Tag Archives: Europe

A Vampire Weekend in Nice

September 23, 2014 Emyogifit 2 Comments

Before this past weekend I’d never completely traveled by myself. Sure I’ve taken plane rides between countries alone, but there has always been someone on the other side who already has everything planned out. This weekend trip to Nice, France was all me. I found the cheapest train tickets, the hostel without a curfew, and mapped everything out to be sure we could easily get from the train station to the hostel. It actually went surprisingly well, of course until the end, but I’ll get to that!

The cheapest round trip train from Paris to Nice we could find for that weekend happened to be an overnight train:

Basically the only picture I could take without seeming like a total creeper

Each “cabin” had 6 beds, 2 stacks of 3 beds each. I felt like I was in some kind of spy movie, walking down the narrow, never ending hallways as if someone was chasing me.

We got to Nice about 9 am the next morning and dropped our stuff of at the hostel before heading to the beach:

I actually kind of enjoyed the rocks instead of sand. They were horrible to walk on in bare feet, but you didn’t really need a beach towel and you left the beach without having a billion grains of sand in every nook and cranny of your body!

I was pretty nervous about staying in a hostel for the first time since I wasn’t sure what to expect. We stayed in a 6 bed mixed gender room, which was fine since we had a guy travelling with us. Surprisingly, we had an en-suite shower and we were even given free breakfast! All of our roommates were very nice and interesting to talk to and staying in a hostel even allowed me to meet some other Americans who were also studying abroad in Paris spending a weekend in Nice! What a small world! The hostel also provided lockers, towels, sheets, a hairdryer(!!), and of course, free Wifi.

We spent almost the entirety of our second day at the beach.

I think I sometimes forget that vampires (aka super white people like me) burn in the sunlight even with multiple applications of sunscreen, because this was me:

My future vacations will have to be beach-less I’m afraid.

Of course, our weekend trip could not possibly finish without a major problem, because it turns out everyone in our group just thought they knew the exact time the train left and no one actually checked to make sure… So we missed our train…

Sticking with the vampire theme... this was me. — Sticking with the vampire theme… this was me.

We took the next train though and we all got back to Paris in one piece, but for future reference I’m going to insist on seeing the train times for myself to avoid future sunburned vampire catastrophes. It would be a disaster.

In other news, my classes at the Sorbonne start this week…

I'm starting to think this might be me at the end of the week... — I’m starting to think this might be me at the end of the week…

Don’t miss a single blog post of my entire adventure! Please subscribe (click Follow blog via email in the column on the right!) to receive this blog’s updates via email! Also, I love getting feedback so please comment!

France

First Day of Class?

September 16, 2014 Emyogifit 5 Comments

Is it actually possible for someone to be excited to start classes again?

The answer is: yes. I’ve had an enormous amount of free time this past week. What? Free time in Paris is everyone’s dream? Unless you’re a broke American college student…

Then you visit museums and mournfully window shop.

And laugh at the English shirts... — And laugh at the English shirts…

Just kidding. While I have already visited several museums, I’ve mainly just been wandering around Paris finding the shopping malls, avoiding the tourist areas, and noting down cool restaurants like “Bagels and Brownies” to check out later.

Nothing particularly Parisian about a bagel sandwich named "Brooklyn" but it was delicious! — Nothing particularly Parisian about a bagel sandwich named “Brooklyn” but it was delicious!

But a girl can only do so much walking a day before she starts to get cranky. So Sunday I decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and read my French Sci-Fi novel in my neighborhood park.

The only thing that would have made that day even more perfect would have been a tall cup of sugary iced coffee… Uhh I mean Perrier.

Sorry guys. I swear I haven’t set foot in a Starbucks yet, but the instant coffee that the French love to drink is anything but satisfying. Either I’m going to figure out how to work a French press, that I can buy at Monoprix for pretty cheap, or I’m going to be a regular customer at a French café. Be prepared for a blog post all about coffee in the coming months.

But thankfully, I started classes today! Well, my classes with Sweet Briar at least. Sweet Briar is the college that runs this particular study abroad program in Paris. They hold excursions throughout the year and serve basically as a bunch of adults willing to hold our hands (if necessary) through life in Paris and classes at the Sorbonne. We take half of our classes with Sweet Briar (all French professors though) and half of our classes at the Sorbonne.

The class I had today was the “Atelier d’écriture” or a nitpicky French grammar and writing class that Sweet Briar highly recommends. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed a class about grammar. The professor basically gave us a few complicated English sentences to translate into French and then taught us the “French” way to write them correctly. She then made us practice over and over again using hilarious sentences such as “No matter where you go I will find you.”

Is Taken a little too close to home? Moving on…

All in all a good first day of classes. Stay tuned for updates on the rest of my classes including an Art History class that supposedly meets in the Louvre? I can’t wait!

France

Officially Not a Tourist

September 9, 2014 Emyogifit Leave a comment

Last Friday I officially, (according to me) surpassed the label of “tourist” and I am now living in Paris rather than just visiting.

Of course, that means I forget to take pictures of the major monument that I happen to be living by…

Because it also happens that I’m living directly off of the Champs-Élysées, which is horrendously full of tourists all the time. They’re all there to see (and a very few make purchases in) all the designer stores. Louis Vuitton anyone? Yeah, not me. I usually walk pretty fast along that street because it’s always so crowded and uncomfortable.

Speaking of where I’m living… I’m in a tiny little apartment that has been supposedly handed down through my host mom’s family for generations. The floors creak when you move the tiniest bit and every room has the grand classic windows of your typical Parisian home. I love it!

My host mom’s vivacious personality has taken a little bit of getting used to. I was definitely overwhelmed the first few days because she likes to know everything that is going on with me. I’m not used to explaining every detail of my schedule! It’s also her first time hosting a student with the Sweet Briar program so she’s not quite sure how things work. Besides that she’s been really great to me, getting me to talk and correcting my grammar and pronunciation when necessary, making sure that I have everything I need, and that I like what we’re eating for dinner.

Regarding classes, we’ve been left to explore the city for the most part by Sweet Briar, since classes at the Sorbonne don’t start for over another week! Which means exploring the city and mapping out where all the free restrooms are… If you’ve ever been to Europe you know that a free restroom is like a holy grail. Most of the time they cost about 0.50 cents!

My expression when I found the first FREE bathroom.

And my apprehension. They're free for a reason? — And my apprehension. They’re free for a reason? Gotta love those candid pictures.

We’ve had a few small classes, such as a class on current French politics (Interesting if you haven’t already taken a few classes on the subject!) and a very general, vague course on methodology for the courses we will take. For example, how to write a “dissertation” or a “commentaire-composé” for our classes at the Sorbonne. Thankfully we will have weekly tutorials at Sweet Briar since most of this “hypothetical” subject matter went right over my head.

Tomorrow, I think I’m finally going to visit a museum! But I’m definitely not a tourist anymore, I’m a student of French history, art, and literature according to my Student ID card. (Next time you see a cute French boy, tell him you study French literature -you might get a free drink**)

Technically not a tourist, but not by much — **Technically** not a tourist, but not by much

**Don’t actually do this.

France

La vie à Tours

September 4, 2014 Emyogifit 8 Comments

If you haven’t been reading my earlier posts I’ve been staying in Tours, France these past 2 weeks for an orientation of sorts, full of “intensive” French classes *cough*threehoursaday*cough* and well, lots of free time.

I know I mentioned my host family in an earlier post, but since that post, the family size has more than doubled! All five of their kids came back from vacation ranging from age 12 to age 20. I was sitting in my room when all of a sudden I heard them…

They're going to laugh at my French and ignore me and make fun of me. — *Mother was right! They’re going to laugh at my French and ignore me and make fun of me.*

The parents actually left for a date that evening, leaving us alone with the kids. It started off pretty awkward because they all spoke super fast and only with each other. But then the littlest boy told a joke and I laughed…

Their reaction to my laughter: The American understands us! — Their reaction to my laughter: *The American understands us!*

I think that was the moment when I won the respect of the eldest boy and he has since made the biggest effort to talk to me. I’m actually surprised at how much I’ve enjoyed talking to the kids. I think it’s because I’m very formal with the parents and choose my words carefully, but with the kids I can talk about everything from French YouTube stars to Mexican food!

So I’m actually kind of sad to be leaving this host family tomorrow because watching them all interact was both amusing and very enlightening and well, I’m going to miss having someone to talk to about “young” French culture.

Tomorrow, the group heads out for Paris, where I will be staying for the rest of the year! But before I go, I wanted to make a list of my favorite things about living in Tours.

1. Having a class in a room with a chandelier and sculpted walls.

2. Walking by buildings that are hundreds of years old every day and realizing that it’s completely normal for this city.

3. Switching in between French and English so easily you don’t even notice when you change.

I need this shirt. — This shirt expresses everything. Buy it here.

4. Having this be your walk home:

5. And well, the tranquility. I’m probably going to miss the relatively laid-back atmosphere of Tours in comparison to Paris. Sometimes it’s just nice to relax 🙂

The next time I post I will finally be in Paris! Oh, and living next to the Arc de Triomphe! ❤

France, Travel

Châteaux and Historical Fiction

September 1, 2014 Emyogifit 1 Comment

I’m a huge fan of historical fiction and well, books in general. What does this have to do with travelling you ask?

Because when I walk into a castle that was built in the early 13th century my imagination runs a little wild trying to envision all of the kings and queens of old hosting their fancy shindigs and their world of political intrigue of poisoning and murders.

The Château de Blois. Have fun pronouncing that.

Saturday, we visited 2 more châteaux including the Château de Blois, which is probably my favorite château so far because it was continuously added onto, resulting in an extraordinary view:

And plenty of ample material for anyone’s imagination to run wild!

French royalty used a fire salamander as their symbol. — The fire salamander of French royalty. It’s pretty much a dragon.

Which in Game of Thrones terms it means that the French royalty are descended from dragons. — Which in Game of Thrones terms, means that French royalty are descended from dragons.

Ghost stories around these gargoyles anyone?

This painting is so Game of Thrones. "You're dying? How sad." — This painting is so Game of Thrones. “You’re dying? How sad.”

In the afternoon we visited the Château de Cheverny:

It also contains one of the creepiest bedrooms I’ve ever seen:

Unless you look closely, it’s just a normal (really, really ancient looking) bedroom… until you notice the Medusa heads everywhere…

Babies and Medusa heads should not be in the same picture.

Literally everywhere. They were even on the ceiling!

I wouldn’t be able to sleep there.

In other news, I’ve been sick! I think I’ve had a fever for the last 24 hours and have been just overall super tired and achy. Last night at dinner my poor host family had to listen to my mangled, feverish French that lacked all grammar. Then class today wasn’t much better, since we were talking about things that bothered us! I was so worked up about refugees and the deportation of the unaccompanied minors from Central America that I left class dizzy and shaky.

But then I found some ramen at the grocery store and my day got a little bit better. 🙂

	floodingtheworld on Whirlwind
	Amber on Whirlwind
	Goal Crushing on TAP… on What was Emily doing all Novem…
	floodingtheworld on Meet the American
	Amber on Meet the American

	floodingtheworld on Whirlwind
	Amber on Whirlwind
	Goal Crushing on TAP… on What was Emily doing all Novem…
	floodingtheworld on Meet the American
	Amber on Meet the American

Flooding the World

Tag Archives: Europe

A Vampire Weekend in Nice

First Day of Class?

Officially Not a Tourist

La vie à Tours

Châteaux and Historical Fiction

A blog about a girl with a serious case of wanderlust and her quest to travel