Little Man being Erased

A Much Needed Post

Too much Time has come between

Yes, it has been about a week and a half until an update. I can assure you, the wait is well worth it. The main reason the wait was so long is because our last week in Angers was jam packed with activities, exams, tasks, and of course, saying our proper farewells.
So the last time I updated was on the 17th of June on a Wednesday. For sake of time saving, the rest of the week following the 17th was dull compared to much of the trip. There were no field trips taken, there were no new opportunities to take photos. There was a good amount of studying going on. I had a French Final Writing Comp. test as well as my Final Cut Pro Studio Apple Certification Test, and most importantly, my final critique for the documentary photography class.

I am happy and relieved to say, that they all went extremely well. I am officially Apple Certified for Final Cut Pro. I aced my French Final, and the photography critique went very well. It was a good end of the trip. Icing on the Cake. Though a lot of stress came beforehand.

On Friday the 26th, we all left Angers. It was a sad day, though I and most of the others wanted to move on to the next city, Paris. On the last night in Angers, we were walking down the cobble stone street, a bit loud, and all the sudden, a man leaned out from his window and said, “Americans?” (with a perfect American tongue).
“Yes, we are!”
“Hey! Me too, my wife and I are American, we moved here a year ago after we retired.”
A conversation ensued. They were from Washington D.C. and had moved away from U.S. to leave most of politics behind, even though there is still a very strong political influence in France, they said it was not nearly as bad. They said in the whole town of Angers, they only know two other Americans, but they are picking up French at a steady rate. They have made many French friends, and are frequently invited to dine with others.
“We would not have it any other way.”

It was good to see two smiling faces on our last night, wishing us all the best on our studies and travels.

It was Paris next.

We arrived in Paris (Sarah and I’s second time withing the 6 weeks study abroad) on the 26th around 12. Unfortunately we had to take the bus, which took around four hours travel time. Once we arrived and settled in our rooms, the rest of the day was open. We decided to keep it simple and just get lost on the subway and walk from wherever. We ended up in the Montmartre area and dined at a Chinese restaurant (looking to change it up). The food was delicious and they were very nice people. After our meal, the treated us to 3 free Saki’s. It kicked my ass, especially after the dinner wine. But Sarah and I managed. At the bottom of our tiny cups of Saki, there were nude figures. For me, a nude lady, and for Marleigh and Sarah, a very provocative nude of a man. Once finished with the Saki, the image at the bottom disappeared. Gave us all a good laugh.

After we had by far the best ice cream during our whole trip. I ordered Citron, and Fraise. So good.

Soon, we contacted Barrett, a buddy I have known since 3rd grade, and met up with him in the Latin District for a quick drink and a catch up conversation. We met his friends, which consisted of all girls. He was the one of the only males on his study aboard program. Guess it’s not a bad thing. haha.

Called it a night after a long metro ride.

Saturday-
We packed it in. Really.
We started out our day spending a nice chunk of time at the Orsay Museum. We saw some great stuff there, lots of “heavy hitters”. Van Gogh, Monet, Pissaro, etc.
Afterwards, we tried to visit the catacombs with Barrett and Sarah Wesen, the new arrival from Arlington, Texas (another friend from high school) but it closed at 4. Tuesday, we are going to visit the catacombs, it’s been decided. Since the catacombs were closed, we decided to walk around north up to Montmartre, and while we were doing so, we ran into a enormous gay pride rally. It was a really interesting rally, and there were so many people in it. I captured a ton of photos. The costumes were priceless.

Afterwards, we headed to the center of the Latin district and managed to find a 9 euro dinner that was very good, plus a free glass of wine. The garcon was very nice. Topped it off with a ice cold brew.

We decided to finish the night off sitting at the Sine River watching the boats go past. Of course we supplemented it with some wine. As the boats went past, we all waved to the bountiful amounts of tourists on them, a lot of them thought we were legitimate French people and took pictures upon pictures of us with our bottles of wine.

We took the metro home after about 3 hours, and called it a night.

Sunday -
Sunday was the last day for a majority of people in our study aboard program. To start the day off, we headed to the Louvre. We spend a good sum of time there as well. We saw the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Mary Magdalene, and tons upon tons of other sculptures and paintings, some stretched the whole surface of a wall. Took tons of pictures as well.

Afterwards, we grabbed some lunch and met up with Marleigh, sat in the Jardin de Tuileries and chilled out for a little. Afterwards we hit the Modern Art Museum Pompidoue. There we saw the works of Kadinsky, Duchamp, Man Ray, Picasso, Rothko, Andre Breton, and many other big guns. The modern art was amazing. The installations blew me away. Unfortunately we could not take any photos. :(

After the Pompidoue, we headed back to our hotel to catch some downtown for a little. Afterwards we headed to the Champs de Mars, the grass behind the Eiffel Tower to meet up with Barrett and Sarah and a few of his friends to enjoy the sights, hang out, and chat. There were so many people on the grass, it was a great feeling.

Monday- Today- A good feeling to be updated.
I do apologize for the large gap, but, like I said, not much was going on except for school and studies that week.
Today.
As of now, we have just checked out of our Hotel, and checked in to our first Hostel of the trip. The Hostel is called Albion. It is a very very pretty and comfortable hostel. AC, bathroom, pretty room, and a very nice receptionist.  The rest of the day we plan to grab some lunch, head possibly to the Flea Market, and end the day at the Sacre Coeur. Our hostel is located extremely close to the Montmartre area, which is a prime location, pretty centralized.
Tomorrow is our last day in France. I will miss it very very much. France is so amazing. I know everyone hears that all the time from travelers. But after living in Angers and being in Paris for a little, I love the way things work here. Everyone is there own person. The busyness of Paris to the quiet, quaintness of Angers, I loved everyone second. Things just make sense here, things work here.

Tomorrow we depart on a long train ride for Prague at 7 pm. I cannot wait to get there. I hear it’s beautiful.

I miss everyone back in the states so much. It is good hearing from everyone, even though it has been my fault for the lack of posts and pictures as well. The stress is over (except for the travel stress).

I hope all is well back in the states, and I hope North Korea chills out towards us.

For the future,  Internet access from here on is going to be very spotty and rare. Hostels require about a 6 euro payment to use the Internet for a day. Which is not bad, but I can’t afford it every place we stay. So when I do get Internet, I will FOR SURE update for everyone. In fact that is the only reason why I would by Internet.

The next two weeks, I am sure, will be a blur, so much moving around, so many different cultures, and so many different activities. But I will do my best to get items to bring back and write down what I do.

Until later,

Christian

Miss you guys!

So Behind

I really find it difficult around this time in the summer semester to update everyday, for that, I appologize to everyone who checks this daily. Things are getting hectic and busier by the hour. Finals are approaching.

If I can remember correctly, the last day I updated was on Saturday. That leaves me to pick up on Sunday.

Sunday-
Like I said, Sarah and I planned on taking a lot of photos that day, which is exactly what we did. We went out on two separate occasions to photograph, each photo session lasting a little more than 3 hours. During the breaks of not shooting, we both had French homework to work on. There was not much down time for us on Sunday. The day pretty much went from us photographing, and then straight to us editing.  Photo/Edit Day.

Monday-
Things returned to business as usual. French Writing Comp class in the morning at nine and lunch afterwards. Our final for French writing is next Monday. I am feeling pretty good about it, I just need to study my verbs more as well as conjugations.
Lunch was small, I am trying to save money more than ever now. I still have three weeks in Europe and the last two of those weeks are going to burn holes in my pocket. 
For photo class, we took a short excursion to the top of the highest cathedral in Angers. It was an amazing view. I took lots of photos along with Sarah, and Marleigh has already posted a video of us that everyone can watch. I’ll post it below. It was a very treacherous climb to the top that required us to climb these tiny ladders up three stories surrounded by huge bells everyone. Very intense. The bells went off just as we finished coming down….so so loud. Scared me half to death.

After the long descent down to the ground, I headed back to the lab because I volunteered to work from 6:30 to 8:30. :( Afterwards, I headed home, watched a little bit of the classic Big Daddy, haha, and passed out. So tired.

Tuesday (aka The Worst Day)
Not much to say about Tuesday except for it sucked.
It was horrible because I was in the computer lab from 9 am till 9pm, hence I wasn’t able to take any photos on the beautiful day that it was nor enjoy the sun. We had our second to last final cut pro session, that lasted from 9am till 5pm and afterwards, I also volunteered to work in the lab again.  :( After leaving the school at around 9. I was flustered because I still had to study for my French Oral and Listening Exam which was on Wednesday. I finished that up around 12:30 and did nothing else except sleep. It was a much needed sleep.

Wednesday - Finally caught up.
SO I hope everyone understands why I have not been able to update the blog regularly as I was throughout the first weeks of the trip. Things are getting much busier each day here. Next week I have the writing comp. final as well as my final photo critique. Though Paris is the reward next weekend. 3 more days in Paris. Cannot wait. Sarah and I are going to see the places we didn’t get to spend much time in or see at all. The Louvre, hopefully Versailles, and Sacre Coeur. Then on the 30, the fun begins, where Sarah and I meet up with Barrett and Sarah. Yes two Sarah on the trip. It will be a great time. Tons of photos have been taken, and I have been editing non stop. I will post some photos after I finish eating dinner.

Tomorrow, we are going to another vineyard for an official winetasting session. Lots of wine will be tested, and I will have a report on which my favorite is when I return tomorrow!

The weather is getting hotter by the day. Much rougher to take photos in, but we are managing.

Hope all is well for everyone back in the states! Thanks for reading everyone!

Christian

Once again, sorry for not updating sooner.

Thursday/Friday/Saturday - Angers

Thursday - Sarah’s 21st birthday.

Most of the day was business as usual. French class in the morning, which is a lot better now. After class. We went to Daniel’s and I bought Sarah a nice refreshing pint. I ate acalzone again. So good and very large serving size.

After we went to our first critique for photography. Everyone’s critique went well. My professor liked my worked and basically said to keep on keepin on with my idea. I believe my project will be narrowed to Occurences and Surroundings. After critique we went to our photography exhibition opening, where we all quickly said a little bit to our work. A local newspaper was there, photographing us. Got some exposure. We had a nice reception afterwards for the artists. Wine/crackers/cheese. Can’t go wrong!

I am posting a flyer up after the post for all of you to see.

When the reception was done, we didn’t not waste any time, and gathered everyone together for Sarah’s birthday dinner. We went to, of all types of places and food, a legit Mexican restaurant . Sarah and I had some margaritas and some delicious fajitas. It was actually really authentic tasting, even though it was in France. It is one of two Mexican restaurants in Angers. After, to end our night, all 14 of us went to a bar named Le 23. The bar tender was very kind and the drinks were delicious. Sarah had a great birthday.
The best part was that, on the next morning, Friday, we had no where to be and nothing to wake up for. We could finally sleep in. Felt great.

For much of the day Friday, Sarah and I spent our time organizing and editing our photos, as usual. We also did a good amount of laundry and I cleaned my room up. It’s hard for me to work when there is a mess present. We did a grocery store run as well. It feels amazing with no obligations for a day in a city in another country. It goes by amazing fast though. A little later in the afternoon, Sarah and I headed out on our own photo excursion. We both did not get as many photos are we hoped, but I did happen to capture a young girl playing a flute with three of her friends listening intently in the street. They were using a hat for change. Sarah and I gave her a euro. She wasn’t too bad for her age. After we came back, had a glass of wine and went to go hang with some other photographers at a cafe for a little. Came home and was able to get a good nights rest.

Saturday-Today
I had to wake up at 8:30 because we were going to the troglodyte caves in Saumur, France. The caves were beautiful and dense and were very chilled compared to the temperature outside. Natural insulation feels so good compared to AC. We took a tour of the houses that were built in the caves, some of them dating as far back to the 16 century.  The house owners were very kind and inviting. The cave kept their houses very cool while the sun outside combined to make a perfect temperature. After touring the inside of the houses, we went up a stairs that took us up to gardens on their roofs.  It was an amazing site. Just past the garden, they had their own vineyard, and it was quite extensive. I took a bunch of photos of everything, so once I get caught up, which honestly, probably wont be until I return home, I will post, post, post, post, and more posting. :)

After the first tour, we grabbed some baguettes/meat/cheese and heading down to the Loire’s riverbank for a nice lunch break. Delicious.

After, we headed to the famous mushroom caves of Saumur. This is were they harvest mushrooms in mass amounts to sell. I have never seen something so interesting and bizarre at the same time. We were walking in the caves, which are very dark, very cold, and you could taste moisture in the air, and all the sudden we get to the very back of the cave were there are mannequins dressed up in what looked like 70s clothes, business suits, and others with worker clothes on. They were all “pretending” to harvest mushrooms, some were sorting, some were picking, and others were just standing around being creepy. Seriously, even though I was with four other people, it gave me a strange feeling. Marleigh was saying how she could picture, at night, when the caves closed, the mannequins would come to life and start actually harvesting the mushrooms and doing the work. They were very spooky looking and I believe, gave everyone the chills.

After the mushroom cave expedition, our professor took us to Saumur’s wine cellar. It was so amazing. We went underground (again) to see stock piles of wine, and huge barrels they keep it in. They informed us that they started mining the cave to make it a cellar in the 13 century. The stone that was mined from the cliff where they were, was used to fortify castles. Some of the aged bottles have cobwebs all over them, and no signs of human interaction. I bet they ran a pretty penny and were among the best of wines. 
After we left the cellar, we went back up and had a small wine tasting session with the employee. She was very kind and spoke English very well. Sarah bought two bottles, as well as myself. Sarah bought two red wines - 2006, and 2007. I bought a sparkling red wine, and a white wine - both 2007. Not aged as long but still delicious. These bottles only cost 9 euros for both. Cannot go wrong.
It was an awesome experience.
I had a lot of fun.
I took some pictures of the cellar as well.

When we arrived back at our residence around 7pm, Sarah, Marleigh, and I decided to go to a nearby park and test some of Saumur’s wine out…again. :) It was delicious.

Came back afterwards and organized/edited more photos. I feel like I am making some headway, but I don’t know.

It was a great day, and a great way to spend one of our last field trips.

I hope everyone watched that video I posted. It is so funny.
Sarah says “Thank you so much for the birthday wishes everyone!”
More photos hopefully will be done tomorrow. Tomorrow is going to be a day focused on guess what……photography. I will be shooting all day. It will be fun though.

Thanks for reading and keeping up with me and my travels everyone!

Christian