En sak jag störde mig enormt på var att det fanns butiker inne i kyrkorna. Helt fel, man ska inte käna pengar på folks tro på Gud. Visst förstår jag att det kostar att underhålla ett ställe som Notre Dame, men jag hoppas och tror att dte finns andra sätt att tjäna pengar på än genom försäljning inne i kyrkan.

Hann inte se mycket av Montmarte, men det jag såg var hur mysigt som helst. Helt klart ett ställe jag kommer att besöka igen.

It was kind of grey and rainy:

Sacre Couer was very warm inside [probably due to all the candles which looked fantastic in red and gold everywhere] and full of mosaics and frescoes and stained glass which were all excellent but have been probably written about more eloquently in a guide book or ten somewhere, so I'm not going to go on about them.

We went on through Montmartre and were going to go to an exhibition about absinthe but it cost 7 euros so we decided it would be better to save them for getting some absinthe to drink instead.

We headed down some steps into what the Rough Guide to Paris rather irritatingly describes as the 'younger and hipper' end of Montmartre. There was some good graffiti:

We ate lunch [sandwiches in the rain] and then went for a coffee in a cafe. This cafe was evidently 'young and hip' due to these murals decorating the toilets:

Then, via many, many twisty little roads, we went to the red light district and had hot chocolate in a charming cafe opposite a sex shop. Also in the cafe were a woman with a small dog which was dyed pink, who was having coffee with a tall, stunning transsexual who had a chihuahua [not dyed pink], plus two drunk old guys at the bar who were trying to chat up a tall, noisy, gothy biker chick type who was clearly loving every minute of it [mostly because she spent most of the time telling them off]. One of the drunk old guys found out I was English and started talking to me about the the Queen visiting Paris two years ago; then Sophy came back from loo and told him that this didn't interest her since she wasn't a royalist, at which he got very defensive and said he wasn't either [all of this was explained to me afterwards - I had previously been sitting there understanding about 15% of the conversation and looking a bit clueless, hopefully wearing an expression that said 'I am very interested in what you have to say, I just have know idea what it is and I am sorry about that'].

We paid for our hot chocolates and went on past a Mechanical Fountain:

An Orchid House:

Notre Dame, where I attempted to take an original, non-postcard, non-just-standing-in-front-of-it picture:

And finally met Trevor in a Basque bar where it was Happy Hour [that means the very cheapest beer only costs the same as a regular pint in the UK...]

Then we went for Vietnamese Pho Soup [delicious] and caught the Metro home, at which point much collapsing occurred. Apparently I can still walk today, which is pleasing.

This summer I've been to Paris four times so far and my mind has changed a lot since '06. Maybe it's only me but I think Paris is not as busy as it was then, and for sure it's not as hot. Because I changed my mind of Paris I've already seen a lot more of the city than the last time. My first visit of happened to be already a month ago and brought me to Versailles. I went there with Johanna and Julia, two Disney co-workers who're also living in the Boiserie, the 'appartment complex' I'm living in. We had beautiful weather so that we really could enjoy the day. Versailles is quite a bit outside of Paris so it takes a travel of two hours to get there from Marne-la-Vallee (which is also far away from Paris, but exactly on the other side).

Versailles is the royal palace of the French kings and from 1682 until the French revolution in 1789 it was France's centre of power. Today most tourists visit the castle because of the famous Hall of Mirrors and the beautiful Gardens of Versailles. The Hall of Mirrors is a very pompous and therefore world-famous hall with a total of 357 mirrors in seventenn mirror-clad arches that reflect the seventeen arcaded windows that overlook the gardens. To enter the Palace of Versailles you have to pay thirteen euros (or more if you want to skip the queue and have a guided tour). The gardens, however, are free, and in my view equally worth seeing and at the same time very relaxing. The gardens are huge - we walked about three hours and did by far not see all of it. To provide you with some Wikipedia facts, they've got the size of 800 ha. and contain 200,000 trees, 50 water fountains, and there's 210,000 flowers planted every year. As the Hall of Mirrors (and the whole castle, in fact) the gardens, too, are very pompous and I doubt that any of the French kings has ever fully seen their own garden. Today, you can often see people - such as us - sunbathing in the gardens and ercovering from the busy life of Paris city, or Disneyland (although I think that would be a minor part of the six million annual visitors). Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of Versailles but I hope that either Johanna or Julia can mail me some so that you can visualise it.

The next time I went to Paris with Aline and Svenja who are/were both working with me at Steam Train. We did all that touristy stuff - Notre Dame, Paris Beach (which is only some chaises at the Seine waterside), the Louvre, l'Hotel de Ville, and - of course - 10, rue Daguerre. 10, rue Daguerre, I have to explain, is where Julien is living with his perrot, and all of his friends, too, according to Decouvertes, a French learning book that almost every German French student has read at school. Sounds a little like a soap opera, and I think the concept is the same. As you can see on the last picture, 10, rue Daguerre is in reality an alcohol store ;-)

Again the weather was nice, almost perfect because it was sunny and warm but not hot and thus, very comfortable.

The third time I went to see Paris I had no luck with the weather. In fact I only went there because two friends of mine, Sina and Meike, were arriving the evening, and I wanted to surprise them and pick them up at the train station. I didn't plan with this weather. Fortunately, Aline took pity on me and showed me the sights I didn't see yet - Sacre Coeur church and the Moulin Rouge. I didn't care much about the rain but most people did and so it amused me a lot to see all those tourists fighting with their umbrellas and the rain. On Fridays people under the age of 26 can visit the Louvre for free from 6pm on. I planned to do that because Sina and Meike would arrive at 11.30 and somehow I had to spend my time. So I went to the Louvre at 7pm to see the famous Mona Lisa, the Venus of Milan and some other art. I don't know much about art and after half an hour I figured out that the museum was of no value to me without a guided tour or someone who could explain the paintings and sculptures to me. I left the Louvre early and wanted to discover some of Paris' nightlife places. Because I accidentally stayed in the metro one stop too long, I didn'e leave at the Hotel de Ville but at Le Marais, the gay quarter of Paris. As you can see on one of the pictures the people there are really, really, really strange. So I didn't stay too long and took the RER to Gare du Nord where Sina and Meike would arrive some time later.

With Sina and Meike I visited Disneyland the following day, and originally we had planned to party in Paris until 1pm when they had to catch their train back to Germany. The weather and our - completely unexpected - tiredness made us change our plans. But our actual planning wasn't less crazy: after partying till 2.30am in La Boiserie, we got up at 4.30am to take the first RER to Paris. We arrived in Paris at 6.45am and continued directly to see the Eiffel Tower, the Champs Elysees (where for the first time ever I saw the eight lain Arche de Triomphe roundabout with only two cars driving around it), Notre Dame and the Louvre. Very tired I brought them to the train station and went back to Notre Dame where I attended the 12.45 mess, the first mess of my life and more a celebration of the cathedral than anything else. Tired I went home and instantly fell asleep. Paris can be beautiful, but for sure it is tiring.

• 161,25 Euro für Essen und Eintritt ausgegeben
• 7 Blasen
• Ein toter Wirbel
• Kaputte Hüftknochen
• Überarbeitete Füße
• Keinmal in die falsche Métro eingestiegen
• Jedesmal minimale Wartezeiten gehabt
• Alle "wichtigen" Viertel gesehen
• Ca. 8 Stunden am Tag herumgelaufen

Die französische Hauptstadt Paris bietet eine Vielzahl von Sehenswürdigkeiten, Museen, Einkaufsmöglichkeiten, sowie ein breites Programm von kulturellen Veranstaltungen.

Oder einfach sich durch die Stadt schlendern, in ein Cafe setzen und das Treiben beobachten.

Paris,Montmartre,Sacre-Coeur,Justizpalast,Palais de Justice,Notre-Dam,Grande Arche,Triumpfbogen,Arc de Triomphe,Eiffelturm,Tour Eiffel,Bateaux Mouches

The first castle we went to is Chateau d’Ecouen, and the second castle is Chantilly. We had ice cream at Chantilly, and they are known for their whipped cream so we all got whipped cream on top. The icecream here is almost like sorbet; actually it’s a lot like cream ice from “Rita’s” but just a little more firm, so you can get a scoop on a cone. The whipped cream didn’t seem that different than home-made whipped cream I’ve had from any other place. It was good though. At Chantilly, Elannah (one of the interior design girls) and I sat out by a little river within the chateau’s park and sketched what we saw. I’m realizing I really love landscapes, and I’d like to learn how to draw and paint them. One of the girls from Fine Arts suggested I look into landscape photography too.

Tonight Malia and I went to Sacre Coeur and then to the Moulin Rouge area. We had dinner at a café near Sacre Coeur. The view from the top wasn’t as amazing as I thought it would be; I’ve seen nicer views from the Pompidou and the Monde Arab museum I went to. A tree was blocking our view of the Eiffel Tower, and there were so many people around us. It was a clear day though at least. There are scam artists that try to trick tourists by forcing the tourist to let them make a friendship bracelet around their wrist. And since it’s impossible to get it off, the tourist is forced to buy it. (I read that in Rick Steves.) There were so many of those people at the Scare Coeur tonight trying that! It was a little annoying trying to avoid these people.

The sun tonight was really beautiful! It was really big and orange. The picture doesn’t do it justice. We kept losing it behind trees and buildings as we walked. Also, I thought the Moulin Rouge Area was supposed to be really risqué but I didn’t really see anything that shocking. It wasn’t fully dark out so the picture doesn’t have the full Moulin Rouge effect, but it was almost 10pm and we didn’t want to wait all night for it to get dark! I think the street can be sketchy at night anyway. FYI “Steak hachee” means a thin hamburger with no bun lol.

Belle vue tout en contraste depuis la butte de Montmartre, surplombant Paris.

Photo de Rubspic'

Thursday was low-key, just classes and hanging out on the terrace in the evening. While we were there, we made a new friend from UNC who had finished a program in Paris two weeks ago and had been traveling around Europe since then. It proved to be a fortuitous and beneficial meeting, as he gave us "insider" tips on what to do and where to go around the city, and we made tentative plans to hang out the next evening.

On Friday, we took our field trip(s) to the chateaux! Throughout the day, we experienced various stages of weather, as well as interest and excitement. The day got off to an interesting start before it even began (if that makes sense at all) because one of the two boys in our program got locked out of his room (although he did have his key... long story short, his roommate is a deep, deep sleeper and the locks here are a little funny) so he had to spend the night on our floor. My roommate and I have decided to adopt him, along with another girl in our program who hangs out in our room a lot... we'll probably take some family portraits in front of various landmarks. ;)

Anyways, we got off to an early start, leaving the Foyer not-so-bright but early at 6:45 in the morning. It took us 3 hours on a charter bus to get to the first chateau - Chateau de Chambourd; I'm pretty sure we all passed out within the first 20 minutes of the trip. The chateau itself was quite impressive - it was the largest of its time, and built not for any sort of defense purposes, but just to house the king and his buddies (about 2000 of them) when they went hunting. After it was finished, the king spent a total of only 72 days in the chateau, which kind of seems like a big waste of energy and resources, but hey, if you're king, you get to do that sort of thing. The castle is massive, yet it still has amazingly intricate architecture. It also has a double helix staircase, which necessitates that the ceilings are very high, which makes it quite impractical and inefficient to heat the castle, so it's pretty cold. It probably didn't help that it was wet and rainy at the time of our visit, but still it is July, and I wouldn't like to think about staying there in the dead of winter.

By the time we got to the next chateau, the Chenonceau, the clouds had cleared a bit, and the weather was much more pleasant. The Chateau de Chenonceau is located over a small river/stream, and is surrounded by nice gardens, which I didn't have time to visit. It was much smaller than the Chambourd, but I also found it much more attractive - probably due to the weather, the gardens, and the fact that it was decorated (instead of the empty Chambourd). In order to get to the wine tasting on time (Madame was worried we wouldn't make it), we left the Chenonceau a bit hastily and continued on our way. Eager for the wine tasting, we took a quick tour of the winery (conducted in French), along which I found this:

We tried several different kinds of wine. The first two were actually champagnes; a sec and a demi-sec. The sec was very good, but the demi-sec was a little too sweet for me. I was actually kind of surprised that I favored the champagne sec because prior to this, I haven't really liked champagne at all. Next, we sampled another white wine, sec and demi-sec, and lastly, a red. I ended up buying a bottle of the champagne sec as a souvenir to take home and share with the fam. ;)

After we had all made our purchases, we boarded the bus again to return to Paris. We saw wind turbines on the way back, which I got pretty excited about, and a little snap happy - but I got some really cool photos! It was super cool to see them, and I don't see how people can claim that they are more of an alleged eyesore than coal mines and mountaintop removal and other ugly un-environmentally friendly energy sources, but that's a topic for another post.

After we got back to the Foyer, a group of us went out to a bar on rue Mouffetard that our UNC friend led us to. It was a lot of fun, and we ended up making some Norwegian friends, which ensued in a rather intense (but enjoyable) political discussion.

Saturday morning involved a group of us first running various errands on the way to Chatêlet metro stop, from which we traveled to the flea markets in Clignancourt. I'd been looking forward to going to the flea markets, and it was certainly not a disappointment. There was so much to see (and buy!), that it was quite overwhelming. I did buy one gift for a friend, but I'm planning on returning in the near future now that I've scoped it out and know what to expect. After we had finished circulating the market, we were famished, so we got lunch and I had my first crêpe chocolat, which was actually nutella and bananas. Delicious! :) Next, we headed over to Montmartre to see the Sacre Cœur, which was simply magnificent. It was truly awesome, and all of it was very impressive - the size, the architecture, the stained glass, the art, everything! Not to mention the fact that the Blessed Sacrament has been on display there continuously since August 1885, which I find to be pretty incredible.

Our UNC friend decided to spend another night in Paris, but unfortunately, the Foyer was booked for the night. Instead of going up north to spend the night in a hotel for €40 or sleeping on another Foyer resident's balcony, my roommate and I agreed to let him spend the night on our floor. A bunch of us went out that night to drink along the Seine, and we met up with our new Norwegian friends again. After a while, we headed over to a discotheque in the Latin Quarter, where we stayed until 3 a.m. (!)

The next morning, we left the Foyer ISO some form of nourishment... dreaming of a delicious American-style brunch, but "settling" for some delicious Italian pizza. After we ate, we wandered the streets for a bit, and stopped for some Starbucks - which is ridiculously expensive over here. I almost got something to drink there, but decided against it - I'm trying to do the whole cultural thing and minimize American influences. Unfortunately, McDonalds' are rather prevalent here, and everyone tells me that it's so much better here, and they have delicious salads. So I'm going to try to stick to my guns on this one, but we'll see what happens...

We took the rest of the afternoon pretty easy, and our UNC buddy left us around 4 to do some last sight-seeing and hop on a train to Nice. Our plans for the night vascillated between going to the much-anticipated "Bal des Pompiers" and a house party of a French friend whom we met last week. While both sounded promising, I had been looking forward to the Firemen's Ball ever since I got wind of it, and there was not a chance that I was goign to miss out on this opportunity. In the end, our entire group, minus four people - three of whom were traveling - got dressed up for «la fête». We headed over to the Seine first, where our Norwegian friends joined us. From there, we took the metro to where the party was happening, right next door in the 6ième arrondissement. As we exited the station, we were promptly greeted by a long line wrapping around the block. Dismayed yet undeterred, we were reassured by two British girls that the line was moving rather quickly, and that it had only taken them about 45 minutes to reach where they were, and that we could buy drinks at the café while we waited. We proceeded to spend approximately the next 2 ½ hours inching forward, until we reached the entrance. (Remember my red pumps? Yup, I was wearing those.) However, we were in good company, and we did enjoy ourselves, both in line and once we got in the party. It was essentially a huge dance party, which is just my scene. It was wild and crazy and so much fun!!! Most definitely worth it.

Amazingly, five of us were able to rouse ourselves at 8:30 this morning to go into the 8th district to see the parade (but not before fueling ourselves with baguettes and coffee). It was pretty cool to see, and we relocated a few times from street to street to see. There were even parachuters! After that, we wandered around the 8th district for a while and did some window shopping. I found an absolutely delicious perfume that I'm going to buy for myself. We went out to a Chinese restaurant for lunch (don't laugh - it was recommended by one of our professors!), and then did a bit of grocery shopping. My roommate and I made dinner (a delicious apple and walnut salad) and ate it on the terrace, which we will be returning to shortly to watch the fireworks display for «le 14 juillet». The view from the terrace is superb, and it's going to be quite a show.

... I never thought I would finish! That's about all for now, à bientôt!

Day 167, 6/16

top l-r: view from our hotel room; pink scooter; us on the other side of Seine with the Eiffel Tower behind us; Arc d'Triumph

2nd l-r: one of the Art Deco Metro signs; enjoying a coffee in Montmarte; another cool Art Deco Metro sign; Dirty Dick, I think it was a restaurant

3rd l-r: Abbesses Mero entrance, detail of Metro entrance; some stairs up to Sacre Coeur; Sacre Coeur church

bottom l-r: left side view from Sacre Coeur; right side view from Sacre Coeur; one of the many narrow windy roads in Montmarte, window at Notre Dame

Day 168, 6/17

Our last day in Paris.

top l-r: another cool Metro sign, tree in Buttes Chaumont park; statue in Butte Chaumont park; view of the Belvedere of Sybil

2nd l-r: tree in Buttes Chaumont park; another view of the Belvedere; a guy painting in the park; he attracted a bunch of little old ladies

3rd l-r: Harry at a cafe near our hotel; waiting for our food at the cafe; our last meal in Paris including a baguette, Emmental cheese, a few eclairs, Coke and Orangina; goofing around with the baguette

bottom: moon rise about 10 pm our last night

Day 169, 6/18

Time to go home.

Here's the skinny: I'm currently on a cruise with my family and it turns out that internet access on a ship costs 30 USD an hour.... tres uncool. So here's the catch-up, the scoop, the what for.

B. left me on Thursday in Paris and I went to visit more museums and so forth. It's bizarre to have such easy access to Van Gogh, Monet, Degas, etc. I really enjoyed one piece called Le Bain by Alfred Stevens. It's elegant and innocent a bit I think. I got to know my roommate from the hostel a bit more that evening - she's originally from Columbia and is studying abroad in Italy. Brilliant. On my final morning in Paris, I went to Montmartre, which is where the Sacre Coeur cathedral is and is near the artsy/cabaret district (where Hemmingway and those types hung out at places like the Chat Noir). This is definitely and by far my favorite part of Paris; in fact I feel that Montmartre redeems Paris. I had a wonderful morning and treated myself to a  summertime favorite - raspberries for lunch. I also did some shopping and splurged on a purse. The shops in this area are like the Paris version of Shepherdstown shopping - hip, offbeat, vintage look. In the afternoon I took a bus to the Beauvais airport and flew into Venice to meet my family. (Have I mentioned yet that I loved France?)

As I was walking to our hotel in Venice (after getting directions from about 4 different people) I passed a gondola full of Carriers. They met me back in our rooms and we played show and tell with my various souvenier. Venice is especially know for two things (other than its canals of course): murano glass and masks. Essentially the entire city is a tourist trap. The shops are not practical stores, but boutiques show casing items sure to catch the tourist's interest. The glass and masks really are beautiful. But what I liked best about Venice was wandering back towards the Jewish quarter where the shops dwindle and laundry is hung across the canals to dry. (Speaking of laundry... number one desire of my heart right now.)

In the morning I went with my family to visit Saint Mark's Basilica and the square. It must have taken us over an hour to walk there because we constantly popped in and out of shops. Like Venice, the Basilica was very pretty - fancy - with a gold mosaic on the ceiling. We walked along the Grand Canal for a bit and then finally got our bags and headed towards the cruise ship for a family vacation.

About the whole cruise thing: I'm enjoying it, but it's not really my style. The ship (as I suppose is necessary) is so prefabbed and reeks of capitalism. There's no character or personality to the decor, and while the food is excellent and there is no shortage of activity choices, there is no atmosphere to make it endearing or charming. So there's my complaint. I do love having time to relax in the sun and to read. I'm also enjoying my little brotha's iPod.

Yesterday we stopped in Athens and visited the Acropolis to see the Parthenon and the other temple (I can't remember its name already. Total fail.) We also visited the stadium where the first modern Olympics were held. It's interesting to learn about Greek history - interesting because I know so shamefully little about it. Athens was not quite what I expected. I think I anticipate skyscrapers in capitals, and I'm usually wrong. It was hot and crowded and big and gray and concrete and urban. Athens, was named for the goddess Athena (no kidding) because she presented the people of the city with olive branches unlike her brother, who was also vying for the city name and presented them with food. I would love to learn more about Greek mythology. Is there like a condensed story book version of all the gods and goddesses and their tales?

Also, remember on My Big Fat Greek Wedding when the father keeps telling people how all the words come from Greek? The whole, give me a word, any word, and I'll tell you the Greek word it originated from? Remember? Okay. Basically that was our tour guide. She gave us at least a half dozen vocab lessons in the course of an hour. It made me chuckle.

Today, oh so early in the morning, we docked at Mykonos and took a tour of the island of Delos before going into the city. The island of Delos is supposed to be the birthplace of Apollo and has not been inhabited since 100 BC. It was at one time a pretty cosmopolitan city on important trade routes. What is there now are ruins some thousand odd years old. It was an interesting tour - not a pretty place, but fascinating when the history is read.

Otherwise, Mykonos is beautiful. Hardly anything is green; its all dust. But the ocean is blue like saphire, deep and beautiful. And the houses are white trimmed in royal blue built on the hills by the coast. Mostly, I think Mykonos also relies heavily on tourism.

It may be a few days before you hear from me again. Don't despair.

MC

basilica e la fel ca faimoasa basilique de sacre-coeur din paris.

e inalta de 89m si 167m lungime, fiind a 5-a biserica din lume, ca marime.
privelistea de sus.. face mult mai mult de 3 euro cat e taxa de intrare

iata:

A doua zi, cu forte proaspete am mers sa vizitam Domul Invalizilor in mod serios. Am trecut prin Place de la Concorde, apoi am direct la Dom. Aici am vazut mormantul lui Napoleon, o racla mare din lemn in care e pastrat trupul celui mai mare francez al tuturor timpurilor (OK, stiu, era corsican dar, ma rog...). Pentru ca eram in zona am intrat la Muzeul Militar. Este un loc pe care nu trebuie sa-l ratezi daca ajungi la Paris. Baietii astia au cocosat o gramada de popoare, asa ca au ce expune prin muzeu. De la armuri medievale si palose, pana la tunuri si arme moderne. Din pacate tocmai perioada lui Napoleon nu am putut-o vedea, fiind in renovare. Spre surprinderea noastra am gasit si 2 uniforme romanesti din primul si, respectiv, al doilea razboi mondial. Culmea, apartineau aceluiasi tip, care pe semne le donase muzeului. Am petrecut vreo 4 ore in muzeu si parca tot nu am vazut totul... Dar ne dureau picioarele ingrozitor, asa ca a trebuit sa luam o pauza de o bere si un sandvis.

Ne-am indreptat apoi spre Palatul Luxemburg, cu ale sale gradini superbe. Desi picura am reusit sa tragem cateva poze cu fantana Maria de Medici (mutata de nenea Hausmann, pentru ca nu avea loc sa traga un bulevard) si cu scaunele de tip "pensionarii din Cismigiu. Apoi am purces spre Montparnasse pentru ca auzisem ca acolo este un turn inalt de unde poti vedea orasul de sus. Am luat in acest cartier cea mai mare teapa a sejurului: bere "mare" (read: halba de 1 litru) la numai 20 de euro!!! Si asta la o terasa amarata pe trotuar! In fine, am urcat in turn. De fapt un zgarie nori modern care gazduia cel mai rapid lift din Europa. Senzatia cand faci 35 de secunde de la parter pana la 210 metri "altitudine" e intr-adevar deosebita. De sus de pe terasa Parisul se vedea superb, in ciuda vantului care ne deranja nitel. La intoarcere am mancat o lasagna foarte buna la un restaurant italian, am baut o bere si ne-am parcat la cotet.

In ziua urmatoare am mers in cea mai frumoasa zona a Parisului, cartierul Montmartre. Aici poti sa-ti faci o idee cum arata orasul inaintea perioadei marilor bulevarde si munumente. Strazi inguste si intortochiate, artisti ambulanti, pictori si zeci si zeci de carciumioare. Pe aici isi faceau veacul Touluse Lautrec, van Gogh si gasca. Am intrat un pic la Sacre Coeur si apoi am mers aiurea pe stradute. Am intrat la muzeul Dali, unde am aflat spre surprinderea mea (de nepriceput in ale artei) ca omul a fost si sculptor, chiar unul foarte bun! Mi-a placut in mod deosebit o serie de litografii pe tema Alice in tara minunilor, si un straniu autoportret al mustaciosului. Pe scara de la iesire era expusa o suita de fotografii insotite de un pseudo-interviu cu Dali, avand ca tema... mustata individului. Nu mai e nevoie sa spun ca tipul era un nebun simpatic. Apoi am facut un popas la o terasa in compania selecta a unor tineri artisti de renume.

Per pedes frumusel am ajuns apoi in Place Pigalle, cu ale sale tentatii usor obscene, am vazut Moulin Rouge (evident nu am baut o bere inauntru :) ) si apoi am mers spre Opera. Am vazut in treacat o superba catedrala gotica, Eglise de la Trinite, asezata intr-un cartier construit capo-fine la ordinul lui Napoleun al treilea la 1851. Am mancat un sandvis in fata la Louvre, in gradinile Tuilleries si am facut planul pentru dupa-amiaza.

Pentru ca vremea era buna am hotarat sa mergem o tura pe Sena cu celebrele Bateaux Mouches. Un tur costa 8 euro si intr-o ora si ceva am vazut de la bordul vaporasului toate atractiile din Ille de la Cite, Notre Dame, Palatul Louvre, apoi ne-am intors spre o zona mai urata de blocuri turn optzeciste (opera lui Mitterand pe care francezii il tin minte si azi pentru asta). Aici este si o replica la scara a Statuii Libertatii (cadou al Frantei pentru americani) care a servit sculptorului drept model. Am trecut pe sub zecile de poduri si seara arunca lumini superbe asupra cladirilor si raului, iar Turnul Eiffel aparea si el ca un omniprezent simbol al Parisului. Franti de oboseala am mers acasa. Usor - usor ajungeam la mijlocul saptamanii.

[ Aici ziua 1]

A! Montmartre! Şi cocoţată pe Montmartre, Bazilica Sacre-Coeur veghează Parisul de sus. După ce urci milionul de trepte pentru a ajunge acolo (milion zic eu, pentru că simţeam că mă rup în două) ai parte de o privelişte frumoasă a Parisului.

Chiar la intrarea în biserică, o femeie între două vârste, arsă de soare (sic!), mă abordează în franceză. Strânge bani pentru o asociaţie de nevăzători. "Şi mai merge treaba asta?", o întreb în română. "Greu, nu prea mai pun ăştia botu'. N-ai o ţigară?", îmi răspunde. Îi dau o ţigară şi intru.

Bazilica a fost construită în onoarea militarilor francezi ucişi pe câmpul de luptă în războiul franco-prusac din 1870. Construirea ei a durat 46 de ani şi s-a terminat în 1926. Intrarea este străjuită de două statui, una reprezentând-o pe Ioana D'Arc, cealaltă pe Sf. Ludovic. În interior se află inima unuia dintre fondatori, Alexandre Legentil.

În apropiere de bazilică se află celebra Place du Tertre, o zonă plină de restaurante în care pictori mai mult sau mai puţin amatori îţi fac portretul la minut. În Montmartre au locuit de-a lungul timpul mulţi artişti: Dali, Picasso, Van Gogh, Renoir, Lautrec şi alţii. Sigur, sunt multe puncte de atracţie în zonă.

The days just keep running past me here, not matter what I try to do to stop them. Things fall into routine: Mom gets up at 6ish, bragging about how early she can wake up, Linda follows an hour or so later, while Emily and I somehow manage to sleep first until 9, then 9:30, then into the 10's. Linda believes our strange sleep schedules are due to the walking we do each day. Then we take the Metro into Paris, see the sights, grab lunch at some random cafe/bistro/restaurant, continue around Paris and see maybe one more then, then take the Metro home just in time for dinner. Afterwards, we sit back for coffee (Italian expresso, very small) and talk for another hour or so after which I take my shower, grab a few minutes' worth of computer time, read while Emily checks email, and then it's time to sleep again. By this time, it's very late; it doesn't get dark here until 11ish.

SO. Since I have last updated, we have been to, what feels like to me, "all over Paris." Wednesday, Marie-Joseph, Mom, Linda, and myself (Emily had to stay home with a sick stomach) went and saw NotreDame. My. Favorite. I've wanted to see it all my life, more then the Eiffel Tower, more than the Mona Lisa, more than anything in France. I don't think I was disappointed. I got chills once inside the church. We walked around in a counter-clockwise circle, examining the incredible detail of the alters. It would have been magical - had it not been, of course, for the dozens upon dozens of people taking pictures with their flashcameras (you idiots, how many times do you have to be told what damage a flash can do before finally turning the freaking thing off?!), and people chattering away on their cell phones. Come on, guys, it's Notre Dame. 

Anyway.

In the midst of our circle around the church, the priest finished his sermon and, suddenly, I heard incredible a cappella emanating from somewhere. I thought maybe they had a choir singing up front after the mass, so I rushed past the shuffling crowd to join the tourists at the alter. There was no choir, of course, just a recording echoing around the many nooks and crannies of the cathedral. But, standing there, feeling the light of the stained glass windows wash over me, I really, really was touched. There were tears. Yes, embarassingly, there were tears.

The next day, Mom and I voyaged into Paris alone (Linda stayed home with sick Emily again) to see the Louvre. It was, of course, incredible, but mostly incredibly confusing. There seemed to be millions of floors and wings and galleries. Also, according to an informationalist at the desk, most of the Impressionist paintings were at the Musée d'Orsay, which was what I wanted to see. Ah well. All the paintings and sculptures were amazing. I looked around for the Da Vinci's (excluding the Mona Lisa) aimlessly but couldn't find them. We wandered into a random room; I was impressed by the larger-than-life painting on the wall. It was enormous, intricate, inspiring. And that was, of course, when I turned around, and, ye, behold: A wall, and this tiny little painting in the middle, the most famous image in, perhaps, the world. Our lady, the Mona Lisa. The crowds of people gathering to take photos was the most impressive aspect: all these people, for just a face? It took me ten entire minutes just to make my way to the front to see her. It really was no big deal, especially with the light shining on her glass window making her nearly impossible to actually make out. So, no, the Mona Lisa was not my favorite.

So, we stopped for a much-needed break at Starbucks (I had my usual latte with added expresso, very unusual for me), and thus we had enough energy to continue on throughout the museum. For our last few scrounged-up minutes we hurried through the collection of French art and finally found their limited selection of Impressionist: Monet, Renoir, etc. Very nice. We made our way home safely on the Metro and ate dinner at the Bostyns as the rain poured outside.

The next day, Henri acted as our tour guide and took us through Paris to see, well, everything. We wound our way through a gorgeous part of the city (something starting with an M); the intertwining roads slanted up a steep hill for ages. We went past street hawkers (I got my finger wrapped in a piece of string before the others pried me away), gambling (Henri: "You see? The guy who wins is always his friend") and tourist shops. I managed to get a few gifts for people, including a Chat Noir poster for my dorm room next year. We kept walking until we hit Sacre Coeur, an absolutely breathtaking basilica. This, too, I loved. The view was amazing (we could see just a little of the Eiffel Tour) and this guy was playing the violin for euros; at the time, he was doing a song I knew, "Le Temps des Cathedrales," one of my favorites from the musical,  "Notre Dame de Paris."

The rest of the day was compromised of an ice cream cone (a famous French brand), searching mecilessly for "L'Etranger," sifting through posters and street gadgets, and boiling to death on the Metro. In the evening, we played an American game with the Bostyns and, though I was terrible, my team won.

How can it have already been a week?

Tonight, we attend Le Fetes de Musique, a famous music festival in France where music is found on every corner. Let's see how this goes.

Finally entering the sacred heart of a church, we passed a man whose sole job was to ensure that, as the people walked into this place of holy worship, silence was maintained. Best of all, everyone entering listened. There was that deafening hush that sounds like the pitch black of a winter night looks. No one’s cameras were out. As I walked through the church, I could see people legitimately enjoying the service for its religious purpose. The church had obviously refused to compromise its religious values in the face of tourism. The gift shop was kept as a separate entity from the church itself. The only object which was for sale was candles. Still, these candles were bought as donations to the church. Even further, these candles were used to light up the church by natural means, so not to be lit by the electric lights of modernity.

Most of all, the people walking through this church seemed to understand a little something about respecting what is so obviously sacred. I’ve never been an ultra-religious type of person, never fanatical about making services on every Sunday, but that did not matter much walking through this cathedral. I was still moved, a certain haunting presence was with me; not haunting in a bad way, just haunting in the sense that there was something more than beautiful white architecture within and among these walls. I do not make too much out of these feelings, but what I do gather is that this is largely in part because Sacre Coeur simply is conducive to feelings such as the ones within me at that moment. If a person was to feel obliged to get down on their knees and pray, it was by all means possible. For there was room in the pews, there was a mood that allowed that kind of reflective thought, there was a concerted effort to stick to the roots of what upon which the massive cathedral was built—a little prayer here and there and some wholesome, genuine religion..

However, Paris proved not to be built upon churches which have remained purely untainted. Our next Roman Catholic cathedral of interest was the storied Notre Dame. Thinking I was due for another religious experience, I excitedly entered this building, a building of even more epic proportion than the Sacre Coeur. The archaic sculptures of apostles and Jesus and even the devil created a real sense of authenticity. Unfortunately, walking into this building, there was no woman praying, there was no man “SHHHHHH-ing” the oncoming traffic, there was no restriction on photography. Instead, we were greeted by the people at the gift shop located conveniently in front of the largest piece of stain glass I had ever seen. We were then shoved in front of what looked more like an exhibit at Le Louvre than one of the most historical churches in the world. What better sign that this church is as much as business as anything is there than the fact that in order to see certain parts of the church, it required money!? A line was crossed in which religion, a personal, self-motivated, spiritual aspect of life turned into a profit. In the back of my mind, I was reminded of paying off grievances with money to make it into heaven in the Old Catholic church. All in all, models, roped off areas, and other gimmicky set-ups for tourists, not religious members, pleasures dominated the walk way. The best way to sum up how much of a farce this place had become, I offer an anecdote. In trying to catch a glimpse of the altar, at least five tourists leaped in front of me with their Canon Digital Camera PowerShot 4000s, flash fully loaded, and started snapping away. Needless to say, I could not find my way to the front of the line to actually absorb the effect of what promised to be an amazing religious building.

So, no, I did not feel anything. No shivers were sent down my spine. No desire to pray to God entered my body. I tried to imagine a service happening here. I tried to envision altar boys, the communion, a zealous minister and his sermon. But I was just numb. I understand how people make such comments as “Art is my religion.” For, walking through Le Louvre, seeing the passion of the dozens upon dozens of painters moved by Jesus Christ’s martyrdom, seeing non-religious paintings like “The Young Girl” that so obviously moved the painters and millions whose eyes have set on it since, I was far more moved that at any point in Notre Dame. It’s no wonder why apathy was the only emotion running through my veins from beginning to end of my trip through this Notre Dame either because circuses usually do not affiliate closely with the Lord Jesus anyway.

Je vous en ai parlé hier, j'ai fait une petite balade au Sacré Coeur hier soir avant de rentrer chez moi. Cet endroit me détend et me rend fière d'habiter à Paris. Pourquoi ? D'une parce que c'est beau mais surtout c'est magique et mystérieux de voir la ville du dessus, sans l'effervescence que l'on connaît...

Voici ma sélection de photos...

Saurez-vous trouver pourquoi j'aime bien cette photo ? Cherchez bien et vous verrez un petit animal tout charmant, un hôte parisien que j'accueillerais bien chez moi...

J'adore ces petits morceaux d'architecture parisienne dont la fonction première n'est plus mais qui donnent du cachet à cette ville que l'on aime tant. Cette lanterne encadre parfaitement les immeubles au loin, voilà pourquoi j'ai pris cette photo...

Le noir & blanc donne tellement de cachet aux immeubles... Déjà que je suis une dingue des immeubles parisiens -vous l'aurez compris- mais en plus en N&B, raah j'adore quoi !

Regardez moi ce ciel, une pure merveille !!! D'habitude j'arrive toujours à voir des choses dans les nuages, des personnages ou des histoires, mais là j'avoue que je ne vois rien. Le soir mes yeux sont tellement dans le brouillard... Sur cette photo j'aime le soleil qui perce les nuages et éclaire seulement une partie de la ville !

Comme pour le carrousel, je vais mettre toutes mes photos sur mon flickr.

J'aime les balades du soir dans Paris, rien de mieux pour se détendre et oublier le stress de mes longues journées de travail ! Et il y a des choses à découvrir dans cette ville si belle et mystérieuse... Mais je ne vous cache pas qu'un itinéraire devient de plus en plus récurrent, au détriment d'autres lieux magiques, tant pis, je ne suis pas une bonne touriste ! Ce lieu c'est la basilique du Sacré Cœur et ses alentours. Rien d'original vous me direz mais bon, j'aime le Paris de notre Amélie Poulain nationale... J'ai trainé 1h30 avec dans la main mon appareil photo prêt à mitrailler... Et j'ai mitraillé !

Je ne vais pas vous publier toutes les photos dans cet article, ce serait bien trop long, alors j'ai choisi le carrousel parce que ça nous rappelle à tous notre enfance... Et que ça fait du bien de replonger dans notre période d'innocence... Petit retour en arrière...

Pour ma part ça me rappelle les petits caprices -j'ai bien dit petits- auprès de mes parents et la fierté que je ressentais une fois montée sur le fameux cheval. Car oui, y a pas à dire, le carrousel c'est le cheval !! Et pas celui qui ne bouge pas, non je vous parle du cheval qui bouge de haut en bas. Le temps de quelques tours de manège on se prend presque pour une vraie cavalière...

Retrouvez toutes mes photos sur mon flickr... Je me mets enfin à la page !

Our first destination was Sacre Coeur, a massive cathedral constructed in the early to mid 19^th century just a few blocks from our hostel. Step after step, stair after stair we ascended the staircases towards our destined peak, the Basilica of Paris, with its vaulted roofs and magnificent stained glass. We were very impressed by the solemn glory of the gothic masterpiece and walked around the cathedral with the other tourists, in awe of the various statues and paintings hung near all the altars, indeed we were rendered silent by the might of the building itself and its commanding orientation at the peak of Paris. After surveying the Parisian vista for minutes on end we decided to descend from the mount and explore the rest of Montmartre while searching for the Moulin de la Galette.

The Moulin de la Galette served as a mill from about 1620 until 1873, at which time the family’s remaining son turned the site into one of Paris’s epicenters for elite, artsy soirées. It was the site of the Parisian Alamo, with the last of four brothers dying in one of the wings of the windmill while fighting “tooth and nail” (as the placard put it in French) against the invading Prussians. The man who turned the Moulin de la Galette into the hipster spot in Paris for Renoir, Van Gogh, et al was the son of that very brave last Brother, family name Debray. There is a famous painting of the interior gardens of the Moulin de la Galette by Renoir, but since the property is now a private residence except for a restaurant on the corner with its own windmill to attract ignorant tourists, and because our project deals with landscapes, we chose to focus on a slightly lesser known painting by Van Gogh of the buildings exterior and surrounding neighborhood. So, we found it, and moved along in pursuit of the Musee Nissim and Musee Moreau—sloshing through puddle after puddle of rain along the way. Actually, to be perfectly honest, I was jumping into them.

I discovered these two museums while reading a book about an American man’s twenty years spent in Paris titled The Flaneur. The Musee Moreau houses a collection of paintings, stained glass, drawings, and sculptures by Gustav Moreau, a contemporary and close friend of the poet Charles Baudelaire. Moreau once accused Baudelaire of attempting to change the world through flowers in his poetry. Baudelaire responded to Moreau questioning how he planned to change the world through paintings of jewelry. Gustav Moreau, to the best of my knowledge, was gay and loved both jewelry and the end of the world. These fascinations are equally represented through many of his works of art.

The Musee Nissim was established because of a daughter’s promise to her dying and severely depressed father. After bearing two children, his wife ran off with an Italian stableboy never to be seen again and as a result the newly-found bachelor became obsessed with collecting impressionist and neo-impressionist art and spent most of his family’s fortune amassing work after work by the likes of Monet, Manet, and Pissarro. After his son died as a pilot in the first World War he became a recluse and refused to speak with anyone except museum curators and his daughter. Just before he died, he told his daughter he wished to have a museum constructed to display his private holdings named in honor of his son. The museum was finally completed in 1935 under his daughter’s supervision. Sadly, because of the family’s Jewish heritage and despite their standing in French high society, the daughter and her family were all taken to Auschwitz in 1942 where they died along with the family’s name.

To get back on track, we worked our way westward from the Moulin de la Galette over to the Musee Nissim only to find it closed, with Adam and I left standing in the rain, two against nature. Luckily, the Parc Monceau was nearby with a nice little shelter to shield us from the rain. We took full advantage of this structure, ate the remains of our delicious English cakes prepared by none other than Lady Erica of Buckhurst Hill, and soon enjoyed the engulfing company of thirty or so Parisian high school children all on their lunch break and itching to both escape the confines of their educational prison and the buckets of rain falling from the sky. Because of the wonderful company/crowd under our hut Adam and I soon departed and began to navigate our way towards the Musee Moreau, which, upon arrival, we discovered to also be closed.

Thus it was that we discovered one of the great truths of Paris: all museums are closed on Tuesdays, and if not on Tuesday then for sure on Monday. Feeling that we had thoroughly wasted a day we decided to be true flaneurs and wander around Paris without a mission or a goal, which led us to the river Seine, which we strolled along for some time while marveling at the grand buildings on the Ile de la Cite, especially Notre Dame, which towers over its neighbors. Our loop then brought us back to the right bank to see the Centre Georges Pompidou, which houses the Museum of Modern Art, which was closed (mais bien sur!), but the unique inside-out design of the building is still worthwhile even from the plaza in front, becquae while the water pipes, heating ducts, and electricity wires are on the external surface of the building, the interior space is left free and open for virtually any purpose.

Later that night, after a homecooked meal of pasta and a baguette, word got round of a neighborhood jazz club jam session. Being quite the connoisseurs of jazz, Adam and I decided to check this place out. The club was a stone’s throw from the Moulin Rouge, in the heart of Paris’s red light district, but easily the most low-key street on the block. The jazz club was below the bar, in a sort of cave. Within minutes it became much more than a cave, transforming into a veritable cavern of treasure filled with mellifluous voices and some of the most cohesive jazz I’ve seen live and in such an intimate setting. Most songs were actually sung in English, despite a predominately French audience (15 of the 20 people in attendance), with interspersed periods of authentic scat. Requests were summoned and I gladly asked to hear “Corcovado” a song made famous by Tom Jobim, Stan Getz, and Astrud Gilberto during the height of Brazil’s bossa nova movement. The night lasted for hours, and without a cover charge at the door the prices of drinks seemed very reasonable, so it was that the music and reveling continued until the wee hours of the morning, at which point a need for sleep began to take precedence over a need for more music and it was time to retreat to a moth-eaten bed with itchy sheets and an obese, snoring Indian man as bunkmate.

Je tente de maintenir la tête droite depuis ce matin, ben pas moyen !

Si je calcule bien, depuis lundi 15h, j'ai :

5h de route +
une nuit qu'on pourra difficilement nommée de douce +
1h30 de recherche de chouette +

3h de préparation, essorage, réflexion, organisation, mémorisation, déduction, structuration, trituration .. + 
25 minutes de blabla au jury seule au monde, faut bien le dire +
45 minutes de nouvel essorage mais là, par le jury : questions, réflexion, réponse, tentative d'ignorer l'ironie, le dédain, le mépris, le doute qui s'installe, les questions à double sens, le ton ... infantilisant, auquel on ajoute un soupçon de tentative de compréhension de certaines questions pas claires du tout +
30 minutes pour tenter de me souvenir qui je suis +
10 minutes pour rejoindre ma voiture sagement installée en plein soleil +
5h30 de route parce que ouffff faut remonter et pas s'endormir et s'arrêter pour les pauses café - pipi +

une nuit trés courte, pas trouvé le sommeil avant 2h du matin et debout 8h (la faim, ha la faim qui réveille)

ça nous donne une compote de pomme terrible !

Et savez quoi ?

Demain, je remets ça : debout 5h30, départ pour Paris : musée Grévin + Sacré Coeur + Montmartre .... trouvez pas que ça fait beaucoup pour un seul homme ?
Alors, je ne vous dis pas pour une femme !

Tonight was the student dinner.  We went to LeDoyen which has 3 Michelin stars, which basically means it's one of the best restaurants in Paris, which is a big deal.  The restaurant is located right on the Champs Elysee between Place de Concorde and where the real commercial part starts.  It looks like a beautiful house in the middle of the woods, pretty cool considering that two blocks either way and you're hit with some of the busiest most touristy parts of the city.  Dinner was amazing.  It started with an open bar and hot passed hors d'oeuvres.  My favorite were these little tiny vegetarian egg rolls.  They were absolutely amazing and I'm actually doing a play on them during my second do what you want workshop, but I haven't even talked about my first one yet so I'll explain later.  The pre-appetizer was a white asparagus puree with a parmasean crisp, creme fraiche, and black truffles.  Again, amazing.  I actually used the asparagus puree in my first do anything workshop.  Apparently I'm quite the copycat.  This dish was probably my favorite thing we were served, not that everything else wasn't wonderful, but this dish was just perfectly put together.  The next dish, the appetizer, was foie gras with a passion fruit gel followed by our main dish of filet mignon wrapped in duxelles and puff pastry served with a red wine truffle sauce.  The predessert was this incredibly rich coffee mousse with a coffee gel and a coffee bean crisp.  It was good but man was it strong!  The main dessert was a dice of pineapple with coconut foam, a sugar crisp, and banana sorbet.  It was yummy but by that point I could barely eat any more...although if it were anything chocolate I probably would have managed.  I ended up just eating the pineapple and giving my banana sorbet away to a friend who loved it.  You would think dinner would be over at this point but no, we still have post dessert and espresso.  The post dessert was an array of mini desserts, lemon macaroons, chocolate tarts, and pound cake.  I ended up going home right after dinner so I could get some sleep before my parents came in the next day.

April 12: My Parents Come to Paris

I picked my parents up in the morning and brought them in to Paris on the train.  About halfway through the ride, my Dad ended up getting his camera out of his luggage and started taking photos of the trains and yards we passed on the way in.  Here's a little glimpse of what my parents did during their stay: Eiffel tower, Louvre, Orsay, Luxembourg gardens, Cosi, mussels and wine at a cafe (Mom w/ me), Versailles, trainwatching (Dad), shopping at Galleries Lafayette (Mom w/ me), Marmottan museum, Carnavalet museum, falafels in the Marais, Sacre Coeur/Montmartre, walkingwalkingwalking, Notre Dame, Berthillion, Pierre Hermes (Mom w/ me), Poilane (Mom w/ me), Rue Cler, Invalides, view of Eiffel tower from Trocadero, Champs-Elysee, Jardin des Plantes (Dad), a trip to the open air market on Convention (which my Dad is still talking about) and they also sat in on one of my demo classes.

April 15: Mom and Dad sit in on demo/ Every Time I Die concert

Today my parents came to my demo class.  Chef Poupard made ceviche of cod with guacamole, stuffed veal with foie gras and stuffed tomatoes, and stuffed dates wrapped in phyllo dough with saffron ice cream.  They loved the class and my mom practically bought out the school store.  My Dad was so excited that the chef made ice cream that he didn't even balk at the egg yolks or saffron flavor that was in it.  Like a good daughter, I gave him my portion and got him some extra from the leftovers.  I made the veal the next day and luckily I have some good friends that gave me their veal so we had plenty to eat.

That night I went to the Every Time I Die concert with Merrie and Carter.  The concert was at a little venue in Parc de la Villette which I believe was created to confuse people.  The parc is giant with all of these red weird looking buildings and they are all concert venues. They aren't just similar looking, they are also set inside foliage so you kind of see a red building, walk all the way over there, and then it's the wrong one.  Anyway, we found the place and we got there during the second band but were still able to get all the way to the front.  The show was awesome except for the point at which Merrie and Carter were assaulted by two kids that the idiotic security guard pushed from the stage into them.  You can check it out here.   I also put up my videos from the show you can see them here.  At the end of the show the guys in the band started pulling up fans (something they've done a lot and had some trouble with too) but they started with me and then I grabbed Merrie and Carter.  Carter was booted off by the security guard so Merrie and I dodged him and ran toward the back of the stage near the drums and danced together away from the rest of the kids onstage who were doing their crazy windmills and kicks and punches.  You can see video of that here.  All in all it was a fun show and later that night Merrie and Carter and I went out for drinks.

April 17: Parents at the Orsay, Me at the International Festival

While my parents went to the Orsay museum, I went to an international festival with Priska, Morgan, and Bruno.  I only went because I really wanted to get out of my apartment but it ended up being awesome.  There was tons of free food and drinks and music.  The highlight though may have been the Miller Lite I had at the USA tent, hilarious.  I brought back lots of food and desserts for my parents, it looked like a box of powdered sugar exploded in my purse!

Alright, I'm taking a break I'll do another update later with the rest of the hits and with photos!

Uansett, det handlet iallefall om reiser, derfor overskriften. Jeg kom egentlig inn på det etter
å ha lest Cathrine sitt blogginnlegg, der hun stilte spørsmålet "Hvis du fikk gjenoppleve en ting i livet ditt, hva ville du gjenopplevd? Og ville du gjort noe anderledes?". En ting jeg ville gjenopplevd? Hmmm. Tror det må bli da jeg satt helt alene i trappen ved Sacré-Coeur, med Tori Amos i ørene, solen skinnende på himmelen og et kamera dinglende rundt halsen. Jeg følte meg så levende. En utrolig
fantastisk følelse som gjorde noe med meg. Enkelt, men slik var det.
Og det får meg til å ville reise. Hvorsomhelst egentlig, bare oppleve. Verden byr på så utrolig mye.
Hadde jeg bare hatt tiden. En gang skal jeg tilbake til Paris. Sånn omtrent på denne tiden av året.
En gang i fremtiden.

Over til i dag, som forøvrig har vært en ganske så nydelig dag.
Siden solen har strålt i dag også, ble det grilling hos min kjære Line, sammen med Cathrine også.
Grillmat er en fin ting, og dele årets første grilling med to av menneskene som betyr uhorvelig mye
for meg, det er jeg ikke lei meg for ;)

Jeg har seriøst ikke ledd så mye på lenge, og av noe så meningsløst som en samtale om matfetish
startet hele greia. Nesten så jeg har vondt i magen enda.
Herlige menneskene! De er bare best. Venner er en fantastisk oppfinnelse <3 Et gammelt ordtak sier
"Venner er den familien du velger selv". Jeg liker det ordtaket.

Danmark på torsdag. Woho. Og nå har jeg endelig fått fingeren ut og sjekket busstidene til og med.
Er bare litt treig i avtrekkeren kan du si ;) Gøy skal det bli uansett.