Great Oscar's Ghost! Is that a 2-floor Starbucks? (Adventures with MooReece con't)

Ok so maybe I've been too harsh on this little city I'm currently inhabiting. It is the resting place of Oscar Wilde and Jim Morrison afterall, so it can't be all bad. I'm just critical because I come from the most beautiful city on EARTH! HA! Maybe not, but it is cleaner and even when something goes wrong at INCO (which is finally no longer on strike - praise heaven!) I'm convinced the air is still cleaner than the best of days in the metro. GROSS!

One thing that kicks Sudbury Ontario's butt? STARBUCKS at almost EVERY metro exit! So no matter how tired (and I'm TIRED!) I get and how sick of the heat and annoyed with the people that I get, a smile is waiting for me at the next stop. Can you say WOOHOO? Currently I'm plunked on the 2nd floor (that's right the 2ND FLOOR) of the nicest (albeit not the cleanest) Starbucks I've ever been to. I know, I KNOW, I shouldn't be indulging in North American capitalism at its finest, and I should be sipping café or noisettes or viennois at any of the thousands of café or brasseries at my disposal but believe you me, when you are a 6 cup at day girl, those Barbie doll sized serving containers (I refuse to call those things cups) just don't cut the mustard. "It's about quality, not quantity" they say and for the most part that is true, but when you are a junkie, you cannot train your brain to believe that 5ml of caffeine is enough when you're used to consuming 500ml (and for the same price, if not MORE!) So I sit here with my Grande Soy Chai The Latte and I people watch and I'm much happier than I was 10 minutes ago. In my defence, there were NO Starbucks whatsoever in the Riviera and I was forced to drink 1 itty bitty espresso per day until I found instant coffee. Mmmmmm NOT! My Matante Annette would NEVER survive here. SORRY MATANTE!

This is for Jaime: THANK YOU for turning me into a junkie! But the seat across from me is awefully lonely regardless... (and as I look around - like I do in every Starbucks - no sign of the stalker yet...HAHAHAHAHAHA)

Cheers!

In the middle of a torrential downpour and you're watering your roses? - Only in Paris (Adventures with MooReece con't)

I've been in Paris for exactly 2 weeks now and let me tell you, it's been an INTERESTING 2 weeks. It feels like Antibes and the Riviera are years behind me now as I fight against the organized (ok well maybe not organized) chaos that is the Parisian way of life. Frankly I don't know how people live like this, it's not just a big city thing - it's a PARIS thing. Although I haven't travelled extensively, I am convinced there is nowhere else on Earth quite like this insanely condensed and manic capital. Only in Paris can you be in a constant rush and yet never be in a hurry to get there. Patience is a virtue in this place - it is teaching me great restraint.

I don't consider myself a tourist (except for when I whip out my camera and start clicking frantically) and everyday is an experiment in parisian life and trying to understand how and WHY they do it. Only in Paris can you cross at a green walking light and still get run over. Only in Paris can you walk further inside a metro station than it would take to walk there directly. Only in Paris will a bird poop on your computer as you sit in the park to type your blog (yep.. just happened - TERRIFIC!) Only in Paris can you walk home in a torrential downpour to witness a man "watering" the flowers outside his appartment block. And by "watering" I don't mean with a hose. Only in Paris can you meet more non-parisians than parisians. In fact, I have met more anglophones than francophones (and yes I realize these are Canadian terms, but you are mostly all Canadian and won't judge me or look at me like I'm from Mars for using such vocab.)

I finally understand why the French have no concept of personal boundaries or the space bubble. If you've ever ridden the Paris metro, you won't anymore either. Try being sandwiched daily between strangers of every shape, size and smell in 45 degree heat while couples take the opportunity to express the most intense forms of PDA I've ever had the non-pleasure of practically being involved in due to my uncomfortably close proximity. Have I ever mentionned my general anti-PDA rule? UGH! But this is the city of Love right? Well I have yet to feel the romance or anything resembling anything other than annoyance in my bried stay thus far. In fact, I was quietly enjoying my sit here in this lovely park all alone by a pretty tree and am now surrounded by an entire class of 4 year olds prancing around and SCREAMING! And we all know how much I LOVE CHILDREN! The parks ARE beautiful and they are where I spend most of my time. It's as close to nature as it gets here and for the most part they are quiet and peaceful.

In conclusion, I still have NO IDEA why anyone would ever want to LIVE here permanently. I suppose if you've always lived here, you don't know anything else...but why would anyone want to MOVE here PERMANENTLY! It's a 24/7 madhouse of cranky and creepy people who will either stalk you or not give you the time of day if you aren't a perfect parisian yourself. Don't get me wrong, Paris has it's MANY charms but would ultimately be more enjoyable without being pushed and shoved and stepped on while trying to get a glimpse of the Mona Lisa.

BUSTille Day (Adventures with MooReece con't)

I was moving into Paris on Canada Day. First Canada Day that I actually miss. 14th of July is France's Bastille Day (aka their National Holiday) and so just like everywhere else the capital turns into a gong show. Just imagine a city of 2.5 million people, 2.5 million tourists and a control freak Canadian duking it out on the first not-so-sunny day in Paris. I was actually super excited for this holiday as I missed the one back home and I figured it would be a great opportunity to take part in French culture and party with them. HA, Paris never ceases to shock me!

I dragged my butt out of bed "early" to get to the Champs Elysee to watch the military parade. We don't get many parades in our neck of the woods and I kind of like them so I was jacked to see it (tanks, marching and men in uniform OLAY!) Also an airshow was on the menu. So I get off at Concorde (if you watched Da Vince Code, you know where that is) and I start to walk, and walk, AND WALK! I finally stop in this crowd that is slowly making its way through a gate and I'm confused, why is there a gate? Turns out everyone around me has a blue piece of paper in their hand and so I rubber neck to find out what it says. They are invites from Nicolas himself! GASP! I think of jumping the old couple next to me and stealing their ticket but then again, I don't look good in stripes. So I move on. And on....AND ON! Finally I get to Roosevelt and notice more gates with people in front and behind them. Turns out those invites are "priority standing" for the parade. HOW RUDE! I'm not sure if everyone in Paris got one and us meager foreigners get thrown to the back, but lets just say finding a good view point was not easy feat. Luckily I did find an okay spot where I could see the road through some trees (check my pictures you'll understand) and so I waited....and waited....AND WAITED!!! I thought the Parade was starting around 9am. Nope, more like 10:30am. I met an American couple from Seattle who picked me out as Canadian with my "Aboat" (I do not say ABOAT do I??) and we chit chatted and complained to make the time go by. After what seemed like an eternity 2x over the parade begins, as does the fly over. We enjoy this for approximately 10 minutes until Mother Nature decides to dump the Mediterranean on our heads. 3 months of rain fell in 3 hours on Bastille Day 2010! It must be ME - it's NEVER nice on Canada Day either...hmm....
Of course I went totally unequipped and so we ran for shelter under a tree (and we all know the safest place to be in a storm is under a tree, right children?) But eventually the tree gave into the weight of the ever accumulating water and in a search to find another tree, the man notices an underground parking lot RIGHT BEHIND US! Go Team! So we take refuge with about 100 other people until the rain finally lets up. We gave up on the parade, we couldn't really see anything anyways and went our separate ways. My next stop? The patisserie... then? You guessed it - STARBUCKS! Hey! It was RAINING again, I needed shelter and something warm thank you very much - don't judge me, I was quite content sitting there reading my book and watching people run around frantically in the downpour. 6 and a half weeks in France and the only day it rains is a National Holiday. Go Amy Go!

Fireworks are another staple of any national holiday right? Apparently here in Paris they are held over the Eiffel Tower and so as long as you have a view of the tower you should be able to enjoy the fireworks. That's great because I live in Montmartre (aka the highest point in Paris) with a magnificent view over the entire city (including Eiffel herself). So my roommate and I make our way up just before 10 to try and snag a spot. Did I mention that there are ALOT of people in Paris? Lets just say we spent over an hour being pushed, shoved, groaned at and almost burned with cigarettes and never got to see the fireworks because they weren't over the Eiffle Tower, they were to her right and a house was in the way. AWESOME! That is when my roommate looks up at me and says, Bastille Day was a total BUST. And I reply (you guessed it)... BUSTILLE DAY!

Guten Tag, como estas mon ami? I'm well, gracie. Tchuss! (Adventures with MooReece con't)

So many countries, so little time. My head is spinning! I spent the weekend visiting my friend Genevieve (from Sudbury) in Germany. Finally made it to the vaterland. I'm so happy I made it there even if just for a few days. My séjour would have felt incomplete without at least a pitstop in the land of my ancestors. But before I get into that, I should explain the title of this blog. For some bizarro reason, I could not for the life of me speak and stick to 1 language in Germany. Everytime I went to a restaurant, store etc and spoke to someone I kept having to pause and contemplate what I wanted to say, not because I couldn't remember the German words but because I kept wanting to speak a freaky-deaky hybrid language of Italian, French and some German. Not to mention the French and Italian tendency to say "please" when they bring you something so I kept saying "Danke Bitte" when someone would bring me something instead of "Danke Scheun". Good GRIEF my poor brain cannot keep all these languages straight. And THEN Genevieve wants to take me to the Netherlands to hear some Dutch!

European culture is so much fun. In the time it takes me to drive from Sudbury to North Bay I can drive across 2 borders and go from a region that speaks only French to a region that speaks only German and with not much of a buffer zone in between. In fact you can often clearly see the dividing line just by looking at the architecture. No I won't get into an architectural seminar right now (although I do have this new wealth of knowledge about it) but know that if you ever need to know anything about any of the buildings in Paris - you know who to call! (No, not Ghostbusters!)

After a very pleasant train ride with some entertaining and stimulating conversation with my cabin mates and a bottle of Jack, I arrived in Germany around 7pm on Friday and after looking mighty confused staring at the train schedule and REALLY CONFUSING transit map of Aachen Germany (and surroundings), a rail worker came over to ask me where I was looking to go and politely informed me I missed my train by 30 seconds or so and the next would be in 20 minutes. Note to Aachen: I would not have missed my train had your schedule been more CLEAR! And NO that's not due to my lack of proficiency in German thank you very much! I finally make it to where Im supposed to be and Genevieve comes to meet me *insert happy reunion and giant hugs here*. She cooks me dinner and then takes me to a party that could not feel more like home. Beer Pong and 25 drunken German men singing "You'll Never Walk Alone" at the top of their lungs. Not a dull moment. They were all very nice and welcoming to the foreigner and most speak English quite fluently and were more than happy to chit chat with me - this is by far my favourite passtime in Europe - talking and meeting people from every corner of the globe! I have lived such a sheltered life by comparison - UGH. A late night of catching up had us sleeping in much later than we'd planned but we still made it out the door and to the Netherlands by 1pm.

Maastrict is such a CUTE city! It is sooooo DUTCH! Everything there is like you see in the movies. It's clean, quaint and adorable. It makes you want to skip. The weather was unbearably HOT which made for an uncomfortable promenade and the town square was closed because André Rieu was performing. We didn't pick the best day to visit apparently, but I had a great time anyways AND I got to visit the world's largest bookstore inside a cathedral. HEAVEN ON EARTH! The only thing it didn't have was a Starbucks (which is where I am currently sitting as I type this up). We shopped, I bought some stropfwaffels (Mmmmmmm) and we had Thai food for dinner. We attempted the unattemptable in Canada (or anywhere else for that matter) but SOMEONE (not me) didn't have her ID! SHHHHAMMME!!!! HAHAHA Turned out to be a good thing though in the end as Gen was starting to feel ick!

Sunday was spent touring Aachen with my own personal and very knowledgeable tourguide. Again, WAY TOO HOT, I couldn't even eat my ice cream fast enough before it turned to gespacho. We decided to catch a play "Der Eingebildete Kranke" (by French playwrite Moliere) to a) escape the heat and b) because why not see a German language play while in Germany....when in Rome right? Didn't understand a word (except for the few that excerpts they kept in French - go figure). Nevertheless it was still very entertaining. We finished off the night with another homecooked meal and the world's most BORING World Cup Championship game. YAAAAWWWWWNNNN! You've never seen 5 people more restless for a game to end. Even the people in the stands looked bored out of their minds. We prayed for a shootout - at least that would have made it interesting... nope they wouldn't even give us that. Eh bin! No more foot...

Germany and the Netherlands were fantastisch! And getting to visit them (even if only for a few days) with an old friend from back home made it that much sweeter. DEFINITELY a highlight of my trip thus far. And before you ask - of COURSE I had beer in both Germany and Holland and YES I kicked BUTT at Beer Pong!

Practicing ATTACK with Lady Liberty and the Sounds of Summer in Paris (Adventures with MooReece con't)

It's currently 4:36 pm and I'm sitting in the park outside the Cathedral Notre-Dame. There is a little stage with an all-girls choir singing Can You Feel the Love Tonight behind me and an shirtless electric band playing movie scores on the bridge across from me. It's quite a unique blend of sound. Sure it all gets drowned out when the jets and copters fly overhead in preparation for next week's big celebration. Seeing those big birds in the sky has got me all jacked for the Bastille Day parade, air show and fireworks. Let's see how the French celebrate their national holiday.

My class this month is quite a bit more INTENSIVE than my class in Antibes which required no effort on my part other than showing up. This month I have a midterm next Tuesday, daily homework and SKETCHES (yes SKETCHES), a term paper due on the 22nd I think and a final exam on my last day! OY OY OY! So much for a nice leisurely stay in Paris. I'll be spending more time at Centre Pompidou than anywhere else. That's ok though - it will prepare me for my return to academic studies. On the upside, we only spend about 1 hour of our 3 hour class inside the classroom, we then head out "ON SITE" where we receive a much more in-depth explanation of the architecture and history behind some of the most famous buildings in Paris. Our professor is an ENDLESS wealth of knowledge on the subject - it's kind of rediculous what she knows about just Notre Dame (which we visited today - hence my sitting here now) the fact that she knows this much and MORE about Lord knows how many buildings, monuments etc is beyond impressive. The class is like a super intense guided tour with homework (YUCK!)

Now the choir is singing MJs "You are not alone" - no offence to them they are performing quite boring renditions. They should think about collaborating with those guys on the bridge - THAT would be a show!

Perfect day weatherwise in Paris today - I'm wearing jeans for the first time in 6 weeks! My head is much better now, the swelling has gone down but now my stomach is hating me and while going for my run in the Jardin Luxembourg this morning I somehow managed to pull something in a region that noone likes to get pulled. Needless to say I'm walking funny.

I have to go over to Sainte-Chapelle (down the street somewhere) for my homework assignment. I want to get my pictures so I don't have to come back. Of course I forgot my pencil case somehow and so I can't take notes until I get home tonight - hopefully my memory will serve me well. On tomorrow's agenda either a French movie or maybe mass at Sacre Coeur (also the topic of my 15 page term paper due in 2.5 weeks). LUCKY ME! I best get my ever growing posterior into high gear! (I might not have time to blog anymore...GASP!)

"Don't worry, one day it will go from AWEFUL to AWESOME!" HAHAHA (Adventures with MooReece con't)

So for those of you lucky enough to not have your inboxes flooded with my daily rantings and ravings you may or may not know that my first few days in Paris have been slightly overwhelming. I've been here 3 days now and I can definitely say I'm glad I went to Antibes first! I thought I went a little cuckoo (ok I did go a little cuckoo) in my first week here in France in the itty bitty town of Antibes - time went by slower than a snail at the Indy 500. I feel like I going through that overload all over again only this time because I'm much more familiar with the inner workings of the French I am much more comfortable communicating and getting around. I have 4 weeks of French Language and Culture in the Riviera to thank for that and so instead of going through a week or so of madness, it's day 3 and I feel SO MUCH BETTER! My head is still a little swollen but ibuprofen is my friend and my blisters are finally calissed and after figuring out transit systems for a number of different european cities, the Paris metro is a piece of cake! I am still anxious to get home because everyday seems to take me further away from my reality and I remember less and less what life back home is like. That being said, I'm comfortable here now - I will have a routine again in a few days and time will fly by no doubt!

We spent the first few days in orientation and today took a bus tour of the city visiting all the major sites. Paris itself is not very big, like everything else in France, it all leads to the centre (i.e. Champs Elysee). Class starts on Monday and runs Monday-Thursday 1-4 and I will be studying French History through Architecture (for those of you who didn't know or couldn't remember). We were informed that most of our class time will be spent OUT of the classroom visiting the architecture we will be studying. I know - ROUGH isn't it? Well it is if it's as hot as it was yesterday. At least the classroom is air conditionned.

I have alot of things booked and planned but kept some nights open too because we will have homework (and maybe even papers to write) GASP! Once we get our syllabus I will be in better shape to know what I can do and when, what to go see that I won't get to see in class etc... I will also be going to runs most mornings in Jardin Luxembourg and Tulleries (around the Louvre). I found this run through the city that will take me from my apartment to the Champs Elysee (7 km or so) but I'm not sure how running in the city will be. I will walk it on Monday and see what it's like and go from there. And of course SHOPPING! There is so much to see and do that my brain is on overload right now wanting to get it all in. I'm already missing my PUMP/RPM/ATTACK dates and I will try to find a gym to let me on stage here - but I'm not going to hold my breath. Although I should find out when they release here and go check it out... hm....or go find Wolverine!

5 Days in Italy with Only 5 Words in Italian... (Adventures with MooReece con't)

Going to a country when you don't know the language is obviously guaranteed to cause you a little stress. I mean how do you find out where your hotel is? How do you find anything really? Sure coming to Europe for 2 months on my own took a little courage on my part (and a whole lot of RA-RA from my friends) but I didn't cross the ocean totally undefended - I chose France for a reason - I can UNDERSTAND the language, I can READ the language and for the most part I can SPEAK the language (at least à la Québecois - although my parisian is getting pretty good if I do say so myself). So coming here, although scary and stressful at first I had an advantage to all my counterparts as I am fluent and can easily communicate to get what I want. In Italy - not so much. Of course being 3 people and a stuffed cow makes travelling in a foreign language country much easier, it was definitely a learning experience.

I learned that if you at least try to get your point across in their language they will be much more willing to help you even if you only know the basic words. These are the 5 words that got me through my 5 days in Italy: Bonjourno!, Graci!, Prego!, Pizza, Ciao! Knowing only these 5 essential words allowed me to communicate with the Italian folk who then sympathized with the struggling tourist trying to make an effort to not look like such a tourist. AND (and I know you should never start a sentence with AND) by day 5 I was getting asked for directions - too bad I had NO IDEA what he was asking, I might have been able to help! HAHA.

Italy was a great and fun idea although we never anticipated having such difficulty getting a train to Paris from there. There is only a night train directly from Verona (at a small fortune of course). We decided to take the June 30th train and only arrive in Paris on the morning of the 1st meaning we got to spend an entire extra day in Verona. Not that we did much as it was the HOTTEST day I have EVER lived through. The Gattopardo Hotel people were nice enough to let us take refuge in their lounge all day so we could keep our luggage there and hide from the heat (although they didn't have AC down there and we still DIED!) I kept going out for walks - at least there is air outside and I got to explore the Dossobueno area. Of course I found a train station not 2 minutes from our Hotel (when we had been taking cabs and busses all week), I found a peach orchard (where I snuck in like a garden raider and stole one right off the tree :D), I found a huge sports complex, my future house and a grocery store. I enjoyed some of the best ice cream yet and relaxed on some benches to people watch. However the heat was definitely not helping my ever worstening head cold and I was slowly starting to feel the effects of minor hyperthermia so I spent the remainder of my time indoors. Italy is so very different from France, and the food is MUCH cheaper, although the variety isn't there. My biggest shock was that beer is MUCH MUCH cheaper in Italy than anywhere else AND MUCH MUCH cheaper than Wine. Wine is expensive in Italy (by comparison to France anyways...).

The midnight train from HELL! We reserved 3 beds and we should have reserved 6 just for our luggage. What a mess! We had no idea what to expect and were really hoping that we would have a cabin all to ourselves. NOPE! We board the train only to find 3 kids already in our cabin and very LITTLE room for our luggage. Did I mention my head was pounding and I was slightly nauseous? After about an hour of debating and moving stuff around we finally came up with something, not bearable but at least workable. Note to EVERYONE - if you are claustrophobic - DO NOT EVER take a night train! We managed to open up the beds but when all 6 are open, no one can sit meaning you are stuck in a coffin like position for 10+ hours with no where to go. No air circulation and you can't just open the windows or doors or move around because you have 5 other people in there with you and no room ANYWHERE because luggage is stacked in every inch of spare space. Needless to say not much sleep happened and I finally dragged myself out of the cabin around 630am and stayed out until we pulled in at around 10am. Never been so happy to get off any moving vehicly in my life! I was ready to kiss the ground - 11+ hours on a train is TOO FRIGGIN LONG!

Did I mention someone stole my money? Don't know how, don't know when... my purse never left my side and I still have my wallet (and my credit card THANK GOD!) But I took out 120Euro at the train station and when I got to my new apartment to pay the cab I had NOTHING left. Even my Canadian money was GONE! I had 10Euro, my receipts, some spare Franks from Switzerland and a bit of Euro change. I was losing it! How did that happen? Could be worst - but still a major piss off! Someone went into my wallet in 2 different places, took the money and put it back. WHAT THE???

Anyways... that's why I've flooded all your inboxes with my screaming and complaining and crying to come home! My toothache (if that's what it is is still around) but at least I'm rested and I did groceries and eating right again. Although I now have to go buy jeans because the zipper on my favourite (and ONLY) pair here is broken. FML! Going to see Les Misérables hopefully tonight if I can get tickets. It's raining so why not?

Hot compresses and talking to you all makes me feel much more normal so THANK YOU!

p.s. I really AM sorry for flooding all your inboxes with my unnecessarily long emails - but you all know me by now - and that's why you LOVE ME :) and *cough cough* MISS ME!!! Well at least I miss ALL of YOU!!!