Tourism

Hello! Sorry for the lack of blogs the last two weeks. I was sick for about a week and nothing that I did really merited any type of blog. I mostly went to class that week, and slept a lot. I was feeling better by last weekend though, and decided to do a little tourism around the city!

On Friday night, after class I met up with Courtney. We hung out at her host family's apartment then heading over to Montmartre, the artist "village within a city" of Paris. Montmartre actually has some beautiful views of Paris because it is so high up, on a huge hill at the edge of the city. From there, there is a beautiful view of the Eiffel Tower, and all of Paris lit up by night. We walked around the area and watched artists painting portraits then Courtney got some gelato and I went for the ham and cheese crepe! After Montmartre, we walked down to Pigalle, where the famous Moulin Rouge is located.

Saturday, I got up and met Renee on the edge of the city at a huge flea market that she heard about. It was pretty cool, lots of scarves, shoes, jewelry, and clothes, but I'm not a huge flea market person so I didn't get anything there. Afterwards, we headed to Pere Lachaise Cemetary which is a famous cemetary in Paris where Edith Piaf, Moliere, Chopin, Jim Morrison, and Oscar Wilde are buried. It was a beautiful day so we walked around most of the afternoon, stumbling upon some very famous tombs! The coolest was Oscar Wilde's. Since he was a such a romantic writer, as a thank you for his work, woman put on lipstick and kiss his grave. His huge headstone is absolutely covered in lipstick marks and comments such as "You are my everything." It was also in the movie Paris, Je T'aime for those of you who have seen it.

Then this past week I had a break (though I didn't even know it!) My coordinator happened to forget to tell our school that we had a break so it was too late to make plans. However, my roommate Amy has her sister visiting so I visited some touristy sites with them this week. My favorite was the Jardin de Luxembourg, which will be absolutely beautiful in the spring when all the flowers are blooming. Right now, there are chairs around a fountain to sit and enjoy the sun. After the Garden, we headed over to a food exposition that had specific foods from different parts of France (Alsace, Nice, Toulouse, Calais etc. etc.) I got some ham that is apparently from the south but it tasted the same to me! Then I got some chocolate ice cream in a waffle CUP (so good). We were so full afterwards, that all we could do was drag ourselves home and watch a movie.

Anways, here are some pictures from the past couple weeks. Up next weekend: Amsterdam!


This is a picture of the Pantheon, near the Jardin de Luxembourg. According to the title on the building, it is where good men are buried. They are currently in the process of moving Albert Camus to this site.


The picturesque Jardin de Luxembourg. It was so sunny out this day, but unfortunately very cold, so we only lasted about an hour. But come spring, I'll be frequenting this park with a book and and a baguette (clearly channeling my inner French)
This is Oscar Wilde's grave at Pere Lachaise cemetary. All the mark are the lipstick kisses of woman who have visited the grave. My friend Renee and I left our mark on the side!
Oscar and I. "All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his. " (The only Wilde quote I can remember!)
The grave... again :-)
Edith Piaf's grave... she sings "La Vie en Rose" for those who don't know who she is :)
Some of the small monouments to remember those who died in the internment camps during the German occupation in World War II.
Very intense statues... this was in the back of the cemetary so it was eerily quiet....
Jim Morrison's grave
Chopin's grave
This was on one of the newer tombs. The bottom reads: "Tears of love for those who are longer"
The infamous Moulin Rouge
Artists corner in Montmartre
My attempt at an artsy photo... ended up looking more like the Prideland in the Lion King than Paris...
The view from Montmartre
The Sacre Coeur Church at the top of the stairs