Marseille

Today I woke up around 9:30 to meet everyone to try and go to a museum before the school trip to Marseille. I had breakfast and talked to Madame who asked if I had heard the big rain storm last night. I told her I had even though I hadn't because I'm used to it but I had noticed it had rained. I got dressed and did my thing and donned on my raincoat. Before I left though Madame told me to change my coat because it was going to get nice again. On my way to meet everyone it rained though but it was no biggie. We met at the Cézanne statue as per usual. Sophie and Lauren went to go check out the market while I waited with Julia for Kelan. I guess that we weren't going to the museum because we found out that it wasn't actually in Aix... Oops. Julia and I talked about going to Italy one weekend because she can't go during fall break when the other girls are going because she is going to meet her boyfriend in Amsterdam. I told her that I would love to go to a Italy with her some weekend so she is going to send me which weekends she is free! Yay! A travel buddy! 

Kelan never showed so we went to find Sophie and Lauren but ran into Kelan first. We eventually all met up and decided because the market wasn't as great as per the rain, that we would get lunch at a cafe before going to meet the bus. I got a Panini and a cherry coke but then ran to monoprix really fast to buy some q-tips so that I could break my other fifty bill. I got back and Claire had joined us. After lunch Sophie, Lauren,  and Claire went to find a fruit bread. Kelan, Julia, and I stopped and watched some belly dancing people dance. It was pretty cool. By that time it was about noon and time to head to the buses. We had the nice bus this time which had very nice seats.

I will be the first to admit that this day was not as fun and nice of a trip as yesterday. Not because of the location, but because my ear tricking hurt and the stupid bus guide lady kept going on and on and on and on. Not about like the places we were going but with like the most basic of French culture that any moron who has ever taken French would know. And I know you are thinking but Kacy not everyone has as much French experience as you. But this is false! We are on the advanced French bus! Which means everyone already knows that not a ton of French people dive because the piece we is expensive. We already know that French eat dinner later than Americans. We already know that Marseille is the fifth largest city in France. You really don't need to say it 6 times! And no I'm not exaggerating but I was counting!!! She yelled at us for talking within the first ten minutes because she said she was you g to talk for 20 minutes and then we would have time to talk amongst ourselves but then she never Shut Up! And she was on the overhead talking SO loudly that you could’t tune her out!!! It was ridiculous! We had to listen to her annoying voice the whole hour there and half hour in between locations and almost all of the time back! Everyone was just talking about how she needed to just shut up. She really did do a number to the experience of the trip. It would have been a lot more fun if she had talked for five minutes about where we were going and then sat down and stopped talking. That really would have taken the trip from a 6 to a solid 9. It was ridiculous. Okay end rant. But I'm still annoyed and my ear just feels word now.

When we got to Marseille the first view was to the sea where there were about 6 cruise ships docked. They looked really cool. We drove through the commerce district of the city in order to get to the centre ville. When we got there we drove around the marina in the center city to get up the hill to the Notre-Dame de la guard. It is a huge and beautiful cathedral that looks over the entire city. 

When we got off the buses we hiked up part of the hill more and everyone got out their cameras (which our lovely bus guide had told us not to take out and only to take pictures with our eyes because someone might try and steal our cameras.) to take pictures. We all ignored the bus guide just as we tried to do the way there. How could you not take pictures of this because it was so gorgeous. We walked up the hill and then up a bunch of steps to get to the entrance. It was sooooo windy! Being right on the sea and being on the hill the wind was very strong and very crazy.

 

I got some pictures and then headed into the “Crypte” It was actually really cool in there. I made an offering of a euro in order to light a candle which I can now say that I did! Though I don’t know if you are only supposed to do that if you are catholic? Oh well. But inside the little hall there was the choir practicing singing so I got a little video clip of that. I also got a bunch of pictures. Next I left the crypte and went to the main hall. It was goooorgeous. There was a big boat theme because of it being on the coast and such and it being such a large commerce town even like a really long time ago. There were lots of paintings of boats on the sea as well as boats hanging from the ceiling. The tiles as well had a lot of waves and boats. The hall was very gold and red. I think that the gold was really cool and though I didn’t really find out I think that it was real. I took a bunch of pictures there and then on my way out I noticed they were letting some people up some side stairs so I followed them and got to go up on top of the cathedral, like above the main hall where the windows were. It was really windy up there! The view was amazing though and after looking out on the city we got to go in the hall and be really close to the ceiling so we could see the work up close. It was super cool. Then it was up on the roof on the other side and then back down. As per usual it seems I bought a few post cards in the gift shop. I can’t decide if I am really going to send them or if I am just going to keep them? They are cool though, and probably the cheapest thing you can buy at the gift shops. It was a really cool experience to go to this cathedral because it was so old and decorated so nicely. It’s hard to believe that things that beautiful exist all the time and not just when we are there to see them.

When we got back on the bus (after getting yelled at by our bus guide not to walk in the road because cars might be coming after we looked and there were no cars coming) and the headed back down to the Centre ville. We got let out to do whatever for two hours. The weekend was le jour patrimoine which means from what I gathered that all the French museums and stuff are open and free across the country for just this weekend. So naturally everyone and their mom and chat are going to the museums. They told us we could and my group went and tried but it was an hour long wait just to get in so we decided not to. We walked around Fort Saint-Jean which was the area around the museum. This museum is also brand new this year which didn’t help us with the crowd control situation. Fort Saint-Jean I really don’t know much about and was going to Google but my internet is so crappy tonight there is no way. It was pretty cool looking though and very old. 

Oh also from the Cathedral you could see Chateau d’If which is where they put Edmond Dantes in the count of Mote-Cristo for all you literary folk. Kelan and I really wanted to go there by boat but we didn’t have enough time. We were sad.

After walking around the fort we decided to go get a drink at a café. We wandered around the marina until we found one and then sat down. The place was a little busy and there was only one waiter so I took a while. I ordered tea but he mixed up how many of what (because he never wrote it down) and so I ended up with hot chocolate which is fine but I really had wanted tea! Oh well another day. I took it and it was good. Apparently Kelan owed me money from last night doing the bill at dinner so I didn’t have to pay for it anyways. It is very difficult to do paying of the bills here. They don’t do split tabs so you need to have exact change all the time and every time it just becomes a big headache for everyone to figure out. And then once everyone takes care of their own money and figuring out that they did it right we have to redo it all again to make sure that we have enough total and no one did math wrong. It is a bit of a nightmare which is why Kelan bought my drink. I had forgotten so I was like oh okay whatever. 

After that the girls wanted Crepes so we went to the first crepe place and she said she was out of batter. So we went to the second which was obnoxiously expensive and then to a third where they had enough batter for three crepes but that was all. I kind of wanted one but not really so I just decided to pass. The other girls went back to the expensive crepe place and got them after we cleaned out the third. Kelan had a PB&J and I was super jealous but I hadn’t bought sandwich stuff yet because I was waiting for PB to arrive in a package from my mom that I thought was in the mail. We sat on some steps and just kind of chilled. We didn’t have a very high key day just because we all had headaches from the bus ride and all the stairs and stuff at the cathedral had kind of wore us out. Also we were pretty mentally tired from taking it all in. I would say that Marseille is nice-ish but by no means my favorite French town. The cathedral was the highlight and awesome but the city itself was one that could be missed. Nice was way nicer and fun with more things to see and was also a lot friendlier. The people in Marseille were a bit rude.

When we got back I was walking back thinking about getting a crepe when Daniel walked up behind me to walk with me. We tried to go to “crepe a gogo” but they were closed because it was a Sunday. Darn. Maybe tomorrow after sandwich stuff shopping? But I was just ready to get home considering I still had homework. I got home and started uploading pictures from the last two days but my internet started crapping out every two minutes and I gave up. Madame says that it is because of the storms in France right now. Madame bought a rotisserie chicken and olive oil and some kind of spice potatoes for dinner. It was pretty good. I like chicken. I spilled a glass of water on accident all over the floor. I was not happy about that but she said it was no big deal. I got back to homework after dinner or tried to anyways but because it was online I needed internet and whenever I had it the site would not go where it was supposed to but rather to someplace else. I got very frustrated. Luckily I have the number of a guy in the class named Patrick who I texted and he told me 1) where to go to on the site 2) how to find the answers 3) that it only takes about five minutes to do. So looks like I will just go to class early tomorrow in order to make sure I have the homework done. I think that means no Skype time though… 

But the internet thing really put me on edge. Also I found out mom hadn’t sent my package yet like I thought so I had been climbing 3 flights of stairs everyday to check my mail when there was no reason to… -.-‘ Oh well. I’m grateful she is sending one at all with how much international boxes cost. I find it ridiculous.
 

So today I have not been in the best mood but I feel like understandably so. I am really exhausted mostly and wish I had a weekend to recoup. But I don’t because that was my weekend. Oops. They made the time go fast though having the trips. I just wish I could go on a trip that didn’t feel so rushed or disorganized. Because it is one thing to not have a plan and go with the flow, but it is another thing to have a plan and then not follow it because you can’t get organized. 

Goodnight. Here’s to hoping I can even get text up on the blog tonight!

Nice and Eze

(What a clever title! I am so good! (though it is pronounced like niece!))

Today I woke up at the lovely hour of 6:20 and was shocked that I wasn't in a hospital. I had this horrible dream that I was driving to Astoria but the drive was like all these huge cliffs and then like this speeding car and police came up behind me and the fast car hit me and we got in like this huge crash. I was still alive but like I blacked out when the police got to me because they had to arrest the other driver first. And the dream felt so real that I thought I was waking up to be in a hospital but instead was in some strange room. Then I had one of those freak outs because I didn't know where I was. But then I was like oh yeah I'm in France. Waking up here is difficult for me because it isn't the same set-up as my rooms at home so often at first I don't recognize it.

But I woke up and had a quick breakfast before heading out to meet the bus at 7:30 to go to spend the day in Nice. I got some money for the day/ weekend/week out of a different machine and it was mean and have me a two fifties instead of smaller bills. Big bills here suck because no one ever wants to take them. A 20 is like already bad but a fifty is like oh man not so good to have. But I rolled with it and took note of that machine bing not so good and then went to find the buses. I had a bit of trouble finding the hotel but luckily I had left myself lots of extra time to get there so as not to be left behind. After some confusion of who was on what bus and which bus was which number we got on. My bus is for the advanced French students so all our information stuff is in French. Kelan is my bus buddy we decided for these trips. We got on the bus and though I tried to keep my eyes out the window I couldn't help but fall asleep for part of the way. We stopped at a gas station rest stop and we all went to the bathroom and got snacks. I bought a little Starbucks frappuccino thing to tie me over for the day and break one of my fifties. Then it was back on the bus!

We passed by Nice and went instead to Eze which is a smaller town where we toured a perfume factory. Sounded like a cool idea but it was really difficult to hear our tour guide in the small space talking in French when the other groups were being loud and another tour guide was speaking English. It was difficult to keep the mind in French mode and she was being so quiet and the English lady too fuzzed to really hear anything. We got to sample some different like pure extracts like lemon, rose, strawberry (my favorite), coffee, lavender, and chocolate. That was probably the funniest part of the tour as well as seeing how they use the molds to make the soaps. The gift shop was kind of cool but everything was pretty expensive and I really didn't care about buying perfume. We only had an hour total in Eze including the slow and mandatory perfume tour. Kelan and I ditched the gift shop in order to try and get to the town to take a few pictures. We took the way the bus lady told us but it most definitely didn't go to town but to a little look out into the valley where you could see the Mediterranean. We took some pictures and then were sad that we had to go back. We waited around for people to be done in the gift shop and then got back on the bus to go to Nice.

On the way there our bus guide prattled on for far too long about nothing in particular and repeats herself way too many times that everyone just tuned her out. We all were also vey distracted by the beautiful city and coast out our windows. When we got off the bus we had to follow our bus guide to the meeting place in front of a statue of a naked guy who was vey nicely done but he was not nearly as exciting as the beach. The bus lady held us there for too long saying the same things she had already said before letting us leave. By that time we had about an hour to do whatever before we could meet back to go either on a walking tour of some parts of the city or up the side of the cliff called a chateau that had some ruins and waterfalls. We walked a bit before we found a place where we could buy some sandwiches that we could then take to the beach. I bought a piece of strange pizza and a slice if apple pie which was very cheap. I also ran down and bought a few postcards before the rest of the group got their food. Kelan and I quickly wolfed our food don because we both really wanted to go in be Mediterranean  I swim. The other girl wanted to sunbathe so we left all oh stuff with them and then went and jumps in. The other girls complained that I was too cold but I thought it was really warm, warmer than Oregon and warmer than swimming pools that I am used to! A bunch of other IAU kids soon joined us and it was a lot of fun. The water is so blue that it is unbelievable. It is also supppper salty. I accidentally engulfed some water and thought I was going to throw up from all the salt. It is nice bought because the salt helps you float so you don't really need to swim very much to stay above water. The shore was really pebbly but once you got in the water and couldn't ouch bottom it was awesome. There were waves by they acted more like softly not like breaking waves in Oregon and you would float up with them which was pretty fun. I really enjoyed myself and it was a really amazing experience. I want to do it again!

Eventually I got out and we went to track down some ice cream before meeting back at the naked guy to climb the over three hundred stairs. We didn't actually count but that number was thrown out. When I counted it was well over that but I eventually lost interest and lost track. We found an ice cream place and by the time we all got ours we had to run to meet at the guy. I got chocolate in a cone and it was super delicious. 10/10, would buy again. After meeting up we walked to the entrance and started climbing. It really is like super high up there. But the views were breath-taking!

My vocal cords gave me a bit of trouble when his creepy guy clearly checked me out when I passed him while he was on the phone and after words he stood up and started to follow me. I quickly went two stairs at a time and ran to catch up with the others who really weren't far ahead but I wanted to be safe.  But other than that they didn't get too uncomfortable. The waterfalls were kind of cool and it was nice to get a little spray after climbing so much. We sat down near the top for a while to just take it all in before we had to go back down to leave.

Kelan and I quickly ran to the top where we found another awesome view and a really good deal of 7 postcards for 2 euros. So of course I bought some more. I haven't actually sent any yet though... Oops. I figure they will be expensive to send. Though beside the point there were a ton of postcards with like half naked girls on the or random kittens. That was pretty bizarre. But we went back down and then went to the naked guy to meet everyone to leave. I was like super thirsty but because we had to be there at a certain time we didn't stop. Long story short, our bus guide told us the wrong spot and time. So we met earlier than we had to and then walked to a location five minutes away to meet everyone else. But because there were multiple meeting places it was pretty much a crap shoot and no one knew what was going on. We didn't leave until 5:15, which was very obnoxious because I was sooo thirsty.

We stopped luckily about 30 minutes down the road at a real rest sop to use the bathrooms really quickly. Kelan took my water bottle to the bathroom but then I decided to go as well and we both discovered that the sinks here were so short it was impossible to get water in the bottle. Luckily after waiting for the buses to be sure they had everyone (a 20 minute process even though only 15 people got off the three buses) the bus guide asked if anyone wanted to buy a bottle of water for a euro from the bus. This is actually. Really good price and I definitely jumped at the chance! The bus ride back was beautiful or is rather since I am writing this on the bus currently. I told Madame that I was going out for dinner tonight with friends because I only have 6 dinners a week. But the plan is to go home and de-salt with a shower first before re-meeting up.

We ended up going to the 24 hour restaurant which has a lot of seafood. Luckily they have other things as well so I ended up going for something that had chicken in it which ended up being fries and chicken baked in crumb or something? It was very good! Kelan is living with a girl from Sweden who came with us to dinner and she was really nice. I spent a lot of time talking to her because she was on the end and everyone was kind of ignoring her. She was really nice though! After dinner we went to an Irish pub for a drink and I tried a Tequila Sunrise which was pretty good. I liked the orange juice/grenadine part more than the tequila but it wasn’t too bad. A little spendy for my tastes but it was good. My ear has still been hurting so after one drink I decided to leave and Kelan and the Swedish girl seemed glad to have a reason to leave because they were getting bored, so they walked me home. Apparently there is like a new gang in Aix? Apparently? And also the other night this one girl got mugged from IAU 10 minutes from her house after the guy who was walking with her left. So they are really cracking down on us to be sure and have a buddy and not carry a lot of important stuff on us at night and to take taxi’s even if we live close. I live five minutes from that bar so it wasn’t a long ways for them to walk me home, and the street I walk takes a little bit longer but is much more populated. 

I feel like this doesn’t like accurately depict how crazy and cool my day was but I had a pretty great day. I am really glad that I got to go on this trip.

Boutiques and Bags

Today I fought stubbornly against the construction to sleep in. I used earplugs and after that my headphones to combat the noise. After I woke up to go to the bathroom Beebow snuck into my room which I didn’t realize until he started attacking my feet for doing my sleepy food wiggle. I then had tot kick him out. Eventually I gave up with sleeping and went and took a shower. When I was getting dressed I got a text from Cassandra asking me to get lunch with her. I looked at the time and it was almost 11:30! Oops! I quickly gulfed down some of the breakfast food or else I knew Madame would notice I hadn’t eaten and went to meet Cassandra. We sat in the cave (student lounge) for a while talking with some other people before setting out to find some pizza! Which I hadn’t had in over a week which in Helwig Pizza Time is like an eternity! We found a good place to get slices for 2 euros and both got one. It wasn’t as good as the pizza I had here before but it wasn’t so bad. We then went and ate downstairs and talked to some more people.

Then it was time for the Scavenger Hunt through Aix, which is really why I woke up today! We got in groups of three and I was with Sophie the girl from Oregon and a girl named Morgan who likes to make it well known that she is in the French Honors program (which really I could have done if I wanted t but I didn’t. And basically means that you take a certain French course). They both were nice but not very fast… The scavenger hunt was also a race to see who could get all the information and be detailed in their answers and then get back to the school first. I took that to mean let’s do this thing fast! They took that to mean hey let’s walk slowly and take a lot of time at each place. Morgan ran into the Tourism office to get a map and no joke we were waiting for twenty minutes before we went in and found her chatting it up with the person behind the desk about Aix and getting every brochure the place had. I pretty much gave up then on being a winning team. Then we went to the crepe place where they both bought crepes and then we went to the movie theater, American book store, Monoprix, American food restaurant, and Coffee shop. Each place they wandered and looked and browsed which is fin because they were getting to know the places and stuff but they were very slow. I was the navigator and they were the writer and reader. They also wrote very slowly. But it was all good after I decided to just go with the flow.

We came in next to last and I don’t even think we had all the answers filled in correctly but so it goes. We went and hung out in the cave while we waited an hour for the associations or clubs around Aix to arrive to talk to us. Pretty soon I got a text from mom and soon after a facebook from dad both talking to me about my day. Then they both told me almost at the same time to go and buy that bag! I was so excited! On the way to get it I was telling Cassandra that if they didn’t have it there anymore I was going to cry. And sure enough when I got there… It was gone! As were all the other bags. I asked the sales lady if they still had them and she gave me a sad face and I said “Noooo!” But then when I asked her if they sold them she said no that they had moved them to another boutique! I was very elated then and she offered to take me to there. I happily agreed and explained to her how much I had wanted to buy it and how I had been walking past it and always thinking of how joli it was. She asked if I was staying in Aix and I told her that I was a student and she wished me a good time here. She was very nice and it was very nice of her to show me the way. It was about a five minute walk. She grumbled as we had to weave our way through tourists in front of the Hotel de Ville or courthouse. And I laughed and told her that they ca be a bit annoying, which is true they really can be in the way a lot. But then again when I am being a tourist I am sure that I am the same way! I was very happy to have my new bag. The sales lady tried to put it in a giant bag which I never understand why people always try to do that… It is a bag so it doesn’t need handles or a bag! It is a bag! 

We went back and decided with a group of other people in the cave that after the club thing a few of us would go to Happy Hour at the bar down the street. The club thing was really cool. I bought an Erasmus card which gives you discounts at a lot of places for 5 euros, and got information about the different clubs and such. There was a woman there from a Christian church that does service in English on Sunday nights that I hope to be able to go and try out. I don’t think that I will be able to this weekend because of the afternoon trip to Marseille but if I have time I will. She seemed really nice. I also got info on the locations for the next couple trips that the one guy George plans for international students. One of which is a 4 day 3 night trip during the beginning of fall break to Barcelona, Spain for 150 euros. Which seems like a lot but it includes transportation, lodging, and having everything preplanned. I like that and because it is at the beginning of break I could get a group who wants to do that and then we could leave from Barcelona to go to Paris or Italy or somewhere else for a few days. I think that would be really fun!

There also was info for a cooking class for 4 two hour sessions for 100 euros, which seemed cool but a little expensive for me so I don’t think I will be doing that but it seems like it would be fun. But there are a few student organization things that I signed up to get emails from which I can just delete if they don’t interest me. Better to be well informed and have options I decided than to be bored with no clue.

After the club thing Cassandra left because she didn’t have time to get a drink before needing to be home for dinner but I went with some other people to have a drink anyways. I had a Monaco it was good and didn't taste like beer. We had fun I think and talked about a lot of stuff. It was nice to get to know some other people and some of them are in a few of my classes. After a while Madame called wondering if I would be home for dinner and I told her I would be there in a few minutes. We had pasta with white sauce and ham which was delicious. And Paul and Madame put a egg yolk on theirs. Not cooked but I didn’t because eggs tend to make me sick which we talked about a bit more in depth. But it is a bit strange why I get sick from eggs by themselves but not if they are with other things like in cake or whatever. But it was interesting. It was good and then I gave Paul a piggyback ride before I went and Skyped Thad. Who ended up meeting Paul and Jean-Claude by happenstance of them showing up suddenly but it was funny to me! 

 

Tomorrow I go to Nice at 745 in the morning. We are I guess stopping at the medieval town of Eze before hand and then there are a few different things that we can choose to do in Nice. I hope to hit up the beach a bit though!

DD &D: Dirty Dancing and Dominos

I slept in pretty well this morning and didn’t wake up until 10. I had the weirdest dreams though I can’t remember them. When I finally rolled out of bed I went to school to use the better wifi to do some homework. While I was sitting there contemplating how I was going to keep my computer alive for an hour and a half without it being plugged in. One of my friends told me how to put the pdf documents that we needed into my iPod. It was an amazing thing! I had no idea that I could do that on an iPod! I was quite happy. European history was good. My professor is French but knows English but he hasn’t used it in three months so it is a bit choppy but we all understand. He is very young and talks really quickly. He also is a tour guide in the city in his spare time. We are learning about the French Revolution right now which is interesting to hear his take on it being French and how he says most other French people saw it. After class I went and got a sandwich and ate half and a peach. It was good. Also I learned today that the school building used to be the chapel of a monastery in the 1600's. SO that is pretty cool and explains why the inside is so cool looking. I will get pics tomorrow.

Then I went to World Lit. My professor for this class is an ex-beach bum. He lives in an old chapel turned loft. He also wears funky glasses where one frame is a circle and the other is a square. He is very quirky but I like him. He seems to know a lot. I felt really smart today since we were discussing Paradise Lost and I had already discussed the book before in the Winter before my tonsillectomy it was cool and I was pretty good at knowing good topics to bring up during the discussion. That book is pretty difficult so I am glad that I have had some outside experience.

After class I went and hung out in the student lounge for about an hour talking to people and trying to get to know some more people. When I came home I Skyped Chels and Roz back home; Jessica got there while we were talking and started moving her stuff in so I guess that I have a new roommate but only sort of because I’m not actually there… But it was good to talk to them.  After that I got a phone call from Madame who was downstairs with Paul and asked if I wanted to come down. So I went downstairs and they were trying to construct the domino tower thing that was on the box so I helped with that. Paul kept having me make lies of the free dominos so he could knock them over. His dominos are plastic and some are set up on quarter of a circle track things that band five dominos together. You can then connect them to these tower things to make inclined spirals. They are pretty fun looking and kind fun to play if you are a seven year old boy. But they are fun. After we finished that we came upstairs and Madame started making dinner. Paul showed me some kung fu and then when he got yelled at to stop running around he came and put his feet on my lap and sat down. Naturally I tickled them. So then we did that for a while until he got a book of a bunch of cat pictures and I pretty much got the French version of “Kittens inspired by Kittens!” He would make commentaries for each cat and it was pretty cute. Then dinner was ready and we had chicken nuggets and French fries. It was pretty good, and followed as usual by bread and cheese and a little bowl of ice cream/sorbet. Paul went home then and Madame and I started watching Dirty Dancing. I’m following pretty well considering that I haven’t seen it in English. Though I still haven’t figured out why the blonde is sick in bed…?

That bag is still there! And I would probably maybe buy it if I had the money to spare but since my financial aid hasn’t come in yet I have had restraint. I know one day soon though I will walk by and it won’t be there and I will be sad. It is a simple bag but I just like it for some reason. I just learned financial aid wont be disbursed until the end of the month... :-/

Tomorrow I don’t have class because it is Friday but there is a team scavenger hunt thing tomorrow which I think could be a good way to get to know more people. I think I will do that from 2-5. I just need to make sure that I am not carrying a ton of books because my back is starting to bother me. But I got Ibuprofen so I will probably just take some before. 

Not much of an exciting day but not all days will be!

Smoothie anyone?

This morning Madame was home so doing my morning routine gets a bit trickier. I had class at 9 in the new building which is a few minutes farther away so I had to leave a bit earlier leaving not much skype time. My class seemed good but also a bit frightening because it is in French and the final exam which is 30% of the final grade is Oral… zut… I knew some people in my class including this guy Will who always by happenstance ends up following me to school because I guess he lives close by me maybe? We think so. But I never realize he is behind me until we are like almost to the school so that’s odd. Claire was also in my clas as well as this really nice girl named Mary who also did early start.

After class I went back to the other building to work on the computers and Will and another girl were looking at booking a trip to Geneva next weekend. And I sort of got thinking that I don’t really have anyone right now that I could ask to go on a trip with me even though I have friends? So then I started feeling a bit down. Also I didn’t know anyone to go to lunch with since my class gets done at 10:30 and that is a pretty early lunch. I texted Cassandra who is really nice and then wandered around because she didn’t text me back. She finally did after about a half hour and I walked back to the school to meet her. I figured we would just grab something close but she wanted to walk around to go to a sushi place. We stopped in at the monoprix and I bought a chicken Caesar wrap plate thing. Then we went to the sushi place she knew but then she changed her mind. Then we walked across town to a pasta place. Where she changed her mind… Meanwhile I am getting hungry and grumpy and I’m already sad. Luckily she tends to monopolize the conversation which was fine for me today. After a while though she was wearing on me from walking too much/being sad/hungry/not giving input. I finally was like kay bye and went to find somewhere to sit and eat.

As I was eating my wrap it was like a plate with it cut in pieces and there were like two different tortillas and I was stupid and thought nothing of it. The package said what was in it and I made the mistake of thinking Tapenade was the olive thing that we had made last week in the cooking class…. NOPE. About three minutes after eating it I went and threw up in the trash can. This was only super embarrassing. I don’t like fish and don’t tend to eat it often but not knowing what it was at first I tried to swallow it anyways and then my stomach was just like nope send it back. So that was pretty awful…

I came home and brushed my teeth and then did some reading homework. I then read some game of thrones before going out to my translation class at 5. That class I know a lot of people and actually met a girl from Portland who goes to school in California so I am not the only Oregonian here! Yay! But it is a pretty small class of 12 or 14? But not a lot of people, it seems like it will be fun but also work. The classes here may just seem like they will be hard but they all seem pretty frightening to me after just the syllabus day. After that I went to the Monoprix to get something to put my papers in and a highlighter.

On my way back home I ran into Laurence at the door to get in and she didn’t let me in almost because she didn’t recognize me with my hair down. I have been wearing it up all the time because it has just been too hot but now it is starting to cool down with the wind chill. I love it! We went to her apartment where Paul and Madame were playing dominos so I helped Paul set them up and he would knock mine down whenever I tried. So obviously I did the same to his. It was fun and then we came back up for dinner of mashed potatoes and Sausage. It was quite delicious and I was hungry after not really having lunch kind of… But it was very good! And I made sure to say that a lot. Then I had talked to Kelan at class and he had told me that the girls and he were going out tonight and that I should go with them. So I decided I would go.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—. I took the one most populous and traveled by so as not to be in danger.

I went to the fountain to meet them and the girls were there but we waited for Kelan for 25 minutes and he never showed up… When I got home he had changed his mind and told me on Facebook but a lot of good that does me with spotty internet… The boy needs a phone! But I went out with the girls and met Julia’s French friend who goes to the military school here. He was nice but had to run to get back to school because we took so long waiting.

We ordered fruity cocktails and when they arrived we were surprised to learn that we had misunderstood and they were only smoothies with no alcohol. OOPS!!! That was a bit of a misunderstanding then! But we had fun I think even though we were non alcoholic. It was a bit weird for me because Kelan wasn’t there though. But eh…

No one wears backpacks here. It is like not a thing. I was walking by a café today and some French girls at a café pointed at me motioned at my backpack and then laughed… So that felt pretty shitty. Side note that really has no relevance to this. There is this super cute oversize brown leather bag at a little place that I walk by everyday and I want it so badly but it is 65 euros. It is really cute though and It would fit a lot of stuff in it. I really want to buy it but I feel like it is a lot of money even if I did use it all the time which I would… :-/

Also Madame did my laundry today. I learned that she irons everything as well. I also learned that she does some laundry for some guy for extra money. She didn’t tell me this but I figured it out when she was doing some buys clothes and I asked if they were Jean-Claudes and she said no. Then 20 minutes later she called some guy that it was done and it was 20 euros. So I am so deductive. But when she did my laundry I forgot to put my bras in a bra bag so the underwire broke out of the fabric… so not is jabs me in the side which makes me sad… but I really don’t want to buy another because I fear how much that will be… Bleh… Clothes here are insanely priced…

I can’t wait to get back to the home of the way less expensive.

First Day of (Real) Class

This morning I had hoped to be able to sleep in. I say that because at exactly 8 o’clock the wonderful sounds of a jackhammer next door gave me the pleasure of not needing an alarm clock two hours and a half later… But I tried to sleep with the aid of ear plugs but it was on and off sleep from then on out. I finally gave up at ten and went and did all the morning stuff. I then went and printed out a copy of my schedule and talked to Cassandra for a bit while she tried to get a train ticket. After that I went and sat upstairs while I waited for my housing meeting to start.

The housing lady said that the food issue should resolve and that I shouldn’t take anything she says personally. The French like to make a fuss she said but they don’t mean anything by it, they just like to make a fuss. That made me feel better. 

After that I went to European History. My professor seems pretty cool and young and he is also my professor for my monuments class that I start tomorrow. He seemed cool so that is good. We are doing just before the French revolution up to the start of the firs World War. After that Cassandra (who is in that class) and I went to a place and got a sandwich. We ate outside the new building and met a few new people. I forgot their names already… oops. But they seemed nice. Neither was in my class though. 

The new building is still clearly not done but we are moving in anyways. The building is interesting as the floors aren’t level by any means and it is all unfinished tile. They added an elevator and new windows and it has created an interesting look of the old and the new. My next class was World Lit where I learned that our subject matter is works containing Angels and/or Demons. Which is interesting but unfortunately we are reading three books from Paradise Lost… Which I have read a lot of already and I find it a tough one to get through. I asked Rosalyn to send me an email with photocopies of my book though because it has notes in it already J Win! Thanks! The other works I don’t recognize so that is good. Claire is in that class with me though so that is nice. 

After class I went to tackle finding a phone. I found Phone house which had the same deal as everyone else but with a different phone. So I said sure, which ended up being great because no one else has T9 so it is a total pain for them, but I do! And I have Jewel Quest on mine!!! Talk about winning! I had to give them a copy of my passport to get it which seemed odd. When I got home I was talking to Madame and realized they had left my laminated passport copy in the scanner so I had to run back and get it. Though I was coming from a different place so I took a different route. On the way I passed a Card shop with a Magic poster out front so on the way back from getting my copy I stopped in and bought a few packs for the dudes in my life who play, (2014 I figure I could buy a few of the new set when they come out?). But it was funny because the people in the card shop are the same type of people who hang out in card shops in the US. Pretty sure the cashier guy thought I was lost though. They were 3,80 euros so $5.04 a pack. 

When I came back I did homework and Skyped Thad and thought I was going to Skype the roomies but one of them wasn’t home… So that didn’t happen but later I guess. I did homework and then we had dinner of Croque Monsieurs, and cheese and an ice cream bar.

I also learned today we aren’t going to Cassis this weekend but going to Nice instead, which is fine by me! Then Sunday we are going to Marseille. Should be fun and I am looking forward to it, only a few more days ‘til then. Tomorrow I have class at 9 and at  5 so I have a lot of free time in between to do homework or whatever, so I should have either a low key day or a very NOT low key day.

Before I went to bed Madame and I watched the France v.s. Russia soccer game. I went to bed with France winning by two.

Another Orientation...

Ce matin, I woke up and did my usual routine. Madame had left two (rather large) pieces of the specialty breads on the table for me. I really wasn’t feeling well this morning and opted for just half of one of them to play it safe. I had to be up to go to Orientation this morning and then after that I was free. What they didn’t tell us was that the Orientation was literally the same speeches and introductions as last week so we were all a little annoyed that they made us wake up early to go to something we had already seen. We had all thought that there would be an open house to meet each other but joke was on us. After orientation the French Honors and Art school groups met but those of us in neither of these groups were free to go. Kelan, Claire, Kay-Chelle, Cassandra, and I went to the new building which IAU just recently bought and where we will have classes starting tomorrow to explore. It is very nice but clearly not finished yet so it will be interesting to see how that works out in the coming weeks. After exploring we went to a café to sit and wait until the others were done. Pretty soon Daniel and Michael came and joined us and we sang Bonne Anniversaire  to Michael because it was his birthday. He interestingly didn’t tell anyone including his host family but because I am a Facebook creep I definitely noticed, and definitely told everyone so that it wouldn’t be an unnoticed birthday!

 After that I went with Daniel, Michael, and Cassandra to go find the movie theater which didn’t open for several hours. We decided to get some lunch and went to Crêpes à gogo which is the super good (and cheap) crepe place here. They have so many toppings that it is crazy! I had ham and cheese and Cassandra had the Super which was apple compote, bananas, and nutella. We traded bites and hers was delicious and I wished I had gotten a sweet crepe instead. I could only finish half of mine though because I still wasn’t feeling too great so I was glad to have guys around to finish it for me. J

After that we went to the monoprix and I bought a new purse. Mine was breaking at the strap and I figured it was better to buy a new one than look down one day and find mine gone. How annoying though that it broke after only a week!!! Oh well, such is life sometimes unfortunately! But my new one is a big bigger but still with a longer strap. I got blue because it seems to be in style here and it is perfect height for me to keep a hold on it while I walk. After monoprix I went to the pharmacie to get some drops for my ear which has been bothering me and then we walked around and accidentally found the Cite du Livre! Which was one of the things on my checklist to see! The building is shaped like 3 french books, a Moliere, The Foreigner, and Le Petit Prince! The last of which is a book that I really like! So I asked Daniel to take a pic of me. We walked around a bit more before deciding to go back to the school via my house so that I could show them how close I live. After that we went down to the Cave to hang out and I found A STORM OF SWORDS!!! In English!!! I was so happy! That was the book that I had left on the plane and it was in a collection of random books down there. So I borrowed it which you are allowed to do. It is a well loved copy and I am sure that I will love it as well!

Kelan and I met up and went to talk to the Picelle lady who had come. She showed us the plan with free incoming calls and texts for another 10 bucks more each month and we said wait but whoever texts or calls us incurs a huge charge and she said yeahhh kind of and we said YES this is TRUE. So we decided against that plan. We then walked around for an hour and a half talking to different phone places who all had pretty much the same plan. However we learned you can get a way better deal if you have a French bank account but that they are difficult to get because you have to have a ton of personal info on your host. So that was kind of a bust and I didn’t actually buy a phone because every new student was trying and lines were long so we bailed on that idea until later. We went back to the school and then went with the girls to an organic food store. I didn’t buy anything because I figure the fresh stuff here is just as good and I didn’t want to pay MORE money for food, but to each their own. I poured out my water bottle because it was making my back hurt with it in my backpack with my laptop and then we split up and went home.

                Madame told me another phone place to try because that is where her past two students have gotten phones so I will probably try there tomorrow. If not I will just go with the plan everyone else has been going with.  Then I skyped with Thad and read game of thrones until dinner. Madame got mad at me for not eating all the bread this morning and I told her it was because I was feeling sick and she said I was being difficult because I don’t like anything. I tried to tell her I will eat it tomorrow and I was just feeling sick but she wasn’t really having it. :-/ I have an appointment with the housing lady tomorrow so maybe I will talk to her about it and she will have some advice. Tonight we had hamburger and hashbrown potato things. They were both good and I ate them all and then we had cheese and melon. I made sure to tell Madame how much I liked it. But I think she thinks I don’t like anything…. But I literally eat at least half of everything she gives me! But she always gives me a lot more food than she gives herself so I don’t know why she is so mad when I can’t eat it all… And I’ve told her it is too much for me. But I dunno. And I’ve said this is great I will love eating the rest tomorrow but she has none of that either. So I am at a loss. 

                So today wasn’t too eventful but stuff happened. Tomorrow my classes start at 12! I have a feeling I won’t be sleeping in though because the house next door is under construction/restoration so it makes it hard to sleep in.

Romains

 It has been a crazy past two days! Two days ago I woke up and skyped Spegan with Paul. Then went to my last class for the early week program. Thank goodness because I was getting sooo tired of it. The class just needed more structure and didn't turn out to be what it was supposed to be which was how to live in the culture and what the expectations are for us within the family but it ended up being not picking pronunciations and the prof going off topic a lot. Which is fine but I really would have liked more of the info that was promised instead of trying to figure it out alone. But all is well that ends well.

 After class Julia, Lauren, Sophie, Claire, Kelan and I went to find some lunch and walk around. A few of the girls ended up buying cell phones from Orange for 35 euros for 470 texts and 117 minutes for the three months plus a phone for 30 euros. They also had the option for unlimited text and minutes inside France for 20 euros a month. They seemed confident that they won’t go over but I’m not so sure. To text 5 people where or what time to meet. That will add up pretty fast. But I didn’t say that and since a rep from one of the cell phone places is coming tomorrow (Monday) I decided to just wait and see what would be the best deal. Though I know it would be expensive… I still wish I had the ability to text home. I almost wish that I had splurged for a newer phone and the international plan for 3 months. But… Oh well… I feel like having the ability to text home would ground me a little bit which is why I would want it. I feel sort of disconnected from everyone right now which is, I guess the point but I wish I had more of an anchor to people that I know really care about me? Here everyone is nice but there isn’t any depth yet. But I will wait until the guy comes Monday and see what is up for phones. I have survived a week without one so I could do another.

 For lunch we went to the market and then to a little vendor who sells sandwiches with steak and French fries in them. We had never gotten them before but always wanted to try it. Like every other sandwich we buy it was huge, but also pretty good! We went and ate them in the “Cave” which is the student lounge part of the school. After that I left them in order to go home and pack. Even though I didn’t have much to pack I liked having the extra time. Madame came into my room and asked me what I was wearing that night while I was packing and because I had just been thinking about best P.C. pajamas that wouldn’t be super hot I showed her my pajamas. She looked very displeased and I said does that not work? It being athletic shorts and a t-shirt, and she said “no this won’t work at all”. Then it clicked that she was asking me what I was wearing to the party and I was like oh to the party! I thought you meant to sleep! And we both had a good laugh. I wanted to repaint my toes before the party because my polish had half worn off. I asked Madame where the best place was to get some nail polish real quick and she pointed e towards the Sephora store. I have never been there being a non-makeup person obviously so going there was pretty eventful! Lots of stuff and all very expensive! I got a very small bottle of pink nail polish and it was 4.50 euros so like 6 dollars, for a tiny bottle! But it will last me until I leave I hope so that is what matters? But I should have just walked around more to find another spot but oh well. If I compared prices here to US dollars I would literally never buy anything because everything is really expensive… But I did that and then came home and Paul had a friend over. Oh this is when I skyped my parents. My bad. And then it was time to get in the car to leave! Jean-Claude has a car I guess that they keep in the garage downstairs. It is little like all European cars but it feels big on the inside. I found it pretty interesting that on the back of the car chairs here there is a tray like in airplanes. When I thought about it I decided it was a pretty good idea if you had kids but I think that Americans don’t do it because they want the extra space for storage.

I also noticed here that they have A TON of roundabouts, and that they don’t go very slow in them. Driving in France is a lot like driving in Mexico. No one uses turn signals and they don’t try to drive smoothy it is just go slow go slow without regard to how it feels to passengers. I think some people would have a problem with that but I just accept that it is how the French roll. I really want to change that to that’s how the French baguette. There has got to be a good joke here somewhere… But the trip to Romains to go to the family birthday party was not bad at all. We took the Auto-route which I learned costs money and was very expensive. When I asked if it was cheap Laurence said everything is expensive in France, even if you breathe it costs money! I thought that was pretty funny but then I felt like I should try and not breathe as much. Just kidding! Paul played on Laurence’s phone the whole time and Madame pointed out different cities we were passing and when we entered a new province (not to be confused with Provence!) and she told me what each one was famous for and what number it was for the cars. You can tell where cars are from here by their number on the license plate as each province has a number. Aix has the number 13. We passed a nuclear plant and Madame told me that it is like a crocodile farm over there because of the heat from the nuclear plant I guess that it is a good spot to have them. Madame says they have all different sizes of them and it seems scary! After about two plus hours we arrived in Romains which is (from what I could tell) more like a small town where there isn’t as many shops but there are more houses. There was a beautiful cathedral that we passed that I wish I could have gone inside but it was late and dark so I didn’t get a very good picture. But we went through Romains and about five minutes outside the main city part was the house of Daniel and Christelle. I’m pretty sure that those were their names! And boy was the party kicking already!

 When we walked in we were given champagne and a buffet of assorted crackers and things. There was lots of music and dancing and it was really fun! We drank rose and red wine and champagne and I’m sure that night we went through at least 10 bottles. After crackers and stuff we had vegetable salad and cous cous salad for dinner. After that we had two cakes! One was chocolate and the other strawberries and cream. Guess which I liked better? Oh it was sooo delicious! When I first walked in they were playing American music and I thought it was to make me more comfortable or whatever but they actually knew all the songs that were played! I think that the French must listen to more American songs than we listen to French songs because it seems like a common thing that I hear American music in the streets and such. I asked Jules about it who was the 17 year old guy who went to Houston to work last summer for his uncle, and he said that it is very normal for the French to listen to American music because it is a hit here. He spoke pretty broken English but when we talked we would speak until one of us would not know the word in the other language and then we would say it in the opposite and then stay there until the next word we didn’t know. It worked well because we got to use both languages. He was really nice. We talked about the states, colleges, and stuff like that. He drank beer and I drank wine and then we both decided that we had better switch to water.

 

In attendance we had:

4 enfants: Paul, Matisse, The twins : Leah et Manon

3 Plus grand enfants : Elise, Jules, Me

9 Grands: Christelles and Darcel, Christelles sister and her husband, Their mom, Madame, Laurence and Jean-Claude, Madames Ex-husband
The French sure do know how to have a good time. They are very welcoming and try to include you in whatever is going on which I have found really surprising. I have been treated so well here that it shocks me. I had expected to be mostly ignored for a few weeks before they knew that I wasn’t a weirdo as I have heard they do, but it has been the complete opposite. I feel honored to be treated as one of the family. For Christelle, I put a few bucks in an envelope because she is going to NY to be a nanny for three months. I also gave them a box of Spree candies that I happened to not have eaten on the airplane. They went over pretty well at the party and I was glad that I had them.

At the party the kids are as much kids as those in the US that get bored of the adults and sitting at the table and after a while went to playing Gameboy or on iPads and phones. They played with each other, against each other, by themselves but surrounded by each other. They were always getting yelled at too for running through the house of causing mischief. That is one thing that I have learned, all children are the same universally! I was surprised by how late they were staying up too. I passed out at 1:30 am and they were all still up with no sign of the party dying. I slept in Elise’s room by myself which I told them I could share no problem but they had none of it. I felt bad kicking Elise out and I told her she could sleep in her bed and I would sleep on the air mattress but she was having none of that and she was only 12! She was very excited to have been allowed to wear heels for the first time at the party.  She showed them off but once it came to dancing she said her feet hurt and she went to take them off.  The party was really fun and I was glad that I went instead of going to the coast city this weekend. Especially because it ended up raining! But that is a story for the next day!

I woke up at nine and went into the living room where everyone was having breakfast. I wasn’t the last one up so that was good! I had cereal “Coco Pates” or pretty much coco puffs but in animal print form, and some of the breakfast cake that Madame had made and brought. It was just like a plain sweet cake. Elise had 6 pieces. After I was insisted that I could take a shower, which was amaaaazing and the best shower I’ve had here yet, Christelle, Madame and I went to town to get some things for lunch. When we got to town though it was raining pretty hard and after waiting in the car a few minutes we decided it wasn’t going to stop so we got out. We had one umbrella but I said I’m an Oregonian I will be fine and gave it to Madame. Rain is not a problem for me like I guess it is for them. 

After a ways Christelle said for us to wait for her under cover and she would return shortly with the stuff she needed. We waited and talked with passerbyers about the rain. Which I decided that the French in Villages are much more open to each other than in the city where you never talk to people you don’t really know. Here we talked to a lady with a plastic bag over her hair and families with babies that were protected under plastic stroller covers. It was fun and pretty soon the rain let up. 

After Christelle returned we went to a patisserie to get ANOTHER cake. This time an ice cream cake which I didn’t end up having because I was outside. But that was okay with me because I have had SO MUCH dessert. We walked around town for a bit and went to a bakery to get the two specialties in food of Drome which are a brioche and another sweet bread with Pralines in it. I have discovered that everywhere in France is known for something. Aix is known for art and fountains and calissons which are like little cookies (which I need to try!) and Romains is known for its shoes and the two breads. They were telling me that people from all over France come to Romains to buy shoes, even Paris.

When we got back to the house the adults made lunch and the kids played outside with the snails Elise, Manon, and I had caught that morning. We had lunch which was some kind of meat and potatoes and tomatoes, with again another 10 at least bottles of champagne and wines. It was good and then we had the cheeses. I decided that I really like brie and goat cheeses. They are quite good. We had cheese the night before but I think I forgot to say that. After lunch, we went outside and found Charlotte the tortoise, who likes to eat strawberries exclusively. Sound like anyone else you know?! ;-) And the kids started playing outside because the sun had come out and the adults had kicked them out of the house. 

Elise asked me if I wanted to be a part of the “la grande spectacle” which I said sure to but regretted later. I learned that meant that we were playing pretend and planning a little play for the adults. It was fun but also difficult because they kept giving me lines and I couldn’t remember them for the life of me each time. It was fun though to play with the younger twins. I think Leah liked me and understood that I was shy and didn’t want to have lines. We picked all the flowers in the yard and Leah and I threw them over the princess and prince (Manon and Paul) at their party. I learned Elise was the planner and organizer and didn’t have to have lines. We performed this to the adults and then I thought we were done but NOOOOO we had to do another one!!! By this time the younger kids were bored of this and wanted to go play with the snails or anything else. That didn’t please Elise too much who was having fun telling us what to say and do. She also kept calling me “Kate” because my name is so weird for the French. I was fine with it and understand but Paul kept correcting her which made her self-conscious but I told her she could call me Kate if she wanted. That made her happier.  

By then it was almost 4 and we got ready to leave. Elise was mad we never finished the last play and I told her that we could next time. She liked that. We said good bye to everyone in typical everyone says bye to everyone fashion and got in the car and to go on our way. We all slept on the way home because of the wine, so much food, and having stayed up the night before. It was a great trip and I am so glad that I went. It was a lot of fun and I got to have a really authentic experience. When we got back I started writing this, taking a break to have pasta and a piece of hamburger for dinner. And now it is bed time for bonzos! Once I get all the things up on the blog… 

La Montagne Sainte-Victoire

This morning I did my usual routine though it took me longer because I had to shave. Here the showers are only handheld and you are not supposed to use more than 6 minutes of water. Usually I shave in the shower at home but here I don’t have time so I figured out that if I stopped the drain I could use that water to shave! How brilliant am I? Pretty brilliant. So the way it works here is you get wet then turn off the water. Do soap and then turn it back on to rinse and then you are done. Except that in order to go out in public I guess you have to dry your hair which in my case takes FOREVER!

Class today was exquisitely boring. The professor talked about dog poop for literally 25 minutes of our 2 hour class. We were all so bored out of our mind and can’t wait for real classes to start that have a bit more structure. The professor is really nice and excited about what she is saying but she has a habit of just re-saying the same thing over and over. I think that with a bit more structure it would be a fun class but because it is so scattered it gets repetitive and boring. I will be happy when it is done tomorrow, though our class is an hour later because it is Saturday. I wish we didn’t have class at all but of course we do… 

 Today I met with the class schedules dean guy and he said I could take 4 classes but he didn’t want me to take three because he thinks I would get too bored. I have to check with WOU though to see if I can take 4 without problems because I thought I couldn’t take more than 3 with our credit system. While I was talking to him he said he wanted me to think about doing an Internship somewhere. He set me a big list of them and there are some that are cool like working in a bakery or for a theater company but I am not sold on the idea of an internship. I don’t know how many hours it would be or whether it would inhibit me being able to do things that I want to do so I don’t know how I feel about it… Part of me says that would be good experience but part of me says that wasn’t why I came to France. So I am unsure about it. 

Today we went to Vauvenargues which is a cute little village at the base of la Montaigne Sainte-Victoire. It is also where Pablo Picasso had a house built and where he lived for a few years before he dies and his kids inherited it. It was reaining when we first got there so we waited two minutes for it to stop by singing a song. It was super good. Not. But it was fun. After exploring th village we got back on the bus and went to the dam near Monte Sainte-Victoire.  It was super gorgeous and the lake it makes is so clear we were probably 40 yards up and we could see the fish swimming in the shallow parts. It was really breathtaking and my brain could hardly process how amazing ad beautiful it was. We walked up past the dam a little ways to a big clearing where we could see the mountain and see off into the distance. It was very gorgeous there and I could hardly imagine such a beautiful place existed.

After we got home we split up to go to dinner and maybe go to a club tonight but I decided not to go. I am just so exhausted that I get tired just writing this and it is only 10. Paul was over and he has been enjoying playing my iPod. I showed Madame my American money because she had never seen it before. I wish I had had the Oregon Quarter because I had to just show her on the computer. Paul was fun, we sorted pokemon cards and he looed at his cards. For dinner we had pasta and broccoli. It was good. Bow I am so tired I am going to pass out!