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New Stuff

2010-01-02T23:45:00.003-06:00

Hiya,

I've decided to reincarnate my blog, but at a different address. I did this because I felt like this blog was becoming a bit of a joke and had little to do with its initial purpose, my abroad experience in Paris. My new one is intended to document my last six months or so of my undergrad experience, like finding a job, finishing my thesis and getting up to the usual mischief ;-)

I'm also more willing to post random shit on my new blog and its a bit less literate than my old one, but to be fair, its intended to be much less serious.

So yeah, hit it here: http://noraleeradtke.blogspot.com

xoxox Nora

2009-12-14T17:25:00.001-06:00

Haven't heard from me in awhile...

Well, this is my new obsession. The boyband, not so much the girl. But still... incredible!

500 Days of Summer

2009-08-01T15:08:00.001-05:00

Great movie. Saw it Wednesday night and I totally loved loved loved it. Check it out.

So You Think You Can Dance

2009-06-07T15:26:00.001-05:00

I've watched this clip maybe 6 times in the last 3 hours. It's weirdly mesmerizing...

Anyways, I was sitting around the other night, deciding I need a show for the summer, when this show came on CTV (campus TV, via computer, just think of it as real TV). So yeah, I'm watching So You Think You Can Dance this summer. HAHA.

Never Say Never, The Fray

2009-04-18T21:52:00.001-05:00

LOVE ITTT. I literally have this video on repeat.

Baby-Sitters Club

2009-04-04T00:58:00.001-05:00

Who read this and wanted it to be their life? Me Me Me!!!

Next Adventures...

2009-03-10T18:40:00.002-05:00

So I keep this file in my computer that lists all the places I want to go in the world. When I see cool stuff in movies, TV, the news, whatever, I add places all the time, and when I read through and don't like things I take them off. Anyways, with my time here in Paris dwindling, I thought I would start thinking about the next adventure... travel young is what I think!

So here is my current list (it's a bit long right now):

-Costa Rica (#1 really want to go here, for relaxation)
-Kilimanjaro
-Argentina/Patagonia
-Croatia, The Dalmatian Coast
-Australia, Great Barrier Reef
-Hawaii (this is a new obsession)
-Capetown
-Berlin (because I missed it on my Euro Odyssey)
-Singapore (this one is new-ish, I have a lot of friends from here)
-Canary Islands

So yeah, if anyone is interested in any of these adventures... yeah, let's start saving money or something!

Carnaval in Nice, France--2009

2009-03-04T15:44:00.001-06:00

BONUS VIDEO I TOOK AT THE CARNAVAL PARADE!

Cote d'Azur

2009-03-04T15:18:00.001-06:00

My last hurrah for my massive adventure in Europe was spent on the Cote d'Azur, also known as the French Riviera. I went down with my friend, and former biology lab partner, Mara. We based ourselves out of Nice, France, but spent time going all around the coast.

We flew down on what should have been a Tuesday morning, but what turned out to be more like afternoon. Here is a lessen to everyone spending any time in Europe: cheap airlines are not reliable. Yes, the ticket may be only 35 euro total, but don't expect the services you'd get from a normal airline. I've never flown EasyJet and NOT had a delay of more than two hours. Cute huh? Mara and I got to Paris Orly Airport at 9 AM and finally boarded at 1:30. By the time we were out of the airport in Nice it was pushing 3:30. We took a bus into town and our hotel, a very very cute place near the train station. Seriously, if you are going ask me for the name, best place I've stayed in Europe, and really cheap. After checking in we decided to walk around a bit, check out the beach, you know. The beach in Nice is nice (haha), but it's not sandy, rather covered in pebbles, so a little uncomfortable. We chanced upon a random staircase going up a hill and ended up with an incredible view of the city. The weather was amazing so of course we did all this in nearly short-sleeves. After taking in the view we descended the hill on the other side and ended up in the port, taking some time to admire some of the incredible yachts. Like HUGE yachts. We figured its probably lots of boats from Monaco that found it cheaper to park in Nice. We had dinner at a place called Chez Rene Socca, a to-order place that serves local specialties. I had fish bites and sardines, as well as some pizza.

We had heard from the owner of our hotel that there were going to be HUGE celebrations for Carnaval just a few blocks away that first night, so after a short nap, we pulled on our coats and headed down the street to the Place Massena. Carnaval in Nice is HUGE. It's one of the biggest celebrations in Europe, and the world, and it was one of those once in a lifetime experiences I will NEVER forget. There was a night parade with elaborate floats covered in lights and colors. Everyone had cans of silly string and was spraying each other, and there was a running musical accompaniment. Without looking at my pictures its really hard to convey how cool this event was to you, so I highly encourage you to click the link at the bottom of this post and check it out. Incredible.

Our second day in Nice we woke up early and headed out of town. Our first stop was a small city called Eze that is up a mountain from Nice and about halfway between Nice and Monaco. Eze has a special place in my heart because it is featured on the penultimate day of the Paris-Nice cycling race... the racers go up the Col d'Eze (the mountain) on three occassions before finishing in Nice. In 2007 Alberto Contador (my favorite) won the race on the Col d'Eze. It was with incredible luck that while we were busing up to Eze we happened to pass a handful of cyclists riding up the mountain. I snapped pictures and am convinced that these guys were legitimate pros. They were going way too fast not to be. And they were all kitted out in team wear (including some Astanas, my team). It makes sense to, because the aforementioned Paris-Nice race starts on the 8th (and I'm going to the start ;-) Anyways, tangent over. Eze is a really cute medieval town that prides itself in its old quarter, a maze of narrow stone streets that rest on top of the mountain. Eze was also a nice place to do a bit of shopping. They have a lot of perfume shops, that feature local products for very very good prices.

After Eze we jumped back on the bus and headed to Monaco. We started out right outside the Monte Carlo Casino, a very gorgeous building where you feel out of place just knowing its reputation. You can't actually go in without being dressed up and paying, but its nice to look at. My impression of Monaco is that aside from the Casino and the Prince's Palace (which is also nice) there isn't much to do. The city is very clean and well manicured, but without an awful lot of money, relatively inaccessible to the normal person. I mean what fun is shopping at Gucci and Versace if I can't buy anything? We spent awhile walking around and enjoying the weather while we were there (an getting a little tan!) but mostly we stayed outside. I found some really cool vintage t-shirts at a stand on the street, but other than that I kept my money in my wallet in Monaco. We headed back to Nice at about 4 for a nap before dinner. We had a nice dinner out that night, we did a three course meal at a relatively nice restaurant on one of the main strips. The first course was a nicoise salad, which is like a normal salad with tuna on it. The second was Moules Frites, mussels and french fries. I'm a huge mussel fan and was pleasantly surprised when I got about 40 of them! Delish. The last was a nice chocolate tart. Very good meal, and cheap-ish too.

Our third day was also our last, with the prospect of a flight back to Paris at 10 in the evening. We started out the day at the Matisse Museum in Nice. I'm a huge fan of Matisse but was honestly a little disappointed by the Museum. They have a relatively narrow collection, meaning most of the work displayed is from the same time. Matisse is cool because his work spanned 50+ years and really evolved, but I didn't really get to see much evolution. And my favorite period, his fauvist work, wasn't really displayed. But it was still really cool. We went back to Rene Socca for lunch, trying the Socca (a crepe like thing) for the first time, and then we hopped on a bus to St. Jean. St. Jean is a penninsula with some nice beaches and nicer villas. Mara and I spent a bit of time wading around in the Mediterranean Sea, and then we headed out to look at some villas. We saw two really gorgeous ones before heading back into Nice. In town we shopped around a bit, trying to find some cool stuff to bring back to Paris to say we bought in the South. I invested in two great pairs of sunglasses that I hope won't break in my luggage back to the US.

The Nice trip was probably my favorite of the whole adventure in Europe, mostly because it was 65 everyday and I was on the coast... but it really was beautiful. I've already promised my Mom I am taking her there! I've also decided that once I get back to the US I'm going to do my top ten Europe moments, and something from Nice might just hit the top of the list!

Until next time, here are some photos... lots of them...

French Riviera Albums

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2011500&id=1599570086&l=be786

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2011502&id=1599570086&l=dcd7c

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2011503&id=1599570086&l=c61dd

CARNAVAL Album

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2011501&id=1599570086&l=77ec6

Amsterdam

2009-03-04T14:30:00.000-06:00

First of all, forget every preconceived notion you've got about Amsterdam being a haven for drugs and trouble-making. It's actually a very nice, clean city, that is very liberal thinking and progressive. Yes, there is marijuana legality in Amsterdam, and prostitution, but no, its not like Animal House. Amsterdam held a place on my list of places to go towards the middle. If I had time I would hit it up, it not, I would be too upset. When the deliberations for where to travel for my week off came up, I wanted to go for simplicity. Nowhere terribly far away, cheap tickets, a nice room. Amsterdam came up as a good choice.

I left for Amsterdam on Friday the 20th, rather early in the morning, on the Thalys train from Paris Gare du Nord. Surprisingly the ride is only a little more than four hours, that's how interconnected Europe is. The ride was cool because we went through a lot of cool cities on the way... Brussels and Antwerp in Belgium, and Rotterdam and The Hague in the Netherlands. Places that I would have liked to go, but due to lack of time and finances they were relegated to pass-throughs on the train. I went to Amsterdam with my future roommate Sara, who is in a similar situation to me, low on money but eager to get out and see stuff. We stayed in a cute-ish hotel south of the main canals in Amsterdam, a place that could have been nicer but was sufficient for what we needed.

The first day in Amsterdam was really just walking around. We ate a lot of random street food, but other than that we just looked at stuff. The main part of Amsterdam is the center canal ring. The city is well served by boats (though the are expensive) and is incredibly bike friendly. We walked through Chinatown and the Red Light District, as well as the Jordaan (the cute part). We ate dinner at a somewhat hilarious noodles place called "Wok to Walk," which we sort of grew obsessed with. Think flat top grill but less hands on and less choices.

Our second day in Amsterdam was the touristy day. We started out relatively early in the morning by walking over to the Anne Frankhuis. They've turned Anne Frank's famous annex into a museum on the Holocaust and Anne Frank's story. It's actually really well done and informative, and incredibly eerie to visit. The rooms are more or less unchanged from when the Frank family was removed by the Nazi's, although all of the furniture was taken by the Germans. There are still pictures on the walls, and certain personal effects are still there. Weird. After we had lunch at a herring stand, fresh fish sandwiches! After Sara and I visited the Rijksmueum, its more or less the national art collection. Not to sound snobby, but I was unimpressed. For dinner that night we went to the Hard Rock Cafe. We got a lot of flack from other people, but it was delicious none the less.

The third day was the one I was most looking forward to... we rented bikes! If you know me well you know that I love my bikes, so this day was of particular importance to me. Hadn't been on one since September! So being in Amsterdam was sort of like my opening of the season, and my first injury (a strange hematoma/bruise on my knee when I pinched my leg between the 100 pound frame of the hulk I was riding and the wheel casing, whoops). We rode all around the parks in Amsterdam, with no real direction or intention. It was just nice to feel the wind in my hair and whatever. And Amsterdam is so bike friendly that its something you really have to do. Fabulous day.

I feel like I should address some of the stereotypes of Amsterdam before signing off. People think that marijuana is everywhere. In reality you can only buy it legally from certified dealers at "coffeeshops." It's illegal to buy from non-certified dealers, just like anywhere else, and its illegal to smoke in public. The prostitution is a little different than I expected, and maybe a little more shocking. Most of the people selling there services display themselves in windows of buildings. So you might just walk past and turn and see something you don't really want. Public nudity is of course not allowed but its a little more skin than the normal wants to see. Strange and shocking. But the industry is highly regulated and you usually have to sign up in an office in town before you are allowed to partake. Hard for me to comprehend.

Photos:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2011466&id=1599570086&l=b2074

8th Week Vacation

2009-02-19T17:45:00.001-06:00

It's a staple of every University of Chicago abroad program to give students a week off to travel around. Last quarter I went to London and Dublin, one of the best adventures of my life. This quarter the plan is a little different. I'm going on two short trips, but allowing myself a few days in Paris, just to hang out.

The first adventure I'm going on is a weekend trip to Amsterdam. I'm going with my friend and future roommate Sara. We are taking the train tomorrow (Friday) morning, and I'm heading back towards Paris on Monday morning. We don't have any super solid plans for what we are doing yet, but I think one of them is to rent bikes!

The second adventure is a short jaunt down to the Cote d'Azur. I really wanted to go to Nice when I was traveling in December but the train tickets just wouldn't work out. Earlier this quarter I was talking to my friend and former Biology labpartner Mara and she was interested in going too. We managed to find cheap flights and a cheap room in Nice so we booked for two nights. We are heading down on Tuesday in the morning, and then coming back Thursday night. The plan includes the Matisse Museum in Nice, a day trip to Monaco, and the beach!

Then I'm back in Paris from Friday to Sunday just to relax, and maybe see some stuff that I have yet to see. Maybe start writing some papers. Relaxing. Then its two weeks of super intense work and then back to the US.

WOW time has flown.

Anyways, I'll talk to you soon!

Love, Nora

Survivor: Tocantins - Jeff Probst Castaway Assessment

2009-02-17T12:42:00.001-06:00

LOVE THEM ALL ALREADY!!!

Potential Classes Spring 09 : Take 1

2009-02-17T12:26:00.002-06:00

FREN 26103, Victor Hugo (Les Miserables), Robert Morrissey, W 3-6

ARTH 15600, 20th Century Art, Joyce Cheng, TR 3-430

PLSC 20409, The Role of Institutions in International Relations, Anne Holthoefer, TR 1030-12

PLSC 20910, War, Sovereignty, and the Subject of International Politics, Chris McIntosh, TR 130-3

Thoughts?

NYC

2009-02-17T12:25:00.004-06:00

I got Director of the International Atomic Energy Agency for the United Nations Association USA Model UN Conference this May. Which basically means that I get to go back to New York City for the second time in a year, for free. And I get to do MUN. And I get to miss a week of school. And I get to see my bestie Ryan for the first time since like June. And I'm just generally excited.

If you are confused about my involvement in this, read past-blogs from May 2008. It's BALLER.

OECD

2009-02-17T12:25:00.001-06:00

Monday our class had session at the OECD, the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development. Our session was a general overview of the organization, and it was so far my favorite presentation we've been to. Generally the organization was formed as a forum to determine the distribution of aid under the Marshall Plan after World War Two. The OECD actually began as the OEEC, the Organization of European Economic Cooperation, but now it has evolved into a more international organization. It's newer mission is to promote development and the expansion of globalization through the world, but they also promote the sustainability of the economies of the member states. Many people call the OECD the "Rich Man's Club" as the organization is mostly comprised of the richest countries in the world. This is evident in a visit because the facility is incredibly fancy. We got fancy nametags that allowed us to pass through the security and the room where we had our session was very nice. The Speaker was very interesting, and he normally works in the media and publicity department, though he has some considerable experience with working with the post-Soviet bloc and the World Bank. He mostly outline the general history of the organization, but he also talked about its future as well. The future stuff is actually what interests me the most, particularly the expansion of membership. What's more is that the same speaker is coming to our Center on Wednesday to do a second session with us, on the day-to-day workings of the organizations, something I am very stoked to hear about due to my Model UN involvement.

Fountainebleau

2009-02-17T12:24:00.001-06:00

Friday I had to go to Versailles again for the same tour I did last quarter. Needless to say I didn't stick around very long (as I'm not really partial to Versailles) and I ended up in a McDonald's while everyone else continued the tour. This trip, however, influenced my decision to go with several classmates to Fountainebleau, and to visit the grand palace situated there.

It takes about 45 minutes by TER train to get to Fountainebleau, and let me tell you, we had quite the Amazing Race moment when we got to the train station! We were running a bit late, and Gare de Lyon in Paris was packed with people. We couldn't find the ticket counters, and we were literally watching the clock tick down to the moment the train was leaving. We literally managed to jump on the train seconds before it started to roll out. Crazy. The ride to Fountainebleau was nice, quick, and we arrived at the station there in good form. From the station its about a 40 minute walk to the palace, or about ten minutes on local bus. I quite like ridding the bus, so we jumped on and headed through the city. Fountainebleau, the city, is very characteristic of mid-size French cities. There is a main drag with most major chains, and then smaller streets where the residences are. Very cute.

The palace at Fountainebleau has a much longer history than that at Versailles. While Versailles was just hanging around as a hunting cabin, Fountainebleau was already the hub of the French monarchy. From Henri II on French monarchs have called Fountainebleau home, for at least part of their reign. Even Napoleon kept apartments there! This means that there is much more to see at Fountainebleau than Versailles, even though size-wise Versailles is much bigger. You can see the history of the palace as you past from room to room. Where some apartments are done in the Renaissance style, others are done in the classic or post-revolution styles. You can also see some very curious places that are important to French history. The last remaining throne room in France is at Fountainebleau, as it was spared by the revolutionaries, and the room where Napoleon abdicated his position as emperor is also in Fountainebleau. While at Fountainebleau we walked around on our own terms, with the audio guide, which is where I learned all of this. Just an aside, I am much more partial to audio guides when learning French history. Only because I get tired of art so I can fastforward. Unorthodox, I know.

The gardens at Fountainebleau aren't of the same nature as those at Versailles, but they are very impressive none the less. What is interesting in going to places like these is that the front of these palaces usually faces the city and is on a busy-ish street, but then you go out back and you feel like you are in the middle of nowhere. It's great! We wandered the gardens for awhile before heading back towards the train station. Oh, and we grabbed some of the local specialties too... huge croissants filled with cheese and meat!

Pictures:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2011368&id=1599570086&l=cea87

Catacombes

2009-02-17T12:22:00.001-06:00

I went to the Catacombes on a Friday afternoon, sort of on a whim. Let me tell you, it is not a good idea to go into underground caves, filled with bones, by yourself. It was freakkky. The catacombes originated as limestone quarries for Parisian building projects like 500 years ago, but as limestone started to become less desired the quarries started to close down. At about the same time there was a crisis in the center of the city. Due to remanants of the plague and other public health crisis, there were lots of dead bodies lying around (nice huh?). Although they had a large cemetery near Les Halles (just north of the Ile de la Cite, where Notre Dame is situated), the cemetery was filling to quickly. On top of that the dead bodies in the cemetery were continuing to infect the population of Paris. It was decided then, that the bodies would be exhumed, and moved into the abandoned quarries. Now if you go you'll be able to see millions of bones lined up in what literally appears to be a sort of decorative fashion.

When you start a visit at the Catacombes you must descend down into the quarries. This is done by going down about eight floors on a spiral staircase. You then arrive in a small chamber where they have some posters explaining what you are going to see. The first 500 meters of the Catacombes are just narrow tunnels, not for the claustrophobic. These tunnels show the nature of the quarries, and there are some explanations of the methods the French used to mine out the limestone. You then reach a doorway with a large sign that says something like "Beware, you are passing into the realm of the dead." A bit morbid and strange, but really eerie too. Going through this doorway you are immediately see stacks and stacks of bones. It is strange because the bones are stacked very neatly, femurs together, arms together, and so on. It's quite morbid and freaky. I walked through really fast, I didn't really like it. At the end of these tunnels you arrive at another staircase and have to climb back up. Before exiting they check your bag, to make sure you haven't stolen anything from the tunnels (ha! Like I would stick a femur in my purse!), and then you step out into the fresh air. It's strange, but really refreshing to be back outside.

There's some photos in here, with some others!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2011293&id=1599570086&l=14f0b

Strasbourg Pics

2009-02-17T12:21:00.001-06:00

Hit it:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2011292&id=1599570086&l=1b4d9

2009-02-10T15:14:00.001-06:00

While my blog has dissolved into me posting random links and youtube videos, I thought I would add a little amazingness:

www.jakeandamir.com

I have officially just spent two hours watching random videos on this site and I haven't stopped laughing. Hit that up.

Twitter.

2009-02-09T16:49:00.001-06:00

Introducing the Nora Radtke Twitter page:

http://twitter.com/NoraRadtke

So now you can follow my every move (but not really because I am really spastic about updating). But seriously, Twitter is kind of fun and sort of addicting. I am "following" all of my favorite American cyclists, so it sort of feels like I am their friends! But not really. And their updates are really mundane things like, "eating breakfast." But still, Twitter is sort of fun. I dare you to check it out...

Skins | Series 3 Extended Trailer | E4

2009-02-06T15:32:00.001-06:00

This is my new favorite show. The first two seasons are AMAZING, and the new season isn't that bad either. But yeah, sort of love it.

Strasbourg

2009-02-06T07:08:00.001-06:00

Our train out there was at 6:50 or so in the morning, which meant that we all had to be at Gard de l'Est (on the northside of town) at 6:30. This meant a good 30 minute metro ride for us, so I was rolling out of bed at the nice healthy hour of 5:30. I'm not really a morning person (clearly) so this was not very fun for me. We took the TGV direct out there, so it was a relatively quick ride, just a little under 2.5 hours.

Once we were there we walked to the European Parliament Headquarters. The EP splits its time between Strasbourg and Brussels (which is really inefficient but has to do with France wanting more importance in the EU), and we were in Strasbourg because the EP was in session there for the week. We were originally supposed to go to Brussels, but had to change when we found out they were in Strasbourg. I was a bit disappointed by this, because it would have been cool to go to Belgium, probably won't legitimately get there now (my train to Amsterdam goes through, but I don't know if that counts).

At the EP we did a question and answer session with Pervenche Beres, the chairlady of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Policy. She is a big deal right now, with the financial crisis and all. The session was really interesting, and topical because we've been studying the Economic and Monetary Union in my EU class. Most of the stuff she talked about had to do with the euro and what the EU is working on to withstand the financial crisis. She highlighted the fact that the EU is a strange case because in the eurozone (countries on the euro) there are 16 separate economies. It's difficult, then, to regulate a currency that effects all of these countries in a time of crisis. Some economies are doing much better than others. For example, Germany is doing better than Slovenia. So its been especially difficult for the EU. But also not difficult because most of the trade in the EU happens between EU countries so they don't have to worry about exchange rates right now. Really interesting stuff, I wish I knew more about economics.

After the session with Mme Beres we got to sit on about a half hour of plenary session and voting in the EP Assembly Hall. The EP currently has some 700 members, so this hall if ginormous. The debate was about agriculture and it was pretty clear that most people had already made up their minds on the resolution on the table, so it was a bit dull. It was cool however, because in the EP it is required that all members speak their native tongue... which means that everything is being translated into 23 languages. We got to wear headsets so we could hear the English, and it was incredibly impressive how quickly the translators worked. The delay was only 2 or 3 seconds on the English... not bad at all. Once long ago I thought about being a translator, but now I see how much work that would have been. The voting was quick because the have a lightboard, so delegates only have to push a button at their seats and it electronically tallies the vote. It's kind of cool to see the result all of a sudden flash up on the screen. Someday I hope all Model UNs have them so we don't have to count placards anymore!

After the EP we walked to our restaurant for lunch. We ate at a really really fancy bowling alley, and it was one of the better meals I've had on my excursions. The first course was a salad and a quiche. I used to hate quiche, but it's been growing on me since I got here. It is very french. The main course was a huge piece of salmon with an amazing sauce and rice. Salmon is my favorite so I was pretty stoked about this... especially because last time we had rabbit which I didn't like. The dessert was an apple strudel with cinnamon ice cream, delish. I had a coffee too, for good measure.

In the afternoon we did a small tour of the Cathedral in Strasbourg (which looks like most of the ones I've seen but wider), and of the old part of town. The tour was interesting but sort of the same as every other one I've done. After we had a bit of time to just wander and do what we wanted. I went with Sara and Felicity to find some bretzles (they're German, but we were practically in Germany and I really wanted one) and to shop around. Strasbourg, I found, is like a bigger and french version of Freiburg in Germany (where I went a couple of weeks ago). I really liked it there. After about an hour we met back up and headed towards the train and 2.5 hours later we were back in Paris and all exhausted! What a day!

(pictures coming soon)

GG

2009-02-03T16:07:00.000-06:00

Only the greatest gawker.com Gossip Girl Recap ever:

http://gawker.com/5145263/gossip-girl-educate-me-in-the-ways-of-sex-dear-teacher?skyline=true&s=x

That is all.

La Puce a l'Oreille

2009-02-02T09:25:00.001-06:00

Translated to "flea in the ear" this is the name of a play I had to go to for French class this past weekend. We read the play for class (which was a bit dull because it is very long), and then the Center got us tickets to go see it at the Theatre Athenee. The Theatre is in a very belle quartier (cute neighborhood) of Paris, to the northwest of the main Opera house (L'Opera Garnier). It is of the same time period as the Opera I believe, and was very beautiful.

The play itself was actually really really good. I was a bit dreading it because its 2 hours and 30 minutes without intermission, but it flew by. The cast was all very fun, and they really hit their stride in the second act. The story is a big jumble of people thinking that other people are cheating on each other, and it's all misconceptions and unclear language. Their is actually one guy in it who can't even speak consonants! The first act sets up the story, the second act is where all of the major suspicion takes places, and then the final act is the resolution. The second act was particularly funny because of the speed at which it was played out. It takes place in a hotel, and it was a constant motion of people leaving the stage, coming onto the stage, running through... exhilarating. I don't know if I've ever seen a play that was that "on" before. Very good.

Now I'm pretty much done with the theater, unless we get some surprise tickets, but I'm glad I got my chance to get dressed up a few times and go out with the French people!

UNESCO

2009-02-02T09:12:00.002-06:00

Last Monday my International Organizations class went on our first visit to an actual International Organization, UNESCO. We went over for a presentation during normal class hours, which meant hoping on the metro across town after French class in the morning. UNESCO is located near the Eiffel Tower and the Ecole Militaire, so it wasn't too hard to find... we had more trouble figuring out which was the visitors entrance than which was the building! Upon arrival we were giving credentials (nametag) so we could pass through security, and we were led down to a conference room.

UNESCO is the United Nations Education, Science and Cultural Organization, and based on that name you better believe it has a broad mandate. Their work is generally administrative based, meaning that while UNESCO deals with education they do not directly provide teachers to third world countries. Instead they write reports that influence non-governmental organizations and national politics. Thus while UNESCO may not seem like they are doing a lot, they are actually very influential in their dealings within the international system.

Our visit to UNESCO was highlighted with a presentation about UNESCO's work with UNAIDS. While UNAIDS is the UN agency devoted to AIDS relief and research, it does not actively do anything (story of the UN). Instead it serves as an umbrella organization to other UN subsidiary bodies, like UNESCO. UNESCO's mandate on AIDS is in the sector of education, so our presentation was about some of the work UNESCO has been doing in Kenya to help with the AIDS situation, through education. It was very enlightening, and it underlined the fact that it is very difficult for International bodies to work in a world where state independence is key.

I enjoyed the visit immensely, although it was a shame that our presentation was so focused and a bit too technical. I would have preferred a more general presentation on all of the workings of UNESCO, and maybe a tour. I did talk to the presenter afterward, explaining my activity in Model UN, and she showed me the main meeting hall (akin to the UN General Assembly hall in NYC). It was impressive, though not on the scale of New York. This visit slightly solidified my desire to be a civil servant and work in an IGO when I graduate. I still need a little more to push me that way though... maybe my next visit (I got to the European Parliament on Thursday, and I still have visits to the OECD and IEA later this quarter)...

There are a few photos of UNESCO in here... among other more recent pics:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2011066&l=5c1d1&id=1599570086

The Fray - You Found Me

2009-01-26T17:36:00.001-06:00

I previously wrote that there is nothing in Chicago pulling me in. I take that back... only because this video takes place in Chicago and it makes it look a lot cooler than it is. I guess there are some good things about Chicago.

L'Opera Bastille

2009-01-24T17:26:00.001-06:00

Last weekend I went to see Lady Macbeth de Mzensck at the Opera Bastille. The Opera Bastille is the newer opera house in Paris, and its located right on the Place de la Bastille where the famous prison once stood. In comparison to the other opera houses here in Paris, Bastille is much newer and definitely more modern. It's not necessarily reflected in their repetoire, however. The realisation of the operas however, can be considered more modern.

Lady Macbeth is actually quite a dark opera. It's about a woman, Katerina, who is forced into a life of more or less servitude. She is married to a rich merchant, who she doesn't love, and her every move is watched by her step father. She eventually falls in love with one of the families new workers who is really only after her for the challenge. The story involves a lot of killing and sexiness, but its pretty powerful.

The staging was really cool. The first act took place in a glass house that was surrounded by dirt. Like real dirt. It really reflected how Katerina was caged in and such. And then the second act was in a prison, that had like a foot of water in the bottom. Staging like this could not have happened at a different opera house.

I guess I'm really lucky that my program sets stuff like this up for us. I mean, I went to an OPERA in PARIS. Wowza.

20 Things

2009-01-24T17:04:00.000-06:00

Inspired by a random trend going through facebook that is something like post 15-25 (varies by person) things about yourself and then tag other people... blah blah blah... I thought I would write a list of 20 Things about myself. Sort of to see where my head is tonight. And sort of because I figured why the hell not?

Here goes:

1. I am currently living in Paris, France and I don't want to leave. But I have to. I'm almost out of money and my visa is going to expire.

2. I am sort of dreading going back to Chicago. There is nothing there pulling me in. No reason to be there other than school. And that isn't a very good reason.

3. I have no real ambitions for this summer. I want to live with my parents. Save money. Do nothing strenuous. Be a kid.

4. I don't know what I want to be when I grow up. All I know is that I like international relations and managing things. I don't know what this adds up to or where it takes me. Somewhere.

5. Based on the last four I appear to only want to bum around and travel. I guess that sums me up ok.

6. I can't live without my bike. It's literally killing me here in Paris without my wheels. One of the first things I'm doing when I return to the States is riding. Fuck it.

7. I go on more about cycling than anyone wants to hear, which is a pity. I wish there were more people who got cycling that I could talk to. It's not fun wanting to talk about a race when no one gets what you're saying.

8. I drink coffee like it's water.

9. I'm probably the worst-read student at the University of Chicago. I haven't read anything important. I can't even pretend.

10. After my bike and my family the thing I miss the most from the States is Mexican food. Taco Bell for the sheer cheapness of it, Chipotle for the amazingness, and my mom's for the... yeah.

11. I used to be a runner, but I wasn't that good. I like to tell people that I am a triathlete now, but in reality I've only done one race so I don't know if that counts.

12. My two favorite bands at present are Augustana and McFly. They aren't similar at all, but both of them make me feel good when I listen to them.

13. I'm a bit lonely. I think it's because I don't know a lot of people that I can relate to. I guess that means I'm unique, but sometimes I wish there were some people out there that had the same brain as me.

14. I love Survivor too much for my own good. I almost applied to the next season but got too lazy to do the 20 page application and the video. But if I were on it, I would win. Promise.

15. I don't really want to grow up. I wish I could be like 19 forever. Too bad I'm 21 now.

16. I have a very strange lingo. I try not to use it when I'm around UofC kids because I feel like they are above it, but I talk like I'm a 18 year old high school boy on the west coast or something. I have a lot of strange words I use.

17. My favorite films are Breaking Away and Broken English. For different reasons. Breaking Away is about a kid who loves cycling and no one really gets it. Broken English the main character is called Nora and she is a bit like me. Its almost the story of my life, but not.

18. I feel like I've lost touch with most of my old friends. I think it's partly due to my lack of cell phone use, and partly due to the fact that I'm too lazy to actively see how they are doing.

19. I didn't realize how stereotypically American I was until I got to France. I am so flippin American its not even funny.

20. I'm scared for the future. But also dead excited for it too.

Chateaux of the Loire: Take Two

2009-01-18T08:01:00.000-06:00

One of the sort of downers about doing two quarter programs with the University of Chicago in Paris is that I have to redo some things. The Chateaux trip was one of them. Don't get me wrong, I was actually really stoked to go again, and it wasn't a complete redo. Last quarter we went to Chenonceau and Chambord, and this quarter it was Blois and then Chambord. And Chambord is my favorite anyways...

We started out ungodly early in the morning. The sun doesn't rise here until about 9:00 AM right now, so it's a bit difficult to roll out of bed and be somewhere at 7:30 when it's still quite dark outside. My program and the Social Science kids all jumped onto a nice bus and were chauffered to the city of Blois. I don't really remember the ride, I was asleep the whole time.

We got into Blois a little before 10:00 AM and my History of Paris professor took us on a tour of the chateau. The chateau is strange because it's a jumble of different styles of architecture quite literally shoved together. It is one of the best examples of the differences between the styles in France and probably the world. I like the classical stuff the best, it looks really classy... think Versailles. Some of the Renaissance stuff is a little ridiculous, but generally it's all quite nice. The tour itself was interesting. My professor really knows his stuff, and he knows how to convey it to college students. And of course it had to do with La Reine Margot, a ridiculous film I watched last quarter...

We had lunch at a really really fancy restaurant in Blois. I'm not really sure what I ate, but it was pretty tasty. It may have included rabbit. I'm not exactly sure. And I'm not sure I want to know. But it was fun, and that's what counts.

After we went to Chambord. I literally went on the same tour as last time, but it was in english so I caught a little more information. It was cool to see it again. And I spent less time listening to the tour guide and more time actually looking at the place. It's incroyable. Incredible.

After we jumped on the bus for a long ride home. I slept again. Hah.

Photos:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2011066&l=5c1d1&id=1599570086

L'Assemblée Nationale

2009-01-15T16:07:00.001-06:00

So I had a pretty cool day today! We had a class trip to the Assemblée Nationale, which roughly equates to the American House of Representatives. Pretty cool huh? We were supposed to do a small tour and then Q & A with some random guy, but instead they were having an emergency session so all of the stuff we were supposed to see was barred to the public. So instead? We got to sit in on the session! It was way cool, and I'm glad I know French so I could understand what was going on. They were debating putting really strict restrictions on speaking times at sessions. Right now they are allowed to talk for an undetermined amount of time, as long as its topical... sort of like a filibuster but not really. The new plan would put some pretty tight restrictions on everything. The majority (right wing) is in favor of all of this, but the opposition groups aren't. Which makes sense since the majority would be the one benefiting from it. The socialists were particularly incensed about the proposal.

The thing that I found the most interesting was the manner in which debate was carried out. The President of the Assemblée Nationale presides over debate, but he does not hold a neutral stance. You could see he was somewhat favoring the socialists today, at one point even arguing with a right wing representative. The other thing I found interesting was the lack of decorum in the room. People were talking over the speaker all of the time, and there was lots of cross-talk in the chamber. It was pretty chaotic! That and only maybe a sixth of the representatives were present. Apparently these "sessions" aren't really to persuade the other delegates, but rather to get some TV time to bring up the issues with the French public. Apparently most of the decisions are made in smaller meetings prior.

It was a very strange contrast to what I'm used to seeing in the States, or in Model UN. And, I was really really happy that I got to see it. It was seriously really cool!

New Quarter, International Studies Program

2009-01-15T16:05:00.001-06:00

First of all, I apologize profusely for completely and utterly neglecting this space for the last month. It's been nuts traveling all over the place, but really fun. I kept a written journal on most of my travels, but I've found it hard trying to find time to sit down and write out blog posts. Hopefully someday I will get around to it, but at this point I feel like I'm just getting further and further behind, so I'm going to start with the New Quarter! which started on January 5th.

The new program is called International Studies, and it's pretty tight. I've got four classes, which are all pretty cool. I'm taking the main course, Lecture Series on International Organizations which is all about the UN and the like. Right up my alley. I'm also taking two electives: Intro to European Issues and History of Paris. Both are interesting in their own ways, and cool experiences. The fourth class is a French class that focuses on the oral, so it should be a solid way to keep up my language skills.

On top of the classes the new program has a series of excursions with it. Some are more normal, I'm hitting up the chateaux of the Loire Valley again tomorrow, and we're doing Versailles later on. And some are program specific. We are visiting UNESCO, the OECD, the IEA, the European Parliament, and we saw the Assemblée Nationale today. All government stuff.

The new kids are really cool. It's the second week now, so I'm still getting to know people, but so far so good. It's also been fun because a lot of people I knew from first and second year are here, so it's been cool to catch up a bit.

Again I'm sorry about the lack of updates. I posted links to my Spain pictures, but here are links to my Italy pictures... oh, and I went to Germany last weekend to celebrate my 21st birthday (yeah, I'm 21 now!). It was fun and I met some cool kids from the Chicago area which was strange, but really cool too.

Anyways, the pictures:

Florence: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010856&l=468a0&id=1599570086

Vatican City: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010860&l=a2de5&id=1599570086

Rome 1: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010861&l=ee24f&id=1599570086

Rome 2: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010862&l=c73d8&id=1599570086

Rome 3: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010866&l=17c2f&id=1599570086

Capodanno (New Years-in Rome): http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010868&l=313dc&id=1599570086

Naples/Pompeii: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010869&l=d586e&id=1599570086

Sorry again!

Love,

Nora

Update!

2008-12-26T08:23:00.001-06:00

I apologize for not updating the second I got back from Spain... I came down with the flu within about 6 hours of being home, which was strange timing. And if you'll excuse me, I'm heading off to Italy for a week in just a little over two hours. I know I know, what a life. I promise that when I get back from Italy there will be a massive update and overhaul and lots of news about everything I'm up to. Promise. In the meantime I'm going to post the links to all of my pictures from Spain and Portugal, so at the very least there is something to look at. I hope everyone had a really really great holiday season, and that you all have a fabulous New Years! Ok, I'm off to Florence, Rome, and Naples!

Love, Nora

San Sebastian, Spain : http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010702&l=a4dc9&id=1599570086

Lisbon, Portugal : http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010703&l=02e57&id=1599570086

Sintra, Portugal : http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010704&l=257e7&id=1599570086

Madrid, Spain : http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010707&l=d4e4f&id=1599570086

Valencia 1 : http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010718&l=2af94&id=1599570086

Valencia 2 : http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010720&l=48da7&id=1599570086

Barcelona 1 : http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010721&l=7afc9&id=1599570086

Barcelona 2 : http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010723&l=92a98&id=1599570086

Barcelona 3 : http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010724&l=d88cc&id=1599570086

Girona, Spain : http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010725&l=be66f&id=1599570086

Fin de Trimestre

2008-12-07T07:09:00.000-06:00

Well, I'm done with part one. It's hard to believe, it all went by so fast. In a lot of ways it feels like I just go here (which is sort of true, its only been 10 weeks). All of my classmates are on their ways out of town, with the eventual direction of the US, and I'm not quite at my halfway point. It's been a bit hard to understand. Everyone has gotten really nostalgic, like 'oh this is my last baguette' and obviously for me it's not. It's definitely been weird, but I'm glad I'm staying on for another 10 week session.

The program itself was really rewarding. My french is way better than it was when I got here, and I really challenged myself to work at a very high level. I love the atmosphere of the Center, and when I go home in March, it will be weird to be back at a school with 5,000 people (as opposed to 50 at the Center).

Exams and papers passed by ok. I liked that I didn't have a "finals week" instead taking an exam at the end of every three week unit. It was less stressful at the end, which was fab. And now I'm done with everything (while everyone in Chicago is just getting into it).

So what's next?

Well, over the next month I will be spending hardly any time in Paris, instead traveling extensively throughout Western Europe. I've got three seperate trips planned:

Trip #1: December 7th (tonight) -- December 23rd

Eurail adventure through the Iberian Penninsula. I will be going to six major cities (with potential day trips throughout) : San Sebastian, Spain. Lisbon, Portugal. Madrid, Spain. Valencia, Spain. Barcelona, Spain. Nice, France.

Trip #2: December 26th -- January 3rd

New Year's trip with my friend Paul through Italy. Florence, Italy. Rome, Italy. Naples, Italy.

Trip #3 January 9th -- January 11th

Weekend trek to Germany with my friend Matt to visit where he studied last spring. Freiburg, Germany.

It should be the adventure of a lifetime!

See you at the end, with potentially the biggest blog updates ever!

Love,

Nora

L'Opera Comique

2008-12-07T06:58:00.001-06:00

Our last group excursion was to the Opera Comique. The Opera Comique was established as a place where only French Operas would run, during the 1800s. We went to see Didon et Enee... a Purcell opera that was very hard to make sense of.

Before the Opera, however, we all went out for a nice dinner for Benna's Birthday. I can't remember the name of the place, and I could probably never find it again, but it was amazing. I shared an order of escargot with Sarah. I had to try it! And, surprisingly, I didn't hate it. It sort of tasted like garlicy pond water, but not necessarily in a bad way. I also had an amazing Salmon dish, and one of the best tiramisus of my life. It was nice to hang out with my program, and to do it in a proper french restaurant. We are all getting really good at this French thing. We had no problems ordering or anything.

The Opera itself was fun. Our seats weren't that great, but actually I'm glad we were up pretty high. The theater isn't that big at all, and I could imagine princesses in huge gowns hanging out in the boxes. We all felt really important, dressed up in nice clothes, at the Opera. The show was very pretty. The set design may have been the prettiest I have ever seen, and the dancing and singing was very nice. I didn't really understand the plot of the Opera, but then when I read up on it later I realized there really wasn't one. I get to go again next quarter, to a different one, and it should be just as fun!

Picasso Museum, Eiffel Tower and Holiday Market at La Defense

2008-12-07T06:53:00.001-06:00

The weekend after Thanksgiving it was agreed among everyone that we all wanted to spend as much time together as possible, because we were all planning on parting ways the next weekend. So, the Saturday after Thanksgiving I woke up early and went to the Mirais with Alexa and Sarah.

We started out by getting falafel at one of the best (but not the best) falafel places in Paris. I had never had a proper falafel before, and I must say it was much better than I thought it would be. I was a little nervous because eggplants and beets were involved, but I survived. I probably won't go out of my way to have it again anytime soon, but now I can say I've done it.

After falafel we went to the Picasso Museum in the Mirais. The museum is one of the biggest collections of Picasso work in the world, and it also has a lot of his personal collection (of works from other artists). We got in for free with our History of Art Student ID cards (something the Center manufactured to get us into places for free, although its all a lie). I'm glad I went to the museum with other people because a lot of Picasso's work is really confusing, and it was fun to try to figure out what stuff was. Picasso also had some Matisses and a couple really nice pieces from Cezanne. I've decided that my favroite art is the post-impression, pre-crazy stuff. Meaning Matisse, Gaugin, and Cezanne. The Picasso stuff was incredible. There were rooms and rooms of stuff that he'd done... and this museum is only a small fraction of his total life's work.

We finished the museum at 3 or so, and stopped to get a coffee before heading off towards La Defense to see the Christmas Market. It was really fun. Just stalls and stalls of gifts and food. The food was the best part. I got a hot apple cider, and it hit the spot! There was also some nice music and a great general atmosphere. None of us had money so we agreed to go back the next day.

Our final stop (after dinner at home) was to go see the Eiffel Tower (at night). I've been past it several times, and of course you can see it rising up from just about everywhere, but I'd never been on the grounds when it was lit up. We headed over at about 8:30 to check it out. It was cool because it's currently lit blue to celebrate Sarkozy's presidency in the EU. It looks really awesome. And, at the top of every hour, for five minutes, they do a sort of flash bulb thing, so that it looks like it twinkles. It was amazing. I'll have to head back and see it next quarter when it is no longer blue (Sarkozy's term ends the 31st of December) to compare the beauty.

Sunday we went back to the Christmas Market to shop a bit for our families. I'm not going to tell you what I got in case they see this! But, it was really fun! I also ate the biggest hotdog of my life. Think footlong, but two of them, in a baguette. Haha!

Thanksgiving in Paris

2008-11-29T18:17:00.000-06:00

The French don't understand Thanksgiving. Not at all. And its very difficult to try to explain the history and tradition behind Thanksgiving in French anyways...

So my Thanksgiving wasn't a holiday at all. It was the first and last time that I will probably ever be required to be somewhere, which was a bit sad, but an indication that I'm living with a different people. I had class on Thanksgiving, a meeting with a corrector to go over a paper, a required class trip to the Musee Carnavalet (very cool in its own right), and I was supposed to have a meeting with my conversation assistant. Luckily my conversation fell through, though not because of the holiday. The whole day was sort of played out as if no one realized it was a holiday to us Americans, which I later figured out was true. The Center had no real idea that Thanksgiving was so important to us, and at the last minute they tried to throw together a little "pot," which translates to "hors d'oeuvres and wine." It was nice of them, but very strange. Instead of turkey at midday, it was canapes.

The original plan for Thanksgiving dinner was to eat leftover chili from the night before and watch Survivor on my laptop. But, since my conversation got cancelled, and my friend Janet's was rescheduled, we decided to do a mini-Thanksgiving dinner. We bought a pre-cooked chicken at the grocery store, and we made some mashed potatoes and mixed vegtables. It was nice to have a semi-traditional Thanksgiving meal.

Initially I was kind of down about the whole Thanksgiving away from home thing, but after the day I was feeling pretty good. I had had a fun day with my classmates, and a great dinner (seriously, my cooking isn't that good, and this was very tasty). I also had a nice talk on the phone with the family. I got passed around to everyone, which was nice because I haven't talked to most of them in a really long time. After all of this I realized that I really have a lot to be thankful for. I'm thankful that I have this incredible opportunity to spend my time in an amazing place, and that instead of being down about it, I should enjoy every minute I've got!

Probable Courses Next Quarter

2008-11-22T09:39:00.004-06:00

After some fiascos and disasters, I'm pretty sure I have a set of four courses for next quarter. Hopefully? My schedule will be something like this:

INST 28300-Lecture Series on International Organizations (this course is the number one reason why I'm staying in Paris another quarter aside from just staying in Paris).

INST 28303-Introduction to European Issues (its about the EU, which I'm thinking about writing my BA on... I figured a class on issues might give me an issue I want to write about for my BA).

HIST 12301-History of Paris (there was big drama about taking this because it was originally at the same time as the EU class, but it got worked out and I'm really really excited for it).

French-?? (this could potentially still be a disaster, but I'm going to try to work some magic with the center and get a credit for a fake french class with Sylvie).

I'll keep you all posted of course, but this is how its looking right now... not bad right?

Poptarts in Paris

2008-11-22T09:39:00.001-06:00

So I've been feeling a little bit homesick the last few days. Nothing serious, just kind of realizing that I've been in another country for two months, and that there are some things that are so American that I've sort of been missing. Maybe because Thanksgiving is approaching, and the holidays. I don't know, I just know that I've been desiring something very very American.

With that in mind I went to find the fabled "American Store." People in my program are always talking about this store that sells American things like peanut butter and pancake mix (neither of which you can buy here in regular stores). So, I googled it, and then went searching this afternoon.

The American store is actually called "Thanksgiving" which is a bit ironic considering the time of year, and it's owned by an American couple. It's situated on a narrow side street in the Mirais, one of the older parts of Paris with all the narrow cobbled streets and old buildings. When I finally found it, which took awhile, I stepped inside, and was immediately met with images of things I hadn't thought about in months. Root beer, chili powder, cheerios, they had it all. Of course the prices weren't pretty, because this stuff was shipped overseas, but still. I wandered for awhile, listening in on the conversations (in english), before selecting my treat, a box of poptarts. I spent more than I will ever spend again on poptarts, but when I got home, they were so so so good.

While at the store I asked about Thanksgiving dinner in Paris, but from the sounds of it I should have been asking a month ago. The store has a cajun restaurant attached, but they have apparently been booked for weeks. And the lady didn't know any other places doing thanksgiving. I'm not sure what we'll do yet, because we don't have an oven where we live, and we have conversations that night anyways, but it will work out.

La Defense

2008-11-21T10:36:00.001-06:00

After class ended yesterday, early at 12:15, Benna and I decided to go check out the Arc de la Defense. The Arc is relatively new, and it lies in a direct line with the Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysees, and Louvre. The arc itself is really cool. It's massive and very square and modern-looking. The district it is in is also very modern, and I just read that 14 or so of the 20 most important companies in France have their headquarters there. All of the buildings are skyscraperish, and very new looking. It was a bit strange to be up there, when the rest of France is so old-looking. They were setting up a Christmas Market there too, so we might have to head back in that direction in the near future.

Benna and I also walked along from La Defense to the Arc de Triomphe, a nice walk in itself. The Arc de la Defense is actually not in Paris, but in the banlieuex (suburbs). So it was fun to walk into the city of Paris, and to the Arc de Triomphe. I guess this was Napoleon's intention in building the Arc in the first place. Too bad they never walked through triumphantly?

Dublin

2008-11-21T10:30:00.001-06:00

I flew to Dublin on Wednesday the 12th for three nights. I got in at 2:00 pm, and was at my hostel by 3:00. My hostel was in a perfect location, just a block from the River Liffey, and a block in the other direction from Trinity College. The first night I was tired from traveling, and walking all over London, so I took myself out for another round of fish and chips, and then I saw the new Bond film. It was a nice relaxing night, something I needed in the midst of all my exploring. And it was nice to see the Bond film in English, before it was released in the States.

The next day I spent exploring the city of Dublin. I started out at Trinity College. I had read that was gorgeous and old, but honestly the upkeep wasn't that great. The buildings are hundreds of years old, but it didn't really feel like it, and the gardening didn't really add to the mood. Maybe because I am biased about my own school? I then walked along Grafton Street, which is the main shopping thoroughfare. It was nice, but after Harrod's, nothing. I took myself to the Temple Bar area next. Temple Bar is part of the historic part of Dublin. It has been through some hard times, but now the city of Dublin is trying to bring it back as a new artsy quarter. It also has a lot of pubs, which are fun to look at because the painting is colorful, and the signs are funny. The next natural stop on my trip was Dublin Castle. It was strange. It had rainbow colored painting on it, and the main square had turned into a parking lot. Next I checked out Christ Church Cathedral. I got tricked into paying three euro to get in, but I guess it was worth it. The cathedral didn't compare at all to anything I've seen in France, but the crypt was really cool. It was also nice to compare the different architecture styles. In an ironic turn, I went on a tour of the Guiness Factory next. The tour is really fun. You pay a set price, and then they let you loose in the storehouse building. The building is many floors, and each floor has displays of different aspects of Guiness' work. The tour explains the brewing process, how to taste beer, advertising, and storage. At the end of the tour you find yourself at the top of the storehouse, in the Gravity Bar. The bar has a 360 degree view of the city of Dublin, and is one of the highest points in Dublin. You also get a complimentary pint of the brew, which to the probable disappointment of my Uncle Chip, I didn't like at all. That night I relaxed in the hostel with a nice Australian girl I met, mostly discussing the differences between our countries, and talking about our travels.

On my second full day I decided that I'd exhausted a large chunk of the sightseeing in Dublin, so I paid to go on a bus tour of the Wicklow Mountains. The tour started at the tourism office in Dublin and the driver took us all around. We started by going up one of the nearer mountains so that we could get a good view of the city. It was breathtaking. We were served complimentary coffee to enjoy our view with. The next couple of hours were highlighted by stopping at cool sights and getting off the bus to check them out. I saw mountains, lakes, and waterfalls. It was all gorgeous and absolutely breathtaking. We stopped in a small town for lunch, and then went to Glendalough. Glendalough was a celtic center of worship. There were several churches there, and now it is a large cemetary. Glendalough also has some very gorgeous paths that lead to more lakes and waterfalls. It was fabulous, and a great day. After Glendalough we started to head back towards Dublin, stopping at some sights where the film Braveheart was filmed. I'm so glad that I did the tour, because I would not have had a chance to see anything so gorgeous.

The next day was my last travel day, but I had intentionally scheduled my flight back to Paris for the evening so that I could explore in the morning and early afternoon. I decided to take the DART train to Bray, which is a town on the sea. It was incredible. The beach was gorgeous, with lots of stones everywhere and no sand. The stones were all really flat because they had been washed down by the ocean. They were perfect for skipping! In Bray there is a sea side walk all along the water, high up some cliffs, that lead to Greystones. I walked part of the path, taking in the beautiful views. It was amazing. When I returned to the beach in Bray I bought my last fish and chips meal, and ate it along the water. I then headed back to Dublin, the airport, and home.

My seventh week vacation was all I wanted it to be. I got to see some cool places, and explore around, taking time off of school. It was fabulous! Now I've got three weeks of class (well two now), and then I have a month off for more travel (Spain, Portugal, Italy!).

PHOTOS:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010310&l=83a50&id=1599570086

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010312&l=79735&id=1599570086

*Note: There are no pictures from Bray. My battery died on my camera at Glendalough... Never fear, I bought a disposable, but I don't know how to get the pictures developed here in France.*

London

2008-11-21T09:46:00.001-06:00

First, apologies that this took so long. Jumping back to school was a bit of a shock to the system, so I've been focusing on the work and less on the fun.

I flew to London for the first part of my 7th Week Vacation on the 8th. The Center gives all programs a week off every quarter, to allow us to travel a bit and explore Europe and France. The intention of that is to discourage us from skipping classes to travel. Which I guess makes sense, but it's been hard going back into academic mode.

Anyways, my flight to London was on Easyjet which is a budget airline in Europe. I only paid about 50 euro for the flight, which was great. The downer is that you get what you pay for. My flight was delayed about two hours, which was a bit of a disaster because the gate was in a location without any food or restrooms. At one point I went backwards through security to go back to the concourse to use the restroom and buy a snack. Once on the plane everything was fine. I landed at Luton airport at about 4 in the afternoon. I took the Easybus into London proper, which was an hour and twenty minutes. The bus was a bit freaky because they drive on the wrong side of the road. It was definitely unnerving. I arrived in London and headed straight out to my hostel for the night. I stayed at the Globetrotter's Inn, which was in Hammersmith, about a 45 minute tube ride from the city center in London. After so much traveling I was exhausted and fell asleep at about 9 PM.

My first full day in London was Remembrance Sunday, so there were lots of events throughout the city. I started out at the Tower of London on the East side of the city, and I spent the day walking along the Thames seeing all of the major sites. I saw the Tower, the Tower Bridge, Shakespeare's Globe Theater, St. Paul's, the London Eye, Parliament, Big Ben, and Westminster. I then met up with my friend Meredyth, who I shared a suite with in Chicago the last two years. She is studying in London at University College for the year, so we spent a lot of time together. Meredyth and I walked to Buckingham Palace. The Queen was home, but we didn't see her. Meredyth then took me to a market where we sort of went shopping, and where we bought dinner. We had fresh oysters, which were delicious and fun to eat! I then had a plate of fresh paella from a Spanish vendor. It made me excited to go to Spain next month! After we headed up and hung out at her place in Camden Town, before I headed home on the tube for the night.

The second day was icky. It poured the whole day, which made it hard to go around and sightsee. I started out the day with big plans to go to Kensington Gardens to find the Peter Pan statue. I decided that the rain wasn't going to stop me, so I bought a coffee and walked in the rain through Kensington Gardens, which were beautiful. I found the Peter Pan statue, and loved it. Peter Pan is one of my favorite kids stories, so it was fun to go see the statue. Afterwards I went to the National Gallery, which is right on Trafalgar Square. The Square was a bit sad because of the rain, but the Gallery was fun. Inside is the National Art Collection, which includes some very beautiful work by Rembrandt. They also have so great Van Gogh stuff, including one of his sunflower canvases. I then tried to find the British Museum on foot, in the rain. It was a bit of a disaster, and a lot further than I thought it was going to be. I really have no perception of distance when I look at a map. I finally found it, and I was soaking wet. So, I took a detour and went in dried off in a Starbucks with a nice coffee. The British Museum was really fun. It has a lot of artificats from ancient civilizations all over the world. It also hosts the Rosetta Stone, which was pretty cool to see in person. The museum also has lots of Ancient Egyptian stuff, including mummies!

My third day was my last full day in London. It was much nicer than the first two days, so I did a lot of backtracking. I started out at Picadilly Circus, which is London's (weak) attempt at a Time's Square. I then walked to Buckingham Palace, for the changing of the guard at noon. It was pretty cool, a marching band came through, and the guard did a lot of stuff that was hard to see because there were so many people there. I then took myself to Notting Hill, for the Portabello Road Market. It was really fun to walk abound the neighborhood. I ended up back in Kensington Gardens, which was much nicer in the sunshine. I walked through the gardens, and found Harrod's, one of the largest department stores in the world. It was amazing. They've gave me a map when I got into the store, and I spent two and a half hours wandering around looking at all sorts of stuff. I accidentally spent some money too... oh well. Meredyth took me for fish and chips for dinner. It was good to have that classic British experience.

The next day I headed to Gatwick Airport to fly to Dublin, Ireland, the second half of my vacation!

PHOTOS:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010304&l=f9abf&id=1599570086

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010307&l=763b8&id=1599570086

Also

2008-11-07T15:52:00.001-06:00

Can I just add how freakin excited I am that my obsessive planning of adventures it finally turning into a reality? I've packed my fun backpacking pack, and am rolling up my sleeping bag. I've got all of the little bottles I bought, and the terrible pepto-bismal coat. And it is all just falling together, and I am SO SO SO excited.

See you in a week!

7th Week Vacation...

2008-11-07T15:51:00.000-06:00

...officially started 10 minutes ago when Sylvie at the UChicago Center e-mailed me to confirm that she had received a copy of my final dissertation for Civ-2. Which means that I now have over a week off.

What am I going to do with a whole week of no obligations (including no homework!)? That's easy...

Tomorrow at 2:00pm I am flying to LONDON. I'm going over the channel to visit a friend from Chicago who is spending the year there. I'm still working out exactly what I'm going to do while I'm there, but I have three solid days of sight-seeing (not counting tomorrow and the day I leave). I do want to go to the Tower of London, and the Natural History Museum. And I want to see Big Ben and the Peter Pan statue in Hyde Park (I think it's there at least).

Then Wednesday morning I am flying to DUBLIN in Ireland. I've always wanted to go to Ireland, and I have a friend from High School who is there for the semester. Figure I could mix a visit in with some tourism! I'm going to play Dublin by ear too, see how exhausted I get in London, and then just sort of figure it out as I go along.

I get back to Paris on Saturday evening, which leaves a nice long day to relax and probably catch up on my TV. And then three more weeks of classes (Civ-3) and then I'm on Winter Break. I'm not sure exactly what is planned for those three weeks, but I know that two of the three weekends are three days long, so we might throw in a trip to Amsterdam or Eurodisney... or both? It sort of depends on how much money we spend during 7th Week. Hopefully not too much? Although I have left room in my bag... just in case ;-)

Anyways, I'll be back in a week with lots of stories (hopefully) and lots and lots of pictures. I'm actually thinking I might start compiling a slide show for when I get back... maybe do a little presentation or something? We'll see when March comes around (it also depends on how many thousands of pictures I have...)

Au revoir!

-Nora

Election Day In Paris

2008-11-06T11:58:00.001-06:00

I think its safe to say that even though Tuesday was the date of the American election, most of the French people were quite invested in it. We've all gotten used to explaining to French people that we are for Obama (or for McCain as it is). I thought the approval rating of President Bush in the US was low, I haven't met a single French person who thinks well of him.

For election day the plan was to sleep early, and then wake up in the middle of the night for the poll closings. My friend Meredyth from school was visiting from London, and we were determined to stay up as long as we needed to. Turns out I went to bed at 7 am, but it was totally worth it.

The first attempt we made to have a true election experience was to go down by the Opera to see if we could get into Harry's Bar. Harry's Bar is the oldest American Bar in Paris, and every four years they do a straw poll vote to try to predict the winner. They've only been wrong twice since 1924, the first time with Jimmy Carter, and the second was in 2004 when Bush was re-elected. For the record, they were not wrong this year. Obama won their straw poll by a landslide. The history of the straw poll goes back to the 1920s when the American ex-pats convened in Harry's Bar to actually vote. The results were wired to the States and added to the tally.

When we got to Harry's Bar we were more than a little surprised by what we found. The entire street was closed off, and filled with people. French people, Americans, young, old. It seemed like all of Paris came out to patiently wait out the night for the results. It was sort of a lost cause for us though. We wanted a place with a TV, so we could see the analysis and the incoming votes. We hung around outside Harry's Bar for awhile, but then headed back to my building.

We ended up sitting with a laptop and MSNBC in my friend Benna's room. It was a bit makeshift, but exactly what we wanted. At about 5 am our time, when the polls closed in California, and there were enough electoral votes in to declare a winner we were all definitely ready for it. The thing about watching the analysis is that you see how its turning just as soon as certain places close. When they declared Ohio for Obama, I knew it was over, but we still had to wait it out.

There were definitely tears shed, and a moment when the window was thrown open and OBAMAAAAA was shouted out into the Parisian night. We stayed up for McCain's concession speech (it was very gracious, I respect him), and then for Obama's victory speech. A note about the gathering in Grant Park in Chicago... if I had been at school in Chicago, you better believe I would have been there. It's a little bitersweet this Paris thing. I missed a moment that I will never in my life get to experience again, yet I am in one of the coolest places in the world. And I keep talking to my friends and hearing how great it was... so then I explain Harry's Bar to them. It's not really the same, but still.

The night ended at about 7 am for me, and I snatched an hour and a half of sleep before sleepwalking to school and sitting through classes. French class consisted of a bottle of champagne and my French teacher halting all learning to just discuss the election. It was pretty cool of her (especially because until that point no one really liked her). I zombie-walked my way to my English Conversation, only to spend two and a half hours discussing the election with them as well.

I guess I was running on the pride I have for my country right now... I managed to stay up till almost midnight last night, running on an hour and a half of sleep over a period of 41 hours. All I know is that the next two and a half months are going to be long long long.

-----------------------------

I found this on youtube, it's a video done up at Harry's Bar. You can see the atmosphere, it was really fun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVk474XKETU

How I Met Your Mother.

2008-11-06T11:57:00.001-06:00

Just a quick other note... this is my new favorite TV show. It recently climbed past 30 Rock and the Amazing Race, and is sitting just below Survivor and The Office.

Yeah. You watch this and you will have to watch all of the episodes. Its just that good.

President-Elect Barack Obama in Chicago

2008-11-06T08:15:00.001-06:00

YES WE CAN. YES WE CAN.

Sort of wish I was there...

Halloween 2008

2008-11-01T09:51:00.001-05:00

Midnight. Greque Frites. Base of Notre Dame.

Parfait.

Paper Topic

2008-10-29T10:44:00.002-05:00

Prompt:

A partir de vos lectures de Descartes, de Hobbes ou de Pascal, tentez de definir les rapports entre ordre de la nature, ordre du savoir, ordre politique.

Reaction:

Ok, first off, I only read Hobbes. Second, this isn't even a complete sentence. Third, tentez means try, which I take to mean its very difficult and possibly can't be done. Fourth, does Hobbes even talk about all of this? Fifth, that is all we get? There isn't even page length, formatting, nothing. I don't know what the hell I'm doing. This is going to go very very bad, I can just tell.

Election, Less Than 10 Days

2008-10-26T15:32:00.004-05:00

I'm starting to get nervous for the elections. Meaning, I am obsessively reading polls and looking at possible outcome maps. I feel like in a way I am jinxing everything and that things are going to go very very bad. Knock on wood I guess. I'm just ready for a change, and I know who I want to be in charge of that change. Until the 4th, I'm going to chant in my head, over and over... YES WE CAN.

Reims

2008-10-26T15:32:00.001-05:00

Living in Paris is really great, but sometimes you want to get out of town to enjoy something a little bit more laid back. That was the intention on setting up a day-trip to the village (city) of Reims. Reims is about 45 minutes by TGV train to the northeast of Paris. It is about half way to Germany, which is evident in the strong accents the people of Reims often have. I went with three classmates, Benna, Janet, and Jessie, and we got into town at about 9:45 am.

The first thing you see in Reims is the huge cathedral, Notre Dame de Reims. It soars above every other building in town, and you can see it from afar. We headed towards the cathedral first, to get a map of Reims from the tourism office next door. When you approach the cathedral you are immediately drawn in. We entered, and immediately were entranced by its beauty. I have been to a lot of large cathedrals now, but nothing quite as grand as the cathedral in Reims. The history of the cathedral is amazing in itself. Clovis was baptised there in the 400s, and since then, most kings of France were coronated at the cathderal. The church that Clovis was baptised in is part of the cathedral, and since it has been added on to, to make it one of the grandest and largest cathedrals in France. It is still being worked on and added to, as illustrated by the gorgeous Marc Chagall stained glass windows in the back of the cathedral. The outside of the cathedral is just as spectacular, with enormous flying butresses, and elaborate stonework all around.

We stopped in a cafe for a quick coffee, before almost running to our next stop. We had signed up online for a tour of a champagne cave. Reims is one of the largest towns in the region of France known as Champagne. This region is technically the only place in the world where champagne (called champagne) can be made. If champagne is made somewhere else, they are technically not supposeed to call it champagne. We signed up for a tour and tasting at Pommery, the largest champagne cave in Reims. We decided to take the tour in French, so as to practice a bit. Our guide was really interesting, and he had a very thick germanic accent. He took us through the caves, 30 meters underground! Inside the caves there were tunnels and tunnels that were filled with bottles. The tunnels are named after different cities in the world, so they can keep track of which bottles are where. The guide told us that they store the bottles (filled) in the caves for 7 to 10 years. This means that when you buy a bottle of Pommery it is at its perfect age. He said that you can keep it for about 3 years, but that after it might start to taste strange. The guide also explained that they store the champagne in the caves because the caves have the same temperature and humidity level all of the time, which makes the process perfectly consistent. After the tour we went to the main room and got a sample glass. I'm not a wine/champagne person, but it was quite good. Everyone around us seemed pretty impressed at least. I just thought it was fun to try out the product that we got to see the making of behind the scenes.

After the caves we walked back into the center of town to find a place to eat. We wandered up and down one of the main roads, and stopped in a cafe. We had agreed ahead of time that we would have a nice meal in Reims, to experience the local specialties. So we all ordered the plat du jour, a risotto and fish plate with a very rich butter sauce. It was delightful. I also had a brownie with it, and then a coffee (the best I've had in France I think). It cost about 15 euros, which was actually a very reasonable price for what we had.

We then wandered around the city, stopping at the Porte de Mars (a wall from the 200s that was built by the Romans) and the Reims cemetary (looks like it was devasted during WWII, and no one ever fixed it, stones are smashed everywhere, its sad, but strangely peaceful). We then ended up at the Musee de la Reddition. This museum is housed in Eisenhower's former WWII headquarters, and is the site where the Germans surrendered WWII. The highlight of the museum is the room where the Germans surrendered. It has been virtually untouched since Eisenhower moved his officials out of the building. The city of Reims was given the building, as a thanks for housing the allied forces, and now displays a variety of WWII items (part of a plane, uniforms, etc). The room is interesting because it has maps and battle plans posted on all of the walls. The historical facts are interesting as well. The Russians were not properly notified of the German surrender, and force the Germans in Berlin to redo it the next day, so that they could be more a part of it.

We spent time in the local park, ate a croque (ham and cheese sandwich) and then headed to the train station to go home. It was a really nice day. I experienced three incredibly different, but interesting things, among many, and I got to see a different part of the country.

PHOTOS:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010004&l=badfc&id=1599570086

Versailles

2008-10-24T14:32:00.001-05:00

Our Friday excursion this week took us to Versailles. We had to wake up early (ish) and take the train to the Center, just to turn around, get back on the same train (back towards home) and go to Versailles. The train ride is about 30 minutes, and it goes through suburban Paris before getting to Versailles. I thought it was going to stop in the middle of nowhere and there would be the palace. No. Versailles is actually a large town (100,000 people) and it dropped us off on a busy road across from a McDonald's. We walked a few blocks, and turned the corner, and there was the palace. It looked strange and out of place. The walk up was on a large cobbled road, and there was traffic. I imagined a glorious garden or something. No, just stones.

We did a tour with a guide on the inside of the palace. The guide was this somewhat strange and batty French woman, who just talked a lot about non-sense. The palace was also incredibly crowded. You litterally had to push your way from room to room. As a result I didn't follow much of what the guide said, relying almost entirely on the signs and the small pamphlet I got. To add to everything, there was this really strange modern art display throughout the tour. In the middle of rooms there would be strange sculptures of things like Michael Jackson and bears. It did not fit at all. A lot of people really liked it, but I think it took away from the rooms. The rooms themselves were impressive, though they were all similarly furnished. It was hard to appreciate them for what they were. And the fact that it was so crowded took away from it a lot. We were spoiled at Chambord when we were the only people there. I did like the Hall of Mirrors. It had a great view out onto the grounds and the gardens, and the room itself was very beautiful (and bigger so it felt less crowded). In all I liked Versailles, but I feel like a lot of the excitment was missing because of the circumstances. I'll probably end up back there with my next program, so maybe it will be better. If not, maybe I'll make a weekend trip out of it in a few months.

After the tour we were given a return train ticket home (on the RER so time wasn't an issue) and the freedom to wander. We stopped and had lunch, just sandwiches, at the cafe. We sat in this gorgeous room, and I'd love to know what it was for. Afterwards we headed out into the gardens.

The first impression I had of the gardens was that they were amazing. They are huge. Which means that the crowds break up considerably, so you are free to relax. And if you turn and look at the palace, what you will see is way cooler than what you'd see from the other side. There is a large reflecting pool, and then the palace is just there. We wandered onto a path and just started walking and enjoying the fall day. At certain points along the path there were great things, like beautiful statues or fountains. At one point we took a break to relax our feet and I looked at a map. I really wanted to find Marie Antoinette's cottage, but it wasn't marked. So, I made up something so that I could get my friends to continue walking. We turned north up a path, which was tree lined, and since its fall now, all of the trees were yellow. It was really nice. Up ahead we saw something, which turned out to be a field of sheep. We for some reason got really excited and ran to go look at it, which was stupid, because if we had looked to our left just like ten feet, we would have seen the sign for "Marie Antoinette's Domain." After many pictures of sheep grazing, and an attempt to get one to walk towards us (failed) we headed through the gates to see what this "Domain" was.

Turns out it was Petit Trianon, Marie Antoinette's "cottage." We managed to get in with our Art Student Cards (for free!) and we wandered around. Its beautiful, and huge. Bigger than my house by far, and it was just a cottage. It was also lavishly decorated. From a window we saw a cool statue thing, so we headed out into the gardens to check it out. As we were heading there we saw something else we wanted to see in the distance, a cool old mill looking thing. We stopped at the statue first, the Temple of Love. It had a sculpture of Hercules in the middle, and it was sort of romantic. All white marble.

After we started to head out to the mill thing. It was Marie Antoinette's "Hamlet." She had a small hamlet built for her use so that she could escape court life. I had always thought it was just a cottage, but this place had at least ten buildings. They were all gorgeous too. And whoever the current groundskeeper is did a wonderful job, because all of the gardens were well kept, and well stocked. We wandered around the hamlet in awe for awhile, and ended up at the farm, with live animals. We laughed at the rabbits and chickens for awhile, before turning in and heading back towards home (like a 30 minute walk because we were so far out). I'm so glad we decided to keep searching, because the highlight of my day was that little hamlet. I could take or leave Versailles, but seeing the hamlet was one of the coolest things I have ever seen in my life. It felt like Disney, but it wasn't. It was real. Hundreds of years ago a queen used to play there with her children. It's unimaginable.

Versailles:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2009975&l=e7b34&id=1599570086

Gardens and Marie Antoinette's Hamlet:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2009976&l=bab74&id=1599570086

To Start The Louvre...

2008-10-24T14:28:00.001-05:00

I got out of class at 12:15 on Thursday, with no real plans for the afternoon. I figured it was the best time I would have to start the Louvre. And when I say start, I mean seriously start from one corner, and start working my way around. The Louvre is incredibly huge. You can wander around for hours and realize that you've only seen maybe a fifth of it.

I collected a few friends and we went to the Jardin de Tuileries to eat our lunches. To save money I've been packing a lunch from home to bring to eat at school, so as I sat in the garden with my PB&J (peanut butter is impossible to find here, buy my Mom brought me some Skippy from the States, it's never tasted so good) I took in the incredible fall day. The garden at Tuileries is an ideal rest stop for tourists because it is right across from the Seine, and an easy walking distance from the Musee d'Orsay and the Louvre.

After eating I headed into the Louvre. Before entering the museum proper I went to a small office to get a student card. The University of Chicago presented us with Art History Student Cards, which allows us into all Art museums (and most castles) for free. The Louvre required us to get their card (still free). It took longer than I'd hoped (30 minutes maybe), but I got my Louvre photo ID. Now I can enter and exit at will, it's great.

I started the Louvre with the early French and Northern European sculptures. Naturally they were gorgeous, and it was interesting to note that almost every single one of them had some sort of Christian theme. Afterwards I went up a level, and did the Ancient Greek and Roman sculptures. I saw the famous statue of Venus de Milo, and situated atop a staircase, Winged Victory. They were exquisitely done. I really enjoyed the Greek and Roman statues. Most were of people, and the worksmanship is incredible. I can't imagine what it would be like to create something so beautiful out of stone. The time that goes into that must be enormous.

A lot of the time I spent at the Louvre, I realized later, I spent looking not at the art, but at the palace itself. The Louvre was the royal home of an incredible number of French kings, and the grandeur is incredible. It also helps that it is immaculately upkeep by the French government. There was marble everywhere, painted ceilings, gold trimmings. Some rooms had gorgeous stone columns, others were painted in rich colors. It was breathtaking.

I ended by running up quickly to see the Mona Lisa. Only because you have to, and I was already nearby. I figured I'd get it out of the way, so that the next time I head up to the Grand Gallery I don't have to worry about pushing through the crowds, and I can admire everything else. The unfortunate thing about seeing the Mona Lisa is that because it is so popular, it is on total lockdown. You can't get within 20 feet of it, and its guarded by bullet proof glass. It takes away from the image completely. You can't inspect Da Vinci's brushstrokes. And yeah, people say it looks small, but thats only because it is so far away.

I left feeling like I'd accomplished somthing. I had checked off maybe 1/20 of the rooms on the map. But I'd only spent an hour and a half. I figure on days when I have the afternoon off I can head over and conquer a couple exhibits. I've got until mid-March.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2009974&l=308a0&id=1599570086

Ma Famille!

2008-10-21T15:03:00.001-05:00

Its been a bit of a long week for me. My first exam was last Friday, and I had a paper (dissertation in french) due on Sunday afternoon... and my family is here!

The dissertation was particularly hard. The French have a different writing style than the American's. What is known as a 5-Paragraph Essay with a thesis statement in the United States would probably get a failing grade here. In France the "thesis" goes at the end of the essay. The writer works toward discovering the point of the essay. In place of a thesis, a french dissertation begins with a problematique, or a set of questions that proposes what the paper is going to discuss. I find that I actually write better in this form, unfortunately since I have to write in French, that little advantage is thrown entirely out the window. It's definitely slow going. The Chicago Center tries to help us as much as they can, however. They set up a series of meetings for us with "correcters" in which we sit down with a french person and go over format and language. Its totally helpful, although a bit time consuming.

The exam was no big. Just two hours on about 1000 years of history. It focused primarily on religion, although there was a bit of politics in it too (which was totally fab for me).

Friday after I sat my exam I went to go fetch my family from the metro station. Miraculously I got there and they were standing right outside. We ate lunch at a cute cafe across from their hotel, which was fun because the waitress was really awesome and helpful. Saturday, after my English conversation (which was totally fun), we met up at Notre Dame, and explored the Latin Quarter together, including the Jardin de Plantes. We got dinner at the Franprix (supermarket) on the Rue de Mouffetard, which is a pedestrian only street with food stores all over the place. We ended up getting a fried chicken and potatoes from a bucherie instead though. It was fab. Sunday I met up with the fam at the Musee d'Orsay. After we headed over to the Eiffel Tower, and then I headed home to do homework.

Its been totally great having my family here. Its fun to see them, and fun to share this city with them. I'll be sad to see them go on Thursday, but I'm glad they got to see this place, because it is definitely going to be an important piece of my life.

Britney Spears - Womanizer (Director's Cut)

2008-10-20T14:56:00.001-05:00

In honor of Britney officially being back... she had to go on the blog. This is hot. I'm so stoked for her album, I'm not even going to pretend I'm not.

Checkmate Dopers, Checkmate.

2008-10-15T16:49:00.002-05:00

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2008/oct08/oct16news

Kohl admits to doping.

I hope he had a moment during the Tour de France, in his hotel room (which he shared with the other cheater Stefan Schumacher... yet to admit anything) where he said: "Stefan, I'm doing too good. Why am I in the polka dot jersey? I'm not a climber. Why am I in the top ten? I'm not a GC guy. Stefan, this stuff works really well, but I think it's a little to obvious."

Um, yeah it is Bernhard. That's why you were hunted by the AFLD.

Hunted and caught.

Checkmate dopers, checkmate.

The Trials and Tribulations of the Cycling World

2008-10-14T12:44:00.001-05:00

If I could wish for one thing in the world, it would be to work in professional cycling. My degree from the University of Chicago would probably do me no good there, so having a back up plan is good, but if life were perfect, I would work in pro cycling. Maybe in race organization? Or team management? I wouldn't be a racer, that's for certain, but maybe a journalist (nah, I can't write worth a shit). Well whatever job it is, I know that I would love it.

All of that said, I'm finding the direction the cycling world is taking quite hard to follow. First you have some MAJOR athletes testing positive for EPO-CERA at the Tour de France, the third year in a row that high profile riders have been removed from the race. It's disappointing to me, and every time it happens I vow that the next time it happens I will quit watching the sport. But I don't. I guess it's people like me who have a little faith that keep it afloat.

The newest positives, Stefan Schumacher and Bernhard Kohl, have me a bit smug. Schumacher and Kohl were probably the only two guys in the entire Tour this summer that I cheered against. Usually I don't support cheering against people because I think it takes so much physical and mental strength to even finish, that they all deserve my respect. But I knew there was something up with Schumacher and Kohl. When the World Time Trial Champion gets soundly beaten in a race they are targeted, that is an indicator that something is probably up. And when the best climber jersey is won by an Austrian no one has really heard of, that is probably an indicator that something is up to. And when this same Austrian gets on the podium of the Tour de France, when they have never really even been near the top... yeah, something is definitely up.

I guess I'm just sick of the drama. Can the sport go even a week or two without speculations or accusations? These days probably not. Which sucks because it's guys like these that really hurt the sport. They draw attention away from the success stories. Like the stunning stage win of Samuel Dumoulin on the third stage of the Tour, out of a breakaway that eventually put a different Frenchman, Roman Feillu, in the yellow jersey. Or the strong and courageous effort put in by Carlos Sastre on Alpe d'Huez, that solidified his overall victory.

Another story that has popped out of pretty much nowhere is the return of Lance Armstrong to competition. I love Lance Armstrong. He is the reason I started watching in the first place. But I just feel uneasy about his return. What are the real motives behind it? Is there really going to be no power struggle at Team Astana? Not bloody likely I say. All of the whispers and speculation about his racing programme for next season are getting a bit old too. Is he or isn't he going to start the Tour de France? I think we should all just relax and wait and see.

Tranquillo.

It's a word the Spanish use to explain the feeling of calm before a race. I wish the Cycling World would be tranquillo.

Paris-Tours

2008-10-13T17:25:00.001-05:00

If you know me well you know that I am a cycling fanatic. That, given the opportunity I would talk all day, everyday, about cycling. With that in mind I decided very early on that if I was going to be spending time in France, the hotbed of cycling, I would make sure I got to see at least one part of at least one race. Way back in the spring I checked race schedules, and marked my calender for Paris-Tours 2008, the last major French race of the season, and the only one easily accessible for me until next spring.

Upon arriving here in Paris I was determined that I would find a way to get to the start town of the race. It may be called "Paris-Tours" but it actually started in a small town about 30km outside of Paris, Saint-Arnoult-en-Yvelines. I spent a lot of time my first two weeks here in Paris, asking around and trying to find a way to get to Saint-Arnoult. Success. I managed to find a way that involved taking the RER B to Gare d'Orsay Ville, and then taking a SAVAC bus to Saint-Arnoult. I had to wake up early, and time my trip properly, but I managed to make it everywhere right on time. I was nervous that since it was a Sunday one of the legs of my journey would not be running.

Arriving in Saint-Arnoult I was immediately greeted by a sign pointing "Les Équipes" to the start area of the race. I followed the sign, and the small trickle of other people following it, to a small square in the center of town. Going to the start of a bike race is fun. I got to do it in Missouri last fall, so I knew at least slightly what to expect. All of the team buses pull into a designated car park, open up their doors, and the riders are let out into the hoards of people. There are no barriers between rider and fan, and you very rarely even see a bodyguard (only like Lance Armstrong has a bodyguard). The riders actually use their bikes to avoid the crush of people. If they want to go somewhere they will get on and try to ride through, often riding over people, and when a gap is made, they push off as fast as they can away from the crowd.

The first team to arrive at the start was Bouygues Telecom, a smallish French team from the Vendée region, which is near Saint-Arnoult. After they parked a huge number of people went after their bus. The team didn't exit though, so I hung back waiting. Other teams started to trickle in. Next was Liquigas, then Lampre with the new World Champion in the front seat, and then Milram. Team Milram was greeted with the greatest crush of all, as their star rider, Erik Zabel, was setting off to race his last professional race ever. Zabel had won the event Paris-Tours on three occassions and was favored to do it again.

As teams were arriving, the fans were waiting not so patiently for the first riders to appear from the buses. The first rider I spotted was Thomas Voeckler, who jumped out of the Bouygues Telecom bus, rode through the crowd impossibly fast, and then disappeared. A few minutes later he reappeared, and was mobbed. Not wanting to be a crazy fan I didn't go in and try to mob Voeckler. I hung back a bit, and waiting to see if he would stick around, or try to jet off. After it was clear that he was all to willing to sign autographs and take pictures, I nervously approached. This guy wore the yellow jersey in the Tour de France for ten days! I got him to sign my french notebook (I had stupidly forgotten to find something better to get signed), and thanked him and wished him luck (in french!).

More riders started appearing, and shortly after the appearance of Voeckler, the Bouygues Telecom team went to the announcer's stage to sign in and be presented. It is cycling tradition that before any race the riders must sign in. At most races they set up a big board with little numbered boxes on a stage. Riders come up and sign their name in the numbered box that corresponds to their race number. After they are presented to the crowd. The ASO, the organization that organized Paris-Tours and also does the Tour de France, has an announcer that is incredibly well known for his presentations. He can list off the palmarés (list of accomplishments) of every single rider, as he memorizes it all before the race. Each team goes up one by one on the stage, signs in, and then the announcer presents each rider and their biggest race victories. After this the teams descend the stage, and head back to their buses. To get their they have to go through a gate, and weave through the crowd. This gate is the best point to meet cyclists, I discovered. It had a narrow opening, and riders were required to go in and out of it to get to the stage.

The second team to be presented was Euskaltel-Euskadi, a Spanish team from the Basque region. I thought they were really fun. They were obviously enjoying themselves, laughing and joking the whole time. They were also the only team that left their bikes at the team bus, and walked through the crowd. The reigning Olympic Champion is on Euskaltel-Euskadi, Sammy Sanchez. I made a beeline for him as he was exiting the sign-in stage. His autograph might be worth something some day, and it was cool to see the Olympic Champion, adorned in gold, in person.

What followed was a mix of me watching the team presentations, me scouting for riders I wanted to meet, and me wandering around the parking lot in awe. At one point I saw two Garmin-Chipotle riders riding slowly ahead of me. One was wearing a number that ended in 1, which denotes team leader. I knew that had to be Tom Danielson, as I had read online that he was gunning for a breakaway in the race and would be leading the team. I literally chased after him. Tom was the one rider that I told myself ahead of time I wanted to hunt down. This was because I knew that I would be one of the only American's at the race, and that would probably give me an opportunity to really talk to Danielson. As I caught up to him I managed to ask him if he would mind taking a picture with me. Surprised he said sure, and one of his teammates snapped a really nice shot. He then asked me what I was doing at the race, and seemed interested in learning why an American was in Saint-Arnoult. We ended up chatting for a good five minutes, about how cool the European racing scene is, and how it doesn't really exist in the United States. It was sort of a relief to talk to an American, because I was in the middle of a small French town. I think Tom thought it was pretty cool to talk to an American too... or he was just really nice.

I tried the same tactic when I saw David Zabriskie ride past me. Zabriskie is well known for having won a stage in all three grand tours, and wearing the yellow jersey at the Tour de Frace after beating Lance Armstrong in a time trial. Zabriskie was weaving through the crowd ignoring everyone, but when he came past me I asked him in English if he would sign for me. Surprised he stopped and obliged. While signing he told me "you speak very good english," to which I replied "yeah, because I'm an American." He responded with a spacey, "yeah me too," and then rode off. Zabriskie is a bizarre individual, he gives strange media interviews, and meeting him in person just justified everything the media painted him to be, strange. I think he was being sarcastic when he said I speak good english, because I noticed that I was the only person he signed for.

About half an hour before the start the riders were all queueing up to be presented. All of the teams sort of arrived at the same time, so it got all backed up. Teams that had been presented were also making their way to the start line, which is within the barriers. I realized that this was probably my last chance to catch any riders for pictures, a chat, or an autograph. I scanned the presentation area to see what teams were missing, and noticed that Quickstep was not there. I beelined it to the Quickstep bus, knowing that the superstar Tom Boonen was racing, and that he would likely be on his way towards the sign-in. It was some sort of strange magic that lead me right to him. Tom Boonen is sort of known as the A-List Celebrity of cycling. He is like the Brad Pitt of Belgium. They love him, and he loves that everyone loves him. You could see this in how he made a point to sign for every single fan that was mobbing him. I managed to get my way to the front of the crush, and Tom took my pen and signed my notebook. In a daring and gutsy move I announced to him that we were going to take a picture, to which he replied "sounds good." I snapped a picture of myself and Tom, that isn't necessarily flattering, but that I love because I managed to get both of us in it, and we both were smiling (which was surprising, because I think Tom was signing autographs the whole time). I have a lot of pictures with me and cyclists, and they are all special in different ways. There is a story behind each one, of how I got to see that person, how I got the picture, what was going on at the time, etc... I think I'll always treasure this picture with me and Tom because it is my first picture with a major european cyclist that isn't American. That's not to say that its better than any other picture, just that I have found it easier to get in pictures with American cyclists (language barrier among other things). This picture is special also, because I think Boonen is the most well decorated cyclist I have ever had a photo with. And ok, it was the first time I was sort of creepy and stalkerish.

After the photo with Tom, I realized that the start of the race was fast approaching, and I made my way down to the startline to claim a good spot. There I managed to find a place almost right on the bars (there was only a small child in front of me), and I took in the sight. A see of jerseys in every color. Snipets of every European language imaginable. And ok, the most expensive cycling gear in the world. Like sick bikes. The riders that had already been presented were lining up, and chatting amongst themselves. Right on the other bar from myself was a Basque rider from Euskaltel-Euskadi. His teammates were a ways behind him in the line up, so he was trying to converse to the guy standing next to me. The guy next to me also had a kid in Caisse d'Epargne team gear, and the Euskaltel rider was trying to get a friend of his who was on Caisse d'Epargne to come over and meet the kid. It was funny to listen to the conversation. It was conducted in a strange mix of French, English, Spanish and what was probably Basque. The rider (I wished I'd figured out who he was, I think I caught a picture of his number, but on second thought, I don't think that was him) told the guy next to me that his team had no hope for a victory at this race, but that they were there on sponsors wishes. He said that he was trying to get in a good workout before the Giro di Lombardia next week, the last race of the season. He also declared that after Lombardia he was going to sleep on the beach for a week. The atmosphere of the peloton was generally very fun. There were lots of riders talking with guys from other teams, joking and having fun. Filippo Pozzato, a well known Italian rider from Liquigas, was literally shouting over everyones heads jokes to friends from other teams. At one point I think he may have called Tom Boonen fat. It was hard to tell with the language barrier and all.

The race went off quickly. The riders went under the banner, around a corner, and then they were gone, six hours on the bike ahead of them. Unfortunately since it was a Sunday Saint-Arnoult was pretty much shut down. Most of the fans left the start once the team buses were gone, probably to get in their cars and head to the finish in Tours. I, on the otherhand, started to look for a way home. I had two hours until the next bus to the RER train station, and I didn't really want to hang around in a shuttered city. I found the tourist office easily (France has excellent signage in rural areas) and went inside to ask if the woman working would call a cab for me. She was very nice, and did so. While waiting for the cab she was very excited to find out where I was from and what I was doing in Saint-Arnoult. She spoke good English, and we conversed for some time about how I was a die-hard cycling fan and I just had to see the race. She declared to me that she loved Lance Armstrong, and that her all-time favorite cyclist was George Hincapie, which I found strange because I thought most French people hate the American cyclists. She also gave me a folder full of all the press materials that the Paris-Tours people had given her, maps and guides of Saint-Arnoult, and a handful of postcards. The cab arrived, and drove me the short 8km through the Dourdan Forest to the RER C station in Dourdan (different from where I had come in to... I had researched different exit strategies, and this was by far the best). I took the train back to Paris, took a two and a half hour nap, and managed to flip open my laptop just in time to watch the last 15km of the race, and to see who won. Phillipe Gilbert. I think I touched him (not on purpose), but I didn't get his autograph. Oh well. There is always next time... (March maybe?!?)

PHOTOS:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2009815&l=605d0&id=1599570086

Saturday in Paris

2008-10-13T15:50:00.001-05:00

I'm doing a conversation exchage with a French student. The concept is actually really cool, and it could be a great experience for me. The plan is that I go over to this French student's house once a week, and we go over whatever work he has for his English class for about an hour. After that I am invited to whatever meal it is, and I sit with whoever from the family is how and speak French with them. I had my first exchange on Saturday and it was really fun. The student is named Thibault, and he is finishing up prep school to go on to study economics (the French education system is so different I can't even explain it). On Saturday I went over at 11 and I helped him do some translations. It was even sort of hard for me, but it was fun to try to explain in a mix of english and french what "shade" or "gesticulating" are. After working for about an hour I ate lunch with Thibault and his sister Charlotte. We talked in French about Chicago and what I like about France. They offered to take me around, and give me advice about cool stuff to do in Paris.

After lunch I took the train to the Musée d'Orsay. This museum hosts a lot of the turn of the century art, including some of the most famous impressionist pieces in the world. It is housed in an old train station, and when you go inside you can tell quite clearly. There is a massive clock that is absolutely gorgeous. The first two levels of the museum also open into this incredibly huge room. The ceilings are so high, and there is a certain natural light that filters in on the sculptures on the main level that is stunning. I wandered around for about an hour. I have a Student ID card that says I study Art History (UChicago made it for me...) so I can get into just about every art museum in Paris and the vicinity for free. I figured that I'd be back to the Orsay, so I didn't try to be overly thorough in my visit. I just wandered around a bit. I did make sure I went to the attics to see the impressionist stuff. It was crawling with people (because it was Saturday afternoon) but I managed to see Van Gogh's self-portrait, and some of Monet's most famous paintings of Notre Dame. I was a bit disappointed by the lack of Matisse stuff they had (I only saw one), but the Gaugin collection almost made up for it. I'm going to try to get back there in the next few weeks, on a weekday afternoon after class, so I can really get a good look at the impressionist stuff, as it is my favorite.

Un Jour des Chateaux

2008-10-13T15:22:00.001-05:00

Our second class excursion took us to two chateaux of the Loire River Valley. The Loire Valley is about two hours southwest of Paris by bus. We all woke up early and met in the lobby of our building. There our professor collected us and walked us down the street to a small minibus that was waiting for us. The bus was the most comfortable I've ever been on, and I got a set of two seats to myself. I dozed the whole way to the Loire Valley. It was dark out, so there wasn't anything to see anyway.

The first chateau we visited was Chenonceau. Chenonceau is pretty famous, because it is built over a river. I guarantee you it is featured in every French textbook ever. Our professor, Arnaud, set us up with the audio tour, and set us loose on Chenonceau. The tour was really intersting. It took us through all the different rooms of the chateau, explaining the usage and history of each. My favorite room we visited was the kitchen. It was on the lowest level, and it was absolutely huge. You could seriously fit a person in the big stone fireplace. Like standing up. After the audio tour we had a little extra time, so I wandered around the castle gardens a bit. I even found a really cool hedge maze in the woods. From the garden of Diane de Poitiers you can see a really good view of the chateau. Unfortunately they were restoring it, so there was scaffolding on a large part of it. It was still really beautiful, and cool to visit a building so old.

We had lunch at the chateau as well, in the Orangerie, which is in a building outside of Catherine de Medici's garden. The meal was incredible. It started with a salmon appetizer. It was literally salmon with olive oil on it. But delicious. The next meal was a steak. I don't really eat beef, and I don't really like it, but the steak was quite tasty. It came with a variety of fresh greens, which was delicious as well. The next course was a salad and cheese. In France the salad typically comes after the main course, to cleanse the palet. The cheeses featured were a pretty tasty bleu, a brie, and a chevre (goat cheese). Afterwards we had dessert. It was a chocalate tartine with cheeries. It was exquiste. The last course was coffee, which was so nice, because I still had another chateau to visit.

It was about an hour bus ride to the next chateau, Chambord. A large part of the ride went right along the Loire River. It was gorgeous, and we passed through the old town of Blois, which was very pretty. Unfortunately the bus was really hot, and my belly was full, so I just wanted to doze the whole way. I tried to look out the window as much as I coult though.

The chateau Chambord was impressive. It looked like every Disney Princess dream come to life. It was huge, it had towers and turrets, and someone said it looked exactly like the castle in the film Ever After. I have no idea if that is true, but it was worthy of being in a film. We took a tour from a guide at Chambord. The guide was impressed that we all spoke french, as most foreigners that visit Chambord do not. We started by enjoying the view of Chambord from inside the castle gates. Our guide explained that it was mostly symmetrical, around a spiral staircase in the center of the building. Upon entering the foyer one can see the staircase. It is actually a double staircase, that winds around in double helix fashion. The guide took us up to the second floor to see a set of appartments. The downer about Chambord is that its is completely unfurnished, as the French government acquired in that fashion. That makes it hard to visualize what it would look like to live there. Instead we kept exclaiming how great it would be to play hide and seek there. We went up to the terrace level and got a breath taking view of Chambord forest. The leaves are just starting to change right now in France, so it was a beautiful array of yellows, greens, and reds. Our group found its way onto the grounds and we took a class picture in front of the chateau. It seriously looks fake, thats how beautiful it is.

After Chambord we boarded the bus to head home. We ended up stuck in Paris traffic, so our arrival time was about 8:30 in the evening. Although long, it was a really fun day.

PHOTOS:

Chenonceau:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2009808&l=f0f65&id=1599570086

Chambord:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2009811&l=27219&id=1599570086

Exploring Montmartre

2008-10-04T15:50:00.002-05:00

I have a friend, Allison, that is staying with a family for the year near Sacre Coeur. I called her up this afternoon to see if she wanted to have a coffee and maybe show me around her neighborhood a little bit. I rode the 4 train almost to the end of the line (I start at the far south end, and I went almost all the way north), and then she met me at the station. She took me to her appartment and introduced me to the people she is staying with Thomas and Malika, who are both very nice, and have a fab place to live. Then Allison and I walked around until we found stairs up to Sacre Coeur.

Sacre Coeur translates to Sacred Heart, and is a large white church that is up a huge hill on the north end of Paris. If you are 4 floors or higher in just about any northfacing window you can see the church. We climbed up several sets of stairs and were treated to an incredible view of Paris. The church itself is gorgeous as well. It has gorgeous white domes, and the front is very striking. We didn't go inside, as I was all churched out from Poitiers, but we spent some time enjoying the view.

We had coffee next, at a little cafe that was near the funicular up the hill (which I want to try sometime) and then we wandered around the neighborhood, Montmartre. Montmartre is famous because it is where a lot of famous artists lived at the turn of the century. Among many notables were Toulous Lautrec, Picasso, and Van Gogh. The neighborhood is very cute. It is lots of winding narrow streets that we found hard to naviage, even with a map. We happened upon a lot of cute places though, so it was worth getting lost.

At the base of the big hill is the neighborhood Pigalle, which is the red light district of Paris. We didn't go into the neighborhood, but we did walk west along the outskirts. After a few blocks we came upon the Moulin Rouge, the famous night club. It doesn't look all that spectacular, although the moulin (windmill) on the roof is quite large. We poked our heads in for a minute before grabbing milkshakes at the Quick (fast food place like McDonald's, more abundant than McDonald's too), before parting ways.

It was fun to wander around Montmartre, and I'm pretty sure it's my favorite neighborhood so far. I like the narrow streets and cafes that are on every single corner. Maybe I'll hunt down a good cafe that I can study at this winter!

Pictures:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2009672&l=771b7&id=1599570086

Sortir

2008-10-04T15:24:00.002-05:00

So going out is not necessarily my thing. I like to hang out inside and chill. I did decide, however, that since I am in Paris, I need to make an effort and do more. So I went out last night. It was fun. In France its 18 to be allowed into a bar or club, so we hoped on the metro and headed to La Bastille. There is a great street off of the train that has a ton of different types of bars on it. With a group of 12 (a little too big by half I think) we went to the "Indian Connection." It was nice to hang out in a bar, but because it was Friday night it felt a little crowded, hot, and fake? Only in that a lot of the people that were hanging around were sort of creepers (not from my group). We got drinks (just a coke for me...), and paid way too much. My decision on going out is that Friday is not the best night, and 11pm is too late (got to get happy hour prices). I did have fun, and I would love to explore more of La Bastille (particularly the Bar des Families which several people have recommended).

À Poitiers

2008-10-04T15:23:00.000-05:00

Friday was our first excursion for our program. The plan was to go to the city of Poitiers. Poitiers is a city rich in history. It has churches from many different periods in French history, and it has really quaint narrow streets.

We started out very early. I woke up seriously at 5:45 AM. I am not a morning person, it was very difficult to pull myself out of bed. I then headed down to the lobby of my building to meet the rest of my class. On the way I stopped to buy a coffee out of the little machine. I knew it was going to be a good day when I put in 0,50 euro and got 0,70 euro back. So basically I got paid to drink the coffee, it was fab. My group then walked over to the metro station to take the train to Gare Montparnasse. At the train station we met up with our professors and boarded the TGV in the direction of Poitiers. The TGV trains (or Trains à Grande Vitesse) are the French High-Speed trains. It was fun to ride, but we left so early that it was dark out and we couldn't see our surroundings. Once the sun did rise it was nice to look out at the French countryside. The ride was so quick too, just and hour and a half to Poitiers.

The first views of Poitiers are really cool. Its built up a big hill with a fortified wall. The wall was built a long time ago to protect the city from outside attacks. As it has modernized, however, the city has sprawled outside of its walls. The stuff of interest was within the walls, however. We walked up some stairs and down a few narrow streets to get to the square where we were to meet our tour guide. We were about 40 minutes early for our tour so we were allowed to go off and get a café.

I talk a lot about drinking les cafés in Paris, but I think I should make a few comments about them. In France they brew coffee very finely. Like to the point where it is pretty much an espresso. So, when you order un café, you are essentially ordering an espresso. If you want the equivalent of an American Coffee you need to order un café american, which is essentially just a watered down version, and very small. It's hard to find a large sized coffee here, the only place I've seen it is at Starbucks, where it costs 5 euros.

After un café we regrouped and started the Tour. We started out at Église Notre-Dame-la-Grande. It was started in the 11th Century, and completed in the 12th Century, although the chapels were worked on in the 15th and 16th Centuries. The church is built in the Romanesque fashion. It is famous for its façade, which tells many important biblical stories. The people of Poitiers also believe a legend that dates back to the year 1202 when the English laid siege on the city. It was said that every night the mayor would collect the keys to the city gates and sleep with them under his pillow. A clergyman of the city was promised a lot of money by the English if he stole the keys, but when he went to get them from under the mayor's pillow they were gone. The townspeople looked everywhere for them, and ended up searching Notre-Dame-La-Grande. There they found the keys in the hands of the statue of the Virgin Mary. After finding the keys the English were miraculously defeated, and now the Virgin Mary in the church holds a set of keys in honor of that miracle.

The second stop on our tour was the Palais de Justice. This was our only governmental stop on the tour. We were searched as we entered, as the building still serves as a governmental center for the town. A highlight of the searching was when a classment of mine sheepishly pulled a corkscrew out of his pocket at the checkpoint. The guard on duty laughed and replied "mais c'est necessaire..." (but it's necessary). The Palais de Justice houses a room that is very important to French History in the early Middle Ages. At that time Poitiers was the capital of the empire that was held by Eleanor of Aquitaine. The highlight of the building is a great room that was built between 1192 and 1204 which was intended to be the main room of the Palais. It was known for sometime to be the largest room of its kind in all of Europe (50 meters long by 17 wide, very high ceilings). It has had some problems with fires in the past, but many of the original stones are still present. A newer window was put in during the 19th Century, but the grandeur of the room is still present. Outside the Palais there is some other historical points that are important to note. There is a statue of Joan of Arc that commemorates her visit to the Palais at the begin of her quest (or whatever). There is also a wall that was part of an original palais (that was destroyed, more or less) that dates back to the 3rd Century. It sort of looks like a pile of rocks now, but if you study it hard you can see the different layers that are presnet, and the different methods associated with each layer.

Next on the tour was the Cathédrale St-Pierre. The construction was begun in 1162 under the eye of Eleanor of Aquitaine and her husband, Henri Plantagenet (Henri II). Unlike Notre-Dame-La-Grande, this cathedral was built in the more Gothic style, and has many striking similarities to Notre Dame de Paris. Also unlike Notre-Dame-La-Grande, the interior of St-Pierre is much lighter, due to the much larger windows that were used during construction. The grand east window is one of the first stained glass windows in the world, and you can tell because the colors of blue that are utilized are much lighter than later windows. The East wall of the cathedral is notable because the outside has many intense dents in it from centuries of warfare. What is lucky is that the grand eastern window never got hit.

The final stop on the tour was Église Ste-Radegonde. This church was built in the 11th Century, and commemorates a patroness, Radegonde. Radegonde was born a princess, and was eventually forced into marriage with Kind Chlotar, a son of Clovis. She was able to secure her release from the King and became a nun in Poitiers. It is said that she perofrmed numerous miracles and I think the Tour Guide we had talked about dragons. I was so hungry and cold, and maybe a little exhausted that at this point I was having a hard time understanding the tour. Radegonde was buried in the church, but the guide sheepishly told us that during the Great Wars of Religion the protestants raided the church and the bodies that were buried there are all gone. Those darn protestants. That was sort of the running joke of the entire tour.

After the tour our Professors took us to a very nice four course lunch at a restaurant in the old part of town. The first course was an appetizer, and I had a sort of melt thing. It was a fresh piece of slightly toasted (maybe rye?) bread with chevre (goat cheese), apples and bacon. It also came with a small salad that was fresh greens and mandarin oranges. The main dish was chicken breast marinated in a sweet sauce that they said was terryaki, but I think they think terryaki is something else, because I actually liked it. It also came with mashed red potatoes, that were to die for. I picked tiramisu for dessert. It was very creamy and generally really good. After we had coffee. I love the french method of eating lunch and dinner. Take your time, talk to other people, enjoy your food. Instead of slamming it and demanding the check.

We were given some free time afterwards. A group of us went to buy umbrellas at a "2 Euro Store," and then we headed towards the southwest part of the old town. There we poked our heads in another church, Église St-Hilaire, and then we wandered into a large park, Parc de Blossac. In the middle of the park there was a small zoo with some really random animals. They had lots of birds, parrots, geese, and even parakeets. They also had Senegalese goats, which we fed sticks too. At the far end of the park there is an overlook that looks down the large walls into the valley below. It is a gorgeous view of some of the newer parts of Poitiers, and Le Clain (a river). After a quick photo op we headed back to our group, the TGV, and home.

PHOTOS FROM POITIERS:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2009731&l=61385&id=1599570086

A Little More Than Is Normal

2008-10-02T16:43:00.001-05:00

Today was a lot of things thrown into one thing. It started out like a normal day. I went to the Center for class at 10 am, and then was finished with lecture at 12:15. We had another session at 4:00 so a large group of us decided to explore the Centre Georges Pompidou during out long break. We took the metro to Châtelet. At this stop there is a massive mall. The mall is actually underground, which we didn't realize at first. We at lunch at a fast food place that was way too overpriced. I spent 3,50 euro and all I got was a small drink and small fries. If you convert that to American it would be like 5 bucks! You could do that on the dollar menu at McDonald's for two bucks, easy. I'm sure the French designed the prices at these places because they know that its difficult for Americans to find food they like, so they figure we'll spend a lot. We had to ask directions a few times but we found a way out of the mall, and towards the Centre Pompidou.

The Centre Pompidou is a very large buidling. It's also designed to look inside out, so when you walk up to it you can see all of the outside pipes exposed, and the escalators are on the outside too. The museum houses a lot of contemporary work, leaving off where the impressionists that are displayed at the Musée d'Orsay (another museum I'd like to see, maybe next week?). My favorite part of the museum was the fauvism display. Fauvism was a movement that grew out of the impressionist movement. Fauvists utilized bright colors and strong, yet small brush strokes. My favorite fauvist is Henri Matisse, and they had two early Matisse paintings on display. My favoirte of the two was of the Pont St Michel which is near Notre Dame Cathedral. There is a lot of other stuff in the Centre that is really cool. They have a lot of Picassos and a lot of very interesting, and baffling sculptures created from some of the strangest things you'd ever see.

After the Centre Pompidou we had to head back to the Chicago Center. We had a wine and cheese tasting that the Center had organized to the french language students. The tasting was conducted by a real conisseur. He taught us how to look at, smell, and taste different types of wine. He also taught us about the importance of the pairings of cheese he selected. Most of the pairings were based on similar region, although some were more reliant on taste. Overall I prefered the white wines that we tasted over the reds, but I'm not a big fan in general. I loved all of the cheeses, but I've been tasting weird cheeses at Whole Foods since it first opened in Madison forever ago. It was fun, and it was nice to meet with some of the other french language students.

The last thing on the agenda for the evening was to meet with our conversation assistants. This is something that our Center has set up for us as an opportunity to practice speaking french in a non-academic setting. My conversation assistant, Marie-Christine, took my small group (me, Caroline and Benna) to a small cafe not far from the Centre Pompidou. It was called Carpe Diem, and it was very cozy with a jazzy influence. I had a coffee (decaf, it was after 7 by then). It was quaint, and it was fun to talk with Marie-Christine and learn about growing up in Paris. She was also very interested in what its like to live in the States, so it was fun to try and explain the differences. Next week she is going to take us out for tapas at a Spanish restaurant she knows, it should be great.

Tomorrow I have to wake up at 5:40 to go to Poitiers! I'm super stoked, we're going to go see a lot of old stuff, and I get to ride the high-speed train.

St-Arnoult-En-Yvelines

2008-10-01T16:35:00.002-05:00

So I really really want to go to the start of Paris-Tours (pro bike race) on the 12th. Problem is, I have no idea to get there. The start is not in Paris, it's actually in a town called St-Arnoult-En-Yvelines. The only way to get there is a commuter bus, that does not appear to run on Sundays. I'm debating just taking the train to the end of the line (10 kms away from the town) and hoping I can find my way the rest of the way (maybe a cab?). Any ideas?

Life At The Chicago Paris Center

2008-10-01T16:20:00.001-05:00

So it's been a few days since I've started classes, and I must say I really like going to the Paris Center. It may be a 30 minute metro odyessey to get there, but its very chill. I have my history class from 10-12:15 Monday through Thursday, and then on Mondays and Wednesedays I have a French Class from 1:30-3:00. I also have lots of sessions with teaching assistants to work on my grammar and my spoken language. On Fridays I have excursions to places of interest, most of which are topical to what we are studying in class. For example, Friday we are going to Poitiers, a city that has churches from like 500 AD.

A typical school day starts at 8:30. I wake up, make a cup of instant coffee, and get myself together for the day. I leave my chambre at 9am sharp (or as close as I can get) and head out the door, in the direction of the RER stop. What's been the case the last few days is that I run into someone on my way, or on the platform of the RER Train, so I'm never going alone. We take the RER Train four stops north to St. Michel-Notre Dame. If I got off and went outside I would be along the Seine, across from me, Notre Dame Cathedral. However, I don't leave the station, I switch from the B to the C Train and head south along the River to the stop at Bibliotheque Francois Mitterand. There I have a short five minute walk to the Paris Center.

I arrive at about 9:45, sometimes earlier. When I have time I might stop and buy a coffee or croissant at the cafeteria at Paris Universitaire 7-Denis Diderot. My first class of the day is at 10. It's French History. We sit in a small room and discuss the readings we had the night before. Most of the readings are historical texts written by people that were important at the time. For example, for the first class we read a work by Cesar that was a description of the Gaulois, people that would eventually become the French. After class its lunchtime. I'm trying to make an effort to bring my own lunch, to save some euros. I pack leftovers from the night before. Today, for example, I had spaghetti. If I don't have a lunch I might walk over to the cafeteria at Diderot, or a local cafe. We have an hour and fifteen minutes to eat.

On Tuesdays we can go home at this point, other days we might have French. French class is intended to help us improve our language skills. My entire program is conducted in french. From signing in to my building, to the Tour I was given, to asking where I can go to the restroom. I have to try and do as much of it as I can in French. The class then, is intended to help us improve our language skills, particualarly in the academic setting.

After French I am done for the day. If I need groceries I might stop by the Monoprix which is right outside the RER station, or else I might go to the library at Diderot to study. Otherwise I jump on the train and head home. On a day with French I usually get home around 4:00. It's a long day, but its nice. The Center is a good place to learn, with a very laid back atmosphere. I like that its not right where I live. There is no sense of doom hanging around. I usually have dinner at about 6:30 in the evening. I've been trying to make my own food. I'll make a large pot of spaghetti and then store the leftovers. I can make it last a few days, so I don't have to cook again for awhile. In the evening I do my homework and then go to bed.

On days without French I try to explore the city a little bit. Yesterday I went for a 45 minute walk, ending up in the neighborhood of Montparnasse. I keep my eyes open when I walk around, trying to find places I want to go back too, particularly cafes and restaurants.

And always, or at least every other day, on my way home I stop at my little boulangerie and pick up a baguette. Its less than a euro, and if you go at the right times then they are still warm.

Sunday Afternoon Monument Crawl

2008-10-01T16:19:00.000-05:00

Sunday afternoon I woke up later, way later than I wanted to. I guess that can only be attributed to jet lag. The plan for the day was to take myself around to a lot of the more famous monuments (tourist attractions) here in Paris. The intention was that if I went to these places now, I wouldn't get all silly about them later. We'll see if that works.

The plan was to hit the Eiffel Tower first. The RER C Train that I was on, however had different intentions for me. It stopped, and then the power shut off at Les Invalides. I decided that since I wasn't that far from the Eiffel Tower I'd just get off there. I'm glad I did. Les Invalides is where Napoleon is buried. It was originally built as a military hospital, but now it houses a variety of things, including Napoleon's tomb and several museums. I walked up to it from the North. The building is incredible. Its huge, and old, and the stone work is fabulous. When I got up to the main gates I went in. I was a bit confused as to whether a ticket was necessary, so I was a bit discreet. I wandered into a massive courtyard/square-like enclosure. There were windows pointing down on it from all directions, and the sides were lined with old canons. At the south end there is a large statue of Napoleon standing in a window. I passed through the courtyard and stuck my head into a large chapel. It was the original chapel built for the hospital, and it has a gorgeous old organ. I stepped out because I wasn't sure if I was supposed to be in there, and headed out the south entrace of the building towards the Eiffel Tower.

Getting to the Eiffel Tower was simple. You could see it rising up to the west! I walked in that general direction, coming upon the Champs de Mars after a few blocks. The Champs de Mars is a large park that is built to one side of the Eiffel Tower, with long grassy areas. On Sunday there was a large kids festival there. I didn't stick around, but I did see a bit of a karate presentation. When I came upon the Eiffel Tower I was struck by the size of the crowds, and the structure. I had read ahead of time that taking the stairs is much cheaper, and gives you a bit more freedom to move around. The line was a lot shorter too. I bought a billet for 3,10 euros, and started the ascension. Um, the Eiffel Tower is a lot taller than it looks. By the time I hit the first floor I was exhausted. I wandered a bit around the interior portions. I'd heard that there was a McDonald's in the Eiffel Tower. I was picturing golden arches and the works. But I didn't see anything of the sort. There was a large cafe but it didn't stop to look. The view from the first floor was impressive. Its well above tree-line, and most buildings in the city. You could see for miles in every direction. I picked out a few famous monuments. Particularly clears were Sacre Coeur and the Arc de la Defense. After about 20 minutes I continued up the stairs. It was even worse. Higher, and steeper I went. They keep a tally of how many stairs you've climbed along the stairs. I stopped looking at 660. The second floor was just as amazing as the first. Buildings were a bit smaller, but you could see even further. I was lucky and went on a clear day too. From the second floor I could clearly see the Arc de Triomphe, something I hadn't been able to see on the first floor. Up there I went in the gift shop. I figured I needed something to commemorate my long climb. I bought a small Eiffel Tower statue for 3 euro. I later saw vendors selling them for 1 on the street, but I like mine because I climbed up to get it. I was going to push on to the very top, but I decided not too. Partly because you have to take a lift, and the line was very long, and partly because I was exhausted. Either way I'll probably be back. The descent was a lot better than the ascent, but I was surprised to see how far I'd gone.

After exiting the Eiffel Tower I headed towards Tocadero. I had read that the best views of the Eiffel Tower are from the top of the stairs of Tocadero, and I think what I read is right. It was fabulous. While there I bought a crepe from a vendor. It was delicious.

The next stop was the Arc de Triomphe. I walked about eight blocks to get there from Tocadero. The Arc de Triomphe is situated in the middle of the scariest roundabout I have ever seen. Luckily they have a tunnel to get to it. I wandered around the circle for about ten minutes. If you don't pay to go up to the top of the Arc, or in the museum, all you can really do is admire the stone work and the tomb of the unknown soldier. If you look towards the south east of the Arc you can see down the Champs Elysees. It is a very busy street, and famous for shopping. It was also my next stop. I walked down it all the way to the Place de Concorde. The Champs Elysees is impressive, but in the last ten years it has become relatively tourist-ified. Much of the old charm has been lost due to the high density of people that are now all over the streets. At the opposite end from the Arc de Triomphe is the Place de Concorde. Here is situated a larged obelisk that was a gift from Egypt. It is very cool, and it actually has carvings on it explaining how the Egyptians raised it to its full height. Going here was important for me because it is a very decisive point in the criterium that the Tour de France races on the Champs Elysees. There is a sweeping bend here, and many attacks start right at that point. I thought it would be cool to see the terrain in person.

If you continue in the same direction, away from the Place de Concorde you will find yourself in the Jardin des Tuileries. This is the Jardin that was built to accompany the old royal palace, which is now the Louvre. The Jardin is very pretty, and it was crawling with tourists. Its a nice walk, but I probably wouldn't pick it as a place to read or do work. Maybe a picnic. In the middle of the Jardin is the Arc de Carrousel. This Arc is smaller than the Arc de Triomphe but if you turn away from the Louvre and look through it you can see the Arc de Triomphe, and past that, the Arc de la Defense. They are all three lined up directly. My last stop was the outside of the Louvre. I figured it was a good terminus, because there is a metro station nearby, and its at the end of the Jardin des Tuileries. I didn't get too close, but I did get a good view of the glass pyramid. I don't care what anyone else says, I think it looks really strange where it is. Enough said.

Exhausted I headed home with a lot of pictures, and a great appreciation for Paris. Now I think I can go near these places and act cool... hopefully?

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2009651&l=0c233&id=1599570086

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2009672&l=771b7&id=1599570086

French Monuments Tend To Hang Out Near The Metro

2008-09-29T12:25:00.000-05:00

My first full day in France didn't start until much later than I wanted it to. Due to a ridiculous case of jet lag, I didn't wake up until well after noon. Upon waking up I met a friend, Caroline, to head down to the local supermarché. I had written a little list before I went, which was good, because upon entering I was totally overwhelmed. It didn’t help that it was Saturday, midday, and that it’s the biggest store in the area. After entering you are welcomed by a flurry of French people, grabbing groceries very quickly. It’s seriously like hyper-speed. In this sort of store they did not have shopping carts, like those you’d see in the States. Instead you are expected to use a basket. They do have little push carts that can accommodate two baskets, which is the most anyone can really handle. After wandering around for awhile picking up things that were definitely random I went to the checkout. French supermarchés are likely Aldi stores in the State. People are expected to bag their own groceries, and at many of them you have to pay for the bags as well. I then had to lug all of my things back to my chambre at the Cité.

Later in the day I went with Caroline, and our friends Sarah and Jessie to buy cell phones. We took the metro to St. Michel-Notre Dame, which is right on the Seine. Upon exiting the station you can see Notre Dame right across the Seine. The four of us walked over to check it out, and ended up wandering around inside for a good half hour. Going into this I’m expecting that some of the famous monuments are going to be completely tourist-ified. But this was surprisingly not. Ok, there was a long line outside, but it moved relatively quickly. Inside there is a counter at the entrance, but then most of the rest of it is relatively untouched. The ceilings were impossibly high, and the stone work was amazing. I’m not a religious person, at all, but I could see myself attending a service there at some point in the next six months.

After Notre Dame we headed over to the Orange Boutique. Cell phones in Europe are somewhat different than in the States. All incoming calls are free, and it’s much easier to pre-pay. I got a cheap phone (that is actually way cuter than my old one), and I set up a pre-pay plan. It took us about and hour and a half and I felt bad for the girl who helped us, because it was obviously difficult to work with three Americans who didn’t know cell phone vocabulary in French.

Jessie then led us down a road to find something to eat. Jessie did the pre-program, so she is at least partly familiar with Paris. We found this great café by the Metro stop Odéon. I ate a Croque Madame, which is a ham and cheese melt with an egg on top. It was incredible and relatively inexpensive for Paris. I’ll have to go back there again.

Afterwards I went home and passed out, exhausted from the cell phone ordeal and my jet lag.

NOTRE DAME PICTURES CAN BE FOUND HERE:

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2009651&l=0c233&id=1599570086

In Which I Find Out Trans-Atlantic Flights Are Not For Me

2008-09-27T07:07:00.001-05:00

First off, I'm in Paris. Wow. Kinda still unbelievable that I got this lucky.

The trip over was, long. It started with a three hour bus ride from Madison to O'Hare Airport in Chicago. I hit Chicago at about 2:30 in the afternoon, and my flight wasn't until 6, so I had to take my time checking in, or risk being unbelievably bored. Minor success. One of my bags was two pounds too heavy, but I talked my way into letting me have it like that. I got my backpack searched at the Security Checkpoint, which was sort of cute but not really. I drank my last proper Starbucks Carmel Macchiato. And then it was 3:15. I managed to kill time ok, because I found an outlet and I plugged in my laptop and watched How I Met Your Mother. At about 4:30 another girl from my program, Alexa, showed up, so we chatted.

The flight to Detroit was lame. Only 49 minutes (timed on my watch). When we got to Detroit we had about 20 minutes to find our gate before they started boarding. The plane we got on was the biggest one I've ever been on. It was ridiculous, and absolutely full. Who'd have thought that? I sat by this strange Russian man, who was named... I kid you not... Nikolai. He told me it had been his childhood dream to go to Detroit, because it is "ze capital of ze automobile." I didn't have the heart to tell him that Detroit sucks. He then proceeded to fall asleep for the entire flight, snoring very loudly. I did not sleep a wink.

Upon arrival at De Gaulle in Paris I zoomed through customs (which is overrated) and then grabbed my bags. Another Chicago student and I left Alexa behind, because she had lost a bag, and was supposed to wait for someone anyway, and searched out the RER train. It was a lot of long hallways and elevators that did not work very well. I volunteered to do the ticket machine because the other student, Sabrina, doesn't speak any French. It took me three tries, but I managed, and then we lugged our bags to the RER for the trip to the Cité Universitaire. We didn't get to see much of Paris on the train ride, as the RER went underground most of the time, but when we got off... wow. The station is down a level, but open to the elements. It has trees that hang over, and as it is just fall here, it was gorgeous, and very quaint.

The Cité itself is also gorgeous. Upon exiting the RER station the Maison Internationale is directly in front of you. It is huge, and looks old, but is nicely updated. There is a big gorgeous garden too. We hung a left at the Maison Internationale and headed to the Fondation des États-Unis (USA House) to check-in. I was then escorted to the Maison de Provinces de France, my home for the next six months. It is similar to the Maison Internationale. Very big, and old-looking, by newly renovated. My room is amazing. I have a big gorgeous window that opens all of the way (no screen!). I also have a private bath that looks like something you'd see in an RV, but it doesn't matter because it's all mine.

After unpacking a bit I had a short Orientation meeting, the point of which was to prod us to fill up our metro cards. No one had brought money, so it was not worth it really. I departed the meeting with two girls from my program, Sarah and Caroline. We went for a walk, looking for food. We found a cute boulangerie (bakery) that was having a meal special. We bought baguette sandwiches, éclairs, and drinks. After we walked to the Parc de Montsouris, which is next to the RER station. It is really cute, with a total Central Park vibe. We hung out a bit before heading home, where I proceeded to pass out at about 7 pm. I did not wake up properly until 11:30 the next day.

Here I Go

2008-09-24T23:18:00.000-05:00

So it's late Wednesday night, the night before I set off on one of the biggest odysseys of my life. I'm wide awake due to the excitement. My bags are packed, too packed, and I have all of my affairs in order, mostly.

In a way I'm a bit unaffected by all of this. I've been waiting for this adventure to start for such a long time, it's hard to believe that it's finally here. All of my friends were abroad last spring, and I just hung out in Chicago and read about what they were doing, thinking, this fall I'm going to have my own stories like this. It's hard to believe that it's fall now, and that it's time for me to start having my adventures.

So, here I go.

Next time you hear from me I'll be on the other end of the Atlantic. Probably dead tired, but hopefully really jazzed about my surroundings and the cool adventure I've just begun.

Eurail

2008-09-19T14:40:00.002-05:00

My Eurail pass came by FedEx yesterday. It's everything I dreamed it would be. I get to ride just about any train I want in Europe for a whole month. Which of course means I'm going to go EVERYWHERE! Or not, because I won't want to spend that much time on a train.

One Week 'Til Paris

2008-09-19T00:23:00.001-05:00

New video blog. It's been awhile, I'm trying to figure out which cameras still work ;-)

Visa, Don't Leave Home Without One

2008-09-17T17:45:00.000-05:00

Or, don't stay in France more than 90 days without one.

Seeing as my study abroad experience is going to total about twice that amount of time, I had to apply for a visa. The application is slightly more involved than you'd think, however. Not only did I have to get another set of those lovely one-inch photos from Walgreen's, I also had to get a notarized statement saying I wasn't broke, among other things. Further, as a student, I had to register for the online network "Campus France." The only real help in this is that they keep track of me, and I get to pay an extra $60. You can't apply for a French Student Visa without proof of being a "Campus France" member either. It was just another delightful way they managed to take money from me.

The French really don't like to make it simple either. I couldn't just mail my application to the consulate. I had to take it in, in person. Luckily the nearest consulate is in Chicago, and since I go to school there I know lots of lovely people that I could go visit. So last Thursday I did a joint trip down to the city, to get my visa and visit a few of my friends who I won't be seeing for a long while.

After dropping $27 to get to O'Hare I sat on a sweaty blue line train ($2), direction downtown. I arrived on State Street an hour and a half early for my visa appointment, so I shopped around at some of my favorite stores that we don't have in Wisconsin. I didn't really need anything, but I couldn't resist a pair of jeans for $12.50. Oh, and two pairs of leggings ($4.50 each). Afterwards I dropped $5 on a quick lunch of chips and salsa at Chipotle, before hunting down the French Consulate.

The French Consulate is actually located in 205 N Michigan. It's a fancy high-rise that looks out on Milenium Park to the south, and Lake Michigan to the east. Upon arriving I had to sign-in at visitor's desk to get credentials to ride the elevator the the consultae. After arriving on the 37th or so floor of the consulate I entered a modern looking sitting area. The seats were clear plastic and there was a brightly colored, geometric shapes rug on the floor. There was also no one to be seen. Another visitor told me that it was lunchtime at the consulate, and that the staff would return at 2:00, about 15 minutes from my arrival.

I had a seat and pulled out the book I was reading (We Might As Well Win, by Johan Bruyneel... loved it). I listened in on the conversations of the other arrivals. Mostly uptight American's who were also heading into the visa office. At about 5 minutes until 2 the first couple got up to go line up outside the Visa Office. From eavesdropping I learned that they thought they would be the first ones to go through the application process if they lined up early. They obviously don't know the French. I figured that the first person wouldn't get back from lunch until 2:15 or so, and that the Office wouldn't be going until at least 2:20.

I was right. I just sat and hung out in the sitting area while about a dozen people lined up in the hall. When the Office was finally opened they made us sit in another lobby while they readied their materials. One man walked up to the window (a bit like a ticket window at a theater) and tried to give them his stuff. The woman waved him away, "We call you up when we're ready." And then the other women looked out at us, and walked away for a good while.

At about 2:30 the room was getting restless. Our appointment time was 2:00, they wanted to get on with it and then get out. I was slightly entertained with their impatience and I sat trying to figure out why each person was going to France. Then the first name was called, Mine! In my head I was deeply pleased. I was the one that cared the least about getting out of there (mostly because I wasn't meeting my friends till after 5:00). I went through the application process ($74) and then was told I could come back at 4:15 for my passport. The woman nearest me turned green. "4:15?" she whispered really loud. I grinned internally. This was great.

I wandered around Milenium Park for awhile, bought a coffee ($4), and then window shopped. I got back to the consulate at 4:10 to find the room full of all of the people I had seen earlier, and others. I figured some had stayed the whole two hours. The last part was painless. The called us up one at a time, handed us our passports, and then we were free to go.

Afterwards I jumped on the 6 ($2) and headed to Hyde Park. I found Mayon in the Quad, and later we met up with Anton for dinner at Salonica (french toast, eggs, hash browns, coffee--$10). After we walked around the campus, dipping our feet in the Law School Fountain, stepping into the air conditioning of Crerar, and catching a first glimpse of the new library addition. We left Anton on the corner of 56th and Woodlawn and walked back to Mayon's place. Mayon and I hung around for awhile before I passed out from fatigue.

The next morning I departed Mayon's early so she could head to work. I bought a coffee and pain au chocolat ($5) and boarded the metra towards downtown ($2.35). Downtown I walked through the loop in the drizzle of the morning, admiring the clouds around the top of the tallest buildings in the midwest, and dropping $5 on a huge Jamba Juice. I made the bus back home right as it started to board ($28) and headed back to Wisconsin.

It was a long 24 hours. I accomplished a lot, and got a strange first glimpse at the differences between American and French Culture. I dropped $61.35 on transportation, $29 on food, $21.50 on clothes I don't need, and $134 on a visa to France. It doesn't matter though, because the adventure I'm about to have will be--priceless.

The Return of Lance

2008-09-09T16:49:00.002-05:00

So here goes a ranty post about cycling, feel free to ignore.

In the last 24 hours I've read several reports saying that Lance Armstrong was going to make a comeback to cycling next season. At first I brushed it aside as, yeah right, these people wish... but with a confirmation from the man himself, I was more in an oh shit mood.

I love Lance Armstrong. He's the reason that I started watching cycling in the first place. I just don't want him to come back. It's been more than three years since he's raced, and things are very very different. The peloton is full of a bunch of young guys, with a different attacking style. None of his, use the team to blast the race apart and then ride it out to the end. Teams aren't getting a chance to do anything as guys are going off on solo flyers, forcing big favorites to grab a wheel and hold on for dear life. While I think Lance of all people is capable of putting a strong team together, will his strategy work anymore.

And what about the fact that there is a whole new generation of talent out there now. These young guys are 23, 24, 25 years old. Lance will be 37 soon. Is he really going to be able to keep up? And think of all of the potential he is blocking out if he signs with Astana. Oops, sorry Alberto Contador, you may have just won three grand tours in two years, but Lance is going to be the captain now? Is that really fair to Contador? What about Levi Leipheimer? Or Andreas Kloden who got thrown under the bus after the Vino drama of 07 and never got back out?

Mostly though, I want to remember Lance as a champion. The guy who won 7 in a row. I don't want to see him make a comeback and then fail disastrously. The last impression of him will be the lasting impression. Comebacks don't always work, and in a sport that's evolved this quickly from a lot of hard times, I just don't see how Lance can do it without disappointing a lot of fans, sorry.

MENUDO!

2008-09-06T14:35:00.003-05:00

Last night I dragged my Mom and sister to a $10 concert hosted by our local Top 40 Radio Station. Of course the performers I wanted to see... Menudo.

Before you start laughing at how ridiculous that sounds, let me explain. I have a serious respect for pop groups. Like I love them. And you know what, they are so a thing of the past. When I was 12 I would shit my pants for the Backstreet Boys or NSYNC. Not only because they have catchy music, but because they had real CHOREOGRAPHY that went along with their songs. And ok, they were hot too. So for me, seeing an actual pop group these days is so refreshing.

The band got up on the stage and they sang AND danced live. And they also played to the crowd, a mob of 14 year olds girls that screamed a lot, and were I head shorter than I was. Doesn't matter. I had so much fun. I sang along to the music, I danced... and I managed to get my hand out and touch every single one. You know what, my favorite one even grabbed my hand and spun me in a circle. Like from the stage. It was like every fantasy I had when I was 10 years old had come true. And I loved it. Enjoy some pictures.

MENUDO (Chris, Monti, Emmanuel, Jose, Carlos... love them).

They really do dance too.

Monti, my fave.

Ok, so they might be teenagers, but still.

All that matters is that I had a really good time, right?

10 Reasons Why I Hate Running On The Streets Of Chicago

2008-09-06T14:11:00.004-05:00

Or, I got a new camera and I wanted to test it out... Here are ten pictures of the trail that I have been running on for the last 7 summers. I think you can figure out why I do really like running along the busy streets of Chicago.

Either Way, I'll Break Your Heart Someday

2008-08-26T11:48:00.001-05:00

Somewhat depressing title aside, this is my new favorite song, and new favorite band. I figured my poor blog needs a serious overhaul, and that before the whole Europe frenzy begins and I start posting real things here I'd add something about my taste in depressing/yet amazing music.

August 25th

2008-08-25T09:49:00.001-05:00

Read that date. And then backtrack to the post where I announce that I am departing on September 25th. You know the purpose of this post then? Good.

One month till I depart. It's so long, but not enough time at all.

End of Camp; Summer Rages On

2008-08-23T20:13:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was the last day of camp. In a lot of ways I am really glad camp is over. So I might have willingly gone back this summer knowing that I was probably not making a good decision, but still... it was a pretty awful summer. The kids were the same, but some of the staff just could not handle it. At all. I'm not saying that they all sucked or anything, it just seemed like we couldn't keep our shit together this summer. And then they all started leaving and it became the biggest shitshow ever.

I'm not committed to going back next summer, and I'm not saying no yet either. Hopefully (fingers crossed) I will be able to find a good job oriented internship next summer, but if not I know that they will take me back in a heartbeat at After School.

That said my summer still continues to rage on... I have got more than a month still until I board a big AirBus for Paris, so until then you've got to believe that I'm not going to be doing anything because a) It's summer, b) I'm now unemployed, c) there is nothing else to do.

Brother Moves Out, Babies Born

2008-08-14T16:52:00.002-05:00

Nick doesn't live with us anymore. It's weird to say, but I'm happy for him. After a long couple of years trying to get him done with high school, my family is pretty pleased that he's, well, gone. He's moved downtown into a nice house with a couple buddies, and will be attending MATC in the fall. My mom was pretty upset about it last night, but she's seemed to pull herself together today. Also, she found a journal my brother kept for me for two days, right after I moved out for my first year of college. Of course I'll never tell him we found it, but still, kinda made me feel good.

Also, my Aunt and Uncle just welcomed twin boys to the world. Congrats to them, very exciting. No names yet, coming soon.

Team USA

2008-08-10T11:15:00.002-05:00

As we settle in for two plus weeks of the Olympics I find myself feeling oddly, well, American. Its a somewhat weird sentiment for me, as I really don't agree with a lot of things America has been doing as of late, and thus I feel a bit detached from the whole, Team USA thing.

But, as Team USA rounded the corner of the parade of athletes on the TV on Friday night, I couldn't help myself from shouting a few USAs. I guess the Olympics does what its meant to do, in some ways at least. It might not be the Cold War, and the world might be getting so much closer due to globalization. But for these few weeks every four years (two if you count the winter games, but seriously, I don't) the nationalism in all of us comes out, at least a little.

The only instance where I have not cheered for the USA since the games opened was in the Men's Cycling Road Race. Mostly because I knew USA had no chance whatsoever of a medal, and I think most of the athletes on Team Spain are incredibly awesome. I was a bit shocked when Sammy Sanchez took the gold, if only because he was the the least talked about of the five Spaniards in the race.

As we move into the first full week we'll have a lot of swimming and gymnastics on the prime-time TV, and just about everything under the sun on the live shows. I'm excited to see how my country does over the next few weeks, although I know that we are going to do exceptionally well, as usual. I'm also eager to see which smaller countries, with newly built Olympics programs, will bust into the limelight with a first medal or a world record. Until then, however, its all about Team USA.

Wisconsin Summer

2008-08-04T18:01:00.002-05:00

I find comfort in what has become a regular two days here in Wisconsin, Sundays and Mondays. For some reason the goings on of these two days is, to me at least, very Down Home Wisconsin, and I sort of love it.

Sunday nights is Softball at Bowling Green. I don't even play on the team, but I've been going to watch my friends play for the last three years. I love how po dunk it is. Sloppy, mid-thirties, fat men and women with a pitcher of beer and a team to cheer for. I love just going and laughing. Laughing at the scene, laughing at where I'm from, and laughing at how awful my friends play (sometimes).

Mondays its Team Trivia at the Lube, Quaker Steak and Lube that is. We go sit in the smoky bar and eat spicy chicken and huge brownies while playing other teams in Trivia. I love that we are the loud group of kids in the back corner that are actually kind of good, save for the sports questions (who gives a shit about football and baseball anyways). I also love that we pay like $5 because we know everyone that works there and we get a discount, and yeah, free chicken.

Its going to be said to see the po dunk summer go, but of course I've got a big adventure coming next... Paris. Until then, it will be boring summer, as most of my friends are heading back to school in the next couple of weeks, and I'm just, JUST, hitting the halfway point of my summer.

A Little Stuck

2008-08-02T20:05:00.003-05:00

I'm trying to formulate vague ideas of what I want to do over my Winter Break. I have about three and a half weeks all to myself, with the whole of Europe at my feet. The only for sure plan is that I'm buying a Eurail pass, although I don't know which one...

So anyways, I need help deciding where I want to go. Catherine gave me good advice about Spain and Portugal, which are musts for me... and Matt gave me some ideas about Europe east of France, Italy in particular. But where the hell am I actually going to go?

The only for certain right now is London and Dublin in November... trips I want to book in the next month and a half so that I have tickets in hand before leaving the good ole' US of A.

Further, I'm thinking of saving Amsterdam, Alsace, and Belgium for long weekend trips during my two programs. Meaning, all formulations should be south of about Lyon. Or considerably further east than Strasbourg.

Here is a tentative list that I came up with at the pool today... in probable order of attack:

-San Sebastien, Spain
-Porto, Portugal
-Lisbon, Portugal
---This is where, IF I decide to do Morocco, it fits
-Madrid, Spain
-Barcelona, Spain
-Nice, France
-Monaco/Monte Carlo
-Rome, Italy
-Venice, Italy
---AND THEN THE STUCK POINT, where to next? I can maybe catch a Ryanair flight just about anywhere, or I can use the Eurail pass to the next city on the invisible list.

The other problem is that I'd prefer to be in Paris for Christmas... which falls smack in the middle of the 3.5 weeks... so I need a logical stopping point... grrr... I don't like being stuck like this.

10 Things To Love About The 2008 Tour de France

2008-07-28T16:32:00.002-05:00

After reading this great blog about the 2008 Tour de France, I've decided that I should write my own ten things to love about it. So here goes:

1. Daniel Friebe's blog. Not only was it the inspiration for this blog post, it was very entertaining to follow throughout the Tour. Without it I wouldn't have started calling Kim Kirchen "Grim Kim" and I probably wouldn't have been tuned into the Cadel Evans meltdowns. The blog wasn't all about humor either. It had interesting coverage of the doping drama of the race, and cool interviews from people within the sport.

2. Super Besse. OK, so Riccardo Ricco might have won here, and he might be a doper, but still. Super Besse introduced us to the drama of the Tour. It showed us that the race was going to be exciting. Oh, and Stefan Schumacher fell, going uphill, and lost the yellow jersey. I really hate that guy.

3. Saunier Duval. I don't know what the ASO was thinking when they said the Tour would be doping free. Secretly I'm glad it wasn't one of my favorite teams that took the hit. Saunier got nailed when Ricco tested positive after winning two stages. I read this and laughed. Of course he's a doper. No one with that sort of attitude, and bite up a mountain, could be clean. So props to Saunier Duval for lasting only half the Tour.

4. The crazy attacks. I love watching Thomas Voeckler race. I think he thinks it's funny to attack the peloton, all the time. Like when he crested one of the Pyrenees in the top few places, partly to steal some mountains points, and partly to wave some guys on to motivate them to go it alone. Of course everyone ignored him, and fell back into the slipstreams of their teammates. Sylvain Chavanel was another one who would go for anything. He even tried one on the Champs Elysees, although in his defense, he did win a stage on a break this year. Props.

5. The epic crashes. Ok, they might have hurt the riders, but they definitely made the race more exciting to watch. Check out these goodies from: John-Lee Augustyn, Oscar Pereiro and, Sven Krauss.

6. Christian Vande Velde. Team USA wasn't supposed to have a GC guy this year, at all. Our biggest hope was a top 30 from George Hincapie, but good ole' Christian really saved the day, and probably extended the Versus coverage contract another year. He may have faded a bit in the Alps, but to have an American racing so well really pumped up American viewership. One of my friends actually knew who he was. I was shocked.

7. Spain. Yellow jersey for three years now, first green jersey ever, several stage wins, and the biggest doping drama of the Tour. Team Spain really managed to ride in style this year, getting guys all over the press for a wide variety of reasons. Ultimately it was exciting to see Team Spain take another big sporting victory, after having won the Euro Cup in June. Olympics anyone?

8. The greatest meltdowns ever. Between Cadel Evans pretty much LOSING HIS MIND by the end of the Tour, and Carlos Barredo LOSING HIS SHIT at the end of Stage 18, the Tour de France had plenty of divas. My favorite was Cadel, probably because he has a really high pitched voice, and it looks seriously nuts when he is trying to swat guys away. I'm pretty sure he lost like half of his brain cells when he crashed in the Pyrenees, subsequently causing a deterioration in his mental stability. Or not.

9. Team CSC. Christian Vande Velde said that CSC was going to have war plan, and he was pretty much right on that one. I can just imagine Bjarne Riis sitting around his hotel room moving plastic cyclists over maps trying to determine the plan for each stage. With a helmet on. Of course. But seriously, Team CSC knew what they wanted from the start, and they did an incredible ride to get it. As Jens Voigt said in the Versus interviews: "A team has to be one leader, and eight guys willing to die for yellow." That is exactly what they had, and it was incredible.

10. L'Alpe d'Huez. Incredible. The 21 most famous switchbacks in the world were the stage for the etapa reina, the queen stage. It was epic, it was amazing, it was everything that a cycling fan wanted it to be. And what Carlos Sastre and Team CSC wanted it to be. The tactics were incredible, the rides were raw and real, and seriously, the stage blew my mind. I wanted to yell, but I was breathless due to the excitement. It will be a stage that will forever be immortalized by my grand collection of Tour de France tapes. And one I will watch over and over, to analyze the tactics of Bjarne Riis.

Now that the Tour is over I'm at a loss of things to do. I can naturally wake up at 6:30 in the morning, due to waking up to see the mountains everyday for the last week or two. I'll probably pull from the archives for the next few days, until I fall back into real life. I do have some things to look forward too... the Olympics start on the 8th of August, and I'll be in Paris during Paris-Tours and some other, more minor races. The battle plan of what I want to go to will be crafted soon, and when I know, you will be the first to know...

Maison de Provinces de France

2008-07-26T09:19:00.002-05:00

So I got an e-mail with my dorm assignment for Paris. I won't know the exact room until I get there, which is a bit bizarre and kind of annoying, but I got the building assignment. Let me just say, I am so glad that I got the building I got. Not even kidding. I'm going to be living in the Maison de Provinces de France. Its supposed to be a French dorm, meaning mostly French students from the outlying provinces of the country (hence the name), but I think there will be a handful of Americans in it too. It should be pretty nice, I get a private bathroom, a fridge, and someone's supposed to come around weekly to change my sheets. If I were in the American house I don't think I would have had any of that. This is all making me super amped!

Check it out:

Maison de Provinces de France

Wally B

2008-07-15T17:20:00.001-05:00

I swear, if another kid shits in the Middleton Pool I'm gonna lose it. I can not stand walking 20+ minutes to the pool only to have to turn around and go straight back. It's even worse when your boss is a moron and decides to try and wait it out, only to have to sit in the 90 degree heat for an hour, and then walk back to camp.

Can you tell I had a bad day today?

Four Down, Six To Go

2008-07-11T19:19:00.002-05:00

We've got four weeks of camp done already. It seems like summer just started, and in a way it has because I'll be around until the 25th of September, which is still more than two long months away. Things have been slow going for me. Partly because of this unexplainable disease I have, which is probably mono, but no doctor has told me that it is anything. It might also be the plague of the kids, something one gets after being in a loud, kid-infested camp all day everyday. All I want to do on the weekends is sleep and be somewhere quiet. Of course my social life has taken a bit of a dive because I just can't get motivated to do anything when I'm home. Although the promise of Trivia Night at Quaker Steak and Lube could remedy this in the short-term. It's been unbelievably humid the past few weeks, and I can't take it anymore. So I lay around the basement of my house waiting for the next day I have to go to camp and get paid to sit around screaming kids who feel it is ok to dump a waterbottle full of water on their counselor. Just for the record I let them do it because it has been so freaking hot.

Anyways, we've got four down, six to go. And then I live the life of an unemployed, bored member of society for a month before heading to Europe. The excitement of that long month of September will only be amplified by the fact that all of my friends will return to school, and I will just have to sit and wait. And wait.

There have been no terribly eventful camp stories to tell as of late. I had more fun this week than any other so far because I was more relaxed and had mostly good kids. I even got up from sitting/lying on the benches to play a few times. I've already told myself I must relish next week when I will only have six campers, and the opportunity to go canoeing three days, and to the county fair another day.

Of course I have the Tour de France, part of the reason for my low motivation. It has not failed to impress so far this summer. Of course the first doping positive was announced today. A surprise to me, as I thought there would be one sooner in the race. I don't believe this "clean race" bullshit. The riders of the old generation, the Lance Armstrong Era, are in desperation mode. Either retire now, or use to stay with the younger guys, and face the wrath of the UCI/ASO when you get caught.

It used to be so much easier.

Fourth of July Fireworks, In My Body

2008-07-05T15:46:00.002-05:00

Ok the title of the blog sounds kind of weird. But its sort of fitting. I guess?

The short story is that I spent a large portion of my Fourth in Urgent Care getting tested like you wouldn't believe for every disease under the sun. The good news is so far everything is negative.

The long story is this: I went for a bike ride yesterday morning with my stepdad. We were planning on going to Mt. Horeb, maybe 25 miles, and back. We were going to stop in Mt. Horeb for lunch and a short recoup before going home. Problem was, I totally bonked at Cross Plains, only 10 miles into the 50 mile day. I had absolutely no energy whatsoever, which was weird because I had just eaten a big breakfast and slept for 10 hours the night before. It was a recurring theme. This summer I've been a lot weaker than normal. So my mom came out and got me in CP and drove me to the Urgent Care. I then went through three blood tests, a urine test, a heart scan, and about six nurses and doctors up in my business. And so far everything is negative. Although I am waiting to hear back about mono, which would actually make a lot of sense.

But yeah, fireworks on the ride yesterday, when I pretty much broke down. Seriously I was delirious I was so tired. I'm ok now... just bedridden until Monday morning when I have to figure out if I want to go to camp or not... otherwise I've got a doctor's note to get out of two days!

So yeah, it was a great Fourth. I slept all afternoon and then hobbled around to watch fireworks in the evening before passing out again.

I did manage to wake up at 7:30 this morning for the Tour though. Anything for the Tour.

Maybe I have Tour fever?

Fantasy Tour Team

2008-07-04T17:17:00.002-05:00

Addendum:

Here is the roster to my fantasy Tour team, forgot to add that earlier.

Alejandro Valverde
Denis Menchov
Mauricio Soler
Iouri Trofimov
Mark Cavendish
Fabian Cancellara
Gert Steegmans
Nicolas Portal
Haimar Zubeldia

It took me four days, but I think it turned out pretty good. I guess we'll just have to wait and see...

Tour De France 2008

2008-07-04T17:03:00.002-05:00

I am so ready for the Tour de France to start. I mean seriously, the UEFA Euro Cup ended a week ago, I have absolutely no good TV right now (well that's a lie, but still), I need something to consume my life with.

Ahhh, perfect. The Tour starts tomorrow. 23 Days of total life consumption. Gotta love it.

I'm a big fan of cycling, and the Tour is the highlight of my summer, and has been since 2001. This will be my eighth Tour. And the first that I don't get to watch live. And by that I mean, I have to watch my TiVo'ed live coverage at 4:30 when I get home from camp. It's a travesty.

I really hope this Tour isn't like the last two. Meaning, if a rider gets thrown out for doping, you better believe that I'm not going to ever watch another Tour again. Ok, that's a lie too. But seriously, I'm so sick of the Tour being marred with doping drama, and getting a bad rap. Because the Tour is the most incredible single sporting event EVER. There is nothing that is more incredible than the Tour de France, in terms of a single sporting event. Yeah the Olympics or the World Cup are cool... but they are a little different than the Tour.

The Tour is 21 stages of competition. The only cuts are done by the elements, and the minds and bodies of the athletes. You've got to be the most stable, yet craziest person in the world to race the Tour. It consumes these athletes like you wouldn't believe. They have to have the exact perfect weight or they won't be able to finish. A cold and they are done. It takes the perfect specimen of the human race to win one of these things.

I love it.

I love waking up at 6 am on a Sunday morning to watch the race go through the mountains. I love the constant commentary of Phil Ligget and Paul Sherwen. I love watching the primetime coverage in the evenings when I've already seen the morning live coverage. I love correcting Bob Roll and Al Trautwig during the primetime coverage when they get the name of a rider or location wrong. I love yelling at the TV before anyone is awake. I love complaining about the riders I hate when they do well, and boasting when my favorites win. I love the dumb look on everyones face when I tell them that I like to watch the Tour de France, and then proceed to not shut up about it for at least an hour. I love that I am the only person I know that I can talk to about this sport at the level that I love and understand it. I love walking into bike shops and asking what race they are showing on their TV in the winter, and then when I proceed to detail what happens throughout the race, who wins, who crashes, who tried hard, who didn't try hard enough, only to have the staff at the bike shop look at me with the sort of admiration I have when I look at Phil Ligget and Paul Sherwen.

I love the month of July like you wouldn't believe.

I love the Tour de France.

I love that it starts in less than 12 hours.

Decisions Decisions

2008-07-02T21:21:00.001-05:00

I'm dead serious when I write this... I have spent the better part of the last four days trying to put together a fantasy Tour de France team. It is driving me absolutely nuts. And the thing is, I won't stop working on it until I am perfectly content with the team I've put together. This may be never. Or the deadline for the entries (Saturday). We'll see which comes first.

And I had to cancel my awesome day trip I planned because of severe weather possibilities. Probably a good choice because it got pretty nasty, but still. Now we'll never get to go.

I don't like having to make decisions in summertime.

Euro Cup 2008 Final Presentation

2008-06-30T18:58:00.001-05:00

The moment at 8:25 is EPIC. I was so pleased that these guys managed to finally pull off a big victory in a major tournament for me. I've been cheering them on since the Olympics in 2004, and I've been disappointed many times by these guys. It was a great way to start the summer, watching this tournament. And of course it was great to have a team like this to cheer on. I'm already looking ahead to World Cup 2010 Qualifiers. Maybe I'll get to see one while I'm in Europe? I'll have to look into it, but that would be EPIC.

But seriously, it was great to watch Casillas, Senna, Marchena, Xavi, Sergio Ramos, Torres, David Villa, and the whole team rock this tournament.

VIVA ESPANA-Euro 2008

2008-06-29T18:27:00.001-05:00

Amazing.

And no I did not decide to support Spain when the quarterfinals started. I have been supporting them solidly since the Olympics in 2004.

And as a fan of the team, MAD PROPS. It was epic, and I can't wait to watch them in the Olympics!

Mingling with the Richies

2008-06-29T18:12:00.003-05:00

Rhythm and Booms is a Madison tradition. Its this huge fireworks show that is timed to a musical track so that the booms of the fireworks fit the beats and high points of songs. Its actually pretty epic, and just about everyone in Dane County tries to see it. Thing is, going to the park its at is a total bitch. Luckily you can see the show from just about anywhere on Lake Mendota, a lake that I just happen to live very very close to (four houses up the hill from actually). Unfortunately our access point is overgrown, so its hard to see.

Never fear.

Some friends and I went to Bishop's Bay instead. Its sort of this really really nice country club about a mile west of my house. Like probably the nicest in Madison. None of my friends are members or anything, so we just sort of crashed. And then took over their dock, and had the second best view of the fireworks in the greater Madison area.

The best part of it is that we got to hang out with the rich people. I'm talking about the guys in fancy polo shirts who drove their golf cart over from their mansion because they are too rich to walk. The ladies who have knocked out like three kids that are all the biggest terrors in the world, and who go out shopping or whatever instead of disciplining them. It was hilarious.

I love hanging out with the richies because I am so obviously out of place. I like to sit and laugh at how ridiculous they are in their fancy folding chairs with the cup holders while I sit on the end of the dock with my friends, and a far better view.

Oh, and I also made sure to shout "I LOVE AMERICA" at the end. Because seriously, watching fireworks timed to "America the Beautiful" makes me feel proud of my country. And its an Olympic year and we all get a little more pride for our nation on Olympic years.

VIVA AMERICA!

Malta?

2008-06-23T08:20:00.001-05:00

Yes, after finding really cheap airfare from Venice to Malta, it has been added to the list of places I want to go...

I am so not going to be able to go all of these places.

Maiden Voyage

2008-06-21T16:25:00.002-05:00

I took my XMAS road bike out for her Maiden Voyage today. She rides like a charm. I was a little nervous on the downhills and the sharp turns because I'm not used to handling drop bars, but shit, it was such a smooth ride. I don't even have my toe clips on yet and I'm already sailing up the hills like a skinny Spaniard. I can't imagine what its going to be like when I can pull up too. I'm looking forward to getting the Contessa out on some real roads (and not just around the Northlake subdivision). It should be a damn good summer for that.

Random Musings: June Edition

2008-06-20T17:15:00.002-05:00

-The first week of camp went well. No one broke anything (well except the water balloon slingshot), no fights broke out, and I guess everyone had fun. It's unfortunate that soccer week is already over because it's such an easy week on my side, and the kids like it too. Next is golf, which could either be really awful or a good time. Probably the first choice though.

-On my to do list on my iGoogle it says "Go to Costa Rica." It has been like that since I did an iGoogle in November. I guess I really want to go to Costa Rica?

-I'm going to the Enderlin's tonight to watch Camp Rock. Catherine isn't going to be there, so I'm going to hang out with her high schooler sister Monica. Caroline (their mom) will probably be really confused as to why I'm hanging out at there place when Catherine is out of town, but I don't care. I've known Monica since she was like 3 or 4.

-I hate the libo. They asked my Mom if I wanted hours this summer, and then proceeded to NOT GIVE ME ANY. WTF is up with that, assholes.

-I'm shitting my pants nervous of doing the fishing unit at camp. I signed up for it because I thought it would be funny, but now I'm not so sure it was a good idea. We were at Picnic Point the other day and the fish were like two feet long and everywhere... definitely not fishing there.

-I love summer, fuck going back to school.

Two Down

2008-06-17T16:58:00.002-05:00

Done with the first two days of camp. No serious incidents as of yet...

Although a kid did find a used pregnancy test outside today. And if you were wondering, yes, it was positive. I nearly shat myself when he brought it to me, in his hands. What a pregnancy test was doing on the playground, I will never know. Because seriously, is that the best place to do it? Probably not.

But it was super funny.

Tomorrow we are going on an all day field trip. It should be a blast, well at least I get free ice cream.

Home For The Summer

2008-06-13T16:34:00.001-05:00

I am officially home for the summer, moved out from Max P, and not going back to Chicago till probably September.

I like being home. I don't have to cook, and do most cleaning. I don't have to study. I just sit around and watch sports on the TV and play the computer.

I guess it's sort of like being a ten year old.

Also, today was Camp Set-Up. The highlight of the day was scaring the shit out of a random woman walking around outside the school we are using. Matt and I were "exploring" with flashlights, well playing flashlight tag, and we flashed it out at her. Then we realized that it was probably really sketchy that random kids were flashing her with flashlights from inside a school during the summer. We secretly hoped she'd call the cops.

My life is really simple in summer. I don't have things to blog about. I guess I'll share camp stories as they come... but otherwise... there won't be much to share.

Last 30 Minutes as a Second Year

2008-06-12T11:45:00.002-05:00

Here is a list of all of the ridiculous things that have happened in the last 30 min:

1. Monkey Evolution Final, after which I ceremoniously pitched ALL of my notes into the nearest trash can with much gusto.

2. Banana/Pudding thing in Bartlett.. fresh

3. DON'T STOP BELIEVING playing in Bartlett as I walked in. I laughed my ass off, they thought I was crazy

4. Carmel Javalanche

And scene.

Take Back The Tour.

2008-06-12T04:30:00.001-05:00

Not only does this video give me the most ridiculous goosebumps of my life, it is EXACTLY how I feel.

There will be a long ranty post about this later, mostly because I'm not quite on my top game right now for it to be any good.

But seriously, the Tour has disappointed me for the last two years (ok, not so much last year because I HATED Rasmussen and Vino and was glad to see their asses kicked out of the race and Contador winning it, but still, big drama equals bad image). I'm ready to go back to the way it was three years ago. The glory days of Lance Armstrong. Back then the Tour was so alive and amazing, and now it's become a sort of circus.

I am MORE THAN READY to take back the Tour. It's for us, the fans, this year. It's going to be the most exciting Tour EVER, no doping, no drama, just pure sport.

Maybe I am a masochist for loving this sport. But I am believer too. And I believe in it.

Take Back the Tour. 2008.