So Thursday after class after much stress in planning and tickets not working out, etc...I finally got on a train to the south of France. Let me tell you...everyone should go there. It was stunning and the weather was gorgeous.
Thursday:
School...boring.
Train from Paris-Lyon and then from Lyon-Marseilles
Got into Marseilles at around 10 and took a cab to our hostel cause apparently the buses in the town stop at around 9...lame. The hostel was a bit hard to find, too...even the cabbie got lost. So we check into this hostel and it was such a sweet place. The proprietors...if you can even call them that, were named Jean and Xavier and they were these two old pervy guys who I don't think I saw move from their couches more than once or twice in the whole 4 nights we were there. They also were very adament about telling me that I was pretty and then when I would walk away they would kind of old dirty French man laugh...gross. But they were truly harmless and nice. Plus the hostel was only 15 Euro a night which was sooo good. So our rooms all had kitchens and showers and toiles. The beds were more like...lofts I guess you could say. They were basically just mattresses on these planks that were attached to the ceiling. Our mattresses had a little closet nook thing behind them which was nice...we never had to leave our things on the floor. There had been some problems with theft before we arrived...I guess some guys had hoisted themselves into the room cause the window was open and had taken some girl's backpack that contained her laptop. Suck. But why on earth would you leave the window open if you were gone? Silly girls. Anyways...the other people in our room were all from Canada and were super nice. Two girls, Alex and Chris and a guy (Alex's boyfriend) named Sean. They were all just trekking through Europe and it was fun to hear their stories and some of their advice. Nice people. The first night we also met this Irish guy Eoin (pronounced Owen..silly Irish) who ended up hanging out with us the rest of the weekend which was nice. So basically we chatted all of them up a bit and conked out around 2.
Friday:
Slept in til around 10...so brilliant. Then we woke up and went out in search of groceries, got 4 days worth of food for 30 Euro...score. We went back to the room, grabbed Eoin, and headed out to this calanque (which is a rocky inlet cove-type thing) called Sugiton. The walk out there was a bit of a hike and we got a little lost in the hills, but when we found it it was just breathtakingly beautiful. The water was clear as day and you could see straight to the bottom no matter how deep. There were all these cliffs around so naturally we jumped off a few and swam around for a bit. It was just absolutely stunning...I cannot reiterate enough. It was a bit of a shock when I jumped in the water for the first time and realized it was, indeed salt water. Gross. But other than that swimming in the Mediterranean? How can you beat it!
After we dragged outselves away from Sugiton, we headed back to the hostel for a quick minute and then went out to downtown Marseilles where we found a nice little Irish bar that Eoin had been to the night before. I got my first on-tap Guinness...I am never going back after that one...maybe I will...but it will be hard. It was sooo good. We also did something quite shameful in going to Haagen-Daas afterwards and getting two giant sundaes to split...Oh decadence. After our little Marseillean adventure, we hopped on the metro and then walked the rest of our way to the hostel--it was about a 40 minute walk but it was so nice out. We got back decently late, all of us hopped in the shower to rinse the salt off of us, and we just hung out in our room with the people we met drinking beer and having a good time. Alex had cooked already so we just ate some of her left overs and called it a night.
Saturday:
Got up relatively early--around 9. WE COOKED SCRAMBLED EGGS. Enough said. The French don't believe in them and it sucks. So we made some breakfast and headed out to see if there were any good markets happening on a Saturday morning in Marseilles...and oh guess what? There were! So we did a bit of shopping, picked up a few things. Alex came with us for the markets but decided to head back and the three of us, Me and the two Jessicas, decided to stay and walk around the city. We just did some shopping and stopped to get lunch at a place by the Vieux Port (old port/harbor) where they had amazing seafood. I got salmon, but when I took a bite of Jessica's scallops I immediately regretted it. But everything was delicious right down to the coffee we had afterwards. I've noticed that French waiters are very suggestive. "Would you like dessert?" "Why yes...I would!" ***five minute later*** "Would you like a coffee?" "Well...why not?!" Yes...they are sneaky. Anyways...after we ate we realized something was happening that seemed a bit dangerous. There were tons...TONS of guys in the street chanting and hollering and lighting flares and doing what looked like a riot--especially since there were cops in riot gear there...but it turned out it was a celebration for the Algerian team doing well in soccer. They take their stuff very seriously over here apparently! So it was fun to go up and take some pictures of the celebration after we found out it wasn't hostile. We then tried to go out to Chateau D'If, the famous island from the Dumas books about the Musketeers and the Man in the Iron Mask...but it was too windy that day so we couldn't. Sad. Instead we went back to the hostel, caught up with Eoin and a few Americans--Mike and Marc (not related...still funny). And we walked to a beach and went swimming. Brilliant. Headed back home, cooked some pasta, tasty vegetables with garlic, and made some guacamole. We forced the boys to eat some because they don't like it...not ok. They still don't like it. Still not ok. Then we all headed to our respective beds for a nice night of sleep.
Sunday
Woke up pretty early to leave to go to a little town a bit away from Marseilles called Cassis. We got on a bus that took us out there and walked around a bit and just enjoyed being out of a big city for a while. The beaches and the water were clear as day again and everything was just so nice. However, I wish that the only people at these beaches that took off their tops weren't old women. Not so enjoyable. We just kinda lounged on the beach for a bit. The water was cold, but I still dove in head first whereas the other girls were not for that at all. It felt soo good but the water got deep really fast and I am afraid of the ocean to begin with so I stayed pretty close to shore...but it was still great. The sun was out there weren't any clouds. Parfait. The two Americans and Eoin were getting a bit hungry so we packed up and went in search of food and this is where we split up because us girls wanted to sit down somewhere outside and enjoy just relaxing and the boys wanted to grab something to go. So...no big deal. They left and we stayed. We got a great lunch at this little place and poked around Cassis for a bit then decided to go for a hike along the coast even though none of us were prepared for it AT ALL. Aka we were all in dresses, bikinis, and basically flip flops. Didn't stop us...we're hardcore. We hiked all the way from Cassis back to Marseilles along the coast up these huge mountains/hills and then down but pretty much each time there was a descent, there was a beautiful calanque with a beach that we stopped at to admire and just take a breather. It was so breathtakingly beautiful. The hike in total took us 8 hours and afterwards I had to throw away my shoes...which was kinda sad. But we got back to Marseilles right as the sun was setting and it was just so nice and pleasant...but tiring. Very tiring. So we got back, said goodnight and goodbye to the boys, and went to sleep a bit too late.
Monday
Train left at 6:30am so we got up at like 5:30 and had to be out by 5:50...not a problem right? Wrong. We got up just fine and left the hostel when we wanted to, but when we got close to the bus stop, one was leaving and we figured "no big deal...wait til the next one!" but as we got closer we saw that the next one wasn't coming for almost 20 minutes. Bad day. So I tried to call a cab and the guy wouldn't just come to the bus stop where we were at, he wanted an adderss which I had no idea what street we were on or any addresses so he hung up. Awesome. So then we got on a different bus, had to switch to the metro, ran up the escalators to get to the station with our sore feet and joints from the day before, and missed our train by 1 minute. Literally. Sad. It was really no big deal, but we did have to pay to change our tickets and all that. Oh well. We still got back to Paris in time for a quick shower and class (boo). For dinner I ate at this restaurant called Polidor that served traditional French cuisine and it was soooo good. It was a bit pricey, my meal was 23E, but it was so worth it. Then a bunch of us from the program were going to try to meet up at this bar because my French dad AND my friend's French dad both told us to go to it because the views are "some of the best in Paris". So we were supposed to go when I get a call from one of the Jessicas saying "we aren't going because we're here and it's 22E a drink...even juice and coke and stuff" YIKES. So instead we went to "our spot" which is just a corner cafe halfway between our two places with a big group of friends. One of our friends actually got engaged over the weekend so she bought a bottle of Champagne and then we all got beers and talked and laughed. So fun and relaxing and a nice way to end a very very long day.
That's all! Go to Marseilles!
Ann
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
carmen. amazing.
so monday night i got to see Carmen at the Opera-Comique (the original theater where the opera debuted) for FREE. It was...phenomenal. I had never seen a professional opera unless you count the ones at the U and truly it was amazing. Plus Carmen is a pretty sexy show so it's not going to put you to sleep. It turned out to be like 4 hours long though which definitely was apparent the next morning when i woke up sleep deprived---again. It was a great thing to do on a Monday night though...even though I wish the French believed in air conditioning as whole heartedly as Americans...:-P
I went up to Montmartre again last night with a friend who was taking engagement photos for another IES student's brother. The brother wanted to surprise the girlfriend--now fiancee--so she was taking candid photos as he proposed and when she said yes and then right afterwards, as well. Though the whole "proposing in Paris" thing is a bit over-done and overrated...it was still really cute and they were both obviously super happy. AND he didn't do it at the Eiffel Tower so props to him. He did it in the grass at Sacre Coeur. Good choice. Anyways...it was sweet and nice. Not my style at all...but very romantic for those who like that sort of thing.
I stumbled across the Louvre while just walking around with the two Jessicas the other day, which was nice. We didn't have time to go in because we were all expected at dinner with our homestays, but the building itself is really beautiful. I like what the French did with all of their museums...for instance, the Louvre used to be a palace. Les Invalides, which is now the Musee de L'Armee and Napoleon's tomb, used to be a hospital/place for men injured in war. The Musee D'Orsay was a train station. They just like to reduce, reuse, and recycle their buildings and they are all gorgeous and really well kept. I really like how well preserved the city is. However, with the Urbanism movement and the whole Haussman thing, it's getting a bit ho-hum when just walking around "residential" streets because everything seriously looks the same. It's also pretty disorienting to get out of a metro stop almost anywhere in the city because all the street corners look the same. The apartments are all the same and then on every corner there is a cafe with a red awning and black trim. I rarely ever know where I am. It's wonderful and at the same time, sometimes annoying (only when I have somewhere to be and i'm perpetually late...).
I've noticed a couple more things that are a little strange about French people, too. They carry their flower bouquets upside down. I asked one of my professors why and she said it's because it's better for the flowers? But I kinda don't buy it. It just looks silly. I want to take a picture and should have on Mother's Day but I forgot...dang. At restaurants they also won't put food on the table if the napkin is where the plate should go. Sometimes that's hard to remember to take care of before they come out with your food...no silverware rolled up in napkins in France. What else...There are babies everywhere because all costs during pregnancy are paid for and then you get paid by the government to have the kid. So literally there are strollers and toddlers everywhere in France...it makes for some cute photos. Oh yeah, everything is paid for unless you are my Contempory France teacher, who is the quintessential French woman, who had to pay for the telephone she broke when she threw it across the room during labor. And of course she told us the story with the most blasee affect ever...I love her. I will take pictures so everyone can understand and begin to grasp her French-ness. Love it.
I leave for the Riviera tonight. I'm super pumped! We thought for a while it wasn't going to work out but then we pretty much figured it out at the last minute and now we are going to lay on the beach all weekend. We are officially staying in Marseille but we want to ride our bikes into a small town called Cassis during the days because it's not as much of a tourist trap and the goal of this is to get away from big city living for a couple days. I'm so excited!!! I will definitely be adding to my plethera of freckles (which have now spread to my eyelids and lips...cancer here I come). So yes! You all will hear about that on Monday after I come home all toasty and red from the sun. And of course, I will take as many pictures as my camera will allow. I'm super glad I brought 12G of space because I think my count on my camera is up to 800...never taken so many pictures in my life.
Happy Father's Day, Papa! I won't be able to call you on Sunday...so I will say it now. I love you and trying to find a gift for you here is damn near impossible! Bisous (kisses)!
Ann
I went up to Montmartre again last night with a friend who was taking engagement photos for another IES student's brother. The brother wanted to surprise the girlfriend--now fiancee--so she was taking candid photos as he proposed and when she said yes and then right afterwards, as well. Though the whole "proposing in Paris" thing is a bit over-done and overrated...it was still really cute and they were both obviously super happy. AND he didn't do it at the Eiffel Tower so props to him. He did it in the grass at Sacre Coeur. Good choice. Anyways...it was sweet and nice. Not my style at all...but very romantic for those who like that sort of thing.
I stumbled across the Louvre while just walking around with the two Jessicas the other day, which was nice. We didn't have time to go in because we were all expected at dinner with our homestays, but the building itself is really beautiful. I like what the French did with all of their museums...for instance, the Louvre used to be a palace. Les Invalides, which is now the Musee de L'Armee and Napoleon's tomb, used to be a hospital/place for men injured in war. The Musee D'Orsay was a train station. They just like to reduce, reuse, and recycle their buildings and they are all gorgeous and really well kept. I really like how well preserved the city is. However, with the Urbanism movement and the whole Haussman thing, it's getting a bit ho-hum when just walking around "residential" streets because everything seriously looks the same. It's also pretty disorienting to get out of a metro stop almost anywhere in the city because all the street corners look the same. The apartments are all the same and then on every corner there is a cafe with a red awning and black trim. I rarely ever know where I am. It's wonderful and at the same time, sometimes annoying (only when I have somewhere to be and i'm perpetually late...).
I've noticed a couple more things that are a little strange about French people, too. They carry their flower bouquets upside down. I asked one of my professors why and she said it's because it's better for the flowers? But I kinda don't buy it. It just looks silly. I want to take a picture and should have on Mother's Day but I forgot...dang. At restaurants they also won't put food on the table if the napkin is where the plate should go. Sometimes that's hard to remember to take care of before they come out with your food...no silverware rolled up in napkins in France. What else...There are babies everywhere because all costs during pregnancy are paid for and then you get paid by the government to have the kid. So literally there are strollers and toddlers everywhere in France...it makes for some cute photos. Oh yeah, everything is paid for unless you are my Contempory France teacher, who is the quintessential French woman, who had to pay for the telephone she broke when she threw it across the room during labor. And of course she told us the story with the most blasee affect ever...I love her. I will take pictures so everyone can understand and begin to grasp her French-ness. Love it.
I leave for the Riviera tonight. I'm super pumped! We thought for a while it wasn't going to work out but then we pretty much figured it out at the last minute and now we are going to lay on the beach all weekend. We are officially staying in Marseille but we want to ride our bikes into a small town called Cassis during the days because it's not as much of a tourist trap and the goal of this is to get away from big city living for a couple days. I'm so excited!!! I will definitely be adding to my plethera of freckles (which have now spread to my eyelids and lips...cancer here I come). So yes! You all will hear about that on Monday after I come home all toasty and red from the sun. And of course, I will take as many pictures as my camera will allow. I'm super glad I brought 12G of space because I think my count on my camera is up to 800...never taken so many pictures in my life.
Happy Father's Day, Papa! I won't be able to call you on Sunday...so I will say it now. I love you and trying to find a gift for you here is damn near impossible! Bisous (kisses)!
Ann
Monday, June 15, 2009
so much stuff
this past weekend was incredible! so let's start with thursday
after class was over thursday i went home to get ready for a party at my friend Jessica's homestay. she lives in a southern suburb of Paris called Malakoff which is easy to get to on the metro, plus it's nice to get out of the city for a little while. SO we went and it was amazing. It was sort of a dinner party/mixer for older folks (ages ranging from the 40s-the 70s) but it was also a cabaret performance of this old man and his friend who played the accordion. So we all squished into this little theater in Mimi's house (the lady with whom my friend lives), champagne in hand, and listened to this adorable old man duo sing and play for about an hour and a half. Afterwards we all went upstairs to eat and dance and there were a couple guys playing guitar and they made all of us Americans (there were like 5 of us) sing Simon and Garfunkle songs. then i danced the "rock and roll" which is basically east coast swing (linde hop sp?) as they called it with a man named Andre who had to be around 60, but he was fun! It was just nice to go out and be in a place that felt smaller than Paris and just have some good clean fun.
Friday night I went to see the Bejart Ballet perform for cheap. Our tickest were supposed to cost 100 Euro but instead were 25...still a bit expensive, but WAY better than 100 and sooo worth it. The ballet was amazing...they had a great mix of traditional point and modern movements as well as a lot of world dance styles thrown in. It was called "Around the World in 80 Minutes"...there were a few female soloists, but most of the dancers were men which was definitely a feast for the eyes. it was super fun to get a little gussied up and go out to something nicer than a panini stand on the street. Score. Then after the ballet we went along the Seine for a bit and were trying to meet up with some other folks from IES but decided to go out instead so we grabbed a beer and chatted for a while. then we decided to check out some street performers dancing on the street and one of them roped me in so i was dancing with this dude on the sidewalk for a bit...it was super fun. afterwards we went to the Bastille area of town where there is pretty good nightlife and just hung out with some folks until the metro closed. actually...my OTHER friend Jessica and I thought that the metro would still be open (it's supposed to be open until between 2am-2:30am on weekends and we left at 1:30)...but it wasn't. so we had an adventure on the Noctilien (the night bus) which was actually pretty amusing. got home safe and sound at 3am and snuggled into bed sans probleme.
Saturday
MONTMARTRE. RUGBY.
Montmartre is super fun. Pigalle=the red light district of Paris so i got some pictures of the Moulin Rouge and other things like that. it's also suuuuper hilly so it's quite the work out to run around there all day. first we got some tasty Indian food. yum. then we went to the eroticism museum which was pretty interesting. and it was cheap...only 4 euros. we walked around for a bit longer, peeked around some shops, saw Truffaut's, Degas', and Dumas' graves in the Cemetiere de Montmartre and wandered up a few giant hills to the Dali museum. i really liked it because while there were a lot of his works there that were well known, there were a lot i had never seen so it was nice to see some different things from him. not to say that i'm any art expert...but it was still nice. it's also nice to throw in some chill activities like museum going because then you don't have to walk and you don't have to talk...everyone can do their own thing which is super nice. i will not lie...walking around in groups is getting to me...i like to do things on my own and so many people, americans in particular...american GIRLS in particular, are so indecisive that it gets on my nerves. but it's fine...i can deal. as long as the groups don't exceed four or five people max, it's all good. after we had walked around all day, we went out to see a rugby game. it was France vs. England which should have been good, but it was 13s so it wasn't as big a deal and the France team was absolutely terrible. or the England team was really good...i think it was a combination of both. the England team was way more cohesive and had better strategy which was fun to watch and watching France basically give up was kind of funny. they lost by almost 60 pts...whoops. the main event at the rugby game though was definitely the drunken streaker who decided to get caught right in front of our seats. i got some pretty funny photos of him...ever notice that streakers are only funny if they are out of shape? an in-shape streaker would not be nearly as comical as an out of shape one...dunno why...but so so true. also, one of the coordinators for IES, Bertrand aka Mr. Beau (he's cute) came with us, so we all went out for a beer afterwards and after that Jessica and I went to the Bastille again...got on the metro at like 1:30 and by the time we got off the metro they were all closed. so we were in an unfamiliar place pretty late at night with no metro and no knowledge of where the Noctilien was AND when we got out of the metro there were these men fighting in the street. I'm talking 5 guys on 1, throwing punches and bottles, intense fight. so we stayed on the metro platform for a bit and walked away from the scene as discretely as possible...not easy to do because Jessica was in a dress. that made me nervous. anyways...we walked around for a bit and followed an older couple and finally were able to hail a cab. oh adventures in Paris.
Sunday:
We tried to find this famous flea market that supposedly sprawls 15 acres and is amazing but failed. we found a fake one that was basically a tourist trap and we were walking towards a very sketchy area so we decided to give up and go get pancakes. after pancakes we decided to go to a mall but forgot it was sunday and everything was closed...so we just sorta sauntered around and stumbled upon the louvre so we took a few pictures. i decided not to go in because i would have only had an hour and that would not be worth it...so we walked back up the seine to the metro where i went home to eat dinner. my family had a british guest over for some pre-dinner drinks so i spoke with him a bit which was nice...it's nice to be able to express everything you want to a stranger! the dad was like "oh you've never told me this stuff" and i said "yeah cause it's hard to in french!" and he just kinda giggled...he had had a bit of champagne. haha. so after dinner i went to my friend Jessica's (it's confusing because there are two...sorry) and we started planning our trip to the Riviera...i am so pumped for that!!
Also there is a chance that I will have free Opera tickets to see Carmen tonight due to a contest with IES so hopefully I get to do that tonight...if I do, ya'll will hear about it! Bonne Journee!
Ann :-)
after class was over thursday i went home to get ready for a party at my friend Jessica's homestay. she lives in a southern suburb of Paris called Malakoff which is easy to get to on the metro, plus it's nice to get out of the city for a little while. SO we went and it was amazing. It was sort of a dinner party/mixer for older folks (ages ranging from the 40s-the 70s) but it was also a cabaret performance of this old man and his friend who played the accordion. So we all squished into this little theater in Mimi's house (the lady with whom my friend lives), champagne in hand, and listened to this adorable old man duo sing and play for about an hour and a half. Afterwards we all went upstairs to eat and dance and there were a couple guys playing guitar and they made all of us Americans (there were like 5 of us) sing Simon and Garfunkle songs. then i danced the "rock and roll" which is basically east coast swing (linde hop sp?) as they called it with a man named Andre who had to be around 60, but he was fun! It was just nice to go out and be in a place that felt smaller than Paris and just have some good clean fun.
Friday night I went to see the Bejart Ballet perform for cheap. Our tickest were supposed to cost 100 Euro but instead were 25...still a bit expensive, but WAY better than 100 and sooo worth it. The ballet was amazing...they had a great mix of traditional point and modern movements as well as a lot of world dance styles thrown in. It was called "Around the World in 80 Minutes"...there were a few female soloists, but most of the dancers were men which was definitely a feast for the eyes. it was super fun to get a little gussied up and go out to something nicer than a panini stand on the street. Score. Then after the ballet we went along the Seine for a bit and were trying to meet up with some other folks from IES but decided to go out instead so we grabbed a beer and chatted for a while. then we decided to check out some street performers dancing on the street and one of them roped me in so i was dancing with this dude on the sidewalk for a bit...it was super fun. afterwards we went to the Bastille area of town where there is pretty good nightlife and just hung out with some folks until the metro closed. actually...my OTHER friend Jessica and I thought that the metro would still be open (it's supposed to be open until between 2am-2:30am on weekends and we left at 1:30)...but it wasn't. so we had an adventure on the Noctilien (the night bus) which was actually pretty amusing. got home safe and sound at 3am and snuggled into bed sans probleme.
Saturday
MONTMARTRE. RUGBY.
Montmartre is super fun. Pigalle=the red light district of Paris so i got some pictures of the Moulin Rouge and other things like that. it's also suuuuper hilly so it's quite the work out to run around there all day. first we got some tasty Indian food. yum. then we went to the eroticism museum which was pretty interesting. and it was cheap...only 4 euros. we walked around for a bit longer, peeked around some shops, saw Truffaut's, Degas', and Dumas' graves in the Cemetiere de Montmartre and wandered up a few giant hills to the Dali museum. i really liked it because while there were a lot of his works there that were well known, there were a lot i had never seen so it was nice to see some different things from him. not to say that i'm any art expert...but it was still nice. it's also nice to throw in some chill activities like museum going because then you don't have to walk and you don't have to talk...everyone can do their own thing which is super nice. i will not lie...walking around in groups is getting to me...i like to do things on my own and so many people, americans in particular...american GIRLS in particular, are so indecisive that it gets on my nerves. but it's fine...i can deal. as long as the groups don't exceed four or five people max, it's all good. after we had walked around all day, we went out to see a rugby game. it was France vs. England which should have been good, but it was 13s so it wasn't as big a deal and the France team was absolutely terrible. or the England team was really good...i think it was a combination of both. the England team was way more cohesive and had better strategy which was fun to watch and watching France basically give up was kind of funny. they lost by almost 60 pts...whoops. the main event at the rugby game though was definitely the drunken streaker who decided to get caught right in front of our seats. i got some pretty funny photos of him...ever notice that streakers are only funny if they are out of shape? an in-shape streaker would not be nearly as comical as an out of shape one...dunno why...but so so true. also, one of the coordinators for IES, Bertrand aka Mr. Beau (he's cute) came with us, so we all went out for a beer afterwards and after that Jessica and I went to the Bastille again...got on the metro at like 1:30 and by the time we got off the metro they were all closed. so we were in an unfamiliar place pretty late at night with no metro and no knowledge of where the Noctilien was AND when we got out of the metro there were these men fighting in the street. I'm talking 5 guys on 1, throwing punches and bottles, intense fight. so we stayed on the metro platform for a bit and walked away from the scene as discretely as possible...not easy to do because Jessica was in a dress. that made me nervous. anyways...we walked around for a bit and followed an older couple and finally were able to hail a cab. oh adventures in Paris.
Sunday:
We tried to find this famous flea market that supposedly sprawls 15 acres and is amazing but failed. we found a fake one that was basically a tourist trap and we were walking towards a very sketchy area so we decided to give up and go get pancakes. after pancakes we decided to go to a mall but forgot it was sunday and everything was closed...so we just sorta sauntered around and stumbled upon the louvre so we took a few pictures. i decided not to go in because i would have only had an hour and that would not be worth it...so we walked back up the seine to the metro where i went home to eat dinner. my family had a british guest over for some pre-dinner drinks so i spoke with him a bit which was nice...it's nice to be able to express everything you want to a stranger! the dad was like "oh you've never told me this stuff" and i said "yeah cause it's hard to in french!" and he just kinda giggled...he had had a bit of champagne. haha. so after dinner i went to my friend Jessica's (it's confusing because there are two...sorry) and we started planning our trip to the Riviera...i am so pumped for that!!
Also there is a chance that I will have free Opera tickets to see Carmen tonight due to a contest with IES so hopefully I get to do that tonight...if I do, ya'll will hear about it! Bonne Journee!
Ann :-)
Monday, June 8, 2009
Of Belgian Beer and Strasbourg
This will be the longest post ever. Ok? Go!
Friday: 2 Castles and a train ride
So Friday we went on an IES field trip to Fontainebleau and Vaux-le-Vincomte which are two castles to the south of Paris. Fontainebleau was first and it was the prior residence to a few kings, generally around hunting season in October and in the summer months, and then more notably Napoleon I lived there. It was pretty cool...that kind of touristy thing isn't really my bag but it's fun to see all the paintings and decorations inside as well as the architecture of the chateau itself...so it was neat all in all. The best part about Fontainebleau was the lunch...we had an awesome salad with some sort of horseradish dressing plus the best salmon I've ever had and then profiteroles and coffee. I wanted to eat all day...but alas we had to forge on to the next castle. The second castle wasn't as vast or pretty inside, but the gardens and grounds were just sprawling and beautiful. It's the largest privately owned chateau in all of France, and yes the owners live on the grounds in the old servants' quarters which is pretty cool. The chateau was originally meant for this guy named Nicolas Fouquet who was then imprisoned by Louis XIV because the king was basically jealous. Go royalty. So we left Vaux-le-Vincomte around 4pm, got back to paris, grabbed some dinner (baguette, camembert, and apples) and hopped on a train to Strasbourg! It was my first train ride ever so it was pretty fun...we rode the TGV (Train a Grande Vitesse...aka very fast train) and it only took us 2.5 hours to get there instead of around 5. We got in around 9:45, found the hostel, settled in, got a bottle of Alsacien Pinot Gris and called it a night.
Saturday in Strasbourg
The next day we woke up pretty early, grabbed breakfast at the hostel cause it was included in the price, and started just walking around. We went to a flea market where I found Rachel's present from my sejour in France...hopefully she will like it. I think I picked well :-D. We saw a really beautiful cathedral and saw this crazy old cookoo clock thing inside. It was kinda lame to be honest but the fact that the clock is hundreds of years old and still works is pretty impressive! We then walked over to an area of town called "Petite France" which is the most touristy part of the city but it's just adorable. All of the German architecture of houses and buildings is super cute and it almost felt like being in a recreation of a European town--except people actually live there. There is a canal that surrounds the city which makes for some really beautiful pictures and views and the town is just very pleasant. It's not small by any means, but it had that small town feeling which was a nice change from the hustle and bustle of Paris. Lunch was fantastic. German style potato pancakes with melted munster cheese and a blonde belgian beer. Num. After that we went to this renaissance art museum which was kinda boring but not stressful which is nice when travelling with a small group, and then we needed to be refueled with caffeine. SO we got dessert and coffee and decided to scrap going to any more museums for the day. We headed back to the hostel doing a bit of window shopping on the way and when we got back, I fell asleep for a bit...afterwards we foraged on! We went on a boat tour of the city after doing a little shopping which was actually really nice because it showed us how much of the city we hadn't seen and gave us an idea of some thigns to do the next day which was really nice! We then set out for this bar we had seen earlier called L'Academie de la Biere (AWESOME). We just kinda walked around Strasbourg and got a little lost in the process, but eventually we found it. So this place was awesome. It was really nice and cozy on the inside and there were over a hundred different types of beer to choose from--sweet. They also had a deal for students that was buy 2 get 1 free. So we did. I tried St. Feuillien, Karmelit, Grimbergen, and Fischer Ambree (all on tap and from Belgium--the Karmelit I just tried a sip of), got a Dame-Blanche (vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream), and had a bit of the girls' pizza (which was also really freakin good). So the night was all in all a success. The beer was phenomenal...pretty sweet and light in flavor and the St. Feuillien was definitely the darkest and most carmely tasting but they were all very very good. And I know it sounds like a lot for me to drink, but the glasses were only 15cl which looked to me to be about 10 ounces or so...so it was really just kind of a sampler platter. Tasty. Then we went home and pretty much passed out from being full and exhausted from a full day of walking.
Day 3: Germany adventure
So we woke up and ate breakfast, headed to the train station, rented bikes, and biked to Germany. Awesome. On the way we stopped and picked up food for a picnic, baguette, munster cheese (amazing), strawberries, apricots, and a bottle of wine. When we crossed the bridge to Germany we sat under this weird spaceship thing in the park and partook in our food and afterwards we went biking around this little town called Kehl, Germany. It was pretty quaint and there wasn't much to do cause it was a Sunday, but it was still fun to have biked to Germany. We biked around, took pictures, grabbed coffee, and then basically biked back to Strasbourg so we could catch our train. Back in Strasbourg we grabbed some Gelatto and biked around the area of town we hadn't really seen the day before. I bought some Alsacien wine to bring back with me because they are a big wine region in France, but I guess...which region isn't, right? Then we returned our bikes, and hopped on the train back to Paris. All in all, the trip was really nice. It was just three of us girls (me, and my two friends Jessica and Jessica) and I think it was a really good mixture. For not knowing eachother very well or for very long we travelled really well together, there was no drama or bickering, and when things annoyed us we just were able to let them go. Very nice and refreshing considering most girls aren't that easy to be with for 72 hours straight. I think our next trip we're planning to go on all together is to Cassis which is in the south of France on the Riviera and will be absolutely beautiful, not that Strasbourg wasn't. Strasbourg is absolutely beautiful and if you have the chance, go. I had a great time and will post pictures ASAP. A toute a l'heure!
Ann
Friday: 2 Castles and a train ride
So Friday we went on an IES field trip to Fontainebleau and Vaux-le-Vincomte which are two castles to the south of Paris. Fontainebleau was first and it was the prior residence to a few kings, generally around hunting season in October and in the summer months, and then more notably Napoleon I lived there. It was pretty cool...that kind of touristy thing isn't really my bag but it's fun to see all the paintings and decorations inside as well as the architecture of the chateau itself...so it was neat all in all. The best part about Fontainebleau was the lunch...we had an awesome salad with some sort of horseradish dressing plus the best salmon I've ever had and then profiteroles and coffee. I wanted to eat all day...but alas we had to forge on to the next castle. The second castle wasn't as vast or pretty inside, but the gardens and grounds were just sprawling and beautiful. It's the largest privately owned chateau in all of France, and yes the owners live on the grounds in the old servants' quarters which is pretty cool. The chateau was originally meant for this guy named Nicolas Fouquet who was then imprisoned by Louis XIV because the king was basically jealous. Go royalty. So we left Vaux-le-Vincomte around 4pm, got back to paris, grabbed some dinner (baguette, camembert, and apples) and hopped on a train to Strasbourg! It was my first train ride ever so it was pretty fun...we rode the TGV (Train a Grande Vitesse...aka very fast train) and it only took us 2.5 hours to get there instead of around 5. We got in around 9:45, found the hostel, settled in, got a bottle of Alsacien Pinot Gris and called it a night.
Saturday in Strasbourg
The next day we woke up pretty early, grabbed breakfast at the hostel cause it was included in the price, and started just walking around. We went to a flea market where I found Rachel's present from my sejour in France...hopefully she will like it. I think I picked well :-D. We saw a really beautiful cathedral and saw this crazy old cookoo clock thing inside. It was kinda lame to be honest but the fact that the clock is hundreds of years old and still works is pretty impressive! We then walked over to an area of town called "Petite France" which is the most touristy part of the city but it's just adorable. All of the German architecture of houses and buildings is super cute and it almost felt like being in a recreation of a European town--except people actually live there. There is a canal that surrounds the city which makes for some really beautiful pictures and views and the town is just very pleasant. It's not small by any means, but it had that small town feeling which was a nice change from the hustle and bustle of Paris. Lunch was fantastic. German style potato pancakes with melted munster cheese and a blonde belgian beer. Num. After that we went to this renaissance art museum which was kinda boring but not stressful which is nice when travelling with a small group, and then we needed to be refueled with caffeine. SO we got dessert and coffee and decided to scrap going to any more museums for the day. We headed back to the hostel doing a bit of window shopping on the way and when we got back, I fell asleep for a bit...afterwards we foraged on! We went on a boat tour of the city after doing a little shopping which was actually really nice because it showed us how much of the city we hadn't seen and gave us an idea of some thigns to do the next day which was really nice! We then set out for this bar we had seen earlier called L'Academie de la Biere (AWESOME). We just kinda walked around Strasbourg and got a little lost in the process, but eventually we found it. So this place was awesome. It was really nice and cozy on the inside and there were over a hundred different types of beer to choose from--sweet. They also had a deal for students that was buy 2 get 1 free. So we did. I tried St. Feuillien, Karmelit, Grimbergen, and Fischer Ambree (all on tap and from Belgium--the Karmelit I just tried a sip of), got a Dame-Blanche (vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream), and had a bit of the girls' pizza (which was also really freakin good). So the night was all in all a success. The beer was phenomenal...pretty sweet and light in flavor and the St. Feuillien was definitely the darkest and most carmely tasting but they were all very very good. And I know it sounds like a lot for me to drink, but the glasses were only 15cl which looked to me to be about 10 ounces or so...so it was really just kind of a sampler platter. Tasty. Then we went home and pretty much passed out from being full and exhausted from a full day of walking.
Day 3: Germany adventure
So we woke up and ate breakfast, headed to the train station, rented bikes, and biked to Germany. Awesome. On the way we stopped and picked up food for a picnic, baguette, munster cheese (amazing), strawberries, apricots, and a bottle of wine. When we crossed the bridge to Germany we sat under this weird spaceship thing in the park and partook in our food and afterwards we went biking around this little town called Kehl, Germany. It was pretty quaint and there wasn't much to do cause it was a Sunday, but it was still fun to have biked to Germany. We biked around, took pictures, grabbed coffee, and then basically biked back to Strasbourg so we could catch our train. Back in Strasbourg we grabbed some Gelatto and biked around the area of town we hadn't really seen the day before. I bought some Alsacien wine to bring back with me because they are a big wine region in France, but I guess...which region isn't, right? Then we returned our bikes, and hopped on the train back to Paris. All in all, the trip was really nice. It was just three of us girls (me, and my two friends Jessica and Jessica) and I think it was a really good mixture. For not knowing eachother very well or for very long we travelled really well together, there was no drama or bickering, and when things annoyed us we just were able to let them go. Very nice and refreshing considering most girls aren't that easy to be with for 72 hours straight. I think our next trip we're planning to go on all together is to Cassis which is in the south of France on the Riviera and will be absolutely beautiful, not that Strasbourg wasn't. Strasbourg is absolutely beautiful and if you have the chance, go. I had a great time and will post pictures ASAP. A toute a l'heure!
Ann
Thursday, June 4, 2009
rawr
So unfortunately, classes are starting to pick up...my Contemporary France class is pretty easy and straightforward because you just learn and discuss how things are and the professor goes over the readings in class which is nice. History of Paris...another story. My professor received his doctorate at the Sorbonne (Harvard of France) so he's pretty intense and extremely...EXTREMELY thorough with his historical knowledge. It's awesome because it's so interesting, but it makes me nervous for the final because I literally take four or five pages of notes per class (and it's only an hour and a half). Also, I have to read a 400-page book and give an oral report on it...so daunting. Anyways...it will all be fine I'm sure. I just have to keep my eye on the ball and not let too many things distract me like the fact that I'm in PARIS! (very difficult)
So tomorrow we are going to two castles that are just to the south of Paris and then immediately after that I go on my first train ride to Strasbourg (in the Alsace region really near Germany). My friends Jessica and Jessica (hahaha) and I are trying to figure out what we are going to do there. I know we want to go on a river boat tour (lame I know, but Strasbourg is gorgeous so it will be worth it) and see some of the art museums, etc. Also there are a few brewery tours with free beer at the end and I want to try some of the food or "gastronomy" as those more academic than me would call it. It would be fun to try to get over the border into Germany so we might try that, too. There are also some night clubs and little bars and, just for contrast, a really pretty cathedral. So I doubt we'll have a problem figuring stuff out! So needless to say, this weekend is going to be packed with new and exciting things.
Next week I want to get up to Montmartre (it's the artsy/red light district of Paris) and to the Hotel des Invalides (Napoleon's tomb) and the Louvre. Sounds like a lot, but when it's right in your back yard it's super easy to go to all those places! Oh, and all of us discovered that with our Navigo passes (they are sort of like the U-pass on campus but for the metro in France--unlimited rides) we can rent out BIKES! So I want to do that maybe from now on to get to class. You take a bike from one little bike rack and then return the bike at the place you end up. Go France! We can also take the bus for free which would be a free way of getting a bus tour of the city instead of buying a ticket for the touristy double-deckers. I'm going to get one of my friends to let me upload my pictures onto one of their computers so I can post some of what I've taken so far. I want to show you all the things I've seen and done! Well I best be off...it's lunch time here even though it's 4am there. A bientot!
Ann :-D
So tomorrow we are going to two castles that are just to the south of Paris and then immediately after that I go on my first train ride to Strasbourg (in the Alsace region really near Germany). My friends Jessica and Jessica (hahaha) and I are trying to figure out what we are going to do there. I know we want to go on a river boat tour (lame I know, but Strasbourg is gorgeous so it will be worth it) and see some of the art museums, etc. Also there are a few brewery tours with free beer at the end and I want to try some of the food or "gastronomy" as those more academic than me would call it. It would be fun to try to get over the border into Germany so we might try that, too. There are also some night clubs and little bars and, just for contrast, a really pretty cathedral. So I doubt we'll have a problem figuring stuff out! So needless to say, this weekend is going to be packed with new and exciting things.
Next week I want to get up to Montmartre (it's the artsy/red light district of Paris) and to the Hotel des Invalides (Napoleon's tomb) and the Louvre. Sounds like a lot, but when it's right in your back yard it's super easy to go to all those places! Oh, and all of us discovered that with our Navigo passes (they are sort of like the U-pass on campus but for the metro in France--unlimited rides) we can rent out BIKES! So I want to do that maybe from now on to get to class. You take a bike from one little bike rack and then return the bike at the place you end up. Go France! We can also take the bus for free which would be a free way of getting a bus tour of the city instead of buying a ticket for the touristy double-deckers. I'm going to get one of my friends to let me upload my pictures onto one of their computers so I can post some of what I've taken so far. I want to show you all the things I've seen and done! Well I best be off...it's lunch time here even though it's 4am there. A bientot!
Ann :-D
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
uncooked meat.
So...last night we had hamburgers for dinner...which is all well and good. However, when you bite into your nice looking brown burger and the inside is completely raw, the gag reflex may or may not start to set in. I actually managed to eat about half of the burger before I just couldn't anymore. The dad noticed my displeasure because, to be frank, it was pretty hard to hide and he offered to fry my burger up some more for me. It was pretty funny when he reserved it to me because he said "hamberger a la Whitman" and then made a joke about how instead of scrambled eggs I eat scrambled meat. He also informed me that that's how the French always eat their meat, which I already knew...and which is why I haven't ordered any red meat at a restaurant because I'm afraid it will be still alive on my plate. I've discovered that birds like chicken and turkey are always well cooked, pork is most of the time, and fish is a little undercooked...but I've been too afraid to eat any steak or hamburgers. I'm surprised I kept that uncooked half of meat down. It reminded me of how mom takes her meat...grossss.....
Also, apparently "public bathroom" actually means "place where men go to piss all over the floor and then leave" so they smell TERRIBLE. Never go to the bathroom in a McDonald's in France. Also, if possible, avoid all bathrooms at big monuments. But that's just common sense.
I'm getting pumped for Strasbourg! Rawr!
Also, apparently "public bathroom" actually means "place where men go to piss all over the floor and then leave" so they smell TERRIBLE. Never go to the bathroom in a McDonald's in France. Also, if possible, avoid all bathrooms at big monuments. But that's just common sense.
I'm getting pumped for Strasbourg! Rawr!
Monday, June 1, 2009
Class
Class started on Friday and they won't be too bad which is really good. I'm taking a sociology class about modern day France and then History of Paris (which has visits included to different places around the city) so that's pretty exciting! Not too excited to have to do homework when I would rather be going out every night, but oh well. I guess that's the reason I came here, right? To study? ;-)
So another thing I've noticed on the metro is that nobody...NOBODY brings coffee with them to work. SAD DAY. For those of us who don't allot enough time to get up early and enjoy a cup at home, what are we to do? I guess I could try to get up earlier...but it's just so hard. Dilemma. So I'm pretty sure that my French family really likes me. They said that the previous girl who lived with them only ate breakfast with them one time and that she never really conversed with them or anything. I, on the other hand, love being around them and talking and eating, etc. The middle girl and I read books (in English so she can practice) and then yesterday I went to a movie with the eldest in the afternoon. We saw OSS 117...kinda the French Austin Powers so it was goofy and easy to understand. But the girls like having me around and the mom always is asking me if I'll be there for dinner the next day...so I think they like it when the students they host spend time with them. Why wouldn't you? The reason you go to France is to learn French and then you don't hang out with your family? Doesn't make sense...just live in an apartment if you don't want to have to deal with anybody, n'est-ce pas?
So I've taken a bunch of cool pictures...mostly of the Eiffel Tower at night and of little kids in the Jardin du Luxembourg. I'm trying to get candid shots of couples walking around together or sitting together in parks, too. It's pretty fun...I've never really been into taking pictures until now so we'll see if I keep it up when I come back home. It was really funny, the other night some of my new friends and I were on the Eiffel Tower and it was around dusk (which here is at like 10pm...which is so awesome but pretty disorienting. It's easy to forget how late it is) and after dark they turn on these flashing lights on the tower on the hour for like ten minutes at a time. So we were on the Eiffel Tower when the lights went off for the first time and there was this collective "OOOOHHHH!!!!!" followed by the frantic clicking of cameras. It was hilarious.
So this weekend I have a field trip to Fontainebleu and Vaux le Vincomte (sp?) and then Friday afternoon I think I'm planning a trip to Strasbourg with some people. It should be really fun! I should be on before that to write another post if something interesting happens...I have no doubt interesting things will happen daily. Bisous!
Ann
So another thing I've noticed on the metro is that nobody...NOBODY brings coffee with them to work. SAD DAY. For those of us who don't allot enough time to get up early and enjoy a cup at home, what are we to do? I guess I could try to get up earlier...but it's just so hard. Dilemma. So I'm pretty sure that my French family really likes me. They said that the previous girl who lived with them only ate breakfast with them one time and that she never really conversed with them or anything. I, on the other hand, love being around them and talking and eating, etc. The middle girl and I read books (in English so she can practice) and then yesterday I went to a movie with the eldest in the afternoon. We saw OSS 117...kinda the French Austin Powers so it was goofy and easy to understand. But the girls like having me around and the mom always is asking me if I'll be there for dinner the next day...so I think they like it when the students they host spend time with them. Why wouldn't you? The reason you go to France is to learn French and then you don't hang out with your family? Doesn't make sense...just live in an apartment if you don't want to have to deal with anybody, n'est-ce pas?
So I've taken a bunch of cool pictures...mostly of the Eiffel Tower at night and of little kids in the Jardin du Luxembourg. I'm trying to get candid shots of couples walking around together or sitting together in parks, too. It's pretty fun...I've never really been into taking pictures until now so we'll see if I keep it up when I come back home. It was really funny, the other night some of my new friends and I were on the Eiffel Tower and it was around dusk (which here is at like 10pm...which is so awesome but pretty disorienting. It's easy to forget how late it is) and after dark they turn on these flashing lights on the tower on the hour for like ten minutes at a time. So we were on the Eiffel Tower when the lights went off for the first time and there was this collective "OOOOHHHH!!!!!" followed by the frantic clicking of cameras. It was hilarious.
So this weekend I have a field trip to Fontainebleu and Vaux le Vincomte (sp?) and then Friday afternoon I think I'm planning a trip to Strasbourg with some people. It should be really fun! I should be on before that to write another post if something interesting happens...I have no doubt interesting things will happen daily. Bisous!
Ann
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