Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Paris, je t'aime toujours

Well, sorry it took me a while to get this second part up, folks. It's been so sunny and nice in Montpellier lately, I've been spending a lot of time outside; running, hiking with the family, and walking whenever possible. I am also still cooking, and I made latkes last night for the family. I wanted to make matzoh ball soup as well, but I couldn't find matzoh meal anywhere, despite it being right before Passover. Jewish influence in France isn't particularly strong... But the Rouquettes liked the latkes, and we ate them with crème fraîche (sour cream) and compote de pommes (applesauce) just like at Hannukah. Yum! Today I only had one hour of school because most of my professors are on strike (how very French). So I went to my math class and then came home and went on a run, played a bit of guitar, read the newspaper, etc. It was rather luxurious.

But anyway, here are the rest of my adventures in Paris...

So the day after Notre Dame (see previous post), we started with a ride on a bateau mouche ('fly boat'... they are tourist-ey boat rides on the Seine). It was nice, even though it was a bit foggy.


Here is la Louvre + some tourists.


Notre Dame...



The side of Notre Dame.


The sister of the Statue of Liberty- it's a lot smaller than ours!

After the boat ride, we went to l'Arc de Triomphe and then the Champs-Élysées.






This is a terrible picture, but voilà les Champs-Élysées!


Next we went to the famed department store "La Samaritaine" where I took this lovely photo from the roof.

And to top off the day, we went to another lovely site, which some of you may know...


I took a few videos from the top (well not the very top, it was closed, but the second level anyway).

Here you can just barely see Notre Dame (it's the one to the left that is further away). Also, you can hear my host mom talking a little bit too, haha (something about "les grand-parents de Dominique").



Here you can see l'Arc de Triomphe and the Seine.



And this is just magnificent...



She does that every hour for 10 minutes!


Elle est pas mal, quand même...

The next day I forgot to bring my camera, but we went to la maison de Victor Hugo, which is located in the place des Vosges. It is the oldest square in Paris, and my favorite... all the buildings are of the same 17th century style, and in the middle there is a nice little park with a statue of Louis XIII. Here's are a couple photos which I did not take:






It was rainy that day, so we walked around a bit, and finished early.

The next and final day we went to the château de Versailles, but of course my camera died about 5 minutes after we got inside. I only got these two pictures of the chapel. The rest you can look up on Google images yourselves!




It was really magnificent though, especially the grounds, which we explored for almost 4 hours!

And the next day, it was back in the car for 7 hours to Montpellier. I had a grand time, but want to return soon and explore some more. So I hope that has given you all a feeling for my adventures in Paris, and sorry again that it was a long time in coming. I'm just busy, you know, learning French, eating cheese, exploring Montpellier, etc.

Bisous,

Claire

Friday, March 7, 2008

Paris, je t'aime...

Sorry for the cheesy title, but it is very applicable to this post. So I had a lovely stay in Paris for 5 days. The weather was nice, except for one day when it rained, and we hit up all the usual places. My camera ran out of battery at one point, and I forgot it on other days (I am generally not a very avid photographer...), so some of these pictures are from Google Images (sorry Kevin). Anyway, without further ado, here is the first part of my Paris photo essay!

The first day we went to Montmartre, which is probably my favorite neighborhood in all of Paris (the quaint part, not the rowdier part down by Pigalle...). It was a hub for artists (of the likes of Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Henri Matisse, Edgar Degas, and even Langston Hughes) in the late 1800s and the early-ish 1900s.


Home to the famous restaurant Le Chat Noir, where Erik Satie played the piano.


Also home to the Moulin de la Galette, another famous restaurant, and the setting for a Renoir painting that I adore...


This is the Basilica of the Sacré Cœur at Montmartre. You can see the white dome from all over Paris, because it is on the top of a hill.


The other side of the Basilica.


The view of Paris from outside the Basilica (hint, think Amelie...)

The next day we went to the Louvre, and saw the classics...






As well as cool ancient paintings of Saint Francis!


Later we went to the glorious Notre Dame (it was also a beautiful day). Unfortunately Quasimodo was under the weather, so I didn't get to meet him...


This is the view of Paris from the top of Notre Dame.


Here, a cool gargoyle, and you can just barely see Montmartre and the Basilica off in the distance.


The inside of Notre Dame.


Please excuse my terrible pictures...


A sweet organ, that someone was actually playing when I was in there.

Ok, well I am going to leave off there, but hopefully that has wet your appetites, and I will follow up with more Paris goodness soon!

Ciao (French people say this all the time!),

Claire