It's only doubts that we're counting
On fingers broken long ago
I read with every broken heart
We should become more adventurous

If you banish me from your profits
And if I get banished from the kingdom up above
I'll sacrifice money and heaven all for love
Let me be loved, let me be loved

If my brain quits, well, I guess then that's just it
And if my hands stop working you can call me lazy
And if I get pregnant I guess I'll just have the baby
Let it be loved, let me be loved

I've been trying to nod my head
But it's like I've got a broken neck
Wanting to say I will as my last testament
For me to be saved and you to be brave
We don't have to walk down that aisle
Because if marriage ain't enough
Well, at least we'll be loved

I've felt the wind on my cheek
Coming down from the east
And thought about how we are all
As numerous as leaves on trees
And maybe ours is the cause of all mankind
Get loved, make more
Try to stay alive

I've been trying to nod my head
But it's like I've got a broken neck
Wanting to say I will as my last testament
For you to be saved and me to be brave
We don't have to walk down that aisle
Because if marriage ain't enough
Well, at least we'll be loved

"It's the great mystery of human life that old grief passes gradually into quiet tender joy."- Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov

“There are dreamers and there are realists in this world, you think the dreamers would find the dreamers and the realists would find the realists, but more often than not the opposite is true. See the dreamers need the realists to keep them from soaring too close to the sun. And the realists? Well without the dreamers, they might not ever get off the ground.” - Modern Family

"And then the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was greater than the risk it took to bloom."  - Anais Nin

Love Actually

"General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often, it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends... If you look for it, I've got a sneaking suspicion... love actually is all around."

Joan.

"You want to be taken seriously, stop dressing like a little girl."

"It's like you're screaming, and no one can hear. You almost feel ashamed, that someone could be that important - that without them, you feel like nothing. No one will ever understand how much it hurts. You feel hopeless; like nothing can save you. And when it's over, and it's gone, you almost wish that you could have all that bad stuff back - so that you could have the good."

"Sexiness wears thin after a while and beauty fades, but to be married to a man who makes you laugh every day, ah, now that’s a real treat." - Joanne Woodward

Courage

"Courage is the great enabling virtue that allows one to realize other virtues, like love, hope and faith.

To have courage is to be willing to look unflinchingly at catastrophic circumstances and muster the will to overcome the fear; never to fully erase or eliminate the fear but to overcome the fear so that fear does not have the last word, so that fear does not push one into conformity, complacency, or cowardice.

For me, in many ways, the opposite of courage is not simply cowardice, but it is even worse than that – it is indifference, and indifference to evil is more invidious than evil itself precisely because evil is contagious.  The great Abraham Joshua Heschel used to make this point in almost every text and he is absolutely right. 

Courage for me is always a difficult thing to discern and find.  There is always not enough courageous folk around.  There are too many folk that want to fit in.  There are too many folk that want to just go with the grain.  There are too many folk that want to simply opt for the seductions and temptations to become drunk with the wine of the world, intoxicated with the felicities of bourgeoisie existence. 

Courage says ‘No, I will think critically.  I will love across borders, across races, across gender, across sexual orientation, across national boundary and I will hope I will never let despair have the last word, but I will recognize that he or she who has never despaired has never lived.  Never allow that despair to have the last word. 

Courage, to think critically!  Courage, to love!  Courage, to hope!  That, for me, sits at the very center of what the Socratic vocation and prophetic witness are all about." - Professor Cornel West

Our love is sweeter than strings
Our love is thicker than angel wings

But still sometimes I can't believe you're real
It's just that I've got diamonds in my eyes for you

Our love is simple
Our love is crystal

But still sometimes you cannot help yourself
You step outside and hear bells ringing
For you, for you

Trying my best to love you
Trying my best to love you
Trying my best to love you
They make it so hard on us, baby
It's so hard on us, baby

I want you back my baby
I want you back in my arms
I want you back right now
They make it so hard on us, baby
It's so hard on us, baby

Trying my best to love you
Trying my best to love you
Trying my best to love you
They make it so hard on us, baby
It's so hard on us, baby
It's so hard on us, baby
It's so hard on us, baby

"My mind, I know, I can prove, hovers on hummingbird wings. It hovers and it churns. And when it's operating at full thrust, the churning does not stop. The machines do not rest, the systems rarely cool." - Dave Eggers You Shall Know Our Velocity!

You had a lot of crooks tryna steal your heart
Never really had luck, couldn’t never figure out
How to love
How to love

You had a lot of moments that didn’t last forever
Now you in the corner tryna put it together
How to love
How to love

For a second you were here
Why you over there?
Its hard not to stare, the way you moving your body
Like you never had a love
Never had a love

When you was just a young’un you’re looks but so precious
But now your grown up
So fly its like a blessing but you can’t have a man look at you for 5 seconds
Without you being insecure
You never credit yourself so when you got older
It’s seems like you came back 10 times over
Now you’re sitting here in this damn corner
Looking through all your thoughts and looking over your shoulder

See you had a lot of crooks tryna steal your heart
Never really had luck, couldn’t never figure out
How to love
How to love

See you had a lot of moments that didn’t last forever
Now you in the corner tryna put it together
How to love
How to love

For a second you were here
Why you over there?
Its hard not to stare the way you moving your body
Like you never had a love
Had a love

You had a lot of dreams that transform to visions
The fact that you saw the world affected all your decisions
But it wasn’t your fault
Wasn’t in your intentions

You the one here talking to me
You don’t wanna listen
But I admire your poppin bottles and dippin’
Just as much as you admire bartending and stripping
Baby, so don’t be mad
Nobody else trippin
You see a lot of crooks and the crooks still crook

See You had a lot of crooks tryna steal your heart
Never really had luck, couldn’t never figure out
How to love
How to love

See you had a lot of moments that didn’t last forever
Now you in the corner tryna put it together
How to love
How to love

Oooh,
See I just want you to know
That you deserve the best
You’re beautiful
You’re beautiful
Yeah

And I want you to know, you’re far from the usual
Far from the usual

You see you had a lot of crooks tryna steal your heart
Never really had luck, couldn’t never figure out
How to love
How to love

See you had a lot of moments that didn’t last forever
Now you in the corner tryna put it together
How to love
How to love

See you had a lot of crooks tryna steal your heart
Never really had luck, couldn’t never figure out
How to love
How to love

See you had a lot of moments that didn’t last forever
Now you in the corner tryna put it together
How to love
How to love

Bridgette Bardot on a bike

Obviously, Doctor, you've never been a 13-year-old girl.

"We knew the girls were really women in disguise, that they understood love, and even death, and that our job was merely to create the noise that seemed to fascinate them."

Why in the night sky are the lights hung?
Why is the earth moving round the sun?
Floating in the vacuum with no purpose, not a one
Why in the night sky are the lights hung?

Why is life made only for to end?
Why do I do all this waiting then?
Why this frightened part of me that's fated to pretend?
Why is life made only for to end?

In the city only for a while
Here to face the fortune and the bile
I heard you on the radio, I couldn't help but smile
In the city only for a while

Why in the night sky are the lights hung?
Why is the earth moving round the sun?
Floating in the vacuum with no purpose, not a one
Why in the night sky are the lights hung?

You'd think after 22 years I'd be used to the spins

If you walk away, I’ll walk away
First tell me which road you will take
I don’t want to risk our paths crossing some day
So you walk that way, I’ll walk this way

And the future hangs over our heads
And it moves with each current event
Until it falls all around like a cold steady rain
Just stay in when it’s looking this way

And the moon’s laying low in the sky
Forcing everything metal to shine
And the sidewalk holds diamonds like the jewelry store case
They argue walk this way, no, walk this way

And Laura’s asleep in my bed
As I’m leaving she wakes up and says
“I dreamed you were carried away on the crest of a wave
Baby don’t go away, come here”

And there’s kids playing guns in the street
And ones pointing his tree branch at me
So I put my hands up I say “enough is enough,
If you walk away, I’ll walk away”
And he shot me dead

I found a liquid cure
From my landlocked blues
It’ll pass away like a slow parade
It’s leaving but I don’t know how soon

And the world’s got me dizzy again
You think after 22 years I’d be used to the spin
And it only feels worse when I stay in one place
So I’m always pacing around or walking away
I keep drinking the ink from my pen
And I’m balancing history books up on my head
But it all boils down to one quotable phrase
If you love something, give it away

A good woman will pick you apart
A box full of suggestions for your possible heart
But you may be offended and you may be afraid
But don’t walk away, don’t walk away

We made love on the living room floor
With the noise in the background of a televised war
And in the deafening pleasure I thought I heard someone say
“If we walk away, they’ll walk away”

But greed is a bottomless pit
And our freedom’s a joke
We’re just taking a piss
And the whole world must watch the sad comic display
If you’re still free start running away
Cause we’re coming for you!

I’ve grown tired of holding this pose
I feel more like a stranger each time I come home
So I’m making a deal with the devils of fame
Saying “let me walk away, please”
You’ll be free child once you have died
From the shackles of language and measurable time
And then we can trade places, play musical graves
Till then walk away, walk away

So I’m up at dawn
Putting on my shoes
I just want to make a clean escape
I’m leaving but I don’t know where to
I know I’m leaving but I don’t know where to

Drink up, baby, look at the stars

drink up, baby, stay up all night
the things you could do, you won't but you might
the potential you'll be, that you'll never see
the promises you'll only make

drink up with me now and forget all about the pressure of days
do what I say and I'll make you okay and drive them away
the images stuck in your head

people you've been before that you don't want around anymore
that push and shove and won't bend to your will
I'll keep them still

drink up, baby, look at the stars
I'll kiss you again between the bars where I'm seeing you
there with your hands in the air, waiting to finally be caught

drink up one more time and I'll make you mine
keep you apart deep in my heart separate from the rest
where I like you the best and keep the things you forgot

the people you've been before that you don't want around anymore
that push and shove and won't bend to your will
I'll keep them still

There's wind that blows in from the north.
And it says that loving takes this course.
Come here. Come here.
No I'm not impossible to touch I have never wanted you so much.
Come here. Come here.
Have I never laid down by your side.
Baby, let's forget about this pride.
Come here. Come here.
Well I'm in no hurry. Don't have to run away this time.
I know you're timid.
But it's gonna be all right this time.

"So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more dangerous to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun."
— Chris McCandless

Calme-toi.

"Si Amélie préfère vivre dans le rêve et rester une jeune fille introvertie, c'est son droit. Car rater sa vie est un droit inaliénable."

Haven't had a dream in a long time

Lucky Number Nine

"The making of a great compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do and takes ages longer than it might seem. You gotta kick off with a killer, to grab attention. Then you got to take it up a notch, but you don't wanna blow your wad, so then you got to cool it off a notch. There are a lot of rules. Anyway... I've started to make a tape...in my head...for Laura. Full of stuff she likes. Full of stuff that make her happy. For the first time I can sort of see how that is done" 

Death to time difference, country difference...to distance

Love you all the time even though you are not mine

Love you all the time
Even though you're not mine
Love you all the time
Dream I'm in the saltwater

Timing's gone all bad
Broken faith and a broken way
You couldn't lose me if you tried
'Cos I'll be rollin' to your side, baby

Love you all the time
Even though you're not mine
Love you all the time
Broken faith and a broken way

You couldn't lose me if you tried

You know how the time flies, only yesterday It was the time of our lives

"Quand on aura allégé le plus possible les services inutiles, évité les malheurs non nécessaires, il restera toujours, pour tenir en haleine les vertus héroïques de l'homme, la longue série de maux véritables, la mort, la vieillesse, les maladies non guérissables, l'amour non partagé, l'amitié rejetée ou trahie, la médiocrité d'une vie moins vaste que nos projets et plus terne que nos songes : tous les malheurs causés par la divine nature des choses." - Yourcenar

I love Ben Gibbard in lurve

There's no eye in the sky
Just our love
No unobstructed view
No perfect truths
Just our love
Just our love
And there's no verse
No monument of words
For our love
For they can't hold
All I know about my love, about my love

Storm clouds break
Pools remain memories for
Earth embrace
That umbrate up above
They become
New love
New love

There's no eye in the sky
Just our love, just our love
No unobstructed views
No perfect truths
Just our love, just our love

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

"Well, what I don't get is why do we exist? I don't mean how, but why." I watched the fireflies of his thoughts orbit his head. He said, "We exist because we exist." "What the?" "We could imagine all sorts of universes unlike this one, but this is the one that happened."

I understood what he meant, and I didn't disagree with him, but I didn't agree with him either. Just because you're an atheist, that doesn't mean you wouldn't love for things to have a reason for why they are.

I don't like nobody, baby, but I like you

You and me,
You and me,
Nobody baby but you and me. (Hey, hey, hey)
You and me, (My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my)
You and me,
Nobody baby but you and me.

If the stars don’t shine, if the moon won’t rise, if I never see the setting sun again,
You won’t hear me cry, this I testify; please believe me, boy, you know I wouldn’t lie.
As long as there is

You and me, (Ohhh, oh, oh, oh, oh)
You and me,
Nobody baby but you and me. (Hey, hey, hey)
You and me, (My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my)
You and me,
Nobody baby but you and me.

If you love a soul more than fame and gold, and that soul feels the same about you,
It’s a natural fact, there’s no turning back, and here’s some advice to you:
You’ve got to say it’s,

You and me, (Ohhh, oh, oh, oh, oh)
You and me,
Nobody baby but you and me. (Hey, hey, hey)
You and me, (My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my)
You and me,
Nobody baby but you and me.

When love is real, you don’t have to show it.
When it is true, then everyone will know.
‘Cause there’ll be no one but

You and me, (Youuuuuuu)
You and me,
Nobody baby but you and me. (Hey, hey, hey)
You and me, (Ohhh, oh, oh, oh, oh)
You and me,
Nobody baby but you and me.

Do do do dooo do, woo woo
Do do do dooo do, woo woo
Do do do dooo do, woo woo
Do do do dooo do, woo woo

You and me baby.

One Day

"'What are you going to do with your life?' In one way or another it seemed that people had been asking her this forever; teachers, her parents, friends at three in the morning, but the question had never seemed this pressing and still she was no nearer an answer. The future rose up ahead of her, a succession of empty days, each more daunting and unknowable than the one before her. How would she ever fill them all?

She began walking again, south toward The Mound. 'Live each day as if it's your last', that was the conventional advice, but really, who had the energy for that? What if it rained or you felt a bit glandy? It just wasn't practical. Better by far to simply try and be good and courageous and bold and to make a difference. Not change the world exactly, but the bit around you. Go out there with your passion and your electric typewriter and work hard at...something. Change lives through art maybe. Cherish your friends, stay true to your principles, live passionately and fully and well. Experience new things. Love and be loved, if you ever get the chance.

That was her general theory, even if she hadn't made a very good start of it..."

One night of magic rush/the start -- a simple touch

One night to be confused
One night to speed up truth
We had a promise made
Four hands and then away
Both under influence
We had divine sense
To know what to say
Mind is a razorblade

To call for hands of above to lean on
Wouldn't be good enough for me, no

One night of magic rush
The start - a simple touch
One night to push and scream
And then relief
Ten days of perfect tunes
The colors red and blue
We had a promise made
We were in love

To call for hands of above to lean on
Wouldn't be good enough for me, no
To call for hands of above to lean on
Wouldn't be good enough for me, oh

And you, you knew the hand of a devil
And you kept us awake with wolves teeth
Sharing different heartbeats in one night

To call for hands of above to lean on
Wouldn't be good enough for me, no
To call for hands of above to lean on
Wouldn't be good enough for me, oh

Tout ce qui est atteint est détruit

- 11 weeks, 4 days (81 days...in case you're bad at basic math)
- 10 countries: Germany, Hungary, United Kingdom, Portugal, Italy, Spain, Belgium, France, Monaco, Ireland
- 23 cities: Dusseldorf, Berlin, Budapest, London, Lisbon, Porto, Rome, Florence, Venice, Seville, Brussels, Bruges, Paris, Grenoble, Lyon, Nice, Cannes, Beaulieu-sur-Mer, Sisteron, Eze, Saint-Paul, Monte Carlo--more complicated, but we'll call it a city--, Dublin
- 10 planes
- 7 trains
- countless buses, metros, tubes, trams, taxis, strikes, riots, heaps of friends made, decisions made both good and bad

And my crazy, expensive, busy and altogether unforgettable summer in Europe has come to an end as I type this from my desk in Normal, IL. I literally went back to Normal last night. The irony is heavy enough to annihilate something strong...a bridge? a house? a car? whatever (churches, lead, very small rocks, a duck).

"A few times in my life I've had moments of absolute clarity, when for a few brief seconds the silence drowns out the noise and I can feel rather than think, and things seem so sharp and the world seems so fresh. I can never make these moments last. I cling to them, but like everything, they fade. I have lived my life on these moments. They pull me back to the present, and I realize that everything is exactly the way it was meant to be."

You took the time to figure me out

"Help each other. Love everyone. Every leaf. Every ray of light. Forgive."

"The only way to be happy is to love. Unless you love, your life will flash by. Do good to them. Wonder. Hope."

-- The Tree of Life

"To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that's all"

C'est une chose étrange à la fin que le monde

Un jour je m'en irai sans en avoir tout dit

Ces moments de bonheur ces midis d'incendie

La nuit immense et noire aux déchirures blondes.

 

Rien n'est si précieux peut-être qu'on le croit

D'autres viennent. Ils ont le cœur que j'ai moi-même

Ils savent toucher l'herbe et dire je vous aime

Et rêver dans le soir où s'éteignent des voix.

 

D'autres qui referont comme moi le voyage

D'autres qui souriront d'un enfant rencontré

Qui se retourneront pour leur nom murmuré

D'autres qui lèveront les yeux vers les nuages.

 

II y aura toujours un couple frémissant

Pour qui ce matin-là sera l'aube première

II y aura toujours l'eau le vent la lumière

Rien ne passe après tout si ce n'est le passant.

 

C'est une chose au fond, que je ne puis comprendre

Cette peur de mourir que les gens ont en eux

Comme si ce n'était pas assez merveilleux

Que le ciel un moment nous ait paru si tendre.

 

Oui je sais cela peut sembler court un moment

Nous sommes ainsi faits que la joie et la peine

Fuient comme un vin menteur de la coupe trop pleine

Et la mer à nos soifs n'est qu'un commencement.

 

Mais pourtant malgré tout malgré les temps farouches

Le sac lourd à l'échine et le cœur dévasté

Cet impossible choix d'être et d'avoir été

Et la douleur qui laisse une ride à la bouche.

 

Malgré la guerre et l'injustice et l'insomnie

Où l'on porte rongeant votre cœur ce renard

L'amertume et Dieu sait si je l'ai pour ma part

Porté comme un enfant volé toute ma vie.

 

Malgré la méchanceté des gens et les rires

Quand on trébuche et les monstrueuses raisons

Qu'on vous oppose pour vous faire une prison

De ce qu'on aime et de ce qu'on croit un martyre.

 

Malgré les jours maudits qui sont des puits sans fond

Malgré ces nuits sans fin à regarder la haine

Malgré les ennemis les compagnons de chaînes

Mon Dieu mon Dieu qui ne savent pas ce qu'ils font.

 

Malgré l'âge et lorsque, soudain le cœur vous flanche

L'entourage prêt à tout croire à donner tort

Indifférent à cette chose qui vous mord

Simple histoire de prendre sur vous sa revanche.

 

La cruauté générale et les saloperies

Qu'on vous jette on ne sait trop qui faisant école

Malgré ce qu'on a pensé souffert les idées folles

Sans pouvoir soulager d'une injure ou d'un cri.

 

Cet enfer Malgré tout cauchemars et blessures

Les séparations les deuils les camouflets

Et tout ce qu'on voulait pourtant ce qu'on voulait

De toute sa croyance imbécile à l'azur.

 

Malgré tout je vous dis que cette vie fut telle

Qu'à qui voudra m'entendre à qui je parle ici

N'ayant plus sur la lèvre un seul mot que merci

Je dirai malgré tout que cette vie fut belle.

-- Louis Aragon (1954) 

 

I know I'm sleeping 'cause this dream's too amazing

I've been sleeping for forty days and
Yeah, I know that I'm sleeping cause this dream's too amazing
She got gold doorknobs where her eyes used to be, yeah
One turn and I learned what it really means to see, yeah

It's the magical mystery kind
Must be a lie
Bye bye to the too good to be true kind of love
Oooooh I could die
Oooooh now, I could die

Now I've been sleeping for sixty days and
Nobody better pinch me
Bitch I swear, go crazy
She got jumper cable lips
She got sunset on her breath
I inhaled just a little bit
Now I got no fear of death

It's the magical mystery kind
Must be a lie
Bye bye to the too good to be true kind of love
Oooooh I could die
Oooooh now, I could die

It's the magical mystery kind
Must be a lie
Bye bye to the too good to be true kind of love
Oooooh I could die
Oooooh now, I could die

Paris Day 3

Why not post another one right away? It's not like I have two 10-page literature papers to write...

Sunday was a perfectly pleasant day spent solo. I woke up late, had a nice little breakfast in the apartment, got ready and decided to go visit one of my favorite museums in Paris: le Musee d'Orsay. Once a train station, the museum houses primarily impressionist paintings and it is home to the majority of the more famous impressionist paintings (see below). There is a welcome tranquil ambiance in the museum and I had a lovely time wandering for a couple hours throughout the various rooms listening to music on my iPod. Yes, folks, I am that pretentious grad student, isn't it fabulous?

After the Musee d'Orsay, I went back to the apartment to relax and take a nap, because that evening I was getting dinner with my friend, Stephane (you'll remember him from Florence and Venice), who lives in one of the Parisian suburbs. We met up outside the Gare du Nord and since I was hungry and craving Indian food no less, we set off on the hunt for some dinner. After turning around the corner from Gare du Nord we stumbled upon a number of Indian restaurants and went inside one that was inexpensive and authentic-looking. For 6 Euro a piece we each got delicious entrees, rice, and naan. I was one happy camper. We had both been wanting to see Woody Allen's new movie, Midnight in Paris, and looked to see if it was playing anywhere close by. After finding that it was playing in a movie theater near Les Halles in the 1st district in about an hour, we decided to go on foot to the theater in order to walk off the filling Indian food dinner and to get some fresh air. I had never walked from my neighborhood in that direction, always preferring to take the metro, and so it was nice to see new sights and catch up with Stephane along the way. Arriving just in time for the movie, we went in to see if Woody's testament to Paris was any good. Although I am a huge Woody Allen fan or rather, because I am a huge Woody Allen fan, Midnight in Paris wasn't my favorite. Don't get me wrong, I laughed constantly, loved the cast (particularly my lady crush, Marion Cotillard), and thought the story was cute, but it just wasn't one of his best. I think I found more amusement in the fact that I was the only one consistently cracking up in the movie theater at the smaller jokes, those Frenchies just didn't get the subtle humor in the movie.

Paris Day 2

Well, team, time to get back to blogging about Paris. I should probably finish blogging about that week before I go BACK to Paris in 7 days (let's hope no little girl who drowned in a well makes me watch a video today). Did you guys know I love Paris? I bet you had no idea.

I woke up early on Day 2 in Paris to walk from my host family's apartment to the hotel where the rest of the students from my study abroad program were staying. After talking with the program director, I made the decision to stay the rest of the week in Paris at my host family's apartment instead of in the hotel with the other students and I also asked if it would be okay if I could get out of the excursions to places that I had already seen. Being that I had been in Paris for an extended period of time 3 years prior I preferred to spend my time going to places I hadn't been to instead of hitting up the standard tourist sites. The program director kindly acquiesced to my request. Baller.

Once everyone got to the lobby, we headed off to explore the city stopping first at Gare du Nord to get metro tickets for the week for everyone. The plan for the day was to go to l'Arc de Triomphe, to walk down les Champs-Elysees, to go to la Place de la Concorde, to les Tuileries, and then to get lunch. Needless to say, it was a very tiring morning spent walking everywhere in the Paris heat, particularly for those who had just flown into Paris less than 24 hours before. After our jam-packed morning, we were all famished and decided to get lunch in the St. Michel area. Kyra, Sabrina, our program director and I got galettes (similar to savory crepes, but made with buckwheat) for lunch while the rest of the group went elsewhere. After lunch we went to the Malongo Cafe (I love you) and got coffee and rested our legs for a bit before meeting up with everyone again.

Since we were in the Latin Quarter area, we decided the next thing on the agenda would be to walk over to see Notre Dame. After walking around in the crypt area for fifteen minutes or so, we went inside the actual cathedral. So beautiful. After Notre Dame everyone was wiped out so we headed back to our respective corners, me to the apartment, the group to the hotel and planned to meet up for dinner at a Thai restaurant later that evening. After dinner, Kyra and I wanted to go out, because it was a Saturday night and we were in Paris. No brainer. We spent the later evening in the Bastille district where we had a great time meeting people and dancing. Also, I had what was quite possibly the best galette of my life before we hailed a taxi and headed home thoroughly content after a fun night in one of the best cities in the world, nay, the universe. Yeah, I said it, COME AT ME, BRO!

Godard + Anna Karina = love

Nice et la Côte d'Azur (the French Riviera)

Although I just started posting about my week in Paris, I figured that I might as well write about my fabulous weekend spent in the French Riviera with my study abroad program.

After classes on Friday, a group of roughly 60 excited students including myself (surprise!) waited forty five minutes before boarding a bus outside of our building on campus. Why were we so excited? Because we were heading to Nice and la Côte d'Azur or, as we call it in English (ick English speakers), the French Riviera. We left Grenoble around 1:15 pm. According to the all-knowing all-powerful being that is Google, the trip from Grenoble to Nice should, in theory, only take 4 hours and 40 minutes. However, according to our program director, Vincent, a silly Grenoblois, 8 hours is more realistic. To be fair, we did stop three times: once for a brief bathroom break, once for a late lunch in a small town called Sisteron, and once more just 45 minutes outside of Nice to stretch our legs. Side note: being from San Francisco, I just pretended that I was making the road trip from NorCal to Disneyland like I used to with my mom years ago, but there were sadly no roller coasters at the end of this bus ride. We finally reached the Côte d'Azur around 9 pm and, although we were all more than ready just to get off the damn bus, I was so stoked to pass signs for Cannes, Nice, Antibes, and St. Tropez. I couldn't stop myself from hearing the voice of the snobby quasi-English old man from "Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous" saying funny tidbits about movie stars, yachts, beaches, and luxury hotels ("Champagne wishes and caviah dreams"). 

We arrived at our hotel in Beaulieu-sur-Mer, a small town just beyond Nice, checked in, marveled at how swanky our rooms were, and decided to get dressed up to go out to dinner and then to check out the night scene. Well, dinner was the only thing accomplished on our two-step Friday night to-do list as by the time we finished eating and paid it was already close to midnight and finding nightlife in Beaulieu-sur-Mer didn't appear feasible. We decided to call it a night in order to get sleep for a jam-packed following day and night. 


Saturday morning after eating breakfast, the sixty or so of us hopped back on the bus and headed to Nice. It was a wonderful four hours spent on the beach swimming, tanning, and generally having a great girls day. The light blue color of the Mediterranean was as gorgeous as the water was warm. Kyra, Sabrina and I bonded over being water babies and spent most of our time a ways out in the sea. Although I am a winter girl and find inner peace when bundled up and accessorized to the nines, it was extremely liberating to spend the entire day in just a bikini and no makeup. We said goodbye to the beach in Nice after a few hours and headed to Eze, a small village on the way from Nice to Monaco, where we stopped briefly at the Galimard parfumerie. We got a free tour of the perfume factory and bought a few souvenirs. Immediately after the tour, we all got back on the bus and headed to another country far far away: Monaco. Upon arrival in Monaco, we were all hungry and stumbled upon a cheap Italian restaurant near the Monaco Oceanographic Museum. The food was delicious, the waitress was hilariously sassy, and the conversation was crass. In short, it was a great meal. Afterwards, we unintentionally split up and wandered around Monaco, stopping in different souvenir shops and in front of the painfully plain Palace of Monaco (come on Monaco, step up your game). 

After a few hours spent in that area, we got back on the bus (so much bus time) and drove to Monte Carlo, another area in Monaco where we all proceeded to feel homeless and generally bad about ourselves. We reached the Casino Monte Carlo (no, Casino Royale was not filmed there), stood in shock at the heaps of rich people driving Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Aston Martins, Bentleys, Porsches, Range Rovers, and BMWs, and then proceeded to go to the Cafe de Paris across the way where we got expensive drinks and did an atrocious job of pretending that we belonged in that world. Epic fail. My 15 Euro ($20) mojito was, thankfully, delicious. Frankly, I was happy to spend some time in Monte Carlo, because it only made me more grateful for what I had: a childhood. Why a childhood, you ask? While Kyra, Sabrina and I were sitting at the Cafe de Paris drinking our drinks, sitting next to us were four young girls. The oldest among them couldn't have been older than 14 and the youngest was probably 8 or 9. They were sitting by themselves in a sea of expensive clothing and plastic surgery looking bored as hell. I can only imagine that their parents were inside the casino trying to one-up other rich socialites and wasting way too much money on superficial items instead of spending time with their young children. Although I don't have the audacity to pretend to know their story, such a sight made me stop resenting Monte Carlo and all it stood for, and instead made me thankful for having loving caring parents who, although they drove me crazy growing up because they were (still are) ALWAYS there (hello, only child syndrome), gave me a great childhood. Anyways, after Monte Carlo, everyone was wiped out from 12 hours of non-stop activity and we tiredly welcomed the 9 pm announcement that we were heading back to Beaulieu-sur-Mer. Upon arrival back at the hotel, I showered and immediately hit the hay. 


Sunday morning we got to sleep in and it was glorious. Our belongings packed, we boarded the bus for Saint-Paul (de Vence), a small stone wall-enclosed town oft frequented by artists such as Picasso on the way to Cannes. Kyra and I spent a little over an hour walking around the picturesque village that is riddled with gorgeous houses covered in ivy and large potted plants as well as loads of art galleries. After some time in Saint-Paul we headed to Cannes! Being an admitted cinephile, I was psyched to see where the Cannes Film Festival is held each year. However, we were only to be in Cannes for 90 minutes before heading back to Grenoble. Sacrifices sadly had to be made and instead of seeing where the festival was held, I decided to go swimming in the Mediterranean again. Sigh. It was a difficult decision, many people were injured in the process, but I just couldn't pass up one final opportunity to swim in the warm water surrounded by the Alps. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I swam in the Mediterranean Sea and was surrounded by the Alps. Unreal. I figure when I'm a rich and famous French literature professor (everybody laugh with/at me), I'll ask Johnny or Woody if they can get me tickets to the film festival (I'm sure they'll owe me one). For now, I'm a young traveler with priorities. Namely, those of the beach persuasion.


This was our last stop on the trip. After a final 20 minutes sitting facing the Mediterranean eating a sandwich, pinching myself and trying to convince myself that this was real life, that this was MY life, I gleefully got back on the bus and went back to Grenoble. In short, it was an epic weekend.

View on the way to Nice from Beaulieu-sur-Mer

Beach in Nice

Girls day!

Pure contentment

View on the way to Eze from Nice

Galimard parfumerie in Eze

Where they test the perfumes

The finished products

Monaco

In Monaco

Statue of Francois Grimaldi

Palace of Monaco

In Monte Carlo -- Ferrari

Aston Martin

Outside the Casino Monte Carlo

Casino Monte Carlo

Fancy drinks at the Cafe de Paris

In Saint-Paul

In Saint-Paul de Vence

In Cannes

Mediterranean Sea with the Alps in the background

Leaving Cannes