Vacation has been fun, with the high point hopefully coming at about 4 AM this morning when Obama is named the winner of the US presidential election! Today happens to be a very, very special day for me so I'm hoping to get a nice present from the American people when they elect him our next president. I'm still debating about going into Paris to stay up all night watching election returns, but I'm actually really tired from all the running around I've done so I may chicken out and decide to stay home and sleep.

I had a wonderful week-long visit from my friend Erica. It was her first time in France, so we spent a couple of days visiting places around here (including a champagne tour and tasting of some extremely expensive varieties!) and then headed off to Paris for a few days to end her stay. Amazingly enough there are still things I haven't done in Paris! Highlights included wandering around Montmartre and stumbling upon Thanksgiving in the Marais, where I can buy canned pumpkin! Now if only I could find an oven to make my mom's pumpkin bread....

Unfortunately I now have to pass my last couple days of vacation without hot water or internet at the lycee. They always threaten to turn off the hot water but had never actually done it until now! I did have a little hot water a couple hours ago when I washed my hands, so maybe they've turned it back on? The professor's room is locked, so no internet, but thankfully there is free wireless at McDonald's, so I'm setting up camp here. No internet at the lycee means no election results until I haul my lazy butt out of bed tomorrow and go buy a newspaper (or go to McDo, whatever). This makes me more disposed to going out all night to watch election results. I did major in political science at university, and I am such a huge political junkie, and I would love to be out and experiencing this historical, momentous election! But I don't like the idea of being out allllll night long all by myself without the possibility of going home if I get completely exhausted. Already being tired from walking all over France with Erica provides me with an excuse to be a boring stick in the mud.