I had my first negative encounter with a Parisian today.
I was shopping in Les Halles, looking for a pair of boots as a birthday gift for myself. I didn't find anything I liked so I was walking to the RER, defeated and bootless, when I saw a crepe stand and I rejoiced because I was starving and wanted to eat my unsucessful shopping emotions.
I was waiting in line and I ordered, and a business man with a blue tooth approached the stand and asked if I'd ordered. I told him I had, and he clearly heard my accent and asked where I was from, in English...so I replied in English...which offended him(!?) So he says to the crepe man in French "All Americans come here and don't learn the language" and I couldn't believe what he was saying...so I said in French "That's nasty to say when I'm standing right here" And even the crepe man, said to him "She's speaking French! Take that thing out of your ear and maybe you can understand!", but the bluetooth man turns to me and says "Tell all your American friends to try to learn the language. You have to try harder--when you come to a country you have to learn the language."
I was really upset. I wish I wasn't, it just took the wind out of my sails to be called out for being American. It made me homesick for the first time,actually. What makes me really mad is that I let that bluetooth man get to me. Psh. What a fool.
Oh well. I'm not going to go on and on about it, but I have to say, it really is a shame that Americans get such a bad rep here...considering the Americans ho go to France aren't the Freedom Fries, Freedom Toast, "We saved your asses in WWII" type of Americans. Clearly, if a young student is in France, it's because they want to be a part of France.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
L'art contemporain
I spent today reading on a park bench, relaxing at a cafe, window shopping my heart out and at the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain. T'was kickass.
Look at the website--the current exposition is called Né dans la rue – Graffiti.
Photography isn't allowed in the museum, so here's a taste of what it's like courtesy of flikr.
The tagged facade of the museum.
The making of the Halloween themed mural outside of the main gallery.
NYC, where tagging began.
Love from Paris,
Erica
Look at the website--the current exposition is called Né dans la rue – Graffiti.
Photography isn't allowed in the museum, so here's a taste of what it's like courtesy of flikr.
The tagged facade of the museum.
The making of the Halloween themed mural outside of the main gallery.
NYC, where tagging began.
Love from Paris,
Erica
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
I'm posting from my bed, under my covers and I feel like I'm a little kid again in a fort--except it's not nearly well constructed enough to hang out in. Remember that? How after you built a fort when you were little, you would spend the afternoon just living in it...everything you did in your fort was so cool...don't eat dinner at the table--Bring it in your fort! Don't do homework in your room--Bring it in your fort! Don't watch TV on the couch! Build a fort in front of the set...heck, throw a sheet over the set, climb under and you have a TV fort.
But that's not why I'm posting tonight...as much as I love childhood nostalgia.
I'm posting thanks to Cassie Peterson, who reminded me I'm slacking with my blogging.
It's true. I was in class today, and I wrote a to-do list for what I needed to get done tonight, and blog was number 1...but then Becca called me to watch She's the Man, and even though I've seen that movie 80 times, it makes me laugh hard enough to pass up blogging to watch it.
But now here I am, ramblin. So let me get to Paris and French stuff.
Well first things first. I bought train tickets to Zurich and Luxembourg with Liz and Walsh and I got a train to and from Germany to visit Annika!
I'm absolutely so excited for the Germany trip--I have a ticket to Bremen, and a ticket from Berlin to Paris for the weekend starting Friday the 13th...ominous. My train home is a night train. I leave Berlin at 7pm and roll into Paris at 9am.
This past weekend I visited Normandy and Brittany with API folk. We got to Omaha beach on Saturday afternoon and spent time walking on the sand and visiting the cemetery. I've tried to explain what it's like to go there to my family, and it was really difficult. It was moving and overwhelming to be on the same ground where so many hearts were racing and stopping and so much blood was spilling for maybe the most honorable cause in history. The beach was the most peaceful place I've ever been. There was a dense mist coming off the water and blowing over the beach from the clouds at the same time, and you could hear the mists meet. It was really just beautiful. The water was the most...different shade of blue I've ever seen. It seemed out of place.
Becca and I found little brown, glass bottles, took off our shoes and went into the water to collect a bit of sea water to take with us.
One of the almost 10,000 headstones at the Normandy American Cemetery at Omaha Beach.
We spent the night in St Malo...it was a cute little coastal town. Everything was quiet and lowkey because tourist season is very much over.
Sunday, we drove to Mont Saint Michael--a place I've always wanted to visit. It's one of the 7 Wonders of the World, so check that off my list.
There's not much to say about it, I'll let my pictures do the talking.
I'm back in Paris now and I'm enjoying it as usual. Tomorrow, since I don't have my internship, I'm going to go explore some places I need to check off my "Paris Checklist" namely, the contemporary art museum and maybe Canal St Martin.
Bonne nuit--je t'embrasse de Paris aux Etats-Unis.
But that's not why I'm posting tonight...as much as I love childhood nostalgia.
I'm posting thanks to Cassie Peterson, who reminded me I'm slacking with my blogging.
It's true. I was in class today, and I wrote a to-do list for what I needed to get done tonight, and blog was number 1...but then Becca called me to watch She's the Man, and even though I've seen that movie 80 times, it makes me laugh hard enough to pass up blogging to watch it.
But now here I am, ramblin. So let me get to Paris and French stuff.
Well first things first. I bought train tickets to Zurich and Luxembourg with Liz and Walsh and I got a train to and from Germany to visit Annika!
I'm absolutely so excited for the Germany trip--I have a ticket to Bremen, and a ticket from Berlin to Paris for the weekend starting Friday the 13th...ominous. My train home is a night train. I leave Berlin at 7pm and roll into Paris at 9am.
This past weekend I visited Normandy and Brittany with API folk. We got to Omaha beach on Saturday afternoon and spent time walking on the sand and visiting the cemetery. I've tried to explain what it's like to go there to my family, and it was really difficult. It was moving and overwhelming to be on the same ground where so many hearts were racing and stopping and so much blood was spilling for maybe the most honorable cause in history. The beach was the most peaceful place I've ever been. There was a dense mist coming off the water and blowing over the beach from the clouds at the same time, and you could hear the mists meet. It was really just beautiful. The water was the most...different shade of blue I've ever seen. It seemed out of place.
Becca and I found little brown, glass bottles, took off our shoes and went into the water to collect a bit of sea water to take with us.
One of the almost 10,000 headstones at the Normandy American Cemetery at Omaha Beach.
We spent the night in St Malo...it was a cute little coastal town. Everything was quiet and lowkey because tourist season is very much over.
Sunday, we drove to Mont Saint Michael--a place I've always wanted to visit. It's one of the 7 Wonders of the World, so check that off my list.
There's not much to say about it, I'll let my pictures do the talking.
I'm back in Paris now and I'm enjoying it as usual. Tomorrow, since I don't have my internship, I'm going to go explore some places I need to check off my "Paris Checklist" namely, the contemporary art museum and maybe Canal St Martin.
Bonne nuit--je t'embrasse de Paris aux Etats-Unis.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Post #44
Hey there.
Post number 44 here.
My 20th birthday is in 10 days, which falls in the 44th week of the year. I wouldn't bring up my birthday if it weren't for the 44 connection.
Well it's raining in Paris right now. Which is fine because I just got back from interning, and now I'm relaxing and drying off while bloggin and listening to Manchester Orchestre. My new musical obsession thanks to Walsh. The band is going to by at Lupo's on December 3rd and I'm a lil bit upset...which is absurd because I'm in Paris, but I'm really senesitive about missing live music...especially at Lupo's.
This morning I went to my internship across Paris in the 20th despite the RER strike that is going on. Public transport has been a lil unreliable, but I'm dealing...so is all of Paris.
Today, since the students will be on holiday next week, I had a lesson about Halloween for all three classes. We talked about Halloween tradtions and went over a bit of vocab and new words like "jack-o-lantern" and "trick-or-treat". The most difficult thing I've ever explained in my life is the concept of hypens and the "o" in the middle of jack-o-lantern.
I love my internship and I'm already sad that I'm not going to see these students ever again after December 6th. I really just adore working with children...I'm really happy that I've found that is really my passion. I never thought of it as something I was meant to do-- Until fairly recently, I just knew I wanted to work with children/teach because it seemed fitting for me, but now I sincerely can't imagine doing anything else.
SO a little recent news on the Paris front...
I already talked about this with Molly, Cassie and Erica via Skype, but I have met some people here who just have completely opposite ways of thinking/world views than I have. This isn't necessarily a bad thing--it's good to meet people who think differently, but I've been struggling with this one person in particular who just so opposite of me that I just can't handle it.
We've been debating serious ethical dilemmas...I haven't been able to just let it drop for the sole reason that this guy questions the ability for anyone (besides someone with "a lot of money") to make a lasting difference in the world.
Speaking of changing the world a lil bit, I'm in the process of applying for a HOPE trip over spring break. I based my application essay on Letter to a Young Activist During Troubled Times by Clarissa Pinkola Estés.
Here is an excerpt from it, but you can read the letter in it's inspirational entirety here
Post number 44 here.
My 20th birthday is in 10 days, which falls in the 44th week of the year. I wouldn't bring up my birthday if it weren't for the 44 connection.
Well it's raining in Paris right now. Which is fine because I just got back from interning, and now I'm relaxing and drying off while bloggin and listening to Manchester Orchestre. My new musical obsession thanks to Walsh. The band is going to by at Lupo's on December 3rd and I'm a lil bit upset...which is absurd because I'm in Paris, but I'm really senesitive about missing live music...especially at Lupo's.
This morning I went to my internship across Paris in the 20th despite the RER strike that is going on. Public transport has been a lil unreliable, but I'm dealing...so is all of Paris.
Today, since the students will be on holiday next week, I had a lesson about Halloween for all three classes. We talked about Halloween tradtions and went over a bit of vocab and new words like "jack-o-lantern" and "trick-or-treat". The most difficult thing I've ever explained in my life is the concept of hypens and the "o" in the middle of jack-o-lantern.
I love my internship and I'm already sad that I'm not going to see these students ever again after December 6th. I really just adore working with children...I'm really happy that I've found that is really my passion. I never thought of it as something I was meant to do-- Until fairly recently, I just knew I wanted to work with children/teach because it seemed fitting for me, but now I sincerely can't imagine doing anything else.
SO a little recent news on the Paris front...
I already talked about this with Molly, Cassie and Erica via Skype, but I have met some people here who just have completely opposite ways of thinking/world views than I have. This isn't necessarily a bad thing--it's good to meet people who think differently, but I've been struggling with this one person in particular who just so opposite of me that I just can't handle it.
We've been debating serious ethical dilemmas...I haven't been able to just let it drop for the sole reason that this guy questions the ability for anyone (besides someone with "a lot of money") to make a lasting difference in the world.
Speaking of changing the world a lil bit, I'm in the process of applying for a HOPE trip over spring break. I based my application essay on Letter to a Young Activist During Troubled Times by Clarissa Pinkola Estés.
Here is an excerpt from it, but you can read the letter in it's inspirational entirety here
Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely. It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good. What is needed for dramatic change is an accumulation of acts — adding, adding to, adding more, continuing. We know that it does not take "everyone on Earth" to bring justice and peace, but only a small, determined group who will not give up during the first, second, or hundredth gale.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Dublin
I'll start this little story with the truth and nothing but the truth.
I don't think I was meant to leave Paris.
Every time I try, something goes terribly wrong.
This time, on the way to Dublin, it was missed trains. Not just any train--the Eurostar. Oo la la la.
Ok now for the fun stuff.
Grand plans we made with Liz, Walsh and I to take a 9:13 Eurostar from Paris to London on Thursday night, arrive in London at about 10:30 local time, go out with friends of Liz who are studying there, catch a flight to Dublin at 6:45 Friday morning and let our Ireland adventures begin...
Not exactly what happened...
Walsh and I got to Gare de Nord at 8:45, get to the TVG terminal, and just then, Liz runs by saying "TrainisanhourlateIforgotmycellI'llbebackinahalfhour!"
Walsh and I looked at the departure board, which said our train was on time. Panic.
We asked some other passengers what was going on, and they all informed us that, yes, our train was an hour late.
OK.
Walsh and I left the station and got Irish coffees across the street while we waited for Liz. After that, we went to the Eurostar terminal a half hour before our departure time and were so excited to get to London and start out trip...
But,
we found out that even though our train was late, we were supposed to have (by some act of magic or the good Lord) have known that Immigration/Border Control close at 10...so long story slightly abbreviated, we couldn't get on our train because immigration had closed as we were getting our passports stamped.
Oh.la.flippin.la.
Surprisingly, we kept fairly calm...the next Eurostar wasn't until 645...conveniently the same time our flight left London in the morning.
SO we went back to Liz's apartment, talked over the situation, laughed and booked a flight from Paris to Dublin for 9:30 in the morning.
Since we had to leave for the airport at 5:30, we went out to an bar down the street ( http://www.myspace.com/truskel_paris ) and had the time of our lives until about 4, when we went back to the apartment, printed our boarding passes and from there, we actually made it to Dublin by 11am.
I loved Dublin. It was a wonderful trip away from Paris. As soon as we got on the plane, the three of us were REJOICING...but after we landed and started to encounter Irish folk, we were just the happiest. Everyone is so warm and welcoming and just plain kind.
We get settled in the apartment we were staying in in the south of Dublin, and then Liz found an amazing vegetarian restaurant that turned out to be almost all vegan and gluten free too. I love that girl. It was the best food I've had here so far...never expected to find great vegetarian food it Dublin, but it was pretty common. Ah I miss Cornucopia...I could rave about it all day.
Well that night, we went out to a pub called Quinn's. It was a huge pub full of students from Dublin City University. It was a blast...but we hadn't slept since Wedneday night, so we ended our night by passing our in the apartment and waking up at 1pm...
We went right to the Guinness Storehouse on Saturday. I already love Guinness, but the brewery made me just want to become the biggest beer snob...I might be drinking only Guinness for a while.
We went out to dinner at 7 or so after that. The restaurant was a giant sports bar with so much going on, that we ended up staying there the whole night. I've never been jollier...it seems that everyone is just out to drink and have a great time with friends and meet new people. We meet two really cool guys that bought us shots and played pool with us, I requested songs from the lovely DJ, I had the most absurd/hilarious dance floor experience of my life (it's Walshes favorite story to tell, so I can't infringe on that right now). I also discovered the most amazing drink--it's called a snake bite. 1/2 a pint of Guinness, a shot of vodka and it's topped off with hard cider. Ah I want to make them for everyone upon my return. We stayed out til almost 3 and had a really great time.
The flight back to Paris was fine. It's so crazy that going back "home" means going to Paris. It's surreal.
Liz and I rushed over to the ending of the Salon du Chocolat expo that was going on this weekend. We got plenty of chocolate samples and a lot of delish Baileys. Ah I love it here. Just shower me in chocolate and Irish things and I'd love it anywhere though...
I'm off to skype with my fam for the first time in a long time. Miss em.
Big hugs/Cheers/Bisous
Erica
I don't think I was meant to leave Paris.
Every time I try, something goes terribly wrong.
This time, on the way to Dublin, it was missed trains. Not just any train--the Eurostar. Oo la la la.
Ok now for the fun stuff.
Grand plans we made with Liz, Walsh and I to take a 9:13 Eurostar from Paris to London on Thursday night, arrive in London at about 10:30 local time, go out with friends of Liz who are studying there, catch a flight to Dublin at 6:45 Friday morning and let our Ireland adventures begin...
Not exactly what happened...
Walsh and I got to Gare de Nord at 8:45, get to the TVG terminal, and just then, Liz runs by saying "TrainisanhourlateIforgotmycellI'llbebackinahalfhour!"
Walsh and I looked at the departure board, which said our train was on time. Panic.
We asked some other passengers what was going on, and they all informed us that, yes, our train was an hour late.
OK.
Walsh and I left the station and got Irish coffees across the street while we waited for Liz. After that, we went to the Eurostar terminal a half hour before our departure time and were so excited to get to London and start out trip...
But,
we found out that even though our train was late, we were supposed to have (by some act of magic or the good Lord) have known that Immigration/Border Control close at 10...so long story slightly abbreviated, we couldn't get on our train because immigration had closed as we were getting our passports stamped.
Oh.la.flippin.la.
Surprisingly, we kept fairly calm...the next Eurostar wasn't until 645...conveniently the same time our flight left London in the morning.
SO we went back to Liz's apartment, talked over the situation, laughed and booked a flight from Paris to Dublin for 9:30 in the morning.
Since we had to leave for the airport at 5:30, we went out to an bar down the street ( http://www.myspace.com/truskel_paris ) and had the time of our lives until about 4, when we went back to the apartment, printed our boarding passes and from there, we actually made it to Dublin by 11am.
I loved Dublin. It was a wonderful trip away from Paris. As soon as we got on the plane, the three of us were REJOICING...but after we landed and started to encounter Irish folk, we were just the happiest. Everyone is so warm and welcoming and just plain kind.
We get settled in the apartment we were staying in in the south of Dublin, and then Liz found an amazing vegetarian restaurant that turned out to be almost all vegan and gluten free too. I love that girl. It was the best food I've had here so far...never expected to find great vegetarian food it Dublin, but it was pretty common. Ah I miss Cornucopia...I could rave about it all day.
Well that night, we went out to a pub called Quinn's. It was a huge pub full of students from Dublin City University. It was a blast...but we hadn't slept since Wedneday night, so we ended our night by passing our in the apartment and waking up at 1pm...
We went right to the Guinness Storehouse on Saturday. I already love Guinness, but the brewery made me just want to become the biggest beer snob...I might be drinking only Guinness for a while.
We went out to dinner at 7 or so after that. The restaurant was a giant sports bar with so much going on, that we ended up staying there the whole night. I've never been jollier...it seems that everyone is just out to drink and have a great time with friends and meet new people. We meet two really cool guys that bought us shots and played pool with us, I requested songs from the lovely DJ, I had the most absurd/hilarious dance floor experience of my life (it's Walshes favorite story to tell, so I can't infringe on that right now). I also discovered the most amazing drink--it's called a snake bite. 1/2 a pint of Guinness, a shot of vodka and it's topped off with hard cider. Ah I want to make them for everyone upon my return. We stayed out til almost 3 and had a really great time.
The flight back to Paris was fine. It's so crazy that going back "home" means going to Paris. It's surreal.
Liz and I rushed over to the ending of the Salon du Chocolat expo that was going on this weekend. We got plenty of chocolate samples and a lot of delish Baileys. Ah I love it here. Just shower me in chocolate and Irish things and I'd love it anywhere though...
I'm off to skype with my fam for the first time in a long time. Miss em.
Big hugs/Cheers/Bisous
Erica
Cheers.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Marseille
I'm typing this post so that I can actually look back on what I wrote rather than having to watch myself and listen to my own voice.
Marseille...I am not sure where to begin, because every time I begin telling people here about my trip, the beginning always leaves them confused. I change the way I start every time, and we'll see if this beginning is the one.
Ok, Friday afternoon, Liz, Walsh, Maria and I go to Gare de L'Est to make our reservations for a train to Interlaken (if you haven't heard of it, it's OK because no one else has either) for Saturday morning. We went up to the ticket counter, and the agent was the friendliest man around, but he told us he couldn't find tickets for us tomrrow using our Eurail passes. Fail.
So within 2 minutes of him telling us the bad news, we decided to go the Marseille. It seemed like the best idea ever considering how gloomy and rainy Paris was. Plus, Marseille is only 3 hours away, compared to the 5 hour trip to Nice or Montpiler.
D'accord.
So Liz Walsh and I bought our tickets (we only paid a 6 euro reservation fee) and we all set to party all night, not sleep and just hop on our 7h15 train in the morning...because it's what we did the weekend before and it seemed like the most badass plan EVER but for the second weekend in a row, so badass DOUBLED.
Obviously, staying up all night is not the best idea no matter what, but when you have a train in the morning it become the best worst idea you've ever had.
I'll fast forward through Friday night, but it ended with me being the most intoxicated that I've ever been in Paris thanks to the poro and whiskey. Come 2am, I was ready to go to another bar with Walsh, but the guy I was with refused to go. SO rather than stay up all night, the three of us ended up crashing from about 3 to 6h45, when I awoke to Walsh banging on my door.
I had completely forgottem about our train. I hadn't even set an alarm for the morning. I hadn't packed...but the worst part may have been that I had forgotten to tell the guy who had crashed in my room that I had a train to catch in the morning...so I get out of bed, wake him up, try to explain to him in French that I'm leaving for Marseille in 45 minutes...I hit a low point in LIFE.
Needless to say, Walsh and I missed our train, and Liz ended up not wanting to go. The two of us ended up en route to Marseille by 11. We got there, checked into our hotel, explored the city, went out for drinks, slept, got lunch, and got on our train to Paris at 1h30. It was about 24 hours in Marseille.
I really didn't like the city, but I can't complain about the sun. The best part of the trip was the train ride down and back. I love traveling by train. It's such an adventure, and it's so easy to just hop on and go.
On the train ride back, I sat next to a young woman reading Teen Vogue in English, so I assumed she was American. Later, when I heard her speak English, I asked her "Are you American?" and with a perfect accent she responded" "No, I'm French". He name was Sophie, and Walsh and I talked to her for almost the entire trip. She had grown up in Paris, lived in Belgium and London, went to RISD, moved to NYC for work and is now back in Paris. She loves America and hates Paris, which we talked about forever. When we arrived in Paris, she invited Walsh and I to dinner at her apartment. It was seriously too cool of her and we had such a great time. I'm hoping to see her again this week.
So meeting Sophie was the best part of my weekend!
Oh, and also coming home and having 3 video posts on my wall from frans. The best.
Bisous,
Erica
Marseille...I am not sure where to begin, because every time I begin telling people here about my trip, the beginning always leaves them confused. I change the way I start every time, and we'll see if this beginning is the one.
Ok, Friday afternoon, Liz, Walsh, Maria and I go to Gare de L'Est to make our reservations for a train to Interlaken (if you haven't heard of it, it's OK because no one else has either) for Saturday morning. We went up to the ticket counter, and the agent was the friendliest man around, but he told us he couldn't find tickets for us tomrrow using our Eurail passes. Fail.
So within 2 minutes of him telling us the bad news, we decided to go the Marseille. It seemed like the best idea ever considering how gloomy and rainy Paris was. Plus, Marseille is only 3 hours away, compared to the 5 hour trip to Nice or Montpiler.
D'accord.
So Liz Walsh and I bought our tickets (we only paid a 6 euro reservation fee) and we all set to party all night, not sleep and just hop on our 7h15 train in the morning...because it's what we did the weekend before and it seemed like the most badass plan EVER but for the second weekend in a row, so badass DOUBLED.
Obviously, staying up all night is not the best idea no matter what, but when you have a train in the morning it become the best worst idea you've ever had.
I'll fast forward through Friday night, but it ended with me being the most intoxicated that I've ever been in Paris thanks to the poro and whiskey. Come 2am, I was ready to go to another bar with Walsh, but the guy I was with refused to go. SO rather than stay up all night, the three of us ended up crashing from about 3 to 6h45, when I awoke to Walsh banging on my door.
I had completely forgottem about our train. I hadn't even set an alarm for the morning. I hadn't packed...but the worst part may have been that I had forgotten to tell the guy who had crashed in my room that I had a train to catch in the morning...so I get out of bed, wake him up, try to explain to him in French that I'm leaving for Marseille in 45 minutes...I hit a low point in LIFE.
Needless to say, Walsh and I missed our train, and Liz ended up not wanting to go. The two of us ended up en route to Marseille by 11. We got there, checked into our hotel, explored the city, went out for drinks, slept, got lunch, and got on our train to Paris at 1h30. It was about 24 hours in Marseille.
I really didn't like the city, but I can't complain about the sun. The best part of the trip was the train ride down and back. I love traveling by train. It's such an adventure, and it's so easy to just hop on and go.
On the train ride back, I sat next to a young woman reading Teen Vogue in English, so I assumed she was American. Later, when I heard her speak English, I asked her "Are you American?" and with a perfect accent she responded" "No, I'm French". He name was Sophie, and Walsh and I talked to her for almost the entire trip. She had grown up in Paris, lived in Belgium and London, went to RISD, moved to NYC for work and is now back in Paris. She loves America and hates Paris, which we talked about forever. When we arrived in Paris, she invited Walsh and I to dinner at her apartment. It was seriously too cool of her and we had such a great time. I'm hoping to see her again this week.
So meeting Sophie was the best part of my weekend!
Oh, and also coming home and having 3 video posts on my wall from frans. The best.
Bisous,
Erica
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Monday, October 5, 2009
Languedoc-Roussillon
I haven't posted in a week...no news is good news, right?
More like no news means I have had no time to put together a decent post...so I'm going to make up for it NOW.
I flew into Collioure on Friday morning and swam in the Mediterranean, went spelunking on Saturday, and woke up on Sunday to swim in the sea while the sun was rising.
The traveling was almost as enjoyable as arriving. Let me explain on this lil map with my Paint handiwork...
After staying up all night and listening to Becca play her guitar and sing and just loving life with the Cite folk, Walsh and I went to Orly airport together at 6am where we met up with everyone for our flight to Perpignan---on the map you can see it's almost in Spain. It was a quick flight and we flew right over the Pyrenees mountains.
When we got to Collioure and I walked through the little village to see the Mediterranean.
It was so beautiful and surreal I cried...this post is brimmin with emotion already.
I took off my dress and got in the water and I don't think I've ever felt so content.
I have a list of 44 things I want to accomplish in my life, and swim in the Meditteranean is--nope--was, one of them.
I found a few pieces of sea glass that I have a souvenirs, and I took the rock I used to hold down my dress when I went swimming as a little memento.
The south of France really is just indescribably gorgeous, but I think it's as beautiful as it is because of the atmosphere and the attitude all the people have there. It's nothing like the way of Paris, where everyone is a bit cold. Since we were there in the off-season, the people I met were especially kind I suppose, since we weren't just another tourist group among hundreds.
Ok back to the map...
We went to Carcassonne on Saturday for the day and went through the natural grottos there. The man who owns the grottos actually discovered them in the 80's and now his whole jolly extended Catalan family works there. Here's a lil video I took of the "Cathedral" in the caves where the acousitcs are so fantastic that the owner made a little light and sound show inside...So just so you can get a picture in your head, we were inside a mountain and we were far enough underground that the Eiffel Tower could have fit above us. We all stood in this enormous, underground "Cathedral" of stalactites and stalagmites and then everything and then the lights turned off and music started playing. I was chortling up a storm during this musical part of the spelunkin'...
We were practically the only visitors that day, and after seeing the caves and getting a tour from the man who discovered them, they whole family made us the most delicious lunch. The best part was probably my discovery of "poro" in Catalan or "porrou" in French...I have a video of how it works. It's a Catalan tradition that makes drinking wine about 10 times more fun...
So that's that. I made sure to buy one to bring home. It's sitting on my desk now. So excited to introduce you all too it back home.
I just could go on an on about how much I wish all of you could visit this region of France. I am just in lovelovelove. These are my favorite photos from the trip--including my sunrise swim right before we had to hop on the TGV to go back to Paris. There still might be some salt in my hair.
These picture frames are scattered through out the town. There are placed to show the real life perspective of famous painters, like Matisse, when they painted landscapes of Collioure.
More like no news means I have had no time to put together a decent post...so I'm going to make up for it NOW.
I flew into Collioure on Friday morning and swam in the Mediterranean, went spelunking on Saturday, and woke up on Sunday to swim in the sea while the sun was rising.
The traveling was almost as enjoyable as arriving. Let me explain on this lil map with my Paint handiwork...
After staying up all night and listening to Becca play her guitar and sing and just loving life with the Cite folk, Walsh and I went to Orly airport together at 6am where we met up with everyone for our flight to Perpignan---on the map you can see it's almost in Spain. It was a quick flight and we flew right over the Pyrenees mountains.
When we got to Collioure and I walked through the little village to see the Mediterranean.
It was so beautiful and surreal I cried...this post is brimmin with emotion already.
I took off my dress and got in the water and I don't think I've ever felt so content.
I have a list of 44 things I want to accomplish in my life, and swim in the Meditteranean is--nope--was, one of them.
I found a few pieces of sea glass that I have a souvenirs, and I took the rock I used to hold down my dress when I went swimming as a little memento.
The south of France really is just indescribably gorgeous, but I think it's as beautiful as it is because of the atmosphere and the attitude all the people have there. It's nothing like the way of Paris, where everyone is a bit cold. Since we were there in the off-season, the people I met were especially kind I suppose, since we weren't just another tourist group among hundreds.
Ok back to the map...
We went to Carcassonne on Saturday for the day and went through the natural grottos there. The man who owns the grottos actually discovered them in the 80's and now his whole jolly extended Catalan family works there. Here's a lil video I took of the "Cathedral" in the caves where the acousitcs are so fantastic that the owner made a little light and sound show inside...So just so you can get a picture in your head, we were inside a mountain and we were far enough underground that the Eiffel Tower could have fit above us. We all stood in this enormous, underground "Cathedral" of stalactites and stalagmites and then everything and then the lights turned off and music started playing. I was chortling up a storm during this musical part of the spelunkin'...
We were practically the only visitors that day, and after seeing the caves and getting a tour from the man who discovered them, they whole family made us the most delicious lunch. The best part was probably my discovery of "poro" in Catalan or "porrou" in French...I have a video of how it works. It's a Catalan tradition that makes drinking wine about 10 times more fun...
So that's that. I made sure to buy one to bring home. It's sitting on my desk now. So excited to introduce you all too it back home.
I just could go on an on about how much I wish all of you could visit this region of France. I am just in lovelovelove. These are my favorite photos from the trip--including my sunrise swim right before we had to hop on the TGV to go back to Paris. There still might be some salt in my hair.
These picture frames are scattered through out the town. There are placed to show the real life perspective of famous painters, like Matisse, when they painted landscapes of Collioure.
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