Last Wednesday was boring French class then class with Bobby a.k.a. Dr. Clark at 1:30. We went to les Catacombes which are actually pretty cool. The catacombs were originally just tunnels where stone had been queried to build all of the wonderfully beautiful stone buildings that decorate the city of Paris. When they started running out of room in cememteries or had to remove cemeteries to build roads or more buildings, though, they had to find someplace to put the bodies. haha, sounds pleasant, no? So guess where the bodies went! That's right, the empty tunnels that were just sitting there...and thus, les catacombes were born! After our wonderful trip through the catacombs (involving a special dance on my part when I got dripped on by gross bone water. haha) we headed over to Chatelet-Les Halles et l'Eglise St. Eustiche. Chatelet-Les Halles is a big monster mess metro/RER station/shopping center/market-ish type situation. Back in the day, Les Halles was the site of the city wide Paris market, and that's kind of held over today because it's basically just a neighborhood of shops/restaurants/cafes/etc. It's a lot of fun to walk around, and some of the small shops aren't too shabby. There's also an underground shopping mall, for lack of a better term; the French don't have shopping malls, but that's pretty much what it is. And as for the metro/RER portion of this big mess, just an fyi, Chatelet-Les Halles is the largest underground metro/train station in the world. It's something like 5-6 metro lines intersect there, and I think 3-4 RER trains. It's a crazy mess, and if you can avoid transfering at those stops, THEN DO IT! Transfering in literally any other station will be easier. And l'Eglise St. Eustiche is a church located in the mess that is Chatelet. And amazingly cool me can't find my notes right now, but I do remember Cardinel Richelieu (think Louis XIII, The Three Musketeers) was baptised in the church, which is kinda cool. Also, Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, a.k.a. Madame de Pompadour, (the official royal mistress of Louis XV) was baptised in the church; and Mozart's mother's funeral was held there. Google it, the church has many more claims to fame, but that's what I remember off the top of my head.
And then, after that amazing afternoon...we went to a comedy show! And I became French in 1 hour! Woo-Hoo! haha. We saw this one-man comedy show at the Theatre de la Main d'Or called "How to become Parisian in One Hour" and it was tres hilarious. If you're ever in Paris, you should check it out! It's all in English, and if you've spent time in Paris or know French stereotypes, you'll enjoy it. Check it out!
http://www.billetreduc.com/30709/evt.htm
Thursday I went to class...and we watched Bienvenue Chez les Ch'tis in the afternoon! (translated, the title is Welcome to the Sticks) I love that movie! It's a comedy about Northern vs Southern stereotypes in France, and again, c'est tres hilarious! Get it. Watch it. English subtitles baby for those of you who don't speak French. Do it. Now. Haha, it really is a good movie and worth watching if you like comedies, even if you're no necessarily into French culture or anything.
Friday after French class, the Wildcats of Paris (haha, totally lame I know) plus my friend Emelie from French class went to le Centre Pompidou avec Dr. Clark. For anyone who semi-know any famous places in Paris other than the Eiffel Tower, the Pompidou Center is the "inside out building." It's HUGE, and 2 of the floors house the modern art museum. When in was built, all of the escalators/piping/whatever it's called that normally goes on the inside of a building was put on the outside. So anywho, we went there to see the modern art museum. Oh the joy...haha.
After the museum, Emelie showed us this AMAZING gelato place right on the Place de Centre Pompidou, so we of course had to stop for gelato. :) I then hung out at Emelie's appartment for a few hours, and then went with her to meet some friends at The Moose Bar and Grill (a Canadian bar, btw) to watch the England-Algeria football game! Go England! Even though it was a tie. :( Only a handfull of Algeria fans in a Canadian bar crowed with English fans...makes for an interesting night...especially when a good portion of the few Algeria fans were drunken Irishmen who just hated England in general. Haha...good times...
So for some change reason that I am completely incapable of explaining, I'm fascinated by the emergency exit sign used by basically the entire world, aside from the U.S. Don't ask me why, I just am. I laugh at the little green man every time I see him. And for the past month everytime I have seen him, I've wanted to do this. So when Laura found a life sized model of my love in the Centre Pompidou, I couldn't resist...
Look ma, I found the original Pinocchio!
Add some sun, a nice breeze, sand and some palm trees, and I am 100% behind this form of art.
So I think this is quite possibly my most favorite-est piece of art in the whole world...if this is all it takes to get in a modern art museum, I could so totally be famous.
The beauty that is le Centre Pompidou.
gelato...delicious...
Saturday Nina and I woke up at the crack of noon and went to lunch with our host family at this really good Japanese restaurant near the Opera. YUM! We then met Kristen, Amy, and Britney at Angelina's for hot chocolate! SUPER YUM! Angelina's is this restaurant/cafe on Rue de Rivoli, and it's famous for their hot chocolate...with good reason. Their hot chocolate is like drinking straight, rich, melted chocolate...c'est parfait! After death by delicious chocolate, we did a bit of shopping on Rue de Rivoli and then wandered around the Jardins des Tuileries for a bit. And then it started to rain on us. Big surprise. So we left. Because it was cold and wet. Haha. So I came home and passed out at about 7:30-8:00-ish...on my last Saturday night in Paris...how sad am I? :( But sleeping for 12+ hours that night was pretty magnificent.
Les Jardins des Tuileries facing le Petit Arche and past that Le Louvre.
just thought he looked kind of funny
Sunday saw us crawling out of bed around 1 and out of the house at like 3, and we went back to Puces de St. Ouen, the amazing flea market in the north of the city. Had fun, spent lots of money, got some cute gifts for myself and others= a good day :) I got some really cute scarves, and the CUTEST jacket EVER! It was love at first sight, and I just had to buy it. After a few hours at the flea market, we were in need of sustenance...so we headed down to Place de Madeliene and another famous cafe called Laduree. Except this cafe is famous for les macarons...one of the greatest masterpieces I have ever eaten in my life. Yuuuuuuum.
l'Eglise de Madeliene, namesake for Place de Madeliene where we found our delicous macaroons.
The maker of our delicious macaroons. Get the raspberry macaroons...they're the best.
Monday we ventured out to the southeastern area of the city with Dr. Clark and saw the Bibliotheque Nationale de Francois Mitterand. It's the French national library...it's huge...interesting design plan...kind of in the middle of nothing on the edge of the city. We then ventured to a little market type area in Bercy located in a former wine barrel storage area. It was a really cute area, and we stopped for some cafe. Next we went to le Bastille to end our afternoon together. Back in the day when Gare d'Orsay was still a train station, there were train tracks that lead through this part of Paris to the train station; since the station has been closed, the train tracks, in this area at least, have been redone and are now a beautiful elevated walkway with some great views.
Monday also happened to be le Fete de la Musique here. It's basically just a huge music festival that occurs every June 21st. There were various musical performances all over the city that included just about every music genre. Mostly I think they were local/not really famous artists, but some famous people make appearances! Like Alpha Blondy! No one in the States really knows him, but he is a famous French artist, and Nina saw him perform over at Chateau de Vincennes. Jack Johnson also happens to be making an appearance in Paris this week in honor of the fete...I believe he has shows this Wednesday and Thursday, at the Zenith, I think.
Le fete is definately a great cultural experience to take in if you're here and get the chance...it's lots of fun, and you can find some great music.
And now, after a long day of class, I'm enjoying the show that is Nina experiencing the wonders of Wii Fit...she's very focused, and that makes it all the more amusing for me...the lazy bum laying on the couch. :)
P.S. I can't believe we leave in 4 days! It's so sad, and the time has gone so fast! :(
