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

Mini UGA Reunion in Roanne and Lyon Movie Museum

These past few days have been pretty relaxing. I stayed in Roanne on Sunday and Monday. On Tuesday, I took a day trip to Lyon!

On Sunday I went to church and chatted with the priest for the first time. It was interesting to talk to him and he told me that there is even a Polish family that lives here in Roanne and that he would introduce me to them sometime! So that was pretty cool because so far I have not met any Polish people here in Roanne. I also bought some strawberries today. They just looked so delicious and natural. They are a lot smaller than the strawberries in the US.

Perfect strawberries

On Monday, I went into town with Kate and Jack. We went to the train station, this cool little park, and then Carrefour. The little park was pretty and there was this hotel for insects there which I thought looked pretty interesting.

Hotel for Insects in Roanne

In the afternoon, two guys came to fix our internet (because we have been having problems connecting our laptops to the router). It finally works well so I am very happy about that! The guys that came to fix it were so nice! Everyone that I have met so far here in Roanne has been very friendly and kind.

Later in the afternoon, Kate, Kim, and I met up with my friend Anna in Roanne. It was so great to see her! I love UGA reunions so much! :) So I got to catch up with her which was fun! I hope that we will get to hang out again soon.

Anna and I in Roanne

In the evening, Melissa came into town and spent the night at the apartment. She spent the weekend visiting a friend in Switzerland so she brought us some delicious Swiss chocolate to try! It was white chocolate with nougat and honey! It was really good, and it just melted as you ate it... yummmm! Thank you Melissa! 

Mmmmm Swiss chocolate

On Tuesday, Kim and I went to Lyon for the day. We took a train in the late morning and we met up with Tony at his university. 

Kim and I in Lyon

Then, we all went to lunch at this restaurant called Flam. The food was really good! I got this thing (I can’t remember what it’s called) but it’s like a really thin crust pizza type thing. I also got a dessert which was a red fruit crumble with vanilla ice cream on top. It was pretty tasty!

Each one is served on a cutting board type thing which is pretty cool

Here's the red fruit crumble!

After lunch, we walked around Lyon for a bit. Then Tony went home and Kim and I decided to go visit a museum in Vieux Lyon. This was a museum of miniature stuff and of stuff from movies! 

Here's the outside of the museum

This museum has many original costumes that were worn in movies and many original props from movies. It also had many scenes recreated from this German thriller movie called Le Parfum. I have never seen it but Kim told me about it. It’s about a guy who has a really impeccable sense of smell and he kills women because he is after the perfect scent (or something like that). I guess I need to watch it now since I have seen all these scenes from it! It was really interesting to walk through all of the exhibits. The Harry Potter stuff was especially cool!

Here's a scene from the Parfume movie

Some Harry Potter stuff: the Hogwarts letter that he received in the movie and the wand he used in all the action scenes

 There were things from other movies too, such as stuff from Planet of the Apes, I Robot, Batman, Jumanji, Beetle Juice, Jurassic Park, and more!

One of the models of the dinosaurs from Jurassic Park

There were seven areas of exhibits so the first 3-4 were of things from movies. The rest were exhibits of miniature displays built by a variety of different artists. These were so small and intricate! They mostly consisted of rooms/buildings but there was also a display of mini candies, shoes, and furniture!

Detailed little restaurant

It's so tiny!

Tiny sweets 

After we enjoyed the museum, Kim and I decided to get a drink at a cafe. I got a Nestea Peche (which is peach flavored iced tea)! It’s pretty good. Then we stopped by a book store for a little bit. After that, we decided it would be a good idea to take the train because we were feeling tired and both Kim and I are taking trains again tomorrow. I am taking a train to Clermont Ferrand to visit a family friend for a few days so I am excited about that! 

Always on the move,

Magdalena

Train Struggles, French Countryside, and Frog Legs

On Wednesday, Kate, Kim, and I went to Clermont Ferrand for a day. Getting the train there from Roanne was quite a struggle. We had a train at 10 18am so we rushed to catch it in time. We ended up getting to the train station in time, but the train ended up being delayed 20 minutes. This was a bit of a problem because in order to get to Clermont Ferrand from Roanne you have to take two trains. We had 25 minutes originally to change trains, but now we would only have five minutes to catch the second train. So we waited at the station for a few minutes, and then we heard another announcement about our train. It was now an extra 20 minutes late (so 40 minutes later than we originally expected). Now we would for sure miss our original second train, but we realized that there would be a later train to Clermont that we could take. Unfortunately, we would have to wait about 40 minutes for the second train at the random train station in between the two destinations. We were getting a bit tired of waiting at the train station, so we decided to go grab a croissant at a boulangerie nearby in Roanne. We ate leisurely and slowly made our way back to the station thinking we would still have a few minutes there before the train arrives. As we were walking up the stairs to the platform, we saw that the train had arrived! We had to run to make it on the train! The train worker had just blown a whistle (which is basically a sign that the train can leave and all passengers are on) and we got on the train literally seconds before it departed! It was a bit stressful but we made it. At the random train station, we ended up taking a walk not too far from the station to pass the time. When we finally got to Clermont-Ferrand, we met up with a friend of Kate’s named Luke. We walked around the city looking for a place to grab some lunch when we got there. We didn’t have much time to find a restaurant because in France many restaurants do not serve food in the late afternoon (after 2pm until dinner time?) and it was around 1 40ish when we started walking into town. Luckily, we found a nice restaurant right before 2pm where we had a good meal.

Galette de Chorizo

Then we walked around some more and explored the city. We found a cool cathedral and we also wandered through a nice park!

Clermont Ferrand

Church in Clermont Ferrand

Park in Clermont Ferrand

Park in Clermont Ferrand

Afterwards we got some tea, and drinks at a cafe. Then, we walked around some more and later we went to another cafe where I had a waffle with nutella. Yum!

After we chatted at the cafe, we ended up walking back to the station to take a train back to Roanne. Overall it was a good day. Luke is really nice and we all enjoyed hanging out together. I always enjoy meeting new assistants and also checking out a new city!

On Thursday, I got to meet my French host family that I will be spending time with while I am here in Roanne. They are very nice. There is a mom, dad, and two kids. Today I only met the lady and two kids because the husband was at work. The kids are really cute! The girl is 7 years old and the boy is 4. I had lunch with them at their house which is pretty much in the french countryside. They live in a little typical french village. After a delicious lunch they showed me around their village. We walked around some and I got some nice pictures! 

Saint-Jean Saint-Maurice

Saint-Jean Saint-Maurice

This is an old castle (or I guess what is left of it) The two previous pictures were taken from the top of this tower!

I am really glad that I have the opportunity to connect with a french family and I hope to get to hang out with them often!

On Saturday, Kate, Kim, and I tried frog legs (cuisses de grenouilles) for the first time! They were actually pretty tasty. They were covered in a buttery garlic sauce which was really good. Frog legs do taste kind of like chicken lol (like very very small chicken legs). The restaurant was in the countryside and decorated with lots of frogs. 

Frog legs

Kim, Kate, I, and Hector-our cool friend who took us to the restaurant!

Then after the frog legs, we had cheese, and dessert. The cheese and dessert was self serve. I had some brie and a variety of yummy desserts.

The dessert bar

Here are my selections! The strawberry cake thing was my favorite!

After the delicious and filling lunch, we made a short stop at Hector’s house where we had some tea and coffee before heading out to see some french countryside. Hector took us around the countryside and we got a nice view of the Roanne area from this little chapel.

Old little chapel situated high up in the countryside

View of Roanne area

Enjoying the fresh air of the french countryside!

The weather here has been pretty good as well so we have been really enjoying spending some time outdoors!

Loving the french vacations,

Magdalena

Day in Barcelona

The french schools have a two week long break for all saints so I am currently on vacation! I just got back from spending a super long day in Barcelona with some teaching assistants (my roomies, Melissa, and her friend Debbie). Sunday night, we took a train to Lyon and then from Lyon we took a bus to Barcelona. The ride was pretty long (about 8 hours- but we did start late and we took a 45 minute break at a truck stop). It was hard to get some sleep but I managed to get a few hours in. We got into Barcelona around 7am Monday morning. The first attraction we headed to was Sagrada Familia. It was designed by a famous architect named Gaudi. His work is all around Barcelona.This massive cathedral is really breathtaking inside and out. Its a shame it is not finished yet, but so far its looking good. 

Outside of the cathedral

Ceiling inside

Awesome stained glass

cool reflection of the stained glass

So much detail!

It’s a good idea to get to this cathedral early in the morning so you don’t have to wait too long in line to get in. I have also heard that there are a lot of thieves around so you have to watch your bags carefully. Luckily for us, we didn’t encounter any thieves during our stay in Barcelona.

Next, we went to Parc Guell (also a work of Gaudi). This park is huge! I really wish I had more time to explore the park. Next time that I am in Barcelona I definitely want to revisit this park. It was also pretty crowded when we got there. There are so many tourists in Barcelona right now! I can’t imagine what it’s like during the summer.

Here's the whole gang at Parc Guell

Parc Guell

I wanted a picture with the sculpture but it was too crowded, maybe next time!

For lunch, I had tapas for the first time! Tapas are a variety of appetizers. We all picked out different stuff and shared it all. I tried all of them but I had to say my favorite were the mushroom croquettes. They reminded me of a polish food that my mom makes sometimes. I also really enjoyed the potatoes, chorizo (special spanish sausage), and tomato bread.

Some of our tapas

more tapas

After lunch, we walked around Barcelona and then took the metro to see two casas (Casa Mila and Casa Battló) designed by Gaudi.

Casa Battló

We walked along the port in Barcelona and got some delicious ice cream. I also got a picture on one of the lion statues nearby!

Port in Barcelona

Lion Statue

Yummy ice cream!

One of my favorite parts of the day had to be the time we spent on the beach in Barcelona! This was my first time in the Mediterranean Sea! The water was a little cold but it felt nice to dip my feet in the water. There were a lot of people sunbathing and swimming. The weather was really nice and warm all day. I wish I brought my bathing suit with me (I willl have to remember that for next time). We were pretty lucky to come to Barcelona on a day like this. 

Beach in Barcelona

Hanging at the beach

I also enjoyed sitting on the beach with the others and just resting because we walked so much. Sometimes it was difficult to relax though because there were people offering random stuff like every few minutes (massages, drinks, towels, coconut pieces?). It was the same people who would come every few minutes to ask the same thing... it got a bit annoying, but I still enjoyed the beach nonetheless. 

Afterwards, we headed up to Montjuïc where we took a cable car and got a cool view of the city!

Barcelona

After this short ride, we caught a bus down to the Magic Fountain. Unfortunately, the magic fountain was not turned on tonight (so yet another reason why I must go back to Barcelona at some point). We ended up having a picnic type dinner with baguettes, chips, cheese, and salami...yum! We sat on the steps in front of the Palau Nacional which is situated pretty high up overlooking the city. On the way up, there are even escalators lol. There was a special art event going on in there Monday night so we even had some classical background music while we ate. At night, we got an awesome view of Barcelona! It was a great way to end the day! 

Roomies in Barcelona

It was really strange to be in another country and to hear a language spoken that I do not really know. I luckily remembered a few spanish phrases, but most of the time I spoke in a mix of french/spanish/english to the people...haha. In Barcelona they also speak Catalan which is different than the spanish I am familiar with so this created another little language barrier. Most of the people here are probably accustomed to tourists though so they are probably used to hearing mixes of different languages. 

Before heading back to the bus station, we explored a cool mall for a bit. 

Mall in Barcelona

After the mall, another long bus ride home awaited us. This time it was a lot easier to fall asleep because we were all exhausted! In Lyon, we took a train to Roanne and I am resting at the apartment. It’s still hard for me to believe that I was in Spain! I really enjoyed this trip and I hope to travel more soon!

Enjoying my vacation,

Magdalena