As I Walk Through the Valley of the Shadow of...Chateaux!

This weekend I went on an excursion to the Loire Valley of France.  Walt Disney himself couldn't have written a more perfect, whimsical weekend.  The Loire Valley is home to some of France's largest and oldest chateaux.  Some of them dated as far back as the 13th century! It was so surreal to walk through the halls that the royalty once did, to cross drawbridges, and to see our reflection in real moats! We saw a total of four chateaux. Equally as important, however, was the tour of the wine production site and caves at Vouvray. We even got to taste three of their wines at the end of the tour! So frustrating to not be able to bring any bottles back to the US! If only my birthday was a month sooner... The winery is famous for making sparkling wine (can't call it Champagne though, since it is not from the Champagne region).  It was delicious! It was so nice to get out of the city for a couple of days and be out in nature. Being out in the actual country definitely put my french to the test! Almost everyone in Paris knows a little bit of english so if communication starts to break down, they usually just switch over.  In the country however, that is not really the case.  It was great practice.  It was so nice to be out in nature for awhile instead of the urban jungle.  The weather even cooperated! The rain finally stopped on Friday and today the sun even made an appearance! However, I was quickly pulled out of my castle-filled fairy tale by reality this afternoon. I was in the chateau gift shop and I picked up an angel figurine. I was halfway to the cash register to pay for "grandma's souvenir," before the harsh reality caught up with me. I stopped dead in my tracks. The grieving process is such a strange one. Somedays I can think fondly of good times had with grandma and smile, without any tears.  Other days, all it takes is a few seconds of a song on my iPod and it is full on waterworks.  Then there are days like today, when I manage to escape the unpleasant reality for a bit, only to come crashing down again. The worst part is the guilt that comes afterwards. I forgot grandma was gone, even if only for a few minutes. How could I have forgotten? Definitely a roller coaster of emotions. Phonetics class is over now so I get to sleep in for an extra hour and a half every day before class! I am very excited about that (naturally). This week is bittersweet because all of my friends that are in the 4 week program are leaving this weekend. I have met some incredible people over here and I am sad to see some of them go already.  Thank goodness for facebook and skype! Even when we are back home, spread out all over the United States (and Canada) we will still be able to keep in touch. As always, I would like to end this post with a quote that has helped me today. "I've realized that in the end, it takes more bravery to find out who you are beyond your pain, than to merely survive it."-Anonymous