We went to the Immigration Museum today. It was really interesting to see how many French people have come from other places and the exhibits were inspiring since they included works of art, different stories, among music. I enjoyed the cartoon section the most, especially one which showed a French man of African descent sitting between two chair: one chair represented Africa and the other represented France. I liked it because sometimes I feel the same way, like I am sitting between a Brazil and a U.S chair, my legs grounded, but the rest of me in the air.
However, the part I enjoyed the most was the Soccer section, a temporary exhibit in honor of the World Cup. I saw a couple of French player information from Brazil and read about the French team history. I did not enjoy that the exhibit played the France-Brazil game of 98 (which France won) on a loop, but was entertained nonetheless.
After the Immigration Museum, we ate a delicious, very typically French Cafe where I ordered a juice called Paradise and a salad named Oceane with smoked salmon, palm hearts, and artichokes. We saw Ernest Hemingway's home on the way and an old wall from the 1200s that used to mark the Paris city limit. I picture Hemingway walking along these streets and now understand why he loved France so much.
Then, we headed back to the hotel and took a brief nap to prepare for a tour of Les Passages, the beginnings of the modern mall. Les Passage were very pretty and apparently much more of the city used to be covered until Hausman designed more open spaces. A Professor who taught at Columbia and Georgia Tech even heard our tour and gave some more interesting information of his own.
We stopped at a bar where I had the first beer I've actually really enjoyed: it was called Edelweiss and it tasted sweet! Pleased with this discovery, we headed to a restaurant in a Passage where we could have dinner.
I had escargot for the first time there which I enjoyed immensely. The butter and garlic perfectly complemented the texture of the snails and I found it fun to dig it out with the miniature fork.
On the walk back to the hotel, we saw the birthplace of cinema, a small cafe where the Lumiere brothers held their first screening, an opera house, the giant Parisienne Ferris Wheel, and a glittering Eiffel Tower. Truly, Paris at night is a sight to behold!
Once again, I was too tired to really experience the nightlife when we got back at midnight>_<. After so much walking, I just wanted to go on the computer for a bit and sleep off the soreness as
I contemplate the amazing sights and sounds I experienced during the day. Plus, I was excited about meeting my Montpellier host family today and would hate to cause a bad impression due to lack of sleep.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Paris: Day 2
Today, one of the highlights of the day was the beautiful Mont Martre and Sacre Coeur. Mont Martre involved an entertaining (albeit sketchy) visit to a sex shop and seeing Moulin Rouge in real life instead of just the romanticized version in the movie. Moulin Rouge is one of the most famous cabarets in Paris, and what I liked about it the most were the paintings on the walls depicting shows that I've always thought of typically Parisienne.
I suppose the sex shop was sketchy because it was full of blow-up dolls, which was very odd. Moreover, there were “private showing rooms” whose purpose I could guess, but did not really want to contemplate. In any case, it was fun to laugh at it, but once you've seen one, you've seen them all.
After Moulin Rouge, we walked around and saw several windmills which had turned into cabarets as France moved from an agriculturally oriented society into a consumer-oriented one. We took a tour around Mont Martre, where our tour guide proceeded to tell us about various famous artists who had lived and painted there, including Monet. She described their life-style as very pary oriented, which I'm sure they used to enhance their creativity. It seems most truly groundbreaking creativity requires someone with a very different mind from most other people. Most of the artists our guide described died of syphillis or other STDs, not surprising given their, I supposed you can call it, “living in the moment?” Or maybe “zest for life.”
The most entertaining artist to me was one who mocked the modern art movement by using his pet donkey to create paintings for him. I wish I could remember his name, because that I would get a huge kick out of seeing more donkey paintings!
We also saw a statue coming out of the wall (I couldn't resist taking a picture high-fiving said statue), beautiful gardens, and serene views that inspired the artists in the area. We even passed Deux Moulins, the famous cafe in Amelie. After that area of Mont Martre, we headed to Sacre Coeur.
The detail in Sacre Coeur was absolutely breath-taking. The white curves and shapes of the cathedral were flawlessly designed, and the inside was no exception. The various sculptures and peaceful atmosphere made me want to just sit in the plaza all day, gawking at the view of the city and contemplating human civilization in general. It really is amazing that most inspiring buildings were constructed so long ago, that architechture today still bases itself on similar aesthetic principles that were used for most buildings then.
Outside of Sacre Coeur, I saw many Brazilians, dressed up in soccer jerseys and ready to cheer at the game, either at bars or at the screen by the Eiffel Tower. Amidst the throng of people, artists lurked in the plaza, offering to draw everyone who passed. It must be here that the sketch of me as a baby is from that hangs in my room. I thought about sitting and having another one done (because having two of them from different times would be awesome) but due to limited time, we decided to head to the Louvre.
The Louvre was a lot of fun. Even though we only spent about an hour and a half there, I saw the Mesopotamia wing, some of the Renaissance paintings collection, some Flanders paintings, and a special temporary exhibit in the basement showing how the medieval Louvre looked and the foundation of the original palace. I saw lots of swords and grails that looked like the Holy Grail, in my mind. I even stopped and sketched a painting I particularly liked, a colorful, delightful depiction of a nymph playing a harp.
Then, we decided to walk to the Eiffel Tower. It didn't look like it was that far away from the Louvre on the map and it would be a great opportunity to take pictures of the beautiful walk along the way. I saw the charming Louvre garden, took photos of the Place de Concorde, and I actually thought the modern Louvre pyramids were an interesting contrast with the conventional, detail Palace and the modern fountain heightened the perfect coming-together of old and new, conventional and modern.
Along the way to the Eiffel Tower, I saw beautiful bridges, the armory, the National Assembly, the Seinne, and of course, various people cheering for Brazil and Portugal in the game that had started at 4:00. I thought we might even make it in time for the game, but I definitely under-estimated the length of the walk. I've google mapped the direct route from Notre Dame, close to the hotel, to the Eiffel Tower and the distance is approximately 5.5 km. Considering that we oriented ourselves by seeing the Eiffel Tower and walking towards it, it was even more than that!
In any case, I got amazing, singular pictures and felt accomplished for walking such a large section of Paris. I took so many pictures of the Eiffel Tower that Katie joked that it should definitely have a quota (of course, I take tons of pictures of everything, so I'm sure I could never follow a picture quota).
Even though we didn't make in time for the game, the aftermath was still really fun to see! Brazilians and Portuguese waved each other's flags in their faces, laughing and boasting, due to the 0-0 tie. Considering Brazil did not have Kaka to make goal assists, I was pretty relieved with the result. One group of Brazilians was particularly amusing because they were running around with a flag and chanting Brassssiiiillll so I couldn't resist taking a picture with them!
We also saw an interesting character in a black suit and hat who periodically danced!
We briefly stopped to rest under a tree and I saw a fountain. My feet were a bit sore from the walk, so I dipped my feet in it, which felt wonderful! Deciding that the way back would be too far to walk, we asked some other tourists if they knew where the metro was. They were nice, but seemed pretty unimpressed with the world cup. Given that there were several people bleating on vuvuzuelas, I guess their attitude was understandable. Still, I was happy that I got to hear a vuvuzuela in real life and that I saw World Cup joy! I've never seen so many Brazilians abroad in one place as I did in the Eiffel Tower.
Navigating on the metro back was a bit difficult (we had to ask for directions a few times), but we made it to the hotel just in time to head out for dinner and then on the Batoux-Mouche. We ate dinner at this delicious Middle Eastern called Chez Marianne that offered a variety of “elements” which you put inside of pita bread. We didn't know what anything was, so we ordered all the elements and I feasted on everything, enjoying every bite after a long day. I also drank the best white wine I've ever had; it had a wonderful aftertaste and the cool drink was nice after room-temperature water.
We finished dinner at about 10:30, and our boat was scheduled to leave at 11, so we rushed across a romantic bridge, buildings glowing all around us.
Batoux-Mouche was an amazing experience! Even though I didn't take any photos because my camera doesn't work well at night, the pictures in my mind of the golden Eiffel Tower, the glowing moon, and the City of Light will live on in my mind forever.
After such a wonderful day, we headed back to the hotel. Several people went to Rex, a dance club, but I decided that my feet needed some rest and fell asleep dreaming of dancing along the streets of the City of Light.
I suppose the sex shop was sketchy because it was full of blow-up dolls, which was very odd. Moreover, there were “private showing rooms” whose purpose I could guess, but did not really want to contemplate. In any case, it was fun to laugh at it, but once you've seen one, you've seen them all.
After Moulin Rouge, we walked around and saw several windmills which had turned into cabarets as France moved from an agriculturally oriented society into a consumer-oriented one. We took a tour around Mont Martre, where our tour guide proceeded to tell us about various famous artists who had lived and painted there, including Monet. She described their life-style as very pary oriented, which I'm sure they used to enhance their creativity. It seems most truly groundbreaking creativity requires someone with a very different mind from most other people. Most of the artists our guide described died of syphillis or other STDs, not surprising given their, I supposed you can call it, “living in the moment?” Or maybe “zest for life.”
The most entertaining artist to me was one who mocked the modern art movement by using his pet donkey to create paintings for him. I wish I could remember his name, because that I would get a huge kick out of seeing more donkey paintings!
We also saw a statue coming out of the wall (I couldn't resist taking a picture high-fiving said statue), beautiful gardens, and serene views that inspired the artists in the area. We even passed Deux Moulins, the famous cafe in Amelie. After that area of Mont Martre, we headed to Sacre Coeur.
The detail in Sacre Coeur was absolutely breath-taking. The white curves and shapes of the cathedral were flawlessly designed, and the inside was no exception. The various sculptures and peaceful atmosphere made me want to just sit in the plaza all day, gawking at the view of the city and contemplating human civilization in general. It really is amazing that most inspiring buildings were constructed so long ago, that architechture today still bases itself on similar aesthetic principles that were used for most buildings then.
Outside of Sacre Coeur, I saw many Brazilians, dressed up in soccer jerseys and ready to cheer at the game, either at bars or at the screen by the Eiffel Tower. Amidst the throng of people, artists lurked in the plaza, offering to draw everyone who passed. It must be here that the sketch of me as a baby is from that hangs in my room. I thought about sitting and having another one done (because having two of them from different times would be awesome) but due to limited time, we decided to head to the Louvre.
The Louvre was a lot of fun. Even though we only spent about an hour and a half there, I saw the Mesopotamia wing, some of the Renaissance paintings collection, some Flanders paintings, and a special temporary exhibit in the basement showing how the medieval Louvre looked and the foundation of the original palace. I saw lots of swords and grails that looked like the Holy Grail, in my mind. I even stopped and sketched a painting I particularly liked, a colorful, delightful depiction of a nymph playing a harp.
Then, we decided to walk to the Eiffel Tower. It didn't look like it was that far away from the Louvre on the map and it would be a great opportunity to take pictures of the beautiful walk along the way. I saw the charming Louvre garden, took photos of the Place de Concorde, and I actually thought the modern Louvre pyramids were an interesting contrast with the conventional, detail Palace and the modern fountain heightened the perfect coming-together of old and new, conventional and modern.
Along the way to the Eiffel Tower, I saw beautiful bridges, the armory, the National Assembly, the Seinne, and of course, various people cheering for Brazil and Portugal in the game that had started at 4:00. I thought we might even make it in time for the game, but I definitely under-estimated the length of the walk. I've google mapped the direct route from Notre Dame, close to the hotel, to the Eiffel Tower and the distance is approximately 5.5 km. Considering that we oriented ourselves by seeing the Eiffel Tower and walking towards it, it was even more than that!
In any case, I got amazing, singular pictures and felt accomplished for walking such a large section of Paris. I took so many pictures of the Eiffel Tower that Katie joked that it should definitely have a quota (of course, I take tons of pictures of everything, so I'm sure I could never follow a picture quota).
Even though we didn't make in time for the game, the aftermath was still really fun to see! Brazilians and Portuguese waved each other's flags in their faces, laughing and boasting, due to the 0-0 tie. Considering Brazil did not have Kaka to make goal assists, I was pretty relieved with the result. One group of Brazilians was particularly amusing because they were running around with a flag and chanting Brassssiiiillll so I couldn't resist taking a picture with them!
We also saw an interesting character in a black suit and hat who periodically danced!
We briefly stopped to rest under a tree and I saw a fountain. My feet were a bit sore from the walk, so I dipped my feet in it, which felt wonderful! Deciding that the way back would be too far to walk, we asked some other tourists if they knew where the metro was. They were nice, but seemed pretty unimpressed with the world cup. Given that there were several people bleating on vuvuzuelas, I guess their attitude was understandable. Still, I was happy that I got to hear a vuvuzuela in real life and that I saw World Cup joy! I've never seen so many Brazilians abroad in one place as I did in the Eiffel Tower.
Navigating on the metro back was a bit difficult (we had to ask for directions a few times), but we made it to the hotel just in time to head out for dinner and then on the Batoux-Mouche. We ate dinner at this delicious Middle Eastern called Chez Marianne that offered a variety of “elements” which you put inside of pita bread. We didn't know what anything was, so we ordered all the elements and I feasted on everything, enjoying every bite after a long day. I also drank the best white wine I've ever had; it had a wonderful aftertaste and the cool drink was nice after room-temperature water.
We finished dinner at about 10:30, and our boat was scheduled to leave at 11, so we rushed across a romantic bridge, buildings glowing all around us.
Batoux-Mouche was an amazing experience! Even though I didn't take any photos because my camera doesn't work well at night, the pictures in my mind of the golden Eiffel Tower, the glowing moon, and the City of Light will live on in my mind forever.
After such a wonderful day, we headed back to the hotel. Several people went to Rex, a dance club, but I decided that my feet needed some rest and fell asleep dreaming of dancing along the streets of the City of Light.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Paris: Day 1
I'm writing about what happened yesterday this morning because I definitely fell asleep last night much earlier than I thought I would because of jetlag.
When I got to the Charles de Gaulle Airport, I was pretty amazed by how futuristic it looked in some areas. Instead of escalators, there were moving ramps and there were also these strange plastic tunnels that made it look a little like the Jetsons. I really enjoyed the cool boards in the shape of wings, though!
Airport aside, I took a whole hour to get to where I was supposed to meet and was really proud of myself for using my French to ask where I was supposed to go. And the woman answered in French even though she knew English! I'm glad she at least thought I understood, even if she did speak slowly for my benefit >_<.
After waiting for another person in our group to show up (even though her flight was delayed so she ended up taking another shuttle) we hopped on, ready to head to the charming hotel next to Notre Dame. Traffic was awful because, as usual, the French public transportation workers are on strike. This time, they're on strike because the government wants the retirement age to be 62 instead of the usual 60.
We talked to the bus driver in French a bit. I asked him about how he felt about the world cup and then I said I was Brazilian. He then proceeded to say that Brazil would not win this world cup -_-. Realistically, he's probably right, but my national pride wants to believe otherwise so I insisted that Brazil could still win if we played better in future games. Last world cup Brazil won, no one thought they would (since qualifiers were such a mess) so maybe I'm right and Brazil can win anyway.
However, my French is still rusty so then I talked about pretty buildings and bicycles because those were the words I could remember how to say....
I was pretty pleased when we got to our hotel: it's an adorable six-floor building, very typically French. It was probably built in the late 1800s or early 1900s. I remember someone explaining that the reason French architechture is so unique is that they held contests to see which buildings were the most aesthetically pleasing. Everywhere I look, I think about how fun it would be to take out my sketch book and just draw everything for hours.
While we waited for the rest of the group to arrive, we went to the second best boulangerie in Paris. I bought a delicious rosette for lunch which was salami and butter on a baguette. I've never had better bread or salami!
Then, after a brief nap and shower since I didn't sleep on my flight at all, Cathy, Camille, Sarah, Katie, and I walked to Notre Dame. We ate glace. I got two scoops of frambois, which was delicious (of course). Rasberry sorbet is really good, after all.
Notre Dame is so beautiful. Everywhere I looked, I was reminded of the Hunchback of Notre Dame (one of my favorite books) and I could have just looked at the beautiful, painstaking detail on the outside alone for hours. I took far too many pictures (as usual) and we waited for Irene to go inside.
There was mass going on inside. The beautiful French of the priest flowed through like a river, complementing the forest of stained-glass windows. I was in awe and even wore my glasses so I could see every minor detail. The colors, the floors, the marble statues, everything was made perfectly artistic. I took pictures that could not possibly do justice to Notre Dame since flash wasn't allowed.
Then we tried to climb up only to find out it closed at 6:30 (we almost made it: it was only 7:00!)
After checking the internet at the hotel, we went to dinner at a charming cafe where we met a waitress who, coincidentally, is also going to Montpellier. She told us she would e-mail contact information and that she had lived in DC for a long time (her English was good, so it showed).
I ate a coconut-Nutella crepe since I wasn't very hungry (being jetlagged and all) and tried Desperado, which I liked, suprisingly, even though it was beer.
The group tried speaking French amongst ourselves for a bit- it was difficult. Hopefully, it'll get easier!
When I got to the Charles de Gaulle Airport, I was pretty amazed by how futuristic it looked in some areas. Instead of escalators, there were moving ramps and there were also these strange plastic tunnels that made it look a little like the Jetsons. I really enjoyed the cool boards in the shape of wings, though!
Airport aside, I took a whole hour to get to where I was supposed to meet and was really proud of myself for using my French to ask where I was supposed to go. And the woman answered in French even though she knew English! I'm glad she at least thought I understood, even if she did speak slowly for my benefit >_<.
After waiting for another person in our group to show up (even though her flight was delayed so she ended up taking another shuttle) we hopped on, ready to head to the charming hotel next to Notre Dame. Traffic was awful because, as usual, the French public transportation workers are on strike. This time, they're on strike because the government wants the retirement age to be 62 instead of the usual 60.
We talked to the bus driver in French a bit. I asked him about how he felt about the world cup and then I said I was Brazilian. He then proceeded to say that Brazil would not win this world cup -_-. Realistically, he's probably right, but my national pride wants to believe otherwise so I insisted that Brazil could still win if we played better in future games. Last world cup Brazil won, no one thought they would (since qualifiers were such a mess) so maybe I'm right and Brazil can win anyway.
However, my French is still rusty so then I talked about pretty buildings and bicycles because those were the words I could remember how to say....
I was pretty pleased when we got to our hotel: it's an adorable six-floor building, very typically French. It was probably built in the late 1800s or early 1900s. I remember someone explaining that the reason French architechture is so unique is that they held contests to see which buildings were the most aesthetically pleasing. Everywhere I look, I think about how fun it would be to take out my sketch book and just draw everything for hours.
While we waited for the rest of the group to arrive, we went to the second best boulangerie in Paris. I bought a delicious rosette for lunch which was salami and butter on a baguette. I've never had better bread or salami!
Then, after a brief nap and shower since I didn't sleep on my flight at all, Cathy, Camille, Sarah, Katie, and I walked to Notre Dame. We ate glace. I got two scoops of frambois, which was delicious (of course). Rasberry sorbet is really good, after all.
Notre Dame is so beautiful. Everywhere I looked, I was reminded of the Hunchback of Notre Dame (one of my favorite books) and I could have just looked at the beautiful, painstaking detail on the outside alone for hours. I took far too many pictures (as usual) and we waited for Irene to go inside.
There was mass going on inside. The beautiful French of the priest flowed through like a river, complementing the forest of stained-glass windows. I was in awe and even wore my glasses so I could see every minor detail. The colors, the floors, the marble statues, everything was made perfectly artistic. I took pictures that could not possibly do justice to Notre Dame since flash wasn't allowed.
Then we tried to climb up only to find out it closed at 6:30 (we almost made it: it was only 7:00!)
After checking the internet at the hotel, we went to dinner at a charming cafe where we met a waitress who, coincidentally, is also going to Montpellier. She told us she would e-mail contact information and that she had lived in DC for a long time (her English was good, so it showed).
I ate a coconut-Nutella crepe since I wasn't very hungry (being jetlagged and all) and tried Desperado, which I liked, suprisingly, even though it was beer.
The group tried speaking French amongst ourselves for a bit- it was difficult. Hopefully, it'll get easier!
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