Provence, halloween, and my birthday!

I'm sorry about not posting in forever, I just never seem to get around to it!

So lots of awesome things have happened since the last time I posted, I'll try to recount them in chronological order, as best I can!

Let's see, the weekend of October 24 was the start of Toussaint holiday for the French. They have so many holidays, it's ridiculous! I was kinda jealous, because everybody but the CUEF (where I go to school) was on vacation. So anyways, at least our program did get to take an excursion that weekend. We left early Saturday morning for Provence, and after a week of miserable rain and cold, I finally got some good weather! We went first to Aix en Provence, and it was so incredibly charming there! The buildings were all made from this gorgeous yellowy golden stone that comes from a nearby quarry, and the color contrasted perfectly with the beautiful blue sky. Listen to me, I'm going all poetic on you, just thinking about it!

We took a tour of Aix, and then went to Cezanne's studio (actually quite boring- they don't have any of his actual artwork on display) and then we had the afternoon and evening free. At first, we were sooooo tired, so we went back to the hotel with the intentions of taking a quick nap. But then when we got there, we discovered a tv, so we watched French game shows for an hour or so! They are so funny! It just cracked me up how each time a new player would come on the show, or each time somebody would win, they would "faire la bise" with everybody.

After resting a bit, we went out to get dinner. We walked all over town, looking for a place to eat, and in the meantime, got another view of the city at night. Aix is very much a college town, and you can tell! There were tons of bars and pubs, and tons of students dressed up in Halloween costumes! We could never decide if the french just don't understand the concept of Halloween (they were a week too early) or if they just really like dressing up. I still don't know the answer to that one :)

The next morning, we went off to Avignon. It was only about an hour drive away, and I spent the whole time looking out the window of the bus at the beautiful provençal countryside. I can definitely better understand all of the impressionist paintings I've seen of it now. It had this magical quality about it.

In Avignon, we only had about half a day, but we did a complete tour of the Papal Palace, and then walked around a bunch, picking up food to go from street vendors. The Palais des Papes was super cool. Most people don't know this, but back in the 14th century, the Pope no longer felt safe in Rome (civil war was going on there) so for a little over a hundred years, the whole Pope entourage picked up and moved to Avignon. Even after the Pope moved back to Rome, there were still 4 (I think) Anti Popes who ruled from Avignon.

It was really cool though, because it's the largest Gothic palace in the world, and I love Gothic architecture! It also had the benefit of being almost completely devoid of furniture. I know for some people, that might be boring, but for me, it was a better chance to check out the structure! (I know, go ahead and say it- I'm a nerd!)

After walking around and then getting lunch, we all got back on the bus to go to a wine tasting. We drove another half hour or so, and then got to one of the vineyards for Chateauneuf du Pape. We got a tour of the vineyards, of the caves where they store the wine as it is being made, and then got to taste the wine. We tried 3 different types: A white and a red of Chateauneuf du Pape, and a red Cotes du Rhone. The white one was my favorite, but I really enjoyed the whole event. I learned how to look at wines, smell them, taste them, guess how long they will be good for, and so many other things! It was really cool to see the whole process of the wine making too.

Okay, so the next week, my host family was out of town for the Toussaint week, so I was by myself for a few days. It was kind of nice though, because I was starting to get a little homesick, and one night I invited a few friends over for "America Night". We made pancakes, scrambled eggs, popcorn, and then ate ice cream while watching a movie. I'm still craving Chipotle though! We also decreed that we would only speak english. It was so nice to speak in a language that you don't have to think about!

The night before Halloween, my friend from my class, Carla, was hosting a Mexican Halloween party (she's from Mexico). It was so much fun! There were fajitas and guacamole and Salsa dancing. Almost everyone from my class was there, and then Carla had invited a ton of people too, so we all just ate and talked and danced- oh yeah, and there was a piñata!

The next week was my birthday week, and it rocked. It was probably one of the best birthdays I've had! Tuesday night, I went dancing like normal, and thoroughly enjoyed it, and then Wednesday night my host family made me a special dinner of raclette, and it was so good! I just love my family, they rock. They're super nice and thoughtful, and just lots of fun to be with. Thursday night I went out with friends to celebrate, and so I ended up having 3 nights of birthday awesomeness!

This past weekend was a weekend retreat with FEU. We went to this place called Camp des Cimes, it's near the Ecrins mountains, near the ski resorts of Alpe d'Huez and Les Deux Alpes (two of the biggest resorts in the area). We played a lot of games, sang praise songs, and had bible study together. I had so much fun, and I feel like my french improved so much. I also really got to know a lot of the people a lot better, and just had an all around good time.

Today is Armistice Day, yet another vacation day for the French! Luckily, I don't have school either, so I'm just having a nice slow day, and later on for lunch, I'm going with my host family to a Thanksgiving meal at another american family's house. It's about 2 weeks early, but I think they're doing it today because it's a day off. I'm super excited about sweet potatoes and turkey and hopefully pumpkin and pecan pies!

To those of you who made it to the end of the post- sorry it was so long! I'm going to try to post more often. Here are some pictures to entertain you :)

It's snowing in the mountains now! (this is the view from my bedroom window)


in the wine cellar....no I didn't drink all of that!


The provençal countryside-just gorgeous!


sur le pont d'Avignon, on y danse tout en rond!


The Palais des Papes- don't even ask how many pictures I took of the architecture!

Baby it's FREEZING outside!

So this little Texan is experiencing the shock of her life. I've never really lived through a real winter, and let me tell you: brrrrrrr! It is so dang cold here! I thought I was prepared for the cold, and I thought that I loved winter, but now I think I'm a cold wimp. It's only Autumn here, and I'm already wondering how on earth I'll stand it if it gets any colder! I've been told that it got cold abnormally fast, and will probably be warmer next week, but still, fall here is like winter in Texas!

So my mission tomorrow is to buy a new (very warm) jacket, some thicker sweaters (all I packed are long sleeved t-shirts), and some boots (my poor feet). I really want to go to a market here called St Bruno, but it's really best on the weekends, and my weekends are packed. This weekend I went on a super long hike on Saturday, and next weekend I'm going to Provence. It doesn't help that we have midterms coming up. We're supposed to be studying, but it's so hard to make myself study!

The hike Saturday was really awesome. I went with the CUEF (Centre Universitaire d'Etudes Francaises) and there were about 30 students, with 3 guides. We took a bus into the Vercors, and then started hiking! I had a blast. It was so cold though! I saw snow, well I should say I got snowed on- a lot! I also wore my brand new hiking boots, and today my ankles/heels hurt really bad.... at least the shoes are broken in now! I had planned on doing another hike today, but I just couldn't, because I'm so exhausted.

Instead, I went with a friend to her church. I've been wanting to try out the different churches before I decide on one to stay in, so I was pleased that she invited me to come. It was a "charismatique" church- that is to say it was very lively, people spoke in tongues, and all that sort of thing. It was my first time to experience a church like that, and it was very interesting. I did find the worship style very odd though, and ce n'était pas ma tasse de thé. (10 points to whoever translates correctly first!) I don't think I'll be going back, but I'm glad that I went and got that experience.

Pictures:
The village we went to was one of the sponsoring villages near grenoble for the olympics in '68

At the top, looking out over Grenoble

SNOW!!!!!

Me, Natalie, and Isabelle before the hike

Le Retour des Alpages

Salut tout le monde!

Sorry, it's been a long time since I last posted, but I've been super busy, which is good! I've really gotten into a good routine here, and I like it a lot! Just a quick note to everyone who reads this- I love getting comments. So if you want more, show some love and comment!

Okay, some cool things that have happened to me....

I found the swing dancing here, and I go every tuesday night! The DJ is kinda lame, he plays the same dang music every week, but I'm just so happy to be able to dance, that I don't really care :) The dances are at this place called the Shag Cafe, and it's on the far west side of Grenoble, so it takes like 30 minutes for me to get there by tram. And since the buses don't run at night, I have to ride my bike to the tram stop, and then take two different trams to get there! It's totally worth it though, and the dancers here are really nice. They don't seem to mind my bad french at all!

I also started going to a bible study here, and though I've started with the English one, I'm also going to try the french one. It's every monday night, and so far I really like it. There are even some french students who come to it, so they can work on their english skills. It's so nice sometimes to be able to speak in English, but I feel like I've been speaking too much English. I'm going to try something new, starting this week: I'm going to designate Wednesdays to be French only days, and I'm going to try very hard to avoid all things english on Wednesdays for the rest of the semester (including the internet!) I think this will be a good exercise for me, and help me to stop reverting to english when speaking french gets too hard.

Some more cool news: I got a little job! Starting this thursday, I'm going to be giving English lessons to a french boy who is in his last year of high school. They're going to pay too, which is nice!

As far as big activities, since last time I wrote, I've been to Chamonix and Annecy, and I also went paragliding! Chamonix was a charming town, quite kitschy, but still very enjoyable because there weren't too many tourists. Mont Blanc was awe-inspiring, even with all of the clouds! Thankfully it didn't rain on us that day, though it did threaten! We took the téléphérique up to Aiguille du Midi, and got some really great views, and then spent the rest of the day just wandering around Chamonix, and pausing to grab a coffee in a café. I do really want to go back to Chamonix for ski season though, that would be so cool to ski Mont Blanc!

Paragliding was a phenomenal experience, and just an absolute blast! I went with 5 other girls from my program, and we went into the Belledonne range, in tandem with instructors. They controlled the Parapentes, and we just got to sit in the air, enjoying the view! It was sooooo cool! I want to go again, but it's super expensive.... I'll just have to make friends with the people who own the company or something!

Saturday, we went to Annecy for the Retour des Alpages. It's the one day of the year when the people who live up in the Alps bring down their artisanal crafts and food and animals, and there is a huge parade! It was a lot of fun, even though it did rain, but that was only in the morning. When we arrived, we were supposed to have a guided tour of the city, but the guide must have cancelled on us because of the rain, so we went on a boat ride instead. The lake of Annecy is the 3rd largest lake in France, and one of the cleanest too- cool! After the boat ride, we walked around the city looking at the different stalls, and eating LOTS! I had this thing called tartiflette, it's a specialty of this region. It's made with potatoes, reblochon cheese (another specialty) and sausage all mushed together. It was divine! At 2:30, the parade started, and there were all these people dressed in traditional alpine clothes, and lots of animals too! The St. Bernards were especially cute, as were the geese!

Okay, some photos:
Chamonix-Mont Blanc


Me and Olivier, after paragliding


Up in the Sky!!!


Me, Katie, and Catherine had a picnic at Vizille one day!


On the Lac d'Annecy with Kaycee and Delaney

How not to get La Grippe A

So the title doesn't really mean anything other than that we've been inundated with info at school on staying healthy, and not getting the swine flu. (Grippe A) As you will read, I am perfectly well, and have 0 symptoms- so you can stop worrying now Papaw! Wow, it hasn't been that long since I last posted, but it feels like forever! I've been keeping pretty busy with everything here. I guess I'll just start from where I left off last time.

Last Friday, our API group took an excursion to the chateau Vizille. It's about 30 minutes from Grenoble, and played an important role in the French Revolution. Vizille was cool, smaller than I expected, but still big :) There was a museum all about the Revolution, which was very cool. I learned all about the assassin of Marat by Charlotte Corday. Apparently Marat was a big player in the Reign of Terror, and Corday was against him. She killed him, and three days later died by the guillotine. At the time, all of France hated her. It's funny though, because 50 years later, she began to be portrayed as the new Joan of Arc, a martyr for the French Revolution. I find it odd how history can change, and how someone who is hated in their life, can later be revered.

Then, last Saturday, I got a french bank account. It was super easy to do, but I didn't really understand everything the lady was telling me. I should get out of the habit of acting like I know what's going on when I really don't.... Anyways, I think at one point she tried to offer me mutual benefits, but I don't even know what those really are in English, so I just said no. My french credit card should be arriving soon! After that, I hiked up the Bastille with my friends Katie and Catherine. I was sad that it was cloudy, because apparently on clear days, you can see Mont Blanc. It was really cool though, and a great workout!

This week, I had classes, which have been going pretty good. History of Art was boring, but I think that was just because the prof wasn't talking much about actual works of art, he was introducing the subject of Impressionism by giving us a long history of the movement. Once we get to the Art itself, I think I'll enjoy it better. Literature was fantastic, we're going to be covering 20th century writers, and the teacher seemed really intelligent and passionate about the subject. Translation is going to kick my butt. The prof is really nice, but she moves so quickly! I think I'm going to learn a lot from her though. History is still good, this past week we covered the year 1789 (The Revolution). My language classes are challenging, but I really like the prof, and I love the fact that there's only 14 people in my class. So all in all, good.

Yesterday, I went camping with the group from FEU (the christian student organization). We went hiking in the Belledonne, and stayed in a little refuge in the mountains. There were even mattresses! (They were old, but comfortable) This morning, we continued hiking to a lake, where we had a great view of the Ecrens Mountains. It was so beautiful, but very very cold! Also, the clouds came in and spoiled the view after awhile. I really loved the whole experience. It's great, because FEU has introduced me to so many french kids my age, and they are all super nice. I get to practice my french a lot, though it is exhausting. Sometimes I just have to tune out the conversation, if it's too hard to follow :)

I think my english is getting worse, living here. I have trouble finding the right word a lot of times, and often what I want to say, I can only think of it in french! I suppose that's a good thing, until I get back! Anyways, some pictures to amuse you:
The Stairs to the Bastille (only some of them!)

duh.

Catherine, Me and Katie

Grenoble, seen from the Bastille

Vizille

Me and the mountains!

More pretty mountains, in the Belledonne

our little refuge

Some things never change

For one- the fact that I still get nervous before a test, and have this crazy driving desire to succeed. The test I'm speaking of is the one I took yesterday for my placement exam for school. I know it doesn't really matter, they're just trying to put us into proper levels so we can learn the most, but sometimes I just can't help the perfectionist in me. I'll find out later today how I did, so we'll see...

Moving on to other subjects, I LOVE IT HERE!!!!

Seriously. It's great. Everybody speaks french! (Imagine that!) Actually, the french part can be quite overwhelming, especially when they start speaking really fast, and slurring their words together. But it's all part of the experience!

After the API group arrived in Grenoble, we settled in with our families, and the next day, we got a tour of the city. The historic downtown is so nice. There are lots of cute patisseries and librairies (book stores) and cafés galore. Also, many of the streets are pedestrian only. They have a great public transport system here, which is proof that cities like Fort Worth could too! To get pretty much anywhere, I take a bus for 5 minutes or so, and then get on the tram. During the day, the trams come every 3-4 minutes, which is very nice.

After our tour of downtown, we checked out the University campus, which is very large and spread out. I'm used to a large campus, but not used to so much space in between buildings. It's kinda nice, but can also make it harder for me to recognize where I am, because there are fewer buildings to use as landmarks. The campus mostly looks like it was constructed during the 60's and 70's, but it has a friendly feel to it.

This past weekend, I went on a bike ride, and a very long hike. I enjoyed both so much, and was able to get some incredible views of the mountains. There are 3 ranges that surround Grenoble. My family lives at the base of the Chartreuse, looking toward the Belledone, and to the west are the Vercors. The mountains are so so so pretty, and I can even see the Belledone from my bedroom window!

Sunday night, Priscilla, my host sister, took me with her to this thing called feu. It's kind of like a Baptist Student Union, only for Evangelicals. There were probably 20 people there, and I got to meet a bunch of kids my own age. Everyone spoke so fast! I sort of understood some of it, but mostly not. I really enjoyed it though! It was also nice to connect with students my own age.

Anyways, today is the start of classes, which I am very excited for. I bought my cahiers and stylos, and am ready to start being fluent in french. Then, on Friday we'll take an excursion to Vizille, so I'll probably post again next week.

some pictures of Grenoble:
The Jardin de Ville

The Bastille, an old fortress situated in the Chartreuse

a pretty bridge looking back over the river Isère towards the centre-ville

Paris, Je t'aime

The title of this blog post is absolutely true, though I did hate that movie....

Today I arrived in Grenoble from Paris, and I love it! I really like my family, and everything! But since I'm behind in posting, I figured I'll do the Paris part today, and after a few days here in Grenoble, I'll post again.

So I arrived in Paris after possibly the worst flight of my life. Seriously. Note to self: don't fly at 6 am ever again! I got up at 3 to get ready, and caught a taxi and was at the airport by 4. When I arrived in Paris (Charles de Gaulle), customs was a complete joke. I don't think the guy hardly looked at my passport, let alone my visa! There was no landing card, and for all they know, I could be staying here indefinitely, bumming off of locals! It's funny, because in London, the lady was like: "Where are you going? What are you doing? You've been her before? What were you doing then?" and the list goes on.... Mais pas en France!

I met up with our study abroad group, and we took shuttles to the hotel. Other note: avoid driving in Paris whenever possible. They are CRAZY drivers! I was so sure we would hit somebody, and it's like they don't get the concept of lanes. They just whiz quickly in and out however they please. They even go into oncoming traffic on the wrong side of the road! Also, the fact that the spedometer is in km/h doesn't help you to calm down. I'm pretty sure going 130 in a 90 is way too fast!

Moving on, We did so much in Paris, so I'll just give some highlights. The first night at dinner, I had a typical french meal: Six escargots for l'entrée, boeuf bourgignon for the main course, and creme brulée for dessert. I was quite nervous about the snails, but I figure you have to try them at least once, so why not your first meal?! They were actually quite good. Kaycee, another girl in the program, says that it's all about the sauce. I have to agree with her.

We went to Versailles, which was really just too lavish for me. Almost disgusting how incredibly ornate everything was. The French spare nothing on decorating the royal palaces. I mean really, the Louvre wasn't enough for Louis XIV? (A side note- as an apology for spending all the taxpayers' money on Versailles, the sun king built the Parisians a bridge- with more of their money!)

We went to the Musée d'Orsay, le Louvre, Sainte Chappelle, Notre Dame, and le tour Eiffel. I enjoyed all, especially the Orsay. They have some excellent impressionist works. I was bummed that it was so very packed with tourists though. At the Louvre, we had a guide, and I kind of felt jipped, because we only saw 6 pieces in an hour and a half! I really liked winged victory though.

After the Louvre, I talked a group into going to Angelina's with me, and we had the best hot chocolate in the world! It completely deserves that title, I must say.

I think I have climbed well over 1000 stairs these past few days, and let me tell you- it is exhausting! I feel like with all of the walking around we did (One day another girl and I walked from Montmartre all the way back to the other side of the river where our hotel was), I will be in such good shape!

Anyways, I'm going to hang out with my family, and I'll post more later.

Some pictures:
Eiffel tower:

des escargots:

Awesome street performers near Sacré Coeur. They were singing, and playing with a soccer ball.

Me at Point Zero. I will be returning to Paris!

Angelina's chocolat chaud.

Over Hill, Over Dale

This was written Saturday, 29 August.

On Friday, it was raining when I got up, but only lightly. I considered putting off my planned trip to Haddon Hall, but decided to wait until later in the day to decide.

I went into town, browsed a few shops, and got directions to Haddon via bus, just in case the rain wouldn't let up. The hall doesn't open till noon each day, so at about 10:30, when the rain had stopped, I started my walk. On the guide-map-brochure-thing, it said this walk could get “slightly muddy in areas, after the rains.” More like: disgustingly muddy, be very careful not to fall flat on your face, it's so slippery! But once I passed through the muddy lane and got up onto a grassy hill, I was stunned. There was a great view of the medieval fortress surrounded by trees, and the sun was hitting the grass in such a way as to intensify the greenness of it. Overall, it was quite an enjoyable walk.

I went through the hall, and toured the grounds as well. Haddon seemed a much more liveable place than Chatsworth, and it was really neat how preserved it was, because it's belonged to the Manners family since the 16th century, and before that, it had only belonged to one other family, the Vernons. The oldest parts of the property date back to the 11th century, but most of the structure is from the Tudor period. The Manners family chose not to live there (they had another castle they lived in called Belvoir) until the early 1900's. Now they've started some restoration work on it, and even used it in some movies (Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, and The Other Boleyn Girl). It was only on my walk back to Bakewell that the clouds came through again on their threats, and it started to rain.

I picked up some fish and chips for dinner, and let me tell you-- WOW! That was my first time to have fish and chips, and they were incredibly delicious! I got them with traditional salt and vinegar, and I didn't even need ketchup, they were so tasty! Then I came back to my room at the B&B, to do a bit of studying of French grammar. It's finally hit me that I'm going to be living someplace where they don't speak English (at least not as a first language), and I really don't want to freeze up and not know how to say anything! So I'm doing a review to help me freshen up on my french. We'll see how effective it is...

This morning, I walked into Bakewell to do a proper tour of the town. There was a farmer's market and a craft market, so I checked both of them out. I enjoyed looking, but didn't end up buying anything. Mom, you would have loved it though- all those locally grown products! If I actually lived here, I would do all of my grocery shopping there. I picked up a Bakewell pudding from one of the local shops. It's a local specialty, created by mistake over a hundred years ago! Apparently, the cook at the Rutland Arms misunderstood the directions she was given about how to make a certain pie, and instead, came up with this. The pudding is a pastry with a custard-like filling, and very good!

I then went to visit the Old House Museum, which was interesting. I learned that the reason Barber Shop poles are red and white striped is because barbers used to also be surgeons, and they would hang their cloths from covering bloody wounds out to dry on the post. The cloth would then get twisted around the pole, in red and white stripes. Grotesque, eh?

Then I decided I wanted to go for a walk, so I thought I would try the only one in the walking brochure that I hadn't done yet. This one directs you to Ashford-in-the-Water, a small town just west of here. I probably got about half way there, before I had to give up. The directions were quite vague. From the map, it seemed like I had gone in the proper direction, but I could never find the road that I was supposed to cross. Eventually, I turned back, and came back to take a nap before dinner.

Tomorrow is my flight to Paris. I can't wait!!! I've really enjoyed traveling on my own, but it'll be nice to meet the other people in my program, and I really can't wait to meet my family! I'll probably end up scheduling this one to post in a day or two, as I won't be able to get internet access again till I reach Grenoble on September 3. Much love!

For your enjoyment:
being silly, Haddon Hall, River Wye and the Bakewell Bridge, fields I walked across