St. Paul de Vence

Southern France, you just can't go wrong hanging around these parts.

My girls. From left, Jesse, Isabelle, Kara, and Moi.

The streets are so wonderful! The buildings are so old and have so much character. They are litterally hundreds of years old. Whats so cool about the interior of the city is that inside all of these wise and acient building are modern stores: mostly cafes and art galleries. There was this one little shop that only sold local products made from olive oil. I got a multi purpose, deliciously fragrant, liquid soap. It functions as shampoo and body wash. So cool.

We happened by this small installation in one of the vualted walkways of the city. From what we could gather it was a remenant of the city's hand-made Christmas decorations. I would love to see how everything looks when its still the season. I really loved the way they embellished the space and the materials they used. I also really loved that they incorporated the natural light. The piece was made from strips of papaer and other small wire constructions. Really beautiful.

L' Orange

Yelle

This is what happens in France

Monaco

Manaco is the Dinsey Land of Southern France. It's like a dream. It's for sure a place that you should visit just once. The views are incredible! When looking across the water, it's actually hard to tell where the sea and sky begin. I can't wait to come back in the summer.

We visited the coolest museum and auqarium. The auqarium was deffinately the most fun. I was able to snap this shot before my camera died. They had so many different types of fish and plant life it was overwhelming. There was this moray eel that had been caught in 1969 and transferred to the aquarium. The thing is still living, just hanging out. How strange is that?

Having a drink in the College's cafe after our long day of travel. These kids are great. We've been having so much fun.

When in Rome

Oui! We've gone a little crazy! Have you met Francois? He's French. Can you tell?

Cannes, The Easy Life

Showing off my new necklace.

This is Liz, my dear roommate. She's studying to be nurse in San Francisco, but currently she spends her time keeping me entertained here in Cannes. I'd like to lie and tell you her face looks like this all the time, but she's actually very pretty and incredibly nice. This face was made in reaction to one of the many servings of squash we've had here at the school cafe. However, dessert is usually pretty good. As you can see, together Liz and I had 6 servings.

A view of the dorms from the courtyard below.

The markets here are so beautiful.

Our College.

The port of Cannes.

Have you ever seen shoes this crazy before? We went into this one particular store that had the most over the top foot wear! And these things weren't cheap either. I got a few good photos before the shop keeper made it known she was not fond of my photographing her merchandise.

The First Pictures of Cannes

The city of Cannes has been everything I wanted it to be. Everything is antique and layered. The streets wind in all directions with the most perfect curve, the buildings tower to the perfect height, and the scent of the ocean is always in the air. We have taken up residence at a very small college right on the water. The college is dedicated to learning French. That being said, I'm having a rough time in class. They do not seem to realize how little I know. But I have been trying my best and luckily 3 of my 4 dearest friends here a basically fluent. They have been teaching me on our daily excursions through the city. We live in the dorms, an experience I had not had until now. I must say, I enjoy it very much. Most everyone is nice, with the few predicted exceptions. We eat 3 meals a day in the school cafe. This has been really interesting. The vegetarians are segregated to one table of 6 people, including myself. The little french ladies do not particularly know what to feed us. Lunch today was plain spaghetti with boiled squash. My roomate,Liz(also a vegetarian) and I have taken to smuggling food into the dorms from outside sources. But we are living comfortably enough. This sounds a little silly, but the city has enough beauty to keep me well nourished. Bye for now!

More of London

I forgot about these photos. Enjoy.

LONDON

Ohhhh! London is fantastic! The city is just super hip, and the people are very friendly. My one complaint would be their cuisine, or lack there of, and the strength of the pound to the dollar. I have never eaten food that was so consistently bad. I mean really bad. I took the picture above from the window of our hotel, not bad huh? We were right on the river with a nice view of Tower Bridge.

This was taken outside the british museum, just as the sun was piercing the rain clouds.

The streets just look very cool. I visited alot of places that I was unable to get good pictures of, so you will have to rely on my candid descriptions. We went on a fantastic tour of the city, and saw everything there is to see. Out tour guide was an enjoyable, bad toothed, english woman who said phrases like: "just follow yourself this way!" She was very knowlegible and seemed to not mind our ignorance. There are two places I visited that stick out in my mind. One is the over the top, decadent, joyous department store called Harod's. The place is just wild. It has seven floors and sells almost anything you could ever need. Groceries, chocolate, perfume, a Prada purse, Chanel eye shadow, sequined gowns, luggage, cupcakes, wedding dresses, and even some sort of designer hybrid cat that appeared to be a very, very small lepard. They have it all. So much stuff, so much you don't need, but so much you want. Every room is divided into sections, each decorated in a totally different theme. With murals on the ceiling and gold panels and reflective surfaces everywhere. It is truly a sight to see. The coolest part about the store is that even among all the decorations and opulence, the smallest box of chocolates is able to draw your eye and be celebrated. The other place that I will never forget was the Tate Modern. They had a retrospective of the famous sculptress Louise Bourgeois. I must have been in the gallery for 2 hours. She is such an inspiration. I think that will be it for now. I hope this finds everyone well.

What I've Been Working On

Marzipan George Michael figure for the annual Murrin ginger bread house. Folks, he's edible.

Installation at UH Fine Art building.

New Years!

Downtown, Laredo TX

Greetings from behind the curtain.