April Showers Bring May Flowers

Lovely Friends!

            They say that April showers bring May flowers, but I hope they also bring consistent sunshine! If you have been in contact with me over the past month at all, you probably have heard me complain about the weather.  We had about three weeks of consistent rain during April, and the weather has been bipolar ever since. Luckily, Toulouse is starting to bloom after a month of rain and gloomy weather.  The weather was lovely for my birthday on Thursday, and Friday, it was allegedly 31 degrees Celsius.  I spent the afternoon doing my nails, reading a novel, and chatting with my girlfriend in the park.  It was fantastic! I just hope the weather decides to stay like this!

            This past weekend I went to an event called “Semi-mer” hosted by the school’s extreme sports association.  We left from the school at 6:30 in the morning (which is about 7:30 French time) for a beach near Biarritz on the Atlantic coast.  It was about a three and a half to four hour drive.  When we arrived, we settled into the hotel which was very nice and then headed to the beach for a barbecue lunch.  As I had guessed, we had what I’ve deemed “French Style” hot dogs (i.e. sausage in a baguette).  After spending a little time on the beach, we headed over to a nearby lake to go sailing.  It was an interesting experience and so much fun! Being on the lake kind of reminded me of Arkansas. 

My awesome friend surfing!!

Beach!

            After, we returned to the beach for the rest of the afternoon.  It was a rather lazy day sunbathing, sleeping, reading, and playing a bit of Frisbee.  That evening we went to dinner at a restaurant.  As soon as we got there, all of the French people started immediately banging on the tables, yelling, and singing.  They continued like that for pretty much the rest of the evening.  It was kind of funny being with the other Erasmus.  None of us knew why they continued to make so much noise and grew tired of it rather quickly.  The evening was nice though, but there was so much food – starters, rice, pasta, meat, chicken wings, and dessert.  We had also eaten a lot during the day because we had been scarred by previous experiences where we didn’t get the opportunity to eat for long periods of time.  We were so full after dinner that my friend and I went home and went to bed almost immediately, after attempting to watch MTV.

            I slept amazingly and slept in the next morning.  We spend the entire day again lounging on the beach.  It was a great weekend to get away and relax.  I had a blast!

            This week, my courses end on Wednesday after which I will immediately board a train to Nice for five days.  I am so excited! We will be visiting Cannes during the renowned Cannes Film Festival, Nice, and Monaco.