Brest.

I arrived in Brest late Thursday night, exhausted after 12 hours of travel. My friend from my first stay in France, Jules, met me at the train station and took me back to his home where I stayed for the weekend. On Friday we woke up early and relaxed around the house for a few hours. After having lunch with Jules and his parents, we went to a beach near Brest (Plage de Moulin Blanc). Afterwards we met Jules’ friend Guillaume and visited the American monument in Brest, and the old castle. Who knew there was an American monument in Brest? Not I! It is in memory of the World Wars, and the alliance between France and the United States I believe. The castle is also a maritime museum now, it was rather interesting.

Saturday we spent at a different, much prettier, beach about 30 minutes from Brest. The weather was perfect for the beach, I was lucky in that aspect, because Bretagne is notorious for clouds and Jules’ said it wasn’t good weather before my arrival and wouldn’t be after my departure. The water of the Atlantic was a bit to cold for my taste so I just dipped my feet. We returned to Jules’ house after a long day at the beach for dinner with his parents. After dinner we went to see Melancholia, a movie that appeared at the Cannes Film Festival. It was a bizarre film about the end of the world. I cannot say I liked it or disliked it; it was just interesting.

Sunday we visited Oceanapolis, the aquarium. It was great, I absolutely love watching seals, they are so playful! Overall, it was a relaxing and nice weekend in Brest.

Germany.

Well I spent 9 days in Germany and it just flew right by so quickly I didn't even write about it! I arrived Tuesday afternoon, exhausted from only 3 hours of sleep the night before and 6 hours of travel starting at 6 am. So when I arrived at Lena’s house, I had a little snack, and took a much needed nap. I was served a traditional German dinner of meatballs, potatoes, and cauliflower before heading to one of Lena’s friends houses. We hung out and got to know each other a bit and then we returned home.

The next days flew by before I knew it. We visited the city where Jules (Lena’s boyfriend) will study, the huge mall nearby, the Ikea in the Netherlands to shop for everyone’s new apartments. We also went out to Germanys largest Nightclub on Friday for a night of dancing. Saturday we celebrated Philips birthday at his house with a barbeque get together. Monday we went to Amsterdam, and gawked at the prostitutes in the red light district, and laughed at the souvenir shops selling marijuana paraphernalia. Tuesday, Lena and I visited her new apartment to take measurements for wallpaper. Wednesday, my last full day, I visited a nearby castle with the family and for dinner we went with all of Lena’s friends for an all-you-can-eat spare ribs buffet.

Dinner at the Portugese restaurant.

 Lena and her dad in front of the school.

 Index, the gigantic night club.

 One of Amsterdam's beautiful canals

 The castle near Nordhorn.

I had a fantastic time. The best part was that for the first time in forever I didn’t feel like a tourist or a guest, I felt at home. I have Lena and her parents to thank for that. I guess she’s returning the favor for her time spent with us.

Paris

day 1:

We arrived in Paris Saturday evening settled into our apartment and then went out to a nice dinner near by. We are in the 1st district, so we are right by the Louvre and right in the heart of Paris! We had an expensive, but delicious, dinner. I figured I've got to splurge one night in Paris. We had Duck breast in raspberry sauce with potatoes, DELICIOUS! Then Chris, Brad and I shared 2 desserts: chocolate cake with a hot fudge center and vanilla ice cream on top, then a slice of amazing cheesecake with a bit of a cinnamony crust and a scoop of salted caramel ice cream on top, and a drizzle of amazing raspberry sauce. So worth the 22 euro we spent! Then we went back to the apartment to wait for May, who arrive at around 11pm, we then all played French Scrabble for a few hours until bed.

day 2:

We woke up at 9 got ourselves ready and finally out the door by 10:30, then we went to search for a market to buy food. We found some places open on Sunday thankfully. I bought some chicken veggies and potatoes to make dinner (for a much more modest price) and I also bought some croissants, bread, and yogurt for breakfast. We dropped the food at home, quickly ate breakfast, then headed out to get into the Louvre for free on the first Sunday of the month? NOT, the 3 hour line wrapped entirely around the building, which is HUGE. So we took a bunch of pictures of the outside and the garden. Then set out walking towards the Arc de Triomphe. We got sidetracked and looked at a few more beautiful buildings, and eventually made it over to the Eiffel Tower instead. Then we had a delicious Chinese lunch before heading to the Arc de Triomphe finally. We stupidly did not realize there was an underground path leading to the Arc from the other side of the street, since it is in the middle of an enormous round-about, so instead we played a little game of Frogger and ran as fast as we could when we saw a break in traffic. After the Arc we took a little stroll down the Champs-Elysses, looking at stores much too expensive for us, but sadly many were closed because it was Sunday. We strolled a little more and finally decided to head back home to relieve our exhausted feet and make dinner. We spent the night, once again, playing French scrabble.

day 3:

We slept in a little out of necessity today. We finally go out of the apartment around 11:30 and headed to Notre Dame. We waited in the line for not too long and went in an then back out. We had lunch indoors at a restarant because it was starting to rain. We waited out the rain and I had my first ever Croque Monsieur (slice of thick bread, ham, and cheese toasted). Afterwards we walked over to the Centre Pompidou which is a museum of modern art that is seriously the most disgusting piece of architecture on the earth. We had ice cream for dessert: caramel pecan-toooo delicious! Then we did a little bit of window shopping. We were exhausted, and Brad wasn't feeling well, so we made it an early day and headed back to the apartment to rest  at 5pm.

Overall it has been a satisfying Paris experience. Being my second visit, I am not as anxious to see everything there is to see, but rather just relax and enjoy the beauty of Paris and the fact that I am on vacation! Tomorrow early morning I leave for Germany, 6 am, so I will have to the leave the apartment at 5 am to be safe. I am very excited to see Lena and see a new place with new people.

c'est fini.

Well, my final paper is turned in, my stuff is nearly all packed, my final dinner in Grenoble is being digested. The trip of a lifetime is coming to a close...NOT! Now the fun starts. Not that Grenoble wasn't fun, we had our great moments together, and the weekend getaways were fantastic, but now off to new things. The best part? No reading, no homework! If you were wondering why I've been so absent on the blog lately, its all the dang school work! I guess that's why its called study abroad.

But now I'll have wonderful time to read Quatre Filles et un Jean (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants in French) on the train to Paris, and time to throroughly soak up my last few weeks here in Europe.

So here is the agenda:
Tomorrow I leave Grenoble for good at 12:05pm on a train to Paris. I'll arrive just after 3pm, and wait for one of the friends I'm staying with until his train arrives an hour later (more precious reading time!) We will then set off for the apartment we'll be staying in. My three friends have rented it for the week, and are graciously letting me stay for just 3 days to get my taste of Paris for a very good price. We'll spend Saturday evening exploring The City of Light at night, which is a side of Paris I've had yet to see. Sunday we hope to go to the Lourve because it is free the first Sunday of each month, and other than that, our plans are in Chris' hands. I am up for anything, as I've already been to the city once, so I'm not immensely concerned about missing anything iconic.

Tuesday morning I'll leave Paris for Germany! I'll arrive in the Munster train station where one or more of the wonderful Ostendorps will pick me up and bring me to their home in Nordhorn. I left the plans in Lena's hands, so we will see what she has in store for me. I believe an Amsterdam trip was in the plans though.

On Thursday the 18th I'll leave Germany for Brest where I will visit Jules (a friend from my first stay in France). He has graciously offered to entertain me for 4 days, once again my laziness in planning is apparent, as I am leaving that up to him. Then finally Monday the 22nd I will return to Paris for one last night. I think I may decide to stay closer to the airport for easier morning commute and a cheaper room. finally my flight will leave Paris around 11 or so Tuesday morning and I will finally be on my way home. It will be bittersweet, but I will definitely be ready. I'm missing my wonderful family, friends, and kitties so very much!

Hopefully I will have time to share my wonderful experiences as they happen. Until then it's Goodbye Grenoble, Hello Vacation! :)

A photo of the old church and the farm market from one of my last days here.

final week.

Today marks the start of my very last weekend here in Grenoble. I absolutely cannot believe how time has flown by. Today was the last day of CUEF classes, so I'm going to go out with my fellow UMich classmates to celebrate. We are hoping to find a nice new restaurant to try, but knowing us, we'll end up at "The Mist," our favorite spot.

I took a walk through town alone yesterday, and saw so much I'd never even seen before. Its amazing I've been here over a month but haven't even scratched the surface of what Grenoble is. I hope this next week will be full of new discoveries and adventures, as well as plenty of reading and paper writing for my UMich class. I have no fun travel plans this weekend, so I hope to visit the farm market FINALLY tomorrow morning, and do some more downtown strolling. Then, one more week of class and it will be Goodbye Grenoble Hello Paris! Although its a bit sad to be finishing up for good in Grenoble, I can;t say i'm not eager as ever to begin my travels.

I'll start with 3 nights in Paris with some friends, then head to Germany for just over a week to see the lovely Lena and the rest of the Ostendorps. Then for my final few days, I'll head over to Bretagne where I was 3 years ago, to visit and old friend and revisit some cherished places. Until then, I'll have plenty of work to keep me busy.

Au Revoir!

Opposites.

On Saturday I went on my last CUEF excursion to Marseille and Aix-en-Provence, and all I can say about the two cities is that they are complete opposites. 

Marseille is a huge city (2nd largest in France), with a very high immigrant population. It is a port city on the Mediterranean. My first view upon entering Marseille was a homeless camp underneath an overpass. Their were tents set up and mountains of trash everywhere, not exactly the beauty one expects from France. We hated to say it, but we all felt a little bit like we were visiting a third-world country. We spent half of our time at the beach, which would have been nice had it not been for the "Mistral," what they call the wind that brings in the cold water and kicks little rocks and debris at you while you try to bask in the sun. After a brief stay and picnic at the beach, we headed back to the Vieux Port (old port) part of town, which was busy with tourists and vendors selling just about anything the tourist would buy. We weren't sure what to do with our time, so we split into groups of those who wanted to eat and those who didn't. I picnicked at the beach so I went with the non-eaters, and we decided to check out the old part of town. We got sidetracked my H&M and Starbucks on our way. I bought a skirt and a dress, both for 10 euro, and then we headed off in search of this old neighborhood. We finally found it and it really wasn't all it was chocked up to be. Just old apartments, an old looking church, a museum that we didn't visit, and a LOT of dog poop. The French generally don't clean up their poo, and in Marseille it was particularly bad, you have to watch with every step. We finally left Marseille just after 5:30..well that's when we got on the bus. We then proceeded to drive around the city for over an hour trying to apparently get somewhere else, not sure where. The bus was too big for the narrow streets, we ended up backing into a pole and breaking off a huge piece of the bumper, and then we just gave up and headed out of town.

Beach in Marseille

 Old part of town (complete with the characteristic graffiti of France)

 Le Vieux Port

Now that I've drawn a good picture of Marseille for you, you can be assured that since Aix was the complete opposite, it was an absolutely beautiful, tranquil, and clean city. Aix is much smaller than Marseille, and is a very expensive high class city. The Monoprix (grocery/convenience store) was even glamorous looking. There was a little artisan market going on in the middle of the main street where hats, paintings, and other beautiful things were sold. We ate at a nice restaurant (that had a bathroom-the main reason for our choice.) and the service was excellent and the people friendly. We wandered around town while the sun set for a while and then, very content, boarded the bus for home at around 10pm.

Fancy Monoprix (imagine a Meijer looking like this)

 Pretty little fountain in the middle the main street

We finally arrived in Grenoble at around 2 am. The bus made many stops as to avoid forcing the students to take taxis, which are expensive, and the buses and trans stop before 2am. thankfully, the driver was kind enough to take me right to my bus stop because apparently I don't live in the best area for walking alone at night. So I got home by 2:30, but some others didn't arrive home till 3:30 because they had to use more creative ways of making it home safely. Overall, it was an interesting day filled with contrast and new impressions of France. I can say, one day when I have a lot of money and can return to France, I will make a point to stay a few days in Aix, but I will definitely skip over Marseille!

adventurous eating.

Clearly the workload in my classes has begun to pile up and I've had less and less time to write. However, today I thought I'd procrastinate and jot down some thoughts before writing my two small essays. The first is that I have become much more adventurous in my eating since arriving in France. I try almost everything-hot, cold things sometimes still give me the creeps to try. I've tried things that I didn't think I could possibly like, for example, cooked red cabbage with ham? It was actually good, not filling enough as the only dish, but tasty. Anyway, here is my promise I've made to myself, don't let me become lazy and break it when I return to the States; I promise to try more things that you cook Nancy! I know sometimes if you think outside of the box and make something new, I am not very welcoming of your efforts, so I promise I will be better about trying things.

Also, I can't let myself forget again how much I love raspberry jam. I realized I liked it 3 years ago when I was in France, and somehow forgot and never really ate it between that time. Now I've rediscovered my long lost love. Speaking of raspberries, there better be plenty left on Grandpa's bushes when I get home!!!

What else do I have to say? Nothing really. Classes are boring this week. Its been cold this week. Finally it didn't rain today, but we had to go to the store and buy more warm clothes yesterday because its so cold in the morning when we leave for class. I bought a pair of loose brown cotton pants and a cardigan with zebras all over it. Its going to be highs of mid seventies for the next 10 days, so says the forecast. everyone is a bit stressed and homesick at this point. One girls dad arrived last night for a visit and to see the Tour de France. We were all pretty jealous. The Tour de France will come through town Saturday, sadly I'll be in Marseille with my program, but I figured, I saw the finish of the Tour on the Champs-Elysees the last time I was in France, and I have never seen Marseille, so it takes priority. hopefully it will be a fun trip!

Okay now maybe, just maybe, I'll get some work done before dinner.
A toute suite!

Monday: birthday - take two.

Since the first day didn't work out so well, I redid my Birthday today, starting at midnight in France. I arrived home finally and got to see my family and talk to my most wonderful mother, who always makes me feel better. Next I used 4 euro of minutes to call my wonderful boyfriend who had been in a cellular deadzone all day and unable to email me. He somehow missed me telling him I may be out of communication all weekend so he thought something had happened, and was so worried all day. So, misunderstandings were corrected and I slept well having talked to him. I only got 5 hours of sleep, but woke up surprisingly awake. Headed to class with Alexandra (other American here) Today was the halfway point for the program, so we changed our mini course and we also changed our prof for the French class for some reason. Luckily, The prof was great for the French class, and I was pleasantly surprised to find she was also my prof for my new Oral Perfection class. We did a little improv during class, pretending to be trapped in an elevator with another person, and made up identities and had to talk for 2 minutes before the class.

After class, we ate lunch in the park and then went to get money from the atm, poor Chris' card got eaten, but he can go back to get it tomorrow. Then I did some window shopping in a different part of town to kill time before returning to the university at 4pm to get my forgotten bag. I found a great book store, but it was a little confusing. I bought Twilight in French, because I wanted to read an easy fun book that I already knew well in English, to improve my French. I likely won’t start it until my classes are over, it will be a good travel companion. I looked for a cookbook with regional recipes but came up with nothing, so I might drop that souvenir idea, it would be a hassle to translate anyway (since Laura, not me, is the expert at cookbook translation)

When I finally got home after retrieving my bag and nearly falling asleep on the tram and bus, I took a much deserved nap for about an hour and a half. Then I was called to dinner. We had pork chops and a casserole of bok choy? I think. Then they brought out a bottle of champagne and an apricot tart with 20 candles for my birthday! It was delicious; the champagne (not true champagne because of its origin) is from a nearby town (Die-south of Grenoble) and was a sweet variety.

So, although my actual birthday was perhaps a bit stressful and tiring, today made up for it. I have my wonderful hosts to thank for that. Grenoble may not be the most beautiful city in France, or the most exciting, but the people are welcoming, kind, and patient; and for that I am truly thankful.

Alexandra, Mme Cottave, Frieda and I

Sunday: Stressful birthday to me!

Sunday morning we woke up at 7:15 for breakfast and then headed straight to the beach near our hotel. I went in up to me thighs, but didn't want to go any further because I'd showered the night before and didn't want to have to again. The water was very calm because it was protected in a little harbor. The beach was full of local older men and women getting their Sunday morning swim in. It was a very nice visit, and I just laid on my towel and read my book and listened to music. We headed back to the hotel to pack up our stuff and get ready for the day at 9:30. We left the hotel at 10:45 and headed to Saint-Paul, a little medieval village inland. When we boarded the bus we took seats near the front to avoid car-sickness. Then two came on the bus (late) and told Chris and Katie they had to move because they were in their seats. We told them seats aren't assigned and they needed to sit there as to not be carsick. The woman seemed to think it was funny that we thought we had just as much right as her to the seat. We argued for a bit and the woman just sort of laughed at us and proceeded to put her stuff in the overhead compartment. Chris and Katie finally conceded and ended up in the very last row of the bus despite being some of the first people on the bus. Then, throughout the trip to Saint-Paul, the two rude Iraqi woman sitting nearby proceeded to rudely talk about us in Arabic while we sat right there listening. I won't go into it any further as to not make this post too negative, but the bus seat drama continued all day.

Saint-John was a beautiful little walled village. There were tons of boutiques and galleries. It made me want to quit school and be a painter full time, and open a gallery (after seeing the prices on the artwork there, anyone would be tempted). Despite the beauty, we had a bad experience with the French. We stopped for sodas at a cafe and the waiter was extremely impatient and rude, he literally threw our bill at us. Then later, for lunch we tried to eat at a restaurant but were turned away, because they were too "busy". there were 4 other table there, not even half full, and it was 1pm, LUNCH TIME! We were really getting fed up with the French system for eating out. No tipping means bad service, and the relaxed do-what-I-want attitude shown by the owners and employees makes it difficult to get what you want when you want. They can literally just say no to you if they don't feel like serving you. We ended up just stopping at a sandwich stand and I had a chicken panini.

We left Saint-Paul and headed to Cannes for an hour and a half at the beach. A storm was coming in, the wind was ridiculous. The waves looked like tons of fun, but I didn't want to be cold, wet and salty on the bus, so I opted out. I sat and read again. After a while at the beach we stopped ta a crepe stand and had birthday crepes. then at 5:00 we boarded the bus and began the long trip home. We took the route around the mountains, so car-sickness wasn't a problem, it was just a long and tiring trip. When we finally got to Grenoble it was after midnight. I forgot my bag under the bus in the stress of getting off the bus and figuring out how to get home. We took a taxi, which wasn't bad because there were 3 of us to split it. I got home, thought Nathan had forgot about my birthday, and I was just very tired, stressed and lonely, so I cried for a while wishing I was home on my birthday instead if thousands of miles away.

Saturday: We don't care about tours, just beaches!

Maryel turned 21 today!! We left the hotel at 9:30 and arrived at about 10:00 in Nice, of course the weather was perfect so we headed straight to the beach. We played in the waves, laid in the sun, read our books and relaxed all morning. At about 1:00 we left the beach and had some good old american cheeseburgers for lunch. At about 2:30 we were on the bus again and headed to Eze, a little town which is home to the Galimard Parfumerie. We saved opted out of the tour and saved 8 euro, choosing instead to visit the town a bit. There were tons of little shops and I bought a few souvenirs for some of my favorite people! In one little shop, the owner came over to talk to us, he was curious, like so many before him, why Chris was all alone with so many girls. This man called him the chef (leader). We laughed at this joke again and talked to the owner for a few minutes. apparently all of his aunts and uncles live in Michigan now! What a small world.

Beach in Nice

After 45 minutes in Eze we once again got on the bus and headed to Monaco! When we arrived we were all very hot and only wanted to swim again! so we opted out of another boring museum, and set off in search of a beach. After asking several people we realized that the beach was probably too far to walk to, but we could see down at the harbor, from our position at the top of a very big hill/cliff, that there was a place with ladders to get in the water and swim! So we walked down many stairs and eventually made it. We stayed for an hour or so, jumping and diving into the water and swimming with the fishies. It would have been a great place to snorkel!

 Monaco

At about 7pm we headed over to the Monte Carlo, to see the ridiculously lavish lives of those who visit there. We saw plenty of Bently's, Rolls Royce's, Lamborghini's, Ferrari's, etc. We went inside the lobby and looked around for a bit. then, since we had nothing better to do with our time there we sat on a bench and made up a game we called "Rich or Not". We examined each person who passed and decided if they were rich (i.e. "Hes nerdy rich, like software and computers" or "shes definitely a gold digger") or not (like us, just tourists).

Monte Carlo

We finally got back to the hotel, took much needed showers after a day full of salty swimming, and headed out to celebrate Maryel, Olivia and my birthdays. We had food and wine at a little restaurant, when we left there it was just past midnight, so we headed to another little place to have a cocktail we'd heard of called the Monaco. We figured it was a good thing to order since we'd just visited Monaco. Apparently it is made with beer, grenadine and lemonade. At around 1am we returned to the hotel to get some rest for another long day ahead of us.

Friday: Bon Voyage!

Today I had no 8:30 am class, so I had an extra 2 hours to pack for the weekend and sleep in a bit. It was the last day of my Civilization class and the two hours could not have passed slower. Finally we were done, and we had just 45 minutes to wait until our departure for la Cote d'Azur! I ate (and shared) some of the snacks and fruits Mme Cottave packed me, and my PB&J because none of the school cafeterias were open. At 1:30 we left Grenoble and began our long journey south. We took the Alps route on the way down, boy was that traumatic! Several of us became pretty car sick from the curvy mountain roads. 

At about 4pm we stopped in a little city called Sisteron to eat. We asked around at a few places and found it utterly frustrating that cafes in France don;t serve food at all hours. Most places were only serving desserts and drinks at the time. Maryel and I gave up on cafes and walked down to the crepe stand, and bought the chocolate gaufres we'd been craving since the night before. Before leaving, I decided I'd better find a bathroom. We found the public W.C. easily...using it was the difficult part. I wish I'd taken a photo, but this self-cleaning contraption was frightening. You wait until the light turns green to enter, then once you enter you cannot open the door again until you are done. I went in, got confused and opened the door for some Moral support from Maryel. Then all of a sudden, the toilet seat starts to lift its self up, and scary noises started. I ran out of there, knowing the place was self-cleaning, and not wanting to be trapped inside during the disinfecting hurricane. I waited for the light to turn green again, and stepped into what looked like the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. Anyway, I can now say that I would rather pee in a stinky port-a-potty any day rather than experience this mean clean machine.

After 8 long hours of travel (counting 2 long stops) we finally made it to our hotel located in a little town outside of Nice. We had our typical meal of pizza margherita at a cafe, and one of the older waiters and Chris if he was the banquier (banker) because he was having dinner with five ladies. He is constantly the lone male in our group, because out of 16 U of M students, there are only 2 boys. We laughed at the joke and finally we headed to bed preparing for the long day ahead of us.

Thursday: Le Quatorze Juillet- France's National Holiday

Today, I slept in a bit more than usual. After breakfast, I watched the military parade in Paris on the television with Mme Cottave and Stephanie from about 10-11:30. Then I got ready for the day and left to meet friends for lunch. Dowtown was deserted, clearly everyone wanted to enjoy their day off at home. I had salmon on pasta with a creme sauce for lunch, and then May, Chris, Maryel and I set off for Chris' house. We were supposed to go swimming or hottubbing, depending on the weather. It was cold, but when we arrive we learned the the jacuzzi was broken, so we watched Will and Grace episodes on Chris' computer for a while, and then all headed back home for dinner.

After dinner I met several U of M students for the fireworks in the park. We sat in the grass on my beach towel, it was truly a beautiful show. The most interesting thing though, was that the live entertainment consisted of a band whose lead singer sounded Irish, singing old American songs such as Route 66...at the fireworks for the French National Holiday? Peculiar. Afterwards, Maryel and I coined the expression "I could go for a gaufre" which is a waffle. We tried finding somewhere that would be selling them, but nothing was open nearby since we weren't downtown, so we gave up and all headed home early.

IT ALL ENDS....2 days earlier in France.

Today was a great day! My 8:30-10:30am French class whizzed bye surprisingly fast, and for my 1:30-12:30 class we visited a museum on the resistance and deportation in the Isere region during WWII. After my morning classes, I went by myself to the school cafeteria, because I didn;t want to spend a lot on lunch. I'd brought a hunk of baguette, my jar of PB and my raspberry jelly, so I made myself a sandwich, and bought a yogurt and an apple for just 0.85 euro, I also brought these mini chocolate Cracotte things that I bought yesterday at the store. They are like the big Cracotte crackers I brought home last time, but small and they have chocolate inside. For those who don't know, a Cracotte cracker is a bit difficult to describe, it is a multigrain cracker that is relatively flavorless until you add butter and jam or Nutella, I'd say the texture is somewhat like a combination of shredded wheat and rice crispies...weird to imagine if you've never had it.

After my makeshift lunch, I waited in our building for the afternoon U of M class and was finally able to check my email using the campus wifi. I hadn't been able to check it since yesterday afternoon because my internet stopped working at home. I had a few emails from a disappointed Nathan because I'd missed our skype date. The U of M class was fun, everyone was in a great mood because...HARRY POTTER CAME OUT TODAY!

Yep, that's what the title of this entry is about; the final part of the Harry Potter series made its debut 2 days earlier here in France (and I believe the rest of Europe?) than in the US. Needless to say I have some jealous friends back home. After class, the whole group of U of M students headed to a theater we knew would be playing it in English, and shelled out 9.60 Euro on the 3D version (the money I saved at lunchtime makes up for it!) It was fantastic,well worth the cost. Its sad though, this is the end of an era for our generation, we grew up with Harry Potter! I decided after the movie, our generation is going to nag our children to no end saying "You have to read them, the Harry Potter series is a classic!" until they finally give in, then they will be like "Wow mom you were right, those books were really awesome!"

That's all for now, I've got to get some work done so that I can fete, fete, fete all day long! (fete=celebrate) Tomorrow is the French National Holiday, and I may not be a French citizen, but I am supposed to be learning about French culture and tradition, so if that means I have to observe their holidays, so be it. ;)

things that I miss:

Decided it had been so long since I last blogged that I should do a second today! Although I'm having a blast here, here are the things that I miss:

 Nathan! Why did we think it was a good idea to be 5371 miles apart! We'll cut that down to 1453 once I return to Michigan, thats practically nothing right? Miss you :)

 My kitties! Tori and Oreo, but he isn't as easily photographed. I wish I had them to snuggle with at night!

 My Family! Especially my mom and dad, but everyone else too of course.

PB&J and other typical american foods. Although I could have a taste of America through McDonalds if I wanted, that sounds disgusting. I miss the classics like pb&j and of course my moms cooking (and my own cooking). I was craving this so much last week I splurged on the 3.50 euro tiny jar of PB and made a crunchy peanut butter and raspberry jelly sandwich on baguette. So worth it, I'll be bringing these for lunch some days.

Hm, what else? Air conditioning, but more so just screens on windows, because it isn't awful hot when the window is open at night, but the mosquitoes get in and eat me alive! Cereal for breakfast, yes believe it or not, the bread fiend Melanie Jackson is SICK of eating baguette and butter with jam for breakfast. It only keeps me full for an hour or two and then my tummy grumbles during my 4 hours of class each morning. Cereal always fills me up long enough to wait for lunch. That's all I can think of now, so I guess it could be worse!

sun, snow, swim, shiver...all in a weekend

This weekend was a busy one, so I'm going to let my photos do most of the talking.

Saturday we visited Annecy, which is a little mountain town very close to Geneva, and home to France's purest lake. The city is sometimes called the little Venice of France because of the canal that runs through the entire town. Upon arrival we stopped for a delicious and fancy lunch, we then toured the Palais de l'Ile which was a prison in the middle ages, and finally we went to the lake to relax and swim.

 A very friendly swan

 Veal wrapped around mushrooms, with potatoes, green beans, pea pods and fried polenta squares

Maryel and I with our wine and macarons 

 I finally had a tiny French coffee! 

Which is the equivalent of an espresso shot and requires a lot of sugar.

 Trying to escape my cell in the prison!

 Maryel and I by the lake

 Water slide!

Sunday we took our first CUEF excursion to Chamonix, a mountain town very close to Mt. Blanc, the highest point in Europe (15,744ft or 4,808m). We took the cable car up to Aiguille du Midi, which is 3832 meters up. The cost of the cable car was a little ridiculous (35 euro) but well worth it. Unfortunately it was cloudy sunday, so our view could have been better, but I can't complain! After coming down we explored the quaint little touristy town for a few hours, and then headed back to Grenoble, exhausted.

 Our cable car

 Halfway there, waiting for car #2

 Ahhh!! Cold, scary, windy!

 Proof

 In a cloud

 Not sure if its readable, but the sign under the window says "Chez Melanie" which means "Melanie's place/house"

 Aww, family photo ;)

So, hopefully these pictures describe my weekend better than any words could! They were very different, but equally wonderful trips, though if I could go again, I would choose Annecy, it was incredibly beautiful and relaxing. This week should be a fun one, since the 14th is the French National Holiday and we will ahve school off. Then Friday afternoon we leave for Cote d'Azur, so I'll be very busy today and tomorrow trying to get a head start on my homework!