VIDEO: driving in morlaix, bretagne, france

driving in a new country can be difficult. the signs are different, the rules of the road are different, and people's tendencies are different. more than that, if you haven't ever driven stick (or haven't in a while, like me), it can take some getting used to. perhaps the most difficult of all is trying to focus in spite of how beautiful the scenes are. here is a nice drive through the center of morlaix, bretagne, france. be sure to check out the size of the viaduct (more information here).

thanksgiving special: paris school lunch

happy thanksgiving, all! in celebration of a day of eating, id like to share some pictures of school lunch in paris. we have lunch for one hour, from 12:15 to 1:15. students do not bring bagged lunch, and seeing as we live in a city, many of the students and teachers go home for lunch during their hour off. if you stay at school, however, here is what you might eat...

the different courses include a meat or a fish, vegetables and a grain, a salad or side, cheese and fruit, and fresh bread. we drink water. what do you think? does it look appetizing? would you miss the drink choices and the selection of sides and desserts?

a trip to caen

we took a trip to caen recently - which we decided to take because the train tickets were cheap! almost everything we saw and everywhere we went were dominated by the history of world war ii. caen was almost completely destroyed during the war, and was occupied by the nazis. the result is a city rebuilt in utilitarian fashion in the 1950s with a few pieces of historical architecture spread throughout. inspired by the history, we decided to take a day trip to omaha beach and the american cemetery. if you dont know the history, it is the beach in the north of france that the allied forces, led by the americans and british, invaded in order to liberate france from the nazis. it was a solemn visit, and when they played the american national anthem, all the visitors stopped and bowed their heads. there was a strong sentiment of thankfulness to the american and british troops who stood up for a country of people they didnt know. finally, we made a trip to bayeux, a historical town that survived the occupation and that maintains much of its history from the middle ages and even the gallo-roman times! check out some pictures!

caen

the city after a bombardment 

the inner courtyard of the men's abbey

this church leans as a result of the bombardment... it is the church from the first image

bayeux

a medieval mill on the left, a wary traveler on the right

omaha beach, american cemetery and normandy

check back soon for more posts!

publicité à paris - 21 novembre

VIDEO: the morning commute

bordeaux

decided on a quick trip to bordeaux at the end of september. like all my little trips in france, i learned so much about the history of france and of the world. bordeaux is an OLD city. some areas are gallo-roman (1st century), other areas are medieval, and other areas have an 1800s look. the architect of modern paris, haussmann, was an official in bordeaux and based his renovation of paris in the 1850s off of his work in bordeaux. known for its wine, we had to visit a vineyard while in the region, and we went to the newly opened "cité du vin" museum.

learning to identify the colors of different wines.

learning to identify the different smells used to identify wines.

arriving at the chateau vineyard at taillan.

the medieval front room at the castle. they still host events here!

during the agin process, the barrels are periodically emptied, cleaned, and refilled to ensure consistency of the wine.

not a bad little shack.

myra in front of the miroir d'eau (the mirror of water). you can see from the buildings in the background why it's called the little paris.

i LOVE taking these little side trips...