Oh, Paris!

Bonjour! C’est moi! The most latent writer in the land. In July, (yes, you read that correctly… JULY) I said that I would be back with my impressions of Paris. Here I am ready to make good on that promise. Look, I never said how long it would take me to return… just that I would (eventually).

My loves, the last we spoke I was about to take the train out of Avignon into Paris. I was excited for this spell of train travel to be with my companions Dan and Jane. I truly enjoy traveling alone, but there is nothing quite like the fun of exchanging glances and dissolving into laughter from unspoken jokes.

When we arrived in Paris, the train station was overwhelming because there were so many people and part of me is still a tiny bashful child and my initial reaction was to shrink back. However, I had my very well-traveled companions with me and I absorbed all of the knowledge that I could for my future adventures.

We took the metro to Gare du Nord in Montmartre where we would be in staying in the cutest Parisian apartment. Our apartment was on the top floor above a yarn shop and next to the Sacré-Cœur, which we had a beautiful view of from our bathroom window.

Montmartre

There are a couple of things to know about this beautiful neighborhood in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. First, in my mind it is famous for being a large part of the French film Amélie. Second, it is where many artists of the late 19th Century and early 20th Century came to chill and work, but mostly chill. You may know them: Amedeo Modigliani, Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Suzanne Valadon, Piet Mondrian, Pablo Picasso, Camille Pissarro, and Vincent van Gogh.

Jane definitely schooled me on the artist knowledge. Jane is an amazing artist in her own right, you can see more of her work on her website and on Instagram. She’s also a fabulous person and friend.

We didn’t have much time that first evening in Paris, but we got to work straight away on my list of cliché American things to see. Hopping on the metro we zipped over to the Arc de Triomphe, then to the Eiffel Tower and we hoofed it around a bit until we settled on a delightfully touristy restaurant for dinner.

Side note: When I travel, I like to experience as many slices of life as possible. For the most part I am not a touristy person. However, as a student I read about these places in history class and in literature and I can’t stand the idea of not glimpsing them at least once. Even if it means being there with the unwashed masses of tourists who are wearing running shoes and buying tchotchkes. I’m not trying to be offensive or a snob (I may be both those things), but that is not usually my travel style.

The next day, Dan and Jane humored me with my Cliche Tourist Hit Parade as we set out for Père Lachaise Cemetery. Yes, to see Jim Morrison’s faux grave. I know his grave was moved years ago due to excessive visitors with a penchant for vandalism, but the social anthropologist in me HAD to see this relic. We saw it and it was great (?) I suppose you could say. I wouldn’t have skipped seeing it, but the true fun came along a little later.

As luck would have it, we came upon delightful French graveyard ghost who was more than willing to show everyone around. I knew that he was working for tips as he ushered people off to Oscar Wilde’s resting place. But I couldn’t resist following him around as he shouted at me with the exuberance of all the ghosts of that beautiful graveyard.

We attempted to see Notre Dame but it was an absolute mob scene as it was the day before Easter. There was mass being held in the courtyard and a line to get into the church about a million miles long.

No matter, we still stopped into Shakespeare’s books, ate some crepes, saw all the judges on strike during their lunch hour and wandered through the flower market before heading back to explore Montmartre.

We had coffee at the cafe that Amélie worked at and Dan and I got the stink eye for sampling too many free chocolates in the chocolate shop. I mean, we purchased a substantial amount of chocolate, didn’t that entitle us to as many samples as we pleased? Apparently not, because the shopkeeper put them away until we left the store.

We had a little quiet dinner in our perfect Parisian apartment and I got ready to leave in the morning.

Dan and Jane walked me to the metro station bright and early and I set about making my way back home to San Diego!

Mon Dieu! Finally, I have finished writing about France. At least I got it all done before a year had passed me by.

In Père Lachaise Cemetery with the friendliest ghost. Photo by Jane Mitchell.

France Partie Deux

When we last spoke, I left you in Bories, where the townspeople used rocks for pillows, rocks for windows and rocks for fashion. Basically, the place where Fred Flintstone took his family on vacation.

Several castles, catapults and churches later we stopped in Auvers where Vincent Van Gogh painted that cafe with the yellow awning and where they still bullfight. They had some superb street art dedicated to Vincent and the bulls. I ordered what must have been my 15th cafe au lait at this point and I tried to pet a young cat… but to no avail this time.

Cafe Van Gogh. Photo by Ranger Holly.

We also went to Renouard which was an extremely cute and quaint village. It looked like a Hollywood movie set of France. I enjoyed it immensely.

Then it was on to Château de Grignan. You know, your run-of-the-mill housing. Now, the history of this château is sort of scandalous, like all châteaus, I might imagine. There was the last count of Grignan who had three wives and the first two died mysteriously one after the other. It sound shady, but their house was beautiful. (Please note, I am not known for my historical accuracy.)

I found a secret passageway in the ballroom that was used to pass food from the kitchen. Me being me, I grabbed the knob and almost broke this 400 year old door, but ah c'est la vie! I put it back after laughing hysterically and no one was the wiser. As far as I know.

This is where I almost caused an international incident. Photo by Ranger Holly.

The next day we took the train to PARIS! Before we left Avignon we went to the farmers market which was way better than any silly American farmers market. They had everything you could imagine in one place: giant wheels of cheese, bolts of fabric, kitchenware, fresh meat, local wine. All of it, everything you could ever need.

When we meet I again...I will tell you about Paris.

France Partie Un

I see London, I see France… just kidding. So cliché!

Anyway, in MARCH I went to France and among the other things that I have been doing, I have been struggling to put the experience into words. Rest assured, I am not short of words. No, I have too many words and I do not want to bore my vast audience to tears here.

For starters, I am extremely lucky and grateful that I have two friends who are living abroad for a year and invited me to visit them in France where they were house sitting an adorable bed and breakfast.

I found a ticket, packed my little bags and kissed Buttercup goodbye on March 24. I took the train from San Diego to LAX (Los Angeles International Airport), which was rather smooth, I only had to dodge one creepy weirdo. Which for a 5 a.m. train ride, I would say is pretty good!

After I landed in Paris, I took the train to Avignon in Provence. It was a tad confusing at first and after a 14-hour flight, I was a bit discombobulated but I found my train and easily arrived in Avignon where I met up with my lovely hosts Dan and Jane!

I'm not going to cover everything we did but I am going to cover a lot of it. We did A TON!

Some Highlights

1. Pont Du Gard - an ancient Roman aqueduct that is in pretty fine shape for its age.

Pont Du Gard an ancient Roman aqueduct in Vers-Pont-du-Gard in southern France. Photo by Ranger Holly.

2. Palais de Papes - translation: the Pope's house. When the Pope had to flee the fall of Rome, he came to this little place in Provence.

Inside the Palais de Papes. He liked high ceilings, clearly. Photo by Ranger Holly.

3. Carousels are everywhere - I love that we saw a carousel almost every day. France is a whimsical land.

Carousel near the Palais de Papes in Avignon. Photo by Ranger Holly.

4. Beautiful churches - we stopped into a lot of beautiful churches. I love seeing houses of worship in other countries. I imagine how many centuries of people have walked in the doors. At all of the churches we went to the threshold was worn down from the many people who passed through.

The entrance to this church was insanely beautiful and ornate. Love. Photo by Ranger Holly.

5. Village des Bories - this village was basically a rock town. Not a town that was very into rock music, but a town where everything was made of rocks and it made me so grateful that I was not born into that time and place.

The pillows were probably also made of rocks. This had to be a very uncomfortable way of life. Photo by Ranger Holly.

Stay tuned for at least two more parts of this series. I told you we did a lot of things in France...

Travel Prep

I have been trying to write a France recap but I did so much that I have been struggling to get it just right. So, I am starting with how a prep for international travel. Just taking it one step at a time here!

Research it

For France, I Googled the areas I would be in and the things to do and see there. Duh, it’s obvious but important. Additionally, I still like to check out travel books (old school) and Rick Steves is the man when it comes to showing us the ins and outs of things that are popular as well as off the beaten path. His website is also packed with good info.
 

Learn the language

I learned as much French as I could on Duolingo before I took off. French is a complex language. It is intimidating and I am kind of tone deaf (or so I have been told), which makes it a bit harder to mimic languages. However, practicing the language makes it easier to read and figure out where I am going. Reading is the majority of what I did while I was there anyway. Aside from ordering café au lait and saying hello and thank you, I did very little French speaking.

I did the same when I went to Copenhagen a couple years ago. Having some key words and phrases in your repertoire is huge. I had to take the train to a bus to get to my AirBnb and being able to read all of the signage made all of that way easier.

The other reason that I like to learn as much as possible is because it is my way of honoring the people I meet and the culture that I will be immersed in. It’s a way of showing that I care. That’s just me. If you don’t want to learn the language - no harm, no foul - it’s true that most people speak English wherever you go, especially in the tourist areas.
 

YouTube it

I like YouTube because you get to see what you’re in for. There are so many great YouTube channels, Damon and Jo are my favorite. They are super well traveled and they have a million great tips and tricks.

Before left for France, I watched every video that Damon and Jo have on Paris. I think this is the thing that helped the most. I knew more of what to expect and how to politely approach people, which is a thing, especially in France.

My takeaway from that was how important it is to remember your manners when traveling but also remember that in America we are pretty uncivilized. If I were to give a travel tip, it would be to research the manners and customs of the country you are going to, because our manners are not their manners, ya dig?
 

Little but important things

1. Tell the bank where I’m going
2. Send itinerary to Mom
3. Check my phone plan
4. Get some pocket money in the currency of my destination
5. Create spreadsheet packing list
6. Pack and then remove 25% of what I packed because I always over pack at first

This is also how I generally prepare for a domestic trip as well. Minus the language learning and money converting.

Stay tuned! My post about France is on deck!

A Comeback!

Alright, so it's been a while. A long while. Five and half months, to be precise.

I have to say it went by so fast. It was warp speed. I had a lot on my plate for the past five months between work and traveling and attempting to figure out my place in the world (cue existential crisis - jk sort of). Granted, I served all of these things to myself, but it was still there and I needed to see it through.

How about a brief recap? Do you care? I didn't think so, but I'm going to do it anyway.

January
HAMILTON! - I had the joy of seeing Hamilton the musical. You may have heard of it. I have a lucky friend who was able to snatch up some tickets in the lottery last fall. The production was wonderful and it was pretty awesome to be part of the phenomenon. I have been calling it the Cats of our generation and I have a friend who hates that. So, that's why I am saying it again.

February
Certified! - I finished up my yoga teacher training at The House of Yogi! I was eating, sleeping and breathing yoga from September 2017 through February. It was a serious grind on top of my other three jobs. It was a big accomplishment for my personal and physical growth.

New Car Smell! - After what was a bit of a royal pain in the ass, I got a new Subaru Impreza. I'm extremely happy with my new ride and I learned a lot from the experience.

March
Campin'! - Finally got the chance to go out into the wilderness for a camping trip after an extremely long hiatus. I didn't even remember how to set up my tent. Thankfully, my super nice friends helped me set up and I only looked like a putz for about 20 minutes of fumbling with tent poles.

FRANCE! - I sent myself to France for spring break 2018. I have a couple of delightful friends who are spending a year abroad and invited me to come stay with them at their French bed and breakfast in Provence. We also spent a couple of days in Paris. It was a long journey to get there and back but it was so worth it. I was a master of the Paris metro by the end of the week. I plan to do a full post on this adventure.

April
Would you believe me if I said nothing happened in April? Obviously not. April was filled with a lot of little moments. I chopped my hair short, I went to a natural beauty panel discussion, I saw a French band play at an Irish bar and I worked busted my proverbial buns to help my students get through the semester. I also went back to one of my favorite cities.

CHICAGO! - I went to Chicago to attend the ACES Editing Conference for work. It was epic. I had the best time and made two new friends. I saw a lot, I ate a lot and it was glorious. More to come on my Chicago adventures. It involves Wayne's World, so obviously stay tuned.

May
Quite honestly, I am never ready for May when the old gal arrives. It's the end of the semester and the beckoning of summer in San Diego. I spent the first weekend of May grading papers and reading sweet notes from my students that reminded me that not all hope is lost in the future.

Wild Child! - This band from Austin completely rocked the Casbah on Cinco de Mayo. Live music is one of my favorite things and the Casbah is one of San Diego's best venues. I love seeing relatively unknown bands in small dark venues because you wind up part of the show instead of 1,000 rows back.

FIN! That's it. Those are the premium cuts from my past five months. No need to discuss the ugly bits. It is my goal to be less busy and be writing more but I suppose I haven't instilled a lot of trust to this point, eh?