Caliceo spa

Caliceo consisted of two main pools; one indoor and one outdoor. There was also a fabulous sauna; the first I have ever been in! Today it rained most of the morning and the temperature dropped quite a bit, so between the heated pool and sauna I warmed up. We spent almost 3hrs at Caliceo and it was fantastic! It truly was nice to just swim around and let your mind just relax.
I ended my day with a nice meal with Sylvie and actually had a pretty lengthy discussion (you could almost call it that) all in French. After one week being here I have gained more than I ever gained in the last year of learning French. Taking French for two years has definitely helped me have somewhat of an idea of certain vocabulary and sentence structure, or conjugations, but being here could never compare to learning in a classroom. I'm slowly becoming comfortable in my comprehension so I am more apt to partake in conversations. I can't wait to see the progress I will have obtained by the end of July.
Tomorrow is supposed to be gorgeous and Thursday is a holiday so we do not have class. Although we will make up for the missed class on Friday. I hope to go out with a few friends tomorrow evening. I am also going to cook dinner tomorrow and told Sylvie she was more than welcome to eat if she would like ( I think we understood each other..). Now, after a very good dinner and wine, I'm trying to decide between taking a nap (damn wine) or finishing my homework now rather than later. Oh...the decisions we have to deal with when in France....

Must be the French Blood...

I seemed to be pretty perky and feeling just fine today, taking into account the amount of wine these French people kept giving me yesterday. :) (it truly wasn't that bad, I'm just exaggerating...un peu)
So, my day started off hoping that I would not get rained on, on my walk to class. The one day its cloudy I don't take my umbrella, it rains. It didn't rain until my walk home at the end of the day. It rained hard as well. I went to my 3hr class, had lunch at the school cafeteria, went grocery shopping (going to try and cook stuffed tomatoes in France) and then I was going to go join in on the castle tour and was a bit late. So I took pictures instead and just enjoyed walking around under the beautiful, partly cloudy sky, breathing mountain air, and watching the clouds drift over the mountain peeks.

 Again, trying to document, since so many claim I never take pictures. Voila!

No significance just thought the clouds looked neat as the storm came in.

Bon fête des mères!

Also known as Mother's day; Today. I was invited to go with my host mother to visit her mother and then have lunch at her daughter's house. For some reason I didn't bring my camera but we had a tasty meal and a new wine bottle each course! I drank alot of wine but it was closely paired with food, so I definitely didn't get too drunk thankfully. I definitely decided that you have to be out right drunk to forget your French is bad. Being tipsy didn't make me talk any more than I would have completely sober. They claim you speak "better" (maybe more is the right word for it) if you drink because it relaxes some of the tension you have about conversing. I don't think I will go that route, even though Sylvie's daughter kept trying to give me more wine...after I explained I wasn't a big talker in general.
Anyhow it was fun, but the conversations were so fast I just let the buzz of the conversation zing around in my head. I figure even if I have no clue what is being said i could at least absorb something, right? Well, the night is here and I have class at 8am opposed to 9, so I will have to cut this short, and add  a picture from the apartment that I took tonight.

Surf Capital of France (Biarritz) ; Bayonne

 Today was a gorgeous day. We first went to Bayonne, which is known for their chocolate, specifically their Spanish recipe. It contains pepper and has a little bite to it. It is also bought in sheets, along with other flavors. It reminds me of our peanut brittle. I was going to buy some now but realized that if I did so it wouldn't make it home. I will be here for the next two months so I will have to get some at a later date to increase the likelihood it will make it back. I keep wondering why every time I leave from the Super Marche I am generally walking out with a french bread baguette, cheese, or chocolate. It is common place to see 2ft long baguettes. They literally eat bread with every meal. So I decided, when in France do like the French, right?

 This church in Bayonne had a gorgeous courtyard that was hidden.

 Of course. When in Europe eat chocolate...I haven't gotten the "drink wine part"...yet. I don't believe I'll be coming back being a wine drinker, but we will see.

 We all had lunch as a group at Victor Hugo's, in Bayonne. It was a three course meal, I forgot to take pictures of the salad and Basque Cake... The picture above is mine, since I requested vegetarian. I had prepared the same specialty dish in my cooking class and could do without the piece of chicken. It looked tasty none the less.

 Then we moved on to Biarritz. The surf capital of France; they have a surf museum. I guess California needs to catch up. It is a very touristy place to go. As you can see it is gorgeous. It was a bit chilly for a bathing suit in my opinion but many still sun bathed. I had to document that I was really there,  since I'm usually the one behind the camera.

 Biarritz was once a sea port, and didn't become urbanized until Napoleon III's wife took interest in it. One major attraction, if you are swimming in money, so to speak, is the hotel palais. It was a summer castle/palais built for his wife, in the shape of the first letter in her name "E" ( from an aerial view) The rates per night begin at $3,000!!!...Euro....

 Some gypsy like people created this work of art.

 This italian icecream is no longer in existence... I ate it and enjoyed it. C'etait fraise et vanille.

 The mountains in the distance is Spain.

Meeting New People

Today after classes and lunch we had the opportunity to meet a few french students! I met a lovely girl, who actually spoke English as well. It is not uncommon that most people in Pau do not speak English. Thus far in my trip I have yet to find a rude southern French person. Many are willing to help regardless of the twisted french that may come out. This program has proved to be very good at what they do.
After the "French Mixer Get-together" I headed into the Centre Ville with a few people from the program. ( a few I could have done with out, talk about emphasizing the "Americans are loud" sterotype!) Anyhow I had a great time, but unfortunately decided not to bring my. I will of course be back another day. The weather was partly cloudy and in the high 60's. Fab weather in any Texan's eyes, right? We eventually found a restaurant that was serving at 6pm and had a lovely little meal. Most cafe's will only serve lunch and then only serve drinks later on. Some restaurants will also close after lunch until about 7pm. Dinner is the second most important meal of the day and is usually eaten at 7pm or later. Lunch is VERY important and most jobs give a 2hr break! Can you believe that?!
I had an interesting and tasty salad composed of a whole avocado with some  sort of tapenade on top along with smoked salmon and lettuce. They also served wonderful fresh french bread. The french seem to eat bread with every meal but still remain pretty slim, maybe I'll figure out their secret. They also believe that a meal with out cheese is not a meal. The cheese isle is amazing in the grocery stores and you can purchase really good cheeses for a lot cheaper than the US. Unfortunately I don't think I can bring cheese back.
Tomorrow I meet the other students and program at 8:30 to leave for Biarritz. A very trendy place on the Basque Coast. I'm super excited and should be posting some excellent pictures later on. This Sunday is also the French Mother's Day and I was invited to go to Madame Alcoz's daughter's house for breakfast. Should be interesting. Wishing everyone well.

Il faut beau, aujourd'hui. (beautiful weather today)

The day was indeed gorgeous! Classes were long but the teacher is really great. I had one of my elective classes today, which is about the Tapestries of the Pau Castle. The castle has one of the most extensive and old tapestries apparently. Hopefully the class will be more enjoyable when we actually go see the actual tapestries. The teacher is from America and just talked french the entire time, reading lengthy pages of history. Most of us were trying our best not to fall asleep. It's also a two hour class!
I also had the first day of the french cooking class I signed up for. The recipe was pretty simple and tasted fine but not yet fancy enough. I'm not sure they can get much fancier in a cooking class. We all kind of share the work of preparing the meal, but the stew like substance we poured on top had been prepared the previous day. It was entertaining none the less.

 such a clear day, so you can see the mountains

 "oeufs mimosas" basically french version of tuna salad. I definitely prefer it; I don't generally like tuna salad. you mix the tuna with mayo of course, then take hard boiled eggs, halve them, take out the yolk without breaking the white part, spoon a bit of tuna in, put yolk in a cheese shredder and put over the top.

 "Poulet Basquaise" A traditional meal. In my opinion it could have a bit more flavor but its not bad. I didn't really eat the chicken, seeing as I don't really eat meat but I did try a bite. It's a sweet tomato sauce.

 "Fruits Frais-Sauce Chocolat" simple, chop up and peel apples, bananas, and strawberries. Use yummy dark french chocolate and put some boiling water in and mix until well melted and spoon over the top.

I also realized wine IS cheaper than water, although I haven't purchased any. I hope to go to a wine tasting about an hour away so that I can at least find a wine I like and then buy it, and maybe commence to drinking it.haha.

Free Macaroons!

Today was the first day of class and a very long day as well. Learning a new language is no walk in the park for sure. I'm definitely getting better at hearing words and understanding what others are saying (if I listen well) but I am still working on responding in the correct manner. (that will come with practice and more time) This entry will be mostly pictures and brief descriptions.

 Neat way to advertise a flower shop

 Another way to advertise. This store specialized in Macaroons and candies ( I will be stopping there before I leave France for sure!)

 The Macaroons actually taste very similar to the ones you can get at La Boite in Austin,Tx.

 Henry IV chateaux

 another girl in the program, she is studying in the US but is from Kenya

 pretty cloudy today so I did not see the snow capped mountains.

Sunshine

 The view from the living room.

 the campus was very green

 the walk along the edge of le centre ville and goes to the chateaux

 shopping

Today I got to meet the other 42 USAC students. We learned more about the classes and took a short tour of the university and part of downtown. For many of the students, today was their first day and they were very tired form the long journey. Tomorrow classes officially start and we will finish the day with the remaining tour of downtown or Le Centre Ville. (center of town) I think that is about all I can think of at the moment, because my brain is pretty fatigued with all the french!

Cheek to Cheek (joue à joue)

Talk about breaking an American barrier, I've had more cheek action than I've had in my entire life! As Americans we approach a new person with our head tilted away and our hands outstretched, here it's in reverse. Face first, hand later..but not really. Even the two grandchildren of Mdm. Alcoz "cheeked" me.
Before coming to France I was aware of their custom of greeting by placing opposite cheeks next to each other and kissing to the air, but when you actually do it, it sent a little electrical shock to my, apparently American, heart. I'm sure by the end of my stay I'll come back and try the same on another American, we'll see how that goes, right?
So today was a quick tour of the center of town and university. Both are within walking distance, although the center of town my be somewhat further away; so I would take the bus. We didn't walk to either but the object was to give me an idea of my surroundings. After meeting a few southern French people, I'm a bit weary to meet any Northerners since the reputation of the Parisians are not as friendly. I also got to meet Mdm. Alcoz's daughter and two children. If you've ever been shown a house for sale, that was the feeling I had when the children decided to show me their tree house, guest house in the backyard, and rooms. Very pleasant and thorough. Very sweet and cute and of course it made me feel pretty ridiculous that I had no clue what the 4yr old or so was saying! I enjoyed it none the less.

Je suis ici! ( I am here)

So, after a very long...trip I have made it to Pau, France. The woman hosting my stay in Pau is beyond friendly. I have a nice little room with a large window, a desk, and place to put my clothes. The end of the trip, from the airport to the train station, and then the train to Pau was a little stressful, but all and all everything went as planned. A few things I learned:

• Make sure you REALLY know what your luggage looks like at baggage claim, otherwise you will be sitting there as your blood pressure rises, thinking they've lost your luggage. But then you will see that one of the last two bags is really yours, but what you thought to be an all black bag was really a dark grey bag, even though it has the big red tag on it, that you swore you would recognize.
• If you meet someone nice on the train.( I  met a nice man from Romania, working on his residency in France to become a doctor.) When you want to give him a pen to wright down his contact information, don't by chance hand him the ballpoint ink pen that happened to explode under the pressure of the air plane. Otherwise you and the guy will both have black ink all over your hands, and the pen wont even work anyhow. Luckily someone was prepared (not me) he had plenty of kleenex.

I apparently am staying within walking distance of campus. Today, if it doesn't rain, Madame Alcoz will show me how to get there. Orientation is tomorrow, Monday, and then I will start learning more about the program and Pau. Luckily I understand a fair amount, but am still working on the reply. It will all come in good time. I will post pictures later. The train ride was beautiful even though it got dark by the time I got to Pau. I got to watch the sun set just to the west of the Pyrenees mountains ( I saw too Pyrenees dogs on the way), but unfortunately didn't get to take pictures. It would have been a little tricky on the train anyhow.
I hope Texas finally got some rain. It is about 15C or about 59 degrees F. Not too bad.

Pau, France

Here is a map of where I will be so that you have some idea with the location of Pau to Paris. It is located in the southwestern part of the country and about 1hr from the coast! As you will see there are almost borders that look like states. These are regions and not states, often referred as "Pays". We translate this as country but it refers to which region of France you would be from if  you were born their. It is typical that each region may be known for specific things, such as wine or a type of cuisine.