Goodbye November!

Tomorrow is December 1st. While I've been in France immediately following the winter holidays, I've only been here once for New Year's -- and figures it was the year France switched their currency over from the Franc to the Euro.

But what I'm trying to say is that I've never celebrated Christmas abroad! And here, the celebrating officially begins tomorrow, on December 1st.

I can hardly contain myself. Supposedly there's a Christmas market downtown that goes all month and kicks off tomorrow evening.

After Aimée arrives in France, there's an official tree-lighting ceremony (presented by IKEA, cute huh?) mid-December in Nice and the following night Antibes is hosting a "Christmas log" soirée. The French tradition in most cities is to build a super long cake shaped and decorated like a Christmas tree "log." Then they're going to be cutting out pieces for all the guests and serving hot chocolate, coffee and vin chaud.

I'm kind of torn, however. One part of me wishes it would snow to be super festive. The other part is quite content with warm and dry feet, socks, mittens, etc. So perhaps I'll get to experience that in Switzerland the days following Christmas.

I leave you with this final thought: Today's an exciting day because we get our pictures!!! Let me take a step back, last month was class photo day at one of my schools, and I was invited to be in the teacher picture! My heart warmed at the idea of them accepting the strange foreign girl who comes into their classes twice a week, into their photo which will be immortalized on the school walls for years to come. And I get a free copy!

Here's to hoping this photo isn't as awkward as all my other elementary school pictures...

...32 More Days Until France BANS Indoor Smoking! :)

Days are getting shorter

As usual, yesterday was mine and Sarah's ritual Wednesday Carrefour run. And it always takes a good two-three hours out of my normally un-busy Wednesdays, so I can't complain there.

I can complain, however, about the lack of argent in my French account! So I think that means all the food I have in my house right now is going to have to last me until my next paycheck (read: seven to 10 days). I'll make it work, if nothing else I'll just be eating cereal for a couple of dinners instead of a big meal... who knows, maybe I'll shrink my stomach back to what it was in the U.S. and not want to eat huge, heaping meals anymore.

Carrefour was also fun because I was able to purchase some necessities beyond just food there. Although this is not a good example of a "necessity" I did get two Christmas stockings for Aimee and me! Hopefully we'll get to decorate those when she comes next month.

And speaking of that, in exactly two weeks my mom and sister will be in France! So this weekend is my last "free," i.e. unplanned weekend until mid-January. Next weekend my dad and I are going to the Galère in Forcalqueiret again -- it's always the second Sunday of the month -- to visit our family friends and see my great-aunt.

So what will I do this weekend? I'm thinking about taking the train to San Remo, Italy for the weekend open-air and flower market. Could be fun. Especially since I now live in the French Riviera and that's considered the Italian Riviera, I'll get to do some more exploring.

Hmm, you may be curious about me entering Italy without my alleged "carte de séjour." Well don't fret! Last week I received the receipt for the long-stay card so that means I can now go in and out of France to any other country as I please!!!!

I am officially a legal resident and employee of France. It's about damn time.

Another interesting thing I discovered today: At least four of my students live in my building! Do you know how I found out??

As I was walking towards my gate today, a car rolls up and the driver motions towards the back seat asking, "Is it true you're her English teacher?"

"Yes," I smile waving to the little girl in the back.

And just like that he tells me not to worry about walking in the cold because he has an empty seat and can take me along if I want! Quelle chance! And as we're leaving the car, he tells me I can come with them every day and they'll wait for me. Oh man that's really exciting news!

Hooray for living in a small, residential community in the outskirts of the city!

...33 More Days Until France BANS Indoor Smoking! :)

Update as promised

I bet you're curious about my two big events today, huh?

Well, the "date" was cool. Again, I offered to pay, but was turned down. Instead, I got a three-course meal and probably three extra pounds ;-) for free! This time, there is such a thing as a free lunch, booyah!

And I got to practice my French for about three hours. It's starting to get better, I'm totally comfortable cracking jokes left and right now. Actually, this guy I think likes to talk more than anyone I know, Lisa, so I got to practice my listening skills a bit. We're going out again Thursday because supposedly that's a big bar night for "working people" in Juan-les-Pins. I guess that means I'm going to be meeting quite a few more French people in the next few days. That'll bring my total for the month to well over 12. Let's see how many I actually keep in touch with and start to hang out with...

And regarding the dentist, I am quite proud of myself.

After only about 30 euros, I've gone and seen the dentist, learned some alternative techniques to help alleviate my pain, as well as a bag full of prescribed goodies that I picked up from the pharmacie.

Ok, at first it doesn't seem worth it that I dropped 21 euros for my consultation at the dentist, only to have him tell me I need a special toothpaste and mouth wash for sensitive teeth. However, he also put some product on the problem area and told me specifically how I should brush my teeth to stop the gums from receding any further -- so that's helpful. Then again, the dentist told me that once I receive my social security card, I should be fully reimbursed for the visit -- SCORE!

He also gave me the name of a very specific toothpaste that's just for this problem, however, I could have easily figured that out at the pharmacie. But he also told me that after one month if this is still a problem, I'll have to come back so he can put a tooth-colored substance on the area (a patch if you will) to protect my tooth's roots from further deterioration.

Oh but the best part about all this was I was 100% able to convey what I wanted in French. Using dental jargon! That's pretty exciting. So it goes without saying that I completely understood everything he had to say to me.

Actually no, the best part wasn't that. When he first saw me, he said, "Wow, your teeth are so straight! And do you whiten them often?"

No, actually that's just U.S. dentistry for you.

I'll finish this post off with his final recommendation to me.

"Even if this does work out and you don't need the patch or surgery, I want to give you some further advice. You should go to the dentist regularly because even if you don't think you have any problems, you still need to check in from time to time."

...Duh! I guess he must be used to telling every patient that here, because most people I've spoken with don't go to the dentist every six months, yikes!

"Elle veut que je fasse"

Yep, I used that phrase today. The subjunctive is starting to come to me.... I still have to think about it a little, but after using it I jump up and down for joy because I remembered it -- in my mind that is.

And two things are going to happen today that I'll absolutely have to update later on.

1.) I realize I'm not 60 years old yet, but my gums in the back have been receding. While that sounds scary and gross, all it means is that I can start to see the roots of my molars. Which means since they're exposed often, it's a very sensitive and painful area. Plus they could rot easily now that they have contact with food, plaque, air and what not.

Basically I need to go to a dentist asap. Hopefully I can make an emergency appointment and get in today. Without paying a boatload.

2.) Someone else is taking me out tonight. A second person. So I guess this is what dating feels like in the real world, except that I'm not totally dating. These are more like English-French exchanges and I'm not complaining that I'm getting free food and drinks out of it ;-)

Updates on the day's events to follow in the near future.

Freedom, Beauty, Truth and Love

Moulin Rouge is hands down my favorite movie -- EVER.

And since coming to France, the only movies I've ever seen the network television channels show from the U.S. are these super old and lame '90s flops. Even the t.v. series are at least a few years behind, so why wouldn't the same be true for movies?

I've also come to the conclusion that I'm on my computer watching American shows too much here. Plus with all the writers' strikes, that will soon no longer be a problem. With that in mind, last night I decided to go back to French t.v. and lo and behold, Moulin Rouge was going to be airing at 8 p.m. last night!!

I showered as quickly as possible and prepped myself for this musical/visual treat.

The most bizarre part about it was how they even re-recorded the songs with the French speakers' voices, however they still sang in English. So most of the songs were heavily accented. Besides that oddity, I was quite impressed because the casting was very true to their American counterparts. Whoever was dubbed over Ewan McGregor sang and spoke almost exactly like him, that if he didn't have an accent while singing in English, I could have believed that Ewan McGregor was actually reading off his lines in French. Not the case, but you get the idea.

So yeah, that kind of made my week and now I'm back to downloading Moulin Rouge songs for my iPod. :)

Unrelated: Since it's left over from Thanksgiving, my new favorite thing is French bread and brie with cranberry sauce spread on top! Fantastique!

...35 More Days Until France BANS Indoor Smoking! :)

I bridged the gap!!!

I'm coming out of my shell in a big, big way here. And, as my roommate said, it's incredible what I've already done in less than two months.

For example, I have:

• figured out the trains and buses without (much) help
• opened a bank account
• started making friends
• expressed myself very well in French, as I supposedly continue to do every day
• cooked up one heck of a storm two times and pleased many bellies

But I'll get back to all of that. I just need to reaffirm all the things that are going right in my world, to remind myself that I'm doing something incredible. And I'm doing it well!

That being said, I had no idea this weekend was going to turn out the way it did. At first I was a little nervous about what my roommate had planned for her friends who came to visit this weekend -- one of which being her former roommate who only left two months before I moved in. It started out like that past week, rainy, cold and dreary. So that pretty much put a halt to any major plans.

Kathy, Nina (her friend from the Netherlands) and I were supposed to all go out to Monte-Carlo and Ventimiglia in Italy to check out the large open-air market they have. But alas, they drank too much the night before and the strikes still hadn't lifted 100 percent. So long story short, I woke up very early in the morning and had nothing to do most of the day.

Karina, my roommate, invited me to have lunch with her and her friends. At first I was hesitant and thought I'd have to leave, but then I decided, "What the heck?" I can go to Monte-Carlo anytime, it's ok if I meet up with them a little later. So I rolled up my sleeves and helped cook some pasta and on the spot created our very own, homemade sauce. I had a very good lunch because I got to see a side of my roommate that's been hidden from me. Maybe we were both just too shy and too new with each other to let those parts of our personalities out, but seeing her with her friends made me realize that she's probably not all that bad. And might I add, I've never ever relented my kindness around her, so perhaps that's finally starting to pay off.

As soon as we finished cleaning, Kathy, Nina and I all met up at the Antibes train station and headed off towards Monte-Carlo. I was only going to be there for an hour, because Karina's old roommate, Thomas, invited me out to dinner with all of them. So instead we improvised and decided to get off the train at Nice, halfway to Monte-Carlo -- especially since I was just there the weekend before with my dad. And what a fabulous idea it was! The entire city is already decked-out beyond imagination for Christmas and the light-rail tram they've been working on over the past four years -- terrible traffic when I last studied here because of all the road closures -- had its grand opening this weekend. So there were free concerts, with festive holiday-themed songs to be had. And even though I could only stay an hour and a half, it was time well-spent!

Then I rushed back home and got ready to go out to dinner. Karina told me I'd want to dress up a little bit, because she was going to present me to some "guy friends," and some of Thomas's former co-workers. And they did.

We went out to this excellent French restaurant where everyone ordered of all thing, individual pizzas à feu bois. Delicious! Karina felt inclined to watch after me all night long, which was very nice of her considering I knew practically no one. But, the "California curiosity" eventually came out and I was the talk of the table for a short period of time. So that helps open up my shell and force me to talk more in French! And I kind of made a little dinner-time friendship with the two guys sitting near me which held up later in the evening.

After dessert and coffee, the younger ones of us decided to go off to a club. Imagine my shock when my roommate conjured up the whole thing! All the guys were really excited to go out and dance, and Karina and I were kind of apathetic to it all.

But then if you know me, you obviously know that's not true.

We got into this club -- which didn't have a cover charge for WOMEN OVER 25 AND MEN OVER 30 -- that's right Aimee, I crashed the old person's dance party so we don't need to do it in Geneva next month. And since there were so many of us and very young to boot -- maybe only two of our group of eight actually fit that age category -- we got in without a problem and went straight to a reserved table. However, that was the last I saw of the table, as Karina grabbed my hand and whisked me off to the dance floor.

At first I was kind of shy and nervous, but whenever American songs come on here, especially oldies and disco, something inside me just snaps and I go crazy dancing like no one else is around! And they loved it. They kept cheering, "OUAIS, ELLE EST AMERICAINE!" which made me laugh and only made me want to do it more. The two guys who befriended me earlier and Karina kept egging me on all night and at one point this guy and I kind of choreographed a dance to M.J.'s "Billy Jean." Very, very fun. And her friends thought I was a riot -- which I equally thought of them.

It might have been the sangria and wine I had with dinner speaking -- promise I didn't drink a drop of alcohol at the club, which makes it all that much MORE fun -- but I started talking about how much I miss American Sunday brunches. Tout d'un coup, Karina and our house guests were signing me up to cook it on Sunday and they started pitching in money, suggestions and food.

Basically, we finally got home at 4:30 a.m. reeking of cigarettes and sweat, looked up a bunch of recipes online and by 5 a.m. I was fast asleep. Six hours later I woke up with THE SUN!! (no rain today!) and accompanied Karina to the grocery store where we bought all the necessary items for our brunch.

This morning I made apple-cinnamon and walnut muffins, French toast (ah the irony), pancakes, fruit salad and scrambled eggs for everyone to try. It was quite a hit!

Mom, I've been getting so many compliments on my cooking here! It's kind of like in a previous October post I had. I feel like I'm testing out someone else here in France. I wake up early, I cook, and I don't remember what else, but this person doesn't seem to be the Monique I used to know. And I kind of like this one. Needless to say, I'm pretty full now.

So not only did I have an excellent weekend, but my roommate and I are kind of starting to open up and be friends! I've been waiting for a moment like that for nearly a month and a half now! And even better, we're going to start cooking like this every Sunday. Yay brunch and baked treats!

...36 More Days Until France BANS Indoor Smoking! :)

Mo-neye-k

That's my new French name. Mo-neye-k.

Anyways, it's 4 a.m. -- nearly 5 -- and I'm just now going to bed.

But t'inquiète (pas). I'll tell you all about my journey at home, Nice and in St-Laurent du Var tomorrow. Plus some details from the Sunday brunch I'm about to make for three Frenchies, with Mimosas mmmm.

And I'll also tell about the soirée de malade (yep, they say sick as an adjective in French too) I had in a club with my new "friends."

I bet you can't wait.

Thank GOD I'm missing "Black Friday"

Alright, I'm sitting at my desk, listening to LIVE 105 on iTunes, eating an ENGLISH MUFFIN and drinking French chai tea -- so not the same, don't bother with it -- thinking about how I've made it to this point. Here I am, in France, with a group of friends established enough to celebrate a traditional American Thanksgiving!

Needless to say, last night was a trip. And now after looking at pictures, I've fully decided that the SECOND my leftovers are gone, I'm going crazy into a diet and not cheating any of the days. I also should get back into running when I'm no longer sick. Seriously, I've gained so much weight here :( This always happens to me.

But back to Thanksgiving. It was amazing! Everyone brought something typical to what we're used to in the States. The only thing missing was the pumpkin pie because it's a bit difficult to find here :( So instead we got our fill with pumpkin soup and had to make do with an apple and a pecan pie. Fine, I guess.... hehe.

I got to play hostess, which I guess is totally in my genes after watching my mom every year on Christmas and for all the other dinner parties she hosts. So, my first Thanksgiving and I didn't mess anything up!! Actually, the nice part about cooking and playing playing hostess serving drinks is that I didn't have to sit at the table and eat mindlessly in the middle of conversations awaiting the actual meal. So, I guess that's a good thing. Um, and I think I accidentally invited everyone to California next year, haha. Kidding :)

During the dinner, we went around the table and said what we're thankful for -- in French and English! Mine was probably the shortest and most to the point, because I was the last one to go.

"I'm thankful for my family for supporting me to come here, the close friends I've made here, and all the wonderful food and drink we have tonight!"

Now that I think of it, I'm also REALLY thankful I'm not in the U.S. near any single mall today.

My roommate showed up and actually made an effort, which made me happy, but towards the end of the night she started doing the whole passive-aggressive thing again. As she went off to her room to sleep, she mentioned in passing, "Oh you guys don't have to be quiet, but Monique, I'm having three friends stay over for the weekend. They're leaving on Sunday. Good night."

Oh Christ, what does that mean? Since we were up since 1 a.m. I have a feeling I'm going to be getting it back in the next two days...

Whatever, it was worth it! Thanksgiving is such an important holiday. If I can't spend it with my family, I'm going to at least do something else worthwhile.

It was just kind of hard to get up this morning ;) Thank God I don't have class until 1:30 p.m. today, because I'm hurting bad right now.

Oh and P.S. now there's NOTHING standing in my way of getting ready for Christmas!!!!

...38 More Days Until France BANS Indoor Smoking! :)

Wawaweewa! (Borat, nevermind...)

Man, these last two days have been a doozy! Yes, I just typed that, get over it.

It all started at Carrefour. I told Sarah when we were checking out that I kind of felt like I had been drinking. You know that feeling when you're so congested, from blowing your nose/sniffling so often, that everything kind of becomes fuzzy around the perimeters? I just felt like I was going through the motions in someone else's body, all dizzy-like.

Promise though, I wasn't on Nyquil or any other alcoholic substance. She said she always gets super overwhelmed at Carrefour -- which my dad's boss said is the second-largest grocery store in France and I believe it! -- that she kind of feels like that normally.

But the feeling lingered. After scarfing down my dinner, then proceeding to feel really nauseous and dizzy, I put myself to bed at 8 p.m. No joke.

Upon receiving a text message at 11:23 p.m., I seriously thought it was 4 or 5 in the morning. I was almost getting ready to wake up for the day, when I realized I'd only been asleep for a few hours. Oops. Then I kept tossing, turning and sweating, until I changed into lighter p.j.s and browsed the iTunes radio library for an "ambient" station. Under that heading I found a "soothing piano" station and kept it on all night. When the rain started to drizzle lightly, it washed away the traffic noises below, I finally gave in to taking some Nyquil and fell asleep.

Then my day began at 6:15 a.m. when I popped out of bed on my own accord. After starting off the *ahem THANKSGIVING* morning well by talking to my family, I picked out the best outfit I could find for the occasion and proceeded on my merry little way to school. Yep, I still have to work. Except, when I got out the door, I was pelted with heavy rain. And wind. And then that wind so graciously flipped my umbrella inside out multiple times. Once it even hit me on the head, grreeeaaat. So I arrived at school sick, manish-sounding and soaked.

But when I got home for lunch it was all worth it, because I got to set up for my Thanksgiving dinner tonight!! And then I made a really blistery day-friendly lunch: hot oatmeal and coffee! The oatmeal idea came to me after buying an "American mix" of nuts yesterday, Oceanspray cranberries, pecans and almonds, mmmm. So I boiled that in some water, added oats and cinnamon and warmed myself right up. Plus, knowing what's coming tonight, I didn't want to eat too much.

Then -- this is the best part of my day, no joke -- I got to break in my brand-new EIGHT-CUP cafetière à piston!! That's a French-coffee press for all you at home. So I used my new Brazilian grinds and whipped up some coffee, then used the press to froth some milk, added in the rest of my cinnamon and boy am I satisfied.

Now off to class I go for three more hours and then it's back here to prep for the big international American fête!! Surprisingly enough, the Thanksgiving lesson has been one of my best thus far, because the kids are all interested in the colonists and Indians story, while we in the U.S. are a bit, uh, ashamed of what happened after.

That, and they get to make hand-traced turkeys. Can't go wrong there!

OH YEAH (edit): I got my récépissé TODAY!!!! Meaning, all I need is one more apointment and then I have my carte de séjour -- long stay card. So I have the receipt, I'm just waiting for the actual thing. Good start, because very soon I'll get my social security, medical insurance and housing assistance money!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Merde's hitting the fan

I didn't feel like swearing in English. So I'm not.

Anyways, Day 2 (or 3, I'm not sure) of me being sick has progressed significantly. Not in a good direction. Last night my stomach and intestinal tract seemed to be all messed up and I again couldn't sleep another night. So instead I stayed up watching Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice -- again -- and it seems that I'm now all caught up. I've even seen this week's episodes that y'all don't have yet in the States! I also washed all of our dishes last night. But today my throat's bugging me, I sound like a boy and my nose is super runny. At least I woke up two hours earlier than yesterday...

Oh and my roommate apologized for being a bitch. Still doesn't change the fact that she was, but we kind of had a bit of a talk and from now on out she's going to be napping in her own bedroom when I'm home. Take that! And she's paying me for toilet paper this time, because I've bought it the last three times. So that's a bit of good progress.

Another merde-y situation: SNCF -- Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer, in short, rail systems -- is striking an eighth day. And while 400 of 700 TGV (high-speed) trains are running throughout the country, there are "les boycotts," I'm not even kidding, the news report actually used that word, and people are setting fire to some of the cables. Excellent. And it's raining today! Stoppppp.

Crappy situation No. 29,475,629: I have to work tomorrow!!!! On Thanksgiving :( However, I usually have Wednesdays off, so today Sarah and I are going to Carrefour to do all of our pre-Thanksgiving dinner shopping and preparations.

Here's how the menu's going to look (8 people total):

-Apéritifs: Cranberry kir to be eaten with olives, bread, cheese and spinach-artichoke dip

-Green salad and bread/butter

-Pumpkin and chestnut soup

-Mashed potatoes and gravy

-Orange-zest green beans with honey and walnuts

-TURKEY and stuffing, however no one has an oven large enough, so it's going to be pre-made. Let's see how that one goes...

-Cranberry sauce (2 euros a pop at the grocery store, it better be worth it)

-Apple, Pecan and/or Pumpkin PIES


-Mulled wine and cider slash coffee.

And of course, lots and lots of wine and champagne throughout the evening.

I totally can't wait for this! It's going to be so fun celebrating my second un-important holiday to this "foreign" country.

Seeeeck.

I think that's phonetically how a French person would say, "sick." Am I right?? haha.

Anyways, big day for me as I ditched my classes for the first time here. Since my jaw was bothering me so much, I practically was awake until 3-4 a.m. My problem, however, was that I took Tylenol PM and when I'm on that and not getting a full 7-8 hours of sleep, my body goes into anarchy mode.

Basically, from the moment my alarm went off all I wanted to do was either throw up or sleep. So I tried to ignore my stomach and I slept. And slept, and slept. Until noon. It was a dang good feeling.

Don't worry, I was responsible about it though. I called La Tourniere at 8 a.m. to let them know I wouldn't be coming in today. Luckily, today's my shortest day and by the time I woke up, I would have been off work anyhow.

So no more staying up late for me. If I ever take Tylenol PM again in the near future for this problem, it needs to be around 9 p.m. -- as soon as my dinner's over.

EDIT: Oh snap, I totally forgot what today was. A bunch of teachers told me they were going to be striking today and I probably shouldn't show up anyways. So I guess I accidentally aided the cause by unwillingly striking today as well! How funny....

I just hope all this striking B.S. comes to an end soon.

--------------

And I just wanted to say that I officially hate my roommate. Before I was scared of/embarrassed for her, but now I full on hate her. She is the most petty and rude person I've ever met. I don't know what I'm going to do other than try not to be here as often as possible. For example, she woke me up this morning when I was sick, but I didn't mind, I just went back to sleep.

She came home for lunch today and while I was cooking, I went into my room to get something. I guess usually she sleeps in the living room -- why I have no idea, her bedroom, which blocks out noise with a DOOR is literally two feet away -- and as I'm leaving pops up from laying down on the couch. She screams my name super loud -- I know she's upset when she calls me by my name, usually she forgets it and calls me whatever she pleases -- and yells at me saying that she has such a long f-ing day and needs only 15 minutes to sleep each afternoon. Then she continues treating me like a child, saying, "What's so hard for you to understand about not making a single noise for 15 minutes??"

And I'm too much of a chicken to stand up for myself, so I just apologized six times, wanted to cry, and finished making my lunch in total silence. P.S. She's been sleeping for 45 minutes now, so does that mean I can make noise because I only had to be quiet for 15? And where does she get off acting so rude to me? I didn't yell at her when she woke me up, from within MY OWN ROOM.

Welcome Back...

Oh man, I thought I had naturally grown out of this like some people eventually do in time.

But after two years of rather unsuccessful treatment, my TMJ -- or TTM in France -- seemed to MIRACULOUSLY disappear after coming out here to France. Perhaps it was the result of me no longer making weekly plane trips after finishing up with the AVP. Either way, for two months here I was never once bothered by my jaw problems.

...Until three days ago.

Now here I sit, watching Grey's Anatomy on my computer trying to take my mind off it. I can't sleep because I'm too busy rubbing, stretching, and trying to pop my jaw back in place. Instead of sleep, I'm here making the most disgusting noises with my jaw joints.

And it's really painful. And when I take money out for my rent next week, I'll be left with less than 200 euros in my account. This is a really, really bad time to need to see a doctor. And where would I even start to look? I can barely describe my problem in English, let alone French. And do I really want to see someone? I've had such bad luck with it in the U.S. that I totally distrust anything they could possibly do here.

Maybe I'll just go to the local pharmacie (pick one, they're every 5 feet here) and load up on some intense pain killers. Until then, it's time for some Tylenol PM. Here's to knocking me out for the night without any further pain... (I WISH!)

Then again, maybe it's a result of my terrible students! Today was the first time I actually had to stop a "fun" lesson and make them copy sentences. When I come back, I'm going to check and make sure their parents signed their letters saying how bad they were -- wish me luck (with everything).

My DAD came to visit!!

And I had such a good time! It's been almost two months now since I've seen my family. Usually when I was in college, I'd go a few weeks or something like that. But I never went an entire quarter without at least seeing them once. But basically, I'm going to go that equivalent when my mom and sister fly out in December.

So that was good.

The worst part though -- and by worst I mean best -- was the eating. I have this problem which involves me going out and seeing decently-prices MULTI-course menus. And I order them, then feel obligated to eat it all. Of course at the end I must have my dessert. Yep, whether I can fit it in or not, I need to have it. And right now my stomach hurts so bad from the past three days, haha. But it was good. At least I don't go out to restaurants too often :)

Another neat thing about having my dad and his boss down here was the car! I've been to Antibes, Cannes and Monte-Carlo during this trip by bus and train, but it's been 99% walking for me. So having a car gave us more access to things than I'd have by just foot alone.

So yesterday we got to see Downtown Cannes, the chestnut and horse festival in Cagnes-sur-Mer (although, I didn't see one single horse) and Monte-Carlo in the evening. Maybe Dad will update his side of the story on his blog.... if he can figure it out ;)

I'll post all of the pictures on my PicasaWeb site soon, but until then here are some of my favorites:

November 16th: Dinner at Le Brulot in Old Antibes.

November 17th, The Ritz Carlton in Cannes.

November 17th, Chestnut Festival in Cagnes-sur-Mer. Nougat is probably my favorite candy here!
November 17th, The Casino in Monte-Carlo.

I definitely can't wait until next month (less than one month really!) when the whole family comes out here! It's going to be great :)

But until then, Thursday's Thanksgiving and I'm starting all the preparations for my nine-person dinner party I'm hosting in my little apartment! It's going to be three American girls, one English girl, a Swiss chick (I think), two French men and my French roommate. Come back for pictures and stories about that!

Visible progress!

Day five or six of my diet (sans tricher -- without cheating, no it's not continuous, I haven't cheated during 5 of the last 8 or 9 days).

I am now down to 58 kilos, when once I was at 61!!! That means I've dropped over six lbs! However, I'm going to keep cheating all weekend and then obviously next Thursday.

Only one or two more kilos to go and then I'm happy and fitting nicely into my clothes again :)

And since I'm on the subject of Thursday, I think I'm going to have a six- or seven-person potluck style Thanksgiving at my apartment next week. My mom and I were looking up fun recipes online all day yesterday, so I'm very, very excited about this prospect.

Like I've already said, Carrefour has cranberry sauce and I already have pumpkin soup ready to prepare. I think I'm going to give it some French flair and make some kind of autumn tarte, like of the pumpkin, apple or nut varieties.

Check out some of these recipes I'm looking at:

• Paula Deen's pumpkin cakes (AKA, let's add a pound of BUTTA to that)
• Pear Tart, from the tartelette blog
• Caramelized Nut Tart
• Apple Galette
• Apple Walnut Torte
• Caramel Nut Tart
  

And WHOA on Barry Bonds. The greatest thing about that article on MLB.com is now Dublin, Calif.'s shout out as "that jail cell to hold Bond's former trainer" for three months. Yep, I grew up in that city! We're now famous thanks to MLB.com -- questionable fame albeit, but I'll take it. He's an asshole and deserves whatever punishment he gets. I'm glad someone's finally cracking down on the rampant "under the table" use of illegal substances in the MLB.

Oh how I hate the cold!

When I woke up this morning, I knew it was going to be a bad day because the sky was black. I actually wasn't sure whether it was morning or night and I did sleep in a little through my alarm. I think it's just one of those days that starts off not knowing which way's up or down.

But the GREAT thing about the impending winter -- nay, it's already here as it's only 9º Celsius and it's nearly 11 a.m. -- are the ways in which I choose to warm myself up! For example, I ran home and heated up some chestnuts then proceeded to devour the entire bag.... mmmm. Healthy, too. Now a pot of water is boiling on the stove, waiting for me to go turn it into a cup of minty tea goodness.

But at the grocery store yesterday, I really did get into the fall and winter festivities. This began by purchasing first and foremost some pumpkin soup! Actually, it was sparked by the spotting of OCEANSPRAY CRANBERRY SAUCE IN THE INTERNATIONAL AISLE!!!! For anyone who knows me, my favorite thing about Thanksgiving is hands down, the cranberry sauce. And the pumpkin pie. But mostly the sauce. I refrained from buying it, because the jar was about the same size as a jar of baby food and cost nearly 3 Euros. No thanks.

Then my cart and I continued throughout the store picking up fun seasonal treats. The best part? My 1,25 Euro Mickey and Minnie Mouse advent calendar! Bring on December and the rain!! I don't really mind that my shoes, pants, airing laundry on the balcony are soaked because it means I get to start making some yummy warm things to fill my belly. Now I'm just waiting on my French Press and then I can go looking for Peppermint Schnapps to add into a cup of coffee or hot chocolate ;) Or, if I'm feeling non-alcoholic, I need to find hard peppermints or candy canes to dissolve in cups of warm drinks.

Oh yeah, my other really exciting piece of news is:

I GET TO SEE MY DAD TOMORROW!!! Really, really excited about that -- can you tell?

He called me from France last night and after notifying him that I used his credit card to purchase my groceries -- I hope said card isn't canceled now ;) -- do you know what his first words to me were? (And I'm putting this in here because he, sarcastically, told me to. See, I'm an obedient daughter).

"You bitch!!!"

After laughing quite a bit, my response was, wait for it...

"Dad, have you been drinking tonight?"

Affirmative. Haha, I love you. Can't wait for this weekend!!!!

Oh yes, I almost forgot. If you're curious about how my diet's been going over the past week, I've already lost between 3-4 lbs! However, I've been cheating pretty badly on the weekends and it looks like this week will be no exception. So that just means I'll stick with it a little longer than normally anticipated to compensate for my days off in between :) My overall number is still up from when I first came here, so let's just say I can drop 2-3 more kilos (about 5ish lbs.) then I'm back at what I started :)

Uh oh....

For those of you who remember my last trip to France.... I am a bar-glass klepto. That's right. When we had our going away dinner at the end of the summer program in Nice two years ago, I stole my French shot glass and now it's nestled away safely at home. That is, if another large earthquake hasn't knocked it off my shelf again.

Then last night -- gotta love free Tuesday nights because I have the middle of the week off! -- we went to Natalie's boy's going away party in Old Antibes. First of all, I wish he was going away every weekend! The kid got so drunk that he just decided he would start buying rounds of drinks for anyone who remotely knew Natalie. Meaning, I had four free drinks. Tally off another night of me not having to pay for either food or drinks! Oh and the word food reminded me, we got tasty little tapas appetizers with our drinks, which also reminds me that Kathy and I attempted to make -- and successfully pulled it off -- paella which I bought from the local grocery store. It was easy and delicious and only cost about 3-4 Euros. So I'll definitely be doing that again! Anyways, I guess the drink of choice for everyone all night long was screwdrivers and they came in these adorable little Absolut glasses.


...Which are now sitting on my desk, thank you very much.

I know I kind of sound like an out-of-control mess right now, but believe me, that's so far from the truth. This is only the third or fourth time in nearly two months that I've been to a bar or club out here.

But while we were out, I randomly "checked my phone," to make it less obvious what I was really doing with my purse when I realized I had a new texto! Can we guess from who...? That's right, Ludo.

So I'm going to officially say it for the first time. After a little back-and-forth text conversation last night, I think I'm starting to get a crush. Uh oh. Either way, he offered to let me tag along the next Sunday when they go rock climbing, which sounds super exciting to me!

The night ended by walking back with Kathy to her place in Juan-les-Pins, because she lives much closer to the downtown area than I do and it's smarter to walk the night streets in pairs. Obviously after four drinks I was feeling a little unlike myself, to put it nicely. But I noticed that in that moment I was having the hardest time speaking English, NOT because I had been drinking, but because I realized that I was almost completely thinking in French!

Wow, that's a big change from what I've usually been like here and it's certainly a welcomed one. I could get used to this talking and thinking in (American) French all the time!

Un dimanche à la campagne

Hands down, this past weekend was my best in France -- ok vacation in Tours was great, but this was different and more special.

After already speaking in French and eating food immensely yesterday, today continued on that same theme. But this time I hopped on the train to Toulon where some friends of family friends (confusing, huh?) drove me 30 minutes into the Provence countryside in a little village called Forcalqueiret. There, said family friends have a large eight-bedroom house that's been converted into a hotel. The second Sunday of every month, they invite all their friends over for an insanely large meal, with the principle of bringing friends together to enjoy French culture, gastronomie (of course!), and philosophy.

They'd invited me to the Galère in October, but I was too busy with moving in and sorting my life out to attend. So I picked November to come and I'm really glad I decided to. Interestingly enough, the guest speaker this month -- the philosophy part of the meeting -- was a fairly well-known and published lecturer on the degradation of the French language. Figures that his assigned seat was directly across from mine. A subtle hint on Jean-Claude's part?? But before I ever opened my mouth, he started talking about how foreign words were infiltrating the French language, mainly from the Internet and English vocabulary. I don't think he intended it in a rude way, then again he's French so he probably did, but he's very proud of his country and language and holds firmly to the old-school thought that it's necessary to preserve one's history through language. He actually took to me quite quickly the more I spoke because he's fluent in English, though not a single word was exchanged in English the entire day -- aside from his examples of words infiltrating the language.

One of his friends also latched onto my conversation very quickly because he had plenty of questions about the United States and my opinions on the comparisons between France and the U.S. Oh yeah, did I mention that the age of this group ranged from 55 to 98? So hence a lot of the very proud opinions on display in that room. Again though, they fondly labeled me "la petite Américaine," from which I could detect a hint of compassion in their voices.

Where I'm getting with this though, is the 98 year-old -- my great-aunt Yvonne. This is the fifth time I've visited her in France, however it was the first time I'd seen her in a wheel chair. She was another example of the elder French generation that I remember so vividly who was very proud of herself and her autonomy.

Me and my great-aunt, just after having stuffed our faces with white cake filled with fruit chunks and frosted with a maple-chocolate glaze, mmmmm. The cake was for another member's 80th birthday. To which Jean-Claude joked, "No one is allowed to die until after April 2009" (Yvonne's 100th birthday).

Every time I have to reintroduce myself to her, because she has a hard time remembering my family. She takes to my dad quickly because he's usually the one taking care of her and speaking to her the most. But today was my turn; I looked after her during lunch and tried to get her to speak a little bit when everyone else started having their own side conversations amongst themselves. Yvonne also is a regular attendee at these gatherings and supposedly she'd been a little down over the last few months. When I was leaving, they told me that she looked the happiest since her recent "pouty-period" and when I left to catch my train, she kept looking for me. That's really touching.

Speaking of touching, it really hurt to reintroduce myself this time because after Patrick seemed to have exhausted every connection between us, he finally remembered to tell her that I'm the granddaughter of her sister, Thérèse. Then Yvonne looked a little upset in that older-sister way I know all too well and asked, "How is she? She hasn't written me in a very long time."

I looked at Patrick blankly and was at a loss for words. We've told her time and time again that she passed away but it's a concept that she just hasn't been able to grasp. He could tell that I was kind of shocked by the question and quickly picked up the ball saying, "She's well," looking at me to follow suit. Feebly I replied, "She says to tell you 'hi.'"

And that was it. I even felt my eyes start to sting and well up a little bit during that moment. Even as they're starting to now.

But it was a great time and I can't stress enough how glad I was to have been invited. It's just really making me realize how much I miss my family.

Curious about my "date"?

I'm going to start off by saying tonight falls under my list of top 10 best nights in my life! Nothing spectacular happened, but it was just one of those nights when everything seemed to be going right and was carefree and totally fun.

It started out with me waiting in the main center square in the dark, getting hit on by a man missing two teeth. I'm probably going to take what he said with a grain of salt, but it was definitely the most vulgar attempt I've received over here -- and trust me, there have been a few. The translation is as follows: "I just wanted to tell you that you're fucking charming." Ok, not so bad, but interesting nonetheless...

Anyways Ludo finally showed up, I'm guessing he's of Italian origins but has lived in Lyon his whole life with his parents, and took me somewhere to chat. He wants to brush up on his English because he's going to an international master's school in Newcastle, England to study renewable energy in the field of solar power. Yikes, I can barely say that in English and it's my native language.

Anyways, he took me to his favorite bar in Antibes and paid for my coffee -- weak, I know I should have gotten something more exciting but it was cold! We talked for a good hour, mostly in French because he grew very tired of speaking in English. However, I was starting to struggle with thinking in French the entire time, but it came out to be a neat mix.

Then he looks at his watch and asks if I want to go to his friend's house, where there'd be a party that's kind of like a barbecue, but not. I think the word he was looking for was a "potluck." But it happened to be the neatest grouping of people I've ever been around.

Thrown in this tiny two-room flat overlooking the entire Cape of Antibes -- breathtaking views -- were over 10 French citizens, the homeowner's brother and his Spanish fiancée, a Bulgarian friend from the international master's program, and someone's Greek cousin who was neither big, nor fat. Oh yeah and me, "la petite Transatlantique," as they liked to call me, aka the sole non-EU member. Each person brought something exceptionally tasty and that means I officially abandoned my diet for the weekend. I'll have to dive back in headfirst tomorrow...

Anyways, no more stalling. Here's what I ate:

Quiche Lorraine, French bread and sausage, provençal olives, pasta and ratatouille -- like the movie, someone explained to me in English. Yes I know what ratatouille is. Jessica Sanborn, if you're reading this start laughing hysterically right now, because the next item on my plate was a taste of MOUSSAKA (which is basically eggplant with lamb and cheese on top) and boy was it delicious, Greek salad with feta cheese, tarte tatin -- it's probably the closest thing the French have to apple pie -- bottles of wine and cider, and finally Chinese pastries with a soy-coconut nougat filling.

I don't know where I put all that food, but dang it was good.

Then we spent the next three hours talking, joking and playing a type of taboo-charades game. So not only do I struggle through the language -- though I wasn't alone in this international gathering -- but I don't know French pop culture, so I basically could only answer two questions that were catered towards me and my knowledge of American personalities.

As for the speaking part, Ludo said his goal was to get me to speak French the entire time. And I did! I also was quite proud because I understood close to everything being said.... not including the 30 minutes in the middle of the meal when I realized four drinks was too much and calmed down for a bit. I was told by many of the guys there that I had traces of an accent, but not an American one. Oh and "not to generalize," (that's always a good start to a sentence) but they said I was the best French-speaking American they'd ever met, because "Americans are lazy when it comes to languages." Big plus for my confidence! However, I think they were just being nice, because I think my accent and speaking capacities are still subpar. Though, I was told on multiple occasions NOT to ever lose my American accent, because that's all part of my charm. Again, that's the eighth time someone's called me charming over here! What is it with you Frenchies??

But the most exciting part was speaking -- in French -- with a very attractive French boy who studied abroad in Texas about Californian politics and beer pong. Yes in that order. We even held a mini demonstration of cider pong for those not in the know. Talk about strange; I never thought I'd be playing beer cider pong in France.

Well the night certainly went well, seeing as how I ate that much and didn't pay a cent. I was invited to come back again and Ludo told me to call him soon so we could go out to have some one-on-one time and sortir again. I think it's just to practice speaking, but I still haven't quite figured out his intentions.

But I'm not complaining!!

Back and Forth

Today started off fairly well.

I woke up to my family calling me, which guys, I would even get up at 6 a.m. for -- actually I was up at 6:45 to see if you were on Skype and I kept myself busy until 7:25, when I slept for another hour until you called :)

Then I got severely lost looking for the post office and HAD to stop at the only place around, the boulangerie, to ask for directions. Since I was already there and had been walking for 30 minutes, I figured I'd give in and buy a pain au chocolat. Mom, Dad and Aimee, look this one up on Google Images it's called a tressée aux pépites de chocolat -- a chocolate braided pastry! I know you were making fun of me for eating all kinds of junk this morning, but actually, it's the first sugar-added food I've eaten in four days! I'm allowed to indulge once in a while...

Anyways, when I came back my roommate and I actually had another conversation! It's funny, sometimes she scares me, and sometimes I think she's actually kind of sweet. But maybe that's only because she was on her way out for the entire day. We get along really well when we both have things to keep us busy.

Since she was out of the house, I rolled up my sleeves and cleaned the entire apartment since we switch off every weekend. Actually it was kind of fun -- GASP -- because I got to blast the radio and have a good time with it. And now here I am, fully showered and fed. Perhaps I'll watch another Grey's Anatomy or Private Practice episode on my computer.

Really, I'm just trying to pass some time until tonight, when I have my "date." I only use the quotes because in French, we use the same word for date/meeting/appointment. I've never met him face-to-face but we've spoken on the phone about three times. I have no idea what we're going to do, but I DO know that I'll definitely get a long chance to practice my spoken French!! And perhaps this will open many new doors to French friends, who knows? If nothing else, he has a car, so I don't have to walk home all alone in the dark tonight. Now that I think of it, we're actually meeting his friends -- one of whom is seeing an American girl in my program, thus how this meeting came about -- later on in the night to possibly get in a big group outing.

Either way, I'm going in with an open mind. I have something to do tonight!! And tomorrow I'm off for what will probably be my biggest meal here yet... at Jean-Claude's house in Toulon, where I'll get to see my 97 year-old great-aunt for the first time in two years. In one weekend, I'm probably going to speak more French than I have in almost a month-and-a-half here :)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

...Everywhere I go.

No joke, the entire downtown square -- Place de Gaulle -- in Antibes is shut down to traffic. The bus had to let me off about 200 meters from the station because these huge orange municipal work trucks were stringing lights and garland from the trees!! (See photo above)

I've already said that we've had Christmas tree-, ornament-, and star-shaped lights in the trees since October, but now they're pulling out all the stops and stringing lights together to connect the trees and create a sort of canopy overhead.

And I like it.

My nearest grocery store has closed down two aisles to accomodate all kinds of Christmas goodies. However, despite my attempts, I can't even do it any justice to explain the sight. Maybe I'll snap some pictures later on... But seriously, they put See's candies to shame. HUGE train- and tree-shaped boxes of Lindt chocolates and the Ferraro Rocher candies, mmmmm!

Usually I have Christmas sounds on my iPod (courtesy of the Elf soundtrack) and I'll skip over them. But seeing all these decorations is getting me in the Christmas spirit! This morning on the bus, I let my Christmas songs run through on the random playlist. And what, we're only a month and a half away?

Coincée dans la cuisine

It's funny, now that I'm on a highly-restrictive diet -- ok not highly, just no carbs or starchy foods for two weeks -- I'm getting pretty creative with my veggies and proteins.

For example, last night I purchased tofu for the first time in my life! A little weird opening my "meat" substance from a package, but I cubed it and saved it for a big soup in the works.

First I boiled about a cup of lentils -- which I've never done before -- and waited until almost all the water was soaked up. Then I threw in some chopped up raw veggies and the tofu cubes and let that simmer for a while. It was actually super tasty! And the best part is that there's still about a half a pot left for another meal.

While snacks once consisted of a quarter of a Nutella bottle on cookies and crackers, I've now replaced them with nuts and fruit. Yeah, I can't cut fruit out entirely until I clean out all of my fridge. But basically it's pistachios and clementine oranges, the ones I paid 1,25 Euros for the equivalent a 3 lb. bag, along with a cup of my new latest and greatest discovery -- vanilla nut tea!

And there's been a lot of creativity with eggs and meats. Not so much in the omelet form because we don't have any flat pans here, so more of a frittata-type creation. Basically whatever's left in the fridge goes right in. Today it was the rest of my tomato tuna, tomatoes (naturally), bell peppers and broccoli. Mighty tasty.

Yeah after a while eating salads, meats, soups and eggs is going to get a bit old, but I'm not sticking to the diet 100 percent. Four days a week I'm still eating at the school cantines, just NOT consuming their bread. And I'm not helping myself to seconds on the desserts anymore.

I swear though, when I passed on the bread the first time today all the other teachers looked at me like I had committed murder or something. I was telling my sister earlier today that they pass the bread basket around the table at least five times during the meal: with salad, with the meat, the veggies, with cheese obviously, and then after everything's come around to clean up the leftover juices and chunks on the plate. That sounds totally appetizing doesn't it?

It's an art form though. And I can proudly raise my head high today and say that I refrained five times when the bread passed right under my nose.

Time for my night-cap: Caribbean-infusion tea and a little clementine orange!

Home is where the heart is

...So cliché, yet soon, my heart will be (partially) in France. The prospect of my dad moving out here to start up his new job in less than one month and coming for a visit in one week is a very, very exciting one! With that comes more visits from my other family members.

Here's a map of where he'll be living, that's Geneva, Switzerland to the northeast and Lyon, France to the west. Hope you bring some warm clothes, Dad :-)

Although he'll be about 5 hours northeast of me by car and 7 by train, it just opens so many more doors! He and I can travel to fun places one weekend a month. He can make his way down here and pick me up to visit our family and family friends near Toulon. I can go out there and experience life on the French/Swiss border! And did I mention I'll get to see my family on multiple occasions during the next seven months?!

Obviously, you can tell I'm getting pretty homesick. Now that the excitement of travel has certainly dwindled and even come to a lull, I'm left dreaming about the next school vacation in about a month and a half.

Don't get me wrong, everything here is still fun and different, but I'm starting to get into a routine that doesn't quite meet the expectations I originally had for France. But this weekend does hold the promise of meeting some local French boys. I'm meeting Ludo to go out on Saturday night, and perhaps I'll be having dinner with Sarah and her neighbor's friends just before that. If I can get into a groove and begin speaking French more frequently than I hardly am doing now, I'll start to feel better about things. Actually going back to teaching has helped me a little because it's forcing me to speak French since the little ones don't understand much English at all. It's better (as far as learning the language is concerned) than being on vacation with other Americans speaking only English together!

Oh and one thing I really missed about home was Grey's Anatomy! I can't watch it on ABC.com here, because those bastards have blocked free access for anyone outside of the U.S. But suddenly it dawned on me last night to full-out illegally download episodes through a file-sharing service. Like we used to do in the dorms when we missed out on our favorite shows. And it actually worked!! I've got the first three episodes of the new season on my computer and tonight ABC is airing Episode No. 6... so I'm not too far behind! Plus, I'm sticking it to the man (I've never said that and being a moderate-conservative, never really wanted to until right now... must be the liberal European sentiment winning me over) by illegally downloading a show they refuse to let me watch for free online. If I was back at home or still in college, I could watch on ABC.com to my little heart's content, so they're not really losing out on a future customer. I have every intention of legitimately watching once I return home.

Anyways, I'm hoping I made the right decision to be here for nine months.

...Did I do the right thing to sign up for the nine-month program instead of seven? Most of my friends leave in May, but I'll still be around after. Hopefully by then I'll be much more accustomed to living by then and already have friends here to keep me busy! So far I'm content, it just is a lot of work to go from day-to-day here!

Diet continues...

This is that sweet website I was talking about last time, MapMyRun.com's "My Training" section. Since I've been back (I'm not even going to GUESS how much I walked/hiked on vacation) I've run 3.89 miles over the past two days. HOPEFULLY I'M GOING TO GET BACK IN SHAPE!

I'm also getting back on Phase I of the South Beach Diet, however with a little bit of a French flare, because if I'm gaining weight, I know my (already, normally high) blood sugar and cholesterol levels are screaming for help. And since I don't have medical insurance over here yet, I can't actually go to a doctor and verify whether or not that is the case.

I have been cheating a bit though, by eating bran flakes for breakfast either in non-fat milk or non-fat, no sugar added yogurt. I still have about six containers left and need to finish them before the expiration date. In theory, if you stick to the diet completely you should lose about 8-12 pounds in the first week alone. I just want 6-7!!

But I've been making lots of meat and salads, omelets, and tonight I'm excited about whipping up a tofu and lentil soup. Don't judge me, this is just for a few weeks until I get my health back on track to where it should be. Then I'll slowly re-introduce breads, sugars, and fruits into my diet. I'm making a promise though, NOT to go overboard ever again. I think the initial shock of being around so much good food ALL THE TIME really got to me. Kind of like, I need to eat it all before it disappears! Such will NEVER be the case. And all my daily runs/walks are helping a bit too.

In other news, my dad did in fact get the job in France near the Swiss border! That means he'll be six hours away from me until May AND his company will pay to fly my mom out here once a month. Yay visitors! I'll be able to take more trips -- hopefully on his company's dime -- AND be with my family. Those are both really exciting prospects. Now I need to quickly improve my speaking so I can impress him when he gets here.... haha.

Random thoughts in my frazzled brain

One more day until I go back to school! (And start using more French)

So that gives me some time to reflect on what I've been doing this vacation :) Here's an excerpt from my mass email, because honestly I don't know how to encapsulate five days in the Loire Valley:

As for my vacation, I just got back from five fabulous days of wine-tasting and castle-touring in the Loire Valley, in the city of Tours. The weather was very cold and chilly, but it's a nice break from the sun-drenched weeks we've been having here on the Riviera! I was finally able to use my large coat and scarves. But once I returned back to Antibes, I sadly put them back in my closet where they've been hiding since I unpacked a little over a month ago. And the castles themselves were all so amazingly intricate, large and beautiful.

The first day I visited Chenonceau, the Clos de Lucé (where Leonardo da Vinci lived out the final days of his life after an invitation from King François... which I think is what the movie "Ever After" is all about) and the château at Amboise, where we tasted very delicious regional Chinon wines. For the second day of castle-visiting we saw Chambord and Cheverny -- which inspired the castle in the Belgium Tin-Tin comics! I guess I could blab all I want about these places, but you really need to see them for yourselves. I did get a little camera-happy and took over 400 pictures.... but just in case, here's the site I'm keeping all of my pictures from France/European travels:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mmoyal85

The first two albums are from this weekend. On the train back, we had a two-hour stop in Paris, so I was able to get a few shots in of the Gare de Lyon (train station), the river Seine, and of course the most famous church on that river -- the Nôtre Dame. We didn't have enough time to get super close or go inside, so most of my pictures are of some neat little park and the long-distance view of Nôtre Dame.

It was all very breath-taking and beautiful. Look at the pictures, I just finished putting up captions under most of them.

But now that I'm back, I'm here afraid of my roommate again. I don't think I've written much about her, but she's super intense and psycho. So after letting me drive her to the train station last week, she's now accusing me of having broken her car. Luckily, she's not saying I need to pay or anything, but I have this disgusting feeling that she's going to give me the bill once her car comes back, functional. Pray for me that DOESN'T happen. But yeah, that's the story of my life here. I use something (old and already broken before) and it works fine, but once Karina uses it, it's suddenly broken beyond function. And she conveniently doesn't remember that she took her car to the shop two weeks ago anyways. So now I'm spending more of my time away from the apartment or locked up in the privacy of my own room. It's a weird, hostile feeling, but hopefully it'll die down very soon.

And finally, my dad has an interview today with a company based in Geneva! I really hope he gets the job, because he'd be over here beginning next week until May. That means my mom would come visit more, and I could have something to do on the weekends! I think his company would pay for travel so that would be AMAZING. Plus I'm beginning to get a little bit homesick now that I've been here for my longest stay ever.

Although this weekend our family friend invited me over to a large luncheon at his house. So on Sunday I'm leaving first thing in the morning to catch a train to Toulon so that I may go visit Jean-Claude, Patrick and Yvonne -- my 98 year old great-aunt! I can't wait for that :)

Weight/exercise tracker, 06/11/07:
Weighing in at 60 kilos today :(, hiked 2.8 miles and did 75 sit-ups.

Remember, remember the 5th of November

It's sad that I only know of this holiday because of the movie V for Vendetta -- which was so amazingly great by the way, watch it if you haven't!

November 5 around the British world is Guy Fawkes' Day. Read about it here. Anyways, in my students' English books, there's a huge section for teaching holidays, especially Guy Fawkes' Day. I think I'll pass on that one.

Instead, I taught about Halloween in the United States. However, the way I celebrated it in France was pretty interesting.

Kathy, Natalie and I watched bootleg copies on my computer of The Nightmare Before Christmas and of all films, Hostel. We started off with a cute, kiddie movie after baking a spiderweb cake and caramel apples, which in France were not as up to par as they could have been in the States.

After nearly cracking three teeth and devouring an entire cake, we decided to run off to the cemetery near my house. Pretty spooky, let me tell you. At one point, a crackling noise down one of the dark alleyways scared us so monumentally that we ran as fast as our legs could carry us, screaming at the top of our high-pitched lungs, thus making the guards near the entrance laugh their French behinds off -- or so I imagine.

Walking back home near the marblers, we posed near some fake headstones, still incredibly freaked out and then took a little detour down the side-street by my building called, "Path of the Souls of Purgatory," such an appropriate gesture on an eerie Halloween night. Then came back home and watched a really gory movie. Fabulous night.

Oh and the Loire Valley was amazing! Check my PicasaWeb site for new photo albums, including some updates in the Halloween folder. I'll write about it all once I come to terms with how fat I'm getting on this trip. My heart hates me, I can tell because it's beating differently, so I think I'm going to try my NO SUGAR WHATSOEVER diet in the next two weeks.

DO NOT LET ME PURCHASE ANYTHING WITH SUGAR (or that turns into very high sugar levels in the body -- i.e. starchy breads and veggies).

That is all, thanks.