Praha

Fairy tale land. 

The streets are cobblestone and the buildings are colorful. The effect is charm. I will use beauty to describe the hills and the forests and the views in each direction from the bridges, but lovely or charming fit the city itself. The order and detail and grandeur of Parisian architecture is gone, replaced by wider facades, scattered heights, and red-orange roofs. Charming. At the higher points of the city, the view is nuts. There are so many spires and dome roofs colored with a greeny version of robins egg blue. Most buildings, other than the really really old ones (as opposed to just the really old ones), are light. Medieval influence comes through much more here than in France. 

Prague has good cheap beer.  The food is fairly funky and the people, awkward. The city is both beautiful and ugly. But ugly in the kind of way that makes you stare.

The people! Oh the people. Most definitely the awkward club, to quote marge, of Europe. The fashion is hodge-podge outfits. Silly combinations of clothing: a shirt that is both too short and too tight, jeans or pants with strange and loud decoration, and shoes that are trying hard (a kitten heel, maybe something on the top, a chunky buckle wrapping around the heel) to be something other than plain. Hair is worn frizzy. Watching heads, the color is either a non-color--mousy brown/grey--or blue, purple, pink, etc. The bodies are middle centered. Plenty of tall people. Movement seems to not come naturally. One mother and daughter hugged the way I imagine ogres hug. Friendly, frizzy ogres. 

The food is painfully not French. The mustard, sausage, and pizza are good. Everything else is marked by culinary confusion. The transition from simple/rural czech cuisine to czech food influenced by other European cuisines went disastrously. I had a gnocci dish that was literally a paste. City, cool. Food, bizarre but not interesting. 

PICTURES.

A calling perhaps.

My city Paris. 

 

Parc Daumensil.

Near my dorm. 

Beautiful. 

FOUCAULT'S PENDULUM.

Gina and me in front of Sacre Coeur. 

Sacre Coeur. 

Walks, Naps, Museums :)

Touring the L'oreal factory was sort of cool, but, it was still touring a factory. Our tour guide was a cute little French lady who was overly proud of the place. It was a little pocket factory. Cool/absurd architecture: each wing of the building the petal of a flower, and referred to as such by those who work there. Silly silly french industry. But, apparently, L'Oreal owns a substantial part of the world. Paloma Picasso?!?!! 

I went on a walk through the Bastille area Thurs. afternoon. I love this part of Paris. So many people were sitting/drinking/romancing on the grass next to the canal. Everyone sits in intimate clusters that make any activity seem a bit more personal or important. Walking along the canal in the afternoon was lovely; water, people, trees, flowers, sun, and then Place de la Bastille past the bridge. The energy of a big city, quiet garden, and laughing conversation whisked together. 

Then I wrote a paper about social security in Hungary. An obviously very pertinent subject in my life. 

No class on Friday yay yay yay. Gina and I went to lunch (croque monsieur, mmmm) and then to Musee D'orsay. The old train station (turned museum) is fantastic. Degas' ballerinas are perfect. 

Post Museum, a walk through the 17th arrondisment--"Where the Other Half Live," according to Frommer's. Beautiful area. This neighborhood was done entirely by Haussmann, and expensively so. And then there were the mansions. AH, roll me up in the bourgeois. Lavish everything, money older than something really old. I mean, go America, screw hierarchical societies, but walking through the stomping ground of Edouard Andre and the like is pretty irresistible. 

ANOTHER great walk Saturday afternoon through the Southern Marais. Hotel De Ville has pretty installation gardens right now so that was fun. The Church of St-Paul is gorgeous and the village behind it, Village...St-Paul is cobblestone and speckled with shops and cafes. So exaggeratedly French it could be a parody. Buuuuuuut it's 700 years old. We sat and had a glass of wine at one of the cafes.  

Saturday night brought the Peace&Love Hostel Bar--fun and strange. Back to Le Marais to check out the gay bars upon Dustin's request. The district was bumpin. We went up to one bar with purple neon-y windows. Approaching the door, the bouncer looked at Dustin and the nine of us girls behind him and said, "pas femmes!" WE GOT REJECTED. from a bar. for being girls.  

Oh and before going out, people wanted Mexican food so we tried this place nearby. Silly and bizzarro! The chicken in the quesadilla's was like a stew or roasted chicken. I skipped the food and got a mojito!   

Sunday was studying and rolling around in parks in the sun all day. 

Shopped around a bit after the test on Monday. But I got shopping ADD and left the group and went to Notre Dame. Epic, as expected. HOARDS of tourists, as expected. But across the street, there was a parade of men on horseback wearing classic french uniforms of some sort and tooting trumpets! Everyone got so excited! Though I don't think anyone, including myself, knew what we were celebrating. 

Wandered through the latin quarter in the evening. It has a much more young and lively spirit than in some of the other districts. Lots of galleries, lots of shops, lots of restaurants. There are random buildings with pink facades too! I love them. 

On my way home I saw a kid with a feather in his afro.  And about twenty steps behind him was a man who looked EXACTLY like Rudy Giuliani. 

Also,  a woman on the metro was looking down at my feet and said in French, "Such little shoes. Very cute." She said my feet were mignon. A compliment from a Parisian!

Last night, a bunch of us got wine and chocolate and went to Montmartre to sit on the hill in front of Sacre Coeur and watch the sky turn starry. Great weather and fun company. We were sitting on one of the steep grassy areas and there was a group of young folk in front of us. A few of the guys came and chatted. They all had the same haircut: long, swooped to the side in front of their faces and then up. They said they were 16-17. One brit, one Italian, one Parisian. They asked us what we were doing after and when we asked them back they casually mentioned going "painting." Little graffiti artists with stylish haircuts. 

Today I went to the Musee des Arts et Metiers. IT IS SO COOL. History plus science. Chronological exhibits showing the developments in the various sciences. I saw old tools, materials, machines, lithographs, models of bridges/buildings built in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. Robots, the second super computer, the evolution of the telephone, some old cars. And FOUCAULT'S PENDULUM. 

After my mind exploded at the museum, Gina and I slept in the park for awhile. The sun is getting glorious. On the metro to the park, all 12 fat people in Paris were riding with us.

A walk in the Latin quarter this evening. I had the best crepe I've had yet...mmmm....dark chocolate. Delicious. Also, I found my favorite church in Paris thus far. It is a small church made from the leftover masonry from Notre Dame. There is a well in the courtyard and a giant piece of rock from a Roman road. It's called St-Julien le Pauvre I think, or at least that is the street it's on. It has pretty gardens all around it. 

Walking to the metro to head home, a crazy black guy missing a tooth in front asked me, en francais, if I wanted to grab a drink. My response, en francais aussi: i am alone. its dangerous. 

TOMORROW I AM GOING TO PRAGUE!

...

I saw a man punt a pigeon. 

"Sheep Shaggers"

To begin my first actual weekend in Paris, a bunch of us went on a group pubcrawl. And after I finished pouting about the lack of frenchies in the bunch, I had beaucoup de fun. Went to four bars. I talked to a Brit for awhile and asked him what the Brits thought of the Welsh. He responded with, " we call 'em Sheep Shaggers." Amusing and enlightening?

After going to the bars, they took us to a club off of Champs Elysses. Quite the scene. Wild music, nasty men, lots of hysteria. A crazy time for sure. We left after the excitement wore off and evolved into disgust...Champs Elysses was AMAZING at night. The store fronts lit up and the arc de Triomphe in the distance--such grandeur!!

There were two notable crazies on the pubcrawl. First, the smallest Indian man I have ever seen. He wore a backpack the entire time and was at least ten years older than the girls he approached. The second man was also older. Bearded with glasses and stood with a slouchy stance. He was from New Zealand and carried an SLR around his neck and made so many puns. He had the social skills that make you cringe.

On Saturday I slept in! Got up and headed out to Le Marais. I walked for part of the afternoon and explored the area--great shops. French/European flower shops are incredible. The flowers themselves range from exotics to roses and the shops look like something out of a watercolor painting. I went in one that had interesting blue tiled flooring and decorated walls. The whole shop felt so organic and stylish. AH so much love for that little place.

By around 4:30 I had made my way to the Picasso Museum. I wasn't partial to Picasso before I went but seeing his original work was unreal. The bold colors and lines gripped me so much more than they had in pictures and seeing his obsession and the development of his depiction of the female form was nuts. A few of them stayed in my mind in the days following: Nature Morte à la tete de taureau, the farmers wife, and one of the "woman with clasped hands."

On my walk back I stopped in a book store. Fantastic selection. Can't remember any titles but I spent a while browsing. Really great stuff. 

That night, some friends and I headed over to Montmartre for a fancy french dinner. We ate at a place I had read about, Chez Toinette. The restaurant is small, boasting only about 1o tables. It is on one of the hills leading up to Montmartre. The feel of the restaurant was  quietly chic but not stuffy, and modest in comparison to the unbelievably to die for food. The entree and dessert I had at Chez Toinette was the best food I have ever had. in my entire life. ever. When we sat down our server brought us some tuna pate with a bit of cornichon on a baguette. We ordered a bottle of red wine and for dinner I had lamb chops and vegetables (a bit of mashed potato, mashed sweet potato, mushroom, and broccoli). The food presentation was perfect--effortlessly beautiful, not at all overdone. Other entrees ordered were veal, porc, and duck. We bite swapped and each meat was perfect. The food sent me in such a tizzy. Culinary heaven. For dessert, I ordered a chocolate business and Gina ordered creme brulee and we split the two.  It would be impossible for me to describe the pleasure of these desserts. The chocolate was moist and rich. The Creme Brulee was the most delicious, most smooth, most flavor just enough to inspire eating with eyes closed, dessert. There was my life before this meal, and now there is my life after this meal. 

Sunday, Luxembourg gardens all afternoon. Lazy in lovely weather. BEAUTIFUL garden.

Yesterday I took a walk in the rain. I saw a girl coming out of the metro entrance crying. 

I BOOKED MY TICKET TO PRAGUE today!!!! The last weekend in June is a four day weekend: I am GOING TO PRAGUE. The tickets were fairly reasonable, hostels cheap. This will be my main adventure during my program. Every other weekend I'll spend enjoying Paris. Paris, Prague, Italy...maybe benelux if there is time (and money?!?)!!!! Insanity. Everyday is a wonder. 

After Prague planning....H&M. Not what it used to be. Or is it I who have changed?!? Had to get an outfit for tomorrow's L'Oreal company visit. But for recreational shopping purposes, the clothes are trash and the experience, a nightmare. From the perspective of a shoppingphobe this place is scary and gross. 

(In the line at the dressing room I saw an elfish girl with a shiny hair cut in a bowl around her head)

I just got home from lounging in a park all evening. So many families, couples, guy posses, and old ladies lounging with me. Lots of kidnap worthy munchkins. I fell asleep in the sun. Everyone just sits and enjoys.

A rainy week in Paris

Today is Wednesday?

I just woke up from a nap...it was glorious. My "sleep as little as possible" regime was catching up with me. 

Class on Monday blew my mind. One of the French professors came and lectured in, as he titled it, "concentric circles." He described: my school, Paris, France, and then Europe.  It's strange seeing socialism in action. The groceries are pretty inexpensive though--so yay for no disposable income?

Highlights from his lecture: EU current problems, the school system in France (Americans give the Sorbonne WAY too much credit...why did I not know this?), he pointed out that Paris is a city that is actually lived in--which is interesting, true, and awesome, the way space is divided by class throughout Paris, French obsession with solidarity, the fact that "charity" is tainted (the church's doing) and how that brought about the state to take on more and more control, etc. 

Mortifying moment of the lecture: Moler asked all the students when the US became its own country...silence. One poor soul suggested 1776 but the rest of us just put our heads between our legs. 1783. 1783. 1783. got it. won't ever forget it. again. pride lost in admitting i had forgotten before. aaahhhhh.

Professor Moler lectured in the morning and then one of the professors from UT lectured in the afternoon. Hoyer's a marketing professor at McCombs. Fairly engaging class--"international consumer behavior." He shows us a lot of ads, and then breaks down the marketing strategy behind them. Part painful, part useful sitting through a discussion of advertising that goes against most of what I learn in Creative. Utility in that I now know WHY the client side is so reluctant to accept the decisions made by creatives. Hoyer says an ad needs a big headline, color...animals? STRONG VISUAL CLUES. Someone needs to better sync the business side and the creative side of advertising...a whole lot of good ads would be spared turning in to crappy ones.

Aside from that bit of cognitive dissonance, Hoyer's class is entertaining. He's a bit heavy on the sexual marketing material... leaves sort of a weird taste in the mouth. But a decent class nonetheless.

Other than school, I have started on my walking tour of Paris! Props to Gammy on the book choice. Walk #2 took me to and through the church of St-Roch and then through the Tuileries gardens, around the Louvre, more churches, and a few Galleries. 

Reasons I love Paris:

- It is a bustling city without the harsh angles and metallic elements of other cities. 

- Parisians are interesting looking; i.e. good people watching. 

- Being surrounded by beauty constantly does something for me soul. 

...I've thought a lot about why I think Paris is beautiful. I decided it's a combination of the details in every facade, the obvious amount of care with which the buildings were constructed, the giant old trees, and the dedication to aesthetics above other things--like convenience maybe. Plus. this city is decorated with gold :) something i always enjoy being. 

Also. I like being an American in Paris. I'm not walking around wishing I was Parisian--I'm just walking around loving it all. Living here has somehow increased my attachment to the states while simultaneously increasing my obsession with this city. And my affection for America doesn't come from a longing to be there, but instead I think just from an appreciation for certain aspects of the US. 

best French conversation from this week:

Me (to a little gourmet shop owner): pardon, ou est le cafe d'internet?

Shop Owner: ah, cafe d'internet? ah oui, ici. 

....he walks over and points to a small package of coffee, or rather, "cafe d'internet" on the shelf :) 

Cont. on Thurs:

Class 9-4 today with a German woman who lives in the Netherlands teaching business professionals negotiation skills. Long day but engaging and entertaining. 

After class, mosied over to Pere-Lachaise cemetary. Beautiful. Saw Chopin's grave. 

After graves, another walk! Tonight, my friend Gina came with me and we walked the Montmartre walk. Gloriousness. Sitting on the steps, in the sun (finally), listening to some crazy beating on a drum, and staring in a daze at the poetically cramped city...could do it every day for the rest of my life. 

blogger picture upload is taking too long. Time for sleep. 

disclaimer: typing on a french keyboard.

Internet is like an illicit drug in my life right now. wifi will hopefully be set up this week but, who knows!

The dorms are modest yet i have somehow have a really cute shower curtain.

There is a grocery store across the street called Simply. In English oddly enough. i bought my groceries and got a simply card! hehe. It felt like a secret induction into Paris.

My dorm is in the 12 arrondisment, and my plan is to walk through each arrondisment while I am here!

but now im chatting and cannot multitask.

Arrival in Paris.

My body thinks it's 8 a.m.

Regardless, Paris is beautiful!!

The trip over was fairly uneventful. Memorable moments from the plane ride include a flight attendant telling me she was "really scared of turbulence," and a lebanese boy with thick lensed glasses sitting in front of me, bouncing off the walls and asking me a million questions. 

After landing in CDG, I took a bus to the Montparnasse train station and then the subway to my hostel. Lots of good people watching. I'm staying in Oops! hostel just for tonight and get to check in to Residence Vivaldi tomorrow morning. 

The ride to the city was so green! Very lush, lots of trees. Lovely. There aren't really any billboards--pleasantly refreshing. 

After a baguette sandwich I walked around Avenue des Gobelins. I saw a bride and her party, which was sweet, and an ad for something called Paris en toutes lettres. It looks really cool. More info. later.