PICTURES!!!

I posted a ton of new pictures on Facebook- So I am going to share the wealth with you!!

My France! album:


The Bois du Boulogne (right next to my apartment!)


Rome! in November:



Last Week in Paris:


The Eiffel Tower on a beautiful foggy night.

London! in December

I'm still alive!

I know this blog has been dead for the past month. I'm sorry! After I went to Rome, which was AWESOME- don't worry, I'll post an album- I got right into two long political science papers. The second was due last Thursday. During that time, I pulled through a 9-day metro strike (ended yesterday)- and THAT was fun! Fortunately, I live in the city, so after a couple of days it was possible for me to get around- albeit smushed up against everyone else in the car- the way Japan does it I hear! During metro strikes (I'm a veteran now), the first day is TERRIBLE, but the other days are a little better depending on the line. For example: line 1, the best, would have 1 in 2 trains come by. But the line from 1 to my apartment, line 9, would have 1 in 10. Bleh. But still- SO much better than being on a train during a metro strike in Rome. I should've slapped one old man in particular.

But now that the strike is over, life is great! Yesterday I finally went to Les Invalides and saw Napoleon's tomb which looks like it belongs to a god. The coffin is HUGE and has seven others inside of it. The dome church is gorgeous- definitely a Louis XIV project. I ran into Wes, Ashley, and Andie, and after touring the war museum (with swords, knight armor, etc. galore), we went to the Petit Palais. It has an interesting mix of modern art and art from all other time periods.

After eating at McDonald's (hey we were on the Champs-Elysees, everything else is expensive!), Ashley, Andie, and I went to the Galeries Lafayette. It's decorated for Christmas with lights covering the entire side of one exterior wall with the clock. It was amazing. We went inside and found the Christmas tree in the middle of the makeup on the first floor. The store has all the big designers like Armani, Prada, Marc Jacobs, Ralph Lauren, etc. etc. etc. EVERYTHING is there. We wandered around a bit, imagining that we could actually drop 239 euros on a sweater. ha.

So that was yesterday! Today I'm studying for finals (fun)and then going to Hawaiian night! (A missionary couple, the Murrays, are from Hawaii.)

More to come when I'm not supposed to be rehashing my knowledge of the development of Protestantism!

The Front Fell Off- a bit of Australian humor

I've been busy with schoolwork, but I enjoyed this in my downtime. I love these guys!

Strike!

Oh goodness. So many things going on/gone, where to begin?
First off, I hope the fire situation turns around in California. We've had wildfires every year there, but nothing like this. I'm just glad that Schwarzenegger and Bush are trying to be proactive about the situation and hopefully the Santa Anas will die down so that the fires can be contained.

Back to Paris: Everything has gotten back to normal after the huge metro/train strike that started last Thursday. The workers are protesting pension changes that Sarkozy is trying to get passed. Pretty much everyone else supports it and the transportation workers just don't like it because they have a cushy setup with outdated retirement standards (from back when the work was still taxing and dangerous). Unfortunately, this is just a momentary time-out while the kids are out on school vacation. The workers might strike again in mid-November.

So...since class had been officially canceled on Thursday, I went jogging at the Bois du Boulogne instead. I live right by one of the lakes which is popular with the running crowd. It's very picturesque with beautiful greenery and a semi-mysterious island (it has a swanky restaurant), rowboats for the summertime, and at certain parts you might forget you're still in Paris. Yes, the edge of Paris in a nice neighborhood, but Paris nonetheless. I came right behind 15 elderly citizens and enjoyed the comical aspect of attempting to jog up a hill with a bunch of 85 year-olds strolling right in front of me. As usual, just when I was craving fresh air to fill my lungs, I got a whiff of cigar smoke. The same thing happens often when I ride the escalator up from my metro stop. There is no smoking allowed below, so the smokers often have a cigarette ready to light as soon as they hit the air. That just means the person behind him/her (me) also gets a nice dose of secondhand to complement the first breath of "fresh air." Oh well. I've learned by now to watch for it.

Anyway, back to Thursday, the first day of the strike. After jogging at the Bois, I decided to go by our metro stop to see what it would look like. Surprise, surprise. It was pretty much empty. The time clock was blinking yellow dots but there were still some people sitting around, as if maybe by some miracle a train would appear to whisk them away to their destination. I was able to help some confused American women and another French woman who was trying to explain that the trains weren't running. It felt really great to be the resident American in Paris who knew what was going on.

On Friday most trains still weren't running, and there were more on Saturday, but it wasn't back to usual with trains every couple of minutes until Sunday/Monday (thank goodness). So that was pretty much a boring weekend, except for the Paris ward Halloween party on Saturday!

I'll write about the Halloween party later... but for now I have to go.
Our group is going to Normandy for the weekend and I have to pack!

International Herald Tribune headline

Dutch government to outlaw attending terrorism training camps


hmm...I guess you can't always consider something to be a given.

Je parle un peu de francais!

Within the past week or so, I have had two prolonged conversations in Franglish (but mostly French!) with two gentlemen who were about 65-70 years old.

First gentleman I met was Maurice. I had just grabbed a salami sandwich by the Pompidou centre and was checking out the material at Mona Lisait (Mona read), a little outdoor bookstore. After I put down an English grammar book ("-Look Mum, it's raining! -Of course Tom, it always rains in this country."), he came up to me and said "Bon appetit!" I assumed he meant the way I was chomping away at the sandwich. The baguette sandwiches from street vendors tend to be a bit tough. Those sandwiches are not made for people with sensitive teeth. He figured I was American (I wonder why?) and asked me the usual: where are you from, where are you staying, you're a student? Of where? What are you studying?

I supplied answers: From Utah, 16th arrondisement, BYU, European Studies.

The fact that I'm a European Studies major from the U.S., I've noticed, is automatically a plus with whoever I speak to. And it was no exception with Maurice. He was pleased and started talking about how we should become citizens of the world, and how I was doing that (yes!). I agree with what he was saying. It's difficult to understand the motives of other countries if you know nothing about their culture, history, and politics. There are countless differences between French and American culture, but I wouldn't recommend relying simply on stereotypes to find out what those are.

So we were talking about that, and then Janna came over. He got excited and started speaking rapidly at which point I fell behind. Janna is really good at understanding, or at least pretending to understand, so she kept up the conversation while I listened for keywords. He mentioned philosophy cafes and told us we should go to one. Well first, we wouldn't understand what everyone was talking about (intelligent French? I think not), and second, we don't even drink coffee. So we thanked him anyway and parted ways. It was a good day to have that conversation because I had just been thinking that I needed a little French practice.

"Crazy old Maurice, eh? Crazy old Maurice."
Except not terribly crazy.

-----------------------------------------------------
The second gentleman I met was with his deaf dog in a park near my apartment. But before I met him, I was stumbling upon some of the 40 embassies in my neighborhood. In case anyone cares to know, the little Cambodian one is twenty steps from my door!

So I had just spent some time by myself at Rue de Passy getting an expensive lunch (why I don't usually eat out in the 16th arrondisement) and then looked around a bit. I found a few embassies nearby (Madagascar, Monaco, Ivory Coast) and remembered seeing the Sudanese & Indian ones a while ago. So I was on my way to revisit them when the gentleman just started talking to me.

It was very similar to my conversation with Maurice. Answers: I'm American, I'm studying here, a European Studies major, practicing my French. Parisians love to help foreigners with their French and I think that the gentleman was pleased to be able to help me with mine. I told him that I loved Paris and liked French people, and he asked what other Americans thought of France and the French.

"Tread carefullllly"- I was thinking.

He asked if they thought it was small. I said, well yes, it's a small area, but we realize that it's the 6th largest economy in the world. At least that's what I thought I said. The distinction between 6th & 16th (sixieme & seixieme) is slight, and I had accidentally said seixieme. So that's why he started quickly counting fingers, doing the French puffing thing, and had to support himself against the park bench. I figured out what had happened after a bit and corrected myself. Thank goodness for that.

The same thing happened a minute later when we were saying something about months. He attempted to say it in English, and it came out as "mouf". We laughed about mutual pronunciation troubles. I love having Franglish conversations!

Anyway, I walked a bit with him and his dog (don't worry, I definitely could've taken him if I had to) and talked about the plethora of dogs in the city. There is one cat/dog for every two people in France. Isn't that crazy? All in all, it was a pretty good conversation.

A little interesting tidbit about the dogs: there is no enforced law in Paris against not cleaning up after your dog. And since pretty much everyone has one, that means there are decades of poop built up on the sidewalks. (If you're thinking that's disgusting, don't worry. It is!)

Prof. Fry told us that it's because France doesn't trust Paris with its own police force. The city is regulated by national police, and they see it beneath themselves to give out tickets for dog doo. So it's a tradition that doesn't seem like it will change anytime soon. Oh goody. I would definitely NOT subscribe to the five-second rule here.

Cimetière du Père-Lachaise: Attempt #2

Sorry! I just found out that I had posted bad links for this entry. Try these- they work!

Versailles- we visited the inside on Thursday.

Cimetière du Père-Lachaise- the big and beautiful cemetery in Paris.


Yesterday (as in Saturday) Janna and I went back to visit the Cimetière du Père-Lachaise, one of the most famous cemeteries in the world. We had already visited it with our entire group the first week, but it was just a quick walk-through. And we had people to see: I was particularly looking forward to seeing Chopin's burial site.

While we were trying to locate everyone, I saw a tomb labeled Durand. It triggered something in my memory and I was almost certain that the name was a composer's. I looked inside the little chapel room but only saw (what I thought was) a female name: "Marie-Auguste Durand." Disappointed that I didn't see anything else that I recognized, I moved on.

Today I just barely remembered seeing "Durand" and so I looked it up. HE is a composer from the romantic period who wrote Valse in E flat, the last piece I played at my last piano recital a few years ago. It made me so happy to figure that out! When I started taking French in high school, my piano teacher was thrilled and taught me some pieces from French composers of the romantic period. It's still my favorite period for the piano.

........................................................................

As for Versailles, all I can say is Inside: frivolously gorgeous.

Outside: pretty good except for this little eyesore...

Only the Italians (or multilinguists) know why it's there. I think it was some sort of modernist exhibit.

"I remember when I used to be really into nostalgia." -Demetri Martin

From our family vacation at Grandma & Pete's this summer.



2005 & 2007. Two years later and we haven't changed all that much.


Me and Dad


I love and miss all of you!

Bon Anniversaire!

Nine years ago today a beautiful baby boy was brought into this world in Morgan Hill, California.

Today, he's still alive and kicking.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTOPHER!!!

I hope you have an awesome day! I love you very much and am excited to tell you all about my adventures when I get home. Have a great halloween and tell Mom to e-mail me pictures!

Val de Loire et Citroen

I went to the Loire Valley this weekend and had a great time!
Here is the link to my Facebook album so you can take a look.

Loire Valley pictures

A taste of its contents:
When I saw this hanging up at Clos Lucé (Leonardo da Vinci's home), I thought why isn't all artwork displayed like this? I love the concept.

Today Janna and I were going to climb the Arc de Triomphe with our friend Claire. Unfortunately, when we got to the Arc de Triomphe, we found out it will be free the first Sunday of November, not October. So instead we went back to a cool building we had seen on the Champs-Élysées, which turned out to be a Citroen car show- leading to my other album:

CITROEN pictures

We all thought the cars were very sleek and shiny. Obviously, we're not enthusiasts.

But I thought the face of the building was amazing, as was the setup of the cars.

Address

Mom (and others)- so you don't think I'm floating about the city of Paris:

c/o C. Michel
9 Rue Adolphe Yvon
Paris, FRANCE
75116

Write me a letter and I'll send you a postcard!

La Retour de la Pluie

So yesterday was interesting. It being the first day I would venture out since two days of home rest, I wanted to make sure I was appropriately attired. I could see the sun and the temperature was perfect. So flats and a light sweater it was. Janna and I were serenaded by a saxophonist on the metro (well, we were right in front of him anyway) and everything seemed great.

THEN:
As we approached the staircase up to Rue de Renard, we heard the telltale sound of rain hitting pavement. Not just a sprinkling: it was pouring sheets of rain. Since this was the one day in the week we didn't have an umbrella, Janna and I decided to run for the institute. It was actually pretty fun. I hadn't been jogging in a while (ahem...two weeks) so it felt great. We slogged into the chapel for devotional and only after visiting the bathroom did I register exactly how pathetic we looked. My eyeliner was dripping and hair was not to be rescued. And my poor sockless feet! Darn flats- not exactly conducive to protecting your feet.

After devotional, we got crepes to warm ourselves up (I LOVE the countless creperies in Paris!). Then Janna, Aubrey and I went to Free 'P' Star, the most affordable vintage shop in Paris. It also happens to be just a couple of blocks away from the institute. First thing we saw was enough army jackets to clothe 50 (only 5 euros if anyone's interested!). It also had a ton of dresses and a fair amount of fur (of which I am not a fan). Aubrey and I are about the same size so we tried on many of the same dresses (always a recipe for......well anyway, do not come between a girl and her new favorite dress.) Luckily, we both found a dress we liked, and got out of there when more and more people came in. It is tiny, especially the little closet of a basement.

Now I'm excited about my art history class meeting in the Louvre tomorrow! And the group is going to the Loire Valley on Thursday for the weekend.

Oh...and guess what?? It's raining. Again. Go figure.

Le Penseur

I started coming down with a cold a few days ago, nicely timed to line up with the rainy weather. And I didn't get the sexy voice. No, I got the "I have emphysema and smoke through a hole in my throat" voice. So just imagine what that was like when I was trying to communicate with a makeup salesperson this afternoon. Bad French coming from an American who sounds like she's on her deathbed. Luckily, a British guy was there with his girlfriend and he helped translate a question for me.

A group of us planned to go to the Rodin museum yesterday morning. It just so happened that yesterday was the rainiest day of them all. So I probably exacerbated the cold by going to a museum that's half-outdoors on a rainy day. But I actually enjoyed seeing it in the rain.

The first sculpture we saw is also the most famous, "The Thinker."


This is a view of the Église du Dôme at Les Invalides from the Rodin museum garden. I'm particularly looking forward to seeing this because I did a report on it back at BYU.


On Thursday, Janna and I went on a mission to find a few stores that Mme Michel said were close to our apartment. We began wandering a bit and ended up on a dead end little road. I was shocked when I looked up and saw that we were walking right by the Sudanese and Indian embassies. How often do you stumble upon an embassy of one of the most hated governments in the world? The Sudanese embassy had red paint from paintballs splattered on it (I wonder why)...

The world can seem so small at times.

"mmmm .........
........ crisp French air ....


I mean....crisp FALL air...."


Janna: Well, I guess it is French...

Raindrops keep falling on my head...

Rainy days are perfect for hot chocolate, sweaters, and reading in bed. Well, I've done the first (twice), am wearing the second, and have already read the only non-academic English book I have. Which is why I'm writing this.

Right now I'm sitting at the little kindergarten desk in my room, facing my window which looks out on the courtyard of my building. I was sitting on the bed just a minute ago, but realized that wasn't really the best for view purposes. This building was built in 1870 and it is beautiful. The sides facing the courtyard have simple brick facades, but the part facing the street has stone decorations and is gorgeous. When Janna and I got out of the taxi the first day, our jaws dropped. The place definitely has class.

At the door to our apartment building
We both have our own rooms and live with Madame Michel, a widow. She has a daughter who lives around the corner with her husband and (adorable) three kids. It's kind of funny because we've been here for almost three weeks and we still don't know if we're allowed to go in the living room. All our time is spent in our bedrooms, the kitchen, and the dining room (twice). It's a shame because Mme Michel has a beautiful piano and both Janna and I love to play. We tried to hint at the possibility of being able to play it once, but I don't think she understood. Oh well.

I love my room because it's apparently used as a playroom for Mme Michel's grandchildren. It reminded me a bit of my little siblings (although I guess since two are teenagers, they're hardly little anymore). Anyway, it is really warm and inviting. The shelves are full of cute books and toys and there are a couple of alphabet hangings on the walls. One of them has pictures of animals, which is actually a great study tool for someone like me.

For example, the L to the right displays a 'lapin' by a 'lampe' underneath the 'lune.'

It just threw me for a second when I first looked at it.





A boy across the courtyard is working on his homework and he seems to be enjoying it as much as I will enjoy my (not very) "Concise History of France" reading in a moment. Well... Such is life.

Check this out!

I was browsing through pictures I've had Janna take so far (love camera difficulties) and found this one. It looks like I'm pointing to the guards, eh?

"And over here, you can see our very well-disciplined members of the French military as they keep the peace at the Louvre. Now isn't that great?"
SO funny.

Parlez-vous Français?

It can be almost too easy to go throughout the days here without speaking very much French. On school days, I wake up, take the metro with Janna to the institute, and a few "pardon"s and "merci"s later, we're at school. Classes are all in English: I have European politics, French politics, history of Christianity, and art history. After class, we usually head home to do our readings. So, all in all, not a whole lot of exposure.
Ai-yi-yi. (or however that's spelled.)

Janna and I talked about how much French we'd practice once we were here, but it can be difficult to carry on an interesting conversation. And there is a HUGE difference between learning a language in the classroom and practicing it with native speakers. At least I know enough to get by in most encounters: it's fairly simple to pay at the register, ask where something is, and greet someone. But I'd like to move beyond that. Once I get my French book back from Russ, I'm all over it. It will be like 201 all over again.

Tonight we ate with Madame Michel and her grandson François-Xavier (8). François-Xavier is fluent in English, a result of having English-speaking nannies and having spent much time in London. At dinner we spoke mostly in English (unfortunately), but I noticed that when François-Xavier got really excited about something, a gush of French would come out directed at his grandmother. He said that he prefers reading in English to French and his little sister (4) received better marks in English at school! Is it bad that I'm jealous of these kids' linguistic abilities? At least this reconfirms my thoughts on teaching a foreign language to children. The monolingual American madness must end somewhere!

Let's not drive together, thank you very much

The other day, I saw a "Don't Mess With Texas!" sticker on the back of a moped. What?? Even in Paris you can't escape the Texans. Crazy. Speaking of crazy, I love the mopeds with tops that look like they drove right out of a new age sci-fi film. And the smart cars- it's great that they're trying to conserve energy, but the cars are ridiculously small. They're adorable. I just had to laugh when I first saw a large man fold up to get inside one. (But I don't think he appreciated that...)

Look at the pictures I found!

The new age moped- which seems to be used mostly by older men and men in business suits.


The smart car- looking especially tiny next to a very tall man.


Look at this! Who wouldn't want a car that could do that??

Commuter Music

It's always an adventure. Yesterday, we accidentally came out of the metro at what seemed to be the precise ending of the annual midday techno rave (as well as the rugby game broadcast). If ever I needed validation that I am indeed in Europe, there it is! It was interesting, to say the least. There was confetti, smashed glass, litter, and fresh cigarette butts all over the streets, and all sorts of characters still hanging out in town. We went to the institute building, which is pretty much the only spot in Paris with a guaranteed *free* clean bathroom. And since drinking fountains don't exist, the sink also serves as a great watering hole. Right after we came out, one of the missionaries locked up because one of the ravers tried to pee on the church....the downside to it being in the center of the city. Oh, the joys of needing a restroom in the city.

I love the metro. There are street performers that have laid claim to several of the halls, and it has already gotten to the point where I recognize their acts. Down one hall, there is a man who performs oboe solos after flipping on his boombox with the backup orchestra (I love it!). The first song I heard from him was the love theme from the 60's version of Romeo and Juliet- it warmed me up to him immediately. Then there are the performers who play instruments from their home countries/cultures, like a Native American guy (random), and some with different kinds of Asian instruments.

And the traveling performers. They typically have accordions and apparently ride in different cars all day, trying to collect money from all the passengers. Today, one man performed for us, but got up at the stop and moved on to the next car because I was the only one paying him any attention- and I didn't even contribute. But I am a poor college student.

Rugby and Moulin Rouge

Today was yet another beautiful day in Paris. We went into Notre Dame, stopped by the memorial by the Seine river for the 200,000 French Jews sent to concentration camps, and saw the Palais de Justice. Oh, and the Pompidou Center as well. And probably something else.

But yesterday was truly a great day. After we visited Sacré Coeur (with a BRILLIANT view of the city), we saw the Place du Tertre (where a lot of artists paint), the Opera house, and ended up in the major shopping district.

Sacré Coeur

We went to the Hôtel de Ville that afternoon to watch the U.S. play Tonga in the Rugby World Cup. It was great- a few hundred of us sat on turf watching a huge screen placed in front of the building. Even the statues on either side of the screen were dressed to support France in the cup! The U.S. lost, of course (For heaven's sakes, they were playing Tonga!), but at least they tried.

me, Becca, Janna, and Russ

I couldn't help but laugh at the contrast between

the majestic building and the gigantic screen.

Anyway, back to today. After our walk with Prof. Fry, we went off to see the Moulin Rouge. I know many girls love that movie, but I still haven't seen three-quarters of it, and thus was not nearly as excited as the others about seeing it this afternoon. But it was nice, I suppose. I met this nice girl who asked me to take her picture with the Moulin Rouge sign. I ran into her again in the metro below, and we realized we were going in the same direction. She is a Ph.D. student studying electrical engineering in China, spending the few weeks she has off traveling around Europe. Wow. I would love to have that kind of direction in my life.

Après cinq jours à Paris

I have now spent five days in Paris and I haven't gotten sick of it yet! There is never any time for boredom when you're here, and especially not with these walking tours we've been doing. This week, Professor Fry has been taking us up and down Paris, pointing out numerous sites we need to go back to visit on our own. I've come home the past two nights exhausted from the several miles that we've walked. Today we saw St. Germain des Prés, St. Sulpice (a Da Vinci Code site!), Jardin du Luxembourg (60 acres of gorgeous gardens), the outside of Palais du Luxembourg (where the French Senate meets), the outsides of Panthéon, Sorbonne, Musée de Cluny, St. Severin, and finally the Shakespeare and Company bookstore. I browsed a bit in the bookstore at the end, but wasn't able to fully enjoy it because my feet felt like they would break in two.

Pictures!

I love this statue of Mary and baby Jesus in St. Sulpice. It was hard to take your eyes off of it once you were there. This was actually very high, near the ceiling, so I had to gaze up at it. It's as if they are descending from the heavens above.



This picture actually shows the grand scale of the statue's placement in the cathedral.



At St. Germain, I found this little painting propped up on the floor in one of the alcoves on the side.

Rebecca and me at the Sorbonne.



Shakespeare and Company Bookstore!