Back for a day

beautiful Marseille

not so beautiful Marseille...

can you tell we miss the sun?

Nate and I had an inukshuk making contest on the beach in Nice (mine won). Canada represent!

Eze Village

Monte Carlo Casino (setting of Casiono Royale)

Me n' Monaco

Our hostel in Nice--looks just like a villa in southern France

You can't go to Pisa without making a fool of yourself in front of the tower

I told a huge lie right before putting my hand in the mouth, and he still didn't bite me; I think it's broken.

Coliseum

Poppies grow like weeds in Italy, it's beautiful!

Ponta Vecchio in Florence

I got home today from my trip down south; what a fantastic way to spend Spring Break!

Saturday afternoon we arrived in Marseille and we enjoyed the sun while walking around the city and the harbour. Sunday we awoke to another sunny morning, so Steph and I decided to take a little boat tour along the coast, through all of the beautiful calanques. The sun fooled us though, and just as we stepped on board, it started to rain. “No big deal”, we thought, and confidently headed to the very front of the boat to tough it out like true Canadians. About 20 minutes later, out on the open sea, we were practically blown off the front of the boat by the wind, so we headed inside where it was a bit safer…and just in time too—as soon as we sat down the waves started pounding over the front of the boat! Our island cruise turned out to be more like a rollercoaster ride, going up and down for 3 hours. I think Steph and I were the only two on board who didn’t end up getting sea sick (thank goodness!).

Nice was another beautiful city, probably my favourite of the whole trip. The hostel we stayed in was ridiculously cheap, and ridiculously fantastic. They had 12 cereals to choose from for breakfast, free internet, huge plates of food for supper for only a few euros, and staff the helped you plan day trips. On the second day we did a day trip up to Eze Village, a medieval village up on the highest point over-looking the Med; Monaco, home of the Monte Carlo Casino, and probably some of the worlds richest people; and finally to a little beach where we finally got to swim in the sea…for all of 10 seconds (it was freezing!).

Then it was off to Pisa, a city which has nothing to offer except its leaning tower. The tower was pretty cool though, it was leaning a bit more than I expected, so I didn’t dare go up it.

Rome, however, was a wonderful place to stay. We were taken in by some of Nate’s relatives, and we couldn’t have asked for a more generous family to stay with. They came to the station to pick us up, gave up the master bedroom for Steph and I to sleep in, cooked us huge, delicious meals, and even did our laundry! The two sons, Yvonno and Jean-Luca each took a turn touring us around the city. Hi-lites include the Coliseum, Saint Peter’s Basilica, and the Trevi Fountain. The line up to go into Saint Peter’s Basilica was ridiculously long, and we didn’t have too much time before our train left, so Jean-Luca told us in his best English: “Sometimes we go in the line.” Nate explained that he meant cutting in line (to get into a church of all places!) so we followed him towards the front, and somehow managed to merge into the line with an Asian tour group. What a wonderful tour guide, eh?

Then it was off to Florence, one nite on our own, and one with more family. The city was beautiful, although too expensive for my budget, so the hi-lite for me was probably staying with the family. They were just as great as the last family, except more “Italian”—loud and hilarious! Nate was always telling us about his grandparents in Canada who always force him to eat until he has to roll away from the dinner table; I have no doubts that they are related to the family we stayed with. All night I was told “mange, mange, mange!” until I had to say in my best Italian: “Io no poso; tu mange, mange, mange!” and handed over my plate to Michele to finish. They also served us some of Antoinetta’s home made liquor, and although I’m not usually one for hard liquor, this stuff was delicious! One was blueberry flavoured, and the other lemon; she even went and hand-picked the fruit herself. They were wonderful hosts, and even after I parted ways with Nate and Steph (they’re off to Venice and Milan yet), Antoinetta and her daughter brought me to my train to see me off.

So after a 16 hour ride, I’m back. Paris greeted me with cloudy skies and rain, but I guess that shouldn’t have been a surprise. The Fondation is the same as always too—I got home to a broken elevator and a broken washing machine. So I lugged my 3 ton bag up 100 stairs and proceeded to do 2 weeks of laundry in my sink. Gotta love the Fondation…

But I get to escape again tomorrow, as I’m headed off to Holland to spend a few nights with Herman and Ypie, a couple of my dad’s relatives. All I really want from Holland is some mashed potatoes, but I’m sure that they will treat me wonderfully and offer me a lot more, so it should be another great trip.

And by the time I get back there will be less than a month left! Can’t wait!

Well friends, I’m finally off for Spring Break, as of 4:30 this afternoon. Tomorrow morning we leave for Marseille, we’ll spend some time in Nice and Italy, and then I’m coming home early for a solo trip to Holland to visit some family. I’m super excited, and although I’m sure this sounds silly, I’m hoping the next two weeks fly by. Don’t get me wrong, I’m going to appreciate this trip to the max, but I’m just happy that every day spent completely occupied is one more that I can check off my count-down.

And is the countdown ever on—only 42 days left! I’ve already done all the major stuff in Paris…most multiple times…and now I’m exploring the less-known and less-seen quarters of the city. I wanna see and do everything possible with the time I have left here. I’ve spent lots of days wishing to come home, and I’m sure there’ll be more in the next few weeks, but I know that this is a one in a lifetime experience, so I’m trying to appreciate it all and make the most of it. I realize how cliché that is, but it’s what everyone has been reminding me for the past few months (and rightly so), so I think it’s finally stuck. Keep reminding me though, ‘cause seriously, on the homesick days it’s what I need to hear to keep me from saying “screw it” and jumping on the next plane to Canada. I’m so close though, eh? No sense giving up now.

One of the things I’m most excited to do in May is to find a park bench to read on in Jardin Luxembourg that will be “mine”. I get very attached to in-animate objects…call me materialist, call me immature…but I like to have things or a spot to call “mine”. My spot used to be at my window in my bedroom—every day I spent a few minutes with the windows wide open, rain or shine, and I’d just stare at the sky or the top of the Sacre Coeur (‘cause that’s all I can see from the 6^th floor). It was nice…but then one morning a pigeon left a disgusting present on the ledge right outside my window, and it splattered all over the window, and now there’s flies and…yuck. Even all Paris’ rain won’t wash it away. Anyways, moral of that unnecessarily long story is: my “spot” was taken over by a pigeon, so it’s time to find a new one. I’ll keep you updated on how that goes, ‘cause I’m sure you’re on the edge of your seats by now wondering how it will all end.

In all honesty, I didn’t really have anything to blog about; I just wanted to post some more pictures. So I’ll cut the crap and give you the good stuff. For all of you over 30, I apologize for my language…

I’ll be back in a couple weeks with more great pictures, and hopefully some better stories!

Pont Alexandre III

It snowed here…while you guys were getting sunburns.
PS, Jordan, sorry to speak on your behalf…but I figured it was safe to assume…

waiting early in the morning to get into the Louvre

One of my favourite pieces: “Psyché ranimée par le baiser de l’Amour”

After coming out the Louvre, and having seen Asians giving the peace sign in front of masterpieces all day, I felt the need to do it too. I just don’t understand how they still find that cool…

Louvre at nite

We had spring in Paris for one day! And it was lovely!

Trying to get the last drop out of a Tims cup sent to me byJordan. No luck, he drank it all.

I rolled up a winner!!!

for my aylmer buddies

Hey, do you guys rememeber back in grade 5 when we used to count how many times Mrs. VanderHoek would say "shhhht" in class? Or we'd count how many times Al said "like" at catechism? Well I have a prof that beats all...today in class he said "voyez-vous" 83 times in an hour! And it was a 2 hour class, that wasn't even all of them. Ridiculous. Can't say I learned much that class, I was too busy counting and re-counting all the little ticks on my paper. But seriously, 83?

rien de nouveau à dire

That’s a REAL bacon cheeseburger and chicken club sandwich, with French’s mustard and Heinz ketchup. Are we in Canada? Nope, the Great Canadian pub! We ate real food and watched hockey hi-lights…the world was in balance again.

Nate and I went to check out this little park, and it was fantastic. There’s grass that you can sit on! I’m definitely coming back to work on my tan and read in the sun.

All I need to survive a semester in Paris...

At the Guinness Tavern

Yassir and Nate--the Moroccan and the Italian

The past couple weeks have been nothing too special, just life as usual. We’ve managed to see a bit more of Paris on the weekends. The past weekend we walked around Paris’s oldest quarter, at the very heart of the city. We found some neat shops, even one that was selling a Maggi poster!

Saturday night we went out with a couple of the guys from the Fondation, Yassir and Karaba, and they took us to a Guinness tavern downtown that plays live rock music. It was a blast! In France the bars don’t close at 2am ‘cause they’re allowed to serve alcohol all night, so when these guys usually go out, they stay out til 5 or 6 am! That’s a little to much for me, so we headed home by 1. But it was so nice to finally hang out with some people outside of the Fondation, and also to hear some sweet tunes again. I haven’t heard enough (slash ANY) rock music since leaving Jordan and his ipod behind in Canada.

Sunday we went to the Louvre, because it’s free the first Sunday of every month, and I think I can say I’ve seen pretty much all of the Louvre now. Saw the Mona Lisa; most people say it’s a big let down ‘cause it’s so small, so after hearing that I didn’t go in expecting to see much, and although it is pretty small, it was still neat to think I was standing less than 10 feet away from a priceless piece of art work. The rest of the Louvre was fantastic too—not even just all the art work, but the actual building is absolutely beautiful as well, with lots of arched hallways, marble pillars and painted ceilings. So after 3 trips and countless other museum visits, I think I’m ready to say “no more museums!” If the weather gets nicer, I think I’ll be spending lots more time outside soon.

I keep on saying that I’m going to do all sorts of things once the weather gets nicer—walk around in between classes, go to Versailles and walk through the gardens, eat outside on the patio—but I’m starting to think that I’m going to fly home before the weather here ever gets “nicer”. While you were all getting excited about it being 16 degrees one Sunday afternoon, Paris was being blanketed in snow! Rain every day is annoying, but snow in April…(in Paris!)...that’s ridiculous!

My hands are still freezing as I type, because this afternoon a group of us students were outside in the cold for a few hours, chasing the Olympic torch around Paris. It was making its tour around the city as a relay, but a number of times was stopped and extinguished by protesters, so it ended up on a bus that drove through the city. We tried a couple times to see the torch, even if it was on a bus, so we were running and taking metros back and forth. In the end, I couldn’t even figure out which bus it was on, so that was a bit of a disappointment. I did, however, enjoy seeing the police bus go by, carrying protestors that were arrested who were all in the back waving their flags and banging on the windows. That was kind of exciting! Ah, Paris and her manifestations. We’re hoping to go see another one later this week—there should be about 50 000 students marching down the street protesting the government cuts against teachers. That sounds dangerous and exciting…but really these things happen every week in Paris. And they’ve always got tons of cops around with pepper spray, batons, guns and shields, so don’t worry about me, mom!

I hope you're all survivin crunch time at school! Hang in there, it's almost over! (and you can all remind me of the same a month and a half from now.) Miss you all!