And This Time I Can Understand It All

During our time in Strasbourg we were given some guided tours. And even though I still stumble when I speak, my accent fades when I am tired, and my grammar isn't the best, my comprehension is SO MUCH better than it used to be. I mean, after spending a year in France hopefully everything is better than it used to be. But still. My oral comprehension seems to have improved slightly more than the others?

Our first tour was of the city of Strasbourg. Last time the weather was so ferociously windy that our tour guide didn't even try explore anything other than the interior of the cathedral. This time it was still cold, but I was resolved to get a tour no matter what!

Our guide was so pleasant, knowledgeable, and clearly passionate about his city.
Here is a picture of the only house in the area that survived the bombing by [not the Germans, but] the American's in WWII

By some miracle, the cathedral was relatively unharmed (apart from some of the round end in the back). The citizens took all the stained glass out of the cathedral and the windows were hidden for a number of years.

We visited St. Thomas' church, which I had never really heard of before. Apparently, Albert Schweitzer (an Alsacien!) used to play the organ here! I had heard of him, but only in terms of him being a humanitarian - not as a musician. Apparently he could tickle the ol' [organ] ivories with best of them. And when I say the best of them, I mean Mozart. Because he came by here and played at this church too (I mean, clearly they were here at different times but STILL pretty cool).

In the same church, we also were exposed to this piece of work:

 It is found where some sort of depiction of Jesus would usually be on display.

This is the tomb of Marshall Maurice of Saxony. This German-born lad served in the French military and later became Marshal general of France. King Louis 15th loved this guy A LOT. Because apparently he never lost a battle or something. Anyway, the only reason he is buried HERE and not in a WAY more famous place (like Louis had originally wanted) is because 1. He wasn't born French, and 2. He was Protestant!
He was apparently a pretty big deal. Also quite the lady's man - which is why, if you look closely behind that woman (who represents France, of course, with an ever-so-naturally falling blouse), you can see little-kid-cupid crying and being all torn up about his BFF dying. Hercules on the bottom left is pretty sad such a strong dude is dying too. And those animals in the back represent all France's enemies being defeated. 
 Legend has it that Mozart came through here right after this tomb had been installed. And some say that the final scene of his famous opera, Don Giovanni (in which the main character, a total womanizing asshat, descends/is pulled down into some mysterious place I am pretty sure is supposed to be hell) was inspired by this sculpture! You can totally see "death" inviting this dude into his tomb. He probably died from syphilis or something.

Speaking of syphilis, did you know that the German's (and probably other Europeans) used to refer to that as the "mal francaise". Yes, you heard right. Syphilis used to be called the "French Disease". Which is why what is now the CUTEST area of Strasbourg used to be something of a hell-hole. Its the neighborhood called "La Petite France" and was so called because the other citizens would not allow soldiers with syphilis to live near them. This means that THIS beautiful area:

used to be super disgusting and full of sewage and prostitutes and hospitals that specialized in STDs and scalp diseases (I am not making this up).
Now it is the most photographed area of Strasbourg.

And on that uplifting note (your situation can always improve!), I bid you all adieu for now!

A bientot!
Natalie

Bienvenue a Strasbourg

We made it unscathed to Strasbourg! Yay!
(Now that I am writing this almost 2 weeks after the fact it doesn't seem as much of a feat).

Anyway, Strasbourg is one of my favorite cities and I think everyone in the group was taken aback at first by the stark contrast between this city and Toulouse. But I think most of them really liked it. Our first morning I went on a lovely walk with two other girls. It was as if the whole place was deserted. Like the light blanket of fresh, powdery snow had covered up most of the city's activity. It was beautiful and peaceful and not even too cold. Here are some pictures:

Yes, this is a HIGH SCHOOL. Can you imagine having high school here???

Prepping for my Strasbourg Tour-de-France.

I was also really pleased with many of the student's reactions to the Strasbourg Cathedral. It is maybe my favorite cathedral I have ever seen. I remember on the last trip, how EVERY SINGLE TIME I would walk by/under it, I would still feel such a sense of  awe! Here are some pictures just in case you don't remember:

This is the Pillar of Angels

This is the Mount of Olives scene in the Cathedral

We stayed at the CIARUS again! As Katrina was saying, sometimes three years can bring amazing amounts of change. Sometimes not (*cough CIARUS cough*). I will concede that the food was much better than three years ago. Although I did have to wake up one morning next to a wall that was LITERALLY damp/wet. And I don't know why...? It was pretty gross. But this is the hostel life! And its ok :)
Still, in only 6 nights we managed to make some pretty great memories, like one girl's birthday party or free crepe night. Also, Octavio was really good at making friends. Here is his little German friend Ricardo who brought him lots of yogurt and kept wanting to take his camera. It was cute.

And here is a photo from Crepe Night. We made crepes, played cards, and laughed the hardest I have yet to laugh on this trip.

I promise to write more very soon! As much as I love living with in the same building with the other Whitworthians, it is really nice to have my own room...


Bisous
Natalie

Changing gears

Oh wow!

I have SO MUCH to I want to write about! So many things have happened in the past week, since arriving in Alsace. And now that I look back, I don't think I wrote anything about our last days in Toulouse, either!

So as to not overwhelm you lovely people, I will try to write shorter entries hopefully plusiers fois (many times) this week. Ca va?

So. We left Toulouse! I have to say I was ready to move on. I had previously found a restaurant that would host all 17 of us for lunch and made a reservation. Our last full day in Toulouse, we had a lovely meal together at said cute little Italian restaurant, where the owner and server were very genial and accommodating. (WOO for under-budget-ness! We each ate an entree, plat, AND dessert). I also have to say: I know chocolate mousse is supposed to be a French thing. And I have had many a mousse in this country that have been fabulous. But NONE so delicious as I found in an Italian-run Italian food restaurant. MAN THAT CHOCOLATE MOUSSE WAS GOOD.

I had a nice goodbye with my kooky host mom, and departed with the rest of the group (and the Prof) for Paris.

The train seemed completely full, but thankfully a SNCF man recognized us as a big group and offered to seat us a little bit ahead of schedule. That is the ONLY way we were able to stow all of our luggage!

We arrived in Paris at the Gare Montparnasse, where we said au revoir to Madame Schrambach. Then the students and I, with ALL our luggage (which is a lot of luggage, in certain cases) ventured to the metro station because we had to change train stations! For many students it was their first time in a metro of this size, not to mention with their suitcases (and at what turned out to be rush hour...? Those of you who have taken the Paris metro at rush hour know how HORRIBLE AND SQUISHY AND SMELLY cramped it can be). However, we were all prepared and had a contingency plan. Luckily, we all made it out alive and well (if a bit sweaty and stressed out). We waited around at the train station, and after talking to a couple different official people I was able to finagle our way onto the train early to stow all our bags. As far as I can tell, this is the only time in France when traveling in a group is an advantage!

Our train car to Strasbourg turned out not to be heated, and we arrived that night in Strasbourg with the snow falling, already freezing our buns off! Fortunately we had a VERY brisk walk to the hostel to warm us up.

Also the food at the CIARUS (the hostel), while not really very good, was SO much more edible than the last time. Huzzah!

Here are a couple final pics from Toulouse, I promise to write more soon. Gros bisous!
-Natalie

Dat Michael Jackson Dog...