Adventure 3: Going Out of Order and Oeuf à la Coque

My dear readers,

I know I haven't updated the blog with new information beyond my first weekend here. Is it because I have been living in a private underground bunker doing illegal science experiments on animals?

Maybe...not. The explanation is that I hate documenting things out of order. So while I have, in fact, done a lot of fun stuff since the end of January, I haven't been motivated to write about it because I hadn't finished writing about the last fun things. And if I would have just jumped in whenever, this blog would not be in chronological order. Which I kind of hate.

Due my being brought up in the straight lines of the U.S. suburban culture and my accountant of a father, I kind of hate it when things go out of order, maybe more than the average gal. It stresses me out and leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth. So that is why I haven't kept this thing up to date. This is something I knew about myself before coming to France, but the feeling has been multiplied by 20 since coming here. This is because in France, pretty much everything feels a little "out-of-order" for someone who hasn't lived in Europe.

Alas, I have been give some not-so-subtle instructions to "just write" from family members, friends, and family members of friends, so I am attempting to give it the 'ol college try, i.e. "when in Rome" or just insert your cliché of choice.

You will find below what I ate for breakfast today. It is called an "œuf à la coque" and it is basically a soft-boiled egg. This means the white part of the egg is cooked, but the yellow is still soupy. This was my first "œuf à la coque" but not my first undercooked French food item. It is funny, because Marie, who made me the oeuf, referred to U.S. food as "overcooked" when describing that it was cooked all the way through. And I just turned around and called French food "undercooked" for not being cooked all the way through. Really the over and under stuff has to stop. These words have negative connotations. Less negativity, more celebrating differences. Go!

So cheers to you all, enjoy your Sunday, enjoy your eggs.

Lovely thoughts,

Monica

Visiting Old Things, Part Deux

Bonjour!

So, I know the blog is a little backlogged, and for that, I apologize. It's just that I've been doing so many new and interesting things, I haven't had time to write about them all. So let's play some catch up...

The first weekend I was here started with visiting some sites nearby. I left off describing my time in  Monfort l'Amaury and I forgot to post a few cool pics. Below is the ruins of a castle built in the 11th century. Marie took this picture, but what you can't see is that Nico and I were discussing which way direction Paris was, which is why I am pointing. I ended up being almost right, which I was pretty proud of.

After taking the pics, Marie took a rest on the castle.

The church below is Eglise Saint-Pierre, dedicated to Saint-Pierre and Saint-Paul.

 It was originally built in 1050, but has had different additions and reconstructions done since. The full history can be found on their website.

The picture above doesn't look like much, but I had to take it, because the view reminded me of the little town square that Belle lived in, in Beauty and The Beast. I found the animated picture on an interesting blog, and apparently when this girl was visiting France, she thought of Beauty and the Beast too! What's more, she did a nice job of literally putting herself in the scenes.  

The next image was taken on the grounds of the abbey/museum of Port-Royal des Champs. The structure is actually a pigeon house.

Those are the little holes the pigeon would come in and out of. They remind me of cute little pigeon bunks. Like a pigeon-motel or something.

 I liked the ceiling in it too, can you tell?

The abbey at Port-Royal des Champs is another ruins since the abbey itself was burned to the ground in the early 1700's due to it's association with Jansenism, a Christian theological movement in the Roman Catholic Church, which ended up being regarded as heresy at the time. Something is always considered heresy somewhere, no?

More beyond the first weekend to follow...seriously! =)