I made it back to the United States safe and sound. I'm still recovering from some jet lag 3 days later, but I thought I should leave you with some closure from the trip.

Mom and Maggie greeted me at the Santa Fe airport, where I was then carted to northern Santa Fe to have a barbecue. After 32 hours of travelling, of course, we had a party :) It was pretty awesome and great to see all the people I had met here in Santa Fe. Mom and Grandma also had travelling in for a small vacation, as well as Dom's mom. So, we had a small family reunion as well. It has been really nice to have us all in the same area for a few days.

Yesterday, Mag, Mom, Gma and I drove up to Taos, NM. We got to see a part of the Rio Grande. Yay for Mom and Maggie for walking to the center of it with me!!!

Night of the barbecue with Gma and Mom

Mom and Maggie at Santa Fe Baking

Love this photo :)

Just making a HUGE batch of chocolate-covered rice crispy treats!!!!

Barbecue...Me, Mom, Gma and Maggie...and baby Micah

Rio Grande!

Gorge and the Rio Grande. Gorgeous. I'm gonna miss these views in Iowa.

I have been looking back and reminiscing on this summer and I know its not over just yet, but I can't help but know it was a great summer and I have been truly blessed to partake in the opportunities I had this summer. I was able to spend time with my family and friends and see some things that many people will never get to experience. It has definitely been one for the books :)

In about 1 hour I begin my 32-hour journey back to New Mexico, leaving me just enough time to write this last post via France :(

The last few days have just flown by. I have been looking forward to the moment when I go back home for awhile now, but now that it is here, I am very sad to be going. I have been blessed to meet many wonderful people on this trip and they will all be missed dearly.

Remember I told you about those pickles we had with dinner last week? They are called 'cornichons'. And of course, there is a French song about them that is quite catchy. Much better than the last, I promise.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6sPrpEJfEk&feature=related

Thursday afternoon was spent at the 'beach'. Now, when I say beach, I mean a lake with a concrete border around it that the French people apparently think is a beach. (huh?) But it was still fun. We played some sand volleyball and took a slide into the freezing cold lake water. I am told there are some actual beaches around the lake, but I wasn't fortunate enough to see them :(

Last night many of us got together one last time. Once again, we had to try some grub from this region of France. All I have to say is OMG. You read about the meat and cheese experience...well I did it again, but differently this time. This region of France is known for its Fondue and Raclette. Both are cheese dishes originally used by less fortunate individuals who couldn't afford much more than cheese, bread, potatoes and perhaps meat. Today, they are dishes often eaten in winter as they are very heavy. I can attest to this by the 2-hour stomach ache I had post-consumption...

However...Raclette is both a kind of cheese and the name of the dish. At least two people must share this dish. It is a wheel of cheese that comes connected to a heater-thing that slowly melts it down. As the consumer, you must organize some meat and potatoes on your fork and scrape off cheese from the wheel with every bit. Yum. And its never-ending, so I felt obligated to continue eating.

Following dinner we finally made it to the discotheque we have been trying to go to for the last month where I was sure to gracefully stub my toe, resulting in my toenail being cut in half. Aside from the blood, I had a great time. And when I took my cab back to the apartment at 230 in the morning, I also got to say good-bye to the random cab-driver man who now knows my address by heart because he has driven me home so much.

At the 'Beach'

Me in downtown Annecy before dinner :(

Cheers to our last night! To great times and even better friends :)

Love this girl. I didn't meet her until the last couple days of my stay here, but she is an amazing person and will truly be missed. I guess I will just have to visit Columbia some day!

Raclette before we tackled it...

And after...

Fondue. And my friend Clara.

I have literally not done much since Sunday, but thought I would try to give you an update anyhow....

The weather has improved a lot this week. It actually feels like summer again, and I mean like 80 degrees. I'm sure that feels like winter to you all right now though. Mom told me it was 105 today! woah. I'm excited to come home, but can you all try to get rid of that nonsense for me please? We have been able to go to the lake and this evening I had a picnic with some friends and tomorrow I plan to FINALLY hit the beach before I leave this place. I got to thinking today though...how many places can you go where there is a beautiful lake, you are surrounded by mountains and the weather is nice enough to swim? Not many. Its like I have the best part of all the seasons at once. Its amazing and kind of scary to think about.

I can promise you that I haven't let you down in the Ice Cream Department...I have since tried
Tiramisu
and today, Snickers
I tried another that was like vanilla with vanilla wafer pieces in it, but I cannot recall the name...

Kinder still wins though :) If I remember, I will take a photo of the ice cream shop to share with you so that you fully understand my need to try as many flavors as possible.

I have just 2 days left :( Still on the to-do list is eating a sweet crepe. But I can do it. I will try to blog one more time before returning to the states. My friends and I have some big plans for the next couple of days, so if all goes well, I will have a lot to share with you!

Well, I had quite the weekend, so prepare for a long blog :)

Time is running out on my time in France, which means I have to try and accomplish all of those things I have been putting off doing before I return to the states. As you will see, this mostly involves food. 

Lene and I have been dying to try the local food of Annecy. Since Annecy is situated in the French department of Haute-Savoie, the regional cuisine is also named as such. With the cooler temperatures of the Alps region, this local food is usually heavy and often in large portions.

This is the tartaflette. It really reminded me of ham and potato casserole with cheese :)

This was the meal I had. It is a 'charcuterie' plate with cheese fondue. The meat is different types of ham, very common here. I have eaten more ham here than ever before. It was very good though.

Lene and I after dinner. Hanging out with some friends :)

Saturday morning, we got up and went to Lyon. As part of my food consumption mission, I tried a new pastry, called the Broche Suisse. It was soooo sweet, I had to eat it in intervals! And that is sweet, because you all know how much I love sugar. It was like a croissant-type pastry, filled with this vanilla frosting-type cream and chocolate chips, then covered in sugar. Woah. 

Since Lyon is the gastronomy capital of France, we spent a good 2.5 hours eating a 3-course meal for lunch. I started with a Cesar salad, which was easily enough for me. But I had to indulge in the entire experience, thus, I kept eating.

My long was steak, au-gratin potatoes and grilled vegetables. Unfortunately, nothing I found spectacular. But  definitely worth the experience. The dessert however, totally worth it. This tiramisu was to die for.

Moving on...part of our day was spent in an old medieval town called Perouges. It was originally an Italian colony and at some point became French. It is located high on a hill with a small wall border surrounding it.

Me at the entrance to the village.

Found this interesting. Our guide told us that this same area was used back then for very different reasons. During the time that people lived here, a lot of animals roamed freely throughout the village. Therefore, young children could not be left unattended playing on the ground. As a solution, when mothers would go to work, they would place their babies on large bowl-basket type things and hang them from the ceiling. Odd, but logical.

This is just another view of the city. All of the buildings were made of these cobblestone things, as well as all the walkways.

This is in Lyon. You are looking at the biggest shopping center in Europe.

This is the sight of a traboule in Lyon. It is a secret passageway that moves through different houses in the town. They were used during WWII when the Germans were occupying France as a way for residents to get around and escape from the Gestapo.

Me standing in one of the passages. The buildings surrounding it are now apartments and are still lived-in by locals.

This view is the result of climbing up 250 stairs and then hiking up a few large hills. You are looking at the city of Lyon.

This is the Notre Dame Basilique, which sits on top of the same hill you were just viewing. It is absolutely gorgeous. The architecture and detail on the outside of the cathedral are incredible.

One of many murals inside the cathedral. We were told that these were not painted, but are made from little pieces of something I don't know the name of and carefully put together. The pieces are each the size of like the tip of my finger...so this definitely took a long time.

This is the last main thing we saw. It is the ruins of a Roman Theater from 17-15 BC

I must also tell you that yesterday, I found I had placed my butter tub in the sink. I found it about an hour after I did it. I think I'm going crazy....

The next several days should be pretty busy as I work down my to-do list, but I will try to keep you all updated! See you soon!

Bon Nuit!

Bon Apres Midi!

It is a gorgeous day here in Annecy, as are all the days when the sun shines. This week I moved up a level in my studies of French (woohoo!). I guess I am actually learning something. This weekend we had a French couple move into the apartment with us, making 5 people per 1 apartment and 1 bathroom. eek! But its working out well, AND we get to practice french a little bit more, as they also speak little English. Other pluses...they got us internet, a new refrigerator and a washing machine, so I don't have to suffer through hand-washing my clothes. I may have just resorted to buying new clothes as I needed them....something my Dad taught me :)

Anyway...this week in Annecy there is an outdoor festival called Les Noctibules. It is a collection of street performers that perform in the old town area of town, as well as 'Main Event' shows taking place in the evening. Last night was the first night and it featured acrobats hanging from large blown up balloons and dancing/doing tricks. It was very cool, but did not last too long. Something to see for sure. I took some photos and videos featured on here as well.

My newest friend is Dan. He is from Canada and has a pretty cool story. He is just 29 years old and has already own in investment firm in Canada. After some years of working, he elected to sell the business and has been travelling for the past couple of years. His next adventure? Potentially sailing across the Atlantic Ocean to South America and making his way north for the next year, finally to return to Canada. Crazy crazy man, but how cool!?

Tonight, I am actually attending a movie in French with a few friends...Spiderman. Should be good and I can knock one more thing off my list of things I have to accomplish before leaving France. This weekend we are going to Lyon with the school. (They take bus trips to different areas in the country) Apparently it is amazingly good food-capital of the world, so I will definitely be putting that to the test!

Short video of the event from last night. Pretty cool.

The acrobat is hanging by some device from this giant balloon. I was pretty nervous for her for awhile because the way it works is that two people hold cords that are attached to the balloon and basically stabilize it and move it around. The two guys on her balloon were not doing a very good job and I was really afraid she would hit something, but she didn't. All was well.

This is a rainbow that we had Sunday night. You can't tell from this picture, but the colors were vibrant and it was an entire rainbow. I have never seen one like this in the states.

Until I need to tell you about those travels, know that Kinder ice cream flavor is still my number 1. I have since tried cafe (coffee) and nougat. Both great, but not great enough to bump Kinder from the top. I have a week to find a better flavor, but I think Kinder will win out. I have also since tried a Broche, which is another pastry; somewhat like a donut, but very light and fluffy. Yum. Talk with y'all soon!

I think I have spent more time at this McDonalds than I have in the past year in America. Silly internet.

Yesterday was France's national holiday which turned out to be pretty fun. I looked at it as my own celebration of July 4 since I didn't get one this year. I got fireworks and everything. There is a large lake in Annecy, so the spectacle took place there, surrounded by the most gorgeous views of the mountains. 

On our walk to the city I got some more battle wounds from nonchalantly running right into a light post. I was just trying to be nice and fish some crackers out of my purse for my hunger-starved-wilting-away roommate and BAM! Next time he saw the same thing coming, he was sure to physically move me to the other side of the sidewalk.

Friday night was filled with more festivities with friends. We went back to the discotheque we went to last weekend. I don't think I told you, but it was not the best experience our first time. The crowd was mostly middle-aged seemingly single men awkwardly dancing their way around both the young and old women grooving on the dance floor, which resembled a lot of the dancing I see at clubs in America. Except this time, it was to music from the US, 80s style. My fear of partaking in this scene kept me from dancing. However, this Friday, the crowd was mostly students from my school. It had a much better vibe and we had a great time. As a bonus, we scored some giant red sunglasses, glow-in-the-dark bracelets and light-up rings. 

Clara, Me and Lene sporting our party favors from the discotheque. Heyyyyy.

Le Munich. Our frequented bar.

Me with Basil and Lene waiting for fireworks.

Gorgeous view of the mountains.

This was a 'swing' dance group we watched at the national day festival. They were all very good. It is a little lengthy, but they do some really cool tricks and I had to record it. 

Friday night I also tried the ice cream flavor 'caramel'. Not good. Kinder is keeping its lead in my book for now.

I am off to hike back to the apartment and make some spaghetti. Yum.

Bon Soiree!

During my last class of the day, we listened to the following song. You will probably only want to listen to it once, maybe not even all the way through, but its a French version of a tongue twister, such as..."Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers...." Pretty cool :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUYiugTpu8g

Anyway...yesterday I had another language moment...
The landlord to my apartment stopped by. This man speaks no English whatsoever, and my French is less than adequate, so you can imagine how our conversations usually go. They include a lot of polite nodding so as not to make the other party feel incredibly uncomfortable. Well, he presented me with this key. All of the people that live in this apartment have keys, so you can imagine my wonderment. When he told me the key was for the "toilettes" (obviously toilet) and pointed outside, I was even more confused. But of course, I nodded, smiled and he left. Later on, I was trying to explain to my Italian roommate what had happened (he also speaks little English) and he seemed to know all about this. Odd. He said, "Oui, le cle est pour les toilettes"...or at least that is what my American ears heard. Again. After he saw the look on my face, he continued to repeat himself slowly and finally understood he was saying "boite de lettres"...which is the mailbox. And clearly NOT a toilet outside. Phew. I was glad to have that cleared up.

If you have been reading this, you know that I went to visit Chamonix last weekend to see le Mont Blanc. I don't know how much news you have been watching or if it was even aired in the US, but there was a tragic accident very early this morning. An avalanche hit one of the climbing mountain, claiming the lives of at least  9 visitors from outside of France participating in mountain climbing (the one where they use ice-chips and such). This is a popular thing and I saw many people doing it the day I was there. As of right now, there are still up to 5 people unaccounted for. There are two articles listed here if you are interested.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/12/mont-blanc-avalanche_n_1667440.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/07/12/britons-among-dead-in-mont-blanc-massif-avalanche_n_1667458.html

I will leave you with my the new leader of ice cream flavers, KINDER. I am also not sure if this candy bar is sold in US. I think I will bring some home just in case because they are delicious!

Bon Soir!