Reminiscing Post #1: France (July 2005)
Yesterday, I asked my followers on Twitter if I should use this blog to (1) post old travel photos should I come across them or (2) if I should just stick to my upcoming travels.
The response was favourable to option #1, so this is my inaugural reminiscing post. I’ll just talk about the pictures I found of France in this post; there’s some UK pictures and some California pictures to come later. Now I’m not 100% sure on the dates these were taken, but I do know I left for France on July 8th and came back to the States on July 16th, so there’s a week window for ya. However, I do know these are from the beginning portion of our trip. Maybe the first two days.
Some backstory: I took two years of French in high school: French 1 and French 4. My dad (Pataphysical) had taken French when he was in grade school. So as his high school graduation present to me, the two of us spent a week in France. We were on a Trafalgar tour that started in Paris and went west all the way to Bretange (Brittany to the English-speaking world) and then worked our way back. Memories not depicted by the pictures linked at the bottom of the post include:
- Me ordering a slice of Tarte Normande when in Rouen because of my French 4 final project where I had to make a cooking show in French and make a recipe catered to a particular region in France. My region was Normandy and I made a Tarte Normande, which is basically apple pie. I wanted to compare my Tarte Normande to an authentic Tarte Normande.
- Visiting the cathedral in the town where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake (Rouen). Joan is my confirmation name. — Okay, maybe this one is included in the pictures.
- Dad achieving his childhood dream of climbing to the top of Mount St. Michel.
- Wandering into City Hall in Tours where there was a Human Rights exhibit and also free champagne and drinks to celebrate Bastille Day.
- Dad trying to get me to drink wine in the Loire Valley, but me not enjoying it very much.
- Visiting a lot of castles and churches that I can’t really remember by name.
- Walking through the Louvre and seeing Millet’s painting of The Gleaners. During my senior year of high school, I watched Agnès Varda’s documentary Les Glaneurs et la glaneuse (English title: The Gleaners and I — a translation which I loathe, but that’s besides the point) and found the practice of gleaning fascinating.
- Purchasing Emma Daumas’s debut album Le Saut de L’Ange (The Jump of the Angel) and Cali’s album L’Amour Parfait (The Perfect Love) in the Virgin Megastore near the Louvre. The former because I had heard some of her music in French 4, the latter because Dad and I stumbled upon a concert while flipping through the channels on TV.
- Watching French game shows on TV and guessing the answers before the players do. Even though French isn’t our first language :) I couldn’t tell you now what the titles of the shows were, but I do remember asking a French friend if they knew what show I had seen was.
And here are the pictures in slideshow form:
If you view them in the album, you’ll find titles and descriptions for most of the pictures (there were some that I have forgotten with time, so please help jog my memory if possible, Dad!) and be able to leave comments if you have a Photobucket account.
Now I’m off to do some practicing of my scene for Acting class since my partner is finally back on campus.
