La Gare de Lyon

This is a very large and well known train station in Paris, completed in 1900, and named after the city of Lyon because of the frequent route most trains would take from here to the South of France, many travelers going to Lyon. I recognized it immediately because I had seen Monet's paintings of the station:

 I felt so surprised and honored to be in a place I knew Claude himself had sat and painted. The authenticity of it all was magnified by the fact that the cielings were still dirty with the soot from the old steam engines, and the exterior of the buildings lining the train line were just as they had always been, detailed with intricate designs of pillars and flowers and faces. Having just arrived from the US where the roman architecture is not exactly prevalent, I could have spent all day studying all the little details that went into the decoration of these old buildings. 

The architecture here, however, was just a little taste of what I was about to get in Montpellier, which was only 3 hours away... by a train that looked like a bullet:

(I also found it strange that the French military just strolled about the train station, strapped with AK-47s like it was no big deal.)

Aurevoir, États-Unis.

Gonna free fall, out into nothing.

Gonna leave this world for a while.  -T.Petts

I was not even nervous. Just so ready to go go go. My bag was 4 pounds overweight, but as it turns out the ground agent lady really liked me. She and I had been chatting when I was in line about how sexy we think french is. Swayed by my all my sexual innuendoes, she let my 54 pound bag slide.

It makes perfect sense that I would go West to Chicago to go East to Paris. Very Logical.

BUT PUFF DADDY WAS HERE! (see...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mM0-ZU8njdo)

So at the Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris, there is this big cylindrical courtyard with a bunch of different escalators going all different directions within it.

Alright, so I know what you may be thinking here. You're thinking: "Hey, Juliana. Don't all those escalators remind you of the moving staircases in Hogwarts that Harry crossed every day to get to the Gryffindor common room?" 

Oh my god you are SO right! They DO remind me of the moving staircases at Hogwarts! Ten Points to Gryffindor!

Our great family friend Cathrine was nice enough to pick me up at the airport and help me get to the Gare de Lyon in Paris so that I could catch my train to Montpellier. We had croissants and café (so good), and I got to meet their family dog, Diabelo. Here, he awaites us at the gate.

Last Night at the Farmhouse

I love my job. Mostly because of the awesome staff and management, and also mostly because of the beer, but also mostly because of the mussels/house beef (rare duhh), and certainly because of the raspberry crisp...

ohmygodthecrisp

They even put a candle in it! Gentil, n'est-ce pas?

After work was over, I changed into my party dress, had myself some sour beers, and headed downtown with my FH posse: Nick, Megan, and Jackie.

Nick/Me/Meg (I swore my S90 would never become a "party cam." I have failed.)

(Juliana fell off the wagon)

Jackie L, everyone: Hide ya kids, hide ya wife.

Thank you guys for an AWESOME last night in town!

Merci, my loves!

A couple of lovely ladies by the names of Kelly, Allie and Lexis let me crash at their pad for a few days, and it was very very awesome to be surrounded by such good-looking people all week. :)

I made kelly laugh and bloody mary came out her nose at Sadie Katz.

Kelly made me and INCREDIBLE breakfast when I was hungover and couldn't move or open my eyes. She is a true chef!

Haaahh, Lexis! Where did your legs go?

Trips to the French Consulate in Boston

There is a series of hoops one must jump through to get a student visa to study in France. It was a very unorganized system of going to about ten different websites and making profiles and sending in money and waiting and waiting and worrying and trying to call anyone who may know how to help but only getting machines saying to go to said websites. GAH. But I got it done somehow. 

HOWEVER, I ended up making a couple little fun trips out of my consulate visits, which ended up being a blast. I hung out with my cousins Genevieve and Scott, ate some great food, and practiced taking pictures with my new canon S90 camera. It is the size of what they call a "party camera" but lots of fun for a person who is used to a film camera like myself. Here are some photos from my time in Boston!

Cousin Genevieve!

Christopher Columbus!

On 89 back to Vermont

Swans! Genevieve told me that sometimes people sneak in at night and steal the swans and then it is in the newspapers the next day.

Chinatown. Look at the yellow one- "Relax Times Massage." I wonder...

Cobblestones under the pavement

Little old elevator

The tunnel

Fun with exposure while going over the big Boston bridge at night

Bonjour!

I have no idea how this "blog" business works. I am kind of challenged in the realm of computers, so forgive me if my template isn't interesting. I will try to spice things up with my incredible wit and pizazz...