Six months later...

 Bonjour.

 I can't believe it. It's been six months since we set off to the South of France, on the trip that in many ways changed my life. It confirmed so many things for me - that I want to study langauges at university, and then live and work in France and speak this beautiful langauge every day.

 That's my dream. That and becoming a writer.

 Maybe I'll write a book about Montpellier.

 Anyway, thank you so much for reading this blog. I may add more to it if anything relevant comes up. Otherwise, this may be goodbye from me.

 So, if anyone from the trip is reading this, I just want to say...

 Merci. Pour tout.

 Liz x

The Montpellier film!

 Hi!

 Here is the film I have made of our amazing trip to the South of France.

 (Click on it again to get a bigger screen view on YouTube.)

 I hope you enjoy it!

 Liz x

Day 8 - It's Friday, Friday...

 Bonjour!

 Today was Friday 1st April.

 We had our last morning of lessons at the language school; we were all a bit sad for it to be ending because we had a wondeful time there.

 I feel like I have learnt so much, from l'École Klesse and from the trip as a whole. I have not only had the chance to really improve my French language, but I have experienced the gorgeous French culture and way of life. I could happily live here.

 After lessons the group met up and we went to a crêpe parlour. I had a savoury galette, and then a sweet crêpe for dessert.

 Here are some of Flo's photos:

 We then found out the results of the treasure hunt, and then Flo and Odile played an April Fool on us, saying that our exams had been put forward to the very next week, which I think nearly everyone believed in the end. It was a huge relief to find out it was an April Fool!

 Then some people went off in search of the beach, and the rest of us went shopping in Montpellier.

 We discovered an amazing toyshop that appears from the outside to be one little shop, but when you go in it, you realise it extends a long way back, with loads of little rooms full of all sorts of fabulous things.

 There was also an outdoor market, and lots of lovely little shops. It was nice to take some time just to explore the city.

 I will always feel at home in Montpellier. I am determined to at least go back one day and visit, if not study or work or maybe live there one day.

 Au revoir,

 Liz x

Day 7 - Bowling and LazerQuest

 Bonjour!

 Today was Thursday. We had our morning lessons at the language school, which were very enjoyable as always.

 A group of us then went to the Odysseum, where we went bowling. It was good fun!

 I also had my first-ever Subway sandwich; c'était délicieux!

 The group of us then sat together in the amphithéâtre in the middle of the Odysseum. It was the warmest, sunniest day you could possibly imagine. I love Montpellier - the culture, the weather, the gorgeous food and the lovely way of living - Montpellier has everything.

 We then went back on the trams:

 We went back to where we were staying to have our tea, then we went back to the Odysseum for LazerQuest!

 J'adore LazerQuest.

 We all had a great time; I have always loved LazerQuest but the one in the Odysseum is probably the best I have ever been to; the maze is huge with lots of places to hide. Overall, tonight was one of my many highlights of the trip.

 Today was yet another lovely day in Montpellier. I want to stay here forever!

 Merci de lire

 Liz x

Day 6 - Crêpe party, zoo and salsa dancing

 Bonjour!

 Today we had lessons in the morning, and in my group we focused on technology. We discussed, in French, online shopping, mobile phones, and whether the Internet will one day completely replace the written press (I personally hope it won't! I love newspapers and magazines!)

 I love lessons at the language school, and I feel that my French is really improving.

 After lessons had finished we went outside and sat in the sun for a bit:

 Then we went back into the École Klesse for our crêpe party.

 We were taught how to make the crêpes and then we worked together to make ourselves a crêpe feast. I had mine with sugar and Nutella. C'était fantastique.

 Here are some photos courtesy of Flo:

 After the crêpe party, we were free for the afternoon, and a group of us decided to go to the zoo. Charlotte and I went there together, having both been to the Internet café first. We had a great adventure on the trams, and we discovered the Parc Sainte Odile:

 We reached the zoo, and met up with the others. We had a really great time at the zoo. It was a good zoo, with a wide variety of animals, and they had a lot more room to move and to live than animals in most zoos I have been to. Charlotte and I went around the zoo together, and we had a lovely afternoon.

 Here are a couple of Zoe's photos from the zoo:

 After the visit to the zoo, everyone went back to where they were staying to have tea.

 In the evening we met up in the middle of the city to go to Cubanito Cafe, a Cuban bar. It was really lovely; we got the bottom part of the bar, with tables and seats, to ourselves, and we had a Cuban-style buffet provided for us! We ordered alcohol-free cocktails; mine was a combination of citrus juices with mint; it was really nice and refreshing.

 Here are Emily and Zoe enjoying the bar:

 We then had a salsa dancing lesson! I am a big fan of Strictly Come Dancing and have been wishing I could start ballroom and Latin dance classes for a long time, so this was a dream come true for me!

 Emily S was my partner, and we had a great time learning the salsa routine. It was tricky, though, and everyone got a bit tangled up at first! But it was such a wonderful feeling whenever we mastered part of the routine. Here is Zoe's picture of Hallam and Reece:

 We then sat back down and took part in a music quiz. By this point the bar was filling up, so we had a lot of competition! The music was generally French, and my team knew a few of the songs, and guessed a few more, but for the ones we didn't know at all we just wrote down Friends quotes: "A transpondster? That's not even a word!"

 After the music quiz some of the group left to go to another bar or club, and the rest of us stayed at Cubanitos and did another music quiz, this time about music from films. We guessed quite a few of these tunes! Except for one which drove us all mad because we knew we'd heard it but just couldn't place it! It turned out to be the theme to Hawaii Five-0. De de de de de de, de de de de de...

 It was a lovely relaxed atmosphere, and the music was really good. J'aime Cubanitos!

 It was an amazing night out after a lovely day.

 J'adore Montpellier! I so want to live here.

 Merci de lire

 Liz x

Day 5 - The aquarium

 Salut!

 Today in the morning we had more lessons in the language school, which were really enjoyable.

 We then went to get some lunch; Niamh and Sam and I found a lovely sandwich shop. I bought un sandwich parisien, and it was amazing. Quite possibly the nicest sandwich I have ever had. It contained salad, boiled eggs, ham and cheese, and it was wonderful. Absolutely delicious.

 The group then rendezvoused in the centre of Montpellier to go to the aquarium.

 The aquarium is in the Odesysseum, a new commercial centre situated just outside the city centre of Montpellier. We had to take the tram to get there. It was the beautiful blue tram with birds painted on it, which I had so looked forward to riding.

 This was my first time on it, and it was great; the trams are really comfortable and efficient and easy to use. I think every town and city should have a tram system like Montpellier's!

 We reached the Odysseum, and it is a lovely part of the city; it has a Roman-esque amphitheatre, which is really impressive, but the rest of the area is really modern, with a big shopping complex and a planetarium and an ice-rink and... the aquarium!

 It is called the Mare Nostrum - Latin for Mediterranean Sea - Aquarium.

 We went in and Zoe found a dolphin:

 There was a coin press so I got my very own Mare Nostrum coin:

 We then went into the aquarium itself, and the first thing we saw were the jellyfish - les méduses!

 There were lots of other fish and sea creatures of all shapes and sizes, and a lot of information about them. 

 We also got the chance to sail a boat! 

 Not a real boat! But it was still good fun.

 We then found the penguins! In English we call both big penguins and small penguins, "penguins". However, in French the bigger species of penguin are called, "les pingouins", and the smaller species are known as, "les manchots".

 The manchots we met were adorable.

 There was also a room which was dimly lit with gentle music playing; one wall of the room was the side of a huge tank full of all sorts of sea creatures. We sat there for a long time watching them swimming about; it was very soothing. We named a lot of the creatures we saw. Here is Zoe's photo of Frank the shark:

 We then moved on to a very tropical part of the aquarium, which was just like a rainforest and had lots of beautiful fish. Some of us were asked to give our opinions for a survey the aquarium were doing, and of course we all told them that it was amazing. It was a wonderful aquarium and I think I speak for everyone in saying that we would love to go there again.

 On the way out we passed a waterfall, which Flo very kindly photographed me next to:

 After leaving the aquarium itself, we visited the aquarium shop, where I bought my own little manchot:

 As you can see, she is completely adorable (the penguin I mean, not me!).

 We left the aquarium, and sat outside in the sun for a bit, then went home.

 That night, some of the group decided to go out, but I didn't really feel like it and instead I stayed in and did some blogging and emailed home. I had a nice quiet evening in.

 I am told that those who did go out had a good night as well.

 Altogether, today was lovely.

 Merci de lire

 Liz x