Day 15 and 16

The last two days that we spent in Troyes was spent shopping for souvenirs, taking pictures of the town, and having one last amazing meal! Here we are walking down the street with some of the beautiful decorations of the town. Here is Ashley's favorite sign, maybe in the world, a cat with glasses that light up at night. It is for an optometrist's office.

Here is a picture at Gerard our favorite boulangerie in town and all of the amazing pastries that they make fresh everyday (this is where I successfully procured breakfast yesterday)!
On our last night in Troyes we went to this restaurant called Crieux du Vin. It had some amazing food bought locally and they specialize in pairing food with wine.

Here are some of the fountains at night, the first is where the French men were fishing earlier in the week. The second was my favorite and was on our walk to the centre ville, or town center each day.

Day 14

We made it back to Troyes, both in one piece from the first part of our traveling.

Today was a big deal after waking up, Ashley decided that she was going to take a shower then we would go pick up a baguette from the Boulangerie. But I felt confident and wanted to prove myself in french. So, I took off into Troyes, where very few people know English, to provide breakfast.

Voila! I did it, I came back successfully with a Baguette and two Pain au Chocolat.

Later on, after some packing and eating our amazing breakfast we went to meet Ashley's friend Sarah and a couple of her friends for some drinks and walked around Troyes to see the sights.
Here are some of Troyes beautiful fountains (wait till you see them at night they are awesome).
Some French men sitting in the middle of town fishing with "cane" poles.

One of the parks in Troyes that Ashley walked through daily.

Day 5 to Provence

Woke up bright and early for our train which left at 7:00...8 hours and 3 connections later we finally arrived in Provence. Dustin is now an expert at public transportation and no travel day would be complete without a side stop in Lyon for cafe at a nice outdoor sidewalk cafe.

Arriving in Avignon we lost no time picking up our rental car and headed to the Pont du Gard, an ancient aqueduct built by the Romans a very long long time ago.

After seeing this french monument I believe now I'll be a better french teacher. Then we headed to our B&B. Provence is gorgeous there are vineyards and orchards everywhere admist rolling hills. We got to our B&B frenchly late. It was absolutely gorgeous we were both blown away.

After an aperitif, provided by our lovely hosts we headed to the nearby town of Roussillon and had dinner at Restaurant David. The views were gorgeous and dinner was incredible. We had several courses and every single one was an adventure. It was the perfect way to start off our vacation in southern France.

Day 4

Booked our tickets to Avignon, Provence and Amersterdam. Looks like we get/have to take the slower train down to Avignon because we did not reserve our seats and Saturday is also the first day of break for the region.

After we finished up booking our tickets we headed out to Ashley's favorite hiking trail for a nice little walk and picnic with Champagne,of course. The older French women that we encountered did not even act like we were doing anything weird, most would give me a bad look in the States. We saw tons of ducks and spring was in the air all of the mallards were trying to mate with a hen and Ashley was not happy and wanted to Bagettue them but it was across a little creek so they were safe from her.

Ashley is obviously better at making Bagettue sandwiches than I am.

After the great day of walking and eating we headed back to Ashley's apartment to pack for our journey the next day but I took an amazing nap. We then headed to another assistant's farewell gathering for food and good company.

Day 3

So before I get into day 3 a quick recap of Day 2... We started the day out with a crescent and crescent de chocolat, a crescent with dark chocolate in the middle it was very good! From there we decided to go walk around Troyes and look at the parks which are extremely beautiful. We also went to see the beautiful cathedral of St. Pierre and St. Paul, an amazing experience since it was my first old cathedral. The stained glass and the the way the light illuminated the sanctuary was really amazing. Here is one of the beautiful pieces of art inside the cathedral which is 3 pieces of glass but when looking at it from the front it makes an angel with golden wings. Here is the Kabob we shared for lunch it was delicious. Ashley says she will miss them when she leaves and I know I will miss them when I leave too!

Here was one of my favorite things so far on the trip. Ashley and I planned on grabbing a quick coffee before we went to her last class. We asked for an espresso and a cappuccino. Ashley then proceeded to ask for a "jug of water" or a pitcher of water. Little known to us we had just ordered a crepe with mint ice cream! Moral of the story is... even if you know the language ordering food is always an adventure. It sure did taste great!

After finishing our afternoon desert we made it to class and I made sure Ashley had a picture in front of her school on her last day. It reminded me of my mom when she always made sure to get a picture of me on my first day of class.

Day 3- I think I will just wait to update the day after so I will be able to post pictures. Hope all is well with all of our family and friends. Aurevoir!

P.S. A quick shout of Congratulations to Miss Cassie Brown! We are super proud of you, you are going to be an amazing teacher!

Day 2

Things I have learned so far...

1. Jetlag sucks... I powered through yesterday a 40ish hour day, right now I am exhausted at 10am because it feels like my 3am, and I got at least 11 solid hours of sleep.

2. French pasteries are awesome in their own way. They are extremely beautiful almost to the point of where you do not want to eat them (yes even you would think this Al). BUT they are not as sweet as American pasteries. I had my first one last night and was super supprised when it did not taste like a bunch of sugar. If you know me I do not crave sweet things, but love salty things, so this was a pleasant supprise that I personally really enjoyed!

3. Today our plan is to explore Troyes a little bit more and have a Kabab for lunch, the Turkish Fast Food. Then Ashley will be teaching her last class here in Troyes. I am going along to meet her teacher friends and will go to the final class which they are playing Scattergories. After we are done teaching we will grab a Baguette. Ashley still thinks we should use it for food I am convinced that it is for protection on the way home. We will end the day with a little bit of climbing at the gym where Ashley has been climbing. I am super excited to try out my new climbing shoes!

Day 1

I have finally made it to Europe without any problems or delays! I found Ashley waiting for me at the terminal and we both hurried to get on a train into Paris.

Here we are on the metro heading out of Charles De Gaulle. Our train from Paris to Troyes was not till 12:13 so we went across the street and had some coffee and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

Once back in Troyes we headed to Ashley's apartment to drop off my bags then out to see the beautiful town of Troyes. I forgot to grab the camera on the way out the door to buy food but I'm sure I will get some more pictures tomorrow when Ashley is at class or when we explore even more.

So a quick update on the paper chain Ashley made....

IT IS DONE! I ripped the last one down she did not have time the in the morning before she came to get me from the airport to get it so I thought I would take the liberty to get it down.

Tonight we are having a 5 course meal prepared by the hostess with the mostest Miss Ashley Brown! I will let her take a quick break from preparing food to explain each course.

1.Apéritif- The french start off their meal with a drink...due to my location I choose a delicious bottle of one of my favorite Champagnes.

2. Entrée- Appetizer Tomato Mozzarella Salad paired with a Riesling from Alsace.

3. Plat Principal- Main Course Lamb with Potatoes and Green Beans paired with a red wine from Bordeaux.

4. Fromage- Cheese Course! Comte and Chaource with a fresh baguette. Which Dustin almost ate on the way back home and almost had to use it as a weapon on a cyclist coming full steam at us but the cyclist chose well and went into the street before being baguetted (Only Dustin uses it as a verb).

5.Dessert- Pastries that we bought from my favorite boulangerie/patisserie Gérard