Day 65

Today was a ridiculously long day. I got up at 8 and only got home an hour ago, we started the day by going to Valence to look for dresses for Clara and her mom for a wedding were going to right before I go home. They didn't find anything and it was an hour long drive for a very boring trip, then we went and looked around Grenoble and Clara actually found a dress. We met up with two of Clara's friends Marine and Clementine at Galleries Lafayette and hung out with them for a bit, then we went to another friend Agathe's house because she got her wisdom teeth out and needed some company. We came home for a few hours and had pasta salad for dinner and then at about 9:15 we went to Clara's mom's dance recital. It was long but it wasn't too bad. I'm super tired, goodnight <3

Day 64

Haven't written in a month because life got really boring but I decided to do an update. This week was really good, on monday I got to go into the city with Joia, one of my Canadian friends I met on the way here, we see each other at school but since schedules are so complicated and we have to eat using our exchange partner's meal cards we don't get to spend much time together. We shopped and took some pictures, it was really fun. On Wednesday I got to see another Canadian friend, Kestrel, who lives not too far from Clara but I didn't get to see for two months, we actually go to the same school in Canada and we started to become good friends just a little while before we came to France so it was amazing to see her. We walked around the city from 3pm until almost 7, we were laughing the whole time and had to call our friend Victoria so she could go on Google Maps and find H&M for us (we still got lost). It was great to see a good friend and explore Grenoble together, the whole time we were kind of in shock that we were in Europe together. I'm having a really good time :)

Day 42

It's been a long week, even tho we had a lot of cancelled classes its the halfway week of my trip so I've been a little homesick. We had some people over for dinner and they talked to me about Canada, I'm starting to get the hang out french conversation and I can pretty much keep up. Tomorrow I'm going down town to go shopping with Clara and a friend or two, I might pick up some clothes and maybe some makeup so maybe I'll put a little haul on my other blog: http://beautydaily-makeupbeauty.blogspot.fr so if you want to see what I get check it out!

Day 38

I'm pretty homesick today and also today was really boring because it was back to school. It was really hot today tho, around 20ºC. I left school at 11 but Clara still had another class so  I read my book in the sun while I waited for the bus (of course i had to take a tacky picture of my book, legs and shoes) and while I was walking from the bus to Clara's there was an adorable little white cat but I couldn't capture its adorableness very well...I tried (I'm not a cat person and I still liked this little guy).

Day 33-37

It was basically just a few days of skiing at Alpe d'Huez, it was fun and the weather was great. It was sunny every day I just wore a tank top under my jacket one day. The snow was best and the top because it started to turn kind of soupy towards the bottom of the mountain. At night we just ate dinner and hung out then went to sleep early everyday. Another family came to join us after half of the first family left...there are always a lot of people coming and going! We drove back to Grenoble yesterday and picked up some McDonalds on the way, we just chilled at home for the rest of the day. Today we had people over for lunch and the meal was super long...but delicious, first course was a salad with romaine lettuce, clementine orange pieces and vinaigrette, next was some sort of meat (possibly chicken) with some cooked carrots and what I believe was couscous, next we had cheese and baguette, then raspberries with white chocolate mouse and chocolate and salted caramel eclairs. Back to school tomorrow :( dang

Day 32

Ok so this is late because no wifi in my room yesterday and I was way too tired.

This is what I did on monday :)

So I woke up late (it wasn't my fault), and Clara got super mad...so I kind of ignored her all day as pay back for her unnecessary rudeness. It was day 2 of skiing at Alpe d'Huez and it was a super gorgeous day, the snow was amazing. We went to the second level (I think) twice, the first time was great but the second time the wind was crazy and it was so cold and hard to move! We ate lunch at a restaurant on the mountain and I can't exactly remember the name, I got a "Manhattan Hot Dog" but it wasn't barbecued so it tasted pretty bland (totally a personal opinion). We went to La Folie Douce for a bit in the afternoon, La Folie Douce is a restaurant that turns into a club at about 3 in the afternoon, so we needed a parent to get in, we got iced tea and hung out but the music is kind of bad so we left after 20 minutes or so. We skied until 5 then went back to the apartment, I showered and then went with Clara to meet her friend who's skiing this week too. Whenever we go out with her friends we kind of just stand around so thats what we did. We went back to the apartment and had dinner then I re-watched the Hunger Games for the 15th time and went to bed!

 

view from the restaurant at lunch

in the other direction there were a few people dancing on tables

Day 31

Today was day 1 of skiing at Alpe d'Huez, we got here last night at took off for skiing this morning at about 9:30. I'm here with Clara, Thibault (her brother) and their parents, were staying in a big rented apartment with another family with two little boys (8 and 12 years old), their sister who's 16 (a year older than me and Clara) and their parents. The day was great, it was super sunny and I was actually really hot for most of the day. I'm exhausted because the skiing here is about 1 million times harder than it is in Ontario. I'm tired and sunburnt but happy, I'm going to sleep really well tonight and I don't have to wake up until 9 tomorrow which is great :)

View from the balcony of the apartment kitchen.

Day 29

Today Clara's mom drove us to the bus stop where we met up with two of her friends, I think we were waiting for more friends who were supposed to come but never did. We sat near the bus stop for over an hour and I was so bored. Finally we got on a bus, then a tram and got to the hospital, it took an hour to get there. We went to the hospital to visit Clara's friend Agathe who had to get surgery on her knee from a ski accident in January, so we hung out with her for an hour or two at the hospital and then we got a drive home. We had pizza for dinner and now I'm just watching tv shows and youtube videos in bed and talking to friends. Going skiing tomorrow, so excited!!

Day 28

I can't believe that I've almost been here for a month! Today was pretty chill, were going on a ski vacation next week and Clara needed gloves and we had to go to three stores to find them, then we ran some more errands and that was the outing of the day. Later on me and Clara watched Grey's Anatomy (in english) and old episodes of Gossip Girl (in french). I called my friend Anna on FaceTime while she was in our homeroom class and they were having a waffle party, I was jealous but my teacher said we can have one when I come back. Really boring post for a sort of boring day, not in a bad way, I like relaxing!

Day 27

Today I went into Grenoble with Clara and two of her friends Clementine and Marine. We shopped a little bit but I didn't buy anything, we went to a coffee shop called "French Coffee Shop" they have really good cookies I got a "Cookie Chocolat Noir," which was just a double chocolate cookie type thing and it was delicious, and then I got the best Nutella milkshake type thing called a "Friotella" it was amazing. I know that this post was only about delicious treats but when in France track down French Coffee Shop and get this drink! I'm starting to get to a level of french fluency where I can make jokes which is pretty good in my books!

                

       

Day 26

Today we went on a shopping trip to Lyon. We went shopping at Confluence, which is a mall where we went to Zara (where I got a pair of pants), a store called Mango and a book store called Decitre where I was able to find a book in English, because I need some reading material. I also got to have Starbucks for the first time in a month, it was crazy expensive but Clara's mom actually paid, I feel very bad about that because my frappuccino was around 5 euros!

Before we left Confluence we got subs for lunch which was super yummy!

Next we went to Place Bellecour where we went to store called Naf Naf, H&M where I got two tops, Sephora where I got a matte lip cream and waterproof eye makeup remover. 

Day 25

Didn't really do anything today, I hung out in my bed watching Grey's Anatomy online until about 3:00 when I went out with Clara's mom to bring her grandma to the train/bus station. We've had various grandparents here for almost 2 weeks so its strangely quiet today. After we dropped her off we went to Zara and I tried on some pants and looked around because were going to Lyon tomorrow to go shopping and sightseeing, and I wanted some ideas. On the way home we stopped at a little bakery which literally was heaven. We got a baguette to go with dinner and I got a little pain au chocolate which was delicious! For dinner we ate some soup in front of the TV and then I watched some TV, that I didn't completely understand, with Clara, her mom and her brother.

Day 23

This post was written yesterday and is being published today, so when I say today I mean yesterday.

Today was a pretty chill day, I slept in until 12 and Clara and her friends got their haircut before I even woke up. Later on we went to Clara's friend Agathe's house for her friend Julie's birthday. We basically just hung out, burnt a batch of cookies, painted our nails, took photos outside and Clara's friend Eglantine (Eggy) did our hair because she's really good at it.

Day 22

Today was the last school day before break which is awesome, school ended at 4:30 instead of 5:30 because the english teacher just didn't show up! I found out that Victoria can't meet up in Lyon on Tuesday which is super sad :( so were trying to organize it for the weekend after break, I really wish I could see her sooner tho because I'm starting to miss my friends and family. Luckily I don't have school for two weeks now which is great. We ate in the cafeteria today which I do not like at all, I like the sandwiches from the snack bar a lot better,  but I think you have to order them before lunch so they're a little harder to get. I'm gonna hang out for the next week and then were going on a little ski vacation the second week of break. Its Clara's mom's birthday so were just hanging out eating and talking :)

Day 21

The temperature dropped yesterday and it was really cold today, floating around 0ºC, which is nothing compared to Toronto where its like -15º! I just really don't like the mixture of cold and damp and I don't have my warm coat or boots with me :(
Luckily, I only have to make it through tomorrow before the break...Thursday and Friday are super long days (8-5:30) so that sucks but at least I have something to look forward to. Me and my friend Victoria are planning on meeting up in Lyon on tuesday to shop and sightsee and eat some yummy french food! I'm so excited for that because I haven't really done any shopping or sightseeing since I've been here (other than skiing which is a beautiful sight).


Follow me on Bloglovin!

"http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/11859805/?claim=svuf5c68mtr"

Day 20

Nothing much is going on today, its a sweats on sweats day I'm just chilling in bed watching Grey's Anatomy and online shopping. I Skyped my best friend Victoria for a little while because Clara's doing some homework. I wanted to go for a run but the weather is horrible so I'm staying in and taking it easy before the next two days of 8 - 5:30 school :( Also, I want to start blogging everyday even if its just short little updates like this!

Skiing at L'Alpe d'Huez!

I haven't posted in a week or more...more actually, because I'm lazy & easily distracted! This is a little update on last weekend. Last weekend I went skiing at l'Alpe d'Huez! I went with some more family friends or Clara's, I've met so many people since I've been here and they've all been so nice to me! We skied all day, and it was really challenging because some of the runs were so steep that I was scared to turn so I just kind stood there. Some of the runs were crazy icy but the ones that weren't had really nice conditions. I think that the sun here is brighter and hotter, I could feel my skin burning a little and I was sweating under my coat it was a lot different than in Ontario because instead of being -10 degrees it was like 0. It was such a great day!

Day 8/9 - Skiing at Serre Chevalier Vallée

This is coming up a few days late but I wrote it on Sunday!

Before this weekend I hadn't skied in over 2 years. I had switched to snow boarding, but I decided to ski while in France because I'm less likely to injure myself on skis.

Saturday was our first day here, the conditions were pretty good. Good snow and not too sunny. We skied from 10:30 to 5. We're staying in a little chalet with some friends of Clara's family. The reason we came was for Mathieu's (Clara's dad's godson) 18th birthday. Saturday night his parents surprised him with snowmobiling up to a restaurant up the mountain. There were 5 snowmobiles, I rode with the guide and everyone else doubled up. I got to drive at the end of the way back which was awesome! 

Right now it's Sunday and we just met up with Clara's dad Pascal, brother Thibault, Mathieu, his brother Étienne and their dad for lunch. Clara, her mom Sylvie, Mathieu and Étienne's mom and I didn't ski today. Right now I'm sitting in the little chalet, I'm looking out the window and I honestly can't see anything because it's snowing so much.

Dessert at the restaurant up the mountain.
 Tiramisu, raspberry something, lemon tart and
whipped cream with crunchy toffee pieces. 

The weekend was super fun, it was so exciting to ski in the Alps! Were going skiing again somewhere else during the next break. 

View of the mountain from the parking lot.

Day 5/6 - School & Relaxing

I went to school for the first time on tuesday. The day was from 8:00 to 5:30 which was crazy long for me because my school day back home is from 8:45 to 3:15. We had a 15 minutes break in the morning and a 30 minute one in the afternoon, lunch was also over an hour long. The day was unnecessarily long in my opinion, with a shorter lunch and less breaks it could be like 2 hours shorter. The school is also really, really big, I don't get my own schedule so I just follow Clara around. The teachers here are honestly just pretty cold, I have to say I'm going to appreciate school in Canada when I get back. There are things that I like about french school tho, like the independence of not really having to ask if you need to go home or if you need to go to the bathroom. I pretty much understand everything in math and science, I get really lost in french, I've never learned spanish so I get really lost in that class and the teacher is really mean, and obviously english is a total joke...I'm better at english than the actual teacher and she's really mean as well.

Today Clara only had 2 hours of school, in the morning so I just stayed in a slept until almost 12. I took a hot shower, and then she came home and we had breakfast and watched Gossip Girl in french. I just hung out around the house for a few hours, its warm enough to go outside without a coat, so I went out and took a few pictures. Then I went out with Clara's mom and rented ski stuff for this weekend and we went grocery shopping.

Day 4 - first day in the city

Today I was supposed to go to school with Clara, but our morning was just a trip to the Musée de Grenoble and we were supposed to have English class in the afternoon but the teacher wasn't there so we didn't even have to go.

The trip to the museum was a cool way to start my school experience here because I got to meet people in a less formal way (AKA outside the museum as we waited to go in) and I also got to look around the city, Clara showed me some stores that she likes like Pimkie (a clothing store) and Kiko (a makeup store). When I met all Clara's friends and class mates they all kissed me on the cheek, which was interesting but not too hard to get used to. We spent a few hours with two of Clara's good friends at her house, they're really nice and funny I'm glad that I'll be spending time with fun people.

Day 1/2 - Welcome to Grenoble!

On Friday night I took a plane from Toronto Pearson Airport, Canada, to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, France. I've never left North America, so when I landed all I could think was "I'm in Paris?!?!"

I'm on a three month exchange in France, staying with a great girl named Clara who lived with me already for 3 months in Canada. Her family is great, they are impressed with my french, its not my first language but I first started learning about 10 years ago. When I got off the plane it was around 7:30am in France. I waited for hours in the airport before taking the TGV to Lyon and then a different train to Grenoble. It was a long day, but I'm so glad to be with Clara and her family, they're really nice.

This is a picture of the flight tracker on the screen in the airplane. I flew with Air France.

EXTRAS

-I had my first French baguette, in Toronto we buy them at the grocery store and I'll probably never want those again.

-I'm meeting some of Clara's friends today!