Baccarat or Waterford?

Really...you DONT'T have to decide. I love Waterford. My family is Irish and it's a bit of a tradition to register for it when you get married. I only registered for champagne flutes, Lismore Nouveau, but I love them. I love, love, love them. Even if I only have 4. :-/ Gimme a break...I got married in France, people don't carry that stuff over seas people!

Back to Baccarat though. It was beautiful! I don't just mean the crystal either. Cyr and I parked and walked around since we had time before going to the museum. We had time because it (of course) was closed for lunch from 11:30-2. We walked down by a little river and I took this of the town hall.

Across from the town hall was the most modern church I have ever seen in France. A plaque on the door said St. Remy.

The inside was, as you might guess, colored by the light that spilled in through Baccarat crystals that made up the stained glass windows of the church. Here is a shot from behind the font, which was also made in Baccarat though I am not sure it was actual Baccarat crystal.

I really liked it. Cyr spent a while taking some really good photos that he will probably post on his photography site.

So there you go...I finally posted some more pictures!

Friends in Epinal

The second stop on our tour, after Nancy, was Epinal. Epinal is a really cute city just about an hour south of Nancy. The hour flew by, it seemed so short compared to the painful trip to Nancy. Next time we might have to just find a place just outside of Paris to regroup. Although I really did like Nancy once we got there.

But I digress, back to Epinal. Cyr's best friend lives here with his wife and new baby. You can see here Martin with his little girl, Julietta, swaddled to his chest. Can you see? I looks like he has a big growth, but it's just little Julietta snuggly tied onto her Papa so she keeps warm and feels secure!
I can't believe I didn't get more pictures of the baby...but she will show up in later posts once I get Cyr to send me a better picture of her. In the above photo we were walking (hiking in the US) up a big hill to get to an old fortress that is still standing. While walking along I saw a sign that said "Parc des animaux" and I thought, "oh, they must have little statues or something." Well. They actually had animaux!
I really thought some kid was going to get his/her fingers eaten off by these pigs. They were pretty agile even with all that fat on them!
I think these were Alpacas. I was told they were not Llamas and that's all I can think of.
And Bambi of course!
Then we walked around and saw what I am sure is where women who wear short skirts or Daisy Dukes buy their bread.

Get it? Hoochie?!
And here is where women used to wash clothes for the men-folk. We actually saw TWO of these! I don't know if it was a very clean town or if people still use them, but this one was covered so I think I would go to this one. Yes. I would go to this one and supervise while some man did my wash for me. It would have to be a very small man that I could bully into it, but I might be able to find one...

If you notice there is a little Virgin Mary at the back. I think it's there so that the woman could immediately ask for forgiveness when they were cursing the fact that they were born women or that their men were so dirty.

I also thought it was quite interesting how the city was built. Here we have a very old church and right up next to it is a shopping area. Check out how they are almost fused together. Now the church is older than the shopping area, and there is a tunnel on the left side of the photo so you can walk through (the church wall, not the photo) to get to the other side of the church or the shopping area. My only guess is that there was a building there before that was replaced. Odd though eh? I mean...where does the property line end and why did they put the windows behind the church wall?!

To end this post I'll show you are friends walking ahead of us down from the main fortress area. The large columns used to support a bridge that went across the gap there. I have to say, I thought it was a really cute little town. I also really like Martin and his wife. They live so simply. They eat healthy foods they buy almost daily, they don't own a car and walk everywhere (we did have to help them buy and bring home a fridge, but once that is over they are set), they live in a really cute apartment where they can walk into town. Makes me want to simplify.

Halloween Break!!

Ok - do plan to continue with the Tour de France blogs, but really wanted to post some of the pictures of our little Halloween Gathering we had!! I really didn't think people would show up, but they did.

Here is my darling husband and I. He was a cowboy, complete with bolo tie, hat. a big buckle and jeans tucked into his boots. I was a Germain Bar Maid. Or maybe St. Paulie's Girl. I bought this dirndl when we were in Munich and have been counting the days until I could wear it. It was so fun!

Here are the Grim Reaper and a Sexy Vampire;

Dorothy was there too..

Even Cleopatra stopped by with some friends!

The one in black and white might look like a nun. In fact she was "A Bad Habit" (harhar!) with a stickie of curse words and a drink always in her hand. :-)

Anyway...thought those were fun to share. There were a lot of others that showed up, but I didn't get pictures darn it.
Hope everyone had a good Halloween! We made sure and kept Duncan (our all black cat) inside and hidden away from creepy people who might want to harm him. So we all made it though the weekend with only a slight headache on Sunday to remind us of it. Not to mention about 5 lbs. due to all the candy and cupcakes I ate...

Fancy Nancy

Dear Continental,

What ever did I do to you? Why hast thow forsaken me?! I am not quite sure what I have done to deserve to always, and by always I mean the last 4 flights to France I have taken, be sat in a seat that has a broken television, but I am sorry. I am truly sorry. Maybe it was that time I accidentally left a 1/2 a dozen used tissues in the thing that holds magazines. I was really sick and I actually just forgot. At least I put them in the barf bag and didn't just let them sick up the Sky Mall! I shudder to think what you would do in revenge for me spreading my germs not just within a bag made for puke, but in the seat back and onto the magazines. I just hope this public display of regret will find it's way to your little, cold, aerodynamically shaped heart and allow me a functioning entertainment system the next time I fly overseas.

Hugs to you Continental,
Susan


Ok, so now that that is out of the way I can get on to talking about our trip! Our flight, other than the 1/2 broken tv, was fine. It must have been our row, Cyr's only got 1/2 the channels too. He actually watched Ice Age II without the sound. There is a man with an imagination I tell you.

When we landed in Paris at 8:30am we marched our sleepy drunk (drunk from no sleep, not really drunk and about to drive) selves to the rental car place. The computer was down, so they couldn't tell us actually what we were going to be charged, but she is sure that it will be the same as on our receipt. Bien sur! Being the risk takers we are we decline the extra insurance and head out to find out little Citroen that will be our part time home while in France.

We then begin to drive to Nancy. I believe Nancy is about 3 hours from Paris. I say "believe" because we hit the road, got into a little morning traffic, then headed out. About an hour into it we needed coffee and a break. We stopped at a little roadside eatery thing. Those of you who have been on French highways will know that there is a gas station and typically a real restaurant thing near by. I get a cheese plate and a coffee, Cyr opted for an apple tart and coffee. I had to use the rest room of course. There I was greeted with the cutest little potty in France! It was right next to the baby changing station and was just for itty-bitty-butts! I took a picture but not sure if you can tell how small it is. You can see the little cleaner by it and those are usually about 2 foot tall. I wanted to put something next to it to show it's size but I wasn't about to put my purse on the ground in the rest room. Ewe, you will just have to use your imagination. Cyr thought I was nuts to take a picture but I just had to. :-)

We then get back on the road.

About an hour and half later I ask him; "how much further?" It says on the GPS but it seems odd we are so far. He taps expertly on the little gps making it blink and hop from screen to screen. How he knows that things so well amazes me. Then I hear; "Aach." then a "mumble, mumble" and maybe a "bordel" thrown in for good measure. Well friends, while we were taking our little break we wanted to be safe so we took the GPS in with us. Somehow it got all tapped about. Well, it had changed routes and was taking us to Lille. We had driven about 45 minutes out of the way. Please remember that this is after a 9 hour plane ride where Cyr got about 3 hours sleep and I didn't sleep at all.

I couldn't be angry, and I wasn't. I was however not a very patient or understanding person by the time we got to Nancy. I mean to tell you that I would have gotten out of the car and physically assaulted someone if they would have gotten in the way of our getting to the hotel.

Once we actually got there it was great. Here is a shot of our hotel room. High, high ceilings with crown molding, check out the door, it's put in at an angle. Odd eh?



The pictures of the room were taken on Day 2 of the trip due to sleepy irritation the day of arrival. I know you are not supposed to, but we fell into bed and had a good 3 or 4 hour nap. It was so tasty...but not as tasty as this:


Beer and fondue. Oh yeah. Welcome to France. Tune in next time for some animal fun!

Are you still there?

Ok...so I have taken a little break. Ok, I flaked. I became, for a while, one of those people that you can't count on. One of those people that says "We should do something for your birthday! I will plan something!" Then 3 months after your birthday that same person says "So, what did you do for your birthday?" I don't want to be that person. So I'm back. Planning your birthday. Really I'm just blogging again...

I have decided to return!! I am going to log my first re-entry into the blogsphere with something I have been promising for a long while; pictures from our Honeymoon in Egypt. Yea!!

I was married last October in France to my wonderful French husband. Then we got transferred back to Houston. We had not taken a vacation, so we packed our things in a container to be put on a boat to sail to Houston. Two days after the container left France, we set off for Egypt for a week. The interesting part for me was that it was through a French tourism agency. It came with tours and guides and everything. Since it was French all the guides spoke French and the people on the boat spoke French. By day 3 I would walk down the hall and people would say; "Ah. Yew ah zee American no? Bonjour!" No kidding...even the staff knew who I was. I would typically manage a shy "Oui. C'est vrai. C'est moi." Translated; "Yes, it's true. That's me." Closest I will ever get to being a rock star.

But no more talking...here are a few pictures. The first one is our boat. Ok, it's not really our boat, but all mostly look the same so I thought I could pass it off as ours. They raft up next to one another about 5 deep and when you get off your boat you have to walk through other boats until you get to the land. Very interesting. It was a little old, but we didn't mind.

Next we have the Philae Temple. Now you know my secret to knowing where the heck the pictures were taken! Seriously...though they really were all different and had unique things about them, I could NEVER remember the names of the places we went.

The temples were so large it was mind blowing. The carvings were also done like 5 inches deep into the stone. It was just crazy! Some even still had color on them, but my cynical self things that things might have been touched up a bit...

Cyr taking a photo...

Arc of the Covenant.

Not really, it's something else but I can not for the life of me remember what. Isn't that awful? Sorry to all you Egyptian artifact buffs.

And here we are next to a huge granit statue. Yea, they had granit. Not found anywhere near where we were...but there they were, these huge statues. I really have a hard time imagining these places being built by mere human hands. I know they took hundreds of years to complete, but it just seems an impossible task.

And here we are, the happy couple...


So to end this post I will tell you 10 things I learned while in Egypt.

1 - The French really do eat everything with a fork and knife. Even even apples (cut with a knife then eat portion), oranges (peel with a knife), and dates (use both knife and fork). Learned on the boat of course.
2 - You can take the girl out of Texas, but you can't take the Texas out of the girl. I ate all the above fruits and other items with my hands.
3 - Don't sit on the high-pressure-suction-toilet when you flush. I never made this mistake after we felt the change in cabin pressure while flushing. That thing was serious.
4 - I thought Cambodia was a poor country. Egypt seems even poorer.
5 - Sometimes it's ok to pay an extra dollar for something. The person selling you things probably needs it more than you do.
6 - You get the best price on things you don't want.
7 - It is hard to travel in Egypt as a single female. I don't mean "not married" I just mean alone. Cyr would walk across the room and 3 men would be on me asking me questions and calling me "Gazelle". I traveled 6 weeks in Thailand and Cambodia all alone and never once felt as uncomfortable as I did in Egypt at times. Not all the time of course, but the markets are harsh.
8 - You have no idea what the term "hard sell" means until you go to Egypt. These people are relentless. You must develop a tough skin and be firm. If you do this you can have one of the best vacations in your life. If you don't you will be angry and frustrated ever time you leave the boat.
9 - It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been and I can't wait to go back.
10 - If you are scared to go to Egypt don't be. I would suggest going on a river cruise if you are nervous about it because you have the guides that will help you and you can roam around alone if you choose. I encourage you to go and spend your money there. I still have some perfumed oil I wear and get compliments on it every time I do. I also don't think it's a very "kid friendly" place and was always surprised to see tourists with children there.

It was an amazing trip. Next time I want to cross over to Jordan and go to Petra.

Oh, thanks for the emails from you folks out there who check in every now and then. I'm alive and well in Houston. But I'm back in the world of blogging!! Until next time, Assalam o alaikum (Peace be upon you).

A Holiday Photo Fest

Well...ok...I have been absent when I said I wouldn't. It's just that Cyr has been off work and it's been so nice having him home all day I didn't make time to post. But here I am, and I'm doing fine. Yesterday was my birthday...the big 37. I am now officially in my late thirties. Ouch. Cyr and I went to dinner at my favorite restaurant here in Viex Lille; Le Lion Bossu. Mmmm. I also got some really pretty sparkly gifts! A matching necklace and earrings. I will have to post a photo later of me wearing them.

So for Christmas...although I did miss my family, the day was really great. Here is a photo montage of the day:
Here is our tree, and you can see Duncan at the bottom of the photo doing what he does best which is whatever is off limmits. He seems to think this tree is his personal play toy. About the time he understands the fact that it's not we will be taking it down. Notice how all the ornaments start at about branch number three.
Here are Cyr and I in Aachen, Germany drinking hot mauled wine. We went there the week before Christmas, but I just now got the photos downloaded. I love the little Christmas trees on the table! It's like the Holiday Banzai Tree!


Cyr seems to be enjoying his much more than me!

On Christmas Eve we went to my new mother-in-laws house for some great Champagne, a fantastic meal, and my favorite wine in the whole world. I don't have a picture of the bottle of Champagne, but she had a huge magnum and we (the four of us) drank the whole thing as an aperitif. That was actually over the course of about 2 hours I think. The meal was amazing, it lasted from about 9pm until midnight! I love this family...

This is my favorite "entree" which is appetizer in French. Yes...the word entree means appetizer, not entree. Just one example of how French can mess you up. This is called "Lounge Luculus". It's a specialty of Valenciennes, the town Annie (Cyr's Mom) lives in. It's slices of cow tongue with layers of fois gras (goose liver) in between. Sounds crazy, but it's amazing! She makes gelatin and serves it with fresh fruits too. She even had these really pretty eatable flowers to put on the plates though they had to be tossed because they had turned a little brown. They really know how to do presentation here, that's for sure.
The second course, well third if you count all the little appetizers we had with the Champagne, was a dish with scallops and a cream sauce. It was amazing...I love scallops. If you look close you can see some orange things on the side of the scallop that looks like a foot or something. I had never seen this until we moved here. It's the sex part of the scallop! Apparently we in the US don't like to eat the sex part...I dunno...I kinda like it. You have to respect the scallop a little more as well, check out how big it is in comparison to the body! Impressive I know...
The main course was pheasant with mushrooms. She was going to cook pasta too but we told her to hold off since we were eating so much. It was amazing....
Then we had a cheese course, of course...

The meal was served with my favorite wine I have ever had. Cyr's family purchased a few cases of this wine when he was younger and his mother pulls one out for special occasions. It's a 1985 Tour-de-Roc Burgundy. It's like drinking velvet. Uhhh...

Then we had a typical French Christmas desert that is an ice cream cake like thing that looks like a log. It was dark chocolate on the outside, milk chocolate on the inside and had pears on top of it. I was so damn full by then that I didn't take a picture. She also had little chocolates and fruit snacks that reminded me of gum drops. Before the desert it was midnight so we kissed Merry Christmas and opened up gifts. Cyr and I got a raclette set!!! I can't wait to use it!! We are having his Mother, brother and cousins over in January and plan to use it. I will make sure to post photos so all my American friends and family can see what it is. The best I can describe it is an Easy Bake Oven for adults. You melt your own cheeses and bake little quail eggs and mushrooms right on the table! We will be taking this back to Houston with us so get ready folks...we will be having dinner parties with it!! Annie also gave me a really pretty gold necklace with a heart on it and Cyr's brother gave us a Chinese tea set that is really cool. It's orange and black, will post photos soon as well!

Overall I had a great Christmas even though I missed a call from my Mom and family. I also felt so bad that I didn't call that I did have a little cry, but I was ok. I talked my my Mom and Aunt Helen the next day. I cried a little after we spoke. Not so much because I was sad as because the holidays remind me how much I care about all the people back in Houston. I will probably cry next year when we are not with Annie and Cyril. Oh the joys of being an emotional person!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas, or whatever you celebrate or didn't celebrate over the last few weeks. Tonight is New Year's Eve and we are taking it easy and staying in. I'm excited actually. I'm going to try to cook rabbit!! Photos will be taken and posted within the next few days. Love to all...I hope everyone stays safe and has a great end of 2009.

The Last Part of my Succes :-)

Ok...I have taken a few days away from the computer but I am back!! I thought I would post a few pictures of the reception so you could all see what it was like. I was really worried because I thought it would be too small, but our friends really stepped up. My table of friends and family all made sure to dance and have fun, Cyr's tables all made an effort as well. The food was fantastic and the music was great. We had a combination of classic American hits, French classics plus even a little country!!

Above is a picture of me and my family and friends going into the Chateau where we had the vin d'honnour. We were so lucky with the weather!! We took pictures with the photographer during the vin d'honnour and I regret that we didn't spend much time with out guests. I would have liked to talk to them a little more. It seemed like the night passed so quickly!!

There was dancing...

By the time we ended the vin d'honnour my feet were killing me. So I had to bring in a little Texas...

Cyr and I danced our first dance to Anne Murray, "May I have this dance". Nothing like a waltz in a big ivory colored dress while wearing a tiara. Ahhh...

I don't have those pictures yet, but here are Cyr and I in the background after a dance. The handsome fella in the forefront of the picture is Cyr's brother. A real "Beau-Frere" eh?! He's only 18 ladies...no phone numbers!

I still think I got the best one though!

Here is our fire-hazard-dessert-buffet. It was awesome!! There were about 6 or 8 of those things all over the table!!

Then the toast...

Ok...now I am sure you are completely weddinged out! I think I am done here. I might send out a link to folks once we get the professional ones back. I will for sure send it to family (don't worry Dad and Sandy...you will get more!!).

Tomorrow is my first day of teaching. Woohoo! I have a fairly solid plan though I'm sure something will go wrong and make it exciting. At least now I will have something to blog about other than wedding plans and photos. :-)

Really quick though...thanks to all the folks that came over. Lori, Lori, Tracy, Melinda and Ann; I will never forget you all for being here to support me. Ari and Betrand; you guys are great, I can't wait to see you again! All of Cyr's friends; Kate, Alex, Marc and all the rest. Thank you!! You are now my friends too! Aunt Helen, Sally, Kathy and Joyce; you are all family. Really great family. I know it was not easy to come over, thank you so much. Mom...what can I say...there are not words that can tell you how much I appreciate you always being there for me when things are hard, or listening to me when times are good. I could not have a better Mom, I hope I can return all the kind things you have done for me. I love you.

Ok, enough mushy stuff. Let's move on to real life eh? The one without tiaras, fluffy ivory dresses or great champagne. Well, maybe with great Champagne...and maybe I can wear that tiara sometimes too. And maybe I can dye that dress...I love that dress... ;-)

Wedding Success (Part 1)!!

WOOHOO!!! It's over!!

Well folks...the weekend was a great success. Even the weather cooperated! It was a beautiful sunny day and crisp, clear evening. I could not have imagined it going any better. Well, maybe a little, the only snaffu was that the bus that was supposed to pick the guests up from the church was 15 minutes late, and then it had a problem getting out of the neighborhood because the streets are so narrow. I was worried it was going to get stuck, but after what seemed like a very long time, many horn honks and frustrated French people later, they were off to Belgium!! Where, by the way, the Champagne was excellent, the food amazing and the Chateau a perfect romantic setting for our little party. (Pictures to come later as our photographer left on a two week vacation yesterday...damn it...)

I only have the pictures from my camera, and as I was the bride, I don't actually have any of myself to post yet, but those will come soon!! So here is a photo parade of the beginning of my week last week. It started in Paris, where I met my friends Lori B., Tracy and Melinda. After heaving our luggage up 5 flights of stairs we went out an enjoyed the town.

My family came in the next day (Monday) and we went on a fantastic tour that included dinner at the Eiffel Tower, a river cruise on the Seine and a show at the Moulin Rouge with Champagne.

Above you can see my friends and family that came in to help us celebrate. From left to right we have Cousin Sally, Mom, Aunt Helen, Joyce and Kathy. The Eiffel Tower is gorgeous right now with the blue lights and the stars representing the European Union. During dinner the lights went off and twinkled brightly as if to sign out "Welcome Everyone! Congratulations Susan and Cyriaque!" It was really the highlight of my trip to Paris. Although the after affects of the Champagne the next day were pretty rough. I have realized that it's not a good idea to drink Champagne in the dark. You don't count your glasses and then before you know it, it's too late...I tried to hang in the next day but I was feeling about a 3 on a scale of 1 to 10.

I also had a great treat in getting to meet Leesa the Cupcake Princess!! If you don't know Leesa, go check out her blog. She is an American who has been in Paris for quite a while and has really been a source of moral support for me in my effort to try to fit in this strange land they call France. Here is Leesa and I right before breakfast.


We had a girls night out the Friday before the wedding in Lille as well. But this time I paid attention, I was not about to have a bad day on my Big Day. Her is the crew from Houston that came to see me (missing is Ann, not sure where she sneaked off to, she will show up in later pictures though!)

There is Lori, Lori, Tracy and Melinda. They all brought awful things they make me wear...someone better put an APB out on Big Bird...I think he is missing...

That is me with Alina, she is married to Cyr's best friend and lives in Romania. She is the bride we went to see in Munich a few weeks ago. After this we all went out salsa dancing and had a great time. More photos to come!!

PS - Thank you so much for all the kind emails and posts!!

1999 Called....

...and they want their baggy pants and man undies back!


These cool cats were on the train this past weekend from Paris to Lille. I cropped their faces to protect the innocent and avoid a lawsuit. I love people that can walk around in something completely different than the rest of the world and not be self conscious. I don't think I could pull this look off. Maybe because I never really understood this look. The "check out how big I can wear my pants are and please also notice my underwear, they are clean" look. I don't get it, I thought men would want to show how big and manly they are. Not that they can't find pants that fit. To me it mostly says "these are my big brothers pants and someday I hope to be able to fit in them!"

NO, I don't think everyone should dress the way I do. I think that would be boring. So if any of you out there are actual wearers-of-baggy-pants-that-show-underwear, you keep sporting your style my friend. Keep the world colorful, wear some fun undies for us. I like the plaid idea...hey, maybe it's growing on me now that I think about it.

Truth be told I am probably in one of these guys' blogs wearing a brightly colored shirt. I stand alone in Lille and wear my bright colors (occasionally) while others wear their black, grays and browns. I too like to be a little different.

As I finish this post I find myself less disliking the clothes and more admiring their attitude. I should be less self conscious about what I choose to wear. Why is it that I don't dress how I did in the US? Seriously, not once have I donned a baseball cap, shorts and tennies and left the house. The times when I do wear a bright shirt I wear black boots so calm it down a bit. I wear black shoes 80% of the time just like the rest of Lille. I guess I don't want to feel like I'm sticking out in the crowd. Ewe, I sound like a lemming. Oh man, I hope everyone doesn't jump off a bridge...

Tomorrow I am wearing color. And I'm not wearing black shoes. I'm a rebel.

Busy or Not Busy?

Well we had a great weekend. Cyriaque's friend from London, Alex and Kate, are just great. We showed them around Lille and then went to Brugges for a day. It's so close, it's the easiest place to show folks once they have been around Lille. Although you could spend a few days in Lille and it would not be a problem there is so much to see. The only problem is that France is closed on Sunday, but Belgium is open! Not all, but most of the shops in Belgium are open Sunday so you can walk around and see things, go into museums and things of that nature. We actually just walked along the canals and ate and drank all day. It was quite lovely really...

Yesterday Cyr thought he was going to have to go to Libya but the trip was canceled so we were able to spend the afternoon together at the house. Last night I remembered that I really needed to get the hotel information together to send out to all the people that are invited to the wedding. So although all day I didn't do much, I started working around 8pm and was up until midnight. Then when I went to bed my mind would not turn off and all I could do was lie there and think about all the other things I need to get done this week. It so odd, sometimes I feel like I have too much to do, then a few hours later I will feel like I can't wait to be able to work because I don't have enough to do. What is that? How can I have to completely opposing thoughts within hours of each other? I think I am in denial about how much I have to do actually. The big thing is that I want to try to have my invitations in the mail on September 1st. I have them all stuffed and ready to go in the US, I just need to make an insert with hotel info/directions and things.

I'm just not feeling very entertaining the last few days. I have lost my wit somewhere. I'm just not feeling at all witty or funny and nothing interesting is happening right now. I'm sure it will pass. I have been wanting to post, but everything I think of just sounds so boring. I just typed this up because I wanted you all to know I'm still alive over here.

Oh - I did find the beginners workbook to the series I have that is Intermediate French. I'm doing to do a few lessons a day and try to really learn the basics. I jumped in so fast I missed some of the simple things. But I can now talk in the past tense! Woohoo!

Here is a picture of my best friend in Lille; Olga. She moved back to Canada. Damn it...

I miss you Olga!!

Home at last!!

I'm back in Lille...yeah!! Don't get me wrong, I loved my visit home, but a month was just way too long to be away from Cyr. I did get a chance to see almost all of my family and friends though. Somehow it all still seemed rushed, especially at the end. Then again, I am that person who if given 6 weeks to do a project will wait until two days before to begin. Long deadlines are just unrealistic. Just tell me the week before and I will actually work a little everyday. As you can guess, I slacked off up front then had to try to cram everything into the last 4 days. It was nuts but fun.

The trip home was good, PLUS...my Mom came back with me for a nine day visit!! We boarded the plane in Houston and I was a little worried to be honest. I have a friend who flew Air France a few months ago back from Paris and her flight was horrible. So bad that her sister fainted in the aisle it was so hot, crazy eh? So I board and am prepared to live up to the "pushy American" label and do hand to hand combat with the flight attendants if needed. I purchased the tickets with miles and they were assigned seats that were both aisles with me in front and Mom in back of me. I didn't change the seats because I knew we needed to sleep on the flight so that we could fend off the jet lag as much as possible and if she were next to me I would probably talk her ear off. That didn't matter much though...you see we were on a new plane and we each had our own direct tv thing to pick out movies and such. I was 15 minutes into Juno prior to take off! Because of my intense curiosity and need to be entertained I couldn't help but watch a few movies, then they came around with the free wine and it was over. I watched Juno (loved it), 27 Dresses (cute but predictable), The Golden Compass (good time filler but not great) and Bienvenue Chez les Ch'tis with English subtitles (I saw this in the theater but it was so good I saw it again. Love it!). So I think I got in about 30 minutes sleep. Mom didn't sleep much either. Without being able to doze off the flight seemed a little long but it was the typical 9 hours and a few minutes. There was some turbulence but the flight was great other than the pilot clicking on to wake us all up and let us know there was turbulence and to fasten our seat belts. Really? Come on man, shut up and let us sleep, if some idiot feels the turbulence and still insists on going to the bathroom he will probably get some bad splash of unknown bacteria and that in itself would be punishment enough.

The only entertaining part was our arrival and trip to Lille. Cyr came down with what I think was strep throat the day before we took off. He was so sick he went to the doctor. He has never been to the doctor since I have known him so this was a sign he was really pretty darn sick. I told him not to worry about picking us up and that we would take the train to Lille and he could pick us up from the train station there. Besides, Mom has never been on a train, you get to see the country side and it's only one hour direct as opposed to a two hour car ride. I guess it would not have been that bad if not for the bags. When I came over I left a lot of my summer clothes (we do so have summer in northern France, stop that!) and wanted to bring them back with me. Mom was good and got all her clothes in one bag, so I took her second carry on and had two of my own. Total we had 3 roller bags, a duffel and two carry ons. Traveling light? Not so much.

Arrival in Paris was quick an easy. Completely opposite of US customs. It took us less than 30 minutes to get our passports stamped and get our luggage. Once we have everything loaded onto a push cart we find our way to the train station in the airport to get tickets to Lille. I cannot thank Charles de Gaul enough for providing free push carts. Brilliant!! In the US they charge for the use (damn capitalism). It took a bit of wrestling but we found the ticket area. Unfortunately there are like 4 places to buy tickets at with multiple windows. There are local tickets, international and I have no clue what else. I decide the information line is shorter that waiting for a ticket in the wrong line so I line up with all the other Americans and find out where I should go. Glad I asked, I was totally eying the wrong lines. After our tickets are purchased we meet an American Army Veteran who is going to Normandy for a reunion. No kidding. This guy was 83 years old and hopping around the airport by himself looking for his train to Lille where he was meeting a friend. Turns out good old Travis was a medic during the war and was at Normandy. I had an uncontrollable urge to hug him, which I did when we parted later that day. Travis was on a first class train (check him out, traveling in style) and was not sure how to locate his train and car and all that good stuff. I felt so cultured knowing how to help him! I got to help someone in France! Actually two people because a girl heard me explaining and asked if I could help her as well. Damn, when I get depressed I should go to the train station and help people find their trains. That's better than therapy. Some unknowing travelers are so nervous and scared when they can't figure things out that when you help them it's as if you have come up with a solution to removing the troops or something.

I get our crew (Mom and Travis) and we wait for our platform to be announced. I check the gate numbers so I know where to head when it pops up. Got it! Number 3! We head to the gate, crap. Stairs. We have 6 pieces of luggage, I can't do stairs. I break into a sweat. French people are rarely on time, but French trains are almost always on time. Feet begin tapping when they are 3 minutes late. I tell Mom to stay up and I will take the bags down. Uhh...I made one trip and then began looking for an elevator. I find one, Travis is watching the one bag I left on the platform. I make Mom practically jog to the elevator and then we wait there huffing. We just waited an hour for the train, please don't let us miss it. After what seems like 20 minutes we get to our platform. By this time I fairly certain that Travis was in fact a disguised drug dealer and has hidden crack, heroin or both in my rolly bag. We arrive on the platform and I see him waiting for us with my bag. I eye him suspiciously but can't see how he could have fit the crack or heroin in my already stuffed bag. We haul our stuff to where car #5 should arrive, I show Travis where his car #1 will be and we wait. The train is 5 minutes late, French toes are tapping. Mom and I plan the attack on the train; she will go on and get the seats, I will toss up the bags and get them stowed. The train arrives, plan goes to hell, I hand up bags to Mom, we get in everyones way but get them all on. We find our seats and the train is pulling away before I can get Cyr's suit stowed. Oh yeah, I also had a suit for Cyr that he had altered. Damn...glad I got the bags on. We then sit and enjoy the ride. We never see Travis again and turns out I am not a drug mule after all. He gave us his card to keep in touch or if we needed to buy/sell property. He sells real estate now to fill his time and seems to be doing really well at it. I mean who wouldn't want to list property with with him or buy something from him? He seems like the most honest man in the world. I mean, your grandfather wouldn't screw you out of an extra 15% would he? Especially a war hero grandfather. I dunno...Travis was traveling first class now that I think of it. Ha...

Here are a few pictures from my last post.
The cutest pregnant woman in the world, my friend Jen in LA in her bikini:

Famous Me:

I'll post pics about Mom's visit next time.
Have a great day!
Love you Dad and will call you later!

Culinary Revenge and Pictures

People keep asking for pictures...so here is a story with some pictures plus a few random things thrown in.

Yesterday I decided to throw caution to the wind and venture out in jeans and a t-shirt. Who cares if everyone in this country is dressed up? Not I...I am going to be comfortable I say!!

It was a great day, it felt about 70 degrees but it was probably only 65. I needed a few things to get me by this week until I leave for the US so I thought I would walk to my local 8au8 and boulangerie (bakery). The 8au8 is like a 7-11, except they are only open 8-8 as opposed to 7-11 (chuckle, chuckle, insert French joke here) and is more like a small market than a convenience store. I decide I will just throw on a jacket, jeans and some European looking walking shoes (not tennies, I don't need to make that much of a statement). Once down my block I realize it's too hot for the jacket. I take it off and proudly show my "Ride Lots" t-shirt from my old bike shop in Sedona. Then I notice I have a spot about the size of a dime right between my boobs. Awe man...I was trying to look confident casual, not sloppy American!! I hold my jacket close to try to cover it but end up looking more like I'm scared someone is trying to steel my coat.

I make it to the 8au8 and then to the bakery. I have had small issues here before but I think everything is ok now. You see, at first I would go into the shop and as for "une baguette s'il vous plait", translation "one baguette please". Then the lady would hand me a flute, which is like a baguette but about the half the size, and charge me .90 euro for a baguette! At first I didn't think it was really happening, but then Cyr kept coming home with these long baguettes! (insert man with large baguette joke here) One weekend I went in with Cyr, we ordered together and sat down to have coffee there. Ever since then I get an actual baguette. I guess they saw my bad-ass Frenchman and decided to play nice-nice!! Well yesterday I order 3 croissant, she put them in a little bag and I walked home. Typically this place is fantastic, and they are not rude at all, they just smile and give you the wrong thing sometimes. Well, I got my croissants, but they were burned on the outside! I should have taken a picture, but I ate the ugliest one first, then the second ugliest one for breakfast today so all I have is the only slightly overcooked one left. Still, they tasted fantastic, but I can't help but think my sloppy American getup contributed to me getting the 3 crappiest croissant in the place...

So I then begin to curse the bakery lady because I have never seen them once produce a croissant with anything resembling a black or even dark brown outer crust. I calmed down a bit when I ate the blackest of them and it was still better than most I have had in the US (sorry, don't know why this is, but it's true). I then turn to wash some dishes and while cleaning a cheese knife (a very French thing to have) I slice it across my thumb and can feel the flesh and nail being carved like a piece of baloney. Said knife must have heard me cursing the French baker and taken it personally. Damn culinary revenge!! I wasn't hurt badly, but you guys keep asking for pictures so here you go...

I am wearing actual athletic shoes here, but just around the apartment. She probably would have charged me double if I had my tennies on. Here is the vengeful cheese knife. Freshly washed.

...and here is a picture of how large our concierge's rain gutters are. Is that strange or is it just me? I saw this and thought "Damn! Those things are over a foot wide!" I wonder if that makes for harder or easier cleaning. I'm thinking there is a lot more surface area for leaves to fall in.

And here is a bottle of Westvleteren 12 beer. Voted the "Best Beer in the World" by Ratebeer.com and a bunch of other groups. It was 12 euro ($18 USD in a beer shop) but was worth it I think. Seriously!! It's dark, complex, seductive and smells fantastic. Just like the trappist monks that make it I'm sure. It's such a cool beer it has no label. Just a bottle cap with the beers identity on it.

So there you have it. A lot of pictures and a cool beer to boot.