Munich Part Deux

Salut! So Munich was actually a while ago but theres a long story behind that and I might as well get into it now ;)

Pretty much the Honeymoon had to end sometime. So 2 Thursdays ago (September 18...wow its been a long time since Ive really been able to update this blog), I was supposed to fly out of Paris to Munich in the morning. Unfortunately...I missed the flight. I know what youre thinking. How is possible for Emily to miss 3 international flights in less than 3 weeks. Overall, Id have to say its a mix of Skill, Bad Luck and most definitely Poor Judgement (the latter played a heavy part in the first two missed flights). Buuuut, this last flight to Munich was almost all bad luck. So the day before, while I was in the the Boondogs at Jouy (I dont know if I mentioned that my school is in the middle of BFE) I got a call from my landlord. Turns out, while I was at school, the water heater decided to fall from the ceiling in my bathroom and tear out all the associated plumbing along with it. There was so much hot water leaking everywhere that it flowed through two floors below me into the café and they ended up calling the fire department to come break into my apartment and shut off the water. They shut off the electricity too as a safety measure so by the time I got home, I had no water, no electricity and no drainage even since the pipes were all broken. I had to brush my teeth by using a bottle of water and spitting into a cup, then walking 3 stories down to throw away the cup of water at the café. I had to wait for a non existent electrician the next day and I ended up missing my flight. Luckily, my guardian angel, Mike, happened to be up at the wee hours of the morning back in the States and was able to get me last minute tix to Munich anyway. I figured that by the time I got back from Munich, everything would be taken care of ;)

Not so much. I got back (in a daze) from Munich and found that I have running water and proper drainage now (woot!) but still not electricity. That was last Tuesday. So Tuesday night was cold. Wednesday night, the landlord finally felt sorry for me and got me a place at his friends flat that was empty and Thursday night I started to get mad and got myself a hotel. Except he gave me a budget of less than 100 euros and in Paris, thats not easy to find. I ended up finding a dump on Ste Honoré. I swear that place was haunted. First off, they stuck me in the farthest possible room in the attic. There was no one else on that floor but me. Then, all of their lights are one timers (just like in my building) except their lights will just randomly cut out on you and then when you push the light button to turn it on again, it doesnt. And during the night there are all these sounds from the building cracking and it sounds like someone is either knocking on your door or kicking the walls. I think I slept for about 5 minutes. Luckily, a few girlfriends from the exchange program decided to go to Brussels and Amsterdam for the weekend and so I joined them (what happens in Amsterdam stays in Amsterdam so dont expect a post from there...maybe some PG daytime photos if your lucky). I again was hoping that by the time I got back from Holland Id have electricity:

Not so much.

Ill keep you updated if I get electricity by this weekend...otherwise Im going to London. Just kidding...not really.

Munich

Ow. Munich beer hurts. At the airport about to head over back to Paris. Oktoberfest was fun. Ugh...cant finish this. Too painful....

Pictures from the French Riviera

I had been meaning to post these pictures sooner so now is as good a time as any. I have lots to update about Germany and the past week!

So this picture is from our first night in Cannes. We ate at this restaurant thats supposed to be the oldest restaurant in Cannes =) It was cute...this guitarist guy came by and started singing right next to us so it was cute and romantic...perfect for two ladies in love =)














This one is for DLim and Toro =) I was waiting for the ferry to go to Ste. Marguerite and I look over at this lady's foot. I almost threw up. I almost got my @$$ kicked in trying to take this picture. I kept trying to pretend like I was playing with my camera even though it was angled RIGHT at her foot.








So this is the visual of right when you land on the island. The water is really blue and clear but it was freezing cold. There were some people sunbathing but it was worse than Santa Cruz water. The pansy in me prevailed.










So this is the fort where the Man in the Iron Mask was held. At first I got it mixed up with the Chateau d'If. So apparently, they have a list of 60 or so people that the man could possibly be, including the King's twin brother. It was Dumas and Voltaire who really pushed for that theory but it hasn't been confirmed. Anyway, interested tidbid...the mask was made from velvet and leather and was burned with the Man in the Iron Mask at his death.





They didn't really know much about the Man in the Iron Mask except that he was imprisoned as a "threat to the Monarchy" and that they held him in this prison cell with three layers of wrought iron. The other cells didn't have that.









There was a massive grave outside the fort but I forgot who was buried there. It was some group of ethnic people, but I forgot the ethnicity. Anyway, there were alot of them.










I caught this cute picture of a dad and his daughter playing in "dirt". It's not sand. I think it's dead leaves from the trees that are pushed to the shore by the currents. Anyway, it was gross... but funny. I have a video of her getting just buried in it =)









Sitting in Cannes having dinner and wine while people watching people by the pier =)


















The next day I went to Monaco and watched the changing of the guard which is supposed to be a really solemn, traditional scene. I think they could probably cut out about half of it. If I was trying to attack the monarchy, I'd do it during the changing of the guards cuz theres a good 10-15 minutes where no one is really guarding anything and they're just playing with their guns.






This is me along the coast in Monaco =) Yes...the water is that beautiful =) I layed on a lounge chair on this fake beach. Apparently, they don't import sand and they import pebbles instead.










Here's a picture of the casino in Monte Carlo. It wasn't that interesting. A bunch of rich retired people gambling away.











I just liked this picture because it really shows how clean and beautiful the entire area is. It's so immaculate and well-groomed =)











I love fishies =) This is a cute little cuttlefish =) It was messing with me. I think I took about a dozen pictures of it. Right when he would pause, I would get ready to take my picture and then as soon as I took it, he's run away away and make it all blurry. This is the best picture I have .








This is me with the entire view of Monte Carlo =)













This is the beautiful fake beach. The cool thing is that the pebbles really sparkle in the sunlight =) Not so cool thing are the old guys in the speedos =(











This is a fort in Villefranche sur Mer.


















This is Caroline at the fort =)













View from the fort.













Now we're in Eze sur Mer. This is the most beautiful place I have ever seen. We visited the garden that overlooked the peninsula and they had these beautiful statues of nymphs that I loved. =)










Me and Caroline in Eze overlooking the ocean =)



















The view of the penninsula from the top of the garden in Eze.











This is the last stop we had in our French Riviera tour. We had to go back to Nice this day and so we decided to visit Grasse which is the perfume capital of the world. We went to the Fragonard Parfumerie and found a perfume called Emilie =) Close enough. Pretty much the rest of the city was kinda old and run down but this church was over a 1000 years old and had lots of history. Probably my favorite part of the city =)

Integration Week

Last weekend was soo much fun! =) So Integration Week is something that the "second year" students (they call them January Intakes) organize for the new incoming class (the September Intakes). At least I think that's how it works. I'm in neither of the intakes since I'm an exchange student but I got to tag along and meet everyone from the new intake anyway! I told them that I was their designated Fun Friend. Fun Friend = someone you never have to compete with in any classes (the September Intakes are taking their core classes while I'll be taking electives in the Personalized Phase with the second years), so we'll never get in to any arguments over projects or homework. I'm just there to party with them and hang out during breaks!

The Integration week started EARLY Saturday morning. I had to wake up at 5 am to make sure I got all the trains right to get to HEC. I could have slept in another half an hr or so but I'm still not used to Goliath yet so I wanted to get there early. After breakfast and being in the car for forever, we had lunch (chicken with a mushroom sauce) and then went to this Tree Climbing thing in Caen (apparently it's pronounced the same as Cannes so for the first few hours, I was thoroughly confused on where the heck we were going), which is in Normandy. I think it was supposed to be a team building event and it was so much fun! Basically, we were a bunch of monkeys playing in trees with ropes and nets and random little log things to stand on. There was this one Tarzan part where we had to swing from a tree to another tree (sort of...you basically hit the net that's along the side of the second tree) but it was a huge tree and a huge jump. It freaked me out and I had to stand there for a few minutes before I finally had the guts to jump off the edge of the tree. Then we had dinner (chicken with a mushroom sauce) and got cleaned up and ready for clubbing. It was a weird club...it was in the middle of nowhere and you could smell cow dung. Then, as soon as you walk in, there's all these 12-14 year old kids doing the Moonwalk....and only the Moonwalk. Needless to say, with that going on, it took us a while before we got into "party mode". I got back to the ghetto hotel at 3 but many people didn't leave til 4 or so. Oh that's another story...so there were so many of us that we got divided into three hotels: Great, Good and Sh*&. I stayed at Sh*&. =) It was okay though since we were only there to sleep for a few hours and then left. Plus, although I call it that, it really wasn't bad at all. It just was by comparison to the other hotels. And they redeemed themselves when we had breakfast. I had one of the most amazing croissants I have ever tasted in my life. Apparently that area is known for their biscuits, pastries, etc.

Sunday was rough. We had to be in the bus by 8 am so that we could go to Ste Malo. It's this one fort/city thing by the ocean. Really pretty and we were really lucky to be able to see it on a sunny day. Apparently, those are few and far between in Brittany. We only had about an hour in that city and had to jump back in the bus to head over to Mont Ste Michel. It was sooo beautiful! I had to post pictures tomorrow =) The place is literally something you'd see in a fairytale book. It's built on a rock in the middle of this sandy patch that gets surrounded by water when the tide goes up. We had a private tour of it, including the Abbey. I think that was definitely the highlight of the entire trip. I can't wait to post pictures up for you guys!

Sooo people! That's pretty much the most important part of the trip! We got a great chance to meet people in the program and it was so wonderful! We think California is diverse but that's nothing compared to HEC, where the 70% of the students are international. They came from all over the world: India, Bulgaria, France, US, UK, Sudan, Russia, Taiwan,China, Japan, Etc. I was explaining to some friends already that I haven't really had smalltalk with people here. I talked with a French guy for an hour about cheese on Saturday night and I was so engrossed in the conversation, it was as if no one else was in the room (by the way, now I know the correct way to eat it!) and I think it's because of our diverse backgrounds that everything they say is really interesting and brand spanking new to me. This is compared to meeting someone that has the same background as you where everything they, you've already experienced. I don't know =) Regardless, I have a feeling it will be a fun semester =)

Sustainability 2.0

I had my first class at HEC yesterday. It took me about 3.5 hrs on the train which sucked. I've decided that the RER C is my Goliath. Its the train that's supposed to take me to from Paris to Jouy en Josas where my school is located. All the other trains are like Bart with two ends and that's it. This train splits off 6 times and is arranged like a circle. So you have to make sure you get the right RER C train otherwise, you end up in the wrong split and you have to backtrack. I almost started crying. If it's going to be like this for the rest of the year, I'm going to kick myself. Anyway, so the student council didn't get the email addresses of all the exchange students until a few days ago so we just got invited to this retreat in Mont St. Michel, which is supposed to be this gorgeous fort/castle thing that's surrounded by water (depending on the tide). It's a two day thing where we spend tomorrow ziplining and then Sunday in a private tour of the castle/fort thing. So see you guys again on Monday!

Oooh...as a side note: The Pope was in Paris today a few blocks away from my place. I tried to see him but it was a total mess. They closed down the train stations near my place so I had to go all the way around. I got close but there were so many people (and it smelled like a giant bucket of BO) that I decided to go home. I wish I could have seen the Pope-Mobile though =( Alright, have a great weekend!

Pictures of Ireland

This is the REAL The Auld Dubliner =) But don't worry, the inside looks pretty much the same...lots of wood with a very cozy feeling! We met these Northern Irish guys from Belfast and they speak an entirely different language. I have a video of them talking but it'll take me forever to upload so maybe another time =)








This the old city wall that used to surround Dublin in 1240 AD. Ridiculously old. I love ruins and old buildings so out of my gazillion pictures of cathedrals and ancient ruins, I thought this was the best =)










These are my two little Irish Sisters (Bernice is in the middle and Ellie is on the other end)! They are the best travel buddies you will ever find and we had a blast touring through Ireland together. They were the reason why I changed my plans =) Anyway, this is a pic of us in a cutesy little Irish town called Kilkenny.







This is Kilkenny Castle! The tourguide there was a riot =) He just loved to keep talking and talking and talking and he would make these jokes that nobody else would get but he would just crack himself up. I was wondering when he'd breathe. But the guy knows his stuff...random wealth of information about anything and everything that has to do with the castle, the families, etc.






This is me and Bernice messing around in Kilkenny before we had to hit the open roads and head over to Galway (through the cathedral no less) I wish I had a picture of that.














Here we've arrived in Galway. It's our second day in the city and of course its of pic of us at our Local =) We partied at the Skeff the night before and here we're having breakfast on a bright sunny day =)









Cliffs of Moher =) Its relaxing just to look at the pictures of it =)











We just drove around the Burren area (which is this rocky area around the Cliffs of Moher) and played at the rocks by the seaside =) Thats Ellie hopping rocks!










This is the last day we had together as a threesome =) We drove over to Connemara and checked out all the mirror lakes and prettyshrubbery. People drove ridiculously fast around that area though (partly cuz there's nothing there) except the gorgeous view. I wanted to get a good pic of the lakes so I made the girls walk along the side of the "expressway" to get to this point. I think a car just sped by and almost hit us at when we took that pic...










It just so happened that the girls and I rented the exact same car so here they are posing with the Twins =) They even have the same birthmark...they're both missing the front left hubcap =) I think when we were driving, we both hug left (especially on all those narrow roads through the Burren and Connemara). I told you guys about the bus incident right when my heart almost popped out of my eyes? Anyway, we said our goodbyes and caravaned back to Dublin after this =(




This is me at the Guiness Brewery =) They give you a free pint and the glass is sitting in front of me now =) I think that's the earliest I've ever had a Guiness. This retired couple that I was hanging out with kept telling me that it's a great breakfast food with hearty grains. I think they were serious.












Alright! That pretty much concludes Ireland! I'll post the rest of the pics up on Picassa or something =) My internet kinda sucks so its hard to do this for too long =) Talk to you soon!

Monaco/ Monte Carlo Part Deux

Alright! So I figured out a way to have intrnet in my room through the tv but the keyboad is dinky and I have to type hella slow! So then first thing I did in Monaco was run to the palace (because I was a bit late ;)) to watch the changing of the guard. They start it at 11;55 sharp and I snuck in next to this old guy with an umbrella which was awesome since it was 500 degrees and we were right under th sun. So standing next to him I had plenty of shade. Heh heh! There were so many of us there. I actually videotaped the whole thing...not becuse it was interesting but because it was the only way i could see. I watched the ceremony through the lcd screen on the camera since everone as so friggin tall. I should have excercised my right as a short person to mosey my way to the front but I wasnt sure if the Europeans are as familiar with that rule as Americans;) After that interesting but slightly pointless ceremony (Monacoans will hate me if they ever reathis blog) I went to te cathedrale where Prince Ranier married Princess Grace Kelly. Immediately after, as appropriate, i went stright to the Casino of Monte Carlo! Just kidding ;) I went to the Museum of Oceanography first and then thecasino The museum was cool..they had fishies that were indigenous to the area, including this nearly extinct lobster. Apparently, it has been overfished and after seeing it, I know why. It has no claws but its body is gimungous. I highly advocate breeding and farming this species back to a sustainable level...so we can eat it again.

As for the casino...eh. All casinos look the same inside. I didnt feel like gambling so I headed over to the beach and met a Kiwi on the way. Thet had an Ironman competition (which explained all the runners that morning) and he was hired to film it. Nice older gentleman...had a nice chat about is hanggliding company in Switzerland. I would go and try it out if I wasnt so terrified of dying.

Oh I forgot to mention that aside fro the Kiwi (who apparently calls himself Kiwi so I still dont know his name) I met a little waiterboy at the cafe by the palace. Nice little kid so we met up at a local sports bar and wemade a deal that he could only speak in English and I could only speak in French so we could both practice. Our conversation must have sounded so lame but I think I got most of what he was saying. Anyway, after a drink it was back to Cannes! This internet computer thing sucks so Ill have to give the update about Villefranche Sur Mer and Eze Village anther time ;) Nite nite!

Monaco/Monte Carlo

Okay I'm a bit late with my blog ;) So I'll separate the two trips into two separate blogs for today. Yesterday I visited Monaco and specifically Monte Carlo. I took a train early in the morning while Caroline rested again for the day. At one point she wanted to fly back home to the states but I convinced her to tough it out in the hotel room for another day and then maybe she'd feel better. Good thing since today she felt much better and was able to travel with me to Villefranche Sur Mer and Eze Village but that will be in the next blog!

Soooo Monaco! As soon as you step off the train, the entire walkway out of the train station is all marble. Big hint that youre in a ritzy, swanky area. Ack...someones waiting for the internet and I have already been on forever so I better let him use it. To be continued...

Ile Ste-Marguerite

Spent the day at Ile Saint Marguerite today! Caroline was feeling sick so we scapped the Monaco plans today and while she slept and rested today, I got tickets to go to the island and check it out! It was beautiful, you could see the other smaller island, Saint Honorat. Ile Saint Honorat is supposed to have an inhabited monastary on it but I decided to go to Ste-Marguerite instead still since it has the fort/prison where the Man with the Iron Mask lived. Turns out, it wasnt an iron mask but a leather and velvet one but it still sucks nevertheless! I got to see his cell where he lived for eleven years and even the murals that were painted there. Crazy! So although Voltaire and Alexander Dumas immortalized the man in the iron mask as King Louis XIVs brother, they still dont know who it was. They (the museum) have a list of at least sixty names of people it could potentially be, including the twin brother of Louis XIV. After that, it was pretty chill. I had a couple glasses of wine at a busy street in Cannes and just people watched until now ;) It was cool for a bit but after seeing about a million romantic and smoochie couples walk by, it made me kinda wish I had someone to share it with right now (besides by deathly ill best friend whos been sleeping for the past 24 hrs)....kinda ;) Ugh! The same guy is waiting for the internet again! Alright, talk to you soon!

French Riviera

Allo! I know...I need pictures. Jeff has already been yelling at me about that. Internet access has been a real pain let alone access where I can upload pictures. BTW, I am at a hotel in Cannes at the moment and their keyboard is completely different from the ones in the States. There is no apostrophe, which will explain the lack of conjunctions.

Alright, well wrapping up the Ireland trip: the second to last day I was in Ireland was my last day with the girls. I really grew a liking to them. I call them my Irish sisters ;) It feels like we have known each other for forever but I just met them! Anyway, we drove to Connemara since Lonely Planet said that it is so beautiful that it will make my head hurt. Our heads maybe hurt a wee bit. Lots of lakes that looked almost black with lots of foliage around it. We stopped by a random podunk village to get some grub and the place didnt even have a menu...and the waiter guy wouldnt stop staring. It was kinda awkward actually. But we were able to take lots of pictures around there before we had to head on back to Dublin!

Had our last supper as a group and the girls headed off to the airport, while I went back to the Abraham House for another night. All the girls were different now...a bit younger this time but still just as friendly! Convinced two Canadian girls to come see the show at the Abbey Theater! An Ideal Husband from Oscar Wilde was quite possibly the best plays I have ever seen. We had magnificent seats in the center on the sixth row so we could see everyones facial expressions and ALL the performers were on the ball. Almost cried in fact ;) See it if you get the chance...I think its a traveling play.

The next day, I decided to try to steal my pint glass from the Guiness Brewery. I was on a total time crunch but I wouldnt feel right leaving Dublin without it. Plus, my BFF from GP would have never spoken to me again. Had a pint at ten am and ran off to the airport. Missed it by ten minutes. It was my first international flight that I missed!

By the time I arrived in Paris, it was late at night but luckily I met a really awesome couple of older Irish women, Margaret and Marisse, on the plane and they had a friend who lived in the Paris suburbs. We all really hit it off and we had a blast in the few hours we had together. They ended up driving me right up to my street and I never had to take the train! That was good cuz apparently it took Caroline 3 hrs and my landlord would have killed me if he had to wait that long.

2 Days in Paris with Caroline: This part is going to be really short cuz the majority of it is really boring - me getting supplies and running errands (ooooh! I have to give you guys my phone number but I dont want to post it for obvious reasons so if you want to call me, email me separately and I will email you back with the number!) There was one night that we partied and that is really interesting but I really dont remember much of it so sorry. No dirt there. I will say that it was such a crazy night that I missed my second flight in Europe (I know...this is really starting to become a bad trend) and we had to take a train this morning instead. Thats where I met my first French meanie! Oh man, she was a biznitch. We ran into a problem with our tix where no one was able to print them and they kept giving us the runaround but we finally made it on the train! The sucky part was after all that running around, I left my bag of shoes somewhere in the train station which made me sad but Caroline said it gives me an excuse to buy more later... touche ;)

Cannes: After the grueling train ride of five hours where we tried to sleep behind a man who was nothing but a pile of BO (every movement he made was like a punch in the face of BO) we finally made it! Its really hot here so we got to visit the beach (la plage Croissette) and visited the medieval section of Cannes. We went to this museum that is basically a castle (Musee de la Castre) but it was really weird. They had an eclectic mix of ancient artifacts but not really much security. In fact, the worker there was trying to joke around with us and started feeling up the sarcophagus. Not an archaeologist but I am pretty sure that ruins old things. Ooh...someones waiting for the internet so Ill just quickly mention that we also had a nice dinner at the oldest restaurant in Cannes (1860). Tres bien! Alright, off to bed! Talk to you soon!