It's moot.

I don't even know what Moot Court is ...

... But I still think it sounds funny.

Saint-Rémy-de-Provence

Before I left France on the 14th, I went with Johan to Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. Seems like a pretty touristy place, but it actually looked and felt like summer (AT LAST), so I'm OK with it. I actually think I came here in 2010 with Charlotte and Gabrielle, but I don't quite remember (Charlotte took us all over the place, after all ... I would link to the old blog post, but I can't seem to find one, oops).

Anyway, while walking into town, I saw this. I think I like graffiti a lot. Or 'street art,' I suppose.

I always like when things happen to look like smiley faces, but this piece of tape stuck to the side of my picnic table at dinner one night made me think especially of my friend Dallan :)

We went to St-Rémy because Johan always takes part in a sort of summer arts camp-thing for Europeans -- it's called Euroculture, and it's run [it's probably safe to say in large part] by our friend Laurent. They brought in teens/adults/whatevers from eight countries this year, and they worked on arts installations in a garden, choral concerts, dances, and a whole host of other things I'm probably forgetting about. It kind of reminded me of a Bristol Hills for older "kids." 

This is the outside of the music building where all the rehearsals were held (some of the big group dinners were held on picnic tables just outside, which is when I took this picture).

We were staying in the house of some of the local collaborators, which was very funky - lots of mix and match levels, a very hippie laid-back feel. It was neat, but my main focus was their natural pool, shown here. I've never heard of this before, but apparently a natural pool uses some sort of algae or plant filter system so there are no chemicals in the water. I'm not totally convinced, but whatever. I swim in lakes, so how bad can this be?

I went walking with our friend Geneviève one day, and we passed this store. There are FIFTY states, and out of all of those options, you named your store Arkansas? Seriously?!

Towards the end of our walk, we passed a shop window. See below. If only I could make this into a GIF, you would see that all of these little Queens are waving their hands (some of them are kind of blurry as a result). No idea what this is about, but I find it hilarious.

Just a glimpse down one of the narrow old streets. It was a really cute town.

Freedom.

Noticed this when I passed on my bike : Liberté!

Canal Saint Martin.

Library Update.

By special request: Lin wanted to know what the plastic messenger bags you're required to use look like. Here it is ... I've got packing my whole life in (including the laptop) down to an art.

This is the outside. There are four of the tower things, and in the middle of them is a big elevated platform area (in the middle of that is the huge courtyard that you can stare at longingly while you're in the research library).

Here's a small part of the platform at the top of the stairs ...

There's an east and a west entrance ... For the rooms I frequent, the east entrance is better.

I'm starting to get library fever from all of these hours shut away ... I hope I recover before heading back to classes.

Autumn Leaves?

Nothing says summer like ... DEAD ORANGE LEAVES?

I guess I don't need to tell you what summer has been like over here.