For the sake of time...

So due to lack of time and internet, I've missed several days of updates. And due to laziness, I didn't even journal on those days either, so I have nothing to go from other than my itinerary for what I did those days.

I could make myself sit here and think and write out details, but its almost 11 here and I am exhausted and just can't bring myself to do it.

Thus, condensed version. My last post detailed Chenonceau, which we saw on Wednesday. Thursday brought a guided tour of the Chateau d'Azay-le-Rideau.



This was one of the smaller chateaux that we visited (yes, small is definitely relative). I enjoyed this castle though simply because it was smaller. And I think that a smaller size brings a certain simplicity, and I do love simplicity.

After Azay-le-Rideau (we ate lunch at a pizzeria and I had this AMAZING desert called a quentin...chocolate and tiramisu ice cream. YUM), we headed to see the gardens at the Chateau de Villandry. The gardens are truly amazing.



We had a good amount of time to just wander and appreciate the amazing weather.

There was a movie being filmed in one of the gardens, La Vie Extrordinaire de Francois Rabelais (according to the cute extra we asked), and we stood and watchd filming for about 30 minutes. There was the cutest little boy who, best we could figure, was playing a young prince who is playing tag in the garden with some of the court, and then he falls and is comforted by Rabelais.



The gardens truly were astounding, I cannot imagine the effort required to maintain them.




After Villandry, we stopped and saw Leonardo da Vinci's house.



He was invited to France by Francois the 1st, and so we saw the house where he lived and then died. SO COOL. The gardens are full of models of his inventions (that are all interative and kid friendly...so naturally us immature college students monopolized them).

Friday brought one more chateau, Fontainbleu, which was absolutely MASSIVE. We spent almost tour hours with an audio guide and didn't even see an entire wing. It was not my favorite place by any means. As Madame Barbour said, no wonder there was a revolution.

We also met our art history professor, Monsieur Tomarchio, who was with us the rest of the weekend to kind of begin our art history course.

After the chateau, we stopped for about an hour in Barbizon,which is a little town where the first impressionist painters ventured to discover the light and beauty of the nearby forest. We visited the house in which many of them stayed together, which is now a museum. They drew and painted all over the walls, and it was so cool to see that.





We settled into a nice, 3 star hotel for the night. Although I guess they found themselves cool enough to charge 5 euro an hour for internet. Ridiculous.

Saturday brought more art history; we learned about an artist named Utrillo, who I'd never heard of, but I really like his paintings.

Saturday afternoon was my absolute favorite. We visited the house and gardens of Claude Monet. I think I took about 200 pictures. The weather was perfect and the gardens were beautiful.



Sunday was more art history museums and then the journey here to Paris. After dinner at a couscous restaurant, our group walked around and went to see the Notre Dame. Absolutely beautiful by night. We walked along the Seine for a little while, and then headed back to the hotel for a good night's sleep.

Today was so fun. My friend Jessica is studying in Paris, and so we planned to meet for lunch. I got up early and went running with Kara and the boys. After breakfast, Lauren and I headed out to see sights in the 5th and 6th arrondisements. Madame Barbour gave us a long listed, organized by arrondisements, of all the things we need to see. Lauren and I saw several churches and then met Jessica for lunch.

After lunch, Lauren and I finished up the 5th and 6th arrondisements by visiting the Pantheon, passing by the Sorbonne, and walking through the Jardins de Luxembourg. We then headed to see the sights in the 8th, 9th, and 10th, being Champs Elysees, l'Arc de Triomphe, Place de la Concorde (with the huge egyptian obelisk), L'Eglise de Marie Magdeleine, and L'Opera (yes, I was singing Phantom the entire time). Lauren and I didn't go in, but we're hoping to do so later in the week.

After dinner, the group headed to the Comedie Francaise to see a play. We had hoped to see a play by Moliere, but it was showing tomorrow. So, we saw Figaro Divorce. I actually left at intermission with half the group. The first act was almost two hours, and two acts remained. Madame told us before the play even began that we could leave early if we wanted to. And while I really wish I could have stayed, my cough has sadly become worse and worse, so I'd spend the entire first act coughing anyway. And I'm exhausted. And the play was honestly a bit boring. So, as much as I would normally have wanted to stay, the fates were working against me. The rest of the group isn't even back yet, and its 11:30 now. I would not have lasted the entire time without falling asleep.

Speaking of sleep, its calling. Tomorrow will bring so much more to see. We're headed to the Musee d'Orsay. Hopefully I'll be better about giving updates this week, I'll definitely have a lot to talk about. And I don't want to forget one single minute of my time here.

Paris

I just got to Paris today, and got internet for the first time in a few days. I'm super behind on my blogging (does that make me a nerd??? yes). I hope to change that soon; I've done and seen so many things in the past week that are definitely noteworthy, so I want to make sure I share them/record them for my own sake.

I am so excited to be in Paris, I can't tell you how long I've waited to come here. It's going to be an amazing week. Museums, monuments, shopping....BAHHHH.

Now, time for a nap.

A nap in Paris. Exponentially cooler than a nap anywhere else.

Oh, just castles...

After another rushed morning/breakfast, we headed for Blois to see a chateau that was built essentially by 3 different kings and a Duke. The castle is made, literally, of 4 different parts, all in a different style. The drive to Blois was BEAUTIFUL. We drove along the Loire River, and passed several quaint towns and grand chateaux. For example, we passed the town where Leonardo da Vinci died.

But back to the chateau de Blois.

The oldest part of the castle dates to the 13th century, and is early gothic style. The second oldest part is gothic with a hint of renaissance.

The third part of the chateau is full blown French renaissance. I love it.

The final part of the chateau was built by a Duke who's brother was King. He got on his brother's nerves, so he was given this chateau so that he'd be out of the way and less annoying. I find that hilarious. The final part is in the classic style, much more simple than renaissance.

But, imagine all those kinds of styles forming one chateau. You can kind of see that in the picture above.

The inside of the chateau was interesting; all the walls and ceilings are painted. Too much color for me though.

We ate lunch at a really delicious, really well priced restaurant (3 courses for 14.00 euro, thank you Madame/Wake Forest/Mom and Dad). I made the mistake of getting something spicy, and because I was already feeling kind of tired and blah, a stomache hit me full swing as we headed to Chenonceau.

Can I just say I am unbelievably bummed that my first real sick day since being in France fell on the day we went to Chenonceau. I've seen pictures of this place since middle school, and I was so excited to see it. Needless to say, I did not enjoy it as much as I could have/should have. Major frowny face.

Regardless, I am still glad I got the opportunity to go. Chenonceau is built across a river. My pictures aren't the greatest, so google it if it peaks your interest.

Several queens and mistresses lived at this chateau, although it was originally built by a no name family who used all their money to build it and thus had to sell it to erase their debt. The gardens were beautiful, though sadly I didn't take any pictures of them because I was just feeling too gross at that point to do anything but sit on a bench.

There was also a labrynth (like in the TriWizard Tournament!!!) and that was cool.

We then saw donkeys in honor of Kara. Because she sounds like one when she laughs. Its precious. We met an older American couple and talked with them for a bit. They live in California and are definitely rolling in it. They've only been married for 3 years, but the gentleman had three grandchildren who went to Chapel Hill. The woman worked under the Reagan administration and now manages some 9,000 grants a year for different things in California. Active!

I luckily felt much better by the time dinner rolled around, and enjoyed tarte fine avec poivrons et mozarella (a tarte with peppers and cheese), le lapin (rabbit), and chocolate mousse (which actually was eaten mainly by the others at my table).

Since then, its been a nice, relaxing evening at the hotel, which is exactly what I needed.

And now its time for bed.

Bonne nuit!!!

Tours

After opting to sleep in a bit instead of run (I know, a little lazy, but I think I am getting sick, so sleep is a bit more necessary), I ended up sleeping in a lot and got ready and ate breakfast in the span of about 30 minutes. Which is pretty good, considering that included shower and a sit down breakfast with a really sweet waitress who gave my table enough coffee to satisfy an small army.

We met up with a tour guide outside the hotel. The first twenty minutes of the tour was on a bus, but we were then deposited by the cathedral and spent the rest of the morning walking around. I really like Tours (meaning the town...haha). It has a lot of history but also a lot of modern life too. There were many people out and about, both young and old and in between. We visited the cathedral, saw a stuffed elephant named Fritz that was killed in Tours (sad!) at the beginning of the 19th century, and saw lots of medieval houses and monuments and things of that nature. As I write this, its all kind of running together in my head. I was totally involved and awake during the tour this morning, but no so much now.

After the tour, we walked through the local market and then went our seperate ways for lunch. A few of us found an Italian place and ate some yummy pizza. The proprietor was Italian, but spoke French perfectly. He met his wife in Tours, but she is American, originally from New Jersey. She was studying in Tours when they met. Thus, they both speak Italian, French, and English. Pretty neat.

After lunch, Wright, Peter, MaryKate, Kara, and I walked around for bit and then headed to a park. The park was beautiful, green with many vibrantly colored flowers.

I tried to be a bit artistic and take some pictures of the flowers, messing with the settings on my camera. Some of the pictures turned out ok!

After about an hour in the park, we all headed back to the hotel, where I sit writing this, trying to fight off the desire to just crawl into bed and nap.

Alas, I believe that desire is too strong for me to resist. We've got dinner around 8, and the group wants to try out a night club called Excalibur. Tours is the premiere town for students, apparently. We shall see.

Extravagance

21 Septembre

Sunday was a pretty hum-drum day.

Actually, no it wasn't. I totally spaced. Wowzers. Long Monday.

Sunday was NOT hum-drum. This past weekend was le weekend de patrimoine, and essentially that means that lots of nifty old houses and palaces and things like that are open and free to the public. So, Carleigh and I revisited the Musee de Beaux Arts, which houses lots of paintings and sculptures. After that, we climbed le Tour de Phillipe le Bon (tour= tower).

316 stairs. All spiraling up, up, up, until finally, a breath taking view of Dijon. The city and its suburbs spread for miles, and the surrounding hills are beautifully green.

We also stopped into to see the Notre Dame de Dijon, which was small but beautiful. There are frescoes on the walls attributed to Rogier van der Weyden. He's a pretty big deal.

Today commenced with an early morning. Well, not too early. We met at the bus at 9. Peter and Wright were noticeably absent, as they had missed their train from Munich and another en route back to France (first one, their fault; second one, because one of their trains had technical difficulties). Thus, they were taking more trains to meet us in Tours.

Most of our day was just driving. We ate a cafeteria for lunch, which for not very good food was way expensive. Madame handed out 50 euros per three people, and my group of three used 49.60. And none of us even ordered anything that expensive, or so we thought; it was ridiculous.

The afternoon brought countryside and the chateaux de Chambord.

Massive.

Here's a picture:

Francois 1er built this place just because he, at the ripe age of 20, liked to hunt in the nearby woods. And also because he wanted to leave an artistic legacy. And since he was king, he could do that kind of thing. Interestingly, he didn't even live to see it finished. In fact, his son didn't even live to see the castle finished. Crazy. Think how much time and money went in to building this place. And for what? The one who wanted it never even saw it realized. I mean, its definitely neat to visit. I really enjoyed walking around, discovering all the rooms and the staircases, like the double staircase designed by Leonardo da Vinci.

You can't tell from the picture, but it works kind of like a DNA strand...there are two spiraling staircases that never meet wrapped around one center. Nifty.

You could also walk out on the top of the castle and see for miles. It really was beautiful.

(ok, so I've always known you could put pictures in your blog, I've just been too lazy to do it...now, as I've discovered how fun it is, be prepared to see lots more.)

After Chambord, we continued to Tours where Peter and Wright finally joined us. We had dinner at a restuarant near the train station, which is beautiful. The menu at the restaurant had english translations of all the dishes...but very, very hilarious translations.

For example:

Saveur liberique: Tortillas, verrine de pois chiche, salade en coque de brique au poulet

translation: swung, glass cup of chickpea, salad in hull of brick to the marinaded chicken white cheese.

There were also several that said things like, "salad crazy about duck breast" or "marbled by salmon on its bed." Not even kidding.

Dinner ended around 10:30, and Lauren and I came right back to the hotel. We're exhausted and are plannig to go to bed pretty soon. Its amazing how traveling wears you out, even if you really didn't do much other than walk around a giant castle.

French bugs...

...must never have tasted Americans before. Because they sure do like us.

I went to the park yesterday with Jenn, and now on my right arm I've got about 7 bug bites all patched together like the little booger climbed into my sleeve and just went to town on my arm or something.

I've also got two giant bites on my leg, but they're older and starting to go away.

I'm not the only one who bugs like either, Peter's got about 4 bites on his hand all in a row and two on his ear. YUCK. I don't think any of us have escaped completely bug-bite-less.

Today was a good day. I spent the night at Jenn's last night since my family was in the country, and she, MaryKate, and I watched Breakfast at Tiffany's and Father of the Bride. We then slept in until 11. Glorious.

I came back to my house and got ready, did some laundry, and lounged around until I finally found the energy to hit the park. I took my French Bible and my new book with me. I found a bench in the shade and settled in for a few hours. Reading the Bible was interesting, although a little difficult. I'm excited to read more. My novel, called Aupres de Moi Toujours ("Next to Me Always"), might be a little hard for me, but I'm up for the challenge. It's written by Kazuo Ishiguro, who was born in Nagasaki in 1954, but moved to England when he was young. So, the novel is translated into French, not written by a French author. I'm only about 30 pages in, but its interesting so far. The story focuses on three students at a strange boarding school somewhere in England. I don't really understand why the boarding school is strange, and I'm starting to think this book is science fiction-ish. I'm getting a Brave New World kind of vibe. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out.

Jenn, Carleigh, and I then met at Monoprix to buy ingredients for a pasta dinner chez moi (at my house). We bought tomatoes, green peppers, and mushrooms to go with heart shaped pasta! We bought Dinosaurus Cookies for desert. Dinosaurus cookies are amazing. They're kind of like chocolate covered animal crackers, i guess...but 10 times more delicious.

Dinner proved to be quite an adventure. There are only two eyes on the stove top, and its one of those stoves with the comepletely flat surfaces. Well, all three of us are apparently idiots because it took us over an hour to figure out how the stove top worked. For some reason, the burners kept turning themselves off. We did absolutely everything we could. Finally, we tried doing just one pot at a time. We put the pasta in a microwaveable bowl and tried the sauce on the stove. Still didn't work.

But then.

I realized.

We'd been reading the diagram wrong and turning on the wrong eye. These new fancy stove tops have sensors that can tell when a pot is sitting on the eye or not. If there's no pot, it turns itself off. Well, I guess just both pots were just big enough that they couldn't fit on the stove at the same time, so it didn't work then. And then when we tried one pot a time, we stupidly kept messing with the wrong eye.

We all about peed our pants laughing when we figured it out. And then felt really dumb. But, at least we finally got to eat a delicious meal. I'm stuffed.

I'm finishing up laundry, planning to read some more, and then heading to bed. I want to make sure I'm ready for our two week trip, which I know will be exhausting. I am so excited though. Castles, countryside, Paris...how perfect!

But after that, a bit more reality sets in. Real class begins. No more one class a day with trips every weekend. It'll just be multiple classes a day with a potential trip every weekend. A potential trip no longer paid for by Wake Forest. But that's why I worked so hard this summer, to have the money to travel.

My list:
Italy (I'm thinking Florence or Venice...)
Spain (I'm thinking Barcelona...)
Dublin
Prague
Vienna

I need to start planning, and here's hoping I make it to all of them.

prodigal

After a somewhat crazy week, I find myself glad its Friday, which is the first time I've had that feeling since being in France. Honestly, its the first real Friday I've had; every other weekend has been a trip to somewhere else outside Dijon. And after this week, I need some relaxation time.

After getting back from Normandy on Tuesday night, a super hard test and a ton of homework kept me from catching up on sleep.

Not to mention my birthday on Wednesday, which meant salsa dancing til late, and a cocktail party with all the Wake students and their host families last night followed by my first experience at a boite de nuit (literally translated, means "box of night"...its essentially a dance club).

Today we didn't have class, so I slept in until 11. It was glorious. I met MaryKate, Kara, Jenn, and Carleigh for lunch. Wright and Peter are in Munich for Oktoberfest, Miles is in London, and Lauren went to Geneva. I almost went to Geneva, but I could not be more glad that I chose to stay in Dijon this weekend. My host family invited me to the country again, which would have been nice, but Monday morning I leave for a two week trip through the Loire Valley and Paris. I've got clothes to wash, packing to do, and things to study, so I decided to stay here in Dijon.

I went to FNAC this afternoon, kind of like a BestBuy with a book section, and bought a French Bible and a random French novel. I think its going to be kind of like a beach read, but thats what I wanted because it will be fairly simple and entertaining to read. Kara, Jenn, and MaryKate each bought books too, so we're going to read and rotate.

After FNAC, Jenn and I went and hung out in the park, and then I headed back here to the house to chill and do some laundry. Tonight Jenn is having all the girls over for a movie night/slumber party at her house. She's got microwave popcorn. YUM. I am constantly amazed and thrilled that our group has bonded as well as we have. It's great.

This week has been a weird week for me. Exhaustion, birthday away from home, and disappointment mixed with dancing, new friends, and quality time with my host family. I'm living in this awkward place between being so happy and having an amazing time, and yet feeling frustration and disappointment and a bit of homesickness.

This weekend will give me some quality alone time, and I think that's exactly what I need. I need some time to recenter, refocus, clarify, comprehend, drink it all in...I've been living at the speed of lightening since getting here, but this weekend, I think, I can just live. I'm planning to spend most of Saturday lounging at the park, reading in the sunshine, and people watching all the while.

So here's to wonderfully green French parks, a new Bible in a new language with new lessons, and the sun and the wind on my face.

20

It's a new year.

I'm no longer a teenager.

I honestly don't feel old enough to say I'm 20. Seriously.

My host mom had roses and a special dinner for me tonight. I didn't tell her it was my birthday, so I think Professor Barbour must have told her. She made me a really delicious salad, some amazing fish, and fresh peaches. And, for a gift, she gave me a French cook book. I am so excited to read it and pick out recipes to cook.

Although Madame Briotet is not my mom, she definitely made tonight feel like home. I am so thankful for that, and honestly, tonight was the best conversation that I've ever had in French. We talked about my birthday, about my family, about my trip to Normandy, World War II, the war in Iraq. We also talked about American universities and how an American student chooses where he or she wants to go.

After dinner and homework, the good old Wake Forest group went out to dance at a salsa bar. I don't know how to dance salsa, but I had a really good time.

Today.

Caught up with my blogging. Whew.

I really enjoyed Chartres. We arrived late yesterday afternoon, and I bought an hour of internet so that I could check my emails and pay some bills (boo.) I was greeted with over 40 emails (felt a little bit loved :)) and two not so fun bills to pay.

After that, I wandered to the cathedral. It is beautiful and huge. I arrived just before 6:15 mass, so I decided to stay. I was glad to be myself (that is to say, without Wake Forest kids) in the vast, dark cathedral, and even more glad that there was a mass. I didn't understand everything that was being said, and considering I'm not Catholic I didn't know the parts of the mass. But, I did understand most of the homily. And for me, God is God of all. Denominations don't matter. I definitely felt His presence in the cathedral, and was truly awed by the fact that I was worshipping in a cathedral that is hundreds and hundreds of years old.

Dinner last night was delicious. Made up for some of the not so good meals we had on this trip. After dinner, we'd planned to go to a discotheque. However, we quickly learned that nothing is really open on Mondays. So, we all hung out in the guys' room and watched Miss Italia, an italian beauty pageant. Hilarious. And our pick didn't win. We were all rather miffed.

This morning we took an offical tour of the cathedral. An older gentleman gave us our tour. He was so cute and spoke really clearly. And you could just tell that he was an encyclopedia of knowledge about the cathedral. We went down into the crypts and saw the ancient foundations of the church, and then he taught us a lot about the facade and the stained glass windows inside.

I think the trip to Normandy has been my favorite so far. We saw such a wide variety of things, and the group had so much fun hanging out together.

I'll be 20 in less than three hours. Well, I guess not quite, considering I wasn't born in the French time zone and so really I guess I have to wait until its midnight back home. I sadly cannot celebrate tonight because we have a test tomorrow (boo). But, I think we're going to try to make up for it tomorrow night and Thursday night...we don't have classes on Friday! The guys are heading to Munich for Oktoberfest and most of the girls are heading to Geneva. I'm excited to go to Geneva...its only a few hours away by train, and I have a friend studying there this semester, so I'll get to see her.

Anyway, I'm interested to see how this birthday will feel. Probably a lot different, since I'm not home. I mean in some ways, its going to be a whole heck of a lot cooler. I don't care who you are, getting to celebrate your 20th birthday in a foreign country that serves great food and wine with a bunch of really awesome people around you is pretty darn awesome.

But, there's a little part of me hungering for a simple, normal, familiar birthday in good ol' North Carolina.

14 September

I really enjoyed our two days at Mont Saint Michel. The church was absolutely beautiful, and HUGE. To think it takes up the entire hill, and that its been there for centuries! I really wish I'd had the chance to go to mass there. Yesterday morning, Kara and I got up and went for a run. We ran from our hotel to Mont Saint Michel and back, probably about 3 miles. Our group had a tour of the Mont in the morning, and sadly the tour was thoroughly disappointing and frustrating. It wasn't a private tour, so there were about 40 French people huddled around one man who spoke really quickly and made lots of jokes that NO ONE in my group understood. We were all disappointed.

Lunch was yummy: salade du chevre chaud (hot goat's cheese), cocotte d'agneau (lamb stew), and framboise melba (a rasperry sundae). After a bit of shopping, Jen, Kara, and I walked back to the hotel. We stopped and took lots of pictures with the mont in the background. They're great. Then Jen and I hung out with the boys before dinner. We watched Miss Congeniality! Haha. The boys actually wanted to. Seriously.

This morning Peter and I went for a run. He runs so much faster than Kara, but thats a good thing. We ran to the Mont and back in about 25 minutes. It took Kara and I just over 30 the day before. Whew.

We loaded the bus and are now heading for Chartres, our last stop of the trip.

A bientot.

12 September

Yesterday we got up kind of early to head to the World War II memorial at Caen. The museum was really interesting because it gave a French and European perspective of the war, which is definitely a new way to learn about it for me.

It was an ironic day though. Just as I got to the section on the Holocaust, an announcement came over the speakers telling everyone that we needed to evacuate the building. I had noticed a funny smell, kind of like smoke, but I didn't really think anything of it. So, everyone headed out of the building. We sat outside and talked with a man from Italy who just retired and is going to class to learn English and who loves to travel. He spoke in very broken English but he was so cute and was trying so hard to talk correctly.

Eventually, we learned that there had been an electrical fire in the basement of the museum and that power was going to have to be shut off for the rest of the day. I couldn't help but feel a little chilled that we had to evacuate a war museum on September 11.

We headed to Arromanches sur Mer, one of the debarkment beaches. The British landed there and after taking the beach, began building a floating port! I had NO idea that anything like that had ever happened. It was fascinating. We went through a museum and then walked around the beaches a bit. After that, it was time to head to the American war memorial and cemetary.

The memorial was beautiful. I cried a little bit. Walked down on the beaches and couldn't imagine what it must have been like.

After the cemetary, we stopped at the ruins of a German strategic stronghold, where you can still see the identations in the earth left by bombs and the bunkers and gun mounts left by the Germans. After that, we went to the German cemetary. Really gave a face to what I think is oftentimes a faceless enemy. There was a grave marker for a young man who was killed on his 25th birthday.

Dinner last night at the hotel was much much better than the first night, thank goodness. After dinner, we went out and amazingly found a bar where all the young kids in Bayeux like to hang out. It was a lot of fun.

This morning we went and saw a GIANT tapestry from the Middle Ages that tells the story of William the Conqueror. It was pretty cool. We're now just a few miles from Mont Saint Michel...I can see it out my window! I'm so excited for the tour tomorrow. This place is BEAUTIFUL!

10 September

Kara ran into a pole this morning. Like, literally. We're currently in Rouen, where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake. And maybe street signs here are harder to see? I don't know. But we were walking to meet at our guide in front of the Notre Dame de Rouen, and BAM. Kara ran smack into a pole. I mean, it was the closest thing to face-planting that you can do on a vertical surface.


Kara made it through our tour of the city just fine. We visited the cathedral, which was gorgeous like all cathedrals, and then our guide led us through the streets, showing us interesting houses and buildings and such that have been around since the Middle Ages. We finished our tour at Cathedrale de Jeanne d'Arc, which was constructed right at the site where she was burned at the stake so many years ago. Honestly, it gave me chills. I think that would be one of the most terrifying ways to die.


After the tour, we ate lunch at an Italian pizzeria. It was awesome. Except for the fact that Kara began to show signs of a concussion! So we finished our meal and Madame took Kara to the doctor while the rest of us did some shopping around town. Luckily, Kara did not have a concussion but just needed to sleep. We loaded the bus and headed for a little seaside town called Honfleur. A few of us went to a park there and just hung out and napped on the grass. Peter and I stayed the longest in the park just because neither of us wanted to shop, which is what everyone else was doing. It was nice to talk with him one on one though.

We left Honfleur and headed to Bayeux, where we're staying tonight. Dinner was at the hotel, and it was awful. Seriously, the worst meal I've had in France. And I mean, France is supposed to be good with cuisine. So you'd think bad French food would still be ok. Nope. Nasty. We had moules (mussels) to start, AWFUL ham and some lima bean concoction for main dish, and some awkward chocolate mousse for desert.

The group is going to try to go out tonight, but I doubt there's much to do here on a Thursday night. Probably isn't much to do any night of the week. We'll see.

Out of Touch

So, haven't had internet for the past few days.

I purchased an hour of internet and its running out fast, so I'm not going to waste it with a long blog session.

Plus, that would just make me a nerd.

I'm really enjoying my trip in Normandy, and will have lots of blog updates when I have regular internet connection again, so be looking for those.

Tonight we're going out to a discotheque here in Chartres. I'll finallyyyy get to do some real dancing. Can't wait.

Sacrifice

I don't really know the meaning of the word.

Do you?

All I know is, visiting the beaches of Normandy, and then the American Memorial and the German Memorial (yes, even the German one...) is humbling.

Makes you think twice.

About the things that matter, the things that don't.

Dad, I love you. Wish you could have been here with me today as I walked the beaches and cried at the memorials. I know you've always wanted to visit Normandy, and you were on my mind the entire time. We'll go one day, Pops, and it'll be awesome to experience together.

Longer blog post to be posted later.

Love to all.

How To Eat French Food: Volume I

Ok, so sometimes you learn the hard way.

Tuesday night, I went out to dinner with a few friends. Wright and I both ordered grenouille...frog legs! Not even kidding, it was like the lower half of a bunch of frogs sitting on my plate. They tasted really good though. I tried to eat them with a fork and knife, as I am always doing my best to be proper and elegant, but eventually gave up and just treated the legs kind of like chicken wings.

So it was messy.

After the waiter cleared our plates, he brought out two white mugs. He said, "Pour vous qui avez mange des grenouille. Pas de the." Which means, "For those who ate the frog legs. Not tea."

Well, Wright and I look in the mugs, which were full of lemons and warm water. Someone at the table made a comment about cleansing the palette. So Wright and I started drinking the warm lemon water. Wright downs all of his, and I'm about three sips in. I'm mid sip, and I hear the waiter come up behind me and go, "Oh, pas pour boire! C'est pour laver les mains!"

"Not a drink! It's for washing your hands!"

I felt like the biggest idiot in the world. But I laughed pretty hard about it afterward. And am laughing now as I write this.

Today I left my house at 6:40am. Our Normandy trip began today! Our first stop: Les Caves de Mercier, a really old and famous champagne company. Les caves are literally caves underground where the champagne is stored and fermented, etc. Lots of vineyards give tours and tastings, and Mercier puts on quite a show.

It was like an amusement park, for serious.

First, a short film with three screens and surround sound. Next, the elevator ride down into the cave. The elevator had a clear glass wall so we could see sculptures of Bacchus and mannequins of men making wine and champagne, all built into the elevator shaft. Next, a roller coaster. Not even kidding.

Ok, so not exactly a roller coaster, but a tram on auto pilot that drove us around the caves while the guide talked. We finished with a tasting...best champagne I've ever had. I think also the only champagne I've ever had.

After lunch, we took a guided tour of Notre Dame de Reims. Absolutlely beautiful. A wonderful example of a gothic style church. The stained glass windows were gorgeous, the high ceilings were mind boggling, the sculptures on the facade were amazing. I could have spent all day in the church. I think I could have sat for hours and just stared at the windows and the ceilings.

I did a bit of praying when I was supposed to be listening to the tour guide, but it was about the best thing I could have done for me at that moment. I needed some me and God time in a church, and today definitely helped.

Its essentially Thursday. Saturday will mark three weeks in France. Wow. Its been a slow and fast time here so far. And even though parts of it have been hard, I'm beginning to recognize what I think I kind of knew in my heart all along: I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be. I think I've said it before, but said it without really meaning it.

God, always faithful, has been showing me everyday and I'm finally, truly, completely beginning to accept it: this is exactly where I'm supposed to be.

A la mode

no, not a la mode like ice cream (although I did have some particularly good ice cream today).

A la mode as in fashion.

This morning, after a great run (pounded out all my problems on the pavement) and walk/talk with Kara, I went shopping again. Ha.

Kara's host sister, Claire, is awesome and she and her friend Marion came shopping with us. They took Kara and I to all the popular French stores and showed us which clothes are fashionable (MODE), which ones aren't. Marion and Claire are the same age as me, and they are both so cute and sweet. Sadly, Claire leaves Thursday to return to school in Belgium. I can't wait until she comes home on the weekends!!!

After class today, most of us went and sat in parc d'Arcy and ate candy from this awesome shop called Glup's. Glup's has every kind of gummy you could ever imagine. Seriously. Today I ate gummy peach flavored crocodiles. It was very relaxing to just sit around and joke and laugh and feel the warm sun and cool breeze on our faces.

Tomorrow morning, we depart at 7am (yikessss) for a week long trip through Normandy. We're going to the famous beaches of World War II, Rouen (where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake), Chartres, and Mont Saint Michel, along with a few other places that I just can't remember the name of right now.

I am SO EXCITED to go see Mont Saint Michel. Google it if you don't know what it is. Miss Laura Minton told me it was incredible, and I've heard from numerous people how beautiful it is. I can't wait.

I'm also excited to see the beaches of Normandy. World War II has always interested me and I've always wanted to go to Normandy. My Dad has always wanted to go too, and I wish he could share this experience with me!

I know its going to be tiring to travel so much in the next week, but this experience really is unique and I have the opportunity to see SO MUCH of France. I mean really, I've been here for two weeks and I've visited at least 10 different cities.

Pretty darn awesome, and a pretty darn good distraction.

Truth

This semester, honestly, is all about me becoming independent.

I'm here to trust God and myself.

As much as I miss and love my family and my friends, at this moment now, I'm really glad I'm not at home. Because its so much easier to deal with certain things when I'm thousands of miles away.

Today was a long day. I had a test this morning, which wasn't too much fun, and then we had a few hours of class after that. After class, I went shopping with Lauren and Jen. Probably a bad idea, as I did spend maybe a bit too much money. But I'll just be super good for the next week or so. I've been eating cheaply (KEBABS) and saving my food money that Wake gives me anyway, so hopefully I'm not dipping too much into my own money.

After shopping, I came back to my house and did homework until dinner. My host mom came in asking about my day and if I had gone for a run. She knows I run a lot and that I'm trying to be healthy, so she's started joking with me because I never really snack and she feels like I don't eat as much as I could at dinner. She said to me today that I must think calories are the devil. She was joking of course. And I really do eat, I'm just not used to having three and four courses, so when I eat salad, bread, and a main dish I really do get full quickly. And of course I am a bit picky, and not all the food I've eaten has been amazing.

I finallyyyyy got to Skype a bit tonight, and I am so glad for that. I still don't have WiFi but my host mom told me I could use the internet on the third floor as much as I need to. And yes, I feel bad that I'll be up here until midnight or so and then have to walk down creaky stairs past their door to get to my room, but I just really needed some connectivity with America.

And the connectivity brought good things and bad things, but all of it was the truth.

And truth is a good thing.

Frustration

internet code still won't work.

i'm feeling way unconntected.

and very selfish because in the grand scheme of things, not having wireless in my room seriously doesn't matter.

but still.

6 September

Ok, so I haven’t blogged in several days. I’m still having problems with my internet. I’m super confused because the code my host mom gave me won’t work. And while it would make sense that it’s just the wrong code, there’s another student living in the house, a French student, who just moved into today. He typed in the code, and BAM, it worked perfectly. I don’t understand why it’s not working on my computer.

I know that in the long run, not having wireless in my room is not a big deal. But there’s a certain sense of comfort in knowing that with one click, I can call a friend or family member on Skype from within the comfort of my own room. It’s more private, and doesn’t disturb the family as much. I’m planning to email Wake IS, our tech services, as soon as I can to try to figure this stuff out, but I’m going to bet they won’t be very helpful.

The past few days have been a whirlwind of travel. Our group shipped off early Thursday morning for a 3 day trip in Bourgogne.

Our first stop was l’abbaye de Fontenay, an old Cistercian abbey. It was beautiful. Romanesque buildings, green grass, gardens. Truly peaceful and definitely a place of God. It rained on and off while we were there, and was a bit cold, but definitely worth the visit.

Our next stop was Semur-en-Auxois, a gorgeous old town that immediately prompted a chorus of Disney’s Belle. “Little town, it’s a quiet village; every day, like the one before. Little town, full of little people, waking up to say…BONJOUR.”

We had lunch there, and I watched the chef cook my steak on a wood fire in a gorgeous old fireplace. Pretty cool.

Our last stop of the day was the Basilisque a Vezelay. The church sits high a top a hill, and can be seen for miles around. Imagine being a pilgrim, exhausted after traveling, and finally seeing the hill rising in the distance, atop which you would find a gorgeous church that housed the relics of Mary Magdalene and hopefully the healing and blessings you were searching for.

Our group had scheduled a tour, but we arrived a little early. Thus, we had a chance to walk around the village a bit and climb to the top of the hill to see the view. It was breathtaking (and not just because we walked straight uphill for about 15 minutes). Needless to say, our group took lots of pictures. I’ve happily started the tradition of jumping pictures (you jump right as the picture is taken, so the picture captures you in mid-air), and us girls got one on the second try.

A young monk led our tour. He had a quiet confidence about him, and his calm manner demonstrated in every way that he was a man of God. His dedication of his life to the Lord both astounds and humbles me. The church once housed the relics of Mary Magdalene and was therefore a great pilgrimage site. The real relics were stolen a few years ago, so the church now houses a representation instead. While I don’t believe in the idea or power of relics, I certainly had great respect for the importance and history of the church.

After the tour, we headed to Autun for the night. We ate dinner at the hotel, which was the nicest hotel we’ve stayed in so far. Dinner was delicious. The first night, we had melon and some sort of meat for the entrée, chicken and something like grits for the main dish, and lime sorbet atop a mound of fresh raspberries, blueberries, cherries, and strawberries. The wine choices were excellent, thanks to Madame Barbour and our chauffeur Stephan.

After dinner, our group went out to a Karaoke bar. Yes, a karaoke bar. Ridiculous. The girls sang “I Will Survive,” and a Romanian song made popular by the Numa Numa video on YouTube. The boys sang “We are the Champions.” Together, we sang “Champs Elysees,” a well known French song. I think we cleared out the bar, but we definitely had a great time.

Friday brought more rain. We toured St. Lazarus Church in Autun, which was also gorgeous. It’s a mix of the roman and gothic style because so much reconstruction has been done within the church over the years. It was beautiful, though, and the stained glass windows were particularly vibrant.

Afternoon brought a tour of the museum at Bibracte, once the richest city in Gaule. Of course the city is now gone, and but there are multiple archeological digs all over the place. The top of that hill brought a beautiful view as well, and lucky for us the rain had cleared.

We returned to Autun and had dinner at the hotel again. The entrée was foie gras, or sweet meats. It took all my strength to eat them, but it actually tasted pretty good. The main course was rabbit with mashed potatoes. Desert was fruit tart.

If my friends and I had been wise, we would not have gone out that night. But we did go out, and we returned to the same bar. We did not sing karaoke that night, but spent a good time at the bar anyway. None of us were feeling our best the next morning, and our payment for our folly was a guided tour of the wine museum in Beaune and a wine tasting later that afternoon. None of us had even the slightest desire to think about anything involving alcohol that day, but alas we had no choice.

Sandwiched in between the wine museum and the wine tasting was a tour of the Hospices de Beaune, or hospitals. Built by a rich man to secure his entrance into heaven, the hospices provided a place of care and shelter for the sick, both the rich and the poor.

We headed back to Dijon that evening, and I settled back into the house and finally got all my laundry done. I think I’d worn most of my pairs of jeans about 5 times each. They definitely need a washing, as did many other my clothes. I finally met the two of the Briotet children, Christophe, who is in his early 20s, and Florence, who is my age. They both have the classic French beauty, and I hope to get to know both of them better. There is also another student now living in the Briotet house who comes from Aix en Provence. I haven’t gotten a chance to talk with him much, but he’ll be here all fall. It’ll be nice to have another student in the house with me, especially since he is my age.

I still can't believe I've been here barely two weeks. I don't know when time will begin to feel normal again, if it ever will.

Wednesday

Wednesday morning arrived all too early. Homework had kept me up the night before, perhaps because I'd decided to eat a leisurely dinner with my friends that turned into a trip to the Monoprix (kind of like a Target?).

I met Lauren at Place d'Arcy and we ran for about 30 minutes, talking in French the entire time. I was proud of us! I then rushed home to get ready for our museum tour of the morning, and had barely enough time. We went to the Musee de Beaux Arts in Dijon. Lots of great paintings and sculptures.

After the museum, a few of us got kebabs for lunch. I just have to say, kebabs are awesome. It's some kind of sandwich with some kind of meat (maybe mutton?) with all kinds of toppings, sauces, and fries. While I'm probably consuming a week's worth of calories and not really eating real meat, its totally worth it. Cheap and delicious, that's all a poor student needs to know.

After kebabs, I returned to my house to try to do some laundry. My host mom has been so sweet about doing a lot of it for me, but I definitely want to do some on my own so she doesn't have to do all of it. I don't think dryers are very common in France, as none of my friends have them either...therefore, all our clothes are hang dry. Which, is totally fine except for the fact its been raining on and off for the past two days. I've got a drying rack in my room, but its not quite big enough for everything that was washed!

After class today, I headed to the post office and the bank to take care of some business and then went to hang out at my friend Jen's place. Her host family pretty much gave her an entire basement, which is awesome, and she's got a great hang out place for everyone. So, the group watched My Fair Lady. Haha.

Dinner with my host family when really well tonight, I think. I talked a fair amount, and I was definitely more comfortable at this dinner than at previous ones. After dinner, I watched a movie with them. The Briotets don't have a tv, so we watched the movie on her laptop. They have about 4 computers in the house, but no tv...interesting, but definitely not a big deal. In some ways it would have been nice to be able to watch French tv, but I'm not distressed.

That's my update for now. It's 1am here and I leave at 8am tomorrow for a trip to Bourgogne, also known as wine country. Can't wait.

A bientot!

Bon Courage

Here I sit in McDonald's, trying to answer various emails and read people's blog updates and just breathe. It's been a crazy past few days, but mostly a good kind of crazy. I'm here at McDonald's because my host mom can't remember the password for the family WiFi, and so I've been unconnected for a bit.

My last update detailed moving in with my host family. That was two nights ago, and I've definitely been busy. I woke up Monday morning and went for a run with Kara and Lauren. Our group met for lunch and then I headed back to my house to get ready for a trip to the country. The Briotets spend almost every weekend at their country house, and they had been spending their vacation there over the past week. The house is about a 25 minute drive from Dijon; its amazing how quickly the land becomes nothing but farms after you leave the busy city.

The car ride was a bit quiet...I'm still not very confident when I speak. We arrived at their house and all I could think was, WOW. The house is beautiful. Two stories, made of stone, with a sprawling lawn, all surrounded by a stone wall. Their dog, Dicky, excitedly ran to meet us as we got out of the car. I went inside to put down my things, and came back outside to find two bicycles waiting for me. "We're going to see my mother in law!" Madame Briotet informed me. I thought, ok, no big deal.

We biked for at least 3 miles. But not on an easy road. We rode through a bunch of fields on a gravel path with bunches and bunches of hills. I definitely got my exercise yesterday. Dicky came along with us, running beside the bikes and chasing birds and doing all sorts of things dogs love to do. Madame's mother in law is very old, almost blind, and hard of hearing. While she is only 80, which is considered young in France, she worked on a farm her entire life and is just worn out. She had 9 children, 4 of which have died. Her husband died 9 years ago in a car accident, and its been down hill from there. We got her something to drink and then went to visit Madame's friend Veronique.

Veronique showed us all the jams and candies she was making: peach, blackberry, cassis. She let us try some cassis candy, and it was really good. She then showed us her little farm. She has pigs, chickens, rabbits, and some other kind of bird that I didn't recognize. Madame and Veronique then talked for about 20 minutes, and I just stood and listened, barely understanding anything they were saying, they were talking so fast. We stopped by her mother in law's one more time before we headed back to the house.

Once back at the house, I spread out all my books on the table outside so I could start studying for my first test. Madame went to pick peaches, tomatoes, and raspberries, all of which grow on their land. Dicky sat and watched me, desperately wishing I would play with him. I did for a bit. He likes plastic bottles and boots. Monsieur Briotet arrived just as dinner was ready. He and I have yet to talk much, but he seems nice.

Dinner was pizza with made with freshly picked tomatoes, a kind of cucumber salad, and fresh raspberries for dessert. Yum. We sat outside to eat, and it was very pretty and peaceful. Once again, not a lot of talking. I'm starting to realize that I have a lot of trouble understanding them when they talk too, which is making me nervous. I kind of thought that wouldn't be as bad. I was wrong.

After dinner, I studied until I went to bed. I got up the next morning and once again studied outside. Breakfast was homemade jelly on bread, and a peach just picked off the tree. Madame sat with me and went through my notes, correcting my grammar and clarifying different points. Our test was on the things we saw in Provence, so a lot of history, but she was still able to help clarify information. I was definitely appreciative of the help.

We packed up and headed back to Dijon for lunch. Monsieur Briotet was home and ate with us. It was kind of a rushed lunch as I had to leave the house to go take my test within 2o minutes of us sitting down.

After the test, which was a lot harder than I was expecting, Professor Barbour took a couple of us to set up our bank accounts. After that, I made my way here to McDonald's.

As much as I know that the Briotets will be a great host family, and as much as I know that I still just need time to adjust, I'm starting to panic just a bit. I'm realizing how bad I am at French. Give me a piece of paper, and I can write as much as you want me too. Put me in a room with a French person and ask me to have a long conversation with them, and I'd probably fail. I just hate the nervous panicky feeling I get every time I have to talk with a French person, or even just walking into my house and saying hello to my host mom. I think being with the kids from Wake Forest for the first week and a half I was here in France gave me a false confidence about my listening and speaking skills.

The rational part of me is saying, Carolyn, calm down, you've lived in a French household for less than 3 days. The not so rational part of me is saying, AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

I guess it is exciting in a way that I have so much to learn. I just have to recongize that it's going to be hard, and yes, there will be days when I'm just so fed up with French that all I want to do is go scream American up one street and down the other. But, I'm less than two weeks into my journey...and if I remember correctly, it took Harry Potter a lot longer to vanquish the Dark Lord, and Frodo Baggins didn't make it Mordor and back in a single day.

We're the best adventurers adventure ever saw.

August 30

So here I sit in my new room at my new desk, a multitude of thoughts swirling through my head.
So I write.

The rest of my trip to Provence was wonderful. Saturday morning, Lauren, Kara, Carleigh, Jen, and I went to a local market. I think the market happens every Saturday, and it was like street markets in the U.S.

On the way to the market, we passed L’Eglise de Saint Trophime (Church of Saint Trophime). Its doors were wide open, welcoming any passerby into its cool darkness. I asked the girls to wait for me and went in. I walked around for a bit, marveling at the sculptures, the stained glass, and the tapestries. I also sat down and prayed for a few minutes. There’s something so peaceful about the quiet stillness of a church.

At the market, my friends and I wandered past stalls where vendors sold bread, meats, fish, spices, etc. There were also artisans selling their crafts and peddlers selling cheap junk. I bought a straw hat for our visit to the beach later that afternoon. It was 8 euro, but I really liked it and I know I’ll use it more. Hats are good for traveling and sight seeing, and it was just too cute to pass up.

After a quick lunch of sandwiches, we all headed to the Mediterranean Ocean. On the way, our bus passed through the Carmagues, a land reserve inhabited by horses, bulls, and pink flamingoes!

I was really excited to spend some time at the beach because I was not able to go to the beach at all this summer. The water was a little cold, but the sun was warm and I dozed in and out, listening to the sound of the waves and of chattering French families.

French families with topless French women. I was not ready for that. I, of course, knew about the stereotype of nude beaches and people walking around topless or whatever, but seeing it in person was completely different. And uncomfortable. And I was glad none of the half naked women chose to sit in my line of vision.

After a few hours, Peter, Wright, Kara, Jen and I walked around the little town. We ate ice cream and slushies and might have obnoxiously talked in English the entire time. Peter is a big fan of saying “America!” in a really hick accent when he feels like being a pain.

Exhausted, most of us slept on the bus ride back to Arles. We stopped at a boutique on the way back (I was still half asleep when we went in and therefore tripped on a rock, kicking it half way across the patio). I bought a little embroidered pillow stuffed with lavender, a product of Provence, and lavender bath gel. Smells amazing, and the little pillow is currently sitting atop my clothes in my dresser.

We had dinner as a group again, and after that we hung out for a bit at the hotel. Lauren, Peter, Wright, and I decided we wanted to go out for a bit. We ended up a place called Wallabeer’s, an Australian themed bar.

It was 70’s night.

I totally owned the dance floor.

Definitely led a bunch of French girls in the YMCA, and they had a lot of fun imitating my goofy dance moves. It’s questionable whether people back home think I have amazing dance skills, but the French loved me. At least, based on the reaction of the girls at Wallabeer’s.

Morning came all too early, and our group began the trek back to Dijon. On the way back, we stopped at the Pont du Gard, an ancient roman aqueduct. It is HUGE. And really cool. Once again, I am continually amazed that structures like that are still standing thousands of years later.

Jen and I went exploring and found a path that led to a really neat panoramic view of the river and the aqueduct.

As we continued our return to Dijon, I took a nap, wrote in my journal, and prayed about moving in with my host family. My main stumbling block is finding the courage to speak, and I just need the courage to talk as much as possible because that’s how I will learn.

Our host families came to pick us up at the hotel where we’d left all our baggage. My host mom was the first to arrive. The rest of the family is in the country at the family farm. I loaded all my luggage in the car and strapped myself in for an awkward car ride. We talked, but I was quiet and stumbled when I talked because I was nervous. We got to the house and Madame Briotet helped me bring my bags inside. She then began to prepare dinner while I started to unpack.

My room is pretty big, but sparsely decorated. I’m glad I brought pictures of family and friends. I have my own bathroom, but it only has a shower, not a toilet. The toilet is out in the hall. There are two cabinets for my clothes, and a rack in the bathroom for me to hang jackets and sweaters and such. I also have a little refrigerator, which is really nice because I can keep snacks and food for myself. There is also a piano in my room, as the youngest daughter used to play. That’ll be fun to play; maybe I can re-teach myself the piano this fall.

Dinner was some sort of cheese noodles and corn with green pepper. My family is probably laughing as they read this because they know I do not like corn. But, I was a good guest and ate everything on my plate. After dinner, Madame took me on a walk around the quartier (neighborhood). She showed me the bus stop where I can catch the bus to the university and showed me the best way to get to centre ville (the center of the city, which includes the main shopping and restaurant areas). She also gave me keys to the house and showed me how to get in and out of the front gate and the front door. Even though I haven’t met the rest of the family, I think I am really going to like the Briotets. Madame is really sweet and was good at asking questions that I could understand. She was also very patient with me as I stumbled through my answers.

I was also very pleased and relieved to learn that the family has wireless internet. I was worried about having to make trips to the local McDonald’s and the library to get internet access. Now, though, I’ll be able to email and Skype from the comfort of my own room. That’ll definitely make things easier.

Tomorrow, Madame Briotet has asked me to go to the country for a night. Even though I have my first controle (test) on Tuesday, I think I am going to go. It’ll be a really great way to get to know the family, and the more I know them, the more comfortable I will feel.

I’m still nervous. I don’t know when that feeling will go away. I’m still in shock that I am here in France, and that I have only been here for a week and a day. It feels like so much longer. Now that I am settling in, I’m starting to feel a bit of homesickness creeping in. I expected it to come, I knew it would; but that doesn’t necessarily make it easier.

So I’ll pray.

Hosea 14: 7-8: “They shall again live beneath my shadow, they shall flourish as a garden; they shall blossom like the vine, their fragrance shall be like the wine of Lebanon. O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after you. I am like an evergreen cypress; your faithfulness comes from me.”