Beaucoup de journées

Another few days has passed, and I have so much to report. Friday was sort of a lazy day for us. We didn't have Interactive Praxis, but we did some errands such as reserving train seats at the Hauptbahnhof and picking up some cake on the way home. There are little bakeries (oder Bäckereien) everywhere here. We just sort of hung out in the afternoon, and Erica was gone since she was meeting her family in Paris for the weekend. The rest of us made Wurst and green beans for dinner, and then almost everyone from our class went out into Mannheim. We went to Murphey's Law, an Irish Pub, where interestingly they only speak English. It seemed to be a very happening place- almost everything else in Mannheim was closed, but this place was packed inside and out. All the music was American, and there was a place to request music. We think there was someone there who really likes Michael Jackson, because that's what every other song was. It was fun being with the group, and by the time we were ready to go there were very few S-Bahns still running, so we had to walk back through Jungbusch to our Studentenwohnheim.

We had to get up early on Saturday, for it was our pre-planned group trip to the Schwarzwald, or Black Forest. We weren't all sure what to expect, but we had heard that we'd be exploring some of the towns in that area. We boarded our small bus at 8:30 in the morning- it was like a charter bus, but a small one with about 20 seats, like something a church or retirement community would have. We traveled for about an hour before arriving in Baden-Baden. It's a small town, but frequently visited by tourists, especially wealthy ones, for it's known for its hot springs, which have now been turned into expensive spas. Dr. Hasty told us that we could also see remains of Roman baths, so that was our mission. However, we roamed around and around, inside buildings, up and down flights of stairs, walking all around the town behind Dr. Hasty, without finding the supposed Badruinen. Finally, after about an hour without success, underneath a spa there were some ruins, behind some glass of course. All we could do was peer into the dark at some ruins a few feet away, ruins that were not really meant to be tourist attractions. But nonetheless it was interesting- we could see some ancient bricks in some kind of raised structure, although it was not complete by any means. I wish we could have gotten closer in some better light conditions. By that time, we couldn't afford any more time looking around, so we had to head back to the bus.
From there, we traveled quite a lot longer in the bus, up and up windy roads into the Black Forest. We ended up in a spot called the Mummelsee, where there's a large lake and an amazing view off a mountain. We took a picture with the Mummelsee "Monster," a very green and seaweeded man with a trident and a great beard. We also ate a lunch of bratwurst, and of course Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte, Black Forest Cake, for dessert. The cake is mainly chocolate, but with layers of cherry and whipped cream, and a fairly prominent alcohol taste. Eating this cake did satisfy one of our food goals in Europe- some of the others were crêpes in France, waffles in Belgium, and of course Bratwurst in Germany (that one has been met many times already). The cake was delicious, and after a stop in the gift shop (cuckoo clock, anyone?) we needed to head out again.
From there we went to another area called the Titisee. It was a pretty touristy area, with another body of water, and tons of souvenir shops and little food places in a long row. We were still surrounded by the trees of the forest. We were pretty much let loose to wander for about an hour, so we just explored. We went to one souvenir shop where Cait bought a cuckoo clock, and there I bought a cute little bowl. It's painted gray and pink with little elephant feet sticking out, and an elephant head peeking over the rim. It's not exactly German, but it was cute and cheap, so it became my first real souvenir of the trip. After a while, we headed back to the bus, where we hit the road once more.
Our final stop was a short one, in Freiburg. After driving around (and getting lost) for a little bit, we finally found the Münster Church, but it was worth it. It was absolutely gorgeous. There was tons of stained glass, which was mostly decorated with biblical scenes and saints, but there were also images of the different guilds. For example, there was a pretzel in one representing a baker, and scissors in another for a tailor. The church was fantastic, but we soon had to get on the bus. The ride back took a good two and a half hours, so we got back around 20:30.

We headed back to the dorms, where we ate dinner. Pretty much everyone else was free to do as they pleased, but Cait and I had other plans. Around 23:00 we headed out with our bodyguard Joey to the Hauptbahnhof, since we had a train to catch at 23:49. We arrived a few minutes early but soon boarded our train, which took us to Karlsruhe, where we arrived at 00:13. We had a brief layover there, but left at 00:54 on a sloooowww train to Paris. Normally an ICE train direct from Mannheim to Paris takes about 3 hours, but this was a CNL, City Night Line, train. I don't think the actual train speed was much slower, but we just took a very roundabout route. We were in a compartment with 4 other people, but fortunately we were against the windows so we could sleep. We pretty much slept all the way to Paris' Gare de l'Est, where we arrived around 6:45. Interestingly, we were not asked for our train ticket or passport ONCE while we were on that very long train.

In any case, we had finally arrived en France! C'était ma première fois. We knew we needed to get to another train station to catch our next train, so I bought our metro tickets (en français) and we grabbed a croissant and some hot chocolate at the train station (it was freezing!). I was a little bit anxious about my French skills, since they've been a little dormant since the end of the school year, and I've been speaking so much German. "Nein," "ja," and "Entschuldigung" have become engrained in my daily speech, so it was difficult to switch! Even when I was ordering my croissant, I was asked a question, and my answer was in fact "nein." I think of the language switch like the trains- "Thank you for traveling with the German train. Please allow the train to come to a complete stop before transfering to the French train." Anyway, I had to get into French mode before I could really be successful. But we navigated the metro easily and got to the Gare Saint-Lazare. From there we boarded a train to Vernon. It got a little hectic on the train- I heard an announcement saying that we had to validate our tickets, so we pretty much traveled the length of the entire train before finding someone in a uniform. And of course they told us that it wasn't actually necessary with our passes. Naturlich. But that was a short ride, and we got to Giverny at 8:50. From there we grabbed a shuttle bus to Giverny, which is about 5 kilometers away. Vernon and Giverny are such pretty little towns! We crossed over the Seine to get to Giverny, and we saw the cutest houses and gardens. It was exactly how you would imagine the French countryside to look. Once we arrived, we took the short walk to the main attraction- Monet's former house and still beautiful gardens, the inspiration of so many of his impressionist paintings, including the famous lily pond and bridge. We got there right around when it was opening, so it was not yet very crowded. I cannot even say how beautiful the gardens were. So many flowers and colors, so much green, beautiful water and lily pads. I have so many pictures, and it was easy to see why he painted there. His house was also interesting. They had a lot of his paintings on display, and he also seemed to be a collector of Japanese woodblock prints, for there many of those as well. I'm pretty sure also that nearly all of the furniture in the house was original. The rooms were very cheerful and colorful, and of course he had an amazing garden view. I loved our time there!

After walking down to see Monet's grave in the local Church, we decided it was time for lunch. Why not meet another one of our food goals? We had seen a sign for a crêperie, so we headed there. We both had the same crêpe- une crêpe framboisine- it had a sort of fresh raspberry fruit jam and fruit, as well as whipped cream. It was delicious, and we decided that any crêpes we ever have again will probably be a disappointment in comparison. It was a good refreshment, and we found out that the French actually drink tap water, since it was brought to our table for free (as it was again later for dinner).

That was about all we had time to do, since we had to catch our train back to Paris, so we took the shuttle bus back at 12:15, and left by train from Vernon at 12:42. We arrived back in Paris at around 1:30, and we had a few hoursl left before our final train back to Mannheim, so we had a little time to take in the city. It was actually very climactic- we decided to go to the Jardins de Tuileries, so we took the metro from the Gare Saint-Lazare. This was our first outside view of Paris, since everything else had been inside metro and train stations! It was underground, so we started going up the stairs, and all I could see was clear blue sky. Then all of a sudden we were in Paris. My first view was of enormous, beautiful old buildings, statues, and supreme fountains. I took it all in, and I immediately fell in love. We spent the next couple hours just exploring, although we did have some minor mishaps- going the wrong way down the street (but we could see all the way down to the Arc de Triomphe!), and trying to find a pay phone to call Erica, whom we were trying to meet later at the train station for our same train back. Apparently pay phones in France do not accept coins, but rather you have to buy a phone card to use them. But everything was all sorted out, and we got to see a bit of the city, which was just spectacular. We also had dinner in Paris. We checked out a nearby café that my travel book had recommended, however, even though it was in the lowest bracket price range, that range is still 30 Euros and under, which is still expensive to me. That particular restaurant was a bit on the high side, but we were able to find something moderately priced just a few cafés down. It was called la Partie de Campagne, everything had little bumblebees on it, it was just adorable. Cait had some kind of open-faced goat cheese sandwich, and I had lasagne, and everything was great. It came with some salad and bread, too. The only unforunately, but unavoidable thing about Paris is the cost- everything is expensive! Any kind of food establishment, other than street vendors, seemed to be at least 12 Euros and up, which is a big change from even Berlin. Mais, c'est la vie, and I just have to accept that que sera sera (Spanish this time) and have a good time.

By the time we had finished dinner, it was time to meet Erica at the train station/gare/bahnhof. We had all reserved seats, and had even ended up in the same car even though we booked at different times. Chancily, the people across from me ended up moving, so Erica and Cait and I were all able to sit around a table on the ICE train back to Mannheim. The fourth one at the table was a German man, but he also spoke French and English. We talked with him a bit on the way back, with him giving us advice about our next weekend's trip back to Paris. It was interesting, because his English was the worst of the three languages, so he would sometimes be able to say the word in French to me, and have me explain it in English to the others. He also peppered his speech with little German expressions, notably "genau" (exactly), saying that with the three languages it's easy to get mixed up, which I understood.

We arrived back in Mannheim safe and sound, and Joey and Giselle were there to meet us. Of course we were all beat, so we went to bed early. Today was another day of class and Interaktive Praxis, for which we went shopping at another supermarket. It was called Kaufland, and it almost seemed like the Super Walmart of Mannheim- there was a wide selection of cheap groceries, as well as some electronics, housewares, and other non-food items. Once we were done with our class time, we did our shopping for ourselves as well, which was very convenient. Tomorrow we're going to see a movie with Wolf and Nina, as well as going to the planetarium for Interactive Praxis.

This was quite a long blog entry, but I had such a great weekend, I needed to share it! This weekend should also be eventful, and of course Paris again this weekend will be another adventure. J'espère que tout le monde s'amuse comme moi!

Aufwiedershreiben!