Something To Do

You may have noticed that my posts have been few and far between over the course of this last month. This is not, as it was in France, a result of being exceptionally busy seeing and doing fantastically wonderful things. On the contrary, my lack of postage is directly correlated to the fact that I have nothing much to write about.

I am bored. At first it was a great feeling. I had nothing to do, nowhere to be, no worries whatsoever. After a month, feeling relaxed has led to feeling pointless.

So, I have become obsessed with hobbies. I jump rope to attempt to stay in shape (Europe has a way of making you fit that nothing in America can compare to), I bake (thus defeating the whole point of jumping rope), I've started playing guitar, I watch movies and read books, I look for jobs, and I scrapbook my year in France (this has become my obsession, although it makes me miss France even more.)

Besides my hobbies, there have been a few fun activities over the last month. Some of these I've already blogged about, but besides those I've gotten to hang out with my family and watch countless episodes of our newest fav NCIS, played putt putt with Valerie and Gwen, played violin in church every week, visited Hannah in Lynchburg after she got home from France, skyped with Camilla, and had a wonderful visit with my college buddies in Tennessee.

So really, looking back over this post, I feel like maybe my month home hasn't been a complete waste of time. It really is so nice to be back with my friends and family. The hard part is being so far away from everyone and attempting to fill my days while seriously missing France and the friends and life I've left behind.

The Zoo

"Someone told me it's all happening at the zoo. I do believe it, I do believe it's true."

I love Simon and Garfunkel. And I love the zoo.

I love sweating under the bamboo canopies, looking at elephants and pretending I'm really in Africa.

I love saying, Hey Mom, look at this! and seeing her cringe when she sees that I'm deviously pointing at a snake.

I love that I can get on my brother's nerves and boss him around all day and in the end he still loves me back.

I love that my dad only takes pictures of animals and flowers unless I do something stupid like get stuck on the back of a huge slippery bronze rhino. Then he takes a picture of me.

I love drifting from air vent to air vent in the aviary in an attempt to cool off while also blocking everyone's path.

And, did I mention I love the zoo?

Tegan and Sara

Friday night was one of the best nights of my life! Valerie, Amy, Cristin, and I got to take a road trip to Raleigh, NC to see Tegan & Sara and Paramore in concert!! I'd been looking forward to this night for months and it absolutely did not disappoint.

It was fantastic to get to see my friends again after all this time of being away. We talked, laughed, ate gyros, sweated in the 105 degree heat, danced, and sang our lungs out. It was magnificent.

And of course the music was fantastic. This was the first night of the Honda Civic Tour and a Swedish band called Kadawatha was up first. Next was New Found Glory.

Then came Tegan & Sara, the reason I wanted to go to this concert. They were so great and I've never enjoyed a concert more than I enjoyed that. They're amazing musicians and so funny when they chat with the audience in between songs. I would've liked to hear more of their banter but they didn't get a really long time onstage. And they're incredibly tiny, which makes them sort of disappear up there if you don't stand on your tiptoes to see them. Haha.

Up last was Paramore. I know a few of their songs and I liked them but I've never been a huge fan. Now I kinda am. They are awesome performers and really energetic. Haley's voice is powerful for such a little person and two of the band did a backflip over each other. Craziness!

So, we had so much fun, we're going to go to another Tegan and Sara concert in August! This will be a smaller venue and it'll be just them so hopefully there will be tons of hilarious stories and sibling pestering (they're twins, by the way). I cannot wait! So be aware, in about a month, there will be another post full to the brim of excitement and exclamation points!!!

The Next Chapter

I'm sitting on our porch swing, typing fast, racing the computer battery before it dies. I see the green hills and the red earth, the birds are splashing in the new bird bath and I'm pretty sure there is a cat or two (or five) napping somewhere nearby. It feels so good to be home.

But of course, the wind whistling over Windswept Farm makes me think of the wicked Mistral, which in turn makes me think of Marseille, and I feel just a little bit sad too.

But it's time to move on. A new chapter has begun. It's off to a nice but slow start. Immediately after I got home, the family and I went up to Richmond for my cousin Jackie's bridal shower. It was lovely but I felt so weird realizing we're now old enough to be getting married. Well, she is. I may be physically older than her but I'm pretty sure her mental/maturity age has always been far above mine.

Since then I've had some time to visit with a few friends and mostly just sit around the house getting hand cramps from filling out too many job applications. I'm simultaneously under- and over-qualified to do almost anything there is to do in this town.

So I've already moved on in my mind. I'm researching apartments, neighborhoods, things to do, theaters, and jobs in big cities as far away as Seattle. My parents aren't thrilled of course but after living in Europe for a year, Franklin County just seems a bit too small. Don't worry. I'll stick around at least long enough to make some money to fund my next adventure (assuming I ever find a job).

And that brings you to me now, sitting on the porch swing, mostly bored but happy to be amongst the familiar. Happy to be home.

A Solo Tour

If the only contact you have with my life is through this blog, you might be worried that I may have been "taken" during my 11 day solo tour of France. This is not the case. I have just been too lazy to write a new post. At least I'm honest. I could have said I've been too busy, but that would just be lying.

div>So, I toured Paris and Bretagne, completely alone! The alone part was a lot less fun than I expected but the sights were amazing. It's funny how some things I saw seemed even more beautiful after I got home and looked through pictures of them. Sometimes it's hard to take in all the beauty that's around us.

And once again, here's a little photo tour, the last one from this year in France. Enjoy!

The first city I visited (after miraculously dragging my two 50 pound suitcases all the way to Paris and dropping off with my host dad's mom) was Rennes, the capital of Bretagne (Brittany). I loved this city! It's smaller than Marseille and Paris but it's so clean and beautiful. The weather was cooler and I adored the colors and designs of the buildings in the downtown area.

Next was St. Malo. This was one of my favorite days of the trip for two reasons. One: St. Malo is gorgeous! The beach is perfect and the architecture of the city reminds me of what I think Bath in England might look like. The combination of the beach and the buildings is a little strange but also enchanting.

Two: This is the only day I wasn't travelling alone. While I did meet some other people to talk to in the evenings in my hostels, this was the only person who actually went sightseeing with me. We met in the hostel in Rennes and discovered we were both going to St. Malo the next day and just decided to go together. She's a French-Canadian teacher from Quebec and I'm sure I wore her out with all my questions about Canada. She was a good sport though and we spoke a weird mix of accented French and English all day. It was great!

The two pictures above are from Roscoff, a small town where you can catch the ferry to Ile de Batz, my next destination. This little place was so pretty. The first picture was a crazy sight to see in real life. I didn't understand until a few days later but apparently the tide was out and all the boats just sit on land until the tide comes back in to make them float. Kind of eerie.

Ile de Batz was another of my favorite destinations. I spent two nights and a full day on the island just relaxing and being calm. During the day, I rented a bike and pedalled all over the island. I read my French novel beside the duck pond, climbed to the top of the lighthouse, got chased off the road by numerous tractors, and paid a visit to the exotic botanical gardens. It was a day of tranquility.

And I ended my year-long French adventure in Paris. I had a wonderful time visiting museums, eating ice cream and macarons,...

...visiting The Thinker...

...and navigating the metro system. I learned a lot about myself, gained confidence, and tested my French speaking abilities on this little trip and it was a perfect end to this magnificent year in France. I can't believe it's already over but I'm quite sure I'll be back. I love it too much to stay away forever!

The Last Day of Alliance Francaise

Believe it or not, this particular Tuesday was the one I had been dreading since almost the beginning of the year. I know it's nerdy, but I was dreading the day I would be done at Alliance Francaise.

School has been my favorite thing about being here. Of course I loved working with the kids and travelling and all of that. That was all like the icing on the cake. But school is what I loved best.

Now, if Hannah was reading this right now (but she doesn't read my blog so we don't have to worry about that) she would be rolling her eyes at this point, the way she always does whenever I start gushing about school. But it's just true and I can't help it.

I love learning the intricacies of the French language. I love seeing the progress I've made throughout the year. I love my international friends, my teacher, the games, the grammar lessons, the movies, the lunch breaks at Paul, and even the building we were in. I love it all.

So Tuesday was the last day. We had so much fun that it made it that much harder to leave. In the morning we listened to music by Benjamin Biolay (le chanteur préféré de ma prof), played Taboo in French (my team won!), and went on a field trip to the African market of Noailles and the graffiti spattered streets of Cours Julien. Then we all ate lunch together, did the bisous, and said au revoir.

This was the second in the line of these unfortunate goodbyes. Leaving is so hard.

Une Colocataire

For this week in limbo between work and vacation, I've been living with Camilla in Cassis. It's been a great way to finish out the year, resting and spending time with my friends before we all leave to go our separate ways.

We've been going on adventures to the nearby beaches, concerts for the annual French 'Fete de la musique', and even so far as visits to Nice and Cannes.

Here's a little photo journey of our adventures so far:

First we spent a lazy afternoon lounging and swimming at the beach in nearby La Ciotat.

Then we did a whirlwind trip of Nice (pictured above) and Cannes all in one day.

And here we are on the red carpet in Cannes!!!