J'aime Paris!

Just a week ago today, we were bidding farewell to Paris. We spent a whirlwind 9 days there. Our time in Paris went by in a heartbeat and it is almost overwhelming to even attempt to write about all we did (which is why I waited this long, haha).



On our first full day in the city, we visited the Eiffel Tower. Seeing such an iconic symbol of Paris with my very own eyes finally cemented in me the fact that I am in France. Ambialet, Albi, and Toulouse were unknown to me before I came to Europe, but Paris certainly was not. And to stand before the very definition of Paris, the monument that first comes to mind when one thinks of Paris, was, in a word, stunning.



The structure itself is absolutely exquisite. It truly exudes elegance, thanks in part to the ornamental lace-like iron detailing.



Stopping at the base of the tower and looking up, I was struck by its magnificence, how it seemed to stretch endlessly into the beautiful blue sky we were graced with that day. We might have been by the river, fighting off bitter, cutting winds, but you would never know it looking at these pictures. Even the little patches of clouds didn't detract from the beauty of the day; rather, they added to it, as the sunlight filtered through, supplying the sky with a gorgeous iridescent glow.

Later in the week, we went to see the Eiffel Tower at night.



The dark of night provided the perfect backdrop for the yellow-amber lights. Even in the darkness, you could still eye the impressive latticework. The sharp contrast between sky and structure truly accentuated the amazing architecture at hand.



Every hour on the hour, there is a dazzling display of lights that enfolds the tower in an enchanting aura. The entire tower is illuminated and simply sparkles. It was an impressive show--a pleasant way to cap off one of our last nights in Paris.

One month!

It was a month ago today that we were just arriving in France… I can’t believe that it’s the second week of February already! This first month here absolutely flew by. It’s ironic because the days here seem longer and move at a much slower pace than life back in the US, but taken all together, they accumulate quickly and you realize just how much time has passed.

Already I can tell what kind of habits I will be taking back home with me. Tea, fresh bread, nutella, and a host of other things have become a daily staple. I think we are going to learn how to make crepes in our cooking class, so I will definitely pay close attention that day. I have filled quite a few pages in my notebook with recipes to try at home…hopefully the food will turn out just as good there as it did here.

In other news, we leave for Paris on Wednesday! We’ll be spending nine days there and I absolutely cannot wait. :)

A sunset walk

On Thursday, Cat and I went for a walk which ended just in time for us to see the sun set. Brune and Jay-Z also joined us. I have always seemed to prefer cats over dogs, but life at the monastery would definitely not be the same without these two.



This is Brune, a good-natured chocolate lab. She is an extremely sweet and laid-back dog.... She is so lovable and I don't think there is a mean bone in her body.



This is Jay-Z. He seems to have an unlimited supply of energy; he's always running off somewhere to sniff at something. When we go on walks, you will always hear a constant cry of "C'mere Jay-Z!" Something will catch his eye and he will take off like a rocket to go check it out--and it's usually in the opposite direction.



I really don't know how Cat and I got Jay-Z to stand still long enough to take this picture!



The light of the setting sun cast such a pretty glow upon the church and monastery.

Excursion quatre

Yesterday was a busy day. We went to Toulouse to visit two churches, the Airbus facility, a museum, and met with some students from Dickinson College.



This is Saint Sernin's Basilica. It is a very famous pilgrimage church. It was the second most popular pilgrimage church in the middle ages after St. Peter in Rome. Millions of people flocked to this Romanesque cathedral to see important relics.



My favorite church of the day, however, was Jacobin's Church. It was the mother church of the Dominican Order and also the inquisition. The remains of St. Thomas Aquinas are held here.



Built in the Gothic style, it has an impressive ceiling design and beautiful stained glass windows.



The reflections from the stained glass were magnificent.



I couldn't get enough of it. I thought it was just a gorgeous sight.



After that, Eric took us to see the Garonne River on the way to the University of Toulouse for lunch. Eric told us that Toulouse is always compared with Florence because brick is the material of choice in both places and Italy is well-known for the domes, like the one pictured above, that dominate their city skylines.



Lunch was an interesting experience. It was chaos--lots of people, lots of trays (piled high with food), lots of lines, and barely enough space to move around. A few of us managed to find a table to eat at and I marveled at the size of the school and the student body. SFU is tiny in comparison! Once we finished eating, we had to wait for the bus to come pick us up so we could go tour Airbus. The sun was out and it was a really nice afternoon.



I thought visiting Airbus was so interesting and I wished we could have stayed longer. We weren't allowed to take any pictures inside the site, but it was a massive facility. We were in the second-largest building in the world and the largest building in Europe. There were three Airbus A380s side-by-side. These are currently the largest passenger airplanes in the world, and will probably remain so for the foreseeable future. The A380 is a double-deck place, so it can hold over 800 passengers at maximum capacity. We viewed these humongous planes from a wall of windows above the the workspace, but most of us wished we would have been granted access to go down to the ground floor and see the planes up close. All in all, it was a very cool experience.



Next, it was onto the Musée de la Résistance et de la Déportation with students from Dickinson College. The musuem exhibits contained artifacts and relics of WWII. We learned about the French Resistance and the deportation that occurred in that time period. After that, we had the rest of the night to ourselves. Cat, Chelsea, Eric, Matt, and I ate a delicious dinner at an Italian restaurant.



We were worried about having too much time to kill before catching the bus back to Albi, but thankfully we wasted almost an entire half hour figuring out how to handle the check and counting money. haha.



It was a long day and we didn't get back to the monastery until around 1am. We took a bus to Albi, then Tim, Gerry, and Dan drove us back to Ambialet. Suffice to say, I slept very well last night once I finally settled into bed. But I enjoyed the time we spent in Toulouse, hopefully we get to go back and explore the city more later on.

Snow!

This morning we woke up to a nice surprise: snow!



I was brushing my teeth when I looked toward the window and noticed that something was different... The edges were all fogged up because of the cold and when I went to get a closer look, I saw the snowflakes flying. For a second, I thought maybe they would forgo taking us into Albi, but then I figured we probably weren't going to be lucky enough for a snow day. As I continued to get ready for class, I heard that the bus was running late, so I was happy that we would get a little delay courtesy of mother nature.



As it turned out, when the bus driver got here, he and Tim had a little discussion and they were worried about the return trip. If it kept snowing and/or froze over, it would get a little treacherous since the road to Ambialet is literally carved along the side of a mountain. There are sharp curves and no guardrails in some places. So we did get a snow day!! We still had French class though, with Tim standing in for Sandra. He went over what he called "survival" French. We learned some key verbs and got little nuggets of wisdom from Tim: if all else fails, try to Frenchify everything and stress the last syllable of every word.



After that, we were free to admire the beauty of the winter wonderland in Ambialet.



It was beautiful, but short-lived. Most of the snow melted by the afternoon. It was nice to get a little taste of what they're having a lot of back home: it's snowed like 24 out of the last 30 days in Pittsburgh! Crazy stuff.

Rugby

Yesterday we ventured into Albi to take in a rugby game.



It was Albi vs. Bourg.



I didn't quite understand the game fully, but I still had a lot of fun. Owen and Ian led our little cheer section; the mascot loved us and kept coming back to our section so we would cheer with him.



Rugby in general seems like a very rough sport. The players don't seem to wear any protective gear (such as helmets) and there is a lot of diving into piles for the ball. (please excuse my limited language, haha.)



It was a good night for the home team. Albi took the lead early on and never looked back.



They won by a pretty comfortable margin.

Excursion trois

Carcassonne was absolutely breathtaking.



It is Europe's largest fortified medieval city and very well-preserved.



As we were walking along the semi-steep cobblestone path to get into the city, it almost felt as if I were entering a fairy-tale world.



Cat and I both agreed that this has been our favorite excursion thus far.



The fortification boasts over 50 towers and a double row of fortified walls that stretch for almost two miles.



Once inside the city, we visited another church, the Basilique des Saints Nazaire et Celse.



There were impressive stained glass windows galore in the church.



It was a gothic cathedral, as the windows demonstrate. They end in a point at the top.



It was a beautiful day, albeit a bit windy. And by a bit, I mean a lot.