Jours 1-7

Bonjour tout le monde!

Jours 1-7

April 23-Aril 29

Hello friends, family and other readers! This part of my blog will contain “Ma vie quotidienne” aka my daily life. My walks and excursions are part of my culture class, but even though this section is also, I am going to be much less formal here. Also, this post will be longer than most because I have a whole week to cover, sorry!

 Paris is AMAZING. I am so in love with this city I cannot even describe it to you. Arriving here in Paris was a little nerve-wracking because I had to find my friend who was supposed to arrive at the same time as me but my flight was an hour late. I had no idea if she was still waiting for me and we both didn’t have a phone but no worries, we found each other fine. The first thing Melissa and I did in Paris? Take a four hour nap. Probably not the best idea but it was amazing. That night we walked to the Eiffel Tower and got lost trying to find this other building that looked pretty. However, a construction worker did help us out and it was so much fun to actually talk to a French person.

The "peace wall" and the eiffel tower I saw on my first day

 On Sunday we had our first church in French. Actually, quite a bit of it was in English but it was still overwhelming and I will be excited for when I can actually speak this language.

On Monday we got to meet our host family! The first thing our mom did was sit us down on the couch and talk to us only in French. It was a little scary but we made it through. While unpacking I got to meet my host sister, Cassandre, and she is the sweetest thing. She took us shopping at La Défense, also known as the “Manhattan” side of Paris, aka the only modern portion of Paris. Also, for dinner I ate fish, radishes, and asparagus, all things that I would’ve avoided with my life back in Paris. Look what France can do!

La défense-I didn't actually take this picture but just so you
have an idea of what it looks like

The Catacombs

Tuesday I went to the market with my host family and got to buy a purse which my mom calls my “do-do”, French for teddy bear, because I bring it everywhere with me. I also went to the Catacombs with some friends which was super cool, and obviously a little creepy. It was also my host sister’s birthday today! Her mom surprised her with a bunch of friends coming to visit which was awesome for Melissa and me because we spoke French with them for four hours. It was a good thing that a lot of them spoke English to help me out but it was so much fun!

The market that I went to with my host family

 

Wednesday I had my first day of classes and my first walk (described in a previous post) and by the end I was exhausted! Thursday went pretty similarly with a walk and a class. However, at the end of our walk on Thursday my friends and I went to Angelina and I drank the best hot chocolate of my life there. It was ridiculously overpriced (8 euros) but it was so amazing and it was so much fun to sit in a posh French restaurant that the experience made up for it.

The delicious, yet expensive, African dark chocolate hot chocolate

Today (Friday) I went to Chartres, one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been to. You can read all about it in my other post.

Another beautiful Picture of Chartres

I know that this has been way too long and you probably didn’t read all of it, however, here are some fun facts that I have learned while here in France.

Fun Facts

1. The Paris Arts card for students is a MIRACLE. I get into almost everything for free, Notre-Dame, art museums, cathedrals, anything.

2.   It seems that Parisians only know two styles of shoes, heals and sneakers.

3.   Cheese comes in many colors. For example, today I ate green and red cheese and it was delicious.

4.  There is no such thing as a butter knife in my home, only steak knives.

À Bientôt,

Claire Hunsaker

Excursions: Chartres

Bonjour tout le monde!

1/28/2016

Today I went to the gloriously beautiful city of Chartres. It is about an hour train ride from the heart of Paris. The train ride itself was gorgeous with beautiful fields and adorable towns to look at. I started the day in Chartres walking around the older part of town. I felt as if I had been transported into the town in Beauty and the Beast. My friends and I walked along the little river and through the quaint streets with houses with blue windowsills and flowerpot

One of the adorable houses/streets in Chartres

Another cute house along the little river

  

We stumbled upon this church that was over a thousand years old next to the river. It had an art show going on inside of it with beautiful paintings of nature.

 

This church was built in the 1200s

After, My friends and I returned to the cathedral. This cathedral was mesmerizing. It had many statues on the outside, and the architecture and different shapes at the back of the temple was just as pretty as the stunning view from the front. There were nine large doors and the walkways were all carved into statues and stories, and there were gigantic stain-glassed windows on the inside.

Melissa (my roommate) and me in front of the cathedral

 

The back side of the Cathedral

On the inside we were able to have a tour in which the guide told us about different stories of six of the stained-glass windows on the inside as well as explaining one of the carved archways over a door on the outside. It is crazy to think that we only covered a small part of the whole cathedral. He told us stories with the stained-glass windows of Christ’s Birth, the twelve disciples, Noah and the Ark, the good Samaratin and more. It was awesome to be able to interpret the pictures in the windows.

 

The inside of the cathedral 

At the end a group of nine of us went into the crypt underneath the cathedral. The whole tour was in French, but I was so excited when I actually understood a lot of what the tour guide was saying. There were many different little chapels and also stained-glass windows down in the basement too.

In the Crypt downstairs

Overall, it was such a beautiful day, even if it was a tad chilly outside. I hope that I will have the opportunity to come back one day.

À Bientôt,

Claire Hunsaker

Promenade #5: Place de la Concorde: The Guillotine and More

Bonjour tout le monde!

1/27/2016

This is the second walk I did for my French class, but the fifth one in my book of walks. It was a little less exciting than the first one, but wonderful nonetheless.

1. Palais de l’Elysée

Palais de l'Elysée

This walk started at the statue of Charles de Gaulle and we went toward the Palais de l’Elysée, France’s “White House” for the president. This palace was beautiful. The sidewalk next to the Palais de l’Elysée is not open to the public and it is very well-guarded.

2. U.S. Embassy

After a small walk while window-shopping at many boutiques such as Yves Saint-Laurent and Chanel, I passed the U.S. Embassy. The U.S. Embassy is also a very well guarded building.

3. Place de Concorde

   Construction of Place de Concorde began in 1575. This was the site of the guillotine and it was where many people were killed such as Marie Antionette. In the center of the Place de Concorde there is the Luxor Obelisk, a gift from Mohammed Ali to Charles X in 1829.

Place de Concorde

The Obelisk (on the left)

  

4. Musée de l’Orangerie

One of the Nymphéas paintings

After the Place de Concorde I went inside the Musée de l’Orangerie. It is here that the beautiful paintings, the Nymphéas (the water lilies) by Monet are kept. There are also many other beautiful paintings with styles ranging from impressionism to cubism.

5. Jardin de Tuileries

Part of the Jardin de Tuileries

This is the beautiful garden that is also in front of the Louvre. At the end of the garden is the Arch de Triomphe du Carrousel. This garden contains many statues, two circular ponds, one at each end, and many different trees and some flowers.

À bientôt,

Claire Hunsaker