She's got those Wrangler-bottom jeans and the boots with the spurs....

Bachelorette weekend pictures (update!)

The girls getting their line on.... even though we didn't know what the heck we were doing!

Shimming with Laura, actually I have no idea what we're doing but she looks like she's going to puke.

Laura and the old cowboy!!!

This is my view from the main dance floor, hello ladies!

Laughing at Laura, who wanted me to dance with this "cute" guy next to me.

Taking a break from the dancing action with the Rosas!

Bachelorette fun

I guess this post isn't really anything exciting without accompanying photos, but you're all going to have to wait. I still haven't unpacked from the weekend (i.e. laundry) and need to do so shortly along with uploading photos. Meghan, I promise I'll get them to you soon :)

But let's talk about the near train wreck that almost occurred on Saturday night:

After a normal dinner -- complete with too much food causing nearly three of us to want to vomit -- we piled into my car at 9:30 p.m. with the intent of heading to Fremont for some line dancin'! On the way, several members inside of my vehicle have to fight off the urge to doze off, as it was already 10 p.m. When I get to the gas station, this creepy man in an RV is looming really closely to our proximity and kind of creeping out everyone else. I attempt three times to fuel up, but my card will not be accepted and of course, I forgot my actual credit card and only had the ATM. So I jump into the driver's seat and back into the next pump as creepy man next door is saying something awkward and scary. Long story short, attempt #3 fails and I have to go to the window for some help. Turns out the man who works at the gas station is mildly mentally unstable -- to put it nicely. He did not understand that I wasn't getting gas out of the pump and then did not understand that I wanted to pay manually to do so.

10:30 p.m. we're on the road and getting ready to enter the Saddle Rack. Except when we arrive, Laura realizes that she doesn't have her identification, kind of crucial when entering a bar. Expecting the worst and hoping for the best, we make our way towards the queue. One bouncer checks me, then proceeds to question Laura. She pours her little heart out, saying we're a bachelorette party and she doesn't have her ID and we can't go all the way back to Pleasanton to get it. He sends her off to the next bouncer who proceeds to have her empty out her massive purse and see what she's got. A bandaid, highlighter, pen, feminine products and international student card. Grudgingly he let us in....

And that was just the beginning. Since Laura forgot her wallet, she also forgot her MONEY. So I was on door duty covering most of the girls' entry fees. Meaning that my bills were also winding down. After crossing the threshold into the bar, Laura and I agreed that we definitely deserved something to drink after all of this mayhem. So we go to order two bottles of beer, which one bartender says should be about $8. Between the two of us, Laura and I had $9 so that was (painfully) sufficient for a tip included. We go back and ask if anyone else wants anything, then order two beers from a female bartender.... who tells me it's going to be $10.50. At this point, I sort of freak out because neither of us has the extra two dollars so someone else in the party spots me and I give her a measly 50 cent tip. Then we run away from the bar area, far, far away.

Thinking it can't possibly get any worse, we take our seats at a small table when a 75-year old toothless man comes by and asks two girls in our party if they want to dance. Laura nudges them to go and when they still refuse, he of course asks Laura. Looking at me she's like, "what the heck?" and goes off to dance with him. They waltz across the line dancing floor for a bit and then he extends his second hand out to me and twirls the two of us for about five minutes. It was awkward and painful and fun.

At least we got some smiles out of the night :)

Oh what fun it is to ride....

Nope, not a one-horse open sleigh. The train. To Cannes.

Aujourd'hui Aimee and I hopped on our last regional train in the PACA region of Southern France. We took it two whole cities to the West where Cannes and all its glory awaited.

Even though yesterday and today were the ugliest weather days here -- my lame over-used joke was, "What is this, the first day of winter or something?" -- I think they were two of the most eventful. I was a little apprehensive about taking the 12:24 p.m. train to Cannes because that meant we'd arrive in the middle of the day. Meaning everything is closed for lunch. However, since it is almost Christmas, every store will be open all day long throughout the weekend, even on Sundays shocking I know, so Frenchies can get in their last-minute shopping. Either way, we were happy campers because we had plenty to do during the lunch hour.

One of the best finds today was the Marche de Noel in Cannes. It was probably the largest I've seen thus far, and we were super close to actually seeing a living creche, or nativity scene. We got inside the building and beheld the French stable with real, live animals, when the booming God-like announcer got in one sentence in French. Something like, "Over 2,000 years ago, God promised to send down a son to forgive all of man's sins." And then the speakers went out. Let there be SILENCE! Technical difficulties exist even in French, who woulda thought??

But the best part of the young weekend happened last night. I finally used the last of my 180 euro gift certificate at Le Brulot in Antibes with Natalie, Kathy and Aimee. After that was done we went down the street a bit more to this Absinthe Bar near the downtown market area. Although I think absinthe tastes like butt and smells like sweaty old man -- super appetizing isn't it? -- the place was a riot! I think it's sort of mandatory to wear stupid 19th century fashionable hats while drinking to the green fairy, which sadly no longer exists. So we got to play the whole bohemian lifestyle thing for a few small hours. I can't really say much more, so take a look at my pictures :)

Limencello shots after dinner. This is what we got when I asked for the bill.
Posters along the walls of the Absinthe Bar.
Check out our AWESOME hats!
Sadly they no longer set fire to the glasses. Apparently water works just as well.
This was probably round 2 of 5 of Musical Hats.

And tomorrow we hit the train for two weeks of non-stop travel across two different countries! Happy Holidays to everyone back at home :) Check back in after New Year's when I'll post stories and pictures from our NYE 2008 adventures on the Champs Elysees!

I bridged the gap!!!

I'm coming out of my shell in a big, big way here. And, as my roommate said, it's incredible what I've already done in less than two months.

For example, I have:

• figured out the trains and buses without (much) help
• opened a bank account
• started making friends
• expressed myself very well in French, as I supposedly continue to do every day
• cooked up one heck of a storm two times and pleased many bellies

But I'll get back to all of that. I just need to reaffirm all the things that are going right in my world, to remind myself that I'm doing something incredible. And I'm doing it well!

That being said, I had no idea this weekend was going to turn out the way it did. At first I was a little nervous about what my roommate had planned for her friends who came to visit this weekend -- one of which being her former roommate who only left two months before I moved in. It started out like that past week, rainy, cold and dreary. So that pretty much put a halt to any major plans.

Kathy, Nina (her friend from the Netherlands) and I were supposed to all go out to Monte-Carlo and Ventimiglia in Italy to check out the large open-air market they have. But alas, they drank too much the night before and the strikes still hadn't lifted 100 percent. So long story short, I woke up very early in the morning and had nothing to do most of the day.

Karina, my roommate, invited me to have lunch with her and her friends. At first I was hesitant and thought I'd have to leave, but then I decided, "What the heck?" I can go to Monte-Carlo anytime, it's ok if I meet up with them a little later. So I rolled up my sleeves and helped cook some pasta and on the spot created our very own, homemade sauce. I had a very good lunch because I got to see a side of my roommate that's been hidden from me. Maybe we were both just too shy and too new with each other to let those parts of our personalities out, but seeing her with her friends made me realize that she's probably not all that bad. And might I add, I've never ever relented my kindness around her, so perhaps that's finally starting to pay off.

As soon as we finished cleaning, Kathy, Nina and I all met up at the Antibes train station and headed off towards Monte-Carlo. I was only going to be there for an hour, because Karina's old roommate, Thomas, invited me out to dinner with all of them. So instead we improvised and decided to get off the train at Nice, halfway to Monte-Carlo -- especially since I was just there the weekend before with my dad. And what a fabulous idea it was! The entire city is already decked-out beyond imagination for Christmas and the light-rail tram they've been working on over the past four years -- terrible traffic when I last studied here because of all the road closures -- had its grand opening this weekend. So there were free concerts, with festive holiday-themed songs to be had. And even though I could only stay an hour and a half, it was time well-spent!

Then I rushed back home and got ready to go out to dinner. Karina told me I'd want to dress up a little bit, because she was going to present me to some "guy friends," and some of Thomas's former co-workers. And they did.

We went out to this excellent French restaurant where everyone ordered of all thing, individual pizzas à feu bois. Delicious! Karina felt inclined to watch after me all night long, which was very nice of her considering I knew practically no one. But, the "California curiosity" eventually came out and I was the talk of the table for a short period of time. So that helps open up my shell and force me to talk more in French! And I kind of made a little dinner-time friendship with the two guys sitting near me which held up later in the evening.

After dessert and coffee, the younger ones of us decided to go off to a club. Imagine my shock when my roommate conjured up the whole thing! All the guys were really excited to go out and dance, and Karina and I were kind of apathetic to it all.

But then if you know me, you obviously know that's not true.

We got into this club -- which didn't have a cover charge for WOMEN OVER 25 AND MEN OVER 30 -- that's right Aimee, I crashed the old person's dance party so we don't need to do it in Geneva next month. And since there were so many of us and very young to boot -- maybe only two of our group of eight actually fit that age category -- we got in without a problem and went straight to a reserved table. However, that was the last I saw of the table, as Karina grabbed my hand and whisked me off to the dance floor.

At first I was kind of shy and nervous, but whenever American songs come on here, especially oldies and disco, something inside me just snaps and I go crazy dancing like no one else is around! And they loved it. They kept cheering, "OUAIS, ELLE EST AMERICAINE!" which made me laugh and only made me want to do it more. The two guys who befriended me earlier and Karina kept egging me on all night and at one point this guy and I kind of choreographed a dance to M.J.'s "Billy Jean." Very, very fun. And her friends thought I was a riot -- which I equally thought of them.

It might have been the sangria and wine I had with dinner speaking -- promise I didn't drink a drop of alcohol at the club, which makes it all that much MORE fun -- but I started talking about how much I miss American Sunday brunches. Tout d'un coup, Karina and our house guests were signing me up to cook it on Sunday and they started pitching in money, suggestions and food.

Basically, we finally got home at 4:30 a.m. reeking of cigarettes and sweat, looked up a bunch of recipes online and by 5 a.m. I was fast asleep. Six hours later I woke up with THE SUN!! (no rain today!) and accompanied Karina to the grocery store where we bought all the necessary items for our brunch.

This morning I made apple-cinnamon and walnut muffins, French toast (ah the irony), pancakes, fruit salad and scrambled eggs for everyone to try. It was quite a hit!

Mom, I've been getting so many compliments on my cooking here! It's kind of like in a previous October post I had. I feel like I'm testing out someone else here in France. I wake up early, I cook, and I don't remember what else, but this person doesn't seem to be the Monique I used to know. And I kind of like this one. Needless to say, I'm pretty full now.

So not only did I have an excellent weekend, but my roommate and I are kind of starting to open up and be friends! I've been waiting for a moment like that for nearly a month and a half now! And even better, we're going to start cooking like this every Sunday. Yay brunch and baked treats!

...36 More Days Until France BANS Indoor Smoking! :)

Mo-neye-k

That's my new French name. Mo-neye-k.

Anyways, it's 4 a.m. -- nearly 5 -- and I'm just now going to bed.

But t'inquiète (pas). I'll tell you all about my journey at home, Nice and in St-Laurent du Var tomorrow. Plus some details from the Sunday brunch I'm about to make for three Frenchies, with Mimosas mmmm.

And I'll also tell about the soirée de malade (yep, they say sick as an adjective in French too) I had in a club with my new "friends."

I bet you can't wait.

Uh oh....

For those of you who remember my last trip to France.... I am a bar-glass klepto. That's right. When we had our going away dinner at the end of the summer program in Nice two years ago, I stole my French shot glass and now it's nestled away safely at home. That is, if another large earthquake hasn't knocked it off my shelf again.

Then last night -- gotta love free Tuesday nights because I have the middle of the week off! -- we went to Natalie's boy's going away party in Old Antibes. First of all, I wish he was going away every weekend! The kid got so drunk that he just decided he would start buying rounds of drinks for anyone who remotely knew Natalie. Meaning, I had four free drinks. Tally off another night of me not having to pay for either food or drinks! Oh and the word food reminded me, we got tasty little tapas appetizers with our drinks, which also reminds me that Kathy and I attempted to make -- and successfully pulled it off -- paella which I bought from the local grocery store. It was easy and delicious and only cost about 3-4 Euros. So I'll definitely be doing that again! Anyways, I guess the drink of choice for everyone all night long was screwdrivers and they came in these adorable little Absolut glasses.


...Which are now sitting on my desk, thank you very much.

I know I kind of sound like an out-of-control mess right now, but believe me, that's so far from the truth. This is only the third or fourth time in nearly two months that I've been to a bar or club out here.

But while we were out, I randomly "checked my phone," to make it less obvious what I was really doing with my purse when I realized I had a new texto! Can we guess from who...? That's right, Ludo.

So I'm going to officially say it for the first time. After a little back-and-forth text conversation last night, I think I'm starting to get a crush. Uh oh. Either way, he offered to let me tag along the next Sunday when they go rock climbing, which sounds super exciting to me!

The night ended by walking back with Kathy to her place in Juan-les-Pins, because she lives much closer to the downtown area than I do and it's smarter to walk the night streets in pairs. Obviously after four drinks I was feeling a little unlike myself, to put it nicely. But I noticed that in that moment I was having the hardest time speaking English, NOT because I had been drinking, but because I realized that I was almost completely thinking in French!

Wow, that's a big change from what I've usually been like here and it's certainly a welcomed one. I could get used to this talking and thinking in (American) French all the time!

Whatever happened to my "Transylvania Twist?"

Apparently last night was a big growing up night for me. It's suddenly very clear that I am no longer in college or working for a company with a college-aged mindset!

That's right, bars here (and in most of the real world I suspect) are NOT open on random Tuesday nights! Maybe during the summer, but now that it's considered winter season, no longer. I never thought I'd miss that about Santa Barbara!

After wandering around Juan-les-Pins and Antibes for about 40 minutes last night, Natalie, Kathy and I stumbled across the only illuminated sign advertising Café Cozy down some dark alleyway in Vieux Antibes. And what a surprise it turned out to be!

At first I doubted it'd be open, since everything else happened to be closed, but looking through the wooden door, I noticed that the place was jumping! Granted, there were only about five tables and the room was sort of this hollowed-out cavern in the side of a building with interior cobblestone walls. Nevertheless, the bar was serving and we were freezing with a light drizzle beginning to tumble from the heavens.

It was certainly one of the most laid-back, mellow bars I've ever came across, playing ambient Jack Johnson music. Despite its European atmosphere, I felt like this is something that could definitely do well in Santa Barbara. I ordered an Irish coffee first, while the other girls tried flavored light beers and then we capped off the evening with a round of mulled wine! Best drink, EVER! Next time I go back to Williams Sonoma in the United States, I'm loading up on mulling spices.

As we were finishing our drinks, I cozied up in my big, fluffy arm chair gripping my cup of warm, heavenly goodness and could easily imagine chilly snowdrift making its way into the room whenever patrons entered and exited the building. Nestling up just below the heater also helped give the impression that we were in some winter resort for the evening.

But alas, we stepped out into the mildly-tempered and rainy night barely covered in our jackets and headed back home to close out a wonderful evening.

And now it's Halloween and I think we're going to celebrate by watching dubbed Halloween movies on the French family channel! I've looked up dessert recipes for Halloween cookies and bubbly beverages so that we can hit up the grocery store and make festive treats for the evening.

Then tomorrow I'm off to the Loire Valley!

Weight/exercise tracker, 31/10/07:
Weighing in at 59 kilos today, ran 2.1 miles and did 80 sit-ups.

And thanks to my discovery of MapMyRun.com's "My Training" feature, I've learned that I have either ran or walked a total of 17.66 miles, burning 1,392 calories since Sunday. And my clothes still don't fit. Sorry if I seem totally obsessed by all of this right now, but for some reason EVERY single time I come to France I balloon up and pack on the pounds. It's really getting me down, to the point where I don't want to even eat all this delicious food anymore. Even if I am working out regularly/compulsively every day...

Currently Playing: "Monster Mash," by Bobby Pickett.

Happy Halloween!

I think I'm getting sick

A couple of things.

First, the next time I go to the grocery store, I AM NOT ALLOWED TO BUY ANYMORE SUGAR. Such as Nutella (and crackers/cookies to go along with it), no more Kinder chocolate bars, no more Pims cookies, no more ice cream!!

My stomach is aching so bad because I just went on this little binge and cleared out my bottle of Nutella. It was very delicious, but totally unnecessary.

Plus, I realized I'm going to the grocery store and spending over 30 Euros once or twice a week. If I cut down my dessert/snack consumption, I think I'll be spending less and buying more grains/produce. Although, the desserts really are each under 2 Euros apiece. Whatever, my stomach and heart will thank me for it -- if I can summon up that kind of self-control.

And I'm sure you've all been waiting to hear about my club experiences in Europe. So here goes:

Friday night I was invited by two other girls teaching in Antibes to come make some drinks in Juan-Les-Pins before going out to a club. Kathy, the girl whose apartment we were crashing for the night, thought she'd save some money and only buy the 15 Euro bottle of white rum (as opposed to the 20+) to make some mojitos. I brought along my left over lychee liqueur and pineapple juice to make exotic cocktails in addition to the mojitos.

Long story short, cheap alcohol here is a NEVER AGAIN. It tasted like rubbing alcohol and I had about one and a half lychee drinks before going out.

Once we got there, I paid the cover fee, which included a free drink! There was a large dance floor, mainly with squished females, playing stereotypical "Euro Trash Techno." (See below)

Then we noticed a private room, playing much better songs, such as American hits and salsa music! Kathy asked the bouncer in front of the velvet ropes what you needed to do to get in, when he responded, "You have to buy a bottle." No thanks. So we hit the dance floor in the large, teenager-filled room.

And then I got gutsy and asked the second, younger bouncer of the night and he let me and my friends right in! Once we got there, we noticed the disco ball and the group of 30-somethings (all six of them) started at us when we started dancing to American 70s dance hits! Think, Jackson 5, Gloria Gaynor, THE GREASE SOUNDTRACK. Overall, it was a really exciting night, but only because we made our way into "forbidden" territory. However, I don't see myself going back a second time for the same price.

When we left, it was FREEZING. Which was an ominous sign for Saturday morning. All yesterday the skies were tainted with thick, gray clouds, but no rain ever fell from them. The mistral (strong and cold Southern French winds) howled all afternoon and shut off our tv/radio signals every few minutes.

Today the weather is much more mild and the sun is out, but there's still that early-winter chill to be found in the air. I believe my beach days have now come to an end :(

And for my last topic of monologue "discussion," nearly all of my end-0f-the-year trips are 100% certain! For the Loire Valley at the beginning of November, I already have hotel and train reservations! Mid-November, I purchased a train ticket to visit my family near Toulon for the weekend, and when Aimee arrives in December, we're going to Toulon for Christmas, Geneva, Lyon, and then Paris on New Year's! The hotel in Paris is already booked and I hope to finish the other reservations no later than Wednesday!

I don't think I've ever looked forward to winter this much!

Dommage, Les Bleus!

...and this is the face of defeat, at 16 years old.

Tonight, I convinced myself to jump on the dinner train into Cannes which was about a 10-minute ride that cost me 2,40 € roundtrip. And complimentary ocean views all along the way.

I think I owed it to myself, because it's been too long since I actually went out and did something fun here. Yeah, being in France is fun and challenging at the same time, but I stay in and go to bed around 9 or 10 p.m., if I'm not crying about whatever emotional baggage I've left back in California.

A group of girls who I met in Nice invited me to their apartment and then out to watch the Rugby World Cup semi-finals in Downtown Cannes. When I arrived, we made quiche lorraine, lychee kir, and the usual suspect, baguette and brie for dinner. It cost a mere 4 € per person. When that was sufficiently in our bellies, we took our left over champagne into the street to meet up with the boys -- WHO ARE ALSO TEACHING IN ANTIBES!! So the friends prospect is looking so much better from my end here.

Luckily, one who was Canadian was nice enough to explain the general rules of rugby to me. After crashing an English pub, we put on blue, white, and red face paint -- make that red, white, and blue for me because I did it in a mirror, oops -- bought half-litres of Stella Artois and watched the French suffer their second defeat in the semis to the English in four years. Apparently this time was more painful, because with five minutes remaining France was up 9-8 in quite a low scoring game that resulted in an English 11-9 victory. Maybe they'll get their second-second chance in 2011. And for exta fun, check out this video I took of the French singing their national anthem, La Marseillaise, blissfully ignorant to what would come 80 minutes later.

After the match, a few high schoolers from Grasse were harassing us because Americans and Canadians are too close to the English for their liking. To which I rigoled, "Les français connaissent trop bien la perte... même dans les guerres." Low blow, I know, but it was well-received.

At 11 p.m., the bar cleared out with inconsolable French drunks and we found ourselves sans abri. So off to the next bar. I could only stay 30 more minutes in order to catch the midnight train (supposedly the last before tomorrow's strikes) back to Antibes.

On one last exciting side-note, I finally found the Antibes public library and got my FREE library card today. So after 12 hours, I'm already one-fourth of the way through Écrire by Marguerite Duras -- quite an easy read. Access to the library is easily the highlight of my young weekend.

Can we say "Jumping the Gun?"

Christmas in October... This is what happens when your country doesn't celebrate Halloween or Thanksgiving.

As I was walking downtown at 6:30 this morning (had to get to the train station to be in Nice at 8 a.m. despite the routine Thursday bus strikes), a new thought occurred to me.

Downtown Antibes has transformed over night!

I couldn't quite figure it out, until I realized that every major street has strings of Christmas lights! "But Monique, how can you be so sure those are in fact Christmas lights?" you may find yourself asking.

And I would reply something to the effect of, "I guess this is totally coincidental, but the lights are arranged in strange shapes of pine trees and ornament-like globes."

Really, Antibes? It's barely October!

The really exciting thing about this is that I'm going to be ready for Christmas for the next three months now! Even Nice was picking up on the trend as street vendors stood on the corner selling bags of roasted nuts. Supposedly come closer to winter, they'll start selling chestnuts (roasting on an open fire? I sure hope so).

Another exciting prospect for the month of December are all the festivals going on in Antibes that month. Beginning the second week of December, there's going to be a Bûche de Noël and Chocolat Chaud festival, sooo excited for that!

However, it's still pretty hard to get in the Christmas spirit on the beach -- when the temperatures are sunny and in the high 70s.

So until then, I've tentatively set plans with one of the girls from Cannes to join up this weekend. We may go shopping in downtown Cannes Saturday afternoon, grab dinner, and then find a bar to watch France in the Rugby World Cup semi-finals!

Making some more progress...

Unlike last night's tsunami would have indicated, it was nearly 80 degrees and sunny most of the day today! I think the Côte d'Azur had the hottest temperatures in all of France, but I don't remember if it was 23 or 24 Celsius... Either way.

I missed out on a gorgeous morning because I've been going to sleep and waking up really early in the seven days that I've been here. So I decided NOT to set an alarm and to wake up on my own accounts. Actually, I sat in bed staring at the ceiling until 8:30 when I realized I just can't sleep in yet. Again, TOTALLY UN-MONIQUE!

But I've been seening posters near all the schools that say "Lisons la Bible," so I went to the website and found that there's a Christian church very near the center of town. It's been about two years since I've been to a church, so I was a little hesitant. But this morning I got ready for the day and waited for the special Sunday bus to take me downtown. However, it never made it to my direction (busses were coming back from town) so I started walking at 10:45. It only took me 20 minutes with a little stop-over to find the train station for my insurance and Social Security visits in Nice tomorrow morning.... which, by the way, I have to get up and go to at 6:30 a.m.!! It's ok though, because I'm skipping my Monday classroom observations in order to get all my administrative stuff done. ...And then maybe treat myself to a little clothes shopping à la niçois.

The church itself was really neat, it's kind of modern and like many of the American services I've been to -- just in French, of course. I figure it'll also be good for me because a.) it gives me something to do on the weekend, b.) I can practice my French some more, and c.) there was a wide variety of ages in attendance and right after I sat down, a group of 20-somethings sat near me.

Towards the end of the service, the pastor kind of tied his religious message into the Rugby World Cup. It was something to the effect of, "They won because they overcame pressure," and then he tied that into a spiritual message. I couldn't help but laugh -- even though everyone else was dead serious -- because Les Bleus are SO important here! They actually got to wear blue last night in their victory over New Zeland and will play again next Saturday. I ended up missing the match last night, so next week I HAVE to find a bar to watch the semi-finals against England!

Things started to wrap up around the one o'clock hour and when the entire service was over, people started saying their goodbyes and "bon apétits." I actually met an attractive blond man -- it's weird to say man because he's about my age, so does that make me a woman now?!? -- who talked with me for a few minutes before wishing me bon apétit as well.

All the well wishings for the meal inspired me to cook my very first multi-course lunch here in Antibes. I'll post a picture when I get a chance, but I grilled some chicken, tomatoes and olives, then placed them on a bed of lettuce and carrots, had a side of a tomato-mozzerella salad, then continued on to the "fruit and cheese" course with formage blanc and dried figs, and then capped everything off with nutella on the French equivalent of graham crackers (whole wheat, too!), orange Pims and a cup of mint tea.

After my second 30-minute exploratory run in two days, I think dinner's going to be pretty light tonight. Then I'm off to bed and early to rise to catch the morning's first train into Nice!

Bonne soirée!

Rock you like a hurricane

Five beers after we left the Pyramid Alehouse last night, Tyler and I decided to take a "sober up" lap around downtown Walnut Creek before I had to drive home, because neither of us were fit to drive the five miles back to Alamo.

On our way through the streets -- at 10:30 p.m., we got started pretty early -- and past the Century Theaters, we heard terrible music coming from this really shady looking bar in the middle of some side street. The bar was Tiki Tom's and a large banner written in Guitar Hero font announced that every Wednesday is a WIPEOUT WEDNESDAY sponsored by Red Bull.

At first, we were a bit apprehensive, but who am I kidding, slightly buzzed and decided right on the spot to check it out. I should have known it was going to be a good time when the bouncer stared at my I.D. for an entire minute, before making me smile and then held my card up to my face for another minute.

I suppose I barely got in because for some reason he wasn't buying that my I.D. was real. Once we decided this was going to be a good choice and settled on some drinks -- Tyler, your's was DEFINITELY pink... ok maybe orange :) -- one of the waitresses asked if we wanted to sign up for the Guitar Hero tournament. That meant the two of us were pitted against each other for the first of, I want to say, four brackets. He actually did really well for a.) being drunk and b.) never having played before. I think our scores came out to like 89 and 86% of the notes hit in that round. So that's a personal first, playing Guitar Hero a few drinks deep into the night!

Since I won, my name was placed into the next bracket against the very same bouncer who didn't believe I was 22 years old. He asked if I'd played before and I responded (falsely) that this was about my fourth time and he decided we were probably even in skills.

So not true. I kicked his ass in The Allmand Brothers' Jessica. I want to say he hit maybe 60% of his notes and after one practice in two months, I was back on track. (You know, the more I think about this, before Guitar Hero came around, I'm pretty sure that podium in the front of the bar used to hold screeching-drunks trying their hands at karaoke.)

After winning the next bracket, I was told I'd meet Aaron in the championship round. Praying and hoping that he wouldn't royally embarrass me, Aaron apparently hasn't played any higher than Medium. And he's pretty damn expert at the Medium level. His friends had a $100 bet going that I'd work him and supposedly when he first saw me playing, he wagered that "blondie" would make it to the final.

So I get up on the stage, shake his hand and his friends call out "Yo, dude who's that blondie chick you were talking about?" and he points to me saying, "Right here, bro." I'm really not that good, but with a few drinks flowing, I felt pretty damn good during that moment. With me on Easy and him on Medium, I'm certain that Aaron LET me beat him at Monkey Wrench. It was something ridiculous like 97 to 94%. Riding my wave of confidence, I decided to challenge the same waitress who asked if we wanted to play. The same girl who claims to play Expert level in the privacy of her own home. She absolutely cleaned up when we played Lynyrd Skynyrd's Freebird, I want to say 140,000 points to oh about 60,000. Time to go home :) And mission complete because both of us sobered right up enough to drive back to Alamo and Hayward.

Long story even longer... just kidding, short... I walked away from Tiki Tom's as the Wipeout Wednesday Red Bull Guitar Hero champ that night. Oh yeah, and we stayed until sometime around 1 a.m. The night definitely became exponentially more random and exciting!

My prize? An entire 24-pack of Red Bull. What the hell am I going to do with that?

Anyone want to come back with me next Wednesday?!

...9 JOURS!!! (I'm finally down to the single-digits!)

Did I really fly hoem from Vegas drunk at 6 a.m.??

Here's my photo montage of what happened over the past five days. Since I'm apparently still hung over (I slept when I got home from the airport at 10 a.m. until 6 p.m., woke up made dinner, watched a movie and am now sufficiently ready to pass out again), I'll write more about these experiences later.

This is just to remind myself that I really did go to Las Vegas -- and I've lived to tell about it. Oh yeah, if it seems like I live/work like a groupie on the road, that's because I do. I'm not sure how to take that, but I guess it sort of goes with the territory.

My bathroom at Caesar's Palace - note the flatscreen t.v. That came in handy during showers and nightly prep before going out.

The view from my room! Definitely nothing to complain about.

Day one on site at Caesar's... do you blame the fans for not showing up at 8 a.m.? I almost didn't.

Jake "Spiker" Gibb. In hot pink Karch Kiraly cap.

This is the site at night! Selection ceremony for the men's final on Saturday.

Fountain entrance at Caesar's in the lobby.

Ah the famous Las Vegas pools. Caesar's (obviously) by night. I spent many hours there (see: lobster red skin)

The entrance to the designer shops at the Forum! So amazing.

And then after walking through the Forum, I sort of happened upon this fire spectacle. Apparently it was the taking of Atlantis. Whatever.

This might seem odd to those who don't know, but for some reason I always stumble across blinged-out bathrooms when I'm out with the AVP. The one pictured here is in Blush at the Wynn hotel and casino. I do think I have a penchant for silver bathrooms, so much so that I might bling my own toilet room out someday.

Ceiling at Blush. Pretty, no? This is about as far back as my memory goes that night...

Viva Las Vegas!

There are so many things I could write in this post, for never having been to Vegas before, that I don't even know where to start.

I guess I'll begin with the plane. Last month on my way to Chicago, I had a brief layover in Vegas and I could see all the hotels on the strip when we landed and took off. But until you actually set foot in the city, that all means nothing.

The grandeur and sheer size of everything is incredible. I felt like a little kid just taking in all the glittery sights and everything. Fuck Reno! I'm so glad my parents never took me here when I was younger, because that could have been very bad. It definitely is an adult's playground to say the least.

While trying to find the shuttle at baggage claim was a huge ordeal, I shouldn't have ever worried because I'm traveling with a group of 6+ foot tall people. They're so easy to spot from anywhere, that if I ever get lost I'll just walk towards the height. So when we located our driver, he took us to a fleet of shuttles and we all piled into the Caesar's Palace-bound shuttle. Appropriately it was the huge Celine Dion car. And then I joked to everyone within earshot (probably more times than was funny), "I feel like we're Celine Dion roadies right now." It must have looked funny to see a van of professional volleyball players and staff piling out of a Celine Dion van at the entrance to the hotel -- which by the way is RIDICULOUS! I have tons of pictures to share from that.

The best part? My room's view of the American version of Paris and the Eiffel Tower. It's a fitting transition for someone who plans on living in France in less than a month!

My night was crazy and fun all at the same time. I'll leave you with that and no further details about it :)

Supposedly Matt Fuerbringer's sponsor is going to be picking up the tab for happy hour FREE drinks at the circle bar on site after his last match tonight. That means free drinks from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. I'm so there. Only of course after the Intern Olympics, which should be both ridiculous and hysterical at the same time!

Pictures to come later, once I load them all on my computer...