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Published: April 11th 2009
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La Tour Eiffel
View from the Musee d'Art Moderne Coucou! (hey! yeah like a cuckoo bird)
So I’m packing up getting ready to head out for a 2 week spring break in 2 days! I leave for Athens on Monday. I hope that I will have internet access when I am away so I can keep everyone updated on what I am doing.
These past two weeks went by fast. I’m trying to remember what all I have done since Marseille. A couple of Fridays ago, I went to the Louvre. On Friday nights, students get in free and about 4 times a year they have what’s called “Les jeunes ont les paroles” which is basically where students for different art classes at different universities all over Paris choose a painting to talk about and explain the meaning to the visitors. That was pretty neat, although I still have yet to see the Mona Lisa, one of these days I will go and get my museum pass that comes with being in an art class so I can go before it gets too crowded with tourists.
Last Saturday I went to Versailles with a couple of friends. It’s only about 40 minutes from where I live by metro, so it was a nice little day trip. I met up with some friends there and a friend of a friend, Aurelien, who went to school in Versailles. He was able to show us around a bit, so that was nice. We waited in line to get in for over an hour because we thought that we would get in free because of a new law that Sarkozy created, that says if you are under the age of 26 you get in free to all national museums and monuments. Well we wait in line all that time only to find out that you have to be a member of the EU for that to apply, so a couple of us decided to not go in and to just walk around the town a bit. I am going to actually go into the Palace with my mom at the end of May so n’inquiet pas (don’t worry). Turns out that you have to pay to get into the gardens starting in April, so we didn’t go in those either. We walked around a bit and went to another park right next to the actual Gardens of the Palace, so we were actually able to see the famous fountains from a distance. We found a place where you can rent a row boat, so we did that for an hour. It was fun, but really hard work at the same time. Its really hard to navigate a row boat: if you’ve never done it, you just haven’t lived. We did a lot of walking around the rest of the day, and then caught the metro back to Versailles.
Later that night I went with Jenee to my friends Jerome’s apartment to hang out with him and our other friend Sebastian (yeah like from the little mermaid). Then we went out to dinner at this chain restaurant called Hippopotamus and at some hippo burgers made with real hippo meat! No I’m just kidding, but I did get a steak, it was decent, but nothing can compare to my dad’s steaks and US grown beef with all the hormones. I honestly don’t care about the stupid hormones; it makes beef cheaper and better so I’m okay with it. Then we headed over to our favorite bar Shywawa, in the Latin Quarter, we had a lot of fun.
Last Wednesday, I went to 2 museums. I went to the Musée Dapper, which has African art focused on women. It was really interesting to see all of that stuff. It’s interesting because as soon as the young girls hit a certain age their tribe starts training them to be mothers. Their dolls are carved from wood and are made to resemble fetuses with not fully formed arms and big heads. A women is seen to be beautiful when she is married and is the most beautiful pregnant or as a mother. Much of the art symbolizes this ideal with carvings of pregnant women, or of women with children. It’s weird to think about all the different ideals of what a women should be based on different cultures. Personally I am glad to have all the freedoms that I have and have the same rights as men, but that doesn’t mean that they are wrong in what they believe, it’s just different.
After that museum, I walked to the Musée d’art Moderne. There was an exhibit there of Chirico, a French artist from the 19th century. He painted in the style of what’s called Dada. It was interesting, but personally I’m not a huge fan of it, but I think it’s better than cubism. Later that night, I went to a Language exchange and met up with Aurelien, the guy that showed us around Versailles, Megan, and Molly, who are both in my study abroad program. It was fun; there were a lot of people there: French, British, Tunisian, American, etc. We spent half the time talking in English and half the time in French. I had a lot of fun and I will definitely be going back.
I had my Literature test this past week, um… idk how it went; I will have to wait until after spring break to find out. Otherwise, my classes are still going good, I got a 16/20 on my language test which is equivalent to an A back in the US, so I was pretty excited about that. I’ve been trying to catch up on homework before I head out for 2 weeks. I have a lot of papers to write and I have to write a journal about all of the museums I go to for my art class.
Paris has been great the last couple of weeks, otherwise, despite the typical spring weather of rain. Today it is just beautiful, so sunny and warm. I walk through the Luxembourg Gardens and more and more every day there are more people especially when it is nice. The flowers are in bloom and its truly gorgeous. One thing that is funny though, is that they placed this big bronze sculpture of a head in the gardens. Personally I think it is ugly, but without fail there are always a million tourists taking pictures with it. I don’t get it, it’s a 20 ft tall sculpture of a random head, but to each their own I guess. I am loving the weather, but it is just another sign that the semester will soon be coming to an end. Ugh don’t want to think about it. But I am excited because my mom is coming to visit at the end of May right before I leave. We are going to spend a few days in Paris, one in Versailles (she actually studied abroad there when she was in college), then we are heading to Bordeaux for two days, and the up to Tours. In Tours we are going to stay with my host family, so it will be really nice to see them again, and I am glad that my mom can meet them.
Here is my itinerary for spring break… Monday 4/13 Athens, Tuesday 4/14 take the Ferry to Santorini, spend 2 nights in Santorini enjoying the sun and the black sand beaches, 4/16 head back to Athens and see all the sights there, Saturday 4/18 catch a plane to Madrid and stay with Jasmin’s friends, Monday 4/20 go to Barcelona for two days, then back to Madrid, the leave Thursday for Tangier in Morocco. I seriously can’t wait; I know I am going to have so much fun. Just pray for safe travels for me please, this is the first big trip that I am taking without any guides or responsible adults (I guess I am an adult, but lacking on the side of responsibility, jk).
Well tonight I am going to the Eiffel tower, with Jasmin’s friends who are here, for the first time since January, sad I know. It should be fun though.
I hope everyone has a really great Easter. To my family: I miss you and I will be thinking about you tomorrow, I love you all very much! Sorry that there's only one picture, I haven't been taking enough I know.
Until Later,
Katie
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