Sunday, June 21, 2009

After Paris


I realize this is belated, but whatever. Life isn't that exciting, so I will dwell on the past.
After mom left me in Paris, I got to ride another couchette to Cannes (why, yes that is only a 4-5 hour train ride, but mom didn't want me to have a nice normal ride, so we booked the couchette). I had a creepy, mean old lady in the compartment with me. Boo.
Anyways, I made it to Cannes. I stayed in Mandelieu with a lovely family. I knew I would love the Cote d'Azure within the first few hours. Upon arrival, Christine went for an 'ice cream run' and asked if I wanted to go with her! It only got better from there on out. Everyday was amazing. Here are a few highlights of my adventures whilst I was in Cannes.
1. I toured the prison cell of the Man in the Iron Mask, on the small islands of St. Honore and St. Marguerite, as well as the abbey there.
2. I went on a small boat ride with Jacques and Christine to see all the coastal houses, including Pierre Cardin's estate.
3. I got a bike!! I biked the 5-10 minutes down to the beach frequently and napped/tanned and once went for a swim. It's so salty.
4. I went on a scenic drive to Toulon, where we drove up a mountain to view sweeping views of the coast and military sites.
5. A day trip to San Raphael, complete with a small cafe and ice cream.
6. A day trip with my own personal tourguide in Nice, where I climbed up to the castle, had lunch in Veille Nice, an coke on the main promenade, visited with some university kids, and dinner in a nice little cafe - complete with cheese plate!
7. I made home made pizza in a wood stove, with fresh herbs and olives.
8. I met a super cute boy from Grasse who toured me around for a week.
9. Toured an abandoned lighthouse in Super Cannes, which is the Beverly Hills of France.
and 10. The Cannes Film Festival! There were giant transformers, a house covered in balloons, sleigh rides through the promenade, and lots of cafes to visit while people walked around in the middle of the afternoon in tuxedos and ballgowns. Classic.
Basically this was my favorite month of the trip by a very large margin! I loved every single second I was there. My room had it's own bathroom, and windows with such a lovely view. Every morning I woke up to the chirping of birds and sunlight starting to pour into my room, and every afternoon I had a homemade feast for lunch. I had some of the best food I have every eaten in my life thanks to Jacques's mother Marionette. Everything from fois gras to pays-bas. I gained about 10 pounds. That is in addition to the weight I gained over Paris pastries!! I was a little chubby.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Unfortunate

Recently my computer screen has started to flicker and periodically turn off altogether. After several frustrating attempts to do anything on it, I decided it was time to bring it to a 'Genius'. I bought an external hard drive a few days prior, to back up my important information (kind of a joke right?) Well I tried to back it up, and I failed... miserably. My computer... FROZE! (gasp) So I was a little upset. But I remembered that last time I took my little Mac in and got it back in perfect shape, cleaner and happier for the ride. So I ventured out to Victoria Gardens in hope of a similar experience. I got my laptop back today. I was overjoyed. I wanted to make a new post, and all (yes ALL) of my pictures, contacts, and random information are on my laptop so I needed to wait until he came back to make a new blog. I opened the shiny wrapping from the package, and saw the receipt for the work. Things replaced: Fan, Heatpipe, Connector, Bezel, Top Case, HDD, Hard Drive cable. What? I brought it in for the Connector. I flipped my mac on... everything, everything was gone. Every single picture since high school, Microsoft Office, my address book, my calendar. Everything. So I hope no one wanted to see France pictures. On the bright side, I got upgraded to Leopard (and my Time Machine is up and running so this can never happen again).