Chateau Excursion #1

Today was the third trip organized by the CIDEF program: a tour of three of the chateaux in the Pays de la Loire. This trip was the first half of two, the second of which will happen on March 14th.

So we all met at the entrance to UCO at quarter to eight this morning and caught a bus for the entire day. It took about an hour to reach the first chateau, the Avey-de-Rideau. All along the way, Monsieur Melin--the director of UCO and organisor of the trip--kept up a running commentary along the way.

Of the three chateaux that I saw today, the first one was by far my favorite. It reminded me of a castle from a fairy tale, complete with a moat. Touring the inside, however, brought me straight into my favorite book, Pride and Prejudice. Looking at the various tapestries and bedrooms in the chateau reminded me of the part in the book where Lizzie visits Pemberly with her aunt and uncle--one of my favorite parts!

My regret is that we were only able to spend about an hour at this castle. I felt as though I could have strolled around for a while longer, but after all there were two other places to visit!

The second chateau that we visited was the Chenonceau, which was much bigger and more elaborate than the previous. This season was rather the wrong season to visit, however, as the gardens that the Chenonceau is known for were not in bloom. It did have one thing that neither of the other chateaux had--a labyrinth! True, the hedges were rather short and I could glance over them to see the path, but still!

The final chateau, Chambord, is considered the favorite of nearly everyone who visits it--but it wasn't mine. In fact, it was the one that I was least interested in. As it was the third chateau that we visited, all of the rooms and tapestries were starting to look the same. The grounds--while absolutely huge--looked rather bleak and grayish rather than the vibrant green that so many pictures showed.

So my opinions don't coincide with the majority, but what else is new? The point is, after this trip today, I have decided for sure that I must go on the second one too, so stay tuned for that!

Under the Earth

Two posts in two days--I'm even impressed with myself! Anyway, the CIDEF organized another excursion for today and I signed up. Two excursions in as many days may seem a little like overkill, but after all, I only have four months to see as much of France as possible!

So the excursion today, like yesterday, included two destinations, the first to Anjou Troglodytique and the second was an exploration of the caves. So basically, I was underground for the majority of the day--which was kind of unfortunate, as the temperature dropped at least ten degrees underground. It wasn't really a warm day today, so a coat and gloves were especially necessary.

Troglodytique is a small French town that was essentially carved out of the earth. Nearly everything--the chapel, the homes, the stables--are in caves under the earth. The town has become a museum of sorts, where old-fashioned supplies and pictures are on display to be toured--which is exactly what we did today. It was rather nostalgic for me, as a lot of the items reminded me of reenactments with Civil War club.

The second part of the excursion was a tour of the caves of Anjou. These caves are used primarily for the preparation and creation of wine. I have to admit that this didn't really interest me very much, but even so, the carvings and decorations of the underground caves were beautiful in and of themselves.

Only in France would a school-sanctioned trip offer a wine tasting. After the tour of the caves, we were all shown into a big (warm) room and served small samples of two kinds of wine, one a white and the other a red. This was my first time ever trying alcohol of any kind. Thank God they only provided a few sips of each. I now understand why people sometimes throw up from drinking. I felt like doing the same after one sip!

Seeing the St.'s

Today was the very first excursion organized by the CIDEF program for study abroad students. The destination? St. Malo and then Mont St. Michel, which are among two of the most renowned sites in France--or so I am told. I have to admit that I actually went into this excursion blindly, as I had never heard of either of these locations before signing up to go. Even so, I was eager to see anything new. After all, I've been in France for nearly a month now and I haven't even left Angers since arriving!

As far as I'm concerned, the big adventure of today actually started last night. I got special permission from my French mother for my friend Katie to stay with me over the night, as she has to take a bus to get to the university. As buses do not run until seven in the morning--and we had to meet at 7:15--it was more convenient for her to stay the night. We then walked together to UCO to meet for the trip.

The group that went totalled possibly a hundred students, all packed on three buses. It took us three hours to reach St. Malo, and all along the way one of the 'chaperones'--my Traduction professor--kept up a running commentary of cities and sites that we passed along the way. St. Malo--as I learned--is a port city in the French region of Bretagne. It is completely encircled by remparts that were built for protection during times of war. Naturally, Katie and I decided to begin our day with a nice refreshing walk on top of the wall, where the view of the city was absolutely amazing. We then visited the chateau and walked on the beach, where I collected some of the prettiest seashells that I've ever seen.

Katie and I ended up eating lunch at a beautiful little restaurant that we found. The region of Bretagne is famous for its crepes and galettes, so it was absolutely necessary for us to try some. I ordered a formula lunch that included seafood fondue, a green salad and a caramel crepe. Everything was absolutely delicious! I felt as though I got more than my money's worth.

The next stop was Mont St. Michel. It is a beautiful island that seems to be its own little world in and of itself. After climbing about a million steps, we were able to tour the cathedral/chateau that makes up the primary landmark on the island. I was very glad that there was only one main path to follow, as that path twisted and turned so much that I could have easily gotten lost!

We had another hour or so afterwards to kill, so Katie and I ended up window-shopping in some of the souvenir shops. It was very nice to tour the town at our leisure before boarding the bus again for the drive back.

Food For Thought (And Other Necessities, Too)

Have you ever really considered the way that you sleep? I don't mean your position, like on your side or back or anything like that, but actually the manner in which you sleep. Or better yet, think of all those expressions that are used to describe sleeping patterns, like "I slept like a log" or "I sleep like a baby". In regards to the latter expression I have heard quite a few people strike it down. After all, babies wake up every few hours for feeding or something like that. Well, I have recently determined that the author of this expression knew exactly what they were talking about; my best night's sleeps are when I wake up a few times during the night, rather than sleeping straight through. In my opinion, there is no better feeling than waking up, looking at the clock and realizing that I still have several more hours to sleep. On the other hand, I hate looking at the clock when I only have a few more minutes of slumber left--or even worse, being woken up by the alarm. No matter how often it happens, that blaring bell still makes me shudder!

Sleep is not the only thing on my mind, however. I have also been thinking quite a bit about food. Since I am in France with a limited budget, I have been scrupulously watching my spending. Normally I am not a very extravagent person, but I have realized that my weakness isn't in buying clothes or shoes, but rather in buying food (and books, of course, but I'll come to that later). Whenever I have a break in between classes, I consistently wander towards the vending machines or the cafe in the university. I am sorry to say that I have not quite learned total self control yet, as I buy at least a coffee more likely than not.

The real extent of my thoughts on food were tested today when Katie and I had a full-out, extremely intellectual conversation on our eating habits. This occurred, of course, over lunch. As nearly everyone (except us foreign students) has vacation this week, all of the campus dining areas have been closed, with the exception of the vending machines. I am not one to eat candy and pop and call it a lunch, so instead I bought a cheese panini from a nearby cafe. Katie and I then sat out in the gorgeous sunshine and devoured all our food while talking about food. Our list of subjects included the late dinner hour here, afternoon snacks and cooking in general. As I said, it was a very intellectual conversation.

Which brings me to my final necessity: books. Well, it's necessary for me at least. I came to France with a limited selection of books, of which I have finished all but one. Fortunately, UCO has a very impressive library, including some of my favorite books in English as well as French. Example: they have all 6 Jane Austen books, five of the seven Harry Potter books and the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy. Needless to say, this has made me a happy bibliophile.

What made me even happier was finding several small bookstores near the university. I have made it one of my goals to stock up on my collection of my favorite books in French while in France. Before coming, my grand total included Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Alice in Wonderland and the first five Harry Potter books. As of Wednesday, I can now add to that list The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. By the time I return to the States, I hope to include several other books as well. What can I say? Once a dork, always a dork.

Chateau D'Angers

I notice that several of the other blogs that I follow have posted posts about Valentine's Day. At the risk of seeming like I am copying, I have decided to do the same. In fact, that was my original intention even before I saw the other posts.

So...February 14th. Even though it is the supposed to be the day of love, I do not have a boyfriend and have not even been on a date or been interested in anyone at all. At this point in my life, that's the way, uh huh, uh huh, I like it (sorry, I couldn't help myself). I therefore decided to spend yesterday touring the Chateau D'Angers, which is one of the major sites in Angers.

As with everything, I had to walk to the chateau. On the way, I found myself in the middle of a street market that resembled a Farmer's Market. There were booths all around with everything from produce to clothing. I spent quite a bit of time just walking around looking at all of the different booths. In fact, I ended up buying a chocolat pain, which became my lunch (it was more filling than I expected it to be).

I ate my lunch on the way to the chateau, and then paid the five euros to tour the inside. Touring that place is honestly one of the most fascinating things that I have done thus far. It was absolutely beautiful. Parts of the chateau resembled ruins and others were renovated at a later date. The gardens were also absolutely amazing--healthy, colorful and well-kept. The bottom line is that the chateau was a delightful mix of the old and new.

My favorite part of the chateau was climbing up onto the remains of the highest tower. Made entirely of bricks, it used to be a moulin. There were winding stairs made of wood that went all the way to the top of the moulin. Standing at the top enabled me to see the city for miles in every direction.

So instead of romance for Valentine's Day, I toured an old castle. Crazy as it may seem to some, it was more than a fair trade in my opinion!

My Schedule Makes Me Sick

Okay, so maybe that's an exaggeration. But the fact still remains that I'm not really happy with my class schedule. The classes themselves are okay; in fact, they're really rather interesting, with the possible exception of my grammar class. After all, how can you go wrong with French classes taught in French?...Don't answer that.

The part of my schedule that rubs me the wrong way is the actual timing of the classes that I am taking. I have several early eight o'clock classes, which means that I need to wake up over an hour earlier in order to get ready and then make the twenty-minute trek. On those same days, I then have big gaps in between classes, so that I need to wait roughly five or six hours before my next class. This also means that I have the choice of either walking home in between classes, or hanging around campus. I'm sure that you can imagine the pros and cons of both options.

My schedule also includes several days in which I have late-night classes. Normally this wouldn't bother me, but I have to admit that walking home in the dark makes me rather nervous. I blame my brother, who often tells me about Dateline episodes to "keep me on my guard". These have had the inevitable result of making me paranoid--which can be either a good thing or a bad thing.

The other part of my schedule that honestly almost made me scream are my Fridays; not only do I have classes, but they extend until five o'clock. So much for the relaxing Friday that I was hoping for!

Not Another One!

So yesterday was the day where we were supposed to receive the results of our placement tests that we took last week. All of the results were posted in the hall Bazin in alphabetical order. Once we found our name, it was a simple matter of looking to see which language course we were given. The scores started from the early hundreds and climbed all the way up to the three hundreds. Of course, the higher the number, the more difficult the course.

When I actually got to the hall after my customary twenty-minute walk to school, the hall was already filled with people trying to see their scores. Now, I would say that I am about average height, but I actually towered over the majority of the people scrambling around the lists. Therefore, I was able to see my name quite easily.

But my name did not have the customary and oh-so-simple number next to it. Rather, it had letters. For one wild moment; I was sure they read SUCK. A second glance (thankfully) relieved me of this impression, as the letters spelled SUP, which of course isn't really a word at all. Near the list however was a schedule for the day with the heading "Niveau Superieur".

I had scored the highest level possible on the placement test.

My reward? I had to take another test, this time a written exam, so that they could find out for sure which language class I needed to be placed in, the results of which would be posted the next morning. Sigh.

This exam lasted just as long as the previous one, but the afternoon held various possibilities. We were given a schedule of courses that we could 'try out' if we chose. In other words, of the courses listed, we could attend a class where the professor would explain the objectives of the course, the method for teaching, etc. We would then be able to decide whether or not this course appealed to us for our schedule. In all, I went to three classes yesterday: Histoire de l'Art, Litterature, and Histoire de la Musique. Of the three, the only one that I liked was (surprisingly) Histoire de l'Art. Fortunately, though, I still have a week to decide for sure which classes that I want to take.

So this morning I also found out my score for the test that I took yesterday. I have placed in cours 333, which is right around the middle of the superieur level. Our entire schedule depends on which language course we take, as different levels have courses at different times. We are allowed to take between 18 and 21 credit hours, but the language courses take up six credits. I received a full schedule of classes and their times and I have until next Monday to decide for sure which courses I will end up taking.

Wittling Away the Weekend

So I haven't posted in a few days for the simple reason that there hasn't been much to say. I have spent the last several days just walking around Angers and getting used to the town. I have walked more in the last few days than probably the entire last month. I'm hoping that I will be able to rent a bike within the next week or so; there is a really cool business here that rents them out to students for free as long as you can provide certain information.

So I have been taking very, very long walks for several hours a day in weather that rivals a Michigan spring. I'm serious--it is absolutely beautiful here! Madame Picherit keeps on telling me to bundle up, as "il fait tres froid", but I have been able to trade my heavy coat and gloves for my lighter leather jacket. It still gets rather cold at night, but even so, it is a very nice break from a frigid Michigan winter!

Last night, to take a break from cooking, Madame decided to order pizzas for dinner. Let me tell you, the French version of this Italian dish is much different than I expected. Rather than toppings like pepperoni and mushrooms, I found myself chowing down on a ham and potato pizza and a salmon, onion and potato pizza. It was...weird, to say the least.

This morning I woke up early for the sole reason of finding a church to go to. The difficulty of this was, of course, that many of the churches in France are Catholic...and I am not. In fact, on the maps that I have, there is only one church listed that is not Catholic. Fortunately, this church also looked as though it was within walking distance, so I decided to give it a try. So at nine o'clock this morning, I started walking with my Bible under my arm. Twenty minutes later, I congratulated myself for arriving safely and on time at l'Eglise Protestante Baptiste.

My congratulations did not last long. You may have found the flaw that I completely overlooked: in my zeal to find a church, I momentarily forgot about the fact that I was in France. Meaning--of course--that the entire service would be in French. This occurred to me mere moments before I walked through the doors.

I now offer proof that sometimes God answers prayers immediately. I walked into the foyer, and the first person who greeted me was able to speak fluent English! She told me that today was an "Invite your Friend" service, and 'adopted' me as her friend. I was invited to sit next to her and her husband and between the two of them, the entire service was translated for me into English. The service included a short skit where people held up pieces of cardboard with writing on both sides. On one side was a description of their life before Christ, and the other side explained how they were changed for the better with Him as their Savior. It was very moving and I was able to understand everything since I could read what was written on the cardboard.

Something that I didn't need to have translated were the songs. Most if not all of the music was familiar to me, and included several originally English songs translated into French such as Every Day and Lord, I Lift Your Name on High. It was a very comfortable experience for me, as everyone was very welcoming. Praise God for His blessings!

Tests and Tours

Today was another momentous occasion. Why? Because today was the day that I took my placement test at the university to find out which classes I will be taking for this semester. I was very nervous going into this test because there are really two aspects that could go seriously wrong. One, I could be placed in a class that is too difficult and far beyond my ability to pass or two, (even worse) I could be placed in a class that is not only too easy but where the credits are proven to be useless and repetitive. Most of all, I'm worried that the classes that I take here will not end up counting towards fulfilling my major. After all, that is one of the main reasons why I chose France as the country in which I am studying abroad.

With these things on my mind, is it any wonder that I did not get much sleep last night?

On a positive note, another exchange student has moved into the room next door to mine. Her name is Yuka and she arrived last night. She's from Japan, near Tokyo. Though she is very nice and I like her a lot, it is also very difficult for us to communicate, as she doesn't know English and I don't know Japanese. Therefore, we are forced to speak to each other in French--which is both a good thing and a bad thing. Practice makes perfect, after all, but it is still harder to understand each other when our accents are completely different. Needless to say, the walk to the university this morning was, for the most part, rather quiet.

Which brings me back to the test. The only other test that I have taken that compares to the one that I took today was the ACT. Though it was not nearly as long (thank God!), the same scoring system was used, where points are subtracted from the score for incorrect answers. Now, I did reasonably well on the ACT--call it a talent for guessing. But with this test, guessing on a question was almost impossible.

For me, oral comprehension and communication have always been the hardest parts of learning French. When the test started with a 20-question listening portion, I started to panic a little. The other sections--writing comprehenion and grammar--were not nearly as difficult. In fact, these sections made me feel both smart and stupid. They would begin with easy questions, and then get progressively harder until I went from feeling like Einstein to a dunce. This flipflop happened four seperate times, one for each section. You'd think a girl would learn!

After the test was (finally) over, we were all excused for lunch at the Restaurant Universitaire. Imagine my surprise when, in showing us the way, they led us out the doors of the university and about two miles down the road to a building next to the Musee des Beaux Arts. Despite the trek, the food (and the prices) were such that I think that I will that I will visit the restaurant quite often.

The afternoon was meant for a tour of downtown Angers. We saw some amazing landmarks, including the Chateau D'Angers and the Cathedrale. Our guides also pointed out favorite little cafes and creperies along the way. Unfortunately, we took routes that were rather complicated, and I honestly doubt whether I will be able to remember how to reach some of the places that we saw. The tour lasted over two hours, in which we walked at least ten miles. At the end of the tour, my feet were aching-- and I was wearing my most comfortable shoes. I can't imagine how other people felt; many of the other girls were wearing heels!

According to the schedule that we were given, we are supposed to visit the university again tomorrow to get a full tour of UCO itself. Our test scores are not supposed to be given back until Monday. In the meantime, we are told to "profit from the free time and familiarize ourselves with our new environment". Of course, that is just what I plan on doing! I have a feeling that Echo and I will be getting to know Angers very well.

Settling In

So today was my first full day in Angers, France. I slept in later than I wanted and didn't actually get up until about 10. After getting completely ready, I set off to see the one place that I knew that I needed to get acquainted with: the university. It is about a fifteen to twenty minute walk from where I live right now. Unfortunately, the weather was not as nice as it was yesterday; the wind was rather brisk and the weatherman predicted snow and ice. Of course, we didn't actually get any, but it was still not the best conditions to walk in.

Even so, I enjoyed my journey. The route to the university was rather straightforward, which I was thankful for. I wish that I had taken pictures, but I honestly didn't want to take my hands out of pockets very often. Along the way there were beautiful tree-lined sidewalks and a little shopping center complete with a flower market.

When I actually got to the university, I tried to find the place where I need to meet on Wednesday for my placement test; I think that I found it, but I won't know for sure until Wednesday, I guess. I also met another exchange student from Pennsylvania. Her name was Katie and we ended up eating lunch together at a little shop in UCO, not unlike the C3 from GVSU. Even better, we were able to talk a lot (mainly in English) about our experiences so far. It was rather nice to exchange stories, however brief, about problems that we have encountered and worries that we had (or still have).

I stayed at UCO for several hours, just touring the campus. I spent quite a bit of time in the library--it was huge. It also had everything that I could possible need, including some books in English if I am so inclined.

On the way back from the university, I stopped by a few stores and bought a toothbrush (since I forgot mine) and some bottled water (see, Sean?) and some spreadable cheese. All that I'm missing now is the bread! :) At any rate, I figured these few basics would come in handy for small meals or even snacks if I want.

The afternoon was rather quiet; I relaxed in my room spending time on my computer and reading a little bit (The Count of Monte Cristo by ALexandre Dumas, gotta love it!). For dinner, I ate with the family again--Madame, her son and his girlfriend. We had crepes with mushrooms and ham, and they were absolutely delicious! For dessert, we used leftover crepes and spread jam on them--again, delicious. I gotta say that I was relieved. I was dreading that I wouldn't really like the food, but now I know that at least certain meals are enjoyable. I'm rather eager to try it all!

The Never-Ending Journey

Fourteen hours. Fourteen long, tedious hours of travel. During my trip, I honestly doubted for a while whether it would ever end.

Unlike Jessica, I had a layover flight. My first plane ride took about seven hours, and we went from Detroit Metro to Amsterdam. And guess what? Seven hours meant that we were early. I shudder to think how I would have felt after the real timing of the flight. Anyway, this was the flight where I planned to get as much sleep as possible, since it was a long trip and I was supposed to have an aisle all to myself. What do they say about best-laid plans? Oh right--they go awry. Mine was the perfect example. Not only was I squished in a middle seat, but I was also a mere row away from the toilets...lovely.

Needless to say, I did not sleep. At all.

In addition to that, the airplane food was absolutely horrible. I was fed a light snack around four, dinner around seven and 'breakfast' around nine--or three o'clock in the morning, depending on which time zone you reference. Of all of these, the snack--a bag of pretzels--was by far the best taste-wise.

So what did I do instead of sleep and eat decent food? Well first I watched a movie--Disney, of course! :) And then I found this cool game called Shanghai on the monitor. It was similar to the computer game Mombasa from elementary school. I managed to play--and win--every level of the game by the time that we landed in Amsterdam. All of this (except the movie) was done with the delightful sounds of Broadway songs playing in my ears via my MP3 player.

My layover lasted two hours. Two hours in Amsterdam in which I couldn't even leave the airport. It nearly killed me! And on top of that, the line for passport check took nearly forty-five minutes and the entire time I was stuck next to a guy who wouldn't stop talking to me! Now, I'm not normally one for talking to strangers; that lesson has been beaten into my brain from all the Law and Order: SVU and CSI that I've seen. So when this old guy randomly strikes up a conversation, I honestly did not know what else to do! I talked minimally, avoided eye-contact, did everything except punch the guy and he just kept right on telling me how he was going to Germany for a toy company and was trying to find certain perfume for his girlfriend. I was never so happy to report to my gate--with plenty of time to spare, despite the lengthy line.

The flight from Amsterdam I genuinely enjoyed. It was only about an hour and a half long and I had both a window seat and the entire row to myself! Since the flight was so short, it was pointless to try to sleep, so I simply looked out the window the entire time. The sun was just coming up and I never saw a prettier sight. The clouds resembled the ocean at a sunrise, with occasional occurances of a patchwork quilt that was the land way below. Beautiful does not begin to describe it.

So are you keeping track of my travel time so far? Seven hours + Two hours layover + One and a half hours equals a grand total of ten and a half hours to get to Paris. And I needed to get to Angers, which is another three hours away by train.

This part of the trip was the first leg of the journey where I did not already have a fully-thought out plan. The general idea was to find the train station within the Charles de Gaulle airport and buy a ticket to Angers from there. Sounds simple, right?

Actually, it was pretty simple. I was especially proud of myself when I bought the train ticket in perfect French...until I forgot how to say "one-way". Oh, well. You can't win them all.

So three hours by train. And did I mention that the one wheel broke off of my suitcase? Picture it: me, climbing up three flights of stairs (I didn't see the elevator in time) with one gigantic suitcase, a smaller suitcase, a heaping backpack, a laptop case, my purse and one extra carry-on bag. My shoulders are still aching!

And then the pickup. This, above all, was what I was most worried about, simply because up until the day before I left, I still wasn't sure how I was going to get to the place where I was staying. I had two options: call and home that my family was home, or take a cab. And then Friday I received the email from Madame Picherit saying that I should give her a call when I get in and she would come and get me. A bonafide answer to prayer!

Even so, all the snags were not immediately solved. I did not bring my cell phone to France because I am planning on getting on here. I had also heard that Europe still had pay phones--which is true. But, what I didn't know was that these pay phones only accept phone cards. I even had some European change all ready, but the slot was definitely too big for a coin. And guess what else? The train station doesn't sell phone cards. What in the world was I going to do?

I was finally able to convince someone who worked at the station to let me use a phone in the office. I think that he was sympathetic towards me due to the fact that I had fnally succumbed to tears, though only a few (no sleep, a million mix-ups, a new country and a foreign language...wouldn't you?). Or maybe he just wanted to be rid of me.

So Madame Picherit picked me up from the office of the train station (I felt like I was sitting in the principal's office) and I finally got to see the city that I will be living in for the next four months. I gotta say, it is exactly the way that I had hoped it to be: quiet, rather quaint, and obviously from Europe. The street signs alone attested to that fact. It took about ten minutes to get to my home-away-from-home, and here I had another surprise: lunch was waiting, and so was Madame's family--or rather, her children and grandchildren. I was introduced to everyone and I won't post their names because to be honest, I don't remember them all. I was too busy scarfing down lunch (in as polite a manner as I could).

This meal was unlike anything that I was expecting. I knew that lunches were rather big meals rather than dinners, and I also knew that there were several courses. What I wasn't really expecting was the food to be so bland. I've heard so much about French cuisine that I guess I was looking forward to crepes and escargot at every meal. Stupid me. Instead, we had soup, pork, potatoes, green beans, cheese, and then yogurt and oranges for dessert. Most of the food needed serious seasoning, as they didn't really have that much flavor...at least, not like I'm used to. Even so, I wasn't going to complain. In comparison with airplane food, anything would have tasted like gourmet cuisine.

So then I unpacked. Big whoop. And I tried to get my computer working, but it didn't. This was where I almost cried for the second time. The WiFi--though working fine for every other computer in the house--would not connect properly to mine. So instead, I am plugged into the wall with an ethernet cord. Could be worse.

And...that's it. Now that I've probably bored all of you with the longest blog in the history of blogs (or my blogs at least), I'll just end here. A tout a l'heure!