Sorry!

Last night, I was really tired for some reason and fell asleep at 11:00 without writing a blog. It was very refreshing. Anyway, yesterday, I went to the Monet museum with Paola (not sure if I've mentioned her - she's in Alexandra's program, born in Mexico, fluent in Spanish, studying in Spain next semester, and staying in Paris all summer) mostly because there was an exhibition on women painters in the time of Proust! This was just another example of how the art and exhibitions really aren't as interesting as the buildings in which they're found here. This old house was absolutely beautiful - with at least three salons. It was one of those great 19th century houses transformed into something else, but still with traces of what it used to be. Oh, and I saw Proust's handwriting! That was neat!

After that, we got lunch at a cute Parisian cafe, and even tried kir! Honestly, it wasn't that bad. I might have even liked it a little by the end. It came with fried potato slices - much more classy than Buffalo Wild Wings' potato wedges. And, since this cafe was also a bakery, we got free pastries for dessert after our chicken with Bearnaise sauce. The area is very chic.

I should probably mention that I finally almost got all the ingredients to make a chocolate drop cake for the De La Taille's. Mme De La Taille wasn't kidding - it's impossible to find baking soda in supermarkets, which made me acknowledge that maybe they don't use it in their cooking. It's just hard to believe because we use it in everything in the US. Mme had to go to the pharmacy to get the baking soda. The only problem was that they didn't have chocolate syrup. I bought hot fudge and I hope it won't be too thick. Pierre's back too, by the way. He went on a trip with his religious group to Normandy where they stayed in an Abbey and talked about Islam being a dangerous religion. When I said I wanted to read the Koran, he didn't seem to like that idea, but said he'd lend me the book he had about how Islam is dangerous. I really do want to read the Koran, but I think finishing the Bible is important first since I know it's a major part of it. I also realize that, even if I read the Koran, Islamic people will never agree that I have because I won't have read it in the original language and that's most important for them, according to what I learned in my Occ Civ class, at least.

Anyway, here are pictures from the museum (not many). And, I'm going to update a few previous posts with pictures I've taken this week while being stranded in Paris.

Okay, so I lied. This isn't from the museum. This is from the metro. Mamma Mia! is coming here to replace Le Roi Lion (The Lion King) and it's starting in October and I'M NOT GOING TO GET TO SEE IT IN FRENCH!!!! But it says it's "Le mariage le plus show!" I need to see it! Also in October, Notre-Dame de Paris, the first French musical I memorized, will be having a few 10th anniversary performances with the original cast. Funny, usually, on Broadway, 10th anniversary performances happen when the show has been playing for 10 years, not when it's been 10 years since the show started...The point is - I obviously need to go to Paris in October...

This is Marcel Proust's handwriting. Yup, that's the handwriting of the guy who wrote three page sentences that aren't run-on. Be impressed!