On France

“European Adventures” ft. The American Spanish students.

Episode Four: The Time We Went to France

QUE TAL TODOS

So remember how I said I blindly trust our bus to take us somewhere cool and interesting? YESTERDAY WE WENT TO THE SOUTH OF FRANCE. What the freaking heck haha!! Again: I kept hearing about it randomly but was not aware this was the plan essentially until I got on the bus. That’s what it felt like anyway.

We were so excited to go, it was awesome because we had these incredible and deep conversations about our intrigue while traveling:

“Hey, mira!!! Sheep on the mountain!”

“No, FRENCH sheep on the mountain”

“French sheep on the mountain!!”

“Oh man look at that little farm over there!”

“you mean the French farm?”

“The one we saw in France??”

This is how most of the day went haha.

The first town we stopped in was this cute little town called San Juan de la Luz which I can only hear now in our director’s Spanish accent haha. It was incredible, directly after crossing the border of France our comprehension level just plummeted. We took this train around the little city, but the guide for the tour was in French. They gave us headphones to listen to that gave us information in Spanish, but it wasn’t loud enough for me to block out the French at the same time so I learned pretty much nothing haha. But we waved at all the French old folk  and tried to look like Spanish tourists in stead of Americans, anyways….

D’onc

Basically then if you’re surprised: we got back on the bus and drove some more. Cue Send Me On My Way from Matilda. Also I've never actually seen that movie.

The other city we went to was Biarritz, right on the coast. I can say with twenty years behind me: this is probably one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. It really was. And we had crepes in France while looking over the ocean. I could not believe it was real life. That really happened? That really happened!!! But in other side comments: I was having PTSD from French 101 with how many words I couldn’t pronounce haha, but I it was also cool to be in France and at least remember how to say “que’qu se-sa?”--not that I used it ever because that would imply interacting in french. Although I did tell a lady (in french) “I’m sorry, I can’t speak French… (English): but can I have that one?” and I bought a macaroon.

So that was a fun excursion. I’m just going to say in regards to quaint little European towns and places I could see myself living: Spain does it best. Although france had a ton of art, which was so cool! France can have that. And crepes. Every American crepe I’ve ever had is a lie. And every crepe I’ve ever personally assembled is an embarrassment haha…. #cannoncenter #crepedoesnotmeansugarburritowithoreos

After crepes and walking around town, we came back to San Sebastian and went back to the beach. But I was carsick so I got off the bus and went with Rachel until we could find the nearest source of meat (read: real food that wasn't a crepe or pastry) and bought this AWESOME HAMBURGER. It was the most American thing ever, no real cultural difference or experience. Exactly what I wanted. Meat, tomatoes, lettuce, bun, fries... hallelujah to hamburgers and not throwing up in the bus.

my very best "i really don't want to throw up on this bus" face

Thing that isn't cultural or related (aka my specialty):
so one of the hardest part of traveling thus far is food. Not because I don't like what's offered here, because I love it! But while traveling it's hard to find reliable places to find food that is substantial and not worth like 15 dollars each. Aka many euros. But I loooove how many fruterias are out and about in the city (Mom and Dad: fruteria=basically tiny fruit and vegetable store). I couldn't tell you if it's a good value per say, but it's great having them close. I feel like being in Spain has thrown off my ability to judge my hunger level. Because I feel like I either spend all day being "not hungry" or the whole day eating and still feeling insatiable. 

Sorry that I don't put as many photos as I've got up here- if I had a better way to display them I'd probably feel more persuaded to add more, but they get clustered and I'd just rather have more text. But also as of today and the two weeks I've had my phone, I have 1200 photos. No one wants to see those. Sometimes I don't even want to see all of those haha.




Thanks for reading this far! Makes me feel like someone besides Amber and my Mom clicks on it haha. And I love you both, you get personalised shout-outs so don't even sass me.

Lots of love,
JD

Want to see what I've been up to lately?

1. I've been trying to watch all 12 videos of the Addiction Recovery Series because they're SO GOOD but our WiFi sitch means I'm stuck on the second video haha.
Step 2: Hope
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8W5UgKHJrI

2. I also can't get these songs out of my head:

All We Ever Do Is Say Goodbye- John Mayer
www.youtube.com/watch?v=eacR94V4qCE

Stressed Out- Twenty One Pilots
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXRviuL6vMY

Cosita Bonita- Mr. Chris
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1i2O4GYXZiU

Suffocation Slip- The Slip
www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_KH5CsTtAw