A Fond Farewell

It's been a while since I last blogged....
i have been busy studying for my final exam and packing up my things. I studied like crazy for the final and I think I actually did ok. Tomorrow is the last day in my apartment and it has finally hit me that my time here is almost up. Luckily, I have two more weeks in Europe before I come home. Patricia is here visiting and we are going to Switzerland for a few days then back to Paris until the 11th of June. It would be impossible to summarize my time here, so much happened, so many memories, it's all too much. Paris was more than I dreamed it could be and I hope this isn't my final goodbye to this city. I can't actually imagine what its going to be like when I go home...

Pictures!!!

I have uploaded all of my pictures from Spain and Italy.. ENJOY

HI!!!
I am back in Paris after a beautiful vacation in Spain and Italy! I had such an amazing time and have a lot to dish but it will have to wait another day....in the meantime, here are a few pics:

Gaudi Rooftop in Barcelona

At the Colosseum

Venice

Provence (in pictures)

Hi all! Just got back from a weekend in Provence...too tired to write tonight so until then here is a link to my pictures:

Aix-en-Provence

Cassis (Candida's pics)

My first manifestation

When it comes to the french, they will protest almost anything. They are not afraid to speak out when they feel like they are being mistreated, and i think that is brilliant! They know their rights and utilize them to their full ability. What was so interesting about todays protest was that the protesters were high school age. The area outside of central paris is called the banlieu and is seen as the "ghetto". The children in the banlieu receive less opportunities than the students in central Paris. Here is a link to an article about todays protest. Another interesting aspect was the organization. The police were obviously informed and lined the streets, but it wasn't threatening, there was no sense of anything becoming out of control. The best part was at the end of the march...there was a street sweeper cleaning up the street!







After watching the demonstration for a bit I got hot (it was almost 60 degrees today!), I decided to get some gelato.

this is the life

I haven't done anything out of the ordinary this week and I'm loving it. This is the life. I feel like I am a true resident of Paris, doing the things that the Parisians do. I love going to the same cafe every morning with friends and enjoying the coffee and conversation. I love that I speak poor french to the waiter and he correct me, i love that all the waiters are cute. I love that i went from one cafe to another and sat and drank wine for 4 hours. I love Paris!


Spring is coming!

Paris in the morning

A view from my window...sunrise at 7:30 this morning.

just realized how somber my last post was...
here is a funny picture of me on top of the eiffel tower:

interesting week...

Easter in Paris...
although sundays are generally quiet in paris (most shops are closed), this sunday proved to be even more so. It seemed as if everyone left town for easter weekend to their cottages in the country. It is pretty obvious to everyone reading this that i don't celebrate easter in the traditional sense but i was very curious about easter mass in paris. France is predominately catholic and i imagined the elaborate easter ceremonies. I stopped by the notre dame during easter mass just to peak in...it was a very interesting experience, very very elaborate with a monastic choir and all the bells and whistles that go into a religious ceremony (i have no idea what anything meant). I figured it would be the first and last easter mass i ever go to, so why not go to the notre dame? On Monday i went to the Pere Lachaise Cemetery. It is huge. the history there...wow.
took lots of pics.....

PICTURES

it's snowing!

Oh London

London was absolutely amazing, I am in love. One weekend was not enough. We left Paris early Friday morning, I was so excited to get away for the weekend. I was in dire need of anglophones, it was really nice to be surrounded by english speakers for a change. Although i love Paris it is difficult to constantly try to think and speak in another language.

What was so amazing about this trip was that everything seemed to be working for us, we had the best luck this weekend. We arrived at our hostel and decided to walk around the city. We walked through Hyde Park...it was actually sunny on Friday...and headed towards Buckingham Palace. We walked up to Buckham Palace during the changing of the guards. We continued walking until we found Big Ben, and I proceeded to take about 40 pictures of Big Ben. By this time we were starving and decided to go on a hunt for fish and chips (for me) and bangers and mash for Candida. ----I have to preface this by saying that this was a weekend of gluttony, I don't think i ate anything that was not fried this weekend----After lunch we grabbed coffee at Starbucks (ok, i know, but 1) It is virtually impossible to get coffee to go in Paris. 2) I refuse to go to Starbucks in a land full of cafes. Anyways, we made our way to the London Eye, a huge modern ferris wheel that overlooks the city.

On Saturday we had every intention to be proper global citizens but ended up at Topshop for 3 or 4 hours. Later that night we found a club/bar in the West End. It was perfect. Mix of soul from the 60's (english do it best), electro, britpop, and a bunch of other goodies. We danced a lot that night. Sunday was our last day and we went to the Tate Modern Museum. We lucked out because sundays are free AND the was also a temporary exhibition with one of my favorite artists, Marcel Duchamp. Ahhh, it was amazing.

I love London.

Here is a link to my pictures:
London

LONDON!

Im going to London this weekend!

macaroons, etc...

Last Thursday I went down to the Musée d'Orsay (my third time, its free!)...but this time i was armed with my camera. Dare me to say I enjoy the Musée d'Orsay more than the Louvre. I can't get enough of it!!

(these boots got RUINED in the rain today)

Before the museum, candida and i went to Pierre Hermé, one of the best macaroon shops in Paris...there is a french saying for such great sweets, "C'est un péché mortel" or "it's a mortal sin". They were sooo good!



On the way home, we ran into a group of breakdancers. Breakdancers in paris can rival that of any in the world, they were unbelievable. What I love about Paris is that all forms of expression are appreciated, without judgement.

high art

low art

Friday night, ohhh, friday night, i found this music venue/club that showcases up-and-coming bands and mcs called fleche d'or. The lineup was great lots of electro beats. I was really excited because I've had a hard time finding 'nightlife' that consists of more than café bars. We don't get into the club until 1:30am which would usually signal the end of the night, but this place stayed open until 6am! We ended up staying till about 5am and took the first train home at 6am. It was really funny actually, we saw people seeting up the morning open air markets. The metro was full of the late night crowd juxtaposed with people on their way to work. Needless to say, I didn't do much on saturday or sunday.

Today started a week full of rain in Paris. It has only drizzled here so I expected the same today...no. It was pouring rain combined with 20 mile an hour wind. This is the result:

what's missing here?

love and peace!

Mexican food in Paris...

...is a bad idea.

Candida and I had a lackluster day and decided to go down to the latin quarter and walk around. We weren't particularly hungry but we ran into this little mexican restaurant tucked in between a little alley. They had nachos on the menu and we were swayed inside. We ordered the 'super nachos' which consisted of 5 DORRITO chips, and some other unmentionable ingredients. I just wanted some tortilla chips with cheeese! I know, i know, we are in Paris what should we expect, but come on, dorritos? It was actually quite funny, from here on out it's ham and cheese baguettes!

Also today:
i did my laundry.

My future is so bright i gotta wear shades!

Weekend in Brussels

Hi all! It's been about a week since I last blogged...not much has happened. I started my phonetics class this week, so that means a whopping 4 hours of class a day. I've made friends with some people from class and we've started getting coffee after class each day. Things like that are so simple but they make me so happy! Nothing beats coffee and conversation.

This past weekend I went on a group excursion to Brussels, Belgium. We took the express train Saturday morning and arrived in Brussels around 10am. Regardless of how early we leave the house, it seems like Candida and I are always racing to make it on the train. Brussels is a beautiful city full of chocolate, beer, and waffles. What I found most interesting was the juxtaposition of modern architecture with the 17th century architecture. I don't find this to be the case in Paris, everything is really really old or made after the 1970's...anyways, this is probably boring you. The plaza in the center of the city was amazing! There was a spirit about the city, a little bit of whimsy and eclectic culture mixed into one.

The best part of the trip was the trip back to the train station. There were about 40 of us in the group, we all recollected at the end of the day and planned to walk to the train station together. Either the Metro was not where it should have been or the director of the group didn't know where we were, but we got so lost. Time was ticking..30 min...20min...15min...we finally found a tram that would lead us to the train station. We hop onto the tram, it is packed full of people, we are like sardines in a can. We arrive a block away from the train station and are told to run like we have never run before to the platform. here we are 40 AMERICAN'S RUNNING THROUGH A TRAIN STATION. The looks by the locals were priceless. Everybody was laughing and running at the same time, it was so funny. We were about 3 minutes late for the train and had to wait for a later train. So funny.

Here are some pictures from Brussels:

Plaza


its so beautiful!


Manneken Pis
(sorry for the pic)


Atoimum
(im lazy)


one of many chocolateries


a look inside


My sweet glasses I bought in a costume shop

Les hommes (redux)

Had coffee at said cafe.
Up close, not so cute.
dang it.

anywhoo...i found my long lost twin:

Jardin du Lux

I just got back from the Jardin du Luxembourg. It was sunny today and it seemed like all were out to enjoy the nice day. The garden was full of people, lots of really cute french families with their really cute french kids. It was such a great day! We were there for at least three hours...reading, watching, pretending to do homework. I could definitely get used to this!

The Louvre (part 1)

The Louvre. Friday nights at the Louvre are free for students under 25 (whew, just made it). I wasn't sure what to expect, the louvre has been so built up in my mind...it's supposed to be the museum of museums and let me tell you, I was not disappointed. The entrance to the museum was spectacular. The glass pyramid is beautiful at night and that juxtaposed against the palace...don't even get me started. We didn't arrive there until 8pm, so we only had about an hour and a half to see the "masterpieces". We zoomed straight for the venus de milo then headed straight for the Mona Lisa. It was very surreal seeing works that I have studied for so long, and although there were crowds of people, the works were truly amazing. I was most interested in seeing the works by Jacques Louis David, he was the artist of the french revolution and a national treasure to the french. His works are huge in scale, and they had hall that was full of most of his major pieces(that's me staring at one of his works). I can't wait to go back next friday!

Les hommes

Every morning I take the same route to and from school. I walk by the same cafes and boulangeries and always peak in to check them out. Well...the cafe next to my school looks like it has great coffee (it's always busy) BUT there is also a really good looking barista behind the bar. There are alot of good looking men in Paris (of course) but they all have that 'my mother still reads me bedtime stories' look. No, not this guy...he is a-good-lookin! Yesterday my friend and I decided to go there after class for a cafe, but said man was not there! And the same today! I don't know what's going on but I don't like the looks of it. we shall see...

Le Feu Follet

This is so french. Last night I went to the Cinematheque Francaise to watch an old black and white film called "Le Feu Follet". The Cinematheque Francaise is a mix between a library/museum/theatre, and right now there is a film festival dedicated to the actress Jeanne Moreau. First of all, the building was designed by Frank Gerry...and if anyone knows Frank Gerry's work they know that his style does not really fit with typical Parisian architecture. It was kind of like finding a hidden gem, my french teacher (who told me about this event) wasn't even aware of this. It was amazing to see an old black and white film on a movie screen, and although I only understood half of the dialogue, it was a great film. Very 60's with the odd camera angles and overdramatic acting, i loved it.

Hi Everyone! I am officially welcoming myself back to blogland. Sorry for the lack of blog this past week...no camera = boring blog. Anyways, I've been settling into my new apartment as well as starting my french class at the Sorbonne. A week prior we had to take a placement test to see what level of french we would be enrolled in, and I was so frazzled by this exam that I signed up for 8am classes (what was i thinking?!?!). Other than waking up before the sun rises, my course is great. My teacher is this really cute middle aged redheaded woman who slightly resembles a leprechaun: ) Candida and I have been settling into our apartment. We went grocery shopping last night and cooked our first meal at home last night. As I am writing this blog I am sipping on a glass of wine..oh, Im so french already! This week we went to the Musee D'Orsay for the first time. I proceeded to completely nerd out, I'm an art history major, what do you expect?!? Besides the AMAZING artwork, the building itself is a work of art. Yesterday we went to the Montmatre area of Paris, this is where most of the film Amelie was filmed, it was very whimsical and frentchy. We sat on the steps of the Sacre-Coeur for about an hour and listed to the random french street musicians singing pop songs in english. My favorite was "Hello" by Lionel Richie.

Until next time! Love and peace!


Near the Champs-Elysees

The entrance to the Musee D'Orsay

Our first dinner at home!

Mon Nouveau Appartement

When I first laid eyes on my little french studio I thought, "Ok, it's Paris, it's supposed to be this small." The apartment consisted of a small room with two twin beds, and a little surprise in the closet...a kitchen! We were shown the apartment by our director, Holly, she later told us that she was shocked at the size and would be moving us within the next week. Candida and I basically lived out of our suitcases for a week...and that's always fun.



We got the call on Monday that we would be moving. Rather than moving down the hall as we suspected, we moved to a new building a few blocks away. Our new apartment is amazing! Its is only a bit bigger than the last but has a great view of the city (we are on the 7th floor) and has a real kitchen. It is most beautiful in the morning when the light hits the window. My next move is to jazz this place up a bit with some art and kitch!!!

Weekend in St. Malo and St. Michel

I got home last night from a beautiful weekend on the Brittany coast. My weekend was exciting and exhausting, all mixed into one. We left on Saturday morning from the Gare Montparnasse train station, and boarded a bullet train to St. Malo. Once we arrived in St. Malo we took a bus to Cancale. Cancale sat on the coast and was full of little streets and shops. Then we were off to St. Michel. At St. Michel we exited the bus and we were able to explore St. Michel for a few hours. There is an abbey that rests at the top of St. Michel...the view from the top was amazing. Unfortunatley, my camera died as soon as we arrived at St. Michel. Later that night we had a traditional french dinner which consisted of yummy things like fish soup. On Sunday we went back to St. Malo. The city of St. Malo is completely fortified and reminded me of something out of the middle ages. Later that day we ventured out to the beaches of St. Malo, apparently St.Malo has the third highest tide in the world. All in all I was a great weekend, full of history and interesting french food!

Pictures courtesy of Candida:
Cancale
Me in grass
St. Michel
Beach at St. Malo


Next blog: New Apartment.