Paris, je vais tu manquez!

My time in Paris is coming to a close, and I am not too happy about this fact.  I am just not quite ready to come home!  At first I thought there were definitely some aspects of Parisian life that was a pain in the behind.  Like the lack of restrooms, the metro, walking all of the time, and not being able to use credit cards.  But as time passed, the annoyances soon grew in to just normal daily life and I learned to deal.  In fact, there are a ton of things that I am going to miss about Paris.  I am just going to make this post about all of the things I love about Paris, my favorite moments, and what I am going to miss the most about Paris.

I am really going to miss seeing people make out all of the time.  At first I was slightly disgusted and wanted to yell "LOCK IT UP!" to random couples on the street, but I have learned to appreciate the Parisian preoccupation with public displays of affection.  It is nice to see that the world is still full of love.

I am going to miss walking home at night.  This sounds bizarre, I know.  I LOVE walking from my metro stop to my apartment, especially in the evening or night.  The 17th arrondissement is home to regular Parisians and I have had so much fun just watching typical Parisians go about their days.  My neighborhood is really safe as well, so I never felt scared or sketched out.

I am going to miss the metro.  I have definitely missed having my own car, but I am going to miss some things about the metro.  I am going to miss people watching on the metro, even though everyone on the metro looks angry all of the time.  I am going to miss coming up the stairs out of a metro stop and getting that first glimpse of sun.  I am even going to miss cracking open my Paris Practique every time I want to go somewhere.

I am going to miss Clemson in Paris '09!  I have made so many new friends and I am going to miss wining and dining with everyone on a daily basis.  And I am going to miss the 18 year old drinking age.

I am going to miss actually using change.  I am going to miss seeing the Eiffel Tower and it's searchlights at night.  I am going to miss sleeping with the window open.  I am going to miss not having mosquitoes.  I am going to miss pain au chocolat.

I could go on forever, but this is pretty lengthy already.  I think you get the point that I have started enbracing all aspects of French culture, even the ones I never thought I'd love.  It just stinks that I have to leave right as I am starting to pick up new language skills and learn more about life in France.  But trust me, I will be back one day, hopefully not too far in the future!

A night at the opera...

Two words: Carmen ruled.  Who would have thought that 15 college students would actually enjoy going to an opera?  Not me, until last night.  I think the consensus is that Carmen totally blew us all out of the water!  I just felt really classy and really enjoyed being able to sit back and listen to French.

I am really really glad that we had a little pre-opera meeting with Christina because I would definitely not have fully appreciated Carmen without her help.  At first I was like, oh my gosh, I don't want to do stuff for class on a Friday afternoon.  But I was mistaken.  We watched little clips of different versions of the opera to get us familiarized with the plot, and also to talk about the history of the opera.  And I had no idea that all of those famous tunes are from Carmen!  I loved seeing how all of the different versions portrayed Carmen and the other characters and it was really relaxing to sit on a comfy couch and listen to some French music.

I kind of want to be an opera singer now.  The music was just spectacular.  It is incredible to think that one person came up with every single note for ever single instrument, every note for the singers, and all of the words to the songs.  Like, really???  Who can do that???  I wish I had mad talent like Georges Bizet.  Anyway, Carmen definitely made the top 3 Paris moments in my book.

Memoires de la Cite: Chenonceau

Le Château de Chenonceau est un des châteaux de la Loire, et c’est situé sur la rivière Cher. Le premier bâtiment était construit en 1230 par la famille des Marques. Éventuellement, cette famille avait des problèmes financiers et le château était acquis par roi Charles I, mais c’était Thomas Bohier qui s’occupait du château. En réalité, c’était la femme de Bohier, Katherine Briçonnet qui a eu des idées architecturaux pour le Chenonceau que l’on connaît aujourd’hui, alors entre 1513 et 1521 le château de Chenonceau était bâti.

Après qu’ils sont morts, roi Henry II a donné le château à Diane de Poitiers, qui est devenu obsédé par le château. C’était elle qui a eu l’idée de joindre les deux cotés de la Cher avec le château, et aussi qui a créé la plupart des jardins. Après la mort d’Henry II, Catherine de Medici a pris le château de Diane de Poitiers, et le château est devenu la sienne. Elle a créé encore des jardins et aussi elle faisait beaucoup de grandes fêtes là-bas. Quand Catherine est morte, Chenonceau est devenu la propriété de quelques autres femmes, et pendant le siècle de lumières, Madame Louise Dupin est devenue propriétaire de Chenonceau. Elle utilisait le château dans une façon pour améliorer les idées de ce siècle car elle invitait les chefs du siècle de lumières a Chenonceau pour discuter. Par exemple, Voltaire, Jean Jacques Rousseau, et Montesquieu étaient quelques-unes qui sont allés a Chenonceau.

Dans les années suivantes, Chenonceau est acheté par des différentes familles. Pendant la première guerre mondiale, c’est utilisé comme un hôpital, et pendant la deuxième Chenonceau était un passage pour échapper la Vichy France à l’autre cote libre.

Alors, à cause du fait que beaucoup de propriétaires du Chenonceau étaient des femmes, ce château est nommé le « Château des Dames ». En apprendrant l’histoire de Chenonceau, on peut apprendre beaucoup sur la culture française, ou au moins la culture de l’histoire de la France. On voit qu’il y avait plusieurs propriétaires de Chenonceau, à cause des crises économiques et des guerres, cependant le château était toujours soigné par quelqu’un.

Cultural Essay: Luxembourg Gardens

Living so close to this large and magnificent public garden, I decided it would be the perfect place to observe and understand the daily routines and culture of Parisians. I have now been to visit and relax in these gardens on multiple occasions, so I was able to try and focus on capturing and taking in the everyday occurrences and routines of the locals. I feel as though this place reflects French mentality and culture because it is a place that people go to everyday. It is a location where many tourists visit because of its’ fame, but it is also located in a very busy and populated part of town that is convenient for locals. Many sites or areas that we have visited throughout this study have been very touristy or not places that are part of everyday life for a Parisian. I wanted to find a place where I could be part of where I was and not just a person passing by. The concept that one place can fit the personalities and activities of people of all ages amazes me. While sitting on a bench “reading” my book, I decided to watch different groups of people, and the wide varieties of people in the gardens amazed me.
For the teenagers, the gardens tend to be used as one of their local “hang out” places. They find an area in the shade or just sit in a group somewhere chatting, laughing, and a few groups even had picnics or wine. It is not a huge event or gathering, but rather a place where they can really enjoy each others company. For the Parisians who looked to be about our age, this really seemed to be a relaxation spot. Many were either sunning and reading a book or just sitting on two chairs listening to their music and dozing off every once and a while. With the Faculte de Pharmacie being right near the gardens, I saw many students and professors come into the park on their afternoon break. The older generations of everyday garden-goers tend to come to the park mostly for a stroll and a short chat on a bench. There were also single (alone) parents who would walk in the park with their children or bassinettes, but I often noticed that the majority of single parents in this area attracted men. It seems as though Parisian men who live in the area find this to be a peaceful location where they can bring their children and still have time to sit and read the paper instead of walking through the busy streets or staying in the house.
This park not only captures the everyday passing and actions of the French people, but also the activities that the French enjoy. I got off the metro one day when I was coming into the gardens with two boys who were just going to play tennis, while on another day an few older women were playing ping pong together.
Culture here seems to truly reflect their enjoyment of life and the relaxation that the Parisians seem to know is a necessary part of life. A lot of the time, I think Americans as a culture in general don’t take time to “smell the roses” when they really need a break, and this place just perfectly captures the way that the French view life: taking life one step at a time and enjoying it all the way.

CARMEN!!

J'ai aimé Carmen beaucoup hier soir ! L'opéra est une de mes choses préférées et j'ai aimé voir qu'il a exécuté sur une telle belle étape. J'ai vu plusieurs opéras dans le passé, mais je pense que voyant Carmen dans ce cadre était vraiment spéciale parce que cela est comment les opéras sont supposés être vus. Ils ont été écrits dans un temps quand toutes les maisons d'opéra étaient ornées et belles. J'ai pensé que les maisons d'opéra en Europe étaient extravagantes, mais maintenant que j'ai vu un opéra exécuté dans l'un, je peux apprécier et peux comprendre comment les aides de cadre amènent l'opéra à la vie.