SB 08: The blonde Muslims do Italy

Well, I've just returned to Paris from one of the best weeks ever! For those of you that don't know, my Spring Break was spent with Holly gallivanting about Italy for a week. Quick recaps:

Venice: A uniquely, cool city with very big pizza and WAY to many pigeons. Yuck! I'd been to Venice before so I'd seen most of it before. I'm in no rush to go back. Definitely a must see though.

Florence: What's not to love? All the art, statues and little side streets to explore kept our two days there very busy! We happened upon this great little local bad and, thanks to Holly's schmoozing charm and many glasses of wine, we scored a free CD and chatted with the band.

Cinque Terre: AMAZING! CT is a smaller, five city region on the western coast of Italy. We had tons of hiking, ocean views and relaxing on the Italian Rivera. We had great weather and met some kids from Canada, Norway & some not-so-fun girls from Michigan. I'd really recommend Cinque Terre.

Rome: Despite poor weather and AWFUL public transportation...we had a great time on our last stop in Italy. Rome is really a summer town though. It would be much better to see and walk around in when you are able to enjoy the weather. Paris is way better then Rome though. It was really cool to be in Rome during Holy Week though. No better place to be and the Sistine Chapel will never fail to amaze.

Also, I met at least 7 people from Wisconsin in Italy. Outside of a gelatto shop in Florence I met a guy who graduated from Marquette in '77. It's a small world...

This Easter I'm back in Paris and spending the week with my mom, dad, sister & grandma. We're going to Mass in the morning at Notre Dame and at 6:45 a.m. on Monday depart for a 14-hour personal tour of the Normandy Beaches! I'm reallllly excited for this because I didn't get to see them last time I was in France. Also, my dad is a huge WWII buff so I'm excited to see all of that with him. My dad and my sister have never been to France so I'll be showing off the city this week. They leave Friday afternoon and then it will be APRIL! I don't know where my time here went.

Right now, I'm writing from an amazing 5 star hotel in Paris! Sure beats my tiny apartment with three roommates. Ah, the joys of visitors!

I'll post Spring Break photos soon but until then, Happy Easter!

Bises!

Talking a big talk

People in Paris-even those not living in France-have a unique fascination with American politics. So much so, that this fierce curiosity seems to outshine those who are directly involved in the American election process. French media sources always have pictures of American political figures on the magazines and newspapers. Their curiosity is more superficial then even that of some American citizens.

At school, foreign students are always asking who I like for the election. They always ask why I like said choice & then tell me who they like (this is typically always the same answer). However, they really can't state many reasons WHY they like Obama-just that he isn't Bush. Its a bit curious that everyone in the EU-generalization obviously-are infatuated with someone just because he isn't a Republican candidate. They know the general platforms, like universal healthcare & a strong anti-Iraq position from the beginning, but are very inept when it comes to real details or how he stacks up against Clinton and McCain. This is a bit frustrating especially when papers report a near 60% of French citizens supporting Obama. Also, those who do support a liberal candidate say they don't support Hillary because she IS A WOMAN...

For a country that speaks so highly of their liberal notions, they sure don't back it up...

I've also had people tell me that they don't support McCain because he is "an old, white guy like George Bush." In principal, we don't vote on gender or race. What good were the suffrage movements if they only got us this far?

A particularly obnoxious French man tried to argue a global vote in the US elections. His only backing point was that US politics affect everyone in the world & that, being the most country in the world, we needed to share the responsibility. That really made me mad.

Thank God my passport is American.

The girls and Tom.










One of my favorites...we found this walking down an alley after Tom's goodbye dinner.

"France is my country.
Paris is my city.
Love is my religion."

Museums, parties, Paris...oh my!

So we've been able to do a lot of exploring lately. My program went to Chartres, France. It's a small city just outside of Paris and they have one of the biggest cathedrals in Europe. The cathedral is known for its stained glass windows...in particular the blue they used. For hundreds of years people have been trying to imitate this blue but can't. It was pretty nice to be able to see a smaller town in France. We had a really nice lunch and did a lot of walking tours. A nice little day trip overall.

Last weekend, Erica and I went to le Parc de Buttes (in the NE part of the city). It had everything from caves, a river, a children's carnival, walking trails, a big tower with a great view of Sacre Coeur and cotton candy..ha.



We've been on a museum craze lately. The Louvre is free for students 18 to 26 on Friday nights so the other night we all went there. For those who have been during the day, its a really different vibe. It's fun at night. After we left the Louvre, we took some really fun pictures. There was full moon that night and everything at the Palle Royal was illuminated.



On Thursday nights, the Musee d'Orsay is free for students so Allison and I ventured over there. This is my favorite museum in Paris. Its full of impressionist artists. Lots of Monet, Degas, Rodan (MY FAVORITE! The Gate of Hell are there), Manet and Van Gogh. The Orsay used to be the main train station in Paris so it's a really cool building and the architecture is gorgeous. They're known for the big clock in the main gallery (see photo).

Last night, I went to le Musee du quai Branly. The museum is only a year old and is situated on the Seine River and just under le Tour Eiffel. The exhibit we went to see was all on African and Pacific art. It was nice to see something different. Again, another museum with beautiful architecture.

This week in Paris is fashion week! On Friday, my roommate, Erica, got to go to the Chanel fashion show. Her pictures are amazing. She saw Kanye, Rihanna and MK Olsen! Tonight we are the list for a high-class party called "Fashion is not Dead." It is supposedly where all the industry people are going tonight. Either way, sound pretty Paris! Hopefully something exciting will happen.

Last Monday was Holly's 21st birthday! We had a big party at our apartment with two cakes and lots of champagne. After that, we went to Barrio Latino for some drinks and...unknown to us...salsa dancing night. On the way there, we met a mid-50 year-old man from South Dakota who moved to Paris 25 years ago to teach Salsa. Some guy at the bar asked me to dance and after my HORRIBLE attempt at Salsa dancing, he said, "Okay. Goodbye. Thats enough." Looks like I might need my S. Dakota teacher after all...

Tomorrow...in continuance of what we've dubbed 'Paris adventure week' we are going to climb to the top of Notre Dame where you can find the best views of Paris. Then we are going to le Pompidou. (Its the first Sunday of the month so everything is free!) This is Paris' ultra modern Musee. I was there when I was in Paris in 05 but I'm excited to go back. http://www.centrepompidou.fr/Pompidou/Accueil.nsf/Document/HomePage?OpenDocument&L=2

Au Revoir!