Hello, Goodbye

So I realized that i didn't really officially sign off before going away for three weeks! I went to London the 28th and 29th where I had a very interesting time with my friend Adam (don't worry, I will get into more details the next time I am actually sitting at a computer and not trying to type everything on an ipod). I am now in Salzburg! It's my second day here and really i have just been walking around and accidently winding up in palaces, cathedrals, and parks. I am SO excited though because GABRIELLE GETS HERE TODAY!!!!! There are no words to express how excited I am!

Our trip is three weeks long starting in Salzburg, Austria (I guess my trip actually started in London, but who's counting). From here we go down to Slovenia for a week where we will be staying with family, then we spend a night in Milan and pick up our friend Bethany. Then it's off to Franxe for a week: Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, and Paris. Then the last leg of our trip we are going to Bern, Swtzerland where we will be for a few days before flying out of Zurich on the 20th! I can't believe I am actually on this trip, the past 5+ months have been such an adventure already, it's exciting to know that I am going out with a bang!

See you all in California!!!

Nouvelle Idée

Packing at Midnight

           It’s currently midnight on May 26^th, I leave in two days, so naturally I have decided that now is the time I should start packing up! It’s ridiculous going through all of my papers, clothes, and general stuff.  I haven’t accumulated too much from the past five months, but there is still a lot to fit into one big bag! I have a French memory board in my room that I have slowly been filling up, and now that it’s nice and overflowing, I don’t want to take it down so I think I will save that for last.  There are so many wonderful memories and letters; it’s just too fantastic.   

I hope I can replicate this back in my room!

I am definitely getting excited to see Gabrielle and Bethany and just go and travel! I will be living out of a Jansport backpack for the majority of our three week long trip, so that will definitely be interesting, but it will be worth it.  Three days and counting: this will be epic!

Getting Ready to Get Ready

           Well, it is now Sunday the 22^nd, which means that I have less than a week in Bordeaux before I leave to travel around with Gabrielle and Bethany! I must say that I am getting pretty excited.  Though I do not want to leave Bordeaux and my host family and all of the French friends that I have made, I am really looking forward to exploring other parts of Europe, make new international friends and even visiting unknown relatives! I leave this Saturday to go to London for two days where I will be staying with my friend Adam (my Australian “brother” who stayed with the Michaud’s from March-April).  After that I go to Salzburg to meet up with Gabrielle.  From there we go to Slovenia (staying with family of course!) and then heading to Milan to meet up with Bethany.  Once Bethany gets there we are planning on traveling along the south of France, up to Bordeaux for a day or two, and then heading up to Paris to visit Tristan for four days.  From there we hop over to Switzerland (staying with the family of our oh-so-wonderful friends Dan and Julie Smith (we are SO bringing you back some gifts to show our gratitude!)).  We fly back to LA out of Zurich on the 20^th of June and then it’s done! Summertime in California is just around the corner, and I am so looking forward to it!

Les Orages

         I always thought that in California we had all seasons except for winter.  I mean the summer is nice and hot, and it lasts a bit longer than summer in most other places.  Then autumn comes and really that lasts through December, and for me I feel like winter is just a slightly colder spring, which leads back into summer.  Oh how mistaken I was.  Bordeaux actually has springtime showers and warm thunderstorms.  It is currently pouring and thundering but I am in shorts with my windows open.  It’s not half as muggy as the south in the United States though which is a plus.  The weather here alternates between sunny and hot to muggy to rain rain rain and then back up to sunny and hot again.  I love it because in SoCal I feel like we get very few of those summer storms, with the lightning and the thunder and the odd animal behavior.  There is something so calming about sitting in the quietness of your house, just listening to the rainstorm pass over you. You can see the sky clearing to the west, and you know that in fifteen minutes the world will come out to play again in the sunshine.  Parcs will be bustling, people will begin preparing their dinners; the weekend will have started.  But for now you sit, anticipating the next loud shock of thunder, watching the rain as it falls on the rooftops.  This is no sprinkle of rain either, it is a veritable downpour of expectant drops that pitter patter along the roof tops like children on Christmas. Basking in the moment, smelling the fresh breeze as it blows all of the smoke, smog, and mugginess of the week out of your city, you know that in it’s place there will be a new air that will linger in the quarters, bringing a freshness to the city in preparation for what is to come. 

 

Summer Vacay

   This is what summer vacation looks like in France: 

Please don't make me go home!

Official Food Blog

         Yes I realize that in almost every single one of my blogs I talk about food at least once. I can’t help it! Lea has turned me into a complete foodie.  Now instead of checking my e-mail I check foodgawker to see what new tastes I can try next week.  I have a list going of all of the meals I want to make this summer including cheeses and wine pairings!  I am saying this because I had the absolute best meal of my life the other day at Sandy’s apartment.  Her landlord made lunch for her and her apartment mate, plus her dad, Lea, and me.  It was so good my mouth is watering just thinking of it, so good in fact that I didn’t get ONE picture of the food, so here instead, I will transcribe the menu:

Aperatif: Champagne, Saucisson, Olive Paté, and some other type of odd French meat

Course 1: Foie Gras with a fig preserve, served with sweet white wine

Course 2 (main course): a Casserole made of white beans, confit de canard (duck), sausage, and carrots, served with red wine

Course 3: cheese: Chèvre, Rochefort (or some other type of strong, soft cheese), Brie cinders, all served with a raspberry preserve

Dessert: Lemon Tarte, Apricot Tarte, cannelés

Dégustatif: Cognac, Armegnac, and Martinique Rum, plus a cup of tea to top it all off!

This meal lasted hours, and we all ate so much.  I didn’t eat dinner that night, nor did I eat much the next day, it was just too good!  This is something that I really hope I can bring home with me.  The French know how to throw a lunch.  It is several courses long, delicious food, fun friends and what makes it better than a dinner party is that your day isn’t over when the party is over.