First I'll start with some highlights of Biarritz:
1. Living in the "Chalet de Calme" -- where I shared a room with Katie Joyce who's wonderful -- lots of fun trying to figure out what was going on with M. et Mme La Houze, watching Arrested Development (malheursement, en anglais), trying to find the toilet downstairs with no lights on, having toast everyday for breakfast and the same sandwich everyday for lunch, etc.
2. Excursions! St. Jean Pied-de-Port was pretty incredible. Much older than Biarritz -- very cool Citadelle at the top, very picturesque. After that, we went to "Le cave Irouleguy" where we watched a few videos en francais about how they make their wine, and then proceeded to have a tasting afterwards! We got to try each a blanc, rose, et rouge. The blanc was my favorite. After that, we went to a "fromagerie" aka, some guy's farm. There were sheep, pigs, goats, kittens, and even a puppy! We got to see how he makes the cheese (not nearly as glamorous as the wine making), walk through the cheese cooler, and then also finished that visit with a tasting. This past week, we visited Bayonne -- not too far from Biarritz, but much bigger and older. Known for their CHOCOLATE, they also have a beautiful cathedral, and the whole town is just beautiful. After that, we made our way into Espagne, where we spent a few hours in San Sebastien! Very pretty place also -- we mostly just walked around, had tapas, saw the cathedral, and that was about it!
3. Hiking La Rhune (well, up La Rhune...) La Rhune lies right on the border between France and Spain, and so as we climbed, we crossed over into Spain. Extremely beautiful 2 hour hike up -- the only downside was that it started to POUR when we got to the top. And it was cold. Luckily, there's a restaurant/shop at the top of the mountain so we could go in and dry off a bit and eat. Well, we weren't techically allowed to "picnic" there, but we did discreetly, and then were yelled at (or Martine was yelled at) by the owner, who was quite frightening, and ended up bullying Martine into paying more, even after she had bought 30 hot chocolates and about 8 plates of french fries from the restaurant....Even more lucky, was that we were able to take the train down the mountain, as while we were eating, it began to rain sideways. And it was still doing so when we reached the bottom.
4. Omelette avec les pommes de terres: winner of best meal chez LaHouze. Note, that in France, omelettes are never, EVER for breakfast. Seulement, pour le diner. So Monday night, she sauteed sliced potatoes, and then poured eggs all over them. Absolutely delicious. She also made some pretty mean french fries.
I think that was about it for Biarritz -- we did have to go to class, not everyday, but enough. And we got to finish our stay with writing a 4-5 page analytical paper! Which, is completely different than those done in the states.
Now, PARIS! Finally!
We arrived at the Orly airport around 12:30pm today, and after retrieving our luggage, we split up into several vans, each with a driver who took us to our houses. I was "delivered" first from my van, and after entering the apartment building, we saw no apartment with the name of my host family, and none of them could be reached by phone! What a way to start!
We finally did reach Monsieur who came down to meet me, and we (thankfully) took the elevator up to the 6th floor. Madame is still on "les vacances" visiting her mother in Portugal (as she is Portuguese), but I talked to her on the phone, and she is very excited to see me tomorrow when she returns.
It became evident that Monsieur is NOT the chef in the family -- he was very sweet though to make me lunch which consisted of prepackaged couscous with vegetables, and then three mini frozen pizzas with ham (think bagel bites, but slightly larger). And "les raisins" pour le dessert. (Grapes, not raisins).
I am unpacked, after much doubt that all of my clothes would indeed fit into my room, which is about half the size of my room at home? I have a loft bed-- which I'm convinced that at some point, I will fall and crack my head open, and then there's a couch underneath (perhaps for a spend the night guest?). And then I have a floor to ceiling window that opens on to a little balcony that wraps all the way around the apartment. Not too shabby. Oh. And I can see the top of the Eiffel Tower from the kitchen window.
I think that's about it for now! I'm going grocery shopping to get things that I like to eat. And there IS a kitty who's name is Pastel. And he's pretty adorable, and apparently already likes me because he's been rubbing up against my legs non-stop....
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