Sunday, April 25th
Quick note: Germany is chock full of beer and brats. All it needed was Bucky and it would have been just like Madison. Well, a Madison with awesome castles in the countryside.
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Sunday, April 25, 2010
Wednesday, April 21st
Leah just left and I'm hanging out in Amsterdam for two hours before I catch a train to Stuttgart. It's hard to believe that this two week vacation is almost over.
After my last post, Leah, Yoann, and I headed to Amsterdam for a few days...Notable moments:
The Anne Frank house. I remember reading her diary as a kid and it really stuck with me. It was such a horrible point in history, but there were still moments of hope. Anne definitely had hope, right up until the day they were captured...it was a really moving memorial, and to see that bookcase that hid the annex, to see the walls of her room covered with posters....I really enjoyed it.
Pub crawl. Some of us were more victorious than others, let's leave it at that. Also, learned how to say "I'm wasted" in German from a bunch of guys from Frankfort.
The bikes. Amsterdam is a dangerous city. Not only do you have the cars and the people to look out for, there's also the tram and the five bijillion bikes flying at you from every direction. We went on a free walking tour and they told us that every year, twelve thousand bikes are found in the canals. Twelve thousand. Almost every resident has a bike (or two). I've never seen so many bikes in one place in my life.
The debauchery. Pot and prostitutes. It was really weird to be able to walk into a coffeeshop and just say "I'd like a joint please." just like it was a normal, everyday occurrance. Even weirder, marijuana isn't technically legal, just decriminalized and tolerated by the police. The Red Light District was even weirder to me. It was kind of sad to see these girls pretty much naked winking at guys through windows. The girls rent the window rooms for eight hours and do their thing. In some ways, I think it's a good thing to make it so open...the girls have more access to help, they have more rights, but at the same time, the fact that they gave to resort to prostitution is pretty depressing.
Amsterdam is definitely a beautiful city, the parks and the canals are great to just wander through on a sunny day (which is what we did). Also trying to pronounce the street names is great fun!!!!
Leah and I said goodbye to Yoann after that and said HELLLLLLOOOOOO DENMARK!!!! We stayed with my friend Martin from high school (he was an exchange student my senior year) that I hadn't seen in about a year and a half. He lives in Århus, a city right on the sea, and at a population of 250,000, the second biggest city in Denmark. We took a night train up to Kolding where Leah and I successfully managed the Danish railway system and got tickets to Århus. Thankfully people generally speak good English in Denmark and the don't make you feel like a fool for not speaking their language (cough like Paris cough cough). Martin's girlfriend Mia met us in the train station in Århus and we got settled in at their apartment, which was super cute btw. Martin told us that you're never farther than half an hour from the sea in Denmark, and I believe it! It was such a beautiful country, and everyone was so nice and welcoming to Leah and I. Martin's parents own a great restaurant right on the water and they treated us to a DELICIOUS meal there, complete with ocean view. Martin's family also owns a house boat right by the restaurant (they live on it about half the year) so we checked that out. The boat was super nice and HUGE.
Denmark still has a royal family and our first day there was the queen's 70th birthday. She owns a summer cottage in Århus, so we checked that out, wandered through her gardens a little bit, peeked in the windows. She wasn't there, I think she was too busy partying like a rockstar in Copenhagen, but it was cool to see.
Martin's parents also took us out to dinner to try some typical Danish food. Leah and I got this dish that was basically baked bacon with lots of potatoes. It was super good, and not that hard to make according to Martin and his dad (both chefs). Martin's mom insisted I try a Danish apple dessert too, so of course I said yes....we left the restaurant ready to explode! His family was unbelievably nice to us, I couldn't thank them enough. After dinner, Martin and his friends planned a little bar crawl for us that involved lots of dancing and singing Danish on tables (or in my case, shouting random sounds), and resulted in a massive hang over lazy day the day after. It was a lot of fun, Martin's friends definitely know how to party.
We watched probably 4 James Bond movies (all with Roger Moore) over the course of the weekend, it was great. I'd never seen an old Bond movie, and I thought they were hilarious! Martin is a chef, so Saturday he cooked us a really nice meal and he tried to show me how to do it too. I'm going to give it a try, but I'm pretty positive it's not as easy as he made it look...
Martin took us down to the beach at sunset one night and it was beautiful. I could definitely see myself living by the ocean someday....
Leah and I also visited Old Town Denmark (a lot like Old World Wisconsin) and pretended we were back in the old days, played on stilts, pet a horse, and learned about some rare chickens. Pretty sweet. Martin, his friend Jonas, Leah, and I also went mini golfing on a roof. I sucked and came in last. But we saw some of the Danish national soccer team players (they were playing mini golf too and of course I papperazi-ed them) and I do enjoy a good game of putt putt. Another Danish pastime: drinking øl (beer) in parks. Martin and his friends do that a lot I believe, any time, any day of the week. It's a great way to spend the afternoon.
We also went out to the country and met Mia's family. Again, they were so nice to us. We made dinner and the played soccer and jumped on a trampoline with her brother and sister. We even taught them how to play crack the egg on the trampoline (I think Martin really liked that one). Mia's family lives out in the country and they have horses and it was just a really pretty place to be!
Yesterday, Martin drove us to Copenhagen so we could catch our train. It was, of course a really pretty drive because of all the ocean views. We got to take the longest bridge in the world because Denmark is so split up by water. Before the bridge they had to take a ferry to get to Copenhagen.
We had really crappy weather, but the morning was nice and we got to eat in the sunshine before it started pouring! I think Denmark was just sad to see us leave. The little mermaid statue is in China, so we didn't get to see it, but I think Leah made a great Ariel...we saw the queen's palace and Christiana, a big hippie commune where the Red Hot Chili Peppers lived for awhile. The weather was a bit disappointing, but it was still a pretty town.
Martin and Mia were so great, it was a little sad to say bye. I really liked Denmark, even though Danish seems imposible. I do, however, know how to count to ten and say thank you. I can also ask for a boys number and for some ice cream...Leah and I had fun making up what people (like Martin and his friends) were saying when they were rambling off in Danish. Also, their currency, the kroner, was confusing to figure out at first (1 dollar = 5.5ish kroner) but super cool. I will admit though, Denmark is expensive. A sandwich meal can cost over ten american dollars...But, in any case, the people were great and it's a beautiful place. Jeg elsker danemark!
Now I'm on my way to see Hank in Stuttgart, Germany. On the agenda: the zoo and a beer festival! Should be fun!
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Leah just left and I'm hanging out in Amsterdam for two hours before I catch a train to Stuttgart. It's hard to believe that this two week vacation is almost over.
After my last post, Leah, Yoann, and I headed to Amsterdam for a few days...Notable moments:
The Anne Frank house. I remember reading her diary as a kid and it really stuck with me. It was such a horrible point in history, but there were still moments of hope. Anne definitely had hope, right up until the day they were captured...it was a really moving memorial, and to see that bookcase that hid the annex, to see the walls of her room covered with posters....I really enjoyed it.
Pub crawl. Some of us were more victorious than others, let's leave it at that. Also, learned how to say "I'm wasted" in German from a bunch of guys from Frankfort.
The bikes. Amsterdam is a dangerous city. Not only do you have the cars and the people to look out for, there's also the tram and the five bijillion bikes flying at you from every direction. We went on a free walking tour and they told us that every year, twelve thousand bikes are found in the canals. Twelve thousand. Almost every resident has a bike (or two). I've never seen so many bikes in one place in my life.
The debauchery. Pot and prostitutes. It was really weird to be able to walk into a coffeeshop and just say "I'd like a joint please." just like it was a normal, everyday occurrance. Even weirder, marijuana isn't technically legal, just decriminalized and tolerated by the police. The Red Light District was even weirder to me. It was kind of sad to see these girls pretty much naked winking at guys through windows. The girls rent the window rooms for eight hours and do their thing. In some ways, I think it's a good thing to make it so open...the girls have more access to help, they have more rights, but at the same time, the fact that they gave to resort to prostitution is pretty depressing.
Amsterdam is definitely a beautiful city, the parks and the canals are great to just wander through on a sunny day (which is what we did). Also trying to pronounce the street names is great fun!!!!
Leah and I said goodbye to Yoann after that and said HELLLLLLOOOOOO DENMARK!!!! We stayed with my friend Martin from high school (he was an exchange student my senior year) that I hadn't seen in about a year and a half. He lives in Århus, a city right on the sea, and at a population of 250,000, the second biggest city in Denmark. We took a night train up to Kolding where Leah and I successfully managed the Danish railway system and got tickets to Århus. Thankfully people generally speak good English in Denmark and the don't make you feel like a fool for not speaking their language (cough like Paris cough cough). Martin's girlfriend Mia met us in the train station in Århus and we got settled in at their apartment, which was super cute btw. Martin told us that you're never farther than half an hour from the sea in Denmark, and I believe it! It was such a beautiful country, and everyone was so nice and welcoming to Leah and I. Martin's parents own a great restaurant right on the water and they treated us to a DELICIOUS meal there, complete with ocean view. Martin's family also owns a house boat right by the restaurant (they live on it about half the year) so we checked that out. The boat was super nice and HUGE.
Denmark still has a royal family and our first day there was the queen's 70th birthday. She owns a summer cottage in Århus, so we checked that out, wandered through her gardens a little bit, peeked in the windows. She wasn't there, I think she was too busy partying like a rockstar in Copenhagen, but it was cool to see.
Martin's parents also took us out to dinner to try some typical Danish food. Leah and I got this dish that was basically baked bacon with lots of potatoes. It was super good, and not that hard to make according to Martin and his dad (both chefs). Martin's mom insisted I try a Danish apple dessert too, so of course I said yes....we left the restaurant ready to explode! His family was unbelievably nice to us, I couldn't thank them enough. After dinner, Martin and his friends planned a little bar crawl for us that involved lots of dancing and singing Danish on tables (or in my case, shouting random sounds), and resulted in a massive hang over lazy day the day after. It was a lot of fun, Martin's friends definitely know how to party.
We watched probably 4 James Bond movies (all with Roger Moore) over the course of the weekend, it was great. I'd never seen an old Bond movie, and I thought they were hilarious! Martin is a chef, so Saturday he cooked us a really nice meal and he tried to show me how to do it too. I'm going to give it a try, but I'm pretty positive it's not as easy as he made it look...
Martin took us down to the beach at sunset one night and it was beautiful. I could definitely see myself living by the ocean someday....
Leah and I also visited Old Town Denmark (a lot like Old World Wisconsin) and pretended we were back in the old days, played on stilts, pet a horse, and learned about some rare chickens. Pretty sweet. Martin, his friend Jonas, Leah, and I also went mini golfing on a roof. I sucked and came in last. But we saw some of the Danish national soccer team players (they were playing mini golf too and of course I papperazi-ed them) and I do enjoy a good game of putt putt. Another Danish pastime: drinking øl (beer) in parks. Martin and his friends do that a lot I believe, any time, any day of the week. It's a great way to spend the afternoon.
We also went out to the country and met Mia's family. Again, they were so nice to us. We made dinner and the played soccer and jumped on a trampoline with her brother and sister. We even taught them how to play crack the egg on the trampoline (I think Martin really liked that one). Mia's family lives out in the country and they have horses and it was just a really pretty place to be!
Yesterday, Martin drove us to Copenhagen so we could catch our train. It was, of course a really pretty drive because of all the ocean views. We got to take the longest bridge in the world because Denmark is so split up by water. Before the bridge they had to take a ferry to get to Copenhagen.
We had really crappy weather, but the morning was nice and we got to eat in the sunshine before it started pouring! I think Denmark was just sad to see us leave. The little mermaid statue is in China, so we didn't get to see it, but I think Leah made a great Ariel...we saw the queen's palace and Christiana, a big hippie commune where the Red Hot Chili Peppers lived for awhile. The weather was a bit disappointing, but it was still a pretty town.
Martin and Mia were so great, it was a little sad to say bye. I really liked Denmark, even though Danish seems imposible. I do, however, know how to count to ten and say thank you. I can also ask for a boys number and for some ice cream...Leah and I had fun making up what people (like Martin and his friends) were saying when they were rambling off in Danish. Also, their currency, the kroner, was confusing to figure out at first (1 dollar = 5.5ish kroner) but super cool. I will admit though, Denmark is expensive. A sandwich meal can cost over ten american dollars...But, in any case, the people were great and it's a beautiful place. Jeg elsker danemark!
Now I'm on my way to see Hank in Stuttgart, Germany. On the agenda: the zoo and a beer festival! Should be fun!
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Monday, April 12, 2010
Waffles and peeing boys
Leah, Yoann, and I are heading to Amsterdam this morning after three days in Brussels. It's been fun, we've seen the sights, drank lots of Belgian beer, and eaten waffles everyday. We checked out a comic book museum on Saturday that was really neat (especially for Yoann). They had lots of Tintin stuff (a well known comic book from back in the day), and Leah and I each bought one titled Tintin in America. I started reading it and so far he beats up Al Capones gang. Pretty sweet. We hung out by this statue of a peeing boy that is super famous; they even dress it up in costumes! It was a vampire rabbit on Saturday.
It's been nice in Belgium because people speak French. The signs in Flemmish are pretty awesome though. Lots and lots and lots of consonants....
One city down and on to the next! Can't wait to see the canals of Amsterdam!!!!
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It's been nice in Belgium because people speak French. The signs in Flemmish are pretty awesome though. Lots and lots and lots of consonants....
One city down and on to the next! Can't wait to see the canals of Amsterdam!!!!
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LIVE from France
Since I have my iPod with me and this new app to write blogs, I figured I'd try writing bits and pieces this weekend as I go. Effectively it's a live blog! Woooo!
I'm on the bus to Bordeaux watching the rain pour down outside (thanks Bretagne). The forecast isn't looking too good, but I'm still excited to see a little bit more of France. From now til mid May it's nothing but travel travel travel...
Also, the bus has started dripping rain on me (thanks Bretagne).
It's funny how music can take you back...trip down memory lane. I'm listening to the Kooks and I can just remember exactly the first time I saw them in concert in Milwaukee. Everytime I listen to Red Hot Chili Peppers I can't help but imagine myself in Jake Edwards' basement junior year of high school. Queen's Don't Stop Me Now reminds me of a certain evening three years ago when I watched the stars from the roof of my high school with some amazing friends. I've decided math is not the international language, it's gotta be music. When you can have French teenagers singing Bob Marley at their friend's house at the same time as a man in Florence plays it in front of El Duomo, and they both play with the same feeling (whether or not they really get the lyrics...), it's pretty cool.
---------------
So. Go France. We arrived in Nantes no problem. Ran into two CIEE kids too! Awesome. Then we notice our train car isn't listed on the board. Hmmmmm. Sali and Eduardo have tickets that make them take buses and other trains. Hmmmmm. They were told there were issues with this train. Hmmmmmm. We asked a worker if there was a problem with the train. "Nope." Cool. We look at the board. No stop at Bordeaux St. Jean. Hmmmmmm. We ask another worker. "I don't know, ask someone else.". Thanks SNCF. We finally got help from a nice little old French lady who told us that part of the line was down due to storms a little while ago. We're taking a train to La Rochelle and getting off. We don't have tickets for all of this but oh well. So, we're just going to have to follow the crowd and hope there's place on the bus at La Rochelle. From there we'll have to ride to some random town and take another train to get down to Bordeaux. Great.
--------------------
Currently on the last train of the day, about an hour from Bordeaux. So the SNCF didn't plan for the huge surplus of people needing to take the random train down to Bordeaux because of the rail problems and there aren't enough seats for everyone. Not even close. There are people standing in the aisles, in the doorways...people are pissed. Some guy was yelling about how it's scandaleuse. Way to go SNCF, way to go. Positive thoughts....
-------------------
It's Monday and we're heading back to Rennes in about an hour. We have to make the same train bus crazy stuff on the way back. Should be fun. This has been a good weekend, except for the rain. The first day we explored a bit on our own until it was time to meet up with Tristan (Taylor's friend). His roommate made us Iron Chef inspired cheesburgers and we hung out for a bit. Then Tristan took us out to his favorite bar in Bordeaux, Calle Ocho. Him and his roommate have been going there for years, so we got lots of free mojitos and shots up the wazoo. The bar played lots of Latin music and there was lots of dancing. It was a really great time!!!
The next day we went on a little tour of Bordeaux in the rain. It's a really nice town with lots of open green space. It also has the longest pedestrian street in France. The weather cleared up in the afternoon, we ate some cannelé, a traditional snack from Bodreaux and wandered over to La Locale. Tristan is a member of Ultramarines, the fan club for Bordeaux's soccer team and la locale is kind if like their headquarters. It's where they organize andmake banners and such. It kind of reminded me of a frat house basement. From there we went to the game. we were interviewed by some random press dude that ambushed us before we got into the stadium and asked questions about Yoann Gourcuff (about his looks more specifically). I responded with a "he's so sexy!" Maybe i got on the radio lol. There was a great ambience for the majority of the match, a lot of cheers led by the ultramarines and some good soccer. At the end, Nancy scored a second goal and Bordeaux fell apart. They lost 2-1. Sad.
The next day Tristan drove us out to St Emillion which is a town super famous for it's wine. We took a free tour of a wine cave and attempted to have a wine tasting...except I think the owner of this place had been having his own wine tasting all day. He was nuts. The man was speaking some bizarre franglais poured us a little bit of wine and then disappeared. We got ignored for awhile and then just decided to leave. The town itself was super cute and old and cobblestoney. After walking around a bit we left and Tristan showed us his grandpa's winery. It was outin the country and really pretty. Tristan's mom is American so when we went tibia parents house she chatted with us for awhile. It was a nice relaxing day. When we got back to the apartment we watched some CSI and went to bed.
Now it's back to Rennes for three days of school and then off to Brussels on Friday! It's the start of our two week spring break. Wow.
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I'm on the bus to Bordeaux watching the rain pour down outside (thanks Bretagne). The forecast isn't looking too good, but I'm still excited to see a little bit more of France. From now til mid May it's nothing but travel travel travel...
Also, the bus has started dripping rain on me (thanks Bretagne).
It's funny how music can take you back...trip down memory lane. I'm listening to the Kooks and I can just remember exactly the first time I saw them in concert in Milwaukee. Everytime I listen to Red Hot Chili Peppers I can't help but imagine myself in Jake Edwards' basement junior year of high school. Queen's Don't Stop Me Now reminds me of a certain evening three years ago when I watched the stars from the roof of my high school with some amazing friends. I've decided math is not the international language, it's gotta be music. When you can have French teenagers singing Bob Marley at their friend's house at the same time as a man in Florence plays it in front of El Duomo, and they both play with the same feeling (whether or not they really get the lyrics...), it's pretty cool.
---------------
So. Go France. We arrived in Nantes no problem. Ran into two CIEE kids too! Awesome. Then we notice our train car isn't listed on the board. Hmmmmm. Sali and Eduardo have tickets that make them take buses and other trains. Hmmmmm. They were told there were issues with this train. Hmmmmmm. We asked a worker if there was a problem with the train. "Nope." Cool. We look at the board. No stop at Bordeaux St. Jean. Hmmmmmm. We ask another worker. "I don't know, ask someone else.". Thanks SNCF. We finally got help from a nice little old French lady who told us that part of the line was down due to storms a little while ago. We're taking a train to La Rochelle and getting off. We don't have tickets for all of this but oh well. So, we're just going to have to follow the crowd and hope there's place on the bus at La Rochelle. From there we'll have to ride to some random town and take another train to get down to Bordeaux. Great.
--------------------
Currently on the last train of the day, about an hour from Bordeaux. So the SNCF didn't plan for the huge surplus of people needing to take the random train down to Bordeaux because of the rail problems and there aren't enough seats for everyone. Not even close. There are people standing in the aisles, in the doorways...people are pissed. Some guy was yelling about how it's scandaleuse. Way to go SNCF, way to go. Positive thoughts....
-------------------
It's Monday and we're heading back to Rennes in about an hour. We have to make the same train bus crazy stuff on the way back. Should be fun. This has been a good weekend, except for the rain. The first day we explored a bit on our own until it was time to meet up with Tristan (Taylor's friend). His roommate made us Iron Chef inspired cheesburgers and we hung out for a bit. Then Tristan took us out to his favorite bar in Bordeaux, Calle Ocho. Him and his roommate have been going there for years, so we got lots of free mojitos and shots up the wazoo. The bar played lots of Latin music and there was lots of dancing. It was a really great time!!!
The next day we went on a little tour of Bordeaux in the rain. It's a really nice town with lots of open green space. It also has the longest pedestrian street in France. The weather cleared up in the afternoon, we ate some cannelé, a traditional snack from Bodreaux and wandered over to La Locale. Tristan is a member of Ultramarines, the fan club for Bordeaux's soccer team and la locale is kind if like their headquarters. It's where they organize andmake banners and such. It kind of reminded me of a frat house basement. From there we went to the game. we were interviewed by some random press dude that ambushed us before we got into the stadium and asked questions about Yoann Gourcuff (about his looks more specifically). I responded with a "he's so sexy!" Maybe i got on the radio lol. There was a great ambience for the majority of the match, a lot of cheers led by the ultramarines and some good soccer. At the end, Nancy scored a second goal and Bordeaux fell apart. They lost 2-1. Sad.
The next day Tristan drove us out to St Emillion which is a town super famous for it's wine. We took a free tour of a wine cave and attempted to have a wine tasting...except I think the owner of this place had been having his own wine tasting all day. He was nuts. The man was speaking some bizarre franglais poured us a little bit of wine and then disappeared. We got ignored for awhile and then just decided to leave. The town itself was super cute and old and cobblestoney. After walking around a bit we left and Tristan showed us his grandpa's winery. It was outin the country and really pretty. Tristan's mom is American so when we went tibia parents house she chatted with us for awhile. It was a nice relaxing day. When we got back to the apartment we watched some CSI and went to bed.
Now it's back to Rennes for three days of school and then off to Brussels on Friday! It's the start of our two week spring break. Wow.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Traditions
Tonight I'm going to a fest noz sponsored by the CIREFE, which should be interesting. The last fest noz I went to was a lot of fun, even though I felt like a tool waving my pinkie around and running in circles. For those of you out of the Breton loop, Fest Noz means fête de nuit in French, which means nighttime party in good old English. It's a Celtic tradition from way back in the day, and it involves traditional dancing (ie pinkie holding) and music. Oh, and traditional Breton cider!!! You know Bilbo's birthday party in the beginning of LOTR with all the hobbits running about and making merry? They're kind of like that. Brings out the hobbit in you, I swear.
This weekend Leah, Taylor and I are headed to Bordeaux! We're staying with Taylor's friend and he's getting us cheap tickets to a soccer game!!! He's one of those soccer hooligans and will hopefully teach us all the cheers. Also exciting, our visit coincides with a bunch of other CIREFEers, so a bunch of us will be in Bordeaux together. It should be fun!
This weekend is also the weekend of Easter (Pâques en français). In France, it's not a big friendly bunny who brings kids chocolate, it's a bunch of flying bells. Yep. Bells. I had my mom send me an Easter egg dye kit so my family can dye eggs. They don't do that on France, which I think is a tragedy.
Another funny French tradition: for April fools, kids cut fish shapes out of paper and try and stick them on each other's backs without the person noticing. Lucile's class is planning an ambush on their maîtresse, so she made a huge one complete with stickers and scales.
Being over here has made me really appreciate how into traditions americains are...we know how to do holidays right! Decorations and Christmas carols, Easter eggs, thanksgiving dinner and the Macy Day Parade (that one isn't really france's fault, but I did have two failed turkey day meals attempts here in November)...
But beware: next April Fools, I might just bring this fish idea over the sea...and I'll be pinkie dancing the whole time.
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This weekend Leah, Taylor and I are headed to Bordeaux! We're staying with Taylor's friend and he's getting us cheap tickets to a soccer game!!! He's one of those soccer hooligans and will hopefully teach us all the cheers. Also exciting, our visit coincides with a bunch of other CIREFEers, so a bunch of us will be in Bordeaux together. It should be fun!
This weekend is also the weekend of Easter (Pâques en français). In France, it's not a big friendly bunny who brings kids chocolate, it's a bunch of flying bells. Yep. Bells. I had my mom send me an Easter egg dye kit so my family can dye eggs. They don't do that on France, which I think is a tragedy.
Another funny French tradition: for April fools, kids cut fish shapes out of paper and try and stick them on each other's backs without the person noticing. Lucile's class is planning an ambush on their maîtresse, so she made a huge one complete with stickers and scales.Being over here has made me really appreciate how into traditions americains are...we know how to do holidays right! Decorations and Christmas carols, Easter eggs, thanksgiving dinner and the Macy Day Parade (that one isn't really france's fault, but I did have two failed turkey day meals attempts here in November)...
But beware: next April Fools, I might just bring this fish idea over the sea...and I'll be pinkie dancing the whole time.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Life goes on...
So, I've decided its been a little too long since my last update (I made a New Years Resolution!) so here ya'll are.
Last weekend was a CIEE day trip to the south of Bretagne, the land of the mégalithes. Mégalithes are these giant stones (think Stonehenge) that were left by who ever lived in this area 6000 years ago. At Carnac, there are around 4 kilometers of these rocks left in rows. There are no written records left from these people, so no one knows what the purpose of these rocks really was. They don't line up with the moon or sun like Stonhenge does, and they're actually a lot older (by about 1,500 years). Word on the street (or French comic books) is that Astérix and Obélix (click to find out more about it) brought the giant rocks themselves. Obélix, this huge (and I mean HUGE) dude carried them on his back. I tried to re-create the magic of this idea, but since I was completely out of potion magique, I just pretended to be that strong.
We also visited Vannes, a city by the water that was pretty much the capitol of Bretagne way back in the day (way way wayyyy back). It was really crappy weather though, so the highlight was eating lunch at an AWESOME crêperie and getting a delicious galette. Just can't get enough of those things. We got a tour of the city, saw some people doing a scavenger hunt dressed as leprechauns, tried to stay out of the rain, and then went home.
I'm sensing now is the time for another photo....wait for it.........MONTAGE!!!!!
Last weekend was also Springtime of Movies (don't really know what to call it), which meant all movies were 3.50 euro! Leah and I took advantage of this deal and saw La Rafle, a movie about the Holocaust. In 1942, the Nazis tried to capture 24,000 Jews that were living in Paris. Thankfully, Parisians were able to help hide about 10,000 so only 13,000-14,000 were actually caught. But, sadly, out of the 13,000-14,000, only 25 survived. 25. No children. All adults. The film follows the story of several people involved, a Jewish family, a Jewish doctor, a nurse who tries to help them all....it was really well done. I cried throughout the whole thing...but its a very good movie. I'd recommend it!
Also this week, I was very cultured and went to see the Orchestre de Bretagne play at the opéra in Rennes. Jamie was going with her friend from home who was in town visiting and Leah and I decided to join them. The opera was a really neat building, all golden and luxurious and opera like, although smaller than I thought. Our seats were in the front row, which really means front row. Any closer and I would have been in the violin section. It was my first time being at an orchestra concert (that I can think of) and I really enjoyed it. I didn't know that violins did so much plucking and the synchronization of the bows was really cool to watch. I'd definitely check it out again. On a cultural experience note that was kind of funny, before the show Jamie wanted to get dinner at around 6h15, which seemed SO early to me (its become such a habit to not eat until 8) and Jamie quickly realized after we made the tour of restaurants, that no where serves dinner until at least 7 here. Hungry at 6h30? Subway is pretty much your only choice. Oh, France.
After the orchestra, Leah and I checked out the "Apéro Géant" that was going on at Colombier. Apparently there is a competition going on between a lot of cities in the area, such as Nantes and Tours, to see who can throw the biggest party. Thursday night was Rennes turn to show what they got. From the headlines I saw, about 4000 people showed up. When we got to Colombier, there was just this massive crowd of young people hanging out, drinking, smoking, joking around, throwing glass bottles (a Rennes favorite pass time...). In was sort of like what Mifflin looks like, minus all the cop hugging and general complete absurdity, and instead of a block, its was in a square. There was a guy juggling fire, lots of people trains, a makeshift pirate ship, and some guys running around with a banner that said "Rue de la Soif is not for sale!" (but in French, obviously...Rue de la Soif is Rennes version of State Street, only smaller, and minus the ethnic restaurants. Basically just bars. And some guy in town is trying to buy out the bars to reduce the drinking in Rennes, which has upset the local student population). Leah and I just kind of observed, ran into our friends Gabriel and François, met some crazy Frenchies who "LOVE AMERICA!" "WISCONSIN! LIKE THAT 70s SHOWS!?!" They were very, very nice, and very, very enthusiastic. But, I wasn't feeling that great (my usual cold...Sophie's stopped force feeding me essential oils and my immune system is getting low), so we headed home pretty early.
Louis' birthday is today, and Lucile and I made the usual preparations. We made our own card for him with TWO birthday cakes, balloons, and confetti all over it. We wrapped presents (she searched in her dresser and found a coloring book to wrap up and give him lol) and taped candy to them. Everything is set! Tomorrow, he's going bowling for the first time in his life for his birthday party! 11 years, no bowling? This kid has been missing out.
Other than that, I've just been suffering through school...lots of tests this past week, and I still have 2 more to go (plus a paper and a speech to get working on....). Ho hum.
Next week, its off to Bordeaux!!!!! I can't wait. We're staying with a friend of a friend and we're going to see a soccer game. This means I'll get to see this lovely man, Yoann Gourcuff, in person:
What a stud. Next weekend also starts my whirlwind travel time (6 weekends in a row in travel, including 2 whole weeks of vacation). I'm exhausted just thinking about it. Also, I officially have less than 2 months til I leave. Tonight at dinner, Lucile asked me if I was coming to Agathe's synchronized swimming gala...Sophie asked "When is it?" Agathe replied, "In June." Guess I'm not going.....so weird........time goes by way too fast here.....
Last weekend was a CIEE day trip to the south of Bretagne, the land of the mégalithes. Mégalithes are these giant stones (think Stonehenge) that were left by who ever lived in this area 6000 years ago. At Carnac, there are around 4 kilometers of these rocks left in rows. There are no written records left from these people, so no one knows what the purpose of these rocks really was. They don't line up with the moon or sun like Stonhenge does, and they're actually a lot older (by about 1,500 years). Word on the street (or French comic books) is that Astérix and Obélix (click to find out more about it) brought the giant rocks themselves. Obélix, this huge (and I mean HUGE) dude carried them on his back. I tried to re-create the magic of this idea, but since I was completely out of potion magique, I just pretended to be that strong.
We also visited Vannes, a city by the water that was pretty much the capitol of Bretagne way back in the day (way way wayyyy back). It was really crappy weather though, so the highlight was eating lunch at an AWESOME crêperie and getting a delicious galette. Just can't get enough of those things. We got a tour of the city, saw some people doing a scavenger hunt dressed as leprechauns, tried to stay out of the rain, and then went home.
I'm sensing now is the time for another photo....wait for it.........MONTAGE!!!!!
Vannes
A sign in both Breton and French
Your everyday, average leprechauns
Hey Hank!!!
Last weekend was also Springtime of Movies (don't really know what to call it), which meant all movies were 3.50 euro! Leah and I took advantage of this deal and saw La Rafle, a movie about the Holocaust. In 1942, the Nazis tried to capture 24,000 Jews that were living in Paris. Thankfully, Parisians were able to help hide about 10,000 so only 13,000-14,000 were actually caught. But, sadly, out of the 13,000-14,000, only 25 survived. 25. No children. All adults. The film follows the story of several people involved, a Jewish family, a Jewish doctor, a nurse who tries to help them all....it was really well done. I cried throughout the whole thing...but its a very good movie. I'd recommend it!
Also this week, I was very cultured and went to see the Orchestre de Bretagne play at the opéra in Rennes. Jamie was going with her friend from home who was in town visiting and Leah and I decided to join them. The opera was a really neat building, all golden and luxurious and opera like, although smaller than I thought. Our seats were in the front row, which really means front row. Any closer and I would have been in the violin section. It was my first time being at an orchestra concert (that I can think of) and I really enjoyed it. I didn't know that violins did so much plucking and the synchronization of the bows was really cool to watch. I'd definitely check it out again. On a cultural experience note that was kind of funny, before the show Jamie wanted to get dinner at around 6h15, which seemed SO early to me (its become such a habit to not eat until 8) and Jamie quickly realized after we made the tour of restaurants, that no where serves dinner until at least 7 here. Hungry at 6h30? Subway is pretty much your only choice. Oh, France.
After the orchestra, Leah and I checked out the "Apéro Géant" that was going on at Colombier. Apparently there is a competition going on between a lot of cities in the area, such as Nantes and Tours, to see who can throw the biggest party. Thursday night was Rennes turn to show what they got. From the headlines I saw, about 4000 people showed up. When we got to Colombier, there was just this massive crowd of young people hanging out, drinking, smoking, joking around, throwing glass bottles (a Rennes favorite pass time...). In was sort of like what Mifflin looks like, minus all the cop hugging and general complete absurdity, and instead of a block, its was in a square. There was a guy juggling fire, lots of people trains, a makeshift pirate ship, and some guys running around with a banner that said "Rue de la Soif is not for sale!" (but in French, obviously...Rue de la Soif is Rennes version of State Street, only smaller, and minus the ethnic restaurants. Basically just bars. And some guy in town is trying to buy out the bars to reduce the drinking in Rennes, which has upset the local student population). Leah and I just kind of observed, ran into our friends Gabriel and François, met some crazy Frenchies who "LOVE AMERICA!" "WISCONSIN! LIKE THAT 70s SHOWS!?!" They were very, very nice, and very, very enthusiastic. But, I wasn't feeling that great (my usual cold...Sophie's stopped force feeding me essential oils and my immune system is getting low), so we headed home pretty early.
Louis' birthday is today, and Lucile and I made the usual preparations. We made our own card for him with TWO birthday cakes, balloons, and confetti all over it. We wrapped presents (she searched in her dresser and found a coloring book to wrap up and give him lol) and taped candy to them. Everything is set! Tomorrow, he's going bowling for the first time in his life for his birthday party! 11 years, no bowling? This kid has been missing out.
Other than that, I've just been suffering through school...lots of tests this past week, and I still have 2 more to go (plus a paper and a speech to get working on....). Ho hum.
Next week, its off to Bordeaux!!!!! I can't wait. We're staying with a friend of a friend and we're going to see a soccer game. This means I'll get to see this lovely man, Yoann Gourcuff, in person:
What a stud. Next weekend also starts my whirlwind travel time (6 weekends in a row in travel, including 2 whole weeks of vacation). I'm exhausted just thinking about it. Also, I officially have less than 2 months til I leave. Tonight at dinner, Lucile asked me if I was coming to Agathe's synchronized swimming gala...Sophie asked "When is it?" Agathe replied, "In June." Guess I'm not going.....so weird........time goes by way too fast here.....
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Here I am, at the end of a long (3 day), busy (I mean, I did go out for St. Patty's Day), stressful (I took two tests!), exhausting (see St. Patty's Day) week. Its crazy how fast a week can fly by, especially when you spend part of it traveling. This past weekend, Leah and I adventured to Barcelona to meet up with her friend Becky and to eat tapas. It was quite the trek; the trip there took 18 hours, most of which was spent in a train or waiting for a train. But we travel like pros and therefore had enough energy to see the sights right off the train.
The next day we got some fruit at this crazy huge market and then headed up to Parc Guell, another Gaudi creation. Its way up on the hill, so you could see all of Barcelona, really really pretty. Another plus, America's Next Top Model filmed the runway finale with Caridee and Melrose there, so you can strut your stuff just like the pros. Leah and I definitely did, and we rocked it, if I do say so myself. It was a really beautiful, sunny day, so it was nice to enjoy the sun in such a picture perfect place. We also went down to the beach; March is not swimming weather, sadly enough. I put my feet in and we sat in the sand. Good enough pour moi.
Barcelona tip: GO SEE THE MAGIC FOUNTAIN! I don't care how lame it sounds, it is the coolest fountain show (maybe the only one...) I have ever and will ever see. Awesome. I couldn't get enough of it.
Another Barcelona tip of a more non-lame nature: Go to the Olympic Port for the night life. So worth it. Earlier in the evening, we all went to a bar by La Rambla, this giant road with lots of shops, street performers, rabbits and turtles (really. people were selling them there), and tourist shops. It was fun, but the bartenders spoke in Spanish to Becky (Leah's friend) and Becky's friends and Leah and I just sat in the corner and commiserated about our lack of comprehension. Becky and crew headed back to the hostel around one, but Leah and I decided to profite bien of our trip and we went down the the Olympic Port. Lots of dancing, Spanish bands pretending to be Irish bands, cool St. Patricks day hats, and you didn't have to pay to get into these places! Perfect. And lots of fun (we didn't get back til 5 am).
Quick synopsis of the next day: Lots of climbing up and down hills, more beautiful views, 1992 Olympic Stadium, beaches, soccer game (Barcelona won! Messi had a hat trick! I wore my jersey!), sleep.
The next day we spent in transit, but we finally made it back to France, land of yummy cheese and baguettes, where I understand things and people don't smoke in public buildings (I had to air out my coat and scarves after this trip...). It was weird not understanding what was being said at all for a couple days and not being able to ask the simplest things....Spanish is not my forte.
Another cultural happening: ST PATRICKS DAY! Which is celebrated with much less green and much less enthusiasm than in the US. I told my host siblings that in the states, if you don't wear green you have to suffer through an entire day of pinches. Lucile thought this was hilarious until I pointed out the fact that she was wearing nothing but red. After an assault of pinches from Louis and I, she changed clothes. It was weird to not see green everywhere you went! Sophie told me, "That just isn't our thing here...."
Last night, Leah and I grabbed our Leprechaun hats, which we acquired in Barcelona, and headed out. O'Connells, the big Irish Pub here was the busiest I have ever seen it in my life! There were people all over Place du Parlement because there wasn't enough room in the bar for everybody, and the line for the bar took FOREVER. They had a Celtic band playing music and free Guiness gear to hand out, plus the bartenders are legit Irishmen with adorable accents. Everything you could ever want. Everyone was in good spirits in honor of good old St. Pat. It was good to see the Frenchies dress up like silly people and have fun, although it was much less crazy than St. Patty's Day aux Etats-Unis. We spent the evening having conversations with random Frenchies (although most of them would only speak in English back....). It was a good time!
Which leads me to a random rant I've been having lately....I'm reading this book for lit class written by a Canadian chick who lives in Paris and half the time she bashes the States (even though she lived there for the majority of her youth)..."I hate being associated with the idea of an 'American in Paris.'" "I hate English. Americans think everyone should speak English. They're stupid pigs." (not really direct quotes, but you get the gist). I HATE when people say that we think everyone should speak English. I HATE when people complain about America 'taking over the world.' If people hate English so much, then when I come up them speaking in French, don't speak back to me in English. If people hate the idea of American consumerism, stop listening to the Black Eyed Peas and start listening to Carla Bruni (who is Italian, but she sings in French, so close enough). Young French hippies with guitars are everywhere, all you gotta do is go to your nearest parc. But do they jam out and write songs in French? Nope. English. Even if when they sing it's incomprehensible, whether its because of the pronunciation or the words just don't make sense, they do it anyways. Its à la mode. I don't think everyone should speak English (although speaking English is rather helpful when you're, say....in Barcelona for example....and don't speak Catalan or Spanish....), why else would I be making all this effort to speak French, its just frustrating when you can't even really practice it. As soon as you make a mistake or they hear your accent (which is a telltale sign, most Americans have a very distinct fake French accent....), they switch to English. Which, oddly enough, is a lot harder to understand than if they just kept speaking in French..... Anyways. Thats my complaining for the month.
I'm off to eat some dinner....à la prochaine yo.
PHOTO MONTAGE!!!!
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Pretty awesome...
My motivation for writing this is that I finally found an app so I can write blog posts from my iPod. What will they think of next.
Earlier this week, Leah, Jamie, and I volunteered at a retirement home near my house called Les Roseraies. We didn't really know what to expect and didn't really have any sort of game plan. When we arrived, we met two ladies who were excited to talk to us. One came prepared with an atlas and her first question was "Where are you from?". Amazingly enough, her daughter studied abroad in the US nearly fifty years ago in a wonderful little state up north called WISCONSIN!!!!!!!! Even cooler, she visited her daughter in Green Bay, which is where Leah is from (Bon, she comes from De Pere, close enough). It's rare to meet a français(e) who knows what Wisconsin is, much less meet someone who has actually been there! This lady was pretty crazy, she has been ALL over the world and has the photo albums to prove it. When her kids were all grown up and she was in her retirement, she decided to get out of France and see what was out there. At 66 she became a global explorer. She'd been to China, Alaska, Machu Pichu, India, Serbia, Egypt, Australia, she even went dog sledding in Canada. She's seen all corners of the planet, multiple times. Incroyable. Next Monday she said she'd get some little drinks and we could go through some of her albums. I am excited and extremely jealous!
Rennes is showing signs of spring, namely a little bit of sunshine. I played soccer today and it got me super excited for the warm weather to come!
COUNTDOWN TO BARCELONE: 5 days!!!!!!!!!!!
Bisous!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Earlier this week, Leah, Jamie, and I volunteered at a retirement home near my house called Les Roseraies. We didn't really know what to expect and didn't really have any sort of game plan. When we arrived, we met two ladies who were excited to talk to us. One came prepared with an atlas and her first question was "Where are you from?". Amazingly enough, her daughter studied abroad in the US nearly fifty years ago in a wonderful little state up north called WISCONSIN!!!!!!!! Even cooler, she visited her daughter in Green Bay, which is where Leah is from (Bon, she comes from De Pere, close enough). It's rare to meet a français(e) who knows what Wisconsin is, much less meet someone who has actually been there! This lady was pretty crazy, she has been ALL over the world and has the photo albums to prove it. When her kids were all grown up and she was in her retirement, she decided to get out of France and see what was out there. At 66 she became a global explorer. She'd been to China, Alaska, Machu Pichu, India, Serbia, Egypt, Australia, she even went dog sledding in Canada. She's seen all corners of the planet, multiple times. Incroyable. Next Monday she said she'd get some little drinks and we could go through some of her albums. I am excited and extremely jealous!
Rennes is showing signs of spring, namely a little bit of sunshine. I played soccer today and it got me super excited for the warm weather to come!
COUNTDOWN TO BARCELONE: 5 days!!!!!!!!!!!
Bisous!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Mousse au Chocolat
So, by popular demand of Elise's mom :), here is the world famous recipe that I received from a friend in Strasbourg. It was her mother's recipe, so you know its good!
Ingredients:
125g of dark chocolate
1 big chunk of butter (directly translated my recipe calls for "One fat nut of butter"....just put in a fairly large slice and you'll be fine)
4 eggs
1 pinch of salt
1. Melt the chocolate and the butter chunk on low heat
(I used the whole "boil water and place another pot in the water" thing that acts like a double boiler)
2. When the chocolate is soft and melted, take it off the stove
3. Separate the egg whites and the yolks (keep both parts!)
4. Mix in the yolks with the chocolate using a wooden spoon (I don't know if the wooden part is all that important, but its the recipe....)
Attention! This part is important: Make sure not to cook the yolks!!!!!! The flame can't be too high when you're melting the chocolate!!!!!
5. Put the chocolate/yolk combination in a medium sized serving bowl
6. Whip the egg whites with a pinch of salt.
7. Fold the egg whites into the chocolate little by little.
8. Let the mousse sit in the fridge for at least 3 hours, which means you can't eat any of it for at least 3 hours. This is the hardest part....
Et VOILA! Mousse au Chocolat! Hope it works out for you guys!
Side note: I'm messing around with flickr to see if I like it. Here is the site for my pics if you're interested.
Mousse au Chocolat
Serves 4 people
Serves 4 people
Ingredients:
125g of dark chocolate
1 big chunk of butter (directly translated my recipe calls for "One fat nut of butter"....just put in a fairly large slice and you'll be fine)
4 eggs
1 pinch of salt
1. Melt the chocolate and the butter chunk on low heat
(I used the whole "boil water and place another pot in the water" thing that acts like a double boiler)
2. When the chocolate is soft and melted, take it off the stove
3. Separate the egg whites and the yolks (keep both parts!)
4. Mix in the yolks with the chocolate using a wooden spoon (I don't know if the wooden part is all that important, but its the recipe....)
Attention! This part is important: Make sure not to cook the yolks!!!!!! The flame can't be too high when you're melting the chocolate!!!!!
5. Put the chocolate/yolk combination in a medium sized serving bowl
6. Whip the egg whites with a pinch of salt.
7. Fold the egg whites into the chocolate little by little.
8. Let the mousse sit in the fridge for at least 3 hours, which means you can't eat any of it for at least 3 hours. This is the hardest part....
Et VOILA! Mousse au Chocolat! Hope it works out for you guys!
Side note: I'm messing around with flickr to see if I like it. Here is the site for my pics if you're interested.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
7h26....boooooo.
So, just waved good bye for the THIRD time to Hank (this time, admittedly, was a lot easier than the last two) as he headed off to Germany to start an internship working on engines and turbo thingymabobs. I just finished doing some random cleaning things around the house that I'd been putting off for awhile, because my host family gets home from Australia at some point today or tomorrow. I, of course, forgot when Hugues told me they were coming back so it will be somewhat of a surprise. Now its about half past seven and I'm not sure whether to sleep or brave the day. As a compromise, I decided to write a petit blog in bed.
Hank's visit was pretty uneventful, but fun. In typical Bretagne fashion, the weather didn't co-operate with us for most of the week (lots of rain), but we managed to get out and enjoy the moments of sunshine. I had the week off from school, so it was nice just to relax and hang out before he starts work.
Because his internship goes til August, we'll have spent a whole year abroad and apart by the end of all this and I'm happy to have any opportunity to spend time with him! We weren't complete lazy bums though. We went on a couple runs, rode bikes to Cesson (a nearby town)...On Sunday Leah, Hank, and I went to Stade Rennais to watch Rennes battle it out against Lille. It was a good game, and I had high hopes for Rennes! It was tied 1-1 for most of the game, but in the last 5 minutes Lille got a lucky shot off and beat us 2-1. Oh well.....Rennes beat Bordeaux earlier in the season and that's all that matters! Even with the loss and the inevitable rain during the match, it was a fun night.
On Tuesday, Leah hosted an Olympics party at her place to watch figure skating. Unfortunately for us, France insists on making everything live, so in order to watch any of the cool events, its necessary to stay up until about 3 or 4 am. Skating started at 1h30, so we spent the majority of the evening eating pizza, chips, and cookies (Leah, Hank, and I made sugar cookies in the shape of the Olympic rings....epic) and drinking red, white, and blue drinks in the spirit of America. Yoann was the sole Frenchie, so while he tried to cheer on his country during events, he was usually drowned out by the USA! USA! USA! chants. We managed to stay up long enough to see the first American skater before calling it quits and sleeping in til noon the next day.
This week was a week of culinary endeavors because, with the bad weather, there wasn't much else to do. Hank made me lots of yummy dinners
(I think Hank enjoyed the food a little too much by the looks of the picture on the left...) and I made mousse au chocolat from scratch! I was very proud of myself and it was super yummy. Maybe I'll post the recipe on here sometime as its really easy to do. I took Hank to the marché des lices, and I think he was impressed with the size of the market and also the quantity of cheese. It definitely rivals the farmer's market in Madison. We got some goat cheese with Mexican spices on it and fresh baked bread plus lots of fruit and veggies. And I made Hank try a galette saucisse, which is basically a brat wrapped in a galette (the really yummy wheat crêpes that Bretagne is famous for). Not the most nutritious thing, but delicious.
Yoann challenged Hank and I to play 2v2 soccer against him and his little brother on Thursday (we tried several times of the course of the week, but the weather didn't clear up until then so we profited bien of the break in the rain). It was an epic battle, really, the stuff legends are made of, duked out in the mud and mush (which was slippery and lots of fun), USA vs France, and in the end.........USA PREVAILED! By a lot. Final score: 20-10. Although, I did accidentally kick Yoann's brother (who is like 12) and he told me he would never be able to run again. Whoops. But, hey, all is fair......
Leah and I are in the middle of planning April break and its really exciting! Bruxelles, Amsterdam, Copenhagen/Aarhus, and possibly Belfast! I think Hank might try and meet up with us for one of the weekends too. We leave for Barcelona in 2 weeks....AH! I wish I would have traveled more last semester, even though I couldn't have really afforded it, because there's really no time left this semester! We've got most weekends taken up by CIEE trips or trips of our own and my travel wish list is wayyy too long. I have less than three months and I'll be back in Madison for the summer. Crazy. Side note/complaint: For our return flight, Leah and I planned on taking a train at 6h10 from Rennes straight to the airport. It was perfect because with all our bags, navigating Paris would just be a nightmare. Normally, there is a train EVERY DAY (except Sundays) at 6h10. EVERY MONDAY. So, when the tickets went up a couple days ago, Leah and I went online to buy our tickets. No train at 6h10. May 24th is the ONLY Monday without a train at 6h10. Tuesday has one. The Monday before has one. Of course, the day we need a train is the day they decided to let the conductors sleep in? I talked to a guy at the gare and he didn't know why. He said to check in a week and see if any new trains get put up. Otherwise Leah and I will have to go in the night before and spend money on a hotel room. Boo France.
I think I'm going to try and take a mini nap before heading to the market this morning. Talk to you soon! Bisous!
Hank's visit was pretty uneventful, but fun. In typical Bretagne fashion, the weather didn't co-operate with us for most of the week (lots of rain), but we managed to get out and enjoy the moments of sunshine. I had the week off from school, so it was nice just to relax and hang out before he starts work.
Because his internship goes til August, we'll have spent a whole year abroad and apart by the end of all this and I'm happy to have any opportunity to spend time with him! We weren't complete lazy bums though. We went on a couple runs, rode bikes to Cesson (a nearby town)...On Sunday Leah, Hank, and I went to Stade Rennais to watch Rennes battle it out against Lille. It was a good game, and I had high hopes for Rennes! It was tied 1-1 for most of the game, but in the last 5 minutes Lille got a lucky shot off and beat us 2-1. Oh well.....Rennes beat Bordeaux earlier in the season and that's all that matters! Even with the loss and the inevitable rain during the match, it was a fun night.On Tuesday, Leah hosted an Olympics party at her place to watch figure skating. Unfortunately for us, France insists on making everything live, so in order to watch any of the cool events, its necessary to stay up until about 3 or 4 am. Skating started at 1h30, so we spent the majority of the evening eating pizza, chips, and cookies (Leah, Hank, and I made sugar cookies in the shape of the Olympic rings....epic) and drinking red, white, and blue drinks in the spirit of America. Yoann was the sole Frenchie, so while he tried to cheer on his country during events, he was usually drowned out by the USA! USA! USA! chants. We managed to stay up long enough to see the first American skater before calling it quits and sleeping in til noon the next day.
This week was a week of culinary endeavors because, with the bad weather, there wasn't much else to do. Hank made me lots of yummy dinners
(I think Hank enjoyed the food a little too much by the looks of the picture on the left...) and I made mousse au chocolat from scratch! I was very proud of myself and it was super yummy. Maybe I'll post the recipe on here sometime as its really easy to do. I took Hank to the marché des lices, and I think he was impressed with the size of the market and also the quantity of cheese. It definitely rivals the farmer's market in Madison. We got some goat cheese with Mexican spices on it and fresh baked bread plus lots of fruit and veggies. And I made Hank try a galette saucisse, which is basically a brat wrapped in a galette (the really yummy wheat crêpes that Bretagne is famous for). Not the most nutritious thing, but delicious.Yoann challenged Hank and I to play 2v2 soccer against him and his little brother on Thursday (we tried several times of the course of the week, but the weather didn't clear up until then so we profited bien of the break in the rain). It was an epic battle, really, the stuff legends are made of, duked out in the mud and mush (which was slippery and lots of fun), USA vs France, and in the end.........USA PREVAILED! By a lot. Final score: 20-10. Although, I did accidentally kick Yoann's brother (who is like 12) and he told me he would never be able to run again. Whoops. But, hey, all is fair......
Leah and I are in the middle of planning April break and its really exciting! Bruxelles, Amsterdam, Copenhagen/Aarhus, and possibly Belfast! I think Hank might try and meet up with us for one of the weekends too. We leave for Barcelona in 2 weeks....AH! I wish I would have traveled more last semester, even though I couldn't have really afforded it, because there's really no time left this semester! We've got most weekends taken up by CIEE trips or trips of our own and my travel wish list is wayyy too long. I have less than three months and I'll be back in Madison for the summer. Crazy. Side note/complaint: For our return flight, Leah and I planned on taking a train at 6h10 from Rennes straight to the airport. It was perfect because with all our bags, navigating Paris would just be a nightmare. Normally, there is a train EVERY DAY (except Sundays) at 6h10. EVERY MONDAY. So, when the tickets went up a couple days ago, Leah and I went online to buy our tickets. No train at 6h10. May 24th is the ONLY Monday without a train at 6h10. Tuesday has one. The Monday before has one. Of course, the day we need a train is the day they decided to let the conductors sleep in? I talked to a guy at the gare and he didn't know why. He said to check in a week and see if any new trains get put up. Otherwise Leah and I will have to go in the night before and spend money on a hotel room. Boo France.
I think I'm going to try and take a mini nap before heading to the market this morning. Talk to you soon! Bisous!
Friday, February 19, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
¡¡¡¡Aye Mexico!!!!
Or Barcelona. Because I'm going there in March with Leah. Bought the tickets AND booked the hostel today. Go us!!! Too bad neither of us speak Spanish. Una assietta por fovora?!?
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Getting back down to business
So, all my visitors are gone, I'm back in school (at least until the end of February when we get another week of vacation....), I've actually got homework (for once), things are starting to get back to normal here in Rennes, France. Yesterday was another one of the world famous CIEE excursions, which usually end up with us spending wayyyyyy to long in the most random of places and then sleeping on the bus. We went to Saint Malo and Mont Saint Michel, and even though I'd already been both places, they're really interesting towns, so it wasn't too bad. The only downfall was the weather, which decided to be gray, cold, and windy. And a sad change from last semester, CIEE is only doing one overnight excursion (to the Loire Valley) in lieu of 2, but now we get two day trips (the one yesterday and another to Vannes/Carnac). I always had a lot of fun on the overnight trips, and it was a good way to get to know the other kids in the program. Ohhhh well.
Leah and I recently tried to plan out our trips for the upcoming semester. So far we've got: Barcelona in March, Amsterdam and Copenhagen/Aarhus (maybe Brussels/Belfast???) in April, Bordeaux (who knows when), Paris and Versailles in May (we already bought the tickets for this one!), and then we want to try for Rome/Prague/Dublin at some point in the semester if money holds out. Although you always hear about cheap travel in Europe, it never really ends up being all that cheap.....You have to get to the airport, usually Paris (or Beauvais for RyanAir, which is a HUGE hassle), and then the cheap airlines don't really fly into the main airports, so you have to get from the airport to the city you want to go to, if you don't know anyone in the place you're visiting, you have to pay for a place to stay, food, cool things to do, etc. It adds up fast. But, Leah and I decided we have around 100 days left here, we need to make the most of it and not worry tooooooooooooo much about the cost. It just means we have to resist the glowing lights and fashionable clothes of H&M a lot more this semester. PLUS the euro is down to $1.36. Best. News. Ever. Well......
Maybe even better news than the falling exchange rate: Hank got an internship in Stuttgart, Germany starting MARCH 1st!!!!!!!! Which means I have to add Germany on my list of travels. This internship was such a last minute thing, and its a great opportunity for him. Knowing my love of tigers, Hank promised me a trip to the zoo in Stuttgart, so I'm pretty excited :) I'm hoping he'll be able to stop by Rennes before he starts work, because it might be kind of hard to plan to see each other when both of us our busy with our European lives. Its pretty cool that we'll both be over here at the same time, and I hope that we can at least meet up once or twice before I fly off at the end of May.
I'm starting the job search for summer in Madison, because after all these destinations I'm hoping to see I'm going to be BROKE. I turned in my application for the desk job I had last summer, but I'm a little worried that since I'm coming back home so late I won't be able to get it. So, if anybody knows anybody who are employing nice, hard working, French speaking, awesome people, let me know.
Til next time,
Katie
Leah and I recently tried to plan out our trips for the upcoming semester. So far we've got: Barcelona in March, Amsterdam and Copenhagen/Aarhus (maybe Brussels/Belfast???) in April, Bordeaux (who knows when), Paris and Versailles in May (we already bought the tickets for this one!), and then we want to try for Rome/Prague/Dublin at some point in the semester if money holds out. Although you always hear about cheap travel in Europe, it never really ends up being all that cheap.....You have to get to the airport, usually Paris (or Beauvais for RyanAir, which is a HUGE hassle), and then the cheap airlines don't really fly into the main airports, so you have to get from the airport to the city you want to go to, if you don't know anyone in the place you're visiting, you have to pay for a place to stay, food, cool things to do, etc. It adds up fast. But, Leah and I decided we have around 100 days left here, we need to make the most of it and not worry tooooooooooooo much about the cost. It just means we have to resist the glowing lights and fashionable clothes of H&M a lot more this semester. PLUS the euro is down to $1.36. Best. News. Ever. Well......
Maybe even better news than the falling exchange rate: Hank got an internship in Stuttgart, Germany starting MARCH 1st!!!!!!!! Which means I have to add Germany on my list of travels. This internship was such a last minute thing, and its a great opportunity for him. Knowing my love of tigers, Hank promised me a trip to the zoo in Stuttgart, so I'm pretty excited :) I'm hoping he'll be able to stop by Rennes before he starts work, because it might be kind of hard to plan to see each other when both of us our busy with our European lives. Its pretty cool that we'll both be over here at the same time, and I hope that we can at least meet up once or twice before I fly off at the end of May.
I'm starting the job search for summer in Madison, because after all these destinations I'm hoping to see I'm going to be BROKE. I turned in my application for the desk job I had last summer, but I'm a little worried that since I'm coming back home so late I won't be able to get it. So, if anybody knows anybody who are employing nice, hard working, French speaking, awesome people, let me know.
Til next time,
Katie
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Thats so owl.
We're so cute on the Champs ElyséesSo, my resolution to post more = 2 posts in January (whoops). BUT to make up for it, you get 2 bloggers for the price of 1!!!!
Elise is here in Rennes with me, and we've been hanging out and seeing the sights of Bretagne for the past week and a half. We started with a whirlwind tour of Paris. Off the plane, we dropped our bags off at our cute little yellow hotel room with a crooked door and headed straight to Notre Dame to chill with Quasimodo. We got up close and personal with some gargoyles (although we learned that they aren't really gargoyles but in fact are chimères. Darn you cartoons for your false information [anybody else watch that besides us?]). They were pretty cute. We named a few, such as Stan (he was on a postcard, we never actually found him). There were lots and lots of spiral stairs, 400 to be exact, because French people like making tourists climb steep dark stairs. We like to call this the Paris workout. We also saw a HUGE bell. I was tempted to lick it, just like Barney, but it was too far away. The following photos are a few of our favorite new friends from atop Notre Dame:
After climbing the towers of the cathedral, we hopped on the métro over to the Eiffel Tower, just in time to see it light up. We dodged several dudes trying to sell us glowing souvenirs, took some awesome pictures and then Elise saw the Eiffel Tower sparkle!!!!! She didn't know it did that, so she was pretty pumped (and thats an understatement).
SPAAAAAAARRRKKLLLLLLEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!! You know how a lot of time the really cool touristy things aren't as cool in person?!? The Eiffel Tower does NOT fall into that category- its sweeeeeet. Since it was Friday, the Louvre was open late (AND FREEEEEEEE - for people under 26...sucks to be old) so we went to hang out with Mona. We covered a lot of ground in a short amount of time. The Louvre is kind of overwhelming and basically is a lot of paintings of Jesus, so its hard to find the really cool stuff. It probably took us half an hour to find Hammurabi's Code (the first written law). We managed to hit all the important things, and we even tested out Mona's eyes. They really do follow you around the room. By the time we made it out, we were exhausted from all the stairs, and we headed back home and went to bed!
The next morning, after a somewhat slow start and slightly dreary Paris weather, we went to Musée D'Orsay to enjoy impressionism, among other things. It was easier to differentiate paintings/artwork, given some range in subject matter other than religion. We really enjoyed the room of all of Monet's work, including some of the lily pads. It was really cool to see some of the paintings that took up a WHOLE wall and some of the furniture was strange (and a tease, since you could not test out the comfort levels of each item. Some of the chairs looked really promising too). There was a special exhibit by this special dude, who after being harshly criticized by the public, became obsessed with painting these masks represented the distortion of the evil masses of the cruel public. Obviously he did not handle criticism well- but some of these masks were SUPER creepy. On a lighter note, one of the paintings we enjoyed the most, was The Orgy Painting. Basically, a whole bunch of Romans were having too much fun one night, drinking, making out, you know- the usual, and there was just a lot of drama going on among these young drunken Romans.
As you can see above, alcohol leads to no good. The older Romans obviously think these young-ins can't hold their own, there are love triangles, make out sessions, jealous emo kids- a high school dance gone wrong. Just looking at the picture makes me giggle.
In search of food and coffee, we walked along the Champs Elysées (one of the chic-est streets in Paris), where we stopped to admire (or laugh) at Louis Vuitton, especially because we both already own, you know, like 35 pairs of sun glasses each (at 350 euro a pop). We picked out our favorite trunks (because we are on the Titanic) to ship back home (and use as furniture on our porch, to copy the mannequins). The Champs Elysées was probably the start to this weird obsession with leather and boots, even the desire to wear cool high heels, that France seems to have instilled in me (Elise). At the end of the Champs is the Arc de Triomphe, a GINORMOUS monument built by Napoleon to compensate for his dwarf status. See the man in a blue letter jacket? Elise decided to flash a smile in his direction.
French boys are creepy. No smiling- ever. Lesson learned.
The Arc is HUGE and very cool to look at, especially the ceiling (like all the other cool ceiling in France- seems to be a requirement). There is a flame always lit, for the Tomb of the Unknown Solider. The intersection around the Arc is terrifying, since all the main streets intersect here, thus to cross the street, there are underground tunnels to get to and from the Arc. By the way, we found the Ericson family of France to take the above photo (creepy man included). They were at least 10 feet tall- even the mom. Also the by the way, people in France really like, like obsessed with, How I Met Your Mother- which is wonderful. Everyone loves Barney.
We went to the Père Lachaise cemetery, where lots of famous French and international people are buried. Its huge and complicated, with tons of different sections. We took a picture of the map with our camera, hoping to take advantage of zoom, but we still couldn't find stuff. We visited Jim Morrison's grave first, once we found it. Then, meandered towards Oscar Wilde's grave, which also took a while to find because we overshot it. Once we were in the right section, it is fairly easy to find because it is covered in lipstick and kisses. It is a popular tradition to kiss his grave; a tradition we decided to take part in. Never have I ever kissed a grave....Shoot.
We were rushed out of the cemetery as it started to get darker- probably because of zombies, so, we left and decided it was probably safer in the sex district of Paris, Montmartre. Some day, when rich and famous, we will return to the actual Moulin Rouge.
While meandering more cobblestone, dangerous even in flat shoes, we bought some HOT WINE to keep warm. The wine is warmed, has some spices and orange slices and is delicious. Yum.
We continued to wander, saw the Sacré Coeur, a beautiful white church, whose service was in progress while we quietly walked around the outside. This was another example of the stair climbing for the Paris Workout. At the bottom of the hill, there were a bunch of guys with string, who tried to grab your wrists and make you a bracelet for lots of euro. No thank you.
Katie made me (elise) try more French-y things, like KIRS. It is white wine and a fruity syrup. We drank it at this cute little cafe over by our cute little hotel. We had crepes that night. I had NUTELLA and BANANA- it was messy, but brilliant. We had a train early the next day, so we headed to bed, and woke early to quickly carry all of my stuff to the sketchy metro stop at 7am. Saw a homeless man penis (my favorite early morning surprise) and the cops stopped the metro to search for some man, who we then saw them handcuff. Cool. Good morning.
Our first afternoon in Rennes was filled with an intense...wait for it....ping pong tournament. Yeah. It is hardcore. We watched Yoann destroy a wall in hot pursuit of a ball, lots of french swearing, followed by beer and baguettes. Yoann's family cooked us a delicious meal, a chinese-inspired dish of Beef and caramel, with wine, as well as a delicious fruit crumble desert and french cheese. This was my first French cheese experience. Nothing like Wisconsin cheese. But the Munster was DELICIOUS.
Monday, I (Katie) had to sign up for classes because my month and a half vacation came to an end this week. Tragic, really. In French style, Leah and my schedule ended up getting messed up, but, I guess we're used to France disorganization. For our long stay visas, Leah and I needed to go get x-rays of our lungs. WHICH WE GET TO KEEEEEEP!!!!!!!! Proud to say, I'm tuberculosis free! Check. I'm putting my x-ray up on the fridge when I get back to Madison. Also, we had to get a doctors appointment. Our doctor was about 12. Wore skinny pants, pointy boots, and had his scooter helmet on his desk. I think his backpack had red spider webs on it. I told him about Milwaukee (he'd never heard of it) and I almost tipped over the medical table, whoops. He told me the x-ray was a "beau cadeau" (beautiful present) and to take care of it. Awesome.
Katie, Leah and I took a day trip to Saint Malo, a walled beach town which is about a 45 minute train ride. I really like the trains- they make me sleepy. The weather was surprisingly nice, it was SUNNY, and we walked along the wall and adventured along the beach. Apparently the tide rises really quickly and its easy to get stuck out on the little island like forts- but we didn't get stuck. Just enjoyed each of the forts. We found Chateaubriand's grave overlooking the ocean. He was a moody French author who was born in Saint Malo. We agreed that it was a fitting and very EPIC place to be buried; very beautiful. It was also completely lovely to walk along the water, with lots of little kids bundled up playing, as well as dogs running about. We wandered about in the town searching for a place to eat and eventually ate wonderfully delicious Galettes, which are crepes, with egg, ham and cheese in them. We eat them a bunch, because they are super yummy. We also drank cider and had a sugar crepe for desert (Leah splurged and got a caramel crepe). We mostly hung out, looked at the ocean, and enjoyed the sunshine. It was peaceful and wonderful.
Things We've Explored in Rennes:
-We walked through the garden to hang out with the birds.
They were chirping up a storm; I reckon they like to gossip.
-The HOT CHOCOLATE specialty place. They have soooooooooo many different types of hot chocolate. YUM. I got raspberry flavored hot chocolate and Katie got honey and vanilla. They give you a little bit of brownie too. There are board games to be played and a lovely warm ambiance.
-The CHAI place. We've been there twice. Also delicious. They play good music and we snagged a table with cushions the second time we went. We've also decided to open our own little hippie coffeeshop some day when we are old- sometime after Katie has worked at Curves/Hollister and I've lived in a cardboard box somewhere? Ooooh the places we'll go.
-The Saturday Morning Market: We wandered through the fruit section, where Katie got a FREE apple, a quite tasty one, and I got a super yummy pear. We tried galette saucisse, which is a brat wrapped in a galette. While in line it started to HAIL, then snow, a little bit of rain and then it was sunny again. Bretagne has weird weather. They have EVEN more cheese than the farmers market in Madison, which is impressive. Also, a lot of honey. We also walked through the meat part of the market, which was pretty gross, with HUGE slabs of meat, cow eye balls and chickens with their heads still on. Yikes.
-Katie and I ate at this cute little restaurant in Rennes that we happened to meander into. We got a lovely student deal for pasta (which had corn in it, which was apparently debated about among the cooks/waitress, and they went for it, and it was a good addition), wine and coffee and we bought a dessert too. To our luck, they didn't have the dessert we wanted, so we got a super fancy and wonderful fancy dessert (it was really fancy) for the price of the cheaper brownie one. Awesome. Seated next to us was a man dining alone. Dun dun dun.....and he wouldn't stop talking to us. Unfortunately for me (Katie), Elise doesn't speak French, so I was stuck having to answer his questions. Upon leaving, the waitress asked me if we were bothered by him. I said no, it wasn't a big deal. She replied "Good. Because usually we don't let him in. He likes to chat up young girls." Great. The dessert was totally worth it.
-Magical Bakery: everything is jumbo sized, chocolately, and magical. End of story.
-Funny assortment dinner- We needed to pick up dinner before heading to Leah's, so we stopped to get sushi. We also got clementines (probably the yummiest clementines i've ever eaten). We also got brownies. Yum. Elise's sushi had mango and mint in it. Weird combo, but was delicious. I got one with cream cheese, avacado, and salmon. Called the Philadelphia. Also yummy.
-Sneaking wine in my room like 2 high schoolers. We also did not have the corkscrew to open it. Thus, we discovered, all you need is: a fork, a pen, nail clippers, tweezers...and a tad bit of DEDICATION.
Like stated above, PRINCESSES
We wandered a bit, although the weather was iffy (it is Bretagne after all), and
stopped in a bunch of random shops to look at shoes (Elise wants leather boots. I just bought some.). We found this random indoor mall that looked like some Victorian awesome thing. We learned about it in the castle. We found a big bell tower, a cool fountain, drank some cafe where we discovered that Katie may in fact be the devil, if not at least related, due to her 6.66 of change, saw a huge cathedral that was slightly lame (I think they rebuilt a lot of it), PLAYED WITH PUPPIES, drank a beer with some Irishmen, ate Thai food SUPER FAST (we had a train to catch), and then headed home to watch some How I Met Your Mother (obviously). Its been fun to explore parts of Bretagne that I haven't been to yet, even though they're super close and I've been here 5 (almost 6...holy cow.) months. Its been an adventure for both of us!!!! Plus we'll have cool pics to put on our porch next year (on top of the Louis Vuitton trunks).
Other observations: Escalators, while prominent, are always broken. French women can walk in crazy high heels and dress quite nicely- almost annoyingly nice. Lots of funny little inserts of English, such as STRONG BACON, and GO. There has also been many debates about PIRATES v. NINJAS- although we don't particularly understand the debate (Pirates would obviously be way more fun to be at a bar with.) Or...zombies v. vampires?!?!
Lucille and I engaged in a very serious and intense TICKLE FIGHT. She is crazy. We also played a game where one person was blind folded and had to run around and grab someone else. Katie and I had the advantage, since she is tiny and easy to guess. Lucile also thought it was funny that Elise couldn't understand what she was saying. I had to translate a lot.
I REALLY like all the graffiti on all the walls. I don't have any idea how they tag some of the places that they do, like the really high up ledges and such, but it think its super sweeet. (even the sorta lame ones are still pretty cool).
The next morning, after a somewhat slow start and slightly dreary Paris weather, we went to Musée D'Orsay to enjoy impressionism, among other things. It was easier to differentiate paintings/artwork, given some range in subject matter other than religion. We really enjoyed the room of all of Monet's work, including some of the lily pads. It was really cool to see some of the paintings that took up a WHOLE wall and some of the furniture was strange (and a tease, since you could not test out the comfort levels of each item. Some of the chairs looked really promising too). There was a special exhibit by this special dude, who after being harshly criticized by the public, became obsessed with painting these masks represented the distortion of the evil masses of the cruel public. Obviously he did not handle criticism well- but some of these masks were SUPER creepy. On a lighter note, one of the paintings we enjoyed the most, was The Orgy Painting. Basically, a whole bunch of Romans were having too much fun one night, drinking, making out, you know- the usual, and there was just a lot of drama going on among these young drunken Romans.
As you can see above, alcohol leads to no good. The older Romans obviously think these young-ins can't hold their own, there are love triangles, make out sessions, jealous emo kids- a high school dance gone wrong. Just looking at the picture makes me giggle.
In search of food and coffee, we walked along the Champs Elysées (one of the chic-est streets in Paris), where we stopped to admire (or laugh) at Louis Vuitton, especially because we both already own, you know, like 35 pairs of sun glasses each (at 350 euro a pop). We picked out our favorite trunks (because we are on the Titanic) to ship back home (and use as furniture on our porch, to copy the mannequins). The Champs Elysées was probably the start to this weird obsession with leather and boots, even the desire to wear cool high heels, that France seems to have instilled in me (Elise). At the end of the Champs is the Arc de Triomphe, a GINORMOUS monument built by Napoleon to compensate for his dwarf status. See the man in a blue letter jacket? Elise decided to flash a smile in his direction.
French boys are creepy. No smiling- ever. Lesson learned.
The Arc is HUGE and very cool to look at, especially the ceiling (like all the other cool ceiling in France- seems to be a requirement). There is a flame always lit, for the Tomb of the Unknown Solider. The intersection around the Arc is terrifying, since all the main streets intersect here, thus to cross the street, there are underground tunnels to get to and from the Arc. By the way, we found the Ericson family of France to take the above photo (creepy man included). They were at least 10 feet tall- even the mom. Also the by the way, people in France really like, like obsessed with, How I Met Your Mother- which is wonderful. Everyone loves Barney.
We went to the Père Lachaise cemetery, where lots of famous French and international people are buried. Its huge and complicated, with tons of different sections. We took a picture of the map with our camera, hoping to take advantage of zoom, but we still couldn't find stuff. We visited Jim Morrison's grave first, once we found it. Then, meandered towards Oscar Wilde's grave, which also took a while to find because we overshot it. Once we were in the right section, it is fairly easy to find because it is covered in lipstick and kisses. It is a popular tradition to kiss his grave; a tradition we decided to take part in. Never have I ever kissed a grave....Shoot.We were rushed out of the cemetery as it started to get darker- probably because of zombies, so, we left and decided it was probably safer in the sex district of Paris, Montmartre. Some day, when rich and famous, we will return to the actual Moulin Rouge.
While meandering more cobblestone, dangerous even in flat shoes, we bought some HOT WINE to keep warm. The wine is warmed, has some spices and orange slices and is delicious. Yum.
We continued to wander, saw the Sacré Coeur, a beautiful white church, whose service was in progress while we quietly walked around the outside. This was another example of the stair climbing for the Paris Workout. At the bottom of the hill, there were a bunch of guys with string, who tried to grab your wrists and make you a bracelet for lots of euro. No thank you.
Katie made me (elise) try more French-y things, like KIRS. It is white wine and a fruity syrup. We drank it at this cute little cafe over by our cute little hotel. We had crepes that night. I had NUTELLA and BANANA- it was messy, but brilliant. We had a train early the next day, so we headed to bed, and woke early to quickly carry all of my stuff to the sketchy metro stop at 7am. Saw a homeless man penis (my favorite early morning surprise) and the cops stopped the metro to search for some man, who we then saw them handcuff. Cool. Good morning.
Other noteable Paris things: Where's Waldo is actually... Where is Charlie?!?! And Quick Burger has lots of signs for STRONG BACON, as well as strong cheese. Not as exciting as STRONG BACON.
Our first afternoon in Rennes was filled with an intense...wait for it....ping pong tournament. Yeah. It is hardcore. We watched Yoann destroy a wall in hot pursuit of a ball, lots of french swearing, followed by beer and baguettes. Yoann's family cooked us a delicious meal, a chinese-inspired dish of Beef and caramel, with wine, as well as a delicious fruit crumble desert and french cheese. This was my first French cheese experience. Nothing like Wisconsin cheese. But the Munster was DELICIOUS.
Monday, I (Katie) had to sign up for classes because my month and a half vacation came to an end this week. Tragic, really. In French style, Leah and my schedule ended up getting messed up, but, I guess we're used to France disorganization. For our long stay visas, Leah and I needed to go get x-rays of our lungs. WHICH WE GET TO KEEEEEEP!!!!!!!! Proud to say, I'm tuberculosis free! Check. I'm putting my x-ray up on the fridge when I get back to Madison. Also, we had to get a doctors appointment. Our doctor was about 12. Wore skinny pants, pointy boots, and had his scooter helmet on his desk. I think his backpack had red spider webs on it. I told him about Milwaukee (he'd never heard of it) and I almost tipped over the medical table, whoops. He told me the x-ray was a "beau cadeau" (beautiful present) and to take care of it. Awesome.Katie, Leah and I took a day trip to Saint Malo, a walled beach town which is about a 45 minute train ride. I really like the trains- they make me sleepy. The weather was surprisingly nice, it was SUNNY, and we walked along the wall and adventured along the beach. Apparently the tide rises really quickly and its easy to get stuck out on the little island like forts- but we didn't get stuck. Just enjoyed each of the forts. We found Chateaubriand's grave overlooking the ocean. He was a moody French author who was born in Saint Malo. We agreed that it was a fitting and very EPIC place to be buried; very beautiful. It was also completely lovely to walk along the water, with lots of little kids bundled up playing, as well as dogs running about. We wandered about in the town searching for a place to eat and eventually ate wonderfully delicious Galettes, which are crepes, with egg, ham and cheese in them. We eat them a bunch, because they are super yummy. We also drank cider and had a sugar crepe for desert (Leah splurged and got a caramel crepe). We mostly hung out, looked at the ocean, and enjoyed the sunshine. It was peaceful and wonderful.
Things We've Explored in Rennes:
-We walked through the garden to hang out with the birds.
They were chirping up a storm; I reckon they like to gossip.-The HOT CHOCOLATE specialty place. They have soooooooooo many different types of hot chocolate. YUM. I got raspberry flavored hot chocolate and Katie got honey and vanilla. They give you a little bit of brownie too. There are board games to be played and a lovely warm ambiance.
-The CHAI place. We've been there twice. Also delicious. They play good music and we snagged a table with cushions the second time we went. We've also decided to open our own little hippie coffeeshop some day when we are old- sometime after Katie has worked at Curves/Hollister and I've lived in a cardboard box somewhere? Ooooh the places we'll go.
-The Saturday Morning Market: We wandered through the fruit section, where Katie got a FREE apple, a quite tasty one, and I got a super yummy pear. We tried galette saucisse, which is a brat wrapped in a galette. While in line it started to HAIL, then snow, a little bit of rain and then it was sunny again. Bretagne has weird weather. They have EVEN more cheese than the farmers market in Madison, which is impressive. Also, a lot of honey. We also walked through the meat part of the market, which was pretty gross, with HUGE slabs of meat, cow eye balls and chickens with their heads still on. Yikes.
-Katie and I ate at this cute little restaurant in Rennes that we happened to meander into. We got a lovely student deal for pasta (which had corn in it, which was apparently debated about among the cooks/waitress, and they went for it, and it was a good addition), wine and coffee and we bought a dessert too. To our luck, they didn't have the dessert we wanted, so we got a super fancy and wonderful fancy dessert (it was really fancy) for the price of the cheaper brownie one. Awesome. Seated next to us was a man dining alone. Dun dun dun.....and he wouldn't stop talking to us. Unfortunately for me (Katie), Elise doesn't speak French, so I was stuck having to answer his questions. Upon leaving, the waitress asked me if we were bothered by him. I said no, it wasn't a big deal. She replied "Good. Because usually we don't let him in. He likes to chat up young girls." Great. The dessert was totally worth it.
-Magical Bakery: everything is jumbo sized, chocolately, and magical. End of story.
-Funny assortment dinner- We needed to pick up dinner before heading to Leah's, so we stopped to get sushi. We also got clementines (probably the yummiest clementines i've ever eaten). We also got brownies. Yum. Elise's sushi had mango and mint in it. Weird combo, but was delicious. I got one with cream cheese, avacado, and salmon. Called the Philadelphia. Also yummy.
-Sneaking wine in my room like 2 high schoolers. We also did not have the corkscrew to open it. Thus, we discovered, all you need is: a fork, a pen, nail clippers, tweezers...and a tad bit of DEDICATION.
So. Thursday night. You see...i've been hearing about how Thursday night is THE night to go out, wander the cobblestone, hang out in the other Mad Ave (not that any place could ever even touch the classy-ness of the wonderful Mad Ave Dance Club that we often frequent in Madison), take some smurf shots, drink a beer, dance in the streets. Viva la revolution. To start our night out solidly, we ate some pasta and got FREEEEEE dessert. Leah, Katie and I then enjoyed some cider and cheap red wine in a rando alleyway, because, we are obviously, a) super classy and b) we can. I really did enjoy the Madison Avenue here on the Rue de la Soif (Thirsty Road....interesting. Thirsty Thursday, France style). The conveniently cute bartender kept dancing to all of the Shaggy songs that played. We also saw a hobbit, who talked to us, mooned the bar, and tried to get with this chick. Good work, Frodo- protect that ring. We met up with Joanna and Adelene, two lovely French friends, hung out til bar time, and then, when kicked out of the bars, everyone moves to the streets. We had to move, twice, due to the impeding doom of fights getting close to us. So, this guy, came by and opened a seemingly locked door with his butt. 
So....obviously....we did too. We took turns, around the circle, opening the said locked door, with our booties. It was great fun. THEN! we met Barney Stinson, or so he claimed. Insisting that he was awesome, he demanded validation as the French Barney Stinson. However, he had no suit. No Suit = No Barney Stinson. Suit up, man....duh. VIVA LA REVOLUTION. We slumberpartied (yeah, verb) at Leah's, tried to watch a How I Met Your Mother even though Leah and I fell asleep pretty prompty and Katie finished it, and then awoke for an adventure to NANTES.
So....obviously....we did too. We took turns, around the circle, opening the said locked door, with our booties. It was great fun. THEN! we met Barney Stinson, or so he claimed. Insisting that he was awesome, he demanded validation as the French Barney Stinson. However, he had no suit. No Suit = No Barney Stinson. Suit up, man....duh. VIVA LA REVOLUTION. We slumberpartied (yeah, verb) at Leah's, tried to watch a How I Met Your Mother even though Leah and I fell asleep pretty prompty and Katie finished it, and then awoke for an adventure to NANTES.A Trip to Nantes: We went there. Most importantly, there is a CASSSSSSSSTTTLLLLEEEEEEEEEEE. We are princesses. The castle belonged to the Duc de Bretagne back in the day. He was pretty cool. Rebellious, viva la revolution, and all that. The only let down was the lack of dungeon. No dragons, but there was a legit moat. And machicoulis, these holes in the floor of the walls that people used to throw shit through to smash invaders!!!!! SOOOOO cool. (Katie is obssessed, if you can't tell).
Like stated above, PRINCESSESWe wandered a bit, although the weather was iffy (it is Bretagne after all), and
stopped in a bunch of random shops to look at shoes (Elise wants leather boots. I just bought some.). We found this random indoor mall that looked like some Victorian awesome thing. We learned about it in the castle. We found a big bell tower, a cool fountain, drank some cafe where we discovered that Katie may in fact be the devil, if not at least related, due to her 6.66 of change, saw a huge cathedral that was slightly lame (I think they rebuilt a lot of it), PLAYED WITH PUPPIES, drank a beer with some Irishmen, ate Thai food SUPER FAST (we had a train to catch), and then headed home to watch some How I Met Your Mother (obviously). Its been fun to explore parts of Bretagne that I haven't been to yet, even though they're super close and I've been here 5 (almost 6...holy cow.) months. Its been an adventure for both of us!!!! Plus we'll have cool pics to put on our porch next year (on top of the Louis Vuitton trunks).Other observations: Escalators, while prominent, are always broken. French women can walk in crazy high heels and dress quite nicely- almost annoyingly nice. Lots of funny little inserts of English, such as STRONG BACON, and GO. There has also been many debates about PIRATES v. NINJAS- although we don't particularly understand the debate (Pirates would obviously be way more fun to be at a bar with.) Or...zombies v. vampires?!?!
Lucille and I engaged in a very serious and intense TICKLE FIGHT. She is crazy. We also played a game where one person was blind folded and had to run around and grab someone else. Katie and I had the advantage, since she is tiny and easy to guess. Lucile also thought it was funny that Elise couldn't understand what she was saying. I had to translate a lot.
I REALLY like all the graffiti on all the walls. I don't have any idea how they tag some of the places that they do, like the really high up ledges and such, but it think its super sweeet. (even the sorta lame ones are still pretty cool).
We hope you've enjoyed our witty banter, as we've enjoyed our adventures. And always remember, VIVA LA REVOLUTION. À bientôt!
-Katie and Elise
-Katie and Elise
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