Le Fête des Lumières

A couple of weeks ago, I headed to Lyon with a group from my school to see the Le Fête des Lumières-- the festival of lights.

Of course, anytime anyone said 'festival of lights' I'd break out in Adam Sandler's Hanukkah song. Hanukkah iss.....a festival of lights....

 Anyway! The festival of lights in Lyon has nothing to do with the Jewish holiday. Rather, it's a really cool weekend where they set up fabulous light shows that play on buildings strewed throughout Lyon, France's third largest city. 

We started off in the main square in downtown Lyon-- they projected a cute animated movie on the Ferris wheel, complete with lights and fireworks.

I was told that Lyon saw 4 million extra tourists just during the festival of lights weekend and I believe that. There was an unbelievable amount of people at the festival. Everyone was wearing black and it was incredibly hard to keep up with people-- at some points we had to hold hands like kids in order to not lose each other in the crowd.

The streets of Lyon aren't terribly big to begin with, but the flux of people stretched from building to building in some parts-- pushing you shoulder to shoulder with the next person.

Not all of the shows were as grand as the first one. Some were more modest, just lights, no images for example.

It was rather cold so we all grabbed a cup of my new favorite drink-- vin chaud. Literally, hot wine, though it translates to mulled wine. I never knew what mulled wine was, but I love vin chaud. It's delicious, sweet, and it warms you up quickly on cold nights.

As the night wore on we started to nervously glance at our watches. Our school was taking us back in a bus-- if we missed the bus, it'd be too late to catch the last train home. The massive crowds made getting anywhere take five times longer than normal.

We had heard that the city hall put on the best light show so we tried to head in that direction to see if we could see it quickly enough to get back to our meeting spot on time. We literally got stuck in a street, surrounded on all sides by a huge crowd of people. The mass of bodies had the added benefit of warding off the cold so it wasn't as cold as it had been the whole night.

We couldn't move forward, we couldn't move backwards, and we weren't sure where we were even going. Every couple of minutes the crowd would inch forward a foot or so and then abruptly stop. Time was marching forward without us and we worried that we wouldn't be able to get out of the crowd with enough time to get to our meeting point.

One of the chicks who lived in the apartments lining the street we were stuck on looked out at the huge crowd of people stuck in the street and decided to spice it up. Opening her window she started blaring some upbeat French song that everyone knew the words to. We all started cheering; it made the wait more tolerable as the crowd turned into a small dance party-- even if there wasn't enough free space to do anything but kind of sway back and forth.

Eventually we reached the end of the street and saw that we were right at city hall in time for the light show. It was, by far, the best light show in the entire city. It spanned two grand buildings and was intricately beautiful.

After the light show ended, we linked hands, put my fastest friend in the front, and set about running our way through the dense crowd to get the our meeting point in time to catch the bus. My friend was amazing at finding the little spaces between people and had us through the seemingly impenetrable crowd in no time at all. Not only did we catch the bus, we also had time to grab some churros.

Stay tuned for more posts coming soon! We've been longing around the house so I've had time to sort and edit my photos and write those blog posts I'd been putting off for weeks.

Thanks for reading!

10 Things I'll miss about France

Recently I came up with a list of things that I miss from the US. Now, as my stay in France draws to a close it's beginning to hit me all the things I'll miss from the wonderful country of cheese. Which, ironically, does not rank on my list. On the cheese front I'm woefully American and prefer milder cheese.

This semester has been a blast-- I will write a post eventually trying to put into words the craziness and the ups and downs of studying aboard. While it wasn't my first time in France it was my longest stay in France and my first time at a French university. Funny side note, whenever I try and tell someone that this is my fourth time in France I inevitably say fortieth and really impress them.

In no particular order, here are ten things that I'll miss about France:

1. Bakeries 

It should come as no surprise that France has amazing pastries and bread. But what's also cool about France is the abundance of boulangeries and pâtisseries. I love the fact I can just drop by for a quick snack, a warm croissant or a baguette for dinner, when I'm out and about. Sometimes in the States it seems so odd to me that there aren't any little bakeries to get a quick handmade snack. 

2. Travel 

Another obvious choice-- being in an European country has the marvelous advantage of making traveling to another country almost as easy as traveling to another state. I'm currently writing this bit on the short plane ride home from a really fun trip I took to Barcelona on a whim-- it cost me less than 100€ for both transportation AND lodging. It was a great deal. But more on that later! 

Even though my program wasn't quite conducive to traveling, as I had class every morning, I was still incredibly blessed and visited several amazing cities during my stay in Europe. 

3. Euros

This is something I didn't realize I would come to like so much. Euros are going to be hard to give up. For one, they are a heck of a lot prettier than our all-green bills. Secondly, I love the fact that they have .50, 1€, and 2€ coins. I've gotten used to being able to pay with just change, it's awfully convenient. It's going to be odd going back to a country where the biggest coin used is 25 cents. 

4. French language 

The French language and I have had an usual relation-- like that one time I tried to ask someone if they were mocking me but most likely ended up asking if they miss me, not very effective. However, I do like speaking French, so I'll miss being surrounded by French. It will be super weird to go to the supermarket and understand everything, all the labels, all the food, what everyone is saying. Weird. 

Luckily, on this point, I'll be staying in the French house next semester-- a house on my college campus where we speak French and eat meals together. 

5. Veggie/fruit stands 

Walking down the main drag in my city, St. Étienne, there is an abundance of fruit and vegetable stands/small shops. They only sell fruits/vegetables and they have a wonderfully homegrown feel about them. 

6. Walking

I have to say this with the caveat that this is heavily colored by my rapidly settling in nostalgia. If you had asked me a week ago I would have cursed the mountain of a hill that I had to hike up everyday to get to my room. I hated lugging my groceries up that hill and there have been a couple Sundays I just didn't leave my room because I knew if I did I would have to hike up that hill. 

However, looking at this issue from the standpoint of someone who never has to climb up that hill again, I really like the French culture of walking everywhere. In the States seeing people walking places, outside of big cities, is weird-- over here it's perfectly acceptable. I feel like Americans could benefit by walking places more. We drive everywhere-- it's kind of absurd, until you take into account how far away everything is in the States. 

7. Gaufres 

Waffles! Waffles are a popular sweet snack over here. Coated in sugar, Nutella or plain they are delicious. I would buy a bag of them at the supermarket and bring them in as a snack for my three hour class. 

8. Coffee vending machine 

There was a coffee vending machine in the foyer at my university. It sold little plastic cups full of espresso, cappuccinos, tea, ect. It was really convenient for a cheap shot of caffeine. 

9. People

I would be terribly remiss if I didn't say I would miss all the people I met during my stay in France. Studying abroad is bitter sweet, as it allows you to make friends from all around the world, but then forces you to say goodbye after just 3 1/2 months. I meet some great people that made saying goodbye to France that much harder.

10. Public Transportation

This semester I relied solely on public transportation to get around. And while I'm excited to have my car again, I'll miss the extensive public transportation they have over here. Getting from one end of the city to the other-- and from one city to the next-- is fairly easy and fairly cheap. For example, we've settled into our French house for the holidays (post to come! it's awesome!) and I've been hopping on the nearby train to get into St. Etienne to see friends. Not only is it cheap-- cheaper than the tolls when you drive I think-- it's also quick and easy.


There you have it! I've spent a wonderful 3 1/2 months in France and it'll be bittersweet to fly out on the 26th. I still haven't decided if it'll be more bitter or sweet.

Stay tuned to hear about: Le Fête des Lumières, my whirlwind trip to Barcelona, the good and bad of studying abroad, and our French country house.

Whew. I should go write those posts I suppose.

Thanks for reading!

Gorgeous Annecy

Another post? So soon?

How is this possible? I've been, for no particular reason, putting off writing about all my adventures here, which leaves me with ton a pictures and stories I want to tell before I forget.

A couple weekends ago there was a holiday in France so we had a three-day weekend. On Monday Michelle and I got on a train headed to Annecy, a town an hour or two away from St. Etienne, nestled in the mountains near the Swiss border.

The ride to Annecy was in and of itself jaw-dropping. We curved around looming mountains, passing by small villages.

When we finally arrived in Annecy, it was bracingly cold as we followed the signs to get to the main attraction-- a huge lake surrounding by mountains.

You can't really see the lake in this picture.....but it's there!

It would've been cool to be here in the summer-- the water was crystal clear and a beautiful blue. However, the cooler weather meant a less crowds in this gorgeous area. We wandered around town-- le vieux ville  was gorgeous and almost reminiscent of Venice, with all the stone buildings crowded around a little canal.

Annecy was apparently a huge spot for boating-- there were hundreds of sail boats bobbing in the water. Michelle and I were surprised to see just how many people were eating lunch in their boats which were anchored near the shore.

Bride of Love :)

We only spent a day here but that was enough time to wander around the city and take the sites in. Two trains and two hours later we arrived back in home, sweet home of St. Etienne.

Stay tuned to hear about Le Fête des Lumières in Lyon!

Thanks for reading :)

6 Things I Miss From the US

It feels somewhat sacrilegious writing a post about the things I miss from the US. After all, I'm in France-- the land of cheese, bread, pastries, chocolate-- the list of delicious things goes on and on.

However, there are a few things that I miss from the US.

1. Breakfast Food

The French don't believe in breakfast as much as Americans do. In the United States, at least once a week when I'm home, my father cooks up a huge homemade breakfast. From fried eggs and bacon, to chocolate chip pancakes, to crispy waffles covered in fruit and whipped cream, it is always a great way to start a day. I can't wait to get back to the US and stuff my face with bacon-- something that doesn't really exist over here.

2. Taco Bell

I can't believe I'm writing this. And I wouldn't be, if I hadn't daydreamed about eating Taco Bell tacos for hours during class this semester. The meat isn't real and neither is the nutrition, but sometimes you just crave cheap Mexican food. Also, another thing that isn't terribly popular over here.

3. Public Restrooms

So this is rather inconvenient, but in France, public restrooms don't exist. Sure, if you go into a decent restaurant you might find one, but everywhere else you're out of luck. The bathrooms in McDonald's ((which sadly exists in abundance over here)) have codes that you have to look on your receipt to find in order to unlock the doors. You have to pay to use the restroom in the train station in Lyon. So when your day consists of sight seeing in a town and getting a baguette for dinner, finding a restroom turns into a game of who-can-charm-the-waiter into sneaking and using the restroom.

4. Goodwill

I have found exactly one thrift shop in my town. To put things into perspective, in my hometown, which is considerably smaller than St. Etienne, has four thrift shops--and those are just my favorite ones. Suffice to say, I can't wait to run to Goodwill and buy some cheap sweaters when I get back home.

5. Pianos

This can't come as much of a surprise, but there aren't any pianos just lying around for me to play here in France. Even though I expected this, I still missing sitting down and striking out the opening chords to The Great Gate of Kiev. I'm excited to get back home and even Hendrix, where there will be pianos-- albeit perhaps badly turned-- a plenty for me to play.

6. English Cheese

So this the most sacrilegious thing I can say while living in France, aka the country of cheese. It was like saying I didn't Guinness while in Ireland-- I'm a little worried the inhabitants will kick me out. Revoke my visa.

However, my friends won't be surprised to hear that I'm slightly obsessed with cheese. English cheeses that is. French cheeses, while I haven't tried all of them, goodness who has, tend to be far too strong for my taste. And France, non-surprisingly, doesn't sell English cheeses really. Aside from a bit of cheddar from a nice friend a couple weeks ago, it has been three long months since I last ate cheddar. Sometimes I think I have a calcium deficiency to amount of times a day I crave cheddar cheese. Hopefully I'll be able to eat cheddar before I get back to the US-- Michelle and I leave Thursday for London. They better have cheddar cheese.

C'est tout! Just a few differences between France/US. It's probably a good thing they exist. Otherwise I might just stay in France forever.

Like I mentioned above, Michelle and I are flying to London-- 45 min flight! great thing about Europe, everything's so close-- on Thursday to visit the great city and some friends :) Stay tuned to read about our British adventures.

Thanks so much for reading!

Snow Day!

I will, undoubtedly, go back and finally write a post recounting the rest of my adventures in Dublin, and one on my beautiful day trip to Annecy, BUT I wanted to write a quick post about the wonderful surprise I had today.



Yesterday, as I was walking home from class it started to lightly snow. It took a while before it began to accumulate, just a powder sugar dusting on the still-green grass. The weather channel said it would snow an inch or so that night, so when I went to bed I eagerly waited to see what morning would look like.

When I woke up, I couldn't believe the amount of snow that had magically appeared outside of my window. It was easily more snow than Jonesboro receives in five winters combined. 

It was surreal walking to school. I had a feeling that I wouldn't have class when I finally trekked to my building. The roads were nearly impossible, and a beautiful strange silence lay alongside the freshly fallen snow.

I felt like I was walking in a strange winter wonderland which has previously only existed in the tv. I didn't have class-- turns out the public transportation was down, which meant that 75% of my class and my teacher weren't able to make it. After this pleasant surprise some friends and I headed out to walk around town, marveling over the quickly falling snow, before stopping for a much need warm coffee.

It was surprisingly busy out on the main street. Local schools seemed to be out and everyone was out as though the foot of snow piling up around them was no big deal. Almost every store was open; people were driving, or attempting to drive on the narrow, often times steep, now icy roads, which more times than not resulted in stalled cars halfway up a hill.

This afternoon the clouds lifted and the view from Michelle's window turned magical as the mountains appeared through the fog, carrying the most beautiful winter coat of bright snow.

St. Etienne isn't the most beautiful city in France, but it sure looks gorgeous when coated with freshly fallen snow.

Hopefully I'll be able to motivate myself sometime soon to talk about Dublin/10 other blog post ideas I have swirling around in my head.

Thanks for reading :)

Aix-En-Provence

Last Friday a friend and I went to the opera. Carmen was playing and we had heard that they sold any empty seats for 5 euros fifteen minutes before the show.

Luckily for us the show wasn't sold out and we scored some awesome seats on the balcony for roughly 6.50 dollars. It was my first time at the opera and I loved every minute of it. I loved that there was a tiny screen hanging over the stage that displayed French subtitles, as the actors were speaking/singing a mixture of French and Italian. I understand a lot more thanks to the subtitles; though there were still some things that got lost in translation. Once I was so busy trying to read the subtitles that I missed the death of a character.

The next morning we woke up early and boarded a train for Aix-En-Provence, a French city a couple hours away from St. Etienne. Since we had class on Monday we weren't able to spend much time in this beautiful city. However, we had plenty of time to wander around the historic city center and people watch.

I believe there was a fountain at almost every single intersection.

Like any French city worth its salt, Aix was full of beautiful old cathedrals. The previous pope either visited this cathedral or this cathedral just really loved the previous pope...the signs and plaques weren't that clear.

One thing I love about France is that this is the city; this is where people live, work, eat, shop-- it isn't some museum or 'historic' sight. These beautiful old buildings are just another part of life.

We were searching for a quiet spot to eat our dinner when we ran into a wedding that was just finishing in a gorgeous cathedral. I loved the classic Bug.

The wedding was in this cathedral-- I tried my best not to gawk. This photo, by the way, was taken with my iPhone. I'm still impressed with its panoramic abilities.

Speaking of gorgeous cathedrals and iPhone photos, here's another cathedral we stumbled upon Sunday morning. Aix has this really cool market on Sunday mornings-- one side of their main street is covered in tents of local artisans and there's another market by Hotel de Ville full of fresh produce.

I was craving some tea Saturday night so I drug my friends to this cute tea shop I spotted-- the tea was delicious and it was a good place to relax and people watch.

 

I took, and edited, this photo on my iPhone-- I'm going to post a tutorial (eventually) on my favorite methods of photo editing on my phone. I liked taking photos on my phone because it's easily accessible. Also, I don't feel like a tourist, as much, when I use my phone as opposed to my huge camera. 

I wish we had had more time to spent exploring the city and making use of their museums. There's also a beautiful mountain not far outside the city-- we saw it when we arrived at the train station-- but we weren't sure how to get there without a car.

The main fountain at night :)

Sunday afternoon we said goodbye to Aix and hoped on a train back to St. Etienne where we finished out last week of classes before holidays.

And the holidays have arrived! We have an entire week off-- I've been enjoying the extra sleep. This Tuesday, however, I'm getting up far earlier than the sun to make my flight to Dublin.

Who needs sleep when you have Dublin and your best friend? I won't be bringing my computer to Dublin so I won't be able to post much while in Ireland. I'll try to post small updates from my phone so stay tuned!

Thanks for reading :)

I'm on a boat!

Je suis sur un bateau!...et autre choses...

A couple weekends ago, CILEC ((my French language program)) organized a small trip to a nearby river for a boat ride.

We arrived at the meeting spot, just in front of Hotel de Ville, joining a large crowd of students. I wasn't sure how we were all supposed to get to the river; there was a lot of us and we were in the middle of the city.

One bus turned a corner, parking by us. I scanned the group, then mentally scanned the size of the bus. It was just a normal city bus, certainly not big enough for the huge group of us that had signed up to go to the river.

By a feat of impossible physics we managed to fit five times the legal number of people onto the small bus. I was stuck in the aisle with scant to hold on to-- not a problem, thanks to the natural crush of people surrounding me. The bus driver seemed to make a game of how fast he could take a roundabout-- I unfortunately become very close to my neighbors.

Twenty five minutes of doing my best sardine impression later, we arrived at the river.

A little river snaked it's way through the hills; we shared the water with an assortment of wind surfers and kayaks.

The ride was slightly underwhelming-- we had seen some pictures of a gorgeous small castle, which was no where to be seen. Just as I thought the trip was over we made a sharp turn where I had thought the river ended.

The castle was really small, and sadly privately owned, but it was still pretty.

The boat ride wasn't that long, but it was short pretty ride on a river surprisingly close to St. Etienne.

I don't have any particularly good excuse as to why it took me this long to write a blog post. I finally had enough stuff I wanted to blog about pile up that I decided to write this blog, so I could write other blogs about my more recent adventures.

In other news, I went bowling with some friends a couple weeks ago. Bowling here is pretty popular-- we had to wait for a lane to open up, so we played some pool; not very popular. We got a lot of stares but it was hard to tell if it was because a) no one plays pool or b) we were a semi loud group of foreigners who really sucked at pool.

I went to Aix-En-Provence last weekend-- it was gorgeous and I can't wait to show you the pictures. Stay tuned to hear all about it!

Thanks for reading!

Lovely Lyon

Alliteration for the win!

A couple weekends ago (read, I'm just now posting about it because I'm lazy) some friends and I hopped on a train and went to Lyon, France. Lyon is a nearby town, maybe 30 miles away, and it's older (prettier) and bigger than my town of St. Etienne.

Yeah.

This gorgeous mountain of a cathedral greeted us as we started to explore the old part of Lyon. It rises like a giant overlooking a cobblestone square.

I wish that I had either the words or the photos in my arsenal to fully depict the breathtaking scale of the ancient cathedrals. Instead, I have grainy iPhone photos and wistful thinking.

Michelle laughed as I gushed how beautiful the cathedral was.

'Just wait till you see the basilica' she told me.

I've forgotten the name of this cathedral. Regardless even a brief visit leaves you amazed at the architectural skill of the men who built this hundreds of years ago. The soaring ceilings are impossibly high over your head, easily achieving their purpose of making you feel small amongst the presence of God.

After walking through the cathedral we searched for an authentic French restaurant to eat lunch; not a difficult task. Most restaurants posted a menu on the sidewalk and we quickly chose one and settled down at a table outside. Eating outside is something I really liked about French restaurants-- the weather was perfect and there was an awning which protected us from a brief spout of rain.

The lunch lasted around two hours-- a typical French restaurant offers these fixed meals; often three courses where you get to pick from a list what appetizer/main course/desert you want, ect. It's a lot of food, and they give you a lot of time to fully enjoy it.

After the delicious meal we headed up the vernicular-- this little tram like car that rides up a rail and travels at almost a 45 degree angle up the hillside-- to see the basilica.

It was every bit of impressive as the cathedral and then some. It was made of the same white-ish stone as the cathedral, causing them both to almost glow in the light.

The basilica was on top of the hill, and offered an amazing panoramic view of the city.

Thanks to Michelle for taking the photo!

After gawking at the beautiful view we headed inside to be greeted by an even more amazing view. I suddenly understood why Michelle had laughed when I found the cathedral beautiful.

The basilica was covered in shinning intricate mosaics; it's hard to explain how stunning the view is when you first step in, expecting just to see more stone.

Yeah. Talk about a beautiful ceiling.

After a quick stop to gaze at some ruins, we hopped back on the train for St. Etienne. 


Bon, c'est tout! We didn't have much time to spend in Lyon but it's really easy to get to, so we might go back soon to explore it more.

Stay tuned for my boating adventures on the Loire! ((which weren't as epic as that may lead you to believe...))

Thanks for reading :)

10 Things That Surprised Me About France

I love lists!

Since this is my fourth time in France (wow fourth sounds like such a huge number) I wasn’t expecting many surprises. Granted, I had never attended university in France but I had lived here for a month.

I knew that French milk only had to be refrigerated after opening. I knew that people walked everywhere. I knew to expect amazingly delicious food.

However, when I got over here and immersed myself in daily life, there were some things that I just hadn’t expected.

1.    My water

Before I studied abroad I attended a mandatory study abroad meeting which basically told me don’t piss off the natives and don’t drink the water.

I didn’t think that applied to a developed country like France so you can imagine my surprise when I filled up my cup with tap water and it looked like this:

Now, I mean, this isn’t a commentary of the state of tap water in France—I’m sure it’s drinkable. At first I thought it was the cup so I cleaned it obsessively-- then I realized that the hot water looked the same regardless of what cup I used.


2.    Zambonis 

The French love a clean supermarket and there’s a huge one not too far from where we live. To clean the floors, attendants ride around in this Zamboni-esque machine during working hours. It’s a sort of game to not get run over.

 
3.    Sundays
You think Chick-Fil-A being closed on Sunday is bad?
Try every single store. Now, if you search long enough you will find the odd boulongiere which is open Sunday morning but for the most part everything shuts down. It’s like being in the desert with the Israelites—if you don’t gather enough manna on Saturday you are just out of luck. It can be a problem if you forget and don’t stock up on food.


4.    Room Size
I thought Raney (dorm building at my home university) rooms were small. They’ve got nothing on rooms in La Cotonne (which I live). The room is unbelievably small. Unbelievable because it is just big enough to function. With one person. If Michelle is in my room it becomes a Tetris game just trying to move around.

My bathroom is about the size of an airplane bathroom—with a shower. I didn’t know you could make a bathroom that small. It works, don’t get me wrong, but it has its inconveniences. Like just washing your hands in the sink and accidentally backing into the shower faucet and turning on the shower.


5.    Classes

Two things surprised me about classes in France. To begin with, their intensity surprised. Every single morning at 8:30 I have class for three hours.

 Three straight hours of French.

It can be difficult to pay attention for the entire time. It also sucks getting up early every single morning. Two afternoons a week I have afternoon class—History of Art on Tuesdays and Survey of Contemporary France on Wednesdays.

Now, besides the fact I do have class every day this semester is kind of a vacation. I have nowhere near the amount of homework I normally have at Hendrix. It’s a very nice break.


6.    Class Time

The other thing that really surprised me about classes was the timing. You can’t be late, but no one is really on time. One morning, at exactly 8:30, there were exactly two students, including myself. No teacher. Granted, she probably arrived at 8:31 but the rest of the students took a little bit longer. I’m kind of obsessive about being on time so this is a hard concept for me to grasp.


7.    Price of Alcohol
I knew alcohol would be cheap over here, it just didn’t hit me how cheap until I wandered down the wine aisle in our local supermarket.

That bottle of wine was less than 3 euros. What’s funny is that every time I bring that up to a European they are always like ‘oh Spain has the cheapest wine, France isn’t that cheap!’ Then I tell them about the wine prices in the US.


8.    English
St. Etienne is not a tourist town. Which is a good thing, since I really wanted to immerse myself in French culture and language.

However, this also means that the locals aren’t used to hearing English. Or at least that’s my explanation for all the stares and weird looks we get when we speak English out and about.

That’s a good thing, though. Recently I was in Lyon with friends (blog post to follow!) and when the waiters heard us speaking English they automatically spoke English to us, which isn’t the best thing when you are trying to learn French.


9.    Weather
I’m loving this weather! It has been really bipolar. When I first got here it got really cold all of the sudden and we had a week or two where the high was in the low 60s. Now, suddenly, it’s warming up. Warming up meaning the high is in the 70s. Considering the heat I left at home in Arkansas, this was a nice surprise. And St. Etienne is supposed to get a lot of snow in the winter, which I am excited about!


10.    Language Barrier
I know, it sounds stupid, right? After all, how could I have not been prepared for a language barrier when I set off to live four months in a foreign country?

But I never thought it would be this big of a barrier. You see, if I’m back at Hendrix, sitting at my desk in French class filling out a worksheet I know that the subjunctive follows expressions of necessity. I can properly (for the most part) use direct and indirect objects. I can use pronouns in their proper place.

However, when someone rattles off a phrase in French and then stares at me wanting a response, everything I ever even thought I knew flies far away and I’m left there replying in broken French. It can be intimidating speaking in French even if theoretically I know how to respond.

If people speak slow and enunciate I'm good, but that's not how most people talk in everyday conversation.


Well there you go! 10 things that I did not expect in the wonderful country of France. Stay tuned to hear about my adventures in Lyon, France!

Thanks for reading!

La Fête Renaissance

alternative title: The Biggest Renaissance festival in all of France. Or so I was told.

Last weekend, CILEC ((the French program I'm studying at)) chartered a bus to a near by town called Puy-en-Velay to the biggest renaissance festival in France, called the King of the Bird (or the king and the bird....j'ai oublié)).

We arrived around 11 am. The main festival appeared to be centered in front of Hotel de Ville (the major's office basically) and there was a clustering of white tents and dressed up people.

I was surprised at the number of people who went full out-- lavish, expensive, period costumes. We began to meander through the festival, seeing the craftsmen, the recreated camping living quarters, the archery competition (which we couldn't figure out how to join) and then, after maybe four min, we ended up where we started.

We looked around, confused. Biggest renaissance fair in all of France and it took only four minutes to walk around all the tents? We walked around once more, and then started a vain search for turkey legs since we were all starving. Alas, apparently turkey legs are not standard fair at French renaissance parties so we left the fair and headed in search of food.

Or so I thought we left the fair. Turns out, the festival was spread out all over the city. It was really interesting to be at a renaissance fair in a city that probably saw the actual renaissance. It wasn't hard to imagine what life would have been like-- the buildings probably weren't much different.

I loved walking through the streets-- it was a beautifully ancient town.

In case you're curious my hometown, St. Etienne, does not look like this. St. Etienne started as an industrial town and lacks the medieval section of the city.

I hate taking my big camera out in St. Etienne because everybody already turns and stares (slight exaggeration, I admit) when they hear me speaking English. I don't want to look like even more of a tourist. At the renaissance fair, however, basically everyone was a tourist so I didn't feel weird lugging around my big camera.

We hiked through the city and up a huge hill, only to be rewarded by a massive cathedral that over looked the city.

The interior of the cathedral was, unsurprisingly, breathtaking.

After the church we hiked up a bit further.

 The church is the church I showed you pictures of-- after that we hiked up to the top of the statue.

Yup, the top. But my favorite area was actually the overlook at her feet.




The overlook, after some tiring hiking, was amazing :)

From the base of the statue we had panoramic views of the surrounding city and hills. It was most definitely worth the hike ;)

This isn't the best picture but there was this really amazing cathedral literally built on top of a narrow rock. It took my breath away when I first saw it as we were driving into town. I was sad we didn't have time to visit it, but it was really cool.

Well, that's about it! I apologize this post took so lonnggg to write, but hey, at least I finally wrote it! I'm going to try and write the rest of my posts today and post them soon.

So stayed tuned for my next post, 12 Things that Surprised me about France :)

Thanks for reading!