La Cuisine de Montpellier

So I've realized that I haven't been posting that often or much about Montpellier so I'll try and give you an idea of how awesome this city is. Montpellier is located only about 20 minutes from the Mediterranean which is not only very convenient for many afternoons at the beach but also for fresh seafood! The specialty in Montpellier and in a lot of coastal French cities is moules frites which is mussels and french fries and they are delicious! I went out for some moules frites on tuesday night and you get a whole pot of fresh mussels cooked in any kind of sauce you want. We chose the Marseillaise sauce which was a little spicy and had some carrots and onions and tomatoes. Then you get a whole thing of french fries too which I initially thought was a strange combination with mussels but it was in fact delicious.

Moules frites, we devoured it in about 10 minutes, so delicious!

Another more bizarre part of Montpellier is that there is a Kebab restaurant on pretty much every block. There is a large Arab community in all of Southern France because of its proximity to Northern Africa but these are not kebabs like we think of a kebab, like meat and vegetables on stick. Here kebabs are basically like wraps with either chicken or beef, a sauce of your choice like ketchup or my personal favorite samourai sauce which basically a spicy mayonnaise and then french fries, inside the kebab. Also they consider "tacos" to be the same things as kebabs and those also come with fries inside the wrap. French people are pretty much obsessed with putting fries inside sandwiches and kebabs it is pretty funny but actually quite delicious i have even seen french fries on pizza.

Typical Kebab stand there is pretty much one of these everywhere you turn

London!

So this weekend I flew to London to meet up with my dad after his conference at Oxford and I could not have asked for a better weekend. The weather was absolutely amazing which I guess is pretty rare for London. We had sunny skies the entire weekend and it was around 65 degrees perfect for packing all the sights of London into a short weekend! London was so beautiful but by far the best part of the weekend was just being able to relax, finally getting to stay in a nice hotel, and not having to worry about anything, it was kind of just like going home for a weekend which was great.
I arrived in London Friday night and made my way from the airport and three tube stops to the hotel where we just relaxed, went out for dinner and got to bed early for a busy day in London. Our first stop was the Tower of London, we got there pretty early so it wasn't too crowded. We took a tour around there including seeing the Crown Jewels and many many locations where former kings and queens were beheaded. Then we walked across the Tower Bridge and got some nice pictures of London!

Tower of London

Classic Guard guarding the Tower of London

Tower Bridge and of course I needed a picture of a red double decker bus

Then we headed over to Westminster Abbey. It was really pretty and we took pictures from the outside but we declined to go inside, a) because the line was super long and b) I'm kind of over ancient churches if you can't tell by all my other blog posts. We saw Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament and then Buckingham Palace and Green Park. Buckingham Palace was pretty packed because there was some demonstration going on outside.

Big Ben!

Westminster Abbey

My Dad and I in front of Buckingham Palace

After lunch, we went to Trafalgar Square where there was a big festival celebrating the end of Ramadan and then we went into the National Portrait Gallery which was pretty cool and that is saying a lot since I am not the hugest fan of art. Then we went and walked down Carnaby Street, which has a ton of shops basically any designer store you could ask for. Then we headed back to the hotel to rest for a little since we had done so much walking. Around 6 we went down to the London Eye which was beautiful and there were a bunch of cool street performers and tons of little kiosks to get any kind of food imaginable as well as great views of the rest of London. Unfortunately only being London for such a short time we couldn't go on the Eye but if I'm ever back I am definitely going to do that. Then we had dinner at this delicious restaurant and since we had a lot of pounds left that we needed to spend we ate so much food it was delicious!

National Portrait Gallery

Carnaby Street

The Eye: you can see the beautiful weather we experienced

London at sunset

Sunday morning we got up early to go and walk around Hyde Park before I had to leave for my flight! The weather once again was beautiful and it was the perfect Sunday morning to walk through park! Then I headed back to the airport and back to Montpellier. I'm excited to be back but I wish I had gotten to spend more time in London since it was such a beautiful city and I know there was so much more to see and do with more time. 

Just thought I'd include this for kicks: Dad taking a shot after dinner!

The Marble Arch outside Hyde Park

A lovely Sunday morning in Hyde Park

I know my last few posts have only been about trips, but don't worry I'll be in Montpellier for the next few weekends so I'll start posting more about how awesome Montpellier is! Miss you all!

Lyon et Genève

So sorry I haven't posted in awhile this week has been crazy busy. We had our first week of real classes at the French University which included struggling finding the classrooms at the very unorganized french university as well as actually having to pay attention since all of my classes are in French. But here is my class schedule it is pretty freaking awesome! On Mondays I have Contemporary History of Monotheism. The CM (or lecture) is from 5:15-6:45 and then the TD (or discussion) is from 6:45-8:15. This wasn't my first choice in class but I am getting credit at Villanova for my history minor and the teacher is super nice and talks more slowly "so us American students can understand." Although going to class in French for 3 hours straight is pretty draining. This my one class with only French students so it is pretty intimidating but the foreign students have a curve and I am actually understanding a lot so we will see how it goes. Then on Tuesdays I have French Theater from 10am-12:30, the teacher is really chill he comes into class and decided the original start time of 9:45 was too early for him so he is changing it to 10. Basically all of my friends are in that class and I'm getting my fine arts credit for taking it so that is sweet. On Wednesday I have Medieval French Literature from 9:15-11:45 and Advanced French Grammar from 2:15-5:15 so that is my long day! Thursday I have French Conversation from 9-11 and then I am done for the weekend! Conversation is by far my favorite class. There are only 6 of us and our teacher brings us breakfast everyday and then we just talk to each other and play charades and discuss different topics of French culture it is really fun!

So since my weekends are so long some friends and I planned a trip to Lyon, France and Geneva, Switzerland this weekend. We left Thursday afternoon and took the 2 hour train ride to Lyon, which I didn't realize is France's second largest city and it was huge completely different from Montpellier. We just hung out and walked around Thursday night and then got up early on Friday and walked all around Lyon. Cutting through the middle of Lyon is the Rhone River which is beautiful. We saw their art museum, a silk museum (where I got a cute scarf for only 5 euros), the huge Basilique de Notre Dame de Fourviere, and an old Gallo-Roman amphitheater and La Cathedrale de Saint Jean. Lyon was beautiful and huge and I was very proud that we were able to navigate the Lyon transportation system and not get lost once.

The Rhone River on a beautiful morning in Lyon

La basilique de Notre Dame de Fourviere

Me overseeing the beautiful Lyon skyline

Gallo-Roman amphitheatre

La Cathedrale Saint Jean

Here is where the weekend gets interesting. Our train from Lyon to Geneva was at 8:30 pm so we went to the train station found our gate and got on the train to Geneva or so we thought. About an hour into the trip the conductor comes around to check our tickets and proceeds to tell almost everyone on the train that they are on the wrong train. The train we were on was actually headed to Evian les bains, which I looked up when I got home and it is the home of Evian water and actually has a lot of spas, but regardless we didn't want to go there and proceeded to freak out. We got off at the next stop and the conductor told us that it actually wasn't our fault but Lyon's fault because they posted the wrong gate at the train station. So us and a bunch of other confused passengers waited 40 minutes for another train to take us all to Geneva.

Once we arrived in Geneva an hour later than expected we just crashed at the hotel to get ready for a busy day in Geneva. When we woke up it was raining and kind of cold but we went to the ATM to withdraw some Swiss francs since unfortunately they do not use the Euro there. Then we walked to Lake Geneva which was beautiful even in the rain and saw the fountain in the middle (Le Jet d'eau). The best part of Geneva was just walking around the old city it is such a beautiful cosmopolitan place with all these fancy stores like Hermes and Gucci but it retained the old and beautiful architecture. We walked around and saw Le Mur de Reformateurs, Les ramparts et les cannons, La Cathedrale Saint Pierre and of course bought a lot of Swiss Chocolate to take back home! By the end of the day the rain cleared up and it was a beautiful day in Geneva. It is definitely a city that I would want to visit again.

Lake Geneva et Jet d'eau

l'horloge fleurie- a clock made completely out of flowers

The wall of the Reformers

The whole group: Myself, Kristina, Alexis and Aliza, in front of Lake Geneva

CHOCOLAT!!!

A Weekend on the Mediterranean

Our intensive French pre-session ended on Wednesday but since the French universities are slow to get started I don't have my first class till Tuesday so I had a nice long weekend of relaxation! Thursday I spent the day with 2 of my friends relaxing at the beach since it is still warm enough here to go to the beach. Now that school is about to start there are a lot more international students around so we met these 2 girls from Holland and a guy from Germany and hung out with them at the beach! Then Thursday night a few friends and I went to a foam party at a club near us, the clubs here are completely different than in America most don't get going till 1 or 2 am and a lot of them are open as late as 6am. The foam party was really fun, we got covered in foam which was being sprayed at us pretty much the whole time.

Some friends and I at the foam party!

On Friday I went out to the suburbs to my friend Nate's host family, which has a really nice pool. We spent the day laying by the pool, and then headed back in to Montpellier for the last estivales of the summer and wine tasting. On Saturday we woke early for last excursion of the pre-session which was a visit to the ramparts of Grau du Roi and then a Catamaran trip on the Mediterranean and some time laying on the beach as well. I actually have to start class this week but hopefully I'll still have time after class some days to go to the beach!

Audrey, Nate and I at the last estivales

The ramparts

Mary, Nate and I on the Catamaran

Les estivales de Montpellier, Carcassonne et Toulouse!

Every friday night in August and the beginning of September Montpellier has les estivales de Montpellier. My friends Audrey, Mary, Dami and I went. It is right in the center of town and you can pay 4 euros, you get a wine glass which you can keep and then 3 tickets to taste any 3 wines you want and all these vendors are there from around the region with their delicious wines. There are also booths with delicious food like paella, sausages, and of course crepes. There were some street performers as well and it was a great way to spend a night especially with such a busy weekend ahead!

Mary, myself, Dami and Audrey enjoying our wine!

La Place de la Comedie

Over the weekend we had a program planned excursion to the medieval city of Carcassonne. We toured around the big castle there, we at the region specialty, Cassoulet, for lunch which is basically beans and usually pork and sausage or duck all mixed together with a really good sauce, it doesn't look very appetizing but it was actually delicious and so filling. We walked around all the shops which are all enclosed in the fortress walls of the castle and at the end of trip we visited the museum of torture which shows all the different torture techniques used in Carcassonne and some are still used today. We also saw an 11th century gothic cathedral in Carcassonne the Basilica of St. Nazarre et St. Celse.

Cassoulet!

My two friends Katy and Hannah being the guinea pigs at the torture museum.

Basilique de St. Nazare et St. Celse

After Carcassonne, 7 of my friends and I took the train from Carcassonne to Toulouse which was an adventure in itself. The second we left Carcassonne it started pouring rain and thundering and lightning and we had to navigate the confusing bus system to get from the medieval Carcassonne to the downtown where the train station was. Luckily we made it there with no problems got our tickets and even figured out how to "composter les billets" which means you have to have your ticket stamped in these little yellow machines before you get on the train. The train ride from Carcassonne to Toulouse was about 45 min but it was the most beautiful train ride ever just going by miles of french countryside and so many grape farms! And of course the train in Carcassonne got their exactly on time unlike America! When we got to Toulouse we were so tired and went to the hotel to shower in order to wake ourselves up!
Saturday night we decided to go out in Toulouse but most of the students aren't back yet so it was hard to find things to do but we found this one bar that was mostly older people like 30s but it was so crowded and so fun and only sold wine so we bought 2 whole bottles and drank them! Then on our way back to the hotel we encountered a few interesting people including this group of Polish guys who were fascinated that we were from America and many sightings of prostitutes just chillin on the street haha. My two friends Andre and I decided that we'd rather get up early and see all of Toulouse instead of sleep in so we left the group sleeping at the hotel and literally walked all over Toulouse I don't think I've ever walked so much in my life. We saw 2 flea markets and walked around those for awhile, but didn't find anything too exciting to purchase. The we went to the center of town and saw their immaculate capitol building which had an exhibit about St. Exupery and we read all about Toulouse's  rich culture with aerospace technology. My favorite part of the trip was visiting Toulouse's many old churches. We saw Saint-Sernin Basilica, which is the largest romanesque church in Europe, Church of the Jacobins and St. Etienne cathedral. We also visited the museum of natural history in Toulouse, and walked around the gardens. At the end of the trip we were exhausted and saw this amazing candy and macaroon shop, which was delicious!!

La Capitale

Saint-Etienne Cathedrale

Alberto, myself and Andre at one of the gardens

Delicious Macaroons: I got an orange blossom and coconut one!

Gibson, myself and Sam at the Church of the Jacobins

Apartment Living

On Thursday we moved from the hotel, where we lived during the pre-session to our apartment that I will be in for the semester. It was quite a struggle getting my 2 large suitcases up the three flights of stairs that are not exactly easy to walk up but I recruited two guys from our program to help me which was great and now I'm all moved in! I was able to finally put all my pictures up and make my room feel like home. My room is pretty small but bigger than I expected since large apartments in France are hard to come by especially with a great location like ours which is directly in the downtown. My room also has its own bathroom which is great. There are two other girls living with me named Aliza and Eliza and they are both really nice and we cooked our first apartment dinner last night which was delicious. It is amazing how cheap really good cheese and wine is here and it makes the food that we cook that much better! Here are some pics of my apartment:

My room!

My desk, and you can see all the pics from home that I put up

bathroom

Kitchen

Living room, pretty small but we don't spend too much time in the apartment anyway

In other news, in class today we got our first test back and I got an A, which is awesome I guess I am learning some French. We were supposed to register for our classes at the French University today but, one thing I've learned about the university here is that it is completely different than Villanova. The teachers don't even know what classes they are offering for the semester yet and we start in less than a week. The classes are supposed to start next Thursday but its not uncommon to just start a week late. Everything is so much more relaxed here which is kind of stressful for a super planner like me but hopefully I will figure out what classes I am taking soon! Tonight, a few of us are going to a wine festival that happens in the center of town every Friday, you pay like 4 euros and you get to sample a bunch of different wines and foods from around Montpellier. This weekend is my first trip so I won't have internet till Sunday but I'll be spending the weekend in Carcassonne and Toulouse! Pictures and details from my weekend trip to come next week!