Last day in Lille and Return to the Homeland

Laura and me - Last day in Lille

Delicious Waffle

Flavie and me - Lille Grand Place

As most of you probably know, I'm back in Nova Scotia. What you probably don't know, is how I spent my last day in Lille and how the journey back home was. So, if you care to read on, that is what you'll be reading about! Still with me? Good :) Okay so I got back from Cognac on April 25th in the evening. That night I met up with my friends Laura and Flavie and we had dinner together which consisted of goat cheese, bread, salad, and a delicious chocolate cake for desert. I then went back to residence to say goodbye to my friends Serena and Kaylee. The next day I ended up getting up early to have breakfast with Kaylee and say goodbye one last time. After that I went back to bed for a few more hours. I was starting to get anxious about leaving so I didn't sleep very well that night. Once I woke up again I ran some errands, packed, and made sure I tied all the loose ends before leaving the country. I also went out to get my last boulangerie sandwich, a pain au chocolat, and some chouquettes. I figured since it was my last day there, it was okay to eat everything in sight. At 5pm, I planned to meet up with Flavie and Laura again so we could hang out and go get something to eat. We ended up shopping a little and then we went to a little ice cream place at Grand Place where Flavie used to work. We all ordered a waffle with chocolate which was absolutely delicious! I'm drooling just thinking about it now. After that we parted ways for a bit because I needed to go buy my train ticket for the next day. When I was done I caught the metro back to Laura's place where Flavie then came back to say goodbye (sad). Once she left Laura and I decided to go to one of the several kebab places for supper. I ordered a galette (basically a shaved chicken wrap with veggies) and fries with andalousse sauce. Holy yum. I need to find out if I can make andalousse sauce because I miss it already. Once we were done eating Laura and I decided to spend the evening watching Kung Fu Panda I and II. It was a wonderful way to spend my last day in Lille. The next day I got up bright and early (after having basically no sleep) to have breakfast, check out of residence, and then catch my train to the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. When I checked in at the airport I found out that my luggage was overweight but I worked some magic and when I put it back on the scale it was a kilo underweight. SO glad I didn't have to pay the 50-75 euros for overweight luggage. The flight from Paris - Montreal was 7 and a half hours long but it passed really quickly. I only watched one movie and basically slept for the rest of the time. I then had a 2 hour layover, followed by an hour and a half flight to Halifax. Everything went really smoothly - no lost luggage, sat by nice people, slept the majority of the time. Yup, the trip was much easier than the first time I took it. I think it's just something you get used to. Now that I'm home I have a lot of mixed feelings. I'm so happy to see friends and family but I'm so sad to leave France and the wonderful friends I made there. I truly had the most wonderful experience of my life. I got to see some of the most beautiful parts of the world and I made some truly amazing friends. 4 months isn't forever, but I feel like I got to learn and experience so much. I don't know when or where my next adventure will be I know I'll be back in France again someday :)

Trip to Cognac with a great friend!

Cognac

My friend Anne-Alicia invited me to go to her hometown, close to Cognac, France, for some of the April break so on April 21st, we caught a 5 and a half hour train from Lille to Angouleme, where her dad picked us up. The train ride seemed to pass by quickly so it wasn't too bad. The first hour or so we spent eating and talking in the food car. After I enjoyed my first ever "croque monsieur," Anne-Alicia and I apparently got too into our conversation because the guys who check your tickets on the train (who were sitting across from us) suddenly yelled "WHOA, WHOA, WHOA!" because I guess we were talking too loud. I was so taken aback because they didn't get ask us to quiet down nicely. We decide then that maybe it was time to return to our seats. When I got back to my seat I drifted into sleep almost instantly and didn't wake up again until there was about an hour left until we reached Angouleme. That's probably why the train didn't seem so long. Once off the train we were greeted by Anne-Alicia's father who drove us to their house. Upon arriving at their house, we were greeted by Anne-Alicia's mother (who just so happens to be Canadian), along with Erable and Eloa, the dogs. After I met the family, got a tour of the house, and met the family horse, Couca, it was time for supper. This trip consisted of a lot of firsts for me food wise. Not only did I have my first croque monsieur but I had my first taste of Cognac, duck, ratatouille, pate, and frois gras. I felt so French! After dinner it was time for some French TV then we were off to bed. The next day was pretty chill because the weather was quite bad. We did go into Cognac for a little tour. I loved seeing the old building and in that kind of weather, it made for some cool dreary-looking photos. I also got to meet some family friends and eat more delicious food. On Monday we got up, had breakfast, and decided that we would take a trip to see La Rochelle, a city in Western France, about an hour away from Cognac. There we had lunch at an Irish bar, went inside the harbour towers, went to the aquarium, and did a little shopping. There are at least 3500 boats docked in this city. It was crazy to see them all. It's a really cute city and it was cool to see because of its connection with Quebec. The next day Anne-Alicia took me to go on a tour of Courvoisier, where her parents work. Courvoisier is a brand of Cognac and it's located in Jarnac. On the tour I got to learn how they make Cognac, about Napoleon Bonaparte, and of course got to drink some Cognac. One part of the tour that was really neat was a room with a video about Cognac and at it plays, a machine actually sprays the aromas of the XO Cognac - creme brule, candied orange, and iris. Yum! After that Anne-Alicia took me to see where they stored all the oldest Cognac. Even the youngest Cognac in that room is older than me! After that we went back to the house. We decided to go outside and clean Couca. He was quite dirty because he loved rolling in the mud and due to the weather, there was an abundance of it. Once he was all clean and Anne-Alicia's siblings had cleaned out his stall, we all went inside for supper. We had lemon meringue pie for desert and I've been craving it every day since then! Unfortunately, the next day it was time for me to head back to Lille so I could have time to pack before my journey back to Canada. After saying our goodbyes I took my trip from Cognac to Angouleme, Angouleme to Paris Montparnasse, Paris Montparnasse to Paris Nord, and then Paris Nord to Lille. I had so much fun seeing another part of France, spending time with a family, and hanging out with a great friend before having to leave.

La Rochelle

Youngest Cognac in this room is still 1 year older than me!

Let's get rich and buy our parents homes in the South of France ♫

Nice, France

Eze Village, France

Monaco, Franc

Well this post is long overdue! I traveled to the South of France from April 14th - 18th but I got so busy after I came back that I haven't had the time to report back to those of you who wish to read about it. Blogger has changed it's format though so now I can post photos on here easily! A little late in the game for me but it is nice for my last posts and perhaps it will come into play in my next adventure! So on April 14th I took off on a solo trip to Nice, France. I arrived in Nice around 8:30pm so I went straight to my hostel. My first night consisted of skyping with my mom and going to bed early. Not very adventurous, I know, but I was le tired. I got up bright and early the next day to see if I could sign up for scuba diving but because it was pouring down rain, they weren't taking people out. I thought it would be a good idea to catch some more z's and then head out once the rain had stopped. At around 10:30 in the morning I grabbed a map (which I didn't really end up using) and took off to explore Nice. I love just taking off on foot and wandering around a new city. I find it's the best way to see everything and a great way to stumble upon things you wouldn't normally see. My wandering lead me to the flower market, the Chateau de Nice, to some adorable little shops, and to the Port. My favourite part of that day was the Chateau de Nice. It provides a wonderful view of the city, the Mediterranean, and the mountains. I was so happy to be there and experience such beauty! That night I grabbed some supper and ate it by the water while I listened to the waves crash against the rocks. It was so peaceful. The next day I got up early again to actually go scuba diving. I had to be there at 9am so I walked along the Promenade des Anglais towards the Port. Once I met the instructor for scuba diving I found out that I was the only person who paid to go that morning. There were about 6 other people who came along but they were all co-workers or friends. We took the boat out along the coast and when we stopped the others all started getting ready so I thought I would too but they told me I had time so I sat down and took in the view. They then informed me that I should put my scuba suit on in 30 minutes. I was confused at first as to why I had to wait 30 minutes until I realized that they wanted to go scuba diving without me first. So there I was, sitting on the boat all alone while I got sea sick. After the 30 minutes was up, they all emerged from the water except for one who was going to guide me in the water. Once I was ready I jumped in and was quite surprised by how cold the water was. Once I got used to the cold, I started to really enjoy myself. I got to see lots of different fish, coral, sea urchins, and I got to see a little octopus! Just as I was really getting into it, the instructor signalled to me that we were going up. I was surprised at how little time we were actually in the water for. After everyone was dried off they started barbecuing sausages. They then told me that I was welcome to eat with them, but it would cost me 5 euros. So not only did I have to wait 30 minutes on the boat for them, and then only get 20-30min in the water myself, but I had to pay extra to eat? I must say, I was not exactly impressed. I felt like I was intruding on their little scuba party and that I wasn't a paying customer. Even though there weren't very hospitable, it was still a really awesome experience. Once back on dry land I thought I would go back to the hostel for a quick rest because I was surprisingly quite tired but on the way back I stumbled into the area that usually had the flower market but instead of flowers, it had turned into an antique market! The items ranged from dishes, to jewellery, to stuffed ducks. Some antiques were hundreds of years old and could cost up to 700 euros. I was shocked at the prices but of course there were some more affordable things as well. I ended up buying a silver ring and two little "Babar" ornaments. That night I met two girls from the United States. We ended up getting supper together and then we spent the evening looking for the Russian Orthodox Cathedral and walking along the Promenade. The next day one of the girls (the other left for Paris) and I caught a bus so we could go see Eze Village and Monaco. Eze Village was a tiny little village with shops, homes, and a church situated on a hill. The climb up wasn't too bad because there were a couple of stores to visit at each level. It was an extremely cute village that made for great photos. Next stop was Monaco. Funny how a 20 minute bus ride can take you to another country! The bus dropped us off close to the casinos so our first stop consisted of a little gambling. After that we visited the Japanese Garden which was absolutely beautiful. Next we made out way along the water to the port there where there were hundreds of expensive yachts. One even had it's own helicopter on top. Oh rich people! We then made our up up to the palace and Old Monaco. The view from up there was breathtaking. I couldn't believe that I was actually there. After more exploring and sight seeing we caught a bus home. The next day I was on an early flight back to Paris and by the time I got a train, I was back in Lille around 1:30pm. The South of France was one of my favourite trips that I took. I definitely want to go back someday so I can explore it ever more!

Two Austrians and a Canadian in Paris

Salut tout la monde! Guess what? I still love Paris! Thursday, April 5th, marked my 5th visit to Paris and my 4th since I have moved to France. I had a wonderful two nights and three days for two reasons - I got to see Gabriela and Marcus, two Austrians I had the pleasure of meeting while they were on an exchange at the Mount, and because I was in my favourite city (to date). I caught a train from Lille on Thursday afternoon at 1pm and an hour later I was at the Gare du Nord with two great friends, ready to have another wonderful Parisian experience! Before the exploring started, we had to check into our hostel. When we got there we were pleased to discover that we had been upgraded to a apartment-style room with a double bed, a single bed, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a little dining room with a TV. I'm pretty sure we got this upgrade because they forgot our reservation but whatever the reason, it was awesome to have a room to ourselves for only 22 euros each per night. Once we were settled, we left the hostel to go to Montmartre. This is one of my favourite areas of Paris. It has a beautiful view, artists, and of course, Sacre Coeur. After that we jumped on the metro and went to Notre Dame. I was happy to go back to see Notre Dame because I haven't been there since I was there for the first time, 2 years ago. This time, I was also able to go into the Cathedral which I had never done. I love that I get to do something I have never done before each time I go to Paris, what a city! Next we went to the Louvre. We didn't go inside but Gabriela was able to get some pictures doing her favourite pose - planking - on the famous glass pyramids. After that it was time to find some food. After a lengthy period of searching we decided on a restaurant called the Hippopotamus (I ate here with my sister as well) where all three of us had a cheeseburger with fries. Yum yum. Following dinner, we decided to get something to drink and track down some cards so we would have something to do back in our room. The rest of the night was devoted to cards, French TV, Desperado, cork-filled rose (had to be innovative as we didn't have a bottle opener), and catching up. The following morning I awoke to the smell of fresh baguette and pain au chocolat. Best way to wake up in my opinion. Gabriela had kindly went out to get us all breakfast while Marcus and I caught some extra Z's. Once all three of us were ready for the day, we left for more sight-seeing. The day included walking along the Champs-Elysee, shopping, L'Arc de Triomphe and Trocadero so we could eat nutella crepes and stare at the Eiffel Tower (one of my favourite things to do in Paris). We decided it would be best to make supper at the hostel that night so we went to Monoprix and bought supplies for spaghetti... and a baguette of course! It was delicious! Once we were full and well rested, we left the hostel again to go see the Eiffel Tower at night. I swear, it is one of the most beautiful sights in the world. I could sit there for hours while devouring crepe after crepe. On the way to the metro, an native English speaking couple asked us where the metro was. Since we were heading that way, we told them to just follow us. After talking to them for a while, I found out that they were also Canadian and one of them was from Nova Scotia. I can't believe how small the world is. Oh the people you meet! Once off the metro we went in search of a bar Gabriela had looked up in her travel book. Gabriela managed to find it but once the bouncer saw we were wearing sneakers, there was no getting in for us. We decided to just have a drink at a bar and then head to bed because we were exhausted anyway. The next day, Saturday, we got up, checked out of our hostel and went out for breakfast. Our last stop of our three day weekend was Centre Pompidou. This is a really interesting area of Paris. It has the inside-out museum (not sure of the actual name), shopping, beggars, fountains, and sculptures. We spent our remaining ours walking around and shopping. We then grabbed a quick bite to eat and then it was time to get our bags and part ways. T'was sad indeed to leave each other but we decided it was only see you later. I love Europe too much to not come back and they love Canada too much to not come visit. We knew we would see each other again someday. Due to the fact that I was so tired, I decided I would go back to Lille instead of hanging around Paris. My journey back was fairly uneventful minus an *NSYNC lookalike circa 1995 in a tight black shirt flexing his muscles at me on the metro. I couldn't help but laugh, he was an interesting character. Overall, it was a wonderful little vacation. I'm hoping to go back to Paris once more before I leave so I can have a nutella crepe, stare at the Eiffle Tower, and also see Versailles.

A bientot!

Defying Gravity... There's no place like London...

I just spent the last weekend in London and it would seem that Paris has some competition for where I'm going to live in someday. Surprised? I know, me too. I'm sure that 3 days straight of absolutely beautiful weather played a large factor in me loving London, but I also enjoyed the culture, sights, and accents (of course!) My adventure started on Saturday morning, March 24th to be exact. The Eurostar left at 8:30am but because England is not in the Schengen area, you have to go through customs beforehand which means you have to be there around 45min in advance. This didn't take too long and I was soon sound asleep on the hour and a half train ride to St. Pancras Station in London. When I got off the train I was a bit nervous as to where I had to go to find my hostel but everything was well marked and really straightforward. It took me a little while to notice that I was even in an English-speaking country because of how multicultural it was. I think I heard every language but English for first half hour I was there. St. Pancras Station is located right next to King's Cross Station so I of course had to take a small detour to satisfy my inner Harry Potter nerd and go see Platform 9 & 3/4's. It was funny to see the hustle and bustle of people trying to get to their trains and then see a group of tourists surrounding a wall with a sign and half a trolley sticking out. Next I was off to King's Cross road where I was staying at Clink78, a 200-year-old court house that has been restored into a hostel. The hostel was really cool - There were rooms where prison cell's used to be and the internet room was set up like a court room with a judge's chair that had an illuminated "Guilty" sign behind it. I stayed in a room with some girls who were part of tour group camp that was learning how to give tours all over Europe for over 7 weeks. There were only 50 chosen out of 2000 and it seemed extremely intense. Seems like an amazing way to see the world but I think I value my sleep too much. After dropping off my bags I grabbed a map and took off to explore. I wanted to find a place where I could find Wicked tickets and I remembered the course on google maps told me to walk along Fleet Street so off I went to the street that fictionally housed the demon barber, "Sweeney Todd." Along the way I soaked up the sun and took pictures of all the sights. The atmosphere felt much different than France and I loved that I was in a country that spoke my language again. It was nice to not constantly have to think about what I needed to say. After about an hour of walking, I found a place where I could purchase a Wicked ticket. Now that I had done that (my #1 priority haha), I had about 7 hours to kill before the show, so I just kept walking. While gazing up at a beautiful church, I almost got hit by a red, double-decker bus even though the walking light was green. Not cool. I eventually found myself in St. James's Park which was a great place to be on such a beautiful weekend. The flowers were out, the sun was shining, the grass was green, and people were relaxing everywhere. I decided to get some food and find a place on the grass to just let it all sink in. After my relaxing lunch, I went to Buckingham Palace, wishing that I could find Prince Harry so he could whisk me off my feet. What did I find instead? A creepy middle aged man who asked me if I wanted to go for a walk in the Park. I politely said that I already went for a walk and I was waiting for my friends (only half true). Crisis averted! I then slowly walked along the streets of London and shopped on my way towards Harrods, the department store where John Rendall and Ace Bourke bought Christian the Lion in 1969. I soon found out that Harrods was not my scene. Although extremely cool and unique, I was overwhelmed by the crowds and quickly left. I looked at my map and saw that I was close to Hyde Park so that was my next destination. After walking for so long, my feet were exhausted so I took another lovely rest in another gorgeous London park. I then eventually made my way back down to Buckingham Palace where along the way I saw The Wellington Arch, Green Park, the Canada Memorial, and the Canada Gate. After that I shopped some more, had supper, and then it was time to see Wicked! What an amazing musical it was. It was so entertaining, I was smiling the whole time. Definitely worth the 50 pounds! When the musical was done I caught a cab back to my hostel and basically went straight to bed. I had been going since 6am and I was exhausted! The next morning I got up to meet my friend Carole (from France), and her friends Jens (from Sweden), and Clement (also from France) to hang out for the day. We had breakfast at a cafe while waiting for Clement and once we were done we took off for a market. The market was filled with delicious smelling food, unique jewelry, and awesome clothes. I could have bought everything. Another reason why I need a never-ending supply of money! Next we walked to the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London - both breath-taking I must say. It was so cool to actually see them in person, they're really impressive. After that we walked along the water, across the Millennium Bridge (the one the Death Eaters destroy in Harry Potter :P), had some lunch, watched some buskers, and reached the spot where the London Eye is located. Directly across the Thames, was/is a beautiful view of the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, another amazing sight. Next we crossed the Thames again to get a better look at the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey. We then decided to make our way up to SoHo where we got to see Piccadilly Circus (London's Times Square) and have a snack. We then took the underground back to the three different places we were staying. Since it was another long day, and we had to travel the next, we decided to call it an early night. Sunday, March 26th, was my last day in London. I got up, checked out, and had some breakfast before taking the underground to Green Park so I could watch the "Changing of the Guard" at Buckingham Palace. Unfortunately, when I got there, I found out that there would be no ceremony that day. I was disappointed but I figure it's another reason to go back to London! Due to the fact that there was no ceremony, I decided to go meet Carole and Jens at a Starbucks that wasn't too far away. Once we had a snack we met up with Clement again and two of his friends (from France) in Chelsea. We walked along a fancier part of town and then sat down for some pizza. I, however, had to take off early because I had to get my bags and then catch my train. Although I was looking forward to sleeping in my own bed, and not in a room full of other people, I was sad to leave London. I definitely could have stayed for a couple more days, there was so much to see and do! I'll definitely be back in England again one day though!

Cheerio!  

Vimy Ridge on Saint Patrick's Day

Saturday, March 17th (also known as St. Patrick's Day) I, along with a fellow Canadian named Serena, and an American named Jon, took a day trip to go explore Vimy Ridge. Our day started at Gare Lille Flandres where we bought tickets that would take us from Lille, to Lens, to Vimy. When we got to Lens, we had about a half hour to kill before our next train so we decided to get some frites a.k.a french fries! Next it was on to Vimy! When our train got there, we got off onto a rickety wooden platform out in the middle of nowhere. We soon discovered that we were on the wrong side of the train tracks so we crossed over, but we were still unsure of where to go. It seriously looked like there was a zombie apocalypse in Vimy and it wasn't even a Sunday. Stores didn't look like they were open and we saw a total of one person and one cat for a good 10 minutes of walking. As we made our way along the deserted road we discovered a 8 a Huit (a French convenience store) and realized that there were in fact inhabitants in the town. We asked for directions at the 8 a Huit and took off for a 45 minute walk to get to Vimy Ridge. Along the way we admired the ivy covered trees. It looked like there was going to be a hobbit that would poke its head out from behind a tree at any moment. It was obvious when we finally got to the site because the majority of the land was full of bumps and craters because of the explosives that were set of during WWI and it was sectioned off with a little electric fence so that people wouldn't walk through it (possible explosives left in the ground). We explored the reconstructed trenches with cement sandbag lookalikes when a man, coincidentally who also lived in Lille, told us that we could go underground if we signed up for a tour inside, so... we did just that! We were just in time for the next tour so we jumped in the group and followed along into the depths of the 10 foot underground trenches. Everything had been re-done to make it safe for visitors - what used to be wooden beams and were now metal and parts of the roof and walls were filled in with cement. When the Canadians were digging the trenches in WWI, they were digging in chalk which made things a lot easier for them because chalk was easy to cut through, but it still kept its shape. We got to see a small room where they would sleep which had 8-10 beds in it at a time. Not exactly ideal living conditions. We also got to see what is believed to be an original carving by a soldier in the chalk of a Canadian maple leaf... pretty neat! Next we went outside where we learned about trenches, snipers, no man's land, and craters. Short tour, but overall really informative and let's face it, my attention span wouldn't have been able to handle much more haha. After that we took a look inside the Welcome Centre and picked up a map so we could go see the Canadian memorial. The memorial is situated in the middle of a bright green field, with paths leading up to it, overlooking a town (not sure which one exactly). It's really quite stunning. It cost $1.5 million to build and it has the name of every single Canadian soldier carved into the bottom, but it was put in place to remember each soldier who lost their life fighting for their country in WWI. We ended up talking to a lady from Canada and she had a niece who was going to school at the Mount. Talk about a small world! After that we took a cab to the Gare d'Arras (easier and more straight forward to catch a train from there instead of Vimy) and then took a train back home to Lille. That night was a pretty relaxed night, despite it being St. Patrick's Day. I took a nap and then went to Jon's room to play cards and hang out with Jon, Serena, and Kaylee (also from America). Overall, a successful, fun, and educational day!

Bisous!

Erin in Lille!

After our long day of traveling, we were quite tired so we bought some supper at Carrefour City and had a chill night in. In the morning, we got up and walked to the Lille Citadel where the free zoo is located. We took loads of pictures in the park. It is a really nice place to go a read a book, explore, or go for a walk/run. There's one part of it that has a really awesome cave that's surrounded by water. Definitely made for some good pictures! Next, we went to the zoo. I was so excited because, as most of you know by now, I loooove animals. It was a great place to spend the morning. The zoo has monkeys, birds, and rhinos, just to name a few. Erin and I spent the majority of our time watching a couple of gibbons chase each other around their habitat. They were hilarious! I will definitely be spending a lot of time there. Who can complain about a free zoo! It's going to be so beautiful there when the weather gets nicer too. After the zoo we walked to Vieux Lille (Old Lille) and got a sandwich at a boulangerie. We then spent the rest of the day shopping which was exhausting, but fun. I wanted Erin to experience a kebab while she was here so for supper, we went to the closest kebab place, which also happens to be my favourite. The guys who work there are so nice. When I first got here, I thought a kebab was like a shish kabob. Not the case. It's more like a sandwich and you can get shaved chicken or lamb (I think). You can get it on a bun or in a wrap with fries and a choice of sauce. SO delicious! To get a wrap, fries, and a pop, it only costs 4 euro 50. Since they're a decent size, Erin and I spilt one and got 2 pops so supper only cost us 6 euros. Not too shabby! We then went back to my residence and watched the movie The Vow and The Hot Chick. We got up on Saturday at 7am because Erin had to catch her plane home. We took the metro to the train station where I got her on her train and we said our goodbyes. It was a sad day indeed. The whole trip went by wayyyy too fast and we were both wishing that she could stay a few days more. Alas, that was not the case. Overall it was a wonderful trip, just too short. Now who wants to visit!? haha.

A la prochain!

Amsterdam... I-I follow, I follow you...

I've been a little slack about creating a post for the rest of Erin's visit... my bad. It is vacation time though so I've been lazy. My apologies. So on February 28th, we left Paris and took a 3 hour and 19 min train to Amsterdam. We had a bit of trouble finding the hotel but things all worked out. Once we dropped our stuff off in the room, we went out to explore. Amsterdam had a much different atmosphere than Paris. It definitely has a more party vibe to it... I wonder why... haha. Because the tourist shops were the only things open, we went in and out of similar looking shops while window shopping at others. We decided we would leave real shopping for the next day (not that we had much choice). The next morning we got up around 9am and went down to have breakfast in the hotel restaurant. Note to anyone who has the choice to buy 12 euro 50 tickets for a restaurant breakfast instead of eating out... don't! It was definitely a bad choice on our part. We were thinking it would save time, which it did, but it was also crap. Definitely a disappointment. Oh well, you live and you learn haha. After breakfast we went on a canal tour. It was only a half hour long but it was nice because it gave you a unique view of the canals and little tidbits of information in Dutch, French, and English. We had some time to kill after the canal tour so we decided to do some more shopping. Next it was time to make our way to the Anne Frank House. On the way there we found this cute shop that had original artwork by a guy named Mark Raven. There were paintings, sketches, and shirts with his prints on them. I ended up buying a blue shirt with one of his Amsterdam bike sketches on it. Much better than a typical tourist shirt! Once we got to the Anne Frank house we saw the long line that wrapped around the building. Erin was smart enough to buy our tickets online beforehand so we didn't have to wait! The house was turned into an unfurnished museum with pages of Anne's diary, quotes, decorations, videos, and artifacts in different rooms. There was even a part of the wallpaper that had the heights of Anne and Margot Frank recorded on it. It was interesting to be able to see such a famous part of history. I can't imagine what it was like to live in those circumstances. It definitely made me want to read her diary again. Once we were finished there, we left to go rent bicycles. One thing about Amsterdam - EVERYONE rides a bike. I couldn't believe the amount of bicycles, it was insane. We of course had to experience what it was like to bike in Amsterdam so we paid the 10 euros for a day (cheap!) and made our way towards the I Amsterdam sign. On the way, my bike chain fell off which frustrated me beyond belief because I ended up with grease all over my hands. Good thing I had gloves to put on! I did, however, have to pay 0,50 just to wash my hands though. Oh Europe! There were a lot of people at the I Amsterdam sign so we took our pictures, grabbed some food, and then left to bike around the canals some more. After we returned the bikes, we shopped some more, ate some dutch pancakes (Erin had strawberry and I had blueberry... yum!), walked around, shopped again, and then watched Forrest Gump on the TV in our hotel room. Let me tell you about the hotel room. #1 - it was much cheaper than the one in Paris and much nicer, and #2 - the beds were ridiculously comfortable! I definitely would have liked to stayed there for a couple more nights. In the morning, we suffered through another not-so-yummy breakfast and then bought our tickets back to Lille. We were wondering why our tickets were so much cheaper than we expected then we discovered we weren't taking the high-speed train and we had to switch twice. During one of the switches, I lost my French phone. Bummer. Gonna have to get a new one now. Good thing you're not stuck in contracts like you are in Canada. We ended up traveling for 5 hours or so but it was worth it to save the moola. It was probably a 60-70 euro difference! That, and Erin got to eat a Belgian waffle in Antwerp! I'd say that's a win.

Bedankt voor het lezen! Thanks for reading!

J'♡ Paris

Just spent the last two days in Paris with my sister, Erin, and I must say, I love it more and more each time I go. I can definitely see myself living there in the future. My travels started on Sunday when I left Lille bright and early to catch a train to the Charles de Gaulle airport to meet Erin. Once we met up, we took the RER into the city and then switch to the Metro to go to our hotel. I was actually really surprised that I was able to use the transportation so easily. I was nervous that I wouldn't be able to lead Erin around but I guess since it was the third time I've been in the Paris metro, I had a pretty decent idea on what to do. It's really not as daunting as I thought. The hardest part of finding our hotel was when we got out of the metro. There were about 6 different streets and of course we chose the one opposite of our street to go down first so we walked about in a circle. Not bad for our only problem! Once we checked in and got organized, we walked to the Montmartre area to see the Moulin Rouge and Sacre Coeur. We stopped at all the tourist shops and took lots of pictures. Erin got to experience her first French crepe too! We came across a guy who was making sculptures out of silver wire. He had a guitar made which I thought was awesome so I bought that and then he made both Erin and I free rings! We decided to go back to the hotel after supper so we could have a relaxing evening because 1- Erin was jet-lagged and 2- I felt jet-lagged because I only had 3 hours of sleep the night before. The next day, Monday, we woke up at 7am to go on a segway tour. I was tired, but extremely excited to start using the segway. Before the tour started, we had a little tutorial. I wish I had of taken a video of Erin, I have never seen her look more concentrated on something in my life. It was hilarious. After getting the hang of the segway, we took off on our tour. We covered Napolean's Tomb, The Eiffel Tower, The Tuileries, Ecole Militaire, The Louvre, Place de la Concorde, and The Rodin Museum. I froze for the first part of the tour but the second half was gorgeous. The sun came out which made the tour much more enjoyable. I really didn't want to get off the segway, it was so much fun to bop around on. Someday I'll move to Paris, live in a place with a view of The Eiffel Tower, and own a segway... I can dream, right? The Paris part can come true! After the tour we went back to Napolean's Tomb and went inside. Since I'm living in France, I got to go in for free and the ticket guy was nice enough to pretend Erin was from London and let her in for free too! Next we walked to The Eiffel Tower, then to the Arc de Triomphe, and then we took the metro to the Louvre. Unfortunately when we went to buy a ticket, it was closed for the evening so we just shopped and took more pictures. We had supper at a place called The Hippopotamus which was pretty good then called it a night. This morning we got up had a crepe and then caught the 3 hour train to Amsterdam. I will update you all on Amsterdam in my next post!

A tout a l'heure

Le Carnaval de Dunkerque and Monosourcils

Salut! So since I last wrote I haven't done any traveling but I have been having fun in Lille. On Sunday, February 19th, I went to Le Carnaval de Dunkerque with my friends Camille, Anne-Alicia, Clemence, and Clemence's friend, Marco. For those of you who do not know what Le Carnaval de Dunkerque is, I have provided a link (in french, but there's also a video) at the bottom of this post to give you an idea of what it was like. I am still a little unclear about where exactly the tradition comes from, but each year, a huge crowd gathers in Dunkerque for a celebration. It's said to be the Venice Carnival of the North. At the start of the day, I really had no idea what I was in for. I knew it was going to be crowded, but I didn't know how it could be so bad that we needed to wear old clothes that we don't mind getting stained or ripped. Lucky for me, one of the girls had a bunch of clothes to dress up in. I ended up going with an oversized yellow and grey, striped, button up shirt, some burgundy parachute/bali style pants, and a plastic, old-school english style police officer's helmet. We looked awesome. Once we got to Dunkerque, I got a glimpse of what I would be dealing with - people of all ages dressed to the max. Face paint, bright wigs, boas, matching cat costumes, and men dressed as women (the main tradition). Making our way to the centre of the city, I could tell that the crowds were just going to get bigger and bigger once the events started to take place. We decided to get a drink before the fish tossing started (don't worry, I'll get to that). I opted for a coke but when someone found out it was my first time at the Carnaval, my coke was quickly taken away and replaced with a beer. Soon it was time to go to the place where they would be throwing the fish. I guess it's tradition for a crowd to assemble at the bottom of a building and chant "liberez les harengs!" (basically "free the herrings") while waiting to catch the fish that are flung from the building. Again, not sure about the significance, but it was neat to experience. Waiting in the crowd was one of the most intense experiences I have ever had, I have never been in a crowd that big. One moment I was being squished and then I was being thrown from one direction to the next. It was impossible to stand your ground. Complete strangers were making conversation with us and banging on my helmet. People were excited to hear that not only was it my first time, but that I was Canadian too. One man, a little too excited by the atmosphere, was going around with bright red lipstick and kissing people. He tried to kiss my friend "sur la bouche!" (on the mouth) but she managed to brush him off. Unfortunately for me, he then came in my direction. "SUR LA BOUCHE!" he yelled. I of course said no so he settled for kissing me on both cheeks and my forehead. Hilarious and overwhelming. Once the fish throwing started, that's when it got even more intense (didn't think that was possible). Before I knew it I, along with all my friends, were down on the ground. That's it, I thought, I'm done for. I was surprised to see how great everyone was when someone fell though. People would try to hold the rest of the crowd back and numerous people helped us up. It was nice to see how great the people of Dunkerque were in that situation, they make sure everyone is kept safe and that the rules are respected. I was impressed because it definitely could have gone bad. After being stomped on, we thought it best to get out of the worst part of the crowd and just watch for the rest of the fish freeing. Next was some food and hot chocolate to warm us up before it was time to head home. Overall, it was a crazy experience but extremely fun. I'm so glad I got the opportunity to see something like that in France :) I wasn't totally traumatized, despite what my French friends may think hahaha. On Tuesday, February 21st, I went to a party at my friend's place. The theme - monosourcil. Before this party, I had no idea what this word meant. I now know that it means unibrow... yes, a unibrow party. It was sooo funny. People were extremely original making unibrows out of feathers, stickers, and by drawing things such as a city and a garden on their eyebrows. Definitely something I'll have to bring back to Canada haha. The party was filled with good food and dancing and it was a good opportunity to meet new people and practice my French (which I actually got the guts to try a bit!) Other than that, I've just been been going to classes and trying to get things sorted out. I've been trying to get my insurance and such worked out so I got my friend Anne-Alicia to come with me so she could translate for me. Lucky she was with me because we were basically sent on a wild goose chase. In the end, we figured out that I needed to open a French bank account, get confirmation of enrolment, and get doctor's stamp in order to finally buy what I need. It was so complicated and it's still not complete! Good thing I had Anne-Alicia with me otherwise I would have been totally lost. That's one that has been hard to get used to, the organization and pace in France. It's much different than home and it's not very fit for a procrastinator such as myself. Maybe it'll make me learn not to procrastinate! Next on the agenda is to meet my sister Erin in Paris tomorrow! We're going to spend 2 nights in Paris, 2 in Amsterdam, and 2 in Lille... I can't wait :)

Adieu!

Le Carnaval de Dunkerque link:

http://www.ville-dunkerque.fr/fr/je-vis-adunkerque/carnaval-dunkerque/index.html

This is a message from your heart ♫

Hello all! I just got back from a short trip to Paris on Thursday. Turns out, Paris is still currently my favourite place in the world. On Wednesday, February 15th, I took a train from Lille to Gare du Nord in Paris where Morgan met me. It was wonderful to see her again because I haven't gotten to see her since the first day I arrived which was almost 2 months ago now (ah, scary thought!) This trip to Paris had been something I was looking forward to for a couple of reasons. Obviously, I was there to see my friend but I came that particular night because we had tickets to see the lovely Kina Grannis in concert! Opening for Kina was Imaginary Friend (Jesse Epstein). I couldn't have been more excited! We got to the concert around 7pm and it was due to start at 7:30pm. Because neither of us had supper, we got some sandwiches from a random cafe and then ate them while we waited in line. Once we were inside I was shaking I was so excited. Imaginary Friend was a wonderful opening act. His voice is so soothing, great way to start the night. After he left the stage, we had about a 20min wait until Kina came on. Morgan and I decided to sit and save our spots so we wouldn't loose them which was a good choice. We talked and shared stories until the crowd went wild... Kina time! She played In Your Arms, The One You Say Goodnight To, Valentine, Strong Enough, a cover of Oops, I Did It Again, The World In Front Of Me, and Message From Your Heart, to name a few. She played some of her songs with cello player, Keith Tutt II. It was beautiful. Kina and Imaginary Friend played a cover of Fix You together too which was breathtaking of course. I loved every minute of it. After two encores, it was time for her to stop playing (unfortunately). Once the crowd left, there were about 50 people who were left for the meet & greet. I couldn't wait! We got to take a picture with both her and Imaginary Friend. They were so humble and friendly! Their next stop was Switzerland and I was talking about how I really wanted to go, and they told us to come. I was like "yeah, if I can get a drive with you!" Needless to say, we couldn't haha. After a quick chat, I bought a t-shirt and got her autograph. Happiness! Once we left the concert, Morgan and I made our way back to her place for the night. On the way, she educated me on a children's book about an elephant and a pig. We stayed up for a while talking before she had to go to bed because she unfortunately had to work in the morning. The next day, her sister, Mara, came home and we went out and spent the day in Paris. It was nice to see her because it had been since May 2011! We first went to Trocadero to see the Eiffel Tower. We got some nutella crepes, one of my favorite foods in the world and then walked to the base of the Eiffel Tower. After wandering around for a while, we went to Montmartre and Sacre Coeur. There was a random guy who came up to us and started talking and tried to do a mix between the bis and an actual kiss. Creeper. We ended up just walking quickly away from him while Mara said we were in a hurry haha. We walked around Montmartre, looking in all the touristy shops and acting like obnoxious tourists (well, at least I was). I loved it :) On the way back down the hill, I got the brilliant idea in my mind to try and slide down the stair rail. I ended up sliding about an inch, stopping abruptly, and tipping over. I did manage to make Mara almost pee herself laughing so I figure it wasn't a total fail :) Finally it was time to go to Gare du Nord so I could catch a train back to Lille. I was very sad to leave because I love Paris so much. Good thing I'm only an hour away!

A la prochain!

Vienna Calling

So I know I have been slacking on writing my Austria post, my apologies. For those of you who don't know, I went to Vienna Austria on February 8th until the 12th to see my good friend Gabriela, who did an exchange at the Mount last semester. My journey there was relatively smooth. I did, however, have to deal with an extremely rude French lady and what seemed to be a bomb precaution at the Paris airport. No worries though, all turned out fine! After 2 hours on the plane, I landed in Vienna and was warmly greeted by Gabriela. We were both hungry so we grabbed some McDonalds (I had my first European BigMac haha) before we made our way to her friend's house in the city. I guess it's an Austrian tradition to offer people slippers when they come into your house because her friend had about half a dozen pairs of slippers just for guests. She said that her parents do the same thing. I think that's an awesome tradition haha. After settling in, we went to a club called Loco's. Loco's was something I had never experienced before. To start off, there was a smoking room, which I wasn't a big fan of. Second, from 7-8pm you could buy cocktails for a mere 0,50 euros! Crazy, hien (eh)? The drinks really only went up to 3,90 euros. I couldn't believe how cheap it was. Probably explains the crowd each night. Third and last, I couldn't believe how touchy everyone was. People didn't just push past you, they basically put both hands on you, picked you up, and moved you. Needless to say, I felt a big claustrophobic. Marcus, another Austrian who did his exchange at the Mount, met up with us and ended up hanging out at the apartment for a while which was nice! One thing I notice about my first day being there is that I am getting used to automatically using French sayings. I kept saying "pardon" and such to the Austrians. Guess I forgot I was in a German speaking country. The next day, Thursday, Gabriela and I went walking around the city. The first thing we did was go to Belvedere where I got to see the Gustav Klimt exhibit. We weren't supposed to take pictures but with the help of Gabriela, I managed to get a shot of The Kiss. The rest of the day was spent walking around, seeing the sights, and snacking. Vienna is a beautiful city which is great because it helped distract me from how cold it was! Once we got back to the house we thought it would be nice to have a quiet night so we just stayed in and watched a movie. Friday we got up and went straight to Schonbrunn which was absolutely beautiful! Inside Schonbrunn there is a huge zoo. Being the animal lover that I am, I of course wanted to go in. We spent a good 3 hours in it where we got to see a panda, a cheetah, elephants, a tiger, lions, etc. I had so much fun, the hours flew by. We then went back to Gabriela's friend's apartment to watch a movie and relax before going out for dinner. Around 6:50pm, we met the group of Erasmus (international students), from her school, which included Kelsey, another Mount student, and we went out to dinner. I got to try a wiener schnitzel which was delicious but too big to finish. After dinner we went back to her friend's apartment and had some drinks and played games with some other Austrians. My last day, Saturday, was spent touring the city and soaking it all in. I got to try sachertorte which is a popular chocolate cake in both Austria and Germany. It was yummy! That night, Gabriela and I went to another one of her friend's places to hang out and have some drinks but left early because we had to get up at 6am so I could go to the airport. We took the metro to get home and I had my first infamous creepy metro experience. While waiting for the train to pull up, there was a creepy guy hovering around us. I was telling Gabriela a story and I said something was scary and while we were stepping onto the train, we could hear the guy mocking me saying "scary... scary, scary." Gabriela then said something about how she doesn't like big cities for that reason, creepy people. That's when some girls started talking about us in German. I don't speak a word of German and I could tell they were talking about us so Gabriela turned to them and shocked them by speaking fluent German to them. I was glad she could put them in their place haha. Since the creeper kept hovering, we thought it best to switch cars at the next stop to avoid him. As soon as we switched cars, we walked from one awkward situation to another one. There was a homeless man crawling around on the floor and mumbling incoherent German. I couldn't help but laugh at our misfortune because we tried to get away from one thing and walked straight into another. Luckily, nothing amounted from either situation. After only getting 4 & 1/2 hours of sleep, it was back to the airport to head back to France. I was sad to have to say goodbye to Gabriela again but I knew she would be coming to visit me soon enough in Lille so it made it a little easier. My flight was a breeze, as I slept the whole time, but the train to Lille from Paris was a different story. I already had to wait 2 hours after I landed to catch my train and then it was delayed an hour. I was not impressed. It was nice to finally get back to my room so I could go to bed. Although I wanted to stay, France is much warmer than Austria, so I was happy for that upon my return!

Bisous!

In (and out of) Bruges

Hallo iedereen! Bonjour a tous! Hello everyone! So this weekend was my first fin de semaine leaving the country and what better place to start traveling Europe than Belgium?! Due to the fact that it's only an hour and a half away to get to Bruges, it made for a perfect one night getaway. Driving an hour and a half away from Tatamagouche ALMOST gets you to Halifax. Here, it can get you to another country. Europe is wonderful. Saturday morning myself and two other Canadian girls went to Lille Flandres to buy our weekend passes. Upon buying my ticket, I came to discover that it would only cost 20 euros to go there and back. Crazy! 20 euros, another country... deal! The train ride was nice and short and we got to see a more rural side of France and Belgium. Some was nice, some not so much. Once we got to Bruges we hopped on a bus and asked the bus driver if he spoke English and if he could help us. He replied "English, French, Spanish, you name it!" It's so amazing to me that so many people in Europe can speak multiple languages. I would be happy if I could fluently speak French, let alone four different languages! I guess with the different lifestyles and close proximity, it's only natural. It took us approximately 15 mins to reach our stop and when we did, there were two girls from Argentina who were going to the same hostel, so we found it together. I was actually really surprised at the shape the hostel was in. It was my first experience staying in one and I wasn't disappointed. We shared a room with an American, three Australians, and two Brazilians. After checking in and getting ourselves situated, we took out our map and made our way to the centre of Bruges. We ran into the girls from Argentina again so we decided to explore and take pictures together. I couldn't (and still can't) believe how beautiful Bruges is. It is an adorable city. The cobblestone roads, gable roofs, old architecture, and canals made for an extremely picturesque place. After wandering around and looking touristy (which was what the majority of the people in Bruges looked like), we decided it was time to get something to eat. After passing multiple tourist traps, we decided on a little stand that had hot dogs, burgers, and fries. The three of us got fries which were delicious! They come with different sauce options too. So good! We then made our way back to the hostel so we could meet the three other Canadians, an English girl, and a Hungarian guy who drove into Bruges. Once we met them, the eight of us decided to take the free 2 hour tour that the hostel provides. During the tour, we learned about the old buildings, where they shot scenes from the movie "In Bruges," where to eat, some history, etc. It was a great way to learn about the city. We also stopped at a bar called Druid's Cellar for about 20 minutes so everyone could have a drink. Most people opted for a beer that you could only get at that bar but I was unsure as to what to get as I am not a beer fan. Due to the fact that we were in Belgium, I felt like I couldn't not get a beer, so I asked the tour guide and he suggested a cherry beer. To my surprise, I actually liked it and drank it all. I'm thinking I could handle it because it only has a hint of the beer taste haha. Hey, at least I can say I had a beer in Belgium! Once the tour dispersed and we thanked our tour guide, we decided to head to another bar. As there was no room at the bar that carried an 12% beer, we just went to one with enough room to fit eight people. After a few drinks, we tried the first bar again but it had closed. The boys in the group decided to go for walk around but the girls decided we were too cold to walk (it was freezing the WHOLE time) and we went back to the hostel. In the morning we all got up and took off in search of a good waffle place. Gotta have a waffle if you're in Belgium! I ordered a waffle with fresh strawberries and a hot chocolate. It was expensive, but so worth it. Next we walked around the city to sightsee and take more pictures. We also got to see Michaelangelo's Madonna and Child, the only piece that left Italy after his death. It was smaller than I expected but the detail was amazing! It was awesome to see a piece of history. After that we walked around in search of the only brewery in Bruges - "De Haalve Man," which translates to the half moon. We just missed a tour so we thought it would be a good idea to go get some Belgian chocolate while we waited for the next one in an hour. I bought two little chocolates for 1 euro. I forget what was in them but they were delicious. One was in the shape of a mouse so I of course got that one, regardless of what it was filled with. We then walked back to the brewery for a 45 minute tour. Again, I am not a beer fan, so my favourite part of the tour was when we stood on the roof of the building and got a stunning panoramic view of Bruges. Our last stop of the day was to see the windmills. It was around 5pm when we decided to was time to head home to Lille. Luckily, Bruges isn't a big city so we were able to walk around and basically see everything in two days. It's a great city to go to first if you don't have a lot of travel experience (like me). It's a good way to get into the swing of things. We parted ways with the five who came in the car and took the bus back to the train station. We got there in time for the next train that was due to leave in 15 minutes. Because the names were all in Dutch, we had to ask someone at information for help. We were getting fries again when we realized she said something about switching trains but we didn't quite catch it. We got back in a different line and asked a man for the details and he said we didn't have to switch trains, so we boarded our train ready for the hour and a half journey home. The expected hour and a half turned into 3 hours. Something wasn't right, all the signs were still in Dutch. One of the other Canadian girls took out her map and discovered we had travelled all the way to Brussels and we were on our way back to Bruges again. Awesome. We decided it would be best if we got off in Ghent and try to catch another train to Lille. We unfortunately missed the train which normally wouldn't have been a problem because they don't stop until midnight but it was just our luck that the transportation in all of Belgium was going on strike from 10pm that night until January 31st. Double awesome. Our only options were to spend two nights in Ghent and get a train after the strike OR take an expensive cab to Lille. The first option would have been impossible because there was a huge festival taking place in Ghent. We never would have been able to find accommodations on such short notice. We also figured that spending two more nights would have been more expensive than splitting a cab ride three ways so, we chose the latter. We asked how much it would cost to get to Lille and the cab driver said he could do it for 120 euros. One of the Canadians, impressively, got him to take us for 100 euros. Our cheap weekend ended up costly much more than expected but at least we were getting to go home. After arriving in Lille we thanked the cab driver and decided to take the metro to residence instead of walking the 25 minutes because at this point, we were exhausted. At the end of the day, I figured that at least we got to experience something going wrong and know that we could handle it. Better to stay on the sunny side of the adventure than dwell on the mishaps of the trip. Overall, it was a wonderful weekend. I can't wait for my next trip which just so happens to be Austria! Yay! 

Afscheid, au revoir, and goodbye :)

Ps, sorry for the novel of a post!

Fallen Empires

Salut mon amis! This past Friday was my first night going out with only French people and it was an absolute blast. One of my classmates messaged me to hang out with her and some of the other girls in the class for the night. I of course said yes. Before going out to three different bars, I went to their place which was less than a minute walk from my place. I was nervous about the possibility of not being able to find it easily until I realized how close it was. All of them could speak fluent English which was great as my French is pretty rusty. That, and I am nervous to speak the French I do know. I plan on getting over that by the end of the month! After some great hospitality, we drove to the area where all the bars are. Let me just say, I don't know how people here manage to squeeze their cars into such tiny spaces. I don't know if I could ever drive here. I guess if I plan on living in France someday, that's probably something I would have to get used to. The first bar we went to was called Magnum. It was ridiculously crowded. We didn't stay long there because we were approached and told that we had to have a drink if we were going to stay. Next was Le National, a club with several stages, grey goose decor, and dark red velvet couches. To my surprise, the girls informed me that at this particular bar on Fridays, they serve women free champagne until 2am. Good strategy to get both guys and girls to come to the club. After having some champagne and dancing a lot, we moved on to Smile, one of the most popular clubs in Lille. Like Magnum, Smile was very crowded, but still a great deal of fun! There was a mix of French and English music which I really enjoyed. The selection of English music was both interesting and awesome. The songs varied from a Grease medley to The Beatles. I didn't know any of the French songs but I improvised. The girls told me that when they are singing along to an English song and they don't know the words, they just sort of hum along and make up the words. They compare it to eating yogurt because when you try to speak while eating yogurt, your words are unclear. I found the comparison both clever and hilarious. So, as the French songs were playing, I was the one who sounded like I was eating yogurt. I did, however, learn the chorus to one song that went "je ne suis pas un heros." I enjoyed trying to learn the lyrics :) At around 2:30/3am, we decided to call it a night and walked home. Saturday I spent the day relaxing and watching movies. On Sunday, I took my second ever trip to the Wazemmes open air market. This time I bought carrots, strawberries, and apples. After about a half hour of pushing my way through the crowds, I was getting overwhelmed so I decided to head back to my room. The market is great to get a rotisserie chicken or fresh produce but it can be stressful due to the vast amounts of people. Today, Monday, I had my first class at l'Universite Catholqiue de Lille or, the "Catho" - business negotiation. It was almost as thrilling as the name! It was basically a 2 hour class of fill in the blanks and matching business terms with their definitions. At least it will be an easy exam, j'espere! After class I got a delicious sandwich avec jambon, fromage, et cruditees (lettuce, tomatoes, and egg), a coke, and a pain au chocolat for dessert. I had a meeting at ISTC to arrange to extend my visa at 2pm and then I went to Carrefour for some groceries. I still find grocery shopping here pretty interesting, I mean, there's a whole isle devoted to cheese. How does one choose!? I have class again tomorrow (another early morning to look forward to...) but other than that there isn't much planned for the week. Guess I'll just play it by ear :)

Bonsoir a tous! 

Burgundy Pants!

Alright, so I have finally figured out my courses! I am now taking four courses at ISTC - communication internationale, communication interne, mecenat et sponsoring, and communcation et development durable, two courses at l'Universite Catholique de Lille - buisness negotiation, and intercultural communication, AND I'm taking the distance course "Love" from the Mount. Phew, glad to have that all sorted out! Since my "les soldes"post, I haven't been doing too much. I had a really relaxed weekend that consisted of sleeping and eating. I was going to go to the market on Sunday but when my alarm went off, I really didn't feel like getting up. Later on in the day I realized that I should have gone to get some food because there really isn't much open on Sundays. I survived though! On Monday I went to Carrefour to get some groceries. One thing I was sure to pick up was honey nut cheerios. Since I've come here, I've been so addicted to them. They taste different than they do at home. I love them in Canada too but they taste better here in my opinion. Another thing I've been eating a lot of is bread with nutella. Now I know I can do this at home too but the bread is sooo much better here. Absolutely delicious! On Tuesday I had my second class since I got here but this time it did not go by as fast. Halfway through I got extremely bored and just wanted to take a nap. Good thing I only had one class this week! That night I went out with some friends to the bar, Les Pirates. We ran there because we only had 5 minutes before happy hour ended. We arrived just in time to order the 2 euro 50 "jupiler" beer. I was feeling adventurous so I decided to get one. An hour and a half into the night and I was still only about 1/4 way through my beer. Looks like I'm not even going to be able to make myself like beer in France. After Les Pirates we went to a friends place for a few drinks. I ended up getting back to my room around 2:30am or 3am. I was one of the ones who left "early" too. There are two other Canadian girls who live in my residence so it's nice to have someone to walk back with late at night as I've heard it is not safe to walk alone after dark here. On Wednesday, there was a mixer for students in my year at ISTC. I got to meet a lot of nice people who were extremely welcoming. We all walked to a bar called "La Pearl" and had a few drinks. I settled for a coke of course. It was really nice to socialize with my classmates because I have only really met two of them officially. They introduced me to "saucisson," which dry sausage. It was so delicious! Today I woke up fairly late and took my time getting ready for the day. I didn't have anywhere I needed to be so I decided to go check out some stores around Grand Place. I got some postcards (which I plan on sending once I find where to do that haha), a shirt, and a pair of burgundy pants! I've been eyeing them since I got here and I finally bought a pair. I'm really happy with them :) I AGAIN found a jacket that I would have loved to buy but AGAIN, it wasn't in my size. It was the perfect style, color, and it was only 50 euros with 50% off! I'm sure I'll find what I'm looking for eventually. Tonight, I am taking it easy and catching up on some shows. I think tomorrow a bunch of us are going out so I'm going to need my sleep!

A la prochaine!

LES SOLDES!

Still in the process of figuring out my courses. ISTC is seeing if I can take courses at l'Universite Catholique de Lille. If that's not possible, then I am probably going to take distance courses from the Mount. Everything happens for a reason, so I am just trying to go with the flow! In other news, I spent a good 4 hours at Euralille, a mall here, today. Since today was the start of the "solde," there were SO. MANY. PEOPLE. I think I spent the majority of my time in a line. There were some crazy sales too. For the most part, it seemed to be 30-50% off (as I mentioned in my last post) but some places had up to 80% off. I ended up buying 4 shirts, 2 scarves, and a pair of sneakers. I still want to buy a bag/purse, boots, a Lille football (changed my lingo while here) jersey, and a jacket. I found the most amazing jacket that was exactly what I had been looking for but the only sizes left were small and large. Sad. I'm hoping I can find a similar one elsewhere. I'm sure I'll be able to find one seeing as I will now be here until the end of May/beginning of June. I guess I should explain that. So I could get more credits here, I had to sign up for a course that has an exam at the end of May so I'll be staying even longer! Both exciting and sad as I absolutely love France but I miss my friends and family. Now, back to the mall. Not only was I having fun shopping the sales, but I was having fun people watching too. Everyone is so fashionable here... well, almost everyone! I got a lot of ideas for things I wanted to buy from people I have seen since I have been here. Everyone at school is really fashionable too. I don't think anyone here would ever be caught dead wearing jogging pants to school. At exam time, the Mount tends to be a sea of people in sweats. I didn't bring a single pair of sweats but I'm still scared I look like a slob haha. Tomorrow I am going to meet up with a girl who went to high school with my friend from the Mount! Small world!

Au revoir!

Premier jour de classe - first day of class

Just as the title of this post says, today was my first day of class - communication internationale. It was a lot different than I expected. In orientation, international students were told that in class, barely anyone speaks. This was not the case for my class. I guess I'm not in typical French classes though. ISTC is a private school and I am taking classes in English so perhaps that is why it was different. It was a 3 hour long class but it went by pretty quickly. A girl who did an exchange at the Mount last semester was in my class which was a nice surprise. It was great to see someone I knew and to have someone who could introduce me to other people. We started class off with a little multiple choice quiz to see how much we knew about other cultures. Due to the fact that I was the only one in the room who had English as their first language, I was the first one done. The professor came up to me and asked if I was finished and I said yes. When it was time to answer the questions, I was the first person she called on. She said she wanted "the girl who was done forever" to go... embarrassing. Guess I dove into class head first! After the first hour and a half of class we took a break and another girl came up to me and introduced herself. She was extremely nice and she told me she liked my accent haha. She said that at first she thought I was American but the more I spoke, the more she could tell I was from Canada. After class I went to lunch with the girl who went to the Mount and her friend. We just got something to go and went to her apartment. They spoke both French and English around me but I was too nervous to speak French to them. I need to get over that soon if I want to learn! The other girls had class at 2pm so we parted ways and I went back to my room to take a nap or "faire une sieste" (one of the new phrases I have learned here). Tomorrow I have a lot to sort out with my courses because I found out 1 course here does not equal 1 course at home. I may only be able to get a half a credit while here because they don't offer many courses in English this semester and my French isn't nearly good enough to pass a course in it. Wah wah. I hope I can get more than half a credit! I guess I'll figure it all out tomorrow when I meet with someone from ISTC. After I've sorted all that out I'm going to do some retail therapy at the mall during "la solde." La solde is basically a huge sale that only happens twice a year. Everything is going to be 30-50% off I guess! I definitely need some clothes because I packed so lightly. Let's hope I don't get crushed by the crowds!

A bientot!

"2am! THAT'S when we're going OUT?"

I've been here just over a week. Crazy, huh? Since my last post I've been pretty busy. I spent a lot of the week exploring Lille even more and I must say, I love it here. It's such a cute city and I love the lifestyle. I may just be in my "honeymoon" phase but I really am enjoying myself! On Thursday I went to an orientation for international students at the Universite Catholique de Lille. It was three hours long but it was a good way to meet other international students. There were students from everywhere - Canada, America, Norway, South Korea, India, etc. It was neat to see the levels of french that people had and to see that there were other people in the same boat as me. Unfortunately, I was the only international student there who is going to ISTC. I'm fairly certain that there is only two of us this semester (me and a guy from Quebec). I think I'll find out for sure on Tuesday when my classes start, je ne sais pas! After the orientation, me, two people from Alberta, a guy from Quebec, and a guy from Hungary all went sort their French phones out and then we went to a little cafe for supper. It was the first day that it was rainy AND windy. It was SO cold but the rain didn't last long. On Friday I slept in as I had nothing planned and then me and 3 other Canadians went to a house party. At the Universite Catholique de Lille, they set international students up with a French "buddy"who can show them around and help them out with whatever they need. Since they don't do this at ISTC, the other Canadians invited me along so I could get to know some more people. I was nervous going to the party because I was scared that everyone would only be speaking French. Luckily for me, it was a mix of both French and English. Everyone was extremely nice. There were people from France, Canada, Hungary, Korea, Belgium, England, and Slovakia. Whenever someone has a party here, each person brings something to drink and then everyone just ends up sharing it all which is nice. I stood around and talked to many different people for about 4 hours when it was time to go home... or so I thought. To my surprise, I found out that 2am is generally when people go out to the clubs here. At home, we usually get together around 9pm and are back in bed by 2 or 3am (generally). Here, that's just when everyone is getting started! We ended up going to a club called Smile, but me and the other Canadians only stayed for about 15-20 min because we were exhausted. For the most part, you don't have to pay cover here so we didn't feel too bad about leaving so soon. One girl from Alberta lives in the same residence as me so we walked back home together and when we got back into residence there was a group of people in the foyer. We asked them if they were just getting in but, of course, they were just heading out. I'm going to have to get used to the late nights here. Looks like I'll be napping after supper until 9pm haha. On Saturday, I met up with two Albertans. We had lunch and then walked around Vieux Lille. It is so cute! It has all cobblestone streets and old buildings, it makes for great walking and great for window shopping! After that we met up with another girl from Alberta, a guy from Belgium, and a girl from England to have some McDonalds (weird choice, I know). We then decided to go to a bar called "Les Pirates." During the happy hour for beer, you can get a large glass for beer for 2 euro 50 and for the "aquarium" happy hour, you can buy a fish bowl (literally) for 15 euros. It's nuts. There ended up being a big group of us there from Canada, Belgium, England, France, Korea, and Hungary. At around 1:15am we decided to call it a night, which was early for a lot of people. Today, me, two other Canadians, and a girl from England went to the market they have here 3 times a week. You can pretty much buy anything at this market, it was a lot different than I imagined. There were fresh vegetables, toiletries, blankets, clothes, shoes, craft supplies, etc. You could buy stuff to make at home or to eat there. I bought a baguette, some potatoes, and naan bread with melted chocolate in it. Yum! For the rest of the day I spent my time napping and watching movies. It was nice to have some down time after two late nights. This week should be good because I have my first day of class and there is a HUGE sale on everything here on Wednesday, I can't wait! More details soon!

Bisous!    

‎"Give me a break, you're on a 4 month blessed vacation!! Get a job you bum!!"

Bonjour a tous! Last night was my first night sleeping in residence and it went well! It's a super quiet building (so far) which is nice. I let myself sleep in today because yesterday took a lot out of me. When I did get up I got ready for the day and took off to ISTC to meet an advisor so I could chose my courses. Once I found where I was supposed to be, I waited around for about an hour and a half. Everything shuts down and everybody takes off for an hour or two at lunch. That, and no one is really all that punctual. If I didn't know this before, it was certainly confirmed today. When the advisor got to his office, we starting speaking in French. It quickly turned into English as I have a lot to learn still! We ended up narrowing my schedule down to the three courses that I need. Much to my surprise, I learned that I basically have February and April free, and a good chunk of March! I see traveling in my future! The school system works differently here. If you were to take 3 courses at the Mount, you'd be taking 3 half credits, going to those 3 classes twice a week, and be going from the start of the semester till the end. Here, I am taking 3 courses but because professors come from all over the world, sometimes they have to cram a course into 3 days! Luckily for me, I am taking a course that lasts 4 weeks, a course that lasts 3 days, and a course that last 2 days. Each course is a certain number of hours so I could be at the school for an hour a day or from 8:30am - 6pm, it all depends! My first course doesn't start until January 10th so I am going to explore the city more and look into getting a job tutoring English or working at an Irish pub that hires international students who are here for short periods of time. We shall see :) After choosing my courses, the advisor showed me around the school. It's really small but I like it a lot! I think it's going to be an awesome experience! When I was done at the school I went to a store called Carrefour. It's basically like a Walmart, only bigger. There I bought a pot, a pan, dishes, some food, and a pillow. Carrying all that back to residence was not fun as it's about a 20 - 25 minute walk. I made it work though! On the way I walked past a woman walking a tiny dog with a fur jacket on. It was both adorable and hilarious. After dropping all my stuff off in my room I went to another grocery store to stock up. I love how different it is here. It makes you really stop and look at what you're buying. I ended up getting about 20 dollars worth of groceries for 6 euros! Food is SO cheap here, I love it. I'm off to go eat now though because 1 - I am hungry and 2 - all the lights in the hallways are timed so as I sit here, writing, I have to keep getting up to turn the light back on so I'm not sitting here in the dark haha. Good thing they're not like that in the rooms and bathrooms!

Adieu!

New home for the next 4 months

Last night was a prime example of how jet lag can really mess with you. I went to sleep around 11:30pm or 12am and then BAM, I was wide awake at 3am. There was no going back to sleep for me. I may have gotten another hour before getting up for the day but it was not much of a sleep at all. I got up at 8:30am to have breakfast which consisted of pain au chocolat (yum!) and yogurt, then I went back to my room in the hotel to pack up. Once I checked out I grabbed a cab which took me into the centre of the city. There, I got insurance for my residence room and then went to get my keys at the housing office. I was lost for a bit but I managed to find my way around with the help of a kind French woman. I was pretty impressed with the fact that I accomplished everything all while speaking french! Next it was time to find my residence, so off I went with my huge suitcases which took up a good chunk of the sidewalk. When I arrived at my residence there were two cleaning ladies who gave me my keys, showed me my room, and showed me around the residence. The building is quite old and nothing like the residences at the Mount. Instead of being on a campus, residences are scattered all around the city and different schools use them, not just one. There's no wifi in the bedrooms but I am close enough that I can get a weak signal. There are one or two bathrooms and showers for each floor and a lot of people share them. There is a room where they serve breakfast in the mornings and a kitchen where you can cook the rest of your meals. There is also the option to buy tickets for the cafeteria located down the street. It was all a bit overwhelming, I think the reality of being here really sunk in today. It's amazing but a little intimidating when you can only speak some of the language. It's much different than home but I'm embracing it! When being showed where and how to use the wifi, I met another Canadian. It was really nice to have someone to speak English to for a bit and to explain things to me. He told me that he was going to meet another Canadian at the train station and asked if I wanted to come for a tour on the way. I of course said yes because I was not going to pass up the opportunity for someone who knew what they were doing to show me around. We left at 2:30pm and walked toward the train stations. Along the way he showed me where the market takes place, the shops to go to, the mall, where to avoid, and La Grand-Place (probably the most photographed place in Lille) where there was a huge ferris wheel. All the old buildings were really beautiful so I acted like the tourist I am and took lots of pictures. Once we arrived at the train station, we were surprised to see we missed the other Canadian, so plan b was to go to the housing office to see if we could find him. After checking the building, we went outside to wait when we saw him crossing the street. Lucky that we spotted him! The rest of the afternoon/evening was spent touring around and eating (yes, this means more baguette). After supper we all parted ways and I unpacked my room now I'm just chilling. I'm thinking an early night is in order!

A tout a l'heure! 

In France at last!

So my life in France has begun! I am so excited! Luckily, my visa arrived on December 28th so I left on Friday, December 30th, as planned. I flew from Halifax to Montreal then from Montreal to Paris with no problems what-so-ever! The whole process felt so quick (despite it being around 13 hours). When I got to Charles De Gaulles one of my best friends, Morgan, was there to meet me. It was wonderful to see her for three reasons: 1- it had been 6 months since I had last seen her, 2 - it was nice to see a familiar face, and 3 - she was able to show me the ropes! After an excited greeting, we took the metro to Gare du Nord, a train station in Paris. There I bought my train ticket for a few hours later then it was off to eat and hang around Paris! We went to a cafe just outside of the train station where I got to enjoy a ham and cheese sandwich on baguette. Delicious! After that Morgan helped me get a french phone (can't be without communication for long haha). Next, it was time to walk around Paris. We walked around the area where the cabaret Moulin Rouge is located. I also got a glimpse of Sacre-Coeur, one of the most beautiful sights in the world in my opinion. Because it was a little rainy out, we decided to sit inside a cafe across from Moulin Rouge to have a hot chocolate. It was soon time to make our way back to the train station so I could catch my train. Morgan walked me to my train and helped me with my luggage then we said our goodbyes. By this point, the jet lag was beginning to set in so I was looking forward to a nice, quiet, hour-long train ride to Lille. Unfortunately, quiet was not what I got. Just before the train was about to leave, two guys sat behind me and for almost the WHOLE train ride, they were barking and making fart noises. I was not impressed. Good thing it was only an hour long! Getting off the train and finding a taxi was easy as well. It took about 15 min to get to my hotel which is good because I was SO tired. Once in my room, I threw my stuff down and got online so I was able to tell people that I arrived safe and sound. I then slept for a few hours but then woke up at 11:30pm (oddly enough). I guess France wanted me to be awake to bring in the new year! I had planned on getting up early this morning but my ear plugs and jet lagged body had other ideas. I slept till 12:30, which was needed. When I was ready for the day I went downstairs to get a map of Lille and then took off to explore. People in France take their holidays a little more seriously so there wasn't much open. I walked around for about an hour until I found a place to buy a baguette and something to drink. I then walked back to my hotel because it was rainy and nothing else was open. The rest of my day was spent relaxing and watching some French TV. Tomorrow I get to meet people from ISTC, my new school, and move into my room in residence! Can't wait!

A bientot!