5 days writing, and basically it's poop

15 Septembre until 20 september, when I finished the blog posting.

Last Friday we had the chance to take an overnight trip to Giverny and La Roche Guyon, two little towns about 2 hours outside of Paris.  Aside from being a nice trip into the country, we were also indulged with two chateux, an enormous market, an exhibit on Impressionism, and the home and gardens of one Claude Monet.  

Now, let me start by saying that Impressionism is not my favorite style of art, but even I can take a step back from the wishy-washy muted colors and find beauty in some of the paintings.  Some being the key word.  After leaving Paris, we first stopped at a Museum of Impressionism, where they were hosting an exhibit from the Clark Museum in Massachusetts.  Many of the paintings were very attractive, but by the end of our visit, all the flowers were beginning to blend together.  After the museum visit, we drove a short distance to the Chateau de Bizy, an incredible structure started in 1675, and finished in its current state in the 1909.  It is really an incredible example of countless architectural styles, and with an interior that is second to none.  The main salon has boisery (wood carvings) which originated in another chateau and are really beautiful.  I was really in my element.  

Complementing the woodwork and architecture were many stunning furnishings and pieces of art.  18^th century portraits, Gobelin tapestries, and some beautiful Empire furnishings really made for a beautiful room.  At one end was a piano decorated with gold and painted scenes which the docent allowed Teddy, a Trinity student, to play.  

After the chateau, we were whisked off to our two star accommodations.  From the outside, the hotel resembled every other nursing home I’d ever seen, and upon entering, the combined smells of mediocrity and the eighties were almost overpowering.  Since there are only three boys on the Trinity program, we were given our own room, the handicapped room.  With linoleum floors, and an enormous bathroom, we were content.  The three tiny beds hardly made a dent in the huge room, and I think we had enough space to fit an entire line dancing party as well.  Once we got settled, I went outside to pretend to be social and to get to know some of the other people a bit better.  After a while we went on a little walk around the area, and to visit our only neighbors: a flock of sheep.  The three guys decided to become better acquaitned with the sheep, so we jumped the electric fence (after Teddy made sure it was still active) to run with the sheep.  Well, it’s not quite like running with the bulls, or running to the roar, but everyone was running, all in different directions.  

Dinning was surprisingly good for being served in a glorified cafeteria, and the wine was pretty much delicious as well.  After all, it was something “du Maine” so it was destined for perfection.  After dinner, a handful of us went to the bar to enjoy a drink or two.  Joining us was a group of very inebriated Dutch firefighters, which proved to be a most amusing mixture.  Probably the best part of the evening was when two sets of girls came down from their rooms with problems that needed to be translated to the front desk woman.  Unfortunately I never learned how to say “There’s a leftover pube in my bed,” but the picture that the girl had taken was not only clear in meaning, but it also caused the woman at the desk to laugh out loud.  I did know how to complain for the second girl about the blood stains on her sheets.  Thank God for small miracles.

The next day we ate at the hotel and then went an enormous village market in nearby Vernon.  (Vernon is across the Seine from Giverny.)  After a quick stop and walk, we drove over to the Monet Gardens and House.  After entering the grounds, it was almost like a scavenger hunt to find the house behind all the gardens, but find it we did.  No wonder Monet painted so many flowers, it wouldn’t be hard to get lost in his gardens!  The garden has flowers of every shape, style, flavor, type, texture, height, and bra size.  Literally. 

While walking through Monet’s house, I was surprised to see how brightly he painted its interior.  The pink stucco exterior with kelly green shutters was a surprise to begin with, but the azure blue walls, with light trim, and dark blue highlights was really a shock.  As was the green and purple trimmed hallway and bright yellow dining room.  It was really interesting, though, because those are the colors Monet used in so many of his paintings.  After exploring the house, we walked to the more informal gardens, which I really enjoyed.  They were so savage, yet so beautiful.  It was really clear where the inspiration for his water lily paintings came from, and really, it looks just like the paintings.  After our trip through Monet-land, we had lunch in a nearby cafe (again with wine - not from Maine, and not as good).  On our way home we stopped by the Chateau de Roche Guyon, which we couldn’t enter because it’s currently being used to shoot a film.  

After getting back to Paris, I spent the afternoon getting my laundry in order and relaxing before going out that night.  The next day, September 11^th, I went to the events at the American Cathedral in Paris (I really wanted to see the church and it was really beautiful), and then to the event “Les Français N’Oublieront Jamais” at Trocadéro.  Put together by four French men living in New York in 2001, it was a touching memorial and a great combination of French and American traditions.  One American tradition I couldn’t help noticing was that of driving a big car.  The mayor of Paris arrived in a tiny little car (a Renault or Citroen, or something like that), while the American Ambassador arrived in a giant Chevy Tahoe.  Sort of bizarre.  For those of you who want to see some pictures and videos, go to my Flickr site.  Hopefully I have them figured out.  Beware though, it’s not totally up to date, and definitely not annotated yet.  All in good time, young grasshoppers.  *Yeah, well I can't find the webaddress, but I'll work on that so you can see my pics.

On Monday Tori and I had the opportunity to explore near the Bastille where we discovered a few things including a canal, old men playing Petanque, and that French exhibitionism is still alive and well.  Since the first two are pretty self-explanatory (Petanque is a French ball game like bocce), I’ll discuss briefly the French penchant for the naked.  We all know that the French love nakedness.  It’s a stereotype, and if you spend much time around France, you’re going to see a naked thing or two.  (Many more if you venture into the Louvre.)  Anyway, Tori and I were walking down the street and we noticed a little girl by a tree.  Now, at first glance it seem innocuous enough: girl, tree, road, parents, sidewalk… nothing out of the ordinary.  It wasn’t until we noticed that she wasn’t wearing any pants that the first set of alarms went off.  Now, ordinarily a pantless 5 or 6 year old wouldn’t really shock me, but since she was backed up to a tree, I knew something just “warn’t right.”  Side note here, if you want to see a funny youtube, look up the Backing Up Song and watch the first one with the cartoon picture.  Anyway, she was all backed up to the tree, pantless, and bending over, and the she started to poop.  Yeah, she was building a brick wall, laying a deuce, going caca, whatever you want to say… There she was, backed up to a tree between the sidewalk and the road, with her parents sitting just 20 feet away on a bench, dropping a load.  

The best part of this: about 3 days later, I was walking to the metro stop from my house, (which is in a very wealthy and residential area), when I came across a mother and her teenaged daughter, and an empty stroller.  I didn’t really pay attention and changed the song on my iPod to Billy Joel’s “Always a Woman,” (okay, that’s an exaggeration, but it would be funny), when I looked up to see a father holding his daughter so that her back was against his stomach and with her legs out, peeing on the sidewalk.  Seriously, dude, have you no dignity?  At least let the Hoover Dam release at the low part of the hill, not at the very top so it drips down the entire road!

And with that I bid you adieu.  If you’ve made it all the way through this: Way to Be!  I’d have gotten bored about 15 paragraphs ago and gone to facebook.  Clearly you need to get a life.