le 29 juillet: Goodbye Madame

Wednesday was a sad day. It was our last french class which wasn't too sad lol, especially because we got out early because it was a holy day for Catholics and the school had a mass at 10:30. I took a picture of my French class:

I really liked my French class. It was a good experience to have so much diversity. The students were from various countries like Hungary, Ukraine, Korea, Japan, China, England, USA, and others I can't remember all of them. It was good because it forced us even more to communicate in French although it was sometimes hard to understand some of the student's accents.

We met for lunch one last time with the girls and Brittany and I printed off the picture of us with Madame. We went home and just worked on packing and getting everything ready to go for our travels.

Madame was so sweet for our last meal she made this gigantic bowl of spaghetti and was like you have to eat all of it lol because she was also leaving the next day and she knew that we probably wouldn't be eating as well because it would be expensive so she wanted to give us a really good last meal. We had a good salad to go along with it that had little bits of turkey in it.

For dessert, she gave us chocolat pudding and the last of her chocolat ice cream and strawberry ice cream, and little dessert cookies. She was also telling us what to eat in Belgium and London. She told us the Moules-frites are the best in Belgium and they are inexpensive. She warned us about the pound being even stronger against the dollar than the euro and cautioned us to pay attention to that and that sometimes fruit was more expensive there.

She also told us to be careful of speaking French in Brussels because of political tensions in Belgium between the people who speak French and those who speak Flemmish. They apparently dislike the French speakers and so she told us it is best to just use English and they will understand that we are tourists.

She was really sweet and genuinely concerned about us. We were very sad it was our last dinner with her.

Brittany and I made her a little card to go with our photo. It was just like a hand made thank you card but she loved it. She was like a mom who said she loved it even more because we made it with our hands lol. She was like it warms my heart and she gave us bisous :) She really loved Brittany's illustrations of us. She drew me holding a baguette and eating a ton and the drawing of herself had like chocolate ice cream. The drawing of Madame was holding Moustique and Gala was at her feet. She loved the cats lol and was laughing at the drawing with joy.

We were happy that she liked it so much.

Earlier in the day, Brittany and I finally took pictures of her house while she was gone lol, so here is a tour of Madame's house:

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I was really stupid and didn't ask Madame to get a picture with her the night before but she was fine with the picture of her still in her nightgown lol, she was like "C'est la vie" and saying how I could tell everyone that this is Madame Lemberger in the morning and still pretty lol. I was like "C'est vrai"

I will miss her. She is one of the sweetest women I have known.
He he, look how little she is! Oh Madame, I wonder what she is doing now.

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le 28 juillet: Farewell Dinner

Tuesday was our last day of photography class. We had our final critique at the ISA office. For lunch we mixed it up and went to this place like a deli that sold pasta salads and things. I got a vegetable salad with zuchinnis and potatoes and some other stuff it was pretty good and then I stopped in a boulangerie and bought a roll. The eating is so nice there. Like having so many options of places in such a short area and the fresh bread everywhere is awesome. I am going to miss it.

So for the final critique, we used some old pictures and some new. We could reuse pictures from our past critiques or pick photographs that were from the past days but that we didn't choose to show. Here were my 15: (ok, actually there are 14 here because I accidentally deleted one and am too lazy to put it back in lol)

My professor was overall pretty happy with these pictures. He said they have an enigmatic quality about them, especially my people pictures that he likes. But he said that he was curious what would happen if I started engaging people directly. He encouraged all of us to keep photographing when we get home and I definitely want to, so that will be a good place to start taking pictures of people more in my comfort zone and so I should be able to engage them more directly.

After the critique, Brittany and I ran home to change and then we headed out to the farewell dinner. We decided to try taking the bus because its path was more direct than the metro and that way, we could actually see the city as we were travelling. I wish we would have tried to use the bus more I think it would have been helpful in getting more familiar with the city. The metro is a lot faster and sometimes more convenient but the buses would have been cool to see the city with. But unfortunately, we got on a bus going the opposite direction than we wanted to go so we were like half an hour late for the dinner but it wasn't a big deal.

We ate at a place on Rue Mouffetard called "Mouffetot Mouffetard" a play on the French words "tot" and "tard" meaning early and late. It was a cute little place and the owners are close friends with the ISA directors. They came with us on our trip to Normandy even. The dinner started with a salad and then we had a choice for our main course. I chose the leg of duck which was very good. We also got dessert which was a slice of apple pie and some type of merengue pie and a scoop of ice cream.

We were all getting a little sad that it was our last nights. We took pictures and talked in front of the restaurant for a long time and then walked up Rue Mouffetard and got some gelato at this funny place that had a sign in English boasting the "Best Glace in Paris." They did flower shapes like Amarino but it wasn't as good as Amarino's glace. We said goodbye to everyone and promised to all keep in touch.

Here are some of our goodbye photos:

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le 27 juillet: Sacre Coeur et ISA art reception

Monday, Brittany and I went to Sacre Coeur after French class. We don't have photo class on Mondays but we did have an art reception that evening so we had to fit it in a couple of hours. Sacre Coeur is a chapel on a hill called Montmartre. The area is supposed to be filled with artists and be really cool and stuff but unfortunately, it was rainy and so there were no artists in sight.

We took cover in the chapel and looked out on Paris from the porch area. It was beautiful. I was scared to take too many pictures though because it was raining pretty hard and I didn't want to get my camera wet.

After we saw the chapel, we took a little tram thing down the hill and walked around the shops and the area down there hoping to find some artists. We didn't find any artists but there were some pushy guys selling bracelets. Only they would like stop you and ask you to hold some thread for them and then like try to talk to you while they make it and then you make a wish and then they tie it on your wrist and ask for a small contribution lol. This guy did it to me and I was like I seriously have no money so don't waste your time. He is like it's ok and kept going so I was like Ok, I'll take a bracelet for free lol. I gave him like 30 centimes and he was pretty upset but that is more than I should've given him because I told him I wasn't going to pay him.

There were some pretty cute shops. There were a few that had some cute kitchen stuff. It's all like animals or people or things made into kitchen utinsils like dogs were cake servers, squids as wisks and little women as umbrellas and the fabric part is like their skirt. I took some pictures so y'all can see.

We went to the art reception at the ISA office. The painting and photo students had some of their work on display. I had my little girl picture from the market and the man standing in front of the water lillies up. They had little pastries and fruit for us to eat and the professors and their husbands and wives all came and the students from those classes and the ISA Paris staff. It was a fun little get together. It was fairly casual but I think in future years they want to make it a little more formal and a grand affair. I guess this was their first year doing it.

For dinner, we had a lovely multi-course meal. It started with like a pea salad wrapped in a slice of ham. It was delicious and beautifully presented with tomato slices going around it. Madame likes to cook pretty when she has time during the day. Then we had some quiche lorraine that she had made with beans and couscous.

We went out to the Champs Elysees again with Courtney and Amanda. We just walked around and talked. It was fun.

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le 26 juillet: Mt. Saint Michel

Sunday morning we got up and had breakfast. It wasn't as extravagant as the breakfast at the other place but it was still good. We went out and walked around a little market that was right in front of our hotel. It was really cute. I bought some three euro shoes to match my blue and white skirt.

We boarded the bus and headed to Mount Saint Michel. There is a legend that Saint Michel appeared to someone (lol I love how thourough my history is) and told them to build a chapel on this island. It is an island when the tide comes in but when the tide goes out, it is just a hill. So the hill had to be reinforced with granite and it was constructed like a pyramid with a flat top where the chapel was built.

We got there at high tide so the water was right up to the road and the edge of the mount. We walked up a narrow windy street to the top of the mount and took a tour of the chapel. It was probably my favorite so far. We walked into the center of the nave while they were holding mass and it was gorgeous. The monks were singing and the light was shining through the back windows. It felt very heavenly. I would have liked to just sit there and take it all in for a while but we had like a scheduled tour so I had to go run and catch up with the rest of the group. There was a stunning little courtyard with an amazing view and a great dining hall. In the hall, the windows were in deep recesses so you couldn't see the windows standing in the middle but as you walk down the hall, you can start seeing the windows and the light coming through. It symbolized progression and learning which was kind of cool. The top level of the chapel was reserved for monks because it was highest and therefore closest to God and the lower levels were for recieving kings and other royalty. It is all just white stone now but in the past, it would have been elaborate and brightly painted or covered with tapestries.

The chapel was used as a prison during the revolution and The Scarlet Pimpernel (version from like the 40s or 50s) was filmed there.

After our tour, we wandered back down the streets which are lined with souvenir shops and restaurants. We got a quick lunch and then shopped on our way down. When we made it back to the entrance, the tide was gone and our bus was parked in a lot that didn't exist in the morning. The tide is pretty crazy. It comes in at a metre a second, which makes it very dangerous to walk to the mount.

Before we headed back to Paris, we made a quick stop at a cookie factory. The Normandy region is famous for its milk/cream, butter, salt, apples, and meat. The lamb meat there is already salted because the grass the lambs eat is salty from the water. So I bought some butter cookies and some apple cookies and jam.

And now, picture time:

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le 25 juillet: Normandy

Saturday we got up early for our excursion to Normandy. Brittany and I both slept in however and we got up and had to like run to the metro to try and make it to the ISA office on time. We were a little late, everyone else was sitting in the bus but they waited for us so we were very happy.

Our first stop was in Caen, a town close to Omaha beach where there is a Peace Museum. We visited the special exhibit which included a couple of video presentations about the 2nd World War and temporary exhibit on the Cold War. We grabbed some lunch before going through the permanent exhibition which was gigantic. We really didn't have enough time to properly take it all in. There were videos, sound bits and interviews, copies of letters from soldiers on both fronts. They also had old newspapers and propaganda posters, some weaponry, uniforms, and models. It was interesting and we all wanted to take our time looking and reading everything. It wasn't something you can really just walk through and stop at the things that stand out. It was something you wanted to spend time reading and getting aquanted with. So we only made it through about half way by time we had to leave which was unfortunate. If I ever get the chance to go back I would like to take more time there.

We went to Omaha Beach next. That beach is where the US soldiers are buried. We went to the beach first. It was beautiful and hard to imagine a bloody war taking place there. It seemed so peaceful and pristine. The hillside was filled with greenery on the walk down to the sandy beach and the lighting was beautiful. The water wasn't too cold so we got in and waded a bit.

We went up to visit the cemetery which was a bit overwhelming. The grave markers just go on forever. It is hard to comprehend. But I was pleased to see it so well maintained. Every cross and star of David is perfectly white and straight still. There were some monuments throughout the cemetery. There was a beautiful mosoleum we looked and statues and architecture throughout the cemetery as reminders of the sacrifices the soldiers made. The land is actually U.S. soil which is pretty cool. The French gave us the land after the war as a gift.

After seeing Omaha beach and the cemetery, we went to Point du Hoc, another beach where fighting took place. This place was bizarre. The ground was completely mutilated by craters from bombs and there were remains of German bunkers. The landscape was again incredibly beautiful, however and simply looking, you would never get the sense of what happened there. There were kids running around and playing in the bomb-craters it reminded me a lot of something you might see in a Dr. Suess book. But the bunkers were creepy. You could walk into some of them. They were dark and spooky and had the eerie-est feeling about them.

After seeing the beaches, we headed back to Caen to check into our hotel. The area was charming, there was a little dock with boats all in it. We went to dinner in an area of the town that had survived the bombings and there were these charming old buildings. I had a bouillabaisse which was delicious. I had never had mussels before and I liked them very much. I had creme brulle for dessert and it was very good. The restaurant was very cute. They had live music and I recognized a couple of the songs even. One was an Emilie Simon song that I like and the other I don't know the artist or song title but we had heard it a couple of times before in Paris. It was a lot of fun. We had some good bonding time with the girls as well and we decided that we should have reunions and travel around to the different states that we are all from. Illinois, North Carolina, Louisianna, Utah, Texas, Michigan. I'm excited. I hope it really does happen.

After dinner, we stopped by this pastry shop that was open late and some girls that didn't have dessert with dinner bought pastries. We went back to Brittany and I's hotel room and were all chatting but we were told we were being too loud so we went to bed after that.

I think Normandy was my favorite excursion. It was beautiful and meaningful and I also had a wonderful time with my friends there. Here are some pictures:

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le 24 juillet: St. Chapelle et Louvre 2

So catching up on the last week of Paris. On friday the 24th, Brittany and I both had a photo paper due which we stayed up writing Thursday but didn't finish. We both got up early Friday to try and finish but we took a while so we skipped French class. It felt so good lol. We just got to relax in the morning and take our time in Paris.

We met up with some girls in our program who didn't have class and another girl who randomly skipped the same day as we did. It was fun. We stopped into a shop and looked around. Brittany bought another dress that was really cute. Unfortunately, we noticed later that the back pleats were falling out but they should be easily fixed by a tailor.

Alison, Brittany, and I went to see Saint Chapelle. It is another cathedrale in Paris, very close to the Notre Dame. I think that Louis IX built it. It is a stunning example of Gothic architecture, especially stained glass windows, the entire walls are basically stained glass windows and unfortunately it was a cloudy day because there was one moment when the sun came out and the windows just lit up beautifully. I wish it could have been that light all the time. It was stunning.

For photo class, we went to a museum called the Cite Nationale de l'Histoire d'Immigration. There was a photo exhibit there about immigration in Paris. It was also about the suburbs in Paris and the racial and class based segregation that the suburbs enhance. It was an interesting exhibit, especially because of the artists personal exhibition of his family. His family is Jewish and Jews in Paris have a history of being excluded and forced to leave. His photographs were an attempt to deal with that and come to terms with his history and what it means to him now. It was really interesting.

After we saw the exhibit, we were going to go out and take pictures but it started raining fairly hard and wasn't letting up so we just got out of class early. Brittany and I went to the Louvre again. We stayed in the paintings this time. There is just so much to see it is overwhelming. We got pretty tired after a while but we were like trudging along because we wanted to see it all. It is seriously impossible.

For dinner we had fish sticks and like fried potatoes. We also had a salad as usual. It was pretty good, it had a little tofu in it I believe. Our conversation at dinner was funny. Madame said I eat like a man and she was amazed that I am still thin lol. She is quite amazed. If only she could see my sister Anna lol. She eats like twice as much as I do and is super super skinny.

After dinner, we met up with Courtney and Amanda and walked along the Champs Elysees. We started by visiting the Arc de Triomph. It was sweet but I really wanted to see the view from the top. I bet it would be incredible, with the boulevards going out from it in all directions but Courtney and Brittany didn't want to spend the money. I should have just gone by myself. But anyways, it was an enjoyable evening. I stopped by the fnac (bestbuy meets borders) and bought another memory card for my camera. It is always nice to have a back up and I was having trouble with my card reader.

Here are some pictures from the day:

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le 23 juillet: Le D'Orsay

So I got a French test back today. I got a 16 out of 20 on it. It's pretty good. Their grades are a little weird here. I think it's like an A- in America but I'm not really sure how it will transfer.

I had lunch with Brittany's French class today. They were having a picnic together and so I just tagged along. We bought a baguette and some cheese and an apple. I also bought some carrot salad thing but was full enough from the baguette that I saved my salad for later.

Brittany's teacher is really funny. He is super awkwardly tall and he is into photography so he was asking about our photo class. Brittany took some pictures on my camera because she forgot the battery for hers. I'll have to stick some up here so you can see him.

For photo class, we met at the Arts et Metiers museum. They had a photo exhibit about work there. The pictures were great, a lot of them were of people working with machinery. But there were some office ones too. It was very cool. The museum was cute and whimsical. They had old cars and planes and flying machines and models of boats and trains. I would have liked to have stayed longer and seen more of it but we had planned on going to the Musee D'Orsay so we looked around for just a bit before we left.

They also had this cool pendulum thing there that shows the motion of the earth because the pendulum starts swinging in a circle... ok like back and forth but moving in a circle.

The Orsay was beautiful. It is my favorite museum that I have seen. They had such a great range of works Like realisim moving to impressionism then post impressionism. They had some really interesting stuff from Gauguin as well as the ones I really wanted to see, Monet and Van Gogh and Degas. They didn't have a ton of Degas paintings. They had a bunch but what was most impressive was their collection of his ballerina statues.

Brittany and I had both heard that the restaurant on the second floor was really good so we decided to eat there. It wasn't too badly priced and we just ordered the least expensive plat and shared a dessert as we are fond of doing. We had the rizotto. It was like cheesy rice with peas, lima beans, and green beans in it. It was very good but the dessert was simply amazing. It was a melt-in-your-mouth cake with like fudge in the middle with vanilla whipped cream and passion fruit sauce. I could drink that sauce. The service there was really good too. The waiters were all very friendly.

The restaurant itself was GORGEOUS. Brittany and I couldn't believe the view. Yes, we took pictures lol. Dinner took a while as it does in France so when we left the restaurant, the gift shop was closed which was kind of sad.

We got home kind of late and we had a paper due the next morning for photo class so we just worked on that but I was kind of bad and went to bed before it was done...EEEE

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