And the winner isssss...

Well, the results are in and Monsieur Hollande has taken the cake. Socialism is back in action in la France.

But don't be too sad Nicolas Sarkozy, at least your wife is still hot...

Young Internationals Problems

I had an epiphany in da club last night...

People watch what songs you sing along to to tell what language you speak. This is especially true for creepy guys who want to see what language would be most effective in which to approach you. 

Outside of creepy guys though, it is actually a fun game to play. You have to see if they are actually singing the words though, or if their mouth gives away that they are just saying what they think they hear, or if they are not mouthing the words at all. I might even use it as a language proficiency test in my classes...muahahaa

Just this picture of my friends at Che constitutes 8 languages spoken. Best of luck creepers :)

La Colline aux Oiseaux

A lovely day at the park with my favorite little French baby, Clara. We wore matching shades :) 

Now that the sun is finally showing itself, if it could just finally warm up for me!! Normandy is no joke with this northern Atlantic ocean weather stuff!

Daylight Hours

This photo was taken at exactly 10:30pm in Caen. It's always that light out at that time. I'm confused and so is my sleep schedule...

Election Mayhem

I'm sure by now most of you know that the French are about to elect their next president.

There is so much information that I've learned (both by interest and by force in my classes) about the French system of elections and also about the specific candidates. However, the purpose of this post is just to provide a brief overview of the craziness happening over here right now during 'les élections françaises de 2012.' I could go on for days about the differences between the U.S. and French elections so if you're interested, we should talk :)

Here are some highlights and boyyyy has it been dramatic:

-We are now down to two candidates, Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande...

-Sarkozy is in the UMP party but is called 'The American' because he is on the more conservative side of the scale. (Although, he would still be considered very liberal on our scale because there is no such thing as U.S. Conservative party values here.) Also, I think they call him that because he is bff with Obama.

-Hollande is a Socialist. If elected, he wants to increase taxes by 75%. Republicans would freeeeaak! 

-Hollande is the ex-husband of the person Sarkozy ran against last term, Segolene Royal. Holy French Clintons

-Marie Le Pen got 3rd place...she is scary. Google her party, le Front National, and you'll see why.

-The debates are the scariest thing I've ever seen. The two candidates face each other and not the audience. They literally just sit across the table from one another and fight. They interrupt each other and it gets HEATED. I was literally blushing the whole time watching it because it was like watching an argument! It really did not sit well with my American 'where-is-my-speaking-podium-and-glass-of-water' sensibilities. Although I can't understand 100% of what they are saying, it was clear that they really ruffled each others feathers. I thought they were going to jump across the table and go for each other's necks Mean Girls animal scene style. 

Ahh, so scary!

So who do I think will win? Well, everyone I personally talk to wants Hollande. I haven't met a single Sarkozy supporter. However, it's always harder to get out an incumbent than to get in a new person and I think some Sarkozy supporters might not be speaking up when we get into discussions because it's en vogue to Sarkozy-hate right now. Personally, I'm hoping for Hollande because Sarkozy has spoken out about wanting to cut immigration in half so BOO to you Sarko in my strongest English accent! ;) 

Stay tuned--we shall see what happens! May 6th at 20:00 will be the big announcement and it will be a nail biter! Vive la France!

Weekend Movie Rec

Anyone looking for a movie recommendation for the weekend? I have just the one for you!

It's a French film (subtitled obviously) called Tell No One, originally Ne le dis à personne. It is based on a popular book and it's a murder mystery/love story/thriller type movie. I thought it was really good so I thought I'd share! It also won four Cesar awards a few years ago which is the French equivalency of the Oscars.

Here is a bit of a teaser for the plot line followed by the trailer: 

The pediatrician Alexandre Beck misses his beloved wife Margot Beck, who was brutally murdered eight years ago when he was the prime suspect. When two bodies are found near where the corpse of Margot was dumped, the police reopen the case and Alex becomes suspect again. The mystery increases when Alex receives an e-mail showing Margot older and alive.

Ne le dis a personne  

Mon Retour

Anndddd we're back!

I want to welcome you all back to France with me! It's time to return to teaching my little Frenchies and learning from the big Frenchies for one more month!

It will be a whirlwind thirty days, but stay tuned for many more posts--lots going on here right now!

I'll leave you with this little gem as a sort of 'bienvenue!' Bon appétit!

McBaguette Commercial

And that's a wrap for Euro Trip 2012!

Well, the end to our Italian dream finally had to come to an end. I had an amazing two weeks with my parents and my boyfriend, but now it's back to reality. Well, kind of...I do still live in France...

I just want to give a big grazie to all of our friends and family who gave us such amazing recommendations for our Italy trip! We would have been lost (well, even more so) without you! Also, a big scusa to all of you for botching any words and/or using the English translation. This French-y can’t be held responsible for that :)  Thanks again!

Lost in Venice...

....and oh wait, someone is definitely mad about it...

Patrick was a good sport for someone who is used to always knowing which direction he is going, but you just have to be prepared to be perpetually lost in Venice. There goes our map :) C'est la vie!

Lost in Venice...

...and not mad about it at all!

I cannot tell you where we were when we did any of the following things, but that's what makes them good, right? Man, we have fun!