tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27051818750136579522024-03-13T21:27:03.079+01:00studying abroad in parisfrom june 29, 2008 to aug 2, 2008 i was in paris, france on a UC EAP global seminar studying world history (1200 AD-1750 AD) and christianity in paris. this is the blog i kept through those five weeks.katharine chinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15284167298044332878noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705181875013657952.post-72005628462410705122008-08-03T07:07:00.005+02:002008-08-04T23:21:12.265+02:00day 34: finDate: Saturday, 2 August, 2008 (PDT)<br /><br />And so it's done. I'm back home in good ol' Palo Alto. The weather is perfect, the skyline on the drive home was perfect. My family (minus my older brother...) was waiting for me at the airport, the luggage came out fine, my dogs are still as cute as ever. After a terrible experience in Dulles (being subjected to long line after long line after long line) I actually made it to my flight to SFO.<br /><br />Coming home wasn't as ecstatic as I dreamt it to be during my last few hours in Paris. All the things that I thought I would miss about the States seem less important right this instant, probably because I'm still tired and don't feel like running around to see the hills, or Safeway, or even In-n-Out. (Yes, GASP! I know...) I find I will miss the fresh bread, the food, the metro, the getting lost in a big city, the monuments, and, of course, my Paris GS MMW4 2008 Family (haha what a mouthful). I know I kept saying I wasn't going to be sad because we all go to the same college and are all going to live near each other, but we won't be an RER ride away from the Seine. My brain is still tired from the flying (it was a mere 24 hours ago that I was sitting outside Fondation de Monaco waiting for people to come downstairs) so I'm going to keep this short. All in all, cliches included, <span style="font-style: italic;">we'll always have Paris.</span> (hehe)<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://snarkerati.com/movie-news/files/2008/01/casablanca.jpg" /></div>katharine chinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15284167298044332878noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705181875013657952.post-37638615867794020492008-08-02T23:19:00.002+02:002008-08-04T23:55:24.111+02:00day 33: versailles--the end is nighDate: Friday, August 1st, 2008<br /><br />Today we went to Versailles and were lucky enough to have a great private tour. I kept thinking the weather would be atrociously hot and sticky--mostly because the last time I went to Versailles, it was atrociously hot and sticky--but we were so lucky! It had rained a bit the night before but things had cooled significantly. Not only did we get to view some rooms that weren't open to the public, there was a light breeze that kept viewing rooms with a million other people more than tolerable. Our tour guide was really interesting and pretty funny, too. We got little headsets to wear while he spoke into a mic--it was so useful!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img style="width: 301px; height: 200px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC02706.jpg" /><br /><br /><img style="width: 301px; height: 200px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC02722.jpg" /><br /><br /><img style="width: 190px; height: 285px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC02732.jpg" /> <img style="width: 190px; height: 285px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC02733.jpg" /><br /><br /><img style="width: 301px; height: 200px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC02728.jpg" /><br /></div><br /><br />We got to go to the upper level of the chapel and man, did we feel special! The tour guide had a special key (that looked very old) and we climbed a spiral staircase to the gallery of the chapel. Afterward we walked around the garden at our own paces--the huge, vast, enormous, gargantuan garden.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img style="width: 301px; height: 200px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC02734.jpg" /><br /><br /><img style="width: 190px; height: 285px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC02738.jpg" /> <img style="width: 190px; height: 285px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC02741.jpg" /><br /><br /><img style="width: 301px; height: 200px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC02751.jpg" /><br /><br /><img style="width: 301px; height: 200px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC02753.jpg" /><br /></div><br />A group of us decided to head back pretty early because we still had souvenir shopping to do, or we were tired from the night before. I had to do some souvenir shopping because I still hadn't done any that day... I managed to get all of it done and started on a few postcards. Christine was helping a man with the dorms inspect our rooms and she sat in my room to chit chat for a bit. After that, I had to get ready for dinner--we students decided we were going to dress nicely for the last dinner.<br /><br />As for the last dinner, it was much nicer than the other ones we had dined at and we were given the opportunity to choose our own entrees and main dishes. Escargots was on the entree menu and I (as well as a whole bunch of our group) decided we had to try escargots while we were here! It actually wasn't bad! Here's video proof that I ate it:<br /><br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/MOV02772.flv" height="361" width="448"></embed><br /><br />It looked a little too much like snail (which is not very appetizing to me haha), but the basil and butter sauce that it was drenched in was fantastic. It just tasted like clam (the texture and consistency is similar) except in basil and butter. For my main dish I elected for fish--since I usually don't eat fish--but I ended up eating more of Rucha's duck than my own meal, hehe. There was an accordion player who came multiple times to our room; we had bottles of wine uncorked on our tables but those were taken away and replaced with lots and lots of classy bottles of Coca Cola--in glass bottles!<br /><br />We took pictures, we danced, we laughed, we acted like children, we played with Professor Herbst's children. It was a lovely end (despite the dessert mishap...) to a great trip with people I will never forget.katharine chinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15284167298044332878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705181875013657952.post-51098262091909690472008-07-31T18:53:00.005+02:002008-08-04T23:18:50.182+02:00day 32: the end is nearer...Date: Thursday, July 31st, 2008<br /><br />WE (the students) ARE DONE WITH CLASS! (Sorry, Professor... Now you've got to grade all of our hard work.) I don't really know what else to say. I didn't do much else today besides learn about the Russians, the Chinese, the Japanese, and the Scientific Age in class, ate lunch, reviewed (crammed), was sent to the Academic (aka figural) Guillotine and have now been released. Mercifully.<br /><br />And that means we are done.<br /><br />Tonight, I hope we're going out to St. Michel one more time. I can't decide if I should treat myself to shwarma or have as many delicious crepes before I have to leave Paris. I have to orient my decisions on last-minute-Paris-things around food because we don't really have enough time to visit more sites. (Even though there's plenty more I want to do.)<br /><br />I am definitely torn between wanting to go back home and never wanting this to end. On one hand, I think if this continued, I'd have more to study and more that would weigh on my mind--but I'd be in Paris longer. Right now I'm looking forward to home because I see it as a chance to relax, fully and recharge before the school year. I don't think I'm going to look for a job because it's probably too late and mostly because right now, I can't imagine keeping myself as busy as I have in the past five weeks with a job AND all the things I want to do. (Sorry, mom.)<br /><br />It's really warm in this building... the insulation isn't very good.<br /><br />Also, I am now frantically writing postcards in case you haven't received yours (even though I have promised many of you postcards.) I also don't know what to do about writing the Friends of the International Center because I e-mailed Ruth Newark with a link to my blog and I asked for an address (I left all the information from the packet I got at home...) but I never received an e-mail.<br /><br />Anyway I'm out. YAY!katharine chinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15284167298044332878noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705181875013657952.post-13100242772515050182008-07-30T18:42:00.000+02:002008-08-11T19:44:34.033+02:00day 31: the end is near...Date: Wednesday, July 30th, 2008<br /><br />I can't believe it's almost over. I haven't even finished touring the city... In any case I haven't really been blogging because I've been trying to study (key word: trying) for the past few days. I had an awesome Sunday that involved Paris Plage, exploring, the Trocadero, dinner with a view of the Eiffel Tower, climbing the Eiffel Tower, and finding a rain stick... but that's just a bit of it. I haven't finished that blog yet. On Monday I went to the Georges Pompidou with Vicky (finally!) and took a zillion pictures then I also went to the Cluny Museum of the Middle Ages with Zak--exhausting. It was essentially our last free day because Tuesday we were busy all day with class, Invalides, and a (wonderful) Moroccan dinner--salsa-esque dip with baguette, couscous and vegetable stew, plenty of well-seasoned chicken, and a belly dancer who got many people in our group to dance. Including Professor Herbst. And Zak. (Everyone who attended dinner agreed that Zak was the star of the show, sorry Professor...though you ran a close, close second haha) Today we had class, and I just finished my Final for ERC 103. I feel pretty good about it but mostly I'm thankful that we had two hours. I didn't take the whole two hours because and I probably should have to augment what I had to say about the kings before Louis XIV, but it was written and I couldn't very well have too many arrows or asterisks without destroying (utterly) the flow of the paper. In any case, it's done and over with. I am going to hopefully do some grocery shopping, have a nice dinner, and do some MMW review.<br /><br />Tomorrow we have the same schedule as today except we take our MMW final instead of the ERC 103 one. (Duh.) Class in the morning, exam in the evening. Friday we have a day excursion to Versailles and a dinner at night then we leave, bright and early Saturday morning. And then, it's all over. In a flash. I am currently writing in the middle of a (figurative) hurricane.<br /><br />On Monday, I danced and sang in the rain with some friends. It was epic.katharine chinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15284167298044332878noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705181875013657952.post-26273476316555862312008-07-30T18:40:00.013+02:002008-08-11T20:49:03.899+02:00day 29: last free day (essentially)Date: Monday, July 28th, 2008<br /><br />Went museum hopping with Vicky in the morning (Pompidou--tons of pictures on <a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/">Photobucket</a> though you will have to sift through many pages of pictures from Invalides) and Zak after lunch (Cluny Medieval Museum). I didn't take too many pictures in the Cluny because I was kind of pooped from the intense picture taking in the morning but it was a very very cool museum. We wanted to go out and do something (all of us) as it was, essentially, our last day (Tuesday = Class & Excursion, Wednesday = Final, Thursday = Final, Friday = Versailles, Saturday = Gone...) but most of us were too busy studying.<br /><br />Given it was our last day, I think I got a fair amount done. Next time I come back there are still some things I want to do ...katharine chinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15284167298044332878noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705181875013657952.post-35984519192292873272008-07-30T18:40:00.011+02:002008-08-11T20:46:35.929+02:00day 30: les invalidesDate: Tuesday, July 29th, 2008<br /><br />Today we went to Les Invalides, home of the military museums, ex-Veteran's Hospital (of sorts). I wasn't feeling too well and my stomach was bothering me (I think it was the lack of breakfast or something funny in my staple diet of morning Madelines that was stirring things up). I wasn't exactly enthralled to walk through aisle and aisles of armor but I do have to admit, the museums were excellent. (Mostly because the exhibits all had descriptions in three languages, including English.) We started with the Arms Museum (one of the two) and there was lots of cool stuff in there... LOTS of it.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC02470.jpg" title="DSC02470.jpg DSC02470.JPG picture by katharrine"><img style="width: 257px; height: 171px;" alt="DSC02470.jpg DSC02470.JPG picture by katharrine" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC02470.jpg?t=1218479800" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC02472.jpg" title="DSC02472.jpg DSC02472.JPG picture by katharrine"><img style="width: 192px; height: 289px;" alt="DSC02472.jpg DSC02472.JPG picture by katharrine" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC02472.jpg?t=1218479780" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC02515.jpg" title="DSC02515.jpg DSC02515.JPG picture by katharrine"><img style="width: 310px; height: 206px;" alt="DSC02515.jpg DSC02515.JPG picture by katharrine" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC02515.jpg?t=1218479667" border="0" /></a><a title="DSC02472.jpg" href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC02472.jpg"> </a><br /><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC02559.jpg" title="DSC02559.jpg DSC02559.JPG picture by katharrine"><img style="width: 308px; height: 204px;" alt="DSC02559.jpg DSC02559.JPG picture by katharrine" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC02559.jpg?t=1218479816" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC02634.jpg" title="DSC02634.jpg DSC02634.JPG picture by katharrine"><img style="width: 312px; height: 207px;" alt="DSC02634.jpg DSC02634.JPG picture by katharrine" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC02634.jpg?t=1218479829" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />After that I took a break while some people headed to the World War I & II museum. I thought I was going to sit it out entirely but I started to feel better and managed to get through the museum. (There were lots of videos playing in the museum so I didn't really even have to walk that much... Just walked then sat.) I felt kinda bad because I guess I kinda latched on to Zak and, if you know Zak, he was in his element. I liken his being in a military museum to me in an Impressionist museum... And there I was clutching my stomach like a helpless nuisance. In any case, he ambled through the museum and I followed along, sometimes hurried ahead to watch the next video. It would have been a great museum for me to walk through (there were lots of cool exhibits on weapons, different uniforms, etc. all in chronological order) but I was not feeling good. We both wanted to see Napoleon's Tomb before leaving though, so I dragged myself there and sat, soaking in the splendor of man's egocentricity while I let Zak wander. We found a stop (something Xavier) and made it back in one piece.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC02654.jpg" title="DSC02654.jpg DSC02654.JPG picture by katharrine"><img style="width: 184px; height: 276px;" alt="DSC02654.jpg DSC02654.JPG picture by katharrine" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC02654.jpg?t=1218479837" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC02663.jpg" title="DSC02663.jpg DSC02663.JPG picture by katharrine"><img style="width: 186px; height: 280px;" alt="DSC02663.jpg DSC02663.JPG picture by katharrine" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC02663.jpg?t=1218479850" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />By the time we got back, I didn't really have time to rest like I wanted to because we had dinner at a Moroccan restaurant at night. I thought I was feeling better by then (I wasn't) but that night's dinner made up for everything... Awesome salsa-esque sauce with bread, couscous with stew, plenty of chicken to go around, fresh oranges for dessert...and best of all, dinner entertainment: a belly dancer! The belly dancer got several of our group, including Professor Herbst and Zak (on separate occasions) to hit the dance floor! I have some incriminating footage if anyone is interested in viewing it ... Hee hee hee. But for the sake of preserving dignity, if you wanna see em, you'll have to leave a comment with an e-mail that I can contact you at. Suffice to say with the food in my belly (despite basically living off of Madelines for the day) and a nice walk back and a good night's sleep, I felt tons better. What a great day!<br /><br />Although, in retrospect, whenever I see these grand buildings built for one man alone, I think of, well first of all I think of the Futurama episode where Bender builds a huge monument to himself so that no one will ever forget him. But secondly I think of one my favorite quotes ever. It's from an excerpt that I read from an English class textbook in 9th grade:<br /><br /><span>“Language, in the mind of a poet, seeks to transcend itself, ‘to grasp the thing that has no name.’ It seems reasonable to suppose that the unknown people who left this record of their passage felt the same impulse toward permanence, the same longing for communion with the world we feel today. To ask for any more meaning may be as futile as to ask for a meaning in the desert itself. What does the desert mean? It means what it is. It is there, it will be there when we are gone. But for a while we living things—men, women, birds, that coyote howling far off on yonder stony ridge—we were a part of it all. That should be enough.” –Last paragraph of <u>Desert Images</u>, by Edward Abbey<br /><br />It puts things in perspective for me, just another human who constantly worries about death--when it will come, what it will feel like, where I will go...<br /></span>katharine chinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15284167298044332878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705181875013657952.post-43233905015707610432008-07-30T18:39:00.003+02:002008-08-11T19:38:41.292+02:00day 28: perfectionDate: Sunday, July 27th, 2008<br /><br />great day!<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img style="width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC02011.jpg" /></div>katharine chinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15284167298044332878noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705181875013657952.post-28080507468757612172008-07-27T11:25:00.003+02:002008-07-27T12:52:04.255+02:00day 27: churches a plenty and more sitting in the rain by the seineDate: Saturday, July 26th, 2008<br /><br />Mmm I got to sleep in today and it was fantastic. By the time I did decide to get up (an impressive 1:30PM, though I did go to sleep at 4:10AM haha) I was already behind schedule. After a quick breakfast of <span style="font-style: italic;">grille pomme</span> (it's like an apple tart), a bit more resting, and a nice shower, we were ready to go. It was me, Zak, and Aria looking at churches. I'll take you through one by one. (We only had the energy to visit three.)<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">St. Sulpice </span>(1646-1745)<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span>The exterior of this church was under construction when we visited, but it was absolutely breathtaking when we walked in! It's different from other churches I've seen because the interior seems so old, slightly dirty, which makes it seem so much more authentic. Sacred-destinations.com describes it as a "Late Baroque Parish Church" (<a href="http://www.sacred-destinations.com/france/paris-churches-of-paris.htm">source</a>). I have a few pictures of the interior, one of a stained glass depiction of St. Denis, and the ambulatory featuring an awesome Virgin Mary. <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><br /></span><br /><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01835.jpg" title="DSC01835.jpg DSC01835.JPG picture by katharrine"><img style="width: 172px; height: 256px;" alt="DSC01835.jpg DSC01835.JPG picture by katharrine" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01835.jpg?t=1217150815" border="0" /></a><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01796.jpg" title="DSC01796.jpg DSC01796.JPG picture by katharrine"> <img style="width: 170px; height: 255px;" alt="DSC01796.jpg DSC01796.JPG picture by katharrine" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01796.jpg?t=1217150792" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01818.jpg" title="DSC01818.jpg DSC01818.JPG picture by katharrine"><img style="width: 173px; height: 258px;" alt="DSC01818.jpg DSC01818.JPG picture by katharrine" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01818.jpg?t=1217150625" border="0" /></a><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01829.jpg" title="DSC01829.jpg DSC01829.JPG picture by katharrine"> <img style="width: 172px; height: 258px;" alt="DSC01829.jpg DSC01829.JPG picture by katharrine" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01829.jpg?t=1217150844" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01822.jpg" title="DSC01822.jpg DSC01822.JPG picture by katharrine"><img style="width: 173px; height: 258px;" alt="DSC01822.jpg DSC01822.JPG picture by katharrine" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01822.jpg?t=1217150830" border="0" /></a><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01833.jpg" title="DSC01833.jpg DSC01833.JPG picture by katharrine"> <img style="width: 172px; height: 258px;" alt="DSC01833.jpg DSC01833.JPG picture by katharrine" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01833.jpg?t=1217150851" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01822.jpg" title="DSC01822.jpg DSC01822.JPG picture by katharrine"> </a><br /><br /><br /><a title="DSC01833.jpg" href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01833.jpg"></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">St-Germain-des-Prés </span>(1163)<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span>I ate lunch with Clementine a few weeks ago by this church, and I didn't even see it! (In my defense the spot in the cafe I was sitting at had no view of the church thanks to some large hedges. Also it was raining and we were in a hurry!) I actually saw some of it, but I didn't see the tall tower. In any case, this is an old, old church and again, it's distinctive from others I've seen. The interior is completely painted--similar to the waiting room (I guess) of Sainte Chappelle, but with darker colors (aka less gaudy) which again, made it feel more authentic. Apparently most of the old churches used to be all painted and this gives a neat idea of what it might've been like. Take a look at the walls--the frescoes and the colors of the decor. And of course the first picture is of the flying buttresses.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01837.jpg" title="DSC01837.jpg DSC01837.JPG picture by katharrine"><img title="" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; width: 304px; height: 202px;" alt="DSC01837.jpg DSC01837.JPG picture by katharrine" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01837.jpg?t=1217151312" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01840.jpg" title="DSC01840.jpg DSC01840.JPG picture by katharrine"><img style="width: 177px; height: 255px;" alt="DSC01840.jpg DSC01840.JPG picture by katharrine" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01840.jpg?t=1217151314" border="0" /></a><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01847.jpg" title="DSC01847.jpg DSC01847.JPG picture by katharrine"> <img style="width: 168px; height: 253px;" alt="DSC01847.jpg DSC01847.JPG picture by katharrine" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01847.jpg?t=1217151389" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01855.jpg" title="DSC01855.jpg DSC01855.JPG picture by katharrine"><img style="width: 176px; height: 262px;" alt="DSC01855.jpg DSC01855.JPG picture by katharrine" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01855.jpg?t=1217151408" border="0" /></a><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01865.jpg" title="DSC01865.jpg DSC01865.JPG picture by katharrine"> <img style="width: 174px; height: 261px;" alt="DSC01865.jpg DSC01865.JPG picture by katharrine" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01865.jpg?t=1217151428" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">La Madeleine </span>(1764-1842)<br />This is an awesome awesome neo-classical church. It looks like a fancy Roman temple except when you look closer into the colonnade, there are saints lining the exterior of the church. The area around this church is super neat. There are (as there are everywhere in Paris, I suppose) cute brasseries that line the roundabout. There was a service going on so we couldn't take photos inside. I have some of the exterior though. There was a concert of Mozart, Schubert, and someone else that Zak wanted to go to but it was that night so we opted out in favor of hanging out with our Paris people. We got out of the metro stop at the rear, so the first picture you see is actually of the back of the church. The front of the church had a bunch of lovely flowers in front of it. The front of the church faces the Bastille, which is pretty cool.<br /><center><br /><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01867.jpg" title="DSC01867.jpg DSC01867.JPG picture by katharrine"><img title="" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; width: 332px; height: 221px;" alt="DSC01867.jpg DSC01867.JPG picture by katharrine" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01867.jpg?t=1217152116" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><a title="DSC01807.jpg" href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01807.jpg"></a><a title="DSC01874.jpg" href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01874.jpg"> </a><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01874.jpg" title="DSC01874.jpg DSC01874.JPG picture by katharrine"><img style="width: 360px; height: 238px;" alt="DSC01874.jpg DSC01874.JPG picture by katharrine" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01874.jpg?t=1217155103" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01881.jpg" title="DSC01881.jpg DSC01881.JPG picture by katharrine"><img style="width: 358px; height: 237px;" alt="DSC01881.jpg DSC01881.JPG picture by katharrine" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01881.jpg?t=1217155143" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01902.jpg" title="DSC01902.jpg DSC01902.JPG picture by katharrine"><img style="width: 176px; height: 261px;" alt="DSC01902.jpg DSC01902.JPG picture by katharrine" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01902.jpg?t=1217155156" border="0" /></a><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01879.jpg" title="DSC01879.jpg DSC01879.JPG picture by katharrine"> <img style="width: 172px; height: 258px;" alt="DSC01879.jpg DSC01879.JPG picture by katharrine" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01879.jpg?t=1217155130" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a title="DSC01835.jpg" href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01835.jpg"><br /></a></center>And so it was. We headed back and by then it was already 7:30PM. I uploaded these pictures courtesy of Flock, a wonderful fully media-integrated browser that allows me to blog and upload pictures with great ease. It's made by Mozilla, the maker of Firefox. I hung out with some people, chit chatted, and we headed out to the Seine again for another lovely evening. We just sat in the same spot, but this time (after I googled a bit to look for public restrooms) we were able to locate a bathroom. Apparently the underground parking structures are open 24/7 and they all have bathrooms. Thanks, Google! :)katharine chinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15284167298044332878noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705181875013657952.post-5512721880152345092008-07-25T17:46:00.005+02:002008-07-27T12:50:14.584+02:00day 26: marais quarter et musée de l’orangerieToday was our last meeting with Dominique as we made our way around La Marais. (In English, this means marshland.) This area was at one point a marshland, a chic hip place where the aristocracy lived, and also home to a large Jewish community. We went to four hôtel particulier (Wiki defines as "an urban 'private house' of a grand sort.") and the Place de Vosges. I don't remember all the names of the places where famous influential people lived, but I tried to get pictures of everything. I had a little technical difficulty with my camera where it thought my 2.0 GB Memorystick was almost full, despite having only taken about 10 pictures... I only discovered this after taking 10 pictures but I didn't want to delete those by reformatting my memory card so I had to shoot the rest of the day in the lowest quality and also delete some other pictures. (I wanted to take pictures of <b>everything</b> at the Orangerie... I even tried to. But that's for later.) From about 9:30 to 12, we were led around the Marais by Dominique<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01600.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01600.jpg" style="" border="0" height="287" width="190" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01611.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01611.jpg" style="" border="0" height="279" width="420" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Place de Vosges</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01613.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01613.jpg" style="" border="0" height="131" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Place de Vosges</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01615.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01615.jpg" style="" border="0" height="132" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Dominique telling us about the famous people who lived in Place de Vosges</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01621.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01621.jpg" style="" border="0" height="150" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Hotel de Sully</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01624.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="ingres' muse" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01624.jpg" style="" border="0" height="200" width="150" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Ingres' muse for his famous painting of the girl with the jug</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01632.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01632.jpg" style="" border="0" height="200" width="150" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">I forget the name of this place :( Does anyone remember?</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01638.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="kids playing soccer in a basketball court" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01638.jpg" style="" border="0" height="150" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">A group of boys playing soccer on a basketball court.</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01642.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01642.jpg" style="" border="0" height="150" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">A Medieval building that sounded like "seance" </div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01657.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01657.jpg" style="" border="0" height="200" width="150" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Shoah Memorial</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01659.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01659.jpg" style="" border="0" height="150" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Ex-Hotel Particulier, Current Court of Appeals</div><br />Vicky and I decided to skip on the Museum of Judaeism (which apparently was awesome... dang it) to visit the Musee de L'Orangerie. First though, we had lunch at a little cafe right by the St Paul metro stop. Three of us had amazing burgers with egg, bacon, lettuce, pickles, cheese, onions and tomatoes. It was so delicious I can still make myself hungry by thinking about it, hehe. Anyway then we went to the Orangerie which was, in short, incredible. It's like a smaller, more pointed Musee D'Orsay (also an amazing museum) but this is definitely one of my favorites. I am such a sucker for impressionism. I definitely lost myself in "Les Nympheas," Monet's lilies. The pamphlet describes them as "a gift from Claude Monet to the French State...they hang in two oval rooms as requested by the artist." It's simply breathtaking. There's natural light that filters in through the ceilings and through a mesh so the light comes in, but isn't too harsh. I probably could've stayed there for an hour just staring.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01668.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 155px; height: 116px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01668.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01669.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 155px; height: 116px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01669.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01670.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 157px; height: 117px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01670.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01672.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 157px; height: 117px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01672.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br />Oval Room 1<br /><br /><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01673.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 156px; height: 116px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01673.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01674.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 157px; height: 117px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01674.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01676.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 155px; height: 115px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01676.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01678.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 155px; height: 116px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01678.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br />Oval Room 2<br /><br /><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01681.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 422px; height: 316px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01681.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">The rest of the museum features the collections of Jean Walter and Paul Guillaume. "Open to the public since 1984, the collection displays two seminal periods in French art. Impressionism is represented by exceptional paintings by Renoir and Cezanne; early modern art and the return to a degree of Classicism, typical of the period between the two wars, are illustrated by masterpieces by Modigliani, Le Douanier Rousseau, Picasso, Matisse, Derain, Utrillo, and Soutine" (L'Orangerie Pamphlet). I wanted to take pictures of everything. I wasn't familiar Utrillo, Soutine, or Laurencin but I'm glad I got to see some of their work. Just to warn you, my Photobucket Album has gotten really bulky because of the many, many pictures I uploaded... I've picked a few of my favorites for this entry but it'll be difficult to narrow down.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01685.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 207px; height: 175px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01685.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01686.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 132px; height: 176px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01686.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01689.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 215px; height: 160px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01689.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01704.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 121px; height: 161px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01704.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01722.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 217px; height: 162px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01722.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01711.jpg" target="_blank"> <img style="width: 122px; height: 163px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01711.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01732.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 195px; height: 258px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01732.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Last night, most of our group--everyone who was feeling healthy and didn't feel like she had work to catch up on--got together and spent an evening by the Seine. It was awesome. Never before has there been such group congealing and mish mashing and complete break down of our little cliques!<br /></div></div>katharine chinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15284167298044332878noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705181875013657952.post-15067845302597414262008-07-24T21:25:00.002+02:002008-07-30T18:39:35.454+02:00days 24 & 25: mmw midterm & musée de carnavaletDates: Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008 and Thursday, July 24th, 2008<br /><br />Most of Wednesday afternoon was dedicated to studying for the MMW Mid Term on Thursday. I don't really feel confident about the exam because I was pretty brain dead. I didn't even stay up late the night before, I just felt so exhausted and somewhat discouraged from the previous exam. It was just a matter of a slight discrepancy between my own expectations based on how much I thought I knew and how much I was able to show my knowledge on a test. In any case, after that we still had a full lecture, a visit to the Musee de Carnavalet (Museum of Paris) and dinner at night. We were lucky enough to have a few hours in between the Museum and the dinner to recuperate so I made it through the day, easily.<br /><br />The Museum is in the Marais district, an area that I've stumbled upon a few times before, mostly to visit the Place de Vosges. After learning about the area in Sawyer's lecture, it makes sense that the modest, unassuming (yet still classically Parisien and classically beautiful) exterior of the Museum would house a panoply of 16th century (and on) paintings. It's not just the paintings that it has, it's the way that the Museum is organized. It takes you through the chambers of old aristocrats / royalty and dots the walls with chronologically relevant (OK the chronology is an assumption on my part) paintings. Unfortunately the sections that were the most relevant to the period that we were studying, Roman Period and Medieval, were closed for renovation... But we got a good glimpse of some artifacts, paintings, and busts all from the 12th century and on. More pictures when I have the chance to update...<br /><br />After that I elected to head back and got some rest. I took a two hour nap that felt deceptively short. I did wake up refreshed though, so that's what counts. We gathered for dinner and hopped on the tram to take the 13 one stop. Dinner was pretty good, but not one of the best. The appetizer seemed like pickled vegetables and I ate some of the tomatoes with the bread but couldn't get it all down. The main dish seemed like a hamburger patty / steak-esque meat with cheese and bacon on top paired with frites. The dessert was the best though! Mountainberry tart... Everyone had charming little blackish blue smiles by the end. We headed back. A few of us wanted to go out as our days in Paris are quickly dwindling... Instead we watched <i>Toy Story</i>. After it ended though, some boy were hungry and we decided to head to St. Michel for some shwarma, crepes, and ice cream. We sat in front of Notre Dame just chatting and eating our food, enjoying the beauty of Notre Dame by evening. I'd say it was a great day.katharine chinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15284167298044332878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705181875013657952.post-17756759263710239612008-07-23T10:16:00.003+02:002008-07-23T17:23:08.597+02:00day 23: musée du quai branlyDate: Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01485.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 234px; height: 350px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01485.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />We walked past this nifty looking museum while trudging home from fireworks on Bastille Day (it looks cooler at night and this isn't a good picture of the main entrance.) It's a museum that features art from Africa, Oceania, Asia, and the Americas. There's an impressive collection, and the architecture and overall design of the interior is really nifty. But I will admit that it was difficult for me to enjoy at first because of the lighting inside. Granted, everything looked really cool in the low lighting and artistic glass cases (and the seemingly messy yet ultimately teleological floor plan) but it gave me quite a headache, as each exhibit was lit by several small lights, and those lights would reflect off the glass panes from adjacent exhibits, and yet most of the museum was not well light. (It was mostly dark and only the exhibits were lit with those small lights.) After I toughened up a bit, it got easier. I was a little confused because I wasn't sure what I was looking at (I should've invested in one of those audio guides! They weren't as cool as the touchscreen-GPS ones at the Louvre though.) but it was interesting. There were some interactive exhibits that gave information in English, which was helpful.<br /><br />What was rather exciting though, was seeing the Crystal Skull. (One of the many out there.) We weren't supposed to take pictures inside the museum, but I really couldn't resist...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01495.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 364px; height: 242px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01495.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">We finished walking through the main floor exhibits rather quickly as we weren't sure what we were looking at (except general African, Asian, American, and Oceanic art) so we explored their temporary exhibits (very interesting section and again, very artistically designed) as well as the nifty multimedia area. There was a cool interactive television screen where we think we saw Onka from Papua New Guinea. (He's the main character in an MMW1 video we all had to watch.)<br /><br />We took the C on the RER to get to the Museum and it was really nice. The trains on the C are double decker and most of it isn't underground. Thanks to the RER-C, I've discovered that I still have lots left to discover--more importantly, I have somewhere to start. Hopefully this weekend I can explore the area around the RER stop Javel and make a trip to the wonderful Georges Pompidou Center, too.<br /></div></div>katharine chinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15284167298044332878noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705181875013657952.post-40586053288160604762008-07-21T22:47:00.006+02:002008-07-23T10:16:14.545+02:00days 21 & 22: regression!Dates: Sunday, July 20th, 2008 to Monday, July 21st, 2008<br /><br />I did nothing worth blogging about but I feel obligated to anyway, as a testament to my laziness. I watched an entire season of Project Runway, did more shopping, and fully recuperated from post-MidTerm tiredness. Good news is, my allergies are getting much better.katharine chinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15284167298044332878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705181875013657952.post-57174697504280028042008-07-19T18:09:00.006+02:002008-07-23T10:12:22.303+02:00day 20: shopping & night lifeDate: Saturday, July 19th, 2008<br /><br />I was feeling pretty sulky this morning because most of our group has gone to Amsterdam or to the Lore Valley for the weekend and I was kicking myself for not planning a trip for the weekend. Last night instead of doing something fun, I was watching movies and tv shows by myself online until maybe 4am (after a two hour nap somewhere in between.) This morning I was looking up some ticket prices this morning but they're all quite expensive and even though I was tempted to spend 120 euros traveling to Geneva next weekend, I don't know who would want to go with me.<br /><br />So I did a bad thing. Zak wanted to check if the H&M had the shirt he wanted in a different size so I decided I wanted to go shopping. Nic came along too because I'm sure he's just as bored as the rest of us are. The other girls who are still here went shopping yesterday so they didn't come. I spent a good hour or two there (I don't remember, I didn't keep track) but I'm happy with what I purchased. There was a lot of stuff that was on sale and I actually found some items that I liked that were only three euros each (marked down from 10 to 25 euros). I bought a full priced dress and a good cardigan (because I need another top that isn't my brown knit sweater or my UCSD sweatshirt). The point is, I spent money to make myself feel better. Hopefully I do something more productive tomorrow, like actually explore Paris.<br /><br />Went to dinner with Clementine. Well not really dinner so much had champagne at a chic little brasserie called La Rotonde at Montparnasse. It was tasty and I always love hanging out with her. :)katharine chinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15284167298044332878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705181875013657952.post-63035247123566208042008-07-17T17:32:00.002+02:002008-07-23T10:08:11.823+02:00day 18 & 19: day of recovery & the louvreDates: Thursday, July 17th, 2008 and Friday July 18th, 2008<br /><br />Today is my day of recuperation. If we're going to the Louvre tomorrow, I'm definitely going to take it easy tonight. The Louvre was overwhelming as it has always been. I didn't bring my camera and I wasn't feeling in tip top shape so unfortunately I have no pictures and really not much to share, either. Nike of Samothrace is still one of my favorite statues, I still love seeing Castiglione's telling eyes (thank you Raphael) and the Madonna of the Rock's hands still impress me. Also, the Death of Sardanapalus (Delacroix) is still huge and impressive as are Liberty Leading the People and the Medusa Raft (Gericault). No one else seems like Flemish and Dutch painting which I still enjoy. I also didn't have time to sit in the Greek statues gallery and soak up the ethereal goodness of it all...katharine chinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15284167298044332878noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705181875013657952.post-83760766381308170462008-07-16T19:48:00.005+02:002008-07-19T14:12:17.482+02:00day 17: erc 103 midterm & freedom!Date: Wednesday, July 16th, 2008<br /><br />It wasn't so bad! I didn't budget my time as well as I should have and I felt like I had more to say, but that seems to be the general consensus I'm hearing from others. I should've written about justice and law with the Bois de Vincennes terms but I didn't and it's over so c'est la vie!<br /><br />I mostly spent my free time uploading pictures, tinkering on the computer, and sleeping. It was fantastic. I just got back from the bakery and the grocery store. I watched Amelie with a few friends last week I keep thinking about the one shot where Amelie has her fingers in the seed and looks at the camera, knowingly with a satisfied, yet slightly mischievous smile on her face. I'm kind of a space cadet at times--but honestly I think almost everyone has a little space cadet inside of her--and small things do give me great pleasures, however fleeting. I've noticed that one of the things that make the world pause, even for just a small moment, is the sight of stretched dough on a fresh baguette. I know I'm kind of destroying the "moment" by capturing it and keeping it, but I want to be able to remember a time of tasty fresh bread whenever, wherever. (Well, almost whenever. Except Sundays. And usually bakeries are closed after 8 or 9PM. And Bastille Day. And sometimes Wednesdays. and Sometimes Tuesdays.) Dough is cute.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01424.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 426px; height: 283px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01424.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /></div>katharine chinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15284167298044332878noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705181875013657952.post-92017335701644695982008-07-16T12:54:00.005+02:002008-07-17T19:03:29.409+02:00day 16: the long day (in class essay, latin quarter tour)Date: Tuesday July 15th, 2008<br /><br />The day was doable, survivable, tolerable. There are much worse things that could happen and the schedule could have been more rigorous so given the general nervous-exhausted state of our group, we pulled through. We started the day with our much anticipated (heh) In Class Essay on three articles that we were to read critically. Then we had class and learned about the Safavids (after reading an article on the Safavid? I feel like I would have been better prepared to criticize the OSM article had I just learned some good background from the Professor instead of Wikipedia...heh). Then we had a meeting with Jim Galvin in which we were slightly more energized. We had to break for lunch and I finally got a rotisserie chicken from the place down the street that I've been eyeing. It was great because I had a fresh baguette (oh how I love fresh bread!) to pair it with, along with the potatoes that it came with. Afterward we had our Sorbonne tour.<br /><br />It was interesting because we spend so much time there staring at the food and the shining lights from the noisy clubs and right next to it all (literally one alley down) is a great church that I've never been inside of. (Although I've even shwarma outside of it may a time.)<br /><br /><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01319.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 185px; height: 277px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01319.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01321.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 185px; height: 277px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01321.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01322.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 185px; height: 277px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01322.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01351.jpg" target="_blank"> <img style="width: 185px; height: 277px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01351.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">Church of Saint Severin<br /><br /></span><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01343.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 185px; height: 277px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01343.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01338.jpg" target="_blank"> <img style="width: 185px; height: 277px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01338.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">Notice in the picture on the left that the first level of stained glass is not classical--it looks post-impressionist! How neat!<br /><br /><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01353.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 261px; height: 173px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01353.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01365.jpg" target="_blank"> <img style="width: 115px; height: 173px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01365.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br />Church of St. Julien the Poor and the interior<br /><br /></span>But wait, it's not over yet! We ended the tour with Dominique in the Luxembourg Gardens. A big group of us decided to sit in the garden and review for the Mid Term (and try not to fall asleep). We actually got a good conversation going. I do find that the best way for me to learn history is to review my notes and talk it out with people. When I tell others what I know, it sticks better in my head. When I listen to others explain things to me, I'm also allowed to actively ask questions repeatedly until it sticks. I guess I learn best when I jabber on. Sometimes I really do feel a slave to my genes; Am I really just wired to be a chatterbox?!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01409.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 329px; height: 217px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01409.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01413.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 329px; height: 217px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01413.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div>In any case after our hour break, we had dinner. The tomato & mozzarella appetizer was awesome but the main dish was unimpressive. The fruit pastry was tasty, but I love pastries in general and not too difficult to please.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">And we're not done yet! We got back around 9:30PM and decided to meet at 10:00PM for a review with Professor Herbst. Having these late night review sessions and just being in constant contact with the Professor and his family (as a student, as a friend, as a baby entertainer/sitter!) is truly an invaluable perk to Global Seminars. The small class is great for learning because we rarely get to be in such a close knit environment with professors. Anyway so we reviewed with the professor, then reviewed some more on our own, and slept. <span style="font-style: italic;">Fin</span>. (Really!)<br /><br /></div><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01419.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 193px; height: 289px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01419.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">A little pond at the Luxembourg garden, featuring a sweet little pirate ship. (I couldn't get the skull and crossbones on the mast, it was on the other side.) </span><br /></div>katharine chinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15284167298044332878noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705181875013657952.post-43842123889021738942008-07-14T19:32:00.010+02:002008-07-16T18:16:00.617+02:00day 15: bastille day et plus étudiantDate: Monday, July 14th, 2008<br /><br />This morning a group of us met downstairs at 9:30AM to check out the parade. Of course we were stopped by tons of human traffic and since we departed rather late (at least I think it's because we left later) the main stops along the Champs-Elysee were closed on Line 1 so we took it all the way to the end, at Charles de Gaulle-Etoile. It wasn't too bad, except that we got off at Champs Elysee-Clemenceau thinking we could outsmart the French but alas, our folly only made it clearer that we need to learn how to speak and understand French... Zak thought he heard the conductor say that the Champs Elysee stop was only open for transfers, but most of us (who don't understand French at all / as well) thought we'd 'give it a shot.' In any case that was a minor setback.<br /><br />We saw all sorts of neat things once we finally got above ground again. (The lines in the metro were atrocious.) Most notable (for us, since there were several rows of people all along the Champs Elysee that we had to try to see over) were the fly overs. The first one we saw was a group of planes with colored exhaust--<span style="font-style: italic;">bleu, blanc, et rouge</span>!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01221.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 350px; height: 232px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01221.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01210.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 350px; height: 232px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01210.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01211.jpg" target="_blank"> </a><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01211.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 350px; height: 232px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01211.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img style="width: 285px; height: 426px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01216.jpg?t=1216205108" /><br /></div><br /><br />I studied for the rest of the day, mostly trying to get into the reading and untangling some information I had mixed up. Around 9PM a bunch of us got together to see the fireworks. A lot better than finding the parade because we took the 6 and got off at an open air stop so there was none of that crazy mob-ness. Although...when we DID get nearer to the Eiffel Tower, the mob awaiting the fireworks was already huge. We managed to find a spot by the Seine, high enough to give us as view of the fireworks at Trocadero. Crazy as it sounds, the crowd actually got bigger towards 11pm--there were so many people!<br /><br />I tried to balance my time between filming the fireworks to keep as a nice memory and actually appreciating them on their own. In these videos, I usually keep the bulk of the show in the frame, but sometimes I tried to watch the actual show and sometimes my arms got tired. Also just to give an idea of the scale of these fireworks: I took 6 other videos and these videos only capture maybe 1/4 of the show. Definitely better than Disneyland. (Haha)<br /><br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/fireworks3.flv" height="361" width="448"></embed><br /><br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/fireworks2.flv" height="361" width="448"></embed><br /><br />P.S. Please don't be shy--leave a comment! It's nice to know who's out there. Although I am writing mostly for myself, I do realize that I've spread word of this Blog along to my family, teacher, and friends (and friends of friends!) I don't know who has the link by now and it's interesting for me to know who's out there, even if you're just skimming. :) Thanks!katharine chinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15284167298044332878noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705181875013657952.post-91193627473830322442008-07-13T19:39:00.003+02:002008-07-14T20:29:46.997+02:00day 14: les deux magots et étudierToday I met with Clementine for lunch (her birthday is tomorrow, Bastille Day.) She and her father came by school to pick me up and we were planning on going to the Champs-Elysee to find a brasserie but traffic was quite horrendous so we got dropped off at Saint Germain des Présto eat at one of two famous cafes that surround the area. The first one, Café de Flore was very crowded so we checked out<span style="font-style: italic;"> Les Deux Magots </span>and they had room for us. We were delayed a bit by the traffic and Clem had an appointment for a spa at 2:30 PM so déjeuner was a bit rushed.<br /><br />All the same, I satiated the grumble in my tummy with a delicious Croque Monsieur (that is, ham and cheese on toast) and they were generous with the cheese so it was quite delicious. Clem had <span class="text_font">Les Deux Magots beef tartare which apparently is some sort of partially raw beef mixed with sauces... intriguing but I certainly wasn't adventurous enough today to try any. :P<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="text_font"><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01204.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 328px; height: 219px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01204.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a></span><br /></div><span class="text_font"><br />The rest of my day will (ideally) consist of studying and very likely some study breaks. OK I already had a study break and I was drawn by the movie <span style="font-style: italic;">Catch Me If You Can</span> and then I read a bit about Frank Abagnale on Wikipedia but now I'm returning to those articles. There are so many terms that are specific to the scholars' esoteric realms of study... I may need to make a word bank to fully comprehend but then again, I may just read them several times. We'll see... <span style="font-style: italic;">À bientôt!</span><br /></span>katharine chinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15284167298044332878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705181875013657952.post-90916352050031843592008-07-13T19:36:00.009+02:002008-07-14T20:28:19.567+02:00day 13: château de vincennes et la grande mosquée de parisTiring but informative day. We met at 9AM as usual (as opposed to the graceful 10AM meeting time the day before.) Essentially we spent the day touring the very nifty Château de Vincennes, the "fortified royal residence" (1, Green Info Pamphlet). Unfortunately my camera was low on batteries all day as I had forgotten to charge it the night before. I had to take pictures then frantically turn my camera off which, as you can probably imagine, reduced the quality of my pictures. (I know I'm already an amateur as it is...haha. Scary. Brace yourselves for the uncentered-ness and blurriness!)<br /><br /><img style="width: 188px; height: 281px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01124.jpg?t=1216058387" /> <img style="width: 187px; height: 280px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01126.jpg?t=1216058404" /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">That's the cathedral on the right, but we didn't get to go in as they're doing some restoration in it. Yes, that's Zak's head mid-laugh, haha.</span><br /><br /><img style="width: 188px; height: 281px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01128.jpg?t=1216059496" /> <img style="width: 188px; height: 281px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01132.jpg?t=1216059554" /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01141.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 299px; height: 200px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01141.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Starting the 18th c. the abandoned chateau was used as a prison. Apparently the prisoners passed their time with drawings like these. </span><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01151.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 299px; height: 200px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01151.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">An impressively deep well. </span><br /></div><br />There are some rooms that I didn't take pictures of, such as the underwhelming latrine that was really just a boarded up indoor outhouse. I suppose they didn't want tourists doing anything stupid or obscene so they blocked it up. I think it would have been interesting to at least block it up with something see through so we could see the piping systems. I'm not so much inerested in the scatological humor as I am the mechanisms of transporting human waste out of an old, old building... (OK maybe the scatological humor is tickles the five year old in me a little.)<br /><br />After the tour we had an hour or so for lunch. I was with Aria, Priscilla, and Zak but somehow we got separated at the MONOPRIX that we found. I guess I sort of ran away because I was following my nose; my nose was sniffing out the smells of the MONOPRIX bakery (cheap and reliable--is it un-classy for me to really enjoy MONOPRIX baked goods?). Alas, my nose did not fail me and I found a small bakery at its other entrance where I purchased a Poulet sandwich and a <span style="font-style: italic;">Grille Pomme </span>(A lovely, ordinary apple tart that looks like it's been grilled...AKA has a criss cross pattern of flaky pastry dough over apple tart-y goodness.) I exited from that entrance and decided to sit at the park and consume my Lunch. The street that is adjacent to the Château was quite quiet but just further inside the smaller streets (and in the small park where I sat) things were much livelier. I had a nice time people watching and ended up meeting with other people for the rest of the lunch time.<br /><br />Depsite tired feet and tired brains (I have a few hypotheses on our group tired-ness one of which I will explain later) we trekked to the metro and went to the Grand Mosquée de Paris. The guide we had did not speak English so our ever so helpful guide Christine, agreed to become impromptu translator. The architecture was quite breathtaking and certainly, especially in the middle of cosmopolitan (in a French way, I suppose) Paris, quite a getaway. The main garden was certainly reminiscent of some sort of exotic desert paradise. See for yourself (kind of):<br /><br /><img style="width: 188px; height: 281px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01154.jpg?t=1216059809" /> <img style="width: 188px; height: 281px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01170.jpg?t=1216059903" /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01165.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 299px; height: 200px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01165.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">For an extra cute picture of Jonah in this courtyard, check out the Photobucket Album!</span><br /><br /><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01169.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 299px; height: 200px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01169.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Inside the mosque's library.</span><br /></div><br />And so, we ended our day. For the first time ever, nobody in the group wanted to stay after and go on our own--except the Herbsts! Everyone was thoroughly pooped and ready to retire to our dormitory rooms. After a good rest, myself and a few friends had a lovely evening by the Seine, right by the Notre Dame. Unfortunately, it was partially dampered by an obnoxious flying spit from some hoodlums (I think that's a fair description given the circumstances). Fortunately, it didn't land on anyone. Anyway we hung out by the Seine to relax after studying and thus we concluded another fantastic night doing something we could only do in Paris.<br /><br />Very quickly (as I have been using lots of words lately--people seem to be more receptive to pictures than words, haha), my hypotheses on our group tiredness:<br /><br />Travel fatigue is out of the question as it is the second week so I must say that, although our workload is not unbearably intensive, we do get lectured at a lot, and I do feel like we are constantly expected to be learning. Almost everyday, we have lecture, then in the afternoon we have small excursions where we are frequently guided by a tour guide who is presenting information to us that is all fair game for the exam. For me, I try to get as much as out of each excursion and try to pay close attention to everything the guide says (although I do admit the last few trips, due to the cumulative fatigue of this hypothesis, I have been a bit more lax ... aka lazy). Therefore, although we are not actively reading all the time (we don't need to be to be tired and/or overwhelmed with information) we do get very tired. We have lots and lots of free time, but I think a lot of us would feel very guilty if we spent all of that free time napping or even all of it reading instead of exploring Paris. So we explore Paris and then we do our work, but--at least for me, in this second week--I have done a fair amount of relaxing Paris exploring, but little guilt-less relaxing which, combined with constantly being lectured and trying to retain information, equals a very tired bunch.<br /><br />And now I'm sure <span style="font-style: italic;">you're </span><span>a</span>ll tired after reading that. (Sorry, I said it was going to be quick...) Haha! I'm done, I promise. Thanks for reading and/or skimming. :)<br /><br />P.S. Shout out to birthday cutie, Jasmine! (Yes, this is technically late but let's all pretend this was posted on July 12th, 2008!)<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img style="width: 144px; height: 95px;" src="http://photos-067.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-snc1/v272/152/46/1065870067/n1065870067_30534645_5187.jpg" /><br /></div>katharine chinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15284167298044332878noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705181875013657952.post-77644719720451999042008-07-13T16:56:00.009+02:002008-07-13T20:54:59.526+02:00days 11 & 12: institut du monde arabe & alexander nevskyIn between a study break, I think I will catch up with some of the last few days of action. On Thursday, we visited the <span style="font-style: italic;">Institut du Monde Arabe</span> after class. I think our exhaustion was quite evident from the tour although I do think we tried to be respectful. The tour guide made it very clear that it was a secular institution and how difficult it was to get the institute built in spite of discrimination against Arabs. She also mentioned how the architecture (which I found was a lovely marriage between oriental and modern styles) did not jive well with some Arabs who visisted who felt it didn't ring true to true Oriental styles.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img style="width: 215px; height: 323px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01052.jpg?t=1215973030" /><br /><br /><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01065.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 323px; height: 215px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01065.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br />Apparently the little star-flower-ish-patterns are supposed to change according to the pattern of the sun to let in more or less light depending on the solar panels on their roof. And apparently a few of the ones that we saw were broken and hadn't moved in awhile. :P We took a neat glass elevator up to the museum but we weren't allowed to take pictures inside so all I have is a picture of the elevator shaft:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img style="width: 215px; height: 323px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01061.jpg?t=1215973165" /><br /></div><br />There weren't many artifacts inside, but I did get to see some Umayyad period art for myself which was pretty exciting, as that was the topic for my MMW 3 essay. The turqouise color that is frequently used in their pottery is quite breathtaking as, from what I recall, it was slightly translucent--or perhaps that was a trick of the light. In any case, after the tour, we made our way to the patio at the top for a lovely view of the Seine and the Notre Dame. And since my mother insists that I include a picture as proof that I am actually, in fact, in Paris:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01073.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 330px; height: 219px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01073.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Unfortunately, the Notre Dame was to the left of the panorama which we didn't manage to capture. You can see more pictures in the album, as always though. (L-R: Vicky, Me)</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Afterwards we sat outside on some nice lounge-beach chairs (it seemed like a set up for an outdoor movie of sorts) for a very very short break and started back. I can't even remember what I did that afternoon besides attempting to read and eventually falling asleep...</span><br /><br />Before we knew it though, it was time for our Friday excursion. On the agenda for this week was a visit to <span style="font-style: italic;">Cathédrale Saint Alexandre Nevsky</span>. I admit, the way I remember his significance is through Professor Herbst's mention of the use of Alexandre's character in history as the protagonist in a Soviet-era propagandistic film called Alexander Nevsky where the courageous Nevsky fights of the evil West (historically Western Europe). Again, pictures were "interdit" as the French like to remind us but I have a picture of the facade. (Actually the inside was quite beautiful and clearly different than a Catholic church with its numerous icons. There was a lovely painting in there of Jesus walking on water that I wish I could've gotten a picture of, but alas...<span style="font-style: italic;">Photographie est interdit</span>!)<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01100.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 245px; height: 365px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01100.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /><br /></a><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Our tour guide took us into the crypt below and proceeded to explain (what felt like) each icon and its significance. If you have ever been in a traditional Orthodox Church, you know how what a substantial number that is. All the same, it was very interesting to look at and it does make more sense when someone explains who all the people are, otherwise they're just more religious men (and Mary) in pious poses.<br /><br />Our agenda for the day was to include a promenade of the Parc Monceau and a visit to the Musée Cernuschi, but we (I believe including the Herbst family and Christine, our guide) were all clearly exhausted so we decided to head back after the Park. The rest of the day was dedicated to resting and studying until dinner time at <span style="font-style: italic;">Autour de...</span>. The (French) entree (the U.S. appetizer) was delicious! It was a bit of salmon on toast in delicious sauce with cheese (or was there?), egg, and spinach on it. The main dish was somewhat forgettable as it was six pieces of meat (I'm not sure what it was) over beans but as dessert, we got Tiramisu.<br /><br />And yet, later that evening a few friends and myself decided we were still hungry and would catch a late night snack. It seems inevitably but we found ourselves back at the Latin Quarter at the St Michel-Notre Dame stop of the RER-B. We grabbed some frites and some ice cream, took some fun pictures by the Notre Dame by evening, and headed home happily hailing the evening a success.<br /></div></div><br /></div></div>On another note, my mosquito bites have been healing well and I am happy to report that I have not found any new bites since my last post. Yes, I still have a few little bumps that may scar from my excessive itching but everyone has these--right? Haha, in any case I have learned my lesson and I now thoroughly enforce our room rules of closing the windows and blinds at night (or at least shutting it most of the way.)katharine chinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15284167298044332878noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705181875013657952.post-64883887373049397182008-07-09T22:50:00.002+02:002008-07-10T19:21:11.042+02:00day 10: île de la citéToday's lecture was a little stressful for me. Not entirely physically stressful (falling asleep / not paying attention etc.) it was more internal (uh oh, brace yourselves for some disorganized emotional quasi-philosophical logorrhea...I will keep it to one paragraph.) There's something very stressful about learning history, especially when it cover (as it often does) the senseless and systematic self-destruction of the human race. I don't know why this lecture should resonate more with me than the Mongol lecture, but the pointed cruelty that we learned of today just seemed so unnecessary and yet so frighteningly unpreventable. I guess a combination of general being tired and almost nearly always being around a group plus today's lecture equals a rather quiet me. Though on the bright side, Professor Herbst brought up St. Francis of Assisi. His story thoroughly impresses me and, in many ways, is incredibly uplifting.<br /><br />After our lecture I did some reading and had some bread that Zak picked up at the Boulanger. (It was a wonderful, delicious, fresh baguette.) (OK I admit it I was sulking about the aforementioned stuff in my room and stole away to the quiet of my room while everyone else was at lunch.) In any case, our afternoon trip was a visit to Il de la Cite. We stopped at Chatelet from M-4 and met our tour guide. From there we explored a number of places including Notre Dame and Sainte-Chappelle. I actually had never been inside Notre Dame until today and it was actually quite quick. It was all very grand, but much busier that St. Denis Basilica so I don't think I quite got to appreciate it the same way. There was, however, a neat choir that started to sing in the church which certainly contributed to the experience.<br /><br /><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC00961.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 184px; height: 274px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00961.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC00966.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 184px; height: 274px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00966.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC00981.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 184px; height: 274px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00981.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC00985.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 184px; height: 274px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00985.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br />We got to go into Sainte-Chappelle via the Palais du Justice instead of waiting in line. (We felt really important.) The gift shop / information area of the chapel on the first floor was decorated impressively the way we think it used to be -- brilliant gold, red and blue.<br /><br /><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01012.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 184px; height: 274px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01012.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01015.jpg" target="_blank"> <img style="width: 184px; height: 274px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01015.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I personally prefer the plainer stone condition that most churches are in today but it was quite beautiful. We climbed the steps up to the chapel, and the chapel is simply spectacular. Part of me doesn't want to show you pictures because it doesn't, in any way, substitute being there in a relatively small room, the walls of which mostly comprise grand stained glass windows. But of course I will share what I have and hope it tempts you into coming (back) to Paris!:<br /><br /><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01029.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 184px; height: 274px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01029.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01021.jpg" target="_blank"> <img style="width: 184px; height: 274px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01021.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Afterwards we had free time--I desperately craved frites avec ketchup as I had only Prince cookies for breakfast/snack and parts of a baguette. We got some frites and some people got ice cream, then we walked to the park behind the Notre Dame (mm to admire those wonderful flying buttresses! Possibly my favorite architectural achievement) but we had mostly finished our snacks by then so we returned back to CiUP where I promptly fell asleep until about 9:00 PM...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC01046.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 184px; height: 274px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC01046.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Valiant attempt at disguising the yellow crane...</span><br /></div><br />(But not before stubbing my toe pretty badly on a gate locker on the way out of the RER at Cite Universitaire...I have a picture of it for personal reasons but I'm not showing haha!)<br /><br />And now it's time to read. I feel much less somber and upset by the atrocities of humankind and still believe in the potential good of (wo)man.katharine chinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15284167298044332878noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705181875013657952.post-62416978228191072872008-07-09T09:56:00.009+02:002008-07-16T18:13:05.235+02:00day 9: stephen sawyer & st denisAn exciting guest speaker, Professor Stephen Sawyer came to lecture for us today on Christianity in Paris. He was so interesting and so eccentric and very knowledgeable and informative. And so after much ado, we finally went to <span style="font-style: italic;">Basilique de Saint-Denis</span>: it absolutely took my breath away! On a side note, it's rather interesting how demographically stratified you can see France (or Paris is) by hopping on different metro lines...<br /><br />In any case there was so much to see in the Basilica and the Necropolis. I don't really have much to say about it except that I spent most of the 90 minutes in absolute wonder of the church. (Of course, there were flying buttresses and ribbed vaults that consistently take my breath away / impress me to no end.)<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC00819.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 296px; height: 197px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00819.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC00816.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 187px; height: 280px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00816.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC00836.jpg" target="_blank"> <img style="width: 189px; height: 282px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00836.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC00832.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 189px; height: 283px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00832.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC00854.jpg" target="_blank"> <img style="width: 189px; height: 283px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00854.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC00881.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 189px; height: 282px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00881.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC00901.jpg" target="_blank"> <img style="width: 189px; height: 283px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00901.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC00896.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00896.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br /></div>Then we stopped very quickly at an old Roman Arena that well, looks vastly different not. And yet I would love to play soccer there and grow up there. I love love love old things and I look touching them and imagining what "it used to be like" back in the day.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC00933.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00933.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC00934.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00934.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />We had an hour of free time around the Jussieu stop (wonderful!) and chose to go to the Jardin des Plantes. I had no idea there was a menagerie there but apparently Zak pointed that out to me when we went the first time around, I just wasn't listening... I WAS wondering what all the enshrining of the "zoologiques" was about... Haha. The menagerie was closed but we managed to see some wallabys and some black swans for free. :) Wallabys were cute!<br /><br />When we were done with free time we walked to our dinner place: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Heureux Comme Alexandre – Mouffetard</span>. Le Petit Prince decorations and wonderful wonderful FONDUE! I love cheese fondue so much. I want to go back to this place... Just look at it:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC00938.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00938.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/?action=view&current=DSC00941.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00941.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /></div>katharine chinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15284167298044332878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705181875013657952.post-10846489844133272512008-07-08T09:15:00.004+02:002008-07-09T10:02:25.252+02:00days 7 & 8: more of the same thing (lazy sunday and extra weekend-day: monday)Day 7 was a lot of lazying about. Most of my day revolved around finding food (yes, Latin Quarter, yes Frites...) as it was a Sunday (contrary to the time stamp--Sunday, July 6th 2008) and sitting in a park (<span style="font-style: italic;">Vosges</span>) for many hours (with a baguette--mm) and searching for food.<br /><br />Day 8 was more lazying around and meeting Clementine for dinner which was wonderful! That's about it though... I spent the majority of the day fretting about what constituted "casual but chic" in Clementine's eyes. We were supposed to eat at a restaurant that Clementine chose but it was closed for renovation so we just picked a random Cafe. Had a delightful salad (tons of turkey and meat in it...) paired with a wonderful white wine. Afterwards we had a glass of champagne at the ever so chic and hip "Costes" where apparently celebrities dine and wine on the weekends. (Last time Clementine was there she saw Diane Kruger--wow!)<br /><br />No pictures from either days... It was slightly rainy though. I quite enjoy the cooler weather because it's just more tolerable to walk around that way. Also, after a week of just jam packed action, the two days were decent breathers. I also did one interesting event each day so I don't feel guilty about relaxing. I feel properly recharged for the week.<br /><br />I have been working on watching Amelie with some people, too.katharine chinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15284167298044332878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705181875013657952.post-1184907958013189302008-07-06T11:40:00.008+02:002008-07-16T13:15:27.249+02:00day 6: exploration of paris!Mood: Accomplished<br />Warning: Convoluted post ahead! Lots of metro line references. May get confusing...<br /><br />Today I explored Paris with Zak. The key to our plans for the day was intuition and being spontaneous, aka Metro hopping and lots of wandering. I had gone out the night before so I didn't wake up until 11:50 ish so I had to grab breakfast along the way. We took the tram to Porte d'Orleans to look for a bakery or a supermarket. We walked along the Metro line 4 (unknowingly, although it's hard not to as, according to Zak, the first metros built follow the main streets so they wouldn't dig through people's basements) until we found a MONOPRIX and it's wonderful bakery. Maybe I just don't know what it's really like to have exquisite French pastries but I really love MONOPRIX's stuff. It's reliably good and affordable too! Anyway as we were searching for it, it started to rain which put Zak's coat to good use.<br /><br />After we got me breakfast we hopped on the Line 4 at Alésia and stopped at Montparnasse Bienvenüe to see the big black building that so intrigues Zak. We walked around it and spotted a Farmer's market and of course, I had to see. It stretched for two blocks along this nice little divider-street lined with trees.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00750.jpg?t=1215372118"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 246px; height: 369px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00750.jpg?t=1215372118" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />So we just kept walking along it and wandering until we saw a metro for line 6 and hopped on (it might have been Edgar Quinet but I'm not sure anymore) towards Nation. Turns out part of the 6 is being renovated and we would have to take a bus (which, of course, is not classy enough for Zak) so we stopped at Place d'Italie and took the 5 towards Boblgny Pablo Picasso, stopping at Gare d'Austerlitz where we walked around the train station. (Literally, around it. We made an unnecessary circle.) It's an old station! Then we went to the adjacent Jardins de Plantes which houses the Natural History Museum of Paris.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00753.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00753.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br />It's very large, very roomy, and quite beautiful. After we left the garden and followed some crowds, we found the Grande Mosque of Paris and continued down a small street.<br /><br />This small street led us to the find of the day: Stop Jussieu of Line M-7 and RER-C is near a cute community that I really enjoyed. Firstly the crepes and snacks were reasonably priced. A sugar crepe was less than 2 euros (the price that it should be!). Secondly, it seemed tucked away enough that it had almost a small town feel, or at least a more private atmosphere despite how close it is to the Seine.<br /><br />As we wandered around the area, choosing small streets that looked interesting to walk up and stairs to climb, we found a building under construction for the University of Paris. It looks like it's being redone from the top bottom.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00756.jpg?t=1215372195"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 248px; height: 371px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00756.jpg?t=1215372195" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />We continued to wander and chose a small street that took us towards the Seine and the Eiffel Tower (unknowingly--we just thought we were going NW). along the way we saw Eglise Saint-Nicolas du Chardonnet. Didn't get a picture of the actual church because the streets were pretty narrow. We took a peek inside and it was rather fancy for a small church (relative to the Notre Dame and such.) We continued to walk around randomly by picking streets that looked interesting. Zak wanted to pursue a tower that he saw which conveniently brought us to the Seine and close to the Notre Dame (aka close to the Latin Quarter, aka near lots of Grec, aka Lunch time!) More meandering led us to a small park across the street from the Notre Dame in the courtyard of a really small church that was adjacent to Rue St Jacques--what I call Shwarma Street.<br /><br />And so, we stopped for lunch--Grec Pita, obviously. Devoured our food in the park and took a little break there (at my request).<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00759.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00759.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />Then we set off towards the Tower across the Seine that Zak had spotted. We crossed Il de la Cité and onto Il de St. Louis. We found the tower on the Right Bank at the end of a charming cobblestone alley. It seemed like part of the old church had been fused with a new apartment complex. We walked around it and found the facade which looked pretty much brand new. Apparently we found Eglise Saint-Gervais Saint-Protais. The old part of the building was awesome, but we didn't go inside. The church is right next to Hotel de Ville which led to us to the next part of our adventure: The Grand Arch!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00763.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00763.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />There's a Metro-1 by the Hotel de Ville so we took that all the way to La Defense, right underneath the Grand Arch. On the other side of the Arch (I guess the back) is a long walkway built over a cemetery (questionable?).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00766.jpg?t=1215372223"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 180px; height: 273px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00766.jpg?t=1215372223" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00770.jpg?t=1215372250"> <img style="cursor: pointer; width: 182px; height: 272px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00770.jpg?t=1215372250" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />It seems to be some sort of look out. We saw some strange looking towers that, according to Wikipedia, are called Tower Aillaud. They are strange looking and look like futuristic public housing gone nuts! Note that some windows are circles and on some floors where it looks like there's supposed to be windows, there aren't!<br /><br />Then we walked along the strip on the other side of the Grand Arch. Near the Arch, it's all very glamorous with shiny, impressive, tall buildings but the further down the strip you walk (that is, more towards the Arc de Triomphe) it gets less and less glamorous. All the same, here's a shot:<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00762.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00762.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00789.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00789.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />After that we had just one more goal before heading home: find the little island with the small version of the Statue of Liberty! Hopped on the 1 and transferred to the 6 at Charles de Gaulle-Étoile stopping at Bir-Hakeim (Eiffel Tower stop). We walked along the long, little island and found the Statue of Liberty at the very end. Snapped a quick photo, then we headed home, but not before stopping on a bridge for a good shot of the Eiffel Tower.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00790.jpg?t=1215372277"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 193px; height: 288px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00790.jpg?t=1215372277" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00792.jpg?t=1215372310"> <img style="cursor: pointer; width: 192px; height: 289px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00792.jpg?t=1215372310" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />We stopped at a MONOPRIX for some fruit and Orangina before heading back to school. Took 8 to Balard so that we could sit on the Tram longer. Upon returning to Cite Universitaire, I promptly fell asleep and napped until about 10:00PM when some knocking woke me up. A big group of people were setting off to hopefully climb the Arc de Triomphe and see the sunset. Unfortunately with all our slow moving-ness, we didn't make it, but we still managed to get some lovely night shots. :)<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00805.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00805.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br />That was relatively quick so we decided to head to the Eiffel Tower for some night shots, too. At 12:00 the big blue tower sparkled for us and we headed home.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00814.jpg?t=1215372344"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 247px; height: 371px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00814.jpg?t=1215372344" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />We were hoping to get some food by the Latin Quarter but we didn't want to risk getting stranded / have to take the Night Bus so we just headed back. I had another baguette-brie-salami sandwich, some Orangina, and thus ended my wonderful day.katharine chinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15284167298044332878noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705181875013657952.post-37037252066034180072008-07-04T22:09:00.007+02:002008-07-04T22:52:49.568+02:00day 5: montmarte et opéra garnierMood: Adventurous (Also not as sinus-y in case you were wondering)<br /><br />Finally: Montmarte! We gathered at 9AM outside of Monaco house (our dormitory building).<br />Took the tram for then hopped onto the 14 (I think) to the stop Place de Clichy. We met our tour guide, whose name I have absolutely just blanked on (even though I made a mental note of it this morning so I could write it down later...), in front of the Moulin Rouge. The tour was amazingly informative. Last time I was at Montmarte, we just stuck to the steps of Sacre Coeur, ate, watched the sunset, then watched the street performers. I knew that Montmarte was the center of the bohemian life back in its artistic heyday home to (at one time or another) Lautrec, Renoir, Picasso, and Van Gogh... I just never never knew exactly where they used to live. I confined my last visit to the steps and the shops at the top of the hill with the best view.<br /><br />This time around, with our tour guide, we were able to see a great number of places I would never have spotted if a seasoned guide hadn't pointed things out. Let's see if I can't give you an abridged virtual version guide of Montmarte...<br /><br /><hr /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00641.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00641.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Moulin Rouge</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00650.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 259px; height: 387px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00650.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">The Cafe from <span style="font-style: italic;">Amelie</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00655.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 374px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00655.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Van Gogh's apartment</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00658.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 173px; height: 258px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00658.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00659.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 172px; height: 258px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00659.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">My attempt (short arms and all) to capture a glimpse of the view that inspired Van Gogh.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00665.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00665.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">The Wall of "I Love Yous" -- and our tour guide!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00675.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 171px; height: 255px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00675.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00677.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 170px; height: 254px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00677.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">The Market from <span style="font-style: italic;">Amelie</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00692.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 187px; height: 280px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00692.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00692.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00696.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 188px; height: 282px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00696.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">The Man in the Wall | Jonah and his cracker and Professor Herbst</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00697.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00697.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">People taking pictures of St. Denis statue</span><br /><br /><span><span style="font-size:85%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00703.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00703.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Meet the MMW 4 Summer 2008 Global Seminars Group! (Or at least most of us)</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">The tour guide is telling us about the vineyards you see on the top of the picture.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00713.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00713.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">A nice view mid-way through the tour. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00711.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 225px; height: 337px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00711.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">A garden where the artists used to paint?</span><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00728.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00728.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">The lovely Sacre Coeur. Or at least part of it. I wish I had a wide angle lens for this type of thing!</span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /><hr /><br /><br />After the tour we split up into groups for free time. The group I was with decided to tour the inside of the Sacre Coeur (which I also have never been inside). It was very...grand inside. The "ring of light" that the dome makes (as viewed from indoors) really reminds me of the Hagia Sophia (and makes me wish I could see it!). Afterwards we walked around, looking for food, looking at the shops. I got a nutella banana crepe and I must say I was a little underwhelmed for the 4€ I had to fork over for it. The Latin District creperies are more generous with their toppings...<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00744.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00744.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">We kept wandering down the hill, backtracking through tour guide's route. I also enjoyed the tour for another reason: it allowed me to become more familiar with Montmarte as an entire area and not just Sacre Coeur. I feel more familiar with it and have developed a more detailed cognitive map. Hopefully if I go back / return again I'll kind of know my way around!<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00741.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/katharrine/Paris%202008/DSC00741.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Artists and cafes of Montmarte</span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />After that we kept walking down and ended up going to the Montmarte Cemetery that was quite eerie. We didn't actually walk through all the tombs, but apparently Edgar Degas and Emilie Zora are buried there. (Or at least Zora before he was upgraded to the Pantheon.) We then walked along the street that the Moulin Rouge is on--yes, the one strewn with sex shops and advertisements for peep shows. It all seemed rather benign despite their tacky neon lights and ...explicit choice of words. (I guess because I've walked through the Red Light District Before.) Also, one certainly gets a different impression of the area when strolling through it at 3 PM in the afternoon.<br /><br />Anyway walking down most of the strip, we decided to see the old Opera house (Opéra Garnier, Palais Garnier, all the same). So we hopped on the metro (I am still not over how damn cool the metro is...I love it! I love good public transportation!!) and made our way there. It's really just a pretty building so we walked around it and then decided to head back because we were just so tired. All in a day, eh?<br /><br /><br />I'm not sure what I'm going to do with my entire day of free time tomorrow but I hope it involves me just wandering around the city. I really want to just hop on the tram or the metro and just ride randomly then pop up to see where I am. I should also check WikiTravel for some recommendations... I think I'm going to try to go the Orange Museum with Vicky and possibly the Eiffel Tour with her too because she's never been there before. Until next time ...<br /><br />Bon nuit!<br /><br />P.S. I'm going to have to get another shot of Sacre Coeur by late afternoon light and another one by evening because we didn't stay long enough this time...<br /></span>katharine chinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15284167298044332878noreply@blogger.com2