The New Digs

Once again I haven't been very good at blogging lately. I've been so busy! Working 12 hours a week is EXHAUSTING!

This past week Kristen and I finally got the keys for our new apartment! We were so ready to move in.. more people have moved into the building where our studios are, and we had to share the kitchen. Some people cook some nasty smelling crap. The other apartments were really nice but we decided that we needed to have a place with more space, with a living room and our own kitchen. Our landlord had an opening at the end of November in the building next door, so we took it. We moved all of our stuff in on Monday. I thought it'd be an easy move because basically I just have my clothes and some belongings.. but somehow I have accumulated so much crap! I don't know how I will ever move back home.

This past week we got settled in really quickly. It was easy since we already have EVERYTHING that we could ever possibly need, sheets, towels, kitchen utensils, everything. And it's not even like it's cheap stuff they've given us, it's all really nice quality.

As for the rest of my time, I've just been hanging out. Shannon was here to visit, we went to Dijon, and Beaune in the Burgundy region. I spent last weekend in Turckheim with the family, and this weekend I had some visitors here for the Christmas markets and my housewarming party. So everything is going well! I will update more soon..

Kristen's room. Hey Roomie!

Le "salon"

Flat screen+Klimt painting. Love it.

my room! small but cozy

quick vacay in the pair-e

Stained Glass in Notre Dame

Ohh look at that organ!

Montmartre

Notre Dame Cathedral

Lamp in the Tiffany's exhibit

Kisses on Oscar Wilde's grave! presh

Metro entrance

Well since I am obvi already on vacation, I decided to go to Paris for a few days. I was trying to go some other places I haven't been yet, but everything was so expensive, and I really haven't spent much time in Paris since I was here in 2006. My French fam offered me a ride there so I couldn't pass it up! We left last Monday, the drive was about 6 hours. Which is weird because it's only a 2 1/2 hour train ride. I decided to just stay in a hostel on my own, I of course opted for the one that had a bar so I could easily meet people :) They dropped me off there around 8pm, and it took me about 5 minutes to meet someone. I ended up hanging out with this Canadian girl from Ontario most of the nights that I was there.

The next day there was a late start- things can get rowdy in those hostel bars! I got up and went to the Musée d'Orsay, which is in an old train station. I arrived there around 11, and to my surprise there was a HUGE line to get in. I waited in line for over an hour. The nice thing is that I got a teacher's card from my school which entitles me to free entry into all national museums! So I wasn't as angry about waiting for an hour since I knew it was free anyway. I wandered around the museum for a few hours, the actual structure of the building was even more interesting than the art itself. But it was still a good place to say I've been to!

Next I decided to go up the Arc de Triomphe (or shall we say the "triumphal arch") I knew that there would be a pretty view from the top, and since it was a clear day I decided to take advantage. Oh, and also it was free. Score. Well it was a lonnggg climb up and my lungs were burning, but every like hundred stairs they'd let you take a break and read about some of the history. In case you were wondering, it was built in the early 1800's by Napoleon after the victory of Austerlitz. That means nothing to me either, by the way.

That night I was invited to my host mom's mom's house! She is 87 and lives in the suburbs of Paris. It was cool to meet her family. It was funny to see, no matter what country you live in, all families are the same. Her mom was so funny, just a crazy old Parisian lady. She was graciously offering me liquor and snacks that had possibly been in her cabinet since shortly after the 2nd world war. She even brought out the nicest china and silverware for me! So, so cute.

The next day was spent at yet another museum, Centre Pompidou, which is the modern art museum. Definitely one of my favorites so far! The building itself looks like it's all built inside out. They put all the pipes and everything on the outside of it. Also, from the top there was yet again another ridiculous view of the city! I spent over 3 hours just wandering around in this place. It is massive inside. Later that day I found out that there was a Tiffany exhibit in the Luxembourg gardens. I obviously decided to hit that up too, however, I was sadly disappointed that it wasn't free. Boo. I went in anyway, and it was pretty cool. I seriously wanted to steal the lamps, they were so awesome. I have some knock-off's from Target but they just aren't quite as pretty.

This night I went to a Pub Crawl with some other people from the hostel. I think we'll skip over the details of the night.

Moving on, the next day I went to the cemetery called "Père Lachaise" which is where Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde, and many others are buried. After that I devoted my entire day to Montmartre, my favorite area in Paris. This is where artists like Van Gogh and Picasso used to hang out before they were a big deal. I ended up doing a guided tour with the Canadian chick. I was really glad I did it, because I learned so much! Just one little fun fact for you: instead of cleaning his paint brushes with water, Van Gogh used to suck the paint off them and eat it. There was lead in paint back in those days.. so this explains why he went a little kooky there in the end.

Well that's all for now! Paris was great, this really is a city that has endless things to do. Hmm I might have to go back in a few weeks..

Musée d'Orsay

Starving artists in Montmartre