Fancy 6 course meal

While I was in Valence with my family we got invited by some friends of my parents to a fancy restaurant    in the countryside. We all ordered a 6 course meal and I was already almost full by the appetizer. The first course that went around were the drinks. Next for the appetizer my brother, Luke and I both ordered a dish of ravioli with this really good type of shrimp inside a creamy sauce. Then the main course was sliced duck with a dish of pumpkin, potato and mushrooms. We drank a good red wine as well as a sweet white wine called muscat. Then came a dish with several delicious French cheeses. I ordered a wild goat cheese with cream on the top, which was really good. For dessert I ordered 3 small rich chocolate macaroons with ice cream in the middle. I thought the meal was over but then the second set of drinks went around! Thankfully my drink was just a small tea cup sized coffee. It was an amazing meal but I was so full that it literally hurt to breathe.

Valence

I am on a 2 week break already and I've only been in school for 2 months! A few days ago I took a train ride with my family to Valence. The train ride was a little bit strange because there were a lot of people on it, yet I couldn't hear anyone talking with each other.

When we arrived in Valence a friendly older man with a brown scruffy beard heartily greated us. He gave me 3 whiskery kisses on my cheeks as well as the rest of my family. I heard that the kisses increase in number the further south in France that you go. He drove us in his little car to the cabin that we would be staying in for the next few days.

The next day we visited that same man and his wife and we ate lunch and dinner with them. It was really good food and I got to drink a glass of wine with each meal. I think I am starting to like wine more, but at first it was a little bit hard to get used to. The next few days my family and I explored a cool little village and drove all around the countryside.

Observations

Here are some of my observations whilst living in Paris for nearly 2 weeks. Firstly the cheese here is incredible. If you think montry jack, cheddar or mozeralla cheese is good then you have no idea just how amazing the cheese in France is (unless you have tried French cheese.) Observation #2: Throw away the baguette in America. It is rock hard compared to the soft, flaky, warm baguette fresh from a typical French bakery. It is the softest, most delicate baguette you will ever try and I seriously recommend it to anyone. Observation #3. The wine here in France is very good. I'm sure many of you have tried French wine, right? And you'd have to agree with me that it is one of a kind :)

My first day of school

I have only been studying French for 3 months, so I cannot yet understand full sentences or write in French. The first day was stressful and confusing. I had no idea which classes I was taking, where I was supposed to go, or what the teachers were saying. The worst part was that while the teachers talked, the students would write and I couldn't keep up so I just sat there staring at the wall.  Luckily some of the kids knew a little bit of English so they helped me out. It was funny because a French girl tried to make conversation with me, but her English was as bad as my French so we had a hard time communicating. We ended up drawing pictures and using hand signals.  At the end of the day I had a headache. It was funny to think that I had sat in a French school for an entire day.