The Food Issue

This is the food issue of my blog (mainly for you Shannon, haha).
The food in France is, probably as you have suspected, amazing. Especially the bread, it's très delicious. My host mom is a fabulous cook, so we always have something yummy to eat for dinner, except Wednesdays....I don't know why we don't get fed on Wednesday, when every other family has chosen a weekend day to not feed their host kids, but whatever, my roommate and I have nice little dates on Wednesdays. Dinner typically starts of with a salad, or a homemade soup, then for the main course we have something different every time. We have yet to have had the same meal twice. My host mom makes a very delicious ratatouille. Then we have a cheese plate, i always try the cheese, but I don't eat much. However, I have found I really enjoy brie and chevre (a goats cheese), and maybe sometimes camembert. Then we finish dinner with a dessert. Either yogurt eaten in various ways or some sort of cake my mom has baked.
We have to find our own lunches, so I either get a sandwich from one of the many delicious sandwich shops in Aix (one of my favorite sandwiches is a mixte, which is just ham, cheese, and butter on a baguette, so simple, but so good), or pasta from this fresh pasta place across the street from my house. If we're going to be out and about and I need to pack a picnic lunch, I usually by a baguette and some brie, an apple, and maybe a pudding.
When I do eat dinner out I try to have something different every time. One of the best meals I've had in Aix though, was at this little restaurant called le petit verdot. There I had the best fois gras of my life and a lamb shank that was to die for. I've also eaten lots of delicious creme brulet! I dunno how the french don't get fat. There's lots of wine and carb intake, maybe it's because they walk 10 miles a day. I think I've even lost weight, it's a mystery to me. I'll try to remember to take picture of some food I eat and post it next time!

Today, at the end of March.....

IT SNOWED! And I thought we had freak weather in Texas. Seriously, in February it's crazy hot, and now, we're almost in April and it's snowing. My camera was dead, it was 7 in the morning, and I was très sleepy, so i didn't get a pic. BUT you can enjoy this hilARious picture of naughty peeps, hehe.

Le Luberon

Last weekend we went to this area of Provence called "Le Luberon". It's about 30 mins north of Aix and features your "typical" provençial sights. Lavender and sunflower fields (which are unfortunately not in bloom until the summer), medieval ruins, olive groves, and cute little cottages. A tasty little fact for you, John Malcovich lives in this area, and we actually drove right past his house.
I'm not sure if it was because I was tired, but this was sooooooooooo boring. I really was not enthused, however, we did go to this one super cool town, Roussillon, that had an ocher quarry, so all the houses were these beautiful reds, oranges, and yellows, très beaux. We hiked around in the deserted ocher quarry, and everyone's pants and shoes turned into a lovely shade of red dust. Afterwards, I had my first contact with dog poo on the street...OH NO! I've been doing so well, 2 months and i've been able to dodge every little pile on the street, but alas, as fate would have it, i stepped in a nice mushy dropping, yuck.
Unfortunately sailing has been canceled this week, waters are too choppy, so we'll see if there will be anything else in store. Right now Aix has turned into a cluster mess of American tourists, so I've been hiding inside. Looking out from the inside, there really is NOTHING more annoying than an American tourist, haha. They stick out like sore thumbs, with their silly t-shirts, crocs, and brightly colored jackets. I also know why the French would just rather you speak in English than attempt French. There was this young American man ahead of me in line at the sandwich shop today, and he was speaking the most god awful French I have ever heard, I wanted him to stop, and the poor sandwich lady was getting so frustrated with him. It's so funny how your perspective changes when you become a local. I can definitely see me having a little bit of a rough transition when I return to the States.


The Ol' Ocher Quarry
Old Clock Tower in Roussillon, featuring blue shutters

Skiing in the Alps

Yup, you can be jealous, we went skiing in the Alps on Sunday. It was a really sweet deal. For 40 euros, we got round trip bus transport, lift tickets for the day, and ski rental. However, it wasn't the best skiing i've done...a wee bit icy, which led to a few epic falls. (haha, the best one was when I think we went of trail...it wasn't marked very well, and the snow was rock hard, and i fell and slid down the hill, without my skis. Trafton went to retrieve my skis, and in the process, he too fell and took me out, for a second time, with him). Not used to the ice, but the silly east cost kids rocked the slopes because apparently that's all they have, gross icy slopes. I had no ski pants, so not only did I look like a redneck, my jeans were nice and damp by the end of the day. It was my friend Andrew's first time skiing, and I think he could've gone head to head with Brian as the worst skier ever. He managed to fall and fly up into the air while standing still, ski into the nets and get tangled up, and lose his skis a number of times. It was a good weekend activity. Lots of laughs, and lots of fun.

At least I wasn't the only one looking like a douche skiing in jeans....absolutely ridiculous


Donning my host mom's super cool ski jacket, brand NafNaf, it's top of the line..totally.
Also sporting gloves a man in the ski shop let me borrow. they were too big
so i wore my leather gloves underneath, which served duel purpose as a germ blocker

The French Health Care System is Bomb..for the most part

I had my first experience with the French health care system the other day, and I do have to say it was the most enjoyable doctor experience I have ever had.
. I had no waiting time, my appointment was at 4:30, so the doctor SAW me at 4:30, none of this wait around for an extra hour business like in the US.
. Insurance or not, it is a flat 22 euro fee, I can be reimbursed by my insurance for that 22 euros at a later time.
. It was very quick and efficient, no silly nurse lady came in to take my vitals first, and then 20 mins later the doctor showed up. He did everything himself in 2 mins.
. No other random non-medical personnel taking up office space, or silly papers to fill out.
. He prescribed me 3 things: cough syrup, nose spray, and ear drops, which all totaled out to 7 euros.
Other reasons why their health care system rules:
.The sicker you are the less you have to pay and the more treatment you are able to receive. The US seems to have this bit backwards. If you at one time had cancer or some sort of other illness, an insurance company is LESS likely to cover you...that's wack. And if you HAVE cancer, forget about an insurance company covering you even a little bit. Even then, the likelihood that they will pay for all the treatments necessary for you to recover is slim.
. You can choose your physician
. No waiting lists for elective procedures

Now, this may sound like a dream, but there are downsides.
. This system is frequently abused. General Practitioners over prescribed medications to an unnecessary extent, which just cost the government and people more money. People can also swindle their doctors into giving them ungodly amounts of medical leave (the french have unlimited PAID sick days). I heard of a case where a man asked his doctor friend to write him 2 months sick leave so he could start up a business, while he still got paid sick leave from his other job.
.There is a growing healthcare deficit, and this kind of abuse is just making it worse.
. The French do have to pay a hefty amount of taxes, but the funny thing is, none of them really care. That's one big difference between America and France; in America it's all about individual advancement, but in France it's how one can be part of the system. Silly socialists.

but really, if that's the worst you can say about the system......

WHO, ranked the French Healthcare system #1 in the world in 2001, and it is often referred to as "the model healthcare system". I think there is definitely a little something to be learned here. Here is a link to an article about the system, that does a good job describing my exprience with the system in a more educated, informative way Model Healthcare.

Eventhough a gypsy gave me SARS, I still LOVE Paris

SO I'm pretty sure a gypsy that came in freakishly close contact with me at the Eiffel Tower gave me SARS, but than again it could just be a nasty cough....ANYWAYS Paris is my jam. I love this city. It's absolutely beautiful. All those rumors about Paris being dirty are lies. I didn't see a spot of trash or anything gross the whole time I was there, nothing but loveliness. We hit up the Louvre, the D'Orsay, Eiffel Tower, Champs-Elysée, Arc de Triomphe, Notredame, La Seine, the Latin Quarter, pretty much everything but sweet shopping, because when you travel with boys, shopping is NOT on the list (don't worry mom, i'm sure I'll be going back). We managed to hit up all the museums on the free days, yatzee! The Louvre was kind of blah, full of gypsy trinkets and statutes, nothing that great. Saw Mona, she was chillin' with 5000 people in front of her. The Musée d'Orsay was waaaaay better. I saw lots of amazing impressionist work and pointillism. I even saw my Renoir that I am copying in art class. That was very cool. We hit up the Eiffel at the best time. Even though we had to dodge gypsies the whole time in line, we finally made it through the line and managed to get up the tower while the sun was setting. Then, by the time we made it down it was dark and the tower was lit up. This, in my opinion, is the best time to see the tower. We went to this awesome famous old bookstore near the notredam called Shakespeare & CO., I bought a sweet old book, and jammed out on their piano for a bit. We didn't experience much of a night life in Paris, 1 we are poor, 2 the metro closes at 1:30, so you have to cut the party short. Therefore we had our own party in our 2 star hotel room drinking wine, eating chocolate pudding (which comes in cute little glass jars, by the way), and watching episodes of South Park and The Office. Paris is by far one of my favorite cities in the world, I can't wait to go back.

My Renoir I found at the d'Orsay! Remi and Trafto gaining knowledge at Shakespeare's

Hunting for hunchbacks....
Turning Japanese in front of the d'Orsay
La Seine at Night...très beau!
I.M.Pei is my man: the Louvre
Katie, Remi, Trafton, and Moi standing on the center of Paris

Why I will NEVER go back to Spain

Spain is by far the worst country I have been in. I am convinced Madrid is the blueprint for hell. For our winter break we decided it would be a good idea to go to spain, FALSE! Worst idea ever, in the first 5 mins of our arrival, some silly spaniard stole my friend ashley's wallet. Anyways to make it simple I will list the reasons why i will never waste another second in spain.
1. Spain has ugly buildings
2.Spanish is a gross language, especially in spain. Sounds like mexicans with speech impediments..ronz.
3. Spanish men love to shout out you, randomly touch you, chase you, and do any other form of harassment you can think of towards you
4. The food is disgusting. Lack of variety, flavor, and tastiness. French have a faaaaaaar superior cuisine.
5. The spanish are rude, loud, and disgusting

France is a far superior country. The people are nice (seriously, next time i'm in the states and someone makes a comment about how rude french people are i'm going to throw some down), quiet, polite, they know how to cook, have pretty buildings and just do anything a million times better than the spanish.
However, not all of spain was bad. I did throughly enjoy Barcalona, there were some really cool things to see there, but still, you couldn't pay me to go back. Question : Would you rather have to live in Scranton, PA or Madrid your whole life. Answer: Scranton. I would rather work in the coal mines of scranton than have a posh apartment in Madrid.

Only Spain would sell pigeons as pets, disgusting
Sagrada Familla , sick gaudi church
Inside the the Sagrada, sick stainglass
blockheaded jesus
ugly spanish palace
museum of ham, spanish love pig

GOOOOOAAAAALLLLLL!!!!!

The man crew (Traf, Alex 1 (Dude), Petey Pab, Alex 2 (Jock)) and I (since no other female was interested) went to a futbol match in Marseille we saw L'OM vs. Spartak Moscow. L'OM won 3-0. It was a really cool experience being there in a stadium full of crazy soccer fans. Best part about it is I get to do my French class project on the game. Yatzee!

The French Riviera

Our uni took us out on an excursion to the French Riviera. We went to Nice, Cannes, and Monaco.
Nice is definitely nice. SO beautiful, great little city, and the beach was amazing. That night we went to Monte Carlo in Monaco. Some serious dough was flowin' through the place. I won 5 euro on roulette. That's like a 100 US dollar, so I pretty much banked. Cannes was ok. Pretty much a glorified retirement home. The only thing it has going for it is that silly film festival.

Trafton and I in Nice
An aerial view of Nice
Candied fruits in the Nice market , très cool
MONTE CARLO!!!!
The Famous Ritz Carlton in Cannes

What I have been doing the last month

Sorry for the lack of posts!! I've been very busy in the month of feb. I will break down the past few weeks in a serious of posts talking about my adventures on the french riviera, marseille futbol, spain, and paris.