Bonjour à tous! Nothing too special today, just class. But I have lots of pictures of our beautiful University of Toulouse II - Le Mirail! Just so you can get an idea of my daily routine. Very different than Dartmouth, but a good experience I think =]

The library, which I visited for the first time today

Our building (aka "The Bunker")

La classe

Mirail Art - Les Peintures Murales

(Manatee-Cyclops??)

L'arche du Mirail

The Arche of General Welcome

The ATM

Metro Art

The Metro

And that's my school for the next 8 weeks! Tomorrow, we leave for Marseille, which should be a great time. Ciao!

Hey all, sorry it's been so long. It's hard to post up here when there's so much going on! Today however, I've done almost nothing because I have the 24 hour stomach flu :(. I missed my two Wednesday classes, History of France (which we didn't have last week) and History of Art (Impressionism). My other classes are History of Art (Medieval Sculpture), Intro to French Literature, and Advanced Speaking and Writing. I enjoy all of my classes so far, but most of them are two hours long. We are also located in one of the most depressing buildings on an already outdated campus. We are students at The University of Toulouse II - Le Mirail, which specializes in the Humanities. I will take a picture tomorrow of our building, which feels more like a trailer or a bunker than a building of classrooms. However, the teachers are good and very patient with our French skills. Also, we have Fridays off! Three day weekends every week mean time to travel and explore the city.

Noah at Amorino: delicious hot chocolate, weird angel pics

The Capitol Square at night

I have been eating fabulously and learning a lot about food. I have now tried such delicacies as veal with white mushroom sauce, filet mignon of pork with spinach and then in spaghetti, blood sausage (didn't know until after I had eaten it...), pommes de noisettes (made from potatoes, I'll post a pic), scalloped turkey, gratin, and all different kinds of breads, cheeses, pastries, and hot chocolates! I am convinced that everything is just better in France. Luckily I bought some running shoes, so hopefully I won't gain too too much weight! 

So much cheese!

Scalloped turkey, salad with homemade dressing, and a gratin (fancy mac and cheese)

Le Kiri, my favorite cheese (for kids, of course)

This weekend, most of the students are taking an extra-curricular excursion to Marseille, the third largest city in France and its biggest port. Many pictures and stories to come! 

Mme Carel's apartment is close to the beautiful Cathèdrale St. Étienne and three beautiful gardens connected by bridges that cross over the street. I went running in the gardens and took some interesting photos.

 Casual Peacocks!

La Place Dupuy

Last weekend I went out on the town Thursday-Saturday, and I have decided that Toulouse is the real city that never sleeps (except during the day). Drinks are pretty expensive, but it's surprisingly easy to meet friendly people who are happy to chat and buy you drinks. 

My French mother, Mme Carel, is currently in the hospital because she has had some water in her lungs. She is doing better and should be back soon, but in the meantime her extremely genial son, Julian, has been taking care of me. I have eaten twice at his beautiful home now with his wife, Caroline, and his two sons Antoine (6) and Louis (2.5). As my brother Mark would say, "they're so French!"

More posts to come (and sooner than next week!)

A bientôt!

It is my first full day in France and I know I have jet lag because I have been awake since 7am! My host, Mme Carel, is wonderful. She's friendly, patient with my French, and a great cook. I arrived yesterday at about 4:30 after 17 hours of travel, including a 4 hour layover in Madrid. Speaking a little Spanish there boosted my confidence that I might be able to survive having to speak French. It's so interesting to be in a place where you have no idea what language you're going to hear next. Madame Carel and her son, Julien, picked me up at the airport and brought me to Mme Carel's apartment. She lives on the sixth floor of a humble but very pleasant building southwest of the city center.

At 3 pm today, I met up with most of the other LSA+ students to get some coffee and explore the town a little bit. We went to a fancy café where I got some delicious viennese hot chocolate with whipped creme and then walked around. In the square outside the café, there was a jazz/folk band playing for a crowd of dancing people. They looked like they were having a great time, and I wanted to join in but didn't know the dance. We students spoke about half English and half French, but starting tomorrow it's gonna be all French (or it's supposed to be...) We meandered to the Garonne, the river that cuts through Toulouse and walked along Pont Neuf (the bridge) and the banks of the Garonne. Eventually we made our way back to le Capitole and said "à demain." Tomorrow we have orientation for our classes.

Tonight for dinner, Mme Carel prepared a feast. We had carrot soup, duck with mushroom sauce, eggplant casserole, mashed potatoes, and fruit cake for dessert. Also after lunch I had the most wonderful yogurt, called "laitière." I have a feeling I won't need to worry about losing any weight while I'm here. After dinner I watched some French tv with madame, which I didn't understand as well as I would like. I hope that by the end of my trip, I'll be fluent enough to watch the news and understand everything that's going on. I'm excited for tomorrow, when the program really starts. Right now, however, I need to sleep. Bonne nuit et  toute à l'heure!