I've completed about two weeks of class now. It's harder than I was expecting. My one semester of French has not helped that much, and most people in my class are ahead of me even though it's the lowest level. Immersion is difficult because I'll ask what a word means and the teacher can only describe it using other French words that I also do not know. Even though it's hard, I have been learning. It's intimidating to try and talk to people, even the cashiers at the store, but I'm getting better at it.
Sometimes I feel like I should be studying more, but I also want to go out and experience France. There is so much to do here, and hopefully I'll be able to come back some day, but you never know.
My favorite thing so far has been traveling. When I flew into Paris, I got to spend a few days hanging around in the city and going sightseeing. I did most of the touristy stuff and took lots of pictures. Most of the tourist sights are pretty close together, which I did not know. I got to see the Notre Dame, the outside of the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, the catacombs, the Arc de Triomphe, and the Champs-Elysee. All of the old architecture is gorgeous.
Rome was wonderful as well. It was more about the food than the sights. Italian gelato really is pretty life changing. So is the pasta. The pizza is decent but not quite as amazing. I did go see some things. The Vatican Museums were nice, but the wait, the crowds, and the annoying masses of people selling skip the line tickets almost made it not worthwhile. I tried to see the Trevi Fountain, but it was under construction and looks like it will be for a while. My absolute favorite part was the Coliseum. The hostel I stayed in was only about a mile away, so I walked there the first night. It's oddly peaceful for a place that was centered around fighting and death. The engineering involved is incredible. It probably took forever to build and tons of planning. It's pretty amazing what the ancient Romans could achieve with so little technology available to them.