Day 32: Legitimately Lost & Fully Exercised

After class today, Paris, Rachel and I went to the flea market. I was trying to find the same place where we'd gone last time so that I could get some postcards that had been used already and use those for a lesson plan...alas, we never did find that part of the flea market. We were there for about an hour and then continued on with our lives.

I decided to just go back to the Vesinet. However, on the RER back to the Vesinet I decided to stop at La Defense stop so that I could see it. Here are some of my pictures:

(La Defense statue)

(The Grand Arch)

Then I hopped back on the RER and again decided to not get off at Le Vesinet-Le Pecq, but to instead get off at Le Vesinet-Centre, hoping to pop in at a book store, see if they had the new Marie-Anne book by Anne-Marie Desplat-Duc. However this is where the theme of my day starts:

I get off at the station. I follow the people. Do I look at the map of the area? Nope--it's le Vesinet-Centre! It's the station just before my station, I probably ran past this place on my run three weeks ago; I don't need to see the map. Hmmm...yeah. I should have looked at the map.

Rather than "popping in" to a bookshop, I ended up getting seriously and legitimately lost. I was in some random neighborhoods in le Vesinet. I did see some lovely houses though.

As you can see by looking the map, the black X is where the bookshop was (though I didn't find that out until several hours later) and the green X is where Nannick's house is. And as you can see by looking at my path (there was a bit more meandering in the neighborhoods that is not reflected on this map), I had absolutely no sense of direction and where I was going. I crossed the Seine. TWICE. I crossed it once because the street signs in the neighborhood were now saying "Le Pecq" and I remembered that when we went through le Pecq with Nannick last week we had to cross a bridge to leave le Vesinet to go through le Pecq. Ha. Yeah...

Instead of the 1.8 miles from the Vesinet-Centre stop to the Vesinet-Pecq stop, it took me about 4.5 miles.

Just above the point where I first crossed the Seine was a big sign that said "Vesinet" with an arrow pointing in the direction behind me. Did I see it? Of course not! Who looks up? Granted, it was raining by this point, but still...

So I crossed the Seine once, walked a little bit on the other side, finally found a map of le Pecq and saw that I was on the wrong side. So I crossed back over the Seine, and noticed that on my right was a store--Leader Price. I needed to stop at Leader Price to get some ingredients for a salad and since I was passing by now, it would save me a trip of going to the one by where Nannick lives when I returned. I figured I couldn't be too far away since I was in the Vesinet now. Then I entered the store and realized it was the store by Nannick's that Grace and I have gone to twice. Ha. Wow, I had no idea it was just down the street from the bridge over the Seine. I'm so observant.

I bought my food, returned to Nannick's, ate some lunch, then headed out again, this time hoping to find a bookstore. Here is a map of this journey, because yes, again, I had no idea where I was going:

(Black X: Nannick's house; Green X: Bookshop; Two Blue X's: the 2 RER stations, the one by the black X is the Vesinet-Pecq stop, the one by the green X is the Vesinet-Centre. So yes, I was so close the first time I got off the RER only I went in the total wrong direction. And yes, I should have just taken the RER to get from Nannick's to the bookshop. Instead of a 1.5 mile walk to a bookshop, it was 4 1/4 miles)

I walked and walked and kept thinking--there's a McDonalds, there must be a bookstore nearby...there's a Carrefour, there must be a bookstore nearby...Nope. However, I did see two rather strange things on my way to where I turned around and on my way back that I took a picture of:

(Yes, that is a real peacock. And yes, it is really in someone's front yard. In fact, there was another one on the front porch)

(I kind of wished I could have bought this car for Jacob; he would love to drive a car like this)

(This is there sign that basically means: Watch out there are kids here because there is a school. However, what it says is: Be careful, 500 children. I think that is hilarious.)

So then I decided to just walk the way that I took a run a couple weeks ago--straight down Boulevard Carnot. I'd run by some restaurants which meant some kind of a downtown, right? Of course! I walked and walked...I ended up following an older lady when I got closer to the "downtown" part of the Vesinet because she looked like she knew where she was going. And what do you know? She pretty much led me to the bookshop!

I ended up getting some of Moliere's plays in French because the new book by Desplat-Duc wasn't there. I also got two of the Petit Nicholas books. I paid and left the bookshop fully intending to walk back down Boulevard Carnot. But again! I am directionally challenged here without mountains to guide me. Instead I turned away from that street (without knowing it) and then I turned and what did I see? The Vesinet-Centre RER station. ha. If I had just gone to the other side of the RER station when I had first gotten off four hours previously.

So what did I learn today?

1. Open my eyes and read signs, even if they are behind me, if I have no idea where I am

2. Look at maps before exiting an never-before-visited RER or Metro station

3. It's a good thing I brought my tennis shoes to France

4. Even though I prayed to find the bookshop when I first got off at the Vesinet-Centre RER station (and then proceeded to get lost...twice), my prayer was answered because I did make it to the bookshop in the Vesinet before it closed.

And that was my exciting day of becoming lost and walking 8 miles in the Vesinet and the Pecq. :)

Day 31: Flâneuse

Being a flâneuse means that I am a loiterer or an idler, which in some situations may be a bad thing; in this case, it is not because it shows that I am taking in the city and this experience.

Instead of sitting through 362 yesterday, I read my book Des Colombes du Roi Soleil: Olympe Comedienne. I really wasn't feeling like I could sit through class again (I took 362 last spring, so technically every day when I've gone to class it has been to sit through a class that I've already taken; I don't have to do any homework or tests, but I need to be there most of the time so that they know I'm safe). It was a good book! It is at a 4-6 grade level, which is perfect for me because that's about where I'm at with my French reading--if I'm going to be reading with ease and quickly, like I have been with the past two books I've read by Anne Marie Desplat-Duc. I can read and comprehend harder and more complex texts, but for enjoyment purposes, it's nice to read children's/young adult books.

After our interviews with Drs. LeBras or Erickson, I went with Paris and Rachel to the catacombes. At least, that was our intention. However when we arrived we were met with this sign:

My hope of going through the catacombes has been buried because we leave Monday morning and it won't open before then. By this time it was about 3:30, a lot of day left, so I hopped on the RER, didn't stop at the Vesinet-Pecq stop and went to visit Saint-Germain-en-Laye since Dave and Leslie had told us they enjoyed it there (Dave is the bishop of the Paris ward). It was a really cute place. I wandered around the city, taking some pictures, bought a gelato, some guy asked me where a certain boulangerie was and I had to tell him I didn't know--but the fact that he'd asked me made me feel more part of the woodwork of Paris, rather than just as a tourist.

(Bust of the bishop of the Saint Germain en Laye parish; he died for France during WWII)

(Close up of the words on the bust; in English it says: "Put God first in your life")

(Cool castle/church building just by the RER station in Saint-Germain-en-Laye)

(It was a gorgeous day!)

(Sometimes I pretend I'm a photographer...I like doors, shutters, and gates in France)
(Blue door)
(I thought this door looked quite classy)

(The facade of a building)

I returned to the Vesinet and then left an hour or so later to go with Grace, Judy, Katherine, Mathilde, Eloise, and Theo to eat dinner at a Chinese restaurant. I ordered something I've never had before.

(Maison crabe farcie)

Day 29: Books, Dress, Graves, Flowers and Dinner

Today after class I went with Grace, Ryan and Judy to our favorite Vietnamese restaurant; it was my third time going there. After eating, Ryan and I stopped at a patisserie on the way back to the Institute (to use the bathrooms) and I bought a beignet framboise. So good! It's like a huge raspberry filled doughnut, only better. I wasn't able to get a picture because I ate it.

This mini-adventure was followed by decision to hop on the metro and see where it went. It ended in Marie-des-Lilas. A more urban neighborhood part of Paris, though on the outskirts of Zone 1 (maybe 2...). I was able to buy a cute dress for 12 euro, 1 book (also for 12 euro...) and was able to enjoy a local cemetery.

After enjoying Marie-des-Lilas, and seeing that it was about to start raining, the Metro was again sought and this time the end destination was the Anatole France stop (because I've wanted to go there ever since I saw it the fourth day I was here). The city where Anatole France is located is so pretty! It's still in the city, there are still buildings and such, but there was a beautiful public park that was really well kept up, with a water play place for kids to play attached to it. I also stopped at a book store and bought three more books...

Since I had so many books and a dress, I came back to the Vesinet, dropped off my stuff and then headed back into the city for our group dinner. What did I have to eat? The pictures are below and it was all delicious.

(Entree: Escargots; actually quite good. Not terribly filling, but they didn't taste gross)

(Plat: Tartiflette avec sa salade verte; all I could see at this point

was that there was cheese on top)

(Come to find out there is also ham and potato and some kind of special sauce; delicious)

(As you can notice, I really enjoyed it. No, I did not lick the plate/bowl; I used

my bread to get most of the sauce left over)

(Dessert: crepe au chocolat et sa chantilly; basically a crepe with chocolate and whipped cream. It was good, I enjoyed it)

Lunch yesterday & picture for Amelia

I thought I would post this picture for Mary. It was my lunch yesterday. I'm not quite sure what it was...I just saw that it said something about boeuf (beef) and parmesan...It was good (and yes the meat was cooked even though it doesn't entirely look like it was in the picture). Not entirely filling, but it was tasty.

Also, I thought Amelia would like to see what the Twilight books are called in French. I thought it was kinda funny...

Day 28: Theory on Hands & Said "Hi" to Napoleon

Judy, Grace and I started off after class time by going to see the Grand et Petit Palais. As we crossed over the Pont Alexadre III bridge, we noticed an uncanny resemblance of one of the lion statues to Simba...unfortunately I did not get a picture of this resemblance; Judy as that picture, though she claims that he looks more like Aslan.

(View of Pont Alexandre III & Invalides in the distance)

We walked by the front of Invalides and made our way to the Hotel Biron which is where the Musee Rodin is located. Hotel Biron was built in the 1720s and is where Rodin lived in the early twentieth century. The gardens were beautiful!

(Garden outside Musee Rodin)

Even though daisies are (and will remain) my favorite flowers (with lilacs being a close second), I love roses because of Beauty and the Beast--especially the renditions written by Robin McKinley (Rose Daughter and Beauty). So I took some pictures of the roses and of some pretty blue flowers that I really liked. It's not often that you find truly blue things in nature--besides the sky of course. And since blue is my favorite color, I thought I would get a picture of them.

(Pretty blue flower in the garden at Musee Rodin)

(Yellow rose outside Musee Rodin)

(Red rose outside Musee Rodin)

We saw some of the famous Rodin bronze sculptures outside--Penseur, Gates of Hell, etc. But I think some of my favorite were inside--The Kiss (of course...this is because of Amelia's love for this piece when she took Humanities in high school), Cathedral, Secret, Main d'Amants--all by Rodin...and all of which are hands but I have a thing for hands. But I also really liked two of Camille Claudel's pieces: Clotho and La Petit Chatelaine.

I think that hands are so beautiful. They can express so much feeling and can tell a lot about a person. I tried to explain my "Theory on Hands" to Brian and Philip (at different times) and I think I did a rather horrible job of explaining because, as I remember, it sounded terribly cliche. However, I am going to try again to explain why I love hands so much and why these pieces by Rodin really caught my attention.

One: Have you ever tried to draw or depict a hand that is proportionally and realistically accurate? It's incredibly hard and painstaking work. I've tried it once and I haven't ever seriously attempted again. There are so many lines in a hand from all the movement of the knuckles and the veins and the nails. If someone can ever depict hands in an artistic way, I give them props and my admiration because hands are hard.

Two: Hands are one of the ways that we connect with someone else. We don't put our heads together and walk down the street--that would be weird, though hilarious. At the museum today I saw two different pairs of kids holding hands so that they would stay together and not get lost. That was so cute! I remember when I've held hands with my parents and my little brothers and the security that I felt holding my parents hands and the feeling of wanting to protect my little brothers from everything when I held their hands. And of course, as I've gotten older and have held non-familial hands to show affection, that is another kind of connection that I just love about hands. They seek each other if they know the other person will hold it.

Three: Scars. I love scars on hands because there is always a story (well, there is usually a story with all scars and I do like scars in general), but hands are highly visible and you don't have to roll sleeves up or take off your sock to show scars on your hands. Callouses are also pretty cool on hands and develop pretty easily from playing an instrument, mowing the lawn, etc.

So I don't know if that explained really at all my "Theory on Hands" and why I think they're fascinating, but it was an attempt to explain why I liked especially those three pieces by Rodin.

(Cathedral by Rodin)

(Secret by Rodin)

(Main d'Amants by Rodin)

(Main d'Amants by Rodin)

(Main d'Amants by Rodin)

(La Petite Chatelaine by Claudel)

(Clotho by Claudel)

After spending a good amount of time in the museum, we left and went to Invalides. We were super hot and the cool marble building felt so very nice. I took two pictures of Napoleon's tomb and told Napoleon that Sam Bateman said hi (yes, I remembered).

(Napoleon's tomb; it is huge)

(Outside of Invalides)

After we were sufficiently cooled-down, we bought some food at a Carrefour, then went and ate it in front of the Eiffel Tower. Overall, a very nice afternoon.

Normandy

Since I haven't written about Normandy yet (and I said I would) here is a little bit how my trip in Normandy went on Thursday:

Nannick, Grace and I piled into Nannick's little car with a basket full of food for our picnic and Nannick began driving. I don't even know all the places that we drove through and by, I just know that I loved it! I remarked to Nannick and Grace that it was a little like a mixture of Michigan and Idaho--Michigan because it is so green, Idaho because of the rolling hills. It was kind of a surreal experience because I kept thinking about Dad and how much Dad loves Normandy and there I was. In Normandy!

(Normandy countryside)

Nannick stopped at Eglise Troglodytique de l'Annonciation--a church (or fortress) that was built into the hill. I took a picture because it was so cool looking.

(That church/fortress in the side of the hill)

We drove a bit more and then stopped in a quaint little village next to the Seine for our picnic.

(This was our lunch; this picture is for you, Mary)

(View from our picnic spot of the Seine)

We went to visit the chateau that was there, but it was closed because of renovations, so we used to the bathroom and continued our journey in the car.

(View of the chateau as we walked towards it after our picnic)

We ended up stopping in some town where Chateau Gaillard is located. It was a cool castle. I took lots of pictures because I thought Jacob would like to see a real castle since he likes stories with castles and magic, etc.

(View of the valley from the top, right by Chateau Gaillard)

(Walking up to the ruins)

(Looking down on the city below the castle)

(Layout of the castle)

(Beth and the chateau ruins)

(View of the moat)