At métro stop Passy, 16e arrondissement

"look at the sky..."

Strange Endorsements

Apparently, Hugh Laurie (aka, Dr. House) is the spokesmodel for the L'Oréal Men's Skincare Line in France.

He advises you to "Be yourself, but don't let yourself go!"

Go figure?

Parisian Anomaly

First time ever seeing a Parisian pick up after their dog.

Madame, I wish you good karma for all eternity, because I'm pretty sure you are the only person in this entire city who has ever done that.

The Land I Love: Ode to an Adoptive Homeland

For those of you keeping track at home...yes, I have made FOUR trips to Basse Normandie since arriving in France this year.

Not only is it where I spent my 2009 Princeton in France Summer Internship (working for L'Association Culture et Patrimoine du Pays d'Auge - the Culture and Heritage Association of the Pays d'Auge - for their summer music festival, Les Promenades Musicales), it is also where I fell in love: with the land, with the history, with agriculture, with strong cheese, with cidre and pommeau and Calvados, with spontaneity, with eliminating "non" from my vocabulary, and with bringing my camera everywhere I go (just in case!).

I may be living it up in Paris, but I feel très normande in my heart. Normandie is the only place in the world where I forget to carry my phone, don't feel the need to check my e-mail, and most of the time don't even know what time it is.

Every time I go back, I feel like I'm returning home.

Why?

The greenest of greens:

(Cambremer, 2009)

(Montviette, 2009)

(somewhere near St.-Loup-de-Fribois, 2009)

(Holly, or le houx, which we collected this year to make Christmas decorations!)

. . . AGRICULTURE,

(Mézidon-Canon, 2009)

(near St.-Loup-de-Fribois, 2009)

(near St.-Loup-de-Fribois, 2009)

... and especially,

COWS

(2009)

(2009)

*** It should be noted that the cows pictured are not vaches normandes (the iconic black and white, milk and meat producing cows native to the region), but rather blondes d'Aquitaine, which is the breed my friends raise.

(and chasing them down

in the rain when they try to escape!)

...and, consequently, lots of milk, cream, and CHEESE

...but also, bountiful, beautiful APPLES...

...long, winding roads...

...with history at every turn...

(the American cemetery)

(a bullet hole in a bunker at Point du Hoc)

(helmets and gear from WWII found on my friends' farm)

...and churches,

(Église de Ste-Marie-aux-Anglais)

...cathedrals...

...and basilicas to take

both believing and non-believing

breath away...

...and, finally,

always somewhere to warm up again

and dream of the next's day's adventures...