Exploring the Little Cities Outside of Paris

Paris has zones that make the symbol of a targer, and with my metro pass, I am allowed to to through zones 1, 2, 3, and 4. Those are the centermost zones. There are also zones 5 and 6 on the outside, maybe more, but nothing cool is that far out. Zones 4 and 5 are the zones with all the cool stuff like castles and medieval cities! I can travel to all the zones for free on the weekends though, so I am going to take advantage of that! On Saturday, I went to the cute city of Pontoise! It's not too far from where I live, but it's in the northwest region outside of Paris and is very old. I went by myself because sometimes, I just like to explore by myself. I'm totally fine with that, and I always know where I'm going. I knew Pontoise was a small town so I just got out of the train station and walked everywhere. The weather was amazing for a day of walking and exploring!

I went to two small museum. Le Musee Tavet showed modern art and Musée Camille Pissarro has painting from Camille Pissarro with most of them being paintings of the city of Pontoise. One painting actually gave me and idea of where to go next. It was a painting of people in a garden called "Jardin de la Ville". I decided to find it and I did. I went to two parks that day. Jardin de la Ville and Parc du Chateau.

 

 


I found two adoreable shops to look around at! The first one was L'Arbre Blanc with cute homemade things. It was also a cafe where you can eat some of their original homemade things. I bought a bottle of L'huile D'Olive a la Vanille! Vanilla olive oil! I can't wait to try it! The second store was called Exotiqua with so many cute tea sets, baskets, and soaps! Everything was very much my style.

 

One of my favorite parts of walking around in the city instead of taking busses is that you get to find cooler things and go off the main roads. I found these cute places from walking around and going down the smaller streets. France is a very old country with a lot of history, but in the big cities, a lot of the history has been destroyed over the centuries or redone. In a city like this with not a lot of people, all of the walls, buildings, and roads will still look like they did in the 15th century.

I Never Expected Any Of This Super Awesome Stuff!

I became a fan of Ellie Goulding a while back but never imagined that I would be able to see her live the way I did last week! Last week was spring break and France gets 2 weeks off. The first week, I was free, but the second week, I had to work and stay home with the kids. Usually I stay home with them the whole week, but because of holidays and random days off work, the parents got to stay home on Wednesday and Thursday meaning I didn't have to work those days. Thursday was the day of the concert! I WAS SO LUCKY. I bought my concert ticket back in December not really thinking I would have to work till 8pm, and by the grace of God, I didn't have to work at all that day! It was unbelievable because, trust me, I was freakin' out for a few days before thinking I would miss the concert or be really far in the back. I never expressed my stress to my host family because my job comes before a concert and their jobs. But anywhosie! I got to the venue in Paris 3.5 hours early(because im crazy but very smart) and sat on the sidewalk in a line till the doors opened. Because of that, I got there before 85% of the concert goers and got up to the stage super close! There were soo many people behind me in line! I was shocked!

She sang all of my favorite songs. Well I have a lot of favorites, but she sang ALL 19 OF MY VERY FAVORITE SONG :D including my super favorites like...

Halcoyn

Figure 8 

Salt Skin 

Hanging On

 Explosions

I Know You Care 

Your Song

 My Blood 

Only You 

Animal

Starry Eyed 

I Need Your Love

 and finally Lights and then a crazy dubstep ending to Lights that was possibly the best thing ever.

And I still made it home before midnight! success!

When I got home, I noticed a note on my desk from my host dad. He was panning a top secret surprise for the mom for her birthday. Once the mom left for work in the morning, I was to wake the kids up, get them dressed in nice clothes, and take them to La Tour Montparnasse in Paris. It's like an hour away by train and metro, and it was the first time to take the kids into Paris by myself. Normally they are kind of worried to take their kids into the big city, especially with just one adult like me who looks like a teenager. But that's what I did. We got to the tower on time and safe with no problems!

 

When we got there, we met up the the dad and the 5 of us went all the way to the top of the tower to go to the "Ciel de Paris" meaning the Sky of Paris. It's the highest restaurant in europe and has an amazing view of the city! I never thought I would be able to eat there! It's just a tad expensive. I understand why the dad chose to go for lunch. I had the best meal though. Of course I ate Duck. Of course. And the dessert I got was a little Lemon-lime tart that was soooo good. I never eat slowly, but I ate that thing like a little ol' grandma. I wanted it to last forever! But the mom was very surprised when she saw us all there. The dad sent the mom text messages and clues on where to go but was never specific on what what happening. She was very happy to see all of us there in Paris waiting for her!

 

American Girl Weekend!

A few months ago, I found a deal online for a new bus route from Paris to Lyon for 10 euros round trip! That is unheard of cheap! Once I found those prices, I went to my other deal websites to see if I could find a place to stay for a night in Lyon that was a good price. Most hotels were the super expensive ones so getting a hostel was looking like the best idea until a came across a really nice one with a buffet breakfast, good location, and free wine in the evening. I immediately contacted some friends to see if we could make it a weekend in Lyon, and they all agreed!

Paige, Meghan, Loretta, and I met up at the bus station Friday night for our overnight ride to Lyon! We left Paris at 11:15pm and would arrive in Lyon at 5:45am. It would have worked out perfectly if we managed to get some sleep. We really tried. We spread out because the bus wasn't full, and each of us took up 2 seats. There are only so many positions I can fall asleep in while in a moving vehicle, but none of them really worked. We were all disturbed half way through the voyage when the bus driver stopped for his hour break. We all agreed that it was impossible to sleep. Once we continued driving the rest of the way, I think we all were able to doze off maybe a little bit, but we arrived in Lyon early in the morning ready to start our huge day sightseeing. Once we got to the hotel, we waited and rested for an hour. The sun started rising, and we were able to see a little glimpse of what Lyon looks like from our window.

Then, we left around 9 to get our day started! Just from the bus ride into the center of the city, we could tell that Lyon is absolutely beautiful! We got off the bus along the river across from the giant church on the hill and ran into markets and perfect photo opportunities. We loved the color of the city! We went through the markets and bought snacks that smelled awesome. What I loved about Lyon is that when walking around, we could tell where to go to see the cool monuments. We could sorta tell which areas were newer (filling with shopping) and which were the older parts (cool buildings and people wearing renaissance costumes walking around).

Walking toward the older area across the bridge, we ran into so many awesome things. From all the people in Renaissance costumes, we found out that saturday only was a huge festival. Out of all the days to come to Lyon, we happend to pick the day when everyone is so festive!! Everywhere we went, there was dancing and music, cannons being blasted off, horses, drums, and happiness! We ran into a square in the old part of Lyon with an awesome church and small streets to walk through.

We decided to go visit that giant church on the hill...mountain actually. We went up soo many stairs, but every time we turned around, the view was amazing. 

We got to the top, and by that time is was getting warm. I have not felt the warmth of the sun yet this year. It has only been a bitter cold until now. We were south of Paris, but once you leave Paris, I think the world is a little brighter and warmer. That goes along with everything Parisian. We all agreed on this trip that Lyon is a big city, but it is a big, beautiful, and nice city. Paris gets so much glory, but once you live there so long, you no longer see the beauty that had you amazed when you first came. It's especially hard to enjoy it in the winter for me. You only see the crazy, dirty, harsh, "inner-city pressure" part of Paris after a while. This was a good reminder that France is still beautiful once you're out of the tourist filled and sometimes heartless big city. It was good to get some fresh air! It was especially refreshing to be able to see the Alps in the distance!

We spent time looking at the Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière that was honestly too big to fit in one picture. It was Beautiful and breathtaking just like everything else in this city. By this point, it was around noon, so we still had an entire afternoon to explore! Not far from the Basilique was a Roman Theatre! I got so excited when we saw this! I have never seen Roman ruins before, and I was over joyed that it was a theatre! It was so crazy to imagine people there in that time putting on a show and wearing masks! It was one of my favorite parts of the day!

We finally got around to eating lunch. We waited around for a happy hour to come along at 3pm so we could get a 3 course meal for 10 euros at a super cute restaurant in a great area. We came at 2:30, but they let us beautiful girls get the discount anyway. :) The food was amazing. I got a Salade Lyonnaise which had a tangy, creamy dressing and bacon. Lyon loves their meat! For the meal, I had Cod with potatoes, and us girls shared a bottle of Rose wine that was perfect for the sunny, warm afternoon in France! For dessert, we all had the chocolate tart!

Here is a video with a few examples of the Renaissance festivities going on throughout the city. 

The rest of the day was filled with exploring, experiencing the city, and having fun. We found a giant park to sit in the grass at and talk. It was beautiful, and the weather was perfect! At the hotel that night, we enjoyed our free glass of wine and soon went to bed. We were all beyond tired! The next morning, we had our amazing French buffet breakfast! Of course it wasn't as good as the Texas shaped waffels you can get in Texas hotels, but it was a pretty satisfying breakfast! Loretta had to leave after breakfast because she took a train in order to get to Paris sooner, so it was just Meghan, Paige, and I exploring till our bus ride at 4pm. We walked through a market that was filled with amazing deals! I was surprised by all the cheap prices on fresh and organic fruits and vegetables! Meat, wine, and cheese was still expensive though of course.

 

We didn't do much on Sunday other than explore a little more. We saw mostly everything the day before, so we enjoyed the weather some more before getting to the bus station. Our energy level was really low by the time we got on the bus. We rested a little bit during the day, but later on that evening, we got to enjoy the scenery a little bit when the sun was setting. We could see mountains in the distance at the beginning of the ride, but at the middle to the end of the ride, it was just the hillside country. We stopped once in what felt like the middle of nowhere, France. There was a little restaurant and gas station where I only bought ice cream. It didn't feel like I was in France at the point because it just looked like a normal gas station on the side of a highway. We continued on the bus to Paris still enjoying the different scenery in the distance like the small villages where the one church in the middle is the tallest building around and the random castles on hills (where we plan on living when were older and making our own wine. Plans. Big plans).




Once again, it hit me that I'm in the middle of France, and I got here on my own, by myself, according to God's will. It still amazes me. I'm very thankful for my weekend in beautiful Lyon!

Deauville, Normandy, France

For the first time since I've been in France, I got out of the city of Paris and it's surrounding suburbs and went the the north/western part of France! I went with the kids to their grandparents house in Normandy, France. For those that don't know, Normandy isn't a city. It is more like a county if France had counties. It's a whole region. I went to the city of Deauville, Normandy which is about an hour drive north from where the Normandy beaches were attacked in WWII. So no, I didn't get to see the American Cemetery or any memorial.

The parents stayed home and worked, so it was me and the kids on the train! The train lasted maybe 2 hours; it wasn't that bad. We had fun trying to be respectful and quiet because there were 4 other people in our cabin of the train. The ride home was a different story. No one else was in our cabin so we closed the doors and played music, played games, and ate a bunch of snacks!

The time was spent in the grandparents vacation home. It had an amazing view of the French country side and the sea in the distance.

The area around their vacation home was beautiful! I loved going on walks! You would find farms with horses, apple trees for making cider, and little gardens all around the hills. It was so beautiful!

 

Our time in Deauville was spent going to the beach each day and playing in the sand, going to parks, and walking around the adorable city. We played mini golf, fed ducks, played on a playground, ate crepes for lunch, and even took a small boat across the harbor!

 Beautiful Agathe at the park!

 I told her to jump and she jumped for her life lol

He was a little too good at golf.

I was amazed at how beautiful the beach was! There were so many sea shells on the beach, and the sand was never too cold to walk on with bare feet. It was a great vacation for me to get away from the big city and see the more beautiful side to France. It was also about 10 degrees warmer than Paris which was pretty nice. I would love to return again in the summer when it is warmer! (I can't wait for SUMMER!) I loved being with the children's grandparents too because the grandmother really made sure I was comfortable, had everything I needed, and she talked my ears off which is good! She speaks very clearly and always has something to say. I learned a lot of French from her in just 4 days. It made me realize how easy learning French would be if people all the time spoke clearly and constantly talked about doesn't matter what. As long as she was yappin, I was understanding. It was a great experience. She also is a great cook! I learned from her how to make a great soup, salade dressing, and how to cook muscles..like the sea food that's in a shell. They were interesting. I also got to watch French TV shows because my host family doesn't have TV. We watched once consistantly each day called "Un Diner Presque Parfait" which means "An Almost Perfect Dinner". It's where there are 5 people who take turns eating dinner at each others place. Each person has their own theme, and the guest rate the dinner, the theme, and the whole production and the person with the highest score overall wins. For example, one girl's theme was vampires, so the dinner was a steak, the dessert was something with bright red sauce all over it, they played a trivia game about vampires, and the dining room was decorated with the colors black and red. It was good to watch because I learned some vocabulary, phrases, and some good ideas for cooking. I didn't understand everything that was said, but I heard how people give their opinions on something and learned what words to use. If I had TV,  I would watch it every night!

Metro Party

I haven't done anything too exciting because it's been so cold outside. When it warms up, I'll wake up and go out more. I did get to go Friday night though to a crazy event called a Metro Party. Basically, it's a bunch of people of all ages getting together at a metro station and taking the metro all at the same time. Someone brings music, and everyone else brings the party. We rode all the way down metro line 2 and then rode it again. The best part was seeing people reactions as they saw a metro pack full of people. They knew they would get bombarded with rowdy people, so their look of terror was priceless. I felt sorry for them, but no one got mad. They usually though it was funny and couldn't help but smile. My favorite was when people joined us and forgot about where they were going to go. Doesn't matter when a party comes rolling in.

Crazyyy. I stopped recording before the doors opened. I knew it would be a rush into the metros, so I stashed my camera beforehand.

It was a lot of fun though. I got to meet and talk to people from all over the world. I talked with Parisians, Scottish, American, British, Canadian, and more. After the metros closed, everyone part of the party went to a club that was very tiny and did not play good music. we were only there for maybe an hour. Music included Gangnam Style and Barbie Girl, so I wasn't too hurt by leaving.
While we were there, Paige and I sat down in front of two French guys that we started talking to. There was a guy that had followed Paige around to talk to her for a while and we were trying to lose him, so talking to these two other guys got the creeper to go away. Mission accomplished! We hung out with them the rest of the night. They were a lot of fun! They took us to another club that was more fun than the first one that played a mixture of rock music mostly.

Our horrible attempt to get a group picture. Better luck next time.



At first we thought we would have trouble getting into the club because there are always bouncers who check ID's and can be picky about who goes in. Paige didn't bring her ID and neither did one of the guys we were with, but they just said to go in anyway. At 4 am, it doesn't matter. Around 5 am, the club closed, and trust me, the streets of Paris are only filled with a few young people who are going home from the night before and business people who got a full nights rest and are heading to work. You can tell who had a fun night and who didn't when you're on the metro. There are 3 types of people. Tired partiers that look a mess, loud partiers that are still loud, and quiet, annoyed business people who don't want to be there. It's so funny to see people almost falling asleep on the trains. I was wide awake still. I don't think I could walk through a city like a tired zombie. I wake myself up and look alert.


Of course the next day, I caught up on my sleep. I never planned on staying out all night, but once you've missed your train that goes home, you have no choice but to stay out. I'm glad we stayed out though. We got to have fun, meet people, speak in French a little since we hardly get to practice our French, and explore a part of Paris we never get to see.

Christmas time in Paris!

Agathe WOULD NOT pronounce "Christmas" correctly the other day. I think she was serious at first but then was only trying to be funny. "Chreeeessmees?" "No." I felt like this woman:

So Christmas time in Paris is expected to be glorious. I mean, it's pretty I guess.

           

Galaries Lafayette

Pretty decorations by a CHANEL store

Marche de Noel. Christmas Markets that you find everywhere.

Crepe please with hot Nutella.

The lights on the Champs-Elysees

Standing in the middle of the Champs-Elysees

                        

 
Theres lights down many streets like these.



I am currently in England for Christmas so a blog about that will come later. Before I left, I received a lovely box from my previous family I worked for, the Neffs, with so many thoughtful gifts. I was really shocked. One of those gifts were Christmas crackers, and that was very special because my host family has never seen them before. We had a blast opening them! Inside the crackers were whistles with numbers on them and instructions on how to play a song. It was kind of like handbells only with whistles. Loud whistles with small children...
The video shows the whistles and attempting to create songs, and it also shows how much English is used in the house. They are trying to get their kids to learn as much English as possible and throw in the easy English words instead of saying them in French.