the last day of school and the Farewell of my amazing friend Humberto

' Love  Knows No Limits And True Friendships Last a Lifetime'

So for the past week the temperatures here is France have been steaming hot. The other day we had a temperature of 40 degrees and at 2am it was still 34 degrees, so yes i really do mean it when i say it is soooo  hot here. most other days are around 34-38 degrees, still not used to this kind of heat every single day. Humberto and i spent the day at the Beach the other day and me covered me in sand and made me into a mermaid, it was very funny. I'm really enjoying the summer holidays :)

Here are some photos of my last day of school, And the last photo of Ellie, Humberto, Lycia and i  together in France for 2011, just before Lycia left to go back home to Oregon, America :( It Was a sad day all round.

Yesterday Wednesday the 29th Ellie, Humberto and i spend the day at ZOO De La Fleche. it is apparently one of the best zoo's in France. we had a really good day together. we went to a Parrot show where the parrots rode bikes ect. which was very clever. we saw lots of animals the animals in the zoo here were a lot different to the animals we have back home. there were White Lions, Polar Bears, Wolves, Ant eaters, Vultures, Grizzly bears,jaguars ect that we don't have. For lunch we had a picnic together and we bounced on  the bouncy castle alot haha. It Was a really nice day. Sadly though it was the last day with Humberto before he left to go back to Mexico.

 After the Zoo we came back to my house before Ellie and Humberto had to catch their buses. the photo below is the last photo taken of us ' The Three Musketeers' It seems very strange now. Lycia has gone home and Humberto is on his way home and Ellie is now living in Le Mans. It's just me left in La Fleche now. this exchange is going so fast. These 3 people i met on exchange here in France are by far deffinutly some of the most amazing people i have ever met in my life and i know that i will keep contact with them for the rest of my life. Really sad to see them go :(

 ' Together Forever, Never apart. Maybe in Distance but, never in heart '

Love Esther xo

19/06/11 ~ Chateau Chambord and Chateau de Chenonceau ~

Hello all :) so yesterday i spent the day at two very famous Chateaus........

 ~Chateau  Chambord ~

 this Chateau started getting built in 1519 by The young king Francis at the age of 25. this chateau was intended to be a hunting lodge but it's architecture makes it an extravagant chateau since it is 156 metres long and 56 metres tall with 77 staircases, 282 fireplaces and 426 rooms. Francis died in 1547 and never saw his project completed.

 

this is the staircase it is a very famous double spiral suitcase that links the chateaus three floors. the suitcase comprises two concentric spiral flights of stairs that wind independently around a hollow central column. so two people can each take one flight they can see each other through the openings in the central column but never meet.

 the estate covers 5440 hectares, the same size as inner Paris. and is surrounded by a wall of 32km long with six gates. it is the largest enclosed forest park in Europe and the national game reserve containing many types of animals living completely wild. while i was at the castle the whole time i could hear gun shots.

~ Chateau De Chenonceau ~

 this chateau was built on the River Cher in the 16th century.

this garden which consists of 8 triangular lawns (12 000m2) has an entrance overlooked by the house of the estate manager. in the centre is a water fountain that was originally there. the walls run  around the whole garden. with large pot plants placed on them, are cpbered with climbing iceburg roses. the raised terraces are used to protect the garden when the the river overflows

 the picture on the left is of another garden , more intimate garden, offering the perfect image of reinfinement. bordered by the river, these paths allow for a magnificent view over the west facade of the chateau. rose bushes and lavender hedges. it is very pretty, my favorite out of the two.

the photo on the right and below is me standing on the balcony, i think i look quite good being a ruler :)

 the weather wasn't very good and we got a little bit of rain but it was a good day. amazing buildings, beautiful and with alot of history and stories behind them. was a good day, but a very tiring day.

Lots Of Love, Esther xx

Thursday the 2nd - today Thursday the 16th

Hey Everyone!

On Thursday the 2nd of July Ellie and i caught the train to St Nazaire. St Nazaire is where our other exchange student friend Karen lives, she is from Mexico. St Nazaire is in Bretayne so it's the beach. We went to visit her because she is leaving to go back to Mexico next week. In St Nazaire we spent lots of time on the beach sunbathing. We had a really good time we went to a few different beaches and saw her town. we had a really good time :)

last week on Friday (the 10th) was our last day of school year and now i'm on a 3 month Summer break!!! yuss. That Friday i met Lycias sister who had come to visit Lycia from the united states which was nice. Sadly on Friday we had to say goodbye to Lycia, she is going to Paris for 2 weeks with her sister and then Home to the united states. it was really really sad saying goodbye to her, we had become quite close over the passt few months. I Really do hope i get to see her again. It was also the last day everof school with Humberto and Ellie, Humberto goes back to mexico in 3 weeks and Ellie is moving to Le Mans. Le Mans is a town about 45minutes drive from La Fleche so she is going to a new school in the next school year.

on Sunday the 12th i went to a park called 'PuyDuFou' its built in the mid evil times and had lots of different spectacles. i saw sward fights, horses dancing, old fashioned dancing and singing and lots more. my two favorite spectacles were of the three musketeers and the vickings. The three musketeers was in a huge inside theatre, there were horses dancing, people dancing, people comming down from the ceiling, amazing lighting and effects there was even water fountains and water spraying from the ceiling in an inside theatre. I was really blown away. The Vickings Spectacle had lions, leopards, Tigers, cows, dogs, horses and even Hyaenas it was really cool and my host sister and i got selected to dress in togas and be apart of it by sitting in these grand seats beside the ring and yell things, it was really funny. i had a really good day

From Sunday til Yesterday (the 15th) i went to Les Sable D'Olonne again  with my host sister and her friends. we went Sunbathing and i got a little too burnt. By the end of this summer i am going to be BLACK!! we went shopping and swimming in the ocean and went walking through the town and found this little road where all the houses are covered in shell art, their were some amazing peices.

So bring on the rest of Summer, It has been a great start!
Can't wait to see my family when they visit in 159 days and my Aunty in 65
Lots Of Love , Esther xo