Adventures in Normandy

Hello Again!
Another update I'm sure you have all been looking forward to :)

This week the program took us on a little trip up to the north of France to Normandy and Brittany. Here are all the cities I was in: Rouen, Caen, Saint-Lô, Bayeaux,  St Milo, and Chartres.

Rouen:
I saw the Notre Dame de Rouen. Which was a cathedral that was bombed during WWII. It was huge and incredibly impressive. Even after being in a ton of cathedrals, I still thought this one was pretty cool. The city itself is really picturesque with adorable old houses.

Notre Dame of Rouen

People in awe at how Flamboyant Gothic it is

Did I say cute or what?

This is what happens when you are in one place waiting for too long

Caen:
We went to the WWII Peace Museum. It documents all of the events leading up to the war, through the war and then after. It was really interesting. They have an exhibit just for the war beaches. Very educational. We also went to the Castle of Willaim the Conqueor. Which was pretty cool. It was my first castle unless you count Sleeping Beauty's...

The Peace Museum

Inside of the Peace Museum

Willy the Conqueror's House

Drew and Kira hanging out at Willy's

St Lo:
That's where the war beaches are for the most part. We first went to Point du Hoc. Which is where the troops had to scale a cliff face under fire to destroy the pillboxes. All of the bomb craters were still there. The view of the ocean was really beautiful. We were really lucky because we got there at sunrise and we were the only ones there. So we got the place to ourselves.

Sunrise at Pointe du Hoc

Me in front of beautiful scenery

Then we went over to the Normandy American Memorial and Cemetery. It was really well done and they did a really good job of documenting the events and memorializing the soldiers. It was alot like Arlinton National cemetery. I am always impressed by how straight they get the lines.

 

Then we went down to Omaha Beach. The day was pretty much perfect: warm and cloudless. And who doesn't love a good beach? So everyone went a little crazy, especially since we had all been cooped up in a car for too many hours. It was a blast.

Omaha Beach! Gorgeous Day!

The group at enjoying the beach

Bayeaux:
Saw a really long (70m) really old (1066ish AD) tapestry documenting the victory of William the Conqueror.

It wrapped around the other side too. It's the tapestry that never ends

St. Milo:
Right close to where le Mont St Michel is. We got there 10 mins too late to go into the actual abby, but honestly, you've seen one cathedral, to some extent you've seen them all. So we waited for the sun to set so we could see the place all lit up. It was pretty cool. And again, being in France during the off season means small crowds. Which is really really nice. I''ve been wanting to see Le Mont St Michel ever since I saw a picture of it back in high school, and it did not disappoint at all. It was amazing, especially at night!






Chartres:
Saw the famous cathedral. Which was like the other cathedrals that I've been in, except this one had the the Sancta Camisa, believed to be the tunic worn by the Virgin Mary at the time of Christ's birth. Nifty, huh? Also, on the way we stopped at some Roman ruins and played capture the flag.

Chartres Cathedral

Mary's night gown

Some delightful Roman Ruins

All in all, a great weekend. Definitely one for the ole journal :)
Hugs!
Emily

Le Premier Arrondissement: The Sighting of Kate Moss

Friends!
Paris, on a map, looks chaotic with a ton of tiny streets that go every which way. It's a wonder anyone can get around. Turns out Paris is organized, well... an organized mess. But Organized none the less. The city is broken up into sections called arrondissements. There are 20 of them and basically they are just sectors that divide up the city into chewable bites.

The first arrondissement is in the center and then they spiral out in a Nautilus shape, if you will

On a walk for my class, Paris Walks, I took a little tour of the first arrondissement. Which as you might have guessed is one of the most expensive parts of Paris. This is only affirmed by the presence of department stores that sell only expensive designer brands: Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, Chloe, Armani, you know the big names as well has many I had never heard of. But the price tags were enough to make me not want to touch anything. Though I did pick up a $2000 handbag. It was really pretty.

In the Galeries Lafayette. Yeah, that's a department store.

In the Printemps, another swanky department store

The streets are lined with expensive jewelers displaying their wares from store windows. Flaunting diamonds so big they made my jaw drop. I'm not a huge fan of diamonds, I think this makes me kind of a weird girl, but they were really pretty. Also, we passed by an actual Tiffany and Co store. I had a very Breakfast at Tiffany's moment.

That was seriously like a 9 carat diamond. Holy S!

Some more ridiculous jewelry

The walk itself took us by the Opera house, a giant cathedral, St. Madeline's, a very tall green poll that has something to do with Napoleon. I was too distracted by the Ritz Hotel to really pay too much attention to all the victorious battles it was depicting. France and winning wars? It's kind of funny and ironic.

Tribute to Napoleon in the Place Vendome

Looking fab at the Ritz

So, The Ritz, famous for many things which are not limited to: being very expensive, the best room goes for an incredible 8000euro per nigh, Princess Diana stayed there right before she died, and often plays host to celebrities. So when the idea of actually going into the Ritz hit, we all decided, why not. I figured we would get stopped before we even made it to the front doors. But walking with purpose will basically get you anywhere. So we walked in, looked around, used the bathroom, which was ridiculous in itself, in that it has hand towels in place of paper towels and a laundry hamper in place of a waste basket, then we left.

Can you see the stack of hand towels. Is it weird that I took a picture in a bathroom?...

 Upon departing out through the front doors, what do we see? That's right, the paparazzie. Waiting for you, you make ask? Sadly no. So next best thing, we decide to wait and see who is going to come out. And sure enough, a few minutes later, the paparazzie move up, and so do we, and a woman with a couple of big men come out. There are lots of flashing bulbs as the woman gets in the black sedan and drives off.

I promise Kate Moss is in there if you zoom in alot

Kate Moss in her car

So who was this woman? Later that night, Google revealed that the sunglassed and large hat adorned woman we saw depart the Ritz was in fact none other than the Kate Moss. Yeah, I had to look her up on Wikipedia too.

Maddie and Me at the Eiffel Tower- Magical!

Later that night we had a magical moment in Paris because we ended up at the Eiffel Tower. It was loverly. Paris is wonderful. I literally think that every day I am here. When I'm riding the Metro with people standing far too close to me and on the streets with the pigeons and hobos.

From Paris with Love,
Emily!

The French: Reflections, Observations, and Nutella

 For my French conversation class we are supposed to write about cultural differences we notice as we are in France. So I thought I would give my little perspective and recount my observations.

There is an incredible amount of people begging on the Metro and in the streets. It kind of breaks your heart, but at the same time, it’s so prevalent that you just kind of get desensitized.  And even as unChrist like as this is, annoyed at it. On the Metro, they are not like normal homeless people, silent with a sign. No these ones get on the trains and give speeches about their impoverishment or leave really depressing notes on the seat next to you tell you their life’s story. It happens every day and on every train I’ve ever taken.

My favorite form of asking for handouts are the street performers. They don’t bother me at all, in fact, I quite enjoy hearing the hippie playing his loot along with a back up track of Memory from Cats. Some of them will even come on to the Metro trains and play. It’s kind of nice to get serenaded whilst you navigate the Metro. Yesterday there was this guy that was drawing in chalk outside the Pompidou Center. It was amazing so naturally I donated to his cause, 30 centième, but hey it’s something.

Totally sweet chalk art. This guy was amazing

Legit set of chalk colors. He totally worked his magic.

It’s true what you’ve heard. Parisians are really well dressed. There is no wearing of sweat pants or pajamas in public. Very different from America, and very refreshing. Also, a surprising amount of women wear high heels in just casual dress. And they aren’t always low hears, I’m talking ‘wow I bet your feet hurt really bad right now’ kind of high heels. I am always impressed by what I see people wearing. So, my biggest mistakes in packing were leaving behind my skinny jeans and my messenger bag. 99% of people, men and women wear skinny jeans every day and no one carries a backpack. My boot cut jeans are so last season and my adorable cute JanSport backpack totally scream ‘American.’ What can you do?

Another lovely part of being in France in the cheap Nutella. They love it here and so do I. In fact my love for Nutella grows daily. I actually don’t buy real Nutella. I buy the off brand called Le Prix Gagnant and Pâte à Tartiner aux Noisettes which essentially translates as spreadable paste with hazelnuts. Yum! But really, my roommate, Maddie, and I just polished off a big jar in less than 2 weeks. We may have a problem. We have taken to having Nutella on brioche toast and hot chocolate parties. I never want to go a day without consuming chocolate in some form ever again. Everything tastes better in Paris. If I don’t come back 20 lbs heavier I will be very disappointed.

Our first jar of 'Nutella' on the left and our second jar on the right

Crazed look that comes only by consuming too much of a good thing

A typical snack for Emily and Maddie

 

As a side note. My roommate and I just used our kitchen for the first time to make dinner. We are totally becoming French ourselves as we made a three course meal. An appetizer of cheese, apples and Nutella, a main course of a thai style frozen meal, it was actually good, and a desert of various chocolate products including nutella on brioche of course. Amen! Now to watch Step Up…

Our Appetizer, and yes, that is an apple with Nutella and Camembert

Me skillfully heating up our delicious dinner complements of the Leader Price

All the good things in this world involve chocolate. OMG, Buenos are to die for!

These are the shoes I bought and mentioned in my last blog post. I love them! They are totally killer.

Another day in the neighborhood...

Hi Friends!

Another great day! I am getting more brave with my French. I am really trying to learn and I am asking questions in French. This is huge for me. I am totally not like this. But, sometimes you have just got to step up to the challenge.

Today started out with a bang. Which is totally 90 year old woman of me to say, but really it totally did. Maddie and I started our day by stopping in to a shoe store and I bought 2 pairs of shoes I love and a super cool jacket for 11 euro!! I mean the heals I bought are to die for amazing. And only 3 euro. It was like they were waiting for me. The French class was really good even though I am totally the biggest idiot in the class, ie I never understand what Grace, our teacher, is telling me. But I have no shame, so who cares. Then we made our way over to the 6^th arrondissement.

We saw lots of historic buildings, including a church that was apparently very important in the Da Vinci Code. We also went to the oldest bakery in Paris. I had a pain au chocolat, which was the best I have had since I’ve been here. Then we went to this crazy expensive bakery. Everything there was a little work of art and you could tell had been make with an artist’s care and skill. I paid 2 euro for a little macaron, which is what they are famous for. The flavor was called infiniment chocolat (immensely chocolate). And boy was it. It was totally a chocolate triple thread. Chocolate with chocolate and chocolate. I have never tasted something taste so chocolately except chocolate. It melted in your mouth and the texture was like nothing I have ever had.

We saw a horribly inappropriate statue. Saw a Mini Cooper with a British flag on the roof. And ended our walk at a church was across the street from Dior and Louis Vuitton. Ritzy side of town to say the least.

Well, that was my adventure today. Looking forward to another tomorrow!

Lots of Love,
Emily