Beauvais.

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Today, while you were just waking up and starting your day, I was going on strike in France. Okay, so I just stood there and looked really excited for the photo op, but it was still awesome. Recently, President of France, Nicholas Sarkozy, announced that the retirement age in France was going to be changed from 60 to 62. Naturally, this resulted in une grève because this is France, and everything results in a grève. Everything.

So today, the streets of Beauvais were filled with people chanting, holding up signs, playing drums, lighting off flares, and stopping traffic. This also occurred all over the country, but I got a really close look at the one in Beauvais (because I was in it)! But I'm getting ahead of myself.

This morning, I woke up at 11:30 because Nadine told me I could sleep in as much as I wanted this morning because we had no plans until the afternoon. Since I was up until almost 3am last night, I decided to take her up on this offer. As usual, however, I got a knock on my door at 11:30 (even though I was already awake - just not out of my room yet), was force-fed lunch, and then made fun of for sleeping in. Look- if you don't want me to sleep in, tell me. If you really don't mind, then stop giving me shit for it. I wake up on time every day you give me a time to wake up, so either give me a time, or shut the f up.

Anyway, after lunch we went to Ariel's host family's house for a reason that I still don't understand, talked with her host mom for 10 minutes, said hi to Clement and Ariel, and then left and went to Kyle's. From there Elizabeth and I went with Kyle and Perrine to Beauvais to see the Cathédrale Saint-Pierre (the church with the highest ceilings in all of France - maybe Europe. I can't remember). Beauvais was beautiful, and the cathedral was magnificent - no pictures could ever do it justice.

The greatest part about Beauvais, though, was the strike that was going on while we were there. Everyone was pissed off about the retirement age being changed from 60 to 62, and so they were expressing their anger by infuriating other people who were now stuck in traffic due to their obnoxious strike. We, of course, didn't care because we were on foot and most of us had never seen anything like it in our lives. Naturally, we turned the strike into a photoshoot. Also naturally, I now have a picture of me in a crowd of old people, holding up a Socialist Party poster while standing next to a man (very excited to be in the picture with me) who is holding up a sign calling the President of France a theif. I love my life.

After Beauvais (we managed to get out of there unscathed), Elizabeth and I went to Wai Lin's to babysit Lucas, Kilian, and Gabin for a few hours, and it was a blast (besides the apple in the eye fiasco). Everyone is happy and friends again though after eating buckets of Nutella and bread and playing tons of football. And when I say "football," I mean the true football. Not that American shit.

Anyway, the day was a success overall. Finally a good balance of relaxing and seeing cool stuff. The food on the other hand . . . Tomorrow I'm going running.

Love, Joey