Bonjour tout le monde!

Sadly, vacation is over. Yesterday, I had my first day back and I have been crammed with long days from 8am-6pm! But it isn't all bad; I get to see my friends and we have been talking about everything we did over the break. I also got two tests back, and I was SO happy to see that I got a 14/20 on my French test. I know what you are thinking—14/20 is a C-, and that's awful—but here in France, the grading system is extremely different, and a 14 is actually considered a very good grade! My French teacher also told Nathalie that she was very impressed with my progress! And I was extremely happy to hear that Nathalie thinks by the time I am done with my semester, I will be perfectly fluent!

For the last week of vacation, I did a lot of traveling with Emma and Nathalie throughout the days. Ludmila and Olivier had work to finish up, so the three of us took day trips to Avignon, Pont du Gard, Arles, and Saint Marie de le mer. They were all soooo pretty, but Avignon and Arles were definitely my favorite!

In Avignon, the three of us went on a tour of the Papal Palace. I loved learning about the Great Schism in history, so it was really cool to actually go to Avignon and see where Pope Clement V ruled!

Dark picture, but one of the courtyards of the palace!

8 (of the 9) Avignon Popes!

Men playing "La Vie en Rose" on the accordion 

To say it was windy is a MAJOR understatement!

After the Palace, the three of went to lunch in a creperie! After eating, I met a few lost Americans and successfully translated directions to them! I was very proud of that :)

Then, we faced the crazy winds and found ourselves lost and in search of "Pond d'Avignon." When we finally found it, Emma taught me the song and dance and "l'on y danse!!"                                

We watched Titanic the night before...

Sur le pont!

The song was written on the wall of the gift shop and I couldn't help taking a picture :)

After we survived the roaring winds, the three of us searched the city for our car and then drove to the city of Pont du Gard to see the actual Pond du Gard! The bridge was really big, and I learned that it was built in 19 B.C. It is absolutely beautiful, and I was incredibly impressed that without crane's and machinery people were able to built this! 

Me in comparison 

This is what the bridge covers and there were a surprising amount of kayaks out, even though it was freezing!

The Pont du Gard was so amazing and we spend a lot of time in the new museum about it. We ended the day with a Nutella Crepe, and then drove home. 

The next day, we all stayed home and worked on homework. Emma and I made Pancakes for the family. They had already tried them once before in New York, but had never made them! Everybody loved adding chocolate chips to them, and Emma learned how to flip a pancake perfectly! In the evening, Ludmila's boyfriend Benjamin came over and we all ate together. He is super nice, and we talked about when he lived in Austin for a year. He told me that one of the things he misses the most is Chipotle :)

Wednesday, the three of us took another day trip. This time to Arles and Saint Marie de le Mer. In Arles, we went to a super old Greek theater which was super cool. It is only half as big as it used to be, but it is easy to get a sense of how big and amazing it must have been.

Next, we went to a Roman stadium where the ancient Romans fought to the death. Right now, it is being restored and is still in use…but for concerts and bull fights. 

We then ate lunch and then walked around Arles. I saw Vincent Van Gogh's house when he lived there and then we went into an old Roman bathing area.

The last really cool thing we did in Arles was go see the bridge that Van Gogh painted! His painting looks like: 

And it actually exists!

To end the day, we drove a few kilometers to Saint Marie de le Mer and went into a few cathedrals. I really enjoyed my day trip and I love how there are such great little towns just a few minutes from Montpellier. 

On Thursday, Emma and I went to The Odysseum and did a fair amount of shopping. The Odysseum is this super cool outdoor mall that has all the cool stores! We took the new Tram system, that finally opened in Lattes. When we came home, Emma got ready for her sleepover. She invited 5 friends over for a Pajama Party and they kept us all up until 3am. On Friday, I went with two of my AFS friends back to the Odysseum and we shopped, ate lunch, and saw a movie. I love seeing my AFS friends! It is such a nice break from my new reality. But don't get the wrong idea, I absolutely love everything about this trip, but sometimes I just want to relax and be around people that feel the same. Saturday morning, Emma, Nathalie, and I made chocolate mousse! It was super fun and surprisingly easy.

Don't judge my appearance…it was a lazy Saturday...

On my last day of break, I did a bit of homework and went to the beach with Nathalie. It was cold, but we sat in the sand and had a lot of fun! It was also election day. In the morning I went with Nathalie to the local middle school and she showed me the process of France's Presidential Elections. There are two elections; the first one is a nation wide election with ALL the candidates. Then the votes are tallied and the two candidates with the most votes goes on to the final election, where they obviously choose one person. The first election was extremely close! Nicholas Sarkozy, the current president, and Francois Hollande beat the others. The two men had an extremely close amount of votes with I think 28% for Hollande and 25% for Sarkozy. It will be interesting to see where the votes will go for the next election, but my family seems to think Hollande will win. 

As I mentioned, school has started once again! I have eight more weeks until school ends and then I have just a few weeks of summer before I return to the States. I am HOPING (mom and dad) that I will be able to go to Paris with some friends before my journey is over, and can't wait to do what I can, in the last weeks.

Bisous