Thursday, May 29, 2008

France: The Overview

Since it is going to take me an amazingly long time to transfer my journal scribblings into coherent blog postings, I figured I would write some highlights of my recent trip to France.

It was a trip of "firsts" for me:
*First time to eat a poached egg (which was delicious)
*First time to take a shot of alcohol (that was extremely potent) at breakfast
*First time to go to a concert in a foreign country (Explosions in the Sky were amazing)
*First time to attend a wedding in a foreign country
*First time to eat Moroccan food

My first journal entry included the following:
* I love cheese and bread! :-)
* I also love sleep....

Favorite things about the trip:
*Mont Saint Michel is an awesome place to visit...it's a town built on a mountain, so the town spirals around the mountain...and at the top there's a monastery.
*The wedding...the 15 hour extravaganza with unlike anything that I have ever been to (or will probably ever witness again)!
*The Explosions in the Sky concert at Elysee Montmartre...seriously one of the best shows I've ever seen.period.
*The older people who paint replicas of the paintings in the Louvre.
*Honfleur...it's a little boating town that is truly picture perfect.

I was the crazy American girl who:
*spoke in Spanish most of the time
*had the gut response of "grazie" (instead of merci) every time I said "thank you" (I honestly don't know where the Italian reply came from...Spanish would have at least been understandable)
*kept referring to the money as pounds instead of Euros
*somehow picked up the nickname "Butch"
*unconsciously mimicked a French accent when I spoke plain English (and trust me it came out poorly)

It's amazing that I didn't offend someone.


Wednesday, May 28, 2008

All about the music...

Thought I would share the 4 playlists that I created as a soundtrack for my recent trip to France:

Bon Voyage
1. Gone Gone Gone – Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
2. Dancin on My Grave – Ghostland Observatory
3. Head Trauma - The Dead Trees
4. Butterfly – Jason Mraz
5. Take My Love with You – Eli Paper Reed
6. In Love With a Girl – Gavin DeGraw
7. Yen on a Carousel – David Holmes
8. Our Swords – Band of Horses
9. Home – Marc Broussard
10. Winter Windows – Sea Wolf
11. Strange Times – The Black Keys
12. You Are Loved – Josh Groban
13. Sultan – What Made Wilwaukee Famous
14. If I Had Eyes – Jack Johnson
15. Foxes Mate for Life – Born Ruffians
16. One You Need – Ernie Halter
17. Drive My Car – The Beatles
18. Sea of Love – Cat Power
19. On Call – Kings of Leon
20. Come Back to Bed – John Mayer
21. Misunderstood – Better Than Ezra
22. Forgiveness – Patty Griffin
23. Atom – British Sea Power
24. All I Can Say – University Baptist Church
25. Pumpkin Soup – Kate Nash
26. Welcome, Ghosts – Explosions in the Sky
27. Let’s Stay Together – Al Green
28. Typical – MuteMath
29. Burning in the Sun – Blue Merle
30. See the World - Gomez



C’est Bon
1. Map of the Problematique – Muse
2. Lake Michagan – Rogue Wave
3. Beautiful Mistake – Rob Blackledge
4. Good Life – Andy Davis
5. Came to My Rescue – Hillsong
6. Reprise – Hillsong
7. King of New Orleans – Better Than Ezra
8. She Holds a Key – Gavin DeGraw
9. That’s That – Cass McCombs
10. Shine (Acoustic Version) – Anna Nalick
11. She Likes It – Dertybird
12. If You Want Me – The Swell Season
13. Many the Miles – Sara Bareilles
14. Do you Feel Me – Anthony Hamilton
15. Rock & Roll – Eric Hutchinson
16. Fiery Crash – Andrew Bird
17. We Are Not the Same – Good Shoes
18. Bitter Song – Buttefrly Boucher
19. Saint John – Cold War Kids
20. Moses – Patty Griffin
21. Deception – Blackalicious
22. Butterflies and Hurricanes - Muse
23. Hold you in My Arms – Ray LaMontagne
24. Alala - CCS
25. The General Specific – Band of Horses
26. The Tracks of My Tears – Smokey Robinson
27. Paper Float – Cassettes Won’t Listen
28. Meet With Me – Ten Shekel Shirt
29. Open Your Eyes – Snow Patrol
30. New Soul – Yael Naim


Pièce de Résistance
1. Killing the Blues – Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
2. You’re a Wolf – Sea Wolf
3. Everything – Lifehouse
4. Television – The Dead Trees
5. As – Stevie Wonder
6. Love in an Elevator - Aerosmith
7. Chocolate – Snow Patrol
8. Star of Wonder – Alpha Rev
9. I Turn My Camera On – Spoon
10. Laughing - Winterpills
11. Sovereign Hands - Hillsong
12. Act Together – Band of Horses
13. Little Wing – Stevie Ray Vaughan
14. Don’t Let Me Down – The Beatles
15. Arms of a Woman – Amos Lee
16. Shattered – The Rolling Stones
17. Your Hand in Mine – Explosions in the Sky
18. High – James Blunt
19. Mississippi Queen – Mountain
20. An Innoncent Man - Billy Joel
21. Vegas – Sara Bareilles
22. Mercy Me – What Made Milwaukee Famous
23. Suspicious Minds – Elvis Presley
24. Stars – David Crowder Band
25. Industry – Jon McLaughlin
26. Nothing From Nothing – Billy Preston
27. These Streets – Paolo Nutini
28. That’s All - Genesis
29. Useless Desires – Patty Griffin
30. Why Do I Keep Counting? – The Killers


Encore
1. New Born – Muse
2. Gavin’s Song – Marc Broussard
3. I Got Mine – The Black Keys
4. If It Kills Me – Jason Mraz
5. Stake Your Claim – Eli Paperboy Reed
6. Something – The Beatles
7. I Have You to Thank – Gavin DeGraw
8. The Great Salt Lake – Band of Horses
9. Frank Sinatra - Cake
10. Let Your Loss Be Your Lesson – Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
11. Bleeding Love – Leona Lewis
12. Mercy – Better Than Ezra
13. Black Dirt – Sea Wolf
14. Split Screen Sadness – John Mayer
15. Blood, Sweat & Fears – What Made Milwaukee Famous
16. Listen – Amos Lee
17. Lull – Andrew Bird
18. I Believe – Stevie Wonder
19. Me Too – The Dead Trees
20. The Longest Time – Billy Joel
21. Good Day – Jukebox the Ghost
22. Weeping – Josh Groban
23. No One’s Gonna Love You – Band of Horses
24. What You Though You Needed – Jack Johnson
25. Love You Madly – Cake
26. When the Lights Go Down – Ernie Halter
27. The Way I Feel – Matt Wertz
28. Believe – The Bravery
29. Where We Gonna Go From Here – Mat Kearney
30. Time is Running Out - Muse