Ile de St. Marguerite

     Hello everyone!! Thursday was just a day for us to present our projects that we have been working on during our trip to our professors to make sure we were on the right track.  We had the rest of the day free so I did some shopping after lunch. 
     Today we visited the island St. Marguerite where the "Man in the Iron Mask" was kept.  I'm sure some of you have seen the Leonardo DiCaprio movie about it or just know the history behind it, but the guy from the fort today said that the "Man in the Iron Mask" is definitely not the king's twin brother.  They think he was just a regular guy and that the prison guards just wanted to make things interesting so they never allowed him to show his face.  The king had all documents and papers about him destroyed and the interior walls of the prison were scraped so that there were no traces of him.  So we got to the island at about 10:30am.  We walked around for a little bit until we got to some rocks/cliffs.  We jumped off of them into the Med.  Since I am terrified of heights it took some encouragement from my classmatesin order to get in but with the hand of one of the girls, I jumped in!  It was so awesome.  After we swam around for a bit, we headed to the fort/prison for lunch.  We had a personal barbeque with delicious food!! After we ate lunch, we went sailing on small catamarans (spelling?).  There wasn't much wind so it was pretty slow and there were three of us to a sailboat, but it was a fun experience.  The instructors had to hook us up to their boat and pull us around hahaha At one point, me and my sailormates finally caught the wind and got going pretty fast but then it ended and it was time to go back to shore.  It was a great day with great weather nonetheless.  We came back to Antibes and got dinner and here I am.  Tomorrow is a free day during the day, then at night a Dinner Cruise :) Love you all xoxo

White Water Rafting in the French Alps

            Hello everyone!! Today we woke up bright and early and headed into the mountains again for some "kayaking."  It was rainy and cold when we got there...the water around 40 degrees.  We put on our wet suits (which took 3 people to get mine on) and attached our helmets and life vests.  At this point we were all still under the impression that we were just doing a simple kayaking trip down a river.  We took one look into the water and rafts and realized we weren't going on a leisurely kayaking trip--we were going white water rafting.  I have been on plenty of canoeing trips, but never white water rafting.  We were in kayak rafts which were basically two person rafts.  I was in the front and my friend, Joe, was in the back.  We started off and within 5 minutes our raft flipped and Joe and I were submerged into the freezing cold water.  We managed to get our raft and paddles back and got back in.  During the second set of rapids, our boat flipped again when we hit a rock.  This time the raft landed on top of me which really freaked me out being under water with a raft blocking my way to air.  I managed to push the raft away from me and get up to the air and start floating.  Joe and I made sure we were both okay then looked for our raft.  Well, considering how fierce the rapids were, our raft was wayy down the river already.  The instructors told us to just swim until we found it, but we felt like hypothermia was about to kick in so we eventually grabbed onto someone elses boat and walked along the bank for a little while.  We got back in and continued to float until we found our boat and instructor.  After those two flips, we were determined not to fall in again because it was just too cold!  We had several more rapids, dodging rocks left and right.  Our instructors would collect us after every major rapid course and tell us about the upcoming rapids and which side to go on and which side to avoid.  At one point, our instructor looked at me and said "go on the left side of these rapids--if you go on the right side you will die, five people have died on the right hand side."  Comforting, right?  Needless to say, Joe and I went on the left side...as far left as we could go.  We made it through the rest of the rapids without tipping over again, although there were a few close calls.  Almost everyone flipped once or twice so it was comforting to know we weren't the only ones.  It was definitely tough but so much fun.  They compared it to a level 2 white water course with some parts maybe being a 3.  I feel very accomplished and it was so exciting!  I know my dad would have loved it!!  Thanks mom and dad for all the canoeing experience--it helped me and Joe a lot :)  Love you all!! Enjoy the pictures!

Rome and Pisa Adventure

          Hello everyone!  I have not typed in a long time because I haven't had access to the internet for a while and I haven't had much free time since I got back from Rome.  Last Wednesday we went hiking on the French Alps during the day.  After we got back, we packed our bags and hopped on a plane to Rome.  We arrived in Rome at midnight and took a cab to our first hotel.  The next morning we got up and took a cab to our second hotel and dropped off our bags.  Thanks to one of my roommate's mom, we got to stay in the Hilton Rome Airport Hotel for the second night for free :) 

         We took the train from our hotel into the center of Rome that morning (Thursday).  We toured the Vatican Museums and went to the Sistine Chapel first. The Sistine Chapel was absolutely breathtaking and although you aren't allowed to take pictures, I took a few without flash and took a quick video.  I will post pictures soon.  The whole Vatican City experience was one I will never forget.  We made our way to the Pantheon and Trevi Fountain that day as well.  Along the way we passed several castles and Roman ruins.  We ended the day with a nice dinner outside then took the Hilton Shuttle back to our hotel that night. 

         The next morning (Friday) we got all our stuff together and took the shuttle back into the city.  Our hotel was about 40 minutes outside the city so we had to carry all our luggage on Friday around Rome which was a bummer.  We went straight to the Colosseum.  What an amazing structure!!! It was just beautiful.  I took many pictures from all levels and angles that I will post later as well.  After the Colosseum we walked around the Roman Forum and saw all the Roman ruins and old arcs.  The history behind all of it was just really cool and interesting to me!!  We hopped on a train to Pisa at 6:00 that evening. 

         We arrived in Pisa around 8:30pm.  We checked into our hotel/hostel and went straight to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa at night.  It was AWESOME!  We took the traditional pictures of us pretending to hold up the leaning tower.  As we were finishing up looking at the tower, a town parade came through including dance performances.  It was great and I really liked the small town feel.  It reminded me of Blacksburg.  We had dinner that night then went to bed.

         Saturday morning we woke up bright and early and ate breakfast complimentary of the hotel.  We then walked back to the Leaning Tower and took more pictures to compare it at night and during the daytime.  Its just so cool haha no other words can describe it.  There was an outdoor market happening too so I bought a genuine leather purse "Made in Italy!"  I felt that it was only fitting and for 25 euros, I couldn't resist.  After Pisa, it was back to Antibes.  I will update this blog post with more details over the next few days so keep checking back for more fun facts!  This was just my first go at it.  Love you all :)

Port Cros

      Hello everyone!  On Saturday morning at 6:45am, we took a 2 hour bus ride to the ferry that would take us to Port Cros.  I slept the entire way luckily and woke up when we were about 5 minutes away from the ferry.  The ferry ride was only 45 minutes and the views were just beautiful.  When we got to the island, the crew took our backpacks and put them in the bed of a truck and took our bags up to the fort we were going to stay in.  We, however, hiked up to the fort.  We stayed in Fort de l'Eminence, which was occupied by the Germans, British, and French at different points in time in WWII.  Once we got into the fort, we chose where we wanted to sleep.  The fort was basically a hostel, 8 beds per area with one shower per area.  There were bathrooms and sinks as well.  A few sections over in the fort was the dining area and kitchen.  We had our own crew which included two volunteers, a chef and his cooks, and the main director.  After we got settled in and played some volleyball on the court outside, we ate lunch.  It was beef lasagna with a salad.  It was delicious and they made plenty.  After lunch, we headed out on a 6 mile hike of half the island.  It was a gorgeous hike, but very steep and difficult at times.  When we got back, the crew had dinner ready for us which was a chicken thigh and green beans and of course, french bread.  Again, it was delicious. Once dinner ended, a few of us hiked back down to the village for some ice cream because we were craving sweets.  Its about a 40 minute round trip down to the village and back.  Once we got back, everyone went on the roof of the fort and looked at the stars, drank wine, and smoked cigars.  Around 10:30pm, most of us went to bed.

      On Sunday, we woke up at 8:00am and had breakfast at 8:30.  We had toast with butter and jam and corn flakes.  Everything was great except for the fact that the milk was room temperature because in Europe, the milk is in cartons that don't have to be refrigerated if they haven't been opened.  It was different, but I was hungry so I ate it anyways.  I definitely prefer cold milk though.  After breakfast we started our second day of hiking which was almost 8 miles. Instead of being 8 straight miles of hiking, we had three stops.  Our first stop was snorkeling around "The Lost Arch."  You could snorkel underneath it if you wanted, but I couldn't do it because of the pressure.  Atleast I tried, right?  The Med is very cold and salty, but you learn to get used to it.  After our first snorkeling adventure, we hiked to a beach where our crew met us with bagged lunches.  We had a tuna and egg sandwich with cucumber, onion, mayo and lettuce on ciabatta.  It also came with a square of brie, a piece of a baguette, and a banana.  We scarfed down all of it after we hiked and snorkeled for so long.  After lunch, we started hiking once again to our third location where we snorkeled an underwater trail.  The signs were underwater and you just followed the numbers until you were brought back to shore.  I saw beautiful fish and underwater life.  We headed back up to our fort after all of this and some people took naps and some just relaxed until dinner.  Dinner was turkey breast and french fries.  Yum!  We played volleyball after dinner for a long time with the crew then went and looked at the stars.  We saw several shooting stars!!

      This morning we woke up and had the same breakfast again and hiked to another fort.  We headed back down to the village afterwards where we were treated to ice cream and another bagged lunch.  We took the ferry and bus back to Antibes and got back around 3:30pm.  It was a great weekend and I can't wait for you all to see pictures.  It was something I will remember for the rest of my life no doubt.  Love you all! xoxo

Free days in France!

Hello!! I have not written in a few days because we haven't really had any activities since Monaco.  On Wednesday we went to Maeva, which is just another hotel in Cannes, and we had class their in their conference room which is half inside and half outside.  After class, we came back to Antibes around 1pm and did grocery shopping and just ran errands.   It was a relaxing evening.  Yesterday and today were free days, meaning we don't have any program activities scheduled and we can do whatever we want.  Yesterday we all just slept in for the first time in a long time and then went to the outdoor market and bought fresh fruits and food.  After the market, some of us just laid by the pool and listened to music and just gave our bodies a day of relaxation since we have been going non-stop since we got here.  It was a great day!  After we laid out, we all made homemade dinners instead of going out.  I just made spaghetti, but my roommates had shrimp that they bought at the market.  Almost everyone went to bed early last night since most of us had to get up around 7am this morning to catch a train to Ventimiglia, Italy.  Fridays are open market days in Ventimiglia.  They had hundreds of street vendors out there by the water and throughout the streets selling clothes, purses, jewelry, food, etc.  It was a great experience.  We stayed in Ventimiglia for about 3 hours then headed back to Antibes.  Now I'm going to spend the rest of my free day just relaxing and taking it easy because tomorrow our schedule resumes and we leave for Port Cros at 6:45am.  We won't have any internet access there so I will post again Monday evening when we come back!  Love you all

Monaco/Monte-Carlo

      Once again we woke up at 8:00am and at 9:20 we left for Monaco.  It was about a 40 minute train ride into Monaco.  The train station in Monaco was absolutely amazing!  It looked like a space ship inside and was very modern (and air conditioned which was very nice).  It was hotter today, about 85 and sunny.  We first went to the Marriott of Monaco.  Two of the girls on this trip will be working at this Marriott for the rest of the summer after our trip is over doing internships.  Just to give you an idea of how prestigious and extravagent this Marriott is, it currently costs 10,000 Euros (approximately 15,000 dollars) for four nights.  Four nights is the minimum too.  We had a nice lady named Catrina, who is the Human Resources Manager, give us a presentation on the culture of Marriott and what it takes to get a job at a Marriott.  Before she began, however, they had brownie bites, croissants, chocolate croissants, cookies, fruit, and espresso to get the day started.  Thank goodness for the espresso shot because I was lagging.  They were definitely right when they said we would always be tired throughout this trip.  Going back to the presentation.  Catrina gave us background information about Marriott Europe and how they hope to double their presence by 2015.  They currently have about 260 Marriotts in all of Europe...not that many which is why they really want to increase their presence.  I really enjoyed this presentation because she was human resources and that is my major and another opportunity for me in my major.  Her position definitely looked like something I would enjoy doing, especially at a Marriott in Monaco!! Ha! ;)  After her presentation, she just briefly showed us their new bar and restaurant area, however, the million and billionaires were coming to eat so we weren't allowed to stay long looking at the areas. 
       After we left the Marriott we were allowed to explore the city the rest of the day and head back to Antibes whenever we wanted.  A group of us decided to start off our journey at McDonalds.  Where better to eat in Monaco than at McDonalds?!  We all got classic burgers and fries.  They tasted the same but somehow tasted just a little better since we were eating it in a nice Monaco McDonalds and not a crappy Spotsylvania McDonalds. After we were full of grease and fat, we went to an antique car museum.  We showed our Virginia Tech IDs and got a discount and got in for only 3 euros!  The cars inside were so classic.  At one point, they turned on one of the Chevelles.  The engine was loud and amazing.  After the car museum we went on a hunt to find where the Monaco Grand Prix would be taking place.  We finally found the track and the pit stop and got to walk on the actual course.  It was an experience I will never forget.  We found the Red Bull car and team and talked to them for a bit and they gave us free, ice cold Red Bulls :) We got pictures in front of the Ferrari truck that carried the Ferrari car too!  Some of the people in my group bought tickets for the trial runs on Thursday, however, I decided not to and spend my day in a city we haven't been to yet.  We came back to Antibes and had dinner at 7:30pm.  My appetizer was tomato and mozzarella .  My main course was steak, ratatouille, and potatoes.  Dessert was a triple chocolate mousse cake.  Needless to say, dinner was fantastic.  Booked my hotel in Pisa tonight and now I'm headed to bed.  Class and beach tomorrow!! Love you all!! Keep checking back for more pictures.  xoxo

Canyon Forest Adventure

Hello everyone!  Today we got up early and a group of us went out and ordered our very first crepes!  I got nutella, strawberries, and bananas in mine (almost every crepe has nutella in it to hold everything together).  It was one of the best things I have eaten here so far!  We then came back to the apartment and got prepared for the day.  We then took a 20 minutes bus ride to a place called Canyon Forest.  They have activities such as caving, a ropes course (which is what we did), and other activities that involve the outdoors and are great for team building.  We sat and ate lunch near the river before we began our ropes course so we could get energy.  We ate a ham sandwich and an apple.  As my parents know, apples make my gums itch/swell (weird I know, but amazingly, I am not the only person on the trip with the same problem).   The green apple was just too delicious looking to pass up and it was worth the itchy gums that came afterwards.  All the fruits and vegetables around here are just so fresh and perfectly ripe.  Once lunch was over, we headed to the course.  There were four levels to choose from: green (beginner), red(intermediate), purple (advanced), and black (expert).  I started on the purple one and started off fine until there was a point where I had to climb the side of a cliff and the handles they had were just too far apart and I just wasn't quite tall enough to reach them.  So I got off that level and went to red, which was still very tough and fun.  It was almost all upper arm strength and a lot of balancing.  I am terrified of heights so I really faced my fear today.  The course was a mixture of obstacles and ziplines all in the tree tops.  I was very proud when I finished the course which was about 2 hours long.  It was nice to finally get back on the solid ground! HA!  I know I will definitely be sore tomorrow in places I didn't even know I had.  I got a little bruised and cut but nothing major.  It was an experience I will never forget although I'm not sure I would do it again...it was pretty tough and by the end we were all just glad to be done.  Once we got back, a few of us went to a Thai restaurant in Antibes.  I got the chicken pad thai and it was very good (thought my mom and dad would appreciate this).  The restaurants are all fairly expensive so we try to not eat out too much and just snack big.  Tonight is another free night and I think we are all just finalizing our plans for our four day weekend.  We solidified plans for our two day vacation which is this Thursday and Friday.  Thursday we are going back to Monaco to watch the trial runs of the Monaco Grand Prix and on Friday we are going to Ventimiglia in Italy for their big outdoor market day.  Both will just be day trips and will help us save money for our four day weekend to Italy.  From here on out, there are day trips planned for everyday so these next few weeks are going to go by fast I think. Love you all, I posted pictures on earlier blogs and for todays!  Enjoy!