Two weekends ago I went with two other American students to a town north of Paris, called Rouen. We mostly went because my friend Ryan had gone on a school trip but wanted to go back and spend more time exploring. We got in Friday night around 6pm and met our coachsurfing host outside of the train station. He lived near by so we didn't have to carry our bags around all night. It was a pretty awesome night because we got to meet some of this friends at a cafe (where he was having a photo exposition!) We also had the most french dinner yet, 6 different kinds of cheese from the region, some cold cuts, bread from a local boulangerie, red wine, and white wine. It was fun to sit around some ones appartement and just hang out. I have been doing so many tourist things that is was refreshing to talk to people who actually live in the town and speak French.
Saturday was our sight-seeing day because our host was working. We went into, I swear, every church or cathedrale the town had to offer. There is also the super pretty and ornate clock tower. In fact, the town thought it was so beautiful that they "elevated" it from La Grosse Horlage to Le Gros Horlage. You gotta love it when sexism is built right into the language. The town is also where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake by the English so, I saw dungeon, the building where her trial was held and the place where she was burned.
In addition to the historic visits we also went to the fair that was on the other side of the river. I can now saw I've ridden a roller coaster in France and eaten churos dipped in nutella (because one form of sugar is never enough). We spent most of the day with a friend of Ryan's who is currently teaching English at a school in the area. She and her British friend hung out with us during the day and then watched A Fish Called Wanda with us that night. It was pretty fun to watch it with a mix of Americans and a British guy. At one point (as John Cleese and his wife are getting ready to sleep in different beds and are passive aggressively sniping at each other) he turned to us and ask "Is this how you really see British people?" I almost feel off the bed laughing.
Sunday morning we hung out with our French host and I bought two Tintin comic books!
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The French version of Thanksgiving was quite interesting. It did include turkey but also chestnuts. I have discovered that they are quite yummy but nonetheless a bit of a surprise. They also made a half-hearted attempt at pumpkin pie. They only succeed in making some kind of tasteless orange thing but the chocolate dessert was fantastic!
I now have 3 weeks before I head home.
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