1st term here officially "un fait accompli" (assuming I didn't fail any courses)

I wrote my final test for "Roman, Cinema, Societe" (I really don't know how to do accents on this laptop) and I mean, I didn't bother to study that much, but I think it went OK. It wasn't exactly my favourite course, and ultimately I just wanted to pass it and get it all behind me.

After that, I went les galaries nationales du grand palais to see the Gustave Courbet exhibit. It was really packed as it was the last day for the it, but I'm really glad I went. I really don't know much about Courbet, but I am somewhat familiar with a few of his works. Here is a sampling of what I saw:

This was the exhibition's poster, with one of his self-portraits

Burials at Ornans, which is incredibly huge. I looked it up, it's about 10 feet high and 21 feet long. I'm constantly impressed by how gigantic some of the paintings I've studied really are.

The (in)famous L'origine du monde

His paintings were really cool and interesting. I also loved his landscapes and hunting scenes. The Musee d'Orsay has a good webpage if you're interested in learning more.

After the exbibt, I came back home. Erin and her friend Bobby came over later to eat some pasta and oreos, and watch C.R.A.Z.Y., a wonderful French-Canadian movie if you've never seen it.

A giant, picture-filled post to make up for the fact that I haven't posted in a while

So I know it's been a damn long time since I've last posted. I guess there hasn't been too much to report. I've been mostly lying in bed the last few days doing nothing, and the less I do the less willing I am to get up and be productive. I'm fairly certain I'm only attending to my blog now is because I have to study for an exam tomorrow, and blogging is less effort. I am a professional procastinator!

First off, watch this video of Flight of the Conchords, a comedy, folk song duo from New Zealand. They do a song about a sexy song called "Business Time."





I've just been watching a bunch of their songs on YouTube, and they are all hilarious. Here are a few pictures from the Christmas holidays.

Les Galeries Lafayette

Paris at Christmastime

La famille
Melanie, Camille, and Mom (she's kissing Camille's hand. How cute is that baby!)

Me in Santa mode



My cousin Dave has already come and gone. We had a lot of fun together, but I was mostly stressed about my Goya exam and didn't get to spend as much time with him as I would have liked. We didn't go to Amsterdam either.

But we did do some cool shit together. We got to ride the giant ferris wheel at Place de la Concorde.

The wheel

The view from the wheel We checked out the Louvre, and the inverted pyramid (and the Starbucks. Dave loves Starbucks)
La grande arche de la Defense (which is in the business area of Paris. Apparently all of Notre Dame cathedral could fit inside).
The Pompidou Centre (the line-ups were crazy so we only looked at the building)
La musee des arts et metiers


And the Moulin Rouge, where we ate a nice dinner, watched a wonderfully tacky show, and met two cool Austrailian guys sitting next to us.

Now I really need to get studying for this friggin' exam.

p.s. Please comment! I'm lonely and I love reading them. God I'm desperate.

Words I've learnt

from Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth, which I am presently reading

lu·gu·bri·ous /lʊˈgubriəs, -ˈgyu-/ [loo-goo-bree-uhs, -gyoo-]
–adjective
mournful, dismal, or gloomy, esp. in an affected, exaggerated, or unrelieved manner: lugubrious songs of lost love.
[Origin: 1595–1605; <>-ous]

re·con·noi·ter (rē'kə-noi'tər, rěk'ə-)
v. tr. To make a preliminary inspection of, especially in order to gather military information. v. intr. To make a reconnaissance.
[Obsolete French reconnoître, from Old French reconoistre, to recognize; see recognize.]

Things are going well in Paris, by the way. My cousin Dave arrives tomorrow! I'm very excited, but less excited to have to get up at 7am to meet him at the airport. I'm hoping we get the chance to visit Amsterdam together. This song has been inspiring me to see the city. I mean, I've seen the airport, so it's time I see the rest of it.

Well that was fast

My stay in Montreal is almost at a close. I had a nice little vacay though. I had forgotten how nice my parent's house is! How much I love my bathtub! I love being home, but I know it's time to return to Paris 'CAUSE MY PARENTS ARE DRIVING ME FUCKING CRAZY! I love them though.

Christmas was lovely. I got a Jamie Oliver cookbook, my plane ticket back to Paris, cash in Euro form, a Tommy Hilfiger gift certificate, a necklace and a spa massage + pedicure. I got to meet my cousin's new baby girl Camille, who is absolutely adorable. Things got kind of tough when my Dad had a bad sciatica attack (a pinched nerve in his back) which left him immobile and we had to call an ambulance. Right now he's feeling much better, but he's on some pretty strong pain killers. For New Year's Eve I went to my brother's place to party with him and some of his friends. It was pretty fun, but they love punk and metal a lot and that really isn't my favourite kind of music.

I think the best part about being back has been the weather! Canadian winter, yes! Right now it's -14 outside and there's like 4 feet of snow on the ground. I'm not even kidding, it's absolutely nuts. I will post my pictures from Montreal when I get back to Paris and can load them on my laptop.

I will leave you, however, with this lovely New Year's picture of me (who is not as inebriated as the picture suggests) and my brother's friend Damien (who is, in my brother's word, "a slime ball")

Happy 2008 everyone!