So I left off being in Bordeaux at some family friends house in the countryside with vineyards everywhere. I thought I was one lucky gal from just these two short days being here and boy did I not have a clue what was in store. The only full day we were in Bordeaux we decided to take a little trip to a neighboring town called St Emilion which is a wine town and its absolutely breathtaking. I wish I could post pictures along with my descriptions but I don't know which piece of luggage or box I put my cords in so I can't upload any photos right now. Bummer. But i will, I promise, after I move again (in 2 weeks) and have a chance to unpack and find everything again. Anyways, we didn't say for long in this town, did a walk through, took in all the sights and headed back home for dinner, but dang, the views were incredible. In.cred.ible. This town is also known for its macaroons which is a very famous French dessert. Its kind of like a cookie ice cream sandwhich in looks(for those who don't know) but bite size and not ice cream between the cookies but a cream. they are flavored everything under the sun from vanilla to rose to citron. anyways, here in st emilion they are known for their macarons but their macaroons are not the typical ones I thought they would be but were just the cookie part, minus the cream. The packaging of them was different as well as they were stuck to paper. Its hard to describe and I didn't take a picture so I'll stop describing now. Anyways, they were good but not as good as another dessert that we enjoyed a little too much while we were in pays basque. (pays basque means Basque country and that means the part of France we were in) There was this other dessert that looks like a jello cup kind of but was brown crispy on the outside and jello(kind of) on the inside. It had a weird taste to it at first as its made with Rum (yes, the alcohol) but I soon decided it was ok to the taste buds and ate a few too many. :-(
So after 2 nights in Bordeaux we headed down to our main destination, Ascain. First of all let me tell you about France and August and traffic while traveling. One of the reasons for wanting to leave on a Thursday (which we did) instead of Saturday to get to Ascain was because Saturdays in August on the highways of France are awful. You have never seen traffic until you have experienced this. From Paris to Bordeaux was about 5 hours and then from Bordeaux to Ascain was 1.5 hours. Well, we managed the Paris to Bordeaux in relatively good timing considering there were two kids under the age of 5 in the backseat. But the trip from Bordeaux to Ascain took us about 5 hours because of French traffic. Ridiculous! So basically everyone in France takes holiday in August and most vacation rentals are from Saturday to Saturday which means Saturdays are the most traveled day of the week in France during August. On the high way it was literally bumper to bumper stopped traffic. I have never experienced anything like it. holy moly. But we finally made it to Ascain and boy was I thankful.
I will write about the two weeks we were in Ascain next time. Since this summer I do not have internet, as I have stated about a million times already, I have resorted to going across the street to a park to bum internet. The only awkward thing about this is that I am sitting on the side of Avenue Foch, one of the streets that jets out of the Arc de Triumph and its a rather busy one and across the street from some really wealthy apartments so people tend to look at me weird but I've gotten used to it I guess. Its actually quite nice to sit outside on teh computer and get some fresh air.
Tomorrow is my one year anniversary of living in Paris. I can't believe how quickly this year has passed. I remember getting off the plane and meeting my new host family after having had littel sleep and was super jet lagged and thinking to myself, what in the world did I get myself into? And here I am, a year later and light years different with so many experiences under my belt and I couldn't be happier. I will post tomorrow about all I have learned and grown through this past year.
Oh, and I still need to tell you the story of how I finally received my paperwork to stay for another year. Well, its not guaranteed for another year, but I"ll explain that later. Lets just say, as if I haven't before, that I don't live a dull life. And I am grateful for that, I guess.
Oh, and today I am very proud of myself as I booked tickets to Barcelona! I am super excited to be traveling some more. I say that as if I don't travel all the time, but this time is my choice again. I have a friend coming to visit me from Texas in October and we have planned one of the weekends she is here to visit Barcelona. And I am proud of myself because I was able to find good priced tickets at the times we wanted to fly which isn't always so easy.
And to continue the traveling bit, I leave next weekend (in 1.5 weeks) to go to Le Touquet for the weekend. It's the introduction into my new family. Speaking of, I haven't even met the kids of the family I am going to be working for yet. But anyways, the new family has a home in Le Touquet (i think thats how you spell it) which is a town about 2 hours by train north west of Paris on the water (its a beach town) and they asked me to come and spend the weekend to introduce me to the kids and so I could get better acquainted with everyone. I am super excited for all the changes going on in the next few weeks! So excited!
And lastly, Steph and Alex are going to be staying here in Paris with me for a few starting Saturday evening! I have been dreaming of the day when they would come visit me since before I moved here and finally it is here! I can't wait to show them around and see them fall in love with the city I love so much. (well, I hope thats what happens). And seeing my best friend after 1 year will be nice as well. I have missed her so much. Oh, and for those of y'all who read my blog, if you like to follow people's adventurous lifes then you might be interested in keeping up with their blog: http://alexandstephany.wordpress.com . They have set out on a year long adventure to find out where God is leading them to live and serve, starting with traveling around Europe and ending up in Africa.
Anyways, I hope you all are doing well and staying cool enough in the Texas summer heat. I am here, sitting in shorts at least but wearing a jacket is a normal piece of clothing to every outfit, regardless of month apparently. Definitely missing having an actual summer but I can't deny the fact that I don't miss such awful heat waves right now.
Have a great rest of the week and don't forget to check back for more updates to catch up on the last few weeks I have been MIA.
Love, moi
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