Life.

Some time has passed, thus it is time for an addition to the story of my life…Well, I have done a lot and seen many things. I’ll start from February, when this chapter began... I had a break between my two semesters so I decided to spend some time in Paris just exploring the small corners that one can’t find with a Lonely Planet. I also spend 5 glorious days in Barcelona filled with sun and fun on the beach (with a scarf and jacket of course!)

I managed to find some really cool café’s… it really takes getting away from the very heart of Paris to find real cafés with style: in the cooler quartiers say goodbye to snobby waiters, tiny tables and rushed cafés. Say hello to purple velour sofas, comfortable cushions and friendly lesbian waitresses… My favorite quartier for these real cafés is in the 12th and also in the 10th near the Canal St. Martin. That’s where you’re going, dad!

With no friends left to travel with I ventured to Barcelona on my own. I left a grey, cold city and arrived in a warm, colorful city where the sun burned my baby blues made unaccustomed to such light by the tall Haussmann buildings in Paris. I made a bee line from the bus station straight to the sea where I sat in the sun and read for a while, an activity I greatly missed during the winter months. Mmmm... Sangria!



I walked along the coast until I found a very nice (a nicely located) hostel where I took the last bed (the VIP bed). Settling into my VIP bed, VIP because it was 8 feet above the ground and I had to climb up very high to get there, I set out to explore the city. Walking along Port Veil, I stumbled into the Gothic quarter: full of tiny, windy streets filled with cafés, boutiques, and tapas bars. Wandering along the Ramblas I bumped into the “parade of the Giants” where a giant princess and frog waddled by… While winding home, I met a man from Cameroon and he invited me to a tiny bar with fried fish and great cheap wine… then we moved onto another bar where we enjoyed cool cider from a barrel (from which I got to pour my own glass which was quite a science.)


The next day, Valentines Day, I work up early and went to do a Gaudi Tour: it took us to the Sagrada Familia, Güell Park, and two other buildings which he designed. It was really interesting to learn about Gaudi as I didn’t know very much about him before I went to Barcelona.

Here is one of the tops on one of the many towers of the Sagrada Familia... Gaudi incorporated a lot of mosaic pieces into his architecture and was inspired by nature. His works are incredible!

This is at Park Güell with a very famous lizard.


More of the park (above) and one of his building... As legend has it it is the design of a dragon (see the spine on the roof and all of the scales?)

That evening I went out with a roommate from my hostel to a very cool, small, red bar with artsy pictures of naked ladies and its menu on records. It was really cool, the kind of place on would imagine the locals hang out… however, every other tourist thought the same. Regardless that it was all Anglophones, Andre and I met some other Germans (in their mid thirties) had fun with sangria and mojitos before we all moved on to a disco with great 50-80’s music upstairs and ghetto rap under ground. It was quite an odd valentines day: dancing to swing with a bunch of older Germans… odd but fun all the same.

The photo below is of one of the women I was with... I think it is pretty awesome!

I also got the chance to go to Montserrat for the day: however it was quite cold so going up into the mountains effectively brought me into the clouds. Arriving up on the mountain during off season, one asks one self, what now? The little city they have up there was deserted, save a few high school boys playing hacky sack (that still exists?) I wandered around, took some photos then headed to see the Black Virgin Mary, the only thing to do there on a cold day. The room that housed her was one of the most ornate I have ever seen. Jewels, treasures, glittering gold that covered the walls… the works!

After returning from my break, I began a new semester full of French. My classes are very interesting, but also very challenging… go figure, learning completely in a foreign language would be difficult!

The photo below is from a quick weekend trip I did to Bordeaux... I was with a girlfriend and we had the most amazing time! Lots of great wine (Bordeaux 2005 is a secret treasure!) and food, sun and relaxation. We went to their most famous wine bar, Masion du Vin, and as you can see in the photo... it is practically a masion built out of wine!



So, after several weeks of life as usual in Paris… métro, boulot, dodo (a saying in French: Métro, work, sleep) I had my spring break finally (it was just last week)! Straight from class I hoped on a train to Hyeres in the South of France where David picked me up and whisked me away to le Lavandou, a small city right on the Mediterranean. There, we met up with David’s parents and sister who spent a week on vacation there, with David, before me. Sitting poolside in the last, golden rays of the day, I relaxed… far from the métro and the boulot, and very close to the dodo. My first day on vacation we awoke earlier; after a typical French breakfast (lots of Nutella and fromage blanc) we set off to the beach to watch a boat race. After learning that the castle-of-house on the cliffs belongs to Carla Bruni’s family, President Sarkozy’s wife, we set off to Bourmes-les-Mimosas, a very charming village in the hills with the best home-made soap and lotion. Wandering around the small rues, ancient and overgrown with charming wild-flowers, we made it up to the top of the hill for a magnificent view of the city.
Later that day David’s family returned to Germany and it was just me and David for the rest of the week… and what a week we had! For Easter, we ate lots of chocolate and did a hike to a small chapel that overlooks the sea. The days have all melted together in my memory as they were all very similar… I would wake up earlier to do yoga poolside which was sea-side. Up on the cliffs I would stretch and contract with the early morning sun beaming down on me (as well as curious eyes… what is that crazy girl doing on her vacation?!?). It was amazing. Then I would pick up a baguette or two and David and I would have breakfast on the terrace. Next, we would head down to the beach and would just “be” there all day long. Reading, napping, swimming (yes, I actually swam in the sea despite its chilly disposition), and eating were the only things on the menu for us. It was really incredible and I already wish I were back on the sparkling beaches of the Cote d’Azur. Here are just a few of the many pictures from the trip:

The cute town...

This was my view while doing yoga... definitely the reason I felt so inspired to do it!

Spring time is here!

Me in my very cool beach hat!

Some fun pictures on the cliff...

Hello!
The little chapel on the cliffs!

A great view!

Just fun stuff.

Here is the very beautiful Bourmes-les-Mimosa:

cool

Now, we are in the present. I just had an expose today that was… interesting. Class lasts for 2 hours, so normally there are several oral presentations or debates to take up the time. Well, the other presentations of the day did not show so there was just our presentation (me and my partner, Michelle). So, thanks to all this extra time, my professor decided to critique every thing we did, for the good of the class. For a 15 minute presentation, we stood in the front of the class for over an hour trying to melt away…. No such luck.

Well, glad that’s over. Now I am making plans and very much looking forward to when my dad comes… just 4 days.

I hope you are all well. Thanks for reading. Until the next time…

Love, Nikki