vacances part deux

12:54 AM

After my first week of vacation spent lounging in Angers, I decided to get out of town for the second week. My first destination was.....Paris (for the 6th time in my life).  After my last time in Paris, I felt more keen on the place, now that I don't feel the need to visit all the tourist-y places, and because my friend Alex would actually be there this time! Saturday afternoon I boarded the TGV in Angers sans communication with Alex (for the two days leading up to my departure), unconcerned figuring it would work itself out by the time I arrived in Paris. Well, it didn't. I arrived in Montparnasse around 6 pm still with no contact with Alex, and by that point realized that her phone was also completely off. Feeling confident in my Parisien knowledge (ha!) I waddled to her house with my bags and plopped down at a bar to have a drink and wait for word from her. Luckily, I had contacted my friend who I studied with in Grenoble who is now living in Paris a couple days before, and he came to rescue me from my lonliness and had a chance to catch up. Eventually Alex turned her phone on, informed me that she had no idea I was coming that day, and met up with me at her apartment after she got off work. The rest of my time in Paris was spent partying with Alex and her comrades (until 6AM on a SUNDAY! These Parisians are a different breed....), meeting lots of people, and a short stop at the Musee d'Orsay to see the Impressionism and Fashion exhibit (which, was kind of a let down, but I can't complain since I defied authority and got in free).


Beautiful sunny day! (The day I left...)

Mandatory lock bridge photo.
Tuesday afternoon arrived and I was off to destination number 2: Zaragoza! When I was planning this vacation, I really just wanted to go somewhere warm and cheap, so the moment I found a 30€ aller-retour voyage to Spain, I was sold.  I had never been to Spain, much less HEARD of Zaragoza, but I figured it would be an adventure! I decided to Couchsurf with a local, which ended up being a wonderful experience. I had never surfed by myself, but he said there were two other guys staying with him that week, so I figured he must not be a psycho. Turns out the two guys were from Venezula doing the same TAPIF program as me in Toulouse, small world. My first night we spent watching soccer and the British version of "Jersy Shore" (equally as offensive as the real "Jersey Shore") and learning some pretty unnecessary Spanish phrases (surprisingly, "CHUG!" and "CHEERS!" turned out to be less useful than, say, for example "I would like to buy...." and "Where is...." when traveling solo the next day). For never having heard of the place prior to buying my flight, Zaragoza turned out to be pretty cool. They had an old historic district where I took the photos below. The second night in Zaragoza, our host took us out for tapas and beers. I literally cannot get over how cheap Zaragoza and Spain in general was.  A beer with a tapas cost between 1 and 2€, which is absolutely ABSURD and would never be found in France (benefits of an economic crisis, I suppose. Sorry, Spain.) All in all, a good experience.





As Thursday rolled around, I was off to Barcelona.  My friend Delaney got me from the train station and we basically bee-lined for the nearest cafe for sangria, which was delicious. That night we went out to a restaurant for dinner and drinks that to me was just "sooooooo Spanish" that I wish I had photos of.  After that, we went to English karaoke, of which I was a supportive audience member, but most definitely not a participant (Eminem was being requested, therefore.....no). The next day, Delaney and I went walking around Barcelona to some big market thing, got bacadillos (SO nom-worthy and ONLY 3,50€! Times like these, I wish I had taken Spanish, not French), and saw Gaudi's Casa de Batlló. I literally knew nothing of Gaudi, but knew that I had to see something of his before diving head first into Sagrada Familia, since my friend Julie told me her only regret while traveling in Barcelona was not seeing the famous church. I really enjoyed hearing about the influence of nature on his architecture , specifically the incorporation of water into his creations.


Beautiful vintage store in the Gothic, accidental selfie.

Casa de Batlló




Initially I was hesitant to go inside the Sagrada Familia, being that it was a pricey 20 euro for the ticket in, but eventually decided to suck it up and shell out the cash, and was happy I did. Seeing the outside, one would never think that the inside would be so colorful and beautiful.
Sagrada Familia







Overall the trip was a success. I ended up meeting a lot of cool people, seeing new places, and really gaining an appreciation for Angers and France. Although I loved the Spanish culture and attitude for a short amount of time, I felt so at home when I came back to Angers. Lately I haven't been feeling super confident in my language skills, what with some of my students being little D-bags making fun of my accent and pretty much everything I say, but after being in Spain unable to communicate anything at all, I really need to appreciate how far I have come this far in French.

Home sweet home in Angers!

Fall has finally arrrived
ming.

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17 November 2012

vacances part deux

After my first week of vacation spent lounging in Angers, I decided to get out of town for the second week. My first destination was.....Paris (for the 6th time in my life).  After my last time in Paris, I felt more keen on the place, now that I don't feel the need to visit all the tourist-y places, and because my friend Alex would actually be there this time! Saturday afternoon I boarded the TGV in Angers sans communication with Alex (for the two days leading up to my departure), unconcerned figuring it would work itself out by the time I arrived in Paris. Well, it didn't. I arrived in Montparnasse around 6 pm still with no contact with Alex, and by that point realized that her phone was also completely off. Feeling confident in my Parisien knowledge (ha!) I waddled to her house with my bags and plopped down at a bar to have a drink and wait for word from her. Luckily, I had contacted my friend who I studied with in Grenoble who is now living in Paris a couple days before, and he came to rescue me from my lonliness and had a chance to catch up. Eventually Alex turned her phone on, informed me that she had no idea I was coming that day, and met up with me at her apartment after she got off work. The rest of my time in Paris was spent partying with Alex and her comrades (until 6AM on a SUNDAY! These Parisians are a different breed....), meeting lots of people, and a short stop at the Musee d'Orsay to see the Impressionism and Fashion exhibit (which, was kind of a let down, but I can't complain since I defied authority and got in free).


Beautiful sunny day! (The day I left...)

Mandatory lock bridge photo.
Tuesday afternoon arrived and I was off to destination number 2: Zaragoza! When I was planning this vacation, I really just wanted to go somewhere warm and cheap, so the moment I found a 30€ aller-retour voyage to Spain, I was sold.  I had never been to Spain, much less HEARD of Zaragoza, but I figured it would be an adventure! I decided to Couchsurf with a local, which ended up being a wonderful experience. I had never surfed by myself, but he said there were two other guys staying with him that week, so I figured he must not be a psycho. Turns out the two guys were from Venezula doing the same TAPIF program as me in Toulouse, small world. My first night we spent watching soccer and the British version of "Jersy Shore" (equally as offensive as the real "Jersey Shore") and learning some pretty unnecessary Spanish phrases (surprisingly, "CHUG!" and "CHEERS!" turned out to be less useful than, say, for example "I would like to buy...." and "Where is...." when traveling solo the next day). For never having heard of the place prior to buying my flight, Zaragoza turned out to be pretty cool. They had an old historic district where I took the photos below. The second night in Zaragoza, our host took us out for tapas and beers. I literally cannot get over how cheap Zaragoza and Spain in general was.  A beer with a tapas cost between 1 and 2€, which is absolutely ABSURD and would never be found in France (benefits of an economic crisis, I suppose. Sorry, Spain.) All in all, a good experience.





As Thursday rolled around, I was off to Barcelona.  My friend Delaney got me from the train station and we basically bee-lined for the nearest cafe for sangria, which was delicious. That night we went out to a restaurant for dinner and drinks that to me was just "sooooooo Spanish" that I wish I had photos of.  After that, we went to English karaoke, of which I was a supportive audience member, but most definitely not a participant (Eminem was being requested, therefore.....no). The next day, Delaney and I went walking around Barcelona to some big market thing, got bacadillos (SO nom-worthy and ONLY 3,50€! Times like these, I wish I had taken Spanish, not French), and saw Gaudi's Casa de Batlló. I literally knew nothing of Gaudi, but knew that I had to see something of his before diving head first into Sagrada Familia, since my friend Julie told me her only regret while traveling in Barcelona was not seeing the famous church. I really enjoyed hearing about the influence of nature on his architecture , specifically the incorporation of water into his creations.


Beautiful vintage store in the Gothic, accidental selfie.

Casa de Batlló




Initially I was hesitant to go inside the Sagrada Familia, being that it was a pricey 20 euro for the ticket in, but eventually decided to suck it up and shell out the cash, and was happy I did. Seeing the outside, one would never think that the inside would be so colorful and beautiful.
Sagrada Familia







Overall the trip was a success. I ended up meeting a lot of cool people, seeing new places, and really gaining an appreciation for Angers and France. Although I loved the Spanish culture and attitude for a short amount of time, I felt so at home when I came back to Angers. Lately I haven't been feeling super confident in my language skills, what with some of my students being little D-bags making fun of my accent and pretty much everything I say, but after being in Spain unable to communicate anything at all, I really need to appreciate how far I have come this far in French.

Home sweet home in Angers!

Fall has finally arrrived
ming.
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