LA BANLIEUE (the suburbs)

Hotel des Invalides/sea gulls eating grass on a stormy day.

I am jealous that these ladies have umbrellas that don't turn inside out like mine.

Rock n roll.

I have read the same Halloween book to different groups of kids at school probably ten times now and every time we get to the part where the cat is purring they all go "PRRRRRE PRRRRRE" this weird purr sound with a rolling r. I told them that in the US dogs go "bow wow" instead of "qwaf qwaf" which is the noise they make in France and they were like no way you must be joking what kind of dogs do you have?

I don't know who this is. I'm guessing it's France personified as a woman because it's in the Place de la Republique.

Cute truck art.

This is where I got my new tattoo. Just kidding, mom. I like that it is in English because I don't think that any French people have tattoos. At least none that I have met.

No entry except femme fatales on bikes.

Cool wheat paste.

Winter circus!

Fish.

A student drew this picture of me.

Here is another picture a student drew for me.

Here is documentation of my epic commute:

Metro.

Good thing most things I take pictures of aren't moving.

Bus.

Train station.

The train station is hideous.

In the train watching the world pass me by.

Get off the train.

More bus.

But not that bus. The bus I need only comes once every 30 minutes. I will probably freeze to death at this bus stop at some point this winter.

I take the bus to the last stop which is the hospital.

I don't have to take that last bus to the school I work at on Monday and Friday; instead I get to climb a mountain, but at least I get to look at these pretty flowers on the way.

And this pretty crane and foreboding sky.

And this guy's back.

And POT MAN!

In French it's "miam miam" instead of "yum yum."

Downtown Corbeil-Essonnes (the town I work in).

They're here too.

Air drying is more important than heat conservation.

Old train tracks.

Old house.

PSA illustrating that everyone is fragile on the road, just like a carton of eggs.

Big windmills of Corbeil. If you spell it corbeille, it means trash can. Same pronunciation.

The circus is coming.

Road.

I had to spend my Saturday going to my bank which is in this stupid town that is an hour and a half from where I live to get my checkbook. I was hoping they would just mail it to me at some point but they did not.

This part of the town is pretty cute.

Windows.

Harley Davidson.

Town hall.

These people don't have backyards, but they do have the option of jumping off their back porch into a river.

BOOBA- "La Banlieue"