until next time...

Well, Sunday evening (so long ago!) we all headed out to Disneyland Paris on the train, to get there in time to be ready for a full day on Monday in the parks. Sunday was a very, very long day for us, but we did make it out to Disney alright. In the morning we finally did the Louvre, which I had been very excited for. We arrived early, since we knew it would be crowded, and when we got there it was pretty empty. We thought we might have time for other activities in the afternoon, but I was glad that my mom and brother were interested enough that we stayed for about 5 hours. We saw a ton! We visited the Italian Renaissance rooms first, so y brother could see the Mona Lisa. Even that early, it was still really insanely crowded. Next we went to see the Roman and Greek statues, and ended up also visiting the wing with their Egyptian collection as well. After that we wandered through the French Renaissance works, the Medieval sculpture rooms, some French Baroque and Romantic paintings, and the somewhat newly excavated dungeon and Medieval fortress that was the original Louvre, with a short lunch break in there somewhere. I think by the end, we were all struggling up the staircases a bit.

The ride to Disney didn't exactly go as smoothly as we had hoped. They closed the train we wanted at the station where we were staying, so we had to take a detour on a smaller Metro line at a smaller station. Unfortunately, the French don't believe in escalators or wide stairwells, so I had some trouble with my suitcase. One wheel got bent at some point on my last hotel-switching adventure, and we couldn't fix it, but we did buy a pull-cart to attach it to. This, however, made the suitcase too big to fit through the turnstiles in the Metro, and too clumsy to carry up stairs. We ended up taking about twice the time to get out to our stop than we had anticipated, so it's a good thing we didn't have any plans for the night.

Once we got out to Disney and checked into the hotel, we stopped by the park in the late evening to grab some dinner and scope out the new geography of the place. It was weird how familiar but totally different this park is from the Florida Magic Kingdom. We also saw the evening parade, which was a lot of fun. Our hotel was a short bus ride away from the parks, and there was a free shuttle going all day. The hotel was Wild West themed, and had some really cute decor, like a red bandanna-print curtain. The one downside: no air conditioning! Thankfully, while we were there it didn't really get too hot.

On Monday, we used our privilege as guests at a Disney hotel to get into the park two hours early. When we got in Main Street was almost empty, and the whole park was like a ghost town. It was so odd compared to our usual experience! We rode the Buzz Lightyear ride a whole bunch of times, which was a total blast! We did the other rides that were open before the official park opening at 10, and then we rushed over to Thunder Mountain Railroad when the rest of the rides opened. I hadn't even considered that the ride would be that different, and I got on automatically. The entire ride I was screaming my head off, terrified to death. It is SO much scarier than the Florida version, and half the ride is in total darkness! Eek, not an experience I would do again, but my family loved it. They even bought the picture they take on the ride because I look pretty amusing. We spent the rest of the day in the park, with a short afternoon break and nap.

The second, and last, full day we went to the Studios park, which is much more shows than rides. Both parks are both very clearly European in their food choices and certain attractions, and we definitely saw this in the Studios. We saw a show that was not copied from any other Disney park and it was the strangest thing I'd ever seen, with no plot and odd songs. On the other hand, the Paris version of the Great Movie Ride, which is a personal favorite of mine in DisneyWorld, was changed from a ride to a show and was fabulous! It made fun of annoying American tourists, too, so my mother and I were in hysterics the whole time. In the afternoon after lunch, we shopped for a while and also went to see Toy Story 3 in the AMC just outside the park. The movie was of course in French, but it still made me sob. Have I mentioned that I love Pixar?

That night we saw the Electromagic parade at the Disneyland park and the ensuing firework show. We had the best spot in the whole park to watch them, and they were definitely up to the standard we've seen in other Disney parks. The new Disney was really fun, and we are already planning another hypothetical trip so we can get to know the parks as well as the Florida ones! We really had a blast, and it was a nice change from the intense intellectual stuff we were doing in Paris. Just a good time, good food, and familiar fun.

The next morning we had our last French breakfast, complete with plain yogurt and chocolate croissants, packed up, and left for the airport. We had pretty unremarkable flights back, thank goodness, although our connection at Dublin was pretty tight because of a number of airline holdups. Everything went fine, and we got all of our baggage and found my dad easily. He was so sweet, and picked us up and had a rose for me! :) I'm still a little messed up with the jet lag, but it's not nearly as bad I expected it to be. It felt so good to sleep in my own bed again! It was an absolutely amazing trip, but I'm glad to be home. We'll see how long that lasts...I will miss the French diet, that's for sure.

Anyway, I think this will probably by my last post about Paris, so thank you everybody for reading and keeping up with me and my crazy adventures! And thanks for the comments! Hope to see everyone soon, now that I'm back. If you'd like to see more photos of the trip than I posted here, I will post a link on here to Flickr when I upload all the photos there.

So, I guess until my next trip to Paris, au revoir!

Today is the last day in Paris, and we leave tonight for Disneyland Paris. Yesterday was our touristy day, and we managed to fit in several huge sights. In the morning we went straight to Notre Dame, which is only a ten minute walk from us, and showed the kid brother Gothic architecture. After seeing the church and the crypt, we went to Sainte-Chapelle and waited in line to get through security. When we saw the chapel, we were all blown away. It was really more amazing than the photos! And, by some dumb luck, we saw a poster for a Vivaldi concert that same night that was held in Sainte-Chapelle. Of course we bought tickets!

After all the Ile-de-la-Cite activities, we went to lunch with the friend of my mom's friend and her daughter, since our plans were canceled the other night. We ate lunch in what we were told was the 'chic' section of town, near Luxembourg gardens. Well, not only did we have the best meal yet, but the lunch was so much fun! We now have two new friends, and I've already friended the daughter on Facebook. :)
From lunch we went up to Montmartre. We walked up the hill to Sacre Coeur and saw both the church and the shops. We spent awhile watching the artists everywhere, and had a lovely afternoon eating ice cream on the steps of Sacre Coeur. The views were more incredible than I imagined, and we even found La Mere Catherine restaurant we had eaten at last time we were here.

In the evening, before our concert, we went to the Eiffel Tower and Trocadero. Though I had spent a lot of time here already, we wanted my brother to see the typical famous sights before we leave. It was really fun walking around this park and grotto right by the tower, and we sat for a while sitting under it. After the Eiffel tower we went to our concert at Sainte-Chapelle and heard both Pachelbel's Canon and Vivaldi's four seasons performed on period instruments in the actual chapel. It was just stunning. It really was one of the big memories of my whole trip. Afterward, we walked along the Seine and had a late dinner, and saw a beautiful full moon!

Okie dokie, enough writing. We have to pack our stuff and leave pretty soon. We are headed to the Louvre this morning, and who knows what else! Have a great day everyone!

Today was our day trip to Bruges, Belgium. After leaving the hotel at 6:30 and sitting 4 hours on a tourbus, we arrived in Bruges. Once there we received a walking tour of the city and a ticket for a boat ride along the canals. My father had raved to me about the town from when he had seen it as a kid, and it really was as amazing as he said! Most of the town smells like chocolate, and nowhere does it smell like car or industry. There are bikes and horses everywhere, and the buildings, though mostly later than Medieval times, are still laid out in the plan of the original old city and designed in a neo-Gothic style that looks somewhat French, German, and Italian. I spent the entire day imagining what it would be like to live in a town that smelled of chocolate, has three official languages, but also speaks English, doesn't have automobile traffic, and has neo-Gothic houses with canals and parks and cobblestone streets. Incredible! After I learn French, I'll have to invest in learning a Germanic language. While we didn't understand the Flemish, we did have a good time making fun of the spelling of the words.

So, we spent our several hours after the tour and boat ride wandering in a couple Flemish painting museums, in the main church, which has a Michelangelo Madonnna and child and a Caravaggio hanging on the wall, and wandering the streets. We opted for the not-so-healthy lunch options, and ordered Belgian waffles with strawberries and whipped cream. They were the best waffles I've ever had! Such an amazing lunch, I may have been a little over excited. We also shopped and bought a ton of chocolate. On our way down one street we even saw a woman making lace. It was absolutely riveting! She moved incredibly fast with these handles of thread, and kept placing pins to make the lace pattern. She was clearly practiced, but she did not make it look easy. She just made it look incredibly complicated and almost magical.

In the afternoon, we rounded up again and rode the bus home. Everyone on the bus was asleep within ten minutes, just like we were little kids who tired themselves out running around all day. We did get to see the most beautiful rainbow on the way home! It's pretty late now that we're back, so we're going to retire soon. Tomorrow is our last full day to spend in Paris! I can't believe it. Sunday we head to Disney and then Wednesday we leave! Eek! Tomorrow I'll try to push the family a little more than today or yesterday because I still have stuff I want to see!

I'll tell you all about it tomorrow! Bonsoir!

Bonjour everyone! We headed to Giverny this morning to see Monet's gardens. Even though I had been there just over a week ago with my class, it was still really beautiful to go back. My mother is a big Impressionist, and specifically Monet, fan, so she was looking forward to seeing the gardens again. While my mom and brother were walking around, I sat with my new watercolor set and painted a few quick sheets. As usual, I got a lot of responses from other people passing by, so my brother was tempted to try to sell what I was working on to other tourists. He knows I just end up giving everything away for free. :)

In the afternoon we continued our Impressionist day and visited the Orangerie Museum where Monet's last waterlily paintings are hanging in a very cool oval room designed with those paintings in mind. It was especially awesome to compare them to where we had just been!

After the Orangerie, we headed over the river to the Musee d'Orsay, the museum for just Impressionism and Post-Impressionism works. We saw, of course, the really famous paintings, several of which are special favorites of ours since the scenes are composed into sculpture in the sculpture garden we visit all the time. Once we saw pretty much everything we wanted to see we were insanely tired, so we went back home.

Tonight we are heading out to dinner with a friend of my mom's close friend and her daughter, who's my age. I think my kid brother will stay in tonight, since he's not feeling well after a particularly harsh bus ride coming home from the museum. Above are some photos from Giverny, and one of a sculpture outside the train station in Paris we found intriguing. We are going on an all-day tour to Bruges tomorrow, which should be very exciting! Haven't been to Belgium before...well, off to dinner soon, so bonsoir!

Hooray, my family has finally arrived in Paris! After getting delayed in Dublin all day, my mother and brother arrived in Paris late evening yesterday. We scrapped our plans for last night and decided to slept until we, or at least I, woke up. Well this morning we headed out to Versailles to see the chateau, and because of the gloomy weather and occasional drizzling, it wasn't nearly as crowded as we had feared. It was a blast to go back after everything I've learned in class, and it's fun to be with family who are excited to see it after such a long time. We spend the rest of the morning and early afternoon there, and then headed back to Paris.

In the mid-afternoon, we decided to do the walking tour of the Latin Quarter that was planned for yesterday, and we also did the Musee National du Moyen Age. That museum, with the famous Lady and the Unicorn tapestries, was one of my favorites and it was really great to go back with time to see what I was interested in. I really wanted every book in the gift shop! When I go into Medieval French art as a discipline, I'll start building my library. :)

After the museum, Shakespeare & Co. bookstore, and a few churches, we headed over to Luxembourg gardens. There we rented a little sailboat that we pushed into the center of the fountain with a bamboo pole. The boats were simple, but really amazingly well-constructed and we have a really good time comparing them to full-sized boats. We have to see if we can get one of our own online!

After a busy day that tired out all of us, I think we are going to call it a night and go to bed early. The rain that just started letting down sort of dampened our plans, too.

Tomorrow we are off to Giverny in the morning! We'll see about the weather to judge our afternoon plans. Hope you enjoy the new photos! I'm actually in some of them now...

Bonsoir everyone!

Today was my big planning day before the family comes. I ran all my errands, the bank, picking up tickets for the Louvre, Orsay, and the Orangerie Museum. I bought my RER ticket to meet them at the airport tomorrow, and my bags are packed, ready for the hotel to move them to my new room. Phew.

Besides all the running around for tomorrow, I did manage to visit the museum I wanted to see. It's called the Musee Jacquemart-Andre, and has an exhibit up on Spanish painting from Dali to El Greco. After five weeks of my course on French art, it seemed almost sacrilegious to go see something not French. The exhibit was cool, but would have been cooler if my audio guide wasn't too low on batteries to work. I was forced to read the written descriptions and text, which of course were only in French, but this actually turned out a plus. I learned that while I can't identify, let alone pronounce, every word, I can actually read French. How exciting is that?! I really want to see if I can fit the course French for Reading Knowledge into my semester this fall. If I want to continue with art history after undergrad, I'm going to have to be able to read both French and German! Eek.

After the special exhibit I attempted to return to the main collection, because I heard it is huge and incredible. Well, because I am seriously directionally impaired, I found myself outside the museum, and way far away from the entrance again. This isn't to mention that I got seriously lost just getting to the museum. I'm really pathetic, I know. I probably could have returned and made my way back to the permanent collection, but I just decided that since I was getting tired already I'd cut my losses and just look at the private house part of the museum. After what I've studied about French architecture, I went around each room testing myself on which century and art movement each decoration or piece of furniture belonged to. I love when you can identify something by just background knowledge! Art history is awesome.

Anyways, after the museum visit I finished up my work for tomorrow, like informing the front desk that I am the same person who is checking back in tomorrow in a different room, and repacking everything. I have my new map, my recharged Navigo metro pass, my RER ticket, a new phone card, and the flight number and terminal written down. I think I'm all set. Wish me luck with coordinating everything!
Bonsoir!

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days! I think class finally caught up with me and made me lazy for a little while. I have settled into the new hotel, although tomorrow I change rooms, so I can't get too settled. My class ended somewhat anticlimactically, and it was strange when we all began to leave. On Friday we began our day at the Musee du Quai Branly, which is a museum for African, Asian, Oceanic, and American art, designed by Jean Nouvel. I was hesitant about visiting this museum after we experienced the Institut du Monde Arabe, a building that terrified me. The Quai Branly, however, was very cool! The museum only opened in 2006, and I've been told that a new generation of curators have taken over in France. Well, this museum I think does a wonderful job of offering what is expected from a museum today. The building is funky, and fun to walk through, with different spaces and lighting that are somewhat unexpected but fit together nicely. The exhibits were interactive, innovative, and not the typically white walls full of art. I actually wish I had had more time there! If this museum shows what the new generation of curators are trying to do, count me in! I'm a supporter of teaching within a museum, so that anyone, not just field experts, can understand and appreciate art, and Quai Branly I think did that pretty well.

After Quai Branly, we went to the Palais de Tokyo, a museum with work from current artists. This museum was exactly the type of museum I don't much enjoy. The building's interior had tall, white walls, big rooms with about three pieces per room, and little stickers with just the artist's name and title of their work in the typical print that's too small for anyone to read. The work didn't impress me too much, but I know others enjoyed it. I think some art students prefer the bare gallery look. We had lunch at this museum, at the outside cafe. I think it was our best meal all together! Our professor and TA joined us, and we had a real vegetarian option (thank you professor!). It was ratatouille, so, as most of you know I'm obsessed with Pixar and Disney, I was insanely excited to eat this in Paris! It was good food, and we all let down a little since it was our last day and had fun. Lunch was the last definite thing on the schedule, although some people went to the Arc de Triomphe in the late afternoon. My roomies and another friend in our class and her visiting friend from home and I all chilled out in the evening. We went out by where we lived and bought some mangoes, which have been really amazing here, and had an outdoor fresh dinner.

Saturday morning my roommates left pretty early, so I didn't really do anything but wake up and say goodbye to them. I left about 11, after significant tidying of the apartment so we wouldn't be charged for extra cleaning, and I had decided on walking to the new hotel. Since my room wasn't going to be ready until about 1, I stopped on the way and headed to Luxembourg gardens, found myself a bench and read for a few hours. It was so relaxing and amazing! Once I got to the hotel and into my room, I went and explored the area. It is really fantastic here! There's so much going on, and so any food options, I'm sort of blown away. I didn't even realize I was living in the middle of nowhere in Paris.

Sunday morning I worked a bit more on the scheduling for when the family members come on Tuesday, fleshing out opening times and transportation. In the afternoon I wandered across the Ile de la Cite and over to Ile St. Louis, the neighboring island. It was an absolutely perfect day to walk around, and I grabbed some lunch. I admit, I ended up taking a pretty long nap in the afternoon, before going back to the Pompidou. I guess class every day had tired me out more than I expected. This week is going to be probably even more intense! Anyways, that was definitely the fastest weekend I've had here, and now it's Monday morning! I have some planning to do today, some museum tickets to pick up, and I want to visit a museum I was recommended. I saved it for today because no other museums will be open. Well, I suppose I'm off then.

Sidenote: yesterday I bought a container of milk and box of cereal (I have a mini fridge in the room) and brought it home for dinner. When I got back, I realized I had a bowl that I bought a few weeks ago, but no spoon. After looking through everything I own to see if anything was spoon-shaped, I resorted to my best idea. I used the bottom of a plastic cup and taped it to an ice-cream tasting spoon I had. Just call me McGyver, please. It works well, although sometimes it tastes a little like scotch tape, and you have to slurp to use it, but... Still, I am now certain of my ability to eat anywhere, anytime, using anything. :) I even have a photo to show off my little invention (credit to my mother for helping my through skype with spoon ideas).

Okay, I'm off now. Sorry I don't have any other photos of the last few days, it's been a little too crazy for that. I'm excited to pick up my mom and brother tomorrow! It'll be good to travel with people I'm used to traveling with. And I'll have someone else to take my picture again, haha. I'll try to be more regular with the posts and keep you updated! Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Today is the last day of my program! I can't believe it!

Yesterday we had sort of a weird class schedule. We did the Institut du Monde Arabe in the morning. That was just about the most frightening and downright scary building I've been in. Admittedly, the lense-like designs on the one facade that open and close to let in more or less light were pretty cool. That said, this building is very narrow, with very low ceilings and entirely too much glass. Two outside walls are made of glass as well as four interior walls, so that what's left is a cramped hallway around a glass courtyard. This building is also high, and we were advised to begin our tour of the building from the 9th, the top, floor. Well, needless to say, there is also a glass elevator. For someone afraid of heights and falling, the building, famously designed by Jean Nouvel, was my worst nightmare. All this wasn't even the worst part. For our lecture we all went across to another part of the building to see the panoramic view of Paris. All of us, that is, except me, who looked at the suspended, (yup, you guessed it) glass bridge that was 9 stories above the ground, where I questioned the sanity of anyone willing to risk thier lives walking over that thing. Well, in the end I finally convinced myself to try it, and I got across it, but not before a serious rise in heart rate. Then I had to deal with getting back over the bridge...

Anyways, what I'm saying is, you'd better enjoy these panoramic views of Paris I took!

After this part of class, we were free for most of the day. I decided to go in search of my teddy bear store in the Marais. I found it, but nothing remotely like the bear I was looking for, so I'm still not sure that that's the window I saw. I wandered there for a bit and then decided to head over to the Left Bank to try and find the new hotel I move to on Saturday. I had looked it up once, a few weeks ago, and the Metro map I had on me didn't have the street it was supposed to be on, so I was worried about not finding it. Well, thanks to my mother's excellent choice of hotel, I didn't really need a map, because it's only about a block in from the Seine! So I stopped in and asked about check-in times, and so I am feeling much more relieved that I know what I am doing tomorrow! I am already packed to leave, just have my shampoo and tomorrow's clothes left. My roommates, it appears, are not.

In the evening yesterday, we finally had the last part of our class, which took place at the Beaubourg, also called the Pompidou. This is the modern art museum of Paris, and is quite large, and in a building with modern architecture. I had been here before, but not up to the exhibits, and, as I've been in something of an inspirational lull with my art recently, I had actually not been looking forward to visiting here. Well, I misjudged myself entirely. Our class ended up spending two and a half hours there, until almost 9:00, when it closes. We saw all the modern works and movements that I've studied the most, and it was actually really inspiring and relaxing to see works I knew about and loved. We looked at Duchamp, Kandinsky, Delauney (both husband and wife), Dali, Pollack, Klein, Rothko, Whiteread, etc. It was fantastic! I decided that I'd like to spend one of my weekend days there, and it's easy and close to get to, which is excellent!

And now today, we have our final class. We are visiting the Quai Branly, mainly, and have some other tour, but I'm not sure what it is. It will be a very long day, that I do know! We are scheduled from about 10 in the morning until our last tour at 4, with a group farewell lunch somewhere in the middle. I'm probably crazy, but I decided since it's the last day, to dress up a little and even wear my fancy crocs (yes, I have fancy crocs!) and a dress. Not really sure how today will go, but I think it will be intense. It's penciled into our own schedules for all of us to have dinner together tonight, but that might get canceled if people need to pack. I am going to be a little sad this is ending. Class was really cool, and I love Paris. I am really looking forward to having a hotel room to myself for a few days though. And I am very excited to see some of my family on Tuesday! I'm thinking a college that runs all their classes like this one is in order. I would definitely attend!

Oh, funny story: remember the friend I met up with on Saturday? Well, she hadn't called to hang out again, so I figured she was busy getting ready to fly home at the end of the week. Wouldn't you know it, when I'm strolling around the Marais, I literally run into her and her French boyfriend! How crazy is that? I hadn't even planned on being in the Marais until after my morning class ended. Very weird, but totally awesome.

Ok, have to go now. Have to stop by the bank and get myself a French breakfast this morning before leaving for class! This is the last time, after all. I will try to keep posting on the blog, because I will be in Paris another week and a half, I just won't have class. Hope today goes as well as it can! Bonjour everyone! Happy Friday!

Included are some photos of the Institut du Monde Arabe, and the panoramic views I risked my life for...

Happy Bastille Day everyone!

Since it was Bastille Day today, and therefore a holiday, we had quite short class just in the morning. We visited the Rodin museum, where the famous Thinker sculpture is located. We, of course, saw that, and also looked at the various "studies" for the different figures of his work, The Gates of Hell. By studies, I mean full-sized bronze-cast and marble-sculpted sculptures. Please realize that most of the final figures on the Gates are only about a foot or two tall, so the studies are actually greatly larger than the final pieces. Unusual, right? Well, we aw these pieces and we also saw the work of Rodin's partner, Camille Claudel. I introduce her as Rodin's partner because it is the reason that her sculptures are in the museum and because her work is often mistaken for his because they worked closely, too. This said, she is a wonderful sculptor in her own right.
I think I actually liked some of her marbles better than Rodin's. We read an article about her and Rodin, and she is especially important because she really broke tradition by sculpting as a woman, and also sculpting nudes, both male and female, which was prohibited for women studying art to do. She also does not abide by our conventional gender stereotypes that were particularly dominant around the turn of the (last) century. Instead, she portrays men as vulnerable and passive, and women as both intellectual and sexual beings. Both of these were not acceptable portrayals in art of the time, and so a lot of the opportunities Claudel recieved were because of the support and lobbying of Rodin. The whole relationship between the two was fascinating, and very cool to see their sculpture side by side.

The less fun part about today was the rain. We woke up this morning to thunder and lightning, but the rain held off until just when we got into the museum. Then it let loose and poured, and has since. We briefly went into the garden to see The Gates of Hell after looking at the other studies, and then called it a day. There were supposed to be fireworks by the Eiffel Tower but I seriously doubt they could have happened. My roomies and I had planned on going, and maybe even seeing the parade that usually heads down the Champs-Elysees, but needless to say, our plans were canceled. So we all grabbed a quick lunch and then headed back to the hotel, and then relaxed and chilled out. My roomies watched a movie while I did my required journal for today. Still have to write my final paper and turn it in by August 2. Thankfully, tomorrow looks much better weather-wise, and we will have most of the day and late evening off of class. We meet in the morning and then break until 6 pm tomorrow because of scheduling conflicts with museums. Hmm, should I visit the Musee Jacquemart-Andre, which has a Dali and El Greco show up and is quite large but expensive, or do I return to the Musee d'Orsay for a bit more impressionism? Either way, I have to push myself to do more sketches. After all, if I want to apply for the Disney artist internship program for next summer, I have to have my portfolio ready by March! And how cool would it be to have live sketches from Notre Dame or the Louvre?

Anyways, gotta start organizing and packing the clothing and books tonight. Thankfully I planned ahead (by accident. read the syllabus wrong) and have already done the readings for tomorrow. I'm excited for the Institut du Monde Arabe tomorrow! I'm beginning to really dig Islamic-inspired ornament, especially Moorish Islamic designs. I hear there are some really amazing solar lenses on  the front of the building that open and close automatically to let in more or less light. How awesome! I'll tell you how it goes tomorrow. I'll include my own photo of the thinker, although there are probably better ones if you google it. Just thought this posting needed a little color. :)

Bonsoir all!

Today, as mentioned this morning, we visited the Villa Savoye, designed by Le Corbusier, in the strange town of Poissy. It seems all of the high-rise apartment buildings attempted to half mimic Savoye, but didn't quite get it right. The house was quite different than all the photos in the art history textbooks. There was much more landscaping than I had expected, and the house itself was still somewhat in disrepair. Thankfully we had perfect weather today, so we sat on the grass in front of the villa for a student presentation before going in.

Once inside, it is almost like a maze, with an oval staircase right in front of you and rooms that have no symmetry or seeming purposeful placement as you walk in. The idea is that this is a new architecture that uses ideas from antiquity, but redefines what a building should do. Therefore there is pretty much no ornament, and the house is very simple with very clear lines and right angles, except for the previously mentioned staircase and the rounded back part of the house on the first floor. This curve was meant to be exactly the angle a car in the 1920's could turn, and the overhanging second story served as a covered driveway. The rooms were quite sparse inside, and I do wonder whether or not a lot of furniture is missing, or if it is part of the aesthetic. Because it was in decay, along with the very strict architecture, it was nearly impossible to actually imagine living there. Unlike other buildings of the time with little ornament, like the skyscrapers by architect Mies van der Rohe, this was not meant to value function over form. Indeed, looking at the kitchen, it most definitely follows form and almost completely ignores function. I know I sound quite critical of the building, and while it was certainly not my favorite style or field trip, the villa can really be appreciated in its context of the time. Le Corbusier's idea was that this was supposed to be a machine that was simple and morally purer than the houses that were popular in the preceding centuries. It was also cool to be inside a monument usually only seen in textbooks or architectural magazines.

Later today, after another lovely mid-afternoon nap, I decided I would go sit in front of Notre Dame and just sketch. I told myself I could sketch whatever I wanted and I brought all the art supplies I have with me. I did indeed do two sketches, and after each one, I looked at my watch and was stunned to see that an hour had passed by. I really have gotten used to those 3 hour studio classes at school! I didn't finish the sketch of the central portal of the Cathedral because it got too dark (I was a bit mystified. It seems that the sun never sets in Paris in the summer!) but I tried to do a looser sketch of the seine at night. Below are both of my attempts. I had a man watch me draw the river and said something lengthy in French. When I said, in French, that I don't speak very well and I didn't understand him, he asked in English, where are you from? I answered, and his only response was 'oh', looked at me for another minute and walked away.

Now this exact scenario has happened to me many times since I've been here. Why are suddenly so disinterested when I say I'm American? It's quite disheartening. I really am curious as to what they said. Anyways, I did get a thumbs up from an Asian tourist who sat and watch me on the Cathedral sketch. Haha, I love to see the responses I get while drawing in public. Some people try to discreetly pass by you twenty times, so they can peep without looking like they are peeping. There are others that can sit and watch you for who knows how long and not say a word. And then there are the groups of people (who, no matter where you go, never speak any language that you do) who horde around you, and point and ask you questions you don't understand, and drag their friends over to come see, and leave you very little personal room so actually continue working. I used to get annoyed by any response, but now I think it's kind of fun to see the reactions.

The plaza was also crazier than usual, and I realized when a parade of police cars drove by with their sirens on, that this is because it is the night before Bastille day. I've already heard plenty of caution from my professor about the crowds and chaos everywhere, so I really do hesitate to go far from the apartment tomorrow. We do, however have class in the morning, on the Right Bank, where all the chaos supposedly will be. This is a decision of my professors that I sincerely question, as she leaves us to get back home ourselves. I'm sure the party-ers in my program will be right in the craziness having a blast. I know there will be an air show tomorrow with the countries military planes flying in formation overhead. I know this because we saw (and heard) them practicing last week in the Tulieries. There is also supposed to be a big parade, and this year Africa is the theme. I heard there will be Cameroon military stuff in the parade. Between this and the end of the World Cup, there is a ton of excitement everyone here! I'm glad we'll be here for this holiday, because in a way, it almost seems to fit into my class, in terms of learning about French culture and traditions. Wow, I really am a nerd.

I'll post here my two sketches a couple photos of the house. There wasn't enough land around to get the entire exterior, so forgive the corner shot, that I thought best showed the linearity and geometry that makes the villa so distinct. One museum tomorrow and then a bit of a day off. Then the last two days we'll have really jam-packed all day classes. I can't believe I have 3 days left! But I just started feeling comfortable in this city...at least I don't go home in 3 days. Can imagine my roomies are feeling pretty nostalgic about it. Ok, I officially wrote enough for tonight. I'm not sure even I could make it through a blog post this long in one sitting. Bonsoir everyone! Happy Bastille Day in the morning!

Yesterday was a very short class day. We all woke to our first real encounter of bad weather in Paris. It was dark and raining, and there was lightning. On our schedule we had planned a walking tour of Montmartre in the afternoon, so I think all of us checked for a 'no class' email from our professor before we left in the morning. No luck. We ended up going to the Gustav Moreau museum like we had intended and called it a day after that.

The museum was one of my favorite kinds. It was the artist's house and studio for all his life, and they had a ton of his work hung everywhere on the walls. I think maybe there's some closer sense of the artist themself when you get to see their work in the place it was created. The house was very cool, with an amazing spiral staircase from one of his studios to the other (photo below). Because I had only learned about Moreau's work briefly in an intro class, I had never really thought a lot about his work, but once there, I really was quite intrigued. Like many artists' paintings, I can't quite decide when I love their work or can't stand it. What I found fascinating was his break from the normal rules of painting and his contrasting use of either line or color to depict space or details. Cool little museum. You can also see the house part that is still set up with his furniture and all. This was less interesting to me that the sketches on the wall, but it did add to the mood of the place.

Since my professor wasn't feeling well (not because of the rain...), she canceled the Montmartre part of the day and urged us to go on our own. Well, luckily, I have exactly that walk in my schedule for when my mother and brother come over! I, however, ended up coming back to the apartment and doing all the errands I really needed done, like grocery shopping and cleaning the apartment (since my roommates are mystified as to how the trash disappears from the garbage can every few days...). I ended up sketching in the evening, working on a stained-glass window drawing that took very long and I didn't get very far. I decided for on night to indulge my perfectionist self and be precise in a sketch. I'll post a photo when it's finished.

Well, that's all for my day. This morning we are going on our last fieldtrip, to Poissy. It's a pretty famous house designed by Le Corbusier, that I've learned about in many different classes in terms of modern architecture. Can't imagine it will be that long, but, we'll see...anyways, bonjour! Hope everyone has a great day! I know I will.

Well, my weekend was a little bit more relaxed than last weekend. Yesterday my friend came into Paris and we ended up walking around, shopping and talking, for about 6 hours! I think we walked all of central Paris yesterday, from the Marais to the Ile de la Cite and St. Louis, to Odeon the surrounding neighborhoods. I finally caved to my shopping addiction a little bit and bought a dress. I really want to go back to some places. A lot of the clothing I saw was really different and I hadn't seen anything like it before, so I really want to go back and maybe buy something more. After catching up on the last two years worth of information, it was already dinner time, so my friend took the train back, and I, too exhausted to eat out, went home and rested my very blistered feet. It was really great to see my friend again, though! Our friendship is to the point where we are totally comfortable around each other, no matter how often or rare that occurs, so it's just so easy to spend an afternoon with her! I was shocked when I looked at my watch and it had been like 5 hours. I feel like I really learned the neighborhoods in depth yesterday by walking around for so long.

Today added to my repertoire of Paris streets, too.  I spend the morning doing almost nothing except riding the Metro. I had intended to go to Reims this morning, spend the afternoon and return this evening. I didn't book my train tickets ahead of time because last time I did, it was chaos and I ended up loosing half of the money for the ticket and having to pay for a different train. I get to the train station, go select my train tickets on one of the ticket machines, and when I enter my credit card to pay, it says the card isn't an acceptable type of card. Yes, some American cards don't work in Paris. However, my card has worked everything else, so I'm not sure what the deal is. Of course, I next tried the actual ticket window, but since it was Sunday, and everything in France closes on Sundays, there was no one working. So I ended up just going back home so I could revise plans for the rest of my day. I ended up just taking it easy. I had a lot of fun just walking around my neighborhood and wandering down streets I hadn't been down yet. The French never cease to amaze me with their architecture, even when it's just an apartment building or small house on the side of the road. I found even more public parks, and I actually stumbled across a Boulangerie (bakery) that was open! Even the supermarket isn't open Sundays, so this was like an Oasis in the desert. I bought a baguette and came back and made myself a really fantastic egg sandwich. It reminded me of a Spanish tortilla Espanola, but I didn't intend that. It was good to have an afternoon off all to myself before I start a new week. The last week, in fact!

I've been continuing to plan out the time when my mom and brother come over, which is in 9 days! Yikes! Where did the time go? I'll be wrapping up class this week, which doesn't even seem possible! I want class like this all year. I'll have to start thinking about packing and consolidating my stuff. I've already cut back on the groceries. I'd be dishonest if I said I'll be sad to leave my roommates, but I will be sad the program is ending. After all, it's Paris! But for tonight, I will focus on what I have to do for tomorrow, like my readings. Almost through another book, so that might keep me up tonight too! I think we're heading up near Montmartre tomorrow for class. Can't wait to visit there!

Don't have any photos today, but I compiled a movie clip out of my photos showing everyone my walk to Mont Saint Michel last weekend. (I previewed it and the quality looks terrible, but I'm hoping that it's just my low bandwidth connection, not the video.)

Hope everyone has had a great weekend! Bonsoir all!

Yesterday (delayed posting)

Monet's gardens and house this morning! What can I say, they were pretty much a fairytale. They actually reminded me of Disney the way you can be totally immersed in another world. I took some photos to sketch later, since we didn't get any down time on our own. Whenever the next time is that I visit, I'll be sure to set aside time by myself to draw. The entire town looked as though it could produce Monet himself and it wouldn't be a surprise. I don't know what else to say! I can't decide whether I find Monet's waterlilies or the real thing more beautiful...

Below are some of the photos I got today. The place made me really want my nicer SLR camera, but it was good to pack light with the walking. I rested up this evening, planning my weekend out. Tomorrow I get to see an old middle school friend whom I haven't seen in two years because she goes to school in Europe now. I'm thrilled I get to see her, and it will be weird hanging out in Paris! Hoping to find a particular store tomorrow that has a bit of a background story to it. When I was really little I had this little bear that inspired my childhood nickname. Don't have any clue where I got her, or who made her. I really loved her but somehow over the years she was lost and I haven't seen her since who know when. The other day I was walking to class in the Mareilles district when I looked over and suddenly saw a store window full of bears like the one I used to have. I was totally caught off-guard and I didn't check for the name of the store, so tomorrow I'm hoping to search for it again. It was such a pleasant blast from the past! Sunday I may visit one of the famous cathedrals outside of Paris, but haven't decided on when yet. Hope you enjoy the Giverny pictures! Bonsoir everyone!

Approaching the end of the second to last week of class, we are all getting more and more tired. Right now my two roomies are asleep as is, I think, most of the program. I'm hoping to go to bed early when everyone heads out for pre-gaming celebrations. So in the meantime, as I'm not journaling or reading for class now, I will peacefully blog!

Today was the Impressionist day. We first went to the Orangerie, near the Louvre, and saw Monet's Nympheas paintings. They are part of his waterlily series, painted when he was in his eighties, and they are huge! There are four in each room, two rooms, and they really are gigantic. They are also curved, and housed in an oval room that is completely white with lots of sunlight coming in. The paintings really envelop you when you're anywhere in the room. It felt good both to see an artist's work that is so familiar and also approach it from a more academic point of view. And you know what, as an art history student, I only find the paintings more incredible than I did before! At the same museum we also saw other Impressionists, a lot of Renoir, some Cezanne, and we saw a temporary exhibition of Paul Klee's work. There weren't very many of his works in the show, but what was there seems a good representation.

Next we walked over to the Musee d'Orsay which I had been looking forward to since the beginning of the trip. It did not disappoint. I thought I had gotten over my amazement at museums, but walking into the Orsay, I was starstruck. It was like a real-life art history coffee table book! We started with Courbet's huge paintings and had two student presentations and a small lecture. I was told that these paintings were the size of history paintings, but the two we looked at were twice as big as a Delacroix or David history painting! Next we moved onto Manet, one of my favorite painters! We first talked about Luncheon on the Grass, and that was really fun because our professor encouraged us to contribute with any information we had about the painting, and there are a million little tid bits you can know about it! We also looked at Manet's other very famous painting, Olympia. This is one of my favorite paintings and the one most discussed at my art school. It was unreal to be right in front of it. I could picture myself in a bourgeoisie top hat, shocked by this painting. I could see how radical it would have been, even though now it's part of the artistic cannon. It also made me wonder whether radical artists like Manet weren't stronger instigators of women's rights than we give them credit for. After all, what is more feminist than giving a woman back her power of sight and the ability to engage a man without shame or inferiority? See why I love art yet?

Anyways, after those two museums, class was over so I hung out in the gift shop for a little while and then headed home. I didn't stay longer because I'm convinced I will go back for longer than we had another day. I want to sit and sketch! So the photos today are of one of the waterlily paintings and the ridiculous knot I tied my shoes together with when I attached them to my backpack this weekend. Finally getting around to fully unpacking...

Tomorrow we are heading on a field trip to Giverny, so I'm excited! I might stay longer and sketch if we don't get downtime. I'll tell you about it tomorrow night! Bonsoir!