Merci et Au Revoir!

I am officially back in the States now but I figured I owed it to all my adoring fans to write one last brief entry. My return was safe, though unavoidably long. I have been back for three days now and am still having trouble admitting I'm here. It's bizarre to be speaking English all the time and being able to walk into a store and communicate with the owner without hesitation. I already miss all the exposure to French, but I have do to admit that it really is just so comfortable knowing what's going on all the time, particularly at the dinner table. I apologize for never having uploaded pictures from the previous entry--I tried several different times but my internet just wasn't cooperating.

I had an amazing semester and, as excited I am for this summer, I would love to still be chez Siclon speaking French. I am going to try very hard to keep up my French this summer and speak as much of it as I can, though it won't be easy. Thank you to those of whom kept up with my travels and adventures--I know you couldn't have had as much fun as it was for me, but I hope it was enjoyable nonetheless.
À la prochaine!

French cities, French friends, and French food

Last weekend we had our group trip to Provence. It was an action-packed weekend full of sightseeing, bus rides, and great food. We stayed in Avignon and traveled from there to the Pont du Gard, Les Baux, Saint Remy, Nîmes, Arles, Cassis, and Orange. Les Baux and Cassis were probably my favorites, but all of them were amazing and unlike anywhere I'd been before. I loved it. I'll post some pictures soon.

This past week has been pretty low-key. Monday I took a trip to the Dermatologist on account of a mysterious allergic reaction that appeared on my legs. That visit was definitely something I won't be forgetting anytime soon. In other news, I've been home alone with the cat since Tuesday (my host family is on vacation in St. Tropez with family) and I have grown to hate this cat more and more each day. Definitely won't be missing her after I leave. Wednesday, while walking home after class through a lovely park I frequent, two nice old French men started up a conversation with me and we stood there chatting for a good 20 minutes. It was really just delightful and brightened up my week. At the end of the conversation we did the bises (the kisses on the cheeks that the French do--something usually only used among friends) and exchanged names and I went on my way with a smile on my face and two new friends: Jean-Pierre and Guy. Thursday I woke up to a job offer, which was very exciting, and Friday Brittany and I took a day-trip to Lyon. Lyon is a beautiful city and we had a great time exploring it.
Overall a great week.

Some highlights:
Meeting Jean-Pierre and Guy
Signing a lease on an apartment for the summer (thanks, Jim!)
Getting a job offer
Accepting a job offer
Finding delicious ice cream in Lyon

Lowlights:
Having to walk through the rain every. single. day.
Having an allergic reaction to a mysterious culprit

One last thing: congratulations to all the seniors graduating this weekend! Colgate won't be the same without you. Wish I could be there!

Less than one month remains...

It's been a while since my last update. Dad came and went, as did Edward, and, among other things, I went to Giverny to see Monet's house with Maddy and Julia. Now it's really dawning on me how little time I have left here. It's already May (although the weather has reverted back to its March habits and has been cloudy and rainy in the 40s and 50s the past few days) and I leave 3 weeks from Sunday. It's totally crazy and unbelievable, and I don't know how I feel about the whole thing. On the one hand I'm having a great time here, my French is improving dramatically, and I'm learning so much. On the other hand, part of me misses lots of things from home and is very excited for this summer. There's the part of me that never wants to leave and the part of me that's itching to go.

Most of my friends who were abroad for the semester are already back at home or are currently packing their bags, while I still have papers and finals waiting for me in the coming weeks. I'm incredibly jealous that their work is over with, but I can't decide if I'm jealous of their departure. As I was walking home after class today, I realized that I'm secretly basking in this March weather. The stinging wind and the cold rain make me feel like it's still just the beginning of everything and I still have several months and so much traveling to look forward to.

I only really have one weekend left to travel and I was planning on going to Belgium to see Brussels and Bruges, but it's looking unlikely now. So after our trip with the group this weekend to Provence, my travel for the semester could very well be over. Whether or not I get to travel again this semester, I'm going to enjoy every minute of it. I'm going to delight in French culture and eat as many chaussons aux pommes and pains aux chocolats as I can manage. There are still so many things I want to do here (and still so many things I want to eat!), so being stuck in Dijon wouldn't be all bad.

Now, as always, here are some photos from my past few weeks here:
Edward tickling me at the Rodin Museum in Paris:
Me tickling Kristen at the Rodin Museum in Paris:
Me and Edward in Place Vendôme:
Me in Monet's garden:
Monet's Japanese Bridge:
And now I must be off to my last wine class of the semester. We're tasting 3 aligotes and 10 pinot noirs--one of them being a grand cru. If you knew what that meant (and how it tasted), you'd be jealous.

Spring Break Photos

Since I know you all love pictures and are probably also interested in what I actually did over break, here are some photos from my travels.
Madrid!

The Easter Sunday bullfight:

Lisbon!

Shrimp and Salmon with caramelized onions and peppermint rice:

Tenerife!

Views:

Our excursion above the clouds to the volcano:

Sunset on our last night:

Spring Break: From Sunny Paradise to Ash Cloud-Covered France

Yes, unfortunately I was one of the many affected by the volcanic eruption in far away Iceland. It was a not so nice ending to a relaxing spring break in Madrid, Lisbon, and Tenerife. Every place we visited was amazing and beautiful, and in Lisbon we had the chance to stay in the number 1 hostel in all of Europe. In Tenerife we had a week of relaxing on the beach and by the pool and exploring the island (which has a volcano of its own!). But I will tell you what I've been up to these past few days. Keep in mind: the whole time I'm carrying two-weeks worth of luggage.

This past Thursday we flew to Madrid, expecting to spend one night and fly out the next morning to Paris where I was planning to meet my dad and spend the weekend with him in Paris. But Thursday night our plans, which we thought had been settled for several weeks, began to spiral out of control.

Around 10pm, after hearing news of the volcano, we decide to check on our flight status for the next morning. When we get to the EasyJet page, it says "past check-in time". We soon discover that the person responsible for booking the flight (one of the four of us, no not me) had accidentally booked the flight for Thursday morning instead of Friday. Yes, this is a very stupid mistake both on part of the person who booked but also on the part of everyone else (including me) who had failed to double check the date of the flight. The two other girls decide to just take a bus the next day leaving at 8pm arriving in Paris at 3pm on Saturday. Spencer and I, who are both planning on meeting up with people in Paris the next morning, try our hardest to get another flight out leaving the following morning (not yet realizing what a problem the ash will have become by then). After 2 hours of trying to get the RyanAir website to work (worst website ever), I finally manage to book a 200euro flight getting me into paris by 3pm. Wake up the next morning, flight is still scheduled. I take a shower. Check again. Canceled. Head to the airport, wait in line for 30 minutes, and decide to head back to the hotel after the line at the airport didn't move at all. We decide to head to the train station and try to get on an overnight train to Paris. We wait to talk to somebody for an hour only to find out all the trains are booked until Tuesday. We head to the bus station (where our friends are), and, naturally, the two people in front of us get the last two tickets on that bus to Paris. We manage to buy tickets leaving Saturday at 1pm arriving in Paris at 5am. Spencer and I are feeling so discouraged. I begin to cry while phoning by dad to break the news to him. After I begin to cry a lot, the woman in the office tells me we can try to get on one of the buses leaving that night, as some people might not show. We end up waiting in the bus station for 7 hours, and when we find out at 11pm that we can't get on any of the buses, we begin to panic.

Now it's 11pm in a city we don't know well and we have no place to stay for the night. We head back to the hotel we stayed in the night before--an airport hotel with a free shuttle service to the airport. We get to the hotel, ask for a room, and, of course, the only room they have available is the 250euro Emperor's Suite. Unfortunately that's not a price for which you can haggle. We panic some more until the man behind the desk tells us down the street a ways is another hotel with more reasonable prices. He makes a few phone calls for us, and before we know it we have a reservation in one of their last available rooms. As we gather our things to begin to the walk to the hotel, it begins to downpour. We make a run for it and arrive in our hotel room soaked--but neither of us care because we have a bed to sleep in. At 1am, as I'm climbing into bed, I realize I have had nothing to eat all day.

Saturday was easy: woke up, got some snacks for the bus ride, and got on the bus without any problems. We could finally relax. We arrived in Paris on time, at 5am, and I got on the first metro to meet my dad. I rested for a few hours, and then headed to the train station to try to get a ticket back to Dijon. We waited on-line for an hour, and I got a ticket back to Dijon for early Monday morning (almost forgot to mention: there has been a train strike in France on and off to almost 2 weeks now, so only half the trains are actually going anywhere, so I was lucky to get that ticket to Dijon). I spent Sunday in Paris, enjoying the Parisian spring, and visiting the Orangerie and Père Lachaise. This morning I woke up at 5am, was in Dijon by 8:40, and managed to finish all my work for the day leaving myself just enough time to walk to class with Maddy and catch each other up on our crazy breaks.

The most ironic thing about my weekend is the fact that the two people who didn't care what time they arrived in Paris ended up getting there significantly ahead of the two who needed to be there the soonest. But I'm back here and so grateful for it, despite the fact that I'm exhausted, and have lots of work to do for this week. One girl from our group is still stranded in Stockholm but will hopefully be arriving in Dijon Wednesday by bus. This was one of the most stressful and scary weekends of my life, but it's over and I made it out alive. So many people are still stranded somewhere, and I'm hoping the French airspace will open up soon so my brother can fly in this coming weekend. In any case, I'm here, in Dijon, safe and sound, without having had anything stolen, lost, or broken in two-weeks of travel. I'm content.

Montpellier, Nîmes, and Pont du Gard!

So I am back in Dijon after my weekend in Montpellier! The weekend was very, very fun, but now I am very, very tired and am very much looking forward to going to sleep. We changed our clocks last night and lost an hour, so that didn’t help.
Friday I arrived in Montpellier around 2 and Paul gave me a whirlwind tour of the city (if you need a tour guide in Montpellier, he’s your man). It’s a really nice city and the weather was beautiful. Just made me wish I was studying there (or anywhere in the south, really)! Unfortunately, I didn’t get any great photos of the city. Sorry! After the tour, we had dinner at his house, and went to a bar with some of his friends.
The next day, he had a group excursion to Nîmes and Pont du Gard and, since it was free, I decided to tag along. Nîmes is another really pretty city and I’m so glad I finally got to see Pont du Gard (for free!). I’ve been seeing pictures of it since 6th grade when I started taking Latin!
Paul in Nîmes:
Pont du Gard (I like the shadows in this one):
Me, Paul, and Pont du Gard:
So we spent the day touring and that night went to a friend’s apartment for a birthday party. There was quite a diverse group of people at the party: American, British, Dutch, Finnish, Swedish, and French. As you can imagine, there was a mélange of languages being spoken (I only spoke English and French…and sometimes English in a British accent which totally counts). It was fun and I met a lot of people, but we didn’t get home until very late.
Today consisted of sitting on a train for 4 and a half hours trying to concentrate on my Rimbaud reading while across from me sat a 3-year old French boy (sooo cute). It was reasonably productive.
Overall it was a very good weekend. I could have done with more sleep, but the only thing I paid for all weekend (other than train tickets) was lunch on Saturday, there was lots to see, and the weather was gorgeous, so I really can't complain.
Definitely a city to put on your list!

Trip to the Loire!

I'm losing steam, but really trying to keep this up.

This past weekend we had our group trip to the Loire! It was fabulous. The group really bonded and we all had such a great time together. Oh, and the scenery was nice, too. We spent about 14 hours total on a bus, saw six Chateaux, and ate a LOT of food, all in 3 days. Not necessarily productive, but it sure was fun. We stayed in Tours and did trips on the bus from there.
Friday was Chambord:
Saturday was Chenanceau:
Azay-le-Rideau:
and Villandry:
Sunday was Amboise:
and Clos Lucé (Leonardo Da Vinci's Chateaux):

Friday night we went out to a Mexican place for dinner (where I randomly had the best caramel ice cream of my life) and Saturday we did tapas (where I had one of the most delicious things I've ever tasted: foie gras with fig jam on cinnamon bread. So incredibly good. The problem with tapas: you only get a little taste of everything. It was a great night, though--the food and wine flowed (thanks to Colgate!).

And this week has been full of work and planning. Senior housing stuff is due soon, so I've been figuring that out. I'm also dealing with the fact that I have nothing lined up for this summer yet, so I've been sending lots of e-mails and trying to get my résumé out there. Had my first paper due and first midterm this week, as well. But it's all done, and tomorrow I'm off to Montpellier for the weekend to visit Paul. I'm really excited for that. And then it's back to Dijon for just 4 days and then it's our two-week spring break! Lots to do before then, though (including pack!).

The time is really flying. I can't believe it. The weeks in Dijon are going by faster and faster and the weekends are all so busy. After spring break, my dad will be here, and then my brother will be here, and then it's May already! Only a handful of weekends left for traveling. Trying to plan it all now...while also trying to make the most of Dijon. The weather is finally getting nicer and it's feeling as though spring has finally sprung, which is making it easier to really experience this city. It feels like a whole new place with 60-degree weather and sun! The people are changing, too. I've finally met the neighbors with whom we share a driveway (and whom I hadn't laid eyes on until about two days ago). They seem nice...they're young and hip (just like me).
Speaking of, must go pack for my weekend!

Florissimo!

Another new post? Can't be...
I just wanted to write quickly about a flower show I went to today. There were tons of exotic flowers beautifully displayed surrounded by water fountains shooting in crazy formations while interludes like Flight of the Bumblebee and andantes from Swan Lake played in the background...I felt a bit like I was Alice in Wonderland. Anyway, Florissimo is a flower festival that takes place once every 5 years in Dijon. The host brother of one of the girls on my trip helped put the show together so we all went as a group today to show our support. The show was wild, to say the least. Here are a few photos:

The last photo is of something I find particularly impressive. Each one of those little flowers has its own little receptacle of water to keep the flower fresh. So cool! Wish you all could have seen it. Such a cool exhibition!

Busy week!

So after I last wrote, I gave my presentation (done!) and had a wonderful weekend in Paris. Last week was Paris Fashion Week, and since I've never been in a city during its fashion week, I decided I'd give it a whirl. Luckily my Colgate friend who was so kindly putting me up (love you, Kristen) is taking classes at Parsons in Paris for the semester and her roommate just happened to have an internship working for a designer for the week (Halston? Heard of him?). With the help of Grace (the roommate), my two-days' exposure to the week of fashion was lots of fun. She gave us handy tips on how to get into fashion shows (such as shouting "I'VE GOT THE SHOES!!"--apparently it works all the time in NY fashion week. give it a try.) and what to wear to get photographed by fashion bloggers. Our attempts to get into the shows were fruitless, but we were asked a total of two times (that's two more times than I've ever been stopped on the street for my photograph before), which was very exciting. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to find our photographs on any blogs. Here's some on mine though!

Fashion Week in the Tuileries:
Me and Kristen:

And Friday night Grace also got us into an Armani Privé fashion show/party. We missed the fashion show, but we did have the experience of partying with models, both male and female. It was a little surreal....

Armani Privé Fashion Show at Le Cab:Saturday, after brunch at Ladurée (soo chic), I picked up Jim at the airport! We had a great week together.

Me, Jim, and Monet's Water Lilies at the Musée de l'Orangerie:

We got a lot of time in Paris and he got to see my digs here in Dijon. It was so great having someone to show around, especially having it be him. Last night we had our last dinner at this really good (though not cheap) restaurant in Paris called "La Gare." It's in an old train station and it's huge, but it's very chic and the food was delicious (as was the wine). After a lazy Saturday in Paris together, he got on a flight home and I got on a train back to Dijon.

And now it's time to step back into reality. Having had Jim here and now having him gone is making me a little homesick for the first time this semester. Part of me is envious that he gets to return to the comforts of home while I stay here in Dijon living with my host family. But there is still that part of me excited by the development of my French and eager to continue improving it. But suddenly the semester seems really long, which is something that I never felt when I was in Venice, and I'm not quite sure how to shake the feeling. I think I just need to get back into my Dijon regime and hopefully things will feel normal again. I have a hard week of classes ahead and then Friday I'm off with the group to the Loire Valley to spot some châteaux and, as usual, eat some good food (on Colgate). À toute!

Long overdue...Normandy and Alsace!

I have absolutely no business writing in my blog right now, what-with all the things I need to be doing, but I haven't written in far too long and don't want to neglect my readers (all 3 of you). I've decided that since I don't have much to write about what I've been up to, I'll just put up pictures with a little description.

So break was fabulous! Normandy was beautiful. The only place we visited that I hadn't already seen was Caen, but I didn't remember all the places very well, so it was great to see them all again. We went to Caen, Bayeux, Omaha beach, American cemetery, Pont du Hoc, Rouen, Mont St. Michel, and St. Malo. It was a very full week and we certainly made the most of it. The place we stayed in Caen was a little apartment (for 15 euro a night!) and we had a little kitchen, in which we made very tasty dinners. Here we are making crepes:

My very successful (and delicious) nutella crepe:

A view of Mont St. Michel:
The weather was beautiful every single day, so when i look back over all of my pictures they're mostly of blue sky. Here's a picture from the beach at St. Malo (the walled city):

Me and m wind-blown hair in St. Malo:

So that was my break! Upon my return to Dijon, I had an e-mail asking for a Skype interview for a summer job I had applied for. I spent the Saturday preparing for it and Saturday evening had the interview (which was in French, I might add). It went pretty well, under the circumstances, but I (unfortunately though not surprisingly) got an e-mail a few days ago saying I didn't get the job. I then had a week of classes and then this past weekend a few of us went to Strasbourg! An absolutely beautiful city where we rented bikes, wandered around open-air markets, and enjoyed the food (and I bought a pair of shoes!). I also got to see Alexandra, again, who happened to be there the same weekend visiting a friend.

Me in Petite France:

A swan I didn't necessarily get along with too well:
A view from my bike:

And now it's back to the grindstone! Although, my friend MaryBeth, who is in Geneva for the semester, had the day off today and came to visit me for the day (with her eurail pass it was virtually free for her to come). It was so nice to see her! She's the first person to whom I've had the chance to give a little tour of Dijon.

Thursday, after a stressful day of class and a presentation, I'm off to Paris to stay with my friend Kristen for two nights until Saturday when Jim arrives! Sunday it's back here to Dijon for the week with Jim and Friday we return to Paris for the night and then he flies home that Saturday. I can't wait for this weekend to get here, but in the meantime I have lots of work to do.

I would just quickly like to say, though, that I can already feel a huge difference in my French conversation abilities. My comprehension has immensely improved, as has my confidence in speaking and that makes me really excited to see how my French will be come May. Even though I didn't get that summer job, I was proud of the way I handled myself in the interview. It was my first job interview, and considering it was in French over a bad connection on Skype, it went over pretty well. I would never have been able to go through with that a month ago, and for that I'm so grateful to have this opportunity in France. Speaking of, I've already been here over a month! Crazy!

Must go research the various forms of theater in Paris. I need all the encouragement I can get!

Some reflections...

I am very tired today, and need to go to bed soon, but I feel I should write a little bit. After looking over what I’ve written so far on this blog, I notice that what I’ve been writing is lacking in reflection. Part of this is because when I’m writing I have so much I want to share about what I’ve been doing and I feel if I were to include real reflection, the posts would be a lot longer (and considering the lengths of the entries thus far, I doubt anyone would still be reading my blog) and would take even longer to write. So in this post I’ll try to do less recitation and more musing.

Last time I wrote I was getting ready for my trip to Paris. As I’m sure you could tell, I was feeling really good when I last updated. I can’t decide if most of that excitement was because I am truly loving Dijon, or simply because I was so excited for my trip to Paris. Paris is, naturally, one of my favorite cities. It’s beautiful no matter what the weather and regardless of the day there are countless things to do. Our weekend in Paris was great. Friday we saw Notre Dame, the Latin Quarter, the Musée d’Orsay, and walked a lot. Somewhere in the middle we had a great lunch at a restaurant on the Seine (it’s very famous but the name is escaping me). Saturday was the Conciergerie (the prison for the royalty, where Marie Antoinette was held before her execution), the Louvre, the Champs-Élysées, the Eiffel Tower, good food, and reuniting with friends. Sunday was Montmartre, Sacre Coeur, the Marais, shopping, wandering, the Jewish Quarter, and falafel.

Me on the Seine

It was a very full weekend and I enjoyed every minute of it, but on my way to the train to return to Dijon I couldn’t help but feel reluctant. Until this point, I’d been so grateful for the chance to live in a place completely free of tourists and the English language--I was even pleased with the size of the city. But this weekend in Paris gave me a taste of how wonderful it would be to live there, even just for the semester. On the way back on the train I just thought about what I was returning to in Dijon and I couldn’t help but keep thinking, “there’s a reason tourists don’t go to Dijon.” Sure, Dijon is charming and has a few great things to see, but you really can see them all in a few days, if not one. I feel like I already know my way around this city completely. Thinking back to my semester in Venice, there was always more to explore, and even after my 5 months there I still felt like there was more to see.

The nice thing about my situation in Dijon, one could say, is in knowing a city that well it is easier to really feel at home in it. But the ability to enjoy that kind of comfort is hindered by living with a host family. I’m realizing now that I am never going to really feel at home in this house. Talking to other students on my trip, I realize how different my situation is from theirs, and I envy their ability to go, sit in the living room with their family and watch the news or a French game show on TV. In my house, they don’t heat the living room in the winter, so it’s always empty and dark (and at a very uncomfortable temperature for lounging), and, as far as I can tell, there is no TV in the house. These kinds of activities not only act as more exposure to the language, but also add to the ambience (French word!) of the household, creating a warm atmosphere to come home to.

I’ve just been feeling down the past few days but I’m trying buck up. I’m not homesick, and I wouldn’t rather be at Colgate right now (though I do miss you guys!), I just wish some things were different. But, c’est la vie!

I’ll end on a happy note. Things I’m looking forward to:
Feb 12: Leaving for a week on a romantic getaway to Normandy with two girls in my group.
Feb 26: Tentative trip to Geneva to visit MaryBeth.
March 6: Jim comes to visit!

Ihaven’t thought much past those dates yet. I need to focus on my work right now (my translation class is HARD!), but if any of you other abroad-ies want to meet up somewhere or go somewhere together, let me know!

Some Pictures!

My house:

My room:
Chocolate cake in Beaune (yes that chocolate is oozing):

Decorations at the wine festival:

Wine festival!:

Me and Pooh:

Me, Maddy, and Julia