Time for America

So tomorrow I will be waking up at 5am and heading off to the Montpellier airport for the last time, destination: Washington D.C. So I feel like in this post I should be super introspective and reflective about my experience this semester but if you know me at all that is just really not my style. So instead I decided I'd make a list of all the new experiences I've had:

1. Took 5 classes in French and was able to understand and communicate with people including writing 2 8-page papers.
2. Took a quiz on the morning of Thanksgiving
3. Missed a flight
4. Had fresh bread for pretty much every meal
5. Drank legally (a lot)
6. Tried: foie gras, duck, venison, paté, tons of new french pastries and numerous other French delicacies
7. Discovered the wonder that is cassis (black currant)
8. Took classes in which there was no syllabi, assigned readings for each class or any semblance of structure.
9. Went to the beach in the middle of October and it was still warm enough to tan.
10. Traveled to 9 other European countries: France, Monaco, England, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Czech Republic, Italy
11. Used 5 different currencies
12. Met new people from all over the world
13. Lived on the 4th floor with no elevator or air conditioning, or an oven, or a dishwasher.
14. Hung my clothes outside my window and washed them at a laundromat
15. Learned how to use kilograms and Celsius
16. Understand time based on a 24 hour scale
17. Successfully traveled by myself on multiple occasions
18. Packed my life including many many gifts for friends into 2 20-kg suitcases and will hopefully somehow get them down my three flights of stairs in the dark tomorrow morning at 5am.

I'm sure there are many more things I could add to this list that I cannot think of at the moment, but my experience in France was a great one and it is sad to leave but I am also very excited to see my family and in a few short days visit all of my close friends up at Villanova. Now to make this post not so depressing I decided to end it in a deliciously French fashion with: French Pastries 101

French Pastries...what you don't know

• My favorite pastry the Chocolat Suisse (aka Gourmandise) is a delicious pastry with a flaky outside and a creamy custard and chocolate chip inside, as I mentioned in my last post this pastry is a staple in my life.
• The pastry below the Chocolate Suisse is a Mille Feuille or in the United States it is referred to as a Napoleon. This lovely dessert has a flaky crust layered with cream and then a delicious white and chocolate frosting on the top!
• 
  Next is the classic Pain au Chocolat, the classic french pastry a croissant filled with some nice chocolate, a typical breakfast in France and also very cheap!
  The pastry below is a Chausson aux Pommes, usually served hot it has a flaky outside and warm apples on the inside. This is the perfect breakfast or snack in those cold winter months (50 degrees) in Montpellier.
• 
  Finally we have the beignets! Beignet is very similar to a jelly donut except it is so much more fresh and delicious a sugary donut on the outside on the inside you usually have a choice of fresh jams, nutella or dark chocolate these are to die for and usually sold at the beach or at stands in the Christmas market!
  
  Well that is all for now, don't go too gaga over these pictures...Next post from America!!!!!

Narbonne et Avignon

Well I have a presentation tomorrow and then I'm done and home on Wednesday just 2 short days away! So this weekend was filled of trying to live up every second left in Montpellier, plus I also wanted to be super tired so I can sleep on the plane! It has really started to hit me that people I hung out with this weekend for the most part I will never see again in my life, the goodbyes are hard but I know that in a few days I'll have the joy of being reunited with best friends and of course my favorite foods that I have left behind in America for so long. Wednesday night we had our last apartment dinner of the year. Since the beginning of the program all of us who lived in apartments got together once a week and one group of roommates would cook dinner and then we went to our weekly conversation hour at a bar called the Vert Anglais (Green American) Wednesdays are always the best day of the week because we can relax and hang out with friends and also go get drinks with our teacher which is a completely foreign experience to me.

The group for apartment dinners: Oliver, Gibson, Mary, Rasheik, Myself, Andre, Casey, Aliza, Eliza

Sam, Nate and I at the Vert Anglais

Thursday the goodbyes were set into motion when we had our end of semester cocktail party with our program. The fact that our program has a free end of semester cocktail party with unlimited wine and champagne and delicious appetizer is already amazing in my book. But it was so cool to feel so adult getting all dressed up and drinking wine I will definitely miss that in America. We said goodbye to our teachers and friends who will be travelling after the program, since everyone leaves at different times this was really the last chance to say goodbye to everyone.

Katy and I with two of our teachers Cedric and Corrine

Byron, Sam, Matt and I

On Friday I woke up super early to take a train with my friend Mary to the city of Narbonne which is about an hour away from Montpellier. We wanted to go early so we could get back before dark and have a whole day there but I actually turned out perfectly because we arrived in town right as the sun was coming up and it was one of the most beautiful train rides I have ever experienced watching the French countryside with the sun about to come up is amazing. We arrived in Narbonne and found a cafe for breakfast. I got my favorite French pastry, a chocolat suisse, which is basically a croissant filled with some cream and chocolate chips and then I got a cappuccino which apparently in Narbonne comes with a big heaping of whipped cream which I was very much okay with. Then we walked around the city unfortunately a lot of the attractions didn't open till 10 so we had some time to kill before we go into a lot of places. We walked along the river and into the Cathedrale Saint-Just which is the huge cathedral in the center of the town. We walked through the Christmas market which is a lot smaller but also a lot cheaper than in Montpellier and I was able to get some gifts for my friends back home! We also visited the Basilique Saint-Serge and it was just nice to walk through the cute french streets of this smaller town. For lunch we stumbled upon this street that had Tex-Mex cuisine a rarity in France. I had some enchilladas for lunch which was really sub par to the United States but it did fill the craving I've been having for Mexican food until I finally get Chipotle this weekend. In the afternoon we got some delicious pastries and visited the Horeum which were a bunch of underground Roman ruins. Narbonne was the first Roman city in France so it has a lot of old Roman architecture and is rich in history.

Good Morning Narbonne: Coffee and Pastries!

Cathedrale Saint-Just

My companion Mary in front of the Horreum

Delicious pastry: eclair with cream strawberries and carmelized sugar on top

The unfortunate part of Narbonne was the Ferris Wheel. Mary and I got so excited when we saw it and decided we were definitely going to ride it. We inquired as to when it opened and they said 2pm. We come back at 2 and 2:30 and 3 and there were no employees the whole time we were so sad but hopefully I will get to ride a ferris wheel in the future back in america haha.

The Final Excursion- Avignon
Our program arranged many excursions for us this semester as have been documented in this blog but this was the last time that we all piled on the bus and headed off on the excursion bright and early in the morning. Saturday's trip was to Avignon but first stop was Fountaine de Vaucluse. The fountain is in a little Provencal town outside of Avignon. The Fountain was so much cooler than I expected the water was so blue and we climbed these rocks up to it, we saw water mills and every stand was selling lavender typical Provence.

Hello Beautiful Provences

Nate and I by the water

The water was so clear

After the fountain we made the trip over to Avignon. When we arrived Mary and Alaynah and I went to get lunch and of course peruse the Christmas market. After our ferris wheel experience in Narbonne Mary and I decided that we were definitely riding the Merry Go Round in Avignon so after lunch and some more gift shopping we got on the Merry-Go-Round we were probably the oldest people on there by at least 15 years but it was so worth it, and afterwards I enjoyed a nutella and coconut crepe a very satisfying lunch if you ask me. We also saw the largest nativity scene in Southern France which in my opinion defeated the point of a nativity because we couldn't even find where Jesus was. After the lunch break we met up with the program for our tour of the Palace of the Popes. Not going to lie we were all super tired at this point, and the 3 hour guided tour of this palace was extremely unnecessary and boring. But basically the popes lived in Avignon for a century in the Middle Ages instead of Rome that is all you really need to know. And finally we ended the day with a sunset walk along the Pont d'Avignon (by far the highlight of the day) the Pont d'Avignon is a bridge that only goes about halfway and stops in the middle of the river but the views were absolutely gorgeous especially at that time of day.

Palais des Papes

Where's Jesus?

Alaynah and I about to get on the Merry Go Round

Casey and I on top of the Palace of the Popes

Pont d'Avignon

Sunset :)

Here is where the blog gets exciting! Sunday night I introduced French people to beer pong and of course they loved it and thought it was the best game ever! My friend Nate left on Monday so we sent him out with a bang and it was a very fun night hanging out with people I may never see again and of course I made beer pong international!

Morgane- the French beer pong champ

Last day in Montpellier tomorrow! CRAZYYYYY

The Home Stretch

At this time in a week I will be arriving home in Washington D.C. my finals are all over for the most part and the only things standing in between me and America are an end of semester reception, day trips to Narbonne and Avignon, and a lot of packing since I have yet to begin that daunting task. The last few days I spent living up Montpellier since my classes for the most part have ended I have a lot more free time on my hands. On Monday our office hosted a Raclette Party. Raclette is a type of cheese from the mountainous region in France that is eaten in the winter melted on different meats and potatoes and it is absolutely delicious. Our office broke out 4 raclette melting machines and you put a slice of raclette in the bottom and while that melts you can fry some meat on the top part. This dinner was amazing and also super filling.

Nate and I enjoying the raclette feast

RACLETTEEEEEE

Wednesday I had my Medieval Literature presentation and my Grammar exam. My grammar class marked the last time I was ever going to go to our university so I decided to document it. Don't get too excited unlike most of France our campus is super ugly and there is really nothing nice about it, it is also like the worst university in France just to warn you haha.

Here comes the tram, direction: Mosson

The stop for Paul Valery University

The sign...with a crooked a

Batiment H (the building my grammar class was in)

Standard bathroom on campus, yes this is a hole in the floor

More to come this weekend after my day trips, see you all in a week!

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.

The hiking group!

The view from the top

Curtis!

Myself, Aliza (the chef), Casey, Kristina, Eliza, Darren

Prague > France

So long ago in September my friend from high school, Alexi, posted as her status on facebook: "Prague booked for thanksgiving." Prague was the one trip I wanted to do so bad when I came to Europe and I was worried at the beginning of the year when no one in my program seem to want to go so when I saw this post I jumped at the chance to join in on her travel plans! However, France seemed to have different plans for my thanksgiving. I had to take a train to Lyon (about 2 hours away) for my flight and in my plans I was going to arrive 4 hours early plenty of time. However, my train had to connect and the first train was late so I missed the connection.The conductor assured me that the next train would get me there in time for my flight but then that train was late and I arrived at the airport just half an hour before my flight. Thinking I could still make I ran through the airport and got to my gate to find out that my flight had left 10 min early! So moral of the story I spent my thanksgiving alone at the Lyon airport miserable until I finally got to Prague the next morning!

I got to Prague and immediately went on a walking tour of all the main attractions in Prague. We went to the astronomical clock which is the oldest astronomical clock in the world. We also saw some churches and walked through the Jewish Quarter in which I learned many fun fact such as:
 1) Hitler loved Prague so much that he planned to retire there after he conquered the world.
 2) There is a Hugo Boss store in the Jewish Quarter which is ironic because Hugo Boss was very anti-Semitic and made all the uniforms for the Nazis.
 3) There are so many synagogues preserved in Prague because Hitler wanted to set up a museum of an extinct race after he exterminated all of the Jews.
 4) Prague was very cheap 100 Czech Crowns is about 4 euros however it is not very cheap for Czech people where the minimum wage is 50 Czech Crowns.

Astronomical Clock

Prague National Museum and Christmas Market

Oldest Synagogue

Beautiful Prague Night with Megan and Kristen. It was a coincidence because Megan and Kristen are on Alexi's program in Rome with her but also go to Villanova!

After the tour we stumbled upon the Prague Chocolate Museum. We got free samples of Pralines and saw the whole process of how they make the chocolate it was a very delicious experience. Then for dinner we had a delicious meal (the first of many in Prague) I was able to try goulash, foie gras, deer, pheasant, duck it was the most food cultural experience of my life and for so much cheaper than those dishes would have cost in America or Western Europe. After dinner we went to the biggest club in Eastern Europe. It had 5 floors of dancing including Radio hits, hip hop, oldies, and electronica. It is probably the coolest club I have ever been to in my life.

Alexi and I at the Chocolate Museum

Chocolate!!

Kristen and I enjoying 1 of many Pilsners

Duck!

Awesome Night Club

The next morning we slept in which was awesome because I was so tired from my flight debacle and then walking around all day and night and then we made our way to a delicious lunch/breakfast with beer of course and then the Charles Bridge. I think the Charles Bridge was by far my favorite attraction in Prague. It is a beautiful bridge across the Vltava River. There were gorgeous statues all across and the view of the river was impeccable. At night it was even more amazing because there were Christmas Carolers on the bridge which just made me that more excited for Christmas time! Across the Charles Bridge we visited one of the most beautiful churches I've ever seen: The Cathedral of Saint Nicholas, Lesser Town. Then we went up to the Prague Castle and saw where the Czech President lives, the Church of St. Vitus which was also beautiful and we got these awesome Czech pastries (Trdelniks) they are these cylindrical sugar pastries and we got ours filled with chocolate they were so good!! Another fun fact: at a conference in Chile, the Czech President stole a gold pen and since then people have been mailing him pens asking if he had enough pens!

Beer before noon, typical Prague

Charles Bridgeeeeeeeeee

Amazing View of the Prague Castle

Church of Saint Nicholas

Entrance to the Castle

Kristen and I with our Trdelniks

Wj '09 hits Prague: Alexi and I on the Charles Bridge!! 

After the Prague Castle we walked around looking for souvenirs so get excited because you may have gotten one! Then we walked through the Prague Christmas market which was gorgeous. There was mulled wine and traditional Czech pastries and sausages everywhere along with Christmas ornaments and a big tree! They have started setting up Montpellier's Christmas market which opens on Friday and I'm so pumped to explore that as well! That night we went out for another amazing dinner this time I tried deer, it was also amazing! I can safely say that Prague was one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen and I really want to go back again sometime but at least I got to see the main attractions and I'm so glad I was able to make the trip even with my travel problems it was definitely worth it!

Fried Cheese and fries apparently a Czech specialty

Roastbeef, cranberries and dumplings!

Christmas Market

Our awesome hostel that was jungle themed complete with ivy and a swing!

Time is Flying...What's Next
I have less than 3 weeks left in Montpellier and I had my first final exam tonight how crazy is that! The next 3 weeks will be spent shopping, exploring Montpellier, this beautiful city I live in, and studying for more finals and a presentation with a day trip to Avignon and maybe Grenoble mixed in!