a la karaokeee!!

We found a new hobby in Albi.. karaoke!! Tuesday night Tim and Gerry took us to a local bar in Albi called L'Estabar. Here we met up with some Albi and Brens students. Everyone let loose and had some fun!! Of course, Owen and Ian started off the karaoke by singing "I Will Survive." They turned this song into a hardcore screaming session. Needless to say, everyone was entertained. And after their performance, I wasn't afraid to get up there and sing. haha We piled everyone into Tim's van around 12:30 AM and headed back to Ambialet. We had a really fun night and hope to do it again!! The Albi and Brens students also had a blast! I feel like we were able to socialize with them more and get to know them on a more personal level.

Before karaoke, we had a pretty busy day! First, we went to Cagnac de mines. This is a mining museum that used to be home to a mine. We got to wear hard hats and go on a little tour of a stimulated/fake mine. Quick story about that.. we were told we were going down 200 meters to visit the mine. We go into an elevator and it's all old and kinda scary. I started getting scared, haha. The elevator ride was very bumpy and the lights would go on and off. We finally reached our destination and I was like "wow that was crazy!" ...and then I found out, we didn't go anywhere. haha It was a stimulated elevator ride. Obviously, it would be too dangerous to go into a real mine. haha That was my blonde moment of the day!


After that, they took us to some old castle/ruins place. I completely forget the name because Tim didn't know much history about it. However, it was built in the 14th century and was the tallest building in the South of France until some building dominated it in Toulouse. This place was beautiful and had an amazing view of Albi. The tower was soo soo high and we climbed it!!! It was a little scary because it was a very narrow spiral staircase and there were a lot of dark parts. I feel like I conquered my fear of heights a bit and it was definitely worth the climb!





Next, we went to Notre Dame de la Derche. Here we met some Franciscans and they showed us around the church. It was very very pretty! One guy did all of the paintings and it took him about 17 years. It was so pretty. We also had the opportunity to climb the bell tower and play the bells. I forget the name of it, but it was the type that had a series of bells and you played them like a piano! It was a lot of fun! Then we got another view of Albi by walking around the top of the church. Again, it was gorgeous! The Fransicans then hosted us for dinner. We had a very good dinner of soup, chicken, green beans, salad, and dessert!! It was very very good!


Tuesday was a pretty busy day, but we had tons of fun!! Yesterday was a pretty laid back day and I caught up on some sleep! We had no class or anything, so it was a pretty good day for relaxing!

We made some soup tonight for tour de table! It was really good!! I like cooking here on Thursdays and learning different types of recipes. The stuff we make isn't very hard either, so I'm excited to bring the recipes back home for everyone to try:)

I hope the pictures are working out for everyone who wants to view them! I update that site quite a bit, so check back if you're interested:)