Lost

Salut,
Today was my first Monday in France and it is weird to think that I have been here for almost a week. Today was interesting - I definitely got lost. It had to happen sometime - I went out exploring this morning before I met up with the rest of the group and I ended up not anywhere familiar. It was kind of exciting and frustrating at the same time. I managed to find my way back to le centre ville and I was able to go look around in H&M and Zara. I can tell that I will be spending some money in those stores this semester for sure!
Everyday I like to go to un cafe pour boire un cafe - it has become easily my favorite thing that the French do. It is so nice to just sit at un cafe with nothing else to think about and enjoy an espresso. I am sure that my Dad would be jealous of the espressos that I am drinking here.
Today we went the Musee de Grenoble and saw quite a lot of art. The museum had a collection of art from basically every century so that was cool to see the progression that art has taken over the past 6 centuries or so. I will say that I regret my lack of knowledge on the subjects of art and history. It is quite sad actually - although, I still enjoyed myself. My CEA director Patrick studied art in school so he was a wonderful guide to have with us. Afterwards we went to a Kabob stand and I got a cheese naan kabob with chicken and french fries in it. I have already had three of them. I lovee them!
When we went our separate ways, Will, Ana, Pat, and I decided to go get un cafe. It was lovely.
Last night I enjoyed a THREE hour dinner with my host family. They had guests over and it was quite the ordeal. We had l'aperatif before dinner which is just a before dinner drink. They kept offering me more and more liquor and I thought it would be rude to decline so by the time we had dinner I had already drunk three different cocktails. Too much needless to say. Dinner was amazing and it wad followed of course by le fromage (yumm - I have become a huge fan of brie) and then une bouche ( which is a special kind of ice cream cake). I loved it, but we did not finish eating until 11!

Well so far here are a few things that I love about the way of life in France:

1. The bread - it is official: I will never eat bread when I return from France because I am being spoiled with the most delicious bread ever.
2. The freshness of all of the food - basically I love French food - I love les marches, les cafes, les patisseries. everything about food I love here.
3. Les bisous - I find the hello kiss to be absolutely charming
4. The method of transportation - I love all of the walking and tram taking that currently occurs daily for me.
5. The French language - I am falling more in love with it everyday. It is simply beautiful
6. French children - they are somehow so much cuter in France. My host mom watches her grandkids during the week and they are simply precious. Of course I cannot understand a word of their French baby talk but I still enjoy watching them play.

Tonight: dinner with my family, then over to the girls' apartment and possibly out for a drink. :)

Bisous,

Kate