"Enchanted? He-he ha-ha! Who said anything about the castle being enchanted?" -Cogsworth, Beauty and the Beast

Okay, okay, I've been slacking off with the whole blog thing. I've been very busy! This past Saturday I went on a day trip with the Accent program to two chateaux outside Paris. ("Chateau" is French for "castle.") The first, Fontainebleau, was the Royal hunting lodge and home of French kings before Versailles was built by Louis XIV. It was also Napoleon's favorite palace. I liked it just fine, but it wasn't my favorite. The other chateau, Vaux-le-Vicomte, was unbelievably gorgeous. It was much smaller and more charming than Versailles, but still very luxurious, and the gardens were absolutely nuts - just amazing. Vaux-le-Vicomte is the former home of Nicolas Fouquet, Louis XIV's finance minister who was wrongfully imprisoned after being accused of embezzlement. The chateau is now owned by a French family of aristocrats, who alas have no sons of marriageable age. I was quite disappointed to find that out, as I would marry a deformed ogre just for the chance to live there. (They live on the property in a "smaller" building, since the main chateau is open to the public.)
The rest of my week has been filled up with schoolwork, internship applications, and the like. Silly me, I thought my semester here would be stress-free!
My Dad comes on Friday, and I am so excited to see him.
That's pretty much all that's going on right now. I will try to get my Rome pictures up soon.