Wow !!! What a weekend !!! Friday afternoon, after what seemed like quite a long week of classes, one of the other kids from Georgetown (Randall) and I took a train headed for Normandy for what has probably been my favorite trip of my whole experience here in France! En route to Bayeux, our base in Normandy, we had to stop in Alencon and Caen. We had about a 2 hour layover in Alencon, so we decided to walk around the city a bit and actually discovered some neat stuff, including a pretty cathedral and our first WWII historical site of the trip, a chateau that was converted by the Germans to be used to hold French prisoners. Our stop in Caen was much shorter, only about 20 minutes, so we were barely able to step outside the train station. Finally, we arrived in Bayeux, got to our pleasant three-star hotel, and found quite literally the last restaurant open in the town at 10:30 pm; we found that to be a bit odd, since we expected there to be a lot of tourists, but there really weren’t that many. Those that we did run into at the hotel were all English speaking, and Randall and I had fun playing off that we were French and having them not be able to understand us-haha!
Saturday morning, Randy and I got up early and caught the first bus out to the American Cemetery at Normandy. This may sound trite, but it was very moving and was definitely one of the best things I’ve done since I’ve been here. Figures it’s gotta be something American to qualify as such. We started off by heading to the museum, which had lots of great historical info and artifacts. We then proceeded outside to the cemetery. It really reminded me of Arlington with all the rows of identical headstones (except for the Jewish soldiers who had a Star of David), just much smaller. Next, we made our way down the hill to Omaha Beach, which was incredible to finally see. We wandered around for quite a while, exploring all the time, especially the remaining German pillboxes. Once, we’d gotten back up to the cemetery, we caught a bus out to Pointe-du-Hoc, which was also very impressive, especially seeing how some 250 Army Rangers, of whom 90 survived, were able to scale the cliffs and take out this strong German defensive peninsula. We walked among the bomb craters (which were found every 10-15 feet) and checked out the AA positions as well. Sadly, we didn’t have much time here, as we had to catch one of the last buses back to Bayeux to be able to see the famous Bayeux Tapestry before we caught our train for Paris. This artwork dating to the 11th century A.D. depicting the conquest of England at the Battle of Hastings by William the Conqueror (formerly William the Bastard) was also very impressive, all 70 meters long of it! Our day was not over though, as we caught a train to Paris that night, took our stuff to a hotel, and then met up with some other friends from the Insitute (one from NY and the other from Vancouver) at the Eiffel Tower. We only made it up to the second level, since it was kinda late (about 11 pm), but we still had a blast!
Sunday, I headed down to early Mass again at Notre Dame, and then went with Randall down to les Champs-Elysées at about 11 am to get a great spot to see the finish of the Tour de France. We waited around for a long, long time, probably until about 4:30-5:00 until the riders actually came through (and to be quite honest, I think waiting around for the Inauguration in January was great practice for this, cause that was way worse, but we were definitely prepped and soooo ready to keep everyone else from trying to squeeze in and take our spots 100 yards from the finish, second row!). In the meantime, we watched them on the jumbotron take their good sweet old time until they were about 25 km from Paris, and about 75 km overall from the finish. It was actually cool to see how many different nationalities were there-lots of French, but also lots of Spanish, since the leader and eventual winner, Contador, is Spanish; we actually ended up right next to the only American flag I saw all day-quite ironic, and great to have some support! Before the cyclists arrived, however, we got to view the Caravan, a sort of parade of all the sponsors of the Tour de France. Not long after, Lance and the peloton (or pack) came thru and made 8 laps down the Champs-Elysées and back down a tunnel under the Louvre. In the end, as I’m sure people may have heard, Lance placed third, and definitely looked very unhappy up on the podium-the mark of a true competitor! Tired as can be (but no where near as tired as all the cyclists must have been!), Randy and I caught our train back to Tours, and I promptly hit the sack once I got home. Overall, A++ weekend!!
Classes have still been great too. This week, we’ve been going over idiomatic expressions, something I was really hoping to be able to learn. Family life has been fun as always as well, but sad too, as I had to say goodbye to the kids last night, as they left today with their dad for the coast at la Rochelle for three weeks of vacation (while my host mom still has to work this week). We had a lot of fun during our last night together, namely playing dress up. Each one of the kids dressed up as a different Matt in my clothes: Matt de yo (cool Matt), Matt de sortir (going-out Matt), and Matt sportif (sporty Matt). I, on the otherhand, took on the persona of Jeanthiblys (a mix of Jean-Baptiste, Thibault, and Maïlys), wearing, as best as I could, something from each of their own wardrobe. We then had a fashion show for my host mom, who had a ball laughing with (not at) us. Finally, it was time for bed, and goodbyes. A bit of crying ensued, especially from Jean-Baptiste, who I heard after we’d all gone to bed go back down to his mom for a while. I was very very sad as well, cause I’ll absolutely miss these kids. They’ve been great and tons of fun and have definitely helped me learn all lot, but I’m also definitely looking forward to going home to see all my little cuzs, or should I say chipmunks, too!
So, only two more days here in France. Tomorrow should be a lot of fun, as we’ve entered into a talent show with a bunch of friends from Michigan State to do a hip-hop battle, West Side Story style. We’ve been practicing a ton, and yes, video will be made available-haha!
A bientôt!
Peace
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Chenonceau et Strasbourg
So, this past weekend was quite busy! I decided to get out off Tours for the weekend-it just feels like we’ve done everything there is to do around here, except maybe go biking along the Loire River, but that’s not entirely necessary. Donc, Saturday, I headed off to Chenonceau (see pics below). What a wonderful château! Seriously, I think it may be my favorite, even though it’s typical of tourists to make the same claim, but it’s true! I really liked how it was constructed over the Cher River; plus, it just felt different from the other château we had already visited. For the others, you always had to walk thru every room to get anywhere else-there was never a central hall with rooms branching off it. If I had a château (and I don’t think I’d want one, too snobby), I don’t think I could deal with that. At Chenonceau, it was just the opposite: every floor had a central hall with rooms branching off, just the way it should be! Finally François I had some reason!
Sunday, I headed to Strasbourg for the day. The train left at 8:50 and got there at 1:05, with the return train going back home thru Paris at 19:00, so I only had six hours there, but it was a six hours well spent, and constantly on the move! It was a little tough at first, because of the lack of a map, but the iPhone was very helpful with that! The city was very beautiful, and it actually reminded me a lot of Zermatt in Switzerland, where the Matterhorn is found, especially in terms of the architectural style of the buildings. Zermatt is definitely much smaller, but you can really see the German influence of both cities. I went to le Cathédrale de Notre-Dame de Strasbourg, which was the tallest building in the world from when it was constructed in the 1600’s until 1874. Very beautiful, and one of the best cathedrals that I’ve seen. I then headed, sort of out of the city, to the EU Parliament, just to say that I’ve seen it, because there really wasn’t anything to do but walk around it. After that, I finally got a map at the Office de Tourisme, which ironically was right next to the Cathedral, and walked around a bit more, admiring the architectural design. I also got to see a bit of the University de Louis Pasteur and its Hospital and Med School (from the outside only, again, since it was Sunday)-yes, very nerdy and very me, but oh well ;) At the end of the day, the train took me back to Paris l’Est; from there I had to catch the Metro and get to Paris Austerlitz for my late train home.
On another note, I’ve also had a bit of home with me, though that’s not to say that I don’t miss everyone and everything back home. Over the past week, I’ve been working my way thru Super Mario Bros 3 with all three of my French siblings, and I gotta say, they’re pretty good. They know all the tricks (like the magic flute in the 3rd stage of the 1st world) and other such things, and they pretty well over all (or “bon fait,” as we say when you do something good, though I often joke and attribute all of their skill to luck, or “la chance,” haha!). It’s been fun, and it’s kept me outta trouble, as if there was any to been had ;)
Peace
PS: We’ve still been keeping up with the street ballin’. Still perfect, at 6-0. I think Tony Parker is unique in coming from France…
Sunday, I headed to Strasbourg for the day. The train left at 8:50 and got there at 1:05, with the return train going back home thru Paris at 19:00, so I only had six hours there, but it was a six hours well spent, and constantly on the move! It was a little tough at first, because of the lack of a map, but the iPhone was very helpful with that! The city was very beautiful, and it actually reminded me a lot of Zermatt in Switzerland, where the Matterhorn is found, especially in terms of the architectural style of the buildings. Zermatt is definitely much smaller, but you can really see the German influence of both cities. I went to le Cathédrale de Notre-Dame de Strasbourg, which was the tallest building in the world from when it was constructed in the 1600’s until 1874. Very beautiful, and one of the best cathedrals that I’ve seen. I then headed, sort of out of the city, to the EU Parliament, just to say that I’ve seen it, because there really wasn’t anything to do but walk around it. After that, I finally got a map at the Office de Tourisme, which ironically was right next to the Cathedral, and walked around a bit more, admiring the architectural design. I also got to see a bit of the University de Louis Pasteur and its Hospital and Med School (from the outside only, again, since it was Sunday)-yes, very nerdy and very me, but oh well ;) At the end of the day, the train took me back to Paris l’Est; from there I had to catch the Metro and get to Paris Austerlitz for my late train home.
On another note, I’ve also had a bit of home with me, though that’s not to say that I don’t miss everyone and everything back home. Over the past week, I’ve been working my way thru Super Mario Bros 3 with all three of my French siblings, and I gotta say, they’re pretty good. They know all the tricks (like the magic flute in the 3rd stage of the 1st world) and other such things, and they pretty well over all (or “bon fait,” as we say when you do something good, though I often joke and attribute all of their skill to luck, or “la chance,” haha!). It’s been fun, and it’s kept me outta trouble, as if there was any to been had ;)
Peace
PS: We’ve still been keeping up with the street ballin’. Still perfect, at 6-0. I think Tony Parker is unique in coming from France…
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
le 14 juillet-le jour de la prise de la Bastille
Yesterday we experienced France’s national holiday, la fête de la Bastille, or le 14 juillet. I gotta say, it was kinda crazy! It was pretty quiet here throughout the day in Tours; in the morning, I watched the parade in Paris, which was unlike any parade on the 4th of July that I’ve ever seen. It was mostly a show of France’s military strength, with battalions of soldiers, arms a-swinging, and groups of tanks and other military vehicles. To be quite honest, it reminded me of some military parades we’ve seen in the Orient in the past 50 years. Really different from the U.S.
That afternoon, a bunch of us had a “pique-nique” at the Tours Botanical Gardens, which were really interesting. It was a mix between the gardens we saw in Paris and a zoo, as we saw flamingoes, a bear, wallabies, and peacocks. That night though, we all met up and went down to the Loire River for the firework show at 23h00 (11 pm). That was when the craziness began, because it was as if the whole city of Tours was there. On top of that, there were random spurts of mini-fireworks everywhere we walked, especially with all the little kids, and not just the little noisemakers, but actual big-bang fireworks. I can’t tell you the number of times we saw someone almost get hit by one on the curb; it took us about a dozen times to get used to them and stop jumping out of our skin as they went off unawares behind us. The real fireworks were decent, but nothing like the 4th of July—I think our desire to blow stuff up really lends itself to our firework shows, hahaha!
That afternoon, a bunch of us had a “pique-nique” at the Tours Botanical Gardens, which were really interesting. It was a mix between the gardens we saw in Paris and a zoo, as we saw flamingoes, a bear, wallabies, and peacocks. That night though, we all met up and went down to the Loire River for the firework show at 23h00 (11 pm). That was when the craziness began, because it was as if the whole city of Tours was there. On top of that, there were random spurts of mini-fireworks everywhere we walked, especially with all the little kids, and not just the little noisemakers, but actual big-bang fireworks. I can’t tell you the number of times we saw someone almost get hit by one on the curb; it took us about a dozen times to get used to them and stop jumping out of our skin as they went off unawares behind us. The real fireworks were decent, but nothing like the 4th of July—I think our desire to blow stuff up really lends itself to our firework shows, hahaha!
Saturday, July 11, 2009
More Vacation Pics-Paris en générale!
More Vacation Pics-le Louvre!
A sarcophagus-just like my 6th grade project, just a little bit better though...
The Code of Hammurabi
la Jaconde
Our group in front of the infamous glass pyramid, by I.M. Pei (just like the Rock Hall)
La première semaine des classes
First week of classes is over! Only three more left, though I don’t want to make it sound like a bad thing. I’ve definitely enjoyed being at the Institut de Touraine so far. Our classes are pretty cool. In French language, we read and analyzed a short story by a French author I’d never heard of before, discussed all possible themes (you wouldn’t believe how many we actually came up with-ugh!), presented them before the class, and then had a test on it on Friday-all in a week’s work! It all wasn’t too bad. I didn’t really enjoy the story too much, because it was about the Orient, and that’s not exactly my favorite genre of literature, but all the analysis in French was really useful and was good practice! Phonetics class is fun too, because we get to speak into these headsets and playback what we said, which is really weird. I don’t even think I’ve really ever listened to a recording of myself in English, or at least not for a long time!
Probably my favorite class is Civilization-the teacher is great, and I think we’re really going to get a better grasp on French culture in the 10 hours we have together over these four weeks.
We’ve been having fun outside of class too. I’ve been running a bit, though not as much as I’d like-that’ll have to start back up again when I get home to get in shape for the MCM again in October. A few of us have also been out to a park nearby to play basketball, and we’ve gotten to successfully defend the American prowess in streetball against some French teenagers we met there (probably because we had a 6’5’’ kid from LA, but we all played our part-as for me, these French kids now know what lock-down defense is, hahaha!) We’ve also made friends with other students at the Institut too, especially with the big group from Michigan State, who we go and hang out with at night sometimes. We’ve even been to a few movies, including Ice Age 3 in 3D (which I took my French bro to with some of the other Gtown girls, all of whom thought he was adorable; that was a good movie for us to see too, because it was easy to comprehend the language, which can be a bit fast sometimes on TV and in movies) as well as Public Enemies, which was great!
All in all, a great week so far!
Peace
Probably my favorite class is Civilization-the teacher is great, and I think we’re really going to get a better grasp on French culture in the 10 hours we have together over these four weeks.
We’ve been having fun outside of class too. I’ve been running a bit, though not as much as I’d like-that’ll have to start back up again when I get home to get in shape for the MCM again in October. A few of us have also been out to a park nearby to play basketball, and we’ve gotten to successfully defend the American prowess in streetball against some French teenagers we met there (probably because we had a 6’5’’ kid from LA, but we all played our part-as for me, these French kids now know what lock-down defense is, hahaha!) We’ve also made friends with other students at the Institut too, especially with the big group from Michigan State, who we go and hang out with at night sometimes. We’ve even been to a few movies, including Ice Age 3 in 3D (which I took my French bro to with some of the other Gtown girls, all of whom thought he was adorable; that was a good movie for us to see too, because it was easy to comprehend the language, which can be a bit fast sometimes on TV and in movies) as well as Public Enemies, which was great!
All in all, a great week so far!
Peace
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