Another Week! Go me! November 19, 2007

Hey look at me go! Guess the strike is good for something! (The only thing, actually.) So here’s another week of my life in paris!

Monday October 15th

Story time!- So I’m pretty sure I’ve told everyone before about our laundry difficulties, wrestling our clothes onto the hanger, where it takes them three days to dry! The dryer doesn’t even dry a few pairs of socks and underwear! Well…we’ve discovered that the heater in Rebecca’s room works extremely well for those small items! The Problem? We’ve been warned not to take wet laundry into our rooms to dry. (That might have to do with the fact that we spread it out on lamps, tv’s, desks, etc, all over our rooms.) Tonight though, with no more room on the hanger and a pile of clothes on the floor, Rebecca and I looked at each other knowing what had to be done! Operation Laundry lift was about to commence. I had the bright idea to just put it all in my sweatshirt, why not? It looks like a marshmallow already anyway. Cue our madame to enter the kitchen. We unsuccessfully tried to smuggle our laughter, and upon our madame’s inquiry to what happened I replied through my giggles “Oh c’est juste moi!” I quickly inquired if it the 30 pounds and pregnant belly I’d just gained was noticable, to which she for some unknown reason shook her head and mouthed her reply of “no”. We fiddled with our already hung laundry until we could hide our laughter no longer, and quickly side-stepped past de Boudemange out of the kitchen, with my hands in my pockets, as if that might cover my newly gained mid-section! We stumbled into my room bursting in laughter at the 5 pounds of wet socks and underwear toppled out of my jacket; and the fact that we were having to smuggle our own laundry into our own rooms! Laundry is going to be our demise!

                                              

Wednesday October 16th

Today we got the opportunity to go to our Directors house for and impromptu Family Home Evening and dinner.  Dinner was amazing, but the best part of the evening was how “at home” it felt to be there. Everything was so relaxed and casual, no need to worry about a language barrier, or foreign customs. And we all fell in love with professor Fry outside of his classroom persona. It was like having a funny concerned grandpa looking out for us! And I didn’t realize what was so different until after seeing Rebecca’s blog, but I totally recognize it now; you could completely feel the difference of having the preisthood in their home. It was an amazing thing, I’ve been blessed enough to never have had to live without that power in my home, and now after feeling it again I’m so grateful that I’ve been blessed to always have the preisthood in my home. Overall it was a great evening, and we were all disappointed when we had to leave in order to get home before the strike started.

The weekend…

Well, we’ve been pretty cooped up here in Le Vesinet, out in our suburbs. The strike continued all through the weekend so we weren’t able to get out into the city. We managed to entertain ourselves though with our fellow suburbian friends watching movies, eating desserts, and just enjoying each others company! I have had a lot of time to think about home though, and I’m excited to see everyone in December! It’s crazy to think I’m half way there!

    

I Fail At Blogging! November 14, 2007

So sorry everyone, I’d blame it on not having internet but I can’t say I’d give myself that much credit! So, I’m finally attached to the internet for at least a few hours, so here are some updates on my trips! Sorry they’re gonna be shorter than if I’d done them right away, but hey, I can right more when I don’t have Paris right ouside my door!

So long awaited LONDON!!! October 11th- October 13th

  

Wednesday: Never would I have thought to find myself wandering around some unknown street in Greater London, looking for a hostel! We had some really interesting people in our hostel! We talked for a few hours with a scottish guy from Nigeria, a guy and is crazy mother from Ireland, and a guy from Georgia who lives not even 5 minutes away from Macrae (one of the girls I’m traveling with). Everything from politics to religion! (So maybe the book of Mormon laying just so on my pillow wasn’t set out without thought. Sometimes you have to create opportunities!) It was great though, and I feel like I’m friends now with all these people!

Thursday: “A Foggy Day In London Town” has been running through my head all day long! Luckily though it wasn’t foggy at all, it was an absolutely beautiful clear day, London was good to us! We walked all over, and took the tube (We decided the we love the Paris metro way better!). We went to Leicester Square to buy our Les Mis tickets, we saw Big Ben and the London Eye, then went by Westminster Abbey, Walked through St. James park on our way to Buckingham palace, ate our own homemade nutella crepes right in front of the palace, saw an arch we knew nothing about, and visited the Imperial War Museum! It was great, and I loved the war museum… they had the most amazing holocoust museum I’ve ever seen, it took forever to walk through, and of course my heart was torn the whole time, but it was really good. The best part of the day though was seeing Les Miserables in the evening! I’ve never seen it, and the music was absolutely amazing! We had such a good cast, with amazing seats, not far back, and smack in the center! I completely lost myself in the music and fell in love with the show! I swear I could watch theatre productions all day long! (A major reason for coming to London!) But it was amazing! And the crazy part, before the show started we looked down our row and see the other people in our group that came to London…the ones we tried to meet up with but never found ouside the train station! I don’t know how that happens but it does! So highlight of my day… LES MIS!!! (And the fact that we paid almost half what the others paid!)

       

Friday: Okay so today actually was a foggy day in London town! I absolutely loved it! Overcast and dreary, dark and foreboding….it was great! So much more that we saw today! Okay list time! Tower of London –> The Tower Bridge –> St. Paul’s Cathedral –> Church Building –> House of Pairlaiment (Big Ben again) –> Saw Tate Modern Museum –> Shakespeares Globe Theatre –> Fish and Chips at The Anchor –> Portobello Road. Hu! That’s it! Haha! We ended up “seeing” a lot more sights then actually going in, which was perfectly fine with me! London is too expensive, and all the sights are more “things to see” anyway. So yup! We had some grand adventures though! We thought we found the temple (which actually wasn’t the temple), passed up the 25 pound ($50) wax museum, plus some interesting characters in our hostel! We also realized that, after seeing a ton of drunks on the tube before midnight, that the French handle thier liquor much better than the Britts! Nest thing we realized, we actually do miss American boys! We ran into some today on the steps of Saint Paul (oh yes, just like the song in Mary Poppins) and realized that maybe there isn’t a cute acent, but they’re definitely more laid back and chill! (Maybe the language being the same helps, but either way!) Lastly, we had the Famous London meal of Fish and Chips at a popular resturant we found, and it was definitely good! Not utterly astounding or anything, but classic London, so it was a must!

      

Saturday: Today was our last English breakfast from our hostel, which mind you is completely different than any other breakfast you’ve ever had! It consists of curled cooked ham, fries, a cooked tomato, an egg, sausage, toast, and baked beans… yet surprisingly delicious! Plus it was really filling which helped us save money as well! After that I bought a ticket at the famous TKTS booth. And for what, you ask? For Phantom of the Opera of course! Ahh! After a quick trip to the natural history museum, lunch sitting on the sidewalk (we got some interesting looks), and a visit to the non temple church building where we chilled for awhile and met some London missionaries, I was finally off to see what I had come for…Phantom!!! And how was it? Sooooo good! I was a little disapointed with my seat (on the very outside edge, third row), and with Christine Dier…but the Phantom and Raul were fabulous, and the stage production (techniques and special effects) were UN-BE-LEIVABLE!!!! It was amazing, and it only makes me want to go to Broadway and watch shows for the rest of my life! One day…one day… as soon as I become rich and famous! Pretty much…a perfect way to end a fabulous weekend!

      

PS…I don’t know if I’ve explained a “Paris Moment”…the little moments where I suddenly remember where I am and what I’m doing, and find my breath taken away…. So my major “London Moment”: Me and Macrae were sitting at the bar table in Starbucks (drinking perfectly good non-coffee drinks!) watching London take place outside of the huge window in front of us. I sat there sipping on my strawberries and cream with caramel, and suddenly everything seemed to sort of just slow down around me…the outside bustle blended into a blur, the inside commotion faded into a background hum, and I couldn’t help but think “How in the world did I find myself in London!?”

Pictures from Loire Valley October 24, 2007

Okay, so I tried to think of an organized way to do these pictures, but I couldn’t. I’m pretty much just gonna post a bunch of them and ecplain with corresponding numbers. I can’t get them to look neat and lined up because it depends on the size your browser is open to, so it’s different for everyone. And I don’t have enough time to figure out anything else, so here it is! Enjoy!

1.Rebecca, Vanessa, Satyra, and Sam on our lunch break between castles 

2.A view of one of the gardens from a window at Chenanceau 

3. Another view through a window 

4.Yet another view of the other side of the castle gardens 

5.This is Chenanceau, a castle bridged out over the water, though you can’t see the back part that is actually bridged. 

6. Professor Fry, our director, and his wife Sister Fry 

7. Sam, Satyra, Macrae, Vanessa, and Rebecca in front of the Hotel de Ville on our night in Tour  

8. Picking grapes from the garden vines at Villandry 

9. So maybe one grape wasn’t enough for me… 

10. More of the Villandry Gardens 

11. I told you we were all trying to capture the moments on camera!

12. One last shot of Villandry 

13. Me and Satyra in front of the lake at Azay-le-Rideau

14. Me, Satyra, Rebecca, and Vanessa posing as tress…or statues…I forget which! 

15. Azay-le-Rideau, yeah, I photoshoped out two people who were ruining the photo, betchya couldn’t tell huh!? 

16. Usse, the castle that inspired sleeping Beauty

17. Me in front of Usse (pronounced You-SAY) :)

18. In a hallway of Fontevraud, the largest abby in Europe 

19. More of the ginormous abby 

20. Sam, Satyra, Rebecca, Macrae, and Me taking a rest after our tour 

21. The abby gardens

The Loire Valley October 18, 2007

October 4th-6th 

So it had been exactly four weeks, and guess where I found myself? Right back where I started at the wonderful Etap Hotel! Let me tell you though, SUCH a different experience than my previous one! Before I just wanted to be walled up and hide away, and now the walls could hardly contain me! Excitement and Eagerness replaced the nervous anxiety that previously ate me alive. All I wanted to do was get out and explore!

We saw a bunch of chateaus this weekend; I don’t think I will go into much detail about all of them, because honestly, it would be pretty meaningless to you all never having been there. They were all really neat of course, some built over water, others by a lake, or just enormously huge. The coolest part of the castles though was actually being there, which unfortunately I can’t directly share. (Believe me, I would if I could!) Telling about the gorgeous grounds and how they looked is completely different than the fact that we were there, wandering around enjoying each others company, taking fun pictures, and singing and dancing around the castles to different Disney princess songs! The best I could do was attempt to capture some of the surreal feelings and amazing experiences in photos. It’s one of those things where I wish you all could have just been there with me, because that is what made it interesting…experiencing it.

Outside of that, it was absolutely great to get out of Paris and wander around Tour. (Yes, we were on tour in Tour!) It was so much fun traveling with our entire group! There are only 24 of us all together, including our director and his wife, so we are pretty tight knit and everyone gets along. It was like a fun vacation with all of your friends!

My favorite night was probably when our little group of six girls found a little grill place that let us sit down to eat despite ordering sandwiches to go (they are cheaper like that). They were the best sandwiches of our lives! Okay…so maybe we were just a little hungry; we did spend literally the entire ½ hour that we were waiting for our food talking about food! It was great though, we laughed so hard we were all in tears! Luckily we had the entire restaurant to ourselves, so only the two guys working there thought we were crazy!

After our excursion though, we returned to Paris with our fill of Chateaux’s, an entire album of people sleeping on the bus, and a million more memories to try and permanently carve into the recesses of our minds.

Week Four! October 18, 2007

Not much the first half of the week, we’re getting ready to go to the Loire Valley this weekend and visit all the castles! I’m so excited to do some traveling, and get out of Paris for the weekend!
We did have a little excitement on Tuesday though, what a day! We decided to take the metro home right in the middle of rush hour (bad idea, fyi). It was so terrible hot and crowded, packed tighter than sardines, no joke! I was standing the entire time, cramped between the wall and seat behind me held hostage by the people surrounding me. There was definitely no book of Mormon space! It took us over an hour to get to our stop! Then as soon as we thought we were free and started our walk home, it began to pour! We figured we complete the day with a stop at leader price, and carried our groceries home with no bag and only the protection of our 4 euros flea market bought things that tried to pass themselves as umbrellas. (We only believed them for a day).

Week Three!!! October 18, 2007

Another week in Paris! Things are becoming much more routine, we’ve been busy with classes this week, so we haven’t gotten out into Paris much. We did get to go see the Pantheon, which was free with our student art card. The crypts underneath hold some of the greatest minds of all time! It was so weird, standing next to the tombs of people like Voltaire, Rousseau, Alexander Dumas, Victor Hugo, and Emile Zola. We were right there next to the bodies that had once housed such genius spirits and minds. It made them more humanistic, an actual person as opposed to words on a paper (most of them being philosophers or writers.) The pantheon was really cool itself, there was actually some artwork that I liked, and it also has a huge pendulum swinging from the center of the tall dome in the middle of the building.                                     

FRIDAY!

Friday had to be my favorite day from this week though! None of us have school on Friday (lucky us!) so a group of us took off for a grand adventure of Paris! The best part…it was rainy and overcast the whole day, absolutely perfect weather!
First we went up to the top of the Arc de Triumph, again free with our art card! (We’ve decided we can get away with murder as long as we are students and show them our art card!) The 360 degree view of Paris was amazing; we looked down the entire Champs Elysees in one direction and spent 20 minutes taking different pictures of the Eiffel tower in the other direction! (Mom, you would be so proud of your little photographer daughter, everyone (literally) handed their camera to me to get the cute shots I was coming up with! You’ve trained me well!) I would have to say the rain and wind only added to the fun, blowing everyone’s cheap flea market umbrellas inside out! (I opted to forget the umbrella and look like a drowned rat.) So there we are standing at the top of the arc, me, Rebecca, and Vanessa, the latter two facing each other, holding their umbrellas. A sudden gust of wind brought Vanessa’s umbrella flying inside out directly towards Rebecca spraying her with the water from the top of the umbrella. As she stood there, jaw dropped, blinking the water out of her eyes, another gust of wind popped her umbrella out the wrong way bringing her out of stunned stare, leaving them both struggling against their obstinate umbrellas! One more gust of wind blew them both straight again, and left them blankly blinking in confusion at the situation that had just occurred. This whole scene took place right before me in less than 5 seconds; the only thing that would have made it better was popcorn!

                                  

      After descending down the arc we made our way to the Opera Garnier, the opera house that Phantom of the Opera novel was based on because of the subterranean lakes and the chandelier that had fallen and killed someone. The entire décor of the Opera house was so ornate, and I loved seeing all the things from the movie…the chandelier, the entire house section, the grand staircase, it was so neat! I would have loved to live in those days, when people could actually get all glamorous and go to a ball and dance for real the whole night long!
Friday night we even went out to St Germaine en Laye (our little mini Parishaven) to a really cute sit-down creperie restaurant, where we all enjoyed amazing dinner and desert crepes!

                            

This weekend was so fun and relaxed, Saturday night was a blast! Pretty much our entire group went to the opening dance for the institute. We did have to sit through nearly two hours of a fireside in French, but the food and the dance made it totally worth it!I love dancing and felt so completely comfortable (one of the first times since being here!) I was able to just let go. It seemed every discomfort and insecurity flowed out with each song, replaced by the rhythm and beat that flowed in! We partied it up, and everyone knew who the “byu” or “American girls” were! I’m positive that this weird guy has more pictures of us than we do! Rebecca and I pretty much stayed the latest (of course!) but it was some much needed exercise! The funniest part had to of been when I turned to Rebecca and light-handedly remarked how funny it would be if suddenly YMCA were to come on. Well low and behold not a minute later the very next song had the whole dance floor shouting and shaping out Y.M.C.A.! I also learned that with the Bises (the air kisses greeting of the French)…your cheeks are supposed to touch…awkward!

So funny story of the week!
I guess I’m approachable or something because this is the second time it’s happened, but today in the metro a girl asked to pass through the ticket gate with me. No difference to me. It quickly though turned into a comedy scene. I put my ticket in and we both went to go through the turnstile. Well I forgot to grab my ticket locking the turnstile with both of us in one slot! We both reached to grab my ticket, but both ended up dropping it. As I reached down to pick up my ticket off the floor the turnstile unlocked, dumping me between it and the swinging gate. The gate swung open and we both toppled out of what was probably the most comedically awkward metro gate of our lives!

Just Another Day in Paris… October 7, 2007

      …But how cool is it to be able to say that! Nothing too new or exciting… Yesterday I was having a hard time. We went to the flea market, which reminded me of the fashion district in LA, just in French instead of Spanish. I miss home, family and friends, of course, but I’m doing okay today, I really am.
       As life becomes more routine, and things are now becoming familiar, its been easier to feel less like a complete stranger in every aspect of life. I often have my “Paris Moments” were I kind of have an out of body sort of experience, just remembering were exactly I am. It’s like my mind zooms up to get an overhead view of the map of the world, putting into perspective how far I am from home, that I’m not in California anymore, then zooms back into France. It’s like I logically in mind put myself in France, and can physically feel where I am! It’s most often just walking down a street, or seeing the Eiffel tower, when I just pause, and in a surreal dibelief remember that I’m across the ocean from where I’ve been my whole life, in Western Europe, walking around the streets of Paris France, and it feels normal! It’s amazing…and I don’t think it’s ever really going to “set in” that I’m actually here… in Paris!

Catacombs! October 7, 2007

Friday September 21

       Today was probably my favorite! After a beautiful morning, and breakfast on the balcony, we went to see the Catacombs! After descending down a 5 foot diameter winding staircase into dizzying claustrophobia, and a few desolate tunnels damp with the dew of dripping water, we finally discovered what we had come to see…the dead! There were stacks upon stacks and piles upon piles of bones and skulls! Seriously, the remains of hundreds of thousands of people, mostly from the 17^th century whose bones were transferred from cemetaries all over, or who were killed in the revolution. Many were even guillotined (sick how that’s a verb now).

                                                
       It was really a bizarre feeling. We were surrounded by the remenants of past lives in a dimly lit cave, engulfed in an eerily reverent silence, while though only 20 meters above our head, the blur of Paris traffic and city noise continued in a far away world. The bustling people above were oblivious to these solemn tombs, lined with the remains of people who had lived only 200 years before; merely a moment in the expanse of time.

                                                    
       I’ve seriously never seen so many bones in my life! Not that I see bones on a regular basis or anything, but even if I had, this would outnumber it by far! It took us nearly an hour and a half to make our way through the winding tunnels. There were also a bunch of neat quotes that we attempted to interpret as best we could. The irony of one struck me above all others though. Admist a vast wall of skeletal remains, surrounded by bones of those now past, hung a sign that read “Croyez que chaque jour est pour vous le dernier”; Live each day as if it were your last. (Directly translated “Believe that each day is for you the last”) The message I’ve heard a hundred times before seemed to have a bit stronger of an impact, coming straight from the voice of those who would know best…the dead.

Beauty, Freedom, Truth, Love! October 7, 2007

Thursday September 20
    (For those of you who don’t get the title, watch Moulin Rouge)
      

       Today we decide to explore more of Monmarte! The white bascilica of Sacre Coeur shone just as bright against the blue sky as the first day we saw it! After drooling some more over my favorite sepia paintings, we visited the Salvador Dali museum, which only confirmed the fact that I don’t understand, nor do I like art…at least not Dali’s surrealism. Save one or two sculpted peaces, I merely just enjoyed Rebecca’s excitement in the exhibit.
       We were able to see so much more today than on our walking tours! The Moulin de Galette, the last of the wooden windmills on montmarte, whose owner was crucified on one of the arms…pleasant I know. Then a cabaret Le Lapin Agile, and a café La Maison Rose, both popular hangouts for famous authors and artists of the time.

                                       

My favorite though was the Moulin Rouge! I couldn’t help but think of Britt and Brooke the whole time, wishing they could be there to see it with me (Moulin Rouge is one of our favorite movies). We decided to head for home though when the rest of the street was lined with sex shops and the like, even an erotic supermarked that donned our name! PS…decision confirmed after some creeper half snarled half purred in Rebecca’s ear on our way back to the metro!

                                                  

…Oh, and if you are ever wondering why you keep nearly getting run-over, make sure you aren’t standing or walking in the bike path like a retard!

Feeling Perfectly Pleasant in Paris October 7, 2007

Tuesday September 18

       The most perfect day I’ve had! This afternoon we had class in Notre Dame…let me say that one more time…class IN Notre Dame! I could hardly write fast enough to keep up with the plethora of facts streaming in through my headphones! I realized the more you know about something, the more it means and the cooler it is! (Duh moment, I know!)
       After, a small group of us found ourselves on our way out to Germaine-en-Laye, an area just past our metro stop on the West side of Paris. As we were walking, by chance I happened to look up to my left and saw “Amarino’s Italian Gelatto” I was the ice cream place we had been searching for last week! Rebecca and I were beyond ecstatic! Our excitement was only added upon when the girl, not much older than us, was the sweetest thing ever! And as if weren’t already about to burst, the ice cream was the best thing ever! Sweet pure flavor of chilled bliss! It was THE best ice cream I have ever had! Miles beyond Berthillons! As hard as it was to tear ourselves away from our Amarino heaven, we continued to weave our way through store after chocolate shop after patisserie. As a different scented wafted through the air with each window front we had passed, we realized we’d stumbled into our own little fairytale “mini-Paris”!

                                                   
       On our walk home, freshly filled with pain au chocolat, and baguette in hand, I could not help but think of how perfectly happy I was at that moment. This is exactly what it’s supposed to be like living in France! Walking home down a quite French street, having just discovered our won dream Paris, engulfed by the warmth of the evening, with not a single care save finishing our baguette! I couldn’t remember the last time I’ve felt so perfectly content and satisfied to be exactly where I was, with my mind living only in that moment!