Austrian countryside is really beautiful. While in Munich, we went to Frühlingsfest (Springfest), which is a festival that is going on right now. It's called Oktoberfest's little sister. It was a fun time- we wore traditional dirndl and ate yummy giant pretzels. My friends also convinced me to go on one of the rides, and even though I was terrified and it went upside down, it ended up being one of the highlights of my day.

We walked around Munich a bit, but the weather wasn't great. We went to the Bavarian National Museum, which is only 1 euro to get in on Sundays. It was cool to see some history there!

This also ended up being my first camping experience. Because of the festival, we slept in an 8 person tent. Our campsite provided breakfast, which was great, and there was a full bathroom with running water. I mostly slept fine, but both mornings, I woke up early feeling really uncomfortable because we were sleeping on rocks. The sleeping cot was not enough to prevent the discomfort and not having a pillow was also not ideal. However, it was good to have a new experience because that's what study abroad is all about!

Over the weekend, we were informed that someone was stabbed to death in the parking lot outside the other FAME residence that I don't live in. At least half of the FAME students live there, so this was a little scary to hear about. We know that Cergy is not safe, but I really wish we were provided with shuttle buses or more convenient housing. Two of my friends found a residence that is super close to ENSEA and the train station, so they never have to walk through Cergy at night. If changes aren't made, I really can't recommend this program to future applicants. My favorite parts of the program are the ability to travel and being immersed in a new culture, and you can get these benefits from any other study abroad program.

This week, we have another long weekend, so I will once again not be in Cergy for very long. Hopefully, I can get some work done for my classes and take advantage of some of my last opportunities to explore Paris.

À Bientôt!

Victoria Vizza

Electrical Engineering

IPE: FAME at ENSEA in Cergy-Pontoise, France

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Victoria en France: Week 15

Salut! It's officially the end of my second two week break. I had an amazing week in Italy and the South of France, and I can't wait to share about it! This week, I visited 4 more cities, bringing the total for this break to 6 new cities. This is the same as last break, and I am so thankful that we have these breaks to explore Europe more thoroughly!

When in Rome

I flew into Rome on Easter Sunday, and landed late that night. When we left for breakfast Monday morning, the news came out that the pope passed away. My friends had just seen him the day before, and I could see in their videos that he looked pretty unwell. Monday was actually the birthday of Rome (April 21), but all celebrations were cancelled in solidarity for his death.

Rome was super busy with tourists, and we spent most of our time walking around and visiting historic sites. Rome is such a historic city, and this is definitely a city worth going back to, as there is so much to see! It was really cool seeing remnants of a time that was so long ago.

I think my favorite place that we visited was the Pantheon. My friend asked ChatGPT to explain the history of it, and it gave us a very thorough guide of what to look for. The architecture is really cool - it's actually a perfect sphere. I learned a lot, and I highly recommend using ChatGPT when travelling because it's free, and it's so much more interesting to know the history and significance of things than to just look at them.

Our hostel provided a free pasta dinner and allowed us to meet a ton of other travellers in their 20s. It was a really good group of people, and I had a lot of fun hanging out with people from Canada, Australia, and Germany.

Here are some pictures from Rome!

The Trevi Fountain:

Inside the Pantheon:

The Roman Forum:

The Big House looks a little different here:

Venice I love you so much

After Rome, we took a train to Venice. It was for some reason cheaper to book a business class ticket, and I ended up having an amazing train ride. Not only did I get to see Italy looking beautiful out my window, but I had a super comfy seat with tons of leg room, and they brought free snacks and drinks twice!

Venice was a beautiful city, and it immediately became one of my favorite cities that I've visited this semester. It reminded me a lot of Barcelona in that there were a lot of narrow streets and the buildings were close together. The canals were so pretty, and we spent a lot of the trip just sitting by the canals and relaxing. It was a really unique place and I really really loved it. We used ChatGPT when walking around, and it turns out Venice has a lot of interesting history.

We were going to visit Basilica di San Marco, but you have to be dressed modestly to enter, so none of us could have gotten in. We had amazing weather the whole trip, so we wore summer clothes every day. It was too bad we didn't get to go in the basilica, but the outside was stunning and I was happy just to see that!

Instead of the basilica, we went into the Doge's Palace. The art was absolutely stunning. I have no idea how painters are able to add so much detail to their art. There were so many paintings that had more going on than you could possibly comprehend, and I felt like I would need hours in the rooms of that palace to properly appreciate the art. It was so cool!

And of course we did a gondola ride. Our gondola driver taught us more about the city, and it was so peaceful. Highly recommend.

There's this place that makes fresh pasta to go, we ate it by a canal and it was delicious:

Really cool bookstore:

Venice being so so pretty:

Beach day in Marseille

After Venice, we flew to the south of France. I don't think we were even in Marseille for 24 hours, but we ended up having a very lovely beach day there. It was nice to take some time to relax instead of walking around a city. The water was pretty clear, and the weather was amazing. There's not much to say about this part of the trip, but I really loved the time we spent at that beach!

Montpellier (Paris for chillers)

I absolutely adored Montpellier. It looked just like Paris- the architecture and the streets were just about identical to the Parisian style.

The difference between Montpellier and Paris is that Montpellier is so much more chill. There were way less people, so it wasn't so busy and crowded with tourists. The people spoke a bit slower, so it was easier to understand their French. Additionally, Montpellier was super clean - I didn't see any litter. We didn't make it to the beach, but we had an amazing time exploring the city. I would live here.

We only had one dinner in Montpellier but it was life changing. I had this amazing gnocchi, and oh my gosh I will be thinking about it for a very long time. Montpellier for the win.

The weekend

We got back from Montpellier Saturday afternoon, and it was really nice to have most of the weekend to reset before getting back to classes. Today (Sunday), my roommate and I walked around a couple of flea markets in Paris, which was really nice since we're not usually here on the weekends to do that. Then, since we happened to find ourselves in the 20th arrondissement (district of Paris), we visited Cimetière du Pére-Lachaise, which is very well known since there are several famous people buried there. It was huge and was very interesting to walk around.

This week is going to be very chill for me. Thursday is a national holiday, so we have no classes on Thursday or Friday. The 3 days we do have class, my schedule is super chill. I have 8 hours of class tomorrow, but then I have no class on Tuesday. I have 2 classes on Wednesday, and then I will be leaving for my long weekend trip immediately from the second class. ENSEA will be pretty quiet now, because the last day of class before break was the last day of the semester for a lot of the French students. They are now off to their required internships. I think it will just be international and first-year students left now.

I am super excited to catch up with everyone after break and spend some time chilling in Paris this week. I am also really excited for the trip I have planned for this week. The end of the semester is approaching fast, and I am dreading it being over. I am so happy to be able to travel, and I love my friends here. Even though not everyone in the FAME program was together over break, we were constantly sharing about our travels in the FAME group chat.

Ciao!

Victoria Vizza

Electrical Engineering

IPE: FAME at ENSEA in Cergy-Pontoise, France

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Victoria en France: Week 14

Bonjour! Today, I am halfway through my second two-week break, and I am super excited to share what I have been up to.

Paris

My family came to visit me this week, so we spent a few days exploring (and eating) in Paris. We visited Notre Dame, which I hadn't gone inside of yet. It was very stunning:

We also visited Musée Carnavalet, which is a free museum where you can learn about the history of Paris. When I first got here, there weren't very many tourists around, but now, all the main attractions (like the Louvre) are packed. I was really glad we found this museum, because it was not super busy, so we didn't have to wait to get in and it wasn't overcrowded inside the museum. It was super cool to walk around, because they have stuff from 10,000 years ago (which is crazy to think about!) up to modern times. Here are some pictures:

Bruges

On Tuesday, we took a Eurostar train to Bruges. I went to Brussels early in the semester, but I was really glad I got to see another city in Belgium, as Bruges was a lot cuter. It felt like a fairy tale town. The architecture was super cool- all of the buildings had really fun roofs - and some people call it the Venice of the north because there are some really pretty canals running through the city. Here are my gorgeous Bruges pictures that I got at sunset:

Those were taken after consuming these delicious Belgian fries:

We visited the Basilica of the Holy Blood. This is where the relic of the Holy Blood is kept, and we actually got to see it. Apparently, it is the actual blood of Jesus. It was a pretty cool experience and the inside of the basilica was very colorful and detailed.

We also visited the Saint Salvator cathedral, and this is one of my favorite churches that I've seen in Europe. It was so stunning in there!

We also went and saw a couple of the historic windmills of Bruges:

And no trip to Belgium is complete without chocolate and waffles, so we bought some amazing chocolate from a chocolate shop that my parents knew from the last time they were in Bruges, and we grabbed some waffles from a food market outside the Basilica of the Holy Blood. Overall, I really loved Bruges! There were a lot of tourists there, and a day was sufficient to see all the main attractions, but it was a really charming city with really great food.

Ghent

After Bruges, we went to Ghent, which is another beautiful Belgian city. The architecture is so historic and amazing, and I think the highlight of this trip was just staring at the buildings. A lot of people just sit by the main canal and chat/eat/drink, and it was so nice to do this! I mean, just look at this city:

We did a boat tour on the canal, and this was a great way to learn more about the city and its history and to see different parts of it.

We also did a tour of the Castle of the Counts and visited the Church of St. Nicholas and St. Bavo's Cathedral. These are some of Ghent's main attractions, and I would definitely recommend visiting them if you go.

Ghent has tons of shops, so it was really cool to walk around and window shop/visit cool stores. I found a thrift store, and on Friday, there was a flea market that was fun to check out!

Here's a duck I befriended while I was sitting by the canal. He made me think of my Moroccan cat that I almost took home with me last break.

Next week

Today has been a good opportunity to reset before the second half of the break. I'm flying to Italy for the third time this semester (and I'll be back again!) tonight, so I have the whole day to pack and get ready. Last break, being away for two weeks ended up being a little tiring by the end. It's really nice to sleep in your own bed and have access to all of your toiletries! So, I'm glad that this break, I was able to split it in half so I can be just as energized for the second half as I was for the first. I will be meeting up with my friends tonight, and I am really excited for our plans for this week. Looking at the weather for the cities we are going to be in, it looks like it's going to be super nice! I am mostly packing summer clothes!

Being abroad feels like having two lives. I feel like my life in the States is separate from my life abroad, and that life is on pause right now. It's weird because I have to start doing things to prepare for next semester, and it almost feels strange that my other life will just resume once this is over. I cannot believe it is already the end of April, but I still have so much to look forward to this semester and will definitely be making the most of the rest of my time here.

See you next week!

Au revoir,

Victoria Vizza

Electrical Engineering

IPE: FAME at ENSEA in Cergy-Pontoise, France

[umichenginabroad]

Victoria en France: Week 13

How are we already on the 13th week of this program? I officially made it to my second two-week break, which means I only have a few more weeks of classes left!

Classes

This week, I had 3 midterm exams. It feels great to have them over with. I am officially finished with French, both language and culture. I had my last advanced French class on Monday, which was bittersweet. I hated that it was always on Mondays from 5:30pm to 7:30, and it was definitely a challenge for me. However, I think I really improved my French in this class, and overall it was a great experience. We had our second 2 sessions of French Culture Unit 3, where we wrapped up making our mock French food truck business. I learned a lot about how French business culture works, and that making a business takes a lot of work. It was definitely a fun and engaging class. Culture Unit 2 had some overlap with Unit 3, so I also had my last session of that this week. Our Unit 2 teacher always brings us French food to try, and this week she brought us homemade madeleines, a sweet treat that is super yummy:

In Java, after our midterm exam, we started working on our final project. My roommate and I are going to make an app where you can track what countries you've travelled to and connect with friends to compare lists. I'm really excited about this project, as I have never made an app before, so it will be a new experience for me. I am looking forward to applying everything I've learned so far to make something I would actually love to use.

Food

I ate a lot more French food than normal this week. I tried French tacos for the first time, and they are actually very different from Mexican tacos. They're like a panini-pressed burrito, with fries, some sort of protein, and cheesy sauce inside. They're so good, but I don't know why they're called tacos since they're really more similar to a Taco Bell crunch wrap. Another thing I got for the first time was a savory crêpe. These are such a yummy dinner! This one had goat cheese, egg, and zucchini, and it was delicious.

Paris adventures

I had a great time in Paris this week. It's gotten a lot more touristy since the program started, but the weather is great. On Wednesday, we went and watched the sunset at Sacre-Cœur (classic move). On Thursday, we went to Jardin des Plantes, where there were flowers blooming everywhere. It was so pretty! Pics:

After Jardin des Plantes, we went to the Great Mosque of Paris, which was really cool to see. I never made it to any of the mosques in Marrakech, unfortunately, since we booked excursions for every day of that trip. So, I was glad I got to see this one. The garden was stunning. Side note, I think about my Morocco trip all the time. I loved it so much! Here are pictures from the Great Mosque of Paris:

Next, we went climbing, since I'm pretty much a regular climber now. I am really improving my grip strength! Then, we headed up to Adidas Arena, where we watched the Paris Basketball vs. Alba Berlin EuroLeague basketball game. This was a super fun time. The energy was really high, and the stadium was completely packed. Paris won, which was great. I got a jersey, and the player on my jersey is TJ Shorts II, who was definitely the MVP. The game was just like any basketball game you would watch in the States - besides it being in French, there were hardly any differences at all!

At our seats, they gave us these signs that make a loud clapping noise if you fold them up and hit them:

On Friday, I went to the Tuileries and finished my book, since it was a really nice day. Then, I met my friends at Galeries Lafayette. This is a luxury mall, but on the terrace, there is a wonderful view of Paris.

After that, we went and got dinner at an amazing pasta place. I didn't get a picture of my food, but trust me, it was delicious. In France, you can ask for bread at any restaurant, and they have to bring it to you for free. Here though, they took it to the next level and every time we finished our bread, they refilled our basket! Bottomless bread is where it's at. After that, we got ice cream at this really good ice cream place that I mentioned a blog or two ago. You can choose as many flavors as you want regardless of what size you get. This time, I got apricot, strawberry, and almond. The whipped cream on top was complimentary:

Then, we sat by the Seine, which is a very popular thing to do in the evening. It was a very lovely day!

Now, I'm on break, and my family just arrived this morning to visit me. I'm looking forward to taking advantage of my time off to discover more cool parts of Europe. Stay tuned!

À bientôt,

Victoria Vizza

Electrical Engineering

IPE: FAME at ENSEA in Cergy-Pontoise, France