Wednesday, January 21, 2009

One Idiot American

Today (Tuesday, though I am posting this late, so it says Wednesday) I decided to take a day for myself. I have been feeling all these feelings and seeing all these places without being able to take my own time with anything. So, as we did not have anything that we needed to be doing today, I rode the tram into town and had myself a good time. I wandered around for a while, then stopped at a market and got myself 2 croissants, lunch (of cheese, a small baguette, two apples and an Orangina) and sat down at a small cafe next to the Cathedral in all my pictures, the Cathedral of St. Andre. The waiter was very nice, and I got a cappuccino that was delicious. There I sat and ate my croissants and wrote a letter to Tykah. It was raining, and so very cold, but it was also very nice to be on my own. While I was there a bunch of people came out of the city hall all dressed up in funny clothing. I still don't know why, but I would like to figure out who they were and where they were going.
I then took another step by myself and went to the natural history museum. It was very cool. It was all in French, of course, but it was free. I decided that the 2.50 ero's for the English audio tour was worth it, so I really was able to get a lot out of the whole thing. It was really cool how they had it set up! Most of it was local history/findings, and there really was enough just from the area surrounding Bordeaux to fill the whole museum. I think my favorite part was the Roman room where everything was put on display in such a way that you could walk right up to it and go all the way around it! Like, there were steps onto the same platform that the pillar was on! A guy came up to me and told me to step up to get closer. When I obviously hesitated he sorta laughed and said, "No really, go ahead" (in French of course). From that time on he would come back and check on me every now and then to talk to me about the different displays. He also gave me a free ticket to go see one of the temporary displays upstairs (that you normally have to pay money for). It was really fun. The only sad part is that close to the beginning of the tour the guy came up to me and offered to put my coat and bag (back-pack with all the food) in the Checked area, which was very nice, but at the same time.... I forgot to get my camera out! So the whole thing was spent just enjoying the sights without any documentation. For that reason I hope to go back and take some pictures of the wonderful displays and artifacts that they have there.

This is the view from the little cafe that I was sitting at.

I then spent the rest of the day with the rest of the group shopping. It is so hard not to feel like I can afford anything I like! The money is so different... but I am determined to be tighter on my budget, so its really not going to be bad.

Well, school starts tomorrow, so I shall start to try to fall asleep. I miss you all and wish you all a great rest of your day/night!

5 comments:

  1. Oh Cow, I can't begin to tell you how much I enjoy reading your posts. It's so nice to hear from you! Already you're having some really fun experiences. I am just so darn proud. I really miss you too. Keep em' coming!

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  2. N -- FYI, they might have been just as happy that you DIDN'T take pictures, being a museum and all.

    Also, this happened on Tuesday, January 20th, 2009? So the inauguration across the sea didn't intrude into the day AT ALL!?!?!? I thought it was getting some attention over there, too?

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  3. Also Neva,
    what was the result of the hard test? I look forward to hearing about your classes.

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  4. And I want to know why you called that post "One Idiot American". The whole time I was expecting some faux pas but it never came (though I'm glad for you it didn't).

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