Our First Crazy Field Trip: Metz, Nancy, and Reims

Centre Pompidou de Metz

This weekend marked the first time that our entire group would be taking an arranged field trip together.  We saw many sights, took tons of notes, and spent a lot of time running around in the rain -- but overall it was a very fun experience.  On Thursday morning everyone got up early to meet at the coach bus, and I mean everyone: all 48 students, the program director, a studio professor, our physics professor, and our history professor all tagged along too.  After about 5 hours of driving we arrived in Metz, which is straight east of Paris, near the German border.  We dove right into the town's architecture by visiting the Centre Pompidou Metz, a brand new museum of modern art.  We sketched the exterior for a while, which is pretty weird but pretty cool, and saw lots of cool artwork and architectural models inside.

Then we headed over to St. Pierre-aux-Nonnains, which is a really old Gallo-Roman church from the 4th century that somehow survived all of Europe's history.  Tricia (our history teacher) told us a lot of good info and we had a lot of time to sketch the area.  It was during those long hours of sketching that I felt like I really started to get to know the people on the program with me.

The time came for us to drive over to the hostel (it was called the Centre Carrefour) where we dropped off our stuff in separate rooms and got some dinner.  I was surprised at how not disgusting the place was, and dinner wasn't even that bad.  We were free after that, so everyone tried to decide what to do for the night.  A couple kids tried convincing our young physics professor to come party with everyone, but he probably felt like he couldn't (poor guy).  Almost everyone headed out at the same time in search of something to do in that tiny town.

Un kir au vin blanc avec mirabelle

We ran across a couple of Irish pubs that seemed popular amongst local kids, so some of us went into one.  I tried a kir au vin blanc (a white wine kir) with mirabelle flavoring (mirabelle is the famous local fruit), which was okay until I realized it tasted like whiskey.  Then we heard about a karaoke bar where one of our friends was going to sing, so everyone went there and basically stormed the place.  In between the really lame French songs being sung by the locals, we all belted out some awesome Lady Gaga and Britney Spears hits.  The bartenders either loved us for bringing them so many customers, or they were just astounded by how much we livened the place up -- but either way, they were all surprisingly friendly towards us.  (That would never happen in Paris!)

The Art Nouveau style

After the karaoke bar, we all ended up migrating over to a really weird discothèque.  It was ridiculous: absolutely no one was there, so for an hour there were 40 Americans dancing around to bad techno music.  I walked home with my friend Christina and fell asleep easily.  The next day we had a tiny breakfast and drove to Nancy, a town about an hour south of Metz.  I can't remember if it was during this drive or the day before, but our program director Alejandro made us watch this bizarre and funny movie called "The Belly of an Architect."  (What??)  Anyway, Nancy turned out to be much prettier than Metz.  It had a lot of Art Nouveau architecture, which I love for how fluid and natural it looks.  We toured the Musée de l'École de Nancy, a house filled with nothing but nature-inspired curvaceous furniture -- beautiful!  (No pictures allowed, sadly, but I did some sketches.)

My sketches of Art Nouveau furniture from the Musée de l'École de Nancy

I had lunch with Jackie, Kelsey K, and Beth at this really adorable restaurant owned by cute old French ladies.  We got several tarts (including quiche lorraine, which comes from this area), a salad, a dessert, and coffee for only 10€!  After a tour of the Musée des Beaux-Arts Nancy, we walked around and sketched some more until it started raining again.  We drove back to Metz that night and some of us ate a nice Italian dinner in a vaulted, really old restaurant.

That night was more relaxed and we mainly hung out at the hostel.  The next day we visited a beautiful medieval fortress in Metz and St. Étienne de Metz (St. Stephen's), which is one of the tallest cathedrals in France.  It was really influential during the Romanesque era when it got an Ottonian makeover.  The inside was beautiful and contained some awesome stained glass windows done by Marc Chagall.  It was freezing, so after sketching we sprinted back to the bus and drove westwards towards Reims.  Anyone who has ever taken a class in architectural history would've been excited for this last leg of our trip: Reims Cathedral, one of the great icons of Gothic architecture, dominates over the town.  It had been the tallest cathedral in Europe for some time in the 13th century (the interior ceiling reaches 125 feet high), and it was also the location where French kings were crowned.  Sadly, bombs from World War I destroyed a lot of it, especially the stained glass windows (which is why Marc Chagall also created some modern windows for it).

Since Reims is in the province of Champagne, a lot of people bought some wine to bring home.  I saw "2001: A Space Odyssey" for the first time on the bus ride home, which was interesting, to say the least. Overall, even though the weekend was jam-packed with lots of traveling and lots of information to absorb, I found it very fun and refreshing.  Besides, I felt like I got to know everyone a little better -- I mean, if you're stuck in a bus or a hostel with 47 of your classmates and 4 of your teachers, you're bound to bond with each other!

The Most EPIC Party on Earth: OKTOBERFEST!

I know what you're thinking.  I can see the judgment in your eyes (tinged with a dose of jealousy, perhaps).  But regardless of the stereotypes, and no matter what you might have heard about it from the movies, I don't care... because my weekend at Oktoberfest was one of the best weekends of my life!!!

We had heard that flights and hotels tend to get booked fast, so a large group of students began planning the trip back in April.  Even then, we were too late and airfare was rather expensive.  After a long summer and the strenuous orientation program here in Versailles, we were all excited and nervous to make our first weekend excursion outside of France.  Our "pseudo-mom" Magali (the Versailles program administrator) was nice enough to organize a coach bus for 30 of us to take to the airport, since the train to Charles de Gaulle was under construction.  We all managed to drag ourselves out of bed at 4:00am, get to school by 5:00am, and take the bus for our 8:00am flight.

Once I was on the plane, I was too excited to catch up on sleep.  Our plane had to circle around Paris, and since I had a window seat I got a perfect view looking north with the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and the Seine laid out perfectly before me.  After a few minutes of gazing, I remembered that I was going to Germany and knew absolutely NO German... so even though I knew I could get by with English, I took out my guidebook and started memorizing phrases.  Thank goodness I did, because I frequently had to ask "Sprechen Sie Englisch?" (Do you speak English?) to random people.

The flight was under an hour and a half long, so I enjoyed the scenery briefly.  I couldn't tell where France stopped and Germany started, but there were lots of pretty clouds nestled low in the valleys of little hills.  Once we descended into Germany, I could see nothing but farmland spotted with cute little red and white villages.

I was immediately amazed at how true the stereotypes of German cleanliness and orderliness are once we entered the Munich airport, or Flughafen.  Despite this being one of the city's busiest weekends, the airport was dead silent and there weren't lines for anything.  We got our first dose of German hospitality when a nice lady came up to us and gave us a free transportation pass!  And when the same thing happened to another group of our friends, we knew it was no coincidence.... German people are just awesome.

We hopped on the S-Bahn 8 train, which took us towards the city at an amazing speed.  Once again, all I could think was, "Why is Germany so awesome?!"  We got off at Daglfing (the names are rather funny) and easily caught a bus towards the Wies'n-Camp, the campground where we would be sleeping later that night.  I was once again amazed by the smoothness of the transportation system (why don't ALL buses have TV screens showing upcoming stops?!) and we only had to walk 5 minutes to find the camp.  Hundreds of tents were lined up in a small stadium, and a large welcome tent room was open with food and drinks.  The people working there were all young, under 30, and were wearing fashionable lederhosen and dirndls (traditional German male and female outfits, respectively).  More guys tended to wear bundhosen, slightly longer shorts, and I was surprised at how good they looked.  Everyone there was very friendly and I was able to reserve a tent with my friends Brittany, Sam, and Shachi with no problem.

After waiting a VERY long time for about 20 of our friends to catch up and check in at Wies'n-Camp, we finally headed off to find the festival.  We accidentally took a wrong turn, but we ended up at a bus stop where we caught a bus and hoped it was going the right direction.  Fortunately, a very nice Australian lady living in Munich helped us find our way to the correct stop.  The train got more and more crowded and I saw a great variety of traditional German outfits.  We definitely knew where to go when we saw the huge crowd of dressed-up people trying to get up the escalators at the Theresenwiese stop.  It was great to finally ascend into the sunshine with all of the sights and sounds of Oktoberfest overloading my senses!

There were food stands everywhere selling pretzels and sausages; I could see rollercoasters and numerous rides spread throughout the park; the sound of Bavarian oompah music could be heard everywhere; and once we turned a corner I got my first view of the famous German beer tents.  These were no mere tents: they were enormous buildings featuring lavish decorations, loud music, and even beer-drinking animatronics perched on the roofs.  Each was very unique, having its own style and its own special beer.  We walked around in a haze for a while, trying to soak it all in, and eventually we ended up outside the Löwenbräu tent.

It was too hard to get inside without a reservation, so about 10 of us stood on the outdoor porch and enjoyed the festivities.  We each bought a 10€ stein of Löwenbräu beer from a waitress and looked at everyone's cool costumes.  Yes, there were occasionally guys on tables chugging their beer, but it didn't get too crazy -- it was more about cheering people on and having a fun time.  (Though, for the record, I'm pretty sure now that a single German guy could outdrink a whole fraternity of American boys.)

Considering the fact that I don't even like beer that much, I was amazed at how good this stuff was.  After I finished, Brittany and I decided to go ride one of the rollercoasters, which was really fun!  (Even after a liter of beer!)  Then we found some friends in front of the Hippodrom, which was a very vibrant tent that appealed to lots of teens and 20-somethings.  We failed to sneak in, since there were some scary German guardmen at all the entrances, so I suppose I'll just have to go back one of these days.  I bought a pretzel and some currywurst for dinner, and the sausage in particular was very good.

Eventually, a bunch of us ended up at the Armbrustschützenzelt tent, which was the highlight of the evening.  My friend Allie and I had nowhere to sit on the outside porch, so we squeezed onto the end of a table of random German kids.  That ended up being a great decision because we all started talking and getting to know one another!  Judy, Bernhard, and Jan (like "yann", a guy) were all really cool.  We drank some of the Paulaner beer which was possibly even better than the last one.  After meeting lots of cool people from all over the world, we were exhausted at the end of the night and decided to head back towards Wies'n-Camp.  But we couldn't help having one last view of the beer festival, so we went up on the tall swing ride and got a great view of all the lights and colors!

It was sad to leave, but I don't think we would have survived much longer.  Little did I know, back at the camp I was about to have the worst night of sleep in my entire life.  In retrospect it's a funny story -- but at the time, all I could do was hope for the morning to come!  Brittany and I decided to save money and not rent a mat or sleeping bag for our tent, since we had packed plenty of layers.  We just thought we were so smart.  "We'll be fine!"  Nevertheless, even with 3 shirts and a fluffy sweater on, along with 2 pairs of pants, ski socks, and a winter hat, I had never been so cold in my entire life.  We didn't realize the ground would get well below 40 degrees Fahrenheit, even though the weather had been great that day.  Brittany and I kept waking up and shifting around every 45 minutes or so....  To keep our bodies off the ground, we tried some hilarious sleeping positions: first spooning each other to stay warm; then curled up in balls, sitting up; then on our knees in a yoga pose; finally, I just gave up and tried to stop shivering!  It was pretty miserable.  We could hear people in the neighboring tents as if they were in our own, so we could hear other international kids suffering as well.  We also had the pleasure of hearing someone throw up right outside our tent (we were too cold to do anything about it, though).  Around 8:00am, we were all very excited to get up and enter the welcome tent, which had heaters.

My breakfast of a muffin and coffee was actually quite good.  (Of course, it didn't hurt that a bunch of extremely attractive German boys were working the tent, all of whom looked great in lederhosen and were very friendly!)  Brittany and I had a 4:20pm plane back to Paris, so we were excited to explore the actual city of Munich before leaving in the afternoon.  I asked one of the guys what we should do with our last few hours in Munich, and he brought over all of his friends and they debated the best places for us to see.  They kindly got us a subway map and marked out the best plazas and restaurants.  We headed towards the Science and Technology Museum, which is supposed to be really cool, but either it was closed or we were at the wrong entrance. We met a very nice elderly German couple along the way, though.  Instead we decided to wander up the river, and soon we accidentally ran into the huge Oktoberfest parade.

We found a better viewing spot and watched all the groups of people in costumes passing by.  There were horses dragging barrels of beer, people walking trained dogs, marching bands, and lots of people dressed in old military costumes.  Each group represented a different time period, and one of the groups looked as though it represented a 20th century military group.  Their costumes were gray and they had yellow, red, and black banners.  This rose some interesting questions -- how does Germany honor its war veterans?  Are they even allowed to do that?  From what I could tell, the country just pretends that World War II didn't happen.  Then again, it's weird to see Dachau on the subway map, as if the former concentration camp site is just like any other stop.  I wish I could have asked someone about it, but I think it's a very touchy subject there.... so I let it go.

Anyway, Brittany and I started to walk along the parade route when we realized, after an hour, that it was not going to end any time soon.  We went through some of Munich's main streets and passed by a fancy shopping district and some large pretty museums.  After asking for some more directions, we found our way into what looked like the brewery district.  We SO HAPPY to find the infamous Hofbräuhaus, one of the world's oldest beer halls!  (Random fact: I just found out 2 seconds ago on Wikipedia that Hitler used to love having Nazi meetings and parties there.  In retrospect, that's pretty creepy, but I guess beer is beer -- everyone loves it.)  Brittany and I walked in and were so glad to discover what we had missing all along from the Oktoberfest beer tents: there were huge tables of people eating hearty German food and drinking from giant steins; the walls were decorated with vintage German artwork; and a band was playing fun oompah music on a stage in the center.  We didn't know how to get a waiter's attention, so we just sat down at one of the big tables.

Everyone there was in a good mood, so we briefly chatted with a table of Italians before a table of Americans invited us to join them.  That sounded better than eating alone, so we joined this group of older guys from Connecticut.  They were actually really nice and we had a good time just talking about all of the fun times to be had at Oktoberfest.  A father and son there convinced me that nothing could be better than having a family reunion in Munich... So, ok? Hear that, family? Let's make it happen.

We decided to be adventurous and ordered the most German-looking thing on the menu.  Try pronouncing this: it was called "knusprig gebratene schweinshaxn."  Yea... we just pointed to the words!    It turned out to be a pig knuckle with potato dumplings in the most delicious gravy I've ever tasted in my life.  That was a LOT of meat to eat, but it was so good!  We also tried two different types of radlers, which a lot of people recommended.  Mine was a light beer mixed with lemonade, and as usual, it was amazingly delicious (and, as usual, the only size available was 1 liter... haha!).  At one point, our table of American guys started cheering and toasting for no reason and we joined them.  Suddenly the entire restaurant decided to join us, and we reveled in a full minute of noisy cheering -- that is, until a huge German guy came barking at us to pipe down!  ("Thees eez a restaurant, not a beah tent!")  It was a bit frightening but very funny.  We stayed and chatted for a while before sadly leaving.  I couldn't help but buy a Hofbräuhaus stein for the road, though... now I'll always have a bit of Munich at home!

We ended the day by taking a seat at one of the city's prettiest areas, the Marienplatz.  It features a giant gray Neo-Gothic cathedral, which has a really cool Glockenspiel made of little dolls that move around when the clock chimes.  With all of the flowers and all of the people bustling around the plaza, it was a great place to just sit and people watch for a while.

Eventually, it was time to catch the S-Bahn back to the airport.  I bought a gingerbread heart cookie reading "Oktoberfest 2010" for the road -- however, nothing could assuage my sadness, and I left Munich more grudgingly than I've ever left anywhere else.  It was honestly one of the happiest, liveliest places I have ever seen in my whole life, and the prospect of going back to grumpy Versailles was disheartening.  When I was back in Paris, I accidentally said "Danke schön" to a cashier at a store, which proved that ditching the German mindset was going to be difficult!

All in all, I can't wait to go back to Germany.  I felt very much at home there, and not even because of my heritage.  If I'm lucky, I'll find myself once again at Oktoberfest with friends and family sometime in the near future!

Citizens of France, Make Up Your Minds....

.... are you going to be jerks or not?!  Over the past two days, I had one very GOOD and one very BAD experience with French people.  Here's what happened:

On Monday, after a long day of French class and a sketchbook review, my roommate Brittany and I decided to go out to dinner.  We forgot that most restaurants shut down on Mondays, so we were only able to eat at this one rather touristy restaurant (it was called "Garden Café Ice" and the whole menu was translated in English).  Our waiter was very nice, and the food ended up being pretty good, but we had to ask three times for water (just tap water!) but it never came.  In France, or at least around Paris, it is actually illegal to not offer water and bread at a restaurant.  There was almost no one else in the restaurant, so this guy clearly did not forget.  He knew we were American and decided to leave us dying of thirst, and therefore very angry.  Only now do I appreciate America's system for tipping waiters -- because in France, if they don't have to work for that 20% tip, they're not going to!  Brittany and I spent the entire walk home venting about what we would have said, and how we could have made a scene, if we had spoken better French.  What's even worse is that we had to tip the guy 20 cents because we didn't have enough change.  What a ripoff.

So as of yesterday morning, my illusions about France -- my belief that the bad stereotypes couldn't be true --  were shattered.  I realized, Oh my goodness.  Everyone is right.  French people are arrogant and stupid.

BUT then last night I had a mini-crisis when I needed to buy a new charger for my Mac laptop.  The only legitimate Apple store in Paris is in the Louvre, so as soon as I could after school I got on the RER train and got off at the Musée d'Orsay stop.  I was sprinting towards the Louvre with my heavy backpack at this point, because the train had been slow and it was 7:45pm (the store closed at 8).  I arrived at the pyramid entrance, but it was closed; so I ran around the other side, but the other entrance was closed; so finally I found some random dude and asked him in broken French where I could get in.  I guess the Louvre museum and the Louvre shopping mall entrances are separate, so he showed me the correct side entrance.  I seriously got into the Mac store around 7:58... but everyone working there was SO HELPFUL nevertheless!  There were 5 guys trying to figure out what to do, and they ended up giving me a charger for free without even verifying that I had insurance on my laptop.  Even better, I navigated the entire conversation in French!

So thank you, Mac people.  You are my favorite French people ever.  (I was actually surprised that they were French at all... I was hoping for some Californians.)  For the time being, my opinion of French people is remaining neutral.

Pretending to Be Marie Antoinette

Sunday was really great because I finally got to sleep in.  After spending a good portion of the day in my PJs, eating cereal while updating this blog, I finally found the energy to talk to my friends about exploring part of the Château de Versailles grounds.  As it would have taken an entire day to explore ALL of the grounds there, my friends and I decided to just check out Marie Antoinette's charming hideaway.

Her hameau de la reine (or "hamlet of the queen"), as it's called, is an adorable part of the park that she had constructed for her own personal pleasure.  She already had the Petit Trianon for her own private use, but I guess when you're French royalty you can really do whatever the heck you want.  So, to further remove herself from the boring court life of Louis XVI, she ordered that a fake country village be built so that she and her inner circle of friends could pretend they were poor peasants.  I know that Marie may have never said "Let them eat cake!" ...but I guess she was still a pretty arrogant psycho.

Nevertheless, after walking throughout the hameau, I really COULD see the appeal of wanting to live somewhere like that.  I felt like Belle from Beauty and the Beast!  (No, I did not hum that opening song from the movie where Belle's walking through town......  *ahem*....)  It seemed to be an idealized version of a typical French country home.  The thatched rooves and quaint pathways on the exterior were very charming, but looking through the windows, we could see that Marie Antoinette still had very high standards for her quality of living.  The interiors of all the buildings are decked out in marble and other decorations, but the exteriors give the appearance of simplicity.

We wandered through the farmland some more and came across the Petit Trianon, which we decided to look at later.  By that point, we had walked the equivalent of several miles -- everything in Versailles seems close but is actually very spread out!  After walking another 30 minutes throughout some tree-lined boulevards within the forest, we finally made our way out.

Another Awesome (Touristy) Weekend

Yesterday, on Saturday, we got to sleep in for the first time.  Then Brittany, Sonia, Allie and I met up at the Rive Gauche (Left Bank) train station, which is the fastest way to get into Paris.  We got off at the Musée d'Orsay stop and crossed the river so we could explore the Right Bank for the first time.  The Right Bank is famous for being the ritzier, fancier side of Paris, with all of the best shopping and the lovely Champs-Elysées street.  We started off at Place de la Concorde, which hosts a giant Egyptian obelisk at the center of a big traffic circle.  That's where Marie Antoinette and thousands of other people got their heads chopped off during the French Revolution... pretty cool! (Haha.)

Down the street we could see the Madeleine Church, which basically looks like a Greek Temple.  THAT was when I could tell we were in a ritzy shopping area: within two blocks, all I could see was Dior, Cartier, Gucci, Prada -- too many pricey stores to name!  There were pastry shops with delicately arranged desserts, cute cafés, and lots of fashionable Parisians toting puppies in their purses.  Seriously.  We stopped at a "chocolatier" and splurged on some really expensive but really delicious chocolate.  That was the best piece of chocolate I've ever eaten.... mmm.

Look at the desserts in the window!

After walking a few more blocks, we stumbled across the Opera Garnier.  It's so big and so ornate... and best of all is that the Phantom of the Opera story originated there!  (There's even a lake underneath the building.)  We tried to go in but were too late, so I'll have to go back again if I want to see the grand entry and the big chandelier inside.

Behind the opera is a huge shopping district, much more crowded than the little boutiques throughout the rest of Paris.  The Galeries Lafayette and Printemps seemed to be the most popular department stores; we were stuck in a non-moving crowd, but it was fun!  The inside of the Galeries Lafayette was absolutely insane.  I love the ornate Art Nouveau style.

Click to enlarge the photo... this place is so pretty inside.  It's supposed to be even cooler at Christmas time.

We walked around a cool furniture store and then tried to escape the crowds.  We found this cool church called St. Augustin that we were allowed to walk into.  It was very quiet, dark, and serene, so we just rested on the pews for a few minutes before walking down Boulevard Haussman.  That street is one of 12 that leads into the Place de L'Etoile (Place of the Star), where the Arc de Triompe sits in the middle of a huge traffic circle.

When we finally arrived at the Arc de Triompe, it was really touristy, but we couldn't help crossing through the tunnel beneath the street to see the arch up-close.  There was some kind of ceremony going on, because a lot of soldiers were standing beneath the arch and the French national anthem was being played by a band.  It's great being a student in France, because we got tickets to go up the arch for FREE.  Little did we know, there was no elevator... so basically, my legs were shaking by the time we got to the top of the stairs, and they're still really sore today.  However, the view was totally worth it:  we could see down the Champs Elysées, we could see the Eiffel Tower as if it was a stone's throw away, and the Basilica of Sacré Coeur loomed on the hill of Montmartre in the distance.  It was nice to just stand there for a while and take in the views.

We ended the afternoon by walking down the Champs Elysées and admiring all of the fancy theaters, restaurants, and stores.  We passed by the gorgeous Grand Palais and the Hotel des Invalides, so I can't wait to go inside those buildings later.  Once we got home, it was too late to come back to go out in Paris, so we met up with some friends at a café/bar near our house.  I think my legs would have protested any further walking, anyway.

End of the First Week of School

On Thursday, we had our first day of Structures class (basically Statics & Dynamics for architects).  I was surprised to learn that our professor is Jeff Kansler, this young guy from U of I's engineering school who I had actually talked to last year when he gave us a guest lecture.  He had just arrived in Paris a few hours earlier, so he was really tired and let us go after about 20 minutes.  I'm excited for that class, not just because our teacher seems like a cool guy, but because I love doing math and physics problems.  So much better than the never-ending process of architectural design!

In the afternoon we had a lecture about our "Independent Study" sketching class.  We didn't actually sketch anything, but the director (Alejandro) showed us some cool examples from last year.  Then went to get cell phones from a big company called Orange.  It was really funny, because 9 of the U of I kids ended up at the same store at the same time.  So this guy was practicing his English on us, and teaching us how to work the cell phones, saying, "Ok class, be quiet! Everyone, type in this number..."  He must have thought that Americans hug each other all the time, because after we bought our phones, he wanted  hugs.  So random.  Later that night we just chilled out, made some dinner, and did our first homework assignment:  drawing plans and sections of our apartment.

On Friday, we had our second French class.  We ALREADY had a substitute teacher (oh, French people), but she was cool too.  We learned a lot of banking terms, which came in handy when we tried to get money the next day.  In the afternoon we had our first real sketch trip, and there were a lot of options to choose from.

I chose to go by myself to draw the Pantheon in Paris.  I don't know why, but I feel even more comfortable wandering around in Paris than I do in Chicago.  I'm getting pretty good at directions.  Anyway, I chose to dress up like a real Parisian: I had a flowery tank top tucked into a black pencil skirt, dark tights, and purple heels.  People seriously thought I was a native: so many asked me for directions!  I was happy to help this American lady who came up to me and asked (with a terrible accent), "Parlez-vous français?"  It's funny: we all love bonding with fellow Americans, or even English-speakers, while in France.  It's nice to know that there are other people struggling there too.

Anyway, the Pantheon was really beautiful.  It was hard to sketch because it's just so big.  I enjoyed going inside, especially into the crypt beneath the church.  I didn't realize it, but tons of awesome people are buried there: Voltaire and Rousseau (the philosophers), Alexandre Dumas (who wrote The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo), Louis Pasteur (like pasteurization), Louis Braille, Marie and Pierre Curie, and best of all, Victor Hugo (The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Les Miserables).

After I sketched a lot, I called up my friends who were nearby and we walked throughout the Latin Quarter to find some cheap food.  We ended up buying some wine and baguette sandwiches.  We then did the most French thing we could have possibly done:  we found a nice spot along the Seine River, sat down with our wine and food, and watched the boats pass by as the sun set behind the Eiffel Tower!!!  It was a perfect evening.  People in the boats probably thought we were French, and we tried to wave hello to all of them.

After about an hour and a half of just chilling out there, we hopped on the train for 3 stops and got off at the Eiffel Tower.  Even though my feet were killing at this point (never wearing heels again!), it was great to see it sparkle every 15 minutes or so.  It doesn't get much better than that.

Some Interesting Observations

Part of the reason why it's been so hard to settle into the Parisian lifestyle is because their lifestyle really is very different than ours.  Sure, French people are very familiar with American culture, but they don't really adopt it as their own.  Here are some random tidbits of things that strike me as strange, cool, or just different than I expected to see in France, both the good and the bad:

• French people can recognize Americans immediately because of our bright clothing.  Even if we're not wearing gym shoes and a fanny pack like typical tourists, our colorful t-shirts and backpacks give us away immediately.  The predominant color is -- sadly -- gray; the most popular outfit I see usually involves gray pants, a grayish sweater, and a black or white shirt.  Along with black or gray shoes.  I'm not even kidding.  I have not seen a single pair of sweatpants.  Most of the women wear low heels or wedges (I have no idea how they survive on all that cobblestone).  Some of the little kids wear cute pastel colored outfits.  It seems like people tend to wear color only in the form of accessories.
• Speaking of French kids.... they're so cute!!!  Their parents dress them amazingly well; they all look like they belong in a J. Crew catalog.  Weirdly, they all ride scooters around -- even some high schoolers.  Behind in the times, much?
• There are puppies everywhere; my Dad would love it!  I must have seen at least 5 yorkies yesterday, and a couple of white bichon-frisées too.  I finally saw these two cute mini poodles, one black and one tan, which were adorable.  There are mostly small dogs, but I saw a few golden retrievers and yellow labs too.  A lot of dogs walk around without leashes, which seems dangerous based on the craziness of the drivers around here.  
• The street signs and crosswalk signals make no sense here.  Drivers seem to drive whenever they want to, and pedestrians just cross the street hoping that all the Vespa drivers will be nice enough to stop for them.  Sometimes, while waiting to cross a busy street with no crosswalk, the cars will slam on the breaks and signal you to walk.  That WOULD seem friendly, but it's like, "Ummm there's a lot of traffic flying towards me from the other direction so just DRIVE! I'll cross later!"
• Nothing is very convenient in Versailles.  Even Monoprix (which has everything) is closed on Sundays along with most other stores.  It's hard to shop for bathroom products and simple things that we're used to -- zip-lock bags, notebooks, folders, face wash -- because they just don't HAVE it.  Even though I'm a big fan of the metric system, shops only sell products in tiny little centilitre containers that are way overpriced.  Milk, shampoo, olive oil... they all come in tiny little bottles.  Oh, how I miss WalMart and Sam's Club.  
• People talk very quietly here.  I feel embarrassed walking with just 5 of my friends down a street, because we're so obviously loud and American.
• Overall, I really enjoy spending time in Paris more than I do in Versailles.  It's just so classy and breathtakingly beautiful.  Everything is either a) carved out of stone or marble or b) covered in gold.  The Château de Versailles is awesome, but it rather outshines the surrounding city (literally.... so much gold!).  Paris, on the other hand, has hidden treasures around every corner and offers amazing views of all of its spectacular monuments.

Video Clips of Paris #1

I took a couple of videos when I was strolling around Paris.  I guess I only remembered to film stuff during the first half of the day because this is just background footage from visiting the Latin Quarter, the St. Germain area, and the Louvre mostly (no Eiffel Tower footage yet, sorry!).  

Check out the YouTube link: Paris Video #1

Enjoy!

Settling into Versailles

MONDAY, SEPT 6

On Monday we had our first day of "classes," though this first day was reserved for introductory meetings rather than actual classwork.  In the morning we headed into a large classroom on the 3rd floor of the ENSA-V school building, and we basically sat for 3 hours learning more about our program as a whole.  We then got a 2 hour lunch break -- apparently the norm for the rest of the year (yay France!) -- and then came back for 4 more hours of introductions, handouts, and question-asking.  We were also able to set up French bank accounts with BNP Paribas, so I'm eager to get that started so I won't have to be charged ATM fees any more. 

During our break, as well as after class, we were able to explore the rest of the building.  I was unable to find any of the actual studio rooms that we'll be using for the next 9 months, but I stumbled across some very cool storage rooms.  In the center of the entire building is an enormous, dome-covered stone hall, with long vaulted hallways leading off of it in three directions.  Right beneath the huge dome stand some of the most beautiful Corinthian columns I've ever seen -- and they're not even supporting anything!  Someone heard that they actually belong to the Louvre Museum and are being restored at our school in Versailles... but I don't even know how they would have put them there, because the giant columns are much taller than any of the nearby ceilings and much wider than any of the doors!  The hall is filled with tons of beautiful marble statues too, all of which deserve to be exhibited in Versailles or the Louvre.

After school I tried to organize the apartment more and do some shopping.  I then discovered the joys of Monoprix, a.k.a. the best store on the planet (or at least in Paris), which has only a tiny storefront but is actually the size of a Target inside!  One of them is on Versailles’ main north-south street, Rue Foch, and it has everything from clothes and home décor to bathroom products and grocery store food (including a lot of American brands). 

That night my friends Jackie, Beth, and Kelsey invited us over to their apartment to watch a movie.  Once again, their apartment seemed awesome compared to ours – they have much more space and more privacy, too.  But we watched the new Pride and Prejudice film again and all was well.  I crashed after a long, information-overloaded day.

TUESDAY, SEPT 7

The next day began with our first real class, History of French Architecture.  Our teacher is this Midwestern lady who's very calm, friendly, and easy to relate to.  Her lecture was very introductory, and we mostly looked at a bunch of boring maps of prehistoric Europe around the Gaul region (later to become France).  But I know I'm going to love that class since we'll be physically visiting and sketching several of the buildings we study.

In the afternoon we had a brief oral placement exam for French class.  All of the teachers were very nice and just talked to us to gauge how easily we can speak.  I got put in the highest level with a couple other people.  French class will only last until November, but I'm glad that we'll be forced to practice and learn a little bit more to help us deal with reality: many people here can speak English, but often they refuse to.  They're usually very nice about talking more slowly in French and helping us out when we don't understand, but they are even more protective of their language than I thought.... they really don't seem to want it to ever change.

At night, we got invited over to Kara, Shachi, and Sam's apartment to have a little wine party.  They lucked out with a great updated place, along with a landlord who doesn't care if they throw parties.  Their place is totally picturesque, and they even have a view of cute shops down the street along with a cat across the street that likes to sit in a window (worthy of a Toulouse-Lautrec painting, I think).  A lot of people came, so it was a lot of fun.  I wasn't at all surprised when a neighbor knocked on the door telling everyone to pipe down... they were blasting music right next to a family trying to sleep!  But we toned it down after that and everyone had a good time until we ran home in the rain around 11pm, having forgotten our umbrellas.

WEDNESDAY, SEPT 8

Today began with our first real French class at ENSA-V.  It was going rather painfully slowly, but I guess our teacher had to start out with simple material to get everyone up to speed.  I just hope I'll have more opportunities to practice speaking rather than just listening to grammar lessons I learned 5 years ago.  In the afternoon we dealt with some computer lab issues.  During our break, Sonia and I visited a highly recommended crêperie situated kind of between our house and the big market.  It lived up to its reputation: the service was great, the food was cheap, and my crêpes were délicieuses.  The first one had bacon, goat cheese, salad, and walnuts; and for dessert I got a plain one with sugar, which was just as good.

After that computer meeting we finally headed over to the Château!  We dropped our backpacks off at Natalie's place and walked up through those beautiful golden gates onto the castle grounds.  Since we had received our student cards, entrance was completely free.  That made me feel like I could wander in there whenever I wanted, which would be pretty awesome.  It was pretty crowded even that late in the afternoon, so we skipped the audio tour and just looked around.  It's been restored and cleaned a lot, so both the interior and the exterior are even more beautiful than I remembered.  The gold shines brighter, the mirrors are clearer, and the chandeliers are even sparklier (...if that's a word.)  I would love to go in the Hall of Mirrors at sunset if possible, because that would really emulate the whole Sun-King-sitting-in-a-room-with-the-sun-shining thing from back in the day!  This might sound lame, but it was also really cool to see where the makers of Marie Antoinette filmed a lot of that movie.  Even though that movie's screenplay was awful, it really helped me visualize how people dressed and behaved during the 1700's.  

We're planning to go explore the gardens when it's a nicer day and we have more time.  

For dinner, Brittany cooked some wings and Sonia made chicken kabobs (...I did the dishes, haha).  I might have difficulty learning how to cook well, especially in this insufficient little kitchen of ours.  It's pretty annoying to have to go to the grocery store every day when all we have is a mini fridge to keep food in.  And not even the grocery store -- Monoprix may have everything, but it's a bit overpriced, so to get the best fresh and cheap food, I'll have to go to several different markets.  The boulangerie has bread, the boucherie has certain meats, the fromagerie has cheese.... you get the idea.  I just can't believe that the stereotype is true: everyone really does walk around with a baguette in their arms!  Versailles being a small town, as opposed to Paris, makes me feel like I'm Belle in Beauty and the Beast when I walk to school in the morning.  Maybe I'll break out into song tomorrow.  :)

My First Days in France

So now that I finally feel like I've settled down here a little bit, it's time for me to update everyone on how my first three days in Versailles have gone.  It's going to take me a very long time to adjust to the language, culture, and my living situation here... but hopefully I'll figure it out soon.

FRIDAY, SEPT 03

We arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport around 1 a.m. Chicago time, meaning that it was 8 a.m. here and we had to begin a new day after very little sleep on the plane.  After waiting an hour at the airport, we boarded a bus that took us from the airport (which is northeast of Paris) to Versailles (which is southwest of Paris).  It was a long ride due to traffic, but it was fun to see things like the hill of Montmartre and the Eiffel Tower as we drove along the highway.  Arriving in Versailles, all of the buildings were very picturesque and the weather was beautiful -- but nothing could compare to our first view of the Château de Versailles.  When our bus crossed the city's main intersection, I think all 48 of us took a collective gasp when we saw the shiny gold expanse of the royal palace.

It turns out that our school is only yards (or should I say, meters?) away from the Château's grand entrance.  The bus dropped us off and we entered ENSA-V, or l'École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Versailles.  We gathered in a courtyard and got to have some food and drinks (it didn't feel like lunchtime, but apparently it was).  Brandon and I, the two student representatives, went off with the program director Alejandro Lapunzina to make some copies of passports and visas.  The director and the rest of the staff all seemed very nice.  While eating lunch, we got to meet one of the French students and the director's daughter, who later took us shopping for some sheets for our apartments.

Then came the scary part: being dropped off at our new homes.  My roommates Brittany and Sonia and I got to our house just as the mom was about to go pick up her kids from school.  She was very nice and offered us some help and some refreshments before leaving.  We had some time to unpack alone before anyone else came home.  Essentially.... our place consists of 1 main room with 2 beds, a smaller side bedroom, a tiny kitchen, and a bathroom on the third floor of the Poussin family's townhouse.  To put it nicely, this is place is a piece of s&*@!  It was built over 300 years ago... no joke.  We're lucky enough to have a shower with warm water, but we have no oven, no freezer, no closets, and no access to the rest of the house.  Fortunately, the Poussin family has cute kids that are perhaps a bit friendlier than their parents.  The oldest is Solange, who's 11, then there's Jean-Baptiste, and Jeanne, and little Célestine who's just 4.  Solange knows a little English, but I doubt the others do.  Hearing them speak French is the cutest thing I've ever heard!  I think they sent us a friendly gesture when they left "Happy" the family bunny in a basket outside our door later that day... pretty random!

That night the three of us decided to splurge on our first French meal.  We walked down the street and found a pretty crowded restaurant called Café XXL (no, it was not extra large) and sat outside.  We could barely read the menu and almost nothing sounded familiar.  Not wanting any escargot or frog legs, I randomly chose something called “boudin”, which turned out to be a pretty scary-looking sausage with mashed potatoes and squash.  It looked gross, but the taste wasn’t too bad – just unusual.  We still have absolutely no idea what the meat was… it’s a mystery!  That café was a funny way to end the night, especially when Brittany repeatedly told the waiter she wanted “lait” (milk) and got a glass of nasty cream instead of “l’eau” (water), which is what she really wanted.


UPDATE: A "boudin noir" is apparently a kind of blood sausage.  Eww!

It was a little hard to sleep that night, what with the construction occurring on the street outside my window and the lack of big pillows… but it had been a 32 hour day so I passed out pretty quickly.

SATURDAY, SEPT 04

On Saturday morning we got up early to shower and then headed off to school for a tour of Versailles.  We split into groups and Professor Lapunzina’s older daughter Andrea showed us around town.  It turns out that my apartment is a lot closer to some cute shops, cafés, and movie theaters than I thought.  Afterwards a group of girls and I walked down one very picturesque cobblestone street to get lunch.  We ended up at a cheap Italian restaurant and ate outside; it was great!  Then we stopped by Natalie, Allie, and Andrea’s apartment since they’re allowed to have guests over… I couldn’t help but be jealous of their 10 foot ceilings, their floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the street, and their large kitchen. 

Afterwards, we stopped at a nearby grocery store called “Super U” to get some food.  I had a very embarrassing moment (the first of many) when I got to the cash register and realized that I had not weighed my fruit beforehand.  Fortunately, I could understand the lady telling me, “You need to weigh this downstairs first and put a sticker on it!” so I spewed out some awkward French apologies and ran back into the store.  She nicely held the line up, at least.  My friend Brittany had the same problem was less lucky: her cashier didn’t know a word of English, and she doesn’t know a word of French… so the guy behind her in line had to translate!

That night, a bunch of people agreed to meet up at a restaurant/bar called “O Paris”.  Tons of teenagers were there, so it seemed like a good location.  Afterwards we went down the street to “Les Grapes”, where we found the rest of the U of I group!  Only 4 of the 48 kids weren’t there… so we felt kind of bad invading the place.  It was a long, rough day, so we left fairly soon.

SUNDAY, SEPT 05

The previous night had been a little sad, as I had been overwhelmed by the culture shock and fed up with French people, so I was very excited to finally revisit some beloved sites in Paris.  Since we had the whole day free, about 20 people opted to take the train from Versailles into the heart of Paris.  Everyone decided to depend on me for the day’s “plan” since I was more familiar with Paris than anyone else… which was cool, but it felt like I didn’t deserve that level of authority!  But since everyone seemed kind of lost and hopeless, I just took the reigns and told them the best route to take on our first tour of the city.

The RER train ride in was incredibly smooth and fast.  The distance was about equivalent to the distance from Park Ridge to downtown Chicago, but it took half the time and the train (a double-decker) was almost completely silent.  We got off at the Saint-Michel-Notre-Dame stop, and when I walked up the subway stairs and got my first new glimpse of the Notre Dame cathedral, it was the best feeling I’d had all week!  I felt like I was finally back where I belonged.  Versailles is charming, but Paris is just the most amazing place I’ve ever been.  I remembered that THIS was why I came here.

We approached the cathedral and walked around the back to see all of its best views.  The church bells were even ringing as we did so (by the Hunchback, perhaps?!).  Since Notre Dame is on an island in the middle of the Seine river, we crossed a bridge to the southern half of town and began exploring the Latin Quarter.  It was GORGEOUS, to say the least – adorable cafés were buzzing with happy people on every corner!  I ate at a rather touristy café and got a cheap sandwich.  It was funny because our waiter thought we were crazy… we downed three “carafes” (little tiny pitchers) of water and kept asking for more!  Apparently French people just don’t drink water.  I have no idea how, because we were dying of thirst after walking around so much.

Next, the group joined up to walk over to the Jardins de Luxembourg.  I don’t think anyone was expecting it to be a very interesting garden, so they were amazed when they saw how huge it was!  It’s crazy how such a vast space can be set within such a cramped, busy city.  People were everywhere, picnicking on the grass, playing in the wooded park, sailing mini boats in the pond… it was a beautiful day. 

To save a metro ticket, we decided to walk from the gardens all the way up to the Musée d’Orsay museum on the Seine.  This was a LONG walk but we found some great neighborhoods in between!  In particular, I really enjoyed walking along the street called St. Germain, which is where my family and I will be living over Christmas break.  It features some of Paris’ oldest and nicest cafés, a lovely church, and several cute shops.  I can’t wait to stay there because it’s such a central location and simply very Parisian-looking!

We sat along the river for a break and then crossed it to explore the Tuileries Gardens that lead up to the Louvre.  When we left the shaded path and walked onto the main axis, we discovered an amazing view: you could see the Louvre, the Egyptian obelisk at Place de la Concorde, and the distant Arc de Triomphe down the Champs Elysées street all lined up perfectly!  Clearly, this once served as the old French kings’ main driveway.  In fact, the entire layout of Paris is indicative of the royalty’s old style – many landmarks are laid out upon giant symmetrical axes, which definitely give the impression of supreme power and what not.  We all laughed when we looked at the enormous Louvre, and remembering our French history, thought, “Really, Louis XIV?? This palace wasn’t good enough for you, so you had to go build Versailles?? Really??”  They should make an SNL skit for that…

Exhausted and thirsty, we finally went back to the train to head over to the Eiffel Tower (it was way too far to walk).  Once it came into sight, we couldn’t help but smile and snap photos like ridiculous tourists.  It’s being touched up with paint, so unfortunately there were some tarps covering it up a bit, but it was still a breath-taking sight.  There was a bizarre Native American-themed performance going on beneath it, so we listened to the music and enjoyed the weird clashing of cultures as we sat in the shadows of the Tower.  It was very relaxing and a great end to the day before we headed home.