Paris, Encore

Our last week in Grenoble was full of snow and sad goodbyes. Luckily my adventures in France didn't end there because before flying back to the States, Emily and I spent a few days in Paris again. I think it's probably the best way to end our stay in France.

Emily & Courtney in front of the Louvre

We stayed with Emily's friend Courtney, who she goes to school with, at her foyer in the 13th arrondissement. We accomplished quite a lot in just a few days. Emily went to a Hillsong church with her friend and then we tried to visit Versailles, something that was at the top of Emily's list. Unfortunately they closed early that day, but we eventually made it! The gardens were covered in snow, which was beautiful, but it was a little difficult to see because of the fog. But the King's and Queen's apartments and the Hall of Mirrors were not a let down.

Hall of Mirrors

We saw many Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works at the Musée d'Orangerie and Musée d'Orsay, as well as the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Winged Victory of Samothrace, and Napoleon's Apartments at the Louvre. We walked through the Jardin de Luxembourg (not as beautiful at this time of year) and the Jardin de Touilleries, which, covered in snow and with views of the Louvre and the ferris wheel on either side, was definitely worth a visit. We saw the Eiffel Tower lit up at night, visited the lock bridge where lovers come to "lock-in" their love, climbed the Arc de Triomphe, walked along the Champs Elysées one more time, ate ice cream on the ile de St. Louis, and took pictures in front of the Christmas tree in front of Notre Dame. We ended our last night in Paris by eating a Nutella crêpe and walking along the Seine.

Tour Eiffel

The next morning we rose at 5am and trudged through the Paris metro dragging Emily's rather large bags, and though very tired, eventually made it to Charles de Gaulle airport. The flight was a long 10 hours, but we are now home!

Emily misses France, and I do too, but there are always more adventures to come and more of the world that needs exploring!

Next up, Christmas in Colorado. Will update soon.

Merci Marie

This past Saturday, Emily and I spent the day in Lyon. It was the final day of celebrations for the Fête des Lumières. It was freezing and Emily had been kind of sick since the day before, but we had fun.

View of Lyon from the colline

In all honesty, I've heard multiple stories about the origins of Le Fête des Lumières and I can't really tell you which is the real one, but it is a celebration unique to Lyon and it commemorates the Virgen Marie. Originally, the Fête was celebrated only on the 8th of December (the Feast of the Immaculate Conception), but since many Lyonnais recognized its economic potential, it now is a 4 day long celebration. Traditionally on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception the Lyon city-dwellers would light candles and put them in their windows (hence the name 'Festival of Lights'), but with the arrival of modern technology and great expectations, the city of Lyon now puts up more than an average number of Christmas lights and puts on numerous light shows every night during the Festival, starting at 6pm. They also put up posters with a picture of the Virgin Mary that say "merci Marie." During these few days, and especially on the weekend days, the city is busy and packed. I wouldn't recommend going if you are claustrophobic or agoraphobic.

Cathedral light show

During our time in Lyon, we also got the chance to visit the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Cathedral St. Jean, Vieux Lyon, and Le Basilisque Notre Dame de Fourvière, which rests on top of the hill by the edge of the city. The basilica is large and absolutely gorgeous inside. Definitely worth a visit.

Marie

Facts about Lyon:
-the 2nd largest city in France in terms of population (after Paris)
-the 3rd largest city in France in terms of size (after Paris and Marseille)
-has 2 rivers running through it: the Saône and the Rhône
-is considered by some the cuisine capital of France. Emily's host mom made her quenelle, a Lyonnais specialité, before she went. She said it reminded her of cheese enchiladas, but not spicy
-it has one of the largest shopping malls in Europe

It's a fun city to visit. It's big. It has the feeling of being old with an interesting past, but in many ways it's just like a lot of other French cities.

Walkin' In A Winter Wonderland

Last weekend, Emily, her friend Lexy, and I travelled to the Alsace region of France, where some of Emily's ancestors come from. We stayed in Strasbourg and spent half a day in Colmar, a little village half an hour south of Strasbourg. I adored it. Emily did too. It's one of her favorite places.

When we left on Friday, snow was piling up in Grenoble. It was beautiful to see, but unfortunately it made our train late to Paris. After rushing through the metro though, we discovered there was another TGV to Strasbourg, so we hopped it. We didn't officially have seats so we sat on a bench by the luggage rack. When we got to Strasbourg, it was snowing just a little, but it only rested on the rooftops. With the abundance of Christmas lights and petite stone roads, Strasbourg's centre ville is enough to make you feel cozy and at home, despite the temperature being about 28 degrees Farenheit.

European Parliament

Cathedral

The next day we explored the city some and saw among other things, the European Parliament, the Cathedral, the astronomical clock, and the statue of Gutenberg. It's beautiful and historic, and fairly large. There are many old and adorable Alsacian buldings. Walking around the city, one can feel see the mixture of German and French influences, but Strasbourg still remains distinctly French. We ate tarte flambée, a speciality of the region, and we spent a lot of time exploring the Marché de Noël, called the Christelkindelsmarik. The Christmas market tradition originates in this area and has been around since 1570. Therefore, the Marchés de Noël in Alsace are the best in France. They are huge and exciting and bustling. The cities of Alsace also go all out with their Christmas decorations, which perfectly complements the architecture.

Colmar is very typicaly Alsacian: the architecture, the Marché de Noël, the cozy neighborhood pub, small parks, old stone roads, and lots of delicious food including tarte flambée, choucroute, and sauerkraut. The town was partially covered in snow and absolutely charming.

Colmar

On the way home, our train was held up for 2 hours right before reaching the station in Montbéliard because of a car accident that I guess blocked the tracks somehow. Once we reached the station, we had to wait another hour for a replacement conductor. Needless to say, we missed our connecting train in Lyon. The SNCF was nice enough though to provide snack boxes for us (not delicious, but containing the important elements of the food pyramid) and a bus back to Grenoble. We finally made it home at 2am.

The river in Strasbourg

Marché de Noël & one of the oldest buildings in Strasbourg

La Ville des Lumières

Paris.

Nearly a month ago (I'm a little behind on my blogging), Emily and I travelled to Paris with her study abroad program. We took the 3 hour TGV from Grenoble and stayed in a rather nice hotel by Place de la Bastille, where the infamous Bastille used to stand--now there's just a monument. We were only there for a weekend, which was NOT enough time for such a large, interesting, amazing, and historical city, but Emily says we are going back at the end of the semester. I can't wait!

We had 3 tours that Emily's program director organized for us- one of the Bastille area, one which showed many areas that were significant to the Revolution, and one of the Garnier Opera House (where the Phantom lived o.O ). She also got everyone tickets to see an interpretation of "Around the World in 80 Days" in French. The rest of our time there was spent visiting some of the major sites- the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur, Montmarte, the Moulin Rouge, the Luxembourg Gardens, the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Elysées, and the Catacombs. We also saw the outside of the Louvre, but didn't have time to go in. When we go back, Emily says we have to see some Impressionist Art and visit Versailles.

 

There really are too many things to see. And Paris is such a lovely place! It's a big city, but cozy. It's lively. It's romantic. It's French, but also international. There's so much to be discovered.The people there were not rude or snobby like many Americans think. But perhaps they were more relaxed because it was the weekend...

(Opera House)

Dankeschön

On November 11th, Emily didn't have class because Armistice Day, celebrating the end of WWI, is a national holiday in France. So to celebrate and to take advantage of a long weekend, Emily and her friends Lexy, Abby, Emma, and I headed to Germany. 


We stayed in Munich at a rather nice hostel. The first full day there, we actually made a day trip to Salzburg. It was raining, but still lovely. A friend of Lexy's who was spending the semester there showed us around. We ate sausage and big pretzel's and drank hot chocolate and visited a few of the Sound of Music sights and where Mozart once lived.


(Me with Emily & her friends)            (river in Salzburg)

The next day we took a walking tour of Munich. Thankfully the weather was quite nice. The tour was very insightful. We didn't see everything, Munich is a good-sized city, but we saw and learned a lot. Interestingly, our tour guide was from Houston, TX. Among the things we saw were the location of the Beer Hall Putsch, the old town hall with its glockenspiel, and St. Peter's (oldest church in Munich, I think, and where Pope Benedict XVI held mass as a bishop before becoming Pope), and the Marienplatz. After the tour we visited part of the Englisher Garten and watched people surfing on the river (apparently Jack Johnson surfed there once). We learned a little history of the kings of Bavaria, of the rise of and resistance against the Nazis, Kristallnacht, old Bavarian maypole traditions, and about the Bavarian's love for beer. That evening, Emily and her friends decided to take in some real Bavarian culture by visiting the oldest beer hall in Munich- Augustiner Keller. Munich is a very interesting city, culturally and historically. Though most of its buildings were destroyed during WWII, they rebuilt them in the old Bavarian-style architecture. Munich is often swarming with visitors from around the world (most especially during Oktoberfest), but is still distinctly German. And like the rest of Germany, it wears its history on its sleeve, still working to come to terms with events of the past century.


Emily wishes she could have stayed longer. She said this has been her favorite trip so far. She also says she wants to learn German. If we had had a few more days there, we would have visited Dauchau and Neuschwanstein Castle (the inspiration for the Sleeping Beauty Castle). Guess we have a few good reasons to go back!

Left to right: 1. entrance to long road leading to the Marienplatz. Big shopping area; 2. old town hall; 3. line down doger's lane commemorating the resistance to the Nazis

Yo Quiero España

Our next adventure took us to Barcelona, Spain. It was warm (at least compared to France, not necessarily compared to Texas), sunny, and lively.

Unfortunately, Emily got sick when we got there, so she didn't enjoy it as much as she could have, but she still wants to go back. I hope she brings me!

We visited Las Ramblas, Parc Guel, la Sagrada Familia, the port, and the beach. Emily ate tapas and paella and drank pineapple juice. The beach was beautiful, and swarming with people offering massages, drinks, hairdos, and souvenirs. Las Ramblas has a lot of interesting human statues. Here are some pictures:

 

Erin Go Bragh

Sorry I haven't posted in ages, but that's because I've been busy seeing the world (well, Europe at least) with Emily.

Our first big, out of the country trip was to southern Ireland. It's beautiful.

  

We left Friday after Emily's class and unfortunately spent so much time traveling, we didn't get to Cobh to meet Emily's friend Bri until midnight. We did however, use about 6 different forms of public transportation in one day (tram, coach, plane, city bus, train, and taxi). I feel like that has to be some kind of record. Anyway, Emily met Bri in Ireland because she was spending the week following around a band named Ceann. They're Americans but they do a lot of Irishy kind of music. Emily and I met Bri and them in Cobh and then the next day accompanied them to Killarney and went on the Ring of Kerry, which is a tour through the Irish countryside near Killarney and it is in one word: gorgeous. Sadly, we didn't get to see much of the city though.

                                              

(me with Emily & Bri)

The next day, Bri and the group went to Shannon to fly back to the states while Em and I went to Cork. There, we stayed with Sharon, Bri's roommate from the time she studied abroad in Cork. We visited Blarney castle, Emily kissed the Blarney Stone, and the Cork County Jail. That night was Halloween and she and Sharon and some of Sharon's friends went out to the pubs, but not for too late though because they had class the next day. Emily slept about 2 hours then had to get up to catch a 5am train back to Dublin so she could fly back to France.

All in all, we felt like we did not experience enough of Ireland, but liked what we did. I hope I get to back sometime.

Quelques Choses

I'd thought I'd share some more things I've learned about France and French culture. There's a lot i've forgotten for the moment, but here's a few things:


-They don't value customer service like we do in the U.S.
-Places to use the bathroom are not as available or nearly as nice as they are in the U.S. You also have to pay sometimes.
-Racism is alive and well among many French people. They blame a lot of problems on the young "Arab" population
-Schools (not universities) get 2 weeks of vacation about 4 times a year, in addition to 2 months off in the summer
- Food is very very important to the French. Therefore, most of the food you find in markets and restaurants is fresh and contains much much less preservatives and sugar than American food
-They really like handing out pamphlets
-They listen to a lot of American music
-Hardly anything is open on Sundays
- The French really value water and energy conservation, but they don't seem to have made recycling as accessible as in the States
-They have a lot of WWI and WWII memorials
-Some French people think it is so cool when they see a squirrel. Emily's host mom was surprised to hear that there are a bunch in Texas.
-Squirrels here have reddish fur
-The national motto is: "Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité"


Other interesting news:


There's a big grève tomorrow (Oct. 12) because the French Parliament is about to vote on changing the retirement laws. All of the strikes this month have been over this issue. If parliament doesn't vote the way the unions want, the strike could continue for an indefinite amount of time. This includes schools, public transport, post, and others. It's all very bizarre to Emily.


Last Thursday in Grenoble there was a public transport strike, but for a very different reason. Apparently Wednesday night a young man was stopped on the tram by one of the men who checks for tram passes, and upon discovering that the young guy didn't not pay to be on the tram told him he either needed to pay or get off the tram. For reasons unbeknownst to me, the guy called some of his friends and they attacked the tram worker. The next day all of the trams and most of the buses went on strike, which they are allowed to do at anytime if they feel there well-being is endangered (for a normal union strike like the one on Tuesday, they have to plan it in advance). Donc, Emily and some of her schoolmates had to take a random bus/walk to school. She was about 40 minutes late to class, but her teacher was very understanding. Then, she and 2 friends waited for a bus to take them back into centre-ville, but it never came so they walked back. Emily had another class later that afternoon so she walked all the way there. It took an hour, but she said it wasn't bad because the weather was nice and at least she knew where she was going.


France is a very interesting place sometimes.

Deux Villes Françaises

This weekend Emily and I made day trips to Annecy & Chamonix with the CUEF (Centre Universitaire des Etudes Françaises) a.k.a. her school. They are both fairly close to Grenoble and absolutely beautiful! 


On Saturday, when we went to Annecy, they were celebrating the Retour des Alpages, which is when the animals (mostly sheep) would return from the mountains just before winter. It is an important tradition in Annecy and has been celebrated for many many years, however, it is now more culturally important rather than economically important. Anyway, for the Fêtes Des Alpages they have a parade and lots of "exhibit" sort of things where they show how they used to cut wood or make bread back in the day. There were also lots of souvenir and food stands and random enclosures with cows and goats. Emily and I explored the town, took lots of pictures, ate lunch by the canal, and napped by the lake. It was quite an enjoyable day.

Left: the canal in Annecy
Right: me chilling by the Lac d'Annecy




The next day, we went to Chamonix, which is a small town on the French side of Mount Blanc. It is also quite beautiful, but it in a different way than Annecy. Emily says it's similar to Vail, Colorado, but French... and with more British tourists. There wasn't much to do except wander around and eat a lot, which is what we did, but it was pretty relaxing and enjoyable. It was chilly there, but in a refreshing way. Apparently, Chamonix/Mt. Blanc is the #2 tourist spot in France. Mt. Saint Michel is #1. We did not go up into the mountains because even with a group rate it costs 35euro, but we still could see Mt. Blanc and the glacier pretty well, as well as the many people who were doing parapente.

(Chamonix w/ Mt. Blanc in the background)

Parapente is the French word for para-gliding. Emily actually did parapente on Friday (she's quite busy isn't she?). She said it was a blast, but I'm glad I stayed at home. I don't like heights very much.

Donc, I'll try to keep everyone updated on future adventures that we have coming up. Emily says she really doesn't like planning trips because it's too stressful. I'm pretty excited though because all I have to do is stay in her backpack.


A bientôt!

"Sur le Pont d'Avignon, on y danse, on y danse..."

This past weekend, Emily and I ventured through Provence. I finally have a picture of us together! That way you know that I didn't just make her up, she exists.

 Emily and me by the Cours Mirabeau in Aix

Anyway, we were quite busy. We went to Avignon, Arles, & Aix, and visited Les Baux, the Pont du Gard (left), the Cathedrale d'Images, and a winery in Chateauneuf du Pape. Some of the best wine in France comes from that area. Chateauneuf du Pape is named so because there used to be a chateau there where the Pope would go when he needed to escape from Avignon for a while. The chateau was destroyed, but they still make great wine, some of which we  were able to taste.

In Avignon we visited the Palais des Papes (top right) and walked on the Pont d'Avignon. We also stayed at a hotel right next to the Palais which also used to be an old manor house. In Arles (bottom right) we saw an old Roman coliseum and amphitheater and ate lunch from the amazing market there. Also, we saw the "Cafe de la Nuit," from the Van Gogh painting. Oddly enough though, non of Van Gogh's paintings are in Arles anymore. In Les Baux is an old chateau/castle, cute shops, and the most amazing view of southern Provence. You can actually see the sea! In Aix, we had a short tour, visited a cathedral, visited the Musee Granet where some of Cezanne's works are, and enjoyed the beautiful weather. Aix is really beautiful town! It's not too big, but has a big student population and is very lively at night. The Cathedrale d'Images, is an old cave sort of thing that this one couple bought and now use as an art display for various artists/directors. It changes every few months and can feature any number of themes. It uses projections of images and videos onto the walls and floors of the "caves" accompanied by music. It was quite strange and beautiful. The display we saw included elements of Australian culture, including animals, flowers, the Aboriginals, old artwork, and the modern Australian city.

Besides her trip to Provence, Emily has been spending her time continuing to explore Grenoble, hiking in the Vercors, eating lots of delicious French ice cream, studying French, writing postcards, drinking hot chocolate in cafes, and turning 21! For her birthday, she and her study abroad friends ate at a Mexican restaurant in Grenoble. She said it was good, but not very Mexican.

Nice Sounds Nice

That's a Stephanie-worthy title, no?


I say Nice sounds nice, because I did not actually get to go. Emily forgot me :( She feels really bad about it, and although I was very upset at first, I think I will forgive her. She just better not forget me when she goes to Provence in 2 weeks, or I may just leave. Apparently her train to Nice went through Provence and it's very scenic!


I did get to see her pictures at least and hear about it, and Monaco where she also went. It's very pretty there! But pretty touristy with a lot of English speakers. Apparently Emily met a few Australians. I wish I could have met them too, it reminds me of New Zealand and now I feel a little homesick.


Here's some pictures:

(1. Grace Kelly's tomb, Cathedrale St-Nicolas, Monaco. 2. The Mediterranean. 3. Monte Carlo Casino)


One thing I do not regret though, is not having to get back home at 2am, which is what Emily did. Apparently her connecting train from Valence to Grenoble hit an animal (perhaps a cow?) and was cancelled. Poor cow. So she waited for 2 buses because the first one did not have enough space and didn't leave till around 1am on Sunday.


Besides all that, life in France is quite relaxing. And the food is très bien! I'm enjoying the nice weather because before I know it it's going to get cold. And pretty soon is Emily's birthday! She's going to be 21. Gosh that seems old. I was made in 2007, so I'm only 3.
There's not much else going on. Emily's busy (mostly) with classes and is still exploring Grenoble. There's another grève on Thursday also. 


Until next time,
Kiki

Les Faits

Things I've learned about France/ Grenoble thus far- 


- Grenoble has some of the best water in France
- Grenoble is the flattest city in Europe
- Grenoble is the birthplace of the Revolution
- Meals in France last quite a while and usually include 3 courses
- They like to conserve water and energy (the water in the toilets is very very low)
- Grenoble is a center of technology and very eco-friendly. It's the center of hydro-electricity
- Many showers don't have curtains
- They like to grève (aka strike)
- Cars actually stop for pedestrians
- There are 60,000 students in Grenoble (out of the 425,000 inhabitants)- so 1 in 7 people here is a student
-Grenoble is surrounded by the Alpes and the 3 main mountain ranges are- le Vercours, la Chartreuse, et le Belledonne
- The site of the 1968 Olympics
- Grenoble was founded by the Romans
- The name Dauphin/ Dauphine originates in Grenoble- An English wife of Count Guiges III nicknamed her oldest son "Dolphin" or "Dauphin" and this became the family's title. The last Count gave his lands to the heir of the throne of France, who then inherited the title "Dauphin." I think that's the story.

That's all I can remember for now. I will add more if it comes to me! Here's a picture of me on Em's desk:

Grenob-luh

What a week! After an 8 hour flight, Emily and I finally arrived in London and spent 2 nights there. We are now in Grenoble with her host family. Her Madame is very nice and quite small (at least that's what Emily says. She seems quite big to me!). I've been spending most of my time in Emily's backpack, but now I have a spot on her desk. Woo! It's much more breathable.

London was awesome. We went on a 3 hour tour and saw almost all of London it seems- Buckingham Palace, Parliament and Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge, the Mayor of London's office, Drury Lane and Fleet Street, Hyde Park, and the Prince Albert Memorial. Emily posted pictures on Facebook if you're interested. After the tour, we ate Pasties for lunch and visited the British Museum, V&A Museum, Herrod's, and Platform 9 3/4! That night Emily ate Thai in Soho, but I stayed at the hotel.

The next morning we had to be up sooo early so Emily could catch her flight to Lyon. At least I could sleep in the backpack. We rode a bus to Grenoble and Emily began orientation. On Saturday we moved to her host family's apartment, which is in the centre-ville (downtown), a very lively part of town! There's a restaurant across the street called le Coq... er something, but I try not to look over there because there's a picture of a Rooster and they are big and kind of intimidate me. I'm only a little kiwi!

Also on Saturday, we hiked up the hill to Le Bastille, an ancient fort that was used to protect the city way back when. The view from there is amazing! As is much of the city. The 17th century architecture is so belle! There are so many fountains and gardens here too. Unfortunately, Emily's campus was built in the 70s and is not so pretty and neither are the grounds. Oh well.

(on top is Le Bastille/ on the bottom is a picture of Grenoble and L'Isere river)

I can't wait to explore more of Grenoble. A tout a l'heure!

Ready to Roll

After hours of shopping, packing, weighing bags, re-packing, paying luggage fees, printing itineraries, and not enough caffeine, we are finally ready to go! I'm so excited I probably won't sleep tonight. Emily looks like she's about to pass out though. We will miss everyone but promise to keep updating. That's me in the backpack btw, where I will be spending much of my time, and on the luggage tag is my long lost friend, the Dodo bird.


Wish us luck, friends! Next time we post will probably be when we're on the other side of the Atlantic!

Allons-y!

As you can see, I am preparing for my travels to France with Emily by brushing up on my French.
Right now that's about all I can do besides packing because Emily is visiting Trinity University right now and left me at home to wait since we don't leave for France for another week. *sigh* I'm very anxious and wish we could leave now!


You might be wondering, "who is this Emily? and why are you -a kiwi- going to France?" Well, my friends, if you did not know, kiwi's are native to New Zealand. Kiwi's, meaning the fruit, the bird, and the people, are kind of a big deal there. Emily's sister Kelly travelled to New Zealand back in April for her honeymoon and bought me as gift for Emily, who lives in Dallas, TX--and goes to school in San Antonio. (there's this weird white thing though that's sticking out of my but that says 'made' in China, but I'm definitely from New Zealand. Don't know what that's all about...) Anyway, we became friends right away and since I love to adventure (can that be a verb? well is now.), Emily has decided to bring me with her as she spends a semester in Grenoble, France, so that I can see Europe! So far I've only been to New Zealand and Texas, which are probably two of the coolest places in the world. But I'm still super excited to go to Europe.


There's not much to report about from here. I stay upstairs and not much happens without Emily around, except the cat meows quite a lot. So, I'll will wait until next week to write more when Emily and I are on our way to London, where we'll stop for 2 days before going to France.


À bientôt!