Ok, so I just finished putting up the Paris photos. It took me two hours (oh my goodness) and yes. That is all I am going to do tonight. My forhead/eyebrows are cramping up from what I guess is me tensing my forhead/eyebrows because I am so deeply concentrated on getting those photos done (and because it keeps me from falling asleep..) But, as my mom always told me: if you keep making that face, someday it'll stay that way. I really don't want to have a perma-tensed forhead for the rest of my life, and I would much rather not have my eyebrows knit together either, as i'm sure you are all on my side on this one. So, check back in the morning, really early morning for you, and I promise to throw up my entry and photos before I do anything else with my day.
Ciao.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
barbra,barbra,barbra,barbra
Time : 11:58pm
Location : my room
Weather : nice enough
This morning went very well for me. Apart from being ridiculously tired in the morning that is. Usually once I get home and have gotten into getting things done, I feel better, or at least somewhat awake. Today however, I still felt like my eyes were half closed and my brain still on sleep mode. So I took a nap.
It was a productive nap. Some naps just make you feel more tired or worse than you were before, and end up being a waste of time. This nap was a good one, where I wake up feeling like I had actually slept and recuperated myself into being ready to be gung-ho for whatever was to come.
In today’s case, that would be a lot of ironing. I feel as if there are clothes that are always being washed, but then once they are dry Marie-Anne stashes them somewhere and waits until there is a huge mound for me to iron. I’m pretty sure I’ve got the ironing down pat, as long as there aren’t any complicated folds or pleats in the fabric, but apparently my folding is not up to snuff. Today somebody instructed me that I was folding the long sleeve shirts wrong. Apparently long sleeve shirts can be folded wrong. Who knew.
I was hoping that the sun would come out today, but well, it didn’t. That kind of ruined my plan to wait across the street from the bus stop, basking in the sun while leaning against the wall, like a lizard, then to scamper across to the stop once the bus came around the corner. I was really looking forward to being a lizard today. Instead, I went to the stop before that to wait with Evelin.
The non-lizard me saw Evelin being tormented by the local Yorkshire Terrier (I’ll call it Yorky). I summoned Yorky with a click of my tongue then engaged in a tough-dog growl off in the middle of the street. Baring my menacing fangs, I won. When Evelin asked what I said to it to make it run away, I said: I growled. I don’t know why she was surprised.
Instead of having our class at the school today, we went to Lisa’s apartment for her presentation. Her theme was American baking. It was the best presentation ever! Pretty much all we did was hang out in her incredibly well decorated apartment (she is an interior designer, so yes, it was like hanging out in a magazine) and baked. We made chocolate chip cookies (turned out SO WELL) and some chocolate cupcakes (although we accidentally added a ½ c too much flour, still so delicious) with peanut butter and coconut milk icing. Plus, she had some appetizers out for us which were three kinds of dips: a chevre cheese and red pepper dip, guacamole made with feta and then a raw salmon with sesame seed chunky dip. Oh! These dips were to die for (even the red pepper one and I am no fan of chevre!)! And I can not forget the refreshing fresh squeezed mint-lime-onade she made. Lisa is incredibly talented not only with decorating, but also with entertaining from the atmosphere to the food! It was an excellent afternoon.
She even gave me some cookies for the road! It was so kind of her!
After school Lou and I just hung out until her dad came to get her. I spent the early evening writing replies to the letters my brothers sent me in mail. Dang, I ruined the surprise. Oh well.
I made the best supper for myself since everyone else was gone. Penne Bolognese with extra basil in the sauce as well as sautéed onion and garlic with the meat. I have to keep in mind that that is an easy single serving meal.
Eventually Evelin came over and we watched the Barbra Streisand movie The Way We Were. It was ok. I was kind of on the edge of my seat (metaphorically because I was actually lounged out on the couch) the whole time waiting for something disastrous to occur in the plot line, but it never happened. I felt like I was stuck in the middle of watching a very happy movie and one where nothing works out ever. Which, now that I think of it, is exactly what that movie was. I find those movies almost tiring to watch, especially when they’re seven minutes away from being two hours long.
Phew, am I glad to get to bed.
12:23 am
Location : my room
Weather : nice enough
This morning went very well for me. Apart from being ridiculously tired in the morning that is. Usually once I get home and have gotten into getting things done, I feel better, or at least somewhat awake. Today however, I still felt like my eyes were half closed and my brain still on sleep mode. So I took a nap.
It was a productive nap. Some naps just make you feel more tired or worse than you were before, and end up being a waste of time. This nap was a good one, where I wake up feeling like I had actually slept and recuperated myself into being ready to be gung-ho for whatever was to come.
In today’s case, that would be a lot of ironing. I feel as if there are clothes that are always being washed, but then once they are dry Marie-Anne stashes them somewhere and waits until there is a huge mound for me to iron. I’m pretty sure I’ve got the ironing down pat, as long as there aren’t any complicated folds or pleats in the fabric, but apparently my folding is not up to snuff. Today somebody instructed me that I was folding the long sleeve shirts wrong. Apparently long sleeve shirts can be folded wrong. Who knew.
I was hoping that the sun would come out today, but well, it didn’t. That kind of ruined my plan to wait across the street from the bus stop, basking in the sun while leaning against the wall, like a lizard, then to scamper across to the stop once the bus came around the corner. I was really looking forward to being a lizard today. Instead, I went to the stop before that to wait with Evelin.
The non-lizard me saw Evelin being tormented by the local Yorkshire Terrier (I’ll call it Yorky). I summoned Yorky with a click of my tongue then engaged in a tough-dog growl off in the middle of the street. Baring my menacing fangs, I won. When Evelin asked what I said to it to make it run away, I said: I growled. I don’t know why she was surprised.
Instead of having our class at the school today, we went to Lisa’s apartment for her presentation. Her theme was American baking. It was the best presentation ever! Pretty much all we did was hang out in her incredibly well decorated apartment (she is an interior designer, so yes, it was like hanging out in a magazine) and baked. We made chocolate chip cookies (turned out SO WELL) and some chocolate cupcakes (although we accidentally added a ½ c too much flour, still so delicious) with peanut butter and coconut milk icing. Plus, she had some appetizers out for us which were three kinds of dips: a chevre cheese and red pepper dip, guacamole made with feta and then a raw salmon with sesame seed chunky dip. Oh! These dips were to die for (even the red pepper one and I am no fan of chevre!)! And I can not forget the refreshing fresh squeezed mint-lime-onade she made. Lisa is incredibly talented not only with decorating, but also with entertaining from the atmosphere to the food! It was an excellent afternoon.
She even gave me some cookies for the road! It was so kind of her!
After school Lou and I just hung out until her dad came to get her. I spent the early evening writing replies to the letters my brothers sent me in mail. Dang, I ruined the surprise. Oh well.
I made the best supper for myself since everyone else was gone. Penne Bolognese with extra basil in the sauce as well as sautéed onion and garlic with the meat. I have to keep in mind that that is an easy single serving meal.
Eventually Evelin came over and we watched the Barbra Streisand movie The Way We Were. It was ok. I was kind of on the edge of my seat (metaphorically because I was actually lounged out on the couch) the whole time waiting for something disastrous to occur in the plot line, but it never happened. I felt like I was stuck in the middle of watching a very happy movie and one where nothing works out ever. Which, now that I think of it, is exactly what that movie was. I find those movies almost tiring to watch, especially when they’re seven minutes away from being two hours long.
Phew, am I glad to get to bed.
12:23 am
Thursday, February 10, 2011
thought funnel.
Time : 8:47 pm
Location : kitchen counter
Weather : not cold at all
One morning, while very groggy and thoroughly enjoying the rushed morning affair of getting off to school that I did not (for once) have to participate in, some words came out of my mouth:
Today’s vision is blinded by the everyday.
I don’t know who was more surprised; myself, who was still half asleep or anyone who happened to hear me.
This morning, while enjoying my tea outside, those words came back into my mind. Mainly because I noticed something. For some reason, I had become very aware of this one extremely green bush by the pool. I can’t imagine how many times I have (over)looked this bush, but today, it was all I could see. So green, so leafy, really quite a beautiful bush. I felt kind of bad that I had never taken the time to notice how gorgeous this bush was and began to wonder how many other things my eyes had been missing out on. However, with no tea left and many things to do before Evelin arrived, I did not wonder long.
Evelin and I had planned to have a French study session filled with crepes. Technically the crepes were just really small pancakes, but still delicious (recipe from home, oh yeah) and the study session was me explaining French verbs.
I think my one weakness with French (for the moment) is that I over think my verbs. With all this knowledge swirling in my mind, I try to think about the best way to say or write something. All the rules get jammed up while I try to sift out an actual idea from my head to paper/mouth and so on.
Not to help the fact of this jam session going on in my mind, I think I have a head cold. Quite literally too. I am more than convinced that I am sick, but the only symptoms I can find all come from my head, and no, not just cold symptoms, they are surprisingly not present.
Our class today was on more grammar. And guess what the main focus was? Formulating sentences using articulators. Not easy if you can barely assemble your own thoughts. I was glad to leave for once and get on the ridiculously bumpy ride home.
I was really thirsty.
Afterschool Lou and I worked on some English studying. I swear all I did today was scholarly activities. The evening was cut in an odd way since Marie-Anne came home early thus we ate oddly early. The later cut was when we went to the train station to send her off to Paris. Lou and I got back usually at the time when we’re eating. It was weird. Like we didn’t know what to do with ourselves. Thankfully we’re easily entertained people, at times.
This time passed and here I am.
9:04 pm
Location : kitchen counter
Weather : not cold at all
One morning, while very groggy and thoroughly enjoying the rushed morning affair of getting off to school that I did not (for once) have to participate in, some words came out of my mouth:
Today’s vision is blinded by the everyday.
I don’t know who was more surprised; myself, who was still half asleep or anyone who happened to hear me.
This morning, while enjoying my tea outside, those words came back into my mind. Mainly because I noticed something. For some reason, I had become very aware of this one extremely green bush by the pool. I can’t imagine how many times I have (over)looked this bush, but today, it was all I could see. So green, so leafy, really quite a beautiful bush. I felt kind of bad that I had never taken the time to notice how gorgeous this bush was and began to wonder how many other things my eyes had been missing out on. However, with no tea left and many things to do before Evelin arrived, I did not wonder long.
Evelin and I had planned to have a French study session filled with crepes. Technically the crepes were just really small pancakes, but still delicious (recipe from home, oh yeah) and the study session was me explaining French verbs.
I think my one weakness with French (for the moment) is that I over think my verbs. With all this knowledge swirling in my mind, I try to think about the best way to say or write something. All the rules get jammed up while I try to sift out an actual idea from my head to paper/mouth and so on.
Not to help the fact of this jam session going on in my mind, I think I have a head cold. Quite literally too. I am more than convinced that I am sick, but the only symptoms I can find all come from my head, and no, not just cold symptoms, they are surprisingly not present.
Our class today was on more grammar. And guess what the main focus was? Formulating sentences using articulators. Not easy if you can barely assemble your own thoughts. I was glad to leave for once and get on the ridiculously bumpy ride home.
I was really thirsty.
Afterschool Lou and I worked on some English studying. I swear all I did today was scholarly activities. The evening was cut in an odd way since Marie-Anne came home early thus we ate oddly early. The later cut was when we went to the train station to send her off to Paris. Lou and I got back usually at the time when we’re eating. It was weird. Like we didn’t know what to do with ourselves. Thankfully we’re easily entertained people, at times.
This time passed and here I am.
9:04 pm
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
brain fart my mind.
Time : 9:05pm
Location : the Chair
Weather : I am so cold.
Everyone here is sick.
Including me.
I woke up this morning and just felt bad. At that point in my day I was not fully sick, just bad.
I took advantage of Lou’s sleeping in habit on Wednesdays to get some research done for my upcoming Spain trip. Oh wait, is this news? If it is, great! If not, well, surprise? Yes, come the end of February, I will be setting off again for other lands, this time with a companion. I’ll leave that much in the dark, for now.
Neither of the two of us seemed to have much, if any, get up and go today, yet somehow we got to gymnastics with time to spare.
As usual, I took some time during gymnastics to walk down town. By the time I got home I was literally dragging myself through the door. I had lost all my energy in exchange in exchange for a mix of slight nausea and a head ache. I laid back and watched some TV until I had to leave to get Lou.
Getting up and out made me feel a little better, but by the time we got home I was back to feeling horrible. Lou said she was not feeling well either, which kind of worried me that some kind of virus was taking over the house.
My worries for Lou dissipated as she went about looking for friends to invite over for the afternoon. I was so happy that we had success because that meant I was more or less off the hook for the afternoon. Once again, I sat down and planned out a couple days of the trip.
I’m thinking that I am going to revise thoroughly what I have marked down from today because my brain is really not functioning. All day long, I have been majorly lacking in thought processing processes. For example; I asked Lou three times how many chicken nuggets she wanted (four) and then an extra fell into the pan (making 5), which added up to there being 11 nuggets in a 10 nugget package (which apparently made sense to me) but when I served out the nuggets, there were six in the pan.
Thankfully I didn’t have to do any real cooking this evening. All I had to do was heat the potato-carrot casserole and serve out the salad. The potato-carrot casserole was absolutely delicious. It pretty much tasted like mashed yams, which was odd because the recipe originally called for yams. Speaking of which, why do we never eat mashed yams? I think they would be delicious.
And now it is after 9pm. I honestly don’t think I had enough though processes today to make this entry any better, and if I try, well, we just might not get any sense. and PS
I think I am still ill.
9:27pm
Location : the Chair
Weather : I am so cold.
Everyone here is sick.
Including me.
I woke up this morning and just felt bad. At that point in my day I was not fully sick, just bad.
I took advantage of Lou’s sleeping in habit on Wednesdays to get some research done for my upcoming Spain trip. Oh wait, is this news? If it is, great! If not, well, surprise? Yes, come the end of February, I will be setting off again for other lands, this time with a companion. I’ll leave that much in the dark, for now.
Neither of the two of us seemed to have much, if any, get up and go today, yet somehow we got to gymnastics with time to spare.
As usual, I took some time during gymnastics to walk down town. By the time I got home I was literally dragging myself through the door. I had lost all my energy in exchange in exchange for a mix of slight nausea and a head ache. I laid back and watched some TV until I had to leave to get Lou.
Getting up and out made me feel a little better, but by the time we got home I was back to feeling horrible. Lou said she was not feeling well either, which kind of worried me that some kind of virus was taking over the house.
My worries for Lou dissipated as she went about looking for friends to invite over for the afternoon. I was so happy that we had success because that meant I was more or less off the hook for the afternoon. Once again, I sat down and planned out a couple days of the trip.
I’m thinking that I am going to revise thoroughly what I have marked down from today because my brain is really not functioning. All day long, I have been majorly lacking in thought processing processes. For example; I asked Lou three times how many chicken nuggets she wanted (four) and then an extra fell into the pan (making 5), which added up to there being 11 nuggets in a 10 nugget package (which apparently made sense to me) but when I served out the nuggets, there were six in the pan.
Thankfully I didn’t have to do any real cooking this evening. All I had to do was heat the potato-carrot casserole and serve out the salad. The potato-carrot casserole was absolutely delicious. It pretty much tasted like mashed yams, which was odd because the recipe originally called for yams. Speaking of which, why do we never eat mashed yams? I think they would be delicious.
And now it is after 9pm. I honestly don’t think I had enough though processes today to make this entry any better, and if I try, well, we just might not get any sense. and PS
I think I am still ill.
9:27pm
yo wheres the BACON.
Time : 11:10pm can I get this done before my battery dies? (or before I have to get up to plug in…)
Location : sitting on my bed like a futon
Weather : although it was a balmy 24C IN THE CAR, I think we’re sitting at a more agreeable (whoa three vowels in a row!) 2C outside
Ok, just so you know, this is a sprint entry. Meaning I am going to get this done as fast as my thoughts can process from my brain through my arms onto the keyboard and BAM onto the screen (plus posting time). Thank goodness I only have one photo for today. Sorry, no Paris photos yet. I’ll keep ya posted on that one, I promise.
Today really was a productive day. I have to say I am proud of my morning.
Not only did I get all my laundry done and hanging, but I also managed to keep amazing tabs on the drying rotation of my socks on the radiator. Those puppies are like burgers; leave them too long on one side and they get a little crispy. Crispy socks are not the best, just like burgers.
I also did the weekly cleaning of Lou’s room before the cleaning woman got here, which is usually my goal for each Tuesday, and is also usually not attained because I forget, or get distracted then forget. Regardless of either way, today was a success.
I also did my little bit of homework that I neglected over the weekend: read, summarize and pick out some new vocab from a news article. Mine was not overly interesting. Apparently over aggressive and violent patients are quite the problem for Chinese doctors in China. Who knew?
I was so busy being productive this morning that I thought I missed my bus when really, I was just so on the ball that I rolled (not literally) (haha) to the bus stop early without realizing it.
I’d like to say class was extremely interesting and I have lots to say about it, but I don’t. Sorry.
After school I did more homework, verb sheets. You may think that I am behind in my work thus having homework all the time, but really, I just like to get it done. Besides, I can’t become a master of the French language if I can not mastered the art of conjugating verbs and more importantly; the subjunctive ones.
I was super pumped for the supper that I made, or was in the process of making. The potato-carrot casserole that I made only had 20 minutes of time (dead on for 8 o’clock) left in the oven when Marie-Anne came home and informed me that since today was Pierre’s birthday, we were going to go out to eat in Marseille with him. I was a little disappointed, but hey, my casserole can wait until tomorrow! LET’S GO TO BUFFALO GRILL!!
Buffalo Grill is a French restaurant that is made in what they think is an American fashion. Meaning they’re all about Cowboys & Indians with things like BISON BURGERS and CANADIAN GRILL MIX (I know eh) on the menu. Personally, I opted for the Ostrich Filet and Fries. Marie-Anne assured me that ostrich, which is a red meat (crazy!), can not be distinguished from beef. The first bite I took tasted like lake. Not lake water, but the smell of warm lake. More specifically, Lakeview pond. So my first bite wasn’t the best. But with a little BBQ sauce, I learned to love the ostrich meat.
Apparently ostrich meat is all the rage in France right now. Why? Well, not only is it low in fat and good for you, but it is also very ecologically friendly to farm and easy. Now, I’m trying to picture a semi full of ostriches going down the highway just as we see semis full of cattle, and well, the easy factor really doesn’t seem too feasible to me. I mean, where do people get these ostriches to begin with?
Oh, and my favourite part of the menu was the desserts. They had things like DONUT (with a scoop of ice cream on top, coz ya know, that’s how we do it in America), CHEESECAKE and BANANA SPLIT. Plus of course some of the more refined desserts like waffles, crepes and crème brulee. Marie-Anne and I each got a little tart of PECANE PIE, Pierre got a BROWNIE and Lou ordered from the kid menu, barbe de papa aka COTTON CANDY. Did I mention the odd western theme that was somehow able to make Montana, Minnesota and Canada seem like one?
About Marseille.
Being a port city, there are many, many people who arrive from different countries, and many, many of these people are really poor. The population is about three times as big as Saskatoon’s and the city is about twice a big, a little less because you have to account for the space taken up by the harbour areas. There are huge apartment buildings housing hundreds, maybe even up to a thousand people everywhere. Unsurprisingly the crime rates in these areas are really high. Marie-Anne said that there are areas of the city that even the police do not go into ever because they are too dangerous for them. I could not imagine living some place like that. It would be a human jungle, and that, by far, is worse than the animal jungle.
On a lighter note, when we got home, about an hour ago now, and emptied the mailbox on the way in, we found a little white package for me. I opened it very excited, and probably really giddily (seeing as I am absolutely wiped at the moment) too! Thank you to my fam jam for my birthday gifts! I’m wearing a pair of Smartwool socks right now. My feet have not felt this supported and free of moisture since I was in Berlin! Lou saw that I got socks and was appalled. She just doesn’t understand. I don’t blame her either. Never having to ever think of the possibility that yes, your toes could actually freeze off today would make getting socks for your birthday a hard concept to understand. It even took some explaining to Marie-Anne.
I read with pleasure all of the letters y’all sent and the cards. I saved the Valentine’s Day related items until the actual day comes.
Well, so much for this being a sprint entry. My eyes are burning with tiredness (no exaggeration or expression in there, it is really quite literal) so I’m going to get this up and lay me down to rest.
11:53 pm
Location : sitting on my bed like a futon
Weather : although it was a balmy 24C IN THE CAR, I think we’re sitting at a more agreeable (whoa three vowels in a row!) 2C outside
Ok, just so you know, this is a sprint entry. Meaning I am going to get this done as fast as my thoughts can process from my brain through my arms onto the keyboard and BAM onto the screen (plus posting time). Thank goodness I only have one photo for today. Sorry, no Paris photos yet. I’ll keep ya posted on that one, I promise.
Today really was a productive day. I have to say I am proud of my morning.
Not only did I get all my laundry done and hanging, but I also managed to keep amazing tabs on the drying rotation of my socks on the radiator. Those puppies are like burgers; leave them too long on one side and they get a little crispy. Crispy socks are not the best, just like burgers.
I also did the weekly cleaning of Lou’s room before the cleaning woman got here, which is usually my goal for each Tuesday, and is also usually not attained because I forget, or get distracted then forget. Regardless of either way, today was a success.
I also did my little bit of homework that I neglected over the weekend: read, summarize and pick out some new vocab from a news article. Mine was not overly interesting. Apparently over aggressive and violent patients are quite the problem for Chinese doctors in China. Who knew?
I was so busy being productive this morning that I thought I missed my bus when really, I was just so on the ball that I rolled (not literally) (haha) to the bus stop early without realizing it.
I’d like to say class was extremely interesting and I have lots to say about it, but I don’t. Sorry.
After school I did more homework, verb sheets. You may think that I am behind in my work thus having homework all the time, but really, I just like to get it done. Besides, I can’t become a master of the French language if I can not mastered the art of conjugating verbs and more importantly; the subjunctive ones.
I was super pumped for the supper that I made, or was in the process of making. The potato-carrot casserole that I made only had 20 minutes of time (dead on for 8 o’clock) left in the oven when Marie-Anne came home and informed me that since today was Pierre’s birthday, we were going to go out to eat in Marseille with him. I was a little disappointed, but hey, my casserole can wait until tomorrow! LET’S GO TO BUFFALO GRILL!!
Buffalo Grill is a French restaurant that is made in what they think is an American fashion. Meaning they’re all about Cowboys & Indians with things like BISON BURGERS and CANADIAN GRILL MIX (I know eh) on the menu. Personally, I opted for the Ostrich Filet and Fries. Marie-Anne assured me that ostrich, which is a red meat (crazy!), can not be distinguished from beef. The first bite I took tasted like lake. Not lake water, but the smell of warm lake. More specifically, Lakeview pond. So my first bite wasn’t the best. But with a little BBQ sauce, I learned to love the ostrich meat.
Apparently ostrich meat is all the rage in France right now. Why? Well, not only is it low in fat and good for you, but it is also very ecologically friendly to farm and easy. Now, I’m trying to picture a semi full of ostriches going down the highway just as we see semis full of cattle, and well, the easy factor really doesn’t seem too feasible to me. I mean, where do people get these ostriches to begin with?
Oh, and my favourite part of the menu was the desserts. They had things like DONUT (with a scoop of ice cream on top, coz ya know, that’s how we do it in America), CHEESECAKE and BANANA SPLIT. Plus of course some of the more refined desserts like waffles, crepes and crème brulee. Marie-Anne and I each got a little tart of PECANE PIE, Pierre got a BROWNIE and Lou ordered from the kid menu, barbe de papa aka COTTON CANDY. Did I mention the odd western theme that was somehow able to make Montana, Minnesota and Canada seem like one?
About Marseille.
Being a port city, there are many, many people who arrive from different countries, and many, many of these people are really poor. The population is about three times as big as Saskatoon’s and the city is about twice a big, a little less because you have to account for the space taken up by the harbour areas. There are huge apartment buildings housing hundreds, maybe even up to a thousand people everywhere. Unsurprisingly the crime rates in these areas are really high. Marie-Anne said that there are areas of the city that even the police do not go into ever because they are too dangerous for them. I could not imagine living some place like that. It would be a human jungle, and that, by far, is worse than the animal jungle.
 |
| my toes will never freeze again. and my tummy will always be filled with goodness. |
On a lighter note, when we got home, about an hour ago now, and emptied the mailbox on the way in, we found a little white package for me. I opened it very excited, and probably really giddily (seeing as I am absolutely wiped at the moment) too! Thank you to my fam jam for my birthday gifts! I’m wearing a pair of Smartwool socks right now. My feet have not felt this supported and free of moisture since I was in Berlin! Lou saw that I got socks and was appalled. She just doesn’t understand. I don’t blame her either. Never having to ever think of the possibility that yes, your toes could actually freeze off today would make getting socks for your birthday a hard concept to understand. It even took some explaining to Marie-Anne.
I read with pleasure all of the letters y’all sent and the cards. I saved the Valentine’s Day related items until the actual day comes.
Well, so much for this being a sprint entry. My eyes are burning with tiredness (no exaggeration or expression in there, it is really quite literal) so I’m going to get this up and lay me down to rest.
11:53 pm
Monday, February 7, 2011
Et Hop!
Best. Birthday. Weekend. Ever.
Friday February 4th to Sunday February 6th 2011
Birthday Weekend of Evelin and Myself
Spent in Paris.
I am now planning to turn 19 next year as well, so I can do this all again.
(Just to summarize.)
(Now to elaborate.)
Starting off with Friday, my actual birthday, it was pretty good. I got my numerous wishes through out the day from everyone I know on this side of the Earth, and also from a huge amount of you back home. Always makes my day knowing it’s my birthday.
Evelin and I went out for a nice sweet before class seeing as I did not get any cake at home. I have a feeling that birthday cakes are a North American thing. I had a delicious berry tart from Paul.
While sharing our plans for the weekend, my classmates managed to get it out of me that it was my birthday. Trust me, I definitely was not out advertising, which they made well known that they wanted otherwise. Although, if I had made it known, I think I would have had more than plenty birthday cake, which I don’t really think could have been a bad thing. Bringing closure to the day, and the week, I was serenaded in English and French and somebody had drawn a cake on the board. It was great.
Come evening, I got a letter in the mail (which always makes my day), as well as some computer hardware and a postcard that I have been waiting for. I also opened the envelope that I got a week or so ago that sure enough, held a birthday card. Thanks Gramma and Grampa!
Marie-Anne arrived home, minutes later Evelin showed up and we took off for the train station. We were a little early, but that’s never a problem. It gave me time to read my mail. Which continued to make my day better!
Our hostel, the Blue Planet Hostel, was less than a five minute walk from the Gare de Lyon, one of the many train stations in Paris and where we got off. We were greeted by a relatively friendly desk woman who gave us our keys and linen. Up on four flights of stairs, we found our room. We shared it with two other girls, but we only saw them when we would wake up in mornings, never hearing them entering during who knows when in the night. I also discovered just how literal they meant “Sheet” for linen. From my experience in hostels, you would get a cover for your mattress, one for the pillow and one for the duvet, maybe an extra sheet for in between. This was literally ONE SHEET. One enormous sheet that I had to precariously place over my mattress, pillow and cocoon myself in so I would not touch the duvet. Not that the place wasn’t clean, but I even have issues with touching the duvets in hotels. There is something about them that makes me feel icky.
Enough of that. Tired from, well, the day, which had now progressed into the tomorrow, we hit the sack.
I had another lovely surprise when we woke up and went down for breakfast (apart from the fact that our roomies had magically appeared during the night). Yes, breakfast was included, we knew that. What we did not know was that this breakfast was two kinds of croissants (one ‘regular’ and one with chocolate) that you got from a vending machine, and/or various kinds of espresso/hot chocolate/cappuccino/etc. from a drink machine of sorts. Each of which cost one token during the breakfast hours of 7:30 am to 9:00 am (oddly short time frame) and we each got three tokens for breakfast. Good, yes. What I was expecting, no.
Tid bit of information: If you ask any Parisian where the closest Carrefour is, they will look at you like you are crazy and give you directions to somewhere far, far away where someone else MIGHT be able to actually help you. Why would we think that there would even be room for a large grocery store in a city that is already filled to the brim?
We started our real Paris adventure with a market. A flea market to be exact. The Marché au Puces de St-Ouen was located in St-Ouen (neighbourhood just north of the 18th arrondissment, if you know Paris at all). I have honestly never been to a flea market before. This was something completely new for me. I felt like I was walking through a huge garage sale. Finally we got out of the used, recycled, thrown away but salvaged and now for sale area and got to where they had nice, clean clothes and other things for sale. We spent probably close to and hour and a half wandering the stalls, trying foot ware on. I almost bought a pair of Converse for five euro, but I didn’t. I still can’t decide if that was a good decision.
Champs-Élysées is probably one of the best known streets in Paris. It is full of shops ranging from Promod (everyday affordable yet chic young women’s clothing) to Louis Vuitton (does that need explaining?), cinemas, cafés, restaurants and hotels. Plus many, many tourists. On one end, you have a park that I believe is the Champs Élysées and on the other is l’Arc de Triomphe. We did not go up on top of it, so I do not have an awesome history lesson for you here (or anywhere else from this trip) but I do have a tid bit of local thoughts:
L’Arc de Triomphe is in the middle of an absolutely giant traffic circle called L’Étoile (The Star). If you look at a map, the name is very fitting. Parisians say that if you can successfully drive in and out of L’Étoile, then you can drive (in Paris). While on the topic of driving in Paris, it is not uncommon to see extremely banged up cars around (nobody drives any vehicles that are bigger). If your parking spot is not big enough for you, just nudge the one in front of you up a bit, and maybe bump the one behind you a bit so that you can fit. No joke. People actually put foam like bumper additions on their vehicles to protect them from such normality.
I should mention that my shopping for specific items has been working out in my favour. Not only am I saving myself from buying everything I see (it happens…) but I am also filling out some necessities. Through out the weekend, I was able to find my long lost denim vest, the proper color of brown legwarmers (brown and legwarmers mixed together really doesn’t sound overly fashionable now does it? Haha) and a thin leather belt that is braided (not that I was looking for something quite so specific or anything haha).
En route to viewing the Eiffel Tower, we stopped for lunch in the 16ieme l’heure de Madrid (16th hour of Madrid). Evelin and I had the most delicious meals ever! Seeing as Saturday was Evelin’s birthday, I made sure to let the waiter know. After we finished our main dishes, it was time for dessert. Out came the waiter with the dessert we ordered (it was for two) with a candle on top and singing Happy Birthday! It was spectacular! Evelin was so surprised! I loved it! She loved it! I think the waiter rather enjoyed it too! Happy Birthday to us all!
Once we got our views in of the Eiffel Tower (no, we did not go up that either, it was cloudy, and there really is not much point if it is cloudy, I learned that last time I was there) we continued on to check out the Obelisk then walked through the Jardin des Tuileries towards the Louvre. If only it were spring and everything would have been in bloom…
Evelin was feeling really sick and tired, so we headed back to the hostel to recuperate for the night’s events. I have been leaving out a detail of our morning. Remember the comment on the Carrefour situation? We needed to find somewhere to buy concert tickets so we spent about 45 minutes in the morning asking around without success. Finally someone at the train station was able to help us. If you can, imagine:
Me. Standing in a train station. Barely able to breath. About to explode with excitement. Not comprehending that Yes, this is truly happening. And finally, holding tickets to only one of my all time favourite bands: Sum 41.
If you can’t imagine it, that’s ok. I’ll just let you know that I LIVE FOR CONCERTS and Sum 41 just so happens to be one of Those bands that you know you’ll listen to for the rest of your life to me. So yeah, this was kind of a really big deal.
Ask Evelin, you could feel my heart beating through my jacket. I don’t know if that’s healthy.
So, obviously, Evelin had to be well for the Sum 41 concert. After a nice kebab, she was. Oh, by the way, you know Donairs? Aka Schwaarmas? Aka those sandwich like things I made for two months at that place over on 33rd and Idylwyld? They’re called KEBABS here, and are not greasy at all. The combination of no grease and KEBAB is enough for me to fall in love with them all over again.
The Sum 41 concert was at Le Zenith, a concert hall. Fairly large, but not as big as CUC, and absolutely PACKED. All the admission was general and I have no idea how people could sit through a concert. Something I will never understand.
After the warm up band, no idea who they were, but really, they were not good, in my opinion, I went out and bought a red Sum 41 shirt. I considered it a necessity because I didn’t own any red tops.
Sum 41 rocked. They were SO GOOD! I can’t even explain just how amazing they were and how proud I am that they too are Canadian. Some songs I can list off hand are “Pieces”, “Heart Attack”, “Yesterday.com” and “Mr. Amsterdam”. After pounding out every single word to “Fat Lip” somebody asked me if I was French, in the kind of way that they could tell I wasn’t. I don’t even have to tell you I crowd surfed a number of times, but to one song in particular, the classic; “In Too Deep”. They played a couple of songs from their new record set to come out in a couple months (Finally!! It’s been YEARS!!).
I do have to mention that the French really need a lesson in how to mosh. Not only did a circle pit never form, but the general moshing, although I always enjoy it, it lacked a little something. It seemed like people were more content to get absolutely flattened against the gates for the whole concert than to move around like myself. Also, there were not any of the giant bald guys towering over everyone. They were all just really small Frenchmen, and not many girls. Which may have accounted for why they kept pulling me to the side. I appreciate the thought, but I’m sorry, I can more than hold my own in a mosh pit.
Downside of the night: Evelin lost her phone and in a fit of thirst, I guzzled half a litre of water and almost 800ml of grapefruit juice on the metro. Needless to say, my stomach was not happy with me.
Come Sunday morning, I was disappointed in my lack of battle wounds. I have nothing to show for my courageous efforts the previous night except for my one shoulder is still a little sore. But you can’t actually see that so it doesn’t count.
Since it was Sunday, Evelin and I went to church. She had found the closest location of a church she wished to go to, so off we went once we had our vending machine breakkie.
I’ve been to a couple of Mormon churches before, always a good experience I find. The people are always very friendly and welcoming and show incredible amounts of faith. It’s inspiring. It really is. We arrived in time for the lesson before the service. It was in French, so I acted as a translator for Evelin. I did the best that I could, but functioning in French and English at the exact same time was proving to be difficult. The fact that I had no idea what I should be translating did not really help either. Thankfully the service offered an English translation, so Evelin made sure to get a head set. It turned out to be the Sunday when people read their testimonials. I found most of them very moving.
Although the majority of people around us were conversing in French, when ever they came and talked to us, they turned out to not be originally from France, and spoke English as a mother tongue.
We hopped onto the Metro and rode to Montmartre where we had another very delicious lunch. I once had a very bad experience with French onion soup and had never tried it since. I decided to give it a chance to redeem itself. Sure enough, I had the most delicious French Onion Soup of my life that day.
After lunch we walked around a lot, got a feel for the area. We saw the Basilique du Sacre Coeur on top of the hill. This is the highest point in Paris and is the only actual hill of notable size. The Basilique was made all from a white stone that was mined from that area. The really old buildings in Paris that are white (probably darkened with age and pollution now) were also built from that stone. Interesting eh?
Also, Montmartre is the artsy area, home to lots of artists, and people who would like to be called artists. I was already wary of the many artists who sure enough wanted to have the honour to draw my grand beauty, and although they were so pleasant and full of compliments, I would not be charmed… Like I was last time. Evelin on the other hand, regardless of my efforts, was spell bound. And after she received her self portrait, she said herself: “I was charmed.”. Text book case right there.
The time came for the museum to close. This is where our visit gets interesting.
Although we had a map dot dot dot
We could not find out way out. Or more importantly, a washroom. The rooms we were in were not marked on the map and neither were the things we were looking at. Corridors led us in circles, even though they were all rectangles. Nothing was making sense. And every washroom we found was locked. You can imagine us being very fatigued from two days of touring, the mere idea of not being able to escape (note the use of the word Escape) from the Louvre very entertaining.
I spent the following three hours drifting in and our of consciousness on the train back home. I was oddly uncomfortable all the time and oddly aware of the fact that they never dimmed the lights on the train for the whole ride, even though we had an arrival time of after midnight.
Which brings us to the end of my Birthday Weekend.
An excellent weekend at that.
PS. If when you read this, there are not any photos, check back in 12 hours or so. It is almost midnight and I really don’t have the energy to add them in. Sorry. But thanks for reading!!
PS REPLY. so it just took me two hours to put up all the photos. Hope you enjoyed them! :)
Friday February 4th to Sunday February 6th 2011
Birthday Weekend of Evelin and Myself
Spent in Paris.
I am now planning to turn 19 next year as well, so I can do this all again.
(Just to summarize.)
(Now to elaborate.)
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| biggest garage sale of my life |
Starting off with Friday, my actual birthday, it was pretty good. I got my numerous wishes through out the day from everyone I know on this side of the Earth, and also from a huge amount of you back home. Always makes my day knowing it’s my birthday.
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| Grand Palais Champs-Elysees |
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| Paris Fashions from les Champs-Elysees |
While sharing our plans for the weekend, my classmates managed to get it out of me that it was my birthday. Trust me, I definitely was not out advertising, which they made well known that they wanted otherwise. Although, if I had made it known, I think I would have had more than plenty birthday cake, which I don’t really think could have been a bad thing. Bringing closure to the day, and the week, I was serenaded in English and French and somebody had drawn a cake on the board. It was great.
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| L'Arc de Triomphe |
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| Here I am! Again! Same crosswalk as 2 years ago.. |
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| Evelin's Birthday Lunch!! |
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| Check out the chompers on that bad boy!! |
Marie-Anne arrived home, minutes later Evelin showed up and we took off for the train station. We were a little early, but that’s never a problem. It gave me time to read my mail. Which continued to make my day better!
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| crazy stairs |
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| I spy... |
The three hour train to Paris was filled with Evelin and I sharing our stories of travelling and life, I finally sewed my flag patches on to my backpack (they look OK…) and sleeping.
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| Myself and the Eiffel Tower |
Our hostel, the Blue Planet Hostel, was less than a five minute walk from the Gare de Lyon, one of the many train stations in Paris and where we got off. We were greeted by a relatively friendly desk woman who gave us our keys and linen. Up on four flights of stairs, we found our room. We shared it with two other girls, but we only saw them when we would wake up in mornings, never hearing them entering during who knows when in the night. I also discovered just how literal they meant “Sheet” for linen. From my experience in hostels, you would get a cover for your mattress, one for the pillow and one for the duvet, maybe an extra sheet for in between. This was literally ONE SHEET. One enormous sheet that I had to precariously place over my mattress, pillow and cocoon myself in so I would not touch the duvet. Not that the place wasn’t clean, but I even have issues with touching the duvets in hotels. There is something about them that makes me feel icky.
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| outside the Louvre |
Enough of that. Tired from, well, the day, which had now progressed into the tomorrow, we hit the sack.
I had another lovely surprise when we woke up and went down for breakfast (apart from the fact that our roomies had magically appeared during the night). Yes, breakfast was included, we knew that. What we did not know was that this breakfast was two kinds of croissants (one ‘regular’ and one with chocolate) that you got from a vending machine, and/or various kinds of espresso/hot chocolate/cappuccino/etc. from a drink machine of sorts. Each of which cost one token during the breakfast hours of 7:30 am to 9:00 am (oddly short time frame) and we each got three tokens for breakfast. Good, yes. What I was expecting, no.
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| SO MANY PEOPLE but why are they sitting? at a Sum 41 Concert |
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| "I just remembered... we're going to SUM 41 TONIGHT!!" I remembered hourly and had my excitement recharged every single time |
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| this is what awesome is. |
We started our real Paris adventure with a market. A flea market to be exact. The Marché au Puces de St-Ouen was located in St-Ouen (neighbourhood just north of the 18th arrondissment, if you know Paris at all). I have honestly never been to a flea market before. This was something completely new for me. I felt like I was walking through a huge garage sale. Finally we got out of the used, recycled, thrown away but salvaged and now for sale area and got to where they had nice, clean clothes and other things for sale. We spent probably close to and hour and a half wandering the stalls, trying foot ware on. I almost bought a pair of Converse for five euro, but I didn’t. I still can’t decide if that was a good decision.
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| Deryck Whibley Sum 41 frontman |
Champs-Élysées is probably one of the best known streets in Paris. It is full of shops ranging from Promod (everyday affordable yet chic young women’s clothing) to Louis Vuitton (does that need explaining?), cinemas, cafés, restaurants and hotels. Plus many, many tourists. On one end, you have a park that I believe is the Champs Élysées and on the other is l’Arc de Triomphe. We did not go up on top of it, so I do not have an awesome history lesson for you here (or anywhere else from this trip) but I do have a tid bit of local thoughts:
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| Slow song. How can you tell? |
L’Arc de Triomphe is in the middle of an absolutely giant traffic circle called L’Étoile (The Star). If you look at a map, the name is very fitting. Parisians say that if you can successfully drive in and out of L’Étoile, then you can drive (in Paris). While on the topic of driving in Paris, it is not uncommon to see extremely banged up cars around (nobody drives any vehicles that are bigger). If your parking spot is not big enough for you, just nudge the one in front of you up a bit, and maybe bump the one behind you a bit so that you can fit. No joke. People actually put foam like bumper additions on their vehicles to protect them from such normality.
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| Post-mosh. Not that bad.. |
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| What a beauty I am. |
I should mention that my shopping for specific items has been working out in my favour. Not only am I saving myself from buying everything I see (it happens…) but I am also filling out some necessities. Through out the weekend, I was able to find my long lost denim vest, the proper color of brown legwarmers (brown and legwarmers mixed together really doesn’t sound overly fashionable now does it? Haha) and a thin leather belt that is braided (not that I was looking for something quite so specific or anything haha).
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| post concert on the metro somebody just drank nearly a whole jug of grapefruit juice and was not feeling too hot. guess who it was. |
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| Flourescent lights follow me every where I go |
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| the Blue Planet Hostel a chill place. |
En route to viewing the Eiffel Tower, we stopped for lunch in the 16ieme l’heure de Madrid (16th hour of Madrid). Evelin and I had the most delicious meals ever! Seeing as Saturday was Evelin’s birthday, I made sure to let the waiter know. After we finished our main dishes, it was time for dessert. Out came the waiter with the dessert we ordered (it was for two) with a candle on top and singing Happy Birthday! It was spectacular! Evelin was so surprised! I loved it! She loved it! I think the waiter rather enjoyed it too! Happy Birthday to us all!
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| Artists in Montmartre |
Once we got our views in of the Eiffel Tower (no, we did not go up that either, it was cloudy, and there really is not much point if it is cloudy, I learned that last time I was there) we continued on to check out the Obelisk then walked through the Jardin des Tuileries towards the Louvre. If only it were spring and everything would have been in bloom…
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| Voila |
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can you imagine in the summer time? |
Evelin was feeling really sick and tired, so we headed back to the hostel to recuperate for the night’s events. I have been leaving out a detail of our morning. Remember the comment on the Carrefour situation? We needed to find somewhere to buy concert tickets so we spent about 45 minutes in the morning asking around without success. Finally someone at the train station was able to help us. If you can, imagine:
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| Here I am!! |
Me. Standing in a train station. Barely able to breath. About to explode with excitement. Not comprehending that Yes, this is truly happening. And finally, holding tickets to only one of my all time favourite bands: Sum 41.
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| Paris for days... |
If you can’t imagine it, that’s ok. I’ll just let you know that I LIVE FOR CONCERTS and Sum 41 just so happens to be one of Those bands that you know you’ll listen to for the rest of your life to me. So yeah, this was kind of a really big deal.
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| This is something that I never forget. Being able to look out and only see city. I never want my home to become this. |
Ask Evelin, you could feel my heart beating through my jacket. I don’t know if that’s healthy.
So, obviously, Evelin had to be well for the Sum 41 concert. After a nice kebab, she was. Oh, by the way, you know Donairs? Aka Schwaarmas? Aka those sandwich like things I made for two months at that place over on 33rd and Idylwyld? They’re called KEBABS here, and are not greasy at all. The combination of no grease and KEBAB is enough for me to fall in love with them all over again.
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| This should be on a postcard |
The Sum 41 concert was at Le Zenith, a concert hall. Fairly large, but not as big as CUC, and absolutely PACKED. All the admission was general and I have no idea how people could sit through a concert. Something I will never understand.
After the warm up band, no idea who they were, but really, they were not good, in my opinion, I went out and bought a red Sum 41 shirt. I considered it a necessity because I didn’t own any red tops.
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| Happens to the best of us |
Sum 41 rocked. They were SO GOOD! I can’t even explain just how amazing they were and how proud I am that they too are Canadian. Some songs I can list off hand are “Pieces”, “Heart Attack”, “Yesterday.com” and “Mr. Amsterdam”. After pounding out every single word to “Fat Lip” somebody asked me if I was French, in the kind of way that they could tell I wasn’t. I don’t even have to tell you I crowd surfed a number of times, but to one song in particular, the classic; “In Too Deep”. They played a couple of songs from their new record set to come out in a couple months (Finally!! It’s been YEARS!!).
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| finally blue sky |
I do have to mention that the French really need a lesson in how to mosh. Not only did a circle pit never form, but the general moshing, although I always enjoy it, it lacked a little something. It seemed like people were more content to get absolutely flattened against the gates for the whole concert than to move around like myself. Also, there were not any of the giant bald guys towering over everyone. They were all just really small Frenchmen, and not many girls. Which may have accounted for why they kept pulling me to the side. I appreciate the thought, but I’m sorry, I can more than hold my own in a mosh pit.
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| looking outside from inside the Louvre |
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| Whats all the hub-bub about? |
Downside of the night: Evelin lost her phone and in a fit of thirst, I guzzled half a litre of water and almost 800ml of grapefruit juice on the metro. Needless to say, my stomach was not happy with me.
Come Sunday morning, I was disappointed in my lack of battle wounds. I have nothing to show for my courageous efforts the previous night except for my one shoulder is still a little sore. But you can’t actually see that so it doesn’t count.
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| Oooh! Hub-bub!! |
Since it was Sunday, Evelin and I went to church. She had found the closest location of a church she wished to go to, so off we went once we had our vending machine breakkie.
I’ve been to a couple of Mormon churches before, always a good experience I find. The people are always very friendly and welcoming and show incredible amounts of faith. It’s inspiring. It really is. We arrived in time for the lesson before the service. It was in French, so I acted as a translator for Evelin. I did the best that I could, but functioning in French and English at the exact same time was proving to be difficult. The fact that I had no idea what I should be translating did not really help either. Thankfully the service offered an English translation, so Evelin made sure to get a head set. It turned out to be the Sunday when people read their testimonials. I found most of them very moving.
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| I think I spent more time looking out the windows than looking at art... |
Although the majority of people around us were conversing in French, when ever they came and talked to us, they turned out to not be originally from France, and spoke English as a mother tongue.
We hopped onto the Metro and rode to Montmartre where we had another very delicious lunch. I once had a very bad experience with French onion soup and had never tried it since. I decided to give it a chance to redeem itself. Sure enough, I had the most delicious French Onion Soup of my life that day.
After lunch we walked around a lot, got a feel for the area. We saw the Basilique du Sacre Coeur on top of the hill. This is the highest point in Paris and is the only actual hill of notable size. The Basilique was made all from a white stone that was mined from that area. The really old buildings in Paris that are white (probably darkened with age and pollution now) were also built from that stone. Interesting eh?
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| more or less what most of the main halls of the Louvre look like. Some dont have windows in the roof.. |
Also, Montmartre is the artsy area, home to lots of artists, and people who would like to be called artists. I was already wary of the many artists who sure enough wanted to have the honour to draw my grand beauty, and although they were so pleasant and full of compliments, I would not be charmed… Like I was last time. Evelin on the other hand, regardless of my efforts, was spell bound. And after she received her self portrait, she said herself: “I was charmed.”. Text book case right there.
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| some where in the Greek Antiquities.. right before we got lost. |
Again on the Metro (yes, we are now seasoned pros), we changed our minds I think five times on where we were to go next. We ended up at the Louvre. Pretty much had to go.
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| First Sunday of the month = Free Admission. |
It was an odd visit though. We only had an hour before closing (thank goodness the first Sunday of the month is free) and there really was not anything we wanted to see. I for some reason felt like I had seen it all before (well, I had) and for once in my life was not in the mood to dissect some art. I managed to drag Evelin to see the Mona Lisa, even if she said she did not want to see it, I knew she would regret it if we did not. So, we saw it. I think I enjoyed seeing all the people in front of it trying to get a photo more than the actual painting. Actually, I don’t think I actually looked at it. Hmm. Well then.
The time came for the museum to close. This is where our visit gets interesting.
Although we had a map dot dot dot
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| some more Paris fashions |
We could not find out way out. Or more importantly, a washroom. The rooms we were in were not marked on the map and neither were the things we were looking at. Corridors led us in circles, even though they were all rectangles. Nothing was making sense. And every washroom we found was locked. You can imagine us being very fatigued from two days of touring, the mere idea of not being able to escape (note the use of the word Escape) from the Louvre very entertaining.
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| The Bastille. Why did I never notice the bus? Why? |
Finally free, we walked up and down streets, getting on and off the Metro until we grabbed some supper to go and sat down in the Place des Voges. I had wanted to go inside the tiny park, but it was closed from December until March so that the grass could grow. That is one more out of 1000 places that I have seen. Current count: 29 (I think).
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| and thus I started saying good bye to everything in Paris.. |
Still having time to kill before our train, we sat down in a café by the station for some warm drinks. Evelin got a very tasty hot chocolate (I would assume it was tasty) and I tried some of their hot wine. It just did not compare to Germany’s. Oh well, like everything, it was worth the try.
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| One last cafe to kill some time.. |
Which brings us to the end of my Birthday Weekend.
An excellent weekend at that.
PS. If when you read this, there are not any photos, check back in 12 hours or so. It is almost midnight and I really don’t have the energy to add them in. Sorry. But thanks for reading!!
PS REPLY. so it just took me two hours to put up all the photos. Hope you enjoyed them! :)
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| Basilique Scare-Coeur (didn't fit up with the rest, as you can imagine) |
Thursday, February 3, 2011
a slippery thing.
Time : 8:36 pm
Location : the Chair
Weather : must be humid ‘coz my feet are cold
Today was one of those days when it was just time for everything.
All of a sudden it was time to wake up in the morning. Then it was time to leave for school with Lou. That hour I’m awake in the morning sometimes takes forever, but today it kind of slipped by.
I honestly thought I was being productive with my morning. That is, until I realised it took me over half and hour to get dressed. Not a god sign.
It then took me way too long to get that entry from The Bank up. Although, to be fair, if I had stopped multitasking and did each thing on it’s own, I probably would have saved myself half an hour of trying to type while doing other things.
I should say something about the aesthetic quality of my entries from here on in. Since I got the diagnosis from 2 Clicks (the computer shop), I can’t change my resolution on my computer to the one I prefer. Although I am now adjusted, I’m not all together sure if the blog entries look different. So, if for some reason my photos start being placed in odd ways that maybe are not as pleasing to the eye as they once were, now you know why.
Back to the topic of my day slipping by with time;
All of a sudden, again, it was time to leave for my class. Upon arriving to the bus stop, Evelin commented on how punctual I was. Which was good because I thought I was going to miss the bus. I really must have been operating at a slow pace today.
I am always surprised on Thursdays when we arrive in Aix to find the market. I do find it a lovely surprise though. Makes for a good way to kill some time before our class. To make it better, I had a major find too! But, I am going to pass on telling you about it.
The class was ok, we just went over some work sheets we had. Nothing overly interesting. Something I do like about our class is how even though we are just going over sentences we made, we always have to give our opinion or make one up for the sake of the question. From these points we usually have interesting conversations, seeing as we all, for the most part, come from different backgrounds. So yes, today was actually interesting, but nothing that I can really recount to you.
After school time came and went, and it was almost the evening when I realized we had no bread. Lou ate almost all the bread today. I was appalled, slightly. We went for a walk to the bakery and compared three of the bakeries the whole way there and back.
The French really love their breads. Almost as much as the weather.
We finished supper way before it is usually time to. In fact we finished before we usually even start. I’m probably going to be in bed before 9:30.
Awesome.
8:57pm
OH PS. there more than likely will not be an entry tomorrow, or Saturday seeing as I am spending my birthday (weekend) in Paris! No big deal, just thought I'd throw it in so you don't worry about my absence. Ciao!
Location : the Chair
Weather : must be humid ‘coz my feet are cold
Today was one of those days when it was just time for everything.
All of a sudden it was time to wake up in the morning. Then it was time to leave for school with Lou. That hour I’m awake in the morning sometimes takes forever, but today it kind of slipped by.
I honestly thought I was being productive with my morning. That is, until I realised it took me over half and hour to get dressed. Not a god sign.
It then took me way too long to get that entry from The Bank up. Although, to be fair, if I had stopped multitasking and did each thing on it’s own, I probably would have saved myself half an hour of trying to type while doing other things.
I should say something about the aesthetic quality of my entries from here on in. Since I got the diagnosis from 2 Clicks (the computer shop), I can’t change my resolution on my computer to the one I prefer. Although I am now adjusted, I’m not all together sure if the blog entries look different. So, if for some reason my photos start being placed in odd ways that maybe are not as pleasing to the eye as they once were, now you know why.
Back to the topic of my day slipping by with time;
All of a sudden, again, it was time to leave for my class. Upon arriving to the bus stop, Evelin commented on how punctual I was. Which was good because I thought I was going to miss the bus. I really must have been operating at a slow pace today.
I am always surprised on Thursdays when we arrive in Aix to find the market. I do find it a lovely surprise though. Makes for a good way to kill some time before our class. To make it better, I had a major find too! But, I am going to pass on telling you about it.
The class was ok, we just went over some work sheets we had. Nothing overly interesting. Something I do like about our class is how even though we are just going over sentences we made, we always have to give our opinion or make one up for the sake of the question. From these points we usually have interesting conversations, seeing as we all, for the most part, come from different backgrounds. So yes, today was actually interesting, but nothing that I can really recount to you.
After school time came and went, and it was almost the evening when I realized we had no bread. Lou ate almost all the bread today. I was appalled, slightly. We went for a walk to the bakery and compared three of the bakeries the whole way there and back.
The French really love their breads. Almost as much as the weather.
We finished supper way before it is usually time to. In fact we finished before we usually even start. I’m probably going to be in bed before 9:30.
Awesome.
8:57pm
OH PS. there more than likely will not be an entry tomorrow, or Saturday seeing as I am spending my birthday (weekend) in Paris! No big deal, just thought I'd throw it in so you don't worry about my absence. Ciao!
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