So yes, it’s been a while. In all honesty this may not have been updated tonight, had the internet not gone out last night leaving me with nothing more to do than catch up on my blog. But I’m in France, so give me a break! FYI This is kind of long, so sit back and relax :)
This was our third and only normal week of the program. We had class every morning and during 3 afternoons plus a make-up afternoon for the ascension holiday we had class off for the preceding week. There was nothing to break up the daily homework and quizzes. Let’s just say I was a tad exhausted by Friday night!
Free days: On these days, Stephanie and I usually sleep in as long as possible (usually a consequence of staying up late reading for fun, haha) and then head out for lunch and some low key sight-seeing. We sight-see every day in art class, so it’s very relaxed. That doesn’t mean we wander aimlessly, however. We’ve visited: The St. Martin Canal (very picturesque, but not like the Queen’s Hamlet was at Versailles!), The Pompidou Center (modern art museum with an amazing view from the top,) and the Marais (the Jewish and gay district of Paris, very quaint and pretty.) We’ve also had lunch on the lawn of Sacre Coeur at Montmartre and done a fair bit of shopping. Our days off are wonderful – we see Paris yet aren’t rushed about it. Sadly we won’t have any others until the end of the program. There are a couple of afternoons off, however, during which I have an agenda planned!
Le Canal St. Martin
Pompidou Center - its quite the building with its guts on the outside.
This is art. I don't get it.
Again, I'm lost. I'd rather have sat on that than taken a pic of it.
This, however, is quite creative.
Sorry for the blurriness/darkness - no flash allowed and this is the best one that showed up of me inside this piece of art.
I'll never get tired of the Parisian skyline. That's Notre Dame in the background :)
Perfect!
Random mole, nbd.
Attempted rollerblading: Every Sunday in Paris there’s a “rollerblading parade.” Anyone who can roller blade can participate and join the mass of people rollerblading throughout Paris. Stephanie and I decided we were totally up for this so we put on our comfortable cloths, ditched the purses that would be awkward to blade with and headed across city to the rendez-vous point. Sadly, in the process of ditching our purses, we also ditched the ID that we needed to rent skates . . . so we headed to Notre-Dame for the best ice cream in Paris instead.
No moving on up: So sadly my class situation was not, in fact, resolved. There was a bit of miscommunication and I’m in E3 for sure. It’s extremely easy, but there’s nothing to do for it – c’est la vie.
Smoking: I gave an oral presentation on smoking in French. Everyone has to give an oral presentation and I thought I’d talk about the differences between the States and here. What did I discover? Surprisingly, not much. It’s illegal to smoke inside and on campuses in France, which is exactly what I’m used to at home in Michigan. I thought a lot about the stereotype of French smokers being the norm came to be, and I realized that the city has a lot to do with it. Everyone heads to Paris to experience France. There are a lot of people here and of course if you see a lot of people a decent amount of them will be smokers. Down in Biarritz, I didn’t get caught up in smoke clouds as often because there was more room and less people. The conclusion? Don’t judge France by its smokey book cover, Paris.
In art class: We went to the Invalides (government military center), l’eglise du dome (Napoleon III rests there,) le Musee de Rodin (a wonderful sculpter,) le pantheon (homage to the great people of France,) the old opera, and we walked around Mont St. Genevieve and the 2nd arrondissement (section of Paris) that had a bunch of old time markets and a bank that you weren’t allowed to take pictures of inside.
Les Invalides. Crooked b/c I'm short and had to reach up blindly to take the pic. I'm a scientist, not a photographer, remember?
Inside the military church at Les Invalides
Tomb of Napoleon III. My friend, Abby, noted that the statues seem to be guarding him even in the afterlife.
The Thinker. Whaddya think??
The Kiss.
Above Rodin's Gardins
In Rodin's Gardens
Butterflys!
Supposedly St. Genevieve
Le Pantheon
Marie Curie remembered and honored in the Pantheon
Here's Paris from way up high.
The Grand Staircase at the Opera!!
This pic does not do this room justice!
The Phantom's private viewing room.
Friday was probably the best day ever: First off I saw the Catacombes with my program. Don’t know what they are? Imagine being underground with a bunch of stacked bones, multiply the weird factor by 0.5 and multiply the totally wicked factor by 10. After the Catacombes, I saw X-Men: The Origins at the cinema. It was awesome! We saw it in English with French subtitles, but during the French part of the movie there were not subtitles to help the gaps in the story only listening leaves me with, and during the German parts there were French subtitles, so we definitely got in some French practice. It was one of those days where everything works out and it made me feel extremely lucky to be in Paris at the same time as grieving my approaching departure.
So pictures don't come out great underground w/o flash (it was forbidden.) But you can get an idea from them at least.
Mouse in the house: Stephanie sighted it the other week, and when we approached Madame Reynaud about it, she knew; apparently that mouse is a frequent visitor and she can’t put down traps or poison because of her grandchildren and dog who wouldn’t know to stay away from the mouse killer. I could’ve lived with the mouse in the dining room. I can’t live with the mouse in my room, however. I saw it scurry under my bed and now the lights must be on before I walk anywhere. Stupid mouse!
Too bad Edgar, the dog at my homestay, is more afraid of the mouse than I!
Entertainment in the metro: at least once every other day, I’ll be walking around a corner in the metro and I’ll hear the faint sound of music, so quiet I think I’ve imagined it. It grows in volume and eventually I see a lonely man playing his life away on a guitar or an entire group of strings rocking out. It’s the best ever; just when the daily grind of Paris gets you down, the music picks you back up. Some guys will play in the metro trains too. The coolest thing I saw, however, was the puppet show on the train.
Blurry, but you can totally tell there's a puppet show happening here!
Swimming: I’ve always been a swimmer and always will be. A month without stretching out my limbs in thw water was getting to be a bit much so I found the local pool. First of all, the local pool is well hidden. Only after taking a chance and following a man and his son because I thought they looked like they had a swim bag with them did I find the pool down a long road, up some stairs, across a lot, and down another set of stairs! Here are the three things I discovered about French pools: 1) If you find yourself in a locker room with a member of the opposite sex, you’re not necessarily in the wrong place. There’s only one locker room. Thankfully they have ample changing rooms! 2) Swim caps are mandatory. If you don’t have one you can always buy one from the swimming supplies vending machine they have conveniently located at the pool. I’ll bet it reduces the hairballs we get in the States . . . 3) I should’ve been prepared for this – meters, not yards (the pool seemed so long!)
Cold: Not the temperature sadly, the temp has actually been perfect – not too hot and not too cold. It’s true we could use more sun, but we don’t really have much say in the matter. The cold is what I caught. It’s not terrible, I’ve been through much worse, it’s just a pain in the butt that I’m sniffling and coughing my way through my precious days in Paris. Hopefully it disappears quickly!
Sincerely,
So happy to be here
S
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