I have returned from my first pilgrimage to that Francophile mecca that is Paris. Yes, indeed, I fought through the rain and wind, dodged creepy men, and narrowly evaded the many souvenir sellers.
But between those events, I had a wonderful time.
-I arrived late Thursday night, and after being rudely directed to the taxi drivers by the "welcome" desk at Gare de Lyon I navigated the metro system to my hostel. Well, it was close to 11 pm when I exited the metro closest to the hostel, and it was a bit sketchy. Thankfully after a few minutes of standing around a street corner, midway between robbed and raped I heard and saw a group of young americans.... who just so happened to be headed to the same hostel! What luck!
-St. Christopher's Hostel in the 19th is probably the best hostel...ever. They were clean, helpful, (will be sending me my lost camera)! and complete with bar and lounge for that last drink after a stressful day in the city. The bunk beds were outfitted with small night lights and curtains.
- I spent most of Friday by my lonesome, since the four other girls I was meeting up with were arriving around 6 that night. So, in the wind and cold, I wandered the Seine, and saw, -shakespeare and co bookshop, musee de moyenne age, the sorbonne, jardin du luxembourg, and Musee D'orsay. Then, I wandered over to the Louvre, where I was scheduled to meet up with the Aussies that I met thursday night and later, my gal pals. The Louvre, well, the Louvre is impressive. I saw beaucoup de choses. Lots of things...I will post pictures...and no, I didn't gawk and snap photos of the Mona Lisa. She's on coasters and umbrellas for Christ's sake. Sad to say, but her thrill is gone. And although I saw many masterpieces, the louvre is just too huge. I got bored, and some rooms were so crowded with stuff, that all the paintings started to blend together. I much preferred Musee D'Orsay.
- Saturday, the gals and I wandered around the Seine, saw Notre Dame! (beautiful by the way) and walked through the bright streets of the Latin Quarter. Then, we walked right up to the Eiffel Tour, saw a march at Arc de Triomphe and braved the masses on Champs Elysees. Then, us five lovely ladies traveled back to the Latin Quarter for a wonderful dinner at an Italian Restaurant near the Pantheon. The food was nothing special, but being young, attractive, and FIVE of us, the predominately male staff loved us. When we had gorged ourselves on pasta, desserts, and the free liquer, we hit the metro again and saw the lit up Eiffel Tour from across the river. We even saw it sparkle, ..in between running from aggressive vendors, and creepy draggeurs.
- On sunday, I spent a wonderful day with an Australian friend in Montmartre. Together, in the snow! and cold, we saw Sacre Coeur, Pigalle, lunch, and the Opera Garnier. It was too beautiful. I recommend visiting it to everyone! Then, we hit up the window displays at Galleries Lafayette before returning to a nap back at the hostel. Then, after losing one trooper to the TGV, four lovely brunettes spent their last night in Paris eating one of the best meals I've ever had.
- In the morning, Paris bid me adieu, and I boarded a train back to Montpellier, school, and life as I know it....but, We'll always have paris.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Sunday, November 16, 2008
The Ides of.....November?
Here I am looking at the calendar and realizing there is a reason for Christmas decorations popping up in Montpellier: it's already mid November! How did this happen and where did all this time go?
Well, I haven't been on any big adventures since the U.K. but I am preparing for my next one, a three day, four night adventure in the city of lights! Paris! I'm trying to balance catching up on my homework and planning my trip at the same time....eeek.
November also brought with it reminders of my return home. Registration came up fast, and I was scrambling to get a plan in order, and luckily I have a pretty nice schedule set up. For all those wondering...and for those that were not, here is a class list.
- Survey of British Literature II
- GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender) literature
- Intermediate Fiction Writing
- French and Francophone Drama of the 20th Century
and - Campus Orchestra.
I also managed not to have any class before 11 am, and none on Fridays! Go me!
Though, don't be too jealous just yet, all that free time means....work! Luckily for me, I emailed my boss, and am able to return to my post at the U of M law library.
In the words of Erin Brokovich, "Hell no, I hate lawyers. I just work for them."
I actually don't hate lawyers, people, I just have to laugh at all the law students bugging out in the library. I definitely wouldn't want to switch places with them.
As for life here in Montpellier...it's still flowing. The weather has turned a bit colder, but never lower than mid forties. My life with my host family is still going marvelously, although the kitten, Sapphire, continues his onslaught on our toes.
Classes are fine, although it's crunch time, and I've been slacking on my crunching. The readings that I didn't do are coming back to bite me, and yes, I only have myself to blame.
Speaking of that, I should really get back to my book!
Take care all,
Love,
Becca
Well, I haven't been on any big adventures since the U.K. but I am preparing for my next one, a three day, four night adventure in the city of lights! Paris! I'm trying to balance catching up on my homework and planning my trip at the same time....eeek.
November also brought with it reminders of my return home. Registration came up fast, and I was scrambling to get a plan in order, and luckily I have a pretty nice schedule set up. For all those wondering...and for those that were not, here is a class list.
- Survey of British Literature II
- GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender) literature
- Intermediate Fiction Writing
- French and Francophone Drama of the 20th Century
and - Campus Orchestra.
I also managed not to have any class before 11 am, and none on Fridays! Go me!
Though, don't be too jealous just yet, all that free time means....work! Luckily for me, I emailed my boss, and am able to return to my post at the U of M law library.
In the words of Erin Brokovich, "Hell no, I hate lawyers. I just work for them."
I actually don't hate lawyers, people, I just have to laugh at all the law students bugging out in the library. I definitely wouldn't want to switch places with them.
As for life here in Montpellier...it's still flowing. The weather has turned a bit colder, but never lower than mid forties. My life with my host family is still going marvelously, although the kitten, Sapphire, continues his onslaught on our toes.
Classes are fine, although it's crunch time, and I've been slacking on my crunching. The readings that I didn't do are coming back to bite me, and yes, I only have myself to blame.
Speaking of that, I should really get back to my book!
Take care all,
Love,
Becca
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Return to the mother country....the UK
Another adventure....only this one went slightly more smoothly.
My friend Abby and I started our journey in Nimes, France where we were to board our flight to East Midlands airport. After some running around, we made it to the airport and then, to customs. The customs agents were especially thrilled by my passport....damn that being born in Alaska...I keep getting "you're from the same state as Sarah Palin looks."
Then, when we finally reached the East Midlands airport...which is in the middle of nowhere, England, it was bedtime. And since our flight wasn't until 7 the next morning, we settled down for the night. I found a "prayer room" and suggested that for our nook. It was quiet, carpeted, and I even saw some blankets in there. Unfortunately Abby vetoed that idea (a little presidential shout out to Obama!). So, I laid out, with my towel as a blanket and slept for a good couple of hours until rudely awoken by a large group of irish teenage footballers....ugh.
We finally arrived in Edinburgh! If you've never been...go. It's beautiful. Abby and I were meeting and staying with her friend Barry for the couple of days, but before we met up with him we did some sight seeing. Abby opted out of the Edinburgh Castle, because it was rather expensive, but I had to go in. It was worth it in my opinion. I saw some amazing views, walked on historic stones, and even saw the Scottish Crown Jewels and the room where Mary Queen of Scots gave birth to James! Abby and I also visited the Scottish National Museum and wandered the streets of Old Town on our first day. With Barry as our guide, we did some more wandering and grabbed some fish and chips with pints of Guinness. We crashed at Barry's house and his parents were wonderful. They fed and housed us, and even took us out to their local pub. They made us lots of tea and I even tried black pudding (blood sausage). It was gross. But our too short stay in Scotland was really fantastic, I'll have to go back to see all that I missed.
On Sunday, Abby and I boarded our megabus for London. Nine hours and some amazing countryside later, we arrived at Victoria Station. From there, we navigated the undergroud (Mind the Gap), and found our hostel for the night. It was in a semi sketchy neighborhood, but it was clean, and quiet, and cheap, and Abby and I had a room to ourselves. The next day, we starting our sightseeing. This included:
- A long walk up to Abbey Road and some photo-ops with angry motorists.
- Picadilly Circus
- Trafalgar Square
- The National Gallery : very very impressive. I saw a lot of great works including those by Rubens, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, and Botticelli. wow.
Then, we gathered our things to head down to my cousin Rachelle's place where again, we were fed and housed for free. We also had the company of William, Rachelle and Matthew's young son, who is about as cute as they come.
On our last full day in London, Abby and I visited:
- London Bridge (not actually falling down)
- Shakespeare's Globe (from the outside...too expensive)
- Tate Modern
- River Thames
- London Eye
- Anoop Jethwa - :)
- Parliament and Big Ben
- Westminster
- Oxford Street and the many shopping opportunities.
That night, we watched election coverage, tried to sleep, and woke to find out Obama had won, and I had to go catch a flight.
-Let's just say, I'm estatic about the results, but dead dog tired. Good night everyone.
Love,
Becca
My friend Abby and I started our journey in Nimes, France where we were to board our flight to East Midlands airport. After some running around, we made it to the airport and then, to customs. The customs agents were especially thrilled by my passport....damn that being born in Alaska...I keep getting "you're from the same state as Sarah Palin looks."
Then, when we finally reached the East Midlands airport...which is in the middle of nowhere, England, it was bedtime. And since our flight wasn't until 7 the next morning, we settled down for the night. I found a "prayer room" and suggested that for our nook. It was quiet, carpeted, and I even saw some blankets in there. Unfortunately Abby vetoed that idea (a little presidential shout out to Obama!). So, I laid out, with my towel as a blanket and slept for a good couple of hours until rudely awoken by a large group of irish teenage footballers....ugh.
We finally arrived in Edinburgh! If you've never been...go. It's beautiful. Abby and I were meeting and staying with her friend Barry for the couple of days, but before we met up with him we did some sight seeing. Abby opted out of the Edinburgh Castle, because it was rather expensive, but I had to go in. It was worth it in my opinion. I saw some amazing views, walked on historic stones, and even saw the Scottish Crown Jewels and the room where Mary Queen of Scots gave birth to James! Abby and I also visited the Scottish National Museum and wandered the streets of Old Town on our first day. With Barry as our guide, we did some more wandering and grabbed some fish and chips with pints of Guinness. We crashed at Barry's house and his parents were wonderful. They fed and housed us, and even took us out to their local pub. They made us lots of tea and I even tried black pudding (blood sausage). It was gross. But our too short stay in Scotland was really fantastic, I'll have to go back to see all that I missed.
On Sunday, Abby and I boarded our megabus for London. Nine hours and some amazing countryside later, we arrived at Victoria Station. From there, we navigated the undergroud (Mind the Gap), and found our hostel for the night. It was in a semi sketchy neighborhood, but it was clean, and quiet, and cheap, and Abby and I had a room to ourselves. The next day, we starting our sightseeing. This included:
- A long walk up to Abbey Road and some photo-ops with angry motorists.
- Picadilly Circus
- Trafalgar Square
- The National Gallery : very very impressive. I saw a lot of great works including those by Rubens, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, and Botticelli. wow.
Then, we gathered our things to head down to my cousin Rachelle's place where again, we were fed and housed for free. We also had the company of William, Rachelle and Matthew's young son, who is about as cute as they come.
On our last full day in London, Abby and I visited:
- London Bridge (not actually falling down)
- Shakespeare's Globe (from the outside...too expensive)
- Tate Modern
- River Thames
- London Eye
- Anoop Jethwa - :)
- Parliament and Big Ben
- Westminster
- Oxford Street and the many shopping opportunities.
That night, we watched election coverage, tried to sleep, and woke to find out Obama had won, and I had to go catch a flight.
-Let's just say, I'm estatic about the results, but dead dog tired. Good night everyone.
Love,
Becca
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