Silly Trees

So I came dangerously close to winning myself a Darwin award today. There are trees in my yard that have decided to take over with their obnoxiously enormous limbs and leaves, thus blocking out sunlight and devastating my garden. I went to such great pains to start most of the plants by seed, and all that remains are a few piddly onions, and about 7 dwarfish tomatoes that refuse to turn red. But I digress... My father and I decided it was time to wage war on the trees. We first attacked the giant maple in the yard, that is dying a slow and painful death anyway. First, I got out the extension ladder.... only to discover that I was not able to "safely" place it in a spot where I could get to the limbs marked for death. After a few attempts, I realized it was hopeless. But oh no! I was not to be deterred. Like MacGyver, I came up with a new plan, involving some wire cord, a trowel, and brute force. I used the trowel as a weight, and swung said cord like a lasso to capture the moribund limbs, and then dad and I used brute force to yank the bastards from the tree. The most gratifying part is, it actually worked! There was one unfortunate moment, however, when the head of the trowel parted company with the handle mid swing... and went shooting off into the bushes like some sort of maniacal gardening missile, nearly decapitating my cat who was an innocent bystander at the time. However.... I still have some LIVE limbs in the yard that need surgical intervention... I think its time to call my brother in to do the grunt work.

Starry Night

As a general rule, Lola is not an overly romantic, sappy sort of woman. But every now and then, something happens that just takes her breath away. The last night of Lola's vacation on the lake was an exceptionally clear evening. And Lola was with an exceptional man, who had only rarely seen the stars with such little light pollution. So Lola and the man went for a walk to the dock. There, they lay down on the dock and gazed at the stars; something normally way too romantic for Lola, but this was nice. Anyhoo... the time came to go back to the campsite for a traditional marshmallow burning session, so Lola and the man prepared to leave. And right there, under the band of the Milky Way, the man kissed Lola! So simple, so sweet, and yet it took her breath away. By far, the most romantic kiss Lola has ever experienced.

Kinky Sex

For Labor Day Weekend, I decided to go to NH on Lake Winnipesaukee with friends. After a ridiculous stretch at work, I was in dire need of some lazy time, and thought my friend Rich was, too. So I dragged him up to the lake to basically spend 3 days doing nothing; turns out it was one of the better decisions I have made in quite a while. While at the lake, my best friend was rather curious about this guy I had brought along with me, and appropriately began a line of questioning. She, of course, asks innocuous questions, like "Where are you from? " and "What do you do?" Her father, on the other hand, must have thought she was taking the long way round, and chose a more direct approach. "So Rich, are you into kinky sex?" he says... Almost everyone at the table choked on their sandwiches... except for Rich, who replied without missing a beat with, "Yeah. Isn't everyone?" After we all recovered from the massive bout of hysterical laughter, I received a look of approval from my best friend. Which is good... it is quite awkward to date someone who is disliked by your closest friends.

Leaving On a Jet Plane

Our trip home turned out to be completely catastrophic. We safely made it to the bus and then the airport. An hour into the flight, they announced that the navigation system needed to cross the Atlantic was not working, and they would have to turn back to Paris. We waited on the tarmac for 2 hrs while they fixed the plane. Personally, I would have preferred another aircraft sans technical difficulties, but it was not to be. We arrived in NY 4 hrs late and missed our connecting flight. After waiting what seemed a day to get our luggage, we booked seats on the next flight to Boston, which was leaving at 8 pm. I called my brother, as he and his wife were going to pick us up at the shuttle in Framingham. Turns out, they were already there. I informed them about the flight situation, and they decided they would go see a movie while waiting. No problem.... alas, I was wrong. The flight ended up being late... and by late I mean, we eventually boarded at 9:45, then sat on the tarmac until midnight, when the plane finally left for Boston. By the time I arrived in Boston, I had missed the last shuttle out of the airport. My brother was too tired to drive in to the airport, as he had to work the next morning, and my father and I ended up taking a cab home from Boston! A truly crappy trip home, but the vacation in France was so wonderful, I don't really care.

Paris III

Our last day in Paris, we decided to climb the Eiffel Tower (via the elevator, of course). Unfortunately, after standing in line for an hour, we discovered that the top floor was temporarily closed due to overcrowding. So, we went to the second floor, and still got some great photos, despite the fact that it was a fairly hazy day. Then, we went to the Pere Lachaise cemetery, where many famous people are buried. We saw Chopin and Poulenc's graves, and went on a desperate hike to find Jim Morrison's. The first time I went to Paris, Helene and I had spent hours in this cemetery looking for that grave, and never found it. This time, I was on a mission. We found out, and honestly it was a bit anticlimactic. But that's ok, I have seen it, and all is well. Basically, we took a Dead Musician's tour in the cemetery. Edith Piaf, Maria Callas and Oscar Wilde are also buried there, but we didn't have the energy to go looking for them (this cemetery is enormous). Then we went back to the hotel to begin the arduous task of repacking, for we were leaving at the arse-crack of dawn the next day.

Paris II

The day after Annie left, Dad and I spent a day at the Chateau of Versailles. It was built by Louis XIV, and is just plain over the top. The castle itself is enormous, but the gardens surrounding almost dwarf the size of the building. We took a tour through the castle, saw the Hall of Mirrors, and many of the individual rooms. The first floor rooms are mostly like a museum; each room has a different color of brocade on the walls, and there are many paintings on the wall. The upstairs is more exciting. One of the larger salons apparently has a ceiling that is actually painted canvas; the largest painted canvas in Europe. We then bought a ticket for the gardens, where we were able to see the Grands Eaux Musicales. Basically, they turn on all the fountains in the garden, and blast French Baroque music throughout. It is quite awe inspiring. We ate lunch, and just spent a couple of hours wandering in the Garden. Here, the gardens are pristinely manicured and shaped; gardens in this style are called "a la francaise."

Paris I

Annie decided to drive in to Paris with us, and stayed at the Hotel Chopin for a night. The first day, we visited Notre Dame, Ste. Chappelle, actually climbed the Arc de Triomphe and the Louvre. We at dinner at a wonderful restaurant that is in the basement of the train station at Les Invalides. Afterwards, we took a driving tour of Paris by Night, and saw how the Eiffel tower is lighted at night. Starting at 11, the turn on lights every hour on the hour for about 15 minutes. First, it flashes with silver lights, then goes to a solid, sapphire blue. It's absolutely gorgeous! The second day, despite extremely tired legs, we visited Napoleon's tomb, and also went to the Rodin museum. Napoleon's tomb is fantastic! The building is ornately decorated inside with marble and gold. The tomb itself is probably a 30 ft. marble construction. At the Rodin museum, we saw The Thinker, among other famous sculptures. Near the end of the day, Dad and I made a trek up the hill of Montmartre to see the Sacre Coeur Basilica. It sits on the top of the hill, and is a brilliant white. Unfortunately, you are not allowed to take pictures inside, but all the decoration is mosaic artwork. In the dome above the altar, there is a huge mosaic of Christ with his arms out. Again, lots of gold. That night, Annie left and returned to her parent's house, and Dad and I needed to take a nap to recover.

France VII- Chez Coutures

Staying at Annie's parent's, Claudine and Andre Couture, was fantastic. They fed us well every night, and there was much talking. Somehow, we got into a conversation about WWII, and they were telling us stories of when they were kids in the war, and how the Americans had come and French families were hiding some of the paratroopers in their attics and barns. One of the desks in their house had been confiscated and used by actual Nazi soldiers; then, surprisingly, returned to them after the war. It was extremely interesting to hear stories from people who had actually lived through it. After all, there has never been a war on American soil in my lifetime; even this war is somewhat removed from my everyday life. While there, we also visited a small castle at Chamerolles, where they now make perfume. Unfortunately, we got there just at closing time but they let us walk around the grounds anyway. We also visited Yevre, a medieval fort that is mostly in ruins now (got some great pics there). After this brief respite, we began our trek to Paris.

France VI- Castles of the Loire Valley

The day after the beach, Dad and I brought Helene and Maxim to the airport so they could return to England. Then he and I spent the evening in La Rochelle, and met up with Annie and Jean later. The next day, we began our trip through the Loire Valley to go to Annie's parent's house. Unfortunately, I didn't realize Jean would be working, and I didn't actually get a chance to say goodbye to him before we left. The trip was a bit long, but we got a chance to see a lot of the French countryside. The vast majority of the country is farmland, and you can drive for hours through wheat, hay and sunflower fields. The first castle we stopped at was Chenonceau, which is the only castle that is actually built over the Loire river. We got into a conversation about wine, and Annie explained that Jean is constantly arguing with his brother, for Jean thinks Bordeaux wine is superior to Loire valley. The second castle was Cheverny. The tour through the inside of this castle was far more interesting. We were able to view the king and queen's chambers, and an entire room dedicated to hunting and arms. Took a pic of the suit of armor for my brother. While there, I also bought 2 daggers (which I later discovered were actually sharpened), one for me and one for my brother. Not entirely sure this was a good idea, but whatever. We finally did a drive-by to see the Castle of Chambord, then went directly on to Annie's parent's house in Bouzonville aux Bois.

France V- The Beach

The following day, a group of about 20 of us went to a beach on Ile de Re. I drove Vikienti, Lisa and their mother, along with my father. Helene unintentionally gave me horrible directions, and we got nicely lost on the island. I was annoyed because I know Vikienti's sister gets carsick, and I am certain my complete lack of knowledge of the island was not helping her state. Eventually, we found a beach and decided To Hell with the rest of them... Luckily, when we got out of the car, Maxim was there. I think, next to Vikienti, I was the whitest person there, and the only one that did not get a serious sunburn. We jumped around in the waves which threatened to bowl us over, and I lost one of my pairs of sunglasses in the ocean. C'est la vie. There were also large, cement bunkers that Helene explained had been built during WWII, by the Germans in attempts to &*^% up the Americans.... but of course we came from the North and thwarted their plan! After roasting ourselves in the sun for a few hours, and having a picnic, a few of us drove to St. Martin and went to a bar for a drink. The group was dwindling at this point, and finally we just headed back to Mauze. Apparently, my worry over Lisa was unnecessary; Helene told me she sang my name the entire way home because I am the only driver that doesn't make her sick :)