Mom's Adventure in Paris part 3

Day three was our most ambitious day of the three in Paris. We took three incredibly crowded metros to Versailles. I don't think I've ever had so many people touching me at once in my life. It was not a comfortable situation at all. Mom also got to experience a French strike first-hand. The workers at Versailles were having a "general conversation" and decided to open an hour and a half late. It's a good thing it took us an hour on the metro to get there? So after waiting in line for another hour or so, we finally gained entrance into one of the most decadent buildings in the world. Although I agree Versailles is a gross waste of money, I can't help but be impressed with everything inside. Every surface inside and out is decorated with something. I don't think Mom had her mouth shut the whole time we walked through. We did another thing that was new for me and we wandered through a little bit of the gardens at Versailles. I'm not sure garden is the right word for it though. The grounds are enormous. It would take a week to walk through...that's IF you don't get lost in the maze of trees and such. It's a pretty impressive place. We ate lunch inside one of Marie Antoinette's playhouses and Mom tasted her first Croque Monsieur--not bad.

We then took the metro back towards the Eiffel Tower, saw a little bit of that in the day time and then we started walking West toward the Statue of Liberty. When France gave us the Statue of Liberty, one was given back to them and now the two statues face each other from opposite sides of the world. So we walked along the river to the Ile de Cygnes and on a teeny tiny strip of man-made land, there she was. About twenty times smaller than the one we have, but an exact replica nonetheless. The most surprising thing is that we were the only two there to appreciate it. I thought that was a little strange--but hey, WE saw it.

Afterwards, we went to the catacombs. I think Mom is in agreement with me when I say this is one of my favorite places in Paris. It's just so interesting. As Mom says...only the French would make a work of art out of bones. Since I wasn't focusing on taking pictures this time, I was able to focus on a lot more the second time around. I spent a lot more time reading the inscriptions on the wall and came to find that many of the inscriptions were sayings that Mom has become familiar with while working for Hospice. Phrases about death and not being afraid of death, but instead respecting death enough to live each day to the fullest. I think Mom has done this by accepting the trip here. She pretty much dropped everything and came. And in return, she was very nearly humiliated in front of a huge crowd of people in Paris with her now famous public toilet incident. The restrooms in Paris are just little pods with toilets inside with a sliding door that opens about six feet wide. And while she was sitting on the toilet, all six feet of the door opened wide! About twenty seconds later after sheer looks of terror and panic, we both realized there was nothing we could do and continued with shrieking laughter to the point of crying. Only Mom would get caught with her pants down on a busy road in Paris.

We then headed back toward Notre Dame (yes, we saw Notre Dame every single day we were in Paris--clearly her favorite part don't you think!), and we decided to walk along the Seine until sun-down. The river is really beautiful at this time of day. We were lucky enough to have a little bit of sun while walking, so it was even better. I bought Daniel and Jenn's wedding present here! We walked probably about half a mile or more, and got some incredible pictures of the Eiffel Tower lighting up just before sunset. I take back everything I said about the Tower being the best at night...it's the best at sunset. It was so cool to walk along the river at this time of day because we could see everything start to light up and change from day mode to night mode. There's nothing like that in Rushville along the Flatrock!

As you can imagine, we were pretty pooped out after Versailles, Catacombs, traumatic toilet experiences and the Seine. We made it back to the hotel with 27,000 steps under our belt. Talk about being exhausted...after three days of chasing after the metro and buses and Mom chasing after me. So we packed up our stuff and reluctantly got our things together to go our separate ways. The next morning, we had no trouble getting to the airport, but I think we both had trouble watching the other go in opposite directions. Three more weeks! But as I write this, it's two and a half. Getting closer. And I'm not ashamed to say that I'm listening to Christmas music while writing this.

Mom's Adventure in Paris part 2

Day two was slightly less ambitious than day one, but we still managed to squeeze in quite a bit. We started back at Notre Dame to go up in the towers. Four hundred steps later, we finally made it to the top (after a slightly disgruntled me dealing with an annoying ticket booth). Even though it was a little hazy that day, it was still a sight to see. And can you imagine climbing up those four hundred stairs every single day to ring the bells every hour? Unbelievable. They must have had legs like a rhinoceros. When we got to the bottom, we just had legs of jello. Remember those jello commercials where everything is jiggling when they touch the jello? Yeah...that's about an accurate description. But WORTH IT.

After that, we headed up to the Champs-Elysees to see the Arc de Triomphe and to find something to eat. This is where Mom got a little crazy with the camera. I believe at some point she took a picture of someone's parked car. After we ate at a decent restaurant (where I still can't figure out how they knew automatically that we spoke English), we headed under the Arc where the master of photography was shoved out of the way by another master of photography. hahaha. Poor Mom...ruining some French guy's picture. Tsk. As if he expected to come to a tourist attraction and not get any other people in the picture. Good luck buddy.

Then we hiked our way over to one of my favorite parts of Paris--Montmartre. We started out at Starbucks to get a picture for Brenda, then we moved over to Sacre Coeur. I know I've explained it before, but the hill up to this place is so cool. It's the world's largest flea market, so on the way up to the church there's tons and tons of little shops selling an oddball collection of things with people in the streets playing games and such. It's really an interesting little place. The only bad thing is, they don't sell much else besides touristy junk. We had quite an encounter with street vendors on the way up to the church. I think he was struck cold by the Mama Burk, "NO." She had a little bit of crazy eyes going on. The first time I came to the church, it was pretty close to night time, so the church was closed. So I got to see something I didn't see last time and I'm so glad I did. The inside of the church is incredible. Unlike Notre Dame, this church is quite decadent--I don't know how those people pay attention during mass. The dome of the church has a huge golden mosaic of Jesus on the ceiling along with several other mosaics. And the stained glass in the church is pretty fancy looking too. After checking out the church for a little bit, Mom went to the center to "say her prayers" and comes back with her CAMERA in her hand! It was made very clear to not take pictures of the church. Sinner. Thought that was pretty hilarious that she sneaked some pictures after her prayers haha. So now Mom has prayed for all of you guys at Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur. God is up there scratching his head trying to follow this busy-body!

We ended our day at the Luxembourg gardens. I wasn't expecting much due to the cold, but to our surprise, they were planting flowers and plenty were in bloom. Unfortunately, we couldn't go inside the castle, because I think it's a government building now. That's okay...I don't really want to see a bunch of government officials at work. Awkward. It's a pretty cool garden though, with plenty of statues of royalty throughout the garden, and elaborate fountains and so on and so forth. We left the garden and sniffed out some French pastries and a baguette.

After that, we trucked it back to the hotel. I was quite the party-pooper that day. I had to finish up homework that I couldn't frantically finish before she got here. I think this was really okay because we were pretty chilled to the bone by this point. So we cranked up the heat, sent some messages, got homework done and just relaxed. Dinner at the hotel was an interesting experience. The waiter had a little bit of a strange accent, so I'm sure he was less than impressed with my ability to communicate with him. But, overall, a successful day. By this time, I was really proud of myself for not getting ourselves lost at all in Paris. Go me!

Mom's Adventure in Paris part 1

We started towards Paris early in the morning. Nathalie drove us to the train station which was VERY nice and we hopped on a train for the next two hours. Upon getting of the train, we (after some difficulty) acquired our three day metro/bus pass, and this is when Mom started to go a little bit crazy. We needed to take the metro 4, then get off and connect to RER B and then get off and get on a bus to our hotel. It sounds complicated, but it's actually really simple. The hard part was mom keeping up with me. After dragging her unnecessarily large suitcase through two metros and one bus, my bruised mommy and I arrived at our hotel in Fresnes. But there's no rest for the weary, because we turned right back around and headed toward the Louvre.

One thing I love about being a student over here is that I get into all the museums for free. :) Mom, on the other hand, had to pay full price. But I'm pretty sure if you asked her she'd say it was worth it. We walked around the Louvre for about three hours and MAYBE saw a third of it. I think she was more struck by how large the Louvre is than by how much artwork is in there. The whole thing is incredible. I think the highlight of the Louvre was seeing original parts of the castle in the lower level. They still have the original stones from hundreds of years ago. Also a highlight--Greek and Roman sculptures.

After Mom took her four million pictures, we turned our weary feet toward Notre Dame for 6:30 mass, which was given by the archbishop and televised--if anyone's interested--http://www.notredamedeparis.fr/index.php?page=calendrier&date=2010-11-21&id_rubrique=2. This is by far the best thing I could ever give my mom. One thing that's great about Catholicism is that it's a universal religion. So even though Mom wasn't able to understand what was being said by the archbishop, she could follow along with her English prayers. As I've said before, Notre Dame holds a certain feeling. It's not necessarily decadent or striking, but you feel different inside. You feel different knowing that millions of people have been there to pray, to sing, to cry, to laugh, to live. All of you have been added to the uncountable amount of prayers said in Notre Dame and you have my mom to thank for that. I'm sure God did a double-take when he heard her praying all the way in Paris!

Quite satisfied with ourselves, we headed to see the Eiffel Tower because I assured Mom it's the best at nighttime. And sure enough, the second we walked out of the metro, the Eiffel Tower was twinkling! Doesn't she just have the best of luck? We oohed and aahed once more at the Tower and took some more pictures and had some more hugs. By this time, I think she was pretty tired of running after me on the Paris metro system and we headed back toward the hotel for the night enchanted and ready for the next day.

Mom's Adventure in Nantes part 2

The next day started out a little bit later than expected. Apparently our bodies wanted more sleep and decided to just sleep in an extra hour. I think mom was alright with that. Forgot to mention in my part 1 entry, that I was very grateful to have Mom there on her first night because she killed one of the larger spiders I've seen in this house that had a face like a lobster. The spiders and I are making a pact that my room is OFF LIMITS. I'm sure they'll talk about it at their next meeting.

ANYWAYS, we started off walking, and walking, and walking. We started out in the park next to my house. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to see the botanical gardens in all their glory, but there were still a few flowers hanging on. We then went to the market. Nantes does an open market every Sunday and mom happened to see the antique market when she was hear. Even though it was raining, we saw some pretty nifty looking stuff--if only I could fit furniture into my suitcase....

After that, we ate at an interesting little creperie. The crepes did not come on a plate, but they did come wrapped up in a cute little paper bundle. I know that I say this every time I try crepes at a new place, but these were amongst the best I've had. Pretty delicious. And I think mom was in agreement. We then did a little bit of shopping at the Galleries Lafayette--didn't buy much, but it was pretty cool to see the French version of Macy's.

Then, we made our way down to see something I haven't seen yet--Les Machines de l'Ile. Mom was quite the rebel on the way there and rode the tram illegally--TWICE. *gasp* The Machines on the island are pretty impressive little creatures--and by little I actually mean huge. Unfortunately, the gallery was closed so we couldn't see all of it, but we were able to see the elephant and the mechanical tree. We later took a virtual tour of the place which was pretty neat. Much better than standing in the rain if I'm being honest! Anyways, the island was dreamt up by a group of people inspired by Jules Vernes fiction and De Vinci mechanics. Combine the two and you get giant elephants with wheels for feet. Pretty interesting.

After, we did a little bit more shopping in the Passage Pommeraye. The passage is a compilation of cute, expensive little stores with very unique things. For example, we bought ourselves some macaroons in a chocolate store known for its chocolate moldings of shoes and ladybugs. Then I bought a matryoshka doll at a very colorful store. And once again, we took refuge in the house to attempt an ounce of warmth and to get into some dry clothes. I was suffering severely from WJS (Wet Jean Syndrome).

We ventured out once more to Bouffay, which is exactly what it sounds like--a buffet. Bouffay is a road that goes on for quite some time with tons of restaurants crammed together. We searched out something that looked/smelled delicious and after seeing about fifty restaurants, we finally settled on an Italian restaurant. Yes I know, Italian restaurant in France. And Mom got an English menu.

After all of THAT, we returned to the bed and climbed under the covers and tried to prepare our bodies for Paris in the morning :)

Mom's adventure in Nantes part 1

Well we got off to a rough start here. Apparently I gave impeccable directions right up until our meeting point. Both of us waited about thirty minutes for the other in rooms right next to each other in the train station. Doesn't that kind of thing only happen in funny movies? I finally moved to the next room just as she was looking for a phone and I yelled, "MOM!" Her expression need to be found in the dictionary under "relief." But she made it safely here and shortly after had her first taste of France--a delicious chocolate eclair from my favorite boulangerie.

I got to show her Deux Rives and a little bit of the house before dinner. We gave Nathalie all her little gifts for which she is very grateful--especially the fruitcake cookies! She is begging me for the recipe! (Maybe gram should call them "Even the French people love them cookies"). But, dinner was an interesting scene with mixes of French and English and by the end my brain was worn out from translating! But to be quite honest, I was pretty proud of myself. Vianney did a little translating himself as well. It was an interesting conversation to say the least. Nathalie also made a valiant effort to make an event out of dinner. The table was quite a sight--she even went so far as to match the candles to the tablecloth.

But the best part of the night by far was watching mom experience French electricity for the first time. Let's just say--there was a heating pad casualty followed by an awkward conversation with Nathalie--and I learned the French word for socket.

The next day, she followed me to my grammar class, which I'm sure was fascinating. She was then introduced to her first galette and crepe. She didn't seem wildly impressed with the galette, but there's no mistaking how much she loved her caramel crepe--"They actually use REAL caramel??"


Afterwards, we explored Nantes some and I got to rediscover everything about Nantes. The cathedral, the castle, the fountains, the roads. It was pretty cold that day, but that didn't deter us from walking the ramparts all around the castle. I think I've been here so long that this kind of thing is normal--but once again, walking on the ramparts, I was struck by the amount of history this place holds. We saw two churches in Nantes as well, but I know that all I could think about was wanting to take her to Notre Dame in Paris. Afterward, we went to tea at the neighbors' house where I babysit. I think this was a relief for mom because she was able to contribute to the conversation (my neighbors speak great English). After that we sought refuge in the house and TRIED to get warm and then decided to do one very American thing--order a pizza.

My Encounter with French Muslim Culture

Well, I know it's been awhile so here comes the word vomit

While teaching at Deux Rives, I have met a huge Muslim population. The neighborhood is mostly Muslim and so are most of my students. A few weeks ago was one of the huge Muslim holidays. All the students were very happy to leave classes early to spend time in the mosque with their family, neighbors and friends. I continued to teach those days, but the kids who DID show up had no desire to pay attention. Needless to say they were more than happy to leave early.

And so was I! The second I walked out the door, I could smell all the fantastic dinners families were making. I really wish I could've stayed there for dinner. But, getting to know so many Muslims has been a fantastic learning experience for me. In Rushville, out of all 8,000 people, there are no Muslims and at DePauw--where they claim to be diverse--there are probably two. In France, Muslims make up a pretty good part of the population. And I find their culture very interesting.

One thing I find quite interesting is that like everyone in France, they greet everyone by touching them. The men always shake hands, but not in the firm American way. It's more like a hand touch. And I've observed that the closer they are, the longer this handshake lasts. They hold a very high respect for others and as a result I have felt more welcomed in this neighborhood than in any other part of Nantes.

I haven't really noticed any strong differences between French culture and French-Muslim culture, but I have noticed subtle differences in their quiet and patient gestures and their incredible ability to not let things bother them. When Deux Rives was broken into during vacation, a computer, a laptop and two hundred fifty euros was stolen and the door had been broken. The strongest emotion anyone displayed was disappointment and sadness for the person who needed to do that. No anger or fear or any sense of loss--just disappointment. That, I find absolutely incredible and I admire them for that.

Paris Adventures!

I'm on my fourth day back from vacation in Paris and I wish I could go back. When Nathalie told me, "Paris est la plus belle ville du monde," she wasn't kidding. After searching through typical French streets that make no sense, my traveling buddy Caitlin and I finally found our hostel. By that time it was dark and we spent all of two minutes deciding what we should do first in Paris after dark. The Eiffel Tower! After hopping off the metro and peering over squat apartments and cafes, there it was. The icon of France glowing golden and standing proud. If only someone could have filmed my reaction--I don't think I've ever made such a squealy, girly sound in my life. Finally, I have done something I've dreamed of doing my entire life. I have stood at the foot of the Eiffel Tower and peered to the top of the symbol of France and now--the symbol of everything I've worked so hard to achieve.

After our first adventure, we returned to our hostel to be de-romanticized for the night. We had our own room and bathroom, but that didn't keep the noise out. And our shower functioned with one of those annoying buttons you find in public restrooms that you have to push so many times you wonder why you're washing your hands in the first place. Imagine that in a shower.


The next day we started early at Notre Dame--the oldest cathedral in Paris whose construction began in the 1100s and continued for 200 years. This is of course the church that inspired the story of Quasimodo which in turn inspired the renovation of many national monuments in France. And the cathedral is incredible--one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. The stained glass windows are magnificent. The inside of the church just felt sacred. People have poured out prayers, lamentations and confessions of love, hope, sadness, desperation and anger for almost a thousand years right there. It's incomprehensible. And after waiting in line for an hour, we climbed the four hundred steps of the towers that served as muses for the Disney movie and discovered that the images appearing in the movie are exact. The gargoyles actually look like that! They even have the same personalities. I also learned that the bell of Notre Dame was baptised "Emmanuel." Strange coincidence.

After that, we took a twenty minute train ride to Versailles--the cozy home of Louis XVI. Ha-right-cozy. Pictures can not even portray how huge this place is. Not only is it huge but it's also decked out in gold and marble. And tourists! We waited in line for so long to gain entrance into the castle and even then, I couldn't get a single picture without someone else in it. There were so many people there, it made the castle seem small--quite a feat if you ask me. But, despite all of that, we got to experience the architectural grandeur, the artistic genius, and the gaudiness of Louis and Marie Antoinette. I don't know how anyone got anything done--or slept for that matter. There's so much going on in each room. Especially the sun room which was covered in mirrors and had chandeliers hanging every two feet. Art on the walls, floors, ceiling, decoration on every surface of everything, mirrors everywhere, chandeliers everywhere...even looking outside is distracting. The gardens were fantastic! Speaking of gardens--peaking out one of the windows to the garden, we were able to witness wedding photography in process. Ladies--eat your heart out is all I can say, because no wedding venue will top Versailles. This was definitely one of the top things I have seen while here. We spent quite a bit of time there and left tired, excited and sad to leave what we wish could be our home!

How would you like to have THIS as your sun room! Or that as your bedroom. Or THIS as your wedding. The gardens of Versailles. Every woman at the castle that day is jealous of her. I guarantee it.



Our next day was the most ambitious day of the four. We saw so many things and walked so many places that we couldn't even do anything but lay in our beds in the hostel when we got back. But it was incredible! We started off the day searching for the Bastille. We knew that the storming of the Bastille is France's Independence day, but we didn't actually know what we would find when we got there. It turns out there IS no Bastille. It's a monument for what it USED to be. That's it. So, we took our pictures and moved on to the next thing--but hey--we SAW it. After that we visited an Arab exhibition which was very interesting. However, we forgot about the time change and had to wait another hour before it opened. So we walked along the Seine and saw the Notre Dame from another beautiful angle--took the most postcard looking picture of my entire trip. We also saw ANOTHER wedding going on--pictures were being taken on the steps of the Seine. Seriously. Jealousy.

Anyways, I learned quite a bit about the daily life of Arabs from a thousand years before Christ until now. Sadly, though, we weren't permitted to take pictures--the same at the Musée d'Orsay. But, I can show you a picture of the outside! And then tell you the one awesome thing I saw inside that I will NEVER forget-Van Gogh's self portrait! OMG! I feel so cultured. After that, we trucked it over to the Opera House. Anybody who knows me well enough to know my obsession with Phantom of the Opera knows that this is a huge deal. So it was also terribly devastating discovering that the whole front of the opera house was under construction. But who cares--I was in the opera house. The. Opera. House. I think I would've peed my pants if I had the opportunity to watch an opera there. I ran up and down the stairs of that place like a child in a grocery store, snapping pictures of everything and making some sort of excited noise about it all. What I REALLY wanted to do was run around and sing opera songs the entire time I was there. But, I was already being a nuisance as it was--best to not be kicked out :( I have to say though, I didn't get a picture of it, but the ceiling in the theater was really strange. It looked like a child took a crayon to it. I was expected some elegantly painted ceiling and it looked like something I drew for mom to put on the refrigerator in second grade. But, again, I don't care. It was the opera house.

View from Montmartre

After that, we went from elegant, to not so elegant, and back again. Our next stop was--the red district of Paris--the Moulin Rouge. We didn't go inside--we were quite content just taking pictures of the gaudy neon lights and giggling at all the vulgar poses people found necessary to do for their pictures in front of the windmill. To feed Caitlin's coffee addiction, we rested in a Starbucks for a few minutes (like I said--not so elegant?), then moved on to Sacre Coeur at Montmartre. It's rumored that from here, you have the best view of Paris. Well...rumors are fact. The church sits on top of a huge hill with A TON of steps that we ran up to get pictures before the sun set. Quite an impressive view. From this vantage point, we could pick out everything we had seen and in turn get excited about the things we were going to see. All while standing next to this beautiful white church. It was the perfect way to end that exhausting day.


Our next exhausting day was to start out at the Louvre! I could fill five hundred blogs with the pictures I took of this place. It's even bigger than Versailles. I couldn't even fit a fourth of this thing in my camera. When I studied the home of Louis XIV in school, I remember reading that the castle was so big, they could only live in one side of it for half of the year. Then, they moved everything to the other side for the other half of the year. Can you even imagine? If you all thought moving Gram and Papa twice a year was hard, think about moving a castle twice a year! Anyways, this is of course THE place to find famous art pieces. Top three-Venus de Milo, Mona Lisa and Winged Victory. We managed to walk through I'd say about seventy-five percent of the Louvre in four hours. That's just walking--not stopping too long to admire anything--because if you want to see anything at all you can't look at EVERYTHING. There's stuff from the Americas, Africa, Italy, France, Ancient Greece and Rome, Egypt, etc., etc., etc. You know what--I'll just let you enjoy the pictures. I will say one last thing though--I did feel like quite the anachronism standing inside that giant glass pyramid. It is an odd thing.

We ended this day very slowly. If my feet could yell at me, they would. We walked along the Champs-Elysees for just a little bit, ate at a fantastic Italian restaurant (the best lasagna I think I've ever had--and chocolate mousse), and then saw the Arc de Triomphe. From both sides, because apparently we weren't smart enough how to figure out how to get underneath it. But, we didn't care. We were tired and wanted to go to the hostel and relax in order to survive the next day. We were to be kicked out of the hostel at nine thirty with all of our things and our train left at seven in the afternoon. So, we carried our bags around for quite some time.

Stop! It is here the empire of the dead

But, we did end our Halloween weekend in a way that I will never be able to repeat again in my life. Best. Halloween. Ever. First thing in the morning after leaving the hostel, we visited the Catacombs of Paris. After doing a bit of research (thanks, Mom), I learned that when Paris was expanding, they had to move the bones of people buried in cemeteries around the city. What better place to move them than underground? Thousands and thousands of bones for miles lie under the city in the catacombs. They call it the graveyard of the innocents, or the "Empire of the Dead." Please, think of a creepier name. We started our descent with just plain tunnels, expecting to see memorials, or headstones in walls, or something. I'm not really sure what we expected to see, but it definitely wasn't walls lined with bones! Apparently, some priest decided it would be a good idea to put the bodies in symbolic positions. This holds no good feelings for me. It just made it creepier. Seriously though, for miles underground, the walls are lined with skulls and bones. the entire underground of Paris is the catacombs or the metro. Try to conceive what that means. It means that my Halloween was AWESOME! I've never been so creeped out in my life.

We ended our trip with one more trip to the Eiffel Tower during the day time. It wasn't so pretty outside, but it was still the Eiffel Tower. We also saw the Hotel des Invalides. It was a pretty building, but by this time, all we really wanted to do was go home, use a real shower, and go to bed! But, I can't wait to go back!