Clermont Fd. and Halloween in France

On Wednesday afternoon, I took a train to Clermont Ferrand to visit a family friend named Cecylia. She and her husband came to pick me up from the train station. We had quiche for dinner and she even showed me how to make it. It’s pretty simple really all you need is a crust, eggs, cream, and veggies-or whatever you want to put inside. This quiche was a vegetable quiche with carrots, pumpkin, zucchini, and potato-yum!  For dessert, we had a Praluline(which is a well known praline cake from the Roanne area) which I brought them as a gift. It was a hit and they really liked it. After dinner, I also played a little with their 9 month old baby. He was really cute.

On Thursday, Cecylia and I went for a walk around the town with the baby. We saw some old caves that used to hold wine from the 19th century. It was pretty cool.

Caves

We walked into a old church as well and then we walked to some universities in the area where we got a nice view of the city. We spent about an hour on our morning walk and it was very enjoyable!

cool view of the city

Church

Then we had lunch and after that, we briefly stopped by a park that has a trees from all over the world. (Well from three continents: North America, Europe, and Asia)

Lots of trees from all over 

Afterwards, we went to another park that is in Clermont Ferrand. This park is awesome and it has some cool bushes shaped into animals. There was also a group of french teenagers dancing and singing the pokemon theme song in english at the park near a huge tree. It was entertaining to watch as we walked by. Then, it started getting dark and cold so we headed home. It gets dark so early here now because of the time change. It gets dark right around 6pm. 

At the park

Cool animal bush

To the left are the kids who were singing Pokemon and doing flips

 When we got home we had some dinner, and then Cecylia and I went to check out a Halloween party that the city was hosting. We saw some halloween decorations and kids were dressed up in costumes. There was also crepes for sale... I am not sure how Halloween-like that is, but what the heck, I love me a good crepe. So, we both decided we really wanted a crepe so we got in line. This crepe line moved extremely slow though... and while we were in line, they announced that some spectacle would happen soon. I think it ended up being a fire breather guy, but as soon as I stepped out of line to check it out, he was finishing up ( as in one blow of fire and then he started bowing). Grrrr bad timing, but oh well. So after about 30 minutes of waiting, we were almost to the front of the line. There was one guy in front of us and he ordered 4 crepes.... ahhhhh. We were thinking “Really? Why is this guy getting so many?” It turns out he was getting them for his friends/family, but still. The lady making the crepes was working kind of slowly as well because she was trying to do many things at once. She had two crepes cooking, she was talking to her friends that would come stop by, she was moving boxes, and giving directions to others helping run the event. Finally, after about 40 minutes in line, we got our nutella crepes! It was probably one of the best feelings ever. It was cold outside and the crepe was so warm and yummy. It was worth the wait.

Cute little dressed up French kids

After the halloween event, Cecylia and I checked out one of her friend’s Halloween party which was fun! I got to meet some polish people there which was cool and I also got to meet more french people which is always a pleasure as well. We had a cool jam session at her place and I am happy to have met her and her friends. I did feel a little young though because some of these people where already married and had kids... honestly they all looked so young to me that I would not have guessed it if I hadn’t seen the kids at the event. People also brought some yummy stuff to this party like a raspberry tart and chocolate tart! 

On Friday, I went to mass in the morning because it was All Saint’s Day. Then, we hung out at the house and later went out to lunch! We went to a restaurant called Flunch. It reminded me a little of Golden Corral beacause it was buffet style, but it was not all unlimited like in America. Here, only veggies are unlimited. You pick one main course and if you want cheese, bread, or dessert, then you pay extra for each thing. I tried Cordon Bleu for the first time and I thought it was pretty good. I also had some mashed potatoes, fries, carrots, beignet, and raspberry ice cream. There was also a lot of American Flags hanging from the ceiling which was interesting. 

Cecylia and I with our ice creams

Inside of Flunch

After that, we went to the Michelin Museum which is all about tires. I learned about the evolution of the tread design and just about the company and logo in general. It was an educational visit that’s for sure. 

World's largest tire

Giant Michelin Man

Lots of different tires

Then, we went home, had dinner, and then went to the movies. We thought about going to see a french comedy but it was sold out (I’m guessing because of the holiday- because not many people work on Nov. 1st here). So instead we ended up watching Turbo in 3D, which I thought was a very good movie. The movie theater for this movie was practically full as well, but we managed to get good seats right in the middle of a row. 

I really enjoyed my time in Clermont and I hope to visit Cecylia and her family again soon! :)

On Saturday afternoon, I took a train (which I barely made like usual haha) from Clermont Ferrand to St. Etienne for Emilia’s and Karen’s Halloween party! I arrived in the afternoon and went to Claire’s to buy something to create a halloween costume. As Emilia and I walked in, the lady working there was packing up all of the Halloween stuff...uh oh. So I asked her if we could still take a look and she seemed really confused as to why we would want Halloween stuff since Halloween already passed. After I bought some cat ears and bow tie, and after a kebab, we all started getting ready for the party. I decided to be a black cat (chat noir). It’s not very original but hey it’s a classic. The party itself was really fun! I really enjoyed talking to all party guests. I made some new friends as well which is always exciting. People brought lots of food and snacks and Zoe (an Engish assistant) even made a delicious chocolate cake! 

Delicious cake made by Zoe!

I had a really good time! It was fun to chat, dance, take photos, etc. It was a pretty good turn out. Emilia and Karen were awesome hosts!

Karen (Frida), I, and Emilia (Rosie)

On Sunday, I went to lunch with Melissa and a new friend Jonathan. I had some lamb and potatoes. For dessert, I had chocolate mousse which was really good. Then,I took a train in the afternoon with Melissa back to Roanne. 

yum chocolate mousse

After I got back to Roanne, I caught up with my roomies and the rugby guys. They ended up hanging with us all day which was interesting. 

Tomorrow is my last day of vacation before I return to teaching so I will be planning and running errands. These two weeks of vacation went by so fast! I am excited to start teaching again though!

Headed back to work, 

Magdalena