Rome

Amsterdam and Stockholm were amazing!!!! I had so much fun. Now Stephanie and I are in Rome. It got off to a rocky start, but now everything is good. We went to the Coliseum today and walked around. Tomorrow we will be on a sightseeing tour, with a stop at the Vatican. We leave Sunday night for Paris. I'll try to post pictures tomorrow if I remember!... slash if I'm not as exhausted as I am right now!

XOXO,
Dena

Last night in Angers...

It's very bittersweet to be leaving. Obviously I can't wait to be home, but I have really grown to love it here, as well. I think I'm happier to be going home than I am sad to be leaving. Does that make sense? I'm just ready to see my sister, and then finally Cody.

My parents' visit has been amazing. Today, we went to my bank appointment, walked all over the center of town (aka shopping), had a delicious lunch at a nice restaurant, went to the cathedral and castle, came back to finish packing and cleaning my apartment, went out for crepes, and finally a beer at a local bar. It was awesome. :) Now I just can't wait to see Stephanie on Sunday!!!! Hopefully I can blog at least once more, but if not... SEE YOU IN THE STATES!!!!

Love,
Dena

Patience is a virtue...

.... that I clearly do NOT have!

I'm waiting for it to be time to go pick my parents up from the train station. Their train arrives in about 68 minutes. So, I can leave in about 30 (I have some errands to do along the way).

I cannot wait to see them!!!!

Last night, we had a final going away party. It was soooo much fun! It seemed like almost all of the international students showed up. I am really going to miss this place and all of the wonderful people I have met along the way. :( I'm probably more excited to be getting home, though.

Lists

My parents are in Paris!! Woohoo!! Not really sure what they are up to today, but they are safe. :)

I figured now would be as good of a time as any to make a couple of lists. One is a list of the things I will miss about Angers/France, and the other it things I will either not miss... or I really just miss about home. So, here it goes.

Things I will miss:

• Kebab- SO yummy!
  
• Neil Thomas- my marketing professor. He liked to wear vests.
  
• Shopping
• Mims, Bershka, Zara- a bunch of French stores
  
• Having one class a day... in the middle of the afternoon
• Cheap shoes
• Soldes- the sales all over France
  
• Seeing Chateau D'Angers every day
• My computer (RIP)
• International friends
• Gardens
• Lion Candy Bars
• Sending letters/postcards
• Improving my French- obviously I will still be improving by taking classes, but it just won't be the same as actually being in France
  
• Walking everywhere

Things I will not miss:

• Public Transportation
• ESSCA's crazy class schedule
• Carrefour- ugh the lines are worse than Walmart!
  
• Not being about to speak English outside of school and my apartment
• Being so far away from family and friends
• Smelly French people- only 70% of French women wear deodorant!
  
• BNP Paribas- my French bank
  
• MagicJack- my "phone" that is on my computer. I can't hear the person I am talking to half of the time
  
• No rootbeer
• Not having an oven or dishwasher
  
• Not having my phone
• Paying for laundry/the dryer/the dryer not actually working- so my in my apartment next year, I will have to pay for laundry again, but I have a bunch of friends who have free laundry so I'll probably just go visit someone once a week :)
  
• Cultural differences/communication problems

Some Nice Pictures

We took a tourist bus ride around Nice. I just couldn't get over the square head. I think there might be an office building inside of it.



Monaco Grand Prix!



Cannes Film Festival!



Be on the beach in Nice. It was so nice. :) Haha. Pun intended.


My parents leave for Paris today!!!!!! Then I will finally see them on Thursday after they arrive tomorrow. Then I will see Stephanie on Sunday. I am so excited! Then time to go home. :) Finally.

Dena

Nice time in Nice

I'm off to Nice early in the morning! Too bad it is supposed to rain the entire time I am there. :( But I will also be going to Cannes, and possibly Monaco. It will be fun!

Be back Saturday.

XOXO,
Dena

Rainy Saturday

I LOVE RAIN!... just sayin

Today, Ashley and I had a few errands to do, but only one of them got accomplished. We needed to go to the CAF office, buy escargot, eat lunch, and go grocery shopping.

CAF: I had to go to the doctor for a physical last week (in Nantes), then I filled out a bunch of forms, then I turn them in at the CAF office. After I do this, they will help me pay for my rent! Since my rent is already mostly paid, though, my landlord will put the extra money in my bank account. But the office was not open since it is Saturday. We'll have to go on Monday after class.

Escargot: The typical way someone makes escargot is in an oven, but we found a recipe to make it on the stove. And when in France, right? So we went to the Saturday market, and we couldn't find any. Usually there is a bunch! Very strange.

Lunch: This is the only thing that got accomplished. We ate kebabs at our favorite stand. I will miss that so much!!

Grocery store: For some reason the buses aren't running today! We had to use the Sunday bus to get from CAF to the market. We walked everywhere else. So therefore, we have no way of getting to Carrefour. So we decided to just go to Marché Plus (which I have been pronouncing wrong the entire time I've been here). But of course it had to be closed. So we'll have to go on Monday. The tiny grocery store is open, but I'm sure I can scrounge around today and tomorrow for food from my fridge.


Oh, so my roommate has been MIA the last two weeks, and she finally came back last night. Then her parents came today and she moved out. She'll have to come back though in a few weeks to check out with the landlord... so I'm not sure if I'll ever see her again. She left me a note because I didn't see her last night or today. That was nice.

Now I will continue to enjoy my rainy day :)

XOXO,
Dena

London... a tad late

I am so bad with updating!! I was really good about it in the beginning. I will make up for it by posting a ton of pictures!



Big Ben and Parliament!! BB was much taller than I expected, actually.



The London Eye. It was so amazing to go to the top. Thanks, Stephanie, for practically making me do it! I hate heights, but it wasn't scary at all. I could see all of London from the very top, or so it seemed.



Fish n' Chips... of course. It was delicious! I got it two nights for dinner. This is a lot coming from me, considering I don't generally enjoy fish. I loved it though, so maybe I am turning over a new leaf and becoming less picky of an eater?



Buckingham Palace. We went and saw the changing of the guards. Honestly it was just boring to watch. Haha. It was basically the same as the changing of the guards in Monaco, only it lasted longer and there were more guards. Of course I had to take tons of pictures of the guards in funny hats, but they were all turned wrong, and I'm not sure how to rotate pictures on here.



Tower of London Bridge. It is often confused as being London Bridge. We took a nice boat ride, which went under both bridges, and I didn't even take a picture of London Bridge because it looked so boring! It was just a boring old bridge. This one was much much cooler.

More London Pictures

Me, riding on the London Eye. You can see Big Ben, Parliament, and Westminister Abbey behind me. The Eye was probably my favorite part of London. It was so much fun!!!



This is the Peter Pan statue in Kensington Park. It took forever to find because the directions kept steering us in the wrong direction!! It was well worth it. This is one of the things I really wanted to see.



Of course I had to take a picture with a telephone booth!!! And I even used one. :)



This is in front of Shakespeare Globe theater. This is one of the other places I really wanted to go. I'm sad that it isn't a very good picture. :( We could not take pictures inside the theater because they were actually doing rehearsals. It was very neat to see that being done. I would have loved to see the show, but they were opening the same day we left.



Yummiest Mexican food EVER!!!! And by ever, I mean, since I have been in Europe.

I'm back!

I'm back from London! The only info I'll release for now is that it was AMAZING!!! I loved it, and I am missing it already. I woke up from a nap a couple of hours ago, and now I am getting ready to go to bed for good. Hopefully I will update and post some pictures tomorrow or Sunday!

Love,
Dena

London!

I leave for London in the morning! Yay! Well technically Paris, but whatever. We will be there tomorrow night, leave for London Tuesday morning, and then back to Paris early Friday morning. I'll let you know how it goes when I get back! I doubt I will be able to blog while I am there or in Paris, but maybe. I will definitely post pictures soon after I get back.

XOXO,
Dena

Pictures

I thought I would post some more photos. Two are from Cody's visit, and the first two are from yesterday. I hate how they show up out of order, but oh well. Cody was clearly here before yesterday, so just pretend like the ones of him and I are posted first.

Me with my sandwich yesterday. We went for a walk by the river. It was so nice outside!!

Last night, Ashley and I decided to make hot fudge sundaes! We went to Marche Plus to buy ice cream and whipped cream. Then we melted chocolate we already had mixed with cream, and the put the ice cream on top. So delish.


Us in front of the Eiffel Tower (obviously...)


Cody and I at the chocolate show. SOOO yummy!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend! Mine went by way too fast (as usual). This is my last week of class before Spring Break. YAY! Then it's off to Paris and London for 5 days. :) It is going to be so much fun! Then it's just a few more weeks until my trip to Nice and Cannes to see my sorority sister that is working at the Cannes Film Festival. It will be so cool Nice is my favorite city in France, so I am excited to return, and I have never been to Cannes.

Oh, so Ashley and I went out for Lebanese food on Friday. Bad idea. I will probably not be doing that again. At least while I am here. I would be willing to go to a Lebanese restaurant in the states, where I would be able to actually read the menu and know what I am ordering!

Have a good Sunday!
Dena

Happy Easter!!

Hope everyone is having a great day! It's so weird to not be having a huge lunch with my family after going to church. But I'll definitely be home for next year!

I forgot the rest of my week of hell! My computer decided to break on Saturday also! The monitor basically came apart, so I glued it back together. I think it will be able to last the rest of the semester... as long as I don't move it from the spot it is in. Saturday was also the day that Bridget had our meeting for housing next year. It didn't go so well at first because we got a bad location and are going to have to spend a lot more money than where we wanted. But a few days ago SLU gave us our housing scholarships back! So now it is actually cheaper. It is still bad about the location because the apartment is in the opposite direction of where I want it to be, but it will due. I think it'll be nice. It's fully furnished and technically off campus, though it is "SLU run." Not really sure what that means yet, but we'll find out!

I don't have class tomorrow, so that will be nice. Everything will be closed, so if it is nice outside, Ashley and I are planning on going to a park. It has been rainy and cold though. We also did laundry today... festive I know! Haha. But I got it done. It is currently lying on my floor drying. About every ten minutes I have to put a new shirt on the radiator (or whenever the current item on it is dry). I won't do it again the weekend we get back from London. We have all of our tickets purchased! Now we just need to find a hotel in London. That won't be too hard since there are about a billion.

Once again, Happy Easter!
Dena

Hell Week

So sorry about not posting! I am so bad at this blogging thing. Last week was the week from hell. Literally. We had an American professor, and we had to do all these ridiculous projects. Thank goodness he is gone! I even had class on Saturday. Booooo. It was terrible. So this week I have just been trying to recuperate from last week's nonsense! I was hoping to post pictures from Cody's visit for this blog, but I don't have very many. He took the majority of them, so they are on his camera/computer. I'll put them up whenever I get them! However, I put a few up anyway.

I just read that there is a new Twilight book coming out! It isn't part of the series, but it is still about vampires. Yay! Can't wait for the Eclipse moving. Going to the IMAX at midnight! Double yay!

I'm going to go ahead and get my homework done for tomorrow, and then I am going to cook dinner. Hope everyone has a good Wednesday!

Dena

A few pictures

Us in front of Notre Dame!


You can see the castle in Angers and the big cathedral behind us. That is the river that runs down the middle of Angers, and it was REALLY flooded. You can't even see the running path because it was covered in water.


This is us at the chocolate show. Yum!

Fountain at Jardin du Mail.

Cody's Visit!

Sorry I haven't blogged, but I feel like I was barely in my apartment when Cody was here, and this week has been lovely outside so I've spent a lot of time out of the apartment, and I've also had a lot of homework. So, here is the play by play of Cody's visit:

Thursday March 4th
Cody arrives! He got here while I was in class, so he took the bus to ESSCA, got my key, and then went back to my apartment (all with me only seeing him leave ESSCA through the window). After he picked me up from class, we came back to my apartment and made buffalo chicken wraps. So yummy! Also, it was my friend Claudia's birthday, so we went to her birthday party for a while.

Friday March 5th
I had class, and then afterword we went to the train station to change our tickets for Paris because my next Friday class was canceled. After that we got pizza to eat in the apartment, and after that we went out for a while.

Saturday March 6th
On Saturday we explored and walked around A LOT. We started off with shopping around the street market. There wasn't really anything good. We also got his bus pass, so he wouldn't have to pay to use the bus anymore. We walked alllll over Angers. We had lunch at my favorite Kebab place, and it was yummy of course. Then we went to the chocolate show. It was so neat!! We bought some drinking chocolate, which is basically thick hot chocolate. We didn't drink any of it while he was here though and he took it home. We also walked along the river a lot and looked at the flooding (it is completely down now though). There is a theater by the river, and we went to the roof to look at the view. After our day of walking, we took a trip to Carrefour to buy seafood.

Sunday March 7th
On this day, we tried to sleep in a little bit. Then the day was filled with making Paella! It was delicious, but not as good as the first batch in my opinion. Sunday night, we went to the movie theater and saw the movie Nine. It was okay... but really weird!

Monday March 8th
I didn't have class on Monday, so we went to the castle and cathedral in the morning, and then later went to this cute bakery that is close to school. I can't really remember what we did after that though! I know we went somewhere, but I can't remember where. Oh well!

Tuesday March 9th
I had French, so I went to that, and I really can't remember what we did on this day either! I do know that we made tortellini for dinner, like I always get at restaurants, and that was yummy. Then we walked Ashley to her dance class, but she couldn't find the building, so we went home. On the way back to the apartment, though, we bought some pistachio ice cream. Yum!

Wednesday March 10th
I had class until 12, so Cody met Ashley and I afterward. We took the bus to our favorite hamburger place, and that was so good! Those hamburgers are amazing! Then we went to Carrefour so we could buy the things needed for chicken fricassee! That is Cody's favorite food, so he decided to make it for me. :) I liked it, but he said it wasn't the best, so he'll have to make it again for me this summer. I also had to work on a French presentation that Ashley and I had to give on Thursday.

Thursday March 11th
Thursday before my class, Cody and I woke up early so we could go to the Jardin des Plantes. It was really pretty, but it will be even more gorgeous when everything is in bloom. We just had all of our leftovers for lunch. They really needed to get eaten! Then I went to my French class (where I gave my presentation) and left Cody at the apartment to do our laundry. Ha! Then he met us outside the class... surprising me with flowers!! :) I was one happy girl! :) Then we took a tour of the Cointreau distillery. That was neat. The rest of the night was basically spent getting ready for Paris in the morning.

Friday March 12th
We had to wake up at about 6 so we could catch our train at 8:09 am for Paris. We arrived in Paris at 9:40, got on the metro, and went to Dot's apartment. We left our luggage there, since we didn't think we'd be able to check in to our hotel yet. She showed us where the Louvre museum was, and that is where we started. After that we went to Notre Dame and Centre Pompidu. Then we checked in to our hotel, and went back to Dot's apartment to meet her after her class. We took our luggage back to the hotel while Dot went running, and I also changed out of my yucky travel clothes. We went back to Dot's apartment, where we hung out and met a couple of her friends.

Saturday March 13th
We decided to sleep in on Saturday, since we hadn't slept in at all during his stay. That got ruined though because of course there had to be a fire alarm at 8 in the morning! We got all bundled up (because it was freezing outside), went down the stairs, made it to the bottom floor, only to find out that something burned in the kitchen and we could go back up to our rooms. We had to make it all the way back up to the 6th floor. I think the only way I did it without stopping was because I was too tired to notice. Haha. After successfully sleeping in, we made our way back to the Louvre for lunch. It was soooo good! I had quiche Lorraine, and Cody had a panini. It was amazing! It was strange though because pigeons were in the shop. So so strange. Then we walked inside the tuleries (the gardens around the Louvre). At the end we saw the obelisk and where the guillotine was during the revolutionary war. Then we made our way to the Eiffel Tower! We had to wait in line for a really long time, but we made it to the top! After that we went back to the hotel (mainly so I could get a sweatshirt... it was so cold!), and then out to get food. We walked toward the Arc de Triomphe, and along the way we found a place to eat. First we went to the arc though so we could look at it. We also walked a ways down the Champs Elysee (unfortunately no shopping though). Then we turned around and ate at the cafe we found. It was so good, and it was nice to sit down at a real restaurant and have a real meal. I haven't really done that since being here. Then we went back to the tuleries, and watched the Eiffel Tower (we were trying to stay to watch it glitter, but it never did!)

Sunday March 14th
Of course we woke up 10 minutes before we were supposed to leave, but we made it! The metro we needed to get everywhere was of course closed, so we had to do all this ridiculous stuff to get around. We eventually got to the airport, and Cody left. :( His plane was at 12:25, and all was well. It was a VERY VERY sad day. I went to the train station, where I caught a train back to Angers at 1:16. Ashley and I went to a new pizza place for dinner, and it was yummy! I hadn't eaten all day because I was too sad and nervous.

Okay... that was a lot. I commend you if you actually read it all! Nothing too much has happened this week. Just lots of school work. I am very very excited for the weekend! Ashley and I are going in search of a castle on Saturday. Also, the weather has been absolutely amazing!!! I didn't even wear a jacket today. :) Just a cardigan.

Hope everyone had a GREAT St. Patty's Day! It isn't really celebrated here, which is completely different from Rolla! I will post pictures once I get them all from Cody. The majority are on his camera.

Dena

Next 10 Days

Hey everyone! Just an update! Cody is aboard his first plane to Chicago! Then he has another stop in DC and then will be in Paris!!!! I am going to see him in just under 24 hours! YAYAYAY! Anyway, I haven't been up to too much else. I have my first French test tomorrow. That's why I can't pick Cody up from the train station. :( I won't get to see him until 6 even though he gets to Angers at about 1. Went to the grocery store yesterday and bought food for his visit, and then went to the one closer to me to buy soda and juice. But yeah I am SO excited! I do need to study for my test some more tonight, but I should be okay. Did a bit of shopping this past weekend, don't think I bought anything though. I found a new favorite sandwich shop on Saturday! I got a sandwich, fries, and a drink for only 4.50 euros! It was so much food and so good! I ate there Monday too. Haha. Speaking of food, I'll make myself some dinner when Cody's next plane takes off. I'm really hungry! Hope everyone is having a fabulous day!
Dena

At school

Hello all! I am in the mediatheque at school right now working on my presentation and the side trip Cody and I will be taking while he is here. So far I'm leaning towards Bordeaux, Mont Saint Michel, or Marseille. We'll see! I've also been working on what I will show him while he is in Angers and then where we will go in Paris. I had International Marking this morning, and at 3 I am on my way to EU in the World. This is the class that I will have my presentation in tomorrow. I think I will do fine. The presentation is complete, so I just need to practice tonight when I am home. Also, it took me a really long time to figure out the internet. I had to ask a fellow international student. Good thing I did! I never would have known how to do any of what she told me to do. I think I am going to go get a drink from La Kaz before class. La Kaz is this cool place in the school where all the kids can hang out. There are vending machines, coffee machines (with great hot chocolate for me and espresso for dad!), and even a cafe. The cafe is closed right now since all the kids (and everyone else in France) are on holiday. I like buying croissants and chocolat du pain from the cafe before my morning classes. American bread will never be the same for me! I think I am off to get that drink.

Everyone in the states is probably still asleep. Haha.

Dena

Manic Monday

Today has felt like a pretty good day! I had French from 1:30-3. I also had my first French fire alarm. Good thing it was so gorgeous outside today!! Plus it took away about 5 minutes of class, which I am not complaining about. After class, I took the bus to my usual stop, but instead of heading home, I went to the English Language Library in Angers to work on my presentation for Thursday. I love it there! Unfortunately, this week is some sort of French holiday, so they were closed. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I was absolutely famished, so I stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few things and then went ahead and made dinner. I made chicken caesar wraps! Sooo good! I have been craving buffalo chicken wraps, and this was the next best thing. I will definitely be making Cody and I bc wraps/salads when he is here! I can't wait for the buffalo sauce he bought me. Haha. He'll be here in less than a week and a half! Anyway, after my very early dinner I got to work on my presentation. I've gotten quite a bit done. I'll probably finish it up tomorrow. I don't have class until 3, so I am going to head to the mediatheque (basically a library) at ESSCA (my school) and work on my presentation until it is time for class. Then maybe I can actually have some fun tomorrow night! Probably not though because I feel so unprepared for this presentation, and I want to work on it as much as possible without a brain overload. I think it is slowly sneaking up on me.

I'm going to try to get to bed fairly soon. I need the sleep and also to be able to get up at a decent hour in the morning.

Hope everyone is having a fabulous day in America!
Dena

Week of Presentations

I have had the busiest week ever! I have mostly been working on my two presentations for a class. My group presented this past Thursday, and it did not go very well, unfortunately. Immediately after that I had to start work on my presentation that I am giving this next Thursday. I have so much work to do! Plus I have some French homework due tomorrow (which is almost complete) and my Pi Chi application had to be done by yesterday (which I was told on Friday). Busy busy! Yesterday and today I have only been working on my presentation. Last night I was able to have a little fun by going out for a late dinner with Ashley. We went to this pizza place called Pinocchio. It was okay, but I'm not sure if I will be going back. We went to our favorite burger place on Thursday after my presentation. It is just so darn good!!!

Well... back to working on my presentation. I will try to update again, but I feel like I will be doing nothing but work.

Dena