Southern France with the Fam

I had an absolutely fabulous weekend with my family this week! I really appreciated seeing them, being able to joke around with them, and just feeling overall comfortable and happy with my own family. I'd been feeling a bit lonely and homesick lately, so their visit couldn't have come at a better time. It was fun to do the whole family vacation squished in the car thing. 

We went to La Ciotat, had quite an adventure fining our hotel/apartment, but it finally all worked out when some nice people helped us with directions.

Our hotel was near the ocean, so we took a lovely walk along the rocky shore. It was a bit chilly and windy, but nice and sunny, with the sunbeams sparkling on the water. We had a big adventure through the huge Carrefour grocery store, so the fam got to experience that lovely new aspect of French culture. We had dinner at an adorable little place where we had a big hors d'oeuvre platter of typical provencal

In the morning, we drove through La Camargue Nature Reserve, where we saw flamingos, gulls, gulls, white horses, etc. It was absolutely gorgeous and such neat ecosystem.



We drove through Arles and Avignon a bit, which were very cute little areas. We made our way to Marseille, which was pretty cool to see but super packed more than usual because it was Easter Sunday. We drove past the pretty marina with all the boats, a smaller version of the Arc de Triomphe type thing, lots of fountains (with creepster dauphin things still ... I think they're following me!), and the beautiful train station in Marseille. We could see the basilica, but never got a chance to park and actually go in, but oh well. We saw another lovely sunset and cooked our own fun pasta dinner in the apartment/hotel. We had family fun night huddling around the portable DVD player to watch a movie together.



Monday, we said our goodbyes to the ocean and went through the lovely Aix-en-Provence. I absolutely adored this city, which is so typically French (in my opinion). We walked through the colorful flower, fruit, and clothing markets, little cobblestone streets, patiseries, etc. There were several pretty churches, shutters of all different colors (my new obsession) which really capture the beauty of the light in the South, and fountains. I can definitely see how so many artists throughout history have gotten their inspiration from the lighting and loveliness of the Provence region. Love it, love it, love it!




We stopped at the Chateau de la Barben randomly on our way back to Grenoble... and it was such a great find! I really felt like we were walking into the story of Beauty and the Beast. First we drove through the tiny village with adorable houses and farms (♬ Little town, it's a quite village: every day like the one before! Little town full of little people waking up to say, "Bonjour!" ♬), then came upon the chateau hidden away in the forest. It had fabulous intricate gardens, a big drawbrigdge, turrets/towers to watch out for invaders, and a big mote wrapping around the backside cutting it off from the creepy forest.



It was sad to send them off on the TGV to Paris, but then it was great to see all their pictures and hear their stories when they came back!



We spend Friday doing a tour of Grenoble, seeing all the main areas of the centre ville, the fountains, churches, Victor Hugo, etc. We got fresh fruit at the St. Claire market and went up to the Bastille for a nice view of the city. We had dinner with my host brothers and some of their friends at the house, so that was quite a fun evening of franglais! My brain just absolutely hurt afterwards from so much exhausting translating, but it was lots of fun! Everything went really well the whole week and I was very sad to see them leave :(

Southern France with the Fam

Grenoble with the Fam

Happy Easter Weekend!

The weather is unusually terrible today, with rainy slushy loveliness, but I'm extremely excited to that my family is coming this afternoon. I'm sad the weather is yucky so they won't even be able to see the mountains though :( Oh well... I'm confident it will get better as the week goes on. We're headed to the south for the weekend, so that should be a fun adventure!

Let's Go Take a Hike, Up to the Highest Height!

It was yet another day of great adventures in Grenoble. We headed out west of Grenoble and walked through the cutest little village until we came upon the trails up into the mountains.


The trails were super steep, so it was quite a good workout and we felt very proud at the top!

I guess I was too busy trying to breathe on the way up to remember to take pictures of how steep it was. I only have pictures of us coming down the mountain. Haha oh well.


Another perfect day :)

I Love Grenoble

Today has been yet another fabulous day in Grenoble. I woke up to sunshine beaming in through my window and a view of our gorgeous mountains. My jaw still drops at their grandeur some days, even after being here and seeing them everyday for two months.

Here's a view of the mountains from Echirolles.

I met Gita and some of the other girls in town to go up to the Musée de Dauphinois, a museum of the history of the Dauphinois region that we live in.

There was a terrace with a breath-taking view of the city and mountains where we all hung out and had a nice “franglais” chat in the sun of the afternoon.


We walked a bit farther up toward the bastille again and spent several hours basking in the warm sun and just having a peaceful lovely afternoon. I’m so happy right now :)

Paris, mon amour <3

I spent this past weekend in Paris and it was absolutely AMAZING! We had a great time and it was very sad to leave Sunday night. I just completely fell in love with the city all over again. There is such a great feeling as you walk through the streets, passing famous landmark after famous landmark. There is something for everyone: history and culture, fun and relaxation, beauty and love. Maybe it’s a bit cheesy for me to feel this way, but I really think it’s one of the most amazing cities in the world.


Thursday morning, we all met at the train station and took the TGV (Train de Grand Vitesse: aka very fast!) to Gare de Lyon in Paris. Our train was quite delayed, but we had lots of fun talking, listening to fun old music, and playing Scattegories in French (p.s. it’s super hard haha).
We got to our hotel near the Bastille and then Miranda took us on our first little walking tour of the Marais Quarter. We saw the Place des Vosges, Paris’s oldest public square. Victor Hugo lived there! We walked through a few churches and past lots of little parks and cute streets.
We then sipped some warmy tea and hot chocolate at a hip little joint near our hotel before a little dinner and Le Roi Lion (Lion King!) The play was soooo amazing! I absolutely loved it when I saw it in English in Appleton this summer, and this was equally amazing. It was really fun to hear all the dialogue and songs in French. It was fairly easy to comprehend because I know the story quite well ☺ and the music, dancing, costumes, etc were just fabulous.
Friday morning, we went to the Opera Garnier, which was one of my favorite things of the whole weekend. We studied the Opera in art history on Wednesday for almost the whole class period, so that was really cool to actually see all the pieces we were just studying. The architecture, done by Charles Garnier, is so fabulously intricate inside and out. Every time you turn around, there are more magnificent stairways, fancy candelabras, huge multi-colored marble and bronze statues, and beautifully painted and mosaic-ed (I think I made that up) ceilings. There is such a “warm” comfortable and romantic feel throughout the various rooms. There is a big hall of mirrors type room with neat statue/light fixtures that display the changes from candles to oil to gas to electricity used to light the opera house throughout history. We didn’t actually get to see most of the main room because they were setting up for a performance and it was all dark. But that made it kind of creepy and made me think of all the Phantom of the Opera things!


I will certainly write more later, but I’m off to choir rehearsal now.

Un peu plus de Paris

Friday afternoon in Paris we walked through Place Vendome, a very fancy area with elegant buildings, designer shops, expensive jewelry, the Ritz, etc. There is a huge Napoleon statue in the center. We walked through the Tuilerie Gardens a bit and got our first view of the Eiffel Tower for the trip ☺


We saw Place de la Concorde, built between 1757 and 1777 as a monument to Louis X. It served as the lovely slaughtering sight during the Reign of Terror. Termed “Place de la Revolution” during those years, the guillotine there severed 1,343 aristocratic heads. Ewwww! It was later renamed “Concorde,” which means harmony/peace, so as not to have any negative aristocratic, religious, or political ties.


The Obélisque de Luxor was given as a gift to Charles X by the Viceroy of Egypt. It is from the 13th century BC, so it is Paris’ oldest monument.


My friend Dee and I went to the Orangerie, a museum of some of the most beautiful and calming rooms I have ever seen. There are two huge oval shaped rooms with four of Monet's "Nymphéas" (water lilies) surround the walls in each room. I was so awestruck by the beauty of it all, I just loved it. I would love to have those paintings on the walls in my bedroom. What a calming scene to wake up to every morning! I took lots of pictures, but they just cannot do it justice. The basement of the museum had some of my favorite Renoir's, Cezanne's, Picasso's, etc. What a great find! I would highly recommend going to the Orangerie if you ever can.


We all went to the Louvre for the free student night (Fridays) and it was of course fabulous. It's so huge, I could never even begin to see everything in the three hours we were there. I went through the Greek and Roman god/goddess sculptures, which always capture and amaze me. I bumped into my friend Christine and we went through all the French paintings together, studying for our art history class as we went along. We saw paintings by Fragonard, Watteau, Boucher, Chardin, Corot, Corbet, Daumier, etc and it was just really neat seeing them all in person. We of course saw the "Venus de Milo," "Winged Victory," and "Mona Lisa."


Saturday morning, we did a big tour of Montmartre with Miranda, starting at the Moulin Rouge. Then we walked up through the cute little streets, passing by the homes of many artists, writers, philosophers, etc. It was a little cloudy and gray outside, but still quite enjoyable. There were many adorable cafes, parks, and gardens, including the Moulin de la Galette, where the famous Renoir painting took place :) Yay! That made me really happy to see that because it’s one of my favorite paintings.


We saw the café where Edith Piaf sang her last notes, the famous Lapin Agile, and the apartment where Marcel Aymé, author of “Le Passe-Muraille” lived. This is a famous short story about a man who could walk through walls and his adventures with that power. I did an analysis of it at Carthage last spring in my literature class, so that was really fun to see the statue and Aymé’s home.


As the morning went on, the clouds started clearing up and it became a beautiful warm sunny day just as we got to the top of the hill to see the amazing Sacre Coeur. Its white stone was so beautiful in contrast with the bright green spring grass and lovely blue sky. We learned that in WWII, the bombs dropped all over Montmartre, but just missed Sacre Coeur and the church right next to it. It’s only a normal little street between the two churches, so the bombs missed destroying them by just a few feet. The inside was very beautiful and peaceful. Hearing the choir’s voices rise up into the dome was extremely calming and really made me miss singing at Carthage.


We decided to climb up into the dome afterward, which was really fun and a great view. There were obviously a lot of steps, so it was quite a workout, but well worth it.


After lunch, we walked through the scenic Luxembourg Gardens, which houses the Palais de Luxembourg where the Senate meets. There are many beautiful fountains, statues of famous figures, and pools/ponds. There were children playing on playgrounds, basketball courts, ponies, carousels, older men playing petangue, and it was overall quite lovely. Right near some beautiful blooming cherry trees, there is a small version of the Statue of Liberty that was used as the model for the creation of our Lady Liberty. It made me a little nostalgic for America with the combination of the Statue of Liberty and the cherry blossoms, which always remind me of Washington, D.C. in springtime.


We headed over to the Champs Elysée to see the Arc de Triomphe. We paid to go up to the top, which was so great! It was pretty cloudy, but still marvelous to be able to see the whole city like that. The architecture is so amazing in itself and the statues on the sides are really interesting.


We took a boat tour along the Seine for our last night in Paris. It was an absolutely magical and perfect evening for me. It was so fun to be with everyone and see some of the must awe-inspiring views I have ever seen. The Eiffel Tower at night just blows me away every time.


Sunday was quite a rainy dreary day, but still great and filled with the energy of the city. We did a tour of the Latin Quarter, seeing the Sorbonne, several churches, a museum of the Middle Ages, cute cafés and bookstores, and of course Notre Dame. 

Walking into such a calming and remarkable environment during Sunday morning Mass was so peaceful after coming in from the rain outside. With all the music and candles, it felt like a safe haven from the yucky weather outside.



After lunch with the girls, I decided to be independent and enjoy my last few hours of Paris on my own for the afternoon. I got absolutely soaking wet wandering around little streets, but had a goofy smile plastered across my face the whole time. I just really enjoyed my weekend in Paris and did not want to miss one minute of it. I walked past the Hotel de Ville (City Hall), the back of Notre Dame, Saint Chapelle, the Palais de Justice, Hotel Dieu, and Centre Pompidou. I also saw the Pantheon, were Voltaire, Rousseau, Pierre and Marie Curie, Braille, Hugo, Zola, and many more famous French figures are buried. It also houses Foucault’s Pendulem, while proves the rotation of the earth, a very important historical discovery!

It was a lovely afternoon and I was sad to leave. Just as we walked up to the train station, the sun came out and so the train ride home was very beautiful. Paris, je t’aime!


So in case you're still reading this and you actually want to see MORE photos, click below!

Paris

Busy Busy Busy

Hello all! So terribly sorry I haven't been updating lately. I've been very busy with school projects and lots of little activities. I have so much to write about for you all and I will do so next week. Things are going fine in general. It's been really nice and sunny, then yesterday it got freezing cold again and actually SNOWED a little bit! Crazy stuff. Well I'm off to Paris til Sunday night... wow I'm so excited :) I will surely have lots of stories and pictures next week. Peace!

Photos Galore!

Hello all. I've finally uploaded all my pictures to Picasa, so you should all be able to see them without having to sign up for anything.  It's kind of a gloomy day, but I'm off to meet a friend in town for lunch and will update more later.

http://picasaweb.google.com/loveandlive27  Enjoy!