Un Thanksgiving Français!

I was a little sad to spend Thanksgiving away from home. In fact, it hardly felt like Thanksgiving at all. I didn't get to fly home to see my family, and I even had to go to class! But all of the EAP students got to go to a big Thanksgiving dinner that the Bordeaux-USA Association put on. It was so much fun! Even though it wasn't the same as being at home with my family, and the French-ified versions of Thanksgiving food were a little weird, I had a really good time hanging out with the other California students and meeting other Americans living here.

It started off (at around 8:30pm, in typical French fashion) with the appéritif, this weird bread that had nuts and ham chunks in it. It was actually pretty good! And I was starving. My friend and I were deceived into drinking some "orange juice" that turned out to be sangria. Zut! Next, there was a crudité salad of carrots, cabbage, and cucumbers... it was a little plain.

                        

Then we got to the main course! It was pretty classic, with turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, and stuffing. They also gave us "sauce aux airelles," which it turns out is not cranberry sauce, but huckleberry sauce! Crazy! And of course there was plenty of wine, which my table again traded away for water.The food was good; it wasn't amazing, but I was just happy to have Thanksgiving dinner at all. I did miss my mom's stuffing though! 

 Next, we had the classic, all-American Camembert cheese course. Wait, what? Your family doesn't do the cheese course?

I was really excited because the menu said we were having pumpkin pie, which is like the best part of Thanksgiving. At home, I even eat it for breakfast!!! Well, I was a little disappointed because it was actually more of a pumpkin tart or something. It had nuts in it and wasn't really the same flavor or consistency as pumpkin pie. But it's the thought that counts!

Of course we ended by drinking coffee at like 11:30 at night. So it was quite the Thanksgiving a la française!

Hope you all had happy Thanksgivings! À bientôt!

La nourriture américaine me manque!

I am really starting to miss food from home! Besides the obvious things, like my parents' cooking, I am craving Goldfish crackers and peanut butter. French people never snack, so there's a very slim selection of crackers here, and there's not even a weird French-ified version of Goldfish. Considering I ate one of these monsters almost by myself in a week and a half around this time last year, I'd say my cravings for Goldfish can get pretty intense. And peanut butter!!! I eat peanut butter almost everyday at home. I just don't understand how French people go without. It's possible to find it here in the foreign food section of the grocery store - yes, one of my nutritional staples is now an oddity from a foreign land - but it's only sold in tiny jars, maybe 1/3 the size of the average American jar, and for like 5 euros a jar. Plus, it's always Skippy or some other sugar-added brand (with American flags on the label to emphasize the foreignness). No all-natural peanut butter! What! So, I think I'm going to try to make my own. It looks easy enough, I just need my host family to let me experiment with their blender...

À bientôt!

Monaco!!!

The view from the train!

Early the next morning, we left to head to the train station to go to Monaco!! The train from Nice to Monaco is only about half an hour, and the ride is beautiful because it goes right along the water. Again, there were no customs, so I guess the stamps on my passport will have to remain figurative.

I would describe Monaco as a cross between France and Disneyland. It's surrounded by France, the language is French, and a lot of French people commute to Monaco to work. Plus they have a bunch of agreements with France, like to use their military if need be, so I think it's almost like France legally too (except for the tax haven thing). But it reminded me of Disneyland because of the meticulous attention to security and cleanliness. Throughout Monaco, there are policemen, guards, and security cameras everywhere. I guess they have to keep the crime rate low so rich people will keep coming and gambling! And everything is super clean - all the streets, buses, shops, etc. Plus, there were guards in funny costumes at the palace!

When we arrived at the Monte Carlo train station, we were immediately struck by how clean it is! Everything is shiny and decoratively lit, and the floor was spotless. There were even a bunch of those moving walkways! However, the one thing lacking at this immaculate train station was maps. And we lacked research. Also, Monte Carlo is built on a hillside, so the streets are all on different levels and very winding. There are literally elevators to take pedestrians from one street to a higher one! So we were a little confused...

We decided to just walk toward the water though, and ended up at a harbor, with tons of fancy yachts. They were, if possible, even bigger and fancier than those in Nice! And then there we were, poor college students wandering around with our backpacks full of yesterday's laundry, wearing free plastic sunglasses... well, motivation to study hard, right?!


We spent a while looking at all the fancy boats and then out at the view of the ocean, which was just as blue as in Nice! It seemed like a darker blue though, which was interesting. But still just as breathtaking! We decided to awkwardly ask passers-by where "les sites touristiques" (tourist sites) were. The first people waved us away and said they only spoke Italian. The second guy laughed at us, but pointed us toward the palace. We didn't catch everything, but the general direction was uphill. Way uphill. I had no idea Nice and Monaco would involve so much hiking! But after Italy, nothing seems all that bad, so my feet were fine.

At the top of the hill is a little square which is the central part of the old town. I would never guess that it was the old town though because everything is so clean and well-maintained. There are two good view points, where you can see all of Monte Carlo, the harbor, and out across the sea. So beautiful! You can also see how dense Monte Carlo is; it looks like the buildings are all on top of each other, the way they stretch up the hillside.

In front of the palace, there are two guard posts, even though there was only actually a guard at one of them. At around 11:40, tons of people started gathering around the front of the palace, so we headed over too to see what was going on - it was the changing of the guard! Except it didn't actually happen until noon, so we ended up watching a lot of "pacing of the guard" and "standing of the guard" and even a little "yawning of the guard." The guys out front were standing up super straight and did the very fancy, stiff official walk whenever they had to go somewhere, but back behind the entrance to the palace, we could see the guards walking around normally with their hats off in and out of their office back there - kind of gave away the illusion!

When the changing of the guard finally did get underway, it was pretty cool to watch. Especially because all the guards were wearing uniforms straight out of a Disney movie! Well, except for the fact that they were all carrying M16 rifles... But they had the hats and the medals and the white gloves and everything! The impeccable cleanliness of their gloves does seem to indicate the level of actual guarding vs. looking official they do. When they're finished with the ceremony, the relieved guards all get in a minivan and drive off - maybe to their guard dorms or something.

Next, we went to the Monaco Cathedral, which was pretty cool. We saw the graves of Grace Kelly and Prince Ranier III. The cathedral was built in 1875, so I didn't find it as interesting as some of the elaborate Gothic-style ones we've seen. It was pretty though, and it was the only cathedral I've seen with cushions on the pews; Monaco is just so fancy!

Then we went to this beautiful landscaped garden, which I guess is pretty normal in Monaco. It had a really pretty view of the cliff side and the ocean, and there was a tourist information spot there! So we finally found some maps! Yay! Then we headed back to the old town to find somewhere to eat. Pasta!

Now that we finally had an actual map, we figured out how to take the bus to the world-famous casinos of Monte Carlo. I must say, even the city buses were sparkling! And that's coming from someone who's been living in France, land o' public transportation, for three months!




The Monte Carlo Casino did not disappoint my expectations of ostentatious displays of wealth. It's surrounded by other luxury casinos and hotels, and a lot of fountains. Out in front, there are a bunch of valets in fancy uniforms parking fancy cars, while not-as-fancy tourists peer in the windows and snap pictures. We went inside too, but there was a 10 euro cover charge to go into the actual gambling part (I assume to keep riffraff tourists like us out), so we just checked out the lobby and the nice bathrooms, which had self-cleaning toilet seats! Crazy!

Next, we took the bus to the Jardin Exotique (Exotic Gardens), which are way up on another hillside. Turns out that what passes for exotic here is what a lot of Californians have in their backyards; basically, it was a ton of cacti. It was still pretty though! And there was an awesome view of the city and the ocean as the sun set. Plus, there was "une grotte" (a grotto/cave) there, which seemed a little random, but we went on a tour of it and saw a lot of stalactites and stalagmites. Lots of stairs! There was also a lot of art there, like this pink lion which I really liked.

Then, sadly, it was time to head back to the train station and back to Nice and then Bordeaux. In between our train to Nice and our train to Bordeaux, we ran to a nearby grocery store to grab sandwiches and cookies for the train ride home. Twelve whole hours!!! I guess this one made even more stops than the one going to Nice. Luckily, I was able to sleep pretty well.

À bientôt! With stories from Portugal! I can't believe I'm getting to travel to all these places!!!

Nice!!!

Last weekend, I went to Nice and Monaco!!! Friday was a holiday, so we left late Thursday night to take a 10-hour train to Nice. When I told my host-mother that we were taking the night train, she asked me if we had gotten couchette seats (like little bunk beds). "Hmm, I don't think so," I said. "Oh, because you really should have." Oops! Anyways, the cheap seats weren't that bad. They were like regular train seats, except you could recline them really far back, and they also had a foot rest that you could pull out. I talked to my friend for about an hour, then went to sleep. I thought I slept rather poorly because I woke up a couple times when I was cold, but some of my friends said they only slept for like an hour. So actually, I guess I slept pretty well!

After brushing our teeth in the basement bathroom of a McDonalds freshening up, we headed over to the beach! NICE'S BEACHES ARE INCREDIBLE. These pictures cannot do justice to how beautiful the beaches are there! Nice is on the Côte d'Azur, and the water was indeed the bluest I have ever seen. The beach is all small, perfectly rounded stones instead of sand, which is really pretty too. They hurt a little to walk on, but it was worth it for the visual! We all rolled up our jeans so we could stand in the Mediterranean. It was cold, but not too too bad!

Sooo blue!

We sat by the water's edge for a while, skipping rocks (or trying to), taking in the view, and deciding where to go next. We settled on walking along the quai, which is the boardwalk along the beach. It was so pretty! There are palm trees and really pretty, very Southern France-style buildings. By which I mean, pastel colored, with shutters and balconies and molding around the windows. There were also a lot of restaurants, and some of them even have tables right on the beach!

Next, we hiked up this huge hill next to the beach to see the view from the top. It was amazing! We could see all across the roofs of Nice, and the expanse of blue sea was incredible! The water is so clear, we could see the rocks under the water even from all the way up there. We could also see the harbor and all the fancy boats. And the weather was beautiful! It was warm and sunny - I even broke out my UCSD sunglasses!

There was also a park up at the top, so we walked around that, and my friend and I climbed to the top of one of those rope-web things. We made sure not to get in the way of any little kids though! Then we had lunch at at a café that was nearby. I finally had a croque-monsieur! (That's a French version of a grilled cheese sandwich, with ham and a lot more cheese.)


Then we walked back down and climbed on some rocks that jutted out into the water, then strolled over to the harbor. There were so many fancy yachts! (Or at least, I thought there were a lot, until I saw Monaco!) We sat on a dock for a while, looking at the boats go by. Then of course, being so close to Italy, I just had to get some gelato again! Not as good as Italy's, but still pretty delicious!

"Ruins" of the Acropolis...

Looking at our map, there were several little tourist spots of interest labeled, with little icons next to them. One of them was the Acropolis, which had a little icon of a yellowish ancient-style type of building that looked like it was falling apart. "Ah, that must be ruins from ancient Nice!" we assumed, clearly revealing how little research we had done before coming. Well, after walking to the "ruins," we discovered that the Acropolis is actually a very modern convention center! With a convention going on! Luckily, that meant it was open so we could go inside and use their bathrooms.  It's still a mystery to me as to why that had that very ruins-y looking symbol next to it though!

Next, we went to the Musée d'Art Moderne et d'Art Contemporain, which was in this really cool building that was like circular, with a courtyard in the middle. The art was really cool! And there was a lot from Niki de Saint Phalle, who made Sun God at UCSD!!! If you don't go to UCSD, Sun God is a huge statue on campus and is pretty much the symbol of UCSD. So it was pretty cool to see a lot of her other work! And Sun God was even mentioned in their timeline of her life! 

You could also go out on the roof of the building, which was really cool and wavy. You could walk all the way around it, and we went out right as the sun was setting, so it was perfect timing! We had a beautiful view of the city of Nice and the ocean, and it was amazing to watch the sunset over it. Too lucky!

Afterwards, we went to the beach to see the lights along the water, and then we walked around a little and ate dinner. We got pizza! The menu at the restaurant was a little confusing, because the price to get a combination of a pizza and a dessert was less than some of the pizzas cost individually. We were all nervous the bill would be much higher than we expected, but luckily it turned out to be correct! And the pizza and ice cream were really good!


That night, we slept at a little hostel near the train station, and got ready to go to Monaco the next day! I wish we could have spent longer in Nice; it was probably the most beautiful city I've ever been too. Everywhere I looked, I almost couldn't believe it was real! If you ever go to France, you absolutely must go to Nice!!


À bientôt, with stories from Monaco and Portugal!

Rome!

We arrived in Rome at like 6:00 a.m. I wasn't as tired as I thought I would be, but I wasn't exactly well-rested either. Plus my feet hurt a lot because I didn't think to take off my shoes on the night train. We went to the hostel to use the bathroom and drop some of our bags off in the luggage storage area (way too early to actually check in to our rooms). Luckily for us, we got to have an extra free breakfast since we were there so early. (Actually we got there before the breakfast even opened!). Yay, more money for gelato!

Feeling slightly refreshed, we decided to do the Vatican that day (Saturday), and the Colosseum the next day (Sunday). We headed to the metro station at the Piazza della Repubblica, which was pretty close to our hostel. The Piazza was huge and beautiful, with a big fountain in the middle. It also featured the Santa Maria degli Angeli church, which was huge! Or I thought it was until I saw the Vatican.

The metro ride to the Vatican was only 10 or 15 minutes, but then you have to walk a ways to get to the actual Vatican. It's not that far, but the whole time we were surrounded by thousands of other tourists and tons of people yelling at us to buy their maps or souvenirs, or telling us how we could get in for free/skip the line/meet the Pope if we just signed up for their very reasonably priced tours.

Anyways, we finally got there (again entering a foreign entity without going through customs), and the Vatican is incredible! The main part is this enormous plaza with a fountain and obelisk in it, and on the right is St. Peter's Basilica, which is amazing. As you can see, there's a huge line to get into it, even at 9:00 a.m. Luckily, it moved pretty fast, and we only had to wait about half an hour. There is a lot of security; they check your bags and you have to walk through a metal detector, and inside there are a lot of guards and nuns walking around.

 St. Peter's Basilica is easily the biggest church I've ever seen, and every inch is amazingly ornate and detailed. There are so many statues and paintings and altars, and there are so many different sections besides the main hall. Even the floor has intricate tile designs on it.

Next, we decided to go to the Sistine Chapel, which I was really excited to see. I hardly know anything about art history, but even I know Michelangelo painted the ceiling! We were a little confused, because you have to go outside and around the main plaza to find the entrance, which is the same as the Vatican Museum entrance. We thought we were only paying to see the Sistine Chapel, but it turns out the tickets are for both. And they really make you work before seeing the Chapel! The Vatican Museum is actually dozens of tiny museums, all attached together, with miles-long hallways in between, and the visit routes make you go through all of it. We quickly realized our mistake in taking the "long itinerary" route, but even though we switched to the "short itinerary" as soon as possible, our fatigue from two days of nonstop walking in Venice plus the night train caught up to us. Eventually, we found a bench, took our shoes off, and rested for like half an hour. It was a little bizarre to be sitting in the middle of this beautiful hallway with a gold-plated ceiling, rubbing our feet and eating granola bars, as we watched a sea of tourists stream by us.

When we finally managed to put our shoes back on, we walked another 20 minutes and eventually got to the Sistine Chapel! I imagined it as a smallish room, with only the ceiling painted, but it's actually a huge room, and the ceiling and the walls are all painted. It's so packed with tourists that you can barely move, and two guards stand in the front yelling alternately "Silence!" and "No photo!" in thick Italian accents every couple minutes. This was not very effective; everyone was loudly fake-whispering, and some people were even holding iPads up over their heads to take photos. At least I was a little more discreet, with the lens-poking-out-of-the pocket move.

Next, we got lunch (spaghetti! gelato!), then saw a couple smaller tourist attractions near the Vatican, and then headed back to finally check in at the hostel and take a nap. And rest our feet!

That night, we went to Palazzo del Freddo, a gelato place that my friend recommended to me. It was amazing! They had so many flavors, and a large enormous cone was only 3 euros. I got dark chocolate, hazelnut, and café flavors, and they put a huge dollop of whipped cream on top! The gelato was so good. I had heard that eating gelato in Italy will ruin all other gelato for you because nothing else will never be as good, and now I totally understand what they were talking about. In fact, we loved it so much, we came back the next night too!

The next morning, we got an early start and went to the most famous monument of all in Rome - the Colosseum! It is indeed pretty amazing. Again, there was an incredible amount of tourists there; we had to wait for over an hour even though it was only 9 a.m. The inside is really impressive. A lot of the Colosseum was destroyed by earthquakes and fires, but what's left is really well-preserved. You can see some of the seats in one section, but everywhere else is mostly the skeleton of what the arena once was. That floor part in the foreground of the photo is a reconstruction of the floor that used to cover all of the bottom of the Colosseum; the hallways underneath were the area beneath the floor, where the gladiators got ready.  On a related note, one nice advantage of learning French was that I could eavesdrop on both French and English language tours! The photos of the Colosseum don't really convey how impressive it was in real life; we could have spent all day taking in the sheer scale of it. But we only had one day left and a lot to pack in, so after a couple hours, we headed off!


The rest of the day was pretty much a quick-see-this-famous-monument-then-that-one-then-one tour of the must-see sights in Rome. We went down the famous street Via del Corso, which cuts down the middle of most of the more famous tourist attractions. We saw the Victor Emmanuel II Monument (very cool), the Pantheon (cool but mobbed by so many tourists we could hardly see it), the Trevi Fountain (huge and very impressive), the Spanish Steps, and ended at the Piazza del Popolo. We somehow managed to climb up the Spanish Steps, despite how tired we were. The view from the top was worth it though, we could see all the way to the Vatican across the city!

Later that night, we went back to the Colosseum to see it all lit up, and then of course back to the gelato place! Then the next morning, we got up super early and took the bus to the airport to fly back to Bordeaux. I wish we could have spent more time in Italy, there was so much to see! I would definitely love to go back some time, to see Venice and Rome again, but also to see all the cities we couldn't make it to, like Pisa, Milan, and Florence. Not to mention all the gelato flavors I didn't have a chance to try...

À bientôt!