London and Oxford: Part II

Sophia and me :)
Goucher crew!
Once I got this photo, I could finally shut up about it :)
The London Eye. It takes 30 minutes to make one rotation.
Big Ben!
Pretty London!

Ok, and we're back for Saturday:

Today was Explore Oxford Day, meaning Ben got to play the role of tour guide. Sophia, one of Ben's friends, came along and it was so nice! She is coincidentally the first cousin of a guy I went to high school with! I love small-world connections like that :) And she's so sweet and fun and we get along really well...I love new friends. SHe benefited from the tour, too, haha. We went to the Botanic Garden and though the glass houses were starting to close due to the winds, we saw a lot and it was very pretty. We walked around the city and I bought an Oxford University sweatshirt. I didn't bring one with me to Paris, so it's functional. I bought some postcards too because I'm going to make a scrapbook over break of my semester. We went to locally-famous Ben's Cookies, mmmm. It was inside a covered market that had everything you could imagine! And some Christmas decorations were up which just made me so excited for the holiday season, and yes, to be home for it. We met up with Matt after drinking tea and warming up in Ben's room. Tonight for dinner we went out to Italian. The restaurant is owned by a renowned British chef of Emiril status in the UK but the food was really well-priced. I think Paris is more expensive, but then again, I'm sure London is very expensive too. It was really nice to have dinner out, just the 4 of us.

After, we went to a place called the House Bar. It's a very classy establishment and drinks were half off so I had a white russian and remembered how much I like them! We sat in a cozy corner by the window and played dominos games. The lighting was nice and the music was too, and there was a pool table. It was still early so there weren't a lot of people there. After leaving, we went back to Teddy Hall (where Ben lives) and sort of snuck into the rest of the talent show, "Teddy Hall's Got Talent." The winners from each school go on to compete against one another for the title of "Oxford's Got Talent," haha. I'm glad we went because everyone was there and we saw a lot of friends and the acts themselves were really great! The winner was hysterical, and I'm glad we got to see it. :) It ended around 11:30 and a lot of people were really tired so we had a quiet night in and watched Scrubs with Sophia before going to bed. It was supposed to be another early night but we didn't go to bed until 2. I guess this is because we ran into a lot of people on the walk home. But I can't complain about anything!

And SUnday, poor Ben woke up at 8 so he could help me get to the train station. And of course, the day was warmer with blue skies and no sign at all of rain! That would happen the day I leave, haha. I got myself to St. Pancras and on the Eurostar back to Paris, again sleeping a bit on the way back.

So all in all, I had an AWESOME weekend! I'm so thankful to Ben and Matt for making me feel welcome and entertaining me during my trip. It was great to see them and I loved being in London and Oxford. I finished the weekend off with a very French dinner out with Emily and Natalia, so it was great :) More soon, my friends!

London and Oxford: Part I

As you can tell by the caps in the title, I was just a little excited for my UK weekend :)

But before I go on to that, I must mention briefly my Thursday: I went into my internship like I always do at 9, and after telling Thomas about my lovely day off, I mentioned that I wanted to revisit Grand Palais between my internship and class to see the Renoir exposition. He told me that the expositions can get really crowded and that to make sure I saw it, I should leave earlier. So he let me leave at 11:30 instead of 12! Isn't that so nice? What a great guy. I worked hard for the time I was at IFE and then I left right at 11:30. It's a good thing I left early because I still had to wait in line for a full hour outside at the Palais. There was a man there playing clarinet, as sort of a serenade for the people in line, and it was so nice. It was worth the wait and even though I couldn't get in for free, I was so excited to see the paintings. I don't know if I've mentioned this before but sometimes art from more recently is much more striking to me. When I see an Ancient Egypt exhibit, I already know the artifacts are going to be older than what I can imagine. "This pot is from 475492857485742087044754 b.c.? neat." But art from the early 20th century touches me more because the time period is more tangible and I can imagine what life was like during that time. I saw paintings that I just did not want to walk away from, such as "Jeunes filles au piano." I'm so glad I went :)

After, I strolled around Place Vendome, which is where all the fancy jewelers are. I just liked to window shop and imagine what I would own in another life, haha. It was lovely! Class was ok, and I had a class with Isabelle since we missed last night's. It was ok, and after I just packed for my trip and ate with friends in the foyer. Ok, on to bigger and better things.....

FRIDAY

Friday morning I woke p early and got all ready for my trip, managing to pack all my things into my brown bag again. The Eurostar train leaves from Gare du Nord so I took the metro there and of course arrives ridiculously early. You know how I am. I exchanged some euros into pounds which was downright painful (and don't think it was any better on the way back; it's all around bad). When I went through customs I encountered a small problem on the questionnaire that asks for your address in the UK. I never thought to ask Ben what his address in Oxford was, I'd just thought everything would work itself out, no problems. That's my fault, and the guy in customs was basically like, "Have you ever travelled before?" They need to know where I am, and just for myself, I need to know where I am. Oops! I still got to go through, though. I got a window seat on the train and loved watching the green rolling hills speed by until I fell asleep while in the chunnel. Alors, it was not as exciting as I was expecting. When the train got out of the chunnel, the sky was dark and gray and it was raining. Nothing says "Welcome to England" like that weather! Even more, that was the weather for my entire weekend. It's normally not as bad as it was, but there were damaging, gale-force winds, too.

Anyway, I was so excited to be in another country. The people were so much nicer and more helpful there, and I had to ask a million different people to help me get to where I needed to be. What a change from Paris! Everyone sounds so polite and proper with their accents, it's too much. And OH to speak English and not feel badly about it! I took a small detour on the tube--which I do not prefer to the Paris metro--to a stop that claimed to be the exit for Buckingham Palace. I walked around in the rain and saw no such palace. What I did find was a big red tour guide bus. Being the sucker that I am, I put down 25 pounds for a 2 1/2 hour bus tour of the city. But really, it makes sense because I was only in London for a few hours and this way I got to see as much of the city as possible in a small amount of time. I would love to go back and do a more in-depth visit, but this was great to see all the sights, even though from a distance. I saw Big Ben, the Tower Bridge, the London Eye, and lots of things. My guide's name was Nobby--does it get cuter than that? I also learned a lot about the history of London, which was pretty fascinating. I had bought two macaroons from Paris as small gifts for Ben and Matt, as something from Paris. One was vanilla and one was chocolate and both were giant. I thought it was a nice gesture...until I ate them both on the bus tour. Is that like me, or what? :( Sorry, guys, I got a little hungry. I have concluded that London is beautiful in its own way, though I prefer Paris.

I got myself to Paddington station to take the train to Oxford, all with the help of a guy about my age because I was very confused about the trains. He happened to attend Oxford and was going back for the weekend so he helped me get to where I needed to be to meet Ben. I saw a lot of red telephone booths along the way and vowed to have my photo taken with one before the weekend was up! I was so happy to meet Ben, especially after we had both been standing in the rain and wind, not knowing the other was already where we were supposed to meet, haha. We walked back to his dorm (which, to me, is a luxury palace. Carpeting, there is carpeting!). He has a lot of friends and it was easy to get in touch with them to get together for the night. I love that you can walk anywhere on campus or in the town and run into someone you know. Oxford is a really cool, fun town (city?) with a lot of college students and lively pubs. And of course, it's breathtakingly beautiful.

We called Matt and met up with him for dinner at a pub. It was so great to see him, too! We went to a place called The Eagle and Child, which was frequented by C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. No Shepard's pie for me, as it was not on the menu, but I had another yummy chicken pie instead. Everyone drinks there, too, so I had a glass of red wine and of course could only finish 1/4 of the glass. We went to the University bar after, and were joined by some of Matt's friends. Matt and Ben go to different colleges within the university and so don't live too near to one another. A lot of people showed up at the bar and I met a lot of really great people! It was just so easy to talk and it was comfortable, and everyone was so nice. Really lovely. :) We stayed there for a couple hours until the bar closed and then went back to Ben's room, and a big group of us just hung out and talked for a while. I don't know where the time went, but I didn't go to bed until 3! It was the most comfortable floor I've ever slept on, haha.

Ok, this is a lot of information all at once so I'm going to make another post for the rest of the weekend. Cheers!

Jour Férier

Bonjour à tous! Today was another glorious day. Really, it should be illegal to have so many perfect days like this. Well, not really because that would be tragic, but it's just a way to say that I'm having the most wonderful time, better than I could have imagined. :) Happy Armistice Day! All the buses had little French flags on them, and it was so cute! Just to see these big, lumbering vehicles driving around with French flags attached to them was so adorable for some reason. I love the patriotism! There was a huge parade down the Champs Elysées of course to celebrate the anniversary of the end of WWI, but we missed it, unfortunately. Since today is a national holiday, no internship or school! I was more than happy to take advantage of a day off and see more of the city. Em and I hit the road at 9:45 a.m. I saw SO many people around the city wearing berets, so I felt like one of the group with my black one :)

First we took the bus all the way to the other side of the city and the river to go to L'Hotel des Invalides. It was built to be a hospital for wounded soldiers. Today it still serves the same purpose today, although it also houses several exhibits and a museum. What better day to visit it than today? And we got into it for free because of our Sorbonne student cards! I really have to shoot IFE and IOU one of these days. First we saw Napoleon's tomb in the crypt in the part of the building under the huge gold dome. The ceiling was absolutely incredible with ethereal pastel-colored scenes and gold trimming. It was so huge and impressive. Napoleon's tomb is really big and it was so cool to see. We also went into the WWI/WWII exhibit. It was so big and it took so much time to move through it that we couldn't see it all. We got through all of WWI but I'd have to come back to see the rest. It was really moving and I just realized how much war and military history fascinates me. For as much as I hate war, it's so interesting. We left after a couple hours and found a nice bench to sit on outside. We lucked out again with blue skies and sunshine and I didn't even feel the cold. There was a man playing the flute nearby so we were delightfully serenaded during our semi-picnic lunch (peanut butter sandwich, anyone?). It was lovely.

We next walked along the Seine in a green, grassy park to get to Pont de l'Alma. The leaves are still changing and it's very beautiful--not a lot of reds though, mostly yellows. We crossed the river and walked down Avenue Montagne, which is where all the major fashion designer have their stores. Surprisingly, not on the Champs Elysées. I've decided that I don't care very much for the Champs Elysées because it's a little too in-your-face. I prefer quieter roads. We saw Gucci and Prada and Dior and countless others...I just wanted to see them and get my window-shopping full, haha. We walked from there over to Le Grand Palais because there was a Renoir exhibit I'd wanted to see, but the line was too long and it looked to be too expensive so we just left. Maybe I'll get back there again before I leave.

From there (I know, a lot of walking, but it's good!) we went to the area around La Madeleine. I'd wanted to explore some of the area around there too, so we did and found a small alley with red fake christmas trees and ornaments and it made me so excited for Christmas! I can't wait to be home for it because I really love the holiday spirit. First comes Thanksgiving, which will be interesting since it's not celebrated in France. Anyway, we took the metro up to the 18th and got out at Abesses. It's a really cool metro station because it has pretty wall art along the stairs. I do have a list of specific metro stops (on certain lines) I want to see. Does that make me a huge nerd? Maybe. We went to the Montmartre cemetery. I've been to Père Lachaise a few times but I'd wanted to see others, too. This one is a lot smaller and easier to get a handle on than Père Lachaise. Edgar Degas and Foucault are buried in Montmartre, but we didn't get to see their tombs. We did see those of Emile Zola and Alexandre Dumas, the latter after walking around in circles for a while, haha. It was very nice.

OH also on our walk before, we saw the American embassy! It's right in Place de la Concorde. We've gotten so used to not wanting people to know we're American so we can git in and not be judged and try to be as French as possible, that it was one of the first times it made us proud to see our flag and be proud. Why not feel that way? Je ne sais pas.

I knew of a really great place to eat in the 18th that is famous for their salads so we went there for dinner. Em was craving a salad, and the French really know how to make salads, so we ate there. I also had my first bowl of onion soup since I've been here! I can cross that off my list, too. Yes, I have a Things to Eat list. Next up: Mexican food. :) We came home and I've been doing "work" ever since. I got a lot done at my internship this week so I feel good about it, and I think I will get a lot done tomorrow. I've been working straight from 9-2 so I can get a lot of work done, even though my hours are only 9-12. Tomorrow I might actually leave at 12 and try to get some things done before class.

And then...London/Oxford for the weekend! AHH so excited! I'm seeing Ben and Matt, and it's going to be fantastic. Expect a blog post after that. Bonne soirée mes amis!

Bisous!

Photos don't do justice

Taking the bus...I love bus 76, and am very happy to be on it, as you can see. Also, that IS the coziest scarf ever.
A painting within a painting. And this is normal, daily life. WOW.
One side of Place des Vosges
This is so terribly French, I had to.
A beautiful Autumn view of the Seine!
I have a thing for stained glass in churches
Me in l'Orangerie with one of Monet's panels

Fall tombe

Ok, on to Saturday. Not as many things to be said, but still a great day and night. I started it out by getting a haircut! If anyone knows me, you know I am a nut about my hair. I don't let anyone but Ralph do it, and I am OCD about how it looks. So I couldn't just walk into any hairdresser here, even though it's Paris and I'm pretty sure they know hair and style. I did some research, gathered recommendations, AND did some "drive-by" snooping to check out locations and ambiance. I am that crazy. I settled on one near Bastille and went there this morning! I'm reeeeally happy with my haircut, though it is more or less the same thing I had before, but shorter. I'm pretty proud of myself for being able to communicate everything I wanted in French, and the woman who did my hair said I speak it well. Though I don't speak French all the time, I've seen marked improvements. It was a little more expensive than I was expecting, but it's ok.

The weather was rainy and cold, which makes it hard to get motivated to go outside and do things. My friend Jake and I were going to go back to L'Orangerie but decided to check out a mass of white tents by Bastille that we saw from the metro. It turned out to be a huge antique show/festival thing. Most of it was outside, with tents full of art and furniture/home decor and daily life things and really just EVERYTHING. It was really cool, especially because we sort of snuck in and didn't have to pay! We walked around for a while but I got pretty cold so we returned to the foyer and made dinner with John. This involved pasta and a rotisserie chicken--mmm. Jake and I went to the theater piece that was tonight, in the Marais. It didn't start until 10, which was late. We sat in the very front row of the weirdest, most bizarre play I've ever seen, called "Un Grain de Fantasie." I can't even really describe it, but it was just so strange. I was also so tired that I wanted to fall asleep but of course I couldn't. I'm really glad it was only an hour long. I'm glad I went and since it was free, I still got my money's worth! It was fun.

And today, Sunday...Today's big activity was a trip to the Rodin museum with John and Jake. I'd wanted to go for a while so I was happy that we went. It was also the perfect day because it didn't rain and we had a blue sky. I bundled up in the warmest scarf known to mankind and was very content. We saw The Thinker, of course, but strangely did not each take a "Thinker" photo of our own...hmm. Next time. I couldn't stay too long because I had to get back to the foyer so Emily and I could go to tonight's play, a comedy near Republique called "Petits Mensonges Entre Amis" (Little Lies Between Friends). It was really funny and we both loved it! Very different than last night, haha. I couldn't understand everything that was said, but we got the general idea and it was hysterical. It's nice to do something different for a Sunday night, and again, it was free...can't argue with that!

Now I have another week to look forward to. It'll probably speed by like they all have been, and I hope I can see a lot of things again. Wednesday is a national holiday in remembrance of WWII so everything will be closed, but that also means no internship or class! I'll have another update soon because next weekend is my trip to London/Oxford!

Bisous mes amies!

Paris is Magical (THIS IS A LONG ONE)

There is something about this city that just makes me feel so at peace and wonderful. There have just been moments where I feel so comfortable in my environment here and like I can do anything. I'm incredibly happy and feel, quite frankly, unstoppable. I'm happy to say it happens a lot, especially lately. Let's start from the beginning...

On Friday morning I got a call at 8:20 a.m. from the professor of my 9 a.m. morning class, saying class was cancelled. I was elated! As I cross things off my "List of Things to Do and See," it has a curious habit of getting longer. Needless to say, I had a lot of things I wanted to see, so today was the perfect opportunity to take advantage of more time. I was already ready for the day so I still left the foyer at 9. First I walked over to Place des Vosges, which is about a 25-minute walk from the foyer. I had blue, clear skies and thought it was a little crisp, it wasn't too cold. I decided that my day would improve even more if I just smiled at strangers. There's no reason to make eye contact with someone on the street and not give a little smile or head nod. People just need acknowledgment. Everyone in this city wears dark colors and looks miserable a lot of the time anyway, so I did it. I think it mostly caught people off guard, but I was happy to do it, walking along in my bright pink peacoat. Place des Vosges is a square/park surrounded on all 4 sides by beautiful buildings with arches--lots of brick and beauty. It was still early enough that the way the sun hit the side of the buildings was gorgeous. There are some cafes and a lot of art galleries there. Almost everything was closed since it was still so early, but I walked around anyway, then read my book on a bench in the middle for a little. There is a fountain and the leaves are finally at that point where they're changing into beautiful yellows and golds. It was, in one word, [absolutely] lovely.

Ok, time out for some shopping BUT I NEEDED THAT BLACK TRENCH COAT, I PROMISE. I even put it on then and wore it for the rest of the day! After dropping things off in my room I took the metro to the 18th arrondissement to revisit the Marmottan museum. Michelle and I tried to go a couple months ago but we didn't feel like paying to get in (normally we get in for free to museums). I still wanted to go back and see more of Monet's paintings, and I really enjoy going to museums by myself. I like to take my time and move at my own pace. I think museum-going is really a personal experience. I'd been there 4 years earlier but it's always new and exciting. It's not that Monet's paintings are any less impressive there, but the effect is different than at l'Orangerie. There, you are just surrounded by his panels and it's very profound. I was caught with that aforementioned of personal elation as I was walking along the sidewalk under a canopy of trees, almost alone. It was just so serene--the feeling is rather indescribable. I used to think that I wanted to live in Paris, but I'm starting to think that I don't want to, not because I don't love it, but because I love it too much. I want to make sure that it is always special to me and never becomes old or stale (not that I think it ever could, but you know). I never want to get so used to being here that I take anything for granted.

I also stopped at La Madeleine on my way back from the west of Paris. Napoleon had it built as a church but it looks nothing like a traditional cathedral; in fact, it looks like the Pantheon. I'd been curious so I went inside. SUrprisingly, it's my least favorite of all the churches I've seen so far. It's so dark and though there are lamps and chandeliers, there is almost no natural light. It feels very somber an closed in. Also, there were gift shops inside, and those just do not belong in a church, no matter how much of a tourist attraction it is. (Don't get me started on the monkey business inside Notre Dame.) I'm still glad I saw it, because I like to see different styles and architecture.

Finally, I stopped by a kiosque jeune in the 4th to get free theater tickets! If you're under 25, you can go to one of these kiosks--there are only 3 in Paris--and you can get up to two free tickets for shows (either theater, comedy shows, or concerts) for up to the next three consecutive nights. John goes often so I decided to check it out. I got to read the press reviews of all the shows beforehand in order to decide what I wanted to see. I settled on two comedy theater pieces and got two tickets for Saturday night and two for the other on Sunday night. They're not just random, obscure shows, but also well-known pieces. What a cool service, right? France actually treats its youth crowd pretty well, especially if you're European. Lots of chances for free/reduced tickets to things.

Class was ok and I learned two interesting things: French never have 13 people sit at a table to eat. It is just bad, bad luck. There is usually at least one superstitious person in a group of 13 anyway. I thought it was solely because of superstition, but it is because 13 was the number of attendees at The Last Supper...alors, bad news bears. A host(ess) will often invite another couple or person just to keep things even and keep the number from being 13. Crazy, right? Also, you can take seconds or thirds of anything at a meal except the cheese. When the cheese plate comes around, you better take a large helping because it's the only one you're going to get.

After class I hung out with Meg, a friend in my class. I've never hung out with friends outside of class yet, and it was really nice! We went to a cafe first and got hot chocolate because it was way too early to eat dinner. Then she took me to a thrift store in the 18th and it was my first real thrifting experience. Don't worry, I didn't buy anything, but it was fun to dig around. She took me to Louise's, a small restaurant she and her friends discovered a while ago and frequent often. It's authentic French food but not expensive! I had amazing lasagna that was very well priced. Halfway through the meal, 3 other girls from our class showed up, with another girl from their program. They also really love Louise's, and are all practically regulars. I think I might become one, too. Quel coincidence! We all talked and it was really nice :) We decided after dinner to go to the bar that another girl in our class works at, in the Marais. It was really fun! It's a small bar and either English/American, but I really liked it. I got a small glass of red wine, which was more than enough for me, haha. There were a lot of people in a small space but we snagged a table, and the music was pretty funny. I had a great time, and it was fun to hang out with some new faces for a change.

Summary: Great day, great night. I'm seeing a lot and doing fun things and it's just lovely.

Profit, profit, profit

I'm going to squeeze in a last October post because yesterday was just a magical day. Well, as it started off, I was in a pretty sour mood. My Friday morning class is not doing it for me--well, the class itself is fine for the most part, but it's my professor I can't stand. Leaving class--a little late, too--just didn't put me in a good mood. Normally I try to laugh it off, but it's getting really old now. But then again, I have to put everything in perspective because I'm in Paris and things can't be that bad, right? Right. Nevertheless, my mood improved immensely during the 3 hours between that class and my Sorbonne class int he afteroon.

I bouht a sandwich and hopped the subway, getting off at Concord, which is the furthest stop on the other end of the Tuilerie Gardens, right by l'Obelisque. L'Orangerie, a small museum, is housed on that end of the gardens and they have a permanent Monet exhibition. There is also the Marmottan Museum in the 16th, which is all Monet, and I think I may go there this weekend. But L'orangerie was SPECTACULAR. I got in free, too, because of my student ID from the Sorbonne. There are two huge, round rooms in which you are completely surrounded by panels of Monet's water-lilies. Completely surrounded. I gasped when I walked into the first room because it really is incredible--calm, serene, and striking, all at the same time. Really unbelievable. His panels cover almost the entire wall and you can see the texture of his brush strokes and the lush colors he painted with. It's the next best thing to being in Giverney itself. Maybe even better. I sat on a bench and wrote some poetry, and it was the first time I've been able to just sit down and do that here. It's hard to find time in the day to write, but this is the perfect place. Some places inspire me, like that cafe I mentioned in earlier blog posts, but if I visited there again, I can't guarantee I would feel the same way because of music, other people in the room, temperature outside, etc. But here, I know I would always be inspired. I'm absolutely coming back so I can sit in Monet's presence and write more poetry.

After, I explored a gigantic church next to the Louvre. I'd seen it before and wanted to go in. It's one of my favorites now, and reminds me of both Notre Dame and the other one next to the Pantheon (though smaller than Notre Dame). My favorite part is the stained glass windows, yet every aspect of the architecture and decor is awe-inspiring. I felt nervous about being a spectator in a place where people pray and have private moments, but it was touching. I was also there as the bells were ringing for 2 'o' clock. But it wasn't just a simple "ding ding," it was a beautiful song and melody that literally stopped me in my tracks as I had been walking away from the church. I could say a bunch of cheesy, cliche things about it, and they would all be completely true. It was divine.

I had time to explore another church near me too, after walking through the Tuileries. I think I found a style I prefer--grand ,vaulted ceilings and lots of light, as opposed to that one I visited which was very dark and somber. The feelings and attitudes are completely different. This church, by my class, had stained glass windows not depicting biblical scenes but splashes of bright colors. It was like a modern take on stained glass; a fun detail.

The rest of my day was great too, and included going out for tea with Michelle, Emily, and Michelle's friend Cathy. I hope we can all do it again soon:) Em and I went to our favorite soup bar for dinner and I put my e-mail address on a mailing list so I can get the weekly schedule of soups! Because I will honestly marry the cream of mushroom soup if it would have me. Friday nights are generally relaxing and laid back because we're just coming off the end of a busy week and I'm usually still very tired. Also, we went out Thursday night to a DISCOTHEQUE which was a lot of fun but I didn't get a lot of sleep before my 9 am class yesterday morning. I'm going to profit from every moment that remains here and try to do as much as possible. Time is fleeting but I know I can make the most of this incredible place.

...Also, Happy Halloween! :)