Drink, Drink and Drink ..... loose yourself in Student Erasmus...

After Food, lets move to drink...

So, we ate a lot in our last post:

http://lifemeanstravel.blogspot.in/2013/09/five-pillars-of-student-exchange-food.html

Now coming on to the next pillar, lets talk about Drinks. Now all of you who think that I went only for drinks in Europe, please consider this " I Do not Drink any Alcohol". So just do not interpret Drinks as only Alcohol.But yes this blog is on famous drinks that you should never miss while travelling in Europe. 

First let my introduce to 3 drinks that should not be missed in Europe:

1. Bourgogne  Wine and famous Wine festivals in the region. Now as an nondrinker, I can not give you the real feeling but from my friends experiences I can say that you would love these Red Wines from the city of Mustard. 

Like they say " Tres Bien" . This is classic or ahhhhaa fantastic. Guys, if you want to impress your date bring a bottle of Red Wine from here.

2. Local Beer in Brussels: I have always heard of Germany known for beer but friends, if you are in Brussels then do try the local beer brewed by some monks in the city. It is really worth trying. 

3. Sangria: A glass of sangria and volleyball with hot chicks on the Barcelona beach is enough for you to spend a weekend or even week in my favorite destination of Europe. 

Now do BamJam, BamJam. All those dirty minds here thinking something please do not over think. I am not talking about Bam Bam here but BamJam is one of the finest Bar in the City of Dijon. So be prepared to party like animals in your holidays. 

Each day should be a different party day for you. Do google search and find the best places to drink in the City. If you do good job you could find some best and cheap places to enjoy and get drunk and get  ****. I had my best evenings with my super cool friends in different Places. We partied like every other nights and in the end the Bar and Clubs knew us. We tried all Bar and clubs in Dijon like BamJam, Chat Noir, Salsa Pelpe and Hit Club. 

Literally I had fun there, all my friend reading this would know what I am talking about :)

If you are in France and do not go to any of the many Wine Festivals then you are a real ***. I had an opportunity to go to this small but equally wonderful Wine trip to a small village called Corgoloin near Beaune City (also known ass Wine Capital of France). This festival is held during last weekend of January and you can taste different kind of Wines from different regions of France at single place in just 15 euros (Confirm the latest Price) and also French Cheese direct from Farms. 

So if Clubs and Bar only place to drink?

No, a big No. Well we partied every 2 night in the Clubs and on other nights we partied in our Dormitory. Well of you think dormitories are only for study then you are wrong there. Infact my most memorable incident happened in my Dormitory after we were drunk.

Here it is:

I bought some Indian sweets and invited others for Indian Night at my place. We agreed to watch an Indian Movie and eat and drink together. As an India it was my responsibility to promote Bollywood of whom, We are really proud of. So we decided to see a  Rom-Com movie and as usual it had dance, romance (not behind the tree my friend), and blah blah. We had pretty fun till all were drunk and suddenly we heard fire alarm. As we cam out to evacuate we saw one of my friend actually doing it. It was more funny when other friend came with the CO2 cylinder to stop fire. This was all slapstick situation as other people started gathering out. We just ran away from the building and acted as even we were shocked. It took some time for the management to clear building was safe and people were already cursing the unknown people for such act as it was 3 AM in Morning and it was chilly outside.

P.S: Please do not try this at your building and even if you do, do not be inspired from us :P

Just before getting crazy

I still poke this friend of mine and talk about the incidence and she feels sorry for it :) Haha this inspired my other friend to repeat same again in my building just 2 days before I left for India. 

Haha Diane, this picture is Legendary

So drinks bring you closer to your friend. It adds new story to relish and keep those memories in you forever. It helps you find some..you know what i mean. It helps you enjoy and it keeps you comfortable in the chilly winters. So drink party enjoy in your student Erasmus. It comes once in your life.

Happy Drinking.

Do write your stories here...

Fun of choosing small city for Student Exchange

Why to choose Small European City for Student Exchange?

I saw an article today on internet. The article intrigued me because it said Paris is not the most preferred city for International Students for studies in France.

Partially I new why they wrote the article but still I went to read the whole article and to my shock Paris was not in even top 10 cities.

http://www.thelocal.fr/galleries/lifestyle/the-ten-best-places-to-be-a-student-in-france

Here are the cities preferred by International students in France:

1. Grenoble

2. Toulouse

3. Montpellier

4. Nantes

5. Aix-En-Provence

6. Bordeaux 

7. Lyon

8. Rennes

9. Lille

10. Nice

Now the question is why Paris, paradise for lovers, ultimate city for art lover, fashion panache is missing in the list. I guess I know the answer, not from any research but from my personal experience from my own student exchange in Dijon, again a small city.

Let me put some points to put some weight to my belief.

1. Smaller the city, more friendly people are: Yes it is true. France is known for rich culture and proud language. But it is also true that this  is limited to big urban city. People in smaller cities are humble and nice. They have time to help you even of they  do not much English. 

Here is what I experienced on my first day to school. I was lost at a small square known as Place Darcy in Dijon. I could not find the direction and the bus route to my School so I asked this lady. This generous lady tried to help me but when all failed she asked me to come along and waited for 5 minutes at the Bus Stop for right bus and helped me get in. It was a pleasant scene as she seemed to be busy but took time to help me. 

2. Smaller the city, more pocket friendly: Yes, this is the biggest factor for students. Where can you get student accommodation for 200 Euros in France, free club entry, food under 5 Euros, cheap pubs etc. Life in Smaller cities is much pocket friendly than any big city. 

3. Easy to travel in City: Dijon was so small that we could travel from one end to other in just one hour. There is another fun travelling without any eyes watching you, people around you etc. We could go to the lake Kir in Dijon (on the extreme end) like every weekend  because it was more convenient. Transportation is quite easy.

4. Better student life: With around 33% of the city population students, Dijon had great student life. This is same in many other cities in France and Europe. There were many places to eat, drink, hang out, sit, talk etc exclusively for students.

5. Safety: Where can you walk with your female friends at 4 am in night without any fear. You meet fellow students on road and they offer you drink, you take a sip and again follow your path. This is life after midnight in these cities. Never miss them

So guys and girls do pack your bag for exciting student exchange, but choose a small city if you really want to enjoy it. You can still travel to big cities for weekends but do not choose big cities. And If you are non-European student then I would say choose European city for student exchange. No country can provide you such vibrant culture and options as Europe as whole can.

Happy Erasmus
Happy Exchange :)

Bienvenue à Dijon!!!

Welcome to Dijon- First day 

In my last blog I did not mentioned about my admission to new residence, but I would take you to that route now. 

Registering at the CROUS Office for the Residence Room:

Nom: Nathawat

Prénom: Chandrabhan Singh

Lady: d'accord

From my room window in Afternoon

From my room Window

Logment Chalon 

My Room

Logement (Building): Chalon

Residence: Residence Manasart

Chambre (Room): 115

So finally I had a room to live in this beautiful city of Dijon, also known for Mutard or Mustard and Wine. We had to return in morning again to pay our rent and some formalities. 

The price for the Residence room was 200 Euros It was cheapest available option and I ike my room.

For more information on CROUS Residence,you can visit: http://www.crous-dijon.fr/

For information on life in Dijon, Food, Places to visit, Residence houses,Clubs, Bars, Pub etc please visit:

The residence have basic bathroom and kitchen amenities. You need to share them with 20 other rooms. Kitchen has one Fridge locker, small dining table, 2 burners , one microwave and sink with hot and cold water. 

The best thing about exchange is that you learn something that you never did in your life.I started cooking and shared it with many friends, neighbors here. Would cover in sometime soon. Till then bbye

Je t'aime Paris- I love Paris

First time Traveller.

How you felt when you landed on the foreign land for first time?

I just shouted- I love Paris, or as Francophone would say Je t'aime Pairs. There is a special feeling, landing on a foreign land. Off course I saw people, baggage, some announcements in the background, Police, security, beautiful ladies with perfect bodies getting ready to fly etc. But there was some difference. The melodious french in background was harmonious and giving feeling that I have been victorious is some perpetual war. 

As  any traveller we (me and my colleague, Sud) did a lot of Internet research and posted in our minds on all the possible and cheapest way to reach Gare De Lyon from Charles de Gaulle Airport. 

Possible options for anyone going to Paris:

1. Cheapest: RER and Metro: it cost us around 6 Euro 70 Cents (Latest around 10 Euros)- You can buy tickets at Airport itself

2. Shuttle service: Reliable and cheap for single travellers. Starts from 15 Euros

check some of them here:

http://www.airportvan.com

www.airfrance.com (go to shuttle service)

http://www.supershuttle.com/

3. Air France Bus Service: Again a cheap service from 15 Euros.

http://www.airfrance.in/US/en/common/resainfovol/achat/transfert_aeroport.htm

4. Private Taxis: You can find them at Airport but they are expensive.

So, we decided to take the RER and Metro Combination to reach Gare de Lyon. But we missed one thing important, rather we believed that my 2-3 internet classes of French is enough to communicate us to any French person. And we encountered our reality check when We could not purchase our Metro ticket.

It was hilarious as we tried all possible combinations of accent and sounds to entertain the lady sitting on other side of window. 

We were like eerrrrr, Garee du lyonnn at Di-john, Gar doo lyun at Dii jon and our Indian accent with some Indian Phonetics made our job even more difficult 

So finally we decided to show her on Map and then only she could give us the ticket. 

Tip 1. Be ready for this unexpected. Not only learn to write but also learn to speak few French words.

Tip 2: Keep change ready, it may be needed at the ticket window. They accept 1, 2 ,5 ,10 cents coins. 

Retarded Sud

Retarded myself

The Paris Metro is widely regarded as one of the most exhaustive and dense in City as people say that in every 1 KM, on would find a Metro Station. They are old and you can explore a lot of graffiti around. It shows the freedom people have. They paint their thoughts and dreams that make this city even more beautiful. 

Having said that, our miseries didn't ended. We bought 2 tickets for Dijon and as we were trying to call our student body (they were suppose to pick us from Dijon Gare to our Student Residence) to come to Dijon Gare at certain time, but by the time we could make call, we missed our Train. We didn't had change for the idiot Phone and by the time Sud got some change, we missed our train. We could cancel the ticket but had to wait again for some time to catch the next train and also call the Student body again to reschedule the time. 

But the day ended well when finally we reached our new home in Dijon. We got small rooms in University residential halls. The cheapest were for around 200 Euros and we took them. No wonder in that amount you can rent an apartment in New Delhi. 

But we were tired so much that we slept without even eating anything that night. 

I waned to sleep despite Jet lag because I had entered into my dream world for next 100 days. I wanted to feel wonderful and no state than sleep can give you that feeling. It was so easy to sleep that night. It was sleep of deep happiness. Je t'aime France.