Salon du Chocolat

Tuesday night we went up the Eiffel tower. It was absolutely gorgeous. You could see for miles. It was great to see it sparkle on the hour.

Wednesday morning Becca, Ed & I went out to the Notre-Dame shopping area. We then met up with Gerry and went to Shelomo Selinger’s house. He does carvings & sketches. The sketches were utterly breathtaking. He was a five time survivor of the holocaust & all of the pictures are of the horrible things he had witnessed. It’s amazing that this man could come out from a tragic experience & yet still think about it & draw these; therefore re-living the experience all the time. Afterwards we went to Jean Serolle’s studio. He is more of an abstract artist. He has many pictures of colored woodchips and splatter paint. I personally don’t consider that art. I mean if I can do it, then it’s not art. Afterwards we just came back & chilled. Everyone had to write their papers for Eric; yay for me getting them done last week (:

Thursday morning I decided to go out to the Eiffel tower. I needed some alone time. Don’t get me wrong, I love everyone but being with them for 1.5 months will drive you crazy! (: It was really nice to see it in the morning with the fog still looming. We then went to a museum of something. It had old Victorian settings, definitely different. We then went for lunch & got Fallafel. It’s this weird vegetarian pita sort of thing. It’s actually pretty amazing! It’s so hard to describe though. We then had to find the tea store. This store had hundreds of different teas! Afterwards we went to a basicila & looked around. Becca & I then took off to go shopping & went to the Hard Rock Café for dinner & drinks.

Friday morning we went to the Rodin Museum. It was interesting I guess. The museums all look the same anymore! I can’t remember them! This one had a cool room that it just had videos on repeat. My favorite was this guy had a handful of ferns (like 30) and he just kept taking one at a time and compressing them in his hand, it was so odd! We ate lunch in the park by the Eiffel tower. I then went off because I wanted to find the science museum & St Pauls. I had to go to the post office so I went to the ONLY post office in Europe that is open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day! It’s fabulous! I feel so special. Definitely the highlight of the day. I then couldn’t find the metro because I had taken the bus there, so I just wandered. I never made it to either the science museum or St Pauls. I walked around for a good 2 hours just turning whenever I felt like it and going in some cool shops. I finally found the metro and went FIAP to do laundry and pack. We then headed out to where Dr Lynch is staying to drop off our breakables/valuables that we had bought. We had to wait 40 mins for a train in a very scary area, it happens though (:
This morning we checked out & Ed and I went to the Saint Paul area to find the tea store again. We didn’t find it, but we definitely saw some nice things. We then went to the Notre-Dame area for Ed to finish his shopping. We then headed to Porte de Versailles to go to the Salon du Chocolat exposition. It was unfortunately not as exciting as we assumed. I’m currently chilling at FIAP waiting to head to the airport for Rome.

Overall, Paris is wonderful! I love this city & can’t wait to come back! <3

Oh Paris.

Oh Paris, I love thee. Today we had ‘class’ again & then headed to a ‘face’ exhibit, or something along those lines. Well apparently it didn’t start for another month so we went to see some roman amphitheater type thing. Ed & I then went exploring a bit and found a cute little part of type. It had a lot of antique things & we went by the University of Paris’ medical building. We then went to the Musée d’Orsay & looked around a bit. There were some nice Van Gogh paintings. Afterwards we had a bit of time & then went off to visit a friend of Gerry’s. His name is Robert Beyrat. He’s a ‘famous’ painter. His paintings are absolutely amazing! Ralph Lauren & Angelina Jolie have been to his house & bought his paintings. I absolutely loved one that was inspired by Michelango. All of his art is so interesting. I wish I had that type of talent. Those two hours were probably the best two hours I’ve had since being in France! (:

The Effiel Tower is so Beautiful Lit Up!

It’s been forever since I’ve been able to write anything. Life has just been crazy busy.

Last Wednesday was our last class with Eric :( We went to Mossiac.

Thursday we had French & then headed to the airport to go to London! Of course we got a little lost finding our hostel. It was like 9pm (10 in France) so we were all exhausted & grumpy. Headed out to a bar for dinner & got carded-not cool, so we ditched that place. Becca & I went to Garfunkel’s.

Friday morning we went on a bus tour. We had lunch at Sherlock Holmes’ Bar & then went to the National Gallery. I’m lame, but in the Gallery there were pictures that we had studied in class so it made me happy. We then went on a boat ride & headed to the Tower of London. Afterwards, we checked out Saint Paul’s Cathedral & then went to Picadilly Circus for shopping & such.

Saturday morning we went to the Changing of the Guards ceremony. That was rather cool. We then broke off; Becca, Ed, Gabe & I went off to some random pub that a police officer said was good. We wandered around Westminster Abbey, Parliament, & Big Ben. We then went to London Bridge & sang London Bridge is falling down. We then had to go back to the Tower of London because Ed had to buy something. We ended up finding a random Beatles store right next to the Sherlock Holmes’ museum; which was neat. That night we went out and I had my first & only Fish & Chips of London.

Sunday morning Rebecca and I woke up early to go to service at Westminster Abbey. We then saw Platform 9 ¾ from Harry Potter. Afterwards we went to a cute little Costa’s café & then went to the British museum. It sounds lame and I didn’t want to go, but it’s actually fabulous! We spent over 4 hours there & got the audio guide and everything. We only got to see 1/3 of the museum! We then had to go to Abbey Road of course & we went on the London Eye at night. We then headed off to sleep in the airport to catch our 6:30am flight back to Toulouse.

Monday morning was a very early flight & with no sleep everyone was very cranky. Thankfully we had the day off of classes so we just want back and slept (or atleast I did).

Tuesday we had French class, which is always a joy. Then we went to Peter & Margaret’s to discuss our final project for history which is to disover some of the history of Ambialet.

Wednesday was yet another day off. I love not having to do anything. I got a good deal of work done! Yay!

Thursday we our French midterm

Friday we did our Art History Esposes and took our Inquisition midterm.

Saturday we drove to Paris. It took 6 ½ hours to get to Sleeping Beauty’s castle. It was completely worth it. Very pretty. & another 3 hours to get to Paris. We left at 7:15am and got into FIAP at 8:15 pm. We were definitely not in a good mood (:

Sunday we went to the international mass at Notre Dame, had a couscous lunch & saw the Paris Story. Rebecca & I then walked around, saw the Eiffel tower at night then went out with Gerry for a nightcap.

Monday we had a little lecture about Paris & then went off to some arch…I should know the name but…After lunch we went to the Louvre and of course saw the Mona Lisa. Silly how she’s so popular. Afterwards we went to the Eternal Flame ceremony, to light the flame over the unknown soldier’s grave. We actually got to be involved in the ceremony which was an honor. Then Jen, Rebecca, & I stopped at the Eiffel tower again. The Eiffel Tower is so beautiful lit up.

Well that is all for now. Sorry to bore you with it all. It’s 5am here and I can’t make myself fall asleep. Hope all is well back in the States! (:

I missed Ambialet!!

Wow. What a fun filled week! I don’t even know where to start & can barely recall all that we did!

Wednesday we went to Carcassonne. It’s the oldest walled city in Europe. We visited the Church & such. We also went to an abbey. Then we were off to Narbonne for the night. On the way there I saw these cool Cathar statues (you probably have no idea what I’m talking about, but they have been what we’ve been studying for the past month). We ended up eating at a McDonalds for dinner! That was a nice change. Some good old American food! (: I really did want to get a beer & a happy meal, but I didn’t. So our hotel was rather odd in the respect that it had two beds, but they were bunk beds. So the bottom was a full sized bed & the top a twin. Well Becca & I were in the same room & neither of us wanted the top. I fell off a bunk bed & broke my leg before so I would not do it. Thankfully she took one for the team. But it was still an interesting experience. We watched Iron Man in French! (:

Thursday morning we had some extra time before heading off to Barcelona. I decided to turn on the TV & see what I could find. I found Dora the Explorer! But instead of English & teaching kids Spanish, it was in French teaching kids English! Glad to know that Dora knows what the important language is (: I’m not a tv person but I haven’t watched tv in a month so it was a nice change. We finally finished our ride to Barcelona & checked into our hostel. So on television they make hostels seem horrible, they really aren’t that bad. I enjoyed my first hostel experience, which is good because I’m staying in another on this weekend… There were all 8 of us in one room with one shower, not cool. But it all worked out well. But of course we were on the 6th floor (aka the 7th floor in America). We went to Park Güell. It was pretty unique. He doesn’t believe in 90⁰ angles; so everything is a little slanted. It has a bunch of mosaics which is what I think about when thinking of Spain. We then went off with Dr Woods to get a tour of “medieval Barcelona.” Or at least I think that’s what it was supposed to be. It came to being standing at the Columbus statue & watching a naked man just standing across the street for a good 15 mins. It was just a little random, because I wasn’t expecting that. It’s odd that it’s illegal to wear a bikini/bathing suit in the city, yet it’s legal to walk around naked. Eh, whatever works. We then searched everywhere for somewhere to eat. They finally decided on somewhere. Of course I didn’t like anything that they had, yet I still don’t consider myself a picky eater. I just don’t like choices. So Becca volunteered to go explore with me & find somewhere else to eat. We went to the Pita Hut (they don’t have Pitas). I decided to get a Catalan salad seeing as we were in Catalan. At least I can say I had it & I never have to try it again (: Then we had to attempt to find our way to the rest of the group without being swept up in the crowd/have creepy guys following us. Finally we met up with them & we all went out to the Hard Rock. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the drink that I got (Pop Princess) but it was limited edition for Pinktober and I got a nice souvenir glass (: Then I called it a night.

Friday everyone went out chopping except Gabe & I. Apparently it was good that we didn’t go because their shopping trip was a bit of a flop, but that’s okay. We went to the Gaudi museum (the same guy that made Güell Park. It was very fascinating. I really enjoyed it. After lunch we went to the cathedral he designed. It’s called the Sagrada Famíla. It’s been in the process of being built for the past 120+ years & will take another 15-20 to finish. It’s absolutely gorgeous. From there we split up. The guys & Becca went to the beach, while Melanie, Kerstin, Dr Woods, & I went shopping. We passed a few churches. San Maria del Mar was the most beautiful. Instead of having the crucifix on the altar it was Mary & a ship. Representing how Mary was watching over the merchants/sailors, since they were the ones that built the church. We did get lost getting there so Dr Woods said if we found it she would buy us drinks, and she did. We found a cute little bar & I had my first beer. I have to say that I’m not a fan. It’s a Spanish beer so I had to try it, it was called 1925 something or other (: Apparently everyone else liked it more than any other beer they have ever had, aka I shall never drink beer. We ended up meeting up with everyone for dinner & then went to a Flamenco show. It definitely wasn’t what I was expecting, but still nice. After that we were lame & went back to the hostel for much needed sleep!

Saturday morning I looked everywhere for a post office, finally found it & it was closed. Not cool. I really wanted Spanish stamps to mail my post cards but it didn’t happen =/ We went to Picasso’s museum. It was quite interesting. He really was a pretty decent picture. He did many different renditions of Velasquez’s Les Meninas. At first I wasn’t a fan because he was cooping it, but I found out that many other artists did, including Dali, and it was interesting to see his different takes on the picture. We then went to another museum, Joan Miró. It was modern art so very odd. Becca & I found it to be rather boring so we came up with a game of making up names for the pictures. It was lots of fun, except disappointing when the pictures had completely ridiculous names like’ Painting’ or ‘Untitled.’ A lot of them were called ‘Birds, Women, Stars.’ Like really…It was interesting because there was one called ‘landscape’ & it was just a blue dot off to the top right of the canvas. Another of my favorites was ‘patience,’ it was just a black canvas with the top and one side left white. I mean it definitely would teach you patience by looking at it! Afterwards everyone split off again, Becca & I decided to take the gondola up to the top of Barcelona & look at the castle. It was definitely worth it! It was such a great view. Unfortunately, it was a little hazy. But that’s alright! Becca then wanted to go shopping for an outfit to go clubbing. So I went with her & she went into the dressing room three different times & of course ended up getting the first shirt she tried on. I on the other hand thought everything in that store was a little ‘different’ and had no intentions of buying anything/trying anything on. That’s when I just saw something so hideous that I HAD to try it on. It was a one piece dress thing. It looked like a two piece shirt & skirt combo but it was one piece. So I tried it on & actually really liked it! Of course I ended up buying it & spending too much money. It’s something that people would never wear in the US so I guess that makes it kinda cool! We then went back & got ready. Unfortunately, we missed mass because our shopping took forever. We then went to meet everyone at the Cathedral but of course we got lost, thankfully John found us. No one wanted to go to the Hard Rock, so John, Becca & I went. It was a nice experience. I got a very good drink, Blue Devil, highly recommend it! So then John told us that he wasn’t going out with us but we were forced to stay out until atleast 12:30 am. So we hopped on the subway & failed to realize what stop we were supposed to get off at. By that time we were exhausted & our feet were killing us because we both bought shoes that were too small. It wasn’t fun so we just decided to turn around and go back. I was a little disappointed that I bought the outfit & didn’t go out but I did get some whistles & compliments so it was worth it (: We got back at 1130 & of course John was ‘disappointed’ in us for not staying out. It would have been different if we could get ahold of anyone else to meet up with them. We didn’t want to go out alone. It’s okay.

Sunday morning we checked out of the hostel & finally headed back to Ambialet! We made a pit stop at Salvador Dali’s museum. It was a little too weird for me. The layout was horrible & we all got lost. But it ended up working out. I would say that I like him less now after seeing his art then before. It happens. We finally got back to Ambialet after a 6ish hour car ride, 2 hours of that listening to Ed conjugate French verbs made me want to pull my ears off! But thankfully we all made it back in one piece (: I missed Ambialet! Of course we then had to stay up all night & get all the work done that we failed to do before leaving.

Monday we tried to recouperate from our weekend. We got to present our dialogue for Inquistion & Society. Along with my other two history classes, both of which I swear I fell asleep in, which isn’t good when you are the only student! After that I just needed a break! Of course I didn’t get one & had a much needed break down, but that just makes everything so much better!

Today we had a nice little French test. I actually enjoyed it. Other than the fact that for the listening part of the test we all had completely different answers for. No big deal. It was the first time that I didn’t leave French class hating the French language. So I guess things are getting better (: I could actually understand about 92% of everything she said!! While waiting for Eric to get in from the train station I went down & played with the kitties. We then had our last religion class with him!! :( Of course, half way through I’m feeling all itchy & stuff. I look down & there’s a flea on my notebook!! I freaked out! Of course a few minutes later I ended up finding another one! Halfway through the class we got a ten minute break & I ran into the shower to scrub my hair & wash all my clothes. I washed them on 90 C, which is like 194⁰ F. So I will probably have very shrunk clothes, but I had to make sure the water was hot enough to kill them! So now I’m here, writing this & calling it a night. Off to Moissac tomorrow for our last ‘pilgrimage’ with Eric! I shall miss him!

Sorry it was so long. Haven’t had time to write! <3

Notre Dame de la Dreche

Sunday we went to our French teacher Marie's house. We took a nice little hike to see ruins of a castle that were bombed in WWII. It was gorgeous!

Monday we had off since it was Saint Francis' Feast day. We went to Notre Dame de la Dreche and had mass & looked around. We had lunch, yay goose liver.... We then went into a coal mine. Later to find out that it wasn't real to say the least.

Yesterday we had a French test & a fun little obstacle course to teach us directions (: I really wish I had taped it! Not much else, We had class with Eric.

Today we are headed to Carcassone & Narbonne for the night & then off to Barcelona.

The ghost came to visit!

Conques=Amazing!
This little tiny town is pretty much where Belle from Beauty & the Beast lived! It is utterly adorable! The roads are all cobblestone with stone houses & a huge church in the middle. I may not come home & just live there!

Thursday we had french in Albi & then got to spend the day out. I got my french student "July" whose real name is Julie but changed it to July because she doesn't like the sound of Julie....Of course I stayed up half the night working on my art history project for the AM. Friday I had to take my writing comptencey exam which wasn't too horrible.

Today Ed & I went up to the Chateau ruins in town. It was gorgeous. Definitely a place that I could sit for hours upon end doing nothing! It was quite the hike though, completely worth it!

So there has been much talk of ghosts around here. Ed & I were here alone because everyone else went into Albi for an organ concert. He was in his room skyping & I was in my room reading with the door open. All of a sudden I hear the downstairs door open (since it's right below my room) and I started freaking out. I knew that the ghost came to visit! I heard footsteps walking around and then I hear the door open to the stairwell. Someone was walking up the stairs & into the common room! I was attempting to tell myself that it was all my imagination! But when I heard the door from the common room into our hall open, I started freaking out! I almost had a heart attack! I was attempting to judge if I had enough time to run to the door & lock it before the 'ghost' reached my room. Instead I decided that if I just ignored it, then maybe it would leave me alone. So I just kept my head down & kept attempting to read. The footsteps were getting louder & louder, closer & closer! I see the blue of a shirt & then the footsteps stop in front of my room! At this point I'm on the verge of tears & screaming, but then again that would do no good! I was a goner! It was better to keep my mouth shut so they wouldn't get Ed either. At this point I figured it wasn't a ghost but some mass murderer that was come to hack me into pieces! A head peeks into my room & I can't stop myself from glancing up! Standing in my doorway was no one but Peter! Thank God! I just had to laugh & tell him my concern! At least I don't think he thinks I'm too crazy! He was just dropping off the key to his car since he didn't want to keep his car at his house while in Spain because the river sometimes floods this time of year. He came to bring Tim his key, yet Tim wasn't in his office so he wandered upstairs. What a relief it was to see him! It was also nice to know that he was around in case the 'ghost' did decide to come!

Ed & I made a nice little dinner & he made cookies. Snicker doodles to be exact. They were delicious even though he forgot the baking soda, which he flipped out about! (: It's all good though. Overall a good week! Now if I can just get all my work done...

<3