Boite de nuit

Hello!

I'll start off with some background info from last week. Last Friday I went into a hair salon to get my split ends trimmed. I explained very clearly to the hairdresser that I wanted to keep the same style with just a little bit trimmed off (I even demonstrated with my fingers how much I wanted cut). She agreed and got me all set up, but the first piece of hair that fell on the apron thingy was about 4 inches longer than I was expecting. Of course, I turned around and the hairdresser shrugged and said that she thought I would look better with shorter hair. At this point, I had to struggle to maintain my composure and not choke her. It was too late to fix it, obviously, so I left looking like a Victoria Beckham wannabe. Needless to say, I went straight from there to another hair salon and decided to get hair extensions, which I was contemplating to begin with (I am NOT a short hair person). Now I have have down to mid-shoulder blade, and I love it! Just wanted to explain the sudden appearance change before you all notice in pictures.

Anyway, this weekend was yet another of very little sleep. Seven of us (Cyriel, her boyfriend, her boyfriend's best friend, Yann, Vivien, another Albion girl, and me) went to a boite de nuit (nightclub) on Saturday. A good time was had by all, except for Yann who drank so much that Vivien had to take him to the car to sleep it off. In order to enter, you have to stand outside while the bouncer looks through a little peephole to see if you are well-dressed enough to be let in. Luckily we were deemed suitable, but we still had to pay...big time. It was a 10 euro cover and for us to buy a bottle it was 60 euro more plus an additional 3 euro to check a coat and purse (rrr)! The actual inside was like any other club: cages, techno, DJ, glowsticks, etc. but it was the people who made it a good time. We left at 3:30 (the club doesn't close until 5:30 Sunday-Saturday) and finally collapsed in bed at 4 am.

I woke up at 7:15 the next morning to go to Annecy, aka the French Venice, with Vivianne's brother (Richard) and sister-in-law (Yveline), who happen to be hosting another Albion student. Despite the fact that it rained the entire day, we enjoyed seeing the canal, which flows throughout the city, and the old buildings. We ate lunch at the home of Yveline's parents and the bane of all food, sauerkraut, was part of the main dish. When you're the guest of someone in France, it's polite to eat a little of everything served, so I managed to choke some down and even to comment about how good it was. We got back home at about 7:30, and after dinner I fell asleep the moment my head hit the pillow. This morning was not pleasant, but somehow I still managed to get up 10 minutes before the bus left.

Next weekend is Corsica-yay warm(er) weather!

Ciao,
Liz

P.S. I forgot to upload the pictures so I'll do it later this week.

Horsies, flamingoes, and bulls, oh my!

I know, I know, I've been a slacked on the blogging front. Lots to report so I'll start with my trip to the Carmargue. The three of us girls from Albion decided to go on a trip together to Provence. We took the train, as usual, but this one looked like it just arrived from a long sejour in inner-city Detroit. It was absolutely covered in graffiti and the inside was pretty torn up, but it was cheap so I can't complain. We were delayed for an hour, which was really annoying, but we ended up meeting a really nice guy who interpreted the garbbled PA announcements for us. He got off at Avignon though...dommage. In leaving he said "bye-bye" which is definitely an americanization of French--I hear it a lot, even between French people. When the train finally arrived in Arles, it was was about 8:30 so we dropped off our stuff at the hotel and headed out for dinner. It was absolutely dead. There was no one in the restaurants, and when I say no one, I mean no one. This was definitely a shocker because the Grenoblois don't start eating until 8, 8:30, or later, but here everyone was finished by 8. We ended up grabbing something to eat in a very famous cafe, which was painted by a very famous artist. Whoever guesses it gets a prize! We spent the next day in the Camargue which is swamp land inhabited by bulls, flamingoes, horses, and gypsies. The three of us went horseback riding for what was supposed to be a 2 hour ride, but about 5 minutes in, it started downpouring, so needless to say, the ride ended quite a bit early. Still fun, although I could literally ring the water out of my pants and shirt. Dried out in a cafe, of course, and went shopping for Christmas gifts. Sunday was spent in Arles, seeing ancient Roman amphitheaters and theaters...it's hard work, but someone's got to do it.
Arles

looking out of amphitheater

Amphitheater

Amphitheater (they still have bull fighting here!)

Amphitheater

Cafe-whoever names the painting and artist first wins something!

Cool sign

Pretty vines

Ancient theater ruins

Roman colony=lots of carvings of Caesar

Look at all the garlic!!!! It makes my breath smell just looking at it

Fountain

Costumes for festivals. Lots of Spanish influence here

The next Tuesday was a jour ferier (national holiday-yay end of WWI!) Jean-Pierre and Viviane turn 50 this year, so they decided to have a huge party to celebrate with 50 of their closest friends. It was memorable to say the least. Jean-Pierre's brother owns a restaurant that is very famous and hosts Arab emirs, Russian oil barons, and US! We arrived at Notre Dame de Bellcomb, where Jean-Pierre's family lives, at 9:30 when we started with champagne and appitizers. We sat down at 10 and had the best meal I have eaten in a long time. I can't remember all the specifics (read: champagne) but it invovled wild boar, cheese, a icecream cake doused in Chartreuse and then lit on fire, and lots of wine. So good, but we didn't finish until 2 in the morning! When the party was winding down, James (J-P's brother) gave me a glass of something and insisted that I taste it. I looked at the bottle and it had a snake in it. The others had pine needles, flowers, and various other objects intended to flavor it. I'm usually picky about animals in my drinks, but this tasted pretty darn good.

All nine of the kids slept in an apartment in the village. Woke up at 11 and headed back to the restaurant for lunch. By this point my stomach was at the bursting point, but when you are at a first-class restaurant, eating for free, you can't turn down more meat, cheese, bread, and wine. All of the kids headed back to G-town at 4 or so when we finished lunch. Mathias was driving and he was going about 50 on hair-pin turns and swerving around cars who were going to slowly. I had fun, but Sabrina looked like she was going to puke.

Friday was salsa night with Vivien. Yes, French people dance the salsa..who knew?! The first guy that I danced with was about 6 inches shorter than me and around 40-45. I wish I had a photo, but next time I guess. After that, there were some more normal partners. All in all, it was definitely a fun night.

Cannes

Hello again! Sorry for lack of blogging but I was busy basking in the sun in Cannes. Vivien and I left Friday afternoon, and because we failed to take into account the sun setting at 6:30, it took about 6 hours to get there from Grenoble. It is a very rare occasion when I get car sick, but by the time we arrived I felt really badly. The road consisted almost entirely of hairpin turns and it was worse in the dark, so all in all I was relieved to finally get out of the car.

We stayed with Viviane's parents in their very small apartment. There was a living room, bathroom, bedroom, and kitchen, which was the size of a closet. Vivien and I slept in the two beds and Mami and Papi slept on a pull-out couch in the living room. Their apartment was right across from a major highway so I slept very little thanks to the numerous sports cars that went past late at night.

That night, we were so stuffed after eating all the food that Mami forced down our throats that we decided to take a walk along the waterfront. I have never seen so many steamliner-sized boats in my life. The entier pier was filled with enormous yachts, some of which were decked out with helipads and underwater lighting.

The next day we walked around town and gawked at the prices in the windows of Chanel, Rolex, Versace, and many others. Just a few of the cars that we saw included Porsche, Ferari, Bentley, and Rolls Royce. We didn't see anyone famous, but it was the off-season and not very many tourists were there; however we walked past the place where the film festival takes place, and it looked very ordinary without the red carpet that it usually there. The market in Cannes was also really exotic; there was a bunch of seafood I hadn't heard of before and a type of salad called musclin that we ate a lot while we were there.

Saturday was Halloween, obviously, which I was excited to see French style. In short, it's not very widespread. I saw of couple of kids dressed up, quite a few broken eggs, and a lot of drunk 20 somethings at the bar we were at.

Sunday was the 23rd birthday of a family member, the primary reason we were there, and it was great to the sister of Viviane and her children. The birthday girl celebrated with lots of food and drink. The apero at the house was champagne, followed by some wine. We proceded to eat at a chic restaurant where I had tons of seafood and an ile flotante (I think it was egg whites on vanilla sauce but whatever it was, it was delicious). Of course the meal was accompanied by several bottles of red and white wine. When we finally rolled ourselves out at 3:00 in the afternoon (we started at 12), we had glasses of cidre and then three hours later, we had dinner with more wine.

I need to add that there was about four hours between lunch and dinner, some of which was spent at a casino. We each bet 10 euros which was gone in approximately five minutes. Definitely not my cup of tea; I don't feel like handing over my hard-earned money, and on top of that, the casino was full of senior citizens who looked like they hadn't left the slot machines in 20 years.

Side note: this day was really difficult for me because, although I enjoyed the company of all the family, it's obviously not the same as my own family back home. Everyone has included me into their family, but there are certain things that it's impossible to be included in.

Bref, the next day we slept in really late and then headed out to the beach because it was the first nice day. I decided that I had to see how cold the Mediterranean was, and if you could see my expression in the pic, it was fairly brisk. When we left two hours later, my shoes were full of sand and my pants were soaking, but it was so worth it.

The next day we headed out at 11 and got back to the house at 5:30 or so which isn't bad considering we stopped for a long lunch and a cafe along the route. On the way back, it was very lightly snowing in Grenoble. Beach and blizzard in the same day...only in France.

Package! and Lyon

Let me just start off by saying that today was not the best. I woke up an hour and half later than I should of and had two excruciating hours of translation and then I got back to my room and saw a package. Inside I had letters from 60 of the best girls at Albion--it made my day! Thanks so much!
As I explained earlier, my parents were here last week. It went really well; they enjoyed it here and the family and I enjoyed having them here too. Wednesday they visited the cavern where Chartreuse is made and they bought some bottles to take home and Thursday we visited some markets and had lunch at my favorite cafe. Friday morning we took off for Lyon which was about an hour away by train. I really liked Lyon, not as much as Marseille, but not bad at all. The hotel that we stayed at was in the shopping mecca of the city. I think the store right next door was Gucci or something like that, and we walked by the windows with our mouths open at the prices.

Just across the river was the Old Town of Lyon which was my favorite part of the city. It was all old alleyways and buildings-so cool. We wandered around town and went up to the cathedral that sits above the city and then headed back to the hotel early because we were so tired. Saturday we took a tour of the passageways of Lyon, which was not worth it because there were at least 50 people on it and you could barely hear the guide. We spotted a creperie while we were still on the tour and afterward I insisted that we go there for dinner. I had a spinach crepe and it was the best I have had in France! At night we walked along the river where the all the buildings and bridges were lit up.

The next day my parents took off and I checked out the Museum of Lyon, which was pretty good (and free), and some different parts of town. As I was waiting at the train station, I saw something very interesting. I have seen a great number of men of all ages pee on the streets so it doesn't shock me anymore, but for the first time I saw a female do it. There was a mom and her 7 year-old daughter walking along and then all of the sudden the mom stopped and pulled down the daughter's pants. The daughter held on to her arms and the mom grabbed the back of her legs so that she was suspended while she peed in the middle of street. I was thinking of taking a picture because it's hard to discribe, but I thought better of it.

When I got back from class today I was reading my letters and I heard something. I looked over at the wall ad there was the body of a mouse sticking out of a hole. It's head was stuck so it was squirming around and squeaking. I was contemplating smashing it with a shoe, but I'm a little squeamish about blood, so I went up stairs to get a bag or something to put it in. When I came back, it had just gotten it's head out and it was running around my room. By this point I was yelling and jumping around so Vivi and Cyriel came running down to see what was the matter. We managed to trap it in my cupboard, where it still is as I write this, while they are looking for the cats. I think I'm going to leave for that part.

Oh, I also had another adventure in food: yesterday we had eggs filled with chocolate. They were real eggs that had the yolk removed and then they put in milk chocolate. No one really liked it and it took way to much effort to get the shell off. Antonin tried smashing his but then all the chocolate had eggshell in it, so the rest off us had to pick it off little by little. The French are so inventive with chocolate-it's amazing.

This weekend I was planning on going to a rugby game, but a couple days ago Vivien asked if I wanted to go to Cannes with him to celebrate his cousin's birthday. Of course I said yes, so I will be doing that Friday til Monday. I am very much looking forward to warm weather (there's snow on the mountains here) and maybe some celebrity sightseeing!

I think that's about all the news.
A plus

Countdown to parents

Tomorrow my parents are arriving in Grenoble to visit me for a couple days before they set off for Paris and the Loire Valley. I am looking forward to seeing them but also a little apprehensive because Vivi and Jean-Pierre don't speak English and my parents are rusty on their French; therefore, I have a feeling I will be doing a lot of translating. They're staying at the house so when they're alone together during the day I'm hoping that sign language will suffice to get their point across. Vivi was telling me what we're going to have as their welcome dinner and she's planning to make a gratin with blood sausage. I'm not going to tell them until after they try it!

Just a random thing that happened today: I have hives all over my hands, feet and back and they itch like crazy. I have absolutely no idea what they're from, because, as far as I know, I'm only allergic to dust and cochroaches (it's a long story). I better not have developped an allergy to dairy products, because I wouldn't be able to eat anything that Vivi makes.

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Mountains again

Yesterday I went on a hike in the Vercors Mountains with a group from school. We drove partially up in a bus and then we started walking. At lunch time we stopped at a little shelter that is available for hikers to stay in over night; however, there was a couple who had moved in permanent-like. They had 3 huskies chained up outside the shack and the dogs started to howl we all got shivers because it really sounded like a wolf pack. Inside the squatters had 2 more dogs, one of which was in the process of having puppies exactly while we were inside eating. It was quite an interesting lunch to say the least. Afterward we took off again to the top of the mountain and it was the hardest cardio workout I have had in a while. It was really difficult to breathe and the climbing was intense toward the top of the mountain, but the view was so worth it. You could see on both sides of the mountain which I would have had pictures of if my camera was working. The way back was more dangerous than the way up-which is saying something. It started to snow ten minutes in and the trees and ground were covered. Snow+rock=very slippery path. I almost fell several times and there were lots of people who actually did (no serious injuries). All in all it was about seven hours of walking and we figured about 6-7 miles. Let's just say my calves were a little tight last night.

When I finally got back to the house, I walked in the kitchen and all the girls were wearing dresses. Vivi said, "You've got a couple of minutes to change before they come." That was the last thing I wanted to hear at that moment becasue a bath and bed were sounding mighty good, but I ran downstairs, put on a dress, tried to make my hair look presentable, and doused myself with perfume. I ran back upstairs just as the guests were arriving and had time to ask who was coming to dinner before they (friends of Vivi) walked into the kitchen. By this time it was already 9:30, then we had an aperatif for a half hour before we even sat down at the table. All in all it was a fun night because Jean-Pierre went all out with champagne and fois gras, but I didn't leave the table until 12:15 and I heard today that the guests were here til 2 am. Needless to say, I slept into the afternoon today.

I forgot to mention earlier that I'm pretty sure there were bedbugs in my bed in Marseille. Luckily there were three beds in the room so I just switched to the other one, but it was an interesting sight. P.S. I'm fairly certain bedbugs are a common inhabitant of rooms throughout Europe so bring your anti-itch cream!
bed bugs

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Marseille

Sorry for my long absence, but the past week has been crazy. On Saturday at 6:30 am I left for Marseille for what was supposed to be a day trip with 7 other people. I was nervous to see what the city was like because it seems like everyone thinks there are sleazy people waiting to grope and rob you in the streets. This was definitely not the case; in fact, I liked it so much that my friend and I decided to stay another day.

So...what did we do? The first thing we did when we got off the train was to go to the old port, which is probably the most famous part of the city. The daily fish market was going on and the port was bustling with tourists and natives. I have to say, the seafood was as fresh as you could possibly get; there were some fish that were still alive in the crates so the fishmongers whacked their heads agianst the side of the table a couple of times and they were good to go. Also featured were starfish, mussels, rays, eels, and squid (I can't figure out how one would cook a starfish or a ray). We tried to get tickets to visit Chateau D'If (the setting for The Count of Monte Cristo and The Man in the Iron Mask)at the port but the jail was closed, sadly.

Instead, someone suggested that we visit the cathedral just outside the city. In the attempt to save money, we decided to walk there...bad, bad decision. Walking at a brisk pace it took over an hour and a half to get there. I estimated it was about 3 and a half miles uphill, not including the never-ending staircase of hell one had to climb to get to the top of the mount. The cathedral wasn't really worth three hours of our precious time, but it was pretty (see pics below).

After all that physical exersion, we decided to head to the beach. Best decision of the day! The weather was probably 80-85 degrees without a cloud in sight. It would have been perfect if it had not been for the wind. Ten minutes in I already had a thick layer of sand all over my clothes, body and hair and I'm still getting sand out of my ears today.

By this point the others had to head back to G-Town so my friend and I set out in search of a room. I was in favor of a hostel, but she thought that it was too dangerous so we settled on a reasonably priced hotel near the old port. It was on the fifth floor, which was great because we could see all the way to the Mediteranean. After checking out the room, we looked for some authentic Southern French cookin', but it was more difficult then we expected because we'd find a building and it would be a bar, walk another 50 feet-bar, another 50 feet-bar...you get the picture. This went on for about half an hour before we finally found someplace serving something other than beer that was not over 50 dollars a meal. I had salmon (see pic below) which was excellent and my friend had a seafood pasta which she liked as well; however, the seafood did not like her because she threw it all up that night.

We headed back to the hotel at 10:00 because we were so exausted from the walking. I had literally nothing with me for staying overnight: no makeup, no pajamas, no toothbrush. My friend, however, brought stuff with her because she had anticipated staying an extra day; she very sweetly offered her toothbrush, but I draw the line in terms of sharing.

The next day we woke up at 9 or so and headed out to find the bus for Cassis, a village near Marseille. We asked for directions at the concierge desk and were told that the bus stop was on a certain street by the newspaper booth, flower shop, and telephone booth. When we got to that street there were no less than five of each of those, so we asked five passerbyers for directions and got five different answers. We looked for 45 minutes before I walked up to a woman selling flowers, and without me saying anything she said, "You're looking for the bus to Cassis, aren't you?" I said that I was and she pointed across the street and explained that it was between the garbage can and the phone booth. There was no sign saying that that was the bus stop and no time table, so if you didn't know specifically were the bus stopped, you would've never found it. After an hour and a half wait, we finally got on the bus. The view on the way was gorgeous and the town itself was spectacular. The big draw to Cassis, besides the beaches, are the calanques. I'm not exactly sure what that translates to, but they were huge cliffs that dropped straight into the sea. We hiked out to them, but it was best to have hiking boots (I was wearing Converse and my friend was wearing flipflops) and our tummies were grumbling, so we headed back into town. We ate at a cute little cafe right alongside the harbor (see salad pic) and then happened across a pottery show where I bought four handmade coasters. There was also a store which sold 100% concentrate perfumes from Provence. I got lavander as a gift and, wow, it is strong; you only need a squirt to smell like an entire field of flowers.

Th next activity of the day was to go on a boat tour of the calanques. It was amazing to see them from the water because you can see things that you can't from land, like the naked sunbathers which we wouldn't have had the opportunity to see otherwise. Anyway, I went a little crazy with the pictures because it was so picturesque.

We took the bus back to Marseille and then walked to the train station. I ended up at the house at 11:30 pm on Sunday. Total miles walked=at least 15. Yeah, my feet are not happy with me, but it was worth it. How many places have 85 degree days in mid-October? I would so go back again, but for a longer period because there is so much to see.

Cathedral at sunset

Sunset in Marseille-the photo doesn't do it justice

the Calanques

The flag kept getting in my way, but I thought this was a cool picture

lighthouse at Cassis

We stumbled across a random game of Petanque. The old guys kept arguing about whose balls were closest-so adorable.

Cool old building in Cassis

Salad in Cassis=delicious

Calanques

The water was an awesome color of aqua.

A harbor in one of the calanques.

Beach in Cassis.

The Mediteranean!

Beach in Marseille

View of the Mediteranean in Cassis.

Cathedral in Marseille.

Same.

Chateau d'If! Doesn't look as scary as in the movies.

Marseille

Harbor in Marseille

Fish market. I have no idea what kind of fish that was but there were lots of them.

Salmon dinner-such presentation

Again I apologize for this obnoxiously long post.

Bon mardi!