Hey everyone,
Things have been really crazy lately and I feel like I have no time to do all the things I need to do, let alone the things I want to do, so I apologize for the lack of posts. Phonetics has started this week, so now I have to figure out how to work around one more class during the day. I had hoped it would be an interesting class, because I really enjoyed the phonetics class I took at Elon, but unfortuanately it's mostly just a lot of repetition. We have to wear these large headphones and record ourselves repeating sentences over and over again while the teacher stares at us. Every now and then she'll pop in to critique something you've just said, which can be a little frightening because you never know when she'll be listening to you. She also has an extremely high pitched voice, which I find difficult not to imitate as I'm repeating sentences back to her (I mean, we're supposed to say what she says exactly as she says it right?). Other than that, classes have been normal.
Saturday I went to see the Palace of Versaille, which was developed by Louis XIV in the 17th century. When it was first built it was in a small village outside of Paris, but today it's in the middle of a suburb. My host sister actually attends a university which sits pretty much right across the street (can you imagine looking out of your classroom window and seeing a palace?). Anyway, here are some pictures to give you an idea of the size and opulence of the building:
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| The Hall of Mirrors |
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| The Queen's Chamber (I feel like 'bedroom' isn't a regal enough word) |
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| The gardens of Versaille occupy around 800 hectares of land (which I'm sure is some enormous amount, but since it had started to rain by the time we got to the gardens we only saw the one hectare.) |
Yesterday, I went with my class to see the ballet
Caligula at the Palais Garnier. Th
e ballet is a tragedy (the story, not the dancing) which recounts the story of the Roman Emperor Caligula. I admit I definitely had to read a synopsis of the ballet after watching it, because ballet leaves a lot of room for interpretation and guesswork. I think what I enjoyed most about it was the music. It was choreographed to Vivaldi's
Four Seasons and the orchestra did an amazing job. Just being in the theatre was a fun experience. It was built in the late 19th century and the decor is extremely intricate, with painted ceilings, all sorts of statues and a very large chandelier. We all sat in elaborate boxes on the 3rd floor (well, I guess that would be the 4th floor in America) that were covered in red velvet and allowed for an awesome view of the stage.
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This is the requisite group picture of us standing in front of the theatre.
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Anway, those are the highlights of the past few days. I'm sorry if I don't go into more detail, but it's crazy how much faster time flies in Paris.
A la prochaine fois!
Saturday I went to see the Palace of Versaille, which was developed by Louis XIV in the 17th century. When it was first built it was in a small village outside of Paris, but today it's in the middle of a suburb. My host sister actually attends a university which sits pretty much right across the street (can you imagine looking out of your classroom window and seeing a palace?). Anyway, here are some pictures to give you an idea of the size and opulence of the building:
e ballet is a tragedy (the story, not the dancing) which recounts the story of the Roman Emperor Caligula. I admit I definitely had to read a synopsis of the ballet after watching it, because ballet leaves a lot of room for interpretation and guesswork. I think what I enjoyed most about it was the music. It was choreographed to Vivaldi's Four Seasons and the orchestra did an amazing job. Just being in the theatre was a fun experience. It was built in the late 19th century and the decor is extremely intricate, with painted ceilings, all sorts of statues and a very large chandelier. We all sat in elaborate boxes on the 3rd floor (well, I guess that would be the 4th floor in America) that were covered in red velvet and allowed for an awesome view of the stage. 
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