Sorry for not posting in the last couple of days.
Amsterdam was awesome. Very beautiful city.
I made it to Hamburg yesterday. I am alive and well, no worries.
BUT Im not posting much mroe than that right now. I dont have time to do a full entry.
I am keeping a Bank of my entries though. So, when the time comes there will be a novel for you to read. haha
Consider it a Christmas gift. And since its the holiday, youll have all day to read it!! (haha I think everyone reading just went 'haha yeah, okayyyy......' in their mind, or snorted at me.)
Anyways gotta fly. Ive got a tour of Hamburg to catch.
oxoxox
PS I FINALLY get to walk on snow!!!! :)
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Friday, December 17, 2010
one eye closed.
Time : 11:12pm
Location : my bed
Weather : no idea
Today somehow slipped by me. I have no idea where it went. As you can tell from what time it is at the moment.
I spent all day packing, going to and from the bank, making photocopies, sending letters, receiving letters, making food and eating some of it. I did an odd amount of driving that seemed to lead me no where all day.
All of a sudden it was time to get Lou from school and I felt like I had done nothing at all. I really had done almost everything I needed to, but for some reason it did not seem like anything had been accomplished.
On the Brightside, I am 100% packed and photocopied. I also have scavenged some of our dying fruits to eat while I travel if they do not die before I eat them.. And I managed to clean my room this evening, which made me super happy. There were a few dust bunnies cuddling on me last night and they made my feet sweat.
I got some mail today. I actually got a lot of mail today. I got a letter that was actually for Marie-Anne concerning me living Here. The second was a Christmas card from my Grandparents. Thank you very much by the way, although I’m sure you’ll have already gotten my e-mail. And the third was a not so mysterious but very intriguing looking bulky envelope filled with five pages of rainbow, a Canada pin and a Paris scarf. You know who you are, I loved it.
That was my day. I’d say “in a nut shell” but well, that usually means you downsized and cut out parts and did some cropping. Sadly, I did none of the above. My day fits perfectly in a nut shell as it is.
I really have nothing more to report for the day.
For the upcoming two weeks though; I will try my best to get a daily entry in. Mainly for your peace of minds, but also to keep you up to date on my travels. No promises though. I’m not feeling like picking up pieces of broken promises on my holidays thanks.
So, if I do not post an entry by the regular time you check, check back in maybe 5 hours or so, and I will have posted in the morning or afternoon. The availability of the computers, and even more, internet is varied and I can’t recall of the top of my head if it is a for sure Go the whole way. I guess we’ll see.
Also, I am rather concerned about posting photos. I don’t know why. Maybe because I know most people prefer looking at photos than reading text. I will also try my best at getting photos up.
I just had an awesome idea; I will write my entries nightly still, in my notebook, then I will post them when I get the time. Yes, I will make a Bank. Awesome. Problem semi-solved.
I am ridiculously tired at the moment (as you can tell from my horrible sense of humour at the beginning) and I have to get up in about 6 hours to go to Marseille to catch a train. No biggie.
But I really should sleep.
Night y’all. And Happy Holidays!
xoxo
Location : my bed
Weather : no idea
Today somehow slipped by me. I have no idea where it went. As you can tell from what time it is at the moment.
I spent all day packing, going to and from the bank, making photocopies, sending letters, receiving letters, making food and eating some of it. I did an odd amount of driving that seemed to lead me no where all day.
All of a sudden it was time to get Lou from school and I felt like I had done nothing at all. I really had done almost everything I needed to, but for some reason it did not seem like anything had been accomplished.
On the Brightside, I am 100% packed and photocopied. I also have scavenged some of our dying fruits to eat while I travel if they do not die before I eat them.. And I managed to clean my room this evening, which made me super happy. There were a few dust bunnies cuddling on me last night and they made my feet sweat.
I got some mail today. I actually got a lot of mail today. I got a letter that was actually for Marie-Anne concerning me living Here. The second was a Christmas card from my Grandparents. Thank you very much by the way, although I’m sure you’ll have already gotten my e-mail. And the third was a not so mysterious but very intriguing looking bulky envelope filled with five pages of rainbow, a Canada pin and a Paris scarf. You know who you are, I loved it.
That was my day. I’d say “in a nut shell” but well, that usually means you downsized and cut out parts and did some cropping. Sadly, I did none of the above. My day fits perfectly in a nut shell as it is.
I really have nothing more to report for the day.
For the upcoming two weeks though; I will try my best to get a daily entry in. Mainly for your peace of minds, but also to keep you up to date on my travels. No promises though. I’m not feeling like picking up pieces of broken promises on my holidays thanks.
So, if I do not post an entry by the regular time you check, check back in maybe 5 hours or so, and I will have posted in the morning or afternoon. The availability of the computers, and even more, internet is varied and I can’t recall of the top of my head if it is a for sure Go the whole way. I guess we’ll see.
Also, I am rather concerned about posting photos. I don’t know why. Maybe because I know most people prefer looking at photos than reading text. I will also try my best at getting photos up.
I just had an awesome idea; I will write my entries nightly still, in my notebook, then I will post them when I get the time. Yes, I will make a Bank. Awesome. Problem semi-solved.
I am ridiculously tired at the moment (as you can tell from my horrible sense of humour at the beginning) and I have to get up in about 6 hours to go to Marseille to catch a train. No biggie.
But I really should sleep.
Night y’all. And Happy Holidays!
xoxo
Thursday, December 16, 2010
short end of the stick.
Time : 9:19pm
Location : kitchen counter
Weather : one of those colder days..
For some reason my alarm did not work this morning. Well, the first one went off, but then the one that’s supposed to go off 15 minutes later (and no, it is not a sleep button) did not. Thankfully Marie-Anne had to take the car to the garage today, thus requiring a vehicle swap ordeal, thus requiring me to be awake and driving. I kind of thought that it was odd that for over half an hour they let me sleep… Especially since I am very much up and alert in the mornings, bustling about in the kitchen.
So I was carless today, which probably was for the best.
I’ve been really worried lately that the awesome ‘do the hairdresser gave me was just one of those “just done at the salon” things. Last time I washed my hair it went all frizzy and ka-poofed and my schanzzy ‘do was not schnazzy at all. Trust me. Thankfully today I figured out the proper method to brush my hair while it is drying so that it looks nice. This may seem rather trivial and vain, but I love doing my hair. I think everyone knows that..
Once that was taken care of, I headed off to the bank. Apparently you can not exchange money at the bank in town. That is one more strike against this town. I’m pretty sure we already struck out about a month ago. Now tomorrow I have to make a trip to Aix just to exchange my money. I am not impressed. Tomorrow is going to be busy as it is.
Carless me walked to Carrefour today. It was a solid 2 hour trip, keep in mind I stopped in two home decorating stores looking for Marie-Anne’s Christmas gift. I got extremely lucky in the second shop. My final destination was to a little photo booth in the mall to get some passport photos done. Then I went home.
I meant to take my camera with me, well, I actually did. It turned out the battery was fully dead. I should start keeping on top of that. Anyways, while out walking, I came across a whole field of pigeons. Like really. I’ve traded geese for pigeons. I do not approve.
I tell you, completing your Christmas shopping is a lot more satisfactory when you carry the present around in your hands for well over an hour because you did not think to bring a plastic bag with you and apparently not every shop gives out plastic bags (which I find alright, definitely alright). Woe is me, I know, I know. At least I felt very satisfied.
Did I happen to mention that I walked to the next town? Yes, I can walk to the next town and back all in good time. Don’t you love how small France is? I don’t think I do.
I made it home just in the nick of time to have a lovely Skype session with my family that had just woken up. Good news, even with out me around in the mornings, they seem to be able to keep up looking just as tired and groggy eyed. It was great to “see” you guys again! I really need to figure out what is wrong with my webcam.
I got a couple things done around the house before I remembered that I had to walk to school to get Lou. I ran pretty much the whole way. I did not feel like keeping her waiting. Turns out I could have walked the whole way. I’m just too fast for my own good! Haha
The evening proceeded as normal. Snack, “play”, supper, bed. Relatively simple. I made some baked vegetables today for supper, it was just the two of us tonight. Man am I getting good at picking the favourites. Although I was told that it was the potato (not me). This was a special mega large potato that Lou planted at her Grandparents’ this summer and received in the mail about two weeks ago. It was still really fresh, I was surprised.
Regardless, a “not hungry” Lou ate seconds, and thirds of my wonderful baked potatoes and carrots.
I done good.
9:38 pm
Location : kitchen counter
Weather : one of those colder days..
For some reason my alarm did not work this morning. Well, the first one went off, but then the one that’s supposed to go off 15 minutes later (and no, it is not a sleep button) did not. Thankfully Marie-Anne had to take the car to the garage today, thus requiring a vehicle swap ordeal, thus requiring me to be awake and driving. I kind of thought that it was odd that for over half an hour they let me sleep… Especially since I am very much up and alert in the mornings, bustling about in the kitchen.
So I was carless today, which probably was for the best.
I’ve been really worried lately that the awesome ‘do the hairdresser gave me was just one of those “just done at the salon” things. Last time I washed my hair it went all frizzy and ka-poofed and my schanzzy ‘do was not schnazzy at all. Trust me. Thankfully today I figured out the proper method to brush my hair while it is drying so that it looks nice. This may seem rather trivial and vain, but I love doing my hair. I think everyone knows that..
Once that was taken care of, I headed off to the bank. Apparently you can not exchange money at the bank in town. That is one more strike against this town. I’m pretty sure we already struck out about a month ago. Now tomorrow I have to make a trip to Aix just to exchange my money. I am not impressed. Tomorrow is going to be busy as it is.
Carless me walked to Carrefour today. It was a solid 2 hour trip, keep in mind I stopped in two home decorating stores looking for Marie-Anne’s Christmas gift. I got extremely lucky in the second shop. My final destination was to a little photo booth in the mall to get some passport photos done. Then I went home.
I meant to take my camera with me, well, I actually did. It turned out the battery was fully dead. I should start keeping on top of that. Anyways, while out walking, I came across a whole field of pigeons. Like really. I’ve traded geese for pigeons. I do not approve.
I tell you, completing your Christmas shopping is a lot more satisfactory when you carry the present around in your hands for well over an hour because you did not think to bring a plastic bag with you and apparently not every shop gives out plastic bags (which I find alright, definitely alright). Woe is me, I know, I know. At least I felt very satisfied.
Did I happen to mention that I walked to the next town? Yes, I can walk to the next town and back all in good time. Don’t you love how small France is? I don’t think I do.
I made it home just in the nick of time to have a lovely Skype session with my family that had just woken up. Good news, even with out me around in the mornings, they seem to be able to keep up looking just as tired and groggy eyed. It was great to “see” you guys again! I really need to figure out what is wrong with my webcam.
I got a couple things done around the house before I remembered that I had to walk to school to get Lou. I ran pretty much the whole way. I did not feel like keeping her waiting. Turns out I could have walked the whole way. I’m just too fast for my own good! Haha
The evening proceeded as normal. Snack, “play”, supper, bed. Relatively simple. I made some baked vegetables today for supper, it was just the two of us tonight. Man am I getting good at picking the favourites. Although I was told that it was the potato (not me). This was a special mega large potato that Lou planted at her Grandparents’ this summer and received in the mail about two weeks ago. It was still really fresh, I was surprised.
Regardless, a “not hungry” Lou ate seconds, and thirds of my wonderful baked potatoes and carrots.
I done good.
9:38 pm
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
bunt.
Time : 9:32 pm
Location : the sofa
Weather : still not snowing.
Did you know, that I am in the ONLY area in France that is yet to receive snow? Even Corse got snow. This is unacceptable.
No need to state it’s Wednesday.
I was so worried about making it to gymnastics this morning that I woke up early to go and get gas. It went well. I now know how to get gas.
I finally got the last touches on my trip all done up today while Lou was at gymnastics. It is an incredible relief. Now I just have to wait until Saturday..!! While out travelling, I don’t know how often I will be able to make blog entries. I don’t think I can guarantee every night. Although, I might be able to do them during the day. I really don’t know. I guess we’ll both just have to wait and see.
This afternoon we played a lot of tag. It was inside tag. Kind of fun, but repetitive. I hate being “it” and I also suck at it. Eventually we switched to getting our driving permits, going on road trips, etc.
I went out for a walk. I was getting a bit of cabin fever and Lou would not for the life of her go outside to do anything. It was great to stretch my legs and take a gander. I didn’t see much out of the ordinary. There was an incredible color show going on with the sun and clouds. Absolutely gorgeous.
When I got back, we baked a cake. It was a yogurt cake. It was ridiculously easy. I remember the recipe still! And it was delicious. I had no idea what kind of cake it was going to taste like, mainly because it had yogurt in it and we used some orange flower flavouring. I’ve never seen it before, but it tastes ok. Lou said we could have used vanilla too, which I think would have made more sense because we used vanilla flavouring.
Oh, and by the way, we made a bunt cake out of it. A BUNT cake.
That reminds me, today was filled with English. Lou was really into saying everything in English today. Lucky her, I just so happen to be an expert in the domain. Tag in English and we even did the baking in English. For some reason French kids can not say "perched". It comes out "pur-ch-eh-dd". Like there is an extra syllable at the end. It is kind of funny..
Something that keeps catching my eye is my haircut. I don’t know if it was jus the way my hair was today, but every time I looked in the mirror today, I looked like I had a She-Mullet. It was weird. But I kind of liked it. But it still caught me off guard.
Evening crept in as we watched Grey’s Anatomy and I made supper. There has been a cabbage sitting in the fridge for a couple days and I have had no idea what to do with it. It just sat there, taunting me. Finally I decided to end the taunting today. I made cabbage soup and threw in some pieces of sausage, which ended up making it delicious! Apparently cabbage soup is a good meal idea. I never would have guessed.
Well, that’s my day. Really not overly eventful.
Maybe I will find something exciting to do tomorrow.
I just realized I am yet to do my shenanigans… Tomorrow’s agenda has just filled up..
10:13pm
PS. I've added photos to yesterday's entry. They're just of me all bundled up from star gazing.. just incase you were interested..
Location : the sofa
Weather : still not snowing.
Did you know, that I am in the ONLY area in France that is yet to receive snow? Even Corse got snow. This is unacceptable.
No need to state it’s Wednesday.
I was so worried about making it to gymnastics this morning that I woke up early to go and get gas. It went well. I now know how to get gas.
I finally got the last touches on my trip all done up today while Lou was at gymnastics. It is an incredible relief. Now I just have to wait until Saturday..!! While out travelling, I don’t know how often I will be able to make blog entries. I don’t think I can guarantee every night. Although, I might be able to do them during the day. I really don’t know. I guess we’ll both just have to wait and see.
This afternoon we played a lot of tag. It was inside tag. Kind of fun, but repetitive. I hate being “it” and I also suck at it. Eventually we switched to getting our driving permits, going on road trips, etc.
I went out for a walk. I was getting a bit of cabin fever and Lou would not for the life of her go outside to do anything. It was great to stretch my legs and take a gander. I didn’t see much out of the ordinary. There was an incredible color show going on with the sun and clouds. Absolutely gorgeous.
 |
| bunt. |
When I got back, we baked a cake. It was a yogurt cake. It was ridiculously easy. I remember the recipe still! And it was delicious. I had no idea what kind of cake it was going to taste like, mainly because it had yogurt in it and we used some orange flower flavouring. I’ve never seen it before, but it tastes ok. Lou said we could have used vanilla too, which I think would have made more sense because we used vanilla flavouring.
Oh, and by the way, we made a bunt cake out of it. A BUNT cake.
That reminds me, today was filled with English. Lou was really into saying everything in English today. Lucky her, I just so happen to be an expert in the domain. Tag in English and we even did the baking in English. For some reason French kids can not say "perched". It comes out "pur-ch-eh-dd". Like there is an extra syllable at the end. It is kind of funny..
Something that keeps catching my eye is my haircut. I don’t know if it was jus the way my hair was today, but every time I looked in the mirror today, I looked like I had a She-Mullet. It was weird. But I kind of liked it. But it still caught me off guard.
Evening crept in as we watched Grey’s Anatomy and I made supper. There has been a cabbage sitting in the fridge for a couple days and I have had no idea what to do with it. It just sat there, taunting me. Finally I decided to end the taunting today. I made cabbage soup and threw in some pieces of sausage, which ended up making it delicious! Apparently cabbage soup is a good meal idea. I never would have guessed.
Well, that’s my day. Really not overly eventful.
Maybe I will find something exciting to do tomorrow.
I just realized I am yet to do my shenanigans… Tomorrow’s agenda has just filled up..
10:13pm
PS. I've added photos to yesterday's entry. They're just of me all bundled up from star gazing.. just incase you were interested..
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
wossil the commotion about?
Time : 9:14pm
Location : The Sofa
Weather : a steady 5 C all day, in the shade
Today I worked until my fingers bled on this trip again. Well, maybe not quite until my fingers bled; I think I have typing calluses. Just kidding.
Once again it took up the better part of my day. I stopped only to have a brief lunch and to iron Lou’s clothes. Also when Marie-Anne surprised me by coming home early (just after lunch) because she was feeling very ill.
Marie-Anne also brought in the mail. For the second day in a row I received something. Only this was not a good something; one of my letters was returned. Apparently someone in Saskatoon will not be getting their letter soon (I had already sent it a month ago) seeing as their address, that I KNOW is correct, does not exist. Apparently. I did notice that I forgot to write CANADA in the address. I wonder if that was why.. Wouldn’t that make postal codes useless?
I did make it out for a gander. Although it was 5C today, I put on my mitts, toque and scarf. I was very bundled. Nothing interesting happened. I even extended my walk in hopes. No luck.
I keep forgetting to ask Marie-Anne to show me how to get gas here. I’m pretty sure that it is different than at home and I would hate to put the wrong fuel in the car. Anyways, the point of this little paragraph is that for the past day I keep dreading going to and from school with Lou because I can never remember how much gas there is. I am not looking forward to going to gymnastics tomorrow.
Oh the small things that make my day…
One of my favourite comics to read as a child (mainly because these comics did not reside at our house) was Asterix. I believe it is originally a French comic, either way, its great in both languages. I am so lucky to be able to be half watching an Asterix movie (en francais) right now as I attempt to make a decent entry (no success I fear). This movie is so colourful! And all of the characters are so flamboyant. I have a feeling it is atleast 15 years old, you can tell by costumes and sets. It is still pretty good. On top of everything, I’ve been watching for half an hour already without a single ad. Granted when one comes it is bound to be eight minutes long. And full of perfume commercials.
That’s my day.
If you are wondering how the star gazing went last night, it went fairly well. Check out my last entry (a star gazer’s special!!) for the full report. I was looking forward to getting outside again tonight, but I am spell bound by this Asterix flick and I also have some more planning to do for my trip.
Nighty night!
9:32pm
PS. the title actually has nothing to do with the entry, I just thought it was a clever line.
Location : The Sofa
Weather : a steady 5 C all day, in the shade
Today I worked until my fingers bled on this trip again. Well, maybe not quite until my fingers bled; I think I have typing calluses. Just kidding.
Once again it took up the better part of my day. I stopped only to have a brief lunch and to iron Lou’s clothes. Also when Marie-Anne surprised me by coming home early (just after lunch) because she was feeling very ill.
Marie-Anne also brought in the mail. For the second day in a row I received something. Only this was not a good something; one of my letters was returned. Apparently someone in Saskatoon will not be getting their letter soon (I had already sent it a month ago) seeing as their address, that I KNOW is correct, does not exist. Apparently. I did notice that I forgot to write CANADA in the address. I wonder if that was why.. Wouldn’t that make postal codes useless?
 |
| soo tired! cant..stant..up.. |
I did make it out for a gander. Although it was 5C today, I put on my mitts, toque and scarf. I was very bundled. Nothing interesting happened. I even extended my walk in hopes. No luck.
I keep forgetting to ask Marie-Anne to show me how to get gas here. I’m pretty sure that it is different than at home and I would hate to put the wrong fuel in the car. Anyways, the point of this little paragraph is that for the past day I keep dreading going to and from school with Lou because I can never remember how much gas there is. I am not looking forward to going to gymnastics tomorrow.
 |
| mega (over) bundled mega (over) tired |
After school Lou and I made some Wossil. The smell permeated the house and I LOVE IT!!! Marie-Anne seems to like it too, which is a good thing. It seems to be a hit. I mean honestly, who doesn’t like wossil? I got to find some Dr. Pepper here so I can make Hot Dr. Pepper.
Supper came and went as Lou and I quietly amused ourselves as to not disturb Marie-Anne. EVERYONE reading should know that I made rice today. This is actually a big deal. I not only made the proper amount of rice, but I also cooked it for the proper amount of time and made it just like Lou likes it. I rock. I am so pleased!
One of my favourite comics to read as a child (mainly because these comics did not reside at our house) was Asterix. I believe it is originally a French comic, either way, its great in both languages. I am so lucky to be able to be half watching an Asterix movie (en francais) right now as I attempt to make a decent entry (no success I fear). This movie is so colourful! And all of the characters are so flamboyant. I have a feeling it is atleast 15 years old, you can tell by costumes and sets. It is still pretty good. On top of everything, I’ve been watching for half an hour already without a single ad. Granted when one comes it is bound to be eight minutes long. And full of perfume commercials.
That’s my day.
If you are wondering how the star gazing went last night, it went fairly well. Check out my last entry (a star gazer’s special!!) for the full report. I was looking forward to getting outside again tonight, but I am spell bound by this Asterix flick and I also have some more planning to do for my trip.
 |
| star gazing? more like star grazing!! |
Nighty night!
9:32pm
PS. the title actually has nothing to do with the entry, I just thought it was a clever line.
Last Night's Report.
TIME TALLY TOTAL
18:10 - 18:25 || 2
19:20(ish) | 1
22:00 - 22:30 ||||| ||||| || 12
22:30 - 23:00 ||||| || 7
23:00 - 23:30 ||||| ||||| ||||| 15
TOTAL OF 37 STARS
18:10 - 18:25 || 2
19:20(ish) | 1
22:00 - 22:30 ||||| ||||| || 12
22:30 - 23:00 ||||| || 7
23:00 - 23:30 ||||| ||||| ||||| 15
TOTAL OF 37 STARS
On the peak night of the Geminid's Meteor shower you are supposed to be able to see 80 falling stars an hour. As you can see, I did not see that many. There are a number of reasons for that;
- Time of night : the best time, I have found, to observe a meteor shower is between midnight and 3:00. Last night I was a couple hours early. I did note that the later it became, the more consistently the stars fell.
- Night vision : - although the backayd is fairly dark, the effects of the near by street lamps do ruin your chance of seeing stars quite a bit.
- Also, the moon was nearly a half moon and extremely bright. I would have to say that it bothered my eyes a lot more than the street lights.
- Obstructions of your view : unfourtunately when I was gazing, the area of the sky I needed to focus on was blocked by a tree. The later it got, and the higher in the sky Gemini was, more falling stars were able to be seen. Thankfully, it was an extremely clear night and there were not any clouds in the sky.
 |
| Orion and Taurus |
Other than falling stars I was able to find some constellations.
- Cassiopia - Five relatively bright stars make a W to form the shape of the sitting Queen.
- Orion - Easily distinguised by his 3 star belt, Orion the hunter was the second constellation I found. The Orion and Taurus constellations are what I would call complimentary constellations because they form a "scene". Also, the red star in Orion's shoulder is Betelgeus. This is where he was supposedly shot by an arrow.
- Taurus - In the night sky Taurus, the bull, is being held at bay by Orion (following Orion's belt to find Taurus' V head). The noteably bright star in Taurus' head is Aldebaran. I don't know any story for this star.
- Gemini - The Twins were hard for me to find. Mainly because I have never knowingly seen them before and I didn't really know what to look for, other than the source of the falling stars. The 2 bright stars in the constellation (which I think are the heads of the twins) are Castor (Aplha) and Pollux (Beta).
- Pleiads - A star cluster found almost within the Taurus constellation
- Also seen (but I don't know enough about) : Triangulum, Perseus, Andromeda and Aries.
 |
| Pretty much what I saw throughout my gazing Excellent photo. |
Odd as it is, I was unable to find the Big Dipper, or the Little Dipper, or the North Star. Maybe this is in connection with my disorientation here?
It was a gorgeous night, not cold at all. At 5C I was well over dressed. Laying out on the table in the middle of the backyard with my duvet, listening to Broken Social Scene I could have, and probably should have gone to sleep right there..
Monday, December 13, 2010
I stepped on a pigeon.
Time : 9:12 pm
Location : the Chair
Weather : not too cold, perfect for stargazing.. which is what I should be doing right now..
Today was very exercising.. for my fingers. Almost all day I spent online. I researched every nook and cranny of everything there is to do in each one of my stops (except one) for this trip! I have quite the agenda, and that’s just fine. It would be a pity to wind up with no idea what to do. I also have reservations at all of my hostels. Which should put some of your minds at ease, well, a little more at ease.
The main reason I did not leave the house was because the FedEx employee was supposed to come and deliver my Rail Pass. I even put off taking my showing just in case I missed them. Eventually I gave in and scurried upstairs to clean. Then I scurried back downstairs.
Remembering what it felt like to actually use my legs I no longer felt the need to sit much more and plan. Which I had done already for.. I’m not going t o specify the amount of time.. So I tried to get the dishwasher to work.
I’ve got it to run a number of times before. I am very good with dishwashers. I have no idea what I did, which button I pressed by accident or which series of buttons (I ended up pushing a lot of buttons..) but I could not get the dishwasher to run. It appeared to be set to run in 11 minutes. Those 11 minutes never became 10, and the dishes were never washed, by the machine. Pretty much all the dishes we in the dirty, and we’d for surely need them this evening, so being responsible as I am, I washed them all by hand. Not that it’s a big deal, like at all. But I’m pretty sure my couple months of mastering the dish pit at Donair has made me a very skilled dishwasher, not only in being quick, but also makin’ ‘em shine. Needless to say, I checked out my wicked smile in a couple spoons.
Eventually the FedEx man came and I got my rail pass.
That ONE TIME I went outside today something that would only happen in Europe occurred; I actually stepped on a pigeon. The stupid bird actually ran right under my foot. It was very soft. I think I was more startled than it was. Stupid bird…
Theatre class was an extra hour long today, so instead of sticking around, I returned home. I made myself useful and sliced some potatoes for supper. I’ve never succeeded in making potato crisp (pretty much chips). I always cut them too thick, then they’re soggy. Or in tonight’s case, too thin and they are too crispy and stick. You know I will try again, next time a fraction thicker and I will put some cooking paper on the pans so I can peel them off. I’ve got it cased.
Also while I was at home, I went for a walk to the Post Office to do the obvious. Now people here usually slow down when they pass me, I know it’s because of my dashing good looks, but tonight it may have been because I was walking with my head tilted back, looking at the sky.
Tonight there is the peak of the Geminids meteor shower. It is an annual shower, starting as early as the last days of November and continuing until early in the New Year. While on my 15 minute was I spotted two falling stars. I believe that to be good foreshadowing for tonight.
Supper went well, my extra crispy potato crisps were a hit! Another success! YES!
I have little else to report and I am incredibly antsy to go check out the meteor shower.
9:30
Location : the Chair
Weather : not too cold, perfect for stargazing.. which is what I should be doing right now..
Today was very exercising.. for my fingers. Almost all day I spent online. I researched every nook and cranny of everything there is to do in each one of my stops (except one) for this trip! I have quite the agenda, and that’s just fine. It would be a pity to wind up with no idea what to do. I also have reservations at all of my hostels. Which should put some of your minds at ease, well, a little more at ease.
 |
| Oh Christmas, You gunn find you! Now run 'n tell that, Homeboy! |
The main reason I did not leave the house was because the FedEx employee was supposed to come and deliver my Rail Pass. I even put off taking my showing just in case I missed them. Eventually I gave in and scurried upstairs to clean. Then I scurried back downstairs.
Remembering what it felt like to actually use my legs I no longer felt the need to sit much more and plan. Which I had done already for.. I’m not going t o specify the amount of time.. So I tried to get the dishwasher to work.
I’ve got it to run a number of times before. I am very good with dishwashers. I have no idea what I did, which button I pressed by accident or which series of buttons (I ended up pushing a lot of buttons..) but I could not get the dishwasher to run. It appeared to be set to run in 11 minutes. Those 11 minutes never became 10, and the dishes were never washed, by the machine. Pretty much all the dishes we in the dirty, and we’d for surely need them this evening, so being responsible as I am, I washed them all by hand. Not that it’s a big deal, like at all. But I’m pretty sure my couple months of mastering the dish pit at Donair has made me a very skilled dishwasher, not only in being quick, but also makin’ ‘em shine. Needless to say, I checked out my wicked smile in a couple spoons.
Eventually the FedEx man came and I got my rail pass.
That ONE TIME I went outside today something that would only happen in Europe occurred; I actually stepped on a pigeon. The stupid bird actually ran right under my foot. It was very soft. I think I was more startled than it was. Stupid bird…
Theatre class was an extra hour long today, so instead of sticking around, I returned home. I made myself useful and sliced some potatoes for supper. I’ve never succeeded in making potato crisp (pretty much chips). I always cut them too thick, then they’re soggy. Or in tonight’s case, too thin and they are too crispy and stick. You know I will try again, next time a fraction thicker and I will put some cooking paper on the pans so I can peel them off. I’ve got it cased.
Also while I was at home, I went for a walk to the Post Office to do the obvious. Now people here usually slow down when they pass me, I know it’s because of my dashing good looks, but tonight it may have been because I was walking with my head tilted back, looking at the sky.
 |
| The Tree. |
Tonight there is the peak of the Geminids meteor shower. It is an annual shower, starting as early as the last days of November and continuing until early in the New Year. While on my 15 minute was I spotted two falling stars. I believe that to be good foreshadowing for tonight.
Supper went well, my extra crispy potato crisps were a hit! Another success! YES!
I have little else to report and I am incredibly antsy to go check out the meteor shower.
9:30
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Like a sloth.
Time : 9:52pm
Location : the kitchen counter
Weather : Marie-Anne just said how cold it was, probably about 4C out
Today was a lazy day. Like all Sundays, a lazy Sunday.
I slept in super late today. Super late being after 11 am. I decided to make myself a lovely breakfast, it was Sunday after all. Sadly, I burnt my toast, my hard boiled egg was not hard (on the inside) and my orange was little hard on the outside so I ended up squishing out a lot of the juice while cutting it. Regardless, it was super delicious and I savoured every single nibble.
Then I busied myself with planning MORE of my trip, and catching up on last night’s entry. Which, believe it or not, took me more time than I wanted. I hope you enjoyed the entry, and I better love this trip! Haha I’m sure there will be a 100% success rate for both items.
We were to start Christmas here, FINALLY. But things were moving really slowly. SO slowly that I decided to stop putzing around and watch a movie. I started watching the Lord of the Rings. I’m done the first disk of the first movie. It’s pretty good. I haven’t read the books, but I would probably like them.
EVENTUALLY, Marie-Anne and I went out to get the Christmas tree. I’ve been waiting for this for about… 13 days. I know it is the 12th of December. I like to be prepared. My 13 days of waiting were done up in about 45 minutes. That includes the car ride there and back and picking the tree. Add another 15 minutes and we’ll even have tree indoors.
If she asked, I would have gladly hung the tree up upside down in my room for a couple days. I could probably do it myself too.
Evening came, and I was fixing my Canada Olympic mitts. They have developed very worn out thumbs, so I thought I would repair and strengthen them before my voyage to a region where I might actually need to wear mitts.
Lou returned home from her dad’s and we decorated the tree. This tree is a wee tad taller than me. And has next to no decorations on it. And they match. And I could probably still pick it up myself, decorated and all. It is not a Christmas tree I am used to. But atleast we have a tree now, as well as a couple decorations.
I can say I am semi content.
I do have a dubious plan for tomorrow though. Heh Heh Heh.
After the decorating, everyone, Marie-Anne, Lou, Pierre and myself, each went about doing their own activities. I don’t know what I did for the 30 minutes before supper actually. I think I drank a lot of water. I should have gone for a walk instead.
Like most Sundays here, they just seem to slip by. It’s not like you do nothing all day, but its also not like you do a whole bunch. Life is slow. Like a sloth.
Post supper activities ensued. Not much to recount.
Thus, here I am.
And here you are.
And here I go.
10:15
Location : the kitchen counter
Weather : Marie-Anne just said how cold it was, probably about 4C out
Today was a lazy day. Like all Sundays, a lazy Sunday.
I slept in super late today. Super late being after 11 am. I decided to make myself a lovely breakfast, it was Sunday after all. Sadly, I burnt my toast, my hard boiled egg was not hard (on the inside) and my orange was little hard on the outside so I ended up squishing out a lot of the juice while cutting it. Regardless, it was super delicious and I savoured every single nibble.
Then I busied myself with planning MORE of my trip, and catching up on last night’s entry. Which, believe it or not, took me more time than I wanted. I hope you enjoyed the entry, and I better love this trip! Haha I’m sure there will be a 100% success rate for both items.
We were to start Christmas here, FINALLY. But things were moving really slowly. SO slowly that I decided to stop putzing around and watch a movie. I started watching the Lord of the Rings. I’m done the first disk of the first movie. It’s pretty good. I haven’t read the books, but I would probably like them.
EVENTUALLY, Marie-Anne and I went out to get the Christmas tree. I’ve been waiting for this for about… 13 days. I know it is the 12th of December. I like to be prepared. My 13 days of waiting were done up in about 45 minutes. That includes the car ride there and back and picking the tree. Add another 15 minutes and we’ll even have tree indoors.
If she asked, I would have gladly hung the tree up upside down in my room for a couple days. I could probably do it myself too.
Evening came, and I was fixing my Canada Olympic mitts. They have developed very worn out thumbs, so I thought I would repair and strengthen them before my voyage to a region where I might actually need to wear mitts.
Lou returned home from her dad’s and we decorated the tree. This tree is a wee tad taller than me. And has next to no decorations on it. And they match. And I could probably still pick it up myself, decorated and all. It is not a Christmas tree I am used to. But atleast we have a tree now, as well as a couple decorations.
I can say I am semi content.
I do have a dubious plan for tomorrow though. Heh Heh Heh.
After the decorating, everyone, Marie-Anne, Lou, Pierre and myself, each went about doing their own activities. I don’t know what I did for the 30 minutes before supper actually. I think I drank a lot of water. I should have gone for a walk instead.
Like most Sundays here, they just seem to slip by. It’s not like you do nothing all day, but its also not like you do a whole bunch. Life is slow. Like a sloth.
Post supper activities ensued. Not much to recount.
Thus, here I am.
And here you are.
And here I go.
10:15
deluxe.
ENTRY FOR 11 DECEMBER 2010
All about yesterday.
A very busy day in fact. My days here, on the weekend, don’t usually get going until after lunch. Mainly because it is THE meal of the day.
After lunch, I went for a brisk walk in the wonderful sun to downtown. The Christmas market was going on. En route, say Santa on his way, in a wagon pulled by some reindeer. I think they were goats with antlers on them. A nice touch.
I headed off to Aix right away.
My next destination was a gallery full of toys and games, new and old, from “our childhood”. I was unable to find the gallery before 7pm, which was when it closed. I didn’t feel like I was missing out on too much.
I returned home, (40 minutes just to drive out of Aix) and made some crepes while Skyping a very good friend of mine for about an hour. My crepes were wonderful. Unfourtunately, while trying to show just how yellow the egg yolks here are, I spilt some egg white on my keyboard. My J key is never going to be the same.
All about yesterday.
 |
| one antler, a nice touch |
After lunch, I went for a brisk walk in the wonderful sun to downtown. The Christmas market was going on. En route, say Santa on his way, in a wagon pulled by some reindeer. I think they were goats with antlers on them. A nice touch.
The market had a bunch of goodies for sale. It was all the regular local handicrafts, meats, cheese, preserves, seasonal desserts, and of course, the whole table designated to selling macaroons. If you don’t know what a macaroon is here, it is a cookie like thing, kind of crumbly, with a icing paste in the middle. They’re kind of like a very rough looking Oreo that some in any flavour you wish. Yesterday was a Cappuccino Macaroon day.
Santa arrived in the square and the children swarmed. I have to say, French Santa looks an awful lot like Santa who would deliver our presents on Christmas Eve in Saskatoon..
 |
| Foret de mon Reve #4, 2010 Aline Ahond |
I didn’t stay long, there wasn’t much to do, and I had other plans.
I headed off to Aix right away.
 |
| Pastel Cats Tim Walker (my fave) |
I visited an art expo that I had been wanting to see for quite some time. It was called La foret de mon reve (Forest of my dreams). The concept was fairytales and stories from our childhood. The collection contained paintings, drawings, sculptures, wooden machines, photographs and some music for ambiance. Based on the idea of “down the rabbit hole” from Alice in Wonderland, I was at once enchanted by the fantastical pieces on display. Upon entering there was a floating table, obviously for tea time, but all of the place settings and food were all frozen in the air above it, as if everything had suddenly burst to life. I loved it so much. I very nearly missed something wonderful; in the corner of on room, there was a little side room, very small, where some fine china was on display, I saw a faint glowing at my feet and saw where there was a door (of normal human size) with a smaller door in it as well (more of the size for someone under a foot tall. I crouched down to look through this door, and I saw the scene (from Through the Looking Glass) where Alice is too big to fit through the miniscule door and is peering through, occasionally sticking her arm through too. A truly magical collection of art, I will definitely be returning.
When I exited the gallery, there was a huge crowd of people and some awesome music. A group, Deluxe, was playing some mixed genre (definitely Jazz in there) music in the streets. I tell you, these guys put anything I’ve seen in Saskatoon streets to shame. They had a guy on the drums, some guy hopping around (actually hopping and stomping his feet) on the bass guitar, a crrrrrazy saxophonist and my personal fave, the one with really long bangs, a tendency to head bang, playing some conga drums and a cymbal. These guys had energy and presence! And a really good sound. I should have bought their CD. Oh, did I mention they all had killer moustaches?
 |
| CatchingFairies, 1996 Mat Collishaw |
The second stop I had planned was to see Dolls in the Kitchen. From my understanding, it is a mix of retro photographs, modern art and maybe some cooking aspect. I walked for a good 20 minutes trying to find the street that had the side street that Second Nature (the venue) was supposed to be on. I though I knew which street I was on, and then it turned out I was on the street I was looking for. A minute later I found the side street and Second Nature.
 |
| Drink Me (Wonderland) 2004 Polixeni Papapetrou (I don't know if this is from a movie) |
As I walked up, I was greeted by two hip looking twenty-somethings clad in black and out for a smoke accompanied by a glass of wine. They were oddly attentive so I asked if they were working here and where to find the Dolls in the Kitchen. Sure enough I was in the right place, and they said they would be in to help me right away, which I found to be an odd comment to say to someone who came to look at some art. When I entered, I found myself in what I think was a night club, but in the off hours. There were a couple peculiar looking people sitting at a table who looked at me like I was the peculiar looking person. The one piece of art I found was some kind of modern sculpture that was round. I was a tad disappointed. I left before the hipsters could tend to me.
 |
| Alice a la neige, 1971 Roland Topor |
I returned home, (40 minutes just to drive out of Aix) and made some crepes while Skyping a very good friend of mine for about an hour. My crepes were wonderful. Unfourtunately, while trying to show just how yellow the egg yolks here are, I spilt some egg white on my keyboard. My J key is never going to be the same.
The movie I went to go see after a bit after ten was Holiday, yet another French film. An old classy hotel is full for the weekend, full of interesting guests. A death (murder or suicide, nobody knows) occurs and everyone is interrogated. As we work through the events before and after the death, there is some comedy, not too much though, and not much of anything else. It was ok, but after midnight, I felt like I should have stayed home and watched When Harry Met Sally.
 |
| Paysage accidente, 2009 Cloe Poizat |
Something interesting about Aix; there are more people out in the downtown area at midnight than there are at 9pm.
Also, I did not take any photos at the Gallery, these are all taken off of my program. And for the videos, the first one shows one of their high energy parts I walked into. Could you find my favourite member? haha My second video won't upload, oh well.
Also, I did not take any photos at the Gallery, these are all taken off of my program. And for the videos, the first one shows one of their high energy parts I walked into. Could you find my favourite member? haha My second video won't upload, oh well.
my gift to you.
I would make an entry tonight. But I really don't want to.
Not because I'm lazy, but well, I am infact really tired.
Mainly because I had quite the day in Aix. A VERY interesting day infact.
I'd hate to try writing about them now, only to not do them justice due to my fatigue.
So please be patient, you should probably be getting some sleep yourself right now anyways; I know a lot of you read this before you go to bed.
Think of it as my gift to you; 5, 10, 15 minutes (depending on if you were ever in the monthly Speedy Reader club) of extra sleep.
Bonne Nuit!
PS. And just to keep you interested,
I am going to try and add videos tomorrow. Now you HAVE to check back ;)
Not because I'm lazy, but well, I am infact really tired.
Mainly because I had quite the day in Aix. A VERY interesting day infact.
I'd hate to try writing about them now, only to not do them justice due to my fatigue.
So please be patient, you should probably be getting some sleep yourself right now anyways; I know a lot of you read this before you go to bed.
Think of it as my gift to you; 5, 10, 15 minutes (depending on if you were ever in the monthly Speedy Reader club) of extra sleep.
Bonne Nuit!
PS. And just to keep you interested,
I am going to try and add videos tomorrow. Now you HAVE to check back ;)
Friday, December 10, 2010
chop chop.
Time : 10:09 pm
Location : once again, the spot
Weather : I have absolutely no idea
Today’s big event was a haircut.
Which I was kind of nervous about actually. I decided to get bangs. Like straight across bangs, not swoopy bangs like I’ve had before. All of the years I’ve had enough hair on my head for it to be cut, I’ve had bangs like these except for the last four. So, this of course was a decision for me to make. Did I really want to have those bangs again? Yes. Yes I do. Especially since they are finally in style I will not be the kid “with the braids and bangs”.
As you will see, I had a little photo session to capture the essence of my hair. Marie-Anne told me that it is a very “young French girl” haircut. I will take this as a compliment.
I was in and out of the house today. I went to the post office, twice. As well as the salon, I also went to the salon twice (once to book and once for the cut). Yes, I am still having phone difficulties and can not phone to book myself a hair cut.
On the topic of the phone, I did answer it today. Numerous times in fact. One of those times was significant! I got my very own phone call. Sure it was from the FedEx woman, saying that I better be home on Monday to receive my package, but the point of the matter is that I got my first phone call here.
I took care of a lot of things today. You know those days that you spend “just doing stuff” that you find is very productive, but at the end of the day when somebody asks you what you did all day you can’t really tell them anything and feel kind of lame because they think you did nothing all day while really, deep inside you know you are a wonderfully productive person? Yeah, that was today.
While I was out and about, I don’t know which outing of the day it was, I noticed something (as always); the hills here do not look flat. Now, I am not being silly. I am serious. If you look at the hills around Saskatoon, what little hills we have, they are flat, as in they look like flat lines of round hills on the horizon. If you look at the hills here, along the horizon, they are not flat. This is due to shrubs. Yes, today I noticed that we have hills of shrubs here opposed to hills of grass. This may seem trivial and somewhat confusing to you, but trust me, I found it very interesting.
Yesterday I forgot to note that Lou tried to frighten me with a plastic alligator. I will admit, I was caught off guard. Most people are when they open a door and a plastic reptile is launched at their head. While making her bed this morning, I thought it would be somewhat comical to hide the alligator under her pillow. I forgot that she was going for a sleepover tonight, and after school while we were packing her bag, she came across the alligator. Unfortunately I am dealing with a tough crowd here, and my joke was not found to be funny, or even slightly amusing. I would have found it funny.
Maybe I’m just more light hearted than some people..
I will let you know that I was extremely productive, right into the evening. I almost forgot to eat supper.
Thankfully I did not because it was delicious. If you have a pressure cooker on hand, I suggest you throw in about 3 zucchinis, sliced, some pumpkin, diced, water and a bay leaf. Leave it for about 30 minutes and you will have a wonderful soup waiting to be consumed. Yes, so wonderful.
Try it!
10:22 pm
Location : once again, the spot
Weather : I have absolutely no idea
Today’s big event was a haircut.
 |
| a lil tired, but not too shabby |
As you will see, I had a little photo session to capture the essence of my hair. Marie-Anne told me that it is a very “young French girl” haircut. I will take this as a compliment.
 |
| lol mirror pic |
I was in and out of the house today. I went to the post office, twice. As well as the salon, I also went to the salon twice (once to book and once for the cut). Yes, I am still having phone difficulties and can not phone to book myself a hair cut.
On the topic of the phone, I did answer it today. Numerous times in fact. One of those times was significant! I got my very own phone call. Sure it was from the FedEx woman, saying that I better be home on Monday to receive my package, but the point of the matter is that I got my first phone call here.
I took care of a lot of things today. You know those days that you spend “just doing stuff” that you find is very productive, but at the end of the day when somebody asks you what you did all day you can’t really tell them anything and feel kind of lame because they think you did nothing all day while really, deep inside you know you are a wonderfully productive person? Yeah, that was today.
 |
| the Pair, everywhere I go |
While I was out and about, I don’t know which outing of the day it was, I noticed something (as always); the hills here do not look flat. Now, I am not being silly. I am serious. If you look at the hills around Saskatoon, what little hills we have, they are flat, as in they look like flat lines of round hills on the horizon. If you look at the hills here, along the horizon, they are not flat. This is due to shrubs. Yes, today I noticed that we have hills of shrubs here opposed to hills of grass. This may seem trivial and somewhat confusing to you, but trust me, I found it very interesting.
Yesterday I forgot to note that Lou tried to frighten me with a plastic alligator. I will admit, I was caught off guard. Most people are when they open a door and a plastic reptile is launched at their head. While making her bed this morning, I thought it would be somewhat comical to hide the alligator under her pillow. I forgot that she was going for a sleepover tonight, and after school while we were packing her bag, she came across the alligator. Unfortunately I am dealing with a tough crowd here, and my joke was not found to be funny, or even slightly amusing. I would have found it funny.
Maybe I’m just more light hearted than some people..
 |
| Bonjour, baguette s'il te plait |
I will let you know that I was extremely productive, right into the evening. I almost forgot to eat supper.
Thankfully I did not because it was delicious. If you have a pressure cooker on hand, I suggest you throw in about 3 zucchinis, sliced, some pumpkin, diced, water and a bay leaf. Leave it for about 30 minutes and you will have a wonderful soup waiting to be consumed. Yes, so wonderful.
Try it!
10:22 pm
Thursday, December 9, 2010
get your shots.
Time : 8:53 pm
Location : The Couch in My Spot
Weather : my nose is cold, due to the Mistral
I feel really good about today. Which is a good thing, if you did not know.
An unusual event occurred this morning. For some reason, I felt inclined to do a tour of the backyard. It was nice and sunny, so why not? As I was looking at the pool, the largest pigeon that I have ever seen flew a couple meters away from the pool side where it was perched. Apart from the fact that the pigeon was abnormally large and heavy in flight, it only flew a couple meters away, and not into a tree or way away. So I advanced upon it, in full hunting stance. This time it fled, leaving behind a corpse. Yes, pigeons here have gone carnivorous. As you can see, only the head was eaten. Peculiar. I hope they are not full of rabies, why else would a pigeon eat another pigeon? I’m concerned.
Also while in the backyard, I discovered something wonderful; I can climb onto our roof, and our neighbour up the street, as well as the neighbours along the back. It is really quite the set up. I look forward to this prime stargazing location seeing as there are not many streetlights around our home, and plus, they are not very bright. Adding to the excellent fact, my Canadianism makes the 10 C nights feel like nothing and there is a meteor shower coming up. Foreshadowing?
I promptly got myself off to the Aix TGV station to reserve my tickets for Germany. The drive there was awesome. I think my days of getting lost and driving in circles are done!
However, the booking of the tickets did not go so well. There was no more room for Pass Holders on the train I had wanted, but I found an alternative, which takes a little longer, and has 2 more changes than the first one, but I will be getting there!! Awesome. And another good note, I will definitely be coming back. All of the trains for my last two days are fully reserved. I am very excited.
When I got home, I took no time before setting out again, this time on foot, to Carrefour. I really did not feel like going for a run today. I don’t know why, but I did not. I compromised on a long walk. It was an 8km round trip.
It was just another trip to the store. Nothing out of the ordinary. I will note that I am still unsuccessful in finding the Dark Side of The Moon.
I did the the funniest thing on the way back. There was a man, wearing a large helmet, and scarf flowing behind him, with his knees clenching onto a Christmas tree for dear life, driving down the street, on a scooter. I stopped in my tracks and watched him go by, only my head turning to watch him go. I believe this made my day.
When I got home I spent the rest of the afternoon planning out my trip. Back in grade 11 in ODS I had to take an extra online class so I could get my Bilingual Certificate in grade 12. I am very happy that the class was a tourism class where I planned out whole trips to here and there. I am now a master travel agent for anyone who is interested (you know where to find me) and for myself. This is going to be the most excellent trip!
After school time was filled with letter writing. Eventually Lou and I moved upstairs to resume another day at the Employment Office. There are a lot of people that need jobs I tell ya.
Marie-Anne was home early and insisted on making supper. It was of course delicious. And everything closed down early for the night.
Here I am.
Enjoy the photos!
9:12pm
Location : The Couch in My Spot
Weather : my nose is cold, due to the Mistral
I feel really good about today. Which is a good thing, if you did not know.
An unusual event occurred this morning. For some reason, I felt inclined to do a tour of the backyard. It was nice and sunny, so why not? As I was looking at the pool, the largest pigeon that I have ever seen flew a couple meters away from the pool side where it was perched. Apart from the fact that the pigeon was abnormally large and heavy in flight, it only flew a couple meters away, and not into a tree or way away. So I advanced upon it, in full hunting stance. This time it fled, leaving behind a corpse. Yes, pigeons here have gone carnivorous. As you can see, only the head was eaten. Peculiar. I hope they are not full of rabies, why else would a pigeon eat another pigeon? I’m concerned.
Also while in the backyard, I discovered something wonderful; I can climb onto our roof, and our neighbour up the street, as well as the neighbours along the back. It is really quite the set up. I look forward to this prime stargazing location seeing as there are not many streetlights around our home, and plus, they are not very bright. Adding to the excellent fact, my Canadianism makes the 10 C nights feel like nothing and there is a meteor shower coming up. Foreshadowing?
 |
| The Victim. His name is Vic. |
I promptly got myself off to the Aix TGV station to reserve my tickets for Germany. The drive there was awesome. I think my days of getting lost and driving in circles are done!
However, the booking of the tickets did not go so well. There was no more room for Pass Holders on the train I had wanted, but I found an alternative, which takes a little longer, and has 2 more changes than the first one, but I will be getting there!! Awesome. And another good note, I will definitely be coming back. All of the trains for my last two days are fully reserved. I am very excited.
When I got home, I took no time before setting out again, this time on foot, to Carrefour. I really did not feel like going for a run today. I don’t know why, but I did not. I compromised on a long walk. It was an 8km round trip.
It was just another trip to the store. Nothing out of the ordinary. I will note that I am still unsuccessful in finding the Dark Side of The Moon.
 |
| Skullet to the max. |
When I got home I spent the rest of the afternoon planning out my trip. Back in grade 11 in ODS I had to take an extra online class so I could get my Bilingual Certificate in grade 12. I am very happy that the class was a tourism class where I planned out whole trips to here and there. I am now a master travel agent for anyone who is interested (you know where to find me) and for myself. This is going to be the most excellent trip!
After school time was filled with letter writing. Eventually Lou and I moved upstairs to resume another day at the Employment Office. There are a lot of people that need jobs I tell ya.
Marie-Anne was home early and insisted on making supper. It was of course delicious. And everything closed down early for the night.
Here I am.
Enjoy the photos!
9:12pm
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Think of the Children.
Time : 9:27 pm
Location : my bed
Weather : my room is no longer humid, and neither is outside. Awesome.
Wednesday!!
Aka no school for Lou day.
Nothing out of the ordinary happened today, that I can think of off hand. We’ll see how the run down of the day goes.
Of course in the morning Lou and I played a little bit before heading off to gymnastics. I returned home and thoroughly enjoyed putting away all of my laundry that has finally dried. It only took 2.5 days in my room, with the door shut and the heat cranked a little (don’t tell Marie-Anne!).
I think practicality is missing here in France. I mean really. Sure we do have a dryer, but we don’t use it. Instead we let our clothes dry for days. And sure, we have rules for driving, but nobody follows them. Or enforces them for that matter. We’ll leave the cops job to just guarding the children.
Speaking of children, and this is a rather horrible fact that I learned while we were having our oh so pleasant dinner conversation last night, in France, they are now designing cars with Baby Detectors in them. Apparently babies get forgotten in the backseat like 3 times a year here. How awful. I mean, not to be pessimistic, but I’m sure it happens once in a while back home, but three times a year! Ugh.
Next topic.
Lou’s friend Julie came over to play after lunch. Which was kind of nice actually because they did their own thing while I did mine. Pretty much all afternoon, except for the quick trip to Carrefour to buy chocolate advent calendars (but they were sold out, which made me sad because I really, really wanted one..) and the other kind of quick trip to Lou’s dad’s to get some toys, I worked on planning my Germany trip.
The planning did not go very well. I made a little progress, but not as much as I would have liked. To start, I finally got my train pass bought. Which may not seem like a big deal, but say I shorten by trip by 2 days, that completely changes which pass I buy, or even if I want to make another stop. Next I on booking reservations for certain trains, mainly because you HAVE to for some (international trains) but had no luck because A) it not something you can do online and B) (this is kind of embarrassing) I have A LOT of troubles operating the phone here. I can not call out for the life of me. Maybe I will throw the train agencies an e-mail asking them to call me so I can make reservations. I don’t think that will work. Lastly, I worked on looking at which hostels would be best to stay in. I’m really excited to stay in a hostel. I don’t know why. Maybe because it is somewhat similar to living in a dorm. I wouldn’t know on either accounts, but still.
Playing with Julie really tuckered Lou out so we just hung out in the living room for the evening, watching the France version of Britain’s Got Talent. I still think Canadian Idol season with Tereasa Sorkyrka and Jacob Hoggard was probably the best talent show season ever.
We also studied a little bit for her exams that have been going on for about a month. Can you believe that already, in elementary school, age 9, they’re having exams like that? Granted, Lou does make them sound not very challenging, but I guess what I’m getting at is the pressure that they’re putting on children at a young age. It may be for the best, get them used to striving to achieve instead of merely scrap by. I don’t know, I am definitely not an expert on the topic.
Speaking of topics, pretty much all of my topics have been about children today. Odd.
Well, that’s that about that for tonight.
Ciao!
9:44 pm
Location : my bed
Weather : my room is no longer humid, and neither is outside. Awesome.
Wednesday!!
Aka no school for Lou day.
Nothing out of the ordinary happened today, that I can think of off hand. We’ll see how the run down of the day goes.
Of course in the morning Lou and I played a little bit before heading off to gymnastics. I returned home and thoroughly enjoyed putting away all of my laundry that has finally dried. It only took 2.5 days in my room, with the door shut and the heat cranked a little (don’t tell Marie-Anne!).
I think practicality is missing here in France. I mean really. Sure we do have a dryer, but we don’t use it. Instead we let our clothes dry for days. And sure, we have rules for driving, but nobody follows them. Or enforces them for that matter. We’ll leave the cops job to just guarding the children.
Speaking of children, and this is a rather horrible fact that I learned while we were having our oh so pleasant dinner conversation last night, in France, they are now designing cars with Baby Detectors in them. Apparently babies get forgotten in the backseat like 3 times a year here. How awful. I mean, not to be pessimistic, but I’m sure it happens once in a while back home, but three times a year! Ugh.
Next topic.
Lou’s friend Julie came over to play after lunch. Which was kind of nice actually because they did their own thing while I did mine. Pretty much all afternoon, except for the quick trip to Carrefour to buy chocolate advent calendars (but they were sold out, which made me sad because I really, really wanted one..) and the other kind of quick trip to Lou’s dad’s to get some toys, I worked on planning my Germany trip.
The planning did not go very well. I made a little progress, but not as much as I would have liked. To start, I finally got my train pass bought. Which may not seem like a big deal, but say I shorten by trip by 2 days, that completely changes which pass I buy, or even if I want to make another stop. Next I on booking reservations for certain trains, mainly because you HAVE to for some (international trains) but had no luck because A) it not something you can do online and B) (this is kind of embarrassing) I have A LOT of troubles operating the phone here. I can not call out for the life of me. Maybe I will throw the train agencies an e-mail asking them to call me so I can make reservations. I don’t think that will work. Lastly, I worked on looking at which hostels would be best to stay in. I’m really excited to stay in a hostel. I don’t know why. Maybe because it is somewhat similar to living in a dorm. I wouldn’t know on either accounts, but still.
Playing with Julie really tuckered Lou out so we just hung out in the living room for the evening, watching the France version of Britain’s Got Talent. I still think Canadian Idol season with Tereasa Sorkyrka and Jacob Hoggard was probably the best talent show season ever.
We also studied a little bit for her exams that have been going on for about a month. Can you believe that already, in elementary school, age 9, they’re having exams like that? Granted, Lou does make them sound not very challenging, but I guess what I’m getting at is the pressure that they’re putting on children at a young age. It may be for the best, get them used to striving to achieve instead of merely scrap by. I don’t know, I am definitely not an expert on the topic.
Speaking of topics, pretty much all of my topics have been about children today. Odd.
Well, that’s that about that for tonight.
Ciao!
9:44 pm
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Lucid ?
Time : 9:50pm
Location : my bed
Weather : a nice 15C outside.. in my room, which had the heater on all day and damp laundry drying, it is very, very humid..
I have to tell you about a dream I had. This dream happened after I took Lou to school. I had planned on having a 20 minute nap and getting back to things. Turned out I slept for an hour and a half (wowza! Too much staying up late and working on the Project). I had a stomach and felt actually kind of really sick, almost nauseous, so I laid down on the couch for a nap.
In my dream, I had mono. I was sleeping on the couch and I could not wake up. Also, my stomach was killing me, and I thought I had a Food Borne Illness (food poisoning) from the ham ravioli last night (we actually did have ham ravioli last night..) which scared me. I’m half conscious, everything is fuzzy and out of focus. Patrick, the reno guy, is talking to me from the kitchen counter about the 8-combo-plug-in that is on the wall and how fantastic it is. All this time I’m trying to wake up, my eyes won’t open, my stomach hurts and I have mono. Then there was a really loud bang.
I woke up. For real. And my stomach hurt. And I could not tell if the loud bang was real, or in my dream. I also looked around for Patrick and he wasn’t here. That was when I realized that part (and the part about the plug-in) of the dream was not real. However, I am still left wondering if I really did wake up and look around a couple times, and I did worry a little bit if I had obtained a FBI from the ravioli..
Also, this scenario kind of makes me think of lucid dreams. If you know anything about the subject, give me a shout. We can discuss.
Crazy though, eh!!
The rest of my day was semi productive.
I spent three hours working on The Project, finished it, kind of. I encountered some difficulties are really annoying me. And I have no idea how to fix!!!!!
Then I moved on to grab a little spot of lunch. Piece of advice; even though a Quiche is not a pure egg, do not put it in the microwave. Maybe it was the Quiche, or the egg. Maybe it was that darn OPTIQUICK setting. I bet it was the OPTIQUICK. Anyways, my quiche exploded. (sad face) So I toasted some baguette with Nutella. I felt really French(..ish).
The remainder of the afternoon I scribbled away at some more personal projects and threw them in the mail.
I pretty much sprinted home from the Post Office to be able to make it in time to get Lou. Which is too bad, because there were a ton (like 6) of people out walking that were my age! I now know when to walk. 4:10pm – 4:20pm is key time for young people to be out and about.
Everyone here has dogs. They bark at me all the time when I go for a run (which is actually kind of annoying because I never remember to expect it) and it seems like EVERY single parent brings along ToTo or Spike (sorry I don’t know French dog names) to the school. Anyway, I saw a huge monster of a dog with shaggy long black hair. Instantly I thought of Sirius Black from Harry Potter. Again with the Harry Potter, I’m sorry. You never realize how often you think of certain things before you actually gather your thoughts like this.
I did not have time to put my pencil crayons away before I left and Lou spotted them when we came home. No explanation is needed for what we did for the following 2 hours.
I don’t know how I feel about the idea of me being a better artist than cook.. It sure makes me feel sorry for whoever is eating my food and not liking it. I don’t think I’m overly skilled in the art area at all.. Unless they’re little geometric doodles.
Oh! I had something very French for supper today, as a little appetizer; jambon et foie gras. Which literally is ham and fat liver. It was actually really good! The liver is made into a pate and then the ham encircles it, kind of like a weird sausage. Then you cut little rounds and break/spread them on your baguette. Mmmmm!
I recommend it!!
10:12 pm
Location : my bed
Weather : a nice 15C outside.. in my room, which had the heater on all day and damp laundry drying, it is very, very humid..
I have to tell you about a dream I had. This dream happened after I took Lou to school. I had planned on having a 20 minute nap and getting back to things. Turned out I slept for an hour and a half (wowza! Too much staying up late and working on the Project). I had a stomach and felt actually kind of really sick, almost nauseous, so I laid down on the couch for a nap.
In my dream, I had mono. I was sleeping on the couch and I could not wake up. Also, my stomach was killing me, and I thought I had a Food Borne Illness (food poisoning) from the ham ravioli last night (we actually did have ham ravioli last night..) which scared me. I’m half conscious, everything is fuzzy and out of focus. Patrick, the reno guy, is talking to me from the kitchen counter about the 8-combo-plug-in that is on the wall and how fantastic it is. All this time I’m trying to wake up, my eyes won’t open, my stomach hurts and I have mono. Then there was a really loud bang.
I woke up. For real. And my stomach hurt. And I could not tell if the loud bang was real, or in my dream. I also looked around for Patrick and he wasn’t here. That was when I realized that part (and the part about the plug-in) of the dream was not real. However, I am still left wondering if I really did wake up and look around a couple times, and I did worry a little bit if I had obtained a FBI from the ravioli..
Also, this scenario kind of makes me think of lucid dreams. If you know anything about the subject, give me a shout. We can discuss.
Crazy though, eh!!
The rest of my day was semi productive.
I spent three hours working on The Project, finished it, kind of. I encountered some difficulties are really annoying me. And I have no idea how to fix!!!!!
Then I moved on to grab a little spot of lunch. Piece of advice; even though a Quiche is not a pure egg, do not put it in the microwave. Maybe it was the Quiche, or the egg. Maybe it was that darn OPTIQUICK setting. I bet it was the OPTIQUICK. Anyways, my quiche exploded. (sad face) So I toasted some baguette with Nutella. I felt really French(..ish).
The remainder of the afternoon I scribbled away at some more personal projects and threw them in the mail.
I pretty much sprinted home from the Post Office to be able to make it in time to get Lou. Which is too bad, because there were a ton (like 6) of people out walking that were my age! I now know when to walk. 4:10pm – 4:20pm is key time for young people to be out and about.
Everyone here has dogs. They bark at me all the time when I go for a run (which is actually kind of annoying because I never remember to expect it) and it seems like EVERY single parent brings along ToTo or Spike (sorry I don’t know French dog names) to the school. Anyway, I saw a huge monster of a dog with shaggy long black hair. Instantly I thought of Sirius Black from Harry Potter. Again with the Harry Potter, I’m sorry. You never realize how often you think of certain things before you actually gather your thoughts like this.
I did not have time to put my pencil crayons away before I left and Lou spotted them when we came home. No explanation is needed for what we did for the following 2 hours.
I don’t know how I feel about the idea of me being a better artist than cook.. It sure makes me feel sorry for whoever is eating my food and not liking it. I don’t think I’m overly skilled in the art area at all.. Unless they’re little geometric doodles.
Oh! I had something very French for supper today, as a little appetizer; jambon et foie gras. Which literally is ham and fat liver. It was actually really good! The liver is made into a pate and then the ham encircles it, kind of like a weird sausage. Then you cut little rounds and break/spread them on your baguette. Mmmmm!
I recommend it!!
10:12 pm
Monday, December 6, 2010
Snails n acorns.
Time : 9:18pm
Location : the Chair
Weather : a humid 13 C..yes it is night time
It took me almost all day to get going. I just could not function. I tried to, I really did. But apart from the vacuuming and laundry, nothing.
Once the late afternoon hit, I decided to go out for a solid walk. I was out for a little more than an hour and a half, walking along my favourite path in the Hill.
I noticed something;
There are a lot of snail shells and a lot of acorns here. An odd amount. I really should have photographed some evidence, but I chose not to. A poor decision on my part.
With this bountiful amount of acorns about, I wondered, would they be good to pick up an eat, once shelled? I remembered gathering acorns from the Oak trees at school and taking them home to be roasted in the oven. But I can not remember if we picked them off of the tree or off of the ground. I feel like the ones on the ground would “not be clean” like picking apples off the ground, but also, acorns are in shells… Feedback please. Also, if you have any acorn recipes, please post!!
Oh, and I saw some goats.
When I got home I felt a zillion times better, fully energized and ready to roll! Too bad I had to roll out the door almost immediately to get Lou from school. Oh well, it’s the way she goes.
I brought along a little something to do while I wait for the class to pass, and by the end of the class I felt very productive. So productive in fact I was in a very good mood. So good, I did not mind waiting with Lou and her friend for the long lost mother to arrive 20 minutes after the class, as always.
When we returned home, something odd happened; Lou asked me for help with her homework. I see this as a forward step in our relationship. Turns out we had to do some research on comets and asteroids. Sadly all my Magic School Bus in Outer Space knowledge is stored somewhere deep within my mind, and is inaccessible due to the large amount of Bananarama lyrics that are on top. (Corner Gas reference anyone? Haha)
While Lou worked, I did some doodles and drawings with my wonderful German pencil crayons. Lou was so impressed with my incredible artistic abilities that we coloured for almost an hour.
When Marie-Anne got home, we played tag and took mirror photos while modeling my many pairs of sunglasses. Awesome.
I also managed to make the perfect amount of food for supper. Score!
Yes, today was a fine day, once I got myself going. I should have gone for a run, then washed my running clothes, but unfortunately that was not the order of events. What’s done is done though, and now it is time for me to withdraw to my room, sadly it is not in the basement, actually, we don’t have a basement. I don’t think anyone here has a basement.. I wonder why..
Speaking of houses, when you build a house in France you are only allowed to build X square feet (actually I think it is meters here) of living space (not including garage). What people do, is build a large garage, then turn it into a living room, or an office. Interesting trick of the French eh?
Back to the basement. Too bad my room is not in the basement because now I can no longer scoot away and exclaim “I’m going into my cave!!!” which is one of my favourite lines to throw around at home. I could replace Cave with Lair though…
Well, time to withdraw into the Lair and work on the Project.. hah hah hah..
9:39 pm
Location : the Chair
Weather : a humid 13 C..yes it is night time
It took me almost all day to get going. I just could not function. I tried to, I really did. But apart from the vacuuming and laundry, nothing.
Once the late afternoon hit, I decided to go out for a solid walk. I was out for a little more than an hour and a half, walking along my favourite path in the Hill.
I noticed something;
There are a lot of snail shells and a lot of acorns here. An odd amount. I really should have photographed some evidence, but I chose not to. A poor decision on my part.
 |
| gooooaaattttt with a bell :) |
With this bountiful amount of acorns about, I wondered, would they be good to pick up an eat, once shelled? I remembered gathering acorns from the Oak trees at school and taking them home to be roasted in the oven. But I can not remember if we picked them off of the tree or off of the ground. I feel like the ones on the ground would “not be clean” like picking apples off the ground, but also, acorns are in shells… Feedback please. Also, if you have any acorn recipes, please post!!
Oh, and I saw some goats.
When I got home I felt a zillion times better, fully energized and ready to roll! Too bad I had to roll out the door almost immediately to get Lou from school. Oh well, it’s the way she goes.
I brought along a little something to do while I wait for the class to pass, and by the end of the class I felt very productive. So productive in fact I was in a very good mood. So good, I did not mind waiting with Lou and her friend for the long lost mother to arrive 20 minutes after the class, as always.
When we returned home, something odd happened; Lou asked me for help with her homework. I see this as a forward step in our relationship. Turns out we had to do some research on comets and asteroids. Sadly all my Magic School Bus in Outer Space knowledge is stored somewhere deep within my mind, and is inaccessible due to the large amount of Bananarama lyrics that are on top. (Corner Gas reference anyone? Haha)
While Lou worked, I did some doodles and drawings with my wonderful German pencil crayons. Lou was so impressed with my incredible artistic abilities that we coloured for almost an hour.
When Marie-Anne got home, we played tag and took mirror photos while modeling my many pairs of sunglasses. Awesome.
I also managed to make the perfect amount of food for supper. Score!
 |
| kewl catz |
Yes, today was a fine day, once I got myself going. I should have gone for a run, then washed my running clothes, but unfortunately that was not the order of events. What’s done is done though, and now it is time for me to withdraw to my room, sadly it is not in the basement, actually, we don’t have a basement. I don’t think anyone here has a basement.. I wonder why..
Speaking of houses, when you build a house in France you are only allowed to build X square feet (actually I think it is meters here) of living space (not including garage). What people do, is build a large garage, then turn it into a living room, or an office. Interesting trick of the French eh?
Back to the basement. Too bad my room is not in the basement because now I can no longer scoot away and exclaim “I’m going into my cave!!!” which is one of my favourite lines to throw around at home. I could replace Cave with Lair though…
Well, time to withdraw into the Lair and work on the Project.. hah hah hah..
9:39 pm
Sunday, December 5, 2010
H.P.
Time: 9:29pm
Location : the Couch
Weather : spitting rain and a breathy breeze
Today was rather relaxing. Again.
I woke up not feeling very snappy, I had had a tough time falling asleep because of all the extra light in my room. For some reason the ON light from the stereo was extra luminescence and even though my shutters were well closed as every night, a ton of moonlight was spilling into my room, reminding me of the story of a classical composer that copied his music by the light of the moon, giving him very poor eye sight.
I did go out for a quick run in the rain. I quite enjoy running in the rain. I do not know why. It is very refreshing and even though you feel very hot from your layers, you still feel very cool.
Nobody in the house (Marie-Anne, Lou or Pierre) could wrap their head around the fact that I like the rain. I don’t think many people in southern France enjoy weather that inhibits their relaxing lifestyle. Examples: rainy days making the outdoors less pleasurable and the snow bringing everything to a halt. One must not cramp the ‘style of a southern French man, as I always say (as of now..).
There were no cooking adventures today. Boo hoo.
I spent the rest of the afternoon in my room, planning out the trip to Germany for the holidays. After about an hour and a half of planning with my counterpart via Skype, we discovered we were not on the same page.. of the calendar. I’m not saying that the trip is cancelled, not at all, for me at least. I will definitely still be exiting the country to visit my German friends as well as my French ami, my plans are just a little different now (maybe). We did start some new potential plans (if I get a week or two off during the winter break in February) to visit Spain. Again, this plan is merely an egg, the plan is not even hatched.
I needed to stretch my legs, and as the fitness campaign here says; Mange! Bouge!. I had eaten, and now I needed to move. So I headed outside, in my beloved brown raincoat, for a walk.
I started off the general route, on my way to down town, but I decided to see if anything was popping at the Sports Complex. As always, the lights were off. Unless there are some kind of meditation in the dark, or dodge ball in the dark classes that I am missing out on, nothing goes on in that complex. Ever.
My route, now lengthened, took me through the heart of Luynes. I looked to my right and saw a road I had never walked on before, so I veered right. (Please note, that while I was walking this new territory, all in my mind I was narrating my adventure, in my mind, and I will do my best to copy it, from my mind, on to here)
The road appeared really European to me. The road was straight and went on forever. Maybe it was the darkness of night, or the fact that the rainy ambiance made everything glisten and the wind gave me chills. The houses looked a little older, and the trees looked slightly menacing, all curved over, sans leaves. Did I mention the road was awfully straight? And that a fence had little pokey spires on it? I felt like a Dementor (creature from Harry Potter) might swoop down on me.
Why had I not brought my camera?
I noticed I had subconsciously quickened my pace, I didn’t mind, I was out for exercise.
The road went on forever. I walked for 10 minutes before I came to an intersection. I found it very very weird. And oddly European.
I went left. The road curved up a hill and I felt a little more at ease when I saw a train go by on the hill above me. I finally had something to bear my location off of.
A side road on my right distracted me. It went wound downhill and looked a little more inviting, there were some light houses. My very active mind reminded me of a time a couple of summers ago when a group of friends and I were returning from a weekend camping trip up North. In hopes to make it to the Yukon instead of going home, we decided to take all the right turns that we could. We ended up returning a couple hours late after a pit stop in the P.A. Denny’s around 9pm. A very fond memory of mine..
Back to the present.
As I turned right, reminiscing, I found this road to be not friendly at all. Still very light, and seeming nice, I got an eerie feeling. Like a well light house with nobody in it. My mind was running wild. Then I went around the bend (on my feet, not in my mind). Right in front of me was a van like vehicle with its Hazards on. It looked like the Green Goblin from Spider Man. I promptly turned around and continued home.
I got my little bit of exercise for the evening. I felt refreshed. And my mind was tired, after all, it had ran wild for nearly an hour while I was out.
The remainder of the evening was filled with my doodling aimlessly and writing this entry.
No photos today, sorry!
9:50pm
Location : the Couch
Weather : spitting rain and a breathy breeze
Today was rather relaxing. Again.
I woke up not feeling very snappy, I had had a tough time falling asleep because of all the extra light in my room. For some reason the ON light from the stereo was extra luminescence and even though my shutters were well closed as every night, a ton of moonlight was spilling into my room, reminding me of the story of a classical composer that copied his music by the light of the moon, giving him very poor eye sight.
I did go out for a quick run in the rain. I quite enjoy running in the rain. I do not know why. It is very refreshing and even though you feel very hot from your layers, you still feel very cool.
Nobody in the house (Marie-Anne, Lou or Pierre) could wrap their head around the fact that I like the rain. I don’t think many people in southern France enjoy weather that inhibits their relaxing lifestyle. Examples: rainy days making the outdoors less pleasurable and the snow bringing everything to a halt. One must not cramp the ‘style of a southern French man, as I always say (as of now..).
There were no cooking adventures today. Boo hoo.
I spent the rest of the afternoon in my room, planning out the trip to Germany for the holidays. After about an hour and a half of planning with my counterpart via Skype, we discovered we were not on the same page.. of the calendar. I’m not saying that the trip is cancelled, not at all, for me at least. I will definitely still be exiting the country to visit my German friends as well as my French ami, my plans are just a little different now (maybe). We did start some new potential plans (if I get a week or two off during the winter break in February) to visit Spain. Again, this plan is merely an egg, the plan is not even hatched.
I needed to stretch my legs, and as the fitness campaign here says; Mange! Bouge!. I had eaten, and now I needed to move. So I headed outside, in my beloved brown raincoat, for a walk.
I started off the general route, on my way to down town, but I decided to see if anything was popping at the Sports Complex. As always, the lights were off. Unless there are some kind of meditation in the dark, or dodge ball in the dark classes that I am missing out on, nothing goes on in that complex. Ever.
My route, now lengthened, took me through the heart of Luynes. I looked to my right and saw a road I had never walked on before, so I veered right. (Please note, that while I was walking this new territory, all in my mind I was narrating my adventure, in my mind, and I will do my best to copy it, from my mind, on to here)
The road appeared really European to me. The road was straight and went on forever. Maybe it was the darkness of night, or the fact that the rainy ambiance made everything glisten and the wind gave me chills. The houses looked a little older, and the trees looked slightly menacing, all curved over, sans leaves. Did I mention the road was awfully straight? And that a fence had little pokey spires on it? I felt like a Dementor (creature from Harry Potter) might swoop down on me.
Why had I not brought my camera?
I noticed I had subconsciously quickened my pace, I didn’t mind, I was out for exercise.
The road went on forever. I walked for 10 minutes before I came to an intersection. I found it very very weird. And oddly European.
I went left. The road curved up a hill and I felt a little more at ease when I saw a train go by on the hill above me. I finally had something to bear my location off of.
A side road on my right distracted me. It went wound downhill and looked a little more inviting, there were some light houses. My very active mind reminded me of a time a couple of summers ago when a group of friends and I were returning from a weekend camping trip up North. In hopes to make it to the Yukon instead of going home, we decided to take all the right turns that we could. We ended up returning a couple hours late after a pit stop in the P.A. Denny’s around 9pm. A very fond memory of mine..
Back to the present.
As I turned right, reminiscing, I found this road to be not friendly at all. Still very light, and seeming nice, I got an eerie feeling. Like a well light house with nobody in it. My mind was running wild. Then I went around the bend (on my feet, not in my mind). Right in front of me was a van like vehicle with its Hazards on. It looked like the Green Goblin from Spider Man. I promptly turned around and continued home.
I got my little bit of exercise for the evening. I felt refreshed. And my mind was tired, after all, it had ran wild for nearly an hour while I was out.
The remainder of the evening was filled with my doodling aimlessly and writing this entry.
No photos today, sorry!
9:50pm
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Julia.
Time : 9:45 pm
Location : My spot on the couch
Weather : very agreeable, although it was tad chillier than normal today
One of my favourite things about Saturdays, are how I can wake up whenever I want, but I still get up at a respectable time.
An interesting bit of the morning, also a very small amount of the morning, was spent in the kitchen wit h Marie-Anne. I learned how to make Beouf Bourguignon. It is actually really simple.
You start with a little bit of olive oil and some chopped up onions in the bottom of the pot (in our case, the pressure cooker). Next you throw in the pieces of beef so they can start to brown. Once they are nicely browned, you put in a couple carrots (sliced into rounds), two bay leaves and some garlic cloves (whole). The sauce is actually just wine. The kind of wine is Bourguinon, hence the name. We also put in some flour to thicken it, along with some salt and pepper to season. We did add some water just so there would be some more sauce. We sealed the lid on and left it on the stove on a low setting. A couple hours later, paired with some potatoes, we had a delicious lunch.
Lou and Marie-Anne headed out to see a Christmas show for the afternoon and Pierre went off somewhere himself. I headed to down town Luynes to catch a bus to go to Aix for the afternoon. Unfortunately I did not know that I have to hail a bus like you would a taxi, and it passed right by. Welcome to France.
This little learning experience gave me some time to check out the Téléthon that was going on in the town square. There were a few tables with little crafts for sale, along with tons of baking that I was tempted to buy. While I was there, a girl, Chloé, was on stage singing. This kid has an amazing pair of pipes. Even with the extremely sore throat, that was evident, you can hear the raw talent coming out of her raw throat. Wonderful.
Please note that I made it to and from Aix, driving, without getting lost, turned around or in any kind of mishap. Although this is a plus for me, sadly it does not end with a funny story.
Since I did not take the bus, I no longer had time to stroll around a certain art gallery I had wanted to visit. Thankfully the collection will be around until mid-January, I’m in no rush.
The movie I went to see was Pitoche. Set in the late 70s, an aging housewife takes over her husband’s umbrella factory while he is ill. The rest of the movie revolves around her realising there is more to life than being a housewife and trying to break the way for women in the working world, keeping in mind this was set in 1977-1979. Also a French film, I doubt anyone reading is going to watch it, so I’ll reveal the spoiler (if you are intending, skip to next paragraph now). While working through her divorce she becomes inclined to run for Office. And thus becomes the first female president of France.
I do not know if this story was based off of someone’s life or not, either way, it was very good. It was funny, but also had it’s serious moments. I was also the youngest person in the theatre, by at least a decade. But hey, that’s what you get for going to a movie in mid-afternoon right? Haha, just kidding. Throwin’ some humour around ok?
Before heading into the theatre, I was feeling rather lethargic, and was afraid of falling asleep, so I headed to the concession to get a coffee. You know you’re in France when you order a Café and get a little cup of espresso. What was I thinking I was going to get a cup of coffee? End of story.
Upon returning home, I learned how to make a Quiche, which is also fairly French. It is also fairly simple, so I will skip the recipe part and just let you know that is ridiculously delicious and I am going to make them ALL THE TIME. When I feel inclined.
Enjoying some piano and incense, I am in the living room and bringing my day to a close.
A positive aspect of me missing the bus, I was able to return home and get my camera, and now you will be able to enjoy a couple of photos of Aix during the winter months fully decked out in Christmas lights.
10:12 pm
Location : My spot on the couch
Weather : very agreeable, although it was tad chillier than normal today
One of my favourite things about Saturdays, are how I can wake up whenever I want, but I still get up at a respectable time.
An interesting bit of the morning, also a very small amount of the morning, was spent in the kitchen wit h Marie-Anne. I learned how to make Beouf Bourguignon. It is actually really simple.
 |
| en route to Aix |
You start with a little bit of olive oil and some chopped up onions in the bottom of the pot (in our case, the pressure cooker). Next you throw in the pieces of beef so they can start to brown. Once they are nicely browned, you put in a couple carrots (sliced into rounds), two bay leaves and some garlic cloves (whole). The sauce is actually just wine. The kind of wine is Bourguinon, hence the name. We also put in some flour to thicken it, along with some salt and pepper to season. We did add some water just so there would be some more sauce. We sealed the lid on and left it on the stove on a low setting. A couple hours later, paired with some potatoes, we had a delicious lunch.
 |
| carousel |
This little learning experience gave me some time to check out the Téléthon that was going on in the town square. There were a few tables with little crafts for sale, along with tons of baking that I was tempted to buy. While I was there, a girl, Chloé, was on stage singing. This kid has an amazing pair of pipes. Even with the extremely sore throat, that was evident, you can hear the raw talent coming out of her raw throat. Wonderful.
Please note that I made it to and from Aix, driving, without getting lost, turned around or in any kind of mishap. Although this is a plus for me, sadly it does not end with a funny story.
 |
| Christmas Market |
The movie I went to see was Pitoche. Set in the late 70s, an aging housewife takes over her husband’s umbrella factory while he is ill. The rest of the movie revolves around her realising there is more to life than being a housewife and trying to break the way for women in the working world, keeping in mind this was set in 1977-1979. Also a French film, I doubt anyone reading is going to watch it, so I’ll reveal the spoiler (if you are intending, skip to next paragraph now). While working through her divorce she becomes inclined to run for Office. And thus becomes the first female president of France.
 |
| the fountain |
Before heading into the theatre, I was feeling rather lethargic, and was afraid of falling asleep, so I headed to the concession to get a coffee. You know you’re in France when you order a Café and get a little cup of espresso. What was I thinking I was going to get a cup of coffee? End of story.
 |
| rides for the children |
Enjoying some piano and incense, I am in the living room and bringing my day to a close.
A positive aspect of me missing the bus, I was able to return home and get my camera, and now you will be able to enjoy a couple of photos of Aix during the winter months fully decked out in Christmas lights.
10:12 pm
 |
| Lights everywhere |
why,why,why.
Time : 9:53pm
Location : The Chair, enjoying live piano
Weather : Apparently cold, I thought it was pretty nice..
I was wiped this morning. Zero energy.
I spent a good hour and a half trying to figure out the most economical way to tour Germany; Rail Pass or individual tickets. I’m leaning more towards the tickets, but I found a pass that may be cheap enough to equal out the trouble of buying many tickets. I had a killer headache from all the thinking and started to doubt myself on being able to plan this trip.
I think I have now learnt quite a bit of German and a little bit of Dutch.
Eventually I dragged myself out for a run. Half way through I decided to go exploring and work out with some intervals. I ended up staying out 20 minutes longer than I had planned. I have no idea how I kept running the whole time.
I had also planned on doing a bunch of housework to kill away the afternoon, but I could not find anything to do once I had swept and cleaned the general areas. I would have cleaned Lou’s room, but we need to do that together. Otherwise precious items will be misplaced and I do not want to have to deal with that.
I ended up going for a rather long walk. I tried not to walk on any roads that I normally walk along. I saw some very pretty houses I never knew existed. When I left the house the sky was a bright blue with the odd clouds. Halfway through the walk the sky got nasty and filled with huge rolling storm clouds. They seemed to be coming from the direction of Marseille and I was worried we were going to get horribly stormed on tonight. I was almost home when I looked up at the sky again. Everything had gone dark, and the sky was all grey. This reminded me of the day in ODS when Kim told us that the time it rains is when the clouds are low and all grey, no definition between them. Then I remembered the day while driving with Marissa and the sky was just like that, only there was no rain, just as I started saying how Kim taught us wrong, the hugest rain drop of my life landed smack dap in the middle of the windshield. Right then, I was sprinkled on, so I ran home.
The evening was not overly exciting. The most I got up to was finding out how to cook celeriac. I chose a dish that looked simple enough. But somehow I messed it up to the max.
- Lou doesn’t like celeriac, I was doomed from the start
- I’m used to cooking for people who actually eat. Aka I made wayyy too much rice
- It was the wrong rice, again. All sticky and not granular. Why don’t I learn!!
- I thought we ate simple one dish meals, not multi dish meals on weeknights. I guess Friday is not a weeknight..
I’m in a bitter mood now.
On the plus side, I discovered two more kinds of cheese. Both of which I forget the name, and I am too tired to go check in the fridge.
I also have a stomach ache.
I’m just going to call it quits for the night. Haha
10:16 pm
 |
| cool house (from yesterday) |
Weather : Apparently cold, I thought it was pretty nice..
I was wiped this morning. Zero energy.
I spent a good hour and a half trying to figure out the most economical way to tour Germany; Rail Pass or individual tickets. I’m leaning more towards the tickets, but I found a pass that may be cheap enough to equal out the trouble of buying many tickets. I had a killer headache from all the thinking and started to doubt myself on being able to plan this trip.
 |
| Not a house, but still cool (from yesterday) |
Eventually I dragged myself out for a run. Half way through I decided to go exploring and work out with some intervals. I ended up staying out 20 minutes longer than I had planned. I have no idea how I kept running the whole time.
I had also planned on doing a bunch of housework to kill away the afternoon, but I could not find anything to do once I had swept and cleaned the general areas. I would have cleaned Lou’s room, but we need to do that together. Otherwise precious items will be misplaced and I do not want to have to deal with that.
 |
| Awesome trees (from yesterday) |
 |
| More trees, still awesome though (and from yesterday too) |
I ended up going for a rather long walk. I tried not to walk on any roads that I normally walk along. I saw some very pretty houses I never knew existed. When I left the house the sky was a bright blue with the odd clouds. Halfway through the walk the sky got nasty and filled with huge rolling storm clouds. They seemed to be coming from the direction of Marseille and I was worried we were going to get horribly stormed on tonight. I was almost home when I looked up at the sky again. Everything had gone dark, and the sky was all grey. This reminded me of the day in ODS when Kim told us that the time it rains is when the clouds are low and all grey, no definition between them. Then I remembered the day while driving with Marissa and the sky was just like that, only there was no rain, just as I started saying how Kim taught us wrong, the hugest rain drop of my life landed smack dap in the middle of the windshield. Right then, I was sprinkled on, so I ran home.
The evening was not overly exciting. The most I got up to was finding out how to cook celeriac. I chose a dish that looked simple enough. But somehow I messed it up to the max.
 |
| a very intense scene |
- Lou doesn’t like celeriac, I was doomed from the start
- I’m used to cooking for people who actually eat. Aka I made wayyy too much rice
- It was the wrong rice, again. All sticky and not granular. Why don’t I learn!!
- I thought we ate simple one dish meals, not multi dish meals on weeknights. I guess Friday is not a weeknight..
I’m in a bitter mood now.
On the plus side, I discovered two more kinds of cheese. Both of which I forget the name, and I am too tired to go check in the fridge.
I also have a stomach ache.
I’m just going to call it quits for the night. Haha
10:16 pm
 |
| Moments before Kim was right. |
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Magnetic.
Location : The Chair
Weather : Apparently double jacket weather..
I finally made it to yoga today. But before that..
I had a relatively productive morning. I went to the town hall, which is more like a small office, and checked out some of the fliers they have there. I left with a bunch. My next move is to write down all of the events on my calendar so I always know what is going on around town and in Aix.
I also stopped by the post office to check out some stuff. I almost bought a cook book for 5 euros. It looked so good. Everything super tasty. But now that I look back, it definitely was better that I did not. I’ll tell you why later on.
Today the reno guy was jamming out to No Doubt (Gwen Stefani’s old band) for half an hour. I found it relatively amusing, and hence the comment.
I also made a killer mochachino. I figured out how to make steamed milk without an espresso maker. All you have to do is put it in a jar or something, shake it vigorously for 30 seconds, microwave it on OPTIQUICK for 40 seconds, and there you go. You can pour the milk into your cup and them spoon the foam on top once you are done mixing it all up. Excellence in a cup.
After school, Lou and I spent about 40 minutes arranging all the English words on the fridge. We even missed the night’s episode of Grey’s Anatomy. We were enthralled. I wrote a message, as you will see, and found a way to teach Lou English!
I made oven roasted garlic potatoes for supper. Along with some kabobs I found in the freezer. It all looked so delicious.
I have never eaten artichokes before. I was slightly intimidated by the massive mass of vegetable that sat on my plate. I picked off a “leaf” and popped it in my mouth. Lou looked at me like I was an alien. I’m very used to this look so I thought nothing of it, I got it the other night when she found out I eat the kiwi skin. She commented “You eat that too.” Again, referencing to the kiwis. I slowly took the “leaf” out of my mouth and said, “I have no idea if I do.” This is when I learned that although artichokes are slightly intimidating, they are not substantial food providers. All you do is nibble off the end of the leaves, after you dunk them in some kind of mustard sauce Marie-Anne whipped up.
My potatoes were a HUGE hit. Thank you Mom for making me love them as a kid, even though I did not like potatoes at the time. Lou said I should open a restaurant, which I found to be an odd comment for not 5 minutes before that she was explaining how she is not picky, she just does not like “weird food” (accented with a little eyebrow raise and look in my direction that I pretended not to notice).
Lou’s in bed, my day is pretty much done. I actually took photos today, as you can see.
Hope you enjoyed all o’ this!
9:10pm
PS once I got to adding the photos, I was having troubles arranging them, kind of the same problems you get with Microsoft word when things move to their own accord for no apparent reason.. Sorry for the disorganisation and unappealing-ness. :(
I did not put up all the photos, saved some for tomorrow in case I don't take any haha
 |
| mornin walk |
Time : 8:43 pm
Location : The Chair
Weather : Apparently double jacket weather..
I finally made it to yoga today. But before that..
I had a relatively productive morning. I went to the town hall, which is more like a small office, and checked out some of the fliers they have there. I left with a bunch. My next move is to write down all of the events on my calendar so I always know what is going on around town and in Aix.
 |
| always gettin distracted by that mirror.. |
Today the reno guy was jamming out to No Doubt (Gwen Stefani’s old band) for half an hour. I found it relatively amusing, and hence the comment.
 |
| headin down town |
 |
| rectangular square |
So yoga class. The one thing it did for me was make me miss going to classes at One Yoga. I’m used to having 30 some people in a relatively small room, doing what I think is Hot Yoga. As in it gets really hot and you really pu sh yourself beyond your limitations. This was quite the opposite. There were three of us. The woman that ran it was nice, very considerate to how I sometimes got mixed up with the directions (Yoga in French, a good learning experience). Apart from us, there was one other person. It didn’t seem like anyone was missing either. We went very slowly. So slowly I couldn’t breath slow enough to keep my breaths in time. We did not go through many motions, or stances. We mainly worked on stretching out our backs. It really did not help that fact that I was the youngest by at least 40 years. At the end of the class, instead of feeling exhausted, nice and loosened up, relaxed, and sweaty, I felt like I had stretched my vocabulary and not my limbs. I was kind of disappointed. This was a trial class for me, and that is all I’m going to do from the place. Oh well.
 |
| a produce shop |
I should have gone for a run after, but I did not. Instead I worked on The Project. I hope you all are happy to know that I made an incredible amount of progress, and have over come some major obstacles. I am well on my way to producing a master piece of this Project.
I also made a killer mochachino. I figured out how to make steamed milk without an espresso maker. All you have to do is put it in a jar or something, shake it vigorously for 30 seconds, microwave it on OPTIQUICK for 40 seconds, and there you go. You can pour the milk into your cup and them spoon the foam on top once you are done mixing it all up. Excellence in a cup.
After school, Lou and I spent about 40 minutes arranging all the English words on the fridge. We even missed the night’s episode of Grey’s Anatomy. We were enthralled. I wrote a message, as you will see, and found a way to teach Lou English!
 |
| most of down town |
Lou lost a tooth today. I was really worried she was going to be unhappy or scared about it, even though it was not her first tooth, but it went over well. Until her mom got home, then it started to hurt. That’s jus the way it goes sometimes.
I made oven roasted garlic potatoes for supper. Along with some kabobs I found in the freezer. It all looked so delicious.
 |
| pretty much all of downtown |
 |
| going out of town |
Then Marie-Anne got home and popped some artichokes in the pressure cooker. I was worried that she had not seen that I had started supper already. Well, she had, but she did not see the kabobs. Apparently they do not eat a lot of meat on weeknights. I still do not know why. They seem to prefer eating pieces of deli meat with baguette and cheese. It seems very French to me.
 |
| also going out of town.. |
 |
| Our work |
My potatoes were a HUGE hit. Thank you Mom for making me love them as a kid, even though I did not like potatoes at the time. Lou said I should open a restaurant, which I found to be an odd comment for not 5 minutes before that she was explaining how she is not picky, she just does not like “weird food” (accented with a little eyebrow raise and look in my direction that I pretended not to notice).
Hope you enjoyed all o’ this!
9:10pm
PS once I got to adding the photos, I was having troubles arranging them, kind of the same problems you get with Microsoft word when things move to their own accord for no apparent reason.. Sorry for the disorganisation and unappealing-ness. :(
I did not put up all the photos, saved some for tomorrow in case I don't take any haha
 |
| my message |
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