Spring adventures in Paris

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Morocco albums

So as promised, here are the links (you can copy paste them) to my actual Moroccan albums (it's an epic journey through about 600 pictures).

Days 1 & 2: Bus shots, thermal station Moulay Yacob, and half of my Fes photos (downtown and the medina)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2025440&l=31f18&id=14501731

Day 2: More pictures from the Fes medina
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2025441&l=2e11f&id=14501731

Day 2 & 3: The mountains and Ifrane, Midelt, a Berber village, and some randoms
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2025394&l=55249&id=14501731

Day 3 & 5: More of the Berber village, la vallee du Ziz, and the beginning of many many camel photos (day 4 is skipped because my camera battery was out of commission for a day)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2025396&l=bef39&id=14501731

Days 5 & 6: Going to/coming from our desert campsite on camels. Lots of camels.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2025400&l=3b067&id=14501731

Day 5: Climbing the mountain ridges to watch the sunset in the desert
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2025403&l=cedc9&id=14501731

Days 6 & 7: Ouarzazate, Marrakech, and bus stops in between
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2025405&l=3f6f1&id=14501731

Day 7: the souk, the palace, and a koranic school in Marrakech
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2025407&l=ea235&id=14501731

Days 7 & 8: Life at Professor Gilles's house in the seaside town of Essouira
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2025409&l=fe95f&id=14501731

Days 8 & 9: More of Essouira, which is pretty much my favorite place ever
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2025413&l=360e5&id=14501731

Days 9 & 10: The last evening/morning in Morocco, and some good shots of Gilles's house
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2025415&l=1df02&id=14501731

I know it's a lot, feel free to skim, and enjoy!

A little slice of Morocco

So even though I'll have to wait to tell you about Morocco, I can show you a bit! In the post after this I'll link to my 11(!) photo albums, but since there are only 6 photos in the entirety of those albums that I'm in, I'm gonna borrow some from friends for this post. Photos are by Colin (thanks Col!) unless otherwise noted. Here goes!

First day in Morocco, in the hills near Moulay Yacoub
L-R, Jenna D, Jenna E, me, Colin
Photo by Sarah

Jenna E, me, Sarah, & Jenna D enjoying the view

Exploring Berber architecture

Trekking through an oasis

On top of the sand dunes in the Sahara to watch the sunrise, about 20 kilometres from Algeria
Sand dunes are hard to climb!

I'm the little red sliver in the middle climbing the dune
Photo by Scott

Sunrise over the dunes
Photo by Scott

Good shot of the sand dunes as I try to deflect Col's relentless lens

In my shesch for sun/wind protection on my camel

We were on camels a lot. Bertrand got bored and started camel hopping.

Jenna, me, and Allie after climbing into the desert ridges to watch the sunset

All of us about halfway up the ridge in the valley where we camped overnight
Photo by Scott

A little group of us had tea in Ouarzazate with some amazing people, who taught us how to play some music

My lesson in Moroccan dance

Taking a picture of Ait Benhaddou, where Gladiator was filmed

Jenna D, me, and Theo waiting on a rock after our tour bus hit a car (everyone was OK)

In the place at Marrakech after seeing Uma Thurman haha

Watching the sunset from the ramparts in Essouira
L-R Jenna D, Jenna E, Allie, me, Theo

Taking tea with the spice man and his chameleon in Essouira
Photo by Jenna E

Our Moroccan band playing our hit single "Elle s'appelle Stephanie" with the vendor who gave us free mini-drums in Essouira
This photo's actually mine!

Colin, me, and Bertrand wearing our matching Moroccan shirts because we're awesome
Gille's house, Essouira
Photo by Theo

There are many many more, those are just some of my favorites. I'll post soon with the links to my albums as well. Miss and love you all!

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Long overdue update

Hi! I'm back! Sorry it's been so long since I've updated, but it's been a whirlwind month. Morocco was 11 days, then back in Paris for 3, then a long weekend in Amsterdam/Brussels, and now back in Paris for one more week before the program ends.

First off, let me just say that my trip to Morocco was one of the most wonderful experiences I've ever had. I loved every second of it- from the wonderful people we met to the camels to seeing the sunrise over sand dunes in the Saharan desert to life in a small pedestrian seaside town. It was an inspiring, beautiful country with the warmest, most welcoming inhabitants, and I didn't want to leave. I would LOVE to share my experience there with anyone who is interested- it is simply too much to blog, so if you want to hear about it, ask me the next time you see me and I promise I'll jump at the opportunity to relive it. I will, however, try to get some pictures up.

So, in other news... After being back in Paris for a whole 3 (!) days, my friends Jenna and Chelsea and I took off for our long weekend explorations of Amsterdam and Brussels. Some reflections...

We took buses because they were cheaper- they were not, unfortunately, comfortable. The one to Amsterdam was an overnight bus, on which we got zero sleep. So we rolled into Amsterdam at 6:30 AM, tired and disoriented. We then commenced a trek through the city, which was oddly deserted and absolutely filthy, with trash everywhere. When it reached 8:00 and we still had not seen a single living soul we started to worry that we'd stumbled into a zombie movie. Turns out, the night before had been the annual celebration of Queen's Day (the queen's birthday), and so we had actually just arrived during a citywide hangover. I guess it would be kind of like three Dutch girls walking into Times Square on New Year's morning- except they probably wouldn't have taken a bus. Even with the mess, our first impressions of Amsterdam were quite nice, because it's a beautiful city. I'd never realized how pretty it was (and it probably helped that we had perfect weather the whole weekend). The canals are everywhere, and adorable, and great for navigating. We were able to walk everywhere we wanted to go, which was nice. We checked into our hostel, which was very neat and clean, and partook in the free breakfast there before heading to the Van Gogh museum. It was small but horribly crowded and all in all a little underwhelming. We also discovered, much to our horror after living in Paris for 4 months, that the Dutch don't believe in student discounts. After the museum we got lunch at a little cafe. There we discovered that the Dutch speak perfect English- our waitress possibly spoke better English than me after a semester in France (some eviednce: when the waitress handed me my food, I said "Merci," because that's always what I say when someone hands me food). I had the world's largest hot chocolate (at which point we also discovered that the Dutch have a penchant for including free cookies with beverages, a trait we enjoyed), and a plate of kroket, which is like a fried meat/cheese roll coated in bread crumbs. Then we couldn't walk anymore and took a quick power nap back at the hostel.

After our nap we set out to find the house where Anne Frank had been in hiding, now a museum. On the way there we stumbled across a giant carnival- so naturally, we went on a ride. It was awesome. We also got food from the food slot wall- literally, a wall with little glass doors where you put a coin in and take a food item. After our little detour we made it to the Anne Frank house, which was also crowded but very interesting. You toured the house, watched video interviews with her father and the woman who helped hide them, viewed exhibits with records, photographs, diary excerpts, etc. It was very well done, and of course rather somber and intense. I'm really glad we went to see it. After the museum we walked around a bit more, then got a late (or on-time for Europeans) dinner at a pancake house. I got pannekoken with cheese, apples, and bacon (dinner pancake) and Jenna and Chelsea got poffertjes, which are like little puffy mini pancakes with fruit and goodness. We then found ourselves back at the carnival- but hey it was awesome!- where we went on another ride. This one was crazy- a giant rotating arm with seats on either end that flipped you around way high in the air, and you got a pretty good view of the city while you were flipping. We then went and explored the red light district out of curiosity to see the ladies in their windows. The evening rounded out relaxing in a small cafe before the trek home.

We were staying in an 8 bed dorm room, and although our roommates stuff was there when we got back, and we could tell from the look of their stuff that they were male, we hadn't met them. So that morning we were awakened to an unfamiliar noise- 6 booming, deep male voices speaking indeterminate languages that belonged to 6 GIANT men of unidentified European nationalities. Since they were still in bed, we didn't talk with them other than saying bye when we left- hilarious encounter nonetheless. That morning we started out at the Rijkmuseum, which is the Dutch national museum. It was full of Dutch things, and I was immensely saddened by the lack of Vermeers, and the extremely long lines. After the museum we got super yummy sandwiches and ate them by the canalside while we people-watched. Then we spent some time in the gorgeous Vondelpark eating ice cream (we ate a lot this weekend). Next came our stroke of brilliance- renting a paddleboat!! We paddled around the canals for our allotted hour, enjoying the beautiful weather and taking in the view of the city. A quick reflection on the Dutch, sparked by the memory of the man who rented us the paddleboat- the Dutch sure are nice and cheery and friendly. Maybe my sense of friendliness is off after Paris, but they seemed especially friendly. Anywho, we stopped back at the hostel to shower, taking a minute to note that the shampoo bottle in the bathroom was in Italian (we later ascertained that there were 2 groups of large men- 2 Italians, and 3 of indeterminate Slavic origin). There was also a pink roller hairbrush that must have belonged to one of our Slavic roommates- odd. After another leisurely walk we ate dinner in an outdoor cafe, where my "assortment of warm snacks" was quite good (it was different varieties of kroket and similar things). We tried to find the carnival again- but alas! it was gone. And we were sad. After more walking, we headed back to the hostel because we had an early bus to catch.

In the morning we tiptoed around the sleeping slavic men, who all had train-stopping snores (Chelsea dubbed them the sleeping giants). Oh we also names them all- Igor, Dimitri, Alexei, Giorgio, and Leonardo. During our breakfast we asked the desk clerk how far the walk was to the bus station- he said half an hour. He lied. An HOUR of stressed powerwalking later we just made the bus on time. We rolled into Belgium around 1 and checked into our hostel, which was not as nice as the one in Amsterdam but also much much cheaper. We set out into the city center (the tiny, tiny city center- Brussels was not large) and quickly found ourselves at the Grand Place, which was gorgeous. We sat in an outdoor cafe there and ate waffles, but not just waffles- sugary, caramelized waffles topped w/ ice cream and fruit and chocolate. Then we walked a bit more and bought giant cones of french fries and chose from the variety of sauces (you'll soon see the pattern we followed in Brussels- find Belgian delicacy, eat it, walk, repeat). After paying a visit to the Mannekin Pis, the famous (and perplexing) fountain of the little boy peeing, we stopped for a bit on a bench near a gathering of scouts (pronounced in French as "scoots"). There was some sort of giant scout scavenger hunt going on that weekend- scouts were EVERYWHERE, and usually running. We watched as the high school aged scout leaders sent the younger scouts off on a task, then spent a half hour narrating from afar the male scout leaders attempt to put the moves on the female scout leader by giving her beer. We named them Julien and Corrine, and they were hilarious. A bit later we found ourselves back in the Grand Place, eating more waffles (but from a different waffle place). Brussels had a very interesting feel- it's a bilingual city, and certainly feels more Dutch than French in attitude. We explored a different part of town, walked by some fountains and parks, and saw some churches (one of which had urinals on the side of it). Then we walked through an outdoor market and a covered gallery, spent some time in Place des martyres, and soon decided it was time to eat again. We had dinner at a cute little outdoor seafood place, and got lobster since we figured we should have a real meal after having eaten nothing but ice cream, waffles, and french fries. It was a long dinner, and afterwards we headed up to the hostel where we played cards for a while and chatted with our roommate, a courageous girl from Dallas who was exploring on her own.

Our bus left at noon the next day, so we headed back to the city center in the morning for one more meal at an outdoor cafe followed up by one last waffle (so yup, that's 3 waffles in under 24 hours). Then back to Paris, which is FINALLY beautiful and sunny and almost TOO hot because it's a sticky, urban sort of heat.

This week I'm finishing up my classes and trying to take advantage of the nice weather. I did my reading Monday in the jardin de Luxembourg, which was peaceful and wonderful. My museums class went to the musee Rodin yesterday, which is both a house and gardens full of his work, and it's great. It's hard with the weather finally being so nice, because we have so much end of the semester work- I still managed to squeeze in a nice long walk yesterday with a visit to St. Sulpice and the Vlaminck exposition at the musee de Luxembourg.

Yesterday I had to give a presentation in front of my University of Paris 8 class, which was terrifying- subjecting 20 French students to my accent for a half an hour just seems cruel. The professor seemed to like it though, and I'm glad it was overwith. One of the scarier assigments I've ever had, but I'm proud that I did it. I FINALLY feel confident when I speak in French- on the street, in class, with my host family (which may be largely in part due to Morocco, where I spoke French all the time because people were so friendly and patient). It's pretty frustrating to have finally hit that point just when it's come time to leave- although they told us at orientation that that would happen.

I can't imagine leaving- well, I can imagine leaving, but what's difficult to comprehend is not living in this wonderful city anymore. Because as students we know our time here is limited I think we've really made an effort to get out and know the city and make it our own, and now it's back to another life- a life without boulangeries! I also can't imagine not speaking French on a daily basis, especially because I'm proud of my progress and don't want to lose it.

It's not over yet though. There's one more week exactly- I still have a 15 page paper and 3 finals between now and then. And, hopefully, a few more days with this fabulous city!

Hope all is well, miss and love you all!

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Quick Update

Hello all! Quick update on a few of my adventures this past week...

I went to the national ballet at the Opera Bastille! I'd really really wanted to see the Paris ballet company while I was here, so that was awesome- plus, I won my ticket in an IES contest so it was free! It was a really interesting show- it didn't really have a title, other than Soiree Noureev/Balanchine/Forsythe. Those were the 3 choreographers, and the idea was that each of them demonstrated a different approach to dance. The first piece was very minimalist- one or two dancers at a time, in practice leotards, concentrating on the purity of the form. The second was a grand spectacle style ball, with elaborate costumes and gala group numbers. The third was modern ballet, with the curtain going up and down as the dancers made formations and such. The whole thing was lovely, and I'm so glad I got to go!

Last night I went to a play at the theatre des bouffes du nord, which is Peter Brook's theater in Paris. The show was made up of 5 fragments from different Samuel Beckett works, and was quite excellent. It was interesting to see Beckett played in France, because so much of his work is rooted here- and it was the first non-Shakespearian play I've seen done by Peter Brook (and the only time I've seen one of his plays live). The theater was very cool too- the perfect type of space for Brook (and Beckett at that).

Saturday my friend Whitney and I took the train (and then the bus) out to the chateau at Fontainebleau, the royal (and eventually empirical) hunting lodge. I loved it- I was primarily interested because that's where Francois I brought his favored Italian artists to work, but that turned out to be just the tip of the iceberg. The coolest thing about Fontainebleau was the fact that in just a single room you could see hallmarks of so many epochs- for instance, in Napoleon's throne room the decor was his, along with his crest, but on one portion of the ceiling you could see Henri IV's fleur de lys and H's, the wallpaper still had Francois I's salamanders, the Boucher paintings over the doors were commissioned by Louis XV, etc. After touring the chateau we had a nice picnic lunch and then explored the grounds and the town before heading back to Paris.

As far as my list progress other than the ballet and Fontainebleau...
-I saw the interior of Sainte Chapelle on a sunny day. The windows are just spectacular and I was surprised by how small and intimate it was.
-Went inside of Notre Dame, spent some time enjoying the decor and architecture. It was, of course, lamentably crowded.
-Climbed to the top of Notre Dame. The view, although certainly not as spectacular as from the dome of Sacre Coeur, was lovely. Moreso because knowing Paris so well now I was able to recognize just about everything I was looking at. Plus it was a cool angle on the architecture.

I also spent some time wandering/reading by the Seine on a sunny day. And I rescued Harold Bloom- someone had moved him to a different room in Shakespeare & Co, but I stubbornly found him (I'm not giving up on my 494 pages of progress!).

Tomorrow morning I leave for my 10 day trip through Morocco, which I'm super excited about. It will mark my first time venturing out of Paris this semester, and I can't wait. I'll likely be out of touch while I'm there, but I'm sure I'll have lots to write when I get back!

Love and miss you all!

Saturday, April 5, 2008

My life, and my list

Hello all!

I know it's been a while since I updated... Sorry about that. Everything is still going great here- it's even warming up a bit! (I never thought I'd be so excited about it being 56 degrees outside). So since it would probably be horribly tedious to subject you to a full rundown of my activites over half a month, some more scattered reflections...

Mom and the boys came! They spent a week here, which was awesome. So I got to run around and show them all my favorite spots, big sights, etc. And translated a lot of menus for Andrew, along with introducing him to chevre chaud (hot goat cheese) and of course the French MacDo. My host mom also hosted a lovely dinner for our families. Haha ever since she and Aline have been arguing over whether I look more like Adam or Andrew- my host mom says Andrew but Aline says Adam. It was so nice to have them here, and I hope they had fun!

Speaking of my host family, I finally feel like I've really adjusted to living with them, and vice-versa. I know it sounds crazy, because it took me until just about the halfway point of the semester to really feel comfortable, but coming into another family's life has proven to be so much more of a challenge than I thought it would be. And for their part, I know that they've hosted so many American girls with such vastly different personalities that it must be equally challenging to re-adjust every semester, and to figure out what this one's going to be like. We're perhaps not the best match there has ever been, and I've certainly struggled more than I ever expected I would, but I really think that that has made the experience all the more rewarding- I've really put in an effort, and I'm so very glad I did, because I learned a lot. And will still learn more, I'm sure. My host parents have taught me so much, often without me realizing it, and I've come to really enjoy their company. And I absolutely adore my host sisters- they are so fun, and endlessly patient with me, and the more I spend time with them the more I realize how lucky I am to be in a family with kids. They've gotten hooked on the French DVD version of Friends, and I watched a couple episodes with them today. It's really interesting, because there's so much humor in the show that is really inherent to American culture- sometimes the simplest jokes don't come across in the French subtitles, or even on the screen, because they're so conditioned by the American milieu. The girls still love it though- they like Rachel the best, then Joey and Chandler.

My language is definitely progressing as well. I think I will always lack some confidence in speaking, but I know that my speech is much better now. My reading has never really been a problem, so where I really see a huge difference is in my oral comprehension. Which, of course, makes sense- I have class entirely in French everyday, sometimes with my outside course professors who don't slow down their speech at all. Still, I hadn't really registered it until this past week, when I went to see a French film currently in theaters- which meant that subtitles weren't an option. I watch a lot of French films at home, but always with subtitles, and although I'm listening to the French I have the little cheat sheet at the bottom. So I went into the film thinking OK, well I'll just do the best I can, and I'll probably miss a lot, because any time at home I'd tried to watch a French movie without subtitles I hadn't really understood everything. But, to my surprise, I was just fine- sure, maybe I listened a little more "actively" than I would in English, but I was able to enjoy the movie just as I would in the US, and understood it just fine. So that was a major victory. Then today I went to see another French movie, Bienvenue Chez les Ch'tis- which is very much the little movie that could in France. It's a little, low budget comedy that's a HUGE phenomenon- approximately 20% of the French population has seen it. And I LOVED it- it's absolutely hilarious. A lot of the dialogue is in the Ch'tis dialect, which they speak in the north, which made it a little tougher, but I still got just about all the jokes, and enjoyed it immensely. I don't know how well it will translate to English, but I'm sure it will eventually be out in America- and you should all go see it! The title would be something along the lines of Welcome to the Home of the Ch'tis, and it's very very charming.

In other news, my ten-day Morocco trip is coming up soon! We leave the 17th, so in about a week and a half. I'm so excited! We had our final meeting, to learn about what to bring, cultural norms, safety, money, and other such practical stuff. For instance, we're supposed to try to trick the French pharmacists out of various prescription medicines, one of which contains opium, for when (apparently not if) our tummies get upset. In much much better news, the diram is 11 to the euro- which means that the average meal of 30-40 diram will cost about or under 3 euro. Finally a favorable currency rate! We also learned about clothing and such- although it's far from fundamentalist, it's a Muslim country so we do have to keep our shoulders and knees covered. But, happily, it's going to be nice and warm- my first t-shirt in months! Then we had a little preview dinner at a Moroccan restaurant, which was very very yummy. I really can't wait- it should be great! (Oops didn't mean to rhyme. My apologies.)

Now that we're into April, we're all acutely aware of just how little time we have left, and how fast it's going to go by. Yes, we're here 'til May 15- but 10 days of that (2 weekends) is Spring Break, one long weekend will be spent elsewhere, and of course one week will be finals. Which leaves just this weekend and then two more to be actually spent in Paris- we of course have class during the week. Being properly horrified by this fact, a number of us made lists of what we still want to do in Paris- knowing that we won't get all the way through. The past two weekends my friend Chelsea and I have been singlemindedly pursuing our lists, and making fairly decent progress. So, here's my list in all it's glory, with the bold items being those that we squeezed in the past two weekends:

-Picnic on the champs du mars
-Explore the Bois de Boulogne
-See Napoleon's tomb at Invalides
-On a miserably cold and rainy day we fought our way to Invalides to see Napoleon's tomb and the various museum exhibits there. We even got in for free with our art history student cards- even thought we saw very little art history (although we saw a whole lot of armor).
-Eat at El Rancho
-Wandering around our very well-off, chic quartier one day the Jennas and I found a deliciously tacky, neon-blinking restaurant called El Rancho that promised to be the best Tex Mex in Paris. So, naturally, we made up our minds to go back, particularly seeing that they had chevre (goat cheese) taquitos and quesadillas. We went last night, and particularly enjoyed the "Mexican vocabulary" page and the fact that coleslaw, onion rings, and tabouli were all on the menu. Phenomenal.
-Go to the top of the Eiffel Tour
-Go to the top of Notre Dame
-See Sainte Chapelle on a sunny day
-Explore the jardin du luxembourg
-Walk down rue mouffetard
-An old, clustered, and windy market street that's great fun. We bought a 1 euro box of slightly suspect strawberries and had a hilarious time standing in the street picking through the mushy ones and eating around certain others. We also intend to return to make us of...
-The underground bowling alley on rue mouffetard
-Galeries Lafayette
-Ginormous French shopping arcade with a beautiful domed roof housing all of the haute couture you could ever want. Chelsea and I wandered, ogling some of the odder styles, and here's a quote from her that pretty much somes up the galeries lafayette: "This coat is 7,490 euros. I touched it."
-Canal St Martin
-A still-working canal in the northern corner of the city. It was so lovely and peaceful- you almost forget you're in Paris. Lots of pedestrian bridges and such- a very nice place to walk.
-See the Marie Antoinette expo at the Grand Palais
-Go back to our favorite place ever, the Pompidou
-Musee Rodin
-Musee de l'Orangerie
-Musee Marmottan
-Tiny little museum in my quartier that houses Monet's private collection in his possession when he died. Not crowded and much more peaceful than the big museums.
-Paris en couleur
-Photography exposition at l'Hotel de Ville with color photographs of Paris from the 1900s on. Absolutely phenomenal- it made me never want to leave the city. It also made us want to be the glamorous ladies in the pics from 1914- until we realized that that was during WWI. Tres bien fait!
-Flaner a Montmarte
-We'd all been to Montmartre and done the touristy stuff (saw the Moulin Rouge, went up Sacre Coeur, etc.) but we really wanted to go and just feel the area, wandering and exploring (in French, flaner). It's a very cool section of Paris, up on a hill, with a history of harboring bohemian artists and such. It has a very village feel, and so much character, and it was so nice to spend the day (which was beautiful) outside.
-See DISCO, a French film that just came out
-Go to the top of the Arc de Triomphe
-Musee Carnavalet
-Go to an opera and a ballet
-Enjoy coffee in an outdoor cafe
-Explore the Catacombs
-See the chateau at Fontainebleau
-See the Chartres cathedral
-Visit Victor Hugo's house
-Visit Balzac's house
-Visit Parisian Chinatown
-Explore Parc Monceau
-See the chateau de Vincennes
-See the tombs at the Basilique Saint-Denis
-See the tombs at the Pantheon
-Visit Saint Sulpice
-Hang out with Thibault (Colin's host brother)
-Go to a farmer's market
-Finish the Harold Bloom book I started at Shakespeare and Co
-See Bienvenue chez les ch'tis and Il y a longtemps que je t'aime
-The two French movies I saw recently. The second stars Kristen Scott Thomas, who is much beloved by the French as she has lived here for most of her life.
-Drink hot chocolate at Angelina's
-Ride the VeLibs
-Explore the parc des buttes-chaumont
-We actually stumbled upon this and then added it to the list retrospectively so we could cross it off. This is an amazing park hidden up in the northern part of Paris- peaceful and not tourist-filled, with Parisians all over the hills enjoying the sun. It's stunningly beautiful, with waterfalls, a lake, and an incredible cliff topped by a temple. Phenomenal find.
-See a show at the Comedie Francaise

And that's my list!!! I know, it's crazy- the written version even has a star-rating system and little weather icons indicating what kind of day would be best. We're booking through it though- all that bold is in just two weekends.

So that's what's been happening... Coming up, Morocco of course, and various other adventures in Paris. Two of my friends and I just finished booking our May long weekend trip- we're spending two days in Amsterdam and then a third day in Brussels. And I am DETERMINED to see a ballet and an opera soon. And of course whatever else comes up!

Bref, je vous souhaite bien, et je vous embrasse! Gros bisous!

(I wish you all well and send my best! Much love!)

Sunday, March 16, 2008

I think I can legitimately say that it's spring now...

Hello all! Back again, with lots to tell. It's been a very busy few weeks, even for me. So here goes...

Notable events, the week of March 3-6
-I saw the Boccio Bandinelli exposition at the Louvre, and I absolutely loved it. He's fascinating in any context- we studied him a bit in Frank's class last semester, particularly his rivalry with Michelangelo. The Louvre exposition was very well done, with over 40 of his drawings presented chronologically, interspersed with pieces of his sculpture to demonstrate how the two mediums correlated. I think my favorite thing about being in Europe just might be having access to things like this- the actual pieces by the artists that I've studied. I don't think I could ever get tired of it.
-In that same vein, I had a university break that Wednesday, so I spent the day at the Musee d'Orsay. The d'Orsay used to be a train station, and is now a museum housing Paris's largest collection of impressionist works. I love the museum layout and architecture, and the Degas collection was absolutely stunning- particularly his bronzes. And while I enjoyed Monet's cathedrals, and the Van Gogh room, and such, I must say the Professor Frank has thoroughly converted me into an Italian art aficionado- I was actually rather surprised when I realized how much so. Impressionism used to be my favorite type of painting, and while I still enjoy it, I much prefer the Italian painting in the Louvre. So that was a surprise, but it was still a very fun visit.
-On the host family front, only Aline was at home for the week, so she and I got to bond a bit. She's quite funny, and quite the teenage girl. She was absolutely appalled that I did not like Troy or Pearl Harbor, two of her favorite movies. We had fun debating for a bit, and it was nice to have the chance to hang out with her more, because normally she has such a full schedule that I don't really see her.
-A big group of IES kids gathered at Emily's lovely homestay for a nice, low-key evening of just hanging out. Emily lives in an actual house, which is quite unusual for Paris. It's down an adorable little cobblestone path that's gated, so you feel like you're in a little village within the city. It's fun to see other students' homestays, and get a sense of the different modes of life in France.

Weekend adventures- March 7-9

-Friday: Pretty low key, I spent some time early in the day reading some more of my massive Harold Bloom book at Shakespeare and Co, then my friend and I embarked on a true cultural litmus test: We went to a French MacDo. The French even class up fast food- all MacDos are very sleek-looking, with wifi and ipod plug-ins. The food is better as well, much less grease. And they don't have drive-thrus; instead, they have windows on the side of the store where people who don't want to eat in line up on foot for their orders. Still, a MacDonald's is a MacDonald's, n'importe quel pays (no matter what country). I headed back home to get some work done and hit the sack early, because I had to get up the next day and go to...
-Versailles: Saturday I went on an IES excursion to the Chateau of Versailles, the famous French palace built by Louis XIV. We started out with a guided tour of the chateau, going through the king's public apartments, the hall of mirrors, the chapel, state rooms, and eventually Marie Antoinette's private apartments. It was very cool- there's so much history embedded in everything at Versailles, and of course the lavish decorations are just amazing to see. There are also some phenomenal frescoes and large format paintings, which I loved. Then we had lunch at a little restaurant in the gardens, which was delicious. After lunch we had free reign to explore the gardens, so I set out with some friends to roam. We were a little bummed out that everything was sleeping for the winter- even most of the statues were covered, and the fountains weren't running. But at the same time there was something peaceful and serene about it, and so we enjoyed the little bit of the gardens that we saw (they're HUGE). I really loved Versailles, both the palace and the gardens, and I hope to go back in April when the fountains are running. After that we headed back to Paris proper, and I had tex-mex that night, which was a nice change of pace.
Sunday- work, work, work. I had a rough week- my 8 page commentaire compose for my Sorbonne class, two explications du texte for my IES lit class, a grammar test, a news report, and an art history take-home test.

Notable events, the week of March 10-13
-Finished and turned in my Sorbonne commentaire- hooray! It was one of the most challenging academic tasks I've faced, and I'm very glad to have it done with. Overall, the week was pretty work-consumed.
-We had our first meeting about the Morocco trip in April. There are 20 students going, along with Bertrand (our student activities adviser) and a French professor who works with American programs in Paris, but has lived part-time in Morocco for 20 years. He gave us an overview of Moroccan history and culture, as well as an inkling of what to expect. We don't know the whole program yet, but he's determined to show us the 4 main aspects of Morocco: the mountains, the cities, the desert, and the sea. So we'll spend some time in a mountain village, then visit the big cities (Marrakech, Fez, etc.). We also get to do a desert trek, where we take camels into the desert and camp overnight to see the sun rise over the sand dunes. Then we finish up in a little villa by the sea. I'm so incredibly excited- the trip's not until late April, but I can't wait!
-Christine, another Oxy student, celebrated her birthday last week. A few of us from Oxy/IES went out to dinner with her to celebrate, along with her Parisian cousin and two of her friends visiting from home. They were all very nice, and I especially enjoyed meeting her cousin and practicing my French.

Weekend adventures, March 14-16
-Friday: On Friday I did one of my citywalk card, and roamed from Place de la Concorde (where the guillotine was), through a park, past the palaces, and over Pont Alexandre to Invalides. I also inadvertently stumbled upon this tiny, gorgeous little hamlet type garden right by the major quai d'orsay road. I love little discoveries like that- you never know what you'll find in Paris. Then I decided to walk home. Well, maybe decided isn't the right word, as it wasn't really a conscious decision. I started walking south, and just kept going. It took me about two and a half hours total, but I really enjoyed it. Later that evening the Jennas and I decided to take drastic action, and hang out in the 16th. All three of us live here, but we're always hanging out with people in more central locations, so it was nice (and a little surreal) to do dinner and shopping just 3 metro stops away.
-Saturday: A bunch of us IES girls went to les marches de puces (flea markets) just beyond the northern border of Paris. Les puces are generally considered the largest flea markets in the world, and we spent the afternoon browsing through the antique books, knick knacks, and various bric a brac. Then Emily had some "recup" time with pizza and a Matt Damon movie (The Rainmaker)- on a side note, Europeans put egg on their pizza, and it is pretty much the best idea ever. I love it. We went out to The Frog and the Princess later that night and met a few interesting people, including a Croatian guy who was very insistent that I must be Chinese.
-Sunday: On Professor Montag's suggestion, I went to the salon du livre, which is a huge book fair/expo held once a year. It was HUGE, and so so so crowded! I saw a panel debate with Toni Negri (Italian expat philosopher very well known in France) on Spinoza and the social sciences- it was very interesting, at least what I could follow of the rapid academic French. I'm glad I got to see Toni Negri- I've read him quite a few times, and even though he's in his seventies now he was such a passionate speaker, very animated and excited. The debate got cut off at the end due to a bomb threat, and so the afternoon ended with the salon being evacuated (don't worry, there wasn't actually a bomb).

Notable events, the week of March 17-20:
-Midterms: This week was midterms, so a lot of studying followed by a lot of in-class French essays. Not terribly exciting really.
-Oxy visitors: Alison and Chad, who are both studying in England at the University of York this semester, were in town, and it was great to see them. We just kind of wandered, saw a few sights, and caught up. They're both francophone ECLS majors, so we always have loads to talk about. It was a lovely, if cold, evening, and I'm hoping to make it out to England sometime next month and possibly meet up with them.

So that's what's been going on! Mom and the boys arrive later this afternoon, so I'm sure we'll do quite a bit of adventuring in the next few days. It's Easter Sunday, so I have Monday off of school (the French like vacations, I've noticed). So looking forward to that, and to whatever else the week brings. Love to all!