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!
6 months ago