Gorge du Verdon and Other GORGEous Places

I woke up to the lovely song of Come on Get Higher by Matt Nathanson playing on my iPod. I discovered how to tell it to use a song to wake you up. It was lovely but came way too quickly. I would have loved a few more hours of sleep... Madame was already up and had breakfast on the table when I got up. I had my little bread and a banana and a pudding cup size of Apple sauce which Madame bought when she learned I like it. Now I have 12 to go through but I love apple sauce so I am not complaining! We talked a bit about how it wasn't too bad out weather wise and then I made a PB&J to take with me on the bus.

I headed out after deciding to wear my swimsuit even though I thought it was too cold for swimming. I had no trouble finding the meeting place this time (because I went the route I knew) and got there a little early so on time. We loaded the buses and went on our way. I chose to sit closer to the front of the bus this time to see if it would help my motion sickness at all and it did a little. I still wish I had motion sickness pills. That would have been really smart to bring.

We didn't stay on the auto route very long and instead drove through a few small towns. George the tour guide would tell us a bit about them. Above picture is the Chateau d'Allemagne de Provence.  Finally we stopped in one called Riez. It was a small village that happened to be having a market that day. We stopped and I bought a ficelle which is like a baguette but smaller and skinnier as well as an apple and banana. I put them in my bag for later. We explored the non food part of the market and I bought a couple Christmas gifts. I figure if I spread them out it will be better than trying to buy a bunch of things last minute.  After that Cassandra and I went and took a few pictures of some Roman ruins which just casually were in the center of town. After that we ate for a bit before getting back on the bus to go to the Lake Sainte Croix.

The lake is artificial because there was a dam built but it was really beautiful.  The water was gorgeous as was the geology around it. That's code for rocks and mountains and stuff. The stone was really interesting color of grey and orange and looked almost like it had been painted together and the paint had dripped. It was really pretty.
 

They had paddle boats there so Cassandra and I rented one for the hour and went into the canyon. It was really pretty but definitely a leg work out going against the current. I have a fear of small boats the beginning I was pretty freaked but I got used to it. We stopped the boat when we went as far as we dared without being in a rush to get the boat back in time and let the current carry us back while we ate our lunch. There was a waterfall and a couple people were stupid enough to jump in the water even though it was really cold. They all immediately regretted their decision and climbed back into their boats.

We got the boat back and then went and sat and took in the view. Cassandra talked about how she thinks it's weird when people are here and only talk about thing from back home. Then the rest of our time at the lake she talked about home. I didn't mind but I did find it funny.

After that we got back on the bus and went up to the top of the mountains to get some cool pictures of the Lake and the Canyon. It was pretty cool.

Next we went to the town of Moustiers Sainte-Marie which is named the most beautiful city in France. And it was very clear why! The village is very small and quaint with lots of flower pots. It’s situated between two mountains and has a chapel built into the side of the mountain. In the olden days children who had lost their parents would come here and climb all the stairs to be received in the chapel. Though it is very small so I don’t know where they would go after that! But it is also a very difficult climb! I decided to take my time and go for it and people were already coming down when I reached the top. It was wearing flip flops, not ideal climbing shoes and the stairs were very steep. Luckily, there was a good hand rail. It took me about half an hour. But I decided better to go slow and not risk it. I got to the top and explored the chapel. It was very dark which I found really cool because it was almost like a metaphor with your eyes. When you first come in it is really hard to see anything even though you know things are there. You can only see the windows. Then slowly over time you gain vision of the chapel itself and the things inside it. I kind of view this as like my relationship with Christ. I was standing in the dark for a long time knowing he was there and not being able to see. But I knew so I just kept waiting and trying to see and eventually I gained some sight. I kind of view it like that. The altar was pretty cool all gold.

 I eventually walked (slipped) my way back down. The rocks were very slick so I kept two hands on the hand rail the whole time. I stopped at a shop and bought a gift. Then went to the next store and found the same type of gift but one I liked a lot more… Oh. This town is known for their hand painted pottery ceramic things. There were a lot of really cool plates and cups and things that were really pretty to look at but are all very expensive because they require a lot of work (My first one was not as very expensive). I walked around the stores with Cassandra looking for this type of gift to check prices and eventually knew that if I didn’t buy the one I liked better that I was going to beat myself up over it forever. So I went back and bought it. Now I don’t know how I will get it home but it seemed important to buy here and I can gift the other one to someone else. It’s not like the first was/is bad just not exactly what I intended for this person. But it will be fine! All is good!

After that we walked around a bit more before getting back on the bus to come home. When we did get home Cassandra and I came back to my house to drop off my gifts before going to dinner. I had her wait downstairs in the entry way because I had been told by the institute not to bring friends home because the home is like more private. On my way back down I ran into Madame who had talked to Cassandra and scolded me for not bringing her up. I explained that the university had said not to and she was like oh well I don’t care as long as it’s not like 15 people. So I said oh okay well now I know.

We met up with two girls named Valerie and Danielle and then headed off to an English (UK) Restaurant called the Bulldogge. Cassandra and Valerie had each won a free meal from the scavenger hunt that they went and claimed. My very slow team won nothing. But that’s okay. We walked there and then had a very delicious hamburger with salad and French fries all for 10 Euros. Pretty good deal!  Our waiter was pretty cool too. He came by and gave us a free menthe alcohol shot (not me I said no thanks because I don’t like mint). He was pretty cool. I tried tiramisu for the first time! It was delicious!!!

After we paid we all went home. I walked half way home with Danielle who I sort of know from my Literature class. She is pretty cool. It was a fun night and a fun day.

It was about 9:30 when I got home and Madame was surprised to see me so soon. I don’t know why but she thinks that I am going to be out until all hours of the night. But not really… I am usually too tired and especially after the day that I had today! I showed Madame my pictures from the day and talked with her about them and then we started watching Fort Boyard my favorite French show. Madame started to fall asleep and I would wake her up with my involuntary and annoying coughs. Eventually she went to bed and now so will I.

Goodnight! P.S. Madame changed my sheets/duvet again!

Carrefour

Today I woke up and read a bunch. I had some cereal and discovered that milk here has a very different taste to it. I have also noticed (today) that it isn’t in the refrigerated section of grocery stores. I did some research and figured out why this is and found this:

Most milk in France does not require refrigeration because it is sterilised and not pasteurized. Despite having been the first country to "discover" and widely use pasteurization for dairy products, they now use what is called UHT steralization, another heating process that kills bacteria.

The shelf life of sterilized milk is 6-9 months when unopened, hence it's reason for being popular. This is why French milk tastes different. Other European countries like Spain, Portugal, and Belgium also use this method.

Apparently UHT milk has been introduced in the US, but Americans, as they are with all change, were no open to trying unrefrigerated milk that tastes like merde. Evidement.

I found that really helpful and surprising as well. I totally agree with the American view of the milk here though it is very weird and different! I think the best way to describe it is that it doesn’t taste refreshing? Once you open the milk you put it in the fridge but it still isn’t very like fresh feeling? It is hard to describe so you will just have to come here and try it ;-)

I read my book for a while and got almost done with my outline for a paper due on Monday when I decided I didn’t want to have a sit at home day today when I know that Sunday the weather is going to be bad and I won’t be able to walk around much. So I texted my friend Cassandra and asked if she wanted to go on an adventure with me to find the big supermarché or big grocery store that is outside of town. She agreed and we made plans to meet.

The best form of transportation here is public because to get a license you have to pass a test and go to driving school. It is also very expensive to get a license (over 1,000 Euros, that’s over $1,350!) and if you don’t pass the tests you have to retake them and pay the money to try all over again! Not to mention that but cars are also pretty expensive here and there isn’t a lot of space to park them. So because of this if you want to go somewhere over a mile away you need to take public transportation to get there. We ended up needing to take the bus. I had a bit of trouble figuring out which line we needed to take to get us there and the bus routes aren’t very clear. I finally found a website that you could tell it where you wanted to go and it would tell you the best route to take. What a life saver! I met Cassandra and we headed out. I had looked at how moany stops the bus would make before we needed to get off so that we would be sure not to miss it but the bus stopped a lot more often than the route made it seem. I was not recognizing the bus stop names and was getting worried but then we soon passed the grocery store and stopped close by. We hopped off and began our adventure.

The store is called Carrefour and the best way that I could describe it is that it is like a Safeway and a Walmart and Half of a Fred Meyers. It is BIG. I guess it could be compared to Costco but things aren’t in bulk they is just a lot of stuff!

We went in and I had some Mac Do. I wanted a taste of home and to be able to say that I had. It was difficult to order because they don’t really do things in the same way. They do single things and not really meals. I learned later that they have machines there that you can order from and put them in different languages. This makes a lot of sense because I bet that they have the language barrier problem a lot here! It tasted pretty different as everything here does even if you think it will taste familiar. I mostly just needed to eat something or else I was going to start getting grumpy.

We started walking around looking at things. There were a lot of interesting things and a lot of things that I looked at and said “Hey so and so would like this” but then I said how in the world would I get this back to them… I also found suit cases for not a lot of Euros, only like fifty so that is a good thing to remember. I took a lot of pictures of the store. THey have these cool things where you take a scanner with you and scan your fods while you shop and then you just give the scanner to the checkout lady. This is really cool because it saves everyone time waiting in line behind people with lots of stuff and it shows sort of that the store trusts you not to lie to them which I think is why we don't have them in the states.There were a lot of aisles that were dedicated to just one thing. There were three wine aisles, a cheese aisle, a yogurt aisle, a French fry aisle, and an ice cream isle. I think that they have so many choices for one thing because those are REALLY popular food staples here, everyone eats cheese and drinks wine and has desserts. I think that it was a really cool experience to go to a French grocery store. I could easily have spent hours wandering and looking at all of the things that they had. Fortunately for Cassandra, I only took three and a half.

When I got home Madame made dinner and we had a very delicious Chicken and Rice with Zuccinni. The chicken she had soaked in honey, lemon, and thyme. It was sooooo good. I will HAVE to get the recipe. After that I Skyped or tried really with my crummy internet to Skype Thad before he had to go to Lunch.  

After that Madame and I started watching Master Chef which is a really cool cooking show. There was a trivia question tonight which was how many desserts are traditionally at the table for Christmas in the South of France. Madame was quick to say thirteen. After one of the people on the show said three and was kicked off, I asked her what they were. She listed off a few nuts, figs, nougat, Yule Log, fruit, etc. and she got to about 7 before she got stuck and couldn’t think of any others. So we decided to Google it and in doing so found out why!

The thirteen desserts of Christmas, or Les Treize Desserts de Noël, are enjoyed after Gros Souper in Provence. The thirteen desserts are in reference to Jesus and his twelve apostles at the Last Supper. As tradition goes, there must be at least thirteen sweet available, they are all served at once, and each guest must have at least a small bit of each dessert.

Fougasse or pompe à l'Huile, an olive oil flatbread, is eaten with grape jam made during the last harvest season. The tradition is to break the bread into individual servings with the fingers, rather than cut the bread with a knife. Legend goes that this protects one's wealth from bankruptcy in the coming year.

The "four beggars" portion of lez treize stands for four monastic communities: Augustinians, Carmelites, Dominicans, and Franciscans. Walnuts stand for the Augustinians, almonds for the Carmelites, raisins for the Dominicans, and figs for the Franciscans. A platter of fresh fruit usually counts as one dessert, and is always served after Gros Souper. It can be a selection of oranges, apples, pears, and grapes. Any combination of seasonal fruit is welcome, and fresh berries rarely make the list, although they would be considered acceptable, as well.
Source: http://frenchfood.about.com/od/festivalsandholidays/tp/13-Desserts-Of-Christmas.htm

I found that really interesting and I wish that I was going to be here for Christmas to experience that. But also at the same time I am very happy that I will be home for Christmas with my family. J



French Pokemon Spelling Game. Who knew?

Tomorrow I have my trip to Gorges du Verdon and Riez, Le Lac de Sainte Croix, and Moustier Sainte Marie. For those of you keeping a map ;-) Mom.

Sore Throat :-(

Today I woke up with a sore throat. It pretty much has hurt all day. Dad says that it is because my ear is starting to drain so all the bacteria is ending up in my throat? But that’s pretty gross to think about and my ear isn’t feeling any better… I woke up and did normal morning stuff and then started playing Plants vs. Zombies 2 on my iPod. Pretty soon it was time to go to class so I headed out.

I had a lot of trouble concentrating in class because even though I slept really well I felt exhausted. I think I must have a cold or am getting sick or something. After class I went to my next class and talked about Tolstoys The Devil. I learned that it had two endings and I didn’t know that so I was a bit lost part of the tie until I figured that out. It was interesting though. I liked the story. 

After that I just decided to go home because I really wasn’t feeling up to much. So I came home and started reading my book when Madame came home. I told her my throat hurt and she made me a cup of tea with honey and half a lemon. It tasted not super great but it helped a bit. Then she went to the store and I took a little nap and then she came home and we went downstairs. Paul did his homework and Madame gave him a shower and then he started trying to play Plants v.s. Zombies. He didn’t really get it, but whatever. I had to stop watching because it was one of those things where he was doing it al wrong and it was painful to watch. But really it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t win. Laurence came home and we had wine and cracker stuff. Madame made these like bread with meat on them things but the meat looked and smelled like wet cat food and I really couldn’t do it. We talked about the states and stuff and it was fun. Paul was too busy trying to do PvZ to be too rowdy, which was nice. 

After that we came back upstairs and had salad and left over pizza. She also gave me two types of ham to try. The first one was fine but jambon cru I did not like. It was ham that was flavored in some way and then had lots of fat on it. I tried to eat it but I could tell I wasn’t going to be able to swallow it so I conveniently had to go to my room to take a pill and then promptly spit it out in my trashcan. I feel bad but I really have issues with my gag reflex… Then we watched Men in Black 2 which Madame liked. She thought it was funny. 

I don’t really have much to write today because I just tried to have a pretty calm day. I don’t feel great so there just isn’t much to say because I didn’t do much. I had a good day but just not very eventful.

L'Oppidum d'Entremont

This morning I really didn’t want to get up. I tried a new thing where instead of waking up with my phone I used my ipod and I found it a much nicer wake-up than the really loud and obnoxious badly recorded premade alarm tones of the cheap cell phone I have. Gentle twinkles are much nicer! But regardless I didn’t want to get up and wanted to just sleep the day away. Though don’t I always? Yes…

I woke up and Madame was complaining about how the weather wasn’t good so she wasn’t sure that she could do laundry. Today she was going to wash the Laurence’s sofa covers using both the upstairs and downstairs machines. The weather was sort of putting a damper on those plans… I ate breakfast and then went and finished getting ready for going to the Oppidum. I brought my laptop so that I could make my photo videos on the nicer internet and upload the new photos that I took. I added the Saint Tropez photo reel to the Saint Tropez post but I put it here too if you haven’t seen pictures yet. I put my laptop in my locker during the trip so as not to make my back feel worse. (Mom I can’t find a heating pad here… Is it possible to send one? They aren’t heavy? Maybe the gummy vitamins I like? You could just put them in a bag and call them candy for customs. Text me!)

The Oppidum was pretty cool. Once we got there… We met in front of the cathedral and then walked to the bus stop which was all fine. But once we got off the bus we had another mile to walk uphill…. For me that isn’t so good. Not because I can’t walk around fine. But to try and keep pace with others especially on hills is complicated… My vocal cords make it so that even if I keep them in check to not cause an attack I am not getting enough oxygen to my muscles and then they start to tense up. But to breathe heavier or faster will initiate an attack which really would be worse. I started at the front of the pack on the walk up but ended in the back just because I couldn’t keep up with the pace. And I know I should have like said something or whatever but I don’t like to make a big deal of it… But it really isn’t a good feeling when you are 20 years old and can’t walk up a hill without having such difficulty. It makes me sad. I don’t like that I can’t be like everyone else. There is a trip to hike up the Mont Sainte Victoire this weekend but this just showed me that really I shouldn’t go. I would feel bad for letting everyone else down for being slow and it would be me pushing myself the whole way and that just doesn’t seem good… I dunno. I try not to think about the whole vocal cord thing all the time but it really does limit what I can do, and that really is sad.

The Oppidum was pretty cool just in the fact that it existed in 175 BC. You can walk around and still find fragments of the ceramics that they used and see where the different buildings were. It was pretty cool to walk around and listen to someone who knows history tell you about it. I was in the midst of feeling bad about myself for the trip up to the site when I got stung by some sort of black bug. It hurt like an initial bee sting and for the next ten minutes but then it was fine. It is a bit scary though to think about being stung by a bug you don’t recognize and not knowing if it is poisonous or something. But the sting kinda just made a sad mood more miserable. But I snapped out of it on the way back down. There were some cool things at the Oppidum and it was interesting to see the like fireplaces, engraved heads, engraved snake, view from the top, the rock tools they used to make wine and olive oil, as well crush grains and also the slope that enemies would have to climb to attack the village.

After we walked around the village we went back down and caught the bus back to town. Once there I went in search of something to eat for lunch so that I wouldn’t have to go out again. I found this Chinese place that had chicken and rice that was pretty good. I took it back to the school and then looked for a hotel in Lyon that wasn’t so expensive. I found one for 125 Euros which includes breakfast. Much better than the 400 that I had found before! It is a little ways out from the city center but I think that we can get to a train that goes into the main part of town and that isn’t as far or we can take taxis or something. But with the money we are saving it will be worth it. We will figure it out but I am glad that I found something!

After I did that I went and downstairs to eat in the cave and do my photo/video stuff on my laptop. Lunch was good but after about 10 bites in I realized that I really was NOT hungry. I pawned off the rest on someone. The chicken was like TOO flavorful I think and I didn’t recognize the flavor. It was good but just too rich for me. Now I know! After a while I started to feel like in the way and went home to change into a less hot shirt. It was starting to get nice again I noticed as I went home and sure enough Madame had started laundry but was watching the sky closely because there were still clouds. She ended up drying my laundry inside on a drying rack.

I did started to do my French homework and then got stuck. We were to use a bunch of verbs that pretty much all mean the same thing but have little nuances and were suppose to place them in this like storyline thing. I did as much as I could and then Madame offered to help me. It made a lot more sense when she explained it. She is very helpful. After that I finished my literature reading for tomorrow We read Tolsostoys The Devil. After that it was time for me to go to the bank so that I could pull out money to pay George for the trip this weekend. After that I went and broke a ten at crepe a gogo (Lemon and Sugar) so that I would have an even 5 to give. I went to the building where we usually pay him and there was a sign saying he was in the new building. So I went to the old building to check my mail. My package had come! I was very excited and had to run back to the building that George was supposed to be in to get it. I was very happy! Then I went and payed George for the trip. I am pretty excited about it. We are going to Riez which is a smaller town to get things for lunch and then going to the Gorge de Verdon and Lac de Sainte Croix for some lake fun and it is supposedly the most beautiful place ever, and then going to Sainte-Marie which is named the most beautiful city in France. I am very excited! And I get to knock another place off of my postcard!

I went upstairs to kill time waiting for my class so I opened my package. I got a bunch of stuff to give to Madame and Laurence and mostly for Paul and then some useful stuff for me from my mom. Included were some candys that I assume I was supposed to share. Oooops I ate them! J After that I was faced with the dillemna of how to put all the stuff back in the box… Nice packing mom! I ended up using the already used tape to reseal the box. It looked like a mess but it worked good. I had my class which was fun but it is always difficult to hear in that room because it was bad acoustics but it is even worse for me with a bum ear so I had to ask her to repeat a lot.

After that I cam home and dropped off all my stuff and then headed down to give gifts. Paul really liked his cards and told me that he isn’t going to trade them. He also liked the pencil. Madame was very happy with her scarf and said thank you at least 3 times and then told me to tell my mother thank you as well. Check. I also gave her the Oregon Quarter and she thought that was pretty cool. Paul had me try a Tete Brule which is a Head on fire which is just like a sucker candy that is sour at first for like 10 seconds. The one he gave me wasn’t too sour and it was actually a pretty good candy. I watched tv while Madame gave Paul a shower and then we went upstairs. Paul played minions and fruit ninja and Madame made dinner. After he got bored of the Ipod we played with the balloon. Paul asked me why I had a fat stomach… I felt kinda sad but I took it with a grain of salt because people here are tiny and I know he didn’t mean it in a bad way. We had pasta with broccoli and ham for dinner. It was pretty simple but I enjoy simple.  Bread with cheese and then melon for dessert. I learned that Paul really is VERY picky and doesn’t even like dessert! WHAT!?

After that I went and Skyped Thad. Today marks four months that we have been together which isn’t really that long but you have to start somewhere and we have the luxury of starting with 6 years of solid friendship on top of that.

Tomorrow I predict a pretty easy day of school and I am glad that I can sleep in a bit. I think Friday I may try and find the bigger grocery store that is a bit outside of town and take the bus. It could be a fun adventure!

Bon Journée! Bon nuit! A demain!

Pizza/Puppet Time

I did a really good job of waking up this morning at 9:30 but I didn’t do such a good job of staying on task. My brain was in plan trips mode and not in do this homework before class mode. Which wasn't very helpful. I know that I want to take full advantage of being in Europe but I know full well that I won’t hit everywhere that I really want in the short time I’m here. Also these trips cost money. I should be getting my financial aid this coming week or here in the next few days I think. I don’t really have the greatest understanding about it though. But that is what I understand at this point?

I finally decided that if I went to school I would be more focused on doing my homework and I was. There isn’t a class in the room before mine so I went in there to do my homework. There was a lady in there but she didn’t mind me and I didn’t mind her. I downloaded the new iOS 7 for my iPod as well. I think it is pretty weird looking but everything is pretty much the same as far as I can tell. I got most of my homework done and then people started to come in for class so I was in good shape. We talked more about the French revolution and then sooner than I realized class was over.

“But, but, but there’s got to be a butt or else it isn’t funny” – My history professor

I walked with Cassandra to browse the Casino store (convenience store I don’t know why it is called casino). I was feeling hungry so I bought a chicken wrap but once I ate half of it I realized that I really wasn’t hungry. I gave the rest to Cassandra. Next was my lit class where we continued to talk about Paradise Lost. I had some issues with the class this time… The professor was telling us that the Bible is just a figurative story and that it wasn’t real. I didn’t agree with that… I feel like who is to say that Adam and Eve weren’t real. I mean people were saying it doesn’t make sense that they didn’t like have a childhood or adolescence and they were just adults who woke up in the garden. I was like… Well they were put there by God and he is God so he can make anything happen… I dunno. It was a good discussion and I just took it with a grain of salt. Why would it not be possible that all people came from Adam and Eve? Because it would take a while? Well it’s not like time hasn’t been around for a while… I dunno. I believe that it happened. And I believe that it is real even if someone wrote it down a lot of years after Adam and Eve were ever around. And I do believe that some parts are not meant to be taken literally or that yes they applied more to the time at hand when it was written and not so much now but I don’t see anything wrong with that.

After that class I went and bought train tickets for Paris and Lyon. That costed a pretty penny but only because I was buying tickets for two others in addition to myself. So it is money up front now but it will be okay later. After that I went to happy hour with Cassandra and Patrick. I talked to Patrick a bit about traveling and they sound like they want to make plans for not next weekend but maybe the weekend after but they don’t know where yet. I told him to keep me informed.

After that I came home and read a bit and then Madame came home and we went downstairs. Paul showed me his notebook of English words. It is funny they are starting out with words that are the same looking in French and English and mean the same things. So he was saying them the French way and then I would say them the English way. After that we played with the balloon for a bit and then played Pokémon battles which was me picking a card and then Paul would pick a card that would beat me. It was pretty unfair since I picked first. Oh no I lost… didn’t see that one coming!  After that we ordered pizza for dinner.
 

Madame and Laurence took the couch covers off and are going to wash them tomorrow. Paul and I played more pokemon and I gave him piggy back rides. When the pizza got there we sat down to eat and Paul refused because he doesn’t like pizza I guess. He is very picky. He never likes to eat anything but pasta and nutella. We just left him and we had pizza and red wine. It was very good! One was ham, mushrooms (eh), and some sort of like green lettuce thing and then the other was four cheeses and some lettuce stuff. I ate four pieces. It was a lot. I could have stopped easily at two but they wouldn’t let me. After that Laurence and Madame had yogurt and I had applesauce. Laurence made Paul some ravioli and he got scolded a lot. Laurence had me play along that I was going to one day have kids and say oh man I hope they aren’t like Paul! After that we played the guessing game. We gave clues like I’m an animal that is gray and has very big ears, clues like that.

After that Paul did a little sock puppet show for me and then showed me how he can play tennis in the house. This was not a good idea and h almost broke the mirror before getting yelled at. Then we left and came downstairs.

 

I don’t really feel like writing much today as you can probably tell. I feel tired and exhausted and I just want to sleep. Tomorrow I have my trip to the Oppidum d’Entre-Mont that meets 20 minutes earlier than my class time. :-/ yay getting up earlier… But it should be cool and I am excited I am just like exhausted. 

Chez Doctor

My alarm went off at 7:30 so that I could have time to get ready and Skype Thad this morning but I was so tired I told it to “tais-toi” and went back to sleep for another half hour, (sorry!). I really didn’t feel too great this morning and wasn’t very hungry. I am wondering if now that my body is adjusting to the time here if it is starting to not like Breakfast again. I took my usual little bread with me and a banana and then went to class.

Our class was really interesting because we talked about the legend of the forming of Marseille, then called Massilia. Marseille was formed by the Greeks. The legend is that the two Greeks came to the king of the region of Provence and were invited to attend the marriage ceremony of his daughter. The way it worked was that she was to give a cup of wine to the man at the ceremony whom she wanted to marry. She chose one of the Greek chiefs and then the King gave them the land to build Marseille. The funny thing is that because of this all the other suitors at the marriage were mad because they weren’t chosen so then they attacked Marseille continuously (les gauloise). The Greeks won out though and put military bases in the countries of the people they beat which lead to the formation of the town of Nice = which in Greek is Nike = which means victory! (Shoe name history) After this the Greeks started the “first” supposed towns that had walls and military protection. They also moved from being fisherman and pirates to being farmers of grapes for wine and olives, leading to why olive oil, olives, and wine are so popular here!

Did you catch the problem with this legend? How can the princess of the region give wine to her chosen husband at the wedding if wine isn’t in this region yet? Also why would the king just let these random strangers in to his daughter’s wedding? It is believed either that it was water in some legends or that this wasn’t the first interaction between the Greeks and the Gauls but that trading and such had happened before and in order to strengthen relations they wanted to create a trading post in Provence. Doesn’t that make more sense? Yes, but the legend was a fun read. Next class we are going on a trip to the Oppidum d’Entre-Mont which is just north of Aix. I think it will be kind of cool!

After class I said I want to go to the doctor so I went around the schools trying to find the housing lady so she could make me an appointment. They ended up not having space but they told me to come down and they would squeeze me in. I was given directions and then sent off. I found the building all right but I couldn’t figure out the buzzer to have the door unlock… But luckily someone was leaving like two minutes later and I got in because of them. The receptionist spoke French only so that was a bit difficult. But we figured it out and then I sat down to wait. There were about 3 people in front of me but I didn’t have class again until five so I really wasn’t in a hurry. Plus I had my game of thrones book (the odd couple just got married for all you knowers of the book. I am still Pre-Red wedding! No spoilers!) So I was happy to wait and not be doing homework. ;-)

About an hour and fifteen later I went in to see the doctor who I thought was going to speak English but actually did not… But it sort of worked? He didn’t seem too happy that I didn’t always understand him. I mean I know I made his job harder but… whatever. He looked in my ear and fiddled around in it saying stuff but my medical term French vocabulary is slim to well let’s be honest, I know none. Also I don’t know any ear terms besides ear. But I think he said that it is because I am congested because he wanted to check my lungs and stuff as well and was surprised that I wasn’t feeling bad about anything else. So maybe I have an infection or something? He gave me a prescription for ear drops and some pills and told me how often to take the, charged me 23 Euros and then sent me on my way. So I don’t actually know exactly what is wrong but I have the tools to fix it! Also I got the forms to get my money back from the appointment but I don’t know how to do it so I will have to go talk to the housing lady again.

After that I made my way two doors down to the pharmacie (there’s one on every block). I looked and asked about a heating pad but they didn’t have any and didn’t know where I would find one. I think it must not be a thing? Maybe I can like Google shop for one and then buy it and have it sent here from Europe so that it has the right plug. But I got the drugs and then ventured back towards the school buying a sandwich on the way. A couple tried asking me for help with directions in French and then I could tell they were struggling so I asked if they spoke English and they looked like I had like just saved their lives or something. So I think that they were very lost. Also yesterday some French girl running down the street on her phone asked me for directions to the Rotonde in French so I gave her directions in French. Go me! I don’t know if it was she thought I was French or what but she specifically asked me even though she was clearly French and there were other French people around. Kind of cool I guess? I must look like I know what’s up.

I had forgotten about the banana and it had gotten all gross in my bag so after cleaning that up (which it wasn’t so bad to begin with) I hung out in the cave a bit talking to Patrick and Will and Cassandra for a bit. Then I went upstairs to try and buy my train to Paris but learned that it wouldn’t take my card, maybe because it was a debit card or a MasterCard or what but it didn’t like it. So I decided it could wait another day. I did reserve the hotel for Paris which was very cheap, 3 nights for 140 and split two ways is 70 Euros. Not a bad break I don’t think! It is like 3 Euros more to train there in first class so I decided to do that as well. But I don’t have my tickets yet obviously but the train should be about 91 Euros for both ways together. Not super cheap but eh, I will double check that I can’t find a flight for cheaper tomorrow. But I mean I get to go to Paris so… Totally worth it, and I can’t come to France and not go to Paris, let’s be real. After that I attempted once again to try and find cheap hotel in Lyon that isn’t too far from the metro or some sort of way to get to the city part of Lyon. Here’s a hint it is a nightmare because I have to find a room for beds for three and everything is totally booked because the light festival is so awesome that everyone goes.

After getting frustrated I gave up and went and bought myself a strawberry tarte for good measure and then read for the rest of the time before my last class. It was very easy today, we talked about the five senses and different verbs that give different subtleties of meaning for the same like thing and talked about when you use each one. We probably talked about over 50 – 100 words though. So I hope we don’t need to remember them all. My professor is really nice though so it was fun. After that I walked home.

On my way home I was thinking about how frustrated I have been all day and how I don’t know if it was because I was trying to plan something or if I’m just hitting the wall already. I know in the study abroad timeline I am getting close to that time but it just sucks. I know that I am having a great time here no questions but I am getting really sick of being judged for being an American. People assume that I can’t articulate simple things. And alternatively, I am getting frustrated when I speak French with nice French people and I can’t find the word I am looking for or can’t articulate myself in the way I would prefer. I also am getting frustrated with things not working like my internet and the train tickets. I am shaking them off fine and not getting to get bogged down but it is just very frustrating all the time to not have things work properly/to my gluttonous American standards.

The good thing about this feeling is that it usually goes away when I get home each day. Madame is very understanding and helpful all the time and the rest of the family will help me with my grammar and have me re-explain when they don’t understand me rather than judge. I like that I have some space and Madame doesn’t have expectations for me. I always make time to sit and talk with her and I think our relationship is progressing nicely. I told her about my hotel problem and she called Christelle (her son’s wife) and asked her to look for hotels in Lyon for me since she lives closer and knows more about navigating the city. So I guess I will wait to book the hotel for sure until after she calls us back tomorrow.

Tonight for dinner Madame made a sort of like… quiche looking thing but it wasn’t quiche. She calls it a tarte de pou… something. She described it as a long green vegetable and by process of elimination I thought it was celery but it turned out to be leeks once we translated it. It was really good! I will ask her for the recipe. It was like pie/bread crust and then cheese and leeks. It was really good. We also had salad with olives, corn, and tomatoes. Madame told me I could pick off the tomatoes as soon as she set it down. She told me that she just put them on so that they looked nice and I could take a picture, J she knows now that I really hate them which is very nice. We had bread and cheese as per usual and Madame bought more of the cheese I like since two nights ago I finished the last one off. That is also very nice! I thanked her greatly and then she scolded herself for not remembering to cut the melon. I told her it was no problem and we could have it for dessert. It was good cantaloupe! Beebow started meow-begging when she was cutting it. She cut some up and gave it to him! And he ate it! I was shocked! She told me he ate corn earlier too but that he really likes melon. I found that really weird. After that I finished reading some of my book and accidentally read the English word chat as chat as in the French word cat without realizing it. I was like wait that sentence made no sense. I think that is again another sign that my English/French is getting worse/better. I still have my history homework but that won’t take long and I don’t have class until noon tomorrow.

After homework I Skyped Thad and then also Grandpa! I Skype chatted mom and we figured out the money/bank situation. After that I went and journaled in the living room until Madame went to bed. Tomorrow I hope I will be in a better mental space. 

Sorry there is no food pictures i cant find my ipod cord. I will add them tomorrow morning after I find it!

Ironman

Last night was pretty much the worst ever. I woke up at 4 am and my ear hurt soooo bad. I immediately took 800 mg of ibuprofen and tried to figure out what else I could do. I was talking to mom and Megan on Skype and they both told me to use a hot towel but at 4am I really didn’t want to wake up Madame and I didn’t really want to move… Overall I was just in a lot of pain and mad that there really wasn’t anything I could do. So I started crying because it hurt so bad and learned that somehow it relaxed or something so my ear felt open instead of closed. It made it feel a little better so I kept thinking about sad things so I would keep crying, eventually the ibuprofen kicked in and I fell back asleep. It was definitely the worst part of my trip so far. Nothing like being in a foreign country in pain and not being able to do anything about it…

I woke up about 9:30 this morning again and told Madame I didn’t sleep well because of my ear. She pretty much was like yeah im not surprised because you went swimming and got water in it. She gave me a schpeal on paying attention to water getting in your ears. I just sort of nodded along. I think what it was is that I had used the ear drops and they had just made it worse before I went to bed. So then when I woke up 3 hours later it was just still worse. The best way I can explain it is that my ear felt clogged and that behind that it was like burning. So when I could make a gap between the clog it felt a bit better but it just really sucks. I am going to go ask tomorrow to get my sard so I can go to the doctor because it is just getting to a point where I think there is something really wrong going on. Everyone seems to think it is an infection and I think yeah it could be that but I feel like my ear infections before haven’t ever been this bad and that because it all started with the airplane ride here there may be something wrong with like pressure or something. I dunno but I really hope that I can see a doctor TOMORROW. But I doubt that will happen… But I am really going to try.

I had breakfast and whatever and then started reading. Around lunch time I met up with Cassandra to go to the place we went last night so I could get pizza. The waiter was really not nice… He was not shy in his expression that he didn’t like us because we were American. Even though I spoke French to him and I thought I did a pretty good job saying everything. It was interesting because both times we went there they serviced the French people twice as fast and often as they serviced us. The girl last night seemed nice enough but the guy today like was really not hiding his dislike. It really doesn’t make sense to me because if they didn’t really want us there they should have serviced us faster so that we would leave… Whatever. I just won’t go back there again because their pizza sucked anyways. We talked a while and then left to go walk down to Cours Mirabeau. Cassandra and I parted ways after she kept walking on my left where she mumbled and because of my ear I really couldn’t hear her so I kept having to say “WHAT” all the time.  Everything was closed because it was Sunday so there wasn’t really a point in walking around town. 

I walked down Cours Mirabeau to go home and saw there was a bunch of stuff going on in the Rotonde. Apparently there was this Ironman race today. I think it was a triathlon but I am not sure. Cassandra had said she had to wait for bikes but then all the little stands had biking, swimming, and running gear for sale so I would assume it was a triathlon which probably started in Marseille because I don’t know of any other water around. The finish line was at the Rotonde so I walked down and saw some people cross it. I went back to going on my way home and noticed some water bottles for sale!!! I have been looking everywhere for a water bottle and they were only 5 euros so I bought one which says Ironman Pays d’Aix France on it.  It isn’t the cutest thing ever but it works so I am happy! I got to being really sad on my walk home. Crying last night just sort of opened the flood gates and there is something very somber about Sundays here that just make you sad. 

I went back home and did some homework and reading. Madame helped me with the pronunciation of French names for Megan which I am not sure if they are really in IPA or if they are in French phonetics because yes they are different even though you think that the “I” in IPA is International there are differences. But it isn’t so hard to figure out.  She also looked over my answers to my French homework tomorrow and corrected my grammar. That is nice because even though I’m not turning it in it’s nice to have the corrections to learn from.

I learned today that Madame’s mom died when she was really little and that her dad lost his mind like had brain troubles so that is why she moved to France. She lived with her Aunt who she says was already old so it was a difficult life. She finished 2 years of high school and then started working so I think that is why she has had some odd jobs and still does. She worked in a restaurant for a while, cleaned houses for a while including for two years in Ramatuelle which is where we went swimming yesterday.  She had troubles with her heart when she was younger so she didn’t play sports but she has skied and runs sometimes. She had Laurence when she was 21 and her son (I forgot his name) when she was 23. So she has had a bit of a crazy life. Now I can find out how old she is by finding out how old Laurence is! 

We had some good bonding today I think which is nice. We had pasta and broccoli for dinner. I couldn’t eat all of it though. I am not a big pasta personne it fills me up too quickly. Now we’re watching tv. I feel really tired today so I will probably turn in earlier. I have been fighting with the internet all day as well. Oh that’s another thing. At the end of the month when my account expires if Jean-Claude hasn’t bought internet for the apartment yet, Madame told me that she is going to give me 30 Euros to go buy another month of internet (I’m going to try a different company if that’s the case). She was very intent that it is important that I have it and that she wants to pay for it. I told her I could no problem but she seems very insistent. But hopefully Jean-Claude buys it and then it will be no big deal and the internet will be better because we will have a router. Also we are getting a new tv which is kind of exciting at the end of the month. It must be when people get paid here. But Madame seems excited about it so that is cool. 

I am most excited to have my ear fixed. It has been very annoying since I got here so it will be nice once that isn’t a concern anymore. Also I hope that my package is here tomorrow because that would be cool!

Saint Tropez

I woke up grudgingly this morning at 6:50. Madame was already up. I ate breakfast and made myself a pb&j and then got dressed and packed for my day. I headed out and decided to take the "short way". Well here is the deal about the short way, it's only short if you know how to take it and don't end up going too far up and too far left. It was getting to be ten minutes until I needed to be there even though I had left twenty minutes ago... I took a gamble and took a different street. Luckily I ran into some IAU girls who were going and knew how to get there! Thank goodness or I really would have missed out and missed the bus! I was definitely going the wrong way!

When we got to the buses we got on and then drove for about an hour and a half before arriving at Saint Tropez! There were lots of boats and lots of tourists. The guy who organizes the trips George took us up to the citadel. It was pretty cool. I don't know any history on it but it was clear from the rock and the way that the lookout was tiered that there is definitely some history to it. Most people descended half way up to go see the cemetery but I continued up further to see what was at the very top. There was. Sort of tower thing on the side of the wall of the citadel at the top as well as an amazing view. I got to talking with a group that was there and we took pictures and stuff. We descended after that and went down to see the cemetery. We didn't go in but it was pretty cool to see the grave sites. Similar to the graves in Mexico, they are above ground and very ornate. I wonder because both Mexico and France are mainly Catholic if that is a catholic thing to have graves like that. I really liked how they had wreaths of ceramic flowers on a lot of the graves. I thought that was a kind of cool idea because then the flowers don't die and no one has to take care of them. I wonder why they are in a wreath shape though.

After that we started heading back into the older part of town. It was really pretty there and we got to pass the hotel de ville. I didn't see any famous people but I did see lots of cool yachts. There were also a lot of cool paintings that were done that artists were trying to sell. Everything here was very expensive and the prices increase was enough that even I could see. While we were walking through town Cassandra called me and wanted to meet up. When she found us she stopped to use the atm so I stayed with her and our group didn't notice so we ended up splitting off. We took our time wandering through town and walked through the souvenir shops poking. We found a good deal on post cards of ten for 2 Euros so I bought ten and a pack of cards. Which reminds me that yesterday I bought a post card that has different places in southern France and I want to TRY and see all of them before I leave?

I got an ice cream cone at a little ice cream shop that makes their own ice cream. It was really good! After that we walked towards the cathedral but it was closed when we got there so that was sad. We walked around a lot and then eventually found our way back to the bus to leave to go to the beach.

 

The bus ride there was veeerrry curvy. I felt really sick by the time we finally stopped. I wonder if I can get motion sickness pills from the pharmacy. Probably though I would think. I may have to look into it for next time. We go off and they told us that we could either stay at the little beach we got off at or go on a half hour walk to a different beach. Being not so great feeling I decided to just stay where we were.

It was verrry gorgeous! The water was even clearer than the last beach I went to. There were also a lot less people. After deciding I was feeling better I went and joined some IAU girls in the water. We swam for a while and the shore went out pretty far before I got deep. This was a much sandier beach but there was a section of rock just past the shore before it turned back to sand. We swam for a while and then I noticed my arm was like kind of uncomfortable stinging feeling. I started wondering if there may be jelly fish in the water but decided maybe it was just the salt of something and I had a scratch that was causing it or something. About two minutes later one of the girls noticed a little jellyfish with brown spots. Oh no. I definitely did. The girls didn't believe me when I said yeah I think I got stung. I think they thought I was being attentionish. It was uncomfortable but not to the point of being super painful. I would say it was half the annoyance of a stinging nettle. It wasn't painful really just like uncomfortable. Or maybe like a mild shock from electricity. Kind of like the feeling after you get shocked but a little worse. I got out after another ten minutes and went back to my towel to eat something. After I got out I noticed I started to have some red humps on my arm. That pretty much confirmed it. The stinging started to feel worse so I did what you do for jelly fish stings.... Yep. I peed on it. Which was definitely a weird experience but it for sure made it feel better instantly and then it went away completely about ten minutes later. The bathroom was really weird though and was basically just a hole in the ground which made the whole process a bit easier. 

Overall I am kind of shocked that I didn’t freak out and that I really did that… There was a shower nearby that I definitely used afterwards. But really like I’m here to have experiences right? Like… How many people can say that they have done that? That’ll be one that will definitely stay with me. After all that I went back to the beach and everyone was like yeah good for you for actually being brave enough to do it. It was kind of weird. But I was pleased that they weren’t like grossed out. But like it really did start to feel like it was going to hurt like to a noticeable point soon. But it was all good. I went back in the water because I was like eh well now that that’s out of the way nothing worse can happen. And I was right thank goodness.

So then I met two girls who are going to a different university who were both from San Francisco. They were very nice and I swam with them for probably a good hour talking. Then some of the girls started taking a ton of like group shots so I played camera girl for them. They went topless at one point to take like pictures of their backs holding their top over the shoulder. I definitely would not have done that because there were definitely boats out there… But I saw this cool rock by itself out in the cove so I had Cassandra wait until I got out there and then had her take a picture of me. It turned out alright. It was a bit difficult to get to with the waves but it was not very deep so I just sort of swim/crawled out to it. The rocks had slimy stuff but it was whatever. Then I swam back. There were some cool silver fish with black stripes in the cove and one was actually probably 4 inches tall and as long as a ruler. So he was pretty big! The water was clear enough that when the wave let up a bit you could see the bottom even if you couldn’t touch bottom. 

Most of the girls tanned the whole time, but I swam most of the time. It was really fun and I was sad to have to leave. It was getting close to time to leave so we dried off and went back to the road to get a drink from the café carts. I bought a icee thing that was pretty good. They are really popular in this area but I hadn’t tried them yet. I think they are not as good as real icees, but they were refreshing all the same. 

After that we got back on the bus… to drive more windy roads. Roads here are VERY skinny so a lot of the time we have to break repeatedly while we turn corners and they don’t do it very gently. Also we have to stop a lot so that the other cars can move off the road so the bus can go by. It was very curvy and again I felt sick… I also was tired so I was going to try and sleep it off but that didn’t work either because I couldn’t fall asleep because of feeling sick. That was a bit sad. But when we eventually got back on the Auto route I started feeling better. My ear hurts still. I think Monday I will ask to go to a doctor. I still haven’t gotten my insurance card… 

When we got back I made plans with Cassandra to go to dinner. I took a shower and such then skyped Thad for like 2 minutes before my internet died and told him what happened with the jellyfish. He laughed really hard. Then I went to meet Cassandra for dinner. While I was waiting I skyped Megan because it was creepy waiting for her in the dark on a not super crowded street by myself. Right before she got there though I got heckled by a group of three guys so I decided to go wait by the fountain but then not 20 seconds later Cassandra showed up. I said bye to Meg and then we went to go find food. 

We ended up going to a restaurant because it said pizza and salade for 10 euros so I was like DEAL! But then when we started looking at the menu Cassandra was going to get spaghetti and I knew I would be jealous so I changed my mind. I definitely should have not… Not that it was bad but whenever they walked by with pizza it smelled reeeallly good. The pasta was fine but not as good clearly plus I wanted some greenery in my life. 

The service was very slow. I don’t know if they did that on purpose but it too two hours from when we sat down to when we left for sme 11 minute pasta. It was not so good but eh. I also tried a citron Diabolo which is like lemon soda with flavoring. I was stupid and got lemon. Oops. It was very tart though. I liked it. After dinner I came home and was sad that the cool game show I like on Saturdays was over. But then! There was a second one!!! It is really the best show and they should bring it to the states. This one has Tony Parker the basketball guy and Eva his wife who apparently isn’t his wife anymore. But I don’t know who he is so that’s lame of me. But it is really a good show. 

I guess the best I can say for this day is I had a good time in St. Tropez and definitely am experiencing some things!