carnaval de dunkerque

i'm so sorry about not writing more! it's a lot of work documenting my life here via writing! lol. don't worry though, i'm alive. most of you are my facebook friends so you'll know that i'm alive and well :)

so, carnaval de dunkerque. how does one describe a true assult on one's senses? bright colours. crazy costumes. even crazier parties. loud music. friendly people. flags and tiny umbrellas everywhere.

carnaval de dunkerque is a well-known carnaval that happens in my region of france that only "locals" know about. locals meaning anyone within the nord-pas-de-calais region. for 3 months, the small seaside villages of france's northwestern coast celebrate life and put away the winter blues before (in the past) the fishermen left for months towards finland in search of fish and food.

at the market in dunkerque,
preparing for the festivities to come

my trip to dunkerque started with a quick trip to the store in lille where people go to buy their carnaval outfits. i had looped my friend emily, another edhec exchange student here from sweden, to come on this escapade and conversely, she convinced me to get my carnaval on. 3 hours - and some orange hair, striped tights, and neon yellow boa - later, we were ready to leave for our trip on the saturday morning via carpooling. granted that our trip started with one mishap after another (read, we almost missed our tram because i nearly got run over by a tram because i was illegally trying to cross the tracks - stupid dusk and stupid wire keeping people off the tracks!), on the ride there, we met this other traveller - george, an ex-french teacher turned philosophy student in france from argentina)-who was amazingly cool and ended up spending a lovely day with him walking the sleepy town of dunkerque. 

buildings reflecting the evolution of
the people of dunkerque

dunkerque is actually very plain by day. it`s by night, on the weekends of the 3 months of carnaval, that the city comes alive. imagine an entire town, from little toddlers to senior citizens,  coming to see the carnaval and participate in its folly.

emily and i couchsurfed at the house of 2 crazy `canavaleux` as they call them. monique and zarko have been doing carnaval for 25 years and thus had many things planned for their weekend. we were sooo lucky to have gotten them as hosts because we really got a chance to see all of what carnaval had to offer without really having to go and look for them. carnaval includes not only dressing up, but a parade following the band, dances, traditional chants or songs and many many other strange practices like throwing herring and lobster (all dependent on who the mayor of the time is of course!) i know that this doesn`t make much sense, but it`s because it`s really not something that one can describe; it`s something that one has to experience. while it would be hard to say that one should come here just to do this carnaval, i`d say, if you were in the area, its something that you just had to do. period.

here are some pictures of what it looks like :)

inside a bar on a weekend of carnaval
(note, the fog is due to the mix of cold outside temperatures and copious amount of sweaty ppl inside! lol)

having a snack in costume at La Chapelle at Monique and Zarko

in the streets of dunkerque waiting for the band to pass

Interviews and missed trips

hello everyone!

another week has gone by in beautiful, yet chilly, lille and i wish i could report settling into a "normal" routine, but that would be a lie. since the last blog, that week and this week have been complete opposites.

last week was filled to the rafters with interviews, either in person in paris or via skype and phone with canada. you see, it was recruitment season for my last co-op and so i began applying. i also wanted to find an internship in france - no matter the cost - to live my dream of living and working and having a life based in europe - even just for a few months. living here is sort of like a drug. its a way of life that is exactly what i had envisioned. while i dont get to go to the market every day for fresh food inspiration, i do have the opportunity to walk in beautiful parks to get to the tram, or up the street to the boulangerie or a just across to class. i love that my life has turned from sedentary to active. honestly, it feels like if i havent gone for a walk in a day (like today because it started to snow), my day isnt done.

anyway, interviews. in total, i had 8 separate interviews, 2 in paris, 2 or 3 on the phone and the rest on skype. i was most excited for unilever france because a) it would allow me to be working in the industry that i want in the capacity that i want and b) it would let me stay in france for at least another 6 months!  the night before my interview, i laid everything out, packed my bag and got myself ready for a 5am wake up. i set my alarm on my phone and plugged it into my tablet - something i've done dozens of times before - to let it charge. i closed my eyes and went to bed. i wake up with a start and turn on my phone to see the time - sunlight outside is telling me that it`s later than 5am, but that`s impossible, my phone would have gone off. click. click. click. oh fuck. the batteries dead. i turn on my tablet. 8:30am. shit. how could this be happening to me?? i spend the next few minutes unsure if i want to cry or yell or curl up and disappear. how could this be happening????? it was like a scene from a nightmare. i emailed my school and my friends asking for their thoughts. at 9am, not many people were on fb, so i sat and thought. train! i can take the train! seeing as it takes me an hour to get to the train stations, the best i could do was 10:30 or later. great. train at 11:42, gets me to paris by 12:42 and another hour to the headquarters - just enough time to get me to the part right after lunch and just before my interview. let`s do this. i throw on my clothes and off i go. i get to the train station at 11:38 and sprint to the ticket booth. 11:39 - all booths open, i ask everyone to bud them. 11:40 - i tell the ticket person that i need a ticket to paris now. she looks at me and says the next train is at 1:10. what?? what happened to the 11:42? i learn that the TGV closes its doors 2 mins before departure so even if she sold me the ticket, i wouldnt be able to board. all i can think is... FUCK - WHY GOD, WHY?????? me, being me, calls my friend who is at unilever already and tries to see if it`s worth it for me to go. they're still in a conference and i can`t talk to the department head... goodness gracious! why was the world against me today????? i finally get contact and she says that the department head isn`t available right now... next interaction - she`s not in the area. next interaction - what next interaction? i dind`t hear anything. fine. left to my own devices, i bit the bullet, waited an ever so torturous 15 min wait to buy my ticket and bolted onto the train. finally, sitting there, i did my make up and closed my eyes for a quick nap. in what felt like no time, i was approaching paris gare du nord and it was time to get to unilever. train after train after train. all i could think about was making it there before interviewing started. 3pm. obviously, nobody in the neighbourhood knew were unilever was, right? 3pm and i step out from 40 mins of transit to, like all french streets, no clear indication of where anything is. thankfully i met someone who knew where the headquarters and off i went. "just up the street" he said... 25 mins later, i`m  just outside unilever and i don the jacket and the shoes. a quick reflection in the mirror and i think to myself - wow, i may actually be able to pull this off. some classmates see me and giggle because i`m so late, but honestly, who cares? my dream is sitting in front of me. it`s up to me to take it.

after a brief pause at the reception, the department head comes up and looks surprised. "what are you doing here? didn't you get the message that unilever got your message and understood that you couldn't come today for an interview? that you could do your interview over the phone?" pasted smile. "no, i dind't get it. its fine though. i wanted to do this interview in person. it was important to me." inside:"stupid, stupid me! why did i come?!?!" all things said and done, i was taken downstairs to wait with the rest of my class. they looked confused as to why i was coming so late. i just wanted to get my interview done with. i was told 45 mins after i arrived that my interview would be at 5:30 (it was around 4:30 by that point). an hour of pleasant conversation later, i look up and see that there were still people waiting to be interviewed. asking around, i realize that the person before me still hadn`t gone in; the interviewer was running an hour late - good thing too, because apparently they didn`t have my resume on file. i needed to borrow a classmates phone to forward my initial email to someone else who had to print it and give it to the HR responsible. goodness gracious. i don`t know what else i could handle that day. the inteview itself finally came and honestly, i felt awesome. it felt like my interview with gsk when i got my first co-op. i even used  the day`s events as proof of character and interest. it was awesome. at the end of the interview, they told me that they`d call me in 10 business days. ok, so i took the bus back and all i could think about was how i could move my life over here. i wanted the internship so badly.

the week continued with the rest of the interviews, including another interview in paris with fiat/ fga capital. that interview was the most elaborate interview i`ve ever done. my friend was right, interviewing with a big company really is exhausting. it required going to paris on thursday night after a day of class, spending the night at my friend`s place, waking up at 6:30am for a 9:30am interview, arriving late, interviewing for 2 hours and then taking more that 2 hours to get back to my friend`s place. after all of that, i couldn't get in touch with my ride share back to lille AND i get a call from my school in canada telling me that a food cpg company wants to interview me last minute and wanted to know if i was available. as it turns out, i was already on my way back to lille from paris for another skype interview and having spent the better part of the last 24 hours away and travelling, i just wanted it all to end. obviously i wanted to do the interview so i said yes, but i was truly exhausted. then, on the ride back, the snow storm hits and 21 km from lille, the highway comes to a stand-still. 1 hr in 35 mins. do the math. we had to get off the highway at 6:30 and, seeing as my interview was at 7, i had to call canada to ask them to rearrange my schedule of interviews. the next one was scheduled at 8. the guy driving did his best and i got back to my appartment at 7:56pm, just in time for my interview. unfortunately, the interview didn`t go so well and while they were smiling at the beginning, the manager was nothing but withdrawl physical gestures by the end. it was unfortunate because that was the job that i wanted. oh well, what could i have done. the second interview happened and it went well, but i didn`t have the heart to do it anymore. i ended up calling my sister to hear the kids laughing. (i swear, it does magic for the soul.)

the next day i was supposed to go to brugges, brussels, but alas, with the snow, everything was cancelled. i ended up spending the weekend at home recuperating after recruitment week, desperately waiting to hear unilever call.anyway, the next week, monday night, i get the results of the interviews in canada. 3 offers, 2 "ranked" places and 3 "no rankings". i also hadn`t heard from unilever. then began the difficult task of figuring out what exactly to choose. i waited until i could call unilever at a normal hour and presented my case. the HR rep who interviewed me told me that i should take the certain one in canada and then come back to unilever. and that is exactly what i did. i broke my heart and after my decision, i was broken for 2 days. like seriously, it was like what i`d imagine a break up to be like. i couldn't focus, function, i was sad. horrible feelings. then, on the 3rd day, i decided to start booking my trips and taking full advantage of my time here, as short as it may be. 4 trips were booked in one day, the first being the following saturday to cologne. after that, anyone ever heard of retail therapy??? it was so nice to just walk around the stores and finding new things to get - one of which was my trivial pursuit - french gastronomy edition. as one of my friend`s puts it, it`s really a story of love...

this past week, unlike the one before it, was light in work and stress. i got a chance to buy a grocery buggy and found a way to traverse the park over a bridge. i watched old people meander along and kids walk on the frozen "river". it was so pleasant. it helped put things back in their place.anyway, this past saturday rolled around and i got everything ready for cologne. i made travel notes and jotted down ideas of what to do. problem was, i forgot to set my alarm. no alarm, no waking up. no waking up, no bus to cologne and definitely no trip. thus, another weekend in lille. good thing i still hadn`t exhasuted my retail therapy... new coat, bag and many gifts. oh how i love them all!

lol, i guess, some things never change :)

a week of pleasant surprises

hello everyone!

as promised, here is the second installment of my crazy week after arriving back from bordeaux.

not having done the groceries in a week and a half, i had asked a group member if we could pass by the carrefour market on the way to the subway after one of our group meetings. trust me when i say that i have never done the groceries that quickly. within 30 mins, i had bought enough cheese and pate to last 3 weeks, a dried cured french sausage, clementines, fresh salad 2 bottles of wine to entertain with and a bag of petit pains. all part of a healthy balanced diet, no? i knew that i had 2 different people set to visit in the week and i wanted to be a "good host" and all... (turns out that one of them didn't drink wine and the other one didn't come... oh well, more for me :D )

anyway, monday night comes along and i wait in anticipation for my friend to come. she had messaged me at 3am asking if she could a) bring the stuff over earlier and b) tell me that it had taken 3 hours to make "blanquette d'agneau" so i knew something good was coming my way... at 20h35 i hear my phone ring and i quickly run outside to open the door for her. enter charlene, my new friend from edhec, and one beautiful pot of "blanquette d'agneau". blanquette d'agneau is a  wine and cream-based dish made by stewing pieces of traditionally tougher pieces of meat in the liquid for hours and hours until the meat is fork tender and fall of the bone. over a bed of fresh rice, the dish is best served along side a healthy dose a friendship and laughter. it truly was delicious, but if anything, the company was even better. for dessert, she whipped up her family's secret melting chocolate cake served with a cup of hot tea. while neither of us could eat for another day, it was a beautiful way to start the week.

the next day, i buy tickets to bruges (a city stopped in the medival times in belgium) and prepare for my first marked anything in france. keep in mind that i've been told that a 12/20 is a good mark here, so when i'm preparing, i can't help but have a little fear in me that my professor, who seems to have taken a liking to me and my educational background, will mark me harder than anything. unfortunately, my mind is split in 2 because the first of my recruitment interviews is the day before the presentation. not having done an interview in a while, i'm slightly stressed all thursday until 15h when i sit outside the in the freezing cold for an hour to find a place of silence to do my phone interview. by 16h i was breathing again and back in class, but that lightness lasted for a grand total of 1 hr before the realization that the big presentation was coming up. after sending off more CVs and cover letters for internships, i turned to rehearsing for the presentation.

note to self: must learn to wake up earlier. especially if your presentation's practice is at 12:30 and you wake up at 12, having only just made your script before going to bed with the promise that youd work on it in the morning.

scrambling out of bed, i rush to get into presentation clothes and quickly do a once over on my sleeping computer screen. no time, just run. 20 mins later, i'm rehearsing my part with my 2 co-presentors and i realize that i'm really screwed. they're prefect and i'm not. english is my first language and i'm still not. i don't know what's come over me, but it's just not flowing the way it's supposed to. too late now. class is about to begin and it's time to go in. god must have been on my side that day because we were at the end of the presentations so i was able to spend 1.5hrs trying to memorize what i was supposed ot say, only to realize that i hadn't retained anything. break passed in a blur and before i knew it, i head "china 2, please come up and set up." thump, thump, thump. i feel like my heart is about to burst out of my chest! the first part passes without a hitch and it's my turn. thump, thump, thump. i enter into the zone and deliver the presentation of a life time. i don't know how i did it, but it flowed and while i could hear the quiver in my voice, after the first few sentences, it was gone and was replaced by nothing by solid authority. passed over to the next presenter, she confidently presented our numbers and the 1st presented concluded strongly with our next steps for Q1. after a few brief questions, he asked the entire team to come up, picked up our printed copy of our presentation and turned to the class and said, "what do you think this team deserves as a mark?" a voice from the back of the class ventures "20?" and we all laugh nervously. but he turns and says "exactly. that is exactly what they'll get. and you know why? it's because this presentation was better than the presentation given in real life. class, this is what i expect for your final presentation." i was floored. 20/20 is unheard of by the french. honest! i was extactic! i couldn't believe it! that, added to the fact that not only one, but TWO of my french applications for internships had be responded to with interview requests, i was on cloud 9! Unilever France was interested in my candidature for a marketing internship and wanted to interview me on monday!!!!!!!!!!!! how could this week get any better?? by a friend being set to come that night of course!!

and that is exactly what she did. lydia (an exchange student who came to live with us for a month when i was 13!) and her boyfriend came for a weekend visit to lille and we spent the days walking the streets in stick-to-your-bone cold following a course set out by lydia's boyfiend before arriving. it was great because it let me hang out with a good friend and catch up while doing all the touristy things around lille without me feeling like an idiot, lol. for lunch, we splurged and ate out where we had all the local favourites like carbonade flammande, potlevjech and "welch". after getting lost in the street of viex-lille, we bought Meert macarons and waffles and a fresh waffle covered in nutella and whipped chantilly cream. by night, we ate at home where i cooked the first night (drunken chicken in tomato and wine sauce, rice and couscous veggies, ice cream for dessert)  and lydia cooked the second night (fois gras on brioche with onion confit, pasta bolognese a la lydia and ice cream for dessert). sunday, we saw the "new" lille and  climbed to the top of the city hall's tower for an aerial view of the city. a tram ride home and it was time to exchange photos and say goodbye, because the next day was the beginning of recruitment week!

the more, the merrier in bordeaux

first of all, sorry for the long dry spell!! the past 10 days have been filled with everything from trips to bordeaux to intership interviews to my first friends visiting for the weekend. this post will be about bordeaux, but i'll write another one about the other hecticness that is my life in france.

so, BORDEAUX.

my trip to bordeaux came out of a mishap, as does many of my life's experiences happen, i have now come to realize. i was supposed to visit daniel, a really good friend of mine from toronto, in london, uk, where he's doing his masters studies. not wanting or having 200euros to spare, i started looking at the carpooling site in france. i found one for 50euros return and jumped on in. initially, the driver said yes but as the day of departure approached, the driver wouldn`t answer my emails. finally, i found his number and called him when he said "oops! i forgot to email you to tell you that i`m cancelling the trip..." by that point, tickets to london were definitely out of my price range so i began looking for somewhere else to go, when i stubbled upon 30euro tickets to bordeaux. without hesitation, i bought a return trip and began investigating what i could do there. within a few hours, i had gone from being set to go to london to being set to go to bordeaux. i booked my train and a full day wine exploration tour on their tourism website. the only problem was accomodations. because in europe the prices are quoted to you on a per person basis on the basis of 2 people, i forgot to factor in the fact that the 25euros a night really meant 50euros a night for one person and thus for 2 nights - 100euros... definitely NOT being in the budget, i remembered my friend asking me whether or not i had ever done couchsurfing. never having done it but knowing that it was a way of having free accomodations, i joined couchsurfers.org and quickly found a place to sleep.

a small aside:
joining couchsurfers.org is a little long, but it`s definitely worth it. i really found that it was a great way to see the city, meet the locals and have a good time while staying within budget. honestly, as a single person travelling, i would not have done it any other way. couchsurfing essentially makes you feel like you have a friend waiting on the other end of your trip ready to share what`s special about their city and introduce you to their friends. while a little bit of a toss-up in regards to cleanliness (the place that i stayed at was horribly dirty BUT very welcoming - let`s just say that i was very happy that i brought my own sleeping bag that `protected`me from whatever happened to be on the cushions...)

the day of departure - of course - my alarm didn`t go off properly. thank god i set a second alarm telling me when i had to leave because otherwise, i would have never made it to the train station on time. i literally threw on some pants and my sweater, stuffed my sleeping bag into my knapsack and ran out the door. after all my careful planning to find out when the tram was supposed to come, i got to the tram stop only to find out that i had a 15 min wait before it was set to arrive. thankfully the metro isn`t too far, so i "ran" as fast as my crutches would let me to the metro and hopped on. i probably looked like a hobo but i didnt care. i didnt have time to stamp my bus ticket before stepping onto the metro because the metro was just pulling in as the elevator doors were opening so i just ran. having been ticketed for not having a stamped ticket before (it wasnt my fault, their ticket machine wasnt working!) i spent the entire journey looking around to make sure that no ticket police were on the platform... so stressful. anyway, i got to the train station and went directly to the ticket office to pick up my ticket. thankfully there was no line up, but when i got there, they said, "of course we can get you your tickets. can i have the card used to make the reservation please?" i froze. the card. how could i forget the card??? i used my canadian card to make the reservation and pay because my france one hadnt arrived yet. but, because it was my canadian one, i didn`t bother to take it with me as i always use cash here. it was too late for me to cab back to croix and too expensive for me to buy new tickets (100euros one way!!!) so i did what any self respecting student would do: i begged.

hahaha, the guy at the ticket counter just looked at me as i tried to reason with him and show him the inside of my wallet and thus LACK of card. he just said "i`m sorry. our systems wont let me print them without the card..." ok, fine. i give in. no card. no tickets. BUT, that doesnt mean i dont have a reservation... i asked him to print my reservation proving that at least i did have a ticket bought. he shrugged and said "i can't guarantee anything, but it might work. it all depends on the guy on the train." he explained to me that since my tickets were non refundable and non-exchangeable, theres really not much that can be changed BUT just in case, i asked him to write it on the reservation and stamp it officially (lucky that i did because on the way back, i was questioned and only because all of that was written, was i not kicked off the train...)

Ready to go Bordeaux!

anyway, "ticket" in hand, i head to the platform and await my train. when i climb aboard and fumble my way to my seat, i find someone else sitting in it... gah, fine. its early. i`m non caffinated and i`m sleepy. i was planning on taking pictures, but i realized that i probably wouldn't be because i was sleeping. so i sat down and settled in for a 5 hour trip. within minutes, i was knocked unconcious and when i woke up 4 hours later, it was sunny outside and i was looking at rolling hills of vines. ahh... i had reached wine country and i was itching to get off. wanting to capture every moment, i took out my camera and began snapping away. then i saw the red "low batt" sign blink on and said `wow, arent i smart? i even brought my battery charger and adapter!` i crawled on the floor looking for an outlet - none. i ask around - none. i`m informed that they only exist in first class... oh, thinks I, how lovely. then, ingenuity strikes and i say "eureka! the bathroom has an outlet for a razor! i'll use that one!" so i stand up to get my bag and everything begins to spin... motion sickness takes full control and i`m forced to abandon my quest for at least the next few minutes. gulping down, i quickly grab what i need and head to the bathroom. i set everything up and check the battery charger when i see that nothing is happening... i wiggle the plug around hoping for something... nothing. crap, all the work and spinning head in vain. deflated, i head back to my seat, close my eyes and wait til i arrive in bordeaux.

i hear, in my subconscious, the sound of the ticket man coming so my eyes fly open and i "hide" in the bathroom. while i really had nothing to be afraid of, i still didnt feel like having to take that risk if necessary. i come out only because someone has tried to open the bathroom door 3 times and i start to feel guilty. i pop my head out and look around... phew... ticket man has passed my seat and i have nothing else to worry about. i fall back asleep and wait for the nausea to pass and for bordeaux to arrive.

Bordeaux - Gare St. Jean

On the way into the station...

i wake up just outside of the main station and just in time to see a beautiful bordeaux sign. the station is beautiful - full of old metal framework and cloudy glass. i know that there`s a tourist office nearby, so i go there and check their opening times. nope, everyone`s on lunch break until 2, so i go back to the old sign and snap a few pictures and laugh silently in my head (you know, in case i had on-lookers) about the fact that my dad would have spent hours making me pose in front of the sign while i couldn`t even figure out how to get me into the picture... then i head back to the waiting area and notice plugs near one set of the chairs... hmm... time for a battery charge? so i set everything up, make someone move and oop, yet again, my charger isnt working. so i change plus. agian, no charge. in my head, i start figuring out my budget to buy a new charger, when i spot another one behind some machines. i head over and plug up again.... there`s charge! and then there`s none... i touch it again and the light blinks on. ok... just don`t touch it and leave it be... i head back to my seat to have my sandwich while never taking my eyes off of the little red light.

i stay until 2:10 charging my battery before heading to the tourist office. i pick up a map, some pamphlets and ask where to buy a tram ticket. i head over to my couchsurfer`s place to leave my stuff before going to explore but am taken aback by the beauty of the seaside and the difference between lille and bordeaux. none the less, my pack is getting heavy and i wanted to take it off so i leave the riverside to look for the apartment. when i get there, i`m greated by 2 guys completely glued to their computer screens. one is apparently the roommate and the other a friend. not exactly the warm welcome i was expecting, but at least i could leave my bag and regroup my stuff before heading out. looking around, i realized that everything was dirty. there was no dining table, just an assortment of tattered cushions to sit on and a bunch of flipped over wooden wine boxes. i couldn`t help but think, "wow, how different this is to the way that my mom travels... she would die right now..." hidden in the corner, a delapidated ikea sofa hidden under a mountain of opened sleeping bags."make yourself at home. you can choose pretty much anywhere to sleep. sorry about the mess..." says the room mate. "thanks. and no problem..." says I - insert fake smile and a small but nervous laugh. "how on earth am i going to sleep in this place!?!?!" is really what i`m thinking... i look down and the cat is helping himself to some pâté left over from lunch... gulp. note to self: buy your own NEW food...

The Medival Bell Tower

with that in mind, i say goodbye with a promise of returning around 6. off i go, down the street and towards the largest outdoor shopping street in europe. - la rue st. catherine. there`s a small book store near the intersection that`s calling to me, so i go in and head to the cookbook section where i find french cook books with recipes from the middle ages and from around the regions of france. while i wanted to buy them all, i decide on saving my money for soemthing else and settle with `la cuisine de nos terroirs`- "The cuisine from our regions". Just a little further and i stumble upon one of the largest remenents of the 13th century. The large bell tower was left intact at the end of the 13th century and is still used to day to tell the time by sounding every hour. just a little further and i`ve found la rue st. chatherine and am ready to go for a walk. watching the city change on a friday night, from teenagers in the late afternoon to young professionals in the early evening to familys getting a treat at the end of the evening is truly facinating. seeing as crepes are 3euros or more in lille, i grabbed a nutella crepe as a snack for 2euros and happily munched it at the side of the street. window shopping, i happily hopped down the street to the place de comédie and then around the block to a small grocery store to pick up a bottle or 2 of wine and some french basics - ie cheese, pâté and baguettes. i get home thinking that i`ll be dining alone, when i`m told that a bunch of friends are coming over and that dinner is set to be at another friend`s house, except that that friend doesn`t cook, doesn`t do dishes and doesn`t have any drinks. essentially, we`ve been asked to bring everything over to him... logical? not so much. we
convince him that it`s better for him to come over and begin making dinner. another couch surfer

Vin chaud, a ukalele and lots of good times

arrives and joins the party. the more the merrier is the motto for the evening. she`s from australia and doesn`t speak french very well. i invite her to join me in the wine tasting set for tomorrow and she agrees. finally all of the friends arrive and then more couch surfers, and more friends. we`re 20 around this little make-shift table and all i can say is, it`s awesome. i couldn`t have bought this experience anywhere and all i needed to do was ask. everyone leaves around 3am and i set my bed and alarm for  6 hours of much needed rest.

wine tasting at the school of wine

9am and julia, the other couchsurfer, and i are already out the door heading to our wine tasting. she hadn`t yet bought her ticket and we wanted to make she that she could come so we left early. tickets in hand, we go to a near by chain patisserie - brioche dorée - for a quick breakfast before immersing ourselves in the world of bordeaux wine. from it`s history to its current, very controlled state, bordeaux has worked hard to make itself one of 9 wine capitals of the world. we tasted a red, a white, a fortified white and one of high standing (think about 45$ a bottle -hehe, and yes, it was the best) before being left out of "class" for lunch. a quick sandwich with more students and we were off to the vineyards for further tastings.

A famous wine house near the 2nd wine tasting in Medoc

the first one is very rustic. i loved learning about how wine is made, but i can`t say that i really cared for the wine made by that particular "chateaux" or wine house. the second however, was absolutely gorgeous. it was evident that they had a lot of money put into the place but it made everything look that much better. they let us taste a pure merlot -rare for that area because houses usually mix varieties to achieve the desired style of wine, and i have to say, i didn`t really care for it. it wasnt horrible, but it wasnt something to be served alone. it should be served as an accompaniment for a dinner. that way, it really shines. the second wine, from haut-medoc, was complex and required unraveling. it was spicy and fruity. really cool. very much enjoyed that bottle and look forward to finding a similar one in canada :)

after a long day of wine tasting, i can honestly say, that i couldn`t smell or taste another bottle for at least another day, but julia and i decided that we`d cook dinner that night and so wine was a necessity. we passed by a supermarket for some pasta, sauce, fresh veggies, bread and wine and headed home to make a thank you dinner for our host. with no surprises, everyone (and more) was back for another night, but this time, the festivities went until 5am. thank god i didn`t have any plans for the next day other than church and the market. at 5am, i closed my eyes and slept a deep deep sleep.

St. Michel by night

my final day in bordeaux started quietly with no one awake and me sneaking out to go to church and the market. the church, st. michel, is another piece of history stopped in time. i`m not quite sure why it was so famous, but i do know that i was beautiful inside. not like the notre-dame, but beautiful none the less. its bell tower still rings every now and then and plays the european national anthem (ie the ode to joy). i was surprised to find an african choir singing mass and thought it was a great. after mass, i wandered to the nearby flea market to people watch some more and soon, like all french towns on a sunday, everything closes and i head back to the apartment to apply to some internships. before i know it, it`s time for me to pack up and say my good-byes. the train awaits and i don`t want to miss it.

Pont de Pierre, my final view of bordeaux

my final view of bordeaux is the pont de pierre, a beautiful manifestation of old old old architecture once the only form of wheeled connection between the two sides of bordeaux river backs. lit by night, its a beautiful last memory of the city.

i get to the train station in good time and i decide to sit down in the only space available. an old man starts to talk to me and tells me his life story. he`s a wine harvestor, has been for ever and ever. he`s lost the only woman he`s loved due to cancer and can`t seem to find himself again. i swear, sometime i think i have something that says "tell me your life story" written across my forehead! as i leave he gives me a hug and promptly tries to feel me up... seriously?!?!  anyway, i don't say anything because i prefer not to think of my last moments in bordeaux in that way, but seriously... it always happens to me...

on the train, i pass out and wake up just before we pull into lille. a quick, but expensive, taxi ride home and the weekend in bordeaux is done and a new week began...

sorry everyone!!!!!! updates will come next tuesday!

hi guys,

i'm so sorry for the lack of posting! it's been a very hectic week with very little time to sit and write so hence no updates...

in the past week, i`ve finished my first full week of classes (meh, heavy on the theory?), gone to one of the wine capitals of the world (more on that later), applied to what feels like a billion different internships and gotten 2 interviews in the span of 12 hours (both in marketing?!?! who'd'a thunk?!?!) and received the biggest scholarship in my history (worth $2500!!!!!!! ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!)

this upcoming week will be no different. it`s 5:30am here and i,ve only just half-assed-ly finished my homework and prepped the next 3 days which will go without me breathing because of meetings, class and interviews. this weekend, i'm playing host to some friends for paris, but on tuesday, i've booked time to write to you all.

sending mucho vikki love!

see you at the next post!

315 rue Verte, Croix, appartment no.4, chambre 4

Salut tout le monde!

After over 1 week of pure searching, I've moved into my "permanent" residence while here in France. It`s located right outside the gates of my school so I literally have to walk down one driveway, cross the street, and walk up the school`s driveway. Super convenient. I`m sharing the apartment with 3 other EDHEC students. They`re all french and in the same year (about 2 years under me, from what I can understand). 2 girls and 1 guy. Super nice and patient when explaining things slowly when I can`t keep up with what they`re saying. One of the girls is a foodie like me and we`ve decided that we`re going to do a `franco-canadian`food night! (This entire conversation happened because we were discussing what people eat for breakfast here since there`s no bread nearby... crisis!!... and I started talking about banana bread. I said that I would try and make some for them... let`s hope it turns out properly... :S)

Around me, there isn`t too much because it`s all residential. There is a boulangerie about 10 mins walk up hill from me and a McDo about 10 mins away in the other direction; I`ve been to neither. Rather, I walk to the tram and go either to Roubaix or towards Lille. There, there are supermarkets and boulangeries and everything. Much more worth it. To get to the tram, there is a beautiful walk across a large park where, on the weekend, you`ll find both young and old going for walks, playing soccer or feeding the ducks.

Speaking of  crossing the park, I did yesterday when I went back to Roubaix to see what was on sale during the big sales that are happening now for about a month. It`s crazy! From Lacoste to Guess to Geox to Haribo, everything seems to be on sale for at least 30% off, if not more. I saw sweaters at Lacoste for 39E! Crazy!! At Kipling, there was a bag for 25E that I wanted to buy, but really, I didn`t need it so I used my better judgement (and a lot of will power) to walk away... instead, I bought another kitchen gadget. Yes, my first `purchase`(other than food) in France obviously HAD to be a kitchen gadget. It`s a wine pourer and stopper that keeps bottles from spilling and going bad. It`s great, already in use in my fridge :D well, now out of use because the bottle is done. I will have to pick up another one when I go to supermarket. (I think my favourite wine right now is Bordeaux - mellow and fuity, not to heavy and great for sipping with cheese and pâté or just by itself while hanging out with friends :) Next time, I think I`ll try something from Bourgogne while making beouf bourgignon!)

 First dinner in my new place!

(do you see a similarity with my first dinner at my other place? LOL)

Views from the walk to the tram stop:

 Just outside my building`s back exit.

Parc Barbiaux

 the other side of Parc Barbiaux

Scene from Roubaix Eurotéléport (the main bus/ tram/ metro spot of Roubaix)

Some delights of lille, from creperie beaurepaire, vieux-lille

Apparently I'm still not adjusted... that, or I've over adjusted. I can't fall asleep until 4 am and then I wake up at 11am :s just in time to miss my first class. Thankfully I didnt have class today so it didn't make a difference, but I am worried about tomorrow morning....

Just as an update for everyone, no, I haven't yet moved into a place for four months - now more like 3.5 months, but who's counting. I'm still at Emma's. While I love it there, I've found an apartment that's right in front of school and right in front (well, as close as I'm going to get) to the tram stop that takes me either to Lille centre or roubaix (another small city rolled into the greater Lille area). Ie, my perfect mix. I'm learning slowly that the "french diet" is definitely bread, butter, cheese and pate, BUT, everyone walks everywhere. Which means, no instant trips to the mall or downtown, its always, at least at my turtke pace, 15 mins away. I'm learning to be patient and learning to love the walk. Realistically, who's mind walking around when its 10 degrees outside with no rain!

I spent the day at school and at roubaix teleport, the main bus/tram/metro centre of roubaix. Roubaix is about 5 mins by tram from school and just around it, there's a bit of everything. For me, it was important to look for a pillow and I found a store - babou- that was selling some for 2.5€! It really doesn't get cheaper than that. If you're not looking for atmosphere but need instant internet, there was a Quick burger joint right beside the main square that let me check some emails, have a cheap coffee (1€ vs the usual 1.40 - 1.80€ evrwhere else), warm up and go to the bathroom - backpackers paradise. Also right there is the MacArthur glen shopping district famous for having big names in one area all over France. Apparently 6 weeks of Wednesday sales start tomorrow so I'll definitely be going back.

Right now, I'm sitting in a cafe that's probably way over priced, but I don't mind, just for the atmosphere. I'm eating my first crepe - cheese in a buckwheat pancake - and all I can say is -YUM! They've made it just a tad crispy on the outside, but the inside is nice and ooozy. At first I wanted just to take it to go, but apparently this place doesn't do it anymore. It was 4€ which isn't horrible because in a little place near Paris, it was 3.50€. For all you travellers reading this, learn to order water "en caraffe" with your meal. It means tap water instead of bottled which means 2€ less at least at every meal eaten out. Trust me, it can add up. For dessert, a crepe au confiture de marilles ( or something like that). It looks sort of like blueberries but it comes from the alpes and it much sweeter. The crepe itself is much more buttery and much less crispy. All in all, 7.40€ for dinner and one very full and happy victoria.

Before this, I took the suggestion of a new friend of mine at school who's been here for about 4 months and went to an apparently famous Patisserie/ chocolaterie called Meerts. they are famous for their macaroons and seeing as I've never had one before, I thought it was high time. With that in mind, I went inside and asked for 1. Apparently, thay're only sold in boxes and each box of ten cost 18.50€. My jaw almost hit the floor! But, I guess, why not. School starts tomorrow and -sorry Gemma, but the nerd in me just had to come out I've decided totake the normal course load of a french student, so, 30.5 credits for me! We'll see how it goes.

Tomorrow, I'm hoping that I'll be able to move into my "permanent" place and get into the groove of school, but that might be wishful thinking.

Well, that's it for today everyone. A plus tard!

This is La Grande Place in the heart of Vieux-Lille ("Old-Lille")