miss me?

HI/BONJOUR

I'm here...alive and well. I hope no one was worried. Between all the traveling i've been doing (i'll get to that in a little) and the fact that I haven't had internet in my house (which i will also get to) it's been difficult to post! every time i've had access to internet i've had to spend it cramming in all of my homework and getting done all of my emailing!

Since i started classes almost a month ago i've been traveling almost every weekend!
weekend 1: LONDON

my first trip out of france was to the lovely city of london where i met up with 11 of my friends from wake forest. all of the events of the trip point to it being the worst days of my life.
a) because of the strikes in europe i had to be crammed on a train where i had no seat to get to paris. once in paris i had to take an 80E taxi ride to the airport bc the metros were all shut down, and it took me 2 hours. once i landed in london it was another two hours to get to the bus station in central london, where we (i was traveling with my friend lis) missed the last tube train, and had to get ANOTHER taxi to our friends apartment...which was on a street the taxi driver didnt know.

b) our second night out in london we were traveling home from dinner/pub and my wallet got stolen...containing...my amex, my drivers license, my french debit card, and my university ID. cool.

c) when trying to get the bus to the airport on sunday morning, lis and i got completely lost, no one knew where the bus was coming, and to top it all of it was atrociously expensive.

d) once in Paris, i found out that my train to dijon had been cancelled and instead of the 4 hours i thought i had to get to the train station i only had 2. I had to haul it through a disgusting airport/metro/RER area (sneaking through obviously, i had no money) and finally made it on the train just as it was leaving.

that all being said...it was one of the best weekends ever. it was SO nice to see another country and be toured around by my best friends, and it felt like we were all back at wake together for a little while!

weekend 2: PARIS

doesn't seem so exciting right? i've been to paris, i know paris, but THIS WEEKEND, all of my friends who I had met in London, came to Paris! traveling was so easy (thank the Lord) and lis and i got to spend the weekend being the tour guide and translating for my friends! it was so nice. we took a boat tour down the seine, walked throughout the gardens and by all the monuments, and had a really nice weekend.

weekend 3: DIJON

I was going to go to barcelona for halloween but....thank you ONCE AGAIN French strikes....the plans fell through--which actually turned out for the best! most of my friends were here this weekend and it is the school vacation for all the kids so most of our host families were away for the week. we all got together and made dinner for eachother, watched hocus pocus over pasta and wine, had sleepovers, and even went out to a bar with all the canadians we have class with! after traveling for two weekends straight it has been really really nice to just relax and sleep in and recoop in the dirty dij.

next weekend...i'm jetting off again to FLORENCE (i'll be sure to update after that one)


now that i FINALLY have wifi at my house i'm feeling very happy and not as cut off from the world (although I did just get two new crossword books)

I can't even believe that in 10 days it will only be A MONTH until i come home...and my family will be here in three weeks from this upcoming wednesday! This is all going way too fast, but i'd be lying if i said i wasn't a little excited to get back to the states, and to my loved ones!

Love you all I promise to write again soon!
Caro

Back to School!

Yes, it is halfway through October, and I have just gotten back from my first day of classes! Today from 13-15 (1-3 for all of you who don’t function on military time) I had my “Comprehension Orale” (Oral comprehension) class with M. Dugois. He seems really nice and very outgoing. He spent most of the class joking with us and trying to break the ice. It’s prohibited in CIEF to have any native French speakers (except for the Professors) in any class so all of the students are English speaking—there is a group from Colby there! I had no idea there were this many Anglophones in Dijon at all much less ones my age! After class we went to what I think might be my favorite spot in Dij—Miss Cookies. It’s such a cute little café not too far from my house with great coffee, espresso, and little munchies like cookies and muffins. It’s the closest thing I’ve found to a Starbucks here and I actually could not be happier.  

I have to finish my reading for my civ class tomorrow, do some laundry, and start packing for my weekend in LONDON! Not an exciting post I know, but my life can't always be exciting.

PARENTS COME HOME

love you all

Caro

iiii'm baaaackkk!!!!

 I know I'm the worst and I haven't posted in SO long, but between our final week in Paris, coming back to Dijon where there has been no internet in my little house, and in general being so busy/exhausted I haven't even had the energy (or sometimes the means) to post, but I'll make this quick and concise to catch everyone up on my life!

Our week in Paris was absolutely amazing. I have once again fallen in love with the city and everything about it! The structure of our stay in Paris was completely different than that of our other excursions, we were simply given a list of 20 monuments/museums/gardens/landmarks that were obligatory to visit and able to make our own agenda! It was also my friends 21st birthday so it was fun to celebrate that in Paris--with a bottle of champagne by the Eiffel Tower! We saw all the major sights and even got to spend a day at Versailles. For more details of my trip PLEASE visit my friend Ellen's blog: www.elleninfrance.blogspot.com (I'm also following her blog if you can't find it!)


Paris was not only physically exhausting, but emotionally exhausting too. We've been here for almost 2 months (our half way point is coming up on Oct 15th!) and although it has been so nice to see this country, it of course has been hard on my relationships with my loved ones! My parents and sister have been in South America for a wedding for the past two weeks, and unfortunately I was hit with homesickness during the one period of time I can't talk to them. I was so lucky however to have my aunt--my other mother, there to help me through everything and her presence is something I am forever grateful for, and I've truly become so close with the girls on my trip and I cannot explain how happy I am to have such a strong support system here!


Coming back to Dijon was of course a little bit of a let down after being in the city of lights; my friend Brittany took a class on going abroad and said that we all are hitting the "disenchanted" phase of our journey (just after the "honeymoon" phase) where we fall out of love with Dijon until we get truly comfortable and find out niche here. With all the traveling we've been doing, I havent even spent a straight weekend here, but now since we're starting our university classes on Monday, we'll be here all during the week, until we go home!


Speaking of University....we took our placement test with CIEF (Conseil International d'Etudes Francophones) and got to see everyone in our program--the overwhelming majority of which are asians (go figure!) Most of the people in the university have just arrived here so they had to go to orientation to Dijon and things like the bus system (which luckily I got to skip). The placement test, which was four parts, was to assess our abilities in the language and place us into appropriate levels (1-5) for our language class. The class is split up into 5 classes: Oral Comprehension, Technique of Expression, Written Comprehension, Oral Expression, and Grammar which are five separate classes that I will take once a week in addition to my civilization course and art history (which are both with just Wake kids). Much to my surprise, I placed into level 5 for my language abilities, so we'll have to see how hard that is!


I think that is quite enough for today...it's totally bizarre that I haven't even started my uni classes, and I'm already half was done with my stay here! Hope all is well in the states, and I cannot wait to talk to my parents again!!


Love you all, and I'll be sure to update again soon!
Caro

Loire Valley (I)

MOT DU JOUR:

Nuage (Cloud)

As in : Our bus driver, Stephan, drives our stick shift bus like a cloud.

Today’s post is short because I had to report/finish my post from last night. Unfortunately, I think something has happened with the main source of my WiFi in my homestay because I can’t access the internet at my house. To top it all off, as I tried to reboot my computer in my moment of hysteria, I lost the paper I had been writing (due today at midnight)…awesome. I was looking forward to a night of chick flicks, youtube videos, and skyping, but unfortunately I had to bide my time by actually packing for my trip and (GASP) reading ahead for my excursion.

We met at our bus (a Mercedes-Bez bus may I add; I love Europe all the taxis are nicer than my Kia Krusher…which I miss terribly) at around 9:00 and much to our driver’s and Madame’s surprise, all 12 of the students were there at 9:05. We started our on our five hour bus ride, only stopping twice (Mom would have died), and arrived at Chateau de Chambord around 3:15. We had two hours at the beautiful chateau that was built for Francois I, even though he spent 72 days of his 32 year reign there. It was designed by Da Vinci, and inside thre is a double helix staircase that has two separate concentric staircases rotating around a hollow column. You can see the other people who are walking up the other set of stairs but you never pass them and the cases never intersect. It’s kind of hard to explain/imagine but it’s a math major’s dream.

It’s amazing to see the transition of architecture throughout France’s history. In just one month I’ve seen the ruins of Roman gladiator stadiums, medieval gothic cathedrals and bubonic plague cemeteries, and now I’ve spent my day walking through the home of Marie Antoinette’s great grandfather. They are so extravagant they make the Larchmont McMansions look like playmobile houses. Although, this chateaux is NOTHING compared to what we will see at Versailles.

We arrived in Tours tonight where I finally got internet! We had a group dinner and are about to watch a movie and go to sleep. I’m looking forward to a lax week in Tours and then a free week in Paris.

I’ll be sure to write again tomorrow.

Bisous

Caro

Caroline le Pire (Caroline the Worst)...

I'm the absolute worst! I haven't posted in so long, but I promise i'll make it a quick one to get everyone up to speed before I set off on my longest excursion....time for words of the day!

MOTS DU JOUR:
Le manège (carousel)
La grand roue (ferris wheel)

As in: It's kind of weird how every city in France equipped with either a carousel or a Ferris wheel...no joke. It's also really funny to count how many children are crying on them.

The rest of Normandy was amazing. After we spent our day at the WWII memorials we finished our trip at Mont-St-Michel and Chartres. Mont-St-Michel is an amazing abbey that was built on tiny rocky island in the middle of a bay…feel free to google image is. I know Coddie has been there and can attest to the fact that it is absolutely amazing, but SO crowded with tourists, easily the most crowded place we’ve been….and our guide there pretty much made fun of Americans for having no culture and no cathedrals comparable to those in France (whatever, you’re welcome for ending German occupation and accepting your gift of the statue of liberty). After Mont-St-Michel we went to Chartres for the day and saw…wait for it…another cathedral! It was actually beautiful and I was really happy that we got to have some free time there.

Upon arriving back in Dijon on Tuesday, we entered directly back into school mode with a test and class all day Wednesday and class and a test on Thursday. Thursday night we had a cocktail party at a swanky restaurant in Dijon for the students, all their host families, our lovely bus drives, and the coordinators of the program. It was really nice to see all of my friend’s families and made me definitely feel more like we were all part of a little community. I talked for the entire night with a family that didn’t have any students this semester but were invited due to the fact that they have hosted students for the past ten years. Both the husband and the wife were very complimentary of Wake Forest and said they had never had any problems with their students! (Go Deacs)

Friday, as usual, our class was cancelled and my host family left to go to Paris to visit with some of their work colleagues for the weekend. They invited me along but I was overwhelmed with work (we already have reading for one of our university classes), and wanted to spend our first weekend in Dijon with my friends. Both nights of the weekend I played hostess and had wine and cheese in my house before dinner, and Saturday night had a full dinner (wine, cheese, fruit, bread, and pasta) before we went out to a bar (for a little bit…don’t worry mom, it’s Europe I’m not doing anything illegal or going crazy thank you).

Get ready Mom for what I did on Sunday…

1.     3 Loads of laundry (1 by HAND)

2.     Full load of Dishes (by hand)

3.     Refolded and organized all of my clothes!

I wouldn’t get used to it though…I’m not sure how long I can keep this up.

I hope all is well in the US, I’ve officially been here for a month, can you believe it?

Can’t wait to see you all in December so I can show you all the amazing photos I’ve been taking!

Love, Caroline

PS. Look at my friend Ellen’s blog too! She has photos and is actually interested in journalism

www.elleninfrance.blogspot.com

Normandie (partie II)

MOT DU JOUR!

inconscient(e): Inconsiderate

As in: Call me an obnoxious American, but I find it inconsiderate when Italian parents lets their children skinny on Omaha Beach where my countrymen sacrificed their lives on D-Day...just saying.

PHRASE DU JOUR! (Brought to you by Ginny DeLacy)

Sans l'Amérique, les Français seraient de langue Allemande!: Without America, French people would speak German!

If you haven't guessed already...today we visited beaches of Normandy and the Museum of WWII and D-Day. This was EASILY the best day I've spent in France. The museum was SO well done and the video they showed us was perfect. I can't say enough about it. It's my favorite museum I've been to...EVER. For the first time since I arrived here, I am so proud to be an American. Normandy, especially near the beaches and battlefields, are so American-friendly, and the older people here are still thankful for everything that American troops did for France. Everyone in the group left the museum swelling with patriotism and our teacher let us speak English because she could see we were so proud of our backgrounds. 

After the museum we walked all over Omaha Beach, Pointe du Hoc, and Arromanche-- all sites of the D-Day landings. After that we had the most emotional part of the visit. We went to Colleville which is an American cemetery for all the soldiers who died during D-Day and the following battles. The seaside rolling greens are covered in ivory crosses and jewish stars marking the more than 10,000 graves on the site.  It must have been a special day because most of all the groups there were American veterans. I really wanted to sit down and talk to one of them, but we didn't have enough time. 

After the cemetery, we visited Gold Beach where there were the remains of the temporary ports erected by Winston Churchill on June 7th 1944 the day after D-Day. The museum there was cheesy with creepy mannequins, but it was awesome to walk on the beach and see all the ports. We're now in our hotel in Bayeaux and about to go to dinner!

Go America.

Hope all is well in the states!

bisous

caro

ps. hello? mother? father? remember me? can you all call me?

pps. hello john kirkpatrick, here is your shout out

Normandy (partie une!)...this post is dripping with sarcasm.

So...I've decided to start doing words of the day (mots de jour if you will) because I figure you all might as well learn some french too!

Since we're starting out...I have TWO words that coincide with my first days in Normandy
1. "petit annonce personnelle"--> Personal Agenda
sentence: It's really rude how all the Japanese tourists in Normandy have personal agendas; they get in the way of your pictures and act like it's no big deal.

2. "echafaudges" --> Scaffolding
sentence: It's annoying how whenever we go to visit pretty cathedrals they are covered in scaffolding
WARNING: do NOT try and explain this word to a German...it will not translate (I've tried)

Now onto the trip!
We left for Normandy early Wednesday morning and arrived at our first stop "Maison d'Eugene Mercier" which is a HUGE champagne factory, around 11. After a tour of the cellars and a little bit of the grounds, we got to have a tasting of their signature champagne. It was really interesting to see how it was made, all the old bottles (the oldest was from 1923) and learn about the region.

After that we had a longer drive to Reims (pronounces Rins...go figure, thanks France). Normandy is on the northern coast of the country so it was kind of schlep but definitely worth it. After lunch we headed out on our tour of Reims. Reims is known for being the site of the baptisms in Clovis in 496 AD. After that, it became the church where all Kings of France were "made sacred/blessed" (I'm not sure of the English translation). It was beautiful and although I thought all the cathedrals in Burgundy were rather mundane, the grandeur and the history behind the cathedrals in Normandy made them much more appealing. We then went on a bus tour of the city and then headed to our next town: Rouen

After the long drive we were pleasantly surprised with the fact that the bus had leaked during the rain storm and all of our bags (clothing included) were completely soaked. After getting to my room with my roommate and many expletives, the owner of the hotel was such a gem and offered to dry all of our clothes for us while we were at dinner.

After leaving the hotel the trip did a COMPLETELY 180, and I went from being miserable to probably the happiest ever. We went to this tiny restaurant where we had a room practically to ourselves and immediately our prof ordered wine for the table (good move). Dinner that night was the best I have ever had, mussels, steak, crepes, cheese, and--in true french, and Paula Dean fashion-- LOTS of butter.

The next day we woke up still full and with dry clothes and headed out on our tour of Rouen. Made famous by being the site of Joan of Arc's murder (we saw the place she was physically burned), Rouen is a melange of architectural styles and cultures, that suffered heavily in WWII. In Rouen, our first stop was another cathedral. Joan of Arc was tried in this church and damage was so extensive in a bombardment on April 9 1944, that only one of the chapels survived. Luckily, when the war started, all of the stained gladd windows were removed from the church and taken somewhere else for safe keeping--so all of the glass work was original dating back to the 13th century. After the cathedral we went on another walking tour. My absolute favorite part (also the most morbid) was the old burial yard used for all the bodies who died from the plague but they couldn't fit into the cemeteries.  It was a huge yard with a building enclosing it decorated with skulls and signs of death-- so cool.

After leaving Rouen, we stopped for an hour in Honfleur, a beach town, and just walked around and got creeped on by french men (typical). Now we're in our hotel in Bayeaux! To be honest, I have no idea what's here, but I'll be sure to fill everyone in tomorrow!

I hope everyone is well and I'm sorry this post was so long!
Bisous!