Little town, full of little people, waking up to say.....

Bonjour! This was a most excellent weekend. Friday night I actually didn't go out for once; instead, it was a pizza and beer kinda night with friends. Pizza here is different; thinner crust, less sauce, and a bit more adventurous with some of the toppings. I got an Indian chicken curry pizza all to myself, and just to show them all what a real woman eats like, I finished mine first. (Okay, not really; I was just super hungry since I had gone for a long jog that day). But the guys I was chilling with seemed a little impressed, particularly since my pizza was the same size as theirs. It's the family "trash compacter" genes, what can I say? =) But we just stayed up, chatted, listened to music, and enjoyed some good conversation. Once the conversation came around to refereeing I had to switch to English for a bit. I notice a pattern here when I mention refereeing and my desire to get into it here (you never know who might have useful information for you!). It goes a little something like this: eyes widen, don't say anything for a moment, then mention that refereeing's different/dangerous here in la France. As if that'll stop me =P

I'm glad I didn't go out that evening, because I was fully awake to enjoy an awesome day trip with the ISEP group. We went to two places: La grotte de clamouse, which is a magnificent cave tucked away in the steep hills northwest of the city. It was discovered in 1940's by some French explorers, and it was cool learning about it in French...particularly since scientific terms don't change much in other languages! Come join me if you don't mind a couple pictures of rocks. I promise there aren't many (I want people to enjoy reading this blog, not be saying "More limestone formations? Hurray?")

 

 This is what you see before going into the caves. Pretty view!

Beach? In a cave. Why not?

"The Cathedral of Time" is what the video called this place.

 Cave lizard. Blind, and not too happy to be disturbed. He kept trying to hide (he was in a tank)

We got to watch a pretty cool light show, set to a very dramatic operatic French woman. I took better video.

 This guy liked it so much, he decided to stay...

Oooh, haunted! 

Afterward, we went to the village (commune, actually: I asked the guide how many people live there, and she said that there are only about 50-60 who stay year round!) of Saint-Guilhelm-le-Désert, a fabulous little medieval town that immediately reminded me of somethign from a Disney movie (Beauty and the Beast? Pinocchio?). It was wonderful getting the opportunity to see that places like this actually exist. I feel like this is the France, the Europe, that few outsiders get to see in their efforts to hit the big sights. And I'm lucky enough to get to visit! But the village is very very small, and it's squished right in the middle of huge hills on three sides. The main street's terminus is called La rue au bout du monde, the road at the end of the world, because it just ends. The steep hills on either side encase it like...tupperware. Check it out:

First picture entering the village. Those hills will feature prominently in nearly every photo!

 

This is one of my many "If I get rich one day..." dream houses. Dog included.

So, everywhere you look, you see stuff like this. Sensory overload!

Hills, hills, hills. Up, down, never ends...oh, and here are some nice buildings too.

The shell says you can drink this water. Do you trust him?

Okay. I took plenty of pictures by my standards and I'm trying to stick to my favorites, but it's hard. There was a ton to see, and I want to share it with you guys! But right now, I have to go grab some lunch before class at the Resto-U. After that, it's off to grammar, then phonetics. I'm a little proud of myself; I'm actually quite good at diction exercises...but I suck at syntax. Ah, well. Hopefully today's a good day, and I can show you  more soon. Until next time!