Au revoir Grenoble, et Bon Voyage à moi!

Hier soir was awesome! We had such a good time, as I'm sure you can tell from the photos, which are posted :) Amanda and Angelina came over for the barbeque. We drank a ton of wine and ate lots of good food - it was so fun. A bunch of Lynda's friends came over, most of whom I had met before. I really like Delphine - she's awesome.

After hanging out for a while at the apartment, Angelina found herself sufficiently trashed, so she and Amanda headed out for the bars. I stuck around at home a bit longer and hung out with Lynda and her friends. One of the friends who came over was an Aupère in Florida for a few years near Orlando. She said she loved it. I cannot for the life of me remember what her name is, though. It's driving me nuts.

I finally left the soirée to go to the bars. The Couche Tard was fermé last night, quel dommage! So we just went to the London Pub instead. The pictures from that are on Amanda's camera, I'll be posting them eventually.

Today was a good day. We went to classes, which were so pointless, then a group of us went to Au Bureau for lunch. Besides the random downpour in the middle of the répas, it was great. Amanda, Angelina and I walked around taking pictures and being stupid for a while after lunch. We avoided saying goodbye until the last possible second - and when we did, we cried. It's sad to be leaving Grenoble. I am leaving in less than 4 hours - so strange. It's been so good over here - I started out nervous, but now I don't want to leave. In fact, I don't much want to talk about leaving right now, so I'm not going to.

This is my last blog entry from France. That's not to say, however, that I am going to stop updating it. I will update it again later this weekend after I have recovered from my flight and started to discern the awesomeness that has been this summer. Look for a recap sometime Sunday. For right now, I must sign off, finish packing, and get on a train. A toute de suite mes coeurs!

La Chaleur Retourne...

It is sooooo HOT! The heat wave we had at the beginning of the summer was bad, but now it might be worse. It is so freaking warm today. I couldn't be inside the tram without dripping sweat - gross, I know.

So I keep seeing this H2 Hummer around Grenoble - I think it's the only car in the whole city larger than the size of a Geo Metro - except the Range Rover than nearly took me out yesterday. Please take note I was on the sidewalk when the near miss occurred. Crazy French drivers!

I am slowly coming to the realization that tonight, this very evening, is my last night in Grenoble. I'll probably cry later. Amanda and Angelina are coming over to the apartment tonight for a Barbeque - I invited Libby too, but she says she might not come. Of course everyone is going out tonight - we had our exams today, and turned in papers. Pub Couche Tard here we come for the last time... at least the last time for now :) Tomorrow is going to be so weird. I know I'm going to see most of the people from the program - I'll be making a trip to Ann Arbor this year to be sure :)

As of right now I haven't got much else to say. I'll be sure to update you all one more time before I depart for the U S of A. Bonne Soirée tout le monde!

Bonne Humeur

Pour quelque raison, I'm in a really good mood - don't know why. I have 2 papers due tomorrow, and an exam. One of the papers I haven't yet begun and the exam, well I don't know what it's about. As you can see, no reason at all for an excessively happy mood. I have exactly two nights left in Grenoble - bittersweet, really. I am going to miss it here immensely, however the States certainly have a lot to offer. I've been thinking a lot about the Madison bar scene recently... Get ready Mellie, it's going to be a crazy year!

Today was basically a good day, if you take the class out of it. Seriousment, les classes sont ridicules! I got home from class around 13h00 and made some lunch. I hung out for a while reading this ridiculous novel that I absolutely could not put down - I'm bringing it home Britt, so you can read it while we're at the lake. It's called Gone for Good by Harlan Coben - it's really messed up, but good.

I have become very proficient at typing on these crazy foreign keyboards, and I am wondering how long it's going to take me to readapt once I get back to the American-style computers. Not looking forward to that.

I only have 2 days left in Grenoble, followed by - I figured it out today - a full 24 hours of traveling. Gross. It will be good to be home - it's really all I've been thinking about. Angelina and I have been talking about what we're going to do for the next two days... Tomorrow night is the barbeque chez-moi, then we're going out for sure. Friday is the last day of classes - since everything is due tomorrow no one knows what the point of Friday is, but whatever. After class we'll probably go out for lunch, get our last poire sorbet, and say our goodbyes to go spend the rest of our short time with our French families. Friday night I get on a train at 22h00, and that's it. I can't believe it.

Other than my awe at my leaving in two days, I haven't got much else to say... So until tomorrow, au revoir!

Packing, what?

I went to class today for the first time since Thursday - it's not my fault; I had to skip, I swear! Just as I suspected I missed nothing in my absences. Classes were just as dull and boring as usual - and they went until 4h00 this afternoon because we had to fill out evaluations of everything. The comments on mine were anything but nice. I love Grenoble, I'm having a great time, but man the CUEF sucks real bad. The CUEF is the Centre Universitaire des Etudes Français - the part of the university for foreigners.

After class today I went shopping with Angelina, Amanda and Shelby. It was pretty fun - and in the process we managed to grab what is sure to be one of our last cones of poire sorbet. It is still just as delicious as the first time I tasted it.

Once we finished shopping, I headed home. I have since been picking up my room and packing. Packing.... so strange to say that. I am actually almost completely packed already, and I'm not leaving until Friday night. I decided to assure my ability to go out for the rest of the week - particularly Thursday night after my papers are due and I have exams. Who gives an exam on a two week course? My dumb box of a Civilisation Française professor. Ass.

Today is John Paul's birthday, but unfortunately I am not going out to Le Couche Tard - I want to work on my papers so I might have a shot at going out both tomorrow and Thursday... and of course on Saturday, for those of you lucky ones who happen to find yourselves in Dayton, Ohio on July 30 :)

I almost forgot: When I was in Amnsterdam on Saturday, a bird pooped on my head. That's right, on the left lens of my sunglasses to be exact, which were on top of my head at the time. I didn't know about it until I tried to put my sunglasses on and realized the vision of my left eye was completely obscured. As I was noticing this Corbin said, "You have something on your glasses." No, really? So I looked at it and decided it looked like bird crap - I was right. Then Corbin proceeded to say, "It was there all through lunch, but I didn't want to say anything." Thanks a lot buddy. Luckily there wasn't any shit in my hair, or if there was it was very little and neither Corbin nor I could find it. Gross.

I think that's all I have to say for now... So until next time, adios!

The Weekend in Northern Europe

Where to even begin...

This was a really fun weekend, excluding my 13 hour train ride home from Brussels. My faith in the French train system has declined - though I believe it is still far superior to that of the rest of Europe.

Friday afternoon I arrived in a very chilly Brussels to find a slightly frazzled-seeming Corbin as my welcoming committee. We went directly to his apartment where I put my stuff down and exited again immediately, for a whirlwind tour of everything that is Brussels. It was pretty neat, I'd like to go back sometime when I have more time at my disposal.

We went back to Corbin's and got our stuff ready to get on a train up to Brugge. We arrived just an hour later to find even colder weather than had been in Brussels. Northern Europe is nothing like the South of France, let me inform you. We found our bed and breakfast place with little trouble. It was fantastic. Hotel Leopold, I think it was called. We went and walked around Brugge that evening, found a great café for dinner, and enjoyed a good meal. We had white wine and fish, which we grilled ourselves. We had some trouble with the hot stone at first, not knowing when to turn the fish and such, we created a lot of smoke, but we burned nothing; it was delicious.

We were both kind of tired after dinner, but we bought some beers and sat on a bench next to a canal and some 1400s architecture and discussed American politics - ah time spent with Corbs :) We both became quite cold and decided that it was best to just head back to the hotel and sleep, as it was already nearly midnight.

In the alley where our hotel was, there was also a small bar called Pub Napoleon. Corbin suggested we go in, so we had a beer. I drank something called Hoegaarden. I actually enjoyed it, clearly since I had 4 of them - 4 pints. Somewhere in the middle of our first beer, Corbin noticed the dart board. Same standard electronic dart board in most American bars, many of you should be familiar with the Arachnid. Of course we played. I beat Corbin 6 times before he gave up. A funny British man named Dave had started talking to us, and Corbin volunteered me for a game of darts, which I gladly played. I played two games with Dave, beating him both times. He was good though.

The next morning after a fabulous 'gratuit' breakfast, we headed out for Amsterdam. We arrived a few hours later, around 3:00pm. We promptly found a hotel which was reasonably priced and very futuristic and nice! It was the most comfortable bed I've ever slept in, hands down. Amsterdam was quite an experience. We met up with Corbin's friend Brian and his two friends Isaac and Ryan. All three are architecture students at UW-Milwaukee studying in Paris for the summer. We had a great afternoon and evening. That night, we of course, as tourists are obligated to do, walked through the red-light district. I'll tell you, it was something else. It really is a bunch of glass doors with girls standing behind them waiting. When there's someone in the room with one of the girls, the curtain on the door is pulled. Not something I'd be into, but hey, to each his own, right?

Sunday morning Corbin and I headed for Brussels again. It was cold and rainy, so we just went to his apartment and hung out for a bit. We got some lunch and relaxed, and around 4:15pm we headed for the train station so I could catch my 5:01pm train to Grenoble. I was supposed to arrive back in Grenoble at 10:39pm, with a one hour layover in Lille. A full thirteen hours after I left Brussels I arrived back in Grenoble, tired and angry. The train in front of ours had some sort of accident so we had to backtrack. We got on a normal track instead of a TGV, so we couldn't go fast. Then our conductor ditched us in Lyon without saying anything. We finally got on a different train and made it to Grenoble. I went to bed at 6:00 this morning, and I did not go to class. Today has been a weird day, and I assure you I'll be going to bed early tonight!

I think that's all I've got for right now, pictures are up so check them out. Oh, and I realized I have but four nights left in Grenoble. So weird! See you all in less than a week, ciao!

Don't worry, it's coming.

Hey everyone, long time no update! I'm in Brussels in Corbin's apartment. Typing on his American-style keyboard is proving most difficult.

I haven't got much time right now, but I wanted to give a quick shout. In the past 3 days I've been to Brussels, Brugge, and Amsterdam - wow! I do have quite a lot to say, but now is not the time. I also have an excessive amount of pics to post. Look for another update tomorrow - or maybe later tonight if I'm really lucky! Until then, ciao!

Ah Bonjour!!!

Last night a few of Lynda's friends came over and we hung out on the porch drinking wine with cassis, Chartruse, and 'vodka pomme' and eating chips and salsa, peanuts, and sausage. Who knew vodka and apple juice could be a good drink? I met her friends Fattia, Delphine and Julien. They are so cool, we had an awesome time last night. Delphine loves the English language, particularly that of the Irish variety. She spent some time in Ireland a few years ago, and now when she speaks English, it's with a French/Irish accent. Julien also speaks English, and tried to talk to me about the States. He kept talking about Colorado and Colorado Springs, assuming I knew all about it. He was funny. Fattia speaks German and Arabic, and little English. She spoke to me in a mixture of French and German and I understood almost all of it! It really was just a great night.

Next week we are having a barbeque at Lynda's with her friends and my friends. I mentioned last night that I am leaving next Friday night at 10pm to catch my train to Lyon. It was the first time I had said that out loud. For the first time last night, I had serious pangs of sadness when I thought of leaving Grenoble. It hit me after Delphine, Julien and Fattia left last night that I was at home. Just Lynda and me, little apartment in an Alpine French city. It's home. I am going to miss it so much. I bet none of you thought you'd hear me say this (unless you're Big Bro Ry and know better than I do), but six weeks is not long enough. I don't want to leave yet! That's not to say I don't want to come home - I do. But it's going to be sad. I know I'll be back to Grenoble soon. It has become home #3 behind Dayton and Madison.

Today in class we talked about the first underground French story published during WWII. It was fairly interesting, I didn't want to kill myself from boredom, so that's a good sign. Randomly toward the end of the class Mireille was mid-sentence writing something on the white board, when all of a sudden she yells, "AH, BONJOUR!" Everyone in the class was confused - no - stunned. We all looked around at each other and stifled giggles. When she turned back around to face us, she acted as if it was totally normal. It was strange. I need to find a store that sells headphones. Yesterday my left 'earbud' geeked out on me and no longer produces any sound. My music is now very one-sided, and I think my left ear is getting sad, and my right ear is getting deaf.

Angelina and I went to Oasis for lunch today and had some really good Greek-like veggie salads. Delicieux! Tonight some people are talking about going out - I think it's a good idea because I haven't been out in over a week. Weird!

I am leaving tomorrow morning for Brussels, I get back to Grenoble Sunday, and after that I have only five days until I head to the U S of A. Where did this summer go? I'll see you in nine days. A plus tard!