London Calling

Hi everyone!

So I'm back in Paris after about ten days out of the city. My tour wrapped up with a weekend in London, visiting Barb and Jeremy and seeing the sights.

London has such a different energy than Paris does - much bigger and faster paced. Barb and Jeremy were great tour guides - we saw so much in the short time that we were there! One of the first things we did was go to the Tate Modern, where there's a big Mark Rothko exhibition going on. It was really interesting, since it's the first time that they've had such a large series of his works collected in the same place. They weren't necessarily ones I was familiar with (every college student has a Rothko print somewhere in their room it seems), but seeing that many of his larger canvases in one gallery was an experience in and of itself. There was also something downstairs about it raining in the future and all the sculptures growing and people living in bunk beds - very abstract, but we got some cool pictures.

We also went to a huge outdoor market and had real fish and chips for lunch, which were delicio

us and very much not part of the "get less fat in Paris" plan, but well worth it. We did so much walking that day that it's almost hard to keep track!

I know for a fact I harassed the police men in the funny costumes because there is photographic evidence. We also went to Buckingham palace that day and took lots of pictures of the building. Sadly, Prince Harry was out of town (we checked up on it, not embarrassing at all)...

That night, Marisa and I went out to pubs in Clapham, near Barb and Jeremy's house, the details of which I will spare you all. The next day, we went to Westminster Abbey and saw the poets' corner. Unfortunately, you can't take pictures in the church, but it was really cool to see the graves of basically everyone I've read in the last five years or so (I'm not sure if that's a morbid thought or not...)

We also went to the Tate Britain to see a Francis Bacon exhibition - the general consensus was that if you took all of your childhood nightmares and had them painting, his work is what you'd get. There was also a really cool thing going on - as a sort of installation piece, runners would sprint down the main gallery in one minute intervals. So imagine looking at a painting and having someone whizz by behind you. I got a few pictures of them, but obviously they're blurry since they were running pretty fast.

The next day, Barb and Jeremy were nice enough to get us tickets for a special Renaissance Portraits exhibition going on at the National Gallery. It was great to see that many museums because Marisa, the friend that I went with, is an art history major. These pieces were also so iconic that even with my limited background, I could easily recognize some things. I even noticed that some of the portraits were borrowed from the Prado and that I had seen them when I was in Madrid a few years ago.

The night after getting back to Paris, I went to a wine tasting organized by my program. It was incredible - the sommelier was only a few years older than us but definitely knew his stuff. We tasted six wines - two champagnes, two reds and two whites, all from France, and they were all paired with really really good cheese. It was a nice way to get re-introduced to Parisian life. Work has definitely started to kick in and the weather turned awful the second we got back, so we're all staying indoors until Halloween tomorrow night. I'm being a French girl, and pictures will be posted!

All of the pictures from my trip to London can be seen by clicking the link below:

London

Until next time,
xo
Stephanie

Cezanne was here...

This past week I went to Aix-en-Provence with a quarter of the students on my program for our scheduled home-stay trip in a different part of France. It was great to get out of the city for a while and get to know a different area. The painter Cézanne is from Aix, and it's amazing how much you can see the inspiration for his paintings.

The first day, we went to an incredible bastide (kind of between a chateau and a villa) for a cooking class with a really famous chef, whose name I'm now of course forgetting. He made poisson à la marseillaise, poulet au vin, and a tarte aux poires right in front of us. Then we got to walk around his massive home and gardens, complete with a pigeon aviary, exotic bird pen, 4 pointers and 6 pugs, donkeys, and god knows what else. Then we sat down to our delicious catered meal - the chateau life is definitely one I could get used to.

In the afternoon, we drove to the chateau at the Beaux-de-Provence, about a half hour away. The chateau is at the top of this giant hill. Back in the day, there was a Roman village there, and you can still see the ruins from the kitchens.

The next day we were left with our families in Aix, and I went to the outdoor market in the morning. Everything was delicious, I thought, except for a pastry that the region is famous for called calissons - not necessarily my taste. The outdoor market, however, definitely was.




The next day, our families got together for what we were told was a walk on the beach. Apparently a walk on the beach in Aix means a hike through the cliffs and mountains that happen to look out at the ocean. After being made fun of for not wearing proper shoes, we did a two hour trek to find a perfect rock to sit on on the shores between Marseille and Aix-en-Provence. The weather was beautiful though, and it's always amazing to see the ocean. All of the pictures can be found at the following link:

Aix en Provence, Marseille, Sainte Victoire

On Monday, our group went on a guided tour to Marseille. We took a boat to the the frioule island off the coast and embarked on what we were again told was a walk on the beach. This time, it was a steep rocky cliff overlooking the ocean. We stopped and had a picnic by the water before going back into Marseille, where we went to the top of the city to visit the Notre Dame cathedral there.

On Tuesday, we went on what we were actually warned was a hike - a three and a half hour trek up the Mont Sainte Victoire near Aix. Our guide was Provençal to a tee - instead of "manger" he said "mangier" and "pain" became "paigne." The hike was definitely hard, but it was amazing when we came down to see how high we actually went. We hiked all the way up to the cross at the top of the mountain and then did a detour on the way down towards a lake. Cezanne painted lots of landscapes of Sainte Victoire, and I'll think of the hike every time I see one from now on.

I'm back in Paris for just a night before going to London for the weekend, so I'll post after my trip!
xo
Stephanie

The big pink dog...

This past week, I finally started my classes at the Sorbonne. I don't understand a lot about the university system here, but the Sorbonne is made up of Paris I and Paris IV, but I can't really tell what distinguishes them. They share buildings, and my classes are scattered everywhere in Paris, but one is right next to the Pantheon which is pretty cool.

Because lectures started but discussion sections didn't, I had some free time to go down to Versailles for an afternoon. Jeff Koons, a living American artist, has some of his work displayed in the Palace.

His stuff is very contemporary, some of it selling for millions of dollars. A lot of people are completely outraged by the exhibit, but I really liked the idea of contemporary pieces being displayed this way in an old space. Some highlights were this pink dog above, and a sculpture of a dinosaur in the gardens outside. Nothing, however, compares to the outdoor gardens.
For more pictures of my trip to Versailles, go to

http://picasaweb.google.com/stephanierichards2010...They're all there!

Until next time,
Stephanie

Airports and Airplanes and Customs Oh My...

Hello everyone!

After a week in Montreal and three days in Spain, I'm back in Paris for the long(ish) haul of the semester. While I wasn't in Montreal for the best of reasons, it was still nice to see the whole family. It was a sad weekend, but it allowed for all of us to be together which doesn't happen very often. 

I had already made plans to go to Madrid to visit my friend Jessalyn and decided to go through with them instead of coming straight back to Paris. My classes hadn't started yet, so it was a convenient moment to get some traveling done.

I loved Madrid! I can barely remember being there in high school because it was such a different experience. When you're with a group of Americans being herded from one destination to another and too young to 

really enjoy the nightlife, a city definitely seems different. Some things though, like the Plaza Mayor are pretty unforgettable.

The first night in Madrid, I was somewhat tired after having done an overnight flight from Montreal with a short stop in Paris. I met up with Jess at my hostel and we walked to a nearby tapas bar. Another thing that's great about Madrid is that it's SO much cheaper than Paris! I almost laughed when we got our first bill - an entire meal cost less than a salad does in Paris.

The next day, we brought lunch to the Plaza Mayor and went to see La Guernica at the Reina Sofia modern art museum. We had both been before, sin

ce we participated in the same exchange in Madrid during high school, but La Guernica is the kind of painting that you can see again and again. That night, we managed to get into a flamenco show at Casa Patas. The manager was nice enough to let us in at the last minute even though we didn't have

 reservations. The show was amazing! I love flamenco music. It was separated into three parts, one with a female dancer, then a male dancer, then the two of them together, all with a five person band behind them. That was the one thing I wanted to do while in Spain, and I was so excited that I got the chance.

After flamenco, Jess and I went to meet some of her friends from her Duke program, and we went out to the discotecas. All

 techno music like most European clubs, but it's always fun to see how people dress and dance differently.

My flight was leaving at 5:00 on Sunday, so we only had a little bit of time in the morning. We went to the rastro, which is a HUGE outdoor market. I bought a really nice purse for 5 euro and a scarf for 2. Overall, Madrid was a great trip. It was nice to have a little bit of a buffer between Montreal and Paris. And I was pleasantly surprised that I had retained most of my spanish - I was worried that a few years off from class would but a

 dent in it, but it was easy to get back into. People in Madrid are also so friendly, which is a refreshing change from Paris, where they're a little bit more reserved.

I started classes this morning, but only had my grammar class with my program. Later this week, I'll be starting classes at the Sorbonne, which I'm excited about. It's weird to think about my friends at Yale starting midterms when I haven't even started, so my semester will seem really short. Next week, I go to Aix-en-Provence in southern France for a week-long homestay with a family, and the following weekend I go to London to visit Barb and Jeremy. A lot of things at once, but I'm excited!

xo

Stephanie