It's Better in Beauvais

Okay, I know I haven't updated in a while, so here's a glimpse at what I've been up to.

Tuesday (29th) I was up bright and early to catch the train from Sahagun to Madrid. I arrived there at about noon, and spent the better part of the afternoon wandering around the immense Prado Museum - quite good. After that I found my way to Madrid's airport and hung around like a vagrant until my super-red-eye flight at 5:45am. That brought me to Beauvais, France, where I am now.

So here I am, back in France and utterly at a loss for words as to how happy I am. I loved Spain, but France is still where my heart resides. I have an immense fondness for this country, and I'm sure over the course of the next month my blog will literally ooze with praise for all things French.

I'm staying here in Beauvais - which is about an hour north of Paris - with a friend I've made through CouchSurfing, Marianne. She's 7 months pregnant and lives with her new husband Thomas. They're both wonderful people, and have been completely welcoming, and played wonderful hosts.

Beauvais is the kind of place I'd like to live if I ever moved to France. It's not a huge town, but there's a ton of culture here! They have an amazing cathedral, and some really nice areas. Marianne and Thomas live right on the town's main plaza, and you can see the cathedral from their living room. I went and checked it out this afternoon, and it was just brilliant. It has the highest nave in all of France, only rivaled by a neighboring nave in actual size.

Through countless wars Beauvais has been shat upon by attacking forces, being ever re-built. It seems they have adopted the salamander as their symbol of fortitude, since I guess if you bake some earth to make a pot and it contained a live salamander it's said the creature will survive and find it's way out. I need to do some fact checking on that, but for now please assume that it is 100% true.

The amusing thing about the cathedral here is that it's only half built. I guess they just lost the desire to erect flying buttresses at some point, and so it only has one wing of the intended two. It does look a little off when you stare at it head on, but otherwise it is really a bit of architectural wonderment. Filled with incredible works of stained glass - which fill the area with a lulling blue light -, it also boasts a huge 190,000 piece mechanical clock which dates the age of the earth of all things. Really super.

So I'm here in Beauvais until Sunday, and then I will take the train into Paris. It's the first Sunday of the month, so many of the big museums are free. They'll be packed, but they'll be free, so I can't gripe. I'm staying with Rebekah's best friend, Jeanne, for a day or so (I guess however long I can get by on cooking for them! haha) and then I'll be CouchSurfing with others in Paris.

Last night Marianne made us a great pasta dinner, and a few of their friends joined us. We had a good time. She also introduced me to Whitney, a good friend of hers whom is also American. She reminds me a lot of my friend Hannah back home. Whitney came over again tonight and two other American CouchSurfers, Becky and Hannah, joined us. We had a lot of fun making crepes for dinner, both sweet and savory to round out the whole meal. It was a great time, and it's good to be around some fellow Americans.

Tomorrow my mission is to find some place to cheaply get my hair cut, and have my beard trimmed back enough that I can shave it, or have it completely shaved for me.

I bought some trendy French pants for a discount price at a local sporting goods store yesterday for less than 30 Euros. They're great, and much smaller than my pants I brought with me! That and the price makes them even better.

Oh, and I have legitimate proof that the French EAT horse. See the picture to the right of the "Chevalines" where they sell nothing but horse meat. Check out the look on that bust above the awning. Priceless. I'm going to try some before I leave. Yum - Flicka.

All in all, I'm so glad to be back in France. Last time I really felt so at home here, and I'm glad that feeling still exists. I don't care what anyone says about this place or their people - I'll take Beauvais (and to a greater but not as well rhymed extent, France) any day!