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This week was pretty boring. I've been staying in to do homework because I have a lot of stuff due next week all at once. And then the next week is midterms. But after that I'm going to ROME! I bought my tickets online on Wednesday. I'll be flying out on Friday the 3rd and leaving Monday morning, hopefully getting back in time for class. I'll really be traveling light with only my backpack and cameras, but I think the experience will be refreshing. My five years of Latin in high school demand that seeing the ancient city be my first priority, but I'll definitely go to the Vatican too. It's nice having a mom who's an italophile, because I'll never be short of suggestions.

Yesterday there was supposed to be a general strike in Paris organized by the major unions to protest governmental handling of the economic crisis, even though both M. Bondurand and the Chamayous thought that the government has already done everything they can. Trains and buses were supposed to be shut down, offices were to be closed, the Sorbonne was going to cancel classes, and protestors were going to flood the streets, with me in the thick of them capturing every moment.

Nothing happened.

Anticipating the inconvenience, most Parisians merely drove to work, leaving the demand for public transportation almost nil. The metro lines were rerouted to use Gare du Nord instead of Châtelet-les-Halles as their central hub, and that step appeared to solve everything. Trains ran normally, people still went to work.

And there were no protests. At least none that I could find.

But walking through the noticeably empty metro yesterday I took these pictures with a two second exposure. I think I may have discovered something. I'll definitely take more of these.

The NC program is going to Normandy and Mont St-Michel this weekend. We'll be leaving at 8 tomorrow to go to Caen for the day, and then spend the night in St-Malo. I'm looking forward to it.

One last thing. Found this on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2GG0dHzeck