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.
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