Bienvenue à Paris!

Getting back to Paris felt great! After being in a country where I spoke close to nothing of the language French was a slice of cake! Before I was feeling like my French was getting better, but after being in Italy for a week and realizing how hard it was with Italian, French rolled right off my tongue. That's good because for the amount of translating I'm doing for my parents and Erin I need to be quick with my French.

Mum and dad and Erin have probably tried every pastry in two days. In Italy they were kind of disappointed with the bread and I kept telling them to just wait until France to have good bread. Needless to say, they devoured the baguettes we got. They still have yet to have some good cheese, but I'm sure that will happen when we have dinner with my host family tonight.

Friday when we got into Paris, it was raining. Normally, because I'm poor and young, I would've taken a bus and a train for 2 hours from the airport to the hotel, but it was nice to ride in a taxi for once and see Paris from a car for the first time since I got here.

We decided to visit the louvre for the warmth and protection from the rain, but so did everyone else. We spent two hours in it before annoyance from the crowds and fatigue from the early flight from Naples hit us. They saw what they wanted to see, Mona Lisa and Venus de milo. 

The place where we are staying is perfect. We are on the 5th floor of six, with a cute balcony and a nice view of sacre coeur.

They only downside is it's close to the moulin rouge district, so at night it gets kind of sketchy.

Saturday morning we went to yet another market. I went there before to check it out so I knew what I was doing when my family came over. Dad and mum kept telling us that it was bringing back old memories of when they use to do markets, and the friendships that grew between vendors. Others nearby helping out when Jordon or Brittney had to go to the bathroom or would wander off.

We got lost a couple times, mostly inside the metro station. My parents sympathized with me and realized how difficult it would've been when I first got there and having to figure everything out by myself.

Wrapping it all up

The motor home was the best idea ever in Italy. It brought back so many memories of travelling to and from Georgia for reunions. We were able to see the countryside of Italy, and we oohed and awed over every village on a hillside.

With the motor home, we went at our own pace, not to be rushed by a train ticket. A nice place to just relax when it got dark and we were tired. 

Pompeii

Like in Rome, Pompeii was so full of history it's hard to share without pictures, but I'll get them to you later. We really lucked out in Italy, the weather was fantastic! Sunny everyday we went outside, it only rained when we were driving. Pompeii was no exeption, so hot! It was perfect. It was so interesting going in and seeing what use to be people's houses. We were without tour guide, but that made it even better, it became a game guessing what was what. Making up stories with the help of our little book. Arguing because we each thought our own theory was the better version.

When in Rome

Explaining our time in Rome won't even do it justice it was that amazing. We had three different private tours, with two different amazing tour guides! The first tour was on a golf cart. The best way to see Rome! We were able to go down alley ways and to places that a normal bus tour couldn't, and see way more things than if we were on foot. Andrea was our tour guide for the first day, he took us places that weren't even part of the tour just because he thought we would like it. We looked through the worlds most famous keyhole that we didn't even know existed. Went to a place where we had a beautiful panoramic view of Rome. And the whole time he was telling us stories about what happened where and such.

(Pictures and explanations will be in a later post)

The second half of our first day he took us to the Vatican. It was all amazing but my favorite part was Wednesday morning with Eva. We toured the colosseum and the forum. She told us so much history and information it was overwhelming. It made us all want to read more and figure everything out better. 

The colosseum, for those who don't know, was like a modern day baseball stadium except made out of marble and held the gladiator games. 

Eva kept describing Rome as lasagna, and you could definitely see why when you walked through the forum. Layers upon layers of buildings. The forum was where all the town business happened. People gambled, made political speeches, waited for jobs, traded supplies etc.. 

Saw Julius Caesars house and where his ashes were kept. Finally understand the story between him and cleopatra and mark Antony. It was a very educational day and now I just want to read every single thing I can get my hands on about Ancient Rome.

Pisa!

As soon as the sign for Pisa told us we were entering the city limits, we all stuck our heads up against the glass in search of the tower. It was in vain, as we could only see the very tip when we had parked due to the high wall. Our breath was taken away as we rounded the corner by foot and the tower almost fell on us.

We all had the urge to try and catch it and the angle it was leaning at was bigger than we expected. Before, we weren't so adamant about climbing up to the top, but as soon as we saw it we decided it was a must do. 

While waiting for the two hours until our time to climb we posed for the corny pictures of us trying to hold the tower up or pushing it down.

When the time came we climbed the 293 slanted slippery steps up to the top of the belfry. It made us dizzy and dad sick as we turned around and around up to the top of the 55 metres. It was very disorienting standing at the highest part and being slightly tilted. 

Bucket list item: accomplished!

Easter monday

Dad's very specific itinery was nice, but so far we haven't followed to a tee. Finishing Venice earlier than we thought we would be, and seeing more in Florence other than Michelangelo's David. We were still on track, but today (Easter Monday) was full of driving. Having to leave the campsite and start driving by 8:30am in order to make it to Pisa and then to Rome, the day consisted of a total of 5 hours do driving. It still amazes me that we can get so far across the country in so little time.

The first hour leg of the journey to Pisa was enjoyable and quick through the Italian country side. (Read the next post for details on Pisa).

The second part we decided to make a detour in a little town on the coast called Piombino. It took us longer but the view was worth it.

The drive to Rome came next. The gps told us four hours, but with the traffic and bathroom breaks we ended up arriving after six hours. It was easy to keep us entertained before the sun set with staring out the windows, but as soon as it got dark we had to resort to other options. We made ourselves sick playing guess the flavor of the gummy bears and we lost our voices rocking out to bohemian rhapsody. We were playing guess the song until mum shut the music off when ACDC's I've got big balls came on. 

Missing the turn the first time around to the campsite, we had to find a place to flip the motor home around and come at it again. Finally parking at 10pm in the loudest lot of the place, we sat down for yet another meal of pasta and bread.

Market time

If you have ever been to a market you know that the vendors will say anything to you to get you to stop and look. Us three girls got tons of compliments on our smiles, men calling us their flowers, and merchants shouting "student prices" at us. Our favorite line though, was "special prices for spice girls!" Meanwhile, mum and dad kept getting "honeymoon prices", and when explained that they had been together for 25 years, the vender across the street yelled "celebrate 25 years over here then".

We were able to barter the prices down on some jewlery I found. And dad, like normal, was able to talk his way into a decent price. But we knew that as long as we were buying it, they were still making a profit. 

Fiasco in Firenze

If you think driving a motor home in downtown Atlanta, Georgia is difficult, try driving it in central Florence, Italy. Unimaginable, right? The streets so narrow we had to pull in our mirrors in order to not hit the signs and people, and even then, pedestrians had to put themselves flat up against the wall so as not to get taken out by our gigantic vehicle. The tightness of the streets made our caravan feel like a caricature. Our nose was ten times bigger and our hips were bumping the corners. The closer we got to the central market, the tinier the streets got. Dad's determination to get us parked as close to the market as possible resulted in many shocked and astonished faces from the locals. Pulling up to a stop light, dad spontanealously jumped out of the vehicle and asked the taxi driver in front of us to take us to a parking spot. Although dad's Italian didn't improve, his horn usage got more and more frequent. However, it did serve the purpose of getting people out of our way as we followed the taxi to an underground parking that we didn't even fit in. Taking his five euro fare, he left us to figure out what to do next. Deciding it would be easier to find a park by foot, I jumped out to look. Dad's wish of a close parking spot was granted when, with a mixture of French, Italian, and hand gestures, I persuaded a local to move to a smaller spot so we could occupy the only area large enough for our motor home. We were parked as close as we could get to the market, a mere twenty steps from the first stall.

Venice pictures

Florence day 2

Our original plan was to just go to the Galleria dell' Accademia to see Michelangelo's David and to head out before 3. 

Mum quickly got tired of staring at the naked statue, and tsk'ed her whole way throughout the museum.

Our plans quickly changed as 3 rolled around and we were enjoying exploring the city. We climbed to the highest hill to get the best view of the whole city.

Ciao Firenze!

Surprisingly we finished venice in a day, and good thing to because Saturday was not very enjoyable weather. After figuring out yet again some more problems with the motor home and buying groceries we said arrivederci to venice and started on our way to Firenze (Florence).

Touring Venice

"The only way to see venice is to get lost" and lost we did! So many alleyways little canals it was impossible to find your way. We had twenty minutes to run from one side of venice to the other for our tour. Too bad it was going to take us 40 minutes. We ended up getting a water taxi. If you're in venice either you walk from place to place or you get a water taxi and then walk some more, there is no way a car would get in those streets.

Having the most experience with Italians and the language, I was the one sent to ask questions or get directions. Thankfully a lot of French crosses over into Italian except instead you pronounce all the letters whereas in French you only really say half the word.

The tour was amazing! Took us 2 hours to walk all around venice with someone telling us all the history.  

The basilica was bellissimo!

I took so many pictures of buildings and boats and bridges. 

Instead of crepe stands, like there are in France, there are gelato stands and stores all over the place.

The boat tour was my favorite part. 

Seeing venice from the canale grande (grand canal) was magnifico!!

Thursday and Friday; Venice

If I was to recount the last 24 hours to you there would be problem after problem after problem... But as we were talking and laughing about the days journey around our pizza, we realized that we remember all the difficulties we have and the good stories to go with them better than if everything went according to plan.

Before I begin don't think I'm focusing on all the negatives of the trip, they are just the exciting part.

All of our flights worked out pretty well except for mum, dad, and Erin having to sit for two hours on the tarmack, and Alandra and I sleeping at the airport. The problems started arising when they were waiting for the motor home. Mum and dad thought they had been scammed and ripped off while Jan was calling the only contact number he had, me. In the busy loud bus we are trying to figure out how to get a hold of dad in a foreign country to tell him they were on their way. We were minutes away from having the airport call their names out, when dad had decided to get some wifi to make some other arrangements. As soon as he turned on his phone he got every email we had tried to send him.

The next morning, while mum dad and Erin were sleeping off some jet lag, alandra and I were trying to get to the campsite. We had accidently gotten off at the wrong bus stop, and were walking past a gas station when a old man calls out to us, "ciao!".

"Um.. Ciao! Parlate (French mumbling) inglese?"

"Yes!"

Great, after figuring we were a kilometre and a half away from our destination, we started walking until the guy called us back to tell us he was heading in that direction. Yes, we got a ride from a complete stranger in a foreign country, but you gotta do what ya gotta do. He was so nice and talkative, and even gave us a map when he found out this was our first time here. 

He dropped us off at the entrance and wished us a buona vacanze. We headed in to search for the the rest of the gang. Seeing first some familiar looking feet and then the familiar hair of Erin, I started running towards her yelling HEY!!!! Before comprehending that it was me, she started screaming loud enough that everyone stopped what they were doing to watch us impact in a hug. Upon hearing the cry from Erin, mum and dad came running out to see what was happening and were surprised to see me there so early.

Family reunion

Somehow I missed the memo that we were going to have everybody and their cat over for the weekend. Sonia's parents came up from Italy on Tuesday, non parlano francese.... Perfect...

Thankfully, immersion let's you soak up more then you realize. I was able to introduce myself, io sono Ashley, io sono canadian, parlo inglese e francese, no italiano. When in doubt i just speak in French but add a little Italian flourish haha we understand each other well enough and if not the girls jump in and translate. 

I swear that the best way to learn a language is to just throw yourself in it. I came here with high school French (which anyone who has gone abroad will let you know that that does not help much) and not even a word of Italian. Now my French is, not to brag, but it's pretty darn good. And I'm able to understand Italian and say simple sentences.

Today the Sonia's brother came over from china, thankfully, he speaks French and a bit of English. But you should hear us all at the dinner table around the pizza, translations are being thrown every which way, in any of the three languages. 

I am not homesick

Only 90 days left!!

But who is counting right? Just for the record, I am not homesick even though my excitement to come home suggests otherwise. Let me explain.

First of all, I love Paris and France and my friends here, and my host family especially my girls, and I will be a mess when I have to leave all of the above. However, you can grow tired of any place if you've been there long enough. Though I still catch my breath whenever the Eiffel Tower comes into view, and it still amazes me that I am actually living here. I am ready for the next chapter in my life, especially now that I know what I am going to do come September. Plus, looking after other people's children all the time gets really tiring and old. I'm ready to be a normal college student, to rent my own place, to be able to hang out on the couch in my pyjamas, to not have to leave the house to be with friends.

So I am not homesick, I'm just ready to come home.