June 2004: Ugie cut her hair! And she finally sent me the pictures of our week together back in June. Here we are all dressed up, ready to explore Washington D.C. I enjoyed D.C., in fact I loved every moment of it. Why? Because Ugie was there, simple enough. I have grown to learn that it is not a city that a person falls in love with, but the friends they have who make the moments there so worthwhile.

This, my friends, is the luxurious Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte. 

September 18th, outside of Paris, France: Emily and I went to the breathtaking Château de Vaux-le-Vicompte, where French royalty once lived out their dangerous liaisons. My photos don't do the place justice. It was pitch black out, yet the chateau has no electricity whatsoever, so all those lights you see are actually thousands candles which extend a good kilometer into the gardens. Can you imagine the atmosphere? I've never been so awestruck in my life, and if you only saw the moat and the gardens!

September 7th, 2004, Paris, France: I feel a thousand times better after being ill, so the perfect day seems so much more lovely. In an hour I'm moving out of the studio in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, although I'd stay here forever if I had the choice. I'll be living two blocks from the Arc de Triomphe, a very nice area as well. It's off the Champs-Elysées, which historically defines majestic, yet every twist and turn lies a Sephora, Virgin Megastore and 6.000 € cufflink boutique. I won't have the internet for quite some time. If it were up to me, I'd get it installed immediately, but we're talking slow-moving bureaucracy here. Oh well--being alive and well is good enough.

Tonight, I bought this massive poster for my new apartment. In any case, my cousin Ashley is going to paint me a work of art as my centerpiece, how kind of her!