Hollllaaaaa from Amsterdam

more like gangstadam right
k yea whatever

anyways, so we said bye to France today and rode the train into Amsterdam central. I'll give the France rundown now:
Day one of France- We walk around the Champs Elysee, check out some cool stores, check out the Arc de Triomphe. Then, we get picked up by Marie (Dal's old nanny) and brought to her house to have dinner with her, Pascale (her husband), and their 4 year old daughter Clara. Delicious food, good company, my French got way way better. Then, unable to find a hotel with any availability, we ended up in this little shack of a place. Didn't really matter, I crashed hard, and then we moved to our nice hotel, located at Place de la Bastille, the next morning.
The next day we did some more shopping, walking all the way up and down Rivoli street. Then, we went back to Marie's place for another incredible dinner. (Note: day 1 was quiche, amazing. day 2 was lamb with scalloped potatoes. Guess what Mom, I ate them. They were good. No promises when I get home). Then, that night, Pascale took us in his car on a driving tour of the entire city. We saw the Moulin Rouge, the Champs Elysee, the Notre Dame, the Magdeleine (sp?), the Seine, the Eiffel Tower, and ended up in Montmarte at the Sacre Couer with a view of the entire city. Really awesome. Also, Pascale is Parisian so to have a guided tour like that with someone who's lived in the city his entire life is really incredible.
We got back at about 1:00 and crashed hard again. We had planned on the Louvre the next morning, but waking up at 11 we decided to postpone it. Instead, we walked across to the Notre Dame where we enjoyed its grandeur, before continuing on to the Latin Quarter where we grabbed some lunch next to the Jardin de Luxembourg. We then headed back to the room for a bit, before hitting Rivoli once again.
Our last full day, we got up at 815 with breakfast in bed, and hit the Louvre from about 9-12. We saw pretty much as much as you can see. My favorites were Hammurabi's Code, Liberty Leads the People, and the two-part David Slays Goliath. The huge last-supperesque Marriage at Cana is cool too, as is the Mona Lisa, of course. After the Louvre, we checked out the Tuileries, then walked down Rivoli again. Then, we took the metro up to Montmarte, walked around there for a while, got dinner, then enjoyed the view from Sacre Couer (which was much clearer this time). Finally we rolled home and got some sleep.

Some words on France:
1) I probably ate 8 bowls of french onion soup in 4 days. So good.
2) the bread in France is second to none.
3) If you try to speak French, they may give you a hard time occasionally, but its all good.
4) Didn't see any real anti-semitism, although Pascale did note that historically they have put the Jews, Gays, and other "unwanted peoples" in this random back corner of the city.
5) Metros everywhere are not hard to use.
6) mom, i was amazed at how many of the dishes we used to eat at home are actually french!
7) most of all, the city of Paris is grand. The buildings are grand, the food is rich, the language is classy.

In fact, France was so fashionable, I found myself wanting to be more and more f ashionable. those who know me know that I am perfectly at home in my PJ pants at a nice restaurant or that I rarely dress up for any reason. Get this-- I bought a scarf. I know, right?

Anyways, I'll let you know how Amsterdam goes. After that, we have Switzerland and Italy and then we are gone! Less than two weeks, who knew.

Love you all
A

PS poker's going well.