Blogs from Paris, Île-de-France, France, Europe - page 373

Europe » France » Île-de-France » Paris September 9th 2005

Today was the second day of meeting with other IES students, so I’ll backtrack a little to yesterday. Thursday I slept until 10:30, got ready and straightened up my room a little. I took my first metro ride (by myself!) to get to IES. It’s actually very easy because it’s just a five minute walk to the station and then six stops down the line. It takes about 20 minutes total to get to the center but my commute is much shorter than most other peoples are. Yesterday they gave us a bunch of practical information about insurance, evacuation plans and cell phones and then a quick tour of the center. We met only in a group of 30 so I still didn’t get to meet everyone. I met some girls afterward who wanted cell phones ... read more

Paris: Day Deux

Europe » France » Île-de-France » Paris September 8th 2005

eiffel tower

DTeam and Scottie

7:30- Use internal clock and get up with sun. Get ready in 10 minutes and eat long breakfast. Decide metro is far to easy, so we opt to urban hike Paris instead. 9:00- Race elevator up Eiffel Tower. Beat it no problem. 12:00- Start hike to Louvre. We would have swam the Seine, if we still had our swimsuits. 13:00- Re-fuel bodies with salmon sandwiches (or panini, or bocadillo, depending on your roots). 14:30- Battle tourists to get glimpse of Venus de Milo and the Mona Lisa, only leaving a few casualties. 15:30- Prefer looking at French statues... in the unpopular area of the Louvre. Reuse the "I spot titties!" joke we heard earlier from a fat American passing a topless beach on the Riviera. 17:00- Urban hiked to Notre Dame to please grandmothers. Said a ... read more

Studying?

Europe » France » Île-de-France » Paris September 7th 2005

Centre Pompidou

ktfox

Finally I found time to squeeze in more trips to museums and have been to Musée Carnavalet in the Marais which is a beautiful building holding the History of Paris (!) a bit overwhelming but free so I'll go back for more later. On Saturday a friend and I went to audition for a choir only to discover they wanted a lot of money for dues and they were all English speakers so instead we went to Musée Pompidou, a brilliant choice. The view from the top of the museum is fantastic! It covers from the Eiffel Tower to Sacré Coeur and on the terrace there is a pond with beautiful sculptures. To add to our state of wonder there were Mongolian monks giving a concert on the plaza below the museum so their song floated ... read more

A Day in the Life of 2 Colorado Girls in Paris

Europe » France » Île-de-France » Paris September 7th 2005

Moulin Rouge

DTeam and Scottie

5:45- Arrive in Paris, read Metro map and Paris street map as if we designed city. Arrive at pub aka hostel. 8:30- Upon review of wash closet, shower is too sketch, they're over rated anyways. 9:00- Fuel body with pastry and cafe au lait. 9:45- Return to train station. Buy tickets to Switzerland for 6 euros. 10:00- Focused sight seeing begins: opera house? check. 10:20- Perform Elephant Love Song medley (with harmonies) outside the Moulin Rouge. Bypassers mistake us for 2 Nicole Kidmins. 11:00- Metroed to a closed Marche de Puces. 11:01- Turned our frowns upsidown and marched to Arc de Triumphe. 12:00- Choked down chicken panini. Made a few Orangina jokes, pronouncing the "gina" part of Orangina as if it had a "va" in front of it. Haha. 13:00- Catacombs. Made like Indiana Jones and ... read more

All Settled In

Europe » France » Île-de-France » Paris September 7th 2005

Moulin Rouge

Jared

Well, I wanted to go ahead and post the pics I've taken since the last post even though I haven't taken the time to write much. I promise I will actually write stuff to go with the pics I post soon. Until then however, a funny story: I included the picture of my meal at a McDonald's (which I've only eaten at like 3 times in 10 days . . . it may seem like a lot but it is actually much less than I eat fast food in Edmond, and I'm really trying to eat local). You would not believe how popular (and expensive) "American" things are here, whether French people will admit it or not. McDonald's is one of these things (also included in this category is the Gap, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, surfer ... read more

Paris! Oui!

Europe » France » Île-de-France » Paris September 1st 2005

La Carte Orange

Jared

Well, I just got an adapter so my computer will have power and I'll finally be able to post some things. Its almost 1AM here so I'm tired right now, but click "read full text" to see some pictures to start off my blog.... read more

Becoming French

Europe » France » Île-de-France » Paris September 1st 2005

My room from the door

ktfox

After many experiences of miscommunication I finally felt French today. I walked home from the subway from a hard days work (lunch in Monmartre with friends and decorating an friend's apartment) and as I walked I stopped and bought flowers for my room, a little baguette, cheese, fruit and wine. And as I walked it began to rain, so I just whipped out my umbrella and strutted home, it was pretty great. What were these miscommunications prior to my day of French perfection? I went to the grocery store for the first time to buy necessities for my place and filled up my basket to the brim. I got to the cashier and she looked at me like I was crazy. Not so kindly she told me I needed to weigh my fruits and veggies. This ... read more

Place d'Italie

Europe » France » Île-de-France » Paris August 29th 2005

Parc Montsouris

ktfox

I have found an apartment! I am living in this great neighborhood a 5 min. walk from Place d'Italie in the 13th. My situation is to live rather closely with a French roommate who is a financial analyst for RCA. She is GREAT. I moved in yesterday and there was a note on the door, which said "Welcome Home!" She sleeps on a futon in the living room while I have the bedroom, a bit odd yes, but working fine so far! She has had students from my program for the last 3 years and they all have left her fluent! Here's hoping. On my walk home from the metro there are the following vendors: bread, flowers, cheese, meat, fish, fruit and veggies, and a supper market!!! Perfect. I am out of the center of Paris, ... read more

City of Lights

Europe » France » Île-de-France » Paris August 27th 2005

Eiffel Tower from Trocadero Palace

Mango

The monkey is off my back! I finally got around to taking the big trip...Paris and Rome packed into a single week. Now I can get back to general weekend laziness and sleeping until ungodly hours of the mid-afternoon! So that I can light up both France and Italy on the little TravelBlog map, and so that both you and I don't get totally bored with an epic blog entry, I'll split the 'Big One' into two entries. Just to preface this whole massive 2-blogger of a vacation, let me first say that the last week was probably the most strenuous 'vacation' I've ever taken. Work seemed like a cake walk this last week... Saturday: Kat lands at noon in Schipol and we're off to Amsterdam to visit the Van Gogh museum. Really cool, but the ... read more

Paris 2004

Europe » France » Île-de-France » Paris August 26th 2005

Arc De Triomphe

Nmirage

Paris 2004.... read more

Brief history of France

Although ultimately a victor in World Wars I and II, France suffered extensive losses in its empire, wealth, manpower, and rank as a dominant nation-state. Nevertheless, France today is one of the most modern countries in the world and is a leader am...more history

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