A Brief Repose in Paris

I had a nice night in Paris before I headed back to the States for Christmas via CDG. I stayed at St. Christopher’s Hostel in the 19^th arrondissement located on the Bassin de la Villette. The hostel is recently renovated and therefore it was very easy to have a pleasant experience at 29 euros for an 8-person dorm.
 

After I checked in, I ended up walking along the Rue de Crimée in search of some dinner. There’s a lot of non-French cuisine along that street heading East: kebab shops, Asian restaurants and even what appeared to be Mediterranean pizza and sandwich place which is trendy in Chicago. I bought my favorite sweet, crème caramel, at a small grocery store then backtracked to a boulangerie to buy a 2 euro slice of pizza and a tiny bûche de noël (translation: Christmas log, a traditional Christmas cake in the shape of a log decorated with plastic holiday figurines squished into the icing). Who says Paris can’t be affordable? 

I had a nice chat with the owners of the boulangerie. They joked around with me and asked me where I was from. I always really like having this type of nice small talk with strangers when I travel. We are social creatures, us human beings. 

I took the pizza and bûchette back to the hostel and after I finished eating, pondered what to do next. I could spend my time at the hostel internet café or at the hostel’s bar, Belushi’s, and mingle with fellow Anglophones. The hostel was packed to my surprise. I didn’t think many young people would choose to go to Paris in December. It’s not dreadfully cold in the city in December, but daylight is limited which can be unfortunate.  

It was really weird being around so many Anglophones who by far didn’t speak a lick of French. I kind of got snobby and pretended not to be a native English speaker. In the 8 person dorm I was staying in I said, “Bon soir!’ to one girl who just looked at me and looked down. A look I know all to well as I do it myself often when I don’t understand what a French person has just said to me. At one point I had to go back to the room and retrieve my card-key and when one of the girls opened the door for me I explained in French that I had forgotten my room key. Snarky, yes. Do I regret it, non. It was nice to remember and revel in the fact that, hey I do know French, even if I’m still learning and trying to become fluent.

I decided to meander the streets and possibly go to a café rather than mingle with Anglophones at the hostel. I was in Paris! I wanted to soak it in even if it was dark, even if I was alone, even if I was in lesser known quartier. There really is not much in the 19^th… it’s calm and by far residential. I started out by walking the arched bridge over the canal which gave a spectacular view of the surrounding neighborhood a few times and then wandering towards an old church to admire the architecture and Latin words etched on the façade. 

Next, I walked the whole of the Quai de la Seine, a walkway along one side of the Bassin de la Villette and it was just great. The sky was filled with stars, a few puffy clouds floated by in the wind and the water reflected all the different lights of the city. I felt at peace.

Not wanting to go back to the hostel after I had walked along one full side of the Bassin de la Villette, I went on the other side, the Quai de la Loire, and walked on that side, wanting to breathe in Paris as much as I could.

Turn the summer into dust

I only have two and a half more weeks left in France! I don't want to leave!

I feel like I haven't accomplished something, like I feel like there is some goal or feat inside me and I haven't mastered it.

And in two and a half weeks the summer will be one giant step closer to turning into dust and I'll evaluate all my experiences and lessons and frustrations of the past two months.

Then I'll go back to East Lansing, finish up school, and figure out my next step and I hope that will involve traveling.

Traveling is such an immense experience especially if you venture to a foreign country for more than a week and I hope I'll get the opportunity soon to meet new people and hear their stories and ideas.

Interlude: London

I went to London this past weekend! Well, we only got to really explore the city for one day on Saturday. My friends Mary and Kaitie and I got into the city late on Friday night after about 7 hours of traveling! It was pretty hectic but we figured everything out, due in large part to Kaitie's awesome navigation skills.

St. Christopher, patron saint of travelers, and namesake of the hostel we stayed at in London! :)

Looking back on the weekend, I am so happy.

Being a traveller gives you this amazing sense of adventure and joy but transporting oneself from one place to another can be draining. I feel like a lot of the time I set off to have the perfect experience, try to plan everything, attempt to make everything perfect, and worry about things not turning out the way I planned. And it never makes me happy, only grumpy. I think if I learned more to take things as they come, I'd be better off and enjoy the moments as they're happening.


Despite being in London for essentially only day I did a lot of cool things:
1. Drank traditional UK/Irish drinks (Pimm's and Guinness) at two pubs in South London

2. Walked through Green Park and Hyde Park. (The British definitely do Parks better - they actually have flowers in them! ) :)
3. Saw Buckingham Palace and some redcoats
4. Went to TopShop and though it was fashion heaven the price to fabric ratio were not worth it at all - horribly overpriced! Gimme F21 over TopShop any day
5. Went to the National Gallery of Art in London and saw a Vermeer, Redon and Van Gogh art in addition to finding an interesting Renaissance artist that I want to learn more about - Jan Gossaert

6. Convent Garden
7. Talked to British Evangelics about Jesus
8. Took the Tube, Underground... Mind the Gap!!!
9. Walked along the Thames and saw Parliament, the London Eye, and Big Ben

10. Listened to British radio and were laughing and heard people talk about stereotypical British things like Posh and Becks and soccer
11. Got to talk to a few locals, though I would have liked to talk to a lot more :( that's what traveling is all about meeting new people!!
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When we got into the city Friday night we were all a bit frustrated from so many long hours of traveling then having to navigated the London Underground for the first time to get to the hostel was a challenge after being so tired.

When we finally did get out unto the street where our hostel was at and check in we went in search for a nice chill place to have a drink at. We were staying south of the Thames I think in the neighborhood Southwark.

We went up and down Borough High Street and it felt like EL on a Thursday night. The hostel bar was jam packed and there was club music on and a guy completely passed out in front of the bar on the ground surrounded by friends and police.

However we found the Old King's Head bar in a passageway and had a great first night in town. The Old King's Head was beautiful and classy on the inside and we all tried Guinness. The bartender was really cool and when he saw my passport started joking around about having to charge me more because of that 1-1 England vs US world cup game last weekend.

The next day we were up bright and early and were literally on our feet for 8 hours. I now possess an impressive level of endurance for walking. 

We started on the tube which took us across the river to Green Park. We walked around Green Park for a bit marveled at the sun chairs in the park and strolled over to Buckingham Palace. It looks more grand I think in pictures or maybe just the clusterfuck of tourists waiting for the changing of the guard turned me off  to it.

Then we strolled over to Hyde Park and walked around. Hyde Park is so beautiful! European parks actually have gardens in them, not just a rare and meek scattering of flowers as in the U.S. There was an enclave of roses surrounding a cherub fountain and it was one of my favorite places if not my favorite in London because once you stepped there the smell of roses surrounds you.

Then we went up through Soho/West End area and ate at Pret A Manger a healthy-environmentally friendly British fast food chain then headed to TopShop. Despite being in fashion heaven there, the prices plus conversion rate are too ridiculous and after much debate, left empty-handed.

We then stopped at Cafe Rouge and had a drink. One thing I noticed about London is the city's propensity to French themed food places. There were a significant patisseries and cafes lining the streets as we strolled through Soho, the West End, Westminster, and Convent Garden. I also heard French frequently spoken on the streets.

Eventually we ended up in Trafulgar Square where 3 awkward Evangelicals approached us. We had nice small talk with two of them until the whole God thing was brought up. One of the guys had a skin disfiguration and I was thinking that it must be better for him to believe what he believed given his struggles and disability from what he was saying to us about not letting other people's opinions get us down.

After the three guys had prayed over my friend Kaitie we headed to the National Gallery of Art and saw works by Van Gogh, Redon, Monet, Cézanne, and Vermeer.

We had dinner, strolled along the River Thames, and ended our stay in London by going to the Trinity pub in Southwark.

My only regret is that we didn't talk to more locals especially at the pubs. To me that's really the best part about traveling - meeting new people rather than wasting time and money in tourist traps.

Le rêve Européen

Finally in Europe for the first time in my life. My journey began with the 5 hour car ride from Chicago to Detroit to board the group flight yesterday, followed by the 8 hour plane ride, and then a 3 hour bus ride from Charles de Gaulle airport to Tours, France where I will be staying.

Traveling is hectic. Air France, while being very hospitable, is not a good place to catch some shut eye and with all that sitting down my legs hurt incredibly and I was feeling a bit overwhelmed by everything.

I haven't done any exploring but I have observed something interesting things already.

The 3 hour bus ride through central France was for the most part un-riveting. The French highway system would probably be undistinguishable from the American version in terms of landscape save for a few interesting features.

Most of the houses that dotted the countryside were similar in construction - all were very old with cream/tan exteriors and roofs in various shades of orange. Throughout the rase campagne (open country) stood majestic cypress trees and along borders of the highway were beautiful bright red-orange poppies. These little details struck me because they've been ingrained in my head through Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art, though I hadn't realized it til today.

When I finally saw them it was an odd moment... to recognize something you've never seen before.

Monet

Van Gogh

Van Gogh

Life and the Artist's Way in Southern France

I'm going to France in a few short weeks with both a novice traveler's mind and a college student's pocket! Thus I am both really excited and cautious on where to go with limited funds. I have a few must-see places that I'm planning on going to so that my restless mind and first-time traveler's spirit will be placated. Provence is a place that I've been giddy about getting to see.


Provence is located in Southern France and is known for its unique cuisine, beautiful weather, lavender fields, and influence in artist's work from Van Gogh to Cezanne.

I've been enthralled with the region probably since as a 5th grader my art teacher had us draw our own renditions of Van Gogh's Bedroom at Arles. Since then I've seen a few of the many versions Van Gogh drew here at the Art Institute of Chicago, but there's something to going to this area that became the home of so many artists that draws me for whatever stupid reason.


Here are some of the paintings that have been inspired by the beauty of Provence:

L'estaque, near Marseille, by Paul Cézanne

Café at Night, Arles, by Van Gogh

Starry Night, Saint-Rémy, by Van Gogh

Mont Sainte Victoire, Aix-en-Provence, by Cézanne

And finally the one that started it all!!

Bedroom at Arles by Vincent Van Gogh