Blogs from Thionville, Lorraine, France, Europe

Well, this is going to (or attempt to) encompass everything in the month of Décembre. I am not sure I will succeed, but I will try! OKAY The first Monday in Déc. I had a Rotary meeting and it was pretty cool. At every meeting the give information about something, and this meeting had a presentation about the island of St. Martin. It wasnt as long as the first meeting, but it was informative. I exchanged flags with the president of my club Mme Marie-Noël Mariatte. That was the first flag exchange I have done while in France, and I highly doubt I will do another, but one never really knows. The dinner afterwards was excellent as well. :) In my region, there are many traditions that come from Germany. One such tradition is called the ... read more

I think I shall start with Strasbourg. Strasbourg is the city furthest to the east in France. Directly east of it is Germany. There is a lot of German influence in Strasbourg because of this reason. Some of the oldest houses in France can be found here, and many of them are traditionally German. I did not go with my host family, but rather, some friends of the family. They were very nice, and we spent the day touring the city with their son Pierre, who goes to the university there. The most beautiful thing I saw was the Cathedral de Strasbourg. It is an immense cathedral that is one of the highest points in the city, and has been for over 1000 years! If anyone might recall, Prez Obama was in Strasbourg. Oh yeah, thats ... read more

The festival of Schueberfouer is held once a year in the city of Luxembourg in the country of Luxembourg. This huge celebration is basically a giant carnival. I went on the last day with my host parents. There were lots of rides and games and food! I had some pretty initresting eats while I walked with my host parents. We didnt go on any rides, but we did walk around the area for quite a while. I learned that the Schueberfouer is a festival so that everyone who lives in Luxembourg can get together for one day of the year in the same city. I dont really understand it because it is such a small country, but that's the general idea! For future reference, it is pronounced: Shoo-ber-fwhere. The same day as the Shuberfouer, but a ... read more

Saturday continued We relaxed for a while then headed off for Dinner, took a walk into the Town Centre, found a few Bars, but nothing Restaurant looking. We had noticed a place next to the Hotel so decided to eat there. We had the buffet starter, then a Chicken in Tandoori sauce and the local Pork Haggisy type thing, good value, average food. Not sure if I have explained the Hotels we stay in. Premiere Classe are a chain of 217 Hotels that range throughout France, they cost about 40 Euro's per night, and they are more or less the same at each location. They are clean, have free internet connections, and you can book online very easily, and they have automatic check-ins. You do get what you pay for, in that they are basic, but ... read more