Paris Week 5 (10/7 - 10/13)

Monday - 10/7 

Recently I've grown quite fond of studying in the St. Denis library. My favorite are the seats next to the huge floor to ceiling windows at the back of the multi-level library.I am proud to say that I have made a St. Denis library lover out of Aly as well.

DInner was tomates farcies, which are savory stuffed tomatoes. keeping in mind that I don't eat that much meat, Frédéric made some rice-stuffed ones as well, but he admitted to not knowing how it would taste because he had never made them before. He rightfully recommended that I try the traditional meat ones because they were beyond delicious.

Also, I received a letter from my bf back in the States! Definitely makes a great start to the week :)

Tuesday - 10/8

Pink trout pre-cooking

Escargot appetizer

Dinner was a doubly-whammy of seafood - escargot and pan fried trout with a toasted almond topping and salt potatoes. During the meal, Frédéric brought up some concerns about the weekly meal situation. He said: according to CUPA, I was entitled to only 5 dinners at the house a week. If I wanted to eat more meals, I would have to pay more. I was kind of taken aback by this statement and suddenly felt very uncomfortable  like I wasn't welcomed. He did add, thought, that I could buy my own things to make dinner if I would like and that he would try to make room in the fridge so I could have some shelf space. 

Roasted trout with toasted almonds

I guess my host family situation was going a little too well to be true. However, I understand where he is coming from. Even though we had to pay to stay here, each host family situation is a little different. I have other CUPA friends who are staying in large families with a lot of children. Because they already make a lot of food, another mouth to feed isn't much and they are able to eat all their meals in the house. In my case, I make up one-third of the whole family. That is to say, I've just added 50% to their weekly groceries, which is quite a lot. I guess I'll just have to start familiarizing myself with the kitchen and finding some cheap restaurants nearby for when I want a quick bite to eat. 

Wednesday - 10/9 

I thought I was going to be late to thermodynamics today, but apparently it was cancelled. No one seemed to be notified in advanced and there were a few confused looking students loitering around an otherwise empty classroom. I was relieved, confused, and slightly frustrated all at the same time. However, the mood was lightened when I met a Portuguese student and his Chinese friend. In the end, I decided that the situation was a blessing in disguise: no class and I met finally met some other kids in the class. 

In the afternoon, I studied for a little bit at the library called Bibliothèque publique d'information inside the Centre Pompidou. it is one of the few libraries the only library I've found that is open past 7pm. Even though it is 3 stories tall and spans the area of a block, the BPI was filled to the brim. At college, I usually study in my room or in my residential college library because I could focus more with less people around. However, being surrounded by all the productivity in the BPI has really rubbed off on me. I think this will be my study space of choice from now on. 

At 7:30 pm, I headed off to another concert at the Louvre featuring Marie-Elisabeth Hecker on the cello and Martin Helmchen on the Piano playing an entire concert of Beethoven sonatas. It was spectacular as usual and we finished the night off with a picture in the pyramid. 

Thursday - 10/10

After art class, I had my first thermodynamics lab. Lab courses in France are quite different from the ones I've had at Yale, which reflects the differences in methodologies. In the States, you are given the experiment beforehand with the procedure clearly outlined. You are expected to know exactly what to do and know how to maximize efficiency while in lab. While this is okay for a class, it doesn't really reflect the real process for research, which I think the French methodology tackles much better. For thermo lab, we received a packet that described the background and scenario of the problem we were trying to tackle. (In this case, heat exchange). Then we were simply given a list of materials and prompts/questions that we were trying to explore. We were expected to come up with the procedure and method of data analysis on our own and write up the lab report in class with a clear introduction, methods, data analysis, answering the questions, a conclusion. 

The other major difference was in we were expected to collaborate in lab, not only with our partner, but also the other groups in the class. To me, this is much more similar to what research is like in the real world compared to US lab classes. Although I was quite intimidating, I'm glad I had this experience. Only two more labs to go!

For dinner we had artichokes in a beefy stock with lardons. Eating the leaves with you hands is a fun but messy process.

Friday - 10/11

Carrots, tomatoes, fennel, potatoes,
squash, turnips, romanesco, onions

I went back to the BPI after class today. On the way home, I stopped by Géant des Beaux Arts to get some art supplies and also passed by a little outdoor market where I sampled some interesting cheeses. 

DInner was pot au feu again. There were 8 different vegetables this time along with beef with all the bones stewed down to make a rich broth. I mopped up every last bit of the flavorful soup with a bit of toasted baguette. Yum!

Saturday - 10/12

I love science museums!

Equestrian skit?

Saturday was a very packed day. First, I went to Cite des Sciences in NE Paris for their weekend of free admissions and special events. I was meeting Aly and Gracie there and of course, we were all late to the RDV. It was pretty funny when we texted each other the exact same apology at the same time. I think being late all the time is a bad habit we picked up from the french!

Tables of the future!

Blimp flying

The science museum was a multi-level mammoth, so we decided to work our way from bottom to top starting with the aquarium on the -2 floor. Although it was quite small, everyone can appreciate a good aquarium. Some other things we saw along the way were men dressed up as equestrians and cart-wheeling across the floor, tables that seem to be able to float on water, and people flying with the aid of a blimp. I really wanted to do the last one, but the line was too long to be worth the wait.

Camouflaging fish

Eel

Flat fish

Real life optical illusions!

We spent quite a bit if time in the optical illusions section. There was one interactive exhibit that played around with perspective. In the picture, Gracie looks like a giant, while Aly looks super tiny. Can you guess how this picture was made? The room was built such that Aly is standing 2x farther away than Gracie, but the floor and walls were painted so that the back wall looks like it is on one plane. Thus, when you look through the peep hole on the other end of the room, it looks like the people are different sizes, rather than different distances away.

Another cool illusion were the picture reflections. Each of the pictures were distorted in such a way so that they were unrecognizable. However, when reflected in a cylindrical mirror, the mirrored image made sense. Below you'll find some pictures of other random things we saw at the museum. 

Redefining the water wheel

I thought this was a
children's museum...

Just why?

Circa 1995-96

2013

After we had our fill of the exhibits, we went outside to take a look a the Geode. For those of you who don't know, I lived in France for a year when I was around 2-3 years old. My dad was working at CERN (the world's largest particle physics laboratory) in Geneva, Switzerland, so we lived in a little town just over the French border called St. Genis-Pouilly. At some point, we took a little family vacation to Paris and visited the Cité des Sciences. One of main reasons for wanting to study abroad in France is because of all the stories I heard of France when I was little, but none of which I remember. Now, 17 years later, I'm back again, creating new memories that will hopefully last me a lifetime!

Walking off into the sunset

When we grew tired of the science museum, we went to the hostel to pick up Cerise's other US friend before going to the fête des vendages. The sun was setting behind the hills just as we were crossing the train tracks so I had to snag a picture. The hostel that Cerise's friends were staying at was really high end and modern. It had solar panels on the roof, a sleek bar, a gym, and lots of places to relax and hang out. They even had free macarons and pastries at the front counter, which the girls took full advantage of. (Gracie was suave and sneaked a second, haha.)

Candy land

Say cheese!

By the time we made it to the Fête in the 18e arrondissment near the Sacre Coeur, it was already dark. The festival celebrates the first wine of the season, but there was much more than just wine and grapes. We were surrounded by tents filled with music, food, wines, beers, the works. For those of you that have a sweet tooth, there was a huge candy shop that was selling every type of candy imaginable. Pay by the kilo. All of the sounds and smells were pretty overwhelming, and there were far too many people. We had planned to have some asian food for dinner in the Belleville area so we finished off a couple of streets and high tailed it out of there.

Too many people!

Blazing chicken

We had dinner at a pan-asian restaurant and I ordered a stir-fried rice noodle dish. It took a really long time for them to get our food out to us, but all of the food was absolutely delicious. The flavors and aromas, while not completely authentic, really reminded me of home. Plus, after a month and a half, I finally got to eat a meal with chopsticks again! 

Sunday - 10/13

Another day of relaxation, studying, and catching up. In the afternoon, I went out to buy some groceries for dinner and passed by the Ménilmontant flea market. Although I didn't buy anything, I got to look through some old books, records, and trinkets. One of these days I plan on going to the Puces de Montreuil, which is a huge flea market based in the city of Montreuil just to the east of Paris. However, I'll have to wake up around 8 am on a Sunday, which is quite a feat in itself!

Paris Week 4 (9/30 - 10/6)

Monday - 9/30 

Cutie pie <3 (4 years ago)

So tall now

First off, happy birthday to my little brother Oliver who turned 15 today! They grow up so fast :)

In other news, we had our first visit for the Lieux de Mémoire class. We had originally intended to go see a church next to the Panthéon, however, it was closed on Mondays. Instead, we ended up seeing part of the Philippe Auguste wall, the Arènes de Lutèce, Eglise Saint-Nicolas du Chardonnet, and Eglise Saint Severin. 

Over 10 feet tall!

photo cred: Frédérik

After class, I went to see Frédéric's studio for the Portes Ouvertes de Ménilmontant. Today was the last day of a four-day artist studio open house event. Frédéric's studio is attached the the apartment and the first thing you pass when you enter the gate. For the past few day's I've seen a lot of people stop by so I was excited that it was finally my turn. In addition to drawings and paintings, he has sculptures of every size in there. Some of his biggest works are these huge tree trunks that are carved and erected like pillars. It was really cool to ask him questions about how he made different things and more importantly why. 

I also met the guy who stayed in my room over the summer. He was here doing a film internship for a few months and got to know Frédéric and Missaratou the same way I did. Or am doing right now. He seemed to be really interested in my background and had an endless stream of questions. I wish my french was better so that we could have genuine conversations and not have it feel so one sided (with me struggling to express myself). The three of us ended up talking well past midnight. I hope he comes back again for another meal so we can catch up and I can tell him about my film class. And to ask him what his name is again haha. 

Tuesday - 10/1

I went to my first film class at St. Denis. There were about 60 people squeezed a little tiny basement room with a projector screen. Only about half of the seats had table space and I was lucky enough to get one of them. The rest of the class was squished against the walls and in the aisles. Class started about 20 minutes late because the first two projectors they tried to set up were broken and only showed the blue screen of death. This was perfect time for us to bake in the inferno room and get to know our neighbors. The guy who was sitting next to me was Jean-Philipe. We hit it off pretty well. I found out that he is quite the movie buff. When he saw that I was an exchange student, he was very interested in my background and reason for studying in Paris. After finding out that I am not a film major and that this was my first film class, he was even more curious. French students begin specializing back in high school and begin to take classes specific to their career track from then on. Rarely would they find someone from another department taking their class. He promised to help me out with film analysis if I would help him practice english. I said it was a done deal. 

Foie gras - wasn't all that

Fried calamari with stuffing

Today was Missaratou's birthday so we had an extra special dinner: foie gras, squid, and molten chocolate cake. I can't say that I found the foie gras particularly exceptional in any way. Ratatouille will always be one of my favorites and the squid was delicious, as was the cake that had a gooey chocolatey center.

Ratatouille

and delectable molten center

Beautiful chocolate tart...

Wednesday - 10/2

The pyramid lighted up at night

My horrible double class Wednesdays was made better this week by my first CUPA spectacle - a concert at the Louvre. As part of our CUPA tuition we are able to choose 4 free tickets to performances for the semester. (I think I talked about my difficulties in choosing which 4 of the 16 options I wanted to see). However, after the tickets were distributed, there were some leftovers that were given on a first come first serve basis. In the end, I got an additional 6 tickets. Some are on back to back nights, but I am really excited for all of them none the less. 

Our CUPA row

Süssman was amazing on piano

Tonight's concert featured Christian Tetzlaff on the violin and Gunilla Süssman on the piano playing Schubert, Brahms, and Shostakovich. The first two were nice, but the real show stopping piece was Shosty. If any of you know about his orchestration The Firebird, this was in a similar eccentric style and very difficult. When the concert ended, the two were given well-deserved thunderous applause. At one point, people began to clap in unison, which I found super strange. I now know that this is the sign that the audience wants an encore. Ask and you shall receive. The night as a whole made  me wish I brought my violin to France because my fingers itched to play :(

Thursday - 10/3

This morning I experienced my first atelier (art class). The location of the studio was on an awkward line so taking the subway and walking there would take about the same amount of time ~ 30 mins. I chose to walk, partly because it my earliest class (at 9:30 am) and I needed a way to wake up, partly because it was a beautiful day and I wanted to explore more of Paris. When I got there, I was clearly the youngest in the class a a handful of decades. I was just grateful that Lucy, another CUPA student, was there with me.

I have never taken a figure drawing class before. My only exposure to it was "figure drawing fridays" in studio at in high school where the models were other students in the class, posing in a set up scene, and they were definitely fully clothed. In a "real" figure drawing class, the models are nude and have very few props. Our model today was Miriam who I'm going to put around 60 years of age. I actually felt quite comfortable drawing her, because the aim of the class is to study the body as if you had no idea what it was. I think the most important point of the day was: By forgetting everything you already know, or think you know, about the body, only then can you really draw what is in front of you.

My afternoon class was my back up class in case I didn't like the Intro to film on Tuesday. However, I had the worst time trying to find the classroom, and even when I eventually did, the professor was late and that just made it all the more confusing. The class was filled with facts and dates, and the film excerpts we watched were very very experimental  One of them was a 5 minute film titled Lights, where the cinematographer held the camera up to lights and shook it around to make patters and give us all motion sickness. I don't think I'm going to go back, but hey, that's what back up are for!

Friday  - 10/4

I finally bought my book for Islam class Le Coran et la Chair. I also got a cute black skirt at Tati, an inexpensive department store in the 18e. When you are abroad and have such a limited wardrobe, it is important to have staples to mix and match with a lot of different things. Dinner was and elegant spread of mussels cooked in a white wine sauce finished with creme fraiche.

Saturday - 10/6

Tonight was Nuit Blanche, a night of never ending arts where artists put up installations all over the city and studios and museums are open all night until the next morning. Most of the subway lines stay open until at least 2 am and lines 1 and 5 are open all night with free admission in the center of the city. I got together with what now seems like my normal CUPA group to explore the city and hopefully not return home too late. 

Crêpe with eggs

Smoked salmon and egg

Onion and cheese

Our impressive payment

We started the night off with dinner at the crêpe cafe where we had lunch on the first day of CUPA. It was cheap and delicious, the perfect mix for a student on a budget. Because everyone takes different classes at different universities, we don't often get to see each other during the week. As we were waiting for a certain someone who was running late, we exchanged stories about our host families, troubles with classes and talking to the professor, and other little anecdotes from our parisian lifes. In addition to our savory crêpes, we also got a bottle of hard cider, which I did not partake in. According to the resident hard cider expert, it was decent, but not very sweet. While paying the bill, we tried to get rid of all our coins when we paid so we left quite an impressive stack of them for the bill. 


Looking for a little bit of dessert, we went to the nearby Amarino gelato shop to get the girls some flower shaped yumminess. 

Our first destination of the night was the Republique area around the Seine River. I had downloaded a Nuit Blanche app with a google map of all the events for the night, but little did I know that the app would be rendered useless without internet connection. We ended up just following the crowds of people and ended up at the Notre Dame. There was food, lights, and lots of live entertainment. We also took a peek in the cathedral to find a movie playing. While around the Notre Dame region, we noticed that there were a lot of people where these kind of glow in the dark samsung buttons and some where holding flashing balloons. We decided that our next task was to find the source of these goodies and get some of our own. 

Hotel de Ville

Our wandering eventually brought us to the Hôtel de Ville, which was the headquarters for this region of Nuit Blanche. We saw right away where they were handing out the buttons so we rushed forth into the mob. At each station, there was a girl handing out buttons was individually cracking each one and sticking on the person. No wonder it was taking so long. I suppose this was a way for them to make sure people didn't make off with a whole handful of them, but this alternative was not much better. There was another much scarier mob of people for the balloons. Funnily enough, most (if not all) of the people who were fighting for balloons were teenagers or adults. I managed to get one, but the other girls weren't so lucky. 

Finally found the maps!

At the Notre Dame

After retrieving some maps and programs from the double-decker party bus, we tried to go to the event at Centre Pompidou, but the line was incredibly long. Perhaps it was because we were in the center of the city, but the whole atmosphere was really crazy. The amount of people and the drinking and smoking became rather overwhelming. We were disscussing the possibilities that the entire point of tonight was so that high schoolers could find an excuse to stay out all night and for it to be acceptable for people to drink in public and get wasted.

My little bow

We moved onto the Belleville-Ménilmontant area and saw a couple of art films. We also passed by a school that was hosting an interactive art show. The first interactive piece was a newspaper loom. Each person was to take a strip of newspaper and add it to the loom any way they wanted. Both Gracie and I chose to put ours up as little bows. The other interactive piece in the room was a giant sculpture of sewn pockets draped from the ceiling. Each person was supposed to write a little blurb on one of the cards and stick it into a pocket. I think the theme was "collective secrets" or shared thoughts." Something along those lines. I drew a picture of us on our first Nuit Blanche in Paris.

What a night!

In it goes!

It was around one o'clock in the morning when we decided to call it a night and we were proud of ourselves for staying up so late. After showing the girls where to get on the metro, it was a short walk back home and into my comfy bed for a good night's sleep.

Sunday - 10/6

Théâtre de Ville

Fezeka Youth Choir

Today I went to a South African concert at the Théâtre de Ville. There were a few other CUPA students there also. 
Our tickets were reserved by CUPA, but because they assigned seats as they handed you the ticket, I ended up in the way way back. But just as the show was starting and the ushers were trying to fill in the seats in front, so I ended up in the 8th or 9th row instead of all the way back in row W. 

Band of Cape Traditional Singers

Cape Traditional Singers

We were all clapping and dancing

The two groups that were performing were the Cape Traditional Singers and the Fezeka Youth Choir. The Cape Singers were more of an entertainment band with lots of dancing and laughter. It the kind of music you want to clap and tap your foot to. The youth choir sand would soul and their songs gave me goose bumps. For the final act, the two groups sang together and everyone was up and out of their seats, dancing and clapping. I left the theater with a smile on my face and renewed energy to tackle the week ahead!