jour quarante-et-un - Paris in the Fall

I spent the past weekend in Paris visiting a very good friend of mine.  It was awesome staying with her and her boyfriend at their house in a cute neighborhood in a suburb outside of Paris.

"I had Sceaux much fun!"

jour vingt - Down By The Riverside

I spent my day yesterday reading a book by La Moselle, the main river running through Metz.  It was a lovely day (though a bit warmer than I would have preferred but let me not complain too much lol) and I got to rest, relax and think, which is exactly what I needed.

Carved onto this wall is the sentence "Dans la societe du spectacle: le vrai est un moment du faux."   Deep.

This actually isn't the main river, by the way, it just connects to it.  Still pretty nonetheless.

So it was at this point where I started to get overly excited about the sepia effect on my camera phone...

The bridge is called "Pont du bras mort" which translates to "Bridge of the dead arms."  Huh.

Le monde en sepia!

Balloons!!

More Balloons!

In color now!

So after this wonderful afternoon of strolling and reading and picture-taking, I bought myself some dinner.  Now anyone who knows me well knows I don't like to eat fast food.  However, after a chat with one of my french friends, I was informed that MacDonald's here in France is better than and different from McD's in the U.S.  He claimed that it was healthier here.  I don't know if I agree with him on that but I definitely do think the MacDonald's sandwiches here definitely feel more french considering the fact that they look way prettier and more appetizing than the ones in the U.S.  I ordered a filet o' fish sandwich and this is what I got:

Have you ever seen a bun this round in real life???  This almost looks straight out of an advertisement.  Compare it to the usual

Do not want.

and you can see how pleasantly surprised I was.  The French don't play when it comes to food, even at MacDonald's.  Now is it healthier...well, that remains to be seen.

A Bientot!

xo

jour neuf - I Don't Speak German But I Can If You Like...

The first week back in school never feels the way you would expect it to.  Summer is still so close by that you can't let it go.  It's not until the cold comes and the pounds of homework set in when you are harshly reminded that the summer is done, the sunshine is gone and school has resumed once more.

Fortunately for me, I can still smile at that thought because I know that come this December, school and I will be shaking hands as cordial exes usually do and bidding each other adieu in the most polite way.  After 17 and half years, it will be time for school and I to finally break up.

But before I let myself daydream about life post-post-graduation, I try to keep myself grounded in the here and now.  I spent the weekend in Luxembourg with my mom before she went back home to Florida on monday.  We ate German food in one of the main squares, Place d'Armes, as we listened to an orchestra play famous pop songs, including a lovely medley of Michael Jackson's greatest hits.  If I have learned anything from this experience so far, it is that while other people come in various forms and speak all different languages, Michael Jackson is in fact universal.  An audience more interested in their food than the orchestra suddenly perked up and rushed to the stage as soon as the orchestra began to play "Thriller."

Some lovely photos from Luxembourg:

jour trois - Un Jour en Paris

The French aren't kidding when they call Paris "La Ville de L'amour."  Couples everywhere.  On trains.  On the street.  Holding hands.  Making out on the streets.  Old couples making out on trains.  Young couples making out in the streets.

A single girl could really get lonely out here.

But alas, who can blame them?  The atmosphere oozes romance.  So much so that I think it may have actually rubbed off on me.  I can see why Paris is so loved and I could see myself falling in love with it too.

My mother and I spent the day sightseeing.  Our views on what should be considered "sightseeing" differ greatly: I reject anything that screams tourist and my mom embraces it.  My "sightseeing" still involves seeing the sights, but attempting to see them as an undercover tourist--the kind of tourist who embraces the local culture and the day-to-day lives of the people.  To me, those things are what truly make a city.  The bus tours, the constant flashing of digital cameras with foreigners blocking the sidewalks with their stupid poses, the tour guides paid to ramble on about things you learned in your history class, the multi-hour tours that herd tourists around like sheep, the ridiculously long lines at the overpriced, overrated "attractions"--they are so overly attraction-ized (yes I made that up) that they almost start to turn the city into a caricature of itself.  I hate it.  Mom loves it.  Obviously this resulted in grumbling on both of our ends throughout the entire day, but in the end, it was all worth it and we ended up both getting a bit of what we wanted: a little bit of wandering the streets aimlessly while also touring popular attractions.

Mom ended up happy so that's really all that matters.

Plus, it's hard to grumble about how irritating tourist attractions are while staring up at this.

Our hotel = a box with a lovely view i.e. New York living all over again.  I really love how much this city reminds me of New York.  It has the same constant buzzing and energy without the hard edge and is so distinctly European.  It's wonderful.

Our room with a view

The sitting room above the lobby of the hotel

A cute little cafe where we had supper

"Aux Champs-Elysees..."

L'arc d'Awesome

La Seine

Going up to the 2ieme etage (2nd floor) of the Tower

Panoramic views of all of Paris from the Tower

Paris, on a eu une belle journee mais je dois te quitter pour le moment...Metz, rebonjour!