I suck at updating stuff...

Yes, I know I don’t update very often but that’s me…I start something and then never finish it! So, because I haven’t written in quite a long time, this is going to be a long post.

Salon du chocolate: It was very interesting. It was not interesting for someone who was sick and kept looking around to find the nearest trash can if I had to puke. Other than that and the smell of chocolate making me noxious, it was interesting. I wish that I had felt better when I was there because there were tastes and samples of almost everything. Unfortunately, I missed out on going with my aunt, uncle and grandma because I stayed home to sleep (being sick sucks). When they went there weren’t very many people and my grandma was telling me about a chocolate massage exhibition that they saw. I guess some person in a G-string was on stage and there two other people were massaging him with chocolate to the beat of some salsa music, or something. I’m not quite too clear on the whole thing.

I really wanted to see the chocolate clothes but there were so many people crammed into the tiny stage area that it was impossible to see. Would have been interesting though. After the chocolate clothes exhibition there was another exhibition of Cuban music so we decided to see that. Of course there were some little kids whose parents were not paying attention to them and they were running around the stage around the musicians. I’m surprised they didn’t knock anything over. There was also this lady who thought she was God’s gift to salsa because she also got up on stage and started seizing…I mean…dancing. It was actually really funny because she just looked so bizarre up on stage with the little kids. I had to take a picture. Unfortunately, there was a tall guy sitting in front of me so I didn’t have a very good angle of her dancing. I almost recorded a movie of her “dancing” but then I thought that would have been too much!



Bretagne: I went with my aunt, my great aunt (I’m not really sure what Therese is to me but great aunt sounds good) and my grandma to my aunt’s house in Bretagne for the weekend. She was telling me that Bretagne is the area of Lancelot, King Arthur, Asterix and Obelix and celts. It certainly looked like it. The area is still very heavily wooded and she and my uncle have both run in to wild boar when they have gone in to the forest to pick mushrooms. Me…not a big fan of nature so I’m glad I missed out on the mushroom picking. It was fun. My aunt took me around and showed me all sorts of little towns that are very old and very cute. We even saw a town (not really a town since there were only about 6 houses) of house that had thatched roofs. That was very cool. The roofs were made with the hollow reed-like things and must have been about a foot and a half thick. I can’t believe the thatching actually worked but apparently it does because people still live in the houses. We stopped at a little creperie in the town to have dinner. The crepes weren’t as good as the ones with made with Uncle Albert’s recipe but they were still good.







We also stopped at a tourist shop and I tasted a whole bunch of different liqueurs of the region. My favorite was the blackberry. It didn’t taste like it but they were strong suckers…50%. I had 3 tiny little tastes and I was a little tippy!

Yesterday we went to a little town in Bretagne that is inside a fortified wall. It really is like a middle ages village although it was built long after the middle ages. There are narrow cobblestone streets and lots of little tourist shops. I think we must have stopped in all of them! My aunts and my grandma bought food but I don’t like the cookies too much so I didn’t but much. I bought a gorgeous santon of Marie d’Medici (so Mamie tells me). The detail is amazing. It was really cheap, too. Four euros for a hand-painted, 4 inch tall santon. They had a statue of Henry V also but I didn’t buy him because he was ugly.

Today for lunch it was algae day. My aunt made algae pasta, an algae side dish and bread with algae. Again, interesting because you don’t normally eat algae for lunch but if you didn’t know you were eating algae you couldn’t tell. The algae side was a little salty but that was the only indication that it was algae. I am branching out in the world. Of course I still slathered the bread with butter and my great aunt commented on how that was a very Norman trait. I don’t drink like them but I guess I eat like a Norman.

Right now, my grandma and I are on our way home from Bretagne. I don’t have an Internet connection up there so I can’t do my homework. That’s why I only stayed a few days. It was a nice vacation though. On the way to the train station we drove by the seaside and saw the beaches. It was stormy today so there were lots of waves and surfers. It was cold, too, though. I don’t really like the cold.





I’m sitting across from a lady who complained that my backpack was under my seat because she couldn’t put her legs under the table and didn’t want to keep them in the aisle. Bullshit…the backpack was under my legs and taking up less than half of the space. Whatever…so I moved it to the top rack. Guess where her legs are now? In the aisle! Stupid lady.

When I get back to the house I have to figure out how to use the washing machine so I can wash clothes for my trip to England and Ireland this weekend. It is the first time I’ve visited Alli since she moved to England so I have to take lots of pictures. Then, she and I are going to Dublin for 3 days. Our hotel is right above a bar! I’m very excited. Guiness, shopping, more Guiness…

I just got home after an hour trek through the metro stations with my grandma. My monthly metro card decided to stop working and all of the ticket windows were closed. Fun. At one station one guy let me use his card and then he hopped the fence and at another station my grandma held the gate open for me as I crawled under the turnstyle. This is the 3rd time my card has not worked on the metro...I am not very happy about it. If I had been by myself I would have been screwed unless I asked someone else if I could follow them thorugh the gates. The French metro gates are not like BART where they can easily be jumped or you can easily follow someone through...they have turnstyles that lock after 1 person goes through and usually 6 foot high barriers that open for a few seconds to let that person go through. And I was carrying my 2 bags and my grandma's bag. I miss my car. :(


Pictures to follow tomorrow after I sleep for a little while.

Chocolate!

Apparently, this weekend there is a big chocolate exhibition near Versailles. Of course I'm going to be there! I think my aunt and I are going tomorrow afternoon and then my uncle will meet us there when he finishes his shiatzu or yoga. I'm excited...can chocolate ever be bad? well...actually yes...when it's white chocolate but then that's not even *really* chocolate so it doesn't count.

My grandma is also coming up to Paris tomorrow. I'm not sure what she's going to do during the week because my aunt and uncle are at work until late every night. My aunt told me that I should take some days off and go places with her but my uncle just kind of ignored that statement. Hmmmm....

Although today at work I actually worked on a worthwhile project. I worked with one of the other girls to make a diagram presentation that will be used next week. It's not as cool as the powerpoint slides that I've made but it was nice. Excel is more than just boring spreadsheets...you can draw pictures! I also noticed while I was translating some French documents into English for a Dutch company that French grammar is very funny (yes, I knew that before but this confirmed it). In English teachers drill in to your heads only one idea per sentence. I was translating some sentences that had 3 different ideas! It was crazy. They would be such long, run-on sentences that I would forget what I was reading halfway through....bleh...oh well. All better and in pretty English. :) I think my uncle translated the documents before, and while he speaks very good English he really likes the word "pedagogical" so it was all over the place! I dunno about you guys, but I had to look it up when I was trying to figure out what he was saying. Yeah...thesaurus used a lot on that word.

I was telling my dad earlier that I saw a color blind woman. She had on a bright red skirt with a bright green sweater. She kinda looked like an elf. :) I guess the middle of October is close enough to Christmas, right?

I tried to take a picture of my newest bug bite today but no go. Half of my forearm is swollen and red. I don't know what the hell kind of bugs they have out here but right now I feel like Colin. Sorry Colin.

Then, when I got home from work today the evil cat from hell got her-stupid-self stuck on the bookshelf in the laundry room. She wouldn't jump down and every time I tried to pick her up to get her down she would try to bite or scratch me. I said hell with it and was going to leave her up there until someone else came home. Then the brightest cat in the world decided that she would jump out of the open window and walk on the roof. Idiot cat. I really do hate that cat. The other day she jumped on my math book while I was reading so I picked her up and put her back on the ground. Then I put my arm out to pet her like I was doing before and the bitch jumps up and latches on to my arm with her claws and teeth. After I jumped up to get her off she took off. I ran that stupid cat down the hall because I was so mad at her. She knows it now because I pretty much ignore her and won't get near her. Stupid, evil cat. And she picks at her fleas in my room. It is the most disgusting thing. She picks (you can actually hear her chewing things) and then proceeds to lick herself. That is just disgusting. Colin, when you come stay away from the evil cat.

Side Trips

I finally bought the tickets and now Colin and I are going to go to Rome, Venice and Athens. I'm very excited. Venice is one of my favorite cities and I've always wanted to go to Athens.

The hotel that I booked for Venice is right on the Grand Canal and hopefully our room will look over on that side. I was reading the reviews and people were saying that it was a fantastic view from the hotel windows. Very close to Piazza St. Marco also.

The hotel in Rome I'm not too sure about. It was part of the timeshare network so at least it was free! I think it's in a good place...very close to Ancient Rome. Supposedly it's also very close to the metro so we can easily go to the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain and the Vatican.

Athens...I'm not sure yet. I haven't booked anything but it's very cheap. I like that.

I'm also trying to go to Dublin with my best friend. She's supposed to call me tomorrow night to let me know if she can take some days off of work. That should be fun...I haven't been on a trip with Alli in forever! When in Dublin I'm definitely going to have to make sure I visit the Guiness Brewery. :)

Today

I started out at the Marais. This used to be a swampy part of Paris that was eventually filled in and is now an area of artisty stuff. I went but it wasn't very interesting because most places were closed. I stayed for a little bit but then I decided to go to the Bastille.

The Bastille is the area where the Bastille prison used to be before the French people destroyed it during the Revolution. Today there is a pillar in the square to commemorate where the prison once stood.



It was very strange because while I was walking down a street in the area a brass band of about 5 or 6 people was just walking around playing. Ummm.....ok. I just like walking around seeing things so I walked all the way to the Republic. Mostly I was just looking for a cafe to have lunch but most of the ones I found were Indian, Russian or fish, which I didn't feel like having.

I finally found a really nice restaraunt near the Republic where I had lunch. I had fish, a glass of wine and some chocolate mousse. Mmmmm. I don't know what it is but I must look American (probably because if you refer to my post of a few days ago I don't dress like a train-wreck) but a lot of people talk to me in English. I even ordered in French! I didn't pronounce everything right but, damnit, I tried. Of course when people do come up and talk to me in French it is usually to ask directions and I'm not sure what to tell them. Figures.

After lunch I walked some more until I reached the gates of Paris. Back in the day, when Paris was surrounded by a wall (way, way back when), there were huge gates through which people had to pass to enter the city. Unfortunately, most of the gates and the wall were destroyed with the growth of the city but these 2 still remain.




They are very impressive. You can almost imagine what it would have been like and how intimidating it would have been to have to walk up to these gates to enter the city. Very cool that they are still there and are in the middle of the city.

I walked along the street some more, did a little bit of shopping, and then decided that I wanted to see Pont Neuf. POnt Neuf is the oldest bridge in Paris. By looking at the bridge there would be no way to tell...it is very modern looking. It's very nice because it has little alcoves along the span in which people can sit. I rested there for awhile before I decided to go back home.



Unfortunately (or fortunately), the bridge is being restored so some of it is covered by scaffolding. My aunt laughed at me when I told her that I had gone to Notre Dame this morning, then the Marais, then the Bastille and then back to Pont Neuf because Pont Neuf is right next to Notre Dame. Oh well, that is the beauty of a monthly metro pass...I can ride the metro and the buses as often as I like so I don't actually have to organize my trip very efficiently.

At dinner we were all talking and I think I'm going to be taking a few trips in the next few weeks. One weekend I am supposed to be going with my uncle to make a presentation in Tours (France), then I am going with my aunt to Brittany (France), then I am going to take a few days off to go visit my friend in England and then I'll go to Dublin (Ireland). I'm also supposed to be going down to the south of France around my birthday as my other aunt suggested that my cousin and I celebrate together (we have the same birthday). A few days after that my brother is coming to France and we are going to go to Italy and possibly Spain or Greece. I'me very excited!

I'm lazy...

so I don't update as often as I should. Also, I've been at work late a few days this week and been working on homework the rest of the time. This week I have 3 papers due for my management class, one of which is a group paper (which would be fine if my group actually went online). Anyway...

Last weekend I went around Paris with my aunt. We walked around the Gobelins area. We were going to go to the factory near there where they make glassware but it is only open to the public during the week. Instead we just walked around the quartier. It was the weekend so there were a lot of people out. We did end up finding this really nice tea shop and my aunt bought a few different types of tea, some cakes, a cute little urn to store tea and something else (I forget). Fifty euros later we left and went on our way up the hill to the Pantheon.

The Pantheon was built as a church but after the Revolution the people decided that it would be a great place to bury famous people. So, it is a big, ornate tomb. I didn't think I had ever been inside of it before so we decided to go in. Of course they charge you to go in so I paid for the tickets and in we went. First off, what a rip-off. If you ever get to Paris, don't bother paying to go inside the Pantheon. It is much prettier from the outside. Inside there are lots of paintings on the walls (mostly of battles or people dying). Of course when I saw this statue I just laughed and thought, yep, this sums up the French mentality.



You can't see the inscription on the statue but it translated to "Live Free or Die". You should appreciate this picture...I got yelled at by the security guards for taking it!

Outside the Pantheon I had to take a picture of my beloved Tour Eiffel. I can't believe I've been here for over a month and I've only visited it once! Shocking isn't it, Mom and Dad?



So, after just walking around some more my aunt took me to an outdoor market and then we sat and had a cup of tea at a cafe before going back home. Unfortunately, most stores and stuff are closed on the weekends so we just walk around and see things.

Caligula in ballet?

Guess what I just bought for less than $20? A ticket to go see the ballet "Caligula" at the Opera Garnier! I'm so excited. I'm sitting right by the stage. I haven't quite figured out how Caligula, the Roman emperor who was crazy and liked to torture and kill people while sleeping with his sister, will be turned into a ballet but what the hell. If nothing else the orchestra will be playing Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" and I'll be in the Opera Garnier. I saw a view of the stage from my seat and it should be fabulous...as long as no one big sits in front of me.

I'll have to be shameless and take lots of pictures. :)