st. louis

i just have to say how great it is to be back home in st. louis. here's to driving around for an a hour in my car listening to jack johnson, working at whitmoor, hanging out with awesome friends, poking fun at british accents, talking to friends in london who i met in rome and laying out in my yard to get as tan as possible! cheers

back in the states

monday morning i awoke at 4:30am(france time) and some how carried my heavy bags to the airport...checked them and sat to wait for boarding. just as when i had arrived, it was raining as i boarded the tiny plane, which i believe held around 20 people. i guess i take the sunshine with me! arrived in munich safely and had no problem getting to next gate(H 02). After seating myself in 39G I met a german boy named Franz, whose first time it was to America. he was overly giddy, like a kid trying to hold in a secret! we talked most of the trip, which is good because it kept me from feeling sad from realizing i may never see some of the best people i have ever met...we arrived in chicago, after filling out our forms for customs, at around 1:30pm(chicago time). after going through customs for 2 hours, collecting my bags, so that i could recheck them with united airlines, i finally sat down for another 2 hours of waiting to board. an american man sitting next to me accidently leaned over to look at something outside the window, turns and apologizes for hitting my personal bubble. i tell him after living in europe, there is no bubble, and we both have a good laugh! i adjust the cubs cap i just bought and think, maybe being back in the usa isn't going to be that hard getting used to after all!
we board and spend another hour waiting for clearance. i luckily am sitting next to a german man named lutz, who speaks superb english and we have in depth discussions on language and enjoy laughing at our flight attendant who is all over the place! 2 hours later, i arrive home and mom and head for a dinner at olive garden, with me driving!!!!
next day, i get up early and head to the golf course, and find that i still have a job! and there are 7 girls now working down in the bag room. john says i can start friday at 6:30am...so i am thuroughly excited!! then grandma and grandpa show up! we hang out all day and later with mom go check out aunt gi's amazing embassy hotel she designed. talked to my friend sar from australia for an hour tonight, he is doing well, but we are both a little bummed not to have gotten to see eachother a second time in europe.
today, is a day to relax, soak up some sun, clean clothes, and my room. as i add to this blog i am enjoying listening to dispatch play, 4 months without it and it is still as good as ever!

no screens

so, i decide to read a little bit before class today and since the weather is immaculate, i thought i would open the window. but, being as there are no screens on the windows here, a massive bee flew in and started buzzing around me. then my landlady monique and vivienne the cea director arrive for the end of term inspection of my appartment. they laugh at me and say- c'est natural gail! i prefer my non human neighbors to stay out in the garden where they are intended to be. but i guess i am one of few who dislikes getting stung! tres bizarre.

queen of the castle

P5100298
Originally uploaded by villagirl.

ok, not really, but being up there sure felt like i could be in control! unfortunately, this family with 2 little boys saw me sitting up there and wanted up also, and there is a 3 story drop to the courtyard below. we couldn't exactly find a room that looked like in the movie count of monte cristo, but it was a beautiful day and we had fun trumping around. we had brought along the white wine we had bought ate the cassis vineyard a week and a half ago, so we settled down and drank through that! back in marseille we shopped a little and i successfully returned some sandals that i had purchased last visit(with a little help from elena-thanks girl!).

farewell dinner

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Originally uploaded by villagirl.

monday evening we had our farewell dinner instead of our usual happy hour. It was in this cafe down a pedestrian street and from first inspection looked like it would seat 12 people comfortably. But don't judge the book by its cover! there were actually two floors beneath this and it was spacious and very chic. mirrors and statues of cherubs everywhere! i decided to dress up for the occasion, since i have been slacking a good portion of the semester due to the cold and wind. alhtough in the photo you can't tell since we are all sitting. from left to right: me, diane, liz and lauren.
dinner started at 8pm and we had goat cheese toast with salad! then the wine came and we drank to goodbyes and diane's birthday the day before. there was a choice between salmon and beef, and i of course chose beef all the way. dessert was a little tricky since we had 3 options. so, we decided to each order different ones and split. strawberries and cream, tiramishu and chocolate brownie with custard sauce. needless to say, it was a fabulous dinner, just sad it had to end. went to O'Sullivans bar after this for one drink and then to jess and elena's since it is of course monday evening!

contemplations

well, it has occured to me that i do not have class until thursday and i should take advantage of this situation...so tomorrow i am going to try to go to chateau d'if with elena and jessica. then i will attempt to get myself out of bed early enough on wednesday to catch the tgv to paris. i really would like to go see the musee d'orsay since i have missed it every time i visited paris. so i guess we will see!

sundays in aix

so, sundays just may be my favorite day in aix because the town feels as though it is recooperating from saturday with the markets and all the tourists raiding every shop and windy street. today lauren and i walked around and sat at a cafe to soak up the sun. i leave in 8 days and she leaves in 6 to start her internship in the camargue- an national park that we visited about an hour west of aix. then we decided to buy some wine and get a tarte since this will be our last dinner together. we, along with erin, have been eating dinner together ever sunday evening all semester. chao...!

burnt!

So, life is all together good right now. True, I have a cinema test in less than 20 minutes, but I am feeling confident about it. Besides this fact, I have acquired some french substitute of Aloe Vera(they don't import it) and my skin is doing well. Although i see signs of peeling, but as long as I get some degree of a tan, I am ok with this result! On a different note, I just may have found someone to split my hotel room with me for my 2 last days in France, so I will not be alone! And I have a class picnic tomorrow in Marseilles at the beach. Eileigh and I are probably going to shop til we drop afterwards! I mean, we only have 2 weeks left to stock up on good clothing before it is back to dressing like everyone else in the states. I for one want to go out on a bang!

Cassis

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Originally uploaded by villagirl.

After Vivienne informed us Saturday that May 1st is a national holiday and nothing is open, including buses, Jessica, Elena and I weren't sure we'd make it to the beach. So we checked online and discovered the trains would still be working! Woke up and we made it to Cassis by noon. The town is beautiful and bustling and everywhere people are selling lilies, because to give someone this flower on May 1st, is very special. We headed to the beach and quickly discovered that it is a topless one. We stayed until 4pm, at which time I realized that I was extrodinarily burnt-opps! So we got a gelatti on our way out of town and made our way back to Aix. While switching trains in Marseilles, we had to wait 2 hours, because there were children playing on the tracks. But I eventually made it home and had spaghetti with Erin for dinner!
Today I had to hit the pharmacie for a french likeness of Aloe Vera. But the lady chastised me for not also buying sunscreen( I figure I can head to the grocery store and buy it for half the price). Pharmacies are so expensive here. But the pain is worth the tan that will come later!!

Excursion

excursion
Originally uploaded by villagirl.

Excursion on Saturday! We went to St. Remy(I had a wonderful white chocolate and menthe drink) and explored the old town. Then we went to the old mental hospital where Van Gogh spent the last year of his life. Went into his room and the view out his window is where he painted one of his scenes. So, I bought the poster of this scene. We walked up the road to a very old farm house and under the rock is a shed. Next to this we ate lunch on pic nic tables and enjoyed the sunshine. I drew in my sketch book, the rock jutting out above us. When we were done and I had had my coffee, I went and tried climbing this old roman pyramid. They used to have soldiers up at the top directing the workers(and apparently they had wips). After the others had drunk a sufficient amount of wine, we left and headed for a medieval town-the name of which escapes me. Following Vivienne's (our director) lead, the usual explorers-bryan, aisha, lauren, and myself- rushed up through the town to the top where there is a breath taking view of the whole area. You can see the Camargue, old mines, and rolling hills with vineyards and olive trees everywhere! Very windy, but felt great in the warmth. My camera decided to die about this point, so no pictures, sorry. After listen to english recordings of the fort and surronding area, we headed back down to the bus. Took a 4 minute drive and arrived at Les Caves...where we had some wine tasting. Walking inside, I felt like I was in an Egyptian Pyramid. My favorite was the red selection, but the rose was good as well. Took a group picture outside with the medieval town behind us and then headed home.

Back Home

Arrived safely home in Aix Saturday midday in time to hit the markets; needless to say I bought nothing because I am very good at persuading myself I don't need it( thanks for instilling something good in me mom!). Sunday I relaxed and did laundry!!! Walked around town since it was warm and cloudless for once, and a french couple stopped and asked me for directions. I felt so sorry for them because they were completely headed in the wrong direction. So I began explaining to them how to get to their destination and I could see it dawn on their faces that this girl doesn't speak french as her native language and yet she is telling us how to get around. I guess it's the little things in life that make your days!
Yesturday I proceded to eat dinner with Jess as I have every Monday for the past 2 months! And we were able to persuade Andy to watch Garden State with us. Today I did homework while laying at the park with friends. And it is starting to dawn on me that I will be leaving them and this wonderful place in less than 3 weeks. And although I am sad, I am very glad and grateful for my parents to allow me such a wonderful opportunity. Although I think mom might have liked it if I called home a little more often! At least I can go home saying I can hold conversations in french, and I feel at ease when traveling even in places such as greece, because I was able to speak to people in English and French even when both was our second language. The barriers just seem to keep getting smaller!

Lake Bled

Lake Bled
Originally uploaded by villagirl.

After arriving in Lake Bled we had to search for our hostel. It would have been easy but I guess we got off at the first stop and should have stayed on for the second one. In the hostel we met up with an Australian girl named Cynthia who was in the hostel from the night before. We all decided to walk around the lake and then climb to the castel. It looked like it would rain but it held out till the next day. Had a traditional slovenian meal of roast beef and potatoes. And the meal came with a wonderful garlic bread. In the morning it poured down while we ate breakfast at the hostel. Eileigh and I decided to leave and bid Cynthia good bye and headed for the train station. With the map we had we got completely lost and saw the train pulling away from the station. So we headed to the bus station and happened to run into Cynthia again and she decided to come with us since she needed to leave at 5am the next day and didn't want to miss it either. So we finally arrived late afternoon in Trieste and then took a night train to Florence. Got to Livorno, Italy and took a ferry to Corsica. The weather was beautiful and we found the cheapest room yet! Spent the next day around the old port and we saw the movie The Ring 2 in French! Still scary. The night ferry to Toulon friday night and we were home and shopping at our own market Saturday morning! A wonderful trip, but too many night ferries, buses, trains!!!

Ljubljana, Slovenja

Ljubljana, Slovenja
Originally uploaded by villagirl.

Took a ferry from Igomenitsa to Ancona, Italy and Jess and Andy headed for Venice and Eileigh and I went to Trieste. In the morning we headed for the Slovenian border, but it is difficult to cross, so we had to walk across. We felt like refugees. But I did get my passport stamped by Italians and 20 meters later, by Slovenians! Made our way through town to the tran station but the only train to Ljubljana(the capital) was at 19:48. The friendly lady at the station called the bus station and told us that she would drive us to the bus because it was leaving in 4 minutes and it took that long to drive there. So we made the bus and had found the hostel celica(nicest one i have ever been in) by the time the train would have left! The next day we explored the old center, the castel. It is amazing how quickly the architecture changes. Then bought fruit, bread and cheese with kumin in it for our bus ride to Lake Bled. It started raining as we were leaving, what good luck!

Meteora at our fingertips!

Meteora at our fingertips!
Originally uploaded by villagirl.

after leaving beautiful Skopelos, we headed to Meteora, in central Greece. The man at Hotel Sydney said we needed at least 2 days to be able to see the monasteries on the cliffs, and he was right. We climbed up the cliffs and saw 3 monasteries and 2 convents. They are eastern orthodox and so the art work in them is very different. In fact, they had a chapel in the Great Metamorphasis Monastery that had saints with their heads cut off. They had sun discs and there was blood jutting from their throats. Eileigh and I had a hard time of not laughing, since Monte Python seems to be the film we are quoting on the trip!!! It was quite a hike from each one but teh view was worht it. At each one women are required to wear a skirt, but since it is so windy up there we just wore the ones provided-felt like in the Sound of Music. Luckily the weather was great and we didn't have to rush. I made us take this picture on top of this lookout rock, but poor andy is afraid of heights!

Skopelos Island

Skopelos Island
Originally uploaded by villagirl.

The next morning we took a ferry out to Skopelos Island and when we arrived an older man came right up to us and asked if we needed a room. His hotel was only 50 meters away and we could see the port and all the sun rising in the morning! We walked around town and ate dinner at one of the few places open. I ordered a portion of chicken, and recieved a whole one! It was so delicious but I didn't need to eat until lunch the next day. The island is being completely redone for the summer time and we are the only touriste in town. We try what little greek we know and everyone laughs, I feel like the talk of the town, but I don't mind at all! We found an internet cafe and Andy and I play chess, and I am imroving! The next day we spend the morning at a beach on the other side of the island. A bus drops us off. There is no one else here and we dip into the ocean which is so cold that I lose all feeling, until Jessica points out that there are jelly fish. So i guess we aren't totally alone!!! Not sure when the bus comes back we decide to walk to the nearest town. Once there they tell us it is another hour wait, so we continue to walk. But we are tired from being in the sun all afternoon, and after about 4km we find a random bus stop and sit and wait. The bus arrived 20 minutes later, so it worked out well. We ate dinner at the other local spot in town and I tried octopus pasta. It was good, but I don't fancy the suckers still been on:) So many cute shops with tunics and sandals, but they were mostly remodeling for the summer so we didn't have luck with purchasing.

Acropolys

Acropolys
Originally uploaded by villagirl.

We took a morning train to Milan and flew to Athenes, Greece. On the way to the ancient city we passed the changing of the guards. The uniforms have been the same for centuries and are very decorative. Spent the morning exploring at the Acropolys and many of the temples that lie in ruins below it. It is so amazing that the Greeks built these huge temples on these cliffs with the wind wiping all around. But when you are up there you feel as though you are in a different world! After exploring the ruins we went back through the markets and had lunch at a cafe- you can't beat a Greek Salad with feta cheese! There are so many cats in this country, they just lay around you while you are eating hoping that you drop something. So of course, Eileigh and I dropped some bread crumbs! Only having 2 days in this city made it hard to want to leave, especially when there are 200 bus lines and we couldn't figure it out! We missed our bus to Delphi, but not discouraged. We just headed to Volos which is a beautiful port town and a lovely lady in the bakery taught us how to say thank you in greek: apheristou( a fer e sto)! And it is here where we ate tonnes of baklava!! i found out that if you eat local honey then your allergies won't bother you!

went to a bar til 2 am to eat and listen to techno! then overnighted it in genoa train station with jess, andy, eileigh and a guy from penn named nat. hoped 6 am train to milano and flew to athenes. sunday we went to the acropolis and agora ruins, plus we hit the markets! a little confusing with transport b/c there are 200 bus lines in athenes, but the people here are great!! they speak english and tonnes of people stopped to ask us where we needed to go and would take us there. can't get enough souklavi and baklava!! the greeks know how to eat well! and the city is beautiful. now headed for volos and take a ferry to islands in the agean sea!

wine tour

wine tour
Originally uploaded by villagirl.

For the weekend of April 2-3rd we went to the Camargue with our program. We saw bulls up close, some flamingos and I went on a jeep safari! It was a little windy but I loved it. It felt like I was back at home, except there were marshes everywhere. We had a 5 couse dinner on Saturday night and it lasted til 2am. There were 3 men playing guitars and singing spanish songs! Sunday we went to the town of St. Maries de la Mer. It is on the sea. Went to church and discovered the Pope had died, so that was a sad. Then we had free time at the medieval town of Aigues-Mortes. The afternoon was filled with a salt manufacturer tour(the land used to make the salt is as big as the city of Paris)and they also grow wine here so we had a taste! If the picture isn't too dark, you can see how big the oak barrels were!

Paris for Easter!

Jess and I woke up at 4:30am Saturday morning, so we could walk to gare and then go to the TGV station. No one was there, so we danced to some funky techno at 5:45 in the morning! The train left at 6:40am and we rolled into Gare de Lyon station in Paris around 9:40. Jess' friend Nasarah let us sleep at her appartment and her and her mom picked us up from the station! We rode through Paris in their car and it was a blast. i was sure we were goners a few times!!! They made us lunch and we took buses to the Champs Elysee! Stopped and had these great fruit drinks at Les Paradis des Fruits! It was so much fun and everyone got a different kind and they were different colors! Then bought cd for Jess' brother at Virgin Mega Store and it started to rain so we headed home. That night Nasarah's older sister and brother-in-law came over and we all had dinner together. They plugged these plates in and set them on the table and it was like fondu! For desert Bryan(b-i-law), made us mint tea from Morroco! Next day we saw Sacre Coeur but didn't go to mass because their family is Muslim and they were taking us around. Then went under the Eiffel Tower and I was taking a picture when 2 guys from French 1, Laurin and Ryan, spotted me. So, we took a picture together. They are studying abroad in Europe also! What a small world huh?! On Monday, Jess and I were served Pain Perdue(french toast, but different), and then just her and I spent the day alone. We went to Invalides, where there is an awesome WW1 and WW2 musuem and this is where Napoleon is buried. Then we walked by lots of old men playing patonque and boulle. We walked along the Seine and bought pictures and then it began to rain, so we skipped going to Ste. Chappelle and just headed for the train station. The train left at 6:20pm and we were home and eating by 10pm! Was a great trip even with the rain and we think we spoke more french in the past 2 days then we had in the past 2 months!

mom and gi

Mom and Gi arrived friday evening and Jess and I took them to a pizza place for dinner. The next morning we walked through all the markets and bought some brioche glace(like doughnuts) at one of my favorite bakeries! Then the three of us hoped a train to Monaco!! The weather was great and we made it to Palm Sunday Mass at the Cathedral where Princess Grace Kelly's tomb is. Then we walked in all of the gardens that line the cliffs to the sea. There were seagulls everywhere. I got my picture taken in front of a yellow submarine(Beetles) in front of the musuem of oceanography. Then went to Marseilles. Chateau D'If was unfortunately closed on Monday, so we couldn't see that. But we went back to Aix and went to a la cave where they have some of the best selections of wine from the area and the world. Gi and I both bought a bottle of local wine. Tried walking back into town, but we walked about an hour and we're not even close, so caught the bus. They went to their hotel because they had a 5:30am flight. It was a wonderful weekend and we were lucky because the weather warmed up just in time!!!