Adventures in Pau!

I'm still getting used to having class for 3 1/2 hours every morning, it's exhausting! But luckily we are done by 12:30 every day, which gives us plenty of time to relax and explore! We focused a lot on pronunciation today in class- not my favorite, it's very tiring. Class isn't too difficult though, I think I should be ok :)

After class today everyone from our group met up and we took a tour of the Chateau de Pau! But first they took us to a chocolatier's shop in downtown Pau to learn about how important chocolate making is in the south of France. Best part was we got free samples :D Some of the best chocolate I've ever had! The chateau was really amazing too. Because it's so far south it survived the French Revolution and the both of the world wars, and it's in amazing condition. It was renovated and added to during the period of Napoleon III, and all the decorations inside are still from that time period. Even the original keep of the castle, built in brick in the 1300's is completely intact! It doesn't really go with the limestone of the rest of the castle, but it looks interesting. There was a special exposition going on about the man who built the original keep, Gaston Febus. He was a medieval lord and wrote several books about hunting, they had original copies in (presumably) his own handwriting there! They rest of the castle focused mostly on Henri IV, a king of France who was born in the Chateau de Pau. He was an extremely popular king and used the Chateau regularly as a hunting lodge. He added several wings to the castle and most of the decorations are his. He was assassinated in Paris, for reasons that historians still don't even know, and so he is an extremely beloved figure for all of Pau!

After the tour of the chateau a bunch of us wandered around and eventually found a cafe, we're trying to fit into the French culture as much as we can!

Bordeaux!!

Yesterday we decided to take advantage of the long weekend and take a day trip to Bordeaux, one of the most famous cities in France for many reasons, and the capital of our region, Aquitaine. It's only about a 2 hour train ride away from Pau, such an easy trip! We had looked up the times of trains to Bordeaux and were naturally a little nervous about buying the tickets and catching the train, so we got a taxi to the train station an hour before the train was due to leave. Our taxi driver thought we were crazy for leaving so early, and told us so haha. He had a handlebar mustache though so....

Anyway our driver told us that a lot of people from Pau would be in Bordeaux that day because Pau's rugby team, La Section Paloise, was playing a huge match in Bordeaux! We had no idea, but the signs all over Pau saying "Tous Avec La Section!" make a lot more sense now! After a very easy train ride we arrived in Bordeaux, which was beautiful! We walked along a boardwalk on the Garonne river to get to the center of town, the whole place had a very beachy atmosphere. Then we stumbled on a huge street market of people selling artwork, antiques, old books, etc. I found a chemistry textbook from the 1880's and an anatomy and physiology textbook from 1920, only 5 euro each!! They're going to make a very cool addition to my book collection :)

We had a huge lunch at an Italian restaurant in the Place St Michel, definitely the best pasta and fried calamari I've ever had! The Place St Michel was a huge square surrounding St Michel's church, which was gorgeous and had a huge freestanding bell tower. I'd never seen a church like that before, but apparently all of the churches in Bordeaux have separate bell towers to prevent the vibrations from the bell causing structural damage to the church. Even the cathedral was like that. After lunch we went to St Andrew's cathedral, which of course was amazing. There was someone playing the huge pipe organ the whole time, but the coolest part was the artwork! The chapels behind the altar were beautifully decorated, one was even painted entirely, walls, pillars, ceiling, everything, in intricate patterns, as the whole church likely would have been when it was first built. On the altar they even had a piece of mosaic from the 4th century AD! They were also displaying works of modern art in and around the chapels, all of the artworks were religious but done on glass and in neon colors. It was a really interesting concept to have such contrasting styles of art right next to each other! One of the girls who came on the trip, Hanna, is a devout Catholic so she was able to teach the rest of us a ton about how cathedrals work and what a lot of the artwork meant.

After visiting the cathedral we went to the Musee d'Aquitaine, a museum of the history of Aquitaine, our region. They had way more artifacts than I imagined, I could easily have spend a few hours there but the museum would have closed. They had everything from prehistoric stone tools to Greek pottery to Roman sculptures to medieval swords, everything found in the region of Aquitaine! It's amazing how much history can be found in such a small area. I had no idea how big the Roman presence in this area was, but there were probably thousands of artifacts, all in great condition. I also had no idea how important Aquitaine, and Bordeaux specifically, were to the slave trade in the colonial era. The best part of the museum is that it was free to go in! You would never have thought that it was a free museum with how beautifully everything was preserved.

After the museum we really just wanted to sit in a cafe and relax with some local Bordeaux wine and get a light dinner before catching the train, but had a little difficulty because everywhere was either way too expensive or crowded, but eventually we found a place that we didn't think would judge us if we ordered only fries and dessert for dinner! And be advised: wine fresh from Bordeaux is very strong. We each only had one glass and well... we were having a good time!

Because no trip ever goes perfectly, we ended up sprinting onto the train (with a backpack full of wine bottles to bring home to my mom, not easy!) but made our way home just fine!

Classes begin :)

Hey everyone :) I just woke up after sleeping really late for the first time and am sitting in the hallway typing this because the internet works everywhere except in my bedroom! Go figure. Anyway this was definitely a busy week! Classes started on Thursday, so far they're going really well! My French professor is very motivated to make sure we speak PERFECT French, which seems ambitious but she said she can do it in six weeks! I already knew a few of the people in my class before it started, and there's only 13 people in there so I'm getting to know everyone pretty well! I'm also taking an art history class that's taught only in French, which is scary but I actually understood all of it! And I know absolutely nothing about art history so it should be a really good class to take! We have French class for three and a half hours every morning, which sounds terrible but really isn't that bad. We get to take breaks and there's a vending machine that makes really good coffee down the hall :p Then on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons we have our elective class, so for me art history, for two hours. And they're not that big on homework in France so that leaves us plenty of time to have fun!!

We've really just been settling in the past few days, but today we're starting the exploring for real! We're going to Les Halles, which is sort of like an enormous farmer's market. Then we're going to explore the city! Last night we went out for my first French bar experience!! I loved it! There's a whole string of bars right next door to each other, and there is tons of outdoor seating all running together so everyone can go from place to place! They had my favorite, kir, for only 2.50 euro which was nice because most cocktails are at least 5 euro if not 6. For a while in the beginning we were just hanging out with the Americans, maybe we intimidated the French, but after we went outside we got to meet a lot of French people! I had fun translating for my friends! They all said I spoke French really well too which is a good :) But as I said, I'm a big fan of French bars! They're kind of just like very loud cafes, everyone is just relaxing and chatting and having a good time. There is music but not overwhelming like in America, it was very enjoyable! I think we're going to go back tonight.

Tomorrow we're thinking about going to Bordeaux for a day trip. I can't wait!

Bienvenue a Pau!

Finally, after many grueling hours of traveling marred by various difficulties that I don't want to elaborate on (I nearly didn't make both of my connecting flights. Luckily the TSA agents in Boston are incredibly nice and were able to help me immensely), I arrived in Pau on time and withe my group! Unfortunately, my bags didn't make it with me. I still have no idea where they are or if they're going to get here, which is definitely putting a damper on the whole experience so far. But fortunately there is an H&M in town and I was able to get enough clothes to last me a couple days :)

Aside from the difficulties with my bags, I've had a great time so far!! Yesterday we got a mini-tour of the campus area and went grocery shopping, so I got to know some people in the group. Everyone is awesome :) Then we went wandering around trying to find a place to eat, because it was after 8pm and everything up by the university is closed by then!! We eventually found a bakery that was open and got some of the best tasting chocolate croissants ever. Another bonus- the bakery also sold wine :)

This morning we had orientation for our classes that we're going to be taking. From my placement test it looks like I might be in level 4 French, which I wasn't expecting. Eek! But I'll find out for sure tomorrow morning. We learned all about the university and got to eat lunch at the student cafeteria. Meals on university campuses are government subsidized, so you can get a meal that includes a small appetizer, yogurt or dessert, some kind of meat entree and a side of vegetables or two kinds of vegetables for only 3 euro. And they're not skimpy with the portions. I bet you can guess where we'll be eating lunch every day!

In the afternoon, everyone got on the bus to go downtown and we got a tour of the central district of Pau. There is all the shopping you could want, restaurants, cafes, everything! And it's absolutely gorgeous! I promise I'll put pictures up tomorrow, because I definitely can't do justice to how great the feeling of this city is! Right on the edge of the main downtown area is the Chateau de Pau, where Henry IV was born, Pau's main claim to fame. (Also apparently Liam Neeson likes to vacation here.) It's a gorgeous castle, in beautiful condition, painted light yellow and turquoise, which are the official colors of Pau. Walking around most of the official buildings are painted in these colors, and there is a project in the city to eventually paint all historic buildings these colors. We also saw the birthplace of Bernadotte, a general under Napoleon who eventually became the King of Sweden. It was an extremely old house, the river stones used in its construction were clearly visible in the walls, and the walkway up to the house was paved in river stones. In France almost all buildings are built using local materials, so there is great variation in architecture style from region to region. The mountainous areas use river stones, Toulouse uses red clay bricks, Bordeaux uses limestone, etc. Learn something new every day don't ya?

We found a really small cafe to eat dinner at, I had the best cheese sandwich I've ever tasted. It was on about half a baguette but somehow I ate the whole thing! Then some of my new friends were nice enough to help me go shopping at H&M, although I don't think it was too strenuous for them because they all bought something as well :p Chloe said she was very impressed with how calmly I was handling not having my bags, but any excuse to shop is a good one right? And you can't beat shorts for 5 euro or linen pants for 20.

It is definitely bedtime for me now, we did a ton of walking today and the only shoes I have right now are Sanuks, which is basically walking barefoot. A demain!

Off with a Bang

Bienvenue! As most of you probably already know, I'm headed to France to study for six weeks! I believe a fair number of you are familiar with my blog from my last French adventure, and welcome back :) Currently I am sitting in the Charlotte airport, a little antsy because I should be on my way to Detroit already but really how could my trip go off without a hitch so instead I'm waiting to get on a plane to Boston in a little while. It's a long story and I'm really excited for this trip so I don't want to dwell on the bad stuff! I was incredibly lucky to get a seat on a new flight and even have my bags rerouted with me, because I could really have been SOL.

It's been a crazy few weeks getting ready for this trip, and as I finally have a few minutes to relax I really can't believe I made it! If any of my darling friends reading this are thinking about doing their own study abroad, all I can say is prepare ahead!! I had clothes set out about a week before I left, and I must have went back and added new things and decided that I didn't need others about twenty times. Also don't try to cram it all in one bag. I acquiesced to checking a second bag which definitely made my life easier, even though I had to pay $100 for my second bag (which Delta does not tell you, by the way).

I'm going to keep this short and sweet, I can't wait to write all about Pau, my new city!

A bientot,

Jillian