I went to Paris and all I got was lung cancer and alcohol poisoning....but at least it was sunny!

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Day 21

Wednesday was another beautiful sunny day in Paris. After class a big group of us decided to do the Monmartre walk, including Meridith, Andrea, Marissa, Jessie, Katharine, and Joy. Monmartre is the hill that the basilica Sacre Coeur sits on, so that was our first stop along the walk. Monmartre, which is the highest point in Paris, literally means mount of martyrs, and was originally a pagan spot dedicated to the gods, but was then christianized when it was said that Saint Denis walked carrying his severed head from there to the place where the St. Denis basilica now stands. Sacre Coeur was constructed between 1876 and 1914. In the nineteenth century the area of Monmartre was better known for the bohemian lifestyle of many who lived and worked there, including famous impressionists and artists such as Picasso, Utrillo, Max Jacob, George Braque, Guillaume Apollinaire etc.

Sacre Coeur on Monmartre

We spent a good amount of time at Sacre Coeur because it was so nice to sit on the steps in the sun and listen to the entertainers (there was a man playing the harp) and soak up the warm rays that we'd been deprived of thus far in our trip. Before heading up to the stairs Jessie and Joy got interviewed by a couple French girls, who were doing a project for school I think...that was kind of fun. I headed down though with Meridith to see the view and get some pictures in the sun. After staying for maybe half an hour or so we continued past Sacre Coeur to the little village behind the basilica. Just behind the basilica is the small Church of Saint-Pierre, which was been a parish church since 1147! We then went past the tourist area where there are dozens of artists asking to paint a portrait of you. Instead of buying a painting there we all got some gelato from a little store that had a huge selection of flavors...we had to try them obviously. I got mint (story of my life) and some other flavor whose name I forget--but it was some sort of red berry flavor that was pretty good.

Jessie and Joy getting interviewed...

On number 12 rue Cortot we saw the oldest house on Monmartre, built in the early 1100s, and we went inside to visit the museum there. The museum, I thought, was only okay, although the gardens around it were really pretty and we spent a little bit extra time just sitting and enjoy the sun some more.

We also saw the oldest cabaret in Paris, Au Lapin Agile, and La Maison Rose, which was once the home of the artist Utrillo, and a favorite spot of Picasso and Gertrude Stein. We also saw the house where Renoir lived, at 6 Allee des Brouillards. We then continued on to a park where we saw a famous statue of St. Denis holding his head (photo op), saw Van Gogh's house, and eventually ended our walk at Moulin Rouge (another photo op).

Van Gogh's House

Bonjour!

Unfortunately I wasn't incredibly invested in this walk, but it was cool to imagine the area as it once was with so many now-famous budding artists who made their living here. And of course to see some of the famous areas of Paris (i.e. the Moulin Rouge and the view from Sacre Coeur). But perhaps the best part of the day was soaking up some Parisian sun on the steps of Sacre Coeur, listening to harp music and watching the moving statues and various entertainers (jugglers etc.) hoping for a donation. It may have been touristy, but I felt pretty Parisian nonetheless.

Before getting on the metro some of the girls got some bags of candy from a little candy stand--we tried some tasty morcels. Then we took the metro to the Luxembourg Gardens, where we were hoping to find a market that Giles had told us about. However, we found out when we got there that it had already ended, so we just found a spot on the grass (a difficult feat since it was covered with hundreds of people) and basked for a little while. At first we had sat more in towards the center, but then we realized the kids next to us were smoking pot and the smell was disgusting so we moved away. This strategy worked for a little while, until later when a group of kids opened a beer bottle that accidentally sprayed and got all over us, yuck.

Claire, Marissa's French friend, also came and joined us for a little while. It was nice to see her and chat again too. I learned that the word for spray/explode (like the beer that got all over us) is gicler. Good info. We then saw a funny spectacle of a boy who was completely hammered trying to get out of the garden to go to the bathroom. He couldn't figure out where the exit was (he kept trying to push the locked gate open, feebly) and I guess he really had to go because he finally gave up, unzipped right there, and went against the fence. He was barely conscious. Haha, it was a site to see. His friend had to come over eventually and help him walk back across the park. Then later, of course, two boys ended up sitting by us and they too started smoking pot. So then we decided this was a cue to just head home for the day.

Marissa, Me and Claire at the Park

Marissa and I then had dinner together alone because Frederique was going out that night. We had pork chops (I ate Marissa's because she doesn't like meat--or pretty much anything with taste), rice and mashed squash (is that a redundant appellation?), a course of cheese and bread, and apple pie again for dessert.

We then decided that since Frederique was out we should investigate the living room. So the two of us went and sat down in there for the first time and we got the idea to watch a movie. Assuming most televisions are understandable, I then commenced trying to figure out how to set it to movie input...for about forty minutes. For the first twenty minutes I tried to figure the TV out...then, when I was sure I had broken her TV for good, I spent the next twenty minutes trying to fix what I had done.

Shh! This is a covert mission,
Operation Sit in Living Room...Top Secret!

Its hard enough figuring out TVs in America...

But, have no fear, although I failed in my initial goal to program the TV for a movie, I found success in returning it to its original state (I think). So after abandoning that quest, we plugged in our computers and together watched skits of our favorite comedians on youtube, including Brian Regan, Dane Cook, and Ricky Gervais. It was a good hour of roommate bonding time--nothing like a clandestine lounge session in the living room, and a failed covert attempt at working a foreign television to really bring people together!