The Grass is Greener Where There is No Concrete

BRIEF RANT: My search for boots in Paris has been on for 3 weeks and I am just now blogging about it. I have had a shockingly difficult time finding a the perfect pair of boots. I waited to buy nice boots here, but I think it would have been easier to find ones that work in the US! I have been in at least 30 different shoe stores, assessing all the qualities I want my boots to posses: cute toe shape, zip up, brown, certain heel height, traction, not too plain, and within my price range are the main qualities. I realized I would probably have to adapt a little to the current style. I finally found a pair that met all of these ideals, and then when I tried them on my calf was too fat. I proceeded to go to other stores and my calves wouldn't fit in anything! I started to look for shorter boots, but all they seem to make right now are knee high or ankle, not many mid-calf. After suffering from very real shopping stress, I finally found a pair that I could ZIP ALL THE WAY UP my calf at Minelli. I decided it was a miracle so I bought them. The heel is higher than I wanted, so I hope they don't hurt my feet too much, but they're very cute. And I exceeded my maximum price, but I was getting so frustrated in my search I was about to go back to Marc Jacobs and try on some of his that I liked. Also, there were some 600€ boots I looked at that had no traction whatsoever on the bottom. I'm not paying that much just to fall down!

If you're not interested in my boots, I apologize, but they have been consuming most of my thoughts and time, outside of school of course. Now that my search is over what shall I do with all my free time?

Friday night, I went to the Asian area of Paris and ate Thai food with my friends. I had amazing shrimp pad thai and then for dessert I ordered a dish that was green worm/green bean looking noodles floating in coconut milk. It really looked like worms. I have no idea what it was called, but it was incredibly delicious. Keep in mind, I was ordering Thai food (which I know nothing about) in French, so it's even more difficult than normal. But luckily my whole meal was spot on. Even the green worm noodles.

Today was probably my favorite day in France thus far, despite the fact that I was mildly freezing because the temperature decided to drop almost 30 degrees from a few days ago and I was not prepared. Luckily, I managed to grab a warm scarf before I left the house at 7:20 this morning.

But anyways, today we took a bus to Rouen and then Giverny, both located in Haute-Normandie (upper Normandy), with Rouen being the capital. In Rouen we walked around the oldest part of town and saw some nice examples of 14th century half timbered houses.

We went into the Rouen cathedral briefly to look around. Rouen was heavily bombed by the allies in preparation for D-Day, so the cathedral was damaged and the entire city on the left bank of the river was destroyed. A few walls are all that remain of the government building where Joan d'Arc was tried for heresy. (Destroyed prior to WWII) Then we walked to the city square where she was burned alive in 1431. There's no stake there obviously, just a bed of sunflowers as well as other memorial engravings and whatnot.


Then we left Rouen while pondering death by fire and headed to Giverny. The reason today was so wonderful for me was because we left the big smelly city behind us and drove to beautiful green and lush hills and cornfields where there were birds and cows instead of homeless people and air pollution. Not only was it beautiful and refreshing, but it made me feel much more comfortable and at home. If you don't look too carefully the countryside looks like the central US, with rolling hills of trees and fields, but if you look carefully the trees are different species with a different shape and the houses are at least two hundred years old. It was indeed a sight for sore eyes.

Then we arrived in Giverny, the little town where Claude Monet spent the last half of his life. The whole area was green and flowers were blooming everywhere, but Monet's Japanese water garden, and even his traditional garden, were breathtaking. It would have been nice if it had been sunny more often (and warmer!) but the water garden was probably the most relaxing place I've ever been. I wish I could have kicked out all the other tourists and just sat there for hours. It also helps that I love Monet's works and I felt as though I had just stepped into the world of his paintings. Well, I suppose I actually did.

Phantasmagoria feat. Jude Law

I just finished reading Père Goriot by Balzac for my French literature class. It has a sad ending, but I enjoy his writing style and hope to read some of his other stories, especially since his characters span different novels. Within the book I discovered the word of the day: phantasmagoria. Definitions: An exhibition of optical effects and illusions, a constantly shifting complex succession of things seen or imagined, a scene that constantly changes, a bizarre or fantastic combination, collection, or assemblage. So I learned a new word and now you have too, unless you already knew it.

My host mom finally popped the big question to me: "Do you like Obama?" So I told her yes, and then we briefly talked about the NY mosque and September 11th. I think the French are surprised that so many Americans are upset about the mosque because they view America as a place where one has the freedom to build a church, mosque, whatever anywhere. We both agreed that the victims would not want continued hate and intolerance.

But happier thoughts, I have an illegal job already! I'm tutoring my little brother Prosper in English for an hour a week, at the rate of 15€ an hour. =D He's 11 and is taking his first English course at school. It makes me wish we gave other languages higher priority in the US. Of course, as I have had two different Frenchmen tell me, the French language is dying.

Now I'm two weeks into my normal semester. I love both my classes en anglais, French literature and histories of Paris. They're super interesting. Tuesday we went to the Louvre just to read the outside of it, since it was built by many different kings, queens and emperors. They leave their initials all over the part that they built.

Friday I returned to Versailles to see the inside of the chateau. It was quite lovely, although I have to say, everything in Paris has so much grandeur and gilded ceilings that it does start to be less impressive. They had an exhibition of this modern Japanese sculptor/painter Murakami in the palace, which could not have been any more opposing to the 17th century decor, but it was so out of place that I found it intriguing. I liked all of his sculptures. I also didn't realize that the painting "The Coronation of Napoleon" was so big, approx 10m by 6m!




Friday night I was lucky enough to go the Peace One Day concert, which was amazing. (For more info: http://www.peaceoneday.org/en/welcome ) Going into the concert I had only heard of one of the artists, Youssou N'Dour, and he was incredible. He sings in English, French, Arabic, and Wolof, his native language in Senegal. The other artists were all popular with the French crowd, though not all French, such as Charlie Winston (video below). Vanessa Paradis sang as well. She's Johnny Depp's domestic partner and baby momma, but also a famous French actress and singer. She sang "Hallelujah" in English, and it was breathtaking. But most importantly, the concert was co hosted by Jude Law and Sharon Stone. This is the best picture I got of him. *sigh*



Saturday and Sunday were Les journées du patrimoine (Days of Patrimony), during which all these buildings that are normally closed are open and free to the public just this one time each year. Most are governmental buildings, and most government buildings are gorgeous palaces, but also museums show special collections not on display normally. And it's all free! So I went to the French Senate (Luxembourg Palace), Hotel de Ville (city hall), Maison de Victor Hugo, la Sorbonne (University of Paris main building, and the National Archives. I wanted to visit President Sarkozy's house (Palace Elysee) but I saw the line and decided against it. I found out that my classmate waited in line for over EIGHT hours before she got in. Yeah, it was a once in lifetime opportunity, but I'm glad I chose not to get in line. Saturday night we went out to some bars to celebrate Hannah's birthday, including a bar where you get 10 flavored shots for 18€, and apparently chocolate flavoring with vodka is delicious, who knew?! (If you're my parents, please ignore.) Then we went to a bar with dancing that my friend's cute French boy friend took us to. I was surprised that the dancing at this French bar was much classier than dancing at parties in the US. It's normal to make out in public here, so I thought the dancing would be more provactive. But anyways, a very fun weekend.
PHOTO: Front of Senate chamber


This week I felt overloaded with homework, and today I actually didn't get one of my worksheets turned in, which is one of the few times EVER EVER in my life that I haven't turned something in on time. =*( We did have a test in that class though, if that's any excuse. It looks like the workload is going to continue all semester, but at least it's only a four day school week.

Today there is/was another strike, so I went to the Place de la Bastille to check it out. All the unions had large balloons with their letters of them, and people were wearing shirts signifying their particular union too. Then there was music and vendors selling food and drinks. It looked like a party. I'm thinking it's just an excuse to miss work and party in the streets. Silly French.

More to say, but I'll stop for today.

~Sarah

City Life

It's certainly interesting living in a huge city, but I think I'm already over it. It's rather true when people say Paris is dirty. I know big cities are usually dirty, but it seems worse than other ones I've been in, although my experience is fairly limited. The city also has a broad spectrum of smells. Walking down the street you get a whiff of baking bread, garbage, fresh fruit, dog poop, grilled onions, flowers, homeless man, fresh fish, and then all of that with an overlay of cigarette smoke. The French love dogs but most don't pick up after them so there can be a surprising amount of doggy poo on the sidewalk, and of course there are cigarette butts covering everything. Luckily they wash the sidewalks at night.

Maybe I'll just write once a week, that seems to be my trend so far.

Last Tuesday was the first grève or strike since my arrival, and there's sure to be more. I think one's already set for September 23rd. Since I live by the Place de la Bastille, all the strikes occur or go through here. My dad told me to "Grab my socialist flag and join them!" lol. Of course I ended up being inside all day and missing the entire thing! Oh well, there will be another. Speaking of which, last weekend there was a Communist Party party that was a massive three day concert, but I didn't get to go to any of it.

Friday I took the final for the practicum, which means I get 4.5 units of credit for two weeks of work. Afterwards my friends and I finally went shopping on the Champs-Élysées although we didn't buy much except giant pastries. We were trying to find the tunnel to reach l'Arc de Triomphe but then we looked over at it and realized that all the tourists that had been there were gone, so we thought it must have closed, even though it was still early in the evening. Then all of a sudden there's a military marching band coming down the street and the police have stopped all the cars in the roundabout, an impressive task. So the band marched the the Arc followed by many military members of various branches. We stood and watched for awhile, wondering what was going on, so we asked a policeman and we learned that it was a WWI memorial. Then they played the Star Spangled Banner and La Marseillaise, but by that time traffic had recommenced so it was hard to hear the band and I didn't have my camera on me. But still a fun accidental experience.

Saturday I took a bus to Chartres, a trip organized by ACCENT. We spent one hour in the cathedral with Malcolm Miller, who is the Chartres Cathedral expert. He gave Nixon a tour of it back in the day. With only an hour we focused on reading two stained glass windows and one alcove on the exterior. There are so many meanings behind one stained glass window I don't know how someone could think all of them up and then make it! This photo is above the alter, the top portion has already been renovated, so it's all clean and painted, the bottom is how the rest of (and most) old cathedrals look. It's difficult to remember that they originally weren't just gray stone. It will be so pretty when it's all painted again!


We walked around the cathedral more after the tour and saw the reason for the cathedral's existence, the piece of the Virgin Mary's tunic. It is actually from the first century, so at least the date matches, but it wasn't brought to the cathedral until 876 as a gift from Charles the Bald, so where was it all that time? Sounds like a sketch deal. But regardless, with people making pilgrimages it's been Chartres' money maker for over 1000 years. So of course I took a picture of 2000 year old "potentially worn by the 'virgin' mother of Christ" cloth with a flash because I'm smart like that.


Afterwards we walked around the old town of Chartres which was very cute. It was so nice to be out of Paris in a more rural area and the weather was gorgeous. With the cathedral and town I kept thinking of the Canterbury Tales, but I know that's in England, but still the same time frame and involving pilgrimages. It was a very refreshing day.



Sunday I went to L'Hôtel Nationale des Invalides, which was built by Louis XIV as a veterans hospital and veterans home. Today it still serves as both, but also contains extensive military museums. I saw enough suits of armor, swords, and guns to last me for a while. I also saw a Swastika cookie cutter, which was amusing. Then I went upstairs and passed photos of piles of dead bodies and a man cut in half which removed any humor.

Then I paid my respects to Napoleon Bonaparte, thanking him for Oklahoma and all the other red states. By the way, he could really could use a much bigger casket. *sarcasm* Compensate much?

And a Japanese propaganda poster. . .


But all in all, I enjoyed a lovely lazy day in Paris and checked another monument off my list!


More later, my laptop is dying!

A bientot!
Sarah

L'Opéra Garnier

On Monday my class went to the Opera Garnier, aka Le Palais Garnier, aka Theatre National de l'Opera de Paris, aka Academie Nationale de Musique. . . . .but whatever you call it it's the opera The Phantom of the Opera takes place in. Unfortunately there was some remodeling going on, so the side and back facade were completely covered and we could hear power saws during our tour. But nevertheless, the elaborate staircase and gold laden foyer were quite impressive. Our tour guide was very well versed on the history of the building, and he was very easy to listen to, but maybe that's because he looked like a French Neil Patrick Harris. I didn't realize that the opera was actually built on top of a "lake" and that a counterweight for the grand chandelier had fallen and killed someone, thus the origin of both concepts in the book. Because there was a rehearsal going on we couldn't even go into the auditorium, but hopefully I can go back for a performance.

I finally bought a new hairdryer and straightener because my American hairdryer kind of exploded even with the right converter. I wandered around the Place de la Republique until I found the electronics store Darty. When I plugged in my new French hair dryer it failed to turn on, but after changing outlets it worked, so I think I most likely destroyed the outlet with my American hair dryer. Ooooops.

This morning my host mom laughed at me because I was cutting pieces of my baguette and putting jelly on them one at a time instead of eating it all at once, but it's easier to cut a baguette than to bite it! For lunch I once again passed on French food and ate at a Thai restaurant. The ethnic food is usually cheaper and certainly faster than a French cafe.

I'm quite ready for the practicum to be over and to start my history and literature classes. Today my friends and I tried to plan our weekend and fall break trips but it's very hard to coordinate a group of people with different wants and plans. I am planning to see Elise in Cairo during fall break because that's what I've been planning on doing since day one. But hopefully I can see some of Italy with my friends on the way to and from Cairo.

A bientot!
Sarah

Through the first week of language practicum

I fail hardcore and haven't updated all week. Ah so much to say!

Sunday I moved in with my homestay, but they were on vacation still so I was alone in the house for 8 hours by myself. Wilma, the Filipino housekeeper, let me in. I started getting lonely, but luckily they came home and made me dinner. My host parents are very nice, but Madame Duplan is better at speaking slowly and saying things that she thinks I will understand. Monsieur Duplan is harder to understand, but he speaks a little English. Right now only one of the four kids is living at home, the 11 year old Prosper and he seems sweet. He kissed me when I gave him a bag of Tootsie Rolls. The 14 year old girl, Victoire, is currently going to school in Connecticut, so I obviously haven't met her. I have briefly met the eldest boy, Gaspar, 19 years old, and Celeste, who is 17. I know Gaspar has left for school, but I'm not sure if Celeste will be living here this fall or not. I know Madame has told me before, but I'm not sure what she said. Oops. The other day I ate cereal with no milk because I thought we were out, but it turns out the milk doesn't have to be refrigerated until it's open, so there were actually many cartons in the pantry. D'oh! Also, the door that I thought was a wine cellar is actually an elevator. The house does have four levels, but I definitely wasn't expecting an elevator. I assumed that since my family has a house, which is really rare in Paris, and four kids that they made quite a bit of money, and then the other night at dinner I found out that he is a dermatologist and she's a lawyer!! Both of which could be useful in the future. . . I think I got really lucky in my homestay. It's super close, my house is nice, I don't have to do any kind of chores (yet), Wilma does my laundry, and my family is nice.

So what have I done this week? A lot it seems!
Monday: For my excursion with my class we walked through the "Garden of Plants" (very original) and went to the Grand Mosque of Paris, the third largest mosque in Europe, and took a tour. It was very pretty and interesting as I have never been in a mosque before. We also visited the remains of a Roman amphitheater that has now been turned into a park. Afterwards I visited the Museum of Paleontology and Anatomy and saw a bunch of body parts floating in jars with handwritten labels. It was very old school. Highlights were a cyclops cat, cross section of an elephant's trunk, and a narwhal skeleton.

Tuesday: I had the afternoon off, so I decided to go to the Louvre. I walked from the pyramid, through the Jardin des Tuileries to the Place de la Concorde, and then all the back to the museum only to figure out at that point that it's closed on Tuesdays. And by the way, the Louvre is ****ing ginormous. I can't imagine living in it!

Wednesday: Went on an excursion to the Belleville quarter which is a neighborhood with a conglomeration of ethnicities. It used to be the Jewish quarter before they were all shipped to Poland. We visited the Pere Lachaise cemetary, which is very large and famous. I visited Jim Morrison, Frederik Chopin, and Oscar Wilde's graves.


Thursday: Back to The Louvre! Of course I saw the infamous La Joconde (Mona Lisa). All my friends have said she's smaller than they expected, so I guess I was thinking super small because she was bigger than I expected! I'd even dare to say she's just the right size. I visited a few galleries and then left. I know I'll be going back.


Friday: Finally our excursion to Montmartre! We walked down the main street that has rows of sex shops and also the Museum of Erotica, which I will have to check out someday if I can actually find anyone to go with me! Of course the Moulin Rouge cabaret is right there too, which was fun to finally see. Then we hiked up to Sacre Coeur for a nice overview of Paris. I bought a much needed water bottle and a chocolate tart. I don't know how in the world the French drink enough water, but that's a rant I'm too tired to start right now, but really, water is not easy to obtain. Friday night it was my friend Sarah's birthday so her host mom made a ton of food for us. Her Madame is an old widow who has an apartment on the 14th floor with a balcony overlooking the Seine and the Eiffel Tower. She has an amazing view! Afterwards we spent a few hours at a piano bar in the Latin Quarter and requested songs by classic French artists such as Britney Spears and Lady Gaga.


Today: Even though I didn't get home until after two, I got up early today to go to the Chateau de Versailles with my friends. We decided to walk through the gardens to Marie Antoinette's house first, and that ended up taking hours, so we spent the day there but didn't really even make it into the palace itself before they closed at 6. We will return. But we did see some of the grounds, ate lunch in the garden, and sat and ate ice cream on the water canal while watching young swans and fish beg for food. They were playing classical music in the gardens, and it really helped set the mood. I felt like I had just stepped into the 17th century, it was very surreal. Once upon a time Louis XIV took an afternoon stroll in that very spot.



But unlike Louis, right after we left the chateau we paid 5E to ride a Segway around for 10 minutes and it was completely worth it. I've been wanting to try one for so long! It was easy enough to control after a few minutes, but I would definitely need much more practice before I would feel comfortable using one amongst pedestrians/cars. It was super fun!



Sorry for the essay,I need to try to write each day. I have made so many cultural observations that I can't write them all, but hopefully I can share some in the future. Homework day tomorrow.

Bon soirée, Sarah