Back to the Future

Our second day in Southwest France included a trip to Futuroscope, a modern themed theme park. There were simulator rides, 3D adventures, and exposes on the cosmos. Two of my favorite “rides” of the park were Star du Futur and Percussions du Monde. Future Star was fun, as you went through three different acting games that were taped and then sat in a moving car to watch a movie from your scenes. It was funny. Percussions du Monde was a IMAX video by STOMP with music and sounds from all over the world. It rocked my socks off. I didn’t really enjoy the simulator rides, as they made me dizzy; but a plus is that some provide sexy goggles to protect the eyes and give 3D effects. This is Jennifer and I buggin’ it at Futuroscope.

Cheap Shakes

The first hotel stay of the trip was in Poitiers in a Hôtel Comfort near Casino, a supermarket and cafeteria. For dinner a lot of the girls went over to the Casino cafeteria and stopped at the grocery store for weekday snacks. Jennifer and I found ice cream, demi-créme, and spoons for less than 1,50 euro to make shakes. They were heavenly!

Princess of Chenanceau

One of the most beautiful of châteaux in the Loire Valley is Chenanceau, floating atop the Cher River with its gardens and labyrinth (not on top of the water). This is a picture of me, rightfully posing as royalty next to the stunning building.

Blois

After an hour and half bus ride from Paris, our BYU group arrived in the Loire Valley. Our first visit was to the Blois Chateau, once home to Catherine de Medici and Henri III and the site of the assassination of the Duke of Guise. We walked through their rooms and viewed the courtyard with four different periods of architecture; early gothic, late gothic ornamental, renaissance, and classical architecture wings.

Bus Trip Ahoy!

Hello friends and family! Sorry for my lack of blogging, I've had limited access this week. Exciting news though, I'm getting ready for our first group bus trip. The BYU Paris study abroad group is leaving at 8 am from Paris on Monday to the Loire Valley to visit chateaux, ancient caves, and Futuroscope (modern technology themepark). I sure am excited for this week long adventure and promise that when I get a chance I will update on the past few weeks with pictures. Love you all!

Sabaath

This is a picture of the Versailles chapelle where I go to church every Sunday. To get there we have to take the RER A ligne to La Defense and the SNCF to Versailles Rive Droit and then walk or take the bus up the hill to the church building.

On this particular Sunday in the branch, I played the piano for Saint-Cene; Melanie, Becky, and I did a musical number "Plus Pres de Toi"; I taught the Old Testament Sunday School lesson in French on Abraham and Isaac; and I played the piano for Relief Society.

Dancing the Night Away

On Saturday there was a Valentine’s Ball for the Paris LDS Institute. I went with Melanie and Becky, as Becky had a date and wanted Melanie to go, but Melanie didn’t want to go by herself. I heard that there would be free food, so I volunteered to be her “cavalier.” It is French tradition to begin dances and balls with a waltz. So my actual cavalier, as they found it necessary for me to have one, was named Christophe. Christophe didn’t know how to waltz, but he was a nice guy. The rest of the night we enjoyed dancing to the Macarena, YMCA, and to random French reggae tunes. Plus there was chocolate cake!

Flirting at Fountainebleau

Once upon a time, in the year two thousand, a group of Alaskan tourists went to visit the chateau at Fountainebleau. One particular 16 year old girl wasn’t feeling well and asked if she could sit outside in the summer weather to rest. Taking her friend’s walkman in hand, this young lady sat in the peaceful gardens until fully reposed; at which point the music mix became spastic and exciting, and this young lady started to dance and skip around the gardens. Twirling up and down walkways and tap dancing up the stairs was quite exhausting, and the girl sat to take a breather on a small cement bench.
Seeing the escapade of this obviously ecstatic young female tourist, the French gardener on his John Deere mower drove up to the bench to have a little chat, IN FRENCH. “Bonjour! Ca va? Are you a tourist from Sweden,” he flattered the girl. “Plan on staying at the castle long? Oh, that’s too bad because this little town can be quite the party in the evenings. Au Revoir.” Satisfied with her flirtatious French conversation and the minutes of sitting, the girl returned to dancing in the summer wind.
In honor of this petite histoire, here is an arabesque picture of me on THE very bench. No flirting with gardeners occurred on this blustery winter day. Instead I discovered the local teen hang out in Avon where I bought myself the best French Bacon Cheeseburger ever and cheap too!

Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme

In high school, as part of a competition, couples were asked to perform scenes from the French play Bourgeois Gentilhomme. So when I noticed this advert on the street for the play, I knew I had to go. Friday night, at 2030 I found myself at the Theatre de Paris to watch a modern version of the old school French play, fit with a scene of break dancing and “Gothic” music. Though parts were difficult to understand, I caught a majority of lines and laughed loudly at appropriate times. It was an excellent version and still contained some of my favorite lines.

Random Picture #5

Invalides and Eiffel

Those Boots Were Made For Walkin'

On Friday Jennifer, Melanie, and I went on one of our assigned Paris walks that was approximately 7 miles long. We visited the Montparnasse Cemetery, Le Bon Marché, Luxemburg Gardens, and Les Invalides. I asked a palace guard to take this picture and he replied, <> I told him we would pay him a fortune, but he was just kidding.

A Chocolate Night!

On Friday night Jennifer, Kerrie, and I went to Hägen Daaz at Place de Victor Hugo to celebrate the anniversary of his (Hugo’s) birth. Or at least, that was the justification we gave for devouring the glorious fondue platter. Chunks of brownie and cookies, bananas, kiwi, and little scoops of six different kinds of ice cream to dip in the melted milk chocolate and hot chocolate to top it all off; all served to us by a very beautiful, chocolate, Frenchman (unfortunately no one had the guts to ask for a picture of him). My favorite was the raspberry sorbet drizzled with chocolate.

Hopefully this recount has made you all drool with jealous hunger. I enjoyed it immensely.

Random Picture #4

Taken by Jennifer of Saint-Sulpice and birds flying.

Down the Lane

This is a picture from one of our walks quite awhile ago. We were walking on the opposite side of the Eiffel Tower from the American Library and happened across this side alley. I especially liked the random wooden door and lamp at the end.

Saturday's Adventures

On Saturday, me and my roomie went to Sacre Coeur again to prepare for a panorama paper we have to do for class. While in the area we decided to stop by the Moulin Rouge, which wasn't as spectacular spectacular as I thought it would be. But still fun to pole pose with. Then after volunteering at the library, we stopped by the Grande Arche de la Defense. This is a picture from it's steps. You can see the Arc de Triomphe in the far distance, almost parallel with the Grande Arche. The A d T is a monument to War and the Conquering hero, while the G A is a modern representation of humanitarian works and peace.

Volunteering at the American Library

Every Saturday I go to the American Library, located near the Eiffel Tower, to volunteer for a couple hours. Usually I spend two hours shelving the non-fiction and mystery books, or finding some new author or book to stare at...

Voyage to Chartres

On Friday, the BYU group went on an hour train trip to a little town called Chartres, where we visited the Cathedral and Vitraux (stained glass workshop). It was an amazingly fun trip. The pictures are of a group of us in a Harry Potter like train compartment.

Poof of Wind

On Thursday, puffy hair day, I left the apartment on a rainy/windy day in Le Vesinet with an Idaho puff. Unfortunately, my puff fell with a small gust of wind. Where's Maura when you need bigger poof and more product?! After classes, Jennifer and I went on a Paris walk in the Pere Lachaise Cemetery. The cemetery is gigantic, and in two and a half hours we only walked around one third. We found Heloise and Abalard, as well as Jim Morrison and Chopin. Mostly we just walked around on this gloomy day sharing stories, while walking through eerie monuments.

Une echarpe chouette

On Wednesday I went to the Louvre to join the art class and watch Jennifer's presentation on Boucher. My favorite paintings that we looked at that day were by an artist named Poussin.

The pictures kind of blurry, but I took it to prove that this echarpe that I bought for a certain special mother has now been truly dubbed French. (The scarf design is really popular in France right now, you'll like it...)

Sulking with Claude

This is me, sulking with Jennifer's teddy bear Claude on Wednesday. I was definitely in need of a blankie, cuddly teddy, and a sugar crepe...

Valentine's Day

I'm such a hottie! This is my favorite picture from this trip, which Jennifer so kindly took. For Valentine's Day we had "Stupid Cupids," meaning we bought secret Valentine gifts for someone else. My Stupid Cupid got me body wash... that wasn't even French. But it was pink and came with a pretty satin red ribbon. Needless to say, the ribbon was my favorite part :0)

Crepe Man!

On Valentine's Day Jennifer and I treated ourselves to the best cheese crepe to be found in Paris. This is our favorite crepe vendor in Paris, just down the street from the Institute and Centre Pompidou. His name is Gus le meillure vendeur des crepes... okay that's not true. I don't actually know his name, but doesn't he look like a Gus?! He's the one on the left. Monsieur Gus is half Greek half French (he says the top half is the Greek half). He is really nice and speaks to us in French. His crepes are amazing; we had cheese crepes, to which he added two types of cheese on a large crepe AND salt and pepper. So nice, funny, and always asks how classes are going. In this Kodak moment, Jennifer is waiting for hers, I'm eating mine and taking the picture, and Monsieur Gus is talking to one of his Greek friends who doesn't speak French.

What cute Twinners!

Ahhh... What a cute hug. You'ld almost think we were cousins or something. Okay, maybe not; but having bought the same shirt at Le Redoute definetly helps. That and our hair is practically the same color in this picture.

Hurray for Twin Day and shopping!

Crepe Soiree

On Monday Melanie, Becky, Jeff, and I (BYU students that are members of the Versailles LDS branch) went to a Crepe Soiree/ Family Home Evening in La Verrier. I ate so many crepes, as I especially liked the kiwi jam! Above is a picture of me, Becky, Melanie, and Mattieu from the branch. I think he's 18 and is studying at a University before going on his mission. The picture below is of the Branch President. He's a very funny guy; more funny because he threatens to have the BYU students all give talks within the next few weeks... I think I have an excuse for a little while because I'm teaching the young adult class next week (Abraham and Isaac story).

Prepare yourselves!

Starting Monday is Spirit Week for Paris Study Abroad students... so prepare your eyes for spectacular images. There were a few changes, since we only have classes together as a group on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday...

Monday = Twinner Roommate Day
Tuesday = Valentine's Day Day
Wednesday = Parisian Day
Thursday = Utah/ Idaho Hair Day

Elevators are good...

Let it be known, that if you get off the Metro at Abbesses near Sacre Coeur, instead of taking the mile long spiral staircase to rez de chausser of earth, take the available elevator that the smarter, more accustomed French use. Saves time and legs!

Bird's Eye View

My new favorite view in Paris, of course the sun shining and providing warmth for the first time in awhile did help the ambiance of the moment.

Sacre Coeur

A large group of us students visited Sacre Coeur on Thursday, reuiring us to walk up a thousand steps at least, up a steep hill. But the view and the sunshine was well worth it. Plus, the workout was a nice way to burn off the falafel and cookies I had eaten just before. Darn patisseries ! Above is a frontal view of Sacre Coeur and below is Charlemange with his victorious pose pointing towards the specks of blue sky.

Notre Dame's Derrier

Voici the backside of Notre Dame. Valerie and I walked past this view on one of our Paris walks. It was in the garden behind Notre Dame that I had my first French conversation way back in 2000. It was with an older woman who was feeding the birds. I thought she might still be there... but she wasn't.

Twisted

Jennifer and I went to the Musee d'Orsay on Monday, where I reinnacted (okay, just posed like) the most dramatic event of my previous Paris life: twisting my ankle on the steps in 2000. Back in the day, with my twisted ankle, I had the high school group piggy back my around Paris for a couple days. I tried to convince Jennifer that this would be a good idea, in effort to truly recreate the drama. She declined, thus no picture of piggyback Katie. We went inside the Museum instead to view pieces of some of the most amazing artists known to man!

École d'église

The picture on the right is of the institute complex where I have all of my classes. It is located in the heart of Paris, just down the street from the ile of Paris with Notre Dame, and is directly across the street from the Centre Pompidou (fountains of Pompidou imaged left).

Ceremony for Unknown Soldiers

It may be difficult to see, but this is a photo taken at the Arc de Triomphe at an evening ceremony for the unknown soldiers. I asked one of the Arc employees, and he said these ceremonies happen every evening but aren't always this important with a band and larger crowd.

Random Picture #3

Kids playing in the park next to the Eiffel Tower.

View from on Top

These are two similar views from the primier étage on the Eiffel Tower. It was amazing for me to see how huge Paris is, and the photos kind of give you an idea of the architecture and immensity of the city. When walking around the city, it doesn't seem so dense as the picture portrays. Architects have done a decent job of adding space and presenting facades. I usually walk past the Eiffel Tower several times each week to get to the American Library.