Hello. This will be a rather quick update since I'm catching a train in a hour to go to Nice for the weekend.
The weekend of May 8th-10th was spent in northern France in a small town near the town of Vannes. It was one of the best times I've had so far in France.
We left Thursday evening (after my classes) and we had to take three cars in order to get all of us there (we were 14 in all. 5 french, 1 british, 1 irish, 7 americans). Along the drive we stopped and had a picnic/dinner at a rest stop. We'd packed chips, sandwiches, drinks and cookies, ect. We didn't arrive at the cabin until around 1am friday morning. So we basically made our beds, gossiped a while and then went to bed. Elodie's cabin is awesome. There aren't a lot of neighbors and all the houses surrounding us were huge summer houses. Its also located right by the beach and one of the most huge castles in France. Her house came fully loaded with plenty of beds (including bunk beds), bicycles for all, picnic tables in the back yard, BBQ grill, sea kayaks, everything! I've decided I want a weekend get-away cabin like that when I get older.
Friday, our first day we woke up to a huge breakfast before spending the day at the beach. At the beach we enjoyed some beach volleyball, sea kayaking (it was my first time sea kayaking) and laying around soaking up the sun. The weatherman had predicted that it was going to being rainy, bad weather for us all weekend, but actually it turned out to be was nothing but sunshine. When we finally returned home we sat down for a huge BBQ dinner. In the evening we sat around chatting and playing games. Some of the boys played botchy ball and some others went for bicycle rides to the Castle down the road.
Saturday we took a ferry boat to the Ile d'Arz and spent the day walking around the entire island, soaking up some sun, having a picnic and playing more volleyball. After leaving the island we drove to Vannes and explored the town. In the evening we went to a Creperie restaurant which made both dinner crepes and dessert crepes. They were awesome.
Sunday morning we spent cleaning the entire cabin (so we'll be able to come back again sometime hopefully) and then we had a huge american breakfast including hashbrowns, bacon, eggs, pancakes, ect. Then headed into Sarzeau to visit a famous biscuterie (cookie store) where we tried all the free samples we could get our hands on. In the evening we jumped in the cars and headed back to Angouleme.
Monday was Nalleli's last day so we had a slumber party at the LISA tower. Tuesday was work. Wednesday we had a large BBQ at Elodie's to eat up all the left over food and alcohol from the weekend in the North. Thursday was school (boring). I can't remember what I did this weekend but I think I did a lot of reading and laundry. Tuesday Natalie and me went to watch a movie at the cinema (Angels and Demons).
Last night we had a huge BBQ at Emilie's house for Matt's going away party. It was so much fun. We literally kidnapped Matt off the street. He had no idea we were throwing him a party. We had some friends wearing nylons over there heads grab him and throw him into a camper (I was in the camper watching it all go down). We'd covered his head so he wouldn't know who was there and tied him up. We only spoke in spanish the entire time so he actually was freaked out thinking he'd been kidnapped. It took us about 25 mins to drive to Emilie's house which is outside of town so by the time we got there he was a little shakin' up and completely clueless to why everyone he knew was standing around laughing at him. It was one of the best kidnappings I've seen (not that I've seen a lot).
Today is a holiday so I didn't have to work. And now I must go in order to catch a train to Nice. I'll try to make sure to write everyday while I'm in Nice. LoveYa.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
More Pics
Bordeaux
Sitting at a park in Bordeaux
The Grand Theater of Bordeaux
Some old ruins called Palais Garnier in Bordeaux
Misty's last night in France. Paris.
St. Michel Monastery
An old windmill outside of Pontorson
St. Michel at night...
Public gardens in Rennes
Eating our lunch by a river
An old chateau that we discovered while driving.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Spring Vacation
Hello everyone. Long time, no write. Sorry about that, keeping a blog isn't as fun as it seems. ;)
So the first week of my Spring vacation (April 20th-24th) was spent teaching at "le stage" which I've mentioned before. It was a lot of fun to teach older kids (these ones were 16 year-olds) since I can actually talk to them in english and make jokes, as opposed to repeating the same five words for an entire class (which I do with my little kids). I think it was good experience for next year, since I've asked to teach high school next year instead of elementary school. My kids really liked me. I basically just B.S. with them for three hours and played games. On the last day I brought in some movies, candy, chips and soda and spent the three hours watching american films (superbad and v for vendetta). I was all alone for the week because everyone had left either to go home or on a road trip south. I went on a cleaning frenzy and cleaned-up/organized the common room and kitchen.
Saturday April 25th the tower was once more filled with life as the girls who were road tripping made a special stop to pick me up and take me north with them. they arrived late in the evening, but I had hot, homemade lasagna waiting for them (it was my first time ever making lasagna, but it didn't turn out to horrible...at least the girls were polite enough to eat all of it and tell me it was good...).
Sunday April 26th we awoke first thing in the morning and started our journey north. We stopped in a town along the way to have a lunch picnic along a river (I'm not sure which river it was). We drove through Nantes which is a gorgeous town, but we were in a hurry to get to Rennes so we didn't stop (I'm planning on heading there for a weekend before I leave so I can check the town out more thoroughly). When we arrived in Rennes there was a bizzilion rollerskaters. Apparently we'd arrived just at the end of some huge rollerblading competition, so there were men running around in tight spandex everywhere. :) The city center of the town was beautiful, but we decided we wanted to head a little further north before night fall so we jumped back in the car and drove to Pontorson which is small town near the St Michel Monastery. That night we snuck into the town/monastery (we found a door that wasn't locked and let ourselves in. We were going to play stupid tourist if we got caught, but there was no one around). St Michel Monastery is actually a small town and former Monastery on a very small island/hill. During high tide the island is completely surrounded by water. They've recently built a bridge that connects the island to the mainland at all times though, so that's why we were able to access it.
Monday April 27th we began our day by visiting St Michel again (this time when it was open, full of tourists and souvenir shops). I didn't actual go into the old monastery which sits at the top of the hill/island like a crown, because I didn't want to pay and we were also on a time crunch (we had to be to Paris by 8pm). We spent the day driving through different towns and occassionally getting out to explore the towns we went through. We made it to Paris just in time. We had reservations at my favorite hostel 'the peace and love' (actually we tried to book reservations but the internet said they were full, so I called in some favors to my friends who work there and they hooked us up). It was Misty's last night in France so we all went out to dinner and then stayed up drinking and gossiping at the bar until the wee hours of the morning.
Tuesday April 28th we dropped Misty off at the airport before heading back to Angouleme. We basically drove straight from Paris to Angouleme, because we had to have the rental car turned in by 6pm. So our only pit stops were for gas, pee breaks and a lunch stop at 'Quick' which is the french version of McDonalds (I'd never eaten there before and promised myself I'd try it before I left France, so I was actually happy to be chowing down on a greasy, over-processed piece of hamburger). Even though we did mostly driving during the trip it was a lot of fun. For one thing, I actually got to drive, because I was one of the few who knew how to drive a manual and I was also the best/safest driver (I've wrecked two cars, so you can imagine what the others drive like if I'm the best...let's just say we almost died multiple times...). It was also lovely to hang out with everyone in a small enclosed area because everyone is leaving soon so we just chatted and relived the memories of the past year.
The following couple of days (April 29th-May 2nd) were spent resting and relaxing. I was suppose to be leaving for Barcelona for the weekend, but plans kept on getting pushed backed and finally we decided to cancel it since we had waited to long to book a hostel and there weren't any trains on the days we needed. Another factor for not going to Barcelona is the Swine Flu scare. The french government advised its citizens not to visit infected countries (like spain) so we just hung out in Angouleme instead (they are actually trying to ban all flights to Mexico from France, but hopefully that won't happen or one of my roommates isn't going to be able to make it home). I still plan on visiting Barcelona, but on a later date (probably end of May or beginning of June if I can get the money together for it). There is only three of us left in the tower but the other two leave next week, so then I'll be all alone. We've been having a lot of fun with just the three of us here. Every night we have a family dinner (using up all the food that the others left when they left) and usually a movie after. We've been going on walks, shooting hoops at the park and we even had a slumber party in the common room the other night.
Sunday May 3rd Nalelli and me went to the cinema and watched the biography of Coco Chanel. It was a really great french film. The name of the film was 'Coco Avant Chanel' which means 'Coco before Chanel' it was the biography of her before she became a celebrated designer.
Monday May 4th Nalelli and me spent all day shopping. I was looking for sandals, but ended up buying another pair of boots. Oh well...
Tuesday May 5th was a beautiful day. It was so sunshiny and warm that even the fact that I had to work didn't get me down. After my classes I went to a huge park and met Matt there for some hotdogs and cool beers, while we chatted, read and edited some papers. I then met Emily in town and we grabbed a slushy before I headed home.
Wednesday May 6th was yet another beautiful day. In fact the perfect weather day. 75 degrees, no clouds in the sky and a light breeze that would blow occassionally to cool you down. Nalelli and me caught a train to Bordeaux today (actually we missed our first train because we're silly...we sat for almost ten minutes starring at this train and make fun of the people coming on and off it and as it started to pull away Nalelli jumped up and started following it saying 'I think that was our train'...oops, so we exchanged our tickets and caught the next train). Bordeaux is a beautiful city. The entire old town is listed as a World Heritage Site and there are huge theaters and monuments and parks around every corner. We walked around for a while stopping occassionally to look in a store or have a cool drink in a cafe. Then we grabbed some ice cream and headed for a park. We looked around for a while longer then headed to another park to enjoy the sun, read and watch people juggling. We took a six o'clock train home again (it's only a hour train ride home to Angouleme) and spent the rest of the evening relaxing and watching movies.
I'm going to be busy for the next couple of weeks because I have lots of plans in the work. Tomorrow I have classes in the morning and then I have to give oral exams in the afternoon. from there I'm leaving right away to head north for the weekend to a little town called Vennes. My friend Elodie's parents own a 'weekend get-away cabin' there, so 15 of us are piling into cars and road tripping up there (wait didn't I just get back from a road trip to the North?? Oh, well). It should be a lot of fun. It's near the coast and a lake, so were planning on picnicing and rowing and biking and all sorts of fun stuff. The following weekend I'm going to try to go to the Cannes Film Festival (depends on funds however, so I'll have to do some budgetting). I'd hate to miss it, because its one of those things that if your in France and you have the opportunity to go, you really can't pass it up (plus I want a photo with Johnny Depp who will definitely be there). TTYL. LoveYa.
So the first week of my Spring vacation (April 20th-24th) was spent teaching at "le stage" which I've mentioned before. It was a lot of fun to teach older kids (these ones were 16 year-olds) since I can actually talk to them in english and make jokes, as opposed to repeating the same five words for an entire class (which I do with my little kids). I think it was good experience for next year, since I've asked to teach high school next year instead of elementary school. My kids really liked me. I basically just B.S. with them for three hours and played games. On the last day I brought in some movies, candy, chips and soda and spent the three hours watching american films (superbad and v for vendetta). I was all alone for the week because everyone had left either to go home or on a road trip south. I went on a cleaning frenzy and cleaned-up/organized the common room and kitchen.
Saturday April 25th the tower was once more filled with life as the girls who were road tripping made a special stop to pick me up and take me north with them. they arrived late in the evening, but I had hot, homemade lasagna waiting for them (it was my first time ever making lasagna, but it didn't turn out to horrible...at least the girls were polite enough to eat all of it and tell me it was good...).
Sunday April 26th we awoke first thing in the morning and started our journey north. We stopped in a town along the way to have a lunch picnic along a river (I'm not sure which river it was). We drove through Nantes which is a gorgeous town, but we were in a hurry to get to Rennes so we didn't stop (I'm planning on heading there for a weekend before I leave so I can check the town out more thoroughly). When we arrived in Rennes there was a bizzilion rollerskaters. Apparently we'd arrived just at the end of some huge rollerblading competition, so there were men running around in tight spandex everywhere. :) The city center of the town was beautiful, but we decided we wanted to head a little further north before night fall so we jumped back in the car and drove to Pontorson which is small town near the St Michel Monastery. That night we snuck into the town/monastery (we found a door that wasn't locked and let ourselves in. We were going to play stupid tourist if we got caught, but there was no one around). St Michel Monastery is actually a small town and former Monastery on a very small island/hill. During high tide the island is completely surrounded by water. They've recently built a bridge that connects the island to the mainland at all times though, so that's why we were able to access it.
Monday April 27th we began our day by visiting St Michel again (this time when it was open, full of tourists and souvenir shops). I didn't actual go into the old monastery which sits at the top of the hill/island like a crown, because I didn't want to pay and we were also on a time crunch (we had to be to Paris by 8pm). We spent the day driving through different towns and occassionally getting out to explore the towns we went through. We made it to Paris just in time. We had reservations at my favorite hostel 'the peace and love' (actually we tried to book reservations but the internet said they were full, so I called in some favors to my friends who work there and they hooked us up). It was Misty's last night in France so we all went out to dinner and then stayed up drinking and gossiping at the bar until the wee hours of the morning.
Tuesday April 28th we dropped Misty off at the airport before heading back to Angouleme. We basically drove straight from Paris to Angouleme, because we had to have the rental car turned in by 6pm. So our only pit stops were for gas, pee breaks and a lunch stop at 'Quick' which is the french version of McDonalds (I'd never eaten there before and promised myself I'd try it before I left France, so I was actually happy to be chowing down on a greasy, over-processed piece of hamburger). Even though we did mostly driving during the trip it was a lot of fun. For one thing, I actually got to drive, because I was one of the few who knew how to drive a manual and I was also the best/safest driver (I've wrecked two cars, so you can imagine what the others drive like if I'm the best...let's just say we almost died multiple times...). It was also lovely to hang out with everyone in a small enclosed area because everyone is leaving soon so we just chatted and relived the memories of the past year.
The following couple of days (April 29th-May 2nd) were spent resting and relaxing. I was suppose to be leaving for Barcelona for the weekend, but plans kept on getting pushed backed and finally we decided to cancel it since we had waited to long to book a hostel and there weren't any trains on the days we needed. Another factor for not going to Barcelona is the Swine Flu scare. The french government advised its citizens not to visit infected countries (like spain) so we just hung out in Angouleme instead (they are actually trying to ban all flights to Mexico from France, but hopefully that won't happen or one of my roommates isn't going to be able to make it home). I still plan on visiting Barcelona, but on a later date (probably end of May or beginning of June if I can get the money together for it). There is only three of us left in the tower but the other two leave next week, so then I'll be all alone. We've been having a lot of fun with just the three of us here. Every night we have a family dinner (using up all the food that the others left when they left) and usually a movie after. We've been going on walks, shooting hoops at the park and we even had a slumber party in the common room the other night.
Sunday May 3rd Nalelli and me went to the cinema and watched the biography of Coco Chanel. It was a really great french film. The name of the film was 'Coco Avant Chanel' which means 'Coco before Chanel' it was the biography of her before she became a celebrated designer.
Monday May 4th Nalelli and me spent all day shopping. I was looking for sandals, but ended up buying another pair of boots. Oh well...
Tuesday May 5th was a beautiful day. It was so sunshiny and warm that even the fact that I had to work didn't get me down. After my classes I went to a huge park and met Matt there for some hotdogs and cool beers, while we chatted, read and edited some papers. I then met Emily in town and we grabbed a slushy before I headed home.
Wednesday May 6th was yet another beautiful day. In fact the perfect weather day. 75 degrees, no clouds in the sky and a light breeze that would blow occassionally to cool you down. Nalelli and me caught a train to Bordeaux today (actually we missed our first train because we're silly...we sat for almost ten minutes starring at this train and make fun of the people coming on and off it and as it started to pull away Nalelli jumped up and started following it saying 'I think that was our train'...oops, so we exchanged our tickets and caught the next train). Bordeaux is a beautiful city. The entire old town is listed as a World Heritage Site and there are huge theaters and monuments and parks around every corner. We walked around for a while stopping occassionally to look in a store or have a cool drink in a cafe. Then we grabbed some ice cream and headed for a park. We looked around for a while longer then headed to another park to enjoy the sun, read and watch people juggling. We took a six o'clock train home again (it's only a hour train ride home to Angouleme) and spent the rest of the evening relaxing and watching movies.
I'm going to be busy for the next couple of weeks because I have lots of plans in the work. Tomorrow I have classes in the morning and then I have to give oral exams in the afternoon. from there I'm leaving right away to head north for the weekend to a little town called Vennes. My friend Elodie's parents own a 'weekend get-away cabin' there, so 15 of us are piling into cars and road tripping up there (wait didn't I just get back from a road trip to the North?? Oh, well). It should be a lot of fun. It's near the coast and a lake, so were planning on picnicing and rowing and biking and all sorts of fun stuff. The following weekend I'm going to try to go to the Cannes Film Festival (depends on funds however, so I'll have to do some budgetting). I'd hate to miss it, because its one of those things that if your in France and you have the opportunity to go, you really can't pass it up (plus I want a photo with Johnny Depp who will definitely be there). TTYL. LoveYa.
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