23 years

On June 4th, 1988 at 12:03 pm my mom gave birth to a baby that weighed 7 pounds 7 ounces.  That baby was me.    To celebrate, I met my friend Lauren along with her brother in Milan, Italy.  It was a fantastic albeit rainy weekend.

I love Italy.  The people are happy there and enjoy themselves.  Plus, it's so pretty.  I chose our hotel's area because it was supposed to be nice and it was.  Little leather shops, and pastry shops and people walking their tiny dogs and everyone eating gelato, and people saying ciao 8 times when they hang up their phone.  Plus, on the bus on the way to the hotel I heard the most authentic "ciao bella" of my life and I loved it.

Milan kind of has a bad rap as being the financial center of Italy.  I had just spent one night there before this weekend about two years ago and I too wasn't impressed.  But this time, I did some research and we found some great spots.

We spent some time at the Duomo...

which has a gorgeous exterior and also apparently a brilliant tiled floor.

After that, we strolled through the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, which is a really beautiful glass covered double arcade with a lot of cafes & shops, named after the first king of united Italy.  Opened in 1867, its designer, Giuseppe Mengoni, created an incredible place filled with mosaics and murals.  I read somewhere that this place has actually come to be known as "il salotto di milano" - Milan's living room. We stopped for some chilled white wine in here (it was 80 degrees out) and got down to some serious people watching.

That night, we headed to eat in Corso Como,  a quaint pedestrian area in the northern part of the city.  Afterwards we got gelato (passionfruit & lemon for me- mmmm).  I believe we strolled through china town afterwards- slightly odd but interesting all the same.

The next day we headed out pretty early to Lake Como, even further north.  This is where George Clooney calls home and rightfully so because it is a great place.

We stared at the water for a while before it poured and then walked all through the streets of the town.  We listened to accordions and shopped a little.  Then we stopped by the cathedral to eat lunch where we had a FANTASTIC view.  We ate pizza, obviously.

On the train home, I was listening to all the buzzing Italian going on and thinking 1. wow, i understand nothing and 2. it's like music.

We relaxed at the hotel a bit and I skyped my dad and then we went out.  We got aperitivo at a fish market (best thing Italy ever did, happy hour where buying one drink = a bunch of great food).  The place was called Da Claudio and it was quite posh.  We each had a glass of prosecco with our sushi and it was delicious.

After dinner, we headed to Brera, an artsy area which surrounds one of the main art collections in Milan, Pinacoteca Brera.  Minus all of the guys trying to sell knock off handbags (WHO BUYS THOSE !?!), it was really pretty.  Lots of gorgeous boutiques and classy apartments with flowers overflowing off of the balconies.

To put the icing on the cake, Lauren gave me my first official piece of real art as a birthday gift.  A gorgeous painting of roses all the colors of the rainbow that she bought in Croatia. (love you!)

Mmm, yes. 23.  It feels different.  In a good way.

Oh, and Milan had some great street art.  I took a tour in Berlin and every since I have been super aware of it every place I go.  I really enjoy it when it is well done.

Cafeteria / La Cantine

Hello Everyone!  First of all, this entry is a little bit different because I am also writing it in French.  I will explain.  So, in the building that I live in, there is a cafeteria (sometimes referred to as a "self" meaning a self-service restaurant) that feeds all of the people who work for the city of Beauvais.   This is a common thing in France, where employees have somewhere to eat a hot, sit-down meal over the lunch hour (incredible, huh?).   I eat there every week, not everyday but fairly often.  First of all, it is downstairs so it is obviously really convenient.  Second of all, the ladies that work there are really nice and patient with me as I figure out what I am about to eat.  Third and most importantly,  the food is awesome for the price.   So, this week I ate at the cafeteria on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and I snapped some pictures.  I think you are all going to be impressed at what this "cafeteria" serves.   Oh, and the reason for translating this into French is for the aforementioned nice cafeteria ladies who know what I am doing and want to check it out! :o)

Bonjour à tous! D’abord, cette note est un peu différente parce que je vais l’écrire aussi en français.  Je vous expliquerai.  Donc, dans mon immeuble,  il y a une cantine (parfois on dit « un self » - qui veut dire un restaurant en libre-service) pour tous les gens qui travaillent pour la ville de Beauvais.  En France, il y a souvent un endroit comme ça où les salariés peuvent manger un repas complet et s’asseoir pendant la pause déjeuner (incroyable, non ?).  J’y mange toutes les semaines, pas tous les jours mais assez souvent.  Tout d’abord, la cantine est située tout près (au rez-de-chaussée).  Deuxièmement, les dames qui travaillent au self sont super sympathiques et patientes quand je suis en train d’essayer de comprendre ce que je vais manger.  Troisièmement et la chose la plus importante, les repas sont géniaux pour leurs prix.  Donc, j’ai mangé au self lundi, mardi, et mercredi de cette semaine et j’ai pris des photos.  Je pense que vous serez impressionné par cette « cantine ».   Oh ! et la raison pour laquelle je traduis en français est parce que les dames susmentionnées de la cantine savent ce que je fais et elles veulent regarder mon blog !

Monday

herbed filet mignon of pork, spinach, potatoes au gratin & baguette

Lundi

filet mignon de porc aux aromates, épinards au beurre, gratin dauphinois & de la baguette  

Total cost/Au total: 3 euros / 4.33 dollars

Tuesday

spanish paella, apple rhubarb tarte & fresh baguette

Mardi

Paella  à l'espagnole, tarte pomme rhubarbe & de la baguette
Total cost/Au total: 3.75 euros / 5.38 dollars

Wednesday
leg of duck in a raisin sauce, spaghetti, swiss chard au gratin with fresh parsley, pont l'évêque cheese & baguette
Mercredi
cuisse de canette aux raisins, spaghettis, côtes de blettes au gratin, du fromage pont l'évêque & de la baguette

Total cost/Au total: 3.50 euros / 5.02 dollars

J'adore!

Giverny is What's Up

Yesterday,
I went to Giverny in Normandy, where Monet called home the second half of his life.
It was by far one of the most extraordinary things I have seen thus far in France.
I love Monet's art (he is maybe my 5th favorite painter) and seeing this gorgeous complex where he was inspired was something I will never forget.

A little history in my own words...
Monet was an impressionist painter (I hope that is not new information).
Impressionism was an art movement that began in the late 19th century, which was actually not well regarded at first. It was looked at as being pretty much garbage because it didn't show a grandiose scene from history or the bible but instead studied nature and the effect of sunlight creating completely different impressions of the same subject.
Well, Monet saw the village of Giverny while on a train and he decided to move there and that he did- complete with a gorgeous pink house, vast gardens & ponds with waterlilies and green bridges. This gave him endless motifs to paint and gave birth to his enormous waterlilies masterpiece now on display, in an infinity figure as he so wished in his will because nature never ends, in Paris in the Musée de l'Orangerie.

Whew.

I got the train to Paris yesterday morning and then the train to Vernon, the main town closest to Giverny. I rented a black bike at a cafe near the station and headed out with just a little paper showing me the route.

I got lost on the way of course but just for a bit until a nice man who was on vacation from China directed me back on track. It took maybe thirty minutes by bike to get there, flat and scenic.
I waited in line for a ticket and got down into the gardens and just could not believe it.

That first view of the garden under the sun was heavenly.

Monet's house was also so, so charming. The kitchen was all blue with mosaic tiles and the dining room bright & yellow with sunlight streaming in.

& actually, before I knew we weren't allowed to take pictures inside I got this one of his original studio. I seriously didn't know it wasn't allowed but honestly, how cool is this?

The master bedroom though- oh lala... two grand windows with the most incredibly beautiful views.

I can't believe he woke up to that.

So, after the house, I made my way through the rows of flowers and smelt some peonies, my favorite flower, which were in full bloom.

The gardens eventually led down some stairs and back up to where the Japanese ponds and bridges were. This was quintessential & perfect.

I ate a sandwich I packed while walking back to the beginning and just thought how marvelous it was to be there. yum, I was thinking and not just because my sandwich tasted good but because it was such a delicious thing to be able to see this dream land that I have seen immortalized onto canvas so many times in so many different cities.
happiness.

After a while of looking at poppy fields & browsing the gorgeous boutique where I bought great smelling rose incense, I unlocked my bike and headed back but this time I took the backroads through the surrounding village. Bed & breakfasts, tiny cafes, art galleries, etc.
The town was so romantic and natural. I am definitely going back there someday.

Just going to sum this up with one thought...
how awesome are flowers? I am so glad they exist.

I've been here 8 months and...

i'm homesick today. I miss my family, friends & felines.
On top of that, Cecilia (my friend from Wisconsin who I met in Paris two years ago and who I adore) is on a plane back home right now & Lauren (my adorable Georgia peach of a friend who I met this year in Beauvais) is in Croatia. Basically, I'm lacking in the girlfriends who speak English department.
I, am neither traveling in Eastern Europe nor going home because I have work until July 1st and on top of that I have to evaluate my 10 year olds' English this week- the poor things. Last week, it was my 9 year olds and one of them answered "My name is" to start every one of his responses. Me: "What is the weather like today?" Him: "My name is windy". Me: "How old are you?" Him: "My name is 9". You get the idea.

Sort of cute, sort of sad.
Hey, you can lead a horse to the h2o but you can't make him drink it.


At least I am sporting a sweet cut off shirt from high school.

Macadam Tambouille

Yesterday, Mélanie & Alex (my lovely French friends) and I went to a circus arts festival called Macadam Tambouille in a small village called Songeons. I loved this happy, outdoorsy, funky, French, let's laugh and relax, & watch entertaining people do their thing type of day. It was refreshing.

The festival was about thirty minutes away in the car, not bad and of course we talked about the latest news about Dominique Strauss-Kahn along the way (the previous head of the IMF and front runner for the 2012 French Presidential election who allegedly sexually assaulted a maid in a Times Square hotel). Yes, heavy stuff. I just keep reminding my French friends & co-workers that although I am from the United States, it was not me who put the handcuffs on him.

Here in small town France, my face = America.

Anyways, this festival was such a good time.
Set in a village with an open park lined with perfectly manicured trees and just funky stuff all over.

We got there around 4pm and we saw a hilarious portrayal of "Blanche Neige et les 7 nains" (Snow White & the 7 dwarfs, bien sûr). Then, we ate some candy and had a beer.
After that, we watched this one man comedian clown act called "Humanus Comicus". It was pretty great.

The last number that we watched was my favorite. It was an Australian lady named "Shirlee Sunflower". Her french was awful and it was absolutely a riot because she recruited "sexy men" to help her do ridiculous and actually pretty impressive stunts who understood basically nothing she was saying. I was dying laughing. She was mispronouncing stuff and being completely inappropriate and was having them repeat stuff in English and it was absurdity. Too, too funny.

Ça va

Really quick I just want to reflect on the most incredible and useful phrase in the French language.

"Ça va"

The French say this...
1. To mean "how are you?" or maybe more like "how's it going?"
2. To answer to this "how are you"- meaning something like "yeah it's going"
3. To mean "fine"- for instance, "Is your dinner good?" "ça va"
4. To respond when someone trips, etc. to make sure they are ok meaning "are you hurt?" "are you alright?"
5. To mean "does that work for you?" or "is that convenient?"
6. To mean "that will do" or "that's fine".


Honestly, I think I could get by a whole day by just saying those two words. Mind boggling.

Confession

Today, I might have hula hooped with some 8 year olds at recess.

Last Tuesday, I might have jumped rope with some 6 year olds at recess.