Something Wicked This Way Comes!

So I was going to wait until I got home to blog about London and Paris together, but I think I'm going to have two posts because London was just so amazing.

By the time I got into London, checked in at my hostel, and got some food (the first thing I'd had since my yogurt and quiche at 9 in the morning), it was already about 2:30 in the afternoon. Though I'd had grand ideas about what I would do when I got to London, the threatening rain put a hold on most of my plans, so I asked the guy working the hostel check-in desk for suggestions.

I ended up going to The Monument. Yes, that is its name. No, I'm not joking. I'm still not sure what it's a monument for (I have yet to read the paper they gave me), but it's a 311-stair climb to the top, and then you get a 360-degree panoramic view of the city. Luckily the rain held off and I had a pretty spectacular view of Tower Bridge and the Tower of London.

Tower Bridge and the very tip top of the Tower of London on the left (behind some other building)

Me and Tower Bridge

311 steps to do down.

View from the ground.

This isn't The Monument, it's another one, but I liked these lions.

After The Monument, I wanted to head over to SOHO. Naturally, I got a little distracted by the discount theatre ticket sellers. I asked for the cheapest show they had, and ended up seeing Blood Brothers. Funny story time. When they told me that I could see Blood Brothers I wasn't exactly thrilled. I hadn't heard of it, but decided to give it a try as it had been compared to Billy Elliot. About 20 minutes into the show, something hits me--this story is familiar. Really familiar. Suddenly, I realize that I've seen this play before. Not the whole play, mind you, but a shortened version of it at MIFA my sophomore year. London has a habit of throwing bunches of coincidences at me. (It's okay, London, I love you too!)

The show itself was SPECTACULAR. I cannot sing enough praise for the actors who were spot on--not to mention the set, which was incredible. I was totally blown away. Totally worth 23 quid (especially considering the nostalgia factor).

Wednesday was Harry Potter Day. The morning was nice--it rained all day, but I didn't mind. I wanted to head over to the Hard Rock Cafe. Well, being me, I got lost. In the rain. No raincoat. Umbrella broken. Tant pis. It was actually nice wandering around in the rain. I explored some pretty posh neighborhoods, stumbled upon a statue celebrating Leonardo DaVinci, and generally reflected on my time traveling. Traveling alone, I think, suits me.

Homage to DaVinci

After Hard Rock, I decided to check out the train station I would need to be at to get the train to Leavesden Studios. I ended up spending the rest of the day there. I got a coffee and a tomato and cheese muffin sandwich, did some sodoku puzzles, and people watched. After a bit, I decided to go exploring to see if I could find a raincoat and/or umbrella.

I found the British Library instead. It was a pretty good find. I spent some time wandering around, admiring the books and the architecture, spent even more time in the gift shop refraining from buying even MORE books (I got some games though...). Then my tummy told me it was time to find some food. Then it was time to catch the train to Watford, England.

Statue at the British Library

Entrance to the British Library courtyard

MY VERY OWN HOGWARTS EXPRESS! (I was even standing on the platform between 9 and 10.)

I'm not sure how many of you have seen Kristen Bell's sloth excitement freakout, but that was nearly me on the way to The Making of Harry Potter. On the train, I nearly got sick I was so nervous/excited. Then, when I walked in the doors (into the lobby, not really anything terribly special), it was all I could do to not burst out crying. I was just so excited. I got my souvenir guidebook, my digital guide (which was freaking INCREDIBLE, by the way), and checked my bags. 

I was *thisclose* to this happening walking into The Making of Harry Potter (also, please go look up this video).

I almost cried about 50 more times and had to just keep telling myself that if I cry, I'll look horrible in all the pictures. I can't even really describe how amazing this was. I just can't. The pictures don't do it justice (especially since mine are pretty blurry because all I've got is my iPhone camera (and a shaky hand)). If you are a Harry Potter fan, this is an absolute must see. There is just nothing for it, I'm excited to go to Harry Potter...World? Land? Whatever they call it in Florida, but I honestly doubt it will compare to this. I really can't wait to go watch all the movies again, to look for all the details I got to see.

Cupboard under the stairs

Handprints of Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe, and Rupert Grint.

Armor

In front of the Ravenclaw table

My three favorite professors.

Me and Snape!

1 of 15 golden snitches hidden in the exhibition

Daniel Radcliffe's costumes in various states of disrepair

Harry's bed

Random hallway

Mirror of Erised

House elf armor

Giant clock

Dumbledore's office

Owl :)

Death eater masks

Weasley kitchen

Chamber of secrets

Hagrid's hut

Narcissa Malfoy

Ministry of Magic

Tom Riddle's Grave

The Hogwarts Bridge

No. 4 Privet Drive

The Potter's Cottage at Godric's Hollow

Chess Piece

Knight Bus

BRB off to Diagon Alley

Knight Bus

Sirius Black's Motorcycle

Weasley Car

Hogwarts Bridge

Giant Chess Piece

Me and Dobby

Buckbeak!

Model of Gringotts

Actual Gringotts!

At Diagon Alley

Miniature

Chilling at Hogwarts

The Hogwarts "Miniature"

Ollivander's Wands

The wand of the most magical woman of all

Out front

The only thing that was a little disappointing was the timing. My tour didn't start until 4. The last shuttle left the studio to go back to the train station at 7:30. You'd think 3.5 hours would be enough. It's not. Trust me. I feel like I missed quite a bit of stuff, kind of rushed through some parts, and didn't get to explore the digital guide NEARLY enough for my liking. If any of you are planning a trip here, book the first tour in the morning. There is no time limit on how long you can spend in there. And you could EASILY spend the entire day there looking at everything. They even have sandwiches and butterbeer about halfway through.

I fully intend on coming back. Not before I leave France this year for certain, but one day, I will be back. It was so incredible to explore once, and I can't wait to explore it again.

As of right now, I'm on the train back to Paris. In a few hours, I'll be back in my (other) beloved city and I have to say adieu to London.

So long, London. Until next time... mischief managed!

Wine makes for big thoughts

Oh hey there! I meant to update a little earlier, but figured it could wait a day or two so that you could get an update with some pictures from the lovely Bordeaux!

So, last week was our last week of school. Exams are over, classes are over, everything is done! Well, except theatre. So, Thursday and Friday I had theatre all day (9:30am until 6:30pm). After rehearsal on Thursday we also all had dinner together so that Yael could interview us all for her research. After dinner, I went to a sort of school party with Sonia (one of the professors), Yael (our director), and a couple of kids from the show. I drank a glass of beer and stood around awkwardly--none of us were really dressed for the party (like homecoming, but tiny and for no apparent reason), and it was WAY too loud to talk. Needless to say, the tram doesn't run very often late at night, so I sat around waiting for it for about 20 minutes and didn't get home until 11:30. Wake up, rinse, repeat (minus dinner and the party).

During theatre on Friday, I found out that our plans to Guédelon fell through because of scheduling conflicts. In the end it worked out okay since Saturday was raining and crappy anyway, but it still left me wondering whether I'm the only one who knows how to use a calendar. But oh well, maybe it just meant more to me than the others. I'll get back there eventually. To add to the let-down on Friday, some lady commented on my acne in the tram on the way home. I'm sure it was well meaning, but it kind of made me want to cry. (What happened to the French being polite?!) However, I got home and snagged some tickets to see a taping of The Colbert Report while I'm in New York this summer, so that made things better.

Saturday I was going to clean my room, pack for Bordeaux, get a head start on my packing for London/Paris, organize everything and be super-duper productive! I ended up playing a French game similar to Pay Day with one of my host sisters for about 2 hours. Then she helped me clean a bit. I ended up not being very productive at all (though I did get my room fairly organized), but I really enjoyed playing games with my host sister, so I don't think it was a waste of time at all.

I had to wake up bright and early Sunday morning to catch a train to (*drumroll*) Bordeaux! I went with Maddie, Angela, and Kako. We took the TGV (bullet train!), and though I'm pretty sure we annoyed the crap out of the people next to us, it was a blast. Then again, maybe Kako thinks we're crazy. Not sure.

When we got to Bordeaux, we had a little time to get ourselves situated before we headed out on our vineyard tour. We went to Saint-Emilion and got a tour of the medieval town as well as the monolithic church. The cave where Saint Emilion (the saint after whom the town was named) lived for about 7 years was amazing. He had carved out a bed and a meditation chair, as well as a shelf for food offerings. Then we headed into the catacombs and the monolithic church itself. We weren't allowed to take pictures to help preserve the art and structures (not sure if light destroys rock, but I complied with their wishes anyway).

View from the terrace near the tourism office.

SPOT THE KAKO! I loved the architecture in this town.

Honestly, walking into the church was incredible. My mouth hung open for a good ten minutes. In case you've never heard of this church, it was carved, by hand, into rock (18 meters underground) with absolutely no modern technology. I believe it was built in something like the 12th century. To be honest (and a bit of a dork), I felt like I had fallen right into the mines of Moria in Tolkein's Middle Earth. I was completely bulldozed. (I looked for pictures online to no particular avail--guess you'll all just have to fly to Bordeaux and check it out for yourselves!)

The bell tower on top of the underground cathedral

After that part of the tour came the most exciting, most anticipated part of the excursion--the visit to the wine chateau and the wine tasting. We visited Chateau Champion (please read that with a French accent and not an American one, lol) which is a small family owned winery. The wife showed us around and explained the detailed process which is wine making, which was super interesting. (Guess the secret ingredients, guys!) Then we got to sit down and taste two different wines. It was my first wine tasting ever, and it was a wonderful experience. (Then I bought a bunch of wine....)

It's still a little early in the season

ALL THE AWKWARD PHOTOS OF ME

Barrels of wine.

Our first wine from 2009 (complete with plant tentacles)

Me with our second wine--a 2008

I have decided to become a wine connoisseur. :)

 The coolest part about the tour was that it was a dual-language tour. The guide spoke both French and English. It was awesome to know that I understood about 99.9% of what she said (the other .01% were technical wine making terms that I wouldn't have even understood in English). Plus I just found it really fascinating to hear her translate her own sentences from French into English. A couple times, she'd say something in French and then start translating it in English and I'd be like, "Wait, she's already explained this..." and then it would dawn on me that she HAD already explained it.... in French.

After the tour, we ate Italian (we just can't keep our foods and countries straight). Then we headed to this weird sort of interactive fountain thing. You can walk on/in it. Half the time it looks like a mirror (with just a thin layer of water on the ground) and the other half of the time it sprays a really fine, light mist.

Naturally, Kako and I went running in like kids in a candy store. This image was only enhanced by my super cheap backpack bouncing up and down as I ran, skipped, and jumped around. I felt like I was 5, and it. was. awesome.

The mist!

Mist going away--in front of some big important building I can't remember the name of.

Mist gone. :( (said the worst tourist ever, after forgetting the name of the big important building she stood in front of)

We turned in pretty early and just kind of hung out in the hotel watching some strange French documentary about people who... well... were strange. Monday morning it was super rainy, so we took a bus tour of the city. I listed to the audio commentary in French (score!) and took in the sights. (When I say "took in the sights", I mean "was too busy ogling architecture to remember to take photos".) All in all, it was really nice.

Bordeaux is actually a really fantastic city and I was sad to have to leave after just one day, but I took the train home by myself (1st class because it was cheaper!) and took some time to seriously start reflecting on the months that I've spent here.

I have come to two big conclusions:
1. I think I grew up at some point, and am not exactly sure when/how/why this happened, but I suppose it's probably a good thing
and
2. I really can't picture not spending the rest of my life in this beautiful, rich country.

After all my [serious voice] DEEP PONDERINGS [/serious voice] on the TGV I encountered my first French rail strike (yippee!!! it's not France without a strike!) while changing trains near Tours. Luckily, my second train was only 15 minutes late, so I still got home fairly early. Just in time to pack for...

LONDON

Yep, that's right. I'm going back to London tomorrow (the bubbles and squeak call me home...). It'll be a short trip, mostly just going to finish up some things I didn't get to see when we went in February and to go to the Harry Potter Studio Tour. I'm not sure you can even imagine my excite. It's pretty monumental. I return from London Thursday, but will stay in Paris for a few days to visit Versailles and possibly Fontainebleu.

Until next time... NOX.

During exams, life is dull--and then I make cake!

Hello there, neglected blog. I know, I know, I'm the worst blogger ever. Unfortunately, unlike the last time I took a couple week hiatus from writing, I don't have 4 posts worth of pictures and exciting travel news. Essentially, I've been going to classes and that's it. Until Thursday, when fun stuff started happening. So yay! Fun stuff! I even have pictures!!

For my Francophonie class, I wrote a paper about my relationship with French cooking. I had typed it up on one of the computers at school, and one of my other professors decided to read it. Well, she got all excited and told me about this cooking lesson that was going on at the university on Thursday night (this was Tuesday afternoon). Well, I didn't get the information about it until Wednesday afternoon, and even though I had missed the deadline to sign up, I decided to email them to see if they had any space left, just in case. And boy, was I lucky!

So Thursday night, I wandered around campus to find the Polytech building (that I had never been to or seen before). Luckily, I had a map and got there a bit early. I helped everyone set up the makeshift kitchen and we all got to cooking. Our menu: navarin d'agneau légumes printaniers and some sort of cake (I can never remember the name of the cake). The class was really fun, and the chef was super helpful (considering I don't know pretty much anything about French cooking terms--I only know them in English).

Cooking my lamb

In the middle of the navarin

Comparing the finished products (mine's on the bottom)

My little mini cake.

The class was about 4 hours long, so by the time I got home, it was like 10. And I still hadn't had time to eat any of the deliciousness that I had made. I found dinner waiting for me on the table (<3 my host family), so I ate that and stuck my yummies in the fridge to take to the collège for lunch in the morning.

So Friday I got to go to the collège (middle school) to teach students for the last time this semester. I ended up eating couscous with the teachers (instead of my lamb and cake), and then headed off to observe a French course for an hour. After that, I had my usual two groups of students. We played theatre games, and it was so much fun. I'm going to miss them. :(

This morning, I was up early (5:30 x_x) to head off to the Chateau Amboise and Clos-Lucé (the home of Leonardo DiVinci). The long and short of it: Amboise is beautiful (mostly the gardens; I tend to prefer the gardens to the actual chateaux themselves) and Clos-Lucé is probably the coolest place anyone could ever go. The house itself is cute, fairly interesting. What's awesome is that they have a HUGE park surrounding the house with live-size working models of some of DaVinci's inventions that you can try/play with yourself. Unfortunately, we were exhausted and didn't have terribly much time to play, but it was still fun anyway.

Chateau Amboise

Why does this tree remind me of the Lion King?

The bust of Leonardo DaVinci. He used to be buried here, then they moved him somewhere else.

More Chateau Amboise

Me with my bag of cake.

Beautiful columns around the fireplace

I want to build a wall in my garden someday, just so I can have one of these.

Clos-Lucé

DaVinci's Garden

Clos-Lucé

This bridge is awesome

I don't know what this is for, but you run around underneath it, and make the top turn.

Finally, when I got home from the excursion on Saturday (finally, finally) I got to eat my lamb and cake. (EXCITING). It was pretty freaking delicious. I have the recipes and fully intend to make more when I get home.

Other than that, I am starting to plan my trip to Italy (bon-JOUR-no -- this is actually how my Italian sounds). Definitely getting really excited about that and my trip back to London for the Harry Potter Studio Tour. My classes will be over as of Wednesday (the exception being theater). And then hopefully I'll have much more fun frequent updates for you! I think we're going to Guédelon next weekend, and possibly a trip down to Bordeaux to visit a vineyard.

À plus, mes amis! :)