La famille, l'Italia, et le Noel

Joyeux Noel et une bonne année!

Merry Christmas and a happy new year!

This holiday season has been far from the norm. Instead of heading home for the holidays, part of the home came to me! The parentals arrived in Paris about a week before my winter break to take in a bit of Paris as well as France (they visited the northern coast, Versailles, and the Champagne region) before we all headed down south to enjoy the Italian sun in Rome and Florence.

Overview: under a week travelling by train through the Italian cities of Rome and Florence with my mama and papa.

Italy was in a word, gorgeous. We arrived in Rome after a lengthy train ride from paris, and had nothing but sun in Rome for our sightseeing, walking, and eating good times. Despite the colds that my dad and I seemed to catch moments before departure, our touristing was not hampered! From our base at a BnB blocks from vatican city, the fam and I enjoyed walks on cobblestone streets (narrowly avoiding the somewhat reckless Italian drivers, and watch out for those vespas, tiny things come out of nowhere!), fabulous pizza and pasta, breathtaking churches, and a general sense of awe at the antiquity of everything present there. The parentals put up with my bossing and directing, despite my habit of getting a little lost at times. Personal fav was not the usual fountains, steps, or even the St. Peter's Basilica, which was a beauty and the guards in their funny cute little uniforms reminiscient of a Shakespeare play were fabulous, but the views from the Colosseum. Seeing the city of modern and antiquity alive and bustling with great energy was a moment I hope to never forget.

Next on to Firenze! The gorgeous home of Renaissance art and more postcard views! Here we had just 2 days, unfortunately short, to get a little piece of Florence, home to Palazzos, gelato, and great pasta. First on the list, Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, aka the Duomo, a lovely church, where Danté was christened (ok technically he was christened in the baptistry OUTSIDE the Duomo, but close enough). Home also to a tower with 416 steps and a pretty view of Florence from above. The competitive gene is present in the Riggs fam, so of course we raced to the top, and you will have to contact my dad for video of the ensuing chaos and heart/laugh attacks that resulted from the three of us racing up narrow stairways. Then it was more art/sightseeing/eating and a little shopping (lots of pretty leather purses). That evening dad and I attempted the bus system in order to catch a monk chanting mass at a church in the Florence hills. Unfortunately our concierge's time estimation was a little off and we arrived late, but still had a great view of the city and again, contact my dad for the video of it as well as our 'chanting' efforts. Next day was a great tour of the Old Palazzo including secret rooms and passageways with an amazing guide who was obviously passionate about not only the building but Italian history. That afternoon included my best meal in Italy (spicy pasta and gelato) as well as our last minute museum stops and leather making shop browsing. Then it was back to Paris so the parents could catch their flight home Christmas day, I got to have that morning with them and they arrived back home for dinner with the fam (well a late dinner as the change at Dallas didn't exactly go as planned) BUT overall a fabulous trip with memories to last a lifetime, especially when the dad finishes his movie putting together all the footage of pretty gold buildings, staircases, and landscapes!

mama and me at the Colosseum, Rome


Spanish steps, Rome (and beautiful sky)


Trevi fountatin, Rome


parentals in front of old stuff in Rome


rafters during our 'secret passageways' tour of a Palazzo in Florence (amazing tour, with an enthusiastic guide, hidden doors, and fun facts)


Duomo from inside the palazzo museum, Florence

Thanks and love to my amazing parents for being great travel buddies and even better guests. They washed dishes, cleaned, and even organized my closet for me (although, mom, I still can't find the camis...)

miss you all SO much and can't wait for the next adventure : )

xxoo

Un bol

About 3 hours by train, just south from Paris, nestled next to the Alps is a city called Grenoble! A little 'bowl' surrounded by snowy mountains. Pic above is during the morning train down. I had the absolute joy of visiting a friend of mine from UCLA who is studying there this semester. After rolling through gorgeous countryside, I arrived in chilly Grenoble just in time for a short walking tour, set down my stuff at her homestay, then headed out before lunch to see a bit of the city.

We caught some snowboard competition in the park first of all. There was a huge ramp of snow set up in their former track and it was pretty intense to be standing on some man made snow watching the guys hurtle down the very scary looking snow slide before trying some flips in the air. After deciding we were not experienced enough to join in the fun, we headed back for a late afternoon lunch with Shalom and her amazing and welcoming host fam.

Then off for a walk around old Grenoble, followed by a ride up the mountainside in these round glass ball contraptions, to get a great view of the city from the bastille, which is a fort. We then took a fabulous misty walk down the hillside before enjoying the Christmas marché in Grenoble center, eating again. We then wandered back to the apt just in time for dinner (it was so yummy so I willed my stomach to expand). Meals with the fam there were great because I got to see the traditional way of eating, with the meal, then cheese, followed by fruit, then coffee/tea and chocolate. Then I got to see a lot of pictures from Shalom's trips around France, while chatting about what we wanted to see/do, and what had been some of the great places for us in France.

snowboard exhibition:


view from inside the ride up the mtn side:


streets of Grenoble:


Yay dressing up for Christmas : )


Many thanks to Shalom and her famille d'acceuil for a fabulous W/E

xxoo

Jour d'action des graces

Apparently the title of this particular post is the direct translation of Thanksgiving day to French, but I have only heard Parisians saying 'thanksgeeving', with a french accent (read: more nasal with emphasis on the ing but no pronunciation of the final g)

I did get some grub time here in Paris with two amazing dinners thanks to the center for the Americas at SciPo and fellow American students (along with a few int'l first timers). Thank you to all of you for feeding me!



Further in spirit of Turkey day, I just wanted to give thanks for all the wonderful people in my life and all the fabulous opportunities I have been given in this past year. Love and remerciement for my amazing family, old and new friends, my carte de sejour (finally!), café cremes, skype, umbrellas, ADX sisters (home and abroad), pumpkin pie, wifi access at the local library, scarves, seeing the Eiffel Tower at night when taking metro line 6 from Etoile to the apt, the lovely P/NP option, and for a lifetime of joys and tears and growing during my first 6 months. Yup, as of November 30th I will have offically been out of the United States for half a year, and even though I know everyone says this, I really do feel like I just got here. Hard to believe I have to leave in 6 months...

Again, love and thanks to you all for sending love and prayers my way : )

xxoo

La Neige!

It SNOWED today!

Not torrents of stick to the ground snow, but light airy flakes of white stuff! I was hanging my laundry to dry and noticed shiny pieces of fluff drifting down past my window into the courtyard of my apt building. Literally two seconds later I had my shoes and jacket on and was outside in the street, I probably looked a little odd standing and staring, but it was the first time I had actually seen snow fall...after my feet started to get a little chilly and the lovely snow started to mix in with rain, I headed back inside with a pain au chocolat from the corner boulangerie to finish up some reading

I now think I should buy some warmer socks and maybe some more scarves, winter is here : )

xxoo

Allez les Bleus ; )

As classes at uni take place only once a week (for 2, sometimes agonizingly long, hours) our profs will hold make-up classes if they ever need to cancel. Our french prof's 'cours de rattrapage' was to take us to the theatre this past Tuesday! It was an extremely amusing piece centered around one story, of a man in a bus, told in MANY different ways from news broadcasts to country western songs to soap operas. Plenty of laughs.

Then this evening, the stade de France where the citizens of France gather together to enjoy football matches (I must say football, because a Chile friend of mine said that to say soccer would be horribly uncultured of me). It was freezing but fabulous nonetheless. Although it took a little adjusting, for example, we did not quite understand some of the cheers at first, luckily a little boy around 5 was sitting behind us, and he pronounced his words a little more fully, so at the start of each chant, we'd all lean back slightly to listen to what he said before joining. Another difficulty was the showing of discontentment. They do not boo, but whistle here, which I am completely incapable of doing, so I had to content myself with angry fist waving at bad ref calls. Unfortunately, I may be catching a cold (I know, again!) but joining in the 'allez les bleus' chants will be well worth a few days of bed rest : )

bisous! xxoo

Les repas espagnol

Perhaps one of my favorite parts of our trip... the food! Including pics and short descripts of the weird and yummy :)

translated literally means 'broken eggs' first meal in Madrid


Paella and sangria for the first time


El Tigre tapas bar



Choco and Churros


Gelato! I had chili pepper chocolate...spicy sweetness


We are pastry fiends!


Barcelona bar in the market place with GREAT seafood


Rice and squid cooked in its own ink...looked like charred blackness, but was tasty-tasty



now I am off to start a jogging regime...

xxoo

Une semaine en España

Hola!

Back from a little under a week of fun in fabulous Spain! A fellow Paris student and truly fabulous travel buddy, Joyce, and myself spent our "study break" seeing Madrid, Granada, and Barcelona. below is a pic outside the window of my early morning train as dawn breaks...



Arrived in Madrid after a long night ride from Paris to be greeted by a lovely lady from back home. Mariel and her roomie Karen guided us through the Madrino maze of large courtyards, vast museums, great Spanish art, good tapas, fabulous paella, crowded open air markets, and sunny gardens. Some fav moments include sun shining through the crystal palace in the gardens, seeing Goya's work in person, choco and churros, noise of a tapas bar,2 euro scarves, finding our way back to the hostel in the early morning, conversing in french with our hostel roomies (they were coming back at 7am, we were on our way out). Oh and I had the most amazing opportunity to dine with Mariel's host family too, which made for an amazing look into daily Spanish life (gracias again to your Senora, Mar). But, all too soon we were off to Granada on an afternoon train through the Spanish countryside.





our lovely Madrid guides (thanks again ladies!)
first tapas bar (el tigre) complete with local noise, good food, dirty floor, and fabulous company!

Again, another familiar face awaited in the station. Jenna showed us first to our hostel before leading us up the winding roads of Granada's old Arabic district to the most beautiful wall overlooking the city valley, Alhambra, and snow capped Sierra Nevadas, while enjoying a flamenco guitarist. We then proceeded to a cornucopia of food delights from tapas to gelato to tea (I might dedicate an entire post to pics of our meals and overuse of the word yummy). The next day dawned to unbelievable blue sky, sunny courtyard coffee with Caitlin and Jenna, complete with time for catching up, it was unbelievably comforting to have time to chat, making me feel a little more connected to home. Joyce and I then made the trek up to Alhambra, the most beautiful city/fortress/castle I have ever seen. Detailed carvings, lace-like woodwork, green gardens, intricate fountains...beautiful.










sisters in Granada : )
distant Alhambra fortress/castle at sunset with the snowy Sierra Nevadas
Finally the Alhambra itself, one of the outdoor gardens and a wall inside...if I ever come across a vast sum of money, I would be sorely tempted to attempt a copy of this majestic monument

Finally, onto the great unknown of Barcelona! We had no local contacts in our last stop and the weather's beauty didn't quite hold til the end of our trip (no worries I had brought along an umbrella), but we managed to squeak out some culture, again some awesome food (including seafood that we saw crawling in buckets just moments before), chat up some locals for what seemed like hours about american politics(in french no less) and a few kids from our hostel all with knowing a half dozen words of broken spanish. The Dali, Picasso, and Guadi lines, colors, and earthy shapes made for a dizzying finale of Spain. Not too mention traditional catalan desserts, more tapas, and fresh seafood (thank heavens Joyce is familiar with that, she provided excellent instructions for properly consuming everything).



Me on the Gaudi bench in his Guell park (reportedly the longest bench in Europe, I simply fell in love with the mosaic work.

Overall a most excellent time away.

Thanks for the prayers for safety and all the love you've been sending my way : )

xxoo

Obamania in Paris : )

The lovely expats, anglophones, and of course Americans gathered for an election gala at the aquarium in Paris on November 4th to follow the results all night long (a necessity since since Paris is 9 hours ahead of the West coast).

We gathered to also enjoy a night of CNN on big screens, lovely drinks, buffets (although the French don't quite have the true buffet down yet...), and of course politics. I loved being in the midst of an historic event in a very non-usual setting. Now when future generations ask where I was when the US elected the first black president, I can say sitting next to some girls from Georgia in an aquarium in Paris...

pictures above include
water tunnel on way into the aquarium including election decor
Ashley and Kitsy tickets in hand
Myself and Emily towards the end of a very long evening

un visite : )

Salut!

This past weekend I had the absolute joy to host some lovely American buddies during their visits to Paris! Mariel, Karen, and Kian were all fabulous houseguests, and it is always amazing to be able to 're-see' the city, in a way, through their eyes. They were troopers, packing all 4 of us into my studio, walking through the rainy streets of Paris, and managed to hit lots of sights during my classes on Friday, followed by a lovely dinner at my fav restaurant. Saturday brought a little sun during our walk through Pere Lachaise (there really is nothing like the bright autumn leaves on mossy, wet stones), a showing of James Bond, and some sparkly Eiffel Tower time.

As luck would have it the sun comes out as soon as they are heading back to their respective homes for the semester (Madrid and London), but I was able to take advantage of the sunny situation for my first bike ride in Paris, which was lovely. I think it might have been so due to the lack of cars on the road at 9 a.m. Sunday.

Whats better is I get to see them soon! I will be heading out to Spain for a week tmrw, only problem is I still haven't packed...

bisous!

Je suis ici encore!

Bonjour à tous!

Apologies for the lack of info on my recent life happenings (wow that sounded a bit vain), but I am alive and well and enjoying the Parisian life : ) I am being all 'grown-up' paying bills, signing up for newspaper subscriptions, grocery shopping, learning the importance of smelling the laundry detergent before buying it (my clothes now smell faintly of baby formula), installing wifi, etc.

Hmmm, now fun updates.

Culinary:
Pot-luck at the new place to 'christen' the new bateau (I will have to post pics of the portholes soon). Lots of fun to sit, relax, and enjoy amazing dishes from everyone's hometowns, pot-lucks are really the way to go, I think I ate more that night than I had during the whole week put together. Also, a very sweet Czech friend of mine hosted a dinner party. Her sister made amazing streudel! I love getting the chance to try different foods by people who KNOW what they are doing. AND, the lovely lady at the yummy boulangerie by my studio gave me two pain aux raisins for the price of one the other day! I have been eating very well (maybe too well... thank heavens I am playing volleyball with the team here!)

Culturally:
La Nuit Blanche: An immense opportunity to enjoy artistic expression through such mediums as spoken word, dance, martial arts, paintings, sculptures, Bollywood movie filmings, classical concerts, and fabulous vin chaud all night long in Paris (I only made it to about 3 a.m.) just missing the free breakfast at the mairie in the 14th.
Recently found a new park in the 15th that made for excellent study space as well as nap-time.
Jazzed again! Checked out a nice soirée boeuf (jam session) at midnight in a fairly well known club (pictures below, yes I was THAT close to the piano player, was really tempted to hit a few keys). It was a bit crowded, little touristy, but overall good fun with great people.

Classes:
They continue and they are hard. Not so much in the sense that I have mountains of work, although that is starting to play a factor. It is more that I have not had to think this critically or be this well informed for quite some time now. But I am still enthralled with everything I am learning, the subjects are fascinating and the profs are passionate. I am also taking a sports class, volleyball, and its a lot of fun to get to play sports again! I might even get to play with the girls in a few games against other schools in France.

Again, thank you for the prayers, love, and letters!
xxoo

L'art des rues

I know I haven't written in a while, and I promise to provide updates soon! In the meantime, some fun and thought provoking street art from around the city (see I haven't completed neglected my camera)

La Rentrée pt. 3 de 3

Classes! Real, live, get-a-grade classes!

Monday at 8 a.m. (well technically 8:03 as I couldn't find the stinking room and was subsequently a bit late) I began my first semester at Sciences Po, and I am pretty sure I am already behind and in way over my head ; )

So far I have been assigned three 15 minute oral presentations, two rather lengthy papers, and given a list of books from which I am to choose what I think will be most helpful. Confession, I miss the hand-holding type course, where there is one maybe two books that are practically the Bible of the semester, this whole pick and choose method does give more depth and furnishes the opportunity to delve into a subject with the strengths of several books, but when each of my classes does that, well, that is a lot of reading to be done. However, I am in quite nerd-esque fashion, looking forward to it all. Every single professor is literally in love with what they are teaching, and passionate about starting debates and sharing knowledge. The entire learning atmosphere is amazing, and I am blessed to be here and hopefully will be able to keep up!

But better, much more fabulous news, my mom called me last week, (yes, a real live PHONE call, I think I confused her a bit when I answered in the traditional "allo, oui?") to let me know she had found a SUPER last minute deal for a roundtrip flight to Paris over the weekend. Words really cannot express how truly blissful it was to spend time with my mama. Didn't realize how much I missed home until I got to hug her in the airport, show her around a bit, and have her succesfully order herself a café créme. But it was not all sightseeing and eating, as due to several unforseen situations and unexpected circumstances I am leaving my current coloc (means apart share in shorthand french) and moving to a studio in the 15th. The new place does not have the same old school charm or high vaulted celings of the apt on bd Saint Germain, but she has great mod-style. The proprieters recently redecked the studio in a 'boat' theme, complete with portholes in the door (so I now live in a 'bateau' which is quite close to 'chateau'). It is a fully furnished little haven in a diverse building on a little side street deep in the most populous arrondisement in Paris. Its amazing to hear Mideast music echoing up the courtyard and smell the most exotic spices around dinner time. I also hear a great deal more french than in the admittedly more touristy 5th. Heck, I might make a trend of this and move every three months or so, to get a good feel for this city ; )

All in all, it has been a week of many changes, but all truly good ones, that I am learning so much from and even though it may sound cliché, growing from as well. Thank you all again for the continued prayers (I need them) and love.

Biz!!!

Les Jours de Patromonie

Bonjour à tous!

Classes are continuing, and not only have they brought a deeper understanding of the french language and methodology, but furthermore, they have been helping me learn a great deal of humility ; )

Paris has gotten colder recently unfortunately, making my rotating jeans a bit more important, and given me a few blisters from wearing in the boots. However, increased cold, makes one appreciate warmth even more. For example, a couple of us braved the freezing night air to see Carmen outside, and well, froze a bit, but thawed with some hot beverages in a nice café (us pre-freezing time below). Thank you Paris for loving late night espresso. Also, it makes it almost mandatory to lie about in a park whenever there is the least bit of sun (Arenes de Lutece below as well, new fav reading spot).

International welcoming has continued, from tours around the city's sights, bars, and a bit of the discos. It has been amazing to hear all the different languages and discuss the different nuances between words. For example a group of us were working on a presentation at the uni café area, and asked a few french girls what would be an appropriate term for a citizen born in the country, so basically a non-immigrant, to which they answered, native. We all paused, and inquired as to the possible negative connotation of such a term, but they assured us it was perfectly politically correct, but it was still a bit difficult to use. Somewhat comfortingly though, a Moroccan friend assured us that as international visitors, we would be forgiven any serious language blunders.


This weekend brings about more pomp to Paris, as the Jours de Patromonie are upon us. This lovely time each year the usually closed to the public government buildings are opened up to visitors and all museums are free. A sweet girl from the lovely state of Georgia joined me on a tour of l'assemblée national and the Pantheon. The assemblée is the french congress basically, and their was lots of lovely gold leaf and expensive looking pieces throughout the buildings that reminded me quite frankly of a castle. Above is the dining area and the lust inducing library (I thought it wouldn't be polite to start looking through all the books, even though I REALLY wanted to). This was followed by tombs of amazingly well known frenchmen and women at the Pantheon, including but not limited to the recent arrival Zola, Voltaire, Rousseau, Marie Curie, Hugo, Dumas, and a plaque for Antoine de Saint Exupery, the author of Le Petit Prince (apparently his body was never recovered from a plane crash). We also enjoyed a bit of home with a afternoon lunch of pancakes at an American diner. That evening was an excellent sushi place followed by 'Mexican' night at an Irish bar, where a friend from Australia introduced us to her bud from back home who is studying in Turkey! Oh it is amazing to hear all about adventures of other students in such different places. All in all, I don't think I will ever tire of asking questions of people who through their own culture and upbringing have such a fresh way of seeing the world, or seeing the way that it all comes together.

Love and pomp from Paris!

Le Pape à Paris

You may have heard that the honorable (is that the right adjective?) Pope, or as it is in France, Le Pape Beniot XVI was in Paris these past two days. Unfortunately I had class and int'l student bonding time during his first day in Paris (but we did see his entourage around Notre Dame on our way to a cute salsa club last night). Then this morning, thanks to the lovely dismantling of Pope paraphernalia at the Bernadines next door I woke up in time to catch the last bit of his mass at Les Invalides. Overall a very beautiful outdoor service, if somewhat frustratingly difficult to actually arrive at the site thanks to the lovely law enforcement's vague directions, but all in all very worth the early morning and lots of walking around police barriers. Unfortunately I have yet to recharge my camera, so I have zero pictures : (

This afternoon was an overcast picnic in a lovely little park in the 19th with many of the other SciencesPo newbies, and it was a great chance to see the area. I have had little opportunity to explore outside of Paris central, so this was a welcome time away from the norm.

Now it is off to see a free showing of Carmen (if the rain holds off) and hopefully get some work done later tonight... and sleep, sleep would be good.

hugs!

La Rentrée pt. 2 de 3

La Rentrée part 2 is my second 'first day of school'. During the month of September Sciences Po hosts all its exchange students at a welcome program where we learn all the logistics of life here, take language classes, methodology classes, have mixers, and meet tons of new people from everywhere.

I believe I have been introduced to a students from every continent this week, from Australia to South Africa, Japan, Hong Kong, India, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Czech Republic, and Mexico. It is quite amazing to hear about school and life in all these different places, not to mention the languages! I feel like a simpleton barely speaking two as it seems that everyone here knows usually three or four. The most impressive combo of language abilities I have heard so far is Greek, German, English, French, a little Dutch, and Japanese!

Now, I know I am here to completely experience the culture of France, but I desperately wish the system for enrollment were a little more like back home, you know, organized. We were given a list of possible classes without info on duration, enrollment capacity, or even the day it might be offered. However the uni offered wifi and comps at the campus so we could easily have help if needed. So after one fire alarm (yes the fire alarm went off during registration, it was a bit of a mess), much fidgeting, and 3 hours sitting on a marble floor at the university campus I officially have a class schedule. May I say, I am pretty excited about it, everything from Economic Development, History of France, Economics of Northern Africa, EU immigration, a french language class, and a class on constraints of waging war with a focus on humanitarian law. I have to confess to a bit of nerdy joy over the amazing subjects offered here, I hope they all are as good as the titles make them sound...

Now I am off to nap, as I am once again fighting illness, then off to classes. Thank heavens for the kind pharmacie lady and her magic pills. I hope to be in better health soon!

much love!

La Rentrée pt. 1 de 3

La Rentrée is the time at the beginning of September when all of Paris returns with bronzed skin to the lovely city in order to go back to school/work as fall settles into the ville. I will have a sort of 3 parts rentrée as I had my first one at the UC center this week, a second one with all the international students next week, and finally the first day of classes at Sciences Po late this month.

Part 1. In keeping with the culture the UC center in Paris provided our first little orientation session Tuesday (I wonder if its an unwritten rule that school cannot commence on a Monday). We, all 20 of the UC kids in the SciencesPo program, were given the dos and don'ts of our time as students here. I am actually really happy to know that we have two very formidable women who seem quite ready to support and work with us in everything from classes to apartment logistics. This happy and reassuring chat was followed by what I will call the 'what have I gotten myself into' time. The "workshop" was led by a PhD canidate at SciencesPo who speaks 5 languages fluently, has written several books, and teaches elective courses at the university. He basically gave us the rundown of the structure of the french system, assignments, grading, professors temperemants, etc. Basically, we have to work our tails off, which is to be expected, as well as being very well informed. He suggested reading several different papers daily and NEVER offer an opinion to a prof. You must present just facts to show what your opinion is during classes and discussions. Then the grading, oh dear. The french scale is from 1 to 20, and the saying in the french system goes something like the smartest pupil achieves an 18, the 19 is for the professor, and 20 goes to God. We were told to be ecstatic if we had the chance to receive a 12.

A couple of us checked out the school grounds yesterday and then had a french snack of bread, cheese, and wine in our lovely hostess' apartment to discuss possible classes and our expectations/worries for next year. It is quite comforting to have a group of kids going through the same craziness as we all start our year here together.

Oh, and while the construction next door has stoppped, it has now started on the other side of my bedroom wall. The building is installing an elevator and I get to hear every lovely moment of this birthing process. At least the construction men occasionally whistle while they are sawing, hammering, and dropping what sounds like tons of metal around the stairwell.

love from the slightly deaf in Paris ; )
xxoo

Le fin d'Aout

Summer is almost over...and it doesn't quite feel like it because first of all I have not snapped out of relaxing beach mode and secondly I have two research papers waiting to be written. Boo summer classes.

Paris is winding down from l'été as well. Paris plage is all cleaned up and the free festivals are all holding their last shows. So rather than spend time with Microsoft Word I am enjoying the last bits of summer culture.

Last Friday I had the absolute joy of catching the last film of the Cinéma au Clair de Lune. This is an amazing, and free, summer outdoor cinema program the government puts on in local parks. They set up a huge blow up screen, place some chairs and play a film after sunset. A darling fellow UC student and I made ourselves some dinner (yes I am cooking...occasionally) then went to enjoy 'Goodbye Lenin'. I have actually had the soundtrack for some time now (music was by Yann Tiersen, he also did Amelie) and don't think I can express the happiness that is me finally seeing this movie and for free to boot. It was a little difficult as it is a German film, so we had to crane around people to read the french subtitles, but overall a most fantastic night.

Now I have to be better behaved and write vast paragraphs comparing french and american cultures concerning cosmetiques followed by a paper about young people as consumers. yay.

love and the last days of summer : )

Le Sable, le soleil, et Deutsch

Finished what has been a whirlwind week of sun, sand, spending too much money, and it was truly a blast
: )
Now time to rehash everything that has been happening, so apologies ahead of time for the length of this particular post.

Daniel, my darling cousin pictured above (no he is not burning himself, that is his 'cooking face' or at least what he did when I requested his best cooking face), arrived in Paris a little later than expected, which meant crunch time to see the city. We walked literally all over so he could see the sights and get a feel for Parisian life, there really is nothing like walking between those tall Haussman buildings on cobblestones streets. Unfortunately his sandals gave him a few blisters, I did ask if he was thinking of leaving his Maui island style behind, maybe some loafers, he laughed and said its been a while since he has worn shoes. We ate some yummy Turkish pita by the Seine, enjoyed a few pints at the local Irish bar, before finally letting him get some sleep.
Next day was an attempt to find a marché for some fresh produce so he could show off his cooking skills to no avail, so we settled for the local grocery store. Then Le temps des Cerises for a late lunch, followed by a relaxed walk around more sights, and then cooking in prep for dinner. I pretended I could remember it all, but I just hope he stops by again sometime to prepare a dinner for me again, the boy can cook! Then it was off to a jazz club for a bit, where he ordered drinks all by himself, then off to bed to catch some sleep before our 415 cab to the airport for the EARLY flight to Biarritz.

We arrived safe and sound if a little bleary eyed to meet his lovely German lady friend Suzanne and her buddy Jogen (sorry, I am not at all good at spelling German names, apologies to anyone who's name I butcher) We toured rainy Biarritz for a bit, as pictured above we are enjoying the cliffsides and clouds. Then off to get some camping supplies before heading a little less than 2 hours outside of Biarritz to Cap de l'Homy for camping! Below is my first sunset...the first of many, sorry for the ridiculous amount of sunset pictures, but it was just breathtakingly glorious everytime...

Cap de l'Homy where I am about 80 percent sure we were staying, difficult to be certain due to small town status of the places so they are often not on a map, was a campground apparently marketed primarily to Germans. That made for interesting conversations, but I got by with smiles, nods, danka, and Suzanne's flawless translating abilities. The site itself was in a forest, a sand pile away from the surf. It was almost disorienting to stand on top of the dune and to have in the west ocean and thick green forest to the east. Pictured above is our site, the little lime green bad-boy in the middle was my warm cocoon for the week. The days were a little chillier than I had expected, thus my internal body temp was a little sad I had only brought sandals, one pair of jeans, and a single sweater, but they got a lot of use.

My vacation was amazingly laid back, woke up late everyday, walks on the beach, some reading, good eating, etc. During warm days we spent most of it on the sand and in the water (no sunburns, it was a miracle). During colder days we ate at local towns, caught a movie, and even spent a day in the Pyrénées mountains, which was amusing since Basque country is so close to Spain they have a distinct spanish flavor to the culture, such as the bull festivities along with the red and white attire. The pic of the valley above was one of the villages along our route where I actually found some really cute cheap 'local style' shoes. The bay with the sailboats was also along our tour in a town with tasty quiche. The last two days were warm and sunny with lots of beach time.

Yesterday I had to wake up around dawn to catch the ONLY bus heading in the direction I needed to go, relax with the ipod for the 3 hour ride to Bayonne train station, where I had approximately 6 hours to kill before I should even consider heading to the airport... and no where to store the luggage (took a suitcase off of Daniel's hands so he doesn't have to lug it around India). So I trudge in the rain a bit, you would think France would figure out its August already and stop with the storms for a bit, seeing if any local hotels will hold the bags for me with no luck. Consider lugging the big guy around Bayonne for a bit, but the increased ferocity of the rain stops this idea, so back to the station to wait a bit. I then take a leisurely 2 hour lunch at a nearby restaurant, reading my french newspaper, sipping my café, and feeling very french (except for my sandals and UCLA sweatshirt, very NOT french). Back to the train station and out of the rain for some sudoku, when boredom really starts to set in, so I head to the airport early just for somethinig to do. Arrive and kick myself for not making the trip earlier because they are showing the USA vs Italy olympic volleyball match in their café. So I grab a muffin and a coffee, catch the last two games, along with some of the weightlifting before checking in only to discover they have changed our flight, so arriving in Orly and not CDG. Not a real problem as both are in Paris, but annoying in that I have never been to Orly and was getting in late, so transport home might have been a little difficult. But it all went well, and now I have officially seen both airports, CDG is much prettier.

Now lots of random shots from the trip, including sunsets, Suzanne trying a regional shot (green liquid tasted like mouthwash, and not in a good way, ugh), and the most amazing hammock in the world... spent many naps there.

kisses and sand from across the Atlantic, muah!