Frog Blog

it's halloween but you can hardly tell here. yeah, there are a few decorations up and some people in costumes, but not like the mass bruhaha halloween invokes in the states. it's rather refreshing. on the other hand, tomorrow is a national holiday-- all saint's day. tradtionally the french return to the graves of their ancestors to spruce up the sites with flowers, pay their respects, etc. but the tradition it's dying out; many people have moved away from their ancestral homes and don't make the trip each year to celebrate. i think, hey cool, a week and a half holiday from school.

musings and observations:

today in the internet cafe it smells like body odor and diesel exhaust and they're playing r&b music and nelly. much better than richard marx.

i've seen more french men in white jeans than i'd like to remember.

on the second half of the train trip from reims to beaune, the earth and landscape was the most breathtaking green. it was england green, earth green, life green, heart-melting green interspersed with gold leaves and vineyards.

the trip from beaune to montpellier was on the tgv and man, we were hauling!!! i'd never been on a long trip on a tgv and those puppies can fly. super cool.

there are palm trees down here.

i think i like montpellier better than reims. they're about the same size but there is so much more to do here. in reims there is one big city center and the rest is a bit dodgy... in montpellier the pedestrian-only city center extends and goes on forever. it's filled with windy little side streets curling and looping around themselves, each filled with dozens of restaurants and shops. plus, holy shit, the weather is a ton better. they get 300 days of sun per year and it's not too far from the beach. and it's southern france, so the people remind me a lot of italians: they're friendlier, more open, make more eye contact with me on the street, laugh more, seem more relaxed. it's a nice change from stuffy, somewhat cold reims (and i don't just mean "cold" like the weather). yeah, i get more "bonjours" from men down here, which isn't exactly welcome, but most are harmless. i think my haircolor stands out.

there are so many gorgeous people down here. more than once someone has caught my eye enough for me to look twice-- men and women. the men have this latin beauty infused with blue eyes often paired with curly light brown hair. it's a stunning combination. and they're all trim and fit and dressed well. the women would make your heart melt-- just their fashion sense makes me envious. they pull off stuff so well-- yesterday i saw a woman all in black but her pants were tucked into these pink suede boots that matched her little jacket and hat. on most people this would look ridiculous but wow, she had it.

it's rainy today (one of those other 65 days) but it's subsided for the minute so i'm off for a quick walk. today had been all about relaxing and reading and watching french tv. last night i watched "the o.c." in french and was psyched because it was an episode i hadn't seen from the first season. nevermind that i didn't understand most of it...