Finally!

First, I have to apologize for my lack of creativity for the title of my blog. I know I stole it from Julia Child, but she said it so well that I had to borrow it. Secondly, I finally got my blog up!!! I know it took me a while, but I have been so busy with exciting things here in Toulouse that I haven't had time to set it up. So here it is finally!

My first week here in Toulouse has been amazing! I have had exciting classes, professors, and field trips. This past week we had french lessons as well as culture lessons. We also had a field trip to the center of Toulouse and to a town called Carcassonne. In Toulouse we visited Le Capitole, Basilique St. Sernin, and Couvent des Jacobins.

Le Capitole

Basilique St. Sernin

Couvent des Jacobins

In Carcassonne we were given a guided tour through the entire town. We saw the castle, the 5 star hotel where celebrities like Johnny Depp stay, and we saw the basilica. We were very lucky when we visited the basilica because there were 3 Russian singers who performed for us. They were so good! 

Gate to Carcassone

Castle in Carcassone

5 Star Hotel

Russian Singers

Then this past weekend we were able to visit the Pyrenees and the town of Lourdes! We left on Saturday morning and unfortunately it rained the entire day, so instead of hiking in the Pyrenees they took us to the town of Lourdes to see the basilica. It was one of the coolest churches I have ever seen! It was unique because there was a church in the bottom of the basilica and then if you walked to the upper level there was another church built on top. Also, I know this is going to make me sound like a bad catholic, but I had never heard of Lourdes before this weekend, but apparently it's where Bernadette had 18 apparitions of the Virgin Mary. So there were many masses being said and there were people collecting holy water from the church.

The basilica

Me in front of the lower basilica entrance

After we visited Lourdes they took us to our cabin in the Pyrenees. Since it was still pouring and everybody was completely soaked they decided to let us do whatever for the rest of the day. So some of us decided to go extreme hiking through the Pyrenees. We scaled the sides of the mountain, we climbed through a waterfall, and even though we were completely soaked and frozen it was still a lot of fun!

Our cabin

Our cabin up close

Us in the Pyrenees

Me and Michelle showing our school spirit!

Then that night the owners of the cabin cooked us an awesome four course dinner! It was sooo good!

On Sunday, since it finally stopped raining, we hiked through the Pyrenees and it was so beautiful!

All of the Purdue students!

The sun finally came out!

So that was the first week of my life in France! I'll try to write a blog at least once a week to keep everybody updated. I'll probably just write a summary of everything we did, but if you have any suggestions on what to write let me know!