Thoughts

Sooooo.....yes. I know I'm a day late....I apologize for that. A lot of stuff yesterday blew up...like booking my trip to Amsterdam for next weekend!!!! That means I had to put this post off for a day...I apologize for my lack of punctuality this week.

Moving forward to this week's topic:

I don't know if the title tipped you off on this or not, but this week, I'm going to give you a little window into simply what has been going through my mind on a random basis. These thoughts range from what I miss about America, to a little food stand in town that I really want to try, to a random thought about a person on the street.

1. "Man, these buses are actually really punctual." This is actually something that went through my head a lot for the first few weeks and now, not so much. I think it could have something to do with the fact that there has been a pretty large demolition project on my route that has been taking away a full lane of traffic. Either way, I think the bus system here is much better than anything I've experienced in America. Some of my friends here would probably disagree, but believe me, taking the bus, no matter how punctual it is or isn't, is a MUCH better alternative than walking the 2 miles to the city to get to class everyday.

2. "Holy crap, I'm in France." This thought goes through my head a little more often than I would like to admit...I've been here almost a month, so you'd think I'd be used to Aix by now and be able to call it home...This is not the case. This thought usually occurs after a class that has been particularly entertaining. I'll leave class to go to The Cave (a hangout and homework area here at school) and while I'm walking, I'll hear French all around me and think, "Holy crap, I'm in France."

The really cool part of that is that I can understand a lot more of what I'm hearing than I could when I first arrived. Even my host mom has told me on multiple occasions that my French has gotten wayyyy better since my first day here. That is without a doubt the best compliment I have received in the past month. I'm hoping that I'll be kind of close to fluent by the time my family comes to celebrate Christmas with me here.

3. "Todd Helton just retired and I didn't get to see his last game at Coors Field." This thought definitely dominated my mind today. I've grown up watching the Toddfather play first base for the Colorado Rockies and he became my favorite player of all time. Hell, he's the reason why I wore 17 for most of my youth baseball "career." I would have given anything to be in Denver last night to see how it all played out even just with my family in front of a TV.

I will always remember the iconic image of him throwing his arms in the air after catching throw from Troy Tulowitzki for the final out in the 2007 NLCS. Words cannot describe how much Todd Helton meant to my childhood and my life with baseball. He is one of the main reasons why I fell in love with the sport in the first place. He will definitely be missed in the Denver sports world.

4. "Man, I really want to try that place!" This thought goes through my head all the time. I could not even begin to list the restaurants I walk by on a daily basis that I want to try but haven't had a chance to yet. French food is amazing (obviously) and the restaurants are as well. I have been able to try a number of great restaurants since being here, but it seems like the list is always growing and will never be conquered. Which is fine, because it will just give me another excuse to come back all the time for the rest of my life.

5. "THESE YACHTS ARE AMAZING!!" Ok, I'll admit it: this thought didn't go through my head while I was in Aix. SHOCKER, I know. While we spent a day in Saint Tropez last weekend, we walked by some of the most amazing and biggest yachts I have ever seen. One even had automatic doors to get inside, because, ya know, why not?? That day I vowed that I will own a yacht at some point in my life, even if I have to wait until I'm into my 60's.

I think I am going to stop there for now with my random thoughts. I know this post is a bit shorter than the other three, but time is running short and I need to head out to meet some people to start the night.

But before I go, I will update you on what I have been doing for the past week and what is on tap for the next week.

This past weekend was a fairly relaxed one compared to what I've been experiencing for the first three weeks. We just spent Saturday in Saint Tropez seeing yachts and then going to an AMAZING beach. That definitely has been my favorite day trip so far. Saint Tropez is an awesome seaside town. I know that I'll be back as much as I possibly can (when I can afford it).

This weekend, as in tomorrow, I'm heading to Nice again, but for the weekend this time. I'm heading there with one of my friends. I'll be riding the TGV for the first time and I'm really excited to finally travel like a local. I'm really looking forward to a nice relaxed weekend of eating local seafood and spending a lot of downtime on the beach.

I apologize for the lack of pictures this week. I didn't take many good pictures over the weekend. If you want to see the kind of yachts I saw, just google "huge yachts in Saint Tropez." I guarantee that you'll find what we saw.

Until next Wednesday (hopefully), have a great week and I hope you enjoyed this week's installment of my life abroad!!