francophile

the last day in cote d'ivoire i realized that if i was ever going to get married it would probably have to be to a french man. there is a mutual attraction between me and the frogs that just doesn't exist with other men. i have no photos of this particular french man, which is a bummer.

corina eating agutae (sp?)
it is an oversized rat that they eat as a delicacy in cote d'ivoire
she said it was really good and quite tender.


typical roadside scene

i don't think i will ever really understand the utility of selling cds, chewing gum, jeans, windshield wipers, and razors at busy intersections. i am sure i am missing out on some serious convenience, but if i need jeans i am sure i will want to shop around...


monica asked annie to help us shop
the prices started out a full 8x's more than the actual sale price.
this market is the best in all of africa

mangosteen and friends at the market
i love tropical fruit

they sell tons of ivory in the ivory coast (ironic?)
it is a beautiful material, but it is definitely not worth the life of an elephant.



i left cote d'ivoire and had 2 days and a night in paris with alena

ahhh paris. why did it have to rain all weekend?

we stayed at les etangs de corot
it was delightful. the link to the website does it some justice.
if you need to relax and unwind this place is perfect

the courtyard

nerdy of me, but check out that courtyard



despite the rain we went to the rodin museum


this was my favorite sculpture



the gardens with the sculpture make this one of the most
beautiful museums i have ever visited

nerdy


alena was away from ian (who is 8 months old) so she eventually had to pump.
i made a huge mistake. i confused la defense with la republic and instead of going to the cool, trendy shopping area of paris we ended up in this sterile financial district. it really messed up our mission to shop.


this woman was quite interested in what she was doing
we had a hard time communicating
(she spoke arabic and french)
but is was a cool exchange between women.
she had 4 children with her and it was apparent that the idea of leaving an infant home with his father was unthinkable to her. i don't like burkahs they seem oppressive to me and i felt like this woman was really missing something that we had. and then i wondered if she felt the same way about us...

i left beautiful paris for the wretched charles de gaulle airport
with the new security measures in place the lines were ridiculously long. i was yelled at by a french security guy because i asked him where i was supposed to go. i realized that the guys running this shoe were morons and power hungry. so i just cut in line and was through security in about 45 minutes which was a welcome relief. i have no doubt that i could have been in line for over 3 hours.

okay girls, your turn to post photos.