Des Frites, de la Bière, du Chocolat, et des Gaufres

Bonjour tout le monde!

This week has been very busy and fun! I started off the week with an excursion for my International Relations class to Belgium, Brussels. While there, we were able to explore this spectacular town as well as learn about useful things about the European Union.  Our first place we visited was at the German Marshall Fund. We were able to talk to three women who work there and have really impressive jobs and talked about their job detilas. Our second visit was to the European Commission and visit with people about how the European Union handles economics and migration. I absolutely loved learning, from an objective standpoint, the problem of illegal immigration and what they are doing to handle it. The last place we visited was United States Mission to the EU. This building had many US institutions in the building so they can create this stronger bond with the US and the EU. It was a huge honor to be able to see all of these places through a class!

            

Because I also enjoy giving my personal thoughts on the cities I visit, I decided to give my take on Brussels: easily said, I loved it. I should also say that it also depends on personal preference, but in my own opinion it was amazing. There are certain things that make me prefer a town, and that is summed up as accessibility, culture, and architecture.

On accessibility, if it is easy to move around without walking over ten miles, or taking the subway to go every place. It saves time, and makes for a lot less stress. The next part, culture, is not very hard to find in every European city, because they all have a different way of doing things, which make it a culture experience. It was unique coming here because the two common languages that were spoken, French and German; it make for a nice hybrid of many their cultures. It was a good place to continue speaking French, but it also didn't feel required to; which also added less stress to the situation. Also, as entitled as my post, it was great going somewhere that was known for its food. In particular, fries, waffles, chocolate, and beer; and all four live up to their high expectations. The last thing was the architecture. I will open with saying that I am in no way knowledgeable in this category, but being able to see these beautiful types of buildings, shops, and cathedrals are set up in a town, really give it an aesthetic detail.

 The last part about Brussels that I loved was how everyone was very kind and friendly. Even though we were only there for a short while, the impression it made on us is very sustainable! We returned Tuesday night from this trip. I had a full day of classes on Wednesday and half of a class on Thursday, and I flew out to Norway to visit my friend, Phoebe, who is from UND, blogs, and studying abroad in Norway! I will keep you updated on our adventures in Scandinavia! 

Á la semaine prochine! 

Just a pretty little house!

Japanese cuisine! 

Camp de Milles

Bonjour tout le monde!

             As I mentioned last week, I decided to talk this week about Camp de Milles. I do not aim at getting political or anything, I am just going to briefly explain what this place is, where it is, what I learned about it, and why we are talking about it. A week or so ago me and two of my friends chose to visit this place and I thought it was a very unique and educational visit so I felt like sharing!

            Firstly, what is Camp de Milles? Camp de Milles was an internment camp that opened in September 1939 in a village called Les Milles, which is just outside of Aix. It used to be a textile factory, but now it is set up as a memorial of sorts. It is served as a museum. I found it to be unique that the museum was inside the building. It made for the experience to feel more personal and realistic.

            There are many things that I learned from Camp de Milles. Not only did they provide a lot of history of World War two, from France's perspective, but they also add something else that was new. They had an entire section of the museum, one-third of the museum, dedicated to explaining how a country goes from acceptance to genocide. Of course it was all in French so I did not understand everything, but by explaining the process that this takes, I fell it provides a "what next" aspect to a historical place.

             In my generation, we are often taught about World War two and the things that occurred, but as time goes on people forget, simply because we were not alive during the time of the war. However, by remembering the travesties that struck the world, hopefully we can learn from these past mistakes and be able to move forward in the future. You can still walk straight and look behind you, and by doing so you can move forward with the knowledge of the past in your vision.

            In conclusion, I found this place to be very educational. It provided a great historical overview of things that took place in Europe, France, and Milles. It also added a different aspect that I have not seen as much, which is the preventive piece. It added an aspect which tried to get people to think about themselves in the present day, and how we can improve us, which is something that is extremely important .

Á la semaine prochine!

The picture attached are from the hike at Mount St. Victoire as well as the Gorges du Verdon.

At the Gorges du Verdon.

Gorges du Verdon. 

Gorges du Verdon.

A view overlooking a small French town. 

On top of Mount St. Victoire. 

Views. 

An awkward pose of me on top of the mountain. 

Another view of the small city.

Printemps

Bonjour tout le monde!

               This week is finally the spring time for Aix! Although the time changed a couple weeks ago for the states, last Sunday we had our time change. Along with the time change it finally felt like the spring season has begun! The birds are chirping, the sun is shining, and finally the colors are coming out. As the winter season, which did not include snow, ends, it is reminding me of the extreme differences from the weather here compared to North Dakota.

               I remember when I was younger, and when the temperature would get about sixty degrees, it usually was a clear sign that we had about two weeks left of school. Although I did not go to school near Grand Forks, I am sure that the states and places which are near to us in regards to temperature can relate. It is very strange for me here that I still have a little over a month, and it feels like the last day of school.

               With the weather like this, it really makes me more dedicated to spending all the time I can outside and making adventures wherever I can find them. In regards to my time coming to an end in Aix, it makes every walk and day cherished. For instance, today, me and my friends walked around the flower market, food market, and clothes market. The accessibility and beauty that is present in our everyday lives is going to be one of the things I miss most; but, I can’t think about that now!

               The pictures attached are from last week. I am currently in Wine 101: an overview to wine, and in the class we had an excursion to the wineries around Aix. It was super fun to see the wineries and the differences that they each had with each other! I could go on about the AC’s they have to abide by as well as the tannins, acidity, and quality of each wine, but I can sum it up and just say they were all amazing!

Á la semaine prochine!

Wines at the first winery. 

Artsy picture of the wine. 

Our tourguide. 

The vines at the second winery. 

More pictures of the vines.

This picture is not from the Camp de Milles. I may include more of this story in my next blog! 

Ciao!

La Belle et la Bête

Bonjour tout le monde!

This week has been good, I mean, every morning just the same as the morning that we came to this provincial town in Aix. In case you did not get the song reference this week I decided to talk about how this movie, La Belle et la Bête or as you may know it by, Beauty in the Beast has some interesting relations and life-lesson it can teach you about France and the metaphor of beauty.

Firstly, the movie is set in France. Of course I have to write about it, and it's is Disney, so there is an extra peaked interest. In the first song, you hear some French words: Bonjour, Monsieur, pardon, brute, mais oui, and mademoiselle. Of course, my everyday life includes a couple of more French words, but still you can hear some of the French language that makes you understand you are in France. Also, right now, as most know, I am in Aix-en-Provence, and in the movie she is in a "provincial" town.

The next is Belle. As you could already know the world Belle means beauty in French, which is super awesome. So as you can see when you translate beauty in France it comes up la belle, which is the name of "beauty" in the movie. So Belle literally is the representation of beauty, or at least what beauty holds. Although many of us can argue that the actress who plays Belle, Emma Watson, is beautiful, in the movie she is not supposed to be, or at least the townsfolk do not think she is, "her name means "beauty" her looks have got no parallel." However, she also is considered beauty to others, like other townsfolk, Gaston, and la bête.

Therefore, not only is La Belle et la Bête basically a representation of some French things, not close to being all of them, but it also has a good life lesson. Beauty, especially in the terms of interior does not always have to be matching the exterior. It also tries to add, or maybe I just interpreted it this way, if we work on making our selves more beautiful on the inside (kind, loyal, courageous) just like the beast did somehow, we look more beautiful to those around us. I thought it was a fun thought about Beauty and the Beast!

P.S Attached are my pictures from last week when we took an excursion to Paris for my religion class!

Á la semaine prochaine!

Art from the Louvre.

More art. 

More art. 

St. Dennis Church.

closer look. 

Another angel. 

Beautiful stained glass windows.

Sainte Chapelle. 

Notre Dame.

Closer look 

Arc de Triumph. 

Eiffel Tour. 

Had to get a crepe. 

My friend from UND. 

A neat video of the Eiffel Tower lighting up 

Résumer

Bonjour tout le monde!

What a crazy week it has been! This week I got back from vacation on Monday and the very same day my friend from the University of North Dakota came to visit me for a week and explore France for her spring break. She arrived on Monday and was able to spend the weekdays in Aix-en-Provence and travel to Paris with me this weekend for a field trip we took for a class. Also, as some of you may know, last week I spent my winter break traveling through London, Edinburgh, and Dublin! It was very amazing to see all of these different places and be able to speak English for a little bit! Each country proved that even with the same language, there is a lot of diversity and similarities that can exist between the two.

In London, we spent our first two days and last two days there. We saw the touristy sites such as Big Ben, Westminster, The Towel of London, and The London Bridge. It was great to experience a big town and see the popular sites that many people love, but I was exhausted after spending a lot of time in a place that required a lot of transportation. Next, we went to Edinburgh, Scotland, which was by far my favorite of the trip. The town was pretty large, but we could see most of the touristy things from our central location. The town had more of a stony architecture and was very beautiful. We saw many places in Edinburgh, such as the café where J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter, as well as learned the history of Edinburgh. In Scotland we also were able to see Loch Ness and other places in the Highlands, which were beyond beautiful.

The last place we went was Dublin. Although it took me a bit to warm up to the town, I really did enjoy it here. It was a perfectly between Edinburgh and London. It was pretty large, but we were able to walk to most places, it just took a little longer. It had similar architecture to Scotland, but had its own unique style. The best part was being able to watch a rugby game, which sadly Dublin lost in, and meet locals from the area.

Each place we visited in the area were different from each other, yet all shared the same language. They had their own history, point of view, and way of life, yet they can easily share similarities. Their beauty and charm extended to different aspects of each of their land, yet they were undeniably still charming. Of course, however, I was excited to return home (a.k.a France)!

P.S The photos I am attaching will be from London, Edinburgh, and Dublin.

À la semaine prochaine!

Big Ben 

The London Eye 

The castle that accompanies Big Ben.

Gandhi. 

Had to get a flag here too.

We unmeaningly walked near a women's protest in London.

Tower Bridge.

Edinburgh, Scotland. 

Me and my friends by Tom Riddle's grave (Harry Potter reference).

This was the view outside our hostel.

Beautiful views in the highlands.

My friends and I in the highlands.

A friendly deer.

I saw the Loch Ness Monster!!

Loch Ness.