Because One Day Isn't Enough

So it was my birthday on Monday but really celebrations started on Thursday. Excessive? Maybe. Necessary? Definitely. Unfortunately, turning 21 in France (or anywhere else in the world) is not as big a deal as it is in the United States. However, I like to think that I did my best to celebrate in a true Wisconsin way. Here is a recap:

Thursday: Club Mix

On Thursdays, foreigners get in to this club for free! It's not the best club in town but they play decent music and there's usually a lot of people.

Friday: Cafe Oz
I think this was probably the best night of the weekend! We went to Cafe Oz which is an Australian bar/club and it was so much fun! We actually ended up running into other friends from school there so it was a blast.

We left after the metro closed and we're forced to take the bus back. Apparently, we took it in the wrong direction and the entire ride ended up taking around an hour and a half. We got home around 6am! Oh well. At least we had a good time chatting on the bus and it makes for an interesting story!

Saturday: Bastille
After a failed attempt to eat dinner at a Mexican restaurant, me and several girls from WI/IL ended up having dinner at an Italian restaurant near the Bastille. I ate an entire pizza and obviously still had enough room for gelato after (no surprises). After dinner, we went to an Irish bar for some dancing. It was a great time! It ended up being somewhat of a girls night which is always fun.

This Post is About Random Things

The title is self explanatory.

Dogs: They are everywhere here. And people are allowed to take them anywhere. Cafes, on the metro, into clothing stores. It doesn't matter where, they are allowed. It's never been a problem especially since they're all so cute. It's just weird to be sitting at a restaurant and seeing a dog at the table next to you.

Tandem Project: My school offers a program where you meet with another student to practice speaking a different language. I met with my partner for the first time this week! He's from the south of France but goes to school in Paris. Basically, we just talk about random things in English and then switch to French. Obviously, his English is better than my French but I try anyway.

Palais et Jardins du Luxembourg: I went to the Luxembourg Palace and Gardens the other day and it was gorgeous! I think it was last Sunday so it was packed with people (mostly families) just walking around or playing with their kids. The palace itself is now a museum and I think also serves as the office for some government branch or agency. I didn't actually go in this time but I know there are some art exhibits and plan on returning later. It's still only Fecruary but the grass is already green and they already started planting flowers so I can only imagine what it will look like in a month! So beautiful!

Fountain in the Gardens

Palais du Luxembourg

Superbowl: I know this was a little bit ago but I decided to go watch the Superbowl  with a few other Wisconsin girls. It started at around midnight here and ended at around 4am. I don't know why I was so compelled to go especially since I had to be at school in the morning but I went anyway. It was a good time! There were some crazy French Packer fans there. I had no idea American footbal even had a fanbase in France!

Watching the game at a bar.

Double cheeseburger and fries was absolutely necessary.

Planning a trip: Doing this is a lot more work than I thought but the two girls I'm going with and I have been making some progress. Flights and most hotels/hostels have been booked! We finally decided the cities we want to go to and have come up with a plan. We're flying into Prague, then taking a train to Munich. From there, we're taking a train to Salzburg and then another train to Vienna. We are going for literally our entire break: we leave on the 17th at night and don't come back until early morning on the 28th! I have class later that day but I don't care, it will be worth it. I can't believe we leave this week! So excited!

Birthday: My birthday celebrations have begun! More details on that later...

Chartres

On Saturday, I took the train with three other girls to Chartres. It's a small town outside of Paris with a beautiful church and cute little shops and restaurants. It was only about an hour train ride and the weird thing was that no one ever checked our tickets. The weather was not that great-- it was kind of rainy and windy but it was still a good day. Actually, it was so windy that it almost reminded me of walking to class in Madison. Definitely don't miss that!

The front of the church was  being renovated so I couldn't really get a good look at it (or picture of it). But the rest of it was beautiful. There's a small garden behind the church along with benches and paths that overlooks the rest of the town.

Front of the Cathedral-
Ignore the construction!

Side View of the Cathedral

The church is built in the Gothic style and it is so unbelievably old. It's very obvious just from looking at the stone inside and outside the church.

One of the most impressive aspects of the cathedral are the stained glass windows. The blue in the windows is unique to this church. You can't really notice it on this picture but it's brighter and more concentrated (if that makes sense) than others I have seen.

Just to emphasis how long this church has been around, they have a first century relic on display. I think it was from the year six hundred something.

After visiting the cathedral, we walked around the town and ran into the local market. There was a ton of fruits, vegetables, meat, but most importantly cheese!

Musée Hopping

I don't have class on Wednesdays so I have been using this day to explore the city. This Wednesday, I decided  to go to Invalides and to Musée Rodin.

Hôtel des Invalides

This place is huge! It houses several military/army museums and Napoleon's tomb. I ended up going to the one that had history from Louis XIV to Napoleon and the World War I/World War II museum. They had a lot of the military gear worn and the weapons used during all the wars in those periods. The World Wars museum also had pictures and movies, which made it more interesting. I didn't go to all of them because it's not really something I'm into, but it was a great experience!

Entrance to Les Invalides

My favorite part was definitely Napoleon's tomb. His body is actually in six coffins in the middle of this circular room. There are two levels to this room-- so you can see it from above and at ground level. You can't really tell from this picture but it's huge! I guess you can look at the people in the picture to get an idea of how big it really is.

Napoleon's Tomb

 The whole building is very impressive and the amount of detail is unbelievable. I also really liked this altar which was completely decorated in gold and marble.

Musée Rodin

The second museum I went to was the Musee Rodin, which is dedicated entirely to the sculptor with a few paintings from other famous artists. This museum wasn't as old as the other ones I've been to but it was just as pretty. There are gardens in the front and the back but I didn't really get to see them because I got there right before it was closing. Either way, I plan on going back in the spring when everything is blooming. Oh, and you can see Les Invalides on the right in this picture.

Musée Rodin

Travel Update:

I haven't left Paris since I've been here, which I'm okay with, but I'll be leaving it for the first time this weekend. On Saturday, I'm going to Chartres which is about an hour away from the city via train. I have also started planning my travels for break at the end of the month. Right now the plan is to go to Berlin, Munich, Prague, and Vienna. So excited!

Montmartre and "Trendy Paris"

This weekend I walked around the Montmartre neighborhood and what one of my guide books calls "Trendy Paris." It was a little cold to be walking around for a long time (probably around 30 degrees) so I hope to go back later in ther semester when it's warmer, greener, and not so gray. Although, I guess I shouldn't complain because I know it's below zero and snowing back at home!

Montmartre
The most important thing to see in this neighborhood is Sacré Cœur. It's a church on top of a hill from which you can see the entire city. During orientation, I found out that this church is relatively new, having been built in the late 1800s, compared to other buildings in Paris. Although it is a Catholic church, it wasn't built as a sign of faith or devotion. Instead, it was built as a way for the government to show its citizens its power over them. So, the church was built without any regard for the existing streets, houses, or other buildings. 

Basilique de Sacré Cœur

View from the top of Sacré Cœur

We also went to look at all the painters and shops at a square near the church. I was here the last time I was in Paris and loved it so it was necessary to come back. 

A few blocks from Sacré Cœur is the Moulin Rouge. There's not much to actually see here other than the building (unless you are going to an actual show). During the day, this neighborhood is bustling and fun to walk around, but during the night it's really sketchy. Well, the red light district is in this area so I guess the sketchiness makes sense.

While I was walking around, I saw the first specialty shops since I've been here. I finally came across a fromagerie (cheese shop) and a place selling glaces artisanales (artisan ice cream), both of which I can't wait to try!


Trendy Paris
Like I said, this is how my book described the section of Paris that includes Centre Pompidou, Beaubourg, Chatelet, and several of museums.

Centre Pompidou is a museum of modern/contemporary art. It was very...interesting. Nothing at all like the Louvre or Musee d'Orsay. After a while, I stopped trying to figure it out and just accepted it for what it was. I can't say I'm a fan of modern art but it was a good experience either way.

Entrance to Centre Pompidou

There were a lot of different forms of art, not just paintings or sculptures. And there was a lot of nudity. I would have to say my favorite part was the Picasso section. You always read about him at school and recognize his fame, but to actually see his paintings in front of you is surreal.

Picasso

Fashion

It was Paris Fashion Week this past week and me and a couple of girls decided to scope out the Valentino show. It was exactly how you see it in magazines and on TV. There was just a mass of people and photographers waiting at the door for someone to arrive.

This is the crowd outside of the Valentino show. By the time we got there, most people had already arrived so we decided to stay until it ended to watch people leave.

Outside the Valentino show

Apparently, Tara Reid was there with some guy and when she was coming out, the photographers went crazy. There was just a giant mass of photographers around them and they followed her for a while. I sort of wish someone more relevant had been there (like Victoria and David Beckham) but I guess you take what you can get.

This is another picture of the location. It was called Hôtel Salomon de Rothschild. And I would like to say that the women going in and out of the show were walking on that cobblestone in six inch heels without a problem.

On our way to the show, we stopped at the Arc de Triomphe. I always forget how big it actually is and how crazy the traffic is around it because of the lack of actual lanes.

Study Part of Studying Abroad

So I haven't updated this in a while, but a lot has been going on so I'm going to try to condense it down as much as possible.

Seminar

Last week, we had orientation from Monday to Thursday. This basically was made up of all the adminstrative things we have to take care of and several classes on important aspects of French/Parisian culture. Although I thought it was going to be pointless and boring, I actually found it somewhat informative and interesting. There are so many things about this culture that I didn't know and I have been taking French classes for many years! For example, everyone knows all the stereotypes of the French, and especially of those that live in Paris. Well, there is actually some reasoning behind the way they behave that has a lot to do with their history.  So much of their behavior has to do with the hundreds of years of battles, monarchies, protests, etc. that makes up this country's history.

There was one class that focused just on the history of Paris. We found out that the snail pattern of the arrondissements (districts) was a result of the expansion of the city as the population grew. We also learned all the history behind why the city is the way it is today-- the reasoning behind the location of certain buildings, streets, and names, among other things. It was all very interesting.

Classes

My school is called ESCP-Europe and it's a post-graduate business school. It's apparently a pretty good school and one of the best in business schools in Europe (at least those that I've told have been impressed). I'm only taking 4 classes and they only meet once a week for three hours. This probably been the biggest difference between here and UW. I thought it would be hard to adjust to such long hours but it really isn't that difficult especially when everyone gets a coffee (which is actually a small cup of espresso) during the 15-20 minute break in between.

Students

All of the students in my classes are international students which is really cool except for that this makes it harder to speak and practice French. Other than that, it's been great meeting people from all over the world. The majority of them come from other parts of Europe and Latin America. Most of the students here are older than me (about 24-27) but everyone has been very friendly and unbelievably polite.

Food

We have a cafeteria at our school with pretty cheap food (compared to other places) so I have been trying to eat there as much as possible. They have a lot of salads and of course cheese and bread. I've been trying to be adventurous but all the menu items are in French. I apparently don't know French food terms as well as I thought because I wouldn't be able to distinguish duck from rabbit (which they serve). Either way, I have been trying to taste different things but sometimes I just end up getting grilled chicken and fries. Very French, right?

Aimlessly Strolling

I woke up Sunday morning to find out that the sun was out for the first time since I got here and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. So, I decided to go for a walk around my place without any real purpose other than to take pictures of buildings and watch the French do what they do (which is mostly having drinks at cafes). 

This viaduct runs all along the street that I live on. There is actually a walking path on top with benches, shrubs, and trees. I decided to eat my lunch up there and found out that it was pretty packed with people jogging or walking with their families and dogs.

Viaduct on Avenue Daumesnil

 These are just a few pictures from my walk.

Gare du Lyon

Outside of Gare du Lyon.

 For some reason I love taking pictures of all the apartment buildings. Possibly in hopes of someday living somewhere as beautiful. These are on the Seine River.

As I kept walking, I came across this bridge and realized that I could see the back of Notre Dame in the distance.

View from the Gare du Lyon.

I went back to the Bastille to actually see it during the day. There was so much activity going on around this square-- kids skateboarding, teenagers hanging out on the steps of the opera house smoking, somewhat of a carnival with a cotton candy stand, and of course cafes with people drinking and/or making out.

Walking around that day made me realize that I could take a thousand pictures but I will never really be able to capture what it's like walking down these streets. I really hope everyone has a chance to experience this at some point in their lives. 

This last few days have made me realized that I have not been this relaxed and stress-free in probably four years. I have been able to just do the things that I want to do without having a list in the back of my mind replaying all the things I need to get done (which is how I normally feel at home). I even started reading a book. For fun. Chelsea has been letting me borrow Eat Pray Love and it has been very entertaining and eye-opening.

This week I started orientation at school and I really like it! I'm actually looking forward to starting my classes. More details on that later :)

Heart of Paris

My roommate Chelsea and I (who goes to Madison) decided to take the metro and somehow find our way to the Eiffel Tower. It actually really worked out because we ended up at the more touristy part of Paris and just walked toward the Eiffel Tower.

This is what we saw when we got out of the metro stop. It sounds cliche but it was really breathtaking. From here, we were surrounded by some of the most iconic parts of France. I don't think I can really describe the moment but imagine having this fountain (below) on one side, as you're looking down the street at the Arc de Triomphe, and the Eiffel Tower always looming in the distance.

Place de la Concorde

Arc de Triomphe from the Place de la Concorde.

By the time we got to the Eiffel Tower, the sun was setting and I was able to take this picture from a bridge over the Seine. 

Sunset on the Seine in front of the Eiffel Tower.

And finally, the Eiffel Tower. It was somewhat crowded but it was awesome to finally see it again. It has been about three years since the last time I was here and it will never get old. Out of all the pictures I took, this was my favorite one.

Eiffel Tower

One of the things I noticed today is that there are a lot of parks in Paris. It is really impressive how much green there is all around the city. In a way, it makes the city feel smaller and not as if a million people live here. It's actually one of the things that I love most about this city-- it really feels like a small town.

Although we walked so much today and I was exhausted, I had a great time being somewhat of a tourist in the city where I now actually live. I was also forced to use the metro, which I was really nervous about, but now it seems a lot easier.

The City of Lights

I have finally arrived in Paris to spend what will hopefully be the best semester of my life. This trip is something that I have been looking forward to since high school and I honestly still can't believe I'm here.
   
L'arrondissement 
I'm living in the Bastille neighborhood of Paris and I absolutely love it. This is the view outside my window. There are apartments like this all up and down Avenue Daumesnil, the street I live on.

 
The actual Bastille is not a far walk from where I live. It's a very important historical landmark-- it was stormed by the French as a protest and that day is now their independence day.

Bastille from across the street at night.

La langue
I have been trying very hard to speak as much French as possible. I think most people here speak at least a little English, or at least enough to be able to communicate with someone who doesn't speak a lot of French. I haven't had too many problems with it and most of the Parisians I've encountered have understood what I was trying to say. This makes me very happy because it means that 7 years of French have paid off!