Adventures with C Dawg

I know it's been awhile since my last

blog, but I have been SUPER busy, thus making me extra tired with little time to do my online journal. Anyways, my friend Courtney Brown from UCR and San Diego came to visit me for an entire week! She just left this morning, and we had a great time. Thus, this is my first opportunity to blog all about it!

We spent the first evening on the Champs Elysees looking at the lights, followed by drinks at my favorite cafe near the Arc de Triomphe. We visited for a few hours and really got caught up on our personal lives! It was super nice to visit and go out. Friday morning she came with me to Tiphaine's class to see how teaching English goes for me....she loved seeing the little French children and sang Christmas songs with us. Then she did lunch time duties with me, helping feed the kids, etc. She introduced herself to the family and spoke in some French (she studied it quite a bit back in high school) so they were pleasantly surprised to communicated with her in French. She enjoyed seeing some of the family culture. This was her 3rd time in Paris, so she welcomed these new experiences as opposed to touristy stuff.

Friday night we took the train to Bordeaux! Oh boy...we had some crazy stuff happen to us (got on the wrong section of the train...not realizing there were 2 trains CONNECTED until we tried to get to our car and we could walk no further...then later switched cars when the train made a 2 minute stop..and THANK GOD because when we got to Bordeaux we saw that the 2 trains had disconnected, thus we could have ended up in the wrong city if we had stayed in the first car!)...I lost some gloves on the train, had to carry a ridiculous bag full of kids' ski clothes to deliver to Virginie's sister, and the worst of all was that I BROKE the house key to Virginie's parents' house at 2 IN THE MORNING! We were locked out and I was freaking out....long story and reasons behind why I was so worried, but luckily it all worked out, Madame woke up and opened the door (clearly irritated with me), but all was well the next morning and they fixed their door....

Courtney and I decided to get a hotel the 2nd night so we could be nearer the center of town. We wine tasted at a great winery and had our personal teacher...it was great. Amazing red wine from Bordeaux!

I bought a bottle for very little Euro, and she splurged on an expensive bottle. Then we went to Tours and visited 3 chateaus! It was great...Chenonceau being the most beautiful...then we saw Leonardo da Vinci's house/chateau...it was beautiful and very cool to go inside. I had no idea he was such an inventor also! He invented sooo many things, including the life saver ring floaty thing! haha

I'm giving the short version of this vacation because I'm exhausted, but I wanted to blog quickly about the trip....it was cold, but we had a great time and I'm so glad we wine tasted in Bordeaux and saw wonderful chateaus in Tours...and Tours is only an hour from Paris so I'd love to go again with friends and maybe go to Vouvray to wine taste!

Courtney went to Epernay one day and tasted champagne all day! She even bought me a bottle of Champagne, so that was super nice. I had to work a little that day so I stayed home. We did a little shopping (or I accompanied her)...we also went to some great wine bars and a piano bar in Paris and I discovered a great new street near the Louvre, so that is always good!

She ended up staying one extra day, so she saw a Christian Lacroix exhibit in Paris while I worked, and then we went to a movie together at La Defense just to relax for her last night here...we saw "I Am Legend" with Will Smith. GOOD BUT REALLY BIZAREE and scary....cool plot though.

Okay, I will try to blog one more time tomorrow......with more details. THEN I'M OFF TO THE ALPS! Saturday morning we leave super early for a long car drive...and will be there for one week, returning the next Saturday. I will get to ski a couple days, and go sledding w/the little kids and just hang out in the cabin (17 family members including me staying there)...so I'm just looking at this as a ski vacation and not thinking about Christmas because I know they don't celebrate it a lot like I do, and to avoid getting sad on Christmas day I'm just trying to not think of it and instead just see it as a week long vacay with snow...I will take lots of pics, promise! Apparently there is the longest ski run in Europe at the mountain we're going to....10 miles long, and takes 90 minutes to descend...hmm I'll give it a try hopefully!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!