Flâner: (v) to wander

Finally the weekend! I was anxious to get out in Paris and be able to do my own thing. I will admit that the orientation was good in that I saw things that I wouldn't necessarily have visited otherwise, like the Paris Mosque.

It was built as a gift to the Arab community in Paris to commemorate the military service of the North African colonial soldiers who fought with the French during World War 1. For a while it was the only mosque in Paris, and the intensity of feeling and attachment to it is evident. Every few years, the mosaic tiles are replaced by Moroccan artisans especially selected for the task. The building itself is beautiful, but you aren't allowed to take pictures of the inside since it's disrespectful to the people attending services, so I took a lot of pictures of the garden in the back. We also went to the Institut Arabe, which was designed by the architect Jean Nouvel. The outside is really interesting because it's a modern take on the mosques: the panels on the outside walls open and close in relation to how much sunlight is entering the building. The Institut didn't house art so much as objects - lots of old ceramics and different versions of the Koran.


On Saturday I had time to go to the Musée d'Orsay, which I think is my favorite museum I've ever been to. It's in a converted train station, and the first floor is this massive display of sculptures. Lots of Rodin and Maillot. I actually didn't think I liked sculpture that much until I came here. While a lot of the sculpture from this period borrows from classical style, it seems more relatable or emotive in a way. One of my favorites was in the entrance court and is called "La Jeune Tarantine."
I took a class in 19th century French painting, and I think I saw every single work that I studied last semester. With that said, it's a museum that anyone can enjoy because so many of the pieces are iconic - Manet's Déjeuner sur l'herbe, lots of Monet's, Degas' dancers, etc. Even the Monet reproduction that mom had in her bathroom for years was there!
One of the things that was really funny was a display of figurines that were caricatures of aristocrats or elected officials in France. The French seem obsessed with caricatures. The front page of a newspaper that's the equivalent of our New York Times will have a half-page cartoon or drawing on the front.After the Musée d'Orsay, I wandered over to Shakespeare and Company, across the Seine from the Notre Dame cathedral. It's an incredible little place - writers in residence live there and you literally stumble onto sofas that are converted into their beds once the store closes. There was even a copy of a Robert Parker Spenser book there, so I made sure to snap a picture for dad.
Saturday night I went to a nightclub called Étoile that I guess is a huge deal here.  Huge deal apparently means a 25euro cover charge to walk in the door.  Luckily I was wearing heels, because the person behind me was turned down for wearing flats.  I come from a world where missing 1cent drinks at Toads amounts to tragedy, so I assumed 25euro would get me something.  I asked the bouncer what table to sit at and he looked me up and down and said "Non mademoiselle, une table c'est 250euro par personne.  Mais on vous donne une bouteille de champagne."  I thought that meant getting a table for the night, but apparently sitting down is not allowed either.  It was fun, I guess - I met the US olympic long-distance track runners, including one I saw in the trials on TV.  Just my luck that the only olympic athletes I meet in Paris have ponytails and weigh about as much as I do.

Sunday we went on a river cruise on the Seine with the program, but the weather was pretty cloudy. I did manage to get a decent photo of the Eiffel Tower

 and learned that the Louvre and the Musée d'Orsay were actually right across from each other. The métro is amazing, but one of the downsides is that when you go underground and emerge at your destination, you barely get a sense of how the city is organized. Going along the Seine is a good way of understanding where things are in relation to one another.

In home news, the cat is winning. In a cage match, Youffi would knock me out in a second. Not only does he have about thirty pounds on me, but that thing shows no mercy. I'm still trying to find a new place, which has been hard since the housing coordinator decided that the first week of the semester would be a great time to take a vacation.

I started my three week intensive french class today. It's awkward because I don't have a lot of written training in French, so they had no idea where to place me. Still, I'm getting a good review of things that I know sound right but never knew why, which will definitely help my writing. I'm planning on taking three classes at the Sorbonne and Paris VII, so I need to brush up on that.

Definitely feel free to post on this blog or get in touch with me by e-mail.  That way I don't feel like I'm baring my soul to an empty internet room...Also, my first column for the Yale Herald is coming up this Friday, so I'll make sure to keep you posted on that.

XO

Stephanie