Vacayyyy de la Toussaint, Part One

Vacances de la Toussaint started for me, Emily Findley, on Wednesday, October 24th. My vacation ends on Sunday, November 11th. There is seriously something wrong with that. Vive la France!

After a rockin' bday weekend, I went back to work on Monday the 22nd and I did some Halloween stuff. By "did some Halloween stuff" I mean that I'd completely panicked the night before teaching and couldn't come up with anything except a coloring worksheet. Not my brightest or proudest moment. It was pretty much like I'd procrastinated the heck out of studying for a big exam and then BAM the multiple choice were way harder than I thought they'd be. Actually, I currently feel that's how teaching is - one big ol' test that I freak out about every week b/c I don't know what I'm doing and I don't know how to prepare and I procrastinate a bit too much. Hmm...

ANYway, after my two days of work for the week, I found myself in vacation. I was actually kind of surprised on Wednesday when I realized I didn't have to go back to work for two and a half weeks. Surprised, overjoyed, etc. So it was time to get my vacay-on. And I fo sho did!

I spent the first few days of vacation in Avignon. While I'm currently trying to turn myself into a fancy shmancy world traveler who's seen everything and is all cultured and amazing like that, we all know how much of a homebody I am. So staying home in Avignon for a few days in vacation was still vacation and still fun and homebody-ish - just how I like it. I'm really glad I stayed in Avignon because I hung out with other assistants with whom I spend less time, usually, like Marius, Neil, Ciaran, Robyn, etc. All of these people are amazing, of course, and I had a freaking sweet time chillin', playing cards, going on a picnic, going on a bike ride through the French countryside, eatin' candy, and talking with all of them. I am always smiling here because I am always always happy with the company I get to keep. I feel so lucky.

Then on Tuesday I left Avignon. At 5:00 am.

At 5:06 am on Tuesday morning, my TGV train left Avignon Centre for Tours. My first train took me to Paris, I cabbed my way to Gare Austerlitz and took another train from Paris to Tours. On the second train I sat next to a really sweet girl who brought her cats with her (oh man, peeps and their pets!) and I tried to have conversation with her but she was really shy and quiet and when she did speak, I could not understand a word she said because she mumbled like WHOA and, of course, my French isn't that good yet. So I sat, loving public transportation, knitting and smiling to myself as I listened to my iPod and watched the French landscape zip by.

I interrupt this blog post to state that it smells like burning in my bedroom but I have no idea why. Hmmmm...

Back to Tours. I was met at the train station by Emily and Amy and it was like we hadn't seen each other in ages. Everyone remember the movie "Love Actually"? And how, at the film's beginning and end, the narrator person says that Love Actually is all around and the film montage is all about how you can see love in all its forms at the airport and all of that? Well I don't think there's anything quite like being picked up at the train station. It rocks. So Amy and Emily swept me up in their arms and we headed back to our Hotel Foch (everyone pronounce that however you want) and then we went to a castle with Nicole and Darija. I'm ashamed b/c I can't remember the name of the castle but I can tell you that it was beautiful and very castle-y. My camera was without battery, unfortunately, so I couldn't take any pics but I think there are tons of them on facebook and Nicole and Emily both have pics up, prob, so y'all can see. There was a maze, there was a super long walk up to the castle, the leaves were perfect shades of red and orange, it was a beautiful day... picture perfect, really! Also, that night I had my first crepe in France (the first of my time here) and I died from happiness. Ok, so I had two crepes: a dinner one and a dessert one and it was all amazing.
Me and the D(arija)
Emily and Amy


That was Tours, day 1.

Tours, day 2, was a day for Nicole and I to hang out in the city while the others went off and castled all day long. I think they say five of them or something like that. Oh, I should mention that Tours is in the part of France that's known for its castles so that's the reason for going. Nicole and I hung out in Tours and took pics and had a grand old time. Very chill, very beautiful. It was nice to be in a bigger city. Good preparation for...

PARIS.

I've been to Paris. And OMG it's exactly how I thought it'd be. Yeahhhhhhh buddy!

But more on Paris later. I currently have to go into my room and clean it up so my landlady doesn't yell at me. Yay.