A final thought...

Well, I have been home for nearly one week now, and leave for Syracuse in exactly one week. No matter how long I stay abroad, coming back is always a slight culture shock. Just boarding the plane, I asked the man behind me if they were calling numbers. His response "Nah. I'm all da way bahhk in Fahty-fauh (44)" Welcome home.

While a lot of what I learned in France still hasn't sunk in, as these things usually take more than just a week to finally settle, I do know that I made some great friends and had some really great times while I was there. Running into people from the States, meeting people from ALL over the world. Mom wanted me to put in where the kids in my class were from, so here is a rundown:

Israel, Czech Republic, Brazil, Venezuela, Turkey, Canada, and the United States. A pretty diverse bunch of people if I do say so myself. I hope I can keep in touch with them (with the assistance of technology, that's increasingly easier) and one day, perhaps, visit them in each of their respective countries! A girl can dream, right?

Coming home, I've been thrown into party planning, school shopping, school packing, grocery shopping, and all that comes with being back on Fairoaks Avenue. Do I miss Paris? Is that even a question? But, more importantly, am I glad to be back? Of course. That I can give you a definitive answer to. What's the point of having amazing experiences if you can't come home and share them with your family and friends right?

I'm not sure when my next trip abroad will be, hopefully in my near future; but we shall see. I hope that someday you all (whoever you are reading this!) can come to Paris with me and I can show you all of my little corners of the amazingly grand and beautiful city.

I look forward to using my French in Syracuse this semester. Hopefully by the time I get up to school I'll stop saying "Excusez-moi" to the old ladies in the grocery store.

A bientôt,
Amy

Paris is always a good idea.

Well, here it is. I've been in Paris for 6 weeks, and I will leave in exactly 6 hours. What a trip this has been! I feel like this past week has been a giant blur, with classes still going strong and trying to bustle around doing all those last minute things I wanted to get done! Which thankfully, I did, and even the things I didn't- well, I have to leave some things left to do for an excuse to come back right?

This has been such an adventure. I have met some very interesting people, done some great things that I've never done before, re-done things, studied and learned a lot, and fallen in love with Paris all over again. I've enjoyed walking down familiar streets and getting lost and turned around down new streets; which I have now come to think of as some of my favorite places in Paris. My teachers have been wonderful, encouraging, and fun; the students in my class were so diverse: I will really miss them.

Paris is an incredibly enchanting city with so much to do and so much to see; I feel that every time I come back, I get to know Paris a little better, we've become quite close friends over the years.

I'm so thankful to have this opportunity.

As a great actress (Audrey Hepburn) once said "Paris is always a good idea": I couldn't agree with her more.

Au Revoir Paris! Tu me manque!

Bisous,
Amy

Dessine-moi un mouton!

This is going to be a relatively short post, but I really wanted to write it! So... hopefully you will bear with me! Today we read an excerpt from "Le Petit Prince" by Antoine de Saint Exupéry. For those of you who have read it, we read the part when the pilot first meets the Little Price and the Little Prince demands the pilot to draw him a sheep (Dessine- moi un mouton). The first time I read this book, I was sitting on a blue couch at River Avenue with the entire Culpepper Family; reading a book in French, that we really didn't understand, but we would plug along. Reading passages, translating them, reading, figuring out what everything meant. Today, as we read the passage, I didn't even need to ask what any of the words meant because I still remembered most, if not all of the words. For example, it escapes me now, but the word for "rubbing one's eyes" was on the page, and I was the only one who knew that! I distinctly remember looking up words in our dictionaries, and slowly but surely unraveling the story that was "Le Petit Prince".

Its always funny to revisit something that you were so familier with when you were younger, when you are older. We had to have a class discussion about it afterwords, and I still remembered all of the things that I had discovered so many years ago. So many great things come from that book. If you haven't read it, I really suggest you do.

The countdown, has counted-down much faster than I would have liked. Sadly, I have only 3 days left in Paris. Happily, I will be home in Rhode Island, soaking up some sun and eating all of my Rhode Island favorites before returning to Syracuse! I can't believe this has all gone so quickly, as it always does.

I'll leave you with a Little Prince...

"Voici mon secret. Il est très simple: on ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux."

* Here is my secret. It is very simple: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.*

Bisous,
Amy

Comme il vous plaira

Sunday was an intense day! As I intended it to be. Woke up, bright and early (not as brightly or early as I could have, but fairly early for a Sunday) and headed for the Clingoncourt Market. It takes a long time to get to and if you wanted to, you could spend HOURS there. You have to walk through really annoying venders who try to sell you fake Louis bags and Prada sunglasses; but then you hit this beautiful place. The antique markets. There are rows and rows of tiny shops that hold tiny things. I went with a friend and he made fun of me as we walked, I wouldn't take much notice in the GIANT antique armoirs that were for sale, I would stop and look at small buttons, or the tinest charms that I could find. While the horrible market bustled outside, the antique markets remained calm, cool, and collected; with the ability to block out all that bustle on the street. We walked around for a few hours, then headed back into the city. Then my friend and I decided to go to the Louvre. If the people are feeling particularly nice (which is occasional in Paris) they will let you in for free with just your Sorbonne student card and an ask of your age. We had luck! We wandered around the 2nd floor, which is full of the paintings; which also holds my favorite "The Lacemaker" by Vermeer. Got to see that: check. Then we casually walked the entire 2nd floor, looking for things we knew, reading about things we didn't. Down to the sculptures for a quick peak, then headed to where else.. but the Apple Store! That's right. We used the Apple Store in the Carousel de Louvre. We wanted to look up directions for another museum, so it was really a useful situation. Bryce and I then headed to the Musee Marmottan; which holds a giant collection of Monet, Manet, and other impressionist painters.

Set in the 16th Arrondissment, The Musee Marmottan is held in a giant old house, which the art kind of sticks out in honestly. Despite the fact that there are giant windows so that you can see outside into a garden, which also looks oddly like an impressionist painting; the art doesn't look at home on the walls. There was a bonus exhibit of Monet's art set up side by side with newer, more modern artists. I didn't really think I would like it, but was I wrong! It was SO INTERESTING! Almost like "modern day" impressionism; I'm sure there's some artsy word for that, but that's what I'm going to call it. I really enjoyed that. Sadly, I couldn't take pictures. But a bonus was that "A rainy day in Paris" was at this museum! I didn't know that going in, and I saw it proudly hanging on the wall! So happy!

I was the first person to give my "expose" in my French class. We were given the assignment to talk for 15 minutes, about whatever we wanted. This may sound like an easy task, however when you have such a broad selection, it gets a little difficult. So I decided to talk about my experience in London. The London theatre. Mainly working at the Globe. "Comme il vous plaira" is how you say "As You Like it" in French! Fun fact. Apparently everyone really loved my topic because I had a lot of questions, and ended up talking for more than 20 minutes. It was so strange taking a trip down memory lane to London, in France, in French. Re-living my walk to class in the morning, Flat 8 (Of course), the Globe, classes, and theatre in general. The new girl (Yes, 6 weeks in...?) asked me to do a sonnet. I said that I would love to, but somehow doing a sonnet, on the spot, in FRENCH really didn't seem possible. Needless to say, I felt pretty good after that class.

Bisous,
Amy

Fancy meeting you here!

Up bright and early! Especially for a Saturday, this morning, we met Jenna downstairs at 8:30 to get on a train for Chartres. About an hour outside of Paris, Chartres is home to Notre-Dame de Chartres; one of the "finest examples of Gothic style architecture in France". Or so they tell me. Arriving in Chartres, first thing was first, check out the local Saturday market. Beautiful as always, very small, very quaint; much like this little town. After wandering around the town a bit, and eating a very delicious macaroon, we headed to the Cathedral for a tour by none other than... Malcolm Miller! Haven't heard of him? Well, to be perfectly honest, neither had I. Regardless, he's very famous for his studies of Cathedrals in France, especially Notre-Dame de Chartres. And did this guy know his stuff? Did he ever. He is originally from England, somehow meandered his way to France years ago and has been here ever since. He has written several books, on Chartres alone, and does tours there rather often; but not all the time, so we were definitely lucky! He took us through the Cathedral and gave us detailed descriptions of many of the stained glass windows; their double meanings, symbols, etc. Also, described in detail how the Church used to look- Americans based their cathedrals after how France's look NOW.. but in the olden days, France based their cathedrals off of Greek temples; completely colorful! The Cathedral is currently being worked on and in about 5-6 years (you know how the French work... ) it should look as it did when it was first built (I say that loosely because the one that stands today is actually the 5th Cathedral.. so first isn't exactly what I mean). I could probably talk for hours (or pages?) about the church. It was really incredible. Having such an amazing guide was a great help too; so much information about one place seems impossible to me! After our guide, Jenna and George had Mr. Miller sign some of their books and we were on our way for lunch.

A nice little lunch at a cafe called "Le Serpent"; ironically enough across the street from a church, tempting us with its food! Ha. Delicious none the less. Then a walk through some museums; one of "beau-arts" and one of stained glass. A quick trip the the crypt and back upstairs to see the "robe" of Mary. So they say, it was a gift from Charlemagne's grandson to the church. I think I have that right. Charlemagne was involved somehow. Pretty neat to see all around. While we looked at that, the music of the organ played in our ear as two people were married! I felt awful wandering around through their wedding, but they didn't seem to mind; so I didn't either. I clapped at the end and they went on their way! What a place to be married! We took a little train around the "old" town; which proved to be not very motivating as our little group was really tired, but it was nice to sit down for a while. Then back on the SNCF to Paris.

Arriving back about 6:30. I hopped on the metro to the Eiffel Tower to meet up with none other than Dylan Conley and Matthew Burns (and their friend Melissa, who I didn't know). For those of you who don't know. Dylan is one of my best friend's brothers, and Matt also went to LaSalle; I actually took a class with Matt when I was a sophomore and he was a senior. Fancy stumbling upon them in Paris! I guess Paris just brings people together; but LaSallains also tend to have a way, I think. They had one place in mind that was suggested by a friend, so we figured dinner near by would be a good idea. We headed over to the area of the Marais, had the nicest cab driver I've ever had in Paris; then tried to get falafel to no avail; ah the month of August! Ended up at this really adorable cafe that I have been before, so knew the food would be pretty good. I guess they were fairly happy and impressed as everyone ate to their fill. I'm sure I bored them with my little Paris anecdotes and "rules" that I've learned here; but oh well, they're on my turf, they listen to my stories? After dinner, we headed for the pub that a friend had suggested to Dylan called "The Quiet Man". Probably one of the smallest pubs I"ve ever seen, but in true Irish fashion! Everyone there was Irish... or French... or Irish... we really couldn't tell; they switched so quickly between the two it seemed! It was incredible! Downstairs, a bunch of musicians played Irish tunes, while upstairs people sang, stomped, and ordered Guinness! A perfect ending to the day.

I've had a pretty eventful final full Saturday in Paris. I can't believe I leave for the states in one week! Doesn't seem real! Lots I want to accomplish tomorrow, so off to bed for me. (Read the post under this one because I posted two at once!)

Bisous,
Amy

Propaganda

A weekend lies ahead of me, thank goodness. Last night (Thursday) was wonderful. My friend, from my french class, Winston invited me to his lovely apartment for a little dinner. Arriving in his apartment, I was greeted by a lovely plate of bread and cheeses; two people who attend French cooking school; Tanner and Nikki, his roommate Dan, and Winston. His apartment has a beautiful view of the Eiffel Tower. We had a nice dinner of bread, cheese, melon, prosciutto; and to finish it all off, home-made crepes with caramelized apples and ice cream. A really wonderful evening. Felt great to relax with some new friends, while looking out on that beautiful Eiffel Tower.

Friday went on as usual. School, the norm. Friday night, Bryce and I decided to FINALLY go see the show "Propaganda" that was playing at the Cite Univercitaire theatre, and has been playing since July 15th. About time eh? So, we got our tickets and waited in line for the doors to open. "Propaganda" is an Australian minimalist circus. Basically, the "point" of the show is to tell people to turn off their TVs, play with their kids, go outside, garden, DO STUFF! And like, its against like, "modern day" propaganda; of course, making the show propaganda in and of itself. I digress. Anyway, poor Bryce had to hear me completely theatre geek out for about a half hour. It was a really fascinating, beautifully executed piece. I am hoping to go back and perhaps stalk around the theatre until I find the players. That'd be pretty awesome eh?

This is a short post because I'm going to write a post RIGHT NOW about today! Double post-age! Be so happy!

Bisous,
Amy

Rocks, papers, scissors

Well, the past two days have been filled with museums. Well, they've been FILLED with class, and then some museum visits as a side dish if you really think about it. Yesterday (Tuesday) we went to the Rodin museum. I was excited because I have never been there. Mostly sculpture, of course, but also some paintings by some other well-knowns. Times like this when I could've used Caitlin Fairfield by my side telling me the ins-and-outs of each work. The museum is in his house and the gardens are absolutely amazing. Unfortunately, we get out of class really late, so we did not have very much time to look around, luckily, its not a very big museum. As we wandered around the house, which is across the street from les Invalides, there were two little girls sitting in one of the rooms, playing "Rocks, paper, scissors" I'm not sure what its called in French, but their little voices filled the house. The game here is more of a song rather than a chant like at home, and they were trying to be so quiet, but they echoed just the same. It was a nice background noise to have as I wandered through the sculptures. The Thinker, The Kiss, and The Door of Hell just name a few. We wandered quickly through the vast garden until a security guard came and said "We're closing, unless you want to sleep here, its time to go". Who knew sleeping there was an option?

Today was the Musee D'Orsay. One of my all time favorites in Paris. The group went the weekend I was in Spain, but conveniently, all of the 6-weekers missed that trip.. so we got to go today instead. Arriving just an hour before close, it was a rather quick visit through the museum. Passing quickly by most of the sculptures (and most of the Rodin, since we had enough of him yesterday!) I love seeing the Toulouse-Lautrec paintings and of course, the Monets, Van Goghs, and Degas. No matter how beautiful the paintings around me are, I am always, undoubtedly amazed by the space. I love how the building holds the art. The clock proudly looks over the space. Its really awesome. Sadly, no pictures are allowed. AT ALL ANYMORE! Thankfully, I've got all the pictures I need from there; but its still kind of a bummer.

Its nearly dinner time and I'm definitely looking forward to that, as always!

Bisous,
Amy