Public Apology

I would like to apologize to my brother for making fun of how he talks with his retainer in. Peter, I am sorry for suggesting you say "Sally sells seashells by the seashore." I'm sorry for making you repeat anything with an -s in it for my own sheer amusement. I apologize for making you feel bad when I myself am having a bad day. I am thorry.

Paris Pt. 2

Steve being silly while checking out.














Silly, but clever. Very cool idea!!














My seat. Thank goodness for Tvs on the plane! I watched Malcolm in the Middle from France to Iceland, and then fidgeted for 5 hours from Iceland to Boston.











Steve found Varkey a stroller in Iceland. Very niiice! (P.S. I will miss hearing Varkey quoting Mike Tyson randomly)

















Au revoir, pour maintenant!!!
I really did not want to leave Paris. I am proud to say I was not homesick during my month away. I cannot say the same for when I was four hours away at Newport, strangely enough. I just love the French culture so much, the history fascinates me, and I love learning the language.

It was nice to go home, however. Despite the jet lag, it is nice to hear from my friends and cuddle with my puppies. Zeb is sitting with me and panting away. I am about to go hang out with my mom and then clean up my diaster of a room.


I am glad that I have been able to share my trip with everyone! Merci for reading! Have a great summer.... and foregin adventures start up agan fall semester on September 11th. A bientot!!!

Paris Pt. 1

The last time I saw Paris, her heart was warm and gay... finally... after three weeks... we got to go to PARIS!!! I cannot even begin to explain how much I love this city.










































The boys and I went to the Musee Rodin. Karen was right, how on earth did they get these sculptures into this building??






























Le Baiser by Rodin. Atta boyy.























































Pretty ceiling!






















































C'est moi!

I dragged the guys over to the 5th arrondisment so that I could see where I will be going to school in the fall!!!! I love the Latin Quarter best. There is pretty much a librarie - bookstore - on every street. Umm... awesome!!! And right down the street from the Sorbonne is the Pantheon, which we went to next.








I could barely stay still I was so excited. It says Universite de Paris above the door. That's where I am going!!! :-)


















Inside the Pantheon. How did I not go here last time I was in Paris?? No matter, I know where I will be spending my lunch time...

...with Jean-Jacques!!!














The legend and I.













What's ironic is Rousseau criticized the University so much and he ended up right down the street from it. Also, he is across from Voltaire, his rival. Sorry, big guy.

Home

Hello, everyone. Sorry I have not wrote since Sunday. I did not have internet in Paris, and the last week was very busy. I am now home on Long Island and dealing with unpacking all of my things. I begin work on Wednesday, thank goodness I have some time to adjust to the time difference.

I cannot believe how quickly the month went by. It's not as though I "just remember yesterday" packing, because honestly, I don't. But that was a month? Dang.

I will be updating with pictures from PARIS soon! I have some things to get in order first, so check back sometime soon and hopefully I will have had time to sit down with the computer again.

Bisous!

Stare at the Sun

Do I trust my heart or just my mind?

Why is truth so hard to find in this world?

'Cause I am due for a miracle I'm waiting for a sign

I'll stare straight into the sun and I won't close my eyes

'Til I understand or go blind

- Thrice

BLAH

In order to get to Chambord we had to take a bus from a town called Blois. Blois to me, sounds like Blah. After we spent some time at Chambord, we returned to Blah Blois with time to spare. So we toured the Blois chateau.

The porcupine represents one of the kings. Henri, Fancois, Louis, I don't remember.

Really pretty stained glass. See the fleur de lys in the center?

Becca Violates Art #1

The gargoyles were asking for it.

Becca Violates Art #2

We have matching MOUSTACHES !!

Hercules.... or honey you should say HUNKules ! (I can't help the Disney references, they just spill out) Disney has brainwashed me into thinking that Hercules was this young, dashing clothed man. This says he's old, naked and bearded.

Looking up a ceiling. Of course.

The midge door !!!

Of course there's going to be a window pictures in here.

Yaaay art with my name in it !!!!!

Voulez-vouz couchez avec moi, c'est soir ?

I had to.

Gorgeous floor.

Chambord

The skyline of Chambord is truly breathtaking.




































And the double-helix staircase is really incredible too. I just thought it was a windy staircase and didn't understand why it was so cool.

































Looking up the center...







































Then Prof. Mitchell made me go down one side, and he and Courtney went down another. We were on two different staircases !
















































It took so long for this place to be built. At one point, it was abandonded for 70 years.

Looking out over the fields.














Moat!



















"I use antlers in all of my decorating..." Yes, another Beauty and the Beast reference.


















I love old windows. :)














Looking up a chandelier.

Musee David D'Angers

That's right, David Dangers is back! For class on Friday we went to a museum with a bunch of his sculptures in it. Considering I've never been a big fan of sculptures, I actually enjoyed it. Here are some of my favorites.

Bonchamps... this one was a funeral tribute to a guy who pardoned prisoners on his deathbed. David's father was one of those prisoners.

This was on the back of a statue. Some pretty French script. I don't know.

Benny Ben Franklin !!! Hey there, somewhat great uncle !

Young Greek Girl... there was a story that went with this one, about how she symbolized a child of the future passing into independence, but I just thought she was so pretty.

Big..... thing.

Yes, yes, I photographed the school children having a field trip in the museum. I noticed that instead of raising their hands to be called on, they raise their pointer finger. They were too cute.

Il plu

Rain, rain, go away
Come again when I'm not in Angers

"G"s in French are pronounced like "J"s, so Angers is said like "An-jay". Now read my poem again. Dang I'm clever.

Je manque

People have been talking about how much they want to go home. They miss their friends, they miss their family, and they want to be surrounded by a language familiar to them. I wish I could stay here. Maybe live in another town and get to know it, but I love being in France. I don't want to go home, I am just so grateful for the experience I have had living here.


I suppose there are a few things I do miss.
Je manque peanut butter. What I would do for a pb&j sandwich....
Je manque ma famille. I love being able to have a great phone plan to keep in touch with them, but it would be nice to be hugged.
Je manque mes chiens. There are so many dogs in France, which I love, but I can't bring them back to my residence and cuddle with them. I feel bad leaving Zeb for so long and I hope he remembers me when I get back.

Honestly, other than that, I'm good. So family, if you're feeling generous, bring over an economy-sized jar of peanut butter and the puppies and I'll be set. :)



A little culture lesson, readers. We have learned about how the French value a seperation between their public and their personal lives. They distinguish "friends" from "acquaintences", they dont' really care about their politicians personal lives (because they aren't there to set an example, they are there to run the country). One of the ways we are able to see this border put up is when the people close their shades. This is the shade in my room half-way closed. It can cover the whole window and seel out all light. By doing this at the end of the day, they are able to do what they want at home without being scrutinized. When I walk around in the evening, I see people closing their shades. I think it's interesting, especially since at home I'm nosy and like to look inside people's houses.

Chenonceau

This is how I walked around Chenonceau today, with a cloth wrapped around my eyes. Just kidding!! I did walk around with my sunglasses on at all times to cover up my swollen eye. Which has gone down considerably, I am quite glad. There is a little bit of bruising, but I'm hoping by tomorrow I'll be able to cover it up.

This is the chateaux of Chenonceau. It is absolutely magnificent, dahhling. I think there were a bunch of women who lived here, and the one decided that she wanted to be able to stand over the water, hence the beautiful arches.

The gardens were great, there was a bunch of nature which caused me to sneeze my way around, but I enjoyed it regardless.

I love the symmetry found in the gardens. I wouldn't have the patience to do that, so I really respect people planning that out.

A pretty pot of flowers.

More jardin.

Attempt at a fountain: fail.

We found an old wine cellar that you could walk around in (cue massive amount sneezing) but it was fun to look at the huge barrels.

Me and the well! I live the Disney dream everywhere, man. Here I am the embodiment of Snow White. I'll spare you the singing though.

Looking up at the chateau.

Stained glass inside.

I noticed that some of the floors had designs on the perimeter of the room. I wonder if this once covered the entire floor...

Looking through the window.

I touched the really old wall, bwahahaha.

This is the totally awesome floor on the part that stretches out over the water.

Photography gone awry. After Chenonceau Prof. Mitchell anounced that we were going to the city Tours (pronounced Tour). We decided to go to a resteraunt and spend the entire two and half hours there, and we did. Which ended up being a very good decision on our part because it poured.

Tomorrow we have class, but only in the morning. Afterward we are going to the David D'Angers museum and then we have the rest of the day to ourselves (I'm seeing... I'm seeing... MONOPRIX). However, before all that, I have to do a lot of reading for class and write two papers, one of them in French. And so, I bid thee adieu for now. Bisous !!