Pasta and Wine and Holidays, Oh My!

Torino, Italia!

Well ladies and gents, my time here in France is – not so – slowly dwindling. I cannot believe that I have less than two weeks left in this amazing city before catching a flight back to the good ole U.S.of A. I feel like I have a lot to cover in this post and I’m going to try to make it as concise as possible but it may end up being a bit longer than anticipated – just as a warning. So here goes nothing…

After last week’s most excellent adventure that was paragliding the rest of it was spent just relaxing and enjoying our time in Chambéry. Friday night there were a few of us that headed to the Château in town for a classical music concert that was put on by an Italian group. It was absolutely amazing; the music was so gorgeous and when the backdrop is a castle you can’t really go wrong. I know I’ve mentioned it before in this blog but music is such a great equalizer – no matter what language you speak you can enjoy a classical music concert because it’s about how the music speaks to you. So that was a really enjoyable way to spend a Friday night.

Erin and I enjoying our Gelato
(I was told there's no enough 'friend'
pictures on this blog)

Saturday we headed out bright and early for a trip to Torino (Turin), Italia! I can honestly say that while I have grown to love this country, Italy stole my heart. It was such a gorgeous city and I honestly think that I could sit and listen to someone speak Italian all day. It is such a pretty language. Unlike the other day trips we’ve taken that usually included museums our trip to Torino was more laid-back. Like any other trip we broke into groups and for the most part the only thing on the agenda for my group was pasta and gelato – which was successful. We had some of the best pasta I’ve ever tasted while sitting out on a piazza and talking; and then the gelato we got was out of this world. So delicious. But the rest of our time in the city was spent walking around and exploring. I really enjoyed being able to just walk around and get a feel for Torino and take in the sights.

<3

We visited a few churches, walked through piazzas, heard some street musicians, and all-in-all just had a great day. If our day spent in Italy did anything it just solidified the fact that I need to go back and travel around that country more. Everything was so friendly and so gorgeous. It was about a three hour trip from Chambéry to Turin, and one of the things that really stuck out to me was the fact that on the way back from Turin it felt like we were coming home. It was a really comforting feeling to be back where things are now familiar to us. After a long day we didn’t feel like making dinner so we headed out to a kabab place for a quick and easy dinner and just enjoyed each other’s company. It’s an amazing feeling to be able to say that what used to be a foreign city just a few short weeks ago is now becoming a home to us. Believe it or not, even coming back to France was comforting because I knew the language barrier wouldn’t be as immense as it was in Italy. Things are really changing but it’s definitely for the better at this point.

Vin pays (wine country)

So after a completely amazing yet exhausting Saturday in Italia on the agenda for Sunday was ‘Biking through a Vineyard with a wine tasting.’ Pretty sweet, right? Well, when you go to a foreign country and the person in charge of your excursions doesn’t speak English very well there’s bound to be a few miscommunications. What we thought was biking ‘through’ a vineyard, was actually biking ‘to’ a vineyard. There’s a big difference, people. So we went to the train/bus/bike station here in town and got our bikes and off we went. We were told it was going to be a ‘not easy, but not hard ride’ I believe ‘sporty’ was the term used. Well 10 miles to a lake is pretty sporty; after a picnic lunch we went another mile or two uphill to the vineyard. 

Country side

Don’t get me wrong, it was a great time and I’m super glad I went but it was definitely not what I had been expecting. But while we were there we got to taste three wines; a white, rosé, and red. I can honestly say (slightly off the record due to the ‘legal’ drinking age in the States) that when I came to France I was not a big wine person but that’s slowly changing. Anywho, after the wine tasting it was back to Chambéry. So all-in-all we clocked over 20 miles on Sunday all for some wine, but the views were absolutely breathtaking (ironically enough so were the hills we rode up). It’s not hard to believe that the French like to be laid back and relaxed when the views in this country – especially this region – are so gorgeous. I don’t think you can be high strung and stressed out when you have snow-capped Alps and vineyards surrounding you.

Honestly with these views
how can anyone be upset?

For those of you who know me pretty well it’s no shock that the 4^th of July is one of my favorite holidays. It’s definitely in the top three (Christmas, Thanksgiving, 4^th – for those of you wondering) I just love being around my entire family, having a great time, shooting off fireworks, and celebrating our country. Knowing that this trip would fall over the 4^th was a little upsetting for me at first - I know, I know, I’m in France and having a great experience…but honestly the 4^th is a big deal for me. However, I had a great holiday. We had class in the morning and took an easy afternoon but for dinner we made burgers (which turned out really good) and then celebrated our country. The original game plan was to go to a bar that we know serves Budweiser but it was closed since its Monday. That didn’t stop us since almost everyone on our trip ended up in the park close to our residence just hanging out. It was a really great holiday.

"Bottle of white, bottle of red,
perhaps a bottle of rosé instead"

One of the thoughts that stuck with me all day today was that I can’t think of a better way to celebrate America and what it stands for than to be traveling. I am truly blessed to be a citizen of the United States – a country that allows you the freedom to go and travel the world. How lucky can you get? Freedom is something that is taken for granted every day and there’s nothing like spending a holiday like the 4^th of July in another country that allows you to really appreciate what you have. So while I would have loved to be in South Carolina with the rest of my family today swimming, grilling out, and then lighting fireworks for the rest of the night, I am so glad that I had the experience of spending this holiday abroad, it was really eye-opening.

Well, I’m going to wrap this post up because it ended up being a lot longer than I thought it would be. I cannot believe that these six weeks are almost over – where did the time go? I hope that everyone had a safe and happy holiday! 

Miss you all and love you guys!