it's been a while

I haven't posted anything for the past week or so, mainly because due to the several bank holidays there were, I couldn't get to the internet that much. Also, I'm not sure that anyone even reads this anymore? The heat wave has ended, thankfully, and it's been kind of chilly and gloomy lately. Mom and Sam came to visit last week from Friday through Sunday, and it was very nice even though I've been kind of stressed and irritable lately. We did the main tourist attractions, including les Invalides again (Sam liked the suits of armor, as he is trying to fashion one of his own...) and also Saint Chappelle, possibly the oldest cathedral in Paris and the adjoining Conciergerie which is the prison where Marie Antoinette was held (even though her cell no longer exists which was disappointing). While Mom took a nap one afternoon, Anna and I took Sam to get ice cream at Berthillon, a famous glacier in Paris. We went to the "sit-down" area, sort of like a tea room, and I ordered a macaroon (it's kind of like a cake sandwich with cream in the middle?) with a scoop of vanilla (my fav, it's so simple yet so great) and raspberry sauce. Berthillon is a bit expensive though, the macaroon thing was around 5,50 euro which is like $7 (or as I like to say, USDs)

Classes continue, except for next Thursday when there is another holiday, yet we are going to Versailles as a group with ISA. I've been looking forward to Versailles this whole time. The day after that, I leave for Vienna to visit Beth, and after my week-long journey with her, Jon comes for a weekend. After that I only have 2 weeks left until I return to my mother country.

I'm guessing you have heard about the presidential election here in France? Well, much to the dismay of Louise and others, Nicolas Sarkozy has been elected. Sunday night while I was having dinner with Mom and Sam, a few of my friends went to the Place de la Concorde to see Sarkozy's speech, but they left soon after arriving due to the crowd resembling "a Bush rally" (Anna's words). They proceeded to the Bastille, the traditional victory site for the Socialist party, where there were riots and people had graffiti-ed the statue, something about Sarkozy = Hitler. The youth were rioting (as they often do in France), and the police were there with tear gas. I learned the next day that more than 700 cars throughout the country had been burned in protest of the election results, AND that this is the first time there have been riots following a presidential election! It's really baffling that so many people voted for Sarkozy, yet the response has been so anti. My one professor calls Sarkozy "mini-Bush" (loved how Bush called to congratulate him, great). Anyway, it should be interesting/frightening to see if any of Sarkozy's reforms are actually implemented.