Dreaming of Paris

I cannot believe four months have passed since I started my journey to France this past summer. I am incredibly thankful for every single experience I had including the good, the bad, the smelly, the uncomfortable, and the unforgettable. I will cherish those moments for the rest of my life!

My mom has been begging me to do a wrap up post on this blog, and I think I can finally sit down long enough to do so. As you remember from my last post, I was in the middle of packing to come back home, finishing a ridiculous essay for a class, hoping my computer wouldn't crash on me...needless to say it was pretty difficult to write a final blog post! While I can't share any of the little moments that happened since so much time has passed, I would like to show you some pictures that were never able to make it up. So please, enjoy the following pictures as they were my absolute favorites (and I'm so glad I didn't lose them!)

Thank you all for following me, supporting me, and encouraging me on this life changing experience. Here is my gift to you :)

Paris, je t'aime toujours.

Allison King's Day Off

So I ditched class today, and I don't feel bad about it in the least. In the immortal words of Ferris Bueller, life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. Today I definitely looked :)

I'm starting my day with Emily at Notre Dame to actually go inside of it for the first time. I can't wait to see it! We waited in line forever to go to the top first. It's really funny how at these tourist hotspots you actually feel like you belong. There are absolutely no French people who do things like this, so it's like a collective space for outsiders. Once I finally got inside, I walked up so many flights of stairs in a teeny tiny stairwell that eventually brought me to the top. The view was breathtaking. You could see everything, and the gargoyles were unreal. I absolutely loved it! I also got to see the only original bell that survived the French revolution. After exploring the top, I went inside the cathedral and was completely blown away. The stained glass windows and high arches were incredible and transported you to a completely different time. I was lucky to catch a Mass that was going on while I browsed around inside. While looking at the story of each glass panel and statue, I listened to scripture readings and hymns. It was all so beautiful, and I would highly recommend actually attending a Mass no matter what denomination, religion, or belief system you have. It definitely adds to the experience of visiting!

I met Emily to head out for lunch. She took me to Montmatre which is a little town on the same hill as the Sacre Coeur. On our way up we had to quickly pass by gypsies and shady vendors who told who your ass was too small if you didn't look at the purses they were trying to sell you. Once we passed all of that, it was a totally different world. Montmatre was much quieter and quainter than downtown Paris. Emily even told me that residents on the hill do not refer to themselves as Parisians and now I understand why, it's completely different! Every building, store, and cafe was packed in together and it had a very small town feel. Artists lined the streets with the most beautiful artwork. This apparently was a big hangout for Monet, Picasso, Dali, and van Gogh, and these artists just seemed to channel the creative energy they left behind. We had lunch as a little cafe and had fun people watching. We also passed by a vineyard that spanned some of the downward slope. Any wine sold in Montmatre comes from that particular vineyard. For any of my readers that intend to visit Paris, please go see Montmatre. It's such a neat little place that you would never expect, I'm so thankful for Emily showing it to me!

After Montmatre, we went to Champs Elysees to sight see and window shop. We browsed around for while, but eventually made our way home to rest for a bit before dinner. We dined at a small cafe on one of the islands of the Seine very close to Notre Dame. The food was excellent, and we were lucky enough to have some performers decided to set up shop right next to us. They were a band of 6 incredibly talented musicians. We heard French songs as well as American swing and other Michael Buble-y material. They were just amazing! I have continuously been impressed with the talent Paris has, and I've had the pleasure of hearing them just on my trips during the day. This particular drew quite a crowd, and with good reason. Emily and I tipped them when we were leaving, thanking them for entertaining us through our meal.

After hearing more music, stopping briefly at The Moose, and getting ready for bed, I am now at home reluctantly working on a presentation I have due tomorrow. It's our last day of class, and my time is just now starting to sink in. All I can say is that I'm so happy to have taken advantage of one of my free days to soak up as much of Paris as I could :)

Au revoir!

72 hours left in Paris

Sorry for the really spotty postings lately, but this is the first time in a while I've been sitting down for a moment with Internet!

Yesterday was a fabulous day. In photography we are printing a book with a collection of each of our photos. Something about knowing your pictures will be in a book makes it that more nerve wracking to pick the right ones! So I turned in ones that had already been critiqued by her that I felt pretty confident about. It was so cool to see all of our work laid out together. However, I got a pleasant surprise yesterday when I found out Hally had chosen one of my pictures to be the cover of the book! I almost cried a little. It was the accordion man I posted in one of my earlier posts, but I will show you again once I'm published :)

After class, Christine and I went out with Emily for her birthday. We all packed dinner and a bottle of wine for ourselves and sat along the Seine near the Notre Dame. It was such a beautiful view, and just fun to be sitting there marveling that this was actually happening. There are definitely worse views to have.

After dinner we went to her favorite cafe for desert. It's called Cafe de Flore. It's a very old and famous cafe, and I must say it was one of my better experiences. The staff was so nice and it was just really neat to see. Emily had hot chocolate while Christine and I split an ice cream dish. I ordered a glass of champagne for everyone and we enjoyed the evening until Emily couldn't stay awake.

We've been trying to make the most of every moment we have left, and I think we definitely had a success tonight!

On a personal note

I realize that my latest posts have been really factual without much personal input. Ive been so busy running around taking so much in, I didn't know how else to convey my experiences. But I did want to take a moment to share my own thoughts.

I cannot emphasize how fast the time has past in the last three weeks. A whole month abroad seemed very intimidating to me before I left, but now I'm wondering where the time went. I feel like there is still so much I need to do and see. Unfortunately my classes have made me feel slightly trapped for time, if I could do anything differently it would be to take only one class instead of two. Every moment is precious here, and I felt like I wasted a lot of it reading and writing for my culture class instead of actually experiencing the city.

While I've had a blast over here seeing and learning as much as I could, I will be ready to come home next Saturday. I miss my family, Andrew, and everyone else. I have been gone for some important moments in their lives, and I wish I hadn't. Still, I do not regret a single coming here overall.

One month was the perfect amount of time for me to stay here. I think I've learned so much by actually living in and not simply visiting Paris. I don't think I could stay much longer away from Texas, but the time has past quickly enough for me to enjoy everything here.

Let me vent

Everything about Paris and this trip has been so wonderful. But please allow me one moment to take off my rose colored glasses a let me rant about a couple of things. I'll be brief!

I've absolutely loved learning about photography and I can definitely see an improvement in my pictures (sorry you guys can't yet!). But as I've been going through all of them, there are very few that have me actually in them. I've been so busy focusing behind the camera that I havent actually stepped in front of it all that often. While I'm taking some interesting pictures, I feel like I'm missing out on those touristy pictures like me leaning on the Eiffel Tower with a barret and a baguette or something stupid like that. Maybe I'll have time to work on that this week.

Secondly, I have unfortunately been annoyed for a portion of this trip. I really wanted to do my best to immerse myself and blend into Paris, but a lot of my colleagues could care less. I actually have been a little embarrassed by the super loud talking on the metros and the cussing for example that I've developed this weird spli personality of an American Parisian who finds disdain in her own peers. I really am trying to work on just letting it go, but frankly I think its rude and arrogant to expect another country's culture to adapt to your lifestyle. I have definitely developed an appreciation for people who come to our country and actually try to fit in.

Okay now that I got that out, I can go back to enjoying myself!

Technology Sucks

I almost had a mental breakdown last night with my laptop. Apparently I have reached my storage limit, and not only is that not allowing me to download my pictures, but it has actually started shutting down my applications right in the middle of using them. I only have 500MB left (which is nothing). I've been deleting as many documents, songs, and pictures as impossibly can just to free up some room. But even doing that sometimes uses up too much space and everything just shuts down. So it looks like I'll be doing most everything from my phone now before my laptop decides to just screw it all and explode.

I really had no idea how limited my space was. I guess we just all think that these things are infallible. I only have 5 days left, I'm hoping that will be enough for my data to survive!

Its been real, laptop, but maybe after four years our relationship must come to an end. I'll you know how it goes, and as soon as I can find a way to back everything up I'll try to post some pics!

Chambord & Home!

So I am finally home, showered, and relaxed at this point! I do want to apologize, I was intending to upload these posts with pictures that I've taken over the weekend. However, my computer informed me that it is out of storage and will no longer let me upload pictures from my camera....crap. I will do my best to figure something out, but I apologize for the pictureless posts. Let me catch you up with the last leg of my journey!

We arrive at Chateau Chambord which was by far the largest chateau we visited. It sprawled across the open fields with the small town surrounding it. This was definitely the most interesting architecturally, but it was a little bare inside. The best part was in the center of the main building, there was a double helix stairwell that is believed to be designed by Da Vinci. I promise when I can figure out this picture situation I will show you! The balconies were beautiful as well, and from them you could see the entirety of the gardens. We wandered through the rest of the castle until we were freaked out by the third floor. There apparently was a display for a contemporary artist who is a little....extreme. They were paintings depicting morbid scenes (i.e. suicide or a lady holding a disemboweled cat, that was the light stuff) in a very abstract but obvious manner. I don't think it wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't incorporated human hair in his "art work"....like I said, maybe I'm a heathen for having no appreciation for this, but my friend and I got out as quickly as we could. To escape, we went to the top floor that led to the terrace on the roof. This was the best area to see the tops of all the towers which were extremely intricate. As I was taking thousands of pictures, I started to notice all the shapes that painted on the building. There were circles, triangles, diamonds, semi circles all over. They were always appeared in 1, 3, or 5. It was very interesting to see something with so much geometry on a building during that particular era.

After the chateau we toured the little town nearby. We were lucky, and there was a row of local vendors that had set up stands for the day. I found a man who had a vineyard from the Loire Valley, and I bought 3 bottle pack of his wine that included a Sauvignon, a Rose, and another red....for 12 Eruos!!! I've paid for more than that for a single bottle back in the States! Needless to say, I will be very excited to try it all out.

The trip back home was uneventful, but I loved my weekend out in the French country side. It was nice to be outside the super busy city for once and take in the other kinds of beauty France has to offer. I promise the pictures will paint a better picture, and I will put them up as soon as I can figure out how! As for now, I'm getting ready for bed before I start my last week of class :)

Bon Soiree!

Le Rivière Cher

This morning we got up fairly early for a wonderful breakfast of fresh fruits and pastries. We packed up quickly to start another busy day! I hate leaving the chateau, I wish we could have spent more time enjoying the gardens and house itself. But I was excited for our morning boat tour of the Chateau de Chenonceau. It was absolutely gorgeous! There is a beautiful bridge that the chateau sits on over the river, and you can't see it if you tour the chateau from land. We felt very lucky to get the beautiful view. Then we drove over to the chateau itself for an interior tour. It was a little smaller (like I have any right calling a mansion small) but it made it feel almost like a home. This chateau was built primarily by women (half by the wife and half by the mistress). It still was beautiful! I'm still just amazed by the style and artistry of this time that is so prevalent in France. Again, we could only imaging what it must have been like to live here. I think my favorite room was the chapel with all of the stained glass windows! I kind of went crazy with pictures...

After walking around for a while (and falling down a flight of stairs...seriously there will be a bruise on my butt for a couple days) we got some lunch. Christine and I shared a bottle of wine and chatted with two girls we just met from our program while on this trip. They are so sweet and nice! We were sitting near the gardens of the mistress which were much more beautiful than the wife's (aren't they all?). It was a beautiful spot to enjoy the afternoon.

Today was filled with pictures, good food, and wine so far! I'll post as many pictures as I can, I think they can tell the story of my day much better than I could! We are on the bus right now heading to our next chateau, and between all of the activity of the day in combination with the majority of a bottle of wine, I think I will probably take a nap. Bons rêves :)

Au Chateau

When we were finished with the afternoons activities, we drove over to the chateau we were staying in for the night. It, like many of the other things I saw Saturday, was beautiful! While it wasn't a castle, it was still an old mansion with lots of land around the area. We dropped off our bags in the the rooms and went to another smaller building in the courtyard where we were served dinner. It was alright, but we just wanted to get out and explore the gardens and forest surrounding the area! By the time we finished, the sun was just setting. We found some really neat scenery and beautiful creeks and lakes. It was just so refreshing to breathe the fresh air and see so much green! We wandered around until it was too dark. After going back to our rooms and getting ready for bed, Christine and I popped open a bottle of champagne and just relaxed the evening away! I tried to stay up and do some things in my laptop, but I was out like a light as soon as my head hit the pillow.

Les petits chèvres

Out next stop was a little goat farm where the best goat cheese I've ever tasted is made. It's called Moreau, and it's a family business that has been running since the mid 1800s. Everything is done by hand, and they distribute primarily to Paris. We watched a little video about how goat cheese is made. It was in French and a little boring, but I was very excited to taste the cheese and see the goats afterwards! We were given a short tour of their facilities. Then we were led to the barn where the CUTEST goats were housed. They were so friendly, they were practically hopping out of their pen to have us pet them! They were just so curious, we were all falling in love. After getting a cuteness overload, we sampled their cheese with baguette, gingerbread, and another bread that had the cheese baked into it. All the breads came from a local bakery, and the wine we had with it was from a local vineyard. I also saw some really pretty pottery and guess where they came from?....a local potter! Everything has a very small town feel, and each business helps the other out. We were sad we couldn't buy any of the cheese since we can't refrigerate it until tomorrow, but we will look around Paris for this brand. We did however buy out all the wine so we each have a bottle for the night!

This was a very interesting part of the excursion, but I still loved every minute! We are on a great start to this trip so far!

Allons-y au Val de Loire!

Too early. That is the time we woke up this morning to take the metro to get to our meeting point. I was up way too late packing, showering, doing my hair to get ready for the trip. However, we made it in time and all in one price to the bus. I fell asleep as soon as we got rolling. We stopped at a little gas station for a break (they aren't that much different here apparently), and I stayed awake to take in the scenery once we got going again. It was so beautiful. Living in Paris, I forget that most of France is not metropolitan. There are fields and little villages everywhere, I can imagine this would be a great place to escape from the city. P.s., any piano instrumental is the best music to listen to while driving through this area (especially Claire du Lune).

The city we are staying in is Amboise, and it's a quaint little town with a huge chateau overlooking the city from a hill. We toured it and it was incredibly beautiful. The chateau was built in the 1400s, and the entire French royalty vacationed there. I couldn't help but imagine what it must have been like walking through the halls as a resident during those times! This was also the place where Leonardo Da Vinci died with the Mona Lisa and two other paintings. His house was just down the road, and his grave was in the chateau's abbey. He gave the Mona Lisa to his assistant here before his death, and that is why the French have possession of the painting!

We had an opportunity after the tour to get lunch. We found a little cafe just along the chateau's walls and had the cheapest lunch since arriving in Europe! It was very good (I had wine and pizza!), but we were a little rushed to catch the bus for the next destination!

Friday Funday

The week is finally over! Between writing essays all week and the seemingly endless hours in the class room, I was excited for my day off. And did make use of it!

Emily and I ventured around the city to try and check some things off my list. We went to the Seine near the Notre Dame to look at the dozens of little book stands perched along the bridge. They had very old and very cool posters, books, postcards, and trinkets. It was too much to take in all at once, so I'll be back to buy something another time. Then we walked over to look at the Notre Dame. The line was way too long to go in, but it was absolutely breathtaking just looking at the big stained glass and the sculptures all around the church. After looking around for about 15 minutes, we moved onto an area she goes to a lot between her classes. It was across the Seine from the Notre Dame, and it was just so quiet. It was definitely much less touristy with little streets, boutiques, and shops. She took me to Berthillon which is the most AMAZING ice cream I've ever had! I got a scoop of the dark chocolate and strawberry sorbet. The chocolate was the richest I've ever tasted, and it was perfect with the light strawberry. I loved it and want to go back very soon! As we finished that we did a little shopping of course. And to all of my lady readers, if you come to Paris, just don't bother packing clothes. You will end up buying a whole new wardrobe anyways and want to trash whatever you brought. Thankfully I got lucky with my timing of the month-long sales and I don't feel bad about the shopping! After spending a decent amount of time in a scarf shop, we made a pilgrimage to a very special spot. Emily had discovered the street that transported Gil Pender to the 1920s in the movie Midnight In Paris. I've been dying to go, and once we got there it was impossible not to feel giddy! We sat on the steps and talked about what we would most want to see if we could go back during that time of prolific art and writing. We decided we will definitely go back some time next week right before midnight just to see if maybe Hemmingway would come pick us up.

So that was our adventure around the city. We started walking over to the Louvre to meet Christine to take advantage of the late hours of the museum. The Louvre is everything I ever imagined. The art was of course beautiful, but I just couldn't get over how much history was contained within these walls. Thousands of years worth of art had somehow survived and were displayed beautifully for all to see. It was incredible. I saw all the main attractions; Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, Venus di Milo, and so many other important paintings. I hope this collection can stay just as well preserved for the next thousand years. While this was all extremely beautiful, I couldn't help but have a
little fun with the statues :)

We ended the night at a cafe down our street which was excellent! We all split a bottle of wine and swooned over the presentation and taste of our meals. Finally, we went back home to pack for our weekend trip to the Loire Valley!

It was such an amazing day and I'm so happy I was able to cross some things off my list. Dont worry, I took pictures of everything! We have a week left now, and we made an agreement to spend every moment taking the last of Paris in! Thank you all so much for reading and supporting me while I've been abroad. I can't believe it's almost done. I'll report about the Loire Valley soon. Au revoir :)

All caught up

And onto today!

I started off a little later because I once again had to go print out pictures for our second evaluation. I felt better about this time since I knew what I was doing, but of course, there still had to be complications. The man who helped me last week immediately recognized me and laughed. I have the worst luck at this place. Their photo technician apparently went on vacation and wouldn’t be back until next week. Thankfully, they did have a little instant booth that wasn’t as good of quality, but would work just fine for a desperate girl. After I printed them, I asked him when I could come back next week for my next set of prints and promised I wouldn’t do it last minute!

With just a little more shopping before hand, I got to CEA and hung around before class. I chatted with one of the advisors who was working in the office, and she gave me some great tips for souvenirs. Look out y’all…Finally my classmates started trickling in and we hit the ground running with our evaluations. Again, she loved mine! I was so happy and was really proud of them myself. After hearing the way she critiques other artists, any good word from her is much appreciated. I’m glad I’ll have some great prints to show off when I come home.

We had a take home exam for Culture, so we didn’t have class. During that time, a group of us went over to the Pompidu Center where the Museum of Modern Art is. It is so close to our campus that we’ve been really interested in seeing the exhibits. Plus, our ID gets us free admission to the museums around Paris. Let me say, I like to think of myself as a pretty cultured woman, but in my apparently simpleton opinion, modern art is extremely over rated. We found some interesting paintings or sculptures, but mainly I just got a headache walking around the exhibit. We all tried our best to appreciate the series of photos of the naked man who had someone walk him around a city like a dog with a huge chain and leash, but really he just looked silly. We also tried to find the deeper meaning of one of the murals, but it looked like an enlarged finger painting done by a 2 year old. No matter how hard I tried, I just was not impressed. So went home to look at my own photos that I thought had more merit.

I ended up lying down to take a short nap before doing laundry. Two hours later…we headed off to the Laundromat near our house and here we are! We were a little hopeless since none of us had been to one even in the US, and trying to figure out how to turn the machines on in a foreign language was pretty difficult. But we succeeded! My clothes are just finishing up in the dryer, and we’ll go grab some dinner for a low-key night at the apartment.

I can’t believe I only have a week and a half left. As much as I want to see my family, this hasn’t seemed like nearly enough time to fit in everything I’ve wanted to do and see. This week I will be trying my best to check everything off my list! Wish me luck J

Tuesday Cruise Day

Finally, I have a moment to sit down and type a post out! The past two days have almost blended together, but I will do my best to recall everything!

Tuesday started out pretty early for us. Christine and I took Emily to her class and had lots of free time to walk around the city. We wandered over the Musee d’Orsay (the big impressionist museum), but the line was far too long for us to go in before class. So we walked around the really pretty facades and saw the Louvre was near by. We crossed over there just to look around the area since we hadn’t been yet. It was so beautiful! The building itself is just an incredible piece of architecture, and the glass pyramids just kind of tie the old and the modern together. We were standing in front of the big pyramid when I turned around and noticed that from the very point we were standing, we could see the Louvre, Tuilerie Gardens, Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, and the Obliesk. It was really impressive to see all the amazing sights just in one spot! It was about time for us to head over to campus, so we got on the metro and left. With our remaining time before class, we went and shopped at the little boutique just right around the corner. We pass by it every day and they have the cutest things, I was dying to go in. Thank God I did! The lady who runs it is so sweet and she helped us look around and try things on. Every piece in there was absolutely beautiful. The clothes were so well made, so intricate, and a lot of things had a very vintage-y feel to them. I had great luck there and found 4 pieces for a very good price thanks to the huge discounts going on this month. I can’t wait to come home and show them off!

Class started up and for the first time I was a little depressed in Photography. We watched a great, but very emotionally heavy film. It was a documentary about a famous war photographer. He has traveled all over the world and captured moments of just absolute sadness and distress to try to help people all around the world see what is going on. It’s hard to describe, it was so moving but at the same time just absolutely disgusting that this level of inhumanity and injustice still goes on today. It was a lot to think about.

In my culture class, things were a little bit lighter. I decided that for my final project I am going to analyze The Moose Bar. He wants us to pick a space around Paris to examine and discuss what it is, what the space is used for, and basically how it fits into Paris as a whole. I am really interested to talk about how it is a haven for ex-pat Americans in Paris and compare it to the American writers and artists of the 1920s. I also really want to interview Eric, the owner, to find out if that is even what he intended his place to be. I think I can come up with something interesting, besides, there are far worse places to spend your time researching.

At night, we went to as a group on a boat tour through the Seine. We really wanted to go when it was dark to see the whole city lit up.  I smuggled on my wine in a water bottle and throughly enjoyed the sights. Of course we saw the Notre Dame, Eiffle Tower, Louvre, etc all from the water, but the most interesting part was watching the people who were sitting along the banks. It was so crowded! Everyone was out having picnics and wine or just hanging out by the river. And they loved seeing the tourists pass by on the boats! They were all yelling 'bonjours' and waving and smiling and some even started dancing. It was the most welcoming feeling ever as an outsider haha. 

It was a very fun day overall but I was exhausted by the time we got home and fell asleep very easily. For some reason my pictures aren't uploading on here, but I'll try to get some soon!

Apologies

I just wanted to take a moment and apologize to all who have been reading for my lack of posts the past couple of days. It is midterm time and we've hit the week-and-a-half-left mark (unbelievable....) and things have ben CRAZY! I do have a laundromat date with the roomies however, so maybe then I'll actually have some time to sit down and right 2 or 3 posts to catch everyone up. Hope all is well at home :)

The Moose, the best place in France since America

I apologize for the lack of a post on Sunday, but there was not too much exciting (or happy) news to report after all the Bastille Day activities. My roommate unfortunately got mugged around 6:30 Sunday morning as she was on her way to meet a friend. Some thug came up to her and stole her iPod right out of her hand as she was waiting for her train. I, for whatever reason, woke up around 7:00 that morning as she was coming back to our apartment just totally defeated and shaken. I felt so sorry because Emily, of all people, is the last person who needed an experience like this. She is a sweet girl from Orange, California who wants to be a novelist and works at Disney Land while she's in school. Maybe she was the perfect target for a city thug, but she is the last person you would ever want to see something bad happen to. Most of Sunday was devoted to trying to convince her to stay for the remaining two weeks of our program, and thankfully, whatever we said was enough to assure her she would be okay here. At least I will be without one less room mate.

Sunday was a little rough for me as well for different reasons. My anxiety was finally at its boiling point from the previous week, and I was starting to have little homesick-driven panic attacks myself. Emily and I were at least able to commiserate together. All of us spent the entire day in watching funny Youtube videos, listening to cheery music, and doing our best to concentrate on homework. We all had to eat at some point, and while Christine and I were the only ones who could pull ourselves together to get out of the house, we were still only able to go the McDonald's no more than 100 m from our apartment. This was more out of desperation than anything, but let me tell you it was fantastic! I got potato wedge fries and a wonderful salade to go along with my royale with cheese (fancy talk for a 1/4 pounder), and it at least made me feel like it wasn't an American MacDo.

Today however was much better for all of us! Emily got her situation figured out, and I had a wonderful class day. For photography, we went out to recreate an image taken by a famous 1920s photographer. He exclusively shot with a camera that is 3 times the size of a camera today and 6 times as more complicated (seemingly). Our professor had the same model of camera (see image at the left), but the trick to this device was that the image you saw in the view finder was backwards and upside down. Thankfully our professor had the address to where our particular picture was taken. But it was entirely up to us to set the correct angle, position, and scope to recapture the image. We spent maybe 30 minutes trying to decipher exactly where the camera may have been positioned. After spending that much time dedicated to precisely framing a picture, snapping it seemed so anticlimactic. However using this camera has really made me appreciate photography, and photographers who will meticulously wait for their photos to be just as photographers want them.


I had a lot of fun chatting with Hally today while we set us these intricate photos. I look forward to our next assignment!

After class we had tea with our ex-pat American neighbor who likes to familiarize herself with all the American students that live in this apartment through CEA. She is the sweetest lady who has lived in France for over 20 years now, but she will talk you ear off! It is nice and comforting to know that we have a mother figure just right across the hall.

After we finally were able to excuse ourselves from Carolyn's apartment 3 hours later (not kidding), Christine and I took Emily to the Moose Bar to make her feel a little more like home. One of the best nights yet! Monday nights are of course 2 for 1 of their Canadian beer Moosehead, but it is the closest thing to an American sports bar and grill. We came tonight while it was pretty dead and I got to know the owner a little better. He is a UT grad (hssss.....) but very genuine and nice. He and I were able to talk about our "unfortunate differences", and later we made a Texas toast to our beloved homeland (with Tequila shots). We went tonight for the cheap beer, but something tells me I'll be back sooner! It's always nice to find reminders of your hometown in foreign places.

That's all I have to report for now, but I will update again soon :)

Bastille Day!

Wow. I don't even know where to begin describing yesterday's activities. There was the incredible firework display, I drank way too much wine, had a horribly awkward dining experience, going on the metro with open bottles of wine and champagne...bear with me while I try to get it all together!

We started off a little late just trying to get everyone together. It ended up being a gorgeous day just like I hoped, even though it was little chilly! One of our friends eventually came over and we all enjoyed our first bottle of wine. It was fun getting dressed up to hit the streets with the decorations up, we all felt much more festive! Around 5, we headed over to our friend's apartment to group up before getting dinner. We chatted and had more wine as the girls finished getting ready. By the time we were ready to go, we were all starving. So we corked all of our bottles and made way to the metro again to find a restaurant near the Eiffel Tower (yay no open container laws!). We found a place that looked good and knocked back what we had left of the wine before going in. Needless to say, dinner was a little hazy for me, but I remember it tasted really good! I'm sure the staff was not thrilled to have around 12 Americans stumble into the place, but we were not the only ones. The streets were busy with lots of drunk and happy people trying to find their way to a good place to catch the firework show. After finishing our meal, we too started to go to the Tower. We found a wonderful park where the majority of the crowd was heading. However, we were devastated to learn we could not bring in any alcohol (we were crushed, but it probably was for the best!). As soon as we got in, we scoped out a good place to sit, and boy was the view incredible! This was the closest to the Tower I had ever been, and with the sun setting behind it just made for an amazing scene! We had a long couple of hours to wait before the sun actually set and the show could begin. But it was totally worth the wait :) There was a disco theme to the show, and they even hung a disco ball from the middle of the Tower. They played classic tunes all night long while the sky lit up. After we returned to our neighborhood after a very long metro trip, we ended the night with Nutella crepes!

Please watch this little video I made, it is the best way for you to see what I saw!:
Allison's Bastille Day

Bastille Day was fun, beautiful, breathtaking, hilarious, and from what we experienced, not the least bit patriotic, but I wouldn't trade yesterday for the world :) We had such a great time with many laughs. I was so happy to have this much fun after feeling so sick, now I'm definitely ready to get back out into Paris! We are just relaxing now on a very windy but sunny day, and I think we will head out to dinner in a bit.

Thank you all so much for reading my blog so far, it makes me so happy to see all the views! I hope you've been enjoying it, only two weeks left!

The Calm Before The Storm

For the first time since arriving in France, the streets are absolutely silent this morning. We could hear people partying in the rain well past 2:00 am last night, and it sounds like they are still just recovering. Today is Bastille Day, the French Independence Day, and to be in Paris during this glorious occasion is probably like being in DC for the 4th of July. It's not raining for the first time in a week, I feel wonderful, and I am ready to party! There's a military parade going on down the Champs Elysees that I don't feel to bad about missing out on. The metros today will be too crowded to deal with any time close to a scheduled event. So I think out plans are to pack up some food, wine, and spend the day out until the 11:00 firework show! I can't wait to get out there and see what Paris is like today. This was perfect timing for my health to return :)

Souhaitez moi bonne chance!

(I have no credit to this picture, but I really hope I can take it tonight with the Disco themed firework show!)

Plus, some sweet decorations for today that my mom sent!

Ladurée

Yay something to make my whole day turn around!


So I had fun checking out the health care of France today. One of my program advisors help me set up an appointment with an English speaking doctor. I figured out how to get there from the metro and found it pretty easily. However, instead of finding a hospital or medical building like I expected at 10 rue Royale, I came to an apartment complex. The doctor was very nice, and she had a quaint little medical room set up in her office. The appointment went really quick, and after a few check ups and questions, she diagnosed my ailment as an acute tonsillitis (should have gotten those taken out after mono....). She wrote me a prescription and then I was on my way. BUT the best part of this experience was on my way out, I noticed that the famous macaroon shop Ladurée was right on the corner!! Since this was my first time out of the house in almost 48 hours, I knew I had to go to pick some up. This little bakery was the most fabulous shop I've ever seen! And so colorful! I really only wanted the macaroons, but all the treats behind the glass looked amazing. I ordered a dozen to sample the flavors and maaaaybe share some with my room mates. Overall a lovely experience :)

After Ladurée, I noticed a really beautiful church at the end of the street. Since I was tired of being bored, I decided to go and check it out. I'm so glad I did! Like most churches in Europe, it was breathtaking inside. I spent about 10 minutes looking at all the stained glass, statues, and murals. It was very peaceful to sit in there and look around. However, my little adventure did start wearing me out and I had to get back home. 

After my time back out in the city, I grabbed some dinner, watched Midnight In Paris (which is in fact better to watch in Pairs), and tried out my first macaroon. Je l'aime :)

 

Good News

I woke up this morning and didn't feel like death, yay!!!! I think I definitely needed a day of rest just to stay away from as many germs as possible and hydrate all day long. My throat is barely painful now and I still have a little bit a of a cough, but I'm taking a general antibiotic that my doctor gave me before I left. Thank God for that one! I feel really lame because 1) it's our day off and 2) it's Friday, but I still think I may stay in just to get this knocked out. I would much rather be partying it up tomorrow on the streets of Paris for Bastille Day! So I apologize if my posts are a little boring for the moment.

I tried a new experience yesterday with the copious amounts of time on my hands. I did some laundry in the bathtub. My roommate Emily has been doing this for all of her stuff lately, so I thought I'd give it a try. I can easily say I will probably never do it again. It took FOREVER. I'm glad I had all freakin day because it almost became a 6 hour ordeal. Alas, all my clothes that needed to hang dry got washed and I didn't have to lug them around from the laundromat to my apartment. Now I guess I just won't wash these clothes again until I get home.

Besides this cold or ear infection or whatever it is I have, there is only one thing slightly bothering me right now. It may be because I've been cooped up in the apartment, but I'm starting to slip back into the homesickness. I finally got to Skype again with my mom and Andrew, and I just really wish I was with them. I wish I could be there for my mom as she has all of her tests done. I wish I could be there with Andrew as he's getting settled into Fort Worth before he starts med school. Maybe its for the best that I am gone though. I'd be contributing nothing and would probably get in the way. Especially with Andrew, I'm starting to feel needy I know he doesn't have the time for it. I miss my family and loved ones very much. I just need something to snap me out of this and get me back running around this city. Fingers crossed that it will be tomorrow and all the festivities that are going on!


As for now, I'm trying to focus all my energy on resting and finishing homework so I can bust outta this joint all weekend. Here's to recovery!

J'ai mal au gorge :(

Maybe I spoke too soon about feeling super healthy, because today I do not. Quite the opposite actually. That sore throat I mentioned in my last post has manifested into something awful. I'm a lovely shade of pale, I've got some sort of cough and sinus drain which isn't helping at all either. I'm drinking my warm tea right now trying to feel some relief, but my throat is killing me. Perhaps its this crappy weather that I've been going on and on about loving and it finally caught up to me. Regardless, I may have to take one of my absences today to rest and try not to feel so miserable. 


Kinda wish I was home at the moment :(

Et plus vin, s'il vous plait...

What a good day! After my lovely chat with y'all this morning, I had a bit of a bustling day. I left my place around 11:00 to try and get my pictures developed. Of course that had to turn into a whole ordeal of its own. First of all, the place Hally said we could email and pick them up the next day would not let me place the order properly. So the first place I went to this morning was another huge department store she mentioned in class once. After I finally got there, found the correct floor, and mustered up the courage to ask someone where I needed take my flash drive, she said they no longer developed photos. Ah. Okay....so I run back to campus thinking I'm just going to have to get them printed on the crappy black and white printer paper our campus has, fearing that Hally won't take me seriously and will think my photos are awful and I will fail the course. It was around 11:45 by the time I got there, Elizabeth who works behind the desk at our building told me I could go to a mall area that had an electronic/photo department. So I walk there (get lost along the way) and by some miracle found it. With my flash drive in hand asking "Developer mes photos?", I get pointed around the store to what looks like the instant print stations at Walgreens and CVS. Easy. I plug it in, select my prints, and was finished. I turn around to ask the man working at the photo counter where I could pick them up. He said, "Ici, jeudi ou vendredi" which basically, for me, translates into "You're screwed." I almost broke into tears and asked if there was anyway I could get them now. He ended up being so helpful to me, and in the end, I got the prints (even though I'm sure he had to piss off his supervisor in the process). I gave him many "Merci's"and told him I would be back for my next assignment. So, I left prints in hand with five minutes to spare to grab a chocolate croissant on the way to class. The prints turned out beautifully! Hally loved them, and I even was impressed with myself seeing them in the 10x15cm prints. Computer screens did not do them justice. I cannot wait for the next assignment she gives us so I can show her and get her opinion. After all that, I was pleased with the effort I put into getting that assignment completed and the knowledge that I am actually a pretty decent photographer.

Fast forward to me grocery shopping for wine and cheese for the night. It's been a long but successful day, and no better occasion to bust out the new wine glasses my mom sent me. I'm feeling a little under the weather today. I've been a little achy and had a sore throat, but I've been loading up with mint tea and Advil to try and stop it. Instead of going out with some other people, I'm staying in to relxas all bundled up in my pajama pants and sweatshirt. In the mean time, more wine please :)

Thanks for the wine glasses Mom! I don't feel like a child anymore.

In The Mornings

...I feel pretty peaceful. Despite the fact that for the past couple of days I've been awoken to drills and hammers from the next apartment where apparently a huge project is going on, yes, I still feel peaceful. My body is just a lot more recharged here, and I know its thanks to the healthier lifestyle I've managed to have since being here. Even with all the wine and yummy things, my tummy has flattened, my legs feel firmer. I know that's purely due to the fact I am eating much less at every meal and I walk EVERYWHERE, and I'm surprised I don't mind it that much. I sleep earlier and better, and wake up at a consistent time. If I'm already feeling a difference from all of this, I really hope that I can continue this routine when I come home.

This morning I have to rush a little. I need to print my photos for our first in class evaluation. I am a little nervous because I've never had my pictures judged by anyone other than my Facebook friends, and usually all those get is a "OMG! Good times girl!!!". Hally will probably be a little tougher. Tomorrow morning though, I want to start going to the Tuilerie Gardens for a project for my other class. We are supposed to examine a space in Paris and observe how that space is used. We've already done this a couple of times (at Hotel de Ville and that awful 40 minutes in Barbes), so I will be interested to see how this differs. If I could spend a good 45 minutes to an hour there everyday before class, I think I should be able to find some good things.

It looks like I will be pretty busy in the mornings from now on. Now that a week and a half has already past, I am beginning to learn there is truly no time to waste while I'm here!

Life In Photos

Today we had our first field day in Photography! It was very exciting to go out with our professor to help guide us. She took us to Gare du Nord which is one of the biggest train stations in Paris. It is a fabulous place to observe all sorts of human behavior and activity, and it was perfect for us to spread our little picture taking wings and fly. Hally (our prof) gave me so many tips and helped me learn how to control my camera. She also emphasized for us to have a sort of vision for what story we want to tell whenever we go out to take photos. I think that it will really help my pictures become more coherent each time I shoot. I'm still learning, but already am a little bolder with getting in front of people I want to capture and just simply waiting to push the button before a picture is ready. Hopefully we will see some improvement!

After class today, we had a wine and cheese tasting as a fun activity for all the students in the program. I kept to myself that I was already an expert on the subject thanks to my mom, but nonetheless, it was still wonderful! I've tasted all of the cheeses before, however it was so different having them straight at the source! I will definitely be a little spoiled from now on when it comes to French cheeses.

The most exciting part of the day however came when a package from home arrived! And let me say a HUGE package! All of the people who work in the office were just as excited as I was to see what came in the big box. It was a care package from my mom with my camera cable I've so desperately needed (yes!) and some jeans I love, along with some other necessities like Bastille Day decorations. Can't wait to put up the blue pinata and red streamers, while marching around with our NEW and BIG wine glasses and feather boas. Thanks Mom!

Tomorrow I have a boat cruise in the evening with my classmates on the agenda. We are trying to go as late as possible to see the city lit up as we cruise along the Seine. And also so we can get as many glasses of wine down before hand. I can't wait to see what it's all like!

I am very sleepy now after having caught up on some homework, but as promised since I've been able to get all my pictures downloaded, here are some of my favorites thus far.

Enjoy :) (and ignore the time stamps, I didn't realize it turned on and though I feel like it ruins the pictures, I still loved these too much to let them go.)

Guy playing bass on the metro. The light actually makes him look like he's performing on stage.

Accordion man.

Graffiti near my class.

The sweetest couple I've seen in Paris.

The Moose

Our new home away from home. The Moose is a Canadian bar run by a guy from Austin, Texas. Now a bar is always fun, but the best part about the Moose is...everyone speaks English! It's like a little hideout for Americans in France. There's Coors Light, onion rings, Maragritas, all the wonderful things from home!

Despite me thinking I was going to spend most of my time this week alone, I'm out right now with a bunch of people I've met in class. They are really fun an I'm glad we could work out some time to hang out! I think this is the best setting for it to since I really dont care about blending in at this bar. Regardless, I'm happy to let loose tonight and get to know my classmates better!

Thank God for the Canadian Moose :)

L'Amoureuse

Today I had to say goodbye to Carly. It was sad seeing my friend go, but I'm looking forward setting out on my own a bit this week. This morning I finally got out of bed around 10:00 to start my day. The clouds are still rolling in putting a nice chill in the wind, maybe I'll wear one of my new scarves. I ate breakfast (toast with peach jam and cinnamon) while I read a Hemmingway book our professor recommended, and listened to a French artist Carly gave me. Her name is Carla Bruni, and she is the former First Lady of France. I think a lot of Americans don't realize that she is also a really talented singer. So since I don't have any pictures today as of yet, I will share one of her songs that is really growing on me. Enjoy :)

L'Amoureuse 

I will be leaving the apartment sometime soon, I'm sure.

Reflections

What a wonderful weekend it has been! This morning we actually got started at a decent time, and so far we've had a very relaxing time. As I unfortunately learned last weekend, Paris shuts down by 1:00 on Sundays, so we decided to have an easy day in. We quickly went to a cafe for breakfast and to the grocery store to pick up some essentials (dinner and bottles of wine) before everything closed down. Today has been a little dreary, very chilly and windy, but it has kind of set the mood just right. I've been getting homework done while she read. I even took a quick nap where I got to feel the wind rush through my bedroom window and hear the church bells chime. All in all, a very relaxing time

This is unfortunately Carly's last day here with me in Paris. I have had so much fun with her, and we were very lucky the timing of our trips worked out so perfectly. This afternoon we started going through old high school photos and just laughing at how ridiculous we looked! Spirit dress up days, homecoming, birthday parties, and just photos where we wanted simply to be silly. But in every single one, we looked so happy. I started to think about that a lot, and while I'm so thankful for the time we spent together the past couple of days making new memories, I'm even thankful still for the old memories that seem so long ago. It made me think about why I love taking pictures so much. I get criticized for not living in the moment when I constantly am pulling out my camera, but in the end, I have wonderful visible proof of incredible experiences. Maybe that's why I enjoy writing this blog so much too. I know that after this is all done, I will be able to account for my feelings, experiences, and funny little moments that my memory may not hold. Looking at the pictures, we could tell when the smiles were genuine, when they weren't. We recalled friends we haven't thought about in years, and friends who we wish would have kept in contact. For one friend of ours in particular, those pictures are the only connection we feel we can keep with her anymore. It's a sad, but very touching thought.

However, to get back on the brighter side of things, this reflection made me so appreciative of the classes I'm taking where we are encouraged to catalogue all of these things. Once Carly leaves, I think I would like to spend some of my time during the day venturing out on my own, seeing what thoughts can come out of my head and what pictures can come out of my camera. I want to gain as much as I can out of my time here, and I truly want to immerse myself in those moments. I have always been very independent, and after seeing how some of my other class mates prefer to spend their time here, I don't think I can get what I wanted out of Paris with them. (Don't worry Mom, this doesn't mean I will be walking the streets by myself at 2:00 in the morning!) I just need some time to myself to simply be.

As for now, I still have a dinner date in the kitchen with my dear friend. And as soon as I can get my cable to download my pictures from my camera, I will let you see what I see :)

Y'all, where's the loo?

Yay yay yay!!

I had to make this post immediately because I had such a wonderful night! As where I left off last time, Carly and I went to a restaurant she was very excited about called Chez Janou. It was this really neat cafe nestled behind a neighborhood, and it was so worth the confusing taxi ride! Within 5 minutes of getting there and ordering our first glass of wine**, we met a Californian law student who was on his first night of backpacking through Europe. Super cool right?

**Side note, I'm just going to stop listing the number of glasses of wine I've had just so I feel better about myself and don't worry anyone. But drinking and eating your way through Paris is one of the best ways to go, and I highly recommend it!

Alors, the bartender was really nice, we had a fun conversation in English with a stranger for the first time in a while, and we were feeling very good. We were finally seated for our reservation, and immediately were set at ease. Our waitress was really casual and cool, and treated us pretty well after Carly apologized from the bottom of her Texas sized heart that she could not speak French. More wine was served and our dishes were placed in front of us, and before we knew it, we were in conversation with the people at the table next to us. We soon learned that though their French was impeccable, they were actually Canadiennes who had attended French schools for a very long time in Canada. We started sharing travel horror stories and laughing throughout the whole night. They found our "y'alls" and tales of "the Sugar Land" very endearing, and we were thrilled with their kindness. One of their favorite stories was when Carly revealed that when she got nervous about not being able to speak French, she would randomly switch to a British accent. We decided to share a dessert that the two women had seen on their way in called le grand mousse chocolat. WOW. The name did not even begin to describe the real thing! They literally place a small cauldron of chocolate mousse with four spoons and a "Bon Chance!". After more laughs, we couldn't even make a dent in the monstrosity no matter how rich/decadent/amazing it was. By then, the four of us had made friends with the waiters as they were trying to close, and they poured two rounds of an almond liqueur for us all.  We then finally introduced ourselves, and we finally got to know Teddy and Cynzi (??? I'm definitely going to have to come back and fix that one!).

We decided to find another place that was still open to hang out for a bit more so we could all chat. With us all feeling the wonderful effects of the wine and liqueur, we started trying out our best accents. Carly and I tested our proper Brit accents, while Teddy and her sister gave "y'all" a try. Pretty soon, we just combined them all and stumbled through the streets saying, "Oy there, y'all!"and "Y'all, where's the loo?" We eventually found a place to hang out for one more drink longer just to keep chatting. And I am so glad we did! By the end of the night, we exchanged info, and I may now have friends to hang out with for the infamous Bastille Day (French Independence day). I can't wait!

That is all I have to report for now, but it has been a very very fun night.

Bon swaar, y'all :)

Mon amie Carly

Thankfully, the weekend has continued to be wonderful!

Today Carly and I started out a little late around 11:30, but we made quick time getting over to the Tuilerie Gardens. They were absolutely amazing and beautiful, I will be able to post pictures as soon as I have a cable to upload my pictures. We had lunch at a very lovely outdoor cafe overlooking the gardens and fountains. In good French fashion, I had a Croque Monsieur and split a bottle of Sauvignon with Carly. Thankfully, we were seated at a table with an umbrella because it started to rain quite a bit. We were in no rush though and we still had a glass of wine each left to finish as it poured. After the rain, we headed over to le Musée de l'Orangerie that housed lots of impressionist paintings. The most famous of which were the two oval rooms with the large Monet paintings. Every painting took my breath away with its beauty (and possibly with the help of the 3 glasses of wine). I wish I could look at those Monets every day, I think I would be much more at rest! After wandering though, we stopped at the gift shop to buy some post cards and trinkets. Just to make the day even better, we were helped by the most adorable young frenchman (sorry Andrew!). Even though we were swooning, he still was one of the nicest and most helpful guys I've encountered so far.

Carly and I moved onto our next destination, and had to stroll through another storm. When I'm prepared with an umbrella, the rain is the most welcome and beautiful thing. We stopped at a very fancy liquor store that Carly had been to before with a wine bar and bistro on the second floor. We indulged in two more glasses of vin blanc and shared a large plate of cheeses. The cheeses were amazing! I loved the brie and cheddar, but I could have used my mom to help us decipher what the other ones were. I even gave the blue cheese a shot, but I will never again! The bistro was very pretty and modern, and they had this funky soundtrack of metal and alternative songs redone in a jazzy style. We had fun listening and trying to figure out which songs were which. Our favorite for sure was the rendition of "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic". This seemed to be the place of choice for after work drinks with friends and hip mothers needing a break from parenting. One hilarious sight to see was a mother searching for some bottle of liquor to bring home with her two young boys which we named Hans and Frans (don't ask why). They were two little identical looking pudgy french boys with their hair slicked back wearing Polos, khakis, and playing with their iPads. We for some reason gave them German accents and imagined their conversation bragging about their iPads and superior tolerance for alcohol. A good time was had by all :)

Right now, we are resting up at my apartment before heading out to dinner. I'll post again soon, promise :)

At the café in the gardens

My Croque Monsieur 

Picture in the bistro

Les Fromages!