Parents and Paris

Yes this is out of order. Yes this is incredibly late and delayed. But it is finally here. 

So quite a few weeks ago now my parents came to visit! They arrived on a wednesday and were set to fly out the following monday! Well I was ready and waiting for them at the Train station in Caen, and when they walked  around the corner guess who they brought along to surprise me! Matthew!! Yayy big brother. I was so excited because of course I wanted him to come (Will too :( ...) but they did a good job hiding it from me so I never figured it out. They had just flown an overnight flight and were looking a bit on the exhausted side, so we dropped their bags off at my dorm room and headed to get lunch and espresso! Now even though I have been here for nearly 4 months, I hardly ever eat at restaurants in Caen, so finding a sit down place was going to be an adventure for them AND me hah. But we managed to to wander a bit and find this nice cafe. We went upstairs to the cozy salon area and got a delicious lunch and some waker uper espresso drinks to give the boys a boost for the day.

After that? I became the tour guide! I showed them the famous sites of Caen, the Chateau, some churches, and soon after that, it was bed time for them haha. It took us a while to find their super cute bed and breakfast, and when we did, their bodies began to shut down haha. So I left them to sleep for the night!

The next morning (Thursday) I met them at their bed and breakfast and we headed from their to the WW2 Memorial Museum in Caen, it is famous and very big/nice/informative, so we spent the afternoon soaking in as much WW2 information as we could. I was completely saturated with information by the time we were ready to go. The majority of things, sadly, were closed in Caen because it was a holiday, so we decided to split up (so I could go get my bags) and meet at the Train station to go ahead and head to Paris to begin our weekend there!

So off we went. To Paris! We got their, and walked about 30 minutes to our wonderful Hilton hotel! Hehe, we had 'fre' sugary sweets awaiting us, which we gobbled down. And then we watched the BBC news. This is not that significant, except for the fact that it was the first time I've seen the news, or tv for that matter since i'd been here, and so it was nice to update myself on world news hah, although it has been nice being away from all the craziness of news in the States. 

Then we wandered out to find some dinner. And what did we have? Chinese! Haha, the chinese food in Paris is actually delicious and so we had a nice relaxing dinner together just catching up, enjoying food, and planning what to do the next few days. 

The next morning we headed to Versailles Palace. It was monstrous and we took plenty of pictures! It was awesome because we aren't in the touristy season anymore and so, although there were still people there, it was relatively empty! So we went from room to room in the magnificent palace, admiring the artwork and decorations from the era. After, we explored some smaller properties in the garden area. Matthew and Dad had decided they were done looking around outside, so my mom and I explored the garden area a bit more and found the most beautiful old fashioned farm houses! The queen had built these areas to escape from the nobility and state affairs of the time, and they were just wonderful! 

That night, my mom, dad, and I dressed up (kind of haha) and went to eat at a nice french restaurant! We were the only ones there..awkward, but the food was delicious and the patron was extremely nice! mmmm. 

Saturday we went to the Louvre and wandered around for hours.Because of different art preferences, Matthew and I went one way and the parents went the other way, however by chance we ran into each other and finished off a part of the museum together! That was the 3rd time I've visited the Louvre since being here in France, and well, i am louvred out. After that we were exhausted so we headed back to the hotel room and after resting up, Matthew, Dad, and I went to the Eiffel Tower and to dinner. On the way I introduced them to a crepe, mmm, never fails to disappoint. We could not get to the top of the Eiffel tower because the wind was too strong (scary..), so we settled (hah) for the second level! After we grabbed some delicious Italian food! 

Now sidenote, there was a minibar in our hotel room, where one kitkat bar costs around 7 euro! That is almost 10 dollars. So as my dad, Matthew, and I were waiting at the tram station to go back that night, we decided that it would be funny to buy a kitkat bar at the station, and then Matthew would pretend he got it out of the minibar to eat and freak my mom out. Hahaha. It worked perfectly. We got back to the room, and after waiting around 10 minutes, Matthew casually walked to the minibar fridge and 'took out' the kitkat, commenting to my mom that he was hungry and really wanted some chocolate. Of course my mom was like "Matthew no! Those are so ridiculously expensive." But Matthew replied that it didn't matter, it would be fine. So he started eating it to the horror or my mom who adamantly refused to eat a piece of it haha. My dad and I both shared in the deliciousness of it, as a stifled my laughter with a pillow the whole time hahaha. She was visibly angry, so we broke the joke to her where she laughed and then finished the kitkat bar off haha. It was perfect. 

Sunday, we went to the Catacombs (I finally got there!) and although we had to wait an hour to get in, the creepy open tomb of bones underground was quite interesting. After that we went to "Les Deux Magots" where many famous thinkers, writers, and Artists in history have produced works of art. And after, "Le Cafe Procope" which was the first Cafe in Paris and where Voltaire drank 30 cups of coffee a day. We just popped in there for a minute because they were too crowded to sit people just wanting a small coffee. Moving along we stopped in a used bookstore, then went to Notre Dame! There was almost no line to get inside (compared to the last time I tried and it was packed) so we looked at the inside of this MASSIVE church for a bit before heading back, exhausted to the hotel! 

Now this was already our last night in Paris, we could not stay in for the night! But Matthew was tired, so the parents and I wandered to find food. Much was closed because it was a Sunday, but we found another delicious Chinese place (I think I liked it better than the first because they had clear glass floors with fish below!) where we dined for the evening. 

I had a blast exploring Paris (being the guide and translator) with my family (minus Will) and it felt so nice to spend time with familiar faces from the big ol' state of Texas. It was sad to part from them the next morning but I am going to see them in a few weeks so it is all excitement! Yayyyy parents' weekend :)

French Thanksgiving

Ok. I have skipped a few weeks of blogging, and I will go back and tell about them later, but I thought I would share about the Thanksgiving I had yesterday! This is what I wrote last night:

Well, I was a bit sad that I was not going to be able to enjoy a nice American Thanksgiving, complete with family, food, and football, but the Franco-American Association in Caen was putting on a Thanksgiving dinner and American's were invited to eat for free! So quite a few of us decided to go of course, the only option for celebrating Turkey Day. So Thursday rolls around and about half way through the day it starts SNOWING. Yes. SNOWING. At first it was hail, then compact snow globs, then just plain flakey snow. Initially it melted on the ground, but soon, enough built up that everything was white outside! How insane! What a thanksgiving it was starting out to be.

So the dinner started at 7:00pm and so we decided to leave at 6:30pm because we figured there could be some tram delays because of the snow. Well, that was an understatement, the trams had stopped running. And this dinner was not close. So we began walking through the slushy slippery icy snow. Needless to say it was slow, freezing (my toes were quickly soaked and numb), and a tad frustrating. There were no directions, and mapquest gave us conflicting places. SO we headed to the first place. Not thinking to write down the name of the building/restaurant. Well, we could not find it. Thanks to Noelle (This was Chelsea, Noelle, and I trying to find this place) and her phone call to Ed, we were able to make our way there, an hour later. So my feet after an hour of wandering around Caen were in a bit of pain, but the minute we walked inside I forgot completely about it.

First observation, we were 30 minutes late but no one was eating, or even seated yet! Second observation, the majority of the people there were on the older side, much older side. Third observation, I knew almost all of the Americans! We had assigned seating, and I was surrounded by French people. The majority of people were Elderly french people, with, I'm guessing, family ties in the United States, or with American organizations in France. For example, the lady I sat by is a tour guide at the American Cemetary near the Normandy beaches!

So we sat down. Speaking french, the conversation was lovely! I love love being able to practice my French, and I found that it was getting much easier! Yes I still get caught up all the time, pronounce things horribly, and fail grammatically, but I can formulate my thoughts a hundred times better than before, which makes for easier conversation. The older gentleman on the other side of me, began recounting how he helped with the D-Day landings! He was 17 and living close to the beaches, and he ran out and saw the ships, and through the next few days watched the battles and helped out with medical teams and such! What an amazing story he had.

Our meal started with the traditional Normandy Cider, sparkling, and delicious. And our appetizer was a tomato something with a fried crab thing. So not descriptive, but it was very chic and elegant looking. We were in for an amazing french dinner. After that, the main course. Turkey (with mini decorative cranberries on top), potatoes au gratin, and a stuffed cooked tomato. So delicous! It was definitly an attempt at thanksgiving, but honestly, how can you expect the French to produce anything less! THey had to make it their own, which included fancying it up quite a bit. Next course, a mini cheese platter of Normandy cheeses. Next. Dessert! It was a firm caramel pudding type dessert with hot soft apples covered in a sauce with a crunchy sweet pastry stick. SO delicious, their interpretation of apple pie perhaps? And after of course we ended with some espresso haha. The nice older man across from me gave me his mini chocolate that accompanied the cafe.

So at the point of the coffee the woman in charge stood up to give her thanks, and after another man did the same. I realized after he is just one spot under the Mayor of Caen! Very important and in charge of all of the international relations in Caen. Then, about 5 minutes after, the made all of the American students get up and introduce themselves! I went 3rd or 4th, there were around 15 of us? And as soon as I said my name, many of them expressed that it was my 'fete' aka party! Every name has a day of the year that it is celebrated, and my name party day is Nov. 25th! Celebrating St. Katherine I think, but Kaitlyn, Catherine, Katherine, all come from the same place, and they interpret them the same. So that was a pleasent surprise! November 25th, Kaitlyn day, and it is 2 days shy of my half birthday! Hehe. Just kidding, I don't celebrate my half birthday.

After they took a few pictures, we mingled then the man who had given the story about his experience with D-Day offered me a ride home! They must have known we would have to walk a ways and so Noelle and I readily accepted. Chelsea left with other people so we left with the man and his wife who was most definitely under 4 feet tall, so tiny!

Basically, tonight is a Thanksgiving I will never forget. SO different than a normal one, but it was so French! And I was able to speak french the whole evening and just have a grand time. Wow, so fun, worth the hour trek in the freezing snow.

Mont Saint Michel and St. Malo!

This is 2 weeks late but I finally got to go to Mont St Michel and St. Malo got thrown in the weekend package too! Let me explain.

So after trying to get to this walled island city twice before, Chelsea and I finally decided to just go on the trip provided by our study aboad program! We left Sunday morning on a bus full of other study abroad students, the majority, surprisingly, were not even from our program, but from another program at the University, a lot more north american study abroad students (Germany, Sweden, etc) than in our program. So after a 2 hour bus ride we arrived at St. Malo. It is a seaside town that was completely surrounded and fortified with a wall. Perfectly intact still! So we walked all the way around this city (size of a small town) and got to enjoy the beautiful crisp weather and view of the ocean which was the most amazing color blue that day. After, we needed food and something warm to drink, so we popped into a Creperie (A crepe restaurant) and got some coffee, a galette (which is a salty crepe), and a chocolate crepe for dessert! SO delicious and warm and relaxing. After that we took a 20 min bus ride to Mont St. Michel. Finally we were there! We walked into the city, and guided by a lady in our group, made our way to the top of the mountain that makes up the town to go to the massive cathedral at the top! We took a tour of the cathedral which was magnificent and interesting. ANd every window you look out of you see the ocean and a beautiful day. So fun :) Also, there were some random people doing a photo shoot in the Cathedral, so that was funny, slash fun.

After that, we had pretty much seen it all. Mont St. Michel is just the big church and then tourist shops left, so we headed back to the bus! And after that we went back. I am so glad I finally got to see these wonderful structures and it is officially checked off my list haha. And now for some pictures!

Ocean!

The Seaside of St. Malo

I was not prepared. But that is St. Malo in the background (we walked over to a mini island house)

bad through the window picture. But that is Mont St. Michel!

Last day in Florence :) video.

For those confused last time :) this is a video, not a picture! I decided that it would be easier to just talk about the last few days rather than type it all out.

Rome, to Naples to Pompeii to Naples to Florence.

Rome, Napoli, Florence, All in one day, night?

Well, today was interesting, to say the least. And that is an understatement.

After our Hostel experience, which turned out to be not sketch and free, we also got an extra hour of sleep because of the moving back of the clocks one hour this weekend. However, when I adjusted my clock on my phone (not automatic), I changed the time from 1:18 to 12:18. Kaitlyn Fail. Should have said 00:18 because that is midnight here. Or 24:18. But not 12:18. Because I just put myself 12 hours ahead. Basically all this to say that our alarms did not go off at the allotted time. We got more sleep?

So we woke up and rushed to the Vatican. The only thing we had on our list to do before we headed to Pompeii for the afternoon. We get to the Vatican at around 10am and um. Wow. I can honestly say I have not seen lines that long in my entire life. It is kind of silly because on Sunday’s the Vatican is usually closed. Except the last Sunday of the month, this was today. Where not only is it open, but it is free, and only open until around 2:30 pm. The lines we saw could easily take 2-3 hours, making it almost useless for the people in the back to even wait! We quickly made the logical decision that we would not be seeing the Vatican Museum, Chapel, or St. Peter’s Basilica. Sad. But I mean, we’ll be back someday and will see it then! So we went, got some post cards, took some pictures, enjoyed watching the people waiting, and then ran off to catch our train to Naples!

Well…we were around 2 minutes too late. As we are trying to rush and buy our tickets at the train station, we realize we are not going to make it. So we settle, buy tickets for the next train (in 1 hour), and get some lunch in an Italian style Cafeteria upstairs. Delicious. Mmm Pasta and fresh veggie salad with Olive oil and vinegar. So we got on the next train and headed to Naples (Napoli in Italian, I use them interchangeably). I pass out on the train, and sleep fine except for the occasional head nod that wakes me up, and which Chelsea notices and giggles at me. There had been an Italian man sitting next to me and at the end he started talking to us about where we were going. Turns out he lives out in the same direction, so he said he would help us find the train we needed to take to get to Pompeii. Super niceJ. So we found our train! And 30 minutes or so later after getting in Naples, we were in Pompeii.

It was SO insane being there. The city was so well preserved. Definitely saw some well preserved human bodies, wall paintings, tiled floors, a bakery, a brothel, a theatre, a restaurant (ancient style) worn tire tracks in the stone paths, stray dogs (Pompeii welcomes them because in ancient days they were there too), not too many tourists, and Mount Vesuvius! We got to spend a couple hours there just wandering, following Rick Steve’s guide, and just enjoying the ruins of an ancient city. Wow.

So then, it was time to go. We had 1 hour before we had to catch our train to Florence! Perfect.  Half an hour back to Naples, then just enough time to buy our tickets. Well…so we thought. I think we have just underestimated how long it takes to get places, that and on the way back to Naples, the Train stopped at 3x as many stops as on the way out. So basically we were at the same thing. Buying our tickets with 2 minutes to spare, and then realizing we wouldn’t make it. Well, guess we will just take the next one! When is the next one though? Oh, not for two hours, and it is twice as long, and half the price. Basically saying that we are not going to get into Florence until 1:44 am…uh..Well we have no choice. So we bought our tickets, and went to find some authentic Italian pizza (it was invented in Naples), and some Wi-Fi to get the phone number for our hostel that we would be arriving at late.

Well directly across the street from the train station was a mini bar, restaurant, so we just popped inside. Kind of sketch. But honestly that is where you get good cheap pizza! Sure enough big pizzas were only 5 euro. So after some horrible communication with the waiters, we sat down in a corner, and tried to get tap water, then switched to café. I got Latte Macchiato, and the other two got Cappuccino. So, Chelsea went to the bathroom. While she was gone, mind you this is a small restaurant, and we were taking up a 6 person small table, a different waiter came and sat this older woman in the corner of our table. He actually moved Genesis’ backpack to make room haha.

 Anyway. This lady sits down. With a whole chicken to eat, that and half a baguette. And well, I’m going to honest, I am 90% sure she is a prostitute. She just attacked her chicken and devoured the whole thing like she hadn’t eaten for weeks. Using her bare hands.. HAHAH and also flung some chicken skin at Chelsea on..Well accident. And..Stole Chelsea’s cup of water. Awk haha. We just enjoyed our pizza and coffee and smiled at her, having no way at all to communicate. Our waiter was super nice and so we had an awkward but grand time. Side note, there were a few slot machines on the wall and this older man was playing some of them, and I honestly thought it would be entertaining if he won something! I mean I’ve never seen it happen. So I prayed “God, if you want to, you could make this man win some, it would be super fun to watch!” And lo and behold, 3 minutes or so later, he won! I’m guessing 50 to 100 euro. Hahaha. God has a sense of humor.

So we paid headed to the MacDo across the street to get some free unlimited wifi! And an ice cream cone. As I am trying to connect to the internet, it won’t let me! So Chelsea goes to ask someone downstairs if we need a password or something, and in the mean time I find the log in page, asking for my name, email, passport number and phone number. Chelsea returns and says it has to be an Italian number. So we use one of our Italian friend’s cell phones. Turns out they text you the password. Oops. I quickly text him explaining haha, and he texts back saying he deleted it! Dead end. I took drastic measures and texted some people explaining our situation and that we needed our hostel phone number to inform them of our tardiness. And graciously we got a quick text reply J.

We made it to our next train, and well…I think that Naples is a great place, someone told us the culture is much more Mediterranean, but from what we saw at the train station and surrounding area, I was not impressed. And our train, well, smells a tad like public restroom, and does not have an overall clean feel. But I mean, what you going to do. The seating for our nice 6 hour train ride, was designed like the 6 seat rooms, except no fold out bunk beds, just seats. And a nice older Italian man joined our room! He spoke only like 2 words of English, and maybe 20 words of French, but we still had lots of fun with him, all through body language. He was very nice and we felt much more comfortable with him in our room, just the safe grandpa figure.

So we start getting comfortable on the train, and he slides his chair out to lean it back some! Whattt, they convert into semi beds! But before he props his feet up on the seat across, he motions to his bag and reaches for it. Oh, I whisper, he wants to eat a sandwich first. He had spoken some Italian, and by extrapolating, I was pretty sure that was what he said. Until he pulled his newspaper out. Ohhh he wants to read the newspaper first! Until he hands a sheet to me. Oh..He wants me to read the newspaper in Italian? Until he puts it on the chair where his feet are going to go. Ohhhhhhhh they are to protect the seat from our dirty shoes! Perfect.

So that was entertaining. I start blogging, Chelsea is journaling, and Genesis is doing homework. And our old man friend is sleeping. However, the light is on. He opens his eyes, rustles around, and we realize that in around 10 minutes (with Genesis’ awesome interpretations) he would like the lights to go out for sleep time! Um. It is 8:30 pm. But he is nice, and the eldest, and so, 10 minutes later, the lights are out. Pitch blackness except for any light that comes out the window. Or my laptop. And about 30 minutes after that, he motions to close the blinds too hahahaaha. SO funny. He was nice, and he wanted his few hours on the train to be as good of a sleep as possible.

But then, I mean, it got interesting. We were in a giggle mood. Now we were all whispers and silent giggles, but come on. It was like 9:30 pm and we weren’t even in a sleeper room, haha, but he most definitely shushed us by saying “ahh, parlo parlo parlo, no dormi dormi” which can easily be translated to “wow you talk a lot, why no sleeping” hahaha. What. So we got quiet. What else do you do.

Shortly after, we stopped at just another train stop, I think it had to be Rome though because there were A LOT of people getting on. Our old man got up to stretch his legs and when he came back in, motioned that his back was hurting from his chair bed. HAHA, then he motioned that Chelsea switch with him! Ok, that would put him in the middle of the three of us, in a dark room, sleeping. She didn’t move just laughed, but he was like insistent! Hahaha, so she moved. But like, 3 seconds later people opened our room to take the remaining seats, and our old man left because he knew he could not get any more sleep haha. We laughed for like 10 minutes after that. After thinking about it some, we realize that we got scooped by that old man. Yes he was nice and friendly, but he also knew we would be prey to him being able to convert a normal room into a sleep room. Haha, such an interesting train ride words cannot describe.

We get off in Florence in a deserted station. Realize quickly we will have to take a taxi, and a nice girl from Italy, needed to borrow my phone, and after helped us call a cab. He knew where our hostel was and bam, we got there with no skin off our backs. I cannot believe we made it here in one piece. It is now 3:30 am as I finish this, just got done showering in a very nice hostel, and am ready to get going tomorrow! This hostel gives wonderful breakfasts, free tours, and free dinner. Should be a good 2 days here J

Yes, this is long. I ramble; I think I’ve given up trying to write short ones because I’ve failed every time haha.

Vatican :)

Pompeii (I loved the grooved roads)

On the train, the old man went to the bathroom...