April is upon us!

Seriously! Where did the semester go? It is almost april in Paris, I feel like it's blown by me so quickly! Life in the city of love and light has never been better, but excuse me if my blog posts start to lack grammatical structure and spelling, I am losing my english.

So! Today I got some exciting news pertaining to my internship. I will have a car in the small city where I'm living (Pézenas) and I will have a housemate Daria (a girl from Russia).  There is a fabulous Saturday market, in addition I'm close to adorable small villages, the beach and a pool. Life will be rough in wine country, let me tell you!

This past week I spent a lot (a lot!) of time walking around and taking advantage of being in this big, beautiful city of Paris. Starting on...Wednesday? I think. yes. Ellie, on of several of my beautiful friends here, and I went to musée Rodin for our break between classes.  The highlights of this include : it's free for me, it's small and welcoming as a museum, you're in a small chateau with these incredible sculptures by both Rodin and his girlfriend, Camille, and there are immense jardins behind it! After making the tour of the famous sculptures (both inside and outside,  and including the 'Thinker', the Gates of Hell, and the Kiss) we spent a lot of time walking and talking in the garden. I think that is the possibly the best way to spend your day: in the company of intelligent friends walking around for hours, talking about whatever comes to mind.  That very night, i had a lovely dinner with three wonderful french friends (none of them parisian, hmmmm...? :P). and walked around a bit near the lovely abbaye of St. Germain des Pres before relaxing for the evening. Thursday night, girlfriends went out to see Alice au pays des merveilles! I thought it was a trip, not nearly as creepy or whimsical as some of Tim Burton's other films, but nonetheless a great realization of this story !

Friday, ah yes, girl time with Sarah! We started by promenading in the St.Germain des Pres quartier, discovering some cool easter markets, chocolate stores, a famous bakery (they make an awesome sourdough, Zingerman's, I miss you!), and by the time we were hungry, it was necessary to satisfy our appetites with the famous, french croque monsieur! Think of this: Ham, Swiss, Bechamel Sauce, Butter, and a slice of bread, gooey and bubbly upon arrival, it's enough to make you wish you had three stomachs so you could eat more than one at a time (that and the whole not having a heart attack thing).  After a tasty lunch, we walked to the musée d'orsay to see my favorite kind of art, impressionisme! They had all of monet's paintings of the Rouen cathédrale, some of my favorites of his.  Upon leaving, I walked with a friend of Sarah's to show her back to the metro and we walked along the Seine just as the clouds started to part, revealing a beautiful cobalt blue sky. Sigh. Paris.


Saturday was an IES trip to Fontainebleau and Vaux le Vicomte. Fontainebleau was by far my favorite for a few reasons. First it was a bit bigger and completed, so the rooms were lavishly decorated to the fullest extent and everything oozed french aristocracy. Second, it has a chateau used by many kings and napoleon, too, and represents 8 centuries of french history, way cool! Vaux le Vicomte is quite spectacular as well, especially the gardens and the façade, it belonged to Nicolas Fouquet, who was banished into exile by Louis XIV (part of the reason being he was jealous of this chateau and used it as a kind of model for Versailles). But we have arrived at my third reason for liking Fontainebleau better. Let me preface this with a little revelation of myself.  I. hate. mannequins. I hate mannequins, clown dolls, and those creepy dolls with blinky eyes that follow you everywhere. At Vaux le Vicomte, they recently added mannequins to add some aspect of reality to the rooms in the chateau, in my opinion TOO MUCH. Also, I hate them, so it distracted me completely and I felt the sudden need to run from the castle. That being said we got into the gardens, and I was much better. But after 2 castles and an informative, but loquacious guide, it was relax, repose, and sleep time.  After a long day, nothing is better than a long sleep.

Sunday was no exception to my walking-about-Paris of this past week. First it was sunday lunch with the fam, always fun, always plein de gens and discussion, and chicken! Then it was walking around near St.Michel, going to Musée de Cluny (Museum of the middle ages) which has fantastic tapestries and remnants of many ancient cathedrales in Paris, then it was off to the adorable shopping area of Cour St. Emilion to promenade a bit more. 

Could there be a better life than I have right now for me?

Pure bliss in Paris.

Tales of the Homeless

ok, so I told a few of my friends I'd write a blog about some of my more humorous and/or strange homeless person stories. For whatever reason, wherever I go in big cities, especially in Paris, the homeless people flock to me as if I were a chocolate cupcake or something. So here we go:

1.  I think this one happened in the first few weeks/month? If not it doesn't matter, it happened nonetheless. Ok. So, as some of you may know, others may not, the metro closes obscenely early on the weekend for people who like to party until 4 or 5 (it closes at 2am). Anyway, I'm waiting for my metro at station Oberkampf, which is not a terribly sketchy station but like all other stations has its resident squatters who are trying to sleep somewhere a little warmer during the winter. So, there was this girl about 10 feet away from me and one of the homeless men started to bug her, he was probably in his 40s, short, and either drunk/slightly not with the program. At first it was pretty normal, random homeless man talk, but then he took his hat off and tried to put his head on her chest, he tried to touch her hair, it got weird.  And of course, there were 4 people next to her, who couldn't give a darn what was going on even though they could see it. So, I could see she was kind of freaked out, he wouldn't leave her alone, so I yelled over to her in french "Salut Liesse (name of my host sister, had to think of something), je t'ai trouve (I found you), nous avons besoin de rencontrer nos amis!" (we need to go find our friends) So i linked arms with her to steer her away, when all of a sudden, homeless man grabs us and starts shouting in french that she's his and we can't leave! blah blah blah So I put my hand on his chest, pushed him back and told him in french to back off, more or less. Then he proceeded to go annoy some other girls, no surprise there. Then I had a nice chat with the girl and told her if I were in the same situation I would hope someone would do it for me, I would have been a little creeped out. But, now that I have seen the bystander syndrome in reality, I vow never to be one of those people to watch and do nothing!

2. About a week ago, I'm minding my own business on the metro, it was pretty empty so I was sitting with my feet up on the seat next to me reading. I must not have noticed someone sit down across from me, but all of a sudden I felt someone poking my foot where I have my tattoo. I'm thinking, what the heck is going on? I look across and there is a homeless man with a red, curly beard and large can of beer sitting across from me poking and pointing at my tattoo. I was sort of weirded out, but not totally because I have already made the deduction that the homeless in Paris are just kinda strange, sometimes in an endearing way, sometimes not. Anyway, he points at my tattoo, pulls up the sleeve of his shirt and shows me his tattoo from the marines (french marines). After this he tells me in french that he was a marine that's why he has the tattoo, but my tattoo is not for the military. We proceeded to discuss military politics for about 5 minutes before I had to leave. In his case, contrary to my other story, I actually felt sad for him because I feel like he is in a similar situation to many homeless vets in the US. They are one of the most neglected groups in both the US and in France.

3. This story makes me laugh. My favorite one so far. So, last week for my history class we had a visit to st.eustache. My friend Candice and I decided to go together, and upon arriving/leaving the station at les Halles, there was a homeless man hanging out with a large can of some very strange alcoholic beverage, a few teeth missing, calling out to the people walking by. He heard us speaking in English, and proceeded to yell "F"$* Off!" to which I replied matter of factly, "thank you." As my friend Candice puts it, all of a sudden his face lit up with a huge grin and he yelled with a slightly british accent "I LIKE YOU!" ahhh. Paris.

I have a few more shorter ones, but these are the really good ones that I think illustrate my strange happenings with the homeless the best. I tell them also, not to give a poor image of these people, but to describe events of daily life, events from living abroad that crack me up and make me feel like I'm right at home here.

Soon to come:

Blog about promenading in Musee Rodin jardins, upcoming travels, and things so typically french you just have to laugh a little.

Returning to the life I love

Alright, so after break, I felt slightly rejuvenated, also completely lazy about getting back to work, but that's fairly normal, especially when you live in a city where there is a multitude of things to do! I can't believe it is March 15. I've been here for almost 2 months now, time seems to be flying by ! I am always trying to live in the present here, but it is hard not to think about that sad day in July when I'll leave my new home to return to the old.  Ok, thoughts on that are done, back to the interesting stuff happening now! Last week we had a bit of work coming back from break, maybe some I should have done while relaxing during the week, but that is neither here nor there.  Exam last thursday in History of Paris. The thing about parisian exams is that they are more about regurgitation and synthesis of a lot of material all at once (in essence, the questions are much less specific and a little difficult to answer).  My reward was getting a free trip to Reims with my program!

Reims is located in the Champagne region of France (yes, they also make it there, too! Whoa!).  It is famous for two things, one you already know now, and the other being a cathedral. But not just any cathedral, the cathedral where quasiment (mostly, almost all of) the french kings were "crowned," it is also representative of the very high point of gothic architecture.  Because France was heavily bombed during World War 2, there is some damage still both inside and outside, but, like all other buildings in France, it is always being restored (funded by Rockefeller in this case!). Inside these is a fantastic, modern stained glass window designed by Marc Chagall, which is interesting in contrast to the medieval cathedral.  After the cathedral, we had a lunch (free lunch!) and then went for a tour of some Champagne Caves (Pommery).  There was some sort of modern art business going on amongst these old caves with crazy music, it was an experience, that's for sure, BUT we got to taste champagne, and now you know my reasoning for taking this free trip :)

After that, back to Paris again, my home! This weekend, I went out with some friends here, had a lovely time and discovered a new band, General Elektriks, which is totally awesome http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgY0CKaJaG8 .

Saturday and Sunday were lovely days of sleeping and "flâne"ing (walking without purpose), followed by a little studying. Sarah and I found SUSHI! So many rolls, with our wasabi and soy sauce combo, SO GOOD! After, we met up with our friend Julia to enjoy some Berthillon ice cream. Famous in Paris, especially for the fruity flavors and the Chantilly. You cannot forget the huge mound of delicious chantilly for 0,60. I also took a picture of a cool sunset happening against the façade of Notre-Dame.  After these 2 months, it still amazes me that I can walk around and be amongst such historical treasure.  I come out of the metro, there is Notre Dame, out of the metro again, Panthéon, again, so on. I'm in fricking PARIS.

Ok, off cloud 9 for a sec, Sunday, amidst the walking was also the France-Italie rugby match. France won (of course :P), and the stadium was packed! The sports fans here rival those of the Packers or of any strong college football team, they cheer all the time, everyone is wearing the french colors, there are flags everywhere, they sing songs, it's totally great (plus you have a beer or two, not bad!). All in all, not a bad week, lots of fun with french friends and IES friends, living the life here in frog-land!

Bisous


KelsY

PS here's a pic of where I go to school at the Sorbonne, right at the end of the Jardins du Luxembourg:

Vacation time in Paris!

 Ok, this is my spring break post, a long time coming, I know! But here you go, I promise it will provide the details you are searching for (not really, I know it's just my mom readin', haha).

Thursday came, was slowly goinggggg...But, it's Spring Break! The weather in Paris is finally starting to play nice (less cold, rainy/sunny, but I don't need layers anymore!), and I'm leaving the city/my dear friend, Cam, was here! Ok. So, I haven't really been homesick here, However, Cam being here has reminded me of all those people I love, I am so excited he is here! Here's what I did for break so far:

Friday, the 26th of February, random trip to Lille, awesome city! Courtney recommended I go stay with her friend Ryan there, and it turned out to be just what I needed.  I think it's important to get out of the big city at times because it conditions you to have a certain barrier wall at all times.  It's not so much a safety wall, but an "I am the only person who exists in this world" sort of barrier, that's parisians for you :) Lille itself is in the northern region of France, practically within beer-drinking distance of Belgium, and is particularly known for it's cool architecture.  As I am on the precipice of leaving for Amsterdam, I must post pictures later, but it is truly cool. Lots of color, very different from paris but still overwhelmingly french.  Ryan was my tour guide and we pretty much walked the tour of the city, no joke. We started at his apartment in the south, went all the way to the center, to the park, SAW MONKEYS, ate some tasty thai food, went to vieux lille where the architecture is stunningly beautiful, and made it back in time for a traditional northern meal and belgian beer! The next day, Saturday, we went to the musée de Beaux Arts which has a sort of random assortment of artifacts, mostly sculpture and other tangible things, some paintings.

Then it was time to come back to Paris to make sure Cam arrived safe and soundly, tour around Paris before heading to Amsterdam! It's always interesting to go to other big cities in other countries and see how they differ from Paris. Amsterdam is fairly easy to get around, and hard to get lost in. I feel like we always knew where we were going, even though we never did, haha. The day we arrived we had a nice, relaxing bite at a pub before going to AnneFrankhaus.  That was a really fabulous experience and I recommend it to anyone. It was really sobering, but incredibly necessary and important. The thing I like about both this and the Rembrandthaus (which we went to the next day) as that they are the actual homes of these well known, important people.  It's a completely different experience than simply going to a musée, that and the houses in Amsterdam are seriously right out of a cartoon : 5 floors, winding stairs, colorful rooms, the architecture is so cool! We also caught up with some of my friends from my program at the Heineken Brewery (of course, beer brings people together), 2,5 free beers later, it was time for an epic Dave Matthews Concert! Best choice ever, Cam. It was an incredible music experience on an awesome trip with great friends.  Oh, did I talk about the poffertjes? Well, basically they are buttery, tiny pancakes covered with more butter and powdered sugar.  I'm sorry, crèpes, I'm going to have to go with the Dutch on this one. SO GOOD.

After getting back from Amsterdam (march 4th), we spent some time exploring Paris, going to the Pompidou, enjoying long, talkative dinners. Cam left on Sunday, and for me I had to get back to work (we had exams this past week and this week as well).

Paris, as always, still feels like home. But, in thinking of the big picture, I am happy just to be in France. I love speaking and hearing french and learning about all things culturally and historically french, I am a junkie (except the poffertjes. TOO GOOD).

K