Une Journee Extraordinaire

Here in Paris, our program has pre-scheduled events nearly every day -- museum visits, tours by boat, plays, dinners, etc. This isn't exactly a problem -- it's been excellent to have a guided overview of what Paris has to offer, so when we do get some time to ourselves, we can maximize our time around the city to do what we please.

Yesterday we had a free day and thus I was able to plan and execute some quite exciting adventures!

My day began with a visit to the Musée des Arts et Métiers. This museum doesn't have impressionist art or Greek sculptures or tapestries: what it does have is a wide assortment of historical technology, contraptions, inventions, and (as the French would say) rather strange trucs. One may see a re-creation of Lavoisier's laboratory, a miniature model of a steam-powered engine, astrolabes from hundreds of years ago, very early sewing machines, and modern robotic technology (to name a few).

However, the journey is half the fun. The metro stop on line 11 for the museum, called Arts et Metiers, is decorated like a Jules Verne submarine. Any steampunk worth her salt knows about this metro stop! It is part of the destination itself, and I found it delightfully shiny. I'd read online that it had been largely obscured by graffiti, and so I was pleased to find that was not the case at all.


After locating the museum (it is situated in an old abbey right near the metro stop), I began my exploration. I enjoyed it immensely; it was laid out in a logical, orderly fashion, broken into categories like Navigation and Energy. Most of the displays were in nearly all glass boxes, set in the middle of the corridors so that one could fully circle the objects within.

Here's a flying machine I came across:


Any museum that brilliant has to be followed by a meal somewhere. As I had yet to explore any of my vegetarian restaurant listings, I decided to check out La Victoire Supreme du Coeur. There I enjoyed a lavish lunch: an appetizer of little onion fritters and salad, the Indian plate for my main course, and then the chocolate-orange-cardamom cream for dessert! It was all delicious and I adored having wheat bread instead of the all-fluff-no-substance baguettes that are tasty but not very filling.


I still had some time to spend in the afternoon, so I took the metro to the Centre Pompidou, where I recorded my adventures the old-fashioned way (in my Moleskine) for future reference. Then I headed back to the hostel for some resting (reading, not napping -- napping is something I find very difficult).


But friends! The day is not yet over! A friend from Davidson, the charming Ms. Wood, met me for drinks at Les Furieux. After several minutes of debating whether we ought to order at the bar (apparently we are both rather inept at bar culture and correct mannerisms?) we both ordered glasses of absinthe. Never fear, ye who worry about such things. Today's absinthe bears little resemblance to the absinthe of early bohemians. It lacks the hallucinogenic properties and simply bears a strong licorice flavour. We found it quite appealing.

Here Ms. Wood looks charming with her glass:


And I simply guard my drink from passers-by:


So there you have it! It was one of the best days of the trip thus far. I really enjoyed planning out the day, navigating toute seule, and of course, seeing Ms. Wood.

Ca m'a plu beaucoup, merci.

And now for your entertainment, two lists:


a) Things I like about being in Paris

1. The wide availability of carbohydrates on every street corner (hello, baguettes and/or freshly made fries)
2. The strangely compelling teeny servings of coffee
3. One phrase: the brilliant Metro system
4. Visiting a somewhat obscure museum by myself and strolling at my own pace
5. French people who patiently explain everything in French instead of switching to English as soon as I hesitate
6. Waiters who call me "Madame"
7. Sancerre
8. Reading Harry Potter a l'ecole des sorciers in the park
9. The accordion player that shows up sporadically on the train
10. Finding the world's best falafel stand, and having the woman behind the counter guess my order before I say anything (when it's the fifteenth day that I've been there...)
11. Making friends with random French children in playgrounds during regression-to-youth adventures

b) Things I dislike about being in Paris

1. The occasional motorcyclist who has orders to mow me down when I cross the street
2. The metro station called Montparnasse Bienvenue, aka The Pit of Despair
3. Paying 2.40 euros for a microscopic roll of off-brand tape
4. Occasional sketchy people
5. Pigeons everywhere I turn

[NB: it was much easier to write the first list than the second.]

P.S. So the blogging has been a bit lax. Sorry about that -- it's mainly because wireless likes to do its own thing here in the hostel. However, I have been uploading a few pictures (read: a lot) as wireless permits.

Au Debut

Bonjour a tous! Tout va bien ici et nous sommes en train de nous amuser beaucoup!

Yesterday the group went to the Eiffel Tower and we also went on a boat cruise on the Seine...so I took more than my fair share of pictures (shout-out to Cameron -- I'm following your directions). Please check them out! I'd love to hear (ok, read) your comments.

I Survived CDG

Greetings from a top-secret, undisclosed location in Paris! After two flights, one bus ride, and a certain number of long queues, the group has arrived. Not much of note has occurred, but I'm looking forward to having our adventures start soon (a.k.a. tomorrow, when people are awake) which will include pictures!

Details, Thoughts, and OAQs

Yes, it has been ages since my last post, and for that, I do apologize. It's been a busy summer!

Anyway, moving on to more exciting times! The vast majority of my audience of 5.3 readers know that I will be leaving shortly for a year abroad in France. I've hoped to study abroad for some years know and it's quite exciting to finally be able to go.

Since there are lots of logistics to think about as I leave and for while I am abroad, I've decided to post a few Occasionally Asked Questions (OAQs) about my plans for everyone's information:

Q: Where are you going?
A: France. More specifically, Paris for all of September and then Tours from October through May inclusive. I will go on excursions around France as well as traveling around Europe.

Q: How will you keep folks updated?
A: You're looking right at it. While some folks send out mass emails when they go abroad, I'm planning on using the pre-existing structure of this blog. I will also post more photos on Flickr than here, but I will provide links in my posts to the new photos.

Q: What if I can't be bothered to type in a URL to follow what's happening?
A: Fortunately, there are several options. You can follow the RSS feed in your preferred reader (I strongly recommend Google Reader) which is the way I like to keep up with blogs. The easiest and most painless option for most people is to subscribe via email, which you can do in the sidebar. You will have to click through the confirmation email, so be sure to keep an eye out for that in your spam folder.

Q: How else will you keep in touch?
A: Email, natch. Also, I have Skype. If you're on Skype and you want my username, just send me an email.

Q: What are you studying?
A: Mostly French itself, but also literature, art, history, international relations, wine tasting, picnic-packing, the fine skill of finding flea market bargains, &c.

Q: Do you want to hear an idea for something to do in France or Europe?
A: Yes please! I'd love to hear suggestions for places to eat, things to do, locations to visit, so please do add them in the comments or shoot me an email if you would like.


That should do it! Additional OAQs? That's what the comments are for!

St. Brigid Completed At Last

It's finally finished! Yesterday I finished the seams and the affixing (not asphyxiating -- an important distinction) of the collar. Unfortunately, it will be quite a long while before it will be the right weather for a ten-pound wool sweater, but I will try to be patient.

I'm pleased with how it turned out as my first Aran (and my first Starmore design, which are notoriously complicated). There's a certain charm in the fact that it's not a contemporary or even a very flattering design. It's boxy. It does not do anything helpful for my figure -- it's just warm, which is the whole point. It's the kind of sweater I could wear on a ship, immigrating in the 1830s from Ireland. That sort of opportunity does not often present itself, but one must be prepared.


This exercise has also impressed upon me the necessity of upgrading my camera. Besides its delays and temperamental nature, the camera I currently use does not capture colour well at all! The red here is much too tomato-y (at least on my browser) and the cables don't look as delineated as they truly are. Alas. I will rectify this situation this summer.

There will be an update on Ravelry shortly with more pictures.

Onward to the Finish

My epic project for 2008 has been St. Brigid. It's beautiful but complicated, fiddly but fun, and thus it has kept me company through many a viewing of Chocolat and not a few episodes of Bones. I'm excited to say that I'm finally on the homestretch; the front, back, and sleeves are finished. What remains: all the seams (oy vey), the collar, and I'm contemplating cuffs as well. I have really enjoyed knitting this sweater and the colour is so lovely. The picture is not accurate -- it's a deep, deep bloodred.