le Chateau d'Angers

Okay boys and girls, I feel I am updating too much, but I trust my mom is reading all of this religiously, so here we go.
The night Liana and I roamed around untill around 11pm, we got some dinner, and passed a few bars, which brings me to my next point. French boys are creepy. They stare at you, in a way that either makes you feel uncomfortable, or want to run. And when they aren't staring, they are catcalling things like "les filles, les belles filles, vien ici belles filles" ugh. non, merci.
So anyway. Yesterday(sunday) we decided to go to the Chateau d'Angers, which is enormous, and very pretty. I trust it will be much more beautiful once spring has sprung upon us and flowers are blooming. We ended up getting in for free because we are >26 and we live here. All it took was a wave of the passport and boom, were in. We walked around the entire thing and let me tell you, that is no small feat, there are a TON of steps and stairs everywhere, and each set was steep! Leah commented on how our butts will look amazing when we get home.(hehe) Although it was quite cold outside we ended up being out for quite a while.
The three of us then decided to get a small snack and something to drink, but alas, it was Sunday...and NOTHING was open. We got a little lost roaming around by the cathedral and the chateau, and finally Leah bid us adieu and went home. Liana and I happened to find a small italien grocery place open and we bought waters from there, and kept walking thinking our grocery store would be open. No such luck.
We ended up back at home and soon decided we didn't have enough food to make a proper meal so we went out yet again and managed to find a place open, where we got sandwiches.
(note to tourists: Liana got mustard on her sandwich n it was awful, very strong)
After that, we stayed up late watching a movie on hulu on Lianas computer, and slept in today which was nice.
Today we don't plan on doing much because it is very cold and we are sort of tired of walking very very far in the cold. So today is our "take a break" day. We ventured out to the grocery store to get things for dinner later, and we plan on trying some wine tonight! (rose d'anjou)
Tomorrow I believe we plan on doing a little shopping and checking out the school a little bit. Liana wants to look into getting some new shoes, and I want to check into those beautifully stylish tights all the french girls wear!.



Noteworthy Items:

-The coke here is make with real sugar, not syrups or nething, which isn't bad. I actually like it better I think, but you can definitely taste the difference.
-We got snow last night and Chantal was very excited and pointed it out to us this morning, except....it was barely, BARELY a dusting of snow, but we acted excited for her sake. =)
-The cars here, and driving are just nuts. The roads are very small and two cars fit down them, they park very very close together(parallel parking!) ...Liana and I saw a ford yesterday and it make us quite happy to see that.
-The grocery stores here don't give out bags for your items, they will if u ask for it, but its like a 30 cent charge or something, we have been using totes of our own for now. Very environmentally friendly.
 -I have yet to add minutes to the phone Becky left for me, a-because I am not all together sure how to do so, and b-because we haven't encountered a place to do so.I have been using it as an alarm clock though, and it is quite petite!
-We have yet to actually find peanut butter.

First Day of Random Wandering

Okay, So I woke up a lot throughout the night, and ended up giving up at sleep around 7am, went online, and got ready. It was nice because I got to talk to a few friends from home who were still awake!
Anyway, I ended up ready before Liana, so I went downstairs and took a few pictures, but not many turned out, sooo I will try again another time. Liana and I had a quick breakfast of bananas and water, and left to meet her friend Leah.
We walked to the huge fountain and met Leah there, where we then explored the market. (they have a market here every saturday and sell everything from fruit to fish to purses and shoes....c'est bizarre!) We didn't end up buying anything, but it was cool to look at. From there we wandered to the Cathedral and wen inside. Okay, from pictures I had seen before I thought it wasn't going to be that big, this place was huge! and very pretty, also very very old. We took our pictures there and followed the steps down to the river, where we crossed and wandered for a while, also finding another church/cathedral.
Leah and Liana wanted to get phones so we went to Orange, where they bought the same phone I have but in red(mines gray/silver) and 2moro Liana and I are going to add minutes to mine!
From there we wandered a bit and found a cute Kebab place for only 5E for a kebab, fries, a drink, and tea! =) C'etait tres bon! The food was amazing, but very filling, so none of the three of us finished it(or even half!) The guy there talked to us the whole time and he kept throwing out random phrases in english "whats up my brother?!" it was funny, and made us feel more at home. When they asked where we were from we told them to guess, and they said Russia?! haha it was bizzare but apparently we look Russian? haha Idk. We said we were from America, and he said "oh Georgia?!" and was very excited....until we said no. lol. He is from the Country Georgia and wanted us to be from the state...idk, c'est un peu fou.
anyway. after this Liana and I walked home and Leah went to her house.
Liana and I then took a few hours to nap and rest up, and we ventured out again around 5 to go to the grocery store. I bought a few items I want for the week, and what Liana and I hope/think is peanut butter but we're not 100% sure yet. We will find out 2moro!
after this we came back and Chantal showed us how to work the appliances in the kitchen and told us her father was here visiting so they had already eaten and wondered if we had, since we had been out. we said no, but it was find because we had a big/late lunch.
Liana and I went upstairs and stayed in my room talking until around 8, when we ventured out to find food(we didn't feel like cooking tonight) We walked down a few roads and finally found a bunch of places lit up, but nothing sounded good, and so we ended up at McDonalds! haha but it was surprisingly okay. The food is a little different than in the U.S. but mostly the same, and it was sort of comforting to have it amongst all this french-ness.
After this Liana and i walked back home, but not before getting hollared and catcalled by quite a few young french boys.ugh.

Good things:
-French food is delish, the fruit always smells good, and there are alot of shops that sell food.
-the town is rather large, but walking around isn't bad at all.
-everything here is beautiful, from the architecture to the way people dress.
-everything in stores(clothing) is on sale, and all the french girls have very cute tights, so we have decided to try finding some for ourselves.
-my host family! they are very welcoming and sweet people. Also, when I get confused she tries to explain the best she can...we've had a few times so far where we both don't know the word for the other, but it is okay all together.
-the dog, Mozart. He is very cute and kind of follows you around until you pet him or something. Je l'aime.

Bad things
-French airports...as u saw in my other post.
-it truly is very cold here, no snow, but very very cold still. I want it to get warmer asap!
-I am very bad with direction, but Liana is great with it, so as long as shes with me we don't get lost.(so i guess thats a half bad thing half good thing)
-my door is impossible for me to unlock. It is very hard for me to turn it and Liana has done it every time after i give up...i'll get it eventually


I am starting to think a little more in french and have talked to Chantal and store owners and such, Liana and I speak franglais, we try to speak french, but it is a hard adjustment period, and right now english is comforting.
I still have jetlag, and am not on the right time, but I'm hoping it will go away within a few days, and with that I'm sure Liana and I will speak less and less english.

I miss all of you at home, and while I am here and it is exciting, I am finding it very hard to be away from everyone. I am thinking about all of you and hope all is well in snowy America.






C'est tous pour le moment.

Airport and Other travels

Okay sooo It's been a while. Howdy folks!

The last time I updated I was discussing packing and such, okay so i ended up with one rather large suitcase and a duffel bag that was also rather large(and heavy)
we ended up leaving for the airport at around 11am, making a pitstop at TacoBell on the way down for me to have one last meal there =) Which brought us to the airport WAY too early for my flight, but was okay. The guy who printed my ticket and checked my bag was super nice n told me how he lived in france for two years and loved it and he wished me good luck, and I was on my way to security.
Okay so the new body scanner things are slightly creepy, but it was fine, I ended up sitting at my terminal for about 2 full hours b4 I could board for my first flight. Megan joined me about 45 minutes into waiting, and we chatted while waiting, so that was good.
The first plane..oh mon dieu! it was soooo tiny! 2 by 2 rows and not many of them. my carryon was impossible to fit in the overhead bin, but the guy who ended up sitting next to me shoved it in there to help me from having to store it at the front (and wait forever for it) Speaking of said man. oh mon dieu! He was very interesting and nice, and i told him how i hate flying and i was nervous, well lets just say he talked my ear off the whole time n i ended up not noticing when we took off or landed.
He was some sort of medical sales person n had a southern accent(later found out he was from w.virginia) which of course reminded me of the movie Love and Other Drugs(tehe) but the man was adorable, and helpful. and when we landed, he took my bag down for me, and we shook hands n he said "take care of yourself, you're a very nice girl and I'd hate to hear about anything bad happening to you. Be smart while in France. Oh and by the way my name is Chad." swoon? un peu.
Okay so first flight was good, we land and I turn my phone on again only to have 4-5 texts from Kat telling me shes there (pittsburgh) and waiting at our terminal. we ended up landing about 3 terminals down from where we had to go. so that was nice.Megan and I bought some water and made our way to the second plane. This one was much larger and had personal pillows n fleece blankets, along with personal tvs to watch movies on(or as Kat and I used ours, to track how far we had traveled thus far)
This flight was very long and slightly boring, but Kat was next to me, and we managed to sleep for at least a little of it(her more than me)
We arrived at CDG airport a little b4 8am(2am MI time) and from there we got our luggage, made it thru customs, and were all set, so kat and I quickly realized our bags weighed more than a ton, and got these convenient luggage carts to use. We then bought our carte 12-25 for the train, and made sure our tickets were the right ones(they were) and the girl I had to deal with spoke very awful english, and my french was lacking due to fatigue. but it went okay overall. After all of this we spend quite a bit of time sitting on a heat register(it was freezing!) and eating a small snack (i had a water and un pain au chocolat..YUM)
We ended up seeing a homeless man walk around in nothing but a sweater(yup u heard me, nothing, as in we could see waist down) Oh boy Bienvenue en France, non?
he kept bending over(oh yes, that was just pleasant) and being rather odd and creepy, so Megan, Kat and I all left to find a different place to wait for our train.
We finally boarded the train n it was warm n crowded but okay overall. I tried not to, but ended up sleeping most of the way to Angers, cuz I was beyond exhausted.
Once we made it to Angers, The three of us got off the train n came up stairs to the lobby of the station. There a woman kept pointing at her phone and back to me, and talking with the girl next to her. I took a guess and went up to her asking if she was Chantal, and Oui! she was. She had my picture on her blackberry and was trying to guess if it was me. The girl with her is my roommate, Liana, and she is very nice =)
We all carried my stuff to Chantals car and she drove us home. Chantal and I carried my suitcase together up the stairs, and Liana carried my duffel (Merci Liana!) then Chantal left Liana and me alone to talk and I unpacked, showered, and of course connected to facebook.
The rest of the night is a blur to me because by this point I was very tired.
Chantal made a fabulous dinner for us which I couldn't finish at all, and we talked a little with her and Dominique. After that, Liana and I went upstairs and I went to bed around 10pm due to exhaustion.
I didn't end up sleeping all that well because I am still on Michigan time, but it was overall okay.

I will end this post there, and make a new one for the adventures from today, because it is tres long!

Things I learned from day one:
1-Jetleg is awful and very hard to get past.
2-French payphones are very VERY confusing, je le deteste!
3-French people are not actually rude at all, they are in fact quite the opposite.
4-Airports are a very confusing and intimidating place when u don't know what you're doing.
5.When in doubt, look at what others are doing, and mimick them.

Holy Packing Skills of Awesomeness Batman!

OK people, we're getting down to the wire here. This will be my last post before I am in France. 

I guess I'll start where I left off...

I finally bought everything I need for the trip, all shoes, and makeup products and such, which I tell you was no small feat! (I have found out that I do not physically own a pair of tennis shoes, other than the ones I use for running, which I doubt will be useful in France, and I also have yet to find a pair of flip flops I have kept, so I'll be in search of those 2moro) 

My sister, Kristina, surprised me by coming home for the weekend to say goodbye one last time, and we had one last Friday Night Coffee session with my girls, who I am going to really miss fyi. 

Which brings me to Saturday...I was sick all of last week and taking ny/dayquil like it was my job, but I still was a little sick(just a bad headcold) on Saturday. Anyway, My mom had invited family and friends over for a "farewell" party of sorts, and even though I do not enjoy being the center of everyone's attention, I did enjoy and appreciate all of the people that came. =) It was a very nice way to send me off and say goodbye to family and friends I won't be seeing for a while. 

Well Sunday I had an unexpected fight with my ipod, and the ipod won. It refused to turn on, charge, or do nething. So it sits on a place on my bookshelf as we speak. On better news, I bit the bullet and finally just bought a new one, it is a 4th generation Ipod Touch, and it has facetime and cameras, and to be honest I'm already in love with it. I bought a cute pink hearts cover for it, and of course have already loaded facebook, gmail, skype, and a few other apps, so I can keep in touch with people (where there is a wifi connection, of course) 

I spent Monday and today packing, and had a wonderful afternoon with Bailey, just talking and eating =) and packing some more. Megan, Kat and I managed to purchase our train tickets, and land in the same car for our train ride from the airport to Angers, and my host parents are all set to pick me up that afternoon!

I spent my evening making lists of everything I need and slowly crossing it off as I put it in my packing pile. I also managed to go through all of my makeup and separate it into a few small things I will be taking on the plane, and the rest will be in my suitcase. I also pulled all of the jewelry I had wanted to take with me but could not figure out a way to pack it without it all getting tangled together. After a few minutes of pouting, I saw a small bag sitting on my vanity. 

So you know the bags they put buttons in when you buy clothes, and they attach it to said clothes? okay, so every time I had one, I threw them in a drawer, so I dug them out, emptied the buttons, and placed necklaces and earings into separate bags, so as to avoid tangling, then they went into another bag to live happily together until I can take them out again. I am only posting this because I was so proud of my cleverness. =)

It's official, I am packed, and other than a few every day items I will be using the morning before my flight, I am all set to go. This is so bittersweet and long awaited, and I can finally say that I am excited. Before all I felt was nerves and thoughts of "is this right?" or "am I making a mistake?", and I have to admit, there have been quite a few obstacles, some more recent than others, that made me second guess myself, but right now I am absolutely certain this is what I want. I am prepared physically to go, and now I just need to get my mind there, and say a few last goodbyes.

They never said that it would be easy, they just promised it would be worth it.

Single Digits

Okay So being that I am leaving in less than 10 days now, I figured I could give a slight update on here.

a few small updates for you all:
1-My visa came to me 2 days after I got home from Chicago, I was shocked it came so fast, and am ecstatic that I have it. That being said, the french lady at the consulate told me not to smile so I look quite angry in my photo. Oh well.
2-I discussed banking and phones and all sorts of boring things like paperwork, and I have it all set now. (I literally have a binder I will b taking with me)
3-I will not be taking a phone with me to France, so if you plan on texting or calling me until June, Sorry but think otherwise. I do however, have a skype account (amy.allemon), I will thoroughly check email (amyallemon@gmail.com) and I will be checking fb. I will be getting a french cell phone when I get there, but I won't be using it to text or call those who reside in the U.S.
4-My mom insisted on having people over to get a chance to say goodbye, so shes doing this sort of "going away party" this Saturday, so If you're in the area and want to stop in, go for it. I believe shell b having people come after 7 until who knows when.

other than that, lets see, christmas was nice, more boring than anything, but nice to have the option of boring. same with new years. I've had a lot of time to spend with my parents, and being that I'm leaving soon, I wouldn't change that for the world.

I went to CMU last weekend to say goodbyes and see everyone one last time, overall it was probably the hardest thing I've done yet (emotionally) but I'm coming back in June and can't wait to see everyone again=)

Now I must face the idea of packing, which technically I haven't started yet. I have an idea of the clothes I'll be bringing, and I still plan on buying a pair of flats before I leave, but other than that I just have to pull everything from my closet, from its shelf, and carefully pack it into a suitcase or two.


I'll try to update once more before I head outta here.

The countdown is on. 9 days and counting....