Bonjour tous les monde! Comment ca va?

We are back on track with a new studio project and other upcoming events. I really like our project this semester because it deals with one of my favorite things in the world...the Baroque!! We are designing a building in the Potager de Roi(The King's garden, right next to the chateau) for musicians of the Baroque music festival. Aaaahhhhhh it is so exciting!! Of course I had lots of ideas. My idea centers on bringing some of the old Baroque design ideas back to life by means of our current methods. In other words, history will make a comeback in our modern world. That was my main motivation.

One of the things I really want to do is go to a Baroque music concert here in Versailles. They hold them every Thursday in the chateau's newly restored chapel. I believe it is a choir of young people accompanied by Baroque instruments(some of the sounds you just don't hear anymore). I can't believe I haven't gone yet-I'll have to get my fanny over there, haha! I want to get a group together to go.

We have also been talking about seeing an opera(there is a special student opera that is only 10 euros) and a professional ballet performance, both of which I think will be very worthwhile. I have not seen a real performance since I've been here, if you can believe it.

Last week I went to a creperie in Paris with a group of friends. We walked along a street where it was ALL creperies-one after another all lined up. It was one of the girls birthdays and she got to pick which one she wanted to go to. It was amazing! We ate like the French and had a crepe meal for dinner(I had an egg, cheese, and ham crepe), and for dessert(chocolate, caramel, banana, etc.) We all had fun sharing eachother's dishes. It was my first time going to a real creperie. Now I am absolutely obsessed with crepes...and I don't think that's going to change anytime soon.

This weekend we are going to Grenoble(in southern France) to go skiiing in the Alps! We are staying the entire weekend-I am really looking forward to it, it should be lots of fun.

Also, I have finished planning out my spring break and the other travel breaks I have for the rest of the semester. For the spring break(in February), I am going to Brussels(in Belgium, just north of France) with a group of girls and then taking a train to southern France to visit Nimes, Arles, and Avignon. I actually made a brochure on the Palace of the Popes in Avignon for a school project, so I am excited to finally see the building in real life. The area I am traveling to has lots of architecture, perfect for sketching and just taking in French culture.

For our next big sketching break in April I am going to Italy to visit Rome, Florence, and maybe one other city, and then the week after that we have our big sketch trip to Greece(Athens, Mikonos, and one other place). We actually have a lot of free time for traveling such as on the weekends, so during those weekends I plan on traveling to other parts of France that are just a train ride away. I would like to go to northern France to visit Giverny(where Monet lived), Lille, Reims, and Chartes. I also want to go to Lyon for a couple of days(beautiful city closer to the south of France with lots of historic architecture), Toulouse, and Bordeaux. I think it will be most worthwhile to spend my time traveling to other parts of France while I am here, instead of going to far off cities elsewhere. I think it will be amazing to say, once I've returned home, that I went to visit all those places in France!

In other news, when I look at the title of my blog...I finally understand it. Haha! I mean, when I first created this blog before I went to France I had to translate "the trip of a lifetime" online, but now, the structure of the phrase makes sense to me and I can come up with something like that on my own. My French has gotten soooo much better...it feels great knowing that you have a grasp on a language and understand the flow.

I hope that all of you are doing well. Until next time!

Au revoir,
Diana