Paris/Vacances!

Wow, been a bit slow in getting this blog up... but here it finally is!
We'll start with my trip to Paris.
A few weeks ago I made a trip to Paris for 4 days with the intention to arrange my whole school situation for the upcoming semester and it turned out to be a very successful trip. I decided to enroll myself in school independently as opposed to going through Abroadco (as I did in Aix) because 12 thousand is ridiculously expensive to pay for a semester abroad. I arrived on Thursday and went directly to an interview with a family for whom I could potentially be an Au pair. It went well, but as they were a family of 6 with a baby due in November, I decided that would be a bit too much as my focus will be on my studies.
Friday I went to my future university - l'Institut Catholique de Paris, which has a similar language program to that of Aix, and I enrolled myself paying but a small fraction of the price the organization was asking. With the rest of my Friday, I explored the cemetery (Père-Lachaise) where Chopin, Edith Piaf, and Oscar Wilde, amongst other well knowns are buried, and had a tasty sushi feast with Hervé's brother Ludo.
Saturday was a success as well. I met with a second potential family to Au pair for who live in Le Vésinet, a ville just outside of Paris which is very green and beautiful, and commited to being an Au pair for them for my time in Paris. They seem like a really nice family. They have a little boy who is 5 and a girl who is almost 13. They attend international schools, and the girl already speaks good English. A plus for me is that they have a piano! yeahhh! Saturday evening I met up with a friend I hadn't seen in 2 years, since I lived in L.A. and joined him at the house of his friends' for a soirée poker. I'll be traveling with him and his friends to Warsaw in October, and will visit Auschwitz which should be interesting. I've been doing my research on it, and to me it is incomprehensible how the lives of over 1,1 million people can be terminated in but a matter of 5 years.
Ok, so old news said... now on to my vacation time with the family c:
Right now we are staying in a town called Ventabren, just outside of Aix-en-provence. Yesterday we went to Arles for the day where we saw a reenactment of gladiator fights and strolled around the city. We saw a movie yesterday evening - Avatar in 3d... in French... - but I'm proud to announce that I understood perfectly the dialogue! haha It was0 actually the first time I've ever been to the theater in France.
Monday we go to Cannes where we'll spend time at the beach and on their boat, and I'll get to see one of my close friends - Morgan - who will be in St. Tropez!
I can't believe how quickly my time is passing here... I wish it could pass seemingly slower. In just a bit more than 1 month I'll be back to visit in California for 2 weeks, then back to Paris. I'll work/study until the end of December... then grâce à mes parents, I'll be off to Hanoi, Vietnam and Bangkok, Thailand for the first 2 weeks of January! That should be a different experience for sure.
Ok, I think that about does it for my updates...
How's everyone's summer going?
Bisous, vous me manquez tous...
See you in a month!