Blogs from Paris, Île-de-France, France, Europe - page 372

Amanda The highlights from today for me were visiting the Catacombes, Sainte-Chapelle and the Dali Exhibition. We also did a whirlwind tour of a few other touristy places. The catacombes were really freaky. Walking through corridors piled high with the bones of millions of dead Parisians is the kind of experience that makes you realise how fragile we human beings are. There were many inscriptions (in French of course) throughout the quarry tunnels that told of how at any moment death could be upon any one of us. Sainte-Chapelle has been referred to as “a gateway to heaven” and it certainly was very beautiful. The photos can’t really compare to the experience of being there. The top floor of this church has 15m high stained-glass windows that depict biblical stories separated by very thin columns of ... read more

Amanda We have arrived in Paris. C'est trés beau! We have had a busy few days taking in the sights as well as giving Amsterdam one last peek. We saw a film in a lovely theatre in Amsterdam (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). Then we walked through the red light district at night. It was a lot busier and brighter... and more wares were on display... Since then... On Saturday ae travelled in the TGV (very fast train) from Amsterdam to Paris. I was a little surprised that there were no passport checks involved... At first I was very overwhelmed with being in Paris. I speak very little French and there was another culture to get used to... but I'm doing much better now. After we settled into our hotel (nice room - thanks Denise!), we ... read more

Salut tout le monde! Well this is one tired and stressed out girl. This is a HARD program. This week has been a mix of work and play that was really tough. Monday I had an exam in my language class, which felt fine but took a bunch of time to prep for because it was on all the little things (there are so many little things!!!!). Tuesday I had a paper and then Wednesday I had to read 60 some odd pages by Foucault on Nietzsche, Freud, and Marx. Fun? We had a seminar on the Foucault packet, which was amazing and was the beginning of one of my classes The Theory and Method of Critical Studies. We are meeting in this seminar weekly until courses actually begin the second week of October. I was ... read more

This morning was a very early wake up as we were to meet outside of the hotel with all our bags to join up with our Conitki group. I had a bit of a panic this morning trying to stuff as much crap into my backpack as possible. Apparently they were going to weigh our suitcase to ensure it was less than 45lbs. Why they do this, I have no idea. We checked out of the Imperial Hotel with my backpack bulging trying to get my suitcase below the alloted weight limit. Outside, there were about 10 others waiting to get picked up to meet at the Royal National Hotel. After waiting awhile, we realized that we probably weren't going to get picked up so we all ventured over to the Royal National. Thankfully, it ... read more

Well, no, not really (all cute single females under the age of 25, please disregard) (Katherine, please disregard previous disregard), but yeah...since my visit to the Moulin Rouge in Paris trip #2, I've had freakin' Lady Marmalade stuck in my head at all random times of the day and night, right now being no exception. You'd think I'd be over it by now, since it's been a whole week and I've had a few nights out and a trip to Groningen to block it out, but no....fuzzy visions of Christina "Dirrty" Aguilera, Pink, and half-naked showgirls keep appearing, which is both good and bad, as you can imagine. It's been a while since an update, but to be honest, I--much like yourself, I can only imagine--am starting to lose energy in the blog. Atop the fact ... read more