Catch up

I was incredibly busy during the final weeks of my stay in France, so I didn't have a chance to post updates. Here's a quick run down of some of the stuff I was up to!

• Tour of the Jean Vilar Theater in Saint-Quentin
• Assistant roast dinner
• French Passover Seder
• Last French conversation club
• Going away party with one of my classes
• Trip to Bordeaux with Haidee and Sarah
• Family vacation to London, Rome, Pompeii, and Florence
• Kate visiting Saint-Quentin
• Saying goodbye to teachers and friends in Saint-Quentin

Here are a few photos that skim the surface of my April and May abroad:

~ Ceiling of Jean Vilar Theater ~

~ Roast dinner with Haidee, Sarah, and Katie ~

~ Day trip from Bordeaux to the Dune du Pilat ~

~ Miroir d'eau, Bordeaux ~

~ At Buckingham Palace with the fam ~

~ With Kate and Harry at Pompeii ~

~ Florence ~

Rome Take 2

My second trip during vacation was to Rome, where I met Haidee and Sarah for three days. We packed a lot into a short amount of time, hitting major monuments (Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps) and also spending a day at the Vatican museums and Saint Peter's Basilica. My favorite part of the trip was a guided tour of the Colosseum and Palatine Hill. Palatine Hill was especially beautiful, covered in trees and green spaces and overlooking the ancient Forum. This was my second trip to Rome (the first was during my semester in Nantes), and I was happy to find that there were plenty of new things to do (and plenty of gelato to eat)!

~ Exploring back streets ~

~ Inside the Pantheon ~

~ Trevi Fountain at night ~

~ Colosseum ~

~ Panorama inside the Colosseum ~

~ Palatine Hill ~

~ Orange trees on Palatine Hill ~

~ Roman Forum ruins ~

~ View from the Monument to Victor Emmanuel II~

~ Nero's bathtub ~

~ In the Vatican museum map room ~

~ Vatican museum ~

Vacances d'Hiver

I have a ridiculously busy plan for winter break, which starts this weekend. I think I'm subconsciously freaking out that I'm going home fairly soon, so I'm trying to squeeze as much as I can into the time that's left (okay, so I might be consciously freaking out). I have four main events planned for my break.

1. Berlin: My vacation starts with a trip to Berlin, where I'll meet Harry for the weekend. I'm excited for my first real trip to Germany (unless you count my quick jaunt over the Rhine River when I was in Strasbourg), and also to see my brother after more than 5 months!

2. Saint-Quentin: After Berlin I'm coming back to Saint-Quentin for a week, where I'll work at a vacation session for high schoolers doing extra review for their final exams. It's only a few hours a day, so I'll have plenty of time to prepare for the third part of my break...

3. Rome: ...in Rome, where I'll spend a few days with Haidee and Sarah. We're going to be there during Mardi Gras which should be fun.

4. Casablanca: I'm flying straight from Rome to Casablanca, my last trip of the break! I'm meeting Madeleine and her sister there for the final weekend of vacation.

*map from Google