A Montpellier

At the airport on Friday night we tried to guess who on the plane was american and who was French. Mostly the scarves were a big help on the French side. The highlight of the plane ride was when the stewardess announced she was coming around with peanuts, and a group of French people started chanting "cacahouètes", the French word for peanuts. Oh yes, and another highlight was when they asked if there was a doctor on board! We never found out what happened with that. After a long flight and not much sleep except for Kaitlynn, we arrived in Paris and took the train right away down to Montpellier. Karoline had some trouble with her 47 lb suitcase and lack of storage space on the train. She managed to shove it on top of everyone else's where it balanced precariously.

The host moms met us at the station in Montpellier, and I was invited to have dinner with Karoline, Kaitlynn, Mme Barrau, and another exchange student living there named Yvonne. Yvonne regailed us with stories about the beach. She is from Switzerland and clearly is not used to a lot of intense sun exposure. She lectured us on how it is ideal to go to the beach not between 11 and 1 because the sun is too hot during the middle of the day. Karoline later said to me, "Did she think we didn't know that?!" Hilarious. Even better was when we told Yvonne that we all get cold when it is 60 degrees out. Let's just say she was shocked by that. For dinner, we ate fresh tomatoes, ratatouille, and chicken. It was all good. Yvonne prepared tiramisu which was not tiramisu at all but wet bread and fruit mixed with some whipped cream. Mme Barrau noted that this kind of dessert was like ice cream and therefore was "typical american." We did not agree.
The best part of Mme Barrau's house is that there is one room for the shower and another for the toilet which is located right off the dining room. This provides for awkard situations!

Today we walked around the city getting aquainted with streets and where the shops are, etc. Of course because it's Sunday none of the stores are open, but at least I know where they are. I ate a pain au chocolat this morning. Sooooo good and we had crepes for lunch and later sat at the cafe and had a drink and listened to a man playing his accordion. Ah, la France.

We are now taking a quick break and are about to go check out St. Pierre's Catherdral built in 1364 (how can this be?!) which I've visited before with Alex, Lotta, Claire, and Anna. Which by the way y'all- I said salut to Jean Jaures for you. He's still looking good.

Tonight is the "fete de la musique" a music festival whose theme this year is Woodstock with tribute bands to Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Santana, and Canned Heat. We will check it out after dinner.