ideas spoken

Brilliant Idea!

It just came to me to plan a summer vacation and get away from Seattle before I buckle down and start work at Q13 Fox News. Oh, and for those of you who didn't already know-- I am currently processing paperwork to become an official employee of the Tribune Company, which means that I will be working at the local Fox affiliate newstation in Seattle (KCPQ Q13 Fox News). How cool is that?!? If you want to know more about my job and how my internship turned into a paid position, give me a call :)

Back to the vacation plans... I started thinking about how the 4th of July is going to be here in no time flat, and realized that I haven't spent a 4th of July without my boys back home in years. I just can't bare the thought of being anywhere but the Window on the Bay beach back home, watching the fireworks and sharing a bread bowl of clam chowder from the Old Fisherman's Grotto. Needless to say, I think I'm going to try and fly down to Monterey on the 3rd, to Vegas on the 7th to soak up some sun with my bros, and then back to Seattle that weekend. Doesn't that sound just grand?? 

Because you know what? I'm graduating, and I deserve one last lick of a summer vacation before I have to earn those vacation days! (YIKES! That's a frightening thought)... Plus I miss my friends, family, and it will help pass some time before the family reunions in August, when I'll get to see the fam-bam again. And then it will be Labor Day, my birthday, Thanksgiving and Christams! All before I know it! The thought of getting to see my family on a somewhat regular basis just really jacks me up! I mean... I don't like miss them or anything silly like that.... cough, cough... :)

Ok...I think I'll get back to my paper on Brazil now.... ugh...

Venice: Day One!

As I sit on the queen sized bed in Hotel ai do Mori, in Venice, I can head Dani getting ready in the bathroom and our blond haired – blue eyed Spanish neighbors getting ready to leave at 11am.

Reflecting back on my last few days in Paris, I have to say that things closed out the month rather nicely. I spent a lot of time at Place de Vosges, the park I have deemed to be my own, and did an awful lot of walking.

One thing I plan to do when I get back to the States, is walk. I want to walk as much as possible. I think that’s one thing the Parisians have up on us, is that they are not as lazy as we are. They really do walk or take the metro everywhere, which I have decided every big city, like Seattle, needs a full on working Metro. Traveling from one end of the city to another makes much more sense, and it a lot more cost effective, I’ve gathered!
I was finding it really hard to say goodbye to Paris yesterday morning. It’s funny how you can grow to love a place so quickly, and then finding yourself having to give it in the drop of a hat. Seems I’ve had to do that quite often… maybe I’m bitter…
I will return to Paris someday: when that day arrives, I have yet to determine, but it will be before I’m 30, and I promise myself that!

So here is some chain of events in the last 24 hours.

After packing the remainders of my things in our apartment, Dani & I said our farewells to Megan, Emily & Samantha. I have yet to inform you that we lost Becca on Monday as she went home for medical reasons. We found the French to be a little sketchy in the medicinal department and lucky for her, the insurance company paid for her flight to leave a week early! Needless to say, she had an MRI at home in San Francisco on Tuesday, but I have yet to receive any updates. At this point, we are assuming she has an ulcer.

So, we trecked through the metro in Paris, having to even transfer from like 6 at Nation to Line 1, with some strapping French gentle men to help us up the tretrous stairs with our, rather large, suitcases. We received a few chuckles, but it was all in good fun! Afraid we were going to miss our bus to the airport Beauvis, Dani and I were stressing a little bit until we finally reached the bus station to find that we had about 15 plus minutes to spare before we took off!

Unfortunately, we both ended up paying (myself) close to 100 EUR and (Dani) over 100 EUR to check our luggage as we were over the 15 kilogram weight limit. I was 6kgs over, and each kg costs 15EUR…YIKES! Needless to say, we decided this afternoon, after paying a visit to the post office, that we will be sending some things home….**family, be prepared for a package!!! They said it would be less that 50EUR, and I’d much rather pay less than half of what I did on the plane, to send my things back to the states. I guess it’s just a learning process.

So once we arrived safe and sound on the ground at the Treviso airport, we ended up taking, what was like, a Discovery bus to Piazza del Roma, where we caught a water bus to Piazza San Marco. The water bus was an awesome experience! Dani & I were both in awe and were loving that the “highways” of Venice were made out of water : )
Needless to say, it didn’t take us long to find our lovely Hotel ai do Mori. We are located, literally 10 yards from San Marco. It’s a truly fantastic location (brownie points for Melissa!).
Ok, at the Hotel, we have to buzz to be let in and the hotel itself is located on the second floor of the skinny building. Mind you, we are amidst shops and restaurants galore (none of which were open when we arrived at 11:30pm last night). Luckily, I snagged some strapping young Spanish gentlemen to lug our heavy bags up four flights of stairs! They were such sweet hearts! (not to mention, INCREDIBLY handsome!) They even happened to be in the room right next door to us! Needless to say, after we checked in with John Luca, our receptionist, we were walked to an open pizza place called “Planet” by John Luca himself and Dani & I had a bite to eat! Our first “real” pizza experience in Italy! Haha The Spanish boys met us at the pizza place. There were four of them and they all originally came from Spain, but two have been working in Pairs, go figure! It was wonderful getting to chat with them and have them walk us back to the Hotel. We ended up next door in their room for at least an hour and a half, exchanging photo stuff, as one of the boys is really into it, and playing fun card games! We played a mixture of Spanish games and American Games, like “bull shit.” Lol

Anywho, our Spaniard boys left this morning and we were able to say farewell to them before we headed out this morning!

So, this morning, Friday morning, we walked around Piazza San Marco and went into the Cathedral. I learened what some of the different depictions were upon the domes of the cathedral and other interesting facts, however we weren’t allowed to take pictures, although you know I snuck a few! Lol I wouldn’t be Melissa if I didn’t, right?

After visitin the Basillica we decided to just go get lost! And it was wonderful! We wandered the tiny, winding streets of Venice, and found ourselves overwhelmed with the gorgeousness that is Venezia. The canal streets with Gondolas passing through the bridges as you cross from one part of the street to the next… it’s really an incredible feeling: almost surreal.
We ended up walking from one end of the Venice island to the other and back farther to another side where we were able to catch a water bus over to the island Murano. We got to watch a glass blower make a vase and a horse figurine and that was amazing! I mean, I’ve seen glass blown before, but it was wonderful to see again, especially having it be Murano glass… I mean the name really says it all! Haha

While on Murano, it started pouring rain, harder than I’ve ever felt and it was amazing! The sidewalks follow the water and mind you that Murano is north of Venice and it takes about 20 minutes by water bus to get there. It’s a small island with a ton of glass factories (tiny family run places) and shops. Dani & I picked up our second cone of gelato for the day while we waited for the rain to subside and then we caught a bus back to the main island, all the way back to Piazza San Marco.

Currently, I’m sitting in the closet of a room, that is our hotel room and am watching part of the opening ceremonies to the Olympics while I type away. It’s fun to hear them speak in Chinese and have it translated into Italian. I’m just wondering where the English subtitles are… haha Just kidding!

So we’re off to the Internet Café to look up a few things for tonight and tomorrow while we’re here in Venice before we head to Rome. We’re planning on having dinner and finding somewhere to dance or just relax. Tomorrow we plan on taking a ride on a Gondola to a Jazz club for dinner where they’ll be having a tribute to Miles Davis, one of my all time faves!

Two days in Venice is really plenty. I’m glad we’ll be spending most of our time in Rome, but Venice… oh Venice! It’s so different than Paris. I love the skinny streets and the hot hot humid air! I’ve yet to have any nasty Italian men encounters, but then again we have yet to hit Rome! Haha

Anywho, my Italian adventures are off to a lovely start! The rain has left us, but the heat has not. I’m having a hard time believing that I’m actually in Italy. I have been dreaming about coming here since as far back as I can remember. Probably since the day I found out that I was a quarter Italian… haha

Anywho, love to you all and I’ll do my best to keep you updated. It’s difficult not having internet in the Hotel, but I’m hoping the hostel has access! So, yes I'll try very hard to keep you all updated this week, but if I don't have the chance please please please stay calm! lol
Until next time…mucho amore!

P.S. Pictures won't be coming until I return home, but keep checking back!

MAS PICTURAS!

Ok, so it's just about 3am here in Paris and almost 6pm back at home :)
I've been a busy litte bumble bee (that's actually what my name means! haha), and have uploaded a TON of pictures to try and catch you all up on my fun adventures!
But as for now, I'm off to bed because I'm beat! Tomorrow is Sunday, and I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet, but I'll figure out something grand to do in the morning!!
As for now, check out all the new pictures I've posted! I'm up through my visit to Musee d'Orsay, but there is still plenty more to come, so sit tight!
Love you all!

Bonsoir!

Today was a normal day, I'd have to say:

Had class this morning and we went through some slides. Saw some work from several photographers and then became heavily aggrevated with Tina Barney... I really won't begin to rant, but basically, the woman is ignorant and completley stuck in some sheltered lie... her work is okay though, so I will give her some credit...

Anywho, after class Dani and I went to check out Musee Rodin. It's full of gorgeous sculptures from Rodin and several paintings, but nothing spectacular. There were 2 rooms of the 2 story exhibit that really got me: The Kiss &... I think it was the Danaid room. These statues were all of nudes, but were purely focused on the passionate embraces of lovers. They were very moving and some of them really just got to me in ways I can't explain (cheesey I know!). Upon arriving at the Rodin, you walk into a mini courtyard which houses "The Thinker" before you head into the museum hall. This sucker was HUGE! (pics to come- as usual)

After wandering through the exhibition, we made our way to the gardens which housed 21 other statues, including "Adam," "Eve," & "The Gates of Hell." The "Gates" were very detailed and very emotional. Hands down, one of the most intense pieces of sculpture I've ever seen. It was about twice my height and maybe one a half of my height wide.

Concluding Rodin, Dani & I headed back over to the Right bank, split a burger (I know, I know- how American of us) and then grabbed some Amorino gelato. This is the place I was telling you about earlier that makes your gelato into the shape of a flower!! It wsa so pretty, but even more delicious! I've tried probably 6 different flavors of gelato thus far and can't wait for even more in Italy!

We enjoyed our gelato on the back steps of the Saint Merry Cathedral in the Maris district, the same as our campus, and then split up for an hour as Dani had to go pick up her film at Picto. I hung out on the steps for a while, going through my contact sheets, picking what I felt like printing tonight and decided on several. I ended up with 3 final prints tonight which I was proud of, but I really need to figure out how to work faster as tomorrow night (Thursday) is our last night in the dark room before our critique next week... eeek! At the same time, I've been one of the only ones to have completed several final prints thus far, so I'm doing better than most : ) Not to brag or anything! haha

Just before lab I decided to pick up my souviners for the bros. I got their names drawn... if you know what I'm talking about: good! If not, too bad! haha After lab, Dani & I went to the top of the Pompidu, since I acutally didn't end up going up the other day. The view was lovely, but still not as grand as that of Monmarte (Sacre Cour) or at Trocadero from yesterday before the boat cruise!

Anywho, as of now, I'm chillin' on the futon in our living room attempting to update pictures on this little guy. I think I've hit the max for one day and will do my best to continue to catch up because I've very much so behind! I know! I'm sorry! Forgive me!

Anywho, we found out today that Becca has an ulcer, so she picked up some medicine, but has been continuing to feel horrible, so one of the advisors, Chris, came over to regulate. We had a doctor come out to the apartment and the conclusion was to take her to the ER to have some blood work done. As of now, we're waiting to get a call from Chris to hear what's going on. Please be sure to keep Becca in your prayers so that she heals quickly! There's nothing worse than being really sick on the trip of a lifetime! Thanks in advance for the support!

Anywho, I'm exhausted! But it was nice catching up with Jason and Eric tonight and I hope you enjoy the rest of the Loire Valley pics that I've gotten up! I promise there are more to come so stay tuned : ) lol

Jam Packed!

Ok, just really quick, because it's 1:43 am and I just got home and am super exhausted and totally have class at 930am!

This morning, Dani & I went and waited in line at the Notre Dame de Paris Towers for about 40 minutes in the hot sun so that we could climb the Towers! It was incredible!!! We had a blast climbing the 400 Stairs up through the North Tower and walking down the South Tower! The view from the top was gorgeous and it was just a plain blast!

After that we grabbed a super tinsy cup of cafe cream at Paris Plages before we split up. Dani went home to take a nap, while I walked off to Musee d'Orsay. It was a blast! I had to wait in line for quite a while, but over all, I covered the 6 floors of beautiful art work! I saw a ton of Van Gough and Monet and Rodin as well! I really loved the sculptures, and surprisingly enough, was not into the photography stuff at all... It was all really really old stuff from the late 1800s when photo first really hit the scene (just not apealing to me at all for some reason). And I have to say, although I'm a little embarassed, I didn't enjoy checking out all the art work as much as I wish. I guess I'm just not one of those painting types... I mean, I saw some super cool stuff, but other things really didn't do much for me, and that was proabably close to 90 things to be honest!

After d'Orsay, I ran off to Picto to pick up my negatives before racing off to lab. I made three more contact sheets and one print in the matter of 3 hours!!! I don't think I'm moving slow, but it's really hard to have to share chemicals with 9 other people... UGH! Ideally, I'd love to have the darkroom all to myself! That would be "just like a dream!" (haha The Cure!) Actually, now that I think about it, I made two prints, but I wasn't really all that jazzed about the second one. Anywho, I'm back in the lab both tomorrow night and Thursday night as well.

After lab, Dani & I went to grab a "crissont chocolate" (yes- I know I spelled that wrong!) before heading off to Trocadero where the real magic set in! I watched the sun set over the Tour Eiffel! Even at like 1045 it was still kind of light outside! Imagine that! Anywho, right at 10pm, as the Tower starts to turn blue (only for July because of Bastille Day) there were tons of white sparkly lights that came on! It was such the sight to see!

So we spent time taking picutres, lounging and watching the street entertainers. Tonight there was a group of like six guys putting on a dance skit to music! It was amazing! I totally video-ed some of it so you all can see when I come back home!

After Trocadero we raced off to catch our boat cruise down the Siene and barely made it in time for the last boat to sail at 11pm! It was a blast, even though both my camera and video camera batteries died on me and my SD Card hit the max amount of pics... that totally sucked!
Anywho, after the cruise it was a major race back to the RER so we could catch the Metro before it closed. Luckily we made it all the way back with no Metro problems! Thank you Jesus!!!!!!

Anywho, I'm totally pooped. It's been a long day, but I'm home safe and sound and am about to go lay on my bed! It's far to hott for covers these days.... phew!

Heat stroke! (not really)

Ok so… Today we went on a shoot for class down to the Paris Plages. Basically, the mayor of Paris, bless his heart, is super gay and super into the little things! So, because of him, the beach is brought to Paris for an entire month every summer! Set up along the Siene are places with sand, lawn chairs, fun things for kids, mister things, a pool, ice cream shops, outdoor restaurants, etc. It’s pretty legit, I have to say! Lol But we just wandered around, etc… I took some pictures with my digital camera, but it’s just not the same as working with the 35mm… I really do love my film! Anywho, we wandered the Paris Plages for a while and then walked over to one of the islands in the middle of the Siene: not Ile de la Cite, but the other one, and heaven help me for forgetting the name right now! This is the “it” island. The most expensive pieces of property in all of Paris are located here. Countless famous people have owned property there at some time or another… blah blah blah…

So, post class time, in the dying heat I ventured off to Les Invalides. It’s pretty much a military museum. Nothing too exciting to see, other than Napoleon’s Tomb, which is pretty legitimate. It’s gorgeous from the outside! Anywho, I made a super quick trip over there, but the funny story that comes out of my little escapade was that when I walked through the main gates, I was stopped by one of the guards, who said he made a bet with the other guards to see if he could get a picture with me, so of course I went along with it just for the laugh! It was pretty funny, I must say! I snapped one with my camera too! Haha The silly thing about it was, that as I was walking toward the gate and noticed the guards, I thought to myself how funny it would be if I had pictures with them, when sure enough… haha!

So Musee Rodin is literally across the street from Les Invalides, but it was closed because it’s Monday, so bounced off the door, totally disappointed : (
Mind you the heat has been pretty blistering lately… So I took the metro over to the Musee d’Orsay, and bounced off yet another closed door… Darn it those Mondays!
Apparently, those museums are closed on Mondays, when I thought it was Tuesdays that they were closed… silly Melissa!

I ended up going up to Montmarte and checked out Sacre Coure, which translates into “sacred heart.” Low and behold the most amazing view of Paris I’ve ever seen in my life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The church was by far the most gorgeous I’ve seen from the inside. Of course we weren’t supposed to take pictures, and of course I took pictures anyways because that’s just me. But the place was incredible! I really can’t describe it! I”ll have to let the pictures speak for themselves!

Oh, yeah… about those pictures… hehe I’ll get on it I promise!

We had our “farewell dinner” tonight. It was great! It’s alittle bit early as we still have like 12 days left in the city, but it was fun to say the least! Quite a bit of the students from our program and the Sorbonne program were there. We filled up half the café! It was pretty sweet!

The heat has been so intense lately, let me tell you. I’ve been “glistening” non-stop! Eww (in the tone of Summer Roberts voice – hello The OC!) Anywho, tonight at dinner it started to completely DOWN POUR, and I really mean DOWN POUR! We even got some thunder and lightning, but I could have mistaken that for a camera flash, although I’m pretty positive I didn’t! lol It didn’t last but more than 30minutes or so, so it was nice for the rain to have subsided by the time we left the brasserie.

Anywho, this leads me up to now. My bedroom lights are off because I’m just about tucked in bed. Tomorrow should be a pretty long day, so yeah… Goodnight all!

To be young and in Paris

As I sit on my bed and look out my three windows, I can see the streets I walk to get to the Metro whenever I choose to venture out into the beautiful world of Paris and I see another apartment building, as these seem to be the only places Parisians live, with a medium tan colored wall, crawling with brown vines, that I am certain in the spring time are gorgeous, lush and green. The street I look down too peaks out briefly for about five feet before it rushes behind another apartment building.

The weather has been hot and sticky about 99 percent of the time I’ve spent in the city. The heat can be uncomfortable at times, when your clothes stick to your body in unwelcome places, when you feel the heat radiating off the man who smells like body odor next to you on the metro, or the heat that flocks the open walls of each café unto the streets of Saint Michel and rue de Rivoli.

You know you’re in Paris, when you’re on the Metro and, unlike back in the states, no one smiles and everyone avoids eye contact with one another. Creating eye contact is a perfect welcoming invitation, so one must be cautious and choose their gaze wisely.

As Dani & I did some grand window shopping down Saint Michel yesterday, we found ourselves surprisingly stumbling upon the Pantheon. Being art students with our abroad student id entitles us into all of the museums for free, and thank goodness for that! The most magnificent things in all of the Pantheon, aside from the 100 yard high (ok, probably not that high) paintings on the concrete walls, were the crypts downstairs. For those unfamiliar, crypts are underground chambers used as a burial chapel or for storing major artifacts. There were many French generals, political and military figures kept in the crypt, however, Marie & Pierre Curie, along with Victor Hugo (the author of Les Miserables) were there, and were by far the most exciting to see! I took some short video clips of the crypts, and several pictures as well. It was overwhelming at first, because as I entered the first crypt, I got goose bumps up and down my spine, even though I had no clue who those buried there were.

Today, Sunday, I decided to have some much needed Melissa time. I woke up this morning, having stayed out until 3am last night and went to mass at Notre Dame, once again. The service was beautiful as usual and for some reason, the music that came from the grand organ really moved me this morning.

After mass I wandered over to the Sainte Chapel. With my free entry ticket, I took my time, reading the informational pamphlet and wandering around the first floor of the chapel. I was feeling a little disappointed and deceived after finding out that we were not able to go to the upstairs area where many special relics were held. The Crown of Thorns was purchased back in the early 1200s for a price far greater than what it cost to build the church in the first place! How crazy is that?!? Since, the Crown of Thorns has moved to be housed in the Notre Dame de Paris crypts but is only on display to the public on Fridays during the Lent season. Thus, I am coming back someday during lent, and that is that.

After my tour I wandered the streets of the 6th ere. I found myself down on Point Neuf, which is the tip of the Ile de la Cite (the little island between the two banks of Paris). I sat on the concrete, ate my sandwich with my feet dangling a mere eight feet from the brownish colored water of the Seine River, and read my book. I was down on the tip of the island for about an hour and half or so, cooking away in gorgeous sunshine enjoying another moviesque moment!

After enough of the hot sun, I rushed home to freshen up a bit and relax in a cooler environment for about 45 minutes before racing back to the left bank to Shakespeare & Company for a 4pm tea date with Mr. George Whitman. I raced to the bookstore, fearing a late entry, when I saw my 50/60-something year old friend perched on a bench against the wall of the bookstore. I took a seat and we chatted for a while before Sylvia, George’s daughter, came to notify us in the sweetest of British accents that George was not feeling well today, but that he would be down shortly for some fresh air. Needless to say, we had no tea, but I was able to talk to George for a while. As age deteriorates the brain, George was not sure at first if he remembered me or not. I entertained the idea in my mind, that when we had initially met the other day, before our “Spanish” words were exchanged, he raced up to me with a key to the apartment building and the bookstore, as he believed me to be a passerby needing a place to stay. Anyways, I asked George what his favorite book was called. He replied with a straight-faced, “A book that was written about me, called ‘Idiot,’” and then his gorgeous wrinkles came alive when his face lit up with a mischievous smile. He told me his favorite poet is Walt Whitman and he recited several of his favorite lines of one of his poems, looking me straight in the face, piercing me with his creamy blue eyes and pencil dots of pupils. After our short conversation and few exchanged words, I ventured once again into the wonderland that is Shakespeare & Company and set off on an adventure to find a book. I walked away with two books: Books v. cigarettes, by George Orwell and A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf. They’re both tiny books, rather thin as well, but they sound of interest and I will keep them eternally as they now have the official S & Co stamp on the first page.

It’s been a nice quiet evening so far, and as the sky begins to turn, I’m entertaining the idea of a short nap, or maybe a cup of café crème and a new book at the Bel Air café down the street. The more time I spend in Paris, the more I’m beginning to love the culture of this place and the pace of life. The leisurely enjoyment of afternoon stroll, or a cup of coffee over several hours at a café is just so far beyond anything that is achievable in the U.S. The feeling is different, and it really isn’t anything that I can put into words, but I am beginning to love this place more than, dare I say my home? The lifestyle that is lead here is a beautiful one. The air is different, the sky is different, the clouds, the sun and the moon. I really do love Pairs, and am finding that I am going to have a terribly difficult time saying goodbye.

Just another average Parisian day in the City of Lights… oh to be young and in Paris…

4 day update!

Ok, so if you feel like you’re reading a novel (Ashleigh!) and it’s becoming too much for you to handle… well my apologies, but you kind of are. I thought I would be better at keeping this whole thing updated day by day, seeing as I know you all want a play by play (haha I rhymed, go me!) but it’s actually not as easy as I thought. Setting aside time to write is something that is important to me, but things are just so go-go-go here that it’s tough to really set aside time until the evening when I’m purely exhausted!

Anywho, it’s Saturday now, around 2:38am. I haven’t written you since Tuesday, but I’ll give you a quick update on what you’ve missed…

I’ve decided to really switch it up into high gear because I realized I only have so much time left (13 days) and there are so many things that I haven’t done yet! I am having mixed feelings, thinking that I’ve wasted some time… but anywho, here’s how things are going:

Monday during class we went to an old antique market. It was basically amazing! I swear I wanted everything I saw, but then I reminded myself that I’m already enough of a pack rat, that I don’t really “need” anything: I just “want” everything! Lol It was really neat, needless to say. I shot about 2 rolls of film while we were there and got to develop it in the lab Tuesday night. Suffice to say, I got some, excuse my language, but some, damn good pictures! I’m really proud of myself! While some enjoy taking pictures of things and of architecture, etc, I really really enjoy shooting people. Most of you know, I’m a HUGE people person anyway, so this really won’t seem like a shock to you, but I just love lifestyle photography. There’s something that’s just so captivating about how everything in Paris has this old, yet classic, timeless feeling to it, even some of the people.

So Tuesday, day, I went down to shopping area by Opera Gariner to return some things and did a little more shopping before heading off to the Luxemborg Gardens. Holy crap! It was amazing and beautiful and I wish every park would be as gorgeous as this was! Once I get the more recent pics up, you’ll be able to see the park and the gorgeous fountain! I went out there to shoot some film, and got about a roll and a half. Sidebar: it’s such a good feeling to see so many interracial couples (sorry grandpa). I love how things just aren’t that big of a deal over here, unlike back home. People are so accepting, so leisurely, so relaxed… it is truly incredible. Anywho, just before I left the park, there was a high school choir on tour performing on the little stage, that is literally set amidst these gorgeous trees, and they started to sing Hallelujah. I’m telling you, God is SO bomb! Haha It’s one of my favorite songs ever. There are two versions (different lyrics), and the one they sang is the one we sing in church. I totally stopped dead in my tracks to watch, listen and really just feel God’s presence. (SIGH) I recorded a little bit of it, so I’ll see what I can do about putting that up online so you guys can hear it. After I left the park I had to race to buy photo paper in the photo district, and what an adventure that was! I was a few minutes late to lab because I went to about 4 different shops, until I ended up back at the first because no one really had the paper I was looking for. I’m a little disappointed because I’d love to be working with matte or pearl (which apparently Halley-my prof- said they don’t make it anymore?), but we’re required to print on glossy…boring! I ended up only making about 4 contact sheets.

Wednesday: Happy 21st Birthday to Ashley Bradley : ) First birthday of yours that I’ve missed in about…what like 6 or so years? That’s crazy to think about : ) I’m so glad we’ve been able to stay such great friends over the years! So we had class in the morning, which was boring and I was trying not to fall asleep, then I went and had lunch with my friend, Maria, who’s this adorable full-blooded Italian girl from jersey. I had bread with goat cheese. Quite French, and actually quite good! After that I wandered around the Maris (the Gay/Jewish District where my school is) and window shopped- my next favorite thing, aside from actually shopping!- and then headed to Lab. I made about 8 contact sheets and made one print for our Hemingway assignment. We had to shoot something that could be used as a cover for the book A Moveable Feast. Nothing too special.

Class Thursday was amazing! We went to visit the Annie Lebowitz Exhibition at the Photographic Museum. Let’s just say, I laughed, I cried, I almost threw up, and came out a totally moved soul. For those of you unfamiliar, Annie is a celebrity photographer. She works mainly with portraits but has done her share of social justice work as well. She shot the famous picture of Demi Moore naked, when she was pregnant, as well as other pictures that just about everyone has seen. She’s worked years for Vogue, The Rolling Stone, and Vanity Fair shooting their covers, and this exhibition featured some work she shot while in Rwanda, her lover Susan’s death of cancer, as well as the death of her beloved father. All the pieces were very moving. After I left the museum, I really got to thinking that I really don’t know what I want to do for a career. I love photography so much, but it’s just such a competitive field, and there’s so much more I think you can do with documentary photography, versus journalistic photography. Journalistic photography doesn’t convey as much in my opinion. In reference to newspapers, the pictures just go along with the story, very seldom do these images really pull at those strings of emotion. At least, that’s how it is for me.
After the exhibit Dani and I went to visit the Musee Picasso! It was fun, quick and easy. I’m not super huge on looking at art, but it was fun to be able to just like stop for three seconds or so in front of some of his work and then really be able to study other pieces such as his self portrait and “The Crucifixion” which is probably one of the very few Picasso paintings that I actually like… lol Sorry to all the Picasso fans out there! After that we went and grabbed some Amarino gelato!!! They serve it to you on a cone or a cornetto and you get to pick 4 flavors or less that you want and they give it to you in the shape of a flower! It’s really pretty!!!! Lol
We also walked over to the Left Bank to wander around and we visited Shakespear & Company. HOLY CRAP! HUGE STORY HERE!!! I’ll write another blog just about that after this one, but my experience in that bookstore was by far the most amazing experience I’ve ever had in my entire life, and was hands down what made Thursday the single greatest day of Paris! It’s going to be terribly tough to top this one!
We ran home for a little while after to get ready before we headed out with the BABs. We all went out to a part of the Latin Quarter we hadn’t visited yet for another night on the town. We weren’t able to find anything we were super happy with, but we shared a drink and ended up calling it a night pretty early. There just really wasn’t any excitement.

TODAY, which is Friday, I went out to the Discount Designer Outlets. It took me about 35 minutes to get there on the RER train. It’s different than the regular Metro because it goes farther distances. Anywho, I got there and in order to get to the outlets you’ve got to walk through a mall, which I did. But honestly I wasn’t really impressed. I was actually a little disappointed. Sure there were huge designers like Burberry and my favorite- Dolce & Gabana- but it just really wasn’t all that great. I mean I think it’s safe to say that the Gilroy Outlets back home in Cali are better… and those aren’t even designer! Lol Go figure! I spent a little less than 4 hours out there before I met up with Dani in the Maris. I window shopped with her and then HUGE MOMENT IN HISTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We stopped for coffee at a little café, and folks, believe it or not, I drank my FIRST EVER, full cup of coffee. I ordered a “café crème” and added like 4 things of sugar to it! Haha But regardless, I drank it : ) We had to drop off our film to be developed and then went home to relax for a bit before Dani & I went on a date : )
We headed out to the 18th ere and went searching for this fondue restaurant that Kiersten told me about. Supposedly it’s famous for serving wine in baby bottles, but no one knew what we were talking about, and others didn’t even think there were any fondue restaurants in Monmarte! Ok, really?!?! Anywho, we wandered for about, oh, I don’t know, an hour!! Before we found a fondue restaurant. They didn’t serve wine in baby bottles, but the fondu was incredible (it was my first time) and we met a really cool couple that helped us erad the menu and explain what some really weird named things were! Haha Anywho, we chatted with them while we enjoyed our fondue and crème brulee! We were going to head off to the Moulin Rouge, but it got late and we didn’t want the metro to shut down on us, so we headed home around 12:45am. Anywho, the night was successful and a ton of fun!

Tomorrow we’ll hit up Sainte Michel and Saint Germain for shopping and window shopping. Sales in Paris, because they are regulated by the government, only take place twice a year, in January and July for three week time periods. Suffice to say, the sales end July 31st so we’re trying to get in all the shopping we have left for the trip. We may squeeze in a museum or something too, but we’ll see…. Anywho, that’s the update.

Again, sorry for the novel!

Fun French Observations:

In Paris, I figure I average at least 3 or miles of walking per day, which really isn’t that much, but think about how much walking you do everyday!

In the photo lab in France, when developing your prints it goes developer, fixer, water. In America, it goes developer, water, fixer, water. I, along with my Professor Halley Pancer, prefer the latter.

I am anticipating culture shock when I come back home. Things here are super slow paced and I LOVE IT so much better. Meals take at least 2 hours, and lunch is the biggest meal of the day preferably. Bread, cheese & wine are staples above any other foods, and I could live off the three of them. (must include chocolate as well)

All the metros smell of urine and body odor, whether you’re walking through the tunnel passages or you’re on the sweaty/sticky train itself.

Body odor is out of control here. FACT: Paris does sell deodorant. Who would have thought?

Never have I seen so many drool-worthy attractive men, than on rue du Temple. Too bad they’re all gay. No wonders why the Marais (pronounced Ma-rye) is considered the gay district. It’s the Jewish district too.

This morning I ate my breakfast in our closet of a kitchen. I sat at the table, with my back to the window in order to soak up the warm sunshine. I ate my peach flavored yogurt, sipped on my hot peach tea, and read Hemmingway’s A Moveable Feast. How out of a movie did I feel? LITERALLY!

The US is ugly in comparison to Europe. The Luxembourg Gardens are breathtaking. I love the nude statues; not because they’re nude, but because it’s art and it’s beautiful and it should be on display for the public to enjoy like it is. Americans are prudish.

Never have my feet hurt so bad from walking all day long: to the point at which my knees want to collapse and my hips feel like they’re going to pop out of their sockets!

Tiramisu gelato is BOMB! Especially when you buy it from a street vendor who sells it a scoop for 2EUR, and the portions are teensy!

The Metro, despite it’s stench, makes navigating the city a synch. No wonders why Ashleigh thought I was a total tard for getting on the “L” going in the wrong direction when I visited her a year ago spring. Haha!

The tiles in my bathroom (which is smaller than a closet, because it only has a toilet in it) are in the shapes of hexagons and your eyes make little flower patters out of them when you look at them, even though they’re not meant to be an optical illusion.

My generation is a generation of travelers. I plan to continue traveling throughout my entire life. I want to see the beautiful world God has created. And, I will.

Shops close for lunch. Some for weeks while they’re owners go on vacation.

Sales only go on three weeks in January and three weeks in July. Lucky for me, it’s July. Only 9 more days of sales. Oh shoot!

I had some real French food for lunch one day: pasta with chunks (they were big) of bacon, salted mushrooms, in a cream sauce, topped with a raw egg yoke.

Tips are included in the price of what’s listed on the menu. Tipping extra is neither required nor necessary. (Are you listening America?)

Nutella is a newly found obsession.

I’ve fallen in love with Bueno. It’s a chocolate Hazelnut candy. I will be bringing tons home.

The sun rises at 4am and sets around 1030pm.

Paris, je’tamie.

Princesses, Mistresses, Dragons & Dungeos

As I sit with my back to the sun, coming in from the living room windows that reach floor to ceiling, I think about how amazing the things were that I’ve seen this past weekend.
Although there is not much to report as far as crazy adventures, I can give you a brief summary of what we did:

630AM Saturday: got on the sweaty bus (it has temperamental air conditioning issues) and took off for about 4 hours to the Cheverny Castle (17th Century- a family with kids still lives in it today) in the Loire Valley. We had a guided tour with this adorable French woman who spoke very pronounced English. The BABS and I had a photo shoot in the gardens in the back, hung out there for about 2 hours and enjoyed the scenery and the company.

Hopped back on the bus to Blois (pronounced bloah- but you have to said it fast – you can just call it “blah”… that’s what I did) grabbed some lunch at a nearby café & had a guided tour of the Blois Castle by a dude that was originally from Tennessee, I think (somewhere in the South), but needless to say he was legit because I understood him! : ) The Castle was build in 4 sections over the course of a few hundred years dating back to the 16th century.

After the tour we checked into the “Centre International de Sejour de Blois.” It sounds cool, but boys and girls, it was a ghetto hostel. We were told we would be staying in a hotel, so you can imagine the disappoinment. Emily, Megan & I shared a room. The place was crawling with creepy dudes, which really made me thank God for such wholesome men that I get to hang out with in Seattle (the boys of apartment 10). Some girls and I grabbed some dinner in the ghetto town of Blois, slept, and then woke the next morning to jump back on the bus.

We rode about an hour and a half to center of the Loire Valley to the Chenonceau Castle (most popular after Versailles- which I’ll be going to this weekend). It was built over the Cher River, it’s Renaissance architecture, has a HUGE maze, and two of the most beautiful gardens I have ever seen in my life! (Please check out the pics!) One of the gardens was the for Diane de Poiter and the other for Marie de Medicis (one was a queen the other a mistress…. Oh baby).

Anywho, after a few hours there we hopped back on the bus to Amboise, which is where Leonardo Da Vinci is buried and where his house is! But because these things weren’t paid for us like all the previous things, and because Europe is so darn expensive, we settled for a super wonderful French lunch and some shopping instead! Haha! Ok, I really just girl-ified myself right here!

All in all, it was a fun weekend! By the end of the first day I had total “Fiona Feet,” as my mother and I like to call them. They were so swollen I could barely get my shoes on! I mean, it was pretty intense!
But that’s a wrap for my venture back into the time of Princesses and Princes and dragons and dungeons!

P.S. I try to put more tid bits of stuff in the picture descriptions, so make sure you check them out too!