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Published: October 10th 2006
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Reims
Reims Cathedral of Notre Dame I will explain the title later, since that is last exciting thing I have done so far, but I will start, hmm, at the beginning. Here is the plan: visit to Reims, museum marathon, party on the boat, crazy Friday night with lots of Chinese food, and, finally, White Night (La Nuit Blanche) in Paris. As you can tell, I am not wasting my time and using every minute I get.
So, Saturday a week ago, Sciences Po organized a day trip to Reims for eveyone who wanted to go (about 40 of us). Getting up at 6:30 was not easy, but I managed to enjoy myself throughout the entire trip. Reims is about 1.5 hours NE of Paris, in the Champagne region (yes, where the real champagne is made). It is famous for its humongous cathedral, where pretty much every French King got coronated. And Jeanne D'Arch was there as well 😊 Of course we started with a guided tour of the cathedral, which I really enjoyed, even thought it was kinda dense in history. I particularly enjoyed the stained glass windows by Chagall (the old ones were destroyed during the wars - Reims is not too far from Germany,
Reims
Reims Cathedral - I thought the guy holding his head was simply hilarious unfortunately) After a nice lunch break in one of the city Squares, couple of friends and I took a tour of the city, which is not that big. The war was not very kind to Reims, so very few old buildings have remained. We finished the day with a visit of a Champagne castle, Pommery, where really good champagne is produced. Each room (cave) where the champagne is stored also has a piece of contemporary art, which creates a very interesting impression. Of course, we got to taste the champagne at the end 😊 I think that was my first time drinking real champagne, too.
The next morning, I got up very early (what was I thinking?) and went to a flea market with Camila, hoping to find some cool things to decorate my room. And I did! I found this amazing vase, and a very old lamp in this middle eastern style, so I left very happy. That also happened to be the first Sunday of the month, which means free admission to all the museums! Hence, Camila and I picked 3 museums (ambitious, isn't it?) to visit. First, we went to Museum of Eugene Delacroix, his atelier where
Reims
Reims Cathedral - Chagall stained glas windows he worked for awhile, and where he died as well. It was a very small and nice museum. It didn't have lots of his famous works (they are all in bigger museums, like Orsay and Louvre), but it showed all the little things he did as well (like political caricatures). Then, we met up with Julia and Vebka (2 German girls) at the musee d'Orsay, where there was a very cool exposition comparing the works of Rodin and Eugene Carriere. I never heard of Carriere before, so I really enjoyed that. And finally, we went to the newly opened Orangerie in the Tuileries Gardens, where there are two rooms dedicated to Monet's waterlilies. But the collection on the other floor impressed me more - Degain, Picasso, Cezanne, Chaim Soutine. I really enjoyed the works of Soutine, which have this "wind" impression all over them - very cool. Quite exhausted, we returned to Camila's studio where we enjoyed a nice little dinner together. Good weekend. Very cultural.
This past weekend was not as cultural, but probably even more exciting. It really started Wednesday, with a Sciences Po party on a boat (even though it sailed for only an hour) I danced
Reims Cathedral
The Rose Window till four in the morning, when I just couldn't dance anymore and had to go back home (ended up taking the taxi, cause we kept getting harassed trying to find a night bus). Honestly, I was a bit too tired to enjoy that party, but still, it was a good break from classes. And Friday, was one the craziest evenings ever. To celebrate the end of orientation, our class decided to go out all together. First we went to Frigos, which is this weird place where painters and other artists work. The walls are covered in graffiti, and the atmosphere is just amazing. We were a bit too loud, so we didn't stay long, but i would love to come back there soon. Oh, and this is all in my quarter (I did a presentation on it, everyone loved it, and decided that we have to visit). Then we went to Asian market, where we tried to buy food to make dinner. We spent 2 hours there, which was really insance, but I have to admit we had a good time, especially since most of us had no clue what it is that we are buying. Then all of us
Reims
Reims Cathedral - in front of the entrance went to Russel's place where the cooking begun. I was not cooking (kitchen is too small for everyone) and I know very little about Chinese food, so I just drank the wine and socialized. We must have eaten enough for a whole Chinese Village (we had about 4 kinds of ravioli, spring rolls, rice, noodles, beef w/brocoli, chicken, some egg dish, lots of different deserts, all with large quantities of wine) No wonder, in a couple of hours the singing and the dancing began. Since everyone is from a different country, we all sang a traditional song. Vera and I sang "Kalina" and "Vot kto to s gorochki spustilsya". It was the hardest for the americans though - they could not come up with a song (I wonder why). The whole evening was a bit insane - we are all very loud when we get together, and all kinds of languages are spoken - from German to Russian, to Chinese, and to French, of course.
The next day I spent shopping (again), which can get very exhausting and annoying, so I don't think I will be shopping in a long time. That night was the White Night in Paris. It
Reims
Roman Gates is a night long event, when all the galleries, museums, and other public buildings have some sort of contemporary art exposition. All the cafes and stores are open as well. So, we got together with some of the people from our class again and went to Louvre together, where there was this presentation of modern dance. The contrast between the old and the new was simply breathtaking. We then headed over to Ross' for a little party, which was not as exciting as the night before, but pretty cool anyway. After a couple drinks we decided to continue with the White Night by heading over to Champs Elysees. In general, I do not like that part of the city much (too toursitsty and always crowded) but during that night it was actually rather nice - also lots of people (but all young), but everything was lit up with this blue light which was very cool. We did not get to see much, since there were about 7 of us, and that is hard to manage, especially after a party. But, what we did see was this exhibit out of candy wrappers and an electronique music concert. The rest of the
Reims
Robyn and I with this weird egg-like structure night was a bit of a blur (I was very tired). I got to bed at 6AM and didn't get till 4PM, which made my Sunday a very short and uneventful day. Well, not really. I hung out with my neighbor for a couple hours. We talked about Algeria, Kabylie, Arabic (he is going to help me learn), music, and just about everything else. I really like my neighbors - they are very friendly and are ready to feed me 😊
Today I had my first class, which went rather well. It is huge - 220 people, and I think it is about 60 % foreigners, the prof seems nice and the subject interesting (Middle East), but we will see. I am a bit nervous, cause I do not know how I will manage with French - time will show. Another cool thing - I am going to Poland for the Fall Break! I am insanely excited. I found a very cheap flight. Well, I am tired of writing. Hopefully, next entry won't be as dense -I need to chill out a bit and just enjoy myself.
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mama
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Spasibo, dochen'ka, za special'nie fotos. Vse viglyadit ochen' horosho! Naslajdaisya jizn'u !!!!!!!!!!! NO.......... Ne zabivai,chto ti priehala YCHITSYA-eto glavnya tvoya cel'. Ydach tebe vo vsem i krepkogo zdorov'ya!!!!!!!!!!!. Celyu,lublu.Mama.