First Adventures in the Louvre

Ah, the Louvre. The most famous museum in all of Paris. The building itself is a marvel, plus all the thousands and thousands of masterpieces tucked into every corner. It's such an amazing place. So amazing, in fact, that it is impossible to see it all in just one visit. Luckily for me, I have all semester to explore.

 A few of my friends and I went on a Friday night after 6pm. At this time, those under 26 years old get in for free; all you have to do is show a form of ID. So we had three hours to roam around the museum. It was nice because there weren't very many other people there that late in the evening. And the approaching dusk outside added a mysterious air to our visit.

I didn't cover very much ground at all in the overall scheme of things, but I'm not worried. Like I said, I have plenty of time to come back. I'll just highlight a few of my favorite exhibits that I saw.

There was a section of rooms that used to belong to Napoleon (for remember, the Louvre was for a long time the royal palace). They were all very fancy and beautiful. It reminded me a lot of Versailles.

reproduction of his throne room - power complex much?

Another cool section was the Egyptian artifacts area. Gotta love that archaeology! There was just so much to take in. All of the hieroglyphics and sarcophagi.

In my exploration I also came across what looked like to be a restoration studio. It looked really cool -  all the various artifacts under repair and being restored. I wish I could have gotten a closer look but there was just a window looking down into the area.

Of course the most popular thing that people go to see in the Louvre is the 'Mona Lisa.' No visit would be complete without a glimpse of the famous portrait. So naturally I had to check it out. Now, most people say that everyone is surprised by how small it is - only 30 x 21 inches. So I was thinking I was going to see a tiny little painting. After all that, I was actually surprised by how big it is. Not that it is a giant painting or anything either, but it's a decent size. And again because we came late in the evening, there wasn't much of a crowd in front of it like there normally is on any given day. So I was able to get up close.

Finally, in the basement of one of the wings of the building, there are remains of the original Louvre fortress that was torn down in order to build the palace. In my architecture class we had learned so much about that part of the Louvre's history, it was really interesting to actual see it.

And here are some pictures of the awesome pyramids of the Louvre:

the controversial main pyramid that became the entrance to the museum and is now the subject of debates about whether it ruined the original facade of the palace

underneath the main pyramid - gotta love that spiral staircase

the upside-down pyramid underneath the Louvre - well known from the movie "DaVinci Code"

A bientot!

La cuisine

France is known for being one of the best places in the world for delectable food. For those of you who know me and my picky eating habits, you might be wondering how I'm handling this shift in cuisine.

In all honesty, it's been good and bad experiences. I've tried to be open and try new things (which in itself is a new concept for me). Sometimes I surprise myself with what I enjoy. And other times I feel the urge to run around the corner to the little American cafe for some good old French fries. (ironic?)

First of all, bread. I've always said that I don't really like bread. This was true. But I've recently come up with a revised statement: I don't like American bread. (Sorry Dad)
Baguettes are the most delicious thing of my life. I can't get enough of them! I just eat whole plain baguettes all the time. It's really a problem. They do obviously sell ones in the form of sandwiches, with things inside them. But those aren't as fun. Although good for a quick lunch. And for taking cliche Paris pictures:

eating baguette sandwiches with Rachel and Jillian in front of the Eiffel Tower!

Another famous French delicacy is the crepe. Now, technically, I had tried a crepe before I came to Paris. But it was from Crepeaway in DC, which is not the same at all. The crepes here are AMAZING. I never thought I would like Nutella, but it's very delicious. Such a great sweet snack.

trying my first French crepe - with Brian in front of Notre Dame

International cuisine is actually a big component of the food culture here. It's surprising how many Asian restaurants you see everywhere. Most of them are "traiteurs," which is literally French for "caterers." That just means that they have food for you to buy by the weight and take to go. Honestly though, none of the food they serve is ever that great. It sits on the buffet all day and they warm it up in a microwave for you when you order. So I'm definitely still craving some good Japanese food.
However, there are also many Italian restaurants, which are very delicious. You can never fail when craving some pasta. There are a lot of fancy sit down places you can go to, or you can also find good choices at take away stores.

One of my new favorites is falafel. On Sundays, pretty much nothing is open for food. So the place to go is the Marais, a cute little neighborhood with a very Jewish culture. Therefore, they close shop on Saturdays and are actually open on Sundays, unlike anywhere else. Their staple food product is the falafel. There are at least five stores in a row on any given street selling the so-called "best falafel." It all tastes the same to me: delicious. For those of you who don't know, falafel is fried chickpeas shaped into round balls, in a pita shell. It sounded a bit odd to me at first and I was hesitant to try it, but I'm glad I did. Most places serve a lot of vegetable toppings and sauces on top, but I like to stay basic with just falafel and the basic sauce topping. (Honestly, I'm not sure what the sauce is.)

mmmm, falafel

Of course, there are the traditional French dishes that are necessary to try at least once while in France. So far I've had une creme brulee (not bad, a bit too sweet for me), un croque monsieur (basically a grilled cheese and ham sandwich with cheese on top - too much cheese for my taste, but otherwise good), and french onion soup (delicious, hands down). I've also tried tartare de boeuf (this is basically a glob of raw meat with some seasonings - I don't recommend it) and lobster bisque (I had never tried lobster before this and realized I don't care for it - but the broth was tasty).


Then you have times when the French try to serve American foods, but just don't get it quite right. Best example: hot dogs. First of all, they're made of actual meat, which is just weird. Then they are served in a baguette, most of the time with cheese on top. I really just don't enjoy them. I'll wait until I'm in America until I eat a hot dog again, thank you.

Luckily for me, there are still some American products sold here in Paris. The grocery store near my place, Casino, has a separate aisle dedicated to international foods - complete with an American section. There you can find marshmallows, peanut butter, cream of mushroom soup, Oreos, and (my favorite) skittles! among other things as well.

my night was made when I discovered these

A bientot!

Notre Dame

One of the first places that comes to mind when you think of Paris (besides the Eiffel Tower, obviously) is Notre Dame. Thanks, Disney, for your help with that one.

I've had the pleasure of visiting the cathedral many times so far since I've arrived, and it never ceases to awe me. The building is so intricate and just a masterpiece, really. It's amazing the skill of the builders back in the day.

My architecture class has also studied this building in detail, so I now know a lot of interesting historical facts about it. Below I'll post some pictures I've taken, along with some fun tidbits I've learned. Enjoy :)

in the square in front of the building

The main facade - originally it was painted in bright colors, but that aspect is now lost due to multiple acts of destruction throughout the years of the revolution. Most of the sculptures we see today are actually replicas.

 

 Each statue in the gallery of kings (located below the windows and above the porticos) is roughly 10 feet tall. They're huge.

The main portico - each one tells a story through the sculptures. This one depicts "The Last Judgement," in which the living and dead are all judged and sent to either heaven or hell.

Inside the church:
 

rose window

Side view:

The flying buttresses - built to support the vaulted ceilings inside. Each had a rain gutter running down the center, leading to the gargoyle on the end, where the water would drain out of its mouth.

The view at night is beautiful:
 

 

I still have to go back and take a tour all the way to the top of the building. Gotta check out those gargoyles up close, see if I spot any hunchbacks in the bell towers :P
Speaking of that story: Once the building was finally completed after years and years of construction, the Gothic style wasn't as popular since the Renaissance had taken over. The latest architect decided to ask his author friend, Victor Hugo, to write a story about it to regain interest. Thus "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" was born, and the rest is history!

A bientot!

Wait. I have to go to class while I'm here too??

Let's talk about the "study" part of study abroad. I think I lucked out in regards to my schedule. First of all, I don't have any classes on Tuesdays or Fridays. So I still have plenty of free time to explore the city. Secondly, I got all the classes that I wanted and they turned out to be just as great as I had hoped.

Anthropology of Cities:

I signed up for this class because it was the only one offered that was even slightly related to my major. (AUP isn't known for its archaeology program.) But it turned out to be a really good choice! The professor is really into discussion during class, which is nice. We're learning all about different aspects of city life and how it affects people socially. The coolest thing is that for our final project, we have to do our own ethnography. So basically, we have to pick a spot in the city of Paris where we can take notes on the area - the people, the layout, the activities, etc. I'm looking forward to it.

Paris through its Architecture:

This is a wonderful class. It's all about learning the history of Paris by looking at its architecture. I like the history part of it a lot, obviously. The professor is so knowledgeable though! She knows so many little obscure, interesting facts. It's amazing. We have class twice a week, but on Mondays instead of a lecture we usually have a visit. We meet somewhere in Paris and visit a famous building or neighborhood so we can see for ourselves things we've discussed in class. It's a lot of fun.

Creative Writing:

I took this class because I've always dabbled in writing ever since I was little so I thought it might be fun. I like it so far. The professor is very laid-back and not over critical, which is nice. We have an assignment due each week based on one aspect of writing. Then we all read our work out loud in class and give critiques. Some weeks I'm proud of my work, others not so much. I guess it depends on what I'm writing about.

Introduction to Painting:

I LOVE this class! I have always wanted to try painting, and what better place to learn than Paris? The professor is really helpful - he knows that we're all beginners. He doesn't expect masterpieces but just wants us to have fun and make some progress during the semester. We're using oil paints, which is really cool and I feel more like a real painter because of it. We've started out simple, just doing monochrome still-life. We'll eventually work our way towards colors and other more-complicated objects. He's even going to have models come in for us to paint. Like I said, this class is legit. We only have class once a week, but we have access to the art studio all the time, so we can go in and paint on our own time as well. Here's a photo of my very first painting:

I'll be posting all of my paintings on a separate portfolio page that you can get to here: http://sarasblogabroad.blogspot.fr/p/portfolio.html
So check it out!

A bientot!