Giverny: House of Claude Monet

Sorry I haven't been so good about blogging, I'm a little backed up. Two weeks ago, I went to Giverny with IES, where Claude Monet lived for the second part of his life. I don't know how they do it, but there are flowers there in full bloom from April to October. Luckily, France was still in its Indian summer, so it was 80 degrees and sunny when we went and it was beautiful!






The part of the garden that is directly in front of Monet's house is full of these dirt pathways so that you can walk through the rows of flowers. It made me feel like I was in Hobbiton. I didn't want to leave.








This was the quaint little restaurant we went to for lunch just around the corner from Monet's house.











Some of the flowers that were in Monet's garden.



















This is the entrance to Monet's gardens. I was surprised to find the bamboo shoots in Normandy, but it is all part of the Japanese theme runs through the whole garden.







Claude Monet's house. I was surprised to learn that there are no original Monet paintings in his house, but it was for a very practical reason: he had sold them all.

However, there are very few impressionist paintings in France in general because when the impressionist movement happened, the French rejected it and thought that it wasn't "real" art; this is why many impressionist artists often sold their works to foreign collectors, many of whom were American.

Exploring Paris

This is my new Sunday tradition with my friend from Gettysburg, Emily Weinick entitled: Coffee, Crepes, and Conversation. These were chocolate and coffee ice cream crepes. Not bad,

Paris, not bad.

The Palais Royale and the Pyramid of the Louvre

So this past week I had intensive language classes. It sounds scarier than it is, it's really just a 2 hour French class for the whole week and it was really nice going into the IES Abroad Center to go to classes and getting out in time for lunch and an afternoon of exploring.

I got to go on a guided tour in the Musee d'Orsay, the museum that specializes in 18th to 20th century art. It was really interesting hearing the stories behind the paintings and putting them into context. My fame as the least museum inclined of my family has spread and I am proud to say I very much enjoyed the museum. The museum was originally a train station built for the Grand Exposition of 1900. It was meant to show the world what a modern train station looked like, and the scale is unbelievable. There is an enormous, ornate clock high on the wall and the minute hand spans 3 meters. The scary part? The hall is so huge that the clock doesn't seem that big.

Mostly, I really can't believe that wandering the Tuileries and picnicking along the Seine is what I do during my weekends now...

Pain au chocolat!!!!

1€10 = $1.50

Worth it, every time.

I also explored the Place du Louvre and the Tuileries gardens during the light of day which was fantastic! They are gorgeous! The Tuileries are huge gardens that span between the Louvre and the Arc de Triomphe that were built in the 1560s.

This is a bridge over the Seine near the Louvre. Lovers come and fasten locks onto the bridge and throw the keys into the Seine; City of Lights, City of Love.

This is not THE Arc de Triomphe but an arc that connects the Place du Louvre with the Tuileries.

Café au Lait!! Bad news: To drink this outside at a table is 4 € = $6

IES Orientation in Normandy and la gaie Paris

And thus begins my blog about Paris!!!! I do not have photos of the house I live in yet partly because I'm lazy and partly because I feel strange whipping out a camera and snapping pictures of my house but don't worry, because they will soon come. My host family is really nice, they live just southwest of Paris in a town called Billancourt; it's right on the metro and the metro station is only a 5 minute walk from my house.

I live in a small house with a middle aged couple, Guy and Laurène. They have three children, two of whom are about 30 years old and live out of the house. I have a 19-year-old host sister, Lucie, who goes to college about 1.5 hours away from Paris, but she is usually home on the weekends. They're really nice and have been hosting IES students for a while. The house is a little small but it's really nice and quaint, with a small courtyard. I have the entire third floor to myself, including a bathroom.

A note about showers in France: they do not have shower curtains. I am serious. I have a showerhead on a flexible cord but no affixutre above my head so I need to sit down in the tub and spray myself which poses a few problems: a) when I am spraying myself with water, I can only use 1 hand to scrub the shampoo out of my hair b) if I want to use two hands, I have to turn off the water so that the showerhead doesn't spray water all over the place c) this means that I am perpetually cold in the shower even if the water is hot because I'm always half-wet with no hot water pouring down my back. So this past weekend all 89 of the International Education of Students (IES) students went to Normandy to get "oriented". We went to the Memorial de Caen, Bernieres-sur-Mer and Omaha Beach and got to sightsee in between getting-to-know-you activities. It was pretty fun, even with all the time spent in the bus (it takes 3 hours to get to Normandy from Paris). It was a shocker for some students that the place we were staying at didn't have towels; they improvised.

When I got back from Normandy, I went out to eat at Cafe Daguerre with four other IES students, three of whom go to Gettysburg College. After, three of us went to la Place du Louvre and the Palais Royal which was GORGEOUS at night!! It was about 10:30 PM when we got there and it was all lit up, it was incredible!











The Church at Bernieres-sur-Mer




















The town of Bernieres-sur-Mer


























Le Palais Royal!
















La Place du Louvre



















Eiffel Tower in the back and an arch, NOT the Arc de Triomphe





















The Seine at night