Yes!!! I am back in the United States! After about 21 hours of travel that included three airplanes and four buses, I arrived back on my doorstep in Madison at about midnight tonight. I should be ready to crash any minute now - my body clock thinks I haven't slept in almost 25 hours now. For the time being, however, I'm just riding on the huge adrenaline rush that comes with coming home after a month abroad.
Took awhile for the English to sink in - I think my mental monologue the first time I read an advertisement at Heathrow went something like this: 'HSBC, your local worldwide bank.' Hmmm...I think what it means is, "HSBC, your local worldwide bank' ... Boy, something was different about this one ... there wasn't a translation at the bottom ... and I still understood it! I really am getting good at reading these signs ... oh wait ... duh, it's in English." I also stood in a convenience store for several minutes, trying to conjure up a simple pantomime or French sentence to ask if the shop accepted credit cards ... before realizing I could just walk up and say, "Excuse me, do you accept credit cards?"
Last day in Nice was perfectly pleasant. I finally had a day in Nice with sunny weather, so I walked over to Castle Hill on the far east side of town to see the views of the city, then down to Place Massena museum to see the royal mansion and its museum (including several paintings and photos of Nice through the last 200 years, my favorite part.) Also stuck my head inside Hotel Negresco, THE fancy iconic hotel on the beachfront. It has chandeliers, it has modern art, it has a dome over the lobby designed by some guy named Eiffel ... but I still don't get paying 350Euro a night for the sake of a nice lobby. After my touring I went for a run along the promenade by the sea, and learned 3 weeks of non-running has definitely put me out of shape. But it was worth it - my "ice bath" after running was to walk into the Mediterranean and let the water wash around my legs while I watched the sun set. (Yes, I know! I know it sounds like something cliche travel writers would write! But that's really how it happened!)
Today was all about travel, and now I'm here! Everything took off/landed more or less on time, no weather delays, no cancellations, no "I'm sorry, it looks like we had you booked on yesterday's flight ..." or other oopsie surprises like that. Just bus, plane, plane, plane, bus, bus, bus, and I was home. Simple as that. I had a surprise waiting for me at the Chicago airport too ... Andrew was there to give me a big hug and my first personal welcome back to the States. What a sweetie :-)
Pictures will go up on Facebook either tomorrow or Sunday. For now, I think Merlin and I are going to bed! (Actually Merlin's gone already - so I think I'll go join him!) Bye bye!
Friday, October 15, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
"And then ... I'll wake up"
I'm officially on my last 24 hours in Paris. By this time tomorrow (if everything's running on time) I should be en route to Heathrow Airport in London, then from there on to Chicago and finally home to Madison. I'm a mix of feelings - sad to be leaving behind all of the beautiful buildings and pedestrian walks and flowers and markets and food, but also very much looking forward to having my familiar places and faces and language back around me like a cozy blanket. Everytime I feel lost or confused or scared to ask someone for something (not knowing how much English they speak) I start counting the hours until I can get on a plane and go back home ... and then when that moment passes and I realize that I'm surrounded by perfect blue skies and the gorgeous Mediterranean and bright pastel buildings and peaceful pedestrian plazas I regret that I have to say good-bye to it so soon.
Tuesday was my day in Antibes. LOVED Antibes. LOVED LOVED LOVED Antibes. It's a medium-sized town, just the right size for me - big enough that there's plenty to walk around and see and do, not so big that it feels dirtied by an overpopulation of people and cars and conveniences. I walked past the port to the wonderful covered market in the middle of town (did some tasting - and some shopping), then along the shore and around to the lighthouse hill at the edge of the bay, for a fantastic view of the city and the sea. Weather was bright and sunny, but very VERY WINDY! Made for some fantastic waves on the sea - and for the kite-surfers. I spent quite awhile watching half a dozen very skilled kite-surfers. It is what it sounds like - a person on a surfboard using a giant airfoil-shaped kite to catch the wind and go soaring over the waves. Seriously, soaring - when they caught the wind just right, they'd launch off the waves and be airborne for several seconds. I kept trying to guesstimate how high they were over the water - I'd say twenty feet easily, maybe even 25 or 30. I started using my watch to time their hang-time - longest I recorded was 4.5 seconds. Think about it - that's a long time to be coasting in the air, hanging on to just a kite. Also toured the Picasso museum (worth seeing, but, eh - I just don't get gushy about most Picasso stuff, though here and there I'll see something of his that I geniunely like) and did a LOT of just walking around town.
Yesterday was my day to tour Monaco. It was decidedly less lovely, for all of the following reasons:
*I lost my beloved jacket, the one I found in Paris. I set it down on a railing to check a map, then forgot to pick it up when I was back on my way. By the time I ran back for it, it was gone. Couldn't have been there for more than 10 minutes. Oh well - somewhere in Monaco, "The Sunny Place for Shady People", someone is either wearing or selling my genuine leather woman's small beige jacket. Hope they like it.
*I bit the bullet and paid the 13Euro admission to the Musee Oceana... something, the big fancy schmancy aquarium/museum helmed for over thirty years by Jacques Cousteau. This year is the museum's 100th anniversary, so I thought I might be treated to some special exhibits or something. I was close ... something big definitely was/is going on, but I caught the museum during its ugly moment of transition, and was treated to a 13Euro view of scaffolding, black scrim curtains, and lots of construction workers making noise and taking their merry time.
*Weather was all over the place - too warm in the morning (when I took the jacket off), then the clouds came in, it got breezy, and I could've used that one lost article.
*Monaco in general is just ... eh. I suppose it's a tourist must (I would hate to leave the Riviera and say I *didn't* see the Monaco palace, the aquarium, the Grand Prix, or the Monte Carlo casino), but that's really all there is to the city. The rest of the city is elbow-to-elbow condos after condos, all probably very nice, but a very cookie-cutter kind of nice. Most of them probably vacant too - apparently it's popular for the millionaire crowd to have an address in Monaco, for the sake of avoiding income tax, but very few people actually spend any considerable time living in Monaco. Restaurants, walkways, etc are all pretty much just for the tourists.
I will say that my favorite pleasant surprise of Monaco was finding half a dozen photographs around the city of Princess Grace Kelly's appearance at each monument/attraction (there's a wedding photo of her outside the cathedral, a photo of her and Jacques Cousteau outside the aquarium, etc - oddly enough didn't see any photos of her outside the Monte Carlo, I wonder if she ever visited it). The town loves her, and for good reason - she looks like her perfectly photogenic and impossibly beautiful self in each and every one. I also did enjoy seeing the interior of the Monte Carlo (lots of dark green faux marble, gilding, and chandeliers - it actually does feel almost as James Bond-ish as you'd expect, even in the tourist-accessible foyer) and the palace-y interior of the ocean aquarium/museum, with even more gilding and chandeliers. Pretty sure I've never been in an aquarium with chandeliers and gilding before. (Actually the aquarium is in the basement, the gilding and chandeliers surround the marine exhibits on the upper floors - still, crystal and gold under the same roof as eels and sharks is not something you see every day).
Well, I guess I've been online enough - and I finally have a beautiful sunny day in Nice to enjoy the beach! I think that's where I will be for the rest of the afternoon. I'll be back home and have pictures on Facebook before you know it! Au revoir!
PS - Stacy - I searched the largest grocery store in town for Crispie M&Ms, and all they had was peanut! Boo! I'll keep my eye out, though - maybe they'll turn up at a random convenience store at the airport or something.
Tuesday was my day in Antibes. LOVED Antibes. LOVED LOVED LOVED Antibes. It's a medium-sized town, just the right size for me - big enough that there's plenty to walk around and see and do, not so big that it feels dirtied by an overpopulation of people and cars and conveniences. I walked past the port to the wonderful covered market in the middle of town (did some tasting - and some shopping), then along the shore and around to the lighthouse hill at the edge of the bay, for a fantastic view of the city and the sea. Weather was bright and sunny, but very VERY WINDY! Made for some fantastic waves on the sea - and for the kite-surfers. I spent quite awhile watching half a dozen very skilled kite-surfers. It is what it sounds like - a person on a surfboard using a giant airfoil-shaped kite to catch the wind and go soaring over the waves. Seriously, soaring - when they caught the wind just right, they'd launch off the waves and be airborne for several seconds. I kept trying to guesstimate how high they were over the water - I'd say twenty feet easily, maybe even 25 or 30. I started using my watch to time their hang-time - longest I recorded was 4.5 seconds. Think about it - that's a long time to be coasting in the air, hanging on to just a kite. Also toured the Picasso museum (worth seeing, but, eh - I just don't get gushy about most Picasso stuff, though here and there I'll see something of his that I geniunely like) and did a LOT of just walking around town.
Yesterday was my day to tour Monaco. It was decidedly less lovely, for all of the following reasons:
*I lost my beloved jacket, the one I found in Paris. I set it down on a railing to check a map, then forgot to pick it up when I was back on my way. By the time I ran back for it, it was gone. Couldn't have been there for more than 10 minutes. Oh well - somewhere in Monaco, "The Sunny Place for Shady People", someone is either wearing or selling my genuine leather woman's small beige jacket. Hope they like it.
*I bit the bullet and paid the 13Euro admission to the Musee Oceana... something, the big fancy schmancy aquarium/museum helmed for over thirty years by Jacques Cousteau. This year is the museum's 100th anniversary, so I thought I might be treated to some special exhibits or something. I was close ... something big definitely was/is going on, but I caught the museum during its ugly moment of transition, and was treated to a 13Euro view of scaffolding, black scrim curtains, and lots of construction workers making noise and taking their merry time.
*Weather was all over the place - too warm in the morning (when I took the jacket off), then the clouds came in, it got breezy, and I could've used that one lost article.
*Monaco in general is just ... eh. I suppose it's a tourist must (I would hate to leave the Riviera and say I *didn't* see the Monaco palace, the aquarium, the Grand Prix, or the Monte Carlo casino), but that's really all there is to the city. The rest of the city is elbow-to-elbow condos after condos, all probably very nice, but a very cookie-cutter kind of nice. Most of them probably vacant too - apparently it's popular for the millionaire crowd to have an address in Monaco, for the sake of avoiding income tax, but very few people actually spend any considerable time living in Monaco. Restaurants, walkways, etc are all pretty much just for the tourists.
I will say that my favorite pleasant surprise of Monaco was finding half a dozen photographs around the city of Princess Grace Kelly's appearance at each monument/attraction (there's a wedding photo of her outside the cathedral, a photo of her and Jacques Cousteau outside the aquarium, etc - oddly enough didn't see any photos of her outside the Monte Carlo, I wonder if she ever visited it). The town loves her, and for good reason - she looks like her perfectly photogenic and impossibly beautiful self in each and every one. I also did enjoy seeing the interior of the Monte Carlo (lots of dark green faux marble, gilding, and chandeliers - it actually does feel almost as James Bond-ish as you'd expect, even in the tourist-accessible foyer) and the palace-y interior of the ocean aquarium/museum, with even more gilding and chandeliers. Pretty sure I've never been in an aquarium with chandeliers and gilding before. (Actually the aquarium is in the basement, the gilding and chandeliers surround the marine exhibits on the upper floors - still, crystal and gold under the same roof as eels and sharks is not something you see every day).
Well, I guess I've been online enough - and I finally have a beautiful sunny day in Nice to enjoy the beach! I think that's where I will be for the rest of the afternoon. I'll be back home and have pictures on Facebook before you know it! Au revoir!
PS - Stacy - I searched the largest grocery store in town for Crispie M&Ms, and all they had was peanut! Boo! I'll keep my eye out, though - maybe they'll turn up at a random convenience store at the airport or something.
Monday, October 11, 2010
I heart the Mediterranean
The French Riviera supposedly sees 300 days of sunshine a year - but that still leaves 65 days of gray clouds and rain, and this is definitely one of them. No matter - makes me feel less guilty about spending a couple hours indoors in an Internet cafe, updating my blog and sending emails. I arrived in Nice via plane yesterday afternoon, and I'll be based out of Nice for the duration of my trip, until I fly out on Friday morning.
Nice is full of block after block of Belle Epoch buildings, and I think they are my favorite architecture I've seen on my trip. They have all of the intricacies and curly details of the buildings of Paris - wrought-iron balconies and railings, carved stonework decorations - but they also have the terra-cotta clay roofs and pastel building colors of a beach town. The combination makes me very very happy. Unfortunately, once you look down past the rooftops and balconies and onto the street level, you see the realities of Nice as a major city and tourist town as well - garish neon signs, tobacco shops, and asphalt paved roads (no more quaint cobblestone roads, and little in the way of pedestrian walkways, with the exception of the beach promenade). Still, if you start your pictures at the second floor and above, the buildings are beautiful in their light and peaceful colors and ornamental decoration.
To catch up on the last few days ...
on Wednesday I took my bike on the train back to Tours and biked from Tours to Chinon (roughly 55 km), stopping on the way to take pictures at the medieval fortress castle of Langleais and the fairy-tale castle of Usse. I took a bit long with pictures and had to book it to Chinon (including FLYING down the steep hill from the city castle into town), but I made it to the Chinon train station with a whole three minutes to spare before Andrew's train arrived. We spent the rest of the day resting up and walking around the city. Thursday I rode out to the small villages at the Loire-Cher river intersection and climbed up the bluff to enjoy the panoramic view over the valley, then rode on to a medieval abbey. Bike tire was flat again when I left the abbey (no puncture this time - just not holding air very well), so I inflated with my hand pump as best as I could then rode on the soft tire back to Chinon. After another rough ride on a soft tire, I was happy to be done with bike riding for this trip. Mental note to self: for serious touring, it's probably worth the extra hassle to bring a bike you know and love from home, and have it fully serviced with new or near-new components before heading out. Rental bikes are fine for rolling around here or there, but they're well used - you don't want to risk getting a bike whose tires/brakes/shifters (or all of the above, in my case) are on their last legs.
Friday we toured Chenonceau, the castle built on an arched bridge over the Cher River (according to Rick Steves, it's the 3rd most-visited chateau in France). The setting is almost Disney-animatedly perfect, and the castle is fantastic both inside and out. Weather for the day was pretty good too - sunny and warm. On Saturday we took the train back to Tours, then Paris (even managed to buy tickets and make it to the second train on time, with only an 9-minute layover between trains - props to Andrew for that one!), then whiled away our last afternoon and evening in Paris. The weather was absolutely perfect - sunny, calm breeze, neither warm nor cold, not a cloud in the sky. We felt like real Parisians living the joy of life, just lazily eating pastries and fruit and people-watching in the parks near the Eiffel Tower. I was content for several hours to skip joining the tourist masses at the base of the tower in favor of warming the park benches and enjoying the view from the ground ... but around 6 PM we decided to brave the throngs and go climb the stairs to the second floor of the world's largest radio antenna. It was fun circling the floors and seeing the skyline, recognizing the buildings and bridges we'd toured earlier ... and we had a great view when the Tower turned on its night lights. Spent the night at a hotel out by the airport, then Andrew and I were in transit for much of Sunday - he on his way back to the States, me on my way down to Nice for the remaining days of my trip.
Well, it looks like it may have stopped raining, and I should probably go find some food. Au revoir!
Nice is full of block after block of Belle Epoch buildings, and I think they are my favorite architecture I've seen on my trip. They have all of the intricacies and curly details of the buildings of Paris - wrought-iron balconies and railings, carved stonework decorations - but they also have the terra-cotta clay roofs and pastel building colors of a beach town. The combination makes me very very happy. Unfortunately, once you look down past the rooftops and balconies and onto the street level, you see the realities of Nice as a major city and tourist town as well - garish neon signs, tobacco shops, and asphalt paved roads (no more quaint cobblestone roads, and little in the way of pedestrian walkways, with the exception of the beach promenade). Still, if you start your pictures at the second floor and above, the buildings are beautiful in their light and peaceful colors and ornamental decoration.
To catch up on the last few days ...
on Wednesday I took my bike on the train back to Tours and biked from Tours to Chinon (roughly 55 km), stopping on the way to take pictures at the medieval fortress castle of Langleais and the fairy-tale castle of Usse. I took a bit long with pictures and had to book it to Chinon (including FLYING down the steep hill from the city castle into town), but I made it to the Chinon train station with a whole three minutes to spare before Andrew's train arrived. We spent the rest of the day resting up and walking around the city. Thursday I rode out to the small villages at the Loire-Cher river intersection and climbed up the bluff to enjoy the panoramic view over the valley, then rode on to a medieval abbey. Bike tire was flat again when I left the abbey (no puncture this time - just not holding air very well), so I inflated with my hand pump as best as I could then rode on the soft tire back to Chinon. After another rough ride on a soft tire, I was happy to be done with bike riding for this trip. Mental note to self: for serious touring, it's probably worth the extra hassle to bring a bike you know and love from home, and have it fully serviced with new or near-new components before heading out. Rental bikes are fine for rolling around here or there, but they're well used - you don't want to risk getting a bike whose tires/brakes/shifters (or all of the above, in my case) are on their last legs.
Friday we toured Chenonceau, the castle built on an arched bridge over the Cher River (according to Rick Steves, it's the 3rd most-visited chateau in France). The setting is almost Disney-animatedly perfect, and the castle is fantastic both inside and out. Weather for the day was pretty good too - sunny and warm. On Saturday we took the train back to Tours, then Paris (even managed to buy tickets and make it to the second train on time, with only an 9-minute layover between trains - props to Andrew for that one!), then whiled away our last afternoon and evening in Paris. The weather was absolutely perfect - sunny, calm breeze, neither warm nor cold, not a cloud in the sky. We felt like real Parisians living the joy of life, just lazily eating pastries and fruit and people-watching in the parks near the Eiffel Tower. I was content for several hours to skip joining the tourist masses at the base of the tower in favor of warming the park benches and enjoying the view from the ground ... but around 6 PM we decided to brave the throngs and go climb the stairs to the second floor of the world's largest radio antenna. It was fun circling the floors and seeing the skyline, recognizing the buildings and bridges we'd toured earlier ... and we had a great view when the Tower turned on its night lights. Spent the night at a hotel out by the airport, then Andrew and I were in transit for much of Sunday - he on his way back to the States, me on my way down to Nice for the remaining days of my trip.
Well, it looks like it may have stopped raining, and I should probably go find some food. Au revoir!
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
The ups and downs of biking in the Loire
Sorry it's been a few days since I updated. I was writing an update to Andrew a couple nights ago that I thought I would copy and paste sections of here, but copy + paste doesn't seem to work with Blogspot. So, long story short - I made it to Tours on Fri night, which is an interesting enough town. Saturday my original biking itinerary started to fall apart - between getting a late start out of town, not having the right equipment to secure my bags on my bike, and not anticipating how slow I would be, I didn't make it far out of Tours at all - so I scrapped the original touring itinerary and decided to just do a combo of riding between towns and taking short day trips in/out of town. Saturday I made it to the fabulously ornamental vegetable gardens of Villandry, Sunday I biked to Amboise and toured the Clos Luce, where da Vinci lived his last three years (and saw lost of scale and life-size models rendered from his inventive drawings, which was awesome).
Monday I decided to tackle real self-supported bicycle touring again. I fashioned two makeshift panniers out of garbage bags and bungee straps ( you know I wouldn't make this up), and left the hotel at 8 AM bound and determined to make it the 70 km to Blois if it took all day. I MADE IT! Success! Me and the "ghetto velo", as I chirstened it in its garbage-bag state, made the whole ride right on schedule, rolling into Blois around 1:30 PM. It was tiring, for sure - made worse by the fact that it rained the ENTIRE TIME that I was riding. I arrived at my hotel looking like a poor drowned rat - and shivering. One thing about working to arrive at your destination - it makes the rest of the day feel so much better. The 20-minute hot shower, dry clothes, and tabouli and pastries I found in town were all the best I've ever had in my life. The sun finally came out that evening, and I enjoyed aimlessly strolling around the beautiful little city of Blois. (Except for the stairs and hills - a town built on a bluff is hard on your legs if you've been biking with your luggage all morning).
Today I took a short riding trip about 17 km outside of Blois to see Chambord. The exterior is its real magnificence - it's set in the middle of a beautiful forest, and looks dramatically big and beautiful from every angle. The interior was kind of meh, though.
And now repeat after me - I will not leave for a bike ride without my flat kit. I will not leave for a bike ride without my flat kit. I will not leave for a bike ride without my flat kit.
As I was leaving Chambord, I heard a hiss from my rear tire. Groan ... oh well, at least I know how to fix a flat. Then I realized that I'd taken my flat kit out of my bag yesterday when I went to walk the village, and had neglected to return it to its place before I left that morning. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Luckily I have guardian angels working overtime on my behalf - a very nice and sweet French couple stopped to help me, and they had me on the road and rolling again with a fixed tire in no time. I wish I could've thanked them more - were it not for them I probably would've walked my bike 17 km back to Blois. Thank God for the kindness of strangers! I owe the universe a huge favor for that one.
Internet time's almost up - I've definitely had some adventures on this trip! Tonight I'll be in Blois again, then tomorrow taking a train to Langleais and riding (ghetto velo style again) to Chinon, including passing the Usse castle (supposedly the inspiration for Sleeping Beauty). The riding is beautiful - I've been following signed routes from point to point, and they can be a bit adventurous. Riding right through vineyards (you could almost touch the grapes from the road - I thought for sure I was riding on private drives at points), cornfields, city parks, river tow paths, and little towns has been lovely. Even so, I'm missing family and friends and greatly looking forward to seeing familiar faces and sharing my stories when I return! Au revoir!!
Monday I decided to tackle real self-supported bicycle touring again. I fashioned two makeshift panniers out of garbage bags and bungee straps ( you know I wouldn't make this up), and left the hotel at 8 AM bound and determined to make it the 70 km to Blois if it took all day. I MADE IT! Success! Me and the "ghetto velo", as I chirstened it in its garbage-bag state, made the whole ride right on schedule, rolling into Blois around 1:30 PM. It was tiring, for sure - made worse by the fact that it rained the ENTIRE TIME that I was riding. I arrived at my hotel looking like a poor drowned rat - and shivering. One thing about working to arrive at your destination - it makes the rest of the day feel so much better. The 20-minute hot shower, dry clothes, and tabouli and pastries I found in town were all the best I've ever had in my life. The sun finally came out that evening, and I enjoyed aimlessly strolling around the beautiful little city of Blois. (Except for the stairs and hills - a town built on a bluff is hard on your legs if you've been biking with your luggage all morning).
Today I took a short riding trip about 17 km outside of Blois to see Chambord. The exterior is its real magnificence - it's set in the middle of a beautiful forest, and looks dramatically big and beautiful from every angle. The interior was kind of meh, though.
And now repeat after me - I will not leave for a bike ride without my flat kit. I will not leave for a bike ride without my flat kit. I will not leave for a bike ride without my flat kit.
As I was leaving Chambord, I heard a hiss from my rear tire. Groan ... oh well, at least I know how to fix a flat. Then I realized that I'd taken my flat kit out of my bag yesterday when I went to walk the village, and had neglected to return it to its place before I left that morning. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Luckily I have guardian angels working overtime on my behalf - a very nice and sweet French couple stopped to help me, and they had me on the road and rolling again with a fixed tire in no time. I wish I could've thanked them more - were it not for them I probably would've walked my bike 17 km back to Blois. Thank God for the kindness of strangers! I owe the universe a huge favor for that one.
Internet time's almost up - I've definitely had some adventures on this trip! Tonight I'll be in Blois again, then tomorrow taking a train to Langleais and riding (ghetto velo style again) to Chinon, including passing the Usse castle (supposedly the inspiration for Sleeping Beauty). The riding is beautiful - I've been following signed routes from point to point, and they can be a bit adventurous. Riding right through vineyards (you could almost touch the grapes from the road - I thought for sure I was riding on private drives at points), cornfields, city parks, river tow paths, and little towns has been lovely. Even so, I'm missing family and friends and greatly looking forward to seeing familiar faces and sharing my stories when I return! Au revoir!!
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
"The French work as hard as anybody, they just know when to quit"
Hard to believe I am 80% of the way through my French classes already. With the new week came a new teacher, and she speaks almost NO English (I think her knowledge of English is limited, in addition to wanting to encourage us to think/listen in French) - but she is very nice and very encouraging, and I'm still doing just fine. It is a blessing that the majority of the class speaks English, though. It's not uncommon for someone in the class to repeat back or translate out loud in English, so I get some confirmation that I understand (or didn't understand) what's going on ... group chatter on group assignments is generally in English too. Yesterday we started learning how to read menus and common phrases in French restaurants, so it's nice to have something applicable to learn. I wouldn't say I've mastered French in the past 8 days, but I'm at least a world more comfortable with it than I used to be. It's nice to know, for example, that the same adjective DOES change spelling (and usually, but not always, its prononciation) depending on the gender of the noun it's describing, and that there's no rule for deciding which nouns are feminine and which are masculine (alas). Trying to puzzle through these rules of the language on my own would have driven me crazy.
I have class for four hours a day, then the afternoons are free. The routine this week has been to go to class from 9 to 1, meet up with Andrew around 2:30, and spend the rest of the afternoon doing a museum or a neighborhood walk from one of our guidebooks. At about mid-day or mid-evening we have pastries or coffee, or a nap, or some down time to check email or write to family, then at about 8 or 9 pm we go out again for a late dinner and an evening stroll around the sites at night. It's about as fantastic as it sounds. Just the right level of activity for a truly relaxing vacation. It's so nice to be able to savor one museum a day without rushing to reach them all.
Two more days in France, then the next big adventure begins - biking the countryside! Au revoir!
I have class for four hours a day, then the afternoons are free. The routine this week has been to go to class from 9 to 1, meet up with Andrew around 2:30, and spend the rest of the afternoon doing a museum or a neighborhood walk from one of our guidebooks. At about mid-day or mid-evening we have pastries or coffee, or a nap, or some down time to check email or write to family, then at about 8 or 9 pm we go out again for a late dinner and an evening stroll around the sites at night. It's about as fantastic as it sounds. Just the right level of activity for a truly relaxing vacation. It's so nice to be able to savor one museum a day without rushing to reach them all.
Two more days in France, then the next big adventure begins - biking the countryside! Au revoir!
Comment on the blog, get souvenirs!
Want something from Paris (or France in general)? Leave a comment on the blog, I'll see what I can do!
Saturday, September 25, 2010
"I brought you a scarf, Joanna, a real Paris scarf!"
(I think from now on every blog post will be titled with a quote from Sabrina)
Just checked flight status - Andrew's plane arrived on time! Yay!
In other news, I think I've found my favorite arrondisement (neighborhood) in Paris. I wandered around the 4th arrondisement after work yesterday. If you're looking at a map of Paris, it's just north of the Ile de St Louis - close to the center of Paris, but not really IN the center of Paris (at least not in the tourist-central center). It's as close as I've found to the quintessential Parisian experience thus far - narrow pedestrian cobblestone streets, lots of tiny specialty arts and clothes shops, plenty of bakeries and patisseries and tea houses. But the best part is ... they have thrift shops!! They're not like thrift shops in the States, to be sure. The stores are small and pretty cramped, the clothes are still upper-end (no discarded volunteer T-shirts or "World's Best Teacher" mugs), and they're still rather pricey. Even so, thanks to the "fripperies" in the 4th I now have two Parisian scarves, my first Parisian jacket, *and* a matching purse. I don't think they were originally a set, but they match almost perfectly. I have a matching jacket and purse. Like whoa.
Off to rendezvous with Andrew - our plan is to meet at noon in front of the Eiffel Tower. *Sigh*. Even if it is a bit cliche, it's still awfully romantic :-) Au revoir!
Just checked flight status - Andrew's plane arrived on time! Yay!
In other news, I think I've found my favorite arrondisement (neighborhood) in Paris. I wandered around the 4th arrondisement after work yesterday. If you're looking at a map of Paris, it's just north of the Ile de St Louis - close to the center of Paris, but not really IN the center of Paris (at least not in the tourist-central center). It's as close as I've found to the quintessential Parisian experience thus far - narrow pedestrian cobblestone streets, lots of tiny specialty arts and clothes shops, plenty of bakeries and patisseries and tea houses. But the best part is ... they have thrift shops!! They're not like thrift shops in the States, to be sure. The stores are small and pretty cramped, the clothes are still upper-end (no discarded volunteer T-shirts or "World's Best Teacher" mugs), and they're still rather pricey. Even so, thanks to the "fripperies" in the 4th I now have two Parisian scarves, my first Parisian jacket, *and* a matching purse. I don't think they were originally a set, but they match almost perfectly. I have a matching jacket and purse. Like whoa.
Off to rendezvous with Andrew - our plan is to meet at noon in front of the Eiffel Tower. *Sigh*. Even if it is a bit cliche, it's still awfully romantic :-) Au revoir!
Thursday, September 23, 2010
"I'm sure not everyone in Paris thinks you're an idiot.""Only because I haven't met them all."
Can you believe I've been in Paris for a week already? Me neither. But it was almost exactly a week ago today that I was walking around Montmartre, fighting to stay awake after a near-sleepless night on the plane, waiting to check into my hostel.
Just got back from day four of French class. Whoa! It is definitely more intense than any language class I've taken in the States. Our professors speak entirely in French (sometimes quite rapid French), so it can be a real struggle to figure out what the heck is going on. Thank God for hand gestures - one wave of a hand means a world more to me than blu-blu-blu this or blu-blu-blu that. It's actually pretty remarkable, when you think about it - a person can go on and on for more than a minute without saying a thing I understand, but when she moves her hand toward the door, it's like ... a ha! We're moving to the next room!
I had a premonition about this ... I remember when Becky was taking driver's ed, and my parents sent her to learn there from the ground up, meaning she had not even sat behind the wheel before the first day of class. Poor girl was understandably overwhelmed when her first instruction was to pull away from the curb and drive out into the street! Well Becky, I feel your pain. Here I am ... driving down the streets of Paris, pretending I know the rules of the road, while at the same time I haven't even mastered which is the gas and which is the brake.
I might have given up on this whole learning French idea, except for two saving graces: 1) Our professors are the complete opposite of the snooty rude variety of French - on the contrary, they've actually been very friendly, super encouraging, and not at all condescending (and they will speak English if you're totally lost - asking questions in English is okay too, at least at our level), and 2) The majority of my class seems to be about as overwhelmed as I am (except for the one guy in our class, who's a little overconfident for my taste). I will definitely come back to the States with much more sympathy for our non-English speakers. It sucks to feel stupid just because you are limited by an extremely short vocabulary.
I actually am having fun, for the most part, especially when I'm not on the spot to perform and I can just listen and absorb from the rest of the class. The four hours passes incredibly quickly every day.
Off now to go running, then maybe will do some ... gasp ... clothes shopping! (I know, I know, it's weird for me to contemplate clothes shopping as well ... but I am starting to feel rather under-dressed. The basic fall attire for pretty much all women here is either ballet flats or heeled boots (knee-high is not unusual), black tights, a dress, a tailored-looking coat or jacket, and a scarf. I feel like an eyesore in my ugly-ass black walking shoes, jeans/khakis, and hoodie). Au revoir!
Just got back from day four of French class. Whoa! It is definitely more intense than any language class I've taken in the States. Our professors speak entirely in French (sometimes quite rapid French), so it can be a real struggle to figure out what the heck is going on. Thank God for hand gestures - one wave of a hand means a world more to me than blu-blu-blu this or blu-blu-blu that. It's actually pretty remarkable, when you think about it - a person can go on and on for more than a minute without saying a thing I understand, but when she moves her hand toward the door, it's like ... a ha! We're moving to the next room!
I had a premonition about this ... I remember when Becky was taking driver's ed, and my parents sent her to learn there from the ground up, meaning she had not even sat behind the wheel before the first day of class. Poor girl was understandably overwhelmed when her first instruction was to pull away from the curb and drive out into the street! Well Becky, I feel your pain. Here I am ... driving down the streets of Paris, pretending I know the rules of the road, while at the same time I haven't even mastered which is the gas and which is the brake.
I might have given up on this whole learning French idea, except for two saving graces: 1) Our professors are the complete opposite of the snooty rude variety of French - on the contrary, they've actually been very friendly, super encouraging, and not at all condescending (and they will speak English if you're totally lost - asking questions in English is okay too, at least at our level), and 2) The majority of my class seems to be about as overwhelmed as I am (except for the one guy in our class, who's a little overconfident for my taste). I will definitely come back to the States with much more sympathy for our non-English speakers. It sucks to feel stupid just because you are limited by an extremely short vocabulary.
I actually am having fun, for the most part, especially when I'm not on the spot to perform and I can just listen and absorb from the rest of the class. The four hours passes incredibly quickly every day.
Off now to go running, then maybe will do some ... gasp ... clothes shopping! (I know, I know, it's weird for me to contemplate clothes shopping as well ... but I am starting to feel rather under-dressed. The basic fall attire for pretty much all women here is either ballet flats or heeled boots (knee-high is not unusual), black tights, a dress, a tailored-looking coat or jacket, and a scarf. I feel like an eyesore in my ugly-ass black walking shoes, jeans/khakis, and hoodie). Au revoir!
Monday, September 20, 2010
First day of French school = success???
In the loosest sense of the word.
I found the school (finally). They shuttled about 25 of us into a cafeteria and gave an introduction entirely in French (of which I followed the basic gist, but not really a word of what was spoken). Role call, in which I didn't understand my own name (neither did a third of the class, thankfully). Written placement exam, in which I think I wrote three full sentences and was quite proud of them (Je suis American! Je m'appelle Angela!), and the oral placement exam was a disaster. The poor woman broke down a simple five-word sentence word for word (I think asking either where or why I had studied French before, not sure) before writing A.1.1 on my sheet (which I think means Beginner.beginner.VERY MUCH A BEGINNER) and escorting me back to the cafeteria. Now I'm waiting for other students to finish their oral exams, then we'll be assigned our classes and lessons will begin!
Hard part's over? I doubt it, but it feels like it for now. Au revoir!
I found the school (finally). They shuttled about 25 of us into a cafeteria and gave an introduction entirely in French (of which I followed the basic gist, but not really a word of what was spoken). Role call, in which I didn't understand my own name (neither did a third of the class, thankfully). Written placement exam, in which I think I wrote three full sentences and was quite proud of them (Je suis American! Je m'appelle Angela!), and the oral placement exam was a disaster. The poor woman broke down a simple five-word sentence word for word (I think asking either where or why I had studied French before, not sure) before writing A.1.1 on my sheet (which I think means Beginner.beginner.VERY MUCH A BEGINNER) and escorting me back to the cafeteria. Now I'm waiting for other students to finish their oral exams, then we'll be assigned our classes and lessons will begin!
Hard part's over? I doubt it, but it feels like it for now. Au revoir!
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Day 3 - Update
Well, as you've no doubt noticed, you shouldn't hold your breath between posts here. Maybe I would/could update nightly if I was one of those tech-savvy gadget people, but I'm working with very limited Internet time where I can steal a moment here or there (it's free at the hostel, but awfully busy in the evening hours - and I'm usually out during the day). So far the trip is going well. The weather has been beautiful every day, which has put a cheery face on most of the city. For the last two days my routine has been to sleep in until about 9 am, eat breakfqst at the hostel, then follow my guidebooks and trains to the get-away destination of the day. Come back to Paris in the evening, walk the city, savor the sunset and lights of the city at night, and return to the hostel to journal while eating trail mix qnd gummi bears for dinner (I know - that ended after two days). Today I went for a jog around the city monuments in the morning, then explored my neighborhood in Montmatre looking for an adaptor and a grocery store. After I send this I'll be off to the Orangerie, then out for dinner with a hosteling friend.
This is the first trip of my life that I think I've taken completely and utterly solo - no travel partners, no friends to greet me on the other side, no groups or itineraries to follow. It's been quite lonely the first couple of days, but I'm starting to get used to it. I was having serious doubts the first day or two about the brilliance of this whole hop-across-the-ocean-to-a-country-where-you-don't-know-the-language-and-have-a-go-at-it-for-a-whole-month, but now I'm starting to relax a little. I think I expected the first days to be an adrenaline rush of iconic streets and the life and for all of that to slowly die down to something more realistic over the coming days, but it's actually been the opposite. Paris (at least the center of Paris) has the same car exhaust and crowded streets and tacky tourist stalls and lack of dog poop clean-up that I've found common to many major metropolitan cities, no magic there. But, over time, I'm noticing the little things that I think make it a special city; lots of small bakeries and cheeseries and pastry shops (with BEAUTIFUL window displays), for example. People really do buy their morning or afternoon baguette and walk around with their long skinny loaf of bread; some of them even nibble at it while they walk, it's as normal as walking around with a cheeseburger and french fries in the States. (ironically enough, I don't think I have seen any french fries yet).
30 minutes goes fast with a slow Internet connection and constant re-typing (the a, w, and m keys are all rearranged on this keyboard, as well as all of the symbols). I'm fine, but wish my family and friends could be here with me!! Au revoir!
This is the first trip of my life that I think I've taken completely and utterly solo - no travel partners, no friends to greet me on the other side, no groups or itineraries to follow. It's been quite lonely the first couple of days, but I'm starting to get used to it. I was having serious doubts the first day or two about the brilliance of this whole hop-across-the-ocean-to-a-country-where-you-don't-know-the-language-and-have-a-go-at-it-for-a-whole-month, but now I'm starting to relax a little. I think I expected the first days to be an adrenaline rush of iconic streets and the life and for all of that to slowly die down to something more realistic over the coming days, but it's actually been the opposite. Paris (at least the center of Paris) has the same car exhaust and crowded streets and tacky tourist stalls and lack of dog poop clean-up that I've found common to many major metropolitan cities, no magic there. But, over time, I'm noticing the little things that I think make it a special city; lots of small bakeries and cheeseries and pastry shops (with BEAUTIFUL window displays), for example. People really do buy their morning or afternoon baguette and walk around with their long skinny loaf of bread; some of them even nibble at it while they walk, it's as normal as walking around with a cheeseburger and french fries in the States. (ironically enough, I don't think I have seen any french fries yet).
30 minutes goes fast with a slow Internet connection and constant re-typing (the a, w, and m keys are all rearranged on this keyboard, as well as all of the symbols). I'm fine, but wish my family and friends could be here with me!! Au revoir!
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Made it!
After a late night of packing, printing, photocopying, and several hours of travel, I am here! My planes both took off and landed on time, oddly enough. Plus, I mqde rqndom friends at the train station who helped me take the train and subway through the city to my hostel. Surreally smooth traveling thus far. The plane was pretty cramped, by my seat buddy was a nice young lady about my age who smelled very nice - you know that always helps.
Now that I'm here - what do I do?
Good question. I'm going to go figure that out. A bientot! (There should probably be accent marks somewhere in that phrase - I'll have to figure that out later.)
Now that I'm here - what do I do?
Good question. I'm going to go figure that out. A bientot! (There should probably be accent marks somewhere in that phrase - I'll have to figure that out later.)
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Two weeks to go!
Two weeks from tomorrow I will be flying from Madison to Chicago, and then to Paris. I arrive in Paris at 8:45 am local time (approx. 1:45 am central time, I think). Thus will commence the excursion I have imagined for several months, maybe even years: 30 days in Paris.
Actually, the title is a misnomer - I'll only be in Paris for about two weeks. (the domain names 30daysinfrance and onemonthinfrance were already taken, sheesh). The original plan was to rent an apartment in Paris for one month and spend the whole 30 days just wandering about the city ... then I thought I might get bored. I also realized/remembered that 1) Paris can be very very expensive to eat/sleep/live in for 30 days, and 2) I've always wanted to try my hand at bike touring, riding self-supported from city to city across a country. So, I decided I'd spend two weeks in Paris, then bike from Paris to Nice (pretty much cross-country, north to south) and fly out of Nice. I fell in love with the idea of exploring the French Riviera at the conclusion of my trip, sort of the cherry on top of the experience. Then I realized that 1) France may be smaller than the USA, but it's still a heck of a long ride from Paris to Nice, and 2) There's no good route to follow between those two cities - or at least no easy route, on account of the Alps being, like, right between the two. So, I settled on the following itinerary:
Sept 16 - October 1: explore Paris. To guard against boredom, as well as make this a true learning experience, I will be taking French lessons during my stay. No, I don't speak any French at present ... so, should be interesting.
Oct 2 - Oct 9: Take the train to Tours and cycle a loop around the Loire Valley. The Loire Valley is supposed to be the cream of the crop for French cycling - easy terrain (mostly flat or gently rolling) and dense with beautiful chateau and castles. How will I carry my stuff from city to city? ... um, I'll get back to you on that one. The rental bike should have a rear rack, and I pack light - hopefully with some bungee cords and duct tape (as a last resort) I'll work something out!
Oct 10 - Oct 15: Return to Paris, fly from Paris to Nice, and spend the remainder of the trip soaking up the French Riviera (and possibly some of Provence).
So, that's what I'm doing. Why am I doing it?
Why Paris? Why France?
I don't know - why not Paris? Seemed like I couldn't go wrong with a city as renowned for its food, art, and culture as Paris. Truth be told though, the inspiration really came about because Sabrina (the re-make with Julie Ormond and Harrison Ford) has to be one of the best movies ever. I love that movie. It's a beautifully scripted and acted Cinderella story about an awkward chauffeur's daughter whose life is transformed by a year-long internship abroad in Paris. I just fell in love with the idea of self-discovery via travel to Paris - so I thought I'd try it myself. Don't judge me - can you blame a nerdy girl for wanting to follow in the footsteps of her favorite geek-to-chic heroine? Somehow I doubt I'll come back all suddenly sophisticated, sporting a darling haircut and make-up and wearing a tailored pantsuit and stylish wide-brim hat, but you never know ...
Why 30 days?
I dunno - seemed like a nice round number. I wanted to get away for more than a week, and more than two weeks. I wanted more than a vacation ... I wanted a sabbatical, an experience. I wanted enough time away to really be 'away.' I wanted a sort of return to the summers of undergraduate school, when I could spend summer completely detached from engineering classes and go live in Disneyworld or Australia or Washington DC or anyplace else that struck my fancy. Ideally, three months or even six would have been superb, but more than a month was getting out of my comfort zone (I do still have a house and a dog that need to be looked after - and paid for), so a month it was.
I honestly have no idea how good I'm going to be about updating this blog. I've tried starting blogs in the past and failed miserably after a few posts. If you're following along, let me know! I'm much more likely to keep the blog updated if I know there are people on the other end reading it :-)
Actually, the title is a misnomer - I'll only be in Paris for about two weeks. (the domain names 30daysinfrance and onemonthinfrance were already taken, sheesh). The original plan was to rent an apartment in Paris for one month and spend the whole 30 days just wandering about the city ... then I thought I might get bored. I also realized/remembered that 1) Paris can be very very expensive to eat/sleep/live in for 30 days, and 2) I've always wanted to try my hand at bike touring, riding self-supported from city to city across a country. So, I decided I'd spend two weeks in Paris, then bike from Paris to Nice (pretty much cross-country, north to south) and fly out of Nice. I fell in love with the idea of exploring the French Riviera at the conclusion of my trip, sort of the cherry on top of the experience. Then I realized that 1) France may be smaller than the USA, but it's still a heck of a long ride from Paris to Nice, and 2) There's no good route to follow between those two cities - or at least no easy route, on account of the Alps being, like, right between the two. So, I settled on the following itinerary:
Sept 16 - October 1: explore Paris. To guard against boredom, as well as make this a true learning experience, I will be taking French lessons during my stay. No, I don't speak any French at present ... so, should be interesting.
Oct 2 - Oct 9: Take the train to Tours and cycle a loop around the Loire Valley. The Loire Valley is supposed to be the cream of the crop for French cycling - easy terrain (mostly flat or gently rolling) and dense with beautiful chateau and castles. How will I carry my stuff from city to city? ... um, I'll get back to you on that one. The rental bike should have a rear rack, and I pack light - hopefully with some bungee cords and duct tape (as a last resort) I'll work something out!
Oct 10 - Oct 15: Return to Paris, fly from Paris to Nice, and spend the remainder of the trip soaking up the French Riviera (and possibly some of Provence).
So, that's what I'm doing. Why am I doing it?
Why Paris? Why France?
I don't know - why not Paris? Seemed like I couldn't go wrong with a city as renowned for its food, art, and culture as Paris. Truth be told though, the inspiration really came about because Sabrina (the re-make with Julie Ormond and Harrison Ford) has to be one of the best movies ever. I love that movie. It's a beautifully scripted and acted Cinderella story about an awkward chauffeur's daughter whose life is transformed by a year-long internship abroad in Paris. I just fell in love with the idea of self-discovery via travel to Paris - so I thought I'd try it myself. Don't judge me - can you blame a nerdy girl for wanting to follow in the footsteps of her favorite geek-to-chic heroine? Somehow I doubt I'll come back all suddenly sophisticated, sporting a darling haircut and make-up and wearing a tailored pantsuit and stylish wide-brim hat, but you never know ...
Why 30 days?
I dunno - seemed like a nice round number. I wanted to get away for more than a week, and more than two weeks. I wanted more than a vacation ... I wanted a sabbatical, an experience. I wanted enough time away to really be 'away.' I wanted a sort of return to the summers of undergraduate school, when I could spend summer completely detached from engineering classes and go live in Disneyworld or Australia or Washington DC or anyplace else that struck my fancy. Ideally, three months or even six would have been superb, but more than a month was getting out of my comfort zone (I do still have a house and a dog that need to be looked after - and paid for), so a month it was.
I honestly have no idea how good I'm going to be about updating this blog. I've tried starting blogs in the past and failed miserably after a few posts. If you're following along, let me know! I'm much more likely to keep the blog updated if I know there are people on the other end reading it :-)
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