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!