wine tasting and scary controleurs... just another day in bordeaux

So, I'm off on my next big trip outside of Bordeaux! My friend Rachelle got in from Korea on Tuesday and I went to meet her at the train station (only I couldn't find her for 1/2 hr, which is next-to-impossible because the Gare St-Jean is super small as far as gares go... Turns out Rachelle was waiting in a Centre d'Acceuil which I didn't know existed). Just to make it clear, Rachelle is my friend from Winnipeg but she's teaching English for another year in Seoul, and for her vacation she came to France to visit me!

So, we've had a few adventures over the last few days, including a run-in with the Tram Police that fortunately ended with Rachelle not getting a ticket despite a super-huge mistake on my part. (it's a long story, but if you ever want to hear it, I can tell it). Today we went to a vineyard for a free tour and a free dégustation of 4 different wines afterwards. It was pretty awesome. Tonight we're heading to bed early so we can get up at 3:30am to get to the train station to catch our 5:52am train ride to Paris. It should be pretty fun. In fact, our whole trip is going to consist of early morning traveling. We're spending 2 nights in Paris and then flying to Krakow to stay for 3 nights. After spending one more night in Paris, Rachelle is heading back to Korea and I'm going to Arles, a city in the south of France, for one night before I head home. It's going to be a pretty fun and but pretty exhausting at the same time. But we'll be in Poland! I'm pumped for that. We're going to try to brush up on our basic Polish before we get there (well, in all reality it won't be brushing up... it'll be learning from scratch), which is exciting for me, because, well, you know me and languages.

So, just a little update in regards to my last posting: things are going better for me in regards to my language use here. Rachelle and I have been speaking French to each other and we've been in lots of situations to practice it (and she even has a franco-manitobain accent, and I'm really proud of myself that I've been able to understand everything she's said so far!). I think that last week I was just in a little bit of a rut and was feeling overwhelmed and just needed to get over it. I guess I'm bound to have some moments like that. Thank you to everyone who've written me encouraging messages in regards to the post (and previous ones, too!). It's helped a lot!

I've attached a few pictures below. I tried to post a little video of me singing in the choir at church last Friday, but I couldn't get it to work, so I guess you'll have to see me singing in French when I get home. The first one is me and Rachelle in front of a random building in Bordeaux. The other two are from the Chateau: I'd like to say that we drank those huge wine bottles we're holding, but they really are just props sitting in the boutique for the purpose of taking pictures. However it is possible to purchase wine in that size... The other one is just funny. If you look closely at the picture beside Rachelle, you may recognize Gerard Depardieu with the proprietor of the vineyard. His expression is priceless. Well that's all for now!