TGIF

Thank goodness it's finally Friday! Despite all the fun I've had this week, I would be lying if I said that I wasn't excited for the weekend. I was told early on that the French are so enthusiastic about their weekends, in fact, that they will always go on strike on a Thursday. This allows them to take off Friday as well, thereby creating a four-day weekend for themselves! Smart.

Plans for this weekend include an organ concert in Albi Saturday evening; Sunday is reserved for church and a hike with our charming French professor, Marie, to the ruins of an ancient chateau.

P.S. Isn't this little scratch map super fun? It's like playing the lottery...except you're a winner every time because you get to scratch off all the places you've visited!

P.P.S. Happy October!

P.P.P.S. How is it already October?

Have a happy first -fall weekend.

Hello my loves. Any exciting plans for the weekend? Today, some of the group will be visiting the English couple, Peter and Margaret, who lives right on down the mountain for tea and biscuits; tomorrow we head back to Albi for some serious exploration!

If you have a minute or two, watch this video of us driving through one of the two extremely narrow [and somewhat terrifying] tunnels you must take in order to reach Albi...it's quite the ride!

P.S. To my favorite girls in Loretto, PA: I hope the Annual Ebensburg Potato Festival is a blast! Please eat some French fries for me.

Albi

Today the group of us took our first official trip into the city of Albi. The day began at the local university where we met our French professor for the semester. Our classroom introduction was followed by tours given by one of six students who are currently attending the university. From my understanding, these students will be spending a considerable amount of time with us, as they are sort of adopting us for the semester to show us around the city. In exchange, they have been invited to the monastary and the trips we'll be going on from Ambialet. The girl who showed Becca and I around is also named Melanie...which, by the way, sounds much more delightful when pronounced with a French accent (but then again, what doesn't?). We were then given a tour of the city...we saw La Cathedrale Sainte-Cecile d'Albi (the video and pictures I took really don't do her justice) and the City Hall where everyone gets married by the Deputy Mayor (who we had the pleasure of meeting). To top it off, I went to my first itty bitty city cafe where I sipped on my first French cafe le creme. Magnifique!