Day #2 BRUGGES!!!

Awesome day. First of all, the weather was AMAZING! A little on the too hot side actually, which is pretty rare for this part of the country. There was not a cloud in the sky all day long, and aside from a few technical train difficulties, the day was perfect. We didn't set an alarm this morning. We decided to just wake up whenever, since there are trains going to brugges about every 30 minutes. We woke up around 9:30, ate, got dressed, and headed out the door. It was about an hour and a half train ride,and so we read up a little in the guide book that we borrowed from Nora. We decided to just do the self guided tour that the book suggested, and it was awesome. The first thing we did when we got there was eat frites. They were Amazing!!!

After that we walked all around (and I mean ALL around) the little city, and enjoyed every adorable nook and cranny. This is seriously the cutest little city I have ever seen. We loved the architecture. Its a breath of fresh air after Paris, where everything is all white, and uniform. Here is a little taste of what brugges has to offer.

And to finish it all off, we had the best waffle ever! With a scoop of white chocolate ice-cream on top.

Brussels: The Capital of Europe

Today we officially started our 1 month tour of Europe with our first stop being Brussels. We left early this morning and we were welcomed at the Brussels train station by Nora, a good friend of Pattys, who, along with her boyfriend Christian, is letting us stay at their place for a couple of nights. Not only that, but they have been so kind as to make us lunch and take us out site seeing all day! They are incredible! We had a great day, and we hope its a sign of how great our trip is going to be. We saw pretty much all there is to see in Brussels today as we walked around the city center for 5 hours. Eating Belgian chocolates, ice cream, Belgian Frites, and Belgian waffles made the walk a little more bearable. Here our some pictures of our day!

In front of the Brussels palace

In the Grand place

In the Grand Place #2

Amy rubbing the statue for a free wish

In front of the peeing statue

Clayton Peeing

In front of the friterie

Amy eating frites!

Clayton eating frites!

Now, on to Brugge!

Fete de la Musique!!

Fête de la Musique

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article refers to a music festival which began in France but which is now international in various cities.
The Fête de la Musique, also known as World Music Day, is a music festival taking place on June 21.
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The idea was first broached in 1976 by American musician Joel Cohen, then employed by the national French radio station France Musique. Cohen proposed an all-night music celebration at the moment of the summer solstice. The idea was taken up by French Music and Dance director Maurice Fleuret for Minister of Culture Jack Lang in 1981 and first took place in 1982 in Paris.
Its purpose is to promote music in two ways:
Amateur and professional musicians are encouraged to perform in the streets. The slogan Faites de la musique (Make music), a homophone of Fête de la Musique, is used to promote this goal.
Many free concerts are organized, making all genres of music accessible to the public. Two of the caveats to being sanctioned by the official Fête de la Musique organization in Paris are that all concerts must be free to the public, and all performers donate their time for free.

Thats the wikipedia def. So, basically its a festival where you can find people playing music on almost any street corner. People just stay out all night walking around and enjoying the music. It was pretty cool. We only walked around for about 5 hours, and decided to go home around 11:30, even though it goes all night long. Apparently Colbie Calais was playing this year, but we never managed to find where. Here are a few pics to give you and idea of what how it went.

You can see that there are people everywhere in the streets

This band looked and sounded like they were straight out of hoo-ville

These guys decided to have free food and drinks (also they gave away the cups that we are holding.. It was a rasta group called I love Bread... or something like that. Im not super sure on the translation

This was one of the bigger venues. It was at the place de la bastille (anyone heard of a little thing called the french revolution? yeah, well it started there). It was all canadian groups playing, and we heard a really good band. It was our favorite of the night.

Fontainbleau

Yup, I realize its been a while. Probably none of you noticed except for the mothers, but I am apologizing to you all anyway. The weather has been pretty not awesome the for about the last week, and so we have used this indoor time to our advantage, and have made some serious progress on the office. What I mean by this is, we have watched many episodes of the office. We are now proud to say that we have watched all of the first six seasons, and are breezing through the seventh. We will have finished the series before our departure to belgium on sunday. Yup, thats right. We are done with Paris, and will be leaving shortly for our euro-tour. We are pretty excited about it. We have signed ourselves up for couchsurfing, which is a site that lets you look at peoples profiles and request to stay for free in their guestroom/couch. It sounds pretty cool (a friend told us about it) and if we get a few places to stay, it will save us some money.
Back to Fontainbleau. Yesterday we got up early and took the metro down to southern Paris where we met our friend David. He picked us up and took us to church with him. It was a really fun ward to visit. Afterward we went to his parents house for dinner (he was one of Clay's mission companions) and enjoyed ourselves. On the way home (ish) he drove us to Fontainbleau, which is the chateau that the kings lived in before versailles was built. Or at least one of them. I think its best known for the fact that napoleon lived there. We decided it might just be cooler than versailles for several reasons. #1 the architecture. Im not sure why but there are at least three different styles of architecture which is evident in the pic below

The inside is apparently pretty amazing, but we didnt get to go in. It closed shortly after we arrived, and we didnt want to pay :) Reason #2 thats its cooler than Versailles is that it is not nearly as touristy, and #3 is that the town its in is ridiculously adorable. So there it is.

My guess is he's not going to top this one for a while...

Im talking about my birthday. It was a good one. Since my b-day was on sunday, we started the festivities saturday night. We figured it would be fun to do the whole eiffel tower experience since we haven't yet. I mean, we have taken pics of it, but we haven't gone up top. So that was the plan. We headed over around six, and on our way we ran into some missionaries that we knew. Clay taught one of them, and our friend Josh taught the other (and clay and i both subbed in the classroom). They also were on their way to the eiffel tower, so we headed over and waited in line together. After about an hour in line, we realized that we were in the wrong one... so we switched over to the line we wanted to be in, and started over. The poor missionaries were getting a little nervous because they could tell that by starting over they were going to be cutting it real close, and probably weren't going to make it home by curfew. They stayed with us til we bought our tickets to go up, and then they headed home. Silly kids. They waited in line with us the whole time and then didn't even do the eiffel tower. They were just loving hanging out with us I guess. So, up the eiffel tower we went. It was pretty hilarious, because I was dying walking up all the stairs, and complaining about how i needed a drink, and clay was glued to the hand rail (have I mentioned that he is petrified of heights?) and didn't want to stop at all to rest, because he was afraid he would freak out. Pretty funny, but maybe you had to have been there. So we finally made it to the first level (there are three) and clay was walking all slow and careful, and kept about 10 feet between him and the end (which was totally caged in, and there is no way you could get out if you tried) on man I love him :) Finally after just a little coaxing he joined me looking over the edge. It turns out that by the time we finally got up there (after waiting in two lines) the sky was starting to change colors for the sunset. Amazing! We took the stairs again up to the second level, which was pretty impressive. We hung out and took some pics, and then got in line for the elevator up to the top. Up at the top you were almost to high to even appreciate things, because looking around you couldn't really tell what was what... Everything looked the same. We looked at our watches and got all excited knowing that we were going to be on the tower when it lit up at 10 o'clock, and also, every hour on the hour the whole tower just sparkles and glitters and shines for about 5 minutes. Its fabulous. So we headed back down to the second level (so that we could be right in the middle of it) and waited the 15 minutes til the tower lit up. We bought a little hot chocolate since it was a little chilly, and also we felt left out because everyone else was drinking champagne. We took tons of pics, kissed and cuddled, and just enjoyed looking out over the seine (the river right next to it) and seeing all the lights of Paris and it was amazing. It was so romantic and just picture perfect. And to prove it, here are some of the pics

This one is from the top level

This one is from the second level

Love him!

Mormon champagne replacement

After we came down from the tower we were planning on going to dinner, but got distracted taking more pics, and after it was over, we were too tired, so we grabbed some burgers and ate them on the train home.

So that was the end of saturday's festivities. Then on Sunday, Clay woke me up with breakfast in bed

After breakfast we got ready and went to church. Clay had packed a little picnic for after church, so we headed over to a park and ate our baguette sandwiches, drank fake champagne (complete with crystal goblets that clay stole from our house!) and just hung out and people watched.

Then, we went home and spent most of the rest of the day watching the office... we have become addicted. We had both seen most of the first three seasons, but decided since all of the seasons were on our roomies computer, that we could steal them and start over. We started with season three and finished season five yesterday. To clarify, we did not watch all three of the seasons yesterday, but we watched a lot. We only stopped to eat cake and open presents. Man I lucked when I decided to marry this one! He spoils me.

The cake!!

He got me a puppy! He said this is supposed to hold me over for a few more years.

I LOVE LUNCH

I really do love lunch. I was sort of a late bloomer when it comes to gastronomy. I don't know if I said that correctly, but basically its like this. I was a super picky eater until I went on my mission, and for no particular reason I started eating anything and everything. Basically I went from not caring about food and eating because its a requirement to live, to thoroughly enjoying my food and exploring new tastes etc. So basically I love eating now. My favorite lunch since being in France this time around is the simple "menu" that is offered at almost any boulangerie (bakery). A "menu" is a combo-meal, so you get a drink, entrée, and dessert for 5 or 6 euro. Pretty good deal. I am obsessed with baguette sandwiches because they are the best, but sometimes I get a slice of quiche instead to shake it up. This particular lunch was rather delicious, with a ham and emmental sandwich, accompanied by oasis (best juice ever) and a Rose eclair. Yup rose, like the flower. It was so stinking cute with its shimmery pink icing that very strongly resembled nail polish/lip gloss. It tasted pretty fantastic, though I had to keep reminding myself that I was not eating flowery scented lotion. I thought the Frenchies were pretty weird for flavoring things like flowers, but I think I am slowly but surely becoming converted on the idea.

After work, Clay and I met up in the city, and went to institute at the church, but before we did, we stopped by a Lebanese restaurant and picked up some Falafel for dinner. Amazing.

I dub this a pretty successful day gastronomically speaking. Also, two things concerning food: Clay gave up coke for a year (early birthday present to me) and we are going to be vegetarians when we come home. Or at least I am. I guess I can't speak for my other half.

We are jerks now

I used to think I was a pretty nice person. In fact, I'm quite certain I used to be a nice person, but lately something has changed. Its quite sad. I don't know if its the effects of living in a really big city, or being tired from commuting,etc. but in the last week I have found myself (and my husband for that matter) being quite rude.

Example #1: Clay and I were walking through the park close to the Eiffel tower. It was hot, and there were lots of people everywhere, some tourists, and some trying to sell things. We walked past one such man selling little eiffel tower keychains, and there is of course this unspoken agreement between Clay and I that we will not make eye contact with him or react when he tries to get our attention. We walk by him, and as usual, he starts with the "2 for a dollar, nice keychains, madame, monsieur, 2 for a dollar" or whatever they say. Only this time, all he says is "monsieur, MonSIEUR, MONSIEUR!" We don't break pace, and continue on toward our goal (the metro station at the end of the park) and even continue our conversation like Pros. After we had walked a good 40 feet past the guy, I realize he is still yelling "Monsieur!" and so I say to Clay "Why do you think he is still trying to get your attention?" and as I say it, I realize something is missing... My jacket that was draped over my purse is no longer there. I dropped it. I turn slowly around, and right next to the man who is still yelling at Clay to turn around lies my jacket. Oh man I felt like an idiot. I walk sheepishly over to the jacket, try the thank the guy, who just rolls his eyes at me and walks away, and am amazed at how big of jerks we must have come across as to this guy. Whoops.

Example #2: Possibly the same day, possibly the next... I don't remember. I am walking through the metro station with Clay, who happens to be a good 15 feet ahead of me. We are both exhausted and have one thought in mind, which is to get on the next train heading home as quickly as possible so that we can sit down and relax a little. As I head for the escalator a man steps in front of me and says "Excuse me, do you speak english?" in a cute little British accent. I didn't think twice, I simply shook my head "no" and walked right past him. The man's face turned to absolute shock (still not sure why he was so surprised) and as I walked up to Clay (waiting for me by the stairs) his face had the same look on it. "That guy probably just wanted directions" he said. And I said "well he can't expect everyone to speak english. I'm not sure why he was so surprised when I said no." Which Clay answered with "But you DO speak english." So this time, instead of thinking to myself that we must have come across to this guy as real big jerks, I realized that it wasn't just an appearance. I really am a big jerk. Shocking. I am not really sure if its a new development, or if it is something that has been part of my personality for a while, and I am just now realizing it. I have been thinking about it for the past few days actually. Pretty disturbing stuff. The worst part about it though, is that there is an

Example #3: I told Clay that I would meet him at the gare in Argenteuil (where we live) so that we could go have lunch together. I was walking quickly to get there, because I didn't want him to have to wait for me. As I got to the gare, I started down a flight of stairs, and noticed a young mother going up the stairs with her baby in its stroller. UP the stairs. As in one step at a time. She would sort of teeter totter the stroller up... if that makes sense. I saw what she was doing, and thought to myself "She could probably use some help" which was quickly followed by a second thought "that guy over there should help her" and away I went. The thing is, I know that the guy didn't help her, so I continued to think about it for the next 5 minutes while I waited for Clay (he had not yet arrived). WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?? Its nuts. I don't quite understand. I am a christian, which means that I believe in following the example of Jesus Christ and serving those around me, but for some reason my actions of late have not been in agreement with my knowledge and/or faith.

I titled this post "We are jerks now" because I hate the idea of this all being about me. I like to think that Clay and I are a team, and if I'm a jerk, he's a jerk too. But its not really the case. Just FYI, he's a good one, and a really nice guy. So from now on I am going to try to follow his lead. Also, I'm gonna make sure I try to follow Jesus a little more as well. :)

Dinner with the Boss

This picture is from Friday night when we went out to eat with Clay's boss Emanuel and family. This is the second time we have gone out with them, and they are the best :) The first time was a few weeks ago, and they took us out for Indian food. We spent the whole night speaking in french (which is normal since we are in france) but we decided it would be fun to go out a second time and have an "american night" and so we invited them to a diner and had burgers fries and milkshakes, and spoke "american" all night long. It was lots of fun. Even little Victoria who is six was getting in on the english speaking action. About every 5 minutes she would ask in french "how do you say 'how do you say' in english?" Pretty cute. It was a really fun night, and also really yummy food. I'd forgotten how much I love milkshakes.

Stop! Here lies the empire of the dead!

The Catacombs of Paris or "Catacombes de Paris" are an underground ossuary in Paris. Located south of the former city gate, the ossuary holds the remains of about 6 million people and fills a renovated section of caverns and tunnels that are the remains of Paris' stone mines. Sounds incredible doesn't it?
This last Thursday we planned our work holiday around seeing the Catacombs of Paris only to find out that they were closed, so, we rescheduled and planned on going there today. After a late start we finally made it to the Metro stop and found a HUGE line wrapping around the block. Our worst fears were made true as we found at that this was indeed the line to get into the catacombs. It was literally 400 people long! We met another American couple in front of us in line and chatted it up with them throughout our more than 1 and a half our wait in line!
So the catacombs were incredible. We had an audio guide with us which came in handy a couple times as we made our 20 meter decent under the metro lines and city water lines through the old mines. The old mines were cool but the best part was going into the chambers were the 6 million peoples' bones are laid out. It is seriously a life changing experience. We hope the pictures give you some sort of idea of how incredible it was, but it is definitely something we would recommend checking out on your next trip to Paris.