Saturday, February 25, 2012

up, up, and away

one thing i'll miss about living in france and working for the french government: 2 week vacations every other month. i'm able to travel, travel, and travel some more.

on monday i'm heading to charleroi, belgium to catch an outrageously early flight on tuesday morning. i'm going here:

(http://www.pickatrail.com/jupiter/location/europe/italy/catania.html)

catania, italy. 6 days of the mediterranean sunshine. pure heaven. as if i don't usually have enough time for rest and relaxation, i'm going to get more of it. 

my biggest problem in preparing for this trip is trying to figure out what to pack and having my backpack weigh less than 10kg (about 22lbs). i've always been terrible at packing a bag. and to put a weight limit like that on it? i'm screwed...thank you, ryan air. i have a feeling i'm going to look like the michelin man going through security at the airport. 

i suppose it's not a bad price to pay for such a cheap flight to somewhere so beautiful. 

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

is that a boy or a girl?

this past weekend i experienced french carnaval. boys dressed up as girls, confetti everywhere, dead fish being thrown from windows, and of course, beer and fries.

my roommates and i took a day trip to dunkerque on sunday for the experience..we heard it was something we shouldn't miss out on. i wore my green pants to try my hardest to fit in without a costume..it didn't work. we stuck out like sore thumbs. the train ride itself was nuts. every stop they had to add more cars to accomodate all the drunk frenchies dressed like girls. i've never seen so many men wearing tights and lipstick. 

we got there and finding the center of town was easy enough: follow the people. it was so crowded. we got fries and walked around. a little girl came up to me, gave me the twice over, then threw confetti at me. only me. i guess she liked my pants? 

we ended the afternoon in front of the hotel de ville to watch the mayor throw dead herrings wrapped up in plastic out of the window. i still don't know the meaning behind this, but we ran as soon as we realized people unwrap them and proceed to throw them at each other. i almost got one rubbed in my face, but being small has it's perks; i just ducked behind people while we were trying to push our way out of the crowd. 

the fish throwing madness: 


part of the confetti/feather aftermath:


happy carnaval!

Thursday, February 16, 2012

where to?

'a lot of moving, a lot of rolling, a lot of driving, a lot of strolling. a lot of leaving here, arriving there. trying to go just about everywhere. a lot of thinking about where i'm going next.' -the avett brothers

so many trips coming up! i figured i'd let you in on my super (not so) secret plans..

planned:
dunkerque, france on february 19th
sicily, italy on february 28th for a week
istanbul, turkey on march 6th for a week

planning:
somewhere to try to see the northern lights or edinburgh, scotland (march)
london, england (march)
working on an organic farm somewhere in france (march or april)
amsterdam, netherlands (april)
dubrovnik, split, and zadar croatia (april)
ibiza, spain (april)

i'll be gone practically every weekend until i'm back home. i'll be back in the great state of north carolina in less than three short months--i can't believe it. i'm so looking forward to being in charlotte again but am thrilled about all the trips i'm about to take. here's to happy travels!





Wednesday, February 15, 2012

me, i play

in honor of valentines day and adorable things, i found this video. i love. i love polaroids. i love fun. i love things that spread happiness. i love love. 


i also LOVE this song. by brigitte bardot, called 'moi je joue.' it's so playful (and playing is one of my favorite things.) 

'moi je joue. moi je joue à joue contre joue. je veux jouer à joue contre vous. mais vous, le voulez-vous? de tout coeur, je veux gagner ce coeur à coeur. vous connaissez mon jeu par coeur..alors défendez-vous.'

meaning:
'me, i play. me, i play cheek-to-cheek. i want to play taking aim at you. but you, do you want to? with all my heart, i want to win this heart-to-heart. you know my game by heart...so defend yourself.'

too cute. happy (belated) valentines day lovebirds. 

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Friday, February 3, 2012

happy winter?

it started...almost as if punxutawney phil really is a meterologist (or god.) winter has arrived in the north of france. i thought i wasn't happy about it. the wind turned cold and--already being in the warm weather mindset--i was PISSED. i was ready for spring and summer and all that comes with it. then, while i was lying in my bed watching my new tv obsession (amc's the killing,) it started to snow. it was so pretty. i love the snow. because it's been so cold it started sticking immediately. 

i walked to the train station, caught a few snowflakes on my tongue, and was just so content. i'm so intrigued by the calm that comes with snow. everything seemed so still, so slow, so perfect. it kept snowing and snowing and snowing. i went to ashtanga and when i came out there were inches covering the ground. then, walking to the metro, i fell and busted my ass. thanks phil. 

i decided this season can only stick around if it keeps snowing. happy winter.

(image from google)

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

champagne wednesday

happy wednesday! deciding i don't need any particular reason to celebrate, i instituted champagne wednesday with my roommates. why? well...why not? there isn't always rhyme to my reason.

i encourage everyone to find a little bliss and happiness on this humpiest day (in any way you can.)

santé!