Skiing/snowshoeing

Well this weekend was awesome and tiring!

Saturday I went to St. Pierre de Chartreuse, a ski resort on the Chartreuse mountain range. We took a bus up about an hour, got our skis, and took the ski lift up. It is huge, there were so many moutnains and hills. There was even a second ski lift to go up after you got to the top, but we didn't go there. We just went for a half day because today I went snowshoing! I am hopefully going to go skiing again on Saturday on a different mountain.

Snowshoeing was awesome, but I am SOOOOO tired and my legs really hurt. I have never been up that high and never seen anything like that. The day started out raining which was a bummer, but by the time we actually got to the top to start walking, the rain had stopped. The sun even popped out a few times. I left my house at 7am and got back at 8pm. Total, we walked from 10:45-5:15...that's a long time! We hiked up some really steep mountains and made it to the top of the Vercors mountain for the most amazing view I've ever seen. We got to see the rest of the mountain range, and all of Grenoble down below...it was SOO COOL! I didn't know what to expect, but I honestly expected to wear rackets on our feet, its a little more modern now which is good:

Because of the rock this mountain is made of, there are little holes throughout the mountain. Because of this, the rain goes through the holes, so there is no source of water at all on this mountian...normally there is a lake or something. Instead, the water goes through the holes and there are caves under the mountain. We saw people with hard hats and lights trying to find caves. They had big sticks and were looking for holes. There is a famous one, Les Grottes (caves) de Choranche, where there is a tour of the caves and it looks really cool, so I am planning on visiting that.

I don't have much else to say about snowshoeing is that it was unlike anything I've ever done (I have never really been in the mountains) and now I am absolutely exhausted! My legs are going to be very sore tomorrow...

These pictures really don't do justice. (the right is a picture of Grenoble)

A demain!

Finally Friday!

Well today was a good week, but it was tiring because of school. I'm glad it is over and next week a new session of classes begins.

Yesterday I went to the debate in English, and it was pretty interesting. It was a good time, wasn't too serious, just students practicing their English. Then we went out to dinner afterward. In France dinners take a long time, we got to the restaurant at about 9:00 pm and I got back just before midnight.

Today was a really fun day of class, it was the last day and the grades were already given, so while we learned we also just talked about interesting things. The Chinese and Mongolian students gave us a little lesson on how to write in their language- very interesting! Also, the girl from Spain made a cake. After class, I went to a discount sporting goods store and bought a pair of boots for snow shoeing on Sunday, which I am doing with the CUEF (my school). I'm really really hoping that we will get to go, but the forecast says its going to rain all day, so we'll see. Tomorrow, for a half a day I'm going skiing with some friends, I'm really excited! Were meeting this afternoon to plan...it should be fun! I have to go soon, because even though skiing season goes into spring here, the snow starts melting on the lower mountains and then you have to go up higher where its icy, only for the good skiers. Hopefully if I enjoy myself I will get the chance to go next weekend as well.

Thats all, I'm looking forward to the weekend.
Miss you all!

Typical Grenoble week

Well, not too much has been going on here except for school. School is getting to be A LOT! Four hours of lanuage class a day is hard for the brain to handle. I have also been catching up from my trip to Nice. This is the last week of my class. I will start a new session next week with some new classmates and probably a new teacher. That will be a good change of pace.

Last night we went to the Grenoble hockey game and it ws very fun! They won 8 to 2 and the crowd really got into it. It was a fun time. I just got home from school and was going to go on a jog with some of the other girls, but on my way home it started pouring...so I think I will be doing my homework this afternoon.

Tomorrow there is a debate of French students in English. They ask for English speaking students to come help out. I'm going, and for the first time I think I'm going to sit in the audience since I really don't know how it works, but that should be interesting. It is a way to meet French students.

Thats all for now, It's just getting very busy at school and I am exhausted! I might go take a nap...

Bonne journee!

Happy Monday

It has been a couple days because I have been without internet- that sucks! I have figured out a temporary way right now to have it.

Je suis très heureuse aujourd’hui (I am very happy today). I had a good class and the weather is absolutely gorgeous! I am sitting out on the balcony writing this right now looking at the mountains. It’s very nice : ) Also, my mom sent me a care package which I received today which consists of a chex mix mix, rice krispie roll-ups and microwave popcorn! THANKS MOM!

Not too much has happened since last time. Saturday it was raining in Lyon, so instead I went to the “gare” (train station) to get a 12-25 pass which gets me discounts on train tickets. Then I went to a café and did homework. That night I went to my Brazilian friend’s apartment. There were two other girls from class though and we met her Brazilian friends who were all very nice! It was a fun night.

Yesterday I ran, sat outside, and did homework all day. There is really nothing to do here on Sundays!

Just all of you in Iowa know, its 63 degrees right now! (feels a little colder with the wind though) I was thinking of walking up to the Bastille, but I went and bought train tickets to Paris, then had to go back to school to pick up hockey tickets, and then I came back here to change and by now it’s getting really windy and appears that it’s going to rain (which is in the forecast), so I think I’m going to stay in and do that on Wednesday. You know how I am about getting stuck in storms. I’ve already done a lot of going back and forth today. Here time for travel takes so much longer. So nothing different is going on except that I’m starting to think of some plans about travel s. Tomorrow I’m going to a hockey game with the AIFS group, and that should be fun. Supposedly hockey is a really big deal here.

Au revoir!

more or Nice!

Well Wednesday it rained ALL DAY! Which was really too bad, but I still had a good day. Early in the morning, Thamilla (friend from Brazil) and I just started walking, waiting to see what the weather did. We went into a couple of shops, but the weather definitely wasn't going to get better so we just went on with our day as planned in the rain.

We were going to head up the a castle on a hill where there is a great view, and on the way we saw the marche aux fleurs (flower market), which is pretty famous and huge. We looked around at the pretty flowers and homemade foods there and it was really cool.

marche aux fleurs

We then went to the top of a hill where there were some archeological remains and a really cool waterfall. It also had one of the prettiest views, although not so much in the rain. It was huge and there were so many places and interesting things to see, we got lost. On our way back we walked through the old village with cute little streets, it was very fun. We went back to the hotel to get ready to see the bataille des fleurs, and found out that it was cancelled because of the rain. This was really too bad, because I don't know if I'll ever be able to see anything like this agian, but oh well. Instead we went to the museum of Chegall. I had never heard of him before (he's an artist), but I really liked his stuff! After that we dried off and changed and had a 6 hour bus ride home, and then I had a 45 min tram ride home. I got back about 1 in the morning. It was a great trip!

"On of the most beautiful panoramas of the world"

Chegall

Yesterday I went to class, which I now have to catch up in, and came back and bought some food. Then Nathalie's friend Jacques (who I kareoked with) came over for dinner and we ate fondue- it was SOO good. It is melted cheese in a pot and we had bread and steamed vegetables that we put on a stick and dip it in the cheese.

Today I had class in the morning and this afternoon I have tried to catch up on stuff (cleaning, hoemwork, etc) but have been pretty unproductive. It is raining here today too so I don't have much desire to do anything. Tonight we are having rabbit and gratin dauphinois again! Tomorrow if the weather is nice I am hopefully going to Lyon for the day with Thamilla!

A bientot!

My amazing trip to the Cote d'Azur

Hello!

I got back at one am this morning from my trip. I am extremely tired from 3 and a half long yet great days!

I'll just start at the beginning...

After 6 hours in a bus, we went to dinner Sunday night with the entire group, there were probably about 35-40 people from all over the world...I think we counted 15 nationalities. There was a girl from my class who went on this trip from Brazil, she introduced me to her American friend, who then introduced me to her American friend, and that is pretty much who I spent most of my time with- I know lots of Americans, but they were really nice! Also, I met a girl from Finland and spent a lot of time with her as well. So I met some really great people on this trip.

(Me and the view on the way to Monaco)

Monday morning we set off for Monaco, on the way to Monaco, we decided to stop at the village of Ese, considered the prettiest city of the coast. This is the region that is the capital of perfumes. The weather is perfect for all flowers to grow all year round. So in Ese we stopped at a perfume museum which was very interesting, there you can also make your own perfume. There was also a little village within a castle there which is one of the coolest things I have ever seen!

Then we went to Monaco where me and my Finland friend (Kaisa) went around the oceanographic museum. There was a very cool aquarium. Then we went to through the gardens where they have all types of plants. Here they grow every type of plant in the world here because of the great climate. We then went to the Monte Carlo. This is a very famous and ritzy casino. All the cars are very expensive all the shops/restaurants/hotels are very expensive. It was kind of weird but interesting to see. After our day in Monaco, we got dinner and I was so tired because of the long day.

Tuesday morning we got up early and went to Cannes. Cannes is a very pretty place, there is the beach as well with really pretty and ritzy hotels. Then there is the palace where the film festival is held, although not that interesting while the film festival is not taking place.

Tuesday afternoon we went to Carnavel in Nice. Included in our trip were seats to the parade. There are paid seats and paid standing places, but we had really good seats. This was unlike anything I've ever seen before. The floats were HUGE and everybody was really excited. There was confetti everywhere it was very fun. Tuesday night with my friends we went to a restaurant and had a really nice meal. We all ordered from the menu (which is not just a menu like in Enlish) For a set price, there is an appetizer, main meal, and dessert. There are only so many of each category that you can choose from. You can also order a la carte (just order something you want) but it was fun to be French for a night. It was REALLY good dinner.

Me and my new friends at dinner!

This is just to show you what Carnaval was like...

I will explain Wednesday tomorrow because I have a lot of cleaning/unpacking/homework to do right now...so look back to see what I did on the final day of my vacation!

Last post this week

Well today was fun...

I went to lunch with 2 friends who are still here for the break and then we went to the mall. It was very busy because it is Saturday and there is only one mall here and its cold out. It was a big mall, and everything is very stylish here.

After I got back, I packed and cleaned and waited for dinner which was not served until almost 9...I was starving! It was eggplant and tomatoes cooked with mozzeralla, pretty good. Not as filling as other things though, and I was very hungry. Yesterday I made a cake, Nathalie had me make it by myself. It was 5 spoonfuls of flour, 4 spoonfuls of sugar, 3 spoonfuls of oil, 2 spoonfuls of something I can't remember and 1 egg...hence the name- 5-4-3-2-1 cake. It was okay, we added some almonds to it. We have made 2 cakes and neither time I have eaten it with frosting, its much better with frosting though. I pretty muched finished the entire jar of Nutella by myself in the first 2 weeks here...she bought a new one yesterday, pointed to it and said, look what I got for you! She bought the generic brand though probably thinking I will go through many jars this semester. Nutella is really one of the best things ever created...you can eat it with anything for any meal.

Tomorrow is Nice! I won't have my computer so I won't be able to post until at least Wednesday night or Thursday...I'm very excited although I don't know what to expect!

I know you all won't know what to do if you can't read this everyday, so just google French Riveria and imagine what I would say about it- its going to be amazing!
Au revior!