I hiked up a mountain this weekend

Yup. I walked about 20km Saturday and hiked to the top of the dormant volcano - Puy-de-Dome. At the summit it was -10C even without the 70km wind.

My beard froze.

Noah's was better...

This one's for Clemson World Magazine!

All my mountain pictures are here (at the bottom).

I know its been awhile since my last post (sorry 'bout that!) and a lot has happened. First and foremost, I moved into my apartment. I know, for those of you who have a place to live, this isn't that marvelous of an announcement. However if you slept on une canape (couch) for deux semaine (two weeks) then you would be plenty happy.

French landlords are WAAAAAAY better than US landlords. Way better. Here is a list of items given to Noah and me:

Frigo

Micro-onde 

Plates x6

Cups x6

Coffee cups x6

Utensils x abunch

Table

Chairs x3

Bar stools x2 (brand new)

Curtains x2

Beds x2

Bedsheets x4

Pillows x2

A new car

Still waiting on that new car, but its amazing how much they provided for us. The landlord's mother lives two floors above us and speaks no English - at all. She came down and hung out with us for 30 min on Sunday night just to ask us what else she should buy us, find the best way to get internet, and warn us of the "druggae" outside. Charming lady.

Want to see my apartment? Look at this picture. I don't live inside the most obvious structure on the page, but I live within a "I-wouldn't-be-phased-by-being-dared-to-run-out-my-door-and-touch-it-in-a-snowstorm-with-nothing-but-tennis-shoes-on" distance. TMI? Nope, just the truth.

More things different in France then in the US:

-People pass you walking on the left rather than right (yes, they drive on the right)

-EVERYONE wears jeans. You spot foreigners by their non-jeans leg apparel.

-French people care less about money and more about "that's the way we do it here"

-Offensive to French people: not saying "Hello" or "Goodbye" when entering a store

-Not Offensive to French people: telling them: "When you talk, you look like a fish"

-Offensive to French people: speaking informally (using "tu" rather than "vous")

-Not Offensive to French people: saying: "I don't know, you just look bad today"

Thanks for listening/reading. Promise I will update again before this week is over.