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So Pau doesnt exactly look like the pic...but the mountains nearby will get close enough to that pic soon with snow!
Going back to Pau was nice though...getting tiring going all over the place but its still great. I got back from Venice into Paris, and went straight to the train station to catch the overnight train to Pau...and even slept some, was quite chilly at times though.
Was random being back in Pau, knowing where everything was though was great...well except for my hotel. It took a while to find, and I thought it was close, but I ended up walking 5km to get there! I got a nice surprise in Pau though, beautiful warm weather and no rain...yay! Was cold at night, but so is anywhere in Europe now.
It was cool to go back to my old uni and see some ppl. I even like literally nearly crashed into one of my old teachers...was great to see her. I got to hang out lots with my friend Tara from before she left to go back to America too.
We went to a Christmas quiz night at this bar, was pretty fun, and to the this groups USAC leaving dinner (and i even joined). I got to have Jurancon wine...my fave!! and eat crepes with nutella and whipped cream...although they werent the ones i really wanted, the place was closed so i was gutted as, but oh well.
We went to the movies too and the film we saw although was a simple storyline...i understood it as if it wasnt even a foreign film...was great!! There are Christmas markets now in Place Clemanceau too, so its really pretty, and full of character.
I got to hang out with some old classmates too, and chat for ages in Spanish to one of them, while ages in French to the other, as she speaks portugese so we had to chat in French together. We did some shopping and had a nice as lunch..was great!
I also went and saw my old host family again too. The afternoon i went to their house but they werent there, but i found out their phone no and called them the next day and went over there for tea. I wasnt sure i was gonna visit, but i did and it turned out to be really nice...at least theres some nice memories now!
They thought that i'd been in england for a few months and then in germany studying like i had planned and that i was just passing by through France...they didnt even know i returned to nz and never made it to england!
They commented lots of how good my french was too so i was stoked. Even the daughter made lots of genuine comments which was nice, she barely even talked to me the while time i lived there before! They were like wow, you never talked this good before!! I was just thinking well i havent practised speaking anymore french since i left here last time, but thanks! maybe it was just coz they didnt speak to me that much before they didnt notice!
The mum and dad both made random comments too, but it was fine. The mum was like, wow your hair is really nice, not like it was before, a whole mixture of colours and messed up, that didnt look good. I was like huh? I thought my hair was fine before! And the dad was like, so do you still drink a whole bottle of wine while watching tv at night? I was like, what, no, i did that once, and i wasnt drunk, i was just relaxing in the warmth watching tv...thats all. Weird memories they have of me!!
We had a lovely meal though, i knew we were gonna have salmon as they always did. No meat, even the exchange student who was there now made a comment to me about how they never eat meat! Of course the mum only ate a minimal amount though, but it was moroccan food, and it was yum, and the cake i randomly brought was delicious!!
We chatted for ages and they even showed me their 21 year old dog which i had wondered if it had died by now, but it was still getting by. When i left it couldnt even walk sometimes though, thats how old it is. The dad even tried to propostion me into renting out his sons apartment in Paris as he's not gonna be there....i was like, um i'll think about it, but i dint think i will. Its in a nice location but after the bad experience with them, i dont want to get tied up to nothing...and the place is on the 6th floor of a non elevator building. The mum did say that once i return to Paris after new years that i can stay there until i find a permanent place, but i dont think the dad was happy about it, as he was trying to made a deal for me to stay there permanently.
Was great to see them though, and the mum even drove me back into town...nice for her! So i am glad i visted them.
Was kinda dumb that i left the day i did coz the next day was the annual jurancon wine festival...would have been soooo fun!! oh well. And also was supposedly a big snowfight in place clemenceau...but i guess i'll see snow in other places.
I thought i was gonna miss the train back to Paris when i left though coz i underestimated how long it would take to walk back to the train station. Near the end i ran down some steps with my bag, tripped, and ripped my bag a bit...sweating like crazy by the time i got there, and the train was 20 mins late! dumb! I was lucky though coz a guy was sitting in my seat but offered me his bed on the train for the night instead.
I then got back into Paris for the day, and as it was sunday, lots of stuff was closed. It snowed in the morning though...i thought it was rain at first but couldnt believe it!! It was pretty, but i was like nooooo...so cold!!!
I went to Hillsong in Paris too. I got there about an hour late as I couldnt find it, but it was cool as. About 200 or so ppl there, and i met some nice ppl and hung out there a while afterwards. They have lotsa stuff going on there in the community too which would be sweet to get involved in. And the service was in english and french with an interpreter...kinda random but was interesting...my french will definitely improve concentrating on listening to everything!!
Then in the afternoon, a bit of a stroll round the champs elysees, and i went to La Defense where theres cool Christmas markets too, and even a shopping mall! the first one ive seen in paris! Then later on, my first smooth trip out of beauvais airport to barcelona...and the hostel im staying at in tomorrow night let me leave some stuff there a few days so no issues this time trying to jam all my crap into the lil bag cage thing!!
Then to Barcelona!!
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