Random thoughts

You know those days you look in the mirror and think, man, I'm pretty cute. I am having those days more and more often. I don't think its because I've become any more beautiful; I think its because I've reached a point in my life where I've stopped judging by everyone else's definition of beautiful. I never depended on other people for my definition of myself, but I think that other people still influenced my perception. I feel like I've finally thrown on that last remaining influence and am starting to see myself as I really am and accepting myself for who I really am. Sometimes I think I tried too hard to be 'not' to be someone. I didn't want to be a sheep, or a lemming, as I often called those who followed the crowd. Now I am just working on being myself, because there is a place for everyone in this world, no matter what their personality. And I may be obnoxious and annoying, but that's ok, that's who I am and people still like me.
Wow. Waxing a little philosophical there. Must be past my bedtime.

Cassis

Cassis is a little fishing village. Here we went on a boat ride to see some little coves. They were very pretty.
Here is us on the little train we had to take into the city because the bus could not get down the tiny streets and the hills.


Chateau on the cliff


Cute fishing village!


LOVE the color of that water!!


I think this is called "Eye of the needle", for obvious reasons


My house. Someday


A view of the beach

Pont du Gard

One of my favorite activities of the entire trip was our voyage to see Pont du Gard. This is an old Roman aquaduct. The really cool part about this voyage was we got to kayak down the river and underneath the Pont du Gard!! It was awesome. Really. The sad part is that I left my camera on the bus so I didn't take any pictures, but here are some of my friends pics!!

Arles

I really liked Arles. Maybe because it had so many Roman ruins. The theater was so neat! And they had the cutest stuff for your kitchen!! Several of the girls spent quite a bit here.

Museum we went to visit. Very Provençal.


Roman theater. As you might imagine, this was one of my favorite places.


Roman Ampitheater

St Paul's and Cannes

We visited several cities and went sight seeing around them. Here are a few of my favorites

This was the cutest little village called Saint Paul's de something. Most of the city was tiny little streets. It was adorable!!


This is a view of the city from a little farther away


Beautiful French countryside


This is where the film festival is held in Cannes


The beach at Cannes

Marseilles

Marseilles was the start of our southern France trip. I loved it!! It was fantastic. I fell in love with Marseilles, I so want to go back there and rent a little beach house for a week. Now I just need a boat . . .

A view from outside the train station. Terribly exciting.


Chateau d'If (for all you Count of Monte Cristo fans)


Wind was a little strong.


Look at that water!!

Geneve

That's French for Geneva. It was a pretty neat city, very quaint. Sadly, we did not visit the UN. We ran out of time. We did visit a cathedral with a really old baptismal font (I've seen several of those now).

Some old dead guy under the cathedral


Playing giant chess, in the rain


The geyser for which Geneve is famous.


By far the coolest place in Geneve (my opinion of course) was the Bodmer museum. This was a guy who collected original manuscripts. Here are a few. I also saw original Beethoven, Mozart, Charles Dickens, Molière, some really old manuscripts of the Gospels and many more. The place was just full of cool stuff!

Here is a full original manuscript of the Book of the Dead


Original publication of the Tempest, by Shakespeare

George Pompidou Centre

The Pompidou Centre is the Modern Art museum. It is named after one of the French presidents who strongly supported the arts. I walked by this building every day on my way to school. On one side of the Centre, there is a fountain and street performers often perform there. My favorite was a regular, he wore all silver, anything not covered in clothes was in silver makeup and he played a tin flute. It was really neat.

Front side of the Pompidou


Back side of the Pompidou


View from the top

Reuill-Malmaison

This is the Chateau that Napoleon gave to his first wife, Josephine. He took excellent care of her, even after he divorced her. Interesting story, if you ever look it up!

The chateau


Josephine's bedroom


Napoleon's Library. There is even a hidden staircase.

Basillica of Saint Denis

The Basilica of Saint Denis (don't forget to pronounce that with a french accent!) is where all the French kings are buried. All except three. We saw Charlemagne, Pippin, Henry II, Henry IV, Françis I, Louis XIV, and the list goes on. We only spent about half an hour there, so I didn't get to see everything, but it was really neat. I really enjoyed it.

Marie Antoinette's tomb


Colors from the stained glass

From Giverny

We went to visit Monet's garden. It was beautiful.

Monet's bridge


This looks just like one of his paintings!


A Tulip


Reflection


More flowers

Can you make anyone fall in love with you?

Check bottom of blog. Apparently that time in France helped!!

Paris by night

Here are some pics from the night we stayed out so we could see Paris at night.


Eiffle tower through the clouds. I like the light that swings around like a light house






A view up the Champs Elysée, you can see l'Arc de Triomphe at the other end.







A view of the Place de la Concorde at night. You can see the Pantheon behind the fountain.

Bastille

The top of the Bastille Monument

The Bastille was a fortress. It was stormed in 1789 by revolutionaries and then by the end of the year, the Parisians had torn the place down stone by stone. Now there is just this monument there to mark what happened.

This is a view from the top of the Viaduc des arts. Originally it supported a railroad, but now it is a planted walkway and there are shops underneath. I was enjoying the walk so much, I didn't go down to the shops.

Home again, home again

Well, I have made it back. I arrived back in the States this weekend. I managed to get a good night's sleep the first night, which was great, but the second night it didn't work so well (waking up at two in the morning and not being able to fall back asleep is not my idea of a good time). Third night, I got the eight hours of sleep, but the lost of sleep from the trip and from the second night were definately having an effect.
The first day back, I went back to work. Crazy, I know, but I think it was good for me because it made me use my time more effectively and I had something that put me right back into the swing of things. It made adjusting easier, I think.
So we went through customs and you have to pick up your luggage and then re-turn it in. Unfortunately, they do not allow any kind of seeds in the country, and I didn't know this, and bought my landlord seeds from Monet's garden. (I thought that was pretty cool) So they threw away my seeds. Sad day. So after that, I sent my luggage back into the airplane. However, when I picked my luggage back up in Utah, the other suitcase had lost a wheel. I think my luggage is cursed. I now have two suitcases, both of which are missing a wheel!!
I'll post pictures of my trip to Southern France later, ie not at work and at a computer with my pics on it.

Things I will miss about Paris

The food
The street performers
The musicians on the Metro
The pitas
The pastries
The chocolate
My cute little host mother who never gets offended
The overcast days that mean I won't get sunburnt yet
The carrousels
Speaking French
The Louvre
The museums
Walking by the Seine
The little cars
The parks
The concerts
The shows
Being able to walk everywhere
The chateaux
The cathedrals
I think I could keep going a long time, so I'd better stop
Did I mention the food?

My adventure

This morning my roommate and I decided to take some of our luggage that we are leaving in Paris while we are taking a trip to our directors. Tomorrow we are bringing our stuff for the trip and we didn't want to have to drag two suitcases on the metro during rush hour. It all starts out well, but on the street that passes the parking lot to our apartment complex, I start to hear a weird sound. I checked my wheels, but I couldn't see anything. But the sound persists, and I know something is wrong, but we are already late. We cross the street and I turn to my roommate and ask, "Is something wrong with my wheel?" She replies "You don't have a wheel." Great. Fantastic. I turn back and found the wheel in the street before we crossed it. The wheel is flat on one side; well, that accounts for the weird sound. So the real question is what now? I decide to carry on because it will be easier than turning back and making a new plan. So I heave the suitcase over one shoulder and continue the walk to the train station.
Let me tell you a little about this suitcase. It is close to two feet by three feet and I have put all my books in it because I'm not planning on reading them in southern France. So it probably weighs between 50 and 60 lbs (yes, I am going to be overweight on my flight back to the states. That's what happens when you have a love affair with books). So the point I'm trying to make it, carrying my luggage the ten to fifteen minute walk to the train station is not the most fun thing I have done. Still, I manage to get it there, put a postcard in the mailbox, down the stairs, through the turn stile, and up the stairs to wait for the train. I turn back to see how my roommate is doing with her luggage. Well, she has managed it fairly well, except that at some point (through the turn stile?) she managed to bang her hand on something somewhat sharp and cut it open. It is bleeding quite well (she says it was gushing). Fortunately, I have a tissue, which she wraps around it and we continue on our way, riding the train, walking the moving sidewalk and escalators to the metro, up the stairs and to our directors house. Good news, she had a band-aid.
The adventure continues my friends!
I had thought possibly I would buy a new piece of luggage, however the shop that has luggage that I always admire is actually a wholesale shop. So, no new luggage (yet?), which means I get to transfer my luggage from my director's house at the end of the trip to my hotel room, then from the hotel room to the airport, then onto the car in Utah and then to my house. Fortunately after that, it is going to take a nice visit to the dump. And I think the airports have those nice little luggage transporter things. (don't ask me what that word is, my brain shut down after my final today)
Ah the joys of life!! Too bad I didn't get a picture with me hauling my luggage around!

Finals Week

Yes, we have them here too. I'm supposed to be studying right now, but I am thinking I am going to take a shower and go to bed. Staying up til midnight to watch conference and then getting up early the next two mornings does not make for getting enough sleep (yes, I did watch all the sessions. Two in French, and two only in English, one I did watch twice).
But I just was thinking that I haven't really updated my blog recently. I have at least four entries from things I have done that I have not posted and I'm trying to decide if you really want to see pics of a cemetery (Oscar Wilde, Chopin, Jim Morrison, Moliére, etc), more chateaux and the Comedie Français. I may not get to it, especially with all my studying and after Thursday, I will not post until after I return to the States, seeing that we will be traveling to Geneva and Marseilles. So if I don't get a chance to post again, I'll see you when I get home!!

Conference

I was watching the first session of the 178th Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the countenance of President Monson had so much energy. It struck me how much the Lord supports and blesses his prophets. President Hinckley was like that too, so much energy and enthusiasm for the gospel. The Lord gives strength and energy to those he calls. He does not let them falter. How grateful I am to have a living prophet on the earth

Disneyland Paris

Today we went to Disneyland, in Paris! Yeah! A few of us met up and went this morning. We were there early when the park opened and we left when it closed. Sadly this is not as exciting as it is in California because the park opens at ten and closes at seven. It was very strange to leave while it was still light outside. Very strange. But I think it is different in the summer. We tried to do everything in the park. Obviously we did not eat at every restaurant, nor did we shop in every store, or go to each of the kid playgrounds. We did not go to the arcades and we missed Pinocchio and the Winnie the Pooh show but we hit almost everything else. It is much smaller than California and the lines were at most twenty minutes long.
We did get on one ride that broke down before we even got inside, so we had to come back later.
We had a really good time. I even bought myself a souvenir. I didn't buy the pajamas I wanted because with the exchange rate, they would have been about fifty dollars. I could probably get the same pair in California and not have to pay the exchange rate!
You know, you just can't help but smile at Disneyland, I was in a good mood all day!

So, who's up for Disneyland this year?

Unpardonable Sin

I just ate at an American fast food joint in Paris.
What is the point of eating American when you are experiencing another country?

Well, for those of you who know me well, and know that I have a mild pizza addiction, it may not surprise you to find out that I finally gave in to my pizza craving and went to Pizza Hut. French pizza is not quite the same as American, and the bread sticks are a little different too, but it sure hit the spot!!

I love pizza!!

Little bit of everything

I think that I am really looking forward to coming home in three weeks. I keep checking my email, but no one writes. Including comments on my blog. I think I checked twice a day Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Today I finally had five messages. I checked them and they were ALL from companies I buy stuff from. Sad, sad day. I can't figure out if I am just impatient to talk to me friends (whose blogs I check regularly and am sad when they don't have new posts), or if my friends have finally gotten used to me being in France and can't find time to write to me. It's really not all that bad, my friend who just had a baby and her husband emailed me to tell me they had a baby, so that was exciting.
I have just over a week left in Paris and I am so worried that I won't get everything done that I want to! We are trying to pack it all in, but we definitely won't get to everything, but we have made a list of things that we must do (This does include going to Disneyland on Friday. How could I pass up Disneyland in Paris? Its like two fabulous things together). Then we spend the last week and a half in Southern France. And the beach. I have to remember to buy sunblock if I don't want to look like a lobster.
It is rather unnerving to have tests and papers and then have your teachers assure you that it is just so they can justify giving you a good grade. What does that really mean? I want A's in all my classes, but I know I don't catch everything I should. Especially in my Moliere class. Is she really going to give me an A, or will it be an A-? There is just no way to know your grade because it is unclear how we are doing in class!
I really didn't like going back to Daylight Savings Time. Now I'm back to being farther away time wise from friends and family, and its harder to call them. Or get emails at a decent hour.
It's getting warm here. Today I didn't need my coat at all. It was quite nice, except that I had to pack my coat around everywhere.
I am really sad that I feel like I am finally getting a handle on the language and now it is time to leave! I am FINALLY! understanding what people are asking me and now is the time to wrap it up! I feel like I am just getting started!
My luggage is going to be too heavy. I am going to have to pay for an extra 20 lbs. I bought too many books. Do I have a mild addiction to the written word? No, not me . . .
For the first time in my life I am trying to decide if I should watch all of General Conference. I plan on watching the sessions that are broadcast at a decent hour, but the afternoon sessions here are at night, and I'm trying to decide if I should stay up, past my bedtime, to watch them, or if I should take the time after the first session to see more things in Paris and then get a good night sleep. I'll probably end up watching it, if I know myself at all.
Ok, I think I am more than a little tired because the filter on my brain is completely shot and everything I am thinking is coming out on this blog.
Not to mention that every day, my legs hurt. Do I really walk that much? Maybe. But I am looking forward to taking a break and a long, hot bath.
Umm, yeah. Should probably get off the computer now.