Bonjour from afar

Sorry for my absence… I’ve been a little busy the past couple a weeks. My roommate and I had some of our friends’ come and visit and stat with us for the past two weeks. We were cramped in our small little apartment that is small for two people so you can only imagine how it could be with four in the space. We all gad a good time traveling and catching up. We all went to Paris and Versaille and then last weekend to Cassis and this past weekend I made it up to Lyon.

Last weekend in Cassis was much needed. Very relaxed small beach/port town. We were able to walk around go, grab quick easy meals and even walk to the pebble beach were yes… there were some half naked people and some naked kids running around. SOOOO I didn’t stay there too long. It was still a beautiful town… I was actually surprised (kind of) by how well dressed all the kids were. Children ranging in ages from infancy to teenagers were better dressed than all the co-eds in the Southern college I attended. Made me re-evaluate the wardrobe I have back home… Needs some updating yet again after seeing all these tween fashionistas.

Top: Men playing at the bocce ball court Bottom:Cassis water front

Nighttime at the harbor at Cassis 

Last Tuesday we, my roommate and I, had to say so long and safe travels to our visiting friends. It was bittersweet au revoir … but it was nice to have the place back to normal and more room to move around. This past Thursday I had my midterm practical… It wasn’t as stressful as I thought it would be. We had to make a dessert call a St. Honoré, which is named after the French patron saint of bakers and pastry chefs, and we also had to make chocolate bon bons… chocolate raspberry filled ones. I passed and I feel that I did very well with all that I did. So the weekend in Lyon was well deserved.

Top: St. Honore Bottom:Milk Chocolate Bon Bons with Chocolate Raspberry Filling

My roommate, another girl from our class and I went to Lyon to have a relaxed weekend. My roommate Emily had to leave us yesterday afternoon to go pick up her husband from the airport. Alice and I enjoyed a casual night and our first nice dinner since being here. It was amazing. Probably one of the best dinners I have ever had. But today I’m catching up on everything. Doing the homework/journals we have to. Looking at different recipes and wondering how I could incorporate them/make them my own. Also doing more Rosetta Stone to help me out in French class and around town. It has helped me our a lot while I’ve been here. Even though I have mild panics when talking to people. It has been fun and it is hard to believe that I’ll be back in MS in twenty some odd days. Going to enjoy the rest of the time here as much as I can… It will be harder since I have the AM labs now from 6-1.  Not too excited about that, but I’ll have the afternoon to do more.

I got back a little while ago from Lyon and I’ve been enjoying having some down time before my roommate gets back… But her and her husband are staying over in château while he is here for the week. So that means more time for me to have the place to myself. Which will be nice. Next weekend is our four-day weekend… We have Halloween off and November 1 off. We have that day off since it is All Saints Day. I’m not complaining… What they do here is that if a holiday is connected to a day after the weekend they will take the extra day… It is nice but also kind of silly to me. But for now I’m going to get my dinner of artichokes, bbq seasoning aioli dip, and pasta with veggies, butter and the same bbq seasoning… 

Ahhh Paris...

So this past weekend I got to visit Paris, France. It was awesome to finally get to see the different landmark sites that I’ve studied and read about over there years. The La Tour Eiffel was more impressive than I expected, and getting to see it at night when it lights up and begins to “twinkle” from the other lights going…. Beautiful.

It was fun walking around Paris and seeing the sites. Notre Dame was just as impressive, if not more. The sheer size of the chapel was impressive. But the first church we went to in town was The Sainte-Chapelle… The first room you walk in is impressive with some stained glass windows and the remarkable colors of the hand painted designs on the ceilings. You have to walk up a narrow spiral stoned staircase to reach the main chapel… When you reach the top and stop looking down at your feet to make sure you don’t stumble…. Your breath is taken away by not only the size but of the beauty of the 15 very high stained glass windows. Pictures in books and that you take cannot capture an inkling of the beauty. I could of easily spent an hour or more in there just looking up and trying to take it all in.
 

I even got over to Versailles. I did not realize how massive the grounds were. I’ve studied Versailles in school and did reports on it in high school but seeing it all in person… I finally can grasp why in the factious historical stories (like “The Other Boleyn Girl”) that they say… they went to the gardens. They say that b/c the gardens are so expansive that you could hide easily even in a huge noisy dress. I spent the day there walking around Marie Antoinette’s digs and the main château. The hall of mirrors in the main château also took my breath away. But during the whole time I was there I kept thinking about all of the history of the place over the centuries it has been around. The palace has seen many courts, balls, and riots, to even the signing of the Treaty of Versailles after World War I (or as it was known then as The Great War). It was amazing to me all the history that a single place has seen and been apart of.

Now the food in Paris… not bad at all. For lunch when I arrived, I ended up going to the café right outside my hotel. I ordered the beef Carpaccio… It was better than what I’ve had before. I tried to offer some to my travel buddies but they were a little squeamish. I guess is understandable but they were definitely missing out!  Grabbed dinner at this restaurant and had their duck confit with mashed potatoes… delicious. Then breakfast I grabbed and a pan aux chocolat a crème… Simply a puff pastry with chocolate and pastry cream, it was, of course, tasty. This up coming weekend the plans are to go to a port town called Cassis. It is a small town just outside Marseilles… Should be fun!