Hello Saigon.

My epic adventures in Paris are about to drastically change...and move across the planet.
To Vietnam to be exact.

I am about to finish my Master 1 at the École du Louvre and after I hand in my thesis, do my defense and nab that diploma I will be on an airplane to Saigon to work as a junior editorial assistant for an International publishing house called Sirrocco Parkstone.

I'm a bit nervous about the transition and sad to leave my lovely city of Paris (don't worry, i'll be back)...but very excited at the same time. I spend my days either working on my thesis or researching Vietnamese life. Apparently it takes 10 minutes to cross the street in the city because the drivers are insane...hmm, the food is supposed to be delicious and on top of that good for you! and the whole country is basically on the beach.

I'm also hoping to get work on some more of my photography...no more Richard Avedon, lets go National Geographic!

Soon I'll look like these guys...

twenty. ten.

Happy New Years 2010!

I'm typically one of those people who just makes some sort of general resolution for the new year. This year, I didn't even think about it to be honest until Jérôme asked me when I got home to Paris yesterday. I thought about it for a second and my answer was "to have an even better year than the last one"....pretty easy to accomplish right? so we'll see.

Another resolution might be: "keep my blog updated"

I just got back from a warm and sunny San Antonio Christmas, and this freezing Paris weather is going to take some getting used to. I've been cooped up in my studio since my return sauf for a trip to the grocery store and dinner last night at an Indian restaurant that I foolishly walked to in my converse. Converse=holes on the side of the sole=icicle feet.

This last semester has flown by with my 8 classes and work I didnt have that much time for blogging. So here's a short update:

Basically, the Louvre rocks. I love it...no matter how freaking hard it is.

All my anglophone friends decided to leave Paris permanently...boo.

My bathroom is covered in black mold.

I'm writing a thesis on the representation of Hinduism in the museum collection

I have a new baby niece, Tatiana.

I have a new job watching a little boy called Max that starts on Monday.

I started knitting a bright orange scarf, but i keep messing it up.

In about a week, I have my finals coming up for the semester and I'm really nervous about it. I've made about a million notecards. Too bad my writing in French is equivalent to that of a 15 year old. After exam/hell week the second semester starts and all my classes are going to be seminars instead of lectures and theyre going to be held in the C2RMF conservation laboratory in the Louvre.

After watching Julie & Julia for the 3rd time I'm seriusly considering writing a food blog. I love food. I love making food. I love eating food. and food is way more interesting than what I write about on a regular basis....problem is, I dont think I have the discipline for it, so I guess I'll just stick to googling Paula Dean recipes and cooking to ease my stress.

I think I'm going to do these next:

In the midst of summertime

To anyone who reads this blog,

It's been a while. I stopped my inconsistent blogging near the end of the semester. Mostly due to a busy schedule and stress. Now, I have no excuse. I am in ending days of summer and I have only 2 weeks until I return to the land of baguettes and cheese...only this time I'll be attending the Ecole du Louvre! and not as an exchange student:) I got into their Master's program..so I'll be in the city of light for at least another 2 years! That is...unless I fail, which could potentially happen.

In other big news, as most of you know, my sister is pregnant! Right now she only has 6 weeks left until the little bugger pops out. She is having a baby girl, Tatyana or Tay, who is going to be completely adorable and obscenely spoiled by my entire family....including myself.

Now. A 10 point list of the things I have done this summer:

1. I spent the first 2 weeks in Soho staying with my friend Pam...who incidentally designs shoes and lives on Mott. I also got a brand new camera thanks to my main man:):)

2. I rode a train to Fairfield where I got to see the majority of my friends from Uconn while simultaneously going to the beach, playing scrabble and skinny dipping in private lakes.

3. Jay's Brook 66- the newfound home of Jackie, Julien and John (very cute). We spent a week in northern-ish Connecticut canoeing, swimming, singing and eating health food.

4. I ran 4 miles....something I've never done before and probably will never do again.

5. We sent a few days before I left for Texas in Clinton, CT with Jérôme's very eccentric aunt and uncle. They live on a small farm with beautiful gardens, peacocks and pot.

6. I flew to San Antonio at 6am and landed safe and sound.

7. I've been in Texas since the end of July and I have successfully eaten Mexican, barbecue and many other foods that I used to take for granted.

8. Jess visited me for 5 days. We swam, chatted and had a nice relaxing week together. We also probably gained 5 pounds from all the food we ate, but it was worth it.

9. I swim at least 20 laps at the pool everyday, and I try to cook as much as I can.

10. Movies, lots of movies.

so overall...my summer has been pretty chouette. Not a lot of activity, but its been nice seeing everyone. I'm going to try and get back into the swing of updating as much as I can.

xo. pucca

Go Sweden!

Movie Review:


Millénium, a movie based off the very popular crime/thriller book series by Stieg Larsson...a Swedish author.

I have yet to read the books, but now that I have seen the first film...I want to read all 3! The film was in Swedish then subtitled in French, but it's actually amazing how similar Swedish and English are...I could understand entire phrases!

The film takes place in..SWEDEN...obvs...and is following a journalist who gets a job with a rich family, called Vanger, to find a missing niece...Harriet. So the entire film is kind of a murder mystery, but very dark. The other main aspect is that of an extremely troubled girl, Lisbeth, who is a computer hacker and ends up helping the journalist on the case.


...this is a very vage discription, but all of you foreign film lovers should definitely check this one out if you can and if you can find it.


GO SWEDEN!

Back from the land of pancakes and waffles!

So this past weekend I spent 3 days in Gent, Belgium with Caroline. We decided to take a girls weekend and check out this beautiful historical city. In National Geographic Traveler, Gent was rated the 3rd most well-preserved historical city in the ENTIRE WORLD!

click here to see the complete list:):)

The trip was loads of fun, and the best part was that I got try out my new "couch-surfing" wings! We stayed with 2 different hosts. Our first hosts' name was Elias and he was super friendly and had a great personality that some might call weird, but we found particularly hilarious. Our second hosts were a house of 4 guys (you're think "oh no" right)...well they happened to be some of the nicest people I think I've ever met. Their names were Bart, Pieter, Wim and Jochen along with Bart's girlfriend Ruth. So we got to experience a new city and also meet real Belgians from the town to show us around!

Here are some highlights of the trip that I definitely don't want to forget:

*We left early Friday morning (around 8am at Place de la Concorde) to catch out bus to Brussels and there were only 5 of us on the bus so it was a nice trip there. When we actually arrived in Brussels our busdriver had no idea where he was going and we got a nice drive by tour of Brussels since it took him about an hour to get us to the right train station. He was really nice though...but he stopped at every single stop light to ask someone for directions...by the end of the ride we were laughing our asses off.

*When we arrived in Gent at the Saint Peter's train station (I have no idea how it's spelled in Dutch) Elias met us and we walked about 5 miles to his apt on the other side of the city with our backpacks...needless to say we got a good look at the city and we even stopped for a break to taste our first Belgian beer.

*We spent the first day just walking around and exploring the center of the city. The architecture was absolutely amazing and the town itself reminds me of a smaller version of Amsterdam, but less touristy. It was built over canals and there is a big medeival castle right in the middle along with 3 different gothic cathedrals with towers that all line up with one another...
-The Bell Tour
-Saint Nicholas' Cathedral
-Saint Bart's Cathedral

We went to the top of the bell tower to see an aerial view of Gent.

*The first night we made dinner for our host. We got groceries and I made a giant bowl of guacamole and a big pot of bean chili! Elias introduced us to his roommates and to his brother....we were a little dissapointed that we didnt get to meet his grandpappy and play chess (apparently he meets his grandpa every week to play Chess) Because we were so tired, we didn't end up going out the first night. We just went to bed early so we could get up and be refreshed for the next 2 days in Gent.

*On Saturday we got up and got some hot chocolate at a café with Elias and his brother Brecht, then we walked around a bit. Luckily the weather was fantastic! We got an early lunch of pancakes topped with fresh fruit and yummy milkshakes!! (they were big on milkshakes in Gent). Afterward, Caroline and I decided to go on a boat tour along the canals, which was great! we got to see so many neat things that way!

*That night we moved to our second host's house, and hung out there for a bit have a quick nap and chat. We all then decided to go out to eat at this famous spaghetti restaurant that serves giant bowls of fantastic pasta...along with beer of course:):)Bart, our host, is actually a DJ and invited us to a party that he was invited to play for that night, but the funny part was that it was a Boy Scout party for all the Dutch 15 and16 year olds in Gent....we were definitely the oldest ones there, but we DID make friends with a 16 year old, Arnold, who taught us the "Belgian dance"...which was basically swing dancing. We ended up laughing the entire night.

*Sunday was my favorite day in Gent. The weather was absolutely beautiful and we decided to go and get waffles then visit the Gravensteen castle. Well, the waffle places weren't serving waffles until about 3pm, oddly, so we decided to go to this super cute tea restaurant and got an afternoon brunch that consistes of amazing pancakes (again) with blueberries bananas, scones with english cream, eggs, freeze squeezed orange juice and a pot of tea...all of this only costed 13 euros!!! (in Paris a meal like that would cost AT LEAST 25 euros). We sat in the sun and talked and watched all the people that were walking by.

*We next went to the castle and spent almost the entire day inside. The architecture was amazing and extremely well preserved. The word Gravensteen in Dutch literally means "castle of the count" and dates back all the way to the year 1177 and was constructed by the count Fillips of Alsasse. There is a torture instrument museum inside and you can walk all around the walls and the courtyard. We took tons of pictures and just had a blast. Afterwards we decided to walk to the Saint Bart's Cathedral and take a look inside, but on the way there was a nice little park so we stopped to lay in the grass for a bit and started to to handstands and yoga.

*Our last evening in Gent was spent at our host's house. They invited us to have a BBQ with them so we all sat, ate and talked then we decided to watch a movie, which I fell asleep in because I was exhausted. We woke up the next morning early and caught our bus back to Paris...it wasn't the most comfortable ride because the bus was completely packed and I had no armrest, but it was only a 3 hour ride.


voilà, my weekend in Gent...now for current stuff:

We have our first couchsurfer staying with us from Australia! His name is Keith and he is awesome....we pretty much just want him to move in. This weekend we are taking him to the countryside with us which should a be a blast and a cool experience for him.

I've booked my flight back to the US and I'm staying in Connecticut for at least the first half of July..and I cant wait to see everyone!

(oh, yeah. i'm graduated too!! WOOHOO!)

now the big question is: WHAT'S NEXT???

xo. Hill

Out of hybernation

SALUT GAMINS!!!!!!!







So i'm back from the dead...yes yes, it's been a good 4 months since my last posting. I have been slacking due to such a busy/exciting life here in Paris.

So it is now May, and time for some update.....so Bref, (to make a long long long story short) here it goes:

1. My sister got engaged, pregnant AND married. My parents flew me home in the beginning of March for their Las Vegas wedding. Luckily I ran into Elise and got to see her there for a few hours. It was my first trip to the Sin City, and a quick one too....I had a 9 hour décallage (jet-lag) and I did 1 slot machine, BUT i did get to see the Cirque du Soleil "Zumanity" show which was super fun and sexy.

2. Stephi came to visit for a week before she left for her 2 year Peace Corps stunt in Senegal. We had a blast and caught up on old times. We even did a hommage to Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen and had a baguette fight in front of the Eiffel Tower.

3. Caroline's BFF from home, Jackie, came to visit with her adorable son Julian for 2 whole weeks. I had so much fun and made some new friends...and started to become addicted to organic peanut butter:):) Julian got to spend his 3rd birthday here in Paris at the top of the Eiffel Tower....LUCKY BOY!....all in all....2 great people who I would enjoy to keep in touch with.

4. I sent in my application for the École du Louvre (one of the most prestigious Art History schools in the world) and I am crossing my fingers to get into their Master's program. If that is the case then it's another 2 years here in the city of light!
**As a side note** I may also have a job nannying 2 BEAUTIFUl little french boys in the 16th. On verra.

5. Jérôme got a tattoo!!! It is the same star that I have on my inner thigh, but his is on the right side of his rib cage. It's his declaration of love for me...bwa haha.

6. Caroline got a tattoo TOOOO!!! Her's is a naked picture of me doing yoga covering her entire back. ALSO to declare her undying love.





**haha JK** It's a naked woman sitting in the Lotus position, on top of a Lotus flower, with the 7 shakras going through her body. It's because she's a big huge Yogi.

7. Caroline and I figured out how to make raw food bars similar to the "LARA BARS" in the states. You just need a food processor and a love for dates. We spent all of Wednesday making them and we even invented 10 new flavors!

8. We just discovered the wonders of couchsurfing. Over spring break Caroline spent 4 days couchsurfing in Berlin and this weekend we are going to Brugges, Belgium to couchsurf some more! I'm hoping to indulge in some yummy waffles and chocolate.

9. I just returned from a long weekend in the countryside with Jérôme, Pat and Véronique. It was sunny and beautiful the whole weekend and I got a nice tan. We went horse back riding for 2 hours on Saturday and went bike riding yesterday. It's so green and beautiful out there, I feel so close to the Earth!

10. IF i don't get accepted into the Master's program that I applied for nor the internship at the MoMA, then Jérôme and I are thinking about moving to Mayotte for a year. Mayotte is a French department...so technically part of France, but it was once a colony. It's an island located off the coast of Madagascar...and supposedely very beautiful. So I'm definitely ready for some more adventure if the door opens!

Voilà....I am planning on coming home this summer...(home as in San Antonio) to visit my family and so on, but the dates aren't set yet. most likely all of August and maybe July.

à la prochaine!

xo Hillarey

Greetings 2009ers

Hola everyone!! that is the extent of my spanish SPEAKING skills currently. I sadly realized while I was in Spain that I cannot speak the language. I can understand it almost perfectly...I could even slightly understand the Catalan because its a mixture of French and Spanish...but when I tried to blubber my thoughts in good ole espagnol everything tumbled out of my mouth in français! It was like my brain was being torn in 2 different directions..horrible and frusterating. But other than that little letdown I had an amazing time in Catalunya.

Here is a little summary of my 16 day vacation in northeastern Spain....

The first week was spent in Barcelona. We left on Friday the 19th right after work and we arrived in Spain that night. I had already booked the hostal and the hotel for that first week. Our hostal was in the Barri Gothic and as soon as we finally got there we saw some amazing street dancers on Ls Ramblas...one of the main boulevards in the city. At about 11pm we found this little restaurant called La Concha where we ate some amazing jamon iberico (a specialty there), an epanada and some bomb sangria which Jerome soon became obsessed with. The next few days were spent walking around and stuffing ourselves with amazing Spanish tapas and Sangria...i was a fan of the typical Spanish Tortilla...basically a potato and onion omelette...because it was tasty and cheap. While living in Europe I have also become a fan of squid and octopus...We did all of the "must do" tourist things like the Park Guell, La Sagrada Familia, La Casa Mila etc...all Gaudi all the time! I loved it...it was a very cultural vacationt o say the least...i think we went to almost every museum in Barcelona by the time we were done. We even got to hit up the aquarium at the port. We spent most of the day walking around exploring, playing chess whenever we got a chance and finding new places to learn about. My favorite visit in Barcelona was actually the Palau de la Musica Catalan...it was an amazing piece of art and architecture. On Christmas Eve we moved from out little hostal into an amazing 4 star hotel called the Hotel Condes de Barcelona which was located on the Passeig de Gracia ( basically the Champs Elysees of Barcelona) right across from La Casa Mila. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas night there and lived the life of luxury for a couple days. There was a sauna and everything..and we definitely took advantage of all of it. On the 26th of December we checked out of the hotel and caught a train about an hour south of Barcelona to this small seaside town called Stiges. It was absolutely beautiful but absolutely dead as well. We decided not to spend the night there and headed about another hour south to this town called Tarragona which actually used to be an ancient Roman territory, so therewere ruins of the old forum that used to be there. We spent 2 days there and sw the famous Cathedral de Tarragona, which was one of my favorite things I must admit, and the old Roman amphitheater and 'Circus' (the part of the ancient forum where the horses would race). From Tarragona we headed north to Figueres...about 3 hour train ride, then caught a night bus to Cadaques, this small seaside town surrounded by mountains, where Salvador Dali is actually from. This was my favorite stop of the trip. We spent about 3 days there and we hitchiked to the lighthouse at the end of the peninsula and hiked all the way back to the town, we got to visit Dali's house, and the town itself was something out of a dream. From Cadaques we traveled back to Figueres for a night to see the Theatre Museu Dali...the super famous Dali museum that he commissioned and designed himself out of an old theater. For New Years, we headed from Figueres to Girona, another ancient Roman territory with a giant cathedral. It took us a while to find a hostal on New Years, but in the end we got the best one. It was right next to the cathedral and it was the coziest, cutest little hostal ever. It was decorated with French country linens and we got a free breakfast FEAST...which was most important for me. On New Years Eve we went to this chic restaurant with amazing tapas and rang in 2009 complete with Sangria and grapes. We spent another day there and ate at that same restaurant 3 times because Jerome LOVED the tapas. After Girona we went back to Barcelona and spent the last day and a half there, eating our last tapas and visting the Museu Picasso, which basically saturated my head with Picasso for at least the next year. We got back to Paris on Sunday the 4th late at night and moved into our new apt. the next day!

....no worries I will be posting pictures of the new abode.
Right now I am just living the high life in Paris while I can...finishing finals and then starting my last semester as an undergrad! (ahhhhhhhhhhhhh) I dont really know where I am going to end up at this point....but thats just another adventure in itself!!

à la prochaine!
moi

That was acting....thank you

this is going to be a long one...because I have been so so busy I havent been able to update. Tonight finally, I am having a relaxing night in my room all alone! So here is the blog update of the year:

To start off, Patricia and Sam came to visit over Thanksgiving break which you all know. The week ended up being a lot of fun! Unfortunately I still had class and work so I couldnt be with them the whole time, but I tried to show them a good time as best as I could. The got to Paris in the early morning on Saturday..november ???th...and I picked them up at the airport. The first thing we did was go back to my place so they could drop off their stuff, then we headed to the 5th arrondisement because it's close and easy. We walked around Luxembourg garden and down to Notre Dame. I obviously took them to get my favorite ice cream (Berthillon) and...lucky me!...Sam loved it too! So that was one of our many visits to the île-saint-louis that week for some yummy ice cream. At this point, they were both pretty exhausted from the flight and the time difference so we headed back to my place to take a long nap before we went out. That night was one of the first Tokyo Decadence parties of the year..basically a Manga themed party...and the frenchies really get into it! We all dressed as "Sailor Moon"-ish as possible and Sam even made his own outfit...and ended up wearing a pretty sweet pair of Jérôme's yellow pants. The party was fun, and we danced until about 2 or 3 am, then we were all beat. Sunday, I took them to Versailles...and of course it ended being the coldest day of the year, thus far. We got there early and went to the Westin Hotel next door for some bangin hot chocolate and it started snowing! It was FREEZING! Inside the château there is this modern art exhibit if this sculpter, Jeff Koons, which was actually really neat. Trish and Sam both enjoyed the château even though the weather was a little chilly. Starting on monday I had to go to school and stuff, so during the day they went sight-seeing. That night I took them to one of my favorite restaurants on Rue Mouffetard called La Brouette. Caroline came with us also and we had a wonderful (not too expensive) meal with some awesome onion soup. On Tuesday, after work..we made dinner at the Cité then headed out to this old wine bar by Saint Germain des Pres called Chez George! It is now one of my favorite places. It's an old jazz cave from the 1920s, and they play crazy old french jazz music and everyone dances on the tables and it's a lot of fun. Wednesday is my only day off, so I decided to take them to one of my favorite parts of the city, Montmartre. We hung out around up there and ate some yummy crèpes then went down by the Opéra to see the Palais Garnier and the Christmas windows at the Galeries Lafayette. Thursdays and Fridays I have to work ALL DAY...blows. Thursday after work we had Thanksgiving dinner at my director's apt..and it was pretty tasty, and Friday night after work we decided to go to the Louvre because it's free and open until 10. I was exhausted, but Trish and Sam got to see all the main attractions. On Saturday we went shopping during the day, I got most of my Christmas shopping done and Trish got some really cute clothes! Since it was their last night in Paris I took them out to eat at a raclette and fondue restaurant and we ate so much cheese and potatoes, but it was amazing..they even tried escargots! Afterwards, we went to Favela Chic! My first time back there since last year, and it was so much fun...we danced until 3-4 in the morning, even though they had to get up pretty early to catch the plane back to the states. Well, there is a quick summary of my week with Sam and Trish...I am so glad they visited and I hope they had as much fun as I did!

As for the rest of November, I have been working my little butt off. I'm so glad that my Christmas break starts on Friday...I'm actually exhausted! I feel like I havent gotten to enjoy the Christmas decorations and everything because I have been so freaking busy. This past weekend I spent like every waking moment with Caroline..we went to Saint Sulpice and walked around the Christmas market. It was super cute with lots of candies, cakes, hot wine, cider etc...they even had Morrocan pastries..which I love.

Many of you know, or I think so anyway, that I am moving into a new apartment on January 6th after I get back from my trip in Spain. It's so beautiful and it is located in the 12th arrondissment on Avenue Daumesnil near Nation...for those of you who don't know Paris by heart that is the south eastern part of the city. Jérôme, me and Caroline are moving in together...and the apt. is huge so everyone should come and visit! I am leaving for Spain this Friday (the 19th) and I wont be back until January 4th. Jérôme and I are going to Barcelona for a week, and spending Christmas there then backpacking around the Catalonia region. I am very excited to see all the contemporary spanish art...and Gaudi architecture. We leave Friday night after work...FINALLY. So I wont be able to update again, until next year anyway! This time it will be sooner rather than later!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

ciao:):):)

getting prepared for the holidays

Hello all,
I know I havent written in a couple of weeks, I have been super busy with work and school. I literally feel like there arent enough hours in a day. Not too many exciting things have happened in the last 14 days or so. But here's the scoop:

Last weekend I went to an Arthur H concert at the Elysée Montmartre which was surprisingly awesome. I have one of his cds and I do like him, but now I love his music and his voice in general. It is funny because he is a geeky looking guy with big ears, but his voice is so sexy. He was also a great performer and lucky me, I got front row!

On saturday I went to Versailles with the Uconn group. We got a private guided tour of the private living chambers that you don't get to see on a normal tour! It was actually really interesting and I am glad I went. The tour guide was very well informed and had answers to all of the questions that we asked. Also, Jeff Koontz, the artist who makes the giant shiny balloon like sculptures, has an exhibit there right now...a cool mixture of classical art and modern art.

This week I have been getting a little into the holiday season. I have some spicy smelling candles burning and I put my tiny strand of christmas lights up around my window. Tomorrow, I am celebrating Jérôme's 37th birthday, WOW, and making him a really nice dinner. Then on Saturday Trish ans Sam get here! They are staying here for a week, and I am so excited to have some visitors, espescially on Thanksgiving. I have a couple of things already planned, but I figured we would make an itinerary once they got here. Saturday night is a Tokyo Decadence party, which could be fun...but it depends on how tired they are and if Jérôme can get them in. Then on Sunday we are going to go to Versailles. So that's all that is planned for now...unfortunately I dont have a break so I still have to work and go to school, but it should be a blast nonetheless.

I mentioned in my earlier post that I am going to Barcelona for Christmas! Well, I am super excited. We got a hotel room for the 24th-26th at this very fancy hotel right across the street from Gaudi's "Le Perdrera" and the rest of the time we plan on backpacking around the entire Catalonia region. I'm definitely ready for a little adventure. I may also go to Strasbourg before I leave for Spain to go to the famous Christmas market. Strasbourg is a town in France right near Germany that is considered to be the "Capitale de Noel" (the capital of christmas)...in Europe anyway..and I definitely wanna see that, and maybe eat some choucroute!

okay until next time....CIAO<33

A weekend of hors d'oeuvres and the Hippodrome!

This weekend was a busy one where I was never actually able to sit in front of my computer. I like those weekends where you are never bored enough to go on Facebook for hours doing nothing. This weekend felt particularly busy because I didn't spend one night in my room!

Friday is a busy day in general. I work at the high school from 8am to 5pm and I am exhausted afterwards. Jérôme, Caroline, Jonas and I decided to go and see Hellboy 2 at the ciné...it was good, except I was so tired I fell asleep...I woke up just in time for the end though...ha. After the movie we all headed back to Jérôme's apt. and played a game of Dungeon Twister...this french board game that is addicting...and I won of course! bwa haha. Caroline wasn't too happy about it. We all passed out over at the apt. and on Saturday I spent the morning just cleaning and doing some laundry then I met up with Caroline and John for a fantastic (and cheap) American lunch...SUBWAY...gotta love Subway, at least I do. After our little lunch date I left straight for Sevres and met up with Jérôme and his best friend Arnaud. We chatted and had some tea before we ended up being late for Jérôme's mother's birthday dinner. She made a delicious array of hors d'oeuvres for her birthday...I stuffed my face...free food is the best, espescially here. There were little brochettes of cheese, ham and tomato, wraps filled with chevre smoked ham and chives, mini salami pizza rolls etc etc...so basically I was in heaven. We all sat and chatted on the couch and started to play games, but me..being very fatigued as I was FELL ASLEEP AGAIN..on the couch int he middle of everything...c'est fou. Anyway, we all ended up staying over night at his mom's place.

Yesterday, we went to the Longchamps Hippodrome...the very famous horse race track in Paris. This past weekend it was free so we decided to go, since normally we couldn't afford to. The racetrack is in the missle of the 16th arrondissment which is the wealthiest quarter of Paris. We stayed for the races and even won a few that we bet on...we only gambled with about 2 euros a race, but it was fun to just play along. There was also free cotton candy, hot chocolate and fondue...mm yum yum. My camera died so I wasn't able to take any photos unfortunately, but it was a fun experience.

Today I started planning my Christmas vacation and guess where we decided to go?!?!

Barcelona, Spain!

more details on that to come:):):)

à plus

Barack Obama- "Yes We Can"

Today I am so excited and so happy for our country. I have never been so excited about the outcome of an election...even from over here across the ocean. I think the fact that we elected our first minority president is a great feat! And I also forsee that the world is going to change along with our country. I didnt realize how much I actually was hoping for this change...i argued against it even at times, but now I realize that it will do wonders internally and externally for our country. The minorities, both ethnic and religous, willbe more integrated and our foriegn politics and relations will change drastically. And on a lighter note, I think it will raise American spirits in this hard economic recession. Not only that, I think it says something that our country is not even 200 years old and along with all of our racial crisis and problems in the past, we have maybe gotten over that bump...at least a little bit hopefully.

So, YAY for Obama!!!

Yesterday, I went to buy a chess set for Jérome's birthday and I got a really nice one! Caroline also bought a small cheap set to so we can improve our skills. So we spent the afternoon in the park by Notre Dame, ate Berthillon ice cream and played chess on a bench. The weather was beautiful and th leaves are floating from the trees in all different Fall colors.

Later in the afternoon we all went to see a movie, The Visitor, which is an American film about our immigration problems...as a very general synopsis...but it was very good and I recommend it to everyone who can see it. I dont know any of the actors, but it was a very well made film.

After the movie we decided to go to the bar and watch the election. We headed over the Wide Open Spaces by rue de l'estrapade then went to the Violin Dingue to visit Momo..i had an amaretto sprite, hung out a bit, then headed home.

Today I am heading to the Grand Palais to see the Picasso exhibit...it should be neat, theyve been raving about it for a while.

so à plus for now!

Le Cirque d'Hiver (Bourglione)

I would like to preface this e-mail by saying that the past week has been particularly crappy, until yesterday that is. I have ANOTHER kidney infection. On Thursday morning on the way to work I puked in the bus...at 8am during rush hour. Then Friday in the middle of the night I woke up in unbearable pain in my kidney so I had to get an ambulance and go to the hospital. Now, this was a cultural experience because the hospitals in France are not like the ones we have in America. So even though we pay like 5 million dollars for our health care..at least we have nice nurses right? Now i'm taking antibiotics for a week...etc etc.

So in good news,
Last night Jérôme and I went to the Cirque d'Hiver. It is the oldest and most famous circus in France..and probably one of the most famous ones in the world I suspect. Last night was their 150 year anniversary and the opening night of their new show "Étoiles." I had never been to a circus before..and let me tell you..I LOVED it! I didn't want it to end. There were so many cool acts, and the things they did were amazing. There was tigers, horses, flying trapeze, burlesque, juggling, clowns etc..it was very cool needless to say. I would love to go again.


Here are just a couple pictures I took last night..I took like a million more but my internet is being slow so I will make a Facebook album of the rest! ENJOY!


After the show we went to eat at this really good restaurant called "Le Relais de l'Entrecote"..it's one of his favorites...near Saint Germain des Près. They don't have a menu, they always serve the same thing...a l'entrecote (which is a very nice piece of steak) served in this super yummy sauce and fries...and you get a salad as well...all of which is very tasty.

Last week I also went to the Palais de Tokyp, the exhibit sucked a little bit, but we did get to hang out by the Eiffel Tower and guess what....Hello Kitty is visiting! There are these 3 huge sculptures of Hello Kitty and 2 other Sanrio characters on tehTrocadero right now...they're pretty sweet...and they are also fountains, there are streams of water coming from they're little black eyes. ahh I love Paris!

at the lycée

Right now I am at work strenuously typing on a french keyboard to make this post. I have an hour in between the classes I teach and, therefore, I must blog.

The past week has just been spent getting into a routine of school and work...Over the weekend I went to the countryside AGAIN (i love it there) and spent my time working on various art projects including a moulage of Jérome's hand. He is teaching me how to play Chess...and I love it, I cant wait until I can actually play well.

Tonight I am going to my favorite contemporary art museum the Palais de Tokyo which is near the Eiffel Tower. It only costs me 1 euro and they always have crazy exhibits. We will definitely be taking pictures in the Photomaton and I may have to buy some cool art book...because they have an awesome bookstore; and as always we wxill probably do our little photo shoot thing and take cool pictures in the exhibit, which I will post asap..along with the Nuit Blanche photos I promised like 5 million years ago.

In Food news:

Jérome took me to a mexican restaurant here in Paris that was actually very good. Of course it was nothing like the real Mexican food Im used to, but it was very gourmet and tasty, and i had a yummy margarita and an agua fresca Jamaica.

Lately though because I am a lazy ass, I dont like going to the grocery store so I just eat cereal in my room or get a croissant aux amandes at the boulangerie. What happens is I eat super good over the weekends in the country and then I eat crap during the week..

well, back to work...

I should have a more interesting life right?

i pray to someday look like Penelope.

I haven't had the chance to update in about a week...I just started my classes and my job last week and I have been quite busy making the commute. Here's the deal-io..I needed to take studio art classes this semester, therefore, I had to register at Paris VIII instead of Paris IV. The fact that I get to take studio art in Paris is amazing, BUT the university is in the complete opposite side of the city so it takes me an hour just to get there. The school is not my favorite, it's very overcrowded, but it's only for one semester. The classes I am taking are pretty chouette...i have courses in drawing, sculpture, history of photography and the philosophy of art esthetics. In the past week I have had to haggle my way into these classes..but things finally seem to be settling. I get to carry a big portfolio case around Paris like a real life art student...but honestly I feel like a poser...hah

in other news, I saw 2 plays last week...one was a modern adaptation of Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" and the other was a musical based on the band "Queen"...one of my students was playing Freddy Mercury so I obviously had to go. The theater was completely packed so I had to sit in the very front row and center..which was awkward because I was literally face to face with my student while he was singing. Otherwise it was cute. Espescially the fact that mini frenchies were singing Queen songs...with little frenchie accents.

Over the weekend I went back to the ountryside and got some homework done. I also went horseback riding with Jérôme, which was a lot of fun. The weather was perfect and we went on a ballad for 2 hours.

Entertainment wise...I am currently addicted to The Office..I have watched seasons 1, 2 and most of 3. Caroline is a life saver and is ordering season 4...why didn't i watch this series before? Last night I went and saw Vicky Christina Barcelona and i loved it! It was very true to European mentality on love adn relationships and Penelope Cruz was awesome. I's alowly realizing that I may never leave Europe...or at least not anytime soon, I really love it here and I feel I can be more myself and less restricted to what is "expected" of me. There is this very cool quote from the song "The Healer" by Erykah Badu that says: "You don't have to believe everything you think"...it seems simple, but if you think about it..it makes a lot of sense(God. I would kill to look like her or to marry Jim...and that is a request)

In the past 3 weeks I have read 2 books and now I have started "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck...which I am enjoying very much. It is the first Steinbeck book I've read since "The Red Pony" in the 8th grade (which I hated)...next I plan on reading "For Whom the Bell Tolls" by Hemingway, then I will have read all the books I brought with me. HELP.
if any of you are feeling overly compassionate and rich please send me a present of a good book and some peanut butter M&Ms...not likely but I thought I'd throw it in there.

the fabulous life of...

updating my blog right now seems like a big task since a lot has happened in the past week. BUT here it goes....

I started my job last Wednesday at the high school where I'm teaching: Lycée Jacques Monod...and I was very pleasantly surprised. The teachers were super nice and the job is going to be so much fun. Basically everytime I work I will have a group of 8 or so students and I have conversation lessons with them. I have free reign to talk about whatever I want..well almost whatever I want besides the usual list of banned topics. Along with my job I have also started my classes. Today I had my first studio class (Carnet et Croquis: Dessin et écriture)..I know none of you know what that means, neither do I, but basically it is a drawing course. It's based off of artists such as Matisse and Kandinsky and their works of observation drawing and painting. The rest of my classes will come as the week goes on..that's how it works here..it's such a pain in the ass.

So along, with starting my actual schooling and everything last week I got very sick with that wonderful 2 day flu. I went to the Opéra Bastille with Caroline and we got student rush tickets to see Rigoletto by Verdi. It was amazing...not as amazing as it should have been because half way through the show I got a fever and runny nose and sore throat and it was awful. I spent the next 2 days in bed. Damn opera. ...je rigole;);)

In weekend news: Every Friday night in Paris an organized group of rollerbladers goes rollerblading around Paris until 1am Saturday morning. The group estimates to about 15,000 people. Jérôme and I went this past Friday, it was the 10 year anniversary of the group called "Roller Pari." It was really cool, we started at the Tour Montparnasse and rollerbladed around Paris with the mass of people (all shapes and sizes) for 3 hours. It is really amazing because they literally have police men to stop the traffic so we can go by...and it's really cool to watch so many people rollerblading at once. Anyway, we went everywhere EVEN down the Champs Elysées since it was the 10 year fête...so we stopped the traffic on the Champs, which is pretty cool needless to say. Obviously, this vigorous sport kicked my ass so afterwards I was exhausted and I had a blister...but all in all definitely worth it.

This past Saturday was the "Nuit Blanche"..literally "white night" but thats how the frenchies say "all nighter." It's every year on the first Saturday in October and all the museums and parks stay open all night and have special exhibits. The coolest one I saw this year was the light pillar at the Tour Montparnasse...unfortunately I didn't think this year was as cool as last year's fire exhibit in the Tuileries.

**pictures to come**

well kids, I'm planning my Christmas vacation...where should I go?????

La Campagne

La campagne or "the countryside" as we say in anglophone countries is a necessity for the over exerted Parisian lifestyle. Many Parisians since they were young spent the weekends in the countryside going mushroom hunting and picking chesnuts...and obviously roasting them afterward. Well, since I am lucky enough to date a frenchy..I too spend many weekends at his family's countryside home. Many of us Americans would automitaclly presume that he is wealthy in some respect to have a house out in the wilderness...but in fact it is very common for most families to have some kind of shindig out in the middle of nowhere. During the weekends the frenchies thrive on social interaction and lots of wine. Most of the time we are waiting for the next huge meal....which is wonderfu I might add. We eat ALOT and spend most of the weekend there relaxing, chatting, reading and riding bikes or taking "ballades" through the "bois" (walks through the woods)

Last weekend we went to Combreaux (where Jérôme's house is) and lavished ourselves in the perfect Fall weather. It was nice, sunny and crisp...even warm enough to lay outside on a blanket in a t-shirt and read. The leaves are changing, which is my favorite time of the year...so I took some pictures of the beautiful landscape. It is literally desolate out there...at nighttime it is pitch black...no light pollution..it's kind of creepy. If anyone gets a chance to spend a weekend in the French countryside they should definitely take it....you'll never be so lazy and full in your life.

Chez Moi

Salut à tous!

I have had a busy busy week...and I have a lot to write, but in this post I want to let you guys in on my Parisian digs. I took some pictures to post and show everyone. I live in the Cité Univérsitaire in the 14th arrondissement (quarter) of Paris. It is in the very southern part of Paris. Anyway, it is a sort of campus that houses international students from everywhere. The architecture is pretty impressive and there is a beautiful park across the street next to the RER B station. I am only 2 métro stops away from the center of Paris...pretty neat huh?

Anyway, here are some photos of my room here in the Cité...now that I think of it I should have taken some pics of the exterior of the building because it's pretty cool too.

Richard Avedon (1946-2004)--hommage to the american photographer

If you are interested in photography then this is the post for you:

Today I went to the museum in Paris near the Tuileries called the Jeu de Paume. The current exhibit is that of Richard Avedon, an amazing photographer. He almost defines the meaning of a portrait. I wandered though the exposition impressed by the emotion and the power captured through his images. He has done series of photography from fashion photography in 1950's Paris to the intense portraits of his In the American West series where he traveled to over 15 states in the western United States taking portraits of ordinary people. He has done portraits of some of the most world renknowned artists, musicians, actors, writers and models to some of the most normal ordinary people in midwestern America.

He is famous for the idea of taking a portrait on a blank, white background. It shows the gritty-ness of the person and there is no gray area...nothing to hide. He allows the subject to have a relationship with the photographer and the viewer. He also makes it known that he is NOT trying to capture an in depth part of the person. He is in fact capturing the surface and a small piece of that person's personality of state of being in that moment. In most of the portraits the person is staring straight at you making it very intense. I found that as I was walking through the exhibit my adrenalin increased and each photo I looked at made me feel like I had a connection for small instant with the subject. If you can't tell, I LOVED the exhibit and if you are in Paris you should go to the Jeu de Paume soon because the exhibit is over in a few days.


::::sigh:::: if only I was amazing artist.

New Name New Game

dear bloggers,

I decided to change the name of my blog because I thought "Paris, je t'aime" was too cliché...and it was getting on my nerves..heee SO the new name is "Paris Fast Food" appropriately named after this song I like called "Sénégal Fast Food" by Amadou & Mariam.

So today is Thursday and I have nothing to do. Yesterday I spent like 3 hours at the MICEFA trying to get registered for Paris 8...pain in the ass. Hopefully, everything is worked out..we all know how wonderfully on top of things the MICEFA is. I have to get in contact with someone from the Lycée where I am working..I have no idea how to do that since I have no e-mail address nor phone number for this school. I may have to truck down there in person....fun fun fun.

The week so far has been pretty uneventful. Tuesday night a few of us went to a play that Jérôme's friend David is in. It was actually 3 short plays..one right after the other...it was probably one of the weirdest things I have ever seen. It was definitely worth it though, I got to see 2 naked people....very Harry Potter....who doesnt love seeing naked people anyway?
Last night I went to a Moroccan restaurant and ate some bomb coucous and my favorite patisseries (pastries) with the almond paté..mm yum yum.

AND tonight, I may either be going to the opera Carmen or to the Centre Pompidou since it is the nocturne. I would love to see that opera though. Next weekend is the Nuit Blanche...I'm pumped...I'm going to try and find the program for the night and see what cool shinnanigans we'll be able to pull next saturday.

Last but definitely not least...Deven Green wrote a comment on my blog!!
so everyone go to her YouTube site: HOOT* <----- this is the link


ciao kiddies

skullcandy

so i would like to start off by saying sorry to those who ready my blog and found that the link in my last entry did not work...because for some reason ALL of the Deven Green videos on YouTube are now gone...forever apparently which is really unfortunate. DESOLÉE everyone.

so in other news:
Last weekend we had out first group "excursion" to Normandy, which is in northern France. We visited a seaside town called Saint Malo on Saturday and explored the old fortress and ate delicious crèpes and drank equally delicious apple cider. Jérôme bought me a present while we were there...a gigantic set of hot pink headphones that look like this:

Even though they are extremely large, I think they're really cool, and they have great sound quality.

After our little journée in Saint Malo we went to our hotel near Mont Saint Michel and had a big group dinner followed by a like 3 hour long game of movie sherrades...which was hilarious espescially since our director played with us.

Yesterday we spent the day at Mont Saint Michel, and amazing island in Normandy that is famous for it's huge Abbey at the top. The island is basically a hill and everything leads up to the Abbey...and it's absolutely beautiful. I went last year, but I'm very happy that I got to see it again.
We had a tour guide show us through the village and also through the entire Abbey whichw as nice since we didn't get to have a tour guide last year. It was even better because he spoke with a british accent reminescent of Monty Python and he was wearing sandals with socks. We ate lunch at this fancy senior citizens restaraunt with an amazing view. On our way back to Paris we stopped and visited a cider making factory and learned how they make the famous French apple cider. I bought 6 bottles and 2 bottles of their apple juice! All in all the trip was a success, I had a lot of fun and became closer to some of the people in the group.











I am in desperate need of a frido, I still can only buy non-perishable food because my frigo is in Combreaux. Hopefully this weekend we will be making a trip there to pick up all my kitchen items. I think on Wednesday I am going to sign up for my classes at Paris 8...there are so many cool art classes I can take..I have to decide, but there is a Bande Dessinées studio class...which would be really cool. Okay off au lit.....à plus

Right now there are girls catfighting in the hallway....oh dorm life.