Day Trip to the beautiful mountain town of Annecy

Yesterday was by far one of the best days I have had during my semester so far. I met up with some friends early in the morning and took a two-hour train to Annecy! Annecy is a little city east of Lyon in the mountains. It's on a lake and is right on the border of Switzerland. It was SOO beautiful and as soon as we got off the train, I was obsessed!

the first thing we saw when we left the train station

with Virginia on one of Annecy's many bridges

First, we walked around for a little while taking pictures and stopped at a cafe for some croissants and brioche chocolat. Right away, I noticed how friendly the people in Annecy were! In Lyon, most people are friendly, but here, they really went out of their way to help us out and talk to us! One man walked with us for about fifteen minutes showing us some of the really pretty spots in the center of Annecy and led us to the spot where the river meets the lake (which is also the spot that is in a lot of pictures when you Google Annecy!)

with Antonio

the whole group: Virginia, Rodolfo, Paris, me, and Antonio

I recognised this spot from Google!

After taking tons and tons of pictures on the bridges, we came across the Hôtel de Ville (city hall) and went to a cafe to get coffee and hot chocolate that we brought with us to the park. We walked through the park and just took in how pretty Annecy is. We found a spot on the lake where we could rent a paddle boat and got one for all five of us. We spent a half hour just paddling around Lac d'Annecy taking in the view of the mountains and everything. It was so much fun!

in front of the Hôtel de Ville

hangin in the park

Paddle boating on the Lac d'Annecy

After that, we stopped for some lunch at a little Italian restaurant next to the lake. I got salmon lasagna that also came with a salad. It was so good! Then we were all craving some French ice cream, so we stopped at a little Glacerie nearby. I got Snickers and Nutella. The Snickers kind of tasted like peanut butter which helped satisfy my peanut butter cravings a little! (They don't have peanut butter in most of Europe for some reason. I don't think I'll ever understand why the French find frog's legs and liver appealing but are repulsed by the thought of peanut butter.) While we were eating lunch, it started to rain a little, but luckily it didn't rain hard and it didn't last long so we could still enjoy the day!

After lunch, we explored some more and went to an old castle from the Middle Ages called Château d'Annecy. Inside, it had been made into a sort of art museum that had all different types of art. There were paintings and sculptures and some cool sand art (and also some modern-type pieces that we just could not understand!) The architecture of the castle was really cool and from the area behind it, you could see a beautiful view of the whole city and the lake. I'm sure we could probably even see Switzerland from there! Next, we went to a nearby church. It was so pretty and there was another great view of the city from there.

behind the castle with a view of the city behind us

the Basilica

the view of the city from the Basilica

For dinner, we decided to try a famous French fast food restaurant called "Quick." I got a chicken sandwich and fries, but I was really surprised how expensive it was for fast food! For my bottle of water half the size of a normal bottle, I had to pay €2 which would be about $3--so crazy! After dinner, we headed back to the train station where we had to catch a bus back to Lyon. I got a copy of the French Cosmo, but didn't read it yet because we were all so tired that we slept the whole hour and a half it took to get home!

Yesterday was so much fun and I fell completely in love with Annecy. I would definitely return there again, and going there made me really excited to see even more of France and Europe! I think it's finally starting to hit me that I'm in France, and I love it here so much! The thought of having to go home in three months actually makes me depressed. I would definitely want to stay for the full year if I could transfer more than one business class back to Elon. I have already come to the conclusion that I am going to live in Europe someday though, so when I do have to leave in December, I know it won't be for too long!

on the Pont des Amours (bridge of love) with the Lac d'Annecy and the Alps behind me

Integration Weekend!!!

This past weekend was by far one of the craziest and most fun weekends of my entire life. Every semester, ESDES does something called an "Integration Weekend" where everyone who signs up goes to a mystery location in France (they don't tell you where it is until you get there) and basically parties and gets to know people all weekend long.

On Friday after classes were over, all the IBP students who were going on the trip met up to catch our bus. I got sandwiches with a couple people and rushed back to the school to make sure we were there on time. But unfortunately, the bus didn't even get there until more than an hour later than it was supposed to. I've been told that the French are pretty laid back when it comes to being on time but we all thought that was a little much! The bus ride was really fun though, and the views we saw of the French countryside were so pretty, so that made up for our late departure! I sat with some of the IBP students on the bottom of the double-decker bus, and throughout the first couple of hours, French guys kept coming down to introduce themselves and basically check out all the international girls! One guy even brought me and Kirsten beers! (Pretty much everyone was drinking on the bus, but a lot of the IBP kids didn't get the memo to bring alcohol on the bus with us.) After the bus stopped for a break, me and Kirsten went upstairs to the top layer of the bus where a bunch of our other IBP friends were sitting. The upstairs was crazy with music blasting and everyone getting pumped for the weekend!

After about 5 hours of driving, we arrived at our destination which was... Cap d'Agne, which is a little coastal town near Montpellier! Right when we arrived, we were greeted by student volunteers who gave everyone a hot dog, beer, chips, and a candy bar. We stayed at a campground in bungalows of seven people. I stayed in a bungalow with four other IBP girls and two French boys. There were only enough beds for five people, so we made the boys sleep on the couch of course! Since we got there at about midnight, we didn't have much time to settle in before going out to that night's party, which was "white" themed--you were supposed to wear all white. The girls of my bungalow went over to the bungalow next door where more IBPers were staying to hang out before heading over to the party. The party was so much fun! The music was good and there were so many IBP students there, and to top it all off, there was an open bar!! Everyone got crazy dancing and hanging out outside and getting to know a lot of new people, and the night flew by. I didn't get home until 6:30 in the morning!

My bungalow-mates (minus Frédéric) getting ready to go to the white party!
(from left to right, Lucy, Rita, me, Kirsten, Flavion, and Ciela)

On Saturday, there was an early 10:00 wake-up call for everyone to come for brunch. The food was actually pretty good! There were different types of pasta and orzo salad, hard boiled eggs, fruit, and of course baguettes with brie. After brunch, the girls in my bungalow met up with a bunch of the other IBP kids and went to the pool. The water was pretty cold but I went in anyway. There were three different water slides and I went down each of them too many times to count. It was so much fun! Then at 2:00, everyone left the pool and walked to the beach that was about 10 minutes away. When we first got there, I climbed on the big rock jetty with some of the girls which was fun but difficult because a lot of the rocks were weirdly shaped and spaced far apart.

the pool. You can see one of the water slides!

So tropical looking!

Then we went back and hung on the beach for a little while. It had been kind of cloudy and chilly earlier in the day, but around 3:00 it got really warm and sunny! There was so much to do on the beach. I went on a "flying fish" raft and a banana boat that were both pulled by a boat through the Mediterranean. On the flying fish, 8 people could fit on it and you laid down on a raft. It was really fast and every time we went over a wave, it felt like we were going to flip, but we didn't. I loved that one! The banana boat wasn't quite as fun for me. This boat driver went a lot faster than the one driving the "flying fish" boat, and within about 20 seconds of the boat speeding up, I went flying off when we hit a big wave. It hurt and I got a ton of water in my ears and nose and swallowed some, but I was able to get back on. I switched spots with one of the guys where I would be less likely to fall off. It was a struggle to stay on, but I managed not to fall of it again! (My arms were so sore for the next two days from holding on so tightly!) I'm lucky I was ok because later on my friend Virginia got hurt from flying off of it, and I found out one girl in my program even had to go to the hospital.

With Julie on the beach. (p.s. I swear I'm wearing a bathing suit bottom haha!)

When we were heading back onto the beach after the banana boat, there was a beach dance party and then we noticed something white in the distance... It was foam! Everyone went running up there and there was a big foam party which was literally one of the most fun things I've ever experienced. It didn't even feel like real life--it felt like a dream haha! There was even someone dressed like a panda dancing around with everyone (I wish I got a picture with the panda, since the panda is my sorority's mascot!) At a couple points, they sprayed out so much foam at once that it was over my head, so I ended up breathing in a ton of the soap. That probably wasn't too good for my lungs but it was worth it because it was so cool! After the entire area was covered in foam, they hosed everyone down and then we headed back to our bungalows to get ready for dinner. For dinner, we had baguettes, pizza, lasagna, and éclairs (I think they were trying to carbo-load us to get us ready for the night of partying ahead of us!) At dinner some of the French students were already in their costumes for the party. There was a group of guys dressed in very revealing policemen costumes which was so funny! The French kids were all crazy the entire weekend!

Some of the other IBP students!

After dinner, we went back to the bungalow to get ready for the party. The theme this night was to either wear a costume or something crazy. Since I didn't think to bring a crazy costume with me when I packed for Lyon, I just wore a bunch of random things that didn't really match. The party was crazy just like the night before and I danced a lot and hung outside talking to people. At around 3AM, one of my contacts fell out (I guess it was dry from all the sea water and foam I got in my eyes that day), so I went back to the bungalow for 5 minutes to grab my glasses. But when I went back to the club, they wouldn't let me back in because it was so late! They said the party was about to end, which I knew obviously wasn't true. An Italian boy from my program couldn't get back in either, so I we tried to sneak in through a side entrance near the food tent. We walked through a bunch of trees and plants and almost made it, but then one of the bouncers saw us and made us leave again. I found out my friend Jeronimo who's from Argentina was having a bungalow party so I went there and hung out for a while. I danced up on chairs and it got so crazy that someone broke one of the boards on their deck! After a while, my friend Kirsten found me and then my friends Josh from England and Josh from Ireland came too and we all hung out there for a while. At about 6:30, the Joshes walked me and Kirsten back to our bungalow and we sat outside eating cookies. We debated trying to go to the beach to watch the sun rise, but we were all so tired and didn't think we'd be able to get onto the beach, so we decided to just go to bed instead.

with Ben and Lucy, aka Captain Underpants and Minnie Mouse

Lucy gave everyone kisses with her red lipstick!

with Maria and Josh

On Sunday morning, we had another early wake-up call. We got all packed and cleaned the bungalow and then headed to brunch. The bus left at about 1PM and I was able to sit up on the top part of the bus this time. It wasn't crazy like it had been Friday night since everyone was completely exhausted from the weekend. I slept for part of the bus ride, and we had a short break where we stopped at a McDonald's and I got a L'petit wrap. Once we got back to Lyon, everyone was so tired that we all headed back to our dorms and apartments to get some rest after our insane weekend.

On the bus ride home, everybody was completely passed out after the amazing--but exhausting--weekend!

Even though I'm still tired and sore, this weekend was so much fun and definitely my most memorable experience in Lyon so far! It was definitely the definition of YOLO! I'm sad that it was the only Integration Weekend I'll ever get to go to, but it's ok because I got to know so many more people and I know that the experiences I had will last a lifetime!

So much excitement over the past week!

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't posted in over a week. I've been so busy!

So last Wednesday, I had my first day of classes. The classes I'm taking are Integrated Marketing Communications, Marketing Strategy, International Marketing, Strategic Planning in Advertising, French Language, French Conversation, and France in the 21st Century (which doesn't start until next week). Even though I'm taking seven classes, it seems like I'm not in class that often because the classes here only meet once or twice per week. All my classes are great so far! My French classes are pretty hard (I probably should have been in a lower level), but it's going ok and hopefully it will help me improve my French more! Since I've been here, I've realized just how bad I am at communicating in French, but I feel like I'm slowly getting better and learning more everyday vocab. My advertising class is interesting and I have a funny British guy as a professor so I'm sure it will be a great class!

After classes on Wednesday, I went with some of my friends to one of the other Elon girl's apartment. We just hung out and had a "Wine Wednesday." We met her roommates and some guys in our program. It ended up being really crazy and so much fun! We were there until almost 4 in the morning haha. And during the course of the night, we adopted the phrase YOLO (You Only Lyon Once)! It was a really fun night and I think we're going to try and do it again soon.

Some of the Wine Wednesday crew!

Daddy, the "Dirty French" book was a hit as you can see!

All the girls lovin on Jeronimo

Four of the Elon girls doing our sorority signs

On Thursday, I had more classes and then at night, there was a big city-wide International Party where everyone dresses in something from their home country. Since I don't really have any clothes that look American, I struggled to find something to wear and realized one of my shirts said New York on it. I went to a little pre-party with some girls in my program from the US, Canada, the Netherlands, and Germany. It was fun but I was still so tired from the late night the night before (and after having some wine, I was struggling not to fall asleep!), so after the pre-party, I took the last metro back to my dorm. It was a good thing I did because they were out until almost 5!

With Kirsten and Virginia. I drew their American and Canadian flags on their cheeks!

With Kirsten and Virginia again along with some girls from Germany and the Netherlands.

I had more classes on Friday and then later in the day, I got dinner with one of the Elon girls. We couldn't pick where to go and didn't want to spend much money so we decided to be super American and go to McDonald's haha! It was actually better than the US McDonald's in my opinion because it was less greasy. I got a "L'petit wrap" and a little chocolate sundae. After that, we walked around a little and met up with one of the other Elon girls in Place Bellecour (a big plaza that's pretty close to the school) and went to "the steps," the big hangout spot for young people in Lyon. A bunch of other students from our program were there too so we met some new people and had a lot of fun!

in Place Bellecour with the castle in the background

next to the bottom part of the statue in Place Bellecour

On Saturday, me and another girl went clothes shopping for the first time in Lyon! We went to H&M that had some of the same things that were in the USA H&M when I last went there in August, and a lot of different things too. I got a few things that will be perfect to wear in France! We went to a couple other stores too, like Etam and some French stores. While we were on the big shopping street near Place Bellecour, we stopped to watch a group of street performers who did all this crazy dancing. It was pretty cool! For dinner, we went to Vieux Lyon near our dorm and as we were walking through, a lot of the restaurants weren't open yet (since French people tend to eat late, a lot of restaurants don't open until 7 or 7:30). We found one that was open and got some delicious salad, chicken and potatoes, and chocolate mousse for dessert! Later on, we tried going to the steps again, but as we were walking and when we got there, we kept getting harassed by French guys. It's normal to experience guys trying to talk to you or make kissing noises at you occasionally (which I still think is creepy!), but that night the French guys were crazier than normal. There were a couple guys who wouldn't leave us alone and one group of guys even starting barking at us (WTF??!!), so needless to say, when we couldn't find the other IBP kids right away, we decided to head back to the dorm.

On Sunday, I went with another girl to a cafe for pains au chocolat and then a big park called Parc de la Tête d'Or in the third arrondissement. There's a zoo in the park where we saw giraffes and monkeys and lots of other cool animals. We also decided to try some French ice cream. I got chocolate and caramel and it was so delicious. It seemed similar to Italian gelato. Also in the park, we finally found the big letters that say "Only Lyon"! We tried getting some pictures of us on the letters, but the local kids seem to think of it as a jungle gym or something and it was impossible to get any pictures without lots of little kids being in them too. We'll definitely get a big group to go back and take some pictures there sometime! After the park, we went to the Lumière brothers museum. The Lumière brothers were the first filmmakers in history and helped develop a lot of film technology. We toured the house where they lived and saw some of the short films they made and the equipment they used. It was really cool! For dinner, we decided to try cooking in the dorm for the first time! We made some pasta, which was pretty basic but good. And we had Reese's for dessert! (They don't sell Reese's here because weirdly European people think peanut butter seems gross. The girl I made dinner with was prepared and brought some Reese's and peanut butter from home.)

my delicious French ice cream! 

next to the big lake in Parc de la Tête d'Or 

a giraffe in the Parc de la Tête d'Or zoo. So cute!

On Monday, I had some more classes and then I went to Carrefour with a couple girls. I tried to grocery shop for myself for the first time ever, so I had no idea what to buy and it was made even harder by the fact that everything was in French. While I was looking through the meat section, I came across a thing full of all the really gross meats (brains, hearts, livers, intestines, etc). Kinda made me lose my appetite! Later on, I met up with those girls again and we got everything booked for Oktoberfest!! We will be going the weekend of October 5th, and we are staying in a campground right outside Munich. There are buses that take people back and forth from the campground to Oktoberfest, and at night at the campground, you can pay €5 for unlimited beer and sangria all night! I am SOO excited!! After getting that all booked, I went with my friend Virginia to a bar called Cosmo to meet up with some other people in our program. It was soo crowded so a bunch of IBP people hung out at a nearby fountain and waited until the bar cleared out a little. I discovered my new favorite cocktail (a sex on the beach), and the bar took up pretty much the whole space, so when everyone felt like dancing, we just climbed up and danced on the bar!! It was such a fun night!

Dancing on top of the bar at Cosmo!

Hanging out with some other IBP students at the fountain outside Cosmo

Tuesday, after class got out, I went to lunch with some girls in Bellecour. We got salads (we felt like we've been lacking vegetables in our diets because of all the carbs we've been eating!) and they were really good. Mine had a cool French cheese on it that was soft inside and went really well with baguette. That night, I decided to try cooking something other than just pasta for the first time by myself! I made salmon that I struggled with a little, but it actually turned out to be pretty good! I had it along with the pasta that I made in case I completely destroyed the salmon! Then I went to Cosmo with Virginia and a girl from Australia named Julie. They had €2 jello shots but other than that, it wasn't as fun as the night before. It was raining so not a lot of people came out and the cocktails ended up being really expensive. I think there must have been a special the night before. Then we went to a twin themed party where Virginia and I both wore black dresses, pink cardis, black tights, and silver accessories. We assumed there wouldn't be many people there because of the rain, but we already had tickets so we went for a little while. We got our free drink that came with our ticket, and then caught the last metro home!

the salmon and pasta that I successfully made for myself

with Virginia and Julie on our way to the twin party

On Wednesday, I got to hang out with some French kids and go to a little French dinner party! My friend Kirsten met a guy at a party who's also a student in Lyon, and he invited us over for dinner with some of his friends. There was all different types of home-made sushi which was SOO good! One of his friends also had a little puppy there who was so adorable and made me miss Chloe. Since everyone there besides me and Kirsten lives in France, they spoke in French most of the time, so I was a little confused but managed to understand a little of what they were saying! It was really cool to meet some actual French students since we don't have classes with them or meet many French kids at the school.

All the homemade sushi! It was so yummy!

Thursday, I took another trip to Carrefour and then at night, I met up with a bunch of the other IBP students and went to the Lyon vs. Prague football match. (And remember, since I'm in Europe, football is soccer.) It was the first pro football game I've been to and it was so much fun! I thought it was so much better than American football which one of the students from England loved to hear. The first half of the game, there were no goals, but in the second half, Lyon got two goals within about a minute of each other and they ended up winning the game 2-1! The section next to us was full of all the die-hard fans who were screaming and singing different cheers throughout the whole game which made the experience even more entertaining! I definitely want to go to another football match soon!

with some other IBP students in the stadium before the match!

about to head into the stadium!

the Olympique Lyonnais stadium!

This weekend there was something called Integration Weekend which was so fun and crazy and was basically a weekend-long party! Since this post is already really long, I'll describe the excitement of Integration Weekend in another post tomorrow....