Yoohoo I'm Home!

Wednesday, June 23rd

Yoohoo I am home! (I thought that was necessary because every time my dad comes home from work that is what he says coming through the door). So a month's worth of yoohoos because I am in back in the States!

Wednesday morning a taxi came to pick us up. It was time to head to the airport our journey was over and we were heading home. Now it got there a little bit earlier than expected because since the pope was coming into town most of the roads were blocked off. Hopefully I packed everything because we were scrambling fast to get out of there! Once we made it to the airport it was pretty easy! The only thing is that for some reason I was thinking that my red clown nose luggage would not be 50 pounds. Wrong. So I did a little unpacking right in the middle of the airport. I had no choice!

Luckily on our 10 hour trip to Chicago Taylor and I had the whole row to ourselves. Our middle seat friend did not show up and this time instead of playing some movie about the Adventures of a Fox they played Invictus. So we could not complain! The only other hiccup on our trip home was that it was raining in Chicago. So our plane was delayed an hour and 1/2 and when we finally made it to Dallas our luggage was on the wrong plane. But we did not care, we were just happy to be home!

My European Adventure was wonderful. I saw great places and met great people. They will be memories that I will always cherish.

I was thinking I was going to have jet lag the rest of the summer...(I am not sure how happy my mom and dad would be about that, oh well)!

Au Revoir, sadly for the last time.

I Added a Minor!

Monday, June 21st- Tuesday, June 22nd

So I have decided to pick up another minor. Along with my business and political science minor I have decided to add Roman History to the list. Sorry mom and dad I am staying a little bit longer in the good ol' state of Oklahoma! As soon as I stepped foot off the train in the Rome Train Station and spotted the McDonald's I knew I was going to love this city! Rolling our luggage across the town trying to find our hostel for the last time was a little nostalgic. Wait, who am I kidding no it was not. But it was sad to think that Rome was our last stop before heading back home. Now we had done great this whole trip without losing or forgetting anything. But can a trip really go that smooth? NO WAY! I do not care who you are something small or large will usually always get forgotten! So in this case it was not just a book or a jacket, it was a passport. Yes, Kelly Bass left her passport in Florence. Sorry Mrs. Bass your daughter may not be coming home as planned after all! Thank goodness we had to show our passports before checking into our hostel because it would have been a different story if she showed up at the airport without it. But luckily the people at our hostel were so great and helped.

They told us to go to TNT. Which essentially is where they send someone to go get whatever you left behind. For all we know this guy could have picked up Kelly's passport and started selling it on the black market. Sounds a little sketchy sending someone to fetch your things, but oh well we had no choice. So we went to this place and what do you know they do not speak English, only Italian. We tried to communicate and were like She. Left. Her. Passport. In. Florence. The guy says, "Oh in Australia?" Hmm Australia, Florence, yeah I can see how those two are similar. So we had to resort back to or hostel and they helped us, or Kelly, every step of the way. It looks like she would be able to go home after all, or hopefully! The passport was supposed to arrive the next afternoon, one day before our flight leaves to go home. Keep your fingers crossed!..

After the morning adventure it was time to eat. Now I ate the best pizza I have ever had in my life right across the street from our hostel called Yellow! MMM mmm mmm! It was delicious! With our bellies happy we decided with only two days in Rome and so much to see it was time to get after it! We went on a walking tour. Now this was the best decision we made the whole trip and probably why I enjoyed Rome so much.

Our hostel advertised this walking tour called Roming Rome. It was for about 4 hours and it would take you to the Colloseum, the Pantheon, Jewish Ghetto, Circus Maximus, Palantine Hill, etc. If we had visited each of these sights by ourselves we would have done what I would call the ooo-ahh walk. We would have seen the building ooed and ahhed and then gone to the next. We would have missed out on all the fun facts or history that we got to hear! We got to hear the history of everything! I mean I have so much information about Rome in my head right now that my brain does not know how to organize it! I was just eating it up wanting more and more and more! Did you know that the Pantheon still today, no one knows how it was built? I think that is pretty crazy! Or that the Emperor Nero (he was a crazy man) built this huge mansion and inside his mansion he had this lake. And what do you need in a lake a boat. And how did he pull this boat, with 1000 swans? Yes pretty crazy! I think what made this walking tour so great though was that our guide was young. He studied Roman History and college and moved to Rome only 4 years ago. Now I am not sure what you are suppose to do with a major in Roman History, but I guess that is why he is here, right?

The next day we were loving the walking tours so much that well we decided to go on another. This time to the Vatican! Now unfortunately for us we missed the pope by one day. He was coming to Rome on Wednesday and that was the day we were leaving to go home! How neat would it have been to see him! Oh well.

But we got to see the Vatican, St. Peter's Basilica (which is the biggest Christian church in the world), and the Sistine Chapel. You are not allowed to take pictures in the Sistine Chapel but no worries Taylor snuck a few! In the Vatican Museum there are a lot of rooms such as a candelabra room and a map room. In the map room, or the Gallery of Maps, there were these huge painted maps along the walls of the regions of Italy, which were painted in the 1580s. In 2004 the maps were tested to see how accurate they were. They were 94% accurate and Venice was 99% accurate. How crazy is that! Also in the Vatican they have Nero's bathtub that is made of the most pristine marble. So on these two walking tours that we took our guides also took us to the restaurants were the locals eat. You know I love feeling like a local! So on our Vatican tour we went to the best sandwich shop I had ever been to! Better than Which Which, better than Quizno's! See we were getting all the perks. If you can not tell I loved the walking tours! If you plan on going to Rome that is definitely the way to see the town. I swear you will go away wanting to add a minor too!

Oh and if you were worried, Kelly's passport came and she made it home safe and sound just as planned! Well, except her luggage getting lost, but that is nothing compared to the passport!

Our European Adventure was finally over and it was a bittersweet feeling.

Leather, Leather, Leather!

Saturday, June 19th- Sunday, June 20th

The next stop on the last leg of our journey to Italy was to Florence. We left bright and early and headed there Saturday morning. Man, I am starting to be a morning person! When we got there it was time for the game, "Where is our hostel?" I think that on all the roads I have had to roll my clown nose luggage down Florence was definitely the most difficult. I have to admit that I evenhave calluses on my hands now from my dang luggage! (Okay last time I complain about luggage I swear, well maybe). Once we found our hostel, which was cute, we decided to go explore Florence a little. We first had to make a little pit stop at the Gelateria of course, and then headed to the Dumo! It was beautiful and huge! After the dumo we walked around. What’s new! The buildings, architecture, and even streets over in Europe are just beautiful. Every building is detailed with perfection. It is nothing like you would see in the United States that is for sure.

Sunday morning we got up early ready to beat those Uffizi Museum lines! And I would say we did do a pretty good job of it. We had to wait only what maybe an hour? I am telling you those lines get long. But the museum was great! We saw some Michelangelo, a little bit of Rembrandt, and Caravaggio. I am feeling very cultured being over here in Europe! Fun fact of the day. Did you know that the Uffizi Museum holds 6000 paintings but only 2000 of them are open to the public. Crazy huh! Also (you art buffs may know this) but the reason the paintings are all so dark in the 1600s is because there was so much fighting in Europe during that time. (I learned that bit of information from listening in to a tour of the museum). So after our museum tour we went to eat lunch at a cute little café in the middle of the town square. Now luckily we were under a huge umbrella because not long after sitting it began to rain, no no down pour. The square cleaned out fast! But the funny thing about the rain in Italy while we were there is that one-minute it would be raining and the next well the sun would be shining again. So luckily it did not stay! After lunch we were off to the leather markets! Leather leather leather, everywhere! It was so much fun! I even got my mammaw some purple leather gloves. She is just going to be the talk of her Sunday school class!

Now please do not judge us for what we did next. It once again started raining. So because we did not want to walk around in the chilly rain we decided to go get some of our new favorite snack pesto and bread from the grocery store and call it a day. We had to rest up for Rome in the morning!


Au Revoir!

Cinque-Terre!

Wednesday, June 16th- Friday, June 18th

So it is the final leg of my European Adventure. I can not believe that I will be home in 3 days!


Our Italy adventure began on Wednesday evening. The first stop Cinque-Terre! I had heard so many great things about this place that I could hardly wait! We took four trains to get there, one of which was a night train. Now I do not really know what I was thinking this night train would be like, but I certainly was not thinking it was going to be like the 2 X 4 we were in.

On a side note let me first explain to you what our luggage situation was. My luggage that I brought over to Europe was a bright red suitcase that is two times the the normal luggage size along with my Vera. Starting at the Vichy train stations people would just gawk at us, or me, with our luggage. Somehow nice people would always help me up and down the stairs at the different train stations. (Kelly and Taylor would get a little irritated. But it was not my fault people felt more sorry for me!)

So trying to fit my luggage and Kelly and Taylor's in our jail cell was a puzzle. And the best part was there were three other people with us! So it was a 2 X 4 with bunk beds of three on top of each other. Thank goodness for this poor guy we were with who finally after so many attempts got our luggage situated. So the beds, well they were just concrete. The cell, it had no air conditioning. We eventually opened the window but in the middle of the night I was so cold I could hardly stand it. So the night train I guess you can tell, was a success.

After finally arrving in Cinque-Terre we had to take a small train up to our village. We stayed in Riomaggoire, which we absolutely loved! But see these five villages in Cinque-Terre are tucked inside a cliff. So yes that means hiking. So here I was with my big red luggage and my Vera having to hike up this steep slope trying to find our hostel, where ever that was suppose to be. Listen to me, this slope was not some little hill. This thing was almost vertical! It was like we were the parade going down the center of the one street town, with people just staring and giggling to themselves. I am sure they were thinking why in the world would people bring that much stuff! And my big red suit case was the clown nose. So once we found where our hostel office was located we had to track back down to our actual room which was closer to the bottom of the slope. Now here go the stairs. There were 79. Now do not go thinking oh 79 stairs no problem. Because they were not no problem! They were some that were so steep and then there were some that were thin. Then getting up to our room it was this tiny narrow staircase that my suitcase barely even fit through. Needless to say we were sweating by the end of our slope hiking, stair climbing adventure just to our room. The man who was showing us where it was like oh girls please do not be mad at me you will have fun with his little Italian accent. We were like we are not mad we are just tired! He was nice and made us laugh. But hey, just making memories!

Once we actually made it to our room it was great. I felt like I was a real Italian in my little room. At night we even heard our neighbors yelling Italian at each other, how cute. Now once again it was suppose to rain. (Oh and to add to our morning fun it rained while we were lugging our suitcases up and down the slope and stairs). So we were excited that the sun decided to come out! We first went to hike up our town and look out at the view! Breathtaking! Then we decided to take a dip in the Mediterannean! The walk from where we were staying to the beach was only about 1 minute. It was more of huge rocks piled up out into the sea actually. But we decided to go venture out onto the rocks and layout. This has to be one of the greatest days in my whole European adventure. We swam, ate gelatto, rocked climbed, and just played in the sun all afternoon!

Unfortunately the next day since it had rained in the evening the hiking trails were closed. So we took a train throughout the day to each individual village and walked around. I loved them all! Each village was a little different but they were all so neat. I do have to admit that I had the best lasagna I have ever had in my life when we were in the village of Levanto! Sorry Stouffers you are now in second place. We need to get Guy up here for Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dines from the food channel that is for sure. I have to say that Cinque-Terre might be my favorite place I have been the whole trip. Now I know that I say everything is my favorite, but this time when I say it was my favorite I truly mean it.

Oh and the cherry to top of our trip to Cinque-Terre, was I got my first ticket. Yep all three of us got one. We were on our way home from our last village sitting on the train and the train "police" asked to check our tickets. Of course we had our tickets we just forgot to stamp them at the last village. Let me mention that not once on any of our trains up and down the villages had we ever seen someone checking tickets. He wrote the ticket and we had to pay five dollars. He pocketed the money, we are sure of it.

Aye Carumba!

Friday, June 11-Tuesday, June 15th

Sitting here on the train to Florence I am finally having time to tell you all about my trip to Barcelona! I am sorry for not updating my blog sooner but I have not had Internet access. As soon as we got back from Barcelona we caught a train to Italy the following night at 6. So, I have been a little busy. But here they are my adventures in Barcelona!

Let’s start at the very beginning. Yep bright and early at 7am because that is when our train was. We were at the train station at 6:45 ready for our 10-hour trip to Barcelona! We or (I) could not be more excited! Aye Carumba! We would be taking four different trains with one connection time being only 10 minutes to get to one train to the next. Hopefully we could do it! I am not going to lie we had gotten pretty good working our way through those train stations. You might say we have it down to an art. But unfortunately our train connecting to the other was late so we had negative 2 minutes to get to our next. Even if we had our running shoes on we still would not have made it. Oh well, it was not that big of deal because half of the group had the later train anyway which was just an hour after ours.

So 12 hours later we finally arrived in the great city of Barcelona! With bags and maps of course in hand we came out onto Las Ramblas and began walking up and down looking for our hostel. Las Ramblas is the happening street in Barcelona. They have it all. There are little stands all up and down it selling everything from birds in cages, to umbrellas, to flowers, to any souvenir you could image. There were also about 50 people spread out along the street dressed up in some eccentric costume with makeup painted all over their faces posing. You had Princess Fiona from Shrek, to Edward Scissor Hands, to even just blobs laying on the ground with scary masks on their faces that would jump out every once in a while at the people passing by.

After walking the street down and back we finally found our hostel. The first night we were staying at Kabul. We had heard that it was THE place to stay in Barcelona. So naturally, we needed to stay there even if they only had one opening for one night. We needed to experience all of Barcelona’s greatness, right? That was our thinking at least. It was located right in the heart of Las Ramblas. We stayed in a 24-person room. But do not worry this hostel was very safe and even had huge lockers to keep all our stuff in. Once we got settled in we were off to eat Tapas! We ended up eating at this small tapas restaurant on the side of Las Ramblas. I mean they probably ripped us off, okay they did, but hey we experienced the tapas!

The next morning we got up, packed up, and headed to hostel number 2. Along the way we spotted a Starbucks. Yes, real American coffee! The next three nights we were staying at Equity Point Centric. It was on a street right off Las Ramblas. We had a room all to ourselves this time! This place was great. It served us breakfast in the morning and even had a terrace overlooking the city on top. I would recommend it to anyone! After we got situated in our new room we were ready to hit the beach for a little fun in the sun!

So let me explain to you the beaches of Barcelona. In France they are fans of the Speedos but in Barcelona they are fans of apparently nothing. No shoes, no shirts, no bottoms. Mmhmm, that is right. They must be very comfortable in their skin…
Circled around us was nakedness. Everywhere! We or I was dying! Everywhere you looked there would be some guy just taking off his clothes and plopping down on his towel. But at least the sun sure felt good! It was suppose to rain the whole time we were in Barcelona, but luckily as it turned out it only rained the last day we were there. Thank you God! The sun was shining so bright but yet there was a little wind so you did not get hott. It was very nice, especially for those like me, who get too hott just laying in the blistering sun. After a while we went to go eat at a little beach side restaurant and once again I got a tuna fish sandwich. I do not know why I have been craving them so bad but for some reason while I have been in Europe I have been loving the tuna! This place was great! After our fun filled day in the sun we headed back to our hostel to shower and our plan was to find some place to watch the American soccer, or should I say futball, game.

On Sunday we decided to get an early start at being tourists. We got up early and headed to the Picasso Museum. Man that man painted a lot of pictures! I suppose this is silly of me but I did not know how fairly young he was. He just recently, like when my parent’s were children, passed away. But the museum was fascinating and he painted in all sorts of different styles ranging from cubism to his blue period to his rose period. It was located in the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona occupying five town houses. After visiting the museum we went to the famous Sagrada Famille! We of course had to walk a little while to get there and happened upon the Arc de Triumph. Now do you know what famous show was shot there! Sorry mom you probably will not guess it and I am only kidding about the famous part. But the Bachelorette! It was where Jillian Harris and Ed rode bikes in Spain, down the path in front of the Arc de Triumph! We were so excited we spotted the location!

So after our little detour at the Arc we made it to the famous cathedral. Wow! Is all I can say. This building is not only beautiful but mind boggling. How in the world could someone ever create such an astounding building! Sagrada Famille’s first stone was layed in 1882 and it is still being built. Antoni Gaudi’s unfinished masterpiece is one of Barcelona’s most popular tourist attractions. The expected completion date is 2031, but from an inside source apparently that is not very realistic. The building’s progress has been quicker over the years because more money is being funded and help from tourists like us who go visit it. We stayed walking around and listening to the audiotapes for 4 hours. We could not get enough! We also went to the very top of one of the towers and took the winding staircase down. What a view!

When our sightseeing was finished we headed back to the beach. We did not stay out there long before we began to get hungry and the sun was dulling. So we decided it was the perfect time to go eat! We walked along the beach and landed on one of the many restaurants. It was an outside restaurant that was right on the beach and had televisions. As we were finishing up our meal we noticed that people had brought blankets and began to sit on the beach facing the televisions. Along with the people on the beach there were people with German flags painted on their faces and wearing the German colors at the tables around us. We quickly realized that it was because the futball game against Germany and Australia was on tonight! So we decided to stay and watch. I guess we were going to be German fans for the night! It was so fun! We sat there along with all the others watching the game cheering for the Germans. I am coming home a futball fan. Go team Germany! I have to say that watching the game on the beach was my favorite thing we did in Barcelona. Let’s just say I am a local now.

On Monday we had so many things that we wanted to do but not enough time to do them all. Luckily the weather helped out our decision process. I really really wanted to take a bike tour around Spain but it was about 4 hours and right in the center of the day. We also wanted to go shopping and try to squeeze the beach in one last time. So since it was rainy outside it made our decision quite easy. No to the bike tour and beach, yes to the bus tour and shopping! But let me let you in on a little secret. Never take the bus tour. Now I have loved everything that I have done in Europe, but that dang bus tour is one thing that I will never do again. Maybe it is just because Barcelona does not have too many attractions? I do not know, but they took us all over that city being and to the right is the train station and to the left is the back of a church. Oh why thank you Mr. audio guide that is exactly what I wanted to see. Oh well you live and you learn right. So after our bus tour we did what every girl does best, shopped. The shopping was great in Barcelona! They had the cutest little shops right near our hostel and all around. And we even got to see a lady belly flop in the middle of the street! I have never seen a husband move so fast after dropping his 10 bags of souvenirs from Hard Rock. Only in Barcelona!

Now after shopping we did my second favorite thing! We went to a sushi conveyor belt buffet. Now I know you are thinking that sounds nasty because that is what I am thinkig as I am typing. But let me assure you this was not nasty and was so much fun! You sat at a table along side a conveyor belt that kept circulating sushi and you could pick what you wanted to eat. Sushi lovers, this and you would have been a match made in heaven. So after our fun with the sushi we went back to our hostel and were planning on doing something fun since it was our last night in Barcelona. But as soon as we sat down on our beds we passed out and were paralyzed because we were so tired.

After our long trip in Barcelona was over it was time to return for one last night in Vichy before going to Italy. The trains in Europe, I would say do a good job at being on time. Well the second to last train we were on was just taking its sweet time. When we pulled up to the train station we were late, real late, like 1 minute until the next train leaves late. So there we went. I hiked Vera up high and ran like there was somebody chasing after me. Now let me set the scene for you. This was unlike our run down the gravel road with just 2 people. We once again were traveling with about 17 people. So there were 17 young American kids running along with the rest of the train we were with! Apparently everyone was trying to make this train! Finally I got my Home Alone moment in the train station I had been waiting for! Leading the way I was dodging people here and there. We were going to make this train. I was determined. (I even thought about just dropping my bag and letting someone get it so I could be lighter on my toes). When we got to the officers checking passports they asked what nationality we were and we all just shouted AMERICAN! They laughed and waved us on, hurry hurry hurry, they said! Luckily we all had our running shoes, or flips flops on. But do not worry we all made the train along with everyone else. We were so out of breath and laughing so hard we could not even breathe. It was our last hoorah! The perfect ending for our last train ride together as a group.

Au Revoir!

I am a Lucky Girl

Sunday, June 16th

As I was riding back on the train from Barcelona I could not help but think how lucky I am. I have been given the opportunity of a lifetime to see the world, something that I have always dreamt about. This past weekend I went to the great city of Barcelona. From visiting the mouth dropping Sagrada Familla to watching the World Cup on the beach, it was nothing short of a fun weekend! So as promised I have stories, adventures, and of course pictures to share...tomorrow. I am too tired tonight and have too much to do before we catch our next train tomorrow evening to Italy! Yes that is right we are taking a red-eye. Goodnight from my last night in the Viche!



Au Revoir!

Barcelona Here We Come!

Packed Bag. Check! Ticket. Check! Ready to go check! We are off! Okay maybe in 30 minutes..

but I promise to take lost of pictures and when I get home and tell you about all my stories and adventures!

Well I better go, because I do not want to miss my train! (And do not worry I am not going to get lost this time.)

Au Revoir, or should I say Adios!

A Wine Connoisseur

Monday, June 7th- Thursday, June 10th


So this week we started our management classes and it is just not quite the same as having marketing with Tony. Our professor's name is Geoff Heels and he is a full time teacher here in Vichy at the school where we are taking classes. He is from England and I think that I could say 5 sentences before he even says 1. The good thing is that we only had class with him on Monday and Tuesday, but the bad thing is that it was from 9-5. Instead of lecturing all day we instead played a game. Now do not get too excited, it is not like we played twister or high-ho cheerios, we played a management simulation game. We were broken up in groups and were in charge of a company. A chocolate candy bar company to be exact! There were six companies, company A-F. Taylor, Kelly, and I were lucky letter B! There were 15 periods through out the two days that we played. We had around an hour, modestly to make our decisions and turn our decision sheet into Geoff. Each person in the group had a task, whether it was boss, advertising, sales, finances, you name it we had it. My lovely job was advertising and sales. It was our job as a group to manage the company. How many products do we want to allocate to each machine in the next period? Do we need to increase advertising or increase sales people to get demand up? What about our costs? Should we buy a new machine to increase production, but wait that costs $20, 000? Do we have enough money? We need to increase demand, how should we do it? We also need to pay back our loans. Every question, and there were hundreds, needed an answer. Throughout the first day we remained in first place. But I guess it depends what first place is. We remained in first place with the most amount of profit. By the end of the game we got in third place. It was just because of the last situation he threw at us and we did not raise our prices high enough! Oh well. After two full days of this management game I am just glad that I am not management major...It is just not my cup of tea.

On Wednesday we continued our management class except with a different teacher. Her name was Christel Astier and she just got back from living in Dubai for 16 years. She is now teaching at the big University in Claremont. Let's just say that I like the way she talks much better. She would lecture and then we would do little class activities in groups. But at 3 on Wednesday our day was cut short because it was time to head to a winery! We felt like little kids going to recess in elementary school!

When we got there we walked around a little bit and then went down stairs to learn a little bit more about St. Pourcain. After the short video explaining the wine process and getting a translator to help us understand what was going on, we got to try some wine! (We really had no idea what the educational video in French was telling us. We were just loving the experience). We tried rose and gray wine. I bet you have never heard of gray before! Okay maybe you have, but I sure hadn't. I was feeling so sophisticated! I think I am going to become a wine connoisseur. Next stop, San Fran to see the vineyards in California! So even though our trip to the winery was short it still tasted pretty sweet! And do not worry I even bought a bottle of wine. Every year St. Pourcain has a contest and come out with a new fun bottle design. Our teacher said we should get one, so I did! I hope I do not get in trouble with customs on my way home... (: (only kidding mom and dad)

Thursday was the same old day, class, class class. I guess that is what I am here for though! At least it has been raining in Vichy this week and so we felt a little better about being stuck in a classroom and not enjoying the sun at the river.

Other than class we have been busy with homework! This weekend we have a long 5 day travel trip to Spain and our marketing and management projects are do on Wednesday. So, like studious students we have all decided to get it done this week. Look at us go parents!

Well I better go because I have to pack! I have a 7 am train to catch tomorrow to Spain!
Aye Carumba!!!!!!

Au Revoir!

Birthday Walking Extravaganza

Saturday, June 5th

Well I am no longer a teenager! See you later 13 and 14 year olds I am no longer in the boat with you. Hello 27, 28, and 29ers I have officially stepped into the twenties with you! How weird that time flies by so fast! I remember like it was just yesterday that I was celebrating my birthday with inner tubes and strawberries in between my two-a-days of gymnastics practices. But thanks to my great friends it is a birthday that I will never forget.

(I guess it did help that I was celebrating it in France, huh?) But my day started bright and early, okay maybe not too early more like 10, with a knock on my door. Guess who it was! The paparazzi. Just kidding it was only Taylor with her camera, but I can dream right? Kelly and Taylor greeted me with an assortment of pastries from the Boulangerie right across the street. They picked out the best, including of course, our favorite apple pastry! Mmm it is so good! I would bring one home as a treat, but I just do not think it would make the trip back. Not only did they get me pastries but they also gave me the cutest light purple watch from a store they got in Vichy. Look out, I am so French now! So my day started out with a bang! I got my favorite pastry, had the paparazzi snapping pictures of me, and even got some French jewelry.

We then got dressed and headed to the train station. I swear my day just isn't complete without going to that darn train station. This time it was for getting our Italy tickets. Kelly, Taylor, and I are planning on staying a few extra days in Italy when we are done with class in Vichy. So let's just say we have gotten pretty good at ticket talk. Arriver, partier, matin...we know all those words…

After our morning activities we rounded up our friends and decided to go rafting. What better way to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon?! We heard that there was this sports complex where you could rent rafts or tubes and float the river. We looked up the website and you even had to wear helmets. We have seen the river and we did not know how roaring those rapids looked but we thought hey let's give it a try. So off we went, on our hiking adventure. The plan was to catch a bus, which come just right in front of the train station right by where we live, to take us to the rafting place. Well after running back and forth across the street a couple times trying to figure out which bus to take, we finally got on one. The bus we decided to get on though did not drop us off on the front door step of the rafting place, it was more like a couple neighbors down. And when I say a couple neighbors down, I mean we must be really bad with directions and it was more like a mile. So away we went. We had to walk down this road and across the bridge to get to our destination. Well as it turned out this sports complex that was suppose to have the rafting did not have the rafting at the moment because it was shut down. So, we decided to resort to plan B, the public pool. We were so hott and so ready to get in some water that we did not really care where it was.

We do not even need Rick Steve anymore we have gotten so good at communicating with directions. So we asked the nice ladies at the reception desk if we could walk there. The giggled and laughed to themselves, and said sure. Pointed in the right direction we were ready for hiking adventure number two, except this one was more like hiking adventure number three for me because of my detour trying to get to Switzerland. The differences between this hiking adventure and my Switzerland one was that we were in a bigger group and I did not have Vera. But the gravel on the side of the highway type road was about the same. Away we went.

This journey was also a little longer than Switzerland being about two miles and hott. While walking we were not quite sure how this french public pool would be. Would it be a single circle? Would it be a square? Would it be like Hurricane Harbor? I think when we got to the public pool though we were all pleasantly surprised. I would compare it to the Aquatic Center in Coppell. It had a couple of slides, had a couple of different pools including an indoor and outdoor, and even had a nice locker room to put your stuff. Now we were impressed by the facilities but not by the men's choice in swimsuit attire...Yes that is right they did not believe in swimming shorts, only swimming speedos. But what can you do we were hott and ready to go swimming. So we put our stuff in our lockers, lathered up, and went to the pool! Wait where did the boys go? Oh that is right they got in trouble for wearing swim shorts so they had to buy speedos out of a vending machine. Yep, they sell swimsuits in a vending machine. It is is pretty safe to say we did not see them for a while. They slowing crept in, and stood out like caspers in a crowd. Not only were they white, but they also were matching. Funny funny funny. So after our relatively short time at the pool, all that walking took a little time away, we decided to treat ourselves to Mickey D's! What a great birthday dinner right? But let me tell you, it was the best birthday present ever that day. We have been missing American food so much and Mcdonalds hit the spot! So after eating hike number three, four for me, began. We had to hike all the way home...

When we got back to our humble abode we quickly showered and were off to the next adventure for the night! The horse races! Except this time instead of walking, we learned our lesson and took a taxi. The horse races were supposed to be a big deal because it was lady's night. I do not know entirely what they meant by that but we were ladies and decided to go. It was a neat experience. In America jockey's ride on the horses and in France they do not. The jockey's in France sit in this cart with two big wheels on it behind the horse. I am not quite sure if I would want to ride behind a horses butt, but whatever! There were eight races and in between the races there were fashion shows and at the end a French singer sang. So there was plenty entertainment, if only we knew what they were saying!


After the races when we got back Kelly and Taylor had one last surprise for me. They made me Flann for my birthday cake!
But not any Flann, Flann de Vichy Flann! The Flann company with poor Franc that we were trying to help. Let's just say their marketing strategy on this might be best not to have one at all. It was not the tastiest. So we threw it out the window and called it a night!


To sum it up, I got in some good exercise, ate a nutritious meal at Mcdonald's, hit the horse races, and maybe even got a little tan. How much better does it get!


Au Revoir!
(Your 20 year old friend/daughter/grand-daughter)

No Longer a Teen!

I will write more later about my birthday extravaganza! But here is just a little preview...

Thanks to my great friends, it is a birthday I will never forget! Consisting of a cute purple watch that I got from Kelly and Taylor, walking more like hiking all around Vichy, eating at McDonalds, to going to the horse races how much better can it get! Oh did I mention that we went to the public swimming pool and the boys got in trouble for wearing shorts and had to go buy speedos out of the vending machines...yes french men do not wear swimming shorts, only speedos..yikes!

Bon Appetite!

The first course...mmm duck liver.

The second course.

The third course.

And finally the last course.


Just eating like royalty!

Our New Friend Emmanuel

It Keeps Getting Better and Better!

Monday, May 31st- Friday, June 4th


Let's just say that I am living the life! What another eventful week it has been. From eating lunch at a chateau, to running along the river while the sun is setting, to eating a tuna fish sandwich in Charroux France, I have to say it has been my favorite week yet. I still can not believe that I am here in Vichy taking classes! My European Adventure keeps getting better and better!

Monday and Tuesday were just like any normal day. We wet to class from 9 to around 1ish, and then just piddle around the rest of the day. Some days we will go grab kebabs at our new favorite kebab restaurant, where yes we have frequent customer cards. Or other days we will just eat a sandwich in our rooms and go get pizza for dinner. You can tell we are doing some serious french fine dining. But how many pastries, cheese, and bread can you eat right? I must say that my favorite thing at the moment is to go running when the sun is setting along the river. Kelly, Taylor, and I have started doing this and it is the prettiest, calmest, and most relaxing thing. I absolutely love it. Watch out parks, I am coming home a runner. (Okay maybe I am getting a little ahead of myself). But the view while running is truly picturesque.

On Wednesday our day started out by taking a picture with the biggest tire in the world and it only got better from there. We started off by touring the Michelin Tire Museum in Clermont and learned about the history of how they got their start to becoming one of the biggest tire company's in the world. I was not aware of what a big deal Michelin was in France or in the city of Claremont anyway. They even own a rugby team, which just won some huge rugby tournament in France. It was a pretty big deal. I am such a fan of Michelin Tires now that I have decided (if I am not already) going to start using Michelin Tires from here on out.

So after we learned a little bit about Michelin Tires we were off to eat lunch with one of the ex-vice presidents of Michelin Tires at his Chateau. Oh I think I could get use to a life like this. Emmanuel, the ex-vp, worked with Michelin for over 20 years and just recently quit 4 years ago. He and his wife were looking for a new house or project to get their hands on and just happened to stumble upon this huge castle. So now they live there and have created a little business out of it where you can rent a room, throw a party, have a wedding, or really anything you want. (Mom, is this a hint? I think I have found where I wanted to get married. A castle!) This castle had it all including a mote, which sadly did not have water in it anymore. So here we were eating in the dining room. For those of you who have sensitive taste buds, well good luck.

Let me begin with the appetizers. There on a white dish set before us was duck liver, raw salmon, and some kind of pastry thing with stringy fish on top. I was not aware it was duck liver until after I put the first bite in my mouth. But I will not lie I did eat the salmon and the pastry, not the fish on top. Thank goodness I am not a picky eater. But the funny thing about this lunch was not necessary the food itself but the situation we were in. Here we were with this food in front of us that I can confidently say a majority of us were not keen on the idea of eating. But, yet we felt obligated to because they were french delicacies and not to mention the fact of who we were with.

There were three types of situations you could be in. One, sitting at the circular table with Emmanuel cringing every time you lifted that duck liver to your mouth to eat it. You could not be rude and let it just sit there, you were eating with an ex-vp of Michelin Tires for crying out loud. Two, you could be sitting with our teacher who was from France and would be teaching our business management class. So, you still needed to eat a little bit of the duck liver, maybe not the whole thing, but at least half. Or you could be in situation three where there were no teachers at your table and you were laughing hysterically, silently of course, at the faces that your class mates were making as that salmon, stringy fish, or duck liver came up to their mouth. Guess what situation I was in? Yep I lucked out, I was in situation three! Not that I would not have loved to sit with Emmanuel, I just would rather ask him questions later than have to eat duck liver with him. But as the courses progressed the food did get better. Our second course was veal and a baked potato which was in a special french mushroom. They then served us cheese and a tiny salad. And finally our dessert was a pastry. We then went out to the front where they served us coffee. I felt like such a royal guest! After we were done with lunch we toured the castle and learned the history of it. Needless to say that the lunch at the Chateau was one of my favorite experiences yet.

You can go to this website if you would like to look at the castle! http://www.chateaudesaintsaturnin.com

Thursday was just like another school day. We are continuing to learn about marketing in class and how we can help Capryl out. Oh poor Franc (the manager of the company), he and the company need so much help..That evening though was the highlight of the week because we decided to warm up our voices and go kareoking! It was so much fun. I guess I can check that off my bucket list now!


For some reason I believe that Friday has been one of my favorite days yet in France. I am not sure why, whether it was because it was the day before my birthday or simply because I got to eat a good ol' tuna fish sandwhich for lunch. But the sun was shining and it was a fun day! We started out by once again touring a company. We toured Naturopole which was a company that was dedicated to health and wellness. They made vitamins. I even got some sample antioxidant vitamins out of it! From touring Capryl to touring Naturopole, there was a pretty big difference. Next we went to the city of Charroux, France. It is the one of the most beautiful cities in France. But wait, haven't I heard this before? Why yes, that would because there are 150 most beautiful cities in France! You see apparently if your city has three specific things than it can be considered to be one of the most beautiful cities. But really the city of Charroux has been my favorite city so far. It was a medieval city so it still had the cobble roads and the watch bridges. All the little houses that were lined up next to each other would have different colored shutters, some may be light blue or others turquoise. For lunch we ate at this little cafe in english called, The Little Blue Cafe. It currently is my favorite place to eat beating out Anamias. Wow! (I am sure that will change though as soon as I go back home. But for the time being it is). It was owned by an English couple. It could be the fact that they spoke english or the fact that I was so hungry I could eat anything but something about this place just made me smile. I decided to go with an old fashioned tuna fish sandwich. It was the best tuna fish sandwich I have ever had, and that is saying a lot when your mom is expert chef/cook/baker/sandwich maker Gail Jones.

After lunch we wandered around sight seeing and of course taking pictures. We then went to a mustard factory, okay more like a small family owned mustard company where the shop was as big as my game room. But it has been in the family and they have been making mustard for more than 100 years. They make all kinds of mustard and each year create a new kind too. The mustard company is very well known in France. So duh, I had to get some! We tasted all sorts of mustard but I stuck with the original. (The original is not American yellow mustard). Start thinking now mom of some new recipes that you can incorporate french mustard with. That evening we ordered pizza and went down to the river. We talked and laughed as we ate our pizza starring at the starry Vichy night sky. It was a perfect way to end a busy week of school.

Au Revoir!

Pictures from the Alps