Break Number One. Check.

10 day break= success

Where to start. Bordeaux. I can safely say that the addition of myself and the four girls I traveled with bumped Bordeaux's young American population up to maybe 10. We stayed the weekend with Holly's friend from school, Emily. Emily directly enrolled herself in a University in Bordeaux, found a French roommate and apartment totally blindly, and showed up to Bordeaux knowing no one. Listening to all the things she has had to figure out independently was insane and made me appreciate all my program does for us. She has made friends with all international students studying in Bordeaux through Erasmus, and one other American student. We were able to meet all of her friends and really experience a European student lifestyle for a few days, rather than an American abroad experience. The students took a liking to us and our second night there we all collaborated on a Greek Dinner. It was an evening of cooking, laughing, language barriers, and getting to know one another. The evening opened my eyes to how ignorant many people in the USA (including myself) are to other cultures. All of the students there we so knowledgeable of American pop culture, political culture, etc, and I could barely name the Presidents of many of the nations represented (to be fair I talked to a Latvian and a Hugarian for the majority of the night). The Greek girl, Tonia, who headed up the cooking really blew my mind – she was schooled on different cities within the USA. When I told her I was from Cleveland, she responded by saying, “Oh, that's where Kid Cudi is from, right?” I was astonished – I would guess the majority of Americans don't even know where Kid Cudi (a rap artist) is from, let alone who he is. It was a splendid evening which ended in a feast of epic proportions. We had tzatziki, pita, fried eggplant, sauteed zucchini, grilled chicken, Greek salad made with tomatoes, cucumber, feta, and a touch of oil, and fried potatoes. I was absolutely stuffed and would say this was probably the highlight of my Bordeaux visit, though it was entirely un-Bordeaux.

Secret Tzatziki recipe! (straight from Tonia – spelling and all ;))

1)1,5 big cucumber cutten in small pieces(use a knife or a mixer). Put the small pieces in a bowl with salt because we don't need cucumber's water and then squash it.
2)about 400-450gr of fat yogurt.
3)3,5-4,5 cloves of garlic(thanx google traslator for 'clove'!)
4)olive oil(a lot, actually now you know how much!)
5)one tea spoon of vinaigrette or lemon
6)mix them a lot.
7) Bon appetit!

     We also got to see the sights and taste the wine in Bordeaux, though it was dreary and rainy for our entire stay. Bordeaux is a much more diverse city than Aix, which was exciting and new. There were Kebab stands left and right, a large Moroccan influence, and many more Western influences as well (McDonald's, etc.). We stayed the first two nights with Emily, as I mentioned before, who was in the heart of town. This allowed us a great jumping off point for sight-seeing. We took in the many churches, the views of the Garonne River, the trendy shops on the longest shopping street in France, and the inside of a Wine Bar for about 5 hours one day. Bordeaux is definitely a place to visit in the Summer as it's main draw is the many vineyards surrounding, which are all closed during the winter.

The last two nights we were in Bordeaux we stayed in a hostel on the outskirts of town – by accident. We meant to book the hostel from the same company in town, but lost in translation, we booked one outside of town. Upside, it was cheaper – downside, it was about a 20 minute bus ride away with the last bus leaving at 9 pm. So, we were unable to stay in town very late, which was fine as the streets seemed to get a little more risky at night than our cushy streets of Aix. 

 

We left Tuesday morning for Lyon, and arrived at night after a 7.5 hour train ride – ew. We met up with our friend Jack once there and continued on to our hostel. Our hostel this time, was more like a awesome loft dorm room. We had a kitchenette and a seating area downstairs, and four beds upstairs! We went out to dinner the first night before retiring to bed. Dinner, though, was always the highlight in Lyon, which is the Gastronomic Capital of France. Every night Holly and I would order different things for each course and split it down the middle, creating an even greater food trial experience. The first night I started with Frog Legs and Sauteed Gambas (two separate things), my meal was a type of local Gratin which was sooo cheesy, and “ham-y”, and delicious, and also a filet of aiglefish with green beans, and then I finished with a Tarte au Pralines (yum, yum). It was phenomenal, and well priced.

The next day we visited the Resistance Museum in Lyon. During WWII the French Resistance was headquarted in Lyon, though Lyon was also a major Gestapo hang out and the headquarters of Klaus Barbie. The museum was extremely interesting and we spent the most of a morning in there. We then moved further in to town to climb to the top of the hill to see La Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière (a Basilica). Two rivers run through Lyon – the Rhone and the Saône. It is a really beautiful, clean, and bustling town – the second biggest in France. I quickly fell in love. The city is obsessed with their food - restaurants have a different name, only here, and are called Buchons, and I've never seen so many cooking stores anywhere. The food never really disappointed, either. We saw the sights – the wonderful churches, the Resistance Museum, the location of a major speech by General Charles DuGualle, the Roman Ruins, the gardens, and ate the first day. The next day we indulged in Starbucks (yeah!!) before heading to the Museum of Fine Arts. Holly, Jordan, Jack, and I managed to spend about a half of a day there enjoying everything (and Holly and I had time to add dialogue to many of the pieces that “spoke to us”), we than meandered the streets in search of the silk district and the Marionette Museum, finding neither, but stumbling upon Vieux Lyon – Old Lyon – which was charming. It is filled with cobble stone streets and "des traboules" which are passages that permit people to pass from one apartment from the other without going outside. I could have spent many many more days eating in and exploring Lyon, but alas, we departed early the next morning for a day in Aix to shower and re-pack before heading the Venice.
Before I speak of Venice, I know my foodie family will want to know what else I ate – thought unfortunately, I devoured everything and never managed to take pictures of my meals. The second night I enjoyed a Salad Lyonnais (which includes poached egg, lardon pieces, croutons, and a wonderful mustardy vinaigrette) to start, a traditional Lyonnais Andouillette sausage (which is quite unprocessed and chunky compared to US sausage – I could see the stomach chunks, etc I was eating) with a mustard sauce and potatoes and a seafood gratin, and then Pain Perdu for dessert. Pain Perdu is much like French Toast, but was drizzled with a caramel glaze and topped with some ice cream. My last night I had a salad lyonnais to start (again – so good), a Penne Rigata Gratin with Smoked Salmon for my meal, and for dessert - a Chocolate Cake.

 
So, at 10 pm Friday night I boarded an overnight bus to Venice for Carnival. Let me tell you, arriving in Venice at 7 am after a night of shotty sleep is not a great experience. The entire first day a group of us just wandered the crowded streets aimlessly buying masks and trying to get our bearings. We slept quite wonderfully that night at our far off hostel run by nuns (it was on another Island plus a 20 min. bus ride). The next day we were able to see the descent of the Angel of Venice in San Marco's Plaza and view many many people dressed for the occasion, we also took a jaunt to the Jewish Quarter in Venice which was the location of the world's first ghetto, where the Jews were forced in 1516 AD. There was a group of about 11 of us this day, so it was really hard to motivate and stick together, which was annoying, but it was an interesting day, nonetheless.
The last day in Venice we split up and half of us visited the Doge's Palace and the Art Museum and then did more touring of Venice before departing overnight back to Aix. 

 
It was truly an exhausting break, but really wonderful as well. It's always interesting to travel with new people to new places. It tests your limits and forces you to learn/know people in very different ways and settings. It also really made Aix start to feel like home, well, a sort of temporary home. When I walk around Aix now I feel like I'm walking around a city I really know, where no one realizes I'm American (though I'm sure due to my dress and not French-air they know I'm of another nationality), I'm just another inhabitant.