ça fait environ un peu plus que une semaine

since I've returned. (It's been about a little more than a week). I was supposed to leave the 20th and come back the same day. However, with all the dodgy weathe

r that Europe was experiencing combined how ill-prepared they are to deal with such circumstances (no snow plows for example), I didn't leave til 6 hours after my flight was originally planned. I had two connecting flights which I obviously missed. When I arrived in Newark that night, I was told I basically had to spend the night there but I had a direct flight in the morning to Grand Rapids. So I rechecked my checked luggage and basically jumped into this white van with tinted windows which dropped me off at the Hotel. True Story, plus ou moins (more or less). But before I get into more detail about leaving France, let me highlight all the important points since my last entry...

On the Tuesday before my last weekend in Angers, the 7^th of December, I had crêpes with Laura and some other friends, since she was leaving to go home that Friday. It was very enjoyable and I miss Laura so much already. We have skyped though since then, but only via IM. The next day I got a hair

cut which I very much enjoyed. It was not what I had wanted originally but I loved it and I continue to enjoy it haha. I had coffee later on with Melissa and Casey and we discussed many things, such as leaving Angers and Marcel the Shell. J The next day, Thursday, was the Soirée International. I believe I mentioned one at the end of September. I did not participate in this one due to mostly time constraints. But I enjoyed watching it very much and I had the urge to go to Japan next fall after watching the Japanese students present their beautiful country with a slideshow, music and dance. Afterwards, some of us went to Soft, including Matt Joss (yes, another Matt). Matt went to GV last year actually, so it was great to see a familiar face when first arrived in Angers. I had barely seen him though, so it was nice to hang out with him, if only once, before I left. Matt Cullen, Katie B., Dave Joyce, Jenna, Betsy, Julien Petit, Élise, Annie and some others. It was loads of fun. Definitely a week to remember.

And then, my last weekend in Angers was definitely what I had planned it to be: memorable.

The friday of that weekend, I hung out with Matt Cullen and some of my Erasmus friends, many of them I met that night; Kirstin, Sophie, Dave, Jill, Cathy, Laura, Julian and others. These folks are from Ireland, Scotland, England, Germany...it was lovely. We first hung out at Sophie's then headed to the bus that would take us to Dome, a discothèque in Angers. Or maybe it was on the outskirts of Angers, seeing how we had to take a bus to get there...hmmm...Either way, it was definitely worth the bus ride. Fridays were free for everyone in december so we just had to pay for the bus ride there and back, the coat check, and any drinks at the club. We had a great time

dancing and enjo

ying ourselves. I actually saw this one guy there who I had met near the beginning of my stay in Angers and only saw him once before. Ifelt things were coming in full circle. We took the last bus to Angers which was fairly late/pretty early and enjoyed a great sleep.

The next day, I had lunch at McDonalds with Marcela, Matt H., Tatis, and Katie I think. Very French of us lol. We then were walkin around and checked out the Marché de Noel (Christmas Market) in Angers. We met up

with Katia and Gaby and hung out with them for a bit and we got some café except for Katie and Tatis who wanted to check out the market some more.

We got some café that was comme-ci comme ça and after we went to the supermarché (supermarket) I decided to head back to chez moi (my place). In a little bit, I went to my friend Elise’s place and met some friends and

met some others. A little before midnight, we decided to go to the discothèque, DO-RE-MI. After we got there (by bus as well), we ran into Matt, Marce, Gaby and Katia as well. We had a great time. I think I might have enjoyed Dome better but

it was still fun none the less. I got home later that night (or the next day rather), than the night before-Marce and I watched the night turn into day together! We were so tired but stopped at the bakery on the way home. Like I said…a very much memorable last weekend in Angers.

After some papers and tests the next week, Katie and I had pizza at this pizza restaurant on Rue Bressigny, a street my friends and I often visited. It was very excellent and we talked about our friends, from back home and the ones here. We shared stories and it was an excellent bonding time. We stopped at Benji before heading home. We had to

get up early the next day because we were going to Lyon the next day with about 20 other students! Some of my Erasmus friends, like Dave, Meike, Charlotte, Kathy and Laura, as well as Matt C. and Jessica were going. Victoria also came. This weekend in Lyon was the Festival of Lights so it was an especially good time to go.

The train left at about 7 in the morning so needless to say I woke up pretty early. The group often did things together but we also had time to do things in smaller groups. I often hung out with Matt, Jess, Maelle, and Katie.

At about 8 we all split up again and we had some dinner. Where at? At a pizza place of course. Chez Maria or Mario (we couldn’t agree on what the restaurant was called). It seemed a bit dodgy at first but it was fine. We eventually met up with Guillaume, my Lyonnais friend I hadn’t seen in 2 ½ years! It was so great to see him. I met his girlfriend, Marion and we also met Matt’s friend, Mia and her friend Katie. Guillaume and Marion brought us to this park where they had parts of it on fire-part of the theme of this year’s Fête des Lumières (Festival of the lights). It was really neat. We hung out for a few hours before it was getting late and Marion had a concert to practice for the next day. I wish we could’ve hung out more but I’m sure I would have felt that way if we had hung out the entire weekend. It was really neat to hang out with them and I’m sure I’ll see them another day soon. There were talks about them coming to the U.S. sometime this summer so….on verra J

We left for the hotel (we had to take a bus to get there-not sure why there seems to be a bus theme appearing all of a sudden) at about 1 a.m. and I shared a room with Dave. After having some initial difficulty getting the door open, we barely spoke before we collapsed on our beds. We were carrying our bags all day long which turned out to be quite tiring, especially when we walked up this enormous hill to be on top of Lyon. Quite the exercise.

The next day, we looked around the town, stopped at the marché de Noel (the one in Lyon) and stopped at this miniature museum. Pretty neat stuff. Many miniatures from movies, especially set equipment and props from Das Parfum – Die Geschichte eines Mörders, a german film apparently. After this, we headed back with everyone else to la gare (the train station) and headed back. But we just made the train actually. We were runni

ng throug

h the crowds running from one car of the train to the other, not sure which one was the one we were supposed to enter. We made it just in time though. J

The week followed was my last in Angers. I was done with all my finals on Tuesday. Tuesday night, I had my last dinner with my AFIA family (a family who we see a few times and spend time with) and Pauline, another student, from Poland, who had the same AFIA family as I. It was very nice but I felt pretty somber when I left. This was the first time I was getting sad about leaving Angers. I mean, I knew it would be sad and I would miss it. But this was the first time when it started to show.

Afterwards, I went to Mardi Café of course and hung out with the usual crowd. The next day, Katie and I went to the château d’Angers (the Castle of Angers) and it was pretty nice. It was pretty chilly but I really enjoyed the castle. Beautiful views from atop it and the tapestries inside were pretty riveting. Loved it.

That night was the last-minute-prepared last Beer Pong tournament for us. David Hayes and I were TBA (that was our team name…long story). It was one of many last great get-togethers. It was also Rémi’s last day in Angers because he was going to be leaving for St. Louis the next day to visit his fiancé. I left somewhat early that night, only to arrive at my home with the door double-locked! Double-locked in a way where my key wouldn’t work L Apparently, my host mother, Brigitte, thought I was home already. But c’est pas grave! I went to an after-party with des amis and I spent the night at Meike’s apartment. The next morning I was saying bye to Meike when I left her apartment which was hard. I somewhat rushed to the Catho to say bye to Matt Cullen, one of my best friends I made in France. After lunch, I said good-bye to Jessica, even though I said good-bye to her the night before at Beer-Pong. It was harder this time though.

At night, I hung out with Marcela, Matt H., Katie B., that crowd at Ambers.. Very fun indeed. There were a bunch of us. Later on, we went to k’lypso and it was a blast. A very fun and memorable last-get-together. The next day was my last day of classes but we mostly just watched stuff about Noel (Christmas) and ate food and talked.

Good times. I said my many good-byes to Keisuke of course and took a few more pictures with him. Later on, I grabbed my bag from Amber’s and said bye. I kept thinking that these were ‘the last times’ I was going to do these things. Kind of déjà-vu from when I left home to come to France…

Later on, I went to Soft an

d hung out with Dave Joyce and Jenna. It was pretty good but I was not feeling too well. I eventually went to K’lypso and said bye to everyone there. I said my final good- byes to everyone there who I knew, which was pretty much everyone. Hamadi, the owner announced my parting to everyone as I headed to the doors and everyone wished me farewell haha. It was very nice. Before I actually left Rue Bressigny though, I got a couple pictures with

Hamadi. What a great guy.

The next morning, Brigitte dropped me off at the train station and I met up with Katie. Katie and I were spending the next couple days in

Paris before our flights left on Monday. Marcela came to tell us good-bye as well as Tatis, Daniela, Alexa and Majo. When we finally left, Majo and Tatis were pretty upset and so was Katie. Thisdid not help my situation of course. Eventually the train took off, and we knew that we would see them someday again.

We arrived in Paris alright, after some difficulty with my luggage mdr. After we checked into our hotel, we had dinner at a pretty nice restaurant. Paris was pretty rainy/snowy. I was fortunate enough to have brought my hood. Katie, however, was considerably soaked. Afterwards, we looked around for stores but many of them were

closed. We stopped at a grocery/convenience store and bought some conditioner. We got back to the hotel, Katie made some tea for us, and we fell asleep watching this odd, British fim, with Bill Nighy. It would have been nice if he was in the movie! Just kiddddding J

The next day, on Sunday, we wanted to climb the

Eiffel Tower but it was closed because of the snow. “Too dangerous” apparently. So we went to the Arc de triomphe, but that was closed as well. This did not help Katie’s theory that we were going to be stuck in Paris forever and never able to go home. Afterwards some shopping which was quite fun, we stopped by Napoleon’s tomb and museum and then to the Louvre. It was pretty neat, and we saw the Mona Lisa along with other neat paintings and sculptures. I would have enjoyed it more if we weren’t walking all day though haha. It was still pretty neat. I just think it would have been better if we had more days in Paris. But we worked with what we had and it was pretty neat. We stopped at a starbucks and

the way out and I tried to get ahold of the other Vincent Panozzo. The one who lives in Paris. I wanted to meet up

with him and meet this man but it just did not work out. Maybe the next time I go to Paris?

We had our Last Supper at a quaint little restaurant where the table next to us kept glancing over which

made me laugh and made Katie a little irritated. But it was all good fun in the end. We thoroughly enjoyed our dessert and headed back to the hotel. After Katie made some tea, we watched Love Actually while we packed our bags.

After some intial confusion and frustration in the morning with the hotel, Katie and I got to the terminal where I had to be. Eventually, Katie left me so she could get to her terminal and we said our good-byes. It was really nice to spend the last few nights in France with such a great friend.

I eventually got in the line with my bags so I could get them checked-in, along with myself. I was very delighted to see that my flight was on time. My passport got checked and was fine. I was not sure about my bags because my host family’s scale was broken. Luckily, everything was below the limit and I was clear. I eventually was in the waiting area, somewhat sweating (since I did not know how much weight I was carrying in my bags, I was wearing 4 shirts, a light-weight jacket, my winter jacket and two pairs of pants. I am a very serious packer.

I found Sergio, a fellow student at la Catho, and found out that his flight to Newark was cancelled. “That sucks” I said. “I’m going to Newark too but mine is the 10:05 one”. “Yeah…that’s mine too.” Surprise, surprise. Apparently, it was going to be about noon when we left. No big deal I suppose. The snow in Paris was too much for the plane to land so it was waiting in Amsterdam. When Noon came around, we were informed that our flight would be arriving at 1:15 but with refueling the plane and all the maintenance, we would not be able to board until 2:45. Yet, when 2:45 rolled around, we were not boarding Yet, when 2:45 rolled around, we were not boarding yet. When we finally were boarding the plane, when I got random checked by TSA. This actually did not bother me. I was actually relieved that they checked me, and not the stereotypical Arab, Mexican or other minority. Being the skinny, light-brown haired, blue-eyed white boy, I was the definition of the average, safe A

merican. (Boy, did I fool them! ;) Just kidding again folks J). And the TSA officer somewhat joked around with all the junk in my trunk. And by that I mean all the stuff in my bag. I eventually packed it all up and found my seat on the plane. We eventually left about 4:00 p.m. 6 hours after I was supposed to leave. Needless to say, I missed my connecting flight to Cleveland, OH, and I was on my way on missing my connecting flight to Grand Rapids, MI.

*Side note- I met some people who were sharing the same flight as I was (some American, some French), and it was great meeting and conversing with them (in English and French). So I suppose there was some light in this dark waiting.*

The flight to Newark was not too bad. It was awfully long, and I do dispise long flights. I get awfully bored and antsy, especially with no iPod to keep me company. The movies and TV shows being shown were being repeated which is quite the drag on a 9 hour flight. We eventually landed with our filled-out custom forms and we were in the good ol’ U.S.A.

I did not expect this kind of reverse-culture-shock. I guess I was not sure what to expect exactly. But I did not recognize America. First thing I noticed-why on earth do our security personal, foremost of all, at airplanes, which transports people from all cultures, only speak English? A lot of the people going through customs could not speak English, or if they could, it was very limited. The security personal seemed to have very little patience for the non-english speaking travelers, which is understandable. However, it should be more than expected that working at an airport would require working with people who speak a variety of tongues. When I arrived at the Customer Service line, which was relatively short when I arrived thank Goodness, I found out that there was no flight to Grand Rapids that night. I could either have a direct flight to Grand Rapids the next morning at 7, or wait til the afternoon for a connecting flight to Cleveland, then to Grand Rapids. I took the former.

There were a number of shuttle vans to take from the airport to a variety of hotels. First, I wanted dinner

however. I received two meal vouchers from Continental due to the flight delays. First, I thought that my first meal back would be McDonald’s but it turned out to be Subway (very good decision on my part I’d say). I used one of the meal vouchers entirely on that and saved the other one for the morning (which I eventually forgot about). I took the “Air Train” or whatever it was called to the point where the shuttle vans take you to to your desired hotel. I jumped into a white van with tinted windows and spent the night at Best Western, Robert Treat Hotel. Not too shabby. I should mention the second thing that really took me by surprise about the states. Highways. I do not understand why they are so large and long. Granted, at this point, I was sleep deprived, jet-lagged, somewhat upset, tired and just wanted to be home. Shortly after I got in my room, I skyped with the parents, then my sister, and fell asleep around 11:30 or so, woke up at 5:30 I think and then took the van shuttle back to the airport. I got to Grand Rapids around 9 and saw my Mom as I walked down the ramp; I was so incredibly happy to see her. Very glad that she was the first person I saw when I arrived in Grand Rapids and that she was the one who picked me up.

So I’ve been home for about 9 days now. Hung out with Kendall and Stephanie quite a bit since I’ve been back.

Hung out with Lauren a little who has been so nice and considerate through my entired French journey, including the effects of reverse-culture-shock. La letter était très gentille et je l’apprécie tellement. I hung out with Anthony a few times. However, I’ve facebooked chatted and skype –chatted with many of my friends I made in France and….la France me manqué beaucoup. Mais, as Gandalf once said, “One Stage in your journey is over, Another Begins.” I’ve ended my contract with Verizon and began one with Credo. The New Year is coming in approximately 27 hours. And I am looking forward to going back to GVSU and getting back to activism, and moving into a house in Grand Rapids. My Christmas was wonderful and it was nice to see all my extended family and especially wonderful to have all seven (plus Jezebel!) of us home for Christmas, if even only for some of the day.

This is an especially long blog post but seeing how it is my last, I think that justifies it. I appreciate all the prayers, thoughts and positive energy that has been sent my way and it means a lot to me. Thank you for reading and I highly recommend you study abroad or at least visit a differently in your life. It really opens your eyes and brings a whole new perspective to your life. It changes you for the better. As I have said many times, it is definitely one of the best decisions I have made in my life. Thanks again for reading and who knows? Maybe I’ll start a blog one day about my adventures in Japan ;)

Much Peace et Love, Namaste, Bisous,

Vince

Plus que un mois plus tard....

So it's been a bit more than a month since I last blogged (the gist of what the title says). At first, I was going to apologize for not letting you know what was going on. And then I realised that I have no reason to apologize. I have been living my life here in France and if you wanted to know what was going on, you could've e-mailed me, facebooked me, called me, skyped me or even written me a letter. I am sorry if that came off as a bit harsh-but it's really not. It's just the truth baby, just the truth.

I have been writing in my journal quite a bit. A lot of stuff has been going on lately, so I try to write as much as I can. I only write in french in my journal and I feel like my "expression écrite" has definitely "améliorait" (improved). I actually find it sometimes easier to write and type in french, than english. Which is definitely a sign of improvement.

Shortly after my last post, there was Halloween. Two of my really really really really good, great amazing friends, Marcela and Katie, went to Bordeaux for the extended weekend (November 1 is Toussainte (all saints day)). They invited me to come but I decided to stay in Angers. I kno

w some friends were gonna stay here and it'd be cheaper. So why not? Well....my halloween could have gone better. I mean, don't get me wrong. Halloweek was one hell of a week. Case in point~look at my facebook pictures. But the thursday of Halloweek I lost my iPod. And for whatever reason, I wasn't too worried about it. But then that Saturday (the night before actual Halloween), I lost my phone and my new camera I had just purchased. Not too cool. It could have been a lot worse though. My phone was completely out of credit (it was a pre-paid phone) and the camera I lost was smaller and not as nice as my other camera I brought. So I would have been devastated if I lost that one. Needless to say, I've had nicer Halloweens. But I did go to my first hockey game and had a blast and I was so happy that my British friend, Jenny, was back. It was an interesting time but all in all, looking back, it was quite a wonderful week :)

A couple weeks later, Matt Cullen, Jessica Ludwig and I went on another trip. We had a fall break in the middle of november (the anniversary of the end of World War I), so we decided to head to Bruxelles and Amsterdam! We took the train from Angers to Paris and spent our first night in Paris. This was pretty fun. Our hostel was relatively close to the Moulin Rouge, so we walked that strip which was neat haha. We left somewhat early for Bruxelles the next day. We took the bus from Paris to Bruxelles I believe. And shortly after we arrived in Bruxelles, I had an unexplicable attraction towards the city. I immediately fell in love with it. The hostel we stayed in was pretty nice too. We had lunch a little after we checked into the hostel and eventually met up with Katie, Becky, Melissa and Annie, who were staying in Bruxelles for their entire weekend. We had dinner at a restaurant that apparently it didn't have a name. We decided that it was such a great restaurant that it didn't need a name. People were lucky enough if they found it. Afterwards, we went to this jazz club/bar that was pretty nifty. Keep in mind that it was raining during a lot of this looking and walking. This didn't dampen my spirits one bit though. That's how strong my love for Bruxelles was.

So yes....we arrived at this 1930s jazz bar. To enter, you ring this bell and the door creaks open. Pretty bad-ass. We came in and each had a drink of some sort. The music was really classy (ya know, jazz-like and all) and we found out that it didn't close til like 5 or 7. A.m this was of course. So if we didn't find anything else that we fancied, we could always come back. However, everyone else wanted to go back to the hostel. So I ventured out into Bruxelles by myself. I had a map. And my umbrella. And my camera. That was pretty much it. And the best thing about this was, I felt completely comfortable and safe in this city. I think one of the reasons why I loved Bruxelles so much was because the people there speak SO many different languages. The two official languages are French and Dutch. But many people there speak Russian, Spanish, English, Arabic, German...it's magnificent. Being the capital of Europe, you would imagine that it would be quite the melting pot. But I found it pretty neat that 46% or something of the percent has foreign roots. I love that.

So yes...I ventured out on the streets of Bruxelles by myself. I'm pretty sure my parents would be thinking (more like saying out loud), "What are you thinking Vincent!?". But it was bliss. I loved it. I found a few bars and finally stayed at one where I met quite a few belges (Belgians). I finally left around 3 or 3:30 I think and went back to the hostel where I wanted to tell Matt and Jessica all about my night. But needless to say, they preferred to go back to sleep so I very easily fell asleep, on the top bunk, et je dormait comme un bébé (and slept like a baby) :)

The next day, after having pizza for lunch (we are committed to having pizza in every country we visit) and visiting the Palais de Justice we took the train to go to Amsterdam. We arrived in the evening and after a little bit of trouble, we found our hostel. After dropping off our bags and checking in, we had dinner I believe at a pretty nice restaurant and got some sort of pasta deal (of course :)). Shortly thereafter, we arrived in a café and hung out there for a bit. We eventually went to this Sports Bar/Restaurant. It was pretty fun. After some time, we ventured out into the Red Light District. What a scene this was. Pretty much being the most liberal country in Europe, we should not have been too surprised with the women in their offices/rooms dressed rather...hmmm...almost naked...giving you winks and blowing kisses towards you. It was a bit much though and somewhat bizarre. It didn't help that I barely got much sleep the night before and we were all not entirely sober. Going to a club was tempting but eventually we just went back to the hostel.

The next day, waking up in the afternoon to recover from the day before and to catch up on my sleep, we went to the Heineken museum, which was pretty interesting actually. We met some people from Chicago and had a pretty nice chat. After we were done with the Heineken museum, we went out once again and ventured out in the town. We did stop by the VanGogh musum but it was closed :/ We got some dinner and checked out some shops. We went back to that same sports bar/restaurant and after, we went to the clubs. I didn't necessarily think the club that Matt and Jessica were going into was as fun as one I could find haha. I did find a few that were pretty neat. English is widely spoken in Amsterdam even though their official language is Dutch. I eventually left the bars about 3 and headed back towards the hostel.

Matt and Jessica however, had to stay at their club til 5 when it closed because they lost their coat check numbers. I don't exactly remember what happened but I know that things got complicated because we only had one key haha. It was nice when we all fell asleep finally haha.

The next morning, we woke up later than expected and had to somewhat hurry to catch our bus that was going from Amsterdam to Paris. A 7 hour bus ride. It was sort of tough but we did get a break which was nice. The bus did make a stop at Bruxelles which was nice. I can't wait to go back there :)

We took the train shortly after we arrived in Paris, to get to Angers. It was quite the adventure. I enjoyed the trip for shure, but I think I enjoyed Bruxelles more. Kind of funny since it was just kind of a pit stop. Grand times :)

The week after was Thanksgiving! I had Thanksgiving dinner at Becky's house and she was there along with Melissa, Jaimee, Laura, Annie, Megan, Aurélian, Matt Cullen, and Anne. We had Turkey, stuffing, green beans, wine, cranberry sauce...all the Thanksgiving essentials. It was so great. A wonderful Thanksgiving. I eventually skyped with my family and my Mom met all of these wonderful friends haha. She even invited them to come to our house next year for Thanksgiving! ~ But we might need another table Mom!

Later that night, around 11 or so, I met up with Erica, Marsela, Matt Hutton and Erica's brother, Wes. Erica's family was visiting her for Thanksgiving week! We went to Le Bar Soleil, which was pretty amazingly fun. Lots of people, lots of fun music, and cheap drinks. Good times. We got

invited to this one guy's afterparty but he apparently disapparated, so we just went back to Erica and Wes's hotel, except for Marsela who went home. We just hung out and chat about the most random stuff that you only talk about when you've had a few drinks. Matt and I left around 5 I believe. This entire Thanksgiving day and night was pretty fun. Good times.

The entire week was pretty fun actually. It was really fun hanging out with Erica and Wes. We hung out pretty much every night and every night was worth it. So much fun. The Saturday after Thanksgiving, I had another Thanksgiving dinner/birthday celebration for Majo. At Amber's apartment, I enjoyed another Thanksgiving with Marsela, Matt Hutton, Yuriko, Majo, Amber, Natalia, Jocelyn, Cyril, Aurélian Beuzon, Bastien, and Erik. A lot of us (6 or 8 of us), shopped for all the Thanksgiving food and I still had some uncooked Green beans from the first Thanksgiving. We brought everything back, cooked it and had a grand time. We sang for Majo's birthday and presented her cake. She was turning "14" (actually 19 but it's a long story and an inside joke). Eventually, I left with Cyril and Jocelyn to go to a concert at James Joyce. But it was going to be delayed by an 1 1/2 hours so I walked back to Amber's apartment and hung out

there til we all left together. It was quite a night and quite a week.

It's funny that both major Holidays that I spend in France both have really good high points and some not so great points. Memorable times for shure. And now, a week after Thanksgiving, I am presented with mounds and mounds of french homework and studying to do, especially for next week. I have about 5 tests and a paper due, which all mean more meaningful since I'm leaving in Décembre-the trimester actually ends in January but some students (mostly American) are not coming back in Janvier. Donc, we're taking our finals in décembre. However, I had a wonderful night last night at K'lypso, watching my favorite Bartender and great friend, Rémi, performing his wonderful songs and covers. We danced and listened to everything from Irish songs to Rihanna, Pink Floyd to French. He is a very talented man and a wonderful friend.

This weekend coming up is my last one in Angers. Sure to be memorable. The one after that, I'm going to Lyon, to see the Festival of Lights and to see my friend Guillaume! Whom I have not seen in 2 1/2 years! Sure to be great~can't wait! J'ai hâte! The weekend after that I leave for Paris with Marcela, Katie Bayne, Victoria, and maybe Matt H., for our last weekend in France until Christmas. We're going shopping for gifts that still have to be purchased, doing what we do and going out later to celebrate Victoria's birthday. We're also going to hit up some museums, that we still have to see before we leave. Then we all leave Monday but on different flights.

I'm not sure if I'll write another blog until I come home. But I've skype with Kevin and Dad yesterday, Mom yesterday, Kate late last night, Jeff today and Lauren tonight. And I even facebooked chatted with Alexandra for the first time since I've been here I think. I'm looking forward to seeing all my friends and family back home. I am. But I need to focus on the here and now and love every moment here in France until I leave because it's been one of the best choices I have ever made and I love it so much here. I'm going to spend my time studying and doing well in my classes of course, but also spending my time with the close friends I have made here. I have made so many and I am so completely thankful for each and every one of them.

I am going to sign off now and do some homework and probably walk with a friend in a bit. Thanks for reading chaps - you've been great :)

Bisous,

Vince

Finishing Rome et le basic run-down of what has been going on since then

D'accord....so first of all, sorry it has been so long since my last blog. I started one on October 8, but then had to rush off being the usual busy self that I am. However, I am determined to finish this one tonight!

First, I'll try to finish my Rome story as fast, though as thorough as I can, so as to not bore you to death.....So Matt, Jessica and I met Jimmy and his roommate, who were a fun crowd. We looked around the Paris nightlife for a bit and saw the Tour Eiffel lit up in all its glory. We really wanted to get there before the lights shut off (at 1 a.m.) so we had to hurry. We were losing time so Laura, Annie and I were running towards the Tour Eiffel, while everyone else took their time. Mind you, I brought along a decent amount of snacks on this trip and had a good amount of candy 'bananes' (banana-flavored candy). So this, along with the fact that I hadn't ran in God knows how long, led to a cramp I got relatively early on in this run. Nevertheless, I carried on, knowing that it was absolutely necessary that I arrived at the tower on time.

And we did. We arrived there seconds before the lights started flashing for about 5 minutes or so. It was pretty glorious. We just stood there, arms around each other, in astounding awe of such a magnificent structure that held so much within it. So much history, beauty, architectural sense....it was truly magnificent. We got a few pictures with it while we were still under its mystical spell. We hung out around the tower for a while when everyone else arrived. We noticed some armed guards around the tower and I remembered that there were bomb threats made a couple weeks before so thought they were there for that....little did I know that there was a terrorist threat made in Paris earlier that day! Hmmm...weird!

When it got late enough (or early enough) we got on the bus to take us to Beauvais, where our airport was. To make a long story short, we got on the busy fine, got to the airport, our flight was delayed by like an hour I think, but we got on it being so sleep deprived we didn't care. We arrived in Rome at about 1:30 and checked into our hostel, Alessandro Downtown, earlier than expected. The hosts at the desks loved my last name!!!! After we had lunch across the street, we came back to our room and basically collapsed on our beds for a couple hours. We woke up on time though, for the Pasta Party; the owner's mother-in-law makes pasta every night for the guests! So we got our free plate of pasta and met quite a bit of the guests, and later on went out with them.

The next day, Matt, Jessica and I checked out the Colosseum. It really came out of nowhere. We were marveled by it. I actually got chills there and felt a peaceful feeling while walking through it. I know that sounds strange seeing how this is a place where people were brought to watch others die. But it was quite serene to be honest.

Afterwards, we had lunch at this restaurant not too far from the Colosseum and it was simply Heaven. Our pizzas were exquisite, the service was exceptional and a man playing an accordion stopped by to complete the cliché moment ;) And to top it off, we had a clear view of the Colosseum from our table. This was bliss.

Afterwards, we checked out the forum (with a free tour!) and such which was also really impressive and we were able to get on a terrace and have an awesome view of Rome. Then, we got back to the hostel for the pasta party again and met some new people. We eventually went out with them and got to this discothèque where it was mostly just us haha. But it was still loads of fun I thought.

The next day (our last full day in Rome :/), we visited the Vatican and saw the Tombs of the Popes, the Spanish Steps, many other places and of course the Sistine Chapel. We met Andrea, who was visiting Rome by herself, so she came with us during the day. I felt like we got so much done by seeing all these places! We saw some pretty devoted women kissing the tomb of John Paul II. Not really too shocking just sort of interesting. We found out that if one was to look at every picture for a minute at the Vatican 24/7, it would take 13 years! Personally, I don't think it's worth it, which is why I'll be home when planned haha. But we did see some amazing sculptures, paintings and other masterpieces in the Vatican, and especially the Sistine Chapel (where photos were strictly forbidden ;)). So glad we came.

The next day we made all the pasta that we bought the first day, because we hadn't had any of it yet. When we bought it, we figured we would eat some every day but we got full from the pasta party every night! haha. So we cooked all of it but could not finish all of it! So we covered it up and stuck it in the fridge in the community kitchen. I hope someone enjoyed it! While we waited for our bus to take us to the airport, we had some gellato :) So glad we got some before we left; definitely worth it.

We caught the plane back to Paris, had some dinner at a pretty cool restaurant (pizza encore bien sûr)) and spent the night there. After some sneaking around the hotel (since we only booked the room for two and not for three, since it'd be cheaper), we finally fell asleep. The next day, we picked up some lunch at the train station while we waited for our train to take us back to Angers. We brought our lunch outside and sat in the glistening sun. We saw a number of army-looking-men around the train station, no doubt due to the recent terriorist threats against Paris, and in France, England and Germany in general.

We arrived back in Angers around 8ish? I think. It started to rain slowly which was a sneak peek of the week to come. As much as I was already missing Rome, I was glad that we were back in Angers. Almost 3 weeks later, I have met tons of new students who came for the actual semester (October - January), and have loved it. After changing my classes because c'était trop facil, I love it.

Les Français have been striking (le grève) and protesting (les manifestations) the retirement reform bill that is looking like it's going to pass the Senate (they vote either today, tomorrow or Sunday on it). As much as I dislike all the trash lying around and the fact that my friends can't make their travels, I love that the French people are keeping their government in check. I truly admire the French for that, among many things :)

I'm not quite sure what I'm doing for halloween, but I am going to Bruxelles and Amsterdam in about 4 weeks, with Matt and Jessica. Very pumped :)

Well thanks for reading this longer than usual post and sorry it took me so long. I've been awfully busy as I'm sure you can imagine :) One last thing however! I bought a new camera today. I truly really like my Canon PowerShot, but it is somewhat burdensome to carry with me just to bars and such. So I got a smaller camera (et pas cher) to bring to places where I don't need all the wonderful features of my Canon, and where it's much more mobile :)

Merci encore et j'essaierai écrire pas trop bientôt mais pas trop tard aussi bien sûr :) Thanks again and I will try to write not too soon but not too late either of course :) I hope to write some of my postcards this weekend. And read maybe a chapter of my new book~Harry Potter et les Reliques de la Mort :)

à bientôt,

Vincent

Roma (et Paris!)!....mais seul le début

Bonsoir! J'ai eu un temps merveilleux à Roma! Mais aujourd'hui, je suis revenu à Angers.

Rome was amazing! I had an absolutely gorgeous time there. Matt, Jessica and I left the Soirée International last Tuesday night with another student, Annie, after M. Melin made some remarks. Luckily, Annie knew some short cuts and we got to the gare (train station) earlier than expected. And Matt, Jess and I really lucked out. Because at first, we were planning on just going to a bar and having a nuit blanche (all-nighter) since we really didn't want a pay for a place to stay since we had to be up at 5 a.m. anyways to catch the bus. We didn't really mind staying up all night but we were not really sure what we were going to do with our bags. But it turned out that Annie and another student, Laura, was going to stay in a hotel in Paris with Laura's mother, who works for an airline. And Laura's mom said it was fine if we put our stuff in their room! :) Laura's mom was concerned about us not catching much sleep (if any at all) and said that if we wanted to, we could sleep on the floor in her room (the hotel was nice but the room was a bit small). We thanked her but decided that a nuit blanche was probably the best way to go in our current situation.

So after we put our stuff in and thanked Laura's Mom again, the 5 of us went out and looked for Laura's friend Jimmy, who was supposed to be in the area. After a while, Laura eventually found him and he was with the girl he was sharing his room with in the hostel they were staying at. So that was neat to meet them.

I hate to say it but I should end this post now. Sorry how you only got a short whiff of my vacation but I'll definitely finish the rest of it as soon as I can haha. I have to wake up in a little more than 7 hours for my first day of my actual trimester at l'UCO. Should be fun~sure to meet lots of new people and learn a lot! I'll try to blog again soon!

Bonne nuit!

Vince :)

Je vais à Roma!

Bonjour Folks!

You read that right. I am going to Rome! The plan is to take the train from Angers to Paris, have une nuit blanche in the City of Light, take the metro from Paris to Beauvais and fly from Beauvais to Rome. Lickety-split, just like that! Here's hoping that it all goes well!

To continue from my last blog, last weekend we went to Golfe du Morbihan, Alignements de Carnac and the city of Vannes. Shortly after the 2 hour bus ride (which I slept the entire way because of the prior night's activities ;)), we arrived at a docking station of sorts and took a boat ride across the Golfe (Morbihan means "little sea"). It was pretty neat but pretty chilly at 9:30 in the morning. Some friends and I were some of the last ones who stayed on top of the boat and viewed the scenary while everyone else was inside, where it was much warmer. We eventually ventured inside however and went out once in a while.

When we reached the other side of the Golfe, we had our pique-nique on the beach and took a walk along the coast, where we found a number of interesting seashells. Shortly after lunch we headed on the bus again and headed towards the Alignements de Carnac.

The Alignements de Carnac is a site where a number of large rocks and stones are situated, most of them in continuous straight lines, spanning over 4 kilometers. As England has Stonehenge, France has the Alignements de Carnac. With around 4,000 stones, it is a pretty impressive sight, especially given the fact that they have been there for roughly 5,000 years, give or take a couple thousand. I took a fair amount of pictures, but you (and my camera) will be happy to know that I did not take a picture of every stone :)

After leaving Carnac, we visited Vannes, the last stop before heading home. After stopping for a crêpe first, we visited the gardens. They were pretty astonishing and even found a soon-to-be-married couple in the gardens as well! Following the gardens, we visited the Cathédrale St-Pierre, where the couple were getting pictures taken outside. We had enough time to look around but no more than that since that's where the wedding was taking place! The Cathédrale was no doubt interesting, but I think I found the Church of St. Vincent at Mont St. Michel more interesting. Even though the Cathédrale St-Pierre had the corpse of some important man (whose name I completely forgot) in one room. But now that I look at the picture I took (Yes, of course I took a picture), the "corpse" might have been wax. Either way, it was simultaneously creepy and intriguing. A few bishops, along with St. Vincent Ferrier, are buried in the Cathédrale. After passing the groom on the way out, we tried finding a way to walk along the wall that partly enclosed the heart of the city (similar to the city of St. Malo that we v

isited a couple weeks ago), but we could not find it. We walked looked at some shops on the way out; I tried on a couple leather jackets but none fit me to the point where I liked it enough and where the price was reasonable. We got back around 8 and I had a quiet Saturday night in my room where I throughly enjoyed some me-time :)

And today, I had one class and am done now with the September Intensive month! When I come back from Rome, I'll decide the classes I'll be taking from October to December. Today also marks a month that I have been in France! It has certainly gone by quickly~I hope the other 3 don't go by as fast! Either way, I know I will enjoy myself every day that I'm here. After dinner, I'm going to the Soirée International for a bit before I head to the train station with two friends that I'm traveling with, Matt and Jessica. Each country is being represented with some sort of presentation (skit, song, powerpoint, etc.) from the students who are attending CIDEF. The Americans are doing a skit concerning the Revolutionary War~it is sure to be fun :)

Well, I should probably start packing for Rome. Keep it classy Friends and Family~I'll try to write soon :)

A plus tard!

Vince

Dinner in Caves, Châteaux and that Feeling of Never Wanting to Let Go

Bonjour! It has been 10 days since my last post. I feel as though this will be a long post seeing how I have not updated for more than a week and I have to include 2 weekends of excursion-activity. However, I have to leave for lunch in less than an hour so let's see how much I can get done :)

A week ago from this past Friday, I went to L'Anjou Troglodytique. It was pretty neat! The other students and I visited these cave dwellings where people had lived their lives. Reminded me of the The Shire from Lord of the Rings. And this was just a hundred or two hundred years ago so not too long ago. And they were able to survive and have enjoyable lives by living in a cave! Sort of makes me realize how much we take for granted and how much we think we need certain things in our life but maybe it's better if we just head back to nature to get what we truly need.

Afterwards, we went to this wine factory that processed all this wine and saw these caves where probably thousands of bottled wine were stored. It was pretty intense. We had a wine tasting and were able to purchase bottles of the wine if we wanted to. It was quite an enjoyable time.

Next, we went to le château de Saumu. It was truly magnifique! We only visited the grounds and the outside of the castle but it was amazing! Honestly. In some of the pictures that I posted on Facebook, it looks like the people were photoshopped in! But believe me, we were there. We tasted some of the berries that were grown on the grounds and they were quite délicieux. The scenery was breathtaking and I felt like I was at Hogwarts. I certainly did not want to leave.

But we did leave and our last stop was Dinner....in a cave. It was pretty neat. A few of us had to duck to get in the entrance which isn't something I think most people are accustomed to when entering a restaurant. We had many courses, with most of them containing a different kind of mushroom. And I loved it :) Each table had two bottles of wine (which were replaced with more bottles when they were emptied) and I think everyone had quite the enjoyable time.

After dinner we headed back on le car to get back to Angers. Once arriving back at le Catho, a fair amount of us went to K'Lypso had finished the night off with wonderful dancing, great company and memorable times.

The next day, after I dealt with some school stuff at chez moi, I went shopping with Alina, Phillip and Shelly. After we got ice cream, we went to H&M and I got a pair of chassures (shoes) for 10£! I also got an interesting light mint green shirt, a blue and gray horizontal striped shirt (which I am currently wearing), a purple belt and a gray v-neck, very comfortable, long-sleeve shirt. Everyone had to go home but I first made a stop at la galerie de David d'Angers, a famous French sculpter. It was really neat. Pictures still have be posted on facebook but I assure you they will be posted soon. Lots of history was shown and it was great to see the pieces of art that displayed it.

On Sunday, we went to the Châteaux de la Loire. We visited three and they were all superb. But I think my favorite was le Château de Chenonceaux. There was this winding staircase that brought you to different levels of the castle and you could easily get lost on each level. Learned a lot of history and was exposed to how much the French cared about their art and how well they took care of it. For example, during World War II (I believe), at the first sign of danger, the Mona Lisa was moved, for risk that it would be destroyed by the Axis.

This past week has been filled with tests and quizzes which I am glad is done. Yesterday we went to the last excursion of the month, Golfe du Morbihan, Alignements de Carnac. There are a few more excursions throughout the year but most of them are repeats of what we've done this month so for many of us it was our last one. However, I should get going to lunch soon so I think I'll save my telling of my last excursion for later on today or another day soon. So keep an eye open for them.

Thanks for reading and remember~Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be (Abe Lincoln). Bonne journée! :)

Alors on Danse

I have been here for 2 weeks and 2 days. Wait...seriously? Because it feels like I have been friends with these people for years, at least months. It's funny what being thrown into a foreign country with a bunch of other, different people in the same situation will do to ya.

I feel like a lot has happened since my last post. Let's see...

Well, for starters, last weekend was definitely epic. And I mean epic at it's most truest, non-overused state. Such as: "Surpassing the usual or ordinary, particularly in scope or size" (from freedictionary.com by the way). It definitely 'surpassed the usual or ordinary'.

This past Friday, I went on my first excursion from l'Catho with a bunch of of other CIDEF students. This was the Puy du Fou. It was absolutely spectacular! A history tale taught with hundreds of players, wonderful acts with lights and water and of course that medieval Lord-of-the-Rings-like music that was especially beautiful. We got back to the university a bit later than expected (about 2 a.m.) because of the traffic leaving Puy du Fou. However, the bus ride was quite fun playing "2 lies and a truth" so early in the morning :)

The next day, two friends (Matt and Keisuke) and I tried to find the city library which took a little while. We eventually just studied at the school. After a bit, I went back to chez moi (my house) had dinner and dealt with whatnot. Around 9 or so, I headed into town and met up with Adam and some other students who were going to this music festival that was happening in Angers that weekend. This too was most extraordinary. It took a little while to get into it, but eventually we made ourselves up to the front of the crowd and we were dancing our souls away to this wicked kind of music. It's really hard to describe...it was sort of a rock/string/soul-like/tribal genre. Like I said...hard to describe. But it was moving. We met some Parisians who were also in the front and made great acquittances.

We couldn't stay up too late (even though we did) because we had to be at the university at 7:45 to leave for Mont. St. Michel and St. Malo. I did not receive much sleep the night before, but I made up for it on the 3 hour bus ride. St. Michel was absolutely wonderful. The scenery was gorgeous and the gothic architecture was superb. Not to make another Lord of the Rings reference, but it sort of reminded me of Minas Tirith. Even though Minas Tirith is not on an island (unlike St. Michel), it still has that similar kind of layout. It was neat to go through all the rooms and think of all the history that had happened there for hundreds and hundreds of years. St. Malo was also memorable. This walled city had a more modern architecture but still contained lots of history. There was a pool right by the sea which seemed kind of silly. But the water was dazzling (just like at Mont. St. Michel's) and the view was so serene. I loved that day. After we walked a good portion of the wall, some friends and I went to the Bar de Soleil (Sun Bar) and got a drink. We were so at peace and so happy. It was truly bliss. We went to the Church of St. Vincent afterwards, where Jacoves Cartier is rested. We walked around a lot and got some food at the local stand.

Something pretty interesting that happened though, was that when we were approaching more the beach area, there were lots of people laying out and swimming. I thought that was cool that people were laying out right by the wall, where on the other side, people were driving around, doing their daily routine. So I took a picture. Harmless enough right? Well a few moments later, one of my friends said, "I don't think that woman...oh wait...that's a man. I thought...wait...that woman doesn't have a shirt on!" And sure enough, she did not. Us Americans were not used to this kind of freedom being expressed. Needless to say, that picture is not going on Facebook ;)

While last Sunday was probably the best day I've had, last night was probably the best evening I've had since I've arrived in France. Another soirée was happening at a local bar, where the theme was "Chic et Choc", where we were supposed to dress up with something stylish and classy but also wear a garment that completely clashed with it. Such as, a girl wore a very nice dark dress, with a showercap. I, not sure how long I wanted to stay since I was getting over a cold, wore my orange and yellow striped shirt with my pink tie. However, my friend had brought a leather jacket and some aviators. I never had a leather jacket and thought, why not try it on? So I put on the jacket (she's a decent size smaller than me so it was sort of a tight fit) and the aviators and I felt completely chic. After a bit we went over to my favorite bar thus far, L' Calypso, and had a wonderful time dancing for hours. I did not take off the jacket once that night and I yet have to give it back to her. After last night, we decided that I definitely need a leather jacket (Perhaps a faux one though?).

Tomorrow I only have a half day and am going to another excursion, L'Anjou Troglodytique, which is some sort of cave dwelling I believe. On Saturday, I'm going to the château in Angers, going shopping, and going to study. On Sunday, I'm going to wide range of châteaux in the area, s so I'm sure I will enjoy myself. I'm charging my batteries (for my camera) as I type.

Today, however was somewhat strange. I think my sickness is contributing somewhat to it. But I felt like I was battling some inner demons today. But after some quiet thinking and searching for the source, I believe I became victorious. My bed is welcoming me with open arms and I am looking forward to going to sleep very much tonight :)

Thanks for reading this longer-than-usual post. Look for the pics on facebook (well most of them ;)) and I hope you have a wonderful day. Remember: you're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think (Christopher Robin).

Bonne nuit!

Vince