I've Seen Enough Churches...

So according to the last post, last night I was going to relax and catch up on work. But of course, just like every other night, something comes up - this time, MT called saying "I have tickets to a concert at Notre Dame de la Riche." When I asked what kind of concert, she replied "I don't know." Hmmm...so I was expected some kind of outdoors concert with live music - possibly rock, possibly just some violinists or something. Nope. Turns out the concert was in an old Gothic church and was 2 hours of a choir singing Gregorian hymns in several different languages (all incomprehensible because of the length of the notes) - including Latin, Old French, Italian, and a bit of English. Even the English was nearly impossible to understand. Overall, the experience was very cool, however - the voices were incredible. But it does get a bit dull after an hour of Latin singing that all sounds the same...

So today, after class, a group of us visited several "boulangeries" to finish our projects on French bread and other foods and then relaxed at the Institute for a bit - David and I played some foosball (boy, I am awful at this game...) before the whole group had a celebration for the end of the course (though it doesn't technically end until Monday) with wine (Vouvray white) and sweets bought by the professors.

Dinner was quite different today - I already knew that my host parents would not be there, but I did not expect to come down at 8:30pm to see a group of around 15 18-20 year olds eating on the lawn. They were the friends of Martin, my host "brother" who just finished the "bac" (test after high school) and is beginning his summer. It was fun to talk to some people my age again and eat some "steaks" (which are really hamburgers eaten by hand?) and French fries - the closest thing to an American barbecue I have had here yet.

Well, tonight, I again followed MT (this time with Hansky, Marie, and Christina) to the beautiful Cathedrale Saint-Gatien for a special occasion in which the church is open at night (it NEVER is). Even more beautiful than the inside is the glorious facade outside lit up at night - with its 1500s "flamboyant" style mixed with tenth century Gallo-Roman and 12th century Gothic style. It was a delightful night - but I think I'm ready to chill out a bit and cut it out with the churches.

We take our placement tests for the 4-week course at the Institute tomorrow!