le 29 juillet: Goodbye Madame

Wednesday was a sad day. It was our last french class which wasn't too sad lol, especially because we got out early because it was a holy day for Catholics and the school had a mass at 10:30. I took a picture of my French class:

I really liked my French class. It was a good experience to have so much diversity. The students were from various countries like Hungary, Ukraine, Korea, Japan, China, England, USA, and others I can't remember all of them. It was good because it forced us even more to communicate in French although it was sometimes hard to understand some of the student's accents.

We met for lunch one last time with the girls and Brittany and I printed off the picture of us with Madame. We went home and just worked on packing and getting everything ready to go for our travels.

Madame was so sweet for our last meal she made this gigantic bowl of spaghetti and was like you have to eat all of it lol because she was also leaving the next day and she knew that we probably wouldn't be eating as well because it would be expensive so she wanted to give us a really good last meal. We had a good salad to go along with it that had little bits of turkey in it.

For dessert, she gave us chocolat pudding and the last of her chocolat ice cream and strawberry ice cream, and little dessert cookies. She was also telling us what to eat in Belgium and London. She told us the Moules-frites are the best in Belgium and they are inexpensive. She warned us about the pound being even stronger against the dollar than the euro and cautioned us to pay attention to that and that sometimes fruit was more expensive there.

She also told us to be careful of speaking French in Brussels because of political tensions in Belgium between the people who speak French and those who speak Flemmish. They apparently dislike the French speakers and so she told us it is best to just use English and they will understand that we are tourists.

She was really sweet and genuinely concerned about us. We were very sad it was our last dinner with her.

Brittany and I made her a little card to go with our photo. It was just like a hand made thank you card but she loved it. She was like a mom who said she loved it even more because we made it with our hands lol. She was like it warms my heart and she gave us bisous :) She really loved Brittany's illustrations of us. She drew me holding a baguette and eating a ton and the drawing of herself had like chocolate ice cream. The drawing of Madame was holding Moustique and Gala was at her feet. She loved the cats lol and was laughing at the drawing with joy.

We were happy that she liked it so much.

Earlier in the day, Brittany and I finally took pictures of her house while she was gone lol, so here is a tour of Madame's house:

Make a Smilebox postcard

Make a Smilebox postcard

I was really stupid and didn't ask Madame to get a picture with her the night before but she was fine with the picture of her still in her nightgown lol, she was like "C'est la vie" and saying how I could tell everyone that this is Madame Lemberger in the morning and still pretty lol. I was like "C'est vrai"

I will miss her. She is one of the sweetest women I have known.
He he, look how little she is! Oh Madame, I wonder what she is doing now.

Read More...

Summary only...

le 28 juillet: Farewell Dinner

Tuesday was our last day of photography class. We had our final critique at the ISA office. For lunch we mixed it up and went to this place like a deli that sold pasta salads and things. I got a vegetable salad with zuchinnis and potatoes and some other stuff it was pretty good and then I stopped in a boulangerie and bought a roll. The eating is so nice there. Like having so many options of places in such a short area and the fresh bread everywhere is awesome. I am going to miss it.

So for the final critique, we used some old pictures and some new. We could reuse pictures from our past critiques or pick photographs that were from the past days but that we didn't choose to show. Here were my 15: (ok, actually there are 14 here because I accidentally deleted one and am too lazy to put it back in lol)

My professor was overall pretty happy with these pictures. He said they have an enigmatic quality about them, especially my people pictures that he likes. But he said that he was curious what would happen if I started engaging people directly. He encouraged all of us to keep photographing when we get home and I definitely want to, so that will be a good place to start taking pictures of people more in my comfort zone and so I should be able to engage them more directly.

After the critique, Brittany and I ran home to change and then we headed out to the farewell dinner. We decided to try taking the bus because its path was more direct than the metro and that way, we could actually see the city as we were travelling. I wish we would have tried to use the bus more I think it would have been helpful in getting more familiar with the city. The metro is a lot faster and sometimes more convenient but the buses would have been cool to see the city with. But unfortunately, we got on a bus going the opposite direction than we wanted to go so we were like half an hour late for the dinner but it wasn't a big deal.

We ate at a place on Rue Mouffetard called "Mouffetot Mouffetard" a play on the French words "tot" and "tard" meaning early and late. It was a cute little place and the owners are close friends with the ISA directors. They came with us on our trip to Normandy even. The dinner started with a salad and then we had a choice for our main course. I chose the leg of duck which was very good. We also got dessert which was a slice of apple pie and some type of merengue pie and a scoop of ice cream.

We were all getting a little sad that it was our last nights. We took pictures and talked in front of the restaurant for a long time and then walked up Rue Mouffetard and got some gelato at this funny place that had a sign in English boasting the "Best Glace in Paris." They did flower shapes like Amarino but it wasn't as good as Amarino's glace. We said goodbye to everyone and promised to all keep in touch.

Here are some of our goodbye photos:

Make a Smilebox postcard

Read More...

Summary only...

le 27 juillet: Sacre Coeur et ISA art reception

Monday, Brittany and I went to Sacre Coeur after French class. We don't have photo class on Mondays but we did have an art reception that evening so we had to fit it in a couple of hours. Sacre Coeur is a chapel on a hill called Montmartre. The area is supposed to be filled with artists and be really cool and stuff but unfortunately, it was rainy and so there were no artists in sight.

We took cover in the chapel and looked out on Paris from the porch area. It was beautiful. I was scared to take too many pictures though because it was raining pretty hard and I didn't want to get my camera wet.

After we saw the chapel, we took a little tram thing down the hill and walked around the shops and the area down there hoping to find some artists. We didn't find any artists but there were some pushy guys selling bracelets. Only they would like stop you and ask you to hold some thread for them and then like try to talk to you while they make it and then you make a wish and then they tie it on your wrist and ask for a small contribution lol. This guy did it to me and I was like I seriously have no money so don't waste your time. He is like it's ok and kept going so I was like Ok, I'll take a bracelet for free lol. I gave him like 30 centimes and he was pretty upset but that is more than I should've given him because I told him I wasn't going to pay him.

There were some pretty cute shops. There were a few that had some cute kitchen stuff. It's all like animals or people or things made into kitchen utinsils like dogs were cake servers, squids as wisks and little women as umbrellas and the fabric part is like their skirt. I took some pictures so y'all can see.

We went to the art reception at the ISA office. The painting and photo students had some of their work on display. I had my little girl picture from the market and the man standing in front of the water lillies up. They had little pastries and fruit for us to eat and the professors and their husbands and wives all came and the students from those classes and the ISA Paris staff. It was a fun little get together. It was fairly casual but I think in future years they want to make it a little more formal and a grand affair. I guess this was their first year doing it.

For dinner, we had a lovely multi-course meal. It started with like a pea salad wrapped in a slice of ham. It was delicious and beautifully presented with tomato slices going around it. Madame likes to cook pretty when she has time during the day. Then we had some quiche lorraine that she had made with beans and couscous.

We went out to the Champs Elysees again with Courtney and Amanda. We just walked around and talked. It was fun.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Read More...

Summary only...

le 26 juillet: Mt. Saint Michel

Sunday morning we got up and had breakfast. It wasn't as extravagant as the breakfast at the other place but it was still good. We went out and walked around a little market that was right in front of our hotel. It was really cute. I bought some three euro shoes to match my blue and white skirt.

We boarded the bus and headed to Mount Saint Michel. There is a legend that Saint Michel appeared to someone (lol I love how thourough my history is) and told them to build a chapel on this island. It is an island when the tide comes in but when the tide goes out, it is just a hill. So the hill had to be reinforced with granite and it was constructed like a pyramid with a flat top where the chapel was built.

We got there at high tide so the water was right up to the road and the edge of the mount. We walked up a narrow windy street to the top of the mount and took a tour of the chapel. It was probably my favorite so far. We walked into the center of the nave while they were holding mass and it was gorgeous. The monks were singing and the light was shining through the back windows. It felt very heavenly. I would have liked to just sit there and take it all in for a while but we had like a scheduled tour so I had to go run and catch up with the rest of the group. There was a stunning little courtyard with an amazing view and a great dining hall. In the hall, the windows were in deep recesses so you couldn't see the windows standing in the middle but as you walk down the hall, you can start seeing the windows and the light coming through. It symbolized progression and learning which was kind of cool. The top level of the chapel was reserved for monks because it was highest and therefore closest to God and the lower levels were for recieving kings and other royalty. It is all just white stone now but in the past, it would have been elaborate and brightly painted or covered with tapestries.

The chapel was used as a prison during the revolution and The Scarlet Pimpernel (version from like the 40s or 50s) was filmed there.

After our tour, we wandered back down the streets which are lined with souvenir shops and restaurants. We got a quick lunch and then shopped on our way down. When we made it back to the entrance, the tide was gone and our bus was parked in a lot that didn't exist in the morning. The tide is pretty crazy. It comes in at a metre a second, which makes it very dangerous to walk to the mount.

Before we headed back to Paris, we made a quick stop at a cookie factory. The Normandy region is famous for its milk/cream, butter, salt, apples, and meat. The lamb meat there is already salted because the grass the lambs eat is salty from the water. So I bought some butter cookies and some apple cookies and jam.

And now, picture time:

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Read More...

Summary only...

le 25 juillet: Normandy

Saturday we got up early for our excursion to Normandy. Brittany and I both slept in however and we got up and had to like run to the metro to try and make it to the ISA office on time. We were a little late, everyone else was sitting in the bus but they waited for us so we were very happy.

Our first stop was in Caen, a town close to Omaha beach where there is a Peace Museum. We visited the special exhibit which included a couple of video presentations about the 2nd World War and temporary exhibit on the Cold War. We grabbed some lunch before going through the permanent exhibition which was gigantic. We really didn't have enough time to properly take it all in. There were videos, sound bits and interviews, copies of letters from soldiers on both fronts. They also had old newspapers and propaganda posters, some weaponry, uniforms, and models. It was interesting and we all wanted to take our time looking and reading everything. It wasn't something you can really just walk through and stop at the things that stand out. It was something you wanted to spend time reading and getting aquanted with. So we only made it through about half way by time we had to leave which was unfortunate. If I ever get the chance to go back I would like to take more time there.

We went to Omaha Beach next. That beach is where the US soldiers are buried. We went to the beach first. It was beautiful and hard to imagine a bloody war taking place there. It seemed so peaceful and pristine. The hillside was filled with greenery on the walk down to the sandy beach and the lighting was beautiful. The water wasn't too cold so we got in and waded a bit.

We went up to visit the cemetery which was a bit overwhelming. The grave markers just go on forever. It is hard to comprehend. But I was pleased to see it so well maintained. Every cross and star of David is perfectly white and straight still. There were some monuments throughout the cemetery. There was a beautiful mosoleum we looked and statues and architecture throughout the cemetery as reminders of the sacrifices the soldiers made. The land is actually U.S. soil which is pretty cool. The French gave us the land after the war as a gift.

After seeing Omaha beach and the cemetery, we went to Point du Hoc, another beach where fighting took place. This place was bizarre. The ground was completely mutilated by craters from bombs and there were remains of German bunkers. The landscape was again incredibly beautiful, however and simply looking, you would never get the sense of what happened there. There were kids running around and playing in the bomb-craters it reminded me a lot of something you might see in a Dr. Suess book. But the bunkers were creepy. You could walk into some of them. They were dark and spooky and had the eerie-est feeling about them.

After seeing the beaches, we headed back to Caen to check into our hotel. The area was charming, there was a little dock with boats all in it. We went to dinner in an area of the town that had survived the bombings and there were these charming old buildings. I had a bouillabaisse which was delicious. I had never had mussels before and I liked them very much. I had creme brulle for dessert and it was very good. The restaurant was very cute. They had live music and I recognized a couple of the songs even. One was an Emilie Simon song that I like and the other I don't know the artist or song title but we had heard it a couple of times before in Paris. It was a lot of fun. We had some good bonding time with the girls as well and we decided that we should have reunions and travel around to the different states that we are all from. Illinois, North Carolina, Louisianna, Utah, Texas, Michigan. I'm excited. I hope it really does happen.

After dinner, we stopped by this pastry shop that was open late and some girls that didn't have dessert with dinner bought pastries. We went back to Brittany and I's hotel room and were all chatting but we were told we were being too loud so we went to bed after that.

I think Normandy was my favorite excursion. It was beautiful and meaningful and I also had a wonderful time with my friends there. Here are some pictures:

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Read More...

Summary only...

le 24 juillet: St. Chapelle et Louvre 2

So catching up on the last week of Paris. On friday the 24th, Brittany and I both had a photo paper due which we stayed up writing Thursday but didn't finish. We both got up early Friday to try and finish but we took a while so we skipped French class. It felt so good lol. We just got to relax in the morning and take our time in Paris.

We met up with some girls in our program who didn't have class and another girl who randomly skipped the same day as we did. It was fun. We stopped into a shop and looked around. Brittany bought another dress that was really cute. Unfortunately, we noticed later that the back pleats were falling out but they should be easily fixed by a tailor.

Alison, Brittany, and I went to see Saint Chapelle. It is another cathedrale in Paris, very close to the Notre Dame. I think that Louis IX built it. It is a stunning example of Gothic architecture, especially stained glass windows, the entire walls are basically stained glass windows and unfortunately it was a cloudy day because there was one moment when the sun came out and the windows just lit up beautifully. I wish it could have been that light all the time. It was stunning.

For photo class, we went to a museum called the Cite Nationale de l'Histoire d'Immigration. There was a photo exhibit there about immigration in Paris. It was also about the suburbs in Paris and the racial and class based segregation that the suburbs enhance. It was an interesting exhibit, especially because of the artists personal exhibition of his family. His family is Jewish and Jews in Paris have a history of being excluded and forced to leave. His photographs were an attempt to deal with that and come to terms with his history and what it means to him now. It was really interesting.

After we saw the exhibit, we were going to go out and take pictures but it started raining fairly hard and wasn't letting up so we just got out of class early. Brittany and I went to the Louvre again. We stayed in the paintings this time. There is just so much to see it is overwhelming. We got pretty tired after a while but we were like trudging along because we wanted to see it all. It is seriously impossible.

For dinner we had fish sticks and like fried potatoes. We also had a salad as usual. It was pretty good, it had a little tofu in it I believe. Our conversation at dinner was funny. Madame said I eat like a man and she was amazed that I am still thin lol. She is quite amazed. If only she could see my sister Anna lol. She eats like twice as much as I do and is super super skinny.

After dinner, we met up with Courtney and Amanda and walked along the Champs Elysees. We started by visiting the Arc de Triomph. It was sweet but I really wanted to see the view from the top. I bet it would be incredible, with the boulevards going out from it in all directions but Courtney and Brittany didn't want to spend the money. I should have just gone by myself. But anyways, it was an enjoyable evening. I stopped by the fnac (bestbuy meets borders) and bought another memory card for my camera. It is always nice to have a back up and I was having trouble with my card reader.

Here are some pictures from the day:

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Read More...

Summary only...

le 23 juillet: Le D'Orsay

So I got a French test back today. I got a 16 out of 20 on it. It's pretty good. Their grades are a little weird here. I think it's like an A- in America but I'm not really sure how it will transfer.

I had lunch with Brittany's French class today. They were having a picnic together and so I just tagged along. We bought a baguette and some cheese and an apple. I also bought some carrot salad thing but was full enough from the baguette that I saved my salad for later.

Brittany's teacher is really funny. He is super awkwardly tall and he is into photography so he was asking about our photo class. Brittany took some pictures on my camera because she forgot the battery for hers. I'll have to stick some up here so you can see him.

For photo class, we met at the Arts et Metiers museum. They had a photo exhibit about work there. The pictures were great, a lot of them were of people working with machinery. But there were some office ones too. It was very cool. The museum was cute and whimsical. They had old cars and planes and flying machines and models of boats and trains. I would have liked to have stayed longer and seen more of it but we had planned on going to the Musee D'Orsay so we looked around for just a bit before we left.

They also had this cool pendulum thing there that shows the motion of the earth because the pendulum starts swinging in a circle... ok like back and forth but moving in a circle.

The Orsay was beautiful. It is my favorite museum that I have seen. They had such a great range of works Like realisim moving to impressionism then post impressionism. They had some really interesting stuff from Gauguin as well as the ones I really wanted to see, Monet and Van Gogh and Degas. They didn't have a ton of Degas paintings. They had a bunch but what was most impressive was their collection of his ballerina statues.

Brittany and I had both heard that the restaurant on the second floor was really good so we decided to eat there. It wasn't too badly priced and we just ordered the least expensive plat and shared a dessert as we are fond of doing. We had the rizotto. It was like cheesy rice with peas, lima beans, and green beans in it. It was very good but the dessert was simply amazing. It was a melt-in-your-mouth cake with like fudge in the middle with vanilla whipped cream and passion fruit sauce. I could drink that sauce. The service there was really good too. The waiters were all very friendly.

The restaurant itself was GORGEOUS. Brittany and I couldn't believe the view. Yes, we took pictures lol. Dinner took a while as it does in France so when we left the restaurant, the gift shop was closed which was kind of sad.

We got home kind of late and we had a paper due the next morning for photo class so we just worked on that but I was kind of bad and went to bed before it was done...EEEE

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Read More...

Summary only...

le 22 juillet: The Park

Today was not the greatest. I mostly am upset because I didn't bring my camera to photo class. I thought we were going to be in the classroom all day but it didn't rain like it was supposed to according to the Meteo (either France's weather is completely unpredictable or all their weather men suck) so Claudio tooks us out to a park in North-east Paris.

I had my small camera but the batteries were low so I didn't take too many pictures in hopes of preserving the battery. I will share with you what I do have, however.

The thing that made it not so bad was eating a yummy bueno candy bar. They are like kit kats with nutella. Mmmm.

The park was amazing. It was one of the hill-y areas in Paris so the view was incredible. There was a was a fairly impressive waterfall and a really sweet island thing in the middle of a lake. We wanted to go to the island but there was some sort of incident and pompiers everywhere blocking it off so we couldn't. :(

O my goodness, we saw the most intense PDA in the park, too. Like Ingy and Lindsay warned me about the public parks and PDA but this was like the worst I have seen lol. I don't know if I should even describe what was happening. I'll just leave it at that.

We went home for dinner and had ravioli. We also had raw ham. Yeah, raw. It was rather chewy but it had a strong flavor. The French are a little crazy with their meat. Like in restaurants, raw steak is popular. Seriously raw, like not rare, raw. We also had peas and wheat with beans like a vegetable salad type of thing. And the delicious south of France baked tomatoe. (drool). We also had this really good bread and Madame gave us a nectarine and some cake from Brussels for dinner.

After dinner, Brittany and I sat down and figured out our travel plans for the next week. We are going to Brussels tomorrow for the day and then coming back to Paris for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We will actually be staying in Versailles with Brittany's friend who lives there but we are planning on staying in Paris throughout the days we have here. Sunday night we are taking the Eurostar to London where Brittany also has a friend which will save us from getting a hotel. We are going to hang out with Jenna there and then I'll be back to Paris the night before my flight leaves. I can't believe how fast this month has gone!

But here are some pictures from the day:

Make a Smilebox slideshow

P.S. I forgot to tell you about using the public toilet for the first time. It took me forever to figure out how to get in lol. I swear I pushed all the buttons on the outside. I had to have one of my friends do it eventually and then I like go in and it takes me another five minutes to fiture out how to close the door. It was so weird. The toilet seat was the oddest shape and then there was like a stream of water running to wash your hands in lol. It was just weird. I don't know how to describe it. I'll tell y'all about it when I get home so I can used hand motions

Read More...

Summary only...

le 20 juillet et le 21 juillet: Happy Birthday Brittany

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Monday I had my subjonctif presentation in French class. It went pretty well. I explained things more effectively than I thought I would and I think our teacher was pleased with our presentation. We made up some fun excercises, too, playing off what we talk about in class and tease each other about. Did I ever tell you about the hilarious class in which we spent like twenty minutes just going over the pronounciation difference between "passion" and "patient"? It was hilarious. There is a doctor in our class who said she doesn't like when patients come in the night but my teacher heard "passions" lol.

After French class, I had to run home to change my shoes because we were planning on taking a walking tour at four pm. We always wear shoes in the house and I like to wear these slipper like shoes I have here but they are not the best to walk around outside in but in the morning rush I forgot to change them. So I bought a hot dog like thing at a boulangerie close by Madame's as well as my first Parisien Eclair (very good btw) and pulled out my Paris street map.

The other girls we hang out with were going to the Orangerie but I had already been so I wanted to do something else. I was thinking I would walk to Rue Moufftard. It is a place we had been to in Photo class and I wanted to go back to see it and do some dress shopping. I still haven't found myself a French dress that I am in love with but I went out walking and found myself walking down the Seine towards the Notre Dame.

I took a lovely stroll along the river and entered the beautiful church. There happened to be a free tour of the building in English starting in five minutes so I took it. A cute Italien girl led our group around the building. There is so much history and symbolism in the art on both the outside and inside of the church. I am having issues getting my images off my camera card, otherwise they would be here. I hope they can be salvaged. My photo teacher is taking a look at it for me and I bought a new card at the fnac (french best buy meets barnes and noble and phone company) for in the meantime.

The tour ended just in time for me to stroll along the souvenir shops and get a scope on what they have and then buy an amarino cone before the walking tour. Delish. I got noix de cocco again. I think coconut has become my favorite flavor. It is so good here.

The walking tour was pretty amazing. I learned some cool new things about the city and it was perfect weather. Some of the things we had already learned from my amazing Photo teacher and from just living in the city for a month but it was fun to walk around and see the city. I feel like we miss out a bunch when we take the metro. I wish I had familiarized myself with the buses more than the metro but they of course are not as fast and reliable so that makes it difficult when you have to get to class on time in the morning.

For dinner we had pasta with les petits jambons (aka bacon). It was yummy of course. After dinner, Brittany and I watched the movie Chocolat in pieces via youtube lol. It was a lovely evening but we were craving chocolat so much after that movie. It just looks so good. I really love the chocolat here as well. They normally have dark chocolat rather than milk chocolat.

Make a Smilebox greeting

Tuesday was Brittany's 21 birthday. We had a picnic in Luxembourg as per her request. Her friend Katie who is the Au Pair came up from Versailles to attend and she brought Brittany a box of maccaroons from Laduree (a fancy and famous restaurant/macaroon maker/tea salon/really cute place) They were really good. Brittany let me have a taste of a couple but I think maccaroons in general are slightly overrated. I think Courtney just loves them so much because she can't eat other cookies (she is a celiac) and idk why Brittany loves them so much lol. Don't get me wrong, they are delicious but they are like a euro for a tiny little cookie. I guess they are extremely difficult to make.

For photo class, we went to Place de la Republic. It was a cute little area and we had the strangest experience. Brittany, Alison Best, and I were walking down the street when a man asked us if we wanted to take a picture. We were like yeah, that is what we were doing... But he is like here, follow me, and he like opens a door into this courtyard that is common for apartment buildings to have. So Brittany like follows him in and of course Alison and I can't let her go alone so there we are. It looks just like any other courtyard really but then he takes us past another gate. (Yes, Taken was like playing in my mind. I was like what the heck are you doing Brittany? but never fear, the story has a good ending). So he takes us into the most cool little housing complex I have seen in Paris and like takes us to his apartment which is like beautiful beyond belief. There were several walls that were entirely windows that opened up to let the air in. One wall was covered in a well filled bookshelf and the other had a fabulous piece of art.

It was like my dream apartment in Paris. I was like please give us your apartment. Not really but that's what I was thinking inside. He said a bunch of things that I don't know if I trust the validity of. Such as that the complex was built in the place where the statue of Liberty was built and that one of his neighbors works for the CIA. He seemed a little off the rocker but I couldn't tell if it was just because of his accent and different mannerisms or if he really was. I will never know. All I know is that I loved that apartment complex and like really want to live there.

We left and found the cutest colorful stores. They had these sweet toys and pretty house decorations. The prices for the decor really weren't that bad but the children's clothing was ridic. Same for the women's clothing in the neighboring store that was part of the whole company we think. They like had the same fabrics and colors and everything.

We were so tired coming home that Brittany fell asleep in the metro lol. That girl can fall asleep anywhere. She has even been tested for narcelepsy. Apparently she doesn't have it but she falls asleep every day in class. It is kind of funny but sad at the same time.

Madame went out to Normandy with her friend Tuesday so she had prepared some dinner for us before hand. It was fish and pasta and we took it from the pan and reheated it in the micro-ond. It would have been better reheated in the oven but the ovens here are so complex. Just like the washing machines. So we just had to deal. We had some nectarines for desert and we also took a little slice of the Belgium cake.

For Brittany's dinner, we surprised Brittany with a pastry cake picnic at the Eiffel Tower. It was a beautiful cake with apple slices and strawberries on it. We sang happy birthday in english and french and apparently got a little more attention than we had bargained for because a couple of French guys came over with their guitars and started talking to Brittany about her birthday. They decided to sing to her and we all sang again with the guitar playing.

They decided to stick around and asked Brittany if she had any requests for songs. They said they could play the Beatles so I suggested they play "Dear Prudence". (This song has special meaning for Brittany because she calls her little tummy pouch Prudence lol). They played the song and it was wonderfully hilarious. We all enjoyed it very much. They played some more but we kind of ignored them and just talked amongst ourselves and enjoyed the cake.

It was a good day. I think Brittany had a good time as well which is the most important. I told her I would buy her a pastry the next day. I was going to buy her one at lunch but we were running late for the picnic. It worked out well though. I got her a pain au chocolat armande the next morning before French class which she thouroughly enjoyed.

Read More...

Summary only...

le 18 juillet et le 19 juillet: Loire Valley Weekend

Saturday and Sunday was our excursion to the Loire Valley.

We got up bright and early to meet at the ISA office at 7:30 am. Whew. We were tired. Gabriel and Anamaria were coming with us. Gabriel was buying coffee out of the little coffee machines for anyone who wanted some which was nice. The machines are really cool. They are so much cheaper than buying a cafe at a cafe lol and they have all these different kinds of coffee and they have the best hot chocolate. I love the hot chocolate that comes from the coffee machines.

We rode a bus to the Chateaux du Blois, our first stop. The chateaux was interesting because it showed three different styles of architecture lol. It was inhabited by three different kings who like tore down parts of it then added on in different styles. It actually was kind of ugly all pieced together but the individual pieces were interesting. The back piece is late gothic style. The middle is Renaissance and the last piece is classical.

They had a little art museum there that was fun to see and when we got there, there was a little play in session. It was pretty hilarious, they brought the king to the stage in a man-drawn carriage thing. Ha ha with like music and the works. Here are some pictures from Blois:

A fancy violin like made of porcelain from the museum. I though Maddie would like this.

Pretty column.

Creepy gargoyles.

Ornate ceiling lol

A tapestry. I never really payed much attention to tapestries before but they are incredible. I am amazed at how beautiful they are, like a painting but the skill is incredible and the time it would take to make one... They are amazing. This is a close up of one and it is on its side so sorry lol but I just wanted to say I am a tapistry fan now.

For some reason, they had a whole section on oriental embroidery in the little art museum and these shoes. The little bitty ones are for women with bound feet. Yeah, look at the regular sized shoes compared to the bound feet shoes. Disgusting.

Some cute French kids looking out the window. I want a French baby. They are so cute and they seem littler than American children. They seem more innocent and playful. Like they stay little for longer. I think part of it might be the way they dress. Their clothes are very sweet and childlike and so are their toys. You see them skipping and singing while they hold their mother's hands in the streets.

O yes, kings used to choose animal symbols for themselves to like represent their power. Francois Ier I believe it was chose a... get this... a salamander. Weirdo lol. I guess salamander's have some mythical history of being magical or something. However, I still think it is hilarious.

I believe the porquipine was Henry 4em or some other Henry. Lol at least a porquipine has quills.

Another lovely ceiling.

The funny little play

Classical meets Rennaissance. Check out that staircase. It's a beauty.

Flamboyant Gothic. I love that it is called 'flamboyant'. Such a fabulous word.

This is a lovely stained glass window. I love stained glass and I have had the great fortune of seeing countless panes of it in France. All the Chateaux have some at least in their chapels.

After the Chateaux du Blois, we were on our way to Chenenceau but our bus was having technical difficulties so we stopped in a town on the way. I think it was Amboise but I really don't know. We got lunch there at a boulangerie. I had a really good sandwhich. It was chicken salade with walnuts and raisins and lettuce. Mmmm and it was the last sandwich of that variety that they had. I loved it. We did a little window shopping as well. It reminded me a little bit of Park City but not in the mountains but the little shops and streets were similar or rather Park City is similar to that place which was probably there long before Park City.

We hoped back on the bus and beacause of our lost time, the plans got slightly adjusted. We went to Chambord instead of Chenenceau. We were going to do the opposite, Chenenceau then Chambord but Chambord was closer or something and they thought we'd want more time at Chenenceau which I am glad they did because it was a really pretty one.

Chambord was amazing, however. We only saw a tiny portion of it but we of course saw the famous double staircase that Leonardo Da Vinci designed. We walked up it all the way to the top and came out on the roof of the Chateau. It reminded me very much of Beauty and the Beast. My pictures really cannot convey the beauty and grandeur of it all. We marveled at how big and extravagant it was. Louis I was an egoist for sure.

Courtney poking her head out a window in the double staircase. I will make a Smilebox album thing so you can see more pictures. This doesn't really demonstrate the staircase well but it is a fun picture.

Rooftop @ Chambord.

Front view! It was super gorgeous. There are so many fireplaces on that Chateau.

This is me at the top of the Chateau du Chambord. I bought that scarf at the Monoprix! It is like the French Target and it was amazingly on sale for like 3 euro. I think I am gonna go back and buy another one!

They had a little costume exhibit as well which was interesting and fun. Brittany is so fun. She would fit right in with my family. Jumping pictures and all and she asks silly questions like, if you could have one of these costumes which one would it be? lol. On the bus we were all saying who would be what animals and having a jolly good time of it.

After Chambord, we had a little surprise from the ISA office. They took us to a winery for a tour. The Chateau in the Loire Valley are mostly made of limestone for its color and maleability for carving so when the limestone was extracted, they made a bunch of caves. The caves are the perfect place to store wine because it is the same temperature all the time, day or night, winter or summer.

After our little tour of the winery and caves where the wine is stored, we got to go to a wine tasting. They had white, rose, red, and champagne (although it technically wasn't champagne because it doesn't come from the champagne region) and baguettes spread with the best goat cheese and pate from the area for us to try.

It was really funny to watch people get more and more relaxed and they started talking and laughing more. Christy who is normally rather uptight was being all funny and animated. She was so much fun lol. She and Alyson were the funniest. The pate was absolutely delicious and the goat cheese was pretty amazing as well.

The bus ride after the tasting was rather entertaining. Everyone was all happy and feeling good and Brittany put her iPod into the speakers on the bus so we listened to some 90s pop on our way to the Holiday Inn. Alyson was getting up and dancing lol until she got in trouble but everyone was singing along and having a great time.

Our hotel was nice. We checked in and settled down then headed out to find some food. Some girls in our group that we hang out with went to McDonalds. I didn't want to do that. It isn't even really cheap here. like you can eat a similar meal at a boulangerie for less. Like drink, sandwhich and pastry maybe for 7 or 8 euro and at McDonalds it is like 6,50 euro for a meal so it makes sense just to go to a boulangerie or somewhere else.

We saw a Vietnamese place that looked decent and one of the girls we were with was vegetarian and they had a whole sheet on their menu of vegetarian dishes so we decided to go there. It was a nice place and everything was good so it turned out great. I got the tofu noodles with veggies and was very happy with it but we all shared family style and got some rice to go around as well.

We went back to the hotel room and hung out for a few minutes with Courtney and Alison Best and Hillary. We just talked and laughed until we started getting tired. Brittany and I went up to our room and got ready for bed.

We woke up the next morning and I was so excited to take a shower because they had like a normal looking shower. But the water was still hard to get the right temperature and I felt guilty letting the water run so it wasn't as good as I had imagined. I think I will probably always feel guilty now keeping the water running while I am not like directly using it. Same with lights. My dad will be happy about that lol.

We had a special breakfast set up for our group and my oh my was it delicious. We were all freaking out about it lol because we eat the same thing for breakfast every day you know and Amanda poor thing always just has cookies for breakfast lol. There was bacon and scrambled eggs, boiled eggs, ham, a variety of cheeses, fruit salad, whole fruits, yogurt, jams, bread (both european style breads and like sliced breads), croissants, cereal, pain au chocolat, orange juice, milk, tea, hot chocolate, coffee, etc. Like we didn't know where to even start. I went back like three times. And I am not joking, I had at least 4 croissants and 2 pain au chocolat, two servings of scrambled eggs, three cups of hot chocolat, an apple, ham and cheese, cereal, and yogurt with jam. I ate like a PIG. I am gaining weight lol my tummy is getting fat and bloated. I should like slow down with the pastries and stuffing my face.

Anyways, after breakfast we went to Leonardo DaVinci's house. How cool is that? It was simple compared to the chateaux but there was a secret tunnel from the Chateaux D'Amboise to the house and in the basement, they had models of some of DaVinci's machine designs and in the gardens they had bigger ones. It was really cool to see and crazy to think that DaVinci like lived there.

Me in front of the house. CHEESE

Little kids playing w/ the cannon model. DaVinci was rather violent. There were like three models for cannons and a bunch of other weapons. I was like where is the love man? But he also had some cool bridge and gear designs and a conceptual first car idea. It was very cool to see.

A view of the garden. Pictures in the house were 'interdit' so I didn't take very many but snuck a few. Check the smilebox later to see a few.

This is Tianfang. She is Chinese and super cute. She doesn't talk much but she is really nice.

Looking out one of the windows on to DaVinci's garden/courtyard area.

We then went to Chenenceau where we had time for lunch and then time to look at the chateau. Chenenceau was a gift to a king's mistress. I can't remember if it was Louis the first or Henry the 3rd who gave the chateau to this woman but then Catherine Medici took it over after he died and there is all this history behind who owned it and what not. I should just look at my brochure but I am kind of lazy right now lol.

Anyways, the chateau is on a bridge over the river. It is really cool. Like the main halls overlook the river and you can see the gardens across the river looking out of the tower windows. It had a very cool kitchen in which I saw a waffle iron with the heart shapes like my mom has and loves. I wonder if it was authentic to the time period lol or if they just put it there for decoration. I took a picture anyways to show her.

Chenenceau was very picturesque and princess like. I would compare it to the Hameau at Versailles but it is like castle style whereas that was like peasant playland. They were really pretty though. I think the castles here are somewhat the equivalent to Disneyland. They all sell princess dresses and crowns in their gift shops and like little knight, dragon, and king toys for the boys. It is really funny but cute too.

Me in front of the castle! Yes, I am rewearing the scarf. I am being French and wearing the same thing two days in a row. Not really because my shirt is different but really, that is what they do. Madame wears at most like three outfits per week. It is pretty weird but I'm all in favor of doing it in the U.S. Less hassle and laundry.

The Chateau!

A pretty walkway that leads to the Chateau. That is Alison Best in the yellow on the right side of the image. She is taking a picture too lol.

We were pooped after the weekend and the ride home was long but they let us watch a movie on the ride. We watched Amelie. It was my first time seeing it. We watched it in French with French subtitles so I understood most of it but some things I didn't. It was good though, a very quirky movie but cute. Amelie was very pretty.

We got home and were completely exhausted. We just went home and had dinner with Madame. I can't remember what it was. Brittany will have to tell me. I'm sure it was good whatever.

Read More...

Summary only...