Suburbs!!

Salut!

I'm glad to report that my cold is getting better! French medicine is very different, and SO effective!! I'm importing medications from now on. 

This weekend, my friend Jessica had friends (studying abroad in Rome) visit us. They were really, really cool and we had a lot of fun together! It makes me even more excited to go to Rome, we'll get to see them too! I went with them to see Versailles on Sunday. I decided that I'm never doing any tourist things on Sunday, ever again. I hate crowds! We waited 1 hour just to buy our tickets to get in. Then we waited another 30 minutes to get into the Chateau, which to be honest, I was disappointed with. The lack of information was disappointing me. There were hundreds of pieces of classical art with NO information about them! No artist, No title, No date, No nothing! It was frustrating. The chateau was nice, but to be honest, I thought that the Hôtel de Ville (Town Hall) of Paris was nicer! 

The gardens however, even though it's winter, are really spectacular. That was one thing I did enjoy- and I look forward to going back there when everything is in bloom. So that was our trip on Sunday to the "suburbs". Sometime this week, I'd like to go to this exposition at Porte de Versailles, it's basically a giant County Fair, except for all of France- and French. Inebriation and overeating, guaranteed. So sounds like fun.

Today, I went with my friend Lauren to another Parisian suburb, Neuilly-sur-Seine, to the American hospital. She tripped this weekend and hurt her foot badly. It was very swollen and bruised and she was afraid she broke it- so I went with her to the American hospital- they work the same way as in the US, thank God- we waited for 2 hours. Nice. But everything was OK, and we had a really pretty bus ride back to the city- we passed the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the Invalides and the Luxembourg Gardens. Not a total bust- plus, she owes me now...

It's a bit grey out today, but it was GORGEOUS this weekend- 60+ degrees and sunny. Today, it's warm, but not so sunny. Rain tomorrow, then sun and warm for the rest of the week. Whoever told me to expect crappy weather every day until spring was either a liar, doesn't know shit, or both! It's been so nice- we couldn't be any luckier.

My friend Lauren told me today that our program is 1/4 over- that's extremely depressing. Paris is such an amazing city that takes a lifetime to know- and 5 months is hardly enough. I feel so at home here- I didn't experience an ounce of culture shock nor home sickness. I miss everyone from home, don't get me wrong- I miss my friends and family so much- but I found a solution- everybody will just move to Paris and then we can all be happy here- Give me your feedback on that thought lol!

I'll put pictures of Versailles up sometime, they're not that great- but there are a few great ones. Check back for those later!

Bisous-

<3>

PS- I'm so excited for the weekend of March 6 to 9- Callie, Megan, Alli, Laura and Norah are all going to be in Paris! Callie's going to be here until the 15th! And then Laura Donald and Isa are coming to Paris until the 23rd also! It's going to be fun!

Quoi de neuf?

So the European germs caught up to me- I've got a bit of a cold- the sniffles. But as I try to do with everything, I'm putting it in a positive light. As with my credit card, it's not that my bill is, say, exorbitant, I'm accumulating miles! And as for the cold, I'm not sick, I'm building an immunity!

Anyway, I booked a trip to Istanbul, I'm going there from 4-6 April (I don't know if I already told you). We're looking at booking our trips for our spring break in Italy (I'll be there from 25 April to 4 May), then our second spring break (gotta love the French!) from 8-12 May (before our final exams)- possibly going to Ibiza (Eivissa), or somewhere on the Costa del Sol (Spanish coast along the Mediterranean). 

All of the booking for the rest of the semester needs to get done now to avoid high costs.. So I'm working on that. Class is good, I like my professor a lot. He's cool, and tries to make it fun. What's even cooler is that I hear the bells of Notre- Dame toll when I sit in class- that's way cool.

I'm going out for coffee now with a friend and his French friends. I'll talk to you soon!

Bisous

Home!

This weekend, me and seven of my friends went to Amsterdam- the real sin city. It makes Las Vegas look like Sesame Place. While we were there, we went to the Anne Frank house, took a cruise on the canals, attempted to go to the "Heineken Experience" (basically the Hershey tour but for beer) but it was closed until the Summer [and ended up wasting 3 € on a disgusting and cheesey sex museum - in the Red Light District). The next day we went to the van Gogh museum in "Museumplein" and walked around the dutch version of "5th Avenue." 

Amsterdam was a cute, quaint "faux-tropolis." No big sites to go see, just enjoy the billions of bikes, narrow canals, narrow houses with detailed façades and hoisting beams. The canal cruise really highlighted that well. As for the night life.... The area called "Leidesplein" (Dutch is such a weird language!!!) is the going out area, with bars, clubs, restaurants and "Coffee Shops" (where they coincidentally don't sell coffee- you figure that out).

We had a nice weekend trip (our first independently organized one), but it was wonderful to be back home, for two reasons- first being, home, second being, Paris = home?! Ver nice.

There aren't really any stunning pictures, but here is the link anyway. The weather was sunny but freezing! Those crazy Dutch people- speaking English and eating Hamburgers and Hotdogs EVERYWHERE. They hardly have their own culture! (That's a lie, but really..)

Tonight, we cooked- rather, Lauren and I cooked. We had fresh salad with avocado and chopped peppers (thanks Lauren) and ravioli and tortelloni with red sauce and fresh baguettes and brie cheese. It was good- I did the cooking and Kim and Jessica did the cleaning- just how I like it- lol.

Anyway- it's wonderful to be back home in Paris, yes. Classes aren't bad- well, I only have one- grammar, every day from 14h to 16h (2pm to 4pm, for those of you who don't speak French). I have the 'director's course' on Monday and Wednesday from 9h to 10h30 (9am to 10:30am- again, translated) and that's taught by the program director, Céline, whose hair is shaped like France- after it's been properly blown out. When it's wet, not so much. Her class is basically "Contemporary France". 

My lectures, "conferences" as they're called, begin on 25 February. I'm taking a course on Paris, on Current Events in Europe/France and French Art History- they meet once a week for two hours. Every other week, I have phoenetics for the week, one hour per day (so one week on, one off-). Kind of confusing, but I'm getting into a rhythm which is good. I like that.

Can't think of anything else going on here- having a great time, I'm truly in love with this place!

Bisous!

Josh

First weekend trip!

So this weekend was "très bousculé!" (very hustle-and-bustle). We woke up SO early on Saturday morning to take a 7h15 bus to the town of Arromanches, to visit the D-Day Museum. It paid a great hommage to the so many soldiers who lost their lives liberating Europe. The French, no matter what my grandfather ever says, are so infinitely grateful for the British, Canadian and American efforts during the war, even 65 years later- it's really moving.

After the museum and some lunch in Arromanches, we boarded the bus again and headed to the American Cemetery at Omaha beach. The cemetery has over 9900 buried soldiers- with mostly crosses, but stars of David all over. It seems to continue forever. The soldiers graves face the direction of the United States, since they gave their lives fighting for their country. It's a beautiful place to "réposer" ("rest") for eternity- the grasses and trees are perfectly maintained, even in February!

The beach of Omaha (not its original name- its code name) is down a long, steep hill. The views from the top are spectacular. We descended to the beach after strolling through the cemetery, enjoying the absolutely perfect weather (see pictures..). The beach was perfectly calm- it's so bizarre to think that so many people lost their lives in the most famous and important battle in modern history- it was eerie and serene at the same time. We strolled around the beach, took some nice pictures and picked some stones to take back. 

After that (yes, all in one day!), we went to a small, very old fishing village called St. Malo. It's old city walls are still there and it's quite impressive. We stayed at this quaint hotel called "Hotel L'Univers." We had this amazing dinner, we drank Kirs to start off (Champagne and peach liqeur- traditional French celebratory drink) and enjoyed salads, amazingly fresh "Moules Provençales" (Provincial style Mussels) with french fries and then had some crème brûlée and "Fruits de Soleil" (Sun fruits- mango, pomegranate and passionfruit) flavored ice cream for like 23€  - great success, gypsie.

We hung out in the hotel that night and enjoyed watching TV after strolling around the small town (since there was basically no night life, unfortunately). The next morning (today) we woke up early, again- thanks Céline- and walked around the city walls and enjoyed the gorgeous views of the "Côte d'Emeraud" (Emerald coast)- the waters are really Emerald colored, it's breathtaking, especially at "l'aube" (dawn). We hoped on the bus and took our 1.5 hour trip to le Mt. St. Michel- this amazing abbey that was originally built in 708! Many additions were made to this abbey and it's really stupendous. It's enormous and can be seen from like 25 km away (we enjoyed it through sunset the night before on the autoroute). We climbed up to the top and again, enjoyed more views. 

The tides here (les marées) are extreme. They rise and fall a few meters, and they're even greater during the winter equinoxes. The gardens and architecture were "jolis" (I can't keep repeating beautiful, etc. in English- I'll just go with the French equivalents). After climbing so many stairs up and down, we went back down to the village area (the abbey is on the very top of the mountain island) for lunch. We had made a reservation at the world famous "La Mère Poulain" for a Mt. St. Michel style omelet- (they whip the batter so it's extremely fluffy), but after a long story, we realized the price of an omelet was 38€ (and that celebrities from Catherine DeNeuve to Eva Longoria to President Sarkozy) had eaten there and it was out of our price range. We went to the next restaurant down and had a three course meal that was just as great for 15€.

We then headed back to the bus for our 4.5 hour bus ride back to Paris. The total trip measured over 1000 km! The ride back home was basically a few naps, 100+ pages of classic French literature (Molière's play, "Le malade imaginaire" [The imaginary sick-person]) which I really enjoyed- and also playing games with Céline's 5-year-old daughter Laetitia, who came on the trip. We all enjoyed reading French children's books and playing with her- we never see kids!! It was a luxury too.

Finally, we arrived back in Paris- which seemed like a dirty, messy, urban jungle in comparison to the quaint, peaceful, simple countryside in lower Normandy and Brittany that we enjoyed this weekend. It was nice and relaxing, though it was so busy! The weather was perfect and it's going to continue to be for the next week- sunny and in the mid-50's (or lower teens lol)

Next weekend we are going to Amsterdam- I'm looking forward to that very much to. Soon, Callie will be visiting- and I'm even more excited for that too!

Check out the 100+ pictures in two photo albums on facebook. The captions are below most of them, explaining what they are. Amusez-vous!

Bisous à tous-

Album One

Album Two

Le jour bousculé!

So today was majorly touristic! This morning, our group of students met our program director, Céline (whose hair is ironically shaped like France, or at least we think so...) at the Hôtel de Ville (which, is not a hotel- it comes from the latin word "hospitus", where we got hospital- but that's not what it really means in Latin- anyway, I wont bore you with any of that nonsense [or dipthongs, etc. lol]). This building is phenomenal- especially to think that it's a replication! In the 1870's during one of the many revolutions (after France lost the Franco-Prussian war) it was burnt down. The reconstruction is larger, but modeled just like the old one, which dated back to the 16th Century! And that's young when you think that Notre Dame dates to the 12th Century!

It was spectacular. Then we had lunch on the famed rue de Rivoli. We came back to our foyer (the French equivalent of a dorm) and napped for a few hours, finished booking our trip to Amsterdam for next weekend and then headed out to see the Eiffel Tower at sunset.

We took the Métro 6 to Trocadéro to get that special view of the Eiffel Tower over the Pont d'Iéna. Check out the pictures. Since it was a Friday, every tourist that just landed at Charles de Gaulle went straight to the Eiffel Tower (since it was also so incredibly beautiful out), so we had to wait for an hour and a half or so to get to the top of the Eiffel tower- thus, we missed sunset. But it's still beautiful at night.

Also- at night, every hour on the hour, for ten minutes, strobe lights covering the Eiffel tower flash- really cool. One last factoid, then it's time for bed- the "lighthouse" light that is on the top of the tower that spins around at night is not one light! It's four lights that work in synchronization!! How cool. Next time you look at it (whenever that is,) look for it!

Well, I have to get up at 6h15 tomorrow to leave for Normandy for the weekend. We are going to see the Normandy beaches, the American Cemetery, the D-Day (or as we say in french, "deh-dayhe") Museum, then over to the fishing village of St. Malo for the night, and then out to Mt. St. Michel, a famed château on the English channel.

Alors, bonne soirée! (Well it's night time here!)

Bisous-

Musée Rodin

Today, it was a gorgeous day in Paris! Sunny, clear and high-50's (or as we say in France, inthe low-teens..., 12C). After a very long class about the history of many streets of Paris, we went to the Musée Rodin, near the Hôtel des Invalides (built by Louis XIV, and where Napoleon is buried). As we exited the metro at "Invalides", on the Seine, at the bridge "Pont Alexandre III", famous for it's golden markers, we watched the end of a photo shoot and a model hurried away. It was cool! Glamorous Paris!

We then walked down the boulevard Rodin to the Rodin Museum (the famous sculptor, "The Thinker"). The gardens are nice, even in mid-winter. The sculptures are fascinating, but the views of the Invalides and the Eiffel tower along with the sculptures was really picturesque. It's a really pretty place to go sit and relax (at the cost of 4 €). Here are the pictures from our outing at the Musée Rodin. 

The weather is going to be beautiful for the next week, sunny and in the mid-50's. This weekend, we are taking a trip to Normandy, St. Malo and Mt. St. Michel. We are leaving Paris at 7h15 in the morning on Saturday- ouch, and are coming back on Sunday night around 16h or 18h (yes, French times!).

Well, it's time to go get ready to go to Club Mix, in Montparnasse. À tout à l'heure!

-jd-

Pictures

Hey.. I'm not sure why Blog spot didn't put the pictures I uploaded on my page, but check out this link to my pictures on Facebook.

Enjoy as I did!

Click here!