Normandy... Is there anything else that needs to be said?

Wednesday (11th): We had a very early morning leaving Dijon at 6:30 am and I was sure we were stopping for breakfast somewhere, so since I was running late anyways I chose not to eat any breakfast. Big mistake. Unfortunately we didn’t stop and our first stop was Champagne tasting in Champagne, France at Mercier à Epernay. I quickly shoved some fruit bars and almonds down my throat before the tasting so I wouldn’t be tipsy at 11:00 in the morning. We had an incredible tour of the champagne factory (champagnery??) and then had a tasting at the end- one glass. Why was I so worried? We were on our way to Rouen in Normandy, but stopped in a town called Reims to get a tour of the town and the cathedral there, (probably my favorite cathedral I’ve ever seen from the outside- you need to look it up!), and then headed on to Rouen. We were a little late getting there but the best part of my day happened at dinner. When I was in 5th grade at my public elementary school we had pen pals in France that we got the chance to visit and stay with for a few days after graduation that summer. I was paired up with the sweetest girl, and her family was absolutely amazing. We stayed in touch and she came to see me and stay with my family a few years later in Atlanta. Well, it turns out she is now studying business in Rouen, so I told her I was coming and she so kindly gave up her evening of work and friends to come see me!! She ate with our Wake group and I was on cloud 9. I loved every minute of it. She is still one of the sweetest and most kind people, and I was so happy to share her with my “American friends”. I’m so thankful for her friendship and the technology to be able to stay in touch with her and I’m sure that wasn’t goodbye.

Thursday (12th): We woke up and had a tour of Rouen. Unfortunately the weather was super nasty, but it’s as much of a “college town” as I’ve seen so far in France, so the energy level was fun and we did get to see where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake. Kind of sad, not gonna lie. I was really craving soup for lunch since it was cold and rainy, but we found a legit sports bar, playing American country music and all, so we were happy to have some comfort food on such a gross day. We left Rouen and made a stop in Honfleur, the first place besides the airport in Paris I had ever been to in France. The place where I learned when I was 10 years old what “jet lag” is, (thanks daddy for explaining that one to me!). It was kind of like a dream going back to it, because I remember it so clearly from when I was 10. It was still so beautiful and it made me wish my daddy was there with me again to experience it all over again. As we were walking around the pier, we overheard 2 older couples speaking English so we decided to ask them if they wouldn’t mind taking a picture of us. Well they were wasted, and it was one of the most entertaining conversations I have had this whole trip. I asked them where they were from and they told me Charlotte, NC. Seeing that I have family from there I just started talking to them and they were as sweet as they could be, telling us one of their sons studied abroad, etc. Then one of the women looked at us and said: “I just knew y’all were from the south. Y’all are so beautiful and only southern girls could be that pretty. Y’all go tell your mamma’s we said so. They’ll appreciate it” (so momma, I’m telling you now :) ). We got such a kick out of it though because I was the only girl from the south and they had never asked where we were from, but they knew from my accent that I was southern and I also happened to be the only one who spoke, therefore they assumed everyone was from wherever they thought I was from. Not many things are more enjoyable than sweet old Southern women, even when they have had too much to drink. We left Honfleur after our free afternoon there and got settled at our hotel in Bayeaux, the hotel with the broken wifi…

Friday (13th): Big day. One of the days I have been looking forward to the most since I knew I was coming on this trip. We were doing all of the World War 2 stuff and I was pumped. Our first stop was the Caen memorial, probably the best WWII museum I have ever seen, and I’ve seen my fair share of them. It is by far my favorite thing to study in history ever, and as I was finishing up Unbroken about Louis Zamperini in the Pacific (a must read for sure), I was excited to see all of the information again in person. We saw a powerful D-Day movie with no words, and people were sobbing in the theater. It was breathtaking. We went from the Caen memorial to a 360 degree movie theater also about D-Day. It was powerful too. I will always have so much respect for the men who fought in WWII, but especially the men who walked into an almost death mission and won on June 6th, 1944. We went to another museum full of tons of mannequins and I learned about the Mulberry Bridge, built after the Allies took control of the beaches to more efficiently get supplies to the troops. Finally we were off to the US Memorial at Omaha Beach. I was there 10 years ago with my daddy, and it was one of only 2 times I saw him cry before I graduated high school. I didn’t understand why then, but being back 10 years later, I got it. As I walked around the thousands of beautiful white crosses, I tried to imagine knowing some of the men and just couldn’t even go there in my mind. I saw an older man weeping over one of the crosses and I almost cried myself. It was incredibly sad but beautiful place at the same time, and again, I had such pride for those courageous men who fought for the freedom of so many on that day and throughout the war. We had one more stop for the day and that was Pont du Hoc. The indentions in the ground from the bombs are still as big as I remember them when I was 10 and the cliffs are still just as huge. I still don’t understand how any man could climb up them, but they did it and I was awestruck. The one guy on our trip said that today was his favorite day of the trip. I agreed it was within my top 5, and I’m so thankful for the chance to have gotten to go.

Saturday (14th): We got up and headed to the Bayeux tapestry. I’m going to be honest, I wasn’t looking forward to it at all. My only recollection of it is a child was wondering why there was a building dedicated to keeping a big, old rug safe. Wellll that changed. I thought it was so cool. We were learning about the Battle of Hastings in class and William the Conqueror so I was loving it. We stopped by the cathedral there since we had some time to kill, and then we headed to Mont St. Michel, a place I have had on my bucket list since I saw a picture of it on Pinterest in high school. Unfortunately the hotel was sub-par, and the first night there, we could hear the man snoring in the other room so clearly, but I don’t think I have laughed so hard the whole trip. I stayed up way too late, pillowing talking with my roommates, and I just was again so thankful for the chance to do what I’m doing.

Sunday (15th): We got to tour Mont St. Michel! For anyone who doesn’t know, it is incredibly beautiful abbey on an island that only 42 people currently live on. There used to be parking lots around the base of the island, but when the tide came in, it washed all the cars away (you think they would have thought that one through…), so now there is a bus that will take you part of the way there, so that was our mode of transportation for the morning. We had a tour of the abbey with a funny, young tour guide. She poked fun at us for being Americans and some of our group was offended, but I was just so excited that I understood what she was saying and could joke back. She started off the tour with an explanation of how the people who used to live at the abbey slept outside on the terrace on the stones. It was an incredibly windy and chilly day so naturally when she asked what we thought was missing, I said “heat”. She actually laughed out loud and asked if I was joking… She was wearing capri cargo pants and tevas. The rest of us were bundled up in scarves and North Face jackets and I am one of the only ones from the South so it wasn’t just me “not being used to the weather”. Anyways, we got through the tour and then had the afternoon free so my friend Julia and I found a place with soup and paninis and ate lunch there. There unfortunately isn’t much else to do on the island besides eat and see the abbey, and of course take lots of pictures, so we wandered and then walked back to our hotel. We ate dinner at our hotel that night and I had been saying for a while how much I was strangely craving strawberry shortcake for dessert. Well guess what, I ordered what I thought was just fresh strawberries, and it came out as close to a strawberry shortcake as the French can do! I was so happy.

Monday (16th): We woke up and headed to Chartres to see the famous Notre Dame de Chartres and I learned the most incredible thing about it. We started in the crypt with another cute little old French lady tour guide, and I learned that what we were standing in was the first cathedral built in the Roman style, but as reconstructions were made on the church, it got bigger and bigger and less and less Roman. Now it is a huge Gothic style cathedral and let me tell you somethin’- our guide loves her job. We were supposed to have an hour and a half tour and she talked to us about the cathedral all the way up until her next tour 2 and a half hours later. I can’t remember the last time I was so cold somewhere. (Clearly this wasn’t a good weather week for us). She took us outside at one point and I kid you not, there was a monsoon taking place for the few minutes we were out there. I began to shake so badly that my sweet friends huddled around me and I just had to laugh because we were such a pitiful sight. Once we re-emerged from the inside of the cathedral, it was bright and sunny and warm and we spent some time just walking around the town a little bit. We had dinner at a cool restaurant right by the city square and within view of the cathedral. They were having a light show on the cathedral and I have never seen anything like it! We went over there and stayed and watched it… TWICE. It looked like Cirque de Soleil on the cathedral, and it had the most beautiful musical score with it. We were just in awe and loving every minute of it. Sadly the next morning we had to pack up and head back to Dijon, but I think my family was happy to have me home. I know Gaston was :)

**Weird Cravings I have had on this trip: 1-Wanting to watch “Steel Magnolias”. Probably because my mère is such a steel magnolia, I think about it all the time. 2- Wanting to eat a Willy’s burrito.This one isn't all that weird, but still. 3-Wanting to eat hot cake with cold ice cream- you can get one or the other for dessert here, but not both at the same time. 4- Wanting to wake up early… the more time I have in the day, the more things I get to do! 5- GOOD WIFI. Please.

A Week in the Life... Well Kind of

Last week was one of the more “normal” weeks of the trip since we weren’t gone for the week on an excursion (**side note- my week in Normandy is on the way, there is just so much to write I need to finish narrowing it down). We returned from Normandy Tuesday night (17th) so Wednesday (18th) morning was spent studying for our test on Normandy. We were studying what seemed like every single war the French had ever been in, so there was a lot of information. The bus and tram recharging machines were all not working around the city, (still not sure if it was a strike), but thankfully the actual buses and trams were working. However this didn’t help me since I had run out of passes the day before we left for Normandy. So without any passes, I walked downtown. I had my iPod and listened to Needtobreathe the entire 30 minutes. If you don’t listen to them or don’t know who they are, look them up. Now. I felt like I was floating the entire way in town, they are so upbeat and encouraging. My friend Julia and I returned to Café La Chouette and spent allll morning reviewing. We grabbed a bite there, thanked our friend Jimmy who gave me my “chocolate chaud” (hot chocolate) for free, and then walked to class. It was an absolutely beautiful day. I ate dinner with my mère, Martin, and of course Gaston. Fun fact of the day: I thought it was Tuesday the entire day. I even invited my friend Louise to dinner with my American friends “Thursday” night, thinking it was 2 nights from then. Maybe it was a good thing she had other plans...

Thursday (19th): Another beautiful day and I still didn’t have bus passes so I rode my bike. I loved it! I kept pace with the bus I would have been on, (take that however you want), and I even passed a few of my classmates on the way there. They were lovin’ the bike and a few of them are even thinking about getting one too. We had class in the morning, then a lunch break, then started a new class in the afternoon on French culture. I tried another food at lunch that didn’t pay off at all. It was duck mixed in a blender… why did I even give it a chance?? It looked gross, smelled worse, and the texture was unbearable. I don’t feel like I’m missing out if I choose never to eat it again. Our new teacher seems super great, but our final project is an hour long presentation in French in December… I don’t even think I can do that in English, but as my mom pointed out, at that point I probably won’t be able to. I rode my bike back home and then went for a long, release all the pent up energy walk/ run with a friend back up to the city at the edge of the cliff. I had been inside for too long. I have to take a second here to say how thankful I am that my mother made us play outside growing up. What a blessing it was to learn to appreciate beautiful days and the need for fresh air. I think I was spoiled as a child though because now it seems harder to find time to play outside. I guess the more grown up version is going for walks, which I’m willing to do too.

Friday (20th): No class on Fridays so I thought that meant I would get to sleep in a little bit. It was not to be, but for great reason. My mère had plans for me to go to the “marché” (market) with her but we had to be leaving at 10 am since she told me that her group of girlfriends met for coffee afterwards. SUCH Steel Magnolias I can’t even get over it. So I accompanied her and her mother, both of whom I am significantly taller than, and of course Gaston came too. My mère told me he doesn’t like being alone, and he was quite the social butterfly at the market, let me tell you. Afterwards she went to meet her friends and I hung around, buying some fresh food too and browsing the boutiques nearby. It reminded me a little bit of the Old Biscuit Mill in Cape Town from last summer, and I was again so humbled by the amazing experiences I have been able to have at just the age of 20. I am so incredibly thankful and truly would travel for the rest of the life if it were the Lord’s plan for me. I absolutely love it. I met two friends for lunch nearby and then they helped me do a little pre-Paris birthday shopping for myself and I got myself a fun pair of heels, thanks to the money I made this summer. I relaxed for the rest of the afternoon then came back into town for dinner and a sleep over at my friend Caitlin’s apartment. A group of us attempted to find some type of nightlife just to release some energy and hang out somewhere that wasn’t someone’s house, but it wasn’t meant to be either. Apparently the few places that are in Dijon don’t get bumpin’ until around 2 am… We weren’t feelin’ that and were in bed by 12:30 at the latest. As Caitlin said, “we won”.

Saturday (21st): I met two of my friends to go to a Cezanne exhibit in Ornan, a little teeny town in France and oh my gosh what an adventure. We rode the TGV to get to the city of Besancon and then we needed to get a bus from there to get to Ornans. When we arrived we thought we had about 2 hours before our bus left so we casually walked around the cute little town and were eating a leisurely lunch when my friend Lauren looked at the bus schedule and realized we had read it wrong. We had already missed the bus from the train station but if we could find the other bus stop in 4 minutes, we would make it. Well we had NO idea where it was, so we asked an old man, he pointed us in the general direction, and I saw a giant bus turning on the road I was pretty sure he pointed to so I took off sprinting towards it. We just barely made it! About 30 minutes later we were there. The exhibit was a comparison of Cezanne and Courbet, (the painters for those of you who may not know), so it was pretty interesting, but it only took us about an hour and half to get through. The next bus to leave back to Besancon didn’t leave for 5 more hours, so we piddled around, went to a cafè, sat in a park, and walked around the town. That took up maybe 2 hours. That museum is the only thing to do in that town. You think I’m kidding… We were dyin’. We were very happy to see the bus show up to take us back to Besancon. We arrived back at the train station around 7:00 pm and Caroline had said she thought there might have been a train leaving around then so we ran inside only to find out there was a strike, but only with the conductors of our train back to Dijon… we were heartbroken, truly heartbroken. We were so excited about getting home, but it was getting dark, we were hungry, and left with only the promise of a possible bus coming an hour and half later for us, if the bus driver wasn’t on strike too and if we could find it. We grabbed some dinner, then went and stood where we thought the bus would be. Thankfully we were right but the bus was 20 minutes late, so we were nervous he might have been on strike too. We hopped on the bus around 8:50 pm being told we would get back to Dijon around 9:30. We pulled up at 11:15 folks. Not even at the train station either. Our bus driver couldn’t find it… I could find it and I’ve only lived here for a month! Anyways, we got back safe and sound and my sweet père came and picked me up, telling me strikes are very normal around here. I’ve decided that I really don’t like strikes.

Sunday (22nd): I finally slept in. First morning I’ve gotten to do that since I’ve been here believe it or not, (even though I still woke up to an alarm at 11 am). I got breakfast, cleaned my room, then headed back downtown since Caitlin and I had decided we were going to make brunch together. It was incredible! We had 6 eggs, an avocado I had bought at the market, and fresh croissants with raspberry jelly. It felt so good to be in a kitchen and eat exactly what I wanted to, even though don’t get me wrong, I love my mère’s cooking. She is no Margaret Hamilton though, but hey, not everyone can be! We hung out for a while downtown and then I headed home to pack for our 2 week long trip to the Loire Valley and Paris. I had family dinner with my mère and père, Martin, Olivier, and his girlfriend Marie. I truly feel like part of the family around here and I am understanding more and more French. The meal lasted 2 and ½ hours, my longest yet with them, but I had nowhere important to be and I enjoyed having the excuse to sit there and spend time with them. I feel very blessed to get to live with a family so similar to my own at home, and I know God is good and He knew I would be with the Fleck’s before I ever did.

So much love all the way from France! Normandy blog coming soon, I promise!

The 5 most heard songs here in France (this includes public transportation, shops, and restaurants). 1- "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke. 2- "Let Her Go" by Passenger. 3- "Treasure" by Bruno Mars. 4- "We Can't Stop" by Miley Cyrus. 5- "Vous etes formidable" by ???. Anyone notice anything funny about the first 4??

“We are Family” (even though you’re Frencher than me)

So I have moved in with a French family here in Dijon and oh my goodness, they are wonderful. My “mère” is whatever the “Steel Magnolia” equivalent is here… (Oh my gosh I just typed that in French first… y’all, it’s happening- I’m starting to think in French first!!). Anyways, she runs her home, is an English teacher at her old school right by their home, makes homemade jelly, and dinner for whoever is home every night. She has been so great helping me get involved with other things around Dijon, and introducing me to her friends. Her husband works in Paris during the week so I haven’t seen him that often but he is extremely nice, like the rest of their family, and he has been extremely helpful correcting my French- a common daily… hourly… ok minute by minute occurrence. I told them I wanted to be corrected though because how else am I going to get better?! I have four new siblings, and for the first time, I am one of the babies of the family. All of my new siblings are involved in the medical field- one vet (Claire), one doctor (Olivier), one studying medicine for children at the hospital (Camille), and one who just started medical school (Martin- the only one I am older than)… Needless to say I feel rather educationally intimidated. I love how much at home I feel here though. I am the only student living with a family this big, and I also happen to be one of the only ones with the same size family at home in the States, so this is nothing new to me. If anything, I am more comfortable with this situation than I would have been in a dorm or living with a family without children. Oh, I also I have a new dog, Gaston. He has become famous with our group because of all the hilarious stories I am able to share about him, most famously his sneaky ploy to steal my razor out of the bathroom, only to greet me at the door with it in his mouth before sprinting and sliding all around the tile floor taunting me with it. Yes, I felt like a fool trying to get it back, but I did succeed. I think I will try to teach him English while I’m here J

Gaston- my 2 year old French Bulldog

Sunday (Sept. 1st)- My first night with them was hilarious, but so, so great. I was greeted with the standard kisses on the cheeks (“bisous”), and then was whisked away to their home 10 minutes outside of downtown by bus, (about 25 minutes walking). I was asked tons of questions and a little intimidated by how quickly they were speaking, but to my wonderful surprise, I was able to understand most of what they were saying! They were most fascinated by my name and kept talking about how strange the name “Tillman” is. I told them it was weird in America too, but they just got such a kick out of it, it was funny watching them talk and laugh about it and try to figure out why I would go by a “nom de famille”, (family name/ last name). Thankfully I like my name, but unfortunately they just can’t pronounce it here very easily. My père just calls me “Elisabeth” since that is my first name and I’m wondering if I will have to go by that at the university (fingers crossed I won’t). We had a huge, very French dinner, (5 courses including a cheese course), and then I got settled in my new little room. It is perfect for my life here and it is nice having my own space. My biggest blunder of the night came when I was trying to ask my mère when she did the laundry. The word in French for laundry is “lessive”, but I said “lavande” instead. She looked at me with the strangest expression and then quickly shuffled me outside to show me her lavender bush and explain to me that it’s about to die so if I wanted some for my room, I could just grab some. I was so confused and then realized that I had asked her when she does her lavender, not her laundry… Whoops! I’ve had several other moments like this, but that one was the best. She also gave me a few cute welcoming gifts including some perfume, some lavender soap, a Dijon grocery bag since the French don’t use the plastic bags we do in America, and a few other cute things. Very thoughtful!

Monday (2nd)- I woke up and had a delicious breakfast of yogurt, granola, freshly squeezed orange juice, hot tea, and anything else in their kitchen I wanted. I’m trying not to eat bread at everyyy meal, but apparently the most common breakfast for French kids is bread and chocolate…I wish! My new brother Martin walked me to the bus stop and explained that it goes straight into downtown and unfortunately I didn’t pay attention to the name of the stop so that made coming home a little difficult, but I did manage and guessed right the first time! Their house is in a cute little neighborhood right by this park so Tuesday (3rd) with my new house key, go-phone, and a map in hand, I went for a walk up the hill to find the park and I was blown away. The view was beautiful! I was right on the edge of a cliff, overlooking the whole city of Dijon. I have already made several trips back and I kind of don’t even want to work out when I’m up there. Literally you could sit there for hours and just watch. There is a bocce ball court there and there is a beautiful stone village, school and church and all. That afternoon my mère Claude took me to their pool. I met some of her friends and it just was so cute hanging out with them. Our families are only required to provide 2 dinners a week for us, but she was so sweet and invited me to eat with them every night, and I certainly didn’t mind. We had lots of fresh fruit, fish, cheese, and more fruit. Wednesday (4th) My mère convinced me to go rent a bike and let me tell you, I was all over that, until I showed up at the building and saw how long the line was. Not wanting to disappoint though, I waited for an hour and a half in that line and finally got my own bike to keep for the next 3 months. I left for Bourgogne Thursday, (my most previous post), but we were back Saturday night, and Sunday (8th) morning came bright and early, but it was a big day in the Fleck house- we were doing the Velotour in Dijon. My mère had been telling me about this tour around the city with bikes since the first night and when she asked me if I wanted to do it, I was all in. I tried to rally some of the other Wake kids but unfortunately no one else rented a bike, making it rather hard to participate. So I assumed I would just be riding with my mère and père, but they had other plans. She told me we were leaving at 8:20 am and I was ready, wearing my lululemon leggings, Red Bar tshirt, and Nike tennis shoes, happy to have an excuse to finally wear workout clothes in public.

Y’all I stuck out like a sore thumb. All the other cute French women were wearing khaki shorts, sweaters, scarves, sunhats, the whole she-bang. C’est la vie. As we were riding, she told me I was actually going to be riding with her friend Isabel’s daughter Louise. The thought of this terrified me, but I asked the Lord for confidence and trusted He would be with me, as He has been so much already. Claude dropped me off at Isabel’s and her daughter wasn’t even awake yet. So we sat there for an hour in her kitchen drinking tea and I actually had the greatest time. I then became nervous that things would be uncomfortable with Louise, but they weren’t at all and I made new friends that day, thanks to my mère and thanks truly to the Lord and His care for us, even in the smallest and seemingly most meaningless situations. Matthew 6:30-34 couldn't be more applicable in my life right now. I feel like my desires are so small and meaningless, but God cares about my desires, even the smallest ones. I am continually being humbled, and I don't hate it! Louise’s friend Emmanuel joined us and off we went, ready to take off at 10 am, our start time. I was thinking this was going to be an hour, maybe an hour and a half ride. Y’all it took us 4 ½ hours and we don’t even do the whole thing because it started raining! My mère packed me a picnic lunch and I didn’t understand why until about 2 ½ hours in when I was starving and realized we were only barely half way through. 

Me, Louise, and Emmanuel

Anyways, bike tour ended up being great. We drove through all of these buildings around Dijon, and I do mean through the buildings. Several concert venues, their professional futball stadium, a popular nightclub, a school, a dentist office, an insurance building, just to name a few. When we finished, we snacked on more hot tea and homemade tiramisu at Louise's house. Not too shabby, am I right? 

Ok, so sorry to overwhelm you with stories, there is just so much to share! I am sure there will be plenty more, but for now, know I am in great hands and learning to live even more independently and to rely on the Lord and His love for me even more. God is good.

"Good like good bread"

5 Things I wish all of y'all could do in Dijon with me: 1- Have tea at Cafe La Chouette with me right outside of one of the cathedrals in Dijon and people watch all the silly tourists. 2- Come walking up to Talant with me and Gaston and drool over the incredible view I get to see when I make the hike up the hill. 3- Rent a bike and come riding with me around my new city, I'll show you all the secret spots (the ones that I know about so far). 4- Come hang out with my new friends. We made homemade chocolate lava cakes the other night at Louise's house and watched Downtown Abbey in French! It's popular over here too y'all. 5- Come discover one of the many wonderful patisseries with me in Dijon. A "pain au chocolat" every once in a while is good for your soul! 

So much love all the way from France!

And here comes the Wine...

The title of this might be a little deceiving since there really hasn't been that much consumption of wine, at least not on my end, but we did take a little "vacation" to the wine region, Bourgogne, and oh my goodness it was beautiful!! I have only driven through Napa, California once in my life and I remember not understanding why anyone would ever want to have their wedding in the middle of a grape field, until I saw how beautiful vineyards are. Well the vineyards in France are no different, and thankfully we got to spend some time driving through them, but not before we saw some more sites of the city. Technically we were all over, but our hotel was in Autun, Bourgogne, France. Dang that's a mouthful. Our view was a sight for sore eyes too...

Thursday (5th)- Backtracking a little we left our new homes (update on that coming in the next post) early that morning and met up at the bus station in the centre ville. As much as I have loved living with my family, there was something about all being together as a group again that felt comfortable and good. We hopped on the bus and drove to L'Abbaye de Fontenay, an old monastery for monks. I'm not going to lie, I was thinking about "The Sound of Music" the whole time since the name of it is the "Abbey of Fontenay" and Maria lived in the abbey. It was absolutely beautiful, but I promise there was at least a 15 degree difference between the sun and the shade and I can't even imagine living there without heat... Yikes! We drove to a cute little town named "Semur en Auxois" for lunch, then headed to the Basilique de Vezelay for a quick self guided tour... I learned alot... A fun fact that I actually overheard a British tour guide saying was that who we know in the English language as Mary Magdalene, the French call "Marie Madeleine" because the hard "G" sound is not used over here. This is relevant because there were some relics of hers in the crypt of the church. After our visit there, we went to our hotel in Autun where we able to enjoy that wonderful view and the best of the Bourgognian wine at dinner.

L'Abbaye de Fontenay

La Basilique de Vezelay

Friday (6th)- We were able to have a great breakfast at the hotel, yogurt, confiture, pain au chocolat, fresh fruit, and they even had bacon. We then hopped back on our bus to get a tour of the city of Autun. Our guide was from Australia but spoke French and he was by far the easiest guide I think we have had. He was sporting his Indian Jones hat and just totally fit the role. We got to walk around and drive around to see some pretty incredible places. I learned that the theater in Autun was the largest in the entire Roman Empire at the time. Now it is strugglin' to say the least, but the military academy nearby used it to run stairs and do workouts while we were there, so at least its getting some use, right?! I felt bad for them, I'm just going to be honest. From there we went picnic food shopping and had the most insane amount of food, but in true French fashion, we cleaned our plates and finished all of the desserts we bought. Then we headed to Bibracte, an old Gaul city that has recently been uncovered thanks to some efforts by Napoleon himself in his efforts to find it. Our tour guide there was "straight out of a French romance novel" as my friend Caitlin put it, and there is just no other way to say it. He was a handsome older man who just knew how to work the crowd and he totally fit the role, shirt halfway unbuttoned and everything, it was almost too much and we all got a good kick out of it. We drove back to our hotel and ate dinner there again and y'all, I almost got sick at the dinner table. The chef had a "special surprise" for us and even thinking about it now makes me gag. It was chicken liver. RAW chicken liver and I didn't even know it. Unfortunately this was my 2nd time eating chicken liver in a week. The first was when my friends thought they ordered chicken on their salads and the consistency was just so off, so of course I tried it and then we looked it up in the dictionary... "Chicken liver". Obviously both times were accidental. This time it was so bad though that I started laughing so hard tears were coming out of my eyes. It was raw chicken liver inside a prune. Who eats that for real?!? It was one of the top 5 most disgusting things I have ever eaten. It might be number 1. 

Old Theater in Autun- missing a few levels, but at one point held 20,000 people

An old helmet they recovered at Bibracte

Saturday (7th)- We headed to Beaune and got to visit another market before our tour of the old hospital there. I have found some beautiful tea and coffee mugs along the way to add to my collection so I'm hoping that they will make the journey back to the States in December in one piece. We visited des "Hospices de Beaune", an old hospital for the poor that only went out of commission in 1971, and it was founded in 1442! Then we finished the trip off with a wine tasting at a small vineyard on our way home named Nuit St Georges. The wines were great, but I still can't tell much of a difference between red wine. At least I can tell some difference though- in Cape Town I was hopeless. That night I stayed downtown with the girls and we found a really great to-go pasta place and had some comfort food. It was cold and rainy so while some of our group persevered and went out, the rest of us hung out and had a movie night. After a long weekend spent on my feet and the rain and the cold, there was no part of me that had FOMO from not going out.

Hospital beds at the Hospice

The Vineyards of Bourgogne

Fun things to do on the bus ride: 1- Listen to Ben Stuart's podcast from his Breakaway ministry at Texas A&M. First of all he is incredible and so wise, but second of all I literally find myself laughing out loud on the bus, he is so funny. 2- Listen to the French radio. They play more English songs than French. 3- Take pictures of everyone else sleeping to add to our "worst abroad pics ever" album. 4- Drool over the French countryside and come to peace with the fact that there is just no way to capture it all for y'all at home on a camera. 5-Read Unbroken on my Kindle (but only with dramamine :) It's the incredible true story of the Olympic runner Louis Zamperini whose plane went down in the Pacific during World War II. Absolutely incredible, but it leaves me feeling a little too much American patriotism when I step off the bus at each of our destinations. 

We are headed off to Normandy tomorrow morning so I'm thinking that patriotism will be in full effect on the coast at the beaches. Lots of all love all the way from France. Wish each of you were here!

The (not so) Dirty South

The South of France looks just like you would imagine it, except for even better. Driving from Dijon to Arles, Provence was only about a 5 hour drive, longer than expected but so worth it because of how gorgeous the French countryside is. Besides the excessive amounts of graffiti, it is even prettier than all of the photos of it you have ever seen. Truly pictures can’t even capture the beauty of the south of France, leaving my friend Caitlin to comment that after seeing it, how could you not believe there is a God. This made me think of Psalm 8:3-4, “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?". So humbling to get to experience it all. I feel so blessed. Still in a mist that I get to live here for 4 months. Not just visit, but LIVE. Weird.

Thursday, 29^th- We drove down and stopped along the way in Orange, a city in Provence. For those who don’t know Provence is a region of France, kind of like states in the good ‘ole US of A.  We visited the Arc Romain in the city for a hot second to take pics and then we went to meet up with our tour guide at the Théatre Antiquité (the ancient theater), and it was beautiful. Absolutely huge, and we climbed every single last step. We learned all about the history and were blown away to learn that they still hold shows there. They are currently putting on Phantom of the Opera and we all were wishing we could stay just to experience it, even though the seats are still just huge giant stones.

Then we hopped back on the bus and stopped at the Pont du Guard, an old aqueduct that used to bring fresh water to all the nearby cities. Beautiful. I just was so amazed that 1- it was still standing (and in such good shape), and 2- people were able to think of and invent something so innovative so long ago. We then finished our journey to Arles and went out to dinner to a cute restaurant within walking distance of our hotel. We were right by the Rhone River, so of course it was beautiful. We had some cat callers outside our hotel that night, some younger German students who had seen our group of 11 girls and 1 guy walk in with our bags earlier that day, but eventually they gave up. I guess they realized that yelling “Rapunzel” at our open 3^rd story windows just wasn’t going to cut it. 

Friday, 30^th- We walked to class that morning- the museum of Arles. We had another guided tour by another cute older French woman. Thankfully tours are getting easier to understand, but yes, they are still all in French. In a week it is amazing to see how far my French has come and I would be so curious to see if in December, we would be able to understand our cute tour guide Jacqueline from last week 100% instead of just 30%. Anyways, at the museum we got to see the original bust of Caesar’s head that you see in the history books, and the “Thinker” statue. Then we drove to Nîmes, another town in Provence and got a city tour. The place we ate lunch was also hosting a professional futbal team from outside of Paris that had a game there that night, so some of the girls were picking out their future French boyfriends. Too bad they never got to talk to them, but maybe in Paris in a few weeks! It isn’t called the city of love for nothin’ right? Our tour was amazing and we walked everywhere. We saw the amphitheater first, where they still have bull fights and host events like pro tennis matches now. Then we saw an old Roman temple, the hot spot for young frenchies to hang out and listen to American music, and then we walked to the Jardins de la Fontaine, one of the first public gardens in all of Europe. That night for dinner I ate “taureau” (bull), and “escargots de la mer” (conchs). Clearly feelin’ adventurous, but both paid off and were delicious. When in France!

L'amphitheatre (outside)

L'amphitheatre (inside)

Les Jardins de la Fontaine

Saturday, 31^st- We woke up early and headed straight to the “Samedi Marché”, (the Saturday Market), which is a MUST DO when you are anywhere near it in France. Such a fun atmosphere with fresh food, beautiful paintings, great smelling soaps and lavenders, clothes and bags to buy, and so much more. I was able to practice my French a ton because most of the vendors didn’t speak English so while it was still a little scary, I was happy for the practice.

I was with 2 other friends and we went to the old Roman theater in Arles and then to the old amphitheater. So much exploring! Unfortunately we couldn’t see any bull fights because they won’t happen until next weekend and we will already be off and away on our next adventure. We got to spend the afternoon at the beach Saint Marie de la Mer in the Mediterranean ocean. My friend Caitlin said it was in her top 10 best days ever, and it was a day for the books, let me tell ya. The beach was gorgeous, the water was freezing, but eventually after enough treading water my body was numb and it felt great since the weather was pushin’ lower 90’s and sunny, very different from our gloomy Dijon weather. We laid out on some of the flatter rocks enjoying the sun and the beach, and then we went and got some ice cream and headed back to Arles for dinner and packing up the bags. Back to Dijon in the morning to move in with our families!

Fun fact: I am traveling with a bunch of northerners and have been called out several times for my accent and frequent use of “y’all”. If only they could have come to camp with me this past summer, they might consider me one of their own. I am learning a lot about how wonderful the restaurant “Friendly’s” is and that apparently the water up there is never warm at the beach, hence why they were so fearless at Saint Marie de la Mer jumping right on in. How you would enjoy being constantly covered in goose bumps while at the beach, I have no idea, but they insist it is fun!

Things I miss from America already: 1-COLLEGE FOOTBALL. 2- Water fountains. 3- Restaurant hours posted outside the restaurant. No place has them here and the amount of times we have walked up to places and been told we needed to wait for the cook to arrive or to prepare the kitchen is hilarious. 4- The 12 hour clock, however I am getting better at knowing time with the 24 hour one. 5- Hearing the English language when I walk outside. I’m getting more used to using French all the time though, and I really am starting to think in French first… on my way to being fluent?? One can only hope and dream, (and then move to France to attempt to make it happen right?!) **I am not missing the music yet because they play American music all the time. On the bus rides I heard Earth, Wind, and Fire, “Respect” by Aretha Franklin, “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke, “Wake Me Up” by Avicii, and almost everything in between.

Lots of love all the way from France!