the last four days:
Saturday, Jan 5, 8am at Frankfurt airport:
I Approve Lufthansa
flight to Frankfurt was the most pleasant i can ever remember. though i must say, the mini-tvs in the seat help. mmm mini-tvs. there were a bunch of good movies--hairspray (!), ratatouille, stardust, the jungle book, december boys, and some more that i don't remember. i had really wanted to see december boys, but that movie was too quiet. lots of deep thoughts and people mumbling things, very difficult to hear over the clatter of the plane engine. so i watched hairspray and some of stardust.
the beauty issue of marie claire is suprisingly dense. it took me a good hour and a half to get through it. wonderful time killer.
i got a u-shaped neck pillow thingy at the airport because i thought, why the hell not. i should have thought why the hell not earlier, because then i could have gotten it at target for half the price.
Life Tip: If you can remember ahead of time, get stuff at Target (or any other retailer) instead of the airport. This saves you money. One exception is bottled water. Although bottled water is cheaper at Target, you will not be allowed to have your own bottle water past the security check. The water sold in the airport actually goes through the security check. I've seen this happen.
the neck pillow is purple and fuzzy soft on one side. there were also animal neck pillows, with the animal head on one end of the U and the animal tail on the other and i really really wanted to get the otter, but they were child sized (smaller). yes, i realized i *am* child size, but why don't i deserve a larger pillow?
and i got food! it was so exciting. i haven't gotten food on a plane in years. first there were these little snack things that had...kind of like rice crackers? i liked it. and they have a cupholder! score one for lufthansa/airbus. it always annoyed me that i had to keep my tray table down just for a cup. usually i just get a bottle of water at the airport (for like, three bucks) and don't get any drinks on the plane.
dinner: orzo salad, yummy tortellini, and brownie!!
breakfast: fruit cup (kiwi, strawberry, blueberry, watermelon. why can't all fruit cups be this delicious?!?!), granola bar (nature valley!!), roll with jam, cheddar cheesebut my damn tray table was semi-broken and you had to push really really hard to put it up (and then something clicked somewhere). the first time the flight attendant had the girl in front of me lean back while i pushed and it worked. the second time, i pulled back the seat with one hand and pushed the tray table with the other. and somehow jammed my thumb and now my cuticle is bleeding. poo.
6pm flight-->one hour early-->get to frankfurt at 6:45am. evidently, this is before the sun rises. so basically, i get no sleep. wonderful.
my first impressions of the frankfurt airport were that of a bus terminal. so we unload the plane outside and get on busses to get to the terminal. so i guess it was a bus terminal. the bathrooms here are super bus terminal-y:
and they're like that on the inside too. kindy of icky toilet paper. it's not super-thin like American public restrooms, it's more like think cardboard. and it smelled kind of bad, but i guess that's a risk you take when you enter a room made for people to poo.
that was unnecessary. apologies.
and then i sat in the food court and went online for an hour. i should have bought 3 hours worth. 15 min was 2€, one hour was 8€, and three hours was 14€. i make poor decisions.
[if somebody can tell me a good shortcut for typing the euro that doesn't involve alt (goes to the menu) or num lk on, i would be much obliged]
duty free shopping is always exciting. not that i can afford any of it. but i did walk by a hermes store. kind of exciting. and i had to go kind of out of the way for quite some time before i found a place that sold postcards. i picked out three and it cost 2,25€. that's like a dollar a postcard, ridiculous!
one annoying thing was that i had to exit and re-go through security because my connecting flight was in a different terminal. the Germans are much more calm about security. they also have much more sensitive sensors, the little bits of metal in my bra and my jeans fly button set it off. and they didnt tell me to take off my shoes or take out my laptop. well, since i got the pat-down (and she totally felt up my boobs. are european bras made of different metals?) the lady ran my shoes through separately, but it was like go through the metal detector, have the wand thing, go to a chair and take off your shoes, and you're done. no special stepping to the side, no special area to sit down, and no not be allowed to touch your carry on baggage. and no individual treatment, once the lady put my shoes on the other side of the detector she was on patting down the next person and i just gathered my stuff up and left.
Life Tip: Unless you have more money than time/patience/calm, don't book tickets through a travel agent. I thought I would get a good deal through STA travel, a student travel agency (actually, that may be what STA stands for). I did get a flexible ticket, which means I can change my return date for only $25.
However, the whole ticket cost $900, and neither way is a direct flight. Going to Paris was Philadelphia-Frankfurt-Paris (Yes. I am going backwards.) with a SIX HOUR layover (even though Lufthansa has multiple earlier flights to Paris which I could probably change to, but my host family isn't expecting me til later), and return is currently Paris-Washington DC-Philly. You may say I'm paying for the flexible return date, but, at the time of purchase, I could have gotten a direct flight (both ways) for just under $700. They would probably charge me around $200 to change the flight date, and I'm not even 100% sure that I'm going to change my return date. Well, I'm going to now, so I can justify the flexible ticket.
basically, STA sucks. that and i'm probably really bad at booking tickets. but mostly STA sucks because when i mentioned the $700 US Air flight the guy was like thats $1000. and i should have said on your damn website it says $700 but i didn't. and i don't know how much commission he got. i would say probably the $200 difference. that's also annoying, he was the only person allowed to change anything or tell me any prices. that meant i could only call when he was in the office. grrrr.
ok, hour nap. let's hope nobody steals my stuff.
[an hour later...]
i got a brezel from these fools:
it wasn't very good. probably because it was cold, but then again i don't know if they just come that way. and it was too salty at times. i blame the salt. and it also got all over me. but the squishy innards were pretty good.
i shouldn't have gotten the brezel, because lufthansa serves you food on an ONE HOUR FLIGHT. from frankfurt to paris, i got a mini ham sandwich and a twix bar. especially excited about the twix.
i have yet to walk in one of those extendy gate thingies at the frankfurt airport. leaving was also by bus. at the gate, you go through the...gate...and it just takes you downstairs to a waiting bus. then, i rode the bus for literally 15 minutes and it took me to the edge of the airport property (really. the airport terminal looked tiny. it was on the horizon.) and up to one of those teeny planes. 17 rows, 6 seats in a row. i know this because i was in row 16, in the middle seat. i don't know why, since the lufthansa guy at the philly airport asked me if i wanted to switch seats and i said yes and then he said aisle or window and i said window. whatever, it was only an hour. i was in between a really nice girl who tried to talk to me and a lufthansa flight attendant. i kind of feel bad for brushing off the girl, but in my defense i had gotten like 3 hours of sleep in the past 26. she asked me where i was from, i told her philadelphia, and she told me she lived in illinois for a year and i was like chicago? and she was like no closer to st louis and i was like oh. and that was the end of the conversation, because i spent the rest of it asleep/eating a ham sandwich.
Saturday, Jan 5, 11:00pm, Orbais-l'Abbey
My Host Family is the Shizzle
so yay, paris! boo for my suitcase breaking again. the pull uppy handle on my big black one doesn't pull up anymore. this has happened before, and i got this one at walmart because my old one broke because stephen is fat. but no worries, i left the baggage claim and saw the Lacaines!! they had a little sign with my name on it and it was really cute. and all three of them (Ariane, Francois, Arthur) spoke perfect english. so Francois and Arthur take my bags and we get to their car and Ariane's like oh we're not going to Paris, we're going to our country house in Champagne. is that ok? and i'm like HELLZ YEAH.
on the way to Champagne Francois tells me all about the area we're traveling too. a hectare (100m x 100m) of good vineyard in Champagne runs 1 million euros. dayum. Brie and Brouse are the most productive farming regions in all of Europe, France is the number one food exporter.
so their country house is in this village with this hella awesome church and used to be a flour mill in the 15th century (well, half of it) and has a brook running along it (for the wheel of the mill) and is probably bigger than my house in Malvern. it has four bedrooms. and a sauna. i don't even know what that means. and a projection tv. and a pool table. and a freaking fountain in the backyard. a LEGIT, pool of water with green statue (boy holding a fish) in the middle with water spouting out of the fish's mouth. INSANE.
L'église
click for explanation of the church. it's old, built in the 12-13th century
country house
parlor
no, really. fountain.Quote of the Day:
Francois: Our friends are coming for dinner. Their daughter is getting married in July, and they're spending the day sampling champagne for the wedding. So they'll be a bit dizzy when you meet them.
so after the grande tour of the house i sit in the sitting room (really want to call it a parlor) in front of the fireplace reading some art books. theres a couch and two armchairs, but also chairs from india (rocking elephant), uruguay (three legged stool), and madagascar (wood with inlay). did i mention they like to travel?
so i spend my early evening (we got there at 5:30ish) reading/knitting/explaining all the sites in the philadlephia book i got them/explaining the chinese zodiac stamps i got them until Anne and JJ (either Jean-Jacques or Jacques-Jean) arrive.
first round of dinner starts soon after--hour long champagne reception in the parlor. i think the length this round of dinner is dictated by when we finish a bottle of champagne. we also had crostini appetizers, with olive tepenade and "cream of asparagus". then we go into the dining room and have soup and bread, as Francois is amazed by me and my non-sleeping abilities. after the Ariane asks me how well i like my meat, and i say medium rare. she comes out a bit later with special meat for me, and the dish for the rest of them--Anne Marie would have been ecstatic. the cuts were brownish pink at the edges, pink on the inner edges, and pretty much raw and in the middle. for some reason though, mine was the only plate that had pinkish juice on it. everybody else had brownish juice. go figure. we also had delish pommes de terre. after stuffing my face with the two cuts of steak (already too much for me to handle) the plates are cleared and more plates are set out. this was a fancy two glasses per setting dinner. i was like 'oh no, more food?' and Arthur was like 'you're lucky we're skipping the cheese course'. dessert was epiphany (?) cake with appley stuff and fresh raspberries.
France Tip: French dinners entail copious amounts of wine. Your host will keep your glass full. If you have already had two glasses of champagne, I suggest you lay off the wine at dinner.
Quote of the Day #2: Anne and JJ's daughter Nat(h?)alie is getting married this July. I think in France the bride's family plans the wedding, because it was Anne and JJ who were picking out the venue and everything (I know, no venue picked six months before the wedding!)
Anne: It is the first wedding among me and my friends' children! About time!
Ariane: How old is Nathalie?
Anne: 26, she is getting married almost too late!
Ariane and Cathy: No!
Anne: Oh yes it is, (to Ariane) when did you get married?
Ariane: 30.
And now, i am finally off to bed. dinner ended at 10:30. 11pm, and i have gone 30 hours on 3 hours of sleep. sleep is for the weak.
Sunday, Jan 6, Orbais-l'Abbaye
ahh, woke up at noon. well, i woke up at 9 for no reason and decided to stay up, and then my cell phone alarm wakes me up at 11, and then Adriane comes to tell me it's noon and that i should probably get up or i'd have trouble falling asleep tonight.
for breakfast i had milk écrémé
and then i took a walk around the village, orbais l'abbeye, which was a couple hundred yards down the road. Francois gave me the remote control that opened the gate. and then it shuts automatically. amazing.
town of Orbais-l'Abbeye, so quaint!
Le Surmelin was the little babbling brook that was diverted (only part of it) around the house hundreds of years ago to run the wheel. 
le pont! (bridge)after the walk i read a comic book, which my dictionary was utterly unhelpful for. good thing it was mostly pictures. it was a spy mission, and they were in a soviet country. it was pretty exciting.
lunch! this time the table setting was african. african placemats, african safari animal napkin rings, tiger-print silverware, safari animal salt and pepper shakers. i know. first round was foie gras with potatoes and some mystery meat. i don't like foie gras. the potatoes were really good, though
Quote of the Day:
Adriane: And this is...well, try it first, I won't tell you what it is.
Francois: Elle est chinoise! It's duck liver.
oh, white wine with the foie gras. and two different bottles of red wine for the rest of dinner, italian and alsace. i need to learn to appreciate wine.
main dish was delish, either pork or venison, because francois said venison, wild pig. i'm leaning towards wild pig. we also had this runny mashed potatoes looking side dish, but it was really good and tasted oddly familiar, though i have no idea what it was made of.
after was the salad and cheese course. since leaving america the only vegetables i have had are three leaves of lettuce. my only conclusion from this is that europeans don't eat vegetables. (lufthansa=german, and now france). roquefort cheese is strong, but good with lettuce. the other cheese i had was melty. as in, liquid cheese. it wasn't warm or anything, it was just...viscous.
and after that was the fruit basket! i had clemetines (mmmmm) and lychees! they had lychees, i was super excited.
after lunch we watched a movie on the PROJECTION TV called la mô
and now, it's 7:30 and i think we're eating dinner here. i have to be at the center at 10am tomorrow. it takes about an hour to drive back. hrm, we shall see how this goes.
Monday, Jan 6, 8:30 am, Paris
we leave at around 10 and get back to paris at around 11:30. i don't know how to tell time and i think my watch says 12:30. i have no sense of time because i fell asleep in the car...one hour, two hours, who knows, really. the Lacaines' house is amazing. would be more amazing if i could figure out how to get online, but first things first. my room has a foldy-out bed, and on the bookshelf over the desk i see two copies of France since 1945, our required reading book. i have a good feeling i'll be leaving mine here as well...
as i settle into bed and look at my cell phone, to my surprise it says 12:15! sweet, i have an extra hour. i spend 45 minutes fruitlessly trying to get online. my computer has a bad a habit of telling me i'm connected when i'm actually not. so i have another gauge--skype. if i have internet, the little skype icon on my taskbar is green. it hasn't been green for quite some time now, boo. there are two free wireless networks, both having to do with 'neuf' which is probably a wireless provider. and then comes a giant list of protected networks.
the next room over has a desk with a laptop on it, but i looked around this morning and there was no ethernet cable, boo.
1 comment:
you are correct, i would have appreciated that steak! and you don't like foie gras...so sad. thank you for making my mouth water with descriptions of your fabulous meals though.
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