Crazy Adventures in the Life of a Redhead

This past weekend I went to Paris to take advantage of what is called “Le Week- end du Patrimoine” which means that almost all monuments and museums plus buildings that are not normally public are open to any person who has the inclination to visit. It happens once a year and it is celebrated all throughout Europe, so all across Europe cities were celebrating their heritage by allowing tourists and citizens alike to view the grand history of the region. Not only was I blessed with the opportunity to do something as extraordinary as that, I was also blessed by one of the most gorgeous weekends I have ever experienced. Paris is a lovely city due to many factors, but it is never as lovely as when the skies are blue and the sun is shining. I had three straight days of nearly cloudless skies and the sunlight that deigned to shine brightly on a buzzing city. Taking the Friday morning train from Angers to Paris, I had a full three days to be a tourist, which surprisingly allowed us to do many...

Having stated before that France is a very unique country, I was recently even more surprised to learn some of its history and its remnants in the neighboring administrative regions of Brittany (Bretagne) and the Loire Valley (Pays de la Loire). The family with whom I am staying is both Korean and Bretonne. Last week during breakfast, I asked her about her family and about the region from where her family came. It turned into a lengthy conversation about the history of the region and the hundreds of years-old dispute over cultural and administrative borders in the western part of France. I will give you a quick overview since that is what I got and since that is all I have room for. I live in the Loire Valley, and just 40 minutes away by train is the city of Nantes where I went this weekend and where many of my French friends study and live. That city is one of the focal points in the dispute. Hundreds of years ago, around the 15th century, the Duke of Bretagne (I think the French name...

It has been a full last couple of weeks since the last time that I wrote on this blog. It is amazing how things pass so quickly. I am writing this from my new computer that I needed to buy after mine went caput. I still do not know what went wrong; all I know is that in France, two things are certain: your electronics will take about three weeks to get fixed and they might cost about as much as a new model. So, I bought one in the US and asked my mom to send it to me, which meant that after paying the customs fee, it was all mine. Although the summer was quite the adventure and although I learned much from the family and about life, I am so happy to be back as an independent woman again. For me, my independence is one of the most important things. I cannot function for a long time being dependent on others for my daily affairs. Of course, we all need help from time to time but when your schedule and your food are dependent upon others, it becomes a little tiresome after a while. Now, I...