A long overdue update

Hello!
Sorry for not keeping up with my blog, it's been busy here.
So I'm going to describe what I've been doing and try not to leave anything out!
We went up to the Eiffel Tower just as the sun was setting and it was absolutely beautiful. You can see all of Paris from up there and for the first time it hit me that I was in Paris. I want to go up again before I leave but the mass amounts of people and lines is a bit off putting. At the very part all the walls are covered with signatures from people who had been there. I want to go back and sign my name! We were also up there when the sun set and the lights came on. The lights twinkle blue every hour on the hour and it was amazing being up there when that happened.
We took a weekend trip with the group to the Loire Valley where we went wine tasting and checked out a bunch of chateaux. We visited Chateau Chambord and went for a nice bike ride around the grounds. This castle was built by King Francis I in 1515 to rival other European monarchs. The inside was pretty bare except for a brilliant double spiral staircase in the middle of the castle that links all 3 floors. My favorite was Chateau Chenonceau which was also built by King Francois I for his mistress Anne De Bretagne, who apparently was extremely beautiful. She was his mistress for 20 years until he died, and then the Queen kicked Anne out of the castle and made it her own. We also visited Leonardo Da Vinci's old house and got to see where he worked on all of his fascinating inventions. We walked around the gardens and got to play on some of the machines he built. He was definitely a genius.
My classes here are going really well, they are interesting but really long. I have 3 hours of French language classes 3 days a week, and 3 4 hour classes once a week taught in English. In my Contemporary Art class we learn about the history of different styles of art for the first 3 hours and then the last hour we go to different galleries or Museums. So far we went to a street of art galleries and the Musee D'Orsay. I have 2 political science classes taught by an eccentric English woman. One is about politics and economy of France and the other is about the European Union. They are both interesting but so hard so sit through because the teacher always goes off topic. A discussion about the EU single market somehow turned into a discussion about where to buy good English tea and why tea time is so important (I think I started this discussion). There are only 5 people in the EU class, all girls, so things quickly get off topic.
Last weekend 7 friends and I went to London for my 21st birthday. We had so much fun! London is amazing but also so expensive. We went shopping a Top Shop and Primark, two really cool stores. We went out to dinner late and didn't realize that there's some sort of law where all bars and clubs (except for a few with permits) must close before midnight. We were walking around and I ended up literally bumping into my dads second cousin Dion (who I call my uncle just to be easier). He was with some people he had been working on a movie with and they got us into a Members only club and gave us their table and got us drinks. It was a really fun and serendipitous and we got to hear all about the movie they worked on called "Nine" which will be out in December. I'm definitely going to go see it now.
The next day we were big tourists and went on a double decker bus tour of the city. We got to see where Jimi Hendrix once lived, where the Beatles performed, where Princess Diana had her Bachelorette party, and a lot more which I cant remember. We went to Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, and the London Eye and walked on the bank of the Thames River. Although London is super expensive, its such a cool city that it makes up for it.
This last week my friends and I went to the France vs Austria World Cup Qualifier. Of course, France won, and it was so much fun to experience that. The stadium was a blur of "bleu, blanc et rouge" and I learned some french chants as well as insults to yell. My friends and I bought some beer so we could be true football fans but then were disappointed to learn (halfway through drinking them) they they were alcohol free. Either the stadium cant sell alcohol or french football fans are all recovering alcoholics...
On Friday I went to a Crookers concert with my friends from USD who go to the American business school here. Crookers are two DJs who just mix songs and beats together to create awesome and nonstop dance parties. It was at a cave of a club near Montmartre and everyone was packed like a bunch of sardines. No one cared about that, though, and my friend and I pushed our way to the front of the crowd and were so close to the DJs. They played for 4 hours and we stayed at the club until the metro opened (at 6). It was a long night but a really fun concert!
Next week is our fall break and my friend Brianna and I are going to Barcelona for 4 days. Were then coming back to Paris and leaving Friday for Dublin for Halloween weekend! Its going to be an experience to say the least.
I will make sure to blog when I get back. Also, I'm still trying to set up my photos!
Miss you all and thanks for reading, xoxooxx