last night mandy and i went over to julien's for dinner with his maman...(first time he's brought a girl over to meet his mother, PS) so we took the train out to tain to meet him, which was a big deal since normally he comes down to valence. so we're heading to the gare, you know, strolling as french time calls for, with the intention of stopping at a floriste before the 18h49 train. as it happened, we were rather short on time, just 10 minutes to grab a bouquet of gerbers and jump the train, right? i mean, i picked what i wanted, had the cash in hand, vite fait, n'est pas? non non mes amis, nothing is ever fast in france, and this time was no exception. i mean, it was the scene clear out of love actually when alan rickman is buying the necklace from mr. bean. no joke. added little green things. yellow raffia. trimmed the stems. plastic emballage. more ribbon, stickers...aie! it was hilarious really, and after all but throwing the money at the poor guy, we ran onto the train, which we only made because it was running a few minutes behind schedule.
so this is the train that we ride without tickets. i mean, it's a 10-minute ride and we always take last-minute excursions to the land of wine and rainbows, aka i dont generally have my carte 12-25, aka not worth a ticket. whatever. we're never stopped. BUT THIS TIME...well, there was a sncf lady handing out questionnaires about the quality of our voyage. we had great peur that she was going to nab us for being sans billet, but in fact she just asked us to fill out the survey. tant pis, mme, we're at our stop! hehe.i filled it out nevertheless, for the scrapbook, you know..
dinner was fun, his mom is super cute. she made a nice veg-friendly spread (along with good-natured, totally expected vegetarian ribbing) - salade composee (gr beans, radishes, tomatoes, corn, olives noires), an omlette-gateau-truc (eggs with veggies and tomato sauce, kinda like quiche sans crust), and gratin de ravioles avec courgette. trop bon. and fresh strawberries with creme chantilly a la maison for dessert. super generous of her. fun times. (PS they have a super cute, super fat cat AND 2 tortoises) (PPS i totally got a baby slug in my hair while we were outside looking at the tortoises. dont ask me how, im just really talented at getting nature in my hair. ohh me)
today, however, was a sad day - i closed my bank account. sniff sniff. ive been in the bank all week, the poor girls see me coming, with my questions of what to do, trying to make appointments with my adviser, all that. basically the even consisted of dropping off an official letter stating that i wanted to close the accounts. then someone was supposed to call me to turn in my card and chequier, but no one called. so yesterday i went in to ask what to do, and opted to go in this afternoon, drop off my stuff, withdraw some cash for the weekend, and leave them with the info to transfer my funds to DC later in the month, once they're established that no more transactions are going through the acct. so mandy and i went in...i wanted to keep a check, once again for a keepsake, but had forgotten to take one out at home. so im all trying to secretly take out a check before giving her my chequier. of course im not tres slick, and she was all 'what are you doing?' 'umm, je vais garder une cheque.' 'pourquoi?' 'pour l'addresse, au cas ou je dois vs envoyer de quoi de ma banque a DC..?' 'je vs donnerai un RIB plutot.' 'umm d'ac mais je vais la garder quand-meme. n'inquietez pas, je mettrai "VOID"'...they thought i was nuts. asked if i wanted to take a pic of them for the scrapbook, too. ohh those french! hehe ... soo my carte puce soo francais was cut in half *tear*and within a month my euros should be in my american acct. nul/triste/arrrgh it makes this all too real.
vendredi 16 mai 2008
jeudi 15 mai 2008
falafel, eggplant, tea, greves
mouf decided to participate in the national teachers' grève today, mainly to hang out with me (bien sur!), have our traditional jeudi lunch date at the armenian resto where we're regulars, chill out at tasse, and put up with my neuroitc whining about the big move coming up next week. this is what le gouvernement had to think about that:
Fonction publique : le gouvernement dénonce une grève "surannée", "datée" et "égoïste"
LEMONDE.FR | 15.05.08
LEMONDE.FR | 15.05.08
© 
mardi 13 mai 2008
attaque des flaques! or: the things we do that ellicit wonderous looks of confusion from the french
1) nutella and chevre tartines: jaws drop every time we say that we've tried it and it's good. they just dont like mixing the salty and the sweet
2) ranch dressing on pizza during nouvelle star parties
2.5) eating vegetables (ahem, broccoli) at such parties that are just cooked plain, aka not in creme et fromage, gratin-style. oh those french, just so wholesome and fresh.
2.75) grape bubble yum bubble-blowing contests. i mean, i dont know why we decide to do these things, but it's funny. and like cultural immersion for julien. dont judge us.
3) peanut butter and jelly, classic. i think it's gross too.
4) microwavable popcorn. i was in istanbul, but apparently mandy and jessika borrowed manu's microwave to pop some before watching a movie...long story short, there were 4 frenchies crowded around the micro., watching in fear and awe as the bag popped. it just doesnt exist here.
5) traveling for pastries, such as the best mille feuille in france. we (mouf, jess and I) went to livron, a town 20 min south of valence, since we had some time...it was totally worth the hike from the gare, the 1.5h wait until the patisserie reopened from lunch...but when we tell people here that we traveled to find a good pastry (bc a bad mille feuille is just a very very sad day), they look at us like we have 3 heads.
6) breakfast for dinner. food customs are set in stone and theres no changing them. asked julien once if he wanted a bowl of cereal bc we hadnt eaten dinner and he got all consternated-like, nevermind their reactions when we told ppl we were having a bfast for dinner party!
7) colorful clothing. i wore my patchwork plaid skirt to livron and apparently everyone and their mother was looking at me and giggling at the crazy in yellows and reds. while we were waiting for the bus, this kid shouted out of the window of his car, "vous avez vole ma nappe! c'est pas bon, ca!" (you stole my tablecloth! not cool!). at least he vouvoye'd me quand-meme.
8) my neck piercing still attract attention, esp since now that it's warm im not wearing my scarves as much. the server at the bastille is in love with them, and our friend ced decided it would be cool to lick them. although i guess on that count, it's more the things the french do that make me confused.
9) actually working up a sweat in the gym
10) bad american holiday candy: peeps. v-day hearts. cheap cvs chocolate things...
2) ranch dressing on pizza during nouvelle star parties
2.5) eating vegetables (ahem, broccoli) at such parties that are just cooked plain, aka not in creme et fromage, gratin-style. oh those french, just so wholesome and fresh.
2.75) grape bubble yum bubble-blowing contests. i mean, i dont know why we decide to do these things, but it's funny. and like cultural immersion for julien. dont judge us.
3) peanut butter and jelly, classic. i think it's gross too.
4) microwavable popcorn. i was in istanbul, but apparently mandy and jessika borrowed manu's microwave to pop some before watching a movie...long story short, there were 4 frenchies crowded around the micro., watching in fear and awe as the bag popped. it just doesnt exist here.
5) traveling for pastries, such as the best mille feuille in france. we (mouf, jess and I) went to livron, a town 20 min south of valence, since we had some time...it was totally worth the hike from the gare, the 1.5h wait until the patisserie reopened from lunch...but when we tell people here that we traveled to find a good pastry (bc a bad mille feuille is just a very very sad day), they look at us like we have 3 heads.
6) breakfast for dinner. food customs are set in stone and theres no changing them. asked julien once if he wanted a bowl of cereal bc we hadnt eaten dinner and he got all consternated-like, nevermind their reactions when we told ppl we were having a bfast for dinner party!
7) colorful clothing. i wore my patchwork plaid skirt to livron and apparently everyone and their mother was looking at me and giggling at the crazy in yellows and reds. while we were waiting for the bus, this kid shouted out of the window of his car, "vous avez vole ma nappe! c'est pas bon, ca!" (you stole my tablecloth! not cool!). at least he vouvoye'd me quand-meme.
8) my neck piercing still attract attention, esp since now that it's warm im not wearing my scarves as much. the server at the bastille is in love with them, and our friend ced decided it would be cool to lick them. although i guess on that count, it's more the things the french do that make me confused.
9) actually working up a sweat in the gym
10) bad american holiday candy: peeps. v-day hearts. cheap cvs chocolate things...
dimanche 11 mai 2008
la turquie, bis
more pictures, yaaaay...
Along with the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Market, Paul and I stumbled upon a decently sized book market. Heaven, minus the fact that I can't read Turkish.
Hydration is the key to success and bottled water is the key to not getting sick...
Looking at the Bosporus and Asian Istanbul from the Topkapi Palace
Chillin on the Princes' Islands (here on Buyukada); took a 90-minute ferry ride to visit this island where cars are forbidden except for police and transport; people get around by bike or horse-drawn carriage. Too cute.
Market at Buyukada. The beauty of the fresh produce makes me want to cry, always.
Tiles at the Hagia Sophia, my personal obsession.
More Hagia Sophia, fountains, hammams...what more could you ask for, really?
Roses in our neighborhood.
vendredi 9 mai 2008
hummus field tripping
one last hurrah before leaving the european continent next week (ugh i dont want to talk about it!) - sara from AU and i flew out to istanbul for a few days. you know, to chill with some gorgeous old mosques and eat hummus and whatnot. it was pretty fantastic.
so for as much as i adore traveling, i always seem to forget that the actual process is not a fun time. this trip goes at the top of the list - each travel day was a solid 12 hrs at least of transit and WAITING to be displaced to a city that's about a 4 hr flight from lyon. groan on soo many levels. thurs 1st may i left valence on the tgv that runs directly to lyon st exupery airport, waited 4 hours til my flight to munich left, then waited 5 hours in munich plus a 30-min delay before actually leaving for istanbul. so i arrive, buy my visa (the guy saw the american passport, was all "$20", done and done, no muss no fuss. it should always be like that. ahem, russia), go through passport control, and see that sara's flight from london was delayed 2h15. aka she was due to arrive at 12:40. and it was only like 11pm. ouch. we'd arranged via the hotel to have a cab pick us up since it was so late; i walked into the arrivals terminal there was a kid holding a sign for "sarah bularszick" (her name is soo not spelled that way). i had to explain to him, then to his friend that while im not sara, i was the other half of the arriving party, sara was coming in late, so could they figure out how to wait for us? the friend (who was awesome) tried to convince me to just go ahead to the hostel, but i was like no way man, i wanna meet my friend! i havent seen her in ages! so we waited, chatted, and he teased me mercilessly when it took sara an hour to actually make it through passport control and all that. he was all "i dont think shes coming! it was all a joke!" not funny! but finally she came, it was happiness, we arrived at the hotel around 1:30am and stayed up til 4 catching up...and slept in to 10am. :)
basically our hostel was in a superb location. we were in sultanahmet, the "old" part of the city, aka 30 seconds from the blue mosque, topkapi palace, the hagia sophia...this also meant, however, that we were in tourist central. i mean, the street we were staying on looked like it could have been right out of a beach town in the states or something. 2 little markets, tourist offices, hostels, restaurants, cheers bar...aie. but it was ok, i mean the whole city had a very euro/tourist-friendly vibe, actually.
so for as much as i adore traveling, i always seem to forget that the actual process is not a fun time. this trip goes at the top of the list - each travel day was a solid 12 hrs at least of transit and WAITING to be displaced to a city that's about a 4 hr flight from lyon. groan on soo many levels. thurs 1st may i left valence on the tgv that runs directly to lyon st exupery airport, waited 4 hours til my flight to munich left, then waited 5 hours in munich plus a 30-min delay before actually leaving for istanbul. so i arrive, buy my visa (the guy saw the american passport, was all "$20", done and done, no muss no fuss. it should always be like that. ahem, russia), go through passport control, and see that sara's flight from london was delayed 2h15. aka she was due to arrive at 12:40. and it was only like 11pm. ouch. we'd arranged via the hotel to have a cab pick us up since it was so late; i walked into the arrivals terminal there was a kid holding a sign for "sarah bularszick" (her name is soo not spelled that way). i had to explain to him, then to his friend that while im not sara, i was the other half of the arriving party, sara was coming in late, so could they figure out how to wait for us? the friend (who was awesome) tried to convince me to just go ahead to the hostel, but i was like no way man, i wanna meet my friend! i havent seen her in ages! so we waited, chatted, and he teased me mercilessly when it took sara an hour to actually make it through passport control and all that. he was all "i dont think shes coming! it was all a joke!" not funny! but finally she came, it was happiness, we arrived at the hotel around 1:30am and stayed up til 4 catching up...and slept in to 10am. :)
basically our hostel was in a superb location. we were in sultanahmet, the "old" part of the city, aka 30 seconds from the blue mosque, topkapi palace, the hagia sophia...this also meant, however, that we were in tourist central. i mean, the street we were staying on looked like it could have been right out of a beach town in the states or something. 2 little markets, tourist offices, hostels, restaurants, cheers bar...aie. but it was ok, i mean the whole city had a very euro/tourist-friendly vibe, actually.
The Blue Mosque(Sultanhamet Camii), note it's 6 minarets; built in 1609-1616
The Hippodrome
The Hagia Spohia (Ayasofya), first a basilica in the 500s, then like saul to paul on hte road to damascus, it became a mosque in the 1450s when constantinople was conquered by the turks (-> istanbul yo), and it's currently a museum, thanks to President Ataturk. and rather run down.
view from the New Mosque (Yeni Camii) towards Beyoglu, the genoese Galata Tower, and Taksim
Interior of the Yeni Camii
The New Mosque (Yeni Camii), constructed between 1597 and 1663, looks over the Golden Horn and the Galata Bridge. It was my favorite of the 3 mosques I visited.
Parks surrounding the Topkapi Palace; strolled through here randomly on my last day, with Paul from CA, my adopted friend, since Sara had to leave early Monday morning and I didn;t leave til Tuesday.
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