Bon soir, tout le monde!
Alors, écoutez; Je suis terrible avec les dates. C'est déja plus qu'une semaine (week) depuis que j'ai écrité? Failure. So much Failure. So, I divorced from the internet for a bit, until yesterday, when I was on the computer all day doing literally nothing (curse you facebook!). Donc, aujourd'hui, je vais vous donner un peu de nouvelles avant que je m'enfuis encore (run off again!)
Wednesday! J'ai vu le musée d'Orsay, qui est le musée de l'art contemporaine (pour le plupart) à Paris. It was very lovely, and you can see pictures on facebook. I will add in a link once I've got them up.
Thursday! Je suis allée à l'exposition (exhibit) de Renoir au Grand Palais. Je n'ai pas des mots (I don't have words). It was so beautiful. Renoir is to color what the Stratavarius (orthographe?) is to the violin. I don't care if it doesn't make sense, it's true. It was awesome.
Friday! Je suis allée au.... je ne souvien plus....Crap, this isn't good. Well, I went somewhere and I'm sure it was lovely. Actually, I'll do another entry when I get home tonight because I have to rush off to go Medieval dancing with my friend Victoria Trudeau and her French friends that were exchange students at Sweet Briar College (si tu es confondé, c'est d'accord, moi aussi).
So I'll remember what I did over the weekend, upload some photos, go Medieval dancing (ça n'arrete pas d'être bizarre), and fill you all in later. And I might make a short video. Maybe.
Avec tout mon amour, à bientôt!
Thursday, October 1
Monday, September 21
Saturday, September 19
Sur le brèche!
Il me semble que je suis toujours occupée.
Bonjour, tout le monde!
Many, many things have happened, so... vignettes!
I went out Monday evening with two Sweet Briar girls, Caroline and Victoria, at the Galeries Lafayette at Opéra, the shopping district. Caroline wanted a snack, but at nearly 8 on a Monday, very few cafés were open. We happened upon a Brioche Dorée, which is a sort of chain bakery in France, and Caroline ordered un pain au chocolat (chocolate croissant). While she was paying, she noticed that the shop girl was throwing out the pastries. "Vous les jettez?" she asked. The shop girl stopped, nodded, then proceeded to put several pastries in boxes and bags, and handed them to us over the counter. "Gratuit", she smiled. "We have to throw them out anyway. Please, take them. But," she paused and glanced around. "...don't say anything. Or everyone will expect free pastries when we close." Victoria and I were stunned. We laughed, collected the bags, and hurried away, promising at the shop keeper's insistence that we would tell everyone in America that "Les parisiens, ils sont le meilleur!" As we were walking to the metro, Caroline exclaimed "I'm so happy I spoke bad French to them!"
Yesterday, I went on a Bateau-mouche, or a boat tour of Paris. It was incredibly touristy. I also managed to buy my books for my literature class at Paris III, which was less touristy. And last night, after wandering around aimlessly for far too long, Victoria, Adam, Andy, Alanna and I, managed to sit down at a bar next to Notre Dame, order, and be served, in less than 10 minutes. In Paris, this is known as an epic success. We were served our "Cocktail pour 2", complete with sparklers, by an incredibly attractive, zigane (gypsy) French man, and got stunningly smashed in 30 seconds flat. And after all that, we still managed to make the last metro. The moral of the story: alcohol, firecrackers, and pretty French Gypsy boys, can make anything better.
Perhaps, to finish up, a tale from Tours?
My host family in Tours was truly fantastic. Armelle, Patrick, Ann-Sophie, Stephanie, and Charlotte were all incredibly welcoming and sweet. We ate dinner together every night, and it was always fantastic. On the night the Charlotte came home from her summer camp, we were introduced in the following manner: "Charlotte parle très vite. Elle chante tout le temps. Charlotte aime bavarder." Around a mouthful of bread, Charlotte mumbled, "Oui, Papa." Charlotte does speak very quickly, and she does sing all the time, and she and Ann-Sophie talk, tease, and make fun of each other, incessantly. They are adorable, and I miss their dinner-table antics already.
So, I cannot waste the day at my computer. Please look at my facebook albums of Paris.
Much love, et beaucoup de Bisous!
Bonjour, tout le monde!
Many, many things have happened, so... vignettes!
I went out Monday evening with two Sweet Briar girls, Caroline and Victoria, at the Galeries Lafayette at Opéra, the shopping district. Caroline wanted a snack, but at nearly 8 on a Monday, very few cafés were open. We happened upon a Brioche Dorée, which is a sort of chain bakery in France, and Caroline ordered un pain au chocolat (chocolate croissant). While she was paying, she noticed that the shop girl was throwing out the pastries. "Vous les jettez?" she asked. The shop girl stopped, nodded, then proceeded to put several pastries in boxes and bags, and handed them to us over the counter. "Gratuit", she smiled. "We have to throw them out anyway. Please, take them. But," she paused and glanced around. "...don't say anything. Or everyone will expect free pastries when we close." Victoria and I were stunned. We laughed, collected the bags, and hurried away, promising at the shop keeper's insistence that we would tell everyone in America that "Les parisiens, ils sont le meilleur!" As we were walking to the metro, Caroline exclaimed "I'm so happy I spoke bad French to them!"
Yesterday, I went on a Bateau-mouche, or a boat tour of Paris. It was incredibly touristy. I also managed to buy my books for my literature class at Paris III, which was less touristy. And last night, after wandering around aimlessly for far too long, Victoria, Adam, Andy, Alanna and I, managed to sit down at a bar next to Notre Dame, order, and be served, in less than 10 minutes. In Paris, this is known as an epic success. We were served our "Cocktail pour 2", complete with sparklers, by an incredibly attractive, zigane (gypsy) French man, and got stunningly smashed in 30 seconds flat. And after all that, we still managed to make the last metro. The moral of the story: alcohol, firecrackers, and pretty French Gypsy boys, can make anything better.
Perhaps, to finish up, a tale from Tours?
My host family in Tours was truly fantastic. Armelle, Patrick, Ann-Sophie, Stephanie, and Charlotte were all incredibly welcoming and sweet. We ate dinner together every night, and it was always fantastic. On the night the Charlotte came home from her summer camp, we were introduced in the following manner: "Charlotte parle très vite. Elle chante tout le temps. Charlotte aime bavarder." Around a mouthful of bread, Charlotte mumbled, "Oui, Papa." Charlotte does speak very quickly, and she does sing all the time, and she and Ann-Sophie talk, tease, and make fun of each other, incessantly. They are adorable, and I miss their dinner-table antics already.
So, I cannot waste the day at my computer. Please look at my facebook albums of Paris.
Much love, et beaucoup de Bisous!
Thursday, September 17
Quelques photos, et un film!
Bon...soir...nuit...quelque chose. Salut!
Alors, j'ai quelques photos. Ils ne sont pas bien organisé, mais si vous voulez les voir avant que je les mets en les albums, venez voir!
Unrelatedly, I saw a film tonight. It is titled Humpday. If you haven't heard of it, it's a film that garnered a lot of attention in the film festivals this year, and it is about two male friends who, one drunken night, decide to make an "erotic art film". The subjects? Themselves. Surprisingly, it was a very intelligent, honest, sometimes brutally truthful film. Unsurprisingly, it was an hour and a half of the most awkward moments I have ever witnessed in my life. Reading the French subtitles was amazing, because they had to keep coming up with other ways to say f*** and f***ing. Also, the French people did not laugh at anything, except one part where one character makes a comment about the hotel room being very beige. For reference, I was cracking up the entire time. I think having a frame of reference for the actual speech rhythms of the characters improved the film tenfold. It's really good, but it's really, really awkward.
Okay, far too tired to be awake. Bisous!
Bon Soir, tout le monde!
Alors, j'ai quelques photos. Ils ne sont pas bien organisé, mais si vous voulez les voir avant que je les mets en les albums, venez voir!
 |
| New Album 9/18/09 2:17 AM |
Unrelatedly, I saw a film tonight. It is titled Humpday. If you haven't heard of it, it's a film that garnered a lot of attention in the film festivals this year, and it is about two male friends who, one drunken night, decide to make an "erotic art film". The subjects? Themselves. Surprisingly, it was a very intelligent, honest, sometimes brutally truthful film. Unsurprisingly, it was an hour and a half of the most awkward moments I have ever witnessed in my life. Reading the French subtitles was amazing, because they had to keep coming up with other ways to say f*** and f***ing. Also, the French people did not laugh at anything, except one part where one character makes a comment about the hotel room being very beige. For reference, I was cracking up the entire time. I think having a frame of reference for the actual speech rhythms of the characters improved the film tenfold. It's really good, but it's really, really awkward.
Okay, far too tired to be awake. Bisous!
Bon Soir, tout le monde!
Tuesday, September 15
The Long Post
Bonjour, tout le monde.
Alors, here is what I have decided. I am going to do my best to update my blog with des actualités de ma vie every two or three days. In between these longer posts, I will probably add shorter posts with links to photos, things I forgot to mention, little announcements, and anything else I happen to think of that doesn't quite merit a full post. En plus, c'est possible que I will upload a short video each week, just to say hi face to face (dans un façon). Goodness knows that I am rather terrible about actually following through with any sort of communication, so wish me luck.
So without further ado, histoires du Paris!
Alors, je suis arrivée à Paris le vendredi soir (Friday evening). It was a four hour bus ride, which wasn't terrible, but it was a little tiring. I met mon père d'accueil (host father) at the Alliance Française, and after a brief meeting we went back to the 11 arrondissement, ou la Bastille. Yes, I live down the road from the Bastille. I also live about a fifteen minute walk from the 3 arrondissement, which is very much the center of the city, and famously the gay neighborhood of Paris, which also makes it the nightlife neighborhood. I have yet to visit it, but I've only been here 5 days.
So mon père d'accueil s'appel François et il est un architect, et ma mère d'accueil s'appel Laurence et elle est psychanalyste. Ils ont une fille (daughter) qui s'appel Elsa, qui suit des courses de psychologie. They are all really nice, and Laurence and François have been endlessly helpful and very welcoming. François even offered to help me go over my writing assignments once the school year starts up. I get a very post-modern hippy vibe from them, which is how I would describe most of my friends and immediate family, so I think this is going to work out swimingly.
I have a decently large room all to myself, and my own shower, which is really fantastic. Laurence et François m'ont donné (gave me) un plan de Paris, which is posted on my wall. It's really useful! It has a little dot where the apartment building is, and it marks all the museums, monuments and metro stops. They also gave me some guidebooks with lists of cafés and restaurants, as well as a couple walking plans of Paris. I will post some photos of the apartment and the neighborhood as soon as I actually remember to take my camera out with me.
Seeing as it's been a few days here already and I am hard pressed to recall all the details of each day, a brief summary of events in chronological order.
Saturday I meandered about the neighborhood, getting my bearings and exploring a little. In the afternoon, I took a bus with Laurence to the 5 arrondissement and got off at les Invalides, near the Palais Royal and the Musée de l'armée, where I ran into several other Sweet Briar students. We saw Napoleon's tomb, an then I decided to go back to the the Bastille to relax.
Sunday I met up with my cousin Van, who is working as an au pair in St Germain en Laye, a suburb of Paris (small world, right?). We met at the Jardins de Luxembourg, and meandered over to Shakespeare and company, where one of his friends from school is working. I left him there, and then went on a bit of an excursion with my friends from Sweet Briar around the Opéra area. We walked all over the place, and I came home totally exhausted and quite content.
Monday we had an informational meeting at the Alliance Française, and I got my student id card for the Sorbonne Nouvelle!!!!!!! Even more exciting, I got my PARIS SUITCASE!!! I have all my winter clothes now and I am so thrilled. I went home and unpacked, which took me the rest of the day.
Yesterday was fairly uneventful. Oh! Except, we tried to find a coiffeur (hair salon) for my friend Caroline, whose hair is almost as long as mine but isn't in good shape. We discovered that getting a haircut in Paris is ridiculously expensive. This is a huge difference between the States and France, possibly one of the more jarring discrepancies I've encountered. The average price of an inexpensive "coupe" is the rough equivalent of 45 to 55 American dollars. So I'm probably not getting a haircut (I can already hear you all breathing sighs of relief).
Today I went out with Alanna, my roommate in Tours, and we ate the most amazing ice cream ever in the history of ice cream. Cassis ice cream. So good. This is their website. After that we went to la maison de Victor Hugo. That's right. His apartment was turned into a museum in the early 1900's. We rounded the day off with a good helping of The Mighty Boosh. Oh, Noel Fielding, I do so love your insanity.
Which brings us up to now. It's late and I should go to bed. I promise I'll have a short post tomorrow for pictures, if nothing else. I have methodology courses all day. Whee!!!
Bon Soir!
Alors, here is what I have decided. I am going to do my best to update my blog with des actualités de ma vie every two or three days. In between these longer posts, I will probably add shorter posts with links to photos, things I forgot to mention, little announcements, and anything else I happen to think of that doesn't quite merit a full post. En plus, c'est possible que I will upload a short video each week, just to say hi face to face (dans un façon). Goodness knows that I am rather terrible about actually following through with any sort of communication, so wish me luck.
So without further ado, histoires du Paris!
Alors, je suis arrivée à Paris le vendredi soir (Friday evening). It was a four hour bus ride, which wasn't terrible, but it was a little tiring. I met mon père d'accueil (host father) at the Alliance Française, and after a brief meeting we went back to the 11 arrondissement, ou la Bastille. Yes, I live down the road from the Bastille. I also live about a fifteen minute walk from the 3 arrondissement, which is very much the center of the city, and famously the gay neighborhood of Paris, which also makes it the nightlife neighborhood. I have yet to visit it, but I've only been here 5 days.
So mon père d'accueil s'appel François et il est un architect, et ma mère d'accueil s'appel Laurence et elle est psychanalyste. Ils ont une fille (daughter) qui s'appel Elsa, qui suit des courses de psychologie. They are all really nice, and Laurence and François have been endlessly helpful and very welcoming. François even offered to help me go over my writing assignments once the school year starts up. I get a very post-modern hippy vibe from them, which is how I would describe most of my friends and immediate family, so I think this is going to work out swimingly.
I have a decently large room all to myself, and my own shower, which is really fantastic. Laurence et François m'ont donné (gave me) un plan de Paris, which is posted on my wall. It's really useful! It has a little dot where the apartment building is, and it marks all the museums, monuments and metro stops. They also gave me some guidebooks with lists of cafés and restaurants, as well as a couple walking plans of Paris. I will post some photos of the apartment and the neighborhood as soon as I actually remember to take my camera out with me.
Seeing as it's been a few days here already and I am hard pressed to recall all the details of each day, a brief summary of events in chronological order.
Saturday I meandered about the neighborhood, getting my bearings and exploring a little. In the afternoon, I took a bus with Laurence to the 5 arrondissement and got off at les Invalides, near the Palais Royal and the Musée de l'armée, where I ran into several other Sweet Briar students. We saw Napoleon's tomb, an then I decided to go back to the the Bastille to relax.
Sunday I met up with my cousin Van, who is working as an au pair in St Germain en Laye, a suburb of Paris (small world, right?). We met at the Jardins de Luxembourg, and meandered over to Shakespeare and company, where one of his friends from school is working. I left him there, and then went on a bit of an excursion with my friends from Sweet Briar around the Opéra area. We walked all over the place, and I came home totally exhausted and quite content.
Monday we had an informational meeting at the Alliance Française, and I got my student id card for the Sorbonne Nouvelle!!!!!!! Even more exciting, I got my PARIS SUITCASE!!! I have all my winter clothes now and I am so thrilled. I went home and unpacked, which took me the rest of the day.
Yesterday was fairly uneventful. Oh! Except, we tried to find a coiffeur (hair salon) for my friend Caroline, whose hair is almost as long as mine but isn't in good shape. We discovered that getting a haircut in Paris is ridiculously expensive. This is a huge difference between the States and France, possibly one of the more jarring discrepancies I've encountered. The average price of an inexpensive "coupe" is the rough equivalent of 45 to 55 American dollars. So I'm probably not getting a haircut (I can already hear you all breathing sighs of relief).
Today I went out with Alanna, my roommate in Tours, and we ate the most amazing ice cream ever in the history of ice cream. Cassis ice cream. So good. This is their website. After that we went to la maison de Victor Hugo. That's right. His apartment was turned into a museum in the early 1900's. We rounded the day off with a good helping of The Mighty Boosh. Oh, Noel Fielding, I do so love your insanity.
Which brings us up to now. It's late and I should go to bed. I promise I'll have a short post tomorrow for pictures, if nothing else. I have methodology courses all day. Whee!!!
Bon Soir!
Sunday, September 13
Je suis en retard (playing catch-up)
Alright. This is just easier right now.
Bonne nuit, tout le monde.
Bonne nuit, tout le monde.
Tuesday, September 8
l'Institut
Bonjour, tout le monde!
Alright, so just a few words about the erratic blogging. I can't use my host family's wireless for some reason known only to their livebox, so I've been using the internet à l'Institut Tourraine after classes. However, the wireless is patchy sometimes, and I can only sit around and stare at a computer screen for so long before I start to feel like I'm really missing the point of being in France. So. Erratic updates.
On a completely separate note, let me tell you a little bit about what's happening with school, because at the moment, that's really all I'm thinking about. A l'Institut, all I'm taking is language classes. Once I get to Paris, I will enroll in classes at Paris III, la Sorbonne Nouvelle. However, au cause des grèves (strikes), which lasted for four months last year, the start of the school year has been pushed back. To October 12. Which means that I will have a month of two Sweet Briar Courses a week.
This begs the question, qu'est-ce que je ferai (will do) with myself for the month that I have almost no classes? Still haven't quite answered that. Go to the Louvre. Visit my cousins and friends in Paris, Grenoble, Amsterdam, London and Dublin. Write my thesis. Read. Study. Take long walks (the list goes on).
The other consequence of the very late start is that the term won't finish until January. Which isn't usually a problem if you talk to the professors and your school administrators and let them know what's going on, but since Bennington doesn't start until February... well I'm just plotting away.
Alright, enough for now. Will regale you with further exploits later.
Take care over there!
Alright, so just a few words about the erratic blogging. I can't use my host family's wireless for some reason known only to their livebox, so I've been using the internet à l'Institut Tourraine after classes. However, the wireless is patchy sometimes, and I can only sit around and stare at a computer screen for so long before I start to feel like I'm really missing the point of being in France. So. Erratic updates.
On a completely separate note, let me tell you a little bit about what's happening with school, because at the moment, that's really all I'm thinking about. A l'Institut, all I'm taking is language classes. Once I get to Paris, I will enroll in classes at Paris III, la Sorbonne Nouvelle. However, au cause des grèves (strikes), which lasted for four months last year, the start of the school year has been pushed back. To October 12. Which means that I will have a month of two Sweet Briar Courses a week.
This begs the question, qu'est-ce que je ferai (will do) with myself for the month that I have almost no classes? Still haven't quite answered that. Go to the Louvre. Visit my cousins and friends in Paris, Grenoble, Amsterdam, London and Dublin. Write my thesis. Read. Study. Take long walks (the list goes on).
The other consequence of the very late start is that the term won't finish until January. Which isn't usually a problem if you talk to the professors and your school administrators and let them know what's going on, but since Bennington doesn't start until February... well I'm just plotting away.
Alright, enough for now. Will regale you with further exploits later.
Take care over there!
Bienvenue à la Tourraine
Wow, so that was quite a wait between entries.
So, I have spent the last week in Tours, which is about two hours south of Paris, and I have been attending language classes à l'Institut Tourraine. > La ville de Tours is in the Loire river valley, also called Tourraine, the renowned Chateaux region of France. Tours is one of les plus grandes villes de la France, although for the states it is relatively small. It has an incredibly rich history, and it’s spectacularly beautiful. The photos that I have taken do not really do it justice.
So, I have spent the last week in Tours, which is about two hours south of Paris, and I have been attending language classes à l'Institut Tourraine. > La ville de Tours is in the Loire river valley, also called Tourraine, the renowned Chateaux region of France. Tours is one of les plus grandes villes de la France, although for the states it is relatively small. It has an incredibly rich history, and it’s spectacularly beautiful. The photos that I have taken do not really do it justice.
Alright, enough of the guidebook. Tours is fantastic and I get to be here through September 11, and it’s still warm enough to go swimming. I'm going to have photos of everything up sometime in the foreseeable future, and I’ll update again soon about the Institute Tourraine, classes, and Tours after dark.
PS- funfact! Blogging is forcing me to learn html. Why? Because I like to modify my settings. I am in way over my head.
Thursday, September 3
l'incipit
Bonjour, tout le monde.
Alors, as this is the introductory entry, I should make a few notes. This blog will be la moitié en français, and half in English. As almost everyone qui will be reading this blog est American, it will be mostly in English and de plus en plus en français. I will add a gadget to translate pages when I have the time to find it, for those who cannot understand French de tout.
I will update as often as possible; once a week at the least. I will not endeavor to recount every detail of my day. This is a record of the things that I learn, qui m'étonne (astonish), qui me fait rire (laugh), and, if it so happens, cry.
To finish, a word on the title: I chose it because although it's most frequent usage is to describe a time change or jet lag, it's literal and figurative meaning is that of a "gap"; a gulf between places, between ideas, et entre les hommes.
My time in Paris is an effort to reduce this gulf, and this blog is a chronicle of that effort.
So, coming along for the ride, then?
Alors, as this is the introductory entry, I should make a few notes. This blog will be la moitié en français, and half in English. As almost everyone qui will be reading this blog est American, it will be mostly in English and de plus en plus en français. I will add a gadget to translate pages when I have the time to find it, for those who cannot understand French de tout.
I will update as often as possible; once a week at the least. I will not endeavor to recount every detail of my day. This is a record of the things that I learn, qui m'étonne (astonish), qui me fait rire (laugh), and, if it so happens, cry.
To finish, a word on the title: I chose it because although it's most frequent usage is to describe a time change or jet lag, it's literal and figurative meaning is that of a "gap"; a gulf between places, between ideas, et entre les hommes.
My time in Paris is an effort to reduce this gulf, and this blog is a chronicle of that effort.
So, coming along for the ride, then?
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