Tours of 4 districts of Paris (Part 1: Saint-Germain and Monde Arabe)

Saturday - 9/14

Rendez-vous for Rue de Mouffetard

The first weekend in Pairs was a fun-filled, whirlwind tour of four different quartiers of Paris. Saturday included a tour of the Rue de Mouffetard à Saint-Germain region led by Sabrina and l'Institute du Monde Arabe led by Michel. The first tour started at noon and because I underestimated how long it would take to get to our rendez-vous point at the exit of métro Censier-Daubenton on ligne 7, I arrived a few minutes late. Thankfully, I wasn't the last one to get there. The rain was on and off all day, which made the wonderful experience just slightly less wonderful, but that was hardly enough to put a damper on our adventures. 


When we first began the tour, we passed by an electric cigarette shop. Speaking from my experiences, I have encountered a far greater number of smokers in Paris than I have most other places I have been to (expect perhaps Beijing). These new cigarettes give the smoker their dose of nicotine, but in the form of water vapor instead of fumes from burning ashes. In addition to claiming to be less harmful to the body, electric cigarettes seem to be the only exception to the rule of forbidden smoking in all restaurants and public indoor spaces. Thus, these "healthier cigarettes" are all the rage now in Paris. I had a discussion about this topic with other CUPA students and we all were in agreement that anyone who used electric cigarettes were just fooling themselves. Introducing addictive chemicals into your body in any form will be harmful, water vapor or not. Although it is an interesting question whether or not they should be acceptable substitutes for smoking in public spaces. 

Back on track, our first stop on the tour was the famous fresh market on the Rue Mouffetard. Unlike some of the other open air markets in France that are only open on certain days, the market on the Rue Mouffetard is open daily and sells a huge variety of goods. Sabrina explained that the streets were usually full of people and students, but it was not the case today because of the rain (both a blessing and a curse). As the market has grown to become more and more touristy over the years,prices underwent a similar increase, however the quality of goods are still top notch. The market is especially well-known for its seafood. Also a result of tourism, there are crêperie stands ever few hundred meters. One of the beloved toppings on a freshly made crepe is of course nutella, and this crêperie was definitely not short of the delicious chocolate hazelnut spread. 


Afterwards, we visited the Arenes de Lutece. This is the oldest place in Paris that is not allowed to be touched or changed in any way. I will talk about it more later because we revisit it in more depth with Michel in the afternoon tour. The line of buildings that separate the arena from the road is really interesting. From the front, it looks like any other Parisian building, but from the side, you can see how this the building is. These are real apartments, and normal sized people live in them. This is an exceptional case where you have to learn to live with less!

On our walk, we also saw a couple of famous houses including the director of Campus France , Rene Descartes, and Ernest Hemingway. For those who have never studied at a University in France, you have never had the pleasure of going through the hell that is the Campus France application process, it is a 3 month long process to apply to study at a French university and their system is so primitive that you have to mail in your payments and log into the website to check their email system to see if you have a new message. Blah.

Anyways, I was much happier to see Hemingway's house. The Sun Also Rises is probably my favorite of his works. Sabrina also told us a little story about dear Earnest and how the drink the Bloody Mary came to be. When Hemingway lived in his Paris apartment, he had a mistress named Mary. Being the frequent partier that he way, Hemingway often came home drunk and reeking of alcohol, which drove Mary insane. In order to get rid of the alcoholic smell on his breath, she mixed in tomato juice with his alcohol and it worked like a charm. Thus, the Bloody Mary was born. I've personally never had it, and frankly it sounds like an unappetizing V8 to me. 

Pantheon

La Sorbonne

College de France

Our tour also included several architectural beauties such as the Panthéon, College de France, and La Sorbonne. An interesting history between the two big universities of College de France and La Sorbonne. The College was established as an alternative to La Sorbonne, promoting disciplines in foreign languages (Hebrew and Greek), math, and the sciences. It currently houses one of the best research libraries in Europe. 

The Saint Germain region is also called the Quartier Latin because of all the nearby universities. During the Middle Ages, latin was the international language of learning widely spoken by the students in the area. As a result of the youthful population, there are a lot of little bistros and cheaper restaurants with ethnic cuisine from all over the world as well as cinemas and cafes.

Lastly, we visited one of the last covered passages left in Paris. During the 18th century,  as the bourgeois class was beginning to arise, these roofed alley ways were very popular. Shared by horse drawn carts, all of the garbage that were thrown out of houses and onto the streets, and the working class that had to move about, the main streets were extremely crowded and dirty. Because upper class women wore grandiose dresses and hardly cared to move out of the way for oncoming traffic, insisted that these covered alleys be constructed so that they could move about the city in weather-proof, clean spaces. In this specific passage is the famous cafe Le Procope, which was the first cafe where you could come to sit relax and drink a coffee and have some dessert without eating a meal. During that time, this kind of thing was unheard of. Now, it is commonplace on every Parisian street. 
After the end of the tour, Mary, Gracie, and I went back to the Pantheon in the hour we had left before we had to meet Michel. Inside the greek styled building were statues commemorating French nationality. Underground was a crypt holding the graves of the top leaders and intellectuals of France including Napoleon, Pierre and Marie Curie, Voltaire, Rousseau, and Victor Hugo. Victor Hugo was one of the biggest oppositions to Napoleon and he helped to save many of the historical buildings and districts in Paris. He is also known worldwide as the author of Les Misérables. Because we were on a tight schedule, we didn't have a lot of time to peruse before running off to meet Michel. 


The afternoon tour with Michel was an exploration of the Monde d'Arabe in France. Michel is our methodology teacher and he will also teach the CUPA class that I want to take on Islam in Paris. He is quite the history buff so everything we saw was accompanied by stories and explanations. 

He first started off with the architecture of the street. The way to tell if a street was built in historical Paris or the modern day is to look at the angles of the roads and buildings. In older, unrenovated areas the roads are more narrow and not straight. Also, the walls of the buildings are angled in a way such that the bottom layer is wider at the bottom and slightly more narrow at the top; the foundation is built strong enough so that it can support all the weight of the upper floors.  Also,adjacent buildings may be leaning into each other to ensure that nothing topples over. 

Inside l'Arene de Lutece

Because Arab Institute is not far from the Saint Germain area, Michel also took us to see the Arènes de Lutece. Commissioned by Napoleon III during the mid 19th century to renovate and modernize Paris, Geroges-Eugene Haussmann is the architectural mind behind the look of what most people picture when they think of Paris. Haussmann had originally planned to replace the arena with a parking lot and hired workers to tear it down in the quiet of the night. However, the inhabitants of the area soon smelled something fishy and brought in Victor Hugo, opposer to Napoleon III, to put a stop to the destruction and save the arena. Today, this place is protected as a historical monument and is the oldest landmark in Paris, dating back to the first century A.D. The Gallo-Roman amphitheatre used to host gladiator battles, but on the day we were visiting, they were in preparation for a horse show that night so we went able to enter the center of the arena. 

UPMC under construction

Michel as animated as ever

Along the way to the Institute  we also happened to pass by the Jussieu University, which I fondly know as UPMC (Université Pierre Marie Curie) where my thermodynamics classes are held. An important fact that MIchel wanted to point out was how ugly the University was. This would be important later when talking about the architecture of the Institute. The look of the University has actually gotten much better because it has been undergoing renovations. One of the original wall materials was carcinogenic so everything had to be torn out and replaced. 


Just neighboring to the north is the Institute du Monde d'Arabe. Michel gave a long-winded history of the place, which I do not remember enough of to relate here. But what I can say is that it represents a cultural exchange. A bridge between the French and Arabs, as well as a bridge between disparate architectures and time periods. 

Stutters made to look like apertures

The special exhibits building

The building of the Institute is actually in two parts in order to better bridge the disparity between the not-so-pretty UPMC and the classic Parisian architecture on the other side of the Seine. The UPMC side is tall, rectangular, and heavy, with large windows and an industrial feel caused by the aperture shutters. The side closer to the Seine and dainty Paris is constructed in the shape of a pointed ellipse with streamline horizontal bars running across the side to parallel the Seine River. The left side is also a bit shorter to mimic the stoutness of Paris buildings. The two parts are literally connected by bridges.Michel chose not to comment on the white blob that was the special exhibits building. Specific words he used were (in french of course) "different, tries to be modern, I hate it."

Glass elevators

The modern and glamours interior was also a stark contrast to the outside. Even the elevators were beautiful. In the basement, there were these giant pillars reminiscent the Greek and Roman pillars. These are known as the pillars of education and learning because philosophers used to give lectures leaning against them while students gathered around and listened. 

When we got to the top of the Institute, we were able to go onto the roof, which would usually be full of tables and chairs for an roof-top cafe had it not been so rainy. None the less, the views were still gorgeous and the perfect end to a great day of tours. 

End of the first week

THURSDAY - 9/12

Group photo in front of the Luxembourg Palace

Today we had our first visit to a French university, Paris IV: La Sorbonne. Paris Sorbonne University is the main inheritor of the old Sorbonne, one of the first universities dating back to the 13th century. The biggest complex in France dedicated to Literature, Languages, Civilizations, Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, La Sorbonne is located on the original medieval foundations, and now extends to the Latin Quarter and to other areas in Paris. At 9h30 in the morning, we met at CUPA in the morning and walked over the the Sorbonne together because it was located in the same arrondisment. La Sorbonne actually has 13 campus location all over Paris but we only visited the two closest, which were the archeology department and the main building.

Grades posted for the world to see

Each of the departments is located in a different wing and there are specialized staircases that correspond to similar departments. Each department has a bureau where you can talk to the heads of departments with any questions issues, and the all important information board where the lists for the classes (teachers, locations, times) as well as other last minute changes or important department information is posted. Unlike the email crazed world that most american university students live in, the french are much more traditional. When we visited the french literature department, we also saw an information board that had all of the students' grades posted. This is anothe huge different between the French an American education systems. The French usually grade out of 20 points. Anything 16+ is considered outstanding work; 12 -16 is very good; 8 - 12 is good; and so on. As I looked at all of the grades posted, the clear mode was in the 10-12 range, and this is quite normal. As opposed to American institutions where it is almost expected to get an A, the high grades are reserved only for phenomenal, ground breaking work. (As is should be. None of this grade inflation, must have a perfect GPA to get ahead in life nonsense. Most people do average work and should receive an average grade for it. Grade inflation has really taken things to the extreme and people are not working for the sake of learning, but to "get the grade". But I digress....)

In the square of Sorbonne

Cluny-La Sorbonne metro station

La Sorbonne really is a beautiful campus with plenty of classic architecture for the eyes to feast on. On the left is the picture of the square you transverse on your way to the grand amphitheatre lecture hall. The ceiling was painted just like that of a grand cathedral. Speaking of beautiful ceilings, whilst heading back to CUPA for my afternoon classes, I passed through the Cluny-La Sorbonne metro station. This special station had a mozaïc frieze from Jean Bazaine, called "Les Oiseaux" (The Birds). On each side, you can see the signatures of famous French personas (artists, scientists or politicians) also made of colorful mozaïc. Yet another one of this hidden surprises in Paris.

M. Bouhon's daughter Clare and her girlfriend came over for dinner tonight. It was her birthday and a home cooked meal was their way of celebrating. Before dinner, we flipped through two of Monsieur Bouhon's sketchbooks. They were filled with drawing of all different types ranging from figure drawings, to gestures, landscapes, and drawing studies. After the initial drawing, he often went back to work on pieces, adding and taking away what even he felt was "right" in the moment. Through the use of different kinds of drawing utensils, techniques, and colors, he explained how he could totally change the mood and feel of a piece in a matter of seconds with a few simple stokes. Pieces that were deemed "done" or "untouchable" (no more changes would be made, he sprayed over with fixative that kept the applied materials with rubbing/falling off. There were a particular few pieces with a brilliant orange color that looked to be pastel. When I asked him about it, M. Bouhon explained that it was actually African dirt with he made into a pastel like paste and used that as a coloring tool.  Many of the pieces instigated a funny story or a memory that Clare and M. Bouhon took turns telling. In the end, Clare chose a very modern geometric drawing to take home as her birthday present.

Beef stew in cream sauce

The menu for the evening was very rustic and included a famous French peasant dish of stewed beef in a white creme sauce with carrots and onions. This was eaten alongside boiled salt potatoes and rice (which isn't traditionally served with this dish, but both Missaratou and I like to eat it.) I also had a little bit of the wine with dinner because it was a special occasion. I forget the name of it, but it was a dry red wine that was gifted to Clare by one of her old cinematography teachers. It was supposed to be of a very high quality and aged just to the perfect time, however I found it to be very strong. Everyone else seemed to really enjoy it, so perhaps it is just my lack of experience showing through. I normally to not drink alcohol, but it is hard to get closer to the source of some of the best wine in the world so it couldn't hurt to try a little from time to time.

Slice of heaven, mmmm.

The birthday cake dessert was a chocolate tart with almonds sprinkled on top. I couldn't help but to try a piece and it was spectacular as expected. The tart was light and airy, but had an intense chocolate flavor. Although it was gluten free, it was not heavy or dense at all. I think this will be  good one to learn and perfect for the GF boyfriend. Hope he doesn't mind being the guinea pig!

I ended up going to bed super late tonight because the course selection worksheet was due the next day and I really wanted to look carefully at all of the classes and class reviews to find ones that both interested me and suite my french level. Not to mention I wanted to avoid the classes where the teacher was not accommodating to foreign students. In the end I had a list of about 25 classes that I was interested in. Must cut some out! For all of you students who have ever experienced "shopping period" for your classes, this was that amount of stress times three. (Foreign language, must not be late/leave early form any class you shop, none of the locations or times are posted yet!!!)

FRIDAY - 9/13

Unlucky Friday the 13th! (If you believe in that stuff anyway.)

Today I had had originally planned to go on the CUPA visit to Paris 3 la Sorbonne Nouvelle, but I couldn't because I had my first classe de thermodynamique at the UPMC (Université de Pierre Marie Currie).  It is renown as one of the top science universities in the world, which means several things:

1. It is more likely than not that I will learn the things that I am supposed it and that this class will count towards Yale credit and my major.
2. I get to take the metro even more because UPMC is separate from all the other universities where I will be taking my other classes.
3. If science/engineering classes weren't already hard enough, I get to take my thermo class en français, in an unfamiliar methodology system, competing with the top science students in France/ probably all of Europe. Joy.
4. DId I mention that I missed the first class because UPMC starts two weeks earlier than all of the other French universities? Yup. Already behind before I've even started. And now I have to seek out a French student in the class to copy their notes and get the programme that I have to send to my advise to OK the class. Ahhh!!!

First day of school outfit

Anyways, today's class was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Well, to be accurate, it was more of a recitation section where we worked on problems together with a professor leading us through the solutions. Although it was 10h47 when I poke my head into the classroom (class was supposed to start at 10h45), I was still the first one there. I was almost about to leave because I thought I had the wrong room, but the professor stopped me and asked me what room I was looking for, and told me that I was in the right place. The other students trickled in soon after and the seats began to fill up.

When I assumed that class had started, at first I had no idea what was happening. The professor handed out a packet that looked more or less like a problem set, and then stood off to the side for 10 minutes. After I had quickly flipped through the packet to see the contents, I felt overwhelmed by the sheer amount of material that we needed to get through in one 2 hour class. I sat there, concerned that so much time was being wasted, waiting for the professor to start the lecture like they normally would in the US. Nope. Not how it's done in France. Apparently the professor was giving everyone time to read through today's section (which was only the first page of a 5 page packet) and we were all supposed to starting working through the first problem. I only realized this after seeing many of the other students diligently working and had just enough time to write down the first few equations before he started to write the answer up on the board.

This was only the first mini heart attack I had over the course of the class. The second occurred when he said he started randomly picking on people in class to answer questions on the chalk board. Since I was floating delicately between trying not to panic and having half an understanding what was going on, I wanted no part of the front of the class exhibition. Thankfully, only one person ever went up to the board, and he seemed very patient and helpful when the student made a crucial error in solving method and was stuck.

At the end of class, I stayed after for a few minutes to ask the professor a couple of questions about the problem set and the class in general. The teachers at CUPA had instructed us to use perfect grammar and formal french (the vous form) when addressing the professor, and even then, they might not be so welcoming to foreign students. Worrying about what I was going to say made me more nervous than I had to be, which in turn probably made my french sound like gibberish. However, he was a lot nicer than I expected and even switched to english for a little bit when it was clear when I wasn't understanding what he was trying to explain to me.

Fresh Mirabelles

Dinner was mostly left-overs from the night before along with oven roasted tomatoes smothered in garlic olive oil. After dinner, he brought out a bowl of a fruit I had never seen before. They are called mirabelle plums, which is a specialty of the Lorraine region in France. (p.s. plum = undried prune) They were super juicy just like a regular plum, but much more sweet and with a softer flesh. I should get an award for single handedly eating the majority of that bowl. 

Here, I've include a couple of photos showing where I live. My house is located right on the northern end of the 20ième arrondissement. I live on a street called Cité du labyrinthe,located a less wealthy part of Paris where there are many minorities living in the area. I pass by this alleyway to the basketball courts every morning where the walls are full of graffiti. Although it can be considered the ghettos, I have never felt unsafe while walking around, and there are always plenty of children playing in the streets. 

The first Hump Day

Cerise, Me, Katherine, and Amanda

WEDNESDAY - 9/11

I was done with classes around 14h45 today so I had the whole afternoon for adventuring. One of my new friends, Amanda, was on her was to a patisserie so I decided to tag along. Cerise and Katherine joined us as well. With Amanda leading the way, I swear we took the long way around (sorry girl, but I'm just sayin'), but there is no route you can walk in Paris that doesn't lead to some beautiful architecture or hidden treasure like this square we found with a giant fountain. I think the woman who I asked to take a picture for us was a little challenged with the camera because each of the photos were taken at an angle. Well, at least it looks artsy.

Just around the corner and down the street was our destination, the super famous patisserie Pierre Hermé. They make arguably the best macarons and chocolate in Paris. (Some of the others include Carette, Ladurée, etc.) Of course, every Parisian has their own favorite places, but the entire time we were in the little shop, there was an endless stream of people coming to buy their little treat of the day. The cases were filled with rows of artfully crafted pastries and the most adorable macarons I have ever seen. The numerous flavors ranged from the familiar (salted caramel sounded especially good) to the more playful (rose and lychee). I really wanted to get something to try, but after taking a look at the price tag (2 euro per small macaron and well over 5 euro for the other confectioneries) I decided that I would save this special treat for a little later on.

Giant macarons

Gâteaux, tartes, et crèmes, oh my!

Thrift shop where you pay by weight

Afterwards, the four of us parted ways. The other two returned home to run some errands while I continued to explore the city with Amanda. When choosing our route of exploration, we decided to walk in the direction of the Seine, which is usually downhill from anywhere else in Paris. This is because there are two large hills in the North and South and the Seine lies in the valley between the two. Along the way, we explored the small streets and stopped at several shops that tickled our fancy. Among them included a very old book store and a thrift shop that sold clothes by the kilo instead of by article. We also passed through the district des beaux arts full of artist galleries and collectors shops. 

Artist district

There was one gallery in particular that was displaying a lot of African art, which we entered. As we perused the interesting artifacts, the gallery owner was busy tending to what seemed to be a big sale. When speaking to Monsieur Bouhon about it later, I found out that for the most part, the art district there has been commercialized. All of the "real artists" are more proud of their work and would never go to such lengths to earn money. I see where he is coming from, but what he is suggesting requires a delicate balance between doing something just because you love it, and earning money to make a living. 

When we arrived at our destination at the bank of the Seine RIver, it was a magnificent sight as expected. We took one of the bridges across the river deemed "the lover's bridge" because it was filled with pad locked inscribed the with names of people proclaiming their love for one another. The locks ranged all different shapes and sizes representing all different kinds of love. For a moment, Amanda and I looked longingly at the locks thinking about our own family and friends (and in my case boyfriend as well) back home. The sudden wind, however, kept us from pouting very long and we hurried to the other side. In front of us was a pedestrian street which led through the archway of a grand building that we later recognized to be the back side of the Louvre. Lover's woes thrown aside and cameras at the ready, we knew where we were going to escape the biting cold. 

Embracing the wind at the Louvre

The pretty lady herself

The 20m deep mob of poeple

Ultimately, I went to the Louvre by myself because Amanda did not have her carte de l'étudiant for the Louvre with her, which allows us to go to the museum at any time for free and through the secret fast entrance. The people who were in the endless zig zagging queue outside in the stormy weather gave me annoyed glares as I slyly shuffled past them and into the entrance of the pyramid. If the line outside was any indication, it was completely packed inside the Louvre. I didn't really have any plans on what to see exactly, so I got a map, wandered off in the Sully direction, and just leisurely perused the works of art. When I saw a sign for the Mona Lisa, I knew I had to pay the Mademoiselle a visit. I'm not sure what was more surprising, the fact that the painting was even smaller than I remembered, or that the mosh pit in front of the famous painting was probably close to 20 meters deep. It took me around 20 mins to slither my way in there, take my photos along with a couple of failed selfies because people kept pushing my arms, and then escaping to safe grounds.   

When my tummy started telling me she was hungry, I decided to head on home. However, we didn't have dinner until close to 21h. The French take their meals a lot differently from Americans. FirsIy, the difference in times that each take their meals are hours apart. Many American families (and Yale University included) eat dinner between the hours of 17h-19h. However, most Europeans eat much later. On the first night, when I was asked what time I wanted to eat dinner, I responded around 19h-19h30 (which is around the time I eat at my house). But, this was far from the usual time they they ate dinner. The French also take their time eating and because M. Bouhon and I always stay to chat long after dinner, we usually aren't actually "done" until around 22h30 or 23h.

You wish you could taste this right now don't you?

The best part about dinner tonight was the apricot tart we had for dessert. Delicious doesn't even begin to describe it. The crust was the perfect texture and the slightly caramelized apricots were both soft and crisp, sweet and tart, all at the same time. (I tried not to think about how much butter and sugar it took to make something so mouth watering.) When I said that I also like to cook and bake at home, we began an in depth discussion on how to make the perfect tart crust. After cutting a slice, he picked up the slice of tart by grasping ether side of the outer crust and the bottom base stayed perfectly flat. It did not break, crumble, or even think about splitting. I was super impressed.He agreed to teach me how to make a few desserts if I agreed to cook a Chinese meal. Of course it was a done deal!

After dinner, we again talked for a long while. This time the topics were more serious and included things such as politics, global problems of overpopulation, hunger, clean water, and the slow downward spiral society was taking. (The conversation was not as depressing as it sounds, I swear!) He also told me things that were deeply personal; about the struggles of being an artist with conviction, and how he could sympathize with the poorest of people because was once homeless. This took me by surprise because the french do not like to disclose personal things so easily, especially to someone outside of the family. It was very heart warming to know that he already considered me a member of the family. This is becoming an immersion experience in all senses of the word!