Monday: School and the Mall
I couldn't believe how fast my first week had gone by! Last week was amazing, I had already seen and experienced things that I never dreamed of, if you haven't read my last blogs click here to check them out!
Now in my second week, I was feeling more accustomed to life in France. I also realized just how fast everyday was going by. On Monday, I started my day with my french class at ILA, I love my classes because we learn so much about French culture and learn useful vocabulary. I also enjoyed learning with students from all around the world from Canada, to Germany, to Taïwan!
After class, I headed out the mall. What I love about France is that we could get everywhere with public transportation! We took the tram to this beautiful out door mall. It was cool to see the different clothing stores that they had, although I was surprised at the American influences. Almost every store had shirts with English writing! I did find that stores like H&M and Zara had different clothing than what you would find in the states.
Tuesday: Le Jardin de Plantes
The Jardin Des Plantes is one of the oldest botanical gardens in all of Europe. The garden is the property of the University of Montpellier and is now classified as a Historical Monument and Protected Site. Back in the day, they would use the plants for medicines. Actually, botany was a very important subject for medical school students! Strolling around in this historic garden was so relaxing and I enjoyed all the beautiful sites. Enjoy some pictures!
Wednesday: Avignon
On Wednesday, we took a trip to the city Avignon and visited the Palais des Papes and the famous bridge. Click here to read my blog on this French commune.
Thursday: Château de Flaugergues + White Party
One of my assignments was to write a blog on this excursion, if you know French and would like to read it please click here. Feel free to explore the site and read posts from my classmates on the other excursions, please excuse any French errors, we're all still learning :)
For my non-french readers, click here...I'll do the translating
After this excursion, my classmates and I went out to the "White Party" which was being hosted by our school ILA. I thought it was so cool that the school would plan a party and I thought it would be a good and safe way to experience the night life in Montpellier.
ILA really hooked us up, for only 6 euros we all got a plate of food and a free drink! It was such a fun night, the music was....interesting. We made some requests to the DJ and when they finally played Beyoncé we all went crazy. It was a great time!
Friday: Musée Fabre
After class at ILA, we had our conversation class at the Musée Fabre. Our task was to find a still-life, portrait, landscape, and abstract art that we liked the best. Afterwards we sat down at a nearby café and discussed our choices. Here were some of my favorites:
Saturday: Les Baux-de-Provence et Arles
Saturday was another all-day excursion, this time we visited Les Baux-de-Provence and Arles. They were so beautiful! Please click on the village/city to read more!
Sunday: Kayaking
REUNITED!
On Sunday, I met up with my two cousins Kamila and Kenila for a fun day in the sun! I was so excited to meet up with them and they were excited that I was in France, where they have been living for the past five years. We went kayaking with some other St. Martiners...which means of course we got there late from missing our bus and missing our stop. Hotmess!
This was my first time Kayaking and it was quite the experience! The scenery was breath-taking and overall it was really relaxing. Kamila and I were getting the hang of it and were feeling good about not falling while others had already plunged into the river....but atlas we spoke to soon. The river had some rapid parts and we hit a tree and capsized! I had to swim back to the kayak and could barely get back on. It was too hilarious. Everyone was falling! I wasn't expecting it to be so easy to capsize! It was an experience that I would definitely do again, but maybe next time I'll wear a helmet!
That's the end of my second week in France! I really hope you enjoyed hearing about all I did this week and that you read the other blogs on the places that I visited.
Stay tuned for more posts on my third and final week!