Winter Holiday - but not for me

So before I start on France things I've found some photos from the holidays that I've forgotten about...

    

I know it's a bit late, or early, only eight months left till they start selling christmas-marsipan in Norway :D

But over to something slightly different. Last week most of Valence was on winter-holiday. But not 4A at ESISAR, that's me. Because we've got a project to finish! But as the profs and the most of the people in the companies we're cooperating with are all gone on vacation, the  week has been pretty chill. Wednesday we had a raclette during lunch break for all the students in the PI that was interested. It was super nice, but you feel more like sleeping than continuing work afterwards...

raclette at ESISAR

I've also finally managed to go skiing, it it turned out a bit more complicated than expected. Mostly because of this little mis match:

....

So my advise is not to pack ski equipment in august.  Thus I ended up spending quite a bit of time getting to and from the ski-rental and  standing behind a seemingly endless line of german tourists needing boots, poles, helmets, skis and who knows what!! when all I needed was a pair of skis! By the way, thank you Vicky for showing me to the ski-rental!

But when I finally got out, it was pretty much amazing! Les Deux Alpes was showing it's best side with bluebird and a bit of pow pow I couldn't complain! Not until I realised that the guy who adjusted my bindings hadn't listened when I told him my weight. I realised this while I  was flying through the air after having lost both my skis. Luckily the snow was of the white fluffy type ;)

Finally good to go!

Because of the delayed start, there was no time for breaks. Thereby no pictures lavish lunches with wine and cheese. But a foreseeing buddy had brought something to make the walk back to the bus so much better.

all is well that ends well :)

At least I've learnt the importance of checking your equipment before going anywhere. I hope to be better prepared next time!!

À Bientôt!

Back in business

So, after a "short" break in my blogging activity I'm back! January was pretty full-on with reports to write and exams to study for, and that was only for the fifth year subjects. At the same time the Industrial Project  was starting up for the 4th year students. This project is what will keep me busy this semester, that by the way lasts till the beginning of july! Which means that my summer holiday this year is seriously shortened!  But I'm sure the spring/beginning of summer in Valence will be pretty nice, and as my courses didn't start until mid-september last year I can't really complain. ( But I will miss VEKO!)

Winter in Valence: Not enough snow to stop to give me a day off...

The new year has also brought some new experiences. Amon others seeing palm trees with snow on :) The first snow fall also came with an e-mail from the university administration explaining how much snow is needed before you can stay at home with a clean conscience! (If the busses aren't going, the schools are closed) I was super excited by the prospect of getting a day off because of a little snow. But as it turned out they're not completely unprepared and I never got that extra day off...

galette des rois

This is a tradition i can like, it seems to be connected to the epiphany (helligetrekongersdag/trettendedagen) but they are sold throughout january. Inside, at least the in the bigger ones, there is a fève, a little figurine  made of porcelain. And whoever gets the figure also gets to wear the crown that comes with the cake.

Hipanema chillin and keeping me company

It's also the time for winter holiday, because of the project we didn't have one, but everybody else has a week or two in february. As my flatmates were going away I agreed to look after the cat. It went surprisingly well. Even though she woke me up at 6.30 everyday because she wanted to be fed. The same week I ended up getting the flu, or something like it, and it was quite nice to have some company.

My biggest weakness

I've picked up the bad habit of eating nutella with a spoon.... And I don't know how to stop! In an effort to limit my intake of this chocolaty substance I only buy the smallest jars available. But you can get nutella everywhere! And as there seems to be an endless supply of crêpes and nutella at every organised social event, it's not and easy addiction to kick. However, I've started climbing again and as the days gets longer the opportunities for things like skiing and biking are increasing. So apart from the obvious fact that there are definitively healthier food options out there i might continue eating my neutella without bigger consequences than feeling a bit sick :)

I'll try and get out a new post within a week, but no promises!

À Bientôt!

Hjem til Jul!

My last week in Valence has gone by really fast! Two exams and I'm not sure how many labs. But thursday was me last day and now I'm officially on holiday:) At least if I disregard all the exams that are coming up in january that I need to study for…

However, I'm still looking forward to going home and celebrating xmas! Not planning on writing any new posts during the holiday, so I wish you all un joyeux Noël  et une bonne année!

À Bientôt!

Second to last week before the holidays!!!

I've made lussikatter! A couple of days early (the 9th), but it was for a x-mas gouter (the meal betweeen luch and dinner) for the international students. Didn't add enough saffron so they're not really yellow, but they tasted nice anyway :)

Also managed to get some footage from one of my labs. Might not seem that impressive, but I'm pretty happy that it works!

There has actually been quite a bit going on this week, in addition to exams and lab reports… This was the weekend  for the illumination of Valence.

 Not as big as the one in Lyon, but everyone in Valance was there and it was pretty sweet. And really quite random..

The theatre on the right

In addition to lighting up buildings, dressing up, having a parade etc. etc. They also had a pretty big show at the Champs de Mars  that lasted for almost an hour. It was kind of weird, but nice anyway. Not sure if I got the story right, but there was a giant fossilised sea creature, a museum directrice that went crazy and many weird things...  

Sea creature has opened itself and weird beings emmerges.

beings...

After the show it was time for the fireworks! I love fireworks! And so does the french it seems. Not sure how long it lasted, but it was choreographed (not sure if that's the correct word, but it was all timed and stuff) to the "Reine de la neige" song, then followed by Mariah Carey with "All I want for christmas". It was great!

The theme was gold and silver :)

After the fireworks we decided to move towards the mairie to check out a free concert. This turned out to be a positive surprise. Not really sure how these guys ended up in Valence, but the Hypnotic brass ensemble  form Chicago were awesome!

the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble

And just to make the evening a bit more special, we decided to go to an Irish pub. By the way, one of the girls that was there (armerican) turned out to speak swedish pretty well. Second person I've met here who speaks swedish, the other one was Swiss.. 

After this rather interesting saturday the sunday was spent studying, redoing old TD's. I was pretty happy about that when the exam I had today consisted mostly of old TD's :)  

It was so nice and sunny today!
(Should have worn sunglasses)

Well, only one exam to go! (before the vacation anyway..)

À bientôt!

Fête des lumières

I'm going to try and get back in to the habit of writing a new post each week.  And since I've actually done something other than revising and going to the market this weekend, I actually have something to write about! Because this was the weekend of Fête des Lumières in Lyon. It did take a bit of organising and reorganising to get the transport sorted out as SNCF (the train company) was hit by a strike. La greve is something you can never get away from in France.. So our visit was shortened by a couple of hours and we were going home with the last train at 21.20. But as we left Valence at nine thirty in the morning, we still had a long day in Lyon.  We being Lara and Caroline, both staying in Valence, and Pip from my french course who was joining us from Grenoble. 

Artisan macaroons with some quite original flavours,
I went for the safer choice, caramel beurre salé. Yummy!

Drinking vin chaud in the Rue Mercière

We did have an inkling that Lyon was going to be quite crowded, and this turned out to be very true. We didn't get on till the third metro going from Part-Dieu to Bellecour because of all the people. But
when we finally got there it eased up a bit as all the people spread out over town.

Disco at Fourvière

The day was spent walking around, snacking on crêpes, hotdogs (in baguettes), aligot and drinking vin chaud. It's getting quite cold down here as well and I'm considering buying a new coat… We visited the market, old Lyon and of course Fourvière. It's the touristy thing to do.

Think Pip regrets not buying a crêpe 

As the night, and the start of the fête, was getting closer we got a tip that lead us to the Marché de Nöel which was a really nice place to get the christmas spirit going.

Marché de Nöel

Making xmas tree cakes, was so nice and warm in front of the fire :)

Trying french specialities 

At six o'clock the show started and we began our tour at place Bellecour with a light show celebrating the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. After this it started to get really crowded. (There are more than 4 million visiting the city during the fête.) We did see some lovely shows and had a rally good time and we made it to the train station with 5 minutes to spare. But I won't recommend anyone to depend on catching a train during the fête as it's nearly impossible to get from A to B. Unless you fly, that might work…

Light show at place Bellecour

Crowd… 

"Before the Words",  installation at place saint nizier

The weekend was ended with a visit to the Valrona (best chocolate in the world!)  shop, to get some xmas goodies. And you can basically eat as much chocolate as you like, because they let you taste everything. I'm definitely going back to se the cité!  So, that was my weekend. Hopefully I'll have something nice to write about next weekend to:)

The Valrhona cité 

À Bientôt!

November ...

I'm sorry about the lack of new posts lately (the last mont)… There  has been quite a lot to do with exams and reports and not to much outside of uni. But we do have some highlights!

I've eaten gratin de ravioles, very nice and very filling. I couldn't finish my plate!

I've also cut my hair!

I've been to the movies, we saw hunger games. In french!

I've also started going to the same gym as L & M. (the seasons have finally caught up, and it's no longer very tempting to go biking)

We're also getting closer to xmas and they their xmas decorations here, especially the shiny/sparkly/blinking ones! It's not just for the main shopping streets, they're all over town. Every little ally is over strewn with glittering lights!

shiny shiny!

And Tante Anne has sent me a calendar!! Both Hipa and I were super excited when we found this big box waiting!

she loves boxes

 And in the big box was 23 packets that are making it so much easier to get up in the morning  :)

Today I got a marsipangris :D I've also heard that there's been a fire in Trondheim, but it seems like my appartment is doing fine :)

Hopfully the next update wont be that far away!

À Bientôt!

Des Vacances

Always good to start with a picture.
Here: nice view of Ardèche

Not really sure how often you guys are checking my blog but it's been a while since my last post, sorry about that, but at least there is a bit more than usual to write about! First of all, I've managed to open a bank account! There is a bit more to it here than what I'm used to…. (I don't have a card yet, nor any money in my account). I've had one very nice weekend exploring more of Ardeche with my bike.

That hill in front of me is where I usually go biking.

That is a really big bird that flew right over my head and nearly made me fall of my bike...

Also I went to Lyon on a gathering for the international students arranged by AGERA (Alliance des Grandes Écoles Rône-Alpes Auvergne). Before I spent another weekend biking in Grenoble, where the mountain tops are now covered in snow!!!

Lots of international students, I seemed to be the only norwegian tough...  

Not sure if taking pictures while riding a bike through the city is a clever thing to do, but you can see the snowy mountains. Winter is coming!  (sorry, could't help myself)  

In addition to all this I've also been on vacation!  Contrary to the practice at NTNU we actually get "Høst-ferie" here, or "Tous Saints" as they call it. Kathrine came to visit and we started the week in Lyon exploring the town as super turistas and trying out the bouchon lyonnaise, the food typical for Lyon. Which is pretty heavy stuff, but also very good. So it was probably a good idea to head south before we got too used to it.

Place Bellecour med statuen av Ludvik 14. og i bakgrunnen Basilique de Notre Dame de Fourvière og "lille eifeltårnet" som jeg ikke husker hva heter…. *

Lyon by night, med elven La Saône.*

Toppen av Forvière*

Meg og utsikt over Lyon fra Forvière, til venste for hodet mitt ser dere "Le Crayon" eller Tour  Part-Dieu som det egentlig heter.*

Et lite lysglimt i en av de mange traboules, en slags tuneller/snarveier gjennom/under husene, som Lyon er kjent for.*

Husbåter på Le Rhône i fint høstveær.*

After a couple of hours on the TGV and the TER we arrived in Banyuls wednesday evening, and woke up the next morning to bluebird and 22 degrees. We also tried some fine dining at Le Fanal (Michelin star!!), luckily they have some set menus that even students can afford once in a while.

For Halloween, we went on an excursion to Coullioure, where the kids go trick-or-treating in the shops, shouting "Des bonbons ou un sort".  They also had a Halloween-party in Banyuls that evening. They do love their loud music down there, it's not just for the tourists.

Think I prefer Coullioure in  the fall when there are fewer tourists and a bit more space at the beach,,,

Can't finish this post without saying that the first of november I went for a morning jog and then for a morning swim, and it was lovely!

Kathrine has gone home and I started the week with an exam. But yesterday we turned on the heating and it's kind'a nice being inside listening to the wind, drinking a cup of tea.

À Bientôt!

* Seem to have written some of the captions in norwegian.