Oh, I almost forgot... So, a few weeks ago I applied for a summer internship at le Chateau de Chantilly, the home of the Musée Condé, which houses the world's second largest collection of historical paintings and manuscripts. The internship is for 7 weeks and the work includes both research and giving guided tours.

The Chateau, located about 20 minutes from Paris by train.










Not half bad, huh?
























A page from the famous "Belles Heures" de Jean de Berry, housed at the museum.
















La Galerie de Peintures











Anyways, I found out on Friday that... I GOT THE INTERNSHIP!!!!

So, it was quite a busy week.

Monday and Tuesday were spent being a hermit and starting/finishing an exposé for my French Lit. class. It was based on an excerpt from Emile Zola's book L'Oeuvre, and the first time I read it through, I was sure I was doomed to a long, boring analysis... Until I realized that it basically consisted of a sex scene between a (male) painter and the city of Paris, his jealous wife and his subsequent impregnation by Paris. No, I'm actually not kidding. This is why French literature is so very awesome.

As you probably all know, Wednesday was St. Patrick's Day, and it was (believe it or not) the first time I'd celebrated it... Guess that's what happens when you're not even remotely Irish, unless you can count Wales as a suburb? So, of course, we went to FitzPatrick's, which seemed like an excellent idea, until we realized that the rest of the city had gone there, too. It was insanely crowded both in the pub and all around the pub... I barely escaped with my life... It was fun, though :)

Thursday evening was probably the best Occitan jam yet. We learned a new song at the beginning, and then danced and played until 9:00 when we relocated to another building, picked up another 50 people (+musicians!) and continued to dance, got kicked out at 10:00 and relocated to the front entrance of the school where we danced in the parking lot for another hour. It was fantastic. Managed to make a few new friends, too, which was awesome.

Saturday afternoon, I had a language exchange with a man named Greg, who I met at the Occitan jam. He wants to become a primary school teacher and needs to pass an English test, and thus wanted a bit of practice. We talked about music and all sorts of other things (new favorite topic: explaining the English measurement system to the French ("So, for you, freezing is 0 and boiling is 100. For us, well... freezing is 32 and boiling is 212. Not very logical. Also, we have 12 inches in a foot and... Well, I don't know how many feet in a mile...") It was kinda hilarious). Then, we left the café and went to one of the public gardens where he taught me a song in Italian, which I believe was arranged and is performed by this group which does some Amazing polyphonic singing: http://www.myspace.com/locordelaplana He also invited me to sing with a small group he just started, and offered to teach me the basics of the... Bagpipe. My joy knows no bounds, and the residents of Montpellier will never forgive me :)

This weekend marked both the beginning and end of my pool-playing career. Sealia is helping me hold the queue... Or trying to molest me. Or both?















Aren't we cute? This was taken while at lunch with Sealia's awesome friends Morgane and Hugo who were visiting for the weekend, who I got to hang out with a lot. (Photos grace à Morgane)










And now, another week has begun... Luckily, nothing due this week, but next week I have a paper and another presentation due on the same day. Yuck. Also, it's officially time to start planning my 2-week long April vacation! Where to go, where to go? Hmmm.... (Suggestions and/or donations welcome!)

So, it has been a really busy two weeks. Last weekend was really (wonderfully) intense, with lots of music, lots of people, lots of friends and interesting people. Last week was also intense, but in a less-enjoyable way, as I had a 15-minute presentation for my art history class on Wednesday, which went alright but wasn't easy, and then a trip to Nimes for another class which turned out to be a bit of a hassle. This weekend certainly had its high points, but I've had a bit of a cold (and no voice), so that got in the way a lot, which was no fun.

At the end of my last post, I expressed hope that the beginning of March meant the beginning of spring. Naturally, a week later, the weather decided to prove us very wrong:
SNOW! Luckily it's a little springier now.

















We decided that to celebrate the beautiful day yesterday, we should have a picnic! At the same time, though, there was an Occitan heritage parade gathering in the park! (It's a little hard to see, but there was a really big crowd, most of them in yellow and red, the colors of the Occitan flag)







Kinda like Halloween for little Occitan kiddies. SO CUTE.












So, for the picnic, there was: Baguette and Gruyere...












... And red wine...













... And we sat at the base of a statue of Louis XIV. It really doesn't get more French than this. For the first time, this afternoon, I felt like a Montpellieraine :)
















Origami dragon! ...'Cause I'm just that cool.













So, for this week, I have an explication de texte due for my literature class on Wednesday, but that's really all I have to worry about, so it's all good. Other than that, should be a good week, and WARM too!