Good Life

Un rêve: A dream

So as mentioned last time, France has a new president: François Hollande. It was fairly close, but of course there were people who were angry and some who were happy. For the moment, we basically just have to sit and wait and see how it all plays out to know if he was actually a good choice or not (That's my attempt at trying to not be biased on my blog!)

I finally finished all my classes and tests, but as happy as I was to be able to say that, I was a bit sad as well because that means my departure is right around the corner. I'm doing my best to try and not think about it, so to do this I've been trying to keep myself as busy as possible - and I can say that so far I've succeeded! I got the chance to go the beach with Manon and her mom for the weekend and it was great. We arrived with clouds and hail but not even an hour afterwards we had clear skies and sunshine. So we took advantage of the beautiful weather and ate lunch outside and shortly after, we went out onto the beach and played a bit of frisbee and tried to get some what of a tan! That Friday, Manon and I left the beach house to go visit her dad since she hadn't seen him in a while. We stayed at his house and amused ourselves with Manon's half-sister and half-brother - I can say I did much more of the amusing part rather than being amused..!

On Sunday, Manon's mom came to pick us up on her way back home from the beach house and after we left from there - we spent nearly 8 hours on the road for what was supposed to be a 3 hour trip!! We got stuck in traffic for nearly 4 hours. It was horrible and we finally got home around 9 or 10 at night and we were all completely wiped. The following week, I finally got around to seeing Avengers, which turned out to be a pretty good movie with more humor than I was thinking. But I think I would have enjoyed it a bit more had I seen it in English. I also got eat lunch with Dimitri and Camille and their aunt, and we also had dinner one night for their dad's birthday. Then, I also had dinner with Dimitri, Manon, Claire, Lilian, and Amelie one night which was really fun.


This past week was when it started to get busy. The Roland Garros tennis tournament started this week so, like every year, I've been watching that and Monday, Manon and I decided to play a little match of our own at the park. It had been a while since I actually played tennis so I had to get back into the groove, but I wasn't too bad! Then finally Tuesday we made our way up to Paris to see Dimitri so we could leave on vacation. However, there was a few pit-stops to make before leaving. The first being Chipotle. I've waited 10 months for the restaurant to open in Paris. First, it was supposed to open in February, then March, then end of May. But when the end of May rolled around, more specifically, Tuesday - it actually opened!!

It felt so good to finally be in a food coma again like that - but more importantly - to have an actual spicy salsa! I got the chance to talk to the owner who's been with the company for 9 years and worked in a bit in the Chipotle in London. He told me the reason for the delay was that after they had installed the counter, the CEOs decided it would be more functional to have it in the other direction, however, that meant having to build a brand new one in order for it to fit. But the places looks really good and it was super busy so I'm glad it's working out!
Later that night, much later considering the food coma that I was in, we had a midnight picnic next to the Paris Canal with Alex, Lou, and Tanguy. The nice weather helped make it that much more enjoyable.

Wednesday, Dimitri, Manon and I left Paris to pass a couple days at his Great-aunt's house in the Bourgogne region. This was the first time I was able to go in the region, and I can say without a doubt it will not be my last. I can say that I've never seen anything so open and so beautiful as this region. We actually arrived just when a huge thunderstorm was pounding right on top of where we were staying. It's been a long time since I've gotten to see a storm like that where you can barely see in front of you because it's raining so hard and it was awesome! But as soon as we parked the car to unload our bags, the rain stopped. So we ate dinner with his great-aunt and uncle and then the three of us slept in the barn next to the house. The next morning, we had only a blue sky and a sun that just tapped our skin. After we finished our breakfast, we went to the grocery store to get everything we needed for our stay and came back to the house and started up the barbeque for a nice lunch. After the lunch, we went for a walk and found ourselves talking with cows, and walking through a village that was much farther than we thought.

Then before dinner, we went to look around a chapel that was closed off. The oldest grave that we found dated back to the 1830s. It was pretty incredible.

 To end the night, we had fajitas for dinner and after, we enjoyed some tea while watching Dirty Dancing.

Friday, we woke up and cooked a nice big brunch with cereal, bacon, fruits, and pancakes. It was the most "American breakfast" I had had since being in France. Shortly after, we made a short drive out to a waterfall and river that was surrounded by a forest. It was indescribably beautiful.  

After a quick stroll through the woods, we drove to the Chateau de Chastellux. The history of the chateau was really interesting with a lot of ties to the United States. It was really beautiful on an even more beautiful plot of land.

After the visit of the chateau, we drove to the city of Vézeley. It was a nice, little, city on top of a hill. There, we enjoyed a cup of tea and took the opportunity to take some photos from such a great viewpoint.

 That night, we went to family owned restaurant where we all enjoyed an amazing dinner - even if Dimitri had no sense of smell or taste because of his allergies, he still knew it was amazing.

Saturday, Manon and I played a little bit of pétanque while Dimitri worked on his homework, and before lunch we visited with the neighbor for a while and he showed us around his garden and we got to taste freshly grown strawberries, they were so delicious! After we had finished lunch, we went to a lake and messed around there and I jumped in for a quick swim. Then just like that, our vacation was already over with. It was well worth it but it wouldn't have bothered me to stay for a couple more months..!
It's true that I can find the same scenery in the United States, but as I tried to explain to Manon and Dimitri, it isn't the same feel. Here, you pass by castles and tiny villages that have been in the same family, in the same spot since several centuries. When you think about that aspect, and the fact that a country as small as France and you can still find such a variety of scenery, that's what make this country so beautiful.

Lose Yourself in the Moment

J'ai trop mangé!: I ate too much!

Like I mentioned in the last post, I got to go to Paris and see my high school french teacher, Mme. Greenberg. It was amazing to think how far I've come in terms of starting to study french my freshman year and coming twice to France with here, all the way to majoring in French and living in France for one year. So while she was here, I went with her and her students as they toured the Opera and afterwards we enjoyed a nice dinner with everyone!
Finally, the school year has finished. Back in August, it felt as if I would have years until I finished my study abroad in France but it all passed so quickly within months. I did well in all my classes, thankfully! At this moment, I'm waiting - and studying - for my exams that are coming up towards the end of this month. But I'm also trying to take advantage of the time that I have left here. My basketball season continues until the end of this month, so that is at least making sure I'm doing some exercises and not just sitting around! Our team has done really well and I've taken the opportunity to expand my game even more by playing guard a bit more and starting to shoot a bit more. Manon, her mom, and Dimitri finally were able to make it to a game which means that I finally have some proof that I actually do play..!

Other than that, I haven't done much else because not everyone has finished with their semester so they are all buried away in their rooms studying for final exams. However, I had get the chance to go to Belgium this past weekend with Manon, her brother Thomas, and his girlfriend Capucine. We visited Thomas and Manon's grandparents who live in Wavre. This was the first time I had ever visited Belgium, and we were really lucky to have, well, better weather than France. It's hard to say "good weather" because then I look at the weather back in California and I just chuckle. We arrived Friday night and their grandparents had a nice dinner waiting for us. Manon told me that I would hear a different accent in Belgium but with her grandparents I didn't really hear one. After dinner - and a few glasses of wine - we headed off to bed after the 3 hour car ride there. Saturday morning, we started out the day with a big breakfast and only a couple hours later, an even bigger lunch - with a few more glasses of wine. After lunch, the four of us drove to Bruxelles, the capital of Belgium, and spent the the rest of the afternoon there. I wasn't quite sure what to expect but I found that the city really resembled an "American" city. That's to say, there were lots of big roads with lots of new modernized and industrialized buildings. But of course, being in Europe there was still the cathedrals and ancient buildings.

Thomas, Capucine, Moi

Mannaken Pis

Later that night, we went back to their grandparents house and after a short while we all headed off the their aunt and uncle's house. There, we enjoyed a nice appetizer and talked for a while then made our way to the table. We had a really nice dinner - with even a few more glasses of wine - and I absolutely ate too much. We had a typical Belgian dish called Waterzooi, and it was really good. At their house, I finally heard the Belgian accent, but I also learned that they say some things differently. For example, in France, breakfast is petit déjeuner, lunch is déjeuner [day-june-ay], and dinner is diner [dee-nay]. But in Belgium, breakfast is déjeuner, lunch is diner, and dinner is souper. I also learned that they count a little bit different as well. For example, instead of saying soixante-dix [swa-sant-deece] for seventy, they say septante. Nearly around midnight, we said our goodbyes and went back to their grandparents home and went to bed. Sunday morning, we enjoyed yet another big breakfast and played a bit of Rummikub and then Manon's other aunt and cousin came over for a nice big lunch - with..you guessed it..even more wine! Then shortly after, we packed our things are made our way back to Paris and I played DJ for the car ride home. I'm certain that while I was there for 2 days, I ate for one week's worth. But it was worth it!
Next weekend is going to change a bit, by that, I mean for France! Next weekend is the 2nd round - or final if you will - of voting for the next President of France. I went with Dimitri, Camille, and their parents last weekend to vote in the first round. It was interesting because all they do is take 10 pieces of paper with the name of a candidate into a booth and choose the one candidate that they want to vote for and put it into a little envelope and place the rest of the papers in a trash bin, then they pass by the table to drop their vote into the box. Before they put the vote in the box, the present their ID and signed that they have voted and the worker says something like "Grant Bingham, [my address], Voted". Then they do that for each person. The top three candidates this year were Francois Hollande, who is part of the left wing Parti Socialiste [Socialist Party], Nicholas Sarkozy, who is currently the President and part of the right wing UMP [l'Union pour un Mouvement Populaire / Union for a Popular Movement], and Marine Le Pen, who is a right wing extremist part of the Front National [National Front]. After the first round of voting, Hollande finished with 28%, Sarkozy with 26%, and Le Pen with 20%. So the top two go on to the second round and the French will decide between Sarkozy and Hollande. So we will see what happens!

Marry Me

Felicitations!: Congratulations!

So finally came the time for my girlfriend, Kylie, and our friend Kathleen to come visit me in Paris for one week. During the entire week before they came, it just didn't seem real. I felt like I still had to wait another few months until I actually got to seem them. Although, back when I bought their tickets it felt like it would be ages until I saw them! I was of course extremely excited to see Kylie, but at the same time a little nervous. It had been nearly 6 1/2 months since we really saw each other - and that had been the longest we'd ever gone. Fortunately, we're both two independent people and the love and trust we have for each other really makes it a little bit easier to be away from each other. So their flight arrived Sunday the 26th of February around 11:30, which meant that Saturday I had to work my way to Paris to stay the night. I was very fortunate to have plenty of contacts in Paris to be able to sleep somewhere, and the aunt of my host family was very generous to let me stay in one of the spare rooms at their apartment. I took the train to Paris with my host sister and we arrived around dinner time so I actually ate dinner with the uncle because Mathilde had somewhere to be. Later after dinner she sent me a text and invited me to a little house party at one of her friends.s I really do always enjoy going to house parties here because I really never know who I'm going to meet but it's certain that I'm going to at least meet someone. Plus, it's a really great opportunity to practice my French with people I don't know so I can really help gauge where my level is at. After we finished there, we went back to the apartment and I got a good nights rest before waking up to head to the airport.
Sunday morning when I finally got to the airport, it felt like I had to wait for Kylie and Kat for hours..! But finally I saw the two blonde heads poke through the arrival gates and Kat was the first to see me and I waited until Kylie noticed me - which nearly a minute passed before she realized I was standing just in front of her! After we said our hellos we left the airport and made our way back into Paris. We went back to my host family's aunt's house to grab my bags and we went to the apartment that I rented for one week for the three of us in the 2nd arrondissement (which is basically in the center of Paris). After we got our bags situated, we went out for a walk and I showed them the Opera house

then we passed by the Madeleine Church and was lucky enough to catch the last of an organ recital. Right after, we walked down to Place de la Concorde and then made our way to the Jardin des Tulleries

Then I showed them the outside of the Louvre and by this time we were hungry but also kind of wanted to get home and sleep. So we grabbed some sushi to go and went back to our apartment and ate and went to bed.
Monday morning, we woke up and went grocery shopping so that we would save money rather than going to restaurants all the time. Then after lunch we went to buy our metro passes and we visited Notre Dame

then after a visit inside we went on the Champs Elysee and walked up to the Arc de Triomphe, and after the brutal staircase climb, we booked over to Sacre Coeur just before sundown. At this point we were all pretty wiped from all the walking and climbing we did so we went back home but Kylie decided she wanted to go out to dinner, but Kat was pretty tired so Kylie and I went to a nice little Italian restaurant and spent a good part of the evening there talking.
Tuesday morning, we had planned on visiting the Louvre and Musee d'Orsay but when we got to the Louvre we realized it was closed every Tuesday. But we took the opportunity to take some nice and silly pictures while the place was practically empty. So we took a short stroll across the river and visited Orsay for Kat because that was one that she was absolutely giddy over. After we finished there, we enjoyed a nice homemade sandwich lunch in the park and then I took them to one of the best hot chocolate places ever, Angelina. It was well worth me waiting until they got here to visit, but also very hard to not go there without them considering how often I go to Paris. Then we went back to the apartment so they could take a quick nap and then we joined Dimitri to have a drink and then he took us to a nice restaurant to enjoy some dinner. It was the first time Kylie had gotten to meet any one of my friends but like normal everyone enjoyed each others company.
Wednesday morning, we went to Trocadero, which is on the opposite side of the Eiffel Tower and makes for a really good photo opportunity.

After there, we walked down and attempted to go up to the top of the tower but it was still closed and wouldn't be open until the 3rd of March. I was a bit bummed because it always is a great view of the city and something really fun to do, but with our schedule it was looking not possible to go up at all. So we walked along the park on the other side of the Eiffel Tower and then I took them to Napoleon's Tomb but unfortunately there was only 20 minutes left and to pay to see only for a short time wasn't worth it. But I had really wanted to go inside because I love the history of Napoleon and had never actually been inside before - and thankfully because I am a resident of the EU and less than 25 - I got to go into almost all of the places for free. So I ran inside real quick and then joined back up with the girls who took advantage to take a nice rest on the steps. Then just shortly after, we met up with Dimitri and Manon and we walked to a cafe to have a drink together and final had a chance to talk. This was the first time Manon got to see Kylie again after we drove her and Fabienne to the airport in Los Angeles, so Kylie was really excited. Once we finished up there, we went to meet up with Alex who was having a drink with some of his friends. Kylie was definitely excited to be around all the French and tried her best to learn as much possible as she could while we sat there. Once dinner time came around we all went to Dimitri's and cooked pizzas and Kylie got to meet Camille, who I imagined had to be excited to get to speak English with someone other than me! But we couldn't stay too late because we had lots to do Thursday and we had to be sure not to miss the metro. It was really strange for me that I wasn't sleeping at their place because normally when I go to Paris and/or their place, I usually end up sleeping there.
Thursday morning, we woke up and got ready to go a little earlier than normal and we went to the Louvre and we spent about four hours there seeing each that that Kylie, Kat and I wanted to see. We took a quick lunch break and then wrapped up the last things and then made our way over to the George Pompidou Center, but of course not before enjoying a pastry together. Surprisingly, we all really enjoyed our time in that museum and we all really found a lot of things that we liked.

Later that night we met up with Dimitri, Manon, Alex, and Camille for a drink but Camille had to go to a party so the rest of us grabbed dinner together and then the 3 of us went back home to sleep.
Friday morning, I decided that I really wanted Kylie and Kat to have the chance to see the city of Paris with a panoramic view so I took them to the Montparnasse Tower which is just nearly the same level in height as the Eiffel Tower, but with a lot less people and a much quicker ride to the top. So we spent a few minutes up there and went back down and ran over to the train station and we made our way out to Versailles. I was really excited to go there because it had been about two years since I went and, even more, this time was with Kylie and Kat! Plus, something amazing was going to happen here; I just had a feeling. So we walked all inside the chateau and I think Kylie spent most of her time daydreaming as if she was really living there and for the 5th day still wanted to have the knowledge if: "This is original, right?" "Is this original?" "This can't be original." and when we finished the tour inside, we made our way out to the gardens. We headed off onto one of the sides of the gardens and I found a spot that looked the most green and I made sure there were no random people around and i told Kat to go see where one of the secret paths led to. So that left me walking with Kylie alone in the garden and she was obsessed by one of the trees and she was making jokes about it but I was so focused on making sure I was going to do it in the right place and say the right thing, and then we stopped. I turned to her and I asked if she was happy with everything: with being here in Paris, with being with me, and she said yes absolutely. So I asked her if she wanted to be happier? And she said that she didn't know how she could be any happier, and so I dropped to one knee and asked Kylie Breanne Hosken to marry me! I'm pretty sure before I had even finished the question she had already said yes but not before a whole barrage of "What?!" came out. I was surprised that she hadn't started crying right away but she was so shocked, I think, that it prolonged it because after about five minutes she started to tear up. So then Kat had us take some pictures together and we spent the rest of the time walking around the estate and taking pictures there.

When we decided our legs couldn't take it anymore, we took the next train home and we had a celebration drink with our friends and made our way to a club to dance a little!
Saturday was even more exciting because this day we were going to my home city, Orleans. We arrived around noon and I dropped off some of my bags so I would have less to worry about the next day coming back home. Kylie really wanted to come in but I was too busy organizing a surprise dinner with my host family and I had told her nobody was home. So I ran back outside and then I showed her around my school and where my classes were and where I normally ate lunch. After, we took the tram back into downtown and I showed them all the cool things in the city and, like I had promised: I would get them some french chocolate. When it was finally time, we walked back to my house and I surprised Kylie [Kat was already in on the secret, of course] with my whole family as they came down the stairs one by one. We all gathered in the living room and questions were flying everywhere and Kylie was showing off her new addition on her finger and we were doing some translating between questions and answers. It was absolutely great. We enjoyed 2 bottles of champagne and then moved to the dining room where there was 10 of us! But we truly all had a wonderful time with a tasty dinner [as always!] and a delicious dessert. It was too bad we had to leave so early but the last train was at 9:30pm so we had to plan dinner around that. My host dad was very generous enough to drive us back to the train station so we didn't have to walk the whole way. Then we just went back to the apartment and packed our things and had cleaned most of the place.
Sunday morning after we had checked out, I took the girls back to the airport and we said our goodbyes and told them both that I'll see them real soon! Then, quickly, I made my way back into Paris and to the train station to catch the next train back into Orleans because I had a basketball game to play, finally! My coaches and friend were really nice to stay behind and wait for me at the station in town and then we drove out to our game. I was really excited because this was finally the first game i got to play since registering with the club. I finished the game with 4 points and missed a free throw on and And-1. Finally, after all of that..I got to come home and actually take a breath. Luckily, I'm on vacation until Monday. The next familiar face I'll get to see will be Mme. Greenberg, my high school French teacher!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christm...wait what?!

Il neige!: It's snowing!

So I realize that I haven't had a post in over a month but I haven't had much happen except for school, and that makes for a really boring topic to read about. However, I have learned a lot of really interesting things this semester and one that I thought everyone else would be interested to know about..

The history of Orleans is a really long one, but I'll promise to keep it short! Basically the city has been around even much longer before Roman Empire. The simple reason being that it's along one of the biggest rivers in France and so, of course, where there is water - there are people. The city started as a city of the Gauls (Genabum)But eventually when the Romans conquered, they of course made their changes and eventually over time..the cities all over France kept developing and developing. The Romans implemented what was known as the Cardo Maximus and Decumanus plans which is simply North-South and East-West streets; like we have the US. I was really interested to know that the street that I walk down every day is at least 2000 years old and was one of the main East-West streets. After the 4th century until the 8th century, the city undergoes lots of changes. During these 4 centuries, it was a very unsafe period so fortifications were necessary around cities. Only one section of the first fortification built exists today and it's right next to the Cathedral in the town. During this time, Bourg (pronounced: Borge) and Faubourg (Foe-Borge) were created. Basically, a Bourg is where the wealthy lived and these quarters where always within the walls surrounding the city. Faubourg, which means "false bourg", where the quarters that lied on the outside of the walls and during an attack the people would have to run and hide within the walls. There was usually a church in the Faubourgs. Saint-Aignan, the church I live next to, was a faubourg (Bourg Saint-Aignan).

l'Eglise Saint-Aignon

Then to jump ahead in time a bit. During the 19th Century, the fortifications were demolished and they installed the first train station in 1843. The train station was a "Gare en cul-de-sac" obviously meaning there is only one way in and out for the trains and is still currently like this. Another jump ahead: a bit of the city was destroyed during WWII by the Germans, Americans, and English. And then eventually here we are in this day in age..!
So enough with the history lessons..! In other news, we finished our basketball season so there's no more games. The school put on a big basketball for all the students, and anyone else that wanted to, to play in last Thursday and that was tons of fun. I was lucky enough to get picked up on my friend Kevin's team.We won our first five games which put us in the Quarter Finals but then we had to go up against a few guys that had played on one of France's youth national teams, so we got knocked out. But it was absolutely a fun night to watch the finals game.. have Kevin and his brother do commentary work for one match..

Watch a slam dunk contest..

and then get home at 2am!!

The next coolest thing that's happened is a cold wave. That might sound somewhat crazy but if anyone knows me, they know that I love winter time and I prefer the cold/rain/snow more than I do the heat/sun. But the frustrating part is that it was supposed to start snowing two months ago and nothing happened. I figured I was the problem since I wanted it to snow so bad and it just wasn't happening. Until...! I was in class and I look out the window and see that it's snowing!! I'm pretty sure I let out a little scream I was so excited. I was so glad too because I was in my last class and that meant I got to go out in it while it was still snowing. So walking home on that day was great! When I woke up the next morning I was happy to see that some of it stuck, but not a whole lot. Nonetheless, I got what I asked for and I was extremely happy to at least be able to say I've lived in a city where it snowed.

But what I didn't know was what was about to come.. It had snowed little bits of tiny pieces one night during this week but nothing big and that got me hoping for more snow but nothing happened. I looked at the weather forecast and there was snow predicted for Sunday but I just was having a hard time believing it. The conditions wear perfect for it. It had been super cold all week (No higher than 32 degrees and as low as 10-15 degrees in the mornings) and so all we needed was some rain. So when I woke up this morning and saw that my phone said it was snowing I figured it was just going off of what it predicted and wasn't updated to the current conditions, but I decided I needed to get out of bed anyways and while I was up it wouldn't hurt to look out my window. But then all of the sudden!!

We got blanketed by snow! It was really great. I think I found any and every possible way to walk in the snow. After I finished lunch, I went over to Manon's house so we could have a glass of hot chocolate and do a bit of "luge"!

To end this post on an even better note..Kylie and Kat come in 20 days! I can't wait..!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année!

Sorry to keep everyone waiting for a post for the Holiday's! Finally, I'm home and have time to rest and get everything sorted out! My first Christmas in France was certainly an amazing one. I had the chance to spend it with all my friends and I got to do things I was more lucky enough to do.

It started out with me passing all my classes! I was extremely happy and proud that I was able to do this and it definitely helped make my vacation more enjoyable. Then when all all my classes ended, I went with my friend Stacy and her friend to get a hot chocolate to say goodbye for the last time..! It was really sad, but I was happy to have met a really nice friend like her! The poor thing had to listen to all my complaints/happy moments and all my jokes throughout the semester but she did a pretty good job. The following day, I wanted to get all my Christmas shopping done so I wouldn't have to battle anyone. I decided to get each one of my host brothers and sister something that I thought reminded them of me. So I got Axel a book about the top 10 biggest FBI files. I got Mathilde a notebook with San Francisco on the cover. I got Adrien some rugby socks and poker cards, and finally I got Pierrot a book with everything medical that he can use next year for Med School.

Starting the Friday after break until Wednesday morning, each one of the trickled home and I couldn't have been more happy to see each one of them. Wednesday night Dimitri's aunt invited all their family over as well as Manon and I to her new apartment. Once I got there we talked for a little and then exchanged gifts between each other. Dimitri's parents got me a bottle of wine, as did his aunt along with des bonbons. Then Dimitri and Manon got me a beanie to take on our snow trip. For all of them, I had my mom send me a couple boxes of Dewars chews. I thought this was a really neat idea because it was something from Bakersfield, rather than some random (While I was writing this Dimitri says "coucou!") gift. Along with a box for each of the families I wrote a little card to them. On Friday night, Dimitri and I went to his grandparents house for a Christmas dinner. Dimitri's cousins, Enzo and Charles, joined us as well. It was a lot of fun because we decorated the house for Christmas and we cooked a chicken in front of the fire in the house. We set up a table next to the fireplace to really have that Christmas touch!

Before we started dinner, Dimitri's grandparents got me a gift - a bottle of rose champagne and I also got them a box of Dewars as well.
Saturday morning consisted of us waking up way too late and so we headed back into town and when I got home helped my host dad, brother, and sister bottle wine! This was obviously the first time I've done something like this but it was really cool. We had to have a special hand machine to put the cork in after the bottle was filled. After some time, we got dressed and we drove out to the grandparents home in Sologne - the same place where I was for the family reunion. Once we got there, we had to start preparing the oysters. In France, the main things you eat during Christmas time are oysters, foie gras, and then any kind of meat; normally chicken or deer. After the oysters were finished all us kids played a game called loup-garoux. Basically, everyone is given a character - either you are a werewolf, villager, little girl, hunter, magician, Cupid, robber, or a psychic. Everyone has to close their eyes and one person conducts the game. One at a time each get to open their eyes. To start the robbers can trade cards with who they want. The psychic can see the card of someone they choose. The werewolves have to decide who they want to kill, but silently and discretely because the little girl can peak to see who are the werewolves. If the werewolves decide to kill the hunter, he can decide to take someone down with him too. The magician can decide to kill someone along with the werewolves or he can save the person that the werewolves decided to kill. Cupid chooses two people to fall in love and if either one of those people are killed the other dies as well. After the round has finished eeryone opens their eyes and the conducter says whether or not their were any deaths and then the whole "village" decides to kill someone else as well. But the idea of the game is to get rid of the werewolves and not the other people. After we finished a few games of that we went back down stairs to go to mass. It was a packed house for Christmas Eve. When it was finished we went back home and ate the oysters, foie gras, deer, ice cream, and wine! When dinner was finished we decided it was gift time! So I gave my host parents the gift from my family which was two bottles of wine and some chocolate and all my brothers and sisters their gifts. My host parents got me a calendar and a wine opener and all my brothers and sister got me "Le savoir-vivre pour les nuls (How to live (in France) for idiots) and they all wrote a little something for me on the first page and then made little remarks and notes trhoughout the book. It was super nice and cute.
Christmas morning my host family went to Paris to visit a family member so Dimitri's aunt came to pick me up and we drove to Dimitri's house. There, we all talked and they exchanged Christmas presents and we took pictures and ate! After we finished with lunch, all of us drove to Dimitri's other uncles house for dessert with all the rest of his cousins. The day flew by and, for sure, wasn't long enough but it was absolutely enjoyable because I had the chance to see and talk with everyone.

The next morning I didn't wake up because I never went to sleep. I had been a bit under the weather all week and for whatever reason - I couldn't sleep. So around 7am I jumped in the shower and grabbed my bag and went to the train station. From there I tok a train to Normandy where I met up with Manon and her family. For Christmas they rented a big house that was next to a really beautiful chateau. When I got there I said hello to everyone again. It was really nice to see everyone because they are all so nice. One of Manon's cousins was a bit different from the last time I saw her because now she was already 6 months pregnant! We ate a bit of lunch and after we finished we all drove to the beach to walk around and enjoy time together there because it was only an hour away and there was no reason not to take advantage of it! Finally we returned for dinner and dessert and played a little bit of foosball. Then we played a game with the entire family. it was a lot of fun because you start out by writing any sentence about anything that you want and you pass your stack of paper to the person to your left and they must draw a picture from the sentence that you wrote and then when you've finished drawing the picture you, again, pass the stack of papers(you have as many stacks of paper as there are people) to the next person and then from the picture the person has to write a sentence that corresponds with the picture. so at the end when the stack is all finished you get your original stack back and each person reads and shows their stack to see how off topic it got from the original sentence. So of course there is bound to be huge laughs. Afterwards, all us kids went to the chateau and slept on one side of the house which was really, really neat. But before we slept I taught everyone how to play Blackjack! The next morning we woke up and ate lunch then we drove back to Orleans. When we got there we stopped by my house and I dropped off one bag and took another two! Then we drove to Manon's house and she packed her bags and we ate some dinner and then after some time Dimitri, Camille, and Maxime - a friend of Camille, come to pick us up and we started on our raod trip to the Alps! It was only about a six hour drive and I slept for half the way so that made it nice.

The first full day we were there was the 28th. We woke up and got ready and went out for a day of skiing. I don't know how to explain it, but the Alps are just comething completely different. I looked like a complete noob out there. That's a bit of the problem as well - not having the chance to go more often when I'm back in California. But it was absolutely beautiful. As soon as we reached the top it was as if none of it was actually real - it was too magnificent. But here we were and I was actually in the snow. Actually in the Alps. Actually skiing with friends. It couldn't have been better. But then as we descended - the falling and tumbling started. I think i was in the snow more than I was on my feet. It was really depressing because I couldn't figure out what was wrong. I never fall back in California, I've even tried snowboarding before! But here, I was as if I've never seen snow or never held skis before. So everyone stuck with me which was super nice and everyone was encouraging me and giving me pointers. For dinner we ate crepes and watched all the videos from the day.

Because I had lost a bit of confidence I was hesitant to join the rest of the group on a ski trip that was a lot higher and a lot longer. So I took the day off and walked to the village which was about a 15 minute walk. So i got to look around and see a lot more of the area and again it was too surreal. Later on, I met up with the rest of the group and we watched a bit of TV and watched the videos that they took on their adventure. Later for dinner we ate raclette.It was a really fun dinner because you warm the cheese and then scrape it off onto your plate. Normally, you eat potatoes and meat with it.

Friday, I woke up and talked with Max while he ate breakfast because i was sleeping in the living room. He left for a full day of skiing. But this time when he came back for a lunch break - i left with him so we would do a half day of skiing. It was exactly what I needed. The weather was perfect and the snow was just right and being just the two of us made it an easy time to get back in the groove of skiing. We stayed out there for nearly 3 hours and this was plenty!
New Years Eve rolled around faster than I expected but we were ready for it! The weather was horrible and we were wanting to leave early the next morning so we decided to return our skis and boots and pick up some food for the evening while we were in town. After we got back to the apartment we watched a movie together and we all cleaned up and started preparing for the evening. It was lots of fun with some dancing and eating and with an hour to go until midnight we headed to a bar that we were at the night before. It was even more fun there with a packed house and dancing and people from all over! I met one guy from England, a couple from Amsterdam, one guy from Texas, and someone from Belgium. We spent most of the night there and finally headed back home around 4 in the morning.
The next morning we woke up towards the afternoon and got to work right away cleaning the apartment and packing the car and got out of there. I was really sad to leave but even more sad to wake up the next morning in Orleans - without the mountains and snow.
Overall this was an amazing Christmas vacation and I couldn't ask for more. I hope everyone else had an amazing vacation as well. Now time to watch a little college football!