Située à Puyloubier, au pied de la Sainte-Victoire, l’Institution des invalides de la Légion étrangère reçoit les anciens légionnaires valides et invalides blessés, malades ou inadaptés.

Le site abrite également le Musée de l’Uniforme de la Légion étrangère, annexe du Musée de la Légion étrangère d’Aubagne, ouvert au public.

Le musée de l’Armée

JUSQU’A FIN SEPTEMBRE 2009Département armes et armures anciennes

Parures sultaniennes

Pour marquer la saison de la Turquie en France (juillet 2009- mars 2010), le musée de l’Armée met à l’honneur ses riches collections ottomanes, témoins de la puissance militaire et des arts décoratifs de la Sublime Porte du XVe au XVIIIe siècle. Jusqu’à mars prochain, trois petites expositions vont présenter des pièces emblématiques, sorties des réserves du musée et restaurées à cette occasion.

La première exposition : “Parures sultaniennes” présente une sélection
de pièces d’armures, d’éléments défensifs et d’équipements guerriers
du XVe au XVIIIe siècle.

Les salles d’exposition permanentes du musée présentent également
un ensemble important d’armes et armures ottomanes.

Exposition incluse dans le billet d’entrée
au musée de l’Armée .

L’hôtel national des Invalides, c’est plein de musées en un. Alors mieux vaut choisir avant d’y aller, sous peine d’effleurer les collections entreposées du sous-sol au grenier !

Et aujourd’hui, c’est ambiance rentrée des classes : révisons les deux Guerres Mondiales. Et oui, élèves de 3ème et de Terminale, c’est pour vous !

Depuis l’annexion de l’Alsace et du nord de la Lorraine par l’Allemagne, le récit de la Première Guerre Mondiale se déroule sous nos yeux à l’aide de maquettes, objets récupérés (comme cette pèlerine encore maculée de la boue des tranchées) et affiches.

De salle en salle, des panneaux décrivent les évènements avec précision et force détails. Ce musée est réellement bien fait ; on peut trouver les informations un peu trop abondantes, mais si l’on sélectionne un peu, entre les films projetés et les objets exposés, l’essentiel de ce pan de l’histoire nous revient à l’esprit.

Et puis, l’essentiel en question ne se traduit-il pas mieux lorsqu’on le découvre à travers une multitude de détails ?

Comme ces mini-motos parachutées aux résistants dans des tubes en acier ! Ou alors, avoir sous les yeux la véritable machine à encrypter les messages Enigma :

Truc utile : Comptez au moins deux heures pour pouvoir visiter et découvrir le musée dans son intégralité. Et scrutez bien les objets d’époque exposés : la plupart sont de véritables surprises !

Supplément crânerie : Oui, à l’hôtel national des Invalides, il y a encore des invalides ! Une aile de l’édifice abrite encore retraités et invalides des armées françaises. C’est Louis XIV qui est à l’origine de ce projet : le bâtiment devait servir à la fois d’hôpital, d’hospice, de caserne et de monastère (d’où la taille et les deux églises, une pour le roi, une pour le petit peuple). Les anciens combattants du roi étaient donc rapatriés ici après une blessure, et s’ils ne pouvaient reprendre le chemin du combat, ils y apprenaient un nouveau métier (cordonnier, maçon, ouvrier de la soie…)

http://www.invalides.org/

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Holy Shit it’s big

One of the things that I haven’t done before in Paris was visit this building. I had no idea what it was, and never bothered finding out because it was a bloody long ass walk to get there. So on my last day as a 25yr old, I decided to find out. It ended up being a giant building with a museum of the French military, with two churches – one of them housing the tomb of Napoleon (called the l’Eglise du Dome) and it ended up being one of the most beautiful churches I had ever seen. I can’t believe I have walked passed this so many times without finding out what the hell it was!

The dome itself reminded me strongly of St Peter’s in the Vatican (but a bit smaller – and laced with gold). It cost 8€ to enter the museum (and the dome itself is included, and that’s the best part cos it’s where Napoleon is buried). I really hate paying to enter a church – but I had to see it, and I wanted something memorable to do before I turned 26. But seriously, this is one of the most beautiful places you’ll ever see in France.

The dome was just beautiful. C’est ca – there is no other way to put it. It is located right above Napoleon’s tomb.

Which is in that giant hole you see there. The great advantage of paying for entry, is that there are less tourists around. Which means you can take your time, and not have to worry about the bloody 45minute line to get in (like the bloody Louvre or the Vatican).

And when you see his tomb, bloody hell – it’s HUGE! Napoleon was supposed to be a tiny midget of a man, and he is housed in something bigger than my old bedroom AND it’s made up of this maroon marble. WTF? Not even Pope John II is buried  in anything this magnificent (he was buried in white marble, and a wooden box).

And you see the main Altar and you’re in absolute awe – and the golden reflection and the marble laced again with gold. It is really beautiful in here (can you see how positive I am being? Seriously – visit this place god damn it!)

The entrance to the crypt was a bit menacing – in it’s Pluto guarding Hades type of way, but it was really well designed – and actually quite cool.

But you can really see and compare the size of his tomb to the people around it – fark! (I actually have very little to complain about today, sun was nice and warm – no black people harassing me anywhere – no gypsies!)

The best part of it, is that he is completely surrounded by these 6ft angels, all carrying different weapons – it was such a great gift to myself. I was going to get another piercing done, but I think this was better in the end!

Paris

There are lots of places to see and go around. One should ideally plan for Paris for 3-4 days atleast. Paris is divided into zones. Almost all the major attractions fall within zones 1 & 2. Paris has an excellent metro network. For going around, one can buy the carte mobilis pass for zones 1 & 2 for 5.3 €. On the weekends, one can buy this pass for 3.2 € – it is called carte jeunes (not sure about the spelling). Guess that Versailles is in zone 4– so if you intend to visit Versailles on a particular day, then buy the pass which covers Versailles.

Louvre museum
The museum where Monalisa is. It is a huge museum and the best museum we have ever seen. It houses quite a lot of things – from mummies to sculptures to paintings and what not. We went on an evening when the entry was free (check Lonely Planet Europe on a Shoestring for exact details). Normally, the entry fee is around 10 €. The entry is free on the first Sunday of the month. One should keep 4-5 hours for seeing this museum. Everything in the museum is written in French so I would suggest that take a audio guide(a machine) in English that costs around 5 euros without which louver would be a pain.

Versailles
This is the place where the treaty of World War 1 was signed. There is a palace and huge gardens. The entry to the palace is quite costly – around 7.5 € for the main palace and you have to pay extra if you want to see other things in the palace. We went on a day when there was no electricity (it happens also in France…) – so we got to see the main palace for free. We would suggest that one can avoid seeing the palace and head straightaway for the gardens. Besides, the entry fee for the gardens is less – 3 €. The gardens are huge – of a scale which we had never seen before. To see the gardens alone requires around 4-5 hours. There is a place called Queen’s hamlet inside the gardens which is good. This is the place which LN Mittal had booked for his daughter’s wedding.

Eiffel Tower
For many people, Eiffel tower represents Paris, and it is rightly so. With the lights on, it is one of the most magnificent sights you would see. One can walk up to the second stage of the tower and from there one has to take a lift to the third stage. There are around 600 steps to reach the second stage. History and some stuff about the tower there on the first stage make for an interesting reading. The view from the top of the tower is simply awesome. The money spent is quite worth it. The view of Eiffel when the lights are on is breathtaking.

Tuirelli, Place de la Concorde and Champs Elysees
There is the Concorde pillar at Place de la Concorde. place de la concorde is the starting point of champs elysees – the fashion street of paris. Champs elysees is also the culminating point of the Tour de France. One can find all the best perfumes, exclusive Disney store on this street. The street takes you to arc de triumph – where an unknown soldier is buried. Arc de triumph is also the place where 12 streets meet – so makes for a good view especially in the night. But there is an entrance fee for going to the top. Tuirelli gardens are near place de la concorde. (between louvre museum and place de la concorde). The gardens are a nice place to go and spend some time.

Invalides
This place houses a museum on World War 2 and has some stuff about Napoleon. We just saw it from outside – the feedback that we had got about it was that one could skip it.

Notre dame
This is a good church to visit, although one gets bored of visiting churches.

We took a walk along the seine river, starting from the other side of Notre dame. Here you can buy Eiffel tower souvenirs and stuff. On this street, you get the cheapest rates around the middle of the street – so don’t make the mistake which we did – don’t buy stuff as soon as you enter the street. You do also get proper Indian food (paratha with sabji and all) for about 5 Euros. You also get Dosas at a place near Gare de Nord.

French Riviera
Places like Nice, Cannes, Monaco make up the French Riviera. Quite beautiful places…..full of the rich and famous and hence quite costly. One can see the F1 track in Monaco City. The beaches here are nice…and the people too

I would suggest that definitely visit thse places before end November as after that beach season almost ends. Also since a lot of students on exchange live at nice and in case of mdi even at Aix, staying becomes totally free. Cannes and Monaco are definitey worth a visit and wont take more than a day.

One could also shop for the famous fragenhard perfumes that are available only in nice and S-village.

O tempo está miserável. Está quente. Mais quente do que em Lisboa. Calor de trovoada. A humidade grave. O sol cega-me. Os parisienses sofrem ainda mais do que eu, mas sentimo-nos todos como uns imbecis, suando com o menor dos esforços. Ah, não é possível a sprezzatura!

Começo o dia na Concorde, salvando uma francesa que se preparava para levar as suas malas de comboio direcção à Défense. Corto a direito até o cais de Orsay. Quando entro na gare, deixo de existir durante algumas horas, e só o ego dos coleccionadores me enfastia levemente. Para honrar aos seus legados, o museu compartimenta as doações, e obriga-me agora a visitar dois andares e pelo menos quatro recantos distintos se quiser examinar Cézanne.

O sol da saída é estonteante; procuro refúgio nas Tuileries, mas o raio das Tuileries são só relva e veraneantes, a gravilha branca cega-me. Rien au monde n’est beau, admirable, attendrissant comme les paysages anglais (Julien, começo a pensar que tinhas razão). Volto a atravessar o Sena e sigo ao longo da esplanada dos Invalides, a refulgente cúpula dourada guiando os meus passos. Sou atraído pelas formas de Rodin e perco-me no mesmo jardim onde o menir de Balzac e o seu cavo etmóide se sobrepõem aos ínfimos visitantes, e as Portas do Inferno negrejam, ali enterradas num muro de heras. Que terno é o Beijo, que lindíssima era Rose Beuret! E Camille! Teu desgosto não tem nome, mas assumiu para nosso deleite as formas de uma escultura divina.

Metro até Mauberg-Mutualité.

e perco-me pelo quartier

até encontrar o final da rue de la Bûcherie.

Livreiros e bibliotecários, sabem do que falo.

Atravesso a ilhota, certifico-me que Notre-Dame ainda está no seu lugar, trepo em direcção ao Marais para um tout petit verre e alguns momentos de repouso no interior de uma bela hortênsia. No regresso, o Hôtel de Ville rebrilha, incandescente com o orangino sol da tarde, robusto como um colosso teimoso. Ainda vou ler o Arc de Triomphe, e não descortino Junot (que está lá, algures, aguardando uma outra visita).

E no dia seguinte tenho de partir.

Ton adieu?

Je n’y crois pas du tout.

C’est un au-revoir.

Presque un rendez-vous.

S’il est des moments où l’on peut être fier de coiffer le bicorne, les obsèques du Colonel Serge Ravanel en furent sans doute un grand.

La France rendait, mardi 5 mai aux Invalides, les honneurs militaires à ce polytechnicien de la promotion 1939, Compagnon de la Libération.

Ceux qui me connaissent savent mon attachement à l’histoire et aux valeurs de la Résistance. Ils mesureront donc combien j’ai été honoré, à la tête de la délégation polytechnicienne, de saluer une dernière fois notre camarade, libérateur de Toulouse en 1944, dont le cercueil s’éloignait au rythme du chant des Partisans, ceint du drapeau tricolore.

Ce drapeau de la France, terre d’adoption pour sa mère tchèque. Né Serge Asher, celui qui deviendra Ravanel, grandit donc bercé par les valeurs humanistes et républicaines de cette patrie des droits de l’homme qui a accueilli sa mère, et qui récompense son mérite en lui ouvrant les portes de l’Ecole Polytechnique en 1939. « Pour la Patrie, les Sciences, la Gloire ».

La Gloire, Serge Ravanel ne l’avait jamais recherchée. Mais elle était naturellement venue récompenser ce « héros pour de bon » . Compagnon de la Libération, grand officier de la Légion d’honneur, croix de guerre avec palme et décoré de la US Bronze Star Medal, l’homme, d’une grande intégrité et d’une immense simplicité, se voulait humble, et préférait évoquer les prouesses des anonymes, sans-grades dont il avait été le chef. Seule l’imperturbable sérénité de son regard en disait long sur les épreuves qu’il avait traversées.

Les Sciences, Serge Ravanel les avaient explorées dans sa jeunesse. Après la guerre, il y reviendra, toujours passionné de nouvelles technologies et de modernité, jusqu’au cabinet du Ministre de la Recherche Jean-Pierre Chevènement, entre 1981 et 1983.

La Patrie, elle, fut le moteur de son action, l’idéal qui poussa le jeune étudiant pétri de mathématiques et de physique à plonger dans la clandestinité, pour devenir un des leaders de la Résistance intérieure. Trajectoire fulgurante et destin hors du commun. Il est des situations exceptionnelles, où l’on se révèle aux autres. Et à soi-même.

Et ce fils d’immigré ne voulut pas croire, en 1940, à l’effondrement politique et moral de la Patrie qu’il avait tant vénérée. Longtemps, il crut à la duplicité de Pétain, et à un accord secret entre le Général parti à Londres et le vieux Maréchal resté donner le change à l’ennemi. Un Maréchal de France, vainqueur de Verdun, ne pouvait pas brader le pays de la sorte.

Il perdit vite ses illusions et s’engagea activement au sein de la Résistance intérieure. Sa finesse d’analyse, son charisme et son organisation le propulsèrent vers de hautes responsabilités : permanent de Libération Sud en 1942, il devient chef national des Groupes Francs des Mouvements Unis de la Résistance en 1943. En octobre, ses groupes font évader Raymond Aubrac, qui a rendu aux Invalides un vibrant hommage à son libérateur. Jean Moulin, transféré quelques jours plus tôt par Klaus Barbie, n’aura pas cette chance. En 1944, il est chargé de la nomination du nouveau responsable régional des Forces Françaises de l’Intérieur (FFI) pour la région R4 (Sud-Ouest) : devant l’indécision de ses pairs, il se propose et est désigné à l’unanimité.

La valeur n’attend pas le nombre des années, et le voici donc, au printemps 1944, à seulement 24 ans, nommé Colonel par le général Koenig, et à la tête de 60 000 hommes. Le plus jeune colonel de France coordonne les combats de libération de Toulouse, les 19 et 20 août 1944. Il s’agit surtout d’entraver et de harceler la retraite d’une armée allemande qui se précipite vers la Provence, où les Alliés ont débarqué quelques jours plus tôt. Il s’agit aussi d’empêcher les forces ennemies de mettre à sac la ville avant leur départ : l’action des FFI évitera ces représailles sanglantes. Un millier de soldats allemands seront tués et 13 000 faits prisonniers.

Si Serge Ravanel prépare immédiatement, avec le commissaire de la République Jean Cassou, la reconstruction et le rétablissement de l’ordre républicain, c’est un général de Gaulle mal informé, craignant une « expérience communiste » et l’établissement d’une « république rouge » place du Capitole, qui arrive à Toulouse le 16 septembre : le malentendu entre le Colonel, chef régional des forces intérieures, et le leader de la France libre est brutal, mais ne doit pas faire oublier l’ampleur de la contribution de cette grande figure de la Résistance intérieure.

Homme de caractère, de convictions et d’engagement, personnage déterminé qui s’évada trois fois des griffes ennemies, Serge Ravanel est l’incarnation de cet esprit de Résistance si spécifique à la France, et auquel il consacrera d’ailleurs un livre en 1995.

Inlassablement, il racontait aux jeunes générations ces valeurs humanistes de courage, de solidarité et de liberté, ce refus de la barbarie nazie, profondément ancrés au plus profond de ses compagnons, et qui les avaient poussés à affronter les dangers quotidiens de l’arrestation, de la torture et de la déportation. En s’adressant à la foule, place du Capitole, au soir de la Libération, pour l’exhorter à entamer la reconstruction économique, le chef régional des FFI affirme une des spécificités de la Résistance française : sa coordination et son programme d’après-guerre, bâti autour des idées progressistes, sociales et réformatrices du Conseil National de la Résistance. Il incarne donc bien cette Résistance française, qui puise sa dynamique et son éthique dans les valeurs républicaines fondatrices de notre identité.

Préoccupé par la montée de la haine et des extrémismes, Serge Ravanel s’efforcera, à la fin de sa vie, de livrer son témoignage aux jeunes générations, pour assurer la préservation des si précieux acquis de la Libération. Pour lui qui soutenait que la jeunesse d’aujourd’hui est aussi généreuse que celle de son époque, notre présence à ses obsèques, saluée par ses compagnons aux Invalides, constitue donc un hommage d’autant plus grand. Si plus de cinquante promotions nous séparent, nous voici donc dépositaires de son témoignage, comme les jeunes générations sont maintenant, avec la disparition des derniers survivants, garantes du flambeau du souvenir. A nous désormais de transmettre ces témoignages, ces histoires qui ont fait l’Histoire.

Ce « travail de mémoire », cette fidélité à l’engagement et à l’œuvre de femmes et d’hommes comme Serge Asher, est plus que jamais nécessaire, alors que le retour du négationnisme et des manipulateurs de l’Histoire agite des spectres bruns que l’on croyait définitivement disparus. Alors que les récents génocides, en ex-Yougoslavie ou au Rwanda, nous enseignent que l’Histoire peut encore bégayer. “Celui qui ne se rappelle pas le passé est appelé à le revivre“, disait George Santayana : pour rester vigilants face à la montée de l’intolérance, cette mémoire est indispensable.

Perpétuer le souvenir, donc, pour comprendre le passé, et mieux construire le présent.

Serge Ravanel, homme exceptionnel, avait confiance en la mémoire des jeunes générations. Donnons-lui raison.

LC.

           Lors des jeux olympiques d’ Athènes, les médailles d’or ne rapportaient que 40 000 Euros, celles d’argent 20 000 Euros et 13 000 Euros pour une médaille de bronze. Cependant, à l’occasion des jeux Olympiques de Pekin, les primes sont passées à 50 000 Euros pour les médailles d’or, les autres primes étant restées constantes. D’ailleurs pour information, depuis les jeux olympiques de Pekin les athlètes valides et les invalides touchent désormais les mêmes primes.

Au fait, je ne suis pas mort.  Si vous le croyez ou non.  I’m WAY behind on the blogging, but I’m happy to be saying that for the first time so far into my trip.  I didn’t think I’d be able to keep this up anyway.

Saturday morning, I didn’t set an alarm for myself, as a treat.  I didn’t wake up until 1pm.  Woah.  Also, it was snowing (nice while I was inside).  I made eggs for myself and Mark Anthony, and then we headed off to the Musée du Quai Branly, a cultural museum.  It was really nifty, and we weren’t allowed to take pictures but I snuck a few anyway… only of the things that really amazed me.

In the first one (below) it’s snowing, I dunno if that’s visible.  The second is a visual pun on the République Française, or rather its logo.  Third: the museum.  More interestingly, number 4 is a photo of the predecessor to modern day motor homes.  No, but in all honesty it was gigantic, something like 15 feet across, and they threw them on the backs of dromedary camels in Syria until the dawn of the cah.  Oh, car, for all of you readers not from Boston.

Five is the book of Esther, as in from the Bible, as in on a scroll and from the thirteenth century.  Yeah, woah.  It amazed me that the words on that semiancient scroll were the same words in people’s homes all around the world to this day.  *shiver shiver*

Six is a mask.  See that little spot at the bottom?  That’s where your head goes.  Note that the top of the mask isn’t even visible in the picture, it was too tall for me to discreetly photograph properly.  *adverb adverb?*

[Nota bene: Let me preface the next part with this: if you are going to worry about my safety, skip to the next post.  If you are going to accept the fact that I'm perfectly safe now, and was perfectly safe throughout my adventure, continue.]

So, then we had Erin, Liz and Meredith over for dinner.  It was just going to be a M.A. Signature Chocolat Chaud, but it turned into an apéritif, pasta, salad, cheese, dessert, M.A.S.C.C., and of course plenty of wine.  We had a little trauma getting our pains au chocolat, but in the end it worked out alright.  Suffice it to say we kept each other well entertained until about the time the métro was closing when we all decided they had better leave.  But then of course we needed our group photo, another glass of wine maybe, et cetera.

Liz and Meredith live together; they made their train.  Erin had no one to go home with; she missed her train.  Oops.

…

So…

…

Now what.

Oh, I got it, we’ll walk her home!  Cue 2am, Mark Anthony, Erin and I start the trek for Erin’s home, half way across Paris.

La pendule sonne 27 fois.

Cue 3:30am, we arrive at Erin’s (pic 11), and very shortly after Mark Anthony and I start heading home.

La pendule sonne 6 fois.

We made it home at 5am, after getting some pictures of la Tour Eiffel without its lights on.  Weird.  But, nobody be worried *coughMomGrandmomcough* because being the smart young men we are, we walked only through big touristy areas that were well lit the entire time.  Also, we didn’t have anything worth stealing anyway, we’re college kids.

Ahh, so the next day, I again did not set an alarm… as a treat.

P.S. Bonus points if you got La Cantatrice Chauve reference.

Maman, I think, is Stanislas’s favorite word.  At any rate he said it a damn lot this morning from 8-9:30am… loudly.  I totally didn’t want to be up on a Saturday morning so early… oh well.  At least I had my nice warm shower ahead of me.  Oh, what’s that?  Nothing but cold water?  Looks like I’m not showering today.

As it turned out, the water warmed up a half hour later when I double checked, that was good.  Then I went to meet Jillian, Sam and Gerald for lunch at la Fondation.  Turns out, it was kinda not good, and kinda not worth the ridiculous métro ride – but I did get a bunch of reading done on the way.  Not only was the food bad, but I had forgotten to get money out, so stupidly I had to hold up everyone behind me and go beg Jill for a couple Euros, equally embarrassing because I already owed her.  Ah!  Now that that’s over…

Jillian, Sam and I then went out to Les Invalides, the place where Napoleon (Je suis Napoléon) is buried and where there are a bunch of really awesome exhibits.  Napoleon’s grave, wow.  Most striking were the ten giant sculptures all staring forever at his tomb.  Wicked creepy, it made me feel like if I tried to open it they’d come alive and eat my soul or something.  Not that I had planned to open Napoleon’s tomb.

The best part of Les Invalides was the Two World Wars exhibit, which for the French apparently starts in 1871.  Anyway, I wasn’t terribly enraptured until I hit 1914 and the actual war started – but then they had so much information and awesome exhibits about it and videos and models with projections glowing down from the ceiling and weapons and uniforms and plaques with information about each year’s events – ah!  It was awesome.  We were there too long though, and I only made it to 1917 before we got kicked out and it was closing.  Bummer, guess I’ll just have to go back!  But it’s free, thanks BU!

Then we walked out past BU’s building, taking photos along the way, and then I came home.  I got dinner (a baguette, emmental, wine, and tuna fish) at the supermarket and our boulangerie, and came upstairs to eat it.  I got an email that said “Don’t take the M° Denfert-Rocherau blah blah blah.”  Didn’t care, I wasn’t going anywhere near there any time soon, though I was there this morning.  A couple hours later (a few minutes ago now) I read on Jill’s blog that apparently she and Sam both ended up there, separately, and there was tear gas and police and explosions.

Uh..?  What?

They’re ok, which is the important part, but what was that about?  I am curious to read about this in the news tomorrow…  Anyway don’t anybody worry about me, I’m perfectly safe and don’t imagine that will happen anywhere that I need to be in the next, oh, four months.  Just wow..!  : \  Anyway, on a lighter note, pictures!

It’s my third day living with my host family and I think I’ve finally figured things out. I’m in the 7ème, which is also called Invalides. The 7ème is a wealthy area with a lot of nice apartments and many shops and restaurants. It’s also very close to La Tour Eiffel, École Militaire and the Rodin Museum.

The outside of my apartment building

It took me a couple days to get used to the way I have to enter the building and I’m sure I looked a little silly the first few days, but I’ve got it down now. There is a code to get into the building and then I need to use a key to get into the main stairwell. But, there is also a back stairwell that I get to use because my room has a door that opens directly to that back staircase. However, to get into that stairwell, I have to enter the courtyard then find the inconspicuous door on the right, enter another code, turn on the lights, walk up the 4 flights of stairs, and then use a different key to enter the room. Last night I couldn’t find the lights so I walked up in the dark in heels. I was lucky I didn’t fall!

I think my room must have once been a separate apartment space because of the back door and also the kitchen area. Perhaps the building was once split into several more apartments than it is now. Currently, my family has the only apartment on the 4th floor.

My bed, dresser and little TV

I’m located in a great area for seeing the rest of the city. It takes me only about 30 minutes by metro to get to class each day and my stop, École Militaire is great because it’s only a few stops away from lots of good shopping and many of the other major metro lines. 

The metro is very easy to use, and I have my metro card (the NAVI Go) so now I officially look French.

Yesterday was my first true test using the metro. I was on Line 1 coming back from Neuilly (a city just outside the official Paris limits) when there was an announcement in French over the intercom. One of the ACCENT workers, Jim, told us that if an announcement like this ever came on and everyone exited the metro, we should do the same. I didn’t catch what the announcement had said but everyone exited, so I followed. After a second listen, I learned that there had been an “accident grave” and 3 metro stops were shut. 

I exited the metro only to discover myself practically underneath L’Arc de Triomphe. Because the main line was closed, I had to walk about 15 minutes down the street to the next metro stop. Then, I had to make two changes to finally get back onto my line, Line 8, to get home. The whole trip took longer than if I had stayed on Line 1, but I was able to find my way home eventually. I think this means that I should have no problem finding my way around this city. 

My Madame has promised to take me on a walking tour of the area tonight or tomorrow so I’m sure I’ll have an even better understanding of the area soon. Apparently there is a pool close by and some great areas to run.

Two new vocab words:

• La Blague – a joke (Pauline told a blond joke at diner. I didn’t know they had those in France too!)
• La boum – a surprise party (Capuchine wants to go to her first surprise party tomorrow. In France, school is a half day on Wednesdays but they go to class on Saturday mornings.)

The kitchenette with microwave, washing machine, sink and stove

Publicado por: Sergi Soler

También conocida como la ciudad del amor o la ciudad de la luz, París goza de atractivos tan diversos y barrios tan distintos, que cuando uno la visita, descubre un sinfín de sensaciones y de posibilidades. En París todo es grande, desde sus avenidas hasta su sorprendente metro. Sorprendente porque es enorme y porque hay líneas vanguardistas que cuentan con vagones automatizados que no precisan conductor y otras líneas, en que los vagones utilizan neumáticos de camión para moverse, en lugar de circular por los convencionales raíles. La Torre Eiffel en vivo es espectacular y la arquitectura de sus edificios y calles, única, gracias a las reformas del Barón Haussmann, por encargo de Napoleón III, durante el siglo XIX.

Las gentes de París son muy amables, eso sí, es preciso dirigirse a ellos como “Monsieur” o “Madame” antes de pedir alguna indicación. Simple cortesía

Foto: @TaylorMiles

Imprescindible en París

El río Sena, cruza la ciudad por el centro, aportando ese toque romántico y sereno tan especial. Alrededor del río encontramos todo tipo de monumentos y museos y cientos de buenos locales y restaurantes donde comer o tomar algo disfrutando de unas espléndidas vistas. Eso sí, según el local, nos pueden cobrar 5€ por un refresco.

Es muy recomendable visitar toda la zona centro del Sena, puesto que se puede hacer un recorrido circular donde podemos visitar lugares como Notre Damme, Centro Pompidou, Museo del Louvre, Champs Elisées, Arco del Triunfo, Ópera, Galerías Lafayette, Torre Eiffel, Invalides (Tumba de Napoleón), Museo Rodin, Museo de Orsay, etc.

Foto: @Panoramas

Un paseo por el barrio de Sant Germain y el Barrio Latino son también imprescindibles. Encontraremos calles llenas de vida, restaurantes, paradas de comida y pubs, nacionales e internacionales, todo ello muy bien cuidado y la mayoría con terraza.

Tampoco nos podemos perder el barrio de Montmatre, o barrio de los artistas, donde podemos visitar el Sacre Coeur, la plaza de los artistas o el museo Dalí, con muy buenas vistas de la ciudad y por supuesto, ¡el famoso Moulin Rouge!

Foto: @kcm76

En cuanto a vistas panorámicas de la ciudad, recomiendo 3: Sacre Coeur, Torre Eiffel y la altísima Torre de Montparnasse. Paris, c’est magnifique!

Falafel. :-p On attend, j’ai raison…

Today was our first day of orientation – it went pretty well. Started at 10am, and our host mother was kind enough to take us all the way there so we wouldn’t get lost. Turns out it’s only a few stops on le metro, which is nice and close. Then again, practically all of Paris seems to be only a few stops away on le metro, it’s a great subway system and we’re in a pretty great place.

So as part of orientation, after a group photo and a few seminars on surviving in Paris, we went on a two and a half hour bus tour of Paris. Yeah, très long. I unknowingly fell asleep somewhere between the old opera house and le Louvre, and woke up to us all getting of the bus to stretch for a few minutes… and then getting right back on the bus to continue with another hour or so of touring. But I did find out that a good bit of the big spots in Paris are all walkable, and it’s very possible to see them all in one day. Granted, you’d be seeing them for just a few minutes each, but if it’s really nice, I’ll run around and take a bunch of pictures. I only got a couple today from the bus, and it was cloudy.

After the bus trip, our planned day was over, so a group of us went to buy cell phones. We walked forever so we could get to a certain store, The Phone House, and then six of us bought the exact same phone. It took forever, but the woman at the counter seemed pretty amused that a huge group of American tourists were all buying the same phone.

Then we went out to dinner in the cheapest place we could find… middle-eastern food. I had falafel as my first dining-out experience in Paris. I feel like there’s something wrong with that… At any rate, tomorrow morning my homestaymate and I are going to le boulanger pour acheter des croissants et des cafés..! Ca veut dire we’ll be having coffee and croissants for breakfast tomorrow! Hooray for Paris!

Mark Anthony (my hostfamilymate) and I have also mastered le metro, or so we think, because today we got on by the falafel place, wherever that was, and managed to find our way back home without looking like tourists too badly and without making any mistakes. That was encouraging.

From when we got back (about two and a half hours ago) until about fifteen minutes ago we sat and talked to our host father Antoine, about all sorts of things. It was a bit tiring, but good for our French of course, and Stanislas came out to join us when he heard the men talking. He’s still adorable, by the way.

Et maintenant, je dors. J’suis encore épuisé. Goodnight, oh 6:15pm-right-now-ers. In the mean time, here is a picture I took with my phone.

Qui ne doute de rien

Les Invalides

Un Poilu (soldat français)

Mais, j’en ai quand même profité pour me promener un peu. Très agréable comme promenade. Il ya quelque chose dans l’air à l’automne qui est revigorant, autant à Paris qu’au Québec. Mais être à Paris rajoute un petit quelque chose de magique. C’est encore fascinant pour moi de prendre le métro et de sortir au cœur de Paris et de voir la Tour Eiffel. C’est kitsch je le sais mais j’aime toujours. J’espère ne jamais devenir blasé quant à ces vues. 

Ah Paris!

Après ma mini-promenade, ma chérie est venue me rejoindre et nous sommes partis à la recherche du dernier élément manquant dans notre appartement… un micro-onde ! Ca y est… nous sommes maintenant capables de faire réchauffer nos restes !

Une petite pause

Almost home!