Les Gorges du Verdon

It's been awhile since I've written here but I've been so busy, there's hardly time to write a short email.

I have started a couple of extra classes in the afternoons in order to improve my French speaking abilities. One is an oral class where we're supposed to talk freely about random things like our favorite books; it was embarrassing since everyone was talking about real literature and I talked about Anne of Green Gables. Also I don't know any tense but present which makes the class more difficult. My other class is phonetics; we repeat what the teacher says into these super cool headsets and then listen to how badly we speak. It's good practice for nasal sounds and vowel differences and it's fun to talk into the microphone!

Last weekend we went to Les Gorges du Verdon which is the Grand Canyon of France (I've never been to the Grand Canyon but that's what people say). It was amazing! We have the coolest pictures of us on these cliffs (it was a little scary driving the coach bus up there and a bunch of people did get sick...they may have been hungover too). Then we eventually got to this lake (Lac du St Croix) and we all ran right in. A few people rented canoes; me, Cody, Amy and Dave got one and went on the river through the Gorge. It was so cool and lots of fun to work the arms a little, although I was so sore for a few days afterwards.

When we got back I went out for pizza with Cody, Amy, Nick and Cassie; it was delicious and fairly cheap. Sunday we went to 3 different markets: food (the most gorgeous fruits and veggies I've ever seen); art (the painting that I wanted of the port in Cannes was 150euro!); and clothing (I keep looking for a great dress or skirt but I haven't found one yet). Then we went to the beach for a little while before heading to mass in town. The French are crazy when it comes to many things (coffee in huge bowls or teeny cups, chili on plates, etc) but they have nailed the short mass; 30 minutes is the norm!

Everything has been really great here; I love it most of the time and it's just starting to hit me that I'll be here for another 3.5 months. This weekend we're going to Monaco and Monte Carlo so I will have more excitement to write about in my next entry!