Stuff I've Been Doing

*Spent the second week of the holidays in Avignon
*Stayed with some family friends
*On NYE we ate into the new year
*And then watched a music program
*One of the people we stayed with found English a novelty
*He loved saying “take a picture!!!”
*Avignon has a old castle, half a bridge and a roman aqua duct
*The aqua duct was just under 2000 years old
*School
*This term had five weeks
*Went to a pretty village called Conques
*Have to do a talk on Australia for English
*Went skiing with my friends
*I’m hopeless
*Falling is my great stopping mannover
*My friends tried to get me onto the next slope up but luckily I fell off the lifty thing
*Dad says it’s a “pomma” but I prefer lifty thing
*I’ve been sick
*Tried listening to Obama’s speech from underneath the French dubbing on French radio
*Mostly failed
*Made German cakes with Angelika (German EF kid)
*Taught David (Mexican EF kid) Australian slang
*He found it hilarious
*Made half a trip to Rodez but turned back because there was too much traffic and snow
*Had Gael ambush my room
*Played with the webcam effects with Gael
*Went swimming in Rodez
*Saw Australia again but in French
*Went skiing again with my class
*Slightly less hopeless but still hopeless
*Teachers strike
*Arrival of the Spanish exchange students who came for the last week of term
*Went to the Caves du Roquefort
*That’s where they make Roquefort cheese
*Yes they actually make it in caves and the caves reek
*It snowed all that day
*So there were epic snow fights
*We were meant to have a picnic but had to eat in the visitors centre instead
*That was at the Viaduc du Millau
*We spent the rest of the day walking aimlessly around Millau until we had to leave
*Next day we watched cartoons in economics because our classroom was too small for us and the Spanish students
*H2O Just Add Water has been dubbed for French tv
*Went to another Fromagerie
*Cheese of Lagoile
*Place still reeked but I actually like this cheese
*Then went to a place where they make knives and watched one be made
*Went to a restaurant
*Had proper aligot made how it’s supposed to be
*While it was being made we sang songs in Spanish and French
*Well not me...
*We went ice skating and I’d been more times than most of my friends
*That night there was a goodbye party and over half the class turned up drunk
*The teachers found out
*Next day they left and there were an awful lot of waterworks
*Unfortunately I didn’t really get to know any of them since I couldn’t understand them
*The school principal then had a massive talk to the class
*Yay, I understood it!
*Holidays again
*Saw the movie Bolt but here it’s called Volt
*There’s an abbey where all the nuns make chocolate
*It’s good stuf*Spent the second week of the holidays in Avignon
*Stayed with some family friends
*On NYE we ate into the new year
*And then watched a music program
*One of the people we stayed with found English a novelty
*He loved saying “take a picture!!!”
*Avignon has a old castle, half a bridge and a roman aqua duct
*The aqua duct was just under 2000 years old
*School
*This term had five weeks
*Went to a pretty village called Conques
*Have to do a talk on Australia for English
*Went skiing with my friends
*I’m hopeless
*Falling is my great stopping mannover
*My friends tried to get me onto the next slope up but luckily I fell off the lifty thing
*Dad says it’s a “pomma” but I prefer lifty thing
*I’ve been sick
*Tried listening to Obama’s speech from underneath the French dubbing on French radio
*Mostly failed
*Made German cakes with Angelika (German EF kid)
*Taught David (Mexican EF kid) Australian slang
*He found it hilarious
*Made half a trip to Rodez but turned back because there was too much traffic and snow
*Had Gael ambush my room
*Played with the webcam effects with Gael
*Went swimming in Rodez
*Saw Australia again but in French
*Went skiing again with my class
*Slightly less hopeless but still hopeless
*Teachers strike
*Arrival of the Spanish exchange students who came for the last week of term
*Went to the Caves du Roquefort
*That’s where they make Roquefort cheese
*Yes they actually make it in caves and the caves reek
*It snowed all that day
*So there were epic snow fights
*We were meant to have a picnic but had to eat in the visitors centre instead
*That was at the Viaduc du Millau
*We spent the rest of the day walking aimlessly around Millau until we had to leave
*Next day we watched cartoons in economics because our classroom was too small for us and the Spanish students
*H2O Just Add Water has been dubbed for French tv
*Went to another Fromagerie
*Cheese of Lagoile
*Place still reeked but I actually like this cheese
*Then went to a place where they make knives and watched one be made
*Went to a restaurant
*Had proper aligot made how it’s supposed to be
*While it was being made we sang songs in Spanish and French
*Well not me...
*We went ice skating and I’d been more times than most of my friends
*That night there was a goodbye party and over half the class turned up drunk
*The teachers found out
*Next day they left and there were an awful lot of waterworks
*Unfortunately I didn’t really get to know any of them since I couldn’t understand them
*The school principal then had a massive talk to the class
*Yay, I understood it!
*Holidays again
*Saw the movie Bolt but here it’s called Volt
*There’s an abbey where all the nuns make chocolate
*It’s good stuff
*Went to a friends house
*Had my face painted with the blue chalk from eight ball
*Bet you've never have a blue moe before
*Went to Rodez to chill with an Adelaide girl
*We reminissed about Adelaide what we want and miss the most
*We laughed so hard at the fashion channel
*Seriously next time you can watch the male models because they...
A-Look like little boys who have been forced into the good clothes by their mothers or....
B-Are plotting to kill the designer for making them look like that
*Saw some more pretty villages
*Saw Twilight
*I liked it
*Went to Nimes
*Was fun
*Nimes has a mini colesium
*Herve had a feild day with "I'm a gladiator" jokes
*Saw an Australian cafe called Wallbeer
*I know funny right
*Unfortunately it wasn't open
*I want to know what an Australian cafe would be
*Saw the mediteranian
*It was blue
*Got my shoes full of the sand
*The sand was grey-brown
*We have awesome beaches
*Came home
*Saw twilight again
*Another village or two
*Went to Angelika's house
*Made more German cakes
*Play card games with her host family
*Started packing my suitcase
*Never gonna have enough time
*Started school again
*Have a questionaire to do for EF

and here am I
just over four days and I get on that plane
Freaky
See you all soon

PARIS!!!

I'm sorry guys but I just do not have the time to write evrything I wanted to about it but no doubt you will hear something about it when I return. So I decided to abrieviate the story so I can resume blogging. Sorry but since I'm now capable of doing some homework I feel bad when I don't do it. I know who would have thought....

Day 1

The Eiffel Tour
-It is massive!!
-The weather was pretty bleh unfortunately and the yellow euro stars don't really suit the tower in the day time (looks awesome at night though)
-Nothing should be aloud to have that many stairs. 328 to the first level and 600 and something to the second level. Thankfully there is no stait option for getting to the very top.
-It is pretty amazing.
-So is the view.
-You can see everything
-I will say I felt like I was going to have a heart attack after the stairs though
-According to the Effiel Tower it's some 16 000 km to Sydney.
-My host family also had no idea what the Australian flag was.

Random Fact:
Whilest Australia may know alot about the rest of the world, the rest of the world doesn't know alot about Australia.

The Louvre
-Okay one of my favourite places on earth.
-The metro goes underneath the Louvre to where the shops are.
-The Louvre metro stop is oone of my favourites. It has little displays on either side.
-The entrance hall looks exactly like it's supposed to.
-I went into the "Denton" building which (for those who don't know) has the Italian paintings on the first floor.
-Yes that does include the Mona Lisa.
-The hallways are amazing and look just like they should.
-The Mona Lisa isn't small.
-Okay so it's no where near as big as some of the paintings around it but it's exactly the size I thought it would be.
-It is amazing and I now understand all the conspirisey theories behind it.
-It is the weirdest feeling looking at the painting that is so famous it almost doesn't appear to be real.
-I got to the front of the crowd.
-I could have looked at it for hours.
-The Louvre doesn't need it's art. It could get away with just it's ceilings and even some of the walls.
-Speeking of walls and ceilings, The Appollo Gallery.
-It holds the choronation crown of King Louis the 15th.
-Two words describe that gallery: wow and gold.
-The Egyptian collection is pretty cool.
-I got to see a mummy.
-And a great big shpinx.
-Venus de Milo is bigger than I imagined
-I mean "big" tall not "big" fat.
-She's all by herself but she looks better that way.
-Under the Louvre there is reminants of the old Louvre. A medievil castle.
-The castle must have been HUGE.
-It was found during restorations to the Louvre we know.
-There is also a model of what the castle would have looked like which is cool to see.
-I wasn't aloud to sit down in the entrance hall because "I didn't have permission".

The Verdict:
Bring on visit number two.

Les Champs Elysees
-We walked from the Louvre to the Champs Elysees.
-It's quite a pretty walk at night.
-I had a crepe with nutella (mmmmmm...)
-There was a christmas market leading the way.
-Would have been better if my legs didn't hate me after the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre.
-Man that street is pretty.
-Blue lights in the trees, nothing can compare
-The Shops:
*Adidas
*Citron
*Pergot
*Toyota (who would have thought, of all the car makers Toyota)
*Quicksilver (please tell me you find that as funny as I do)
*Disney (it has a club like waiting line with a security guard)
*McDonalds (only the french could make Maccas classy)
-Everyone was too tired so we went back home to return another night.

Day 2

Musee Grevin
-I hadn't heard of it either until I got to Paris.
-You must go there when in Paris.
-Oh yeah it's a wax museum.
-Alot of french people that I didn't know.
-Each area has a different theme.
-Our good ol' Queen Bess makes an appearance.
-After seeing the wax Michael Jackson I never want to see the real thing.
-They got George Bush jr. stupid look absolutley perfect.
-I seemed to be the only peson that found the world leaders section funny (see above)
-The dress Mdme Pompidou is wearing was recreated from a famous painting of her (yes the real one).
-It took 300 hrs to make.

The Opera House
-A tiny bit bigger than I imagined
-I didn't in that we were anywhere near it untill I'm suddenly turning to look at it.
-Pretty spectacular.
-Didn't see inside but who cares I was gobsmacked enough.

Gallery La Fayette
-Now this is a shop.
-It's covered in amazing lighting.
-Every christmas there is a animated display in the windows.
-They use the toys like puppets and it's really cute.
-I wish I had more money just for that place
-The roof top view of the Opera is pretty good.
-Unfortunately Montmatre is hidden.
A Small Problem:
I forgot my battery charger for my camera so at this point it hadn't been charged since I left and it was down to one bar.

Le Roi Lion

-It's more commonly known as the Lion King.
-It was the stage show.
-At Paris's Mogador.
-The costumes are amazing!!!!!!!!!!!
-And so is the music.
-They had guys playing the bongos and other Afrikan drums in the boxes closest to the stage.
-Unfortunately it was french so I didn't quite get all the jokes.
-If you ever get the chance go see it.

Day 3

Metro Randomness:
*One ENORMOUS dog
*No one seemed to care
*Excpet one man who couldn't get enough of it even as he and the dog (and the dogs owner) got off at the same stop
*One busker
*He was creepy

Musee D'Orsay
-This is where I saw all the art I had learnt about.
-I love the impressionists
-It's amazing seeing the real things
-There was a mask exhibition
-I think Beethoven was a very angry person
-He looked more angry than the "Angry" masks
-I like Degas, Monet, Renoir, Manet and Van Gogh especially
-Manet's "Olympia" is the size of a post card
-A massive wall with a post card sized painting
-Now the Mona Lisa is definately not small.

Champs Elysees (take two) and L'Arc du Triomphe
-Truely more magnificent when you don't feel like your legs are going to stop working at any moment.
-It feels like you've stepped into a photo
-You go under the caresel of death (which I will add is funny to watch) and come out at the Arc
-It was closed because it was christmas eve
-I didn't even know you could go in so that wasn't a problem
-Napoleon did a pretty damn good job
-'Tis a work of art
-There's a grave of an unknown soldier that has a flame (sorry that's all I can give, there was no English information avaliable)
-The light made taking photos too hard without a tripod

My French:
I understand the subject of the question but I don't understand the point of the question. which means I can't answer it. Which then leads to boring explinations of the bit I understand and then the asker waiting for the answer. Me still absolutely clueless about what they wanted to no about that subject.

Chirstmas Eve Dinner
-Biggest meal I have ever had
-Oysters are like eating a slimey ocean
-Sea snails kinda need something else
-Chamagne is goood (not the first time I've had it here though)
-They have cool cakes in the form of a log (this one was mostly a mousse type thing. So good)
-After dinner I played Uno with Kevin and Ophelie all the way into christmas
-Then we all went to bed
-After we managed to get the lego catalogue completely out of Gael's reach

Christmas

-Father christmas all over again
-I have a strange feeling Ophelie still believes in him
-Called home
-Christmas was the closest thing to an informal meal I have had here
-The no meal can be informal if there is caviar and escargo (even if it was only cheap caviar)
-Escargo in pastry with garlic is gooood stuff
-I don't know about the caviar but the butter wasn't too good
-I'm a pro at getting the good stuff out of prawns
-Though I still break the head wrong every now and again
-I went out for dinner with Kevin and his cousins Annabelle, Axel and errr unfortunately I don't remeber her name
-We went to the "Roman Bistro" I had one of the best margarita pizza's ever
-After we met up with their parents (who had been at the opera) and went for cocktails
-Non-alcoholic cocktails
-The movie playing in the bar was "Cars"
-It had a really good vibe that place

Verdict christmas 2008:
It will forever be one of the weirdest days of my life

Day 5

Montmatre
-Awesome place
-The metro had one of the famous signs
-Sacre Coeur is huge, white, and beautiful
-More stairs
-No words describe the inside
-Apart from maybe old, gold and catholic
-The only place where all tourists abided by the rules
-Place of the artists (sorry don't know the english equivilent) is full of amazing art
-Some random walking around Montmatre
-A cool little gallery with a robo man made out of colourful plastic things
-One last look at the cool metro signs

Notre-Dame

-Didn't get to go in because there were too many people and not enough time
-A very intricate building
-Definately not small
-Gargoyles own

Random awesome fact about day 5:
I found vegemite

Day 6

fnac
-It's like Harvey Norman, Borders and JB hi-fi all smooshed into one
-It has a cool name
-I bought english books

The Pompidou Centre

-Looks a little out of place
-Here anything can be art
-"Panel of Blue" was quite literally just a panel of straight blue
-It has escalators not stairs
-You start at the top and work your way down
-Cubism is just plain weird
-If you say it's two ladies at a cafe in Paris, ok but I'm just saying all I see is yellow, green, blue and a random bit of red
-The photography was good
-The insulated room wasn't
-And it smelt
-Picasso is just weird, good and interesting but weird

Louvre Antiquites
-It's the mother of all antique shops
-Many, many pretty things
-Man I wish I had money and an 18th century mansion in the countryside
-The Japanese swords were pretty cool too

Australia
-In english on the Champs Elysees
-With Kevin and his cousin Axel
-The people giving out entry forms for a holiday to Australia were a little shocked when I wouldn't take one
-Her face was priceless when I said I live in Australia
-Axel thought it was hilarious
-So did Kevin
-I liked it
-French and Australian don't really go hand in hand
-The wizard of oz theme was sweet
-Axel was shocked that we were attacked by the Japanese
One last moment
-After we went out for dinner at this little fondou place
-Cheese fondou
-They forgot about us but eventually we got our food
-It was good yet too filling
-Though Axel managed to eat it all plus the salad
-We forced Kevin to finish since he left only four measley potatoes
-Walk back to the metro was cold
-It was late and whilst me and Kevin only had to wait 3 minutes Axel had to wait 12 minutes
-Back home to find everyone already in bed
-Couldn't have asked for a better last night

A Checklist For Next Time:
-Inside of Notre-Dame
-Eiffel Tower at night
-The above in good weather
-The Disney store
-The Catacombes
-The rest of the Louvre
-The cafe in Amelie
-Inside the Opera
-See the Opera Ballet

Paris part one

Guys I am incrediably sorry that it has taken me this long to write my paris blog. I had thought about coming up with all the excuses that I could but that is a stupid idea because it would delay this blog even more. Which is way I'm going to give it to you straight. Next even with the slightest hint of a bend or twist. I have three reasons:
*reason number one is it turns out I only had one day ack home before Avignon so there wasn't enough time
*reason number two: I was going to write the blog on notpad whilst in Avignon but everytime I opened up my computer Ophelie would position herself so that she could see what I was doing. I know it's stupid since she'd have had understood almost nothing but I still felt uncomfortable so I opted for practasing my hearts skills (annoying North always keeping me in second place)
*reason number three really only needs one word: trojans

Pari.....okay that one word needs an explination. Right now my computer is full of nasties and on nasty in particular has succeeded in defying almost any scan run to find it (internet information I've only been running "Avast!" and it found it but can't kill it). So I no can no longer write my blogs in my room and post them up when finished.

PARIS

This is a journal I kept whilst in Paris so if somethings seem a little out of place that could by why

La Voyage en Voiture
Up at seven to leave at eight. We let St Come and it's two degrees (lingering on one) and we were on our way. Truth be told I really have no idea how we got from St Come to Paris (other than by car) but I'm pretty sure we were near the snow station that we went to last saturday. We were driving through the snow when the sun rose and it was amazing. All the colours of the sky being reflected onto the snow. If you ever get the chance to see such a thing, make sure you don't miss out.

The first stop was for petrol and the toilet. Where we stopped was kind of like our truck stops but no where near as bogan.

On we went along the highway not stopping untill lunch where we stopped at the same kind of place as last time.

Okay so you're driving through France and you stop for lunch. During your lunch play spot the French. They are the ones that are eating in the car or out of the car boot. They are the ones that make sure the cheese comes on the voyage as well. Some even brought along their wine to go with the cheese. Yes, we did eat in the car and yes the cheese got to come too.

We were in Paris by three-thirty because France is puney. It ain't got nothing on Australia. Australia could eat France for a mid morning snack the size difference is that big. The reason behind the rant: it took less time to get to Paris than it does to get to Melbourne I mean come on!

Arriving in Paris
Okay, if you drive to Paris close your eyes. I'm serious, don't look! The outer industrial area isn't exactly pretty. Graffiti everywhere. BUT I did see the very top of the Eiffel Tower.

Home for the Next Week
We are staying with Herve's mother who is incrediably nice, as is her appartment. It's in ther outer ring of paris, number 12 I think, and the buildning was typically Paris. Though one problzm was that the appartment was quite small and with seven of us it got a little cramped at times. I sleped on a mattress on the floor with a sleeping bag next to Gael. It wasn't too bad and he never once woke me up since he tends to sleep in later than I do.

Next time: As much as I can fit in. This time I promise 24 hours