Laura Meets Montpellier: St Guilhem, French Classes, and Marseille

It's been a busy but fun week in Montpellier! Last Friday we finished our intensive two-week prestage. At the end of every month, Accent Francais has an "appetizer" party to celebrate after class, and everyone is supposed to bring food from their country. The theme of this month's party was karaoke, so every class had to sing a French song together, in French! It was crazy, but it was fun to sing and hear different French songs.

That weekend we went on an excursion with a group from Accent Francais to a city about an hour away called St Guilhem le Desert. Before we left I had heard that it is one of the prettiest cities in France, but I was definitely not expecting how absolutely beautiful it was! The city is in the countryside and surrounded by mountains, so the first thing we did was go on a "nature walk." Jean-Paul, our guide, showed us some wild fig trees and blackberry bushes, and we all got to taste some of the fruit. Delicious! Then we ate lunch in the city center at a cafe before touring the monastery that gave the city it's name - the city was founded by Saint Guillaume and was known as "le Desert" because people came to the monastery to be alone with God.

St Guilhem le Desert

After the tour of St Guilhem le Desert, we went to a local lake called Lac Salagou, which was just as beautiful as the city, even though it was manmade. The water was freezing, so most of us just hung out on the shore and enjoyed the killer views.

The Lake

We started two of our semester-long French classes on Monday. One is called Oral and Written Expression, which is taught by our director (Carol), and the other is Methodology, which is taught by a teacher at Accent Francais, where both classes are held. Both classes will definitely be helpful when it comes to communicating in French and turning in written work at the university.

We also spent a lot of time this week planning our classes that we will take at UPV, the French university. We are allowed two weeks to try as many classes as we can and make final decisions - UPV starts on Monday, and I am planning on trying out 5 different classes throughout the week and I am really excited about all of them!

This weekend we went to Les Estivales for one last time (they're over after this weekend because it's a summer festival). Then on Saturday we woke up bright and early for another excursion to Marseille, a port city about two hours away. It was a really great day! We toured a church and a little bit of the city, got on a boat and rode to an old prison called Chateau d'If on an island off of Marseille, then took the boat to another island off of Marseille and went swimming in the Mediterranean. It was chilly, but really refreshing and fun! The water was clear enough that you could see the bottom and the fish, and the weather was perfect for swimming. Fun times!