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!
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