Hey, we said goodbye.

On Bastille Day, July 14, a truck drove into a crowd of spectators in Nice, France, killing around 80 people. On that same day, 686 kilometers (426 miles) away in Paris, we were slowly wrapping up our three-week long journey abroad. Eating as many crepes and macaroons as we could. Making plans to meet up with those friends that kept us grounded when we couldn't remember how to say "water" in French. Reveling in the festivities of the holiday as if the holiday was our own. Trying, and maybe failing, to pack away all those dirty clothes and memories into one single suitcase.

There is no denying that with this trip came a lot of life lessons. Not only were we sent out into a city to live on our own (with a little help from our teachers), but we were sent into a city halfway across the world. Different language. Different culture. Different everything. I learned that nothing, none of my customs or thought processes or the words of my language, is concrete. I may like a fast life style and be against smoking, but that teenage girl from Paris that I passed on the street may have a different opinion. I learned to revel in life. It's not enough to take a picture. You have to experience the world around you outside of a tiny handheld screen. I learned that art is everywhere and that history is everywhere and that even beauty is everywhere if you look closely enough. 

But, most importantly, I learned that the world is small. Not only because I ran into a friend randomly in a city halfway across the world from home with a population of 2.244 million people. I learned that the world is small because there were hundreds of languages waiting right outside our door. I learned that the world is small because we visited museums with thousands of years of history from hundreds of different countries. I learned that the world is small because although that girl from Paris prefers a slower lifestyle and likes smoking, she still probably has some of the same struggles that I face on a daily basis. I learned that the world is small because 686 kilometers away from where I was, ooh-ing and ahh-ing at the fireworks shooting off the Eiffel Tower, around 80 families were soon to find out they had lost their loved ones on a night when they were supposed to be celebrating. I learned that the world is small because no matter how much we try to separate ourselves from the problems of the world, they're never too far away, whether they are 686 kilometers away while we're abroad or a few cities over from our hometown or maybe even in our own backyard. The world is a small place, and we are all connected no matter how separate we may seem. 

I truly enjoyed my time in Paris, and it is a trip that I will never forget. I don't mention the tragedy in Nice as a discouragement for those looking to go abroad. Because I recommend traveling 100%. It's an experience that can change you. I mention the tragedy in Nice because I couldn't wrap up my celebration of French culture and history and art without paying respect to a city whose own celebration was so abruptly cut short. 

Thank you for taking this journey with me. Now go out there and find your next journey. In the meantime, I'll be out there somewhere finding mine. 

Au revoir. M

Hey, I graffiti'd a wall.

First of all, this day wasn't titled "Graffiti Day." It was titled "Street Art Day." Because we weren't seeking out graffiti and making graffiti. It was all street art. And it was awesome. This was many of my classmates' favorite day on our journey, so here's a whole bunch of appreciation pictures for all of the street art:

In addition to seeking out street art in the city and learning about the different types, such as stickers and stencils and tags and so on, we also had the chance to experience street art first hand by making some of our own. While the design was Jake's, and we did add the individual colors to our street art, it was pretty much the work of our teacher. Although we like to tell people that we did it all by ourselves. 

Until next time and au revoir. M

Hey, I ate more ice cream.

Pablo Picasso Museum. Burgers. A French play. Ice cream. That can pretty much sum up this day on our trip. While I absolutely loved the unique artwork and enticing architecture of the Picasso Museum and the hilarity of the French play we saw in one of the tiniest theaters in Paris, the food definitely took the cake today.

Being the Americans that we are, we stopped at the Burger Joint after visiting the Picasso Museum and had some truly amazing burgers. Also, after visiting the theater, we stopped by Amorino as a class for some ice cream. Even more surprising than the rose shape of the ice cream was how truly amazing the ice cream tasted.

That's about all that I have for this day.

Until next time and au revoir. M

Hey, I did nothing.

In reality, the title of this post doesn't really do justice to this day. It was a day off, yes, and I did a whole lot less than I usually do during a day in Paris. But I still did stuff, stuff worth blogging about.

For a few hours, I walked down to the old Roman arena that we had visited during one of our first days here. I sat, ate, and wrote. It was so quiet, save for a small class on the other side of the arena and some children playing some soccer down below. The air was crisp and it was just a nice day overall. I even wrote a short story inspired by the arena itself...as well as a whole bunch of blog posts.

Later, I visited the Eiffel Tower with Alexis and Vanessa for a few more pictures. The tower was still beautiful, but I couldn't help but gawk at the remnants left from the Euro Cup finals the night before. Burned trash. Burned motorcycles. Smashed windows. You just don't see too much of that in a quiet small town. 

So that's pretty much the day in a nut shell. We may not have walked a whole bunch of miles or visited a whole bunch of historical places, but we had the chance to feel like real Parisians, like we actually lived in Paris. (Not bragging, but I was asked for directions a few times. I'm practically a local.) 

Until next time and au revoir. M

Hey, I met Hemingway.

Okay, so perhaps I didn't exactly meet Hemingway. But close enough. Instead, we completed our Hemingway Hunt, which involved visiting various destinations in Paris mentioned in Ernest Hemingway's memoir A Moveable Feast. In essence, we were attempting to walk in the footsteps of Hemingway.

Stop #1: First, we visited the site of Cafe des Amateurs, which was once located on modern day Place de la Contrescarpe. Today the square is filled with various shops, cafes, and, of course, a bunch of people. Like many other squares in Paris, one couldn't help but pause to marvel at the wonderful smell of fresh bread or a cooked meal. We were also instructed to take a picture of where we believed the Cafe des Amateur once stood. I photographed the following because I thought it looked rather old. It also seemed to go along with Hemingway's description of being located in the cesspool of Rue Mouffetard.

Stop #2: Next to the place where Hemingway once lived: 74 Rue du Cardinal Lemoine.

Stop #3: Right around the corner from Hemingway's old apartment was the former hotel where Hemingway once rented a rooftop room to write. We were asked to photograph the window we thought that perhaps housed Hemingway, but I sadly failed to pick a rooftop one. But it's fine.

The Walk A: The walk to our next stop included beautiful sites mentioned in Hemingway's book such as the Lycee Henri Quatre, the church of Sainte-Etienne-du-Mont, the Place du Pantheon, the Boulevard St. Michel, the Boulevard St. Germain, and the Place St. Michel.

Stop #4: Our next stop involved the book stalls, also known as bouquinistes, located along the Seine. Hemingway mentioned some American books that he had purchased cheaply from the book stalls that ran along the river.

Stop #5: After the book stalls, we visited a book shop, otherwise known as Shakespeare & Company. While Lexington, Ky. features a restaurant by the same name, Paris's Shakespeare & Company hosts shelves and shelves of books (many in English), as well as Tumbleweeds, who are people who stay above the shop and who must read a book a day, work for two hours a day, and must be writing their own works. While this bookstore was established back in the 1960's, we also visited the original owned by Hemingway's friend Sylvia Beach to get the full effect.

The site of the original Shakespeare & Company. 

Stop #6: This next stop is in fact many stops. The site where Hemingway's friends Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas used to live. The path that led from the Place de l'Observatoire to the the Musee du Luxembourg to the Rue de Vaugirard to Rue Ferou to Place St. Sulpice to St. Sulpice's square and chapel and fountain. It was all a truly beautiful walk.

The residence of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas.

Musee du Luxembourg.

Place de l'Observatoire.

Place St. Sulpice's fountain with four statues of bishops.

Place St. Sulpice's church.

Stop #7: Brasserie Lipp. According to Hemingway in his memoir, he ordered a big glass of beer, potato salad, and sausage with a special mustard sauce while eating here. He of course had bread with his meal, as we have had multiple times during our stay here.

Stops #8 and 9: Cafe de Flore and Deux Magots: two cafes that Hemingway frequented to eat and to write.

Stop #10: Michaud's, one of Hemingway's favorite restaurants. Although this restaurant is now known as Les Comptoir des Saints Peres, it still maintains its charm. The writer once visited the old restaurant with his wife, Hadley, according to the book.

Stop #11: Next we moved along to the Hotel d'Angleterre, where Hemingway and his wife stayed when they first arrived in Paris. We also stepped inside to take a look at the courtyard, which was quite beautiful.

Stop #12: 22 Rue Jacob, where Natalie Barney, a woman who held "salons" for writers and artists, once lived.

Conclusion: While I didn't much understand this book before visiting Paris, I look back through it now and see the Paris that I have seen over the past few weeks come to life. The streets. The cafes. The river. It's a vivid picture. The entire book reminisces on Hemingway's line in the first chapter, "You belong to me and all Paris belongs to me and I belong to this notebook and this pencil." All of these streets and people, they are memories that are now ours to keep and share. As we walk down the street near our dorm, that is our street, that is our little bit of Paris that we hope to one day share with our friends and our family. And the pen and pencil, any means of documenting our own piece of Paris, those means own us.

Besides utter nostalgia, one can't help but find a little humor in the book. Such as Hemingway's trip to Lyons with F. Scott Fitzgerald. By using humor, Hemingway portrays a deeper friendship and also makes up for whatever faults he happens to be portraying in others throughout A Moveable Feast.

What does A Moveable Feast mean, anyway? I think this goes back to the quote I mentioned above. Paris itself, life itself, is a moveable feast, constantly taking in new ideas and new memories.  That's the perfect description of what we have experienced thus far on our trip. A moveable feast.

Hey, I didn't get lost.

Paris Solo Day! You know what that means? That means we had to go out into Paris...solo. We were each assigned our own place to visit for the day before meeting back up for a boat ride in the evening. Called off as if by Hunger Games districts, I was the last student to be sent to my destination: the Musee d'Rodin.

Named after the sculptor Auguste Rodin, the Musee d'Rodin featured a variety of sculptures, mainly from Rodin himself, as well as a few paintings from greats such as Van Gogh and Monet. The grounds also featured a garden which I particularly enjoyed. I liked Rodin's sculptures because of the emotions portrayed through the human body, but I liked the gardens because I could just sit, and, well, do nothing.

I should also note that before visiting the museum I ate at a cafe. By myself. And did nothing but eat. I didn't look at my phone or read or write or anything. I just sat there. It was one of the most difficult things I've ever made myself do.

After our solo day, we met back up at Pont Neuf to enjoy some delicious bread, cheese, and creme brulee provided by Herman and Nancy before taking a boat ride along the Seine. It was definitely a hot ride, but the beautiful view was worth it, and we snapped few more pictures of the Eiffel Tower along the way.

Until next time and au revoir. M

Hey, I saw a chandelier.

This day was one of our off days, so sadly I don't have much to tell you about the day as a whole. However, our excursion in the evening should do. We visited none other than the Paris Opera, and the chandelier was none other than the one that served as inspiration for Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of Opera. Being the huge "Phan" that I am, I was practically jumping up and down as we passed through the halls of the opera.

While we didn't witness an opera at the opera, we did get to see a contemporary ballet choreographed by the famous William Forsythe. I didn't understand parts of the dances, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. It was pretty entertaining to see the dancers incorporate more modern styles of dance into their routines as well.

That's about it for opera day.

Until next time and au revoir. M

Hey, I walked 40,000 steps in a day.

So this is the second part to the day of July 7. Upon leaving Versailles, my FitBit said we had walked around 6 or 7 miles. But the day had just begun. Since France was playing in the semi finals against Germany, we decided we needed to make a trip to the Eiffel Tower to watch the game on the big screen on the Champs des Mars. Which was overall a pretty great choice.

Now there were a whole bunch of people there. A whole bunch of people. I'm not the best with huge crowds. But with 6 of us just making sure that none of us got lost and pushing one another through the crowds when needed, it wasn't that bad. After making it through the first gate and walking through a variety of closed streets, it took us 45 minutes to make it through the first line of pat downs. Then there was a second. After the second we were all feeling pretty safe.

Once we finally made it to the Champs des Mars and wedged our way into a spot in the middle of the field where we could see, we had an awesome time. We cheered and jumped and hooped and hollered along with the crowd. We really got into it.

When France won and the game ended, the celebration didn't stop. People were running through the streets and waving flags and honking horns and singing. It was so much fun just to witness so much national pride. And the metro ride back to the dorm was free too. Which was a plus.

So that's the end to our very long July 7, a day in which I walked about 40,000 steps. Which is yet another record for me.

Until next time and au revoir. M

Hey, we visited a grown woman's playground.

For the sake of not having a super long post, I'm dividing Thursday, July 7, into two posts. First, the Palace of Versailles.

Though I had already visited the Palace of Versailles during my last excursion to France three years ago, I was still astounded by the palace's beauty. And it wasn't just the palace. It was the endless miles of gardens and the beautiful little restaurant where we ate and the Grand Trianon and the Petit Trianon. It was funny that we visited the palace, then the Grand Trianon, then the Petit Trianon, because with each that we visited we kept saying, "If we hadn't seen the other one first, this would seem huge." Serving as separate homes for Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, I couldn't figure out how only a single person could live in each of these residences.

The first of my two favorite stops of the day was the boat ride along one of the ponds in the gardens. The sun was beating down pretty hard and it took a little teamwork to actually row the boat, but it was fun.

Julia and I on the row boat.

The second of my favorite stops was the Hamlet. This was, if you haven't guessed, the grown woman's playground. Marie Antoinette had this little fake Austrian village built in her backyard so she could play like she was a merry maid. She was around 40 years old. While the Hamlet was a cute place for us to visit in the afternoon, it probably made some of the poor a little mad to find this fake poor village hiding behind Versailles built just for the queen. It was a little bizarre.

More on July 7 to be continued.

Until next time and au revoir. M

Hey, we watched the three little pigs.

Bastille Day!

Just kidding. Not yet Bastille Day. But we learned a whole lot about Bastille Day and the French Revolution. We learned about the beheading of the king and Versailles and the storming of the Bastille and the multiple republics and so on. We even visited the site where the Bastille prison once stood. Coming from a young country with just two governments over the years, one revolution , and one civil war, I was astounded by the various changes, wars, etc. that have taken place in the past 300 hundred years of France's history.

The monument dedicated to the June and July Revolutions that
stands near the original site of the Bastille.

After learning about the French Revolution, we also had a chance to sit in on a puppet show in the Jardin du Luxembourg featuring Guignol and the three little pigs. Although we couldn't understand anything that was being said and most of the crowd consisted of children, I loved getting to see a piece of French culture that was so different yet somehow similar to the entertainment of our childhoods. Guignol was pretty funny too.

The actor behind Guignol whose family has owned the
puppet theatre for decades.

Until next time and au revoir. M

Hey, I became a painting.

One more day of art for a while! That's right, the Musée d'Orsay! (along with the Grand Palais and Petit Palais).

Musee d'Orsay

The biggest paintings found in the Musée d'Orsay (which, after being transformed from a train station into an art museum, is quite beautiful) are definitely the impressionists (Renoir, Monet, Manet, Degas, etc.) and the Van Gogh's (including his famous self portrait). Under the instruction of Nancy, we were asked to sit with a painting for a while and write a monologue for a character in the picture. Sitting on a somewhat comfy bench and letting Panic! at the Disco blast in my ears, I stared at Coin de table by Henri Fantin-Latour, which came to be one of my favorite paintings, I chose to impersonate the creepy guy at the right of the panting, Camille Pelletan. While I'm not much of an actor, I really enjoyed this assignment.

Coin de table by Henri Fantin-Latour

After finishing our trek through the museum, we walked along the river, grabbed a delicious lunch, and headed for the Grand Palais and Petit Palais. Home to a variety of temporary galleries, including Chanel, and built for the world fair, these buildings could be called somewhat over extravagant. In a good way, though. They were beautiful. From the marble floors to ornate doors to painted ceilings. Someone was really trying to show off.

At the end of the day, we of course did what every tourist must do upon visiting the City of Lights. We went and did a photo shoot in front of the Eiffel Tower. It was a long walk and a whole bunch of photos, but, by the end, we were all happy with our captured souvenirs.

Until next time and au revoir. M

Hey, we took a selfie with a butt.

So the title of this post may be a little confusing. But just bear with me.

This day in our journey abroad could no doubt be titled "Modern Art Day." This was actually a free day, but Julia, Emily, Morgan, and I chose to spend our day visiting the Salvador Dali Museum and the Pompadou Modern Art Museum. We were definitely tuckered out by all of the art by the end of the day, but it was an awesome experience.

First the Salvador Dali Museum. This was probably my favorite museum of the day. A tiny little place situated up on Montmartre (Yes, we got to visit Montmartre once again.), the Salvador Dali Museum featured an array of Dali's wacky works as well as the stories and analyses behind them. While Dali's work is kinda out there, I could always find some kind of reasoning, some kind of inner motive behind each piece. It was intriguing. Dali also put his own twist on many of the works we had seen in the Louvre the day before, which was pretty cool.

Next the Pompadou Museum. The artwork in here took a little more getting used to. Upon approaching the museum, we were greeted with nothing but a web of pipes, wires, and tubes. Essentially, the building is inside out, which I thought was pretty awesome. Once inside, the building is like a mall. While it took hours for us to find our way to the actual museum, we eventually made it there.

While the museum featured many works by Picasso and an exhibit on the Beat Generation and a chair exhibit and so on, my favorite artwork was probably the gallery dedicated to Paul Klee. I found stories in his works I didn't find quite as much in some others.

Also the story behind the title of this post. It's pretty simple actually. There were was an artwork with a mirror and a woman bending over. So we took a selfie with it.

Until next time and au revoir. M 

Hey, I took a selfie with the Mona Lisa.

Needless to say, this day was a pretty big day with a whole bunch of walking. That's right, we visited the Louvre. It was a little chilly outside, so it was the perfect day for us to spend hours roaming the hallowed halls of one of the largest art museums in the world. Considering that if one spends only three seconds in front of every piece of art in the Louvre, it would still take about 3 months, day and night, to see everything (according to a tour guide). So yeah, we had a lot on our plates.

Sadly ended up looking at the lady beside me
rather than the Mona Lisa, but it's fine.

Among the most notable works that we saw were Venus de Milo, the Mona Lisa, and The Raft of the Medusa. The Raft of the Medusa was probably among one of my favorite paintings because it told the story of an actual wreck that took place aboard a French ship called the Medusa. Overall, this is probably why I found the Louvre to be my favorite art museum among the ones that we visited. I love art that tells a story.

The Raft of the Medusa by Theodore Gericault

Speaking of the art, I felt it important to note the amount of random pictures I took of figures in the paintings that I found funny. Kind of like the Medieval Reactions pages on Twitter. Maybe I find these a little funnier than anyone else, but here are a few samples:

When you find out there's no wifi. 

When you find wifi at the Quick.

When the waiter tells you that you can't
substitute French fries for the salad.

So we visited a lot in a day. A lot of history, from Greek history to Roman history to African history to Native American history to Napoleon's Apartments to Da Vinci's masterpieces. It was too much to take in but it was overwhelming in a good way. Despite being tired at the end of the day and overall just plain sore, I can honestly say that our visit to Louvre is a day I will never forget.

Until next time and au revoir. M

Hey, I visited a graveyard.

So the title of this may be somewhat misleading. Most people would define the highlight of today's journey as our stop at the Notre Dame Cathedral and Pont Neuf. And I will not deny that the cathedral was downright beautiful, and it had that way of making you feel small, in both its enormity and grandeur. I also couldn't help but sing "The Bells of Notre Dame" during our entire visit.

However, my favorite section of the day was visiting Pere Lachaise Cemetery. I once again apologize for my eerie fascination with the dead. But I couldn't help but marvel at the great lengths taken to immortalize those who had passed, from Jim Morrison to Oscar Wilde to Baron Haussmann. While many of the old graves were cracked, their foundations teetering and their windows smashed, they still maintained their beauty and shed a little light on the lives of years gone by. I also found a stroll among the stones and monuments nearly as relaxing as a stroll through the Jardin de Luxembourg.

I particularly found Oscar Wilde's gravestone interesting. Despite being built in 1900, it had a modern shape that in no way fit in with the other gravestones of the cemetery. I was also surprised to find that his was one of the few that had to be blocked from the public, so that people would not kiss or write on the stone. I found it interesting, the struggle between praise for an artists' work and the preservation of a historical monument.

Until next time and au revoir. M

Hey, I climbed 71 flights of stairs.

This was probably the day I had most looked forward to before coming on this trip. Paris Below and Above Day. You know what that means? THE CATACOMBES. Please forgive me for my creepy interest in this world hidden beneath the city, but I find the history of the Catacombes enticing, and the stories behind each skull, each bone even more intriguing. Throughout our tour among the eerie halls, I had to continue to remind myself that that skull may have been a farmer, that skull a noble, and perhaps that skull was a merchant with a wife and kids. A normal guy with a normal life.

While I was overly excited to visit the Catacombes, our visit to Montmartre was quite amazing as well. We visited Sacre Coeur, a beautiful chapel situated right at the perch of the hill. We also climbed to the highest point in Paris, so that we could officially say we had visited both the highest and lowest parts of Paris in one day. This should go without saying, but the food on top of Montmartre was of course great as well. I had a normal Nutella and banana crepe, but it was delicious.

And yes, if you were wondering, the title to this post is accurate. According to my FitBit, after visiting the highest and lowest points in Paris and climbing so many flights of stairs that I truly felt that I was going to pass out, I did indeed climb 71 flights of stairs. Which was a record for me. I don't know about the others in the class, but it was difficult.

Until next time and au revoir. M