I'm at an American internet cafe near le Jardin du Luxembourg checking in again, but I only have 5 minutes to type. I'm living with a 75ish yr old woman instead of a whole family, but I'm just outside the city limits in Boulogne-Billancourt. It's like an Arlington VA. She speaks only French, so it's been pretty tough for me to adjust, not having spoken French since last May. It's also pretty tough since I'm speaking ONLY French all the time.

I'm having some difficulties ordering/buying things, but nothing too serious. I'm not really that homesick, but I definitely miss the USA a bit. Paris is unbelieveably gorgeous. Everything... the people, the buildings, the parks are unreal. The cars are all so small and no Americans could survive having such small cars.

Well, I will have plenty of photos in December or sooner, but my session here is ending. Be back with more info soon. A bientot.

Good to hear from you Biggins! Don't forget, the French are very particular about greeting them. Whenever you enter a store be sure to provide a polite "bonjour" or "bon soir". The French really are a "nice" people. Anyone who says the Parisians are rude, completely forget about New Yorkians. Paris is like any other big city. If you get an opportunity try to get up to the Normandie area. The experience is worth it, particularly around the D-Day areas. Please don't pass up any opportunities to visit Coleville Sur Mer where the American Cemetary is located.

And of course, we're expecting a boat load of photos from the Nice and Cannes areas in La Midi (Le Midi?, I never could get their silly gender articles correct!).

Have you started classes yet at the Sorbonne? By the way, there's a nice Virgin Records store on the Champs D'Elysee!

Write when you can!

I want to go to Paris. Can we organize a field trip to visit Biggins, Yossarian? Can we can we?!

Sure! The first annual Hagerstown to Paris H-M Buddies field trip. Dulles to Charles D'Gaulle for about $700.

How're are ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm, once they've seen gay Paree? Ah... la Rive Gauche, la Tour d'Eiffel, l'Arc de Triomphe, les Bateaux Mouches sur la Rive Seine, le Metro, les ladies de la soir, le Moulin Rouge, C'est Paris!

I'll go but only if I can take my air conditioner with me.


I wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb if I wore my "Axis of Weasels" T-shirt would I??? J/k .


I always wanted to visit France and see the shores of Normandy where so many of our brave men died for our freedoms. Biggins you better go there while your in France!


Anyways have fun Biggins and keep in touch, I look forward to hearing about your adventures.

I started classes last Friday and it was a bit overwhelming. My class has people from all over the world who speak so many different languages. My class has only 3 males which is great for me because there are 3 Swedes, 2 Brazilians (one is supposedly a famous reporter in Brazil, she's late 20s), 5 Mexicans, one Colombian, one Russian, one Latvian, one Turk-English, tons of Chinise, and a handful of Americans. The Russian and one Swedish girl are the most gorgeous females I've ever seen. I've made friends with a nice young lady from UCLA, a guy from near DC, a couple girls from NC, and a bunch of girls from Goucher College. I actually like being overwhelmingly in the minority of # of ladies to the # of guys.

As for the education part of it, these classes will be the toughest thing I've ever done. I have a phonetics class (2 credit hours) from France time 3:30-4:30 until mid-October and my "cours pratique" from 5pm-7pm EVERYDAY (8 credit hours) until December 3!!! I'm also taking a class on Tuesdays and Thursdays that studies "La Belle Epoque" and we visit museums and stuff and get 3 credit hours for that. I'm very glad that I have a French speaking host family (lady) so that I can have assistance on my ridiculously hard homework. I've learned so much French from just living here and speaking it every waking hour that when I called a friend back in the states, they didn't even recognize my voice.

Saturday I went to Chartres, a huge cathedral SW of Paris that is the 6th oldest church in the world. It was amazing. I have no idea how to describe how magnificent it was. I took 60+ photos and could have taken many more. The town reminded me of Hagerstown a little because it was about the same distance from Paris as Hagerstown is from DC. Sorry but the town was much more beautiful than Hagerstown though. There was a really cool garden and a small river that flowed through the town and through some houses. I also met a nice French girl from Paris named Juliette and went to eat with her last night.

As far as stuff in Paris, I never seem to find the time, but I've done the Bateaux Mouches and my M&T Bank check card got declined today on Champs Elysees, but that's about it. This week once I'm finally into my schedule, I plan to go up Le Tour Eiffel, La Grande Arche de La Defense, see L'Arc de Triompe again up close, Notre Dame, Montmartre, le Louvre, other stuff like that. The metro is much more annoying than DC's, but hundreds cheaper. I'm also going to the Paris Intl Auto Show this weekend, and it's a holiday here and I'm going to try to get a tour of Chirac's house.

That's all for now, I wish I could post my photos, but it costs a buttload to use a USB here for some reason.

That's great news Biggins. Sounds like in-between the classes you're having a great time! Do everything you can while you're there. Hey, I hear girls from Goucher are easy. But hold out for the Russian or Swede!

Keep us informed. I for one enjoy reading about your adventures in la Belle Paris!

Maybe we can start a "Help Biggins See Paris" fund at M&T and drop a few extra dollars in it!

That would be way cheaper than a field trip!

I think we are entitled to some pictures of these Russian and Swedish women Biggins.

You know, the "Hey, we need to get a picture of all of us, so that we can remember this great time" kind of lines!

Bonjour again...

I had a very interesting weekend to say the least. I did so much I don't really remember it all. We got a new girl on Friday in the class and she luckily sat right next to me. She's 23 and from Argentina and another absolute babe. She speaks more languages than I could name, but she also never seems to stop speaking.

Anyways, my class went out to an Aussie bar after class on Friday for some fun (the English speakers stick together). We took over the bar and gave them more business than they've ever had I think. Our group consisted of an Aussie couple (29 and 26 yrs old), an Irish couple (38 and 35) with their 3 month old baby, the gorgeous Russian I'm after, a 6'11" Swedish guy (18 yrs old), two English guys, a Chinese American from Alabama (23), a musician chick from UConn (20), a guy from Bethesda (22). It was quite an experience to say the least. When we left the bar there was the weekly Friday night rollerblade thru Paris event. There were (no lie) tens of thousands of people from all over Europe that were rollerblading thru the streets of Paris. We watched for 25 minutes at an intersection while the entire street was covered the whole time. It was funny to see cops on rollerblades (reminded me of Reno 911!).

Saturday and Sunday were French holidays where everyone could get in museums for free and many places the public is not usually allowed into, I chose the Senat on Saturday and that place is unbelieveably. I snuck 50+ photos of the inside, but got told not to 10 times and acted American (Je ne comprends pas). Yesterday I went in Sacre Coeur and my oh my do Catholics go all out with their churches with all the gold and stuff. It was a gorgeous church. The Arc de Triomphe has been closed to visitors for awhile now, but they opened it this weekend and I went up to the top. It was pretty cool.

Saturday night I chilled with a young lady on the banks of the Seine River in Paris and "watched fish swim and the boats." We saw some ~15 yr old French kids going at it behind us and when we walked along the bank past groups of French people all I could smell was the aroma of a certain type of herbal homemade cigarette. It rained but it wasn't that big of a deal compared to the storms I heard that you guys got back there.

That's about all that I remember, but I know I did much more than that. So my mission this week is to pass my test today and pursue the Russian and maybe the Argentine...

Biggins brings us a new "twist" in "international relations".

Remember Biggins, wars have been started over less!

Glad to see you're having a great time, Biggins.

Just stay away from le Place Pigalle (sp) - or so I'm told! I of course avoided it and stuck to the museums and stuff!

Biggins, international lover. That's my new nickname for ya! I.L.

hmmmm...Biggins has been MIA for 8 days

I bet it's the Russian girl

Well, I did put in a good word for Biggins with my friends on the Swedish Bikini Team who are now visiting Paris.

What does a "bikini team" DO? I mean, how does one "bikini"? Do you have to practice a lot to become really, really good at it?

A lot of trampoline workouts, jumpin' jacks, pull ups, push ups, the regular thing.

Checking in: I thought it was Heather who loved Mr. Depp. Anyways, I went to a huge party at Johnny Depp's bar off the Champs Elysees last night. He was giving away wine and champagne to all Americans on the condition that they bring their absentee ballots or an unregistered friend. I got pretty sick from some nasty hors d'oeuvres and spent some time at the toilet, but after that it was all good. Johnny is not any taller than the normal French guy (answering a shout question), but he's small for an American. His bar is unbelieveable (and also very expensive except last night's free wine/champ.).

I read DA VINCI CODE in 32 hours last weekend, and I've been to the Louvre twice to take it all in. I STILL have not been up the Eiffel Tower, but this weekend Paris is open all night every night, so I will be doing that with a nice young Scandinavian woman. I'm going to Versailles during the day Saturday and staying in Paris instead of Munich for the ever famous Octoberfest. Only because yesterday I booked 2 train tix and 2 nights in Nice and Monte Carlo on the French Riviera for next Thursday-Sunday nights (I love couchettes on night trains). I'm taking a girl from Goucher.

Last weekend, I went to a small village called Chatou outside of Paris. It's where the Maison Fournaise is located (an awesome restaurant on the Seine River) where impressionists hung out (Monet, Renoir). They had an unreal strawberry/raspberry cheesecake. Saturday night I went to the best fireworks display ever, and no one ever knew what it was for... the discussion about fireworks this summer and the best place, the answer is Paris. They were outside the city at La Defense (a ~800 ft tall square) in line with the Champs Elysees, Concorde, Tuilieries, Louvre. They had rappelers with flame throwers, every color and type of firework and continuous for 1.5 hrs with music and no boredom.

As much as I love hanging out with the tons of girls at the Sorbonne, I finally made friends with some normal guys so I can actually play basketball and soccer some. It's also good to talk about something besides what color shoes and where to go shopping. I've made good friends with a guy and girl from South Dakota, he goes to Coll of Charleston, she goes to Oklahoma. So I have a group now to do stuff with since all but one of the Goucher girls are kinda boring. I'm working on a Swedish girl now because I dated the Argentine, but her mouth never shuts ever so I'm slowly moving on.

Anyways, that's about it for now, I know I'm forgetting a lot of stuff, but my 500+ pics will tell the story as soon as I find a site that will host them and not take 2-5 hrs of my time.

Glad to hear you're having so much fun!

Keep "working on" that Swedish babe, 'cause oh yeah there are a few fun things you just can't do with a girl if she NEVER shuts her mouth!

Hi Biggins! Sounds like you're having an awesome time! ::Jealous::

I've been to Munich and I think you'll have a great time. I saw where they hold Oktoberfest, but never went (When I went, it was during the summer months). I do make it a mission in life to make it to Oktoberfest, but I have to warn you. I heard on the radio that there are a bunch of German girls running a scam on some of the men @ the Oktoberfest. One girl stands in front of you and flashes you - while the others pickpocket. It's brilliant, but I thought I'd warn you. At any rate, have fun and drink one for me!

that's wack...

This thread is USELESS without pictures !!!

I've tried 3 times to post pics on here, but I don't know how to work it... Help?

I have over 700 photos if you all are interested in spending that much time looking...

I can't talk long today because I have a Phonetics Final today and then it's only 2 classes the rest of my time here until December. Basically, I did the rollerblade through Paris thing last Friday, but my wheels broke halfway through and I took a tumble in the middle of 10000+ people (# is a light estimate).

I went to Versailles. Unfreakingbelieveable!!! More gold than I could ever imagine. The gardens were unreal.

Sorry such a short summary, but I have class now and I must start packing for the Cote d'Azur (Nice, Monaco) because I leave tomorrow night for the weekend.

If anyone can find a nice photo site that will host 700+ and growing photos rather quickly, please let me know and I will have plenty of photos for everyone to see.

Sounds like Biggins is headed south to check out the boobies!

ahhhhh the holy land

Biggins, that's just too many photos to post to a website, if you could even find a site to host that many photos.

Your best bet would be to post them on usenet. Are you familiar with usenet? Your ISP probably includes at least limited access to usenet. There should be a binary newsgroup that you could throw your photos into. Something like alt.binaries.pictures.boobies, or alt.binaries.photography, or something similiar.

If you're not familiar with usenet, perhaps one of your colleagues there could explain it to you.

If you decide to go this route, you'd just have to let us know which newsgroup you've dumped your photos into.

You could post the best of them on a free web site at any one of many services. But the speed issue is one of bandwidth - which is controlled by the PC and connection you're using. Find a broadband uplink and you'll be able to put the pics up pretty quick on a personal web site someplace like Yahoo.

I'm not all that familiar with Yahoo BMIC, but if they're anything like MSN Groups they impose a limit on the number of megabytes you can post. MSN Groups has a limit of 3MB. Now, if Biggins reduces the file size of each photo to around 100K he'd be limited to around 30 pics. Of course, reducing the file size of each photo would degrade the quality of the photo. I'm guessing he's shooting at around 1.5MB for each photo, or if he's got a higher MP camera then they're a lot larger.

He definitely needs a really good broadband link that doesn't severely limit the upload speed like Antietam does (128Kps upload). Plus if he does reduce the file size of the photos, he's gonna have to do it as a batch process or else we can figure on his uploading taking, oh, what? 10 years?

What about putting them in albums somewhere like snapfish or imagestation? I don't do that much on those sites, so I don't know what kind of limitations they have. Maybe those of you who don't suck at the internet could investigate .

Yahoo Geocities will give you up to 15 MB free. There are other places with more free space, but nothing as easy to use as one of those groups sites like MSN groups. No need to put hundreds of the pics up... just a dozen or so at a time for us to look at, then replace 'em with others in a few days.

Yes he may have to reduce the file size, but that shouldn't be all that difficult.

Regards from Boobieland!!! I have now seen boobies of all sizes, shapes, and ages. I took as many photos as I could without being branded a total perv. Nice is PARADISE. My friend Leah and I have had so much fun in the three days that we've been here. The weather is perfect (except for a massive storm this morning) but it's still 90 degrees fahrenheit here and I'm burnt so bad. I've seen plenty of sex on the beach here, boobies, cars worth more than parents' house, and I played slots for the first time in my life at a casino here.

I'm just killing time now in an internet cafe with a view of the insane storm waves that washed away the beach.

Give me until the end of this week and I will have some photos up on some site.

I'll check in in a few days and hopefully have plenty of photos for all to see. The main problem I'm having is that these internet cafes don't have proper software to load the photos onto a website. I have a friend from South Dakota that has wireless internet back in Paris, so I'll see if I can get something worked out.

Hey Biggins, sounds like you're having a fantastic time.
Greedy's gonna be jealous!

We'll look forward to the photos.

http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3024930093

Here is a very quick sporadic photo album to prove I'm in France for the doubters. I just picked random photos from the CD I burnt, but my friend has wireless internet on the other side of the city, so I will try to get a more organized album together when I have some time on my hands. Maybe Yoss (French knowledge?) can describe the pics until I get all 500-1000+ of them posted and organized.

This weekend I will be spending in the Loire Valley to check out a bunch of castles and such. Nice was the coolest place I've been in my life and I could see myself living there. Tuesday night was my first dusk til dawn experience in France for my friend Leah's 21st birthday even though it means nothing here. My friend Zack and I ended up at a bar from the movie Zoolander and bought 11 Euro drinks for the girls we were with (a former Iranian chick and English chick). Today I saw Jim Morrison's grave at Pere Lechaise cimetiere, and now I have my horrible cours de grammaire where I'm going to be embarassed for not understanding a text by Charles Perrault.

I'm now "dating" a young lady from Chechnya, but it's very difficult because she speaks no English and I speak no Russian, and both of our French vocabs are not perfect. I met three young ladies from America that seem pretty cool who I'm going out with tonight. They're going to some Catholic university here. Hopefully Tours (Loire Valley) isn't too expensive because I still need to pay for my Swiss Alps snowboarding and a trip to either Prague or London.

pretty pics, biggins!

Of course Greedy and friends are gonna ask, "Where's the boobies?"

More photos... I'm slowly progressing toward uploading all of my photos onto this album. Please give me time to upload them all and captionize them.

For the meantime, here are 200+ and growing photos from Paris, Versailles, etc.

http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=2754720093

Click ENTER to view the photos.

There are people everywhere in those pics! It looked like DC....

i need a picturesque countryside...