A Week Well Spent

Sault!

Hope this blog post finds you well. It’s getting too cold for me here in France, so I hope wherever you are reading this, it’s a little warmer (admittedly, it’s only been in the 40s, not like 2 degrees or anything)! I seriously need to buy a coat… I’m sure I’ll get around to it soon.

This week was a great one, filled with classes, excursions, movies, and friends. I started the week with a wonderful (and stereotypically French) family lunch, complete with 4 courses, wine, cheese, and dessert. We ate roast beef, which I didn’t think would make me so happy to see something so familiar (it’s also called “roast beef” in French), but I quickly learned that we don’t all cook our meat the same way, as it was the most red (by that I mean least cooked) meat I’ve ever eaten. However, it was still good and the lunch was great! After lunch I attended an evening mass with my host parents and brother, Francois.

This week I also had the exhausting but exciting task of planning my October Break. Admittedly, most credit goes to Sinead and Mark, I did almost nothing except provide moral support because my laptop battery lasts for a bit under an hour. But after today, I think we’re good to go! Crazy!

Sinead chilling with Pharaoh in Palais Universitaire while planning our trip. As you can see, I was being so helpful.

Other happenings this week include making dinner with Efi, Quynh, and Renata, which made me feel pretty french and accomplished because I made a dessert from scratch! Later in the week I went on a horseback riding trip and met some new friends! The week ended with a fascinating excursion to France’s only former concentration camp, Studof, which was sad but incredibly eye-opening. I realized I really want to learn more about the history of France and of the world in general. I’ve always been passionate about history, but for some reason I’ve never really taken action to learning more than I’m taught. However, after the interactive museum we visited of the history of Alsace, I was really feeling psyched to start! Also on our excursion was one of my favorite sites I’ve seen here, Mount Saint Odile. Saint Odile is the patron saint of the region of France I’m living in, Alsace. The view was incredible and the chapel was so beautiful. Saint Odile’s tomb is also there, which was crazy to be around! Overall, it was a great week and weekend.

Photo credit to Efi as we sat down to eat the quiche Efi made, pizza Quynh brought, wine Renata scoured the Earth to find, and the chocolate molloeux I made by estimating ingredients with very little skill in the area of cooking

Horseback riding in the Vosges Mountains… *in France*.

The altar and tabernacle at the chapelle at Mount Sainte Odile. I see you working, Jesus.

Saint Odile’s tomb!

The view from the Mount.

Renata is credited with the artistic skills here

Hope all went well for you too!

Love and Peace,

Jessica

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 18th, 2015 at 7:16 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

2 Responses to “A Week Well Spent”

1. Cyndy says:

   October 30, 2015 at 3:41 pm

   Happy Halloween Pumpkin
   Love the picture from the Mount
   You are on top of the world and the world is whatever you want it to be ! Enjoy this amazing journey and know we are all here whenever you need us !

   • jpvoze17 says:

     November 6, 2015 at 9:41 am

     You’re precious, thank you momma 🙂