"Take my picture, Hollywood! I wanna be a star!"

(Quote from Lady Gaga)

Today was Hollywoodland day!

I was up at 4am (jetlag) so was down for breakfast the second it opened at 7am.

I'm pretty sure I was the first one down so made the most of the freedom and helped myself to the (artificial) array of eggs, bacon, bread, a yoghurt, some fruit, oh, and then a cook-your-own waffle. American food is known for its processed, over-sugared nature and the rumours aren't wrong. I have no idea what they do to their bacon, but whatever it is, it's not quite right. Also, why is the bread sweet!?

American Breakfast

View from the hotel onto
Sunset Boulevard.
I know. What a dump.

By 9am, I'd made it to somewhere near Hollywood. I jumped on the bus from right outside the hotel, needing to go West for a couple of miles, and then North. After the previous day's debacle with the buses, I checked with the driver before deciding to hop on...

[Rather English Moi] "Do you go towards Hollywood Boulevard?"
[Black LA-Native Driver] "To wheeeeere?"
[Me] "Hollywood Boulevard?"
[Native] ... "What'd ya say maaam?"
[Me] ... Oh I give up... [American mimic] "Haaallywud Bulvaaard"
[Native] "Ohhhhh, nuh-uh. But I'm close"
[Me] *Rolling Eyes*

I hopped off "close" and spotted the first few celebrity stars in the Walk of Fame - which apparently isn't just a straight line along the 'sidewalk' on both sides of Hollywood Boulevard, but instead darts off along several linking roads. Maybe we have too many celebrities.

Aspiring Celeb slash American superhero icon...

There are hundreds of 'aspiring celebrities' just hanging out in the street around Hollywood. Some of them are dressed as characters or other crazy things and try to lure you in to have a photograph with them - however when you do, they then won't let you leave until you pay them money for their 'service'. There are also loads of young people who kindly hand you a seemingly free CD of their (apparently) fantastic hip new vibes, compliment you, and then make you pay for the CD. I got stopped by one of these creative minds, who forced a disc into my hand, and then preceded to snatch it back again when I told him I had no cash... strange place.

Our tour guide.
He was quite pleasant to listen to
so probs not an LA native...

Tom Hanks
on the Wall

I got myself something called the "LA Go Card" for my time in LA - which I highly recommend. I bought the 3 day pass for $190 and on day one of using it alone, I saved a huge amount of money.

The Dolby Theatre

After a wander up and down the boulevard, the first thing I did was the Dolby Theatre tour at 10:30am. I didn't really know what the Dolby Theatre was, other than that logo you sometimes see in film credits, so wasn't really sure what to expect... Turns out it's 'The Home of the Oscars'. The tour guide was full of fun facts which he must spout around 10 times a day. I feel a bit sorry for him - especially as I'm not sure I actually remember any of the fun facts...

Here I am in the Dolby Theatre.
No one else is here so
that means I've won right?
"I'd like to thank..."

There's not a huge amount to see in all honesty - it's basically just a large theatre, with pictures of previous Oscars Awards on display. It was interesting to hear about the logistics of the Oscars though - for example, there is a connecting corridor to the hotel next door where the celebs get whisked off to do a post-award interview before their allowed to go back to their seat. Also, there are so many people nominated and related to the films nominated, that there are no extra seats for celebs - so basically, heaven forbid there will ever be a year where Meryl Streep isn't nominated, but if she wasn't, she couldn't go (unless she managed to blag one as Tom Cruise's Plus one).

Me with my Oscar.
You saw it coming.

Dolby Theatre Tour Tickets are sold for $20, and the tour is only 30 mins long, so it's definitely not something I would suggest is worth doing without the Go Card.

Shopping in Hollywood
(through those two bridges is supposed to be the best view
of the Hollywood sign because it's 'frame' makes it look so big)

The Hollywood Museum
(The Old Max Factor Building)

The Hollywood Museum

Marilyn Statue

Next, the plan was to go to Madame Tussauds, but I found the Hollywood Museum first. It's in the old Max Factor building and there are a huge amount of make-up related exibits - I think the whole of the ground floor was in tribute to Mr Max Factor. He had a make-up room for each type of leading hollywood actress; e.g. The Pink Room for Brunettes, the Green Room for Blondes, each labelled "For Brunettes Only". I'm not really that interested in fashion and make up, so I didn't find it that interesting.

They had a whole floor dedicated to "Monsters, Mummies & Mayhem" in the basement, which I wasn't planning on going down into, but then I was told Harry Potter was down there.
So off I went. Plenty of creepy 80's horror film memorabilia, but there in the middle of it, Harry Potter. And also the Walking Dead, Phantom of the Opera, Shawshank Redemption and Sweeney Todd - also all excellent.

Max Factor Make Up Room
"For Blondes Only"

#PotterObsessed

Another whole floor was dedicated to Marilyn Monroe. Her clothes, films, dolls, photographs, map showing every house she'd ever lived in, every quote on plaques on the walls and more! Surely no one normal is that obsessed with her...?!

Up to the top (and final) floor, and this one was dedicated to all things LGBT(Q?). I found it a little strange that they felt the need to separate any film/tv show with anything related to homosexuality isolated up there. Surely the aim of the LGBTQ community is for integration and non-discrimination, but I felt like by having their own special floor, it just added to the perceived separation...

Marilyn Barbies. Anyone?

Tickets for this are $15 and while it had a couple of interesting things in it, I'm not sure this is worth it without the Go Card either. There are much better places in LA to spend your money.

Madame Tussauds

Next was Madame Tussauds. I got this confused with the Hollywood Wax Museum - which is basically the same thing, but not as good (or so I've heard), which is why I couldn't find it earlier. The Hollywood Museum seemed to be at the completely opposite end to Madame Tussauds so off I headed.

The Chinese Theatre.
It's probs great,
but who gets to know
other than Zac Efron?
I'm not bitter.

"John Travolta was here"

I walked past the Chinese Theatre (something else on my list) and discovered that they'd just blocked the whole of the courtyard area around the theatre (all of the bits with the concrete hand prints) thanks to Zac Efron's new film premiere. I was not happy - although I did get a shot of John Travolta's stone (not as good as Harry, Ron & Hermione's though. Grr).

I waited in line for around 15 mins to get into Madame Tussauds. It was pretty good, but I found the layout a bit strange. It was on several levels, and so from the entrance, you had to get on the lift which gave you no option but floor 5. Then on Floor 4, you get directed round to a staircase, and on floor 3, to a lift which takes you to floor 1, and then up some stairs to the exit (or something like that).

#MarilynEverywhere

Some statues were better/more life-like than others. I'm not sure how I felt about it though. It was quite clever, but also a bit creepy. There were several times that I thought someone was stood behind me, only to turn round and realise it was a wax statue... Weird. It was also pretty tricky to take selfies with the statues as it's hard to fit you both in, and most of them aren't looking at the camera (surprised?) so they look a bit odd.

I quite liked the section about how they're all made. It takes around 800 hours (approx 66 x 12 hour days) to complete a figure. Mental! Still, a bit weird. Who even came up with that as a viable idea?

Me and my BFFs, Brangelina

Madame Tussauds Hollywood is $30 usually. That is probably something I would recommend, if that's your thing. But it's much more cost effective with the Go Card.

So by 2pm, I'd done $60 worth of stuff, and still had until 5:30pm to do more!

La Tapisserie de Bayeux

They have a plaque outside the museum saying
Charles & Dianna visited in 1987

Like I said in 'Une Excursion en Normandie', we arrived at the Tapestry Museum just as the paydesk was closing at 11:45am, but we were still able to look at the Tapestry itself.

We were expecting to have to pay 9€ each to get in, but Allison asked what age the 'billet de Jeune' was and the receptionist said '18, ou étudiants' so we managed to get in for just 4€ instead. Excellent discount!

We got one of those handheld audio guides for viewing the tapestry (helpful as I wouldn't have had a clue what I was really looking at otherwise!) which talked you through the different scenes and the storyline.

Also, we apparently weren't supposed to take any pictures but there were no signs anywhere so we just went ahead without using the flash as that's a fairly common rule. However, one of the people who worked there came and told us 'no pictures at all' right when we were about to leave so we'd already done it so... Enjoy!

The Beginning
Old King Ed asks Harold
to go to Normandy
(Bayeux Tapestry Scene 1)

So for pretty much everyone, including those in the UK who learnt about it in Year 8 History and can't remember anything (like me), basically the story of the tapestry is this:

L'Histoire de la Bataille de Hastings

Off Harold sails to Normandy
(with the men wading into
 the Channel with bare legs)
(Bayeux Tapestry Scenes 4-5)

"Next stop, Brittany"
Harold: "Oops, wrong stop."
Breton King: "You can be my prisoner"
(Bayeux Tapestry Scenes 7-8)

King Edward of Wessex (I think) realises that he's getting a bit old and that he'll probably die soon. He has no children to pass the throne on to so thinks, 'hey, I was exiled in Normandy for 20 years and my best bud was a guy called William the Bastard (probably also a cousin), he will be my heir'. 

William (I think) says goodbye
to his girlfriend (the one under the arch)
 by patting her on the head.
(Bayeux Tapestry Scene 15)

So he calls his brother-in-law, Anglo-Saxon Harold, and says "Hey Harold, could you sail across the channel and tell my best bud William that he's gonna be King please?"

(Top-middle) An abbey on a mountain
by the sea with the words /
'Mont' and 'Michaels' next to it?
It's Saint-Mont-Michel!
(Bayeux Tapestry Scenes 16-17)

William: "You owe me"
Harold: "Don't worry. I promise you
will be the next King in England."
William: "Swear it on these treasures."
Harold: "Ok then."
(Bayeux Tapestry Scene 23)

So off Harold goes to France, but there's some bad weather and their boats get steered off course and end up landing in the hostile land of Breton (Brittany) where there is a not very nice king who makes Harold and his travelling companions prisoner.


Good ol' Will in Normandy hears about this and is not happy about it, so off he rides with an army of Normans to save Harold from Breton (which he does).

King Edward dies.
He is buried in Westminster Abbey.
The hand of God reaches down.
(Bayeux Tapestry Scene 25)

Harold is grateful, but William says, "well, I've done you a huge favour so you now must swear on some golden treasures that I will definitely be king when my best bud Eddie dies". 

Harold (Far left): "I am King"
Spies: "Tut tut, let's go tell William..."
*Spies go tell William* (to the right)
(Bayeux Tapestry Scene 31-32)

Harold swears on
the treasure.

There's a bit somewhere (I think before he makes the oath) in which William and Harold ride around France conquering various bits of land.

William builds some boats
so they can sail across
the Channel to go fight Harold.
(Bayeux Tapestry Scene 35)

Anyway, Harold goes back to England where Edward dies/has died. Harold suddenly has an ephiphany:

The Normans get lots of supplies
ready for the battle
eg. armor, weapons, food and wine
(Bayeux Tapestry Scene 37)

"The King is dead. William isn't here. I want to be King. No one can stop me. Oh, ok, I'll just be King".


However, there are some spies in Harold's court and one of them runs off back to Normandy to tell William what has happened.

Off they ride to Battle!
(Bayeux Tapestry Scene 51)

Williams says "Ohhh heeeelll naaw", though actually it would have been in Norman Latin.... 'Awww, non non non'? 

The Battle of Begins,
somewhere around the town of
Battle in East Sussex
(Bayeux Tapestry Scene 52)

William builds a huge Norman army, constructs boats, readies supplies and sets sail for England to take back 'his' land.

William arrives in the south of England and has a lovely time making himself at home. "Hi people, I am your new King". He has a few feasts and rests. They've got loads of time before Harold even finds out they're there.

The Battle rages on
(Bayeux Tapestry Scene 55)

Meanwhile, Harold and the Anglo-Saxon armies are up north fighting off some Danish vikings who are trying to invade somewhere around Scotland. They win, but word reaches them that William is invading back down south (somewhere near Portsmouth) so they make the 400 mile ride south.

Lots of men and horses die
(Bayeux Tapestry Scene 53)

I realised I didn't get a picture of this key part
so I've borrowed one from Wikipedia.
Harold gets struck in the eye with an arrow and dies.
The battle is over.
(Bayeux Tapestry Scene 57)

There is a huge battle in Sussex between the Anglo-Saxons and Normans where many people (and horses) die. This is called the Battle of Hastings, and happened in the year 1066 (948 years ago).

Partly because they were tired from the ride down, and because William was so well prepared, they don't do so well. Then, finally, Harold dies from getting an arrow in the eye so William wins.

William takes the throne and is henceforth (or maybe he was before) known as William the Conqueror.

The End.

And there you go. Apologies for any obvious factual inaccuracies and/or ad-libbing.

Here's a picture to show how long it is
(almost 70 metres), this is just one half!

Replica of an 11th Century warship

I found out loads of interesting stuff here. For example, apparently at the time, the priests/bishops went to war alongside the King (kind of like a good luck charm) but they weren't allowed a sword or bow because it was against the rules for them to kill. So, instead they had a staff to knock people out with.

We got kicked out at 12pm when they closed for lunch so we just went to the Cathedral and had lunch, and then went back at 2pm (thankfully the ticket is valid all day).
The museum is quite interesting. There is an interactive touchscreen computer with projections onto the wall which shows you the different scenes on the Tapestry with a description - very helpful if you were a bit confused by the story the first time!

A (rather life-like) statue of
an 11th Century King

There was a lot of information about the threads and dyes used, and a bit about how it would have been sewn. Apparently they used just three types of dyes to create (I think) 8-10 different shades and colours, which are not as clear as they would have been due to aging, but some of which are quite vibrant.

They also had some information about what had happened to the Tapestry between the time it was made and now, and about how they have to store it to prevent damage.

There are beliefs that the Tapestry was made to hang around the knaves in the Notre-Dame du Bessin Cathedral of Bayeux, as they believe it was commissioned by the Bishop of Bayeux (I think that was William's brother or something).

The tapestry also apparently has a piece missing - historians believe that there was more to it at the end but that it has been damaged.

It has also survived (I think) three fires in the Cathedral, during which times the Tapestry was there, some really shoddy 'renovation' work, and then during the Revolution some French people stole it and used it as a tarpaulin to hide weapons and other smuggled things out of the city of Bayeux, however they were stopped and someone realised what the tarpaulin actually was and it was returned safely.

Tiny models of different Anglo-Saxon forts or Norman castles.
They had tiny little animals and people on them,
some barely bigger than a large crumb!

There was also a lot of statues and little figures about life in the 11th Century in the museum, and about the building and architecture of castles, and then a section where you could see the studies of different sections of the tapestry in more detail - which we skipped as we wanted to see the film instead that started at 15:15 in English.

The film was quite good. It was only 16 minutes and we spent the first 5 thinking, 'we know all of this already' but it then went into some more detail about how the tapestry would have been sewn, and some of the speculations about it. It also involved mini-clips of battle re-enactments.

We left at about 3:30pm (much later than anticipated), but I think it was worth it to watch the film and take our time going around the museum!

Definitely worth a visit if you're ever in Normandy!

L'Anniversaire de Theo

Gâteau d'Anniversaire
with a sparkler candle!

Le Pantagruel - Grill Restaurant

This week it was Theo's (one of the language assistants) birthday.

Theo invited me and the language assistants in the area out to dinner to celebrate. There were 8 of us altogether (7 girls and Theo), including a Chilean, two Americans (one of whom was Allison), a German, a Jamaican, a Costa-Rican and an Irish girl. Oh, and English me.

Pommeau Aperitif
(Apple juice
mixed with Calvados)

It was very multicultural gathering. It's a shame this didn't happen before my assessment for my 'Languages and Cultures' module - "discuss a recent Intercultural Encounter".

We all went to Le Pantegruel Restaurant - a grill restaurant near the centre of Cherbourg on Rue Tour Caree. It was a really nice little place with very friendly owners who all tried to speak English to the English speakers among us.

French Menu (left)
vs. English Menu (right)

Butcher's Choice Steak with Jacket Potato

They had an English Menu, but it just showed a very small selection of the main courses, rather than the whole menu in English so we needed the French menu anyway.

I had 'Onglet' - the butchers choice steak with jacket potato (I was having a potato craving as Fran is actually allergic to potato so we very rarely have it). It was really nice steak - possibly one of the best steaks I've ever had!

Giant bowl of chips!

Most people ordered chips and rather than coming on the individual's plates, they brought a huge bowl of them instead.

In between dinner and dessert, we all tried to inconspicuously sign a birthday card for Theo. It was working quite well behind the dessert menu, but then they took it away so we had to disappear surreptitiously to the bathroom!

The Dessert Menu - lots of choice!

L'Assiette du Pantagruel (Selection of 5 French desserts)

For dessert, I had planned on sharing the 'L'assiette du Pantagruel' (selection plate) with someone, but then ended up having it to myself. Oops. It had a selection of five desserts. When I asked what they were they said 'Ahh, surprise!' so I just risked it and ordered it anyway.



It was very nice. It came with a slice of brownie, apple tart (tarte tatin), pistachio ice cream in raspberry coulis, a creamy mouse and Iles Flottante ('floating island' - little meringues floating in creme anglais). It was really tasty!

Allison had Crème brûlée
I tried some, it was tasty!

The owners were very nice and had a chat with us (in a mix of English and French) about what schools the language assistants were at and what we all want to do 'when we grow up'/after studying etc.

French Border Collie puppy

We had to leave at 9:45pm as one of the other language assistants - Sara, the Irish girl - had to catch a bus as they don't live or work in the centre of Cherbourg like most of the others do.

While we were stood waiting, a man came up to us and asked if we were English (he'd heard us talking) and then showed us his gorgeous border collie puppy! Can't remember what its name was - something French...

The Napoleon Statue at Night

Afore mentioned frenchman came up to us again 10 mins later (we were still waiting for a non-existant bus to turn up for Sara) and asked "J'ai partager une l'eglise avec vous'. Now, my french isn't excellent but I understand 'I have to share a church with you'. I looked at him blankly thinking I'd misheard, when he said 'oh, yes sorry, I forgot. English'. He then preceded to tell us about some Christian retreat him and his wife run in the summer for 18-25 yr olds. Theo interjected with 'Oh, that sounds wonderful but we actually have to leave in April so we won't be here. I'm so sorry.' And then he left. Very odd.

Sara's bus never actually did turn up but she managed to call her supervisor at the school who came to get her instead.

Le Mercredi est Jour de Gâteau

The Apple Garden Café on Rue Gambetta

So this week, Allison and I decided to check out a new café she'd walked past with her host family. It was called 'Apple Garden Café'on Rue Gambetta. We went on Wednesday afternoon (fast becoming cake day), while Aurianne was asleep in the pram.

It was a lovely little café. Very clean and bright, with artwork in English and a bookshelf with lots of English books on it.

At first, we were a bit confused as to whether we ordered from the table or the counter (most cafés seem to be from the table), but no one came over and there was no menu... Also, all the cakes were in one of those glass display cases so we had to go up and have a look. We just ordered while we were over there.

The Apple Garden Café
(I believe that's the owner stood to
the right of the counter - Google tells me
his name is Derek Smith)

They didn't have quite the selection that some of the patisseries and cafés have, but it was more similar to a British café with a small selection (although the selection was more desserts than your custom shortbread and cakes that one might find in a café in the UK).

We went for 'Cheesecake Chocolat Blanc' and 'Panna Cotta Chocolat Noir'. They also had New York Cheesecake, which Allison (an American, albeit West Coast) had never heard of. Perhaps that's something we've created and given an American name? Like French toast - no one in France knows what French toast is supposed to be! Allison had also never heard of Panna Cotta, so I tried to explain that it was like a set custard cream dessert, probably from Italy (I got the origin right, but it's cream, egg white and honey according to Wikipedia!)

It was a good choice, (Allison was sad to realise they also had cookies but that we couldn't see them).

Dark Chocolate Panna Cotta (left)
and White Chocolate Cheesecake (right)

Aurianne isn't very well at the moment, and she woke up coughing after about 10 mins of sleep - not ideal, especially as she hadn't had a nap that morning. I then spent an hour trying to get her back to sleep (during which time she was fed cheesecake), and then she finally went back sleep again.

The (we think) owner came over to ask us how everything was - in English!! Allison didn't notice he was speaking English at first, but he was very nice. He had a (I think) French Canadian accent, so that would probably explain the English decor, and name of the Café. It was a very nice place though - it even has an outdoor patio (which lots of school kids went out to) which would be quite nice in the Summer!