April 30, 2010

Musée des Beaux-Arts Bordeaux.

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(source;me)

I ventured into le quartier de l'hôtel de ville today and stumbled across the Musée des Beaux-Arts that i've been meaning to visit since I got here. There are several works that have been bought, or lended from the Lourve and the Centre Pompidou museums in Paris. The gardens outside the museum were beautiful, it's a shame that the weather was overcast and humid today so the snaps didn't turn out as nicely as I'd hoped. However, not to worry, I'm going back in a few weeks time to see a new exhibition that will have arrived!

In other news, I got my film developed on Monday (a roll of holga, my first ever developed! and two disposable camera's that i've had lying around since last year). There's stuff that I took when I was back in Perth and also some snaps from France. I'm more than happy with how they turned out, as it was my first venture into film. I do, however, have a lot to learn (I installed my holga film completely wrong, so every photo has a 2cm line of the next image on it!) but I guess that's half the fun! I just need to find a scanner, and as soon as I do i'll find the time to upload.

vivre sa vie.

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(screencaps from vivre sa vie)

I've been watching a lot of classic French cinema recently. I'm not meant to be doing much in English while i'm here, which includes watching English films, so watching classic French cinema helps me with my French aswell as not being deprived of my favorite thing in the world to do.

dejeuner

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(source;)

April 26, 2010

printemps!

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(source;me)

Bordeaux is absolutely lovely in the spring.

April 23, 2010

deux petites filles de Perth sur l'autre côté du monde

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In case you've forgotten, this is what a proper post looks like, something I haven't been able to do in a very long time. As i've written on this blog before, Sarah visited me in Bordeaux. At first, she was meant to come on Monday and leave today (Friday) but unfortunately she was only able to come late Wednesday night, which cut short a lot of what we had planned. We really only had one day to explore the city together, but we definitely made the most of it, and to be frank, I don't think my credit card could've lasted another day (let alone 3!) We hit chain stores H&M and Zara before stopping off at a typical French café in where I ordered my prefered drink Coca Light (more commonly known as diet coke in Australia) and Sarah a delicious caramel flavored coffee. I picked up a little summer dress and top from Zara (as I pretty much failed to bring any summer clothes on the assumption that it never gets warm in Europe).

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We then stopped of at this really cute secondhand book store and we were both practically in heaven. Like normal, I bought too many books that I know i'm not going to have enough time to read and I can't bring them back to Australia because they weigh too much. So epic fail, again. But hopefully i'll be able to do more reading than normal. We finished trolling the main shopping district Rue Saint Catherine (which is over 1km long!) and then stopped to have subway for lunch (no pictures taken, because, well, everyone knows what subway looks like..)

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A few more shops and a few more purchases and we were ready for a break again. We stopped to have coffee at the coolest cafe ever, with the coolest waiters who kept calling us the 'chéries de la pays du kangaroos' which translates to 'darlings from the country of kangaroos'. We felt quite special and rested for quite a long time talking with the waiters.

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So that was the day, we left at 10am and came home at 7pm. It was exhausting, to say the least, but definitely bucket loads of fun. It's the first conversation i've had in English in three months and it was nice to have a little bit of home in France. After listening to Sarah's French, i'm definitely motivated to learn more, and i've remade goals for the next 2 months. The first one is, only access the internet twice a week (which will almost be impossible for me, but all I can do is try). Speak more at the dinner table, even if my French is still shocking it's better to try. Expand my knowledge of verb tenses (pluperfect, subjunctive etc) and just really make the most of the next 2 months. After that, it's a one month tour around Europe and then back to reality. So, this could be the last blog post for a while (actually, I'm yet to post about the clothes i've purchased yet.. that may be soon). Anyways, à bientôt et gros bisous!

April 20, 2010

April 12, 2010

the future is unwritten.

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(source;me)

This Sunday will mark 3 months since i've been in Bordeaux, living the French life. I have to admit, it's not easy being an exchange student. Your entire support network of friends and family are taken away, and your pushed into a world where no one speaks your language and everyday customs are taken away from you. It can be the smallest of things that are different, things you don't even realise you do everyday. Things like, placing the bread on the table, being able to leave school whenever you want and the rising and setting of the sun (I wake up in the dark everyday at 6.30am, and the sun doesn't set until about 9pm). It took me an entire maths lesson to realise that they use comma's (,) instead of full stops (.) for decimal places, and about 2 months to finally be able to read French handwriting. I've realised that language isn't just something to get from A to B, it is however saturated with cultural meaning that sometimes can't be translated. And when it's taken away, a lot of your personality and you is swept with it. Sometimes I think that I should've started university with all my other friends (i'll be starting a general Arts degree at the University of Western Australia next February, and then heading into a double Law/Arts degree the following year) but there is so much here that textbooks just can't teach. Things about yourself, the way that you act when everything you've ever known is taken away from you. And hopefully, my French will be better. From being here i've formed a strong interest in studying linguistics in the future. I've sorted things out, become much more independant, realised things about myself and even though it's probably the hardest thing i've ever done, it's also probably the most rewarding. I'm going to be so sad when I have to leave all the friends i've made here in two months, and all the customs formed. Be warned, I will be giving everyone double kisses when I return back home. Theres that and a million other things that i've picked up in France. I think, when I come back to Perth, things are going to change. I'm going to change, for better or for worse i'll guess we'll have to wait and see.

In other news, Sarah is coming on Monday and staying to Friday, which means plenty of photo updates then. I have about 4 rolls of film that have been lying around in my room since I bought my Holga camera... oops, i can get lazy sometimes. I need to find a place that sells 120mm film here, because i'm in desperate need of more! We'll be going out everyday, and hopefully i'll have a chance to take some photographs at night time (the manipulation of light is always my favorite aspect of photography, and something that i'm yet to do here yet!) plus perhaps a few outfits i've created and an update on the clothes i've purchased. Spring has officially arrived here, and the weather is absolutely beautiful. Everyday is like a dream. Gros Bisous for now, next update will probably be Monday! Passez un bon weekend tout le monde ^.^!

April 10, 2010

the two greatest things in the world

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(source; teen vogue may 2010 via tfs)

teen vogue & karlie kloss <3

April 09, 2010

style rookie.


(source; jak & jill pour Vogue Paris février 2010)

LOLOLOLOL


(source;xkcd)

I don't think i've ever found a better description for hell. ever. (For those of you who don't know, I have a slight tetris obsession and play CONSTANTLY. No joke, my highest score is level 73. I played for about 3 hours without stopping that day.)

Mars Bar Slice

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April 06, 2010

the go-getter

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"If you could make a movie, if it could all be a movie, what movie would you make if you could?
This French film I saw, were they end up dancing, not for any good reason, probably just to dance."
~ The Go-Getter, referencing Jean-Luc Godard's Bande à Part

If you're up for a slow, cutesy indie flick definitly give The Go-Getter a try. I've fallen in love with it <3

April 05, 2010

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Atonement

"The childhood of a spoiled prince could be framed within half a page, a moonlit dash through sleepy villages was one rhythmically emphatic sentence, falling in love could be achieved in a single word--a glance."
~ Atonement, Ian McEwan

come visit me.

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(source; flickr)

i'm not that far ^^

baklava.

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(source;me)

possibly the most delicious cake ever tasted. mmm.