First day of school

What a long day.

I had to be at the University at 8:45 to take my placement exam, and I was running a bit late today. Fortunately, so was the school. I made it there just in time to follow my group to the exam room. It took 2 hours, and had 4 parts. Each one was a bit tougher than the last. I'll find out Friday how I did.

After the exam, I went to the office to get my student card and pay tuition. I met a girl named Maria. She's from Dalhousie, New Brunswick. She speaks next to no French, and got here yesterday. Tomorrow we're doing a trip with the school to a little city south of here, called Beaune. There's a vineyard there, and a hospice that apparently has the most beautiful roof in the region. I'm terribly excited.

After lunch, we went to a brief presentation about the history of the city and the region. Very informative. Then Maria and I went adventuring downtown. She lives in the heart of the city. Because she just arrived yesterday, and I didn't know the area we were in, we got lost.

This is lost Maria. I'm not sure what was the bigger indicator that we were foreigners; her sitting looking at the map, or me taking a picture of her sitting looking at the map. :)

On the way back, we found Saint Michael's Cathedral. Mathilde showed it to me on our walk around the city, but it was closed. Today it was open, so we went in. The above picture is what you see when you walk in. 

This is the door and ceiling. Incredibly detailed, and gorgeous. 

A picture hanging on the wall. They were closing when I took this, so I'm not sure what it represents. 

A carousel running in a public square. Charming. 

This is the view from Maria's apartment. She's right downtown, on the 5th floor of an apartment building. The soundproofing in the windows is fantastic. I didn't hear any of the noise from outside until I opened the window to take this picture. 

Boeuf bourgignonne. I made this! I was pretty dang proud of myself. On the plate is bacon, onion, and mushrooms. Beef is searing in the pot. It has to simmer a while, but it will be delicious tomorrow. 

TRIVIA TIME!!!

Did you know...

• The adjective "bourgignonne" means "prepared using wine," and "à la dijonnaise" means "prepared using mustard."
• There are more than 200 000 people in Dijon, which is 40.41 km squared. Lethbridge has just over 80 000 people, and is 121.92 km squared. Dijon has more than twice the population, in a third of the space! But it doesn't feel too crowded. 
• The University here has 25 000 students. That's a lot more than the U of L's 8 000 students!

I should go to bed. Tomorrow is going to be another full day. 

À bientôt!