Learning life

(Alsace)

We took a group trip a last week to the Alsace. We were only there for a few days (Monday-Wednesday) but it was so great. I had a blast. Our first stop was at Strasbourg were we stayed for most of the trip. Monday and part of Tuesday. I love this town sooo much. It was so pretty. Were there the weekend before the Christmas celebration started, so we didn't get to see that. (Bummer right?) However, the parts that I did get to see were fantastic. I love going around a visiting the beautiful cathedral, plus they have some pretty good food. 

After Strasbourg we went to Keisersberg, (not sure how it is spelled) on tuesday afternoon. I liked this town to. It was tiny we walked up and down it in about 40 minutes. It was really cold though up there. It's in the border between Germany in France, and the two countries have always been fighting over the Alsace region. So Keisersberg is a strange mix of French and German cultures. It's the same for Strasbourg, but in Keisersbers  it's more visible.

The next day on Wednesday, we got back on our bus and drove to back to Paris, but along the way we stopped in Reins. This City with a really cool cathedral where most of the past French kings have been coronated. (Think Westminster Abbey.) It was such a great cathedral, but we only got to stay for an hour and we had to eat lunch in that hour also. We didn't get to see much of the city, but we did see the cathedral and that was great. Plus I ate some really good Chinese food there. (Pictures coming soon.)

Learning life

(Visiting Castles)

Hello, I know that I haven't written in my blog for over a month, but hey... I am now. I'm going to write about some of the outside of Paris trips we've taken and then talk about how things have been going in Paris Itself. It's hard to imagine that my time in this great city is nearly at an end. The outside of Paris trips are going to be split into two parts, the visit to Fontainebleu and Vaux-le-Viconte Castles in one post and then our trip to Alsace in another. Up first, the Castles.

Fontainebleu Castle

Our whole group went to visit these two castles on October 13th. I know... i'm writing about it long pass the time. The two castles were very pretty, but in such different ways. (Don't worry, I have pictures.) I really liked Fontainebleu, it has pretty rooms and huge grounds and reminds me of the Versailles Palace. I liked learning of it history, but my favorite part was walking around the grounds which are gorgeous. I really liked this castle, and we had a lot of fun around it. (Pictures coming soon.)

Vaud-le-Viconte

This was the second castle we went to that Saturday. It was pretty great too, but the inside was not nearly as pretty as Fontainebleu. This castle has more history to it though. It was build by King Louis XIV's Minister of Finance. At the time, it was considered more grand than Louis's palace in Paris, so the King got jealous and suspicious. He accused his minister of finance of embezzlement and sent him to prison for life. This castle had the pretties gardens. We almost did not get to the gardens because it was raining, but it was worth it. They were so pretty. (Pictures coming soon.)