Vacation sweet vacation! It didn't really feel deserved, though, as I'd only had 16 days of classes and then got a 10 day vacation. But... I don't think I'll complain.

The first half of my break was pretty low-key which was nice and balanced out the fun and games of the second half.

The exciting event of Tuesday was meeting some interesting people in the park. I was just wandering around, taking advantage of the warm weather when I stumbled across two guys jamming, one with a medieval oboe (kinda like a bombarde) and the other with a didgeridoo. Needless to say, I hung out for a while :) Also, at one point they were trying to guess where I was from--the first guy said England, the second said that of course I was German... And it wasn't until the third guess that they got it right. I was pleased. Anyways, it was really cool to meet them, and I invited the guy with the oboe (named Mathieu) to jam with us on Fridays. This is the band he plays with, which is pretty darn cool: http://www.myspace.com/compagniesoukha

Wednesday evening I finished the UAF--the application for the summer internship at le Chateau de Chantilly--which was a GIANT relief. Everyone wish me luck!

And on Thursday.... Sealia and I hopped on a train and went to Carcassone! (Although the whole "leaving" part nearly didn't happen due to an alarm clock malfunction). It's a small city about an hour and a half west of Montpellier, which is home to la cité médiévale de Carcassone which is a totally intact castle--moat (sans water), drawbridge, ramparts etc. It's all there, and super awesome. We spent the day wandering around the city and then spent the night in a nice little hostel. It would be really cool to come back in the summer, as a lot of things were closed because it's the off-season now.
FREAKING CASTLE













Can you imagine trying to attack this place?













Hey, moat!













Because every castle needs a good cathedral.

















Wandering around in the evening... A few minutes later we found the coven of witches and did some human sacrifice.











My compliments to Sealia's awesome photography skillz.










So, we were supposed to go to Ireland on Friday afternoon, but seeing as this is indeed France where striking is the national sport... Yeah. All flights were canceled because of the air controller strikes, so Ireland was out of the question unless we felt like swimming. We were.... MOST displeased. But, at least we managed to get back home by that afternoon, so that was good. Also, it was Friday, so we at least got to spend the evening at an Irish pub :) It actually ended up being quite the jam, even though it had technically been canceled because Brian was off in Slovenia. It was only five of us, but included Mathieu who had brought his bagpipes!! Also, I got to dance a scottish with Titouan which was a lot of fun.

Saturday was my first trip to a farmer's market just at the edge of the centre-ville, which was really cool. It had pretty much anything you could think of and felt very... Cultural, to boot. Lots of people, lots of color, lots of interesting things to buy and (mostly) eat. And now it is Sunday evening, my break is officially at an end, and I didn't do half the work that I should have. Such is life.... But hey, tomorrow might be a Monday, but it's also the first day of MARCH! That's practically SPRING! :)