Almost a Month In!

I feel as though I have been very negative in this blog so far. That isn't fair, and it isn't fun to read either! There have been some great things about being here in this first month. (A lot of them might have to do with food...)
So here is a small sample list of three things I like about being here:

1. CHATEAUX (CASTLES)
Yeah. You are driving along on the highway with the family, who are playing a version of I-spy in which the mother tells the girls what to look for ( a green sign, a red house, cows, etc) and when they see the item they clap. Yeah. She tells them to clap when they see a chateau. Like it is not big deal. AWESOME.
Also, just LOOK AT THIS




2. Trains.
You can take the train just about anywhere. And after having bought the AMAZING Carte 12-25 (a traveler's discount card for those between the ages of 12 and 25) for 49 euros, I can get a round trip to Paris and back for under 15 euros. That is amazing.

3. Language
The French have many fewer words than English speakers. There are approx. 1,010,649.7 words in English (or at least that is what it says here) while NPR tells me that French has fewer than 100,000. Thanks, Academie Francaise! Anyway, while there are pros and cons to having so few words, the words I have heard people use here seem more beautiful, creative, and powerful. Its like when an English professor tells me to cut out my passive language: all my "kind of"s and "seems like"s and "like"s. The French do that more automatically.
Today I walked past a guy on the street and he said something to me like "Bonsoir ma fleur" (something like "goodnight, my flower").
Now, he might have been making fun of me. Who knows? But the fact remains that I could not help smiling at the fact that he called me his flower, serious or not. I do believe that I will never hear strange men on the street in the US call me their flower, even in jest, and that is a little too bad.

(AND also the fact that Miss Mia is only 1.5 hours away by train helps a lot). We have some good times together :)