Friday in Paris

Mindy had the day off on Friday, so she took me on a grand tour of Paris :)

First stop: Trocadero.
This is one of the biggest tourist spots in town. Everyone comes here to get a picture-perfect shot of the Tour Eiffel (yes, good job, "Eiffel Tower" in English - French really isn't all that complicated :P haha... hah..)

We spent some more time at the Eiffel Tower, while I snapped photos like there was no tomorrow...

Me standing in Trocadero square

A little tower in Paris you may have heard of...

...and again

Paris Update!

Keep your eyes out for more photos! I've been taking SO many pictures while I've been here, it's been hard to upload/sift through them all.

Anyway, here's how my stay in Paris has been going:

Thursday (the 9th):

Left the Avignon train station for Paris! Unfortunately, the car I was supposed to be in was all full... turns out some army guys from Nice were in there, and all their bags were taking up a lot of room :( However, someone let me have their seat while they went upstairs and sat in the bar, which was nice; yet sufficiently awkward :P

I arrived in Paris a-okay, and David (for those on my Dad's side, he's my cousin Mindy's husband) was at the Gare du Lyon (a train station in Paris) to pick me up. Everything went well, and we found Mindy in the giant station, then we headed to Chez David & Mindy. Their place is owned by David's hockey team; it's for the international players on the team. There's another couple who live with David & Mindy, who are from Quebec and are very nice.

We finished the day off with some good ol' ratatouille (my favourite French dish :D - although crepes do come pretty close...) and figured out what we were going to the next day...

Update #2

Before you read this, make sure you read the previous post on my trip to Spain, first!

Anyways, here's just a general update:

- My return date has been set to 9th June. So, 91 days from when I've posted this, lol.

- School has been going good. I've been making friends, and have discovered a couple Anglophones at my school (An American from Berkley, California and a Brit from Manchester) - awesome! I've also made French friends, lol. The Barcelona trip was good for that.

- I'm visiting Mindy (for those of you on my Dad's side; she's my mom's cousin living in Paris) for a week during Easter break in April. Very excited!

- I've joined a Celtic performing band, composed of children, youth, and adults from the villages around here, and our first performance is Sunday in the village of St. Quentin. There are only two clarinet players, including me!

- I'm having lots of fun and enjoying myself here :)

I miss you all lots,
Gabrielle xoxo
Bisous!

Espana!

It's been a while! This time, I promise I'll update by Blog more!

I got back from a trip to Barcelona, Spain on Saturday night. I went with my Spanish class from Lycee (high school; pronounced "lee-SAY"). A couple other Spanish classes went too, so there were about 50 of us on the trip. We spent four days in Spain, three in Barcelona. The point of the trip was to learn about the art movement called "Modernismo", which is very popular in Barcelona // Catalunya, and of couse, to soak up the Catalunyan culture.

Day One:

We left Lycee Charles Gide in Uzes (our school) @ 8:30am, and hit the road for Spain! We arrived in Figueres, Spain and went to the Salvador Dali museum there after we finished eating lunch. After that, we had some free time to look around the city/town. Then, we were on the road again. At around 8:00pm, we arrived in the city of Sabadell, ~45 minutes outside of Barcelona, where our host families were. I was in a family with two other girls from my class. The family we stayed with had an adult daughter, who visited the house twice while we were there. Our host parents were very sweet and eager to tell us about Spanish & Catalunyan culture. Once we got there, we had dinner and then went to bed.

Day Two:

Our first day in Barcelona!! We left Sabadell on our coach at 9:00am, and arrived in Barcelona around 10. We soon discovered what a lively and thriving city it is. There's always something going on; whether you're walking past a street musician playing an instrument you didn't even know existed; a vendor trying to sell you something you really don't need, yet are absolutely fascinated by; a group of FC Barcelona fans kicking around a football and showing off their tricks; or a "statue" which you could have SWORN you just saw moving!!

That day, we visited two churches; one which was the oldest in the city (dating back to the NINTH CENTURY!) and a famous one in Barcelona, "La Catedral". We went on a walking tour with a Spanish guide, and saw much of the city on foot. We visited La Rambla (a giant street in Barcelona with shopping, entertainment, and cafes) which was my favourite part of the day. We also visited "La Boquería", a giant covered outdoor market with vegetable, fruit, candy, and other assorted food stands and cafes.

We returned back to our host families that night at around 8:00pm.

Day Three:

Today was Gaudi day! We visited the Sagrada Familia (still under construction; expected to be finished around 2030), the Parque Guell (my favourite part of the day!) and other architecture designed/built by Gaudi. We also had lots of time to shop, and walked around the pricier end of Barcelona ("window-shopped" at Dolce & Gabbana, Lacoste, Armani, etc :P) and more tourist-priced end of town to buy some souveneirs. We had lots of free time, and made good use of it!

Day Four:

Time to go home... :( We left our host-families at 9:00am that morning, and went from Sabadell to Barcelona, to visit on more art museum; the Foundation of Joan Miro. After that, we had our lunch at were on the road again. We got home in Uzes early, at around 7:30pm.

All in all, it was a MUCHOS BUENO trip! Funnily enough, my French actually improved over the stay :P My host family even commented on it.

Barcelona is now officially my new favourite European city; there's really something for everyone there. I'd love to go back some day.

A tout, (Later!)

Gabrielle xoxo

Update!

Hello everyone :)

I have good news - finally I have WiFi! I can keep you updated through Blogger now, which is easier than Facebook for some, maybe? Anyways, I'll try to post on here at least once a week.

Here are some random updates for you:

- Right now, I live in Vallabrix, a village of about 300 people, in the south of France. I go to school in Uzes, which is a small town ~5km outside of Vallabrix. --> click here for more info on Vallabrix: http://www.uzes-tourisme.com/sitegb/villages/valla.htm

- My new host family is GREAT! They are very kind and have been very welcoming. The host mother (Madeleine) speaks nearly fluently in English, which is helpful for me. I also have a host brother (13 years old) named Jonathon, a host sister (17 years old) named Lise, and a host father named Daniel, who restores old houses for a living and likes photography.

- The school (Lycee) I go to, Lycee Charles Gide, in Uzes, is very nice. It's small (~300 students), but I like that. The people are very friendly and nice.

- I'm going to Spain (Barcelona, precisely) for three days (March 4-7) with my Spanish class (no, I don't speak any Spanish, but I'm working on it :P)

- Everything is going GREAT.

I miss you all lots, and hope you're doing well ^^

Bisous,
Gabrielle

Departure DELAYED!

Right. So, just as everything was starting to sink in, I get some fan-diddly-tastic news: because of visa issues, I'm going to be leaving a WEEK later than scheduled to Orleans, France. Why is this crappy?

a) Because it's not going to be weird enough as the foreign kid coming halfway through the school year. I've got to start school a week after everyone gets back from Christmas holidays;
b) Because it's not going to be weird/hard enough trying catch up in German, Italian, and advanced French. There's going to be an extra week of stuff I've missed added onto that; and
c) Now my host & biological family have to readjust their schedules.

On the flip side, there are some benefits to this:

a) I've got more time to catch up on schoolwork from Canada;
b) I've got more time to pack;
c) I've got more time to prep stuff for my host family; and
d) I've got more time to prepare, in general.

I was so looking forward to finally get to meet my host family, though :(

Which reminds me, I should put up the photo of them that they sent so you guys can see.

11 Days Left! And still, not sinking in.

In 11 days, I leave for La France. I was emailed my ticket a couple days ago. When I first was getting into wanting to go on an exchange trip, I kept asking myself when it would sink in.

First, it was:
- When I got accepted into EF (July 2008)
Nothing.

Then:
- When I found out where I'd be living/who I'd be living with. (October/November 2008)
Awesome, but still, not sinking in.

Then:
- Finding out when I'd be leaving.
Not sinking in.

Then:
- My last day of school. (December 2008)
Meh, nothing sinking in.

Then:
- Getting my plane ticket emailed to me. (December 2008)
Nada.

Then:
- Packing. (Have yet to do so!)
Perhaps then it'll sink in :P