So since I messed up, I left 1 day earlier than the rest of the group, leaving me to make the trek to Charles de Gaulle airport by myself. When I inevitably got lost in the airport I went up to the information booth behind an American family. They asked for help in butchered French. The man behind the counter responded in English, and they left. Next I went up and asked where to go (in not as badly butchered French, I'd like to think). His response ... in French. IT WAS A SUCCESSFUL TRIP if he felt confident in my French abilities enough to respond in English (at CDG airport nonetheless). SCORE!
The second thing I noticed in Charles de Gaulle (after it's gigantic and you need to know exactly where you're going before you get there was that there was way too much English around me. I was taken aback by it. However it was nice to wait in the ridiculously long line and have a good conversation with another college student about our travels.
So overall reflections about this trip:
I still don't like paying 50 centimes to use the bathroom.
Or how the stores close early and Sundays AND Mondays have of the country is practically closed (Although, I really like the idea of not working as much so you can spend more time enjoying life, doing the things that matter).
I feel like I know more about France this time around since we traveled a lot more (with the class and without it).
Public transportation in France is amazing - much easier and cheaper to travel compared to driving everywhere.
French people (and probably most Europeans) don't understand the American-ism of "I'm Irish, Italian, etc. etc"). To a French person when you say you're "Irish" you come directly from Ireland. To most Americans, "I'm Irish" means that you're of Irish heritage. (That was an interesting conversation with Caroline's friend Vincent...)
SCUBA Diving is simple bliss - It's the same language everywhere and most divers are really chill and laid back, no matter where they're from ;)
Life should be simple and enjoyable. Don't waste your life worrying about things that will complicate it and make it difficult or hinder your happiness. Do something that will make you stand out because at the end of your life, you're just going to be a pile of bones stuck in a box for eternity (or maybe not???)
Overall t was a very nice trip, definitely worth the money for the experience and being able to practice and improve my French as much I was able to. Thank you for letting me come along again and a great trip.
See you in another 2 years, maybe even sooner ;)
Bisous,
Lisa
dimanche 8 août 2010
vendredi 6 août 2010
Last night in France
So my last day in France went by incredibly fast. After 4 hours of classes, my French final and packing, it was time to meet with the group to have our end of the trip dinner. It was the same restaurant as two years ago. 1 big change from 2 years ago is that there was no drama over the seating arrangements: everyone sat somewhere without worrying about who they had to spend the rest of the evening next to. Low drama= very nice. The dinner itself was a nice traditional French meal.
After dinner (and a mention of a job in the future?? I’m holding that to you, by the way) we went out to Becky’s favorite bar in Rouen for a last drink, Murphy’s. Caroline and several of her friends joined us, and then we headed back to Mont St. Aignan – for everyone else to study for their finals the next day, and for me to finish packing and get ready to leave bright and early in the morning. It was a sad goodbye, but I’m sure I’ll see everyone in the future- even Caroline and Joffrey. I still have Eastern France to visit, so I'll be back soon enough ;)
After dinner (and a mention of a job in the future?? I’m holding that to you, by the way) we went out to Becky’s favorite bar in Rouen for a last drink, Murphy’s. Caroline and several of her friends joined us, and then we headed back to Mont St. Aignan – for everyone else to study for their finals the next day, and for me to finish packing and get ready to leave bright and early in the morning. It was a sad goodbye, but I’m sure I’ll see everyone in the future- even Caroline and Joffrey. I still have Eastern France to visit, so I'll be back soon enough ;)
jeudi 5 août 2010
Sundays= things are closed...
Daren, Becky and I decided to do a little sightseeing for our final day in Marseille. We went to check out Le Pharo, where Napoleon III built a castle (?) overlooking the old harbor to watch the boats and the beautiful view. Unfortunately we forgot that France practically closes down on Sundays, so we couldn’t go inside, but the harborview and park was lovely. After this we wandered around to find Fort St. Nicholas which was also closed. The outer fort was open so we could walk around and see the memorial for World War II and the liberation of Marseille.
After the historical sites we decided to try to do some souvenir shopping. It was a bizarre shock for us to NOT be able to find anything open or available, except for a few tabacs with overpriced post cards. I guess we were a little spoiled in Paris with the souvenir shops everywhere and always open.
Later that afternoon we were on our way back to Rouen, with a stop in Paris of course. New fun fact that we learned? Starbucks is not the same everywhere… At least the hot chocolate is good everywhere ;)
Bisous,
Lisa
After the historical sites we decided to try to do some souvenir shopping. It was a bizarre shock for us to NOT be able to find anything open or available, except for a few tabacs with overpriced post cards. I guess we were a little spoiled in Paris with the souvenir shops everywhere and always open.
Later that afternoon we were on our way back to Rouen, with a stop in Paris of course. New fun fact that we learned? Starbucks is not the same everywhere… At least the hot chocolate is good everywhere ;)
Bisous,
Lisa
Faire de la Plongée à Marseille
For some people on our trip their goal was to spend every possible moment in Marseille on the beach. My objective? To go SCUBA diving in the Mediterranean. I had been communicating with a local dive shop to come diving with them and thankfully they also had a special offer for non-certified people to dive with them as well. The lucky and brave candidate was Liz- her boyfriend is a very good diver and she was interested in seeing what it was like and to explore Marseille a bit more. An added bonus was that they had a very reasonable price for a guided boat dive, only 30 Euros and 47 with equipment—not bad at all.
It was an interesting struggle communicating with the dive shop to book our spots. The response I got to “Est-ce que vous parlez anglais?” was “Attendez. Je trouverai quel qu’un.” Well this someone had very limited English, so I decided to stick with the French. It was a nice test. After repeating what she said several times to make sure I understood her, we were set. Then we just had to get there. We had a bit of an adventure getting to the dive shop: Le Centre de Loisirs in Les Goudes, Marseille -- we took 2 metro lines and 3 buses to get there!
We arrived very early, so our logical decision? Let’s hit the beach! Once again it was a nice beach. There was some trash floating in the water by the cove, but a few men were raking it out of the water, and throwing it away. Good for them.
We met up with the dive crew to get started. The crew spoke little English, so it was fun to go between translating and explaining dive stuff for Liz. We had 3 different pre-dive chats to explain what was going on. Twice in franglais- more French than English, then the last one in English - one of the staff divers spoke very good English, and was eager to teach us in English how to dive. He was later apologetic and surprised to learn I was an “Advanced Diver” and that I didn’t need the educational talk, but it was nice. We also met a few French people from Avignon who spoke decent English. Fun times on the boat with them. Reminded me of why I love divers so much- their easy to get along with and they’re a lot of fun.
The dive itself was fun. My guide was very nice- Jean Pierre. He showed me around the site, pointed out some shells and interesting fish behavior. I was fortunate enough in my trip abroad to Bermuda to be taught by a cephalopod expert (octopus, squid, cuttlefish) who taught us how to spot octopus, and I did!
After the dive we were on the boat headed back when they stopped the boat. The cause? A MOLA MOLA FISH! The guy I was talking to didn’t know the English name for it, only the scientific name. So what is it? The Ocean Sunfish. A prehistoric fish that has an interesting evolutionary history. And it’s technically considered plankton – it can’t swim against a current. So cool to actually see one.
Gros Bisous à Mola mola ;)
Lisa
It was an interesting struggle communicating with the dive shop to book our spots. The response I got to “Est-ce que vous parlez anglais?” was “Attendez. Je trouverai quel qu’un.” Well this someone had very limited English, so I decided to stick with the French. It was a nice test. After repeating what she said several times to make sure I understood her, we were set. Then we just had to get there. We had a bit of an adventure getting to the dive shop: Le Centre de Loisirs in Les Goudes, Marseille -- we took 2 metro lines and 3 buses to get there!
We arrived very early, so our logical decision? Let’s hit the beach! Once again it was a nice beach. There was some trash floating in the water by the cove, but a few men were raking it out of the water, and throwing it away. Good for them.
We met up with the dive crew to get started. The crew spoke little English, so it was fun to go between translating and explaining dive stuff for Liz. We had 3 different pre-dive chats to explain what was going on. Twice in franglais- more French than English, then the last one in English - one of the staff divers spoke very good English, and was eager to teach us in English how to dive. He was later apologetic and surprised to learn I was an “Advanced Diver” and that I didn’t need the educational talk, but it was nice. We also met a few French people from Avignon who spoke decent English. Fun times on the boat with them. Reminded me of why I love divers so much- their easy to get along with and they’re a lot of fun.
The dive itself was fun. My guide was very nice- Jean Pierre. He showed me around the site, pointed out some shells and interesting fish behavior. I was fortunate enough in my trip abroad to Bermuda to be taught by a cephalopod expert (octopus, squid, cuttlefish) who taught us how to spot octopus, and I did!
After the dive we were on the boat headed back when they stopped the boat. The cause? A MOLA MOLA FISH! The guy I was talking to didn’t know the English name for it, only the scientific name. So what is it? The Ocean Sunfish. A prehistoric fish that has an interesting evolutionary history. And it’s technically considered plankton – it can’t swim against a current. So cool to actually see one.
Gros Bisous à Mola mola ;)
Lisa
Restful Rouen and Marseille
Thursday was a day filled of recuperating from Paris and getting ready for our next big trip: Marseilles! To allow a decent amount of time for the trip, Tony and Caroline prepared double classes on Thursday to give us Friday off – Thanks!! Greek class consisted of talking in circles about the quality of life and science vs. philosophy. French class was about different verb tenses and listening comprehension for train station messages…. Always difficult to understand it. After class, Caroline convinced some of us to head into town for the last Terrace de Jeudi, the summer concerts that they have in Rouen. It was a nice concert, but we still headed back early to try to get some sleep before our early morning departure.
Friday morning we met up early to start our multi-stop journey ahead of us: La Gare de Rouen to Paris at Gare St. Lazare, then a metro ride to Gare de Lyon to take us to our final destination: Marseille! We arrived in sunny Marseille around 1:30, got to the hotel around 2:00 and we were on the beach by 3 pm. PARFAIT!
At the beach we definitely had a stroke of culture shock: I’ve never seen so many topless women in my entire life! Apparently they have the choice to be covered or not—many of the older women decided to go half naked. Lovely.
Around 6 we decided to head back to get ready for a nice dinner. It was wonderfully shocking to stay to the beach so late- in Newport the latest you could stay at the beach would be around 4 or 5 if you’re lucky. In Marseille? People were still arriving around 6 pm. Pretty nice.
Friday morning we met up early to start our multi-stop journey ahead of us: La Gare de Rouen to Paris at Gare St. Lazare, then a metro ride to Gare de Lyon to take us to our final destination: Marseille! We arrived in sunny Marseille around 1:30, got to the hotel around 2:00 and we were on the beach by 3 pm. PARFAIT!
At the beach we definitely had a stroke of culture shock: I’ve never seen so many topless women in my entire life! Apparently they have the choice to be covered or not—many of the older women decided to go half naked. Lovely.
Around 6 we decided to head back to get ready for a nice dinner. It was wonderfully shocking to stay to the beach so late- in Newport the latest you could stay at the beach would be around 4 or 5 if you’re lucky. In Marseille? People were still arriving around 6 pm. Pretty nice.
mercredi 4 août 2010
Visiting the Inevitable: Death
Wednesday was a day filled of death? We started at the Catacombs, which was a real eye opener about life. The catacombs started out as a quarry for limestone, and then as the cemeteries in Paris filled up, they ran out of room for the bodies. So a logical response? Let’s take the bodies out and stack the bones in the quarry! 6 million people were removed from their first resting spot and were taken apart and stacked in the catacombs. Along the way they had anecdotal sayings about life and death. The overall affect: you can do all these different things during your lifetime, but in the end you’re going to be a bunch of bones. Yep, I guess I better leave a good legend or story behind to live on?
Which leads me to the Pantheon. It’s an old cathedral in the Latin Quarter and it holds the remains of many famous people that have made contributions to the world, or honored France. Most notably (to me at least) were Marie and Pierre Curie, Voltaire, Louis Braille, Jean Rousseau and Victor Hugo. One of the coolest things about the Pantheon is that it still has many empty crypts leaving space for people to be honored and entombed here in the future. It’s history in progress.
After the Pantheon, Becky, Daren and I had planned to go eat our lunches in the Tuileries Garden, but along the way to the metro stop, found a cute little English pub with a good menu and really good prices, so of course we stopped to grab a bite. I got some garlicky chicken and the others went for traditional fish and chips, complete with mushy peas (and no cole slaw… reality check that fish and chips are not only from New England and that they originated in England). Quite delicious. Later that afternoon we met up with the group at Gare St. Lazare to return home… ehhh to Rouen. After weeks of traveling and spending each night in a different place, it’s very nice and homey to have a familiar place to return to. Gotta love this town.
Encore une fois,
Bisous!
Which leads me to the Pantheon. It’s an old cathedral in the Latin Quarter and it holds the remains of many famous people that have made contributions to the world, or honored France. Most notably (to me at least) were Marie and Pierre Curie, Voltaire, Louis Braille, Jean Rousseau and Victor Hugo. One of the coolest things about the Pantheon is that it still has many empty crypts leaving space for people to be honored and entombed here in the future. It’s history in progress.
After the Pantheon, Becky, Daren and I had planned to go eat our lunches in the Tuileries Garden, but along the way to the metro stop, found a cute little English pub with a good menu and really good prices, so of course we stopped to grab a bite. I got some garlicky chicken and the others went for traditional fish and chips, complete with mushy peas (and no cole slaw… reality check that fish and chips are not only from New England and that they originated in England). Quite delicious. Later that afternoon we met up with the group at Gare St. Lazare to return home… ehhh to Rouen. After weeks of traveling and spending each night in a different place, it’s very nice and homey to have a familiar place to return to. Gotta love this town.
Encore une fois,
Bisous!
Prisons to Aquariums
Tuesday we had only 1 official stop to make: Musée D’Orsay. D’orsay used to be a train station, but was converted into an impressionist and modern art museum. It was my favorite art museum on the last trip, but now that title goes to L’Orangerie.
After D’Orsay, Becky, Laura, Meghan, Caroline and I headed over to L’Île de la Cité to visit some of the lesser visited sights: La Conciergie (palace turned prison and a last stop for many people before they are guillotined during the French Revolution, one of whom was Marie Antoinette, and a possible relative of mine? There’s a list of all 2658 people who were executed, someone with my grandfather’s name was listed….). It was interesting to learn that at this time in history, even prisons had different levels of living before being beheaded. The poor were cramped in tiny rooms with no furniture; the rich could purchase a single room with a cot and a desk to continue working.
After visiting la Conciergerie (and taken advantage of their free bathroom) we went to visit La Sainte Chapelle. We tried to visit it 3 years ago but the line was insanely long. Today it wasn’t too bad, only 45 minutes wait. And it was definitely worth the wait. Basically the entire chapel is stained glass windows from floor to ceiling depicting 10 different stories from the bible. Beautiful.
The rest of the afternoon took a different twist: AQUARIUM TIME! I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the group I was with (minus Caroline) wanted to go check out the aquarium, so we did. As the Fishes Curator at New England Aquarium told me, aquariums in France are generally small, but very well done. And this one was no exception. They had a very nice variety of fresh and saltwater (including an African Lungfish!! ) . After the aquarium we went back to the hostel, changed into our “fancy clothes” for the trip to meet to have a nice dinner with the class, treated to icecream, and went to Les Halles for the evening.
Bon soirée!
Lisa
After D’Orsay, Becky, Laura, Meghan, Caroline and I headed over to L’Île de la Cité to visit some of the lesser visited sights: La Conciergie (palace turned prison and a last stop for many people before they are guillotined during the French Revolution, one of whom was Marie Antoinette, and a possible relative of mine? There’s a list of all 2658 people who were executed, someone with my grandfather’s name was listed….). It was interesting to learn that at this time in history, even prisons had different levels of living before being beheaded. The poor were cramped in tiny rooms with no furniture; the rich could purchase a single room with a cot and a desk to continue working.
After visiting la Conciergerie (and taken advantage of their free bathroom) we went to visit La Sainte Chapelle. We tried to visit it 3 years ago but the line was insanely long. Today it wasn’t too bad, only 45 minutes wait. And it was definitely worth the wait. Basically the entire chapel is stained glass windows from floor to ceiling depicting 10 different stories from the bible. Beautiful.
The rest of the afternoon took a different twist: AQUARIUM TIME! I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the group I was with (minus Caroline) wanted to go check out the aquarium, so we did. As the Fishes Curator at New England Aquarium told me, aquariums in France are generally small, but very well done. And this one was no exception. They had a very nice variety of fresh and saltwater (including an African Lungfish!! ) . After the aquarium we went back to the hostel, changed into our “fancy clothes” for the trip to meet to have a nice dinner with the class, treated to icecream, and went to Les Halles for the evening.
Bon soirée!
Lisa
Le Notre Dame and Art
Monday we met at the Notre Dame cathedral and had a lecture on some French history, the Notre Dame cathedral and L’Île de la Cité in particular. (We should have a French history course as part of the French language program at RWU by the way). After we waited in line to visit the cathedral (it surprisingly went by very quickly) and we were lucky enough to see part of the midday-mass (we didn’t stay to watch it, though). Afterwards we went to L’Île de la Cité to get some lunch and some of the famous ice cream. Unfortunately the ice-cream shop was closed, but we had a very nice lunch with everyone. After running around with Tony and Caroline to find a metro shop with mobilisse tickets for the class we went to L’Orangerie next to la Place de la Concorde (the guillotine used to be here during the French Revolution, now it’s a beautiful square with statues for each of the major cities (Rouen included) and a crazy roundabout. L’orangerie was amazing! They have a lot of different impressionist works, but it’s most popular for the Water Lily paintings by Monet. It was beautiful and very well done. There were 3 rooms dedicated to the Water Lilies, each with 3 paintings. The paintings were huge! They were approximately 4-5 feet tall and ranging from 20 – 40 feet long. The paintings were hung on white walls with benches in the middle of the room so you can sit and admire them… which we did. It was an incredible experience.
Afterwards we went to the Tuileries Garden to eat our dinner (sandwiches smuggled from the hostel, cheers for that!) and had some fun with the fishes and birds around the fountain. After eating we went to check out the modern art museum, Centre Pomidou. Generally I’m not fond of modern art, but I liked the floor we went to. A lot of the paintings had bright colors and crazy patterns, or would take a well known monument, such as la Tour Eiffel, and distort it to make it their own. It was a cool museum. Plus, the really nice view of the city made it an even better visit.
At dusk we went to L’arc de triomphe to climb up and see L’étoile at night. We were able to catch the 10 pm night show at the Eiffel Tour, when the Tower lights up and glitters. It was very nice, worth the crazy spiral of stairs to reach the top.
Bisous,
Lisa
Afterwards we went to the Tuileries Garden to eat our dinner (sandwiches smuggled from the hostel, cheers for that!) and had some fun with the fishes and birds around the fountain. After eating we went to check out the modern art museum, Centre Pomidou. Generally I’m not fond of modern art, but I liked the floor we went to. A lot of the paintings had bright colors and crazy patterns, or would take a well known monument, such as la Tour Eiffel, and distort it to make it their own. It was a cool museum. Plus, the really nice view of the city made it an even better visit.
At dusk we went to L’arc de triomphe to climb up and see L’étoile at night. We were able to catch the 10 pm night show at the Eiffel Tour, when the Tower lights up and glitters. It was very nice, worth the crazy spiral of stairs to reach the top.
Bisous,
Lisa
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