Update 10-26-2010

Bonjour tout le monde (Hello everyone)! Right now I am in Toulouse (in the south of France) with staying with my aunt, uncle and cousins during my fall break. I am happy to be able to be here around family and have break from Strasbourg. Although, I do have to work on a paper that is due the Monday I return to Strasbourg, which I am not super happy about.

I saw a French movie a couple days ago. I like how French movies are made, although if you are someone that likes the whole movie to be action-packed, you probably won't like them as much. The movie I saw was called "Des Dieus et Des Hommes" (Of Gods and Men). I didn't understand everything that happened in the movie, for obvious reasons. I didn't find out until the end that it was based on a true story...the assassination of the monks of Tibhirine who were eventually killed by the Algerian army in 1996.

Somewhere cool I got to go was in a wine cellar in Strasbourg which is underneath a hospital. The group that I am here with got to go on a tour in the wine cellar, as well as taste some traditional Alsace wine afterward. In this cellar, there is a barrel of wine from 1472, which is one of the oldest wine's still existing in the world, which we got the opportunity to smell. It has only been drunken out of three times. Apparently, I am lucky to have been able to go because it is only open to the public one day a year, in December.

Also, after my last post, my brother, Cameron, provided me with some more information about Strasbourg's recent history.

"In recent history of Strasbourg,

After the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71 the territory of Alsace-Lorraine (where Strasbourg is) was ceded to Germany from France.

After WW1 it was given back to France and heavily fortified.

WW2 Germans capture it until 45 when the US liberates the entire country."

Thanks, Cameron.

Anyway, see below for some more pictures.


A bouquet of flowers taken in a restaurant, with the French flag colors, bleu, blanc, rouge.


A wine cellar of my host family's friend's house. It is just a room in the basement with a dirt floor, ideal for storing wine. It reminded me of the Edgar Allan Poe story, The Cask of Amontillado. (This is not of the wine cellar I went to where I got to taste the wine because on that day, I forgot to bring my camera!)

A view of the Alsace countryside. It was very beautiful.


A protest I saw in "Place Kleber." I'm not really sure why they were demonstrating.

The statue of Kleber in "Place Kleber."


A protest of young people in Strasbourg over the retirement age being raised from 60 to 62. Behind the protesters, you can see a tram that had to go slower because of these protesters.


My cousins, aunt, uncle and I at my aunt's friend's house.


I took this picture towards the end of my train ride from Strasbourg to Toulouse. I was supposed to take the night train and have a bed to sleep in, but because of the strikes, the night trains were canceled and I had to take a day train. Unfortunately, I was not the only person whose train schedule got messed around with so in the beginning of the ride, some people didn't have any seats, until other people got off at their stops.



A front view of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

Thanks for reading!!!

Paige

Update 10-09-2010

Believe it or not, I have already been here for 6 weeks! The time is going by fast. I have been in school for a couple weeks now...but am still not sure about one of the classes I'm taking. Within the next week or so, I will decide if I want to drop it or continue on. At first, I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to get enough credits to be able to graduate at the end of next semester but it looks like everything is going to work out. This weekend, I was supposed to go on a group excursion to Marburg, Germany but I didn't sign up in time for it so wasn't able to go. I was a little frustrated at myself for that. In two weeks is my fall break (it begins 22 October) and I am very excited about it because I will be taking an overnight train to Toulouse and to visit my aunt, uncle and cousins. It will be nice to be around some family soon! Anyway, below are some more pictures so you can see what I've been up to.


I got to go apple picking for the first time in my life. It was awesome because as we picked the apples, we got to try them as well.


I went to the park near where I live. I had a good time watching these ducks and swans.


A house nearby where I live. I just love the design of the houses.


The last person to leave the house has to let the cat, Bambou, outside. I guess he gets lonely or something because he tried to follow me all the way to my bus stop.

The is Sylvia and I. She stayed with us for a couple of days as she was looking for an apartment and this day we went to get some coffee at a cafe.


This the the group of students I am here with. Look at me on the right, with my eyes closed....

This is a statue in Strasbourg which captures the feelings about the city of Strasbourg between France and Germany, since it changed between the two so many times and there was bloodshed involved.

Let me know how you all are doing!!

Sincerely,

Paige