Alrighty, apparently in European hotels, the internet is a luxury. As such, I did not update at all from Italy or Paris and I would not be updating from Lyon if the mall didnt have free wireless. It's kind of getting irksome really.
Anyways, as I imagine that you can deduce, I am in Lyon. Well, for the next 2 hours (then I leave for one night in Dijon). I would like to start this post by mentioning how annoying it is to have my laptop bag, my purse and my wheeling suitcase with me in the mall (or anywhere really). Especially today, where, if I weren't encumbered by all of this crap, I'd be doing some serious shopping as it is the first day of the soldes. In France, one doesn't really find sales racks. Instead, several times (2?) a year, during the same three or four days, all of the stores have "soldes" or sales where everything is on sale more or less. Today would be day one of this cycle. How I wish I didn't have stuff to lug around (though it is for the best with my wallet).
Vacation was good. I would have prefered to have seen more of the museums etc, but we didn't make reservations/I didn't feel like going alone, so that didn't happen too much. I really only got to see the museums in Venice, but it's okay. I'll go back to Florence someday and I'll be in Paris all next week.
I think being together with your family for 10 straight days is a little intense. After the "oh I missed you guys so much I haven't seen you in forever!" wore off, we all began to get on each other's nerves. Still, it was an enjoyable time and I did manage to learn a few words of italian: Grazie! Prego! Ciao! No parlo italiano (Parla francese? anglese?), buena suerte (sp?), bongiorno etc. I'm now trilingual, obviously.
I think Venice was my favorite city. There really is no other place like it. Our hotel was right on the Grande Canal next to the Rialto bridge and from its "Panoramic Terrace" I could see all the gondolas/boats/etc. Very cool.
Florence was hot, which is scary because its high was 32 and it's currently 34 (according to Rémy) in Avignon. SOOOO, I might die. Just saying. In Florence, I also almost picked up a new Italian boyfriend (i.e. the cute guy at the slushie place who was a big fan of me), but unfortunately, we had to leave. Oh well (just kidding). I have decided though that, if possible, Italian men are even more vocal than the French ones, but they are, for some reason, less sketchy at the same time.
As for my research, I finished with my first library (4 manuscripts) this afternoon. After two days, I can tell you that after two weeks, I may or may not hate manuscripts. Well, not hate them, but they'll be like Venetian masks to me for awhile (after 3 days in Venice, you will swear if you never see a mask again in your life, it'll be okay... they're everywhere). I don't anticipate having any problems with the libraries until I get to Paris (possibly) because one library told me my manuscripts might be out on loan to Johns Hopkins, another told me that you can only see the originals under exceptional circumstances, and the third didn't tell me anything at all. I guess we'll see. If not, at least I'll see the Musée d'Orsay, be able to meet Em's friend Marion, and see Ami and Steph.
Not going to lie, I'd like nothing more than to just go back to Miramas, do laundry, and sleep. This whole being completely alone thing gets old quick. Though, last night I did go to the movies. That was fun. First time I've really watched (Cloverfield didn't count, I wasn't really paying attention) a movie dubbed in French. Thankfully it wasn't too odd and I understood most of it. :-)
Okay, well, I should go. Verne has 14 minutes left of batter and I have about an hour and half until my train to Dijon, so I'm going to go find some food.
Photos later (when I have more battery and internet at the same time)
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