Assorted Paris Pictures

Just wanted to post some pictures of our Paris site-seeing over the past month. Some of the places are the Picasso Museum, Notre Dame, Versailles, and Place des Vosges.

Pictures

French "American Idol"

American Idol first started when I was in college, but I never watched a single minute of it until just before John and I left for France in February. After a few weeks, both John and I found it to be a very nice guilty pleasure, but sadly we had to leave the country before most of the contestants had been eliminated. Once we got to Paris, however, we found that we could pick up where we left off...except with all French contestants and judges, including a much more likable host than Ryan Seacrest. Even the female judge had the Paula Abdul vibe going on as she danced and clapped to almost everyone's songs (except without being drunk). The French version of American Idol, "Nouvelle Star," was clearly just as entertaining as the American version, and I quickly latched on to both my favorite contestant as well as my most hated, Julien.

I couldn't stand this guy from the start. I honestly thought, after watching him for the first time, that he would be kicked off immediately--surely no one could put up with this sort of thing on a weekly basis:

(WARNING: this is hideous)


I mean it wasn't just the fact that Johnny-Shouts-A-Lot made a point to scream his guts out for any and every song, or that he wears WannaBe rocker outfits that he's just way too skinny to pull off, and even the beret in his hair I can kind of understand, but when he sang "Smells Like Teen Spirit" in jazz style I just wanted to rip my ears off--and man, you should have seen the looks on the judges faces.

And yet, inexplicably, Julien won. I don't see how, it's like some joke that I am not in on. I mean jesus christ, look what he did to The Kinks! (You probably shouldn't look.)



Whatever...at least it won't be my airwaves that I'll have to listen to him screech on when he starts making albums in a few months. By then I'll be safely back in the US where I can hear...some equally disastrous American Idols on the radio. So much for that theory.

Week with Don and Karen

Ilia's parents just spent a week with us in France. Arriving Saturday, we spent the next day site-seeing in Paris with the help of a river bus and saw the Champs Elysees, Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, Ile de San Louis, and Jardin des plantes.
On Monday we went up the Effiel Tower and then drove north to Amiens. There we were supposed to see the night illumination of the church facade, but it turned out that we were a few days too early (it starts on June 15th). We still had a nice evening in the town's canal district.
On Tuesday we drove into Normandy, stopping first to refresh our history knowledge at a WW2 museum in Caen. Afterwards we arrived at our hotel located just behind Omaha Beach. We spent the afternoon walking up the beach and checking out remains of old German bunkers.
Wednesday morning began with the American cemetery, which is moving and immaculate. In the afternoon, we visited an impressive collection of war leftovers at a private museum near Omaha Beach. It had just about everything except the soldiers themselves. I was blown away by the landing craft on display outside - images of these crafts are what come to mind when I think of D-Day.
On Thursday we drove to Mont Saint Michel, stopping on the way to see the German cemetery (much more modest than the American), the Bayeux tapestry and the chuch where a paratrooper got hung up on the night before D-Day (he survived). The church now has some paratroopers in its stained glass honoring the troops that liberated the city. There is also a dummy still hanging on the roof.
Mont Saint Michel is an amazing city built on a steep little hill in a shallow bay; originally it was just the abbey on top. The tide comes in fast here, and the mud turns into bay in less than 45 minutes. We had to see it to believe it. Buses pull out of the lower parking lot with water practically on the tires!
On Friday we drove back to Paris and had a nice dinner at Chez Paul, a lively place near the bastille.
It was a great trip, we saw a lot and had fun doing it. We spoke a lot about the war during meals, and I think we are all itching to see/read more on the subject.

Here are the pictures!

Torture By Museums & Misunderstanding the French Language 2

John and I have been busy diligently dragging ourselves to various museums this week, among them the Rodin and Picasso museums. We've set a goal for ourselves to see one museum or tourist attraction per day, and seeing as how Paris seems to be the king of art cities, we certainly have had our days filled.

We've also been running in the Luxembourg Garden, which has proved to be a very pleasant way to churn through two miles. Since we are without jobs or a schedule of any kind, we don't usually have to contend with weaving through the crowds of people like we do on Saturdays when everyone comes out to run or meander through the park.

Otherwise, we've found a very small and neighborhoody bar just behind the Saint Sulpice church which features an all-French crowd and therefore the perfect place for us to practice our French. We made a few friends who then showed us an even smaller and more locals-only bar where no one spoke any English at all--I think it was the first time since we'd been in Paris where we actually couldn't speak any English to the bartender. We had a really good time except for this one rather embarrassing exchange I had with a French guy:

Me: Alors, as-tu habité à Paris depuis tu étais petit?
So have you lived in Paris since you were a kid?

French Guy: Ouais, je suis né ici.
Yeah I was born here.

Me: C'est vraiment génial, je suis envie de toi!
That's really cool, I'm jealous of you! (or so I thought I said)

French Guy: (giving me a really strange look)......quoi?
.....what?

John: What did you just say?

Me: (hesitantly repeats)

John: (laughing) You just told that guy you want him! "Envie" means "desire" not "envy".

Me: Oh...uh oh...


I wish my French misunderstanding had been more along the lines of the gateau/cat incident. Luckily we cleared the matter up, but it just goes to show that you better be sure of the meaning before just carelessly tossing around words that you've heard on tv!

The Metro Bunny

I don't know why, but I just love this little hapless metro bunny:



"Do not put your hands or cute little bunny paws on the door: you risk getting pinched very hard."