Art

1.

I'm determined to know at least a little Art History before I go. So I bought this little pocket book on Chardin at Chapters for $1.99 XD

And while I was there I picked up this little journal that I am going to use as my travel diary! XD

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Baptiste-Sim%C3%A9on_Chardin

Feeling like and idiot and slowly learning about France...

So I got this cool package in the mail today from Tourism France! I wrote to the Canadian office in Ontario briefly explaining that I used to work for Tourism Vancouver and could they send me some free brochures and/or maps and such if they have it. So the happy result is I now have some nice and glossy anti-too broad-LonelyPlanet magazines. They have some hefty doses of advertisements in them. But hey, they were free so I cannot *euh* complain.

However. At some point as I was elatedly going through the package, I realized I had been too vague as to explaining my whereabouts. Either that or the person putting together the package is a clueless summer intern like me and doesn't know where the Bouche du Rhône is. Because, soon after, my stomache went from those little happy flip-flops of thinking that large giftwrapped present holds a BB-gun from Santa into the stomache-falling-into-pit sensation of finding a hideous sweater knitted by a horrible aunt instead. Which was mildly how I felt when I realized I'd gotten info on the rhône-alpes region instead of the Côte d'Azur region, which I will be more accurately located.

Browsing along, I realized that none of the maps or brochures really listed anywhere like Aix or Marseille in Provence. And I thought, that's odd. And then I smacked myself on the forehead and saw for myself that the rhône-alps region is north of there.

Anyhoo, inside one of the magazines, I finally saw the breakdown of the regions in France and realized that the Riviera is also another different region and that I will actually be living in the Côte d'Azur. So the name of this blog has to be changed. Except that I can't do anything about that now. *le sigh*

I guess this is the first of my blunders in my socio-cultural education in France. More to come soon, eh?

Still not in France...

But I feel that as the days creep closer, I am more interested in knowing what it feels like to be in Vancouver. I mean I try to look at things differently. I'm on the bus riding down Granville St or past residential areas and I'll look out at the houses and wonder if houses in Vitrolles will look anything like them.

Seriously, I keep waiting for this brick to fall out of the sky, hit me on the head, and turn out to be a 10 lbs letter telling me that I'm not actually going to France and to get back to my senses. I don't know what I'm thinking of. I still have things to take care of before I leave. And it doesn't help that at every turn my mom is thinking of ways to discourage me from going :P I guess that's a part of her job, eh? Ah, well, it's not actually discouraging me. If anything, her reverse-psychology has always worked on me. "Go clean the dishes!" *stays and vegetates in front of the computer instead*

So if before, the prospect of tonnes of material to get done with before going to France was dampening my keeness to go, now, thanks to mom, I want to go again. Thanks mom!

~Always remember to thank your mother!

Watched the movie Brick ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0393109/) tonight. It was pretty good I have to say.

Not in the French Riviera yet...

So hopefully this will become my travel diary soon.