And we're in the home stretch!

I am so conflicted - I have no idea what to feel right now, as we enter the 12th week of this semester (as Mme. de Pous LOVES to remind us) which = the third-to-last week of our Nantes experience, and the second-to-last week of class. Shockingly, we're all running around like the crazed college students we are, trying to get all the work done that we are required to do...which is only shocking because it's such a normal part of school, but it's happening in a place where school doesn't really seem like nearly as big of a deal as usual. Also contributing to this is the fact that we literally have had almost 0 work all semester. Other than a few pages of grammar homework, and studying for upcoming tests...nada. rien. For me, at least...but anyway. I'm doing fairly well getting all my stuff done, and I'm not freaking out in the least. But I'm also getting pretty ecstatic to go home. The list of things I'm missing is growing bigger and bigger.

BUT the reason I got all my work done early was because my MOMMY WAS HERE. It was amazing : however, I'm not going to update on that until I have pictures from facebook, all of which she has with her, on her memory card.

Instead - I am now going to update you on our fantastic trip to Marseille. Jade and Cori had gotten there Thursday...and Hannah, Molly and I were going down Friday morning. E.A.R.L.Y. meaning...literally five in the morning. We decided it would be easier (and we'd have less of a chance of one of us sleeping through the alarm) if we were all together, so we stayed at Hannah's house. So our day of travel started at 5 am, we were on the tram by 5:45, switched trams, took the bus and arrived at the airport for our 8:40 flight...at about 6:50. Completely unnecessary, seeing as the Nantes airport was COMPLETELY deserted at that time. Oh well - we took a nap for a little while, until they called our flight. RyanAir is actually a pretty good airline, with highly amusing in-flight magazines and very cute Irish flight attendants. When we landed (after the gorgeous view flying over the Alps), we found the downtown shuttle to the train station and then meandered around and found our hostel.

The view down the street was breathtaking. I love those corners where you just have to gasp, and there are no words. We looked straight down to the 'vieux port' which was definitely the heart of the city. When we get down there, we're hit by the wall of smell - the salty, humid ocean air, mixed with a fishy but fresh and delicious smell coming from the fish market...these people had literally caught these fish within the past hour, at the most, and only about 20 feet behind where they were standing, selling them.


We found a restaurant for lunch, right next to the water, and were joined by Greg - a guy who lives in Marseille, who at some point did a study abroad exchange and stayed with one of Hannah's good friends at home. He was so wonderful, and we couldn't have asked for a better tour guide/photographer/French professor all day long. Also, I would just like to talk really quickly about the whole 'kiss-kiss' or 'faire les bisous' that are such a big part of the French stereotype....just to clarify, it is NOT as easy as it looks, and they actually DO do it ALL the time. Every French person does it differently, so you have the people who actually kiss and then the people who just do the cheek-touch and kiss the air, which completely changes the head angle so you have to figure that part out. And don't even get me started about when you're in big groups - doesn't matter how many people, every entrance AND exit you make means you have to go around and faire un bisou avec EVERYBODY there. Also, if you're sitting down, you either have to stand up to meet the other person who is most likely standing. Or, if you're the one standing, you have to awkwardly crane your neck to reach down and do it to the other person who is sitting...all of which gets amazingly awkward, amazingly quickly. However, I learned in Marseille that faire-ing les bisous is ESPECIALLY difficult when you go to other parts of the country. Greg, upon our introduction, went in for the kiss, but went to the OTHER SIDE than anybody had done thus far in Nantes. Think about it - if you're going in to kiss someone on the cheek, but you go to opposite sides...awkward things start happening, which involve noses bumping, and even, potentially, lips brushing. Let's just say some of these things occurred when Greg and I met, and it definitely started our new relationship off pretty hilariously. But seriously - faire-ing the bisous = NOT as easy as it may look. Just so you know.

ANYWAY: after lunch, Greg suggested we take the Navette out to the islands, as something fun to do. As we had no idea there was a shuttle, or even islands..we obviously took him up on it! For the best 10 Euros I have spent the entire trip, we got a boat tour of the vieux port, and then jetted out across the magnificently clear blue water to first, the Isle d'If, where the chateau is that the Count of Monte Cristo is said to have been imprisoned in the novel, which was pretty amazing. Then, we went farther out into the Mediterranean to the Iles de Frioul, which was a real archipelago of islands, which we proceeded to hike all around, all day long. It was absolutely breathtaking, and the sunshine was absolutely delicious (especially after the non-stop pluie rainrainrainrain in Nantes for a good month now) - we even got a little bit sunburned. On November 20th! Who does that?



We had a great time on the islands, but it was getting a bit chilly (read: about 60 degrees, which was cold after 75 all day long) and we caught the LAST shuttle back to land. We did some souvenir shopping, then headed to the hostel to check in and on to Greg's apartment. We had a ton of fun just hanging out, and he was nice enough to make us a "delicious" bachelor-style dinner of spaghetti and meatballs. But it actually was good, and definitely great company. After, we went to a bar to meet up with some of Greg's friends and watch l'Olympique de Marseille (l'OM - the football club of Marseile) play and BEAT (1-0) PSG (Paris Sainte Germaine - the FC Paris). It was a fantastic time, and of course les Marseillaises went nuts when they won. It was pretty awesome to be a part of all the celebration. After, the metros stopped running so we had to head back to the hostel, where we met our very interesting...I think dedicated and ambitious are good words to describe him, but also possibly a bit morbid? haha... hostel mate, named John from Seattle.

Then Sunday, we checked out of the hostel and headed back downtown to check out the last of the sights. We walked up to the big fort that was at the entrance of the vieux port, which Napoleon built...pretty much, just in case. He wasn't ever even there haha. But it was beautiful, and there was a church up on the hill that was from the 14th century, where fishermen have gone to pray ever since it was built, before they head off to sea. It was gorgeous.

Then, we headed back to town to find lunch, ended up settling on the most disgusting croque monsieurs EVER (probably in all of France - no exaggeration whatsoever) and headed back to the train station to grab the shuttle back! Of course, when we landed in Nantes, it was raining (no surprise there) but it was still nice to be home! The south of France was an absolutely gorgeous place, and shockingly different - especially to think we were still in the same country. There were HUGE immigrant populations, so it definitely had an interesting vibe - much less northern French/catholic/castle-y, but much more Mediterranean/Spanish/North African/Italian/island-y. It was cool to hear some of the history that Greg knew (especially when he told us how big the French maffia was there - who knew?!?) and learning about such a socially and culturally different region. It was an all-around AMAZING trip!

Castle Quest '09

What is this? Two posts in like 2 days? I know - crazy! Now is the only time that I have to procrastinate though, so I have to update now before I run out of time!

So last weekend was Castle Quest 2009. It was one of the field trips that IES planned for us as a part of our program. We did 5 castles in 2 days, and it was amazing. And it was so amazingly French.

We arrived at the buses crazily early. And then we all scrambled on to them, obviously stressing about getting the best seating arrangement, and making it on the "cool bus" - evidently, we haven't really grown up since middle school. The bus ride to the first one was 3 hours long, but mostly spent sleeping. Then, we woke up, and we were standing in front of a giant castle. It was like time travelling. #1 was Serrant - it was where the Duke of (insert name of region here - I forgot) lived back in the day. They lived there until not that long ago (I'm gonna say the 1920's ish?) when the Duke died. His wife, the dutchess, had never had any children, so she decided to sell the chateau to an Irish family - the Welsh's. They were apparently pretty tight with the Queen...as in the Queen of England...so she now vacations there. It was pretty cool.

Then we took off to Castle #2 which was Azay-le-Rideau. It was for sure my favorite. We didn't get a guided tour of that one, so I don't know the background. But the grounds were absolutely beautiful, and we just walked around for a really long time, and explored. It was so beautiful.
We also were taught the Single Ladies dance and some lovely Renaissance dances and played in the leaves and had a lovely fall afternoon at a castle.

Then, chateau #3 was Villandry, which is more famous for its gardens than the castle. They made it into a maze, using all fruits and vegetables. But also, it was only fruits and vegetables that grew in the Renaissance times (i.e. there were no apples, because apples didn't come to France until after then). It was really cool, and also really beautiful.


Then we made our way to the town of Tours where we got to our hotel. We settled in and realized we were starving. Dinner finally came - it was good, but I don't think France doesn't do mass-produced food for 75 kids at once. Then we went exploring downtown Tours! It was a beautiful town, and I really wish I could have seen it in the daylight. But we had a great time, went to an Irish bar and met an Australian couple backpacking across Europe. You know, the usual.....and then Peter and I hung out and had quite the eventful night in my room. Don't worry, it's not at all like it sounds. haha.

Next day, we took off fairly early for chateau #4 - Amboise. This is where Francois 1 lived, who was married to Duchess Anne de Bretagne (who is originally from Nantes - the world was even small back then...probably smaller. ahah) and was also bffs with Leonardo da Vinci. da Vinci had his own palace, a ways away from Amboise, but we could see it from the castle...and apparently there's secret tunnels they used to get back and forth. But da Vinci was also commissioned to paint for Francois 1, which was who he painted the Mona Lisa for. He also died while he was living there, so the Mona Lisa wasn't ever finished, which means the commissioner doesn't technically own it, so the French state came into possession of it. In the Revolution, they destroyed a lot of da Vinci's castle (stupid war) so his tomb was moved to Amboise, where we saw it. It was pretty sweet.

The actual castle of Amboise was also really beautiful. It was still completely furnished from the Renaissance times, but you can rent it out and stuff for weddings, etc. which was pretty cool. Since it was cold, there were fires burning in the fireplaces, and that kindof thing. It was interesting to think of castles as being lived in - but some of them definitely are! We also got a language on olde French while we were there, and the transition from Latin to modern French. Mme de Pous (our grammar prof, who was also our chaperone for the weekend. And is amazing) was very proud of us for being able to figure out even ancient French. It was hilarious.

Finally, castle #5 was Chenenceau, which was huge, the most famous, and glorious. We had a LONG time to explore this one, and there was lots of history. This guy (a king of something, I forget) wanted to build it for his mistress -Diane de Poitiers, but then in the middle of construction, he "mysteriously" died, and then his WIFE - Catherine de Medici - took over, and totally kicked the mistress out. Most of the castle is built on one side of the river, but there is a long ballroom that acts as a bridge over the river too
This room was absolutely awesome, and had a lot of history as well. The castle actually served as a hospital during WWI, and the ballroom was the triage station. During WWII, the owner used it to smuggle people across the river, which was hugely important because (as my host father informed me later) the river literally was the border between Vichy-led France and free France during its regime. How cool is that??
The gardens were also beautiful, and my lovely friends Hannah, Emily and Peter and I had many great HP finds - the labyrinth, and the lake, and Hagrid's cabin...it was an all-around good time. Then, on our way back to the bus, we had the most perfect end to the weekend: a rainbow over the castle.
And it started POURING just as we sat down in our seats (which was awesome, because it had been forecast to rain ALL weekend. We definitely lucked out).

So that's castle quest '09. I hope you enjoyed the history. Since then, I have written a paper on NATO (OTAN in French - if I slip while I'm talking, it's the same thing haha), and pretty much nothing else. But Marseille is this weekend (already! I remember buying tickets and thinking how FAR AWAY the trip sounded!) and then my MOMMY IS COMING IN 9 DAYS!!! We have 5 weeks left, and I'm going to be making the most of them for sure!

My adventures in Benelux!

Omygoodness I have been failing once again! These past two weeks have been jam-packed with both work and play and it's been fantastic. In addition, I only have 5 weeks left here - and only 3 of class! It's crazy, and I have SO many things coming up.

In review - two weeks ago, we had our "fall break" which didn't really count as a 'vacation,' but it is the longest amount of time that IES gives us without classes (we had Friday and Monday off of school). I decided to use it to go visit my friend Nina, who spent her senior year of high school at Spring Lake. When I visited her here, I was the first one (except Steve, her boyfriend - he doesn't count haha.) from Spring Lake to come visit her in Europe. So that was pretty exciting! It was amazing, though, to see her on this continent.

Thursday afternoon, I took the train from Nantes-Paris (had to switch stations which proved a hilarious challenge...the Paris metro is not very compatible with lugging around suitcases. Which will be interesting when Meryl and I have to do the same switch with ALL of our luggage on our way to London in December...not just with an overnight bag like I had on this trip) and then Paris-Brussels. First thing, I had to find a WC (water closet)...found one, but it was a paid restroom, so I had to find a 50 Euro cent...not 2 20 Euro cents and a 10...just a 50. It took a while, but then I found the change machine into which you put your change...and got back more change? It was hilarious. And then I ended up going into the wrong side (because I obviously can't read Dutch!?!?) and I come out face-to-face with this man who was clearly trying to tell me, in Dutch, that I had failed miserably at this attempt. It was great fun. Then, I finally got in touch with Nina, via text, and she called and said that she was stuck in a ridiculous traffic jam and would be a while. About an hour later, we finally met up and got all excited, and then tried to navigate our way onto the highway which also proved interesting...Brussels literally consists of a million tiny little streets and one HUGE street with about 4 lanes, all the way through the city, that goes in and out of tunnels all over the place. It was a bit complicated. We finally got on, though, and arrived at Nina's apartment in Maastricht (or, actually Lanaken, Belgium - about 2 minutes from the border) and stayed there for the night.

The next day, Nina had class, so I woke up late-ish, watched CNN International - my new favorite activity (it literally has so much information...I saw commercials for Kosovo - not for tourism or anything, but literally advertising the legitimacy of the country's sovereignty. It was amazing), and then met up with her when she was done. We had waffles for lunch:
We then did ALL of Maastricht, led around by an amazing self-tour that we got at the tourism office. It took us everywhere we could have wanted to go...and read our minds. We would say "oh, that's a pretty street, we should go down it!" and then we'd look at the map, and it was say "turn left down this street, it's beautiful." haha. Nina lives there, but she even learned about a lot of the history of Maastricht.
I also went to Nina's Sustainable Development class, which was awesome. We were debating the definition of the term, which was fascinating because there were literally people there from: Norway, Denmark, Turkey, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and then there was me. It was so cool. That night, we went out with some of her friends from class, and I had my first coffee shop experience, which was absolutely bizzare. Ask me about the details if you wish. haha


The next day, which was Halloween, we went to Duren, Germany - Nina's hometown...it was so wonderful seeing her hometown and her house, and her parents again - they came to Spring Lake for Nina's graduation, and we had them to our house for dinner. It was not only really cool being able to see them again, but also being around people who could 1- speak English 2- knew my family and my home and my home town and 3-feeling so at home! I loved it a lot. So, when we got to Duren, we just hung out and relaxed, which was lovely. Nina also taught me to drive stick shift, and apparently I'm a natural! I actually drove us to the grocery store, and then home, and didn't kill us! I was so proud. We then went and rented scary movies and bought chocolate, came home and helped with dinner and had a wonderful, 3-hour long dinner - my favorite kind! Then watched the movies and had a great Halloween night.

The next day was Cologne - we took a train in, fairly early in the morning, and started off right away. We climbed the cathedral stairs, which was exhausting but TOTALLY worth it.
It was beautiful at the top. We then explored the waterfront, and the old town, and I experienced a true, real-life beer haus in Cologne, complete with bratwurst and beer and everything.

The next day was my last day, and we decided to do Brussels. So we got up early, packed up and drove in to the city...and we didn't get lost! First, we went to the campus of the buildings in the European Union. It was so cool! Unfortunately, everything was closed -- because, we found out, there had been a summit of all the European leaders the past weekend, which in turn, we found out caused the traffic jam that Nina had been stuck in - all the motorcades for Sarkozy and Merkel, etc. SO cool! -- Then, we drove and found the Grand Place, which was doubly exciting for me, because it was deja vu: we had been there the first time I came to Europe...I even replicated the photo we took. It was still just as beautiful! we had about an hour left, and decided to ask the people at the tourism office what we should do with it...they told us to walk up these steps, so we could get a view of the entire city. It was so pretty!


It was a beautiful way to end the weekend. Then, I hopped on the train, and got back to Nantes. My host mom picked me up at the station, which was lovely because it was pouring rain. It was nice to be back "home" and speak French again ahah.

So that was my trip...much has happened since then, but unfortunately I don't have time now to talk about all the rest of it. I'll have to update you on Castle Quest '09 later on!