Delicious!
-Michael
-Michael
dimanche 31 octobre 2010
Salon du Chocolat
The other day a couple friends and I went to an exposition here in Paris called "Salon du Chocolat." It ended up being some sort of international chocolate convention. Tons of free samples and an incredibly wide variety of items for purchase. I'll just let the pictures do the rest of the talking.
mercredi 27 octobre 2010
Place des Vosges
Took a walk around the area the other day and brought my camera with me...
Discovered Place des Vosges. A fairly interesting area with completely symmetrical red-brick buildings and a nice little park in the center.
And on the way back to my place...
Just a reminder, all images in this blog can be clicked for a larger viewing.
Halloween is coming up! Let's see how the Parisians do this, shall we?
-Michael
lundi 25 octobre 2010
Mont St. Michel
Hey everyone,
So my program organized a trip up to Northern France, Normandy to be exact. Unfortunately we did not see the famous Normandy Beaches known to history via D-Day but, we visited Mont St. Michel. I didn't go on a guided tour, my friends and I just decided to wander around on our own so I can't provide any history on this monument but here are some pictures for your enjoyment nonetheless.
So my program organized a trip up to Northern France, Normandy to be exact. Unfortunately we did not see the famous Normandy Beaches known to history via D-Day but, we visited Mont St. Michel. I didn't go on a guided tour, my friends and I just decided to wander around on our own so I can't provide any history on this monument but here are some pictures for your enjoyment nonetheless.
After spending a few hours there we then took our nice chartered bus back to Paris. I'd like to think I've been on quite a few trips in my life with a lot of time on the open road; watching the landscape fly by, playing games with friends to pass the time, looking for road signs to see how much further needed to be traveled, passing out against the window nearly being strangled by my seat belt, etc. But, I never thought that on one of those trips, I would be seeing signs for Paris along the road. It's surprising how small things like that can make me appreciate this experience even more.
Bisous de Paris tout le monde!
Michael
jeudi 14 octobre 2010
L'Université
School talk.
Started classes this past Monday at my University. The main (public) universities in Paris are all numbered but then also have a title after each number and I'm not sure how that works. My school, for example, is called Paris 8 Saint Denis - Vincennes. Depending on who you talk to, it is either just "Paris 8" or "Saint Denis Universite" but either way, like with most things, people will know what you are talking about.
First class was a Cinema course entitled "initation technique." Which is essentially going to be a general beginning film class. I have a feeling my friend and I are the only international students in there. Everyone else is French! Kind of cool, but also intense. After 3 hours of lecture everyone had pages of notes and I had a few keywords that I had caught and pictures to accompany them. I hope that I am able to befriend one of them so that I can copy their notes!
Second class was immediately after that, which is strange because either French students don't block their schedules with classes back-to-back or tardiness just does not exist. My Cinema class was from 9-12 and then the next one was 12-3. So, I rushed to the room and managed to find a seat in the middle of the classroom. The rest of my classes at Saint Denis are all "French as a Foreign Language." So they are to learn French, in French, with other international students. I sat in between someone from Berlin and another from somewhere in Italy! The class was actually a little too easy so I hope that it gets tougher later on.
I'm taking another class with my program (MICEFA) at another campus, Paris 3 - Sorbonne Nouvelle called "French Civilization through Cinema" so it is a good combo of learning about Cinema, learning French, and learning about French Culture. We are starting in the 50's and working our way up. It is somewhat of a history class, which is great because Paris is a place that knows it's history very well.
The majority of classes in Paris Universities are once a week for at least 3 hours and the registration process is incredibly stressful compared to that of the U.S. The University didn't have a course catalog until a week before the class was supposed to start. And then, you don't know where the classroom is until the first day and also the majority of the time you are unable to sign up for that class until the first day as well. Talk about last minute!
Well, until next time. I'll have more photos I promise!
Michael
Started classes this past Monday at my University. The main (public) universities in Paris are all numbered but then also have a title after each number and I'm not sure how that works. My school, for example, is called Paris 8 Saint Denis - Vincennes. Depending on who you talk to, it is either just "Paris 8" or "Saint Denis Universite" but either way, like with most things, people will know what you are talking about.
First class was a Cinema course entitled "initation technique." Which is essentially going to be a general beginning film class. I have a feeling my friend and I are the only international students in there. Everyone else is French! Kind of cool, but also intense. After 3 hours of lecture everyone had pages of notes and I had a few keywords that I had caught and pictures to accompany them. I hope that I am able to befriend one of them so that I can copy their notes!
Second class was immediately after that, which is strange because either French students don't block their schedules with classes back-to-back or tardiness just does not exist. My Cinema class was from 9-12 and then the next one was 12-3. So, I rushed to the room and managed to find a seat in the middle of the classroom. The rest of my classes at Saint Denis are all "French as a Foreign Language." So they are to learn French, in French, with other international students. I sat in between someone from Berlin and another from somewhere in Italy! The class was actually a little too easy so I hope that it gets tougher later on.
I'm taking another class with my program (MICEFA) at another campus, Paris 3 - Sorbonne Nouvelle called "French Civilization through Cinema" so it is a good combo of learning about Cinema, learning French, and learning about French Culture. We are starting in the 50's and working our way up. It is somewhat of a history class, which is great because Paris is a place that knows it's history very well.
The majority of classes in Paris Universities are once a week for at least 3 hours and the registration process is incredibly stressful compared to that of the U.S. The University didn't have a course catalog until a week before the class was supposed to start. And then, you don't know where the classroom is until the first day and also the majority of the time you are unable to sign up for that class until the first day as well. Talk about last minute!
Well, until next time. I'll have more photos I promise!
Michael
dimanche 10 octobre 2010
Cimitière du Père Lachaise
Greetings earthlings,
Since I've had so much free time on my hands I've tried exploring the city. A few days ago I visited one of the very large cemeteries here where people like Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, Chopin, and the like have been laid to rest. Unfortunately, I didn't have a map or anything when I got to the cemetery so I just had to wander around.
Federic Chopin
Jim Morrison
This past weekend has been some of the best weather I've seen in a very long time! And I am definitely taking advantage of it while it lasts. Friday, my old roommate from San Francisco came to visit so we went all over Paris looking at just about everything. And then yesterday, I spent nearly 6 hours in a park with some friends. It was nice to soak up the sun with everyone. I start school tomorrow, ahhh!
Until later-Michael
Since I've had so much free time on my hands I've tried exploring the city. A few days ago I visited one of the very large cemeteries here where people like Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, Chopin, and the like have been laid to rest. Unfortunately, I didn't have a map or anything when I got to the cemetery so I just had to wander around.
This past weekend has been some of the best weather I've seen in a very long time! And I am definitely taking advantage of it while it lasts. Friday, my old roommate from San Francisco came to visit so we went all over Paris looking at just about everything. And then yesterday, I spent nearly 6 hours in a park with some friends. It was nice to soak up the sun with everyone. I start school tomorrow, ahhh!
Until later-
lundi 4 octobre 2010
Le week-end!
Hello all!
Let's talk about my weekend shall we? First, Saturday night was Nuit Blanche. An annual event that occurs in various parts of Paris. Many art installations/exhibits, performances, videos, are available to view all night long. The night began at 7pm and went until about 6am the next day. There were a few birthdays going on this weekend for some people in our program so we decided to group up that evening to celebrate with them and then we all headed out to Nuit Blanche "ensemble."
Unfortunately the majority of us got separated and only ended up seing a few of the art installations but it didn't really matter. The city was alive and everyone was out all night long! My friends and I enjoyed walking the streets of Paris until about 6am when we decided it was time to call it quits.
The next day was museum day! On the first Sunday of every month the majority of the museums in the city are free. A select few are also free all the time for those under the age of 26. Despite my late bedtime from the previous night, I managed to crawl out of bed and hit up the farmers market for the essential weekly vegetable supply and then headed over to the Pompidou with a friend. Pompidou, a museum for modern art, is very close to my house so thankfully I didn't have to walk far.
It has a great view of the city once you get to the top:
Here are some nameless art pieces we viewed while there:
Today, Monday, I went to my University, Paris 8 - Saint Denis and registered for the courses that I will be taking this semester. It looks like I will be taking 3 French as a Foreign Language courses, all revolving around grammar, written and oral expression. 1 Cinema class that involves editing so I am very excited about that. And one course that is provided by my program MICEFA, called "French Civilization through Cinema" which starts this Wednesday. It looks like I will have Thursdays and Fridays off, so here's to long weekends and traveling! Or perhaps on the more sensible side, a job...
-Michael
Let's talk about my weekend shall we? First, Saturday night was Nuit Blanche. An annual event that occurs in various parts of Paris. Many art installations/exhibits, performances, videos, are available to view all night long. The night began at 7pm and went until about 6am the next day. There were a few birthdays going on this weekend for some people in our program so we decided to group up that evening to celebrate with them and then we all headed out to Nuit Blanche "ensemble."
Unfortunately the majority of us got separated and only ended up seing a few of the art installations but it didn't really matter. The city was alive and everyone was out all night long! My friends and I enjoyed walking the streets of Paris until about 6am when we decided it was time to call it quits.
The next day was museum day! On the first Sunday of every month the majority of the museums in the city are free. A select few are also free all the time for those under the age of 26. Despite my late bedtime from the previous night, I managed to crawl out of bed and hit up the farmers market for the essential weekly vegetable supply and then headed over to the Pompidou with a friend. Pompidou, a museum for modern art, is very close to my house so thankfully I didn't have to walk far.
It has a great view of the city once you get to the top:
Here are some nameless art pieces we viewed while there:
Today, Monday, I went to my University, Paris 8 - Saint Denis and registered for the courses that I will be taking this semester. It looks like I will be taking 3 French as a Foreign Language courses, all revolving around grammar, written and oral expression. 1 Cinema class that involves editing so I am very excited about that. And one course that is provided by my program MICEFA, called "French Civilization through Cinema" which starts this Wednesday. It looks like I will have Thursdays and Fridays off, so here's to long weekends and traveling! Or perhaps on the more sensible side, a job...
-Michael
Inscription à :
Articles (Atom)