this is our group at the hotel matignon, which is the home of the prime minister. Very hard to get a tour, and it was very very cool. the PM had had a meeting there, and was there at the time of our visit...








this is our awesome tour guide. he took 5 pictures with everyone's camera... too bad there were 10 cameras... say formage!

















I just like this picture. I think it makes me look old.

















this is just my fav piece of art. Mostly because i like to makeout. 

International phone calls also rock my world :-D

Becca G. and Adam R. are my favorite people in the whole world.
Thank you guys so much for the care package!!!!
j'adore

a la Centre George Pompidou

I’ve never been one to truly appreciate modern art. Where people see profound works of art, I tend to see a green square on a white canvas. Nonetheless, I went to the Centre George Pompidou (hereafter CGP) today, the crazy modern art museum that’s just blocks from my place. Even the outside presents a modern face that most of Paris rejects.

Because I’m an Art History Student (or so my PRC ID says..) I get into most art exhibits in France for free. It’s a pretty good deal overall, as the CGP charges 10 Euro for entrance. My student ticket didn’t get me everywhere, but I definitely had plenty to see.

While I’d generally call myself a modern art hater, I found myself enjoying several of the exhibits. The collection of Alfred Manessier pieces was fantastic and different.

There was also a collection of crazy models from a very snazzy architechture firm. The name escapes me now, if anyone cares, i'll look it up when I get home... But you had to put on little non-skid booties, and walk over the exibit as it was encased in a giant sloping glass case, with each of the models in a lighted box. It was an interesting way to see the models, but it was often difficult to really see the scale, and the detail.

There were a few very odd exhibits that I’m not quite sure what to say about. There was an entire exhibit devoted to Los Angeles art from between 1955 and 1985. It was interesting to see all of the American works, and see what defined the period. There were quite a few pieces of performance art, recorded on video, and multimedia exhibitions within the LA section. Some of the things, I just don’t know if I can accept as art though… One performance artist set up a bed in a gallery, and stayed in the bed for 22 days without talking…towards the end, he considered staying, as he was enjoying it so much. Another work was a video of a woman playing with a man’s balls, covered in black paint. It was just a closeup video on repeat… I just don’t think I’ll ever get that. Another ‘work’ showed a naked woman speaking to a camera about what she and her mother had bought on sale that day. As she would talk about the item, she’d put it on. Very strange.

There was an exibit on multimedia art, and its various forms on a lower floor which I wandered through fairly quickly. It didn’t have as much of an appeal to me, and I found myself distracted by the potential of other things on other floors. One random thing that was very interesting, cinematic art, was a slideshow of sorts set to a French lovesong of lovers in their homes, with their children, and in many of the photos, making love. It gave a feeling that you knew the families, and what their love was like, even though there were only a few photos of each pair. Sex seemed to be a popular topic for the cinematic art pieces, and I found it fairly odd how

many children were wandering through the fairly explicit exhibits. I suppose its just a more open culture.

I hadn’t realized how close the Center was to my home. I realize now that I had a very backwards view of where the city center was. In my little concept of my neighborhood, downtown, and the seine, were towards the main intersection near by. The metro, the center of my Parisian life, is to the left of my building, thus, all of civilization must also be in that direction. The walk to the CGP also gave me a better sense of scale to the city. What looks like a decent sized distance on the map is in reality, a very easily walked distance.

The building itself, and the giant courtyard in front of it are reason enough to stop by the CGP if you’re ever in town. It’s an intense looking building, and my guidebook tells me that the pipes are all color coded, with the blue being air conditioning (I heart the blue pipes) green for water pipes, yellow for electricity things. All of the elevators, and giant escalators (all of which are on the exterior of the building) are red, and the GIANT white pipes emerging from the ground, ventilate the lower floors. The view from the top is fantastic, and you can see just how far the city stretches. I walked past a beautiful restaurant on the top floor, a place I’d love to go for lunch one afternoon.

Outside, in the giant forum area, there were hundreds of people milling around, and just lying on the cobblestone area. There was a Mongolian instrumental group playing outside, and it was unlike anything I’ve ever heard. It seems only in Paris do you find a professional Mongolian instrumental group playing outside a museum, and a string quintet playing inside the metro.

There was also a guy with a marrientte Kurt Cobain signing some Nirvana song. it was... interesting...

World cup drama to come. The city was quiet, but its sad to see the team lose. More stories later. I have a paper due soon, and I don't even want to think about the other things I need to acomplish today. No Louvre for me today :(

I Miss you all,
J'adore,
Allison

Paris, Je t'aime

It’s been quite a while since I’ve written anything of any interest. I’ve been busy, and feeling more than a little insane. I feel completely scatter brained at the moment, and my mind can’t settle on the task at hand because there’s a to-do list a million miles long, even in I live in a little Pari-bubble, with internet connection at school as my only connection to the real world. The campus is a beautiful place, my peaceful, and English speaking island in the middle of speed-walking, unintelligible France. There’s a cat traipsing around now, he’s the mouser, but will soon be too fat with all of the junk food that students feed him. Cats are always good companions, and easy company.

Ireland was fantastic. Probably a bit escapist really, as all 11 of us had gotten tired of not being able to communicate with the world around us. The trip had been planned by one of the younger girls, Carolyn, and I really had to do very little other than show up. I slept over the girls’ apartment the night before we left. They’ve certainly got a nicer place than I do, with wireless internet, a TV, a legitimate kitchen, and most of all, stairs that don’t make you fear for your life…

Joey had warned me before the trip that Ireland would be cold, so I packed accordingly, yet with a bit of skepticism. I hope Joey’s not planning a career in Meterology, because the weather was nearly perfect, with blue skys and perfectly moderate tempetures. Ireland, and our hotel provided me with one of the biggest treats since I’ve arrived in Europe, a good shower, and the feeling of being truly clean. No matter how hard you scrub, no matter how much soap, and shampoo you use here in Paris, you can never quite get really clean. I’ve missed that feeling quite a bit.

Most of our time in Dublin was spent exploring. I was quite surprised to see how small the city was compared to other metropolitan areas. While I can normally get lost anywhere, I had little trouble navigating Dublin, in spite of the fact that the city was not planned using a grid of streets. We visited each of the major landmarks, and had a lot of fun in the pubs.

Our first pub night was exactly what I imagined Ireland to be. The place was packed with world cup fans, as the game had just ended. We each bought a 7 euro drink or two, and set up camp in a corner area of the pub. It wasn’t long before a singer came on, and started singing familiar American songs. The whole pub was singing (when they knew the words) and a few of us seemed to know the words to every song. It was like a wonderful Irish version of Gator Rocks. Nothing could have made me happier.

The next morning we got out to see all the main tourist sites in Dublin. It’s quite a bit easier than one would think, and the size of the city lends to a walking tour of all the attractions. As we had been to the Guinness factory the other day, we went to Dublin Castle (disappointing, to say the least), St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Trinity College, the old Jail where Irish insurgents were held, and a few other random places. I met up with Joey and Lee, and we got a pint as we watched England begin its final game. It was great to see them, and to be able to chatter about how things are different across the pond. We certainly have had different experiences, but it seems our impressions are very similar.

We watched the France game that night at a random restaurant/pub in Temple bar, the main place to hang out and get drunk. There was a table full of French people near by, so we formed a cheering section. Most of the kids in the program quickly caught on to the main cheer “Allez le Blues!” The French people were a lot of fun, and they adopted us for the entirety of the game.

The trip home was sad, and everyone wrinkled their nose when we arrived in Beauvais, and were greated with a Bonjour, and a multitude of French signs and posters. Some of the people on the trip don’t speak ANY French, and I can’t imagine how difficult it must be for them to exist from day to day. I think its pretty hard to get around from day to day, and the French are rather rough with those who don’t speak French well, I wonder what it’s like to try to get around without understanding anything.

Yesterday we visited a few Chateaux. It was amazing to see these fantastic places set in the beautiful countryside of the Loire Valley. The places are spectacular, and I think I’m now in the market for a French Chateaux. I wonder what the price range is, I could live in one of those fantastic places, though only a renaissance castle, not a medieval one. When one lives in a castle, it must be a fashionable one…

The heat isn’t as bad now as it was before. The metro is still smelly, and the city still hot, but if you get a chance to cool down, its easy to maintain a reasonable temperature. It’s just a challenge trying to reach that reasonable temperature. My hunt for a fan turned up nothing in a reasonable price range, so I’ve been living with a folder that has a higher calling as my fan. Nothing makes me happier than the ice cubes that my precious ice cube trays produce. I also bought a hairdryer, which seems like a silly little luxury, but feels like a necessity. It’s amazing how much my mood changes when I feel pulled together, and clean.

The entire city of Paris is ‘en soldre’ or on sale. Unfortunately, I am fairly poor because of this, and I can’t do any more shopping for a while, if at all. I got a shiney ring, which was one of my main goals, so I’m happy as a clam for now…

I’ve been reading quite a bit, and I’m pretty happy about it. I’ve wandered into quite a few bookstores, but there are so few that carry books in English. There’s a place right around the corner that is what a bookstore should be. There are books piled in places, and every wall has huge cases of books with spines that all match. I only wish I read French well enough to pick up a book by Sartre, and read it in the café where he likely wrote it, which is less than a block from school.

The time here has changed my prospective quite a bit, but I’m not quite sure how I’ve changed. I only know that I have. I’m quieter, and I feel older, but I realize how little I know about anything. This trip has definitely proven to me that it’s a huge planet, but a very small world. Americans are everywhere, and I seem to meet people from Florida at every turn, but there’s so much of this world that is so different than Plantation, or Gainesville.

Anyway, I’ve rambled long enough. Sorry I don't have any truly profound commentary, my mind is still focused on the to-do list i've got, and the paper that's due Tuesday. We'll see how it all goes. I 'm hoping to get like 4 internship apps out on Monday, so that's another thing i'll need to take care of. Too much to do, too little time. I’ll write more often, so posts aren’t 3 pages long… I'm sure my next post will have a lot about the world cup, for those of you who are interested. I promise, I'll take plenty of pictures of the riots....

Brrr It's cold in here...

I bought 2 little icecube trays.
So excited...
waiting for water to freeze.

The French hate ice.

I miss Ice.

It's so strange that the thing I miss the most is frozen water. Too bad you can't ship ice.
Sodas and drinks are normally refridgerated and chilled, but rarely cold enough. I've always enjoyed ice cold diet coke but here, its not much of an option.

The other day as we were wandering though Versailles, I found a little stand where I could get a fountain soda(!!!) and I was pleased as punch to find that they served it with ice. Mind you it was 4 small cubes of ice about an inch in diameter (hardly fit for chomping on) but, it was ice!! The news spread quickly among the UF kids, and many fountain sodas were had.

I can't wait for Ireland. Hopefully I'll be able to get my ice fix, and enjoy the English speaking world. Hopefully I'll be able to meet up with Joey. It's always nice to see someone from home.

In other news:
Just as in Florida, I am a mosquito magnet. It's a bit of a pain because after the rain the mosquitoes come out like mad, and as there is no airconditioning, I can't close the windows. Any ideas? lemme know...

I got an A! You don't even know how excited I am. :-D

Ps. Visitors are always welcome. Come to Paris!