new soul

dans le sud

I got back on Tuesday from a wonderful trip down to the South to visit a friend of mine. Since I didn't have vacation in April (I decided to work for some extra cash-ola) I took a few days before the exams while my students are doing their study week. While Miss A. was working/in class I had a little adventure in Arles/Avignon one day and Carcassonne the other. I've never been south of Lyon (except a day and a half in Nice) so I was excited to explore something new but always happy to come home to Normandy :-)

I'll just leave you lovely readers with this video :-)



PS. Indiana Jones so not worth it! Don't waste your money... :-)

for the bible tells me so

Yesterday I was reading a post a friend put on her blog. It was about the documentary For the Bible Tells me So. I had never heard of it but after doing some poking around on the internet I managed to watch it and I have to agree, it was an amazing movie.

Dealing with such a hot topic this movie managed to show a side that was not constantly a "put down." The strongest message I felt was to be open minded and to use your noggin. I think the biggest dangers are believing in something because someone else tells you to and following blindly in something. I think these messages spread beyond what is discussed in the film.

I wish a movie like this would have come out when I was in high school, I saw so many people just following what so-and-so says just because they said it. It was so horrible to watch such smart people be so close-minded. I like the way the film presents things in a heartfelt manner, it doens't seem to be "we're right and this is why" but rather lets look at both sides - at all people - and then look at some logic behind it. It is dangerous to put labels on anything or anyone, history has shown us that.

Why are we still doing it today?

One of my favorite clips used in the movie was this one, I like smart comedy :-)

happy mother's day!

Happy Mother's Day!!! :-)

Iron Man

Yesterday was a quiet day, the coast was socked in by the fog almost the whole day so Mystery Guest and I stayed inside and got some work done.

Today, however, we need a break and with the sun out and shining we drove over to Cherbourg and did some running around. Got ID pictures taken conform to the new regulations (for his carte d'identite and my carte de sejour), some stuff at the grocery store and an awesome new phone for Mystery Guest from Lidl. (did I ever mention how Lidl rocks my socks????)

Then we went out for some sushi and a movie. Went to go see Iron Man. I'm always a bit skeptical of action movies, but to be honest it was so fun! Robert Downey Jr is great in the role, adding a bit of comedy and his quirky nature :-)

dr. pepper

Spotted in Auchan in Cherbourg last week... but at 1e45 a can - I don't think so!

vacances dans le sud!

Hello Hello!

Ok I need some help from the blogging world! I'm going down to Montpellier next week for 5 days to visit a good friend of mine, but 2 of the days she has to work - since I've never visited the south of France before I'd like to do some day trips. I was thinking 1 day Avignon and 1 day in Carcassonne. I was looking at train times and if I reserve in advance I can get cheaper tickets.

So my question to you: is there enough to do in Avignon if I hang out from 10am - 8pm? Same in Carcassonne? I don't really like travelling on my own so I'd rather have things to do but not spend too much money either... anyway any advice would be very welcome!! :-)

Thanks!!!

dirty neighbors?

As someone who hasn't had a dryer in over 5 years reading this article came as a huge shock! I couldn't believe it when people complain about the "unslightlyness" of seeing someone's clothes hanging outside to dry!

I love it when its summer and I hang up my clothes in my room (living in an appt right now, can't wait for a house with a garden!) and opening up the windows all day. The afternoon sun hits my little drying rack and between that and the constant breeze off the English Channel my clothes dry quickly and smell great. Yes, sometimes it would be nice to have a dryer so I could dry my sheets at home, but due to lack of space instead I take them down to the local lavomatique every couple weeks. (er... yes, big lie on my part... sadly it is not nearly as often as I would like it to be... opps) Otherwise my appartment would look like this one :-)

Hello people, wake up and smell the greenhouse gases, global warming is not a myth! If everyone did a little something to help out maybe things might actually change..

May 1

May 1st is Labor Day in France and a national holiday. Since this year it was a Thursday a lot of people take off work on Friday to get a long weekend out of it. (Next weekend is even longer, Thursday and Monday are both off!) Since Mystery Guest's parents were out of town this weekend we invited some friends to come discover the region. Kristina and Charlie (another franco-american couple) were able to come for the day on Thursday but had to leave early Friday morning. Nonetheless we crammed a lot of great things into one day and the weather mostly cooperated!

In the morning there were some nasty black clouds that would send occasional showers our way but passed quickly with the wind. We decided to take our chances and have a picnic next to a little river where we had had a picnic last October for my birthday. We had a few showers but hey, how many people can say that they've had a picnic in the rain?? As we raised our goblets of wine to the passing cars people waved and laughed at us - it was great!

Then as we drove to the beach the skies cleared and we had a beautiful walk along the coast.

Kristina taking a close up picture of the flowers (which made us all laugh, it looked like she was a sniper trying to take out the Germans...)

Then we went into Cherbourg to go to the Chateau des Ravalet and then into downtown to grab a drink on the terrace. The town was pretty dead but there were some people selling muguets - lily of the valley - in the main square.

Then we took them down to a great little cookie store, like an old fashioned general store where everything is homemade and delish! And finally to Briquebec and a creperie for dinner!
It was a great day!! Not too busy, we had time to lay in the sun and enjoy a day off to play :-)

Of course in the evening we had to go for a game of Catan, two actually it was just too good!