St. Bertrand des Cominges, Gargas, and a Medieval Castle

Hey everyone! So, last weekend we went on the last USAC excursion. We went to Roman Ruins in St. Bertrand des Cominges. Then we saw a cathedral there. After that we went to Gargas to see prehistoric caves, but were not allowed to take pictures inside. Then finally we went to a Medieval Castle. I dont know where the castle was located, but it was pretty cool! I would say that it was probably the most boring excursion, but it wasnt so bad i guess. I wish I could have taken pictures inside the caves though because that was the best part! I bought a book from there about the caves and I also bought postcards of them. They have the oldest prehistoric paintings in all of Europe! I think they said that they are 27,000 years old!! It was pretty cool!

Below are the pictures that I took that day with my new camera! I think some could have turned out better, but they are alright! They dont go in reverse order, so the pictures from the castle are first and the ones from the ruins are last even though we went to the castle last and the ruins first. Oh well!
This is me (of course) at the Medieval Castle, at sunset! It was beautiful there! This is my favorite picture taken of me that day! i love my sweatshirt too! it says soixante-quatre, which is 64 in french. 64 is the region of France that Pau is in. Apparently here in France they are quite competitive about their regions and take pride in them. So, i bought a shirt to show that I have pride in Pau (even though that might not be true)....I actually bought the shirt because i liked it and it is a good souvenir!
Sunset at the castle! It was such a pretty day and a great sunset! I couldnt resist taking lots of pictures!

From left to right: Emily Hancock-Mullins, Katy, Keavagh, Samantha, Me, Rachel. This was taken by Quimby, Sam's boyfriend. It was taken outside of the castle. I like this photo! We were all bored and sat down and ate peanuts (can u see the shells on the ground?) and drank orangina!
Sunset picture with the medieval building in it.
Me in the gallows. I dont actually like this photo.
The USAC group that came along on the excursion. Lets see...In the back, some German girl who Robina brought along to watch her daughter, Stephanie, Kim, Jeanette, Joe, Carolina, Keavagh, Chris, Robin, Corey. Rachel is the one standing. On the floor, John, Maddie, Jennifer, Jeff, and a french guy who came along with us. The French guy and the German girl were both very nice! Apparently other people knew them, but I did not and still dont know their names.
Pretty much the same picture, but with me in it instead of the german girl...
Ryan and Robina (and Robina's daughter). Its not a great picture because of the stupid sun, but these are the 2 that are pretty much in charge here. Ryan is from Ohio originally and Robina is German but has lived in France for 15 years. They are both super nice! Her daughter is really cute too!
Jeanette, Joe, Keavagh, and Chris. On top of the castle. I like this photo! Its cute!
French cows. They were SO loud. It was funny, so i took a photo of them so i wouldnt forget! haha
the view from the castle
the other view form the castle
looking down into the courtyard at the castle.
i like this photo. I think John is in it because i can see the smoke from his cigarette. I dont know how else it is tho...


The sun was in my eyes...
The Castle

Me and Sam outside the caves in Gargas.
The entrance to the caves in Gargas. Its the only pic i was allowed to take there.
Me at the cathedral...in St. Bertrand des Cominges

the view from the cathedral
the courtyard at the cathedral
Ryan has a tendancy to walk right into my pictures. His head is always at the bottom of my photos. Oh well...Its a cool building anyways...
Roman Ruins
More Roman Ruins
The Cathedral we visited is on top of the hill. Below are some ruins of where a stage used to be.
Ruins. I think they said that this is where the baths used to be...Im not sure tho...

More ruins. I like this photo tho!


So, as for me and how I'm doing here, I am great! i have been enjoying class and hanging out with everyone after class. Yesterday I had a great day...This weekend is going to be nice because I will be hanging out with Missy and we are gonna get our nails and eyebrows done. I have decided that I will probably get my eyebrow pierced because I think they look cool! I might do that this weekend but I might also wait for her boyfriend to get here because he is going to get his lip pierced and we might go together. Which, by the way, her boyfriend (Jeremy) is coming next week and I am excited to meet him. Apparently he is not going to be leaving until we all leave in December, so that'll be cool! We'll have a place to hang out!

Yesterday my host mom told me that she is planning a trip with me to Spain sometime in early December, so I am excited about that! She said we will sleep on her friends boat (she likes to go sailing) and then we will hang out in Spain for the weekend! i am really excited about that! I like my host mom a lot! She is so nice and very fun! She took me to a contempory dance thing, which was pretty cool. I am finding out that she knows pretty much anyone and everyone here in Pau. She apparently plans tons of cool fun things around town and knows everyone you need to know to get the inside scoop on things. She also has lots of fun friends!! So, i am having a great time staying with her!

Other than that, theres really nothing much going on here. Next week in my classes I have to make an American dish...so if anyone has any suggestions as to what I should make, please let me know! i was thinking green bean casserole, but they odnt have the ingredients here to make that...so any suggestions?? I have no idea what to make! I have to make it by Thursday though..so..ya! Ok well, i suppose I will write more another time! I hope everyone back home is doing well! Love and Miss you all!

Randomness...and pics of my house

So, My mom told me that she wanted to see some pictures of my host mom...but I dont have any yet...I do, however, have photos of my home (inside) and of her nephew, named Yan. So, below are those photos!


This si my and Yan. Yan usually wears glasses but he wanted to take them off before the photo. He was really upset before this was taken and said that the only thing that could cheer him up would be to have a photo taken with me! How sweet is that?! Also, on Halloween he and his brother came over and carved a pumpkin and made me a jack-o-lantern out of clay for me. I wasnt there though and feel really bad! I went out with my friends and we all dressed up and hada good time. I missed the party back home and feel bad! oh well...i can see Yan again some other time!
These are the 2 roses in front of the house. They are not there now though because it is SO COLD here now! My host mom wanted me to take a photo of them..although i dont know how i'm gonna get them to her...
This is my bed..I know, i really should make my bed, but i just didnt feel like it! In the back u can see my couch which i use for my laundry...
This is the other side of the room....With my desk and laptop (playing with my itunes!) and my shoes and my closet..and my window looking out over the river...Its pretty much awesome!
Here's the bathroom, just outside my door. There is no door on the shower and it really sucks. It makes it quite hard to take a shower and not get everything wet...I'm getting better at it though! The staircase....Its spiral, like pretty much every other staircase in France...
The living room. Its what u see when u first walk in...
The dining room. The picture in the background was taken by my host mom's friend who is a professional photographer! Her friend told me that she would let me use her camera the next time i see her! She comes over a lot for dinner and is very nice! She uses a really nice but old camera that is only sold in Germany. I forget what it is called but..ya! I am so excited and really like that my host mom's best friend is a photographer! We basically only talk about photography when we are together! its great!
The kitchen. Like our table? Its like L shaped....kinda...
The backyard....U cant really see the river but its on the other side of the trees....This was taken looking out of the kitchen window.



So, I really love my host family now! My host mom and her mom and dad and sister and brother and nepheews and everybody else! Its really awesome!

I have been quite busy here. I have been taking classes, which are getting harder! And tomorrow we all have an excursion (the last USAC one) but i dont know where we are going. It should be fun though! Theres nothing really else to update you about with me...Halloween was fun. Went out. Had a few drinks. Its not really a big deal here in France. I called my french friends and they were sleeping. I thought that was crazy. Wednesday was a holiday here. It was Toussaint. Everything was closed. Except the McDrive! Missy and I went there because she had to bring my bag to me that i left at her house the night before. We had McFlurries. I also saw that they DO indeed have Royal's with cheese! Ben asked me to look, and I did! I will take a photo the next time. I didnt have my camera because it was broken but now i have a new one! oh...and here's a photo of the McDrive....


I thought that this was one of the funniest things I have seen here in France. Instead of having the drive thru they have a McDrive! and Julien said that they pronounce it McDreeeeve. HAHAHA I had a good laugh when he told me this. Ah..man...so much fun!

Bordeaux

This past weekend I went to Bordeaux with Missy! It was really fun. We did not end up going on any wine tours because they were all booked up and I dont like wine anyways...But we did TONS of shopping and went to the fair there and stuff! It was a great weekend! I dropped my camera though! It still works but you cant see the screen, so I bought a new camera today! So, do not worry! You will still get to see pictures! Missy took pictures of Bordeaux that I dont have yet because she is in London right now and hasnt had time to put them online! But, eventually I will get to put some of those on here!

This is the last picture I took b4 I dropped my camera! You can see the ferris wheel that we went on! It was so much fun there! Probably the best part of Francde yet! there were creepy french carnies there! It was awesome! My phone fell out of my pocket on one ride, but the guy caught it and gave it back to me after the ride! I think thats kinda funny though!
This was a fountain where you could walk through it and there was only like an inch of water there! And every so often there would be a mist. It was so cool! I like this picture! You can see everyone sitting around and just having fun!
Ya, so I was trying to take a picture of Missy and this boy wouldnt get out of the way. I like this picture of Missy too!
So, here's me. You can see that we went shopping pretty much all day because u can see the bags in my hands! The bags were so heavy though!
The street in Bordeaux. I was kinda in the middle of the street and almost got hit by the car, but its all good! I got out of the way and wasnt hurt! ;-)
I dunno what this is of, but I thought it was cool...
Just downtown in Bordeaux
A building that looked kinda important in Bordeaux.