I forgot to mention, if you want to see my photos of the trip so far you can go to my facebook page. All the albums are public. I update the pictures regularly, so there is lots to see!
http://www.facebook.com/editphoto.php?aid=341768#!/profile.php?id=660758736
You might need to have a facebook account, but after you sign up just add me as "friend" and then you will be able to see my photographs.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Diana's adventure in Paris
Hey everyone!
So...last Friday my friends and I decided to check out the Versailles mall. It was pretty fun, and we saw some cool stores. On the way home we talked about going into Paris again the next day, but most of my friends wanted to do some shopping. I wasn't interested...so I decided to go into Paris by myself!
On Tuesday of last week our history professor told us that we were to meet in Paris for another walking tour. Meet...in Paris. That's right. No meeting at the train station. Well, I was completely terrified. I didn't understand how the train system worked and was feeling really stressed about it. Transportation(buses, trains, airports) is not something I naturally embrace in life, so I felt the fear(haha) but knew this was something I had to learn how to do on my own. A friend met me at the train station and explained to me which train to take and what stop to get off at, and we met the rest of the students just fine that morning. We had another small tour of Paris and did some sketching, then were dismissed for lunch and were free the rest of the day. My friends and I decided to stay in Paris and do some more sketching. I sketched Notre Dame! It was a great day.
But anyway, getting back to last Saturday...I didn't want to go shopping in Paris, I wanted to see more monuments and architecture like the Louvre, Sainte-Chapelle cathedral, etc. so I decided to go by myself! As you can imagine, I was somewhat scared because this would be the ultimate test to see if I could navigate the train system and make it back to Versailles alive(haha...I'm not exaggerating, transportation scares me that much), but I also felt excited because I was going to learn something new and really grow as a person!
So I got a map of Paris from the tourism office and planned out where I wanted to go in Paris! On Saturday morning I got there early, got on the train, and arrived in Paris getting off at Notre Dame(the usual stop). I got off the train and exited the train station(Go me!) and there I was, in Paris, on my own and free! I was super excited. I walked to the Sainte-Chapelle cathedral(for those of you who aren't familiar with it, it's probably my favorite cathedral because it has the most stained glass of any cathedral I know, it's so pretty) and since it was early in the morning there was so much light shining in it made the interior absolutely breathtaking! I am also doing my research paper on Sainte-Chapelle, so I was super anxious to see that cathedral first!
Then I walked down the street(not really knowing where I was going, but willing to explore) and shopped at various street shops and bought a few souvenirs. As I was exploring the area I saw a few of the buildings we had seen on the walking tours and began to understand more of where I was and how the city was put together. That's right, I was learning how to get around Paris!
I had lunch and then went back to the train station to get off by the Louvre. I used my map to walk to the Louvre, but ended up exploring the Tuileries gardens instead. Suddenly I saw the Arch de Triomphe in the distance and decided to walk to it! Unfortunately I was deceived by the distance and ended up walking over a mile...haha. But it was totally worth it, and I got to see many Parisian shops and other beautiful architecture along the way. I finally got to the arch and went underground in order to stand right beneath it(the arch is on an island in the middle of a road, so you have to come up from beneath). It was very cool to see it.
Then I did something else that was very exciting...up until going to the arch I had been walking on my own down the same street, but this time I pulled out the map and was figuring out how to get to another place I wanted to go(the Opera house). I had walked a really long way to get to the arch, so walking to the Opera from the Louvre seemed liked nothing! I walked all the way back, navigated the streets, and successfully made it to the Opera house.
By that time I had done a lot of walking and was ready to go home. I walked back to the train station(keeping in mind which train I had to take) and made it back to Versailles. I had an absolutely fabulous day in Paris, my own adventure, where I went everywhere I wanted to go! More importantly, though, my confidence sky-rocketed in terms of taking the train, reading maps, finding my way around, etc. I've never had to do that on my own, and with Paris being such a big city, it was a great learning experience and now I know I can do it!
My friends ended up shopping the whole day so I was really really glad I took the chance and had my own day in Paris, hehe ;) Now I have overcome my fear of the train station and map-reading.
This weekend all of the students are going on a three-day trip to Orleans, Tours, and Saumar. It is a sketching trip, so we are required to document our experience through multiple sketches, sort of like a scrapbook except all hand drawn. I am very excited to do this and get more sketching experience. I'm sure I will enjoy the trip!
On Monday we start our first studio project. This project will be a challenging one because we are put in teams with french students, and possibly students that speak languages other than french, so communication will be difficult and we will have to do the best we can. Studio life is different here-we kind of have to assert our own workspace, we are not given one. We really have to make an effort to communicate with the french students in order to accomplish a goal. The french students have their own classes in french, so they are not directly with us, but come studio time we will be seeing them most days. I am excited to meet new people and use my language skills. This will be like nothing I have ever done before!
Until next time,
Diana :)
So...last Friday my friends and I decided to check out the Versailles mall. It was pretty fun, and we saw some cool stores. On the way home we talked about going into Paris again the next day, but most of my friends wanted to do some shopping. I wasn't interested...so I decided to go into Paris by myself!
On Tuesday of last week our history professor told us that we were to meet in Paris for another walking tour. Meet...in Paris. That's right. No meeting at the train station. Well, I was completely terrified. I didn't understand how the train system worked and was feeling really stressed about it. Transportation(buses, trains, airports) is not something I naturally embrace in life, so I felt the fear(haha) but knew this was something I had to learn how to do on my own. A friend met me at the train station and explained to me which train to take and what stop to get off at, and we met the rest of the students just fine that morning. We had another small tour of Paris and did some sketching, then were dismissed for lunch and were free the rest of the day. My friends and I decided to stay in Paris and do some more sketching. I sketched Notre Dame! It was a great day.
But anyway, getting back to last Saturday...I didn't want to go shopping in Paris, I wanted to see more monuments and architecture like the Louvre, Sainte-Chapelle cathedral, etc. so I decided to go by myself! As you can imagine, I was somewhat scared because this would be the ultimate test to see if I could navigate the train system and make it back to Versailles alive(haha...I'm not exaggerating, transportation scares me that much), but I also felt excited because I was going to learn something new and really grow as a person!
So I got a map of Paris from the tourism office and planned out where I wanted to go in Paris! On Saturday morning I got there early, got on the train, and arrived in Paris getting off at Notre Dame(the usual stop). I got off the train and exited the train station(Go me!) and there I was, in Paris, on my own and free! I was super excited. I walked to the Sainte-Chapelle cathedral(for those of you who aren't familiar with it, it's probably my favorite cathedral because it has the most stained glass of any cathedral I know, it's so pretty) and since it was early in the morning there was so much light shining in it made the interior absolutely breathtaking! I am also doing my research paper on Sainte-Chapelle, so I was super anxious to see that cathedral first!
Then I walked down the street(not really knowing where I was going, but willing to explore) and shopped at various street shops and bought a few souvenirs. As I was exploring the area I saw a few of the buildings we had seen on the walking tours and began to understand more of where I was and how the city was put together. That's right, I was learning how to get around Paris!
I had lunch and then went back to the train station to get off by the Louvre. I used my map to walk to the Louvre, but ended up exploring the Tuileries gardens instead. Suddenly I saw the Arch de Triomphe in the distance and decided to walk to it! Unfortunately I was deceived by the distance and ended up walking over a mile...haha. But it was totally worth it, and I got to see many Parisian shops and other beautiful architecture along the way. I finally got to the arch and went underground in order to stand right beneath it(the arch is on an island in the middle of a road, so you have to come up from beneath). It was very cool to see it.
Then I did something else that was very exciting...up until going to the arch I had been walking on my own down the same street, but this time I pulled out the map and was figuring out how to get to another place I wanted to go(the Opera house). I had walked a really long way to get to the arch, so walking to the Opera from the Louvre seemed liked nothing! I walked all the way back, navigated the streets, and successfully made it to the Opera house.
By that time I had done a lot of walking and was ready to go home. I walked back to the train station(keeping in mind which train I had to take) and made it back to Versailles. I had an absolutely fabulous day in Paris, my own adventure, where I went everywhere I wanted to go! More importantly, though, my confidence sky-rocketed in terms of taking the train, reading maps, finding my way around, etc. I've never had to do that on my own, and with Paris being such a big city, it was a great learning experience and now I know I can do it!
My friends ended up shopping the whole day so I was really really glad I took the chance and had my own day in Paris, hehe ;) Now I have overcome my fear of the train station and map-reading.
This weekend all of the students are going on a three-day trip to Orleans, Tours, and Saumar. It is a sketching trip, so we are required to document our experience through multiple sketches, sort of like a scrapbook except all hand drawn. I am very excited to do this and get more sketching experience. I'm sure I will enjoy the trip!
On Monday we start our first studio project. This project will be a challenging one because we are put in teams with french students, and possibly students that speak languages other than french, so communication will be difficult and we will have to do the best we can. Studio life is different here-we kind of have to assert our own workspace, we are not given one. We really have to make an effort to communicate with the french students in order to accomplish a goal. The french students have their own classes in french, so they are not directly with us, but come studio time we will be seeing them most days. I am excited to meet new people and use my language skills. This will be like nothing I have ever done before!
Until next time,
Diana :)
Monday, September 19, 2011
First update from France
Bonjour everyone!!! Sorry it took me so long to update, but finally I have some time to sit down and write!! As you can imagine, I have been super busy getting settled in and enjoying my time here in France. I have already done many things and seen wonderful pieces of architecture, what this trip is all about!
For starters, I am living with a French family here in Versailles. It is a man and woman with four children, all very young(the oldest is 8, the others are around 3-6). The couple speaks English pretty well, but the children know only very little, so they are always speaking French to me! From the moment I arrived at my housing, I had to muster the little french I knew in order to communicate with the family. They help me with my french, and I help them with english. It is a nice trade off, but is certainly a challenge for me considering I know very little french and am living in an environment where french is spoken all the time! I am definitely making an effort, trying to spit out words here and there and use hand motions, and I am making lots of mistakes, but I look forward to seeing how well I can speak french by the end of the next 8 months!!
My family is super nice and welcoming. They live in a small but beautiful home in a quiet neighborhood. Every day the french come home to eat lunch, so I see lots of kids walking home in groups and I love listening to them speak french! My room is wonderful-I have my own little kitchen area, my own bathroom, and internet access. I really couldn't ask for more. My family invited me to have lunch with them yesterday, and I told them all I could about where I was from and what special hobbies I had, so we got to know eachother better. I feel so lucky with my housing and don't think it could be any better.
As far as my school life is going, our group(all 40 of us), have the same classes so we are with eachother all the time. Right now we are taking history, statics, and french language, but we do not start our studio projects until October, so we have not met the french students yet. As I mentioned earlier, the school is the building where the horses' stables used to be, so that is where we are studying!! It is a beautiful building, right next to the Palace of Versailles.
A group of friends and I went to see the palace and walked around the interior-it is absolutely magnificent. I am planning on seeing the gardens sometime this week...what it shows in my picture above! It is so easy to get to the chateau by bus, and it is right next to the school so we can go there anytime!
I am getting used to getting around Versailles-taking the bus, grocery shopping, getting a cell phone, eating out, etc. and am becoming more and more comfortable with my life here every day. French food is amazing, and their fashion sense is also a lot better than ours, so these are little things I have observed and tried to be sensitive to. They live life differently-they don't use as much water and electricity, so I have accommodated my routine to also using less, because I want to be as 'french' as possible while I am here.
The most fun I have had so far is going to Paris-I have been there twice now with my friends. The first weekend we had a walking tour, where we saw tons of buildings like Notre Dame, walked through the park, circulated among the streets of Paris, and ate out at a fancy cafe. We learned how to use the train system to go to Paris and back to Versailles(well, I'm still struggling with it, but my friends understand :P)
The second weekend(this weekend) in Paris we left early in the morning and stayed there all day, late into the night. We saw the Roman baths of Cluny, la Sorbonne(a really famous prestigious school), the Paris opera house, the Basilique du sacre-coeur, a basicila at the top of the highest point in Paris(which gives you a wonderful view of the city), and of course, the Eiffel tower! After walking around, street shopping, etc. we went to a store to get baguettes, french cheese, wine, and chocolate, and headed to the Eiffel tower for a picnic! We sat in the grass and enjoyed our french meal while having an amazing view of the tower. When it got dark, the tower lit up and it was a beautiful display! Then it started to rain and everyone took out there umbrellas and started to walk past the tower-it was such a cool scene! We took pictures in the rain for a while, and then walked towards another building where a band was playing music, and I learned how to salsa! haha ;P It was a perfect ending to a fabulous day, and I became really good friends with other students on the trip.
I've really enjoyed my time here in Versailles so far. I can't believe it's only been two weeks-I've done and seen so much. My classes are interesting, and there is just so much to see and do in Versailles and Paris alone. I have not yet decided where I'm going for my independent study/travel breaks, but the places I'm interested in are Barcelona, Germany, and Greece. Groups are already forming based on where we want to go, and I am getting really excited to see the world!! :D
I will keep everyone updated with my travels and experiences! Until next time!!!
For starters, I am living with a French family here in Versailles. It is a man and woman with four children, all very young(the oldest is 8, the others are around 3-6). The couple speaks English pretty well, but the children know only very little, so they are always speaking French to me! From the moment I arrived at my housing, I had to muster the little french I knew in order to communicate with the family. They help me with my french, and I help them with english. It is a nice trade off, but is certainly a challenge for me considering I know very little french and am living in an environment where french is spoken all the time! I am definitely making an effort, trying to spit out words here and there and use hand motions, and I am making lots of mistakes, but I look forward to seeing how well I can speak french by the end of the next 8 months!!
My family is super nice and welcoming. They live in a small but beautiful home in a quiet neighborhood. Every day the french come home to eat lunch, so I see lots of kids walking home in groups and I love listening to them speak french! My room is wonderful-I have my own little kitchen area, my own bathroom, and internet access. I really couldn't ask for more. My family invited me to have lunch with them yesterday, and I told them all I could about where I was from and what special hobbies I had, so we got to know eachother better. I feel so lucky with my housing and don't think it could be any better.
As far as my school life is going, our group(all 40 of us), have the same classes so we are with eachother all the time. Right now we are taking history, statics, and french language, but we do not start our studio projects until October, so we have not met the french students yet. As I mentioned earlier, the school is the building where the horses' stables used to be, so that is where we are studying!! It is a beautiful building, right next to the Palace of Versailles.
A group of friends and I went to see the palace and walked around the interior-it is absolutely magnificent. I am planning on seeing the gardens sometime this week...what it shows in my picture above! It is so easy to get to the chateau by bus, and it is right next to the school so we can go there anytime!
I am getting used to getting around Versailles-taking the bus, grocery shopping, getting a cell phone, eating out, etc. and am becoming more and more comfortable with my life here every day. French food is amazing, and their fashion sense is also a lot better than ours, so these are little things I have observed and tried to be sensitive to. They live life differently-they don't use as much water and electricity, so I have accommodated my routine to also using less, because I want to be as 'french' as possible while I am here.
The most fun I have had so far is going to Paris-I have been there twice now with my friends. The first weekend we had a walking tour, where we saw tons of buildings like Notre Dame, walked through the park, circulated among the streets of Paris, and ate out at a fancy cafe. We learned how to use the train system to go to Paris and back to Versailles(well, I'm still struggling with it, but my friends understand :P)
The second weekend(this weekend) in Paris we left early in the morning and stayed there all day, late into the night. We saw the Roman baths of Cluny, la Sorbonne(a really famous prestigious school), the Paris opera house, the Basilique du sacre-coeur, a basicila at the top of the highest point in Paris(which gives you a wonderful view of the city), and of course, the Eiffel tower! After walking around, street shopping, etc. we went to a store to get baguettes, french cheese, wine, and chocolate, and headed to the Eiffel tower for a picnic! We sat in the grass and enjoyed our french meal while having an amazing view of the tower. When it got dark, the tower lit up and it was a beautiful display! Then it started to rain and everyone took out there umbrellas and started to walk past the tower-it was such a cool scene! We took pictures in the rain for a while, and then walked towards another building where a band was playing music, and I learned how to salsa! haha ;P It was a perfect ending to a fabulous day, and I became really good friends with other students on the trip.
I've really enjoyed my time here in Versailles so far. I can't believe it's only been two weeks-I've done and seen so much. My classes are interesting, and there is just so much to see and do in Versailles and Paris alone. I have not yet decided where I'm going for my independent study/travel breaks, but the places I'm interested in are Barcelona, Germany, and Greece. Groups are already forming based on where we want to go, and I am getting really excited to see the world!! :D
I will keep everyone updated with my travels and experiences! Until next time!!!
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