Adventures in Montpellier: Gauffres and Goals, Beignets et Buts

After my November that was full of travelling to other places in Europe I took advantage of one of my last weekends in Montpellier to try and experience everything that this wonderful city has to offer...and of course study for exams. On Thursday night our program assistants took us to karaoke. I did not have high expectations for this event but it actually turned out to be so fun. We belted out oldies and even some French songs as we searched through the endless catalog of songs. The best part was to see our french friends stumbling along with American songs such as F*** you by Cee Lo Green it was a very enjoyable evening and of course we followed that with some kebabs which I am very much going to miss back in America since they are quite possibly the best late night food on Earth.

Aliza, Eliza and Morgane rocking out

Mary Allen hardcore singing!

On Friday, I woke up early which is pretty surprising since I didn't have anything to do and my friend Mary and I finished off my Aunt Jemima pancake mix and had a delicious pancake and eggs breakfast before we went off to do a little shopping. Intending to buy gifts for all my family and friends I came back with 2 sweaters and some boots for myself...guess I will have to do more shopping this week before I leave! After shopping my friend Nate came over and we cooked up a lunch of pesto pasta before I went off to our very sketch laundromat across from the sex shop for hopefully my last load of laundry in France yay! Friday was also the opening day of our lovely Christmas market (les hivernales) which for better or worse is only 2 blocks from my apartment. We perused the shops and of course invested in some hot wine. Hopefully when I walk through this market more than twice a day going to and from class I will come back with some presents!

Christmas Tree in Place de la Comedie

France knows how to do Christmas Lights

Saturday I had a lazy morning and finished up a paper and presentation for my Medieval Literature class! Then Mary and I got dinner at the Christmas Market. I had tartiflette and sausage which is basically and amazing mixture of potatoes a creamy sauce and bacon or ham with some sausage and she got a hot dog which let me tell you I am not a huge hot dog fan in America but French hot dogs are like 10x better and they come in baguettes gotta love that. After dinner we met up with Byron and Ed to go to the Montpellier soccer game vs. Lorient. Most of you may not know that Montpellier is actually really good at soccer this season and they are currently in first place in France so expectations were high. However, Montpellier started out playing kind of sloppy and we were worried that they weren't taking Lorient seriously which by the way had pink and white uniforms so kind of lame. In the end Montpellier ended up winning 4-0 though so it was all good and we even had the fans behind us teach us the cheer they were singing the whole game. One of the goals was scored by Giroud who is Montpellier's best player and all in all it was a great evening besides a little bit of rain. After the game we went back to the christmas market for dessert of course. Mary and I got these amazing gauffres (waffles) and our topping of choice was nutella, Byron got a nutella crepe and Ed tried a crepe with creme de marron (chestnut cream) Mary and I also finally tried some roasted chestnuts and I have to say they were very hit or miss. When you unwrapped a good one they were delicious but sometimes they have a little fuzz on them or are hard to deshell and then they don't taste so good but def a good experience to try them.

Stade Mosson- Montpellier Stadium

Ed, myself, Mary and Byron

Yeah Montpellier!

Byron, Mary and I with our desserts, yum!

On Sunday I woke up early to go hiking at Pic Saint Loup, this mountain about half an hour away. It was arranged through our program so my friend Oliver and I went with these two french families which was cool because we got to practice our French all day. However I very much underestimated the intensity of this hike. We hiked pretty much straight up on very rocky terrain for close 2 hours. Once we got to the top it was totally worth it not only was it a beautiful day but we had beautiful views and could see all the way to the Mediterranean. It was great to actually be with a family for once including fights between the kids and the best part was their yellow lab named Curtis. Curtis reminded me so much of my dogs Boone and Marlin and he was very impressive doing the whole hike with us including rolling in many mud puddles which is family was not too thrilled with. After the most tiring day I've had in a long time and what I deemed my workout for the entire semester it was lovely to come home to an Indian feast dinner party that my roommate prepared for this evening. She made the most amazing meal of lentils and curry chicken which definitely hit the spot. All in all I could not have asked for a better weekend here in Montpellier.