May 29-31: The trip home

I'm home!

As expected, no blog posts Friday or yesterday. Thursday was my last real day and Friday was for travel prep etc. You won't believe it (maybe you will) but I not only got my bag and suitcase closed, I actually could zip the "extension" back up! There's a thing on my suitcase that you can unzip to get like 2 extra inches for the main compartment and I didn't need it! I was very impressed with my packing skills. All of my clothes were rolled up into little croissants and wrinkled within an inch of their lives, but hey, they came back with me... I had a pile of things I was ready to toss: shampoo, conditioner, lotion - cheap but heavy/bulky things I can buy again easily - and I didn't need to. Woo hoo!

I will say, in repacking my suitcase, I realized just how much I've bought here. And rather than being ashamed I'm excited. Besides, what did I save all that money up for if I was just going to try and save it once I got here? Exactly.

Friday's hotel switch went well. I was actually lucky enough to catch a ride from one of my new friends who also offered a side trip for a picnic lunch at Versailles! We wound our way through small towns from Versailles to the airport (ok, a nice way of saying, we got lost a couple times - but after talking nicely to the Garmin, we got there around the multiple road work detours).

I checked in to the Holiday Inn Express in its *** glory and thought I was in heaven: spacious room, spotless shower and toilet in the actual hotel room, elevator! I treated my friend to dinner for his help in getting me to HIE and was even pleasantly surprised at how yummy dinner was. In case anyone needs a spot with easy access to the airport, I would definitely recommend HIE. (Plus, the price was really reasonable.)

I set a wake up call for 5:45a on Saturday and then didn't need it. As has been the custom for me on this trip, I woke up before that and then couldn't get very good sleep so I just got up around 5:30 and started getting things reassembled and ready. I had my last pain au chocolat and took the shuttle to the airport.

My bags were checked in first thing, so all I had to do was get to the gate and on the plane. Things went really smoothly and the timing with layovers and such worked out. The day did, however, leave me with plenty of time to contemplate life: the flight from Paris to Houston took 11hrs 15 min! The flight from Newark to Paris, if you'll recall, was 6 1/2 hours... I mean yeesh. And though there was a 2 year old that may or may not need to see an exorcist on the 11 hour flight, it was really ok. I seem to have an entirely different level of patience for things when in France (or traveling to/from). I watched a movie, read my Kindle, shut my eyes for awhile. Ate every meal/snack they offered...

I arrived in Houston and had to roll through customs. I was actually quite glad I hadn't tried to bring back a bottle of wine. Turns out alcohol or tobacco will get you a secondary search at customs, but I got to roll right through. Rechecked my bags just past Customs (thank goodness) and had to take a shuttle thing to the right terminal the airport is so big.

The flight from Houston to KC went very fast: 1 hr 20 min ish. It was funny to get on a tiny plane (a total of 3 seats per row, 20 rows) after being on the huge trans-Atlantic (seats 300+ people). Mom and Dad were there at KCI with big smiles to pick me up. We headed for Brio for a "last meal before sensible eating" and I talked probably the hole time.

To answer the assumed question: no, I'm not actually sad to be back. I loved (loved) my time in France, but I'm excited to be back home. I'm only filling my schedule with things I want to do, and letting the things I don't really love fall to the wayside. I'm overscheduled I think and I shouldn't be. So I'm ready to add things back into my currently empty planner.

Plus, it seemed so natural for me to have taken the time in France. Like I was doing exactly what I should be. And I know it won't be my last trip. In fact, I think perhaps special trips for the South of France or Shopping trips to Paris with friends are in the near-er future. And then in 4 years, maybe I'll have saved up enough time off to do the "sabatical" thing again. To really go with no feeling of having to "get it all done."

Hope you guys have loved reading about the trip! All pics are at flickr.com/photos/bestofjess and I'm adding another 4 or 5 from Friday/Saturday soon.

See you all for my birthday plans -- Hope to have printed pics there for perusing.

Thursday, May 28: Louvre

Not to be just totally obvious, but how could I possibly only have 2 days left in France? For one thing, I still have more than half a journal to fill up! Guess I’ll just have to come back (take note: I’m thinking 2013 for those who may want to join)…

I’m starting to wear my clothes pretty thin… They’ll be happy to be in a less aggressive rotation when I get back home. In the meantime, I’m actually really sort of out of shirts to wear and as I only have 2 days left, going to a Laundromat seems silly. So I went shopping. (Yeah, I’m serious. I know…)

Made my final trip back to the massive mall that is Les Halles and back to my new favorite store on the planet, New Look (and they have plenty of bad stuff, too, but they have lots of cute things). I didn’t find a shirt there.. *cough* ok, I got shoes. Ok, so it was 5 pairs. I know! I know… 5 pairs of shoes on top of the 2 pairs I’ve bought already in France and the 4 pairs I brought with me. But, but… I got new sneakers, a pair of sporty flats, a pair of flat brown sandals (all of which I needed) and 2 very fun shoes I could not get in the States. There. Whew… first step is admission, moving out of denial. Besides, I’ve been waiting to buy stuff for the last week so I don’t have to haul it everywhere for 4 weeks. I swear I’ve thought this through. I’m only justifying it to whomever reads this blog because as I read, even I can’t help cracking up at myself. Yeesh.

Ok, but then I found a couple of cute shirts at a place called La City that were versatile and Buy 2, get 1 for a Euro. Great deal, right? (I swear I’m done shopping. Really, I promise.)

I had a healthy lunch (pic) and came back to drop off bags at the hotel room. I switched into my new sneakers and headed off for the Louvre.

Man, that place is big. You can’t stand in any one place from the inside or the outside and see the whole thing. Nowhere. It’s so big it eclipses itself! I got my ticket from the nice lady at the counter who must just luuuuv her job (*sarcasm, sarcasm*) and headed off to the popular ground floor level of the Denon Wing to see Greek and Italian sculpture (pics galore – sorry for the blurry but no flash allowed), then back through French and Italian Renaissance paintings. I stopped through Charlesmagne’s special hallway o’ extravagance before heading to the much less crowded Sully wing for Prehistoric Greek/Etruscan hallways, followed by the almost empty Ancient Egyptian and Oriental halls. Got a couple good shots of hieroglyphics… Allise, if you’re reading, please translate! I don’t remember how to read them at all… (pics of all are on Flickr).

There are plenty of people in the popular wings, to be sure, but not really as bad as I’d prepared myself for. I wasn’t really bothered by them and it only smelled a little like sweaty humans. (ha) The big thing I did notice was that people don’t follow the rules. No flash (pish), no eating in the museum (who brings lunch to the Louvre??), no loud talking (bwahahaha, yeah right). Apparently all just suggestions. I did get to see a wide variety of tour guides, each with a different language and a different brightly-colored item held up in the air for the group to be able to see/follow. Mostly umbrellas, but I did see a collapsed/folded up baby carriage for one group. I thought that was an interesting choice as her arm is sure to get tired after about 20 minutes of holding that thing up.

There were student groups, probably with an art class, running around sort of scavenger hunt style trying to fill out a worksheet. That was kind of fun to watch. Their heads were in a lot of my pictures, but they were mostly respectful so they didn’t get too annoying.

Gray day spent at the Louvre was a good choice and I’m glad I got back to it. I haven’t been since my first trip to Paris which has been a distinctly long time, so it was good to not only see the standard hallways of well known pieces, but also to get a little lost in the lesser known hallways and crypts and see the stuff not many tourists get to.

Tomorrow (Friday), I’ll be changing hotels and I’m not sure when/if I’ll get to blog about my final day, but be assured it will be here eventually! See you all (most of my readers are KC, right?) soon ish! The week of my bday I’ll have various activities for fun that you all probably already know about. First plan up: Jazz Jam Session at the Phoenix (8th & Central) on Tuesday, June 9th.

Louvre Pics on Flickr...

Wednesday, May 27: Chartres

Chartres day. I got up uncharacteristically early, got cleaned up and was ready to leave at 8:45a but decided to wait around til the grocery store opened to eat a yogurt/fruit breakfast instead of pastries. I hopped on the metro system during rush hour – my first encounter so far in France – and didn’t even come close to making the 9:34 train I meant to catch. I was still in line at 9:45 trying to buy the ticket to Chartres, behind a very confused and angry American who thought his ticket was fully exchangeable, yada yada… But I did eventually get a ticket and a seat on the 10:34 train.

I arrived just in time to power walk up the hill to the striking Notre Dame Cathedral of Chartres in time for the noon o’ clock tour. Malcolm Miller has just (in April) celebrated his 50th year anniversary of giving English tours of Chartres’ Notre Dame Cathedral and is a decided expert on its stories, commentaries, symbolism and quirks. The hour and a half tour was very interesting: the history, the contributors, etc. He explained that whereas most churches’ stained glass tells the stories of the Bible in sequence, Chartres provides commentary on those stories, teaching its many students throughout the years using the colorful canvas of glass to make comparisons and draw out deeper lessons.

The windows are truly magnificent. In The Book of Love, which I just finished reading, the blue color of the windows is mentioned as unrivaled and inexplicably brilliant and that’s a pretty darn good description. Malcolm called it Cobalt blue, which would explain the color well, but not necessarily the effect. In particular, the window of Notre Dame de la Belle Verriere, of the Virgin in the famous Cobalt blue, is well deserving of its status as one of the 3 most photographed items in the cathedral. The other two are the holy relic for which the cathedral was built and rebuilt (many times: this is version 5.0), billed as the veil of the Virgin Mary from the miracle of the nativity, and the enormous rose window to the North, that was only added in one of the later incarnations of the church. (pics upon pics of this on Flickr)

What captured me the most, however, was the labyrinth. Pre-dating Christianity in its design and even in its execution here, it’s now covered 6 days a week with moveable rows of wooden chairs to allow for more people to seat themselves. In the book, Maureen (the main character) feels personally hurt to see this most ancient and precious “art” covered and walked on and destroyed. For me, it almost helped define the labyrinth. As though no cover could strip the pattern: it’s more than paint on the floor (it’s actually built into the stone pattern on the floor) and even if you couldn’t make out the colors or bricks anymore, the labyrinth would still exist in this spot. The church has been built and rebuilt on this exact spot because even before the life of Christ, it was long deemed holy ground. If the church itself weren’t so magnificent and grandiose, visitors would still come here to worship the space. In fact, the relic, the veil, has made it clear this is where it will stay. Even after a fire that ravaged most of the back half of the cathedral, monks retrieved the veil (pic), completely preserved from the ashes that remained at the site. The 3rd church and 4th church were rebuilt in this spot after gruesome fires because of this.

The labyrinth (pics) spreads across the entire nave from side to side and has been adopted by Christianity with Christian meaning injected. I actually felt strongly connected the idea presented in the Book of Love that in walking the Labyrinth – starting from one point at the edge and winding through the 11 concentric circles – to the center, you are dedicating both the attention of your body and your mind to the “puzzle.” Upon arriving in the center, you see the 6 petaled rose (multiple symbolic meanings here). In the book, Maureen learns to walk out the Lord’s Prayer (Pater Noster), using the 6 petals to pay tribute to the six facets of the prayer: faith, surrender, service, abundance, forgiveness, and strength. When Napoleon said “Chartres is no place for an Atheist,” he knew what he was talkin about. No matter your beliefs, this place will inspire you in one of its hundreds of alluring ways.

I didn’t go up into the tower, feeling like the real show was the church, so what would I look at in the town from the heights? I decided to give a donation instead to the work being done on the cathedral. They’re systematically cleaning every surface of the church (pics) with amazing results. I got a few good shots of the difference between a cleaned spot and a not-cleaned spot. The difference between windows that have been restored and those that are still dingy is probably obvious in China.

I’m now back at the hotel to blog, but thinking I may go to the Louvre tonight. They stay open til 9:45p on Wednesdays and I’m guessing there will be a lot less of a crowd during the normal dinner hour (which is 8p here). Trying to soak up as much Paris as I can before heading back!

Pics of Chartres' cathedrale (lots of windows pics) on Flickr...

Tuesday, May 26: Jacquemart-Andre and l'Arc de Triomphe

Woke up to a very different Paris: drizzly rainy and cold! The good news there is I haven't had to really use the AC, so the dripping has stopped entirely. I find that makes a huge difference in my temperament about the room. It's actually quite functional and I don't need much more than a drip-free area to get clean in.

I figured I could hack the rain with an umbrella in hand, so I went on a neighborhood walk. Ok, ok, shopping trip. But I'm desperate to find cute comfy shoes! Everyone has flats here and I actually like some of them (unheard of for me) but I can't find any that fit. I'm between sizes and they dont' do half sizes, so I'm gonna have to stick to open toed shoes here...

Midafternoon (after re-organizing and planning out my week to not miss the must-sees) I headed towards the Jacquemart-Andre Museum. It’s the old mansion of an aristocratic couple from late 1800s/early 1900s. Without children to dote on, the couple spent their lives and their wealth collecting art as amateurs and furnishing this grandiose palace of a home in the middle of Paris. It was a very cool stop and not just because of the obvious luxury (pics); for example, the stairwell was built by the runner up for designer of the Charles Garnier fantasy that is l’Opera (one of my fave monuments) and he certainly had the last word here (pic).

But it was a cool story, too: two very different people (politically and with different motivations from different walks of life) with a shared love for art, particularly Italian. The Madame, Nelie Jacquemart-Andre, honored Monsieur Andre’s final wish that the house and art be bequeathed to state art society so that it may be “preserved as their vision of what two amateur collectors and art-lovers gathered over a lifetime.” Very neat.

I actually made friends with one of the gentleman running security (I swear I have a neon-clear sign on me that says “talk to me, I’m nice and sociable!”). He mentioned that my French was good, or at least better than his English, and we proceeded to have a pretty robust conversation in French about things like travel destinations in the States/Europe, his jobs and 4 week sabbaticals. It was a good exercise in using my French (as he is among the few people that doesn’t follow along much in English and didn’t try to talk to me in it). But it made me sweat a little, trying to conjugate words in present subjunctive: stuff real French people don’t use. Yeesh.

I closed up that museum and scurried down Blvd Haussman to l’Etoile to see the Arc de Triomphe in the sunlight (my other pics were cloudy). They were having a sort of dedication? Not sure what Tuesday, May 26th honors in France, but got a few neat pics in this very appropriate setting for a military dedication. Bought my ticket to go up the 250+ stairs for the panoramic view of the city. (pics) The gentleman at the window asked me if my ring held a “potion” – I laughed and said it did sort of look malevolent, but no. (see the pic of my ring in the set from Route des Vins).

In the category of random smiles: in the metro on the way back, I stood next to a gentleman in a business suit, a “grown up” person of maybe 35?, playing his handheld PS3 to pass the time on the subway.

I got to have dinner again with one of my new friends, Oliver, whom I met at the front desk of the MIJE hostels during my first stay and we had quite the 4 course meal again, practically closing the place down speaking in French-English (usually both within the same sentence).

Pics of Day 2 of Paris Round II on Flickr.

Monday, May 25: Arrival in Paris (again)

Travel day! I woke up (I'm doing very well without my alarm clock actually) and set off for fruit and yogurt at Galleries LaFayette's grocery dept for breakfast. I packed up in 45 min flat -- I'm now officially a pro! -- and rolled my bags over 3 blocks of cobble stone to the tram stop nearby. I got to the train station about an hour early, so as to avoid the constant clock-watching jitters if I were to just hang out in the room, waiting to leave, and got myself some lunch at the trainstation: particularly yummy sandwich mixte (ham, cheese, butter), pomme grille (an apple tart thingy) and a sort of bread stick version of the olive-baguette.

I actually finished The Book of Love before taking off from Strasbourg and am 100% decided I must go to Chartres. I won't tell you why, you have to read the book, but I'll take lots while I'm there. I started re-reading the 4th Twilight book for something a bit more fun and less think-y on the train.

The adventure of my now 4 bags from Gare de l'Est to the hotel was actually ok. Only one staircase without elevator (whew!). The challenge was the heat, which was flirting with 90 degrees and blaring sun! As it turns out, the hotel only runs the airconditioning from 5p to 9a (assuming probably correctly that most people are out during the day) and let's just say I was less than appreciative of that fact... Plus, not to fuel a stereotype, but as this is the hottest day I've had in a city I've had to use public transit, I did take particular notice of the fragrance on the metro. After about 85 degrees, the general Parisian public sweating it out in the subway doesn't make for a bottle-able odor. Blech.

Anyway, got checked into the Hotel du 7eme Art in le Marais, my same favorite neighborhood between Place de la Bastille and Hotel de Ville. The theme is heavy here: early Hollywood. Movie posters galore and lots of the collage-esque style of art with lots of famous actors of the period. I had requested that if the least expensive room -- there's only one of them, and it was taken when I made my reservation -- came available that I would prefer it. It is 30 Euros (about $45) less expensive per night and if I can help it, I'd rather not stay in the hotel room too awfully much.

Well, the thing about that is, I'm a snob. Not a huge snob, but a little a bit. The room size doesn't bother me (again, don't need that much space), but a lunch box seems to be a good metaphor. Which would make the shower the size of a postage stamp. All this would be fine, except that that means there isn't room for a toilet in my room. I don't have a shared toilet, like for the floor, but I do share the toilet... It's in a supplies closet type room, two doors down the hall. It's ok... sorta, but in the middle of the night I have to amble through the hall to get to the bathroom. And if I pull back the opaque glass door, I can see that they don't seem to care much for organization. A combination of old shower curtains, a ripped up comforter and various broken or old room items are piled up about a third of the way up from the floor and the cleaning supplies bucket/kit sits on top of that pile for lack of a better space to put it in. Doesn't inspire, that's all I'm saying.

Plus, because it was so darn hot all day, the air conditioning somehow managed to collect dew on the spare mattress that is stored above the shower (there's a little cubby thing). So the mattress dripped water through the crack in the shower ceiling all afternoon/night. I guess that wouldn't bother me so much if I didn't have to stand directly under one of the drips in order to brush my teeth/wash my face in front of the sink. Or if I weren't afraid it was less than pristine water after having passed through a mattress and a wooden ceiling. (See? I told you I was a bit of snob.) I think I've corrected the problem... I shoved the mattresses back a couple feet so the AC didn't blow directly on it. The drip stopped sometime before this AM (Tuesday).

So faced with the idea of sweating it out in the hotel room, waiting for 5p, and sweating it up walking around the park/climbing l'Etoile like I had planned for the after, I chose shopping and a movie in an airconditioned mall. I saw Wolverine (VO, which I now know well is version originale) which was ok, but the movie theater was just the right temperature. And, in case you guys are worried I might turn into Isla Fischer, I didn't even buy anything, I just looked!

The neighborhood around les Halles, the shopping center (understatement: this place is the size of an entire suburb), is the spot to go out apparently. Not far away is the jazz club I went to the last time I was in Paris and along the same street are an Irish Pub with live rock every night, another jazz club with a jam session, starting at 10p and a soul bar that had a special concert going. I had lots of intentions of going to all 3 spots after the movie, but I was dressed like it was July in Independence and still felt grimey from sweating all day, so I went in search of a salad instead.

Here's the thing. I had no intention of eating at the Hard Rock Cafe while I was in France. There are a LOT of other things to eat. But in this case... my kingdom for a salad! I just wanted a salad with more than lettuce in it. And since I know the HRC menu well (I find them in every city I go to, usually only to get the pin), I knew I couldn't lose with them. Plus, the atmospher is usually fun and you never know who you're going to meet. I didn't actually meet anyone and the bartenders spoke to me in English. Not because I am American, as I thought, but because it's the thing there... Oh well, I got my salad and it had ranch on it and it was delicious, dangit.

Headed back to the hotel to rest up, thinking that as long as it didn't rain Tues, I'd trip it to Chartres.. Turns out Tues will be the only day for rain all week. And the Louvre is closed Tuesdays. Dang.

I'll upload my sparse pics soon... til then, enjoy the current stash!

Sunday, May 24: Strasbourg by boat and on foot

I woke up this AM thinking I’d be sure to be the first person in line for the Astrological Clock presentation. It was looking pretty gray and I wasn’t sure a boat tour in the rain would be fun… I meandered around the touristy shops and had my apple and fruit juice breakfast (aren’t you impressed??). At 11:30a, no one was in line yet (the doors open at 11:45), so I walked over and clear as day it says on the sign it’s no open on Sundays or holidays. Boo. So since I’m heading out around noon tomorrow, I won’t get to see it. Oh well, that leaves something to see next time.

Actually, I’ve noticed that Strasbourg really isn’t much more than a day trip and so it’s hard to stretch into a weekend. I grabbed an “early” lunch (noon) of gi-normous bratwurst and sauerkraut and had to get a pretzel just in case the restaurants would all be closed. It’s reeeaaally quiet on Sunday before noon here and often, Sunday is a closed day for restaurants/shops. I also stopped in a local bakery for an assortment of tiny spice cookies (one of the few local specialties I haven’t had yet).

Sat down at the closest shaded public bench to eat and seemed to magically wish away the clouds. At noon – almost exactly – the town woke up. Churches let out and tour guides started and the sun brought out whatever locals may have been tucked away in their apartments. The sun has been strong enough this afternoon to give me a bit more color than I would have asked for, so I’m grateful for the surprise of a sunny afternoon.

I figured sun meant the boat idea was back on. I got my ticket for the 1:30 covered boat. A covered boat means a poor shot at pics, but they’re airconditioned, which turned out to be necessary (and appreciated!). I’d already gotten a lot of pics on foot anyway, so the only one I indulged myself in was of my own reflection as we were waiting in the lift thingy for the water to fill in so we could head up to the higher water level. (more proof I’m actually here and not just googling the pics) The tour lasts about an hour and ten minutes and more than anything pointed out the cool buildings I hadn’t even seen in 2 days of walking around “old” Strasbourg (meaning anything encircled in the cities “4” rivers). So around 2:45 I climbed out of the boat, mapped out a walking route and headed back out by foot.

I stopped by the Palais de Justice and the red clay/brick church next to it (they said the name of the church on the audio guide, but it doesn’t list the church name on my map). Then walked through the shady park areas between that and la Republique and its square. Across the square is the National Library (also library for the nearby University) and Theatre National de Strasbourg, which has a healthy line-up for the year! For contrast, Theater League’s seasons were usually 5 week-long shows (nationals tours). I think the Rep usually has 6-8? They had 14! There are pics of all 5 buildings on Flickr.

Just down the road is a huge palace-looking building that I got a picture of, assuming it’d be important… it’s the regional headquarters for the Post Office. Yeesh, Union Square is nice, but come on… we can’t compete with that. (pics) I crossed over one of the many river-lettes, past St Paul’s church and had to take pics of it again. It just begs to be photographed and this time I was pretty close. (pics)

I walked another 4-5 blocks and was about to turn back, sure I had missed the entrance to the Botanical Garden, when I saw a baby sign and walked towards the entrance. I actually found better shots on the walk in than in the garden itself. It was pretty anticlimactic. Except for the frogs. Eeuuuuw! There is a “pond” there that is so covered in algae it looks like pesto and the frogs are almost as high in concentration. (pics)

I figured that after walking from one corner of Strasbourg to another, I was all set for my touristy quota for the day and am now back in the room where the bugs can’t bite me (yeesh) and planning on knocking out some chapters of The Book Of Love. If I read diligently, I may even be able to get it done in the next 2 days. I wasn’t planning on it before, but now I think I may make a day trip to Chartres (about an hour by train outside Paris) this next week, just to see the relics/symbolism mentioned in the book.

Tonight may be my last ‘traditional’ food item: tarte flammee (Flamm Kusch in the local language). Basically pizza toppings with no red sauce baked on a cracker crust instead of pizza dough. I figured after a whole pretzel and some spice cookies, I could lay off the thick bread foods for tonight.

Oh, but on the topic, last night I had Poulet au Riesling (alsacian) with Spaetzle (alsacian). The chicken was good; sauce was sort of a creamy mushroom sauce. Spaetzle and I aren’t really gonna be best friends. It was kinda shoestring potatoes meets spaghetti? Meh. But dessert was chocolate mousse and whoa. I seriously thought I’d met my match, gang. First off, it was the size of a bowl of cereal. Perfectly rich – not too sugary sweet but deeply intense dark chocolate flavor. The texture was something between really good fudge and chocolate frozen yogurt: velvety but dense. It took me 20 minutes and the better part of a pitcher of water, but I enjoyed every last bite of that mousse… *small bow*

Tomorrow I head back to Paris on a midday train and check into a darling hotel in the Marais district with free WiFi downstairs (score!).

Pics of Strasbourg by boat & foot on day 3 on Flickr.

Saturday, May 23: Strasbourg Cathedral

I actually did get up in time to avoid lines at the Cathedral. I even snuck into the Creperie in the Place de la Cathedrale for a very exciting breakfast find: they have galettes (the buckwheat, savory crepes) here! So I had one of those and then a regular crepe with strawberry jam inside. Gotta get some energy before walking up to the top of the church spires!

I got my Strasbourg Pass from the Tourist Info Center and headed up 330+ stairs to the viewing deck of the Cathedrale de Notre Dame. (lots of pics, including one of my head) I took a few shots from the streets as well: it's notorious for only having the one spire temple thing at the top (2 were originally planned, but budget left them with one).

I made the walk from the hotel to the train station to see if it'd be a pain to walk with my bags on Monday. It's mostly flat, so it would be ok... if it weren't for the multitude of people I'd have to navigate around! I'm gonna go ahead with a tram ticket this go around. I hurried back to the cathedral for the astrological clock film & presentation at noon and the line to get in was around the side of the church (it's not a small church). So I think I'll do that tomorrow...

The weather is really being good to me again today, so I walked from corner to corner of Strasbourg's center of town, including stopping back through "little France" (la Petite France) and the covered bridges down on that side of the city (pics).

Since I was over there, I decided to use my museum pass to get into the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art for free. I was about halfway through the first special exhibit when I remembered I really hate modern art. I was fully creeped out by the first exposition, so I tried another one that was supposed to be on color. Turned out to be on yellow. Wow. I'm glad there are those who can appreciate it, but I scooted out. Side story: I tried to get out one of the doors midway through the 2nd exposition and ended up in a fire escape type hallway, thinking I'd gotten locked in when the door shut behind me and that my only way out would be through the door that would set off the alarm... turns out I just needed to pull on the door back to the exhibit rather than push. Genius.

Stopped at Galleries LayFayette for fruit and water and a yogurt drink thing, since my breakfast was hardly digested 3 hours later. I went with a light lunch. I actually found a juice bar (in Alsace? Seriously!) and grabbed some much-needed fruit intake there, too. Now, just so you don't think I'm suddenly changing my ways, I did this for lunch because I knew today would be treat-myself-to-ice-cream-day. Everyone here has ice cream... like, all the time. I found myself in front of an artisinal bakery that served "house-made" ice cream and ordered the "Sesame" flavor. Actually, no quotes needed... it actually had toasted sesame seeds in it, along with shaved chocolate pieces. It was scrumptous and different, so I'm glad I tried it!

I headed back to the hotel to grab the laptop and try to find a WiFi spot closeby. When I asked the front desk attendant where she recommended I go, she actually told me they have free internet at the hotel! Ahhh (the sound of a choir singing)! So I'm finally getting around to some blog posting.

Tonight: some Rick Steves suggested dining and maybe a boat tour (unless it's crazy busy and then I'll save boating for tomorrow).

Pics of Day 2 in Strasbourg on Flickr

Friday, May 22: Colmar & Strasbourg

As per my usual for days I know I’m traveling, my body woke itself up at 7a with no aspirations of returning to sleepdom. So I got all re-packed and fed myself before Anne woke up at 8. We headed for Colmar for the AM before making our way to Strasbourg.

Colmar is the largest ‘stop’ on the Route des Vins, but knowing we’d have to go today, we didn’t end up making it there last night. Anne needed a dossier for her law office from the Appellate Court here, so we took advantage of the opportunity to have breakfast on the terrace outside St Martin’s Cathedral and walk around the shops and windows. It’s a lot like the other villages on the Route des Vins but on steroids: the church was still dilapidated and aging, but most the other buildings have been kept up fairly well or reconstructed.

After a quick stop into the Appeals Court building (which looks more like l’Opera Garnier inside than an appellate court), we were off to Strasbourg with sort of gray skies. We were supposed to meet up with Anne’s boyfriend, Thomas, at the Gare de Strasbourg (he came in from Rennes), but Anne forgot her cell phone at home and we walked around the train station 3 times, waited for 10 additional minutes and never saw him. She finally used a payphone (and luckily remembered the number) and called his cell to find out that he had gone to a friend’s house instead of waiting… K. So with Thomas and his friend, Francois, in tow, we sought out food in town.

It turns out that the last thing you want to do in Strasbourg is drive and/or park a car. The streets are ruled by pedestrians, parking spots are rare, precious things and mostly people who are driving are from out of town and do stupid, stupid things like turn left from the far right lane of traffic. Seriously, after 30 minutes of driving around the same 1 square mile of city, we agreed it was worth a Euro per hour to park in a garage for the day. We were hungry enough that we through the word “traditional” out the window and went for sandwiches and pizza. My pizza had goat cheese and green olives on it though, so I was more than satisfied with the choice.

It was a bit hard to keep up with the conversation between the guys, and so I was very quiet today, leading them to think I was either not having fun or just a snob. Later, at dinner, Francois asked me how much of their convos I was understanding and I explained that I grasped the subject and the general sense, but wasn’t picking up on a lot of the sentences. After that ice was broken (8 hours into the day), I spoke up a lot more often. He had though I was bi-lingual – only proving that if you don’t speak, no one knows you’re ignorance – and assumed I was just bored of the conversation all day. Which, having been mostly about Rennes’ loss to another Breton city in the cup finals of soccer, was not entirely false either. But we managed to all have a great discussion at dinner. (back to that in a sec)

We walked the entire day, checking out the monuments I’ll likely revisit when Thomas and Anne have gone back to Mulhouse and “licking windows”: window shopping here is translated literally as window-licking. Strasbourg is actually quite a bit bigger than I imagined it being. It’s a significant city for France and has a very strong flavor of Germany. Food-wise of course, but also people-wise. The perfect example of both is that the families here are mostly heavy. The children are often obese by French standards and maybe by American standards, too. It’s easier to say no to 14 kinds of local dessert specialties when I look at what the sugar intake does.

The food is a part of it though and I’m happy to try it all, if perhaps more moderately than before. We had aperatifs on a boat bar thing. Basically a café/bar but, ya know, on a boat on the river that runs through Strasbourg. Great view of a smaller cathedral and the bateau-mouches, aka boats-full-o-tourists.

Then we walked around the corner to Les 3 Brassiers where our Routard book got us 10% off the already decent prices. It’s a local brewery serving up regional must-try items. I actually ended up with a salad of some sort that had turkey and goat cheese (twice in one day, I know) and tomatoes and stuff in it. For the first time possibly since coming to France, I didn’t have dessert. *gasp* No worries, I had had 2 chocolate eggs on the ride from Colmar to Strasbourg (which is only 45 min btw).

After dinner, Anne and the guys dropped me and my bags off at the Hotel and headed out. Anne and I promised we’d reconvene soon, maybe even in the States. She and Elodie were such fantastic hostesses! I really am amazingly lucky to have great girlfriends and luckier still that they’re willing to host me for a week each!

I’m at my first hotel of the trip: Hotel des Arts just off the Place in front of the Cathedral. The room is pretty darn small, but the price was good, the location is great and I can shower in a shower that will not get used before or after me all morning. This may not seem like a big deal, but it’s kind of nice to be able to put my crap anywhere I want in the small room.

I’ve got plans to be an early riser (ha) tomorrow to avoid the line to climb the cathedral tower and try the walk from my hotel to the train station to see if I could do it with bags. It really seems silly to take the tram as it couldn’t be more than a mile away, but who knows with cobblestone. Also, I’m now officially at 4 bags: the duffel bag is out and full.

Check out Colmar and Day 1 in Strasbourg pics on Flickr.

Thursday, May 21: Route des Vins

Anne finally got to sleep in this AM, so we were in no real rush to get up and about and that was just fine with me. Today was the day us two fine ladies headed North to travel the Route des Vins: a 10 mile or so stretch of Alsace tucked away in between the Vosges mountains. Overlooking the "wine road" is Haut-Koenigsbourg Castle: a much photographed beast at the very top of one of the higher peaks (none of the "peaks" are that high).

We mentally prepared ourselves with some Chinese food... 5/21 is l'Ascension and a holiday for almost every business in France. So, much like holidays in the U.S., when all else is closed... find Chinese food! It wasn't exactly what I think of as Chinese and I'm sure that people in China would balk, but my “spicy” shrimp was good anyway. We got as cute as comfortably possible – me in a new dress from the Mango store in Paris – and headed off.

After a 5 day fantastic weather streak, Alsace finally saw not only a cloudy day, but at times positively gloomy skies, with an inconsistent drizzle throughout the day (and a downpour that thankfully waited until dinner time when we were inside). It made for a really cool view of the Vosges mountains, which are known as the “blue mountains” because they always seem blue at dusk or in the rain. The photos are terrible quality (we’re moving at 100 km/hr) but you get the idea.

We drove all the way up to the Northern-most city on the Route to work our way back down throughout the day. Each town has its own character, but most are a sort of medieval slice of Alsace with cobblestone everything and a flair for color (my goodness, the colors). In looking through the pics, keep an eye out for storks: they’re the mascot of the region.

Our first stop was the smallest village, a quaint spot that doesn’t make it to many postcards: St Hippolyte. It’s the closest spot to the Castle-topped mountain and so our best shot at pics (I tried!). It was also the quietest and most rustic of our stops for the day. Many things were closed here because of the holiday and it being too small a town to stay open for tourists.

Next came Bergheim, which was a tad bigger and even more colorful (check out the primary-color-neighbors pic), but still fairly small/quiet. We also saw a church of a pretty decent size for a smaller town like Bergheim. As we were driving up the countryside, I could tell that there were a lot more towns than I thought because each town gets a temple or Parish (they’re more Protestant than Catholic here) and you can see distinctly each town by its church’s clock tower. I believe this is where we found a shop that makes literally every flavor of jam imaginable. From strawberry to muscato (meaning flavored with the sparkling wine) to violette, to the equivalent of pine tree-flavored jam. She had it all and we tasted something that was a specialty of the region (of course I can’t remember the berry/plant name). Anne wound up getting the Muscat.

We put some vineyards between us and Bergheim (pic: there are no yards here, only vineyard) on our way to the largest city on the Route besides the grand finale in Colmar: Ribeauville. This is where the tour buses full of retired people were hiding. It was a bit less rickety and way larger than the two previous villages and there was a shop of Alsacian goodies every few steps on the main drag. There was also a shop that Anne’s Routard book mentioned of jewelry made of precious and semi-precious stones. This is where I got snagged. I tried on a couple (pics) and after hovering over one in particular and trying it on 3 times consecutively, I finally had to treat myself to a ring (pic). It isn’t a stone I’m familiar with. Something that, at a certain angle, holds almost no color and simply looks like a cracked old bit of glass, but from a hundred different angles illuminates seemingly from within and shines a brilliant oceanic array of colors in blues and greens. Trust me, it’s worth that description… even more than the other rings in this variety of stone, this was a special *rock*.

Taking advantage of the many souvenir shops in Ribeauville, we also treated ourselves to Alsacian favorites like creamy hazelnut-tinged chocolate eggs (pic) and a soft pretzel from the home land o’ soft pretzels. The region is known for their whites, but Ribeauville is a tribute to Cremant d’Alsace, the sparkling (champagne-like) beverage that was born here.

After Ribeauville, we headed through Riquewihr, again smaller and quieter, this time because it looked ominously dark in the skies and less so because of small village size. As if we needed it, we had to get another Alsacian tradition: a kougelhopf (a sort of liqueur-soaked bundt cake; pic) and we tried mini macaroons of a variety of flavors. Anne also got a spice cake, but we – thankfully – didn’t add that to our immediate indulgences!

We moved along, hoping to catch some of the shops in our final stop of Kaysersberg before they closed at 7. K-berg is much more tucked into the mountains with a notable presence of a Florida-looking knobbly type of tree. It’s also a bit more medieval and in our case: wetter. We were invited into a shop of a local producer to taste, and believe it or not… it was our first taste of wine all day. We had a sip of a non-sweet and a sip of a sweet before scooting off to dinner at another Routard suggestion: Du Chateau. About halfway through dinner, the skies split open of their own accord and dumped buckets on Alsace. It rained through the night, even back in Mulhouse, but during dinner, we could see the rain even through the heavily tinted windows! (pic)

Dinner was well worth the suggestion. I ended up having l’Entrecote de l’Hotel – the “special of the house part just mean a slab of herbed butter on top but YUM – with white asparagus (yet another regional staple; pic) and of course a mound of chocolate ice cream with Chantilly (pic). Of course, being in Alsace, I had to have the Cremant to compliment the meal. Funny side note: my uber colorful dress matched the tablecloth. Seriously. (pic)

After a lot of walking and a really fantastic day, Anne and I treated ourselves to the climate controlled goodness of the Cineplex and Confessions of a Shopaholic (all in French of course, but I kept up ok).

Check out the pics of the entire day (beware: it’s quite the stash for one day) on Flickr.

Wednesday, May 20

A leisurely day. I was going to go to the 3 museums that Anne proposed to me, but realized I hadn't had a day of slowness for awhile, so I stayed in and read some, worked out some (yes, it's true! ok, really what that means is I put my iPod headphones in and danced around the apartment for 45 min), went for a 2 mile walk around the big sports park close to Anne's apt.

Funny observation: the stade nautique where the pool is butts up to a McDonalds. Seriously? This entire park is all sports and rec and there is only one restaurant that sits on the grounds... and it's "Mac Do"? Yeesh. Maybe they didn't get "Supersize Me" out on video over here...

Thursday is a holiday (l'Ascension), so Anne proposed that we go to a traditional Alsacian restaurant for dinner. Her boss recommended Ferme des Moines in a little village outside Mulhouse called Jungholtz, tucked into the Vosges mountains. I wish I had gotten pics of the mountainside or landscape, but because the sun was setting behind them, they wouldn't have turned out. As it was, I took a pic of a cool looking temple/church that we drove past on the way up.

The restaurant is actually quite large by French restaurant standards and sits on the grounds of a farm run entirely by Monks (that's what the name means). The decor was fairly rustic (pics) and the theme is strong. The ceiling was completely covered in tapestries that showed the daily life of a monk. Halfway through the meal, the entire restaurant went dark and there was an audio narration of daily life as a monk, illustrated in turn by a dozen wooden monk puppets that lined the walls of the restaurant. As the narrator described each activity, a different monk was lighted and did his action. They were all on automated strings: the wine-making monk jumped on grapes, one monk got his head shaved in the traditional manner, the monk closest to us was writing in a big book with his quill. (pic)

They offer traditional Alsacian dishes as well as a more generic regional/French-German cuisine. Of course, I order the choucroute Alsacienne! Meaning a plate of sausages and pork cuts served on top of a literal mound of sauerkraut with a couple potatoes for accent. It was huge, but delicious. They don't mind leaving the fat marbled in with the pork steaks, so I had to some fancy cutting (most of you know I don't care for the texture of fat!) but the sausage was downright fantastic.

Anne also suggested that we try the cheese of the Munster region which we were pretty much in. I asked if it was Muenster like we have in the States but she insisted it has a much stronger scent. Turns out, yes, it does. The texture is exactly like that of the Muenster I know and the taste isn't that much stronger, but the smell is very strong. We split a slab/serving of Munster with honey drizzled on it and it was very yummy. (of course)

For dessert, Anne went with the conservative lemon sorbet (a respectable choice) and I decided to get another regional specialty: Black Forest Cake. First off, it was huge. (yes I finished it) But it was also lighter and... wetter (?) than the one I'm familiar with. I'm pretty sure it's cause it's soaked in liquor. In any case it was a perfect finish to our traditional Alsacian dinner in a truly adorable restaurant in a sleepy little town that's too small for street lights (there were like 5 total) in the mountains near Mulhouse. A real treat!

Check out the pics on Flickr, including a shot of my new French outfit that I wore to dinner.

I've also added a snap shot of the map in the front of my Rick Steves' book of France that I've marked on for the places I've gone on this trip. Feel free to comment on any pics (you can comment anonymously)!

Tuesday, May 19

Last night's dinner was fantastic: we went to a hip little bar/restaurant near the downtown area and I had a yummy gnocchi based something or other and we just laughed and talked and laughed, me and Anne and Cecile! Then dessert, I had ice cream plus I finished Anne's strawberry Tiramisu. Which was totally worth it, but I did have to waddle to the car...

Today has been another perfect weather day. Cloudless sky almost the entire day! I escorted Cecile to the train station, where Anne met us for lunch. Ok, again, I'm talking about food, but it was delicious! Skewered beef a pointe (mid-rare), fries, some green beans and cauliflower in lots of butter thing and then Charlotte a fraises or something. Which must be code for omigod... It's a strawberry sauce-soaked cake that is filled with a strawberry creme something or other (pic). Seriously.

We sent Cecile off on her train to Paris and Anne headed back to the office, but not before showing me a few highlights to hit on the map of Mulhouse. A pretty park in the Centre Ville, some shops to hit, and the postcard-ready Hotel de Ville (Town Hall kinda). I set off and saw all these things.

Hotel de Ville is actually a painted facade. As in, instead of being made of brick, it's a massive mauve building that has a brick design painted on it (pic). But from the right angle, it photographs very well. The piazza out in front of it is a nifty spot for cafe terraces and meandering, sprawling shops that I couldn't really afford. And it was surprisingly quiet! For the main square of the city (ok, only judicially), I could hardly make out the words of any of the convos on the cafe patios and the crowd gathered around the church steps was perfectly silent, happy to bask in the sun.

I set off down rue de Sauvage and lots of the chain stores in France, accompanied by a few higher end boutiques. I spent 2 and a half hours shopping... darn it all. But it was so easy to meander around and *fall* into the shops. Got a couple jackets on super discount cause it's officially NOT winter here.

After my feet were thinking about not speaking to me anymore, I sought out the Parc Salvatore, which is charming even with the variety of groups gathered: sitting at one bench towards the center I could hear a lady singing in english, accompanying herself on guitar, a group of high schoolers running around and yelling betises at each other, a group of somewhat ominously shouting teenage boys, a small girl asking her mom about a million questions, the sound of the fountain behind me, the sound of heels clacking on the paved walkway...

I got in a couple sections of my book on the Kindle (reading The Book of Love currently) and decided that after the lunch (even though it was almost 5 hours earlier), I would walk back to the apt instead of tramming it. It's only about a mile and a half or two miles and it was a beautiful walk!

Tonight, Anne is fixing fish and rice and we're watching the French American Idol, la Nouvelle Star!

Pics on Flickr

Monday, May 18

I got to sleep deliciously late today (all my adjectives are about food these days, give a girl a break). Cecile and I got up and moved about the apt some before our "plans" for the day.

I wanted to look for a hotel in Strasbourg -- consulting the ever-helpful Rick Steves. I spent 20 minutes completely unloading my suitcase, thinking I'd left it accidentally in Paris before checking the miniscule front pocket and staring straight at it. It was good to rearrange the bag anyway.

Cecile and I took off together, me to find a restaurant for lunch and her to grab a sandwich and meet a friend at the train station. We didn't actually get out of the apt til about 2p and having had breakfast at 10:30a, I basically stopped the first place I saw. Turned out to be a wanna-be Greek restaurant I think... maybe pan-Euro. Anyway, Cafe Olympia offers quite the extensive menu and in the perfectly gorgeous (gorgeous) weather, the terrace called to me. I sat under their fiery orange awning and had 4-cheese rigatoni. In the U.S., four cheese usually means 4 fairly plain white cheeses. Here, that would be a downright travesty. My four cheeses were a swiss-like cheese, parmesan, ricotta and roquefort (blue cheese)! Oh wow it was yummy.

Afterwards, I decided to walk down to Le Clerc (comparable to Super Walmart in types of items offered, but not really in price - size is pretty darn close) and find the few items that I've been needing. Not the least of which is a weapon against the slight odor of my new hand bag. I finally found a hand bag in Rennes that I really liked (green, not too ostentatious, but spacious) and bought it for the fabulous price of 15 Euros... turns out that they throw in a slightly fishy smell for free? It's utterly weird and I've FeBreezed the crap outta this thing and even tried spritzing body spray from Bath & Body works in it... but this is a stubborn smell. It's not even strong, it's just... determined. So I stopped by the car aisle and bought myself an air freshener shaped/scented like a coconut. (pic) It currently lives inside the new bag and will probably stay there even after I add my stuff to it. Take that, fish smell.

I also picked up a few fruit/veggie smoothie things (pic) so I don't have to feel bad about eating pasta, butter, cheese, bread and meat at each meal, topped off with chocolate desserts. This way I know I'm at least "eating" 4 fruits a day, though I've been big on apples since I've been here.

In France, you have to go expressly to a Pharmacie for anything more than diet pills or sugar free candies that could pass for cough drops, so I made a quick stop at the Pharmacie and just skipped straight to cheating: I showed the nice woman the back of the pill capsule for Advil Cold & Sinus so she could read the ibuprofen+pseudoephedrine ingredients. I now know that's called "Nuprofen Rhume" here and will probably be grateful for the vocab later.

I have noticed that the people here look a lot more Germain/Suisse than the stereotypical French of Paris or even Rennes. No, I do not have pictures, but I have noticed that not only are there more rotund people here, they seem to be the majority. It's a bit disconcerting considering I'll be eating here for a week... (yeah right, like I've been eating healthy in other parts of France?)

I love the houses here... very colorful and each is a bit different. (pics) You can actually see the mountains over the tops of some of the houses, but most of Mulhouse proper is pretty flat and there are buildings blocking the landscape in most places. I'll see if I can get better pics tomorrow.

Check out all the pics on Flickr.

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Sunday, May 17

After a bang up packing job (if I do say so myself) and a final morning with Elodie and Erwan, Elodie took me and my bags to the train station and saw me off. I miss her already!

Turns out the "layover" in Paris meant an entire train station switch... meaning getting my bags off of the Montparnasse train, through about 10 stop on a metro line and into the train station at the Gare de l'Est. Turned out ok, though and I had plenty of time to make the journey.

Otherwise, the train ride was pretty calm. My eyes started to droop a little midway from Paris to Strasbourg (the stop between Paris and Mulhouse) so I went back to the club car for an espresso and was behind a gentleman that only had a 50 in his wallet to pay for his Orangina and the guy didn't have change for it. After a couple of lines of discussion, I asked the man how much it would be for the Orangina and my coffee and asked the gentleman if I could vous inviter for the drink (meaning treat him). They both said how nice it was of me to offer and that usually it's a gentleman buying a beverage for a young lady, etc etc... I'm pretty sure I was blushing, but I was happy that I had the French and the opportunity to do it.

I got started on The Book of Love (follow up to The Expected One) and was reading about the valleys I was riding through. They actually make a couple of references to Chartres in the book, which is less than an hour outside Paris... I could maybe take a day trip to see the labyrinth they talk about next week.

I arrived and called mom at home just to say I made it and Anne and Cecile came to pick me up at the Mulhouse train station. We rode home and talked about the options for my week. I assured Anne not to worry about me... She felt bad that she had to work Monday through Wednesday and I said I absolutely expected her to be at work while I was here, so not to think twice. I'll probably spend my days exploring the ville and reading in the park close to here.

The weather is gorgeous here: at least 20 degrees warmer than in Rennes. I guess that's standard. Anne says the temperature can change pretty fast here (like it does in Rennes), so I'll probably still tuck my umbrella in my bag whenever I leave. I actually got some pics of the changing countryside on my train ride, but I may wait til tomorrow to upload them. Anne's internet plugs in on one side of the apt and I have to charge the laptop battery on the other side, so I have to time things well...!

We got me all moved in and had dinner and watched Pride and Prejudice in english with english subtitles. Turns out the movie is actually more clever if you can catch all the quips! I enjoyed it more this time around, reading along.

We're thinking dinner for Cecile's last night (Monday) will be traditional Alsacian food, whatever that is... something like a pizza but I can't remember the name and Anne hasn't found anything she really loves yet... We'll give it a go. She suggested day trips to Switzerland or nearby towns and I really probably will stay pretty close for the first few days. I just want to get a feel for a new city and speak some French.

Thursday Anne and I may go on a "wine tour" or something like that in the area. Friday, her boyfriend Thomas gets in from Rennes and about midday we'll all head to Strasbourg together to meet up with some of their friends. Anne and Thomas will probably come back to Mulhouse Friday night and I'll stay in Strasbourg to check out the sights there for the weekend.

That's all I know for now... off to find a supermarche to replenish my Cold & Sinus stock. It is spring all over France and I'm gloriously allergic to it all!

Saturday, May 16

Dinner last night with Jade (Elodie's bf), Erwan and Elodie at la Motte Piquet: a creperie that was participating in a Rennes food festival of sorts and would have special galettes. Turns out they were out of the special, but we had really yummy galettes (yay, I had galettes again!) that were about the size of Chicago. Followed by desserts crepes of the same size... Wow, we ate a lot. We sat and talked til after 11 (keeping in mind dinner is more like at 9 here) and then went to the Lounge for un verre. We decided not to make a terribly late night and headed back.

This AM was very calm: we had pain au chocolat and breakfast together at the table and everything. Got all ready and Elodie and I went to the Marche des Lices together. It's actually nationally known for it's massiveness and I can see why (I got lots of pics)... from cheeses to fishes to fruit and veggies galore, it's impressive. Plus, everyone else had the same idea, so we were amidst the bustle. We got me a sausage-cheese galette and it was so freaking good. I know it's hard to translate, but this is one of the things that I've missed most about Rennais food.

We had a coke/water on the patio of a restaurant overlooking Place des Lices as the Marche was wrapping up (pics) and just relaxed. Met Jade for a shopping excursion and ended up at Couleurs Cafe, who specializes in hot chocolate. I got a coconut something or other and Elodie got spiced honey I believe... they were beautiful and delicious!

The museums are free all over France May 16th from 8 to midnight, so we went to the Eco-museum close to the house and it was actually the closest I've ever been to a cow or a pig... and I'm from the midwest! I had to travel to France to learn about wheat... Strange. But the museum is very cool.

Afterwards, we came home to rotisserie chicken and potatoes at about 10:30p and then got ready and left to go back out on the town about midnight. I got to see some of the places that Elodie goes out and some of them are still the same as when I was here (yay, I'm not too far removed). The last one is actually underground in a sort of cave thing with great deco, fun music and a dance floor. Very fun!

Pics on Flickr

Friday, May 15

The meal Wednesday was way fun. Helene and Marco came over, we had apperatifs and nibbles and talked it up (I actually understood most of it!). We ate the french version of Mexican rice and, as promised, broke out the chocolate fountain. Between 5 of us we ate 3 'bricks' of dark chocolate and didn't even regret it. It was however, the messiest thing I've ever eaten. (and that's saying something as I'm a barbecue lover) The pics can prove, we managed to get the beautiful "before" picture and then a shot of "after" where the table is partially covered in chocolate and our plates are *ahem* works of art. It was very fun. I managed to break a glass (opah!), and the chocolate fountain is darn hard to clean, but very fun.

Yesterday, Elodie and I met with her friend Severine for lunch behind la Republique and it was delicious! Salmon, spinach and goat cheese lasagna... holy wow. And because it's my rule to have dessert with every meal, Elodie and I split a gourmet plate with tastes of 4 different desserts. Don't worry, ma, one of them was fruit salad! Sev and I walked around a bit, me still looking for a new purse -- the one I bought right before going really hurts to carry too much stuff in. I ended up finding a cool green one, but it kinda... smells? So it's aerating on the patio right now.

After Elodie got some afternoon work done, I changed into one of my 3 dresses, none of which I've had the chance to wear, even though it was still a bit chilly for it and we went to have cocktails at a place called "Lounge" (clever, no?) in the Centre Ville. We talked for 3 hours (shocking I know) and had a couple fun, interestingly-named drinks. Finally came home and had dinner at about 10, which is only really an hour later than normal here. Erwan fixed up some ratatouille-like veggies and chicken. Elodie and I nibbled on green olives and really great bread from a downtown bakery while we watched him prep, just in case there wouldn't be enough carbs with the meal...

This AM I managed to finish off one of the 6 cereal choices in the cupboard and I could stand to go for a pretty long walk, so I'm headed to Super U (not as big as LeClerc, the french answer to Walmart, but bigger than the average grocery store in France) for St Moret, one of the standard cheeses here that would be insanely expensive at home, and cereal... and what the heck, I bet they have a chocolate aisle I should check on...

I think we'll be doing cocktail hour again tonight and probably going out on the town for galettes -- can't wait!

Pics of chocolate fountain night and me and Elodie after our cocktails last night: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bestofjess

Wednesday, May 13

Blog site was down yesterday, plus I don't think I'm going to write something every day (it's hard to be witty that often...)

After finally going to see a doctor yesterday AM, he told me that after the first few days of something like this, you pretty much have to just try and keep comfy while it runs its course. He prescribed me a throat spray and some aspirin/ibuprofen (for a non existent fever). The 2 prescriptions and the doctors appt - without insurance - was less than 30 Euros! The French pay a big chunk of their salary to taxes, but they have the healthcare thing down.

We had home-made "creme chocolat" (chocolate pudding) and Croque Monsieur (a sort of a grilled ham and cheese) for lunch. It was delicious! Monday night's dinner was a zucchini/tuna quiche and it looked easy to do but I can assure you, I don't make it chez moi. I'm actually kind of inspired to do some cooking when I get back home... this stuff has basic ingredients and is not complicated to do (Elodie insists). And it is friggin' delicious!

It rained most of yesterday, so in order to further recoop, I stayed in and read my Kindle up until about 2p. Elodie had an appt in the Centre Ville ("downtown") and offered to take me over to walk around on my own some. So I did. Poked my head in the shops and took some sort of gray looking pics of the standard photo ops.

I found that a lot had changed or else I didn't remember as much as I should have... In particular, across from Place St. Anne where I caught the bus back to my host home every day, there used to be this crumbly half torn down building that looked like it had been bombed in "the war" and never repaired. I never once saw someone working on it while I studied here, it was just "in the works." Now, it's a full on mall! An H&M and everything... crazy.

There are more foreign cuisine options than there used to be... maybe more "homeless" people. I use quotes because they are really a group of people that all have sort of mangy dogs and dreadlocks and have chosen (actually chosen, I'm not being politically snotty here) a life on the streets rather than paying for a house and getting a job. It's a whole clique of people. Anyway, I think they've been recruiting or something...

But the old underground dance club (La Place) is there. Amour Pommes de Terre - a restaurant built entirely on food made from potatoes (I'm in love) - is still there. As is the latin bar next door. Wow, it's amazing the memories that will jump back at you when you see a place again!

Last night, Elodie's dad had us over for crepes, made by a true Breton. We had crepes with everything in them. Nutella (my fave), a chesnut butter (think applebutter with a nutty flavor), salted caramel (Erwan's fave), butter & sugar, confiture (jam)... Plus nibbles beforehand to go with our apperatifs. We had real Breton cidre from Bretagne (yum!). Woodchuck ain't got nothin' on this stuff.

Today at lunch Guillaume and Anne's mom, Christiane, had me over for lunch (porkchops, ratatouille made fresh and jarred last summer, plus Roquefort and a creamy light cheese for dessert) and we caught up a bit. Being at her home reminded me of a lot more memories of my semester here: Guillaume's birthday party and the afternoons I spent there with him, watching Friends in French and trying to perfect my French.

Christiane asked me if I'd gotten skinnier since we last saw each other and I said, well yes... after 4 months in France, I'd put on about 20 pounds. I only have a month this time, but I'm hoping to at least take 5 pounds more Jess home with me. (all cheese and bread and chocolate and a splash of wine)

The sun came out today!! I walked and sat and soaked it up. Took some more pictures (better). Then headed down into the Republique metro station to see Erwan's mom's group do country line dancing as part of a campaign to "move more" that's going on in the region. It's a group of 50+ ladies (and one man) who do country dancing in order to stay active in their post retirement years. They were pretty good! And anyway, it was a sight to see them doing 8 counts in their colorful cowboy hats with their "Love that Country Dance" shirts on. I uploaded a video: cause you can't hear the Village People song in the still shots...

Tonight, Elodie's friends are coming over and we're using it as an excuse to break out the chocolate fountain Elodie got for her last birthday. I'm not gonna tell her I wouldn't have needed an excuse. It's stopped raining, though, so in anticipation of what is sure to be another huge meal, I may take a brisk walk...

I bought my ticket from Rennes to Mulhouse for this Sunday and will be train-ing it in 4 days!

Check out Rennes pics on my Flickr, which I've now conveniently named "bestofjess" so the URL isn't so terribly long: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bestofjess

Monday, May 11

Today, it's raining (drizzle) again in Rennes, but that's ok, cause I need to stay in and "rest" a bit. I've now completely lost my voice (like 10% of a noise comes out, the rest is whisper - super attractive). I tried to explain yesterday to Elodie the expression "1-900 number voice." Today I just plain don't have a voice at all.

Last night, we watched "Identity" (an American film) in French. Most of the movies here are actually American movies. This one was pretty creepy but I'd recommend it -- I actually understood a pretty good part of what was going on!

I finally got some pics of the apt while Elodie was working and Erwan, her boyfriend, was out... it is a tad awkward to take pictures of someone's house while they're, ya know, in it. It's an adorable flat: great layout, good color scheme, cool furniture/fixtures :) They have a fridge full of cheese and a washer/dryer which Elodie insisted I could use, so now I have clean socks (clean clean, not washed-in-the-sink-with-bar-soap clean). They are the perfect host/hostess, always saying fais comme chez toi (Make yourself at home, or do as you would please at home).

I wish I could get pics of the countryside - we are actually a la campagne here - but I think they'll turn out better in the sunshine and they assure me it's only been rainy/gray the two days I've been here. May isn't a rainy month, but I think Rennes wanted me to remember the rain... like picking up where I left off. We're still talking about going to the pictoresque St Malo on Saturday if it's nice. Elodie's family has a house there and we could spend the day at the beach if it's sunny and warm enough.

Check out the pics of last night's dinner - Raclettes - and the apt on my Flickr account. I'll get people pictures later in the week (perhaps when I am feeling a bit more like going out!) so you can "meet" Elodie et son petit ami (boyfriend).

Sunday, May 10

I am getting over the nose stuff, but losing my voice a bit from the coughing (we all know how resilient my voice is, it can last through an awful lot!). I packed up at the hostel this AM and headed to the Gare Montparnasse. Let's just say my bags get heavy after the 14th set of stairs in the Metro.

A quick 2 hour train ride later, I'm in Rennes! Elodie picked me up (looking fabulous!) and brought me back to her and her boyfriend's adorable apartment just outside Rennes. We've been talking since I got here, (shocking I know) and mostly in French. This is where I'll really improve my French if it will be improved -- only Elodie really speaks much English, so I'm practicing my French as much as possible.

We stopped by her parents house (lots more practice trying desperately to understand French) to pick up a mattress for me for the week and we're back now, watching Friends in french. I'm using the WiFi at the apt and it turns out Elodie and Erwan have a service for TV/Net/Phone where they can call to homes in France and to a few countries for FREE. So I can call the States for free this week! Cool perk :)

Pics tomorrow... super rainy today and pics wouldn't show you how GORGEOUS it is here. But the rain is how I remember Rennes (in the winter, it rains a LOT) so it's fitting.

Ok, off to have more tea for my throat and soon we'll have Raclettes (a Breton classic) for dinner: fingerling potatoes, and Raclette cheese melted in baby cast iron pans and then poured over the potatoes. Yummmm...

Saturday, May 9

I made it to the gospel concert at St Germaine de Pres last night and wow... very cool. Ok, so it was a bit contrived, but the music and musicians were powerful anyway and there was a group of us in the wings (without seats) that were clapping and dancing along. I actually got some video of it, but I'm not sure the sound comes out right (I only have laptop speakers). The result of booming gospel voices in an ancient Catholic church was very cool! My wish-I-could-capture-it moment was watching the "wings" crowd and seeing two gals that were watching the choir do a slower song and doing the knee-bending-heel-tapping version of the gospel sway :)

I really wanted to go to the jazz jam session at Duc des Lombards last night, but I just wasn't feeling well enough. I've promised myself that the Friday before I leave when I'm back in Paris, I'm definitely doing it!

I finally got to the inside of l'Opera Garnier, but it was packed with people (Saturday at a tourist attraction). The pics, again, don't come out right, but it's one of my two favorite places in Paris (the other is Notre Dame). It's just... glorious! I posted a few pics on Flickr that came out ok.

I then headed to Tour Eiffel to see if I could catch some sun in between rainy-looking clouds, but it wasn't meant to be. Fun people-watching-isms: a man getting a full sized (as big as himself) Mexican flag out of his backpack and posing with it in front of Tour Eiffel (what has he done with it the rest of the trip?); the tail end of a wedding party fleeing Trocadero (I only knew it was a wedding party cause of the massive ball of tulle that led the group - the bride I assume); and my favorite: an Italian family walking up to Trocadero with mom and dad covering the kids' eyes as they walked up the steps before the big reveal - too cute!

I had a panini from the tourist trap lunch vendors that was quite delicious and journaled some but it was getting darker instead of lighter, so I took the obligatory self-in-front-of-Tour-Eiffel picture (so you guys know I'm really in Paris) and split.

Walked around to some of the hotels (not hostels) that Rick Steve's recommends for le Marais (I love the neighborhood, but I think I'm over sharing a room and extra-sharing a restroom) and finally scored a room at a Hollywood-themed place not 4 blocks from the Fourconnier hostel. WiFi and cafe in the lobby and the rare airconditioned room, but not as inexpensive as I was hoping. Hey, it's May. What do I want from these people, right?

I finally got to Anne by phone and we made plans for the week of May 18: I'll be meeting her in Mulhouse via Strasbourg in the far East side of France. So I'm officially booked up for the rest of my stay, which is a nice feeling. Now to enjoy it all!

Running out of battery again -- see all pics at Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/37916084@N03/sets/72157617637794620/

Friday, May 8

It’s apparently a French holiday? Unless people are just getting a long holiday in honor of Bastille Day which I thought was the 4th for some reason (but what do I know?).

And I’m sick. I think it’s a sinus infection, very likely brought on Spring allergies (charming, I know). I’m not really sneezing a lot, but the sore throat is prominent and I’m Post Nasal Dripping (blech). Turns out that pseudoephedrine is worth about $.75/pill. And it turns out I’m totally willing to pay that. (see pics tomorrow… didn’t upload yet!)

I figured while I’m on the train of paying way too much for things I just really need. Now that the pen I brought is out of ink, I have no way to journal without at least a basic writing utensil. Voila my “bargain” 2 Euro ($3) Papermate pen. (pic)

Last night ended up being gorgeous weather. Dinner with Olivier (new friend from the hostel) and his friend Elaine, who is a native Seattle-an, but living and traveling in Europe. I don’t think she was a big fan of having me along – Olivier didn’t ask/tell her til we both showed up. My spidey-sense (female intuition) led me to realize that though he didn’t see it as a romantic op, she probably was. Not even in France can you escape catty women territorial crap. Blech.

Oh the feet, they hurt. I’m gonna need inserts or something for my sneakers. There’s not a lot to them and I’m doing way too much walking to just go with it. Hopefully in Rennes, there will be more sitting/studying…

Aiight, eating then going to try to make a Gospel concert at St Germaine de Pres!

Thursday, May 7

(FYI, running out of battery, so I've made sure the pic link at the bottom works, but didn't have time to upload individual pic links. If I say "pic" you'll have to look for it.. like an easter egg hunt!)

Thursday: I woke up this AM (meaning middle of the night) with an extremely sore throat. Suspicious that I’d caught something (there are Swine Flu warnings on all the train station/airport terminals!), I vowed to try harder to find soap (something that seems to be optional in a lot of places) and be better at using my hand sanitizer in between. Turns out I think it may just be spring… a few hours later, I’m feeling fine and I thank Advil Cold and Sinus.

On a more positive note, it is positively gorgeous today! It’s been cloudless and sunny almost the entire day. This is a real treat as it’s been fairly overcast since I got here with only peeks at sunshine on Monday. I decided to choose my Sacre Coeur/l’Opera Garnier day for today.

I started with taking pics of the outside of la Madeleine (pics) as my buddy Rick Steves says the inside is a vast disappointment. Walked through very high end shopping (think 5th Ave but more so), through the Vendome and to Place de la Concorde, taking pictures the whole way. For a glimpse at what “high end” means, check out a price tag from one of the windows (pic).

Moved on to l’Opera, but it was CLOSED today, so I only got my outdoors pics. I grabbed a listing of shows and hope to see a ballet or symphony from the nosebleeds before I leave France.

On to Galleries LaFayette, which is 8 floors of Sears meets Macys meets grocery stores with cafes, wedding dresses and tourist chotchkies tossed in. From the Terrace up top, there’s a great view of Paris (pics). The café on the 6th floor has a similarly fun view but was cafeteria style food. Now, for most situations that’d be fine, but for me it felt like I’d “wasted” a chance to eat something magnificent. So I treated myself to gelato to tilt the scale back a bit. Turns out chocolate hazelnut gelato can fix anything.

Stopped by Hard Rock café for the obligatory pin (since I didn’t get one the last 3 times I’ve been to Paris?? What’s wrong with me…) and headed to Montmartre with the intention of sitting and relaxing on the grounds, shooting pictures to my heart’s delight and walking around the artists’ displays at Place du Tertre. After my 30th or so picture of Sacre Coeur (pics), my camera – without warning – shut off with a “battery is dead” message. Plus, with the beautiful weather and 100+ steps, I was glistening pretty darn well. I walked around Tertre for a bit, but it still wasn’t really time to eat or sip un café, so I chose a bench near a beautiful restaurant patio to journal. There was a street musician “crooning” La Vie en Rose with his Cello and the French man behind me was humming along frenchily.

Sunset wouldn’t have been for another 5 hours at least, so I gave up and decided to head back to charge up the darn camera. I’m back at café le moderne (the Wistro) and checking in by email with friends/facebooking. Tonight may be a laid back dinner at a posh spot in the heart of my distinctly gay (at least at night) neighborhood (Rick Steves called one bar a good spot for watching “the parade”). Although I did hear about the area not far from la Bastille (so close enough to walk rather than Metro) that houses clubs for dancing and salsa. Those are bit more difficult to edge into as a single person, so maybe I’ll wait til next week with Elodie.

Sorry for the novels, but it seems I’m hitting quite a few places each day so far. Tomorrow I’m looking at going back to Notre Dame and actually going in and at night, there is an American Gospel concert at an old French Catholic church, St Germaine de Pres. The acoustics alone may be worth going for!

Check out the whole roll of photos on Flickr…

Wednesday, May 6

I've decided it may be easier if I break things up by day... even though I'll only be posting about every two/three days or so. So here goes Wednesday:

Wednesday AM, I finally decided to plan out some days for myself, so I’m sure not to miss the things I want to see. I don’t have to do these things, but if I wanted to go to such-and-such neighborhood, I would know that such-and-such is less than a metro ride away, for example. After a leisurely morning and barely scooting out before the kick me out at noon (each day, we have to vacate from noon to 3p; not hard to do and I appreciate the daily cleaning.

I headed off to Monoprix – a large… department store, I guess? But the basement is a grocery store; upstairs is kind of a Target? Anyway, I loaded up for a picnic at Place des Vosges (pics). I found this fabulous little “buffet” of cheese thing with 6 different “tastes” of cheeses: heaven! I also treated myself to a dark chocolate bar with hazelnuts… the candy aisles (there are two: one for cookies, one for chocolate) may be what lures me into staying here in the end…

I eyeballed the expensive shops between Place des Vosges and Centre Pompidou. Very boutique style and in fact, you could see most of what they had to offer in the window display, so I didn’t go in anywhere. Got to Pompidou and realized I didn’t really want to go in the museum exhibits. I like the architecture and the hyper-moderne style (pic), but I am realizing, most of my must-dos in France involve talking and eating and such. So instead I sat down and journaled from the WiFi spot at Centre Pompidou (pic) and then headed out to call home (hi mom and dad). I got done with Pompidou a lot earlier than I thought, so I headed out to see a movie I’d seen before that I thought would be in French… (17 ans encore). Turns out it was version originale with French subtitles! Boo. But I read along and tried to pick up the slang words. And it was still a cute movie the second time around.

I learned that ads for snack foods and desserts are required to have a label (throughout the entire ad) that says something like “For your health, don’t eat too much salty, sugary or fattening foods. More info at mangerbouger.fr” This is way new. Gov’t sticking their hands in the health pot. In fact, Alli (a weight loss drug) was just released in pharmacies here without regulation. That makes it the first to be widely available in France.

I had my first “French jerk” experience at the café in the cinema. As rusty as my French is, it was bound to happen I guess, but people have been really great with me and complimentary of my French usually. It was actually his “English” I didn’t understand. The guy at the counter offered me “Earl Gray” tea. When I didn’t understand earl gray with a thick French accent wrapped all around it, he got really frustrated with me and started barking things like “Big Ben??” So I recoiled a bit, apologizing and saying I hadn’t realized there was a choice. *sigh*

The movie theater I went to is in a “mall” called Les Halles (lay Al). I use air quotes because this monstrous human construction is so big, they have to use street signs to help people get around! (pic) Anyway, I did some light shopping while I waited for the movie to start. Found a fair-priced and packed store called New Look that has officially proclaimed the 80s are back and happenin’. The fluorescent shoes alone speak volumes! (pic)

After the movie, I walked down to Boulevard de Sebastopol to catch some jazz at Ducs des Lombards. There was a concert going on for 25 Euros, but it was vocal jazz and I was positively starving, so I paid it. I was 30 minutes “late” and the only seat I could see was practically on stage to the left of the drummer. So I took it, and could see the entire audience. I ordered food and must have eaten to fast cause the drummer leaned over as I was finishing and asked (in French) “Is it good?” I said “very” but then realized he was sort of making fun of me and the entire front half of the audience had a chuckle.

See now, in the States, I can handle ribbing and laugh with the rest… in this case, I was afraid I’d done something offensive or wrong and was just mortified. Another one of those things that comes with traveling. I’ll get comfy again but I’m currently kind of unsure of myself…

After dinner/show, I headed back to le Marais (my neighborhood) and squeezed into the bar at a very local, somewhat mild spot. Met another new friend (I’m invited to his party on Saturday here in Paris) and had fantastic 3 Euro wine. My day was full and varied but ended well.

Check out the whole roll of photos on Flickr…

More from Tuesday, May 5

I’m so happy. Just… happy. I’m sitting on a sidewalk watching super-model-beautiful people (not all are French), listening to three languages, awaiting real French onion soup and a cheese plate. I feel like I’m supposed to be doing exactly this. I love that I’ve met so many new people in 3 days and that I’m eating dessert with every meal.

Walking back from the Wistro, I passed 2 wine stores, a whole store just for cheese, a pastry shop and at least 2 boutique clothing stores. I remember thinking I couldn’t have built a better city for myself!

So, more things I’ve learned: English is everywhere: the music is all in English, the talk I’m overhearing is largely English. I was right to study in Rennes and not Paris, since it was the language I wanted. It seems that English is the language of tourists from around the world? When foreigners’ French fails them, English seems to be a common denominator. I’m rooming with a Japanese gal that doesn’t speak any French, but has some English.

Learned item #407: Bic pen costs 2,50 Euros! Maybe it does backflips or something, but I can’t fathom… the same pen that costs a buck for 10 in the US is pulling down $3.75 per here!

Have I already mentioned that everyone smokes? Everyone (French and some tourists) smokes. I walked back to the hostel Tuesday afternoon right as the high school was getting out. I walked through the mob of teenagers and a veritable fog of smoke! I guess cigarettes are an accepted part of adolescence here? Explains a little about all the adults smoking…

Tuesday night after dinner, I hopped the metro and headed off to see la Tour Eiffel (from Trocadero) and Champs Elysees at night. I tried (a LOT) to get a good shot of the lit Tour Eiffel (pics), but it’s a job for a tripod and pro photog. I’m glad I got to see it, but sorry I couldn’t share it!

Day two-and-a-half en France

Aaand, we're back and cookin with electricity (see the story below)!

First, yesterday -- my first official day -- was gorgeous. As you can see in my pics of Notre Dame, it was positively beautiful (you can also tell I'm a bit obsessed with Notre Dame -- only slightly strange for a Unity gal). Today, definitely overcast and a bit chilly. I'm glad for my scarf (again) -- in fact, I now have a super soft 100% genuine knock off scarf :) Straight from the street vendors.

Apart from that, where do I even begin?? I'm sitting in cafe le moderne, an ultra-hip "Wistro" (Wi-Fi cafe), literally jamming in my seat to the techno being pumped into the speakers. The walls are exposed stone with faux flickering candlebras above. The Dutch couple that just sat next to me had to revert to English to understand the French waiter :) The woman at the table outside is so posh, I'm afraid to set her loose on the sidewalks (her lips have definitely had help, to start, and her glasses are Mother of Pearl. No, seriously, they are).

A few blocks away is Place de la Bastille (pic). This weekend is Bastille Day, which is expected to bring quite a crowd around our neighborhood (le Marais). It's reminds me of the huge British or New York-ian Places with a dozen off shoots all shopping and eating.

Ugh, the shopping! I've already told them, but Stacey and Eboni would positively die here. They'd already have made the choice of new clothes every 10 min and never eating again... food isn't that important right? First, the stuff that people put out on the streets as "bargain" is better fodder than I've found in Kansas City in a while, if ever. And let me specifically point out 2 things: they are not afraid of color (pic) and they are serious about shoes (pic)! I've bought a pair of shoes and I'm eyeing another. I've possibly doubled my packed wardrobe (mom, before you faint, remember I only packed like 5 outfits, knowing I'd be buying most of my clothes here). Stacey, I look fabulous daily thanks to our under-the-wire pack job. I look positively french!

Of course, I open my mouth and there's no question I'm not a local. Turns out my french is a bit more than rusty. There are entire sets of words that have simply disappeared from my memory. but everyone is patient and I always continue in french even when they start speaking to me in english. Mostly people will helpfully suggest/correct the words I'm using. A few more weeks of this and I'll be back on track with my near 8 years of study in french? (yeesh, all that studying, gone so fast!) I'm making friends all over the place. The concierges at the hostel are all very friendly, but Olivier was the lucky one to be on duty when I was hopelessly struggling to figure out the "free WiFi" in the hostel lobby *eyeroll* Let's put it this way: there's not really free WiFi, it's the city's WiFi and it's only available at one exact spot in the lobby area and only during business hours. *sigh* We live, we learn, we laugh our butts off at my mistakes! Olivier and I are now BFF (by American and French standards, which are very different) and he even offered to lend me his old cell phone to load up with pre-paid minutes instead of buying a phone.

On that note, it turns out I'm not going to get one. In another insanely bold (i.e. out-of-character) move on my part, I've decided not to get a cell. I realized I won't be able to get calls from mom and dad, I can call them via "cabines" (phone booths, which do still exist here), and I can call Elodie using phone cards for $.20/min. What I was really getting it for was in case someone needed me in an emergency. Well, I said to myself, Self, that's silly. What will you do about an emergency from France? Rien (nothing), I answered myself. Ta da: 100 euros saved. (more for shopping! Seriously, it's bad... I don't remember being 'shopaholic' in the States...??)

Back to the touristy stuff: Yesterday, being beautiful, I walked... a LOT. Ended up shopping along the different streets I've never seen before (ie., they're not on the way from Notre Dame to La Tour Eiffel): The entire neighborhood near La Sorbonne (a sort of "institute" of the French language) is chock full of vetements et ensembles pour la femme (clothes for gals). I also have been extra-treating myself with meals. My "errand o' the day" yesterday was to buy my train ticket to Rennes for Sunday. Turns out Jardins du Luxembourg is "on the way" if you're at Notre Dame and the Rive Gauche (Left bank) area. I didn't intend on walking the whole way, but I kept finding more chapels to photograph and stores to stop in. I ended up having lunch at Le Luxembourg, (pic) looking across at the entrace to the gardens. By the way, for our horticultural friends, the "gardens" of Luxemburg aren't very garden-y. It's more a park/place to read/meet (pic). Very little plumage, as it were.

Last night, I went to a Rick Steves recommended Italian restaurant a mere 4 blocks from the hostel, l'Enoteca. I asked one of my hostel-roommates,Sue, to join me, and we sat down to eat at 9:20p like real french ladies. Even more like french ladies, we didn't leave until 11:30! It was positively delicious, though quite the splurge. I have to say, I'm thoroughly enjoying splurging. Everyone should do it. (Insert disclaimer: I've saved for five years for this!)

Today's assignment was to get a 3-prong converter for my laptop power cord. Turns out my converter-set for all its pieces couldn't accomodate! So, to the "good will" it goes. My whopping 9 Euro universal converter is one small piece and I can pretty much plug anything into it and it comes out french on the other side! Assignment, complete. I also set about my "homework" this afternoon while I had the hostel room to myself for a rare moment (the two remaining roommates both checked out today; new roommate checked in today). I fired up my iPod to the "Jazz to Study" playlist (150 songs+!) and started typing up lyrics and listening for nuances in the different musicians' versions.

Now I'm probably overstaying my welcome at the Wistro (it's just such a fun word to say! go on, give it a try...), so I'm going to wrap it up. Plus, this is about as much as one post can handle. Check out the whole "roll" of pics from yesterday/today's excursions on my Flickr Page or of course on Facebook.

Tomorrow: no clue! And that's awesome.

Je suis arrivee!

Ok, I'm here. Took a bit of finagling and I'm ready to change shoes, but I'm fed, checked in, only tired a little (no sleep on the plane thanks to the multitude of charming qualities of the gentleman in the seat next to me).

I'm still very mellow... need to start meeting the locals already (and by locals I mean anyone that speaks french). It turns out there are a lot of Brits and Americans in Paris in May! Who invited them?? And - get this - I come all the way to Paris for a sassy pair of worldly shoes and guess what's in style... COWBOY BOOTS (no really, check the pic).

My neighborhood - now sorta familiar to me as this is my 3rd time staying at the same hostel/complex - is adorably french (see all the pics) and I'm currently perched at the window of the lobby of the hostel trying desperately to make the most of my 2 free hours of WiFi, compliments of the city of Paris. (who knew??)

My computer thinks it's 9a right now, so I'm not totally sure what time it is, but I'm guessing I'm allowed to eat again. I'm off to fulfill my bread quota for the day!