Okay so here is the last installment of Paris. I am sorry it has taken me this long to write it all down... So its Sunday now, our last day in Paris. At 5pm we have to start heading to the train station because our train leaves at 6:42pm. We started the day off by going to Notre Dame for mass. My roommates were very nice to me and came with me to mass. It was the Gregorian Mass so though most of it was in French, a portion was in Latin. But the singing was so beautiful and it echoed off the walls just right. It was a good way to start off my Sunday. Then we ate brunch at the Sarah Bernhardt cafe. They had the best coffee in Paris, I had two cups! Next was the Museum of the Middle Ages. This was a fun museum, its not one of the main must sees in Paris, but I enjoyed it because it had many of the things I had learned about the quarter before in my Medieval Art and Architecture class. I got to see tapestries, relief ivories, the original statues that were located on Notre Dame before all their heads were cut off, original stained glass from the Middle Ages and the best of all illuminated manuscripts. The curator at this museum was amazing, he took each page of the manuscript and encased it in light plexiglass, that way you could turn the pages in the book and see all of the pictures and writings. And guess what...they really did write with gold. My professor said that it wasn't uncommon for some of the manuscripts to be complete written in gold. I didn't quite believe him, until now!!!
So after looking at icon paintings and tapestries all afternoon, we decided shopping was the way to go before we had to get to the train station. Get in as much of the city as possible before leaving. Unfortunately my one roommate started to get sick half way through our shopping expedition, so we had to cut it short and we ended up back at the hotel just killing some time before the train home. But since I had downed three cups of coffee ( I ended up having one more...opps!) I could not sit still, so I cautiously walked up a couple blocks from our hotel to burn some energy. And what did I find, but the Roman Pantheon. Well French style...It is one of their judicial buildings now, but the architecture is based on the Pantheon found in Rome. It was an unexpected find but fun nonetheless. So after 5 short days in Paris, it was time to come home to Lacoste. We caught our TGV train, which only stopped in Paris for 12 minutes!! And then we were speeding along back to Lacoste.
The last week has pretty much been recovery week. A lot of people got sick in Paris. My friend had the stomach flu for 4 days!! And I had caught a minor cold on the last day there. This week was pretty uneventful. I turned in my history paper on Thursday and gave my presentation. The paper/presentation was on the Abbey de Senanque. A little remote Abbey located in a valley where barely no one can reach them. We actually got to visit this Abbey on Tues of this week. Unfortunately the entire tour was in French, and pretty boring. So I tried to lighten my presentation, so that people wouldn't be too bored. Really the abbey is quite interesting because the complex belongs to hermetic monks. Their lifestyles are severely simple and this aspect is reflected in their art and architecture. So it was interesting to learn how they shaped the buildings and the art to fit their needs.
Anyways, yesterday I took an unexpected trip to Avignon. I wasn't really going to go because the professors were just going to take people to the train stations. But they said they were going to stop and go shopping for awhile, and that was all I needed to hear :)!! So I ended up in Avignon with 3 professors and one other students, all going shopping. It was actually a fun time! And I found a cute shirt I couldn't pass up! Its pink!!( Note for Sam: I did break down and get Wario Touched for my DS it was on sale this time and I couldn't pass it up...bad Sara!!) But that was really my week and weekend. I did promise to post some of my printmaking pieces that I have turned in for class, so that will be up today. Its all just exploring the art of printmaking since I have never done it before. But I like all my pieces. Click Here to see them!!
For the record, that crazy picture of me....it when I was trying es cargo...its actually really good surprisingly!!?
Here is pictures that go with the last post:
http://s302.photobucket.com/albums/nn109/sarapitz/Paris%20Part%203/
And here is pictures from this post, just a couple and some of my comentatry videos:
http://s302.photobucket.com/albums/nn109/sarapitz/Paris%20Part%204/
I will keep you updated on pictures and art as I can. Today's agenda...jazz festival in Apt??
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