Vacation Time!

Well this is goodbye for 3 weeks blogging world!

I'm off to the south of France and Italy where I will spend my time exploring, relaxing, and celebrating the end of this year!  It's going to be an awesome trip, I'm very excited for everything I have planned.

I promise to return with some amazing stories, pictures, and videos! Until then everyone!

C'est la belle vie!

Saying Goodbye is Never Easy...

...but all of these wonderful people made it so much fun!

On our last weekend as assistants, we had one legendary lawn party!  Thanks for the great memories friends!

Assistants 2010-2011

For our last class together, they made me cake and a card.  Love these kids! We had a great year together!

3eme euro class at College Lechanteur

These sweet kids brought me cookies and even sang to me on our last day!  Such a good group of students!

4eme euro class at College Lechanteur

The teachers I work with at the college had me over for some cake and gave me gifts.  They have been more than wonderful to me this year and I absolutely love them!

William (in the kiddie pool), Claude, and Christine -wonderful teachers and friends

Then I went out with my BTS class to celebrate the end of their English exams.  BTS classes are for the two years after high school.  These guys are just finishing their second year.  

Congrats on finishing your BTS classes guys!

And lastly, it was the last night I got to spend with Nadege and Marthe.  The 3 of us won't be home at the same time again.  Love these girls so much, it's a really hard goodbye. 

Last picture all together for awhile

As of right now, I am officially finished with my job as an English Teaching Assistant.  I will never forget the amazing people I met and the memories I made this year.  Thank you all!

C'est la belle vie! :)

Paris, I never want to leave

My string of exciting weekends continues as I visited Paris last weekend.  It seems that every time I spend a weekend in Paris I just love it more and more.  It is definitely my favorite city in the world and I don't think I could ever get tired of walking around, taking in all of it's beauty.

I arrived on a Friday and had a couple of hours to spare before I was going to meet Leah after work.  I got some lunch and then walked in the direction of what I thought was the opera house.  I must be losing my great sense of direction because I have been really off lately.  Instead of walking towards opera, which should have been about a block away, I walked all the way to the Arc de Triumph.  In new shoes.  Not smart.  I then went over to the 10th to hang out with Cory for a bit when she watched the kids she au pairs for.  I met Leah at the Starbucks right across the street from her work and we went to her place for her goodbye dinner.

After the dinner, Leah and I got ready to go out.  Even though she had to work the next day, it was her last weekend in Paris so going out was an absolute must.  We went to a bar that Leah and her Paris crew visit often, called Wide Open Spaces.  There was a theme of the night: cowboys and indians.  When Leah and I were getting ready we received a text from Lindsay that said we should get to her place, she had face paint and feathers.  Naturally, we hurried over to Lindsay's for one last rooftop party before going out.

Miss Leah popping open our champagne

rooftop party in paris, nothing better

i love this picture

love this girl

So we finally made it to the bar and got a free drink because we were dressed up.  The bar was mostly English speaking people from all of the world and they were playing a lot of country music.  It was awesome to be able to belt out Taylor Swift at a bar in Paris.  Classically American, yes, but worth it. 

The next morning, Leah had to be at work by 11.  I took the morning to go visit Pere Lachaise cemetery again because it was such a beautiful start to the day and so peaceful.  It's moments like these when I still can't believe that I live in France and have the opportunity to visit some amazing places. 

just taking a walk...

...on a beautiful morning...

...in a really old, really pretty cemetery

I went to meet up with Cory and we got lunch with her friend Jaimie and went to sit by the canal by her house.  I had never visited this part of Paris before so it was lovely to spend some time here. 

canal saint martin

beautiful place to have lunch on a saturday afternoon

And then commenced my lazy afternoon of doing nothing but walking around Paris and finding the next place I could sit in the sun and relax.  I went from the 10th with Cory, to the Opera House, to the Tuileries Garden, across the River Seine, and back to the Tuileres.

millennium hotel, where i stayed when i first fell in love with Paris

sacre-coeur in the distance

tuileries on a sunny day

tuileries garden, louvre in the background

view from my favorite bridge in paris

another view from my bridge

hanging out in the tuileries again

it was really pretty

That night we met Leah for one final dinner in the Marais before her flight the next morning.  Lindsay, Leah and I went to the same place we went the last time I visited.  After dinner, we got a drink at a bar the girls had been meaning to try.  We met up with Cory and her friend Ally along the canal and then it was time for Leah to catch the metro back to her house and time for us to say goodbye.  So many amazing times with her over the last 3 months, I am going to miss her living super close to me.  Hoping we can have a reunion in Oregon this summer!

The next morning, when Cory when off to take the kids to their grandparents' house, I decided that I would try to make it to mass at Notre Dame.  I was a little late but I was there for the majority of the mass.  I had another moment where I couldn't believe I was actually sitting in Notre Dame in Paris on a Sunday morning.  Those are the best moments, and the ones I don't take for granted.  When mass was over, I walked outside along the Seine and captured the beautiful morning.  Yes, spring is definitely here.  And I like it. 

pretty trees

can't believe this was my sunday

wandering 

i'm one lucky girl

street vendors

shakespeare and company book store

After my walk and a glass of orange juice at a cafe, it was time for the main event: Margaux's marathon.  She has been training for months and Parisa and I really wanted to support her and be in Paris with her when she finished.  I definitely underestimated the true volume of this event as you can see here:

not even an accurate picture of the amount of insanity going on

After taking an hour to find Parisa, we started walking away from the madness to try to get some air from what had to be the smelliest day in France.  Ladies and gentlemen, the stereotype is true: a lot of French people definitely have a distinct body odor and it is not a pleasant one.  Combine this with running 26.2 miles in 75 degree weather?  I'm surprised the Eiffel Tower didn't wilt over like a dead flower.  Flowery descriptions aside, we needed to get away and fast. Margaux called us to see where we were and we met up with her and her friend Chris.  The 4 of us then went down to the Trocadero to get some pictures of our baller friend in her finisher's t-shirt with France's greatest landmark. 

standing with the champion, way to go Margaux!

  

we made her change into her finisher's shirt, glad we did

never will i get tired of this view

parisa, margaux and me

did i tell you i went to paris this weekend? here's my proof

view from the bridge used in inception

We walked around a little more and got some lunch at a cafe nearby.  And at that point, it was time for me to head back to the Gare St. Lazare to get my train (and in time to pick up a mocha frappuccino from Starbucks).  Then it was back to Caen to host Cory and her friend Jaimie for 2 days.

As I was leaving Paris I was thinking, why do I not live here?  I love this city so much, why don't I just find a job and move?  But then again, maybe I'm not meant to live in Paris.  It is always a treat for me to go, so I enjoy all of my time when I am there.  I am only there long enough to really get a taste of the city and it always leaves me wanting more.  Maybe it will always be like this. A city that I admire and visit, but not one I will ever call home.  But then again, maybe not! :) Ciao friends!

C'est vraiment la belle vie! :)

Carnaval, Picnic, and Deauville Round 2

I have less than 2 months left in France! Can't believe how fast this year has flown by.  Soon I will be back in the US thinking about my awesome memories in France.  But for now, I am still here and still making the memories so here's what you missed.

The week I got back from Angers, there was a big event in Caen: Carnaval des Etuditants.  It's always at the mid-point of Lent and it's basically Halloween for the French Students.  They dress up in pretty elaborate costumes, drink a lot, and have a parade through the center of town yelling and screaming and disrupting traffic.  It was a little overwhelming at first but we ended up having a ton of fun.  I managed to snap a few photos, we got dressed up for the occasion.

Nicole and I in our "costumes"

Margaux really went all out

A mime (Parisa) coming down the street

Nicole and I again with some tasty drinks

Friday night that we, we had a farewell get together for Hannah because she was leaving for the US the next week.  Walking to meet everyone, I took a couple of pictures of the sky because it was absolutely gorgeous out.  Spring has arrived and I like it! 

Chateau at night

Saint-Pierre

look at that amazing sky

Then, on Saturday I had visitors from Paris: Leah and Lindsay!  They came Saturday night because Leah worked until 7.  As soon as they got here, I took them to one of the bars to get an embuscade because it's something that everyone has to try when they are in Normandy.  The next day, we got up to go to the market to get everything we needed for a picnic in the chateau.  It wasn't a sunny day but it wasn't cold and it didn't rain.  So basically, perfect for Normandy.  We found a small corner in the garden where no one came and bothered us.  We just sat and had our feast which included 2 baguettes, a good portion of cheese, 2 cartons of strawberries, olives, and 3 bottles of cider.  Best way to spend a Sunday afternoon.  Because she was so entertaining opening a bottle of champagne in her last appearance on my blog, here is Leah opening a bottle of cider during our picnic in the chateau.

 

And so it began.  Here are the pictures documenting the rest of our afternoon. 

Candid shot by Lindsay, we are obviously excited about this cheese

perfect picnic in the chateau

in a little corner all to ourselves

then hannah and margaux came by to say hi

view of Caen, I'm going to miss this place

leah and me

another view of Caen

Monday, I got some of my classes off to spend more time with the girls because they were not leaving until 6. So we wanted to make a day trip.  We tried to find a bus that would take us to the American cemetery and the D-Day beaches but unfortunately, everything is still on winter schedules and not a lot of buses are running. Then we thought, hey Elizabeth has a car at her house, we will just learn to drive it in one night and then drive to the beach ourselves, perfect plan, right? Couldn't be more wrong.  In an empty parking lot with Nadege giving instructions, I got the car moving twice out of maybe 10 times.  And even then, there would have been no way I could have handled it on French roads.  Good theory, but bad execution.  And when I say bad, I mean epic fail. 

So we decided to be safe and train it to Deauville for a couple of hours.  And it was a gorgeous day so we definitely took advantage of the nice weather.  

pretty Deauville

the beach

our breakfast on the beach: baguettes with butter and jelly, fresh squeezed orange juice, and coffee 

deauville from the beach

leah and me

getting a picture touching the ocean, because you have to touch the ocean

love you deauville

leah and lindsay reading all of the stars' names

deauville centre-ville

horse races are a huge part of deauville culture

perfect little beach town

time for a drink before heading back to Caen

And when we got back to Caen, I had to go to class and they had to get back to Paris to go to work the next day.  But luckily, I didn't have to say a sad goodbye because I am going to see them this weekend when I go to Paris! Did I mention I am going to Paris this weekend? I love that I can just hop on a train and be in Paris in 2 hours.  I'm such a lucky girl!

Well that's all I have for now.  Classes went well this week.  Nothing new to report there.  The weather has been absolutely amazing this last week and I have been getting some sun which has been lovely.  I only have 2 more weeks of classes and then I have about 5 weeks to travel and hang out! I can't wait! 

Until next time, au revoir!

C'est la belle vie! :)