The port of St. Tropez

Painters selling their work by the portPretending to be Napoleon at the Citadelle

Inside the Citadelle

Part of the old port

Boat ride to St. Tropez

The really expensive boat Thursday was the first day of Senior Seminar. The discussion was really interesting so I think I will like the class a lot! Unlike my symposium class first year where it was like pulling teeth to get people to talk, everyone had something to say and was eager to participate! Yeah! I'm excited because it is a discussion based class! Thursday night there was a free outside movie at the Palais (where the film festival is held) so a bunch of us went to it. There were no more seats left when we got there (half hour early!) so we all sat alone a ledge by the red carpet steps leading up to the Palais! It was fun! The movie was hard to understand but still really fun. About half the group left because they were not interested in the movie but said they would meet us at a Karaoke bar called "the station". No one who was still at the movie knew where is was but before the other people left someone was told that it was by the bus station and you couldn't miss it. So when the movie ended, we all went to the bus station to find the karaoke bar...we looked everywhere, asked in a couple restaurants and no one had heard of it! We were so confused! It didn't make sense! Where was it?!? We decided to keep walking and looking be we couldn't find it. I was tired so I went back with 3 others after looking unsuccessfully for awhile. The few that kept looking eventually ran into other people from the college and found out that it was by the TRAIN station, not the BUS station like we were told!

Friday was another beautiful day! Class was done at noon so I spent the afternoon on the beach playing "volleyball" and soaking up the sun. After dinner, Michelle and I took our first trip to Leader Price, a small grocery store that is 5 minutes (walking distance) away from the college. We got there just in time, they closed at 8:15 and we got there at 8:00...didn't realize they would close earlier than American stores! I did a little homework, hung up pictures, and had a relaxing evening.

Saturday =St. Tropez!!!
We left the college at 9:15, walked to the port and waited for the boat. I think it was one of the hottest days so far! We were all dying while waiting for the boat because there was no shade and we had to wait for half an hour for the boat. The boat ride over was nice. We all dug into the bag lunches we were given by the college (a chicken salad sandwich, an apple, orange, chips, cookies, water bottle and squeezable apple sauce). Jean (our program director from CSB/SJU) and her two daughters came on the trip as well. They were so cute and they took turns sitting with the big kids at our table on the boat ride! When we got to St. Tropez we were given a map with points of interest and information about them. Michelle, Neva and I decided to look at some of the places on the map instead of going to the market right away, we would go later if we had time left....little did we know the market ended at 1 so we never got to go to it :( We did find a nice old church, the town hall, the old port, a nice cove and some awesome views! We also went to the Citadelle de St. Tropez-a walled in city from the 1600s. Apparently, Napoleon used this walled in city as a fort for awhile...don't know any details about it. It was really cool and there were a lot of nice views from the Citadelle because it was up on a hill. We were really thirsty at this point so we found a little grocery store and got a huge water bottle (1.5 liters) for 0.30 euros so about 45 cents! Water is really cheap here! We walked around more, looked at painters, little shops, etc until we had to meet back at the boat at 4:00. There were so many awesome looking boats in the harbor, complete with jet skis, motor boats, etc.!!! When we got back to Cannes, there was a HUGE boat in the port...it cost 250,000 euros and looked like a submarine!
We went out to the karaoke bar but this time we knew where we were going! It was fun and really easy to find when you know where you're supposed to look!
This morning I went to church. There is a small church here on campus. It was really short! Only 35 minutes long...it was hard to understand everything but they did sing the same alleluia as we sing at home...I think I'll have to look up the Our Father and some other prayers in French before next week. Brunch on the weekends here is fantastic! They have cereal, bread, juice, etc like normal but also chocolate croissants, regular croissants, made to order omelets, eggs, bacon, sausage, crepes.....it's really nice!

My roommate and IMichelle and INotre-Dame-de-l'assomption

A cool looking car!

Squeezable apple sauce

Smiley face cookies :)

We've played frisbee almost every night.

I love going to the beach in the evening!! There aren't many people and it is really calm!
















A nice view of Cannes.















Our guide told us the French don't like leaving a building white so they often paint them!









Apparently this is the guy responsible for developing Cannes. He was an English man on his way to Italy but because of the plage he was stopped and not allowed to go any further. He liked it and decided to stay. He told his fellow English men that it was really nice and and many came and build houses in Cannes.











This is where the Cannes film festival is held!

















This is the library in Cannes!!! The grounds were beautiful! I went on a walking tour of Cannes today with others from the college. It was really nice to get off campus farther than the beach and see the town!































Just a pretty fruit stand!
























This is the patio area at the college, there are several picninc tables, lots of trees, a volley ball court, basketball court, bar/cafe, computer lab, and offices. The dorm rooms and class rooms are in the buildings that circle the patio area.





















This is my room key! The keys are so different but I think they are cool! It took a while to figure out the locks but I figured it out.

This morning we took a placement test to determine what grammar class we will be in. There were two times multiple choice grammar/vocab parts and a brief oral part. We will find out what class we are in tomorrow morning right before class. Grammar will be from 9-12, Monday-Friday. After the test I went to the beach with a friend and enjoyed the sunny day! We went back for lunch at 12. The food has been pretty good. Then I started reading "Suite Francaise" for my senior seminar class. We have 204 pages to read and a short response due on Thursday. Our other classes don't start until October so for now it is a lighter load academically!

This afternoon, we had an information session during which we were told about some of the rules the college has and also about trips the college organises, some information about Cannes, the buses, etc. Afterwards, we had "cocktails"...some snacks and drinks. One of the other students, who is from Japan, played a few songs on his sax which was fun! After dinner, I played frisbee on the beach with 5 others....I'm still in the learning stage but it was fun none the less! Anything by the ocean is great! I'll take more pictures tomorrow...

The first two pictures are from the beach tonight.

The next two are views from my window! One in the courtyard area in between the buildings of the college and the other is a zoomed in picture from my window so you can see the ocean better.

Next is my bed...not the round and long pillow?!?!

Then the nice desks we get followed by the closet...it took some time to figure out how to organize it!

And the last picutre is Ann, Michelle and I after checking our bags at MSP!

I'm in France!!

I'm finally here! After thinking about it and looking forward to study abroad in France for so long, I'm actually here!! :)
The flights went well, they all arrived ahead of time. I didn't sleep much on the plane-I tried but it just didn't happen. We had a baby in front of us that cried off and on. I got "bumped up" to "europe select" on the flight from Amsterdam to Nice which basically meant I sat in the front of the plane and got different food than if I was in the normal section. It is 3:45 here so I guess it is 7 hours ahead, not 6 like I thought.
My roommate's name is Maisha and she is from the Netherlands. Her english is pretty good but after today we are going to speak French. She is 18, talkative and seems really nice. She is here the whole semester as well.
The room is nice. One annoying thing is that there are only two plug ins!!! and they are not by our desks so I think I will end up typing from my bed a lot!
It is very warm and sunny and amazing outside! I'm going to take pictures soon. I am torn between reviewing my french and just going to sit outside and absorb it all-we have to take a placement test and I feel like I remeber anything since I didn't have French last semester!!

I'm off to France!

Bonjour!!! As many of you know I am going to be in Cannes, France for fall semester. There are 21 students from CSB/SJU on the trip as well as our faculty director. We will be studying at the College International de Cannes. If you want more information about the college, the website is http://www.french-in-cannes.com/fr/index.php We will live in dorms and we will find out who our roommate(s) are when we get there on Sunday! I leave Saturday afternoon and arrive in Cannes Sunday early afternoon. I plan to update my blog often and post pictures as well. You can also keep in touch with me through my email.
Laura :)
Oh, and if any of you have skype, my name is buglaure.