C'est Beau La Vie

No photos this entry, just a few words.

Today was another extremely hot day, the sun blazing down on France. I ate lunch in the Tuileries gardens with my aunt and an American friend. In the shade, the temperature was perfect - even a cool breeze brushed over our bare arms. Later in the afternoon, I took the train to Condeau and walked from the train station to the house. Immediately upon arriving, sweaty and hot, I grabbed my book and headed for the lounge chair in the vibrant, green garden. I plopped myself down and paused - "I am so lucky."

I am lucky. You are lucky. We are all lucky. We have so much to be thankful for. And even if there are some or even many hard times in our lives or things we would want to be different, things really aren't so bad overall, really.

I send all of you much love, peace, and happiness....and a sprinkling of good cheese and champagne.

Where on earth am I?

Oh my... When I wake up in the morning now, I have a moment of, "where am I?" I have been in so many different places recently that I am confused each morning, till I'm out of my waking-up daze.

My mom and I just got back from a super quick, one night visit to Clermont-Ferrand (3 1/2 hour train ride) to see my Papa's other sister, Marinette. She's 85 years young and so much like her brother in many ways. I asked her to teach me how to knit and I've started a scarf. It's already got a few holes in it and the edges aren't even, but I am going to finish it and accept its imperfection.
My cousin served us a fabulous cheese platter of all the cheeses from the region: St.Nectaire, Cantal, Comte, Beaufort, et un Chevre. Let's just say my pants are now a bit more snug than when I left Santa Barbara 4 months ago...

9% Oxygen

This weekend I went to Geneva to visit with family friends and get near some snow!Yesterday, I took a day trip from Geneva to Chamonix. My snowboarding plans did not work out, but I did get to go up the Aiguille du Midi to 3,842 meters above sea level (more than 12,000 feet). If you look real closely at the photo, you see a needle like point on top of that mountain and that is where the gondola takes you. You have to take 2 to make it to the top. The oxygen level is 9% compared to 35% oxygen at sea level. It was amazing. I took a zillion photos which you can view by clicking HERE. It's worth a few minutes of viewing. I was above the clouds and you can't tell where the snow stops and the clouds begin. Truly breathtaking...in several ways!

Steinway in Church

In one of the oldest churches in Paris, St.Julien-le-Pauvre, I attended a piano concert las night. A fantastic pianist played Chopin on a Steinway and it was an amazing experience. He had chosen which pieces to play so as to match the ambiance and actual space of the church - a very interesting combination. Only half the seats were filled and it felt as though you were getting to enjoy a private concert.

The weather is significantly warmer in Paris than in the countryside and it's vacation week for Parisians so the streets were filled with people strolling along and the terraces were packed.

Below is a view from one of the zillion little roads in the countryside of the l'Orne. The yellow rape-seed plants are out in full bloom and the fields are literally glowing.

Oh, Butter!

Check out this piece of butter from the farm up the road I had mentioned in a previous post. It is so yellow!! And, the flavor, oh goodness. I have never eaten so much butter in my life and my arteries and cholesterol levels are suffering, I am sure! But how can one resist? I put butter on my toast, on radishes, on potatoes, and the list goes on!

Yesterday, my mother and I went to an apple farm and got some delicious apples from here. Then we bought locally made and organic brown sugar and flour. And right before getting home, we bought the amazing butter and some fresh cream, all seen below. With all this, I made an apple crumble. Yum.
It has been raining and gray these past few days, but yesterday we got a ray of sunshine late in the day, providing us with giant skies and wonderful, vibrant Spring colors.
Today, in Condeau, is "empty your attic" day. There are people from the village and elsewhere selling their junk. I was tempted by a gold and leopard chair, but what really drew my eye was a used bidet. I joke, of course! And just for your general knowledge, the mullet is alive and well! ;)

So, as you can tell, the job thing has flown out the window. It's just too complicated here. I am therefore going to go enjoy being here and take some French writing classes (at last...they finally got back to me...) and travel a bit. Honestly, I have become quite restless and am looking forward to being back in Santa Barbara in June and getting a bloody job!!

I hope the sun is shining on you, wherever in the world you are!

Back in the City

Spring, spring, spring. I am going to say it: it is here. It may be cold and the rain comes many times a day, but the sun peeks out every once in a while. Today, I met up with family friends who are visiting France and we walked around the 4th admiring all the flowers in the gardens and the markets.


I felt as though all of Paris was out today. The streets were packed and you could barely walk! I can also see that there are way more tourists all of a sudden. Not many American's though, with the horrible exchange rate!

Beautiful