Some pictures

Spring!

put in context

Hello!

Razu's view of the "park".  Credit- Seamus, who calls it "Cat's Eye View"

He's free! (ish)

A little Easter treat

dressed as the 80s for the decade dance.  Yeah.

The cathedral at night - St. Patrick's Day

Toasting Joan in awesome hats!

Revelations

It’s hard to believe that there’s only 3 weeks of work left. And that in 5 weeks the contract is over and people will start going home. It’s very weird, because for most of these people I know that I probably won’t see them ever again. Which is so hard to believe! This weekend is the last weekend for most of the german assistants - their university semester starts in April, so they’re skipping the last month of work and going home (so really, they’re only missing 2 weeks of work). There are two german assistants who I’m especially close to - Matthias and Fabian - and they both leave next Friday. They are some of the nicest people I know -they are so very sincere and a lot of fun to be around - and after next Friday I probably won’t see them ...ever.

And that’s the thing. In the next 5 weeks I’ll have to say goodbye to a lot of amazing people. The very best part about this time abroad has been the people - I have friends from all over the world now and I’ve had some absolutely amazing times with them. The good news is, if I ever want to visit Canada, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Spain, Germany, Scotland, Ireland, England, Wales, France, Madagascar, India, Réunion, or Mexico - I’m covered! It’s going to be sad to have conversations where you don’t have to go back and forth between a couple of languages and their multiple variations. It’s started to have quite an effect on me - I usually say holiday instead of vacation, you go round to see people (not visit), sometimes the trash can is a bin, wee is used just as often as little and I know what kitchen roll, toilet roll, capsicum, tea (Irish for dinner/supper) and liming mean. I’ll miss it all, so much. Without all these amazing people I’ve had the chance to get to know this experience would have been a lot less fun and, in all honesty, probably miserable.

Being here with all these amazing people is incredible - but the thing is, everyone knows it’s temporary. Which in some ways makes it an interesting dynamic - you hang out with the people you want to be with, don’t have to worry about offending someone and being stuck with them for the next 10 years and most importantly, you do a lot more stuff. When you have limited time with people, you just want to see them as much as possible when you have the chance to do so. It’s an experience I wouldn’t trade for the world -- I’m so glad I got the chance to be friends with so many amazing people. I’ve also learned a lot - both about the world and myself.

In this last week I’ve come to terms with the fact that ... I really do like Phoenix *gasp*! And that, as lovely as France is, it will remain a great place to visit but not somewhere I’d like to live. There’s this idea when you’re in college that, somehow, it isn’t acceptable to like where you grew up. Like you’re supposed to outgrow it, move on and never look back. And that was me. I didn’t like Phoenix, it was boring and uncool and the politics were awful. And here I am across an ocean thinking that Phoenix is pretty awesome. Because, at the end of the day, that’s home. I had always thought that it was people that I was attached to - I never pegged myself as a person who would get attached to a place (especially somewhere as uncool as where I grew up). But I really miss the sunshine, the heat, the cactus, the orange trees and the sense of knowing a place. And sure - I’m missing home and the grass is always greener - but I don’t think that this is a homesickness thing. Phoenix has warts - lots of them - but I like those warts better than the warts I get in France. And, I miss more than my family and friends (who I miss terribly), I actually miss Phoenix. So there it is. I guess I’m not a person who feels a need to live somewhere else. I’m pretty confident that I could stay there a long time and be very comfortable. Maybe when I get home I’ll feel different, but I don’t think so. At the end of the day, I’m a homebody who likes adventures - and genuinely, I’m ok with this. Phoenix may not be the most exciting place, but it’s home and it’s where some of my most favorite people in the world live ... and that’s where I want to be. I’m going to Michigan State University starting next year - and I don’t know how long I’ll be there for, but I do know that Phoenix is a lot closer to East Lansing than Orléans, France. And chances are good that when I’m done with that program I’ll most likely go back to Phoenix.

Except, there’s just one problem. And it’s a big one. And it has a name ... which is ... Seamus. Who is Irish. And who I’m very much attached to. This problem, of course, is not one that can be solved overnight. So, thank goodness for airplanes. Which is really all I can say about that.

sometimes I'm amazed I actually get paid for this job...

...thanks to a week of trips for students, I only have to teach 5 of my 12 hours this week. I just found out that the two classes I was supposed to have this afternoon won't take place because the teacher is on strike. So, I'm working 3 hours this week. It's like a mini vacation!

In other good news, daffodils have sprung up everywhere! Razu, Caitlin, Seamus and I are going to investigate. I'm sure there will be pictures!

Good news!

The government agency that helps pay your rent (CAF) has finally decided to help me!  This is pretty amazing, considering that it only took them 1 month after my file was complete to make a decision! (never mind that I’ve been working on that file for 3 months.)  This is actually a very quick turn around considering that others have been working on their files for 6 months and still don’t have a response!  I ended up getting 129 euros a month for 2009!  Pretty awesome!

Also, the weather is officially gorgeous - and appears to be here to stay!  There are flowers popping up everywhere, birds singing and lots of sunshine! 

 I’ve been wearing my light jacket, and there are moments during the day when I don’t even need it!  In two days I haven’t needed the radiators and have been keeping the place warm by just propping the windows open!  Razu is beyond excited (end even got to go to the park on Monday - and will probably get to go again this weekend) and has spent his morning running around the house desperately trying to get outside.  Unlucky for him, I’ve figured out a way to prop the main window only slightly open -  about 2 inches too small for him to get out of.  At least he’s getting some nice, fresh air!

Here’s some photos of the little guy during his outdoor adventure.  Check out that stylish leash/harness combo!

Razu meets the flowers

stealth mode across the grass

that tree will never be the same

escape mode ... my arms will never be the same

angrily going home

In other not so happy news, my body appears to be the perfect candidate for every cold that France has to offer.  Apparently, the exposure to a high school full of students combined with a new climate, stress and 12 bus rides a week equals 6 colds in 6 months.  Bummer.

It's finally spring!

I can't believe it, but it's finally happened... I don't have to wear my winter coat anymore.  WOOOHOOO!!!!!!

Written on Sunday - Spring?

Last week, on the bus home from school I saw something truly amazing.  Something that actually made me do a very small version of a happy dance in my seat.  FLOWERS!!!!!  Tulips, to be exact.  Lots of them - in every color - growing all akimbo on a grassy spot outside the little park near my school.  Oh, flowers, how good it is to see you.

But, despite the appearance of the tulips it has remained either gray or sunny & windy - but consistently chilly (cold even).  I had to abandon my spring scarf - the very pretty light blue H&M purchase - and go back to the red fleece one with cat paw prints on it (which is equally cute and very warm).  In a side tangent - I’ve never warn so many scarves in my life!  I wore the handmade purple one all through fall, the red fleece one all through winter, and now (hopefully) the light blue one.  Except - I own several more.  And I wear them, but it seems like I always grab the exact same one when heading out the door (probably because I’m usually running and just grab whatever’s on top).  However - there has been some more good news on the weather front.  First of all, I saw a tree with little buds on it, second, there are birds that sing every morning and third, the weather report says it’ll be 14 C on Wednesday!  Holy spring, batman!

In other exciting news I got a really fantastic Easter box from my parents - which had all the cute papery easter basket stuff (no cellophane - cats like to eat it and it really doesn’t agree with them).  And lots of Americana candy.  And a really adorable new spring scarf!  Which I can, hopefully, wear as soon as Wednesday!  I also got more black beans and green chilies, as well as the Sunday comics and a Vogue.  Woohoo!  

Razu says, "Thanks for the box!"

Also, I’ve made a decision about what to do with my next year(s).  I’ll be going to Michigan State University to study anthropology under a really awesome professor!  Pretty exciting!  She’s involved in some really amazing projects concerning the role agricultural activities can play in bring together community members as well as creating a sense of place based identity.  Which is exactly what I want to study.  The only downside?  It’s cold in Michigan.  Although my Dad informed me that it’s been warmer there this past week than it was here - so maybe not so bad.  But, I just have to note, that even though my Dad is a very passionate alumni of MSU (at least during football and basketball season) I will always be a Sundevil - no matter how cool the Spartan guy is, Sparky is infinitely cooler. 3-----  (<-- that’s a pitchfork)

And, in more exciting news, Seamus and I booked a vacation for May, first we’re going to Ireland for a handful of days and then to Nice!  The only pseudo downside of this is that we just realized that we’re going to be there for the Cannes film festival - which is a double edged sword: yay celebrities and such, boo sky high prices and low hotel availability.  Seriously though, as long as we find a place to stay - how awesome is that?!?!  Maybe I’ll meet someone famous!  Maybe it’ll be Johnny Depp!!!!  THAT, would be amazing!

And finally, I’ve started reading Roald Dahl books in French.  It’s absolutely perfect for me - I know the stories, I can read a handful of pages at a time without having to consult a dictionary and I’m learning French words for marshmallows, gumdrops, factory workers and Oompa-,.//Loompas (which is the exact same).  So far, I’m halfway through Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, or Charlie et la Chocolaterie and it’s awesome.  The only weird thing is that the book says that all the Oompa-Loompas speak English, even though every one else speaks French (they seem to understand all of Mr. Wonka’s instructions just fine though...) and that the Oompa-Loompas were pygmy Africans who lived in trees and were unable to feed themselves and were therefore “rescued” by Mr. Wonka and forced to work in his factory for chocolate (who knew that Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was so racist and promoted such awful things?).

An update...

February was a month of rain, a spring like week, homesickness, some frustration, a finally complete file with the CAF office and a lot of thinking. I have to say, I’m happy it’s March.

I’ve come to some realizations recently - which are making me rethink a lot of things, which hasn’t been very easy. I do think, however, that in the long run I’d like to be a travel food writer, whether from a research standpoint or a freelance point of view (i.e. the female Michael Pollan or a writer for Saveur). I’m not sure what that means for the next handful of years, but I do think it involves some time at culinary school (which has been my backup plan for quite a while now) and maybe some education in journalism. There’s a game I play with my classes called Hot Air Balloon where I challenge each student to think of their ideal job and, once they’ve chosen, tell them there has been an apocalypse and we’re the only survivors. But (and here’s the twist) there isn’t enough room in the balloon and we have to kick off some people. They then have to convince their fellow classmates that they should get to stay in the balloon. When I give an example, I always say that my ideal job would be a chef. Maybe it’s time I take that idea more seriously.

Other than that, I’ve been having a lot of very French experiences lately. And these aren’t the sipping wine under the Eiffel Tower after a picnic kind of experiences (unfortunately). Last Tuesday and yesterday I had, what I’ve recently termed, French Days - where I get to experience things that are very normal in French culture and not very normal in Anglophone culture. My day on Tuesday started with some fun on the bus. Now, I should explain quickly, that there aren’t school buses in Orléans so students take the city bus - which means that I see a lot of my students on the bus. So, Tuesday morning I get on the bus, find a seat and starting daydreaming. Three stops later the worst children in the world get on the bus. I see them twice a week, every week and dread it. They are three boys from ages 4 to 7 + one very overwhelmed Dad. They throw tantrums if they don’t get the seat they want, the cry, they kick the seats they scream. It’s great! Well, the worst one, Steve, (I know his name because his Dad is always yelling it) takes a seat right behind me. But apparently it wasn’t the seat he wanted because he starts crying and throwing punches - which barely missed my head. Then he starts kicking the seat with such force that I actually have a bruise on my back. Oh, Steve, how I loathe you. Then, at the next stop a student of mine gets on - scans the bus, makes eye contact with me and then proceeds to make a very distinct kissy face - at me. *shudder* At school, during my one hour break I managed to get stuck in a conversation with Mr. I’m Still Bitter You Don’t Have My Class Anymore. Where he implied that I don’t work enough, that my classes are rowdy, that I may or may not be a good teacher and that I’m working too much and should rest more. *sigh* worst 10 minutes ever. I think I prefer Steve. Then I run into Alain who proceeds to comment - for the third time - about a little scar that I developed on my nose from my really bad cold in January. Because nothing is more fun that being reminded you have a new scar in the middle of your face! I teach another class - which goes ok - and then I try to sneak back into the break room to get my coat and escape before any other teachers decide to have a conversation with me. But I run into Alain again - who wants to know what I’m having for lunch. It goes like this:

“Quiche.”

“Oh, with a mixed salad?”

“Uh, no, just the quiche.”

“Oh, but it isn’t quiche without a mixed salad!”

“Yeah, well, I don’t really have time to mix up a salad during my break.” *smile*

“Ah, Americans, they never have the time.”

*here I just look blankly in his direction*

“Is it homemade or from the store?”

“Homemade, it’s leftover from dinner last night.”

“Ah, leftovers? You don’t like having a fresh lunch?”

“Oh, I do, but I also love cold quiche.” *smile*

“Cold quiche? Oh no, must be warm.”

“mmm....well I better get going. Have a nice afternoon!”

I did not have quiche for lunch. Instead I had spicy black beans with cheese, sour cream and salsa... because it was the least French thing I could think of. And then I got stood up by my 1 o’clock class. Awesome!

Yesterday was much more exciting, however. I arrived at school at 8:10am only to discover an especially large number of students standing outside and 6 cop cars parked in front. When I finally made it to the front gates I discovered that they were barricaded shut - with fencing, trash cans, chairs, and a lot of students linking arms. And the sign - On Veut le Bac Blanc - we want the mock Bac test. Yes, that’s right, students had barred the school shut because they wanted to take a mock test. Only in France. I was finally shown, by a teacher, how to get in - which meant going around to another entrance and arguing with students to let me in. They didn’t believe me that I was a teacher - until one kid finally recognized me (he’s been in a class of mine that I’ve had for the whole year - I wonder how much he’s been paying attention...). I get inside, only to discover that the teachers are very agitated and giving a lot of dirty looks to each other. Alain finally catches me up. Apparently a lot of teachers decided to protest giving the mock test because it’s too much work and they don’t have enough staff. And the students got pissed (if you don’t pass the Bac you can’t leave high school - it’s a big deal) and the parents got pissed and then the headmaster sided with the students. Which made the teachers really mad. Hence, the students decided to shut the school to make their point (and I say, good for them). I also learned that around 7:30am the cops tried to pull the barricade down - through a human chain - and some kids got a little roughed up. After being filled in on the situation, I wandered around and talked to a handful of teachers and got a lot of different opinions on the subject. At 10am the teachers finally became agitated enough to call an emergency meeting. The German assistant and I decided to sit in - because how often do you get to witness something this exciting? Despite our best intentions, we somehow ended up right in the middle of the room and pretty much got a front seat to the debate (or bickering as I saw it). Now, I won’t lie - I didn’t understand a lot. People were yelling, talking fast and using a lot of words I didn’t know - not to mention I really had no idea what the hell was going on. But, basically, they argued for a long time about what they should do and at one point suggested firing the headmaster as a solution. I did learn that the students had threatened to go to the rectorat (which is like the state board) and complain - and that the teachers were pretty worried about that. There was a lot of talking over each other and yelling “let me finish” and people getting mad and name calling. One guy kept getting the room all worked up and even insulted the headmaster - pretty brutally. And then, after 45 minutes, the German assistant and I left. On the way out he stopped to ask a teacher a question and some other teacher hit me on the arm and told me to be quiet because she couldn’t hear. I responded, “C’est pas moi qui parle! - It’s not me who’s talking!” gave her a dirty look and walked out. Apparently, this was just a big excuse to be mean to each other and complain. As we were leaving the school, we ran into a couple of students we teach - who are both just lovely and as sweet as can be - and they asked us what was going on. The German assistant understood a lot more than I did, so we told her that no decision had been made and that they were having a big debate. We asked them what their plan was, and learned that they were delegates for the class and wanted to go to the rectorat with the teachers to find a solution that made everyone happy. So there you have it - students acting like responsible adults and teachers acting like 10 year olds on the playground. I don’t know what more took place in the meeting, but I heard that the teachers decided to stick with their boycott and not give a bac blanc. I wonder what’s going on today at the school...

Besides all this excitement, the weather has improved slightly, except for last weekend where France was hit by a very storm storm. Which in Orléans, in all honesty, was exactly like a monsoon storm but without the lightening. Apparently, though, the coastal areas were hit very hard and 41 people died. This week though has seen a lot of blue skies, but colder temps.

The sunshine though has all the assistants crawling out from hiding, and I’ve been doing a lot of socializing lately. A dinner party last Sunday, a birthday party last night, long talks with people and a handful of fun weekend plans. I do feel extremely lucky to have such an amazing group of people to share this experience with. I think I really lucked out in my placement - because there are so many people here who are super nice and very caring and have their hearts in the right place.

This weekend an Irish assistant who lives in Blois is coming to visit, so today is a day of cleaning and resting. Then this afternoon Seamus and I are meeting up with Caitlin, Jenny and Sam to plan for the next vacation in April. It looks like a trip to the south of France is shaping up! So excited!

The Christmas and NYE Adventure!

Ok - so I have essentially written a novel about the adventure.  There are a lot of pictures.   And...here we go (in as much detail as I remember).

The adventure started off with me meeting my parents at Charles de Gaulle airport around 6:30 pm or so.  I had the relative ease of taking a train (standing room only), a metro (standing room only) and the RER B (with plenty of space and two accordion players).  My parents had all the fun of two flights and some missing baggage.  Fortunately their bags had made it onto the next flight and we only had to wait two hours.  So we drank some wine and ate some of the quiche I had made and carried with me.  It was so good to see them - and like no time had even passed.  We acquired our rental car and started the drive to Reims - only getting lost 1.5 times (I say 1.5 because the second time we were only slightly turned around in a city full of one-way streets).  We started the next day with a lovely walk through Reims - which was full of snow - and eventually found the cathedral.  Reims is a lot like Orléans, except the cathedral is way cooler.

Apparently, this was the cathedral used for a great majority of royal coronations - and it’s pretty nice.  But the very best part about this place is the stained glass windows.  I’m a big fan of stained glass, but this cathedral has extra special stained glass - it’s made by Marc Chagal!  Who might just be my favorite painter/stained glass maker! The windows are that very special Marc Chagal blue and just amazing.  Photo’s can’t do it justice, but here’s one anyway:

That afternoon we had a really amazing lunch (hot tartiflette for Mom and boeuf bourgignon for Dad and I) and a champagne tour/tasting.  We lucked out and ended up with a private tour - which was really cool and very informative.  On our tour we got to check out the really cool chalk mines that used to be where champagne was made and stored and taste 3 (or 4?) really lovely champagnes.  In summary: Reims is amazing!  

That afternoon we headed to our next destination, Strasbourg and Colmar.  We were staying in the very cute town of Colmar in order to check out the internationally famous Strasbourg christmas market.  On our drive we almost went to Germany (the autoroute is very confusing) and drove through some very interesting weather.  We finally arrived to an adorable and snowy town where we did the tourist thing and tried to drive in a pedestrian only zone (quite exciting!).  We did finally manage to find a place to park the car and after a low key dinner called it a day.  The next morning we headed for the Christmas market by train - driving in France is really a headache - and were really surprised to discover that a) Strasbourg is HUGE and b) it’s not just one Christmas market, but 12 different markets spread all over the city.  We were in for a day of grazing, browsing, feeling overwhelmed, some pushing and shoving and some very cute but a lot of generic Christmas gifts.  We did a lot of shopping and had a very fun, but very exhausting time.  Here are a few of the pictures:

Dad and me at the giant Christmas tree of peace

Really cool building all decked out for Christmas

The beautiful Strasbourg cathedral

My failed attempt to photograph the christmas market sign - there were just too many people!

We all enjoyed the market and found some great gifts there, but it was quite an exhausting day!  There were A LOT of people, most of whom seemed to be in that moment of Christmas shopping panic - and who hasn’t been there?  I had been hoping to discover a lot of really unique handmade gifts - and we did find a few - but the market reminded me a lot of the Orléans one - some local food products and a lot of commercial items.  Fortunately, unlike the Orléans market, there was a very cool Russian market and some really neat Alsace themed items.  All in all, a lot of fun, but very exhausting.

We took a late afternoon/early evening train back to Colmar and were delighted to discover that the Colmar market was just as adorable as the Strasbourg one, but much smaller.  It was especially cute because night had fallen and everything was all lit up.

In an unbelievable feat of resilience we did even more shopping!  I also finally found a hot food stand selling Alsatian Choucroute - which I had been intrigued about since writing my thesis - here’s the quote from Jack Kerouac’s Satori in Paris:

“I ask my counterman what’s real good and he says Alsatian Choucroute 

which he brings - It’s just hotdogs as chew like butter and have a flavor 

delicate as the scent of wine, butter and garlic all cooking together and 

floating out a cafe kitchen door - The sauerkraut no better’n Pennsylvania, 

potatos we got from Maine to San Jose, but O yes I forgot: - with it all, on 

top, is a weird soft strip of bacon which is really like ham and is the best 

bite of all.”

So I ordered the medium and very happily and hungrily devoured a lot of sauerkraut with bits of sausage and hot dog strewn about.  Very good!  Afterward we had another really lovely dinner - I remember having just a chevre chaud salad - which is a regular salad with mild goat cheese melted on slices of toast and this one included a little drizzle of honey -- which is super good.  My Dad had some kind of wild game - boar? - and I can’t remember what my Mom ate.  I’m sure it was good, whatever it was.

Here’s a picture of adorable Colmar from our hotel room window:

The next morning we left the beautiful Alsace region (Before going though, mom and dad made a quick visit to a butcher shop to get the meat for Christmas dinner and managed to find the best on in town and got some phenomenal meat - sometimes France is the luckiest place in the world) for the tiny town of Beaune in the Burgundy region - which is very well known for its wine and cuisine.  We had planned, in essence, to simply enjoy both.  We arrived in the afternoon and after quickly checking into the hotel headed straight for a wine tasting.  And what an experience!  Now, as you may or may not know, as a family we really do love wine.  We’ve taking something of a liking to going tasting (we like the wine, not necessarily the culture).  We’ve visited, a couple of times, the wine regions in southern Arizona, as well as a tasting or two in northern Arizona.  Last Christmas we squeezed in a tasting in Napa valley (which was excellent) and I’ve made a personal point to taste the wine of every place I visit (as long as they produce it).  So, needless to say, visiting Burgundy was a big deal.  We had signed up for the 5 senses tour at Bouchard Aine et Fils - which we quickly learned is one of the best wine houses in Beaune (propaganda or no, we didn’t disagree).  We got to taste a couple of different bottles while seeing the cellar and learning about how all 5 senses play into wine tasting.  We smelled jars of things (like cassis, leather, and some dirt that was supposed to represent smoke), felt different textures to simulate the feel of wine in the mouth, learned about the different colors of wine in relation to age as well as learning about the distinctions given to wines according to quality in France and, most of all, had a great time.  We got to taste different years and blendings and finished with an absolutely amazing taste from a Grand Cru (the best) as well as some local cassis.  Our tasting price included a free bottle each and we added two bottles of cassis (which is a liquor local to the region made from red currants - something I had only read about before coming to France).  All in all, a wonderful experience. And here’s Dad with the spoils: 

After our amazing experience we headed into the main part of town to aimlessly wander and take a look at the Beaune hospice.  We were rather hungry and ducked into a cheese shop - which happened to be the most amazing one in town - and I kindly asked for a mild and hard cheese as well as a mild goat cheese (for Dad).  The woman behind the counter was so sweet, recommended some great cheeses and gave me small amounts of each - paired with some fresh bread it was a picnic fit for kings.  I’m still kicking myself that I don’t remember the name of the cheese - because it was outstanding.  After eating we managed to find the hospice.  What a cool building (and history!):

It was created to give the sick and dying a place to live and housed everyone from the very poor to the wealthy.  Each patient had a bed and was looked after - for a long time!  If I’m not mistaken I believe it closed it’s doors in the 1980s!  It kinda gave me the creeps, but it was really cool to see.  Dad especially loved all the wooden furniture.

Afterward we took short naps and headed to dinner.  What an amazing experience!  Burgundian cuisine is one of the big ones in France and widely loved all over.  We weren’t disappointed.  Well, I did have some serious food envy.  As an appetizer my mom managed to pick the single best dish ever.  Eggs poached in red wine served over beautifully browned toast in a pool of wine based gravy.  Absolutely unbelievable.  Being the amazingly generous person she is, she kindly shared with us - which might be the very most selfless thing one could do.  I don’t think I would’ve been so kind.  The main dishes were also great, and dad had a dessert that actually made him cry - pears poached in red wine.  We also had a bottle of great wine and some lovely aperitifs - including a true kir (Burgundy white wine layered over cassis - amazing).  It was a meal to write home about - and one that I wish I could repeat every day.  

The next day was Christmas eve and after some food shopping (for Christmas dinner) we headed toward Orléans.  After some exciting in city navigation (I never realized how many streets in this city are one way - when you walk everywhere you don’t have to think about it!) we arrived chez moi and had a good laugh about just how ridiculous my stairs really are.  We spent the evening relaxing - and mom and I bought a nice warm baguette and did some wandering while dad napped (or, as he claimed, read).  We had a phenomenal Christmas eve dinner of filet mignon and headed to bed.

For Christmas day we had invited assistants who couldn’t go home to join us for a dinner, so after opening presents we started in on the cooking.  Now, I don’t have the world’s biggest apartment - and only the essential cooking tools - so it was quite an adventure in cooking everything.  But we got it all done and had a really wonderful meal with great company.  We took a walk that evening and I got to show off little Orléans - we saw the Cathedral and the Loire as well as my favorite gal, Joan of Ark.

The next morning dad did laundry, while mom and I went shopping for some apartment items (a dresser and a thing to put my oven on - it’s no longer on the table!) which they very generously paid for.  I have to say, I don’t actually know what I did before I had that oven stand - it’s really much nicer and less crowded now.  In the afternoon we took a drive to Chenounceau and got an unintentional tour of the countryside (once again, the autoroute is really confusing).  We had an hour to see the giant chateau - so we did the high speed version of the tour and then spent some time enjoying the incredible sunset:

Afterward we assembled some furniture and prepared for the long drive to Mont St. Michel the next day.  I was asleep for a lot of the drive, so unfortunately I don’t have many details to report.  We did however take a very lovely scenic route (intentionally) and reached Mont St. Michel an hour before the abbey closed - so we did another speedy tour and then took our time exploring the rest of the island.  We took a really cool back route on the way down and even explored some of the areas which must have been used for defense (i.e. regularly spaced small holes in the rock/stone wall).  It was really cool and my dad took a lot of great photos:

That night we had a sad dinner (the island is pretty much a tourist thing, so great food - sadly - really doesn’t exist) complete with a handful of faux-pas: walking in through the back door, making a bit of unintentional noise, me ordering an after dinner liquor for an aperitif by accident, later adding an aperitif when I realized my mistake as well as adding on oysters - which is possibly the hardest word to pronounce in French - after we had ordered all our food.  So we were definitely tourists - oh well, at least we left a tip (also can be read as a faux-pas) and had a good laugh about it.

The next morning we took off for Paris - which was more of a driving adventure than we anticipated.  We had rented the car from the Charles de Gaulle airport and we planned to return it there and then take a taxi into the city (too much luggage to take the metro, and not worth the effort).  So we get to the airport after only a little excitement and then ask about the price of a taxi into the city.  The rental car people - who were very nice - told us that we could just take the car into the city and drop it off there.  Which didn’t sound like too bad a deal - except for the fact that we’d have to drive in Paris.  Now, Phoenix has some crazy traffic, but it’s pretty much a walk in the park compared to the City of Lights.  But my mother being the brave soul she is said that she could do it.  And so that’s exactly what we did.  From the airport we had to take the ring road that goes all around Paris. Imagine the worst freeway you can think of, add a stick shift, road signs in a language you don’t speak, traffic rules that may or may not exist, a map that is too general to be helpful and the worst traffic jam you’ve ever seen... now make it twice as bad.  This is what my mom drove through.  And she did it marvelously!  When we finally made our way to our exit, we had the added excitement of having to go a bit of a ways into Paris.  Now this may not seem like much to you, but it was horrifying (at least from the back seat).  We were driving on one of the major boulevards - which looks like it should hold 3 lanes of traffic and instead holds somewhere between 5 and 6.  Also, I feel I should explain that the French driver in Paris sees other cars as a form of competition.  The closer they can get to you and the quicker they can cut you off the happier they are.  Pedestrians think they are better than cars and are liable to hop into the street whenever they want.  Taxi’s are probably trying to run you over (both as a pedestrian and in a car), the horn is your best friend.  If you show any sign of weakness your probably going to be taken advantage of.  Amazingly we got through all this, only made one wrong turn (which wasn’t a catastrophe, and happened because we were suddenly in a turn lane) and managed to find a parking space about 100 yards from our hotel.  It was, single handedly the most amazing piece of driving I’ve ever seen!  But the fun wasn’t over yet.  We still had to return the car.  There was a return place about 1/2 mile away by the gare montparnasse.  We had an hour to bring the car back on time - it should have been a walk in the park.  Well, the car return place didn’t have a sign - all I had was an address (which kinda didn’t make sense) and we didn’t expect to find a ton of traffic both human and otherwise as well as an amazingly complex bit of road.  I’m going to make a long story short and say that we managed to get the car back with 5 minutes to spare.  We finally found the return place tucked inside a parking garage on the -2 level.  Impressive team work indeed and a very impressive display of driving+navigating skills - I think we only broke one traffic law and I think we might have returned the car through the service entrance (we also parked it in a small alcove thing because we couldn’t figure out how to find a parking space but the car made it back on time.  It was a good car, but we didn’t miss it.

Exhausted and hungry (and therefore slightly grumpy on my part) we ended up in a French chain restaurant specializing in mussels - and it was really good.

The next day we had a little day trip of going to Chartres cathedral, located just a bit outside Paris.  Chartres is a phenomenal cathedral - and I think my very favorite - more for sentimental reasons than anything else.  Four years ago when I first visited France one of the very first things we did was visit the Chartres cathedral - and it was a moment of pure bliss for me.  I had learned about the cathedral in a fabulous art history class and couldn’t wait to see it.  As a group we had an amazing tour and then, just before noon on a Saturday we made the climb up the bell tower, arriving on the landing just as the bells for Saturday mass started ringing.  It was a windy but warm day and the bells were going and going and we could see for miles and in that moment I fell in love with France.  So, a return trip was greatly anticipated.  It was rainy and cold, but I was still happy as a clam to see it.  

The interior, was, as always phenomenal.  The cloudy skies actually allow you to better see the colors of the stained glass, but you miss out on the affect of the dancing light. 

The very most exciting part of the visit was discovering that they are really, super cleaning the inside and outside of the cathedral.  Most cathedrals start off white in color and then slowly turn gray (thanks to pollution etc.) so as amazing as they are today, imagine them in glowing white!  Here’s an example of the glowing white inside:

And of old and clean:

Cool right?!?

Oh yes, I was overjoyed.  I really do LOVE cathedrals, especially those constructed in France during the gothic period (both high and low). I probably should just give up everything and spend my life giving tours of French gothic cathedrals.  Wouldn’t be such a bad way to make a living... (just a bit cold in the winter)

After our wandering we had a nice little lunch at a nearby brasserie and then after a look in the stained glass museum we took the train back to Paris.  I can’t remember what we did in the afternoon, but that evening we had an incredible dinner.  If I remember correctly, Dad and I shared some escargot for an appetizer and mom had a soup or something eaten with a spoon?  All I remember is that it was delicious.  The main course was equally impressive. Mom had a spanish inspired pork dish and I had some kind of a stew with prunes and wild mushrooms.  My memory is failing me here, but all I know is it was a phenomenal meal (contrary to my lacking description) and that I ate until I felt I might explode.  Dad ate even more.  

The next day we went to Versailles - which was an experience and a half.  First of all, I think the whole world was there to visit it.  We had purchased museum passes - which we were told by the Rick Steves would let us skip right to the front of the line - but it turns out that there was a separate, ridiculous line for “bag check”.  It only took an hour of standing in line, which you would never believe when looking at the size of it:

When we finally got inside it was, of course, amazing - but so full of people that you couldn’t hardly see anything.  It became something of a game of people dodging, but nonetheless it was amazing.  Here’s some pictures:

Check out that crowd!

When you see just how opulent the place is, you understand why the French people wanted a revolution - considering that most of the people were living with very little, having to struggle to eat.  While Versailles is really amazing to see, in some ways it makes you feel a little sick - it is overwhelmingly lavish.  It really is an example of how power can really go to your head.

We decided against touring the grounds of Versailles - they’re massive - and instead took a quick look at the gardens and enjoyed our very hilarious lunch:

You can’t really appreciate how squashed that sandwich is until you see this:

MMMMM....flat sandwich....

That afternoon we went to the Cluny Museum - which is a medieval museum and super awesome.  Our museum passes worked wonders and we got to jump the whole line and go right in.  The very best part of the museum - in my biased opinion - was the stained glass exhibit.  They had panels from Saint Chapelle and you could see them up close and personal.  I really had never noticed the incredible detail put into each image.  Since the normal method of stained glass viewing is from far away (i.e. you’re on the ground and they’re high up in the air) you really don’t get to appreciate the incredible details.  Check it out:

Cool right?  That’s just one panel!  So think about it in this context:

That’s the alter of St. Chapelle - not even the side panels.  That’s amazing!

That evening Seamus got back from Ireland and met up with us to celebrate New Year’s.  That night we went to a very famous restaurant with amazing place mats that were images of celebrity’s signatures, a sarcastic waiter and adequate food.  Nothing to write home about - except the place mats which we saved. 

The following day was New Year’s Eve and we started the day with a trip to the Louvre.  Apparently, NYE is the day to visit - but our museum passes saved the day once again and we got to go to the front of the line.  Seamus, being an EU citizen under 25 got to get in for free - and since he was with us, to jump the line too.  Here’s the photo story:

being goofy in front of some awesome art!

Seamus + code of Hammurabi

Seamus and I met up with Christina (haha)

We had a brasserie lunch and then we all went back to the insanity until closing time.  We went back to the hotel, had a nap and then started in on our NYE adventure.  We wanted to eat before getting there, but after waiting to be seated for 30 minutes decided we didn’t have time and jumped on the metro.  By the time we reached the Eiffel Tower we were in a sea of humanity. The big show started at 11pm, so we made our way toward the tower and popped some Champagne from Reims.  The show was really cool - it was the same one to celebrate the anniversary of the Tower that had been up since October, but none of us had seen it, so it was really cool.  There was music and lights and lots of very happy people.  So here’s some of the best pictures:

It was, honestly, the best New Year’s Eve ever.  What an incredible experience!  To be at the Eiffel Tower with god knows how many people all celebrating, so amazing.  It really felt like a great beginning to the new year.  Afterward we hurried away from the Tower - we had been warned about people getting violent after the celebration and didn’t want to stick around to find out.  We walked for a while until finally finding a restaurant to eat at.  We had more champagne, foie gras (what the French usually eat on NYE) and then some food that I don’t remember.  It was really very fun.  Afterward we ran to catch the metro, but it only took us about halfway before closing for the night.  So then we walked.  We saw a man propose - which was amazing and adorable - and made it home at something like 3 am.  So incredible!

The last 3 days of the trip are a bit blurry - we were all exhausted and had no major plans (and took no pictures).  I remember wandering by the Seine and buying some prints, visiting a cemetery with Seamus and eating lunch in Montmartre. My parents visited the Quai Branley museum which they said was absolutely incredible.  And I got a late Christmas present of a new purse from my parents!  Seamus and I returned to Orléans the night of the third, and my parents flew home the morning of the 4th.  And we all were so tired that it took me something like a month to finally feel rested.  Ha!

All in all, an epic (and exhausting) trip.  I think next year we’re ready for an easy Christmas though!