Il fait trop chaud et je vais mourir (it is too hot and I'm going to die)

Wow today was hot. It's like 95 which isn't terrible, but there's no AC anywhere in France so it's just hot all the time. Literally, one of my favorite things that I brought from America was this little fan which is my second best friend, next to nutella of course. Tomorrow's high is 97 (today was 94) and then Friday could get up to 100!!! It's going to be burning up here. America is all about comfort so I really don't sweat much on 90+ degrees in Ohio because there's AC everywhere, but not in France. AC is so rare but the stairwell in the res hall is nice and cool since it's all stone and there's no sunlight.

So today we had class in the morning and then Ben and I had our stage this afternoon. We were in a class that was all about communication and how one presents themselves. The class was taught by this man who is also a clown, so he was very animated and relatively patient with Ben and I even though neither of us always knew what was going on. The professor was cool, but it was one of the most frustrating internships I've had yet. Fortunately, there is only one more on Thursday and then that's it! And on Thursday, we're having a mini-reception with different local foods and I can't wait!

Thursday it's only supposed to get up to 87 so fingers-crossed that I will make it until then!

This is our final week in Le Mans as well! We leave in one week from today! It's very sad but there's still so much that needs to get done before leaving. I can't believe how fast this has flown by.

Dorm, I mean Res Hall, Room Appreciation Post

Today was just class and then a lecture in a comic book shop, so nothing too exciting. So I would like to take this evening to show my dorm room since I have not posted any pictures of it.

Before cleaning my room (I really wanted to take authentic pictures). I have a bed and desk and windows with a view of the university restaurant. There's actually a surprising amount of storage under the bed and above the desk, but this is all the space I have. 

This is the full bathroom. Hence, how I could pee, shower, and brush my teeth and the same time if I wanted. I've only tried to do two of those things at once. 

The hallway of the res hall and stairwell. I'm on the second floor which means the third floor in America and two flights of stairs everyday which is actually not terrible at all. 

The view directly out of the side entrance and a building I pass while walking to the tram stop

Tram stop

Ciel all lit up at night (a building right down from the tram stop) and the kitchen in the dorm with Croque Madame's!!! (Like a grilled cheese with ham in the middle and an egg on top!)

If I could live in a French city, I think Bordeaux is my second choice (to Aix-en-Provence)

So today was our third and last day in Bordeaux which was fun because we got to sleep in! Yesterday, we went to the winery of Saint Emilion where we got a tour of the town and then had a picnic lunch before walking around the town to do some shopping. When we got back to downtown Bordeaux, we took a tour of the city which was very informative, but it was about an hour too long and the tour guide tried to take us down the smelliest alleys on purpose probably. Bordeaux is the dirtiest city I have ever been to, which didn't bother me, but some of the little streets and alleys do not smell good. After the tour we did a little, mini wine tasting at a wine bar and then went to dinner! The restaurant was called "Potato Head" and served whatever they were able to buy at the market that morning. For an appetizer, I ate fois gras and tuna in this incredible tomato-y broth which was absolutely delicious!

So then today, we slept in and then met at the market at 10 am. For lunch, Esther and I got fresh, raw oysters which we ate right on the river front with some bread and a small glass of wine. Have I ever mentioned how hard it is to be an exchange student? It was absolutely delicious and in addition, I got macaroons at the market. It was similar to the market in Le Mans, but there was less produce and more seafood and wine! This weekend was absolutely gorgeous weather-wise! We took the train back in early-afternoon and made it back in time to get pizza in Le Mans! This is the beginning the final week of the program which makes me so sad! But I've also resolved that I will not eat any more kebab for the rest of the trip - it's delicious and I highly recommend it (it's similar to a Greek gryo) but I absolutely can't eat another one on this trip.

Raw Oysters on the Waterfront

12 little Macaroons

Bordeaux is cool!! Cooler than Paris!

So today, class ended early so that we could pack and head out to Bordeaux! After a lunch of kebab, we jumped on the train where I slept for 3.5 of the 4 hours! For the next two nights while we're here, we are staying in a youth hostel which is super super cool. There are 6 of us (all from our group) staying in one of the rooms tomorrow, and then the two others from the group have their own room. When we "checked-in" they gave us a key and a set of sheets and that was it. The room is really big and the showers/bathrooms are really nice! We haven't spent a lot of time here so we haven't met too many people yet, but everyone here is very friendly and helpful! 

For dinner tonight, we walked around the city and eventually ended up at Chez Leon where I ate this delicious pesto pasta. We strolled around town for the rest of the evening and got to see the river all lit up at night. The city feels more like Montreal than Paris because it feels way more metropolitan (I don't think that's the correct word) than Paris. The architecture of the city looks like Paris, but it's much more diverse and there are a lot more different kinds of people there. I wish we had more than a weekend to spend here! Tomorrow though we're going to a wine tasting and then we'll have more time to explore the city! 

Update: I forgot shower shoes so even though the shower was very nice, that kind of worries me. 

Additionally there was a terrorist attack today in France! (Also in Kuwait and another country...) it was on the complete opposite side of the country though so it's not too big of a deal for us! But still scary that that happened for sure. I'm not 100% on what happened or why, but I'm sure details will continue to come out. 

La vie est difficile

So not much happened yesterday, so a post didn't seem necessary but mostly I was just exhausted because these days are so long and there's so much going on! We have classes/an internship everyday until 5, then other meetings or get-togethers, and then everyone's remembering that we only have one week left after this so everyone's trying to hang out every night, which is so much fun, but almost no time is left for homework/sleep. All I want to do is go sit in the park and read Jane Eyre on my iPad or go shopping downtown because France's semi-annual sales on everything started yesterday but there's not a ton of time so, in summary, it's really difficult to live in France for the summer and to have friends and fun all the time!

But actually I've been really tired these past two days and before I came here this summer, everyone was talking about how good the coffee is here but it just doesn't do it for me. Their caffé is a double espresso, which is super convenient and quick to drink, but I just don't feel awake after it. Tomorrow we leave for Bordeaux for the weekend which means a four hour train ride which means four hours to sleep/read which is the actual dream. And then on the way back on Sunday will be another four hours for napping!

Last night, one of the French students came over to the dorm with quiche and chocolate cake so we picnicked outside (because it was gorgeous!) and it was super delicious. Then today after class and the internship again, Esther and I went out with a couple friends who are originally from Le Mans but spent the last year in Akron teaching/taking classes. It was so much fun to hang out and talk with them! Then when we got back to the dorms, the French students were over and eating omelettes for dinner! So while everything is busy and I feel exhausted, everything is also super fun and I am having an absolute blast all the time.

The French Know American Culture but Not Vice-Versa

Not much happened again today, just more class and then we went out to dinner for James' birthday! But first we saw Jurassic World, which I had very low expectations for, but it was actually excellent. It was so suspenseful and while Chris Pratt did a good job, the dinosaurs were the true stars of the film. The movie was (fortunately) in English with French subtitles. And then after, we went to dinner where I ordered duck but actually had the most difficult time eating it, even though it was delicious. But the act of cutting up the pieces was just so difficult. I learned, however, that you when you "cheers" people, you look them in the eye, say "santé", and never EVER cross glasses. That's very important that that never happens, even though no one knows why.

All the French students know so many American TV shows and books and music and presidents and politics while all of us Americans have significantly less knowledge on those topics in French. We were able to talk "To Kill A Mockingbird" and "Pretty Little Liars" and the upcoming election, but I knew nothing about any French TV and the one French singer that I like (Stromae) turns out to be Belgian, not French. I feel so bad that I can't talk about French culture like we are able to talk about American culture, but at the same time it's so interesting to hear their opinion on American things.

Versailles (kinda)

So I thought that I posted yesterday but I guess it didn't send or I completely imagined typing it up and that actually never happened..... But either way not much happened yesterday! We went shopping in Milan before catching our flight back to Paris. When we got to the Paris Hyatt to check-in, the woman behind the counter told us we were "clients du jour" which meant that our room was upgraded to have a view of the Eiffel Tower! At the top of every hour after dark, the Eiffel Tower sparkles for 5 minutes, so we got to watch that multiple times which was awesome.

This morning, we ran around the train station in Paris trying to find this specific kind of ticket to get a train to Versailles. Eventually, we did arrive at the palace but we were 10 minutes late so we missed our private tour of the interior. For the next two hours, Esther and I searched desperately for wifi to try to contact anyone in the group inside the palace to try to find them. After about an hour, we decided to just walk around and look at the gardens until the rest of the group showed up. After another hour, they did show up so we were able to get lunch with and walk around the gardens with them.

The gardens look like something straight out of Pride & Prejudice, so when I got back to the dorm, I made myself a sandwich for dinner and watched the ultimate romantic movie of all time (the Keira Knightly version, of course). It was nice to just have the evening to relax and rest before this upcoming week and then Bordeaux this weekend! Additionally, I finished the book "The Hundred Foot Journey" on the multiple plane/train rides this weekend and I highly recommend it! It's about this Indian immigrant who starts his own restaurant in France and his family and mentors and it's a wonderful, easy read. He also uses a lot of similes with food, so I don't recommend reading it while hungry but I have been craving Indian food since I started the book. Definitely worth the read!