Chanson d'Automne is one of my favorite French poems:
Les sanglots longs
Des violons
De l'automne
Blessent mon cœur
D'une langueur
Monotone.
Tout suffocant
Et blême, quand
Sonne l'heure,
Je me souviens
Des jours anciens
Et je pleure
Et je m'en vais
Au vent mauvais
Qui m'emporte
Deçà, delà,
Pareil à la
feuille morte.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Stars in the sky!
Coming back to Paris with Ryan, after a week in Rome, felt like coming home. It is so difficult to travel to a country where you can only say 15 words and count to 100! French may be difficult but at least I can get directions or ask what exactly is in a particular pastry (especially important to know). It was also nice to be in Paris because my friend Marjerie let me use her small apartment, in the center of town! We could cook meals instead of going through the stressful process of finding a restaurant every day and night (not to mention the stress of paying! $$$). And an apartment just seems more like home than a stark hotel room.
~~~
My favorite day by far was the day we visited the chateau of Versailles. I've been through the chateau part before but this time Ryan and I ventured down into the Versailles gardens too. We saw the grand canal built by Louis XIV and ate a quick lunch at a snack bar. We almost rented bicycles but then decided to walk instead; it wasn't exactly a sunny day but it was actually 
warmer in rainy Paris then in bright sunshiny Rome! So we went by foot to the smaller chateau, hamlet, and gardens built by Marie Antoinette, about a mile away from the larger palace. She missed her "simpler" life in Austria so she built this Home Away From Home that celebrates the outdoors and the beauty of nature. The small stone house she had built is charming and feminine. We saw her blue flowery sitting room and her bright pink and white floral bedroom (see left). (She wasn't living here when the revolution occured. She was back in the larger castle of Versailles when the palace was stormed. The queen ran from her room to the king's rooms for safety, via a hidden passage, when the peasants broke in that night. Otherwise she could have been killed on the spot.)
warmer in rainy Paris then in bright sunshiny Rome! So we went by foot to the smaller chateau, hamlet, and gardens built by Marie Antoinette, about a mile away from the larger palace. She missed her "simpler" life in Austria so she built this Home Away From Home that celebrates the outdoors and the beauty of nature. The small stone house she had built is charming and feminine. We saw her blue flowery sitting room and her bright pink and white floral bedroom (see left). (She wasn't living here when the revolution occured. She was back in the larger castle of Versailles when the palace was stormed. The queen ran from her room to the king's rooms for safety, via a hidden passage, when the peasants broke in that night. Otherwise she could have been killed on the spot.)
Her gardens were fun to explore because there are crags, old footbridges, steep climbs, crooked trees, and waterfalls to discover.
Tangent: one thing that Ryan and I noticed is that all of our pictures look exactly the same because we wore the same coats and scarves everyday! (Example at left, me in Marie Antionette's gardens.) It was a cold February in Europe - not the ideal environment for self-expression through fashion. Stars in the sky! After a whole winter of scarfs and boots, I can't wait for summery clothes. Shiny sandles, soft, flowing skirts, jewel-toned tank tops! They seem like a nice dream from where I sit - in my thick sweater over a long sleeve shirt and, as always, pants.
~~~My birthday came and went while we were in Paris and then Ryan had to go home, which made me more than a little homesick. But I felt better after returning to Angers and resuming my normal, working life here. This week I am actually going to English Camp every day with one class of 5th graders. It's nice to play games and not have to prepare any lessons, for a change, but I'm working double my usual hours and not getting paid any more! Today is Wednesday, which means no school for primary students; I am going to see a small island on the Loire River with Katrin and Lee, two other assistants from Germany and England respectively. Then tonight we are going in a group to see a German movie called Waves - in German with French subtitles!
Saturday, March 7, 2009
The Many Thrills of Rome
Rome with Ryan was a really good trip for me to make because I got to see a lot of art that I had missed the first time around, on a whirlwind of a visit in 2007. This time I started out alone when Ryan missed his plane from Chicago (NOT his fault). I met Jonna and her boyfriend at the Spanish steps (it was their last day in Rome on my first) and they took me to their favorite cafe where they apparently went almost every day after they discovered it. I was expecting classic, Italian corner cafe...I got Hard Rock Cafe Rome. It was pretty funny actually, once I finally caught on to where we were going. And they were right - the cappucinos were large and good and cheap.
After this little coffee break, we shared a cab to the airport where I was to meet Ryan. Fortunately, he had caught his plane from Charles de Gaulle in Paris with no problems worth mentioning, and he found me as soon as he came to the RDV point. Needless to say (but I will anyway), we were very happy to see each other.
Our five days in Rome were filled with good Italian food, gelato, and coffee. We both found inspiration in a new favorite artist - Gian Lorenzo Bernini, whose work seems to be everywhere. 'The Ecstasy of St. Theresa' was one of my favorites. It's nestled in the corner of an ornately baroque church on the Via XX Settembre. We visited the Borghese Gallery on our last morning and saw Bernini's 'Apollo and Daphne', among many other pieces. This was one of my favorite places in Rome because every single room in this revamped old mansion is like being inside of a jewelry box. Precious stones adorn every crevice and wall; the ceilings are all vibrantly frescoed to depict Ovid's tales of the pagen gods. This small collection is also easier to handle than some other larger museums, which can seem to go on forever (case in point, The Vatican).
Climbing the Cupola at St. Peter's was a thrill; we had been to a real mass that Sunday morning in the cathedral itself. A different trip to the Santa Maria Maggiore showed us a gold-encrusted ceiling that was made with treasure brought back from the Americas. Of course, Michelangelo's 'Moses' and the Sistine Chapel ceiling were two other stars of the show that week. 'Moses' is incredibly imposing - he looks as stern in marble as I imagine he looked when coming down Mount Sinai to the revelry of the Isrealites.
The Trevi fountain and Piazza Navona were lovely as usual and every day was perfectly sunny. Unfortunately, Rome was a bit colder than we were expecting. It was downright miserable to be outside for too long a time - even when bundled up in winter coats and (in my case, since Ryan refused to embrace the European men's fashions) a scarf and boots over skinny jeans. After a week jam-packed with art, walking, hustle, fun, and not a small amount of stress, we two were glad to be heading to the airport again and back to Paris. We were expecting, and were delivered, a much more peaceful, slow-paced time in France.
After this little coffee break, we shared a cab to the airport where I was to meet Ryan. Fortunately, he had caught his plane from Charles de Gaulle in Paris with no problems worth mentioning, and he found me as soon as he came to the RDV point. Needless to say (but I will anyway), we were very happy to see each other.
Our five days in Rome were filled with good Italian food, gelato, and coffee. We both found inspiration in a new favorite artist - Gian Lorenzo Bernini, whose work seems to be everywhere. 'The Ecstasy of St. Theresa' was one of my favorites. It's nestled in the corner of an ornately baroque church on the Via XX Settembre. We visited the Borghese Gallery on our last morning and saw Bernini's 'Apollo and Daphne', among many other pieces. This was one of my favorite places in Rome because every single room in this revamped old mansion is like being inside of a jewelry box. Precious stones adorn every crevice and wall; the ceilings are all vibrantly frescoed to depict Ovid's tales of the pagen gods. This small collection is also easier to handle than some other larger museums, which can seem to go on forever (case in point, The Vatican).
Climbing the Cupola at St. Peter's was a thrill; we had been to a real mass that Sunday morning in the cathedral itself. A different trip to the Santa Maria Maggiore showed us a gold-encrusted ceiling that was made with treasure brought back from the Americas. Of course, Michelangelo's 'Moses' and the Sistine Chapel ceiling were two other stars of the show that week. 'Moses' is incredibly imposing - he looks as stern in marble as I imagine he looked when coming down Mount Sinai to the revelry of the Isrealites.
The Trevi fountain and Piazza Navona were lovely as usual and every day was perfectly sunny. Unfortunately, Rome was a bit colder than we were expecting. It was downright miserable to be outside for too long a time - even when bundled up in winter coats and (in my case, since Ryan refused to embrace the European men's fashions) a scarf and boots over skinny jeans. After a week jam-packed with art, walking, hustle, fun, and not a small amount of stress, we two were glad to be heading to the airport again and back to Paris. We were expecting, and were delivered, a much more peaceful, slow-paced time in France.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Wine Cellars and Other Things French
February 28th: Yesterday two of the teachers from my school took me and another assistant to see the Loire Valley region. It was a beautiful, warm day (probably 65 degrees!) and the river was impeccable. The idea was to visit two castles, one in Saumur and another in Montreuil, but when we arrived they were both closed till later this Spring. In fact, the Montreuil chateau opens TODAY, March 1st, which was rather disappointing, as you may divine. We couldn't have imagined a nicer day in February, albeit the end of February; I was even in a t-shirt for half the time! We walked, climbed, and hiked all afternoon and I finally saw some of the famous Loire Valley region that I've heard so much about.
~~~
March 11th: This past weekend was my most French weekend yet! You won't believe what I ate on Friday with Katrin and her roommates:
some of his friends...
and some of his!
And the funny thing is: I liked it all! In my defense, there were plenty of spices and sauces to go along with the, eh, meat.
~~~
The morning after my marvelous experience with French cuisine I had the opportunity to visit two vineyards with Marjerie, her sister Roxane, and her grandfather. M. Seigneurin grew up on his father's vineyard, then ran his own for quite a while before he retired a few years back. Needless to say, he knows EVERYTHING about French wine. This was my first real wine-tasting and it was so much fun. We tried 8 white wines, ranging from dry to sugary dessert wines at the first vineyard. That afternoon we tasted 11 wines, red, rose, and white, at the second vineyard (color, scent, taste, after-taste). The owner came out and talked to us for awhile because he is an old friend of Marjerie's grand-dad. I was introduced as "our American friend" all day long; many people we talked to were surprised to see an American in the outskirts of Angers visiting a tiny cave, the French word for wine cellar. "I thought Americans don't drink wine!" I heard several times. It's funny the things I've heard Americans supposedly do and don't do during this trip!
~~~
March 11th: This past weekend was my most French weekend yet! You won't believe what I ate on Friday with Katrin and her roommates:
some of his friends...and some of his!
And the funny thing is: I liked it all! In my defense, there were plenty of spices and sauces to go along with the, eh, meat.
~~~
The morning after my marvelous experience with French cuisine I had the opportunity to visit two vineyards with Marjerie, her sister Roxane, and her grandfather. M. Seigneurin grew up on his father's vineyard, then ran his own for quite a while before he retired a few years back. Needless to say, he knows EVERYTHING about French wine. This was my first real wine-tasting and it was so much fun. We tried 8 white wines, ranging from dry to sugary dessert wines at the first vineyard. That afternoon we tasted 11 wines, red, rose, and white, at the second vineyard (color, scent, taste, after-taste). The owner came out and talked to us for awhile because he is an old friend of Marjerie's grand-dad. I was introduced as "our American friend" all day long; many people we talked to were surprised to see an American in the outskirts of Angers visiting a tiny cave, the French word for wine cellar. "I thought Americans don't drink wine!" I heard several times. It's funny the things I've heard Americans supposedly do and don't do during this trip!
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