This blog has been written for weeks, I swear!! I’m just having a hard time getting is posted!! So I decided to try at the Accent office. Also, I'm working on typing up a blog about Europeans, so I promise that's coming next!!! Sorry for the huge delay in this!
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Wow, I can't believe I have about three weeks to catch up on! Sorry about being so bad about posting, but things have been incredibly busy, of course, in the month of March!
I guess I'll start with Mom's visit! I was in school all day, so she ended up coming straight to Creteil to meet me. After she finally got here (which is another story that doesn't really have a place here since in the end she got here just fine!) we walked around Creteil for a little while, but she started to get too tired so I had to send her back to Paris. Eventually I got back from school and woke her up, and we had some bread and cheese and wine (of course, the perfect welcome to Paris meal) and then just hung out for a while (which ended up kind of being the rule of the week, which was fine with us!). On Thursday we went shopping a little (there turned out to be a suitcase mishap that merited some replacement clothing...) and then got some coffee and went back to the apartment to make dinner. Eventually we got to the Musee d'Orsay, which is open until almost ten on Thursday nights, and that was really superb to do again. We saw all the impressionists, and I got to see Courbet's stuff (yaaaay!), the room was still closed and the paintings were being rennovated, but they were out this time. On Friday morning we got Mom's suitcase, yay, and then we went over to the neighborhood where I have Finnish and stuff to get crepes from the awesome crepe guy over there. I ended up going to the Nordic library for a couple hours while Mom went to the Pantheon and walked around the neighborhood more. Then we got some Greek food and went home for one of the most excellent dinners EVER! On Saturday, Anne's parents came up from Orleans and we got an awesome lunch at this restaurant in Faidherbe. Then we went to the Institut du Monde Arabe for the exhibit about the Phoenicians, which had lots and lots of artifacts but not very much explanation, so in the end it was not the best thing I ever saw. But of course it was still great to see Anne's parents! On Sunday I had to do work again, so Mom went to the Orangerie even though it was disgustingly cold and gross (what a brave Momma!) and I worked on my Saint Bridget paper. Monday I went to school and Mom tried to do all sorts of things that ended up being weirdly closed (like Pere Lachaise cemetery)...so it was good when I came back and we got to hang out. Then it was already Tuesday, I don't know how the week passed so fast, but then we had to go to the airport and put Mom on a plane! Afterward I had to go to work, but that was okay because otherwise I just would have sat around and moped the whole day... it was a great visit, of course, but way too short!!!!!
I did a bunch of work the next weekend, which was good, I guess. On Friday night (the 14th) I went to this AMAZING choir concert at this church in the 4th arrondissement, it was this mixed choir that one teacher (not an English teacher) from one of my schools sings in, they did Bach and someone else...it was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen in my life. The church is from the 16th century or so, with a huge ceiling and everything, so the sounds of the choir just echoed perfectly, and the arrangement was wonderful, and there was even an accompanying chamber orchestra! It was really fantastic. Plus the director looked like he was about my age! It was SO impressive, I absolutely loved it! And I had a nice walk back afterward, since I wasn't really too far away. Also, on the way back in front of the Opera, I actually saw Fabrizio (from that wacky party a few months ago!) but I wasn't really sure it was him so I didn't say anything. But he called me the next day to say that he thought it was me, it was pretty hilarious.
Jeff got here on Sunday in the morning, so I went to meet him at the airport because I'm just so amazingly nice. Then I took him around the Marais for a while because that's a nice place to walk around on a Sunday, and then I came back and did some work while he went to the Centre Pompidou. Monday was school...Tuesday was work...Wednesday was school...Thursday work...phew! A normal week, I guess. On Thursday night I met up with Jeff at the Musee d'Orsay, which was amazing again. Then Friday I had Finnish, and then I went to the Nordic Library again to continue work on Saint Bridget. Friday night we went to the Louvre, which was just ridiculous and I kind of realized how...I don't even know what the right word is. It's just that everything in the Louvre is so classical and dry and so is the building itself, and it's just SO enormous that it's impossible to get that much out of one visit because everything's so overwhelming. So we did some sculptures and the ancient Levant, and then we got to the Egyptian section, but I was already way to tired to enjoy it. Luckily I can go back whenever I want...and I think I will to just do the Egyptian section one day, cause there was an awesome mummy and a whole Book of the Dead that I want to scour...
So Saturday I went to the airport again because Jeff left, and then I came back and worked. Then Sunday was great because I went to this photo exhibit with Mme Bluteau from one of my schools, it was this French guy named Edouard Boubat, and his photos were just extraordinary. He went all over the world and just took amazing shots. Then we saw a couple other photographers' exhibits, and they were also great. I didn't even know this museum existed! It's the European House of Photography, and it's in the Marais, so not too far from where I live.
After the museum, we went to meet Amanda at the Gare d'Austerlitz. Then we sat and had a coffee and some lunch, and then we went back to drop off Amanda's stuff and read over my St Bridget essay, which is now close to being completed (yay!). Then we went and walked around for a while longer, around by the Seine and into the 4th arrondissement. Afterward, Amanda and I came back and made dinner. Then today we went on this excellent walking tour of Paris, it was about 4 hours long and the guide was great. It's this group that does free tours, and the guides work off of tips, so they have to be pretty good and entertaining, and this guy was super. He told all these wacky stories and knew a lot of the great history things that I already knew about, but I learned a whole lot and saw a lot of places I hadn't really been to before. So it was really worth it. We met this nice British guy named Mickey and this Canadian girl named Amber, so we went out with them afterward for a little while. Then we came back to work and have dinner and plan out Amanda's day tomorrow. Now I'm working on Saint Bridget, I'm getting so close to having it all done, and then I'll either start on Versailles or on geography! Woo hoo!!
Check out Snapfish for more pictures, and let me know if you need the link! Sorry again for the delay in the post, and I promise things will get better soon!
22 March 2008
02 March 2008
un automatisme psychique
It's been an incredibly busy past few weeks, with lots and lots of classes and then lots of fun on the weekends. I'm currently on winter break from work, so that has been superb, except for the fact that I ended up with a winter bug that prevented me from being any kind of productive on the days I was off. But I'm getting to work now, I have 4 papers due over the course of March, so I've got my work cut out for me...
I guess I will start with last Saturday, when I went to Versailles with Margaux. She's in my Vikings class and she's actually American, but French American (her Mom's French and her Dad's American) and she grew up in France, so she's much more French than American. Anyway she's doing a double major in history and literature (double majors are really uncommon here) and she really likes 17th century French history, so she was a great person to go to Versailles with! She knows a lot about it and its history, so it was really an interesting and I think useful visit (one of the papers I'm turning in is about Versailles, which was why I wanted to go see it in the first place). We walked around the gardens first for a long time, then went up to the Grand Trianon and Petit Trianon (where Marie Antoinette spent a lot of her time), and then we did the castle, which to be honest isn't that huge but there's so much stuff everywhere that it's overwhelming anyway. There was actually an exhibit going on about when the castle was furnished in silver, and they had all this wild silver furniture everywhere...but because of that the rooms were all dark and it was kind of hard to see some of the other art that was there. Plus there were a million people, mostly large groups of tourists. But it was cool to see how intensely ornate the place is...it's incredible. Though to be honest the Grand Trianon was my favorite part because the rooms there are in so many excellent colors and the furniture is really just awesome. It was a little less staged than the rest of the castle, I guess. Plus there were fewer people...always a plus! Anyway, after that, we went to walk around the town for a while and to get some cakes, which were delicious, but it took us forever to find a place to sit so we really saw the entire town. There's not actually much exciting there outside of the small downtown section near the castle, which is quite nice. Otherwise, there are lots and lots of houses....! Overall it was lots of fun as well as being educational (thank you Margaux!) and I think it'll give me a better jumping off point for the paper I have to write. I hope, anyway...
The next fun thing that happened was on Thursday (well, I saw Anne and Greg on Wednesday and we went out, that was fun, but not as exciting as the next bit...) when I went to the Caves for the Medieval party. It's this bar that's really like caves (ok, it was a little claustrophobic...) with wooden tables and lit with candles and everything. You had to wear a costume, so I got to dress up and stuff, though most people had real Medieval style costumes, which is really cool. They have dancing, but I couldn't really follow it because they do a class before the party and I couldn't go because I had regular class, so I didn't get to dance. But it was still really fun to watch and the music was really cool. I also drank some wine with blueberry and this weird rhubarb juice that was actually delicious! It was fun because there were a bunch of people that I knew from class there as well as some other people from school so it was a good time. Plus I got a ride home at the end, though it's honestly about a 20 minute walk from me (except that I got lost on the way there...how embarassing!). Hopefully next time they go I will be able to go again!
On Friday I had Finnish, which was great, of course, and then I saw Anne and we went to this great little cafe next to where I have Finnish. They have all kinds of teas and coffees and it's really cheap! Then afterward I saw Alex Stegmaier, who I went to Finland with almost 5 years ago (!) and who I saw like twice in DC last year (he's at GW) and who was in Paris this weekend (he's studying abroad in Germany)!!!! We met up at the Eiffel Tower and he and his friends took pictures there for a really long time, and then we got some food at this good panini stand I knew (it's in Cecile's old neighborhood!) and then we all split off for a while. I met back up with them in the evening, we were going to go out around Bastille but it was too expensive for them, so we ended up just buying a bunch of wine and drinking it in my room...there were 12 people in my room or so, so it was pretty ridiculous. Alex's friends are really nice, though, and Alex is still totally crazy, so it was great. Some of the kids decided to go to the salsa party next door later, but some of the other ones didn't want to, so we went back out to Bastille, but the bars were all closing, so they just ended up going back to their hotel. Needless to say I went straight to bed after that...it was a bit later than I was planning but it was a really enjoyable night!
Saturday was another busy day, I did a bunch of work in the morning and then went to the Louvre with some people from school. There's this special exhibition of statues you can touch, it's a special thing for blind people or for people who don't see well, so they were taking their friend who's 'malvoyant' to see that. Unfortunately it was not really that exciting, it was really small and there was not that much to touch. So we ended up just walking around and trying to see other stuff, but we didn't actually find much of what we were looking for. But it was still fun, the people were all really nice (I only actually knew one girl) and I got my 'art history student' permanent card so I can always get in for free at the Louvre!
Saturday night, Margaux had a party at her place, which is out near Creteil...it was fun for a while, the people were really nice and everything, but I didn't know anyone so of course it was hard to just start talking with people. There were a bunch of Erasmus students there for a while but after they left I felt so awkward and I was really tired, so I ended up going to bed pretty early (luckily some other people went to bed before me, so I didn't look like a jerk!) and leaving early this morning so I could get back and get to work. Not necessarily the best start to the week but I'm sure I'll be fine by Wednesday!!!!!
Only three more days till Mom gets here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Also, I added some new pictures to the Bonne Annee album on Facebook!
I guess I will start with last Saturday, when I went to Versailles with Margaux. She's in my Vikings class and she's actually American, but French American (her Mom's French and her Dad's American) and she grew up in France, so she's much more French than American. Anyway she's doing a double major in history and literature (double majors are really uncommon here) and she really likes 17th century French history, so she was a great person to go to Versailles with! She knows a lot about it and its history, so it was really an interesting and I think useful visit (one of the papers I'm turning in is about Versailles, which was why I wanted to go see it in the first place). We walked around the gardens first for a long time, then went up to the Grand Trianon and Petit Trianon (where Marie Antoinette spent a lot of her time), and then we did the castle, which to be honest isn't that huge but there's so much stuff everywhere that it's overwhelming anyway. There was actually an exhibit going on about when the castle was furnished in silver, and they had all this wild silver furniture everywhere...but because of that the rooms were all dark and it was kind of hard to see some of the other art that was there. Plus there were a million people, mostly large groups of tourists. But it was cool to see how intensely ornate the place is...it's incredible. Though to be honest the Grand Trianon was my favorite part because the rooms there are in so many excellent colors and the furniture is really just awesome. It was a little less staged than the rest of the castle, I guess. Plus there were fewer people...always a plus! Anyway, after that, we went to walk around the town for a while and to get some cakes, which were delicious, but it took us forever to find a place to sit so we really saw the entire town. There's not actually much exciting there outside of the small downtown section near the castle, which is quite nice. Otherwise, there are lots and lots of houses....! Overall it was lots of fun as well as being educational (thank you Margaux!) and I think it'll give me a better jumping off point for the paper I have to write. I hope, anyway...
The next fun thing that happened was on Thursday (well, I saw Anne and Greg on Wednesday and we went out, that was fun, but not as exciting as the next bit...) when I went to the Caves for the Medieval party. It's this bar that's really like caves (ok, it was a little claustrophobic...) with wooden tables and lit with candles and everything. You had to wear a costume, so I got to dress up and stuff, though most people had real Medieval style costumes, which is really cool. They have dancing, but I couldn't really follow it because they do a class before the party and I couldn't go because I had regular class, so I didn't get to dance. But it was still really fun to watch and the music was really cool. I also drank some wine with blueberry and this weird rhubarb juice that was actually delicious! It was fun because there were a bunch of people that I knew from class there as well as some other people from school so it was a good time. Plus I got a ride home at the end, though it's honestly about a 20 minute walk from me (except that I got lost on the way there...how embarassing!). Hopefully next time they go I will be able to go again!
On Friday I had Finnish, which was great, of course, and then I saw Anne and we went to this great little cafe next to where I have Finnish. They have all kinds of teas and coffees and it's really cheap! Then afterward I saw Alex Stegmaier, who I went to Finland with almost 5 years ago (!) and who I saw like twice in DC last year (he's at GW) and who was in Paris this weekend (he's studying abroad in Germany)!!!! We met up at the Eiffel Tower and he and his friends took pictures there for a really long time, and then we got some food at this good panini stand I knew (it's in Cecile's old neighborhood!) and then we all split off for a while. I met back up with them in the evening, we were going to go out around Bastille but it was too expensive for them, so we ended up just buying a bunch of wine and drinking it in my room...there were 12 people in my room or so, so it was pretty ridiculous. Alex's friends are really nice, though, and Alex is still totally crazy, so it was great. Some of the kids decided to go to the salsa party next door later, but some of the other ones didn't want to, so we went back out to Bastille, but the bars were all closing, so they just ended up going back to their hotel. Needless to say I went straight to bed after that...it was a bit later than I was planning but it was a really enjoyable night!
Saturday was another busy day, I did a bunch of work in the morning and then went to the Louvre with some people from school. There's this special exhibition of statues you can touch, it's a special thing for blind people or for people who don't see well, so they were taking their friend who's 'malvoyant' to see that. Unfortunately it was not really that exciting, it was really small and there was not that much to touch. So we ended up just walking around and trying to see other stuff, but we didn't actually find much of what we were looking for. But it was still fun, the people were all really nice (I only actually knew one girl) and I got my 'art history student' permanent card so I can always get in for free at the Louvre!
Saturday night, Margaux had a party at her place, which is out near Creteil...it was fun for a while, the people were really nice and everything, but I didn't know anyone so of course it was hard to just start talking with people. There were a bunch of Erasmus students there for a while but after they left I felt so awkward and I was really tired, so I ended up going to bed pretty early (luckily some other people went to bed before me, so I didn't look like a jerk!) and leaving early this morning so I could get back and get to work. Not necessarily the best start to the week but I'm sure I'll be fine by Wednesday!!!!!
Only three more days till Mom gets here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Also, I added some new pictures to the Bonne Annee album on Facebook!
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