Cinque Terre

< Hiking from Vernazza to Corniglia.

^ Notice on the sign "to Corniglia" the small

barred circle in the bottom left corner. It's crossing

out a stiletto, this made for a good laugh.

Cinque Terre in Italian literally meaning “five lands” consists of five picturesque villages’ nestled on the rugged Italian coastline. The five villages are, Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore. You can hike to each of the villages, either on the coastline or in the mountains. The scenery is stunning, with the sparkling Mediterranean, the vineyards on the hills and the quaint Mediterranean style towns.

We stayed just outside of Cinque Terre in a town called La Spezia. It was not a nuisance to get around thanks to the trains connecting all the towns along the coastline.

Our second day there we decided to do a bit of hiking, as that is what most people come there for. The trek ended up being harder than I expected, but this may be due to the fact that we chose the hardest and longest two trails. Unfortunately, we started our walk a bit late and were stuck in the afternoon heat, but the view and the beach that awaited us after we were finished the hike made it worth while.

Cinque Terre is hands down, the most breathtaking place we have visited on our trip so far and it will be hard to beat in terms of landscape. The only thing that would be a turn off, is that there are bucket loads of tourist, this impressive strip of the Italian coastline is the least “Italian” place we’ve been to during our trip. I’m thankful we weren’t there during the heart of summer vacation, because that place would be packed like sardines with globetrotters.

The fact that we stayed outside (in a town called La Spezia) of these five towns was enjoyable. On the streets of La Spezia, there wasn’t a word of English, only musical Italian, this sound enhanced by the delectable smells wafting out of the trattorias and the gelato shops. Although notable travel writer Rick Steve’s quoted, “If you want the easy life, stay in Monterosso…” we found it pleasant to stay a bit outside the vacationist’s zone and get to mix in with the locals.

An amazing place to visit, even if it was a tad touristy. Beautiful, stunning and well worth the trip.

Menton

Our one night lay over to cut the lengthy trip to La Spezia in two. We spent the day relaxing on the pebbly beach, soaking up the sun and taking one icy dip in the turquoise water’s of the Mediterranean. Unfortunately, our hotel was slightly on the dingy side and the restaurant we ate at was less than appetizing. C’est la vie, I guess we will know for next time.

Arles: La Flamboyante

What a city, as small as it may seem it lacks nothing in character. After crossing le Rhone you find yourself in a town full of original sights, sounds and flavors, that also happens to be embedded with a handful of ancient Roman artifacts.

Our (my Dad, my Mom, Sarah and myself) day started off at Arles’s amphitheatre, modeled after the “Coliseum” it dates back to 100 AD. Back in the day, the arena used to be able to hold up to 25,000 spectators who came to watch the gladiators fight to the death. Today it only holds half of what it did in the days of the Roman’s and bulls and matadors have replaced the gladiators, but the monument continues to be a window to the past. We had a good chuckle (but I think my Mom’s laugh can be classified as a guffaw) when my Dad gave us some well kn

own words of advice just before we entered the inside of the amphitheatre. I believe the exact words were… “Whatever happens we stick together… Has anybody had any military training?” I swear I could have mistaken him for Russell Crow ;)

From there, we headed to the ruins of a Roman theatre, St Trophime cathedral and the noted neighborhood la Roquette, where we found an intriguing market that provided us with fresh and flavorful lunch. The fresh produce and mouth watering French cuisine made for an appetizing lunch.

We finished the day with a visit to the museum of Roman antiquities, which ended up being a nice, quiet way to end our visit. My Dad even found his counterpart, a statue of Julius Caesar, which is why we now refer to him as Jules or Guius (Caesar’s nickname as a child.)

That night we ate at an unforgettable restaurant called “Restaurant le Plaza”. One of the best meals I have ever eaten. A “must go to” restaurant if you ever find yourself in the area. A cool side story to this outing, was that we found out that the “Gypsy King’s” are from Arles, who knew?

A great visited to an interesting town that can be classified as a Roman artifact itself.

If I could take one thing from France back home with me (putting aside the delicious pastries), I think I would bring Sunday's lunch. From about 1pm to 4pm everyday Sunday is the time slot where French families enjoy a long and delicious meal together. This tradition is something I think everybody in North America could profit from. There's nothing nicer than enjoying time with family around the dinner table, laughing, catching up on the weeks events and savouring the scrumptious food. A great way to wind down the week, there's an over all feeling of calmness, peace and contentment. It's hard to describe, but if you mix those three words together and toss in a handful of other almost synonymous words, you'll get a pretty good idea of this wonderful feeling. It's the reason I always look forward to Sunday's, you get a calm morning, a long lunch with family and friends and a relaxing evening. Truly the best and one of the most memorable souvenir's I'll bring back to Canada.

Life in Lyon

Bonjour tout le monde! Life in France has been pretty busy the last couple of weeks, but things are starting to slow down with spring vacation just around the corner. I'm having a hard time believing that I've now been living here for three months, between school and travelling around, time has just flown by. For this entry, instead of showing you guys a trip, I thought it would be cool to write a bit just about a normal week. Tell you about my, what now feels like, everyday life.

As I spend most of my time at school, I think it to be a good place to start. School here in France starts at 7:55am and ends at 4:40pm. When I first saw this I immediately thought, YIKES! That's an awful lot of school. But in all honesty, it isn't that bad. Considering we get a 1 1/2 hour lunch break and that classes only last 1 hour, the time goes by faster then you would think (although there are some exceptions, hence the reason I didn't use the word "quickly"). For example, french class:

A typical Monday morning french class:

10am: Class "starts."

10:05am: teacher (Mme Bouti) preaches her beliefs about how cod is a universel fish.

10:15am: teacher expresses her opinion on the strong relation between cod and the nuclear crisis in Japan.

10:25am: teacher tells us what a great man Cyrano de Bergerac was (my classmates and I believe she has a bit of a crush.)

10:30am: teacher explains what we are going to do in class today.

10:40am: Class actually starts.

Now mind you, the french teacher isn't mean, just a bit strange. There are plenty of great teachers here. I like how most of the teachers are very strict, a quiet class makes for an easy place to learn.

Elsa and Linda hanging out in the hammac. I guess I can officially say spring (maybe even summer)

has arrived.

From left to right, Sally, Me, Laura and Olessya (a Russian rotary exchange student) at an Austrian party. All the families who went skiing in february (in Austria) got together to look at the ski photos and enjoy some Austrian specialties.

My friend Christèle and I in old Lyon, with our ice cream

from Chez Nardone, a famous ice cream parlor. To start off we couldn't find the parlor, so I had to play the part

of the lost Canadian tourist and ask for directions, Christèle was too embarassed. But as you can see we found it

and got to enjoy a delicious ice cream on a hot day in the city.

A picture of Sally (another Canadian exchange student), Laura and Linda

hiking through the region of Beaujolais, known for it's wine and beautiful scenery.

A girl's night at my friend Christèle's house. We ended up making

ballon, ugh, I guess you would call them people. But to some it all up it was a great night with friends.

Laura and I walking down the streets of the Croix Rousse, a well known neighbourhood in Lyon.

So I hope you all enjoyed having a look into life around Lyon. But it is getting late and I should probably head to bed. So until next time.

Cathryn :)

Escargot

One down, one to go. Yes, I have tried escargot. I bit daunting at first, but it actually turned out to be really good. The herb and butter sauce might of helped, but there really was no gross taste or slimy texture. It was kind of like kalimari, but better. I would definitely put it on a list of foods to try while in France, it's tasty and makes for an interesting culinary memory. Now to find some frogs legs...

Corréze

Sorry for the lengthy delay in blog updates, but here it is. For those of you who didn't know, I spent my last week of February vacation in Corréze, visiting Laura's grandparents. Corréze is about 4 1/2 hours south-west of Lyon, located in France's massive central. Laura's grandparents live just outside of the town Tulles, in the french countryside. Before going on this trip I had absolutely no idea what to expect, I knew we'd be in the country and that we would be doing some day trips to other regions in the south, but that pretty much summed up my knowledge on the subject. Little did I know that Corréze was going to be nothing of what I expected, it was going to exceed expectations. Call me crazy but I feel my trip to Corréze is most easily compared to three layer dip, each layer exposing something new and unexpected.

It's hard to believe, but Laura's grandparents quaint country home has been in the family for over 5 generations. It is a peaceful country paradise, the noisiest neighbours being the donkey's next door. The small country oasis sits on a quiet road over looking the family's "garden", but the word garden is a bit of an understatement. The Salesses's "garden" is made up of a couple of acres of land consisting of a forest, a plain, a river, a tennis court and last but not least a vegetable garden. My favourtie part of the house from an architectual point of view had to be the fireplace. It's mantle was quite a distance from the ground and underneath it were two benches facing each other and the actual fireplace, a typical regional fireplace. A cozy place to curl up and read a book on a chilly night.

Life in the countryside was very relaxing, making it a perfect place to spend the last week of vacation. It was easy to get up and go to bed with the sun, if you got up early enough you could even catch the cheese truck. Some days Jean-Jacques and I would even go fishing, spending all day along the river banks waiting patiently for the whopping 20cm trout to come along. The rain outside wasn't worrisome because we knew that upon return there would be a hearty lunch waiting for us at the house, Jacqueline, Laura's grandmother always made sure that we were more than well fed. Her meals were what most people picture as a stereotypical french dinner, long, big and delicious.

During the middle of our week in Corrèze Jean-Jacques, Linda, Laura and I headed south, to a region of small towns built into cliffs, river valleys and sunshine for a day of exploring. Our first stop was Font de Gaumes caverns. Who would have thought that just outside of your average french town you could find maze like caverns that go on for miles, with prehistoric paintings of bison, deer and mammoths dating back 16,000 years ago. When I made refrence to the three layer dip, this was what I was talking about. It was mind-boggling, unexpected and completely fascinating to see almost perfectly preserved paintings. You had to look closely at times, because there were places where the paint stopped but the picture continued, using the caves natural shape to complete the drawing. Our fourty-five minute tour ended up feeling like fifteen minutes. I would definitely have to put this on the list of top 3 things I have ever seen. If you're ever in the area it is a MUST do. A simply unforgetable experience. This part of the trip also made me realize how much I was forgetting my english. There were two older Americans in our tour group and as they didn't speak any french I volunteered to act as there translator. It didn't work out so well, I tried but was literally at a loss for words.

After the prehistoric paintings, we headed to a medieval castle that sits a top a large hill, overlooking

the entire river valley. A logical place to build a castle, not only could you see for miles on end, but you

also had the protection of a river almost completely surrounding your castle (not to mention the nice

weather). The castle was huge, it would make a great place for a game of hide and seek but for the time

that I was there, I made sure not to get lost from the group. The trebuchet marks on the outer castle walls

made you feel like you were part of a castle siege, you could feel the history seeping out of every stone in every wall.

Corrèze was an awesome and an unforgetable trip. A great place to spend a final week of vacation

before heading back to school.

Upon Return from the Austrian Alpes

What a week! An amazing adventure and an unforgetable experience. Over the past week in the charming area of Austria composed of three ski villages, Faschina, Damuls and Mellau, I have learned a couple of things:

1. German is one of the funnest languages ever. A language I will definitely be learning.

2. Apfel Strudel is truly to die for.

3.Standing at the highest point of the mountain to which a chair lift can take you, it is impossible to get a picture of the entire surrounding mountain range (which is stunning), you might as well take a video.

4. I will definitely be returning to Austria, sooner rather than later.

Through out the whole week I have got to ski the slopes of the Austrian Alpes and spend time with five different families. One of these families, les Gratiens, also have exchange students, two to be exact. A boy from India, Yosh and a girl from Toronto, Sally.

The six hour trip to Faschina, where our hotel was situated, was made a whole lot better by the fact we drove through Switzerland. A country known for it's chocolate and after tasting some I can definitely understand why. The beautiful scenery driving through the Alpes was also a huge bonus.

The first day of skiing, Sunday, was a little shakey. It was very hard to see thanks to the falling snow and thick fog, all the runs were ungroomed and there were pile ups of snow, who's size and placing varied, too much to be dubbed moguls, this making it difficult to ski. It was tough for this three time a year downhiller, but hey, things could be worse. I just had to shake it off. An after ski sauna, a hearty Austrian meal and a good sleep definitely helped.

The next four days were way too much fun. Sally, the other Canadian exchange student and I started ski school (ski schule) and the sun decided to shine on the freshly groomed runs, lightly dusted with perfect powder. Within these four days I also had my first encounter with apfel strudel, a dessert straight from heaven. I would go as far as saying don't bother coming to the Austrian Alpes if you aren't going to try apfel strudel, it's an experience in itself.

Ski school was one of the highlights of the trip, I had a great instructor (with, in my opinion, the coolest last name), Christian, drum role please, Klocker. He was a really good teacher and definitely helped me improve my skiing. To add to this, the snow, for the first 2 days was perfect. I can't think of any other way to describe it than powdered sugar, it was flawless. Not to mention the stunning 360 degree scenery, Austria is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.

At lunch and at dinner I got to enjoy a taste of Austrian food, such as wienerschnitzel, sausage, goulash and other delicious soups. Not forgetting the drinks, one in particular, Almdudler. A species of carbonated drink, with a base that is, well unclear.

And now for a little after ski adventure. One night, after a long day of skiing, the girls, Laura, Colline, Laurienne, Sally and I set out for Faschina, a five minute walk from our hotel, with a hand full of luges. After a couple rides down the bottom of the slope that entered the town, we decided to step it up a notch. We knew that the tow rope at the top of the run lead back to our hotel. So, from there we decided to climb up the ski run, find the tow rope and sled down our hotel. Something easier said than done. With a blanket of fog and an ice covered slope, we proceeded to climb, a climb which felt like it would never end. At the top we found that the tow rope path was completely iced over and steep, which made it too hard to break and too dangerous to sled. But we weren't going to give up. We then decided to sled down the side of the path, which consisted of two feet of uncompact snow. By the time we reached the bottom, we were soaking and covered with snow but besides that laughing and having too much fun.

The last two days of skiing, thursday and friday, were interesting. The sun had been out all week, therefore the temperature rose during the day and fell during the evening. Creating two types of snow, ice and soup. It wasn't the nicest to ski in but what can you do. To make things even more interesting, we had to change ski instructor's the last day of ski school (thursday). We left Christian to switch to Gerhard, who only spoke German and thought that we clearly understood everything he said. I can say it was a fun day of skiing, but I didn't learn much. On the contrary I really got to see how much German I had learned over the week.

The last day of skiing, friday, I spent with my host family. I used a lot of the day to take pictures, something I couldn't do during ski school and of course to eat one last apfel strudel.

And so it goes, the next I waved good bye to Austria as the snow capped mountains disapeared from sight. I was happy to be heading back to France, but sad to be leaving Austria. Like I said before, a country that I will definitely be returning to. So, for now..

Auf Wiedersehen,

Cathryn

Boudin

Before coming on this trip, I made myself a promise that I would be fearless in trying new foods. I made a pact with myself that I would go by the one bite rule, which is, that no matter what, I would try at least one bite of everything I was offered. I have been truly fearless and have ended up liking everything I've tried, pâté, speck blanc and whatever else that has come my way. The only thing that I was reluctant to try was boudin and possibly do to the fact that I recieved a detailed explanation of what it was before actually trying it, this, something I thoroughly regret inquiring.

Boudin: a sausage made of pigs blood and small pieces of pigs fat.

Upon recieving this information, I subtly kicked myself, why had I made myself that darn promise? That evening at dinner I tried, reluctantly, a small piece of boudin. Suprisingly, once you get over what it is, it's pretty darn good, I even ended up having a bit more. Maybe that subtle kick wasn't neccesary after all.

Volleyball in Canada vs Volleyball in France

I am glad to say I've found a place to play volleyball during my stay in France. It's only a short drive from my host family's house. I haven't been to a practice yet, but do to the fact it's a quick drive from where I'm staying, my host mother, Linda, took me to the begininng of a practice to meet the coaches, get an idea of what a practice looked like and to meet some of the players. We arrived a bit early but immediately knew we were at the right destination, because there were players standing around outside, waiting for the gym to be opened. It wasn't until we got a bit closer to the huddle of teenagers that I notice one of them smoking. I then thought to myself, smoking? I guess that girl must be a friend or sibling of one of the players, how can you smoke before practice? But the closer we got the more people I noticed smoking. After we parked the car and got out I came to realize that the people smoking were the players and the fact was, most of the players were smoking. As people say, there's nothing like a little pre-practice smoke, but I think I'll pass.

Salut de Lyon

Salut! I apologize in advance for any odd grammar mistakes, I'm still trying to figure out this mixed up french keyboard. After two unforgetable, yet very tiring two days in Paris, where we visited Notre Dame, the Eiffel tour and many other well known landmarks, we, the other OSEF students travelling to Lyon and myself, made our way back to Charles de Gaulles airport, to catch our TGV (a train that travells at 263 km/h hence the name TGV, which in french translates to, very, very fast train) to Lyon.
We arrived in Lyon 45 minutes en retard, which I think was due to a broken down train in front of us. At the train station I was met by Mme Salesse, otherwise known as Linda and Laura and was immediately introduced to la bise, the way in which people in France greet each other, by kissing the person you are greeting on both cheeks. For everybody reading this that have been to France or plan on coming, you will learn or have already have learned this greeting technique very quickly.
We then drove for a meer fifteen minutes to arrive in the charming village of le Tour de Salvagny where I will be staying for the next three months. What amazes me the most about le Tour de Salvagny is how it feels so much like an old, quaint, southern European home in the country, where all the houses are archaic, with red tiled roofs and gorgeous views of hilly fields, where the local farm animals enjoy grazing in the warm sun, and that even though it feels so much like I just described it, we're only minutes away from the large city of Lyon that lies on the banks of le Rhone. Le Tour de Salvagny and it's near regions are an outstanding mix of big European city and quiet European country, all of this topped off with the warmth of the sun that always seems to be shining.
We (now myself and the present Salesse's) arrived at the Salesse family home after a quick stop at the local boulangerie (which smells absolutely delicious!), to pick up some baguets for dinner. The Salesses house is lovely, with windows that open like doors onto the porch, which offers breathtaking views of the the grassy hills, speckled with red roofed houses, alluminated by the soft glow of the sun. *Sigh*, I could get used to this.
Laura and I then rode bikes around the village, all the way to College Jacques Coeurs, where I now go to school. After returning home I was even more pooped than before and started to unpack my bags. Later that evening we had a big french dinner with all the family, Laura, my exchange partner, Linda and Jean Jacques, my host parents, Elsa and Alex, Laura's older siblings and Allan, Elsa's boyfriend. It was a really great dinner, I even tried patté, which isn't actually that bad. At the end of a fantastic and delicious dinner, exhausted I went to bed.
Before I knew it, it was 6:30am and I was up in a flash, or at least I would like to think so, ready for my first day of school, which I was a bit frightened about, not going to lie. Laura and I took the bus to school, where I did la bise more times than I can count on my fingers and toes. I have met many new people, who I can soon hope to call my friends. They are all very friendly and welcoming. At school I stuck out like a bit of a sore thumb, I wore a bright green sweater, whereas everybody here, I have learned, prefers to stick to more neutral colours, oh well. Because of this and the small Canadian flag pin on my back pack, everyone at school knew that I was the Canadian exchange student, although at first most of the students thought that I was German.
School was great. I enjoyed most of my classes, which all flew by, because they are only one hour long. The only class I didn't understand what the heck we were supposed to be doing was french, hopefully it get easier. Here, for gym, we get to go rock climbing, play ping pong and other such activities, no push-ups, planks or runs, how unfair is that?
To sum it all up, I am having a great time! I miss you all and hope that you are doing well. Feel free to post a comment or send an e-mail, I would love to hear from you.

Cathryn :)

Off to sleep, my flight leaves at 7:00 am tomorrow morning from CR. I'm ready, I think. Either way it's going to be a fantastic adventure! I just hope I don't forget anything.

Four more sleeps!