Learning life

(Around France)

Pilgrimage Part II

Well, since I have my wallet back, I can proceed to fascinate you all with the second part of our pilgrimage. Pilgrimage part II covers five or so days. I'm going to cover it in about 15 pictures. (Sorry) Our second day started in Rondez and we drove for forty-five minutes and stopped about five miles outside of Conques, our final destination. We then hiked into Conques on the Pilgrimage trials. The pictures bellow will tell the story! The day after that, we saw some cave paints (photography was prohibited) and then we went canoeing. It was fun especially since we got to do it for 9 miles. (YEAH-YEAH!) The day after that, we saw some more cave paintings and drove for five hours to Anger a city about 2 hours from Paris. The last day we went to Puy du Fou! The photos will show our joy. 

Kayla Bowman and me starting our pilgrimage
walk to Conques 

We kept ourselves entertained by elaborately
decorating our hair

I saw a donkey along the way

View from our path, we are about half a mile
from Conques at this point

WE DID IT! Kayla, Kaitlin and me showing our joy.

The view as we entered the town.
It was really amazing!

This is the tympanum of the cathedral in Conques
It is of judgement day, SO worth 5 mile of hiking!

View of the village of Conques and
the cathedral (Yeah, this is for real)

Cori and me documenting the amazing
moment. (I felt like I had just entered a
postcard.)

This is the last thing I saw as we drove out
Conques. This placed everything in
perspective.

The next day, after seeing the lovely cave paitings
at le Pech-Merle, we canoed for 9 miles! Yes,
we were excited.

 

One of the many castles we saw along the way
(No big deal.)

One of the FIVE bridges we canoed under.
(YES, they were all this great!)

The start of our day at Puy du Fou, one of my
Favorite parts of the trip. Puy du Fou is an amusement
park that goes through french history.
It is great! I will recommend it to EVERYONE!

At Puy du Fou, we saw the Gladiators. (They had
real lions. Eight of them!)

There were lances and jousting!

And of course, who can forget about the vikings.
There were also musketeers, but they TOO interesting
for this blog. Everything else was brilliant though.

After Puy du Fou, we went back to Anger
and the next day was our last. We went and
saw the Apocalypse Tapestry at Anger

Some of our group at the top of the castle
where we saw the tapestry 

Alas, all good things must come to an end. We said
goodbye to Jaques our bus driver and took a
train for two hours to return back to Paris,
but I will never forget those great days.

Loving life 

My Wallet and I are Reunited

Reunited! (Definitely a moment of loving life!)

I HAVE MY WALLET BACK!!! YEAH! To the left is a picture of and how I reacted when I got my wallet back. It was a sweet moment. (Also, note that it's not really a wallet, more like a pouch. Don't judge.) Now I can write about the pilgrimage part 2. Sadly, I will have to do that later because I am off to Stake Conference. À Bientôt (See you later)!

Loving life

(Around France)

Our study abroad group, which contains me, fifteen other college students, a director, a director's wife and a bus driver, has been traveling around France for the past week and a half. (Sadly, the bus driver was temporary.) Since pictures are worth a thousand words, below is a picture montage of our past week a half around France. (Not a montage really, Just some pictures.) The captions on the pictures will tell you everything you need to know.

Paris

Our group during a walk through Paris
(This is only our second day there)

We took a break behind Notre-Dame
(Look at our fresh faces)

Lyon

After our hike, we went to a cool museum
(I have no photos of that.) Then we got to
this cathedral. It was so pretty. Mass was just
 starting, so there was singing and everything.

Me, Kayla, Olivia, Maddie, and Kaitlin
inside a little nook in Lyon

While climbing DOWN (thank goodness)
a bunch of stairs from the cathedral,
this was our view. It's pretty spectacular.

 Le Puy En Velay

We get to Le Puy and the first thing we
do is take a "saunter" up to this
cathedral. (It was a saunter to
ou director only)

Don't worry, our whole group made it to the top!

The view was amazing, of course. 

These are photos of us after we got up there,
no one dared to document the actual
process of climbing those forsaken stairs

After our hike, Cori (my roommate) and I ate
a lovely dinner of escargot (which is
actually pretty good) with two lovely ladies

Kayla and Maddie with us at dinner, (they passed on
the escargot)

Dinner in all its glory!

 Pilgrimage Part I

Our pilgrimage was split into two parts, part one and part two. Part one started out in Le Puy En Velay and we hiked for ten miles, got on the bus and headed to Suagues for lunch. After lunch (Where I ate more escargot), we drove to Rondez in preparation for the next leg of our pilgrimage. I only have pictures from the first leg of our pilgrimage for now. The reason is because I left my wallet at one of the hotels. It was stupid, but keep in mind that we were staying at a different hotel each night. Well, in my wallet is a thumb-drive that allows me to upload my pictures to my computer, and until I get my wallet back (which should be ANYDAY now) I can't add any photos of my recent adventures. Don't worry though, I am taking plenty of them. 

This is our starting point. It's
seven in the morning and everything
 is so pretty. Notice how it's heading
downhill. That is deceptive. What goes
down must come up (something like that)

This was our view along the way

Another gorgeous view along the way

Me at mile 2 staying positive 

A Cow we saw along the way. This is the kind
of cow that I would have drawn in school

Me at mile 9 with Kayla Bowman. I felt like the
two of us where going at a lovely pace, but
everyone else is so far away.

WE DID IT!!!! This is part of group resting
while we wait for the bus. Look at
out fresh faces. Or the fresh back
of our heads. 

Living life

(Paris, France)

Yes, I am climbing a Roman wall

I am in Paris, France at the moment. I'm here for the next three months for school and I am so excited. I want to learn more of the French and language and to experience every part of the culture (Of course that's impossible). This city is amazing. I love how there are so many possibilities and so many things to do. (Granted I haven't done a lot of them yet, but I will.) France itself is amazing. We've travel around a few of the towns and cities and there is history EVERYWHERE! To the left is a picture of me climbing a 2,000 years old Roman wall. Don't worry, I was not committing a crime, the wall is just there and it works with modern day Paris. In the United States, anything that old would be stuck behind thick glass paneling and about 5,000 different security systems. I love this country. I cannot wait for the next three months