A vacation from vacation.

I spent this weekend in the Aveyron région with our family friends Marie-Hélène and Gérard at their lake house in Salles-Curan. It was a really, really great couple of days. They made it their personal mission to show me around all the gorgeous villages nearby. Furthermore, Marie is a formidable cook, so we ate very, very well for the duration. She's going to send me some of her dessert recipes so I can make them in the apartment next year. Very awesome.

Most importantly, I think, was the fact that this time we could actually discuss. As the reason I chose to study French in the first place was because the last time I was here I couldn't communicate with them nor my family, I think it was a really key moment in my French learning/life etc. to be back here and be able to freely converse with them without a dictionary or anything. I was pretty proud of myself, actually. I don't think I could have ever envisioned doing this and having this level of fluency when I started studying French back in the 8th grade. I remember sitting in the corner with Caitlin Myers, Michael Buckley and some others and giggling over silly words (like 'pamplemousse,' which means grapefruit) and debating over which 'French name' to use. Oh, how far I have come.

My train ride was uneventful, thankfully, and I recognized Gérard and then Marie on the platform sans problème at all. Their house is in the Aveyron region, on a plateau of the Massif Central, and about 2.5 hours by car from the train station in Montpellier. It's an adorable house (sorry I forgot to take a photo of it, Mom) and it's very close to the Lac de Pareloup, where Gérard loves to fish.

Our first excursion was to the nearby village of Conques, which is officially on the list of "The Most Beautiful Villages in France" or something similar. I love how in Europe so many villages are built literally all the way up hills and, with all the stone, give the impression of literally growing out of the rock.


Marie demonstrating the stringy nature of Aligot, which we had for lunch. Aligot is a dish typical of the region where one mixes Tome cheese that is only around a week old with mashed potatos. Very yummy.


A view of Conques. I love how the architecture changes so drastically around this country. Very cool.


A view of the engraving over the door of the church.


Sarcophagi outside the church, which at one time contained the remains of (very small) bishops etc.


Gérard posing mid-walk through Conques. Notice the flat rocks that cover the wood beams on the house to keep the wood from deteriorating. How ingenious.


Glycines on a house. I love these flowers. So fragrant and beautiful.

On the way back from Conques, we stopped to check out a source/waterfall nearby. I'm always amazed by how many gorgeous things one can find here just by merely pulling off the main road. I wonder sometimes if there are gorgeous things like this that I'm missing at home in Ohio, but somehow I feel that there are not. At least not of this historic and natural magnitude.