Mon Anniversaire de 21 ans!

I spent a great weekend celebrating my birthday in Amsterdam. Here's a little photojournal of the fun times...

The Story of Four Girls In A Male City

Amsterdam - so beautiful by night. This is what I saw when I arrived! It really is amazing. It's all lit up like a Christmas village.

Christen and I out celebrating the bday!

Emily and Karissa, Christen's roommates from Barcelona. They were so much fun!

Sunny day in Amsterdam! Haha, this was about the only time... This is some random museum. We didn't go in though. We had just come out of the Van Gogh museum, which was interesting, but kind of depressing at the end. No Van Gogh nights for us, we'll leave the absinthe and ear-cutting to the tortured artists.


Enjoying what was seriously the most amazing waffle ever. Tulips? Nah. Go to Amsterdam for the waffles.

Four girls in a male city. There's a red light district, dutch beer brands everywhere, the stores only stay open til 6pm (guys get tired of shopping), and all the stores are men's clothing anyway. We're making a movie.

The house that Anne Frank hid in with 7 other people...now a museum. It was pretty moving...but also a little saddening at the end. Amsterdam, Dark Museum Capital of the World.


Me and Christen along the canal on my birthday! PS, what is with me and this yellow sweater? I think I am wearing it in about every picture there is of me in Europe. Don't worry, I have other clothes. I think.

Prinsengracht canal...of course we had another name for it...

Karissa and Emily, the two beauties in the pink scarves

Amsterdam in the late afternoon

The Story of All the Shrimp Balls You Can Eat For 7.50 E
Four American girls, standing outside the Chinese buffet. "Should we go in?" "Do we want 7.50 worth of Chinese food?" Before we make up our minds or walk away, this tiny Asian woman opens the door and rushes us in. "Come in! Come in! Only 7.50! All you can eat! Try it! Try anything you like! It's all good! We have rice, egg roll, vegetable! Anything you like! Here! Try this shrimp ball! It's good! Eat as much as you like!" We reluctantly take the fried shrimp balls she force-feeds us. It tastes ok. "Come on in! Come! Sit down! You try anything you like!" We shrug and choose a table. Christen isn't so hungry anymore: "Why is she so pushy? Why does she want us to eat here so much? There's something not right about this!" Asian lady comes back. "You want buffet? It's good, try anything you want! You take plate!" We look back at each other, unsure. "Yes, try it! Come here! Come back with me! You try dumplings!" We are dragged to the back of the restaurant to the dumpling table. She opens the basket that says "not ready yet!!!" and hands Karissa a dumpling and walks away. "No! don't eat that! put it back!" we hiss. "no, not back in the basket! in the trash can!" (conveniently next to the dumpling table). We hurry out of the restaurant, leaving the pleading Asian woman behind in our dust. 10 minutes later, there is a bad aftertaste of overly salty shrimp ball in our mouths. But 7.50 left in our wallets, and probably a distinct lack of cat-meat related food poisoning.

The Story of All You Can Eat...But No More for 9.50
We apparently can't get enough of dubious Dutch-slash-Pan-Asian. We ended up having dinner at the chinese buffet where you can eat all you want in an hour. But if you leave anything on your plate, they charge you another 9.50. And they also have a cat running around the restaurant. And no TP in the bathroom. And four very, VERy loud obnoxious American girls. What a hilarious night.

Well, that's enough stories for one entry.

Upcoming Plans (don't you love this part):
1) Sweden is off. Plans to go Spain to enjoy sun instead.
2) Mom and Dad
3) Corsica and Nice & nearby villages. No further west than Marseille, probably. Southwest France will be for another weekend.

le printemps est arrivé!

The story of why we sang Aretha Franklin songs in the street:
Happy Spring everyone! It is beautiful in Lyon now. The sun is shining, it's warm enough to not have to wear a scarf (although it's recommended still to be stylish :) ). If you can measure spring by when you don't need a jacket anymore, it has definitely arrived because I didn't need one when I went running today. Man, running in the warm spring breeze is the best thing ever. Actually, running in the warm spring breeze in France is the best thing ever. In fact most things in France this semester are the best thing ever. So much elation going on in my head right now...

The story of what happens when you have a student discount:
I finally got myself to the Musée des Beaux-Arts (museum of fine arts) yesterday. Free student admission, I just waltzed right in! It was not spectacular, but still very nice, very much the "city fine arts museum" that many French towns seem to have. I browsed through half of it before they closed, seeing mostly paintings. There was something I found interesting - a series of paintings that this one artist had worked on for most of his career, and each painting went along with parts of a long poem that he wrote. Other than that, just your average offering of religious and impressionistic works. I didn't get to see the floor with antiquities, that will be for another day!

I turn 21 in 3 days!! Stay tuned for The Story of Four Girls in Amsterdam.

The story of why I am trying to contain my excitement:
Finally, I have decided when and where I am going to be traveling next month. Before it was just up in the air, now there is actually a plan! REALLY super excited about April. It is going to be the best month yet!
Upcoming Plans:
1) Sweden, ie, The Story of Laura trying to tell Ove things in bad Swedish and it being really kinda hilarious.
2) Parents are visiting! ie, the Story of Laura Being a Translator For the Week.
3) South of France/Corsica for spring break with Louise, ie, The Story of Two Girls vs The Island Folk.

The Story Of...

It certainly has been a week of ups and downs.

The story of how the past week turned into an honorary vacation:
The CPE demonstrations are turning everything into a bit of chaos and confusion. I haven't had class for a week now. Granted, I only have it 3 days a week, but an unexpected vacation like this is surprising, to say the least! It hardly feels like a vacation when we are waiting on a day-to-day basis to hear if there are classes. The break is nothing to complain about, but I would like to have my schedule and my education back soon. Why would they do this, you ask? From my understanding, it is not enough for them to demonstrate in the streets, they must interrupt a government function (like university classes) to make a greater statement to the government. A very interesting time period in France, I must say! But no, there is no violence in the streets in Lyon, and the demonstrations are even a little "fun" to watch. I will keep you all posted.

The story of how our apartment turned green:
It was another great weekend here in Lyon. I didn't get to go to Annecy as hoped, but it will be there another weekend. On Thursday, I could have been moping around the house all day (that's another story), but instead I went out with Caro to buy some beautiful plants for our apartment. We got fresh herbs (chives, cilantro, mint, and basil seeds) to eat - so scrumptious - and some flowers and leafy plants as well! Botanic is a fabulous wonderland of greenery! We really did have to drag ourselves out of that store. So I um, "grow up," haha (I will be this Friday!!), I've decided I will have a big garden full of lots of plants and flowers.

A story that ends with "and then I found 5 euros!":
Louise and I are right on schedule, for our preparation for the Lyon 10K. I'm looking forward to getting more into the training. Go team "...Et Puis J'ai Trouvé 5 Euros!" (By the way, to clear up any confusion, AHEM, that's for you Givanni, Louise is a girl's name..."So, um, do you have a new boyfriend? I see you are hanging out with this Louise guy a lot." Haha!!) Anyway. Saturday, instead of running around the bridges by the river like usual (that gets old), we decided to run up and into the park so we could go to Botanic (haha, yes, again) afterwards. I always enjoy a change of pace and more nature on a sunny day. At the store, we spotted some clay, unpainted pots next to some pretty painted ones. "Dude, why buy those when we can paint our own?" So more plants, more pots, and a paint-finding mission later, we have some beautiful pots, and they are called "the blending of earth and sky" and "the blending of sea and fire." Green/blue and red/blue for you less poetic ones out there.

The Story of How St. Patricks Day got celebrated by Canadian folk:
St Patrick's Day is not really a huge deal in France, at least it wasn't when we went to see some French friends of Olivia's at the local, um, Danish, pub. (I think they were a little confused on the concept.) There was no wearing of green, just a few "Irish" hats and bright orange wigs. Interestingly enough, there was a Canadian flag in the Danish pub on the Irish holiday.

The Story of Me Going To the Theatre 5 Minutes Before the Show:
In theatre news, I saw a good play on Saturday night, called Le Jeu de l'amour et du hasard (the game of love and "hazard"/gambling), by Marivaux (18th century, if i'm not mistaken). I was really excited that this was in Lyon at le Theatre de la Croix Rousse because I read this last semester, and it was one of my favorites. This particular production was much different than how I had imagined the play! The set was VERY minimalist, with only some unpainted wooden backdrops, doors, and a staircase. Lots more dramatic falling on the floor and romantic approaches than I would have imagined! Add some more singing and you would have had an opera. Now I know what French theatre is really supposed to look like.

The Story Of Upcoming plans:
The Netherlands with Christen to celebrate my birthday! Hello Amsterdam!!

The "On verra"

A decision was reached. We went out in the rain, after la fete chez les voisins didn't work out (trop de monde!), to Ayers Rock Cafe. 2 bridges of walking later, Wet Jacket and Drippy Purse go home, leaving Soaked Pants and Bleeding Mascara to persist on to the café. Sketchy I and Sketchy II greet us with an offer to warm up with dancing with them, but only them. We refuse by pretending not to understand "juh nay parle pass?". The sound of conversations only 5 inches from our ears and sweaty bodies pushing past us turn us off in search of more ambiant surroundings. Soaked Pants becomes Growling Belly, and the only kebab shop still open welcomes us with its meat pockets of absolute scrumptiousness and free espresso for being such good patrons. No-Longer-Growling-Belly and No-Longer-Bleeding-Mascara now satisfied and dry, we "non, nous sommes americaines" our way through questions of our nationality, questions of if there are Turks in the States, and questions (offers, rather) of international friendship. A good night, with plenty of promise for future good times.

Running news:
It is decided. Laura and Louise Attack the Marathon de Lyon! (louise attack is a french band...) 10 K (thats about 6 miles)...wish us bon courage!

the march birthday countdown begins...

So my birthday is officially in 14 days!
To celebrate, I'm going to the Netherlands with Christen (plus a couple of her friends are tagging along). We decided that was the best place since it will cost about the same for both of us to go and neither of us have been before! I'm really excited about the trip! I've been making a lot of "big trips" and saving my money on the weekends in between instead taking random little trips.

Anyway, the past few weeks I've been trying to focus on my classwork (semi-successfully) and doing fun things with friends (snow and sleet not holding us back ever!).

In religious news, last week I went to a church group at a local Catholic church (the one next to where they are building the department store. Classy, France, classy.) with a couple of my friends. The group is all in French, but it is not all that different from the ones I've gone to at UVA - songs, a priest, prayer. I actually understood most of the religious vocabulary - I didn't realize I knew that many religion-related words in French. I'll probably go again next week.

In political news, In French people are obsessed with demonstrations news, there has been a LOT of fuss of over the CPE that the government is passing. There are two sides to this...the bad part is that the young people here think that they will get fired after two years without any good explanation, the good part is that it is aimed to reduce unemployment and the amount of time that people spend doing internships after college; if you don't get fired, you have job security for a long time. But people are scared that they will be fired for things like getting pregnant. At Lyon 2, a lot of students have been on strike, busting into classes and stopping them (not any of mine though) , marching down the street along with other civil groups. My question is, would this law make employers more or less selective in hiring? The French students don't seem to ask that question, they are just focused on protesting, concerned that they will be fired without reason. Funny thing is that the employers don't seem to have anything to say about the CPE...

In athetic news, I've never been a runner - In the past I never understood the appeal of it...I always preferred to rollerblade, walk, ride my bike, or go to the gym. But since I have neither wheels nor an expensive gym membership here, combined with lots of free time, running has suddenly sounded a lot better these days :P So my goal is accomplish THIS within 9 weeks' time. Getting started was actually pretty easy...I've finished week 1 without getting discouraged one bit. Very few women run in France...and if they do it is on Sunday afternoons. So if I can run in France, I can get myself to run anywhere. That's why difficulties are there, right? Yes. It's perfect here too, the amount of time to walk down to the river is 5 minutes to warm up, and to make it around a few of the bridges and back takes exactly 20 minutues. Plus it's quiet and scenic there :)

Anyway, so I mention this to Louise... turns out she was doing the same plan last year! I couldn't believe it.
Louise: "so one day I was looking up couches on google, because we needed a new couch for our apartment, and I found the Couch Potato workout...so then I thought, forget the couch, I'll go running!"

Definitely much more interesting than how I started running. But on that note, we're going to run this together in the following weeks ...and THEN....the Lyon 5k. We're going to do it and we're going to get t-shirts and show them off at home along with our mad running skills. That's right.

In musical news, I did see a PHENOMENAL Mozart concert (Mozart's Requiem) at the Opera de Lyon. I was absolutely blown away - I had chills. The orchestra was impeccable, their interpretation was moving, and the chorus had an incredible blend. If I had had a seat, which I didn't since I had standing room tickets, I would have been on the edge of it :P

On that note, I've been listening to a lot more French music - *mostly* hip-hop and r&b - K-maro, MC Solaar, Tryo, NTM, Corneille, Amine, among others. Along with re-organizing my music collection :P

In news of coincidences, Caro and I discovered that we were actually at the same festival/concert at UVA two years ago (when she was visiting her cousin in the states!). That's so crazy, imagine, my future France roommate at Springfest and I didn't even know it!

In cheese news (YES THERE IS CHEESE NEWS. Just when you thought news could NOT possibly get any better), my new favorite is Saint Felicien - a soft cheese, a little bit softer than Brie, that's made in the Rhone-Alpes region - the kind I tried was probably made from cow's milk but it's also made from goat milk. Aged for at least 2 weeks.

In other gourmet news, I discovered that fennel and curry are best friends and taste excellent roasted in the oven with other spices and bouillon. Also great are crepes with caramelized clementines. Not to mention powdered soupe forestiere.

Alright, time to get some more of this work done...and maybe a random birthday party upstairs? On verra!

Winter Break in Normandy and Paris (part 2)

"Hmm want to go to Paris tonight?" Yes, so just like that, on a Wednesday night, Greg and I packed up and headed for the city. Greg's buddy Antoine (they have been friends all their lives) was gracious enough to host us in his apartment right outside the city in nearby Suresnes (pronounced something like "sue-wren" not "sirreznuhs"). And yes, you can TOTALLY see the Tour Eiffel from his apartment.

Yep. Definitely in France.

From his apartment at night...It sparkles every hour.

Greg, me, and Antoine. I hang out with Parisiens, dude.

Thursday, Greg and I went to the Tour Eiffel! It was a very cold cloudy Paris day, but I didn't let the horizon-obscuring fog stop me from having a good trip up to the very top! (we took the elevator...) On the 2nd level you can walk outside (it was cold and there were some flurries), but on the very top it is all glassed in so I didn't feel the dizzying height so much. Check out the view!

If you look closely you can see where the names are engraved.

Yay! I made it to the top!

La Seine



My new favorite picture of me ...


We also drove by the Arc de Triomphe and down the Champs-Elysees.

Lights from crazy Parisien drivers around the Arc de Triomphe.

On that note, driving in Paris is NUTS. There are no lines really. You just drive whereever you want "as long as you don't block or bother others," says Greg. Even on the highway. Lots of drivers have a GPS, he says (although my roommate disagrees), so no one even knows where they are going. Pedestrians don't cross the road...they run, clinging on to dear life, hoping their legs will carry them across the street before they are ecrasé by a maniac in a Peugeot. It was fun though...I like adventure :)

That Friday, I saw Versailles (the palace right outside of Paris)... the overwhelming monstrosity that angered the French when the king spent all of their money on it but now brings in millions of dollars of French tourism. it is truly "la gloire de la france" or whatever it was that was inscribed in stone on the front of the palace. inside we saw the Treasures of the Court of Saxe (meh...just some pretty things owned by royalty) and of slightly more interest, the Grand Apartments and the Hall of Mirrors. There's lots of historic paintings (including some depicting when the French helped the Americans in Yorktown during the American Revolution!) and ornate furniture, thrones, etc. The Hall of Mirrors was partially under renovation, so I didn't get to see it in all its glittery wonder. It looks out onto the grand expanse of gardens all around the palace.

We walked around Montmartre, the old artistic part of Paris for a little while. Check out the twilight sky. It just makes you want to draw lots of pastel pictures, doesn't it?

The square in Montmartre where there are lots of artists and creperies.

I'm not sure what's more French, this cathedral or the fact that Greg is eating a crepe.

As far as nightlife in Paris goes, we went to a student soiree one night and a latin-themed place the next. The student soiree was like nothing I have ever seen (I really shouldnt have to say that though, this is like my entire trip!) They had a variety of things...a live band, dj music, then a fashion show put on by students (with both guys and girls struttin' their stuff), then some student music acts. I thought that was pretty entertaining. Perhaps Greg will send me his pictures of that soon. The latin-themed place was VERY trendy and just magnificent (about 3 stories high I think!) with a beautiful staircase going all the way up to the top.

You can't go to Paris without going to at least one museum. The museum of choice was the Musee d'Orsay (free student night, score) with its many impressionist paintings. It was actually a train station back in the day. Ohh and check out the most beautiful room EVER.

Isn't it magnificent?

I had a fun trip, getting to be a little more relaxed because I was with French people and not tourists. I can't wait to go back (probably with Mom and Dad when they come visit) and see even more!

Winter Break in Normandy and Paris (part 1)

I had a very lovely trip to the north of France! Right after London, I went to Normandy to visit my friend Greg from Camp Echo (he was an international counselor there). I was lucky enough to be able to stay with him and his family in the hotel that they own in the village of Honfleur. The hotel was so luxurious! I hope I captured it in its full amazingness...There was nothing better than this after spending a weekend in a hostel bunk bed.

blue flowers...everywhere! i sort of felt like they were going to eat me.

The bathrobes were the best part...well almost as good as the huge bathtub to the right of this.


Breakfast in the hotel room. I could get used to this.

I felt right at home with his family. We had much fun helping each other with English and French over conversations at dinnertime. Of course the food was very good too! One of my favorite things about this trip was that Greg just learned English last year before coming to camp, so he understands what it's like to try to learn a language and go to a country where it's spoken. It was really a great opportunity for me to practice speaking more and I felt like his friends and family in Honfleur were pretty nice and interesting to speak with.

Greg's dad: "wait...I'm not ready for my photo op"

Thoi (Greg's dad's girlfriend (I think...I am not sure if they are married or not)) and his dad clowning around before dinner


One afternoon we had lunch chez sa grand-mere. This is was nothing I have ever been to before! The maison was incredibly beautiful - paintings hung on the walls, a big chandelier, lots of ornamentation everywhere. All of his family was there, and we had a big fancy lunch (the whole deal...appetizers, different courses, cheese, dessert...). I was like "no way...this is not real *pinches self*" the whole time.

Family portrait!



Greg's little brother Charles is always asking me if I have heard of X American rapper.


Having lunch with his grandmother. Don't you wish your dining room looked like this?

Cheers!

One afternoon I walked around Honfleur...it's tiny. You could walk anywhere you wanted within half an hour probably. I walked around the main street and then by the quai. It was cold and cloudy so I didn't spend as much time outside as I planned on, but I still got to get a sense of the town. It's a traditional fishing village, with everything centered around the old port in the middle. Sort of reminds me of a French version of Poquoson - small and the only thing to do is fish. Haha. Well maybe with a little more to bring in visitors. The countryside from Paris to Honfleur is also very pretty, it was a relief to see something green after being in the city for so long!

The Vieux Bassin (old harbor)

More of the harbor, with the hills in the background.

Local things to do are either go to nearby Deauville (a casino town) or hang out at the village pub.

Hanging out with Greg and his friends in Deauville...you can't really tell but this was actually a pretty swanky place with exotic palm trees and cool lighting and such. Greg likes to think he's a ladies man. Typical. That's his girlfriend on the left, not looking so happy.

Stay tuned for Part 2, Lauralicious in Paris (so I can finally answer all those naive "have you been to Paris" questions from Americans who don't know that there are other cities in France with "yes!")

Quid Quid Pound Pound Yo

The long awaited post about my trip to London is finally here!

Arriving in London:
When the plane landed in Stansted, I was completely reverse culture shocked by being able to speak English again. In France I really have gotten in the habit of thinking in French or at least translating much of what I think into French in case I have to talk to someone (and it's good for practice!). I was surprisingly a little homesick for Lyon and missing hearing French all around me on the streets! Getting into the city after an interminable bus ride, I was pleasantly surprised by a classy hostel. It was right next to the park and had plenty of character! I also made a new friend from Sweden there, he was really interesting/fun to talk to for awhile. that's what I like about hostels, they are safe and you always meet people from around the world.

After being settled in, I went out to explore Kensington. The Victoria and Albert Museum was right down the road and free, so I checked out their collections. Most of the endless rooms of ceramics, textiles, whatever, were not terribly interesting, but the fashion exhibit was. They had this one designer's work on display who made everything out of anything BUT fabric. Think a coat made out of teddy bears! even a coat made out of sticks. Something tells me he is not heading for the ready to wear market. Definitely interesting, I'll have to check out more fashion museums in the future.

Then, venturing down to the Soho/Trafalgar Square area later that night, I stumbled upon the National Portrait Gallery which has later hours AND live classical music on Friday. Nice! Art and a string ensemble, so much culture. I didn't think the gallery would be all that interesting, but it actually was surprisingly refreshing. There are so many different styles of representing the human persona that are displayed there, it really makes you think about how people reflect themselves to the world.

Saturday morning, I woke up to a beautiful day and promptly headed for Kensington park next door! Probably only half as pretty in the winter (what with no leaves on the trees), but I was content to stroll along and live vicariously through the people walking their adorable puppies through the park. I'm going to come back from Europe and all I'll want is a dog. Seriously. Cuteness overload. This park too had a free art exhibit (cementing popular opinion that London rocks), it was called the "welfare show" and questioned ways of how we operate and interact in societal systems. Very Tate modern - esque.

Sushi update (this is for my fellow sushi lovers at home): I went to a japanese restaurant and ordered a hand roll, not realizing this is different from the regular kind of sushi roll. It arrived it its little ice cream cone of seaweed. Hearing the unwrapping of paper from my chopsticks, the waitress rushed over and said quietly, "you dont need chopsticks, you just pick it up and eat it from the top." Ahh. Yes...Thank you.

On the subject of food, I really don't understand why people complain about bad food in England. I had plenty of good food! There was the many ready-made gourmet sandwiches, the sushi, the indian food, the chinese buffet for only 5 pounds....so well-fed. I also dig the coffee shops on every corner, although the fact that I had to stir my own double chocolate double espresso made me a little annoyed. 3 pounds, it should be stirred, gift wrapped, and served on a gold platter. Maybe a with a singing telegram on the side.

Whitfield arrived in the afternoon!!! Hurrah!! She's so much fun as a travel buddy (and as a roommate. As her knowledge of London is vastly greater than mine, she pointed the way to Notting Hill, where there is an open air market with cheap beautiful jewelry and other fun stuff. Then later at night we wandered around from metro station to metro station, Trafalgar square, piccadilly circues, wherever, being our crazy selves and catching up on the past couple of months.

Note to self: if you want tickets to a musical on the West End, maybe going down to Leicester Square 30 minutes before the show, not such a hot idea. lol. And yes, I should know that already. So after hitting about 3 different box offices, our night at the rock opera didn't pan out so well. In the meantime we saw these people advertising a comedy club, so we thought, what the hey, we'll go to that instead! I would definitely recommend doing this to anyone because it was much cheaper (only 5 pounds!) and had much more local flavor. There were probably about 100 people packed in a rather small place but it was alright, I was too busy laughing to care!

Pictures from wandering around London with Whit....

Yay Notting Hill and colorful buildings! Yay bad exchange rate! Yay crowds of people! It's cool because it's foreign.

Whitfield freaking out over seeing her dream car (carmengia or however you spell it) in Notting Hill.


China Town is so much more fun than seeing a musical.

It almost looks like the statue is about to spin around.

Third floor adorable-ness goes to London.




Climbing up towards the lion statue in Trafalgar square...that's about as high as I go.
Trusty Whit, leading the way.


1-800-london rocks.
But Big Ben is right here on this little map... why is it up there then?


Sadly she had to go, so I wandered around and went to a couple of museums. The Science museum was somewhat interesting, although very kid oriented with lots of hands-on exhibits and yes, hoards of families. I felt like the only person over 10 not with a family, haha. It is a very large museum with lots to learn about manmade materials, technology, etc. They had a pretty neat part about modern medicine, history of medicine, psychology, etc. That was probably the only thing worth seeing for me. You could totally pick out the psych majors from the people staring at the psych exhibit and actually reading the captions. It was awesome. I got to see some of the things that I've only heard about in my classes! Ah yes, validation.

Movie update: I saw a pretty interesting, rather phantasmagoric movie (and how many times do you get to use THAT word in conversation?) Sunday night, it was called the Piano Tuner of Earthquakes, shot with lots of overexposed light and with this really dream-like mysterious plotline about an opera singer and a piano tuner. Not sure what to think of it, it was good in that it was an odd, artsy movies, but also just strange and uncanny. Plot line, not so much.

Normandy/Paris update coming soon...
By the way, blogger takes FOR-ev-er to load pictures. So there aren't as many on here as I would have liked. I have lots of the gardens and animals and such, so ask me about them if you're interested.

Musee Mardi

I've decided that Tuesdays are now "Musée Mardi," since I only have one class in the early afternoon and the rest of the day is mine! This particular Tuesday I went to the Musee Lumiere which is in the mansion of one of the founders of cinematography. It is excellent! (my roommate even says it's her favorite museum in all of France. I just haven't seen enough museums here to make such a jugement!) The mansion-now-museum is absolutely gorgeous and they managed to keep that same feeling of decadence. They have lots of video clips and pictures to look at so it is one of the more entertaining museums I have been to! They also track the development of the video camera from its early days. My favorite part was the movie theater in the basement where they showed and explained lots of the first movie clips ever, including some of Lyon! super cool!

Today was a little success as far as communicating with people goes! At the afore-mentioned trip to the museum, the woman at the desk was automatically like, "do you speak french? where are you from? would you like the english guide" (sigh. Sure.) This happens on a semi-regular basis. But! Today I went to the SNCF boutique to get tickets for my winter break voyage (yes, you HAVE to pronounce it en francais), and I explained exactly what I wanted, which was a rather complicated set of plans, all in French, and she didn't once try to explain in English or do anything else different! I definitely got my point across without too much "gee, what is the word for this" and she didn't give me the "what the heck are you talking about" look. Hurrah! Maybe she was just nice and used to dealing with exchange students, but still, it went very well!

Speaking of my trip, here is my itinerary for my winter vacation!
Friday-Sunday = London with Whitfield!
Monday-Wednesday= Normandy (Honfleur) to stay with Greg!
Thursday-Saturday=Paris!
Sunday=Mozart concert, furiously trying to get papers done

Weekend Adventures: The Return of the Sunshine

The sunshine proved not to be just a one-day affair. Au contraire. We were lucky to have adventure-inducing sunshine all weekend long.

I finally got to go to the Parc de Tete d'Or! It's located in the northern part of the Rive Gauche, just west of Villeurbanne (Lyon's annoying little brother, and devoid of maps). The metro stop was deceptively far from the park...after I figured out where I was going, it still took me 20 minutes to walk over there. There has got to be a better route!

The park is absolutely beautiful, and so much fun! There are acres upon acres of green grass. Again: the park is HUGE. I was so relieved to see so much green. Little did I know that not seeing trees, grass, or anything of natural origin would have so much effect on me - I was really starting to feel down last week! My mood instantly improved 100%. There is still a lot I didn't get to do at the park, like see the botanical gardens or most of the zoo, but I did get to see the deer grazing in the middle of the park (they are not wild deer of course...they wouldn't really have anywhere to go in the city...) and the birds on the lake. So I walked through the park, saw lots of happy families and cute couples, and around the lake, where there are lots of trees. Ahhh, fresh air. So good for the senses.

I'm debating about getting a very cheap secondhand bike, because a lot of people ride their bikes in the park, and it would be great exercise in the afternoons! Or if I can get a cheap pair of rollerblades that would be even better (I would just have to learn how to stop! haha!). At any rate, walking is still great exercise. I walked all around the park all afternoon and then through the Cité International (with INTERPOL...dun dun dun) and down the Quai. It took about 45-60 minutes to walk home from there.

Needless to say, I was pretty tired after my little stroll through the park. I did what I only do about 2 - 3 times a year....I went to bed at 10pm. (wHATTT???! ) Yes, folks, the impossible has been achieved. On February 11th, 2006 AD, I, Laura, went to bed, NAY, fell asleep before midnight. 12 straight hours of sleep....man it felt good.

Thus becoming quite a fan of not sleeping until 3 PM, I woke up today (Sunday) and went to the market! Nothing too noteworthy other than the previous entry's haiku. Then I went on a walking adventure of Vieux Lyon with Scottie. It's so French, it's fabulous! My favorite is the kitschy little art stores (must return for artwork...), the swanky glass sculptures, and the garishly overpriced yet mystical medieval jewelry shop. There was also a montée to ...well, monter, so there was good exercise and a view (although obstructed by a fence, thus no pictures) of the city.

We were climbing up the montee, by this wall, when we heard the strangest sound....

Yes, folks, that is a big fat pigeon hiding in the wall. It didn't even fly away when I took its picture. Well done, Monsieur Le Pigeon.

On discovery of St-Just at the top of the hill, we were mildly disappointed by the expanse of apartment complexes, but the centuries-old lycee (translation: high school), still appearing to be in use and orthodox church at least merited some curious gandering-up towards.

Paroisse Orthodoxe

On another note, Vieux Lyon is really what makes Lyon a gastonomical capital! There are so many bouchons and other kinds of restaurants that are enticing me to come back, including the delicious store of warm bread, the only one that sells bread on a sunday in the late afternoon.

Earlier this week (Tuesday!) I went to Vieux Lyon to wander around myself - it was that day that I went into the 11th-17th century cathedrale St-Jean (which is the heart of the district) and the Musee International des Miniatures. The cathedrale is really spectacular! It is not ornate and marbled like the cathedrals and churches of Italy, rather, it is extremely tall and gives the sensation of ethereal lightness. Stain glassed windows form a border around the entire top of the wall, so you have this beautiful effect of coloured light streaming in from above. You'll just have to see the astronomical clock for yourself :)

This was a day of proportional contrast, you could say, as I went from the gigantesque, to the, well, miniature. Musee des Miniatures was downright fascinating. There's an exhibit on the scenes of every day life, a little somber, with a touch of hyper-realism, and another on Patrimoine Lyonnaise - I liked that the artist made models of scenes that you wouldn't ever see as a normal person - like the inside of a jail. This is a really good example of how art can really bring the unattainable into the viewer's life and make it tangible.

Upcoming adventures: Valentines Day 2006, across the ocean....Trip to London to see Whit...Trip to Normandy/Paris to see Greg....stay tuned!

The Finer Establishments of Lyon: Friday

Mmm freshness!
I can only start an entry like this with a haiku dedicated to the open air market:

marché on the saone
gives me yummy food to eat
two for price of one!

I'm on a roll. haiku en francais:

vendeurs qui me hurlent
saucisse fromage fruit et pain
coin gastronomique

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Beeeeyoutiful weather this weekend!! Il faisait super super beau!

Friday morning (yes, morning, I got up that early) I walked around and discovered that between here and le Part Dieu there is a little pedestrian area with a handful of restaurants. Maybe there will be a good place to try out with Mom and Dad when they come visit. I also realized that the Centre Commercial is much closer than I thought it was! It only took me about 15-20 minutes to walk to le Crayon (big office building that ressembles a pencil).

Musee Africain! Free on weekends!
I got some culture in on Friday afternoon, when I went to the Musee Africain with Caro and her friends. Half thrift store, half African trinkets, this museum showcased masks, figurines, and tools of African cultures in French-colonized parts of that continent. I got to see everything from crocodile worship to death masks to handmade fishing nets. Everything else falls within those categories. It's small, but worth the free visit! The museum must be run by a church, because the building gives off an uncanny "christian missionaries" vibe rather than one of "african tribes." Oh right, that must be from the bazaar of goods on the RDC and sous-sol...You can get african sculptures, drums, secondhand clothing, rugs, books, and other trinkets. Although we didn't get anything, it was interesting to look!

Inspired by this to see more dusty vintage treasures, Caro and I headed over to Notre Dame de Sans Abri (Our Lady of the Homeless), which is just a block or two over from our apt on one of the side streets. I thought about buying a secondhand bike for about 45euro...but I'm still thinking. It's either that or a monthly metro pass (having discovered that the metro will no longer take my credit card...what? why would this suddenly stop working?). Guess I better save my euro coins for more than just laundry and the marché now (how annoying).

But then I discovered that this place had knitting needles galore. I almost flipped out, I could have gotten anything I wanted for only 50 euro cents each! (that is so cheap!!). So I did, I got a pair of double-pointed needles and lots of purple yarn for only 2 euro! Before I thought I was going to have to buy 3-euro yarn at the craft store in the mall (there is NO selection at the mall!) That means I can make a huge bag to carry everything in now! It will be crafty and eurotrashy-fabulous. PS, everything I make is purple, I just realized. I must be really obsessed with that color. Maybe I'll put in some super exciting stripes of blue. Egads. Anyway, Caro was curious and wanted me to teach her how to knit, yay! I taught her when we got home, and it was chill, we were bein' grannies and listening to good reggae music.

On our way home, we also stopped at a Eastern/Mediterranean foods store. It looked tiny and rundown from the front but it was a huge supermarket inside! (Imagine the cave from Aladdin...) Caro was excited because they had lots of foods from Reunion island (that is where her dad is from). I was excited too because all the dried herbs smelled so delicious! You can get like 10 kilo bags of rice and curry there, I'm not joking. That's a LOT of spicy! ...And if you feel bald you can also get your hair extensions there. We got food to make samoussas for dinner (Reunion island food). No hair products for us though. I will definitely have to look up more recipes and go back there! I am in love with that store now! It is all so exotic and new to me. I think part of the reason that Lyon must be a gastronomic capital is because you can not only get French and Lyonnaise cuisine but you can also go to so many Asian and Mediterranean food markets (which are not nearly as prevalent in the rest of France!).

So for dinner, Caro taught me how to make those samoussas (also known as samosas), which are savory pastries rolled up in triangles and filled with anything you want - we made ours with ground pork, tuna, and cheese (not all in the same one though!). To the meat ones, she added fresh chives (very important!) and onions. They are wrapped up in phyllo dough like a paper football and fried. It was so fun to make them, and they turned out deliciously! (I really wish I'd remembered to take pictures!) It was also a fun evening because we had a couple of people come over, my friend Christina and her friend Maude. Hopefully more dinner parties will be in our future!

crazy weekend

The Story of How the Weekend changed from Friday-Saturday to Wednesday-Sunday

Wednesday: go to Bread and Cheese party hosted by the Michelots for the American students. Eat various kinds of creamy luscious fromages, followed by the most beautiful chocolate desserts I have ever seen. Stomach says, "oh la la." Note to stomach: check out patisserie on Ave. Jean Jaures that Mme Michelot recommended to me.

Thursday: Classes are over for the week! Hurrah! I even had time to take a nap in the afternoon. Later, Caro randomly asks if I want to go out with her to her friends' apartment, where at least 10-15 of her French friends have gathered, and I have a fun time talking with some of them.

friday: see french movie with french friend, understand maybe 75% of it, but it is funny nonetheless. am glad not to be seeing an american movie with french subtitles for once! return chez moi, where I make plans to hang out with a couple friends around 12. go out dancing until 3am. "funk" night at le Sirius turns out to be reggae-slash-Austin Powers soundtrack. it is cool how that place always has a different style of music! on the way there, we are asked repeatedly by 16-year-olds where "le Fish" is and make notes to ourselves not to go there unless we want to ask people what middle school they go to.

saturday: wake up in the afternoon, swearing up and down that I will not stay out super late two nights in a row. Begin day by doing good things - I go on a cleaning spree with the roomie, apartment looks fantastic now. Also make studious and successful attempt at getting organized for classes. Then Louise calls at midnight to see if I want to hang out and go dancing again. As boredom is threatening to ruin me, I gladly accept. Just like Herve (crazy CIEF teacher) practically demanded, we went out and spoke french very loudly to locals. So it was an academic experience, no kidding. Return super late, again, exhausted, but glad that the weekend has been fun.

sunday: I'm looking forward to seeing the Lyon soccer game tonight! a bientot!

premiere semaine des cours

Inevitably, classes had to start one day! So on Jan 30th, 2006, I ventured out into the big bad world of French university classes.

The system works quite differently than what I'm used to. Each class meets once a week for 1.5 hours - that works out about the same as a 2-credit course at UVA. Some classes are either a "CM" (big lecture class), or a TD (a smaller lecture class about the size of discussion sections at UVA). However, it's not similar to a discussion class at all, because there is, well, no discussion. It doesn't really matter whether you can talk about the book or not, you just have to be able to listen and take notes. In some ways that is good, because I would rather hear someone's point of view who is an expert on the subject, not the speculations of my classmates may or may not know what they are talking about! Some classes require giving presentations once a semester, but others just require 1-2 written projects. it's intimidating that all the work is based on only a few grades!

Here's a little bit about what I'm taking...And as much as I would have loved to snap some photos of my balding profs, there are no pictures in this blog entry :(

Modern French lit - a huuuge lecture amphi filled to the brim with students. I arrived on time and had trouble finding a seat! The professor launched into a lecture about the book we were going to be reading (Rimbaud's poetry), and I struggled both to hear what she was saying and to stay awake. I went again on Thursday so I could really figure out what the prof was talking about, which was immensely helpful.

19th cent lit, Balzac and the New Opera - this one is awesome! The topic is going to be really interesting, as it's on both literature and music, and the prof is super nice to international students.

Masculin/Feminin - not exactly what I was hoping for. Turns out it's just going to be on one female poet, Desbordes-Valmore. I really wasnt wanting to study this much poetry. The prof didn't seem particularly engaging, so I think I might switch to litterature of the middle ages, if I can get the course credit.

Patrimony/French architecture - this is going to be really cool! It's an art history class on the art of preserving and remembering important French architecture/monuments, basically. We'll be learning about the historical side of Lyon (with lots of slideshows!) so I'm excited! Hey, it got me out of bed before 11am, it cant be too bad!

Modern French language - basically a grammar class, but I think it'll be really useful to me because we'll be looking at the etymologies and contexts of words - which is what I like to do when I'm analyzing something like literature.

Critical Reading - Basically a class on a book by Zola. not much to say about this one, it's your average lit class. I have to go 30 minutues out by metro/tram to get to the Bron campus where this one's located.

That's pretty much what my courses will be like, I may add/drop in order to take a translation class, but it will be like this for the rest of the semester. Oh, did I mention I don't have Friday classes ? :)

Le Week-end a Geneve

I went to Switzerland for the first time last weekend! It was interesting, frustrating, fun, confusing, and delicious, all at once.

Thursday night, I took the train in to Geneva, where my roommate, who had already gone back to Geneva a few days earlier, and her mom picked me up to stay at their house. They live in a French border town which is desolate and downright not very pretty. Story is that many people live near Geneva during the week to make mucho dinero in Switzerland, then go back home in France on the weekends, so there is nothing in the bordertowns except houses.

Caro's mom is American and is from Chesapeake, so it was nice to have someone to talk to about SE Virginia! Her step-dad is French, although you might not believe it when I say he doesn't drink wine. Well, believe it. Caro's family also has a few extremely friendly pets that use any excuse to crawl all over you and lick your face. Urge to get a puppy....growing by the hour. It was like Cute Overload but furrier.

Saturday morning, Caro and I decide to go to Monts Jura to go skiing. Caro is snowboarder extraordinaire, whereas I am headed straight for the ski lesson cabin. I am soon matched up with Tomas, who tries his best to give me a ski lesson en anglais. Unfortunately neither his English nor my skiing skills are anywhere close to perfect (Him: "You go right, then translate! We go to deeper hill, yes?" Me: "Why is there fog hiding that giant cliff below me?!"). I think he must have spent about 15 minutes explaining how to take the ski lift for some strange reason. (Hey, it's not like I fell off of that too.) A few hours and numerous failed attempts later, I swear off skiing for life, terrified of the menacingly steep "bunny" slope, prefering to spend all money saved for future ski lessons (hint: $0) for trips to places that don't require navigating the terrain with metal planks strapped to my feet. Like this was not frustrating enough, I left my wallet at the ski resort in the cafeteria. Luckily, Caro called them and they had found it, undisturbed of its precious 20 euro and credit card. At least Geneva made me feel safe :)C'est la vie. At least the view of the Alps was pretty! I wish I had a picture of that, but this will have to do...

Monts Jura - I took this from in front of Caro's house! You can also see the ski slope from there, although it's not in the picture.

That night, I got to meet some of Caro's friends and we all went into Geneva to meet up with some other people. There was quite a mix of me, caro's french and swiss friends, and even a couple of bolivians. I always love talking to people about where they've been and how they've learned the languages that they know, so this was fun! What I like about Geneva is that it is so accepting of other cultures. You can walk down the street and hear 4 different languages. You can go into the restaurants and speak French with your foreign accent and no one will automatically start speaking English to you. This is vastly different from Lyon or even France in general in which it is pretty obvious if you are not from around there and people definitely make you feel it. It seems like every time I open my mouth, someone either asks me if I'm foreign or starts speaking English! Geneva on the other hand, is a great place to learn about other cultures and practice other languages while not feeling like a total stranger!

Not to mention that the food was great! I had the best salad EVER (ok, seriously, no exaggeration here. It was truly that delicious, with chicken and pineapple and some dressing that was all kinds of amazing!). This was at the cafe that my friends and I went to, that ended up being a fondue restaurant, after we decided we didn't want fondue. Teehee. I think I'll have to give that place a gold star. It was small, cozy, and everything a French restaurant should be! (In Switzerland! haha.)

getting to Geneva is a different story...
The plan was originally to meet up with my American friends who were staying in a hotel in Geneva. I was really looking forward to seeing some familiar faces and to hear about how their trip was going so far. No big deal right? Caro told me that they were only 5 min away and I figured it would not be too difficult to meet and do all the touristy stuff together. Wrong, oh so wrong. Saturday afternoon, the bus did not leave until 2:30, which was when I thought I would be able to meet my friends! Then on top of that, the bus made a very windy path and had to stop at the border as well for everyone's IDs to be checked, so it ended up taking me a whole hour to get somewhere that would only take 10 minutes by car! I finally arrived, and my friends were already in the 3rd museum of the day. I tried to meet them, but the cashier wouldn't take my 20 euro bill that I had to borrow from Caro, saying she didnt have enough change (go figure). I walked around a bit, and randomly saw my friends eating somewhere, so luckily it worked out. But trying to meet up with them was a lot more frustrating than planned. So note to self, Geneva bus system, minus 10 points. Text message delay, minus 20 points. Crepes with ham and cheese, super double bonus points.

In the meantime I decide to go up to the top of St-Pierre, the Prostestant church where Calvin himself preached. No kidding, the church was austere as could be on the inside. The gothic arches and the stained glass windows were about as fancy as they dared.

From the tower, there was a panoramic view of the city! That was super.

Lake Geneva during the late afternoon

Top of the tower! I love how it looks like something from a castle.

I took pictures so long the sun started to set!

Sunset in the Alps!



The city was light up at night - with all the banks and airline neon signs, one really gets the sense that they are in an international city.

The next day, after a similar struggle with Genevan public transportation, I finally made my way over to the Natural History museum. It was a taxodermist's dream. From the stuffed parrots, to the corner with every species of tiger known to man (only 8, and at least 2 are extinct), to the dodo replica, to the gems and exhibit on Switzerland's geography, this museum definitely makes you feel in the minority for having warm blood in your veins.



Chamois! This is of note because I actually saw them up on the mountain when I went "skiing"!


Cause where else I am going to see a 3-toed sloth except in Switzerland? Seriously.
La Marche de L'Empereur! These penguins were much taller than I expected! At least 3 feet I would guess.

And,finally, no blog entry about Geneva would be complete with a picture of a park. Geneva reportedly has the most parks of any city in Europe! Ahh, fresh air!

EDIT: Headed back to Lyon on the train. Wooo transportation! (and superb views of the mountains)