You say Goodbye, and I say Hello!

June 12, 2010
Day 45


In the morning I woke up around 8:30 and said goodbye to Betsy and Andrea. I then went and used my computer in the lobby for a little while until Professor LeBras told me I should check out as soon as I was ready. So then I went and got my stuff from the room, brought it all to the lobby and checked out. I then sat in the lobby with Sister LeBras for about an hour as she talked to me about everything (she likes to talk). Around 11:30 I said goodbye to Sarah and Paige and a little while later the LeBras’ left too so I sat in the sunroom with Jessica and Isabelle. But they too left eventually (they were leaving in the evening so they went into town for the day) and I was left for another hour alone to myself until my taxi arrived at 1pm. The taxi was a rip off (the charge started at 12 euros so I ended up paying 25 euros to get to the airport, which was only a ten minute drive). But the driver was nice and talked to me a little bit. I was able to easily communicate where I wanted to go and I understood his directions to go down the stairs to the bottom level to find the baggage claim area to meet my parents. Luckily I understood him and his directions were clear.

At the baggage claim I had to wait an extra hour because my parents’ plane was delayed. While I was waiting I sat next to an old lady who leaned over and asked me the time and started telling me how her family was supposed to pick her up but they were an hour late or something and had forgotten her! It was funny though because it was hard to hear her because of the noisy surroundings and she didn’t speak exceedingly clearly so there was a lot of miscommunication--we both couldn’t really understand each other. This was kind of sad because I should be able to understand French by now, but it was difficult to hear her too. Eventually her son came and picked her up (it sounded like there had just been a mix up of the correct pick up time so he hadn’t actually forgotten her) so it all ended well. She even said goodbye to me twice as she was leaving with him (“Au revoir Mademoiselle!). It was really cute. She was the sweetest little old lady (only about 5 feet tall, a little hunched over with age and she shuffled when she walked; white hair, little old lady skirt suit and old lady heels and purse, and she spoke cute little French). Adorable.

Finally, around 3:15 I spotted my parents coming out of the terminal (after two hours waiting in the airport with all my stuff). I was so excited to see them! It’s been six months now since I’ve seen any of my family, which is the longest I’ve gone so far. So it was really great to see them again.

We walked over to the car rental area and waited in line for a while. Luckily we didn’t wait in the big line because it was really long and in the sun (it was sunny and humid out, not great line conditions) and it took half an hour with Dad only waiting behind one person in the “already checked-in”-line. However, he eventually got to the desk and I stood with him to help in case he didn’t understand. I didn’t think it would be a problem because I expected a car rental place would speak English. But Dad had trouble understanding the guy’s French accent, so it was a good thing I was with him.

Rental Guy: Do you have your passport Monsieur?
Dad: What?
Guy: Your passport?
Dad: What?
Me: Passport. He wants your passport Dad. Same word in English.
Dad: Oh....

This happened a few times...

Finally, after revalidating a bunch of paperwork, which took longer because the guy serving us was new to the job, we got our car and left the airport. It took a couple rounds to actually get out of the airport and onto the main road, but we did it. We also took a couple wrong turns getting to the hotel, but that too was eventually found in time. Once we got checked in we put on our suits and went to the beach. Dad chose the private section with swimming pool, and a sandy beach with sunbathing chairs. Normally it would cost 12euro a person but the beach was only open another forty minutes and I was able to negotiate with the guy (who was pretty cute) to get in for free. Mom said we only got in for free because he thought I was cute. That would be nice. He definitely got excited when he learned that I spoke French. And I did a decent job too. I think I hid my incompetency fairly well, haha.

Side Note: I was really happy to be in a huge room
with such big comfy beds...

After our half hour of lounging and Dad going for a swim in the Mediterranean, we changed quickly and got dinner along the boardwalk at a buffet place (a real buffet, because its French!). The dinner was decent (the best part was the green beans and the casserole dish of lasagna). Again, I avoided eating the bread!

We missed each other

When we finished dinner, we took a little stroll and then went back to the room, watched my baguette fight movie, and went to bed.

The Final Test

Friday June 11, 2010
Day 44

Yesterday was a lounging kind of day for me, although it didn’t start out that way. I woke up around 8 to study for my test, which was just a twenty minute interview with Dr. LeBras at 10:40am. Unfortunately he asked me about the one subject I knew the least about so I don’t think I did very well, which is frustrating because I really did try to study. The problem was that I don’t have a book because I shared with Marissa, so I couldn’t start studying until she was done, which was around 1am. Certainly I could’ve done more to prepare farther in advance, but it was an unfortunate situation nonetheless.

However, even though I wasn’t able to say much, it was quick and not that hard (he talked a lot himself luckily). After finishing my test I hung out in Sarah, Paige and Betsy’s room on and off for most of the day. I also did a load of laundry and some preliminary packing. It will be nice to have clean clothes for once. It has been two weeks now since I’ve done my laundry. The only thing I really ran out of was underwear though, which I just handwashed in our sink. Because its been so nice and sunny here in Nice I’ve been wearing the same couple outfits (my new white shorts from Camieu in Paris, and a few different tops, and I wore dresses a lot). Then around 6 I helped Meridith walk her bags down to the bus stop to go to the airport. That was kind of sad. But its okay because we’ll all see each other soon in the Fall at school so its not that heartbreaking.

Unfortunately Betsy, Paige and Sarah had a written test that took a long time so I couldn’t really hang out with them, and I didn’t feel like going to the beach (I’m still pretty sunburnt) so it was a lazy day. Around 7 o’clock, Sarah, Betsy, Marissa and I went out to a cafe down Avenue des Anglais for some pizza. We planned to meet up with Paige at the beach at 9 because she still had to finish her test. The pizza turned out to be really good, surprisingly since French pizza is not that great. And our server was really funny. We think he was Italian because when he came over he started in French, realized we spoke English and then the rest of the time he spoke English to us, kind of. I don’t really know how to describe his funniness. But he was just goofy and playful with us about the language and just really friendly. It was quite refreshing from the cold Parisian service I’m used to. I ordered a Marguerite pizza which is basically just cheese pizza with olives on top. So I took those off (I tried one and it was gross) and when I had finished I made a smiley face with them on my plate. When I showed the waiter he laughed and told me that I was allowed to have dessert but the others couldn’t. It was fun. I’m happy to know that not all of France is snobby and elitist--even if he wasn’t French (although we didn’t get a chance to ask him where he was from, dang it).

Betsy & Sarah

My happy meal, French style

After dinner we met up with Paige and then walked back the way we came to find some gelatto. I ate passionfruit flavored gelatto that was really good. I wanted to try a drink of theirs that was called Noisette (hazelnuts) because I have a new obsession with them. But I decided against it. When we finished our ice cream we walked back to the residence, getting “Bonsoir”ed by every group of guys we passed---at one point the guys whistled so I whistled back, haha. We also passed by a small cafe/shop thing where the guys started calling to us even as we didn’t stop to chat. He asked where we were from so I shouted back “Les Etats-Unis” and he said something nice about it or us I don’t remember and wished us a good night, so I responded likewise. It was kind of funny--I was feeling very gregarious, probably because it was our last night.

Sad to say goodbye...

Back at the residence we worked on our baguette movie and FINALLY finished it! Yeah!!! Its almost ten minutes long. Oh la la. But its good and I’m really glad we did it, it was so much fun and such a good souvenir!

Sadly, I didn’t really say goodbye to people before they left. I said goodbye to Meridith obviously, and Joy but that’s about it. Oh well. Goodbyes are awkward anyways...

Blown away by Nice

Thursday, June 10
Day 43

Today Marissa and I took the bus to the Musee Massena, which was an old mansion house from the 19th and 20th centuries that has been turned into a museum. The museum is really beautiful, situated amidst a lovely garden overlooking the Mediterranean. The interior of the home is rich and elegant. I especially admire the beautiful gold inlaid doors that led to the other rooms such as the Salle a Manger and the Great Hall. The museum houses an array of old portraits and items, including a vest worn by Napoleon and his wife Josephine’s tiara and cloak. I also enjoyed looking at the old photographs and advertisements from Nice in the early 20th century. There was even a poster setting forth rules for bathing at the public beaches in Nice--it was required to wear appropriate bathing attire at all times, a custom that seems to have been lost over the years in France, if you know what I mean.

Napoleon's vest

The weather was crazy today because it was so windy. The wind was so strong that it blew things from the trees into the streets, and a huge bushel of pine needles or something was blown down onto my head--hard. It actually hurt a lot, and of course all the sand and leaves on the ground were blown against our bear legs, so that stung a little too. The wind also affected the sea, and the waves were so big and wild that they closed the beaches off from the public! The waves were crashing over the docks and the rock outcroppings. It was a beautiful and majestic sight. But I can see why it would have been dangerous to be out there--especially due to the short shelf here. The shelf ends a couple meters out and just drops off so that you can no longer touch, so it would be very dangerous to be out there in wavy conditions.

Getting blown away

However, Marissa and I braved the windy streets to find the shopping center. We eventually found it and went to Zara’s where I bought an adorable skirt and a tan belt (that was only 9,95e!). Then it was about 4 o’clock so we headed back on the bus to our residence where we met up with the class later for dinner at 6:15pm. Once everyone was present (at around 6:30) we took the bus and went to a nice little restaurant for our last class dinner together in France. The meal was pretty good. The first course was salad that had tuna fish, a weird piece of fish that I took off, and lots of different vegetables (celery, tomatoes, red and green peppers etc.). It was okay. I liked the peppers a lot. I tried the tomatoes and actually gagged. They were gross. I’m really trying to like them, but they were too big and too raw. I still only like them cooked. That was the worst I’ve been about food the whole trip--I actually gagged and made a face with every bite of the tomatoes. I gave away three to Andrea and ate two myself. Ew.

The salad

The second, main, course was beef with gravy and onions and a side of potatoes with cheese. It was good--very American really. And the dessert was a choice between lemon meringue, apple, or strawberry tart. I chose strawberry and had a couple bites of Marissa’s lemon. They were decent. I wish I hadn’t had it though because after dinner Professor LeBras took the whole class out to a really good gelato place that gave us three scoops each! Luckily we walked the whole way (and it was pretty far from the restaurant) so I could digest a little bit, but I was still so full! But the gelato was really good, and it was located in this cute little square with an old church, old buildings and a fountain in the middle. I had speculoos, hazelnut and some sort of fruity flavor (I don’t remember which one I got). They were all really good. The interesting thing about this place though was that there were tons of different flavors and many of them were really strange. It was the Italian gelato version of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans! They had black olive flavor, tomato basil, avacado, roses (Betsy had it and it really tasted like roses), pepper, and even beer! So bizarre.

Crazy gelato flavors

Sarah, Me, Paige, Marissa and Betsy lying across us
(It was quite a production getting Betsy into position)

After we finished eating we started walking back to the residence. It was about a half hour to forty minutes walk back. We ended up getting split up a bit so I walked most of the way back with Sarah, which was nice because we got to have a good one on one conversation. We talked about our first impressions of people, how we liked the program, our experience in London (we each went, but with different people). She and I agreed that we liked London, but we now loved Paris better because we knew it and we using it as a comparative. I told Sarah how I had remembered meeting her before the initial interviews for the program in December, and that I didn’t recognize her until several weeks into our trip in Paris. We also compared our impressions of Paris and our favorite parts and talked about school etc. It was fun. We also ran into Richard and Jessie and walked with them for a little bit.

Eventually we got back to the residence and I tried to study a little bit for the test, but I shared with Marissa so I didn’t get it until 1am and so I didn’t really study that night. I worked a little on our movie, wrote a few journal entries and skyped for a little bit. I ended up going to bed around 2:30 and decided to get up early and study before my test at 10:40am.

Casino Royale and a real Royal Palace

Wednesday, June 9
Day 42
MONACO

After class this morning, I went with Betsy, Paige, Sarah and Marissa to Monaco, which is about a forty minute bus ride from the station in Nice. The bus ride is very windy and bumpy but the scenery is beautiful as the route follows the coastline from Nice to Monaco. We got off at the Monte Carlo Casino, which was designed by Garnier, the famous architect of the Paris Garnier Opera House.We went inside and paid the 10 euro to go look at the casino and the theater (there is an opera house inside the casino) but unfortunately the opera theater was closed! So we kind of wasted 10 euro, but it was cool to go in and look at all the gambling tables and reminisce about James Bond (they filmed the casino scene here!).

Paige, Betsy, Me, Sarah
in front of Monte Carlo Casino (Casino Royale)

Monaco

From the casino we walked down the hill along the pier admiring the beautiful harbor and grabbed lunch at a cafe there on the walkway. Unfortunately there wasn't anything on the menu within in my budget that didn't contain bread so I had to break my "no bread" rule and have a sandwich. It was my first bread in a week though so I'm pretty proud of myself... After eating we continued on and went up the opposite hill to the palace, which is still used as the official residence of the Monacan royal family. That was a really neat experience to visit a palace that was still in use. I didn’t even mind listening to the audio guide (because it was of my own volition and not required). The palace is really pretty, of course, and the history was interesting too. It was funny to learn that a lot of the old masterpieces that were once kept here were lost during the French Revolution. For some reason I seemed to think that the French Revolution only influenced areas in and around Paris, but that is incorrect. Even Monaco lost priceless collections in the Revolution.

On the way to the palace

The Palace of Monaco

We walked to the cathedral down the street from the palace after finishing our tour. There we saw the graves of past monarchs of Monaco, including that of Grace Kelly, the famous American actress turned princess. I also bought a couple handmade souvenirs from the nuns there, who were really nice and spoke to me in French (for the most part) for which I was grateful.
By this time it was about six o’clock so we had to start heading back down to the bus stop to go back to Nice. But it was a good day, we were able to see a lot of Monaco and appreciate its beauty and history. It was really cool to learn that it only has 30,000 citizens (the size of BYU) and the prince of Monaco is only 23 (and single) which Marissa was anxious to point out. She already called dibs though. But she told me I can have the Italian missionary--not sure if that’s a fair trade...

Fun in the Sun

Tuesday, June 8
Day 41


BEACH DAY.
I got up, ate some breakfast, and then headed to the beach where I spent the entire day in the sun. I slept a little, swam a little in the Mediterranean--because I'm cool like that-- and hung out with my friends. Paige, Sarah, Betsy, Marissa and I took pictures on the rocks and then did a short video scene on the beach to add to our baguette movie. It turned out really well too. I also got a mean sunburn, especially on my back and shoulders and a little bit on my legs. I didn’t notice how bad it was until later that night when it kind of hurt to sleep on it. I'm just hoping it will turn into a nice tan in a couple days...

Me, Sarah Bowers, Betsy

Me and Sarah

Our Class

Betsy and I

In the evening I hung out with the girls in their little apartment because they get internet (since they’re above the lobby) and hung out with them. We watched Youtube videos and Glee. Funny videos on youtube that I was introduced to include the “Canadian Border Patrol,” “Tickle Me Emo,” “I Threw it on the Ground,” and the Literal Music Videos. Good times.

Basically the entire day consisted of me lounging in the sun...so it was a good day I'd say!

An Old Chateau, an Israelite Cemetery and a Russian Orthodox Church...oh, and the beach

Monday, June 7, 2010
Day 40

I left with Meridith, Ryan, Paris and Marissa right after class (did not stop by Vincent's room) to go through Old Nice and see the Chateau and Rocher. It was a lot of walking for flip flops, but other than that it was a pleasant walk along the seashore and I enjoyed seeing the Mediterranean architecture. It is so different from Paris with all the yellows, pinks, browns and oranges of the houses and the eclectic feel of the small streets and shuttered windows. We passed through an open air antiques market and saw the Opera House and church. From there we continued a short walk to the Rocher which we climbed up and saw the ruins of the old chateau. At the top the view of Nice was incredible. The city itself, with all its vibrant colors, is beautiful, situated in the valley and hills sloping down into the azure blue Mediterranean. Its obvious where it gets the name Cote d’Azure.

View of Nice from the Chateau

From the top of the hill we made our way down and walked through an old Israelite cemetery, which was interesting, and then kept walking downhill into town. The walk was really fun because the entire city is so stereotypically picturesque and quaint. We went through these narrow winding streets and alleyways between brightly colored old apartments. There was even laundry hung out to dry above us from the windows! When we made it to the bottom of the hill we explored for about another fifteen minutes until we finally found the Russian Orthodox Church. Its famous because it is the largest Russian orthodox cathedrale outside Russia. We paid 3 euros to go inside, which was pretty cool, but I think the outside was the best part. One funny thing we did see there was a matching Russian couple. They were both wearing blue and white sailor striped shirts and white pants. Marissa figured out they were Russia because she stalked them, I mean, watched them as they put back a Russian copy of the tour guide...and then she followed them outside and took a picture. Kind of made my day.

Falls by the Chateau

After we finished looking through the church we then headed back to the train station--along the way Meridith lost 2 euros which were eaten by the public toilets machine, so then she was out 2 euros and couldn't use the bathroom--and went back to the residence. Once there I changed into my bathing suit and went down the hill to the beach to spend the rest of the afternoon soaking up what little sun was left (it was pretty overcast).

Around 5:15 I left with Meridith and we picked up some drinks for our Family Home Evening and then had a class FHE in the lobby of the residence. It was nice. Beth gave a good spiritual thought and then we celebrated birthdays, including mine! And the best part was the LeBras' bought really good high-end pastries from a shop they like so I got a really good strawberry tart for my birthday cake. Mmmmmm.....Bon Anniversaire to ME!

Fast Sunday on the French Riviera

Sunday, June 6
Day 39

Sunday morning we met as a class in the lobby and walked to the bus stop down the hill. I was stupid and wore my green dress and heels (because you need heels with that dress) so my feet were hurting by the time we actually got to church forty minutes later. We took a bus and then had to connect to another bus and we had left a little late so we missed the first two hours of church and made it for Sacrament Meeting. It was Fast Sunday so we listened to testimonies. It was nice and I understood most of it, although I was a little tired. I used one of the Elders’ mini hymn book but his companion was cuter (unfortunately he was also fresh out so not as attractive). Anyways, not really important.

After the meeting I lingered with Betsy, Paige, Sarah and Marissa and Betsy and I tried to make ourselves approachable because we wanted to practice our French. Unfortunately no one seemed to want to talk to us--but they had no problem talking to Giles or Marissa and Paige. I don’t know why they hated Betsy and I, who were the only ones who were seeking a conversation. We did end up talking to a sister missionary, but that was in English and she was American, from the University of Utah. She was very nice though. While we were hoping for a French conversation a lady stopped and started talking to us briefly, asking if we were with the BYU class etc. She said she had known the LeBras for quite a few years because they had been back each year with the program. But she seemed to want to make it a quick chat and we had immediately moved closer to her to engage her--it was a funny image because it was three of us and we towered over her (she was really short, even if I hadn’t been wearing heels, which made it worse) so it looked like we were cornering her and I think we scared her a bit with our enthusiasm, haha.Anyways, we ended up not really being able to talk to anyone and then we went and shared in the potluck dinner in the cultural hall. It was pretty good!
After eating and staying to help clean up we then left (Giles, Marissa, Sarah, Paige, Betsy and I) and headed over to the Matisse Museum. Its just a short distance from the chapel so we walked there. Not to be insensitive but the best part of the museum was how small it was. Apparently Matisse is some sort of great artist, but his work did not engage me. I’m not sympathetic to the modern art movement and his work did not strike me as very tasteful nor, frankly, very good. There were a couple pieces that I liked, which were more conservative in appearance and less erotic, but for the most part I wasn’t to impressed. The cool thing about seeing Matisse is that I can tell people I saw it. That is about it.

After the Matisse Museum we walked around and saw the ruins of an old Roman arena and then caught the bus at the station across the street to get home. We got back around 3 or 4 ish and I went to the beach where a lot of the rest of the class was already out sunbathing. It was really nice and relaxing to rest in the sun (and yes, that is my justification for having a beach day on Sunday--I think it works).

Then, in the evening I had a lovely dinner of cold couscous and later went into the lobby to use the internet and that is when I had my little experience with Vincent, the French boy...

A Museum, An Organ Recital, The REAL London Night Bus, and an Airport Marathon

Sunday/Monday, May 23/24
Day 25/26 LONDON




Sunday we slept in a little later than planned and then went to the British Museum. The museum is huge so we couldn't see everything, not even close. However, we went through the ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman exhibits and saw some pretty interesting things, including the Rosetta Stone and some cool mummies. After about an hour and half we'd had our fill of ancient artifacts (as cool as they were) so we left and went in search of some food. Unfortunately we chose poorly on this count. We found a French cafe (I know, in London, I'm not sure what we were thinking) where we ended up spending two hours eating. The service was so incredibly slow. I think that's just how Frenchstyle cafes are though, which is very frustrating. The food was good, but we were in a hurry to do other things so it was unfortunate that we ate there. By the time we left it was too late to make it to the British war museum, which I had been looking forward to, so instead we went to Buckingham Palace. The palace was cool to look at but I was disappointed that the guards were inside the gates so I couldn't even tell a joke to one of them. Sad day.

The British Museum

After milling around the palace square, which was blazing hot in the sun, we decided to go over to Westminster Abbey to attend an organ recital--which was the only way we would be able to get inside the abbey to see it for free. It was really cool. The recital was by an up and coming organist who is very accomplished in England (whose name I don't have on hand right now, but I have the pamphlet with my bags upstairs). Anyways, the recital was good and it was a cool experience to hear it in the abbey. I'll admit though I was so exhausted that I slept through most of the performance. Oops.

Westminster Abbey

After the recital we went out and lounged in the waning sunshine on the lawn next to the abbey. Around 7:30 we began to make our way home on the bus and stopped along the way at a corner grocery store because all the restaurants in the shopping center were closed (Sunday). We bought ourselves some cheap dinners and ate them back at the apartment where we met up with Kimber and Julian again who were back from their trip. We ate our dinners together and watched some more episodes of Arrested Development and packed up our things. I took a quick one hour nap around 1am and at 2:15am we went to wait at the bus stop to take a bus to another bus to take us to the train which would then deliver us to the airport. Unfortunately we missed our second bus by only a few minutes and so we had to wait for the next one for half an hour. This would normally have been fine but it was the middle of the night in London and we were just three young college girls, so it was a little sketchy.

While we were waiting a guy and a girl came up to wait by us. She was drunk and kept asking everyone for a lighter. It was funny too because she made a similar comment to the one that the man had said the other day after we had dinner at Wagamama's. When we told her we didn't have one she replied, "Man, no one smokes anymore! Its like you're afraid of getting cancer or something." It was funnier in person, I promise. She had a lot of personality--especially in her drunken state.

The man who was with her turned out to be really nice too. He started chatting with us about what we were doing in London and when he found out we were American he told us how he had spent several years in the U.S. in several different regions (I think he said he was in Chicago and Portland). It was nice to have him there because there were some creepy people nearby and across the square (our stop was at Trafalgar Square in front of the National Gallery) came the strong scent of marijuana--gross. Luckily the bus finally came and we took it to this obscure stop where we walked to the train station entrance only to find that it was closed there and we had to go to a back entrance. This was really sketchy because the entrance was down an alleyway and didn't look like a entry at all. We walked quickly.

Thankfully we caught the train on time and I had a brief nap to the airport. Once at the airport we spent the rest of our pounds (I bought 10p of candy as souvenirs) and then went up to security because we had already done our check in online. However, here is where the story really begins...

As I make it through the line to the counter where I am to present my boarding pass, I start searching through my backpack for my paper. I can't find it at first so I move to the side and start rummaging. As I continue tearing apart my bag my heart begins to beat faster and faster as I realize that I don't have my boarding pass. In fact, I had accidentally printed off my ticket to go to London twice, instead of printing my return pass. My stomach turns as I realize that our plane is going to board in thirty minutes and I still had to go through security. Meridith and Andrea had already gone through the check so I told them to head through security and I would meet them at the gate. I then start half running half walking back through the airport to the check in desk where I wait in line anxiously for ten minutes. While I'm waiting, every few minutes a voice would come on the intercom and announce that passengers must hurry and get in line to check in if they haven't yet for the flight to Paris (my flight). About seven minutes later the lady at the ticket desk calls to see if anyone in line is on the Paris flight and waves us up to the front. I check in quickly and then grab my boarding pass and run back up to security.

When I am waved through to security my heart stops again as I realize that the line has grown exponentially and is at least a twenty minute wait (the line filled every turn). I knew my plane boarding by now but I didn't know what to do so I got in line and waited. After about another ten minutes (I kept sneaking glances at peoples watches, and even asked someone the time once) I saw a few men cut the line immediately. When no one said anything to them I decided that it was an emergency so I ducked under the rope and went to the front of the security line and hurried to get my bag through. What a poor time to have a lap top.

Once I got through the scanner I grabbed my lap top, coat and backpack from the table and, without stopping to put my computer in the bag, or even close my backpack, I took them in my arms and started to run. In my rush to find my gate I neglected to stop and ask which gate my plane was at. I assumed it would be posted outside the security check, but silly me, that's in America where things make sense. NO. I was supposed to ask an airport agent who was at the security check before leaving. Well, instead I just ran. As I ran I looked around for a tv monitor to tell me the gate but there were none to be found. Finally I came to a fork that had twenty gates on one side and twenty on the other. Not knowing which gate I was supposed to go to I prayed that I would pick the right side and run into it and just turned left.

I guess I didn't pray hard enough.

I picked the wrong turn. I ran down the terminal for about five minutes--I must've run about a half mile at least--and even called out in my desperation to a group of people if any of them were on the Paris flight (they looked at me like I was crazy--which, I was). Finally I came to the end where there was a gate closing to Amsterdam (which I knew was leaving around the same time as mine because it had been announced with mine when I was waiting to check in). I must have looked like a maniac when I ran up to the lady at the desk with my coat and laptop in my arms and my backpack gaping open, breathing like I'd run a marathon. I breathlessly asked her which gate was to Paris and she indicated that it was, in fact, on the other side of the terminal and I would have to turn back. Commence heart attack number 1232039293.

I moaned a cry of despair and turned tail and ran again. By this point I was really tired and hot carrying all my junk. And in the madness things started falling out of my open backpack. What luck. My cardigan fell out and my purse with some coins that I had to stop and pick up--people passing me were probably scared because I screamed in frustration when I saw my things fall behind me. Ha. And even though things were falling out, I didn't bother to put them back in the bag or even close it. No, instead I just add all the fallen items to my collection already in my arms and keep on running.

Finally, I catch site of my gate, which is empty except for the gate attendant and Meridith and Andrea waiting anxiously. I run up to them (looking really awkward with my arms-full-backpack-open-redfaced-run) and they help put my things back in my bag. Then we all board the plane together, with about five minutes to spare before they close the gate (miraculously I wasn't even last!). However, in my airport plight there was one casualty. My favorite sweatpants. They must have fallen out in my mad mile-long dash to the gate (yes, I ran at least a mile through that stupid terminal). I wish it had been my cardigan. I loved those sweatpants. I wore them all the time, every day. They were the best. And my roommate Marissa knows how much I miss them too, because I make a sad comment about them about once a day. Tragic.

But, at least I made the flight! My whole body was shaking during the hour flight back due to the adrenalin pulsing through my veins. That adrenalin is pretty potent stuff. Eventually I fell asleep on the plane and took a restless nap until we arrived in Paris.

Once in Paris we had to spend 5 euro on a train ticket to get back to Vesinet (which is stupid because we only needed a ticket for one of the zones because our navigo passes cover all the zones except the last one where the airport is). But they don't take that into account in Paris so we had to pay in full for the ticket. When then took the train for about an hour and a half back to Vesinet. When I got home I dropped my things and then fell into blessed slumber for the next five hours (from 2-7) and didn't wake up until dinner.

Dinner was another experience because this time Frederique's husband, Christian, was there! He had been away on vacation this whole time so Marissa and I hadn't really met him (I had briefly the week before but Marissa hadn't even seen him yet). That made for a very interesting dynamic during dinner. It was fun watching Frederique and Christian interact--sometimes they fought to be heard over the other, although not in a mean way. It was just funny.

Our dinner was very good. It consisted of pork, potatoes (yum!), cooked mushrooms, and mushroom and cucumber salad that was actually good, and a big flan for Marissa's birthday. It was so nice of Frederique. She made a big flan cake for Marissa because her birthday had been that weekend, and we even sang to her and Frederique gave her a gift. It was a video documentary of the French landscape from an aerial view. It was really nice of her. And luckily Marissa liked flan (she's very picky and doesn't often like Frederiques food, not even the desserts) so she actually ate it. That would have been awkard if she hadn't liked it....

First impressions:
I liked Christian a lot. He was pretty open and nice and he talked a lot which made it easy to just sit back and listen. The only downside was that it was awkward trying to make it a true conversation and not just a monologue on his side. But he talked about reality and rental prices in Florida and Paris, and I just don't know much about that stuff. So that just made for a lot of, "Oui" 's on my part. Other than that though he was very nice and he corrected my French more obviously it seemed than Frederique would. However, I don't mind being corrected anymore, in fact, its really helpful, so it wasn't too intimidating. What is funny is that Frederique addresses Marissa more and Christian tended to direct his questions to me, so I had to pay more attention to what he was saying.




All in all, it was a very long day which really began the day before....and I felt it. I saw the sites of London, ran through the London airport, almost missed my flight, lost my sweatpants in the excitement, made it back to Paris alive and then slept all of Monday and met my host dad.

By the time I got back I needed a vacation from my vacation!

A Memorial Day to Remember

Monday May 31
Day 33

Monday was a bittersweet day. I woke up around 6:30am and gathered my things together that I had packed a few hours before. After checking to make sure I had all my things I grabbed a quick bite to eat (yogurt with granola), Christian put my bags in the car, we took a picture (they looked very French as they didn’t really smile--it was more of a strained look like they were fighting not to smile or show emotion) and then Christian drove Marissa and I to the Super U in Vesinet to meet the coach bus. We were a few minutes early (and the bus was about twenty minutes late) so we waited in the car for a little while. I was proud of myself because I made an effort to talk a little more with Christian before we left. I did a pretty good job too I think, although he did have to correct me on a few small points (ex: To say ‘There wasn’t enough room in the suitcase’ You would say “Il n’y avait pas assez de place dans la valise/le bagage’...I had said espace or something, which I knew was wrong but I didn’t know what the correct term was). After a few minutes a small group of us had arrived to wait so we decided to get out so Christian wouldn’t have to sit with us. So we said goodbye, gave our bisoux and he left. I figured out the other day though why I liked him and Frederique so much. Its because Frederique reminded me of Coco (in looks and a little bit in personality) and Christian reminded me of Papere (mostly in looks although occasionally in his personality--I think he talks more than Papere).

Ma Famille d'accueil

The bus finally came at about 8:35 I think and from there we left for the town of Bayeux, which is home to the famous Bayeux tapestry. In actuality it is not a tapestry at all but a very very long embroidered cloth (a tapestry has continuity of construction--its all woven together, not embroidered on top). The town of Bayeux was very cute and the tapestry was pretty interesting. I liked it because it was exciting to see something that I had learned about in my French classes, and even Humanities and History classes, over the past several years--and there it was right in front of me! It is enormous--at least in length. And the audio guide was pretty decent--it went through each scene of the “tapestry” in sequential order so we walked from beginning to end. Some of the information was actually really interesting and it was cool to observe some of the subtle details and artistic liberties that were included into it. The tapestry tells the story of the Battle of Hastings when William, King of Normandy (who would be known as William the Conqueror because of this event), battled King Harold of England. As his name would suggest, William came out conqueror and thus became king of England and Normandy. The tapestry itself is especially important because it is one of the only examples of art that depicts a real event near the time that it occurred, and is a realistic representation of many of the cultural aspects of society at the time, including a view into the architecture and dress of the period.

We had fun with the museum displays

The rest of the museum didn’t have much of interest in it--I amused myself by taking goofy pictures with Betsy (I know, real mature). After going through the museum and getting a couple souvenirs from the gift shop we went down the street and got a bite to eat in a little shop by the church. Unfortunately by the time everyone had finished eating it was time to get back on the bus so I didn’t get to go in and see the church, but I’m not too heartbroken because I’ve seen a lot of churches in the past few weeks. So, we headed back to the bus and drove a little ways to Omaha Beach in Normandy, which is recognized by the French government as official U.S. territory (ahh, so good to be back on American soil), to see the battleground and memorial.

It was a perfect Memorial Day.

I went through the visitors’ center first, which gave individual stories of soldiers who fought at Normandy, as well as an impressive history and background of the battle and the consequences. There was a really good film that gave a beautiful tribute to the men who fought and died there and as you walked through the next room a woman’s voice can be heard listing off the names of all the fallen heroes of Normandy. It was an incredibly beautiful and impressive memorial and I’ll admit I got surprisingly emotional.


Continuing on from the visitors’ center you walk outside and can follow the path to the beach or the cemetery and monument. I went to the beach first, where I ran into Jessica and Isabelle so I walked with them (I had gone through the memorial alone). The beach is beautiful and it reminded me of home. It’s hard to imagine a battle being fought on its pristine sandy shores. All I could think of while I was there was the movie Saving Private Ryan, and the initial battle scene when the boats approach the beach. So much chaos, carnage and death occurred in such a small amount of time and yet, today there is little left to indicate that anything so horrible ever happened here.

After spending a little time on the beach and taking a few pictures (I waved to New Hampshire from the opposite end of the Atlantic!)

Bonjour East Coast!

I headed back up the hill towards the cemetery. The cemetery was immense. The lines of white gravestones continue on and on standing out against the rich green grass and scattered trees. There are so many that the graves are organized into sections according to alphabetical order. I think what was most impressive to me was the fact that so many of these men were boys my age. I had always thought of soldiers as being older than me, but in reality this battle was fought and paid for with the lives of thousands of young boys, many still teenagers. This really touched me and I reacted in a way that surprised me. When I go to memorials or see or talk about sad events, I usually feel pretty solemn and grateful. However, although I felt both solemn and grateful, I was especially angry. Anger wasn’t something I was expecting to feel here. It just frustrates me and truly angers me that so many people had to die, and this was only one battle, in war. It makes everything seem so pointless. Why did the world go to war? Why can’t people see how stupid it is and do more to avoid it? War makes no sense. All I know is that I’m so grateful that these brave young men had the courage to do what was necessary to ensure the freedom of not only their countrymen, but that of the French and the rest of Europe. Their belief and commitment to so great a cause gives me so much respect for them and I am honored that I can live in a country that raised such valiant men.



In the middle of the cemetery there is a small memorial chapel erected in honor of the fallen sons of America. There is a nice dedicatory memorial on the side, both in French and English. Surprisingly I liked the French version better--somehow it seemed more eloquent and fitting. I’ll write both versions here:

Cette chapelle a ete elevee par les Etats Unis d’Amerique en souvenir reconnaissant de leurs fils qui tomberent au cours des debarquements sur les plages de la Normandie et pendant la liberation de la France septentrionale
***
Leurs tombes sont le symbole eternel de leur heroisme et de leur sacrifice a la cause commune de l’humanite

******

This chapel has been erected by the United States of America in grateful memory of her sons who gave their lives in the landings on the Normandy beaches and in the liberation of Northern France.
***
Their graves are the permanent and visible symbol of their heroic devotion and their sacrifice in the common cause of humanity.

We spent about two hours at Omaha Beach and then took the bus another ten minutes away to Pointe du Hoc, which is another battle site that has been left unchanged and preserved since World War II. We were able to see the original foxholes and bunkers and had some fun taking pictures inside some of the "secret holes and passageways." Unfortunately we only had about twenty minutes there so I couldn't see all of it, but it was cool to walk around it briefly.

We left Pointe du Hoc for dinner in Saint Lo where we had a first course of salad that came with a kind of French hotpocket that was filled with cheese and spinach and I think tuna or shrimp. It was really tasty. Better than the main course which was pork in sweet rum sauce, with a cooked tomato (that was pretty good--I ate mine and two others!) and fries. The pork was good, but it was still on the bone and it looked a little bit like a heart so most of the girls were freaked out by it. I liked it but the rum sauce was really sweet so it was hard to finish such a rich dish. For dessert we had a weird apple quiche thing. It was definitely egg, so it was like a quiche but topped with baked apples, so it was a mixture between a quiche and a slice of apple pie. It was pretty good, but not my favorite. And I felt really sick after dinner because I ate so much. The other girls felt sick too, but that was because they were grossed out by the pork. Pansies.

The main dish of pork, tomato and fries in rum sauce

SIDE NOTE:

While at the Normandy Memorial, on our way out we passed some restrooms and decided to make a quick pit stop before continuing on the bus trip. As we turn the corner to enter the doorway lo and behold we see the most amazing site ever! Yes, not one, but two, drinking fountains!!!! Please take a moment to appreciate this victory. France does not have drinking fountains anywhere, or bathrooms for that matter, and here we find both! Indeed we were on U.S. territory. Ahh, it felt good to be home!

Note the pure, unadultered joy

Oh la la

June 6, 2010
Day 38


So I know I probably talk too much about the boy situation in France (thanks for pointing that out Mom) but I have a story, so bear with me.

Let me take you back to earlier this night when I was in the lobby of the residence I'm staying at here in Nice. We can only access the internet in the lobby so I came down and started talking on skype with my parents. To be polite I went and sat on the steps outside in the garden so I wouldn't interrupt the others who were using the internet here. I'd been outside for a while when a boy walks by and says "Bonsoir." At first I didn't hear him because I had my headphones in to listen to my mom, but then I replied "Bonsoir," he acknowledged, looked back, and kept walking. So I didn't think anything of it...

I keep talking to my mom, trying to plan our rendezvous at the end of the week and catching up since I haven't had a lot of internet access all week. A little later the same boy and a friend were in the courtyard again and his friend asked for a lighter (a question I have been asked countless times now) and then left. About an hour later, its almost midnight, the same kid (the first one) walks by and asks to sit down on the steps by me. Please picture this. I am in the middle of talking to my mom on skype (he comes up to me in midsentence) and sits down when I give him the affirmative (thinking he was just going to ask for a smoke or something). Wrong. He starts talking to me--yes, I'm still online with my mom, and yes, she can hear every word--and he asks about what I'm doing here (study abroad with my class) and what room I'm in (don't worry, I didn't tell him) to which my mom writes on skype chat, "Don't give him your room number." Thanks. I'm so glad my mom can be a part of my "getting hit on by a French boy" experience. Not awkward at all.

Realizing the kid was not about to leave, I quickly typed back, "I won't. Ttyl." and promptly closed my computer before my mom could eavesdrop any more...

...I then engaged in a nice long chat with this random French boy. We talked about school and what we were studying (he's studying economics after dropping out of the information systems program) and compared American and French culture (he asked what Americans think of the French and I told him we consider their military a joke--he retorted that the French saved the Americans in the Revolution though and then we saved them in WWII). He asked what kind of shows I liked (House, NCIS...) and if I knew any famous French singers, athletes, actors etc. I named off some presidents and he mentioned a few famous actors whose names I didn't know but I knew the name of the film (La Vie en Rose). He spoke English in a thick accent because he wanted to practice and I attempted to speak in French, but it was difficult because I wasn't thinking in French with him speaking in English--so it was more a franglais conversation. He said I spoke French well, but I think he was lying haha.

I decided to put in some random stalker pictures of my own...
I feel like it fit the theme, even if the roles are reversed...

After talking about school and such and asking where I was staying (I told him we were spread on all floors--no precise location, don't worry), he asked where we would have class. Lucky me we have class in the morning in the courtyard (where we were sitting). He was like, "Oh, here?! Really? What time?" I tried to be general (we have class at 10:30) so I just said, "Oh, I don't know, sometime arrrrround 10? Maybe. Ten-ish." And he was like, "Ten? Oh, down here? Hm, I can come? Your teacher will be here? I come in the morning?" I just stuttered. I'm pretty sure that does not ca va with Lebras (my teacher). He was like, "Hm, that is a little bit early for me. So if I don't come, I am in room 101 and you can come knock at noon and I will be there to see you." Huh. Yeah. Ok. I did not know what to say, I just said something along the lines of, "Oh, yeah, okay....heh heh...suuure. Well, we have a lot of homework to do in the afternoons--we're required to visit some museums and tour the city etc...." But he didn't seem too bothered by that. I'm not sure what he thinks we're going to do. But he was pretty adamant about joining our class in the morning...which poses a very potentially awkward situation for me...yup.






......One hour and 15 minutes later....



After trying to excuse myself once (unsuccessfully because he changed the topic and kept talking) I finally was freed by his friend who came over and asked to get into their room to go to bed. He turned to me and said, "Oh, I have to go now...but I will see you in class here? Okay. Goodnight." Giles and Jenny were in the lobby and had heard that I was talking to him so we had a nice moment of laughter and comraderie in my bizarre experience. I stayed in the lobby with them to write this blog entry and finish up an email I had started while talking with my mom earlier when the kid returns! He walks in and sees me sitting down and comes over saying, "I'm sorry, I was rude. I did not even ask your name. What is it?" I told him and asked his (its Vincent). He stayed a moment talking to Giles and me about the basketball game (Lakers v. Celtics tonight) and how I'm a Celtics fan and he likes the Lakers like Giles, and then he said goodnight and left.


Hm. Wow. If only these things happened to me in America...in less awkward situations...



....Oh, hold the phone. He just came back again with his friend. And yes, he just reminded me to come find him after class if he doesn't make it in the morning ("Ten thirty right?"). Oh dear. Looks like I'm going to have to stay low for a while...stick close to the three boys in my class. Yes. Good plan. Maybe I'll eat garlic and tease my hair into an afro or something. I won't shower. That should be enough to get rid of him...

Now the problem is facing him (and my parents..."ttyl mom!") tomorrow....that'll be so fun!

Oh la la.




Ps. Mom, (and Marci, if you're reading this), I am alive. He doesn't know where I am. Giles is aware of the situation and I know where he and the other two boys are staying so I can go there for safety. But I don't think this is a dangerous situation. More awkwardly funny....the boy is like a stray dog or something. But I will not be fooled and I will not be taken. No worries. I just hate awkwardness--when it happens to me. Haha.




.....





So, do you remember when Vincent said he would come to class in the morning? I was thinking that he probably wouldn't because he was up so late and would sleep in. Welllllll....no. We start class at 10am in the lobby, with all the chairs arranged in a circle. I was sitting with my back facing the doors and sittting next to Ryan. This turned out to be a good thing because half and hour later I hear footsteps come up behind me and I realize that Vincent showed up after all! I didn't see his face because my back was towards him, but Meridith told me that he apparently walked in and looked around the room for me. I guess it was kind of weird because Dr. Lebras said "Bonjour" to him (and he replied "Bonjour") and then he went to the vending machine (probably to avoid being even more awkward) and then left. Phew. I don't know if he saw me but decided that it would be too weird in that situation (with Dr. Lebras there) or if he just didn't see me because I wasn't facing him, but either way I'm really glad I didn't have to make eye contact with him!

Also...I did not go to his room at noon. For the first time in my life I stood someone up--for which I feel slightly guilty, but really, what did he expect? I'm not going to see him again.....I hope.

Chateau, Chateau, Chateau, MOTH!

Thursday, June 3, 2010
Day 36

This morning I was rudely awakened at 6:30am by one of the girls in our group, who shall remain unnamed, who went outside her room, which was directly next to ours, to chat on skype with her friend. She was talking extremely loudly and wasn’t using headphones so we could also hear her friend. The volume on the computer must have been up all the way because it sounded like the girl was standing right there, instead of being on skype in Mexico. She chatted for about forty minutes. Zut. To make matters worse I had gone to bed at 2am trying to download pictures (it didn’t work, I only got about 25 online) so I only got about four hours of sleep. Oh well.

After getting ready and having the same breakfast as yesterday (lots of apple sauce and a bowl of cereal--no bread!) we got on the bus and left at about 8:45 for the Chateau d’Azay le Rideau. It is a beautiful castle situated on the bank of small river, equipped with a bridge and everything! It looks like a Disney princess castle to be honest. It is white with several towers that have pointed domes on top. The roof is blue as well, just like in the movies! It was one of the more picturesque things I’ve seen thus far. And the town of Azay is so quaint! It also falls under the category of a “Bonjour!” town (my new name for all towns that look like Belle’s opening scene in Beauty and the Beast). I do have a confession to make: I barely listened to any of the audio guide tour. But that’s just because its getting so boring. I’d rather just walk through and take pretty pictures and imagine myself as a beautiful Disney princess--yes, the dress is included in that dream, no laughing.

Example of a "Bonjour!" town.
Can you just picture the people singing from the windows?

Chateau d'Azay le Rideau:
Notice the white and blue and the round towers...Disney princess anyone?

After going through the inside rooms of the chateau we came back outside and had a short photo taking spree. Let’s just say there was a lot of jumping and smiling involved. And Betsy may or may not have looked like a chimpanzee in one of the pictures...

Jumping in front of Alzay Castle

One of my favorite pictures, for sentimental purposes, is of Sarah sitting under a big tree. The story behind this? As we’re walking back we pass this beautiful huge tree and Sarah comments how it looks like the tree in Lord of the Rings (Fellowship) when Frodo is sitting under a tree reading. I exclaim that it does indeed look like that and we keep walking a few more feet looking at the tree longingly. Within a few moments I mention that it makes me want to take a picture....pause....look at each other...Me: Do you want to take a picture of it? Sarah: Yes. Me: Okay.

It took a lot of convincing obviously.

Frodo Baggins Shire Reenactment

So that’s the story behind that picture. I had Sarah sit under it reading my pamphlet on the chateau and voila! Frodo in the Shire impersonation.

After our Shire reminiscing we followed the others into town and searched for lunch. I was lucky enough to find a place that served quiche (not just sandwiches) so I was able to once again avoid bread! Huzzah! Ironically enough Katherine (who is unaware of our LOTR moment) commented that she was considering having two small lunches since it was still a little early, like in Lord of the Rings...to which I replied that she was having her elevensies (it being 11:15). It was a really good moment in my day.
Yes, I do love France.


After Azay le Rideau we took a short twenty minute drive to the Chateau Chenonceau which is a really beautiful castle on a river. It has a few towers, one of which looks like its from Rapunzel, and a wishing well so it looks like its straight out of Snow White. Pretty much every Disney princess could find a part of the castle that belonged to her. It was great. I especially liked the gardens and a little "village" on the castle grounds. So picturesque. It felt medieval and I was all ready to don a peasant dress...or a princess dress. Basically I was ready to reenact all of Beauty and the Beast...Besides the castle being asthetically pleasing, it was also cool to imagine that a lot of important monarchs and members of the royal family came through here, including Francois I and Louise of Lorraine. One random thing that I liked about this chateau was the kitchens. They were located in the basement and there were about six different rooms dedicated to all kinds of cooking and food preparation, including a bread oven, a room for cooking on a stove, an area for chopping meat etc...it was just very grand and that was the first large kitchen I've seen in a chateau thus far so it was kind of neat.

Had to check for food...

At 2:45 we headed to the Chateau Amboise where we were given a guided tour with a real tourguide (not this silly audio guide business). Unfortunately by the time we're on the third chateau I'm not in the mood to hear about it...because honestly how different are castles from each other really? Also, I hadn't had much to eat today and basically no water so I was hit by a wave a fatigue, likely due to the combination of hunger and dehydration, and probably the general stress of seeing amazing sites all day long! What a hard life I lead...

Chateau Amboise, view from the top...

Anyways, a few cool things I will mention about the Chateau Amboise are that this is where Leonardo da Vinci is buried! Yeah, I know, its awesome. We were listening to our tourguide in the small chapel next to the castle and I was zoning in and out when I caught the name Leonardo da Vinci and heard her mention that he asked to be buried at this castle. At first I thought it was just a memorial to him, but no, its his actual final resting place! I didn't realize he was buried in France (or I had forgotten that fact) so that was cool to see. Another funny story is that it was at this castle that King Charles VIII died when he was on his way to attend a medieval tennis match (which is more like handball) when he hit his head on the doorway and died from his injuries. How embarrassing...I mean, tragic.

It just Leo, no big deal...

View of town and river below...

Livin' the dream

After visiting the chateau, which was of course very beautiful, etc. etc., we went to our hotel (the Etap Hotel) in Bloise, which is a block away from another castle, incidently named Chateau Bloise. We walked to dinner which was at an outdoor restaurant in a courtyard outside the castle, so it was a lovely picturesque setting in which to dine. The dinner itself wasn't as fancy or pretty as last night's, but it was good. My favorite part was that there was a salad in two of the courses, instead of just one! And it was a good salad that actually had dressing on it (aka. it was salad greens with two slices of tomato and a light dressing--not much substance but more than usual). The first course was the salad and a quiche with chevre cheese and vegetables. Luckily the chevre was suprisingly mild so I actually really liked the quiche. Also, Mom you would be proud, I ate my tomatoes and those of the other girls who didn't like theirs. They weren't amazing but except for the last one I was able to eat them without grimacing! Yes, progress!

The second, and main course, was chicken with a side of fries and the same salad. Quite good, and I made a point of not finishing the fries (and I didn't eat the appetizer bread either!). Success. And for dessert we had a tasty chocolate cake morsel that was not fully cooked in the middles so it melted onto the plate--someone called it volcano cake, or maybe lava cake. Very tasty.

After dinner we went back to the hotel and a little while later about ten of us girls (we're all on the same floor) went out into the hall and did "8 minute abs" and a couple of us went for a run around the town. While we were running I thought to myself how funny it was that no guys had hit on us here and figured it must be a Parisian thing. However, afterwards I learned that a lot of guys had apparently been calling out to us but I had had my ipod in so I couldn't hear anything. Ignorance is bliss. We passed Giles on our way back and he was with a bunch of strange boys. When we asked him about it later he said that he had gone out to find a soda and those guys had come up to him and asked if he knew any girls. He bragged that he was studying abroad with 24 girls and they proceeded to follow him to the hotel so they could pick us up. He said he tried to lose them but they didn't leave until he got to the hotel and the concierge sent them away when Giles said they were bothering him. Haha, that kid was going to lead them right to us! Good thing we're fast runners! Ps. The run was amazing. I haven't felt this good since I've been in France. Why did I not think of exercising sooner? Pastries do not a healthy person make.

After taking a shower I worked on downloading my pictures and happened to check to see if we had internet (it has been down all evening) and made the brilliant discovery that it was finally working. Hence this blog entry. Marissa is now in bed so we turned off the lights and a few mintues later I scream because of a pesky moth flying into my face. This inevitably lead to a moth hunt (there were two) which consisted of me luring the moths to my computer screen then turning on the light and chasing it to the wall. There I made good use of a shoe that ended in the sudden demise of the nasty intrusive voleurs and the shutting of our window (which has no screen--what savages, I was told France was not a third world country! No screens on the windows, psh).

And so concludes my day in Western France. Started in Tours and ended in Bloise. Tomorrow we see Bloise Chateau and another one I think and by the evening we'll be back in Paris to spend the night and fly out Saturday morning for a beautiful (I hope) week in Nice on the southern coast of France!