Louis Quatorze: Le Roi Soleil

I wonder why Louis XIV was called the Sun King... I'll have to look it up later.


Today has been a very long day... Actually I think all days are long in France...  Well, all days that you leave the house. I think I left the house at nine this morning and I just got home, around eight at night.  I don't feel like I did much, even. I got to school and went to my phonetic session. After that, Teresa and I went to her apartment and hung out until my class time. Class was from one to three, then I went back to Teresa's apartment and we went and got Alejandra -- who wasn't ready to go yet, so we sat around her apartment. Then we took the bus downtown where we met up with Anne and Jamie and Kate, who were still waiting for Aaron and Susanne. We sat around for a while and then at six most of us headed to the creperie where we were planning on having (or attempting to have) delicious crepes, only to find out that the restaurant didn't open for dinner until 6:45 (I'm telling you, they really stick to the whole "eating late" thing) and by that time I figured it wasn't worth missing my bus for, so I walked back to the middle of downtown (grabbed a sandwich on the way) and then stood around waiting for the bus until 7:28 (but it was a little late so maybe 7:30) and then finally the bus dropped me off at my stop at 7:50ish...  (I probably would have had time to eat crepes but I just didn't want to risk being stuck in town all night.) Honestly, even after typing it all out I still feel like I didn't do anything today.  I'm tired.


The flower in my header picture is my favorite Martha Washington geranium, at home. It's so pretty when it's covered in flowers.
Dear Mom and Dad:
Please don't forget to bring my lovely plant in when it gets cold, and love it and water it and cut off dead leaves. I don't want it to die!
Love, Angie.


Well, I think that's all I have to say for today. Wait, no it isn't.


So I was walking across campus towards the dorms and this guy caught up to me and stopped me. (This would be one prime reason why you should never walk alone in France.) He said something in French that I didn't understand, so I asked him to repeat and he said "Oh, you're English"  (French people in Pau apparently can't tell the difference between American and British). So then he says something about money, and shows me the cash he has in his hand. And I was confused so he said, "Look, I think you are beautiful woman. And I want to kiss you. For five minutes."  I said, "No." So he said, "Are you sure?" and I said, "Yes."  And then he started to ask me other things and I turned and walked away. I'm not sure if he wanted me to pay him  for a kiss, or if he wanted to pay me for a kiss but YEAH RIGHT BUDDY, KEEP WALKING!  It was certainly rather... interesting. They did warn us that guys in France are a lot more forward about what they want and that you have to be careful how you act and what you wear. They also said that in France, giving someone your phone number is like telling them you want them to call you. Constantly.  I guess if you give someone your phone number they will call you every chance they get. I don't think I'll be doing that.


Alright. Now I'm done with all I had to say. I'm staying home tomorrow. Probably all day. Anne and a few others are going on an 8 hour hike, and it sounds like a lot of fun but I don't know if I could handle 8 hours of walking. I guess I will have to wait and join them for a shorter hike.  All I can say for now though, is thank God it's Friday.