Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Tharoiseau, Bourgogne
I'm sorry to all my thousands of loyal followers that I've been so bad about posting recently, it's just that with less than a month left (!!!) classes have started to heat up and I'm trying to do as much stuff as I can. Anyway, here's an overdue post:
Two weekends ago I went with my host family to their house in a tiny little village in Bourgogne (Burgundy). I spent most of my time walking around Tharoiseau, which looks a lot like a town out of Beauty and the Beast, and Vézèlay, a larger more well-known town with a big, beautiful—in a kind of creepy Catholic way—cathedral. I also got to see a play-version of a book by little-known German writer named Gertrude von le Fort that my host dad translated from German into French that a small group of weirdo actors performed while we were there. I also got to know my host frère Cyrille better, which was cool.
Overall, it was a great trip and I'm really glad I got to see provincial France. Some photos are below:
Friday, November 20, 2009
Atlas Sound
On a lighter note than below, I went to see musician Bradford Cox play under the pseudonym Atlas Sound this past Monday at a very cool Parisian venue overlooking the Canal St. Martin called Le Point Ephèmere. The set was a total trip fest, with Cox playing guitar and drums and using a pretty intense grid of pedals to loop and distort the music.
CSI:Paris
When I awoke this morning, I walked over to my window and, as usual, opened my blinds to gaze upon beautiful Paris. Much to my surprise, the area of street below had been sectioned off and was surrounded by a bunch of police officers. After talking to my host family, I learned that there had been a shooting earlier that morning. It seems that a pedestrian walked up to a car and shot all three people in the car. (I had not been woken because apparently a silencer had been used.) I heard that one person had been killed and that the other two were in critical condition. Hopefully they have the French version of Gil Grissom working the case. Above are a couple of photos I snapped.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Stockholm
Now that it's been a week since I got back from Stockholm, I figured it was time for a blog post. Between the work that I should be doing and continuing to discover Paris, it's been hard to find time to blog.
But anyway, Stockholm was pretty marvelous. It's an incredibly beautiful city made up of a bunch of islands connected by a ton of bridges. Chris, my travel partner, and I were able to mooch off of a friend-of-a-friend and stayed for free in an apartment just outside the city. We would take the subway, called the Tunnelbana, each morning into the city proper where we would spend most of our time walking around Gamla Stan (the old town island) and Sodermalm, the young, artsy area. We made frequent stops to Fika, a word that a Swede told us meant "coffee with a little more." When we asked what "a little more" meant, she said that it included "eating pastries and socializing with friends." Chris and I were quite impressed that the Swedes have a four letter word that expresses so much, and thus spent a good portion of our trip honoring this Swedish past time.
We also visited several museums, including the modern art museum and the national gallery, both of which I liked a lot. Another highlight included going to a bar one night and being pleasantly surprised to find a post-party for a Swedish hip-hop festival. (This was strange because apparently the festival had taken place several months ago.) Anyway, some of the rappers were pretty good. (The Swede's speak English so well they can even rap in it.) I wasn't as impressed, however, by the guy who put on a ski-mask and started screaming "Mosh." But to each his own, I suppose.
But perhaps the best part was just listening to people speak Swedish—very entertaining. In conclusion, I was very taken with Stockholm and definitely recommend it to anyone traveling through Europe.
(pictures below)
But anyway, Stockholm was pretty marvelous. It's an incredibly beautiful city made up of a bunch of islands connected by a ton of bridges. Chris, my travel partner, and I were able to mooch off of a friend-of-a-friend and stayed for free in an apartment just outside the city. We would take the subway, called the Tunnelbana, each morning into the city proper where we would spend most of our time walking around Gamla Stan (the old town island) and Sodermalm, the young, artsy area. We made frequent stops to Fika, a word that a Swede told us meant "coffee with a little more." When we asked what "a little more" meant, she said that it included "eating pastries and socializing with friends." Chris and I were quite impressed that the Swedes have a four letter word that expresses so much, and thus spent a good portion of our trip honoring this Swedish past time.
We also visited several museums, including the modern art museum and the national gallery, both of which I liked a lot. Another highlight included going to a bar one night and being pleasantly surprised to find a post-party for a Swedish hip-hop festival. (This was strange because apparently the festival had taken place several months ago.) Anyway, some of the rappers were pretty good. (The Swede's speak English so well they can even rap in it.) I wasn't as impressed, however, by the guy who put on a ski-mask and started screaming "Mosh." But to each his own, I suppose.
But perhaps the best part was just listening to people speak Swedish—very entertaining. In conclusion, I was very taken with Stockholm and definitely recommend it to anyone traveling through Europe.
(pictures below)
Monday, November 2, 2009
Marseille
As mentioned, I went to Marseille two weekends ago with my friends from the program Chris and Ryan. We took the TGV—the high speed train of which the French are very proud—down Friday and returned on Monday afternoon. Our hostel, called London Connection despite the fact that the owners were definitely not from Britain, was not exactly the Ritz-Carlton. In fact, it might have actually been the crappiest hostel I've ever stayed in. It's possible that the owners, who slept in the same room as us, might have illegally turned a two or three person apartment into a 25-person hostel. (Luckily, however, the internet reviews that said the hostel was infested with bed bugs proved untrue.) We did not spend much time at the hostel.
The weather was absolutely beautiful—about 70 degrees and sunny—and thus we spent a ton of time walking around and sitting at café terraces. Despite a phenomenal location, Marseille isn't as touristy as you'd think. It's actually pretty gritty and dirty. The city also seems really diverse, which was cool. (One of my friend's host mom warned us that the Arabs could "descend" at any time. This never seemed to be a problem.)
One day we took a 30-minute bus to nearby Aix-en-Provence, where we spent a lovely afternoon and evening walking around with another friend from the program who has an apartment there.
Below are some pictures from the trip:
The weather was absolutely beautiful—about 70 degrees and sunny—and thus we spent a ton of time walking around and sitting at café terraces. Despite a phenomenal location, Marseille isn't as touristy as you'd think. It's actually pretty gritty and dirty. The city also seems really diverse, which was cool. (One of my friend's host mom warned us that the Arabs could "descend" at any time. This never seemed to be a problem.)
One day we took a 30-minute bus to nearby Aix-en-Provence, where we spent a lovely afternoon and evening walking around with another friend from the program who has an apartment there.
Below are some pictures from the trip:
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Creepy Ad
I just got back tonight from a wonderful vacation in Stockholm. Before I blog about that, however, I wanted to mention a creepy ad that recently went up all over Paris and Marseille. It features two middle-aged men—who are possibly well known and probably pedophiles—making faces that make me uncomfortable. Apparently this is supposed to make you want to buy car insurance.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Marseille was a riot, literally
I just got back from a fun weekend in Marseille with two friends. Things got a little intense, however, when the soccer match between Marseille and Paris was postponed at the last minute and people started rioting. Unfortunately we were on a boat tour during the incident and did not get to witness/participate.
(I leave tonight for Stockholm but will devote an extensive blog post to my travels when I get back.)
Thursday, October 22, 2009
The 13th
I thought I'd dedicate a post to the 13th arrondissement, a part of Paris that is not very well known and is currently going through a ton of development. ( My French University, Paris 7, is in the 13th and thus I've spent a good amount of time there. ) As you can see from some of the pictures, the 13th is full of pretty modern-looking apartment buildings and doesn't exactly look like story-book Paris. Also in the 13th is the Biblioteque François Mitterand, a national library that hosts talks and exhibits and a foresty courtyard. I'm not sure how the French feel about the four buildings—which are supposed to represent open books—but I really like them. All in all, I really like the area.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Allez les bleus!
When my dad was visiting, we went to see France play Austria in a World Cup qualifying match. The stadium, just beyond the city limits, is pretty well done for being a huge block of concrete. It was a fun game, with France winning 3-1. (France must now play Ireland in a playoff in order to qualify for the World Cup in South Africa in 2010.)
There were flags on everyone's seat, which made for a cool effect when France scored their goals. Also, French crowds LOVE doing the wave; hardly five minutes would pass without an enthusiastic fan starting one up.
It was pretty cold and my dad, as seen in the picture, was wearing his fashion week-finest to keep warm.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Camera Obscura
Last night, I went with two friends from the program to see the Scottish band Camera Obscura. Despite some technical problems, the show was fun. At one point the lead singer, Tracyanne Campbell—and apparently the rest of the band—forgot the words to one of the songs and had to ask an audience member for help. Luckily there was an avid fan in the front row who knew the lyrics. (Also, thanks to Ryan for the picture, as I didn't want to lug my SLR to the show.)
The venue, La Maroquinerie, is quite cool and seems to be a big Parisian—and Brit—hipster hangout spot in the very cool 20th arrondissement.
For all my edgy, indie-rock-loving blog-followers, I also have tickets to see Grizzly Bear with St. Vincent (courtesy of Julia) and Atlas Sound.
Friday, October 16, 2009
PD
For those of you who do not know my dad, Phil Durst, you have no idea what you're missing . . . or how lucky you are. He is a schlubby Jew originally from New York—all these things are apparent from his appearance—and has been repeating the same jokes for as long as I can remember. But all joking aside, he's a real treat. He spent the last week in Paris visiting me/asking me to translate really stupid jokes to my host family. We had a great time and had some amazing traditional French meals. And surprisingly, my host parents really liked him. (Not understanding many of his jokes, they remarked that his constant joking was dry and clearly of Anglo-Saxon tradition. I tried to explain that actually he just isn't funny.) Here are a few Phil Durst-stories from his trip. (I'll add more as I remember them.)
--Strolling through Montmartre one night, my dad, seeing a pedestrian walking the other direction, suddenly spun around and said loudly, "Andy?!" It was of course not Andy and the pedestrian continued walking away.
--In addition to considering himself a comedian, my dad also fancies himself an artist and would proclaim several times a day: "Eli, I thought of a great photo series idea for you." He would consistently follow this with a terrible photo series idea.
--One night we walked by a Pizza Hut with a bunch of mopeds in front that were all red and had the Pizza Hut logo printed on the side. "Do we think those are their delivery vehicles?" he inquired. (He often uses the pronoun "we" to mean "I," which can be fairly annoying, as I thought it was quite clear that those were the delivery mopeds.)
--Another PD quirk is that he loves swimming on vacation. This vacation was, of course, no different, despite the fact that it was 50 degrees outside. My host family was a little surprised that my dad wanted to spend his time in Paris in a pool.
--He tried to get me to translate the word "crypt keeper," which I did not know, so that he could make one of his standard jokes that my mom is old and mean. Sarcasm doesn't always translate well, especially when you don't speak a word of the language, and I think my host family was a little shocked by the fact that he was calling his wife old and mean.
But like I said, we had a great time and I'm really glad he came to visit. Love you, dad.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Le Cyclop
This past weekend, I went on a a field trip with my art installation class—which I signed up for after dropping the way-over-my-head Proust/psychoanalysis class I foolishly decided to take. We took a bus about an hour outside of Paris to visit Le Cyclop, a 70-foot tall interactive "scultpture" that you walk into. It was pretty cool and very weird.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Fashion Week
This past week in Paris—and other select cities—has been Fashion Week. I would not have known this unless my a friend had told me. Here are pictures of two outfits shown this week in Paris that express how stupid fashion shows are. It's like if car manufacturers had a car show and only displayed super ugly, uncomfortable, and non-functional models that would never go on sale and nobody would ever drive in public. Needless to say, I'll be sticking to the Franklin & Marshall collection this fall.
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