the times they are a-changin’

It’s been a while since I have posted and I’ll admit it sometimes seems like an ominous task so I may have been avoiding it a little bit. I am not going to go into a ton of details about my spring break trip (right now), but I will highlight a few parts of it.

Nice: Carnaval

Starting in Nice, we got to wear masks and run through streets of confetti and silly string…what could be better? Our hostel was incredible. It had good, cheap food, little prince decorations, and a friendly group of New Zealanders for their staff. They also offered a shuttle service and gave us a lot of recommendations for what we could do with our weekend. We ended up going to Monaco for a day trip, which was incredible and makes you think you could not possibly live without a yacht as an adult. Our last venture in Nice

Citron Festival

was to a “Citron” festival, where there were massive monuments created solely out of oranges and lemons. It was amusing for about five minutes….then it was just strange and I wanted my ten euros back.

 

After Nice, I travelled alone for eight solid hours, switching between buses, trams, and trains until I finally got to the Swiss Alps. I have to say that Switzerland is by far the most incredible place I have ever been to, visually. As my train was weaving through the snow capped Alps, overlooking clear blue rivers, I was pretty positive I never wanted to leave. My host family’s chateau was absolutely adorable and I could not have asked for better treatment. Even though I have lived with them already for over two and a half months, they still treat me like I am the guest of honor all the time. I had two days of skiing lessons with a German instructor named Claude and can officially say, I am a terrible skier. Although I enjoyed having the opportunity to

view from the balcony

ski in the Alps, I ended up being totally freaked out by the idea of flying down a mountain at high speeds and the lessons involved a lot of me refusing to move until Claude shoved me down the slope… I also got to meet their two adorable grandchildren, who could not have been sweeter. We watched disney movies together in French and I finally understood what was going on(maybe because I already had the words memorized?). The food was incredible, as would be expected… We had cheese fondue with potatoes and then different wines and swiss chocolates every night plus delicious swiss hot chocolate on the slopes. Maybe I was just exhausted and freezing but their hot chocolate was by far the best I have ever had. It might be one of the few things I bring home with me on the plane because I know I will miss it.

 

After the Alps, I had a little bit shorter of a trip home to Lyon and immediately passed out for a solid three hour nap and then woke up to replace skiing clothes with normal outfits for London. Since I was flying, I had to pack less since you have to pay for every piece of baggage but Annie and I managed to stuff all of

london!!

our things into one suitcase and a backpack. We had an amazing time in London thanks to Annie’s friend who was studying there and took us out every night. The morning markets there were incredible, mostly because of the food. We got to have chipotle, pad thai, and delicious home-cooked meals made by Annie’s friend. I really wish Lyon would get on board with the market thing….our markets are mostly fruit and cheese… London’s had all different types of food plus really cool jewelry and clothing. We also got to go shopping in Top Shop and Anthro which don’t exist in Lyon so that was a nice treat. Overall, I was totally in love with London and wished I had more time there.

 

On Monday morning, we flew to Paris, where we met up with three of Annie’s guy friends from UVA, who had flown over for their spring break. It was a great group and we had a great time just wandering around Paris, with no real plan at all. We ended up sitting at Montmartre for a few hours just listening to people play music and put on shows for the crowds. While we were there, a group of men all dressed in black came up to the top of the hill, surrounding another person. It was clearly a group of body guards so we were all very curious to see who they were protecting. A mass of people hurried over and were taking pictures of this person but when we finally saw his face, none of us recognized him sadly. Later that night, we were sitting outside of Moulin Rouge and a bus pulled up in front of us with an ad

Montmartre!

for an upcoming film and that guy’s face was the main part of the ad! We had seen some sort of huge french celebrity but not been informed enough to realize it… Overall, Paris was a great time and much more relaxed than the last time we went there.

 

Since our train was going to be leaving so early on Wednesday morning for Amsterdam, we thought it would be a good idea to stay up until we left… I’m not sure who came up with that idea but it turned out to be insane and I fell asleep about thirty minutes before we were supposed to leave. Luckily it was a long ride so we were able to catch up on some sleep on the way there. At this point, I think my body was super confused about what day/time it was all the time. All the travelling had totally thrown off my sleep schedule because we basically just slept whenever we were on trains or planes and then would stay out late and wake up early, it was a rough time.

We got to Amsterdam a little before noon and made it to our hostel quickly. When we walked in, we were standing in the main entrance when I heard someone call my name and I looked up to see a group of Tridelts sitting at the bar in this hostel. Such a weird coincidence that we were all in Amsterdam and in the same hostel… There was a group of students who were

amsterdam

studying in Florence that took a trip together and were all staying there so we ended up just all going together to the Van Gogh museum, after visiting the infamous coffee shops. Of course while we were there, we walked through the red light district, which was as disturbing as it would seem. We also went to the Anne Frank house while we were there and then spent the rest of our time sleeping or binge eating. There were canals, lined with colorful boats, on every other street which made for a really charming atmosphere but I don’t think I could have spent much more time there. Great place to go for a weekend though.

 

After that we headed back to Paris on another long train ride. As would be expected, my body had decided that it had had enough of this weird sleeping schedule and overall brutality so I woke up that morning extremely sick. I felt awful the whole day and was so sad because this was the day I got to see Laura and I was too sick to want to do anything. After I met up with Laura, her mom, and her cousin at their hotel, we went out to dinner. The company was great but I could barely eat so I ended up calling it a night after dinner and we didn’t get to have the full blown reunion that I had anticipated but I was so glad to be in my bed when I finally made it back to the hostel. It was the boys’ last night so we all said goodbye and then I did my best to sleep through my coughing and quick temperature changes.

The next morning, Annie and I woke up early and left for the train station, both sick as dogs, and barely made it to the train station before our train left. In fact, even though we made it there on time, our train still left without us. We had already experienced this once on our way to Nice and it was a pretty easy fix because we were able to just have the original ticket price put towards the new price but sadly these tickets were non refundable and we had to pay full price for the next train to Lyon. It was a miserable realisation but we were definitely ready to get home at this point so there was no other option. After about a two hour wait in the station, it was time for us to load up and pass out until we reached Lyon.

When I got home, I got immediately into my bed and probably didn’t wake up for 12 more hours. The next morning, I woke up with a high fever and nausea and I knew I was doomed. I had the flu (or something like it) for all of last week and didn’t

early morning view off the balcony!

make it to a single class. So I didn’t go to school for 24 days in a row… weird. Unfortunately it meant that when I showed up to class this week, I ended up with several surprise midterms. I have absolutely no idea how to gage my grade in any of my classes because I have yet to receive back a graded assignment and I actually don’t know if I have even had one yet. Going back to UVA this fall is going to be a bit of a shock work-wise.

In more current news, my host sister left this morning to move to New York for 7 months. I’m sad to see her go! It will be lonely not to have anyone on my side of the flat. Still not sure who I am supposed to call from now on when I am locked out of the apartment… This could be an issue. Alsoo it is finally warm here! It’s unbelievable how much the city has transformed in the past couple of weeks. People are all over the place now, having picnics, running, rollerblading, and playing music in the streets. It has given me a whole new appreciation for the city and I couldn’t be happier here.

 

love me some paddleboating

Today it was in the high 60s and Annie and I walked to the zoo and then rented paddle boats and boated around the big lake there for a while. It was soo nice out and we had a great time just walking along the river and finally getting some sun. I tried to wear shorts yesterday but I’m pretty sure my skin is basically see-through it is so pale because I saw several people staring in disbelief at the whiteness. I think I’m going to wait a while before breaking those out again… But tonight I met up with a group of girls in the UVA program and we all ate dinner on the side of the river, surrounded by groups of french people doing the exact same thing. I am absolutely in lovee with this city now that it’s warm. Also when I came home tonight, there were fireworks going off of the bridge near my house so that was a great way to end the day.

 

Unfortunately I have to work on some actual school work now but I miss everyone! Get on skype moree. Love from Lyon!

first snow fall

Despite the progression of my illness, I decided to go out last night just to meet up with friends in a cafe and hang out for a little bit. One of my friends said she had been dying to try “vin chaud” or hot wine, ever since we saw a sign for it last week.

cinnamon, spice, and everything nice

Although I was totally grossed out by the concept, she went for it and wouldn’t stop raving about it. After she passed it around the table to my friends who weren’t a risk of germs, it was agreed upon that the best way to describe it was “liquid blackberry cobbler.” Naturally, after that description, I was pretty sure that would be the remedy to a sore throat, so we ordered another round and stayed at the café until the warm red wine started to kick in and we got sleepy.

This morning I woke up early (11:00 am) and walked over to the University to sign myself up for an upcoming group trip to the Loire region of France. Sadly, this is not the Loire Valley, where there are an abundance of ancient castles, but a smaller part of the Loire where we will be visiting a fromagerie (cheese shop), having a picnic, and walking around looking at the sights with our group. A lot of the students in our program have signed up for this day trip and we are excited for our first chance to travel, even if it is a short day trip.

After sign up, I met up with Sydney and Annie to get lunch at a bagel place near the Rhône. It was basically a mix of Dunkin Doughnuts and Einsteins and I was pretty excited that we found a place that gives normal portion size for less than 10 euros. I guess the French aren’t too fond of bagels…or restaurants that look American, because we were the only customers for the majority of our lunch.

Once all the bagel sandwiches were finished, we headed off in search of the Musée De Beaux Arts, which is within walking distance of our homes. After about 20 minutes, we had reached our destination and headed inside. The museum doesn’t charge anyone under 26 so we checked our coats and began looking at the exhibits.

First we found an exhibit of 19th century sculptures which was incredible. It was also fun to read the captions on each work, with it’s description or history, in french after having heard the same stories so many times in english.

After the statues, we found the Egyptian exhibit where there was a real mummified head and hand, as well as ancient jewelry

egyptian jewelry

that I would have bought and worn today… Unfortunately, the massive tour group ahead of us filled an entire room and we couldn’t get by so we made a u-turn and headed back to where we came in. A woman stopped us before we made it up the next flight of stairs and asked to see our tickets. Apparently even if you are under 26 you are supposed to pick up your free ticket… So we got booted out since they were about to close in 20 minutes anyways.

On the way home, it started flurrying and then quickly progressed into a steady fall. The flurries here are short and unpredictable with flakes that are so big they look fake. We stopped in Bellecour for a minute and tried to catch a few on our tongues and then realized this might not be normal in France and they probably thought we were lunatics.

Just got home to find ma mère sitting on the couch knitting, as usual, and mon père reading a book, waiting on their student to arrive for her joint tutoring session. They are adorable. I’m obsessed.

I fixed myself some chamomile and had my evening dosage of all the medicines mon père wants me to take. Luckily, cough syrup tastes more like delicious thick tea here than the liquid death it tastes like at home, so it has been easy to go through the motions of killing this cold. But this cup of chamomile just ran out so I’m going to go make another now and then treat myself to a few more glasses of that vin chaud tonight… Love  from Lyon!