Summer 2005
Summer 2005
20 June | 22 June | 24 June | 25 June
20 June 1:35pm
Well, the weekend did not end up turning out as I had planned. Saturday, after recovering from the night before, the people that didn't go home all went out to get pizza in the next town over. It was a long and fun time. With eating out, I'm so use to eating about half of the meal and then saving the rest for dinner the next night. That doesn't exist here. So needless to say, I felt like I was about to give birth, I was so full. Afterwards we went to go see some fireworks at yet another town, but we found out, when we arrived, that the control panel had short-circuited, so no pretty colors in the sky. Sunday was to be the day of exploring the area. We had on our agenda three towns to visit. Frustratingly, we only got through one. It is good to note that the French do enjoy to take their time. So a "quick" rest on a park bench ended up being about 2 hours of chatting. Which frustrated me much because I prefer moving around and constantly doing things...aka, I get bored easily. Sunday also ended up being the hottest day of the weekend, with temperatures at around 35 Celcius, which is exactly 95 F. Too damn hot. so that did add a bit to the misery.
Luckily today has ended up not being as bad as predicted. (yet?) The sun stayed hidden for a good bit of the morning and only now is it slowly starting to heat up. The pile of rocks I'm cleaning (boy doesn't that sound fascinating. Thousands of years of civilization evolution and this is what it's come down to...I feel like I should be one of the peasants searching for a good pile of filth...anyways), they're just about cleaned so now I'm doing the surrounding area. Afterwards, I'm assuming it will be photographed and then removed to see what the cellar looks like. So fingers crossed I'll discover some ancient celtic statue or pieces of gold. And speaking of statues, someone else found a head of a small woman statue. The head measures at about 2 inches tall. And much of the details in the face and hair are still quite intact. (It hasn't weathered away much). If I can get a picture of it, I'll definately try. Time to return to the nice pile of rocks. Hooray!
22 June 10:20pm
Today I moved rocks. I moved so many rocks I can almost call myself the master of moving rocks...if only I didn't almost accidentally hit someone passing by while throwing rocks. Oh well, there's always tomorrow. Today, as well, I got to briefly work with an ancient Total Station. Before coming over to France, I had been working with one for a good three weeks. I tried to escape it, but it's caught up with me. Same can be said abou tthe weather. I left to escape the heat and after four days, it caught up. It's been miserably hot this week.
So last night I went on an expedition. I gathered information and made comparisons. The subject - French cinema. A bunch of us last night went and saw "Crazy Kung Fu". I didn't have a terrible time comprehending what was going on, despise everyone thinking that I'm just being nice saying that. The film was dubbed in French, but I was able to pick up on bits here and there, but it was quite easy following along with the scenes and what exactly was happening. I had no problem with that, (again despite everyone thinking I would).
French is slowly starting to become easier. Granted, I still will not say I've mastered it, nor have come anywhere close, bit it's slowly starting to get to a decent level.
There's not much else that is coming to mind to speak of, so I leave y'all here. Ciao.
24 June 1:40pm
Go figure, the weather finally turned nice on a Friday. And by "nice" I mean cloudy and rainy. But it's amazing what a difference in temperature it makes. It's really quite pleasant when the wind decides to blow.
I've finally finished moving and cleaning (but not in that order) rocks. And now I get to dig a hole! A square hole even! Oh what excitement there is in store for me now! We've got a photo taken of it (before the digging) for the report and one for my records. ;)
Tonight it appears I shall have another fantastic expedition to the cinemas. This time it'll (hopefully) be a better film - Batman Begins. Fingers crossed it'll be good. I haven't been able to read any reviews, so I'm going in almost blinded. This weekend it looks like I'll be chilling out in POitiers. But of course what this does mean is that I'll have some contact with civilization - aka internet. I've managed 2 weeks, time to get reconnected. Well time's run out, it's back to work. Hope this afternoon is as comfortable as this morning!
25 June 3:20pm
The very short story - I'm in Bordeaux. That's it. If you don't want the details, I'd advise turning back now. Quick! While you still can!
I did see Batman Begins last night and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a bit harder to follow along, so I guess (oh woe is me) I'll have to see it again when I get home. I did think the action was fantastic and it was really sweet to see how "Batman" was created. The story felt more real with a touch of fantasy. One thing I loved and noticed immediately was the score. And as I watched the credits I immediately knew why - Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard. Fantastic. I won't say anythign negative because it could have been that I didn't grasp it due to the language barrier. But enough of the film, back to the main story.
After the film, three of us went in search for my backpack because it was left in another person's car and he was at work. So after briefly getting lost around Poitiers, referring to a tourist map of 1936 Poitiers for aid, and seeing the city at nighttime (which I will admit was pretty beautiful), we finally got my stuff and to the friend's apartment by 2am.
So the events from then - sleep. wake up. too eary. sleep. repeat. sleep. wake up. get ready. arrive at the station. get tickets (hooray for much cheapness). arrive in Bordeaux by 12pm.
Utterly confused for a 20 minutes, I *finally* got myself oriented and made my way, by Tram, to the hotel (Which thankfully was just around the corner from the stop). My first impression (like many other things) of Bordeaux is that it's beautiful. It's hot and compact, but it does have its moments.
Unable to check in right away, I dropped off my bag at the desk and went exploring. I visited this cathedral named Notre-Dame. Looking nothing like the famous counterpart in Paris, it has a unique front to it. Inside consists of many various, beautiful paintings of various significant saints. Above each space out, individual paintings are stained glass windows. I also made a trip to the Public Gargens (in hopes of also checking out the Natural History Museum but alas, I arrived too early and I felt impatient not to wait). The Gardens had a nice serenity to them. I was amused by the hedges being shaped a music notes and musical instruments. There was a decent botanical garden at one end.
So the hotel I'm staying at (can I just say I'm glad I have an actual bed with a tv) is quite nice. It does have a good atmosphere to it and the room is decently sized. But. And there are a few buts. I made my reservation last night and when I had arrived, it was lost, much to my changrin. The lady at the desk was very apologetic and offered me a room with a tub for the same price as the smaller room. The hotel itself is split into two buildings on adjacent streets. I had to make my way to the other building, to find the room wasn't ready yet and to return in an hour. 1.25 hours later I come back, am given my key, and the room hadn't been cleaned. Frustrations!
So now, a good 1.5 hours later, I am about to finish this entry, plan the evening and eagerly look forward to a clean, decent room to sleep in. So that's all I've to say of my long and drawn-out story. Now didn't ya wish you'd stuck with just the short version? Cheers!
8:20pm
If my pedometer wasn't broken, I so would have kicked my previous record's ass. But since it is broken, I can just say, phew, that was damn a lot of walking. Amusingly, it was all from just finding a place to eat for dinner. I swear, by tomorrow afternoon, I'll know this place like the back of my hand. Okay, it wasn't just for eating, I also went on a crusade to find an internet cafe. I can safely tell a fellow traveler, "there isn't one in this part of the city".
In the midst of my crusade, I came upon a Louis Vuitton store and thought, "It would be pretty cool just to go in and look around." I was dead set on it too. But what looked like a bunch of college kids playing a prank deterred me from going inside. A guy with a video camera was taping his friend, who was dressed very poorly in drag, go in and talk with the sales person. A bunch of their friends were hanging outside observing the scene unfold. I swear I have the worst of luck with Louis Vuitton stores. They don't want me to go in. Last time I Was in Paris and I believe the store was closed for construction. I'm cursed to never see just how incredibly expensive their products are.
My expedition ended at a pizza place. (Go me for originality!) It would have been a Spanish restaurant, but it looked too expensive for me. So pizza it was! I've noticed something concerning meals here in France, and I'm going to try an experiment next week. The two main meals have many difference courses. You start off with something small, like a salad of some sort and/or meat. Next comes the main dish along with a side of vegetables. Then comes a course of cheese. Followed by a dessert. And during all of this is bread. Lots of bread. But that's (the bread) is not what I'll experiement on. It's the dessert. At home, I've always (for a while now), tried to limit myself to one dessert a day. But here, I've become so accustommed to having something sweet after both meals. Each dessert (for the most part) has been something new and unique...something that I normally wouldn't eat back home. So I've felt a bit obligated to at least try these new rarities. Unfortunately, it's become a habit and even now, when I order at a restaurant, I feel like I must get a dessert. (Something completely odd to me back home - to order a dessert at a restaurant). So next week, I shall try not to eat any desserts that are not good for me. (Heaven knows I've probably gained a good 5 pounds already). The only exception shall be the fruit that is occasionally given. Maybe I should cut out cheeses as well...no I'll save that for the last week. ;)
And speaking of segways, I cannot believe I'm now half way through my vacations. Oh, how I don't want to return. I have a little baby unit on the site that I'm afraid I'll be saddened to depart with. ;) Two mroe weeks! Oh no! I'll be very afraid when I come to Disneyland-weekend. Because then I'll know the trip is over. Two weeks...here's hoping they're eventful!
Oh my God, it's so nice being in an air-conditioned room. Ooooo, I'm in heaven.
Oh my God, Lost is finally on French television! Pilot episode, I'm sure. French-Charlie even has a British accent.
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You're still here? Alright. The long story. I'm not in Poitiers for the weekend like previously stated. It all started a few days ago when the girl I was going to hang out with in Poitiers fell ill with some sort of stomach virus. Much sadness. Fastforward to Friday afternoon, after lunch, she decided to go see the doctors. She came to the site afterwards at around 4 saying she was going hope to the hospital. So all plans (well, scratch that...there were very little plans) were cancelled. I took this as a sign to get off my butt and explore a bit. So I created a very last-minute wekkend schedule. Movie friend night. Spend the night at a friend's place in Poitiers. Get a ride to the train station in the morning to Bordeaux. Return to Poitiers Sunday evening. Get a ride back to Rom. Fate was on my side.
