Parc Astérix

So, I think M. De La Taille is home, but I'm not sure - I didn't see him. He's been in the country for a while. Mme said he goes there when he gets tired. I wish I had a house in the country. Who am I kidding? I wish I had a house in Paris!

In other news, Mme De La Taille got a cell phone and I've been teaching her how to use it. It's going well, I think. The problem was, first I had to figure out how to use it. French cell phones are a little different.

Finally, today, Alexandra and I went to Parc Astérix. I finally understand why there isn't a direct translation of the word "fun" in French. You can't even really say "exciting" without the extra innuendo that I obviously don't want to include when I'm talking about amusement park rides. This park was definitely a waste of a lot of money (29 euros to get in, 8,50 to CDG airport, 6,80 to and from the park, 8,50 back from the airport, plus what we spent on food). I'll give it this much: it was better than Foire du Trone. Not that it would take much to beat that county fair imitation. It was really adorable for the first twenty minutes. All the buildings are made to look like they're from the comic book, they have a huge Colosseum with spectacles every few hours (a dolphin show and a skit about the Gauls versus the Romans), and lots of food (but nothing really exciting). However, Astérix and Obelix were kind of absent. There's this huge mountain with Astérix perched on top, and on the merry-go-round, you can sit inside Obelix (?? - strange), but other than that, it's just a mini 6 Flags. Not only that, it's an expensive mini 6 flags where the rides aren't really worth the wait.

In fact, today was the first time since I've been here that I've found myself looking at French people and thinking "pathetic." Seriously, I got a headache listening to them scream on the rides. Do they seriously think that they were exciting? The one roller coaster we went on was okay, but I wouldn't have gone on it a second time, and the most surprising was how much people screamed on the swing ride. That's just pathetic - everyone knows that one's for babies!

So, that was my day. Tons of wasted hours at an amusement park, but it's okay - nothing was open in Paris today anyway. The first of May is a holiday, and aside from the people selling flowers on the street, no one works. Olivier said it isn't fair - last year it fell on a Friday, so they all got the day off from work. I think they have too much time off here. A two week spring break was a little too long for me, especially since I really didn't do any work. When I have spring break at Hopkins, I end up spending the whole time writing long papers and studying for finals. Plus, the whole thing is only a week long. Everything's just very different here.

I'm going to stop now since my computer is making a strange noise and I think it's probably telling me it's time for bed. Good night!