Musee national de la Marine (National Navy Museum) (Brest day 3)

Oh WOW!  Such history.  Today (Wednesday June 15) I had a lot of time to myself (obvi...Dave's here to WORK...not play with/entertain me all day!) so I decided to explore the city on my own a little.  With my trusty map in hand and my rockin' sperry's I was on my way to the coast!  Well...I didn't know I'd get to the coast...I just figured I walk around.  With my limited French I have been able to get by and I feel that the French are much nicer and accepting than I anticipated them being.  Although I do not know the spelling of the French pronunciation here's a list of the words I know that can get me through the day:

• Hello
• Goodbye
• Thank you
• Please
• Do you speak English

Really...that's all you need...I feel (and I felt this way in Italy too) that as long as you are making an effort, people are willing to help you!  I left the hotel around 10 in the morning...turning left (the way Dave and I went the two days prior) and walked straight...I figured that since it was downhill it must be towards a coast (we are surrounded on 3 sides by water).  I found a store that sold post cards and stamps (along with alcohol, tobacco, American candy, etc.) and bought a few post cads and stamps then asked where the post office was.  The lady's english was better than I expected and she gave fantastic directions (her eyes lit up when I pulled out my map...I'm not embarrassed to say I write all over that stinking map!!! ).  


I continued towards the water and came to a cute little cafe...since it was still early for lunch...about 11:30 I grabbed a pastry and a chair outside and watched people come and go for a while.  I could listen to French all day!  


At noon I made my way towards the National Navy Museum Dave and I had walked to on our first night here.  I misread the sign and thought it wasn't open until 3...turns out there's a daily French tour at 3, they are actually open from 10-6 every day.  So...thinking I had some time I decided to walk around a little and take in the lovely marina and the castle from the outside.  


I grabbed (well...pointed since the man and the sandwich place did not speak english) a sandwich and filled out the postcards...I even had un petite cafe (LOTS of caffeine for this non coffee drinker!!!!)  At 3 I headed to the museum.  They had an audio tour with 33 stops!  The lady (who spoke great english) said it should take about 45 minutes...let's be honest...it took me over 2 hours.  I think Dave thought something happened to me since I didn't email him all day!  But seriously...he was working!  I was on holiday!  :)  


Below are some of the pictures from my tour!  It was fantastic...I just WISH I was an auditory learner (or had taken a notebook with me) as I don't remember much from the audio tour...but I was listening...promise!  :) 

CASTLE EXTERIOR

BOATS

This was a fantastic tour of the French Naval History.  I was unaware that the Port of Brest was Europe's #1 shipping port during the American War of Independence.  There was so much information on ship building...as well as the romance of a medieval castle.  It was a great experience and I am so thankful I took the afternoon to learn about it.  Sometimes I am still in awe at the expertise and skill it took to not only build boats but also castles.  There is such detail and thought that must go into both!  Wow!  I must say...if you are ever in Brest...take the time...make sure you push the yellow button on the audio tour (it adds a ton more info...this will be even better for those of you who learn best by listening!).  


Following my tour I made it back to the hotel and met Dave for dinner....he had had a long day so it was an early night.  We ate here at the hotel (FANTASTIC steak and potatoes!!!).


PS. NO RAIN TODAY!!!  Making the weather count 3 rain days-1 dry day!  :)

SPERRY'S!!!!

I have to say!  I heart my Sperry's!  WOW!  What a fantastic purchase!  I was just telling Dave that I may have to purchase another pair upon our return to the states in a few weeks!  I can not believe how comfortable they are!  Dave was originally surprised that I didn't have to tie and untie them each time I wore them (as he has to do with his deck shoes).  I thought about it and decided to try and tighten them (as I could easily fling them off during a meal).  FAIL!  They started to rub the back of my heels and the little knuckle thing just below (above?) your pinky toe.  This made me super nervous as they were FINE...no wait...PERFECT...before!  Insert sad face here!  What did I do!?!?!  So...I loosened them...a viola! (Michelle if you're reading I'm laughing out-loud at my use of this word!  It's NOT an instrument!!!)  Back to perfection!  No rubbing, no hurting...just super comfy!  

I WAS wearing them when I was caught in the aforementioned rainstorm and began to panic!  Oh no!  My new shoes!  I don't want them to get wet!  And then I realized...they are BOAT shoes...that are MADE to get WET!  Plus, it's kinda like my grandma says about good china...why even have it if you aren't going to use it?  So...rain away weather!  Me and my Sperry's are ready!  :)  Bring it on Europe!    Bring...It...On...!!!!!!!!

Parks

France (and a lot of Europe I've been told...yet to test it!) has a love of nature and green space and parks!  I feel like as we've walked the streets of Brest there's a park every 3-5 blocks or so in any given direction.  Which is fantastic.  It's very natural for people to snuggle (kinda took me by surprise), walk their dogs, read a book, lay on the grass, or people watch.  I found myself wanting a plaid blanket, a baguette, and a bottle of wine or a block of cheese!  But today was Day 1 as an American tourist in Brest.  


I didn't want to look super out of place so I tried to fit in best I could...tried to not smile at everyone (this takes a LOT when you are a naturally smiley person!), crossed at zebra locations (crosswalks!)...without waiting for the drivers to give you a wave...they don't!, didn't say hi to everyone I passed, restrained myself from asking to pet every dog I passed (harder task than one might think!), kept my head forward and pretended like I knew where I was going/what I was doing!  


I did bring some school work to do while on holiday (a girl's gotta work sometimes).  Dave laughed when he saw a huge Child Development book in my suitcase...I got a "really? You may have to carry that on the plane if it makes your bag to heavy"...good thing my bag was under the weight limit so the book got checked!  The reason I brought it is that I'm teaching CD again and haven't in a few years...plus it's a brand new textbook so I wanted to give it a good reading before I taught it...and it wouldn't hurt to update some powerpoints.  Now if you know me at all...you realize that I'll probably open the book a total of like 3 times all summer!  :)  But it's the thought that counts!  Right???  I also brought my new plan-book for next year!  And that's like my favorite part of summer...updating my plan book, color-coding it by subject, writing in holidays/half days/days off/etc, decorating the breaks, and so on.  

So I wanted to feel French so I gathered the CD book, the plan book, my Crayola doodle markers, colored pens, and headed to the park!  Which was a brilliant plan...until, about after 1.5 hours, it started DOWN POURING out of no where!!!!  AHHHH!!!  And here's me...trying to keep everything dry...under a cropped shrug (which doesn't even close!)...it was comical to say the least!  I was able to save the newly color-coded plan-book from running and the CD book from having the slick pages all stick together.  Then there was my outward appearance...and I wish I had a camera...as I know I looked crazy...due to the looks from others!  :)  I was trying to keep everything covered under my shrug, my hair soaking wet/sticking to the sides of my face/bangs in my eyes...causing the mascara to run from my eyes (thank goodness I left the sunglasses on...could have been the cause of some looks!), the fronts of my pants a different color...front=wet; back=dry!  Oh, I'm sure I was a sight to see!  :)  But whateve! It was a fun day!  The rain only lasted about 45 minutes and then it was just chilly.  I remained inside and read for the remained of the day!  I have a feeling my "books read in 2011 list will grow substantially this summer...seriously considering a nook...even though I have a LOVE for the feel of a book in my hand...the smell, the satisfaction of turning down a page to mark your place, closing the book and seeing how far you've read, etc. it does make much more sense to have an e-reader during all this traveling...much smaller/lighter/easier to pack!  


Back to France...Dave and I met Dave's boss for dinner at Fruitas del Mar (Fruits of the Sea) which is NOT a restaurant featuring fruits!  It's seafood people!  And I stepped out of my comfort zone and seeing that it's a COSTAL town I opted for a salmon fettucini...which was FANTASTIC!!!  The actual fruit dessert though was the BEST part!  I would go back for dessert ANY TIME!  :)  It was great fun...nice conversation.  The only downfall is that dinner in France typically doesn't begin until like 8...which means we were finished around 9:40 (21:40 Europe time).  It's difficult to want to go to sleep right after a filling meal...so we found a few BBC channels (english speaking) and watched Law and Order!  I was in heaven!  Seriously...with Dave watching Law and Order...what are the chances!?!?!?!  Hehehe!!!!  

Trains, Planes & Automobiles!

What an adventure it has been already!  I arrived Sunday June 12 (12.6.2011 in Europe dating) and by Monday morning we were off and running.  Dave had an audit for work in Brest, France and I was fortunate enough to be able to tag along.  As I was still a little (okay...I'll be honest...a LOT) jet-lagged I was all sorts of confused as the alarm went off at 6am Monday morning.  I do have to throw a major shout out to Dave for keeping me awake until an appropriate sleep time (9pm I believe)...every time my eyes would get heavy he'd wake me up...what a trooper!!!  


Anyways...back to our travel adventure on the way to Brest!  The car/cab arrived at 6:45am and away we went.  We had to take 2 trains to get to the airport for our 10:30 flight.  It was fairly simple to navigate the train system as you are given a specific seat so you don't have to really look for one.  The most difficult part was during the train transfer making sure we found the right platform...but I rocked that one!!!  (Mom and Dad you'd be proud!!!!)  The most difficult part was figuring out the tickets...we were each given 3 tickets and we had to figure out which one was for which train...I guess 1 was just a confirmation for the actual purchase and the other 2 were for our seats on each train.  

Once at the airport we made it easily through security and had to just kind of hang out until about 30 minutes before our flight.  They don't announce the gate of departure until then.  Dave was given a jokingly hard time when he pulled the hot pink computer out of his rucksack (backpack).  We all had a good laugh!  He didn't even have to take his shoes off!  I removed mine out of habit but feel if I had asked I could have kept them on!  In the airport I had the most amazing breakfast croissant with meat and cheese and tomato...almost like a true breakfast pizza!  Warm, yummy, goodness.  We found our gate easily and boarded.  It was a smaller plane with props on the wings...which made it a little loud inside.  We were informed about 10 minutes before landing that the Brest airport was fogged in and they were not allowing any planes to land.  GRRRR.  But alas we were routed to Rennes, France...which as we found out is a mere 3 hour bus ride away!  As Dave started to grumble (even though the airlines had already arranged for ground transport) I cheerfully explained that "Hey!  At least we covered all the bases today!  Trains...Planes...and...Automobiles!"  Then we hit some turbulence and Dave decided to watch the wheels as they touched down...just thinking of it is making me dizzy again and for those of you familiar with my queasiness can understand the rest of the trip wasn't as pleasant as I would have liked...but I made the best of it!  And Dave was a trooper!  :)  Deep breaths and long sleeps and food and water were all very helpful!  I never actually got sick...but it was close a few times!  Blah!  It was when we finally reached Brest we realized that we went about 8 hours without any food!  No wonder I didn't feel well!  No food + little sleep = not such a good combo!  We tried to find a place to eat right away but it was a)a holiday in France and b)during siesta time when we arrived so very little was open.  We walked around a bit until a pizza place opened and we settled in for the evening.  I found out during dinner that that was where Dave celebrated Thanksgiving this past year.  


We ended up walking quite a bit and since Dave has been here before all it took were a few main streets and we both seemed to become familiar with the area.  All I need to remember is that it's a coastal town...so it's down hill to the sea (Bay of Biscay and the Celtic Sea) and uphill to our hotel!  

PS. In case I forgot to mention it...yes...it rained again today...in Cheltenham & in Brest!  What are my chances!  Crossing my fingers for a dry Tuesday!  I'm 0-2 for clear weather across the pond!  :)  Oh Well!  

Cheltenham Round 1

Continuing on with my London post I should correct that my actual location is NOT London but rather a town about 90 miles west of London.  Below is a great link to the history and information about my newfound "home". 

Cheltenham History

A little info on my first day there (although I am updating this on Wednesday my first day there was Sunday...so, yes, I'm a little behind!  I'll catch up tomorrow!!!).  As it was raining in London it was also raining and chilly in Cheltenham.  Dave and I arrived at his (now ours???) flat and I took the official tour...1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 1 eat-in kitchen and a living room.  Did I mention it's on the 5th floor?  Lots of stairs...which means...KILLER LEGS BY THE END OF THE SUMMER!!!!!  :)  (I'll post pics soon!)  We were so excited to be there together (finally)...but we were bummed that the weather was so crummy...we tried to take a little walking tour but the wind and rain made it tough.  I did get to see a few good shopping malls and shops and got the idea of where the butcher is as well as where the tennis club is!  It's all within walking distance with is wonderful!  


We grabbed a burger and chips (fries) and bought some milk and bread and were done with the outdoors activities for the day!  Off to the flat to dry off.  Dave says all day soakers like the one this day are typically unlikely!  What luck!!!  


I'll update on Brest, France (yes...you can laugh...it's kinda funny) with pics tomorrow!!!      

London Rain

Yes!  I've made it across the pond!!!  Hello, London!  Here I am!!!  


Going back to my old Dawson's Creek days I can't help but sing the song London Rain as I arrive at London Heathrow Airport on Sunday morning.  You know how it goes"...Nothing falls like, London Rain...nothing heals me like you do...nothing falls like London rain"...I think it's coming back to you all now!  :)   


And as I sat in the chilly bus station I began to think.  (I know...a rarity for this one!).  But seriously, I mentally unpacked both large Samsonite suitcases as well as my carry-on and came to the scary realization that among all my many outfits and far too many shoes I was lacking in the warmth department!  I brought 1, yes 1, long-sleeve top (a gray zip-up hoodie) and 1 rain coat (keeps the rain out but NOT the wind)...oh and 1 pair of jeans.  I didn't even bring long pajama pants as Dave reminded me that our flat is not air-conditioned and we are on the top floor.  Hmmm...looks like I'll be either a)shopping sooner than I though or b)getting much wear out of the hoodie!  Good thing Dave doesn't mind repeat outfits!  (And a wonderful thing I'm not royalty...apparently it is NOT a good thing for them to be photographed in the same outfit twice...poor Catherine (yes...she's know as Catherine here...but Kate in the states...weird that it's a C formally and K informally...(...she wore a dress a few weeks ago that she was photographed in FOUR YEARS AGO and was scrutinized for it in the papers!  Wowzers!  


Back to London...Dave was able to meet me as soon as I left customs and we were on our way.  We boarded the bus from the airport and were off to Cheltenham, England.  My new home for the summer.  My first impression was that it looked a lot like Wisconsin.  Yes...you can laugh...but the first few things I saw were tender rolling hills and plush greenery.  I guess it was a lot greener then WI but I had to put things in perspective.  And yes, my first blond American tourist comment while we were on the coach (bus)...in the middle of a story about my flight I exclaimed rather loudly and with a pitch about an octave higher than normal SHEEP!!!  As we past a field of sheep.  It was like I'd never seen them before...but really...they were just chillin' like the cows back in IL.  Weird!  I've grown more used to them now and am able to tell the difference between goats and sheep as they both hang out in the pastures.  


I must say...it is NOTHING like the United States...I don't know why I thought it would be.  And I have to admit...I am understanding much more than I thought I would...even though the native language in England is English...it's much different than in the US.  


Having a blast (although it's only been a few days).  I'll update more about Cheltenham, England and Brest, France shortly!  :)   

Packing?

So I never realized how difficult it is for me (a girl that takes 3 bags for a weekend road trip) to pack for a trip like this!  Wowzers!  I thought I had it covered...I made lists upon lists upon lists (no surprise for those of you that know me).  But what REALLY surprised me was that I was not able to stick to said lists!  Not at all!  I was on the phone last night and was reminded that I really only needed to bring the things I needed...well...what if I need EVERYTHING???  Hmmm...

My next task (before my flight leaves tomorrow evening) is to condense, condense, condense!  I'm going to try to make it fit in a single (smaller) checkable luggage!  Plus I'll obviously have a carry-on!  Let's see if I can do this... just gotta have faith!  :)

Here are my packing helpers!!! 

T-Money!!! (Tucker...my kitten)

Izz-Biz!  (Izzy...the roomie's kitten)

Sorry this is highlighted...I'm still learning!  :)

New Beginnings

This is it.  New Beginnings for sure!  :) 

It's been a little over a year now that I've wanted to create a blog!  I originally wanted to blog since all my friends were...and yes...if they all jumped off a bridge...I'd go too!  Not to worry...I am quite the follower.  But then I really thought about it.  And they all have legit REASONS to blog (wedding plans, pregnancy, babies, heck...even life perspectives).  What did I really have to say that the world would want to read about?  So I made a list...
*Teaching...okay, really?  I teach high school...what more is there to say...the kids are too cool for school.
*Tucker...okay, he's a cat...but really cute!  I'm just not sure he's ready for public viewing...it might give him a complex!  :)
*The books I've read...really?  Who wants to read about reading?  Not that interesting!
*My thoughts on life...been there, done that...that's what everyone else has done.
*My family...I'm the oldest of 2, parents still married, younger sibling is a brother.  That about sums it up.  Done with that! 
*and the list goes on.


SO...I tabled the idea of a blog until I had something worth writing about...and the opportunity is upon me!  :)  I have been giving a fantastic opportunity to move to England for 3 months and as a teacher I have the unique ability to act upon that...just think: travel and excitement and history, oh my!


As I write this I am thinking of all the new beginnings in store.  New adventures!  New sights!  New foods!  (Which is awesome seeing as I teach Foods!!!) 


I am SO excited to start my new journey in England!  Watch out Europe!  Here I come!!!!