I am really looking forward to . . .

Fabric softener!! There is nothing worse than coarse towels when you get out of the shower
A dryer. Part of the previous problem
A bathtub. We don't have one.
Having church in English
Eating a real breakfast and not just toast and hot chocolate.
Having my own space!
Dollar movies
Not getting second hand smoke while walking down the street, everyday, everywhere.
Seriously, fabric softener!!

French Films

I went to see a movie tonight. I choose to see a cartoon because I thought it would be a little safer. I'm not sure it really was. I am starting to think that all French films are bizarre. Maybe it is just because I am from a different culture, but I have seen some strange ones. The cartoon one was a little scary, I jumped several times and it was kind of like watching a sci-fi movie in another language. I couldn't quite figure out the world it was set in. However, Klaus Badelt wrote the music. He did Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. The first movie I went to wasn't too bizarre, but it was kind of like Sliding Doors where you are watching two realities, and figuring that out and following it in another language was a little hard for my roommate; I did a little better. The film I saw inbetween those two was quite bizarre.
Anyway, that's my little tirade on French films. We are thinking about going to see one called Disco next week. I think its about three guys who are still living in the disco era but its really current time. We'll see!

Tourist season

We were at the Louvre on Wednesday for our art class. There were so many people there! I was going to say ten thousand, but then realized that that probably wasn't an exaggeration. I wish I had realized how lucky I was back when I was one of three people taking pictures of Venus de Milo, or one of ten looking at the Mona Lisa. Alas, those times are no more. Good luck getting up to the Mona Lisa. There are more people in Paris too, and I walk around cursing the inconsiderate Americans.

The last few weeks

My roommate and I have realized that we only have a few more weeks to see everything we want to in France. And do everything. Now it is crunch time. Good news is, we have finished most of our homework, we just have to keep up with small study sessions (like maybe an hour for all our classes put together) every night. So we can do that when we get home and can spend the rest of the time seeing Paris! Sad news is, the weather isn't really cooperating. However, we decided to get out there anyway. Today we strolled up the Champs Elysée and hiked up the Arc de Triomphe. Tomorrow, maybe a stroll by the Seine, or another museum visit. Yay!

Macaron Day

Thursday was Macaron day at Pierre Hermé. Pierre Hermé, we have decided, has the best macarons in Paris. They cost about 1,5 Euros a piece. Macarons are two little cookies with some kind of creme in the center. A little like Oreos, but with soft cookies instead of hard, and about a hundred times better. You can pick which kind you would like, from simple flavors like chocolate, pistachio, and lemon, to slightly more exotic like rose and olive oil with vanilla to really different like cream cheese, orange and passion-fruit (that one is quite good).


On Macaron Day, Pierre Hermé gave away free macarons!! You could get three free and then if you donated to help the orphans, they gave you a special red one (I think it was mostly red with chocolate on the inside). Considering four macarons would normally cost about six euros, which is nine dollars, we went and got some. It was definitely worth waiting in line for forty minutes.

Second day of Castles

In case one day of chateaux was not enough, we had a second. Considering how many chateaux there are in France, we hardly saw a percentage. This was the last day of our trip to Normandy and Brittany. It was pretty, and even though it was supposed to rain all day, it just barely started when we were leaving our last destination. Maybe someone was watching out for us. . .

They used to carve homes out of the mountainside and people still live in them. Pretty interesting.


Chateau de Clos Lucé - Leonardo da Vinci's house. We weren't allowed to take pictures in his house, so I only have pics from the garden.


Some of Da Vinci's inventions


Chateau Blois


Chambord, from the front


From the back. When I was in high school, this was my favorite French chateau. It is also the largest, so large in fact that no one ever lived in it. It was originally built as a hunting lodge.


Ever After Bridge. They took a lot of locale from this chateau.


Double helix staircase, designed by Leonardo de Vinci


Cathedral at Chartres


By the time we reached Chartes, the clouds were setting in, we didn't see much of the cathedral, especially since we went to look at the stained glass windows and it was hard to see them well enough to understand the stories, let alone get good pictures. We went over the symbolism talked about here. Maybe because one of the directors wrote the article. Funny how things work out.

Learning curve

I think that being in a singles ward has spoiled me. I still look at adults as if they know more than I do. But after twenty years as a member and many years of higher education, I am slowly becoming aware that I can't expect everyone to do a perfect job in their calling. In our program we are singing for a single adult conference, with some of the single adults. Last night we had a rehearsal with all of us for the first time. It took two and a half hours. I expected there to be good time management and I expected the director to know how to run a choir. I was disappointed. But after much reflection, I came to the realization that I can't always expect people to be good at everything and sometimes my job is just to support them in their calling, even if I could do a better job. Not that I would want the job. But I need to learn to be a little more forgiving, because I've had far too much training in classroom management, and that's really what the problem was I think