Impressionism in the Rain

Monday, May 20^th 2013

So the weather in Paris hasn’t been all that nice, but starting on Monday it took a turn for the rainiest. After class, we had free time to go see and explore but it was so rainy and windy and chilly, no one wanted to be outside. A few of us tried to visit a couple of museums but they were closed. I’m not sure exactly why but most museums are closed either on Monday or Tuesday, it’s a little rare for them to be open more than 5 days a week. Luckily, we eventually found success at the Orangerie museum, which is in the Tuileries gardens. It’s a smaller museum with impressionist artists and is especially known for a whole room that has huge paintings of Monet’s water lilies. It’s a big circular room and on each wall panel, there are long paintings that curve with the wall. So you can sit on a bench in the middle of the room and just spin in a circle, surrounded by Monet. I really really enjoyed the art from this museum. Partly because I enjoy impressionism so much but also because I didn’t know many of the artists so it was cool to find new people whose works I enjoyed so much. The paintings look both so real and also so dreamy. I love it. I would definitely put this on the museum list of must-sees. Unfortunately, they don’t allow pictures in most of the rooms so I only have limited shots of some of my faves.

After the museum, we went to this place called La Défense. I had heard that there was a big shopping mall there (which is rare in France. Even in Paris there are only a few) but none of us really knew what to expect. So the place is also called La Grande Arche, after this big building/monument. I’m pretty sure that la Grande Arche is made up of office buildings – so it’s not just a monument to look after, it’s more for utilities sake. But of course it’s still way cool. We actually really enjoyed the area – it’s nicknamed petit Manhattan because it’s one of the few places in Paris that has skyscrapers. It was so funny, but being around the skyscrapers and mall made me realize what a difference there is between Paris the city and New York or practically any other American city. There are no skyscrapers in Paris – the streets are typically still very small and the buildings have kept their old classic architecture. I love that. Of course there are still lots of people and the metro can be packed but the feeling of Paris is completely different than other cities. It’s still so charming. The mall was super awesome. It was huge and shiny and so clean. It was ultra-modern. In fact the bathrooms were the nicest I had ever seen and for France that is practically a miracle. In France, they have NO public restrooms. And I mean NONE. Plus! We found out that they’re building a Chipotle!!! I was so excited, I had to take a picture with the sign. I was so excited to discover how cool this place was because I had practically never heard of it before. I was expecting a little mall and a little of this or that but then BAM! We found this whole snazzy galleria! Then we went to FHE and had dinner with the jeunes adultes (young adults).  We had a type of hawaiian haystacks, with rice and chili. Not too French haha. After that, the day was winding to an end (as was my energy!) so we headed back home. But proof that even with bad weather, Paris is never boring! 

Lazy Weekend Part 2

Saturday and Sunday, May 18^th and 19th 2013

Once again, I had a lazy weekend in Paris. I went to the supermarket for the first time, which was a really interesting experience. First of all, you never realize how much the product design affects you until you’re in a different country and can’t read the label. I could tell what the food was in general but I didn’t know enough vocab to catch all the little words and descriptions. What’s more, they don’t even measure calories the same! I felt like a total dork wandering around the supermarket with my empty basket trying to find the few ingredients I wanted. And then once I found the ingredients simply standing and staring at the options for 20 minutes while trying to decipher their labels. But it was a cool experience – and allowed me to flex my deductive reasoning skills. The one item I simply could not find, even after wandering all (and I mean each and every one) of the aisles, was peanut butter. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to communicate with a worker because I didn’t know the word for “peanut butter” or “peanuts” in French, and without those two words I was all out of ideas on how to describe it. But I finally broke down and asked a salesperson, and simply used the American name for it, and she directed me to the international aisle. Yeah. They don’t have peanut butter in France! They import it from England, but the French don’t ever eat peanut butter – like ever. Most have never even tried it. That blew my mind, considering what a rich role peanut butter plays in American culture! Nearly everyone grows up eating that stuff. So after my peanut butter debacle I checked out, although I felt a little bit ashamed because I hadn’t brought my own recyclable bag. Everyone in France brings his or her own bag – and I mean everyone. In fact it’s so the norm that you have to pay (PAY!) for a plastic bag that the store gives you. I mean the bags are cheap but still, it was surprising the first time I went to a store here and had to ask for a bag – and then had to pay for the bag. (This doesn’t apply to clothing stores, they just offer theirs freely – I guess because it’s not like a repetitive thing, you don’t go out and buy clothes every week. Well some people do. But I certainly don’t.) 

After that I worked on some homework and then rode in to meet up with some of the girls at a museum. This night was the free museum night across all of Europe so the museums were packed! Unfortunately, that meant that the girls couldn’t get into the museum of modern art that they wanted to see, typically something I wouldn’t lament since I don’t like modern art except that we ended up at one much much weirder. When the first line was too long they simply went across to the museum next door, which had no line and was called Tokyo Palais, and I ended up meeting them there. Did the museum have anything to do with Tokyo? No. Not at all. I suppose you could leniently call it modern art but you could also call it disturbing – at times- or simply bizarre – at best. I won’t go into any specific works except to say they were featuring some screamo music as the background ambiance. I would not recommend it. Even to my worst enemy. Any who, since I arrived late, we left soon after my arrival (yay!) and then walked along to a spot on the Seine. No day can have been spent badly when you end it with a view of the Eiffel Tower across the Seine :)

Look at that. Amazing. And it was just while I was waiting in line - no special view or anything.

Excuse the blurry-ness, my camera doesn't handle night time all that well.

On Sunday, I went to church and afterwards visited a brocante, which is essentially like an antique flea market. They have this really popular one every Sunday on Rue Cler (which happens to be right next to the BYU apartment).  I love little market stands at fairs and festivals so this was fantastic for me. Most of the stands were selling china or silverware – I saw one that was even selling furniture! But a lot were selling jewelry, or watches or scarves! There were just a lot of old knick knacks, which is exactly what I love! A friend and I even haggled with a lady for a clock necklace and she dropped her price from 20 to 10 euro! I also successfully found a souvenir gift for one of my sisters (shout out to Kylee!), which I hope she looooves! As we walked along, my friend Greta and I grabbed a one euro baguette and ate it for lunch as we perused the market. It is so fun for me to discover all these unique items and interact with the sales people. One our way back through the market, we bought a raspberry tart to finish up our lunch and boy, talk about heaven. This is a pastry to write home about. It was delicious. It had like a pastry dish bottom (think a mix between the consistency of a sugar cookie and cake) and then crème filling and to top it off a ring of raspberries on top. It was so good, I forgot to take a picture! But you better believe I’ll be going back for more! Honestly, this day was one of my favorites from the whole trip, just because it was everything I had desired from France. I was walking through this open-air market, just wandering and admiring while eating a fresh baguette and a sweet raspberry pastry. 

If you look closely, you'll see the clock necklace I bought!

 It was such a calm and tranquil afternoon but with lots of fun. After that I went home to have dinner with my host family. Every Sunday, our host mom makes crêpes as a family tradition. I personally don’t love the traditional French galette (a meal crêpe), which is jambon and fromage but I do like just a fromage crêpe and all sorts of dessert crêpes (all of which I love). One of the girls who had done the program a few years before, came back to visit the family with her husband. I had a nice chat with her about all of her favorite spots and where to go in Paris. It was so cool to hear from someone who had done the same thing and had more experience. It was really cool getting to talk to her. It was definitely one of my favorite memories in Paris.

Once Upon a Time in a Châteaux

Thursday and Friday, May 23rd and 24th 2013


We got up really early today to start our trip to the Loire Valley. Our bullet train left at 7:45, so we had to be at the station by 7:30 and that meant leaving our house by at least 6:30. This was my first time on a bullet train and it was really nice. It was only an hour drive but the seats were comfy and it was a little roomier than an airplane. Once we got off the train, our bus driver was waiting for us with a hand held sign that read "Brigham Young". So cool! I've always wanted to have a sign from a chauffeur! I guess I can technically check that off my list. And our driver looked so French he could have been straight out of a cartoon! He was a shorter stockier man, maybe 5'7" around age 60, with a beige sweater and slacks and one of those little golf caps. His face was round and his cheeks were actually a ruddy complexion reminiscent of Santa Claus. But the ultimate cherry on top was his large, full, mustache. I mean it actually looked like the end of one of those square brooms had been placed between his nose and mouth so that both were slightly obscured. It was the most magnificent mustache I had ever seen. As I said before, it was as though he had popped out of a cartoon. 

The agenda for the next two days was châteaux sight seeing. This region of France has so many châteaux (over 1,000) that the name of the region is often les châteaux de Loire, essentially the mansions of the Loire. We saw seven in total over the next two days! It was overwhelming. On thursday we saw the Châteaux de Villandry, a castle my teacher said inspired the design of Sleeping Beauty's castle, and the Blois châteaux. At the first châteaux we only looked at the gardens because they are some of the most famous out of all the châteaux. They were so beautiful! And nearly no one was around so we had them all to ourselves. I walked around and was surrounded by these gardens without a soul in sight. It definitely became one of my favorite places in France. Although it's too bad my pictures won't capture all the life and color that they had. 

The place was just so beautiful I wanted to take advantage of the beautiful weather/background

See what I mean about beautiful? That was all one garden. Sorry for the photo overload. So then we stopped and looked at a castle that supposedly inspired the design of the Sleeping Beauty one (but I hear that the true Sleeping Beauty castle is one in Germany so I don't know what to believe). 

Does this look like Sleeping Beauty's castle?

After that, we went to another - you guessed it - châteaux. First we ate lunch at this delicious little French café before heading to look at the inside of the Blois castle. This one was fairly small and not a lot to talk about for the inside. It had a couple of cool historical stories, like the assassination of Henri III. But it did have an amazing view of the city and the Loire river, which is the biggest one in France and runs through the center of the country. 

The view was worth the wait

Queen Kiana - who else wants to jump on board with that?

The cute little neighboring town

So that night we stayed in one of the old châteaux. It wasn’t at all big like the other ones, it was just one of the many that the nobles had built. It was pretty neat – but I gotta say, trying to make a 12^th century castle into a hotel doesn’t make the comfiest accommodations. I mean the floors were all old old stone and the other décor seemed nearly as old – but it was cool. 8 of us girls all stayed in one room (with multiple beds of course!) and it was fun to have a “sleepover” in an old castle!

This was our hotel for the night

Complete with its own courtyard

And mini moat

The next day was the close to the same. We saw the famous Châteaux de Chambourg as well as the Chateaux de Chenonceau. The first one was this huge palace built by François I to use as a hunting lodge/getaway. Ironically he never lived to see it completed but a lot of other kings did reside in it from time to time including the famous/infamous Louis XIV, le roi soleil (the sun king). This one truly lived up to the grandiose reputations of the châteaux. It was four stories tall and had a large number of spires/chimneys that rose from the roof. I could probably tell more about the history but I’m sure that wouldn’t be nearly as exciting as beautiful pictures.

Taken from the roof of one of (many) the spires on the roof

The last châteaux was by far my favorite. It was this beautiful white castle that stretched across the river and had these nice gardens. It looked like the opening scene of a fairytale. And the path that ran up to it was lined with cottonwood trees and their little cotton puffs were flying in the air so it looked so magical raining down white fluffs. As we left it started raining and you could look over the castle in the drizzling rain. It was one of those dream-about moments.

Tell me this doesn't look like a fairytale!

You can't see it but cotton puffs were floating all in the wind here. Like warm snowflakes :)

 That was the last châteaux for us so then we hopped on the train and came back to Paris. It was only a short trip but it was nice to be home again and not living out of a bag! I didn’t realize until then that Paris really had come to feel like home to me – not like some puzzling vacation city any more. We had mastered the metro, could stare down the grumpiest parisien and at this point avoid the pickpockets and thieves. Oh, Paris je t’aime.