FAMILY!

03.30.09

This weekend has been quite relaxing and low key, but really fun! We met some awesome girls from Ireland the other night at a local pub, and it was so fun to speak English and chat them away! They even tried to teach us an irish jig, quite hilarious indeed. Friday we went out with Kelli’s host brother (Jules) and a couple of his friends. They were really funny and I definitely enjoyed our time out with them! Saturday we lucked out and had cold, rainy weather, sooo the boat cruise was interesting to say the least. I had not checked the weather for the morning and decided to dress like it was going to be HOT. I wore a skirt, tights, SANDALS, and a little bomber jacket. We took a bus at 8 am to a little town called Agde and it literally started raining the moment we got there. It was extremely chilly, and our first boat ride through the Mediterranean was a little rocky, so a lot of us were on the very edge of being seasick. Our boat dropped us off, and we had time for lunch. They gave us 2 and a half hours actually….. so we decided to have a true ‘french’ lunch, and make it last for that long. Somehow we did, and finished off our meal with coffee and tea! We had another 2 and a half our boat ride through a canal after, which was a little miserable since it was painfully cold! It was fun though to spend the day with everyone from the program, but if only the weather was a little better!

Today, Véro left for the week to the Circus with her entire class! Virgile, Arthur, and I have the pad to ourselves, and I am quite excited! Hopefully they try and pull some crazy shenanigans with their friends. Their friends basically live at their house now, but I’m assuming next week they WILL live here. I actually enjoy being around them (even though they are 16!) and they try and ask me questions in English which is cute. One of Virgile’s friends was over last night for dinner and he is basically fluent in English since he moved to France from MADISON when he was 3! We spoke Franglais, but mostly English and had to translate to Virgile, which was different for once.

I actually have hardly seen Véro lately, since she has been going out a lot! She will make us dinner, and then usually leave right away. AND lately I have been beating her home the nights I go out; she’s quite the party animal. Good thing the boys are here or I would be a little lonely! One night she didn’t make dinner though, so Arthur said he would cook for us. He came into my room, told me he was making cheeseburgers, then 2 minutes later, came back and said dinner was ready! I started laughing and to my surprise he cooked them.. but they were frozen microwavable ones, still in the plastic wrapper. I found this hysterical, but they actually were not too terrible!

I FINALLLY scored a pic of the boys. I hassled them at dinner about it and they told me they hate pictures but would do it "for Rachel". The one on the left is the older one, Arthur, and the one on the right is Virgile, who is 16!

This week is definitely going to be a little hectic. Packing/finalizing plans for spring break will mostly consume us, but I am sooo sooo excited! ALSO terrific news. Tara will be in Milan for one day when I am there, so we are going to try and meet up! I hope everything goes smoothly/not knowing a word of Italian or Greek works out for us…. BUT hopefully we can get by with our English/French skills.

CIAO for now (2 weeeeeks!)
:)

PARIS, je t'aime!

3.23.2009

PARIS! Wow, I seriously am ridiculously more obsessed than I was to begin with. Lexi, Lily, her friend Nate, Kelli and I took the TGV (super fast train!) to Paris early Friday morning, and arrived around 10:30! Vero was sweet and mapped out the metro for me to our hotel, and I got us there without a problem! Somehow I quickly became a master of the metro (how I do not know) BUT this worked out great since everyone else found it confusing. It was basically just like our tram back home, but with a ton more lines. I think we rode on every line except for two, which was actually pretty cool. It is SOO much faster than the trams, and so easy to figure out once you get the hang of it. I wish we had one back home! Enough about awesome transportation, we quickly got settled in our hotel, grabbed lunch and ventured off to our first destination: the Champs-Elysées! I remember singing about this lovely street in the third grade, and I have been obsessed with it ever since. Lexi and I literally ran off the metro, and skipped down the entire street… we were just a little excited! It was exciting since it was everyone’s first time to Paris, minus Lily who went in high school. We quickly spotted the Arc de Triomphe at the end of the street, and climbed up it. The view from the top was amazing. All of the main street connect to it and form a roundabout around it. From the arc, you can see the entire city, including all major monuments from afar. We spotted the Eiffel tower and I nearly lost it. This obviously became our next destination and we decided to walk there! It kept getting closer, and we finally made it within only around twenty minutes! It was remarkable to see up close. It was built in 1889, 100 years after the French Revolution. We have been learning a bunch about French history in my Culture and Patrimoine Class… yess I’m actually learning things over here!

After taking a ridiculous amount of photos of le Tour Eiffel, we ventured home, quickly changed and headed to the Louvre! It is free for students Friday nights after 6pm, so we decided to take advantage of this great find. We explored the museum for around 2 and a half hours, seeing the Mona Lisa (cool… but not that cool), Venus de Milo, and tons of other statues and paintings. The building itself may be cooler than all the paintings put together. It may be my most favorite building I have ever been in; the ceilings are ridiculous ordinate and the architecture is INCREDIBLE. Also, we were there when the sun set, so the glass pyramid outside was lit and the museum was dark, and a little eerie. I am a little obsessed, and I cannot wait to go back with my parents; it was insanely beautiful. This was quite the busy day and we were a little exhausted from the entire day, so we grabbed dinner, saw the Eiffel tower at night (soooo pretty!) and headed back to the hotel.

The next morning we grabbed a quick breakfast at Starbucks (whenever one is near, we have to go of course). It happened to be near the National Opera of Paris, and we went inside, since we heard it was really pretty. TO our surprise, it was again GORGEOUS. It was founded by Louis XIV and has an incredible grand staircase and many foyers. We were also able to view the auditorium, and saw an amazing crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling, weighing only a mere 8 tons. It was so fun to see and if only we could have seen a show there! After we took the metro to Montmartre, the hill/adorable place where Sacré-Cœur is located. I quickly became obsessed with this area, since it was so charming. It was once a artists quarters, and there was an little art market in the main area as we passed through the city. I got mistaken for being Swedish and English a few times when speaking French (this is a good thing I am thinking..). And when people quickly found out we were American, they were impressed we knew French, and most kept speaking French with us! After Montmartre, we went to the Notre Dame. It was very different from Sacré-Cœur, but still reaaaaly cool. Its stain glass windows and high ceilings were amazing and the back of the church was really cool! We did a little shopping around town and went back to clean up and grab dinner! Kelli’s friend has been living in Paris since June, so she recommended a few of her favorite places to go. We tried to get into a fondue restaurant (unfortunately it was booked), so we decided on Chez Gladines. It was really tiny, and a little of the beaten path (aka no tourists and no English) BUT I think it was definitely my favorite meal so far in France! It was actually really affordable, for a lot of food! As we were leaving, I spotted a familiar piece of art nearby. Vero is obsessed with this artist (Mystic) who does Graffiti in random places all over Paris. I was excited I recognized this, and obviously took a picture! When I returned home, I showed it to her and she freaked out! Little did I know she has NEVER seen a piece of her graffiti (she even lived in Paris for 10 years), so little to say I was quite lucky! After dinner, we went out on the town to the Latin Quarter and had a fun night!
The next morning, we woke up early and headed to the flea market! It was really fun to see all of the different vendors and check out the crazy stuff they have up for sale. I bought a few things (really cheap tights and a pair of cute shoes), but we left earlier than we wanted to since it was freezing! It was probably around 40 degrees, but with the wind, it was so cold! We lucked out the rest of the weekend, since it was sunny, not a cloud in the sky; literally the ideal weather to sightsee in. We grabbed lunch closer to town, and caught our train home around 3:30pm. We returned home at a reasonable hour and I couldn’t wait to tell Véro all about it! I can’t wait to go back, since there are tons more museums I would love to explore, along with some more shopping of course!

Paris is definitely a must see, but speaking a little French is definitely made it easier. As for the people in Paris, they were a lot different than I expected. We were in more touristy areas, so it was easy to speak a little English, but French knowing French was really useful at times. There was one couple who was extremely rude to us on the metro, yelling at us (in French) about sitting down, since you can’t do this when it is crowded… yet it was not crowded one bit? A cute older French man was defending us and mocking this man, a little scary since I swore a fight was going to break out. I couldn’t tell much of a difference with the dialects, but the Parisians were a little easier to understand.

The boys are back this week! It is nice, but the house is definitely not as quiet and I get limited internet acess, but all in all it is fun! Véro leaves next Monday for the circus with her class! She invited me to come with, but unfortunately I cannot miss a week of class and our spring break starts that Friday! I wont see her for three weeks, since she gets back Friday night, and I leave for Italy Friday morning, which will be a little sad! I seriously cannot even wait for Spring Break though; it was coming up so soon (11 days!). We have finalized all of our hostels, and just have to book our return flight home, and our trains throughout Italy. Our finalized plans are to take a train to Monte Carlo (5 hour layover, but time to explore!), then train it to Milan until Sunday. Stay in Venice for 2 days, then to Florence for 2 days, then to Rome until the following Monday, until we fly out mid afternoon to ATHENS! Spend a night in Athens, then take the ferry to Santorini and Ios, and fly back from Athens to Barcelona Sunday…. And take a train from Barcelona to Montpellier! Not our ideal route back, but basically our only choice! Nick, Maddie and I are traveling throughout Italy together, and Lauren, Lexi and Mare are meeting up with us in Athens! This should be the trip of a lifetime, I seriously cannot even wait!

This weekend I am staying in Montpellier, and there is a boat cruise on the Etang de Thau Saturday morning! It is already paid for by the program and is all planned out, so it should be great! I’m actually really excited to stay here this weekend, since we will be traveling/spending oodles of money in the following weeks, so it pays to save a little and not travel!

Hope SB was amazing for all!
xoxo

carcassone/more greves??

03.18.09

Monday was definitely an interesting start to the week, since I was greeted at our school by tons of students blocking the main entrance! Students were literally blocking EVERY entrance actually, and they would not let anyone into the gates (they even formed a human chain….). I found Simon, a friend from my class, and we attempted to walk around the school in search of an open entrance to see if class was cancelled. We finally found one on the opposite side that they forgot to block, so we went in to find out our morning class was cancelled, but the rest of classes would begin after noon! We were warned that a blockade might happen, and there would be more security, since someone broke into the school grounds last Thursday night and vandalized a few buildings. I could not even attempt to tell you why this is going on, since the French confuse me more and more each day. AND tomorrow there is a national Greve ! All the buses, trams, trains, may be closed or delayed; soooo school may be canceled again? Other professions are taking apart in it too (including Vero of course…)! Vero told me I could take her bike to school if the trams are not running, BUT let’s hope this isn’t the case since I realllly don’t wanna bike around 35 minutes to school. She told me 6 out of 8 teachers at her school are striking tomorrow, since class sizes keep getting bigger, and they will not hire more teachers. She got really riled up about it over dinner, and told me it was hard to explain, but I got the majority of it.

Tuesday a few girls and I went to Carcassonne after class, and it was a blast! The weather was absolutely gorgeous, but the wind was a little nippy. The train ride was only an hour and a half, and we arrived right on time! For some reason, I was imagining the town to be quite small, with not a lot to see other than La Cite, the fortress. But it actually turned out to be bigger than I expected, with lots of shopping and a lot to see! The Castle is from the 12th century, had been restored in the 19th century. La Cite is basically a walled in town, with tons of look outs and towers. It was seriously remarkable to see. We paid 5 Euros to explore the walls and walk around the towers. It was definitely worth it and I am so happy I went! We grabbed lunch at an extremely cute café outside on a porch, and we were able to enjoy the sun, before our train came. We got our on train, and 45 minutes later it still had not left! We had no idea what the problem was, but we followed an older French woman onto a different train (I’m still not sure it this was legal) BUT we made it home and it seemed to work!

So this past Sunday marked the 8 week mark. Kind of unbelievable if you ask me; I can’t believe I have actually been living in France for two months. There have definitely been times I wish I was home, but the good things (new friends, traveling, etc) have unquestionably surpassed the times of missing home. I am eager for my family to come visit.. .only two months to go! I’m getting nervous that these last few months are going to fly by. In two weeks is Spring break, and after that there is only around a month left! SO many places left I want to explore, yet so little time!

xxx

J'adore la France.

03.15.09

This weekend was so much fun and very relaxing! Katie ended up coming and I picked her up at the train station Friday afternoon! It was great to see my roomie again (twice in one week!) but the weekend went by sooo fast! We explored the city Friday, did a little shopping and came home for a lovely dinner from Vero! She was going out with her friends that night; she looked adorable and had on a chic leather jacket. She called this her ‘rock and roll look’. She made us lasagna (deliciousss) and we ate dinner with Arthur. I had to do a little translating, but it was fun! Vero was actually trying to speak some English with Katie as well, so it was fun to hear her not speaking French for once. That night, we went out to a local bar and met some fun Frenchies who were in town for the Fallout Boy concert! Unfortunately we could not get tickets (they were sold out!) but we had fun chatting it away in French, Spanish, and English with our new friends. They wanted to hang out with me and Katie the next day before the concert, so we met up with them in the afternoon, did a little shopping and grabbed a drink. It was actually really enjoyable talking to them, since I was able to practice my French! One of the boys was not very good at English, so French was our only choice! He told me he thought my French was really good and I was able to hold a normal convo with him… this reassured me that my French is somehow improving? Exciting!

Katie definitely got the true French experience: making French friends, eating at our fave restaurant “le wok”, tasting Veros cooking, making delicious crepes in the morning!, eating more crepes for a snack on the street, drank some French wine AND of course, French cheese! She did some serious shopping too, and we both were sporting some new outfits/accessories the next day! It was so much fun to have a visitor and let them in on my daily life. We lucked out on the weather too…. It was absolutely gorgeous! We didn’t have time today to go to the beach, but we did eat lunch at a cute outdoor café in the center. I brought her to her train and we said our goodbyes. I officially won’t see her until the end of May, BUT am soo happy we met up twice IN EUROPE. Quite amazing if you ask me.

This Tuesday we are taking a day trip after our class to Carcassonne! We get out early, so we thought this was a perfect opportunity to go! Carcassonne is a medieval walled in city, and I have heard sooo much about it, I can’t wait to see it! Lexi, Tyra, and I are going, along with Tyra’s two friends who are here from the states! We are get home around 6 that night, so it should be the perfect amount of time to explore!

This weekend me and a few girls are off to PARIS! I am sooooo excited and can’t even wait! We leave bright and early at 7 am and return late Sunday! I want to see SO MANY things, so hopefully we can get a lot accomplished! CANT WAIT!

xoxo

BARCA!

03.11.09

I have finally caught up on some serious lack of sleep from this weekend! It was sooo much fun to be in Barcelona with my girls from Minnesota! I took the train all by myself (it left at 730am!) and I made it there without a problem. I was a tid bit nervous when we crossed the border to Spain, since all of the announcements being made were in Spanish. As you may know, I do not speak a word of spaniiish, BUT luckily no problems arose. My train did get in 20 minutes late, and I basically sprinted off it out of excitement. Katie and I must have crossed paths looking for eachother, BUT I spotted her and ran. It was sooo good to see her and we went back to her house to wake up miss Kristen Karlin, who decided to nap in the morning. After a fun recap of each other’s lives we grabbed a late lunch at a local spot and ate delicious paella and tapas! We found our hostel soon after, and I may say that we were a little frightened at first. We walked into the place, it was deserted and no one was in sight. Kristen called the man we were supposed to meet and he came about 30 minutes later, BUT luckily lead us up a stairway we didn’t see that was actually our hostel.

This hostel/apartment was so cool! We really lucked out, and it was only 16.50 Euros a night! The complex was basically an apartment, with six different rooms, a kitchen, small living room with a tv and a dining room table. We happened to be the only people in the place for the weekend, minus our bff Finnish girls who moved out early Saturday morning. In other words, we basically had our own little apartment for the weekend. It was right outside of Las Ramblas and actually the location worked out great. Friday night we met up with some of Tara’s friends who were also in Barcelona from her program and grabbed a quick dinner, before going out. The nightlife there was crazy, since many people there don’t even eat until around 10ish, the night gets a late start! We went to a few different places that night, ending up at a local club right by the beach.

Katie was a master of the metro, so it was really easy to get around. Barcelona is seriously HUGE. I knew it was going to be a big city, and a lot different from all of the places I have been so far, but it was truly a lot different from what I expected! I always felt safe, but I definitely had to be more aware of my surroundings. Katie would always warn us before getting on the metro to hold on to our stuff for good, since a lot of people tend to get their stuff stolen. Luckily none of us ever had a problem!

The weather was GORGEOUS all weekend; I think I even got a little tan! We walked around the boardwalk and made our way to the beach. It was so great to explore the city in such great weather and with my besties! We finally ate lunch around 3ish after walking around, and scored a prime spot at an outdoor café. We did a little shopping after, and headed home for a quick shower, and then off to a late dinner. I did forget to mention that we had STARBUCKS for breakfast. Literally amazing, since mochas were calling my name. We found a place with delicious burgers, not exactly European fine dining, but we were craving them. That night we did some more hopping around, met up with some of Katie’s friends and had the time of our lives. Kristen and I made it back a little later then Tara and Katie, so we had to cab it home and make an unexpected buzz to the owner of the other hostel to let us in. Quite frankly, he was not so pleased, but luckily we ran past him before he could catch us.

The next morning we had to pack up our things and move out (we almost forgot to return the key..) and took our things with us while we did a little more exploring. We decided to go to the Park Guell by Guadi. It was definitely quite the hike uphill and not so easy with our bags/luggage, but we managed. The park was so crowded, but amazing to see! Everything was extremely intricate and really cool to see. We walked back to the beach after and we all grabbed a few munchies to snack on there, before we had to find our way back. It somehow worked out perfectly that Tara and Kristen had to catch a bus to the airport around 3:45 and I had to be at the train station by 4:15, so we were all basically on the same schedule. My train ride back was a bit delayed, so I didn’t get home until around 11pm, but I did get to chat a while with mama wight on the train ride home which was nice! I am sooo happy we all actually met up and Barcelona was the perfect place for it! I would love to go back there, since I feel like there is so much more to explore! Overall, it was a very successful weekend and made me so excited for next year!

Nothing is too new in the land of France other than the fact that planning spring break is a little stressful and my family keeps growing on me more. Last night they had a food fight in the kitchen, and kept pretending to moon everyone. They crack me up and help me from not being homesick. I promise to get some pics up of the boys soon, but I keep forgetting! Tonight is the night and I will not let them leave the dinner table until a photo shoot happens.

This weekend should be a little more relaxed since I’m not doing any traveling AND my friend Katie from Barcelona might actually come here this weekend! Nothing is finalized quite yet, but hopefully things work out. Vero said she could stay with me in my bed and that it would not be a problem! This is awesome since she won’t have to pay for a hostel and I can spend oodles more time with her! Saturday the Sounds and Fallout Boy are coming to Montpellier (craaazy, eh?) so a few friends and I thought it may be fun to go to a concert while we are here.

Sorrry for the long post, enjoy the pics! :)

STRIKES galore!

03.05.09

I officially am in love with my host brothers. They are sooo funny and they are with me for the NEXT TWO weeks! At first I misunderstood Vero and thought she said they would only be with us for three more weeks total, but she meant for these next few weeks! Last night Arthur made me dinner, Vero was out with friends and Virgile had rugby practice. We chatted about our days and I told him about one of my teachers that day that was extremely mean. My friend Carley had her expose (she was the first in the class to go) and she had everything prepared like the teacher had asked. When Carley began presenting our teaching kept interrupting her and telling her blatantly that her presentation was horrible and kept reminding the class this is NOT what you are supposed to do. She yelled at her for not “renting a projector”, which she never told her to do. We complained about this teacher to our program director, the sweetest older French man I have ever met. He slicks back his hair, is always laughing with us, and he teaches my favorite class Culture et Patrimoine! He told us that other students have been having problems with her as well, so he would have a talk with her directly. Arthur also told me how him and Virgile snuck into their dad’s house the other weekend since he was on vacation. It is cute how they trust me with their little secrets; I love having two little brothers of my own.

Lately, they love to test me on music. Arthur will put all of his music on shuffle, and make me guess who it is. We have a very similar taste in music, so I knew a majority of the songs he played (minus the French ones). He was impressed with me and bragged to Vero that I know A LOT, so cute. We shared some funny YouTube videos with each other and just hung out.

So funny thing as I am writing this in the lovely MacDo, there are TONS of people lining the streets and the main center. I can’t quite tell what this strike is for (once again) BUT they have tons of signs of Sarkozy and there are tons of banners lining the streets. There is also currently a strike going on at our school, Paul Valery. The teachers were striking first, and now the students are striking back. It doesn’t affect me, since I am in the Foreign Institute, but some other Americans who are taking classes with French students are affected. Today as I walked to class, there were chairs, desks, anything the students could get their hands on to block the entrances to the doors and all stairways! It is actually quite funny, because in most cases, they can obviously be moved, but no students show up to class! This has been a problem for half of our program, since there is a possibility they can’t get credit for their classes. My friends’ roommate Joan has not had one of her classes since the end of January! In replace of their classes, they may have to write a 10 page paper before spring break, so hopefully things will work themselves out soon.

Tomorrow I leave for BARCELONA to see my besties (Katie, Kristen, and Tara)! I am beyond excited and can’t wait to see them all! Tonight, my friends and I are going to start planning spring break! Maddie, Nick, and I all want to travel through Italy for the first week, and explore Greece for the next! Our plan as of now is to go to Milan, then to Venice, then Florence and then Rome for the first week. Then a week in Greece where we really want to visit Athens and Santorini! Three other girls want to meet us there to, after they are done exploring Austria and Germany. We want to do a little more research, but want to try to get things booked by next week, to secure everything! I am very excited to explore things outside of France, it should be great!

Also, at the last minute, my friends Lexi, Lily, and Mare and myself, are going to Paris the weekend of the 20th! Mare’s entire family is coming to visit and she doesn’t want to travel alone, so we all decided to tag along! I can’t WAIT to visit Paris! I’m going when my parents come in the spring, but I figure I should try and make it there more than once! We booked tickets for early Friday morning, so we will get there around 1130ish! Next weekend, I am staying here and but we may possibly do another daytrip. Since it is Minnesota’s spring break, a lot of people actually have friends/boyfriends/family coming to visit! I’m excited to meet everyone’s visitors!
I will end with a few things about France that amuse me:

1) DOGS are allowed basically everywhere and there is literally dog poop everywhere in sight. Thankfully I have only managed to step in some once.
2) Black is the color here and tights are a must. The other day (biking to the beach) I had the bright idea to wear shorts, since I thought it would be really warm. I predicted the weather wrong, and all the frenchies were laughing/commenting on my shorts.
3) American music is HUGE here, but it is definitely a little behind. The artists we heard this past Tuesday: Phil Colins, Hanson, and Will Smith.
4) The thought of using dryers here is unheard of. My last load of laundry (underwear and bras) was left to dry in the living room for all to see.

CHAO my loves!

Sete/bike trip!

03.01.09

This weekend has been much more relaxed, but it was great to spend time exploring the city! Friday me and a few girls (Lexi, Tyra, and Lily) went to Sete for a little day trip! It was only a 25 minute train ride, which was AMAZING compared to the 4 hour train ride we had the other weekend. It was a very quaint little canal town, with tons of markets and little streets. We first made our way to the old port and it was a perfect day to explore! The weather was gorgeous, not a cloud in the sky. We grabbed lunch at a nearby restaurant and we were able to sit outside! I had shrimp first, they had eyes still, a little frightening but delicious! Then I had a fish (we still have no idea what kind it was) with a yummy cream sauce! After lunch, we went to the tourism office, got a map, and were in search of this great lookout spot. It was a 45 minute hike (basically all uphill and we climbed TONS of stairs), but it was way worth it! The view was incredible; we were able to see the entire city! We hiked back down and went to this nearby cemetery where Paul Valery is buried. Paul Valery was a poet/artist and our school is named after him, so we wanted to find it! The graveyard was actually beautiful, with all the graves above ground with very intricate flowers decorating each. Afterward, we ventured back to the center part of town and decided to go to a museum quick before our train arrived. Lily’s travel book recommended the Museum of International Art, since it was supposed to be a collection of art made out of recycled things. We thought this sounded cool, went in and it was nothing like we expected! We walked inside; there was this giant wresting ring and tons of wrestling masks on the first level. We laughed went to the next level, which was even stranger, had a good laugh and made it back to the train station. That night we hung out at Maddie’s apartment and went into town afterwards.

Before I went out, I got a surprise call from my roomie back home, Katie! She is studying abroad in Barcelona for the semester and it was great to talk with her. We were both having a rough day, dealing with issues back home, so it was great to catch up and chat. This weekend I am actually going to Barcelona to see her! My friend Kristen, who is studying in Granada, Spain, and Tara, who is in Milan, Italy, will be meeting us there too! I am SOOOO excited and can’t even wait! I leave Friday morning around 7:30 am and return late Sunday night. Katie is meeting me at the train station, so I won’t be wandering around attempting to speak Spanish. Kristen and I are booking a hostel together, which should be sooo much fun! This ended up to be the perfect weekend to see eachother; I’m literally counting down the days! Vero was very excited to hear where I was going, since she apparently LOVES Barcelona. She keeps reminding me how jealous she is of me.

Saturday Morning a few girls and myself (Lauren, Maddie, Lily, and Lexi) decided to go rent bikes for the day and bike to the beach! We got a little lost on the way there, but it was a fun, relaxing ride! On the way there we saw tons of white horses and flamingos! We finally arrived, grabbed a quick lunch on the port and went to the beach! The only problem was that it was a little cold and cloudy, but we still went and sat on the sand for about thirty minutes and then grabbed ice cream at a local shop. We were not too excited about biking back, since it was 7 miles to get there, and took us around an hour and a half. BUT luckily we found a shortcut on the way back and it took us a little under an hour!

There was another strike this week! It was bizarre and I have no idea what it was about, but there was a large group of people in yellow vests, walking in front of the tram directly on the tracks. It took about 10 minutes to even get to the next stop, when normally it takes around 10 minutes to get to the Corum, the place to switch trams. It ended up taking me an hour to get home, but I guess that’s France!

Ciao for now! I heard about all the snow in MN.. I’m lucky to have such nice weather here :)

Xxx Sara