Versailles et Marché aux Puces!

Well, I can't really say I have an excuse for not posting earlier. Except, I have been actually getting a decent amount of sleep lately, so I consider it a worthwhile loss :P

On Friday (the first of December. Whaaaat? How in the world did that happen?!), we went to Versailles. It actually is closer to Paris than I remember, which was nice.

Versailles.

So much gold!

The  Chapel.

This is in the entryway to the Statesmen department. I remember escaping under the barriers and taking a picture here last time ... oh, what good memories!

We had a personal guide for our tour, and it was really nice because it ended up only being about 10 of us in our group. The other one was much larger, for some reason. But, I'm not complaining. 

A replica of all of Versailles. And our tour guide...wearing a beret. YES.

In case you don't know, Versailles was a palace where the kings could keep track of nobility. It's kind of described as being like a golden cage. When you lived there, you had to abide by many restrictions, one of which was the necessity to change into different clothes six times daily! The thing is, if you didn't live there, you were literally NOBODY, so that's how the kings kept all the nobility under their power.

This is the chapel; note the awesome organ which was actually being played while we were there. 

The ceiling is a replica of one in Rome. Actually, a lot of Versailles was inspired by Italy because Louis XIV's godfather was Italian.

The hall of mirrors, where they signed the Versailles treaty for peace after World War I. So impressive!

Most everything in Versailles was sold during the Revolution and afterwards. In 1980, they found the original bedding of Marie Antoinette at a pawn shop in New York, and the owner graciously gave it back. This allowed them to replicate the decorations in the room. Pretty awesome!

Again, the door Marie Antoinette escaped with her children the night the revolutionaries came for them. It still amazes me just as much as last time !

Versailles is basically in a constant state of restoration. The white papers on these canvas paintings on the ceiling indicate problem areas that need to be fixed. WOW!

It was interesting, because the gardens were so different than I remember! When I was there, it was spring so all the flowers were in bloom. Since winter's approaching, there aren't any flowers now. Plus, a lot of the impressive marble statues have been covered in anticipation of the cold and snow.

Parisian sunset on our way home. Probably one of my last : /

So Versailles was good. I was seriously considering not going, since I wasn't really feeling up to it on Friday morning. But, I'm so glad I did. It was different than I remember it. Just an evidence, I guess, of how time changes things.

On Saturday (yesterday), I went to what is probably the oldest Antique Market in the world. It's actually rumored that the name "Flea Market" originated with this one, when someone looked down from their apartment and noted how the market looked like "a bunch of fleas" from up there. It was so awesome!! Actually, the reason I knew about it was because of a book we read in French class, Dora Bruder. It's the true story of a girl (Dora Bruder) living in Paris at the time of the German Occupation. The author, Patrick Modiano, became interested in her case in 1988 after seeing an announcement of her disappearance from a 1941 newspaper. It's a really good book, and beautifully written, but it takes place in the 18th arrondisement of Paris, which is one of the oldest and poorest neighborhoods in Paris. A lot of the places he discussed in the book are still there, including this flea market.

I stopped by to see the hotel where Dora's family lived. It was so cool. I mean, easily I could have just walked by this place and never have known. But I feel like I know the people who lived here, and that really gives the place an energy. I never thought I was that interested in history like that, but Europe seems to really be changing my mind. 41 boulevard Ornano, Paris 75018.

The antique market was AWESSOOOOOOMMMMMMEEEE. There was so much old stuff there. I didn't go with the intention of buying anything, which is probably for the best because most everything was expensive. But it was so cool! The atmosphere of all these shops with such old stuff was amazing! It's fun to think about how people actually used everything here. If I ever grow up and am rich, I'm totally going to furnish my house with antiques. Totally.

Not nearly the coolest thing I saw, but probably the most disgusting. A taxiderm-ed PIRANHA!

And, the most beautiful grandfather clock I've ever seen.

It's a Christmas tree...with snow on it! Okay, fine, it was fake. But still. CHRISTMASSS!! :D

So now my last week in Paris is upon me. I think I'm becoming more sad by the day, so it's good I have so many good things waiting for me in Chicago. Here we go!

Je ne suis pas prête!

30 november 2011

I knew the beginning of this week was going to be kind of a bugger since I didn't do any work this weekend. But really, I don't even feel bad about it. How many times in my life will I go to London? One, maybe if I'm really lucky, two. Anyway, I did manage to get my 10-page research midterm paper done on time, as well as my French audio recording and essay. It's times like these when I remember how important it is not to stress. I'm also reminded of how much more productive I am when I don't study in my room. When I study at home, usually all I want to do is browse the internets or take a nap. When I'm in the library, I'm much more productive. I'm really going to try this upcoming quarter to spend more time in the library. We'll see if it happens. Hopefully I will, especially since I live so much closer now!

Today we went out to one of the only Mexican restaurants in Paris. It was so awesome because I've been craving Mexican since about the third week I was here. And man, it was good. Like, really good. I haven't had a burrito in way too long. It was also really funny because the neighborhood where this restaurant is situated is apparently one of the most hipster neighborhoods in Paris. And, let me tell you, it was clear. I felt like I should have been wearing a bigger scarf, or glasses, or something :P But it was a charming little place with cool music and a neat atmosphere. Tomorrow we have class as normal, and then Friday we're going to Versailles. I've some ideas in mind for my weekend plans, but I'm not going to spoil them yet, as I'm really excited but not yet sure whether they'll pan out.

I can't believe how quickly things are coming to a close. In literally one week, I'll have my final, then be officially done with the quarter. Oh, also, I'll be 21 years old in 8 days!! I guess I should be more excited, but there's really not anything I want to do at 21 that I couldn't already do. Really, I feel like that's way too old for me. Twenty one? Noooo....not yet!

Revenir à Paris Pour le Dernier Fois!

27 novembre 2011

Well, since I knew I was going to have to take a bus to a train to a shuttle to the airport, I left myself plenty of time this morning. And it's a good thing I'm paranoid and left myself plenty of extra time, because as it turned out, I needed it! I went downstairs to check out at 06:00, and spent almost an hour knocking on doors and trying to find someone to take my keys and give me my ID. As it turned out, the night porter decided it would be a good idea to sleep on the job in some random room. Great for me. I was so furious, it was kind of unbelievable. I hope I made him feel really bad.

But, I planned for it, which was good. The bus ride was good, as was the train ride. I arrived early enough at the airport to write the blog posts, so it was not so bad to post them tonight. I'm happy to be back in Paris and speaking French. I've a lot of work to finish for this week, so it's going to be fun!! I'm also trying to find tickets to a show to go see on my birthday, but it's not looking so good. I hope I find something!! We'll see.

Stonehenge!

26 novembre 2011

I woke up this morning knowing we were going to have to walk a lot because the tube undergoes construction on the weekends, and thus is closed. I guess that’s the price we pay so everything is in tip-top shape for the Olympics. Our tour for Stonehenge didn’t depart until 12:30, so we decided to head out a little early and see a museum.

It was recommended that we check out the Victoria and Albert Art and Design Museum, which actually was right next to the Natural History museum we saw last night. It was free (well, the permanent exhibits), so that made it even better. It was a wonderful walk there, and we got to see more of London that way. Truly, if my leg wasn’t feeling so horrible, I think I could have enjoyed it more. As it was, I think it was just dandy.

Victoria and Albert Musuem:

 

A reallyyyy cool blown glass sculpture in the entrance!

 

Our favorite exhibit was “The Power of Making,” which demonstrated all the many things we can do with only the power of our imagination and creativity. It was so interesting what people think of doing, and also to see how we can manipulate every-day objects to create something completely out of the ordinary.

This gorilla was made completely of hand-bend wire into the shapes of clothes hangers. So awesome!!

 

In the Islamic Art exhibit, we saw some really cool things. There was the oldest Islamic carpet known to man, and as a matter of fac, it’s so old that they only lit it on the half hour and hour. The weaving was beautiful, from what I could tell in the dark. There was also a Qu’aran. It was interesting because the informational piece said how the margins were decorated with gold and designs, but never with animals or humans so as to not distract the worshipper. I really like that idea. It’s quite contrasted with all of the churches we’ve been seeing from Medieval and Renaissance Europe, where they are ripe with relics.

This was the first time I’d ever seen anything in a museum that said, “Please touch.” It was a reconstruction of the hand-carved tilings. It was to demonstrate how deeply the tile had to be carved. Really interesting!

 

We couldn’t spend too much time there, but we also went into a Postmodern photography exhibit which allowed no photography. I’ve never really been a fan of modern art, but sometimes photography really gets me. I think I quite enjoyed it…more than I thought I was going to, anyway.

Then we headed out and began our walk twardd our meeting point for the tour. We knew we wanted to get lunch before we let, and they didn’t supply any and it was going to be an all-day affair. We stopped by a tavern for the classic British “Fish ‘n Chips,” which Emily quite enjoyed. I didn’t really want to pay 10 GBP for something I knew I wasn’t going to like, so I had this interesting dish called “Hunter’s Chicken.” I was very satisfied with my meal as well J

We made it to our meeting point without incident, and I was happy to know that it would be a two hour bus ride to Stonehenge. That should give me plenty of time to rest my legs and back.

Ready to go to Stonehenge!!

 

While we were waiting to board, we met a woman (the one who kindly took that picture for us) who told us she was a writer, here to accept a nomination. She told us all about the books that she writes and all the awards she’s won. She said everytime she is invitied to a place, she makes a list of a few things she must do while there. Here in London, Stonehenge was on her list. Actually, she’s a children’s book writer. One of her books was (or is?) on two New York Time’s Best Seller’s lists. I feel like I met someone famous! She was super nice J

The drive through the English countryside was beautiful. I have to admit, I did take a little nap, but I got to see a lot too. The countryside, I think, will always make me happy.

First impression: so many sheep! :P

 

Finally, our arrival at Stonehenge. It was a bit cold, but not too bad. As part of our tour, we got audio guides, which helped immensely. For those of you who don’t know, Stonehenge was constructing about 3,500 years ago. It’s a huge mystery because we really don’t know how in the world they managed to do it. The engineering feat alone would be enough to cause the mind to marvel, but on top of that it we’ve discovered that throughout the years, as it became more ruined, it was continually rebuilt. I’ll give some interesting tidbits as follows.

Exaaaactly :P

 

Each of the big stones you see weighs almost 10 tons, and actually 1/3 of each stone is underground. So amazing.

 

Do you see the big stone in the middle, with the pointy top? That is actually how they get the stones that lay across the top to stay. They carve that out, and it works much like the ball-and-socket joints in our bodies. Also, throughout the henge, they use tongue and groove joints to join things. So cool!!

 

There are so many myths surrounding the building and use of Stonehenge. Many of them involve magic, and the stones being transported from other places by giants. One myth says that after a king’s victory, he ordered the giants to bring the stones from Africa, but they could not. So, the wizard Merlin zapped them here and put them up in the exact arrangement they were. Another says that the devil made this arrangement (why, I’m not sure…). Anyway, he told the woman in whose garden the stones were that he would pay her a large sum of money for as long as it took to move them. Noting how large the stones were, the woman agreed. However, she was tricked because the devil moved them in a split second and the woman didn’t get any money.

Me, pondering the mystery… :P

 

Do you see the humps/mounds? Those are actually gravesites. They’re all over the place.

 

This is what it may have looked like when it was in use. I think one of the coolest things is that it could also be used as a calendar. The position of the sun in the arcs told you exactly the month. How interesting.

 

The place really did have some sort of magic to it. They have even excavated a processional path that was probably used as part of some sort of ritual. I really enjoyed myself and learned so much. Totally worth the money (which was a good deal, anyway!!)

That evening, we were planning on seeing Buckingham Palace, but I just knew I wasn’t going to make it. We stopped by this large department store that was very Christmas-ified because it was on our way.

Christmastime is here!!!!!!!

 

We also passed “T.K. Maxx” Huhhhh?

 

Anyway, the trip was amazing. The almost two hour walk back home was pretty rough, but also very awesome. I really like London. I feel like it’s a place I could live. I also like feeling like I’m in areas that aren’t so touristy because I get a better feeling for, like, the people. And after all, it is them (they? Oh gosh, I can’t speak English…) that create a place.

I thought this was pretty cool. The leaves had been rained on and driven over, so that it looked like they were painted onto the road. Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter!!

 

Also, I had to post this. “Get your Flu Jab.” Yes. That is sure to get customers. I’m going to change my pharmacy lingo :P

 

I’m so glad I came to London. I’m not sure I’ll ever be back, but I feel so satisfied. I can’t believe I’m only here in Europe for two more weeks. I don’t know how it’s felt for you all, but I’ve had mixed feelings. In the beginning I felt like it was just crawling by, but since about sixth week, things have absolutely flown by. I’ve so much work these coming weeks as things come to a close, that I know things are going to continue to happen so quickly. Either way, I’m so grateful for how blessed I am, that I can travel to all these places and gain so many different perspectives. I think Paris will forever be in my heart J

Premier Jour à Londres!

25 novembre 2011

**Warning: this is a long post :P **

Our good friend Aaron was so kind as to give us some of the most important things to do, so we had a very good itinerary already. We took the tube to St. Paul’s Cathedral first to meet up with another friend. On the way, we saw the Olympic Headquarters.

Isn’t the logo of the 2012 Olympics a bit bizarre?

When we got there, we found out they were having an “Occupy Protest.” To be truthful, this whole movement is quite annoying to me, because it doesn’t seem as though anyone is actually doing anything besides complaining. But, it was interesting to see all their tents and whatnot. I guess.

“Occupy” London:

St. Paul’s Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral, where the Bishop of London sits, built in the 17th century. It cost 15 GBP to go in, so we passed that up, but I did manage to get inside before the ticket booth and snap a few pictures J

The façade:

A statue of Queen Anne, erected in 1886:

“This is none other than the house of God. This is the gate to heaven.”

    

The entrance hall:

Then we walked over to Millenium Bridge, and from there we were able to get a view of Tower Bridge. Again, it was much to expensive to go in, but who needs to go in anyway? :P

On our way to Trafalgar Square, we passed the Royal Courts of Justice.

Pretty cool architecture:

And, a dragon statue!

 

We were keeping our eyes out for lunch, and guess what we found!? An award-winning pasty shop! I thought they were a UP specialty, but it turns out they’re actually British. Who knew?! Mom, now I’ve tried one—and I can say, they’re good!! J

Me and my yummy steak, potato, and onion pasty:

We kept walking, and Emily’s friend was able to point out to us a few really cool Harry Potter sites.

This is the Australian Embassy, where they filmed Grigott’s Bank. They used both the inside and outside, but unfortunately we weren’t able to go in. The outside is still cool, though J Plus, this picture has a nice view of the famous London Red Buses in it J

 

We did make it over to Trafalgar Square. It was beautiful, and the National Gallery Art museum was actually free. We went in and walked around for a bit, but there were no pictures allowed. Oh, how I love free museums!

Trafalgar Square:

The Olympic Countdown Clock: 245 Days!

Cool! A ship in a bottle!! As a cool fact, it weights 4 tons…

 

We then took a little detour to go see the Ministry of Magic.

I also managed to get a photo of the police on horses. I don’t know why I thought this was so cool :P

If you remember Harry Potter, this is where they went in and took the place of those three ministry of magic workers so they could sneak in. Soooo cooooool! I don’t really consider myself a huge Harry Potter geek, but I have to say it was pretty exciting J

There were so many of these telephone booths. Oh, London, you’re wonderfully charming!

 

From there, our next stop was Big Ben, Parliament Square, and Westminster Abbey. Did you know Big Ben is the largest four-faced chiming clock in the world?!

First view of Big Ben:

Big Ben and Parliament:

Westminster Abbey is right next to the Parliament Building. It has been the place of coronations of monarch since the 11th century! Plus, the Prince and Princess were just married here!!

How beautiful.

  

Then, it was time for more Harry Potter! Since we were in such a rush Thursday night when we came in to King’s Cross, we didn’t get a chance to find platform 9 ¾ ! But, we wouldn’t leave without seeing it. It’s actually pretty hilarious because it’s just kind of like a sign outside of the train station. It was fairly easy to find because there was a huge line of people :P

I definitely felt like the least obsessed person there, haha :P

Then we were off to take a walk through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. How beautiful! That is one of the the things I was thinking about, about big cities and their parks. It’s so nice that there are areas where people can come to have a place to relax and enjoy the beauty of nature. It was actually pretty hilarious, because we found a street that we thought would take us through the gardens. Actually, though, it was a street of like one hundred different embassies! It was a bit strange, and we felt like we weren’t supposed to be there, but it was exciting nonetheless to see all the beautiful mansions. I would have taken some photos, but it said strictly no photography, and there were security guards crawling everywhere!

These are just some buildings on the way. I thought they looked so typically British. Yay!!

This is called “Queen’s Gate.” It’s one of the entrances into Kensington Gardens.

 

We decided to rent some bikes to ride through the gardens so we could cover more ground. Such a good idea! It ended up only being 2 GBP for the whole hour, which is cheap. Especially since London public transportation is apparently super expensive. It was 4 GBP for one train ride! Plus, with the buses, it’s 2.20 GBP, with no transfers! That’s expensive just in pounds, but then if you consider how well the pound is doing against the dollar, it’s really horrible. Plus, it was great for me to get a break off my feet. I was really struggling to make it around with all the walking.

This is a memorial fountain to Princess Diana. Unfortunately it wasn’t on, but you can still kind of get a glimpse of the beauty.

 

The park at dusk:

 

Cool fact: I heard all the swans in England belong to the Queen. I’m not sure whether that is true, but it sounds like something I would do if I were Queen. “What would you like, your majesty?” “Well, I would like to own every swan in my whole kingdom. Yes. That’s it.” :P

 

More beauty in the park. It was really so charming J

 

Then we were going to head over to Picadilly Circus. This is kind of like their equivalent of Times Square, in New York. And man, it was lively! There were so many people and lights and shops and activity, it was exciting! Definitely upscale, and nothing we could afford. We really really really wanted to get tickets to a show, but there are no half priced or student tickets on the weekend. So, everything was much to expensive for our pockets. It was fun to wander around all these rich people, though :P So many diamonds and furs and fancy dresses, and hotels. It’s only times like this I wish I was rich…

Anyway, it was a great day. It was certainly exhausting, even though we did less walking than the next day (but I’ll talk about that later). My general impression of London is that it’s a lot like the USA. Surely, some of this is because we speak the same language, but I really feel like the actual culture is more similar. There are a lot of chain restaurants, and I feel like a lot of the ideology is the same. I’m not sure, but it was definitely enjoyable. It’s a place I feel like I could live without feeling too much culture shock or anything like that.

With, of course, one exception. THE STREEETS! They really do drive on the wrong side. I didn’t think it would be such a big deal, sicne we were walking places, but I was wrong. You don’t realize how second nature looking before you cross the street is until you look the wrong way! About to cross the street, I look right and there are no cars coming. You think it’s safe, but no! the cars are coming from the other direction!!

I’m not kidding, without these labels on every sidewalk, I probably would have died. I wonder how many tourist incidents they had to have before painting these everywhere… :P