so the weekend following my wonderful birthday, we traveled to the normandy region of france with joanie, eric, and all 3 kids. normandy is about 2.5 hours west of paris, and it's known for it's wonderful apples, and also for being the site of one of the most famous battles in all of human kind: the storming of the normandy beaches by the allied forces (US, england, france, and kinda canada) during WWII. this was incredibly fascinating. we visited a couple museums, walked through some bunkers the nazis used to fend off the invasion, and also visited the US cemetery. the cemetery was unimaginably beautiful. it was right on the coast and bigger than i expected. many many headstones, and the little museum beside it was only 2 years old, but it was full of a lot of very interesting, tragic, and informative history. we stayed at a very nice hotel, which joanie and eric were nice enough to put us up in.

after going back to paris, and spending another day cruising around paris, we went to the westin hotel to spend my last night in the "civilized" world before i started my arduous journey to africa. the lovely barthel family gave me a wonderful going away present: a night's stay in a high class hotel before i left. colin and i made the most of it by bringing two bottles of wine each, bagettes and cheese and some movies to watch. room service was a little expensive (10 euro for a glass of milk), so we waited til late night and ordered some ice cream in bed. it was a wonderful evening, i'm glad that i was able to spend my last night in a classy hotel with my boyfriend. it was just the kind of relaxation i needed before my hectic adventures that awaited me in africa. thank you barthels, i love you all.

leaving the next day was hard, but i gathered up a little bit of strength, rubbed my stone, and caught the bus to the airport. Africa here I come!!!!!!

My 25th Birthday!!

Well its not hard to have a wonderful birthday in Paris! The day started out with wonderful breakfast pastries thanks to Jonnie.  Colin and I walked to the beautiful local Chateau in the morning for coffee and a photo exhibit.  Then back for a wonderful nap! In the evening Colin and I got all dressed up for an amazing dinner. The chef was from Madagascar and very jolly looking. I ordered the chefs surprise tasting  menu and 9 courses later I had one happy belly.  It was a perfect evening and I couldn't ask for a better Birthday. Colin did a wonderful job of  making it a very special day.  The very next day was my birthday all over again with a suprise dinner from Joan and the kids. How lucky am I!!!!

First 3 days in Paris

The first three days in Paris have been wonderful.  We arrived at Colin's cousin Joanie's house after getting lost walking from the train station.  Luckily enough a french/american couple found us looking lost and noticed Colin's baseball hat as american and came to offer us directions.  But they actually ended up driving us in their car to Joanie's house, which was extremely surprising yet very welcomed.  

We spent some time with Joanie's 3 kids, Matthew 10, Nathalie 8, and Paul 5, who are a delight.  They all have an abundance of energy, and can't get enough of their American cousin, whom they use as a real life playground:  scaling, hanging on neck and arms, and attaching themselves to his legs to be dragged around on the ground.  Since French kids don't go to school on Wednesdays, and also have an hour and a half lunch on the other days, we've found a lot of time to hang out with these 3 little darlings.  

We've spent the next two days traveling in to Paris (it's about 15 min away by rail) and just walking around.  Haven't really ventured in to any museums or churches yet, tho we will, just wandered around the streets in awe of the beautiful enormity of the Paris cityscape.  We walked up and down the Seine, which is the river running through the middle of Paris, and gazed at a distance some of the monuments we will further inspect such as Notre Dame, and the gold-plated building housing Napoleon's tomb.  Last night, after walking down the main avenue Saint Germaine with a slew of window shopping, we dined at a little hole-in-the-wall Italian joint before heading up to the top of the Eiffel Tower at night.  The elevator ride up to the top is a little shaky, but the view from the top is incredible:  hence Paris' nickname "The City of Lights."  I was a bit scared to walk out to the edge of the top of the tower, it just didn't seem that sturdy.  I mean, you're caged in, but it's only a metal floor, and it hangs over the support beams, so you can look straight down.  All the monuments around the city are brilliantly lit up to see from the top of the tower, making them easier to pick out from a distance than it would be during the day.  For some reason, my camera didn't want to focus very well while taking pictures from this aerie, so many of the photos have blurred lights in the background.  Although frustrating, a few did turn out with some very trippy looking visuals in the background.

We ended up being some of the last people on the tower before closing, and we had to scurry back to the train station to catch the last train out of Paris back to the little suburb of Bourg-la-reine, where Joanie's house is.  Very lucky indeed, lest we would have been stuck without lodging in a city that was at best 32 degrees out by that time.  So it's been great so far, now I'm looking forward to a wonderful birthday filled with sightseeing and a romantic dinner near the Sacred Heart church.  I'll keep you posted. Oh, and btw, my boyfriend is soooo cool and handsome!(Says Colin)hahaha

Ireland Overall

Well, the city of Dublin was not what we expected: the people, consisting of more foreigners than dubliners it seemed, were not quite as welcoming as expected. The city was smaller in size than expected, and during our first couple of nights, there was a real great pub experience to speak of. Everyone was a little stand-offish and there was a serious lack of jolly singing. The first person we really got on with was a Turk who owned a kabob shop named Saleeb. He ended up just giving us free food and advice. He warned us of all the "nackers" (gypsies) on the north side of Dublin. And he told us how he bought everything from thieves that came by his shop to resell "discounted" items. Flat screens for $130, bottles of Jameson for $10, video games for $8 (which he turned around and sold to a legitimate gaming store across the street for $35). Saleeb was definitely responsible for the best quotes from Dublin: "You got to be like Jewish to survive this fucking recession" and when I asked him if we could give him money for all the free food he gave us, he replied with a smile, "Fuck off, I'm turkish. No irish, no american." Other than him, we were befriended by a Swede at a bar while watching a champions league soccer game, who eventually took us to another to another bar and bought a bunch of drinks. But we think he roofy'ed Colin, or someone did, cuz the rest of the night was a blur to him and he didn't drink nearly enough for that to happen. Colin thought I stole from McDonald's and wouldn't eat what I actually bought him, then proceeded to chase me down the street in what for him was a full sprint. Before he eventually fell down in the streets. And that was pretty much Dublin. That experience was enough for us to want to leave the city for a little bit and take a bus out to Galway, which is about a 3 hour bus ride to the west coast of Ireland. Here we stayed at a little B & B, with a nice little old Irish lady. This city seemed to be a bit nicer quality, and not so bustling with foreigners. We took a bus tour out into the country, where we had a hard time actually seeing the beautiful Cliffs of Moher due to the rain and fog that came in just as we showed up. The night that followed in Galway city turned out to be the best memory of Ireland. We watched a rugby match between Ireland and England at a pub where there actually was chanting and singing. We introduced Canadian mountaineers to some locals, and ended up meeting to Dubliners named Eric and Simon: cousins that showed us the best of the Irish people. Both very intelligent and interesting, Eric proved to be my new favorite gay friend who talked about boys and fashion while Colin and Simon trailed behind talking about history, philosophy, and spirituality. We started pub hopping with them at about 8 o'clock at night, and ended up staying at their hotel bar 'til 3:30 in the morning. Colin and Simon must've put back 10 pints of Guinnes a piece, while Eric and I were downing vodka and red bulls like no other. It was by far the best night in Ireland, and Eric and Simon were hands down the coolest Irish people we've ever met. The next day we caught a bus back to Dublin, where we stayed at a shady hotel, waiting to leave for Paris. It was hard to go back to Dublin after spending a day and a half in Galway. So, in conclusion, a crazy Turk, a Swede, a couple bus tours, and the two coolest Irish ever made up a trip that'll be hard to forget. Hopefully Paris will prove a little less hectic, and without the weird roofy night.

Airport Bar

2/23/09

Hello All,

1 hour until Colin and I board our plane and it still doesn't feel real. I've got my laptop and Colin has his crossword and we're ready to go. I wanna send out one last thank you before we leave the beautiful US of A. I couldn't have done this trip without out you all and I will be thinking of you all every step, flight, bus, train, and drink of the way. I love you all and thank you so much for all you support!

Love Jac

PS. Too my 3 little ones, thank you for all my wonderful letters. I will keep them with me always.