Hillary & I in Toulouse!

Toulouse!

Today we got to spend the whole day in the city of Toulouse. It's a huge city that can be compared to Pittsburgh, but it's really probably larger. I found out that Toulouse has a lot of history, and was once a Roman city. We went to a museum where we learned about its Roman past. In the museum we got to see lots of Roman artifacts, including remains of sculptures, bowls, sarcophagus', and mosaics. The city is located along a river, the Tarn I believe, and was fortified during its prime. It wasn't fortified for protection, but rather for prestige. It was amazing to see a wall in the middle of town that was still in very good condition, I mean people were sitting on it like it was nothing special, but it is like two thousand years old! You don't get to see that kind of history back in America. That's what I love about it here, everything has a story.

Internet!

The internet here has been completely out since Saturday, so I have so much blogging to catch up on! From Friday through Monday so much has happened here in little Ambialet, but not really. Friday was Monica's birthday so Hil, Marie, and I made cakes and pies, so much fun! After dinner we went down to the cafe to celebrate, but it was closed so we walked through town to the bar. We had so much fun just chilling, talking, and drinking (Hillary and I stuck with water, we were not climbing back up the mountain, in the dark, with alcohol in our system. Not a good idea.). Laura, Hil, and I went back up around 11 before everyone else. We had a super bright attack light Laura's pap gave her though so we were perfectly safe. We were still in town, behind the houses heading toward the path to the castle when dogs started barking and running toward us. Laura completely forgot our attack flash light, turned it off and ran full force up the hill in front of us leaving Hil and I to chase frantically after her. Once we reached the top of the hill we learned the dogs were fenced in and we all simultaneously collapsed on the ground from  laughing so hard. We made it the rest of the up safe and sound. Saturday morning, as a group we had to literally build two bridges on a trail for a guided tour that went on Sunday. I smashed my index finger on the first rock I picked up that morning. The first rock of like 3 million that we had to find, pick up, carry, and strategically place across a river. Marie said it is going to fall off, my nail not my finger, so upsetting. But the bridges turned out well! Sunday after Church we went down to Nadine's Cafe to study. It was freezing outside, so we got hot chocolate while we studied and she helped us with numbers and our pronunciation, she is so sweet. We had movie night after dinner. We watched a French movie that Marie brought, "Amelia." It was really good! Yesterday we just had classes and relaxed most of the day away. I missed the internet.


The picture is of the second bridge we built.

Brousse village and chateau!

Yesterday we visited a local Chateau in the village of Brousse. It wasn't at all what I had been expecting. When I was told "castle" I just immediately thought Kings and Queens, royal ball rooms, elaborate bed chambers, the works. I was imagining a fairy tale princess castle. When we reached the village it was not that at all, rather it was a small, lovey, French style village, with a chateau in the center. The village was so quaint and old, but I absolutely adored it! The chateau was more of a fort and was not in its prime condition. When we entered I thought we would be going into the inside, but it was basically just a big courtyard surrounded by walls. We could walk around into the rooms but it was nothing at all like I had imagined, not that that had made it any less exciting. The purpose of the chateau was more for protection than it was for luxury. It added so much history to the village, and I was amazed that people still lived in the same old houses that had been built right up against the chateau walls.

Another day in Ambialet.

Today went by so fast!! This morning was our first french class and it was so much fun! I feel like i really learned a lot already. After class Hillary and I went for a run down to the village and then hiked back up to the castle through the path in the mountain. By the time we got back it was about time for lunch. We had this seafood rice dish with clams, mushroom, shrimp, and octopus! It was way different from anything I have every had, but it was really good none the less. After our art class we all went on a hike up to the local chateau ruins. It was such a long, hard hike but the view from the top where the chateau was is amazing! It took us about two hours but it was well worth. Can't wait to see what's in store for tomorrow!

Ambialet

I love this place.

The things you see in France.

So yesterday was amazing! I am so sore right now. We kayaked for over eight miles, went swimming, and then hiked back up to the castle. The view we had of France from the river was gorgeous, and kayaking was so much fun even though Hillary Wertz and I almost flipped like a million times! We saw a naked French man while we were kayaking too! He was swimming ahead of us and decided to get out right in front of us. He couldn't have waited five minutes and stayed covered in the water, and he was butt naked. He acted so casual about it too, like it was nothing out of the ordinary. Oh the things you see in France.