My parents are here!

Today, my parents came from the states for a visit! They'll be here all week, and we're going together to Amsterdam/Leiden to see some family. So excited!

They were fairly (and understandably) jet lagged, so I tried to plan something a little low-key. We went to Montmartre and saw the Sacre Coeur, one of the 2 famous churches in Paris. It's in the very north of the city situated at the top of a hill, so the views are excellent.





Then, we went to cemetery Pere Lachaise, where Proust, Chopin, Edith Piaf, and Oscar Wilde are buried, among others. It was great, but I really wish I had had a map. There's no order to the cemetery, and exceptionally famous people are buried next to people no one's heard of. I might have to go back later in the program to find the ones that I missed.

Here's Chopin...


and Edith Piaf...

and Jim Morrison...

Cool, no?

Alors, c'est tout aujourd'hui. Bonne soirée!

A Day Trip to Versailles

During our program, we have quite a few outings that take place on Fridays, since there isn't class. This Friday we took the commuter train to the Chateau at Versailles, and got a tour.



It was really cold (and we had to wake up super early) so we couldn't enjoy the gardens as much as we would have liked, but they were still spectacular.







As for the inside, I have to say there's a reason the chateau has such a reputation...it's beautifully ornate, with great frescoes, Bernini sculpture, and interesting history. My camera doesn't do the best with bad lighting, but here are a couple of decent photos of the inside.

The Chapel of the Royal Family

A View of the Gardens

One of the many Great Halls

Overall, it was a really good visit, and we had a great time getting outside of Paris, even if it was a bit too chilly for my taste.

Bonne soirée!

Back from Madrid!

Last weekend I went to Madrid to visit my friend Megan, who is studying abroad in Barcelona. I got a pretty good price on a flight, and we found a 4-star hotel for around 70 euro per person for the entire weekend. (I can't say that Europe in the winter doesn't have its benefits...)

On Saturday, we did mostly tourist-y things, like seeing the Museo Reina Sofía, Museo del Prado, Palacio Real, and the Plaza Mayor. I'd never been to the Prado before, but I really enjoyed it. There are lots of very famous works from Velázquez, El Greco, Titian, Raphael, and Goya there, including Velázquez' Las Meninas (one of the eeriest paintings I've ever seen). In the museum analogy, Prado is to the Louvre as Reina Sofía is to the Musée D'Orsay. The Reina Sofía has more 20th century art, including several Dalí works, along with one of the most impressive works of art I've ever seen, Picasso's Guernica.

Then, we went to the Palacio Real (Royal Palace) and took a tour. The place is really beautiful, and sits on top of a hill overlooking the Spanish countryside. Here's a picture of the courtyard of the palace...


And the archways around the Palace...



Madrid is a really beautiful city, so this sort of grandiose design is found all over the place.


Here's a nice street corner picture...


We finally made our way to the Plaza Mayor. Most Spanish cities have a public square called the Plaza Mayor, and Madrid's is very nice.


Navigating the city was a breeze, thanks to (in my opinion) the best metro system in Europe. It looks more like a Swedish hospital than public transit. You could probably eat off of the floor in most of those metro stops and not be too much worse for wear. It's true, the Paris metro does have more rustic charm, but I'll take Swedish hospital over "rustic" in my public transportation any day.

On Sunday, we went to El Rastro, a huge open air artisan/flea market. I did pretty well, I found a nice 10 euro pair of silver earrings and a new scarf (2 euros), and some vintage prints of the city (6 prints for 3 euros).


All in all it was an excellent trip, and I'm really looking forward to more weekend travel as the program progresses (look forward to: Amsterdam, Milan, and Dubai posts, among others)

à bientôt!

-Laura

Bonjour!

So, I've been in Paris for over two weeks now, and it's been a really interesting experience. The beginning of study abroad is a little bit like the beginning of college. Everyone is on their best behavior, because no one wants to be the person without any friends. But, that can't last forever, and it seems like most everyone has fallen into a group by now.

The workload for study abroad hasn't been too intense, so I've really gotten a chance to take our weekends off to see the city.

Here I am at the Notre Dame, on Île de la Cité, one of the smaller islands in Paris.

And at the Arc de Triomphe, Place Charles de Gaulle.

We actually went to the top, and the view was pretty incredible...

All the sightseeing has been great, especially because as a student at a university in Paris, I get into all the museums (and national monuments) for free. It saves a ton of money when an entrance fee for a museum like the Louvre is 10 euros. I also found out that this applies to pretty much every museum in the EU. So next weekend when I go to Madrid (one of my favorite cities in Europe) to visit a friend who is studying abroad in Barcelona, I get into the Reina Sofia and the Prado for free.

My French is actually coming along pretty well too. I can have conversations with people in French, and they vaguely understand what I'm saying. Last weekend I went to this tea shop in the Marais, and I wanted to buy some teabags for my tea (they only sold loose tea), so I was able to describe what I wanted and the store owner understood me. I'm fully anticipating that my French will deteriorate after a weekend speaking Spanish in Madrid, but I'll worry about that later.

Anyway, that's all for now. Bonne soirée from Paris.