In the last picture I posted of this tree 3 weeks ago, it wasn't in this pretty pink bloom, so I had to share. The weather has been absolutely beautiful the last few days with lots of sunshine and temperatures in the mid- to high-60s. By the way, I talked to Suzy and she said that the smell is a "montagne de caca." Do you really need a translation? Apparently, they're collecting cow manure and this is the country, so it turns out I really am in Fresno....I made my last rent payment today, which means that my stay here in France is fast approaching an end. I'm really amazed by how time flies. There were days where I felt the end of April would never arrive, but the time has passed rather quickly. I'm going to miss being here much more than I thought, but I am definitely anxiously to soak up some California sunshine and dine at my favorite restaurants.
Last time you heard from me, I was off to spend a day in Paris with the 9 students visiting from England and their 2 chaperones. We had a fun day hanging out at Sacre Coeur and les grands magasins (department stores). It was really a day spent shopping with trips to Starbucks and McDonald's.
And then Spring Break arrived. I spent the first week not doing much, but then Alex made his first trip to Europe and came to visit for a week. We had a great time, thought I think he was a bit overwhelmed by all there is to do here in Condé-sur-Noireau...LOL
It rained a lot during his time here in Normandy, which is alright since there wasn't much to do here, but we did spend a day in Caen walking around the city and visiting William the Conqueror's castle, which I had never been to either, and we ran into Dominic at Le Bar Alex and joined him for a quick drink. The second half of Alex's visit was spent in Paris where we went to Disneyland (yet another Paris site I had never visited), the palace at Versailles (one of my all-time favorite Paris monuments), the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre. We also did a cruise on the Seine River and a bus tour of Paris at night. I even got him to eat escargots and foie gras! The picture to the right was taken in front of one of the many fountains in the Versailles gardens. I think Alex took about 600 pictures.Next Thursday, I'll be taking a red-eye from Paris to Cairo, Egypt. On May 1, I'll start a 16-day tour of Egypt and I am soooooo excited. It's my first trip to Africa. While there are certainly more places I'm interested in visiting on that vast continent, I think this will be a great start. While I'm signed up for a group tour, I'm essentially traveling alone which is another first for me. I'm nervous and excited and so many other things. I can't wait to tell you all about it.
That's all for now. I have 5 more days of work to finish out my contract as an assistant d'anglais at Lycée Charles Tellier. I'll check in again soon!
Bises,
Mlle. Alicia
