Lyon

Yes I am back to collages. Obviously I wasn't doing too well posting when I was trying to do things individually (given the fact that this was 2 weekends ago by now), so I'm giving up and going back to the easy Picasa-made collages.

I went to visit Urzsula in Lyon the 13th through the 15th, and it was a wonderful little trip. Only a 4 hour train ride (don't ask me about prices though, ugh) through the pretty countryside (I even saw at least 6 castles from the train) and I got to see an old friend and experience a totally different French city. I really loved Lyon, it had a much more urban feel to it than any other French city I've been to. It also felt demographically quite young and busy all the time--not the France I know, haha. The weather wasn't wonderful but didn't inhibit our biking throughout the city to see her workplace (Interpol's International Headquarters) and the various and varied sections of the city. Cool city, good food, good friends = happy weekend. =]

some last few

un petit peu plus

weekend with a host family in the Vendée region

So I had the chance this weekend to go to the little town of Saint Gilles Croix de Vie in the department of Vendée which is on the coast and about 2 hours from here. We literally got put on a bus and when we got to the town, a middle school English teacher (who had a daughter who went to ND for a year, thus the connection) called our names one by one, gave us away to a family and said "ok be back at 1pm on Sunday!" Nerve-wracking? I think yes. But it turned out wonderfully, as these things often do. My family included Lisa, 14 and Pauline, 17, and their parents. The dad, who had hurt his back and was out of commission for the weekend, used to be a potter and they had gorgeous pieces of pottery all over the house. All of the dishes and everything were made by him. It was left up to the girls and the mom, Isabelle, to show me around, and they did a wonderful job of it. They drove me all over the place, to different beaches and islands and even a creperie, hehee. I spoke french the ENTIRE weekend too. Go me. So yep. here are some pictures from that little adventure. Enjoy.

les couleurs de l'automne en France

2 month marker: cheers and jeers

after being in France for 2 full months now, (well, more or less) here are some things I feel I can say.


Things I miss: JEER to their lack.
--chips and salsa. rice. fruit juice. pão de queijo. garden dinners. subway (sadly).
--riding in cars. better yet, driving a car. but mostly just their convenience.
--buses that run frequently. biggest. annoyance. ever.
--being busy and/or having a job.
--free food, be it Subway, home, or the DH; paying for every meal sucks.
--my daddy's or Pappy's back massages. my shoulders hurt.
--having a sink in my room. or near my room. or even just having a bathroom on the same floor.
--a jeer to creaky spiral staircases. they're an integral part of every French building.
--being able to wear bright colors without getting looked at funny. (seriously.)
--my friends, and the fam.

PLUS: big huge jeer to the exchange rate. ew.

Things I love: CHEERS for France!
--living in a city vs a campus. though it definitely brings back high school memories.
--the brand new fireplace and the frequent wood fires my host family has. makes me feel like a kid again.
--the bread. and wine. I never thought either could taste so good. really.
--my bicycle and how often I can use it.
--having my OWN room. it's been a looong time.
--the wall mounted space heater I have in my bathroom because there's no heat. nothing like standing in front of that after a shower. doubles as a hair dryer too. wooooo.
--kebabs. nuff said.
--free drinks because we know one of the bar owners.
--my new friends. =]
--having a bus pass: hop on hop off, whenever I want. Thanks ND for payin.
--the fact that even still this week it's in the 60s.
--time to sleep, read, watch tv, do nothing.
--the fact that the french love rainbows: the color scheme, not the arc you find in the sky. par exemple, the official scheme of the city's public transportation system is some very gaudy rainbow stripes. I'll take and post a picture of the side of a bus sometime.
--looking at pretty french people. they're all way too gorgeous.

dinner and campus

Picture post time.

Weekends are quiet here, for me at least, because lots of people travel every weekend, and as I lack the funds to do so, I find myself somewhat lonely much of the time. But it's a nice time to catch up on sleep and laze around, or meet up with other people that I don't usually hang out with, so it's a nice thing. Doing nothing does get kind of old, because I'm used to having close to no free time at all at school, but I try to keep myself occupied. Today I Skyped with the family for an hour and with Shelly for an hour 45. Very nice.

On to pictures:
Ashley and I made dinner with Austin at his house the other day. Veggie pasta with pesto sauce, and blanched broccoli. Complete with a 3 Euro bottle of white wine. Mmmmm.
And on a particularly pretty Sunday I found myself outside the Catho. Here's the main building which holds most classrooms. Not particularly gorgeous, haha, but that's about as pretty as it gets.