The end of the most amazing 4 months of my life...

I don’t think it really hit me that this semester was actually ending until last night and this morning. After this week, people that I have seen every day for the past four months I might never see again… or at least not for a long time. IES will no longer be apart of my daily routine, and well, I will no longer experience the amazing French culture on a daily basis.  Last night, as a going away party, IES took us all on a boat cruise for dinner. Everyone was dressed up, camera flashes were a consistent part of the evening and it was an incredible night with the people that we have all come to know and love so much. But I think that is also when it hit us that we are really leaving.

The night before I left to come to France 4 months ago I sat in my living room at home and cried. I was so worried that I wasn’t ready for this experience, that I couldn’t be away from home for 4 months, scared of the French culture and what would happen. At that time, May seemed so far away. I remember thinking to myself- there is snow on the ground outside and I won’t be coming home again until it is summer. That is such a long time.

Oh how I wish I could take those words back. Now that night seems like just yesterday and this semester seems like a short dream. I can’t believe that I have lived in French for 4 months, finished classes taken completely in French (and didn’t to too bad in them!), and met some of the most amazing people, not only from all over the United States, but from all over the world. They say studying abroad changes your life? Well- it’s more than that. All semester we have made a joke about the IES abroad slogan. The slogan is “your world- redefined” and they ask all of the students to come up with something that has been “redefined” while they have been in France. All semester we have been making fun of it and no one has taken it seriously. Well, now I know what my slogan would be. "Life- redefined." I literally couldn’t imagined my life without this semester. I grew up, matured and handled things that I never would have been able to in the past. And who could have ever guessed that I can carry on a conversation completely in French?

No matter what our grades are (hopefully not bad) or what we wish we could have done while here, the experience was incredible and the memories will last a lifetime.  

Thank you to everyone who has done so much for me to allow me to come on this trip. Thanks for the prayers, the cards, the money, the packages, and most of all, for believing in me. While I will miss France so much, I am ready to get back to the good 'ole U.S.A.  

This morning, as I started to cry because of all the things I am going to miss I remembered a little quote from Dr. Seuss, "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened." 

Paris!

Since I'm not sure when I am going to have time to post again because of all the work I have coming up, I am going to go ahead and write about our trip to Paris. Gina came back to Nantes after leaving Nice but Erin and I headed to Paris for the weekend. We had an eventful trip getting there.

When we boarded our train, a boy that looked to be about our age got on beside us. He asked me for a piece of paper and started making a million phone calls. I was able to understand most of his conversation- he had just gotten through with an interview and was heading to St. Rafael for the weekend. On one phone call he switched from French to Italian, which Erin can understand a little bit of. She told me that he was talking about us and how we had told him that we were studying in Nantes and that I gave him a piece of paper. After about an hour of the ride we reached his stop. As he got off he handed the piece of paper to Erin. It was written in very awkward English and said, "girl, I think you are very beautiful and nice. Above all you are very pretty. I want to stay contact with you. Here is my number phone." I think we laughed about that for the rest of the ride.

About halfway through the ride there was a technical problem with our train. The trip was supposed to be 6 hours long but it ended up being 7 hours and we got to Paris at 11 PM. We took the metro and when we got to our stop we got lost. We had all of our luggage and were miserable from the long train ride so we finally flagged down a taxi. Well the taxi got lost and couldn't find the hostel which ended up being in a pretty sketchy part of town. Well we finally made it at about 12:30 AM and were exhausted.

Saturday morning we woke up pretty late and went and ate a very French picnic on the Seine. It was so nice! We had baguettes and cheese and turkey and wine. Afterwards, Erin had to go to a ballet that she had tickets for so I just walked around a part of Paris that I had never seen until 5:00 that evening when I had made reservations to take a wine tasting class. One of my future goals in to become a wine connoisseur so this class was very interesting to me! We tasted wines from the different regions of France, learned how to pair wine with food, how to read a wine label and lots of other interesting facts! I was the only one there by myself but it didn't matter because everyone was so nice! I loved it. Afterwards I met back up with Erin and we ate crepes before heading back to the hotel.

The set up of my wine class

Very sunburnt from Nice, but enjoying the wine class!

Sunday morning we had planned to go visit the Catacombs in Paris but May 1st is a holiday in France called festival de Muguet (which is a type of flower). Once we got to the Catacombs we realized that they were closed so we ventured into the nearby Luxembourg Gardens until we had to leave for our train back to Nantes. Unfortunately we didn't judge our time very well and thought we were going to miss our train. We ran all of Paris and in the metro and throughout the train station to make it on time. Well, sweaty and exhausted we finally did. 

And now I am back in Nantes preparing for my final couple of weeks here! I cannot believe that it has gone by so fast. But I will be back in America on May 18th and can't wait to see everyone!! Pray for me during these last couple of weeks and for a safe flight home! 

Nice!

Sorry I wasn't able to get this post up yesterday... things are crazy around here with exams coming up! But now to tell you about our trip to Nice...

Early Sunday morning, Erin, Gina and I left Lyon to head to Nice on the southern coast of France. I had been to Nice once before in high school and was so excited to go back! When we first got there, we dropped everything off at our hotel and headed to the beach. The beaches there don't have sand- it is all pebble- which isn't too bad for the first little bit but after a while it starts to get uncomfortable. But the Mediterranean was beautiful! The weather was nice so we ended up just sitting on the beach the whole day. That evening we ate at a delicious pasta/pizza place and headed in to get rested up to spend the next day on the beach!

On the beach!

The Beautiful Mediterranean Sea

Tuesday morning, Erin and I woke up to walk to the top of the Chateau in Nice so that we could look out over the water and the city. We walked through Vieux Nice (the old town) which was really cool and French looking with small streets and colorful buildings. After that, we met up with some of our other friends who happened to be in Nice for spring break to lay out on the beach all day once again. The weather was so nice!! That night we ate a cheap, quick dinner so that we could prepare for our journey down the coast to Monaco and Eze village on Wednesday. 

Vieux Nice

Standing in Vieux Nice

The city of Nice from the top of the Chateau!

Wednesday morning, we decided to head to Monaco and Eze Village for the day. In Monaco we saw the Monte Carlo Casino and the prince's castle. The city is beautiful! unfortunately we didn't have much time there but the city is small and we still got to see a good bit of it! After Monaco we caught our bus to Eze Village for the afternoon. This is a very small village between Nice and Monaco. We love it here because the old Chateau had been turned into small little streets with shops everywhere. After walking through the Chateau we toured the Fragonard perfumery (very famous in France) and we each bought a Perfume at the end. After the perfumery it started raining so we sat down for tea and tiramasu until our bus came to take us back to Nice! That night we met up with our other IES friends again for a delicious meal because it was our friend's birthday! We had a great time together and really enjoyed the meal! 

The Monte Carlo Casino 

In Monaco!

One of the guards to the Prince's palace

Eze Village- so cute!

Thursday was our last full day in Nice! We went to the beach that morning but then it got a little chilly so we left and found this adorable little olive oil shop that we had read about because olive oil is very popular in the south of France. This really old French man wearing suspenders owned it and when we walked in he asked us if we wanted to taste some olive oil. Of course we said yes so he gave up 3 different olive oils and bread to try and they were all delicious but so different! My friend Erin and I ended up each buying a bottle of our favorite. I didn't do much that afternoon but that night we went to a restaurant that specializes in Nice foods. I got a steak type thing which was delicious and Erin and Gina got beef stew cooked in red wine sauce which was delicious and I was incredibly jealous of. After dinner we went back to the hotel to pack up.

Friday morning we checked out of our hotel and went to the beach before our train left at 4:30. And thats when we headed to Paris for the last leg of our spring break!

Vacances de Pacques et Autres Choses

I just got back from Spring Break and it was amazing! Me and 2 other girls decided that we just wanted to travel around France for the week so we went to Lyon, Nice, and Paris. Friday morning, we left Nantes at 9:05 AM to head to Lyon. The city was beautiful! There are 2 rivers in this area (The Rhone and The Saone) and so many pretty cathedrals!

In Front of the Rhone River

The first day, we hike up to the top of a huge hill to see some old Roman amphitheaters and a basilica. It was exhausting but we made it! The view was well worth the hike, you could see the entire city.

Cathedral from the bottom of the city

Lyon is a very large silk producer so Saturday we went to a silk workshop. I bought the most beautiful silk scarf! 

The rest of Saturday we just kind of wondered around the city. In Vieux Lyon there are these really cool covered passageways called traboules so we wondered in and out of those for a bit. For dinner that night we decided that we wanted to eat in Vieux Lyon because it is so famous for it cuisine. What we didn't realize was that the famous cuisine consisted on blood sausage, horse intestines and cows head, so we decided on a Thai/Vietnamese restaurant where I had the best duck with fresh pineapple. 

On Easter Sunday morning, we decided to go to Easter Mass at a beautiful cathedral in Lyon called St. Georges. The Mass was very traditional and I really enjoyed it. And I could actually understand the parts that weren't in Latin! After mass we sat down and had a coffee and tea and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon outside. 

Church where we attended Easter Mass

Monday morning, out train left for Nice so we could go to the beach!! But because my spring break was so long and because I really need to start studying for my finals next week (ahh!) I am going to split spring break into 3 blog posts. I will try and write about Nice tomorrow! A bientot!

Just another Saturday...

Can't believe another week has gone by! 4 weeks from today I will be flying home. Part of me is ready to get back to the states and part of me never wants to leave! I had the most amazing day yesterday. IES took us to a vineyard right outside of Nantes for the day. First, we stopped at a small town called Clisson for lunch and to visit a Chateau. We sat outside for 2 and a half hours in a beautiful park right beside a Chateau with perfect weather and picnicked. It was awesome. After, we toured the Chateau and left for the actually vineyard. We toured the vineyard and had a small little wine tasting afterward before heading back to Nantes. Once we got back to Nantes a few of us went to eat dinner at a creperie before heading out on the town for the night. I am not sure why yesterday seemed so perfect but it was just so... French. Beautiful weather, Chateaus, gardens, vineyards, and crepes? What could possibly make for a better day? 

Beautiful Flowers in Clisson

Chateau

Some friends and I in front of the Chateau 

Me at the Vineyard

At the Vineyard

Another week begins in Nantes...

Sorry I haven't been updating as often! This week and next week we have "Devoirs a la maison" due for every class which is basically a 4-5 page paper written in French on a topic of the professors choosing. They are a lot harder than I anticipated. But after a long week of hard work last week, the weekend was fun! Friday, a bunch of IES students went to the "Machines de L'ile" on the Island of Nantes across the Loire River. The machines were created by 2 artists who wanted to cross the imaginary world of Jules Verne (who was born in Nantes) and the mechanics of Leonardo de Vinci. The result is a bunch of really awesome mechanical elephants and sea monsters, etc that you can ride on.

The Mechanical Elephant- the most well known Machine de l'ile.  It blinked and sprayed real water out of it's trunk.

My second favorite, a sea monster. I don't know what about this attracted me so much but it did.

 

Saturday morning, there was a huge street carnival thing with tons of stores with booths out on the street selling things for really cheap. It was so much fun to look around and see everything and there were so many people! There were literally booths everywhere. For miles and miles and miles. Here is an example of just one street...

Street Carnival!

That afternoon me and 4 of my friends decided that we wanted to go to the coast of France for the day and get out of Nantes. So 10 Euros and an hours train ride later, we were in an adorable small town called Pornic. The town surrounded a little bay that led into the Atlantic ocean. After walking around the town for a little, we sat on the edge of some rocks and looked out over the water (I even waved to all of you back on the east coast! We were just an ocean away from each other...). 

Pornic. Yes, there was a chateau... just like in every other city in France.

Looking out over the water. Tons of Sailboats!

Well, that is about it for my weekend, now it is off to finish some more of my work before meeting my parents in Paris on thursday! yayy!!

A toute a l'heure!

Normandy

This past weekend, IES took us to Normandy, in northern France. For those of you who don’t have much knowledge of history, this is the site of the D-Day attack by the allies to retake France from the Nazi troops on June 6, 1944 during World War II. (Go watch "Saving Private Ryan"- that is exactly where I was.)

The trip was absolutely amazing to say the least. Just being there, standing on the exact beaches where so many soldiers risked and lost their lives, and to hear the history stories as I had never heard them before was completely surreal.  Saturday we visited the D-Day memorial in Caen, which was basically a WWII museum. World War II has always fascinated me and I could have stayed in that museum for hours. Reading the stories, seeing remnants of the Holocaust, and watching the short films of the war, while incredibly interesting, was difficult to do. I will admit, there were some parts during which I almost cried. I learned so many things that I had never known before… like that there was a huge storm 2 days before June 6, 1944 (the date planned for d-day) and that Eisenhower almost called off the whole operation because of the weather. However, after seeing a weather report that predicted better weather for the day of the attack, he made the decision to continue with the plan. But because of the bad weather, the Germans in Normandy didn’t have their full defense because they weren’t expecting any attacks that day. This is partially what made the attack so successful for the allies. Isn’t that interesting?

In the memorial museum... "June 6, 1944 on the beaches of Normandy,  over 10,000 young soldiers paid for our freedom"

 After walking through the museum we watched a short film. The film started out with the allied soldiers getting ready for the attacks and climbing into the helicopters and onto the boats. Then it showed the actual attack… the troops climbing through the waters and hiding on the beaches and disarming the Germans. The camera would pan over the beach as it was on d-day during the battle, with the troops lying on the beach to hide, and fighting the Germans, and parachuting out of helicopters… then the camera would pan over the beach as it is today - peaceful and tranquil as it could be. It was incredible. The film ended by showing the German soldiers coming out to the allies surrendering with their hands up. It gave me goose bumps. We also saw the Bayeux tapestry, which is the longest tapestry in the world. It was interesting, but I tended to like the other sites much better.

On Sunday we went to the American Cemetery and Omaha beach- one of the 5 d-day beaches that was overtaken by the allies (Omaha was one conquered by Americans). Below are some pictures of the cemetery but the pictures don’t do it justice. In order to really understand how many soldiers lost their lives for us that day, it is necessary to actually see it. I recommend going to ANYONE who ever gets a chance. Thousands of white crosses lined up with the names of lost soldiers and where they are from. There are even crosses for unknown soldiers which said, “Here rests in honored glory a comrade in arms known but to God.” Oh, and the cemetery is technically “American soil” so when we first got there we were all so excited to be “back home!” – even if only for a few hours. hahaha

Soldier from North Carolina

Unknown Soldier's tomb

A few of the crosses. The site was beautiful

Me and my friend Laura in front of the cemetery

After walking through the cemetery and taking it all in and reading the names of several soldiers, we walked down to Omaha beach because although the cemetery overlooks the beach, I felt as if I needed to stand there to really understand what happened almost 70 years ago. We stood on the beach, put our feet in the English Channel and reflected on everything that we had learned that weekend.

Standing on Omaha Beach

A time capsule with news reports from the d-day landings to be opened June 6, 2044 (100 year anniversary)

After leaving Omaha beach we headed to Point-du-Hoc. The story of this site is amazing. The Germans were stationed on top of these cliffs, but weren’t expecting to be overtaken because the cliffs were seemingly impossible to surpass. However, it had been planned for 225 American soldiers to scale these cliffs on d-day and disarm the Germans on top. They were supposed to be the first attack on d-day and use the element of surprise to take the German guns. Due to a navigation error, the troops landed 3 miles off shore and by the time they arrived at point-du-hoc the beaches had already been attacked, thereby eliminating the element of surprise. This did not stop these brave men. They scaled the cliffs while constantly under German fire and were able to successfully take the point for 2 days. Out of the 225 men, 90 lived. There are still bomb craters in the ground, and forts on top of the cliffs. The sight was incredible.

At the top of Pointe-du-Hoc. You can see the bomb craters left from the d-day landings

The cliffs that the American troops scaled in order to disarm the Germans

A huge bomb crater at Point-du-Hoc

Memorial at Point-du-Hoc

After Pointe-du-hoc we headed back to Nantes. I apologize for this blog post being so long but it was just something that I had to share because of the surrealism of it all. I picked up some rocks from Omaha beach and took tons of pictures, but I don’t think I could ever imagine being there and the courage of the allied troops on that day. As I said if you ever get the chance to go, please don’t pass it up.

Well, I guess that is enough blogging for today… A bientot!