Good afternoon

Initial typo: Good faternoon! Exactly. (Another typo: excatly). Speaking of fat cats:

Bacon bacon bacon. And tomatoes and spaghetti. I want this at every meal.

Here is what happened yesterday during our visit to the castle ruins.

 First, I looked normal and I was laughing.

 After that, I climbed some crumbling stairs to nowhere

 Hey.

 Then some quick GlamourShots

 Then later, I found a bendy cane and practiced bending it

Now you know. Wait 50 years and you'll see this! Furious one-handed fool with a bad back.  

 SERIOUSLY GET THE **** AWAY FROM MY CASTLE

More later. I'm off to chug milk and eat calcium tablets.

Rien à déclarer

After a super productive Sunday morning, Norman and I took a drive to the Château de Coucy, about 15 minutes from Chauny. (Ruth was partying it up in Paris this weekend. Lucky girl.) It was "chilly" (low 30s, but very windy!) but beautiful beautiful. I took a million and one photographs. Norman's camera is filled with some even better ones (involving headscarves and canes). I'm making the photos bigger this time: what do you think?

 I like signs!

 Get your hairs coiffed here

  Gorgey landscape

Wooden stuff

On the way up

Mean dog.

I LOVE HONEY

A home

Wildlife

Reminded me of an old guy's hair

Broulliard

So green in January

Winter berries

 Hidden treasures

 Cutest family in all of Picardie

FROMAGE!

 The little boy with his CANE! sigh.

 Everyone was out for a walk.

 The ruins! This reminded me of the Roman Forum.

 COUCOU! A leprechaun child. He (she?) is advertising the medieval fest which takes place in April. I'm going.

 Norman laughed at me when I said I liked this window. "You want one of those for your bedroom?"

 Love

 Jardin
 

 Intense fog

 Church

 This one is for my mom and my sister. STAMP MAILBOX!

 Twins!

 The top half

 Red stripe

 Roundy round

 

 Typical. The rest of the street was empty.

One of the most satisfying Sundays lately!

Mid week.

Sometimes I sleep ten hours per night and work ten hours per week. Dear future self: You had it so, so good.

On Monday evening I took the train to Paris to meet up with a Minneapolitan who runs a shop next to the House of Balls (it's called C'est Chic and the owner buys cool Parisian stuff and sells it in MPLS). I had dinner with her and her friend and I almost ordered the andoulliette sausage, not knowing it was intestines. After the whispered warning and a flutter of my heart, I instead ordered the "Jambon de Paris" with fries. It was a satisfying plate of cold ham slices and hot French fries with some ketchup on the side. Really weird, really salty, really yummy.

During our post dinner walk, we saw this:

I rushed back to the train station about 10pm and made it home by midnight. I was stressin' about the next day because theoretically I have five classes. So I didn't sleep enough and didn't feel altogether prepared to entertain. Class #1, 9am: professor is sick. I go home and try to sleep until 10am but it doesn't work. Class #2: 10 am. I go to the prof's room. Five students showed up for class. He doesn't need me, but he says there is a theater performance in the auditorium if I want to go! Class #3, 11am. Same prof as class #2, I am not needed. I go have a coffee with Ruth in the teacher's lounge. Etc. etc. 

My last two classes fortunately did happen, and it was my last time with these particular students (they are 19-21 years old). The prof announced that it was my last day with them and everyone (both classes) BOOED and yelled "WHAT! WHY? OH my GOD!" I love love love these students.

Dinner: Corn/avocado/onion/garlic/tomato salad. I cannot find black beans here. It was still really good though.

Crazy Spanish tomato

Unripe but beautiful

Don't cut an onion in half and then forget about it!

Freeeeee

Sunday night Sunday night.

Friday night: playing dress up with dorky glasses 
(prescription). I want to post photos of my roommates but I 
don't want to get kicked out! 

Saturday evening: waffles and crepes in Reims 
(a city SE of Chauny)

Satchel. The soldes are taking place in France: big sales that last 
a month, twice a year. I planned to go shopping in Paris 
but I got it out of my system during our daytrip. 
This is the perfectly-sized satchel. Praise H&M!

Gonna fill the margins with translations. 
Title: The Dragon in the Tea Garden. 
NOT for children.

Bedside reading materials. check out that SWEET 
market book! (Thanks dear mother!)

Desk books. French verb conjugation, good times.

Another satisfying weekend! Including my first attempt at coleslaw. Not bad, very colorful. Norman made apple crumble which the three of us ate with coffee this afternoon. Goodness gracioussss.

It's midnight! Time to go write in my diary. XOXO