Busy Busy

It's hard to believe I've been here for nearly 11 weeks. My friend Annie was asking me about Dublin, and I almost forgot that I even did that, considering it's been about eight weeks since I visited the Irish capital. I guess that's what happens when you visit six cities in eight weeks.

That trend hasn't changed, and it won't until my return flight on June 6th. June...6th. Interesting, considering that this past weekend we visited the Normandy region and the D-Day landing beaches. Coincidental? Completely.

I had been looking forward to this one for a long time. After our first (mediocre) outing with Abroadco, I was hoping they wouldn't screw up what could be a great excursion. Luckily, Tawna pulled it together and it turned out to be a great day in Normandy. We went to the D-Day museum, the D-Day sites, and notably, the American Cemetery on Omaha Beach, where about 5,000 Americans died during the landing. Pretty amazing place to be.

Omaha Beach

American Cemetery

It wasn't as emotional as I expected, but it was nonetheless a very meaningful trip. Our tour guide was fantastic, letting us roam the beach and the cemetery while acting as a walking D-Day encyclopedia.

So I just realized I forgot to mention that we were staying in Caen, a city near the beaches, overnight. We figured that, since Abroadco didn't plan an overnight trip, we should plan one for ourselves — so we did. And it was great.

Turns out there's a huge open air market every Sunday in Caen, and we took full advantage. For lunch, we roamed around and found some delicious treats for a ridiculously small amount of money.

Fresh baguettes, mango and peach chutney, goat cheese, strawberries and seasoned frites. We ate it on the river, and aside from the random dude peeing in the water, we had a fairly peaceful meal.

But then again, there's really nothing like coming back to Paris. Caen is a cute town (albeit brand new — it was completely destroyed in WWII), but the consistent beauty Paris has to offer is unparalleled by any other city I've ever been to (except for Jerusalem). Luckily, the weather was as nice when we got back as when we left, and it has yet to decline.

In other news, things are getting pretty exciting around here. Tomorrow, Emily Eckhous and Kelly Maslow come, and on Friday Curren and John arrive, then Voj on Sunday. Prettay prettay exciting.

Jon and I also booked tickets to Barcelona for next weekend. We're staying with ANNIE, and I cannot wait for that trip. Hopefully I'll get some updates in before I leave for Espagne.

Oh and by the way, as promised, our picture with the Cordon Bleu chef:

Printemps et Londres

Forgive me for not writing sooner, but it's been over 60 degrees the past three days. Growing up in Los Angeles, where changing seasons are more of an indication for a changing fashion trend than actual weather patterns, I never really got the pure joy out of leaving the cold season.

But Paris is a completely different story. It's not hot like LA, and it's not freezing cold like Madison. Apparently I was lucky to be able to get some snow this year - it doesn't happen a lot in Paris. So yesterday, with a high of 67 in the afternoon, Jon and I head to Montmartre, a hillside region that I went to around two months ago. Only then, it was 35 degrees and pouring rain - one of my most uncomfortable days in Paris.

Thirty-two degrees warmer and sunshine definitely beats the pouring rain (even if I got a couple great pictures..) And while last time I was looking down on to a foggy Paris, yesterday was the clearest day of the year.

Paris doesn't have the same type of skyline as a New York, Chicago, etc. There's one (ugly) tower, the Eiffel Tower, The Panthéon, and Invalides. And it's hard to see most of them. For me, it was a relief to be able to walk around in Paris without a coat and to see the city in a completely different way. A day earlier, we zig-zagged along the Seine River, which was also among the best things I've done so far. Tragically, I left my camera at home. I did get some great shots of Sacre Coeur and Paris, so I'll post those instead.

This shouldn't overshadow our trip to London last week, but it's hard not to be excited during such an exciting time.

I had already been to London, so I was pretty much only going because a) one of our best friends, Zac, studies there, and b) it's nice to see other cultures after living in France for quite a while. Our first night out, we went to pubs in the Picadilly Circus, and to our surprise, a pint of good beer cost only 2.21 pounds (about $3.50). Last night I paid 4.50 euro (about $6) for a 25cl cup of Heineken. Oh well.

The weather was surprisingly great in London. The forecast said it was going to be pouring rain on Friday, and instead we got sunshine through the weekend. It was great to see Zac, and we even got see his favorite place, Golders Green (is that not the most typical Jewish name..), where he spends a lot of time.

We did all the touristy stuff: Big Ben, London Eye (though we didn't go in, line was too long), Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Camdentown, Trafalgar Square, and the National Gallery. Going to the art museum worked out really well for me, considering I had an art history test two days later. We saw some amazing art by (notably) Velazquez, Caravaggio, Caracci, Rubens, Raphael, and Van Dyck. Great collection, but nothing like the Louvre.

London Eye and some other building

Anyway, it's been a really tiring week. I had a tough midterm, a lot of traveling, and it's not even close to over. Tomorrow, my study abroad program is taking us to Caen, Normandy and the D-Day beaches. Should be another great weekend, and hopefully I won't get too caught up in this weather. Just don't blame me if I do.

London!

It's about 9:30 a.m. in Paris, and I'm still not completely packed for our long weekend in London. You see, Jon had the idea of going on Friday and not coming back until early Monday morning so we could have three full nights with our friend Zac.

I've actually been to London before, but I think this time will be a little more fun. I'm staying with one of my best friends, and I'll be in a much more comfortable situation than I was last time in my sketchy hostel. I'm looking for warm lagers, some tall guy named Ben and some fish and chips. Full updates next week.

Fontainebleau/Hide N' Seek

How did we choose our best day in France? Like this:

Jon's message:

YO

Let's pick a place to go tomorrow. Here are three options:

Fontainebleu. This place has a chateau and nice woods.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fontainebleau

Chantilly. Home of whipped cream... also has a chateau.http://wikitravel.org/en/Chantilly

Provins. A "cute" medieval town. http://www.provins.net/

I believe that the first two places are accessible by RER, and Provins is a 10 euro train ride each way.

Someone please pick a place and time and we'll do it.

Rachel's response:

i vote chantilly

...

Obviously, we didn't listen to Rachel, and we decided to go to Fontainebleau, home of one of the most famous chateaus in France. A week after going to Tours and Chenonceau, we weren't sure what could top our last chateau visit, but this one turned out to be a great place just outside Paris.

The most enticing part about going to Fontainebleau is pretty simple: it's easy. If you have a Navigo (an unlimited metro pass), you can pay an extra 8 euros roundtrip to visit a city 40 minutes outside Paris. The chateau itself is right off a bus stop, and it's free for students. Our lone expenses for the day were lunch, a beer, and the one euro for an audio guide. Totally worth it.

Another interesting part of Fontainebleau — something we only discovered when we got there — is that unlike Chenonceau, there is a town built around the chateau, and its center lies right across from the castle's grounds.

Fontainebleau isn't as architecturally impressive as Chenonceau, but there's something about it that makes it more attractive. It is much bigger, is very well preserved, and best of all, there was almost nobody else there.

The chateau courtyard

Inside, the building was very well preserved, with furniture in its original positioning, and the same tapestries and paintings that Napoleon bought himself. French monarchs had been using this castle since the late 12th century, when Louis VII had a chapel consecrated on the site.

I hadn't been impressed by anything this much since my first week in Paris. The hallways in this building compared to those of the Louvre, and it was amazing to think that people actually lived in this sort of wealth. It made me feel grateful that our politicians generally don't centralize our country's wealth within a few dozen people.

My two favorite parts of the chateau were actually the hallways. I mean, when it's adorned with Renaissance paintings on each side, and the ceiling is lined with gold, it's pretty difficult not to be impressed. Louis XV had this hallway built so he could have a walkway to his private chamber and have a room to show off the guests.

Just on the other side of the room lies the library. Rebuilt by Napoleon, it looked like the best room in the house, but we weren't able to get a great view of it because it was closed to visitors. Regardless, it was a really beautifully symmetrical room with an arched ceiling and bookcases on either side.

I have well over 100 pictures of the Chateau, so I'll spare you (and me) the hours it could take to post and read about every room in the castle. But just know that it's really really big. And outside is even bigger.

Kinda artsy? Meh. I was just trying to show that aside from there being an enormous courtyard/lake/fountain/park/horse trail, there's also a forest in the background. We walked around this area, played like little children, and took way too many set-up and self-timer pictures (my new favorite hobby). Here's our best one from the day:

As for my favorite picture of the day, I had to go with this one. Meant to be on a postcard.

OK. 1:45 a.m. Big French test tomorrow. Didn't study that much. London in five days. Blogging off..

It's been a while...

Since my last post, the following has happened:

• Dodgers start spring training
• We met our French neighbor, Sam
  
• 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile
• Bradley Smith posts Holocaust denial ad on BH website
• Four consecutive sunny days in Paris (sorry dad)
  
• Two French exams
• Alex Vojdany created a blog that already has more followers than mine
  

Yeah, like my title says, "It's been a while." The past 10 days or so have been awesome, hectic, and down right tiring. It's hard to say if I've been doing more during this period than any other during my stay here, but it sure has felt like a lot.

Believe it or not, today marks the two month (eight weeks) point in my study abroad. When I got here on January 8, I knew about nine words in French, didn't know a single conjugation, and I was unable to order a croissant in a bakery. Over the past two months, I've even impressed myself with the amount I've been able to absorb, and with almost three full months of French classes to go, I'm sure I'll come home being able to speak butchered French with anybody I choose.

OK, now to the play-by-play:

On Tuesday, Feb. 23 (yeah, THAT long ago), my parents arrived in Paris. It was great to finally see them after six weeks on my own in France. Then again, I feel like they used my study abroad trip as an excuse for them to come to Paris again. Don't feel bad — if I were in their situation, I would probably do the same.

I didn't do a lot of new things with them, other than go out to eat a lot. Since it's a pretty expensive thing to do if you're a student, my parents spoiled me for eight days, and I must say it's pretty damn amazing. We had some lovely meals, but none could match up to our lunch at Jules Verne, a 5-star restaurant at the top of the Eiffel Tower.

Now I say it's 5-star, but it really only has one Michelin star. Regardless, if you know what that means, it's a pretty big deal. The meal was truly exquisite. I started off with a raw marinated sea bass with caviar. For my main dish, I had another sea bass that was amazing; its sauce had a hint of coffee, and it was on a bed of leeks and shallots.

Seabass

Turbot

Dessert was my favorite. Not only was everything great, but there was so much I couldn't finish. I got some strawberry tart with a mango citrus sauce, my dad got a souffle, and my mom gave me and my dad her incredibly rich, chocolate tart/cake thing. But that's not all. They gave us marshmallows, chocolate truffles, cookies, macarons (not as good as La Durée), and more chocolate cakes in a minty syrup. Yum.

Yum

Our view from Jules Verne

I don't want to give you the impression that eating is all we did. Really, it was a great opportunity for my parents to see Paris during the day and see me in the afternoon and evening. Since I'm now a "full time" student, I sometimes have class all day. But as a result of taking a great art history class, I was able to show my parents some cool parts of the Louvre that most people would ignore otherwise.

During my parents' stay, Abroadco had a trip planned to Tours and the nearby Château de Chenonceau. My parents went to Champagne. Fair trade-off, I think.

Tours was just OK, aside from the great food prices compared to Paris. The chateau, on the other hand, was unlike anything I've ever seen. The pre-11th century castle was used by dozens of monarchs, and still has a feel from every era in between. I don't really know how to describe it without selling it short, but I took plenty of pictures. My favorite part was the kitchen, where our audio guide told us to "imagine it bustling with dozens of people." I didn't really have to imagine it, considering there were dozens of people actually down there. Here are some highlights:

Le Château de Chenonceau

The BIG Hall

La cuisine

Aside from that, not too much has been going on. Many of you probably know that the Badger Herald is keeping up an advertisement from a well-known Holocaust denier. It has given the paper a lot of (good, bad?) publicity, and I actually wrote a letter to the editor on the subject. I won't talk about it too much, simply because I haven't written about anything else for the past week, but here's the link to the story. Let me know what you think, I'd love to get your input.

That's pretty much it. French class is pretty fun and pretty easy for me. That's not to say there haven't been challenges, but I'm definitely doing better than most of the people in my class. That, and the fact that you only need a 50% on an exam to pass is making this pretty easy. I got a 17/20 on the last one, which at 85%, is an A? I think?

Jon and I go to London to visit Zac Miller on March 12, and then we have to figure out some other stuff to do during our free weekends before spring break. Tomorrow, we'll be going to either another chateau or something else cool. While Paris is a wonderful city, two months in one place is a pretty long time. I'm ready for a change, even if it's only for a day.