Salut, Paris!

So, I hope everyone understands that my lack of blogging is actually a GREAT thing, because I really am just too busy! I don't even get to my computer every day anymore. I guess that's all going to change in a few days...

Where did the time go!? What a great finale to a crazy trip. The past few weeks were packed with visitors, last minute touristy things, and tons of exams (blegh!) Yesterday was my final oral exam, which ironically was definitely the best of all of them. After it was over I walked out a little shaky, finally realizing that I'm actually finished. 

Let's start from a few weeks ago! The rest of my mom's visit was fantastic. We ate at a bunch of really cool restaurants, including Laduree, which is a teahouse pretty similar to the famous Angelina's, except without all the tourists. I had a spectacular pistachio maracon and a pure chocolate hot chocolate, which was sickeningly good. Literally. 

I also got to FINALLY see the Saint Chapelle! It was a rainy day but the chapel was beautiful, as expected. It's really small, but the walls are almost all completely made of stained glass- each one with a biblical story. The back of the chapel has these huge doors (like 4 horses could walk through at one time) and then a rose window that I could only imagine to be gorgeous with the sun shining through! 

Last Saturday the CCA group took a trip to Fontainebleu- definitely one of the coolest spots we've seen. It's a castle that almost all of the kings of France have used- and the tour guide took us through the smaller royal chambers that are only open some of the time. She did such a great job of explaining everything. I had no idea that the furniture used to actually be really brightly colored! It makes sense, but I just didn't think about the changes in color would make to what the halls actually looked like when they were being used. Some of the furniture was restored and some was left to the originals, so you could actually see the differences. They even used bright purple for the salon! The guide also showed us a door where Napoleon (1?) would privately use to travel to his wife's room, and vice versa. When he decided to divorce his first wife since she couldn't bear his children, he actually bricked up the whole door so she couldn't get back through! What a way to break up with someone. 

Anyway, the castle was really cool. In one of the gardens it even had a fountain of peeing dogs... (the French certainly have an interesting sense of humor!) Pretty funny stuff. OH RIGHT! And... Picasso also went and stayed there for 2 years in the 20s for inspiration... I found a book that actually showed his works compared to some of the sculptures/paintings in the castle itself. Kind of crazy! 

So yes. That was a cool last trip with Central... and then last week was full of exams! I had an Art History exam, Film, Phonetics test, and an exam for the Central College class. The final HUGE grammar exam was on Saturday, which was pretty difficult. Like I said, yesterday was the oral exam, and I just got to talk about Victor Hugo's Demain, des L'aube- a poem that every French student has studied multiple times. 

In between all of the studying and exams my friend Caitlin from Drew and a friend of hers came up to visit for their last week! They stayed just outside of Paris with another friend, so I got to see them a few times during the week when I wasn't locked away in a cafe studying. :) We checked out the view from the top of the Galeries Lafayette, which was so cool! The rooftop/high city views here are really great, because it gives you a totally different perspective of the city. Paris feels like it's huge when you're trying to get around it, but then when you actually see how squished together everything is it's really surprising. 

So yes, lots of touring and eating baguettes/hummous in the parks and along the Seine. The parks continue to be my favorite part of Paris, so I plan on spending the majority of the next 48 hours in them! I can't believe it's time to go home... I've been going through intense bouts of excitement and then changing to complete dispair in leaving this beautiful city. I don't think I would ever be able to completely make up my mind about wanting to stay or go- I think that knowing I'm going home in 2 days is making me excited for it, but if I had to stay a few more months I wouldn't complain. :) This was such a journey- going through so much culture shock and getting used to the language, and now having to go home! It's insane. I'm so glad I did it- I know now if I had to (or just wanted to) move somewhere pretty far away, it's not impossible! It just takes a little getting used to. 

I'm going to put some pictures up and get off of the computer- I don't want to spend my last hours inside! It's BEAUTIFUL out today! 

(Side note...)I guess it's pretty fitting that up until yesterday, my login password was salutparis. Salut can mean hello or goodbye, and the password changed just as I was about to leave! Ironic. 

And.. signing out, for the last time in Paris. Au revoir!

a very delayed response.

What a crazy three weeks! I have decided that my “culture shock” is FINALLY officially over and I’m ready to just live here for the rest of my life. It’s almost like you have to go through trials to become officially prepared to live here- 5 months just isn’t enough time! First there’s the language adjustment, then the people. Then you have to be able to let go of some of your own traditions (granted, I still waaay prefer the American breakfast of an omelet or pancakes over some bread and jam) and just kind of get used to some of these ways of life. I finally realized that it’s not about changing who YOU are, it’s about letting yourself accept who these people are, and dealing with it.

            Seeing as I haven’t written anything for about three weeks, there obviously has to be a reason. After my “buttons” finally disappeared for good, I decided to make good use of the last three days of Spring Break- I spent a good four hours wandering around the Louvre, ate a spectacular dinner at a great bar called Styx (on Mondays they have jazz night!) and of course took another trip to Breakfast in America. Yes, it’s American, but at the same time it’s crazy to see how many people actually go there. It’s pretty popular among French students around brunch-time. J

            School started back up, and all of my professors have been beginning to prep us for exams (next week! ah!). I have an exam for my two conferences (Art History and Film) as well as a written exam and an oral on a separate day. The Art History professor literally told us that he wouldn’t be giving us any paintings we couldn’t go visit ourselves while in Paris, so as to better prepare ourselves for the questions. That’s so cool! This gave me the incentive to finally drag myself to the Musée D’Orsay (the Impressionist museum in an old train station). What a mistake to only give myself two hours. First of all, I am utterly ashamed that I have not visited this museum once a week since I’ve been here- it’s amazing! It’s like someone took out all the boring paintings that no one wants to look at and just put all of the beautiful famous ones in it. (This is partly because most of the paintings were donated by the same owner- a doctor who bought up all of Monet’s, Renoir’s, Corot’s.. etc. paintings to support them when money was too tight to afford paint.) Anyway- I know the museum is famous, but I cannot stress to you how beautiful it really is. Even the train station is beautiful. It’s wide and has huge ceilings so you don’t feel claustrophobic like so many crowded museums seem to do.

            The CCA class for the week was a visit to the National Museum of Immigration, which turned out to be really cool! It showed an evolution of immigration, with the different numbers of immigration over the years, as well as the country’s current problems and examples of real problems that people are still facing today. It was worth the trip, and the tour guide was really great (We kept trying to guess where she was from… she was speaking French, but in a completely different accent! It came down to a tie between Brazil and Portugal. Who knows. It’s crazy to be able to notice things like that in a different language though…)

            I am really disappointed to not be running the marathon- it’s next weekend! After my chicken pox, it was too much and too close to start training again, so I took some time off. I’ve gone on a few great, non-stressful runs that have ended up pretty nice, especially in the afternoon sunshine around the Tuileries. Plus my mom is visiting this week! I’ve taken them to all of my favorite eating places in the last three days, so it was definitely a weekend full of food. We went to Angelina’s (the teahouse by the Tuileries), had a picnic with my favorite pastries today on the Champ de Mars (the park right below the Eiffel Tower) have had lots of coffee, pizza and crepes.

            Last night, my friend Margaret and I went to a party in Neuilly-Sur-Seine- a kind of suburb of Paris that’s still on one of the metro lines. It was a friend of mine who I met a few weeks ago, and it was awesome! We were the only two Americans, so of course we became the “token” English speakers for the night and had an interesting time trying to comprehend the attempts at phrases. It’s fun to do that sometimes though- usually it’s the other way around and I’m trying to make some sort of argument in French! By the end of the night everyone had switched back to French, so my brain definitely hurt from thinking so hard. I still love it though- I’ve definitely come a long way from being petrified to even start a conversation! Three weeks left won’t be enough time for perfection, but I definitely want to keep practicing until the moment I get on the plane. 

            

Paris from my bedroom

It's so GOOD to be out of bed for more than 10 minutes!

I'm finally sitting in the accueil using the computer, after 3 days of hurriedly checking my email in the little spot outside that gets internet. (I'm not quite as terrible to look at today) The chicken pox. Who gets the chicken pox at age 20, in a foreign country, on their spring break? Yup, me. No marathon either- it's totally shot my immune system and this was a big run week. Seeing as someone else is getting my groceries, I guess I can't do my 15 miles. Oh well, another one will come! 

Not much to report of the French life as my spring break has so far been spent with a high fever, some strange nightmares (including one with eggs exploding out of my refridgerator) and getting to experience the life of a teenage boy with terrible acne problems. I've watched all of season two of the Gilmore Girls, Scrubs and finally finished Sex and the City! (The last 2 episodes take place in Paris, so I guess that counts for something!) Today Katie was back and we ate jelly beans and watched Grease. Fun day. :) 

Besides staying in bed and out of Paris, I've realized that the week of solitude has also minimized my speaking time. I think it has given my brain a little rest too- it's the first week where I haven't had to always search for words to express myself. I wasn't really thinking about that when I was lying in bed debating on where to put my arms because any place was painful (ugh), but looking back (and feeling a little bit better, with some food and lots of meds in me) I guess the communication break was nice. Besides my roommate the only person I said any French to was my doctor, who (in English) kept telling me I would be contagious until all of my "buttons" are gone. Trust me, these things do NOT deserve a name as cute as "buttons." 

New topic. I'm ready to not be miserable for a few minutes! Or maybe even the rest of the day... (here's hoping).

It is so beautiful out! I still don't have much energy so I've been opening up my windows completely and it almost feels like I'm outside. My room is so nice in the afternoon- the sun comes in at the perfect angle and despite the terrible construction racket they seem to cause

 from 8am until dusk, there's not much other noise. Yesterday I heard a band playing though.. I totally knew the song too! No idea of the name. I can't wait to go back out and explore all the rest of the parks... I found an excellent coffee shop that's good for sit-in and take-out: it's got an amazing little atmosphere with great food (even for vegetarians!).. and it's not too far from the

 Hotel-de-Ville. 

Since it's finally nice all the time I want to go eat lunch on the Pont des Arts- a bridge just past the Pont Neuf, right on the Seine before the Louvre. It's an old wooden bridge that seems to always be full of people- couples, friends eating lunch, artists, bikers, runners (usually me) and lots of kids. It's also (recently discovered, but is not my purpose for loving the bridge) the bridge Carrie is standing on at the end of Sex and the City. So I kind of visited it today, right? 

je suis un poisson d'avril...

What an INCREDIBLE week to change my mind about things! 

Even Paris doesn't look pretty in cold, rainy March days. But when the sun comes out, the fountains of Versailles all come on and the noise of the Paris Marathon wakes me up on a Sunday morning, it's definitely time for spring.

My friend Amber came to visit this week, bringing two of her friends (one from school, and the other from her program in Denmark). It was perfect timing for me to explore some of the more touristy parts of Paris. The first night I took them to my favorite Creperie by Montparnasse- one of the bigger districts with lots of lights and movie theatres. We ate lunch next to the Seine on Ile St Louis, with hot baguettes, fromage de Savoie and Camembert, and finally wandered over to the Centre Pompidou (or Beaubourg)- Paris's modern art museum. We didn't even make it inside- it was so beautiful out, we just napped in the sunshine. There was a guy attempting to sing Beatles songs on the guitar (Baby's good to me, she's happy as can be, and I feel sad. what?!) 

Just like our April 1, the French have le Poisson d'Avril, where on April 1 people take cutouts of fish (they used to be real fish) and pin them on strangers' backs. It was funny to watch outside that day- especially in the more crowded districts there seemed to be some "fishy" situations. (haha..)

Saturday we finally went to Versailles! Aside from the 2 hour line (that's what you get for going on a Saturday) it was absolutely beautiful. There was an exhibition on Court dress during Louis XVI's reign- which was pretty interesting because most of the clothes were from other countries. Apparently the French didn't save very much in terms of apparel from the Louis periods. 

The Hall of Mirrors was so beautiful- it was really cool to see how all of the mirrors on the one side (overlooking the gardens) reflected the daylight and illuminated the entire hall. On either side of the hall were the rooms of Paix et Guerre (peace and war). It was supposed to help represent a transformation, as well as an equality among the two ideologies. One room had symbols of peace and tranquility, and the other used to house all of the war trophies and victory paintings. 

But SUNDAY. Best day of the week. I woke up, after an excellent 11 hours, not really wanting to get out of bed, but not exhausted either. Sundays are my long run days, so I finally made myself get up and go downstairs to make breakfast. As soon as I got outside I could hear the music and the chanting- and in the kitchen there it was. The Paris Marathon. The very one I was hearing outside of my door...

Right after I watched the winner of the 26.2 (or.. 42.3 here) finish in 2:05 (yeah... that's a five minute mile) I decided I was inspired enough to go on my own long distance. Of course, mine was half the length in the same amount of time- but it was so great! I could see the remaining marathoners finishing the race- people rollerblading next to them, and everyone watching from the bridges as they passed underneath. I forgot how great sports are- how unifying they can be for a city. For me! I even got some lucky droppings on my shirt/down my arm just as I started the run. Gross. 

This is the last week before Spring Break! It's a crazy week of Phonetics, classes, and thinking about next semester. It's very strange to realize that life will actually continue after I leave Paris... I feel like I live in another dimension!

A toute!

A river runs through it

What a crazy week! Seriously, weeks with Phonetics classes are insane. It's like I live on the metro and in a classroom. Kind of cool though... instead of walking five minutes to class through campus I'm passing the Pantheon. 

It's weird to be so busy in a place that you just "started" a life- usually getting to be too busy is because you have so many friends in one place or you've been doing one thing all of your life and have to squeeze something else in. I'm not even working- it's just a ton of classes, running, seeing NEW friends and oh yeah, seeing Paris. 

Being the mid-point of the semester, this week I finally defined one of my favorite things of Paris. It happened when I was walking back from the Metro around 11pm on Wednesday (my friend Tara always has friends over for a culturally themed dinner- this week it was Mexican stir-fry). There was almost no one around- no cars, and only the occasional biker. It wasn't freezing out, but there was the definitive crisp air that only seems to come on those early spring nights, when the weather is just in between the two seasons. I was walking onto the bridge (Pont Marie) when I just stopped, in the middle of the bridge. It was almost silent, except for a slight breeze that still seemed far away. The Eiffel Tower was lit up way in the distance, and all the way down the river every bridge had their streetlights on. Some of the buildings that lined either side of the river were lit, and some were almost pitch black. It was kind of comforting, almost like I was having alone time in the middle of a city that was usually bustling with noise and crowds. And the people were still there- the lights in the windows indicated the silent presence of the city at night. All the way down the Seine. 

Paris really is beautiful. The people, the architecture, the river... it's all there, and it all just fits. 

Today was finally daylight savings time... so it will be dark an hour later today! Meaning that I had time to procrastinate this morning before getting ready to go for a run. I'm going to go explore the Bois de Vincennes.. it is supposed to be one of the prettiest parks, arguably prettier than the Bois de Boulogne. (I think I still might prefer my afternoon short runs through the Tuileries- even if I'm not going INTO the Louvre all the time I can still look at it every day.) 

A bientot!

Paris: Respire

Sorry it has been so long! I feel like I’m sitting down to write, and all of a sudden it’s two weeks later. It’s kind of crazy how fast time flies, but how it simultaneously feels like I’ve been here FOREVER.

I’m officially halfway through! I don’t really know how to describe it, other than that my brain feels like it is about to explode from the amount of stuff I’ve learned so far. Spring break is only 2 ½ weeks away!

Friday night was Central’s trip to Marseille! What an interesting city. We took the train (the TGV) which was about three hours, and absolutely gorgeous. Seeing all of the mountains and hillsides really made me want to go hiking and be outside. Being in a city for so long, I forgot that there’s a France outside of Paris!

Marseille was not what I expected. It’s a port town, so there were a million boats in the harbor and a fresh fish market on Saturday morning. It’s much younger than Nice in terms of people- and more industrial with a kind of “working class” feel. It is really old though- we toured one of the oldest churches in France as well as the origins of the city (it is still one of the biggest ports in Europe, and the biggest importer in France!) Even with the chilly wind, the sun was spectacular when it hit you in the right place. We were only there for a night, but it was a perfect time frame. Seeing the history and the harbor was beautiful, but after that everyone was about ready to go back to Paris.

The rest of the weekend was pretty calm- it got cold again! It was a little disappointing after such a beautiful week of sunshine last week. Monday and Tuesday were once again crazy days- I don’t really get to sit down until after my art classes end around 9:30. I have mixed feelings about my busy beginning of the week- I really enjoy all of the classes I’m taking, but they’re so smashed into two days it doesn’t give me a break to appreciate them! Today is finally Wednesday- after our CCA museum tour I plan on taking a nice long nap.  On my run yesterday I was thinking about how much stuff I've been doing, and I saw one of the signs that are all around the city: it said, "Paris: Respire!" And I realized that might be something that I HAVEN'T been doing enough of. 

Hellogoodbye (like the Beatles song)

Salut tous!

This week was insane! I feel like it was so incredibly long, yet instantaneous at the same time. My friend Dan came to visit with his dad for the week, and on top of wanting to show him everything cool about the city, I had phonetics (I only have the classes every other week). In short, it was definitely very busy, but really good! Kind of ironic, because on one hand, I’m finally beginning to feel like I’m getting the swing of things the “Parisian” way- conversing, all of my classes, sitting in restaraunts, ect. On the other, I felt pretty touristy trying to take Dan to all of the “must-sees” of the city. Highlights of the week:

 

-Art classes. Just like last week, they are both still SO HARD. But so good! I had live models for both classes, which is both challenging and inspiring to try to work from. In Painting (the Tuesday class) the model had her dog with her.. kind of taking a twist on the whole “still life” effect, as the dog decided to move whenever he wanted. J

 

-The Louvre!! I FINALLY went. I regret to say that it was a required visit for the Central class, so I had to go whether I liked it or not, but I am so happy that we did. We went on a tour of some pieces during Louis XIV’s reign.. including Fragonard, Hubert Robert, Chardin and Rigaud (all artists who I have studied before and thoroughly enjoyed). The tour guide was an older French man who knew everything and anything you asked him, and was so interesting to listen to! Not to mention, he was hilarious. He kept yelling at people who were talking too loudly (we were all listening to him through earphones, and he had a mic attached to his shirt) and he would switch back from French to English whenever he felt like it. I even got to ask him a little about some of Robert’s work- an artist who loved to paint the ruins of the city and give them a fantastical feel- but unfortunately the piece I was thinking about isn’t in the Louvre. Even so, it was a great tour.

 

-Les Eglises. Dan’s dad really loves organs, so whenever we were walking down a street and saw a church, we went in to examine the organ size and age as well as the history of the church. Once again, I want to slap myself for not doing this before! Every church we went into was absolutely beautiful. I don’t remember the names of the 6 or so that we went into, but there was also a visit to Saint Severin and Notre Dame. (The Sainte Chapelle is next on my list!) I have also been seeing a lot of signs for free concerts in different churches, so I definitely want to try one of those soon.

 

-Père Lachaise. What a beautiful place. It is by far the most serene, peaceful place in the city- and even for a cemetery it just has an air that is both solemn and comforting. We spent all of Friday morning walking around- seeing Jim Morrison’s grave, Chopin, Oscar Wilde, Balzac, Moliere and Lafontaine, but in truth every grave was beautiful in its own way. There was one statue that really struck me- a life sized bronze (now green-ish) statue of the Virgin with her hand covering her face. It was so sad, and just seemed so real. On a lighter note, there was a grave right across from Chopin’s that had a clay painting on the tombstone, along with a pretty poem. On a closer examination of the person’s grave- the painting had a signature- Marc Chagall! How insane is that- a grave of a person I had never even heard of, with a personal tombstone by Chagall. I wonder how many people walk by it every day without even knowing what it is.

 

The week ended with a Friday night raclette dinner and a trip to the Eiffel Tower. It was so, so beautiful out- the air was crisp but not too cold, and we watched it start to sparkle as the clock struck eleven. I was sad to see Dan leave, but I’m pretty sure he got a good idea of La vie Parisienne. Let’s see what this week brings!