Show Me the Monet!

Salut tout le monde!

Yesterday I finally a got a chance to go to Giverny, something I've been wanting to do since I arrived in Paris. Giverny was home to Claude Monet, the well-know impressionist painter, from 1883 until his death in 1926. There he grew elaborate gardens which became the subject of many of his works. Today, the Claude Monet Foundation has restored his house and gardens so that people like me can pretend we're standing his paintings.

Monet's House

The Water Lily Garden

  

Besides his house and a nice little museum dedicated to Impressionist exhibitions, Giverny remains a small, quaint village. The trains don't run directly to the village, so you must take a shuttle from the nearby city of Vernon. After spending the morning in Giverny, I decided to go back to Vernon a little early and see what it had to offer.





Philippe Auguste's Keep

Notre Dame de Vernon

After returning to Paris, I met up with a friend and we quickly grabbed some food in a cafe. Last night was the Night of Museums, an annual event in France when museums stay open until midnight, many of them offering special exhibitions or performances. We ambitiously conquered both the Musée du Quai Branly, which features art from various cultures around the world, and Centre Georges Pompidou, a modern and contemporary art museum. You can bet I fell asleep as soon as I got "home" yesterday.

À la prochaine fois!

Quicksand, Crêpes and D-Day

Field Trip!

That's right, no matter where you are in school you can't escape the class field trip. They were fun in elementary school when it meant you got out of the classroom for a few hours, but as you get older you realize you're still in a classroom. They just moved it outside and called it a "trip" so they could get you to come to class on a Saturday morning at 8:00am. Okay, I'm just kidding (sort of). Yes, I was forced to learn something over the weekend, but I also discovered a new part of France I would never have seen otherwise. This past weekend we traveled to Normandy and Brittany-- two regions in the northwestern part of France. If you ever get a chance to come to France, make sure you escape Paris for at least a day to visit this part of the country. It really is the epitome of rolling meadows and fresh seaside air.

We started our journey with a five hour bus ride to Mont Saint-Michel. Despite it's extremely touristy atmosphere, this mountain is quite a site. Out of the middle of miles of flat farmland rises the abbey of Mont Saint-Michel, originally built in the 8th century. It sits on what is known as a tidal island, meaning that originally the mountain could only be reached at low tide when a natural land bridge was exposed. Due to natural events and human driven modernization of course, it can now be reached at all times. We happened to be there during low tide, and though the water was nowhere to be found they advise against walking across the sand, not only because of how rapidly the tide can change but also because Mont Saint-Michel is notorious for quicksand. After taking a tour of the abbey and grabbing some lunch we got back on the bus and continued on to Saint-Malo, a walled-city in Brittany that sits on the English Channel, where we spent the night. Fun fact: Brittany is the birthplace of crêpes, so merci beaucoup Brittany!



Mont Saint-Michel



The Abbey of Mont Saint-Michel

The next morning, once again we clambered back into the bus and drove to Colleville-sur-Mer, where we visited Omaha Beach and the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial. Omaha Beach was the site of one of the D-Day landings on June 6, 1944. Despite it's peaceful atmosphere today, the cemetery and memorial remind its visitors that this particular stretch of land once witnessed a very gruesome part of history. There are just over 9,000 American soldiers buried in the cemetery as well as 1,500 more names of soldiers missing in action engraved on a wall. We took a short guided tour around the cemetery. Although our guide was French, he gave the tour in his best English (I think I counted the words "in fact" at least 50 times), and attempted to create a hallmark moment and bring us all to tears by telling us the story of two soldiers, both from Bedford, Virginia (he seemed to have a thing for Bedford). Despite the tragic nature of both stories, we all successfully held ourselves together.

 In case we we hadn't gotten enough of WWII, we then continued on to Caen where we visited the Memorial of Peace. I have no idea why it's called the Memorial of Peace, because really it's more like a museum of everything you ever wanted to know about WWII and more. If you happen to be a WWII history buff, this would probably be the place for you, but be sure to give yourself several hours in the museum as there is a lot of reading...I mean a lot. The one thing I found really interesting was a short movie someone put together of film taken from June 6, 1944. The entire short was split screen, with shot after shot of the action and no dialogue whatsoever. The film ended with a juxtapostion of the coast as seen today and the coast as seen on that particular morning (perhaps a little cheesy, but I think our guide would have appreciated it).

That about sums up the field trip and now I'm finally caught up with my blog. I hope to keep it that way, but with papers and exams coming up over these final few weeks I can't promise anything.

So, until next time!

An American in Rome



The Spanish Steps

 As promised, here's the third and final installment of my spring break saga. We left Florence on a Saturday morning and arrived in Rome later that afternoon. I spent the rest of the day playing the role of tour guide, taking my group to see the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain and Piazza Navona. I must say, it felt good to be able to navigate my way through the city without the help of a map. It also felt good to leisurely stroll through the city without worrying about having to check monuments and museums off my list. That's not to say I've seen everything worth seeing in Rome, but it's always nice to return to a familiar place (I can't believe I can say I'm familiar with Rome!).

Procession of the Palms

The next day just happened to be Palm Sunday, so we decided to go chill with the Pope Benedict for a while. The service that day was given in the Piazza just outside of St. Peter's to accomodate the sizeable crowd. Although I am not Catholic, I still found it an interesting experience. While the majority of the service was given in Latin and Italian, the Pope gave a short message in serveral languages including English, French, German, Spanish and Portuguese. Cheers rang through the crowd as he greeted each nation in their own language and it was apparent how much his presence meant to people standing around me, waving their palm fronds enthousiastically. I can only imagine how the crowd must have looked a week later at Easter.

I spent the next day by myself, enjoying the Roman air while my friends waited in the horrendous line to get into the Vatican Musuem. I was overly impressed with their willingness to stand in a line several hours long that ended in a building full of art. Bravissimo! Of course, none of them went into the Colosseum or the Roman Forum...I don't actually know how to respond to that. While they were exploring their museum, I discovered this little pizzeria right next to our hostel where I had some of the best pizza of the trip. They sold all sorts of crazy pizzas, but I played it a little safe with a Caprese style pizza-- a thin crust topped with tomato sauce, alternating slices of fresh mozzerella and tomato, finished off with some olive oil and basil. Deliziosa! Squisita! Magnifica!

Tuesday, we took a train down to Naples where we caught a ferry to the island of Capri. Before the trip I wasn't totally convinced that it was worth spending our last few days in Italy on this small, touristy island, but I'm glad we went. It definitely didn't have the beaches the rest of my group wanted (I knew it wouldn't, but I'm pretty sure in their heads "island" equated "long sandy beaches."), so they were perhaps a little disappointed on that front, but I was pleasently surprised with what the island did have. Our hotel was in Anacapri on the western side of the island, which meant that we had take a bus from the Marina Grande up the mountain. Imagine a small orange bus, with only about eight seats that leave most of its users standing. Now imagine a road with only enough room to accomodate said bus, which must weave its way around sharp twists and turns up the small mountain. My advice: use both hands unless you want to end up in the lap of the old Italian lady sitting next to you. After we checked into our hotel we explored the historic center of Anacapri, which admittedly is very touristy, but cute. The architecture is kind of how I imagine buildings in Greece must look, with simple, stuccoed walls whose bright white color provides a clean background for the lilacs and the lemon trees.



Augustus, what are you
doing all the way out here?

 The next day we braved the bus ride to go back to Capri. There, we walked through the Gardens of Augustus where you can find some amazing panoramic views, then down Via Krupp. Some of my friends decided to climb down some rocks in search of the cold sea, despite all the danger signs (literally). Maria and I chose a more sane activity and walked up to Villa Jovis. If I gave you the choice between bruises, scrapes and cold water or the view from a Roman villa situated on a hill at the edge of the island what would you do? I admit, it's a little bit of a walk to the villa, but it's more than worth it. On the way we walked by many of the island's inhabitants and I realized that Capri must be a very close community-- all the Italians stop and greet each other with a certain sense of familiarity. It's like Cheers, but on an island off the South of Italy (Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your naaame). Okay, back to the Roman ruins. The villa itself was constructed for the Roman Emperor Tiberius, though there is also a 16th century church built on top of it. From the top you can make out the coast of Sorrento and Naples. You can also make friends with the local goats (See, aren't you glad you came with me?). After the villa, Maria and I went in search of the natural arch, which is basically what it sounds like-- a giant arch which formed naturally from rock (this is one of those cases where a picture is better than words). We met up with our freshly tanned friends for dinner, gelato, and the ride back to Anacapri.


Via Krupp



Santa Maria del Soccorso at the top of Villa Jovis



The Natural Arch

On our last day in Capri, we went to the Blue Grotto. What an experience! The grotto is famous for, wait for it...it's blue color. I know I'm making fun of the name, but it really is beautiful. Something about the way the light passes through the small opening and reflects off the water gives the cave a neon blue hue. You have to be a little brave to go in though, because although the cavern itself is quite large, the entrance is miniscule. You must get in a small rowboat, three people max, and just before you enter, the oarsman tells you to lay down (so hopefully you know the people you're with, because you're about to get a little comfortable with them) and then he ducks as low as he can while tugging on a chain that runs along the opening, allowing the boat to enter. If you're lucky enough, once inside he'll serenade you, but otherwise just sit back and enjoy the light show.

Entrance to the Blue Grotto

Watch your head!

It's difficult to photograph.



The rest of the day was spent exploring the island a little more, then one last meal and, of course, one last gelato. The next day was dedicated solely to travel, so there's not much to tell except for bus, ferry, bus, train, bus, plane, bus, metro, home. The only real adventure of the day was, yes I haven't forgotten, the angry Italian women. So here's how it went down: We were waiting for our train in Naples, with about an hour to kill, and three of us had gone to get some food. That left me and Steph behind to guard our stuff, and as it so happens the other two chairs (There were only ever four chairs for the five of us, it's not that I'm bad at math). This older Italian woman approaches us and asks, in Italian, if one of the chairs is free. I respond, in Italian, that our friends just left for a second to get some food. She nods politely and then turns around as if she's about to leave. A second later, she turns back around and starts peering around the station. Then she says to me that she doesn't see our friends and thinks we're lying. I repeat what I said earlier, but that only brings on an explosion of reprimands from this woman. Apparently, we are extremely rude for saving the seats, and saving seats is not something people do in Italy, and we need to move our stuff out of the way. I admittedly cracked a small smile, because let's be honest it was sort of a funny and unexpected situation. She then points her finger at me and yells "Non ridi! Non ridi!"- Don't laugh! Finally, Steph moves her bookbag off the chair next to her, pats the seat and tells the woman to sit down. The woman responds by repeating after Steph in English, "Sit down! No, Sit down!" and then with a frustrated sigh she turns and marches off, where she finds an empty seat not 20ft away. I'm pretty sure she was staring holes into the back of our heads.



Marina Grande as seen from Anacapri



Anyway, thus concludes the epic saga that was spring break 2011! Hope you all had as much fun as I did!

À la prochaine fois!



The City of Masks and the Jewel of the Renaissance

Buongiorno!

Ah Italia! I spent the rest of spring break traveling through Italy, bringing my trips to the boot count up to three. I must say it never gets old, in fact Paris is lucky I managed to find my way to the airport and put myself on a plane (not that I don't love Paris, but leaving such amazing food behind never gets any easier). This was my first time in Venice, and as my friend Bob can attest to, it is one of the most beautiful cities in Italy. Despite its major tourist draw, Venice succesfully maintains a calm and quaint atmosphere, as long as you're willing to venture beyond major piazza of course.    

We arrived in the city early in the afternoon, taking a vaporetto to our hostel. Now, I realize everyone's big Venice dream is to take a gondola ride through the canals while the gondolier serenades you with an Italian operetta, but personally I think a quick trip on a vaporetto is just as good for a fraction of the cost (a tiny fraction- who knew gondola rides were so expensive?). Oh, just to make sure we're all up to speed, vaporetti are basically water buses that run up and down the major canal and to the various islands in Venice. After checking in at the hostel, where we met the very sassy manager (seriously, what is it with people who run hostels?) we spent the rest of the evening walking up and down the Grand Canal and eating gelato, which in case you're unaware is a daily requirement when visiting Italy.  



St. Mark's Basilica



The next day I spent on my own for the most part. I'm not sure what it is with college students, but the ones I traveled with never seemed to know what they wanted to do or even what there was to do in each city and if anything cost any amount of money they generally refused to tag along. Ironically, they spent most of their time shopping in Italy while I was in and out of musuems, churches, and other places of historical significance- who do you think spent more money in the end? Anyway (I promise I won't use this post to vent), I spent the morning walking around the Dorsdoro area, across the Grand Canal from St. Mark's -- a very pituresque and less touristy section of the city. Then I used the afternoon to walk through the Doge's Palace and the Correr Museum, learning a little bit about the history of the city. That evening we had dinner in a restaurant near Piazza San Marco, then spent our last night in "The Floating City" doing what? Eating gelato in the piazza of course!   

Interior of the Doge's Palace

The next morning we took a train to Florence, the center of the Italian Renaissance. This was my third, but longest visit, with two whole days of spring break dedicated to the city. I knew Florence was a fairly small city, but I don't think I really realized it until this trip. Elon University also has a study abroad program in Florence, and in the two days we spent there, we ran into three or four students on the Florence program. Just to put that into perspective, I never run into people from my own program in Paris unless it's on purpose.

Since I had already been there, Florence was a very chill part of my spring break. I showed the others around the main sights: the Duomo, the Ponte Vecchio, the Piazza della Repubblica and the Piazza della Signoria. I decided David probably looked the same since the last time I saw him, and while the others went to the Accadamia (believe it or not, I convinced them that they could not leave Florence without seeing him) I went to Santa Croce and the Great Synagogue. The security at the synagogue was intense. I had to leave all of my stuff, camera and everything, in a locker and then I had to stand in a sort of cabin to be scanned before I could enter. Once inside, someone followed me and the French family who entered right in front of me around, closing and locking all of the doors behind us. The synagogue itself was beautiful-- with its Islamic inspired architecture it greatly resembled the Spanish Synagogue in Prague.

Santa Croce

The Great Synagogue of Florence

After meeting back up with i miei amici, I led them to the large open-air market, which I'm sure was much more exciting than David. (They're very nice people and I promise I did enjoy hanging out with them.) Inevitably, much shopping was done at the market, even by me. For dinner we went to a Dante inspired restaurant (only in name, not in decor or anything else luckily) recommended by one of the students studying in Florence. I had an amazingly delicious pizza made with several types of cheeses and topped with eggplant. Then we had a farewell scoop of gelato and prepared ourselves for the voyage to Rome.

Next time: Rome, Capri and I promise I won't forget to tell you about the angry Italian lady. 

Spring Break: Czech it out!

Good to see everyone’s still checking for new posts! I know what you’re thinking, “It’s been two weeks since she’s posted anything. Did she fall in a Venetian canal or lean too far over the cliffs of Capri?” Okay, maybe you’re not so concerned, but I promise I’ll do my best to make this post worth the suspense.

My spring break adventures started in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. I have to start by saying I have never felt more like an American tourist than I did in Prague. The Czech Republic is the first county I have ever been to where I’ve had absolutely no knowledge of the language—I mean zero! I could barely even say, “Hello.” Luckily, the Czech people seem to be much more forgiving than the Frenchies. Everyone I came into contact with spoke English and not a single person gave me the “Oh, just another stupid American” look (except maybe the guy working the front desk at our hostel, but I later realized that was just his everyday expression, and thus he was nicknamed the “hostel receptionist”— punny, right?).

Without any specific itinerary in mind, we (Rachel, Maria and I) set out to explore the city early Saturday morning and quickly learned that, although small, Prague is full of architectural treasures. I really don’t know how to do it justice! Every other building was painted in a different bright color: lemon greens, salmon pinks and pale yellows. Gothic churches were situated next to Romanesque churches, Islamic inspired synagogues and art nouveau era houses. One of the strangest buildings in the city (I mean that in a good way) is known as the Dancing Building or the Fred and Ginger Building because its impressive modern structure resembles two dancers.

The Dancing Building





This is one of the stalls that sold Trdelnik.
See them cooking the rolled pastries? Yum!

 We happened to arrive in Prague just as their Easter celebrations were gearing up. Throughout the city we stumbled upon numerous festive markets selling painted eggs, children’s toys, jewelry and other crafts. Trees were hung with bright streamers and ornaments and a series of musicians and other entertainers performed on a stage erected in the main historic square. My personal favorite part of these markets was the food stalls. I don’t think there’s any better way to experience the local cuisine than to try what the locals are cooking up for themselves: goulash and sausages, kebabs and some sort of delicious pastry whose name I can’t recall, but I think it’s like the Czech version of a funnel cake—so basically heaven! 



Interior of the Spanish Synagogue

 Day two was a little more structured. Rachel and I took a tour of the Jewish museum, which was spread out in six different synagogues. One of the most interesting things I discovered was the legend of the Golem. The basic storyline describes a rabbi who decides to summon a Golem in order to protect the Jewish community of Prague. Although there are various versions of the story, they usually end with the Golem becoming increasingly violent and turning on the rabbi who then forces the Golem to return from whence he came (‘whence’ just makes the story sound more epic, doesn’t it?). Anyway, much like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, the Golem seems to have become a commercial figure in Prague society. You can now purchase your very own Golem action figure or send your grandma a postcard of Rabbi Loew and his golem. (I promise I took more than just the legend of the Golem away from the history of Prague’s Jewish Quarter. I just loved the irony of taking such a violent creature and turning him into a plushy.)
 


Prague's very own Ronald McDonald....
just a little scarier.

 

Statue of Kafka

We also went to a museum dedicated to Franz Kafka—Prague’s literary hero. It was one of the wackiest museums I have ever seen. I must admit I have never read anything of his before, and couldn’t have even named one of his books, but as I had expected the museum to present Kafka in a biographical manner—you know, “and here we have Kafka’s favorite pair of pants which he only wore well gardening in the springtime”—I figured that wouldn’t be an issue. No, this particular museum took a much more creative approach, concentrating mostly on his works with just a dash of biography for fun. Instead of simply presenting the subjects and themes of his works with panels and pictures, the museum transformed his novels into artistic installations. For example, imagine a very long hallway lined with floor to ceiling file cabinets. Bright fluorescent lights emanate from several half-opened drawers. I couldn’t tell you what book this particular installation corresponds to, but I guess you could say this museum really brought Kafka’s works to life!



The third and final day was fairly calm. Rachel left for Amsterdam and Maria and I were joined by three others who would later fly to Venice with us. Prague was truly an amazing experience, and if any of you ever get the chance to go I highly recommend it.

Still to come…Venice, Florence, Rome, Capri and the angriest Italian lady you’ve ever met!

"Oh! You mean Ba ʒe ma Fra kla!"

Salut tout le monde!

Wow, has it been a long time since my last post or what? I would apologize, but there's really not a whole lot that has happened. In any case, I'll give you a condensed version of the past two weeks:

• Went on a metro adventure and took touristy pictures of all the interesting stations
• Took a walking tour of the 2nd arrondissement (learned about the modernisation of Paris during the 19th century) 
• Watched my friend get pooped on by a pigeon (I'm pretty sure it was karma, as she had just blown off plans we had made not an hour earlier)
• Was chastised by my teacher for daydreaming in class (does trying to remember the date count as daydreaming?)
• Learned that Benjamin Franklin's name sounds much better when pronounced in French (according to my host brother anyway) Now do you get the title? It turns out no one here understands who Benjamin Franklin is when you pronounce his name in English.
• Got lost in the Louvre (not as in "The Louvre's so amazing I could get lost in here forever," but as in "You know, if a fire were to break out in here, we would die staring at the map on the wall.)

Palais Royal Metro

• Watched a film about France's desire to forget the Algerian War (though because it was a French film you wouldn't know that was the premise unless someone explained it to you- thank you M Bondurand)
• Discovered that no matter how many times my host brothers and sister greet me by kissing my cheeks, I will always wonder in that first instant when their face is flying towards mine what they are doing (handshake anyone? maybe a wave and a smile?)

Anyway, I think that pretty much sums up the past two weeks!

This Friday marks the beginning of spring break. I will be traveling around Europe for the next two weeks, starting in Prague and ending in the south of Italy. Today is the first day I've felt really excited about it, because I finally managed to get my group together last night and convince them we should probably finish booking hostels. I can't even begin to tell you how stressful planning this trip has been! I'm going with four other people, all of whom seem to think their mom is going to show up with train tickets and itinerary in hand. Thankfully, we now have places to stay at every leg of the trip, and a way to get to all those places. All that's left is to learn how to say "Hello" and "I'd like a sandwhich" in Czech. Anyone? No? That's okay, I'll let you know in two weeks!

À la prochaine fois!

London Calling!

Hello Readers,

This past weekend I spent three days in, well as the title says (oh come on, use those detective skills Sherlock), London. No, as I've never read any of the books I didn't visit Sherlock's home, but I hear it's a pretty accurate representation of what Sir Arthur Conan Doyle described in his novels. I did however manage to see a lot of other things, even with the little time I had in London. I went with three friends, the same girls who came with me to Strasbourg, but I made sure we were better prepared in terms of planning and time management (that is to say, we all agreed on what we wanted to do before we got to London and when we were going to get up in morning).

We arrived by train Saturday morning, and I had one of those wonderful experiences of making friends with the stranger sitting next to me (I'm being sarcastic of course. The man was a bit of a creeper, but luckily he left me alone as soon as we got off the train). After we checked into our hostel, the sightseeing began with a walk along the Thames. Here, I'll show you:

London Bridge
(did I get the song stuck in your head?)

HMS Belfast
(seeing this felt a little like home)

Tower of London
(for all those Tudors fans, this is where Anne Boleyn was executed)

We took a little break to get some fish and chips!

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre

We stopped at the Tate Modern for a bit of art.

Egyptomania
(you can see the London Eye in the background)



Big Ben



Parliament Square
(Abe doesn't get to sit down in London)

Westminster Abbey

The mandatory picture of all my friends in a phonebooth :)

To end the day's tour: Trafalgar Square

Sunday, we were a little less lucky with the weather as it misted most of the day, but I guess that's pretty normal for London? We spent the morning walking through several of London's parks (pop quiz: what style do you think the gardens are in? I'm going to go with English). Then we moved inside for the afternoon, touring the British Museum and the National Portrait Gallery.  



 

I'll give you three guesses as to the name of this road.
Why do you think those goofy tourists want a picture of themselves
walking across this particular street?

Parthenon Marbles in the British Museum

 

This one's dedicated to Dr. Gatti.



"It is also thanks to Elgin that generations of visitors have been able to see the sculptures at eye level rather than high up on the building."
(The museum as a whole didn't make me feel angry, but this sign made me laugh a little bit.)

















Monday was spent in more museums: Tate Britain, National Gallery, Wallace Collection, etc. Suffice it to say, I think I'm all museumed out for a little while! Anyway, that concludes Caitlin's guide to London. I came back to Paris early Tuesday morning, and immediately had to run through the metro to my first class (no rest for the weary as they say). Even though I loved London, I was excited to return to Paris, which has come to feel like another home to me (or as my mom likes to say "home").

Until next time,
Cheerio!