A Day in the Life

Believe it or not, I have culled through pictures and tried to be streamlined.  I've been worrying all day that there was too much to make an interesting blog, but then I realized that maybe that is exactly the point.  If this blog is a journal about the experience of a student in France, the reader had better have an idea of what it's like to be here.  Every minute there is something new to see and think about.  This city has been around so long that every nook and cranny has been filled, carved, planted, paved and decorated several times.  There really is not a corner that doesn't' have something you could be fascinated by.  This is possibly the densest place I have every been.  So here goes.....

Okay, to start the day (and by "start the day," I mean start the part of the day that begins after the train ride to town, class on Molière, and tour group negotiations!) I broke down and bought myself a "Paris coat," by that I mean a black trench coat.  The day was supposed to beautiful, and maybe if we hadn't climbed the highest point in Paris I would have been okay, but, alas, it started to rain and blow and I'm so tired of being cold that I decided it was time to "go black" and fit in!  And what a great store to buy it in, look at that door!! You have to duck to get into it.  I'm pretty sure some city inspector would have trouble with that in the states, and that's why we aren't as charming a place as Paris!

Sacré Coeur is a relatively new church, built at the turn of the century.  It's a beautiful building with a central dome and an enormous chapel.

Like I said, it's on the highest spot in Paris. Who knew you could actually see a view like this.  It was pretty cool.

Not as ornate as many churches, it still was ringed with pretty mean looking gargoyles .

Pals!

I stole this picture from Brittany's Facebook because we could only get one picture out of this specific "guest photographer."  But this sort of gives you an idea of what the church looks like.  It was spectacular on the inside as they all are, but they wouldn't allow pictures so you'll have to look it up on the internet if you're interested!

Just around the corner from the Cathedral, this might have been the highlight of the day!  And it was great music too!

Behind the fabulous musicians was another, much smaller church built in the early 12th Century.  I like this one precisely because it was small.

Their stained glass has obviously been redone quiet recently.  It almost looked incongruous, but it really popped. Taking a picture of a window means it's going to be washed out because the camera picks up all the light coming in, so when you look at this you have to double the color!  It was so rich.

The alter, also obviously new, looked even more incongruous, but possibly every change made over the centuries was met with raised eyebrows and skepticism, so who am I to judge!

The organ.

Right after the churches Kelli got nabbed by some street performers, they had her shaking her hips and moving with the best of them.  It was way fun for us, maybe not so fun for her!!

Finally, lunch!  If only fast food were like this in Utah!  Hot quiche to go, and fresh squeezed orange juice!

Now we're off to the Montmartre Museum built in a building where Renoir and other artists lived and painted.  For those who know any art, the picture on the plaque was painted while he lived here.

Vineyards left over from when this whole area was wine-country.  These and other gardens and woods whose pictures I edited out, were supposedly much of the inspiration for the painters in this area, Renoir, Van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec, and others.

At the museum grateful to have a friend who didn't rattle off french too fast!

Interesting info:  This posters and all posters we see that fall in this genre come from a publicity movement in Paris in the 1800's.  When printers invented an ink that didn't run in the rain, posters like this became a huge form of marketing and advertising, especially for revues and other theatre ventures.  A whole art form sprung up as venders would hire real artists to design posters for their show.  This one is for the Moulin Rouge, the most famous cabaret show in the world, 

But this image by another artist has become the most famous poster from this era, and an icon of Paris culture.

We see hundreds of random things everyday, and this one just caught my eye as we pounded up this hill.  Sarah and Paris just go together for me!

This park was pointed out to us primarily because it has some of the only toilettes available on this walk.  Another interesting cultural fact:  Paris does not have public restrooms.  There are very few anywhere, which would account for the fact that we were walking down by the Pompidou yesterday and walked right by, and I mean right by, a man who was....and he didn't leave anything to the imagination for me and or the girls that were walking by. We almost walked right into the line of fire. It was a moment I'm sure some of them will never forget.  Shall we say "too much information!!??"

Anyway, back to the tour.  This is a statue of St Dennis.  If you will look closely, he is carrying his head! He was beheaded by the Romans in the third century for being a Christian, and the legend is that after he was beheaded, he picked up his head and carried it down the mountain before he died!

Well, this was not officially on the tour, but these kids were having a great time at this water spigot and they just reminded me of my kids, who when given a park to play in or a trickle of water, always chose the trickle of water!

The park they were ignoring!  Parks are the same everywhere, kids, laughter, toys, and parents standing around visiting.  Looked like home--sort of.

You have to keep your eyes open in Paris because you never know what you'll see.  Like I said above, every corner has been decorated in some way or another.

We were walking up the street and I saw this and just thought, "wow, I wonder what's behind that door.  It's obviously important to someone, and it's just stuck there in the middle of the wall.

Van Gogh's house.  I don't really know what more to say about it, there's a plaque on the wall that says he lived here with his brother.  This is where he lived when he wandered out into a field and either shot himself, or was killed by some kids who were playing there.  The truth is up for grabs depending on who you believe.

We get so busy on these tours looking at places where famous people used to live, or paint, or worship, or write, or think about ways to change the world, that sometimes it's easy to forget to see the people who live and breath here today.  I just thought this woman looked so elegant with her brown beret and scarf and the flowers draped on her knee.  And the flowers reminded me of my Grandma Pay's front porch.

Why don't we sell strawberries in baskets like this in the states.  I swear it makes them taste better.  These were delicious, we ate a whole basket on the subway ride home.

But not till one last stop--the Moulin Rouge.  Had to get a picture for my kids, so just try and ignore the fact that I'm in front of one of the raunchier show houses in town!!  

The End

All that's left of my day is a couple of hours of homework and a somewhat painful dinner with my French family where it became a dinner time project to help me say "yogurt" in french.  I'm not going to even explain that, except that it does not roll off my tongue!

Good Night, I hope your aren't as tired as I am!