In class we’ve been going over grammar and how to phrase sentences in more complicated ways. Our favorite song that we learned this week was “Champs-Elysées,” so we’ve been singing it every time we’re near the road, or if it’s just stuck in our heads. (We have class every morning for an hour and a half or so, and then we usually have something to do in the afternoon or at night. Other than that, we’re free to explore the city.)
Just a general overview of the kind of food I’ve been eating: In general, we eat breakfast at the place we’re staying (the FIAP). I have a croissant almost every morning. (To be more French, I should have a cup of coffee, too.) We also usually take one of the chocolate croissants that they have at breakfast and save it for later in the day. We have a meal plan at the FIAP, so we eat one meal there per day. It’s not horrible food, but it’s not the best either. When we get to eat out somewhere, it’s really fun. Sometimes we do picnic stuff, but also sometimes a sit down restaurant. I actually had my first “real” French dinner the other night. I’m learning that the French really like to put together meat, sliced potatoes, lettuce, and tomato. It’s a really good combination.
We went to the Ile de Saint Louis on Monday, which is in the middle of the Seine. We had some really good ice cream and saw the Notre Dame. The Notre Dame was so crowded—lots of tourists. It makes me wonder what the church was like before it became famous (before Hugo’s book—The Hunchback of Notre Dame). I kind of want to read that book/see the movie again, haha.
I went to see another French movie, Affaire de Famille, which I really enjoyed. We thought it was a comedy, but it ended up being a dark comedy, which we figured out after the first quarter way through. I feel like I’m being able to understand more French, kind of, even though I still can’t pick up on everything they’re saying.
The other night we took this [English-speaking] bike tour through Paris. It was so fun because we got to ride through and see all of these sights we’ve been looking at for so long, but we got to see how they all connected together. It was in the evening, too, so the sun was setting. My favorite part was when we rode through this archway into the courtyard surrounding the Louvre, with the sun setting in the background. It was beautiful. And we got to take a boat ride on the Seine.
Yesterday we went to the Louvre. I wasn’t that excited, just because I was kind of overwhelmed at the thought of how big it is, but I ended up really loving it. I was there from about 3 in the afternoon until 9 pm. One of my favorite paintings was “The Raft of the Medusa” by Théodore Géricault because of the emotion in all of their faces. It’s the point between hope and despair. I also really liked this series of four paintings by Nicolas Poussin. Each painting represented a season and a biblical scene (spring: Adam and Eve, summer: Ruth and Boaz, fall: gathering grapes in the fields, winter: Noah and the flood). There were A LOT more works that I really appreciated and enjoyed, such as the statues “Psyche and Cupid” and “Dying Slave,” and the paintings “The Piesta of Villaneuve-Les-Avignon” and “St. Joseph the Carpenter.” (plus many more) I just really enjoyed walking through everything, even though there was no way I could understand or appreciate it all because there is SO MUCH. Oh, and they also have part of the medieval castle there, which was really cool.
A little over a week left!
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
more adventures
Whoa whoa. Even more has happened in these last few days. France is still great. The weather is pretty spazzy. I can never tell if it’s going to be hot or cool, sunny or cloudy. Today it just keeps alternating between all of that. Earlier last week it was kind of cold and a bit rainy, but now I don’t think it’ll go back to that. It’s muggy and warm, even if it’s cloudy out. But we love it. It’s better than being super hot and burning under the sun.
We went to two museums this week, the Museum of Rodin and Centre Pompidou. Rodin was an artist who didn’t like how all of the art around him was so “perfect.” He wanted to create sculptures that illustrated real people. He sculpted a man with a broken nose, a walking man, and other things like that. I enjoyed seeing him create what he saw, rather than the ideal of what people should look like. The Centre Pompidou is the newest art museum in France filled with modern art from this past century. We started with the temporary collection which was filled with lots of new, and often unusual, art. Some people created huge things out of car parts or sheep skin, for example. There was a huge red rhinoceros at the end of the hall, too. So there were some works that were very modern. But my favorite from that section was this painting by Yves Klein, who painted only with this one shade of blue that he discovered. He did that because the way the light shone on it made it the canvas its own. On the floor with the more traditional modern works, I really liked Matisse and Picasso. Matisse and the other Fauvists (not Picasso—he was cubist and surrealist) in the early 1900s experimented painting with bright and vibrant colors, which I find beautiful.
One night we went to see the play, “Fourberies de Sapin,” by Moliere, who was a famous French comedy playwright. It was hard to understand at first because they spoke so quickly, but the longer into it, the more immersed I was into the language, and the more I could understand. It was a really good play. I’m excited to see it next year when SPU puts it on (in English, of course).
The other night we went to a jazz club concert and watched a jazz trio play. They had an upright bass, drums, and a piano. I really enjoyed it—being in Paris at a jazz club, sitting with friends, listening to good music. I especially enjoyed watching the piano player because he was pretty much going crazy. Sometimes he would stand or just go off on some riff that wasn’t part of the song. The other two guys laughed at him when he did that.
We went to Giverny yesterday, which is where Claude Monet painted all of his water lily and garden paintings. We saw his house where he lived for 40 years of his life and walked through his gardens. It’s beautiful. I would have liked to live there as well.
Last night was the Fête de la Musique in Paris, which is a huge music festival. People play music ALL OVER the corners of Paris. You can walk from street to street listening to different bands who bring out their stuff to play. They also have organized concerts all around, too, in different places, outside or even in museums like the Louvre. We started with going to see Fredrika Stahl in this enclosed garden, who is a Swedish singer (though most of her songs were in English). She sounds kind of like Regina Spektor. I really liked her. Then we wandered down the street and listened to some African music and a few other bands. Then we rode the metro to a different part of Paris. There, we listened to some jazz, and then walked a little ways where there was a DJ playing dancing music, so we had fun dancing around there for awhile. And then we rode the metro to the Eiffel Tower and just lay in the grass looking up at it, while in part of the park next to it there was another dance going on with techno music. As we were leaving, the Eiffel Tower started lighting up, almost as if it were sparkling. Apparently it does special light things on special days. It was a really fun night.
At this point, I’m starting to recognize more where I am, and going to places for the third or fourth time, which is fun. The other day we had a picnic in one of my favorite areas, Rue Mouffetarre. We also visited Ernest Hemingway’s house, where he lived while he was in Paris.
So to sum it up, I’m still loving this city!
We went to two museums this week, the Museum of Rodin and Centre Pompidou. Rodin was an artist who didn’t like how all of the art around him was so “perfect.” He wanted to create sculptures that illustrated real people. He sculpted a man with a broken nose, a walking man, and other things like that. I enjoyed seeing him create what he saw, rather than the ideal of what people should look like. The Centre Pompidou is the newest art museum in France filled with modern art from this past century. We started with the temporary collection which was filled with lots of new, and often unusual, art. Some people created huge things out of car parts or sheep skin, for example. There was a huge red rhinoceros at the end of the hall, too. So there were some works that were very modern. But my favorite from that section was this painting by Yves Klein, who painted only with this one shade of blue that he discovered. He did that because the way the light shone on it made it the canvas its own. On the floor with the more traditional modern works, I really liked Matisse and Picasso. Matisse and the other Fauvists (not Picasso—he was cubist and surrealist) in the early 1900s experimented painting with bright and vibrant colors, which I find beautiful.
One night we went to see the play, “Fourberies de Sapin,” by Moliere, who was a famous French comedy playwright. It was hard to understand at first because they spoke so quickly, but the longer into it, the more immersed I was into the language, and the more I could understand. It was a really good play. I’m excited to see it next year when SPU puts it on (in English, of course).
The other night we went to a jazz club concert and watched a jazz trio play. They had an upright bass, drums, and a piano. I really enjoyed it—being in Paris at a jazz club, sitting with friends, listening to good music. I especially enjoyed watching the piano player because he was pretty much going crazy. Sometimes he would stand or just go off on some riff that wasn’t part of the song. The other two guys laughed at him when he did that.
We went to Giverny yesterday, which is where Claude Monet painted all of his water lily and garden paintings. We saw his house where he lived for 40 years of his life and walked through his gardens. It’s beautiful. I would have liked to live there as well.
Last night was the Fête de la Musique in Paris, which is a huge music festival. People play music ALL OVER the corners of Paris. You can walk from street to street listening to different bands who bring out their stuff to play. They also have organized concerts all around, too, in different places, outside or even in museums like the Louvre. We started with going to see Fredrika Stahl in this enclosed garden, who is a Swedish singer (though most of her songs were in English). She sounds kind of like Regina Spektor. I really liked her. Then we wandered down the street and listened to some African music and a few other bands. Then we rode the metro to a different part of Paris. There, we listened to some jazz, and then walked a little ways where there was a DJ playing dancing music, so we had fun dancing around there for awhile. And then we rode the metro to the Eiffel Tower and just lay in the grass looking up at it, while in part of the park next to it there was another dance going on with techno music. As we were leaving, the Eiffel Tower started lighting up, almost as if it were sparkling. Apparently it does special light things on special days. It was a really fun night.
At this point, I’m starting to recognize more where I am, and going to places for the third or fourth time, which is fun. The other day we had a picnic in one of my favorite areas, Rue Mouffetarre. We also visited Ernest Hemingway’s house, where he lived while he was in Paris.
So to sum it up, I’m still loving this city!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
one week down
We have gone on so many more adventures around Paris in the last few days. (I like to call them adventures because that’s what they feel like each time we stay out all afternoon and evening in a new part of Paris.)
On Saturday, I saw my French friend, Charlene, who had stayed with us as an exchange student a few summers ago. That was really good. We first went to lunch at her friend’s Parisian apartment (which was extremely small—half the size of a dorm room, with a counter and a sink and a shower—and expensive, because that’s what living in Paris is like. It was in one of those tall buildings that look so glamorous from the street. I have been saying all week how I’ve wanted to see one of the apartments, so I was really excited. Inside, even though it was small, it was still cute and fun to hang out there.) I was with three French speakers, so I pretty much just listened and tried my best to understand what they were saying. Then we went to the Eiffel Tower and, after that, a bakery. At night, Charlene’s friend got us in to see two one-hour French comedy plays for free because she works there. I really enjoyed them because I could understand what was going on, for the most part, even though I didn’t understand every single word. Afterwards, one of the actors asked me if I at least understood the part when he said, “You talkin’ to me?” I noticed that quite a few times they said things in English like that, which is interesting.
On Sunday we went to Mass at Saint Sulpice, and then walked over to see Saint Germain des Prés, both of which are beautiful churches that are hundreds of years old. The mass was almost impossible for me to understand. I only knew what was happening because I used to go to mass a lot, so I could guess what prayers and other things they were doing.
One afternoon we went to le Jardin du Luxembourg, which is a nice park in the middle of Paris where the Senate building is (I think...). We started talking to this older French man, Michel (we called him “Mike”), who comes into the city on Sundays and sits at the garden because it’s his favorite place in Paris. We ended up talking with him for a couple of hours in a mix of French and English. It was really nice, and we were really sad when we had to go.
The other day we had a huge excursion, walking around a lot. We started with walking to see the Moulin Rouge, which isn’t all that impressive. Then we walked up to Les Deux Moulins, the cafe Amelie works in, and got coffee. That was really fun. Then we walked quite a ways o Cimetière de Montmontre, which has the above-ground graves. Finally, we made our way up the hills and stairs (it reminded us of SPU) to le Sacré Coeur, a beautiful cathedral. The painting on the ceiling above the altar is breathtaking and overwhelming.
We went to a French movie the other night—to “Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis” which means something like “Welcome to the home of the Ch’tis”. It’s about how this guy gets transferred to a small town in the north of France, where the people have a different dialect and speak French with a different accent. A lot of the story has to do with all of the mix-ups in what each person is saying because they say things in a different way. We understood kind of what was going on, but we definitely didn’t catch all of the jokes. But the good thing is that the chairs were really comfortable, and my friend and I kind of dozed off a little bit... haha. Being in Paris is exhausting sometimes.
We went to the Eiffel Tower yesterday, which was so fun. We just hung out there all afternoon, reading and talking and taking pictures. It’s surreal to see it in person.
I love all of the time we spend just walking around different areas of Paris. We go to a cafe almost every day, just drinking coffee (or for me—hot chocolate, which is actually real chocolate melted in hot milk) and talking. Last night we sat at a cafe for a couple of hours watching the football (soccer) game between France and Italy. It was quite the atmosphere. The place was packed, and so were all of the other cafes around the area, and everyone was just hanging out and cheering for France (even though they lost).
Oh, and we also went to Hotel des Invalides, which is where Napoleon is buried. I must say, he has a very nice place.
On Saturday, I saw my French friend, Charlene, who had stayed with us as an exchange student a few summers ago. That was really good. We first went to lunch at her friend’s Parisian apartment (which was extremely small—half the size of a dorm room, with a counter and a sink and a shower—and expensive, because that’s what living in Paris is like. It was in one of those tall buildings that look so glamorous from the street. I have been saying all week how I’ve wanted to see one of the apartments, so I was really excited. Inside, even though it was small, it was still cute and fun to hang out there.) I was with three French speakers, so I pretty much just listened and tried my best to understand what they were saying. Then we went to the Eiffel Tower and, after that, a bakery. At night, Charlene’s friend got us in to see two one-hour French comedy plays for free because she works there. I really enjoyed them because I could understand what was going on, for the most part, even though I didn’t understand every single word. Afterwards, one of the actors asked me if I at least understood the part when he said, “You talkin’ to me?” I noticed that quite a few times they said things in English like that, which is interesting.
On Sunday we went to Mass at Saint Sulpice, and then walked over to see Saint Germain des Prés, both of which are beautiful churches that are hundreds of years old. The mass was almost impossible for me to understand. I only knew what was happening because I used to go to mass a lot, so I could guess what prayers and other things they were doing.
One afternoon we went to le Jardin du Luxembourg, which is a nice park in the middle of Paris where the Senate building is (I think...). We started talking to this older French man, Michel (we called him “Mike”), who comes into the city on Sundays and sits at the garden because it’s his favorite place in Paris. We ended up talking with him for a couple of hours in a mix of French and English. It was really nice, and we were really sad when we had to go.
The other day we had a huge excursion, walking around a lot. We started with walking to see the Moulin Rouge, which isn’t all that impressive. Then we walked up to Les Deux Moulins, the cafe Amelie works in, and got coffee. That was really fun. Then we walked quite a ways o Cimetière de Montmontre, which has the above-ground graves. Finally, we made our way up the hills and stairs (it reminded us of SPU) to le Sacré Coeur, a beautiful cathedral. The painting on the ceiling above the altar is breathtaking and overwhelming.
We went to a French movie the other night—to “Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis” which means something like “Welcome to the home of the Ch’tis”. It’s about how this guy gets transferred to a small town in the north of France, where the people have a different dialect and speak French with a different accent. A lot of the story has to do with all of the mix-ups in what each person is saying because they say things in a different way. We understood kind of what was going on, but we definitely didn’t catch all of the jokes. But the good thing is that the chairs were really comfortable, and my friend and I kind of dozed off a little bit... haha. Being in Paris is exhausting sometimes.
We went to the Eiffel Tower yesterday, which was so fun. We just hung out there all afternoon, reading and talking and taking pictures. It’s surreal to see it in person.
I love all of the time we spend just walking around different areas of Paris. We go to a cafe almost every day, just drinking coffee (or for me—hot chocolate, which is actually real chocolate melted in hot milk) and talking. Last night we sat at a cafe for a couple of hours watching the football (soccer) game between France and Italy. It was quite the atmosphere. The place was packed, and so were all of the other cafes around the area, and everyone was just hanging out and cheering for France (even though they lost).
Oh, and we also went to Hotel des Invalides, which is where Napoleon is buried. I must say, he has a very nice place.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
days 3 and 4 (ish)
The last few days have been so crazy and great. My French is improving a lot. The other day we went to the Picasso museum, which was interesting. I didn’t really know much about him, but through looking at all of his pieces of art and talking with my friend who’s an art history major, I learned a lot. It’s cool to see how he painted and sculpted and everything over his whole lifetime. Also, I learned that he was trying to see how much you could take a shape and make it look like what we think it is in its context, like a triangle for a nose, for example. So he kept pushing the limits—taking shapes farther and farther out of context to see if it would still look like the original intended image, in a way.
After that, Emily and Kaleigh and I went to find Victor Hugo’s house, which was an adventure. We’re getting better at asking people for directions, but they speak so quickly, so it’s hard to understand them at times. We found it, and it’s in part of this beautiful building that goes around a whole block, with a huge park in the middle. There were lots of cute little French kids playing around in it. I LOVE listening to kids speak French!!
Later that night, we took the metro to a “random” street in Paris, rue Muffetarre, to try to find a cafe where Ernest Hemingway used to go. (Emily just read “A Moveable Feast” which is a memoir of Hemingway when he lived in Paris, so he references a lot of places. It’s fun to try to find them.) The cafe doesn’t exist anymore, but it was fun to walk around and see Paris “night life” without the tourists. Everyone eats dinner really late, so at 9 or 10, when we were walking around, the streets were alive with people getting food and eating at cafes. We got coffee and hot chocolate at one, just sitting and watching everyone walk by. Then I bought “Les Trois Mousquetaires” (The Three Musketeers) at a local bookstore. I figure, if I’m going to read it, I might as well read it in the original language. (Though I tried to read a few pages, and I only retained half of what happened...)
Let’s see... another adventure... Yesterday we got on the metro and took it really far, to the 19th arrondissement (district), and walked around the Cite de la Musique and the Canal d’Orcqe where Amelie, in the movie, skipped rocks. It’s a really cool place.
One morning, a few of us, before class, walked to this little market street nearby and then sat at a park and did some homework. It was such a good moment, to be in a park in the middle of Paris, sitting on a bench in the sun.
I love it here.
After that, Emily and Kaleigh and I went to find Victor Hugo’s house, which was an adventure. We’re getting better at asking people for directions, but they speak so quickly, so it’s hard to understand them at times. We found it, and it’s in part of this beautiful building that goes around a whole block, with a huge park in the middle. There were lots of cute little French kids playing around in it. I LOVE listening to kids speak French!!
Later that night, we took the metro to a “random” street in Paris, rue Muffetarre, to try to find a cafe where Ernest Hemingway used to go. (Emily just read “A Moveable Feast” which is a memoir of Hemingway when he lived in Paris, so he references a lot of places. It’s fun to try to find them.) The cafe doesn’t exist anymore, but it was fun to walk around and see Paris “night life” without the tourists. Everyone eats dinner really late, so at 9 or 10, when we were walking around, the streets were alive with people getting food and eating at cafes. We got coffee and hot chocolate at one, just sitting and watching everyone walk by. Then I bought “Les Trois Mousquetaires” (The Three Musketeers) at a local bookstore. I figure, if I’m going to read it, I might as well read it in the original language. (Though I tried to read a few pages, and I only retained half of what happened...)
Let’s see... another adventure... Yesterday we got on the metro and took it really far, to the 19th arrondissement (district), and walked around the Cite de la Musique and the Canal d’Orcqe where Amelie, in the movie, skipped rocks. It’s a really cool place.
One morning, a few of us, before class, walked to this little market street nearby and then sat at a park and did some homework. It was such a good moment, to be in a park in the middle of Paris, sitting on a bench in the sun.
I love it here.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
first days
(I wrote this yesterday...)
The last few days have been pretty crazy. I took three flights and finally got to Paris at 10 am Tuesday morning, after leaving Monday at 8:30 am and skipping 9 hours somewhere in the middle. I couldn’t find the people I was supposed to meet at the airport, so I ended up taking a taxi to the place we’re staying in Paris. It was definitely an adventure. (I had my first real French conversation with the cab driver, which was cool.) We’re staying at the FIAP, which is kind of like a dorm where people rent out rooms and stay. Our room is very tiny, but cute, of course. It’s about as wide as a queen size bed. It has two little beds, two little desks and a bathroom.
Yesterday our group went out for dinner at a cute little French restaurant and then walked to the Louvre and along the Seine. It was really nice out—a perfect first night in Paris!
Today we had class in the morning and learned about how to use the metro system, which is actually pretty easy. Then we went to the Musée d’Orsay and looked at all of the impressionist, postimpressionist, and neoimpressionist paintings from artists like Van Gough and Monet. I, along with two other girls, stayed until the museum closed. Then we walked around and ate crepes at a cute little restaurant, speaking French the whole time, or at least trying to. We also went and saw the little bookstore where Ernest Hemingway bought his books and Sylvia Beach published James Joyce’s Ulysses. Thomas Paine had also been there.
All in all, I’m loving Paris. I could live here for awhile, for sure. I feel like there is way too much to do and see. It is so overwhelming. But I’ll see as much of it as I can for the time being. And my French is already getting better.
The last few days have been pretty crazy. I took three flights and finally got to Paris at 10 am Tuesday morning, after leaving Monday at 8:30 am and skipping 9 hours somewhere in the middle. I couldn’t find the people I was supposed to meet at the airport, so I ended up taking a taxi to the place we’re staying in Paris. It was definitely an adventure. (I had my first real French conversation with the cab driver, which was cool.) We’re staying at the FIAP, which is kind of like a dorm where people rent out rooms and stay. Our room is very tiny, but cute, of course. It’s about as wide as a queen size bed. It has two little beds, two little desks and a bathroom.
Yesterday our group went out for dinner at a cute little French restaurant and then walked to the Louvre and along the Seine. It was really nice out—a perfect first night in Paris!
Today we had class in the morning and learned about how to use the metro system, which is actually pretty easy. Then we went to the Musée d’Orsay and looked at all of the impressionist, postimpressionist, and neoimpressionist paintings from artists like Van Gough and Monet. I, along with two other girls, stayed until the museum closed. Then we walked around and ate crepes at a cute little restaurant, speaking French the whole time, or at least trying to. We also went and saw the little bookstore where Ernest Hemingway bought his books and Sylvia Beach published James Joyce’s Ulysses. Thomas Paine had also been there.
All in all, I’m loving Paris. I could live here for awhile, for sure. I feel like there is way too much to do and see. It is so overwhelming. But I’ll see as much of it as I can for the time being. And my French is already getting better.
Monday, June 9, 2008
It's coming!
I'm leaving for the airport in 4 hours, and I'm pretty much ready to go! I'm excited. I'm going to be flying from Portland to Chicago to Germany to Paris. It'll be kind of a long trip, but I'll get there Tuesday morning and meet up with my group and have all day to relax.
So here's what I'm doing. I'm going to stay in Paris for a month with a group from SPU. We're going to have class in the morning, from about 9 to noon, and then have all afternoon to explore the city. Some afternoons we'll have a museum visit or a play to go see, but we'll also have a lot of free time. Then, when our month is over, my mom and sister are coming over and we're going to go to London, Paris, Florence, and Rome for two weeks. I get home on July 19th.
This is going to be such a huge experience in a short amount of time! I'm excited.
I really want to talk to you all over the summer, so I'll try to email you and send postcards and things like that. And you can email me, too. I really intend to write a lot, but who knows what'll happen once I get there.
I'm going to be in Paris in one day!
So here's what I'm doing. I'm going to stay in Paris for a month with a group from SPU. We're going to have class in the morning, from about 9 to noon, and then have all afternoon to explore the city. Some afternoons we'll have a museum visit or a play to go see, but we'll also have a lot of free time. Then, when our month is over, my mom and sister are coming over and we're going to go to London, Paris, Florence, and Rome for two weeks. I get home on July 19th.
This is going to be such a huge experience in a short amount of time! I'm excited.
I really want to talk to you all over the summer, so I'll try to email you and send postcards and things like that. And you can email me, too. I really intend to write a lot, but who knows what'll happen once I get there.
I'm going to be in Paris in one day!
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Packing
I'm getting ready to go to Paris. I'm leaving for the airport in about 31 hours. And I still have to start packing. Ahh! I think once I'm on the plane I'll feel a lot better, because all of the prep will be done.
I got home yesterday and unpacked all of my stuff from school (kind of). Today I was gone for most of the day in Corvallis visiting Amy (!!! :), and then I just got home from doing some last minute shopping. It's kind of unreal that I'm going to be in France in a few days. But I'm excited!
I got home yesterday and unpacked all of my stuff from school (kind of). Today I was gone for most of the day in Corvallis visiting Amy (!!! :), and then I just got home from doing some last minute shopping. It's kind of unreal that I'm going to be in France in a few days. But I'm excited!
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