Where is Mark?

photo courtesy of: http://www.clic-studio.com/var/ezwebin_site/storage/images/community/lyon-pictures/lyon-river/706-1-fre-FR/Lyon-River_imagelarge.jpg

Speaking of which--this french pop thing I just really don't get. LIke, they are just now listening to Natasha Bedingfield's "These Words?" At least they know who Kanye is...at least...

So my parents arrived Saturday, and just as expected, they stress me out to the extreme--my dad never makes plans, and I like plans, so I guess our views on appropriate vacation time-spendature-idge is just diff. Never the less, it's great to have Jim, D, and Audy here. They look very un-American and I couldn't be more proud. We had a great dinner Saturday night in the Roman part of town called Vieux Lyon--the typical style of eating/food/dinner-restaur

ant assemblage is called "bouchon" and the restaurant we went to specialized in it. I wasn't too hungry, so I just had a big salad with smoke duck procuitto--the verdict is still out. But the rest of the gang had the prix fix, complete with melted chevre, pommes de terre au gratin, and praline tartes--Superbe!

Sunday was French Mother's Day so we went to my "house" for linner (my word for lunch that starts at two and ends at six and requires three bottles of wine) and Dad and Diane, I could tell, were impressed, humbled, and a little jealous. We laughed as we tried to translate french to english and back again. Jose and my father settled on Spanish--even though both can only really say ''un poquito.''

Class tomorrow and meeting up with the fam at 3pm. I hope to get a little shopping in--there was a dress at zara that I eyed the other day (very French--boat neck, white with thin navy horizontal stripes) and another good meal. You know, Lyon is the gastronomic capital of France? Have you heard of Paul Bocuse? I hadn't 'til I came here--wiki that shit.

It's so weird--on this trip, I feel like not in France at all. I kinda just feel like I'm about to see a familiar face any moment, but it never happens. I kinda like it, and at the same time, it's challenging my ability to both adapt to one place and leave the other behind. Perhaps I'm changing the boundaries of my comfort zone.

Oh, and I took you up on the Otis Redding challenge. My god, the man is vocal sex, love, mystery, fatigue, weary heart and mind and soul--like a coffee table book that makes me feel good just looking at it. Send me anymore suggestions you have.

Limewire just so happens to work in France as well.

really awesome pic of N.B. courtesy of:http://musicremedy.com/webfiles/artists/NatashaBedingfield/Natasha_Bedingfield-17-big.jpg