Le Bon et La Grippe

Hello everyone! Sorry it's been such a long time since my last post. Life has really gotten crazy in both good and not so good ways. Let's start with the good:

My mom, Cheryl and Nancy just finished up their visit! It was so nice to see them and we had a really fabulous time. The weekend before last I met them in Tuscany. My mom had found a little villa in Lajatico through an agrotourism website so we were lucky enough to stay on a real Tuscan farm that produces its own olive oil, wine, grappa, and eggs. We kept busy visiting Volterra, San Gimingano, Lucca, Florence and Pisa, and even took a cooking class! I am proud to say that I can now make my own pasta from scratch! All in all, the weekend was amazing.

On Sunday evening, mom and the aunts followed me back to Paris. They had fun sightseeing while I was in class, and I managed to meet up with them as much as possible. Some highlights: tour of the Palais Garnier (which I had never done before), St. Chapelle (as beautiful as always), the Musée D'Orsay (still my favorite museum in the world, espicially with the current "Art Nouveau Revisited" exhibit), and L'As du Falafel (the famous falafel restaurant in the Marais). By far the best part of the trip however, was dinner with my host family. My host mom was so excited to meet my family and she invited them all to dinner. It was amazing! The boys were all dressed up in little plaid pants and sweaters and they tried to speak English. Amaury (11) was especially adorable because he's normally very shy, but this time was the first to show off his English. For dinner we had radishes (the french way: dipped in salt and eaten with buttered baguette), an amazing veal dish (slow-cooked in white wine for 36 hours...not exaggerating), cheese and cake. It was probably the best meal of my life. I have never tasted anything as amazing as that veal. To top it off, my host mom Sondra was completely adorable. She spoke in English with her French accent and entertained everyone. It was a perfect evening.

Friday morning we hopped a chunnel to London! This was the first weekend I've really done the touristy thing in London. Yes, I've seen a few sights visiting Stephen, but I was saving all of the big things to do with the Family. We started off strong Friday afternoon with a double-decker bus tour that gave us a chance to see all the sights and orient ourselves in the city. That night we met up with Stephen for Indian food. Yum. Saturday we met up at Portobella Market in the morning and browsed the antiques before heading off to Harrods in the afternoon. That night we saw Thriller the musical (which was a lot of fun from our fourth row seats!) and afterwards, Stephen and I went to a Halloween party at his dorm. Sunday we took in the National Portrait Gallery, Trafalgar Square and the British Museum (which was insanely crowded because they were holding special events for Dia de los Muertos) before heading back to Harrods.

Now I'm back in Paris, sans family and with the grippe. That's right, I think I have the flu. One of the downsides to living in a family with four young boys is that you are exposed to every germ imaginable. And, considering that every time something goes around I inevitably catch it, now that they have the flu, so do I. The timing wasn't so great either: today was my first Latin exam. It's shocking, I know, I actually have to study abroad. Needless to say, considering the time I spent with the family instead of studying, and my sick, foggy-headedness, I was not in top form for the exam. But on the bright side, according to the French system, this one isn't actually required. The only grade that is actually required is your final exam. All others are considered "optional," they can only help your grade. The plan is to do better the next time around.

The exam lasted the first hour of class and I skipped out on the second half and came home to sleep. I didn't wake up until my host dad knocked on my door 4.5 hours later to tell me dinner was ready. I think I needed that nap. Now, I've been awake for about 2 hours and I'm just about ready to go to bed again. I'll try to be more prompt with the next post!