Time is making fools of us again...

How is it that time can be such a tricky thing? Wasn’t I just blogging about how there was one week left until I left for France, and now…now I’m blogging about how I have less than one week left in France. I can’t believe just how quickly time has decided to fly; only two more days of classes left and I can honestly say I’ve come a long way from my first day in a French class.

I was completely 'geeking' out at
this exhibit.

There hasn’t been much going on lately – all the excursions have slowed down and that’s okay. I’ve been enjoying spending time with the friends I’ve made in a city I’ve grown to love. One of the things Erin and I did last week was go to the local Savoie Museum. I'm going to be honest and say the only thing that really propelled me to go was that there was a 1939-1941 exhibit. I've been wanting to figure out how this area was effected during World War Two since I've gotten here and the exhibit was of great help with that. This area was occupied by the Italians for a while and suffered some bombings, deportations, and other horrors of war. One of my favorite things about history is being able to visit the places you read about in books, being able to go through an exhibit and know that the artifacts they had were local was amazing. The Savoie region during World War Two is definitely something I want to research more when I get home.

Vive la France! (Says the leader who's
in London)

It’s still hard for me to comprehend that in a few shorts days this will all just be a great memory. I’ve met people here who have changed my life and allowed me to grow as a person. The difference between this trip and my other abroad experiences is that all the students here are from various places across the United States. There are people who I’m sure I’ll never see again while others I’ll be more inclined to keep in touch with but there’s still that feeling that we went through this together.

A paper from D-Day plus 1 :)

People always talk about how when they go to Europe they find themselves, and I used to think that was crap. I’d like to think I had a good grasp on who I was as a person before jumping on a plane, however, the things I’ve come to learn while over here has been monumental. I’ve grown as a person and done things that I never had imagined doing before. If there’s one thing that I really want to take away from this trip as a sort-of, ‘this is what I leaned’ mantra it would have to be: Trust yourself, you’re a lot stronger than you could ever imagine.

One of the things I'll miss most
about this country!

Time is winding down but there are still things on the agenda. Tonight a group of us are going out for dinner in town. It was something that was one of the first things we did as a group way back when we first got here and it seemed fitting to go out again as a group at the end of the trip as well. Tomorrow there’s probably about ten of us who are going to see ‘Harry Potter et les Reliques de la Mort’ partie une et deux which I am super excited about! After that it’s going to be a bunch of packing and goodbyes. With that being said my need for a blog is starting to diminish, I never intended this to be anything more than a travel blog. I appreciate people reading it and I’m glad I was able to tell about my journey this summer. 

Look for another post or two in the next week.
Miss you and love you BUT I get to see you guys SOON!

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!

"Cages or wings, which do you prefer?

 ...Ask the birds. Fear of love, baby? Don't say the answer.
Actions speak louder than words." -Jonathan Larson

The mountain we paraglided from!

So what’s life without a little adventure, right? Especially when you’re in Europe for 6 weeks. The first day in Chambéry we got a packet of excursions that were offered through our program, my eyes immediately landed on paragliding. Call me crazy but it just sounded so exciting, not to mention that one day I want to skydive so this seemed like a perfect starting point. It wasn’t until when I literally signed my name to the page that I realized just exactly what I was doing. But I felt that this was one of those “remember when” moments that only come a few times in your life. How many people get to say that they paraglided in the Alps?

Erin, Myself, and Kyle getting ready
to head up the mountain!

Another thing that really propelled me to do this was the fact that I feel like I’m always talking about living without regrets and just throwing caution into the wind. How would I be able to face myself if I didn’t take advantage of this insanely amazing opportunity? I am a firm believer that people need to take leaps of faith every now and again to live fully. I can’t think of a better way than literally running and jumping off of a mountain. Also, my infinite love of all things Band of Brothers and the history of what the Screaming Eagles did in Europe helped my nerves on this one. If they could parachute into Normandy on D-Day while being fired upon, surely paragliding would be a breeze (major pun intended).

The launch pad off the mountain

Let me start off by saying that paragliding has probably been my favorite experience from this trip so far and I’m not sure what could beat it at this point. There were 12 of us on the excursion today, and we had to go up to the mountain in groups of three. Erin, Kyle and myself were one group and we were the last to go. Most people would think that waiting around for a few hours to jump off a mountain would be nerve racking but really it wasn’t. My nerves didn’t kick in until the van ride to the top of the mountain. The mountain that didn’t look super high until it was time to take the thirty minute ride to the top. Now don’t let me sound like I did this on my own, we were with professionals in all honesty we just kinda sat there. But the thing was you literally had to get a running start before the wind would pick up and take you off the side of the mountain. This was the worst part but it literally was easier than it even sounds. The guy that was with me, Gael, was really nice and trying to make me feel better. I was asking him for the fiftieth time that I just run and then jump, and he responded with ‘No, you just run and then fly.’ No big deal, ya know?

One of three pictures I got before my
camera became tempermental

So Gael got the parachute ready as I stood there with shaking legs looking over the edge of a mountain. As soon as he gave the go ahead I started towards the edge and off we went. The second I was airborne I realized that all the nerves were for nothing. It was the most comfortable thing in the world and the view was breathtaking. Everything was so calm and so serene. We were about two minutes off the cliff when my camera decided to stop working – I’m blaming it on altitude sickness. But being that high in the air I realized that there are some things that you can’t really capture on a camera and this was one of those things. I’m literally sitting here at the computer at a loss for words to try and describe this experience other than absolutely amazing. It was everything I wanted it to be and even more and I honestly would have gone and done it again and again. 

Leaps of faith <3

I now completely understand why people jump out of airplanes. I am also completely jealous of birds because the views I got to experience today are so breathtaking. This was probably the best 60 Euros I could have spent on this trip. Italy and biking through a vineyard this weekend! I hope everyone has a nice 4^th of July and know that I’ll be celebrating here in France! I can’t believe that this trip is almost over already!

Miss & love you guys!

"Like all great travelers...

...I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen."  ~Benjamin Disraeli

Mountains in Chamonix

John 14:21

I feel like that quote is going to describe my trip perfectly. In all honesty there is no way that I will be able to remember every detail about this trip – even with my outrageous number of photos or words in a blog. The truth is there are little things that this trip entails as well – the conversations with people on this trip, the professors, the lady at the patisserie down the street…There are so many aspects to this trip that I don’t even know where to begin really and for the most part if I ever try and explain all the little inside jokes I’d get weird looks. But I desperately want to try and remember these things, because I can already tell that this was one of the best decisions I’ve made in a long time. I’ve had to do a lot of things that I might think twice about in the states and I’m so glad that every morning I wake up I feel more confident in myself. 

I’m not sure what inspired that as my starting paragraph, but I guess it’s just what has been on my mind lately and there it was. So I think I’m going to split this blog up into two parts, the first part I want to try and go through some of the things I adore in this country, the second part is going to talk about the breathtaking views I got to experience in Chamonix this past Saturday while on Mount Blanc.

Chamonix, France

So let’s be real, there are certain things that the French have right. Pastries (especially the apricot croissants and the rhubarb tarts and almost anything else you snag out of the bakery honestly). Bread, any kind, and yeah people do actually walk around with baguettes. Wine, blanc…rouge…whatever your fancy they have it, and the ones that are only a few Euros are not half bad. Outdoor markets, fresh produce is amazing. Cheese! Funny little story the other day in class my professor was teaching us the different words for ‘to know’ and she was telling us that the way French people describe cheese is the same way that they describe people they know. Which is completely true, because she had actually used the word ‘gorgeous’ to describe Camembert, a cheese from the Normand coast. And to be quite honest I went out and bought some and it is really, really good.

Indescribable views

Another, slightly more profound thing I’ve noticed is that the French have a better sense of relaxation than we do in the States. They take their time during their meals, they spend time in cafes talking over coffees and wine, there is never a real sense of urgency here and it’s so great. Of course it took some getting used to – just like going to LR and getting used to the laid-back Southern style of life did. Sundays are amazing – none of the shops are open and come mid-afternoon the parks are filled with people just laying out and reading or playing an instrument or just enjoying their time together. It’s easy to make jokes about how the French like their holidays and will take time off whenever possible, but I’m starting to think that’s not entirely a bad thing. I guess what I’m saying is that in France I’ve found that slowing down and taking time to relax should definitely be a way of life, who doesn’t need less stress in their life?

Mount Blanc & Glacier

Yesterday we travelled to Chamonix, which is the town at the base of Mount Blanc, one of the highest mountains in Western Europe. It was so gorgeous; I can’t even begin to describe how pretty the mountains were. The town itself was very picturesque and it was easy to see where there was more of a Bavarian/Germanic influence to it – which was really neat to see. We took a cable car up to the summit of the mountain were the scenery became even more unreal. The mountains are just so massive and snow capped, it’s exactly what you would imagine the Alps to be like. We got to take gondolas (scariest part of my day since I’m not a big fan of anything that’s suspended above the Earth) down the mountain towards the glacier where we then got off and had to take a bunch of stairs down into the glacier cave. It was so amazing to be in a glacier in the Alps!

Ice, Ice, Baby!

Such a pretty town

 I cannot believe that we’re already over the halfway point – almost to the 2/3 mark. This trip has definitely been a great learning experience so far and while I do think I’ll be ready to head home in a few weeks I’m so glad that I did this. Coming up we have a few excursions that I’m really looking forward to! For instance on Tuesday I’m going paragliding, how insane, right? I know I must have lost my sanity somewhere in this country but I think it’ll be fun while slightly terrifying. Who wouldn’t want to jump off a mountain….

Miss and love you guys,
Until next time…

Lessons learned

Well, folks those of us on the ISEP program are 1/3 of the way done with our stay here in Chambery. Crazy, huh? What’s the really crazy part about it is that this was the generally “slow” part of the trip. We have things planned for the next two weekends and then the weekend after that is our last one here. I can’t believe that this trip is going so quickly but time flies when you’re being culturally immersed in a new country, I suppose.

Just a warning – this is going to be one of those ‘authentic’ blogs. So if you wanted to read about the fluffy fun things I do every day then you may want to skip to the end. In all honesty this past Monday/Tuesday was not the best for me. Monday night was a bit frustrating because I met my roommate who is French and speaks little English – paired with my little French it was a bit overwhelming. I also got some bad news from home about my dog so that didn’t really soften the blow. Class on Tuesday wasn’t that great either. It’s so hard to know what the professor wants from you when you don’t speak the language. The fact that I was told you didn’t need to know French for this program wasn’t necessarily true. So it just gets to the point where she’s asking me a question that I don’t know how to answer and I get frustrated. C’est la vie.

The class thing on top of the roommate thing was just like the breaking point for me. So I came back and cried on skype to my mom for a bit. It happens. But it got to the point where I knew I needed to just suck it up and get back in the game. So after all that I went downstairs to my friend, Andy’s room where a bunch of us usually have dinner together – which is a great tradition I absolutely love. A few of the guys had gone in on a guitar so we were listening to them play. Music is such a wonderfully magical thing, getting a group of people together to sing songs and just enjoy each other’s company is so comforting. So I was already feeling a lot better by this time. Later that night Andy’s roommate, Germain – who’s French – came back, and was hanging out with us. It was getting late so we had said how we were going to go to bed and Germain was telling us how when he was in the States he was so surprised how the Americans say hello and goodbye to each other. Such a quick affair.

The French, he told us, make it a something special every time they said hello or goodbye to someone. They take the time to say hello and shake hands or kiss cheeks and when he told the reason it was exactly what I needed to hear after my bad day. Tomorrow is a new day with new opportunities but it’s also a day that isn’t necessarily promised. So the French make the best out of every hello and goodbye because you don’t know when you’re going to see someone again. Isn’t that a beautiful idea?

The rest of my week went really well. I think I had mentioned it before but I’m taking things one day at a time, and trying to soak up as much as possible. On Thursday we went to the Chartreuse liquor distillery and cellars. It was really interesting to see and it was pretty good too. They’ve been making Chartreuse before America was even a country…actually with the dates they gave out I think they could have been making Chartreuse before France was even a country.

But to end on a light note, things are getting better. Last night I had a broken conversation with my roommate about tattoos. She has three – one of which is a 5 pointed crown which is amazing – and I was showing her mine. She’s really nice and we’ve been getting along fine which is really reassuring. The people on this trip are amazing, I’m so glad that we all are getting along. Last night four of us went to one of the local bars and just sat there for a few hours talking about everything and anything just taking it all in. It was great. We head out to Mount Blanc next Saturday and I’m really looking forward to that. I’ll be sure to keep you guys posted on my French adventures!

Hope all is well in the States!
Miss & love you all! 

Salut

We had off from classes today due to Pentecost – the French love their holidays so we’ve found that any reason they have to not work they’ll take it. It surprised me though since really classes only last for about five and a half weeks that they’d be so willing to give us a day off seemed interesting. But when in France…do as the French (for the most part). So I figured I’d write up a little blog about my weekend adventures before heading out to the park with some friends to throw a Frisbee this afternoon.

Genva

Saturday we headed into Geneva, Switzerland. It was gorgeous, I seriously don’t even know where to start describing the city. There were a few of us and we kinda split up because a small group wanted to more shopping while the group I was in was more interested in sight-seeing. So we headed to a Voltaire museum that was closed but still really pretty, before grabbing a light lunch and heading to the Geneva botanical gardens. One of the guys in our group, Jon, is a natural resources major so he really wanted to see it. The gardens were spectacular – everything was so pretty. Their exposition was Edelweiss, which was awesome! I may have “accidently” picked one so I could press it.

Edelweiss and the Sound of Music? Well played Switzerland

After the gardens we headed to the museum of art and history, which was a really nice museum. We got to see another Monet, which is never a bad thing. By that time we pretty much just headed back towards the bus, we just hung out in a park for a bit. It was a really great day. One of the things that sticks out the most was when we were on the bus to the botanical gardens (which was free- free public transportation is amazing) Jon was asking a man for directions to the gardens and he asked if we were American since Jon was speaking French to him. Turns out that he had lived in Miami for a while doing work with our military. He was a really nice man who had no problem telling us how much he liked Americans. He said that while the government may not be the best all the time the people were lovely. It’s moments like that that are so reassuring. Sometimes it’s hard to judge how people will react when they find out you’re from the States but this instance was for the best, before he got off at his stop he once again told us how much he liked Americans.

Poppies in the Botanical Gardens

Sunday was just a lazy day for us, a few of us headed to a rugby tournament in the morning; it was pretty much from five year olds to more high school age. It was definitely an interesting thing to see. I really wish Rugby was a more popular sport in the States because it’s so interesting to watch. After that we headed out to the lake for a few hours. It was a great afternoon of just relaxing by the lake and mountains. I was listening to Adele for a while and the mixture of her voice, the scenery and sun was glorious.

This week will probably be a much more relaxed week for me, classes again Tuesday-Friday, and then this weekend is a trip to Paris that I opted out of going on. I’ve already been and to be honest it wasn’t my favorite city so I didn’t really feel like going. I think I’ll take the time with the other people who aren’t going to explore Chambery some more. We are touring a liquor cellar on Thursday so that should be fun. 

I hope everyone is well,
I miss you all and love you guys!

Bonjour!

4 Elephant Statue in Chambery

I’m currently sitting in front of my open window looking out onto a gorgeous French afternoon while listening to Van Morrison. Tres bien. My first week of class is over and I honestly cannot believe that it’s been a week since I’ve been in this city. Only five more to go, time is already flying. Class is going better for me, the beginning was very rocky but as we move on I feel more comfortable. I’m actually picking up on writing and reading a lot quicker than I thought – it’s just getting to the speaking that seems to be difficult at this point, but it can only get better and I’m already better than when I started off. I’m looking forward to the level I’ll be at after my six weeks here.

City Hall in Chambery

Looking out over Grenoble at the Bastille

One of the things I’ve noticed the most that I really love is that everyone is more than willing to help, but not only are they willing to help they want to learn as well. So many of the people from the university offer to help with their French in hopes of improving their English, it’s really cool to be able to help each other out. People are just naturally curious and wanting to learn. We have two professors, one teaches three days a week, the other the remaining two; our professor yesterday started talking in class about their insurance, and we told her in broken French how ours was different. When we were on break she came over to where we were having our snacks and just talking and she wanted to know more about our health care system. It’s moments like that that I absolutely love. Curiosity is an infectious thing.

Yesterday after class we took a bus to Grenoble – which is about an hour from where we are. They had the Olympics there in the 1960s I believe, but it’s also the home of the Bastille. Which, from my understanding, if a very prominent figure in the French Revolution, it was such an immense fort on the top of a mountain – the views were spectacular! We also went into a museum and got to see AMAZING paintings. We’re talking paintings that are OLDER than our country! How bizarre is it to think that a painting can be older than our nation? It just puts things into perspective about how young America really is as a country. Also, I was about an inch away from a Monet painting. Needless to say I was a very happy girl!

An original Monet!

Tomorrow is a day trip to Geneva and I can hardly wait! I am so excited to get into Switzerland; I can barely put it into words. So this is my life right now, class in the morning, random activities in the afternoon and just overall enjoying my time here. Everyone I’ve met on this trip has been really great, we can all relate to each other which is really important. 

Not much more to report right now.
I miss you all and hope everything’s great!