6/1 - one more post! a retrospective on a museum day in Paris...

 Hi everyone, this is Maeve! In (what some might describe as) my signature late fashion, I’m coming at you with a June 1st blog post almost one week after it happened! So let’s travel back in time together to a soon-to-be rainy Saturday morning in Paris…

The morning started off pretty slow and was largely up to us to fill in, as we didn’t have anywhere to be until the Musee de l’Orangerie at 11:30am. This gave us time to either sleep in, or do a bit more sight-seeing. A handful of us ventured over to the Jardin du Luxembourg to revisit the quaint coffee shops and lush greenery we had enjoyed the previous week. It was very peaceful being there so early in the day - the park was sprinkled with couples strolling hand-in-hand, people reading books on benches, and families kicking soccer balls around - we even saw some ponies being ridden by young children. After stopping to get some coffee and orange/apple juice in the gardens, we took a seat next to the Palais du Luxembourg to soak in the atmosphere.

Before we knew it, it was time for the Musee de l’Orangerie! The Musee de l’Orangerie is best known for its egg-shaped rooms which feature side-by-side panels of Claude Monet’s famous Water Lilies paintings. It was incredible seeing these famed works of art up close - I must admit, I was shocked to learn there were no glass barriers in front of the Water Lilies paintings, though surely no one would think to touch…spoke too soon! A few members of our group witnessed a guest touching the canvases with their bare hands! Major yikes. I guess there are still some people in need of a course on museum etiquette.

Although the Musee de l’Orangerie is known for its Water Lilies, those willing to venture outside of this section will find that the downstairs exhibit is filled with works by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and many other artists! It was really interesting seeing these artists' individual techniques and style change throughout the decades. 

On we trekked from one museum to the next! Any guesses on the next one? Hint: from the outside it looks like a large glass pyramid…

THE LOUVRE!!!!

It was a pretty large line to get inside the museum, a fact that certainly wasn’t helped by the downpour of rain we were experiencing. Thankfully, Patrick generously distributed his bucket hat and umbrella to those without proper rain gear (ahem, moi).

Once inside, we were all overwhelmed with the sculptures, paintings, and vast exhibits spread throughout the Louvre! Graecia informed us that if we were to just spend 30 seconds on each piece of art, it would still take 100 days to see all of the art in the Louvre - and that’s without any sleep/rest! 

One fascinating sculpture we saw (entitled Captifs) featured four captive men, which were each representative of a defeated nation: Spain, The Roman Empire, Brandenburg, and Holland. 

Left: Roman Empire. Right: Spain.

Spain is represented as a young, smooth-faced man with flowy hair. He has an upward gaze, which indicates hope. On the contrary, The Roman Empire takes the form of a bearded old man who appears to have given up; the old-aged man’s head is bowed in a sign of defeat. Holland is represented by a feisty young man with a short beard, whose defiant expression and thrust-forward shoulder hints at rebellion. Lastly, Brandenburg is an old man with a grief-ridden expression. With one hand clutching his cloak, Brandenburg appears to be in pain. All four of these figures are chained and (depending on how one views it) signify the past and possible future of the nation they represent.

Left: Holland. Right: Brandenburg.

After touring the sculpture exhibits, we eventually made our way to the Mona Lisa!

It was really cool to see the Mona Lisa up-close, although the room was certainly very crowded. We also viewed the Crown Jewels exhibit on the opposite end of the same floor. Ooh-la-la!

After the Louvre, many of us took some much-needed rest before dinner. I believe we had visited around four museums within 24 hours at this point!

We grabbed dinner as a group downtown and got to meet Juliet and Patrick’s friend, Eric,  who they knew from their time in AmeriCorps! He was so kind/friendly to us and it was great to hear their stories about how they all met back then, as well as their adventures in AmeriCorps. At dinner, Eliot and Dari ordered escargots (supposedly a staple in French cuisine). Thankfully, the dish smelled mostly like garlic (as opposed to cooked snail), but I can confidently say I was still not brave enough to give it a taste. Eliot, on the other hand, appeared to enjoy the appetizer which matched the snail tattoo he had gotten back in Nantes! Talk about a full-circle moment.

What better way to end the day than a river cruise on the Seine. We embarked on a 9pm boat cruise, which tied a lovely bow on the amazing time we had spent in France together. We danced to music (see: Paris by Taylor Swift) and took in the historic landmarks around us. To our surprise, the boat cruise passed by the Eiffel Tower just as it began to sparkle!! A truly magical moment for all of us. 

Thank you to Juliet and Patrick for making this trip so special and memorable for everyone. And, of course, thank you to all the new friendships that were formed with each other on this trip. I couldn’t have asked for a better group. For now, France, au revoir!

6/3 - Bon voyage!

This is Juliet, with one final post for our French travel study course...

After saying most of our goodbyes the night before, today (Monday 6/3) was our departure day! Molly, Elizabeth, and Hally all got up super early to head to the airport so that they could catch their 7am flight to Nice. Patrick also left early, catching a morning flight back to Montreal. Dari and Graecia were close behind, heading together to Copenhagen to continue their European adventure. 

I left the hotel around 8am with Maggie, Matt, Leo, Liesel, Maeve, and Erin, to escort the group as far as the RER, which would take them directly to the airport. It has been such fun watching the whole group get increasingly comfortable navigating the French public transportation system, and everyone travels like a pro! 

We traded some hugs and goodbyes, and then I spent just a little bit more time walking around Paris, both to kill some time before my afternoon train and to catch some final glimpses of the beautiful city. I took one last walk across the Seine, picked up a few last-minute souvenirs, and made one final trip past Notre Dame, where most of the group had lunch together on our very first day in France. Standing by myself in front of Notre Dame, I thought back on all the excitement that everyone brought to that exhausting first day, and I was filled with gratitude for all of the curiosity, positive energy, and kindness that everyone in the group continued to show throughout our time together. 

I went back to the hotel to pack up and check out, and then Eliot and I traveled together to Gare du Nord, where he hopped on the RER to the airport and I grabbed a train to go visit my sister Nancy, who lives in Oxford, England. It was definitely bittersweet to say goodbye to the last of our close-knit group, but I did enjoy catching a long-overdue nap on my train ride!

Our group packed in so many experiences during our two weeks in France, and it wasn't always easy. We had plenty of early mornings, late dinners, long walks, and rainy afternoons, and we had to persist through an array of challenges as we negotiated language barriers, tried unfamiliar foods, and dragged suitcases through stubborn metro turnstiles. But we also balanced that out with a lot of friendship, laughter, and learning, and Patrick and I truly couldn't have asked for a better group to come along with us on this adventure. Thanks to all of you who followed along with our group from afar, and I hope you enjoyed hearing about our travels and all of the many things we learned through our adventures.

In closing, enjoy some final photos -- a sampler from our trip... Au revoir!

6/2 - Versailles and goodbyes...

Bonjour à tous! This is Juliet, with a report on our final full day in France... 

We had a relaxed morning and breakfast at the hotel, then we met in the lobby around 10:45am to catch the RER (local train) to Versailles, which is a town about 10 miles west of Paris. After we got off the train in Versailles, people were free to split into smaller groups for the short walk through town to the Palace of Versailles.

The land around the palace has been used as royal hunting grounds since the early 1600s, and Louis XIII built a hunting lodge there in 1624. The lodge and grounds remained a royal retreat until the 1660s, when Louis XIV decided to turn it into a grand, royal residence. The palace underwent major expansions from about 1660 to 1715, and Louis XIV made Versailles the headquarters of the government in 1682. Paris was still the capital city, but Versailles served as the center of the kingdom until the French Revolution and the fall of the monarchy in the late 1700s.

There were large crowds as we approached the palace, but the lines moved fairly quickly, and soon we were all inside! People were free to wander through the palace in smaller groups and at their own pace. The palace has 2,300 rooms and is situated on an estate and gardens covering nearly 20,000 acres, so there was plenty to explore!

we

We found a replica of the immense painting The Coronation of Napoleon, by the French artist David. He was commissioned to make a copy of the original 1808 painting, which hangs in the Louvre, and he painted it from memory to make the one that is now displayed in Versailles.

We were also impressed by the Gallery of Great Battles, which is an immense room (120 meters long!) with a series of paintings that recount the military successes of France over a period of 15 centuries.

Below you can see some additional photos of Versailles, including the famous Hall of Mirrors, where the treaty of Versailles was signed in June 1919. We learned a lot about French history, art, and culture through our time at Versailles!

After touring the palace, most of our group stuck around a bit longer to walk around the formal gardens or the adjoining park. Maeve, Liesel, and Erin headed back to Paris to do some additional sightseeing, and they were excited to be able to visit Shakespeare and Company, a famous English-language bookstore on the left bank of the Seine. 

When we all got back to Paris, we met at the Auteuil Brasserie for a final group dinner together. We shared a table on the lovely upper terrace and had a relaxed dinner full of plenty of conversation and laughter. We then walked to a nearby square to circle up for one more debriefing conversation as a group. Everyone had the chance to share something they learned about themselves and something they appreciated about each other -- there were lots of smiles and hugs and even a few tears as we started to bring our time  together to a close.

We had been planning to say our group goodbyes at that point, so that everyone would have a choice of heading back to the hotel or staying out a bit longer to catch one final glimpse of the Eiffel Tower, but everyone ended up choosing to stick together and make a quick trip back to Trocadero to catch the 11pm sparkles!

Here's our group at the end of our closing circle, proudly displaying their love of Paris!

Here's a photo from Place du Trocadero, with our lovely night-time view of the Eiffel Tower. We all made it there in time to catch the lights that flicker every hour, and Elizabeth fulfilled her karaoke dreams (with some technical assistance from Hally) by serenading us all with the beautiful song "The Secret of Happiness." The lyrics fit the moment perfectly: 

The secret of happiness is

Living in the now

Living in the time it takes to blink

I think, is how

We're meant to be living

We followed up that beautiful moment -- a perfect almost-end to an amazing two weeks -- with a lively trip back to the hotel, which included Maeve learning to juggle oranges on the metro and Leo, Elizabeth, and Eliot racing each other through the tunnels, but that's another story...