Over the weekend Philippe's friend Olivier came to stay with us. Friday, Philippe had to work all day, so I proposed a day trip to Eze, which is a city situated on top of a small mountain near Monaco. Nietzsche once lived here and apparently he would take contemplative walks from the top of the mountain down to the sea and then climb back up. I did this trail once last summer with my friend Luba and an energetic guy from Holland who was visiting the region and knew Luba from a friend of a friend kind of thing. It was in the middle of summer, and incredibly hot and dry when we decided to take the Nietzsche trail. Half way down the mountain, the souls of Luba's sandals came unglued from the heat and fell off so we had to help her hobble down on one foot before she took out the white kleenex of surrender. Basically crawling down the mountain, over heated, lack of water, brings back nightmarish visions of the supposedly contemplative walk. I have to check, but perhaps, Nietzsche was nearing the end of his life and the sypholous made this seem like a good idea to him.
Once in Eze, of course, Olivier saw the sign. Nietzsche trail. It must be said that Olivier once did a trail called la route de saint Jacques de compostelle, a hike he began in the west part of France and ended in the north-west of spain. A hike that took him 60 excucruciatingly long days to complete. When I tried to dissuade him from the trail with the story of my friend's shoe, he laughed unsympathetically at me, handed me a fig newton, and moments later we were on the trail. I was little better equiped this time in my puma tennis shoes, instead of flip-flops, so the trail wasn't as nightmarish as the last time, but the bus that brought us back up the mountain is another story..
Friday also happened to be Olivier's birthday. Philippe and I planned on taking him to a local restaurant called the 'Vieux Murs' to celebrate. Just before we were going to leave, Philippe received a call from his sister, who was in Cannes working during the film festival. She works in publicity, and its her job to make contact with companies and spread the 'buzz' by way of newspaper articles, pictures, etc. Her job, was basically to hang out in nightclubs, drink and offer champagne, and try to get people hooked on to her publicity campaign. Needless to say, that we ended up in a Cannes nightclub that night. The club was called 'Le Cercle' which is actually a Parisian club, that transported itself to Cannes for the festival. The place was dead from about midnight until 1 am, but afterwards it was much more lively filled with subtle business advances and cocktails. Around 3 am and a few glasses of champagne later, I was found doing the cabbage patch in front of an open window, for all the patio to see. At this point Philippe gave some sound advice ' Leave when you're at your highest'. I think we should have left 10 minutes earlier.
Happy Birthday Olivier : )
lundi 24 mai 2010
Another day in Nice
Today was an eventful day. It started off with a literature exam, analysing the character of Charles Bovary in Gustave Flaubert's madame Bovary, in relation to the character Rodolphe. I have read Madame Bovary two times in English and two times in French. the scoreboard is even, and as to not create any more imbalances in my life, I will not protest if life does not throw Madame Bovary at me again.
I met with the wedding planner, Elodie, at the Radisson hotel on the Promenade des anglais. She gave me the run down about what we are supposed to do in front of the camera. The hardest part is pretending that i am not being filmed. It reminds of the time i studied the 'Hawthorne effect' in high school. We never are as natural with someone watching us (or pretending to watch us ) as we are left unobserved. Celine, the interviewer, will be following us throughout the entire wedding process and finally the day of the wedding (if all works out as planned). Today the three of us visited a hair salon in Nice, proposing to do the hair for the wedding. I showed her a couple of pictures of wedding hair styles i like and another stack of those that i am not too fond of. Immediately she sat me down in the hair chair and with in seconds she was creating a new hairstyle for me, just for fun. My hair was incredible, and represented everything that i wanted but couldn't verbally describe. She said that after 25 years of working with hair she better be good. I can tell you i have been to quite a few hair stylists that have probably been working for 25 years and still manage to give layers that look like mullets. My last haircut is a testimonial to this fact.
After the hairstylist, we met with a photographer named Roberto. He looks like your typical french guy with wavy hair and very gestural. He talks a lot, and was even offering advice about the four different kinds of chair situation at the reception sight. He does really good work, his attention to detail is notable. I will have to talk to Philippe about my discoveries tonight.
Last night I prepared the tiramisu for dessert and bought lamb shoulder for dinner. I am having a difficult time tearing the meat from the bone, and after listening to an emission on TED.com about the weekday vegetarian, i am feeling insanely guilty and perhaps even murderous? It is true that meat in the quantities we consume it is no good for the earth, amongst other things. Last night, Philippe and i were watching a national geographic TV show about lizards. At the end the scientist talked about how even the climate change has destroyed their dry and arid habitats, making it more difficult for the survival of various lizard species. ; (. I guess since i already bought the shoulder of lamb, i will continue with tonight's birthday dish for Olivier.
I met with the wedding planner, Elodie, at the Radisson hotel on the Promenade des anglais. She gave me the run down about what we are supposed to do in front of the camera. The hardest part is pretending that i am not being filmed. It reminds of the time i studied the 'Hawthorne effect' in high school. We never are as natural with someone watching us (or pretending to watch us ) as we are left unobserved. Celine, the interviewer, will be following us throughout the entire wedding process and finally the day of the wedding (if all works out as planned). Today the three of us visited a hair salon in Nice, proposing to do the hair for the wedding. I showed her a couple of pictures of wedding hair styles i like and another stack of those that i am not too fond of. Immediately she sat me down in the hair chair and with in seconds she was creating a new hairstyle for me, just for fun. My hair was incredible, and represented everything that i wanted but couldn't verbally describe. She said that after 25 years of working with hair she better be good. I can tell you i have been to quite a few hair stylists that have probably been working for 25 years and still manage to give layers that look like mullets. My last haircut is a testimonial to this fact.
After the hairstylist, we met with a photographer named Roberto. He looks like your typical french guy with wavy hair and very gestural. He talks a lot, and was even offering advice about the four different kinds of chair situation at the reception sight. He does really good work, his attention to detail is notable. I will have to talk to Philippe about my discoveries tonight.
Last night I prepared the tiramisu for dessert and bought lamb shoulder for dinner. I am having a difficult time tearing the meat from the bone, and after listening to an emission on TED.com about the weekday vegetarian, i am feeling insanely guilty and perhaps even murderous? It is true that meat in the quantities we consume it is no good for the earth, amongst other things. Last night, Philippe and i were watching a national geographic TV show about lizards. At the end the scientist talked about how even the climate change has destroyed their dry and arid habitats, making it more difficult for the survival of various lizard species. ; (. I guess since i already bought the shoulder of lamb, i will continue with tonight's birthday dish for Olivier.
mercredi 19 mai 2010
For my Family
After 2 and a half years of living abroad, my lovely sister brought it to my attention that i have a communication problem. So this is my present to her, and my family. My goal (although small) is to write at least one sentence a day to keep those at home aware of my life out here, in france.
Two weeks ago, Philippe and I moved into a new apt. and we have been finishing up the last touches on our new place. There are a few problems such as some parts of the floor that bubble up, and for awhile, the washing machine would flood the house. We quickly had these problems resolved (with a minor expense to the wooden floor.) The apartment is two bedroom and 75m2. We have a gorgeous view on the mediteranean sea and the mountains (which are still lightly snowcapped this time of year.) my neighbor Mr. Georges is like the neighborhood watch. My first day in the apartment i locked myself in the bathroom. Philippe was at a golf tournament, wouldn't be home and as golfer's courtesy, he turned off his cell phone. Luckily i had my cell phone and bathtub cleaner, so i was pretty productive for the first two hours. Going on the third hour, i was getting dizzy from the fumes. My friend Luba called, wanting to know if i would like to have tea with her, so i told her that i was trapped in the bathroom. She and her husband came to the building and tried to pick the lock in the front door to rescue me. Mr. Georges thought they were robbers and called the police. Luckily, the police are slow and came 20 minutes after Luba and Eder gave up on trying to pick the lock. About 4 and a half hours later philippe came home and freed me. He did not notice how clean the bath tub was.
I have another neighbor who happens to be a homeopathologist. I visited him once in February and made an appointment for accupuncture a month later. I freaked out the day before the apointment, because I kept thinking about the needles that he would be putting all over my body. I canceled the appointment and never rescheduled. I thought since i spent most of my days at school, i would never run into him, and i would never have to talk about accupuncture again. A week ago i received a letter in the mail, informing me that a book i had ordered was left at the homeopathologists office for me to pick up. The books, that are titled 'transformation soup' and 'the bodacious book of succulence' were not in the package, free for all to thumb through. Apparently the writer is like a 55 year old woman going through a midlife crisis and has published these books, which are kind of like big coloring books. I cringed when Philippe handed them to me ( i made him pick it up) and then cringed again when i started to read them here are some quotes: 'this is a book about questions and discoveries...I am eccentric and ordinary streaked with a garden variety neuroses. Let's explore together, holding hands and see what healing is all about' another 'beds are our adult cradles. we need soft respite from our stumbeling..a bed is a sacred land..etc' 'look in the mirror and cry..or turn into a bird'. Needless to say i am pretty sure the homeopathologist thinks that i need more help than accupuncture if i am subscribbing to these adult coloring books.
Otherwise, I am almost finised with this semester : O. Then i have to enter into the real world France. I don't even want to talk about that right now.
I am in the middle of planning my wedding, and as usual i am way behind. Philippe and i just received our wedding invitations and have been preparing them to send. Last week i received mom's list of invites and i hope that as many people from St. Louis as possible can come. It gets rather lonely out here, i would love to see a familiar face, and i would love help teaching the french about the tie limbo and the duck dance. I think its imoprtant to ellaborate that all are welcome at any point. We do have a fouton. Last sunday, I met the wedding planner, elodie form 'riviera marriage' at the reception sight. Her mother met us there, telling us how beautiful the place is. But once inside, things changed. She gasped when she saw that the restaurant had 4 different types of chairs (sizes and colors) somethinng i honestly did not take note of before. but honestly, now that i see it, its bad. We are looking for chair covers. Tomorrow, i will be meeting with Elodie to meet up and interview a DJ, photographer, and hairstylist. Normally we wil be meeting with someone from M6 France who will be covering the outing, but I am not holding my breath. The whole M6 thing is a little bizarre in my opinion. a few weeks ago, Elodie and i were supposed to meet after my tuesday morning class in Nice, An hour before our rendaz-vous she called saying that we couldn't meet up because a camera crew was following her. The next day we had a lunch, and she asked me to be in the documentry. That day i had an allergic reaction to tuna and had to go to the emergency room. A lunch i will never forget. Anyway, the next meeting was set up a week later, but the day I was supposed to meet the reporter, Elodie told me that he had to go somewhere else. Tomorrow, is apparently the big day. I have an out fit picked out, that has been sitting in the closet anticipating my TV debut. Hopefully i can wear it tomorrow, but my big concern is that we have been putting off hiring a photographer, a DJ and a florist until the interview with M6. I will be sure to put an update in my sentence tomorrow.
Tomorrow morning, Philippe's friend will be visiting. I am preparing a tiramisou, lamb, and a salade nicois. I also have a literature examination i should be studying for.
So her is a brief introduction to my two weeks in review and i will try to be constant in my daily sentences.
Two weeks ago, Philippe and I moved into a new apt. and we have been finishing up the last touches on our new place. There are a few problems such as some parts of the floor that bubble up, and for awhile, the washing machine would flood the house. We quickly had these problems resolved (with a minor expense to the wooden floor.) The apartment is two bedroom and 75m2. We have a gorgeous view on the mediteranean sea and the mountains (which are still lightly snowcapped this time of year.) my neighbor Mr. Georges is like the neighborhood watch. My first day in the apartment i locked myself in the bathroom. Philippe was at a golf tournament, wouldn't be home and as golfer's courtesy, he turned off his cell phone. Luckily i had my cell phone and bathtub cleaner, so i was pretty productive for the first two hours. Going on the third hour, i was getting dizzy from the fumes. My friend Luba called, wanting to know if i would like to have tea with her, so i told her that i was trapped in the bathroom. She and her husband came to the building and tried to pick the lock in the front door to rescue me. Mr. Georges thought they were robbers and called the police. Luckily, the police are slow and came 20 minutes after Luba and Eder gave up on trying to pick the lock. About 4 and a half hours later philippe came home and freed me. He did not notice how clean the bath tub was.
I have another neighbor who happens to be a homeopathologist. I visited him once in February and made an appointment for accupuncture a month later. I freaked out the day before the apointment, because I kept thinking about the needles that he would be putting all over my body. I canceled the appointment and never rescheduled. I thought since i spent most of my days at school, i would never run into him, and i would never have to talk about accupuncture again. A week ago i received a letter in the mail, informing me that a book i had ordered was left at the homeopathologists office for me to pick up. The books, that are titled 'transformation soup' and 'the bodacious book of succulence' were not in the package, free for all to thumb through. Apparently the writer is like a 55 year old woman going through a midlife crisis and has published these books, which are kind of like big coloring books. I cringed when Philippe handed them to me ( i made him pick it up) and then cringed again when i started to read them here are some quotes: 'this is a book about questions and discoveries...I am eccentric and ordinary streaked with a garden variety neuroses. Let's explore together, holding hands and see what healing is all about' another 'beds are our adult cradles. we need soft respite from our stumbeling..a bed is a sacred land..etc' 'look in the mirror and cry..or turn into a bird'. Needless to say i am pretty sure the homeopathologist thinks that i need more help than accupuncture if i am subscribbing to these adult coloring books.
Otherwise, I am almost finised with this semester : O. Then i have to enter into the real world France. I don't even want to talk about that right now.
I am in the middle of planning my wedding, and as usual i am way behind. Philippe and i just received our wedding invitations and have been preparing them to send. Last week i received mom's list of invites and i hope that as many people from St. Louis as possible can come. It gets rather lonely out here, i would love to see a familiar face, and i would love help teaching the french about the tie limbo and the duck dance. I think its imoprtant to ellaborate that all are welcome at any point. We do have a fouton. Last sunday, I met the wedding planner, elodie form 'riviera marriage' at the reception sight. Her mother met us there, telling us how beautiful the place is. But once inside, things changed. She gasped when she saw that the restaurant had 4 different types of chairs (sizes and colors) somethinng i honestly did not take note of before. but honestly, now that i see it, its bad. We are looking for chair covers. Tomorrow, i will be meeting with Elodie to meet up and interview a DJ, photographer, and hairstylist. Normally we wil be meeting with someone from M6 France who will be covering the outing, but I am not holding my breath. The whole M6 thing is a little bizarre in my opinion. a few weeks ago, Elodie and i were supposed to meet after my tuesday morning class in Nice, An hour before our rendaz-vous she called saying that we couldn't meet up because a camera crew was following her. The next day we had a lunch, and she asked me to be in the documentry. That day i had an allergic reaction to tuna and had to go to the emergency room. A lunch i will never forget. Anyway, the next meeting was set up a week later, but the day I was supposed to meet the reporter, Elodie told me that he had to go somewhere else. Tomorrow, is apparently the big day. I have an out fit picked out, that has been sitting in the closet anticipating my TV debut. Hopefully i can wear it tomorrow, but my big concern is that we have been putting off hiring a photographer, a DJ and a florist until the interview with M6. I will be sure to put an update in my sentence tomorrow.
Tomorrow morning, Philippe's friend will be visiting. I am preparing a tiramisou, lamb, and a salade nicois. I also have a literature examination i should be studying for.
So her is a brief introduction to my two weeks in review and i will try to be constant in my daily sentences.
Inscription à :
Commentaires (Atom)
