2 Months Gone With the Wind...

The fact that 2 months have already passed, is rattling to me. I can't believe that I have already been in France for 2 Months! Learning French is on the top of my priority list right now, and I think that telling myself that I just have to speak French, no matter how dumb I sound, is really helping me grow. People are noticing my vocabulary, accent, and pacing are all improving very quickly... Still looking forward to dreaming regularly in French, but I know it will come soon enough.

Since my last post, I had a week of school, and a week of vacation. I have done so much these past two weeks. Class dinner, two amusement parks, A roadtrip to the South of France, Bordeaux, A vineyard in Vendée, and Vouvant (named one of the most beautiful cities in France), not to mention all the food I ate, and the fact that I read "The Hobbit" again! Great Book!

I'll start with school, we had another week of school filled with grèves, manifestations, and altogether inconvenience... but I don't mind, because half the time, class is cancelled! So as the week continued on, I got a letter in the mail from the National Mail Service in Paris, they said that they had detained my Package from my parents because it seemed that I had bought things from the US and had them shipped to France secretly to avoid taxes, which makes no sense because France like doesn't have taxes, haha, and they told me that I needed to E-Mail them a sworn declaration that it was like wholesome intent and not like tax evasion, plus I had to give them a list of all of it's contents and their estimated value and replacement value... It was somewhat annoying, but I was happy to do it, knowing I would soon get my package. I sent the e-mail and within minutes received a reply stating that the e-mail was received and everything was chill... moving on: At the end of the week, Friday night before vacation, even though I still had class on Saturday morning... all of my Premiere Literature class, my main class that I have most of my courses with, all went out to eat at a really good Brick Oven Pizzeria, It was SOOOO GOOOOD. It was really fun, every time that I do something outside of school with my French friends, I feel more like I'm supposed to be here. I feel more accepted, I feel like my French improves, and I just think it's altogether a great experience.

After a long 2 hours of class on Saturday morning, vacation had begun! I was so excited to head out the next morning! Everything was packed and ready the night before! Sunday morning we (my host mom, sister, and myself) woke up and left pretty much right away. We left the house before 6:45... I was tired, but caught up on sleep in the car, and when I woke up, caught up on reading "the Hobbit" which is fantastic, I know I should be trying to read in French, but I was fiending for a Tolkien fix... and in French I would not understand his roundabout way of writing. After about another hour of driving, we arrived at what seemed like an abandoned vacation town... I was told about a week in advance that there was a surprise for me on the way to the south of France... but they never told me what it was... after some driving and searching for a parking lot, we began to walk. I was very confused, but we crested a hill and in front of us stood about 25 futuristic looking structures and buildings; none of which matched one another, but still were all very cool. We had arrived at Futuroscope. Futuroscope is an Amusement park based around technology and virtual reality. It is like what Epcot at DisneyWorld would be if they re-did it like 5 years ago. It was really cool and really fun. there were a lot of virtual reality attractions and 4D Movies. I had a lot of fun, and it ended up being gorgeous out; as it was for the rest of the week too! The park was a great day and after we finished around 6, we got back in the car and continued to head south to the Vendee department of France, where my Host family's cousins live and work at a Family Vineyard.

We arrived in Vix at about 8:30 I think, and unloaded the car. I was introduced to the family and shown to my room. After we "freshened up" we ate dinner, which was really good, and the wine-drinking began. I got to taste a bunch of different wines throughout the next couple of days, I really like wine! After dinner, we all called it a night; everyone was tired and ready for bed. The next day, in the daylight, I could really see the land that we were staying on. We were surrounded by Vine fields, green houses, and beautiful French countryside, it was awesome! There is a chateau directly next to the house I was staying at; it serves as a hotel, an reception center, and a receiving hall with the vineyard holds functions. It is really awesome! The first day in Vix, my host mother and I toured the small village and just generally explored the area, my host sister was working at the vineyard and would be for the next two days as a career exploration. After we toured the small town, which was indeed VERY small, the two of us went to LaRochelle, more after this story. After LaRochelle we came back to Vix and had dinner as a group. We had lamb, it was so tender and delicious, I actually forgot all about lambchops and feeling bad about eating it! The next day, my host sister went to work again, and Marie and I explored The Chateau, The small village of Vouvant, and the village of Fontenay le Comte... it was good day, and I got to take a lot of nice pictures. The third day, Wednesday,  all three of us said our goodbyes and headed further south towards Bordeaux. My host Father's sister lives in a small sub-urb with her husband, who happens to be the second in command at the same Vineyard where I had spent the last 3 nights, the father of the spouse of my family's cousin is the son of the president and creator of the vineyard; it is quite the family affair. Anyway, we arrived at their house, ate lunch, then they headed out for their own affairs, and the three of us headed to Bordeaux, "the little Paris", I was so excited. Bordeaux was great, we got back to the house around 9, ate dinner and then pretty much went to bed. It was a long day for all and everyone was tired, so we called it a night. The next day, we woke up, ate breakfast, said our thank you's and goodbye's, and left. We stopped before we got on the highway and bought sandwiches and drinks for a picnic lunch. It was the first bad weather we had had all week, and we were spending it in the car, so it didn't really matter too much. The ride home would be between 6 and 8 hours, it ended up being closer to 8. We stopped and ate our food, and everything was good. I finished the song I was listening to, and the last page of my book at the same time, as we were pulling in the driveway; great end to a great week! I walked upstairs with my hands full of luggage and entered my room to see a B-E-A-U-tiful cardboard box on my floor, Yay my parents package had arrived!

Day 1, LaRochelle:
LaRochelle is a medium sized port city that was used as a center for trade between the British and the French. It is full of old buildings, new buildings, character, and things to do. When we go to the city, we parked and walked all the way to the Harbor. on either side of the entrance to the harbor there is a tower. they are known as the Towers of LaRochelle, and they are a symbol of the city, and also a national monument. They are really big and old and they served many purposes throughout their lifetimes. My host mom and I explored the larger of the two towers and the lighthouse that stands next to the two towers on the end of a rampart. The towers were extremely intricate in design and were really cool to explore, the narrow stone staircases and the high wooden ceilings were really awesome to look at. after exploring the towers, we walked around the actual town of LaRochelle. It is really cool, kind of touristy, but cool all the same. We saw a lot of things, but didn't do anything specifically. There was a lot of shopping, but the same stores are in Rouen, so I wasn't totally interested in shopping. After a small chocolate cake, we headed back to the house!

Day 2, Vouvant/ Fontenay le Comte:
The second day started with a grocery trip to Fontenay le Comte, the small city next to Vix. After returning the groceries to the house, we ate lunch and then headed out for Vouvant. Vouvant was named one of the prettiest cities in France, there is a huge lake and really great views from the old walls of the fortified city. We quickly found out that there wasn't much to do, as it was off season, and that after looking at everything, there is nothing to do. All the shops were closed, but I took some great pictures. On our way home from Vouvant, we stopped in Fontenay le Comte again so we could walk around downtown. We explored the church which was crazy! The stained glass windows were awesome! and there was someone tuning the organ while we were there, so he was playing music the whole time we were visiting. It was really cool. After we left the church we did a little exploring around the town, then headed home. The day turned out to be really cool! It wasn't until I got home that I realized that it was October 26, the 2 month anniversary of my arrival in France! Spooky...

Day 3: Bordeaux:
Bordeaux was so sick! we parked outside the city and took the metro in, which was a great choice. We spent most of the day just walking around and exploring the city. We stopped at a few art galleries and I saw some really unique and creative stuff. We actually took an hour and a half long tourist train that drove around the city and you wear headphones and it tells you about different parts of the city... when there wasn't information running, they played the same classical orchestral piece over, and over, and over........ that got somewhat annoying, and I was annoyed that I had difficulty taking pictures from the bumpy train, but it was a good way to see the city. We also visited the Rue St Catherine, which is the longest commercial shopping street in Europe, that was pretty cool, and we visited the Opera House and the Public Garden, both of which were really awesome! Bordeaux, just like any other large French city, is really really cool at night. All the buildings are lit up and its really quite cool! The day went fast, but we did a lot and I was happy to have been there. We took the Metro back to the car and drove back to the family's house. All in all it was a great day!

After getting home from my trip to the south of France, I went to bed, woke up in the morning and left to go to Parc Asterix, A theme park based on the French children's cartoon about vikings. It is really funny. The park was very family oriented, but fun none the less. It was a nice day out, and many of the rotary exchange students from my district go to go! It was a great day, we did a lot, and as per usual, I lost my voice because I talked so much, as did half of the other students. It's funny, when we can talk in English, we just don't stop haha... We took the bus back to l'Aigle and stayed there for the night before coming back to Rouen today in the afternoon. It was a long trip, but really fun, and I love seeing all of my friends!

The rest of Vacation, which ends on Wednesday, seems to be quiet time, which I am more than OK with, I had such a great week, and a few days of R&R is all I really need. Hopefully some of the other students will be able to come to Rouen on Wednesday! It would be really fun to show people around!

Paix et Fromage!
Jared