Prego!

First Italian food in Italy!

                Next on our trip was Italy. On a long series of trains we made our way to Lyon, then Geneva, then Milan, then finally Florence. It was a long journey, but on the way we saw some spectacular views of the Swiss and Italian Alps. One time we passed by a beautiful lake surrounded by houses that stacked up the surrounding hills. Inside the lake were tiny islands that were occupied by mansions and monasteries. It was out of a postcard or a movie or something. It was absolutely beautiful.  We arrived in Florence in the evening, grabbed a great dinner of pasta, chicken, and wine, and went to bed. Florence is one of my favorite places that we went. The city is small and easily walk able, and the Duomo, or Florence Cathedral is amazing. Sofia and I just happened to turn a corner and see it, and it was definitely a “jaw dropping” moment.  Florence was characterized by art, and art history. We went to the Uffizi museum and saw some amazing renaissance works like Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, and we saw Michelangelo’s David at the Accademia (for free as it was National Culture Week) and he too was beautiful and jaw drop worthy. I thought that he was going to just step down from his pedestal and walk around the room any moment (Also, he’s much taller and larger than I imagined). We went to the Pitti Palace, seeing where the Medici lived, sketched in the Boboli Gardens, walked along the Ponte Vecchio,v visited the tombs of Galileo, Dante, Machiavelli, and Michelangelo,  ate copious amounts of gelato, pizza, and pasta, and made an extra side trip to Pisa to see the leaning tower, which was pretty leany. Florence was absolute heaven. It was definitely a drastic change from the ornate and grand streets of Paris, which I loved. But Florence was so small and winding, filled with spires and surrounded by gorgeous rolling hills, there’s no way to compare the two.

I'm in a cloister!

Laurentian Library cloister

Duomo!

It's Machiavelli's tomb

Michelangelo's tomb

Palazzo Vecchio

Rape of the Sabine Women

Pisa

After two days or so in Florence Sofia and I made our way to Rome. Arriving around midnight, we found our way in rain to Sofia’s friend’s apartment, a little bit outside of Rome.  Rome was a bit of a different experience. It was overcast our first day there, perhaps leading to my slightly negative impression of the place. Our first day was made almost entirely of standing in lines. It wasn’t as bad as we had anticipated, but we waited 45min to get into the Vatican Museum, then another 30 to get into the Basilica. In the Vatican museum, we got to see the Sistine Chapel ceiling (which was amazing to see in person rather than in slides), the Papal gardens, the torso Belvedere, Raphael’s wall paintings, and the Laocoon. It was basically every art history class I had ever taken. After that we entered the Basilica of Saint Peter. It was the most stunningly beautiful church I had ever seen on the inside. Much of it was gilded, but in just the right way. We saw Michelangelo’s Pieta within, and many other papal monuments. We even went down to see the papal tombs beneath the church. It was clear from all of the flowers on his tomb, as well as from all of the pictures around Rome that Pope John Paul II is still very much beloved in Rome. We also Saint’s Peter’s resting place, which just kind of blew my mind. The Basilica overall was a fairly religiously powerful place, inspiring absolute awe.

St. Peter's

Our other full day in Rome consisted of the Coliseum, the Roman Forum, the Pantheon, the Circus (horse racing), and more gelato and pizza. It was a much sunnier day, so I enjoyed and appreciated Rome much more. Once you really get into Rome proper, ancient sites seem to just sprout out of every corner. I was amazed that so many of the buildings like the Coliseum have been able to survive in the condition they’re in. One would think that at least one of the sackings of Rome or some modernizing project would have resulted in their destruction. One of the interesting structures that we saw in Rome was an enormous monument in the Piazza Venezia, a behemoth built by Mussolini as an assertion of power, basically a monument to fascism. It’s so large that the hollow bronze horses that top the structure, before their installation, housed whole dinner parties inside their torsos. It just struck me because of its enormity, and also that I had never seen it in any pictures of Rome. We were pretty tuckered after our long days of touring Rome both days, so we didn’t do much in the way of parties or clubs. We did make a nice dinner one night, accompanied by a classy $0.95 bottle of wine. Overall, Rome was a whirlwind of tours, although there were moments when it occasionally slowed down so that I could enjoy a beautiful sunset or a spectacular panoramic view over the whole of Rome.

Me and the Coliseum

Sunset in Rome

Trevi fountain with Sofia and her friend Jenny

Following the helter skelter life in Rome, Sofia and I happily arrived in Venice. We did almost nothing in Venice, I can say with content. We had become so exhausted of the touring life from Rome that we decided to take it easy with our good friend from Egypt Sarah, who had an internship in Venice, and therefore had an apartment.  Venice was just like it seems in the picture. It is…like a fairy tale. It’s enchanting. The winding streets and bridges are filled with pastry shops, mask shops, paper shops, clothing shops, glass shops, and gelato stands. We went to flea markets, and beautiful churches. We even saw Titian’s tomb and his painting of the Ascension of the Virgin. We spent about two days in Venice itself, just wandering for the most part. We got to see San Marco’s square and cathedral, which was great as expected, and walked across the Rialto Bridge. On the first evening, I, Sofia, our friend Emma, and Sarah cooked, listened to music, and drank some wine. On the second evening it was Passover, so Sarah took us to the Jewish Quarter and we went to an Orthodox service in a beautiful synagogue, and then went to Pesach dinner, or to the Seder. We had a lot of fun at this, and the guys that were running it were very accommodating to my general ignorance.

San Marco in Venice

Our home cooked meal on the floor. Shebab!

Our last day in Venice was actually spent in Ravenna. Sarah’s program was taking their group to this small town, and we got to tag along for free! Ravenna was the birthplace of Dante Alighieri and also home to a myriad of incredible churches featuring fantastic Byzantine mosaics. We went to the church of St. Apollinaire first, which was an early example. I recalled this church’s mosaics from my AP art history, noting it as the first time I had realized that sheep were supposed to have large fluffy tails…Who knew? From there we went to a 2 hour lunch, which was nice, although I would have preferred more exploring time. After lunch, we went to San Vitale, the crown jewel of Byzantine mosaics (in my opinion). This was once again, a jaw drop moment. The mosaics were stunning! I loved how the gold tiles had been placed strategically so that at any one place, at least some of the image would shimmer. This decorative program featured Christ, Justinian, and his beautiful wife and queen Theodora. She had actually been in charge of the aesthetic plan of his churches, placing herself on the right hand side of Christ from the viewer’s point of view. My photos hardly do this place justice. The bright colors of the tiles were astounding to say the least. After San Vitale, we visited its mausoleum, which sat right behind the church. This too was coated in mosaics, creating a lovely sparkling effect right when you walk in. The mausoleum was kept very dark for the safety of the tiles, which kind of made it a little spooky and eerie. We topped off our day of mosaics with one more church…which was great, but not as much of a show stopper as San Vitale, so I don’t have much to say on it. We departed from Ravenna around 5:30 in the evening and got back to Venice at around 8. It was just enough time to pack and enjoy another Seder dinner with Sarah.

Ravenna mosaics

Ravenna mosaic

As much as I loved Venice, I couldn’t shake the feeling that the city wasn’t actually a real city. The whole thing kind of felt like “Venice land”; the buildings seemed designed specially to create the perfect aesthetics for tourists’ enjoyment, and it was like people can’t actually live in Venice. Almost everyone we walked by was a tourist, and we definitely didn’t pass by Laundromats or hardly any grocery stores. However, my friend Sarah lives there and seems to do okay. I just couldn’t shake the feeling that so much of Venice, although I loved it, wasn’t entirely real.

From Venice, Sofia and I sadly and reluctantly moved on to Napoli, or Naples. Saying a sad farewell to Sarah, we boarded our night train. We thought we would have sleepers, which we had been told were recliner like chairs. Instead, we had airplane seats with a larger head cushion. This was an awful, awful night. At roughly 2am, a large group of Italians entered our car. They paid no attention to the fact that Sofia and I were obviously trying to sleep, and chattered loudly for hours. To top that off, I was awoken, a half an hour later, to a man sitting on my chair. I was hugging my knees lying against the back of the chair, so part of the seat was exposed, and this guy sits right on the exposed part, partially sitting on my thigh. I turned and looked at him with a “what the hell’ face, then he said something in Italian, and I said “English?”, and he just ignored me and continued to sit. I had no clue what to do from there, so I fell back asleep. Eventually on of the Italians was kind enough to explain that I was sitting in his seat. So we examined our tickets and we had the same seat number. It was the train company’s mistake. Regardless, why did he decide to sit on me rather than attempt to explain things?

So, Sofia and I got hardly any sleep and arrived in Naples the next day. We had been planning a full day, and went about our plans anyway, despite the exhaustion. That first day we went to Pompeii. Pompeii!!!! It was crazy cool. Coming from an archaeological site in Egypt, where the dry climate allows for great site preservation, I was astonished at the amount that had been preserved at Pompeii. The walls were practically at their original height, and the wall paintings, ugh, don’t even get me started or I will drool all over my computer. The site was enormous too. It was a whole city, streets and all from 2000 years ago! We saw their necropolis, their mansions, their brothel (which was pretty funny), their stadium, their forum, and even their bakeries. The ovens were even still there! All of this was extremely exciting and left a huge grin on my face. But, then the interesting flip side of Pompeii, are the body casts. Some of the body casts had been removed from their original locations and placed behind glass. The site of these would sober even the nerdiest archaeology/ history nerd. There was a pregnant woman hugging herself, a dog, and many children. We passed by some body casts in a far flung garden, left where they were found, evidently in an attempt to escape the city. Through these casts you could still see the bones! One man had himself propped up on his arm looking at his companions. It was fascinating and heartbreaking at the same time. These were people from 2000 years ago, simply frozen in their last moments.

Me with Wall paintings <3

Amphitheater!

After spending a few hours at Pompeii, Sofia and I made our way back to Napoli and hunted down the “best pizza place in Naples”. Napoli is known as the birthplace of pizza, so we were definitely getting some. After some trial and error, we found the place, and ended up having dinner with another American named Chris, who had heard us speaking English and, as a solo traveler, wanted to have someone to talk to at his meal. He was a 25 year old hockey player who had come from Paris, apparently playing hockey professionally there. The three of us got five pizzas together. Yep, five whole pizzas. We even developed an ingenious system to be able to share all of these pizzas, which all together took up most of the area of the table. We decided to rotate them in a circle. We would each eat a slice of one pizza, then pick up all of the trays together and rotate, having a piece on the next tray. It was delicious!!! We went home and crashed very quickly in our beds due to general exhaustion and fullness that night.

The five pizzas, sorry it's blurry

The next day was Capri day! Capri is an island off of Napoli. We took an early morning ferry out, hiked about 6km across the steep island (I fell on my face at one point on some stairs, it was classy), and planted ourselves on the “beach” for about 4-5 hours. I say “beach” because this thing was made of large pebbles, not sand. But regardless, there was sun, water, and beautiful cliffs around, so we made the best of it. After our many hours in the sun, we grabbed some more gelato, and took the ferry home in time to grab our bags from our previous hostel and move to a different one across the street. Our hostel had booked up for the next day before we could get beds, so we had to change. After this silly business, we made our way in Napoli to find a great spot for dinner. We had read in our guidebook of a restaurant that offers a 10 euro dinner that included first course, second course, wine, and bread. Too good of a deal to pass up.

"beach" on Capri

Island of Capri

Upon getting there, we found that we had come to the most ridiculously Italian place imaginable. The manager yelled at the crowd on the street who were waiting for tables in order to place people on a list for entry, guests leaving the place slipped the money for the meal into the large wad of cash that the manager held, and a beefy bald man stalked around the place, acting as a bouncer. Once we got on the list, we only had to wait for about 20 minutes, watching a parade of people entering the restaurant, most of them stopping to hug and kiss the manager on the cheek. Once we were seated, our waiter yelled to us and our two fellow tables, the specials he had for the night. You were given about 10 seconds to decide, yelling your decision back. Sofia and I looked at him a bit stupefied, and he ran to get us menus. But in the end I just pointed to what the guy next to me got, and I had my food within seconds. I’m still not sure of what I got, but it was pretty good.  After the mystery pasta, I got a steak, which was really yummy. After we had finished our second course, had finished almost all of our wine, and eaten all of our bread, we were hustled out of our seats by the wait staff, and left the restaurant, shoving two 10 euro bills into the manager’s hands. So Italian.

The next day, or our last day in Italy consisted of errand running. Sofia sent packages, we went grocery shopping, and then we grabbed a quick lunch before setting off on a train to the coastal town of Bari. From Bari, we took a 16 hour ferry to Patras, Greece, then a bus from Patras to Kiota, then a train from Kiota to Athens.  Italy had been stupendous! Incredible art, my favorite foods, and great company: bellisimo!  

Paris Holds the Key to my Heart: Part deux

Giverny

We left off last time on Friday night, having gotten home after a wonderful night out. I decided to do Paris in two separate posts, because I think that makes it more manageable to read. Alright, so Saturday morning we woke up very early. Chuma had decided to take us to Normandy for the day!  We left around 8:30am and drove about an hour to Giverny. This is the town where Monet built his house and famous water lily garden complex. The gardens were beautiful! All of the flowers were so bright and interestingly colored. You could really see all of the planning that went into creating this garden. The water lilies weren’t alive when we went, I guess they were still thawing from winter, but it was still wonderful. We got to walk through Monet’s home, where he created amazing large windows to always view his garden. His walls were covered in Japanese prints, and I overheard some British ladies pondering this. Japanese prints and artworks were a major inspiration for impressionism and for artists like Monet and Degas, so it was great to see his collection.

Monet's House

We had to leave Monet’s garden and home quickly however, as Chuma wanted us to get to Le Havre by 1pm so that we could eat “the best crepes in the world”, according to Chuma at least. And they were. We had a galette to start, which is a crispy savory crepe made out of a heavier wheat product, and then we had sweet crepes. I got a savory galette called the Complete Mixte that had ham, cheese, tomatoes, mushrooms, and a fried egg. It was absolutely delicious. The galette batter is so well suited to the savory flavors. Then I had a sweet crepe named La Snickers, which was crepe with nutella, chocolate, peanuts, caramel, and vanilla crème sauce. It was insanely indulgent. Along with the meal we got hard cider, which is apparently what you’re supposed to have crepes with.

Yellow fields in Normandy

Galette

La Snickers

After lunch we headed out to Etretat, a seaside town that was also made famous by impressionist paintings. This was a resort town for late 19^th century to early 20^th century Parisians. It’s easy to see why this place attracted so many people and artists. The ‘beach’, which I place in quotes because it’s made up on small pebbles, not sand, is surrounded by high, white cliffs. These cliffs are the same as the White cliffs of Dover, as once upon a time, Etretat was connected to the British Isles. The place is easily recognizable through these cliffs and the arches that are articulated along their base. Monet loved to paint these. On top of the cliffs are beautiful green grassy lawns, and on one, a church. It was stunning! It may be the most beautiful and unusual landscape I have ever seen. The blue of the ocean contrasts with the white cliffs and the green grassy areas so exquisitely. The town along this beach is no less aesthetically pleasing. Many of the buildings are in the old Norman style with white plaster walls and dark brown beams.

Etretat

Sofia, myself, and her family all climbed to the top of one of the cliffs and enjoyed the view, even though it was quite chilly and windy. Once we had enough, we climbed back down and drove to the seaside town of Honfleur (the location where Cartier left to discover Canada), where once again Chuma treated us all to an amazing meal. This time, however, it was seafood. I was polite and very understated about my dislike for seafood, and got a great plate of veal and pasta. However, once everyone else got their seafood, being polite and understated became very difficult. Sofia and her aunt shared an ENORMOUS pile of crab, lobster, shrimp, snails, and oysters. It was on a stand, placing directly at my eye and nose level. After that came out, honestly I had a little bit of trouble enjoying my own meal. With each bite, the smell of their seafood would waft into my nose, making my delicious veal taste like a pile of shrimp. I never mentioned this and tried to enjoy my food quietly, but by then Sofia had already told her family that I didn’t like any seafood, and the playful taunts began. Ah well, it was a fun evening in Normandy.

View from the cliffs

It was windy

Honfleur

My veal!

The next day, Sunday, we tried to get up early, but failed miserably. This meant that we missed a Gregorian chant mass at Notre Dame, but we needed the sleep. Sofia and I decided to walk to Notre Dame from the apartment; it was a beautiful sunny day. We made a quick stop at Les Invalides, which was an hospital for war veterans, and now houses the body of Napoleon. It is a beautiful structure, and we didn’t want to pay for entrance to Napoleon’s tomb, so we just walked around the place. After that we made our way to Notre Dame, which was stunning and moving as usual. The rose windows with the candles and the music always get me. I really felt like I was in a holy, spiritually potent place. Sofia and I sat for a bit on a pew, admiring the beauty, and just taking a moment to get away from the tourist mentality.

Me and Notre Dame

We left Notre Dame feeling refreshed and happy. Grabbing a nice lunch at a place that Chuma had recommended called Brioche Doree, I got a ham and cheese baguette sandwich with a raspberry tart and an espresso. From there, Sofia and I made our way to La Cimitere Pere Lachaise, which is the most famous and beautiful cemetery in Paris. We saw the graves of Georges Bizet (writer/composer of the opera Carmen), Jim Morrison (of The Doors), Chopin, Champollion (the man who first translated hieroglyphics via the Rosetta stone), Ingres, Gericault, Jacques Louis David, (all painters), and Oscar Wilde. Oscar Wilde’s grave was easily the best. Being the most popular to visit, the large tomb monument has developed its own traditions. It is covered with lipstick kisses from visitors, along with  graffiti; some of it is moving and meaningful, and some not. People have also left flowers, pictures, necklaces, and all sorts of trinkets. While visiting his grave, I wondered what he would think of all of it.

Oscar's Grave

We stayed in the cemetery for about 2 and a half hours, and left only because it was closing. There are so many beautiful tombs  and interesting people to visit. After we left, we decided to go to the Eiffel Tower to sketch it. We got there, sat down on a bench, but ended up chatting the whole time, not realizing how late it was. We didn’t get around to sketching, but it was still a great time. We walked back to the apartment from there, having another lovely homemade meal, and calling it a night.

Our LAST day in Paris was Monday the 11^th. Today was Louvre day! We got up early and headed out as soon as we could. Naturally the Louvre was fantastic. Could it be otherwise? We saw almost everything that we had studied the previous semester in 19^th Century art. We saw the Raft of the Medusa,  The Odalisque, The Coronation of Napoleon, The Oath of the Horatti, and many others. We went through the Egyptian section, and the Greco-Roman section as well, so we saw the Venus de Milo and Nike of Samothrace (a personal favorite). Naturally we elbowed, clawed, and fought our way to see the Mona Lisa, who was enigmatic and lovely as always. And making myself, and especially Sofia very happy, we saw the Death of Marat, her favorite painting. We spent about 4 hours in the whole place, and did very well I think. It’s hard to discuss further via text and blog…I’d have to speak to you in person if you want to hear a more detailed account of my love for the Louvre.

After the Louvre we rushed to the train station to try to reserve seats for our intended train that night. It was a mistake to wait until the day of. We had been planning on going to Nice or Cannes (the French Riviera) for a day and then going to Italy , but every single train had been booked. The only thing to do was to take a train the next morning to Florence, and try to do the French Riviera later in our travels. Disappointing, but c’est la vie.

So we headed home quickly to register for classes for the fall, as our appointment times were that day at 3:30. We got back to the apartment at 3:29, and registered successfully. I am taking Organic Chemistry Lecture, Organic Chemistry Lab, Arabia Imagined, African Dance, Introduction to Drawing, and Intro to Connoisseurship. I’m excited for some….and not so much for others.

Following registration, we chilled at the apartment and helped Rosi make our awesome dinner. We had arepas, a traditional Venezuelan dish. They’re basically very thick tortillas that are baked, and then cut open like a pita to make a pocket, and then you put chicken and guacamole and cheese or cold cuts and cheese in them. They were excellent! Then we had ice cream and pastries for dessert, said farewell to Marco, Gabi, and Antonio who had joined us for dinner, packed, and went to bed. Before doing so, I made sure to watch the Eiffel Tower sparkle at least one more time. Paris had been amazing, and I knew I would miss it. Part of me has decided that I will live in Paris at one time in my life, hopefully working for my beloved Louvre. I’ll try to blog more frequently about Italy. Au revoir et a Bientot!

Me and Sofia near the Eiffel Tower

Paris Holds the Key to my Heart

Ah, France. Such a beautiful country! We arrived in Cherbourg (Western France) earlier than we anticipated, around noon, and took a train to Paris through Caen. Getting to Paris around 7pm, we took about 20 minutes to get our metro passes as the entirety of Europe has changed the way they use credit cards. You can’t swipe most places, rather the cards contain a chip which is inserted into the machine. Because of this, the metro pass machine didn’t read our cards, and we had to mime “metro card” to the woman at the information desk who spoke very little English. After this small speed bump, we were off to Sofia’s Aunt and Uncle’s apartment. We found the place quite easily, mostly because it is extremely centrally located.

Me and La Tour Eiffel

Their apartment is absolutely fantastic. Only a few paces away from the Seine and the Champs Elysees, you can see the Eiffel Tower looming large from their balcony window. Sofia’s aunt and uncle, or Rosi and Chuma (apparently a common nickname for the name Jesus) were absolutely wonderful! We got there and they offered us food and wine, with promises of good French wine later on. They pointed out to us to look out the window at 9pm, so Sofia and I did and we saw the Eiffel Tower light up and begin to sparkle. The last time I had been in Paris the Eiffel Tower sparkled, but it wasn’t like this. It was sparser before. Now, it was shimmering with little lights that covered the entire tower. We had a great dinner of pizza with ham and vegetables.  Chuma was great about speaking in English when I was there, but more often than not when I was with Sofia’s family I was surrounded by Spanish speakers that knew English, but not fluently. So essentially when more of Sofia’s family was there, like her cousins Gabi and Marco, everything was said entirely in Spanish.  This was okay, as Sofia would often turn to me and translate what had been said, but it also meant that when everyone laughed at someone’s joke I was just sitting there grinning stupidly.  Occasionally they would switch to English entirely, but not for long. Anyway, oddly enough, I actually learned a little bit of Spanish in Paris.

Sofia and I went to sleep quickly and happily, each in our own queen sized beds in our own guest rooms. The next morning we awoke to meet Sofia’s friend Sinal who was studying abroad in Paris. We grabbed a quick breakfast of cereal, made ourselves amazing sandwiches out of baguette, brie, ham, and salami (ingredients courtesy of Rosi and Chuma) and went out to start our day. We started by walking up the street to the Arc du Triompe which has an incredible amount of traffic whizzing around it. We had read in our guide book that the Arc du Triomphe, as a monument to French military prowess,  had originally been planned as a bejeweled giant elephant statue. Thankfully, depending on the way you look at it, Napoleon changed that original plan to the current arch shape.

Me and the Arc du Triomphe

After the Arc, we walked down the Champs Elysees, which has changed a bit from being the home of high fashion houses, to generally being filled with H&M and the like. I stopped in a store called Promod and bought a cheap but lovely cardigan, as I only brought a pull over sweater with me, which had been great in the cooler cities, but was too hot in Paris. Speaking of the weather, it was BEAUTIFUL! Our first full day got to be in the 80s and sunny, which was delightful. So anyway, after Promod we walked by the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, walked along the Seine and then arrived at the Place de la Concorde. This is where roughly 1300 people were beheaded during the revolution, including King Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette. Now there is an obelisk from Luxor in place of the guillotine, and beautiful fountains in the place of an angry mob.

A little piece of Egypt <3

From here we made our way through the Tuileries, or the royal gardens in front of the Louvre. I really liked seeing these gardens, as they are featured in many impressionist paintings of the late 19^th century. We made our way through the gardens and got to the Louvre. Sofia and I had already decided that we would dedicate a whole day to the Louvre, so we weren’t going in that day, but it was still just nice to see. After seeing the Louvre, we ate our sandwiches on the lawn in front of the museum. Then after this delicious lunch, we went to the L’Orangerie, a smaller museum near the Louvre on Rosi’s suggestion. Here there was a nice collection of impressionist works, pieces by Modigliani, Picasso, and Derain. On the 2^nd floor, L’Orangerie had 8 frescoes by Monet installed in the wall. This whole display had been planned by Monet himself. The images depicted his water lily garden at different times of the day. They were quite beautiful. I’m usually not a huge fan of Monet, but these were so large that the images almost became abstract, which I really liked.

Yay the Louvre!

Sandwich yummmm

Monet's frescoes

We left the L’Orangerie and walked to the nearby church of La Magdalena and then visited the Opera house. This building had been the inspiration for the Phantom of the Opera, so I always like to see it. In front of the Opera, a bunch of college age kids were playing music as a marching band in very silly outfits which was fun to see. From there we walked over to the ritzy department store Printemps. Rosi had recommended that we go in and see their café that is roofed with a dome made entirely of stained glass. This was certainly a great recommendation. The ceiling was beautiful! We couldn’t admire it for long, as we were standing in a restaurant, but we got some nice pictures. From there we went to the roof of the department store where they provide a great lookout over Paris.

stain glass dome

Paris et Moi

Still having a lot of day left, I wanted to show Sofia Sacre Coeur and Montmartre, my two favorite sites from my last visit during high school. We took the metro to get close, and getting off around the Moulin Rouge, started walking up the hill to the Basilica of Sacre Coeur. The whole area around the Moulin Rouge has stayed true to its roots, being a street full of sex shops and strip clubs, my favorite being named the Sexodrome. Once we got off the main street, we got to the base  of the Basilica hill. For a while during our ascent, Sofia was confused as to where we were going. Many of the signs for the Basilica pointed away from the direction I was taking her. But I remembered from my trip the impact of seeing the church and the hill it tops from the very bottom, so I wanted her to have the same experience. It was well worth it. The church and hill were just as beautiful as I remembered, and Sofia loved it. We made our way up the path, passed lovers, groups of friends, people with guitars, and just general youthful merriment, and finally made it to the top.

Sacre Coeur

The church was as lovely as I remembered too. We made our rounds of the chapels, admiring the mosaics and décor, and then exited to the Montmartre area. This part of Paris is exactly what you imagine and want Paris to look like. It is full of cobblestone winding streets, small cafes and shops, and stunning apartment buildings. I would kill to live there. We walked by the artists’ square, admiring or critiquing the work on display. I’m happy that this has remained an artistic area, as it used to be the home of many famous or even infamous French artists.

Montmartre

After Montmartre we decided to head home. Upon getting back to Rosi and Chuma’s place, we had a great homemade meal of chicken and rice with fine French wine, followed by a dessert of éclairs. It was a perfect Parisian day.

The next day, we tried to get up early, with a little success, had chocolate croissants from breakfast that Rosi had gotten for us, and marched out the door, excited for our day. That day we had planned to go the catacombs! Sofia was especially excited, as she is a bio archaeologist, meaning that she studies bones and human remains. We metro’d our way to the catacomb entrance and sadly found that there was already a line out the door. It was still early though, so luckily it wasn’t too hot. We ended up chatting with the women in front of us for the ten minute wait. They were American and were rather confused by the Louvre. They asked us, once they found out we were art history majors, why all the women in paintings were topless in the Louvre. So I explained to them that it was all based on the ancient Greek artwork, which had been taken as the ideal of beauty, culture, and high art, influencing Western art. It was fun to chat about art with these ladies, but it also made me think of how difficult it often is for museums to fully explain their artwork to the public. Somehow, I’d like to try to improve public awareness and education of art in museums…if I ever get to work in one.

Anyway, we got to the catacombs and began our 60 foot descent into the tunnels. The whole place was an old limestone quarry that had been appropriated in the 18^th century to hold the remains of some 6 million Parisians. This had been the result of overcrowded cemeteries that had begun to become a health hazard to residents. The creators of the ossuary had placed the bones in aesthetic stacks to create organized partitions. Behind these partitions they placed all of the rest of the bones in a pile. Once you go down the stairs, you enter a hallway lit by lights on the walls. This is a very long and suspenseful hallway, you’re never sure when you’re going to get to the actual human remains. At this part, you pass through some of the areas created by the quarrymen for the quarrymen. We saw their well, the columns they created from the rock to maintain the ceiling, and even some carvings that they created to decorate the space.

Carvings in the catacombs

Finally we came to a doorway that read “Stop. This is the Empire of Death”, and we knew we had arrived. Walking over the threshold, we saw the walls of bones (mostly femurs, tibias, and skulls). Sofia immediately jumped into a thorough examination and description of the first skull. She was generally able to tell me if it was a male, female, or child, and if the holes in the skull had been pre or post mortem. The use of the bones was always changing, creating morbidly beautiful designs throughout the catacombs. I thought that there would be a smell or that I would be creeped out, but it was smell free, and I felt really comfortable the whole time. After a while it got hard to remember that these skulls and bones had been a real, thinking, breathing human, but I always tried to remind myself. One guy that we saw, was picking up the skulls and then carelessly tossing them back where he had snatched them. This was a little hard to tolerate, but everyone has a different level of respect for the dead.

At the doors of the dead

Walls of bones

The catacombs took about an hour and were absolutely amazing. I’m so glad that I saw them. We came out the other side and had to regain our sense of direction after winding around in the dark for so long. After chatting with a lovely old French man, we got our bearings and found a park to have lunch in. After lunch we  wandered around a local cemetery, then metro’d to the Pantheon, a church that holds some of France’s greatest minds. These include Victor Hugo, Rousseau, Voltaire, and Alexandre Dumas. We were very excited to come here, not just for the famous deceased, but for Foucault’s pendulum, which hangs in the church, still swinging. However, upon arriving there, we realized that it had been taken down in lieu of an exhibition. Very sad and disappointing.

No pendulum :(

From the Pantheon we passed La Sorbonne, the Parisian University, and then we walked by the church St. Germain des Pres, which boasts beautiful early medieval painted architecture. After the church we went to the Musee d’Orsay. Here we saw some famous impressionist works, some Van Gogh’s, some Ingres, and a host of other famous artists. I liked the Orsay, but I didn’t love it. The floor layout was a bit confusing, and they didn’t have nearly as many famous impressionist works as I had anticipated, seeing as that’s what they’re known for. Overall it was a great experience. Sofia and I ended up sketching until they closed.

After the Musee D’Orsay we went to meet Sofia’s cousin Marco at the Eiffel Tower. While he and Sofia chatted in Spanish, I thought about how much I had changed from the last time I had been at the Eiffel Tower. I has been about 6 years and I feel like in that time I have really come into my own. I’m confident in who I am, I know what I want, and not to mention I don’t have braces anymore! Anyway, we spent some time sitting on the grass and looking at the lovely tower. Gabi, Sofia’s other cousin called Marco and we decided to go out for some authentic French food. We had a few drinks while we waited for Gabi and her husband Antonio to meet with us, and then she arrived and I ordered the Confit de Canard with l’aligot. Confit de Carnard is essentially fried duck that has been soaked in fat for an extended period of time, making it the most succulent and tasty bit of meat you have EVER tasted. This was paired with l’aligot, which is mashed potatoes mixed seamlessly with different French cheeses and garlic. The waiter brings you your entrée plate and then brings over a pot full of l’aligot, taking an enormous spoonful and glopping it onto the plate. It was…the best meal I have ever had. All of this was paired with a delicious French red wine called Cote de Rhone. We finished off our incredible meal with an apple tart with crème brulee topping. Augh…. It was spectacular!! Gabi, Antonio, and Marco were amazing enough to pay for the entire meal, which was great because it was definitely out of our peanut butter and jelly price range.

Sofia and I at the Eiffel Tower

Confit de Canard <3

Creme brulee with apple tart

After the best meal ever, we walked or waddled along the streets of Paris, saw the Pompidou, the city hall, and then made it to the Notre Dame. The iconic cathedral was lit up and the square in front of it was full of people. There were people playing music, dancing, and entertaining. The city had so much life in that square. We made our way across the river, stopped at a bar for a drink, and continued on home.

Me, Sofia, Marco, and Antonio at Notre Dame

To be continued….