2010-06-22
Dejeuner!
2010-06-17
Fatal
Fatal- Jerrett, Valerie, and I went to see a movie tonight called Fatal. It was made by French rapper Fatal Bazooka. It was really cool and funny to watch. It had some slang and the actors talked really really fast so I got about 40 percent of the dialog. The movie was like Zoolander mixed with bits of other movies rolled into a crazy 90 min adventure. I think I will never be the same. It was def worth the 8 euros and the seats were the best part. If you can, everyone should watch Fatal.
Final Thought- My time here in France has been great. I was able to go to 4 countries, 4 capitals, 18 cities, 20 museums, 30 churches, and eat 27 different flavors of ice cream. I think that I spent my time wisely.? France has been really enjoyable and Im grateful that I have been able to dive right into the culture. Before I left people told me that the French were rude and cold hearted people, their cities are dirty, and not a place to visit. My trip here has been the exact opposite. I think the people here great and warm. They care about relationships and each other very much. They respect their cities and have pride in them. I have had people go out their way to help and show me where things are or give me suggestions. They are genuine people and not fake. They dont hide behind masks just to impress or cause they have to. I really can say I have a place in my heart for France and the french.
I was told once they french are like coconuts. They have a hard outside, but inside they are good and soft people; unlike peaches with soft outsides but hard insides, pits. Now I can say that I believe that saying to be true. They might look mean or rude but they are truly nice and are caring people. Im glad I learned that. If that was the only thing I learned then my trip here was worth it( don't worry I learned other things like french, not to take 10 year olds to Agora, and everywhere or anything can be turned into a bathroom like lets say the catacombs). France is a great place and I can see why it is the most visited country in the World.
2010-06-15
When In Rome....
JE DETESTE LA FRANCE!!! (pas vraiment)
Anyway, he and a German woman nearby in the same predicament decided to run the race anyway, just joining in outside of the stadium after the start. Jerrett tells me the course was very pretty, but it's really a shame he couldn't compete for real because he finished pretty close to the front and might have been able to place. Oh well, now we all know for next time we want to...um...run...an official race...um...in France.
l'Italie!!
Sarah succeeded in finding a cute black shiny "Prada" purse with a bow on it and a "burberry" wallet, and I got a red "Prada" purse with a koala-dog-pokemon on it and a "Burberry" purse too. The rest of the time was devoted to avoiding the italian flic (cops, who are known to confiscate knockoff purses and fine the violator. We have yet to figure out why they don't shut down the many vendors of said purses that are in plain view), gelato, limoncello, and nutella-oriented snacks. Having Italy just an hour's train ride away rocks!
Sit down Asians!!
Day 2 of PARIS (5/24/10)! After being lied to by the boys AND Tammy—who knew she had it in her—in the morning about our leaving time in an attempt to combat our dispunctuality (didn’t they read French or Foe? It’s called quarkochronics), we metro-ed off to the freaking Louvre.
NBD, we're just at the Louvre
It was incredible, overwhelming, mind-blowing, and a million other adjectives that fall short of this entire Paris experience. I stuck with Jared, Sarah, Alec, and Beeker for the most part and let them attempt to navigate the Louvre’s many wings, floors, and exhibits to find the classics while I trotted behind, happy to take in whatever works we happened to be passing.
The Louvre’s brutal, man. Not only will the sheer quantity of artwork kick your ass, so will the other tourists. Sarah and Richard both got deliberately pushed out of the way by random strangers in front of Winged Victory and Venus de Milo, respectively.
another stunning Louvre ceiling
After the Louvre, we split up for lunch, with about half of the group heading off for super gourmet 7 euro hot chocolate, and I and several others picnicked in le Jardin des Tuileries, kicking pigeons, enjoying our perfect weather, and discussing French swear words.
After lunch, we went to the Musee de l’Orangerie, which features lots of interesting Impressionist and post-Impressionist work. Monet designed the top floor to best showcase 8 of his gi-normous Nympheas paintings.
I felt like I was in a holy place and blessed to witness such genius, and that feeling continued on the bottom floor, where I got to see a ton of Cezannes, Renoirs, Picassos, Rousseaus, and many other gems.
After the musee, we lollygagged around la Place de la Concorde, originally constructed to show off an Equestrian statue of King Louis the somethingth (really! I just asked Sarah and that’s what she said), but is now just a stately square with some giant and beautiful fountains and statues, the Obelisque, and our first view down the Axe Historique vers l’Arc de Triomphe.
un joli statue a la place de la concorde
We crammed onto a sweaty metro and stopped at the Arc de Triomphe which OF EFFING COURSE was under construction and partially covered in scaffolding like almost every other major monument in Paris (Eiffel Tower, la Defense, Notre Dame, etc…)
counfounded scaffolding!!
waiting for hot off the griddle crepes in the Latin Quarter
Our last event of the evening was a boat cruise on the Seine at sunset. I was looking forward to it but then at the very last second before the boat took off (launched? De-docked? Sorry I don’t know nautical terminology), it was invaded by boisterous tourist groups.
It was still full of great photo ops though and a fun way to end the day, and I’m especially glad I went because we sailed by la Tour Eiffel literally right as the sparkly light show began.
Filthy feet and vicious tourist flocks aside, I’m feeling more and more every moment how much I adore this city- if I can ever find a way to come back and live here, I’m doing it!
2010-06-14
La Coupe du Monde
Being American, I have rarely had a desire to watch or even wonder about this so-called football thing...but being in Europe through the beginning of the Coupe du Monde has made me ridiculously patriotic and terribly pestery for all other nations. This, of course, is only because Les États-Unis d'Amerique are going to dynamite-blow the competition away. Lucky, our first game against the bloody English was null (1-1) due to the incompetence of the English goal-keeper on Saturday. On Friday, we also observed the France-Uruguay match and again, it was null (1-1)...kinda boring right? Wrong! The match last night between Germany and Australian was a nutter German storm of victory. Luckily for us, we were at an Australian bar at the time (rooting for whoever was victorious, of course) and wouldn't ya know it, our German boys pulled a fascist two-step and beat down the Aussie's 4-0. Good times.
Also, this weekend is the 150 anniversary of Nice's adoption into France-land. When we went to the Observatoire, there were some jets flying around emitting some rouge, blanc et bleu:
2010-06-10
Observatoire
Today we went to the Observatoire in Nice! The Observatory is on top of pretty much everything in Nice, and has a beautiful view of the city along with the mountains on the other side. It was Built (and paid for) by Raphaël Bischoffsheim in 1881. Charles Garnier and Gustave Eiffel designed the Eiffel Tour. An interesting tidbit about the two- Charles Garnier also designed the Palais Garnier and Monte Carlo Casino- Gustave Eiffel designed the Eiffel Tower. It has an 18-metre re lens which was one of the world's few tools to serve for virtual observations of the stars. The lens brought about the discovering of two thousand new double stars in Nice! It was really cool to be able to see the work of such famous masterminds! On our way down from the hill we were also able to see something really cool. From the 10-14th of June there is a celebration for the anniversary of Nice, so they had fighter jets flying over the coast. Since we were on top of the whole city we had a perfect view of them doing stunts! They colored the sky with red white and blue stripes (France's flag colors). I only took a couple pictures, and it was really cloudy so unfortunately there was only one good picture of the view (but since of course the view was good my face turned out a little funny) but here it is anyways!
2010-06-05
2010-06-02
Le Château de Fontainebleau
This palace, transformed by Napoleon Bonaparte into a symbol of his grandeur, was really remarkable.
I walked along the gardins then took a tour inside. Every room was really cool to see but my favorite was the throne room, the only throne room fully furnished in France, and Napoleon's library. I enjoyed it all.
It was a great time and Im glad I took the time to go and see it. By far my favorite chateau I have seen in France.
**UPDATE**
Well, my bag is lost..