0 Stuck inside

Today I'm dreaming of places like Toulouse while I unpack and organize everything I've used in the past year. Daunting? Only slightly.
But at least I have this happy playlist and bottomless cups of coffee to keep me going.



1 "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" - Vampire Weekend
2. "(No No) Kids" - Lilly Wood and The Prick
3. "100 Yard Dash" - Raphael Saadiq
4. "Love of an Orchestra" - Noah and the Whale
5. "Sloop John B" - Beach Boys
6. "America (Simon and Garfunkel Cover)" - Lucy Wainwright Roche
7. "Little Lion Man" - Mumford and Sons
8. "Oh, Boy!" - Buddy Holly
9. "Mr. Tambourine Man (with Pete Seeger)" - Joni Mitchell

1 Photo-rama

I don't know what took me so long, but I finally set up a Flickr account. The button on the right that says "Photos," which used to be connected to my Picasa account, will now be connected to Flickr. I have been editing and organizing my photos from the year in France, and so far I have (new, improved!) images up from October through Christmas - albums like:


Beynac-et-Cazenac


Autumn in the Dordogne


Bordeaux in the rain


Noël
Keep checking back for more Flickr updates, and expect some exciting changes to Prettier World within the next couple of weeks!

1 What I'm Missing

After sixteen hours of travel, I couldn't have been happier to see my parents and my dog waiting for me at the airport gate. On the drive home, I was like a kid coming home from camp: catching them up on my travels and my friends, and the ways I'm already scheming to come back. Then we ordered pizza and I fell into a deep sleep at approximately 9:30 pm.

But here's what I'm missing most this morning:

Pretty bars in Bordeaux

Open mic nights in Bergerac

Churches that make me cry

Faces like this one

And this one

1 Sunset at the Miroir

After a memorable dinner at L’Entrecôte, my close girlfriends and I watched the sunset at the Miroir d'Eau, a reflecting pool between the quai and Place de la Bourse. There were purple and pink clouds in the sky, and sailboats on the river, and we laughed and reminisced and shared a bottle of wine that I’d bought in St. Émilion to save for a special occasion. I couldn’t have asked for a better last night.

0 Entrecôte

Elise and I ate at L'Entrecôte last night, a famous steak restaurant that originated in Paris and now exists at numerous locations throughout France. At the one in Bordeaux, a line forms around the block before every lunch and dinner, so I had to see for myself what the fuss was about. The waitresses look like they're coming straight out of the 1950s in yellow polo shirts and low-heeled Mary Janes, and when they come to the table all they ask is how you'd like your meat cooked (the menu consists solely of red wine, steak, fries and ice cream sundaes). The best part of dinner is the secret sauce, which is tangy and buttery and best poured over everything. I didn't even miss my beloved ketchup.

I was too distracted by deliciousness to take a picture at the beginning of the meal. (Don't be fooled: everything you see here eventually disappeared.)

We sat next to a window on the second floor, with the sun going on behind us on picturesque Place Tourney.

0 Antiquing and daydreaming

Yesterday, my last full day in Bordeaux, Elise and I scoured the outdoor antique market at Quinconces. We had so much fun oogling the gorgeous furniture, chandeliers, and flatware, rifling through vintage jewelry, and daydreaming about how our own apartments would filled with things like those one day. I went home with a five-euro men's watch, a dainty cameo necklace, and two Les Modes Parisiennes prints from the 19th century.

0 Pub golf

An epic final Saturday night in Bordeaux: 23 English and American expats dressed in golf attire, participating in organized challenges (catwalks, clothing swaps) and making mass pilgrimages between nine bars ("holes") throughout the city. It's nights like those that make me never want to grow up.