Welcome !

I realized I didn't show you my flat yet, and consequently grabbed my camera to capture few angles. I have a very large room made into a living room, dining room, kitchen and office at the same time. The dimension forbids to take all in one shot, so I decided to show you the living room corner. Cosy, isn't it ? With my two favourite colours, apple green and orange.

Right next to it, on the right side, is my larger bookshelf, and there is another smaller one in my bedroom, the one you saw before. Here you can have a sneak peak of my actual bedroom. Have you noticed the pink tapestry ? Way too much girly for me, It nearly hurts my eyes when it's the first colour I can see every morning. I already bought another one, but don't seem to find time and energy enough to push everything out and set myself to work.

I just have a third room : the bathroom of course. Quite narrow and long, so too hard to capture really, but I have a real bathtub for the first time since years ! I was so eager to sink into it, I bought all kind of bubbly stuff to relax myself. I like to take a bath at night, with candles and music and rubber ducks. So that's the picture of my very own rubber duckies.

O, and I wanted to tell you I framed one of your pictures in the cat frame you gave me... Life really is more beautiful when you have friends around the world.

Air and Fire

Hello my dear friend. I took some nice pictures today I wanted to share with you. But first I have to post the one with the socks you sent me, for posterity. These are sure to be my favourite. It has something typicaly Korean if I may say, that will undoubtly remind me of you everytime I'll wear them. Have you tasted the "bergamottes" yet ? I must confess I never tasted something as sugary as the cute chocolate lollipops you got me.

Yesterday, Severine, my oldest friend (we met when we were in secondary school at the age of 14, but have never been in the same class though) spent the day with me. She stayed until midnight, we talked many things over and she left me quite tired.

Today was a bank holiday in France, the Pentecost : we celebrate the Holy Spirit's visitation to the Apostles. So I had a good day relaxing with my family. I went for a walk with my parents to "Mars la Tour" a nearby village with a small lake, and made plans for the future (we're quite good at it). I came back with a picture of the oak which waved over our heads. That accounts for all the fresh air I managed to take in on a hot day.

I had fun inviting my father for the supper, I cooked him some chicken and we had a good laugh. I have to tell you my family is trying to follow its ideal into becoming vegetarians. I like meat too much for the time being, even if I understand their motives. My dad sometimes has a crisis and ask for meat as well, so I gave him refuge.

Once the night settled, we gathered in the field at the end of the garden, and had another of our roaring fires. This time, I have some prooves ! I like the feeling of being alone under the stars, turning the wood over and keeping it blazing, so I stayed an extra hour after parting with the others. My cheeks are red and my hair still smells fire.
Alone in the stary night, upstraight, with a fork in hand, I sang to the moon, and thanked God I can be so happy.

Songs

As that's so difficult to send songs by mail, I decided to show you some video clips on my blog.
So first, here is the promised Aaron's song : U-Turn.

As to show you how varied my tastes are in musical matters, I will now show you two very different songs, of my favourites.
I think I told you I'm fond of Jazz (even more than Pop rock), and I admire Nina Simone a lot. Here is a funny video clip for My baby just cares for me.

And finaly, I'm also crazy about classical music and opera. Have a look at this interpretation of Verdi's Traviata !

A week in Banneux

As I told you, I spent a week in Belgium, in a house of prayer (you can see it left). The retreat was on Elisabeth of the Trinity. We studied movingly beautiful texts. The week was fantasticaly peaceful and relaxing. A breath of fresh air ! Exactly what I needed before turning 25 and starting a new life of my own in my small flat.

As a matter of fact, Banneux-notre-Dame is a place of Pilgrimage, where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared 7 times. She instructed people to build a small chapel there and a spring gushed forth where she spoke. If you plunge your hands down the spring and leave your worries and suffering in the water at Mary's feet, miracles can happen.
I found the whole place fascinating.
There is such a place in France as well : Lourdes is also knewn as a place of pilgrimage in Europe. But it's far in the South of France, so Banneux was closer for me.

You can see here the small community we formed for a week. Sadly, I was the only young one. I didn't mind and felt perfectly at ease. But here -I don't know about religion in your country- the Church is getting old and people attending to mass are generaly retired or so. This is a deep concern for Christians in France, the whole institution is threatened : what will happen in one or two generations, will there still be masses celebrated in every church ? I sometimes have doubts.

Not to end on a sad note, I may add I found a wonderful priest, Father Thibault. He was so nice and dedicated to everybody, I shall try to attend to his next retreat, next year.

Cork

Time can fly so quickly. My journey to Cork was great, as alsways, but it seems a million miles away now. I had a nice stay at a wonderful B&B, the "Auburn House". It was really close to the city center, even if you had to climb quite a steep street to reach it. There you go for the pictures...


Let's begin with St Patrick Street at night. The picture is kind of blurry but it was so windy that evening! At least it only rained once during our stay. It allowed us (me and my mom) to do a lot of walking and shopping.


And here is my mom next to the "Onion seller" statue in a small park at the core of Cork city center.
The park was tiny but we stayed there a long time feeding the crows and just chatting.

I like everything about Ireland, even the breakfast, but after few days of take away food I must admit it was a relief to find a Thai restaurant where to eat vegetable curry. You guessed, my mom once more serves as my model while having a cup of tea.

Street scene, same point than the night one, but from further up. I like the space and colour. It somehow seems greyer on screen than in real life though. Notice the typical fence you couldn't find in France. Looking back now I miss it all already. I really must go back next year, perhaps with one of my brothers this time.

I annoyed my mother with my camera so many times it's only fair that she had to catch me as well. Here I am, in our hostel's room. People say here that if you want to return to a place you liked, it's good to have a picture of you in it to project yourself.

The next place I have to talk about is a must-see : the Blarney Castle. There are so many legends and superstitions around the place you cannot miss the fun. The weather was nice again, the garden was gorgeous and springy arleady.

The main attraction the Blarney stone you have to kiss upside down at the top of the castle to receive the gift of eloquence.

I was impressed by the freedom you have once in the Castle - not a guide to lead you, you can go wherever you want at your own pace.The rooms were small and countless, the stairs more and more narrow as you go up, and the scene breathtaking once you are on top of things.

We visited the Cork Art Gallery as well, where I was to be surprised by an exposition on an artist I discovered and often think about since : Harry Clarke. He did some stained-glass windows and illustrated famous poems from Keats and Poe, as part of the Irish Renaissance movement.

I even attended mass on the St Patrick's Cathedral. Of course I waited until afterwards to take my camera and unfortunately they begun turning off the lights. It looked even more impressive when all is lighted up. And that would be the final picture...

Hand-made cuddly bear

Yes, I have been to the Creativa exhibition, and I came back with lots of new ideas. For example I resolved to try and sew teddies. It's not that easy, but here is the result of my first attempt. I called her Annabelle.

How do you like her ?
By the way, have you heard about swapping ? It's when people on the net exchange packages by post. Generaly it has a theme, and you have to put in a determined number and type of items. For example, a swap about spring, with one thing do read, one thing to eat, a hand-made item, and a spring decoration item (just an example).
I don't know if the idea pleases you, but I would like us to make a swap together, any type you want. Just tell me all about it, what you wish, etc.

Fantastic Wednesday

I just had a wonderful day today ! Your email and a sneak view of your blog is like the icing on the cake.

First, I had to chose an option for the second semester at the university. You know I'm writing a thesis on the religious perspective in Christopher Marlowe's work. So I decided to attend a class on religion. It's quite unusual, but I enjoyed the class very much. The teacher was just inspiring, the students all nice with me, and the scenery is wonderful as well. Here is a picture of the small chapel at the center of the religious departement of the university.

On top of that, I went to the best restaurant in Metz with my father today for a lunch, after school. My favourite restaurant is a Asian one I must admit. The food is so delicate and exotic compared with what we cook daily. So you may say I celebrated New Year one day too early.

The guy I met last weekend just wasn't what I expected him to be. But well, no harm, I'm smilingly going on in my quest of the perfect match. Sometimes, it's really a matter of faith to stay optimistic.

Friday, I'm going out with my friends on a special exhibition of "creative arts". This means it will be all about patchwork, customization in general, painting on materials, sculpture, home-made jewellery, etc. Besides, there is a chocolate show at the same time, and all the pastrycooks in the area will try to demonstrate their talent.
Doesn't it sound exciting ?