Poitiers

This is a view of Poitiers from leaning out Jess's third story window. Such a pretty city.

La Poste

This was my post office in Rochefort. A perfect example of why I love France. Most cities in the US would have a really boring post office, but not the French, oh no. They don't do anything halfway.

Paris

This picture is not particularly awesome. But Paris is a particularly awesome, so I'll let it slide. This time.

Chartres

Ah, Chartres, the perfect example of how the French are allergic to pronouncing the last three letters of any word.

Love Birds

Never a snuggle without prying eyes.

Hole In The Sky

Sometimes I feel like I'm missing something, but I don't know what that thing is. Right now I suspect that thing is sleep. Or perhaps it is a sense of purpose– although, in theory, I already have some upcoming activities to give me purpose. Whatever it is, this feeling of malcontent needs to end. Soon.

When The Water Left

The tides on the western coast of France are ridiculous. The water recedes for what seems like miles, in actually probably only half a mile – but that's still really far! The tide goes out so far that boats left in the harbor sit on the sand. Atlantic Ocean, you minx, stop being such a tease.

Statuesque

There is no love like the love between a nymph and her forest deer friend.

The Flowers They Carried

So I have decided that I will no longer be posting on the weekends. Mostly because I am too lazy to post Every Single Day. I will try to get it up before two in the afternoon... yea I have no excuse for that one.

Happy Valentines Day!

Cracks

I find the cracks in this painting far more interesting than the actual painting itself. Just like the cracks in people. They let you see the person hiding underneath. We are perfect in our imperfections.

The Weekend

Feeling exposed? Me too.

Flower

Flowers are pretty awesome. Hope you enjoy this one.

Tower of Macaroons

This is the tower of macaroons that CHANGED MY LIFE. Not really. I feel more that they represent a joyful tower of awesomeness, inspired by the presence of macaroons in my life. Basically I love macaroons. Such a silly word, macaroon.

Flowers

Flowers cause they're pretty.

Lost in a Japanese Garden: Are We Still In France?

Jess and I went exploring in Nantes using the awesome rental bike stations that have popped all over metropolitan areas in France. (Only 1,50 Euros for an hour and a half!) We followed our trusty city map directions to the Île de Versailles – which looked promising – and we found ourselves in a Japanese garden wonderland.

Birthday Wishes

Now you might be looking at this post, Ted I certainly hope you are, and be thinking, what is this picture? Why is Ted next to a bunch of flowers? Firstly, Ted posed, so that was his choice not mine. Secondly, screw you. A man can pose next to flowers if he wants to. Don't even get me started on all that hetero-normative crap dictating what is considered manly or feminine. If Ted wants flowers, well then he is getting some pretty flowers. Ted – HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

 Hope you like the flowers.

Vingt-trois

One of my last days in France Jess took me to an art collective in Poitiers called Vingt-Trois (or twenty-three). When you hear the word "art collective" you usually think of pot-luck dinners, unwashed hair, and communist literature. This commune definitely contained the usually suspects. An eardrum-splitting reggae band performed in the basement and the girl in the picture below had a silk-screen printing operation strapped to herself so that she could walk around and "sell" prints. I say sell, because they would give these away to anyone for the price of a hug. She had a train of helpers following her around with a clothesline of drying prints for passerbys to peruse. One of my favorite things was the wall grenouille (frog) that Jess posed in front of for me.

Île de Ré day

These are some pictures from when I went to the Île de Ré, a picturesque island off the coast of western France near La Rochelle. Jess and Ted and I jumped into our rental car and picked up some friends of mine, Lee and Laura, for a day of wandering and beach-combing.  First, we stopped by an old abbey, abbaye Notre-Dame-de-Ré, also called des Châteliers, in search of the perfect picnic spot.










This old stone abbey provided the perfect wind shelter, since the Île de Ré, while absolutely gorgeous, can tactfully be described as blustery.


We walked through Saint-Martin-de-Ré, which is one of those cute French towns full of narrow winding streets that are perfect for wandering aimlessly. At the same time, Saint Martin is too small to truly get lost, which appeases my mazeophobic side.

Jess found this awesome door knocker. The French have the most random collection of grandiose door knockers.

We also found a shop aptly named... the shop (or le magasin in French). I found it hilarious.


And of course, no trip to the Île de Ré is complete without going to the beach. Islands lend themselves to that. And the beaches did not disappoint. They were pebble beaches, which while picturesque, are a little hard on the feet.


Ouch-inducing beaches did not stop us from wading into the crystal-clear water. Chilly, but satisfying.
The beach also had these larger stones hidden in the sand. Jess constructed this rock sculpture.


What is je-ne-sais-quoi that draws people to the seaside? Is it the air? Is it the water? Is it the unparalleled splendor of the ocean? I like to think it is the splendor. What ever is it, I am missing the Île de Ré today.

Send in the cows

Cows make themselves so easy to photograph. They all turn as one.

Seeing double: Gazpacho time!

Melon gazpacho is a dish best served cold – like revenge. Or so I am told. These pictures have nothing at all to do with revenge and have everything to do with me playing around with different filters on Photoshop. The posterizing filter used here lends a choppy quality that helps tone down the blurriness of the original photo. Plus that gazpacho was really tasty! I like the effect even more on the picture below. It almost looks like a comic book.