salad of ideas

This is a pic of my room! Below it is a pic of the Comedie Francaise, where we went for our Bing outing to see the Mariage of Figaro!

The internet is a wonderful thing! I've only had it for a day now at my host family's house, and already it's revolutionizing my life. For example, I can look up hostels for Barcelona, do homework, and figure out where to get my hair cut at 10pm! Sweetness.

Today I remembered that the soldes won't be lasting for much longer. As a result, I am in a panic trying to convince myself that, no, I don't need more clothes. Or shoes. Or accessories. Or even just socks? Aah, I want everything.

Today I had WWII class early in the morning, which I was half-dead at. I've been really tired since we got back from Dublin, so I'd better make up for some of that sleep debt before we leave this weekend for Flandres. At 2 (14h) I'm meeting up with one of my art history classes at the Louvre to discuss Ingres. There has been a ton of reading for that class, and basically the novel I just (mostly) read just says that Ingres was the laughing stock of the Salon during his membership. (The Salon du Louvre was like "the" art association back in the day. Being a member meant that you were regarded as a legit painter. Maybe kind of similar to a Rhodes Scholar in terms of its status?)

I am slowly becoming self-conscious of my writing on this blog. I feel like, as a creative writing major, you will all be judging how interesting/engaging/funny this is. Well too bad for you, because I'm just writing things as they come and not editing. (Though I will not be posting any poetry =/= too bad.)

I've been having good talks with my host family lately about religion, France in WWII, and painting. For my birthday, my host parents bought me two books (on Michel-Ange and l'histoire de la mode). My host mum also made six mini cakes, with candles. It was super nice of them. It's weird, I'm starting to feel like we're becoming friends but it's still super awkward because... well... it just is? (I just realized I forget how to use ellipses.)

Anyway, I wanted to start researching some hairdressers and maybe a nail salon (choosing one as a belated b-day activity), so adios! I'm going to try to pepper in some random pics/vids with this one. I guess explanations will follow at a later date.

xoxo

More fun things that I forgot I did

I forgot about an entire day that was really fun in Paris a while ago.

I went to Les Halles (the old marketplace) to do some early shopping. After that, I met up with my friends Mackenzie, Michael, Hei Munn, and Midori. Then a few of us went out to lunch at a traditional french restaurant called "Pied de Cochon". This restaurant is famous for serving traditional (wow that word has like no synonyms, sry) french cuisine. This means huitres (oysters), pig feet, tripe, pig's head, and other such grossness.

Since JW's dad generously took us all out, naturally I felt inclined to try everything. I ordered tripe (not realizing what I was ordering) which was gr-oss. I literally couldn't eat it. On the other hand, I tried foie gras, pate, oyster, and shared escargot with Midori. I really like oysters. They're kind of slimy, but not as crunchy as I thought they would be. Also, I now love duck. (I am resolving to love goat cheese by the end of these 3 months.)

After lunch, Michael, JW, and I went to a MONUM tour. In Paris, the National Monument Association (or whatever it is) offers free tours every day about the history of Parisian monuments, historical districts, etc. We learned about the "Les Halles" area, mostly in terms of it's restaurants and the Eglise St.-Eustache. This tour was AWESOME. It was filled with all of these tiny old French people who seemed glad just to see someone young at close proximity. During the tour, our guide took us in to restaurants, stood behind the counters, and lectured to us while the servers were taking orders, chipping in historical information, and laughing along with the rest of the group. Only in Paris.

Anyway, Mid and I are off to meet up with another Stanfordian, Andrew, for dinner here in Dublin. Peace out!

Dublin!

Hello hello from the emerald isle!

Weather has treated us very well so far. Ireland is an awesome place! The way there was quite an undertaking, as Beauvais airport (where the cheap airlines fly out), is located pretty far outside of Paris. Also, on the way in to Dublin, my ears nearly didn't pop on the plane and thus hurt a lot! It turned out alright in the end, though, and we made our slow way by bus to the hostel. Our hostel is pretty nice. Dublin is pretty small, so we're within walking distance of most of the things you would want to see. (Minus the horse races, unfortunately.) The only drawback is Midori and I's roommate Nathan (booking coed rooms was much cheaper, so we took a chance) who is a die-hard Man United fan and smokes and drinks alone all day in our room. Other than that, the front desk is very friendly/helpful, and we get breakfast in the 'morn.

Our first day flew by pretty quickly. We ended up getting a cheap dinner at a kebab place, and went to a local pub called the Bleeding Horse for drinks after. I started ticking boxes off of my irish checklist by ordering a pint of Guiness (for you, dad!). Pubs here are PACKED. There is barely any room to move around, let alone sit. Most are multi-level, and have live entertainment that is AWESOME. (That and St. Stephen's Green are my favourite parts of Dublin.) There is a video of that to follow. After watching a bit of football and having a couple of pints at the Bleeding Horse, we headed towards the downtown core and ended up at a place called the Stag's Head. Thankfully, we were able to squeeze into a corner on the lowest of the three floors, and parked it there for most of the night, listening to the amazing traditional music.

Yesterday we took a free 3 1/2-hour walking tour of the city that included mostly all of the highlights. Our tour guide was very funny. Things here are GREEN. As in, the greenest grass and bushes, etc., that you've ever seen in your life. It's like being in Oz or something. (Pictures to follow, I don't have my cable to upload them with me.) Among the things we visited were Trinity College, Dublin Castle, and St. Stephen's Green. Dinner was at a restaurant recommended by the front desk (that we didn't get in to the night before because we had no reservation), and it was GREAT. It was ten euro for entrees, and we shared starters and desserts. I ticked a couple more boxes off the checklist with Bailey's, Smithwicks, and a couple of irish whiskeys (e.g. Paddy), by the end of the night. After dinner, we went to a pub called Temple Bar, which is "the" famous pub in Dublin. Drinks were expensive, it was literally packed with people (especially "stag" and "hen" parties), so we left pretty quickly and ended up in a smaller joint with, once again, superb live music. This time, the musicians were doing irish takes of hit songs. After that, we hit up da club on the way home. It was packed with girls, and awkward eurodancers. Thus, we left.

Today we wanted to go on a tour of a distillery. We chose Jameson. The tour was basically filled with propaganda about why Jameson is the best, but Midori and I were selected as part of a group of volunteers to be taste-testers at the end. We sat at a table with eight others (in front of the group), and went through the process of comparing 12 year-old premium scotch whiskey, Jack Daniels, and Jameson. Jameson was agreed to be the best (surprisingly). For participating, Midori and I got certificates with our names on them that "certify" us as "official whiskey tasters". Tonight we are planning on eating/hanging out at/in a pub. My flight leaves at 6:35 tomorrow AM. (= yikes!)

Tomorrow I am planning on going to Pere Lachaise cemetery for Applebaum's class to visit Jim Morrison, among others. Also have my painting class, and am somewhat dreading our new unit: portraiture! Stay tuned for new pictures and videos when I get back!

Jlu

Vancouver comes to Paris

...So today it's raining a lot. I'm in the centre, and it's too late for me to make the metro to meet the rest of the girls for the fashion museum. I think I'll probably go visit a building for one of my classes, get a sandwich to go, and spend the rest of the day inside. It is quite cold when it rains, but not brutally cold like home.

I'm currently trying to upload some of my videos. I have some really great ones from the field trip with Mark (experimental music studio), and from the PSG game. (The graffiti in my last post is from the field trip. The building is called the "frigos" because after WWI it was used as a food storage fridge. Now it's run-down and has been tagged by graffiti artists.) Hopefully the upload will be possible. Crossing my fingers with the internet.

Last night all of us in the Paris Arts Practicum or the Survey went to Mark's house for wine, cheese, quiche, amuse-bouches (hors d'oeuvres that can be eaten in one bite), and delicious desserts. We were told some very interesting stories about his friends, and travels to Ethiopia and the Arctic. Also, I learned that one of the cheeses had ash on it. Eugh. JW tells me this is normal for cheese. I say this isn't normal for anything. (Who eats ash!?) I was happy, however, that my family had given me a thorough education on how to cut cheese from the cheese platter a couple of nights ago.

As I wrote that last paragraph it occurred to me that I perhaps haven't stated which courses I'm taking! They are as follows:

-painting and use of colour (taken at an art school)

-a history class of WWII taught by a French historian

-Mark's Paris Art Practicum (we make art)

-Mark's Paris Art Survey (we go look at art)

-nineteenth-century art

Tonight is our first Bing-sponsored field trip. We are going to the Comedie Francaise, one of the most traditional, old theatre companies in Paris! We are going to see Le Mariage de Figaro, again that word, traditional play. It's going to be three hours long! Also, we have to be there at 8 (20h), which is usually dinner time in Paris. Thus, my family is eating early, *gasp* at 19h!

Some of my friends and I are thinking about spending the rest of our reimbursement money (100 euro total) for Mark's class (we have to go to cultural events each week, last week was PSG) on a meal at a Michelin restaurant. Since there are many things we can do for free and can still report on (like going to museums for free because we're art history students, or even just riding the metro), I think this would be a great investment. More to come on that, I suppose.

Ah, I see that some of my downloads aren't working! You'll have to miss out on some vids. But here is one that worked:

till later!!!

Reflections on Paris Thus Far

So the 8th of January (my sister's birthday) I said goodbye to my family at the hotel. After they left, I took a taxi to the hostel where I was to stay with other Stanford students. Orientation went by in a whirlwind. Needless to say, the Bing family was excessively generous in the gifts they have given to us students. I thought of my sister (who was given few or no tools for her 6-month stay in Paris) as we were given an entire packet of information, Navigo cards, BNP account cards, money, free trips, free tickets, and des tas de remboursements deStanford. (I might lapse into French a little bit as I am now leading a double life. Also, my English might be rusty/incorrect!) All in all, students from our school are very lucky, and very spoiled, to have access to all of the wonderful opportunities and information given to us by our school. (Thankfully our group is very conscious of that.)

After orientation, our group disbanded to head to our familles d'acceuil (host families). I was surprised (and BEYOND excited) to find out that I would be living in the 7th arrondissement, in fact, right down the street from Melissa's old school! I live on the same street as Prada, YSL, Christian Louboutin, (etc.), and across the street from Moschino! In fact, I live kiddy corner (sp?) to a cafe where my family and I ate last summer. I am a ten to fifteen minute walk from school, and only two metro stops away. If I travel 2 blocks, I am at a Laduree, and 4 blocks take me to the edge of the Seine, facing the exact middle of the Louvre. Yesterday, I read a biography of David in which he was said to have been walking down my street pondering his next big painting. This is vraiment le paradis.

The family I am living with is lovely. As you might have guessed by my description of our area, they are anciens aristocrats: their last name, de Gatellier (emphasis on the DE) indicates that they are so. I have taken several pictures of their apartment. It is in the Louis XIV style, I would say, "Belle Epoque", with a formal salon and dining room. My room is very spacious, and the bed is lofted and recessed into the wall. I am currently experiencing problems connecting with their wifi, but hopefully this will be resolved by next Tuesday. In terms of who is in the family, I am staying with an older couple, whose four children are married and have left the house. The man's name is Bernard, and his wife's name is Claire. Their children range from old (I don't know how old but she has 3 kids), to young (22). My favourite of their offspring is Charles (who was the first de Gatellier I met and carried my luggage up all of the stairs), and his wife, Diane. Charles likes to hunt (everything that moves), and studied for some time in England. Diane is an English teacher who still takes classes with the hope of one day becoming a translator. (The contract does not permit us to speak in English. I wouldn't mind, but they are the strict type.) My host mother told me that Diane had a miscarriage a short time ago, and that her and Charles have been very torn up about it. I like spending time with them, because I think it helps them to be distracted for a little while.

I suppose space doesn't permit me to expand on every single anecdote (of which there are many), and also there are a few involving my being severely lost late at night which will not be included (because my mum won't like reading about it). Suffice it to say that I am adjusting semi-quickly to life here in Paris, though I get lost multiple times, in multiple directions, daily. (Even though I carry three maps with me.)

Highlights thus far, you beg? Well, here is a point-form, sparknotes-style rundown of some of my fav memories thus far:

-spending the day touring a small museum in the Marais district with Charles and Diane, then having tea, hot chocolate, and macarons with them at Laduree

-going to a PSG game and seeing the crazy fans (video to follow)

-visiting a museum of experimental instruments with Mark Applebaum (our professor in residence 

who is researching this field at Stanford) (video to follow)

-going places with Midori

-eating formal dinners with the 

extended de Gatellier family (or their friends)

-staying out late with my peeps Ali, Ashley, Farrah, Hei Munn, JW, Midori, Mike

-walking through a Parisian market

-the walk to my painting class (best croque of my life)

-eating real ratatouille made for me by my host mum (who is from ratatouille central)

-being immersed in a land of art (and attempting to soak it all up)

-being the only one in my painting class at the advanced art school who has never painted (though my teachers tell me that my lemon was "very well done")

-window shopping. everywhere.

-watching Obama's inauguration with Americans

-getting a lesson on "how to properly cut cheese from the cheese platter" from my host parents

-learning that my host dad was scared to meet me because the description said I was "very athletic" and he thought that meant I would be an Amazon

-speaking French everywhere, and feeling it slowly seep back

-enjoying young guys playing/singing acoustic Rolling Stones (they were awesome!) on a train in the metro, then getting off the train and hearing some kind of Russian folk music in the station (also awesome, full ensemble) --> art in the metro is awesome!

-things I am forgetting!!

Hopefully I will be able to add to this list soon as things start coming back to me. It's taken me far too long to get a start on this, but hopefully I'll be able to make further (and better) use of this as the quarter progresses. For now, chers readers, au revoir! Look forward to updates, especially from this weekend in Dublin! (I am not looking forward to getting on my return flight, on my birthday, at 6am Dublin time! :)  )

bisous from France,

Jen

First Post!!

Hello everyone!

As it stands, I am running out the door to make an inauguration-watching party at Mark Applebaum's house (the prof in residence with us here).

I will try to update this blog ASAP with all of my adventures thus far, but I'm having internet problems!

A tout a l'heure!

<3!