It is now Tuesday evening, and I am now on the train on the way back from Rennes, having spent two days and one night there. I am probably going to be posting this entry tomorrow morning, along with the others I wrote, so the timeline might be a little confusing.
The purpose of our trip to Rennes was to meet with a team of researchers at the University of Rennes 2. Rennes is a much smaller city that is two hours away by the TGV, and even right now I’m still not sure which direction from Paris it lies. We left the Gare Montparnasse in Paris at 9:00 am yesterday. I used the train time to catch up on my blog and get a little sleep. When we arrived at the Rennes train station, we were greeted by the professor and two graduate students that would be with us for our stay. We bought metro/bus passes for the two days, then took the metro to the university stop. Just to give you an idea of its size, Rennes only has one metro line, compared to Paris’s 15ish, and it will take you across the city in about 15 minutes. So, we quickly arrived at the station where it was only a short walk to the university dorm where we would be staying. We got our keys, and I was surprised to find out that we each had individual rooms, but I would soon see why. I was expecting a dungeon, but I was pleasantly surprised by the newish dorms where we would be staying. All the rooms were singles and very small, but also very space efficient. There were numerous shelves and drawers fit in across the wall. A smaller bed was set into the right side wall, while the right side was taken up by a desk and more shelves and cabinets. I was wondering how far down the hall I’d have to trek for a bathroom, but then I found it: each room had its own tiny bathroom, practically like a little capsule. The floor probably measured 4x4ft, and in it was squeezed a shower, toilet, sink, and even some shelves. It was almost futuristic, like what an astronaut might be accustomed to. Overall, the room was cute, clean, and new. While it might feel a little cramped after a while, I could definitely see myself living in such a space as a student.
After dropping off our stuff, we went to have lunch at the university cafeteria. Overall, I’d say it was fairly comparable to a US university dining hall, except in this case it was not of the all-you-can-eat buffet variety. Instead, there were little stations where you could get a main item and a couple side things, and then you could still get a certain number of other plates, like other sides or a dessert. I ate with Vanessa alongside Dr. Blondeau and Thierry Bulot, the main professor we would be listening to. They had a lively conversation about various linguistic and university topics that I was glad to listen in on.
After lunch, we headed through the university to the room where we’d be having the day’s conferences. The campus was much more of a real campus, unlike the Nouvelle Sorbonne we had visited in Paris. There were assorted buildings and green space, and cars could not pass through. Even so, it wasn’t as nice as a typical American campus, and the dreary weather did not help the atmosphere. The room we were in was not a classroom, I don’t think, but more of a room in a research hall, but it was difficult to classify. Along with us, some other Rennes university students sat in on the lecture.
First, we watched a short movie that had been made in the past few years about immigrants in Rennes and their different attitudes toward multiculturalism in the city, etc. My general impression was that multilingualism is viewed positively, and people can identify with multiple cultures. After the movie, about 15 minutes long, we started straight into the conferences. Thierry Bulot, the professor at the Université de Rennes 2, presented some of his research concerning attitudes toward multilingualism, and then the two graduate students also presented some of their research. Their presentations were a little harder to understand, not on the level of the language, but because they assumed some prior knowledge that we didn’t really have.
Note: I am back in Gainesville and am just finishing up this post now. Details as I remember them.
After the presentations, we had a little bit of technically free time. However, it was cold and raining and everyone was dead tired, so we unanimously decided to go take a quick nap in the dorms before dinner. For dinner, we went to a nice restaurant near the train station. It was one of the group meals included in our program, so naturally it was very good. In France I grew accustomed to eating multiple courses at restaurants, especially dessert, which I rarely do here. At this particular restaurant, I had some sort of calamari appetizer, steak with gorgonzola cheese sauce, and then crème brûlée for dessert. All the food was great, except for one detail. They gave me fries with my steak, and I wasn’t expecting to get ketchup, but there it was in a little packet on the table. Perfect, right? Wrong. I opened this ketchup and it was the very worst ketchup I’ve ever had in my life. I don’t even know what it tasted like, but I took one bite and could have no more. But regardless, it was a nice dinner (can you tell I ate very well in France?) and I had a chance to talk a little bit with one of the grad students in the group, also.
After dinner, we just returned to the dorms to get ready for bed. Unfortunately, somehow that night was the turning point for me when I began to get sick, beginning with an awful sore throat that since evolved into a nasty cold/congestion/cough business which I am still recovering from. So, in the morning, I wasn’t feeling that great, but I was well enough to go on with the scheduled activities for the day.
After getting breakfast in a little café, we met our two grad students, Claire and Aude, to do a few site visits in Rennes, similar to what we had already been doing in Paris. First, we took a bus about 20 minutes out to go to a small neighborhood market. It was fairly small and seemed to be dominated by an older population. What was interesting was that it was in a more residential area, with actual houses driveways, unlike what I had been seeing so far in big-city Paris. As far as the market itself, it wasn’t anything new, but there were some interesting stands selling organic products as well as varieties of local honey.
After that market, we went to a second one closer to the downtown area, which I believe is kind of a permanent market with a permanent structure. This was also pretty standard, with numerous shops selling various food products. One fish shop in particular had some live items on the ice- I could see some little tentacles or legs creeping around. There was also another that had live crabs in a tank, but of course you can see that in Florida also.
After that walkthrough, we had one more official stop to make. We were scheduled to meet with an organization called Âge de la Tortue (Age of the Turtle), which is an organization for artists. We took the metro out to one of the farthest stops to a neighborhood that is populated predominantly by immigrants. The housing had been built to accommodate those moving to the city at a time when not much other housing was available, so there were a lot of high rise apartment complexes, but not really of a luxurious nature. It was also an area where, according to the survey that Thierry Bulot had mentioned the previous day, people speak the “worst” French. So, it wasn’t the highest-class area, but it certainly wasn’t dangerous. Claire led us to apartment where we met one of the leaders of the organization, and she explained how it functions. The organization has two apartments where artists stay during the duration of the projects, normally about two weeks. Their projects are really varied- she showed us books where strangers can write each other letters; they have done performances in a caravan for one single audience member at a time; and one of their current projects entailed putting up blank wooden boards around the area to see how people would start using them. It was fairly interesting over all, but I didn’t really see the supposed link with sociolinguistics. I found out later that the connection was really more about sociology of language, if that makes any sense. After the little info session, the organization leader led us around a bit in the neighborhood just to get a feel for it. It wasn’t really impressive, but still informative, and we got to see the wooden boards that the group had erected, which had already begun to be used for putting up some notices. She also walked us down to a local social-work type place where people can get help for various issues, as well as a local art center. However, she explained that unfortunately the actual neighborhood residents don’t use the art center as much as outsiders.
After that visit, we had a couple hours to wander the city before heading back to the dorm to get our stuff and check out. We all headed downtown to just do some shopping and looking around. It was a pretty area and great for pedestrians. It also didn’t have the same big-city feel as Paris. People seemed friendlier and less detached and there wasn’t the insane traffic and busy streets as in Paris. Overall, it reminded me a French version of Heidelberg, the small city near Mannheim that we visited on several occasions. My friends and I just went into whatever shops we thought interesting, and it was at this time that I bought my obligatory elephant item. It was in a kitchen gadget shop, and I bought a really cute elephant apron, which is one elephant item that I didn’t have previously.
After a couple hours, we met up with the group to back to the dorms to get our stuff. Then we checked out and headed to the train station to catch the TGV back to Paris. By the time we got back, it was close to 9:30, so I didn’t do much else that day, especially because I was feeling under the weather (and over the weather!). I had enjoyed our little trip to Rennes but was also glad to be back “home” in Paris!
I still have 3 more days to document, so keep reading!
Monday, May 17, 2010
Friday, May 14, 2010
Brief Final Day Update
Bonjour tout le monde,
Aujourd'hui, c'est ma dernière journée ici à Paris. Je n'aurai pas probablement le temps d'afficher une autre note jusqu'à demain dans l'avion. Mais je vous promets de tout décrire quand j'aurai du temps libre!
à Gainesville!
Aujourd'hui, c'est ma dernière journée ici à Paris. Je n'aurai pas probablement le temps d'afficher une autre note jusqu'à demain dans l'avion. Mais je vous promets de tout décrire quand j'aurai du temps libre!
à Gainesville!
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Loooong Catch-up Post of Doom
It’s been a few days since I wrote, so I hope I remember everything. The days go by so quickly, and we do so much every day. As the old Rickards saying goes, I’ll just do the best I can.
On Friday, we had had tentative plans to visit a middle school to start looking at the language of the youth, but unfortunately the tentativeness did not go in our favor, and for whatever reason, the trip was canceled. Luckily, we still have another school visit planned for next week, so we will not completely miss out. Instead of going out to the school, we met at the PRC to watch a film. It was called Bienvenue Chez Les Ch’tis, and it actually on TV as we speak. The movie is about a French man from the south of France who goes to live in the North for a new job, and we see his trials and tribulations as he adjusts to small town life. Much of the movie also focuses on the particularities of the way the French speak in that area; there are numerous misunderstandings and language-related incidents. Their style of speaking includes lots of ‘ch’ (pronounced sh) sounds where normal French would just have ‘s’. So, les Ch’tis would say “chest cha” for the regular expression “c’est ça”. There were plenty of other differences as well, especially in pronunciation, but there were also differences in vocabulary and a little bit in morphology/syntax. So, it was interesting to look at from a linguistic perspective, and we had a good discussion following the film. We watched the movie with French subtitles, which I think is the best way to go. If you have them in English, you end up just reading, but without any subtitles, you can get completely lost. Unfortunately, I’m not yet at that level where I can watch French movies and understand everything. And having non-standard speech as in this movie would just add to the confusion. It was an enjoyable film, though, and quite funny.
After the film, I worked in the PRC library on some homework and wrote the previous blog entry. By the time I was done, I had just enough time to grab a quick quiche-like lunch at the nearby sandwicherie which I have visited at least a couple times on the trip. From there, I headed out with my classmates to the next group activity, a group discussion at a café.
The PRC had suggested the particular location because they seemed to feel it was like a youth hangout of some kind. That might be true, but it was also a very unique experience. It was not a normal café with tables inside and out, nor did it even have a menu or waiters. It was actually a manga café, where people can go and read and buy manga (Japanese comic books/graphic novels, essentially), hang out on couches, use the wifi, and play video games. They had shelves of manga lining the store, numerous modern-looking couches and bean bag chairs, and Japanese art on the walls. You could read as much manga as you could want and also drink as much soda or hot beverages as you wanted, and you paid by the hour. We didn’t have to pay, as it was on the PRC, and it was an interesting setting for our discussion, even though I’m not huge into manga. And sure enough, there were numerous young people patronizing the establishment, from about 12 years old up to others in their 20s. We had a group discussion about the activities from the day before and talked about our various observations, especially concerning the language of younger people. Before the trip, we had been required to see two films, so we discussed those as well.
After the café, we were free for the day. I had plans to meet up with my friend Erica at my hotel, but I still had some time to kill, so I accompanied my friends to a nearby church, the Église Saint Étienne. Usually, these type of churches all look the same to me, and this was not really an exception. Of course, it was big and majestic and ornamental and beautiful, but to me, there was nothing particularly striking about it. I think I’m just all cathedraled out. There are so many in Europe- although I remember very particularly Kaiser Wilhelms Gedächtnis Kirche in Germany (although even right now I’m struggling to remember what city it was in- have to check my blog!). After the cathedral, we wandered around a little bit, but by then I needed to catch the metro back to the hotel to meet Erica.
We found each other successfully, and she and her friend Alex, who was traveling with her, came up to my room for a few minutes to chat and decided what to do. They had already been in Paris for a night and had spent the day wandering the city, so we decided to head out to St-Michel to get dinner. We found a reasonable place which ended up turning out nicely. It was quiet and we were able to talk and catch up. She told me all about her current program in Munich, and we reminisced about all of our old European travels and told Alex some of the best (and most horrific) stories. Our food was good too- I even had the classic escargot. My main course was salmon and pasta and I had some cheese for dessert. It was quite obviously not an haute cuisine, white tablecloth French restaurant experience, but it was good nonetheless.
After dinner we wandered about the area, visiting some souvenir shops and going into (and quickly exiting) a couple nightclub-ish type places, which were very empty and/or weird. We did quite a bit of walking, ending up passing by the Panthéon and Luxembourg Gardens, among other things. Eventually, we grew tired and parted ways to our respective hotels (theirs was an apparently very sketchy hostel) for the night, agreeing to meet the following day at Notre Dame at 4.
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The next day was Saturday. Although some PRC programs had the whole weekend off, we did not. We met in the lobby at 10 to head out to another market, the Marché d’Aligre, which is fairly well known. My professor actually invited Erica and Alex to come along, but they politely declined as not to intrude. I realized later though that their hostel was pretty much right next to the market, so they could easily have seen it on their own. Alas. This market was much larger than the other and much more diverse. There was an inside portion with numerous stalls, mostly food related, and then other stalls lined the streets outside. There were tons of fruit and vegetable vendors selling all types of things, but then there was also an area where people were selling clothes, new and used, as well as more garage-sale type items. There were also tons of people, and the whole scene was very lively and busy. Merchants shouted out prices trying to get attention for their products, and others offered samples of the fruit to lure people in. It was a little hard to tell where most of the fruit came from; I’m guessing a good bit of it was local, but people also advertised New Zealand kiwis, Hawaiian pineapples, and even Florida grapefruit. There was tons of opportunity for observation, and I got some good notes. I bought 5 kiwis for 2 Euro as well as 1 kilo of strawberries for another 2 Euro, as we were supposed to get lunch for our picnic later. I did not realize just how many strawberries 1 kg is- it was a ton and I still had some left over later even after sharing them with everyone. My fingers turned bright red from the juice, but they were nice and sweet.
After meeting at the meeting point after about an hour of observation, we walked over to the picnic area, seeing the Bastille and the new national opera house on the way. We had our picnic in the Place des Vosges, which is a gorgeous square little park. It has a very symmetrical feel, as it is surrounded by identical beautiful architecture on all sides. The house of Victor Hugo is right next door (somewhere?), but we never found it, since everything looked the same! The park was decently populated, with families walking around and couples sprawled on the grass. The trees were in bloom and nicely shaded the large statue decorating the center of the park. It was a nice and relaxed setting, and we sat in a circle and ate and discussed our observations from the market.
I was scheduled to meet Erica and Alex at 4, since I knew for certain I would be done by then, but our discussion ended much earlier than expected, so I still had several hours to go. After an unsuccessful attempt to find Victor Hugo’s house, our group went to check out the Georges Pompidou Centre, home of the modern art museum. It was one museum that I didn’t see when I was in Paris previously, so I was happy to tag along. The outside was pretty weird looking. I believe they were going for an inside-out look, so they sort of had large tubes that encased the escalators and almost scaffolding-like architecture. That was just a preview of what was to come. We got in free with our passes and went to check out the art. They had sections of “modern” art, from 1900-1960, then another level of “contemporary” art, from 1960 and beyond. I must say that modern art isn’t really my taste. It is just too abstract and also questionable. Is a painting of a single color art? Is a blank canvas art? These are questions that need answers. I felt like it was the sort of thing where everyone goes and pretends to understand the art, but no one really does. Some of it was just bizarre, although I did get to see some Picasso and a few other works that I recognized. There was other artwork that incorporated moving parts, sculpture, and even sounds. Overall, it was alright, but just not my favorite type of art. Maybe all of the deep meaning and profoundness is just beyond my peasant mind.
It was a quick visit, since it was soon the time I needed to meet Erica and Alex. Richard accompanied me to our meeting spot in Notre Dame. It took a little longer than expected due to a couple wrong turns, but we got there eventually. There was a horde of people at Notre Dame, but I found Erica soon enough and all was well. Richard went on his way, and then the three of us headed out. We went to the Père Lachaise cemetery, which is a very large, famous cemetery that holds the graves of tons of notable figures, among others. Although there is a map at the opening of the cemetery, we bought a paper one for a couple Euro to be able to follow the winding paths more accurately. We located our desired people, but we didn’t even get to see all the ones we circled before it closed; we spent a good hour walking around. We saw the graves of Chopin, famed composer; Jim Morrison, guitar player; Joseph Gay-Lussac, chemist (for Erica); authors La Fontaine and Molière; famed singer Édith Piaf; and author Oscar Wilde. Oscar Wilde’s tombstone is covered in lipstick kisses, which is some sort of tradition that I did not partake in. There were others, like Balzac and Proust, whom we did not get to, as they were ringing the bells for people to leave. The variety of the tombstones was also interesting, as they were all so different. We were also wondering how plots were allotted, as we could see some graves of people that had only died in 2009 or 2010. In fact, there was one site that still had all the dead flowers from the funeral just in the past week or so. It was an interesting trip and another thing that we had not yet done in Paris.
From the cemetery, we tried to go the Luxembourg gardens, but when we stepped out of the metro at our destination, it was raining. We thought of possibly going to a movie, so we decided to go back to my metro stop where there is a movie theater. We looked at the times for seeing Iron Man 2 in its Version Originale, but eventually decided against it. We got a quick snack at the nearby shop and then took it back to my hotel for some discussion. We were meeting up with my roommates at 9:30 to go out, so we still had a bit of time. We walked down to the Tour Montparnasse which towers above the neighborhood, and I explained to Erica the controversy surrounding the construction of the tower. Even though we got there perfectly in about 15 minutes by foot, we somehow got lost on the way back, running into completely unknown streets. Rather than trying to figure out the way, we backtracked slightly and took the metro back, having to transfer once to get back on the 4 to my hotel.
After that adventure, it was time to go out. The three other girls who I have been hanging out with had heard about a club with Spanish music (two of the three girls are Colombian) in St-Michel, so having no other ideas, we went there. Even though I’m not much of a club person, it was still fun. Also having not been in so many clubs in my life, I can’t say definitively how different it was from American clubs. There were some smaller side rooms with seats and a small room with the dance floor. It was pretty crowded, too, and I tried to figure out who most of the patrons were, but it was really hard to tell. I don’t know if they were from Paris, or mostly tourists, or what. I was ready to go pretty soon, since my feet were horribly tired, but I stuck it out, and the group headed home in plenty of time to catch the metro. I made a morning meeting point for Erica and Alex the next day, also. It had been a long day, and I was ready for sleep, but I couldn’t sleep in too much, as we still had a day’s worth of activities ahead.
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I wrote all those posts last night, and now it is Monday morning, and I am sitting on the train about to leave to Rennes. So now I can get us caught up to the present by finishing my entry for Sunday. One of my classmates, Melanie, has some extended family in France, and one family member had been nice enough to reserve some tickets to go up the Eiffel Tower. She had 3 for the top and 3 for the 2nd level, so my three classmates took the top, and Erica, Alex, and I bought her tickets for the 2nd level. This family member (I’m not sure of the relation, something like cousin’s husband’s grandfather’s girlfriend?) was also going to drive us to the tower in the morning, so we wouldn’t have to take the metro. So, she picked the four of us up at around 9:30, and off we went. It was interesting to get the car experience, and I made several observations. One, the driving system here is completely unintelligible. The traffic lights are on short poles on street corners, and there are larger and smaller lights, and I have no idea of the difference. I also could never figure out where we were supposed to be looking, and with all those crazy circular intersections, we often had to stop in middle, but I’m not sure why. There are of course pedestrians everywhere, and the lanes are hardly if at all defined. And even her relative, who is American but has lived in France for 25 years, had trouble navigating with all the crazy streets. She drove us by the Hôtel des Invalides just to get a quick peek, and it was of course magnificent. So much architecture here predates everything in America by hundreds of years, but I feel that the French hardly give it a second glance since it’s hardly novel to them, whereas we Americans are impressed by anything over 300 years old. I also wondered to myself how many cars in Europe are automatic. I get the impression that nearly all of them are manual. I also saw my first gas station yesterday, a BP actually, and it threw me off, since I realized that for all the cars I do see, I had never run across a gas station until that moment.
In any case, she dropped us off by the Eiffel Tower, and we were immediately accosted by the gypsy population asking if we spoke English. Their standard scheme is to go around, ask people if they speak English, and if so, hold up a piece of paper with some sob story written on it. Meanwhile, they will either pickpocket you as you’re distracted reading or just try to plead money off you. I just try to give a blank stare and move on. There were also tons of souvenir hawkers again, rattling chains of Eiffel Tower keychains and other wares. We waited for Erica and Alex under the tower in the direct center, and we must have been approached a dozen times by various souvenir people. They can be very aggressive and very annoying. But Erica and Alex soon found us, and off we went to get in the line for people with reservations. We went through a metal detector and then found ourselves in the large elevator in one of the pillars. They let everyone out at the 2nd level, and then those with tickets to the top could continue in a different elevator. We couldn’t see anything from the elevator, but once we got out, it was a great view. There were tons of people, but we went down a couple stairs to a lower level and got to walk all the way around. I must say that I’m a little orientationally challenged, and Erica had to correct me several times when I thought I saw an important landmark and was indeed off by practically 180 degrees. The view was great, and we could see for miles and miles. I could see tons of the sites I had previously visited, like Notre Dame, the Tour Montparnasse, the Arc de Triomphe, le Louvre, etc. We took pictures and stayed up for about half an hour before taking the elevator back down to ground, having arranged a meeting spot with my friends for later.
Once back down on Earth, we took some pictures from a little woodsy area and then from the Champ de Mars, the large park/grassy area that sits directly in front of the tower. From there, Erica wanted to go see the chapel Ste Chappelle, so off we went to do that. We stood in line for a bit and had to go through another metal detector, but then we were in. The chapel consists of a lower and upper level, and each is basically one room. It is notable for its stained glass, which was quite ornate. It was a good choice and another thing I had not yet seen.
After the chapel, it was about time for Erica and Alex to head to the train station to catch their train back to Munich. We got Erica a crêpe from a nearby stand and then headed to the metro. Of course the metro station was seemingly hidden among numerous flower stalls and it was pretty much impossible to find, but we did find it after several attempts and when I finally asked someone for help. By then, we just headed to their train station, the Gare de l’Est, and Alex and I both got sandwiches for lunch. I was running late, so I sadly said goodbye. It had been so great to see Erica, and I’m really glad that she came for the weekend. In fact, I hadn’t seen her since we left for winter break several months ago, as she had taken the semester off from UF. We also spoke a ton of German over the weekend- I could easily tell hers had improved while mine had definitely deteriorated with disuse. We discussed possibly taking a German class together next semester or perhaps even taking up beginning Italian, as she told me all about her recent travels there. She said she wished I could visit Munich with her, and I agreed. She also put forward the idea of doing an extended backpacking trip throughout Europe next summer. It will be her last chance to do something of that magnitude for quite some time, as she is (with all hope) attending medical school the year after. We thought with two other travelers (at least one male) we could do a large-scale tour of Europe, purchasing the global Eurail pass with unlimited travel in a set time and traveling only with the packs on our backs. Naturally I think it would be a great idea and would love to do it also, since I too will hopefully be busy with graduate school in the coming years. We also travel well together, and our language skills combined will be passable to get around without too much difficulty. So, funds allowing, I think it’s a great idea and would surely be educational.
So, leaving Erica and Alex behind, I took the metro to the Opera stop. On that day only, it was free to go visit the national opera, which is housed in an absolutely magnificent palace. I was running late and got there at 3:15, having set the meet time as 3. Upon exiting the metro directly in front of the palace, I didn’t see my friends, but I lounged on the steps to soak it in. After some minutes had passed, I figured I missed them, and having no way to know where they were, I decided to just do what I wanted. So, I got in the line to visit the opera and went in on my own (don’t worry, I was fine). The line took about 20 minutes to half an hour, but it was well worth it, and as of now the opera is possibly the greatest thing I’ve seen so far. It was very ornate, with marble steps and balconies, and sculptures and paintings everywhere. I went out on the balcony and could see the steps below where I had sat- then a couple asked me to take a picture of them, and I had them to do the same for me. We could also look at the auditorium itself; the seats were red velvet, and looking up, there was a massive chandelier hanging from the decorated ceiling, which Marc Chagall had painted. It was just great, and I was in awe. I wandered around taking pictures and looking at a couple side exhibits showing models of past stage design and paintings from various ballets. Overall, it was fantastic and I’m so glad I went. At the exit, I bought a little Opera notebook that will now become my new observation journal.
By this time, I was a little weary from trekking all over the city, but I still had yet to see the Luxembourg Gardens after several attempts. So, I decided to return to the hotel to get my book and then head to the garden. I ran into Vanessa on my way out of the hotel and found out that we just missed each other at the Opera, but no harm done. Off to the gardens I went, and they were beautiful. There were ample people taking advantage of the nice weather, reclining in chairs or relaxing by the fountains. It also seemed to be a popular jogging location, as I saw many runners, and there were also families taking strolls with little children in tow. It was all green and clean, and the Palais de Luxembourg near the entrance was also a nice sight. I found a spot on a bench and read some of my Camus book. Very French, n’est-ce pas? It was very relaxing and wonderful, but it soon grew a little chilly and I decided to head back via the PRC to check my email and catch up with my online affairs, since my internet at the hotel leaves much to be desired.
Many establishments close on Sunday, but I got a little something to eat near my hotel and took it back to my room to take the night off. The hotel is nice, but there’s just one thing that drives me crazy, and that’s my key. It’s a standard card that you swipe in the slot, but it is completely unreliable. I can be outside my door trying for literally 10 minutes before it finally decides to work. Very rarely it will work after 4 or 5 tries, but often it takes upwards of 50. I could try to get a new key, but I know others have had the same problems without much support from the management, so I am just living with it. In any case, I finally managed to unlock my door, and I ate my dinner and worked on my blog. By that time, it was already midnight, so it was time to get ready for bed. We had to meet at 7:45 in the lobby this morning to head out to Rennes, so we didn’t have much time to sleep in.
Now it is about an hour into the train ride, and I have successfully caught you up on all my activities. We have two busy days in Rennes before a more relaxed Wednesday back in Paris, when Vanessa and I plan to visit a couple museums and go to a nice dinner. Thursday is our day of death with activities spanning all day and evening, and then Friday is already the goodbye dinner and our final night here. I have loved this whole trip, but I am also looking forward to the comfort of home and seeing more familiar things. But needless to say, I am going to take advantage of my final days here to round out a great little program.
Not sure when this entry will get posted, so it might feel off, but I wish everyone back home a good week!
Jenna
On Friday, we had had tentative plans to visit a middle school to start looking at the language of the youth, but unfortunately the tentativeness did not go in our favor, and for whatever reason, the trip was canceled. Luckily, we still have another school visit planned for next week, so we will not completely miss out. Instead of going out to the school, we met at the PRC to watch a film. It was called Bienvenue Chez Les Ch’tis, and it actually on TV as we speak. The movie is about a French man from the south of France who goes to live in the North for a new job, and we see his trials and tribulations as he adjusts to small town life. Much of the movie also focuses on the particularities of the way the French speak in that area; there are numerous misunderstandings and language-related incidents. Their style of speaking includes lots of ‘ch’ (pronounced sh) sounds where normal French would just have ‘s’. So, les Ch’tis would say “chest cha” for the regular expression “c’est ça”. There were plenty of other differences as well, especially in pronunciation, but there were also differences in vocabulary and a little bit in morphology/syntax. So, it was interesting to look at from a linguistic perspective, and we had a good discussion following the film. We watched the movie with French subtitles, which I think is the best way to go. If you have them in English, you end up just reading, but without any subtitles, you can get completely lost. Unfortunately, I’m not yet at that level where I can watch French movies and understand everything. And having non-standard speech as in this movie would just add to the confusion. It was an enjoyable film, though, and quite funny.
After the film, I worked in the PRC library on some homework and wrote the previous blog entry. By the time I was done, I had just enough time to grab a quick quiche-like lunch at the nearby sandwicherie which I have visited at least a couple times on the trip. From there, I headed out with my classmates to the next group activity, a group discussion at a café.
The PRC had suggested the particular location because they seemed to feel it was like a youth hangout of some kind. That might be true, but it was also a very unique experience. It was not a normal café with tables inside and out, nor did it even have a menu or waiters. It was actually a manga café, where people can go and read and buy manga (Japanese comic books/graphic novels, essentially), hang out on couches, use the wifi, and play video games. They had shelves of manga lining the store, numerous modern-looking couches and bean bag chairs, and Japanese art on the walls. You could read as much manga as you could want and also drink as much soda or hot beverages as you wanted, and you paid by the hour. We didn’t have to pay, as it was on the PRC, and it was an interesting setting for our discussion, even though I’m not huge into manga. And sure enough, there were numerous young people patronizing the establishment, from about 12 years old up to others in their 20s. We had a group discussion about the activities from the day before and talked about our various observations, especially concerning the language of younger people. Before the trip, we had been required to see two films, so we discussed those as well.
After the café, we were free for the day. I had plans to meet up with my friend Erica at my hotel, but I still had some time to kill, so I accompanied my friends to a nearby church, the Église Saint Étienne. Usually, these type of churches all look the same to me, and this was not really an exception. Of course, it was big and majestic and ornamental and beautiful, but to me, there was nothing particularly striking about it. I think I’m just all cathedraled out. There are so many in Europe- although I remember very particularly Kaiser Wilhelms Gedächtnis Kirche in Germany (although even right now I’m struggling to remember what city it was in- have to check my blog!). After the cathedral, we wandered around a little bit, but by then I needed to catch the metro back to the hotel to meet Erica.
We found each other successfully, and she and her friend Alex, who was traveling with her, came up to my room for a few minutes to chat and decided what to do. They had already been in Paris for a night and had spent the day wandering the city, so we decided to head out to St-Michel to get dinner. We found a reasonable place which ended up turning out nicely. It was quiet and we were able to talk and catch up. She told me all about her current program in Munich, and we reminisced about all of our old European travels and told Alex some of the best (and most horrific) stories. Our food was good too- I even had the classic escargot. My main course was salmon and pasta and I had some cheese for dessert. It was quite obviously not an haute cuisine, white tablecloth French restaurant experience, but it was good nonetheless.
After dinner we wandered about the area, visiting some souvenir shops and going into (and quickly exiting) a couple nightclub-ish type places, which were very empty and/or weird. We did quite a bit of walking, ending up passing by the Panthéon and Luxembourg Gardens, among other things. Eventually, we grew tired and parted ways to our respective hotels (theirs was an apparently very sketchy hostel) for the night, agreeing to meet the following day at Notre Dame at 4.
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The next day was Saturday. Although some PRC programs had the whole weekend off, we did not. We met in the lobby at 10 to head out to another market, the Marché d’Aligre, which is fairly well known. My professor actually invited Erica and Alex to come along, but they politely declined as not to intrude. I realized later though that their hostel was pretty much right next to the market, so they could easily have seen it on their own. Alas. This market was much larger than the other and much more diverse. There was an inside portion with numerous stalls, mostly food related, and then other stalls lined the streets outside. There were tons of fruit and vegetable vendors selling all types of things, but then there was also an area where people were selling clothes, new and used, as well as more garage-sale type items. There were also tons of people, and the whole scene was very lively and busy. Merchants shouted out prices trying to get attention for their products, and others offered samples of the fruit to lure people in. It was a little hard to tell where most of the fruit came from; I’m guessing a good bit of it was local, but people also advertised New Zealand kiwis, Hawaiian pineapples, and even Florida grapefruit. There was tons of opportunity for observation, and I got some good notes. I bought 5 kiwis for 2 Euro as well as 1 kilo of strawberries for another 2 Euro, as we were supposed to get lunch for our picnic later. I did not realize just how many strawberries 1 kg is- it was a ton and I still had some left over later even after sharing them with everyone. My fingers turned bright red from the juice, but they were nice and sweet.
After meeting at the meeting point after about an hour of observation, we walked over to the picnic area, seeing the Bastille and the new national opera house on the way. We had our picnic in the Place des Vosges, which is a gorgeous square little park. It has a very symmetrical feel, as it is surrounded by identical beautiful architecture on all sides. The house of Victor Hugo is right next door (somewhere?), but we never found it, since everything looked the same! The park was decently populated, with families walking around and couples sprawled on the grass. The trees were in bloom and nicely shaded the large statue decorating the center of the park. It was a nice and relaxed setting, and we sat in a circle and ate and discussed our observations from the market.
I was scheduled to meet Erica and Alex at 4, since I knew for certain I would be done by then, but our discussion ended much earlier than expected, so I still had several hours to go. After an unsuccessful attempt to find Victor Hugo’s house, our group went to check out the Georges Pompidou Centre, home of the modern art museum. It was one museum that I didn’t see when I was in Paris previously, so I was happy to tag along. The outside was pretty weird looking. I believe they were going for an inside-out look, so they sort of had large tubes that encased the escalators and almost scaffolding-like architecture. That was just a preview of what was to come. We got in free with our passes and went to check out the art. They had sections of “modern” art, from 1900-1960, then another level of “contemporary” art, from 1960 and beyond. I must say that modern art isn’t really my taste. It is just too abstract and also questionable. Is a painting of a single color art? Is a blank canvas art? These are questions that need answers. I felt like it was the sort of thing where everyone goes and pretends to understand the art, but no one really does. Some of it was just bizarre, although I did get to see some Picasso and a few other works that I recognized. There was other artwork that incorporated moving parts, sculpture, and even sounds. Overall, it was alright, but just not my favorite type of art. Maybe all of the deep meaning and profoundness is just beyond my peasant mind.
It was a quick visit, since it was soon the time I needed to meet Erica and Alex. Richard accompanied me to our meeting spot in Notre Dame. It took a little longer than expected due to a couple wrong turns, but we got there eventually. There was a horde of people at Notre Dame, but I found Erica soon enough and all was well. Richard went on his way, and then the three of us headed out. We went to the Père Lachaise cemetery, which is a very large, famous cemetery that holds the graves of tons of notable figures, among others. Although there is a map at the opening of the cemetery, we bought a paper one for a couple Euro to be able to follow the winding paths more accurately. We located our desired people, but we didn’t even get to see all the ones we circled before it closed; we spent a good hour walking around. We saw the graves of Chopin, famed composer; Jim Morrison, guitar player; Joseph Gay-Lussac, chemist (for Erica); authors La Fontaine and Molière; famed singer Édith Piaf; and author Oscar Wilde. Oscar Wilde’s tombstone is covered in lipstick kisses, which is some sort of tradition that I did not partake in. There were others, like Balzac and Proust, whom we did not get to, as they were ringing the bells for people to leave. The variety of the tombstones was also interesting, as they were all so different. We were also wondering how plots were allotted, as we could see some graves of people that had only died in 2009 or 2010. In fact, there was one site that still had all the dead flowers from the funeral just in the past week or so. It was an interesting trip and another thing that we had not yet done in Paris.
From the cemetery, we tried to go the Luxembourg gardens, but when we stepped out of the metro at our destination, it was raining. We thought of possibly going to a movie, so we decided to go back to my metro stop where there is a movie theater. We looked at the times for seeing Iron Man 2 in its Version Originale, but eventually decided against it. We got a quick snack at the nearby shop and then took it back to my hotel for some discussion. We were meeting up with my roommates at 9:30 to go out, so we still had a bit of time. We walked down to the Tour Montparnasse which towers above the neighborhood, and I explained to Erica the controversy surrounding the construction of the tower. Even though we got there perfectly in about 15 minutes by foot, we somehow got lost on the way back, running into completely unknown streets. Rather than trying to figure out the way, we backtracked slightly and took the metro back, having to transfer once to get back on the 4 to my hotel.
After that adventure, it was time to go out. The three other girls who I have been hanging out with had heard about a club with Spanish music (two of the three girls are Colombian) in St-Michel, so having no other ideas, we went there. Even though I’m not much of a club person, it was still fun. Also having not been in so many clubs in my life, I can’t say definitively how different it was from American clubs. There were some smaller side rooms with seats and a small room with the dance floor. It was pretty crowded, too, and I tried to figure out who most of the patrons were, but it was really hard to tell. I don’t know if they were from Paris, or mostly tourists, or what. I was ready to go pretty soon, since my feet were horribly tired, but I stuck it out, and the group headed home in plenty of time to catch the metro. I made a morning meeting point for Erica and Alex the next day, also. It had been a long day, and I was ready for sleep, but I couldn’t sleep in too much, as we still had a day’s worth of activities ahead.
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I wrote all those posts last night, and now it is Monday morning, and I am sitting on the train about to leave to Rennes. So now I can get us caught up to the present by finishing my entry for Sunday. One of my classmates, Melanie, has some extended family in France, and one family member had been nice enough to reserve some tickets to go up the Eiffel Tower. She had 3 for the top and 3 for the 2nd level, so my three classmates took the top, and Erica, Alex, and I bought her tickets for the 2nd level. This family member (I’m not sure of the relation, something like cousin’s husband’s grandfather’s girlfriend?) was also going to drive us to the tower in the morning, so we wouldn’t have to take the metro. So, she picked the four of us up at around 9:30, and off we went. It was interesting to get the car experience, and I made several observations. One, the driving system here is completely unintelligible. The traffic lights are on short poles on street corners, and there are larger and smaller lights, and I have no idea of the difference. I also could never figure out where we were supposed to be looking, and with all those crazy circular intersections, we often had to stop in middle, but I’m not sure why. There are of course pedestrians everywhere, and the lanes are hardly if at all defined. And even her relative, who is American but has lived in France for 25 years, had trouble navigating with all the crazy streets. She drove us by the Hôtel des Invalides just to get a quick peek, and it was of course magnificent. So much architecture here predates everything in America by hundreds of years, but I feel that the French hardly give it a second glance since it’s hardly novel to them, whereas we Americans are impressed by anything over 300 years old. I also wondered to myself how many cars in Europe are automatic. I get the impression that nearly all of them are manual. I also saw my first gas station yesterday, a BP actually, and it threw me off, since I realized that for all the cars I do see, I had never run across a gas station until that moment.
In any case, she dropped us off by the Eiffel Tower, and we were immediately accosted by the gypsy population asking if we spoke English. Their standard scheme is to go around, ask people if they speak English, and if so, hold up a piece of paper with some sob story written on it. Meanwhile, they will either pickpocket you as you’re distracted reading or just try to plead money off you. I just try to give a blank stare and move on. There were also tons of souvenir hawkers again, rattling chains of Eiffel Tower keychains and other wares. We waited for Erica and Alex under the tower in the direct center, and we must have been approached a dozen times by various souvenir people. They can be very aggressive and very annoying. But Erica and Alex soon found us, and off we went to get in the line for people with reservations. We went through a metal detector and then found ourselves in the large elevator in one of the pillars. They let everyone out at the 2nd level, and then those with tickets to the top could continue in a different elevator. We couldn’t see anything from the elevator, but once we got out, it was a great view. There were tons of people, but we went down a couple stairs to a lower level and got to walk all the way around. I must say that I’m a little orientationally challenged, and Erica had to correct me several times when I thought I saw an important landmark and was indeed off by practically 180 degrees. The view was great, and we could see for miles and miles. I could see tons of the sites I had previously visited, like Notre Dame, the Tour Montparnasse, the Arc de Triomphe, le Louvre, etc. We took pictures and stayed up for about half an hour before taking the elevator back down to ground, having arranged a meeting spot with my friends for later.
Once back down on Earth, we took some pictures from a little woodsy area and then from the Champ de Mars, the large park/grassy area that sits directly in front of the tower. From there, Erica wanted to go see the chapel Ste Chappelle, so off we went to do that. We stood in line for a bit and had to go through another metal detector, but then we were in. The chapel consists of a lower and upper level, and each is basically one room. It is notable for its stained glass, which was quite ornate. It was a good choice and another thing I had not yet seen.
After the chapel, it was about time for Erica and Alex to head to the train station to catch their train back to Munich. We got Erica a crêpe from a nearby stand and then headed to the metro. Of course the metro station was seemingly hidden among numerous flower stalls and it was pretty much impossible to find, but we did find it after several attempts and when I finally asked someone for help. By then, we just headed to their train station, the Gare de l’Est, and Alex and I both got sandwiches for lunch. I was running late, so I sadly said goodbye. It had been so great to see Erica, and I’m really glad that she came for the weekend. In fact, I hadn’t seen her since we left for winter break several months ago, as she had taken the semester off from UF. We also spoke a ton of German over the weekend- I could easily tell hers had improved while mine had definitely deteriorated with disuse. We discussed possibly taking a German class together next semester or perhaps even taking up beginning Italian, as she told me all about her recent travels there. She said she wished I could visit Munich with her, and I agreed. She also put forward the idea of doing an extended backpacking trip throughout Europe next summer. It will be her last chance to do something of that magnitude for quite some time, as she is (with all hope) attending medical school the year after. We thought with two other travelers (at least one male) we could do a large-scale tour of Europe, purchasing the global Eurail pass with unlimited travel in a set time and traveling only with the packs on our backs. Naturally I think it would be a great idea and would love to do it also, since I too will hopefully be busy with graduate school in the coming years. We also travel well together, and our language skills combined will be passable to get around without too much difficulty. So, funds allowing, I think it’s a great idea and would surely be educational.
So, leaving Erica and Alex behind, I took the metro to the Opera stop. On that day only, it was free to go visit the national opera, which is housed in an absolutely magnificent palace. I was running late and got there at 3:15, having set the meet time as 3. Upon exiting the metro directly in front of the palace, I didn’t see my friends, but I lounged on the steps to soak it in. After some minutes had passed, I figured I missed them, and having no way to know where they were, I decided to just do what I wanted. So, I got in the line to visit the opera and went in on my own (don’t worry, I was fine). The line took about 20 minutes to half an hour, but it was well worth it, and as of now the opera is possibly the greatest thing I’ve seen so far. It was very ornate, with marble steps and balconies, and sculptures and paintings everywhere. I went out on the balcony and could see the steps below where I had sat- then a couple asked me to take a picture of them, and I had them to do the same for me. We could also look at the auditorium itself; the seats were red velvet, and looking up, there was a massive chandelier hanging from the decorated ceiling, which Marc Chagall had painted. It was just great, and I was in awe. I wandered around taking pictures and looking at a couple side exhibits showing models of past stage design and paintings from various ballets. Overall, it was fantastic and I’m so glad I went. At the exit, I bought a little Opera notebook that will now become my new observation journal.
By this time, I was a little weary from trekking all over the city, but I still had yet to see the Luxembourg Gardens after several attempts. So, I decided to return to the hotel to get my book and then head to the garden. I ran into Vanessa on my way out of the hotel and found out that we just missed each other at the Opera, but no harm done. Off to the gardens I went, and they were beautiful. There were ample people taking advantage of the nice weather, reclining in chairs or relaxing by the fountains. It also seemed to be a popular jogging location, as I saw many runners, and there were also families taking strolls with little children in tow. It was all green and clean, and the Palais de Luxembourg near the entrance was also a nice sight. I found a spot on a bench and read some of my Camus book. Very French, n’est-ce pas? It was very relaxing and wonderful, but it soon grew a little chilly and I decided to head back via the PRC to check my email and catch up with my online affairs, since my internet at the hotel leaves much to be desired.
Many establishments close on Sunday, but I got a little something to eat near my hotel and took it back to my room to take the night off. The hotel is nice, but there’s just one thing that drives me crazy, and that’s my key. It’s a standard card that you swipe in the slot, but it is completely unreliable. I can be outside my door trying for literally 10 minutes before it finally decides to work. Very rarely it will work after 4 or 5 tries, but often it takes upwards of 50. I could try to get a new key, but I know others have had the same problems without much support from the management, so I am just living with it. In any case, I finally managed to unlock my door, and I ate my dinner and worked on my blog. By that time, it was already midnight, so it was time to get ready for bed. We had to meet at 7:45 in the lobby this morning to head out to Rennes, so we didn’t have much time to sleep in.
Now it is about an hour into the train ride, and I have successfully caught you up on all my activities. We have two busy days in Rennes before a more relaxed Wednesday back in Paris, when Vanessa and I plan to visit a couple museums and go to a nice dinner. Thursday is our day of death with activities spanning all day and evening, and then Friday is already the goodbye dinner and our final night here. I have loved this whole trip, but I am also looking forward to the comfort of home and seeing more familiar things. But needless to say, I am going to take advantage of my final days here to round out a great little program.
Not sure when this entry will get posted, so it might feel off, but I wish everyone back home a good week!
Jenna
Sunday, May 9, 2010
I am alive!
Just a quick post to let you know that I am alive and well. I had a fantastic weekend that I will soon be posting about, but I have been too busy to really sit down and write. I also seem to no longer have internet at the hotel, so contacting me is a little bit difficult. Right now I'm typing on a really wacky French keyboard at the PRC, and I keep having to correct typos from how the keys are arranged.
We travel to Rennes tomorrow for two days, and I plan on writing some blog entries on the way. Catch up with you in a few days!
We travel to Rennes tomorrow for two days, and I plan on writing some blog entries on the way. Catch up with you in a few days!
Friday, May 7, 2010
Jeudi
I got home so late last night that I didn't even have time to write my blog entry for the day. I have a few hours' break at the moment, so I am using the time to catch up on my blog and on my homework.
We met in the hotel lobby at around 9:30 in the morning to hear about the day's activities. Our observation activity of the day was going to a neighborhood market that has numerous outdoor stalls selling various things: fruit, vegetables, fish, cheese, non-food products, etc. It wasn't an extremely large market, but I think it was fairly typical. The stores lined the street, and we were supposed to observe various elements. For example, we listened to how the storekeepers announced their products, how they described them and tried to entice buyers, and then how the negotiation and transaction took place. We could also still look at forms of address and opening and closing greetings.
We had about an hour to walk around and observe, so we split into small groups and off we went. I just did a couple walkthroughs to get familiar with the space, and then I tried to discretely observe. That's really the hard part, because sometimes it's hard to understand what people say without looking directly at them. I tried to be a subtle observer without intruding too much or drawing too much attention. Still, I was able to make a number of observations. I heard the shopkeeper at the fromagerie, for example, talking about the fine Camemberts he had that day. Other shopkeepers sang little songs to draw in attention and were quite lively. It was a pretty interesting experiment overall. I also spent a few minutes in a bookstore and ended up buying another Camus book in French, The Myth of Sisyphus. I doubt I'll have time to really get into it here, but I will definitely be reading it on the plane home. I am still feeling a little bit awkward in customer/salesperson situations, but I think I am getting better.
Another minorly interesting incident was when a young guy came up to me on the street. I missed the first few words of what he said, but overall I got the gist, and he was just looking for a certain shop in the area. Who am I to give directions in Paris, but coincidentally I had just seen the shop a few minutes before, and I was able to point him in the right direction. It was a small victory, but nice nonetheless.
Soon enough, the hour had passed, and we met up again with the group. We still had about 45 minutes before the next activity, so we had a little time to kill. We were headed back to the PRC for a picnic and discussion, but we spent the intermediate time by walking through the Montparnasse cemetery which was just a few minutes' walk away. There are tons of famous people buried there, but of course there was only time to see a few. I saw, for example, Jean Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, as well as Pierre Larousse, who is the famous for the French dictionary porting his name. The cemetery differed from other ones I have seen. The tombs and markers will of all different sizes and heights. It was very heterogeneous and actually quite pretty. There were some graves that towered over me and others that were more subtly laid in the ground, and the cobblestones and trees made for a peaceful ambiance.
Right near the PRC, I got some kind of goat cheese and spinach quiche for lunch, and then we all ate together in the PRC courtyard. We then had discussion time and a lecture with our professor for an hour and a bit. We had a couple hours free in the afternoon, but we just returned to the hotel, as we have been so on the go that we have not been getting enough sleep. We pretty much all just took a nap for a couple hours until it was time for our guest lecturer, Françoise Gadet, at the PRC. I had actually seen her before, as she had given a talk at UF during the spring semester. She is a very prominent sociolinguist at the university Paris X. Her talk was very interesting, and she talked a lot about the data available that can analyse the French of the past as well as traits that characterize the French of today. We had read an article by her as part of our course preparation, and in fact, my Sociolinguistics of French course next semester uses the book that she wrote. So, it was really nice to be able to get some interaction with someone who has really done a lot for the field. After the lecture, we were free for the day.
My friends and I then went down to the St-Michel area for dinner. We ate in a small, inexpensive restaurant. It was definitely touristy but not so bad. Often in France, restaurants will have what is called a 'formule' for a certain price, where you have a combination of appetizer, main dish, and dessert (or all three) for a set price, and you can choose different options in all the categories. So, for example, last night I had a crêpe au fromage to start, then spaghetti bolognese, then mousse au chocolat for dessert. It was reasonably good, and actually it kind of tied into our activity we had had earlier, as the manager was persuading us to come in before we had made our decision to eat there.
After dinner, we walked around the area a little bit, playing the tourist and going into a few souvenir shops. By then it was dark and we could go off to what we had really been planning: seeing the Eiffel Tower at night. After a bit of a mix-up with the RER train, we decided just to take the metro over to the area, even though it was a little longer. Our final metro stop was one of the biggest I've ever seen- big enough to have moving sidewalks to take you from one end to the other. It must be newer, as most metro stops are in not great condition.
We made our way over to the Eiffel Tower, dodging the numerous souvenir hawkers, and when we did see it, it really was amazing. It was all lit up, and just so immense. The architecture really is incredible. We got tons of pictures and walked around underneath. We could also see the Tour Montparnasse in our neighborhood. It really sticks out as the only skyscraper for miles, and I can see why the Parisians would be upset about its construction. Unfortunately the grass on the Champ de Mars was closed, so we couldn't sit around there. Instead, we went the other direction across a bridge, where we got a more distant view and more pictures. We then waited around about 15 minutes until midnight, when the tower would light up and twinkle. It was quite a sight, and we just absorbed the atmosphere. At that point, we were ready to head home, so we took the metro back to our normal stop and walked back to the hotel. The days go by so fast, and my trip is practically half over! It's hard to believe. Paris is an amazing city, and I don't think you could ever be bored here.
Tonight I meet up with my friend Erica, who's visiting from Munich, and then we will spend the weekend together seeing more of the city. I can't wait!
Jenna
We met in the hotel lobby at around 9:30 in the morning to hear about the day's activities. Our observation activity of the day was going to a neighborhood market that has numerous outdoor stalls selling various things: fruit, vegetables, fish, cheese, non-food products, etc. It wasn't an extremely large market, but I think it was fairly typical. The stores lined the street, and we were supposed to observe various elements. For example, we listened to how the storekeepers announced their products, how they described them and tried to entice buyers, and then how the negotiation and transaction took place. We could also still look at forms of address and opening and closing greetings.
We had about an hour to walk around and observe, so we split into small groups and off we went. I just did a couple walkthroughs to get familiar with the space, and then I tried to discretely observe. That's really the hard part, because sometimes it's hard to understand what people say without looking directly at them. I tried to be a subtle observer without intruding too much or drawing too much attention. Still, I was able to make a number of observations. I heard the shopkeeper at the fromagerie, for example, talking about the fine Camemberts he had that day. Other shopkeepers sang little songs to draw in attention and were quite lively. It was a pretty interesting experiment overall. I also spent a few minutes in a bookstore and ended up buying another Camus book in French, The Myth of Sisyphus. I doubt I'll have time to really get into it here, but I will definitely be reading it on the plane home. I am still feeling a little bit awkward in customer/salesperson situations, but I think I am getting better.
Another minorly interesting incident was when a young guy came up to me on the street. I missed the first few words of what he said, but overall I got the gist, and he was just looking for a certain shop in the area. Who am I to give directions in Paris, but coincidentally I had just seen the shop a few minutes before, and I was able to point him in the right direction. It was a small victory, but nice nonetheless.
Soon enough, the hour had passed, and we met up again with the group. We still had about 45 minutes before the next activity, so we had a little time to kill. We were headed back to the PRC for a picnic and discussion, but we spent the intermediate time by walking through the Montparnasse cemetery which was just a few minutes' walk away. There are tons of famous people buried there, but of course there was only time to see a few. I saw, for example, Jean Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, as well as Pierre Larousse, who is the famous for the French dictionary porting his name. The cemetery differed from other ones I have seen. The tombs and markers will of all different sizes and heights. It was very heterogeneous and actually quite pretty. There were some graves that towered over me and others that were more subtly laid in the ground, and the cobblestones and trees made for a peaceful ambiance.
Right near the PRC, I got some kind of goat cheese and spinach quiche for lunch, and then we all ate together in the PRC courtyard. We then had discussion time and a lecture with our professor for an hour and a bit. We had a couple hours free in the afternoon, but we just returned to the hotel, as we have been so on the go that we have not been getting enough sleep. We pretty much all just took a nap for a couple hours until it was time for our guest lecturer, Françoise Gadet, at the PRC. I had actually seen her before, as she had given a talk at UF during the spring semester. She is a very prominent sociolinguist at the university Paris X. Her talk was very interesting, and she talked a lot about the data available that can analyse the French of the past as well as traits that characterize the French of today. We had read an article by her as part of our course preparation, and in fact, my Sociolinguistics of French course next semester uses the book that she wrote. So, it was really nice to be able to get some interaction with someone who has really done a lot for the field. After the lecture, we were free for the day.
My friends and I then went down to the St-Michel area for dinner. We ate in a small, inexpensive restaurant. It was definitely touristy but not so bad. Often in France, restaurants will have what is called a 'formule' for a certain price, where you have a combination of appetizer, main dish, and dessert (or all three) for a set price, and you can choose different options in all the categories. So, for example, last night I had a crêpe au fromage to start, then spaghetti bolognese, then mousse au chocolat for dessert. It was reasonably good, and actually it kind of tied into our activity we had had earlier, as the manager was persuading us to come in before we had made our decision to eat there.
After dinner, we walked around the area a little bit, playing the tourist and going into a few souvenir shops. By then it was dark and we could go off to what we had really been planning: seeing the Eiffel Tower at night. After a bit of a mix-up with the RER train, we decided just to take the metro over to the area, even though it was a little longer. Our final metro stop was one of the biggest I've ever seen- big enough to have moving sidewalks to take you from one end to the other. It must be newer, as most metro stops are in not great condition.
We made our way over to the Eiffel Tower, dodging the numerous souvenir hawkers, and when we did see it, it really was amazing. It was all lit up, and just so immense. The architecture really is incredible. We got tons of pictures and walked around underneath. We could also see the Tour Montparnasse in our neighborhood. It really sticks out as the only skyscraper for miles, and I can see why the Parisians would be upset about its construction. Unfortunately the grass on the Champ de Mars was closed, so we couldn't sit around there. Instead, we went the other direction across a bridge, where we got a more distant view and more pictures. We then waited around about 15 minutes until midnight, when the tower would light up and twinkle. It was quite a sight, and we just absorbed the atmosphere. At that point, we were ready to head home, so we took the metro back to our normal stop and walked back to the hotel. The days go by so fast, and my trip is practically half over! It's hard to believe. Paris is an amazing city, and I don't think you could ever be bored here.
Tonight I meet up with my friend Erica, who's visiting from Munich, and then we will spend the weekend together seeing more of the city. I can't wait!
Jenna
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Mercredi
Don't I begin every post by saying how busy the day was? Well, today was no exception. We left the hotel at 9 to go to our first guest lecture. Thinking that it would be faster, we took the bus, and we had to make one change in the middle (would have been 3 changes on the metro). The bus was not much fun- it was very crowded, and we didn't save any time. Nonetheless, we disembarked near the location and found our way to the cafe where our speaker was meeting us. She then led us to the Nouvelle Sorbonne, which is a university and a Sorbonne, but not the classic Sorbonne that you might be thinking of. Our professor had already told us that French universities were nowhere near as impressive looking as American ones, and she was right. The main building was hardly distinguished looking, and the inside wasn't that impressive. It really pales in comparison to the huge, beautiful campuses found in the US. However, the speaker also explained that French universities were suffering- she really did not make me want to go to a French university! However, tuition is free for the students, and apparently university food and lodging are very cheap also. We met in a small room which was perhaps some kind of department lounge- it was a bit hard to tell.
The lecture itself was very interesting. The speaker, a French university professor in linguistics, spoke about her latest project of compiling a corpus of the French spoken in Paris today, from all different areas. Interestingly, such a project has never been undertaken in Paris. There are very famous corpora from Montreal, though, for example, which my professor has worked heavily on, as well as in a few other smaller French cities. Thus, the scope of the project is large and they have large hopes with it. The speaker talked about the collection of the data, like the questions posed to the participants and how they were asked, how the participants were found, the transcription process, etc. All of the data is also online, so we can go and listen to everything and read the transcriptions ourselves. It was really very interesting. They have not done too much data analysis yet, as they are still in the process of collecting interviews, but it will be interesting to see what can be found from it. They will be looking at, of course, language variation, but they will also be able to look at social identity and other issues because of the type of questions asked.
After the lecture, we were free for a couple hours for lunch. We walked around the area a little bit- it was filled with students. We had lunch at a little Cretan restaurant and got gyros to go. It reminded me of all the times I got Döner in Germany. We walked from there and saw the Pantheon, which is a really brilliant piece of architecture. We didn't go outside, but instead kept walking through the busy streets until we eventually arrived at the former Sorbonne, which was much nicer looking on the outside. It was much more Parisian- the stone walls, statues, etc. But once again, we didn't have a chance to go inside, as we needed to keep walking to meet up for our next activity.
We met in front of the church in St-Germain-des-Prés, where we were given instructions for our observation activity. We wanted to look at variation in negation in French, as well as variation in pronouns. As for negation, grammatical French has two parts: "ne" in front of the verb and "pas" after. However, in oral French, the "ne" is very often dropped. The pronoun for the 2nd person plural "we" is also varied. The "nous" form is the actual "we" form, but people popularly use the 3rd person singular "on", which corresponds to the English "one" (as in, one goes to church on Sunday), but is very commonly used to mean we or a group. So, we were investigating those two particular traits in particular, just by walking around the neighborhood and listening in where we could. Our group found an indoor shopping mall (away from the cold!) and spent time there. As was to be expected, we did find numerous instances of the ne erasement and the use of 'on' for nous.
About an hour later, we met on the Pont des Arts, a pedestrian bridge crossing the Seine, to discuss our findings. It was unbelievably windy, so we didn't stay too long. From the bridge, we could see a lot of great structures, including Ile de la Cité, which is the very small island in the Seine which was essentially the very beginnings of Paris. Along the bridge fence, there were also tons of little locks that people had locked to the chains. Upon inquiry, we found out that it's a little romantic tradition. Couples will buy a lock, lock it to the fence, and then throw the key into the river to symbolize their neverending love. Awww.
From there, we were free for the day. I went with my professor and Richard, the older man of the group, to a little cafe in the area. I enjoyed the occasion and got to practice more French, and we had nice, leisurely conversation. Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel and planned to meet up later for dinner. On the way, Richard and I stopped in the grocery store near our hotel, which had a surprisingly large array of products. It was no Publix, but it was still very comprehensive- a person could really do all their basic grocery shopping there, instead of going to a bunch of little stores, which is more the French way. They had an especially impressive cheese selection, which I may have to investigate more before my trip home.
We took a couple hours back at the hotel to rest, and then Richard, my professor, and I all went back out to dinner. We went to a restaurant that my professor had visited in previous trips in Paris, a restaurant in the Belgian model that specializes in moules frites. Moules frites are mussels (steamed? boiled? not sure) prepared in varying ways, served with french fries. I don't think I ever had a meal specifically of mussels before, but I know I had tried them here and there. Mine were called Moules Léon, with Léon just being the name of the restaurant. It was some kind of buttery, white-wine sauce, and it was all good. Once again, we had a nice conversation, talking about various things like the French courses at UF and amusing experiences in foreign countries. After dinner, we took a brief walk around Notre Dame and the surrounding streets before finding (eventually) the nearest metro and making our way back to the hotel, where I now sit.
Overall, I am really enjoying my time here. Paris has so much to offer, and I feel I'm barely scraping the top of it. I'm getting along decently with my French, although there's always room for improvement, and I'm getting a feel for the French culture. Being here has also made me feel the need to live in a francophone environment, say either here or in Québec, for a more extended period of time. It's only then I think that I will approach my desired level of fluency. So, I think in my graduate school plans I should look for schools that either are already in francophone environments or have extended programs offered abroad. For example, my professor was telling me about exchange programs that UF has for either a semester or a full year in Rennes, where we happen to be going next Monday and Tuesday. I suppose the backup plan would just be to marry either un Québécois or un Français!
It's midnight and I still have homework to do, so bonsoir and good night!
The lecture itself was very interesting. The speaker, a French university professor in linguistics, spoke about her latest project of compiling a corpus of the French spoken in Paris today, from all different areas. Interestingly, such a project has never been undertaken in Paris. There are very famous corpora from Montreal, though, for example, which my professor has worked heavily on, as well as in a few other smaller French cities. Thus, the scope of the project is large and they have large hopes with it. The speaker talked about the collection of the data, like the questions posed to the participants and how they were asked, how the participants were found, the transcription process, etc. All of the data is also online, so we can go and listen to everything and read the transcriptions ourselves. It was really very interesting. They have not done too much data analysis yet, as they are still in the process of collecting interviews, but it will be interesting to see what can be found from it. They will be looking at, of course, language variation, but they will also be able to look at social identity and other issues because of the type of questions asked.
After the lecture, we were free for a couple hours for lunch. We walked around the area a little bit- it was filled with students. We had lunch at a little Cretan restaurant and got gyros to go. It reminded me of all the times I got Döner in Germany. We walked from there and saw the Pantheon, which is a really brilliant piece of architecture. We didn't go outside, but instead kept walking through the busy streets until we eventually arrived at the former Sorbonne, which was much nicer looking on the outside. It was much more Parisian- the stone walls, statues, etc. But once again, we didn't have a chance to go inside, as we needed to keep walking to meet up for our next activity.
We met in front of the church in St-Germain-des-Prés, where we were given instructions for our observation activity. We wanted to look at variation in negation in French, as well as variation in pronouns. As for negation, grammatical French has two parts: "ne" in front of the verb and "pas" after. However, in oral French, the "ne" is very often dropped. The pronoun for the 2nd person plural "we" is also varied. The "nous" form is the actual "we" form, but people popularly use the 3rd person singular "on", which corresponds to the English "one" (as in, one goes to church on Sunday), but is very commonly used to mean we or a group. So, we were investigating those two particular traits in particular, just by walking around the neighborhood and listening in where we could. Our group found an indoor shopping mall (away from the cold!) and spent time there. As was to be expected, we did find numerous instances of the ne erasement and the use of 'on' for nous.
About an hour later, we met on the Pont des Arts, a pedestrian bridge crossing the Seine, to discuss our findings. It was unbelievably windy, so we didn't stay too long. From the bridge, we could see a lot of great structures, including Ile de la Cité, which is the very small island in the Seine which was essentially the very beginnings of Paris. Along the bridge fence, there were also tons of little locks that people had locked to the chains. Upon inquiry, we found out that it's a little romantic tradition. Couples will buy a lock, lock it to the fence, and then throw the key into the river to symbolize their neverending love. Awww.
From there, we were free for the day. I went with my professor and Richard, the older man of the group, to a little cafe in the area. I enjoyed the occasion and got to practice more French, and we had nice, leisurely conversation. Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel and planned to meet up later for dinner. On the way, Richard and I stopped in the grocery store near our hotel, which had a surprisingly large array of products. It was no Publix, but it was still very comprehensive- a person could really do all their basic grocery shopping there, instead of going to a bunch of little stores, which is more the French way. They had an especially impressive cheese selection, which I may have to investigate more before my trip home.
We took a couple hours back at the hotel to rest, and then Richard, my professor, and I all went back out to dinner. We went to a restaurant that my professor had visited in previous trips in Paris, a restaurant in the Belgian model that specializes in moules frites. Moules frites are mussels (steamed? boiled? not sure) prepared in varying ways, served with french fries. I don't think I ever had a meal specifically of mussels before, but I know I had tried them here and there. Mine were called Moules Léon, with Léon just being the name of the restaurant. It was some kind of buttery, white-wine sauce, and it was all good. Once again, we had a nice conversation, talking about various things like the French courses at UF and amusing experiences in foreign countries. After dinner, we took a brief walk around Notre Dame and the surrounding streets before finding (eventually) the nearest metro and making our way back to the hotel, where I now sit.
Overall, I am really enjoying my time here. Paris has so much to offer, and I feel I'm barely scraping the top of it. I'm getting along decently with my French, although there's always room for improvement, and I'm getting a feel for the French culture. Being here has also made me feel the need to live in a francophone environment, say either here or in Québec, for a more extended period of time. It's only then I think that I will approach my desired level of fluency. So, I think in my graduate school plans I should look for schools that either are already in francophone environments or have extended programs offered abroad. For example, my professor was telling me about exchange programs that UF has for either a semester or a full year in Rennes, where we happen to be going next Monday and Tuesday. I suppose the backup plan would just be to marry either un Québécois or un Français!
It's midnight and I still have homework to do, so bonsoir and good night!
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Mardi
Today was a long day, and it's only now at midnight that I can finally get around to writing about it. After getting ready and eating breakfast at the hotel, the group met in the lobby at 10 to begin the day's activities. Our itinerary included visits to two areas of differing social classes: the first would be to Oberkampf, an area of fairly ordinary people leading their daily lives, and the second to La Place Vendôme, which an area full of chic, expensive boutiques but not a lot of your every day, ordinary citizens- instead, it just attracts visitors from other areas.
Oberkampf was a pretty normal looking area. There were your various food stores, clothing stores, cafes and restaurants, and plenty of people were out and about. As part of the assignment, we were encouraged to go sit a cafe to observe. Unfortunately, we are not quite naturals at French cafe etiquette, and much of it is still a bit of a mystery to me. Do we just sit down anywhere? Inside? Outside? Wait to be seated? It's all just a bit awkward, and I feel very out of place. We actually did sit in the wrong place, and the guy had to tell us to move elsewhere, and of course switched into English immediately. Ugh. It wasn't the best experience, but we still stayed and had coffee to warm us up.
After the cafe, we met up with the group to go to a group lunch, one of the meals included in our program. We went to a Moroccan restaurant called Chez Zak. The group meals are always nice, because everyone's together and the food is pretty much guaranteed to be good. Today was no exception: as an appetizer I had a smoked salmon dish in some kind of oil and herbs, the main course was couscous with vegetables in sauce and merguez, which were kind of like spicy sausages, and a moelleux au chocolat, which was kind of a thinner, denser chocolate cake served with some kind of creme. I also had Orangina to drink and another café (coffee), but it implies espresso. Everything was great, and the restaurant had a nice, cozy atmosphere. It was also nice and leisurely, taking about 2 hours for all the courses.
After lunch, we went on to the second locale. It was definitely very upscale, with tons of expensive stores and designers. I even recognized a few. You could also tell that the people frequenting the area were of a different nature. We didn't have much interaction until Richard, the only male (and much older) member of the group, wanted to buy perfume for his wife back home. In the small perfume shop, we had a lengthy conversation with the saleswoman, who asked us about our time in Paris, etc. We also got perfumed, and I can still smell the scent on me at this moment. On the linguistic level, the language was also slightly different between the two areas- the second area was more formal and closer to standard French, while the first was more conversational and informal. The activities today were designed to prepare us for tomorrow, when we have a guest speaker talking about her research project, which is set to analyze the speech of Paris of today. The two neighborhoods we visited are two that she is including in her project, so we got to see firsthand what she is really delving into.
After a brief discussion with our professor, we were done with scheduled activities for the day. It was only about 4:30, so we had time to spend on our own. We were close to Les Tuileries, a famous garden, so we walked through there and could also see Le Louvre and L'arc de Triomphe and la Place de la Concorde. We took photos and then tried first go to the Orangerie, a museum with impressionist paintings, but of course, it is closed on Tuesdays, as was the Louvre when we tried to make a quick stop there. Since museums were looking unlikely, we just took a short side trip to Le Marais, which is a Jewish area with a lot of shopping. We explored the area a bit and then decided to head back to the hotel for a break. Surprisingly, we met up with the other half of the group at the same metro station, so we all headed back together.
After a brief repose, we had a light dinner, walking just two minutes down the street to a sandwich stand and bakery next door. I bought a nice, warm salmon panini and a really delicious raspberry dessert, and we went back to the hotel to eat together. We planned out some ideas for the next few days during our free time, as well. Most of our sighteeing will actually have be this week, since Monday and Tuesday of next week, we'll be in Rennes, and then all but one other day include evening activities.
It was then around 9:00, so Vanessa and I went on one more excursion to fill out the day. We took a walk down to the Tour de Montparnasse, which is a giant skyscraper in our neighborhood, about 15 minutes by foot. It was built in the 70's to much public outcry, as it's a very New York-esque dark, glass building that completely dwarfs everything around it. It definitely does not fit in with the other architecture of the area. Although they offer tours, it was getting late, and we did not go up. We then walked back to the hotel, where I have been ever since, working on my homework (daily sociolinguistic journal entry) as well as my blog.
Tomorrow is another busy day, so I'll just be off! When I have more time, I will also write in French!
P.S. It is still so cold, especially at night. I'm really hoping it warms up, if only for the fact that in my pictures it looks like I'm wearing the same clothes every day.
Oberkampf was a pretty normal looking area. There were your various food stores, clothing stores, cafes and restaurants, and plenty of people were out and about. As part of the assignment, we were encouraged to go sit a cafe to observe. Unfortunately, we are not quite naturals at French cafe etiquette, and much of it is still a bit of a mystery to me. Do we just sit down anywhere? Inside? Outside? Wait to be seated? It's all just a bit awkward, and I feel very out of place. We actually did sit in the wrong place, and the guy had to tell us to move elsewhere, and of course switched into English immediately. Ugh. It wasn't the best experience, but we still stayed and had coffee to warm us up.
After the cafe, we met up with the group to go to a group lunch, one of the meals included in our program. We went to a Moroccan restaurant called Chez Zak. The group meals are always nice, because everyone's together and the food is pretty much guaranteed to be good. Today was no exception: as an appetizer I had a smoked salmon dish in some kind of oil and herbs, the main course was couscous with vegetables in sauce and merguez, which were kind of like spicy sausages, and a moelleux au chocolat, which was kind of a thinner, denser chocolate cake served with some kind of creme. I also had Orangina to drink and another café (coffee), but it implies espresso. Everything was great, and the restaurant had a nice, cozy atmosphere. It was also nice and leisurely, taking about 2 hours for all the courses.
After lunch, we went on to the second locale. It was definitely very upscale, with tons of expensive stores and designers. I even recognized a few. You could also tell that the people frequenting the area were of a different nature. We didn't have much interaction until Richard, the only male (and much older) member of the group, wanted to buy perfume for his wife back home. In the small perfume shop, we had a lengthy conversation with the saleswoman, who asked us about our time in Paris, etc. We also got perfumed, and I can still smell the scent on me at this moment. On the linguistic level, the language was also slightly different between the two areas- the second area was more formal and closer to standard French, while the first was more conversational and informal. The activities today were designed to prepare us for tomorrow, when we have a guest speaker talking about her research project, which is set to analyze the speech of Paris of today. The two neighborhoods we visited are two that she is including in her project, so we got to see firsthand what she is really delving into.
After a brief discussion with our professor, we were done with scheduled activities for the day. It was only about 4:30, so we had time to spend on our own. We were close to Les Tuileries, a famous garden, so we walked through there and could also see Le Louvre and L'arc de Triomphe and la Place de la Concorde. We took photos and then tried first go to the Orangerie, a museum with impressionist paintings, but of course, it is closed on Tuesdays, as was the Louvre when we tried to make a quick stop there. Since museums were looking unlikely, we just took a short side trip to Le Marais, which is a Jewish area with a lot of shopping. We explored the area a bit and then decided to head back to the hotel for a break. Surprisingly, we met up with the other half of the group at the same metro station, so we all headed back together.
After a brief repose, we had a light dinner, walking just two minutes down the street to a sandwich stand and bakery next door. I bought a nice, warm salmon panini and a really delicious raspberry dessert, and we went back to the hotel to eat together. We planned out some ideas for the next few days during our free time, as well. Most of our sighteeing will actually have be this week, since Monday and Tuesday of next week, we'll be in Rennes, and then all but one other day include evening activities.
It was then around 9:00, so Vanessa and I went on one more excursion to fill out the day. We took a walk down to the Tour de Montparnasse, which is a giant skyscraper in our neighborhood, about 15 minutes by foot. It was built in the 70's to much public outcry, as it's a very New York-esque dark, glass building that completely dwarfs everything around it. It definitely does not fit in with the other architecture of the area. Although they offer tours, it was getting late, and we did not go up. We then walked back to the hotel, where I have been ever since, working on my homework (daily sociolinguistic journal entry) as well as my blog.
Tomorrow is another busy day, so I'll just be off! When I have more time, I will also write in French!
P.S. It is still so cold, especially at night. I'm really hoping it warms up, if only for the fact that in my pictures it looks like I'm wearing the same clothes every day.
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