So I just got home from a long weekend in Barcelona with Ali and it was amazing. Well, other than spending the night at CDG in Paris without being able to go through security which meant no sleep because a)it was freezing and b)there were tons of creepy homeless people walking around with large jugs of "milk" and trying to touch people. I mean I have no problem with you sleeping in a warm public place but really, I don't know why it looks like I want to be approached by people. But anyways, I put this time to good use by attempting to learn spanish! Turns out Spanish is a lot easier than French and I actually made a lot of headway in the food department which meant upon arrival I could read some menus, unless they were written only in Catalan (which most were), and somehow ordered a Shandy (beer and lemonade) while trying to ask what kinds of beers they had (not a bad decision, really). Not that I could understand anyone speaking or respond without blurting out something in French, but that is beside the point.
I landed in Barcelona Thursday around 10am, found Ali, found the train to the city, and wandered around til we found a tapas bar. This was the beginning of Ali's obsession with tapas since you get to choose lots of dishes and he therefore doesn't have to make any real decisions. Interestingly, I'm pretty sure we ordered the same tapas we would get the rest of the weekend anyways which consisted of Patatas Bravas, fried calamari, and some sausage thing. And lots of sangria.
Next we ventured to Camp Nou which is the stadium of FC Barcelona to take a tour. This was Ali's Christmas present but it turned out to be pretty cool actually because they had a multimedia room with all that cool technology from James Bond with Daniel Craig where the table is like a piece of paper and you can slide stuff around on it plus you got to see the away locker room, the field, and the press box. You also could take pictures to be superimposed with your favorite player which I did, with Messi, of course.
We could finally check in to the hotel so we found it and took a much needed siesta. We had to eat dinner early for Spanish standards because we had tickets to see Barca B play at the Ministade next to the real stadium at 9pm so we had tapas yet again and then went back to the stadium to watch the game. It was a really good game that ended Barca B 3-3 Almeira which meant lots of goals and lots of action. There were some really good players also that I hope get famous so I can already have seen them play and have pictures.
The next day we woke up and realized there was no clock in our room so we turned on BBC on TV and it said it was already 12pm! So we jumped out of bed and headed out to Las Ramblas which is the main touristy street and walked along, shopped (well, I did), went to DUNKIN DONUTS (!!!), and then found a real place to have lunch/breakfast. We ate lunch and ordered some sort of special Spanish beer which made the waiter give us really weird looks and then found the metro to go see La Sagrada Familia, the cathedral designed by Antoni Gaudi that looks like it's melting (more on this later). As we sat on the metro looking at what stop we were on, we looked at the clock which said it was 12:20. So, utterly confused, I turned on my phone and it apparently really was 12:20. So I don't know what country BBC news was airing from or why, but that could explain why the waiter thought it was strange that we were ordering beer at what must have been 10:30am. Or it could have been because I drank it with eggs and (gross/european) bacon. But whatever.
We found La Sagrada Familia which was cool and really does look like it's melting and walked around it to get a good look. It kind of looks like a grotesque version of Dr. Seuss in that it's weird and whimiscal but kind of creepy at the same time. Since Gaudi lived and worked in Barca there's lots of his work around the city so our next stop was Parc Guell which is a gigantic park with lots of his architecture and sculptures. It also happens to be at the top of the biggest hill I've ever walked up which no one warned me about (yeah, you, Grace and Arielle) so that was kind of a surprising hike. They even had escalators as the sidewalk part of the way because it was so steep. But it did have an awesome view of the city and really cool buildings and the famous statue of a lizard.
After this unexpected hike and how confused I was about it being two hours earlier than I thought it was we decided it would be best to have another siesta. We woke up in time to go to dinner before the Barcelona-Real Madrid game began at 10pm (yes, and the game was played in their time zone..Spain runs on a weird schedule). We meant to head to George Payne's which is a huge Irish bar as recommended by Arielle but we had to stop on the way to Ali could have tapas and we ended up not finishing dinner until too close to game time. So instead we stayed at the bar/restaurant we ate at and were shortly joined by lots of eager fans who even brought their own drums. The game started out a little rough with Madrid scoring in the first couple of minutes (first minute?) but Barcelona recovered and eventually won 3-1. This was good as all the crazy fans were happy.
Sunday morning/afternoon was devoted to Montjuic which is an ENORMOUS park that made Park Guell seem tiny in comparison. It's also up a huge hill but we took the funiculars this time which made it a much easier walk. We wandered around a while and saw an old Greek theatre, lots of great views of the city and the Mediterranean, the Olympic stadiums and museum from the 1992 Olympics (where Ali bought the most expensive Fanta ever that cost like 4Euros), and finally the Castell de Montjuic which is an old Spanish (obviously) castle complete with cannons that overlook the Mediterranean Sea. We somehow wandered our way down the side of the gigantic hill and came down some old-looking steps that had a sign with their name on it which must mean they were important but I have no idea why. Next we walked along the Port Vell, past the giant column with Christopher Columbus standing on top, and found some little place to have paella and (more) calamari. Finally we found our way to the beach so I could stick my feet in the Mediterranean! Disclaimer: there were other people out on the beach and in fact the water wasn't really that cold. We also saw lots of intense sandcastles complete with lit candles that were super cool.
We siestaed encore, and then went out for a final meal of, you guessed it, tapas and a really good dessert of profiteroles. Then we returned home to sleep before leaving early Monday morning for another long travel day back to Creutzwald.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Monday, November 7, 2011
Lyon et Roanne
So this is a little bit late but I figured I'd better not skip Lyon since it was gorgeous and lots of fun. My friend Mandy who also went to Maryland and was a music major is doing the same program in a city called Roanne which is a short train ride from Lyon. So, I left my apartment at 4am one Friday morning and took a taxi, 2 trains, and a bus (because of course there was a strike at the moment and things got complicated) to Roanne to visit her. We spent Friday afternoon exploring Roanne, seeing all the cathedrals, and shopping a little bit, and preparing for our trip to Lyon in the morning.
Saturday we arrived in Lyon around 1 pm and decided to head slowly towards our hotel while, of course, shopping a little bit on the way. We walked down a couple piètons (pedestrian streets) and I finally found a black purse that I love!! This was very exciting because I had been looking for black since I got to France. We finally made it to our hotel and were a little surprised when there was a bathroom (obviously), a kitchenette (okay..), and no bed (what?). Yes, there was a pull-out couch and no bed. But whatever, we were in Lyon, so we dropped our stuff off and headed back to the metro. For anyone thinking about visiting France, Lyon has so far had the best and cheapest metro system that I've seen. I think it was 4€ for a daypass which is as much riding as you want (also note that in France you buy a ticket to get on the metro, not for how far away your destination is. In fact, you don't have to have your ticket to get off at the end so you can ride around as much as you want on one ticket as long as you dont leave (that's sortie, and to do it you follow the green man who looks like he's running on all the signs) the metro system.).
Anyways, our first stop was Vieux Lyon, which literally means Old Lyon, and is, as you guessed, the old section of Lyon. It was beautiful and full of boutiques, lots of food, ancient book stores, and a huge cathedral which Mandy and I took way too many pictures of. There was also some sort of book signing going on in the cathedral when we were there with lots of old people getting giant books about French cathedrals signed by religiously-important-looking people. That was a bit bizarre but it was cool because they had a youth choir singing for the signing so it was neat to see the cathedral in action. Next we ate at a restaurant called Le Petit Glouton which had a man making crêpes at a stand out front who actually kind of worked for the restaurant so when we ordered crêpes for dessert, he made them. They were delicious, although I would've been ok with a little more nutella on mine.
Next, we started to head back East towards centre-ville because we knew we would get distracted and take a while and we had tickets to see Orchestre National de Lyon at 8pm! To understand our walk it's important to know that Lyon is basically a city in a valley with two giant rivers that divide the city into three sections. Vieux Lyon is on the left of these rivers, things like the town hall (called a mairie in French), Musée des Beaux Arts, and the opera house are in the middle, and lots of shopping, the auditorium where the ONL plays, and the soccer stadium are on the right of them. So we had to cross two rivers and lots of pretty boutiques and parcs to get to our destination. We made it in time although I did have to drag Mandy away from what was probably our third huge cathedral of the day and found our seats for the concert.
The concert was Beethoven's Overture to Leonore 3, Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem, and Strauss' Ein Heldenleben (although the program translated Ein Heldenleben to Une vie de Héros which was bizarre because even in the US we leave it in German). Leonore 3 is interesting because it was written as an Overture to an opera that apparently was terrible because noone ever performs it but the Overture has lasted as it's own sort-of piece. There is an important offstage trumpet solo, though, so I was looking forward to this. It went well although the trumpet solo was played very differently than it is in the US. It's one of those excerpts that looks very simple but is generally played with lots of tempo alterations and stylized things like that which the French player didn't really do. Maybe it's taught differently in Europe, I'll have to ask someone. Next was the Britten which I had never heard but was really, really, interesting and I liked a lot. Last was Ein Heldenleben which I love and which was very well played except for the 1st cornet missed a note in the big solo during the battle scene which was dissapointing but happens.
After the concert we got dinner at this cool little Italian place that had a wood-stove, so of course I got pizza, and then walked along the rivers to see it in the lights and headed back to our hotel without a bed.
The next morning we woke up early to head to La Fourvière. Remember how I told you Lyon is in a valley? Well La Fourvière, also known as La Basilique Notre Dame de Lyon, is a huge cathedral up on the giant hill beside Lyon. We took these cool funiculaires (basically trollies) up the very steep hill and were literally shocked by how cool this cathedral is and especially the view from its backyard of Lyon. Behind it are orchards, rose gardens, and lots of cool trails that wind back down the mountain to the city so we walked down some of these but didn't want to get all the way to the bottom just yet because next to a Fourvière are Roman Ruins of ampitheatres. There were two ampitheatres, a large main one, and a smaller one used for music, and you were allowed to climb all over them and walk in and around all the rooms and touch the old columns. I met these two brothers from Tennessee in the music ampitheatre and talked to them and we played around with the acoustics which were amazing. I stood onstage and whispered to one of the brothers while the other one walked around the top row and he could hear our conversation even though the ampitheatre is half destroyed. The ruins and la Fourvière were easily my favorite parts of Lyon.
Next we came back down the hill via the funiculaires and headed to the little area between the rivers to see la mairie, the opera house, and go to the Musée des Beaux Arts. The museum was full of interesting art and sculptures and we spent a couple more hours wandering around there before we were exhausted. So we headed back to the train station and took a train back to Mandy's to get some chocolate for dinner, watch Saving Private Ryan, and sleep before I had to get up at 3:30 to head back to Creutzwald to teach.
Saturday we arrived in Lyon around 1 pm and decided to head slowly towards our hotel while, of course, shopping a little bit on the way. We walked down a couple piètons (pedestrian streets) and I finally found a black purse that I love!! This was very exciting because I had been looking for black since I got to France. We finally made it to our hotel and were a little surprised when there was a bathroom (obviously), a kitchenette (okay..), and no bed (what?). Yes, there was a pull-out couch and no bed. But whatever, we were in Lyon, so we dropped our stuff off and headed back to the metro. For anyone thinking about visiting France, Lyon has so far had the best and cheapest metro system that I've seen. I think it was 4€ for a daypass which is as much riding as you want (also note that in France you buy a ticket to get on the metro, not for how far away your destination is. In fact, you don't have to have your ticket to get off at the end so you can ride around as much as you want on one ticket as long as you dont leave (that's sortie, and to do it you follow the green man who looks like he's running on all the signs) the metro system.).
Anyways, our first stop was Vieux Lyon, which literally means Old Lyon, and is, as you guessed, the old section of Lyon. It was beautiful and full of boutiques, lots of food, ancient book stores, and a huge cathedral which Mandy and I took way too many pictures of. There was also some sort of book signing going on in the cathedral when we were there with lots of old people getting giant books about French cathedrals signed by religiously-important-looking people. That was a bit bizarre but it was cool because they had a youth choir singing for the signing so it was neat to see the cathedral in action. Next we ate at a restaurant called Le Petit Glouton which had a man making crêpes at a stand out front who actually kind of worked for the restaurant so when we ordered crêpes for dessert, he made them. They were delicious, although I would've been ok with a little more nutella on mine.
Next, we started to head back East towards centre-ville because we knew we would get distracted and take a while and we had tickets to see Orchestre National de Lyon at 8pm! To understand our walk it's important to know that Lyon is basically a city in a valley with two giant rivers that divide the city into three sections. Vieux Lyon is on the left of these rivers, things like the town hall (called a mairie in French), Musée des Beaux Arts, and the opera house are in the middle, and lots of shopping, the auditorium where the ONL plays, and the soccer stadium are on the right of them. So we had to cross two rivers and lots of pretty boutiques and parcs to get to our destination. We made it in time although I did have to drag Mandy away from what was probably our third huge cathedral of the day and found our seats for the concert.
The concert was Beethoven's Overture to Leonore 3, Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem, and Strauss' Ein Heldenleben (although the program translated Ein Heldenleben to Une vie de Héros which was bizarre because even in the US we leave it in German). Leonore 3 is interesting because it was written as an Overture to an opera that apparently was terrible because noone ever performs it but the Overture has lasted as it's own sort-of piece. There is an important offstage trumpet solo, though, so I was looking forward to this. It went well although the trumpet solo was played very differently than it is in the US. It's one of those excerpts that looks very simple but is generally played with lots of tempo alterations and stylized things like that which the French player didn't really do. Maybe it's taught differently in Europe, I'll have to ask someone. Next was the Britten which I had never heard but was really, really, interesting and I liked a lot. Last was Ein Heldenleben which I love and which was very well played except for the 1st cornet missed a note in the big solo during the battle scene which was dissapointing but happens.
After the concert we got dinner at this cool little Italian place that had a wood-stove, so of course I got pizza, and then walked along the rivers to see it in the lights and headed back to our hotel without a bed.
The next morning we woke up early to head to La Fourvière. Remember how I told you Lyon is in a valley? Well La Fourvière, also known as La Basilique Notre Dame de Lyon, is a huge cathedral up on the giant hill beside Lyon. We took these cool funiculaires (basically trollies) up the very steep hill and were literally shocked by how cool this cathedral is and especially the view from its backyard of Lyon. Behind it are orchards, rose gardens, and lots of cool trails that wind back down the mountain to the city so we walked down some of these but didn't want to get all the way to the bottom just yet because next to a Fourvière are Roman Ruins of ampitheatres. There were two ampitheatres, a large main one, and a smaller one used for music, and you were allowed to climb all over them and walk in and around all the rooms and touch the old columns. I met these two brothers from Tennessee in the music ampitheatre and talked to them and we played around with the acoustics which were amazing. I stood onstage and whispered to one of the brothers while the other one walked around the top row and he could hear our conversation even though the ampitheatre is half destroyed. The ruins and la Fourvière were easily my favorite parts of Lyon.
Next we came back down the hill via the funiculaires and headed to the little area between the rivers to see la mairie, the opera house, and go to the Musée des Beaux Arts. The museum was full of interesting art and sculptures and we spent a couple more hours wandering around there before we were exhausted. So we headed back to the train station and took a train back to Mandy's to get some chocolate for dinner, watch Saving Private Ryan, and sleep before I had to get up at 3:30 to head back to Creutzwald to teach.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
London and environs
So a quick flight that only took 20 minutes with the time difference (London is an hour behind Paris) later, I landed in London and was greeted by my lovely boyfriend Ali (for Americans, that's Alex, and he claims Ali is a normal boy's nickname in England although I haven't met any others so far..). Ali picked me up and we headed out to his parents house in...actually I have no idea what the name of the little town is. His parents recently moved to like a country home that is really beautiful but not really in a town per se. But it is close to Winchester where most of his family works and used to be the capitol of England (I haven't actually checked this, but everyone did agree).
The next day I slept late since it had been an exhausting couple of days in Paris and I had kind of ignored the jet lag I was feeling, and then we headed into Winchester where Ali had an interview. While Ali did that his brother, Nic, met me and showed me around a little. It turns out Winchester is actually pretty cool and even is home to King Arthur's round table! We saw this and saw the old cathedral and then went to a pub claiming to be the oldest pub in England. (I'm not sure how you would know this and I'm sure there are many pubs that say the same thing but it's still pretty cool). Here I tried my first real ale which was pretty good and hung out a while.
The next day we headed into London! We took the train and came out right by the London Eye which, if like me you've never heard of, is basically the giant ferris wheel people ride to get a view from the top. Its also right across the Thames from the houses of Parliament which I have to admit are slightly more impressive than the Capital building in DC and Big Ben. Next door to that is Westminster Abbey which we toured with our handy cellphone-like tour guides they give you and was really, really cool. It's beautiful inside and has really cool history like the tombs for the rival sisters Mary Queen of Scots and Queen Elizabeth I (Elizabeth had Mary imprisoned in a tower because Mary was plotting to have Elizabeth killed) and the coronation throne (which was being cleaned while we were there; I guess they think they'll need it soon). My favorite part though was the poet's corner where there's Shakespeare, Rudyard Kipling, Chaucer, Jane Austen, Handel, and a ton of other name's you'll recognize. The only bummer was there's no photography allowed inside the abbey. After Westminster we walked over to Downing Street where the Prime Minister lives (the White House is much cooler) and then through the parks to Buckingham Palace. The flag was flying so the Queen was around but of course we didn't see her. Next we headed over to Piccadilly Circus which looks like a tiny Time's Square and stopped to eat at a pub nearby. Then we shopped a little bit and walked back along the English version of the mall which is where the processions drive for things like the royal wedding and stuff like that. Then we took the train back out on which I promptly fell asleep on the table in front of me.
The next day was a lazy day mostly devoted to expanding my film education as we watched Troy, also known as the longest movie in the world, and Braveheart. We went down to the pub down the street for lunch and I tried to talk to the bartender but he had such a strong accent I couldn't understand a word he said. He asked me if I spoke English and then what kind of accent did I have. I told him that I didn't have an accent and it was his accent that was weird. But he was really nice and the food was good and he told us all about the old Western that was on TV called Magnificent Seven. I have heard of it but he thought I was crazy since I didn't really know any of the actors in it and apparently they are classic American actors.
The next morning I was up at 5 to get back to the airport and catch my flight back to Paris and then find the train and head to Creutzwald!
The next day I slept late since it had been an exhausting couple of days in Paris and I had kind of ignored the jet lag I was feeling, and then we headed into Winchester where Ali had an interview. While Ali did that his brother, Nic, met me and showed me around a little. It turns out Winchester is actually pretty cool and even is home to King Arthur's round table! We saw this and saw the old cathedral and then went to a pub claiming to be the oldest pub in England. (I'm not sure how you would know this and I'm sure there are many pubs that say the same thing but it's still pretty cool). Here I tried my first real ale which was pretty good and hung out a while.
The next day we headed into London! We took the train and came out right by the London Eye which, if like me you've never heard of, is basically the giant ferris wheel people ride to get a view from the top. Its also right across the Thames from the houses of Parliament which I have to admit are slightly more impressive than the Capital building in DC and Big Ben. Next door to that is Westminster Abbey which we toured with our handy cellphone-like tour guides they give you and was really, really cool. It's beautiful inside and has really cool history like the tombs for the rival sisters Mary Queen of Scots and Queen Elizabeth I (Elizabeth had Mary imprisoned in a tower because Mary was plotting to have Elizabeth killed) and the coronation throne (which was being cleaned while we were there; I guess they think they'll need it soon). My favorite part though was the poet's corner where there's Shakespeare, Rudyard Kipling, Chaucer, Jane Austen, Handel, and a ton of other name's you'll recognize. The only bummer was there's no photography allowed inside the abbey. After Westminster we walked over to Downing Street where the Prime Minister lives (the White House is much cooler) and then through the parks to Buckingham Palace. The flag was flying so the Queen was around but of course we didn't see her. Next we headed over to Piccadilly Circus which looks like a tiny Time's Square and stopped to eat at a pub nearby. Then we shopped a little bit and walked back along the English version of the mall which is where the processions drive for things like the royal wedding and stuff like that. Then we took the train back out on which I promptly fell asleep on the table in front of me.
The next day was a lazy day mostly devoted to expanding my film education as we watched Troy, also known as the longest movie in the world, and Braveheart. We went down to the pub down the street for lunch and I tried to talk to the bartender but he had such a strong accent I couldn't understand a word he said. He asked me if I spoke English and then what kind of accent did I have. I told him that I didn't have an accent and it was his accent that was weird. But he was really nice and the food was good and he told us all about the old Western that was on TV called Magnificent Seven. I have heard of it but he thought I was crazy since I didn't really know any of the actors in it and apparently they are classic American actors.
The next morning I was up at 5 to get back to the airport and catch my flight back to Paris and then find the train and head to Creutzwald!
Paris!!
So I know this is really late, it's been two weeks since I was in Paris, but it's freezing cold and rainy out so I figure it's a good time to get caught up. I'll go back and write about each stage of my trip so far, starting, as you can see, with Paris.
My trip began with some unexpected plane mishaps in the form of my departing flight from Raleigh being delayed too long for me to make my connection in New York. This turned out to be a good thing, though, as when I was in line waiting to talk to the attendant about changing my flight I heard a girl about my age speaking French on her cell phone. After she hung up I asked her if she was headed to Paris by chance, and of course she was, so we went up to the counter together and both got moved to a flight connecting through London with seats next to eachother! This was awesome because I basically had eight hours to practice french and ask her as many stupid questions as I could think of.
Once we reached Paris I found my hostel easily enough which was in a pretty location along a river (not the Seine, but a smaller tributary) and actually pretty nice. If you're ever in need of a hostel in Paris check out St. Christopher's in the 19th. I met a girl from Poland and we decided to walk around some and explore. We ended up finding an awesome park in the middle of Paris with a great view from the top of a hill and hung out there for a while. We also met these random French boys and when I told them I was American one of them guessed I was from North Carolina! I was kind of freaked out and tried to discreetly make sure he hadn't stolen my wallet or license or something but everything was safely in my purse so I have no idea how he knew.
The next day my friend Mandy arrived in Paris so I met her for lunch (my first French restaurant experience! Although I ordered a hamburger..) and then we went shopping around the 18th arrondissement. Then we headed down to La Halle which turned out to be a huge mall and proceeded to get lost for three hours in maybe a half mile radius. After shopping for hours and finding shoes, bags, and peanut butter (!! a novelty in france!) we found a street cafe and sat down for some wine and peanuts (im not sure why peanuts were included, but they were good). Then we went next door for some pizza and then headed off to the Seine to take in the view. The Seine snakes through the middle of Paris and the bridges across it give you great views of the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Louvre and all the places you've heard of in France. Then we headed home since Mandy had the 10 mile race to Versailles the next day.
The next morning I woke up and realized I could barely walk, let alone run, (I had hurt my foot the weekend before in DC somehow) so I told Mandy I'd meet her in Versailles at the finish line and went out on my own to explore more. I walked by the Louvre, through the Jardin des Tuileries (which was actually huge and I had to take a rest in the middle of), and past Les Invalides (the French army museum that is honestly one of the most impressive buildings I've ever seen from the outside) before getting on a train to head out to the Palace of Versailles which is a few miles southwest of Paris.
I found Mandy with some new Belgian (well American, but they live in Belgium) friends at the finish line and we worked our way up to the outside of the palace which was amazing and covered in gold. The line to get in was probably a mile long and snaked around the area out front. We took a bunch of pictures and vowed to come back with more time so we could actually go on a tour inside and out back to see the gardens.
We had to get going though so we could have a quick lunch (salmon for me which was actually amazing) and then head our respective ways. It was a little hard to leave the city with so much left to see and do (like actually go inside some of the museums) but I knew I would be back many times so I headed to the airport for destination 2: London!
My trip began with some unexpected plane mishaps in the form of my departing flight from Raleigh being delayed too long for me to make my connection in New York. This turned out to be a good thing, though, as when I was in line waiting to talk to the attendant about changing my flight I heard a girl about my age speaking French on her cell phone. After she hung up I asked her if she was headed to Paris by chance, and of course she was, so we went up to the counter together and both got moved to a flight connecting through London with seats next to eachother! This was awesome because I basically had eight hours to practice french and ask her as many stupid questions as I could think of.
Once we reached Paris I found my hostel easily enough which was in a pretty location along a river (not the Seine, but a smaller tributary) and actually pretty nice. If you're ever in need of a hostel in Paris check out St. Christopher's in the 19th. I met a girl from Poland and we decided to walk around some and explore. We ended up finding an awesome park in the middle of Paris with a great view from the top of a hill and hung out there for a while. We also met these random French boys and when I told them I was American one of them guessed I was from North Carolina! I was kind of freaked out and tried to discreetly make sure he hadn't stolen my wallet or license or something but everything was safely in my purse so I have no idea how he knew.
The next day my friend Mandy arrived in Paris so I met her for lunch (my first French restaurant experience! Although I ordered a hamburger..) and then we went shopping around the 18th arrondissement. Then we headed down to La Halle which turned out to be a huge mall and proceeded to get lost for three hours in maybe a half mile radius. After shopping for hours and finding shoes, bags, and peanut butter (!! a novelty in france!) we found a street cafe and sat down for some wine and peanuts (im not sure why peanuts were included, but they were good). Then we went next door for some pizza and then headed off to the Seine to take in the view. The Seine snakes through the middle of Paris and the bridges across it give you great views of the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Louvre and all the places you've heard of in France. Then we headed home since Mandy had the 10 mile race to Versailles the next day.
The next morning I woke up and realized I could barely walk, let alone run, (I had hurt my foot the weekend before in DC somehow) so I told Mandy I'd meet her in Versailles at the finish line and went out on my own to explore more. I walked by the Louvre, through the Jardin des Tuileries (which was actually huge and I had to take a rest in the middle of), and past Les Invalides (the French army museum that is honestly one of the most impressive buildings I've ever seen from the outside) before getting on a train to head out to the Palace of Versailles which is a few miles southwest of Paris.
I found Mandy with some new Belgian (well American, but they live in Belgium) friends at the finish line and we worked our way up to the outside of the palace which was amazing and covered in gold. The line to get in was probably a mile long and snaked around the area out front. We took a bunch of pictures and vowed to come back with more time so we could actually go on a tour inside and out back to see the gardens.
We had to get going though so we could have a quick lunch (salmon for me which was actually amazing) and then head our respective ways. It was a little hard to leave the city with so much left to see and do (like actually go inside some of the museums) but I knew I would be back many times so I headed to the airport for destination 2: London!
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Time to go!
So it's 10:30 pm on Wednesday, September 21 and my plane leaves in exactly 19 hours for a year-long trip to France.
Question: Is there anything in my suitcase.
Answer: Absolutely not.
This is one of those problems of having no idea what to expect from a totally new country, not really wanting to pack, and anxiety about not packing the right things.
Solution: Start a blog!
I mean, I am really excited to get to France, start drinking wine at lunchtime, and only work on Tuesdays and Thursdays (Yes, it's true!) but the idea of picking everything up and starting anew in a country without any comforts of home is truly daunting. That's ok though, for my farewell dinner we had a truly southern meal that I'll be missing for a year: fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, and biscuits. Of course we did have wine, just to make it a little bit French. Hopefully this will be enough to tide me over until I find a new home-style french dinner for comfort. Well, I better put SOMETHING in my suitcase or I'll be shopping for an all new wardrobe in Paris (hmm..).
Next time I write, it'll be from the land of wine and cheese!
A bientot!
Question: Is there anything in my suitcase.
Answer: Absolutely not.
This is one of those problems of having no idea what to expect from a totally new country, not really wanting to pack, and anxiety about not packing the right things.
Solution: Start a blog!
I mean, I am really excited to get to France, start drinking wine at lunchtime, and only work on Tuesdays and Thursdays (Yes, it's true!) but the idea of picking everything up and starting anew in a country without any comforts of home is truly daunting. That's ok though, for my farewell dinner we had a truly southern meal that I'll be missing for a year: fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, and biscuits. Of course we did have wine, just to make it a little bit French. Hopefully this will be enough to tide me over until I find a new home-style french dinner for comfort. Well, I better put SOMETHING in my suitcase or I'll be shopping for an all new wardrobe in Paris (hmm..).
Next time I write, it'll be from the land of wine and cheese!
A bientot!
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