The Past Few Weeks

Well, I guess if I don't write for a long time it means that I am busy. These past few weeks I have gone to school, done some sight seeing, and had my birthday!

School is going well. I have the same classes as always, but my friends always help make my days interesting. Even though the beginning of the year was difficult, my friends now really have made me feel at home here. In French class, my friend Antoine always helps me practice my French grammer and I feel like he has really helped me improve! Lunch time in French high schools can last for a long time. Sometimes I have two hours to eat my lunch and talk with my friends.

This year, turning a year older will be something that I will not forget. This birthday was special because I was in France for it! I had a little party with a few of my friends. We had an American themed party with home made macaroni and cheese, salad, and American birthday cake! In France, people don't have Betty Crocker birthday cake. Here they have apple tart or a cake with a thin icing on top. Both are very good, but I wanted to show my friends what people in the US typically have for their birthday. My host family suprised me at midnight with a cake that my host mom made! It is a dark chocolate cake with abricot filling. I had this cake in Austria and it was really good. A very sweet suprise!

Today, my host family and I went to visit a castle also known as a chateau. The chateau is called Chateau de Lagarde. Unfortunatly the chateau is now ruins, but it was something extraordinary to see. For Americans, anything that is 100 years old or more is considered very old, but in Europe things built in the 11th century are conidered old. This chateau was built by the Spanish in the 11th Century to protect the border. I wish that the 11th century people had cameras because I would really like to know what it looked like at the time that it was built. The castle is now privatly owned and uninhabited except for a sheep that my host dad and I met today while we walked around. If you are interesed in purchasing the chateau, it is for sale for 800,000 euros or about one million dollars.  Here are some photos of the castle:

That is all for now! Have a great week!