Just Call Me Heidi

Heather. It seems like an easy enough name in English. It rhymes with many things: weather, feather, leather. But unfortunately for me, it is incredibly difficult for the French to pronounce. One reason is because they don't pronounce H's at the beginning of words and the second reason is that they don't have words with the "th" sound in them. So far I've gotten Ezzer, Heda, Edder, Eezer, and finally Heidi. My French family finally decided within the past few days that they were just going to call me Heidi since it's 1) easier for them to pronounce and 2) it's a Polish name and they're apparently part Polish. So from now on in my house, my name is Heidi (but without pronouncing the H).

It seems like the time is flying by here, which is good because it means we're busy and that I'm very much enjoying the experience, but it is also unfortunate because I don't want this semester to be over. Of course I miss my family and my friends at Furman, but I'd be perfectly fine if they could all just move over here with me.

Within the past week we have been to Paris twice, Chartres once, had a wine tasting, and learned about French geography, theatre, and grammar. Last week on our free Friday afternoon a group of the students went into Paris to visit Cimitière Père-Lachaise where Gertrude Stein, Jim Morrison, Édith Piaf, and Oscar Wilde are buried. It was a very beautiful and peaceful cemetery. After that we did a little shopping in the biggest and most crowded department store ever and took the train back to Versailles. Saturday was our day trip to Chartres, an exquisite cathedral with amazing stained glass windows. We had a tour in French of the cathedral, and although I had already seen it in high school, it was wonderful getting to see it again. After lunch we had another tour that was only focused on the stained glass, which was fortunately in English. It was fascinating hearing about the stories the windows tell, plus the tour guide was amazing. He had even been to Furman! Plus he had a British accent. Precious.

Sunday was the first sunny day we had in a while. It was in the mid 60s and really nice outside so I decided to go on a run that was off my normal path. I decided to run around the château and ended up getting super turned around and lost. My 30 minute run turned into an hour trek around Versailles trying to find the right street because every avenue and boulevard looks the same. I was exhausted and starving (but when am I not hungry?). Luckily we had a lunch planned and it was buffet style. Oh yes. We had salad, tomatoes and mozzarella, roast beef, sausage, ceviche, cheese, fish, pork, mystery meat, and plenty of desserts. Good thing I had to run for like an hour that morning. Anyway, the mystery meat turned out to be tête de veau...I had no idea what this was so I ate it. It ended up not being favorite and no one could really tell me what it was. So yesterday during our conversation group I asked Madame Chauchat what it was. It turns out it was the intestines/head of a baby calf. Yikes. Thankfully after that we had a wine tasting where we tasted nine different wines: four white, four red, and one that was aged since 1998 and was super sweet. I liked most of them and was able to learn a lot about wine. We had to spit out the wine between bottles or else we probably wouldn't have been able to walk afterward. Such a waste of good wine.

Our second week of classes started on Monday at 8:30am and it was rough, but knowing that I'm in France made waking up early a little better. This coming weekend we stay in Versailles again and tour the château and the gardens. We had the opportunity to this when I came with Mr. Johnson in high school and I'm really looking forward to seeing everything again (especially the gardens because they make me think of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire during their final task). 

"Wine is the most healthful and most hygienic of beverages."

-Louis Pasteur

Excuse My French but I'm in France

Well I have been in France now for a week and it has become significantly less frightening, although I still get super nervous speaking French to my family (even though I shouldn't because they're very helpful).

I can't believe all that we've done in one short week. Last Thursday we went to Paris for 4 nights and did more walking than I've done in my whole life combined and saw some incredible places and monuments, did some shopping (unfortunate for Joseph since he's the only guy on the trip), and ate some amazing food (who knew foie gras sauce could be so amazing??). However, I am very happy to be back in Versailles with my French family. I am not so happy about having to start classes, but our professors seem really interesting and are kind enough to speak slowly!

Today was a really busy and exciting day because after our civilization class we had lunch at the house of one of our professor's, Madame Chauchat. She is actually from America but married a French man and has lived here ever since (my dream...). We then went to la maison de parfums and got to smell a TON of French perfume, which  kind of gave me a headache but also made me want to buy some perfume called "La petite robe noire" or little black dress in English. Honestly, what girl doesn't want perfume called little black dress? After that we went to a restaurant called Monument Cafe and tried almost all of the desserts France is known for including les macarons, les choquettes, les petites madeleines, les beignets, and a lot of French candy. This was seriously any girl's perfect afternoon and I loved it.

Unfortunately and fortunately (but mostly fortunately) all of the food here is amazing and I eat all of it all of the time, which means I have to do some sort of physical activity. Today's physical activity including going for my first run in Versailles and it just happened to be next to a field of sheep and goats. I almost felt like I was back in Kentucky. Then I got home and my little French brother, Stan, gave me a cookie so that kind of canceled out my run, but at least I tried.

So far my time in France has been so amazing and I couldn't have asked for a better trip. I'm sure it will continue to get better!

"Voice mon secret. Il est très simple: on ne voit bien qu'avec le couer. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yuex."
-Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Le Petit Prince

Bonjour, Versailles!

Oh. Mon. Dieu. I arrived in Paris yesterday around 10:30 am French time after getting about 2 hours of restless sleep on the plane and I honestly still can't believe that I'm sitting in my French family's home. I feel like I should still be freaking out about packing, bringing too much stuff (which I did) and what my family is going to be like (they're AWESOME by the way). 

After arriving at the airport we traveled straight to Versailles to meet our families. Needless to say most of us were freaking out the entire bus ride, but for me at least, there was absolutely no reason to worry. My French mom, Brigitte, and one of her SEVEN children, Aponine, met me at the bus and quickly took me back to their house so we could eat a delicious lunch of lapin et champignons (rabbit and mushrooms) before Brigitte took her youngest son, Stanley, to school. The rest of the afternoon was spent talking to other members of the family and being led around Versailles by Margeurite (another one of Brigitte's daughters) and her friends. I pretty much just listened to them speak incredibly fast French most of the time with Margeurite taking short breaks to translate a few things for me. 

I can't really describe how amazing it feels to be here and I don't even know why I was worried at all about coming. Versailles is so beautiful, the food is amazing, and my host family is so incredibly nice and welcoming. I don't think I could have asked for a better family for me. I wish I could spend more time with them before we go into Paris for the orientation, but really I'm pretty excited about seeing Paris again! 

(P.S. Surprisingly, I have not taken any pictures yet so I'll definitely be getting on that so I can post some on here!)