Montmartre excursion

If you were to visit Paris for a week or so, what sites would you want to see?  I was very surprised when one of my friends told me the top three most visited sites in Paris.  You can probably guess two out of the three.

Number 1: the Eiffel tower.  Duh.

Number 3: Notre-Dame cathedral.  Another duh.

But can you guess number two?  What in Paris is MORE visited than Notre Dame besides the Eiffel tower?  My mother's wrong guesses: the Champs Elysees/Arc de Triomphe; the Louvre; Pere Lachaise.

Nope.  It's Montmartre/Sacre Coeur.  Weird, right?  I couldn't guess it.  But as soon as my friend said it I realized it must be true.  I have almost never seen as many tourists consistently flooding an entire neighborhood as in Montmartre.  Seriously, you can't even walk on the streets in the summertime.

A couple of weekends ago some IFSers took a trip up to Montmartre.  Our first stop was the Montmartre cemetery.  It's pretty cool and has a lot of famous people buried there.  The one thing that makes it a little weird it that it's now in the middle of a bunch of Metro tracks and major roads.

The Paris cemeteries are not much like the ones in the US.  Most of them look like this, filled with slab tombs and mausoleums:

Those who are buried there are mostly the wealthy of Paris, so many have unique statues and such that were commissioned.

The individuality of the deceased is very important, as exemplified by this very strange ancient Egyptian style mauseleum:

I was interested in finding a few graves, these two in particular.  Berlioz, a composer, and Francois Truffaut, who directed movies like the 400 Blows and Breathless.  Very shiny.

Our next stop was a cafe, as per usual.  It was a rather cold day and we needed some coffee/hot chocolate to warm up.  Being our group, though, we got sidetracked at a bookstore.  I was really pleased with myself that I resisted buying books for me and just bought (possibly an excessive amount) some children's books for my youngest niece - the people working there were very helpful when I asked what books were popular with French kids.  The others went on a book-buying rampage, getting works of Zola, Genet, Camus, Sartre, Beckett, and many more.  When we left we heard them musing about the strangeness of a group of American students buying so many great works in French.

Then we made our way to Sacre Coeur, of course, where all trips to Montmartre must lead.  The crush of tourists was overwhelming and we voted not to go inside but to leave as fast as we could.

In all honesty, I don't like Sacre Coeur and wouldn't even if it weren't constantly filled with tourists.  I think it's ugly and rather gauche; stylistically it does not fit with the rest of Paris and all and it shows a distasteful Orientalism.  Personally I think it looks like a pile of whipped cream from afar.  The inside is even worse, with ugly neo-Byzantine mosaics, a poor layout, and a general atmosphere of, "look how grand and rich this church is!"

 All right, it's majestic.  It's supposed to be.  In fact, it was supposed to be a grand show of France's strength after the country's miserable defeat in the Franco-Prussian war and the troubles of the Commune.  The Montmartre neighborhood was the most active and rebellious in the Commune and the conservative government at the time wanted to demonstrate that they kept power over the working class, and that the Church still had power.  It's a monument of power and a show of strength; it's not meant to be a sacred place where people would want to go to worship.

With all that behind it I just can't bring myself to appreciate the monument, even if it were aesthetically pleasing (which I don't think it is).

Anyway, the redeeming part of the place is that it has a very nice view.  Here is the sparsely tourist-populated section of the grounds in front:

And the view of Paris.  I live close to the dome in the middle, which is the Pantheon.

Finally we stopped at a fondue place for dinner, the same restaurant I mentioned in one of my last posts from my last trip - they serve wine in baby bottles and the proprietor is a very surly, friendly, funny, slightly creepy old man.


Tomorrow: Mom and I are going to Reims to visit many historical sites and take lots of pictures!

Very quick update

So!  My paper is going okay, and my mother is here.  She has taken it upon herself to fix everything she deems wrong in my apartment - it's useful for me.  Also I've learned how to work a toaster oven (yes, I did not know how to use a toaster oven.  I can use a toaster, and I can use an oven, but together they sort of baffle me).  My kitchen, such as it is, is much more useable, hooray!

Yesterday we tried to go to the catacombs, a favorite spot of ours.  However there was the longest line to get in that I've ever seen, even in all my days of passing that area for school when I was here last time.  There must have been hundreds of people!  I can only imagine it was a tour group, or several, because the catacombs aren't that big of a tourist draw.  We decided not to go as it would have taken hours to get through the line.  Instead she went to explore the Jardin des Plantes.

Today we discovered a new super cool church!  It's right by Les Halles, St. Eustache.  It's not as old or historically interesting as some of the Paris churches but it was pretty inside and had some remarkable remaining evidence of periods of damage: it was attacked during the Revolution and the Commune and also suffered a fire.  Yet it was still pretty majestic.  It was also the first day of nice weather we've had in weeks; I was very excited!

We walked past Notre Dame and there were hoards of people.  If anyone's been there you know how large the square is in front of the cathedral - the whole square was covered in tourists and spilling out into the nearby streets.  I suppose that's what happens in the summer but it brought to mind the angry Parisian mobs I've been studying so much in one of my classes.

The plan is for me to finish my paper tomorrow and Wedsnesday; we're going to Reims on Friday; and we'll be going to Versailles Saturday or Sunday.

Today, part II

I'm doing this in two parts because it would end up being very long.  I think a psychological break is needed, anyway.

Following class my day turned around pretty quickly and completely.  Two classmates and I had arranged to meet our old visiting professor from fall semester, the adorable French one who smokes a pipe and loved us.  We had planned since about December that we would meet in the Cafe Croissant, the place where admired "socialist" intellectual Jean Jaures was assassinated in 1914.  We studied him a lot in class and like the French history nerds we are we were super excited to see this place.  In fact, we were so into it that we did research and found contemporary sources detailing the layout of the cafe and figured out exactly where he was sitting when he was shot.  I ended up getting the place of honor and sitting in that very seat.  Of course we enthusiastically reenacted the moment, with me playing Jaures.

I had not eaten all day so was starving after class.  My friend and I went to get a snack and discovered a fantastic little creperie near the campus and got some tea and a little crepe there; it was genial!  Then off we went to Cafe Crossaint and scouted the proper table, met Pierre, and spent a while dorking out about the history of the place.  Pierre is definitely one of my favorite profs of all time - he's super smart, respected, and well-known in the academic community, but at the same time very fun and down to earth.  We gossiped and debated and enthused over philosophy and history and generally had a good time. 

The food turned out to be really great, too.  I got a five cheese ravioli with prosciutto (sounds weird but the prosciutto totally made the dish, it was delicious) and mousse.  They even have a Jean Jaures cocktail, amusingly made of champagne and various red fruits.  We hung out with Pierre for almost three and a half hours and hardly noticed the time at all.  And we decided to go back on the anniversary of the assassination, July 31.  

And now I'm home, tired and still somewhat cold, but much happier than I was this afternoon.  Reading over this it sounds like the assassination was what cheered me up, but it was really Pierre.  He just always makes me happy.

I leave you with an amusing video for those who know French: this silly song was going through my head all day when I was annoyed.  "Ça m'énerve" by Helmut Fritz (a funny name in itself) - that phrase means it annoys me/pisses me off.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mNDYWhRSaw

A choice bit:  "Ça m'énerve, toutes celles qui boivent le champagne rosé
Ça m'énerve, pour oublier qu'en Jimmy Choo t'as mal aux pieds...

Tout ça pour des macarons à la Tourte
Mais bon
Il parait qu'ils sont bons"

Omm macarons.

Today, part I

I am going to write to you all since I had a very eventful day and I'm exhausted so little work will be done.

This weekend: worst weekend in Paris ever, culminating in the worst class in Paris (or possibly anywhere) ever.

One of the presentations I had to do for class today was an analysis of the Mur des Fédérés, a monument found in Pere Lachaise cemetery which is dedicated to the Paris Commune (1871, when Paris basically seceded from the rest of France for about a month).  A partner and I had to discuss the history of the monument, its significance, and then the sculpture itself.  Since this weekend was pretty much a bust for schoolwork I decided we should go out there in person Sunday and work out our presentation.  We went, walked around searching for about an hour, only found a small plaque commemorating the dates, gave up and went home.  He emailed us and said the sculpture is in another part of the (very large) cemetery and unmarked.  Well.  That left us to do the rest of the work online, which of course I couldn't do.

My internet came back Monday around noon.  I spent pretty much the rest of the day trying to prepare as best I could for the two class presentations I had today.  I was pretty pleased with how well I did considering the time I had.

Now, the professor had the brilliant idea of taking a field trip to Pere Lachaise to see the wall in person.  I, and everyone else, thought we would walk to the sculpture, talk about it a little, then go back across the city to class for our usual lecture and discussion of the articles we read.  He also mentioned he'd give a brief history of the cemetery but, of course, being that it would be brief I didn't think about it much.

It's been really cold in Paris lately - it hasn't gotten above 70 in a couple of weeks and it was about 50 today.  And pouring rain, all day.

I arrive bright and early to Pere Lachaise with my umbrella, displeased that I only had flip flops to wear in the rain (I refrained from bringing many shoes and the only closed-toe shoes I brought are nice heels) and already cold - wearing a sweater and a light jacket, the only one I have here.  We proceed into the cemetery and Prof F leads us in a direction that does not lead to the plaque or the sculpture.  In fact he takes us to the tombs of a couple of generals killed at the beginning of the Commune.  Okay, at least that's relevant to today's topic. 

Then he takes us on a two hour tour of the cemetery: we see the tombs of two presidents of the republic, several politicians, two students who had untimely deaths - one via Nazis and one via police violence - the deportation and Shoah monuments, monuments to every freaking revolution France has ever had, the tomb of Heloise and Abelard, tombs of Resistance fighters, Jim Morrison's grave, the grave of an assassinated journalist...all in the pouring rain, cold weather, puddles and mud everywhere, and not enough umbrellas to go around.

Finally we stop at the wall and Prof F announces it's time for my partner and I to do our presentation.  Right then.  Without notes.  While soaking wet.  We did so bravely, having to yell over the rain and, I'm sure, forgetting many details along the way.  I can't really even explain how miserable and angry the class was - we were not forewarned about just how long this rainy visit would be nor did Prof F tell us we had to do our presentations on the fly. 

At least upon leaving he let us finish up class in a nice warm cafe, where we all got hot beverages and finished up our presentation.  I was planning on putting the finishing touches on my second presentation, though, between classes, but because of this little outing I was forced to go home and change before going to the second class - I resorted to blow-drying my jacket so I would be somewhat comfortable on the ride to campus.  I got to the second class and stumbled my way through the presentation, not having finishing translating all my thoughts into French or being able to find all the examples I should have had.  And I was still damp and cold.

Hooray!

My internet decided to come back on its own.  Who knows how long it will last, though.

Now that I've had a major waste of my weekend (sick Saturday, public libraries not open on Sundays) I'm going to have to spend a lot of time getting my schoolwork done in the next few days so unfortunately please don't expect many posts.

Also don't get your hopes up too high about crazy 14 July stories, either, as I was also sick that day and ended up just watching the fireworks on my own from the Pantheon.  Boring.  But you can look forward to pictures from a day I spent in Montmartre last weekend and better-than-usual pictures coming up as my mother will be arriving this Friday!

Quick update

I'm posting this from my phone - my internet has been out the last couple of days. This is really, really not good as it's my last weekend without plans or visitors so I was planning to get most of the work for my papers done. Since nyu doesn't have a real library here it's essential that I have internet access.

My anxiety is getting the best of me over this as I've been sick all day. I'll update when I can until this is all straightened out.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

French revolutions

Another history post - blame the insomnia.  And hey, I'm a historian; this is what you signed up for.

When I mention France to people, many make jokes about barricades or protests or revolutions.  If something big is happening here there is often the semi-serious questions, have the barricades come out yet?  Are people burning cars?  Have they taken to the streets?

Undoubtedly everyone remembers the rather violent protests of 2005 in the outskirts of Paris; many will remember, or know about, the very active protesting and riots that went on here (and much of the rest of the world) in the late 60's.  But to be honest, these things are not really out of the ordinary in most of Western Europe, or even the US at times.  So why do the French have this reputation for fomenting revolution at the drop of a hat?

First, I think people, especially Americans, are inclined to conflate strikes and protests.  They are very much not the same things and have very different goals.  But from afar strikes here might seem to reflect general unrest - especially when large organizations like the SNCF, the company that runs the trains, strikes.

More importantly, though, it is true that the French have a mentality of revolution, or these days, of protest.  It's part of their history and very much a part of French heritage.  Why?  Because it has worked effectively in the past in this country. 

France had the first successful revolution (ie, not any kind of coup or military action) in history.  (Wars of independence, by the way, are not the same as revolutions, much as Americans will refer to the American "revolution.")  The French Revolution permeated every aspect of life in France from the system of government to how people worshiped to how they addressed each other.  It overturned a system that had been in place for almost a thousand years.  Of course, it didn't last long - but the memory of the original French Revolution has lingered even to this day.  It has been the reference point for any unrest here in the last two hundred years. 

To give an idea of just how much the idea of insurrection and revolution permeated French society here are the important uprisings, revolutions, and insurrections from the 19th century after Napoleon's empire fell.  Keep in mind these are just the major ones; there were many, many smaller ones.  Also, these are just in Paris unless specified.

July 1830, known as the "July Revolution" or "Glorious 30s" - overthrew the monarch and placed a different branch of the monarchy on the throne

1831, Lyon - started by a very large group of silk workers; failed

1832, insurrection of Les Miserables - similar groups of people who started the 1830 revolution were unhappy with the new king's catering to the bourgeoisie; failed

April 1834 - working people in Lyon and Paris; failed, very bloody

1839 - another of the same, again failed

1848 - Paris-centric effort to take down the monarch, successful, started the 2nd Republic; however Louis Napoleon, who took over with the support of the less radical countryside, soon declared himself emperor

1851 - Primarily in the countryside, reaction against Louis Napoleon's coup d'etat; failed

1871, Paris Commune - basically ended all barricade-driven violent insurrection in France as it turned into a mini-civil war and was quashed only with a lot of bloodshed


So in the span of about 40 years there were eight violent insurrections, three of which either completely overthrew a government or had a major impact on policy.  Of course, the US and other European countries watched France during this time period and concluded it was still in revolution mode from 1789 - perhaps they weren't wrong.  It was really the late 19th century that secured France's place as the world leader in revolutions, and no one has really forgotten it. 

And much as there are no longer actual barricades here, I do hear the occasional French person, upset with the way some part of the government is operating, jokingly mention taking to the barricades or more seriously suggesting to go to the streets.  The spirit of revolution is very much alive here - always reminding the class in power that their ultimate check is the people. 

So I guess the reputation is deserved - and that is one of the main reasons I love this country.

Tout s'achève

Well, I'm back from Harry Potter and now you're all going to have to hear my thoughts on it.

I liked it quite a bit, and I think it was one of the best HP movies - very accurate to the books and pretty epic.  All the scenes with Snape and McGonagall were just amazing.

But mostly, it's weird that everything is over now.  Nothing new will ever come from Harry Potter. 

I started HP shortly after the third book was published, fall of 1999 or winter of 2000.  I was about 12 and a half, Harry and his friends were 13.  The fourth was published the next year, very close to my 14th birthday; I got it when it came out and it started on Harry's 14th birthday. 

For the most part, I grew up right along with Harry Potter - I always related to the characters on a very personal level.  And for the last twelve years (half of my whole life) there has always been a new book or movie to anticipate, and that was great because I always craved more.  The HP world is a huge one, with tons of characters, places, things to discover, and JK Rowling left many of these characters and things partially, frustratingly, hidden. 

Now there is nothing left to discover.  No more sequels to look forward to, no more new perspectives.  It's done.  It's the end of an era, and I feel like this thing which has been a constant presence in my life, a reliable friend, is gone. Tout s'achève.

----

Now that I have gone on at length about Harry Potter, some plans for tomorrow, the Fête Nationale, hooray!

Many know, probably, that July 14 is France's national day.  "Bastille Day" is sort of a misnomer, as the day is not necessarily in commemoration of the destruction of the Bastille prison in 1789 but a celebration of the forming of the French Republic of later years.  Here it's called the Fête Nationale (or national celebration) or simply 14 July. 

So the plan we have so far looks like this: get up early and go to the Place de la Concorde (center of the city) at 9am to watch the parade; go to a friend's apartment for a little party in the afternoon; have dinner and probably go to the Bal des Pompiers (fireman's ball), parties that are free and open to the public in some of the firehouses around Paris; go to Trocadero (across the river from the Eiffel Tower) to watch the fireworks.  This plan is rather ambitious as it's going to be a huge pain to get around tomorrow - many Metro stations are closed - and we'll have to get up early.  More updates later in the weekend, and, I hope, pictures!

Happy thing, sad thing

Okay two happy things.

I'm going to see Harry Potter in a couple of hours I'M SO EXCITED!!  Tout s'achève!


I went to the market this morning to pick up some hummus and pita.  Alas, it seems I really do have to get up earlier to get the hummus.  But the Lebanese food guy is my favorite!  I ordered: prepared eggplant (cooked with a sauce and stuffed, 6.20), some raheb (like baba ghanoush with other veggies, in lieu of hummus, 2.90 for a small carton), four stuffed grape leaves (2), and a pack of pita (1), all coming to 12.10 euro.  I received: the eggplant with some bulgur salad and moussaka on the side; the raheb; six grape leaves; the pita; a small carton of tabbouleh, 12 euro.  And a sample of another dip I didn't like much.  But yay!

Now the sad thing: I left my dearly beloved water bottle in one of the IFS classrooms today.  The one with the built in filter.  I do know exactly where I left it but since the undergrads have classes in there today I'm not sure I have much hope of retrieving it tomorrow.  :( 

Food nostalgia

But first: Thanks for the birthday wishes!  :)  I had a pretty good day - reading, a nap, great tapas, best sangria ever.  Since we had some busy days this weekend I liked having a day to just chill out.

Next: I missed NY for the first time today.  More specifically, I guess, I missed the things I can get there.  As I was eating dinner today I was watching old episodes of Anthony Bourdain's show, one entitled "Disappearing Manhattan" where he wanders around the city and bemoans the slow death of traditional food stores/restaurants.  He went to Manganaro's, an old Italian shop/restaurant; a very unappetizing steakhouse; and a traditional style butcher shop (selling offal and the like) but it made me really miss NYC area delis.  He went to Katz's and all I could do was look sadly at my plate of spiral pasta and bottled Provencal tomato sauce and wish it were a fresh, giant pastrami on rye with Russian dressing.  Or brisket.  Or a knish, or even a bagel with lox.  A lot of people are probably thinking, what, Angie, the almost-veggie?  Yes, I love traditional deli meats enough that I crave them when I don't have any for a while.  The only meat product that can so tempt me.

You can't get deli food like that here in Paris.  I've seen a total of one bagel place so far on this trip, and most of the Jewish delis in the city are of the offal type or Sephardic style - meaning they have some of the best falafel I've had anywhere and wonderful couscous, but no NY style deli food.  I miss being able to walk a couple of minutes around the block and grab a sandwich, or even better, order one right to my door. 

Then of course I started thinking about other NYC area stuff that isn't the same around here, mostly pizza and Chinese takeout.  Those bastardized versions of traditional food are some of the first things I always wanted when I came home from college, and are still the things I think of first when I think of eating in NY.  The pizza here is good - that is to say, it's more authentic and Italian than your typical NY place, and that makes it just not the same.  There is a place around the corner from me here that proclaims "New York style pizza!" but I always look at it with suspicion when passing.  How could Parisians perfect that grotesque, glossy cheese?

And of course, I always want some of the dishes my mother makes so well: most often mac and cheese and chili.  I can now do mac and cheese almost up to her standard but I have no oven here, and won't next year either.  I've been thinking about making chili but it's honestly difficult to find proper ingredients for it in Paris.  Most of the canned beans I find are cassoulet-style and I have yet to find packaged dry beans.  Alas.  At least I know if I look hard enough I will be able to make that one. 

Don't get me wrong - I adore French food and the French style of eating.  I love having fresh bread, great cheese, and a farmer's market around the corner.  I love going back to making separate little courses for my dinner (in the style of Catherine, and most other French families) - a small salad, main course, a fruit or yogurt for dessert.  I even like that my little mini-fridge forces me to get fresh ingredients every day or two.  But my beloved pastrami sandwich would just not fly here, really, to say nothing of the mystery-ingredient Chinese takeout or glossy pizza.  And that makes me just a little sad.

...and angry revolutionaries (part 2)

 This is a very history-heavy post - a warning if you do not enjoy such things.

Noyon is about an hour from Guise.  Because we ran a little late earlier we weren't able to stay very long in Noyon - all we did really was go inside the cathedral.  I wish we could have explored the town a little more, but maybe I'll end up going back sometime.

Firstly, Noyon is a very old town: it existed and was fortified during Roman times, and was one of the earliest bishoprics in France, subsequently making its cathedral one of the earliest Gothic buildings in the country (mid 12th c).  You can see from the front how little frill there is:

 I didn't know it at the time (thanks, NYU planner, for choosing a cool place without doing any actual research!) but Charlemagne and Hugh Capet - founder of the Capetian dynasty (987-mid 14th c) which, according to me, played a key role in the transformation of the French monarchy from regional mafia-style kings to a centralized, effective, near absolutist monarchy - were crowned here. 

We came in through the side so one of the first aspects of the cathedral we saw was the super cool half-timbered bishop's library.

 It's pretty impressive that such a structure has survived for 800 years or so - it's much tougher to preserve wooden, or even part-wooden, buildings.

The cathedral has four levels, which is pretty unique in Gothic cathedrals.  Usually they have three (ground entrance level, second nobles' or possibly bishop's level, third tower level).  You can see the bottom three here, and the towers above.

 And here, just for my mother, is a collection of gargoyles!  They have some very fine examples, though they're not as intricate or creative as the ones at Notre Dame in Paris.  The first three are from the left arm of the cathedral and the last is from the inner cloister courtyard.

There was only one other student really interested in the architecture of the cathedral and as we walked in on the left side we immediately noticed something strange: every decorative carving in the portal (door area) was effaced.  There was no scene in the tympanum (arched area above the door which usually has Jesus doing some sort of scene), nothing in the archivolt (thin arches above the tympanum), nothing on the lintel (horizontal part immediately above the door, between it and the tympanum, usually having some sort of representation).  It could have been unfinished except that there were some lighter blotchy areas where the carvings should have been.  Here is a picture of the main portal in the front:

The front portal did have the traditional Madonna and child statue, but the heads were gone.

Being the clever and observant historian I am, I surmised this cathedral came under serious attack during the Revolution, when it was the fashion to destroy religious imagery and persecute the clergy.  This was rather exciting as I had never seen such a clear example of religious violence during the Revolution, or for that matter such a strangely empty portal.  It turns out I was right!

To the memory of the blissful [I think there is a more technical churchy word for that but whatever] J. L. Guyard of St Clair, canon of the cathedral, massacred on the night of the 2nd to 3rd of September 1792 in the abbey of St Germain, near Paris.  To the blissful F. J. de la Rochefoucauld, bishop count of Beauvais.  To the blissful G. C. Maignien, priest of Villeneuve-le-Roi, massacred at Carmes in Paris.  To the blissful P. Brisse, canon of Beauvais, executed in the prison of St Firmin, and to all this country's [as in regional area, not France] martyrs for the faith beatified on October 17th 1926 by Pope Pius XI.  Plaque given by Bishop A. M. Hardy, bishop of Beauvais, Noyon, and Seulis, September 6th 1992, on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the massacres of September.

So several important people from Noyon were killed in 1792.  Another sign indicated that the damage to the cathedral itself occurred the following year, during the Terror. 

The inside the cathedral was pretty much what I expected for one that's in use, except that it had almost no carvings or statues in the wings of the transcept - a bunch of smaller chapels, carved wooden pulpit thing, simple columns and vaulting, and a pretty cloister courtyard. 

Also supposedly the axis of the cathedral is off (the line, which should be straight, from the very front of the nave to the back where you come in) but I couldn't really see it. 

My first cathedral adventure of this trip!  I've been fairly busy but now that I'm settling things on the job front (more on that in a few days, probably) I'll be able to wander more.

Utopian socialists (part 1 of 2)

Pictures ahoy!

Bus:

We had a long but pretty bus ride to get to Guise.  It was about two and a half hours away, mostly north.  Going that direction from Paris you get to the country side pretty quickly - there aren't real non-Paris suburbs that way.  So we got views like this

There is a lot of farmland, rolling hills, and little towns in the distance.  A classmate said it's like the Midwest, but I think it's prettier (I stopped taking pictures about halfway through but farther north there are prettier hills).  Of course I'm a bit biased, though!  Also, sorry about the cars in there; it's hard to take good pictures from a bus.  Or if you're me, it's hard to take good pictures in general.

Guise:

The town of Guise is small, sort of cute, and quite boring.  We didn't get to explore it at all but here is what I got from the bus:

It turns out Guise wasn't made into a duchy until the 1500's so I was a bit off on my dates earlier.  Fun fact I bet none of you know about Guise: when referring to the Duke(s) of Guise, the area, or the familistere (where we visited) you abide by the rules of French pronunciation and say GEEZ ("g" as in "good"); when referring to the actual town of Guise you say GWEEZ.  Weird.

So the Familistere de Guise is a factory community set up by a guy in the mid 1800's who wanted to create a socialist utopia.  He was unhappy not so much with the working conditions of the factories but the living conditions of the workers - many people in one small house, few or no windows, poor hygiene, etc.  So he built this community, complete with a pool, showers, laundry rooms, gardens, a school, a library, food merchants, and other things, where workers could live with their families sort of dormitory-style.  The tour neglected to mention this, but in return the workers were essentially never allowed to leave the compound and had to follow a lot of very strict rules.  But all in all, it was much healthier for the workers to live in these conditions than in a poor urban setting.

The dorms themselves actually look like a yellow prison.

So we saw two rooms set up the way they would have been, one from the 19th century and one from the early 20th century.  The man who set this all up was also an inventor, but it seems he almost exclusively made heating devices.

 Just some examples - I probably have four more shots of stoves and heating things, and could have taken many, many more.

The grounds were rather pretty.

We had lunch in the cafeteria thingie inside the familistere - purportedly regional dishes.  We had a sort of cider kir to drink - hard cider mixed with a bit of cassis.  First course was a bit of salad with what claimed to be a flamiche (leek pie type of thing) but was in fact some other dish that starts with an M; I can't remember what it is.  It's a very airy pie that's mostly a sweetish dough and some cheese.  Yummy.  Second course, coq au vin with frites (fries).  Third was a cheese course with some mysterious slightly stinky, but good, cheese, and camembert, and fourth was an apple tart.  The coq au vin was good but the tart was pretty bland.

So after rushing through the museum part of the familistere we set off for Noyons which will be in the next entry later...

Day trip

The grad students are going on a day trip today to Guise and Noyon.  I know absolutely nothing about either of these places except: they are north, in Picardy; there was a medieval Marie of Guise who married an English king and became queen. 

The point of the trip is to go to this place: http://www.familistere.com/site/english/utopia/prog_utopia.php, a "harmonious" factory/commune community from the mid 19th century.  As much as I love history and historical sites even I am not the least bit excited about it.  The better part of the day will be the second half, coming through Noyon, a medival town, on the way back.  And they're getting us lunch that promises to be good, with regional specialties. 

Even those good points, though, are dimmed by the fact that I have to leave my apartment a little after 7am to make it to the meeting point in time.  Ugh.  This is the first time I've seen 6:15am from the morning side in a while.  And of course we're taking a bus, which means I have little chance of sleeping or getting work done during the 2-hour-each-way journey. 

Update with pictures when I return (probably late tonight). 

A few more

I must have a nun radar!  After I made that comment earlier today I saw a real nun - white robe with a black habit, dorky sandals and socks.  And a backpack.  And big glasses.  I think she's the nerd nun.

There is a Metro station, Duroc (named after one of Napeolon's generals, apparently), that for the last week was changed to Durock!  They put up temporary signs and everything.  I have no idea why but now they're gone.  It delighted me every time I went past it.

Harry Potter (L'Affrontement Final!) comes out July 13 here!  That's the same, right?

A collection of thoughts

I think my friends are planning a night out at a jazz bar for my birthday.  That's pretty cool.

Some days (like yesterday and tomorrow) I have class 10:30-1, 2:30-5, and a conference (lecture) 6:30-8:30ish.  Those are very long days, with a lot of thinking involved.  My brain hurts after those days.  It's a good thing they give us wine after.

I haven't visited the Place de la Concorde yet!  What am I doing!  (For those who didn't follow last time that's the square where the guillotine lived during the French Revolution, one of my favorite places in Paris.)

On that note, have I mentioned later in the month we're having a guest lecture all about guillotines?!  So excited.

The worst thing about living on my own is that I'm terrible at opening jars and such.  It took me two days to open a jar of apricot-strawberry jam I found; it made me sad.

I saw a Coptic priest yesterday on the Metro!  At least, I think that's what he was.  It was almost as exciting as running into nuns.

I want to cook more French food here.  That requires buying things like meat.  Hmmm.

There is a Chopin festival this month in Paris AND a Mozart festival.

Sometimes in the morning I open my curtains and look at the apartment building across from me (everyone here is a creeper and stares out their windows at other Parisians all day long) and I see this one apartment always making delicious looking omelets in a really big pan.  How do I steal them?

Armagh, as in Country Armagh in Ireland, sounds like a sound one makes when sick.

The girl I'm subletting from left two unopened champagne bottles in the food cabinet.  Do you think I'm allowed to drink them?

Advice time!

No seriously, I'm expecting thoughts here because taking a job in another country for a while is tough.  (For people who have opinions and don't want to comment, email me.)

I have received three au pair offers I'm considering pretty seriously.  I know which is the most practical job to take and I know which one I most want to take (they are not the same).  There are a lot of factors to consider so this is going to be a long post.

Family 1: Parents, 14 year old girl, two boys who are 10/11/12 or somewhere around there, 3 year old girl, 1 year old boy.  They live in a fairly residential but central area of Paris, easily accessible by Metro.  Duties would consist mostly of getting the youngest ready in the mornings, taking him to daycare, bringing him home at lunchtime, feeding him, getting one of the kids from school and dropping them at an extracurricular activity.  Occasional babysitting and tutoring the older kids in English/piano/helping them learn to cook (I would get paid extra for those last things and feeding the baby).  They're giving me a small apartment about 4 stops away via Metro, maybe a 20 minute commute door to door, and I would eat dinner with them maybe twice a week or so.  No cleaning/housework duties; unsure if they'd be paying for my Metro pass.  It pays about 30 euro a week, plus some pocket money and an extra 500 if I feed the baby lunch.  And of course Paris gives a lot of opportunities for me to do part time tutoring on the side to make some extra money.

I met them today and as you'd expect it's sort of chaotic with them all around, but most of the time I'm with them I'd be dealing with at most two at once.  The little girl was a kind of a monster but her mother said she's not usually like that.  That could very well be a lie I suppose but she is three so it's somewhat to be expected.  The baby was basically the best baby ever - he was very sweet and compliant and has already taken a great liking to me (the mother was astonished as apparently he's usually very shy and clingy).  The older ones seem like good kids - the girl is very friendly and one of the boys is very smart, he goes to an exclusive private school.  I would speak English with the kids to help them improve, and French with the mother, to help me improve. 

Family 2: Parents, 13 year old and 12 year old (don't know if boys/girls) and 7 year old boy.  They live near Dax, which is a very small city in the south of France, in the Basque region - it's very historic and interesting and I really loved the Basque last time I went.  It's within easy distance of Bayonne, Biarritz, Pau, St Jean de Luz, and the Spanish Pyrenees.  I would have a similar schedule of taking the youngest to school in the morning, picking him up and hanging around until about 7:30pm.  This one requires some more housework type things, like doing the children's laundry, tidying their rooms, and making dinner for them.  They seem to be into sports, going to the beach, and things like that.  They didn't specify if they want me to speak English to them.  I would be required to drive pretty much every day and since cars here are mostly manual I imagine I'd have to learn that, which is sort of scary.  I assume they'd pay for gas and let me use a car of theirs but it hasn't been explicit.  I would have a room with a bathroom in their house, which was described as a "maison landais" I would get 90 euro a week.

A "maison landais"

A Google image search from the town, St Paul les Dax, doesn't give anything salient.

Family 3:  Parents, elderly grandma, little girl (age not specified, I would guess between 5 and 8).  They live in the Haute-Savoie, a very rural and mountain-y area that is right on the Swiss border - it's right next to a lake and across the lake is Switzerland.  The closes major city is Geneva (about 15 miles), but it's easy driving distance of Turino, Grenoble, and Lyon as well.  The big thing: the parents run a farm with a million cows and some horses.  This is truly rural and not at all something I have experience with, but very interesting to me.  The mother speaks English very well but didn't specify whether they wanted me to help the girl with English/speak it to her.  Again the schedule would mostly be getting the girl ready for school, taking her to the bus, and getting her after school.  The ad lists a need for "light" housework (probably similar, the child's laundry and tidying her room) and help cooking for her (in this case it seems more like preparing breakfast and maybe something right after school).  I would have a private room and bathroom in their large house.  The weekly pay isn't specified.

Thonon les Bains: (they don't live in the town but are close to it)

Okay.

Perhaps you can see the rub: the Paris situation is definitely the most practical - I know the city, no driving involved, my own apartment, more opportunities to make money on the side, closer to my friends in France - but I would really like to do the one in Haute-Savoie.  It's a part of France I've never visited and a lifestyle that's entirely new to me - if I'm going to be doing something like this I think it would be awesome to do something completely new.  Also the little girl seems super sweet.  At the same time, it seems likely I'd go nuts in a very rural area for a year and it's not accessible by train.  Also I don't ski, which seems to be the primary amusement.  But then there are other factors: 5 kids and a hectic life in Paris vs one kid and a more leisurely life in Haute-Savoie.  Then consider the Dax position, which is somewhat between the two, 3 kids and some activities in a small town, in a region I know I would find interesting. 

Then...

There's always the option to wait to hear back from teaching/office jobs.

HELP ME.

On another note

I am not normally the type to blog just for the sake of blogging.  Mostly I am skeptical that people are that interested in my daily life to read about it when I'm halfway around the world.  There are a lot of times when I open up this page with something I want to write about and then feel like I'm talking into empty space and don't end up doing it.  Are you people out there?  I would love to hear from you, so I can keep things interesting.  What do you like to hear about from here?  Do I need more pictures to hold interest?  Should I become one of those people who takes photos of all the food they eat?  Comments or emails are welcome.

The job search

began today and is looking okay so far.  For anyone who doesn't know, I'm going to be looking for a job in France for the next year - I'm not necessarily looking for something that fits into the French/history/academia thing I've been doing but I would do a lot of different things.  The positions that seem to be in the highest demand for someone like me (ie, no real tech/engineering/science skills but fluent in French and English) are: bilingual administrative/secretary work and au pairs/nannies.  I have enough experience with administrative stuff that I could probably find a position doing that - most likely in an English speaking company that works with French clients - but for many wealthy families in Paris it seems the only au pair qualification they want is English speaking, female, and independent. 

Most who know me probably see the big difficulty already: I'm not the biggest fan of children.  I'm pretty picky about what kids I like because so many annoy the crap out of me.  Handily enough, though, there are a lot of agencies online where I can put up a profile and meet the families before committing.  Also, I can handle just about anything for a year, and the responsibilities generally look like this: take the kids to school/creche, pick them up in the afternoons; make them a snack, sometimes dinner; help with homework and any hobbies (many mention music, yay!), speak English to them; bedtime routines; babysit one or two nights a week; sometimes do light housework or grocery shopping.  They give free housing and meals, pay a small weekly salary and give weekly pocket money.  I can handle that.  I'd be mostly free during the days and weekends as well, and several mention wanting to take au pairs on vacation with them which would be cool.

I just started today and I've already had two positive responses.  One of the agents actually contacted me about working in the first family - from the French Indies, living in the Paris suburbs, they have a 6 year old girl and a 2 year old boy - and has been very active.  I'll likely have a meeting with the mother sometime this week and then if things go well, with the kids later.  The second family lives in central Paris with a 2 year old and a 7 month old.  I don't know if I'd want to take care of a child that young but I'd rather be in central Paris.

I also applied to two administrative jobs today (one at Intel France) and sent a message to a large auction house asking if they had any advice on getting a job there or knew of any openings (thank you, Lynn, for suggesting that!).  One said the review, though, would take up to four weeks so that one probably won't happen.

In all, it's looking fairly promising.  The one snag in the plan could be getting a visa - it's hard to find full time work if you don't have a visa; it's hard to get a visa without full time work.  It's also much quicker and easier to do it from the US, apparently (although it took me nearly a month last time). 

I haven't done too much else this weekend aside from school work and job searching, although yesterday I did get deux petits cadeaux pour ma plus petite niece!  We had a nice little IFS dinner party the night before as well.

Bits and Pieces

I made my second market foray today and it was lovely - there aren't as many people around as on the weekends so I could take my time a bit more.  I got some gorgeous looking lettuce, a pepper, bananas,* and nectarines all very cheap!  Produce shopping is kind of opposite here: farmer's/outdoor markets are generally much cheaper than grocery stores if you are buying fresh produce.  Most products in these markets are not quite organic but grown in a biologically sound manner ("bio" as they say here) and you can tell.  My nectarines and bananas have some natural markings and and discolorations, and the strawberries are much smaller than what you find in the US. 

However, things like cheese and meat are a bit more expensive than in grocery stores - though they are far higher quality and the shops generally have an excellent selection.  I wanted to get some Roquefort so I went to the main cheese shop in the market and the lady was super sweet and friendly.  She gave me a sample of a cheese I'd never tried before (I believe called creme de brindis but don't hold me to that last word) - it's a semi-hard but smooth tasting cow cheese.  I got a piece, plus the Roquefort, and she gave me another one (I didn't catch what it was :( ) for free!

I also got one of those delicious Lebanese "pizzas" for lunch while I was there.  They are SO VERY much not pizzas.  It's a sauteed vegetable (I got spinach - it also has onions and a bit of tomato) mix which seems to be cooked in white wine, mixed with some tangy crumbly cheese, stuffed in a thick pita bread and toasted.  Very yummy!  Not a pizza.

In other food news, it was my friend's birthday yesterday and we went out to a North African restaurant to celebrate.  We all had completely delicious tagines or couscous with fantastic mint tea.  Mmmm, I love the great North African food here.

I haven't done much of anything exciting in the last few days since I've been at the NYU campus most of the time.  I did take a little shortcut through the Jardin des Plantes in my wanderings, though.  I guess the Jardin des Plantes is more or less like Paris' Central Park, although it's not central.  It's not as planned, manicured, and full of statues as most of the big Parisian gardens and it has a nice little zoo.  It's really pretty and not as touristy as places like the Luxembourg.  It was designed to be a sort of indoor/outdoor natural history museum experience: the buildings scattered through the gardens are museums of evolution, minerology, paleontology, and entomology.  There are also certain areas set aside for growing different types of plants.  These photos are only from the little corner of the gardens I went through - I mostly liked the little house that is covered in plants and that kind of mini prairie field of some sort of grass in the middle of the city.

I also haven't really discussed the area where I go to school: the 16th arrondissement, Passy, it's sort of the equivalent of the Upper West Side.  It's not quite as high end as the area around the Champs Elysees (which I would equate with the Upper East Side) but it's a fairly exclusive, old, pretty expensive area.  That's why none of us live close to the campus.  There are a ton of clothing shops and specialty bakeries and such; it's pretty hard to find a quick, cheap place to get lunch between classes.  The campus building itself is an 18th century building with a beautiful little courtyard.  All the professors seem to live in the buildings in the same complex.  We (the grad students) only use a few of the rooms but there are actually two large buildings for class and such.  The undergrads are coming Monday, so although it feels nice and open right now I'm sure it's about to get very crowded.

Here is what I see when I leave the Metro on my way to class:

*This week Oxford University revised its style guide to say the Oxford comma (the last comma in a list of things - the one after "bananas" in this sentence) is no longer necessary.  I'm having some problems dealing with this and Oxford and I are now in a fight.  I happen to like the Oxford comma.