TravelStream™ news feed for member laurenobst on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/laurenobst en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Wed, 03 Sep 2008 20:52:18 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laurenobst/1/1220442240/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laurenobst/1/1220442240/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laurenobst/1/1220442240/tpod.html Wed, 03 Sep 2008 20:52:18 -0400 Croissants and Cathedrals: Exploring Paris with Lauren

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Queensbury, New York, United States

This trip gave me a lot of time to think and reflect- especially on the cultural differences that I encountered during this trip.  Here are a few.1) SmilingThe French don't like to smile because they are taught from a very young age that smiling is not very nice.  Smiling could actually mask condescension, maliciousnous, or flirtation.  In general, unlike in the US, smiling does not have good connotations.  Ex) If I smiled at a man on the metro, he would probably follow me around for the rest of the day because my smile had "invited" him to.  Instead, I learned to assume a look that said "if you come anywhere near me, you will die" which was very difficult because I tend to smile a lot.  I do like to smile and I appreciate the customer service that I generally encounter in the states.  However, upon thinking about this cultural issue, I realize that we might take smiling to the other cultural extreme.  Society teaches us to smile constantly, even when we are not necessarily happy.  This leads to the realm of fake smiles and our inability to just be sad for a day instead of trying to make everyone around you comfortable by just giving in and smiling. There must be some balance between being honest and being rude.   2) FoodI am still astounded at the wealth of amazing food in France and how I don't think I saw one fat french person the entire month that I was there.  I was on the lookout and occasionally I would see a larger person in the distance and then I would realize that the person was a tourist (most likely American :(  ).   I think it is more that the quality of the products is so fresh and rich that they do not need to eat too much of it.  Ex)Berthillon ice cream- quite possibly the best ice cream of my life- they gave me a little scoop of, say, Pistachio, and I am good- at least until the next day :).Also, Parisians walk a lot and must walk up hundreds of stairs a day.  Therefore, they can, and deserve, to bask in the fruits of their city. 3) AmericaRegardless of what is going on in American politics, I am proud to be an American.  I saw so many of the others in my program utterly renounce America, saying that France is so much better.  However, I think that we should be able to look at these countries, recognize their differences, and appreciate them both.  Sure, the US can be viewed as a dominating superpower that tramples on every country in its path for the sake of its capitalist needs and agenda, but we shoud also remember hat whenever wnother country is in trouble and needs aid, who is the country stepping in to help?  I don't think I need to help you answer.People may also scoff at our lack of greco-roman, romantic, and gothis architecture, but we might not have it because the US didn't exist then!  We are a baby of a nation and we should be proud that instead of remaining a 3rd world, developping nation like the other babies, we are the land of Hollywood, NYC, purple mountains majesty, and a million other unique, original places.Also, when I tried to point out that we are a young nation, the popular response was that we are so young because we destroyed all of the history of the native americans.  Now, I am not defending this massacre in any way, except to say that this kind of behavior was not unique to the US.    I know that that does not in any way make it right.  I just mean that when people call Americans "bad" for doing that, they should not turn around and call French people "good."  How do you think they got their land?  Probably a destruction of some people or another.  We're babies, so we're bound to be loud and obnoxious.  Eventually, we'll probably grow out of that and learn some more international etiquette.  Just because we are going through a phase doesn't make us hateful.  4) PreservativesI love the lack of preservatives in the food, but at the same time, that means that you have to be careful.  If you buy fruit, vegetables, or bread, be prepared to prepare and eat them that day because otherwise, you might get the unpleasant surprise of a nice white mold covering the entire thing.  Also, be careful and check out the whole thing BEFORE you eat it because otherwise, you might end up halfway through a grapefruit and find, oh I don't know, a maggot.  Not Pleasant. On the other hand, other things that you wouldn't expect to keep really well.  Eggs are so fresh that when you buy them in a store, they are no refrigerated nor do you have to put them in the refrigerator when you bring them home.  You could make scrambled eggs a week later and they would be just lovely despite my paranoia that they would be rotten.That's also the same with cheese.  Americans think that cheese should be in the fridge at all times while I learned that the French passionately believe that cheese should never go into the fridge and is best when it is warm and flowing.  I tried this method with Brie that I bought from a cremerie (no prepackaging!) and I must admit that it was pretty amazing. I had a bit of trouble getting over the idea of luke warm, room temperature cheese, but once I got past that, it was great.  I am sure that I learned a whole lot more than this, but at the moment, that is all I'm coming up with.  If I think of anymore groundbreaking reflections, I will write them here.  For now, I think I am just going to rest and relax and get ready for school in a few days, so I hope you enjoyed my trip to Paris with me!  
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laurenobst/1/1220438700/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laurenobst/1/1220438700/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laurenobst/1/1220438700/tpod.html Wed, 03 Sep 2008 07:21:47 -0400 Croissants and Cathedrals: Exploring Paris with Lauren

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Paris, France

My last week was so very eventful in Paris that I didn't have time to write any of it down while I was there, or even a few days afterwards, cause I was too busy/sleepy.  Here is the short version as follows:Monday- We went to Pere LaChaise Cemetery which was really really cool.  I got to blow a kiss at Oscar Wilde's lipstick smudged tombstone, and visit with Edith Piaf, Ingres, JIM MORRISON, and the many other celebrities who now permanently reside there.  To top it off, it really is a beautiful cemetery that you can totally get lost in (I know this from experience).  Tuesday- This was my second-to-last school day that lasted 6 hours and my last oral class, which made me extremely happy.  After class, I went back to my room with the intent of doing my laundry, and decided that since the dryer cycle lasts 1 1/2 hours, I could go somewhere during it.  Where else, if not in Paris, can you get on a metro, and see the most amazing view of Paris at sunset, and then get back before your laundry is even done?  I went up to the top of Montparnasse tower and it was glorious.  A lot of Parisians really hate this tower because it is the one building that could really be called a skyscraper in Paris, and lets just say, it sticks out.  However, unlike the amazing view from the eiffel tower, the view from Montparnasse includes the Eiffel Tower and you can't see Montparnasse sticking out like a sore thumb because you're on top of it!  Perfect solution.  It was beautiful.Wednesday-  I went to Cafe de Flore with the rest of my group for lunch and then decided that since this was one of my last free moments in Paris, I would go to the last few places I wanted to visit. I headed over to the Promenade Plantee which is a plant lined street that is sad to have good shopping and restaurants.  I didn't actually find the shopping... or the restaurants, but that is ok, it was a beautiful walk.  Then I walked over to Jardin des Plants, because this park has always interested me.  They made different areas of the park resemble different climates to demonstrate what plants and animals would live in such variations as jungle, desert, mountainous etc.  I thought it was pretty cool and I liked walking through it.  Then I just did a little tour of Paris.  I walked past the Arab Institute again, and then walked up the seine river, doing some shopping along the way.  I ended up at the St. Michel fountain, where I actually ran into one of my friends and we decided to have dinner together.  We went to Bercy, which is the section of Paris renowned for its wine.  It was a cute little street, complete with cobblestones, and the meal was absolutely delicious.  Thursday- This was my last 6-hour day of class and my friends and I wanted to celebrate afterwards.  We went to this fondu restaurant near Montmartre where they actually serve wine in baby bottles!  Apparently, in Paris, you have to pay a tax if you serve wine IN wine glasses.  This place sidesteps that tax in this very unique way.  A little too unique for me though...  The fondu was very very very good and then afterwards, we ended up at a Kareoke Bar.  It was a lot of fun and we all had a good time.  Friday was my last day of school and my last day in Paris.  My classmates and I all exchanged email addresses and took pictures together.  I am still awaiting an email with the class picture, but I have pictures of a few of my favorite classmates.  After class, I decided to walk around and visit with my favorite parts of the city.  I got a crepe in the Latin quarter (nutella with hazelnuts and walnuts) and while happily munching away, I peoplewatched, walked around, and listened to a concert at a church.  I went to dinner at this lovely restaurant where I was completely french and had wine and a cheese plate with dinner.  I even got to do the official wine taste from the bottle so I really tried to ham it up.  I think my brother would have done a better job, but I did what I could :).  Afterwards, we went over to the bateaux mouches and took a boat ride on the seine, which I think was the perfect thing to do for our last night.  I said goodbye to the city and enjoyed passing by the beauty of it on my boat.  I went back and got to bed early because Saturday I went home!!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laurenobst/1/1220076600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laurenobst/1/1220076600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laurenobst/1/1220076600/tpod.html Sat, 30 Aug 2008 02:15:39 -0400 Croissants and Cathedrals: Exploring Paris with Lauren

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Paris, Île-de-France, France

Oh my goodness!  I'm going home today!  In an hour or so, a shuttle will be coming to bring me, and my copious amounts of luggage, to the airport and then I'll be back in Montreal with my parents where we will arrive shortly afterwards in my homeland!  I will need to post about this past week in a few days since I didn't get too much free time trying to do everything I wanted to do.  This means that i have lots of stories and thoughts about my trip.  I decided that I could make use of my seven hour plane ride for two things- Catching up on some sleep and thinking about my reflexions on the trip when all of the little details are still fresh.  I have to say that my views on culture, etiquette and behavior have definately evolved.  Anyway, just checking in, and I am sure that I will see everyone soon!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laurenobst/1/1219665480/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laurenobst/1/1219665480/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laurenobst/1/1219665480/tpod.html Mon, 25 Aug 2008 08:30:58 -0400 Croissants and Cathedrals: Exploring Paris with Lauren

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Rouen, Normandy, France

What a weekend.  It was certainly jampacked with activities, especially with the realization that in a week, I will be home!  Before that anticipated day, i am of course trying to see and do everything that I want to and maybe even find some time to return to old favorites :).  Saturday was our program's trip to Rouen in Normandy and I really loved it.  I think it would be much more enjoyable for one's health and wallet.  For the first time since I've been in France, I felt like I was breathing truly clean air.  Also, you could buy clothes at rates that didn't make me feel like I needed to sell my car to afford them.  It was lovely.  The food was fantastic and we took a guided tour through the city.  We saw the exterior and interior of the cathedral that Monet used for his studies of light, which made people like me, who actually knew about them, very very happy.  We also visited the space where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake and the church that they dedicated to her, with lots of pretty stained glass.  We had a few hours to look around so I shopped some, ate a macaroon (apparently they are known for them), went down to the river and considered trying to swim back hehe, and then went over to a park.  It was a nice relaxing visit and I really enjoyed all of the Norman architecture and all of the tiny little streets.After we got back, one of my friends invited me to go with her to a function that her church puts on every saturday night and it would be a good opportunity to practice my french in a comfortable environment.  It was certainly very interesting.  It was like we were plopped in the middle of  a french party and we didnt know anyone.  Therefore, lots of people talked to us and it was really cool.  I was exhausted, physically and mentally, by the time we left, but I think it was worth it.  The next day, I got up to go to church... in the red light district!  Actually not quite.  Sacre Coeur is the big white church at the top of the big hill that houses Montmartre.  It was by far my favorite church service- lots of singing, none of the incense, and no tourists...but me.  I also have a funny side story though, because you wouldn't think that I'd have trouble with people at 10 AM on a Sunday going to church.  I guess you're wrong.  If anyone wants the story of how/why I ended up having to physically defend myself, I'll tell you in person.  It's rather humourous now ;) and I am proud of girl power!  After that debacle, I headed over to the famous Wall of Love to take a look.  It is a wall that has "I love you" written in every known language and you are invited to write it in your language if you are unable to find it.  It is supposed to represent international peace and harmony and it really is a wonderful landmark that many tourists don't know about.  I had lunch on Ile St. Louis which has amazing food.  Probably the best I've had.  And.  I had Berthillon ice cream and it seriously is life changing.  I had pistachio and dark chocolate and would recommend it to anyone who comes to Paris.  Yummy.  A few friends and I headed over to the Branly museum, which is home to oceanic, african, and asiatic art.  It was so cool and probably the best set-up museum I have ever seen.  While it is not a huge attraction to many tourists, if you have any interest at all in that type of culture/art, it is really worth it.  We headed back to Ile St-Louis and it was wonderful again and ended the night by randomly wondering around the right bank of the seine and watching the sun set.  Then we all had to get back to study for our final exam today!  Ahhhh!!  It was fine.. 2 1/2 hours  later.  I feel like my brain has died, but at least I have fun plans for the afternoon.  Hanging out with dead people!  Yay!!!  At least this time, I won't be in contact with their bones- now it's just their tombstones :).  I am heading over to Pere LaChaise cemetery which is where a lot of famous people permanently reside... Yay for it being a nice day out!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laurenobst/1/1219437720/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laurenobst/1/1219437720/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laurenobst/1/1219437720/tpod.html Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:44:03 -0400 Croissants and Cathedrals: Exploring Paris with Lauren

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Paris, France

Oh my goodness!  Quick side note.  Charles Perrault is actually "buried" in the Catacombs!!!!!!!  Yes.  My fairy tale man who wrote Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, etc.  How crazy of a coincidence is that?????  I was excited... and tempted to steal a bone and use it as some sort of sick inspiration for my thesis.  But I'm over it... mostly.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laurenobst/1/1219433880/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laurenobst/1/1219433880/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laurenobst/1/1219433880/tpod.html Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:17:47 -0400 Croissants and Cathedrals: Exploring Paris with Lauren

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Paris, France

So today was wonderful, but did not go as expected at all.I woke up and it was pouring out, tearing down all of my hopes and dreams of going to Pere Lachaise Cemetery today.  I mean, I suppose I could have still gone, at the risk of my slipping down a cobblestoned hill or catching some sort of pneumonia.  Therefore, my plans changed slightly to include a museum.I went to class and had a great discussion about the war, economy, pop culture and Batman with my fellow classmates.  They were all traumatized at the news of Heath Ledger's death, saying that it was a "terrible event for women everywhere."  In all, I've decided that my very favorite thing about class is the wonderful safe space that a class like this creates which forges connections among all of the nationalities.  I have friends from all over the world now- even from places that the great big institution of America doesn't necessarily get along with.  In saying this, I'm not turning expatriot and saying America is bad.  I'm more saying that I'm coloring outside the lines or thinking outside of the box and that kind of cultural awareness, knowledge, and growth has become really valuable to me in the few weeks that I have been here.  I think that at some point in the future, I might be interested in doing the whole ESL thing, and becoming certified to teach English as Second Language to people living in my area.  I think that would be the best of both worlds- I could be home but learning and interacting with foreign cultures at the same time.  After class, a couple of the girls and I walked over to the Catacoms which are actually right by our dorm.  I have been meaning to go there since I got here and I know I can say that I braved the bones and survived!  The catacombs are tunnels underneath the city (that are in no way affiliated with the metro) in which thousands of people from a nearby neighborhood were quarantined and subsequently died a few hundred years ago.  After a while, they decided to turn this underground monstrocity into an organized tunnel system for bone storage.  I find it amazing that there are enough people who have the similar morbid and grotesque curiousity that I do to actually make it a tourist attraction.  After waiting a while, in the rain, to get inside, we walked about 1.5 miles underground, surrounded by bones and skulls.  It was creepy even for me and that sort of stuff does not normally get me.  I just kept imagining those poor men underground with their candles dragging bodies through this very complex tunnel system.  I did, however, think it a little humorous that there was a sign warning us against stealing the bones.  I think its so sad that there could be a problem like that.  It would be one fantastic souvenir though...  Just kidding on that one.After the Catacombs, we all parted ways and I went to the Picasso museum since that's one of the only museums left on my list.  It was really really super vachement cool!  I really like Picasso so it was a treasure trove of paintings, sculptures, photographs, etc by the man who conceived modern art.   I don't have that many pictures because we weren't allowed to take pictures in the museum.  I might have snapped a few when the guards were distracted.  This might be the closest of ever really gotten to breaking a rule.  **gasp** I wandered around that area afterwards despite of the rain, because it was still absolutely beautiful in the city.  I poked my head into a few shops, poked my head in at my program's office to say hi, and then found a place to have dinner.  What an experience.  Yesterday I said I wanted pizza right?  Well, I still did so I decided not to be the boring American and just get cheese, so I got one that had an acceptable list of toppings- cheese, tomatoes, onions, beef, and egg.  Strange but frenchified pizza.  I get it, and im about 2/3 through it, when my waiter comes running out and cracks a raw egg on to my pizza and apoligizes frantically for forgetting the egg.  At first, I'm just shocked at his worry over the customer's feelings, as that is not a normal concern here in Paris.  Secondly, I realized he just cracked an egg on my pizza.  A raw egg.  I am not a raw anything eater, let alone a raw egg eater.  I was just like, "no, no, that's fine, I was actually just finished, could I please have the check?"  It did not say anywhere that the egg would be raw (I double checked), but I was only slightly disturbed by this.  At least the pizza didn't come out with the egg on it.That's been my day.  I'm calling it an early night because tomorrow we are meeting at the train station at 8 AM for our trip to Rouen!  So excited!!!!!  Also, just wanted to note that tonight, Friday, August 22nd, 2008, I have officially finished all 1306 pages of War and Peace, quite possibly the longest book ever.  And of course I lug it around everywhere I go :).   I love it.  That's my confession.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laurenobst/1/1219346400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laurenobst/1/1219346400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laurenobst/1/1219346400/tpod.html Thu, 21 Aug 2008 15:59:27 -0400 Croissants and Cathedrals: Exploring Paris with Lauren

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Paris, France

Despite what you may expect of the normal 21 year old girl in a foreign city, school is definately beating out sightseeing.  Of course, you should remember, I'm not normal... not by a longshot.  As of yet, I have not missed class, nor been late to a class.  In fact, I actually love class (except for my scary oral teacher who I have decided doesn't have a very good home life and takes it out on her students...).  I have only had one class that I was publically, and in my opinion injustly, chewed out for the lack of the hacking R when I said tres.  Alas, I cannot be perfect.  I just try really hard to be.Therefore, I have been in school a lot this week.  Because of the fete day last week, we had a make up class on Monday afternoon in which we watched the french movie Ridicule, sans soustitres!  Despite the implication of its title, it was not funny in the least.  It was pre-revolution french drama so I found it incredibly interesting and actually succeeded in understanding the finer details, but no, not ridiculous as I had hoped.  Tuesday was another day of 6 hours of class (with my scary oral teacher :( ), but I tried to make the best of it by making use of my two hour break in between classes.  I walked over to another huge church called St. Sulpice, which is where the first astrological clock is.  It is currently still under construction but I thought it was neat and it was nice to actually go outside and see the sun a little bit.  I also picked up a pastry- a pistachio and apricot something- I dont know how to describe it, expect diferent from anything I've ever had before and quite delicious.  I went back to class and after class I walked over to this really famous bookstore (as I am kind of a bibliophile if you couldn't tell) called Shakespeare & Company.  It is a treasure trove of old books and if you are a struggling writer in Paris, you can sleep upstairs.  It's pretty cool.  This place was at one time frequented by hemingway, Beckett, and James Joyce himself.  I was incredibly content and it made the whole, being in school for two straight days a loooooot better.Wednesday was nice because I was out of class by noon so I had an agenda for the afternoon.  First stop, Cluny museum which is a museum on the middle ages in France.  It was really cool, and my favorite part was the room that houses all of the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries.  I didn't expect them to be there so I was really happy when I found out that they were.  The big disappointment of the visit was that the authentic Roman thermal baths were closed and will not reopen until next Spring. Oh well, next time. Second stop was the Conciergerie which is where Marie Antoinette, Louis XVI, and Robespierre were famously imprisoned before they were lead to die by guillotine.    Since I am so morbidly interested in these gruesome sites, I was thrilled and I am totally psyched for my trip to the catacombs tomorrow :)... I should be like Hamlet and grab a skull...After that, I had a nice dinner near the Centre Pompidou and walked around the streets in between there and the Luxemborg Gardens.  I got to sit right on the Seine River and watch the sunset.  Needless to say, yesterday's excursion refreshed me for the full day of school that I had today.School today was fine, and after we got out of class a bunch of us decided to go up in the Eiffel Tower.  That was... fun.  We got the cheaper tickets that meant we would have to climb up the first two stories and we didnt think it could be that bad... right?  668 stairs later, we heaved ourselves into the line for the elevator, only to find out after waiting through that interminably long line, that the tickets we had weren't for the elevator at all, and we would have to go get new tickets.  I decided that it was not worth it as it was starting to rain and get dark so perhaps another day I will make it the last part of the way up.  I still got cool pictures though!My goals for tomorrow are 1)speak amazing french and do wonderfully in class, 2)Catacombs, 3) Pere Lachaise cemetery, 4) PizzaI'm sure you'll hear all about it in a few days.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laurenobst/1/1218997380/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laurenobst/1/1218997380/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laurenobst/1/1218997380/tpod.html Sun, 17 Aug 2008 15:04:36 -0400 Croissants and Cathedrals: Exploring Paris with Lauren

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Paris, France

Nearing the end of my three-day weekend, I can look back on it with satisfaction and go back to school tomorrow with the knowledge that I used my days off to the best of my abilities.  Saturday, I finally was able to go to the museum that I have been itching to go to for years- the Rodin Museum.  I even got to have a picnic in his gardens in front of his monument to Victor Hugo!  For those of you who don't know Rodin, he is the sculptor who did The Thinker, The Kiss, and the Gates of Hell, among many other brilliant works.  The museum is gorgeous because most of his more famous works are actually in the gardens, surround by trees, flowers, and water.  It was a lovely, peaceful setting that let you forget that you were in the middle of Paris.  I spent a long time there, especially on a bench right in front of the Thinker.  I thought a lot and cleared my head a bit.  It was nice.   After regretfully departing from the Rodin museum, we headed to St. Germain des-pres, the oldest church in Paris.  If anything, I thought that it was more beautiful than Notre Dame.  It has beautifully colored fresocs covering it and is a lot more cozy than the Gothic architecture of Notre Dame.  The area surrounding it is also really nice with high end stores and two famous cafes- Cafe fleurs and Deux Magots.  We ate at Cafe fleurs and I had the best croque-monsieur yet.  yummmmmy.  This morning, I decided that I like St. Germain des-Pres so much that I went there for a church service.  The service was also a lot less intimidating than in Notre Dame with only 2 priests at this one instead of the 32 that I counted last week.  The music was also in french instead of Latin, which made me understand the reason behind the melody.After that, we headed to the Orangerie, which is where Monet's waterlily paintings are.  I will let the pictures describe it because the only adjective that comes to mind is stunning- absolutely stunning.Other than that, I have been doing pretty domestic things here, involving dinner, laundry and homework.  I'll write when I have something exciting to post which might not be for a few days, since I am stuck in school for a good long while the next couple of days.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laurenobst/1/1218869280/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laurenobst/1/1218869280/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laurenobst/1/1218869280/tpod.html Sat, 16 Aug 2008 03:20:16 -0400 Croissants and Cathedrals: Exploring Paris with Lauren

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Paris, Île-de-France, France

So I love holiday weekends.  As we only get one at Union every year, when I get a three day weekend I get incredibly excited and think of all of the things that I could do in three days that just couldn't fit into two. As my week has progressed, I've gotten even more excited and now that it's here, and I got 9 hours of sleep last night, I am thrilled.The week itself was good, especially after I got over the terrifying attack of the birds.  I braved Luxumberg gardens again right after that to go to a concert there with my friend Jacqueline.  It was a cool concert with a group who took a lot of influence from southern france and, in my opinion, its colonies (Africa and the Carribean).  It definately sounded like the stuff that I took a dance class to in Martinique. After that, I had been planning to go on the bateau mouche, a boat cruise on the seine, with my program, but the ride was cancelled due to weather.  Fortunately, they gave us tickets that can be used any time so I can be a tourist for free!On Tuesday I was in class all day (ugghhh), but I find that class is a nice break from the whirlwind of trying to be "Parisien."  In class, everyone knows I'm an American and they are fascinated by the fact that my French is actually good AND I seem to be interested in their cultures as well.  Apparently their media has informed them that Americans don't care enough about other cultures to learn languages or listen to other cultural norms.  Of course, by being open like I am, I end up in really deep conversations about 9/11, the war, the economy, oil, and of course, our next presidential election.  Wednesday was nice.  A friend of mine from school was visiting Paris with her family for a few days and invited me to spend the afternoon with them.  It was kind of nice to actually just be a tourist for an afternoon instead of trying to "immerse."  We went to the Centre Pompidou, which is a museum for modern art, and the Louvre, which is just amazing.  I still love Mona Lisa despite the fact that most people find her disappointing.  I just like how her eyes follow you as you walk across the room.  We also went out to dinner where we all got hamburgers and fries, which I hadn't realized I was even missing.  After all, the bread and cheese and ice cream here should more than make up for the levels of fat in my diet ;).  In all, it was a nice day, but I got back later than I expected so it was a difficult next day of 6 hours of class.  The next day, though, one highlight, is that I got to see (from the outside) the Hotel des Invalides, which is where Napoleon is buried.  After reading War and Peace, I feel like I must pay homage to the antagonist and actually go inside, and hopefully time will allow me to.Then we reach friday.  Fete day.  No School.  YAY.I had a very nice day yesterday.  We finally got to the Garnier Opera House which is the Opera House that the Phantom of the Opera was set in.  Super Cool!  There is even a lake underneath the building, but unfortunately, we were not able to see that part.  The rest of the Opera is really beautiful, especially the ceiling.  It is a post-impressionist ceiling that just blew my mind when I first stepped into the actual theatre.  Hopefully my pictures can do it some sort of justice.  After that, we walked over to the Hard Rock Cafe since it was right nearby and it is my family's tradition to visit the famous restaurant every time we are in an area that houses it.  This Hard Rock was rather petit, but i was happy to see it just the same and the hot cocoa I had there was phenomenal.After that, we thought we would walk along the Canal in Paris because we had both heard that it had pretty views, lots of food, and shopping.  we definately got the views and the food, but there was little shopping to be found.  I'm blaming it on the fact that it is a holiday in August, so maybe alot of the normal retailers were closed.  In any case, I was sad because for once, I was very ready to shop and there wasn't any!That, so far has been my weekend.  I'm really happy to have gone to those things and checked them off of my incredibly long, ever growing list.  Today, I know that we will be heading to the Rodin museum with a packed picnic to have lunch in the garden surrounded by his sculptures.  That should pretty much be... amazing. 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laurenobst/1/1218455220/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laurenobst/1/1218455220/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laurenobst/1/1218455220/tpod.html Mon, 11 Aug 2008 08:24:39 -0400 Croissants and Cathedrals: Exploring Paris with Lauren

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Versailles, Île-de-France, France

So it has been a while since I've last written and I have a lot to report on!  It is funny because everyday, I think of things that would be amusing to comment on in regard to French culture, culture clash, or random advertisements that I saw, but whenever I sit down to write, I blank.  I am learning to embrace the differences between our cultures because otherwise I catch myself, as I did last night, saying, "I am not going to give that waiting a tip.  Nosiree."  However, I then have to remember that in France, the tip is included in the bill, so I don't really have a choice but to tip the waiter and he doesn't have an obligation to be helpful, friendly, or in fact, civil.  God forbid that my friend should forget the vocab word for salad dressing.  He just glared at her, left the table, and didn't come back for another 20 minutes.  In the USA, he would be soooo fired.  Not here though.  That  type of service is not only permitted, but the norm.  Other than little things like that that I keep stumbling upon, I am having a fantastic experience.  On Friday, in celebration of being done with class for the week, I went to visit the Victor Hugo museum in the appartment where he actually worked on Les Miserables!  His appartment is at the Place de Vosges, which used to be a royal palace, was razed, and this square took its place. I was very happy and took pictures, including a picture of his writing desk, which I found out later, was apparently not supposed to be photographed.  Oh well!  On my way out, I was going to head toward the Museum of Paris, but I was blocked from crossing the street by a very very loud and forceful group of men that I believe were on strike and protesting something.  At first, I thought it was some sort of celebration for the commencement of the Olympics, but I think they looked a little too angry for that... unless they were protesting the Olympics.  I tried to pick out what it was that they were saying, but was unsuccessful.  I decided to not disturb them and try to cross the road so I walked down the street towards the seine and came across the Place de la Bastille.  This is the actually spot that the French Revolution began in July 14, 1789, and would be a very disappointing visit if you were actually expecting to see the old prison.  Instead, there is a pillar or obelisque in honor of the citizens who died during this historic coup d'etat.  After that, I ended up getting ice cream- the BEST pistachio ice cream of my life I think.  I looked around the cute little shops of Ile St-Louis and then headed back.  Once I got back here, I decided to do my laundry and it was interesting with the energy conserving french-only directioned machines.  I managed and only 3. hours. later. I had clean clothes.  Yay!I started of Saturday by heading to the Paris plages.  Every summer, Paris rewards the inhabitants that remain in the city in August (all of the french get 5 paid vacation weeks a year and August is the traditional time to take that vacation) and the millions of tourists by shipping in sand and potted palm trees and making a beach on the Seine River!  I hadn't gotten around to doing that yet, so I figured Saturday morning would be as good an opportunity as any.  It was very nice, and relaxing, but I was bored so I only stayed for about an hour and a half.  I looked around at a few of the clothing stores,  and went back to get ready for our excursion to Versailles!!!!!!Although I had been to Versailles in high school, I never got to actually go into the hall of mirrors, as it was under construction, nor the gardens.  This was a dream come true.  We frst got to take a tour through the chateau with the Hall of Mirrors included.  Needless to say, I was ecstatic.  After that, we headed out into the gardens and I had an orange juice freshly squeezed from the oranges grown at Versailles.         NOTE: Orange juice in france is not very good.  It doesn't taste very sunshiney and I don't particularly enjoy it.  However, this orange juice was quite delectable and I commend Louis XIV on his selection of orange trees.Anyhow, our chaperones took us out to a dinner that had multiple courses!  We were living large and then we headed back to the chateau for the night fountains and fireworks.  It was utterly astounding and way cooler than I expected.  We got to roam around the full extent of his gardens, taking in the light up fountains, flame throwers, and mist flowing up from holes in the ground.  Classical music was piped into the entirety of the gardens and they had food vendors everywhere.  Apparently, this is the type of party that Louis XIV would throw daily at Versailles.  He lived well.  Too bad for the French treasure and.. ahem.. Louis XVI.  At the end of the night, there were fireworks over the reflecting pool that stretches the length of the gardens.  I wish that my pictures had comeout better of the fireworks, but the images will hopefully remain in my head for a very long time.  We ended our night with an adventure, as the last train left Versailles at 11:50, so we had to run to catch it right after the fireworks.  Then we found out that the stop right by our dormitory stopped at midnight too, so we ended up taking a tram halfway across the city.  It was a lot of fun though and the fireworks at Versailles were worth it.Sunday, instead of sleeping in like the rest of my group, I chose to get up early and go to a service at Notre Dame.  It was a really cool experience and it was familiar in its own way, since most of the songs they sung during the service, I have sung in the choir at school.  I was annoyed though because I know that Notre Dame is a tourist attraction, but you would think that the tourists could be respectful during mass.  Instead, people were snapping pictures, talking loudly, and walking around and through the chairs.  I guess that's why most parisians have found somewhere else to pray.  However, its sad that the attraction of Notre Dame is its fame as a church, and the tourists then inhibit its function. After that, I had a crepe.  A really good crepe.  With nutella and walnuts and hazelnuts.  I almost swooned in the street, it was that wonderful.   I had grand plans of going to the opera that afternoon, but it was rainy and good shopping weather so I went around to differnt shops looking for momentos for my family and friends... and maybe a few for me :)....As for today, not that much exciting has happened as of yet.  Ihad class this morning and a test tomorrow ahhhh so part of my afternoon will be spent studying.  I did have a terrifying encounter with birds.  I thought I would be all Parisian and get some bread and meat and cheese and eat it in the park.  Well then.  A crumble of my cheese fell on the ground and not 15 seconds later, I was surrounding by a good 30 birds fighting over the crumble.  I'm just glad that none of them wised up to the fact that there was even more cheese up on the bench.  I fled the scene, almost stepped on a few birds, and was paranoid for the rest of the walk through the park.  What if some bread crumbs fell?That's it for now.  I'm actually going back to the scene of the terrifying birds at 5 this afternoon to see an orchestra concert and after that, our program is hosting a boat tour on the seine.  C'est vachement cool! 
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