Fancy French Dinner

I'd been planning to go to Paris this weekend, but ended up canceling my plans. That was a shame, but it did mean that I was here in Aix for our exchange program's year-end dinner. Because they didn't tell us about the date for this dinner until I'd already planned to go to Paris, I didn't think I'd get to go.

Anyway, on Thursday night all 40-or-so American students met at La Madeleine, a fancy restaurant near the court in Aix. The program paid, which was good because we ate well. My entrée was a pastry with melted goat's cheese and smoked ham inside. It was incredibly good. Next I had loup de mer, which despite meaning "wolf of the sea" turned out to be sea bass wrapped in a pastry with cheeses and salad. It was also fantastic. Finally, we had crème brulée, which wasn't really fantastic compared to the rest of the meal.

Still, it was a great evening and one of the last times our program will all be together; some students started leaving for the U.S. yesterday. As such, our three program directors gave little speeches about how much they'd enjoyed having us here despite the strikes, etc etc. They also asked if the students had anything to say, so must of us stood up and mentioned how much we'd learned, that we'd miss French food, or something similar. However, the last student to speak gave a long rant about all the problems our program directors had caused him, which ended with telling one, "You're useless... Just kidding."

Other than that moment of awkwardness, though, everything was great.