Paris to Plogoff

Greetings from France! You'll have to excuse this post, French keyboards are confusing.

To start, my flight was delayed a day which sucked but c'est vie? After being squished next to an over-weight french man all night I finally arrived in Paris. The first thing I did was exchange money; 58 euros for $100 which is terrifying. Then I hopped onto a train and headed for Paris. Once in Paris I wandered around in search of Ashley's apartment and after what felt like hours of walking I finally found it. I spent the night in Paris and then woke up and attempted to make a 7:05am train to Quimper. But ALAS I was unsuccessful and missed it by 1 minute; my stomach dropped and ulitimate doom crept into my thoughts. Thankfully, Ashley's roommate Michelle came with me to the train station and subdued my freak-out. I had to pay another 25 euros to get a spot on the next train at 8:05. I can't thank Michelle enough for coming and staying with me; I think if I had been alone I would have cried, called dad and tried to quit France. I'm sure it was an accumulation of things that contributed to my stress (not getting any sleep the night before, missing home, and lack of food) but we got over that obstacle. Its funny because going into this trip I knew it would be hard but I didn't realize it would be this kind of hard; having almost no idea what anyone is saying and navigating around by myself is proving to be far more difficult than previously imagined. I just have to remember to be lionhearted (as corny as that may sound) and not doubt myself. All of this made me wish Shanna was with me (I miss you!).

ANYWAYS, after a 5 1/2 hour train ride I had to wait for another 2 1/2 hours in the Quimper bus station for a ride to Plogoff (which, by the way, took 2 hours). The hours and hours of travel gave me a chance to see the French countryside....which is amazing and far more impressive than Paris. In fact, after seeing the countryside I can't imagine why anyone would want to live in Paris.

So yada yada iI finally made it to Plogoff and I am staying with a lovely French family, the Deboutes; Franck, Karine and their son Hugo. I share a room with Hugo who is about 5 (?) and is still warming up to me. Hugo likes to sing and does so ALL THE TIME...in the morning, before he goes to bed, etc. I think he does it in the morning to wake me up, its fine, I think its cute-ish. He has built a rather impressive castle structure in the middle of the room that is currently under the control of the Tiger King, but we will see how long that lasts... there is a pretty serious looking dragon creeping around the bookshelf.

This family is really the epitome of organic; the reuse EVERYTHING. They even reuse their shit; no joke. They use what is considered a ; no water is used for flushing, in fact you don't flush. When you are done going to the bathroom you cover your waste with these weird wood chips. Franck told me that human waste is good for the trees...? Allllllrightythen. The house is extremely modern though, so its not like im living in the dark ages.

Well I do believe a nap is in store for me right now. Ill update about the work Im doing soon.

I'm missing all of you.

Ah, to be lionhearted!

Today is the day; off to France I go. How do I feel? Terrified. Seriously doubting my decision to run off to Europe by myself with only $1000 AND I'm immediately regretting putting off the majority of the work until last minute. Mais, c'est vie? I suppose. I also suppose that one way of looking at this situation is that this is my first adventure and although the horizon is foreign I must blindly walk forth.

It is in times like these when I think of Frodo and Harry; they must have been really terrified. Facing the greatest dark powers imaginable seems far more difficult than leisurely traveling around France for a few months. I guess I should probably just start thinking of this as a personal, yet epic(!), undertaking....leading me into the unknown. A story not for the fate of heart.. a quest for eternal glory! Wits will be tested, strength will be measured, GOD knows if I'll return!!!

But as someone, somewhere, once said "all glory comes from daring to begin."

So, ere I go.

OH herro

So I'm off to France in t-minus 4 days. LOADS of stuff to do. Good thing I'm an expert procrastinator and left it all for my last few days in the states. I wish I was capable of being one of those kids (Alexa) who is almost always perfectly prepared for things like this, but ALAS I am not. I have this horrid habit of thinking "eh I'll just figure it out when I get there" which commonly results in me standing confounded in front of the masses..its fine. My biggest concern this morning is a lack of ipod. I can't fathom going 3 months in a foreign country without Biggie and T-Swift. So i've been scouring craigslist for cheap old ones, hopefully something will pop up.
When I finally make it to Paris I'll be staying with an ol' high school buddy for a day or so, which is extremely comforting because she might be the only person I actually know in France as of right now. She is doing me a HUGE favor and letting me crash for a night before I flit away to my first farm. My first farm is the in the north-western corner of France in a town called Plogoff. I found out a few days ago that I'll be doing some traditional stone masonry here which is going to be SICK. I'm staying with a man named Franck, his family, their 2 dogs, one cat and multiple ducks. Franck sounds (surprisingly) excited and enthusiastic about my arrival, which is not what I expected from the supposed stuffy French disposition. I'm reading this book called "French or Foe" by a lady named Polly Platt. Great book, I would suggest it to anyone who is traveling to France and wants a good shot at surviving encounters with the natives. Platt keeps talking about how if you want the French to work/cooperate with your requests you have to "seduce" it out of them. HAH we'll see about that. "Seduction" is not my forte.
Anyway, JS is bugging me about "starting my day" and "getting things done! Don't you know your going to France in 4 days?! You have to PREPARE!!" My "eh" response just resulted in a large scoff and some kind of mumble which I'm sure was him financially cutting me off...GREAT.

Here, watch listen to some Edith Piaf.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3Kvu6Kgp88

Chers Amis,

As some of you may already know, I'm going to France. I'm taking a semester off from the lovely CU and romping my way around the French countryside. Now, as much as I really do love the ever gleaming flat irons, the righteous mid-western attitude, and of course the lovely, brilliant folks of 17th street; I feel a need to pause all that and seek foreign adventure. Thus, through this blog I intend to provide myself, family, friends and random facebook creepers a method to keep (detailed) track of my travels.

So, on that note I'll end this entry with the hope that you will read and get enjoyment out of this blog.

Salut!




(Map of France from 1453... completely irrelevant)