I got back today from a wonderful couple of days in France. Yesterday, after my 11am dance class, I packed up my pajamas and toothbrush and headed to Reims, France. After a three hour car ride, which I spent sleeping, we arrived in the heart of the beautiful city. France is stunning. The people, the buildings, the streets, the greenery, it is all just gorgeous. We parked the car and walked through the streets where one could see the typical woman walking with her freshly bought baguette, and people riding along their merry way on bicycles. It was so pleasant to watch.
We met up with Christian, the other exchange student in my club (from Liège, remember?) and just about the entire Saint-George Rotary club at a giant cathedral that they are restoring. We went inside and my breath was taken away. It was so gorgeous inside, with the most intricate stained glass windows. The details that are put into old buildings like that astound me. I try not to take pictures in churches, but here I just cannot resist. Everything is so beautiful. We toured the church, but I didn't understand most of what our guide (who was also one of the Rotary guys) was saying. Afterwards, we split up for a bit so that my host parents and I could drop our things off where we were staying. Christian came with us too. He stayed in the house of the club President, and my host parents and I stayed with another couple from Rotary. They had a lovely townhouse in the city with a gorgeous garden. I stayed in my own room. In a double bed. Which was bliss.
Ahem, anyways... We then had a glass of champagne with the couple, since that is the specialty in Reims, and then went to dinner with the rest of the club. We ate in this little quaint restaurant. We started off the meal with a soup that was just a simple broth with beans, potato, onion and carrot. That was followed by a meat and vegetable course. The meat, I think, was all different cuts of pork and some sausage. I did not care for it, seeing as there was a lot of fat on it and I really don't like chewing on gristle and fat. I did try the sausage though, and had some of the other cuts, but I didn't finish it and I didn't like it much. The vegetables were the same ones that were in the soup, plus a cabbage of sorts. That I liked. The french bread was, of course, amazing. After that, they brought out the cheese. I love cheese. I'm not sure what kind of cheese it was, but I ate mine and enjoyed it while Christian sat there, looking at it, since he despises cheese. We had it with a little salad and grapes. The grapes here have the seeds in them. I really don't like that. After the cheese was dessert. We started off with a shot of an apple-flavored alcohol that was pretty strong. Then there was strawberry ice cream, which was delicious, and a strawberry cookie-type biscuit that is apparently a specialty of Reims, along with the champagne. That dessert was really fantastic. I spent the dinner eating, chatting with the Rotarians and one of their daughters, who is planning on traveling to the States next year. She was really nice and we had a great time!
Afterwards, we went back to the house and I went right upstairs to go to bed, since it was already 11pm. The adults stayed downstairs and apparently sampled some other flavored alcohols. The next morning, I awoke, went down for breakfast (croissants, pain au chocolat, and a wonderful fruit salad), and then we said our thank you's and goodbyes and left to meet the rest of the club for our day in the vineyard.
We first arrived at one of the Rotarian's houses, where they fed us more croissants and french bread, and then we drove to the vineyard. And let me tell you, it was beyond gorgeous. I have never seen anything like it. Miles upon miles of grapes, ripening and waiting to be turned into wines and champagnes. The have the most ingenious system too. They plant a rose at the end of every line of vines. The rose is more fragile than the grape vine. So when the rose wilts, they know something is wrong and they have time to fix it before it gets the grapes. Smart huh? And among them was the cutest little village of houses and bunched up together with the winding roads running through it. Not to mention it was a beautiful day and the sun was brilliant. We even went up inside a giant tower to look over the hills of the vineyard. Just breath-taking.
From there, we went to another part of the grounds which was more of a park. There, we hiked a little ways up into the hills and followed a guide over rope bridges to a sort of treehouse in the branches of the big trees. It was amazing up there. The view was incredible. And the treehouse? Well, it was quite the chic treehouse. I can't even describe it. Take a look at the pictures. We sat there for about an hour, listening to the smooth jazz, eating little hors-devours and sipping champagne. It was perfection.
After that, we descended back into the park for a little speech by the Rotarians. During which a little girl just ran up to me and decided to sit on my lap. It was the cutest thing! Then she noticed my camera and was snapping pictures left and right. After that it was time for a picnic lunch. It was the fanciest picnic I'd ever been to. There was all kinds of great, rich, fattening food, most of which I didn't care for because of my problem with gristle and fat. However, I did manage to find enough to eat, because by the end of it I was stuffed. And then they brought out... Yes, the cheese. Four different kinds of French cheese. And I couldn't resist. So by this time, I was so full I could barely walk. And THEN they brought out dessert. And really, who passes up dessert? A tart with fruit, lemon tart, and the strawberry biscuits from the night before. By the time I was done, I'm sure I had gained ten pounds.
We then said our goodbyes, gave our bisous, and went home. And here I am now. Thinking about how great the weekend was and how astoundingly lucky I am to be here. I can't take it. I just keep wondering what it was I did to deserve this opportunity. It's amazing. Bonne nuit.
