I was in Metz for a couple of hours yesterday. It was supposed to be three and a half hours, but it ended up only being two, because the trains went crazy in Metz and we waited an hour to get into the station. What is up with the SNCF right now? I think it waited for me to come to France to go berzerk.

Anyway, in my two hours, I went with Chelsey, Marcela, and Inge to the cathedral, and then Chelsey and I wandered around for another hour. It was fun. We looked at shoes and didn’t buy any. We looked for ice cream and only found soft serve. So we ate some.

Evidence:

La cathedrale de St. Etienne, apparently made from a special stone from a quarry near Metz, which is why it’s yellow-ish

I think, this being Metz, a lot of the windows were destroyed, so they replaced them with, well, cooler windows. (Not that I saw the older ones. It’s just that I liked these a lot.)

This one you can’t see very well but it’s Chagall.

Chelsey, looking very excited, outside the cathedral

Me and Chelsey on the steps waiting for my train. I took a really good picture of us and then a bum interrupted us asking very politely for 50 centimes, so we gave it to him, and then I forgot to save the picture. Damn him.

It seems like all my posts these days have photos. Here’s some more!

We went to Troyes this weekend (me, the other resident anglophone, R, C, and J, not that that really helps you out very much) because J’s grandparents have an apartment there. So here are some pictures of the people I live with.

Rosa Maria (not in Troyes, this is actually at the internat)

Rebekka

There were two churches in Troyes… probably more, but we only went to these.

St. Urbain

the cathedral

These pictures are all a bit funny and blue because I took them with my phone.

Things are winding down a bit here and I’m not happy about it. I remember thinking last September, and last May, why do I go places I just have to leave, and here I am again, having gone somewhere where I just have to leave again. It’s not fun! Not the least because of this one:

At least there’s another vacation in a week and I’m going to Nice for several days with les filles. It’s been cold here.

Well we have the kitchen back, and we super cleaned it tonight. We disinfected the fridge, the tables, the microwave, the cupboards… bleh. It’s shiny now.

So I was in Paris a few days ago, as I said, so I thought I might as well post some pictures.

The first few were taken by Brandon.

Brandon’s and my feet at the park at the edge of the Ile de la Cit?©

Best picture ever of me and my mom, in an Indochinese restaurant in Paris

so poopy and yet so cute

Speaking of cute–never thought I’d say something like that about beetles

tiny people at the Mus?©e d’Orsay

…and just so you believe me that this was Paris.

The greatest one: Why the solution to a dirty kitchen is to lock it up so no one can use it. And why the inspection came on the one day when it was disgusting. And, who is leaving their bottles on the floor and not doing their dishes, cuz it wasn’t me, I was barely here last week. Oh well. I will drink my cokes warm.

A few months ago I would’ve been pretty pissed off, but at this point I don’t really care that much. Maybe I will in two days when it gets locked up and I can no longer eat yogurt….

Well my family and Brandon came and went. It was really nice, and now it’s a bit weird. Mom and Dad said goodbye in Paris and got into a taxi and rode off, and Brandon said goodbye on the train this morning when I got off at Bar le Duc and he continued to Paris. So now I am toute seule. Not really.

My family is here! They’re currently galavanting off to Nancy while I work, but that’s okay. Tomorrow afternoon we’ll go to Paris.

This weekend was fun. I went to Nancy, where we went out, and then I went to someone’s grandmother’s house, where we played Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit in French. Scrabble in French is interesting… you can add e’s and s’s to almost everything.

So this was kinda fun.

Soundtrack game
My life’s movie soundtrack!

1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that’s playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don’t lie and try to pretend you’re cool…

‚Ä¢Opening Credits: Aimee Mann – I Know There’s a Word
(how horribly depressing)
‚Ä¢Waking Up: Wilco – That’s Not the Issue
•First Day at School: Weezer РFalling for You
(this just MIGHT have been more appropriate for the next one)
•Falling in Love: The Shins РTurn on Me
(not too bad though, although I can never tell with Shins songs)
•Fight Song: Dixie Chicks РSin Wagon
•Breaking Up: Bob Dylan РBlowing in the Wind
•Prom: Weezer РThe World Has Turned and Left Me Here
(maybe for everyone who had a shit time in high school?)
•Graduation: Ryan Adams РTennessee Sucks
•Life Is Good: Paul Simon РDiamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes
•Mental Breakdown: Amadou & Mariam РTeree le sebin
•Driving: Grandaddy РRear View Mirror
(uncanny)
•Flashback: Medelski, Martin and Wood РEnd of the World Party
•Getting Back Together: Weezer РOnly in Dreams
‚Ä¢Wedding: Ryan Adams – Harder Now That It’s Over
(yeah, totally wrong)
•Paying the Dues (wtf does that even mean?): Van Morrison РTupelo Honey
(clearly impossible to find something appropriate at random when the heading doesn’t even make sense)
‚Ä¢The Night Before the War (we’ve moved on from a teen/wedding movie to a war movie I guess): Ryan Adams – The Shadowlands
•Final Battle: Neutral Milk Hotel РKing of Carrot Flowers Part 2 and 3
•Moment of Truth: Sufjan Stevens РThe Black Hawk War, or, How to Demolish an Entire Civilization and Still Feel Good about Yourself in the Morning
(nice)
•Death Scene: Paul Simon РLate in the Evening
(so inappropriate it’s funny)
•Funeral Song: Charlotte Gainsbourg РAf607105
(not really sure what to make of this, or the song itself)
•End Credits: Johnny Cash & June Carter РJackson
(awesome)

And I didn’t lie to pretend to be cool… iTunes just skipped all my Kelly Clarkson. I know, I know, clearly it’s out of its mind. Who doesn’t love Kelly? SUBG? I mean really. That song is pure pop joy.

Relatedly, Bar le Duc’s mediateque has an awesome CD section, from which I am “profiting.”

Part 1: My Favorite Picture from Spain

It’s from a restaurant in Barcelona where we spent about five hours and received free coffee+alcohol from strangers nearby. I don’t know why Zandra doesn’t love this picture. Seriously.

Part 2: Crappy Pictures from the Decemberists Concert

Here you can see everyone else and not much of the band…

and here you can’t really see much of anything. But really, I did have a great view. Everyone there seemed to speak English. It also seemed that no one in the band spoke French except that chick who plays the viola, which was still kind of cool. The opening band was Lavendar Diamond and we got there in time for their last song which, amazingly, I knew, but I’m not sure if I like it.

Part 3: Bar le Duc at Night: Or, Waiting for Emily B outside La Boheme

The rest of Barcelona is pretty much all Gaud??.

Looking into the first floor of Casa Batll?? from below

This is what you look like when you’re staring up at it. (Not that chick on the left. I don’t know what she was doing.)

Casa Mil?†, across the street

Same building, from below

Everything that’s left is from Parc G?ºell,

where there was a guitarist playing.

Listen

Sorry about the shakiness of the video. Try not to get too nauseated.

Les filles

Some gar?ßons who wouldn’t move

Look around the top, glimpse of Marianella

In other news, I had a busy weekend, which was longer than usual because some of my students are out of the country so I didn’t see them. Went to Nancy last night. Met a really great cat. Watched a “football” game. I ate a hotdog there. Coming up: Photos from The Decemberists, Bar le Duc.