Grüezi! (that's hello in swiss german) 
I'm in Zurich right now, with 2 days left of the EPIC road trip i have been on! I'm just going to warn you all, it will take awhile to catch up on blogging because there are a great deal of stories to tell. Overall, the trip has been full of very high highs & pretty low lows. It's been more stressful than the average American road trip, but the rewards are greater (in my opinion). 
As a quick refresh, i am currently on "vacances de toussaint"...the French version of Halloween. I'm road tripping with 3 other assistants, two girls & a guy, all americans. We are in the midst of 10 days and 9 nights on the road. We will have gone to 11 countries (in this order): France, Monaco, Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Czech Republic, Germany, Austria & Switzerland. The main cities we've been to: Budapest, Krakow, Prague, Munich, Zurich & Lyon. Other big stops: Eze, France; Verona, Italy; Ljubjana, Slovenia; Auschwitz, Poland; Neuschwanstein, Bavaria, Germany; & tomorrow we will be spending the day driving through Switzerland with stops such as Bern, Gruyere, and Geneva! Tomorrow night we are staying in Lyon, and then driving back to Montpellier to take the car in. & then it's Halloween, so the first day i can really rest is November 1st! I'm excited to start adding pictures & telling you all about my many adventures over the past 8 days! 


bisous,
audrey

pumpkins, witches, and ghosts oh my!

Week 2 done! I did lessons on Halloween all this week, which was both really fun & made me miss home! Pumpkin picking & carving, roasting the seeds, planning costumes, loads of squash, apple cider, cute kids in costumes…ahhh American fall.

I know that my French is improving, or at least it’s all coming back to me now – but the rate at which my vocabulary is expanding is insane! All the words I teach them in English, they end up teaching me in French because I have to explain it or they accidently say the word in French instead of English. I now know the French equivalent for words like pumpkin, witch, ghost, vampire, devil, costume, decorations, wizard, zombie, paper, binder, & the list goes on & on.

Some things I did: taught kids 4 words (minimum) related to Halloween (witch, ghost, cat, pumpkin); had them draw the images & color them in (coloring is amazing in some of my harder classes! They were quiet for the first time!); read Halloween/scary poems; asked what they dressed up in; and showed classes a Powerpoint of Halloween images (treats, costumes, jack-o-lanterns, decorations). I included one picture of my brother Ben & myself when we were little & picking out pumpkins. Ha, I’m wearing a cowboy hat…so 90s, so American. One girl told me I was a really cute little girl, merci!

Other events of the week consisted of a spontaneous trip to Avignon for a night & part of the next day, road trip planning, the best sandwich I’ve had here in France (with S), receiving my medical appointment for OFII (one step closer to getting social security!) which is on a day I work so I have to ask permission to have the day off since it’s in Montpellier, and missing pumpkins, squash & other fall-ish things a lot.

Must go, but keep reading because ROAD TRIP STARTS TOMORROW!!!!!

bisous

who lives

Versailles

Grandeur. Gold. Ritual. Detail. Royal. Gardens. Opulence. Music. Monarchy. International. Fountains. History. Reflections. Portraits. Marie-Antoinette. Pomp. Greco-Roman deities. Sun King. Promenade. Legacy. Court. Ceremony. Hunting. Splendor. Orangerie. Restoration. Colossal. Grand Trianon. Sculpture. Incomparable.

"A toutes les gloires de la France"

For those who don’t know, the Château de Versailles is about 15 miles away from Paris – now considered a suburb. Louis XIV had the palace constructed in the mid 1600’s, but several buildings were added on over the next century.

MK & I left Carly’s by 9am, arrived in the town of Versailles a bit before 10am, and left at 6ish. And still I felt I could have done another day! The grounds are unbelievably expansive and every single thing (ok, maybe not some of the tourists) is beautiful. There is an attention to detail that I particularly appreciate, and it doesn’t hurt that a great deal of that detail is in gold :) 

First, we toured the Palace –

“In 1661, Louis XIV undertook the transformation and enlargement of the original château of Louis XIII, entrusting the work to two architects, Louis Le Vau and then Jules Hardouin-Mansart. The work continued up to his death in 1715. The Palace was embellished in the 18^th century; new apartments are arranged in the reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI.” (From the Map: Estate of Versailles pamphlet)

Chapel

Hall of Mirrors

Europa watching over the King while he sleeps

Queen's Bedchamber

Short break :)

The palace was remarkable, and being in the Hall of Mirrors was like living a dream, but wandering the grounds & Marie Antoinette’s estate was my favorite part of the trip!

MK & I

Some of the Gardens & Groves: Apollo’s Bath Grove, Neptune Fountain, Chestnut Room, Enceladus Grove, Dauphin’s Grove, Green Carpet, Swiss Lake, Water Parterre, Orangery, Saturne Fountain, Star Grove & the Queen’s Grove. 

Château from the Gardens

View of Gardens (mobbed with tourists)

various statues of Roman gods or goddesses

Fountain Show begins!

mazes & paths through the various gardens

Europa

We also walked to the Grand Trianon, which “was erected in 1687-1688 by the architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart to provide Louis XIV with a retreat at the far end of the park at Versailles, far from the constraints of power and the crowd of courtiers. It could be reached by boat along the Grand Canal, and it replaced a “pavillon d’agrément” used to take refreshments, which had been built on the same spot by Louis Le Vau in 1670…The building with its Italianate architecture has merely a ground floor, covered with a flat roof hidden by a balustrade. Pink Languedoc marble pilasters punctuate the façades. The Palace consists of two wings joined together by a peristyle adorned with columns through which one can catch a glimpse of the ornamental and flower gardens.” (also from a visit guide for The Grand Trianon)

Grand Trianon

We then headed to Marie-Antoinette’s Estate, where the Queen liked to retreat to with her children. 

Small lake & tower within the estate

 

Lastly, the Musical Fountains Show! This takes place every Saturday, Sunday & Thursday until the end of October. 

before fountains...

& during the show!!!

 The day was amazing and Versailles went beyond my expectations. Maybe I just miss being in class, but I was ready to whip out some history books & reread all I've learned about Versailles & Louis XVI & Marie-Antoinette! I love seeing places you learn about in school, it brings history to life.

golden gate :)

lucky :)

Current Countdown:

4 days until Montpellier & Britney Spears with Asia

5 days until EUROroadtrip11 commences

6 days until Budapest (one of the top cities I wanted to visit this year)

8 till Auschwitz & Krakow

9 till Prague

10 till Munich

11 till Zurich & King Ludwigs castle in Bavaria

12 till Lyon/Grenoble (TBD)

13 till Halloween festivities in Nîmes

37 days until THANKSGIVING aka my absolute favorite holiday!

38 till I return to Bath for a weekend (!!!)

and…less than 9 weeks until Scotland! 

My life is absolutely amazing; I am constantly reminded of how lucky I am to be living here in France and in Nîmes in particular. This weekend just cemented my love for the other assistants here! Here are a couple older pics:

M, S, M & I in front of a fountain - the figurine represents Nîmes

the first (huge) assistants dinner in place du marché

This weekend:

· Friday afternoon M, S & I went to Les Jardins de la Fontaine for a few hours to relax in the sun. There was a group of little kids playing soccer & I was tempted to play with…time to find a club to join!

· M, S, C & I went to Decathlon (French version of Dick’s Sporting Goods) for a huge bike sale they’re having this week. No luck on Saturday, but A & I are trying again Monday afternoon.

· H hosted a fabulous dinner at her apartment on Saturday night – cheese, bread, olives, wine, salmon, quiche, tomato & cucumber salad, chocolate, biscuits & lots of wonderful people. 

S, me, A

me, C, E

· Saturday & Sunday mornings at 10am a few of us met at the Irish bar for RUGBY! On Saturday, France played Wales & won (quite the celebration) so we decided to wake up for Sunday’s game as well. Australia played & lost to New Zealand – so New Zealand & France will be playing in the finals. Unfortunately, I’ll be on the road while the game is happening so hopefully we can get updated upon arrival in Budapest. I’m starting to understand rugby rules, which is definitely resulting in more appreciation for the sport (though it will never replace soccer).

· L has booked tickets to come visit me for New Years & the beginning of January!!!!!!

· Hung around the apartment Sunday afternoon/evening & got to Skype with several friends which was wonderful! Looking forward to seeing a few familiar faces over the next few months!

· A & I decided to look for a 10K to sign up for! I’ve never run in a race, besides elementary school track, so this will certainly be a first. K inspired me after she ran the Chicago Marathon (so proud!!) – obviously 10K is nothing close, but as I’m not the biggest fan of long distance, small steps are necessary.

These next few weeks will be VERY busy, but I’ll try to stay on top of blogging :)

Bises!

"th"

Week 1 of teaching done!

Wednesday was quite productive, we had orientation #2 in the morning & I left with a better idea of how to teach & what to teach. Rushed back home to eat (multigrain bread with jambon (ham) and goat cheese), then met S & M at the train station to catch a bus to take care of our Social Security paperwork. Yep, we get French social security…since the government employs me. All papers are in, so now just hoping for approval! Then proceeded to spend about 4/5 hours lesson planning & researching for today’s lessons.

This morning at T went really well!! I wrote the date on the board in English: Thursday, October 13^th. Ha, didn’t realize it until the first class, but that is quite the date for French kids to pronounce. They have a really hard time with the “th” sound, pretty much nonexistent in their language. Like the French rolling “r”’s are in English. They’ll get a lot of practice, since I’m with them every Thursday. Next, I passed out sheets of paper with a list of American boy & girl names. I read through the names, and then we went through together. With the younger ones, I found that it’s important to say the French pronunciation and English a few times so they can hear the difference. The names were great for working on pronunciation since most of them weren’t completely new (have French equivalents). We then went ahead & designed nametags, “etiquettes de nom”, with their American names (or French, if they didn’t want to change). In my second class at T, I also drew a few American symbols on the board & gave them time to decorate the tags. One girl, American name “Amber”, pronounces it like the French version of “hamburger”. I love it! Other things they wanted to draw: Hollywood sign, flag, dollar sign, dollar bill, football, flag, and an apple. To finish with both classes I had them review numbers. Again, the “th” sound needs to be practiced.

I had a few hours for lunch, so I returned home to watch some Modern Family, have some quiche, and revamp on the coffee. My second school, C, is more challenging. Luckily though, yet another day not teaching all 4 classes! I was just informed that for one of the classes, I’ll only be with them on Tuesdays. So – total of 5 classes again today. Class 1 at C is CM2, but they aren’t as far with English as my CM2 class at T. We did American names again, some counting, and “What is his name? His name is ____.” The difference between “his” and “her”…so many things to teach in each phrase! Class 2 is CM1: we did the date, name tags (not American names), American symbols or things you associate with America, and more counting. Class 3 was CP, the youngest! It’s their first year of English & I’ll really be teaching them basics. I think colors will be first. Today I introduced myself and answered some questions like: Is it nice in America? What are some things that are the same and different in America and France? (very intelligent) Does it get hot? Are there monkeys? The kids are adorable, but according to the teacher – big troublemakers. She’s got them in line, probably one of the strictest teachers I’ve ever met. I also think she underestimates my French ability…or she just wanted the kids to explain words for their own practice…because she explained words like rat, queen, ratatouille, pink – all words I am familiar with. Ah well, can’t hurt to practice & it’s good for the kids to think I speak horrible French.

Tonight is student night in Nîmes, so all the uni kids are out. We’re doing a stir-fry dinner at S’s, then out to the Fox, & then who knows! Tomorrow night there’s a dinner for international students at the Uni which all the assistants have been invited to.

Bises!

Day 1

“Hello! Good morning, my name is Miss. Audrey. I am from Chicago, a city in America. Now I live in Nîmes.”

This was essentially my introduction in each class…and then I repeated it in French.

Very. Easy. Slow. English.

Lotsoffastfrenchwithvocabidon’tknowwhileotherstudentsspeakatthesametimejustasquickly.

As exhausting as the day was, I really enjoyed it J I had 3 classes in the morning and only 2 in the afternoon. Normally it will be 4 in the afternoon, but there was a strike today so two of my teachers weren’t in school. Home an hour early!

Moments in…

Class 1: Realized they were just learning the French alphabet…hmm no writing in this class!

Class 2: Witty banter between teacher & student is normal. Kids get 30 minutes of recess after an hour and a half of class.

Class 3: Takes 20 minutes to get each kid to say phrase “I am 8/9 years old.” Boy announces that Washington D.C. is the capital of New York…then tells me I’m wrong when I correct him. Hardcore geography lesson comin’ at them.

Class 4 (2^nd school): Translated question from a boy: “Are there lots of thunderstorms because of all the tall buildings?” (So hard not to laugh) Girls passing notes in the back.

Class 5: Girl comes up to me and says “Vous êtes très belle!” My day is made, yet again.

A total of an hour and a half of walking for the day, not bad at all! On my walk home I whipped out the French/English dictionary because in my last class I was really struggling with explaining things in French. I think it was because I was so exhausted, and it was the most French I’ve spoken & listened to since arriving here. It certainly increased my motivation to start working in my grammar books on a regular basis! Oh, in most of my classes I introduced myself first & then asked what they knew in English & then took questions. In all except for one, I sat down & observed their normal lesson. In a few the kids were working on French grammar…at about the level I’m at. Or certainly at a level I could review! It helped to sit down and watch the teacher & students interact, and gave me time to take notes on each class & their level of English. Spent a few hours at home relaxing & then met some other assistants for a drink to exchange stories & lesson ideas. Orientation #2 tomorrow morning & then lesson planning & perhaps French social security!

It was the hardest day of teaching I’ve ever had due to the language barrier, but I am SO excited to be back in the classroom & to challenge myself as a teacher & student.

bises!

from student to teacher

i start school tomorrow! except for the first time, i'm the teacher. maybe not completely (my title IS assistant) but the 12 hours a week that i am employed, i teach. i've been more stressed about what and how to teach that i haven't stopped to reflect on the fact that i'm no longer the official student. as small a step it may be, it's still a step down the road that hopefully leads to a classroom of my own. 

this is just a small collection of thoughts on the subject, but i've got to get back to lesson planning & tea!

wish me luck!!

school schedule!

visited my other school today! it's more of a hike than the other one, but there's a bus i can take too if i'm too lazy to walk some days ;)
my schedule is exactly what i wanted: i work tuesdays & thursdays 8h30 - 4h30 with a 2 hour break for lunch/to get to the other school. it's about a 30 minute walk from one school to the other, and i think i can eat at either school. maybe i'll switch off each day? the first school is prettier & near the center, but i haven't met any teachers there. the second school, which i visited today, was quite the trip - a long walk from the office & then i met with the directrice & all 4 of the teachers i'll be working with. i'm in 4 different levels there: CM2, CM1, CP, CE1. don't ask me what exactly that means...i just know the ages range from 7 to 11. there was a bit of trouble with the teachers, i guess they think i literally start teaching on tuesday & don't get a day for observation? hopefully that's worked out...considering i understood about 50% of the convos because they talked so fast, i have little idea what they expect of me. sooo i'll have a lesson prepared for tuesday just in case but hopefully i can just chill in the class & listen. i think this would be especially great for classroom management, to see how the teacher handles the kids & use the same methods.


also got a bank account today! so overall it was a busy & pretty exhausting day. so much listening to french! it's definitely hard when people speak quickly, but it gets even harder by 3pm when all you've done is listen to superfast french since 11am! i did manage to go to les halles, a big market that's open every morning. i picked up some olive oil, or "huile d'olive", aux herbes de provence. great for salads, meats & fish (& dipping delicious baguettes in). & olives as well!


à plus tard!

day trip to Cassis & du Calanques

salut!


just got back from a meeting with my school contact & have half of my schedule! this school is only a 20 minute walk away, and i work there tuesday and thursday mornings from 8h30 - 11h30! i will definitely have friday off, and i'm going to try to schedule my other school hours for tuesday and thursday afternoons so i can fit everything into 2 days! if that doesn't work, than i'll go for monday afternoons. 


this weekend was SO great! asia & i did some cooking in my kitchen: 

we were both up early on sunday & got some more road trip & blogging work done before heading to the med! the train to marseille was only about an hour on the way there, hour and a half on the way back? not too bad! & then to cassis it was only half an hour. we arrived around lunchtime, so walked about 3km to town from the station & sat down for some much needed café & food! after chatting with the server, we learned that it was a 2.5 hour walk to the FIRST calanque! oops, poor planning! but it worked out perfectly - we ended up doing a fabulous hour-long boat tour of 3 calanques. & it was C's first time on a boat! the med was an absolutely stunning shade of blue, deep deep blue. i hadn't been on the water since my cruise back in march, much too long! Here are some pictures from the boat tour:

& afterwards we headed straight for the beach, bien sûr! relaxed for awhile, read off my kindle, napped & admired the view :) people-watching was certainly interesting, as it was a very crowded beach. before leaving we unpacked nigel (asia's fab camera) & took some pics:

me & asia!

<3 beach days!


*sidenote - met 2 other assistants today! one from la suisse & the other from scotland! I LOVE EUROPE. so many people with completely different cultures/points of view/experiences. dinner tonight at A's with a few others...salad, cheese, baguettes, wine & OFII forms! also, i ran this morning! nîmes is starting to feel more like home, more familiar. i'm very, very happy & excited to start teaching :)


bises

home sweet home (in france)

I have a home! The apartment is right in centre ville, about a 2 minute walk to the arena & a 10 minute to the train station. 

home is in the bottom left hand corner!

There are 3 of us, M from Rhode Island & R from Jamaica, & we’re renting from a delightful 90 year old lady who I will call Madame. Friday morning I walked down from the hostel & arrived an hour early to have a café in the small square, or “place”, and observe the goings-on of the area where I would perhaps live. I met R at 10 & the tour began! Madame is a character and such a nice person. She doesn’t speak a lick of English, only French & some Spanish. So all of our conversations with her thus far have been in French! My comprehension is improving already, though it was already better than my speaking level. She has lived in Nîmes for 50 years, and before that lived about 60 kilometers from here. Anyways, we chatted for a bit in her living/dining room & then she showed us the apartment. It’s all the way at the top of the building & there are 3 bedrooms, 2 toilets, 2 showers, and a kitchen/dining room with a big table. It’s furnished & everything: bed, linens, desk, pots, pans, plates, cups, oven/stove, microwave, coffee maker, fridge (& a big one in France standards!), etc. After that, she made R & I a big lunch: salad, scalloped potatoes, chicken with a mustard spread, bread…& then a cheese course with fruit. All with wine or water! It was delicious J We separated for the afternoon, I picked up one of my bags & unpacked, hung out with some assistants, and then returned to Madame’s for dinner with R & M (who had just arrived). Dinner was another delightful feast & the conversation was great!

the 4 windows at the top of the middle apartment are ours, and mine are the two on the left!

My room is blue, my favorite color, and has two large windows that overlook the place. 

i'll add more of the rest of the apartment soon :) 

Above is the place at night! It's kind of loud, but I like the hum of people talking. I am completely unpacked with my two huge bags (thank you Aunt M, they made it all the way!) in a big closet where I won’t have to look at them for another 7 months. The 2 week trip on the way here was exhausting with my bags & from it I’ve found my breaking point for living out of a suitcase, ha.

Although I had doubts on my first day here, with each day I love this place & my fellow assistants more. H (from Cali) & A (from England) met me at the train station when I arrived, helped with luggage & then we ate together! C (from Iowa) joined us for dinner that night. The next day M (from Washington) & I met at the hostel, then I brought him to dinner with Cali H, England A & Iowa C. [Hm. I’m going to have to figure out this letter thing, it’s starting to get a bit confusing…] While I do that we’ll skip names. We’ve done several dinners, a lovely brunch at A’s apartment (only a minute walk from mine) with crêpes, croissants, pain au chocolate, Nutella, jelly, bananas, mimosas, coffee..mmmm. A & I each bought air mattresses for visitors since we have no couches. Oh, and we did a big assistant dinner last night at a Lebanese restaurant! There were 18 of us that showed up & we have SUCH a great group of people!! But really, lots of love for the group (which makes moving to a foreign country even better!)

du Calanques (not my own picture)
Asia & I finally met yesterday, she came down to Nîmes to visit me, stay the night & today we are off to Cassis & du Calanques! We’re meeting C there, who I met in Chicago & is working in Montpellier with Asia. Expecting a gorgeous day at the beach, hiking, taking pictures, reading & relaxing! She came to the assistant dinner & everyone was very amused by the fact that we were such good friends for having never met until yesterday J

Versailles post will come soon, as will more about Nîmes when I have more pictures!

bises