I must say, score one for the bum...it's been a week since I've been on here, sorry. But I have lots to write about now, so here we go...=)
Last Thursday was class all day...woo-hoo. A bunch of us from ISA tried going out Thursday night, and it ended up being more trouble than it was worth. They first club everyone wanted to go to ended up being this horrible techno place, and I had a migrane within 30 minutes. No bueno. So we eventually ended up at another place we went to our first week here that we like. The whole thing was a super pain, and it ended up being a rather annoying night. Oh well...c'est la vie. :)
Friday I had my first test in french class. Yay! Haha, not really. It wasn't anything painful or super challenging really, so it wasn't too bad. After class I met Nina at Les Halles (one of the metro stops here that also has RER connections; the RER is basically a metro that runs out to the suburbs.), and we went out to Val d'Europe where we met her friend Amelie for an afternoon of shopping. I got some cute scarves, so that made me happy! After dinner Friday night we met up with some other girls at Trocadero/the Eiffel Tower to watch the soccer game. It's kind of crazy being outside the U.S. during the World Cup because the entire world, aside from the U.S., LOVES le Coupe de Monde and supporting their soccer teams. So we had a good time cheering for France in their first match, which they tied by the way. (Side note: I am COMPLETELY shocked the U.S. was able to semi-pull it out and tie their game with Britain...dumbfounded really, but go us :) )
Saturday we took the RER out to Versailles. Beautiful chateau, beautiful gardens. If you get a chance to go to Versailles, definately try to visit Marie Antoinette's Hamlet, as well. It's gorgeous and much less imposing than the chateau itself. I took a boat ride on the canal with Bess, Cally, and Laura which was fun, because I didn't do that last time I was there. And possibly the highlight of my week...Saturday night we went to a show at the Moulin Rouge!!! Such a cliche, tourist-y thing to do, I know, but still amazing, and it's not something I'm ever going to do again. It was Jessie's birthday this weekend (one of the ISA girls), and she wanted to do something fun, so she decided to go to the Moulin Rouge and invited me and Nina! It was lots of fun, and the building is beautiful/so much fun! If you have the time and money (tickets are kinda pricey) you definately have to go to the Moulin Rouge...completely worth it!
Sunday Nina and I slept until noon, and it was absolutely AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think 7:30-8ish is the latest we've been able to sleep in this whole time, so noon was absolutely glorious. So when we finally crawled out of the house around 1:30 we were women on a mission...a mission to find McDonald's. Haha, how horrible is that? :) I think we've done well though, because that was the first McDonald's we've had here, and it's been nearly a month. After we got our Mickey D's, we went to this great flea market up by Porte de Clignacourt, one of the metro stops in the north of Paris. The market is called Puces de St. Ouen, and it's one of the biggest in the city. It was a lot of fun, and it's a great place to get souvenirs and gifts because everything really is pretty nice, and it's super cheap. So we spent a few hours there and then headed over to the Eiffel Tower with 2 other ISA girls. We made our official "top of the Eiffel Tower" visit (so much fun, great views!) and then called it a day!
Monday was more class, and then I took Nina up to Montmartre, Sacre Coeur, Place du Tertre, and the I Love You Wall. If anyone actually reads these super longs posts and remembers a few weeks ago when I was walking and my sandal broke, I have a little story for ya. So those sandals were my only pair of sandals here, and I don't want to pay the price of European shoes, plus no one in Europe has the same size monster feet as me, so I decided to fix my sandal and continue wearing it. I safetly pinned and taped the strap, and it was good as new. So I was wearing these sandals yesterday when we were walking in Montmartre, and I get my other sandal, the non-broken one, stuck on a step, and it broke. Only the strap that broke on this one wasn't fixable; so I stole a hair tie from Nina and again walked around with a hair tie around my foot keeping my shoe on. Which was great until we were on our way home and the hairtie snapped. So I finally had to give in and throw away my shoes, and I walked home barefoot. :( It was a sad day for me, saying goodbye to my cute shoes. *tear*
And today was class and more class...nothing exciting today...except that 2 weeks from today I will be in London! I can't believe how quickly time is flying here!
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
kind of hard to see, but the beach runs right up to the parking lot of Mont St. Michel, and there are times when high tide causes the parking lot to be non-existant and if cars are there, they can drift away and become not so great boats...
Mont St. Michel
Barrels used in making the various drinks at the apple farm we toured.
barbed wire left at Pointe d'Hoc, another beach of D-Day
American Cememetery at Omaha Beach
Omaha Beach, Normandy; main beach of D-Day.
mine and Nina's faces at being awake at 7:30 on a Saturday morning...beautiful, no?
some cool grafitti I found walking home from the park.
Canal du Villette
Le Sorbonne
A semi-ok view of l'Eglise Ste Genevieve...aside from the van...
Beautiful window in l'Eglise Ste Genevieve du Mont.
A side view of the Pantheon; somehow I didn't get a single full view shot of the front...really have no idea how I managed that with the number of pictures I took.
This is a not so great picture of my good buddy Voltaire, who happens to be buried in the crypt of the Pantheon.
"Live free or die."
dedicated to the heros of France
Apparently this bad boy will never stop spinning because of the rotation of the earth; I don't really know what it is or why it's there, it was just kind of cool and interesting. It's suspended from the dome of the Pantheon and it will never be still; there's some sort of importance to the numbers running around the base, but again I don't know what.
beautiful dome of the Pantheon
le Palais de Justice
beautiful stained glass windows in Ste Chapelle
They had a room with plaques dedicated to everyone who was guillotined during the Revolution; we found King Louis XVI.
a guillotine blade on display in the Conciergerie
le Conciergerie
Sunday, June 6, 2010
So we spent this weekend admiring the beauty that is the Loire Valley. The Val de la Loire is basically Chateaux Valley in France; I think it's something around 560 chateaux are located in the region. I might be lieing...I was only semi-listening during our little info session on the bus, but I do remember for sure it's some ridiculous number in the hundreds. So essentially, every other corner, every time you turn around, you will see a different chateau.
We left bright and early Saturday morning (Nina and I off to a great start oversleeping by about 40 minutes) and headed straight for Chenonceau. Chenonceau is absolutely beautiful; it's known as "le Chateau des Dames," "the Castle of the Ladies." Throughout its history, Chenonceau has been presided over by five prominent women, thus resulting in said name: Diane de Poitiers, Catherine de Medici, Louise de Lorraine, Gabrielle d'Estrees, and Louise Dupin. Diane de Poitiers was the first mistress of Chenonceau as well as the mistress of King Henry II. (Random, slightly awkward fact, Diane de Poitiers was also the mistress of Henry's father, King Francis I.) Henry II was actually married to Catherine de Medici, but he loved his mistress Diane more, and thus gave her control over the chateau. When Henry II died in 1559, the crown was left to his son Francis II who was too young to rule. Catherine de Medici took control and ruled as Regent for her young son; with this new power she was able to expel Diane de Poitiers from the chateau. These two women were probably the most infuential in turning Chenonceau into what it is today. Before Diane the chateau was smaller remnants of a fortress previously owned by a noble family; she had the bridge built that joins the banks of the River Cher. When Catherine took over, she had the Grand Gallery constructed on the bridge which led to the eventual full structure that is seen today. Under Catherine, Chenonceau was a center for high court life and lavish parties. After Catherine the chateau was ruled by Louise de Lorraine, wife to King Henry III. When Henry III was assassinated, Louise fell into a state of depression, made her bed chamber a room of 100% black, and brought nuns to the chateau to make it a convent, praying for her husband's soul everyday. Gabrielle d'Estrees was a favorite mistress of King Henry IV who controlled the chateau for a time. The next significant woman of the chateau was Louise Dupin, who saved the chateau from destruction during the French Revolution. During WWI the Grand Gallery constructed by Catherine de Midici was used as a hospital ward; WWII saw the chateau used as an escape route from the Nazi occupied territory on one side of the River Cher to the free Vichy zone on the opposite bank.
After exploring the beauty that is Chenonceau, we ventured to Amboise and visited le Clos Luce, the mansion of Leonardo da Vinci. Da Vinci spent the last few years of his life living in the French chateau as a guest of the king. It's a beautiful house with amazing gardens. And really good ice cream at the restaurant/gift shop. Then we headed to Tours where we spent the evening.
Sunday we visited the Chateau de Chambord, the man's castle of the region. It was constructed under King Francois I and is the largest chateau in the region. It's located in a clearing surrounded by woods, because it was constructed as the king's hunting lodge. The plan for the chateau is contributed to Leondardo da Vinci by some, but no one really knows for sure. The "double helix" staircase in the center of the chateau, however, is a known creation of da Vinci. We were able to go on a little boat trip around the moat after exploring the chateau; an interesting feat for 4 girls who aren't too skilled in the art of rowing a boat. We had a good time serenading everyone in the vicinity, though, while we were on the water.
Monday I had class, then we met Dr. Clark at l'Opera Garnier for the afternoon. The opera house was commissioned by Napolean III when the previous Paris Opera was burned. I am completely, totally in love with this building. It is absolutely BEAUTIFUL. It also happens to be the opera that inspired Gaston Leroux to write Le Fantome de l'Opera; there really was an under ground lake that had to be emptied when they began construction, and there was a performance once when the grand chandelier crashed into the audience and killed one person. After l'Opera Garnier we walked to Place Vendome, the Bourse de Commerce, Place de Liberty, and the Jardin du Palais Royal.
Today after class we met Dr. Clark and took the metro to the Musee Gustave Moreau. I've never seen his work before, but some of it is pretty amazing, and I think I'm slightly in love with it now. We then trekked up to Montmartre, through the rain (because guess what, it rained again today...all day...). If you ever want a good day's worth of exercise, walk up to Montmartre; it's lots of uphill and lots of steps. We walked by the Moulin Rouge (a must see :p ), the "I love you wall," and then on up to Sacre Coeur (again, even more stairs and also a must see). And all of it in the rain! I just love the rain so much...however, despite the rain, it was a good day with many great sights!
We left bright and early Saturday morning (Nina and I off to a great start oversleeping by about 40 minutes) and headed straight for Chenonceau. Chenonceau is absolutely beautiful; it's known as "le Chateau des Dames," "the Castle of the Ladies." Throughout its history, Chenonceau has been presided over by five prominent women, thus resulting in said name: Diane de Poitiers, Catherine de Medici, Louise de Lorraine, Gabrielle d'Estrees, and Louise Dupin. Diane de Poitiers was the first mistress of Chenonceau as well as the mistress of King Henry II. (Random, slightly awkward fact, Diane de Poitiers was also the mistress of Henry's father, King Francis I.) Henry II was actually married to Catherine de Medici, but he loved his mistress Diane more, and thus gave her control over the chateau. When Henry II died in 1559, the crown was left to his son Francis II who was too young to rule. Catherine de Medici took control and ruled as Regent for her young son; with this new power she was able to expel Diane de Poitiers from the chateau. These two women were probably the most infuential in turning Chenonceau into what it is today. Before Diane the chateau was smaller remnants of a fortress previously owned by a noble family; she had the bridge built that joins the banks of the River Cher. When Catherine took over, she had the Grand Gallery constructed on the bridge which led to the eventual full structure that is seen today. Under Catherine, Chenonceau was a center for high court life and lavish parties. After Catherine the chateau was ruled by Louise de Lorraine, wife to King Henry III. When Henry III was assassinated, Louise fell into a state of depression, made her bed chamber a room of 100% black, and brought nuns to the chateau to make it a convent, praying for her husband's soul everyday. Gabrielle d'Estrees was a favorite mistress of King Henry IV who controlled the chateau for a time. The next significant woman of the chateau was Louise Dupin, who saved the chateau from destruction during the French Revolution. During WWI the Grand Gallery constructed by Catherine de Midici was used as a hospital ward; WWII saw the chateau used as an escape route from the Nazi occupied territory on one side of the River Cher to the free Vichy zone on the opposite bank.
After exploring the beauty that is Chenonceau, we ventured to Amboise and visited le Clos Luce, the mansion of Leonardo da Vinci. Da Vinci spent the last few years of his life living in the French chateau as a guest of the king. It's a beautiful house with amazing gardens. And really good ice cream at the restaurant/gift shop. Then we headed to Tours where we spent the evening.
Sunday we visited the Chateau de Chambord, the man's castle of the region. It was constructed under King Francois I and is the largest chateau in the region. It's located in a clearing surrounded by woods, because it was constructed as the king's hunting lodge. The plan for the chateau is contributed to Leondardo da Vinci by some, but no one really knows for sure. The "double helix" staircase in the center of the chateau, however, is a known creation of da Vinci. We were able to go on a little boat trip around the moat after exploring the chateau; an interesting feat for 4 girls who aren't too skilled in the art of rowing a boat. We had a good time serenading everyone in the vicinity, though, while we were on the water.
Monday I had class, then we met Dr. Clark at l'Opera Garnier for the afternoon. The opera house was commissioned by Napolean III when the previous Paris Opera was burned. I am completely, totally in love with this building. It is absolutely BEAUTIFUL. It also happens to be the opera that inspired Gaston Leroux to write Le Fantome de l'Opera; there really was an under ground lake that had to be emptied when they began construction, and there was a performance once when the grand chandelier crashed into the audience and killed one person. After l'Opera Garnier we walked to Place Vendome, the Bourse de Commerce, Place de Liberty, and the Jardin du Palais Royal.
Today after class we met Dr. Clark and took the metro to the Musee Gustave Moreau. I've never seen his work before, but some of it is pretty amazing, and I think I'm slightly in love with it now. We then trekked up to Montmartre, through the rain (because guess what, it rained again today...all day...). If you ever want a good day's worth of exercise, walk up to Montmartre; it's lots of uphill and lots of steps. We walked by the Moulin Rouge (a must see :p ), the "I love you wall," and then on up to Sacre Coeur (again, even more stairs and also a must see). And all of it in the rain! I just love the rain so much...however, despite the rain, it was a good day with many great sights!
Friday, June 4, 2010
So I got through last weekend on my last update...let's see if I can officially get caught up on the week tonight.
Monday was death by French placement examination. Basically everyone enrolled at the Catho for this language program I'm in had to go in for an oral interview to make sure we were placed in the correct level from our online written exam last month. It really wasn't too, too horrible...but it still sucked. What exam doesn't? So I went shopping with Laura (one of the other KSU students) afterwards and bought a new purse to cheer myself up! =) We met Dr. Clark at 1 at the Catho, and we took the bus over to Notre Dame for our official inside visit. Notre-Dame is absolutely amazing. There's so much history and so many lessons in the structure; you could literally stare at that building for days and not run out of new bits of info. After Notre-Dame (located on the Ile de la Cite) we walked over to the Ile St. Louis for some glace (ice cream!). (The Ile de la Cite and Ile St. Louis are the oldest parts of the city. Way back in the day before Paris was Paris and before Caesar conquered the world and all that good stuff, a small tribe of natives inhabited these two islands located in the Seine River. If you're interested, the city of Paris has a really long and very interesting history, especially in it's development from a tiny farm tribe on the islands.) Anyways, point to this: the Ile St. Louis is basically just a residential area today, but it has some of the best glaceries in the whole city. (The glace and crepes are two must haves on any Parisian adventure.) After our ice cream (which super talented me sadly dropped half of mine on the street =[ ) we walked to l'Eglise St. Gervais and l'Eglise St. Paul. Beautiful churches, and again tons of history if I just had the brain cells to remember at the moment.
Tuesday was the first day of French classes at the Catho. French Universities (really European Universities in general) are a lot more strict in their langauge placements. You might be in advanced language classes at an American university, but at a European one you could get placed in an elementary or intermediate level. I tested into the Intermediate 1 with my written test, but because my speaking/comprehension skills aren't too great, I'm officially in Elementary 3, one level down. I think it will be good for me though, because speaking really is my biggest weakness right now in my French education. So I went to my first class, which wasn't too bad, had lunch, bought my text book, came home, and passed out for about 4 hours. I had planned on doing some work since I had a free afternoon, but almost as soon as I saw my bed, I was out. I woke up for a delicious dinner, though. I really don't know how to describe it, but was had what's called flammkueche. It's kind of like pizza without sauce, but so much better. Nina and I are completely in love with it.
Wednesday I had 6 hours of class, because I had my morning grammar class and afternoon writing class. (Normally the writing class is on Tuesdays, but it got changed to Wednesday for this week.) So yeah, class was class...so much fun...ha. :p After class we again met Dr. Clark; it was time for our Louvre trip. We focused mostly on the history of the building itself, instead of the beaucoup des oevres (lots of artwork). We saw the oldest section of the original palace of Henry IV, the beautiful architecture and details. We went through the exhibit that shows the evolution of the Louvre, from a Middle Ages structure to a Palace to the current museum structure. One of the coolest parts of the Louvre (in my opinion) is the section of original foundation from the Medieval fortress. It's crazy to walk through the excavations and to jsut think about what it used to be and how old the stones are. We went through a statue gallery (of which there are many, and I can't give more specifics about the one we were in), Napoleon III's royal apartments; we saw the Royal Crown jewels (including the Crown Napoleon used to crown himself emperor) and the Mona Lisa (of course). We also spent some time looking at a few famous French paintings (seeing as it is a French culture course); as horrible as it is, the only painter I remember off the top of my head is Delacroix, because he's the only French painter I had heard of before. That was the end of our official Louvre visit, and believe me it was more than enough. There is just so much in the Louvre, it's overwhelming, and you can really only do small increments of time to truly appreciate everything, or else it's too much.
(Side note: the Louvre is free-gratuit-Friday nights from 6-9:45 for students 18-26, and there's also apparently music on Friday nights.)
Thursday I had another wonderful 6 hours of class: grammer in the morning and a speaking/comprehension class in the afternoon. Again, tons of fun. We get 2 hours in between classes for lunch, which is commpletely normal for most Europeans, but for Americans it seems completely ridiculous. We eat lunch in 30 minutes and go back to school/work/etc. So after I was done with lunch in 1/2 an hour, I had no idea what to do for the next 90 minutes of my life. The Catho is located in the Latin Quater just around the corner from the Jardin du Luxembourg, so I decided to hang out in the park for an hour. It was actually really nice to just go sit and relax for an hour; the weather was beautiful and it's fun to watch all the people there (creeper, I know :p). Quick story time: I was sitting in the park, no body of water in sight as far as I could tell, and these two ducks waddle in front of me and start exploring the area. They were so cute, and it was so random! I loved it! After a wonderful and incredibly long lunch was more class, as I said. After classes ISA had a group outing organized: les Bateaux Mouches! (It literally mean fly boats, but they're just sight seeing cruises along the Seine.) We had 2 hours in between class and when we had to meet, so there was no point for me to come home (I have nearly an hour commute to school). I ended up going to Chatelet (a super massive mess of every metro line in the city, restaurants, cafes, and shops) with a few other people. We found this little restaurant that had pizza (they wanted pizza) and also just happened to have cheeseburgers and fries. I feel like I've done fairly well these last 2 weeks not eating pizza and burgers and fries, and I have yet to step foot in a McDonald's, and I LOVE all the tradition French meals I've been having, but I have to confess I broke down and ordered a cheeseburger with fries. And it was absolutely delicious. It really was a very good, legit monster hamburger, which surprised me. And I do feel kind of bad that I broke down...but it was so worth it. So after my treasonous burger for dinner, we went to the Bateaux Mouches for our boat ride! (The metro stop where we met right by the river also happens to be the at the same tunnel where Princess Di was killed, so that was kind of cool to see.) If you're ever in Paris and have the time and money, do the Bateaux Mouches; some of the best views in the city come from along the Seine, and this way you get to see them all! After the river, a group of us decided to go out for some dinner. We ended up wandering around for probably close to an hour, and we finally ended up at some small bar/cafe on a side street off the Champs Elysee. It was a lot of fun, and we all felt tres French. :p
And today (yeah, finally!), you guessed it, I had class again! Woo-hoo! Getting to class today was actually a super pain, because line 4 (the main line I take to get to the Catho) was having some problems; no idea what was going on, but it took forever and was super annoying. But I finally got there. After class, KSU went to the Musee d'Orsay. I was really excited for this trip, because I've wanted to go to the Musee d'Orsay since the last time I was here. It's a beautful museum right on the Seine; back in the day (the early 20th century) in was a train station that ran from Paris to Orleans. When electric trains came into use, the trains became too large for the station, so it fell out of use. It was eventually reopened as the museum. It houses a large impressionist and postimpressionist galley, so that was a lot of fun to look at. The building itself is absolutely beautiful, and I think I'm in love with it. We saw some van Gogh, Monet, Renoir, Manet, Rodin, just to name a few and give an idea of the museum's collection. Nina actually joined us for that little excursion today, so when we were done with class there, Nina and I walked along the Seine to the Champs des Mars, the park that runs up to the Tour Eiffel. It was a long walk, but totally worth it with some great views and photo ops. We spent about an hour basking in the sun and enjoying the beauty that is the Eiffel Tower. We eventually wandered home and had a delicious dinner of smoked salmon and salad with Sylvie and Alice.
Nina and I made a wonderful discovery today: the amazing-ness that is "Where's Waldo?" in the States is called "Ou est Charlie?" in France. We found this "Ou est Charlie?" book in the museum gift shop today, and I had to buy it. I have to say, I love the fact that 2 of my 4 strictly souvenir purchases (both of which have been my only 2 museum purchases, as well) are actually children's books. How amazing is that? :) I now own a copy of "Ou est Charlie?" curtesy of the Musee d'Orsay, and a children's legneds of France book curtesy of the Musee du Moyen Age.
And now I am officially caught up! Woo-hoo! Go me =D I will eventually get more pictures of everything on here, but that will probably take me forever, because again, I'm a bum :) Now I get to go pack for this weekend; we are off to the Loire Valley tomorrow morning at 7:30!
Monday was death by French placement examination. Basically everyone enrolled at the Catho for this language program I'm in had to go in for an oral interview to make sure we were placed in the correct level from our online written exam last month. It really wasn't too, too horrible...but it still sucked. What exam doesn't? So I went shopping with Laura (one of the other KSU students) afterwards and bought a new purse to cheer myself up! =) We met Dr. Clark at 1 at the Catho, and we took the bus over to Notre Dame for our official inside visit. Notre-Dame is absolutely amazing. There's so much history and so many lessons in the structure; you could literally stare at that building for days and not run out of new bits of info. After Notre-Dame (located on the Ile de la Cite) we walked over to the Ile St. Louis for some glace (ice cream!). (The Ile de la Cite and Ile St. Louis are the oldest parts of the city. Way back in the day before Paris was Paris and before Caesar conquered the world and all that good stuff, a small tribe of natives inhabited these two islands located in the Seine River. If you're interested, the city of Paris has a really long and very interesting history, especially in it's development from a tiny farm tribe on the islands.) Anyways, point to this: the Ile St. Louis is basically just a residential area today, but it has some of the best glaceries in the whole city. (The glace and crepes are two must haves on any Parisian adventure.) After our ice cream (which super talented me sadly dropped half of mine on the street =[ ) we walked to l'Eglise St. Gervais and l'Eglise St. Paul. Beautiful churches, and again tons of history if I just had the brain cells to remember at the moment.
Tuesday was the first day of French classes at the Catho. French Universities (really European Universities in general) are a lot more strict in their langauge placements. You might be in advanced language classes at an American university, but at a European one you could get placed in an elementary or intermediate level. I tested into the Intermediate 1 with my written test, but because my speaking/comprehension skills aren't too great, I'm officially in Elementary 3, one level down. I think it will be good for me though, because speaking really is my biggest weakness right now in my French education. So I went to my first class, which wasn't too bad, had lunch, bought my text book, came home, and passed out for about 4 hours. I had planned on doing some work since I had a free afternoon, but almost as soon as I saw my bed, I was out. I woke up for a delicious dinner, though. I really don't know how to describe it, but was had what's called flammkueche. It's kind of like pizza without sauce, but so much better. Nina and I are completely in love with it.
Wednesday I had 6 hours of class, because I had my morning grammar class and afternoon writing class. (Normally the writing class is on Tuesdays, but it got changed to Wednesday for this week.) So yeah, class was class...so much fun...ha. :p After class we again met Dr. Clark; it was time for our Louvre trip. We focused mostly on the history of the building itself, instead of the beaucoup des oevres (lots of artwork). We saw the oldest section of the original palace of Henry IV, the beautiful architecture and details. We went through the exhibit that shows the evolution of the Louvre, from a Middle Ages structure to a Palace to the current museum structure. One of the coolest parts of the Louvre (in my opinion) is the section of original foundation from the Medieval fortress. It's crazy to walk through the excavations and to jsut think about what it used to be and how old the stones are. We went through a statue gallery (of which there are many, and I can't give more specifics about the one we were in), Napoleon III's royal apartments; we saw the Royal Crown jewels (including the Crown Napoleon used to crown himself emperor) and the Mona Lisa (of course). We also spent some time looking at a few famous French paintings (seeing as it is a French culture course); as horrible as it is, the only painter I remember off the top of my head is Delacroix, because he's the only French painter I had heard of before. That was the end of our official Louvre visit, and believe me it was more than enough. There is just so much in the Louvre, it's overwhelming, and you can really only do small increments of time to truly appreciate everything, or else it's too much.
(Side note: the Louvre is free-gratuit-Friday nights from 6-9:45 for students 18-26, and there's also apparently music on Friday nights.)
Thursday I had another wonderful 6 hours of class: grammer in the morning and a speaking/comprehension class in the afternoon. Again, tons of fun. We get 2 hours in between classes for lunch, which is commpletely normal for most Europeans, but for Americans it seems completely ridiculous. We eat lunch in 30 minutes and go back to school/work/etc. So after I was done with lunch in 1/2 an hour, I had no idea what to do for the next 90 minutes of my life. The Catho is located in the Latin Quater just around the corner from the Jardin du Luxembourg, so I decided to hang out in the park for an hour. It was actually really nice to just go sit and relax for an hour; the weather was beautiful and it's fun to watch all the people there (creeper, I know :p). Quick story time: I was sitting in the park, no body of water in sight as far as I could tell, and these two ducks waddle in front of me and start exploring the area. They were so cute, and it was so random! I loved it! After a wonderful and incredibly long lunch was more class, as I said. After classes ISA had a group outing organized: les Bateaux Mouches! (It literally mean fly boats, but they're just sight seeing cruises along the Seine.) We had 2 hours in between class and when we had to meet, so there was no point for me to come home (I have nearly an hour commute to school). I ended up going to Chatelet (a super massive mess of every metro line in the city, restaurants, cafes, and shops) with a few other people. We found this little restaurant that had pizza (they wanted pizza) and also just happened to have cheeseburgers and fries. I feel like I've done fairly well these last 2 weeks not eating pizza and burgers and fries, and I have yet to step foot in a McDonald's, and I LOVE all the tradition French meals I've been having, but I have to confess I broke down and ordered a cheeseburger with fries. And it was absolutely delicious. It really was a very good, legit monster hamburger, which surprised me. And I do feel kind of bad that I broke down...but it was so worth it. So after my treasonous burger for dinner, we went to the Bateaux Mouches for our boat ride! (The metro stop where we met right by the river also happens to be the at the same tunnel where Princess Di was killed, so that was kind of cool to see.) If you're ever in Paris and have the time and money, do the Bateaux Mouches; some of the best views in the city come from along the Seine, and this way you get to see them all! After the river, a group of us decided to go out for some dinner. We ended up wandering around for probably close to an hour, and we finally ended up at some small bar/cafe on a side street off the Champs Elysee. It was a lot of fun, and we all felt tres French. :p
And today (yeah, finally!), you guessed it, I had class again! Woo-hoo! Getting to class today was actually a super pain, because line 4 (the main line I take to get to the Catho) was having some problems; no idea what was going on, but it took forever and was super annoying. But I finally got there. After class, KSU went to the Musee d'Orsay. I was really excited for this trip, because I've wanted to go to the Musee d'Orsay since the last time I was here. It's a beautful museum right on the Seine; back in the day (the early 20th century) in was a train station that ran from Paris to Orleans. When electric trains came into use, the trains became too large for the station, so it fell out of use. It was eventually reopened as the museum. It houses a large impressionist and postimpressionist galley, so that was a lot of fun to look at. The building itself is absolutely beautiful, and I think I'm in love with it. We saw some van Gogh, Monet, Renoir, Manet, Rodin, just to name a few and give an idea of the museum's collection. Nina actually joined us for that little excursion today, so when we were done with class there, Nina and I walked along the Seine to the Champs des Mars, the park that runs up to the Tour Eiffel. It was a long walk, but totally worth it with some great views and photo ops. We spent about an hour basking in the sun and enjoying the beauty that is the Eiffel Tower. We eventually wandered home and had a delicious dinner of smoked salmon and salad with Sylvie and Alice.
Nina and I made a wonderful discovery today: the amazing-ness that is "Where's Waldo?" in the States is called "Ou est Charlie?" in France. We found this "Ou est Charlie?" book in the museum gift shop today, and I had to buy it. I have to say, I love the fact that 2 of my 4 strictly souvenir purchases (both of which have been my only 2 museum purchases, as well) are actually children's books. How amazing is that? :) I now own a copy of "Ou est Charlie?" curtesy of the Musee d'Orsay, and a children's legneds of France book curtesy of the Musee du Moyen Age.
And now I am officially caught up! Woo-hoo! Go me =D I will eventually get more pictures of everything on here, but that will probably take me forever, because again, I'm a bum :) Now I get to go pack for this weekend; we are off to the Loire Valley tomorrow morning at 7:30!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
So I feel slightly like a lazy bum seeing as I've been here for almost 2 weeks, and I've written about 3 days...I also feel like maybe I should back track a bit and explain what I'm doing here.
I'm in Paris for roughly 6 weeks with the study abroad program International Studies Abroad (ISA). I am enrolled at the Catholic University of Paris (the Catho) in 90 contact hours/week of French language. I have a grammar class at the Catho Mon-Fri 9-12, and a writing/speaking workshop class Tue & Thur 2-5. I'm also taking a class through Kansas State University with my professor Dr. Clark. The K-State class is basically an on-site historical/cultural history of Paris class where we go to what seems like every museum and church in the city. With ISA, participants have the option to live in a homestay, an apartment, or a dorm; I obviously chose the homestay.
I think that basically sums up what I'm doing in the wonderful city of Paris.
Now, being the bum that I am, a quick run down of the last week, so that I can kinda-sorta be caught up.
Last Thursday...it rained...and rained...and rained some more. And to top off the wonderful day of rain, my sandal broke on my way to a meeting that morning, so I walked around all day with a hair tie keeping my shoe on my foot. Not the greatest day of my life, to say the least. Anywho...I had a meeting with ISA Thursday morning at the Catho, just basic tips on living in Paris and not being a tourist. Afterwards, we met Dr. Clark for an afternoon of class. We walked to the church St. Germain des Pres, one of the oldest churches in the city. Then we took a leisurely stroll through the rain and saw the Square Delacroix (where the famous French artist Delacroix lived), the Art District of Paris, l'Institut Francaise (no lies, literally the institute that decides what words are "French-enough" to be put in the dictionary. That sounds kind of mean, but it's essentially what they do- the institute was created back in the day in an effort to keep the French language pure.), we walked by the Louvre, and crossed the Pont Neuf (beautiful views of the Seine!). We then visited le Conciergerie et la Sainte Chapelle. The Conciergerie was a prison during the Revolution, and you can see reproductions of the cells used (including Marie Antionette's cell). Sainte Chapelle is a beautiful church, full of gorgeous stained glass windows. It's probably the most known for its reliquaries that housed a piece of the Crown of Thorns and a part of the True Cross brought back from the Crusades. Both buildings are located on the Ile de la Cite, the oldest part of the city, next to the Palais du Justice. We then made a quick jaunt over to Notre Dame de Paris in the pouring rain, had a quick discussion about some of the architecture, and called it a day. On my way home, I had my first (and hopefully only) experience with the RER. (The RER is kind of like the metro, only it's a slightly bigger train and runs out into the suburbs.) Unless you are going into the suburbs, or literally across the entire city and the RER doesn't require line changes, take the metro. The metro runs more often between stations and is less crowded than the RER. (Yes the metro can be crowded and jam-packed, but far less so than the RER, trust me.)
Friday we met Dr. Clark at the Pantheon. The Pantheon was commissioned by King Louis XV to replace the Abbey of St. Genevieve (the patron saint of Paris). During/after the revolution, the structure was changed to a mausoleum/tribute to prominent French citizens. Voltaire is buried in the crypt there, Jean Jacque Rousseau, the Curies, and many other people, the names of which escape me at the moment. After the Pantheon we went around the corner to l'Eglise St. Genevieve du Mont, a beautiful church dedicated to the Patron Saint of the City. After l'eglise (the church), we stopped for cafe a la Place du Sorbonne. All of Friday's activities were in the Latin Quarter of the city on le Rive Gauche. I did a bit of quick shopping with Michelle (one of the other K-Staters) on Rue d'Alesia in the southern part of the city. Rue d'Alesia is supposed to be one of the cheaper areas to shop, for people like me who can't afford $300 shirts in Galleries Lafayette or Printemps. I then spent a few leisurely hours exploring la Parc du Villette which is about a 20 minute walk from where I live. The canal Nina and I found last week runs through the park, there's also a science museum/center there and a huge music hall. It's a great place to just wander around.
Saturday and Sunday we spend in Normandy. One of the nice things about the ISA program is the weekend trips they organize for us. For this first weekend, we went to Normandy and visited the D-Day museum, Omaha Beach, the American Cemetery, and Mont St. Michel. We spent most of Saturday at the Museum and Omaha Beach/the American Cemetery. Omaha Beach is absolutely beautiful and completely mind-boggling. Standing on the beach, it's almost impossible to reconcile the images constantly seen from WWII with the image of the beach today. The two images are so at odds with eachother, it just makes what happened there 66 years ago that much more surreal and sobering. An interesting fact about the American Cememtery there: the land was actually gifted to the U.S. government by the French, so when you visit the cemetery, you're on American soil. Again, to walk through the cemetery is such a surreal experience just because of what happened and what it represents. After those visits, we made a surprise stop at a local apple farm, the Ferme de la Sapiniere. Apples are apparently one of the specialties in that particular region of Normandy, so the farms specialize in Jus de Pomme, Cidre, Pommeau, and Calvados (apple juice, and 3 alcohol drinks with increasing strength). I normally hate apple juice in the States, but I have to say the Jus de Pomme is possibly one of the greatest things I have ever had; it's like drinking a crisp, juicy apple, and it's delicious. The production on these farms is a 4 step process, each step resulting in one of the aforementioned drinks. Jus de Pomme is the most basic, an extra processing step results in cidre, then pommeau, and finally calvados, so they are continually producing all 4 drinks. The farm is a fairly small set-up, but they produce a lot of apple products that are bought all over the country. Sunday we went to Mont St. Michel, which is an absolutely beautiful church with a long history of progression that I can't remember right now. Basically, just like every other church in France, it started as a small abbey, and has been added on to and rebuilt, and it has grown into a beautiful structure that crowns a tiny island in a bay. Sorry this isn't more informative, but it's 12:15 am, and I'm tired. After Mont St. Michel was a 4-5 hour drive back to Paris, and lots of sleep.
So I think that's enought rambling for now; I'll finish updating everything (hopefully) tomorrow, and get some pictures of everything uploaded.
I'm in Paris for roughly 6 weeks with the study abroad program International Studies Abroad (ISA). I am enrolled at the Catholic University of Paris (the Catho) in 90 contact hours/week of French language. I have a grammar class at the Catho Mon-Fri 9-12, and a writing/speaking workshop class Tue & Thur 2-5. I'm also taking a class through Kansas State University with my professor Dr. Clark. The K-State class is basically an on-site historical/cultural history of Paris class where we go to what seems like every museum and church in the city. With ISA, participants have the option to live in a homestay, an apartment, or a dorm; I obviously chose the homestay.
I think that basically sums up what I'm doing in the wonderful city of Paris.
Now, being the bum that I am, a quick run down of the last week, so that I can kinda-sorta be caught up.
Last Thursday...it rained...and rained...and rained some more. And to top off the wonderful day of rain, my sandal broke on my way to a meeting that morning, so I walked around all day with a hair tie keeping my shoe on my foot. Not the greatest day of my life, to say the least. Anywho...I had a meeting with ISA Thursday morning at the Catho, just basic tips on living in Paris and not being a tourist. Afterwards, we met Dr. Clark for an afternoon of class. We walked to the church St. Germain des Pres, one of the oldest churches in the city. Then we took a leisurely stroll through the rain and saw the Square Delacroix (where the famous French artist Delacroix lived), the Art District of Paris, l'Institut Francaise (no lies, literally the institute that decides what words are "French-enough" to be put in the dictionary. That sounds kind of mean, but it's essentially what they do- the institute was created back in the day in an effort to keep the French language pure.), we walked by the Louvre, and crossed the Pont Neuf (beautiful views of the Seine!). We then visited le Conciergerie et la Sainte Chapelle. The Conciergerie was a prison during the Revolution, and you can see reproductions of the cells used (including Marie Antionette's cell). Sainte Chapelle is a beautiful church, full of gorgeous stained glass windows. It's probably the most known for its reliquaries that housed a piece of the Crown of Thorns and a part of the True Cross brought back from the Crusades. Both buildings are located on the Ile de la Cite, the oldest part of the city, next to the Palais du Justice. We then made a quick jaunt over to Notre Dame de Paris in the pouring rain, had a quick discussion about some of the architecture, and called it a day. On my way home, I had my first (and hopefully only) experience with the RER. (The RER is kind of like the metro, only it's a slightly bigger train and runs out into the suburbs.) Unless you are going into the suburbs, or literally across the entire city and the RER doesn't require line changes, take the metro. The metro runs more often between stations and is less crowded than the RER. (Yes the metro can be crowded and jam-packed, but far less so than the RER, trust me.)
Friday we met Dr. Clark at the Pantheon. The Pantheon was commissioned by King Louis XV to replace the Abbey of St. Genevieve (the patron saint of Paris). During/after the revolution, the structure was changed to a mausoleum/tribute to prominent French citizens. Voltaire is buried in the crypt there, Jean Jacque Rousseau, the Curies, and many other people, the names of which escape me at the moment. After the Pantheon we went around the corner to l'Eglise St. Genevieve du Mont, a beautiful church dedicated to the Patron Saint of the City. After l'eglise (the church), we stopped for cafe a la Place du Sorbonne. All of Friday's activities were in the Latin Quarter of the city on le Rive Gauche. I did a bit of quick shopping with Michelle (one of the other K-Staters) on Rue d'Alesia in the southern part of the city. Rue d'Alesia is supposed to be one of the cheaper areas to shop, for people like me who can't afford $300 shirts in Galleries Lafayette or Printemps. I then spent a few leisurely hours exploring la Parc du Villette which is about a 20 minute walk from where I live. The canal Nina and I found last week runs through the park, there's also a science museum/center there and a huge music hall. It's a great place to just wander around.
Saturday and Sunday we spend in Normandy. One of the nice things about the ISA program is the weekend trips they organize for us. For this first weekend, we went to Normandy and visited the D-Day museum, Omaha Beach, the American Cemetery, and Mont St. Michel. We spent most of Saturday at the Museum and Omaha Beach/the American Cemetery. Omaha Beach is absolutely beautiful and completely mind-boggling. Standing on the beach, it's almost impossible to reconcile the images constantly seen from WWII with the image of the beach today. The two images are so at odds with eachother, it just makes what happened there 66 years ago that much more surreal and sobering. An interesting fact about the American Cememtery there: the land was actually gifted to the U.S. government by the French, so when you visit the cemetery, you're on American soil. Again, to walk through the cemetery is such a surreal experience just because of what happened and what it represents. After those visits, we made a surprise stop at a local apple farm, the Ferme de la Sapiniere. Apples are apparently one of the specialties in that particular region of Normandy, so the farms specialize in Jus de Pomme, Cidre, Pommeau, and Calvados (apple juice, and 3 alcohol drinks with increasing strength). I normally hate apple juice in the States, but I have to say the Jus de Pomme is possibly one of the greatest things I have ever had; it's like drinking a crisp, juicy apple, and it's delicious. The production on these farms is a 4 step process, each step resulting in one of the aforementioned drinks. Jus de Pomme is the most basic, an extra processing step results in cidre, then pommeau, and finally calvados, so they are continually producing all 4 drinks. The farm is a fairly small set-up, but they produce a lot of apple products that are bought all over the country. Sunday we went to Mont St. Michel, which is an absolutely beautiful church with a long history of progression that I can't remember right now. Basically, just like every other church in France, it started as a small abbey, and has been added on to and rebuilt, and it has grown into a beautiful structure that crowns a tiny island in a bay. Sorry this isn't more informative, but it's 12:15 am, and I'm tired. After Mont St. Michel was a 4-5 hour drive back to Paris, and lots of sleep.
So I think that's enought rambling for now; I'll finish updating everything (hopefully) tomorrow, and get some pictures of everything uploaded.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Le fontaine St. Michel
Wednesday I had to meet Dr. Clark and the other K-Staters at the Fontaine de St. Michel at 1 for our first official K-State cultural/history class. We walked from the Place St. Michel to the Musée du Moyen-Age/ Musée de Cluny. It was really interesting and slightly overwhelming- there’s just so much to see there. The 2 things that stuck out the most for me were les tapisseries de la dame à la licorne and the original têtes des rois from Notre-Dame de Paris. The Lady and the Unicorn tapestries are amazing in their detail and what they represent. There are 6 tapestries in total; 5 represent the five senses individually and the 6th represents ultimately renouncing worldly pleasures for a higher, spiritual purpose. At the time the tapestries were made to show the ideal lady, what she should look like and the fact that she should ultimately serve a higher power and not succumb to worldly temptations (i.e. the 5 senses represented in the tapestries). They are truly amazing in their workmanship and meaning.
Les têtes des rois require a slight history lesson to explain. If you look at the façade of Notre-Dame de Paris, there are 28 statues that represent the Kings of Judah and Israel in what is called the Gallery of Kings. In the 13th century when these statues were first added to the cathedral, they quickly became associated with the kings of France and were soon seen as representations of these kings and the French monarchy. Because of this association with the monarchy, the original statues were all torn down and beheaded during the French Revolution and Reign of Terror. During this time the people detested anything even remotely related to the monarchy and destroyed any and all artifacts with royal connotations. After the masses beheaded the statues, they simply threw the pieces into a cellar and buried them. Restoration of Notre-Dame began in 1843, and at the time, none of the original status remained on the façade. The architects put in charge of the restoration simply recreated the statues of the Gallery of Kings, and these 1843 kings are the ones that are seen on Notre-Dame today. In 1977, during some excavation/restoration work in another part of Paris, the cellar where the original heads had been thrown was discovered. Les têtes des rois seen in the Cluny today are those original heads from before the Revolution. The fact that so many of France’s historical sites were destroyed during the Revolution and today are actually reproductions/restorations makes seeing the original heads that much more amazing. All the sites here are amazing, but seeing the legit Middle Ages originals is even better. Another interesting aspect to these heads is the vestiges of paint of some of them. During the Middle Ages, all churches and religious monuments were painted, they were bright and colorful and full of life because religion was such an integral part of life. Looking at all the various monuments and churches today, we just assume they have always been basic stone, but in reality they were colorful, lively edifices. Seeing where there used to be paint, truly realizing the life and importance that was put into these objects, is simply mind boggling.
The point to that long winded history lesson: that’s one of the few stories/bits of information I honestly remember learning my freshman year of high school in my French 1 class. Because it did stick with me, actually seeing those original statue heads was really cool and very interesting for me. The entire Cluny is truly amazing in its displays and vast array of artifacts from the Middle Ages; it’s a definite must see if you’ve got the time while in Paris.
Les tetes des rois
You can kind of see some of the paint on this head...on the cheek where it looks slightly dirty, it's actually the remnants of paint.
After le Musée du Moyen-Age we walked over to the Collège des Bernardins for a bit. The collège was originally built by a chapter of les cistercien, an order of Catholic reform monks, as a center of learning to spread their religious teachings. Today the collège has been converted into a conference center, and it’s free for the public to tour.
The main gallery of le college with a modern art exhibit.
We then made a trek through the rain to l’Institut du Monde Arabe. The institute has an amazing library with anything you could need concerning the Arab world. There’s a terrace on the roof with quite possibly the best view in the whole city of Notre-Dame, so we went up to the roof for some quick pictures. There’s also a great little café on the first floor, which we then visited. Some of the best mint tea ever and absolutely amazing traditional pastries, such as baklava.
Le vue est superbe!
After my incredibly long day with Dr. Clark, I went home for dinner. After dinner Alice showed Nina and me around le Parc des Buttes Chaumont which is literally right across the street from our apartment. C’est très beau!
Les fleurs dans le parc.
You can see Sacre Cour from the cliff in the park...there are some amazing city views from here.
Nina and Alice
Tuesday morning we had to wake up at 7 am (super suck for lazy college students!) for orientation at the Catho. Nina and I live in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, which is up in the northeast of the city. The Catho (Universite Catholique or Catholic University of Paris) where we have classes is in the 6th arrondissement, or the south-centralish area of Paris, next the Jardin du Luxembourg on the left bank of the Seine. (The left bank, or La Rive Gauche, is the area of the city south of the Seine; the right bank, or La Rive Droite, is the area north of the Seine. The left bank tends to be associated with the more artistic side of Paris, historically and even still today, while the right bank has been more business-y, upperclass, traditional historically.) Our commute from the 19th down to the 6th takes roughly 45 minutes, assuming there's no strike going on (which can happen fairly often as we have first hand experience from a few days ago). We spent the majority of Tuesday in various orientations: the city of Paris, safety, homestays, academics. Nina and I got in a bit of shopping and some slight sight seeing along the right bank after the orientations. We had an ISA welcome dinner at 7:30 at un petit restaurant called La Baladin, which was a bit of a challenge to find. It's located off some crazy tiny side street, that not even locals are guaranteed to know, which we found out the hard way when asking directions of the locals did us no good in finding it. Lesson learned for the day: leave more time than you think you'll need to navigate the city, and have a good map with even the smallest street labeled.
A video of our welcome dinner entertainment.
Le vin francais a diner.
Le dessert, tres delicieux!
me and rooms, aka Nina, at the welcome dinner.
After dinner a group of us made a much needed trip to la Tour Eiffel. Elle est tres belle et magnifique! By some feat of magic, we made it back to the metro before it closed. Another important bit of information for living in the city: the metro closes at 12:30 am Sunday-Thursday, and around 2 am Friday-Saturday. Also, make sure there are at least 2 people if you use the metro that late; sometimes it's simply better to take a cab if you're out so late.
(Sorry no pics of the Eiffel Tower yet, I used film there!)
A video of our welcome dinner entertainment.
Le vin francais a diner.
Le dessert, tres delicieux!
me and rooms, aka Nina, at the welcome dinner.
After dinner a group of us made a much needed trip to la Tour Eiffel. Elle est tres belle et magnifique! By some feat of magic, we made it back to the metro before it closed. Another important bit of information for living in the city: the metro closes at 12:30 am Sunday-Thursday, and around 2 am Friday-Saturday. Also, make sure there are at least 2 people if you use the metro that late; sometimes it's simply better to take a cab if you're out so late.
(Sorry no pics of the Eiffel Tower yet, I used film there!)
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