...except i can't do it here anymore. it's not really "de france" anymore, and because i'm back in school with the stresses that go along with it, i can't always promise "avec amour" either. but i really grew attached to my blog. i would look forward to writing about a bizarre day in the blog; if i ever needed to procrastinate, the blog was right there. so you see now why i want it back.
the new* blog is pathetically average. enjoy.
*it's not really new. i've been posting there for quite some time now. i forget now what kind of stuff i posted over there (if i were smarter, i'd check it out), but instead of deleting/starting over, i'll just tell you not to get offended at the other stuff i have written. actually, better yet, get pissed. then write about it.
06 January, 2008
25 December, 2007
and i'll always come back home
to reassure you, i made it back across the atlantic and over the US safely. i'm currently sitting in my living room in san ramon, watching newport harbor with mom and kate (btw, they're totally NOT on the ucsb campus) and enjoying the all day fire.
i love california and home and christmas. this is so right where i'm supposed to be.
i love california and home and christmas. this is so right where i'm supposed to be.
23 December, 2007
wait, does the shuttle think it's picking me up from the airport?!
what if my alarms don't wake me up? what if i forget my computer? what if i don't have my passport? what if i can't find the gate? what if this stupid cold gets me before i even reach the plane?
i can't sleep. it's 4:53 am in paris, which makes it about 8 pm in california. oooo that means i'll be in california in 24 hours! oh, crap, that seems like a REALLY long time. there is so much flying/aiport time between me and the wonderful california soil.
i'm so freaking anxious right now. i want time to pass faster. i tried to pass it by sleeping but i'm way too nervous about sleeping too much..and now i have this cold in my nose and in my throat. SUCKFEST.
ah, i'll watch some newport harbor to pass the time.
i can't sleep. it's 4:53 am in paris, which makes it about 8 pm in california. oooo that means i'll be in california in 24 hours! oh, crap, that seems like a REALLY long time. there is so much flying/aiport time between me and the wonderful california soil.
i'm so freaking anxious right now. i want time to pass faster. i tried to pass it by sleeping but i'm way too nervous about sleeping too much..and now i have this cold in my nose and in my throat. SUCKFEST.
ah, i'll watch some newport harbor to pass the time.
22 December, 2007
this is just like nature intended
tonight mal, maddy, chris, jv, jessie, jay and i went out to this fondue place in montmartre. they serve wine in--get this--baby bottles. seriously. so you're sucking alcohol out of something that is designed to be like a woman's nipple. hahahah. it's a really small place (on rue des trois freres, if you know paris) and it looks kind of dumpy from the outside...but don't all the best places? the sangria place we've gone to a couple times in the latin quarter looks like shit from the outside, but man do they have good sangria (le 10 bar!)
oh, i'm off topic. back to the fondue place. so it's small, and there are only two long tables. if you come in and only part of your party is there, they won't seat you. the guy got kind of mad at us when we tried to come in with 5 out of 7 of us. oops. once we finally got seated, mal, maddy and i had to climb over the tables (seriously) to get into our seats on the bench on the wall.
this is the kind of place with no menu. you get two choices: meat or cheese fondue, and white or red wine (white, for sure. red would have put me to sleep). they bring out a plate of tiny foods and a bowl of bread chunks, all perfect sized for dipping. then they light the fondue lamp on fire and set down a bowl of cheese on top the flame thingy (it's complicated to explain and not really important to the story...just picture a fonude bowl and whatever it looks like in your head is fine).
by the end of the dinner, you're stuffed with cheese and more drunk than you expect...who the heck knows how much wine is in a baby bottle, anyway?
oh, i'm off topic. back to the fondue place. so it's small, and there are only two long tables. if you come in and only part of your party is there, they won't seat you. the guy got kind of mad at us when we tried to come in with 5 out of 7 of us. oops. once we finally got seated, mal, maddy and i had to climb over the tables (seriously) to get into our seats on the bench on the wall.
this is the kind of place with no menu. you get two choices: meat or cheese fondue, and white or red wine (white, for sure. red would have put me to sleep). they bring out a plate of tiny foods and a bowl of bread chunks, all perfect sized for dipping. then they light the fondue lamp on fire and set down a bowl of cheese on top the flame thingy (it's complicated to explain and not really important to the story...just picture a fonude bowl and whatever it looks like in your head is fine).
by the end of the dinner, you're stuffed with cheese and more drunk than you expect...who the heck knows how much wine is in a baby bottle, anyway?
21 December, 2007
finals are done, craigslist here i come!
i finished my econ final about 6 hours ago. i wandered around the city for a while, picked up some last minute souvenirs (and at the same time stressed over how to get it all home) and came home around 315. i gave the jeansons my thank you gift (choclate=always a winner) and now they're out the door. it's just me now. there are a million things i could do with my time: read my new book, watch newport harbor, watch a movie, take a nap, pack.
but all i REALLY want to do on my first day of christmas break is craigslist!* i've been browsing for 3 minutes and i already found a gem: a spinal decompression chair. the description says this: "Rotates to suspend you upside down from hips, naturally seperating compressed spine." WTF kind of chair is this?
someone in IV is giving away a gold couch...the name is deceiving, because the couch isn't gold at all. it's barf mustard yellow from the 70s.
see..ugly. now that craigslist has blessed us with an apartment (and maybe two...shady conquest), i figure maybe the craigslist gods will shine down on us again in the form of a couch...preferably one without germs, but i'm not picky.
*i love the verbification of nouns, like photoshop...though i think adobe gets mad at you when you say "that looks photoshopped."
(and i'm TERRIBLY sorry i put that asterisk and then didn't explain it. i HATE HATE HATE when people do that. it leaves me searching all around like "ohmigod, where is it? where is the asterisk? IS THIS A FLOATING ASTERISK!?")
but all i REALLY want to do on my first day of christmas break is craigslist!* i've been browsing for 3 minutes and i already found a gem: a spinal decompression chair. the description says this: "Rotates to suspend you upside down from hips, naturally seperating compressed spine." WTF kind of chair is this?
someone in IV is giving away a gold couch...the name is deceiving, because the couch isn't gold at all. it's barf mustard yellow from the 70s.
see..ugly. now that craigslist has blessed us with an apartment (and maybe two...shady conquest), i figure maybe the craigslist gods will shine down on us again in the form of a couch...preferably one without germs, but i'm not picky.
*i love the verbification of nouns, like photoshop...though i think adobe gets mad at you when you say "that looks photoshopped."
(and i'm TERRIBLY sorry i put that asterisk and then didn't explain it. i HATE HATE HATE when people do that. it leaves me searching all around like "ohmigod, where is it? where is the asterisk? IS THIS A FLOATING ASTERISK!?")
20 December, 2007
no more skyscrapers in paris. they're ugly.
i went up montparnasse by myself today (well, not really completely by myself...ira glass was with me on my ipod and in my ears). i heard it was a gorgeous view up there, and the sun was shining, and i only have a couple days left, so i was like hell, why not.
i'm not sure what they're going for with the montparnasse 360 tour thingy, but they didn't hit it (unless "it" is bizarre and weird...then they got it spot on). i walk up to the building and look for a line of people waiting to get in. even though it's thursday afternoon at 1:30 pm, i figure there's still gotta be a big demand for montparnasse. i mean, come on, it's the only skyscraper in paris. so anyway, i get there and i don't see a line, but i see some signs that point to "tour montparnasse 360" so i'm like cool, i think i found it.
i walk to the doors and there's a guy standing outside smoking, just kind of looking at me. i'm used to people giving me funny looks now, so i didn't really think much of it. i tried to open the door, but i couldn't. well, dammit, what should i do? the smoking guy was like "no, you have to pull it hard." so i did, blushed, mumbled, "merci" and headed inside.
i still saw no line (HELLO? nobody wants montparnasse right now?!), so i kind of poked around the lobby area for a while. i looked at what was probably a ticket booth with a girl sitting inside, but she didn't even glance at me, so i figured i must have been in the wrong place. but then i looked around the corner and saw nothing promising, so that girl must be the one i get my ticket from. i walked up and i go, "j'achete mon billet ici?" i figured out that this was the wrong thing to say because she responds to me, "sorry?" oh, whatever, screw the french language attempts. i bought my ticket and made my way to the elevators.
it's weird in montparnasse because it's only a tourist attraction on the 56th floor. the other 55 are just regular floors with offices and workers. so i was wandering around with fanny and my camera, making my way around the important businesswomen on their way to whatever was more important.
anyway, i get in the elevator with three other people, one of which may or may not have been a worker. the elevator goes up really fast (that's like montparnasse's "thing," next to being really freakin tall). i pop out and nobody greets me, nothing says where to go...you just enter this café/gift shop area.
the good thing was that there were some more people up there (not a lot...some)...the odd thing was that they were all old. you know, like 80 years old. i guess that's what you do when you're old and retired in paris...hang out at the top of montparnasse. there was NOBODY in the indoor viewing room, and only 4 people on the very top terrace outside.
i couldn't decide if they were trying to do the old paris/historical thing or if they were trying to do a new fangled concept (they=whatever untalented souls designed tour montparnasse 360). there are old pictures of paris and maps through the times showing how paris has changed, so there's the history part. but then, on the elevator to the top and the steps to the terrace, there are these neon blue and green lights, like you're in some back to the future dealy. OH and on the steps there are two randomly really nice flat screen tvs that show pictures of things totally unrelated to paris...boats on some bay, a waterfall, other nature things.
i don't get it. maybe it was because i went up on a thursday afternoon by myself, or maybe it's because there was poor visibility, but i just wasn't a fan of montparnasse. i'd go up the eiffel tower over that anyday.
i'm not sure what they're going for with the montparnasse 360 tour thingy, but they didn't hit it (unless "it" is bizarre and weird...then they got it spot on). i walk up to the building and look for a line of people waiting to get in. even though it's thursday afternoon at 1:30 pm, i figure there's still gotta be a big demand for montparnasse. i mean, come on, it's the only skyscraper in paris. so anyway, i get there and i don't see a line, but i see some signs that point to "tour montparnasse 360" so i'm like cool, i think i found it.
i walk to the doors and there's a guy standing outside smoking, just kind of looking at me. i'm used to people giving me funny looks now, so i didn't really think much of it. i tried to open the door, but i couldn't. well, dammit, what should i do? the smoking guy was like "no, you have to pull it hard." so i did, blushed, mumbled, "merci" and headed inside.
i still saw no line (HELLO? nobody wants montparnasse right now?!), so i kind of poked around the lobby area for a while. i looked at what was probably a ticket booth with a girl sitting inside, but she didn't even glance at me, so i figured i must have been in the wrong place. but then i looked around the corner and saw nothing promising, so that girl must be the one i get my ticket from. i walked up and i go, "j'achete mon billet ici?" i figured out that this was the wrong thing to say because she responds to me, "sorry?" oh, whatever, screw the french language attempts. i bought my ticket and made my way to the elevators.
it's weird in montparnasse because it's only a tourist attraction on the 56th floor. the other 55 are just regular floors with offices and workers. so i was wandering around with fanny and my camera, making my way around the important businesswomen on their way to whatever was more important.
anyway, i get in the elevator with three other people, one of which may or may not have been a worker. the elevator goes up really fast (that's like montparnasse's "thing," next to being really freakin tall). i pop out and nobody greets me, nothing says where to go...you just enter this café/gift shop area.
the good thing was that there were some more people up there (not a lot...some)...the odd thing was that they were all old. you know, like 80 years old. i guess that's what you do when you're old and retired in paris...hang out at the top of montparnasse. there was NOBODY in the indoor viewing room, and only 4 people on the very top terrace outside. i couldn't decide if they were trying to do the old paris/historical thing or if they were trying to do a new fangled concept (they=whatever untalented souls designed tour montparnasse 360). there are old pictures of paris and maps through the times showing how paris has changed, so there's the history part. but then, on the elevator to the top and the steps to the terrace, there are these neon blue and green lights, like you're in some back to the future dealy. OH and on the steps there are two randomly really nice flat screen tvs that show pictures of things totally unrelated to paris...boats on some bay, a waterfall, other nature things.
i don't get it. maybe it was because i went up on a thursday afternoon by myself, or maybe it's because there was poor visibility, but i just wasn't a fan of montparnasse. i'd go up the eiffel tower over that anyday.
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