Yet another vacation, come and gone

A lot of updates are in order as I'm 2 days into teaching after getting back from a 2+ week vacation, so I'll try to be as efficient as possible.

I started vacation by traveling with 3 other assistants: Patrick, Molly and Grace. We took a train from our respective towns to Dijon, France (home of Dijon mustard, cassis, and spice bread...and, temporary home for Margo, Rachel, and Stephanie this semester, three sorority sisters studying abroad there). It was great to meet up with Margo and Rachel for a little while...it's amazing how refreshing it can be to see familiar faces in a foreign country. Dijon is a beautiful and charming city, and we stayed with Pauline and Romain, hosts we found through Couch Surfing. They took us on a little tour around the town, and we all ate together both nights. We had so much fun, and it was great practice for our French.

Next on the list was Strasbourg, the most "German" of all French cities due to its geographical location near the German border. It has been back-and-forth between German and French control for...well...a long time. Two years ago, I went to the Christmas Market in Strasbourg and loved it...well, this time I loved it even more. It's definitely a contender for my favorite French city. I've decided that the reason I enjoy it is because of its ability to combine typically "French" things (boulangeries, beautiful language, wine, etc.) with things that are clearly results of the German influence on the city (efficiency, tram lines, sweet architecture, and a quicker overall pace). Thumbs up, Strasbourg.

Last stop for the four of us was Reims, in the Champagne region just north of Paris. This city makes it clear that Champagne is its specialty...the people who live in Reims drink champagne like wine (I would say they drink it like water, but the French drink more wine than water...). We stayed with a couple from Couch Surfing, and the woman hosting us worked in the champagne industry. So, we got our fair share of champagne while visiting! We also took a tour of Pommery, one of the champagne houses in Reims. It was awesome to learn more about the process and history behind the area and its prize product.

From Reims, Grace and I headed to Paris where she spent a day with me walking, shopping, and enjoying the Jardins de Luxembourg...well, enjoying it until we were attacked by birds, Hitchcock-style. We enjoyed a great day/night in Paris, then parted ways so that I could head to the airport and meet Meghan and my mom!

Mom, Meg and I did a two-day whirlwind tour of Paris...efficient, but exhausting. Meg and Mom learned very quickly some things that it took me months to catch onto, such as the fact that the French WILL NOT move out of your way on the sidewalk...so, rather than moving for them, you should just learn quickly how to be agressive. Also, looking up at the pretty buildings is not a good idea...if you are, you're probably also stepping in a pile of dog poop. Lastly, if a new line opens up at the supermarket, nobody will be polite and let the next person in line go...so, you have to fight for it (again, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!). Saturday, we got on a train to Valence and, while Meg slept, Mom and I got mini-glasses of wine from the train's food car. Once we finished them, we took our own wine bottles out of our bag and re-filled :). It was a good train ride, and gave us a chance to relax after a long couple of days.

In Valence, we checked into our sweet hotel then headed to Patrick and Molly's for a delicious dinner. We were all exhausted, so we headed back to the hotel pretty early to watch the one English TV channel and get some sleep. The next morning was market day in Romans, the town I live in, so we bought some fruit, cheese, and bread for the train ride later that day, and Mom and Meg got to (briefly) see my little French "home". We took a train to Annecy that day and got checked into the apartment that we were renting for the week. Annecy is a beautiful town, complete with a lake and gorgeous mountain views. We ran, walked, shopped and enjoyed the town for about 5 days. I'll post pictures soon so you can get an idea of what it looks like. The apartment was great, other than the fact that we broke the washer the first night. This led to the owner cutting the machine open and arguing with me in French for a good half hour. Luckily, it all got settled...it also provided some good entertainment for awhile. We had a couple dinners out in Annecy, including an excellent one of French Onion Soup and Fondue on the night that it snowed (Thanks, Grandpa!). I think Meg and Mom have also had enough Pain au Chocolat's and Croissants to last them a few years :).

One of the days in Annecy was spent on a day trip to Geneva, Switzerland, which was really fun. The efficiency of the Swiss is always a nice treat after a lot of time in France...as is Starbucks.

We ended the trip in Lyon for 2 days/2 nights. The weather there was beautiful, which made exploring the city fantastic. Again, tons of walking... but we saw a lot!

Sunday morning, I parted ways with Meg and Mom as they got on a train to the Paris airport and I boarded one back to Romans. After getting re-settled and unpacking, I spent the afternoon in Valence catching up with Abi, Becca and Eric...and enjoying a couple episodes of Gossip Girl.

I'm enjoying this week of teaching so far -- it's the one week a month that I have with my most motivated students, so it's always fun to work with them. I'm looking forward to English Club this Thursday as well...so far, the number of members has doubled since it started about a month and a half ago (which doesn't say much since it started at 2 students, but it's still progress).

This weekend is the Carnaval in Romans, which seems like quite the event. Rachel and Margo (and maybe Stephanie) are visiting from Dijon, and Grace will be coming down from Chambéry. On top of that, most of the Valence assistants will be there...if it's not already an awesome event, we'll make it one! We're planning to make masks on Friday in preparation.

Only one more thing to report, and that's that either Spring has arrived or there's a horrible trick being played on the region...the weather's been gorgeous!

Miss you all -- talk to you soon.