This is a post about EVERYTHING or at least me touring lots of France...well five cities.

Guys, traveling is hard. I know, I know, I was on vacation for two weeks traveling France, so I shouldn't be complaining. Well, this is my blog, and that's my number one trait, so you can scat on out. Traveling was a blast, that ain't no lie, but it is very tiring. There's so much walking, trying to find things, catching trains here and there, getting lost, waking up early, going to bed late. It's all completely worth it for sure, but I am excited to have a few days to myself to do nothing. Alright, enough of this stuff now, on to the actual travelings. I'm gonna try to do it day by day with lots of pictures, so make your buns comfy, warm up a bagel or something, and get ready. Here's my blog.

Day 1 - Started off just really great. There was vomit everywhere in the elevator I took after leaving my friend's place and I had to ride with it for six floors. And it was 5:45am. Just wondrous.  Really day 1 went better than the morning foretold. I made it to my 3-hour train ride without a hitch and even napped a bit. That's when I saw this beaut.

Alex, strong like bull.

So I met Alex at the Sorbonne, where she has class.  We had coffee at a little café, and I got to meet all of her amazing, foreign friends and speak a bit of French.  Then we had delicious, delicious galettes and crêpes. I think. Or we went to a cemetery. I really can't remember the order since its been about two weeks, but the crêpes were delicious and the cemetery was beautiful. 

I'm about ready to destroy font formatting.  I hate everything. Nevertheless the cemeteries are beautiful

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That day we did a bit of wandering too.  I think we saw the Luxembourg Gardens, the Panthéon, and a lot of really cool stuff I can't think of off the top of my head. Here are some pictures, though.

 Now I remember, we also saw Notre Dame and Sacré Coeur both great big, absolutely beautifully stunning and gorgeous churches.  Like f'real guys. I couldn't get enough of these places. Just, just gaze in awe.

Aren't they something?

So Sacré Coeur is located at Montmartre, which is just way up on the hill overlooking Paris. The sight from up here was stunning, especially at, but good golly frick frack, it was such a tough walk up there.  Especially since I was starting to feel sick. I thought I'd just brush it off.  So when we got back we had yet another lovely evening of a bit of cooking, some drink and lovely chitchat.

Day 2 - This is going to take a while. Golly.  So day 2 was a bit of a more lax day.  Number one reasoning was, little did I know at the time however, I was coming down with freaking bronchitis.  Who else but this kid right?  So today we met some friends again, had some delicious noodles and soup at Alex's favorite restaurant and then went to another beautiful cemetery. This time to see some famous graves and because we're a little weird and love cemeteries. Voila, Edith Piaf and Oscar Wilde.

They had to put up glass around Oscar Wilde's because there was a tradition to kiss his headstone with bright red lipstick.  Cause he was a playaaaaaaaaah. Actually I think he was gay. Idk.

Side note:  Between all these different sightseeing-touristy spots, let it be known that I did divulge in a very French and Parisian lifestyle and shared plenty of wine and coffee with my friend Alex. You can never have too much wine and coffee in France.  

Autre side note:  The thing I missed  most about being with Alex was cooking and shopping for food and hanging out in a kitchen, so while we did not make any fancy feasts, let it also be known that we ate well, and I enjoyed every minute of it.  

Day 3 - This was one of my favorite days of Paris, and it technically wasn't even part of Paris. The Palace of Versailles.  Man oh man, was it beautiful.  The sun was out and shining, the weather was great, and me and Alex went rowing on the Grand Canal. Let's have a look-see.

Oh yeah.  Get it, get it Shawny.

So rowing. It was a blast, and it was beautiful but me and Alex didn't really think it through. Namely that I have a janky wrist and wasn't the best of help rowing. Also that the wind would be against us rowing back in. Alex was really good at steering and knowing which way to go, but after rowing most the way out she was kind of tired, I mean rowing is hard work. So I set about with my lame scaphoid. I made good progress rowing, but my right arm was definitely stronger and it was hard to grip the oar with my left hand so we kept going diagonally across the canal, almost running into everyone as I tried to navigate the little boat, screaming and hollering at passers-by and swans to get the frack out mah way.  Totally worth it, but man oh man.

Then we went into the actual Palace. And let me tell you. So much gold leafing.  Everywhere. It's like the French's solution for any problem in the country was to add more gold leafing to the Palace of Versailles.  Very pretty but not that practical.

I'm not sure if you can actually see all the gold everywhere in these pictures... Idk. Just trust me.

 Gold. Er'rywehre

After the palace we went to some amis of Alex's for dinner. They were American which was delightful and refreshing.  An older couple, Betsy and Charlie, havebeen living in Paris for a couple of years, traveling all over.  They were so funny, with tons of amazing stories: growing up in Wyoming, working in ER's or as a flight hostess, and writing music and leading groups, and so much traveling. And Betsy cooked the most wonderful shrimp curry dish.  A wonderful night!

Day 5 - Day 5 was another fun day of touristy things. We hit up the Eiffel Tour, ate some macarons, the L'arc de Triomphe, and maybe one of the gardens? I can't really remember. I know that we had a lot of fun and ended the day with more crepes and a soiree at a friends house.  Let's look at some pictures.

The Arc and the Louvre

So lemme tell you guys about the Louvre. You gotta go. Not necessarily in it, but just to see it.  You see, people-watching here is prime.  Especially around 5ish pm.  Everyone at this point in the day is tired from a full day of walking, and hungry, but it's not quite yet for dinner.  So everyone just looks discontented and snappy.  Which is perfect because the tourist photos here are priceless.  From parents making their 4 year old daughter take cute couple photos of them to teenager takings "photo shoots," everyone is running around trying to stay out of other people's photos and get the perfect angle.  Me and Alex just sat and watched the chaos and tried to get into every photo we could. "If I'm gonna be in their photo, I'm gonna be the best thing in it," I kept saying flashing my most winning smile.  People gotta just haaaaaaaaaate me.  

Delicious macarons and the obligatory Eiffel Tower selfie.

All in all, Paris was a pretty bangin' place.  I'd definitely go back. Especially if it meant seeing Alex again! Huge shout out to one of my best friends, she made Paris the great city I heard it was. Thanks Al for the wondrous week!

FRICKIN FRACKIN PIECE OF GATDANG SOFA CUSHIONS. AAAAAAAAAAAAAH. I'M SO MAD. PISS!

So this blog has been taking awhile, especially since I've had a lot of homework this week, so I've been working on it here and there and just saving it as a draft, but THE DAMNABLE SAVE BUTTON DIDN'T SAVE MY PROGRESS ON THIS STANKING BLOG. BOY HOWDY I AM UPSET. 

I've got plenty of stuff I'm procrastinating and people are asking about this blog. I know, I'm shocked they are too.  But to satiate the precious few who want to know whats going on in my life, I'm going to post this as is and finish the rest of my trip later this week.  HAVE AT IT YA VULTURES.

This is a post mostly about my friends and animals.

Aaaaaaye.  So this'll be my last post for a couple weeks guys.  I'm about to go on vacation and tour around France.  Most importantly I'll be in Paris and will see Alex Schluter.  Can not freaking wait.   Yesss. So this is my winter break; it starts tomorrow, March 3rd, and goes until I think March 19th. Paris is my starting point, after which I'll be meeting up with my friend Kelsey in Caen.  There, we're going to see the beaches of Normandy, notably D-Day.  After we'll go to Tours and see a giant, pretty castle.  Then its off to Nantes to visit a French friend and after that, down to Bordeaux for a wine tour! Here's a map.  I was going to open the picture up in paint and circle the places for you, but I'm lazy. Pretend it's a find-it game. 

I hate this blog. I can't make the pictures the right size.  Eff everything. Anyway, on the left is a cool picture of me drinking a beer on the beach with Kels. Classy.  She's the girl I'll be traveling with. We like Kelsey. On the right is the map.  Paris, Caen, Tours, Nantes, and Bordeaux. Montpellier isn't on it, but its between Beziers and Marseille.You get the picture.... Get it? Not funny. Anyway.

So lets talk about what I've been doing with my life.  Not much.  I've mostly been hanging out with my friends, having a good time, going to class, loving the weather, and wishing break were already here. 

That's my friend James. He's pretty neat too.

My internship has been going pretty well too. This week we talked about gun regulation laws in the United States.  All the pointed questions my students asked really made me realize how backwards of a country we live in sometimes.  I love America, but dangit we are pretty stupid sometimes.  I also got the chance to eat at the school, in the professor's dining room.  The food was good and I even got to cut ahead in line, but then when I sat down it was like middle school all over again. None of the other teachers wanted to sit with me or invited me to sit with them. Maybe its because before that, during my free hour, I fell asleep on the table in the teacher's lounge.  Or because I was wearing my American Flag t-shirt.  Probably mostly because I'm intimidatingly handsome though. Idk.

This weekend I went to the zoo with some friends, Alysa and TJ. Alysa is the best human being ever. Disgustingly crude and incredibly sweet.  We shouldn't be allowed in public together.

     

Left: My amie, Lyser. Right: Some giant head creeping out children in the city plaza.

So me and Lysa arrived to the Comedie early (that's the name of the plaza).  Apparently it was National Rare Illness Day or something like that. I didn't understand because some weird guy was lip syncing to Michael Jackson and that large face was running around.  It was very strange. When Teej showed up, we left to go to the zoooooooo.  It was free and fun. Also, we like TJ a lot too.  I just don't have a photo of him on here. The zoo was pretty great, we saw giraffes, and lions, and maned wolves which look like giant foxes. We saw weird looking birds, wallabies, rhinoceroses, and a bunch of African deer/gazelle like creatures.  Most importantly there was a tapir exhibit. My favorite animals.  But we freaking missed it on the circuit we made, so Tj and Liss said we could double back at the end and see them then, so I was content. EXCEPT THE FRICK FRACKING THINGS WERE HIDING AND I MISSED THEM. So I went home and googled pictures of them for about 20 minutes instead. 

Majestic creatures. What's not to love?

You know what another majestic creature is? My friend Stephanie.

 The essence of beauty captured in 8 frames. Proven fact: Stephanie and I cannot take a nice photo together.

Alright folks.  I'll tell you all about my voyages and adventures in two ish weeks.  Be insanely jealous.  Until you remember that I have a broken arm and probably whooping cough. Go in peace and love and have the time of your lives.  Seeyer.

This is a post.

See what I did there? I understand if you never read this blog again.

Hello again everybody.  Blogging. These last two weeks have been pretty good to me.  Let's jump right on in to it.

So every Tuesday night a group of us go the this bar Shakespeare's for a trivia, but this last Tuesday we went out in full force, I'm talking like twenty of us.

This picture isn't even from that night, but I needed some place to put it.

So there are four rounds to the quiz. The first round they play short movie clips, and then we have to name the film and actor. Since they are usually American films, we kick ass.  Then there is a round with music, and we had to name the artist and song, still usually American.  Then its two rounds of completely random trivia, this is usually where we get our butts kicked.  Like we were just hoping to maybe get sixth place.  It takes a bit of time for them to score each group's answers so by the end there were only ten of us: Me, Guillaume, Erica, Alysa, James, Kassandra, Katie, this girl who's name I still haven't learned ( I am so sorry), Kelsey, and... eff. I apologize to person number 10 too.  First place prize was a bottle of vodka, so we all had a small glass and it was the proudest moments of our lives in France so far.

Last weekend we went to Marseille.  I think its the oldest city in France.  And of Greek origin.  I could definitely be lying though.  Everytime I told someone we were visiting there, the only thing they would tell me was to watch out for thieves. Awesome.  Exciting. I'm going to get mugged.  Contrary to that, it was an amazing trip.  It's a port city, and the harbor reached right in the middle of downtown.

We had a fun trip. We took two different guided tours. One of a museum where we didn't actually get to see much in the museum... I don't know why either.  And another of the downtown city area. I also found  out I hate guided tours.  Still a lot of fun though.  We had a couple hours of free time so after I spilled some soda on my crotch and had to walk around looking like I peed my pants, we went up to this fancy church that overlooks the city. From the top you can see an island with a fort on it.  This fort was the inspiration for the prison in the story of The Count of Monte Cristo. NEAT.

So this is from the church thing, unfortunately I didn't take a picture of it, but in the right corner is that island.

On the right is a view of city from this neat Church.  On the left is the same view but with me and my squinty eye blocking most of it. 

EMERGENCY MEDICAL UPDATE: I also went to the doctor again Thursday.  I think its healing well, I have to do a catscan in three weeks after my winter break. I got a new cast too. It's slightly longer and more limiting than the previous. Fricking cool.

SO. Lets talk trees. (why)

These are super pretty almond trees.

I urge you all to plant them at home. I don't know anything about them except that they're pretty and probably wouldn't actually grow at home. My hostmom says that they stink, but I've had a cold so I can't tell.  They're everywhere here, so basically everywhere is pretty, and presumably stinky.

On the home front.  This weekend was the WNCC Gala. I'm really really upset that I couldn't go and watch. Especially cause it was these two's last year:

Two of my most favorite people in the whole wide world. Brother and Becca :)

Both amazing people.  Shoutout to Becca for being the best friend ever and chatting me everyday, even if its only to verbally assault me for leaving the country. I shared a video of her singing on my facebook so I dare you all to go watch it. Do it and you're cool. Also Chris got baptized today, so go congratulate him, punks. 

Today is also Kaden's birthday! 

Two of my other most favorite people in the world :)

If you see him today or sometime soon tell him Happy Birthday for me and that I love and miss him! Cheri Ann too! Six years old! I couldn't imagine life without the little monster!

Also my arm is cramping cause typing is hard, so I'm not going to reread and edit this post, so excuse my typos and errors.  See ya'll.

This is a post you've all been waiting for... mostly because I kept forgetting to blog.

Tonight at dinner I ate yogurt with prunes. And I liked it.
I'm so old.

First, sorry I suck at blogging. I just kept telling myself, "Shawn. You have that thing coming up that you should blog about so let's just wait til after," over and over. Oopsie.  So. A little preview of what is to come in this beautiful piece of literature: Lots of netflix, the beach, the city-state country of Andorra, another cave, my internship, being sick, and karaoke, but not necessarily in that order.

Alright. Netflix though. En fait (in fact, actually) I can't really watch netflix here because it doesn't exist outside of AMERICA. I mean I can if I change my vpn, but that seems hard and not like something I'm wont to do, so I use other television websites. Gotta have my fix of American Horror Story, Walking Dead, and Teen Wolf. Anyway what I'm getting at is, I'm finally getting into a bit of a normal routine.  I kept telling myself, "Shawn, you're in a new country!  You don't have time to sit down and watch 8 episodes of Once Upon A Time straight. [oops.]) Really though, I can't go running around everyday like I'm on vacation because 1) That's damn expensive and 2) I'm not on vacation. I am living here for a semester. I need to act like I do at any other time, especially if I ever plan to live here for an extended period of time. Normalcy and routine are great ways to get acclimated.  At least that's how I justify being a lazy ass.... Now to get back in the habit of running every night too. Eff.

La Plage. The beach. And the sea. La mer.  You's all gon be fluent soon 'nuff.  It was beautiful. Nevermind that its a 20 minutes bus ride, 20 minute tram ride, and half hour walk to get there, it's totally worth it. See?

Beautiful. Just like me. Aw shucks.

Now truly, it wasn't the most beautiful beach and it was kind of cold, but  I did really enjoy myself. I can't wait to go back for for a dip when it warms up, and I don't have a janky wrist. I went with some friends, Cate, Sandie, Emily, and Eric, and we had a lovely time. We picked up shells, climbed on this rocky peninsula-like thing that jutted out a little ways, told secrets, and took lots of pictures. 

Karaoke.  Baby. Oh. Baby. We are all about that life. Our program went to a bar for karaoke this last Friday night, and we definitely plan on making this a reoccurring thing. I sang with my two good friends Kimmie (as seen below) and Cate.  However when Cate and I sang it was under the names Judy (Garland) and Dean (Martin). God bless us.  Cate and I sang Love on Top by Beyonce and Copacabana by What's-his-name. Barry Manilow right??  Then Kimberly "Venus and Serena" Williams and I sang A Thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton. It was magic each time. See for yourselves.

This is what goes on in France.

(Sorry for the picutre Kimmie)

Tonight Thibault and I sang Let Her Go by the Passenger(s?). He played piano, and we sang together.  However being sick and singing far too much than I should've at karaoke has left me with a pooey voice.  Thibault, bless him, said he like my singing voice, though, so that's neat. 

Everything you need to know about Andorra can be summed up in one picture. 

What?

I don't even know. Read this. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andorra‎ In short, it's a small country in the middle of the Pyrenees that's governed by both France and Spain.  They speak French, Spanish, and Catalan, and it's a great place for skiing, a thing I cannot do due to my janky wrist. It was beautiful, though.  And four hours away.  But totally worth it, 'cause the drive was through the Pyrenees, and everything is Europe is just breathtaking to look at. Also, on the side of the mountain was this really neat light show. I have no idea why or what was going on, but there was this green light like lighting flowing back and forth. So cool. But it was a good weekend spent with my host family... I probably should have said that it was them that brought me. We went out for a drink, had a traditional dinner, played a card game, did some shopping and made lunch too.  A fun weekend for sure.

That's Andorra and some ski Slopes!

And this is a cave!

I really, really, really, really, really, really, wish I could show you guys pictures of what was inside this cave.  It was by far my favorite I've ever been to. So this cave is La Grotte de Niaux. Niaux is the petit village outside of the cave. Inside are cave paintings 15,000 years old.  Maybe 30,000.... I know that's a big difference, but it was hard to pay attention and they just kept saying those two numbers a bunch. Don't judge me.  Since the paintings are old, though, they don't have any lights in the cave, so they gave us each a little flashlight. It was seriously like exploring in there. Gah, I loved it and want to do it again!  The paintings were really interesting, too. A lot more detailed than I would have imagined.  Further in the cave, where we weren't allowed to go, there is also a painting of une belette (a weasel).  Apparently, this is the only cave painting of a weasel  ever found. Whoa. Weird. I don't know why that's supposed to be shocking.

Friends. Family. People whose computers have been brought to my blog by the many viruses I released into the internet. I"m going to try to blog a bit more often so there aren't huge gaps like this previous one, but bear with me, I'm in France and rather lazy. Also, if you just creep through my photos, my wonderful friends here have been much better at posting pictures of our adventures here. Also again, neeeeeerds, seriously who checks out my facebook. But really, shout out to Cate Speech, she's the bee's knees.  I'm going to watch Teen Wolf now because I'm cooler than all of you combined.  Bye-bye. 

UGH. I was editing this and remembered I forgot to talk about my internship. UGH. NGH AGH.. I'll do it next time.