2 weeks of class down, only...Okay, it's better if I don't count down.

Salutations à tous et toutes,

I hope I am finding you all well on this fine September Sunday. I must admit that while France is wonderful, I do miss autumns à la Bowling Green/Midwest. Apple festivals, tress changing color...PUMPKINS/Halloween! I realized that this is the second fall I have spent in France, and while they are nice here, it is just not the same.

As for the events of the week: You know for sure you are in France when...
1. You have to have 3 different library cards
2. When the quartiers/arrondisments are in the shape of a shell
3. When you visit a Chateau at night


1. Okay, so first off this week, I began my little journey to get a library card. In Paris there are at least three different kinds of libraries, municipal, university, and national. For each one, a different library card is necessary, and in some cases an interview before said library card may be obtained. Yep, an interview. Much like the library of congress, the National library (or BnF) requires a small tête à tête before you can officially do research in the facility. It makes sense, because it is so busy, they don't want just any-old person walking through. (Dick I'm not sure you would ever make it through the door). Oh yeah, AND once you have the ability to go TO the library, you have to set up an appointment time each week. Almost like office hours. You can only have three books at a time, but you can request them ahead of time, so you arrive at your appointment time, at "your" desk and your books will be there waiting for you.

For the municipal libraries, once you have a card it works with all other libraries, but it's not like in BG where you can ask for a book from another library and have it delivered at your own, you have TO that library and get it yourself. That's just the way the cookie crumbles.

ANd finally, the university libraries. Fortunately, I will have a student card that will allow me access to these libraries. That makes thinks a bit easier.

Of course, it's important to note that checking out books is normally prohibited in the large/more popular libraries, so better be sure to note which book you found where. AND plan your time well, cause they are not going to be open until midnight.

2. So this week the other students and I had the opportunity to visit the 10eme arrondisment. Before I continue, what the heck is an arrondissement? It is kind of like a county but smaller in size, and it's also like a neighborhood. Paris is made up of about 20, and unlike most American cities, they move in the shape of a shell. This is because the city began during the period of ancient Rome, and slowly expanded.

I happen to live in the 3eme arrondissement, which is pretty centrally located and also right next to the 10eme, which is where I run. In the link below you will notice the 3eme, is pretty small but to the north of La Seine and just before some canals. That's where I run!

http://www.plandeparis.info/plans-de-paris/arrondissements-paris.jpg (This is a pretty good image of the Paris and you can see the number of arrondissements)



3. And Finally: Chateau de Vaux le Vincomte

I had the pleasure and opportunity to accompany the BG kids to the Chateau de Vaux le Vincomte just yesterday evening. As most of you know, I am an alum of BG, and at the program always begins in Paris. I am still in contact with the program director Kevin Kane, and he invited me to accompany then the Castel. (Which was fortunate for me because the only way to get there is by car, no public transit)

The chateau was built by the guy who handled the taxes for Louis XIV, and what a splendid chateau it is. A little too splendid as they say. The week it was opened for a house warming party, was the only week that Vaux le Vincomte would get to enjoy his palace. Accused of stealing from the king, he was sentenced to a life in a dungeon, and Louis XIV would then build his now well known living quarters, Versailles. Vaux le Vincomte is a place at the heart of many a three musketeers stories including the story of the man in the iron mask.

And finally, the coolest part of the chateau is that we were there at night...this picture may speak for itself but let's just say I have never seen anything so magical.

Time to get back into French!
All my best,
-Bekah

La vie parisiane...

Before beginning this week's post, I thought I would add a few photos of my living quarters. That way everyone can see my humble abode. (Or at least the humble abode of Marie-Liesse and her boyfriend Michel)

Let's see, last weekend I went to Angers, this weekend I stayed in Paris. And what a beautiful weekend it has been. Lots of sun, and lots of spending time with friends and getting to know the city. First off, this past week was our first week of classes at the Centre Madeline which is the Middlebury part of the program. (I believe I explained that I won't be taking courses at the French school until the beginning of October) In the meantime, I am working on my thesis, and my applications for my doctorate.

So this post is going to cover my first week, the fabulous weekend of sun, and that's about it.

ANYWAY, I am taking two classes, one that is going to really help me improve my style in French and the other is a literature class, a comparison between the 17th century and the 20th century return to tragic.

As well as the regular course work, we have some cultural activities, where we get to learn about the history of Paris and work on pronunciation.

Little known fact about Paris, in the 1960s, there was a large fad for sky scrapers, (which we can see today in the area know as La Defense), and the plan for the city was to completely rebuild everything. DESTROY everything that we know of today as charming Paris and in place of all that build giant sky scrapers. Fortunately an oil crisis hit much of Europe by the end of the 60s and nothing become of such a terrible idea!

As for the weekend, two gals from the program and I decided to share a bottle of wine and chocolate on le pont des arts (which is very popular for picnics during the summer) on Friday evening and enjoyed the ambiance of La Seine (which is the river that runs through Paris).

Then this weekend was what is know as "les journées de patrémoine" Which is where EVERYTHING is open and EVERYHTING is free. So we can get into places like the Senate building or the President's residence. SO the same two gals and I decided to get up early on Saturday and get a head start. (The lines during the weekend can be fairly long so we packed picnics thinking, okay we may be waiting for about 4 hours)

So, we decided to try and see where M. Sarkozy is living, we arrive around 8:30am, and the line is already rather long. But not a big deal, we had kind of foreseen that. About 2 hours in, an "gendarme" passes by and we ask him about how long the wait will be, he says, "from here? About 6 hours."

SIX HOURS?! I thought maybe he is joking?! He has to be joking! So we decided to wait a little longer and ask someone else, just to be sure that he wasn't trying to get us out of the line.

Nope, we asked several minutes later we asked another person a similar question and got the same response. So we wavered for a few minutes and then decided that 8 hours of waiting would not be worth the 20 min of viewing. We did what any normal human would do, we found a cafe and drank coffee and chatted for about an hour. Then we decided to find something that would equally interesting with little wait.

Well it just so happens the Opera house was very much open and there was no line to get in. Not to be confused with the Opera house in La Bastille, this building was commissioned by Napoleon III, to replace the original theatre. The construction was inspired by an assassination attempt, and the new building had to be in a very open space. Incidentally the avenue de l'Opéra is the ONLY avenue in Paris with no trees on it. Why do you think that is? Yep, too easy to hide in.

So afterward, I enjoyed my sandwich on the steps of the theatre and then headed home to get some work done.

All in all I would say the day was a success.

As for Sunday, just a normal day, enjoying the sunshine, going for a run, and meeting up with friends for a coffee and to catch up. I hope you are all able to enjoy the same tranquility!

Miss you all!
-Bekah

les accroaches-coeurs: Angers and the plays dans la rue

Well well well, one week and so far so good? Perhaps it's all those YEARS of experience. Or maybe it's only been a week and I haven't even really started my classes yet? In any case, we DID in fact begin our "integration" into the French society and schooling.

Tomorrow begins our first day of classes with the Middelbury school and then the beginning of October brings my classes at la Sorbonne 1, where I will be FULLY integrated into a French classroom. (Well at least part time.) (For those of you who don't know what I am talking about let me explain. I am taking classes at both a French university, and a kind of "institute" run by Middlebury the American school. In this way I can have the best of both worlds.)

So what have I done with my week of bliss and vacation? Not so much a vacation as prep time. Every day that ticks by is precious time to be used on the thesis. You see, one year to do a masters is NOT much time as it turns out. And I honestly don't recommend it unless you are really motivated to do so. In fact, many of the students are changing their minds about the thesis and they are choosing to do a research project instead (which is about half the writing-25-35 pages). So little by little the group of us sticking out the thesis are becoming more and more intimidated!

So, that's what I did all week, read, acclimate myself and learn a bit about what life is going to be like in Paris. (Of course I can answer that in one word: expensive)

Of course, just because I am in Paris doesn't mean I have to stay there. I decided to take a little trip this weekend and visit many of my friends from last year in ANGERS! What was awesome about Angers this weekend was they have a festival every year called the "accroaches-coeurs" which is like a festival of plays, concerts, large plastic moblie elephants, in the street. I was only able to attend one day, BUT I will have you know that EVERYONE in Angers was there. The streets were PACKED, and I was there with the teachers I worked with and we were amazed by the varieties of spectacle in the street.

One of my favorites included a one-woman show, who was clever enough to take a skit about what provides one with "happiness" that she satirically talked about ways to improve our attitude about life while also talking about current events.

My second favorite was a "Zen" dance, where two women worked together to teach the audience how to be "zen." Okay not really zen, but it was a humor piece where they combined dance with a play-like atmosphere.

We finished the night with a circus parade. BUT not just any circus parade, the kind where all the animals are human made and being run by people. The costumes were brilliant, and impressive for something that must be done in the street. After that it was past midnight, so I head home with my "french family."

All in all I would say it was a successful weekend, and now I must head to bed so as not to be too tired for my first day. I hope you are all doing well and hope to hear from you soon!

-Rebekah

Long time...no...

Yep, I've done it again. This blogger is just not used to...well blogging. In any case I thought I would put an update here on my new life, the life I began about 9 weeks ago when I left Bowling Green, OH for Middlebury, VT.

June 25th, I found myself in the countryside of Vermont, scared, nervous, and excited to begin something new, a masters in the French language. I had no idea what was really in store for me.

I took three classes, one in writing, the other two in Mediterranean studies. They kicked my butt to say the least. We had classes 5 days a week, three hours a day, and when we weren't in class we participated in extracurricular activities, such as theatre, choir, soccer, you name it. Let's just say the program is well established and they really create a community so that you will NOT speak ANY English.

In the middle of the trip, I and a couple other gals from the program had to go to Boston to get our visa. As excited as we were to see the big city, it was not really a time for vacation. We got to Boston, had out appointments and got back to campus as soon as possible. Even being away for 24 hours makes one feel behind by about a week!

Finally, we finish our 6-7 weeks at the Middlebury campus, all of us masters students celebrate the fact that we have survived such an intense 6 weeks and feel ready to go home. Of course then we realized that we had to do that only add 8 months. Ha, guess the joke is on us?
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Back home: To Memphis?

So, prior to my departure for France, I had some time with the family of course. Only, not in BG, they had made their big transition down to Memphis only days before I got home. So I had two wonderful weeks with them, as what can only be described as extreme home makeover, with the intention to DOWNSIZE.

I had to work on my room, and you know who came to help? Why ms. Lisa Hainen herself. She didn't even really need to do much, just be sittin' next to me and I would start cleaning. She should really take up a job in that!

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The fateful day when my bliss had to end...September 2nd: Destination, Paris

After a very tearful goodbye on the part of my whole family, I find myself again in the land of wine and cheese. The jet lag this time around is worse than I have had in a very long time. OR at least that I can remember.

I am living with a host family, the mother's name is Marie-Liesse and most of her kids are grown and off doing their own thing but her youngest daughter, Cléméntine is still here finishing her last year in engineering. They travel a lot, and are in fact on vacation this week, but I got to meet them the first day I arrived. (The 3rd that is)

So that's all the news I have for now, and I am going to try and keep weekly posts going this time around.

Miss you all!!!

-Rebekah