Birds

Let's look out the digital back porch window:
cardinal
baltimore orile
grackle
starling
robin
bluejay

morgan

Rekindle

Reading, writing, authors, plants, books, paper books, dandelions, are these all tags I should be placing elsewhere. I feel like I'm warming up or something. Like the "red leather yellow leather red leather yellow leather" up and down the scales to warm up one's voice. which I haven't done since high school. There are a good number of creative things I am good at that I haven't done in a very long time, and I think that writing is one of them. So much of my writing is all stuffed away in journals never to be sifted again, so I need to get a fire going under me to write online. I have no issues sharing every little thought that crosses my mind with the world around me. Strangers or no, if anyone actually take the time to read my thoughts to myself, that's great, and hopefully something artistic or poignant will escape periodically.  Hopefully I can sort through the muddy thoughts to create something, hopefully soon:

Here's the chart-
Gardening - as natural and basic as I am busy and partially lazy. Hopefully get some interesting photos of tomatoes and 2 new shady flowerbeds I have. We'll see some pics here quick.

Books - I'm always in a vampire kick it seems. I've branched enough to be able to compare, contrast, and generally speak better of these books than their proximity to Buffy and how that is a good or bad thing.

Events - This will relate to my book reviews cuz my events are all authors these days. Saw David Lipsky at Talk of the Stacks talk about David Foster Wallace on Thursday and it was BIZZARE. Minnesota Book Awards were Saturday, and they were less bizarre and fun, and today was Neil Gaiman, who inspired this writing kick in me, so thanks much! This Thursday is Michael Chabon for the Pen Pals series and I'm selling books.

-- THE FUTURE -- 

House on the Rock for Halloween? Yes, please!

Book Reviews in the Library Catalogue

Hazen High School All Class Reunion 

That's a good square meal of productive homework eh? Kinda summery and charcoal grilled activities and ambitions.

Salut & Loring Pasta Bar

These are probably my favorite places to eat or drink in the Twin Cities. I go as often as I can convince my company to join me! Salut is my new self-proclaimed "watering-hole" due to its proximity to my house and its unbelievable happy hour. LPB is the most beautiful place in the world!

Salut
917 Grand Ave
St Paul, MN‎ 55105

Just to clear it up, this place is certainly a " Bar Americain" and NOT a "Bar Francais." There are a few elements of French, which makes it perfect for me! So this happy hour I speak of is remarkable because (one of them) takes place from 10pm - midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. Their #1 (cheap house) wine is discounted as well as rails and taps. And the bar food is a tasty rendition of some classic happy hour bites: pizza, burgers, and fries. However the pizzas are these little flatbread wonders, the burgers are bite sized and loaded with all the fixin's, and the Pommes Frites are served with Bernaise. All are $3!!!

Experience Ratings:
Ambiance/Space: 8
They have high tops and booths and a nice bar top in the bar area. It's classy and comfortable. Haven't sat on the patio yet or in the dining area, but the patio's existence alone bumps this rating up.
Bathrooms: 8
Clean, bright, and big mirrors.
Food/Drink: 9
I like their happy hour food. They also serve oysters a la carte if you've never tried one. I think they're good. I've been acquiring the taste for em for a while though. I also had a small plate of mussels last time, and I LOVE mussels. Tried a little frizee salad once too, and Ian hated it, but I thought it was good. Overall, very diverse, and we've managed not to spend too much, although you could if you weren't careful.
Service: 6
The staff are always nice and helpful. However, I think they close at midnight every night including the weekends, and that is rediculous.
Overall: 8
Tres Bien! Want to go more often.

Loring Pasta Bar
327 14th Ave SE
Minneapolis, MN 55414

Oh it is so lovely! So so gorgeous!

Experience Ratings:
Ambiance/Space: 10
Parking can be tricky, but there is a lot really close for $4. Otherwise walk through a bit of campus. Always a few sights to see. The decor is truly unique. Organic, classic, cozy, glitzy.... all of these things and more. There are huge windows and tons of potted plants, candlelit tabletops, highbacked chairs, huge round booths. Its so amazing. Here, I just have to post a picture. I cannot do it justice:

Bathrooms: 10
Also unreal. Dark, mysterious, and strangely private despite half-walls and and open ceiling. Once again, I just have to post a picture.

Food/Drink: 8
The food is very good. Oh, the Sunday Brunch is FANTASTIC. I've had a number of pasta dishes that are very good. They use a lot of Saffron in their menu. We were pleasantly surprised that their sushi was really good! Drinks are good too.
Service: 9
Always sincere, always human (as opposed to bar&grill robots), and almost all uber-hipsters. Oh and on weeknights (and for brunch) they have a 30% student discount. That is huge!! Remember to carry your college student ID forever.
Overall: 10
I can't give it anything lower. Loring Pasta Bar, I love you so much.

B-Dubs

Buffalo Wild Wings Grill and Bar

2100 Snelling Ave N # 80

St Paul, MN 55113

Let's first look past the fact that this place is named after itty bitty little birdie body parts, intended to be eaten by the truckload.

And once we're over that, let's look past the 6 dozen gigantic televisions at absolutely any angle, so that no matter where you sit, you're guaranteed a bee-line distraction from your friends.

And once we're over that, let's TRY to order some food.

I struggled... and searched.... and eventually ordered a simple cheeseburger.
And... the final verdict? Is there hope for this good ol' American bar and grill to serve me a good ol' American burger? There was hope. And it fizzled quickly as I dissected the Not-a-Cheeseburger-At-All grey lump that was presented to me. The burger was bad. Skinny, processed, bun-heavy, and had no cheese. I mean, c'mon. I order the most barebones (ick) thing on the entire menu, called a CHEESEburger, and had to fight for my (eventual) half-melted cheese with more than one server.

Would we have had better service with a few beers in our gullets, or would we just have cared that much less that everything about this place sucks? I think it would take quite a few. And I think that's their evil plan. Sell enough cheap beer for not cheap, and no one will notice how horrible everything about this place really is. And based on the popularity of this place, their beer potion brainwash is working. Ick ick ick.

Chianti Grill

Chianti Grill
2050 North Snelling
Roseville, MN 55113

Catching up with Aaron J last night. We went to the new location for the Chianti Grill up in Roseville. In their previous location, Ian and I would stop in occasionally after going to The Source to look at comic books or magic cards. Our regular order was house red wine (can you guess their house? Chianti of course!!), maybe a flatbread pizza (shrimp and pesto - spectacular!), and the most amazing chocolate cake EVER. It was gigantic and paired so well with the wine, that we ordered it every time. And we're both a little spazzy about dessert!

Now the space is lofted, and very open, and really really beautiful. But it has certainly lost some of its previous cozy qualities that brought us back over and over. I ate a salmon salad, which was perfect. Crisp and flavorful greens, a light and sweet dressing, and just the right amount of salmon that it made for a delicilious, fulfilling meal.

Experience Ratings:
Ambiance/Space: 8
The place is welcoming, well lit, and well decorated. The bar area is tucked back just slightly for a separation from the dinner crowd which keeps you in touch with the rest of the restaurant, yet lets you sit a bit more casually in a high backed booth. All around, very nice and very comfortable.
Bathrooms: 7
Unremarkable. Clean, big, well-decorated. And since the place is brand spankin' new... they better be clean!!
Food/Drink: 7
Good here, good at the last location. Yum Yum Yum. The salad was the only thing I have ever ordered that wasn't off the happy hour or dessert menu though because I think their prices are just a little high. Somehow, I let the Downtown Minneapolis places off the hook for their pricing. If it were even just slightly less expensive, it'd be my watering hole.
Service: 9
They notice when we need them, and leave us alone when we don't!
Overall: 7
Just lovely! The prices keep out the hipsters and us youngins though. I think I'll drive to Upown next time.

Christian Truckstop & St Clair Broiler

Well, it's time to update on a few restaurants, and announce to the current hypothetical audience that I will be trying out a bit of publicity. So sorry, world of nobody, I might invite a few real viewers in.

Nelson Brothers Restaurant & Bakery

aka: The Christian Truckstop
950 State Hughway 24
Clearwater, MN 55320

If you're heading north or west on I-94, this is the pit-stop to make. Its just outside the cities a ways, so wait to use the bathroom just until you're a bit uncomfortable and you'll be right here!! Their fritter bread is sinful and they use it all over the menu. I used to get the Monte Cristo sandwich which is an amazing combination of sandwich and sweet for the most amazing plate fulla guilt you'll ever try. This place uses their fritter bread for the sandwich of turkey, ham and cheese, sprinkled with powdered sugar. Dip it in jam for the final touch. Now that I no longer eat bird, I have branched out, and tried a few other delectables including a few appetizers and breakfast plates. The onion rings are giant slices of sweet white onion in a batter that is heavy and light and sweet all at the same time (however that works). Their Nachos are made with what seems like bbq or chili meat. We call them Minnesota nachos because they taste like... home! Or your high school basketball tournament.

We've gone a few times and I can't quite remember all of my other dishes, but next time I'm trying their home made sausage made with wild rice. There is something a little freaky about pressed meat tubes, but if we're goin for home cookin and Minnesota foods, wild-rice sausage made without poultry sounds good to me!

Experience Ratings:
Ambiance/Space: 6
Its a rest-stop on the busy interstate, HOWEVER! It is a huge restaurant with skylights and huge windows, rustic log tables and chairs (which are surprisingly comfortable), and rooms behind rooms which make you forget there's a gas station right there.
Bathrooms: 1
Ick. No separate bathrooms from the stop though. Nasty, and usually busy with a tour bus of 11 year olds. Horrible.
Food/Drink: 8
Its all so delicious. Its all SUPER greasy though. Would you expect otherwise though? It is true to itself as a diner! The variety and creativity and home-made-ness of everything acually pushes it above the bar though as diners go.
Service: 5
It's a busy place and full of travellers. The servers are overworked and make no secret of the fact that they don't care at all.
Overall: 6
Worth stopping while travelling! Might want to consider louder music for the rest of the drive though, to avoid the nap your body will REALLY want to take.

P.S. - If you're wondering why we call it the "Christian Truckstop", it is because there are Jesus Fish all over all of their billboards.

Kahn's

It is raining and sleeting and snowing and grey, and North Dakota is flooded. Work is slow and paperwork is looming and the summer isn't quite here yet. But! On a brighter side, we went to Kahn's last night with Mike and Penny and Clay and his wife- whose name eludes me.



Kahn's Mongolian Barbeque
2720 Snelling Ave N
Roseville, MN‎
By checking out websites and other reviews and things, I feel that it is not a part of a restaurant chain. That's pretty cool.

So I'll quickly talk about Mongolian BBQ: There is a buffet table of raw proteins (all sorts! chx, beef, pork, fish, calamari, shrimp, tofu, etc etc etc) noodles (rice, egg, etc) tons of various veggies,
and then sauces and cooking oils which you load up all together for the ultimate personalized stir-fry. A staff member offers assistance for the sauces and you end up with your very own recipe which is stir-fried up in front of you by some very very talented gentlemen with some giant chop-sticks. Its pretty amazing to watch them!

Experience Ratings:
Ambiance/Space: 5
I've never had a problem with their decor. Its always wind-tunnel freezing cold though.
Bathrooms: 7
Clean, private, darkish. Nice.
Food/Drink: 9
Mongolian Barbeque is always fun. I did well last night and made a rice noodle and bok choy calamari mess that was light and well portioned. I like the little doughy sticky things they serve for dessert too. I requested no duck wing, which freaks me out. Drank tea to combat the wind-tunnel and it was served in a nice little teapot. They have a specialty cocktail called... Mama Kahn... I think, and it is amazing.
Service: 8
Actually all the servers here are always super cool and right there.
Overall: 8
I like Kahn's. Not bad for a crabby night.

Cafe Lurcat & Liquor Lyles

We went out with Chuck for his going away party on Saturday night.

Dinner was at:

Cafe Lurcat
1624 Harmon Place

Minneapolis, MN 55403

Pretty spangly. Gorgeous chandeliers, crisp & clean linens all around, and attentive and gushy service. You'd expect to pay quite a bit for all this primp. And... yes indeed we did. Ian and I are good at splitting things to try more and spend less, and we went for the appetizer sampler (good shrimp!) and got a single, tiny morsel of each item featured. Several colleagues ordered the prix fixe dinner, which looked hearty enough. I understand fully that gourmet means smaller portions and I accept that and savor each bite that much more. But this was a bit too much, and we felt ripped off. I had wine with dinner, and it was marvelous. I had a Bordeaux Blanc, and I'm in love. New summer wine!

Experience Ratings:

Ambiance/Space: 9

Parking - difficult. Valet was $7 and might have been worth it.

Decor - top notch. Classy, tasteful, beautiful.

Space - also beautiful - right on Loring Park and windows that do the location justice. The sparkling lights of the park really made for a dazzling metro experience.

Bathrooms: 7

They were clean and beautiful, of course. I can't really remember anything significant though, so they get a generic/good rating.

Food/Drink: 5

Delicious, but tiny. Too tiny. itty bitty. The wine was good too, but once again, tiny.

Service: 6

Attentive, not terribly snotty. We were a big group and were kind of hodge-podge on our ordering. I know it's tricky to split bills at a big table, but someone always forgets tax or something (10% in downtown mpls??) and someone covers for their friends. That's always annoying.

Overall: 6

I'll never go back for dinner. Drinks maybe, and I'll order a specialty cocktail or martini.

Liquor Lyle's

2021 Hennepin Ave

Minneapolis, MN 55405

What a hoot! Was very busy, and we just missed their drink specials (2for1s). But they poured a stiff singular drink the rest of the night and we had a good time. It was even a bit nostalgic, and reminded me of several places that I hung around throughout college!

Experience Ratings:
Ambiance/Space: 7
Parking - uptown residential. Walked a bit. No problem there.

Decor - Um... I recall a lot of red. I like red!
Space - no windows? I have some problem with that on some deeper level.

Bathrooms: 5
Bar bathroom. I should cut this criteria when it is unremarkable.
Food/Drink: 7
I drank Gin Gimlets and Gin & Tonics. Yum Yum!

Service: 9

Big, fun, round, social bar with no-nonsense, quick, accurate service.

Overall: 8
I'll certainly be back. I hear their food is good too.

JetSet

This is the first in a series of reviews I plan to document over the summer. I am managing to explore a good slice of these fair cities and I have some info to share on what I am discovering:


Twin Cities Bar/Cafe/Venue Review - 3/24/2009


115 First Street North • Minneapolis • MN • 55401 612•339•3933

Two words sum this place up well: indirect lighting. Which is very important! Ask anyone there!

The place has great ambiance, which actually includes their acoustics, so I'm quite glad that live music was involved.

Dearling Physique (LIVE) :: Dominique Davis & Matt Vannelli
Soul:Control (DJ SET) :: Zak Khutoretsky aka theDEVIOUSone & Daniel Paul Cortez aka Ghetto unite
Loveless Aphrodite (DJ SET) :: Alexia Rodriguez

Dearling Physique was amazing! They mixed, and played, and jammed, and sang, and DANCED! In a hood and tights. Frier Tuck meets David Bowie maybe.
http://www.dearlingphysique.com/
http://www.myspace.com/dearlingphysique

The drinks were outrageously priced, and in my first go'round at guzzling diet coke instead of red wine, I was unpleasantly surprised to pay $2 a pop for my pop. They weren't horribly snotty about it, but I didn't feel any love from the bar itself as the DD.

But here's my big kicker in all of my forthcoming reviews: The bathroom. This I feel rounds out the amount of consideration any space gives its patrons. So JetSet gets an A- for their bathrooms. Very clean, cleanly decorated, well lit. The sinks and mirror are outside the "toilet room" so men and women primp together in front of a humongous mirror which was in a farther back corner/nook of the bar. Nice, private. There was only one toilet in each room however, and while I never waited to go, you always ran the risk of bursting into the room and then realizing that it is a single person room. A touch of privacy issues.

Crowd was clubby - clubby girls and gay bois molesting each other to low key mmm maybe some deep house? not quite downtempo. It was off the cover of a design magazine, complete with skinny pants and shiny shoes. I felt granola and I was wearing heels.

So, my Experience-o-Meter on a scale of 1-10
1: Pissy: me feeling crummy, sick, ripped-off, put-off, grossed out, etc etc
5: Neutral: me feeling indifferent, adequately fed (though maybe crap food), or just generally unremarkable
10: Spectacular: me feeling thoroughly impressed - amazing food, superlative drinks, accessible specials, accommodating space for patrons and performers, etc etc...

Ambiance/Space (doesn't include bathroom): 9
I found parking easily, the decor was simple and well done, the candle lights fit the mood and music perfectly, we had a place to sit, or mill or pull up to the bar. Very well done.
Bathrooms: 8
The single person stall in a little room was a little awkward a couple times, but I loved the mirror.
Food/Drink: 3
I'm pissed that I paid so much for my soda. Shannon's mojito was pretty delicious though.
Performance: 8
Loved the live band. Its been too long since I've seen djs too, I think I need to be in my dancing shoes to really appreciate some good wax though.
JetSet gets an overall: 6
I'd go back, but not unless there was a direct invite for a specific event, as was the case last night.

Nightmares

I had many dreams last night, and they all sort of piggy-backed on the nightmare I had first.

I was in a van going home through a vast stretch of fields - at one farmhouse that was quite off the road, the driver veered quickly into a field and made a beeline for this little run down house. He then went nuts. He started digging and picking and just rooting up this whole property with shovels and axes and whatever else was appropriate for the damage he was attempting. There was someone with me and we knew that we had to get away from him. We ran knowing that would at some point be looking for us. So we ran through the fields surrounding this farmyard looking for cover. Much of this is patchy, but we found a lake in a grotto. Very beautiful. In my first version of the dream, I tried to go in the lake, and it was warm and the air was cold and it was steaming...and felt WRONG. I don't know how else to describe it. I had to leave it immediately. And I continued to run. somehow things... resolved? The girl I was with was gone, as was the crazy driver (most likely both dead), and I finally went into the house. It was destroyed, except for a hanging white birdcage with a parakeet in it, pretty freaked out. So I took the cage and the bird.

In a second go-around after having woke up briefly, I got to the lake and there were people all around it. There was a boy with dark hair at the far shore, and at this point the driver found us. The driver told me to take the boy's hand (and we're both scared shitless) and so I did, and then he shot him in the head. The driver somehow had accomplished what he had wanted to, and so he dreamily dissappeared- The boy was dead, but needed yet to pick himself up, and said "thank you" and went into the lake.

Then I woke.

And came back to the field in a second dream, but it was not omonous or horrific. I was lazing in the field between the house and the highway, painting a picture. Friends of mine- though otherworldly in some way, came up and checked out my painting. One was a girl, who was a little heavyset with super long curly flowy yellow blonde hair that was all over her shoulders. The other was a guy with spikey fair red blonde hair and a bit stubbley. They lounged around with me a bit, and then I left them in the field and went to the house, which was my parents house, though totally rearranged with many unfamiliar rooms and places. And Jill and Randy were taking a nap in a sun patch in a tiny little bedroom with orange painted walls but I wanted something out of their closet so I kept creeping in and trying to be quick.

Autumn - Where I live.

Ok I had a big blog going about my intentions within the mpls/st paul arts community, and how I was going to try to focus on something, and it just... Well - I'm not going to do that, because I never published it. So here's the random version.

I live in Lauderdale! Its a small sectioning of of the Twin Cities north of Saint Paul, and west of Falcon Heights. About at the intersection of 280 and Larpenteur.

This is me and my bike, Grey Goose.


-----

Ok a bit about work:
I work at CommunityTix which is a ticketing service which provides full box office support, ticket printing, phone sales, web sales, conference registrations, door sales, etc. We work with theatres, choral groups, bands, a couple universities, and others to cover many different types of events.
I am the account executive. So I've analyzed my job to be sort of the liaison between clients and our office. (It is important to note the difference between clients - those who produce a performance/event, and customers - those who attend an event) I am involved with the initial set up of online and phone orders. This is new software for me! But I'm getting more and more comfortable with it. With questions about the event setup, it is generally my responsibility to contact the appropriate person.
I'm helping with the gate/door sales for a few events. We go to all these different sites which is so fun- A bit overwhelming at times though, I must say.
--------------------
Me and Tessa after Rocky Horror Picture Show. Last weekend was a slower weekend. I only attended this one show. This coming weekend is loaded up. We're seeing YoYo Ma on Friday, The Electric Arc Radio Show on Saturday, The Deception at the Jeune Lune on Sunday, and somewhere in the middle checking out a weekend expo.


-----------------------------------------------

Ok now is the part I'm really excited about! These are some pictures of my swamp! Its not a swamp at all- rather a nature preserve maintained by the U of M- but it is my backyard, and I have a lovely patio from which to watch my birds and squirrels.

Check back for a full biography on my unfortunate little pumpkin. He had quite a horrific demise.

Oh as far as birds- thats a chickadee. There are also bluejays, cardinals, juncos, nuthatches, and woodpeckers. And so far I've only seen the one albino squirrel. There are dozens of regular grey ones, a little noisy red one, and a chipmunk who runs under my feet, cheeks loaded to the max. Oh and see my ducks?! I'm going to go feed them my dried out bread tonight and make some friends.

First weekend in La Rochelle

So I'm in La Rochelle now, I'm sitting at the school. We have class from 8:30 to 12:30 M-F. My class is wonderful! My teacher is great and very good at what she does. The class is focused on real french (like slang, idiomatic phrases, and converasion) and culture. I thought before that I was reaching a bit of a plateau, but I really do feel like my french is getting stronger. We eat lunch in a cafeteria which is a bit of a walk away (my house is closer!) but despite the massive amount of food I'm eating, I think I might even be losing weight. My host mom is named Sergine, and she's super cool too, I wish I could have better conversations with her. It sucks not having the same personality you usually do, because you can't express yourself in the same ways. But its been reported back to me that she thinks my french is pretty good, so that makes me happy. I'm tired all the time. I could sleep for a week right now. Acutally my arm is twitching right now and its making me CRAZY, and I think I really could do with a nap.

Here's a snap of one of the chateaus on the Loire river valley. The gardens were the main item here and they were huge and so geometeric.

So since I don't have internet at home, I'm going to do some retrospective blogging.

--------------------

Friday 6 Juillet

So tonight I went to a bbq at one of dominiques friends' and oh my gosh. I ate more than I ever have at one time, and I know that i'm probably saying that right now cuz I'm so stuffed, but its been a couple hours since the last course, and I still feel like I'm gonna explode. I just have to jot down a couple of the things I ate. Muenster avec cumin, homemade icecream in a plethora of "parfumees" including mango, creme brulee, jamaican rum, raspberry and almond which togeather make a flavor which has a name that I do not remember, carrot, and clove. The last two together were amazing. Ive never had either, and oh lala. Incroyable. mmm... some quiche thing, ham, salad, potatoes, veggies, apple tart, brownies, and on and on and on and on.... And wine. Oh the wine. This must have been a special occasion, and the wine was SO SO good. I am really not a picky wine drinker, in general, I like it. if its crap, thats ok, I still like it. This was NOT crap. It was good. and they told me all the reasons why it was good and I 1) understood by words and 2) understood by taste. Such a great experience . Not to mention the fact that it was atable of 20 50-75 year old french academics having a lovely time with their friends and entertaining the foreign kid who "speaks very well"!!! yayyyyy. Ok. Off to the Loire Valley at 7am tommorow morning. yelch. but i can sleep on the bus.

Through Normandy

So its been a few days.
The last day in Paris was about the end of most peoples' attention spans, including my own, and we saw Victor Hugo's house, the museum of Paris, a Picasso museum, another church, etc. But Ezra wanted to go to a Games Workshop store and it was like a time machine. Super cool. They're way into Warhammer here. He was pretty pumped. My one nerdy friend isn't staying for the La Rochelle program though. :( I'm in la Rochelle now, we spent the last few days through Normandy. Our drizzly weather continued, which didn't seem so inappropriate for northern France. We started in Giverny with Monet's gardens, and I know I've raved about these in the past, because they are like stepping into one of his paintings. They are incredible. Many of the flowers were not blooming yet because it has been so cold, but plenty were, and this place has my itch for a garden going like crazy.
Giverny the town itself is quaint and beautiful. Everyone has the little stucco tan house with the perfectly trimmed hedges and window boxes with gorgeous flowers everywhere. There are horses and cows and everythings very pastoral. Acutally this is most of Normandy. Much of it resembles the midwest acutally, lots of farmland and pasture and things, everythings just a bit smaller and a bit flowerier.
We saw the tapisserie de bayeux, which is a ... 70 meter? long tapestry embroidered in the middle ages to recount the battle of Hastings. Its very interesting and quite impressive.
PS- we've got the Richmond groups with us at this point, so our group tripled in size. Yuck. Now we're a tour group on a bus beside all the other big annoying tour groups in buses. And we don't know these kids well yet, so we don't like them. Many of them now have names and faces, so things are improving. One of them crapped on the bus and now we can't use the bathroom. Not impressed about that.
Anyway! So then we went to another church. and another church and another church. they were huge and beautiful and are all starting to run together a bit. Oh I should comment on the Basilica of St Theresa though. It was built in the 50s in a town called Liseaux, and its HUGE and the archetecture is different than all the rest. and the art is all mosaic tiles. All around and up and down and under and everywhere in this place. It is BEAUTIFUL. And Jesus was about to chuck some fireballs at us.
The bus rides aren't too uncomfortable. I'm so into the books I'm reading and my naps that I don't even want to get off to see the sites we're visiting. Its tough though, 2 hour nap, museum. 2 hour nap, garden. etc.
We stayed in Liseaux at a little hotel that was tres cher ($$$) and was so old and cute. We were fed a catered meal of Beef Bourgion, quiche, and chocolate mousse. The waitress dumped my red wine on my lap. So that was kind of a bummer, but noone was hurt. The group went across the street to a small brasserie for drinks, and I was so full that I just stayed for one, but they remained and got pretty roudy with the locals. "High Five" doesn't translate real well.
The next day we went to the beaches at Arromanches. Dreary day again, but definatly aided in the atmosphere of the town. And finally the ocean! Arromanches is right on the edge of Gold beach, and did not see any major action in terms of disembarkment, but was surrounded by it. Omaha is straight south. We went to a museum and got a nice rundown of the building of the artificial port that was the backbone of d-day. --- Oh I had the best pizza in my life- cream, goat cheese, and some prochutto type meat. Strange, but amazing. Anyway, then we wandered a bit within this place that would feel a lot more nostalgic and things if it weren't for all the CRAP people sell. I'm sick of souvenirs. I'm buying post cards (Of course), but gah. All this memoribilia takes over the acutal purpose of the site you're visiting. We also saw some of the german coastal defense guns (super creepy), and the American cemetary.
We stayed in this little bungalows that night, I called them "huts" and got scolded. They were really cute and comfortable. This was at the base of Mont St Michel, a stronghold built on an island mountain surrounded by the most unreal tidal activity. The tide comes in at the speed of "galloping horses", and maybe thats an exaggeration, but apparently some bus driver went for a cup of coffee once and found his bus afloat. So the stronghold is basically impossible to siege. A monestary was the first thing up there, and it became sort of a place of pilgrimmage. The town feels very medieval with narrow streets and little shops and churches everywhere. Its in a Celtic area too so the mysticism isn't just from the church. I took the French tour, and though my french is ok, I would so rather get the whole history down rather than every other word for language sake.
I just ate way too much. Its too good though, and the meals are in courses, so its easy to pace yourself for more food. Its STILL raining, and I'm basically unfamiliar, but I intend to do some jogging. We'll see how my knees feel about that.

Day 8 & 9

Paris is slowing down for me. Or rather, I'm slowing down on Paris. I've seen what I want and I'm ready for La Rochelle. Normandy is first, and I really can't complain, because it is so beautiful, and I get to sit on a bus and read my books, but the schools from Richmond are joining us for that, and they sort of invade our space.

Yesterday we went to Eparnay in Champagne to visit a ... champagnerie? Anyway, its called Castellane, and they give us a great tour of the process of making champagne. Which isn't much different than the process for sparkling wine, but we seemed to wander into the right neighborhood for champagne itself. ;)

We took a regular train out there, and picnic-ed in a park and met some very friendly provincial ducks. We picnic a lot, which keeps food costs down cuz we're eating sandwiches n things. I has some frites (french fries) and a sandwich called a croque madame, which is a rendition of a croque monsieur, which is a grilled ham and cheese sandwich kind of. Mine had a sunny side up egg on it, which is what distinguished the two. There are eggs on many strange-ish things here...like pizza. Its really good though.

Ok so then we went to the ballet, which was terribly disappointing, and I'm glad I'm blogging about it now rather than last night, cuz I would been quite a grump. The ballet was nice, kind of a provincial theme here too; a peasant girl frolicked around with the village to back her up. But our seats were horrible. Noone sat together, and everyone had folding seats in an isle behind a pillar, or the wings so far up and over that the stage is completely out of view. I cannot believe they sell those seats. They weren't even the cheapest ones. Dr Janc did NOT tell us they were obstructed view seats. Lesson learned about that though, NEVER AGAIN. I am considering trying to find tickets to an opera when we return through Paris.
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Ok and today was Verseilles. Which is so enormous, I can't even begin to describe. It was very cold and windy and rainy though, so that really afflicted the visit. The sun came out a bit as we were released into the gardens. They are also unbelievably huge, and are kind of a labyrinth. I eventually split from the group and had a really nice walk around, and then took the train back to town by myself. Which is so easy. The metro system in Paris is extremely user friendly, and we've been trucking around enough that I almost felt like I fit in today.

But my reason for bolting was really that I wanted to go to the Catacombes, and I did. And they reminded me of the maze at Verseille, except in ancient tunnels beneath Paris, and instead of shrubbery, there were bones. For a MILE. There are hundreds of miles of quarries beneath Paris, which have been used for a variety of purposes throughout the centuries, including aqueducts, war shelter, even sneaking around in Les Miserables. But anyway, at one point in the 18th century, many of the cemetaries in Paris were disposing of bodies unsanitarily and some crypts broke, and there were some problems. So the city decided to move everybody in several graveyards into the catacombs. And I'm not positive, but it looks to me like there are millions of peoples' remains. It was the creepiest place I have ever been in my entire life.

Day 7

I'm a day behind. I'm scrapping the attempt to post something daily, cuz I get all stressed out and behind. But I will continue to post when I can and tell fun stories. So things aren't going to be so chronological right now.

Right now we sort of have a free day. It is Sunday, and he had scheduled that we take ourselves to the Louvre. I am recovering. I think I'll go when we come back through from La Rochelle. I need a down day. I know I'm in Paris, but yikes was yesterday nuts.

We started with Dr Janc, and went up to the basilica of Saint Denis. Legend goes that he was beheaded somehow down at Montmartre, picked up his head, and walked up to this church. Now is is the Necropolis for all of the French monarchy. Seriously, all of it, except, like, 4 Merovingians. Hay, ima teach you some french history.

French Dynasties:

Merovingien

Carolingien

Capetiens

Valois
Bourbon

This all gets a bit shady with Gaul being all territories n things for a long time, and then with Napoleon mixing things up. But anyway, there are a LOT of tombs.

Then Amy and I went to the Orangerie, which has a lot of impressionism and a collection of Monet's Nimpheas (waterlilies) that are.... oh maybe 50 feet long. They're huge.

Then we had lunch and got sort of served by a very Parisian waitress (this indicates rude to the point of almost mean), but I had ratatouille for the first time, and its super good! And then we went to Centre Pompidou. This is modern art. Some standard Pollock, Dali, Rothko kinda stuff, but also much much more that is so beyond most people's conception of art, that the place turns into this sort of outer space sort of experience. The building itself has inside-out architechure, and includes a library, many stages and theatres, galleries, bookstores, etc etc. Acutally I think the Walker has a lot of the same characteristics- We sat in a media gallery (which looks like a computer lab) and listened to some ... sound art?

Then we went and tracked down the club we had found to attend. Its right beside the Moulin Rouge and we were pumped to go, but wiped out. So grocery store, nap, then go out was the plan, but it was 830 by this point and we had planned to go out at 10ish, so my nap didn't happen. But the club. OMG. Called La Locomotive, and it was fantastic. 3 levels with different music. 5 bars, couches, and people. it didn't open till 11 so we were right on time. And we danced and mingled and it was awesome. But the time came to figure out if we were taking the metro back, and it seemed ludicris to me to spend e10 for a single hour somewhere, so some left, and some stayed. So we danced some more, and there was some leopard lady and lots of glowsticks and it was great. But then noone really had any money, and we were pretty sure a cab would have ripped us off, so we walked. This morning I look back and can't believe it. Here I'm gonna google how far we walked. Keep in mind that this is post big day, post dance club, in heels. ok.

It's 5.5 km. Thats 3.4 miles.

Gah.

This is so nice today though. I've been itching for a space to take care of, and so I cleaned up, made some coffee, and scrap-booked. Our rooms have kitchenettes, tvs, a little desk with internet... ahhhhh.