I'm in France?...really!?...wow....

so i'm back in the us, back in bellingham, and staying at my mom's house...and i'm not used to speaking english all the time and being around americans 24/7. its funny how quickly one can adapt to new cultures, and find them fabulously engaging. i miss my french family and friends and i iwsh it wasn't so hard to get back to europe, not to mention expensive. i'm praying i fall into some inheritance one day, or just marry rich to help me finance my european obsession. =) until then i'll have to settle for looking at my pictures a lot, watching many french movies, and throwing in the random french phrase n'est-ce pas?

salut mes amies! i hope everyone watched the coupe du monde finals!
everyone is depressed today. oh well c'est la vie! =) i had an amazing
weekend! went with my group to vienne fro the jazz fest, its about a two
hour trian ride from grenoble and we had a compartement like in harry
potter! super fun! when we got to vienne we went for dinner and it was
super hot out, then all of a sudden it started pouring! and no one had
coats of course, so marie bought us all garbage bags and we were running
through the streets of vienne in the pouring down rain to see the show!
the concert was at this old roman outdoor theatre, all the original
construction in still there, sauf que the stage. it was so much fun to be
at a live music show, and the rain stopped eventually and we satyed till
late in the night listening to some awesome jazz and drinkiong stella
beers, which here is sold everywhere like bud light! its great. that night
while walking back we stopped on the street to listen to another band and
they loved my garbage bag, un jolie sac mademoiselle, and i stopped and
sang with them for a bit! super cool man.

The next day we took a walking tour of vienne to look at all the other
roamn ruins before we took our train back to grenoble. My host family
picked me up at the train station and we left for their friends chateau,
yes, chateau, in aix les bains, about an hour drive from grenoble, where
we stayed with their friends for sturday night, and sunday. it was so
gorgeous, i cant wait to show the pictures! we stayed up till midnight
eating and drinking and laughing and telling jokes in french! On their
property they have another chateau which dates to the seventeenth century
and it has all the original furniture, books, etc! meghan you would have
died and gone to heaven! it is locked up as they are going to restore it,
but it has eleven bedrooms, winding staircases, and the most amazing
orignal furniture i have ever seen. and get ready for this, they had one
book, just one out of the whole house filled with things appraised, and
it is worth 15 000 euros! one book! amazing really.

Im set for another week of classes, and that is going well! my french also
is still improving! yay! but i did have onefo those misshaps i knew would
happen, while discussing american food with my host fam and friends, i
said it has lots of preservatifs! which means condoms in french! oh lord,
they laughed so hard, now my host mom tells me every day her food is made
without condoms....sigh... =) im a nerd i know! lots of love to everyone,
maman give noah lots of love from me! its supposed to be 95 here tomorrow!
bisous! arielle

i just returned from a weekend in geneva swizerland and
it was gorgeous there! i msut note as well that in grenoble when you greet
people and when you leave you kiss twice, one on each cheek, but in geneva
its three, and in northern france its four! crazy but prob my favorite
thing! My friend becky and i went to vist some of my familys old friends
who live right outside of geneva. we spent lots of time by the water where
tons of people where sun bathing, usually naked or almost. i love europe.
We visited the march au puce which is this huge open air market that is
kindof like a crazy garage sale... its was very entertainging. beaucuop de
chottchkies! thats for you mom.... =) portugal and france both one their
prospective coup du monde games that night and i have never in my life
experienced such madness! the streets were filled with people clebrating,
flags everywhere, horns honking, so much fun. We ate some great food and
just enjoyed being in switzerland. aside from it being very expensive, i
love geneva! We qlso met this cute swiss boy named Yohaan in the
university parc where we had lunch while lsitening to music, and discussed
politics in french! super fun! Classes start tomorrow and im looking
forward to that! this weekend the whole group is going to the jazz
festival in Vienne and im super excited to go! been in the 90's everyday,
so im off to mes voisins to swim in their pool! a tout a l'heure! bisous!
arielle

so being in france has taught me a lot so far, besides tons of french
language skills. more will come as ive only been here a week! but the
first few are as follows:

* you must say hello and goodbye to everyone or they will get mad
* if you go to a restaurant you cant order une biére, you must order un
demi. i dont know why you just do. and its way good in this ninghty degree
weather
* paris vogue is amazing, especially if you read it after your demi in a
parc with a beautiful fountain
* oh la la la chaleur is the best expression when its hot, which is always
* there are lots of fabulous french people and they are not a bit rude,
unless you forget rule number one then....
* they have the cutest clothes
* dont say bonjour to construction workers or they will love you....so
actually maybe you should....
* watch out for cars
* kiss everyone
* if you smile at a stranger they know you are a foreigner because
strangers here do not smile at each other. but they like it if you do...
* there are more types of chesse than anything else
* a glass of good red wine is cheaper than a soda or a bottle of water!
* if you see a man in a tight white tee shirt and gelled hair he is
probably french and will probably try to marry you

bises!!
arielle

bonjour!!!!

sorry i have not written sooner but it is tres difficle to find time to write as our days have been very full but now that we are in grenoble i will be able to write more! grenoble is tres belle, the mountains are magnificent and it is just the cutest city. my host family lives in montbonnot, a small town outside of the centre city of grenoble. the views from their house are parfait! i am speaking only french with them and it is the best thing. it is very hard at times, but i understand them almost all the time and i learn new vocabulary daily so it is fabulous. i have already gone out with my host sisters friends for the fete de la musique, a country wide party in celebration of music! c'est bon, non!? we danced in the streets of grenoble for hours, listening to all kinds of great music, but it was funny to find that almost all songs are sung in english, except the ones that are french of course. it was so intense being out with young french people, they speak so fast! but of course i will improve each day. my host familys home is very beautiful and so is my room. they are very well off as both parents are bankers, oh and thats another perk as they said they can change my american money for me! lets see, they are also going to take me to their friends country home for the bastille day weekend where they said we can swim! and this is good as it is very very hot here!! they city of grenoble has great shops and food and of course ill bring back the best cookies, as i have found them already! the french people are fabulous and i love it here. it is hard to go back and forth from english to french, so if i write with frecnh pleqse excuse me=). also french keyboards are trés different! Lets see, mom, my family is feeding me very well so dont worry! Ma mere d'accueil, host mom, is so sweet and the most adorable woman ever and mon pere jokes with me already. they are super cool as all the french say! we are going today to visit the chateua vizille, its about thiry ,inutes from grenoble. Paris was great p.s we went to all the great places, the museé d'orsay was my favorite! ok, sorry this email is so long, but im trying to get all the important points in! we start classes on monday! ill write again soon now that i am settled in grenoble.


p.s french men are gorgeous and everywhere and i love it!!!! =)

im here!!!! all flights went well, aside from the fact that i slept maybe
two hours. im taking a nap after this letter and avant le diner. paris is
beautiful and i love it already. one of the girls and i took a walk
through the jardin du luxembourg, it is a block from our hotel; gorgeous
flowers, statues, and even live music was happening. I have already had
some great experinces using my french, i even got a marriage proposal from
the french arab man who sold me watter!! =) dont worry mom i didnt accept.

I can already feel the magic of this place; i am so excited to be here.
its also very hot! the french people seem lovely so far, and it was
really great to start speaking french right from my first flight to
montreal. this letter is probably very random mais i have been awake 21
hours so..... ill write again soon if i have time; our days in paris are
very filled but we have nights to explore and of course go dancing!!

I leave for France on Saturday and I have just had tea and pain au chocolate with Nick in preparation for my trip. We even had french sound design. Edith Piaf. We also looked through Nicks pictures and he gave me some great travel tips...I think I just might be ready to go....=)