The past couple of weeks have been pretty basic. Laurel came last weekend with her friend Kelly. We met up with them on Saturday night. Kathleen wanted to go inside Notre Dame so we went up a little early, got some cheap postcards, and met up with Laurel and Kelly in the garden outside. Stephanie was with us, but she wanted to go shopping and decided to wait in line to buy clothes rather than come with us. Notre Dame is beautiful, by the way. It was cool because there are little alters to different saints inside and we had learned about a lot of them during our first class. Kathleen and I (mainly Kathleen) were able to give them a little bit of the history going on at the time. Then we met back up with Stephanie and the five of us trekked up to Sacré Coeur. As always, there were tons of people sitting on the stairs and drinking, as well as musicians dancing and singing everywhere. There was also some sketchy guy who kept following me around trying to talk about the music, but Kathleen scared him off. Sacré Coeur is beautiful as well, but they don't allow pictures so I think we only got like one... I took Laurel and Kelly down to Moulin Rouge since we were in the neighborhood, then we headed over to another district a little south to get dinner. We had all heard about this very authentic French restaurant that isn't too expensive, only to find a line half a block long.
Last Friday we went to Poitiers, which is a small town in the south of France. It was adorable! It made me want to retire and open a bed and breakfast. Every street was narrow and winding and every window had flowers hanging over the balcony. We took the train, our ears popped, and it took about an hour and a half. We had an amazing lunch at a local restaurant, I got baked goat cheese toasted with apples and bacon on whole grain bread, teryaki chicken with mashed potatoes, and tarte tartine (which I thought was like apple pie, turns out it isnt) but Steph and I also did a pretty good job taking care of everyone else's food. We got unlimited bottles of wine so most people had filled up before they finished eating. On the train back we didn't get our own car so we subjected all of the French to our rude, loud, Americanness. We also happened to be on the train with an entire platoon from the French Army. They weren't friendly. Pictures to follow when my internet doesnt suck.
This past Friday we went to the Loire Valley and saw some chateaus. First we went to one that was actually three different chateaus in a square. Each segment had been built by a different ruler, in a very different time period, with a very different style (think Victorian house with a Colonial addition and very modern guest house). It was hideous, yet still impressive. The second was Chambourd, which was the King's hunting house used primarily for holding feasts. Apparently the French president still uses it to invite foreign diplomats on hunts. It was beautiful from the outside, tremendously large and cold inside, and sparsely furnished. Our tour took about four hours...
I've decided to go to Morocco for the week long break we have in November. I'm only going for three or four days though, so I should have enough time to hit some beautiful mosques and markets. I might go to Dublin this weekend to see Will. He was in Paris last week and we were able to get together and have dinner. His friend from DePaul is also studying here and knew of a really good restaurant. Anyway, may go to Dublin, Friday is Halloween, but I don't feel like staying here. Everyone is going to get drunk and go see the new James Bond movie, in which I am only mildly interested. We'll see what happens
Monday, October 27, 2008
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Hey everyone, I know it's been a while, so this might be long.
Today I went to the Musée d'Orsay with Olivia and Kathleen. It was really nice, although the three of us were unbelievably tired by the end of it. We actually went to the Louvre first, but didn't end up going inside. We have these cards that say that we are History of Art students that way we can get into museums for free, however, the Louvre has their own free student card, so we had to take our passports and sign up for it. Today there was only one person working and we stood in line for about 20 minutes with no movement before giving up and deciding to return during the week.
Yesterday we went to Saint-Denis, which is one of the more beautiful Gothic churches I've ever seen, even considering the fact that you are surrounded by dead people. All/ most of the old French kings are buried there and the chapel is also home to their mausoleums. We had a great tour guide who used to go to our school apparently, and was nerdy enough that that wasn't surprising. It's very far north of Paris, and Olivia has decided that she is getting married there, no matter what. Patrick has a friend in town from Holland (apparently they went to high school together in Houston) so we all went out with them last night. It was pretty uneventful, mainly since we kept getting rejected from bars because our shoes weren't nice enough.
My daily life is pretty uninteresting, we have class Mon-Thurs, until sometime in the afternoon, then we have enough homework to keep us busy most of the night, so we don't do a ton. Mainly, I walk down to the small grocery store nearby and buy odds and ends. The kitchen isn't fully equipped, nor do I have enough room to buy real groceries, so I mainly subsist on pasta, sandwiches, and individual pizzas. Today, however, I think I will try the chicken nuggets. There's a cafeteria next door that has pretty cheap meals for students on the weekends. The formule blue (the blue meal) some with chicken, fish, or cheeseburger, plus fries, a salad, and yogurt. When you add in a coke it comes in just under 4 euro, which is about 6 dollars. The fish is actually one giant fish stick, but it's decent. I'm pretty sick of french fries though, that seems to be the most common side dish, even in nicer restaurants.
On Thursdays we have mandatory friendship hours. I have decided I hate mine. The university knows that it would be difficult for most of us to meet real French students, so they hired some to hang out with us every week in small groups. The kids in beginning French have it pretty good, their friend just speaks English and helps them learn how to order food from menus. The kids in the advanced French class can hold a decent conversation and tend to have a good time as well. I, however, am in the intermediate class. We can understand most of what Geoffrey says, but can't seem to express any of our ideas or opinions well enough to carry our end of the conversation. Geoffrey is a chill, almost hippie, i-dont-care-how-i-look-in-your-fashion-obsessed-Parisian-society kind of guy. Last week, we met at the Center and ended up in a British pub because it was cold and rainy. We got past the introductions and found out a little about his life. We have basically the same hair, so we talked aout that for about two minutes...
This week, however, he sent us on a wild goose chase in an unfamiliar neighborhood. He wanted us to meet him at a bar called "Tribal." We get off the metro on the north side of town and we are surrounded by african hair salons. One kid in our group had told us that he had directions, but in fact he only had the address of the bar. So we just start walking in a direction, which turned out to be the wrong one. Eventually, the two guys I'm with decided that we needed to ask for directions. Steven is from Hong-Kong and is apparently slightly uneasy around black people. When we got off the metro he said something like "It looks like a lot of our friends from Chicago are up here." I chose to let that go. Then he starts telling me, since my French is better than his, and the other guy, Ezra, is sick, I should ask for directions. That's fair, I'm not afraid of black people, but I also do not really want to approach some Algerian immigrant looking for a bar called Tribal. Eventually, I do, but I'm told that the bar is no longer open. Yippee. About half an hour and four more directions later, we find the place. It's in an alley behind a semi-major road. I'm pretty sure they were getting ready for a dog fight across the street. An old man with a feather in his hat kept walking past blowing a police whistle. Apparently, according to Geoffrey, this is the cool place. This neighborhood hasn't become hip (pronounced 'eep') yet, so only the really cool people come here. Apparently, the cool people include his girlfriend, whom he brought along. I guess I should say he brought us along... on his date... when he gets paid to hang out with us. So basically, it was an hour of discomfort. His girlfriend is from Tokyo, Steven has been to Tokyo once, and she has been to Hong Kong, so they talked about Asian stuff for a while. During a lull I told her where I had been in Japan, but she had never heard of it. Ezra was sick so he mostly kept to himself, except for when he asked Geoffrey where to buy hashish. Geoffrey told him "don't buy it on the street, you'll get ripped off. and don't buy any in a club, because it will probably be laced with coke. just ask your friends where to get it." Isn't he being paid to be our friend? Clearly Ezra's friends include those of us in the program, and we have no idea where he can buy some hashish in Paris. Really Geoffrey? Really?
Today I went to the Musée d'Orsay with Olivia and Kathleen. It was really nice, although the three of us were unbelievably tired by the end of it. We actually went to the Louvre first, but didn't end up going inside. We have these cards that say that we are History of Art students that way we can get into museums for free, however, the Louvre has their own free student card, so we had to take our passports and sign up for it. Today there was only one person working and we stood in line for about 20 minutes with no movement before giving up and deciding to return during the week.
Yesterday we went to Saint-Denis, which is one of the more beautiful Gothic churches I've ever seen, even considering the fact that you are surrounded by dead people. All/ most of the old French kings are buried there and the chapel is also home to their mausoleums. We had a great tour guide who used to go to our school apparently, and was nerdy enough that that wasn't surprising. It's very far north of Paris, and Olivia has decided that she is getting married there, no matter what. Patrick has a friend in town from Holland (apparently they went to high school together in Houston) so we all went out with them last night. It was pretty uneventful, mainly since we kept getting rejected from bars because our shoes weren't nice enough.
My daily life is pretty uninteresting, we have class Mon-Thurs, until sometime in the afternoon, then we have enough homework to keep us busy most of the night, so we don't do a ton. Mainly, I walk down to the small grocery store nearby and buy odds and ends. The kitchen isn't fully equipped, nor do I have enough room to buy real groceries, so I mainly subsist on pasta, sandwiches, and individual pizzas. Today, however, I think I will try the chicken nuggets. There's a cafeteria next door that has pretty cheap meals for students on the weekends. The formule blue (the blue meal) some with chicken, fish, or cheeseburger, plus fries, a salad, and yogurt. When you add in a coke it comes in just under 4 euro, which is about 6 dollars. The fish is actually one giant fish stick, but it's decent. I'm pretty sick of french fries though, that seems to be the most common side dish, even in nicer restaurants.
On Thursdays we have mandatory friendship hours. I have decided I hate mine. The university knows that it would be difficult for most of us to meet real French students, so they hired some to hang out with us every week in small groups. The kids in beginning French have it pretty good, their friend just speaks English and helps them learn how to order food from menus. The kids in the advanced French class can hold a decent conversation and tend to have a good time as well. I, however, am in the intermediate class. We can understand most of what Geoffrey says, but can't seem to express any of our ideas or opinions well enough to carry our end of the conversation. Geoffrey is a chill, almost hippie, i-dont-care-how-i-look-in-your-fashion-obsessed-Parisian-society kind of guy. Last week, we met at the Center and ended up in a British pub because it was cold and rainy. We got past the introductions and found out a little about his life. We have basically the same hair, so we talked aout that for about two minutes...
This week, however, he sent us on a wild goose chase in an unfamiliar neighborhood. He wanted us to meet him at a bar called "Tribal." We get off the metro on the north side of town and we are surrounded by african hair salons. One kid in our group had told us that he had directions, but in fact he only had the address of the bar. So we just start walking in a direction, which turned out to be the wrong one. Eventually, the two guys I'm with decided that we needed to ask for directions. Steven is from Hong-Kong and is apparently slightly uneasy around black people. When we got off the metro he said something like "It looks like a lot of our friends from Chicago are up here." I chose to let that go. Then he starts telling me, since my French is better than his, and the other guy, Ezra, is sick, I should ask for directions. That's fair, I'm not afraid of black people, but I also do not really want to approach some Algerian immigrant looking for a bar called Tribal. Eventually, I do, but I'm told that the bar is no longer open. Yippee. About half an hour and four more directions later, we find the place. It's in an alley behind a semi-major road. I'm pretty sure they were getting ready for a dog fight across the street. An old man with a feather in his hat kept walking past blowing a police whistle. Apparently, according to Geoffrey, this is the cool place. This neighborhood hasn't become hip (pronounced 'eep') yet, so only the really cool people come here. Apparently, the cool people include his girlfriend, whom he brought along. I guess I should say he brought us along... on his date... when he gets paid to hang out with us. So basically, it was an hour of discomfort. His girlfriend is from Tokyo, Steven has been to Tokyo once, and she has been to Hong Kong, so they talked about Asian stuff for a while. During a lull I told her where I had been in Japan, but she had never heard of it. Ezra was sick so he mostly kept to himself, except for when he asked Geoffrey where to buy hashish. Geoffrey told him "don't buy it on the street, you'll get ripped off. and don't buy any in a club, because it will probably be laced with coke. just ask your friends where to get it." Isn't he being paid to be our friend? Clearly Ezra's friends include those of us in the program, and we have no idea where he can buy some hashish in Paris. Really Geoffrey? Really?
Friday, October 3, 2008
It's been one week...
This morning we went to St. Chappelle, it was pretty beautiful, but cold. I need to get some yarn and I'll whip up some gloves and maybe a hat. Everyone here wears scarves, its a little ridiculous. We had really good weather for the first few days but now I need to start wearing a coat. We learned a lot about the French history we are supposed to be reading, then had a really good lunch at Au Pied de Cochon (at the pig's foot). The food was really good, although they serve fries with everything, even at pretty nice restaurants. I got creme brulée for desert, it was pretty amazing. We took over two hours to eat lunch so we missed our appointment with Notre Dame I guess. We didn't get to go in, but we stood outside and Professor Peter White told us about all the architecture. There was a couple getting married outside Notre Dame, there were only about five or six people there, but she had on a huge puffy dress. Everyone kept telling me that I should do that, but considering they were standing in a huge flock of pigeons, I think I'll pass.
I'm starting to get used to the tiny shower, although it will be a relief to get home. I have a great view from my window and I've taken to opening the window and people watching in the morning or afternoon when I have a few minutes. I had a very French moment the other day. I was standing at the window eating my yogurt for breakfast, it was a beautiful day, and someone in another room was playing classical music which I could vaguely hear.
I'm starting to get used to the tiny shower, although it will be a relief to get home. I have a great view from my window and I've taken to opening the window and people watching in the morning or afternoon when I have a few minutes. I had a very French moment the other day. I was standing at the window eating my yogurt for breakfast, it was a beautiful day, and someone in another room was playing classical music which I could vaguely hear.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Day 3-6
We have a lot more work than we thought we would, everyone is a little ticked at that. I have to lead the discussion tomorrow, so I should probably be working on that right now. Whatever. My french teacher pulled me aside today, along with another kid, to tell us that we should move up to the next class. However, Olivia is in that class and I know its going to be hard, whereas the one I'm in was going to be a pretty good easy review. The other kid took 201 and 202 over the summer so he's pretty fresh and should move up. Since I forget EVERYTHING though I told her I might need the review. She basically gave me the choice, and as much as I want to coast this quarter, I know it would be better to just take the harder class so my French gets better. oh decisions. We had a wine and cheese tasting today. The university hired the sommelier who owns a nearby wine shop to come and teach us about wine. It was actually pretty cool as I have never really liked the taste of alcohol before. I actually liked two or three of the five wines he gave us, and they are incredibly cheap, incredibly, so I may become a wine-o before the trip is over. As the girl next to me said "what the hell else is Paris for?" which apparently is everyone's opinion because everyone basically let themselves get pretty tipsy. Then we went to happy hour at an Irish Pub and played "I've never." Since I've never really done anything except be engaged before 20, I only barely got through one beer, which was bought for me, so whatever. I'm actually only writing to avoid more work, but I had better get back to it.
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