Toulouse

according to lindsay's guidebook, supposedly toulouse is the place to come when all french cities start to look the same.
its funny, its not like i thought toulouse was a super exciting city or anything, but i really enjoyed my time there. maybe it had something to do with the fact that it was actually hot out, or that the city really is different from everywhere i've seen recently, but i loved wandering around and taking it all in.

the trip started out at the ridiculously early hour of 7h11 when our train departed from gare part dieu. four hours, a nap or two, and a few stops later, we finally arrived. we found our hotel faster than i ever had before (probably having something to do with the fact that it was one metro stop away from the gare and about a 5 minute walk from there). amazingly enough we were actually able to check in even though we thought we'd just have to leave our bags with them for safe keeping because the room might not have been ours for a couple more hours. we were very impressed by how nice it was considering how little we were paying. so we dropped off our stuff and headed back out, ready to start the day.

we decided we would be picnicing for lunch because it was cheaper and just as delicious. so we went to monoprix to pick up some cheese, jambon, fruit, chips, cookies, and water before finding a boulangerie where we could buy better bread than we would probably find at monoprix. then we made our way to the river and sat down on the quai to eat our lunch in the sunshine staring out over the water.

with food finally in our stomachs, the real exploring began. we wandered through the streets and saw a couple churches. once going in mostly because we needed to get out of the heat for a couple minutes (oh how long i have waited to be able to say that!). but i mean, they were nice churches even without the added bonus of air conditioning. it was amazing to be able to walk around in shorts and a tshirt though, without worrying about being cold.

as we walked, we noticed blue was a pretty popular color in the city. plus the streets were just kind of cute. we also realized that there was an abundance of brick buildings. i felt a little bit like i was on the east coast because of it. but it certainly was a sign that this city was different.

soon we found ourselves in a park. but this one had something i haven't seen in quite some time. peacocks!

there was also a rooster, but every time i tried to take it's picture it moved away to fast walking behind a bush or flowers or whatever.
we had a nice break in the park, but eventually we realized we should probably check out more of the city, which would involve standing up. so we got our stuff together and moved on.

our next stop was a cafe where the drinks were delicious but the service was horrendous. and by horrendous i mean we first had to wait to get any attention at all. then we asked the lady if there was a 'menu' to which she responded they didn't serve food instead of deciding to acknowledge that we meant to say 'carte', before walking away. finally another server brought us the carte thought it took even a little while longer before we were even able to place our orders. which then took forever to arrive. mine even later than lindsay's and giulia's. at least the drinks were good though. my chocolat frappe turned out to be much closer to chocolate milk than i had expected. but it was chocolate and it was cold, which meant it was just what i wanted.

with renewed energy we explored the main square, place du capitole, and the museum inside it. we also learned that inside is apparently where everyone gets married, and saw at least two brides.

after feeling like we had explored a lot of the city already, and wanting to leave a little for the next day, as well as ready for another break, we found another nice little park. well maybe not a park like the one earlier in the day, but there was a fountain, a statue, benches, and plenty of grass for us to sit on where we could eat a snack.

for dinner, we picked a nice little restaurant that didn't seem to expensive on a street populated by restaurants. it turned out to be delicious. greek salad. wine. and a massive amount of ice cream for dessert. mmmm :)

after dinner we figured out the quai was a happening place to be at night. everybody was out, and the bars near the river were all completely packed. we ended up deciding to just wander around for awhile enjoying the fact that it was still an amazing temperature even though it was dark.

and to finish off that first day we decided to get a beer before heading back to the hotel. we all got les bieres fruitee, which i actually liked. although i realized that giulia's peach and lindsay's raspberry were much better than my choice of strawberry. oh well, it was ok anyways.

we started our second day reasonably early by heading to the marche in the main square. it turned out to not be quite as exciting as we had anticipated, but were glad we went anyways.

next though, on our way to check out a church, we found une fripperie, aka a flea market. giulia even found a book about california from 1969! it was interesting to look at the pictures, but i was disappointed when i realized sacramento wasn't in it, thinking it would of course be in there being the capital and all..

finally we got around to checking out the church, which of course was really nice. i especially liked this section:

we checked out the university next, and found a lot of the common blue shutters along the way.

we thought the campus was very nice, much more modern than our quai campus, and much prettier than our bron campus.

for lunch we decided to do the picnic thing again because it had worked out so well the day before. but this time we decided to head to the opposite side of the river and sit in a grassy area with shade. the sun had been great before, but this time it was just too hot to even consider it. and what a lovely view :)

next up we did some shopping. we found this vintage shop, and i actually found a small purse! i love how when i say i'm not willing to spend more than ten euros on anything i might buy, and then we find something i like and it fits into that category.

we also went to a store (that of course i forget the name of), but we referred to as the blue store. this store was known for its blue dye that the city is known for a little bit, and lindsay even bought a scarf.
my favorite purchase, however, was at a store called pylone. this store is super colorful and i wanted everything in it! but i settled for a new toothbrush holder. and reminiscent of an old obsession, i felt i had to choose the cow one.

when we started to feel like the sun and wandering was getting to be too much for us, we headed to monoprix to pick up some chips and salsa and go back to the fountain park where we had been the day before to relax. its amazing how much nicer it can be in the shade when its so hot out! but i definitely prefer to be a bit too hot than to be freezing when im already wearing about 6 layers.

after a nap and some time to clean up at the hotel, we headed out again in search of dinner. we had already decided on a place that was in the guidebook, so it was just a matter of figuring out where it was. and then after wandering around for awhile deciding to actually start walking in the correct direction. which for some reason was more difficult than usual, and we became very obvious tourists.

eventually, however, we did figure out the map and find the restaurant. turns out, it was a buffet style restaurant which we had not antipated, but decided to try it anyways. it wasn't amazing or anything, but it was fairly inexpensive, all you can eat, and had some variety.
we ended the night with a little wine and the thoughts that we would be going to some salsa bar... which it turns out doesn't exist anymore. which meant that seeing as it was a little past midnight when we figured it out, we just headed back to the hotel to hang out a bit before going to bed since we would be getting up fairly early the next morning to leave for bordeaux!

kids for a day

when the sun comes out, my friends and i get all excited.
today i started the day by going to my psych class. and was particularly happy when i learned we dont have class next week. sweet! (i feel like i shouldn't be this excited about not having the one class i could even potentially get credit for, but thats how the cookie crumbles).
then i met up with patrick to have our now weekly lunch of bread and cheese while sitting on the quai by the rhone. it has become quite a lovely tradition the last couple weeks. when we finished eating, we walked up the quai in order to find some grass to sit on/lie down on. oh how i love the sun. and lyon. and the rhone. and yea. you get the picture. anyways. at one point i happened to look up and saw christine, our director, walking by. so i called her name and she came over and sat down and chatted with us for awhile!
soon chloe came and joined us because the three of us would be going to play lazer tag. yes, you read that right, lazer tag. because we are just that cool. and had an invitation from our french friend. zoe met up with us there as well, and we were prepared for an exciting game. i was surprised none of my friends had played before!
upon arriving, we quickly realized we were the oldest people there (and not entirely surprised by this fact). seeing as our french friend is in high school and so are all his friends. and everybody else that was playing probably hadn't even reached their teens yet.
but it was a lot of fun. i was terrible though. and we were all surprised by how gross and sweaty we felt afterward.

to continue our fun filled afternoon, we decided to get ice cream. which will probably happen fairly frequently as long as it continues to be as hot as today. i got white chocolate and chocolate and discovered that white chocolate gets slightly overpowered by chocolate. good to know for next time. but it was super good :)
i also realized today that i need to invest in some sunscreen. because in the short hour or two that i was relaxing outside, my left arm managed to get burnt. im really hoping it doesnt keep the ugly farmer's tan that might appear. but i am just so happy the sun is shining, its warm out, and tshirts can come out from hiding, that i dont mind a little burn!

beaune, france

we arrived in beaune, only about 7 minutes later than expected, and made our way to our hotel. it appeared it was actually on the opposite side of town, but seeing as beaune, like dijon, is such a tiny city, it probably only took us about 20 minutes to get there.
we couldn't believe how warm it was though! i love spring so much.
we rested for like half an hour while samina took the time to shower and i looked up couches for next weekend and grumbled about how unexpectedly expensive our hotel turned out to be.
then we were off again. we decided to leave most of our exploring for the next day since we knew we would have plenty of time to see everything we wanted in our short stay. and instead we headed to a cafe/bar and tried some wine since the region is known for its wine. after three different restaurants/bars/cafes (or whatever each particular one was), i discovered i like pinot noire and something i forget the name of but beaune was in the title.

the evening turned into a wine and dessert night. including two delicious desserts, plus something for free that i dont know what it was, but it was quite tasty as well.
apple crumble (the apple was good, but the ice cream was actually my favorite part):

mystery:

panna cotta:

we also had a lovely chat with an older australian couple at the restaurant we actually ate some dinner at. all starting because i asked if i could use the salt in french, and the man responded in english that i could have whatever if he knew what the heck i was saying haha.
by the end of the evening i was exhausted and went to sleep pretty quickly. in a nice comfy bed compared to the couch i had slept on the night before.

the next day started with the sun sort of shining (at least it wasn't raining like we expected!). we stopped by the patisserie down the street from the hotel and got our first of many pastries for the day. plus a baguette which was reallyyy good. samina even said so and she says she doesn't even really like baguettes!
we wandered into town, and found it to be surprisingly bustling for a sunday. although that was mostly just in one of the main squares.

i realize now you can't see the bustling in this picture, but you'll just have to take my word for it.
we purchased more pastries as we found more patisseries, moving quickly since they would be closing soon. and enjoyed the quaintness of the town as we went.

for lunch we parked ourselves on a bench facing some grass and a statue. there was even a nice clock tower nearby!

it was at this point that supposedly it started sprinkling a bit.. though all of the drops seemed to hit samina.
next up we tried to find the dali museum since there was a big sign for it.

we failed. but that could have had something to do with the fact that it was a sunday, so even if we were at the right door, it was probably locked.
we ended up deciding to follow some creek we had found because we figured the water had to take us somewhere exciting. we actually ended up at quite a lovely park with a small lake with fish in it, another merry-go-round, and even some paddle boats.

after a bit more wandering we both decided we were completely exhausted and headed back to the hotel to take a much needed nap.
when we got up an hour and a half later we were both very much refreshed and ready to continue our explorations.
we started meandering around the town again, but soon realized we were a little bored. its such a small town, and it was sunday, which meant to be honest there really wasn't all that much to do. we realized there had been no need for us to spend two nights there, but at this point we had already paid for the hotel and figured might as well try to entertain ourselves since there was no use in heading back early.
we sat on different benches. we stood on different benches.

we wandered up and down streets we realized we had already visited. i decided i was antsy and wanted to do something illegal (not too illegal of course, we wouldn't wanna get ourselves arrested in a foreign country). i also, in a different moment, decided i wanted to skateboard (not that i know how or anything). so it was funny when we then found this sign, which obviously explained why i wanted to skateboard in the first place:

more destinationless walking followed and soon it really did start to rain a little bit, on both of us this time. at which point we decided it was late enough that we could just head back to the hotel since we had seen practically the entire city already anyways.
that night it poured. which was a nice sound to get to go to sleep to. and the next morning it was beautiful again! what a good way to end the trip. andddd we didnt miss our train to get us back to lyon :)

dijon, france: mustardville

so i spent another weekend traveling, this time visiting tiny french towns. dijon was first on the itinerary.
samina and i took an earlyish train and arrived around 11:30. our host, the daughter of a man i met in morocco (yes, random, i know) met us in front of the station and we made our way to hers and her brother's house. it was really cute and seemed like it had been there far longer than the boring apartments that appeared to have been built around it more recently. after meeting the cats (the most ridiculously friendly cats i have ever met, i might add) and putting our backpacks down, samina and i headed back into town for lunch and some exploring.
seeing as how we were starving at this point, we of course chose one of the first restaurants we saw and sat down to eat there. i got a salad which was really good, though i didn't like the fried cheese things that were on top.

with full stomachs our adventuring began. we soon learned that dijon is a REALLY small town. cute. but really small. in the day and a half we were there, we probably walked on ever road a few times!
we found some old buildings, and owl arrows to point us in touristic directions!

i really liked the roofs on some of the buildings. i thought they were really interesting.

i believe this one is the oldest building:

the owl arrows:

during our wanderings, we even took the time to stop by a mustard shop. i mean, how could i go to dijon and NOT buy mustard (even if it wasn't for me?)

after more exploring, and seeing more cool buildings, we decided to take a break when we found the closest thing to a park we believed we were going to find, some benches and a large fountain:

next up we decided to indulge in some ice cream. we figured it was a beautiful day out, and why not? yummmyyyyy.

unsure of what to do next, we considered heading back to the house for a little bit before dinner. plans changed though when we found a book shop and ended up spending quite a bit of time in there. i even bought a book! some story in french that intrigued me enough to spend a whole two euros on it after reading the first couple pages. plus, theres a chapter called 'ariane'! of course i had to buy it.
after a while of trying to decide what the heck we wanted to eat for dinner, it finally occurred to us to eat in the same area we had eaten lunch. of course this only occurred to us when we were near this square again, because it's not like we necessarily would have known how to make it back there anyways had we come up with the idea sooner.
dinner ended up being delicious, though taking forever. something about only two servers and way too many tables meant that the service wasn't particularly quick. although i had to give our guy props as we saw him speed walking between tables while it appeared the other waiter was taking her sweet time.
we started off with escargot because snails seemed to be part of dijon culture (all over postcards and a couple statues and such). they were delicious.

my bad if you're grossed out by this picture. but seriously, if you can get past the fact that you are eating a snail, they are actually quite good :)

then i had gnocci which was also amazing.

and finally some chocolate mousse. which we waited about an hour for, but i have to say it was worth it.
after dinner we made our way to the busstop so we could head back to our hosts' place where the brother was waiting for us. but first, while we waited, some guy came up to us and asked if we had a lighter. samina obliged and soon this guy was asking her if she was single and if she wanted to get a drink. he was very persistant. it was odd to me since he seemed completely oblivious of my presence. if she had accepted, of course i would have followed, and then what would he have done? haha. he even tried to invite himself when we said we were leaving town tomorrow and going to beaune. yeaaa that wasn't gonna happen either.
anyways, the bus finally showed up and we were on our way. being awesome like we are, we accidentally missed our stop. it wasn't that big a deal though, because being such a small town, you can probably imagine that the bus stops aren't incredibly far apart from each other. we had to walk a little extra, but we made it to the house with no problem.
the brother was already kinda drunk by the time we showed up, so it was probably a good thing his friend was there too so we could make sure we made it to whereever we were going to. which turned out to be one of their friend's apartments (apparently where the brother had lived previously). we hung out there for awhile before following everybody to yet another apartment (at this point though, the brother headed home while we followed the rest of the crowd). first however, we tried a few wrong apartments. eventually though, we found more of their friends and were welcomed in. one spoke english so well that samina and i really couldn't tell where he was from! turns out he was from dijon. not as exciting as i had anticipated lol. as everyone decided to move somewhere else, we started losing the people we had been following, and when we arrived outside some bar and recognized where we were again, we decided to simply head back to our hosts' place and go to sleep. due to a lack of buses, we ended up walking the whole way. thank goodness for small towns and friends with better directional abilities than i have.
the next morning, i ate some breakfast with the sister while samina continued to sleep a bit. eventually samina got up though, the brother came downstairs, and we relaxed in their side yard for a bit. before we headed onto our next destination, we had to stop into town again so i could buy some mustard, take a second try at buying postcards since i managed to misplace the first batch, and check out a park that we hadn't known existed before walking through it on the way to the first group of friends' apartment. we particularly liked the statue we ate lunch next to:

after our lunch in the park we headed back to the house to grab our stuff before going to the train station. we miscalculated our time a little bit, then the bus was late, which led to us missing our train! oops. luckily there are lots of trains in between dijon and beaune and we were able to get on the next train twelve minutes later without even having to buy new tickets, so really no harm done. but we realized we should probably be a little more careful next time.
but on to beaune!

improv and salsa

thursday. just another day of the week? or maybe a new adventure?
this thursday i almost thought about ditching version because i hadn't felt like doing my homework in advance. wednesday night though, it occurred to me that if i skipped class this week, i was in trouble for next week as well since we are always handed the following weeks homework. so i decided to get my act together, do my homework, and actually get up and go to class. i mean it's not like i have all that many hours of class here anyways, so i might as well go. i got up a little slower in the morning though, realizing i wasn't all that worried about being a couple minutes late (i was going at least, wasn't i?) but it turned out it was one of those days where the bus and the tram liked me, and i still managed to get to campus on time! a few minutes before the professor even.
this week we were handed a sheet similar to one we had been handed a few weeks before. except instead of being given a million different phrases for the five senses, it was a million different phrases for walking. i never really thought about how many different ways we have of saying someone walks slowly, or what kind of smell there is, or what something feels like, or tastes like, or looks like, until i was handed a sheet and asked to match up the translations.
overall class wasn't that bad and i was glad i ended up going. what else am i going to do with my morning anyways?

afterwards i headed home, wasted some time, then realized i should probably start packing since i was leaving the following morning for dijon and beaune. at this point in time, my version of packing was throwing a few clothes on the bed, making sure my passport, carte 12-25, and train tickets were together, then giving up and deciding i would finish later. the last few trips i'd been on had all been about a week, how hard could it be to pack for just a weekend?

soon it was time to go to salsa dancing. which is still my favorite class. this week we learned some move that meant you danced with your partner for about a minute before everyone rotated. it was supposed to run pretty smoothly, with everyone dancing the whole time. problems arose however when people didn't know how to do the steps.. or when one girl decided to talk to each of her partners for a moment before moving on. this meant there was extra time spent standing there waiting for your chance to dance, and a few times simply skipping ahead in the circle so that as many people could continue dancing as possible. it was funny though because at this point you've kind of figured out who is ok and who's not. and when guys (or girls dancing the guy part) were left standing partnerless, people might skip ahead to them. except the guy who is really terrible, and he would be left standing there until a girl was actually supposed to rotate to him next.

that evening, patrick had an improv show. he has joined some improv acting team, and they had a match that night. so chloe and i decided to go watch! it turned out to be really fun and patrick's team actually won! everyone was very energetic and of course some cheering was involved. though near the end cheering was diminished to marshmallow applause and silent enthusiasm because apparently there was some conference going on downstairs and we were being disruptive. whoever decided to put these two invents in the same place at the same time must have not been entirely with it. but oh well.
we couldn't figure out why neither of us had made it to the first one. but decided we would definitely be going to the next one, whenever that is.

afterwards, we decided to try to go to mi barrio (the salsa dancing club) again. chloe and i had already attempted this twice, neither time sticking around. this time, however, we realized that we simply weren't there late enough before! turns out that the lessons that are offered end at around 10, and then the floor opens up to whoever. so we danced the night away until we all took the bus or metro home. it was really fun. at first though, chloe and patrick were dancing and this old guy asked me to dance. i finally said ok, but since im not all that good, and he didn't seem to be doing real steps, i was glad when he said thanks for the dance at the end of the song.
later though, when once again i happened to be the odd one out, this guy probably around my age came up and asked to dance. he was a lot more fun to dance with because he actually tried teaching me some steps, which patrick and chloe of course tried to copy.
what a fun night! though when i got home at about 12:30am, i realized i still needed to shower and pack since i didn't feel like waking up extra early when i was already waking up earlier than normal to catch a train at 9:22am. i was glad i had at least started packing before i'd left the house! first though, i ate some salad since i decided that a baguette, some monster crackers, and prince cookies probably shouldn't be my entire dinner. whoops.
1:30am. bedtime. then off for another adventure!