the paris underground

sssssso. life in paris after amsterdam.. not too shabby. 

class was rough our first full day back. but we made ourselves a fancy night at "le 138"--a nouveau chic bar near the bastille with mismatched victorian furniture and vintage stevie wonder in the background. we certainly enjoyed ourselves. 

the next day i met up with a friend at the Institute du Monde Arabe (the Arab Institute, basically). she's a middle easter studies major and i was intrigued by the contemporary palestinian art exposition... and i had every reason to be. as with a lot of contemporary art, i didn't understand a lot of it. but the really excellent pieces made up for that. to the left is a still from a video installation by artist Larissa Sansour. the opening line of the short film was "Jerusalem, we have a problem" as she takes off in a spaceship towards the moon. very powerful. 

the architecture of the building was also very impressive (pictured below is a shot from the interior of the windows that make up the facade... interesting mix of traditional arab art and modern industrial materials)

that night we were all feeling a little rowdy so we had an american nostalgia night at the dorm... beer, beer pong, and flip cup. it got pretty intense. the only problem is that they don't sell red solo cups or any equivalent in france! our plastic cups were too small for beer pong, but flip cup worked out pretty well. i'm not used to playing games like that but it was actually pretty fun. 

"what is this?" you ask. they're bones. six million bodies worth of bones. a few centuries ago, the french government was doing work on the left bank of the seine near a cemetery. however, all the water work was washing up all the bodies... so they decided to move them all to one place underground--the CATACOMBES were born. they've been there this whole time, and now you can tour the mystique underworld for 4 euro... which we did, of course. it was kind of a gimmicky tourist trap, but the eeriness of it all made it kind of exciting.  

that night we ventured to the "bateau concorde atlantique"... a boat party club to make a long story short. it was a cool crowd... euro-hipsters and the occasional famous dj lurking in the corner trying not to be seen. i wore my new amsterdam leather mini-skirt--it was definitely a leather mini skirt night. fun music, but the drinks were expensive. we didn't get home till 4am.. so you know it was a pretty good night. 

ughhh can't wait for the weekend!!

amsterdam - snack food capital of the world

so amsterdam is basically my new favorite city. everything is SO CHILL there. and trust me, i'm not one of those stoner-types that went for the pot and prostitutes in the red light district. no.. the city is actually extremely beautiful--canals on every street lined with bicycles and cheerful low-rise apartment buildings that remind me a little of the west village. their specialty food is pancakes--an obvious plus. the people aren't pretentious and everyone speaks english and nobody cares that you don't speak dutch. also, it's so clean! since everyone rides bikes the air feels smooth and the streets look nicer. and of course, i'm not going to complain about the laid back drug laws. it all seems to work in the netherlands. it's a very movable, doable city. i thoroughly enjoyed my time there.

now what did we do? in a nutshell, the van gogh museum, anne frank's house, tour of the red light district, shopping, and walking around seeing the sights in general. 

the van gogh museum was excellent, of course. though many of the pieces were almost too famous to really appreciate, seeing them in person makes you understand why they're so famous. for example, the nuances of the texture and shades of yellow in his sunflower paintings. they also had a special exhibit on redon... one of my faves!! his paintings have a way of looking like an archaic, science-fictiony dream. i love it when you can't quite figure them out. 

anne frank's house gave me the sads. i can't say that physically being in the frank dwelling gave me better insight into what their lives were like at the time, but it's a good way to recall the history of everything that happened and to remind yourself that treachery like that is never really over. 

moooooooving on. red light district. hmph. kind of disturbing. just as my mother described it to me... it's just.. women in windows. selling themselves. i wasn't quite shocked by the way they looked--it's not like you can't see that shit on any given spring break in panama city, florida. it was just so blatant. we just had some food there and then we left. 

saturday was all about pancakes, walking, and shopping. bought a vintage leather mini-skirt and for some reason i thought it was perfectly appropriate to buy a leather mini-skirt in amsterdam. some things just go together? 

hmmm how to explain the food situation? so basically, because all the tourists smoke pot in amsterdam, every place near one of the famed "coffee shops" (it has to be a coffee shop, not a cafe, for it to sell mj apparently) advertises SNACK FOODS HERE. brilliant marketing or just practically meeting a market demand? all i know is that i was basically eating every step of the way. 

our hostel situation worked out well, also. we had 8 people traveling together and we got one big room to ourselves with 9 beds and our own bathroom to share with each other. i slept on the top bunk because i just like that and it wasn't too uncomfortable. i've learned that if you don't expect much going into a hostel you'll wind up being pleasantly surprised. 

whoaaa this post is looong. had to cram all the exciting amsterdam stuff into one post! tough. i probably forgot stuff but i'll add it later if i have to. 

only two more weeks?!! 

baby bottle wine

i thought i'd really experienced something new with the juice box wine... until i went to the fondue place last night. they served wine out of BABY BOTTLES (i love a good little bit of irony every now and then... and then pointing it out later). no joke. and it was good wine, too! it was kind of funny how unnatural the suckling feels to you.  but it works. something works. 

as for the fondue-- très magnifique! we got a cheese and a meat one and by the end of the meal i was definitely feeling the kick of a food baby. i'd never had meat fondue.. it's basically like cooking your own personal bite of meat. you pick up a piece of raw meat on the prong and then you let it sit in the boiling liquid (??) until it's cooked to your liking. i'm a fan. 

the restaurant itself was pretty cool. rugged in a sort of been-around-awhile kind of way... long communal tables and writing all over the walls. a fun, loud atmosphere.

wanting chocolate fondue now... anybody know of a place?? 

tonight. TONIGHT. i went to alvin ailey at the theatre du chatelet. one of the best dance performances i've seen in a long while. the dancers are so powerful... the women just as strong as the men. i didn't have great seats either... peering through the heads of two very  burly men can sometimes detract from the impact of the performance... but this made it all the way to the back row for me. they did an amazing set of ottis redding songs and the last set was their famous "revelations" sequence with "wade in da water" and "fix me jesus" (my personal favorite... it was a duet and it brought a tear to the eye). and modern dance isn't my favorite either.. i'm usually a diehard ballerina fan. but i'll have to make an exception for this.

off to amsterdam for the weekend tomorrow! never been before and i'm really excited about the group of people i'm going with... always makes it better. i'll update when i get back... but i'll proooooobably leave out a few details to ensure the dignity of all parties invovled. au revoir! 

wine and sculptures

yesterday was low key. after looking for a certain hookah bar that never appeared we settled on a wine bar 3 minutes from our dorm but had somehow never seen. 2.50 euro for chardonnay and they played good wine-drinking music... if that makes sense? 

today i woke up a little earlier to go to the bakery i'd been wanting to try (also a 3 minute walk from my dorm... what am i doing here?) and it was so excellent. the beignet's had just enough sugar to make them sweet and cooked so that they were soft but not doughy. raspberry jam on the inside sealed the deal. 

after class i headed for the musée rodin. i didn't know what to expect, but i really liked seeing picasso's single-artist concentrated museum so i wanted to check this out. the facility was beautiful... if i knew more about architecture i would tell you what century this building came from but all i can tell you is that it's not from this one... it's feels like your wandering around someone's mansion and huge walking gardens. 

the works there include the thinker and la porte d'enfer (a portion of which i pictured to the right)... really wishing i could upload pictures from my phone right now :(

i've alwasy been a big fan of rodin... his sculptures look like they're hurling at you and when they're more violent it looks like they're being thrust out of water or something. 

they had a bunch of his smaller works i had never seen. he did a whole study on dancers that i personally enjoyed. the way they were sculpted they had to be suspended by prongs so it looks like they were dancing on air. 

TONIGHT we going to a fondue place... restaurant review to follow :)

another good weekend..

so dinner was AMAZING. went to this place called "le hangar"-- i wordreferenced.com-ed it and it means "the shed"... appropriate because it's a french country food restaurant. SO good. and hearty. i had roasted duck with creamy mashed potatoes and a house salad. the bread they brought out beforehand came with an amazing black olive spread... and of course the bread was freshly made. "pain artisinal" as they call it. for dessert we ordered a plate of cheese and a raspberry cream parfait. delish. 

one of the coolest things about this place was its location. in the marais near the pompidou center, it stands at the end of an "impasse"(dead end street) that i couldn't even find on the map... a cobble stone walkway for pedestrians only. very quaint. 

the duck i ordered is a nod to my father--the last time we came to paris he tried duck for the first time and fell in love with it. he ordered "le canard" practically every meal after that and every time i eat it i'm reminded of that wonderful family trip :)

corns. anyway. 

today we were reeeeeally touristy and took a bus tour of paris! anja had never been here before and it's a really great way to see the city. one of the sights i hadn't seen before was the grand obelisk... and i never knew exactly what the hotel de ville was before (it's like a city hall or something? or the mayor lives there?)

we then had a quick lunch and headed strait for the picasso museum. sooooo wonderful. i'd never been to a museum that focused on only one artist, and it really shows you how broad his style was--from his bizarre cubist sculptures to more classically influenced paintings... even some impressionism and pointalism. what i really enjoyed was that they had a lot of his "studies" for famous paintings in the permanent collection. they had many for "les demoiselles d'avignon"... it really shows you the thought process he used to come up with the shapes of the distorted women in that painting. very cool.

then we went to a creperie near the museum... i had apples with caramel in mine. sooo good. the apples were warm and soft like an apple pie. unfortunately, we had to head back to my dorm because anja had to catch her train back to germany :( it was great seeing her this weekend.. hopefully we wont go another 4 years without seeing each other! 

very glad that midterm week is over. but sad that i'm already half way through... this is zooooooming by. can't believe it. 

must catch up on some shut eye. the work week begins...  

the germans are coming!!

...well, they've already come but the title sounds more exciting that way and i always love a good sound of music allusion. 

anway, so yeah, anja's here! and we've already had so much fun. went to the cool jazz club again last night with a bunch of people from my program. it was slow-jazz night... very sultry and smooth. then we went to QUEEN... which wasn't as great as i'd heard, but then again it wasn't ladies night. will have to go back. must see the male strippers i've been hearing about. 

anyway, today we went shopping at the flea market and i actually bought something! i took care of gifts for my family today... feeling very generous. the flea market's so great. it's like a labyrinth of tiny treasure shops. you never know what you'll find. 

i realized that i left out about a week ago that i went to the victor hugo museum! i don't remember exactly when i did that.... but it was very cool. the museum is at what used to be his house after he came out of exile. it holds his family's private art collection and a lot of his first editions. i opted for one of those headphone tours where you press the number and it tells you all about it. it was helpful to know the context of all the archives and what not... really wanting to read les miserable now. 

tonight we're going to dinner in the marais... expect a full restaurant review in the next post :)

vive la france

the french know how to spend their tax money. i'll say. 

basically bastille day festivities include some of my favorite life moments. ummm where to begin?? 

we began "celebrating" at around five on monday. us americans taught the french what it means to "pre-game." we ate food and drank wine for a few hours and then headed out to le bal des pompiers, or firemen's ball, if you will. i didn't get home until around 4. 

here's how it works:

every arrondissemont throws a major bastille day bash the night before as well as the night of bastille day. the party is run by the firemen of the arrondissemont--they get to play bartender for the night--and they have live music, a major crowd, and lots and lots of booze. a good combination for a good time. i will say that the cover band playing had some interesting selections. at one point i heard a shania twain song with a mild french accent... ??? everyone from my program was there (we went to the one in the 11th) and we were all just dancing together having a good time and meeting people. all in all a perfect night :)

the next day was recovery day. sat around... watched the fireworks... came back... and it was back to reality :(

class the next day. essay due. i have a midterm tomorrow and an oral exam friday... ouch. what to do what to do? 

exciting news: i have a visitor coming this weekend!! my german exchange sister, anja, is coming down to Paris for a fun little holiday (as they call it here). wonder what we'll be up to? 

gooey goodness

I just bought some peanut butter at the Monoprix. For 6 euro. The night before Bastille Day.

Getting a little nostalgic. BUT I'm so pumped for Bastille Day that my American pride has been overridden. Festivities start tonight AND we have off from school tomorrow. Apparently the fire works at the Eiffel Tower are supposed to be amazing this year because its the 120 anniversary of the structure. We're going to check out the fireman's ball as well... not so sure what that means exactly, but I'll let y'all know when i find out :)

bam bam

woo haven't posted in a while. everyone seemed to enjoy the last post quite a bit though :)

let's see... where did i leave off? the juice box wine was for a birthday festivity on tuesday... just to explain that. 

i went to the ballet on wednesday... "la fille mal gardée." i enjoyed it because i enjoy ballet in all ways possible. though i do believe the best ballet you can get is in america. the national opera house kind of stole the show. it's probably the most beautiful building i have ever been inside. every thing was gold and marble and red velvet. 

i had visitors on thursday night! some friends from wimberley were passing through paris and we hung out for a bit. we went to this AWESOME jazz club in the latin quarter called "caveau des oubliettes" aaaaaaand it was probably the coolest place i've been to. you walk in and its this tiny room with a staircase. so then you descend this staircase into (literally) a dungeon of jazz. it's small but there's room. free admission but you have to buy a drink.. no complaints there. will definitely be going back.

friday we hung out in the marais again. it's always exciting. went into a neat cafe called cafe richards... mismatched leather chairs and wooden tables with posters--vintage and new--covering the walls. love. 

TODAY we went to a flea market in theee... 9th? 10th? i don't know.. no man's land really. but it  blew my mind. like... this was the real deal kind of flea market. vintage chanel jackets and such, old photographs, and tea sets galore. legit. couldn't buy anything because i was so overwhelmed because everything was so incredible. will be going back there again as well. 

so basically i'm still doing cool things in paris. what do you know? 

real low

i went went to a whole new level, tonight. 

juice box wine. yep. 

mmmm paris

i went to the pompidou after class today... it's always quite lovely. the view from the top of the skeletal building is amazing. to your right, sacre-coeur; to your left, le tour eiffel and notre dame; strait in front of you, la defense. and of course the art is incredible. matisse, picasso, calder, modigliani, chagall, etc, etc. 

here's a kupka i really liked:

there's a really (supposedly) nice calder and kandinsky exhibit there right now... i'd wanted to go to the calder exhibit when it was at the whiteny but never had the chance. i'll have to go back soon. 

i must apologize for the lack of pictures on this blog. it's not that i'm not posting them... it's that i'm not taking them... at least not on my digital camera. i find that constantly shooting pictures at what you see keeps you from actually seeing things and experiencing them. but i have been taking out geoff's old canon film camera. learning has been fun--though i completely ruined my first roll of film. it's all in the experience. 

yesterday was lovely as well. a big group of us organized a picnic at le parc floral on the very eastern side of paris. they have a jazz festival there every sunday so we thought we'd go check it out. wine, cheese, baguette, nutella, and jazz. doesn't get better than that. 

must go find a sandwich to eat for dinner. it's CARBS galore here in paris. i'm not complaining. 

i do stuff

oooh my goodness where to start?? 

so i've finished my first week of classes... they were very nice. mmm i have a quiz on monday and an essay due tuesday. things are moving quickly and i like it so far. only 8 people are in my class. 

there's this place we've been going for lunch after class... a baguette sandwich, a drink, and dessert for 5.50 euro. their bread is made fresh and they have reeeeeallly great macaroons. i've probably eaten one macaroon a day since i've started classes... probably not such a good pattern. 

went shopping in the marais yesterday!!!! such good vintage. i looooove the marais. everyting looks so classic, great shopping, and amazing falafel. good combo. 

last night i went out to this club called "showcase" located under a bridge on the champs-élysées. it was a veryyyy... "unce-unce-unce" type of club.. definitely an experience that needed to be had. i fit in with the europeans when i dance. i'm more of just.. an arbitrary ass shaker. it's not really based on any sort of beat or direction.... idk trust me it works. 

ummm just went to versaille today... ya know. we didn't get to go inside :( but the gardens were beautiful and the fountains were running. i sipped some versaille-made jus d'orange as we canoed in the pond. THAT was an experience. we basically had no idea what we were doing and just canoed in circles for like half an hour as we recited fake poetry and pretended to be romantic. 

but seriously, after today... my feet are about to quite this bitch. 

tonight? toninght? 4th of july baby!! we're heading to an irish pub for some good old american nostalgia. i'll update you guys again soon. 

and so classes begin...

yesterday was my first day of class and i have the COOLEST teacher ever. his name is Yasser and he's Egyptian but he speaks english, french, and arabic fluently. he has a crazy curly afro, a curled up mustache and he always wears wingtips. my class is extremely small... only 8 people. perfect for learning. so far i have a grand tradition of french professors who like to incorporate celebrities into the french dialogue and activities :)

the school itself is gorgeous... on the right bank across from the Tour Eiffel, it's a 19th century town house with a little courtyard

this is a bird's eye view i found on google

went to my first parisian night club last night... it was a blast. on a tuesday night. the people in charge of the dorms i'm staying in threw us a party last night also... the head cook made us quiche and hors d'oeuvres and refreshments. it was amazing.

i'm loving how "together" this program is. like everyone in the program does things together. i mean we all get up together, go to class together, etc. it feels very connected and friendly. all the people i've met so far have been awesome. it's going to be a great month and a half.