Nature Weekend

I can’t believe it’s November already!  I only have about a month left in my abroad experience (depressing), but I have a lot of cool things planned for the next few weeks (i.e. trips to Florence and London). 

Lac Kir

This last weekend was spent bonding with Dijon and my host family.  I spent Friday just wandering around by myself since my friends were being lame.  My host mom drove me to Lac Kir, and I power-walked my way around it with all the old couples who were out.  The name of this lake is somehow related to the regional specialty kir, which is a drink made from champagne and cassis (blackcurrant liqueur).

Puits de Moïse (Well of Moses)

From there I took a path back into Centre Ville, stopping first at the Puits de Moïse, and then walked the 30 minutes home, but I decided to take some pics along the way, since I don’t really have much photographic proof that I actually live in Dijon.

Arc de Triomphe...in Dijon

St. Bernard

pretty building and fountain on my walk home

Saturday, I left with my host parents and host sister Alice for their house in the Alps in the town of Chamonix.  More specifically, their house is in Argentière, which is a little village a little further up into the mountains from Chamonix.  The town is a major ski destination since Switzerland and Italy are just on the other side of Mont Blanc, the tallest mountain in Europe (not counting anything in Russia).  We heard a lot of Italians in town, and apparently a lot of English people come to Chamonix too. 

house in Argentiere

view from my window

Unfortunately, we didn’t get to ski since there wasn’t enough snow and it’s not ski season yet, but we did some hiking.  After we got there Saturday afternoon and had lunch, we met up with some of my host parents friends that have houses close by to go on a little hike.  It was nice to be out in nature and see some beautiful views of the mountains and glaciers.  I’m mad at myself for not bringing my camera that day.  That night, the friends came over for tartiflette, a dish specific to the mountains that is basically potatoes and melted roblochon cheese and little pieces of ham…aka heaven. 

Sunday, I got up for breakfast (well rested thanks to the time change) and did a little reading for class.  That afternoon, I walked into town with my host parents and one of their friends to do a little tour of the town.  The area reminds me a lot of Vail, Colorado, just a little more French.  Alice met us in town with the dog, Maya (who was super happy to be in the mountains), and we went back home on the bus.  When we got back, we had tea and little shortbready-type cookies and chilled out watching some French TV for a little while.  Even though people talk incredibly fast on TV, I feel like I’m getting a lot better at understanding and now I get what’s going on, I just miss little details. 

view from the back of the house

view along the walk into town

For dinner, we went over to their friends’, Pascal and Béatrice’s, apartment and had duck, potatoes, salad, cheese, and a little cake for dessert…so French.  Afterwards, we all sat in their living room for tea.  This particular couple had lived in the United States, so it was fun to talk to them since they had a better understanding of American life.  On the hike the day before, I talked to Pascal (the husband) about his experiences working in America.  We both found that on the surface, France and the U.S. are very similar, considering that they’re both Western countries, but the underlying values, particularly in the business world, are very different.  It seemed like, as a European, specifically French, Pascal had some trouble assimilating into American business culture and found one company that he worked for very closed off and not very internationally-friendly.  Pascal and Béatrice lived in both Boston and Toledo, Ohio, and although they didn’t say it outright, I got the feeling they did not like Ohio.  Pascal did say that it seemed like the Midwest was not very open-minded.  He found it a lot easier to relate to East Coasters since many of them have had more experience in Europe and have traveled more.  I think it’s fair to say that people living on the East Coast are more exposed to “culture,” but I think it’s definitely a big city vs. small town mindset.  It is true that Midwesterners love Amurrrrica though.

Chamonix

Kansassy made it all the way to France!

We left Chamonix this morning in order to get back for lunch with Mimi, my host dad’s mother.  It wasn’t in the original plan to leave as early, but my host dad forgot that he told his mom she could come over for the holiday lunch (it’s All Saints Day).  There was some minor family drama, but it didn’t bother me in the least, since I’m used to being rushed on vacation (right, Dad?)  Two of my classes for tomorrow are canceled, so for now, I’m going to be like the French and take advantage of my temps libre (free time).