This is big! Breaking news!

I ate at Subway.
On Thursday, I went to Le Havre. It's a major port city, and it's where the English Channel is. Impressionism was born there, too. AND my fifth-great grandma and her family joined the Church there in 1851. So I was excited to go.
Well, it ended up storming hard core. My friend and I had to hide out in a Subway for abut 40 minutes. Which meant I had to buy something. Namely a sub! It was meatball marina, but the bread was covered in herbs and toasted, so it was very edible.
I feel like I'm on my way to being a real grown-up now...maybe.
P.S. I hate bread, and that is why this is a big deal. I do eat bread in France, though, because it's not the nasty, Wonderbread-ish type of poison.

The storm was the last straw for my cheapo umbrella. I put it in a cereal box and gave it a proper burial in a trash receptacle.

The sky miraculously cleared up the moment we started heading back to the train station.

Yesterday, I

hung out in the Latin Quarter, went to a mass at Notre Dame, bought a scarf from a man who called me Princess, and saw the Christmas lights and decorations in Paris!

Blogging is too much work.

So I'll just have to tell you about my adventures in person!

A cool picture I took at the Colosseum

Pétanque Players

They mean business.

And...
I'm going to Rome tomorrow!

I went to the Jardin du Luxembourg today. This week's assignment for photography class is "the decisive moment." I wanted to get some pictures of the chess players. Really what happened is that I took about three pictures before I got roped into playing myself! How did that happen, you may ask? Two guys, about 30, were playing, and one of them started talking to me (in French):
Guy: Oh, do you like chess? You can play the next game.
Me: Uh, no, thanks.
Guy: Blabla So, are you German?
Me: Uh, no.
Then a different guy came up to me. He was old and crazy and French.
OCF: Come play!
Me: That's okay. I don't know how.
OCF: I'll teach you.
Me: I don't know much French.
OCF: That's okay. Come play.
Me: Uh, okay.
So that's how I ended up learning how to play chess in Paris! We played three games in an hour and a half. I was totally starting from square one. He told me what each piece was and where each goes. He set up the board bit by bit then cleared the pieces and had me set them up. He told me how much each piece is worth and which moves start each game. At the end of every game we played, he said, "Okay, that was good. Now let's try again." He also told me that I learn fast and make quick progress. Flattering, eh?
At the end of our three games, he asked me what I study at college. I said music. He started off about how chess is so great for musicians and music is so great for chess players. So now I have a new hobby!
As I was leaving, Guy (see first conversation) asked me how the game went, etc., blablabla. Then he asked for my phone number. So we could play chess together. I said, "Uh, no..." then left.
And that's just a part of my fabulous day! Throw in a chocolate meringue, a ham and cheese crepe, a tour of the Opera Garnier (which I loved!), and 500 Days of Summer at a movie theater. Good times, great oldies!

Some pictures of Ireland