Les Francais

See the red flag? That's the protest leaving the Place de Terreaux.

Dim and Cristina studying some French

Tables Cafe Leffe. You can also see the pretty fountain in the middle of the Place.

Enjoying a pastry from the boulangerie next to my house.

Janine with her shadown and mine...saturday afternoon photo session taking advantage of some good light!

colocs.

So, it was absolutely beautiful here yesterday. I got out of the house and headed to Place de Terreaux to meet my friend Cristina and her French bf to study some French grammar...woohooo! We have a final exam tomorrow, so we found a nice cafe with tables out in the plaza and looked over our work, with the help of Dim, the French guy. However, I had my camera and did more picture-taking and people watching than studying. The sun was so warm and everyone was out walking around---I just loved it! It was one of those "wow, we are in France" afternoons because we were sitting in the place at a cafe surrounded by people speaking French and witnessed a "manifestation" or protest, which are VERY popular here in France. Also witnessed a parade of different kinds of bicycles persuading people to take bikes more. Also a parade of unicycles. Can you see why I was a bit distracted?

The other night my school organized a pub night for all the study abroaders here with all the French people that will be studying at their schools next year, and I met two girls, Elodia et Charlotte, that will be studying in Austin. They're both so sweet, and I'm looking for to hanging out with them and hopefully speaking French as much as possible :) I also really enjoyed bragging about Austin and UT for a night :)

Really though, as my "sejour" (stay) here is coming to an end, I've been thinking my general opinion of it, and I've decided that I love France. At the beginning of my stay here I had a lot of issues getting used to the culture, especially the people and their ideas of doing things here. In fact, I pretty much went through a "I hate France" stage. But now, I know I want to live here again. I just love the people--the things that originally annoyed me (like their strong opinions on EVERYTHING) now amuse me greatly. Of course I've always loved the food, and the country itself is just amazing. So much history and beauty and things just so unique to such a small place. It's coming to the point of "now or never" since I'm really only going to be here for 1 more month (in France specifically) since I'll be traveling so much. It's almost painful to think about leaving, and I apologize in advance for any pouting or grieving I might do for the months following my retour...Just know that if you ever want someone to go to France with, or even just a French film, you know who to call. Tear. Gros bisous de la France!