Eiffel Tipping

The Crypt

On Monday, I gave a presentation for my Christian History religion class on Voltaire and Rousseau. Both were deists, meaning in short that they believed that God was like a watchmaker, who made the perfect world clock and then wound it up and let it run. Their philosophical religious ideas played into politics as well and had a great impact on the French Revolution, which in turn destroyed the foundations of church in France at the time and connections between church and state (also a deist view). Anyway… dispensing with the lecture, after my presentation a group of us went to the Pantheon (which you can get in free with a history of art student card) and saw the tombs of both Voltaire and Rousseau.

Double Takes

Our running joke is that our second glances go not to the Metrosexual Frenchmen, but rather to the window panes of Patiseries. It's no wonder the French call window shopping lèche vitrine.

Yet Another Beauty of Paris

I give all the credit to the new tie I bought myself... that and the wind machine

On The Street Where I'ld Live

Hey hey! That's the street for me... actually it was really small and didn't look at all like where I would imagine a booming Paris party would be taking place.

Workin' the Quai

Jennifer and I workin' the quai on a Paris ghetto walk. Pretty sure we got a couple car honks that day, and we're betting that it had something to do with our beautiful pores...

Paris Workout is More Like it!

On Friday Melanie, Jennifer, and I did yet another Paris Walk entitled "Topography of Paris." We started out visiting one of the ghetto-est looking areas of the city, but with some beautiful bridges and quais, but the rest of the walk was uphill. We walked through the Muslim block, then straight to the Chinatown like block seperated only by a crosswalk. After having possible the workout of all Paris walks, we ended in a sort of Central Park in Paris. What an amazing, awe inspiring view! The park is composed of cliffs and this lake with pertruding rock mountain. Not sure what the gazebo like structure is, but the whole thing reminded me of Lord of the Rings. In the distance, to the left side of the lake mountain, you can see Sacre Coeur.

Typical Postcard

Probably the most taken picture on the towers of Notre Dame... a typical postcard taken by me.

My Ascension atop Notre Dame

Monday after our Christian History class, a group of us decided to go up the towers of Notre Dame. As students in Europe, we are very fortunate to have cards that give free access to most museums and as we heard rumor, the towers of Notre Dame as well. One of the girls noticed a sign that said to buy tickets inside. Thinking that meant inside the cathedral, and not wanting to get in line and up to the ticket counter only to realize that our cards didn’t work, Melanie and I went inside to verify.

I walked up to the little booth inside the cathedral where crosses, candles, and souvenirs are sold and before posing the question, I turned to Melanie and asked if the verb for going up the towers is ascendre (Descendre would be the opposite, to go down the towers or get off a train). Anyway… Melanie nodded and I proceeded to the counter to pose my question, Excusez-moi, Madame. Nous voudrions ascendre les tours, et nous avons ces cartes d’étudiant…Before I could pass on, the lady kindly pointed out that ascendre is not a word, the verb does not exist, but rather one would monter les tours. Thanks, French 101, that was silly. Either way, I took a picture of my ascension as it were at the top of the towers at Notre Dame that sunny Monday afternoon.

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...

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...)

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.