It's Friday night and we're looking at our books and eating KD!

Hello,

Today we had our last day of class!!! Hooray! But, this also means that tomorrow we have our final grammar exam. Not so hooray...So, instead of studying I'm writing this blog. If I'm going to procrastinate I figured it would be better to do something prodcutive instead of playing pac man on google (which of course I didn't do)

So, this was a pretty stressful week. I had 3 exams in 3 days. But, 2 of them turned out to be super easy (note to Erica and Lynette these classes were: France et Europe and le cinema francais) The third one was fairly easy. It was for la France et le developpement durable (L&E: don't take this one it was really boring and for a lot of it I slept...like, legit slept I've never done that before) It was 2 essay questions, not so bad. But, we have no clue how this guy is going mark it. So, we shall see.

I also completed all my visa stuff this week, so another sticker in my passport. This went fairly well, but I did not enjoy waiting in line outside the office the one day. There are people shouting in broken French, or in some cases their own langauge and I have a huge respect for the man who lets people in because he has to try and figure out what these people want.

It's a strange feeling, this being done thing. I'm so excited to see my parents and to go home but there's a big part of me that wants to stay. I was talking to Sarah tonight and there's a lot of things I haven't done and seen in Paris (I have't been up the Eiffel Tower yet or been inside the Louvre, though I've seen both many times). I will miss the friends I have made here. And, I will just miss the lifestyle in general. I've been a lot more laid back here than I ever have been at home. I think its that the French take the time to greet everyone when arriving somewhere and say goodbye to each person individually (rather than our North American "bye everyone"). And we eat slower here, which is nice since I'm often the last one (and my mom) eating. I like that. And I like cafes. They are just not the same here. There is no such thing as "to go" (unless you go to the North American chains). Even if you just want a quick cup of coffee you still drink it there. There isn't really an equivalent in Smiths Falls.

I'm excited for bluesfest. The other day I read an update on facebook from them. There are now student ticket prices. This is amazing and I'm really happy about it. Here are some people I'd like to see: Levon Helm Band, Steve Winwood, City and Colour, The Swell Season, John Butler Trio, Great Big Sea, Santana

Well, I should be studying.

I will be in the south of France in 6 days

My parents and grampy are coming in 12 days

I'll be in Canada in 32 days

Peace

NEATO!

Hello Friends,

I just wanted to write a quick little note about my weekend with Merle. We went to high school for a year together. She is the reason I passed calculus and chemistry, in other words, we spent a lot of time together the year she was going to school in Canada. She was a German exchange student.

Well, now she is a student at Aachen university. This city is 2 hours by train from Paris. And, I couldn't be this close and not visit her. So, I took the opportunity of having a Thursday off and went for a visit. I got picked up on Wednesday morning by her boyfriend and met her after her class. I met some of her friends and I went to a few of her classes (math in German...as a history and French major I followed nothing) Instead I "studied" (aka wrote notes to her and her friend, Fabian). We were also supposed to hear a speech by the Polish president but, unfortunatly it was cancelled. He was getting an award for something to do with the EU.

Aachen is an interesting city. It is in Germany but it is also the last city before Belgium and the Netherlands. There is a spot outside the city where you can walk for 5 minutes and have touched all 3 countries. Neato! I didn't get to go here though. But, I did climb a hill and look at the Netherlands. That's also pretty neato!

We did lots of interesting things. I went to the the Aachen cathedral, built by Charlemange. UNESCO site (I'm trying to get in as many as I can). Most German Holy Roman Emperors were crowned here. They have the chair, but it was hidden becuase of construction. I did see pictures though and it was just a plain wooden chair. We also went to the treasury. Saw some of Charlemange's bones. Neato! Merle took me to the sulfer wells. The water coming out was hot! Neato! I was not expecting that. And, I went to a former Roman bath. Now its a swimming pool, so we went swimming. I also went to the Lindt store. So, I bought a lot of discount chocolate. Seriously. I had tons of room in my bag when I went but I filled it with food for the ride back to Paris.

I also tried a heck of a lot of German food. Printen (specialty to Aachen, its like gingerbread kind of). White esparagus (harder to cut than green esparagus but it tastes better) lots of meats (I could see through one!). Berliner, a type of doughnut with jam inside. We made goulash one night. Delicious. It was probably my favourite meal. That and the white esparagus. I also tried some noodles with cinnamon.

And, I baked. That was a lot of fun, since I don't have an oven in Paris its something that I've missed. We made a thing similar to my famous cheesecake brownies. But, we used quark instead of cream cheese, making it a lot lighter.

Well, it was great to spend a solid amount of time with Merle. 4 whole days. We just hung out and walked around Aachen, or watched movies (by the end of the day Merle was pretty tired because of all the English, which I completly understand, living in French land!) I am super heureuse that I went. It was worth using the 2 days on my eurail pass for sure.

Now...I feel I should also share a little about the events that are coming up for me...there are a lot:

May 18: Exam in French cinema. It's also my last day of phonetics, which means I have a test.

May 19: Exam in France and Europe, medical appointment for my visa (even tho I'm leaving...what's up with that)

May 20: Exam in France and sustainable development, and a test in my grammar class

May 22: Final written exam for the grammar class (whoo hoo!!! It will be the end of French grammar forever)

May 27: Oral exam for the practical course

May 27: Leave for the south of France: Nice and Marseille. Basically we'll hang out on the beach all day. I'm excited to read and listen to music for hours.

June 1: Back to Paris

June 2: Sarah and Hannah leave France and my parents and grampy come!!!!! I'm very excited for this

June 2-22: Traveling France with the parental unit - Vimy Ridge, Normandy beaches on the anniversary, some alps. We'll be first going north and then heading to the south and then back to Paris for a little.

June 22: CANADA!!!!! I'm also really excited for this.

Well, that's my news.

Random note: Today while walking down my street I saw a strange sight: An overweight man (I've seen about 2 since I've been in Paris) driving a bright blue (everything is black in paris except the art) four wheeler (I'd like to know what purpose a four wheeler serves in Paris) down the road. Neato!

Peace, love and joy

Easter Vacation: Italy, Austria, Munich

I have been back in Paris for less than a week, and already I wish I was still traveling. It was amazing. In 18 days I saw a lot and covered a lot territory. The first day, April 16 was a crazy one. We went from Paris-Geneva, Geneva-Milan, Milan-Rome. But, I'm glad we got to do it in the day light. The trip from Geneva to Milan was beautiful. It was strange to see a snow capped mountain in the back ground and some palm trees in the foreground. This was also the first time I've ever seen snow capped mountains in real life. Words cannot describe their beauty.

Our first stop was Rome. We went to the coliseum and the Roman forum, the Vatican, Trevi fountain...all the typical touristy things. We went to church in Rome as well. Our hostel was interesting and a little strange and we bonded with 5 other girls who were stranded in Rome due to the volcano in Iceland. We ended up sharing a room with them the last night and we found out that they go to Messiah college in the states. Very cool.

Our next stop was Siena. It is a beautiful city. It is a hilltop town and because of that the scenery is incredible. The town square was a very interesting place. The edge of the square is higher up and from there it slopes down until you hit the tower. People just hang out in the square as if they were on the beach. The historic city centre is a UNESCO world heritage site, which is cool. We just laid back and relaxed a little in Siena.

Our next stop was Venice. But, before we went there we stopped in Pisa. We took our cheesy tourist photos of us holding up the tower and then we headed to Florence. In Florence I explored the area around the train station by myself and saw the Gates of Paradise. Then, we headed to Venice. Venice is a very unique city. No cars, which makes it a quiet city. There was something eerie or mysterious about Venice at night because of the narrow streets, tall buildings and the silence. Our hostel here was fantastic and we met a lot of great people. We spend a day on the islands with some new friends from our hostel.

Our next stop was Vienna. This is the farthest East I have ever been. We saw the Stephansdom the first day. That night we went to an opera. Its the first opera I've ever been to. We got standing tickets, so it was a long 4 hours of standing, but way worth it. We saw some Habsburg palaces and the parliament and went to a cemetery to see some composer's graves.

We then headed to Salzburg. We didn't really do very much Sound of Music stuff. Our friend from Austria told us not to. We went to Mirabell Gardens, which were beautiful (do re mi was filmed here). Then we headed to Hellbrunn, a palace. This was a really cool place because of the trick fountains. So, we got wet. We didn't know when or from where the water would come from. It was a really fun place. We also went to the abbey from the movie and the cemetery from the movie. The cemetery was beautiful. No headstones, but the markers were all wrought iron and most of the graves had fresh flowers on them. We also went to the fortress and from there we got a beautiful panoramic view of the city.

Our next stop was Munich. But, on our way t Munich we stopped in Innsbruck for the day. I am so glad we did because Innsbruck is beautiful. We went up to the first peak in a funicular. Then we went on a hike. We were completly unprepared for it and the older people that we encountered told us to be careful in our shoes when going back "downstairs." This was the first time that I've ever hiked up a mountain - a legit one. The views were beautiful. We encountered some snow and it was a strange sensation to be so hot but to feel the cold radiating from the snow. We stopped and had lunch at one of the alms on the way back down. Then we took the cable car up to the second landing. This was my first time in a cable car. This was absolutly breathtaking. There was lots of snow there and we threw some snowballs at eachother, walked around in it a bit (we're Canadians, its what we do) and people looked at us funny.

That night we headed for Munich. I enjoyed learning about the history of Munich. We visited Dachau, a former concentration camp. It was the first one and the only one that was in operation during the whole 12 years of the third reich. It was a very somber experience. We also went on a walking tour of Munich and learned some of the history from that. On Sunday we went to church and then we headed back to Paris on an overnight train.

That was my Easter break.