Foto

Where did they go?

Damned University connection...

Maggie links to me as "Regina in Rennes," which I enjoy very much, being completely unable to resist the charms of alliteration.

Can I just say that I forgot to pack nearly everything useful. I brought a toothbrush, yes, but only two longsleeved shirts, one of which doesn't fit me, and altogether the wrong shoes, at least based on my experience to date. I also forgot a bookbag. But I don't complain, really, since this does open up extensive shopping opportunities. I've already found a French long-sleeved shirt, though they still had mostly short-sleeved varieties in the shops (I wonder whether this lasts all winter; is it merely the French way to wear short sleeves under a sweater?) and on that subject: when the French say "small," they mean it! I haven't worn such tight clothing since highschool. But I like it. I also found a bookbag in the Galleries Lafayette, a pretty fun place all in all. I mean to go back there several times before I leave.

I also took photos of some chateaux and Andy's head, which are sure to be beautiful, but I have to process them on my machine and then load them on my host family's computer, so those will be up soonish. The fact that I've now promised should bring things along, really.

Promises, we forget about our promises...
I stop.

6 hours later...

It has been more than six hours since my last post, but it is also six hours later here than in America. Because I'm in France! I have been since Friday, in fact, but I shudder to think what kind of post I might have produced under the influence of jetlag. It's the best drug, they say. They don't really say that, and it would be the worst anyway.

But I'm a huge disappointment; I've been here three days and have failed to take a single picture! Bad me. But I will, maybe even tomorrow. In the meantime, I am to be congratulated on making it through this post in a reasonably comprehensible way on a French keyboard! My fingers are so confused... (and why on earth should one need to shift for a period? Oh, the French)

mention of books

I'm going to run ahead and do this in list form; here is a list of all the books sitting on my cedar chest. What color are books? Blue, but I'm a girl, so let's call them pink!

Marguerite Duras: L'Amant ...this was assigned reading for the last French class I audited, and I didn't quite finish it.
Marilynne Robinson: Gilead ...I loved Housekeeping, and my mother recommended this (she knows everything).
Nikolay Gogol: Dead Souls ...and Easter present from a couple years ago; very slow-going, but I've no idea why.
E. Nesbit: The Enchanted Castle ...I'd read it before, but I did have to get fifty pages in before I realized that. Delightful, anyway. E. Nesbit is peerless.
Philip Pullman: The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass ...It was the end of the summer? These are probably going to France with me, for when I miss English.
Saul Bellow: The Adventures of Augie March ...also going to France with me.
Santiago Calatrava, Milwaukee Art Museum, Quadracci Pavilion (picture book) ...gift for my French host family. I tried to pick one with lots of pictures in case they don't know any English.
Edward Gorey: Amphigorey Again ...There is nothing to be said about Edward Gorey.
National Geographic Traveler: France ...I like pictures, too.
MTV France ...Yeah, I bought it. I have my reasons, ok?
Berlitz French phrase book & dictionary ...Andy made fun of me. But eight years of literary-track French didn't teach me the everyday words I'll need; at least that's my justification.

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