Potluck de Pâques

My first Easter away from home! 

Easter happened to be on the weekend that Miki visited me although he had to leave midday to catch his train/flight back to Hungary.  But we did have a nice breakfast and pastries on the beach to celebrate Easter a little. 

Fruity-chocolate tart.

 Beautiful day!

School was canceled on Monday, and my Canadian friend Angela organized a potluck dinner for some of the international students who lived in our student residence so that everyone could celebrate away from home. She was quite the Nervous Nellie about it, but it turned out to be a great success.

We had so much food! 

I made jambalaya, because I figured it'd be relatively easy and cheap if I didn't get chicken. 

I ended up having to make it in every pot/pan that I own (which is just two...) because I had bought so much sausage (hooray for almost-expired meat discounts!). 

The Hogwarts Back-to-School Feast. 

I didn't think the jambalaya tasted that great, but everyone LOVED it. 

Like. Really. 

And it didn't even have cayenne pepper. They just don't even know. 

A few people even asked me for the recipe. 

Small sampling of the food. Pot in the middle is part of the jambalaya. 

We had pretty much anything you could think of: ratatouille, fruit salad, two green salads, bread, cheeses, wine, sushi, rice, duck, and probably more that I've forgotten! 

We also had some kind of delicious Italian cake and tiramisu for dessert.

The Anglophones: Blair, me, and Angela. 

It was a very lovely dinner, and a nice substitute for a family Easter. 

Tout le monde!
Breaking world records with 3 redheads. 

Biot

Some days in France, they have random holidays and/or school events that require all classes to be canceled! This happens a lot! 

One such day was "la Ronde des Facs" on March 21st (La ronde means 'round'; Facs is short for facultés, which is what they call the different colleges within the university. All of my classes are within la fac de lettres). It was actually a good excuse for no school, because it's the school's annual walk to raise money for disabled students. .....But I mean, who schedules a school-wide event for a day of classes and then all of the teachers have to reschedule their classes at times that ruin people's (my) social lives? Université de Nice, that's who. 

The girls of the other American exchange program at our school planned a trip to the charming little town of Biot and kindly invited us with them for our free day. 

Biot was only a short train trip away, and then an even shorter bus ride up a hill to the actual city. Biot is a petite ville that is known for its glassblowing.

And glassblowing is AWESOME!! New career. 

We brought along picnic lunches to be as cute as possible. 

Taking a quick sandwich break while the others who were less-prepared searched for a grocery store.  

We also got some delicious macaroons at a small shop near our final picnic spot in the middle of the town. The store had kooky macaroon flavors, and anything kooky has a place in my heart. 

Being a biddy, showing off my sweets. 

After lunch we went to two different glassblowing studios. The first one was more intended for tourists and was a lot larger. We saw a guy blow a glass cup. The gallery also had some really amazing stuff. The second studio was a lot smaller, but it was a lot easier to see the men working. They made it look so easy! 

We also went to a gallery that had really awesome stuff, stuff that was much more complicated than the normal vases and cups. 

Including these Blibbering Humdingers (and the globes at the top of the page).

It was a lovely little day. The weather was beautiful, and I got to hang out with the American girls who I didn't know very well. We did a bit of shopping afterward, and I got some very delicious fig aperitif (that I saved to share with a later guest). And, of course, we ended the day with a few glasses of espresso and wine.

The whole group at the first studio:

I just so happen to be in the middle.
 Hooray for companions near my height! 

BRB, quiting school now; Becoming a glass blower, TTYL. LOLZ  

Wine O'Clock

Wine is super cheap (and delicious) in France! End of story. 

And don't worry Mother, I shared most of these bottles and it was over 4 months. 

Vin Rosé

Wine with guests. 

Vin rouge

Vin Blanc

This one was just awful. 

Vin Rouge

Vin Yummy

Organic! 

Wine is Vin in French....

Vin vin vin vin vin vin vin