The Best of Chambery

Since Chambery is only 20 minutes away by bus, I've been going there a lot to both study and explore. The Old Town is so wonderful to just wander through. And there are a lot of nice patisseries, boulangeries, and other shops to eat at.

This little skyway is the only one remaining in Chambery because skyways like these allowed fires to pass from block to block, ravaging the town

Photobomb! My host sisters are hilarious…

 

Of course, we need to stop for Le Goûter (afternoon snack time in France)! This Chocolat Chaud (hot chocolate) was delicious, but super rich!

A yummy mango and citrus cake

The beautiful museum and library in the Chambery

On the opposite side, the Palais de Justice

The Place St. Leger, one of my favorite places in Chambery! It is so charming…

The cathedral

Inside, the whole church is decorated with Trompe l'oeil paintings! The paintings are made to look like stone designs, kind of giving an optical illusion. I guess this is one of the biggest examples of Trompe l'oeil in Europe!

The square of the church

A delicious Gianduja (chocolate and hazelnut) macaron at the Fountain

The Fontaine des Elephants, the most famous monument in Chambery. 

My kind French picture-takers explained to me that the fountain is called “the elephants without backsides” because you can only see the front half of the statues!

Some of the beautiful painted houses of Chambery. The town has many Italian influences (such as the housing architecture) since it is near the border.

The Charles Dullin Theatre in Chambery

The Chateau des Ducs de Savoie. The Counts of Savoy lived here in the Middle Ages. At that time, Savoie wasn't part of France; it only became annexed by France in the 1800s!

Arriving in La Motte-Servolex and A Visit to Miolans Castle

I've currently been living in La Motte-Servolex for these past two and a half weeks with my second host family. It's a small town but closer to the bigger city of Chambery. We've been doing lots of fun things. I think that I am really starting to get used to the culture and feel more at home!

Meeting Oriane for the first time! She is a super sweet girl, and we get along well. We have the love of pastries in common :) 

Oriane's house

The first weekend we visited a beautiful chateau/castle! It was really rainy, but we got to learn about how they cooked back then and what they ate, how they bathed, and a little bit about alchemy.

Entering the Chateau. It is quite old, I think dating back from the Middle Ages!

I think the dark clouds give a really neat, ominous feel to this photo!

In the alchemist's room. All of the people in the chateau were dressed in historical garb which was really fun!

The beautiful view from the chateau. La Motte is in Savoie, which is a region near the Alps, so there are a lot of mountains nearby

The gardens of the Chateau. There were lots of interesting plants. We were allowed to rub the leaves between our fingers to get the scent which I thought was cool.

Highlights of Barcelona

Hi everyone! I'm sorry that it's been such a long time since I've posted. My host family was on vacation so we were doing a lot of different things and so I was quite busy. During the vacation, we visited Barcelona, Spain. It was really fun! I got to eat a lot of tapas and see many interesting buildings designed by Gaudi.

This is a church in Girona, where we stopped on the way to Barcelona

I thought the walls of this building were very pretty

Trying tapas for the first time

A pretty square

Eating pastries and hot chocolate for breakfast, very yummy!

View over the city

First time eating Paella

Visiting Park Guell, lots of weird architecture. This house reminded me of a gingerbread house.

The Sagrada Familia, definitely a unique church!

The other side of the Sagrada Familia

We visited La Pedrera, a house designed by Gaudi. This is the roof which has an uneven floor!

A statue of Christopher Columbus