in the rue

I'm writing this post at a really weird time.

I woke up this morning and it was really dark. I thought that it was strange considering that it was alread 9am. It turns out that it was pouring down rain. I already wasn't in the mood for school today, and then I had to find out that I was going to go on an outdoor excursion in the rain. Ugh. I kept looking out the window all morning to see if it would clear up.

On top of all this, I found out that my email had stopped working last night and had kept me from an email from my mom. We were supposed to skype at eight yesterday. I emailed her a few minutes after 8, and never heard anything from her. It turns out that she was online and ready to talk to me, but I didn't get online because I didn't get her email. For some reason this almost moved me to tears this morning. I wrote her back asking if I should reserve my hotels, and proposing a six o'clock skype date.

I made my extra strong coffee with sugar and put five madeleines in a bowl. They were actually pretty delicious. I'm not sure why baked goods are labeled "with eggs", but I still like them. I settled back into bed to do the last edits on my pop paper and then turned my attention to my histories paper. I wasted some time on the internet and then wrote out my post-it notes for the week.

The weather seemed to be improving by the time I had to leave for class. I put on my dress from yesterday, wore gold eyeshadow, and put my hair into a side bun. Maybe if I look cute the weather will cooperate. I ate some raviolis and went to gare de lyon.

I've never taken the one that far before. I had to go twelve stops to charles de gaulle-etoile.While on the train I saw a girl from the center who went on the Giverny/Rouen trip. She got off at George V. I assume that it's a British king because there's no "s" at the end and the announcer said it weird. I finally got to my stop and got off the metro. There were a whole series of twists and turns to get to exit one Arc de Triomphe. The French signs (which always point in the wrong direction or end out of nowhere) didn't help. I finally found the escalator to go upstairs.

It started to sprinkle the second I got outside. Of course there was no one from my class there yet, so I sat on a bench and waited. A few minutes later I turned around and saw Christina with a group of classmates. It thankfully stopped sprinkling as we started the excursion, but it was really windy and my hands were freezing.

The arc de triomphe is actually really interesting now that I've seen it upclose. You had to take an underground passageway to get there. I also didn't know that you can climb to the top of it (stairs only). We weren't around the momument deciphering the sculptures. I always thought that it was a monument to Napoleon, but it is more about the cycle of war than any one man. I felt a moment of reverance when we were underneath the monument. There were so many names of people who had died in war chiseled into the arch. We discussed the plaques of more recent wars, including Vietnam, and the significance of recording wars that were won and lost. We then saw the tomb of the unknown soldier. It was a sweet moment (I won't mention how nice the heat of the flame was on such a cold day).

Our class ended a few minutes early and I went back through the tunnel to the metro. I was walking with Morgan when a man "salut"ed us. What nerve!! 1. pick a girl to salut 2. you don't know us. It's bonjour!!

I took the one back and then transferred to the eight at Bastille. I was early for my music class so I felt Glamour in French while I waited. Class started fifteen minutes late due to technical difficulties. Today we discussed the 1970s and revolutionary chanson. I actually managed to make a comment during class!! Look at me being cool. We only listened to Dominique Grange today and watched some of a documentary. Nothing particularly fascinating to report.

I got home and saw an email from my mom saying that she couldn't skype at six my time today. She suggested me skype tomorrow and told me to book my hotels. I went online and booked my hotel for Rome (yay!!), but had to find a new hotel for Venice. The original hotel was in Lido which is 40 minutes by train away from the train station. That's a no go. I looked up some other hotels that would be closer to the train station and sent them to my mom for review.

I'm writing this post at 6:37 (so early) because I had to be back at accent at 8:30. My pop class is finally going to a concert so my nighttime schedule has been moved up by a few hours. Time for a shower (at 7pm) and a minute of relaxation before I'm forced out into the cold again.