At the beginning of the week I had used up all my credit on my prepaid phone which was supposed to last 2 months, not 3 weeks. Then I discovered “unlimited texting” is only unlimited nights and weekends. Whaaaaaaat? At this rate I’d be spending 25 euro every 3 weeks… not cool. I discovered a new phone plan that is only 2 euro a month plus a 10euro SIM card. SCORE! However I had to go 5 days without being to contact people, so that was a little hard, but totally worth it.

Living in an apartment that was here during WWI is pretty cool, except the faulty electricity. We had been living without the main lights for about a week, which was manageable because we had lamps, wifi and all of our main appliances. Then suddenly all of our electricity goes out. So we had a big german man named Lutz come fix our electric, which he did… for a couple hours. Then it all goes out again. So throughout the week we were dealing with electricity that would only work when it was in the mood too. So that meant our wifi would go out a lot, meaning no contact with the outside world. Not having a working cell phone didn’t help the situation.

I wonder, how do we get hot water? Well it must have something to do with electricity because we ran out of hot water. Even though I live in the south of France, it is definitely not warm enough here for a freezing cold shower. So without faulty electric and hot water, I was unable to shower and do my laundry. Thankfully I have kind enough friends to let me shower at their place. I really didn’t want to prove the stereotype true that French people don’t shower.

There is always something to be happy about when your living in Monpellier. First the weather! It was gorgeous this week in the high 50s. 

On Tuesday I met with my contact family for dinner. It was great! I met Corinne and she showed me around the school where she is La Directrice. A pretty important job, especially since she is the first woman to hold this position. It was a catholic school for boys and girls. I can’t remember when it was built, but it’s pretty old.

This is the courtyard where they can play outside for recess. We also toured other parts of the school. She even showed me vocal practice for a group of kids about 5 or 6. The teacher was playing the piano and they were singing.

After that she drove me back to her house where I met her husband and two sons. She has a lovely home! It has a real modern feel, somewhat similar to the interior styles of the U.S. I helped her prepare dinner. I helped her cut the calamari. It was kind of gross feeling, but it was delicious! I also tried some bread with this olive spread and a tomato basil spread as well. Olives are very popular close to the mediterranean. We enjoyed a delicious meal with calamari, 

clams, linguini, and bread of course. After that a cheese plate with my favorite roquefort. Dessert was great! It was le galette de rois, but special to Montpellier. It is a cake with a little toy inside “le f�ve” they used to use a bean, but now it’s a little toy so you can collect them. They showed me their collection of f�ves. There was Winnie the Pooh and Draco Malfoy. If you get the f�ve in your piece of cake you’re the king and you get to wear a crown. I found the f�ve so I was the king! My f�ve was one of wise-men, I kinda wish it was Draco Malfoy though haha. It was a great night and a great chance for me to practice my french. The family was so nice and welcoming I can’t wait to spend more time more them!

The rest of the week was kind of mellow considering I was living in darkness and I wasn’t feeling too hot. Probably because my diet consists of bread, cheese and nutella. Going to class was a little rougher than usual, but I managed to survive.

On Saturday we went to Marseille. It is the second most populated city in France, but twice the size of Paris. It was beautiful but kind of boring. We took a tour of the museum where we saw a guillotine among other things. After that we had free time, where I had the most amazing d�jeuner. Mussels stuffed with escargot, followed by the traditional dish of bouillabaisse and a chocolate pie for dessert. Top if off with free pink champagne from out waiter. Miam!

Yes I ate everything, basically the entire Mediterranean sea, and it was amazing!  After that meal we took another tour around the city to explore some important buildings and boating docks. It was a lot of fun, but I wish I had more time to explore on my own. Like visit Notre-Dame de la Garde and go inside the cathedral. I still had a wonderful visit and the food was definitely worth it! 

Today, Lutz came back today with Christoph, our landlord, to fix our electricity and hot water. Yey! Now everything seems to be working and I hope it stays like this. I was able to finish all my homework for this week because I had no netflix to distract me so now I have a lot of free time. Time to explore, my mission is to find the best baguette of Montpellier. Challenge accepted! 

I have also been craving a big venti iced latte from Starbucks. I know there are Starbucks in France somewhere.  I will find you and I will buy you.