Same song, different chorus

Now that my hockey rant is over and done with, it's on to Italy!

Last Friday evening, myself, Igor, and Heather got a lift with Hafid (the guy who runs Cafet Ango for my loyal readers) to Paris-Beauvais Airport. Now the airport may be called Paris-Beauvais, but don't let that fool you. It's not in Paris at all. It's in a city called Beauvais, and is a hub for a number of discount airlines that can't afford to use exclusively Charles de Gaulle or Orly. It is a tiny, peculiar airport, that reminded me strangely of an arena due to its shape, size, and structure. After going through virtually no customs, the three of us waited around for our RyanAir flight to Rome, but it was about half an hour late, so we were talking and the topic of bombs came up when I pointed out that one shouldn't use such words in an airport. I suggested saying pumpkin instead of dangerous words, so from there on, pumpkin replaced things like drugs, bombs, terrorists, suspicious, or pretty much anything else you wanted it to, and that became somewhat of a running gag for a while. So we finally boarded the plane and we were in for quite an adventure. It was raining out, and somehow, as we took off, some rain leaked into the plane, and it rained on us. There was rain on the motherf**king plane! Fortunately, that didn't last long. But then the intenses turbulence set in. It was turbulent for quite a while, but for a couple of seconds got really bad. However, despite all of this, we somehow made it to Rome Ciampino Airport safely, and grabbed a shuttle bus at about 12:30 AM to Termini train station, as our hostel was just up the street. We checked into our chill little resting spot for the night, then headed over to a nearby pizza shop for some gameplanning for the next day, before retiring for the night. Well, actually, helping Heather find the cell phone she thought she lost but really didn't, and then retiring for the night. It's ok Heather. We still love you.

Saturday morning we met up with Kelsey who had arrived in Rome a day earlier, but she unfortunately left soon after and also stole Heather from us as the two of them were staying elsewhere. But our twosome would become a threesome again, as Nick arrived shortly thereafter, and we were set to hit the sights. We started out by grabbing some genuine Italian pizza, and then it was on with the Repubblica gardens, then caught a metro to the Piazza del Popolo, which features a lovely fountain, and a small hill from the top of which you get a splendid view of the city and can also see some various former Medici rich grounds.

Since we could see it from the Piazza, we decided to next walk over to the Vatican, and entered (even though it's technically it's own country - the smallest in the world might I add - you don't have to go through any customs or anything) to get a view of the fountains, obelisk, and Basilica San Pietro (or Saint Peter's Basilica in English). Unfortunately, due to long lines, we didn't hang around to go in that day, but we did get our first taste of delicious Gelatto (Italian ice cream... sold to us by a guy who was either exceptionally high, or just really wanted to mess with us) on the way out.

Next on the list was the Castel Saint Angelo, and then a crossing of the Tevere River to end up at the Pantheon. Unfortunately again, the Pantheon was closed for evening religious services, so we couldn't go in.

But not to despair, as instead we walked up to the Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II, and it was quite something to see.

This was followed by a walk up the street to the grouns of the Palatino which are covered with old ruins and which lie right next to the big guy himself, the Colisseum, or Colosseo, if you prefer. We grabbed some shots of it as the sun was setting, meaning they came out to varying degrees.

After the Coliseum, it was off to meet Jenna and Alicia who were also in Rome for dinner. We opted to go to an American restaurant at the train station, where they brought us free nachos+salsa and peanuts before our meal, and then we enjoyed some chicken tenders and/or hamburgers. After dinner, us guys decided to go to a Pub Crawl we had heard about during the day. You see, while we were at THE VATICAN of all places, some guy came up to us after hearing us speak English, and introduced himself as Tak from Canada. He told us about this pub crawl he organizes nightly that meats at 9 pm at the Spanish Steps. For 20 euro, you get 1 hour of open bar, then a free shot at each subsequent bar, free cover into a club, and most importantly, a cool Pub Crawler t-shirt. So we went. And were 3 of 130 pub crawlers that evening, meaning a huge crowd. It was mostly made up of Americans, but there were a few people from all over. It was a great night, as we pretended to be French most of the evening seeing as... well... we do live in France now and all... and we had a lot of fun with it. We opted to walk home after that, and paused for about half an hour to just sit, chill, and talk outside the Coliseum, which was really something and was quite busy even at 3 am. We got to bed around 4 or 4:30, and then had to be super early the next morning because...

Sunday morning we caught an early train for Florence! Here's a little map for those of you not so great with Italian geography:

Anyway, so we arrived and made our way to our hostel, but on the way, passed by Il Duomo, which is a more than 700 year old massive Cathedral complex that is quite something to see from the outside.

We then arrived at the hostel and found our room so charming and quaint, that we decided it was picture-worthy. Its white wastles, paintings, and coloured comforters made for a pleasant place to stay, but we wouldn't stay long, as there were sights to see!

After grabbing some sandwhiches for lunch, we proceeded to the Palazzo Vecchio which is a large building with some amazing statues out front. There is a huge, prominent fountain depicting Neptune, and then marking the entrance is the most famous of the lot, Michaelangelo's David. Well not the original. The original used to be there, but a replica now stands in its place, while the original is located in a gallery.



We next went into the Palazzo and found large, astonishingly decorated rooms, from the Great Hall, to private offices. The Great Hall was particularly impressive as its walls and ceilings were covered with magnificent artwork. Another room featured a very primitive, large globe and the walls were covered with old maps of various countries of the world.

Next, we decided to actually go into Il Duomo, but that was just a quick stop, as well the outside was magnificent, its huge size made the inside look somewhat empty. And so quickly we crossed the river from there and made it up to the "Pitti Palazzo", which despite its misleading name, is not at all "petit." After paying full price to get in (in order to get student fare, you need to be a E.U. citizen and show your passport!!!!), we walked around for a good hour and a half or so, seeing just what it means to be rich. A majority of their pieces belonged to or were based on the Medici, and seeing the kinds of wealth they had with everything encrusted with jewels and diamonds and covered with gold was pretty unbelievable. There were also a couple of pieces devoted to our good old French hero Napoleon, and various other paintings and sculptures making for a nice visit.

After heading back across the Arno River, we made a short stop at our hostel before finding a nice little restaurant for dinner. Their "meals" included a meat dish, a pasta dish, and a salad or fries for only 12 euro, which is very reasonable. So I had some delicious lasagne and grilled chicken, and then we left to go see the Palazzo Vecchio by night, taking some more pictures, and picking up some gelatto on the way. We then simply took a leisurely stroll around town, and retired pretty early, as we were all kind of still tired from the night before.

Monday meant getting up early and hopping on a train once again, but this time the destination was Venice (you can refer again to the map I showed you above if you don't know where Venice is). Well, actually, our hotel was located in Mestre, which is a little further out of Venice than we were hoping for, but there is a bus directly there and it costs only 1 euro each way. Turns out our hostel in Mestre was actually a 3-star hotel, so it was definitely even more picture-worthy than the one in Florence:

And speaking of being picture-worthy, Venice wasn't bad either. The fact that the main "streets" are canals took some getting used to, and was kinda inconvenient/sometimes frustrating to get around by foot (you can't just turn anywhere you want), but it gives the city its charm. We walked around snapping photos of things we saw on the way, and it was an absolutely beautiful day, so we enjoyed being out by the Mediterranean and on the water.

Our only real planned stop of the day was the Piazza San Marco which is not only beautiful, but also really funny to see in person. You see, it's famous for drawing hundreds of pigeons that kinda sit around the square looking for food. The pigeons drew some entrepreneurs, who now sell bird seed to tourists, and it's easy to get pigeons to climb all over you for pictures by buying some (though we didn't do that).

By this point, it was getting late, we were tired, and Igor was feeling sick, so we chose to go back to Mestre kinda early. Additionally, another group of kids we were supposed to meet up with never was able to get ahold of us, so we chose to simply have dinner near our hotel. Or at least that was the plan. Unfortunately, Mestre is much like Rouen, and so finding something open at 9 PM is pretty difficult. Embarassingly enough, we settled on some Gelatto for supper. Well, at least the thing I ordered came with some bread-type stuff, making it like an ice cream sandwhich. So I guess that makes it nearly acceptable... Right?

The next morning was again an early one, as it meant a train back to Rome for the last stage of our whirlwing trip. That was a long ride, and when we got there, we checked into an orphanage-like hostel where we shared a room of 6 bunk beds with 9 other kids, had some delicious pizza for lunch, and then metro-ed it on over to the Vatican. This time around, we were able to go into Saint Peter's Basilica, and took some photos and such.

The Vatican Museum was closed, so we had to skip that, but we instead grabbed a metro and headed over to the Fonata di Trevi, which was huge and spectacular. There was a really big crowd in front of it, but we forced our way through to take some pictures and throw a couple of coins in it, which supposedly means you'll come back to Italy eventually (and that's something I'm definitely hoping for).



After the Fountain, we made it back to our hostel for a spaghetti and wine dinner that was actually included in the low price of 13 euro that we paid each to stay there. And it was actually really good, despite the fact that the three of us guys had to share out of one large bowl.

Since it was the last night of our trip, we opted to go on another pub crawl, though with the intention to end it kinda early. This other organized pub crawl met outside the Coliseum, and began with drinks facing the ruins themselves, which was pretty awesome. We then went to a couple of bars, and walked a short distance back to our hostel, where we were able to catch about 2 hours of sleep before getting up at 3:30 AM to make a 4:30 AM shuttle from the train station to the airport. We made it in time for our 7 AM flight back to Beauvais, and again had a scare, this time with the landing, when the plan bounced and kinda almost tipped over due to some strong winds. But again we escaped death (that must make about a dozen times I've done that this trip by my standards!), and caught a shuttle from Beauvais into Paris, then a metro in Paris to Gare Saint Lazare, then a train from Saint Lazare to the Rouen train station, and finally a bus from the station back up to our residence building.

And that's where we are now! Home sweet home in good ol Rouen. But Italy was absolutely incredible and I had an amazing time.

Now I have a couple more days of break to write a paper, clean up, do laundry, buy groceries, and prepare for my Marketing exam on Monday. So I shall be off for the night, and bid you adieu as a Frenchy once again.

Lots of love.

Dan

I like the way you... always get it wrong...

Hey everyone,
This here blog entry will be a two-parter. I just got back from an amazing trip to Italy, so that will be covered in the second part of the blog entry (and a second post). But also, the NHL trade deadline just passed, and I'm not around to talk about it with anyone or to give my take on things, so this entry will do just that.

So here it is. My *disappointed* Trade Deadline 2007 Recap + Official Dan Kramer Predictions Post.

First, let's look at some of the moves that did go down at the deadline. Here are, IMO, 10 of the biggest moves, in no particular order. Seeing as I left for Italy on February 23rd, the following will include only deals that took place from the 23rd to the 27th, so things like the Peter Forsberg or Ladislav Nagy trades were not considered.

1. To the New York Islanders: Ryan Smyth
To the Edmonton Oilers: 1st Round Pick 2007, Robert Nilsson, Ryan O'Marra

This is quite possibly the deadline deal that surprised me the most. The Islanders appeared as though they may be sellers at this year's deadline weeks ago, when they already sent off overpaid, underperforming veterans Alexei Zhitnik and Mike York for what amounts to future considerations. But the team kept winning, and so they switched to buyer mode and landed likely the best player to be traded since Mr. Forsberg. But it is a strange fit. First, Edmonton seemed to have very little interest in trading Smyth, but I guess their preliminary contract talks were not going so well. Second, the Islanders are certainly not Cup favourites in anyone's book, and they were willing to part with two bluechip prospects as well as what will be a mid-first round pick for a guy who will be an unrestricted free agent in a couple of months. What I can tell you, though, despite the strange ramifications, is that both sides of this deal are getting nice packages. Ryan Smyth is a guy I've wanted in a Habs jersey for as long as I can remember, and the Oilers are receiving some young players to even further the wealth they have at the forward position. The additions of Smyth, Marc-Andre Bergeron, and Richard Zednik to fill out their roster should help the Islanders lock down a playoff spot, which is bad news for teams like the Habs who were battling it out with them. And a top 6 up front of Alexei Yashin, Jason Blake, Viktor Kozlov, Miroslav Satan, Zednik, and Smyth is a very solid one that could turn this "team that came out of nowhere" into a team to look out for.

2. To the Detroit Red Wings: Todd Bertuzzi
To the Florida Panthers: Shawn Matthias, Conditional 2007 Draft Picks, a Conditional 2008 2nd Rounder

Though the deadline has past, this is a trade that won't be decided for quite some time. Had he been healthy, Bertuzzi would have been a hot commodity at the deadline, but unfortunately for the Panthers, they had to search for a club willing to take a risk on a guy who hasn't played for months. And that team was the Detroit Red Wings... sort of... I like this move for Detroit as the picks being conditional provides them with some damage control for potentially damaged good. And the possibility of playing Bertuzzi on a line with a guy like Datsyuk or Zetterberg could work out into a lethal combination. That said, Detroit straight up loses a decent prospect, and they may be regretting this move should Todd not recuperate fully in time to hlep the Wings on their quest.

3. To the Atlanta Thrashers: Keith Tkachuk
To the St. Louis Blues: Glen Metropolit, 1st Round Draft Pick in 2007, 3rd Round Draft Pick in 2007, 2nd Round Draft Pick in 2008.

This trade is very remniscent of the deal that sent Doug Weight to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes one year ago. So does that mean this is a deal to push the Thrashers over the top? Maybe not. Atlanta has struggled the past little while, and while adding Tkachuk to the likes of Ilya Kovalchuk and Marian Hossa up front makes this team a very dangerous one, they didn't do enough about addressing their back end, and thus will need the young Kari Lehtonen to stand tall in goal throughout the playoffs for this trade to pay dividends. The Blues, clearly in full rebuild mode, add a gap-filling roster player, and pick up some picks to provide Erik Johnson company in the stable.

4. To the Buffalo Sabres: Dainius Zubrus, Timo Helbling
To the Washington Capitals: 1st Round Pick 2007, Jiri Novotny

The Sabres were a busy team at the deadline, but this was clearly their biggest deal. They bring in a guy who came into his own in Washington in Zubrus, but just how inflated was his offensive production from being paired with Alexander Ovechkin for the past year and a half? It's not like he'll be playing with slouches in Buffalo either, but a 1st rounder (albeit a very late one) and a very strong prospect like Novotny is a pretty big price to pay. But when your cup chances are as good as Buffalo's have to be, you are willing to pay that price to gain any edge. Washington does well for a mid-level soon-to-be-UFA, and if Zubrus's talk about wanting to re-sign in Washington this summer is in fact true, the Capitals should indeed be very pleased with the return.

5. To the Pittsburgh Penguins: Gary Roberts
To the Florida Panthers: Noah Welch

Another one that for me falls into the "strange" category. Roberts is a great leader and a tremendous asset for a playoff run, and certainly the Pittsburgh Penguins have of late shown that they may be capable of a lengthy run. But if there is an area that they crucially needed to shore up, it was their blueline. Instead, they part with a young defenseman (though one who is often pretty overrated IMO) and bring in a 40-year old forward to a core that consists of more than enough firepower in the form of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal, and Mark Recchi. Seemingly desperate, the Penguins did move a draft pick to acquire defensemen Joel Kwiatkowski later on, but that's far from a huge addition. Florida meanwhile parts with a UFA/retiree and offers a young man with a lot of potential a chance to start in a new environment.

6. To the San Jose Sharks: Craig Rivet, 5th Round Pick 2008
To the Montreal Canadiens: Josh Gorges, 1st Round Pick 2007

I'm sure you all knew I'd be getting to this one. I wasn't surprised to find out that Mr. Rivet had been dealt. I wish him all the best in San Jose (but not a Cup, because that would make our 1st rounder drop to 30th overall!). He may not be blessed with the greatest skillset, but he is a tremendous character for the lockerroom, and always gives his 100%. I'm very very pleased with the return we received for Craig. A 1st round pick from the Sharks means 20-something-th, but it's a first rounder all the same, and Gorges is still young and was playing decent minutes in San Jose. Unfortunately, Montreal is not set up very well for Josh, as we are already overpaying two guys who are clearly #5/6 d-men in Craig Rivet and Mathieu Dandenault, and that is all Gorges is. All in all, I was very happy with this part of the trade, but thought it may have been clearing room for something else, which it turns out, it wasn't. From the San Jose side, they get some veteran help where they needed it most, on D, and cemented themselves as serious contenders.

7. To the Detroit Red Wings: Kyle Calder
To the Chicago Blackhawks: Jason Williams
To the Philadelphia Flyers: Lasse Kukkonen, Chicago 3rd Round Draft Pick 2007

Three-way trades are not the most common thing in hockey, but they do happen from time to time, and when Chicago went out and re-acquired soon-to-be UFA Calder, it was clear it was part of something bigger. So who wins here? Chicago acquires a versatile young goal scorer in Williams, and Philly picks up a solid young defender and a pick. Detroit ends up with a decent forward for the remainder of the year who is undoubtedly having one of his worst offensive seasons to date. I don't think this trade makes the Wings a better team at all, but it isn't a huge deal that will break them either of course.

8. To the Dallas Stars: Mattias Norstrom, Konstantin Pushkarov, 3rd Round Pick 2007, 4th Round Pick 2007
To the Los Angeles Kings: Jaroslav Modry, Johan Fransson, 1st Round Pick 2008, 2nd Round Pick 2007, 3rd Round Pick 2007

Lots to look at in this deal, but the main piece of the puzzle is clearly Mattias Norstrom going to Dallas while a 1st round pick goes the other way. After adding Ladislav Nagy to their offense not long ago, the Stars add a legit top 2 pairing d-man who is a proven winner and leader. He is saddled down with a long and heavy contract, but these additions have to have Stars fans beliving in their chances now. A shutdown, defensive d-man like Norstrom may be just what the doctor ordered to help Marty Turco get over what has seemed like his annual playoff jynx of late. The Kings receive some pick upgrades, a stop-gap offensive d-man to replace Norstrom, and a younger d-man, while clearing some cap space and continuing with the rebuild they have begun.

9. To the Tampa Bay Lightning: Shane O'Brien, 3rd Round Pick 2007
To the Anaheim Mighty Ducks: Gerald Coleman, 1st Round Pick 2007

Brian Burke has a history of confusing me with his trades, and maybe that's why he's one of the best GMs in the league. But why does a team clearly intent on making a lengthy postseason run this year deal away a young defenseman who is already making a big impact for a mid-level goaltender prospect and a draft pick? You've got me on that one. Maybe Burke was unhappy over how much of the team's future he had to mortgage to acquire Chris Pronger last summer, and felt the need to bring in a first rounder? Tampa's choice figures to fall into the 15-20 range depending on how the rest of the year plays out for them, but that won't help the Ducks come crunch time in April, May, and early June. Coleman was needed to replace Michael Wall down in the AHL, who Anaheim dealt to Colorado to bring in Brady May, but Burke had to feel left out when his rivals like Detroit (Bertuzzi) and Nashville (Forsberg) made huge splashes and he could do nothing to further increase his team's depth. That said, y'all know I'm a Ducks fan, and I still believe this team has what it takes to go very deep.

10. To the San Jose Sharks: Bill Guerin
To the St. Louis Blues: New Jersey's First Round Pick 2007, Ville Niemenen, Jay Barriball

The Sharks also added a big name up front, and their offensive strength continues to grow, as Guerin joins Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton, Jonathan Cheechoo, Milan Michalek, and others on a dangerous but somewhat inconsistant club. A late first, roleplayer, and unheralded prospect seem like a fair price for a rental of Guerin's quality, so I'll call this an even deal.


Well I only wanted to list 10 trades, but there are still many more significant ones, so here's a quick breakdown of a few others.
- Boston trades Brad Boyes to St. Louis for Denis Wideman: Edge to St. Louis in the shootout department certainly, and overall as well.
- Phoenix trades George Laraque to Pittsburgh for Daniel Carcillo and a 3rd Round Draft Pick 2008: Not an awful return for the Coyotes, but important move for Pittsburgh to bring in a bodyguard who can also contribute offensively.
- Buffalo trades Martin Biron to Philadelphia for a 2nd Round Pick 2007: An answer to Philadelphia's seemingly eternal goaltending woes? Perhaps. They'll need to re-sign him first, but it seems that he is content to be a Flyer. Meanwhile Buffalo picks up a "nearly" 1st round pick.
- Columbus trades Ty Conklin to Buffalo for a 5th Round Pick 2007: The Sabres had better hope Ryan Miller stays healthy or else the lack of Biron will cost them any shot they had at the Cup.
- Philadelphia trades Alexei Zhitnik to Atlanta for Braydon Coburn: The was-highly-touted-but-now-is-stagnant prospect for the once-was-great-but-now-is-mediocre-and-overpaid player is a common deal in NHL terms. Zhitnik isn't Atlanta's answer on D, and Coburn will need a big change to get his career back on track.
- Chicago trades Bryan Smolinski to Vancouver for a conditional 2nd Round Pick: What surprises me here is the Canucks were willing to give up a 2nd rounder to grab Smolinsik, when I would have imagined they'd have been interested in bringing back Anson Carter instead who went to Carolina for a lowly 5th round pick. All the same, Smolinski is a more complete and consistent player who will help the Canucks down the stretch.

So that's a summary of what went on. Now what does it mean?

First and foremost, I am not happy. The Canadiens didn't make the big move, and they seldom do. One can't really blame them with the way the team has played since I left Montreal, but when you see all of your conference rivals (Islanders, Penguins, Thrashers...) stocking up, you need to follow suit or be left behind. And Montreal was definitely left behind. As of today, I don't believe much in the team's playoff chances. I'll still support them to the very end, but this team needs to somehow re-find its early season form both without Cristobal Huet, and quickly, or else it's curtains on 06-07.

So if the Canadiens were a loser (at least for the immediate future) on deadline day, who won?

San Jose dealt away both of the first round picks they had, but nicely solidified their line-up with some size and grit for both ends of the rink.

St. Louis managed to pick up 2 first round picks, as well as a young offensive player in Brad Boyes, all of which should go a long way to help their rebuild.

And the Detroit Red Wings and New York Islanders both have the potential to come up big, by adding possible gamebreakers Bertuzzi and Smyth respectively. Tkachuk and Guerin may be great players, but I'd take Todd or Ryan over either for their complete, tough game, and that is perfect come playoff time.

And so what does the league now look like? This is my view:

TOP CONTENDERS
Buffalo Sabres
Nashville Predators
New Jersey Devils
Anaheim Ducks
San Jose Sharks

CONTENDERS
Detroit Red Wings
Dallas Stars
Ottawa Senators
Vancouver Canucks

PLAYOFF TEAMS
Pittsburgh Penguins
Calgary Flames
Atlanta Thrashers
New York Islanders

BORDER TEAMS
Montreal Canadiens
Tampa Bay Lightning
Minnesota Wild
Carolina Hurricanes
Toronto Maple Leafs

It should be an interesting battle from here on out.

If I had to make some predictions:
- The Ottawa Senators will lose to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round of the playoffs.
- The Eastern Conference finals will feature only ONE of the Buffalo Sabres or New Jersey Devils, and they will be facing the Atlanta Thrashers.
- The San Jose Sharks will choke in the first round of the playoffs, establishing themselves as the Ottawa Senators of the West.
- The Nashville Predators will beat the Anaheim Ducks in a tight, 7-game conference final.

The Predators will go on to win the Stanley Cup, proving that the Cup is not won on Deadline Day. They may have acquired Peter Forsberg this month, but they did not make a single move in the just under 2 weeks following that deal that they could have.

See you in part 2 (aka my trip to Italy).

Dan

For the game belongs... To the swift and the strong...

I'm sure few people recognize the song that leads this blog entry off, so let me start with that. It's a great little sports montage tune that was used on the video following the conclusion of last year's Stanley Cup finals after Carolina won the cup, while clips of the entire playoffs were being shown.

The lyrics, which I love very much, and will perhaps bring the song back to some of you, are:

There's a dream that lives
deep in every heart.
Heroes carve their name,
legends leave their mark.

And it's worth the sweat,
and it's worth the pain,
'cause the chance may never come again.

Give it all you got.
Take your best shot.
The fire burns deep inside.
Stand among the giants.
Yeah.

For the game belongs
to the swift and the strong.
Though the flame burns bright,
in an instant it's gone.
It's the spirit of the game,
and the legend lives on and on.
But the chance may never come again,
Oh no...
The chance may never come... again.

Good stuff. And so we begin, appropriately enough, where we left off, which just so happens to be two days before one French hockey game.

Thursday there were various school parties organized, so it was tough to decide what to do. In the end, a group of us decided to begin our night at a bar we'd never been to called Le Matisse (named after the famous painter, of course). It was kind of a small place, so after 2-3 shots each, we decided to move on to somewhere else, eventually opting to try out a club called Velvet. Velvet was nice, featuring a much larger dance floor than most other clubs here we've frequented. They were also having a special of 1 euro shots, so it was a good night of drinking and dancing.

Friday means a night at Cafet Ango, and thus a little pizza for dinner. After that, a few of us decided it was a good DVD night, so we met up in American Nick's room to watch Major League. Good movie that I hadn't seen in a heck of a long time. It was then late, and thus time for bed, but I was certainly excited for the next day, because...

Last Saturday night, 8 of us attended the Rouen Hockey Elite 76's final game of the regular season, as they played host to the Mont Blanc Avalanche. It felt good to be back at a hockey game, even if the play was far from NHL-level. The game was fast-paced thanks to the lack of TV timeouts and the larger ice surface, and overall entertaining. Thanks to three goals from #71 (who I named Ribeiro, even though his real name is Doucet), Rouen took home the win by a final score of 7 to 2. Rouen's goaltender is one of the best puck-handling goalies I've seen. Certainly an NHL-calibre puch-handler. It's unfortunate that his angles are awful, rebound control deplorable, and general goaltending ability subpar. The team's captain was out with an injury, so one of their assistant captain's, Marc-Andre Thinel, wore the C. Thinel is a Quebec native and was a Montreal Canadiens' 5th round draft pick in 1999. He spent 4 seasons in the AHL, before heading over to France in 05-06, where he is one of the league's biggest stars.

Following the game, the 8 of us went over to Highlander's Pub for a drink, and then were going to also go to BarOuf, which is, we found out, the hockey team's favourite hang-out after games, but when we got there, it was much too crowded, so we decided not to stay.

Sunday was likely the most beautiful day out we've had since getting here. You could be outside in a t-shirt and not be at all cold. It was magnificent. Unfortunately, there is not much to do here on Sundays, as pretty much everything is closed. So I managed to get some homework done during the afternoon, and for dinner, I suggested we go out for some American food to a restaurant in downtown Rouen called Rest-O-Rock. While expensive, it was a good meal, as their menu consists of such things as Potato Skins, Nachos, Hamburgers, Onion Rings, BBQ Chicken, Burritos, Fajitas, and Chicken Skewers. Following dinner, given that it was still a fairly nice night, Igor and I decided to try walking back to campus while the others hopped in a cab. It's a fairly nice walk, taking about 25 to 30 minutes. The beginning is uphill (we DO live in MONT Saint Aignan, after all), but then it's easygoing after that. We should definitely do it again some time.

Oh, also on Sunday, we worked out a preliminary itinerary for our trip to Italy (which will be re-worked on today as well). We leave this Friday night, and, as of now anyway, plan on spending 2 days in Rome, 1 day in Florrence, and 1 day in Venice. Exciting stuff, and I'll certainly have much to write about when I return.

Monday was a quiet day, as it is my busy school day, with 2 classes stretching from 1.30 to 8.15 pm. When I got home, I cooked myself an absolutely delicious meal, which involved some cooked potatoes and peppers with some slightly-hot sauce over a bed of rice. Mmm. And fortunately, I have plenty of leftovers for today (likely lunch + supper). I then talked to a couple of friends who came by for visits for various things, and then called it a night, as I was quite tired.

And so that's all for now. I won't be writing again for more than a week (AKA till I get back from Italy), so hang in there all, and don't go through any Dan withdrawal. Go Habs Go, Go Halak Go! I'll miss the trade deadline while I'm in Italy this year, so when I get back on Wednesday, I hope to have lots of exciting news to catch up on!

Peace yo.

Danny K.

I'm so sane, it's driving me crazy...

Howdy y'all. What's the news with kaiser willy? (a little inside joke there for the two people reading this that just *might* remember it)

First of all, Happy Valentine's Day to one and all for yesterday. Sorry my greeting is a little late, but I'm French now, and it's allowed here.

Sooo, this past Monday was both Marianna's and Igor's birthday. Seeing as Igor was busy with "school"-related concerns, Monday was Marianna's party. So we got really drunk on tequilla shots and vodka in the foyer of our residence building before being kicked out by security, and thus moving the party downtown. Unfortunately, Monday nights clubs are closed here, and bars close at 2, so by the time we got there, little if anything was open. So we just basically stumbled around downtown drunk for an hour or so, then came back to chill/party in a room. A bit of a downer, but still a great time for all.

Tuesday was oddly kind of, umm, similar (though with a different group of folks)? This time around it was Igor's party, and it began with a failed attempt to find The Buffalo Grill restaurant for dinner. So when we couldn't find it, we ended up at McDonalds, and after eating, made statues out of burger boxes (pictures forthcoming hopefully, as they are not on my camera). Then we came back to residence for a bit and planned on heading downtown to drink, but unfortunately missed the 11:30 night bus, and the next one wasn't coming for another hour. So we returned to residence again, and just chilled in rooms, watching some funny internet videos and whatnot till about 4 am.

And, as usual, up till 4.30, then class at 9. And I made it more or less on time! Valentine's Day was nothing special. It's not a huge deal here in France. I made an alcohol run to Carrefour in the afternoon, and then at night, 7 of us decided to venture into town to see the perfect, classic Valentine's Day movie at the theatre. Yep, you guessed it, Hannibal Rising! The movie is not bad. Sure some scenes are a little gross, but they don't go into excess on the gore, and show only what they really basically have to. And it has a kinda interesting plot to follow as well.

After the movie, we caught the last night bus back and called it an evening, as I got to sleep around 2:30. Yet, despite that "quasi-early" bed time, I still managed to sleep through my alarm clock this morning, and got to class an hour late. But I made sure to actively participate in the discussion, so I'm sure I'm getting my full participation and attendance grades, so no worries.

This Saturday we are going to see a hockey game out here, with our local team from Rouen squaring off against the team from Mont Blanc in their last game of the regular season. Go Hockey Elite 76 Go! This is a picture of some of the tickets I bought sitting on my desk. 8 of us are going, and it should be a hoot.

Lastly for this action-packed rendition of the D.K. Times, I would like to appologize to Mike Angelopolous, Evan McCurdy, and the rest of the Habs faithful back home. I've let you guys down. You see when I left Canada, the team was doing fine. They were in 4th place in the conference, and leading a good battle for home ice advantage in the playoffs.

Well since I've left, my boys have struggled to win a game. If I were at home and this were happening, I'd be in an AWFUL depression, as Habs results often dictate my mood. But of course that wouldn't happen, because it's clearly that the team is only struggling because I'm not there to support them. And I feel bad because the Canadiens losing doesn't upset me as much out here, as there are many things to take my mind off of them. For the first time in my life, they are kind of an afterthought. But hey folks, even if they don't make the playoffs this year, there is always the next one! And I'll be there for the whole season! But this is not to say I've given up hope. They can still do it. My boy Saku just has to grab them by the balls, and carry them up there. And come on Bob, you've gotta make a move, for the sake of shaking up the chemistry.

Laters party people.
Love,
Dan the Man

... And all I can taste is this moment...

So in case you haven't noticed, I've taken to the habit of naming blog entries after whatever song lyric happens to be playing at the time in my Windows Media Player.

Thus, this blog, whose title is representative of the great times being had here in France, is brought to you by the number 3, the letter D, and the Goo Goo Dolls.

So if, in usual fashion, we pick back up where we left off, that would mean an uneventful Wednesday night of final preparations for my presentation Thursday morning. The presentation went well, despite a total lack of contribution from one of the group members. I think it went well anyway, the teacher seemed to like it. It better have went well, as it's the only thing aside from Participation and Attendance that counts for a grade in that class.

After class, I made a trip over to Carrefour to make a big grocery order to fill up my fridge and shelves. I no longer have to eat sandwhiches two times a day, and pasta every now and then, as I have a variety of veggies, fruits, chicken, beef, canned ravioli, stir fry ingredients, and the like. I also replenished my supply of vodka, which was pretty key. The rest of the afternoon was kinda boring, so Nick from Ontario and I decided we'd make it into a laundry party and attempted to wash our clothes, but as usual, the dryers didn't do their job all that effectively.

That night, there was a party-ish type soiree at a bar called Emporium Gallorium. The basement, as is typical Rouen style, is made to look and feel like a cave, and featured a DJ spinning his shit before a dance floor. It was a very fun evening, especially considering their drink prices of 2 euro beers and 3 euro mixed drinks. So the rather sizeable group of us who were there got pretty drunk and danced the night away, finally stumbling outside at about 2:30 AM and hailing a cab back to residence.

After sleeping in till about 12:30 or 1 PM Friday, I awoke and lazily chilled most of the afternoon. The chilling continued into the Cafet Ango hours (which again, is a small restaurant in the lobby of our residence building that only opens Tuesday and Friday nights, from 8 pm to midnight), but that night it seems some of the people from Senegal were having some kind of couples party evening, so we moved upstairs to other Nick's room in order to chill and watch Zoolander on DVD. Good movie. I returned down to my room at about 2:45 am, only to find the Senegal party still going on. My room is on the ground floor, so it was kinda loud and annoying, but I managed to fall asleep at about 4 am, despite the fact that there was still plenty of music, singing, and clapping going on down the hall.

Saturday we booked our trip for Easter, when 6 (or more) of us will go to Brussels (that's in Belgium for those not in the know) for 4 days. Should be good times. If you have suggestions for cool stuff to do in Brussels, please don't hesitate to pass them on. After making some delicious chicken with pasta for dinner, we were set on heading out, and decided to try a mini-pub crawl type evening, beginning at a pub called Highland's, which is basically right on the Seine, but that we had never been to before. It was pretty sympa, as the French might say, and we had some fun, downing a couple of shots and a couple of beer, before it was time to move on just after 1 AM, heading over to Murphy's where we had last been for Heather's birthday. It was 1:30 or so, and at first Murphy's wasn't going to serve us because they close at 2, but they eventually did, so we had one more round of drinks and then headed to one of the few bars we knew that would still be open, being Emporium. Emporium that night was much like it was on Thursday, but with a few fewer people. Again DJs led the party downstairs, and drinks were cheap, so we danced for their last hour of openness and headed out just before 3 to go to the night bus stop.

Now you may think this is where the evening ends, but oh no, it sure isn't. When we arrived at the bus stop, we saw a bunch of other exchange students waiting for the bus, and they were being pestered by two french-speaking drunks. So we inadvertently entered into their conversation, and it turns out it was one guy tripping really badly while the other guy (his friend) was trying to get him to go home. So myself and American Nick took on the role of getting between this guy and the other exchangees, and thus were engaged in conversation with him (in French, with the occasional couple of words in English, and the every-now-and-then exclamation in Dutch). His conversation kinda went in circles, with him telling us he was from the Netherlands, telling us he had family in France, then telling us he was originally from Paraguay, or somewhere else. He also said he was going to Equador in the Summer and that I should go with him (this will be important a little later, just wait for it). Furthermore, he enjoyed moving in to give traditional French bisous every now and then, which made me feel like washing my face with Purell when I got home. He would often ask if we knew Julien, or other random person identified only by their first name, and whether we said we did or did not, he would be excited by our answer. He also said that we were in his family, be it cousins or brothers at various points in time. Alright I think you get the picture by now, but we kept him to the outside of everyone else, and eventually got away from him when the bus comes. Now... on the bus, I was explaining to some others some of things he said, and at one point I mentioned that apparently I was going to Equador that summer, when out of nowhere, the guy on the seat across from me said "Are you from Equador??" I said, "ummm, no..." to which he replied "because I am!" How random is that? What are the odds, honestly... I'm pretty sure I pissed him off, but I didn't say anything to him after that and nor him to me, so whatever.

Right, well, despite only getting to bed at about 4:30 AM, Igor and I decided to get up nice and early today (Sunday) to go to the weekly market that is in town. I figure we've been here long enough and still haven't seen it, so now is as good a time as any. It was a bit disappointing, but I did pick up a couple of red peppers and some garlic, which complete my needed stir fry ingredients, so that is very likely supper tonight. And now it's 1:30 pm and I'm back in my room, while a storm brews outside with intense wind, rains, and very dark clouds on the horizon.

Tomorrow is Igor's birthday, though he is busy with school-related affairs, so we will be going out Tuesday instead. Tomorrow is also Marianna's birthday though, so I wouldn't rule out some kind of party altogether.

And before I go for now, one last quick note, which is that I've been at this school for well over a month now, and still haven't received my student ID card. Oh we took pictures the first week we were here expressly for that purpose, but apparently their machines to print cards are broken and well, in France, nothing gets done quickly. They should really look into those contraptions we have back home where you take a picture and your card is spat out in like maybe a minute at most. It would be handy.

Ok, so take care folks. Have a good Sunday, and in case I don't write again before Wednesday, Happy early Valentine's Day!

Dan

Time... is on your side...

Wazzzzzzzzuuuuuupppppppp.

I figured with the Super Bowl having been played last Sunday, that would be a fitting way to open this latest Captain's Log.

Life in Rouen knows not the meaning of the word uneventful. Now I realize I may have used that word at some point in time before, but I digress.

Monday, there was one of the slates competing for ESC Rouen's sports council for next year putting on some kind of fair at school. So all day long there was free hot dogs, popcorn, cotton candy, cakes, brownies, cookies, water, orange juice, coffee, crepes, and similar things being offered, as well as giant inflatable games to play, which were good ways to pass time between and during the two classes I had that day. Then at night, there was a poster advertising a broomball tournament down at the arena in town. Being Canadian, I was very intrigued at the prospect of spending the evening in an arena, and quickly formed a team comprised of Jordan and Nick from Ontario, Daniella and Ana Laura from Mexico, and Amanda from the U.S./Brazil. I wanted to call us Team NAFTA and thought that was a clever idea, but the Mexicans chose are team name, so we were Team Chile, though I won't get into why in order to keep this blog as close to g-rated as possible. So we brought our team down to the arena for a little after 9 pm, and enjoyed the free cheese fondue that was also being offered there. Unfortunately, we were soon disappointed by the fact that it wasn't really much of a "tournament", but rather kind of just timed, casual-ish games of broomball. They kept score, and wrote the scores down, but it really served no purpose. Still, competitive spirit boiling, we were eager to get into a game.
And so we did, being paired up for our first match against some French-men, and sticking it to them, with me giving us the early lead, and then Jordan standing tall in nets, preserving the 1-0 win. Our next game was also against a French team, but it ended in a 0-0 tie. I had a breakaway with little time left in the game, but was unfortunately frustrated by the goaltender, a la Michael Ryder. For our final game of the night, we set up a "championship" match against the other Canadian team, featuring a full load of 6 Canucks, and a Fin to boot. Again, I had a golden opportunity to put us ahead, being set up perfectly by Nick for a one timer, but Laura, their goaltender, had the last word. And again, a 0-0 result. So we finished the night with a 1-0-2 record, which was ahead of the other Canadian crew and their 1-2-1 score. All in all, it was a very very fun evening, and we set off by foot back into downtown to catch the nightbus. All seemed according to plan.... until we almost got killed! As we were walking in a line-ish formation through the streets, I was in back, and heard a wooshing noise go by behind my foot. I quickly turned around to see a line of smoke running across the street. And then, as everyone turned to look, a small explosion on the sidewalk, of a cherry bomb-like firecracker. Someone shot a firecracker at us!!! We don't know who did it, as we didn't see anyone, but it was kinda scary all the same. And then next, waiting at the bus stop, two 20-something year old drunk french guys came up to us and had a conversation as follows:
Them: "Do you have any water?"
Us: "No, sorry."
Them: "... All we want is some water..."
Us: "Sorry, we don't have any."
Them: "FUCK YOU," giving us the finger, and then turning and walking away.
Ya... That was a little strange. And that wasn't the last bit of it either, as when we got off the bus back to residence, two guys kinda followed us up the street and were asking questions to the two ladies in the back of the line. So Jordan and I hung back, and kinda got in the middle, so the guys started talking to us a bit, but eventually gave up and backed off. So, if you add them up and exaggerate a little bit, that's THREE near death experiences in one night!

Tuesday was a little bit less death-like, as I got to relax in the morning, and only had a make-up class to attend at 5 pm for a class that had been cancelled two weeks earlier. After class, I kinda wanted to stay in and get my presentation ready for Thursday, but there was a pretty big party going on down at O'Kallaghans, and since that's been dubbed "our" bar, I felt obliged to go. And it's a good thing I did, because the place was packed and it was a ton of fun. Drinks were cheaper than usual, so 20 euro got me plenty drunk, and we ended the night walking Ale back to her appartment downtown, and then hailing a cab between 6 of us back to residence. I got to bed at about 3:30 am, which is relevant because...

This morning I had class at 9! But I made it, and it was fine. And then after eating some quiche in the cafeteria, I got my presentation done, had a brief 'accidental' nap, then prepared what I want to say for the presentation, and am now writing this at 10 pm Wednesday night. There is some kind of dance party going on not far from residence that just got underway, but I'm pretty sure I'll be skipping that to get a good night's sleep for the presentation at 9 again tomorrow morning.

Right so that's all for now kinda. Hope all is well back home, or wherever you may be reading this from.

In true French fashion, A+.

Dan

Tidal Islands for 1000, Alex

Answer: This tidal island abbey was built in the year 708 and is referred to as The Wonder of the Western World.

Ummm... What is Mont Saint Michel?

Ding ding, right answer.

But before we get further into that, let's pick back up where we last signed off. So Friday... ummm... our plan was initially to maybe stay in, and just chill in Caffet Ango, which is a little snackbar type place in our residence building that is open only on Tuesdays and Fridays from 8 pm to midnight. They make and sell pizza, crepes, and some other stuff, all for very reasonable prices. So we started with that, but then, realizing that we weren't going to go out Saturday night due to having to be up bright and early Sunday morning for our trip to Mont Saint Michel, decided going out was the only logical thing to do. Myself, Igor, Karan, and Kelsey began the night by catching the 11 pm bus into town to go to Bar Ouf. It was nice for a little while, and our waitress/bartender was actually from Quebec, which allowed myself and her to converse some. But then we kinda noticed that we were the youngest people in the bar, and the crowd was getting older by the minute, so we left to find some other place. That place ended up being a bar/lounge/disco called Quid Novi. Quid Novi is almost beyond description. A very strange place. Basically when you walk in, it first looks like a small diner, with a couple of booths on either side of the hall, leading up to a bar/kitchen. But then you'll notice you have two options: stairs going down, or another hall in the back. If you take the stairs down, you'll find yourself in another small bar/lounge-type room, with an adjacent room in the style of a cave, with a DJ and small dancefloor. If dancing is not your thing, you could have continued on to the 2nd hall upstairs, which featured lounge-style big comfy chairs and couches, and a sign stating there was free wireless internet available. We decided on ordering one more round of drinks, and then dancing a bit. The place was kinda empty, with again, a bunch of older people upstairs, and a smattering of younger folk in the basement. The fact that there were so many older people out that night led us to the creation of a theory that in France, kids go out Thursday nights, and then stay home and babysit while their parents go out Friday nights. That's our theory and we're stickin to it. All the same, the night was kinda fun, and it ended with us chilling in our usual park waiting for the night bus. I noticed for the first time that two swans live in the pond in the park, and they were kinda cool, except that they made funny noises in our direction when they saw us. We decided to name them, and while I voted for Jeanne and Darc, the names Quid and Novi eventually won out.

Anyway, so Saturday I slept in, then made myself some eggs that I bought the day before for brunch. The day kinda flew by, and before we knew it, the sun was setting, which meant cooking dinner, then getting together in my room for a watching of Anchorman courtesy once again of Heather's DVD collection. After the movie, we officially booked our tickets for Italy online, and so we'll be leaving on the evening of Friday, February 23rd, and returning on Wednesday the 28th. Thus far, four of us, myself, Igor, Kelsey, and Heather, are confirmed as going, though others may possibly end up joining us. It should be pretty great.

Then next up was Sunday morning, when we awoke and boarded a bus for the school-organized trip to Mont Saint Michel. Mont Saint Michel is a tidal island in Normandy that, as you now know, was built in the year 708. Its peak features an abbey, and from a distance, it looks like a castle/fortress. It is the third most visited tourist site in France after the Eiffel Tower and Versailles. The treck involved a 2 and a half to 3 hour drive through the Normandy countryside, but eventually we arrived. We spent the first 2 hours going around the outside, climbing one side, going down another, and then going back up the middle. The lower parts of the mountain are full of small boutiques, boulangeries, and restaurants, and the abbey is up top.
We eventually went into the abbey, and it is quite minimalist, but beautiful all the same. And from up there, you had an incredible view of the tidal flats down below, and the nearby other tidal island called Ile de Tombelaine, which is deserted. After exploring it all day, we all boarded the bus back to residence tired, and slept parts of the way home.

So that's about all for now, but enjoy some more photos I took of Mont Saint Michel. Hope you're all doing well, and speak to you soon!

Dan










Tombelaine Island, as seen from Mont Saint Michel

Do you have any bread?

&&&&&& Sooooooooooooo (in the style of Jack Todd for all of you Montrealers out there)...
This week has been quite the rollercoaster ride. I mean how can the Habs look so awful against Toronto, and then so good vs. Ottawa, only to drop a shootout to Pittsburgh?!

Of course, that was a poor joke, and is not actually what I'm talking about. I was pretty devastated when I got the news of Ryan's passing on Monday morning, and it felt awful that I had to learn about it through Facebook. I don't think him being gone has phased me at all yet, and it likely won't for a while. He was just such a good guy, always a smile and kind word... I'll miss him, and I know I'm far from alone in that sentiment.

And that was the beginning of a busy week, as that same Monday was also Pedro's birthday, though celebrations were limited to some dinner in his room and a looking-through of some of the photo albums on his computer. It was a Monday night, him and I had class till 8:15, and most of the others had just gotten back from Amsterdam.

Tuesday evening, a larger group of us went to the St Sever mall in town to go see a movie. They were having a special so entry to movies was only 3 euro (about $4.50 canadian), and we opted to go see Bobby, the Emilio Estevez film featuring a star-studded cast and detailing the context of the assassination of Bobby Kennedy. But before talking about the movie, we must discuss the popcorn, whether you wanted to or not. Back home, the default for popcorn is butter and salt. It is also a given that cinemas have their own popcorn popping machine. I thought these were unconditional international truths, but apparently I was mistakin'. Not so, indeed. Not only did their popcorn supplies come from large pre-popped bags, but unless you specifically asked for salted popcorn, the popcorn they gave you was covered in sugar instead! No, I'm not talking about caramel popcorn, or candycorn, or anything like that. Just imagine popcorn, and instead of having salt sprinkled on it, sugar was used instead. It's like someone picked up the wrong shaker. But that's normal here. And while on the subject of the popcorn, one of the guys serving it was pretty funny. Noticing that we were english, he decided to list all the english words he knew. His list went like this: "Umm... Cat, Dog, I don't know, Chicken..." It was pretty funny. So I then spoke to him in French, and he asked me if the stereotype of a Frenchman is still a berret-wearing smoker with a baguette under his arm, and I pretty much said yep.

The movie itself was quite good. An interesting and ever-evolving storyline, drama mixed with touches of comedy... All in all. very well done. My favourite line is definitely Sharon Stone's character's insult... "Your suit may be from 1968, but your attitude is from 1920!" Feel free to use that one as if it were your own. I give you permission.

From there, most of us simply bused it back to residence and I was asleep by 2 am. The next morning, I had law at 9, and fortunately, it was the last class of the semester for my veryyyyyyy boring teacher. Starting next week, someone is replacing her, and I don't see how he/she could be less interesting, so it almost HAS to be a good thing. After that, I went into town with a couple of Ontario boys and acted as translator as one of them had to bring his laptop into a repair shop. At night, there was a gathering in the residence building foyer for Gianni from Italy's birthday. I was pretty exhausted, so not really in the mood to be there, and didn't plan on staying long, but in the end, the party was haulted by security anyway, so it was off to bed. Yes, security. You see, even though the building has a foyer, it is against the rules to congregate there. It's almost as bad as the rule that says you are not allowed to stand in the entranceway hall of the building either.

Et puis hier, I again had 9:00 class, and I followed it up with an afternoon of groceries and chilling. And finally, last night I got quite wasted, or as some back home might say, shittered. I began by pre-drinking at rez, opting to finally break open the bottle of vanilla vodka i had bought a little while back. I finished about half of it, mixing with Coke and then orange juice (if you ever have vanilla vodka, I would recommend the OJ over the Coca). So I was already pretty drunk when we got to the techno lounge called BarFlower. While the music was good, and there was a decent number of people, there was no dance floor, so after 2 more drinks of vodka, it was off to try somewhere else, namely Big Ben's. Unfortunately, Big Ben's didn't have a dance floor going either, but we managed to improvise one for at least a short while and enough time for me to cap my drinking off with a beer. When Big Ben's was getting ready to close around 2 am, we were going to go find another place that was open till later, but we then found out from some french guys and also saw that the police were making rounds of downtown and not too friendly. I don't really know why we were afraid of the police to be honest, but, ummm, they were French, so we simply split a cab back home.

And that's it for now. This Sunday, I'll be going on a school trip to Mont Saint Michel for the day, and that's supposed to be one of the most beautiful parts of France, so it should be nice. And then the plan is to have a Super Bowl party at a local's place, though we'll see how well that goes after being out all day and with the pre-game show starting at midnight here.

Before I leave you all for now and you are forced to use your imagination to figure out what I'm doing out here in France while simultaneously missing me like crazy, I do have 2 bits of exciting news. First, we're looking into going to Italy during our first school break that begins February 23rd. So if you'll randomly happen to be in Italy Feb. 23 - March 3, or dates close to that, let me know! But the even more exciting news is that 2 weeks from tomorrow, meaning on Saturday, February 17th, I'M GOING TO SEE A HOCKEY GAME! Yes, I did just say that this was more exciting than Italy, and I meant it. HOCKEYYYYYYY! Rouen has a pretty decent team in the pro French league, and the 17th is their last home game of the regular season. I'll be certain to let you all know how that goes, but of course I can't expect it to compare to taking a game in at le centre bell, which is probably the thing I miss most from back home right now.

I leave you with our quote of the week out here which comes from the cab ride home last night, and was probably a lot funnier if you were there...
"Can I ask you a personal question? Do you have any bread?"