Marseille

On Saturday, we toured the market in Aix-en-Provence and I bought some really great "treasures" for super cheap. All jewelry, scarves, and clothes are made there or in close proximity so everything is really cheap, gorgeous, and oh-so French. The food also looked amazing, so fresh and colorful.

In stark contrast, the markets in Marseille were terrible and dirty! We went to Marseille for an afternoon trip right after lunch to check out the port city. It wasn't long till we realized that we had entered one of the largest, poorest, and dirtiest cities in France and possibly Europe. It was not fun going through the markets in Marseille because we're pretty sure there were people trying to sell drugs to us. But, the port was lovely. We even got to take a little ferry across the bay so we could say that we sailed on the Mediterranean! We then visited an ancient Abbey and then went to the big basilica on the top of a big hill that overlooks the bay and the rest of Marseille. The view was gorgeous, but the basilica was the most obnoxious thing ever. Either ancient, medieval, or just plain old building are restored to their original state so one can see how they looked with they were first erected, however this usually makes the building seem really fake. I mean, they redo all the painting, molding and such with modern techniques, and I personally that it misrepresents the original intent of the structure. Take a look at this pic to see if you think this paint job looks old at all...

As you can see though, the view from the church was fabulous.

This is the Abbey we visited that was very old (think the 10th century) and they had done of very minimal renovations so the building still seemed very reverent and calming.

Just some more for visual enjoyment.

It felt amazing outside that day as one can probably see, but we were glad to go back to Aix-en-Provence to have the amazing pizza and crepes!

More later. Bisous!!

Aix-en-Provence "Wahoo!"

Last weekend, the CEA group and I took a two night trip to Aix-en-Provence. It is situated in the center of the southeastern Provence region of France and is known for its small town, French vibe. It also has the most fountains of any other French city and maybe the most in all of Europe. It looks truly French with the fountains, the many cafés that once served famous painters, the close proximity of the French countryside, and the characteristic cobble-stone streets, however with a closer look one can see that it is crawling with internationals. There are a ton of international students and tourists who come to Aix so it was not completely uncommon to hear English or to see obviously tourist spots. It actually has quite the large collection of CEA students who study French and International Studies (but not Business) at many universities there; this is also why we choose to go to Aix, so we could meet other CEA students, so our director could spend time with their director, and so we could exchange stories about living and learning in France.

We got to our lovely hotel which had a TV!!! I am completely deprived of a television and didn't think that it would matter much, but I really miss just sinking into a chair with the television spoon-feeding me daily news. It is so much nicer than actively seeking news on the Internet from a dozen sites everyday. Well, we got to Aix, walked around looking at cathedrals, fountains, looking into a small "History of Aix" museum, and going to the CEA office. The museum was really neat because it explained a lot of the architectural regulations in Aix that keep the city looking so beautiful. Apparently, they were through a massive renovation series that encouraged true French architecture and the elimination of anything "ugly" from sight like garbage bins, drains, and hanging laundry. It's hard work keeping up such a touristy place. American tourist like to come to France for everything that is beautiful, but aren't truly interested, most of the time, in the way that the French live.

The best part of the first day was most certainly going out with other CEA kids. Even though we were super tired, we went to an international bar called "Wahoo!" in the center of town. It was Sidnie, Patrick and I who were joined by five CEA students from Aix. They showed us around, told us what to order (St. Omar is delicious!), and gave us the run down on living in Aix. The bar/club even had a wall for collecting international currencies; I talked with the bartender about the collection for quite a while especially since they had a French franc, crazy currencies from Zimbabwe, China, and India, and some other outdated bills. We greatly enjoyed talking with the other students and found that Aix was actually a great place to study despite its small size.

More later. Bisous!

Well, it's the best day ever...

... and I've done practically nothing. I have no real, solid plans for this weekend, I'm way behind on schoolwork, and I think I'm just going to skip my French lab today. However, it is the best day ever, with the exception of this year's Valentine's weekend. I just sent in a signed copy of my acceptance letter to be an intern with the Charles G. Koch Internship Program over the summer in Washington D.C!! I don't know exactly where I'll be working or where I'll be living, but I'll be paid, be given lots of free books and food, learn a ton about economics, and generally have a blast.

Being in France has taught me many things, but mostly I've learned that I worry about too many things and I like to plan way far in advance. Thus, I've already started looking into possible living situations over the summer and plan to meet Asher in our favorite city in the world, New York City, over 4th of July weekend. If anyone has any recommendations for D.C. living, PLEASE let me know. Also, if there are any other students, interns, or particularly GLSers residing in D.C. over the summer, let me know so we can split an apartment. I love planning.

In other news, Grenoble has to be one of the most beautiful places on earth today. The sun is shining, it's about 45 degrees, and there is a ton of snow in the mountains that one can see very clearly throughout the city. My CEA director also told me today that I clearly reminded him of Natalie Wood ("Tonight, tonight, won't be just any night..."). Kind of funny. I will post about Aix-en-Provence, Marseille, and the Provence countryside very soon so keep a look out.

Bisous!!

Last Dose of Paris

Sunday
Since our dinner on Saturday lasted till the end of time, we completely missed the river cruise. No problem, we simply used the same tickets to go early Sunday morning. It was really great. I always love cities that are centered around a river, where all the major monuments, buildings, and landmarks can be seen from the river. That's exactly how Paris is. The Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay, the Tuilleries, and lots of beautiful government buildings line the river. Pretty much everything but the Arc de Triomphe and the Sacre-Coeur are on the Seine.

After the cruise, we went to walk around the Ile de la Cité to see the Notre-Dame cathedral. I'm really glad Asher got to see it up close. It truly is amazing how intricately detailed the stone work is and how gorgeous the stain glass windows are. To think that it was built about 1000 years ago is nuts. I think by this point in the trip, however, we both realized that Asher had a plane to catch and that we really didn't have time to see all of the fabulous things that Paris has to offer. Asher never made it to the Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay, the Pantheon, or to the top of the Eiffel Tower. However, none of these things are absolutely essential to a Paris experience because Paris is about the vibe, the music, the culture, and the food. It's just the way of life that is drenched in every form of art imaginable, from Van Gogh's impressionism to gold plated Versailles, from delicious Loire Valley wine to our hazelnut ice cream tarte, from music to theater to fashion, that is so magical.

Understandably, goodbye was terrible. But, our weekend was even more of a success with the most fabulous picture ever taken...

Parlez-vous bientôt! bisous!

More Magical Events

Saturday
The Catacombes were our first stop of the day. It's basically a bunch a bones in a web of tunnels about four stories below Paris. It's really rather disturbing. Just walking around, in the dark, in tunnels, filled with human bones is enough to make anyone extremely freaked out. Not to mention the fact that the tunnels are lined with messages and quotes about death that I hopefully translated pretty well. I remember, near the beginning of the tour, there being a small exhibit of photographs that had been taken from another catacomb in another European city. The description stated that this photographer stayed overnight, in the pitch dark, making crazy photographs of the dead bodies. Creepy. I don't want that job. Also, in that catacomb, descendants would come to continually clothe their ancestors. Ew. Dear beautiful descendants, if I'm buried in some catacomb, I give you permission to NOT come and clothe me.

Next stop was the grand palace of Versailles!!!! Absolutely beautiful! I'm so glad we stuck through the terrible RER train system which first took us to a terrible, sketchy neighborhood outside Paris to make it to Versailles. We hopped the ticket counter to go back and get on the right train. This was one of those classic times where I was very thankful to be with a guy. If I had been alone or with another girl, we would surely have been approached, asked if we needed help, and then gotten mugged. But, somehow, just the presence of a guy makes life a whole lot less complicated and much more safe. Anyway, Versailles was amazing and beautiful. It was a cold and rainy day, and I want to make sure that I get back sometime in my life in the spring or summer when the gardens are in full bloom and the fountains are flowing. The Hall of Mirrors was undoubtedly my favorite room, and it was great to see the royal bedrooms. I just love thinking that royals stayed there, made history with their sky high hair, and usually got their heads chopped off. It's neat to stand in the same places and pretend you can see them there going about their lives three hundred years ago.

Also, lovely readers who might be EU students, any student studying abroad in the European Union gets into many attractions for a discount or for free. We got into Versailles FO' FREE! Which means that I could keep my 18€ and go shopping, right? Shopping for things that are solid gold to keep in tune with Versailles, of course. And yes, they did need a solid gold gate in front of the largest, most beautiful palace in the world.

That night, we SPRINTED to make dinner at a restaurant ON the Seine River. Our reservations were for 8, and we were there about 8:15. We seriously sprinted from the nearest metro station at the Eiffel Tower to the restaurant about five football fields away. Dinner was absolutely amazing! The food was excellent, and we apparently kept each other company because dinner ended up lasting about three hours. We're still not sure how time can completely escape, but it most certainly did in Paris, that night and in general. It also helped that we could see the Eiffel Tower's light show from where we ate...

It was no doubt one of the most fabulous days I have ever had. Asher is officially my single most favorite travel buddy ever! Also, more is still to be continued...

Magical, Romantic Land of Music, Art, and Food

Paris is the most magical place ever. As a business/finance major, I'm always partial to big, lively cities that have a ton going on. I love that everyone is moving, places to go, people to see, things to do. Paris most certainly is one of those cities, however it has a completely different vibe than other large cities when paired with the sounds, smells, and beauty that cover it. I know when I first decided to go to Paris two summers ago, someone told me that it was just another big city and was a lot like American cities. They said that the city simply spoke a little French, had an Eiffel Tower but was still really dirty and just plain large. Totally not true. Paris is simply magical. There is not true way to describe how refreshing it is to go to a big city where flowers are everywhere, there are markets lining the streets, someone somewhere is playing an accordion, and there are a ton of things to do.

Keep in mind, however, that I know Paris pretty well. After spending three weeks there, you learn where things are for the most part, what to do, and how to get places. It's not like Asher and I couldn't have figured things out, but I felt very comfortable walking around looking for things to do. It's not my city by any means. I don't know what restaurants are the best or what hall the Mona Lisa is in, however I do know how to ask for a crepe in French, what metro stop will get you to Notre Dame, and a few fun facts about the city's history. I'm just a little proud of myself, and if anyone is going to Paris, I will gladly be your tour guide.

Well, just to go through our most fabulous weekend ever!

Friday
Asher and I met at the "Perfect" Hostel (that was the name of it). It was by no means perfect, however. You get what you pay for, and I'm going to stretch my travel stipend as far as a can and try to visit everywhere in Europe. Good luck, right?

Previously, I had found a brochure about a free tour around the center of Paris. We checked it out and really enjoyed walking around the city. Our tour guide was excellent! We liked that it was an easy, cheap way to get the highlights of the city.

Afterwards, we grabbed a cheap dinner from an outside market. The market was about a block from our hostel and had the most amazing smells ever! We had to try it. We got some cheese, roasted chicken, potatoes, and a bottle of pink champagne all at the outside market (are you beginning to see why Paris is fabulous?). Anyway, the night became uber romantic when we took our grub the the steps of the Sacre-Coeur to look over all of Paris.

Asher's camera can't take night pictures... This post is to be continued!

Grenoble... currently and yesterday.

Wednesday
I'm now going to write several blog posts... in class. If I'm not in Economic Environment of the EU or a class that is demanding participation from me, I'm probably doing something on the Internet. Speaking of classes, I'm such a loser. I haven't read more than a couple chapters in the only class that is interesting, and I've only skimmed two of five articles for my Innovation class. I've determined that Europe is making a slug of me, nothing seems to matter and no one seems to care if I don't do my homework or read what I'm supposed to. I actually really miss having assignments, doing projects, going to meetings, and doing fancy GLS stuff. It keeps me busy, gives me a sense of pride, and it's really fun to walk around UT looking super important in business chic.

I'm seriously taking tonight to catch up on school reading and skipping a party with business school kids. I just need a little more structure right now and more of a purpose. It also does not help that it is seriously impossible to do homework in my apartment. With two other girls and usually a couple guests over, I feel like a dork whenever I want to do homework or read. Speaking of reading, I started Water for Elephants, which has currently completed sucked me into the world of a traveling circus in the 1930s. It's brilliant, and I can't wait to read more.

Tuesday
Yesterday, I had French class, which I'm really behind in, from 4 to 8. Terrible time to have any class especially one that is language learning? YES. But, when I got home around 8:30, Kate was in my apartment cooking a fabulous dinner of parmesan chicken, pasta, sauce, bread, salad, and hummus. We eventually had about 6 people over to have a community dinner of 10 including Anna, Carrie, Sidnie, Kate, Maria, Maria's friend who is studying in England, Will, Patrick, Aaron, and myself. Dinner wasn't ready until around 10 due to some difficulties and the fact the Kate also had class till 8, so everyone was super tired when, at midnight, we finished off Maria's chocolate/coconut tarte she so graciously baked for us.

This was our Valentine's Day dinner for ourselves since most of us have significant others that are, obviously, unable to spend the day in Grenoble. I was the only super lucky one who had just seen her boyfriend/girlfriend over last weekend. During the dinner, we even dressed up, girls in dresses and skirts, and the guys wore button-ups and ties. We looked good! I only wish it hadn't been so late, that Italian wasn't so freaking messy, and that it wasn't right after 4 hours of class.

Talk soon. Au revoir.

Bruxelles Deux

Brussels is really a lot like France, most people speak le français, the sky is usually gray, and the architecture is usually very classical. Overall, it wasn't a huge change for me from Grenoble, but I think it was quite the change for Jaz and few things are very different. First of all, the sky is unfortunately not clear and blue like in Rome, where Jaz is normally; seriously, I'm a little jealous of her permanent 60 degree weather, blue skies, and beautiful Italian men (even though Latin men are creepers, more of this later). I really hope Jaz still found Northern Europe enjoyable despite continuous overcast; it's something I think I'm used to by now. It can be depressing at first, but Europeans, and especially the French, find ways to make the city beautiful in their own ways.

One of the first notable differences are the massive, businessy building in the heart of Brussels. No other European city that I've been to has the confidence to compete with a New York skyline. Brussels almost gets there. Honestly, it's very exciting to see large buildings, it reminds me that the city is thriving, that it's alive, and financial systems work! Very near to our hostel was a "Finance Tower" which I thoroughly enjoyed looking at if only because the lights of the side of the building sometimes flashed "Finance Tower." Brussels is a lover of finance, business, currencies, international cooperation, and international organizations, and I'm a lover of Brussels.

Last main difference I'll mention is the language thing. Brussels in interesting due to the confusion about what language to speak, one might speak French (most likely), Flemish (second most likely), of as a default, English. It's also an international city so any language can be heard at some point on the streets. It was very exciting to come off the plane to see advertisements in English. Going from a smallish, French city where only French is spoken to somewhere where English is the default language constitutes a huge sigh of relief for any American. But, when I first came out of the train station trying to find my way to the hostel, I asked a woman in French if she knew where the street was, she replied that she only spoke a little French. She didn't speak English so she asked if I spoke Flemish, haha, funny, Flemish, are you kidding me? Needless to say, her directions were interesting.

What I think is super interesting is that Belgium essentially functions in two languages, French and Flemish, which means that the government and businesses use those languages first. Obviously, multinational corporations and international organizations like the European Parliament and Central Bank use English, but for Belgium purposes, French and Flemish are used. Now it's strange enough to function in TWO languages but get this, Belgian political groups are not separated into parties according to political ideology, but fight for seats according to the language they speak! That's nuts! So the French part of town has representative run for the French seats, and the Flemish part of town has reps run for Flemish seats. Ethnic discrimination? Maybe, but who cares, it's Europe, they invented ethnic discrimination.

Tired of writing... Au revoir maintenant!

Picture of the Grand Place. Victor Hugo once said it is the most beautiful square in the world. Clearly, he's never been to the square in front of the Notre-Dame (haha, I crack myself up)

René Magritte

Since photography was forbidden in the Magritte Museum, I just had to show some of his work anyway with downloading of Internet pictures. Just to show the pictures does not do them justice. Imagine these about 10 times as big and in solid black rooms lined with Magritte quotes.

Magritte was a Belgian surrealist artist who died in the sixties. Surrealist means that he focused on reality but essentially twisted it in some way or another. He thought that paintings should be real, more down-to-earth, and more sensual, but he also felt that humans should be more in tune with their surroundings, more in reality. This may seem odd after viewing his work, but keep in mind that everything he paints is indeed real and part of reality. Surrealism, according to Magritte, is combining everything that is real, everything of the world, and putting it into a new perspective, making it mesh and seem seamless.

This says "This is not a pipe" in French.

Bruxelles Un

It's been forever since I've written so I have a lot to catch up on. Brussels was great, it's such a happy, vibrant place. All the people there are super friendly and always willing to help. Also, even though it was cold most of the time and the sky was usually gray, the streets and the people were full of color. Jasmine even liked to comment on the color scheme for the metro lines; the colors were nice candy colors, so all of the maps and guides were super vibrant.

Well, just my first overview. I have now been to the following museums in Brussels.

1. Musée d'Art Ancien (Ancient art, not really my thing, but it was great to hear Jasmine comment on the pieces since she took Honors Art History at UT).

2. Autoworld Brussels (whenever I think of cars I automatically think "TyHow would be jealous," which is exactly what happened at this car museum. Most of the cars were old, but it was really neat to see a European perspective on classic automobiles).

3. Musée de la Banque Nationale de Belgique (The National Bank of Brussels Museum; I really enjoyed it, it taught me all about money supply, inflation, deflation, the euro, and the functions of the European Central Bank! Also one of favorite rooms showed forms of currency since the Roman Empire. My favorite was the Belgium Franc right before the introduction of the euro, it had pink, purple, blue, and green flowers, abstract art, and beautiful French writings. I wouldn't have switched had my currency been that gorgeous, then again, the pound has Adam Smith, as Asher likes to repeatedly point out!).

4. Musée BELvue (History of Brussels museum, it was interesting and I love learning about urban planning and architecture for some odd reason).

5. Musée du Costume et de la Dentelle (As you can probably tell, it's the Museum of Costumes and Lace! I think Jasmine most enjoyed this museum especially since the main exhibit was 60s clothing. I just kept thinking that my mom would really enjoy it, all the patterns, fabrics, and mod fashion. The lace was very interesting as well and I still don't understand how lace it made).

6. Coudenberg, Ancien Palais de Bruxelles (This is the Brussels ancient palace dating back to the 11th century, mostly it's just stones but I love imagining princes and queens and such galavanting around in gold lined costumes with iron chandeliers and tapestries on the wall).

7. Musée des Instruments de Musique (The Musical Instruments Museum, it was very cool, all one would do was walk around with a headphone set and listen to different types of instruments, different music genres, and different musical styles according to region. I could have stood in front of the piano for an hour listening to it play Rhapsody in Blue, which it did, and I may actually have stood there for an hour).

8. Musée de Jouet (Museum of Toys! It was super fun, but there was a birthday party going on so kids were running around screaming... speaking French, which is cute though).

I just had to put these pictures up, Jasmine is totting around on a wooden horse, and I'm being shown up by a little kid in some sort of magnet game. He told me I was good though, "Tu es bien, mais je veux ca!" I was good, but he wanted it.

9. Musée Magritte (My Favorite! This whole museum was just of the artist René Magritte, who is now officially my favorite artist. He is into surrealism and the museum was covered in his quotes which are oh so characteristic of an artist "The question is not to be or not to be but to be more or not to be" or "Life obliges me to do something, so I paint" or better yet "Art evokes the mystery without which the world would not exist." Somehow I enjoy this hippie crap... but make fun of it). Note: no pictures were permitted :(

10. Musée des Brasseurs Belges (the Belgium Beer Brewers Museum, it was the smallest museum ever, but we got free beer at the end!)

Ok, I'll fill in the gaps soon. C'est tout maintenant, au revoir!

Mexican, Irish, German, just a little French

Just some updates:
1. Mexican restaurants in France are the best. I ordered just a salad at La Cantina Mexicaine in downtown Grenoble. It ended up the largest thing I had ever seen with two huge chicken tacos on top, the sauce was also to die for. The French can do any cuisine they put their minds to.

2. It is Ana's Birthday today (Wednesday) so did our traditional Tuesday event of Irish music at the Café Bayard! It was especially lovely tonight because our whole appartment went, we ended up with the whole Irish band to ourselves, and we got to celebrate Ana's 21st! She had a tic tac in honor of her birthday, ha!

3. Two of my favorite people right now are German. Two girls in my class, Sarah and Christiana, are both from Germany and have the best comments in class and really have a sense of business and EU issues. I love that our classes are so discussion based, so we get the privilege of debating issues with students from all over the world. Honestly, I feel a little intimidated sometimes and often feel that I can't fully express my thoughts, but the insights into what the rest of the world thinks about EU issues, the financial crisis, and America is really valuable.

Classes are good (even though I have an 8 o'clock tomorrow and I'm writing this at 1 o'clock in the morning), and we are continuing to celebrate Ana's birthday tomorrow! Brussels this weekend with Jazzy-J!!! A demain!