France is mentioned in 23 posts. It is most often associated with these...

People:

Places:

Things:

I arrived in Paris late, and feeling a tad under the weather. I'm not sure if it was the travelling, it being the end of a long week, or perhaps the hangover that was beginning to fester, but I felt like crap. I had written the address of my hotel on a piece of paper as one website suggested since none of the cab drivers speak English there. I managed to make it into my room around 10pm.

All I wanted to do was go to bed, but first I forced myself to walk out and get a picture of the Eiffel Tower all lit up at night. Then I took a shower and fell asleep. I was a tad obsessed with the Eiffel, I took about 30 pictures of it from various angles and times. Maybe because it's so phallic, I don't know. But that was the only thing I really wanted to see in Paris.

The next day I didn't feel much better but I thought a brisk walk might help, so off I went to the Eiffel. There were long, long lines waiting to go up each of the four elevators so I nixed that from my plans. Instead I walked up to the Arc de Triumph and snapped a picture. I'm such a horrible tourist. All I could think is that it looked exactly like the pictures I'd seen. I felt nothing toward it. This, coupled with feeling like crap, had forced me to a new low. I couldn't even appreciate history, I didn't need to be there, I should just go home.

But before I did I walked down a street with a bunch of people on it. Hello?! Shopping! I bought some really cool, really Euro stuff. And then I felt much better. I knew the key to happiness was dropping a few hundred Euro. I can't wait to debut it all here. It was like my favorite store here in Dallas: Source Paris, only like one after another after another after another. I was in heaven.

That's really all I did in Paris was take pictures of the Eiffel, walk around briskly, and shop. I found stereotypes about the French to generally be true. Waiting in line for McDonald's this woman shoved me out of the way and then stood in line in front of me. Whathefuck? And the receptionist at the hotel was a fucking bitch. Some guy came in around 11 to check in and she said, "Check in is at 2pm, Aur Revoir!" And he was like, "Well could I just leave my bags or ..." She turns and says louder, "Aur Revoir!" and then turns away. I was like omega I would fucking slam her face against the desk if she did that to me.

I was all too happy to leave Paris. It's a big stinky city full of rude people. But I do love the Eiffel. I liked sitting and eating lunch in its shadow just like I've always wanted to do. I also took a long walk along the Seine, another thing I've always wanted to do. And why? Duh, because I want my life to be like an ABBA lyric:

I am going to officially change the spelling of my name from Deighvyd to Dävid. Not only does it look cooler but it would be grammatically correct here. They have all kinds of vowels that we don't have: ä, ö, ü, å, ø. We have all the vowel sounds, but our vowels can completely change their pronunciation based on the letters before and after them. Theirs are always the same, which is why they needed a few extras. The only one I've figured out is the å which actually has a long 'O' sound. If I get lucky later, I may be showin' my å face. å! å! å!

I spent a lot of money today on plane tickets. I'm really leaving Malmö next Friday and heading right for Paris. Then to Berlin. Then back to Copenhagen. I am so nervously excited. It's still a ways away though and I've gotten a lot of great advice on how to travel. It should be really sexcellent to get around a little bit. Although I spent a lot, it was a lot less than I thought I was going to have to spend. My ticket from Berlin to Copenhagen was €16, which is under 20 bucks. Score! I am flying on the Southwest Airlines of Europe. Should be interesting. I gotta find hotels now. Money, money, money. Speaking of, I FINALLY heard some ABBA at the hockey game last night. I had assumed it would be the only music they played here and was sorely disappointed to find out I was wrong.

I'm about to head out to a Biljard hall now with Keith and Paul, and the little douchebag that it is here with us. I'll have to tell you all about the douchebag later, he's a blog unto himself. He is the dark cloud on the this silver lining of a vacation. Anyway, so I gotta run, just wanted to fill you in on a couple more things. Läääääääääääääääte.

Bonsoir, mes amis! Wie geht es ihnen? Jag hoppa det du er all gör brunn. This past week I bought CDs for French, German and Swedish so I could get a head start on learning all the languages I'll need during my European adventure. I already speak German, and Swedish is (from what I know thus far) a lot like it. So really, I'm just trying to pick up some basic French phrases to get a hotel room and a menu. Good times, good times. You don't want to ride in the car with me though. It's totally annoying. But I should be quadri-lingual by April.

This weekend I went to a party at Adam's house up in Denton. Good christ, Denton is far away. It was a pretty big milestone for me because it was the first time I've subjected myself to some good old fashioned binge drinking that I know and love so much without partaking. They were all downing cheap beers and chain smoking and I wanted to participate sooo bad, but I resisted. And not only did I stay clean, but I had a really good time hanging out and getting to know people I'd never met before. Maybe I do still have social skills, and I just never let myself realize it.

This is off topic, but I have to ask. What the hell is up with fat, old men in the gym locker rooms? It's like they refuse to put some fucking clothes on. I guess their wives won't let them walk around naked at home so they do it at the gym? It is so weird. If you're a fat old man who reads my webpage and walks around naked in locker rooms, please fill me in cause you're all making me nauseous.

Speaking of the gym, if things continue to go as well as they have with Febrehabruary, I plan on partying March 1st and then going right back to my sober ways. I am saving so much money and losing so much weight. I could never have fathomed that it would go this well.

Ryan S■■■ sent me an article about people being fired from their jobs based on what they say in their blogs. It kind of put the fear of g*d in me. My webpage is laden with material that should rightfully lead to my termination. I think I'm going to go through and hide some of the entries for the time being while I figure this out. In the meantime, I'm going to refrain from discussing work explicitly and avoid mentioning any projects I'm working on by name if I do. Hope it doesn't leave you all wanting.

Now, I am still drenched in sweat from yoga, so it is time to showah. Peace, you have-nots.

I found out today that my trip to Sweden is a definite. I have to buy a plane ticket by the end of the week departing on April 2nd. I'm way too excited. But see, the thing is, I figured as long as I'm in the neighborhood, there is no sense in not seeing some of Europe. How often do you get to fly across the pond for free, right? So instead of returning to the USofA on April 16th after two weeks of new product testing, I'll be returning sometime around April 21st. That'll give me 5 days to gallivant around Germany and France.

I've never been a big sight seer, as anyone who has ever vacationed with me will know. So my only two goals, in reality, are to eat sausage and saurkraut with mustard in Germany washed down with a nice tall Weissbier, and to have a croissant and a glass of red wine in France. I hope they serve Messina Hof.

The reason I need everyone's advice is to ask what else I should do while I'm there. Keep in mind that if I want to SEE something, I will google it. I am looking for things to DO. This could also affect how long I decide to stay. I'm still trying to get ahold of my friends in Germany which would be awesome. But that would mean I am going to Munich again when I'd really like to see Berlin.

I dunno. Maybe afterwards I'll go to Bed, Bath & Beyond, I dunno if I'll have time.