Pictures!

Here are the pictures to go along with my post below:


The convention center where they hold the film festival in Cannes


Me on the main promenade in Cannes, where they were having a little art expo


The Old Port in Monaco--check out all those private yachts and the huge cliffs in the background!


My roommate and our friend in front of the Casino in Monaco (it's where they filmed the James Bond Movie "Casino Royale")


At the top of a cliff in Eze-le-Village--it was SO BEAUTIFUL!


Here, you can see the coast and the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, France.


Mike and I in Sete, the big French fishing port on the Mediterranean.


Me at the "I amsterdam" sign in Amsterdam.


A canal in Amsterdam!


Ireland! I loved the Emerald Isle.


Some of the group I traveled with in London. You can see the London Eye in the background.


A neat picture I got on the London Eye.


The view out my window in the Alps.


My friend Stephanie and I before we went skiing that morning.


Les-Baux-de-Provence.


At the spring in Fontaine de Vaucluse with my friends. (The readhead all the way on the left and the girl to the right of me are my roommates.)


Pont du Gard!

An Update! (pictures in the next post)

So much has happened since my last blog post! I had a lot of trouble with internet in my apartment that weren't resolved until last month, and I got really out of the swing of blogging. But I have been keeping up to date in a journal that the Castiglia's got me for Christmas. Here is what has been going on over the last month and a half!

Shortly after our visit to Pic Saint Loup, I went on an organized day tour with my program to the Provence region of France. We saw Pont du Gard (the ancient Roman aqueduct), Fontaine de Vaucluse (a REALLY cool old town with water mills and a natural spring), Les Baux de Provence (a really cool gray-rock formation of a mountain with castle ruins from the neolithic period, about 6,000 years B.C.), and an old windmill.

Not too long after, I went away for the weekend on another organized tour to the French Alps in a small town called Pelvoux. I have never seen such cool snow-covered mountains or skiied in knee-deep powdery snow before! It snowed the entire way to the mountain on Friday night, which gave us a great day of skiing on Saturday. We had a big party at the lodge where we were staying that night, and then skiied some more on Sunday before coming back home. Even though the lodge itself wasn't that nice (they didn't even have towels for us!), the people were very friendly and we had the BEST view out our window.

We had a week off in the middle of February, so my friends and I went on a vacation to London, Dublin, and Amsterdam. We got to spend 3 nights in each place. Getting around from country to country is so much cheaper here with RyanAir--I only payed an average of 56 euros per plane ticket!

We got to see all the main sights in London--my friend Mandi and I took one of the double-decker bus tours and were able to get on and off at all the main attractions. With our bus tour, we also got to take a cruise on the River Thames and do a haunted pub crawl! Both were a blast, and the pub crawl ended up in the oldest tavern in London, called "Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese," where Charles Dickens used to hang out.

In Dublin, we got to the Guinness factory, which we all thought was very well done (and educational!). At the top of the factory, they have a panoramic room with all windows and you can see the entire city of Dublin while you enjoy your complimentary pint :-) The next day, we went on a tour of the country side. It was so beautiful, and yes, very green. I also got to see where Bono and Enya live--just along the Irish coast. That night, we went to the oldest pub in Dublin--the Brazen Head, which dates back to the 1200s. They had a band playing traditional Irish music, and we had a blast.

Our last stop was Amsterdam. What a beautiful city! The canals and 17th century buildings made me feel like I was in another world. It was also a great time for me because we got to go to two fantastic art museums: the Van Gogh museum and the Rijksmuseum (with 17th Century Dutch art, like Renoir and Vermeer). We also took a canal cruise and got to try the famous pancakes in Amsterdam (much like crepes). Then it was back to Montpellier!

The next big thing that happened was that I had a visitor for a week early this month--Mike! It was so great that he was able to come see me. We got to explore Montpellier, Sete (a nearby beach town that is the biggest fishing port in France), Carcassonne (an old fortress from the Cathar crusades), and even do some wine tasting at a nearby chateau. It was mostly just fun to be together after not seeing one another for two months.

Last weekend, the weekend after Mike left, I went with my roommate, Carley, to Nice. The French Riviera is DEFINITELY all that it is cracked up to be! We loved seeing the "Promenade des Anglais," or Promenade of the English, which is like the big boardwalk along the coast where all the wealthy English used to come and vacation. We were also able to do a day trip to Eze-le-Village, a tiny but breathtaking town, and Monte Carlo (Monaco)! I have not seen many places that compare to the luxury of this area. We saw so many Maseratis, Ferraris, and other cars of that genre, private yachts, and more. It was very flashy, but exciting nonetheless. In Monaco, we got to see the Prince's Castle and an aquarium as well. Before coming home on Sunday, we stopped in Cannes, and saw where the big film festival is held every year. It was a great weekend!

Now I am looking forward to next week, when my Mom, Dad, and Leah come to do some traveling with me. I have a lot of work that my professors are assigning for the end of the semester, which I am trying to get done this week. I just can't wait to see my family, and it will be nice to have 2 weeks off :-)

Until next time, au revoir! (I will put some pictures in a seperate post)

Lattes, the zoo, and Pic Saint Loup!

(We found some horses after a hike on Pic Saint Loup)

Hello again! A lot more has happened since my last post. On our first Friday off, January 9 (we don't have classes on Fridays), we decided to try to walk to the beach, as it's only about 6 or 7 kM away, or approximately 3-4 miles. We ended took a trail that goes along the river, but ended up getting off the trail too fast and going to a town called Lattes. It was kind of weird because EVERYTHING in the town was closed! We think that a lot of places close in the afternoons for lunch hour, but it was almost creepy how few people were out and about.



Not realizing that we had gone to the wrong town to get to the beach, we kept walking down the road until things got more remote and we actually ended up finding Etang de Perols, a type of inlet from the Mediterranean. We were just happy to have found some kind of body of water after our voyage! On the walk back, it started to get a bit cold, and we were hungry. We finally found a restaurant that was open and got some food. There was a bus stop nearby that took us back to Montpellier.

That Sunday, we took a walk to the zoo! It is very close to our University, and is called Parc Zoologique Henri de Lunaret. It was fun to see the animals. Our favorite ones were the lemurs, who had so much energy and were jumping all around in their cage.



This past friday, January 16, we did my favorite thing that we've done so far--we decided to hike a mountain! While on a historic tour of the city, we were able to stand on top of Montpellier's Arc de Triomph, and could see a big mountain in the distance. We found out that it is called "Pic Saint Loup" (we later remembered that the word LOUP means WOLF!), and at the office of tourism, we were given instructions on how to take a bus there. The bus dropped us off in the middle of nowhere, and we had to walk an hour to get to the base of the mountain! It was so worth it when we began hiking--the views were incredible. The trail we were on lead us onto another mountain, and at the top on the far side we found these phenominal castle ruins! We were completely awestruck. From on top of the mountain, you could see vineyards, small French towns, and even the beginning of the Mediterranean Sea.



Once we hiked down the mountain, we ended up on the complete other side from where we started. We had to find a mideval town called "Les Matelles" to get the bus back to Montpellier. On our walk there, we ran into some horses, which you can see at the beginning of my post. We were so exhausted after the day, but all agreed the hike was the best thing we've done so far.



My roommates come this week, and I am very much looking forward to their arrival. It's been strange living in a big apartment by myself!



Here are some pictures (it is hard to upload pictures chronologically on this blog, and once they're in you can't move them around, so I'm sorry they are kind of out of order):





A cheetah at the zoo.



The cheetah is walking aroung just to the right of the tree on the left...





A cute little guy in the primate house

This is a fountain in "Antigone," a beaufitul area in Montpellier just a few minutes from my apartment. We took this at the beginning of our walk to Lattes. The girls in the picture are my three best girl friends here, Mandi, Stephanie, and Sarah (from right to left).

You can tell how remote it was!

We were so happy to find this little diner open in Lattes--we were starving! I had a croque monsieur sandwich and a crepe filled with nutella. YUM!

This is the beginning of our hike to Pic Saint Loup. We were COMPLETELY in the middle of nowhere, and followed this road which had signs pointing to the Pic.

This is our hiking group once we started getting up the mountain.

My friend Stephanie and I in the most incredible castle ruins at the top of the mountain! The mountain you can see through the windows where we are standing is the first mountain we climbed that day. Not sure which one exactly is Pic Saint Loup...ha.

Hope everyone is doing well--I am having a lot of fun here, but do miss home. It's been nice to have the internet and Skpe to communicate.

Au revoir!

Bonjour! Right now, it is Wednesday night, and I have been in Montpellier, France, since last Friday. The city is gorgeous, and I love the other students in my program! My apartment is also very close to the main square of the city, La Place de la Comedie, and the biggest shopping mall in the city, Le Polygone.

Classes started on Monday. I am taking Civilization of the South of France, Francophone Literature, Grammar and Methodology, Phonetics, Conversation, and Art History. The Art History class is going to take place in the Musee Fabre, a great art museum in the city. I can't wait until it gets going next week! My civilization class also is supposed to include some type of excursion. My other classes have been great so far, though are all instructed in French. I am finding that my comprehension skills are a lot better than my ability to speak back during conversation. I am hoping that I can become fluent during my time here! Hopefully the conversational class and instruction in grammar/phonetics will help.

It's been fun to cook meals in the apartment since it's the first time I'm living in my own place other than a dorm. I live very close to several grocery stores, which is very convenient. The French shop more frequently and buy in lower quantities than we do in the US, so I end up going to "Monoprix" or "Inno" (2 grocery stores near my apartment) a lot. Wine, spirits, and beer are all sold in the supermarket, and wine is SO CHEAP. You can get a decent bottle for only 2 or 3 euros! Baguettes and cheese are also very well-priced. A fantastic roll of goat cheese or a baguette only costs about 1 euro. Also, the drinking age in France is 16, so it's been a blast to check out the local night life. The French are very moderate people, so it's been easy to go out for a casual night. My friends and I really enjoyed a quiz night last night at "The Shakespeare" Pub. :-)

Another thing I have found interesting here is that the French are very eco-friendly. In stairwells and hallways, the lights always go out after a few minutes. There are light-up buttons you can press to re-illuminate the places when you need to use them. They must save a lot of energy that way. Apparently energy is much more expensive than in the US. (Can you tell I worked at a lighting systems company all summer!? :-) ) The heat is also kept at a minimum. We all wear our coats during class! It might be because they are not used to the cold weather streak we have been having over this past week. Apparently it's usually a lot warmer. Also, they do not readily give out bags at the supermarket or other stores. Many people re-use their bags, or bring plastic/fabric ones. All the cars are TINY, and the public transportation is great. I take the tram to the University Paul Valery for class. The hot/cold water fluctuates a lot too, which can make it difficult to take a comfortable shower. I think water must be expensive too? ;-)

All in all, it has already been a wonderful experience to be here. I love Montpellier!

A plus tard! ("Talk to you later!")



My room when I first got to my apartment :-)



Chateau d'eau, a beautiful monument that is right next to the aqueducts and looks onto a statue and Montpellier's replica of Paris' Arc de Triomph



Some of the girls and I on our first night with wine, baguettes, and cheese. The three French staples (minus coffee)!



A street right off La Place de la Comedie, the main square of the city. I live down the next street over to the left. It looks a lot like this.

Another beautiful building on la Place de la Comedie.

A giant, really old movie theatre in la Place de la Comedie.

I will upload more pictures soon :-)

A plus tard! ("Talk to you later!")