tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47249104899333890272024-03-13T17:12:07.702+01:00A Cornellian in ParisJohanna's adventures in the city of lights!Johannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00663584766313532625noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4724910489933389027.post-33298390468639060482011-05-18T00:36:00.002+02:002011-05-18T00:53:51.806+02:00A Parisian Spring<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">*I'll preface this post with an apology for its length. This is very much an outpouring of my growing nostalgia as the semester wraps up combined with procrastinating studying for finals. But if you're so inclined, read on!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">I cannot believe that in less than two weeks, I will be back in the US. These past four months have flown by, especially the past month since we have returned from break.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">Monet </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">water-lilies</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"> at the Musée de l'Orangerie</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Right after returning from spring break, my friend Elana from Cornell came to visit. She was studying abroad in London this semester, but her classes were done by the end of April so she came to Paris for a few days to visit. On Elana’s first day in Paris, we had crêpes at a Bretonne crêperie near the Pernety metro stop. We had savory galettes for lunch and shared a banana, salted butter caramel crêpe for dessert. Delicious! After that we headed to Place de la Concorde. I gave Elana the brief history of the area: used to be called Place de la Revolution, was where Marie Antoinette was executed by guillotine, Egyptian obelisk etc. and then we went to the Musée L’Orangerie. L’Orangerie is a small and simple museum, but definitely worth a visit. On the main floor there is just one gallery – a circular one, housing three magnificent Monet water lily panoramas. The lower level of the museum has a handful of great and noteworthy impressionist works. It was great seeing this gallery right after returning from Aix-en-Provence, as I found a number of Cezanne’s Aix landscapes at L’Orangerie. It has also been awesome to visit these art museums while taking my French art history class - I have started recognizing the paintings, artistic styles and movements even more. After our short visit at the museum, we walked through the length of the Tuileries garden, stopping at the fountain on the Louvre side to ogle at some adorable newborn chicks. At the Louvre, we took some obligatory pictures of the glass pyramids and then went into the museum for the quickest tour anyone has ever had at the expansive palace. In about 20 minutes we saw the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory and Venus de Milo. Sure, there are tons of other great works to see there, but you could spend a week just at the Louvre and with Elana visiting for only a few days and wanting to do a lot, we figured we would aim for the most noteworthy of the museum’s collection. As we were leaving, the dry heat of the day was breaking and a sudden rainstorm began. We scurried off to the bus and made our way back to the 14<sup>th</sup>. We stopped to pick up some delights for 'grignoter' (snacking), which inevitably ended up as dinner. (Funny story on the word grignoter – there is a national campaign in France called “Manger-Bouger,” meaning “Eat-Move” that encourages people to eat well and get active. As a part of campaign, a warning message appears at the bottom of candy ads at the movies, much like health warnings on medications in the US. The ad discourages “grignoter entre repas,” snacking between meals, and it encourages you to look to their website for more info. A little taste of France public service announcements for you.) Anyways, rejecting this advice, we went to the Boursault fromagerie and got some delicious chèvre and we got a fresh baguette and tiramisu mille feuille at Dominique Saibron (definitely not part of the Manger-Bouger propaganda). We had our bread; cheese and dessert back in my room and then called it a night, both of us still exhausted from traveling.</span><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The next day, we went to a market, which is held each Sunday on Alesia just a block away from Didot. They have a bunch of venders selling fresh produce, meats, cheeses, dried fruits, nuts, breads, flowers etc. We picked out a pain au chocolat and a chausson aux pommes (similar to an apple turnover)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> from the boulanger’s stand, and then some fresh strawberries and headed out for the day. We went to Versailles where we met up with Elana’s friends who had traveled with her to Paris. It was Easter Sunday and it was surprisingly not an original idea to spend the holiday at the château. We waited for hours to enter the château, but once we were inside it was totally worth it. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Versailles</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">The château was beautiful and enormous. Every piece of décor was so ornate and carefully planned out. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The crowds were numerous and it was difficult to get through the château easily and take pictures without a million tourists in the shots. I did really enjoy seeing some of the youngest visitors in costume…a little Marie Antoinette seemed to be following us around everywhere. We took a lunch break at ‘Angelina’ within the mansion. Unfortunately it was too hot for chocolat chaud, but I introduced Elana to one of my other Angelina favorites – the Mont Blanc. Supposedly invented by ‘Angelina,’ this mountain-like pastry has a meringue base, a chantilly filling and is covered in a rich chestnut cream. Yum J We then went to Marie Antoinette’s farm and the Grand and Petite Trionons, Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette’s country escapes on the Versailles property. Marie’s farm was quite country-like and adorable. There were rabbits, chickens, goats and horses being kept on the farm. A sparkling lake, grassy fields and little cottages decorated her domain as well. We finished our visit back at the main château, exploring the planned gardens and huge fountains on the grounds.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Marie Antoinette's Estate</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Fountain at Versailles</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We headed back to Paris where we split from the group. We went to Montmartre that evening– my first time being there at night and boy was it magical. Sacre Cœur was illuminated, its bright white façade glowing against the darkened night sky. I could stare at it forever. The steps were lined with tourists and Parisians alike enjoying the music of street performers and the superb views of Paris, lit up below. We went into the basilica where an Easter mass was going on. We walked around the artist’s square behind Sacre Cœur and walked downhill catching a great view of the Eiffel Tower. Afterwards we went to dinner at ‘Au Refuge des Fondus,’ a kitschy fondue restaurant in Montmartre. The tiny resto was packed and we waited outside until summoned to enter by the waiter. The restaurant had two long tables on opposite walls and as I entered, the waiter pulled out a chair, took my hand and assisted me to climb over the table to reach an empty seat on the other side. You had only two choices to make in the restaurant: meat or cheese fondue </span>(we went for the cheese) <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">and red or white wine. The wine was served up in a ‘biberot,’ the French word for baby bottle – rather bizarre, but it has come to be the trademark of this crazy niche and even the restaurant’s door handles were bottle shaped. We were served a plate of little appetizers: cubed meats, pickles, olives and cheese, and then were brought a huge pot of thick melted cheese and an overflowing basket of bread cubes. It was hot, gooey, cheesy and delicious. We even made friends with the couple next to us who let us try their meat fondue, in which you dipped a morsel of raw steak into bubbling hot oil, let it cook for a few minutes, added some mustard or other sauce of choice and enjoyed. It was interesting to try it, but I think the cheese was the better choice. After quite the dining experience, we headed out and completed our visit to Montmartre with a walk around Pigalle ending at the infamous Moulin Rouge.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Sacre Coeur</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Dinner at Refuge des Fondus</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The next day, we headed to Trocadero to get Paris’s best views of the Eiffel Tower. We settled down on the grass down the steps from Trocadero and ate a picnic lunch in the tower’s shadow. We then ascended the great tower after a bit of waiting in line – I swear, it turned April and a million tourists swarmed Paris. From the second level we got some great views of Paris, on a beautiful, clear day. After basking in the sun on the tower and getting our fill of the sky high Paris views, we headed back down to the ground. Next we explored the Centre Pompidou. We perused the modern art gallery for some time, before heading to the Arc de Triomphe. We watched a military ceremony </span>(which apparently happens every night at 6:30, who knew?)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> at the base of the arc, and then meandered down the Champs Elysée. We stopped at one of my favorite Paris destinations – Ladurée – and scored a half dozen macarons to share between the two of us. We each agreed that our favorite was the vanilla. I had been there three times prior and always gone for the more interesting sounding combinations, but the French really excel at the most basic and simple combinations, so in France even vanilla is never “vanilla.” We continued our zigzagging around Paris and headed to the Marais where we had dinner on an outside patio in the buzzing neighborhood. We ended the night visiting the Foyer Internationale, where I have class and where some of my friends live. They have a beautiful rooftop terrace with magnificent, unobstructed views of the city. We waited on the rooftop until the Eiffel Tower sparkled on the hour. The next day, I was back in classes and Elana was headed back to London. It was an awesome few days and completely reaffirmed my love and passion for this wonderful city after a few weeks of traveling.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Eiffel Tower!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Since then, it has been a marathon to the end. Time has been flying by, and in efforts to make the most of it; I’ve been trying to do and experience as much as possible. I feel like this next chapter of my Parisian life could be labeled: <b>“Paris Parks and Good Eats.”</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Parc des Buttes-Chaumont</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">One day shortly after Elana’s visit, I continued my sightseeing spree around Paris. I headed to a street that I had heard about near Les Halles called Rue Montorgueil. This has quickly become one of my favorite streets in Paris and I’m sad I didn’t find it sooner. The street is bustling with restaurants, boulangeries, fromageries and boucheries. On this particular day I collected picnic supplies stopping to get a mini pointue, fresh chèvre and some noisettes (chocolate dipped hazelnuts) from ‘À la mère de famille’, the oldest candy company in Paris. I took my picnic fixings and headed to Parc Butte Chaumont. This park is a little out of the way, situated up in the 19<sup>th</sup>, but it is undeniably worth the visit. The park is absolutely gorgeous and makes it easy to forget that you are in a major city. The park has lush green, rolling hills and an expansive lake where the park’s iconic gazebo is located on an island in the center. I was even surprised to find a roaring waterfall in a cave with stalagmites, surely manmade but still magnificent to find in the middle of this city park. I ate my picnic lunch near the lake, did some bird watching (so many chicks this time of year!) and wandered a bit before heading back to centre-ville, for my afternoon class.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Te66OwEl-cs/TdLEXZTChQI/AAAAAAAAAMw/5cjEzYZPW3Q/s1600/P1050243.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Te66OwEl-cs/TdLEXZTChQI/AAAAAAAAAMw/5cjEzYZPW3Q/s320/P1050243.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Promenade Plantée</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Continuing in my park adventures, I spent one Saturday at the Promenade Plantée with my friend Vanessa. We took a delicious picnic lunch with us to the park (complete with miniature cakes from Gerard Mulot pastry shop), which was built up on old elevated railroad tracks, much like the ‘Highline’ in New York City. The park starts by Bastille, close to the Bastille Opera House (we’d previously been there to see Madama Butterfly with our class) and a huge circle intersection where protests frequently occur. This day was no exception, as a score of people were putting on an anti-nuclear energy rally. We made our way to the park and walked its entirety, about a 3-mile stretch, which landed us at Paris perimeters on the edge of the 12<sup>th</sup>. The park was magnificent and we visited at just the right time. Its wrought-iron trellises were covered with the most beautiful roses of all different colors. We walked along the peaceful promenade stopping to take pictures of each type of flower, each more beautiful than the last. This same day, we joined our friends for dinner at a crepe restaurant and then visited the Eiffel Tower at night. The Champs de Mars, the fields in front of the Eiffel Tower are quite bustling at night (though a little sketchy), and it was rather an experience to relax there at night with some friends, sipping pastis and watching the tower sparkle. It seems silly to say, but these are the moments when it hits you, “I’m in Paris.” And isn't it wonderful.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">One Sunday I headed back to the Marais with some friends. This is really the most hopping part of the city on Sundays almost to the point that you can’t walk down the street. My Portuguese friend confessed that she had never tried falafel so of course we had to go to 'L’As du Falafel.' Needless to say, she is now a big fan. After poking our heads into a few vintage shops and wandering, we headed to Île St Louis for some Berthillion ice cream. That day they were serving up a fraise de Bois </span>(wild strawberry) <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">sorbet, which was probably one of the greatest things I have ever tasted. We took our ice cream and walked back along the Seine, enjoying the view of Notre Dame at dusk. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">And then another week of classes came and passed.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b>On classes: </b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I have a French grammar class that meets for two hours everyday and every other week we have a phonetics component for an additional hour each day. The grammar class is quite interesting as my classmates are of all different nationalities. There are a couple other Americans, but there are also students from England, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, China, Japan, Thailand, Mexico and Chile in my class. It’s the first time I’ve been in a class where I can’t default to English because the only language we all have in common is French. My teacher is this zany, energetic French woman who takes great interest in our different origins, pokes fun at our foreign accents and shares with us her love for cats and chocolate on a daily basis. We study grammar, read some texts of the French greats </span>(Baudelaire and Sartre seem to be favorites)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, work on comprehension </span>(learning about slang and more colloquial phrases)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> and work on more complex forms of oral expression, like critique. The teacher often asks us to do exercises in grammar that I’d rarely do even in English. Lately we have been working on restructuring sentences, transforming the nominal group into a subordinate proposition. Oy vey. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The other class component, phonetics, is rather laughable to an observer. It is exactly how you might picture a class of this sort. Our teacher, a young French native knowledgeable in linguistics, stands at the front of the class writes words on the board and we repeat after her. Half of the class time is spent in a language lab in which we wear headphones with microphones and we repeat after the teacher and listen to ourselves to notice our own mistakes. It has been enormously helpful, but there’s no denying the humor of the whole process. In addition to the language classes, I have two conference classes each week taught in French. One afternoon, I have an art history class. The teacher is a fabulous speaker and clearly passionate about the subject.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> My other conference class is on gastronomy. Over the course of the semester we have studied alcohol, cheese, meat, grains, produce, desserts, current cuisine trends and cultural influences in French cuisine. These classes are all a part of the Cours de la Civilization Français de la Sorbonne, a small sector </span>(~2000 students/semester)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> of the Sorbonne, also known as Paris IV</span> (the schools in the French university system are all numbered)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. In addition to these classes, I have a class with our program director twice a week. The first part of this class focused on French history starting in 1900 and going up to modern day politics. Post midterm, our class has focused on modern France and comparisons to the US.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">There are some differences between the French and American school systems that are worth noting. The French grading system is rather bizarre and everything is graded on a scale of 20. A perfect score is quite rare and it seems as if the high end of this scale doesn’t even exist. I’ve been told that a 16 can be considered an A and a 10 a C, but it’s still concerning to get back a paper with a 12/20 and think that I have failed. Another notable difference is the practice of “exposés.” My understanding of the function of an exposé in the French school system is somewhat educational and somewhat to save the teacher some effort. Students are assigned topics to present to the class. This wouldn’t be so hard, except for it being completely in French. For my grammar class, each person was responsible for one exposé over the course of the semester. The teacher has been encouraging us to read the French newspapers, so she asked us to present an article each to the class. Of course I had to go and pick a difficult topic to explain in French – European satellite findings on the differences in Earth topography and gravity. Luckily I did ok – just making some minor mistakes and throwing in some English “uh’s” instead of the French “euh’s” and the like. In my director’s class, the majority of the class has been taught through a series of student exposés with the teacher picking up on the parts that people left out. We also had to prepare a more significant exposé on a topic of our choosing. I figured if I was going to have to research anything, I might as well pick something interesting </span>(and tasty)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, so I did my exposé on French pastry. I brought in some examples for the class - needless to say, the class loved it. I think I got the teacher’s nod of approval as well – she seemed impressed with my knowledge of various pastries…little does she know I’ve been “researching” for the past four months </span>J<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">The last main difference with the French school system has to do with books and required work. Take for example my art history class. At the beginning of the semester, the teacher handed out a packet contained a list of a few dozen books that he personally found interesting on the topics that would be discussed in the class. There was no particular book that was required, no assigned reading, nothing. There is just this sense of doing your own research on the topic, whatever works for you, and perhaps these suggestions of the professor will prove useful. The teacher also provided us with a list of museums and their exhibitions that would occur throughout our semester. If all I did with my time was go to museums, I probably still wouldn’t be able to complete his list. I think that the French system tries to cultivate a more independent style of learning, whereas the American system keeps you on track, holds your hand a bit and helps you more easily reach the desirable educational end. I prefer the American method, but in a country of famous philosophers, I’m not one to argue with their teaching philosophy. This week our classes are finishing up. My conference and director’s class finals are this week in class, and my grammar class final is on Saturday, with an oral exam on Monday. Then I'm done!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">In more exciting news (finals are such a bore), last week was my <b>21<sup>st</sup> birthday</b>! Though not quite as exciting as the “coming of age” event it is in the US, I had nothing to complain about celebrating in Paris and all. On my birthday, I let myself sleep in for a change (I avoid early morning classes like the plague at Cornell…here it was not an option) and then met up with two of my good friends Maeghan and Vanessa for lunch in the Latin Quarter. I finally got my hands on French onion soup, which made little sense considering it was 75°F, but it was delicious and was followed by chicken with mushroom sauce and crème caramel. I played hooky and went shopping at Les Halles, picking up a skirt and cheap flats. I met up with Maeghan again later and we went to happy hour at a café on blvd Saint Germain, where had I been in the US, I would have had my first legal drink: a pink lady (I think that’s quite suitable for me). Later that night my friends from the program and in the dorm met up at the foyer to celebrate. My friends know me all too well – my presents included a bouquet of roses AND a jar of speculoos. THANK YOU! The next day, we continued the celebration and had lunch out at the 'Happy Days Diner,' a 50s style American diner right behind the St Michel fountain. It was great and so funny to watch the French cutting up their hamburgers with forks and knives. The menu included burgers, mozzarella sticks and a handful of different bagel sandwiches. I ordered the “Greenwich bagel” – I pronounced it, well the way it should be pronounced, and the waiter questioningly repeated back to me something like “grrawnweesh?” Um yeah, that. I’m not sure if I would call Parisian “bagels” bagels, but nonetheless, my roll with a hole in the middle with veggies and cheese was quite good.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mPqLiFcwkfQ/TdL1USNkLqI/AAAAAAAAANM/zMU_lGopaK0/s1600/P1050474.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mPqLiFcwkfQ/TdL1USNkLqI/AAAAAAAAANM/zMU_lGopaK0/s320/P1050474.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Parc Monceau</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">That afternoon, we met up with some of our dorm gang at Parc Monceau, a small but lovely park in the 8<sup>th</sup>. The park layout reminded us a great deal of Park Retiro in Madrid. It had a little pond with Romanesque columns surrounding it. We attempted to play Frisbee in the park and basked in the sun for a bit, enjoying the wonderful May weather in Paris. We went to Montmartre that night. We watched the musicians and performances (some sort of weird biblical puppet show) in front of Sacre Cœur, walked around for a bit and then had pizza for dinner not too far from the Moulin Rouge by Place de Clichy. Sunday, we took a picnic and a soccer ball to Park Montsouris, a large park not too far from our foyer. We walked around the beautiful park crowded with Parisian families, but also crowded with turtles, swans and ducks. We situated ourselves near the park’s large pond, eating and people watching throughout the afternoon. Our soccer attempts in the park largely failed because of the hilly terrain, the nearby pond and the scores of people, so we headed to some fields on the Cité Universitaire campus. Our friend Maeghan and a few other kids in our program live at Cité Universitaire, an international campus of dorms made up of buildings each home to students of a different nationality. While Maeghan is not a huge fan of the Fondation des États-Unis for a number reasons, to me, the campus generally seems like an interesting place to live and it has plenty of fields and courts, so we easily found a good place to play soccer. When it started to get dark, we headed home. Vanessa and I cooked dinner in the scummy Didot kitchen, using our odd assortment of cheap cooking supplies – a wok, plastic silverware and miniature pasta strainer - praying the rats wouldn’t come out until after we finished cooking; ah, dorm life. And that brings me up to this week.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The weather has been great and I love being able to ditch my jacket and wear dresses and skirts again. In between classes, I continue to try and explore the city. One evening during this past week, we went to La Défense. La Défense is the Paris business district, located right outside the city boundaries to the North. La Défense is incredibly interesting; it is brimming with modernity and contrasts greatly with old, beautiful, historic Paris. The main attraction is the Grande Arche, so grand you can see if from many spots within Paris, mainly the Eiffel tower and the top of the Arc of Triomphe, with which it is perfectly aligned. From the Grande Arche, you can look clear down the Champs Elysée. From La Défense, we watched the sunset </span>(gorgeous!) <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">from a boardwalk extending out from the Grande Arche. We had such a good time that the next night we went to watch the sunset from another part of the city – the tip of Île de la Cité. There is a park at the end of the island that come twilight gets packed with young people, sipping wine and watching night descend on Paris and the city lights reflect in the silver Seine.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--ZtJ9q0b2eY/TdLzM2YuNbI/AAAAAAAAANI/afDS9LLReBw/s1600/P1050573.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--ZtJ9q0b2eY/TdLzM2YuNbI/AAAAAAAAANI/afDS9LLReBw/s320/P1050573.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">La Grande Arche</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In the daytime, I continued my exploration of green spaces. I happened to have a huge break in classes one day, so I headed to the Bois </span>(woods) <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">de Vincennes. On the periphery of this forest, is a medieval castle, the Château de Vincennes. I walked around the castle grounds and went to the Parc Floral de Paris. This Paris botanical garden has beautiful gardens and again sent me on a photograph spree, capturing each flowerbed, more beautiful than the next. There were some interesting beds – one dedicated to flowers with distinctive smells </span>(roses and peonies) <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">and an adjacent with medicinal plants. The flowers were buzzing with bees, which had me wondering if the park had brought in their own hives. Also buzzing, were the scores of children playing on the park grounds, which had ropes courses, slides, swings, a ball pit and lots of space for little kids to run around. In my wandering around a garden of all different colored irises, I encountered a peacock. I was rather surprised and I think the bird was too. The creature squawked at me and fanned its feathers – clearly startled, or trying to flirt. The château and the Parc Floral only make up a small portion of the Bois de Vincennes. I’ll definitely have to go back someday to see the rest.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f5NwY1CCOoo/TdLu0ey8cZI/AAAAAAAAANA/t4iJfZjYkh0/s1600/P1050673.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f5NwY1CCOoo/TdLu0ey8cZI/AAAAAAAAANA/t4iJfZjYkh0/s320/P1050673.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Peacock in the Parc Floral de Paris</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Another day after class, I went with some friends to visit Parc André Citroën, a relatively new park in the 15<sup>th</sup> built on the former site of a Citroën plant. The park’s main green, surrounded by a moat-like river, has a tethered hot air balloon that you can go up in to get a view of the city. Jutting off the central green are gardens of different themes and green houses home to trees and plants from other continents. Also found in the garden is a large fountain. A number of jets skirt water up from the ground, attracting frolicking children, making a sport out of running through the dancing waters.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-T3j-i_aQtLQ/TdLvQTFEIUI/AAAAAAAAANE/1YWN5ndsjUs/s1600/P1050746.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-T3j-i_aQtLQ/TdLvQTFEIUI/AAAAAAAAANE/1YWN5ndsjUs/s320/P1050746.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Parc André Citroën</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Friday, I returned to Rue Montorgueil with my friend and fellow foodie, Sarah. We went to a baking supply store G. Detou,</span> a play on words, as the French pronunciation is the same as the expression for “I have everything.”<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> We picked out a handful of different items from their fascinating selection, everything from mustards to spices to crystallized flower petals. We then had lunch at a little bistro where we had a delicious meal. We feasted on “label rouge” chicken </span>(our teacher tried to explain this to us one day – it’s some sort of label of quality and this is the best) <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">and fried potato slices, a house specialty. Our lovely lunch combined with a strike by RER workers made us late to class, but I’d say it was worth it. Later that day we went to the Conciergerie, the famous Île de la Cité prison where Marie Antoinette resided until she met her fate on Place de la Concord. The small museum was interesting, but it seemed that they were guessing a lot on the history of what was where in the building, though I can sort of understand the confusion a few hundred years later. Sadly I left without a Marie Antoinette figurine or paper dress up doll.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">That night Vanessa and I went to see “Midnight in Paris,” which was incredibly surreal to see in the film’s namesake city. The city is so familiar and has come to feels like home, so seeing it in the background of this movie was rather incredible and made up for the weak plot. Also of note was the theater itself. We went to a movie theater at the Francois Mitterand library, a huge new complex by the Seine in the 13<sup>th</sup>. The theater is modeled after the large American cinemas. As such, they have a gift shop selling a whole plethora of items, including a subset of distinctly American items. For example, they were selling the combined peanut butter and jelly in a jar, Reese’s cups, 3 Musketeers, Dr. Pepper and for the low, low price of 15 euros, boxes of Lucky Charms.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IemYbpF2C3M/TdLQoD12YlI/AAAAAAAAAM8/2LZk-CwQvL8/s1600/P1050884.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IemYbpF2C3M/TdLQoD12YlI/AAAAAAAAAM8/2LZk-CwQvL8/s320/P1050884.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Bois de Boulogne</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Saturday was another wonderful day spent in a park. This time we headed to the northwest of Paris to the immense Bois de Boulogne. Once again, we feasted on a picnic lunch by a lake, but this one in the midst of a large forest. The park was really beautiful, lush and green – a lovely respite from city life. There was a large lake full of people gliding by on rowboats that you could rent. We also encountered a number of birds with chicks and my camera quickly filled up with pictures of adorable ducklings, goslings and some unidentified orange bird babies being fed by mom in their lakeside nest. As dusk approached, we headed home. And then on Sunday, it was time to study. With four finals this week, it was inevitable. We broke from our studying to go out for Vietnamese food. A gang of kids from the dorm and some visitors tagged along to get pho at Pho 14 in the Asian neighborhood of the 13<sup>th</sup>. The restaurant was packed and is a favorite of our program director and the girls in our program who live at the nearby Foyer Tolbiac. Pho is a large bowl of broth with noodles and meat (cooked or raw beef, or chicken). On the side a number of toppings were served which could be added to the soup: basil, greens, onions, lemon, sprouts, hot pepper slices, sweet sauce and hot sauce. I also tried a sugary drink concocted from coconut milk and soy and some things I can’t really explain (green sugary squiggle type additions). We got a ton of food for very little money and now I’m dying to go back and try the nems, Vietnamese spring rolls that looked and smelled amazing. It was great to finally try one of the Parisian ethnic restaurants and it offered a totally different view on the city’s cuisine, reflecting France’s history in southern Asia. And now I'm back in the school week and swamped with finals, but looking forward to this weekend!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q6rP20GqECY/TdLQFFYBmQI/AAAAAAAAAM4/HQY43Dst6uY/s1600/P1050810.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q6rP20GqECY/TdLQFFYBmQI/AAAAAAAAAM4/HQY43Dst6uY/s320/P1050810.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Ducklings in Bois de Boulogne</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div>Johannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00663584766313532625noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4724910489933389027.post-57394239089269126482011-05-09T18:34:00.002+02:002011-05-09T18:41:21.217+02:00Spring Break Wrap-Up!I had a wonderful two weeks of spring break travels, blessed by good weather, great sites and a lovely traveling companion. My friend Alexandra and I visited Spain (Barcelona & Madrid), southern France (Marseille, Aix-en-Provence, Cannes, Nice & Eze Village), Monaco and Italy, and its taken a few weeks of recovery to get me back to blogging!<br />
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The first stop of what came to be termed "Eurotrip 2011" was Barcelona. This marked the first of 3 RyanAir flights during this trip - which is an experience in and of itself. Flights offered at 15 euros seem unreal...but then you fly RyanAir and you understand. One issue perhaps is that they don't fly out of many major airports. So while Paris boosts two international airports just outside the city, RyanAir instead flies out of Beauvais, a hardy 1.5 hour bus trip from Paris' perimeters. The only mode of transport to get to middle-of-nowhere Beauvais is a bus run by the airport for 15 euros each way and they don't seem to run on any regular schedule. Leaving Paris, we had trouble catching the bus intended for our flight, but once we finally got a bus and arrived at the airport we discovered our flight had been delayed a few hours anyway (apparently the majority of passengers hadn't shown up on time...). The tickets for the flight guarantee a space, but not a reserved seat. So when they begin boarding, there is a mad dash across the terminal as all of the passengers on the flight line up to get their choice of seats. Mayhem. Once we were all packed on the plane, tight as a sardine can, we were off. Not too long after, we arrived in Barcelona. The first night at our hostel quickly taught us that we don't know Spanish (or Catalan) and that French with a Spanish accent is really not the same. Through charades and sign language, we were able to check-in and pay and get directions for some sightseeing the following day.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cDUagyTCBRk/Tb3zAaomrYI/AAAAAAAAAJo/3Coxz8u5Jhk/s1600/P1030612.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cDUagyTCBRk/Tb3zAaomrYI/AAAAAAAAAJo/3Coxz8u5Jhk/s320/P1030612.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;">Sagrada Família</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Barcelona is full of interesting architecture, mostly designed by Antoni Gaudi. We saw the Gaudi apartments - Casa Mila and Casa Battlo - and Gaudi's masterpiece, the Sagrada Familia, which still has about 40 years left until it will be completed. The exterior of the church had a modern facade with Star Wars like depictions of biblical characters, and a more classic nativity scene on the other side of the building. The inside of the church is incredibly gorgeous. Gaudi was inspired by the structure and beauty of trees, so the interior columns resembled a forest, with their canopies panning out to form the rooftop. Boldly colored stained glass windows decorated the walls, which were a stark white color giving the basilica an airy feel. After we toured the basilica and its adjacent Gaudi Museum, we headed to lunch at a wonderful little vegetarian restaurant, where we were able to speak French to the chef and had several delicious veggie dishes. Later on we walked down one of the most famed Barcelona boulevards, La Rambla. The street was lined with people in costumes and venders selling everything from postcards to noisemakers to bunnies and ducklings. Our stroll on La Rambla ended at the port, where we walked around the harbor to arrive at the beach on the other side. The beautiful beach was packed with Spaniards soaking up the sun on one of the hottest days they had had so far. We had paella for dinner on La Rambla and later on we met up with our friends Katie and Emmet who we shared a hostel room with for the night. We ventured out to the water again to see the Mediterranean in the moonlight, before calling it a night. The next day we wandered around the city's adorable Gothic quarter and walked through some gorgeous fresh fruit markets. We gathered supplies for a picnic and headed to Park Guell. Park Guell was on a huge hilltop overlooking the city and there was an escalator you took to get up to the park from street level. We walked up a structure at the top of the park which offered great views of the city, the coastline and nearby Montjuic. We ate our picnic lunch and then followed the sound of music to a pavilion in the park, where musicians were performing and bounds of tourists were dancing and singing along to the Bob Marley tunes. Later that day we met up with my friend Rhea from Cornell and tried to get tickets for that night's FC Barcelona game. Failing, we went to watch the game at a bar near the stadium and it was still quite an experience with fans cheering and yelling at every goal and good or bad call. The next day we headed off early in the morning to Madrid!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MdajUVrUsT8/Tb_aUWSjzHI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/hEjqO3OggIw/s1600/P1030806.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MdajUVrUsT8/Tb_aUWSjzHI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/hEjqO3OggIw/s320/P1030806.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">St Josep Mercat, Barcelona</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Sunday morning, we arrived in Spain's capital city, Madrid. We checked into our hostel and then walked around in the heart of the city - an area called Sol. We met up with my friend Paige for ice cream and she took us on a walking tour around the city. We saw an Egyptian temple in a hilltop park, the royal palace, a wonderful indoor market and beautiful Park Retiro. We spent the afternoon in the park, napping in the sun by a waterfall. That evening we ate dinner at an Indian restaurant, which was surprisingly good! The next day, we started with breakfast in a little pastry shop where we were spoiled with coffee, pastry and some of the best and freshest orange juice we'd ever had. Then we spent a few hours at the Museum Reina Sofia, a famous modern art museum in Madrid. The museum's prized possession is Picasso's 'Guernica' which was rather impressive and there were many other interesting works by Picasso, Dali, Miro and others. We later returned to Park Retiro, which we had enjoyed so much the day before, and we went row boating! We ended our stay in Madrid with dinner at a Spanish restaurant with live dancing. And the next day we were off to Marseille!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t5NPxf1NT7s/Tb32cwwrVLI/AAAAAAAAAJs/Vs0bCz914CI/s1600/P1030949.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t5NPxf1NT7s/Tb32cwwrVLI/AAAAAAAAAJs/Vs0bCz914CI/s320/P1030949.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Row boating in Retiro Park</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GS1LicWBDwg/Tce5rIG7JII/AAAAAAAAAK4/jpK2SNA0mKI/s1600/P1040068.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GS1LicWBDwg/Tce5rIG7JII/AAAAAAAAAK4/jpK2SNA0mKI/s320/P1040068.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from Notre-Dame de la Garde, Marseille</td></tr>
</tbody></table>After a several hour delay on our flight to Marseille, we finally arrived back in France. It was great to return to a country where we could actually communicate with people! On our first day there, we walked along the coastline battling the strongest winds I've ever experienced. We walked from the Vieux Port to a beach from which we could see Chateau d'If, the famous prison from 'The Count of Monte Cristo.' We continued along the rocky coast and made our way up to the highest point in the city, the basilica of Notre-Dame de la Garde. By the time we had made it up the kilometer of steps to the mount, the basilica was closed. We sat at the gates and watched the sunset over the Mediterranean before heading back to our hostel by the port.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6mStJYTx7BA/Tb_UQWIkYMI/AAAAAAAAAJw/3pmITrWUJTA/s1600/P1040168.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6mStJYTx7BA/Tb_UQWIkYMI/AAAAAAAAAJw/3pmITrWUJTA/s320/P1040168.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the hike to the Calanque of Sugiton</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The next day we took a bus to the perimeter of the town near Cassis and took a hike down to the Calanque de Sugiton. Between Marseille and Cassis is an area called the 'Massif des Calanqus' in which there are 12 calanques, inlets in the coast formed as valleys with steep, limestone, mountainous sides. Sugiton was beautiful. The water was still and green in the inlet, and then a fierce blue where it opened up to the sea. In the late afternoon we went to Aix-en-Provence. Aix was adorable and much more of a village then Marseille. The narrow streets were lined with shops and restaurants and opened up onto large squares adorned with bubbling fountains. This town was a favorite of many painters, the most celebrated being Cezanne. We walked to a terraced garden called 'Terrain des Peintres,' where Cezanne was said to have spent time painting the view of the Sainte Victoire Mountain. After dinner in Aix, we returned to Marseille, achy from our morning hike. The next day we discovered some of Marseille's cultural diversity. We wandered along a street full of North African shops that sold a great variety of spices, tea, ceramics and soaps. After purchasing some souvenirs, we headed to the train for Cannes. The train's route was gorgeous as it followed the Mediterranean coast.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-raB0IFeJevU/Tb_UsL3qwMI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/U6Lhlm-2fbk/s1600/P1040217.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-raB0IFeJevU/Tb_UsL3qwMI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/U6Lhlm-2fbk/s320/P1040217.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of Ste Victoire from the Terrain des Peintres</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Our stay in Cannes was a nice break in the middle of our trip. In our two days there we walked around the tiny town, wandered the sandy beach, shopped and ate, of course. The town is most known for hosting the annual Cannes Film Festival. Surrounding the building where the event is held, the Palais des Festivals, are actors' handprints on the sidewalk, expensive shops and giant yachts in the port.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NMcUfRDHug0/Tb_XjO6a6hI/AAAAAAAAAJ4/satei16juwQ/s1600/P1040257.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NMcUfRDHug0/Tb_XjO6a6hI/AAAAAAAAAJ4/satei16juwQ/s320/P1040257.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of Cannes from The Suquet, Cannes' old quarter</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XuV-WyNUGsg/Tb_YcOI7XbI/AAAAAAAAAKA/C8RFCiWLtkY/s1600/P1040415.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XuV-WyNUGsg/Tb_YcOI7XbI/AAAAAAAAAKA/C8RFCiWLtkY/s320/P1040415.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nice</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Our next destination was Nice. Nice was exactly what I pictured of the French Riviera. The beach was expansive and along it ran the Promenade des Anglais, a palm-tree lined boardwalk full of strolling couples and rollerblading teens. The city's old town was full of pastel colored buildings, old churches, little shops, and large squares <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">with book and antique markets. The harbor was full of fishing boats and yachts, and off-shore we saw cruise ships and ferries, offering transport to Corsica. One day while we were staying in Nice, we took a bus to nearby Monaco. The hour-long bus trip took us along the coast and<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> it was a beautiful ride. In Monaco (weird to think it was a different country) we saw the casino in Monte Carlo and walked along the coast, passing by expensive cars and fancy boats. We ate lunch by the port, fighting off a hungry seagull and watching the fish swim past yachts docked nearby. In the old town we saw the royal palace with its silly clad guards marching around outside, and we wandered the city streets, much resembling those of Nice. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XZ9AI9QW2UE/Tb_ZbbYcfuI/AAAAAAAAAKI/27DHKR1WnuY/s1600/P1040485.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XZ9AI9QW2UE/Tb_ZbbYcfuI/AAAAAAAAAKI/27DHKR1WnuY/s320/P1040485.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Monaco harbor with Alexandra</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3GbtfMfPtP8/Tb_Y_A67dsI/AAAAAAAAAKE/bZyK1-3hnnI/s1600/P1040459.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3GbtfMfPtP8/Tb_Y_A67dsI/AAAAAAAAAKE/bZyK1-3hnnI/s200/P1040459.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Monte Carlo Casino</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LYwIah3qhhw/Tb_Z3ThlgiI/AAAAAAAAAKM/xrqsnXzlbHs/s1600/P1040539.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LYwIah3qhhw/Tb_Z3ThlgiI/AAAAAAAAAKM/xrqsnXzlbHs/s200/P1040539.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Harbor in Monaco</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">On our way home from Monaco, we took a detour to a Medieval hilltop town called Eze Village. The bus ride to Eze Village snaked along tiny mountain roads that you would never have imagined a bus could fit on. In Eze there was an old chateau built on this mountaintop with its own roads, shops and residences, still used today. This used to be a retreat for the Swedish Royalty, but now most of it is a fancy hotel called the Chevre d'Or (golden goat). Eze was also a favorite spot of Nietche. There was a long trail along the mountain to the sea called the Nietche trail, which he used to frequent while writing '<span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1304938377_2">Thus Spoke Zarathustra'</span>. Eze was great and totally different in feel than the rest of the Riviera we visited. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mmaOD_Uh6yk/Tb_bKV0A6KI/AAAAAAAAAKY/Chfe3Db-BAA/s1600/P1040651.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mmaOD_Uh6yk/Tb_bKV0A6KI/AAAAAAAAAKY/Chfe3Db-BAA/s320/P1040651.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eze Village</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tf2PToTXDSc/Tb_awlvB-AI/AAAAAAAAAKU/3ygfUQbu_wQ/s1600/P1040633.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tf2PToTXDSc/Tb_awlvB-AI/AAAAAAAAAKU/3ygfUQbu_wQ/s320/P1040633.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from Eze Village</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The next morning we took an early train (actually 3 trains) to get us to Florence. While in Florence we spoiled ourselves with the best gelato ever and wandered the beautiful old city streets. One day we climbed to the top of the Duomo. The views were magnificent from the top - you could see all of the city's terra cotta rooftops and surrounding the city, the Tuscan countryside. We also walked through open air markets near the Duomo. We haggled for purses in a leather market and collected some more souvenirs to bring home. While we were in Florence, Passover was just beginning. The first night, we attended a Chabad seder with friends of Alexandra's college roommate (who we were staying with). The second night, we went to a seder at one her friend's apartments, which was really nice and a great way to celebrate the holiday. There was even an Italian flare - we ate bruschetta on matzoh to start off the meal! While we were in Florence the MTV Italia's TRL Award show was held. The show/concert was being filmed in the square in front of a church called Santa Croce. We went to the concert of all Italian artists, which was crowded with rowdy Florentine teens. We kept holding out for a surprise American star to perform, but we had no such luck. Regardless, it was quite an experience. And after that, as we did nearly each night we were in Florence, we visited what was referred to as the "Secret Bakery." A small hoard of people gathered around a non-conspicuous doorway off an alley. This was the door of a bakery that bakes throughout the night to produce goods for restaurants in the city. One by one, each person knocked on the door, told the baker what they wanted and the door was closed. Moments later, the baker would return with paper bags, passing off each bag in exchange for a euro. Fresh Italian baked goods - delicious!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VrCxVx-usuY/Tb_b9kHM3HI/AAAAAAAAAKg/RAhCA4V64ho/s1600/P1040688.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VrCxVx-usuY/Tb_b9kHM3HI/AAAAAAAAAKg/RAhCA4V64ho/s320/P1040688.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Il Duomo</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qQzKlolqxHQ/Tb_bi2cbiYI/AAAAAAAAAKc/qr0fNknbTrg/s1600/P1040680.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qQzKlolqxHQ/Tb_bi2cbiYI/AAAAAAAAAKc/qr0fNknbTrg/s320/P1040680.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Ponte Vecchio</td></tr>
</tbody></table>During our stay in Florence, we took a day trip to the Cinque Terre - five adorable little towns in the Italian Riviera. The first town we visited was Monterosso, which was along the sea and had a beautiful beach. We ate lunch on the beach - feasting on the local specialty, pesto, in the form of pesto lasagna. We tried to swim in the icy waters, but instead retreated to the sand and napped in the sun. With limited time we had to miss two of the towns, but next we made our way to Manerola. This little town had an array of colorful buildings that were built on rocks which descended down to the water. We ended our trip in Cinque Terre in Riomaggiore. We walked there from Manerola along a path called Via dell'Amore. The path offered astounding view of the sea and the sun as it was beginning to set. And as implied by the name, the path was rather romantic - couples had attached love locks nearly everywhere possible and the path's gates were adorned with hearts. In Riomaggiore we stopped in little stores in the colorful village, picking up some homemade pasta and focaccia. We headed back to Florence, packed up, said our goodbyes and then had to leave for the airport to catch an early morning flight back to Paris. A few hours later, we were back in France. While sad to be done with Spring break, there was nothing sad about returning to Paris. It was a wonderful two weeks and full of experiences I'll never forget!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KQ-4jEe6exY/Tb_cUN42NEI/AAAAAAAAAKk/U7rLPtFcyF4/s1600/P1040858.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KQ-4jEe6exY/Tb_cUN42NEI/AAAAAAAAAKk/U7rLPtFcyF4/s320/P1040858.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of the other 4 towns from Montarossa</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7fcJOgEG8_E/Tb_dN0U76xI/AAAAAAAAAKs/i6dbuPjzo-Q/s1600/P1040886.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7fcJOgEG8_E/Tb_dN0U76xI/AAAAAAAAAKs/i6dbuPjzo-Q/s320/P1040886.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunset from Cinque Terre</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Johannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00663584766313532625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4724910489933389027.post-25783492311844919102011-04-07T11:34:00.001+02:002011-04-07T11:35:13.608+02:00Catching Up<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The past few weeks have been quite chaotic, but I've been all in a frenzy about good things. I was offered an Iscol Internship for a Sustainable Future with the Environmental Defense Fund for the summer and I accepted! So come the end of May, I'll finish up with finals here, go home for a few days and then I'll be off to DC for the summer. Also contributing to the mass chaos of these past few weeks has been planning for spring break, which for me, starts today! I'll be leaving in a few hours for the airport to fly to my first destination: Barcelona. I'm fortunate to have two weeks off for spring break and a good friend from my program to travel with. As much as I love Paris, I am so excited to venture south to the sun-kissed villages of the Mediterranean basin and embrace a slower pace of life for a couple weeks. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures and update on my adventures when I return.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">An overview of my itinerary - </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">April 7-10: Barcelona</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">April 10-12: Madrid</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">April 12-14: Marseille, Aix-en-Provence</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">April 14-16: Cannes</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">April 16-18: Nice, Monaco</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">April 18-22: Florence, possibly visiting Cinque Terre</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">April 22: Return to Paris!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In the midst of all of this planning, I spent the past two weekends traveling in France with my program. Two weekends ago we went to the Loire Valley, and last Saturday we ventured to the Champagne region. First on Loire:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Gb9R5QatCxA/TY-ajhQgEUI/AAAAAAAAAJA/3eIaypS0CoQ/s1600/P1020618.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Gb9R5QatCxA/TY-ajhQgEUI/AAAAAAAAAJA/3eIaypS0CoQ/s320/P1020618.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chateau de Chambord</td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small;">The Loire Valley is </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">renowned for its wines, the purity of the French language spoken there, its historic towns and its countryside spotted</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small;"> by regal chateaus.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small;">We visited four of these 15th and 16th century castles, once a home for France’s royalty and upper class. Our first stop was the Château de Chambord. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small;">Chambord, also known for its famous liqueur, boasts the Loire Valley’s largest chateau, once a hunting lodge for king Francois I. The castle was enormous, and surrounded by acres (hectares?) of manicured lawns. Just to give you an idea of the size, there are supposedly 440 rooms and 365 fireplaces – you could light a different one every day of the year. Its outward appearance was much like a medieval fortification. The ornate turreted roof, larger windows and new architectural designs within the outer walls, demonstrated its construction during the Renaissance. The French Renaissance occurred after the Italian Renaissance and was thus very influenced by it. The Italians had much marble at their disposal and many Italian Renaissance buildings were constructed from the easily recognizable black and white stone. As there’s little marble to be found in France, the French mimicked the Italians by using chalk and slate (as on the chateaux roofs), to appear like marble.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small;">Another influence of the Italians was the architectural mastery of Leonardo da Vinci. At the Château de Chambord we saw a double helical spiral staircase, which was inspired his designs.</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--gdrlomalac/TY-a5gqw0FI/AAAAAAAAAJE/2baJulxGk7c/s1600/P1020631.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--gdrlomalac/TY-a5gqw0FI/AAAAAAAAAJE/2baJulxGk7c/s320/P1020631.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another view of the chateau in Chambord</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">Our next stop, and my favorite, was the Château de Chenonceau. The Chenonceau castle grounds were covered in forest and ornamented by a labyrinth made from sculpted hedges, a farm and beautiful gardens. This château was surrounded by a moat and built over a river. You could even go into the château kitchen, built in a leg of the bridge. The views of the river throughout the castle were beautiful, especially from the window-lined gallery spanning the river’s width. Inside the château, the décor had a distinctly feminine touch, reflective of the many queens who took residence there including Catherine de Medici. After touring the château, we played in the hedge maze, patted some donkeys on the farm and headed to Tours, where we spent the night. This Medieval city was bustling, presumably with students from the local university. The city streets were narrow and winding, lined with tilting, Tudor-style buildings, and opening up onto café crowded squares.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7KWWyTZRkU8/TY-bKhwrSxI/AAAAAAAAAJI/QJnuwMCGzVo/s1600/P1020933.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7KWWyTZRkU8/TY-bKhwrSxI/AAAAAAAAAJI/QJnuwMCGzVo/s320/P1020933.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chateau de Chenonceau</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">The next day we visited the Château of Azay-le-Rideau. This château looked like it was straight out of a fairytale, especially with the castle's perfect reflection shimmering in the adjacent pond. We strolled through the Renaissance decorated rooms, and many of my classmates expressed their common desire to one-day call this modest, enchanting castle, home. We toured the town of Azay-le-Rideau, which could easily be covered in 5 minutes. Our teacher kept remarking that there was only one boulangerie in this town, which apparently is the easiest way for a French person to understand the scale of a city, given that in Paris there is at least one boulangerie on every city block (I probably pass 15 on my walk home from class). </div><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PPN6vPqH3O0/TY-cepsVz5I/AAAAAAAAAJQ/2bjc0enNBi8/s1600/P1030097.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PPN6vPqH3O0/TY-cepsVz5I/AAAAAAAAAJQ/2bjc0enNBi8/s320/P1030097.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chateau d'Azay-le-Rideau</td></tr>
</tbody></table>From there, we went to the Ch<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px;">âteau de Villandry, which prides itself on its gardens, claimed to be some of the most beautiful in the world. The ch</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px;">âteau itself was quite beautiful and regal, but the beauty of the interior was nothing compared to the expansive French gardens surrounding the castle. Behind the castle was a garden of meticulously sculpted hedges, next to which was an enormous vegetable garden. Other gardens jutted off of these ones, each with a different theme and style and each as grand and special as the last. I can only imagine how magnificent the gardens are in the peak of summer, with all of the flowers in bloom. </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kv22swuPFhU/TY-biJZQ_9I/AAAAAAAAAJM/k9MO3gsaTZw/s1600/P1030243.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kv22swuPFhU/TY-biJZQ_9I/AAAAAAAAAJM/k9MO3gsaTZw/s320/P1030243.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Love Garden (there were heart shaped hedges) at the Chateau de Villandry</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The following Saturday, we went to the Champagne region for the day. We started out the day in Reims. In Reims, there is a beautiful cathedral, Notre Dame de Reims, which has Chagall windows. We had lunch in the cute town center and then boarded the bus and went to see the monastery where Dom Perignon is burried. Our final stop was in Epernay at the Mercier caves. We took a tour of the underground champagne caves and ended our visit with a tasting of their brut champagne.<br />
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</div><div>It's been a great couple weeks and I'm so excited for those to come. Hasta luego - I'm off to Spain!</div>Johannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00663584766313532625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4724910489933389027.post-62410451450267655162011-03-28T01:16:00.001+02:002011-03-31T01:30:02.855+02:00Katz Family Reunited in Paris<div style="background-color: white; border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">A week from last Wednesday, the Katz Family arrived in Paris. I met the family at Charles de Gaulle and immediately introduced them to a major part of my daily Parisian life – riding the metro. Two metro transfers and many flights of stairs later (sorry we didn’t take a taxi!), we arrived at their hotel in Montmartre. We explored the Latin Quarter a bit, stopping for crepes and eating them en route to the Jardin du Luxembourg. It was one of the most beautiful and Spring-like days we’ve had yet in Paris. Flowers were beginning to bloom and chairs around the fountain were packed with Parisians soaking up the novel sunlight. I left for class pointing them in the direction of the Pantheon. Later that night, we had a typical French meal together. Ok just kidding, we had pizza, but it was delicious nonetheless.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">The next day, the Katz crew went to the Mus<span style="color: black;">é</span>e d’Orsay and Angelina (jealous!) while I was in class. I met them by the Louvre and took them on a walk through Marais, ending at L’As du Fallafel. We had a scrumptious falafel lunch and wandered the streets of Marais. I promise, we did more than eat the whole time they were here, it’s just that meals in Paris tend to be fairly notable. On that note, we stopped to get some hamentaschen in a Jewish bakery in our travels <span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span> Oddly, they’re big on apple cinnamon and nut filled ones in Paris, but my favorite are still poppy (in French, <i>pavot</i>).</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kMwy4bhdR5s/TY_DIipijFI/AAAAAAAAAJU/_6mpSCB_Kro/s1600/P1020349.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kMwy4bhdR5s/TY_DIipijFI/AAAAAAAAAJU/_6mpSCB_Kro/s320/P1020349.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taylor Swift in Paris!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">Later that night Rachel and I went to see Taylor Swift in concert. It was perhaps a little embarrassing how excited I was, but only Rachel can attest to that. Taylor was amazing! And she made her attempts at <i>Bonjour</i> and <i>J’aime Paris</i> to woo the crowd. They responded with a hardy <i>Tahhlarr, Tahhlarr</i>…the French people really couldn’t pronounce <i>Tay-lor</i> too well. At the concert we were sporting some fashionable fan T’s designed by the one and only, Rachel Katz, and we were pleasantly surprised by the number of concertgoers who were older than us (and male, for that matter). The concert was somewhat different than concerts I’ve been to in the US. For one thing, there were venders walking around selling coffee and sandwiches on fresh baguette. So French. The concert was also much more tame than I expected. It was a small venue, so not too many people, and I’m pretty sure tickets were still available the day of the concert – bizarre, considering tickets are already sold out for almost every one of her concerts in America this summer. Star-struck we returned to Montmartre later that night and ever since, I haven’t been able to get T.Swift songs out of my head.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CfHAZMdHfzE/TY_DqB24xII/AAAAAAAAAJc/qRq2knsQH0E/s1600/P1020436.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CfHAZMdHfzE/TY_DqB24xII/AAAAAAAAAJc/qRq2knsQH0E/s320/P1020436.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The whole family by the Eiffel Tower</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">The following day the Katz’s explored Montmartre while I was in class. I met up with the gang by Notre Dame and then ventured to Ile St Louis for some of the finest ice cream in Paris at Berthillon. They have some really interesting flavors, like cassis and glazed chestnut, but my favorites (so far) are pistachio and honey nougat. That night we met up with two of my friends and went out to dinner in my neighborhood. I ate bevette moutarde and had gâteau au chocolat moelleux for dessert. Yum!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6EBBb68cMzc/TY_DdjdXhxI/AAAAAAAAAJY/MS3LOpqatp4/s1600/P1020398.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6EBBb68cMzc/TY_DdjdXhxI/AAAAAAAAAJY/MS3LOpqatp4/s320/P1020398.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rachel on the top of the Arc de Triomphe</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">On Saturday, we walked down the most famed boulevard in Paris – the Champs Elysée. We window-shopped and explored what has to be the world’s largest Sephora, with what seems like one employee for every ten customers. Rachel and I then climbed up the Arc de Triomphe, while mom and dad sipped coffee in a café. Afterwards, we went to a lovely tea salon in the Galleries Vincennes, near the Palais Royal. From there, we strolled by the Opera Garnier and went to the Galleries Lafayette with the beautiful glass ceiling, where Rachel and I bought some colorful spring scarves. We took a bus from there down to the Eiffel Tower, as no trip to Paris is complete without a visit. We sat near the tower as night drew nearer. We waited there until it had become dark and the tower was brightly illuminated against the navy blue sky. At 8 we saw the lights on the tower glisten, which was even more magnificent after we had listened to Rachel shouting “Sparkle baby, sparkle!” for an hour. We then headed back to Montmartre where we dined on bread and cheese and various goodies picked up in our Parisian travels.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZNWwOyjRibg/TY_D_acP0BI/AAAAAAAAAJg/d2OdB9id8_c/s1600/P1020465.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZNWwOyjRibg/TY_D_acP0BI/AAAAAAAAAJg/d2OdB9id8_c/s320/P1020465.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jim Morisson's grave</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">On Sunday, we met up at Père Lachaise cemetery to see the graves of some of the cemetery’s most famous inhabitants like Jim Morrison and Edith Piaf. The cemetery was enormous; there must have been thousands of gravestones, all with different designs and adornments - truly fascinating. Then we went to the Mus<span style="color: black;">é</span>e Rodin, where we explored the sculpture filled mansion and the beautiful garden. That night we ate dinner in Montmartre and went to a cabaret – <i>Le Lapin Agile</i> – for a taste of French “chanson.” We watched as a pianist, guitarist and accordion player entertained the crowd with classic French songs. All the staff sang along and even some audience members, cheery from the <i>Lapin Agile</i>’s house cherry drink. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XSOGhOs-S90/TY_EOTlNiXI/AAAAAAAAAJk/uj6JfOUdHDE/s1600/P1020507.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XSOGhOs-S90/TY_EOTlNiXI/AAAAAAAAAJk/uj6JfOUdHDE/s320/P1020507.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rodin's Le Penseur (The Thinker)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">On Monday, we did a bit of shopping on rue Alesia by my dorm and then walked around Saint Germain de Pres in the afternoon. We stopped at the famed literary café Les Deux Magots for lunch, sitting on the sidewalk watching the world go by. After lunch we headed to Poilane, a nearby boulangerie with a long history behind its famous sourdough breads. We finished our tour of the area with a visit to Le Bon Marche, a favorite Parisian store, with an enormous gourmet market attached to it as well. That evening, we took a Bateaux Mouches boat ride (“fly” boat) on the Seine from Point d’Alma, right across the river from the Eiffel Tower. It was a great way to end the visit with my family, passing through the city on the river, seeing everything we’d walked by throughout the week. It was so great having the Katz’s here and I hope they’ve come to love the city just as much as I have! Come back soon!</div></div></div>Johannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00663584766313532625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4724910489933389027.post-58979866589990821702011-03-15T19:26:00.001+01:002011-03-15T21:44:42.248+01:00To the land of waffles and chocolate!<blockquote><link href="file://localhost/Users/johannakatz/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/msoclip/0clip_filelist.xml" rel="File-List"></link><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">This weekend I left Paris behind and went on search of waffles and chocolate in Belgium! Friday afternoon, we rushed out of our classes, scrambling to get to the bus station. Arriving just on time, we settled down for our 3 hour and 45 minute bus ride to Belgium. I watched out the window as kilometer after kilometer we drove through farmland. The green landscape oddly brought me right back to Ithaca, a nostalgia broken up by French highway signs and wind turbines. We arrived at the Brussels station and transferred to a train to take us to Bruges. It was after 10 by the time we finally arrived in the quiet Flanders town. We took a bus to the city center and wandered on foot to find our hostel. While wandering we got our first glimpses of this magical city. The Markt (Flemish isn't too big on vowels, except a's) was beautiful at night with lights shining up at the buildings, illuminating their whimsical, Disneyworld-like facades. After checking into our hostel, we walked around the streets, empty of tourists in the nighttime. We got our first taste of Belgian frites and enjoyed the quiet and serenity of Bruges, so different than Paris. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-MDhoFfnamG0/TX-anIlsnHI/AAAAAAAAAIA/UVKGcf7-hhA/s1600/P1010902.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-MDhoFfnamG0/TX-anIlsnHI/AAAAAAAAAIA/UVKGcf7-hhA/s320/P1010902.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bruges Markt and Belfry</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-VTyu2eCScvg/TX-cRAz9PcI/AAAAAAAAAII/6Cbq3iib3_o/s1600/P1010974.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-VTyu2eCScvg/TX-cRAz9PcI/AAAAAAAAAII/6Cbq3iib3_o/s320/P1010974.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Canals</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-8PZBwzTIiuI/TX-ZytKTgUI/AAAAAAAAAH8/0iK4FqPOV_g/s1600/P1010883.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-8PZBwzTIiuI/TX-ZytKTgUI/AAAAAAAAAH8/0iK4FqPOV_g/s320/P1010883.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waffle with bananas and warm chocolate sauce</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The next morning, we feasted on delicious fruit topped waffles and hot chocolate at a local café. We meandered through the streets of Bruges, full of chocolate and lace shops. Bruges is surrounded by water – a series of canals – garnering it the name “Venice of the North.” We took a boat tour through the canals, learned a bit of Bruges history and saw more of the storybook town. Medieval buildings and gothic churches lined the canals, and ducks and swans swam alongside our boat. Afterwards, we headed to the Church of Our Lady, where one of Michaelangelo’s few works to ever leave Italy is located – the sculpture, Madonna and Child. We spent the rest of our afternoon walking through the city, ogling at its beauty, shopping for chocolate and eating (of course!). </div><div class="MsoNormal"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-FUapt7QGTLs/TX-bbzvrvyI/AAAAAAAAAIE/qELh9L1Ynig/s1600/P1010965.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-FUapt7QGTLs/TX-bbzvrvyI/AAAAAAAAAIE/qELh9L1Ynig/s200/P1010965.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dog looking out at the canal</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-W_ArENLKTjU/TX-esNt833I/AAAAAAAAAIM/rJv1aqE7OKk/s1600/P1020052.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-W_ArENLKTjU/TX-esNt833I/AAAAAAAAAIM/rJv1aqE7OKk/s200/P1020052.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Swans on the canal</td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">We departed for Brussels, arriving there in no time. In Brussels, we walked through a market on the square right by our hotel and then walked to the Grand Place, just a couple blocks away. Victor Hugo, who lived in Brussels for a time, called the Grand Place the most beautiful place in the world. The night we visited, it seemed that the Grand Place was glowing against the night sky. We dined at a restaurant off the place that was gilded in the belle époque era style. I tried an authentic Belgian dish called waterzooi, at the recommendation of the waiter. This chicken stew, of sorts, was quite delicious. Later that night, we returned to the Grand Place and sat in the middle, singing songs under the moonlight. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-fqYnv2ebtqc/TX-fFfPCHxI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/w-q2L-HpSaU/s1600/P1020168.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-fqYnv2ebtqc/TX-fFfPCHxI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/w-q2L-HpSaU/s320/P1020168.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In front of Hotel de Ville on the Grand Place in Brussels</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cathedral in Brussels</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The next day we woke up, ate breakfast at our hotel and befriended the guy at the reception desk, who gave us ideas of where to go in the city. We went to the most famed Cathedral in Brussels, where mass was just beginning. After snapping some photos and listening to the organ music for a few minutes, we headed out to go see the Royal Palace. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-size: small;"></span>We strolled through a grand park in front of the palace, which was adorned with statues symbolic of peace. We paused for a photo opp outside the Palais Royal and then continued our walk past many of Brussels’ notable art museums and went to Sablon Square. In this quiet, village-like square, we saw an antiques market full of jewelry, artwork and furs. We then walked from there through some of the winding streets of Brussels. We stopped in at a vintage store on the way and somehow ended up at one of Brussels’ most famed attractions – the Manneken Pis. Across from this fountain of a peeing boy, we picked up another round of Belgian waffles. Before we headed out, we got our last dose of frites. We sat on the steps of the Bourse (Brussels’ Stock Exchange) with many locals and ate our fries. A fine way to spend our last hour in this wondrous city. We headed back to the bus station and boarded our bus back to Paris. Four hours later I was home. With nearly a kilo of chocolate for souvenirs and 400+ pictures on my camera, I was back in Paris. We were sad to leave, but it’s hard to be disappointed to return to Paris. All in all, it was a great weekend!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-98IkhQVaD4E/TX-gHVDuKvI/AAAAAAAAAIY/EUxXODCXMu4/s1600/P1020274.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-98IkhQVaD4E/TX-gHVDuKvI/AAAAAAAAAIY/EUxXODCXMu4/s320/P1020274.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Palais Royal</td></tr>
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Johannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00663584766313532625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4724910489933389027.post-75572649924633132792011-02-28T03:38:00.067+01:002011-02-28T20:54:32.688+01:00A Weekend in Normandy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8UahH7DLAo0/TWvGlDs2j1I/AAAAAAAAAGg/m0DsfeBXJJE/s1600/P1010168.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8UahH7DLAo0/TWvGlDs2j1I/AAAAAAAAAGg/m0DsfeBXJJE/s320/P1010168.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Just as Paris was beginning to feel like home, we departed the city and headed north to Normandy and Bretagne (Brittany) for the weekend. We traveled several hours by bus to our first destination, Arromanches, on France's northern coast. Arromanches was one of the beaches used in the D-Day invasion of Normandy. The British set up an artificial port floating 2 kilometers off the shore, a great engineering feat at the time. Still today, there are remnants from the port, including many concrete breakwaters. We toured a museum there, strolled the beaches, showered in a sudden downpour and piled back on the bus for more site-seeing.<br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iopQiIU-BYo/TWvIM7DctmI/AAAAAAAAAGo/lshef1CeXow/s1600/P1010224.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iopQiIU-BYo/TWvIM7DctmI/AAAAAAAAAGo/lshef1CeXow/s320/P1010224.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">Our next stop was Omaha beach - site of an American D-Day invasion. We trekked down to the beach, where the waters of the English Channel were glistening in some momentary sunshine. The beach was beautiful and it was hard to remember that such an exceptionally gorgeous place was the site of such great destruction. We were soon reminded of the somber meaning of the beach as we ascended the sandy mount and toured the American Cemetery. Over 9000 graves of American soldiers were lined up in perfect precision. Each deceased seemed to remain a soldier in death: lined up in battalions, each just another addition to the great number of casualties generated by the war.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Exploring a bomb crater at Pointe du Hoc</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The stark white of the cross and star of David tombs contrasted greatly with the grass, a vibrant green from the coast's frequent rains, and the deep blue of the ocean, still within view. Escorted onto the bus by another sudden rainfall, we departed the cemetery and headed to Pointe du Hoc.</div><br />
Pointe du Hoc, situated above the sea on the Normandy coast, was the site of the US attacks on German troops during Operation Overlord. Pointe du Hoc towered over the ocean, the landscape broken up by huge bomb craters, and remnants of German fortifications. We got our fill of crawling in and out of barracks, and for some, mud sliding down into the craters, and then departed for Bretagne. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-wTKcS9CAcRI/TWvcy-fT9oI/AAAAAAAAAHc/g35pHnWWOpU/s1600/P1010289.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-wTKcS9CAcRI/TWvcy-fT9oI/AAAAAAAAAHc/g35pHnWWOpU/s320/P1010289.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apple-Caramel Crepe</td></tr>
</tbody></table>We arrived later that night in Saint Malo, a coastal Bretagne town. This walled city looked strikingly similar to Quebec City. We later learned that this was not merely a coincidence - Jacques Cartier, the 16th century explorer who discovered Canada, was from Saint Malo and as such brought a Breton influence to the the New World.<br />
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We walked around the winding, village-like streets of Saint Malo and stopped for dinner at a creperie. Crepes, specifically gallettes - crepes made with ble noir (buckwheat flour) - originated from this region. Our whole group feasted on sparkling cider (also a local product), savory gallettes and sweet dessert crepes of all kinds - a delicious exploration into Breton cuisine. I tried a gallette with duck, potatoes and cheese, and a crepe with apples and salted butter caramel. Yum.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Saint Malo</td></tr>
</tbody></table><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-kRt6z-4mU-s/TWvejUGUKkI/AAAAAAAAAHg/m0LYL0xdf9M/s1600/P1010354.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;"></span></a>The next morning, we walked along the city walls, ogling at the beautiful coastline and sparkling emerald sea. We boarded the bus and traveled to Mont-Saint-Michel, sad to leave charming Saint-Malo behind.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mont Saint-Michel</td></tr>
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Our sadness disappeared when we arrived at Mont-Saint-Michel. The beautiful Medieval fortress, become monastery, is atop a tall, hilly island and is perched over the ocean.<br />
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We climbed the many stairs up to the abbey - the building itself had gorgeous architectural details, and the views from all the levels and rooms were astounding.<br />
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We meandered our way back down the chateau, through windy streets crowded with gift shops and cookie vendors. With some souvenirs, a camera full of pictures and sore feet, we headed back home to Paris. As we approached the city, Paris welcomed us back with a beautiful sunset shining behind the Eiffel Tower.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-BmOIKP0j7-A/TWvhUvJWHjI/AAAAAAAAAHo/8-3hJtSwMFc/s1600/P1010496.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-BmOIKP0j7-A/TWvhUvJWHjI/AAAAAAAAAHo/8-3hJtSwMFc/s320/P1010496.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back home in Paris</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Johannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00663584766313532625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4724910489933389027.post-7654695741965789842011-02-28T03:10:00.006+01:002011-02-28T18:19:21.545+01:00Ballet, munchies and award shows, oh my!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UBZrNNeSuPU/TWvWtnzX28I/AAAAAAAAAHA/3rCNDx9CNsY/s1600/P1010042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UBZrNNeSuPU/TWvWtnzX28I/AAAAAAAAAHA/3rCNDx9CNsY/s320/P1010042.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Awesome falafel place in Marais</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The past two weeks seemed to fly by in an instant. Classes have gotten into full swing. I have grammar everyday, our director's course twice a week, conferences courses twice a week (art history and theater, but possibly switching to gastronomy) and phonetics each day, every other week. Having classes taught entirely in French is getting more and more normal each day, yet comprehending everything is still a struggle. Mixed in with classes, have been a few fun experiences worth sharing. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My lunch</td></tr>
</tbody></table>One day in between classes, I headed to the Marais to walk around. Marais is a great cultural melange. This part of the city has some of the oldest buildings in all of Paris, yet the vibe is hip, current and eclectic. There is also somewhat of a waning Jewish influence, but Jewish bakeries and falafel stands still abound.<br />
The day I visited, I stopped at L'as du Fallafel, popular for its huge stuffed pitas - cheap, portable and entirely delicious.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kVMKn6Wi_AI/TWvYE7t7zhI/AAAAAAAAAHI/7d6SjdAASRw/s1600/P1010059.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kVMKn6Wi_AI/TWvYE7t7zhI/AAAAAAAAAHI/7d6SjdAASRw/s320/P1010059.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Opera Garnier</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Later in the week, we went to the ballet Caligula at one of Paris's most loved buildings - The Opera Garnier. The Opera house was regal, and I kept waiting for the lights to dim and the Phantom to emerge. Grand statues, chandeliers, exquisite tiling and gold leaf decor line the interior and the exterior architecture is magnificent as well. The ballet itself was quite good. We were scratching our heads trying to figure out the story of the ballet, but meanwhile we enjoyed the graceful dancing and beautiful Baroque sounds of the chamber orchestra (there was even a harpsichord!) playing Vivaldi's <i>Four Seasons</i>. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ajaeNr7A45Y/TWvYFCZq08I/AAAAAAAAAHQ/lDs-G1tVY8Y/s1600/P1010081.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ajaeNr7A45Y/TWvYFCZq08I/AAAAAAAAAHQ/lDs-G1tVY8Y/s320/P1010081.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside the opera house</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The day after the opera, I went to Ile-St-Louis with my friend Alexandra, to obtain some of the coveted Berthillon ice cream. I tried the pistachio and praline-orange, both heavenly. I'll definitely have to head back, as there are so many interesting flavors left to try.<br />
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On somewhat of a gastronomic adventure, we then headed back to Marais to go to a restaurant we had heard about, Breizh Cafe. They served up authentic Breton fare, mainly gallettes (crepes made with buckwheat), many served with an <i>oeuf mirroir</i> (sunny side up egg). Stomachs full from our backwards meal (Mom always said, Life's uncertain - eat dessert first!) we walked through Marais, by Hotel de Ville and then to the area around Chatelet. Much to our surprise, the area was flooded by lots of car traffic, gendar<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">mes in the streets, and barricades surrounding the Theatre du Chatelet. We had happened upon the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">César Awards, the French equivalent of the Oscars. We waited outside the theater until the award show had ended and the stars, mostly unfamiliar to us, came out. Our fellow onlookers helped us to identify the celebrities leaving the theater. We saw Lionel Jospin, the former French prime minister, and actor Lambert Wilson (apparently from the Matrix). Wilson came over to the barricade by which I was standing to appease some </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">boisterous</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">, yelling some fans, who called after him, "Lambert - Tu es</span>t t<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: normal;">rès </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">cool!" We went home bemused at our luck of walking up to such an event and with a great story to tell our friends. C'est la vrai Paris. </span></span>Johannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00663584766313532625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4724910489933389027.post-35157035104699436012011-02-18T13:09:00.003+01:002011-02-18T13:21:36.252+01:00Paige's VisitPaige came to visit from Madrid last weekend! Friday was the nicest day <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">we've had since I've been in Paris. With the blessing of warm weather and sunshine, we spent the afternoon wandering through the Tuileries Garden, Place de la Concorde and window shopping on the <span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">Champs-Élysées. We came back to my dorm and went out to dinner at a nearby restaurant, </span><i style="line-height: 19px;">Le Petit Baigneur</i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">. The restaurant was charming and noisy with the chatter of French couples. The restaurant walls were lined with old French signs and iconic posters. I ate a salad of fresh tomatoes, mozzarella and pesto, a baked fish dish that came at the recommendation of the waiter (it was somewhat like fish mashed potatoes with cheese on top...) and then creme caramel for dessert. After dinner we met up with some of my friends and walked around the Latin Quarter at night. We sat by the Seine, beautifully reflecting the city lights and the moon in its waters. </span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6PmpLSqlOE0/TV3Ch7T5RfI/AAAAAAAAAFM/NmUQcVaypDQ/s1600/P1000951.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6PmpLSqlOE0/TV3Ch7T5RfI/AAAAAAAAAFM/NmUQcVaypDQ/s320/P1000951.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Place de la Concorde</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I_VugI23OV4/TV5jTNzKVWI/AAAAAAAAAFo/qtKuHW8ChKM/s1600/P1000957.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I_VugI23OV4/TV5jTNzKVWI/AAAAAAAAAFo/qtKuHW8ChKM/s320/P1000957.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In front of the Saint Michel Fountain</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TRlsVhjN_sU/TV3C60fqV4I/AAAAAAAAAFQ/-p44ch3j1DQ/s1600/P1000958.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TRlsVhjN_sU/TV3C60fqV4I/AAAAAAAAAFQ/-p44ch3j1DQ/s320/P1000958.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alexandra and Vanessa by the Seine</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The next day, we went to Dominique Saibron, this great bakery near where I live, for breakfast. I had a delicious pain au chocolat et amandes, and a cafe creme. We then made our way to the Arc de Triumph. We climbed the 200 some steps to the top of the arc for a beautiful view of the city. After we descended the arc, we set off on a gastronomical adventure. We went to Fachon, a gourmet food market of sorts where we ate lunch and then picked up some madeleines and chocolates. Then we headed to Laduree, famous for its macarons. We picked some of their traditional flavors like vanilla and caramel, and also some of those more unique like violet and cassis, coffee and cardamom, and my favorite - rouge madame - berries and rose.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At Laduree for macarons!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QlAx-k-tMjk/TV5ina0S6WI/AAAAAAAAAFk/lfw_hl7a-7E/s1600/P1000995.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QlAx-k-tMjk/TV5ina0S6WI/AAAAAAAAAFk/lfw_hl7a-7E/s320/P1000995.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Under the Arc de Triumph</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: left;">The next day we went to breakfast with some of Paige's friends from Tulane at a place in Marais called <i>Breakfast in America</i>. And, to no surprise, it was exactly what the name suggests. Eggs, toast, pancakes and coffee. It was great, and a nice taste of home. Afterwards we headed to the Eiffel Tower, as no visit to Paris would be complete without a visit there. It was a great weekend and so nice to share it with an old friend!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YPxQJ2h9RIU/TV3F2s3eXEI/AAAAAAAAAFg/nK28NuyT86Y/s1600/P1010028.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YPxQJ2h9RIU/TV3F2s3eXEI/AAAAAAAAAFg/nK28NuyT86Y/s320/P1010028.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With Paige in front of the Eiffel Tower</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Johannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00663584766313532625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4724910489933389027.post-21108000387376729332011-02-16T13:15:00.003+01:002011-02-17T18:48:33.910+01:00More Parisian Explorations<div style="text-align: center;">Last week, we had a free day before classes started!</div>Alexandra and I went to explore Montmartre. We got off the metro to a swarm of tourist frenzy. The streets were jam packed with shops selling Paris scarves, Sorbonne sweatshirts, miniature Eiffel towers and iconic posters. We dodged hagglers trying to tie bracelets onto our wrists and made our way to the tram to Sacre Coeur. As we ascended hilly Montmartre, we watched all the tired people climbing the steps up to the basilica, confident in our decision to take the easy way up. It was quite beautiful, and atop the butte there was a beautiful view of Paris below. Inside Sacre Coeur, we were in awe of the grandeur and how the building differed in design from Paris's most notable other churches, such as Notre Dame. It was also quite interesting to see the contradictory presence of sacredness and commercialism within Sacre Coeur. Guards were strict with visitors - no photos, speak softly etc. - but at every knoll in the church was a machine to get a souvenir coin, not to mention the gift shop on your way out. Outside, we watched street performers: musicians and a crazy soccer trickster . We made our way to the maze of village-like streets behind the basilica where we watched artists painting in the square. We refueled on hot chocolate and cookies, and later that night feasted on pasta at an Italian restaurant elsewhere in Montmartre. It was a great day and we'll definitely be back. We still have to see the view of Paris from Sacre Coeur at night, follow in the tracks of Amelie and take a visit to the seedy Pigalle area to find the Moulin Rouge.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kOw1afcM1Dc/TVuvmmCqb8I/AAAAAAAAAEU/2n2y8gAbqeE/s1600/P1000904.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kOw1afcM1Dc/TVuvmmCqb8I/AAAAAAAAAEU/2n2y8gAbqeE/s1600/P1000904.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kOw1afcM1Dc/TVuvmmCqb8I/AAAAAAAAAEU/2n2y8gAbqeE/s320/P1000904.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Outside Sacre Coeur Basilica</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9Gx5KuFMGDc/TVuxs5VKlCI/AAAAAAAAAEY/yDVA3o3qwC4/s1600/P1000867.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9Gx5KuFMGDc/TVuxs5VKlCI/AAAAAAAAAEY/yDVA3o3qwC4/s320/P1000867.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Artists in Montmartre</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On Thursday, we went ice skating at a public rink outside Hotel de Ville and then went for a tour of the mansion with our class. Hotel de Ville is home to Paris' administration and is used to receive foreign dignitaries. Hotel can be used in French to reference a sense of hospitality, not necessarily a hotel. As such, many mansions have "hotel" in the name. Hotel de Ville is enormous and ornately decorated - chandeliers, sculptures and paintings everywhere. The day we visited, they were preparing to welcome the Lebanese government for some function (we ran into the caterer and some musicians doing a sound check). Afterwards we grabbed some crepes and wandered through BHV (Boutique Hotel de Ville) checking out the last of the winter "Soldes" (sales) in Paris. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RrEmlOa1iow/TVuyTIz2s8I/AAAAAAAAAEc/nJePxHS3-dk/s1600/P1000944.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RrEmlOa1iow/TVuyTIz2s8I/AAAAAAAAAEc/nJePxHS3-dk/s320/P1000944.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hotel de Ville</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wFY31m7yHu4/TVu4evuLb_I/AAAAAAAAAEg/3OoVLpEBsSk/s1600/ice+skating.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wFY31m7yHu4/TVu4evuLb_I/AAAAAAAAAEg/3OoVLpEBsSk/s320/ice+skating.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Skating by Hotel de Ville</td></tr>
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More to come soon!<br />
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</a>Johannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00663584766313532625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4724910489933389027.post-29701562527040342962011-02-14T12:25:00.000+01:002011-02-14T12:25:59.027+01:00Fast food in cultural paradiseAnother week down!<div>Last Monday we went to the Opera Bastille to see Madama Butterfly. It was an interesting experience and for many of the kids in my program, it was their first time at an Opera. The libretto was in French, of course, so I did my best to understand it, but it wasn't always easy. The orchestra was fabulous and Butterfly's aria was beautiful. The production itself, however, was a bit odd. The director is known for being extremely minimalist and as such, there was little scenery and no props (made for an interesting death scene). Next week we're going to the ballet (Caligula?) at the Opera Garnier, which if nothing else, should be extremely beautiful. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Monday, I also had an equally interesting but far less cultural experience - lunch at KFC, in Paris. Rachel had previously shared with me an article that tackled the question: <a href="http://www.gadling.com/2011/01/26/should-you-eat-at-american-chains-when-you-travel/?ncid=&a_dgi=aolshare_email">Should you eat at American chain restaurants when you Travel?</a> And after reading this, I did a bit of my own research. In my travels I've seen a ton of MacDonalds (MacDo for short, here) and Quicks (pretty sure this is actually the only Europe-born fast food chain). And on my way home from school each day I go by a Pizza Hut and a KFC. So after a week of passing by these fast food moguls, I decided I might as well check it out. The menu at KFC was half in French, half in English (leading me to order like this: Je voudrais des chicken tenders) and while the offerings were mostly identical to the chain's American counterpart, there were some notable differences. Biscuits and mashed potatoes were absent from the Parisian KFC's menu, but chicken came with the option of a side of curry sauce. The restaurant was clean and lacked that overbearing smell of grease, present in so many of the American locations. It was also <i>just</i> a KFC. Not the KFC/Taco Bell/Basking Robbins combos you'd find in the US. Prices were jacked up a bit as well. This leads me to believe that while a fast food restaurant is still a fast food restaurant, even on the other side of the world, each country adds their own bit of flare to such establishments. The French are characterized by 2 things (in my opinion): first, an extraordinary attention to detail, and second, an over-appreciation of free time and rest. As such, fast food here seems slightly better (i.e. meat that looks like meat) though it comes with a price - no dollar menu here. You'll also have trouble finding your late night fix of burgers and fries, as the concept of a chain that's open late or even 24 hours is absent in this culture. On a similar note, street food is pretty non-existant, the only exception being crepe stands. Even so, it's weird to see people eating and doing anything else simultaneously (walking, driving, talking on the phone etc.), as the French take a bit more pride in their food and take the time to enjoy it. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Since then, I've also been to a Starbucks, which was pretty much the same as say the Chappaqua, NY location, including the same comfy velvet armchairs. You might wonder why in a city full of wonderful cafes someplace like Starbucks would be popular and gain a reliable clientele. After being there, I can somewhat understand the appeal. The coffee culture here is wonderful, but not always the most practical. Coffee with milk is primarily drunk only in the morning. When you order a cafe, you'll receive espresso. I'm pretty sure skim milk and to-go-cups are unheard of. If you're in a hurry, you'll drink your coffee at the bar, and kill only half an hour rather than the 2 hours you can burn sipping your cafe creme at an outdoor table at your neighborhood cafe. At the Starbucks, there was a ton of seating and a ton of young people in groups - a much easier and relaxed place to hang out than at a cafe. You could easily grab your coffee (the American kind), chai or favorite half caf-no whip-double shot-frappa-whatevers and sit there forever chatting with friends, doing homework or grabbing hold of the free wifi (here, pronounced <i>wee-fee</i>), a luxury here. </div><div><br />
</div><div>So while I wouldn't make it an everyday routine (you're welcome, arteries), dining at fast food restaurants can be a small reminder of food at home, yet still offering that tiny bit of French culture, with your side of frites. </div>Johannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00663584766313532625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4724910489933389027.post-89520137113638845412011-02-07T03:45:00.013+01:002011-02-07T23:55:42.467+01:00First Week, Check!It's hard to believe that I've already been here a week. In some respects one week feels like an eternity, but simultaneously and contradictorily, I can't believe it has just been a week. So much has happened within one week, yet I'm still the clueless, American tourist wandering around an unfamiliar city. It's amazing how time can be so transformative and deceiving when thrown into an entirely new environment.<br />
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On Wednesday of this past week, we had a relaxing afternoon. We walked around our neighborhood a bit, and feasted on fresh baguette and cheeses we picked up along the way home. We went to the Louvre at night and wandered around parts of the Richelieu and Sully wings. We didn't see many of the Louvre's most notable works of art, but nonetheless we were in awe of the palace and the size of the collection. With our student IDs it's super easy and free to get into most of the museums, so we plan on going back many times throughout the semester.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Y_8CnKXFYf8/TU-kjcEod4I/AAAAAAAAAD8/eiVobs4zVzI/s1600/P1000610.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Y_8CnKXFYf8/TU-kjcEod4I/AAAAAAAAAD8/eiVobs4zVzI/s320/P1000610.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In the courtyard of the Louvre</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Y_8CnKXFYf8/TU-lSChNLAI/AAAAAAAAAEI/iPqf2ifZecE/s1600/P1000638.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Y_8CnKXFYf8/TU-lSChNLAI/AAAAAAAAAEI/iPqf2ifZecE/s320/P1000638.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of the Seine, at night</td></tr>
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On Thursday, we had a placement exam at the Sorbonne. It was a bit daunting, but thankfully didn't take too long, so we had the afternoon to ourselves. I went to the Montparnasse Cemetery with some friends in search of some of its most notable inhabitants: Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Baudelaire, Serge Gainsbourg and Alfred Dryfus, to name a few. The cemetery was pretty to walk around - many of the tombs were topped with sculptures in all different styles, and there was a great mix of modern and classical styles.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Y_8CnKXFYf8/TU-jUBpNt1I/AAAAAAAAADs/eXhx_pj0zW8/s1600/P1000644.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Y_8CnKXFYf8/TU-jUBpNt1I/AAAAAAAAADs/eXhx_pj0zW8/s320/P1000644.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 15px;">Cimetière du Montparnasse</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>After the director's course on Friday, we walked around Notre Dame and went to the Shakespeare and Co. bookstore. Notre Dame was beautiful, especially the stained glass windows. When it's a little less windy here, we plan to go back to see the gargoyles on the roof. Shakespeare & Co. was so whimsical and fun. There were cute reading rooms upstairs with a piano and typewriters, and a section just for kids! After that, we ventured to the Picasso Museum, walking by the Centre Pompidou and stopping to check out Saint Merry's Cathedral. We arrived at the museum only to learn that it's closed for renovations. We cut our losses and headed to Angelina, for the greatest hot chocolate in Paris. I had chocolat and Angelina's famous pastry, Mont Blanc - a meringue topped with a mountain of chestnut cream. Delicious!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Y_8CnKXFYf8/TU-jncOFniI/AAAAAAAAADw/ZyqzWeTX7v0/s1600/P1000703.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Y_8CnKXFYf8/TU-jncOFniI/AAAAAAAAADw/ZyqzWeTX7v0/s320/P1000703.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and Elora with some of our favorite children's books</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Y_8CnKXFYf8/TU-kA-KhZ8I/AAAAAAAAAD0/JSeYq2HJB-g/s1600/P1000732.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Y_8CnKXFYf8/TU-kA-KhZ8I/AAAAAAAAAD0/JSeYq2HJB-g/s320/P1000732.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Centre Pompidou</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Y_8CnKXFYf8/TU-kSWltNFI/AAAAAAAAAD4/AeXsjnoAIZE/s1600/P1000756.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Y_8CnKXFYf8/TU-kSWltNFI/AAAAAAAAAD4/AeXsjnoAIZE/s320/P1000756.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mont blanc and hot chocolate with whipped cream</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Y_8CnKXFYf8/TU-hwqOA1pI/AAAAAAAAADc/WpOgm3h4ygw/s1600/P1000763.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Y_8CnKXFYf8/TU-hwqOA1pI/AAAAAAAAADc/WpOgm3h4ygw/s320/P1000763.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Katie and Vanessa at Musee d'Orsay Restaurant</td></tr>
</tbody></table>On Saturday, we went to the Musée d'Orsay. We ate a delicious lunch at the museum restaurant and then spent a few hours in the galleries. I really liked the Degas pastels of ballerinas, the works by Tolouse-Lautrec and the vibrancy of colors in Van Gogh's paintings. Orsay really has quite the collection.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Y_8CnKXFYf8/TU-i9uQgUkI/AAAAAAAAADo/pneQ_nvU5Zs/s1600/P1000795.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Y_8CnKXFYf8/TU-i9uQgUkI/AAAAAAAAADo/pneQ_nvU5Zs/s320/P1000795.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chinese New Year celebration in Belleville</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Sunday, we went to Belleville to celebrate the Chinese new year. Belleville is at the junction of the 10th, 11th, 19th and 20th arrondissements and is very culturally diverse. Being there was an entirely fascinating experience. We got off of the metro to a swarm of people crowding the streets. Small children towered over the crowd on their parents' shoulders, cotton candy and rabbit balloons in-hand. We arrived just before the parades began and the ceremonial dragons were opening the eyes for the first time, which was much cause for celebration. There was lots of music and dancing and even firecrackers. Afterwards we walked around the Chinatown area, met up with many people from our program and had dinner together at a grandiose Chinese restaurant.<br />
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What a week!<br />
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</div>Johannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00663584766313532625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4724910489933389027.post-79439511420962038702011-02-01T01:03:00.001+01:002011-02-01T01:04:46.147+01:00Slowly getting into the swing of things...With a stomach full of baguette, I will recall the past few days in Paris!<br />
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On Saturday, I met the rest of the people in my program at a breakfast our director arranged for at La Coupole. La Coupole is a restaurant in Montparnasse famous for its intellectual regulars of a bygone era, such as Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Josephine Baker, Hemingway and Picasso, to name a few. The restaurant is huge and has ornate art deco decor. Having been so tired and drawn up in the chaos of getting to Paris, we hadn't eaten anything since we arrived. And for a first meal in Paris? This is was great! A warm welcome to Parisian gastronomy. I had the freshest orange juice I've ever had, followed by cafe au lait served piping hot in two separate pitchers: one with coffee, one with steamed milk. We feasted on assorted pastries. I finished off a pain au chocolat, and a croissant with cherry preserves. Yum!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.paris4travel.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/La-Coupole-inside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://www.paris4travel.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/La-Coupole-inside.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">La Coupole</td></tr>
</tbody></table>After breakfast, we strolled to class through the Jardin du Luxembourg. A few hours later, with a better idea of what my program entails, I ventured off with a few friends to find the largest MonoPrix in Paris, or so we were told. MonoPrix is perhaps the French equivalent of Target. Probably nowhere else could I have bought a notebook, a rug and a baguette in a single purchase. Hungry from all of our walking, we headed to a restaurant called Le Paradis du Fruit for dinner. The greatest thing about their menu was that healthy options were labeled with angels, and those options that were unhealthy or "gourmand" as the French would say, were labeled with a devil.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Y_8CnKXFYf8/TUdI6BseSqI/AAAAAAAAACc/wJbaGEKlNsE/s1600/P1000494.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Y_8CnKXFYf8/TUdI6BseSqI/AAAAAAAAACc/wJbaGEKlNsE/s320/P1000494.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At Le Paradis du Fruit eating "Salvador de Bahia"</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div>Sunday, we did as the French do, and took the day to relax. We walked a bit around our neighborhood, but besides some kids playing basketball in the park, it was quite quiet. Today, we again met for class and had individual interviews with our teacher to help plan out our classes. Afterwards we grabbed a cheap lunch in the Latin Quarter and happened upon the Pantheon. We explored the Pantheon which was really quite beautiful, and then spent a fair amount of time wandering around the crypt. We saw the graves of Rousseau, Voltaire, Marie and Pierre Curie, Dumas, Hugo and Zola, all the while trying not to get kicked out (French guards kept shh-ing us for being too noisy). Afterwards we checked out some of the sales currently blanketing Paris, but after trying on some peculiar Parisian fashions, we left stores empty handed. I rushed on back to my dorm, swinging by a candy stand for delicious, brightly colored marshmallows, and made it back in time for dinner. I dined with my new friends and met some other Americans here as well, and then called it a night. It's been quite a few days and I can't wait for more to come!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Y_8CnKXFYf8/TUdMRKifdEI/AAAAAAAAACg/Z29O8XHZ1mI/s1600/P1000507.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Y_8CnKXFYf8/TUdMRKifdEI/AAAAAAAAACg/Z29O8XHZ1mI/s320/P1000507.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With friends outside the Pantheon</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Y_8CnKXFYf8/TUdMvElL3UI/AAAAAAAAACk/AvHfM5iDbjA/s1600/P1000528.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Y_8CnKXFYf8/TUdMvElL3UI/AAAAAAAAACk/AvHfM5iDbjA/s320/P1000528.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside the Pantheon</td></tr>
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</div>Johannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00663584766313532625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4724910489933389027.post-49138290374496681032011-01-30T07:57:00.000+01:002011-01-30T07:57:51.433+01:001st day in Paris!All good things come with time, says my father. I guess that's true in this case. After about a 27 hour delay on my flight from Newark, I finally arrived in Paris! At Newark, I met up with four other kids from my program - so at least I wan't alone living in the airport for 2 days. Our flight Wednesday night was delayed 6 hours because of plane traffic, then a power outage, then snow and after midnight the airport was shut down altogether. So we slept at the airport and finally got booked on the same flight we were supposed to take but on the next night, which got delayed again because of plane traffic, but finally took off. We were beginning to call our adventures "Study Abroad: Newark." In the meantime we did meet a lot of really nice French people waiting to fly home. We got some tips of places to go in Paris, practiced our French and realized that the French know a lot more about American government and pop culture than we do.<br />
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So after not really sleeping for two days and being penned up in an airport, arriving in Paris was like arriving in paradise. Our little group split up as we are staying in different dorms around the city. I took a taxi with another girl to my dorm, Foyer Didot. The foyer is in a cute, somewhat lively neighborhood somewhere between Montparnasse and rue Alesia. My room is like a typical American dorm room except that I have my own bathroom and there's a lovely view of a park in the square next to my building. From my friend Vanessa's room, on the other side of the building, there's a view of the Eiffel Tower!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Y_8CnKXFYf8/TUUEJchD2CI/AAAAAAAAAB4/MajcWFP_qBY/s1600/P1000492.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Y_8CnKXFYf8/TUUEJchD2CI/AAAAAAAAAB4/MajcWFP_qBY/s320/P1000492.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from my window!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>After dropping off our luggage, we set out to meet up with the rest of our group. Unsuccessful at finding them or contacting our program director, we did a bit of our own exploring. We went to le Jardin du Luxembourg. Then crossed over the seine<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> to <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">Île de la Cité and saw the Notre Dame cathedral. Then we walked along the Seine on the right bank and walked around by the Louvre. Tired and freezing, we started to head back to the dorm. We stopped for some chocolat chaud in the St Germain-des-Pres area, found our way to the metro and then came home. Some pictures from our adventures:</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Y_8CnKXFYf8/TUUFNU8JdqI/AAAAAAAAAB8/-ff9JR6E0oE/s1600/P1000440.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Y_8CnKXFYf8/TUUFNU8JdqI/AAAAAAAAAB8/-ff9JR6E0oE/s400/P1000440.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fountain in le jardin du Luxembourg</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Y_8CnKXFYf8/TUUFmQCOCdI/AAAAAAAAACA/HAQF72uRcgc/s1600/P1000442.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Y_8CnKXFYf8/TUUFmQCOCdI/AAAAAAAAACA/HAQF72uRcgc/s400/P1000442.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Le Palais du Luxembourg</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Y_8CnKXFYf8/TUUGVOVfqHI/AAAAAAAAACI/6InBQ-UDQg8/s1600/P1000454.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Y_8CnKXFYf8/TUUGVOVfqHI/AAAAAAAAACI/6InBQ-UDQg8/s400/P1000454.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Le Jardin du Luxembourg</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Y_8CnKXFYf8/TUUGlt7WFII/AAAAAAAAACM/NlYzgb5lafQ/s1600/P1000465.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Y_8CnKXFYf8/TUUGlt7WFII/AAAAAAAAACM/NlYzgb5lafQ/s400/P1000465.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With Vanessa in front of Notre Dame</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Y_8CnKXFYf8/TUUHF_rthPI/AAAAAAAAACQ/DXH3BOl6zfQ/s1600/P1000469.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Y_8CnKXFYf8/TUUHF_rthPI/AAAAAAAAACQ/DXH3BOl6zfQ/s400/P1000469.JPG" width="296" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So French!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Y_8CnKXFYf8/TUUH6SFhDaI/AAAAAAAAACU/5hBzgXhQHuI/s1600/P1000471.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Y_8CnKXFYf8/TUUH6SFhDaI/AAAAAAAAACU/5hBzgXhQHuI/s400/P1000471.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of Ile St Louis</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Y_8CnKXFYf8/TUUIROzgmBI/AAAAAAAAACY/XvgjVzVN9CU/s1600/P1000486.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Y_8CnKXFYf8/TUUIROzgmBI/AAAAAAAAACY/XvgjVzVN9CU/s400/P1000486.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the Louvre</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Johannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00663584766313532625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4724910489933389027.post-86946837707259321432011-01-25T09:00:00.000+01:002011-01-25T06:00:47.083+01:00Le début<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">A few months ago, Cornell welcomed Frank Warren of PostSecret to campus to give a presentation. If you’ve never seen it before, the site is a collaboration of postcards revealing secrets anonymously submitted by readers worldwide. Somewhat of an art project, a creative and emotional outlet, the blog is enormously popular and the Cornell event was sold-out. The site is updated each Sunday with a new set of a dozen or so secrets. I frequently find myself crawling out of bed Sunday morning, only to return right back to bed, laptop in hand, groggily checking for the new post. Having followed the blog for a few years now, I was psyched when Frank came to talk at Cornell. After the presentation Frank sent a message to all of the attendees, linking them to an archive of postcard secrets, previously unpublished elsewhere. In the midst of this archive, I found the following “secret.” I read the words on the card, stared at the map in the background and found that someone else’s secret was the same as my very own. “I have no clue where my life is going…but I can’t wait!”</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Y_8CnKXFYf8/TSYXaau9rpI/AAAAAAAAABU/e74UT7M2h_4/s1600/Paris.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Y_8CnKXFYf8/TSYXaau9rpI/AAAAAAAAABU/e74UT7M2h_4/s1600/Paris.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A secret scribbled on a map of Paris</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">While I have no clue where my life is going, I do know where I am going next: Paris. Soon I will be off to Paris, spending my Spring semester studying at the Cours de Civilisation Française de la Sorbonne through a program with SUNY Oswego. I was drawn to Paris by its richness of culture, good food and a chance to improve my French. I looked at programs in other countries and found myself scanning maps of Europe determining how far each city was from Paris, which would definitely be on my list of places to visit. At the stroke of the P key in the google maps’ search field, Paris would automatically fill-in due to frequency and repetition of searches. I had the realization that instead of merely visiting the city as a tourist I could, in fact, live and study there for the semester! And so off I will go to Paris, the city of love and lights. </div>Johannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00663584766313532625noreply@blogger.com0