New pics, after a thanksgiving from a land afar

ME! on the Paris metro

Hello hello hello! it is I, the wayward, european vagabond, wishing you all happy thanksgiving, and a pleasant time of snow and snow related activities. I hear your getting quite a bit over there on the west coast, and although it is the bane of many a driver's existence, I am terribly jealous. We got a dusting today, and I'm hoping for a few feet. I love snow and I would really like to see Poitiers draped in a think blanket of creamy slush

Sigh, alright on to pictures. Here's some extra pictures I forgot to put up the other day of our trip to the Loire Valley. The one next to this and the couple below are from the chateau we stayed at. We couldn't go into the pool since it was too cold, but peter and brandon and I snuck in at night and dipped our feet in.

 There was a gorgeous view from our room. the boys slept in one room and the girls  slept in a couple different ones. At least that's what was supposed to happen...

 Boys room. Dirty and smelly and masculine. NOW YOUR A MAN, A MAN MAN MAN! (anyone? orgasmo reference?)

Creepy hallway of doom. I expected to see two twin girls at the end of one.

And now on to my Halloween! It was spent under the twinkling lights of the Eiffel Tower, guzzling wine and then stumbling back to our hostel.  Here's some pics of the weekend:

We'll start at the train station, because afterall that's where it always starts and ends. This is the train station by our hostel. It was really nice all lit up and such. Although this picture hides the beggars panhandling outside the station. As well as the repugnant stench of urine that follows. But lets stay romantic, shall we?

 Friends Bethany and Alison at a fancy french restaurant, living it up. Got me a burger with an egg and bacon on it. They put egg in EVERYthing. from pizza to pasta to already fried eggs, everything's gotta have an egg. It's great.

Paris street before we arrived at....

The gorgeous and irreplaceable, yet one of hundreds...

The hugest church ever! It was really neat inside, although they didn't allow cameras or hats. I forgot mine briefly and felt really bad about it. And since I am mildly respectful, the picture just above is not from my camera, but I did take the liberty of taking from my friend. It was really cool...

The view from the top of the stairs in front of the church. Had to get it in three pictures to get it all. I think this is the right order...

 

And here's just a pretty picture of the Eiffel Tower between some trees

After seeing some sites, we explored the major graveyard for some famous people and beautiful structures. Here's some noteworthy ones (ps if this seems morbid, bear in mind it was halloween. Plus, just wait til you see who we saw):

 The carvings were really intricate. Lots to think about.

 

 And for some reason, almost all the sculptures of the saints or angels covered their eyes and face. It gave off an eerie, silent hill sort of vibe.

First celebrity on our list is Edith Piaf, which if you've never heard of her, was a famous, old timey french singer. You'd probably know her from the song "la Vie en Rose". It's quite good, I would recommend doing some music research to discover a classic voice, and a tortured soul.

And this one, everyone should know. The infamous jim morrison. Bet you didn't know he was buried in Paris, did you? (if your elderly, then you probably do because he's like your kurt cobain). He has a very modest, almost hidden grave, between several bigger graves tucked away, but as you can see, it's one of the more visited graves. 

And finally, this one is big. The support for this gifted, but troubled writer was overwhelming.

Oscar Wilde, who if your unfamiliar, please please please pick up a book by him. He's done a lot, but the books everyone knows are the importance of being earnest and the portrait of dorian gray. His grave is lined with hundreds of kisses. Here's some close-ups:

One of his lines, reading: to cure the soul by means of the senses and the senses by means of the soul

And as a finale, our last night in Paris, getting drunk off of 5 liters of wine for 7 euros. It didn't even have a name, it was simply named "rouge". And yes, that is Alison Arnold in the pictures! She met us there for the weekend and we kicked it and shared stories and laughed and laughed. 

 Alison being a baller, drinking my wine.

 These are some of Alison's friends from Angers. They were a hoot and a half

 Me being disgusting. Spilled wine on my sweatshirt, bottles and drunken stupor action going down.We had a huge entourage, my friends, Bethany's Irish friends, and Alison and her friends. Crazy. We were loud and obnoxious, but the Police didn't seem to care. All night long vendors walk by trying to sell you things, everything from tiny models of the eiffel tower to roses to bottles of wine. You can haggle them down, and we ended up getting a pretty constant supply of wine for the whole night without spending very much money.

  

Bethany and me taking cracks at the massive jug of wine. we didn't get arrested, but we did get the one thing French have in excess: disapproving looks.

 Me being very French above, especially with my TMNT shirt. (psst alicia, remember buying that in like 11th grade in the big and tall section of the little boys department of Kmart? who knew it would see the world...)

 Peter being waaaaaay too drunk! Ahh I love peter so much! He was supposed to go to a concert this night, but two handles of whiskey and some vodka got the better of him. He did, however, attempt to go, but after stumbling across Paris, falling several times, and bringing irene with him, Irene said eff this and brought him back to the hostel. The end result you ask?

Peter giving us his thug stare. Bitch I want some waffle fries, for free!

Ba-Bam! Peter took a mighty spill and cut his eyebrow open. Oh peter, you steal my heart.

Welp, that about does it. I didn't do much in November, so that's about all my most recent pictures. I will be traveling as soon as I get out of school on the 17th, going to paris, then to amsterdam then to munich and austria with the fabulous, the gorgeous, the granola- miss Kimberly Morgan Elizabeth Malan Absher. She's coming in just a few days (this saturday, huzzah!) and will be accompanying me the duration of my stay. So, many pictures will ensue from there. Probably more pictures from Poitiers, because I haven't really explored it as much as I would have liked to. Thanks all for reading and laughing at my trip thusfar, it's been a lot of fun.

Dad- when do you wanna skype? shoot me an email whenever you're free
Mom- did you get my email? waiting for a response (don't forget about me!!)
Alicia- nothing, just wanted to say HI!!!

To all others- sorry for cutting it off so quickly at thanksgiving, the host parent's I was outside of freaked out and made me leave. I think this beard is finally giving me the street cred I've been looking for.

Love,

Joel

French Mot du Jour

Breasts: seins

Left: Irene's boobs
Right: Peter's boobs