Bonjour tout le monde - pour la dernière fois!
The whole family is safely returned home to the States since mid-afternoon on July 4th, and by now we've almost completely re-adjusted to the jet lag. I think I might even finally have all my pictures organized and posted on facebook! Now I just need to figure out which ones I want to print out and work on a photo album for "show and tell" with everyone who hasn't been able to go through my millions of photos online.
Anyways, I just wanted to take this last opportunity to thank everyone who helped to make my semester incredible. Thanks yous go out first to all of the family and friends here in the U.S. who supported me, encouraged me, prayed for me, and sent me mail. It was such a wonderful feeling to know I was missed and that people here were thinking of me. A huge THANK YOU to all of my friends in Paris - especially my Hillsong family! I would never have been able to do it without you - thank you for the amazing community and fellowship, and all of the encouragement you offered me as well. I will miss you all very dearly. While there are no current plans for a return trip, know that you will be the first people I tell. :)
I feel so blessed and so lucky to have been able to have the incredible experience that I did. I couldn't have asked for a better host family, better professors, or better friends. I learned so much - both in school and out of it. My French has improved exponentially in both speaking and writing, and I know I've learned so much about myself through these four months away from everything familiar to me. I've grown so much, and I know it's through your help as well as God's protection and provision.
Finally, a note on French goodbyes. One of my favorite things about the French is that they almost never actually say goodbye. There are a million different ways to say "see you soon" (à bientôt, à tout à l'heure), "see you later" (à plus tard), "see you ____" - tonight, Sunday, next week (à ce soir, à dimanche, à la semaine prochaine), and so many others. Even when you're not sure when exactly you're going to see the other person, you can say "until next time" (à la prochaine). If you're not sure you're ever going to see the person again, you still don't say goodbye. The French say "au revoir" - which literally means "until I see you again." Even if you're not sure when that next time will be, or even if there will be one, you always leave the possibility open. In the French language, there's really only one way to say goodbye, and it's used only when people are certain they will never see one another again; and that's "adieu." Literally translated, adieu comes from the words à Dieu - which means "to God." So when you're sure you'll never see each other again, you leave them while committing them to God's keeping...what an amazing and beautiful sentiment.
So finally I have to say goodbye to France. But rather than say adieu, or even au revoir, I'll say à bientot. I don't know when, but I know I want to keep the option open to return. Thank you for the incredible, life-changing experience. I'm so blessed, and so grateful.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Monday, July 4, 2011
The Rooneys take Europe by storm: Paris edition Part II
Bonjour tout le monde!
As of Thursday, we arrived in Paris and began the last portion of our European family vacation. After arriving at the airport, we struggled with luggage through the metro to find our new apartment we were renting in the 2nd arrondissement. We settled in a bit, then walked down to the Seine to see the Sainte Chapelle and Notre Dame de Paris. Sadly, we were more or less shut down in regards to both. The Sainte Chapelle already had too many visitors and was about to close, so they didn't let us in. Notre Dame was open to visitors but was also in the middle of celebrating mass, so we walked around and looked at all of the windows except the famous rose window behind the organ. Feeling very tired and a little disappointed, we cheered ourselves up by watching French children playing in the sand in the park next to the cathedral. Then we headed back to the apartment for dinner before getting to bed early in preparation for our very full Friday.
Friday was a continuation of our castle tour (I think we were up to 10 or 11 by now?) - the Château de Versailles. We got a later start than I had hoped (it was really hard for some of us to get up and moving in the morning) but found our way there and arrived around 10. After our audio-guided tour through the castle, we picked up the backpack Dad was in charge of at the coat check and found a seat in the gardens to eat the sandwiches we had purchased that morning and brought with us. After lunch we spent some time exploring the gardens and just enjoying the beautiful sunshine and flowers. Eventually we made our way over to the Grand and Petit Trianon - smaller castle estates built near Versailles for people who wanted to "escape" from hectic life at the main castle. The Petit Trianon in particular was a haven for Marie Antoinette. Speaking of, our next stop was the hamlet/farming village created for her amusement. It was a self-contained, functioning little town complete with a farm where she could dress up and play peasant...I guess when you're queen you get what you want! We did enjoy the exploring, but by the time we finished and made our way back to the train station it was around 4:30 - a day of pretty much non-stop walking, but also very enjoyable. Then the trip back, dinner, and early to bed.
Saturday morning began by returning to the Sainte Chapelle (after a quick stop for pains au chocolat and coffee!) where we were finally able to make it in. We were also able to tag along with a French tour given by the staff, with Shannon listening and me trying to listen and translate discreetly to my parents. They didn't get quite the same experience, but I did my best. They were, however, just as impressed and impacted by the beauty of the stained glass windows as I was when I first went there. What an amazing place to worship! Next we met up with my friend Randa for lunch at an Italian restaurant close to her apartment. After a lot of good food and conversation, we got on the metro and headed to the Arc de Triomphe. They seemed to like it well enough, but weren't as impressed with it as I was the first time I saw it. After gawking and taking a few pictures, we crossed back under the street through the tunnel and walked the famous shopping street of the Champs-Élysées.
After the shopping portion comes the garden portion, and we walked that as well - or tried to! They had already started setting up for the 14th of July and the parade - so there were stands and blocked-off areas on both sides of the street. We eventually made it to Place de la Concorde with it's Egyptian obelisk, and then into the Jardin des Tuileries - the Tuileries gardens. After resting our feet in the shade of the garden for a bit, we continued on to the Louvre where, although we didn't go in, we stopped for some obligatory pictures with the pyramids. Finally, we walked back to the apartment - since we were practically there anyways! Next, we changed clothes and shoes and headed off to my old address where we met up with my host mom and her daughter Marjorie for a send-off/goodbye dinner. They were running a bit late, so we didn't leave for dinner together until 8:45, but we more than made up for it! After a lot of delicious food and great conversation, we started realizing there were fewer and fewer other patrons. Then, Dad looked at his watch, and we saw that it was almost midnight! Yikes! Since it had gotten rather cold and we still had to pick up a suitcase and bag of mine they were holding for me while we traveled, they offered to drop us and the stuff off in the car rather than us having to walk. So after a very full day, we finally made it back for good and fell exhausted into bed.
Sunday (today!) began with sleeping a little late, and then church at Hillsong. It was great for me to be able to bring my family with me again and share in the experience together, but a bit surreal to realize it was my last time to worship there - at least for quite a while. After church we went to a nearby crêperie for more delicious crêpes - since we can't really find them when we go back home tomorrow. Next we hurried back to the apartment to change into walking shoes and took the metro to the Château de Vincennes - our last castle of the trip. Unfortunately, we didn't have much time left there and the tours were only in French, so we zipped around reading the signs on everything and with me trying to recount what I remembered from the French tour I had taken there about a month ago. Even so, we had a good time - Dad especially enjoyed learning about the history and different building projects and additions. Then we took the metro back into the city, and then walked along the Seine enjoying the scenery for the last time. After dinner near the Pont d'Alma, we walked down to the Tour Eiffel and then underneath to the Champs de Mars field where we sat and talked and then watched the sparkly light show that comes on the first 10 minutes of every hour after dark. Finally, we took the metro back to the apartment where I'm now writing this as we struggle to organize and pack for our flight back to Chicago tomorrow.
All in all, it's been an amazing trip! We've had so much fun, so much food, and taken so many pictures. I feel so very blessed that I've been able to share with my family some of the experiences that I've had here in Paris and show them around what has become my city. Now I'm off to bed to get in a few hours of sleep before we need to get up, finish packing, grab some pastries for breakfast and take the train out to the airport. Since I'm not ready to say goodbye yet, I'll write one more post when we have safely arrived home in Downers Grove. Goodbye for now!
As of Thursday, we arrived in Paris and began the last portion of our European family vacation. After arriving at the airport, we struggled with luggage through the metro to find our new apartment we were renting in the 2nd arrondissement. We settled in a bit, then walked down to the Seine to see the Sainte Chapelle and Notre Dame de Paris. Sadly, we were more or less shut down in regards to both. The Sainte Chapelle already had too many visitors and was about to close, so they didn't let us in. Notre Dame was open to visitors but was also in the middle of celebrating mass, so we walked around and looked at all of the windows except the famous rose window behind the organ. Feeling very tired and a little disappointed, we cheered ourselves up by watching French children playing in the sand in the park next to the cathedral. Then we headed back to the apartment for dinner before getting to bed early in preparation for our very full Friday.
Friday was a continuation of our castle tour (I think we were up to 10 or 11 by now?) - the Château de Versailles. We got a later start than I had hoped (it was really hard for some of us to get up and moving in the morning) but found our way there and arrived around 10. After our audio-guided tour through the castle, we picked up the backpack Dad was in charge of at the coat check and found a seat in the gardens to eat the sandwiches we had purchased that morning and brought with us. After lunch we spent some time exploring the gardens and just enjoying the beautiful sunshine and flowers. Eventually we made our way over to the Grand and Petit Trianon - smaller castle estates built near Versailles for people who wanted to "escape" from hectic life at the main castle. The Petit Trianon in particular was a haven for Marie Antoinette. Speaking of, our next stop was the hamlet/farming village created for her amusement. It was a self-contained, functioning little town complete with a farm where she could dress up and play peasant...I guess when you're queen you get what you want! We did enjoy the exploring, but by the time we finished and made our way back to the train station it was around 4:30 - a day of pretty much non-stop walking, but also very enjoyable. Then the trip back, dinner, and early to bed.
Saturday morning began by returning to the Sainte Chapelle (after a quick stop for pains au chocolat and coffee!) where we were finally able to make it in. We were also able to tag along with a French tour given by the staff, with Shannon listening and me trying to listen and translate discreetly to my parents. They didn't get quite the same experience, but I did my best. They were, however, just as impressed and impacted by the beauty of the stained glass windows as I was when I first went there. What an amazing place to worship! Next we met up with my friend Randa for lunch at an Italian restaurant close to her apartment. After a lot of good food and conversation, we got on the metro and headed to the Arc de Triomphe. They seemed to like it well enough, but weren't as impressed with it as I was the first time I saw it. After gawking and taking a few pictures, we crossed back under the street through the tunnel and walked the famous shopping street of the Champs-Élysées.
After the shopping portion comes the garden portion, and we walked that as well - or tried to! They had already started setting up for the 14th of July and the parade - so there were stands and blocked-off areas on both sides of the street. We eventually made it to Place de la Concorde with it's Egyptian obelisk, and then into the Jardin des Tuileries - the Tuileries gardens. After resting our feet in the shade of the garden for a bit, we continued on to the Louvre where, although we didn't go in, we stopped for some obligatory pictures with the pyramids. Finally, we walked back to the apartment - since we were practically there anyways! Next, we changed clothes and shoes and headed off to my old address where we met up with my host mom and her daughter Marjorie for a send-off/goodbye dinner. They were running a bit late, so we didn't leave for dinner together until 8:45, but we more than made up for it! After a lot of delicious food and great conversation, we started realizing there were fewer and fewer other patrons. Then, Dad looked at his watch, and we saw that it was almost midnight! Yikes! Since it had gotten rather cold and we still had to pick up a suitcase and bag of mine they were holding for me while we traveled, they offered to drop us and the stuff off in the car rather than us having to walk. So after a very full day, we finally made it back for good and fell exhausted into bed.
Sunday (today!) began with sleeping a little late, and then church at Hillsong. It was great for me to be able to bring my family with me again and share in the experience together, but a bit surreal to realize it was my last time to worship there - at least for quite a while. After church we went to a nearby crêperie for more delicious crêpes - since we can't really find them when we go back home tomorrow. Next we hurried back to the apartment to change into walking shoes and took the metro to the Château de Vincennes - our last castle of the trip. Unfortunately, we didn't have much time left there and the tours were only in French, so we zipped around reading the signs on everything and with me trying to recount what I remembered from the French tour I had taken there about a month ago. Even so, we had a good time - Dad especially enjoyed learning about the history and different building projects and additions. Then we took the metro back into the city, and then walked along the Seine enjoying the scenery for the last time. After dinner near the Pont d'Alma, we walked down to the Tour Eiffel and then underneath to the Champs de Mars field where we sat and talked and then watched the sparkly light show that comes on the first 10 minutes of every hour after dark. Finally, we took the metro back to the apartment where I'm now writing this as we struggle to organize and pack for our flight back to Chicago tomorrow.
All in all, it's been an amazing trip! We've had so much fun, so much food, and taken so many pictures. I feel so very blessed that I've been able to share with my family some of the experiences that I've had here in Paris and show them around what has become my city. Now I'm off to bed to get in a few hours of sleep before we need to get up, finish packing, grab some pastries for breakfast and take the train out to the airport. Since I'm not ready to say goodbye yet, I'll write one more post when we have safely arrived home in Downers Grove. Goodbye for now!
Friday, July 1, 2011
The Rooneys take Europe by storm: Austrian edition
Guten tag alle!
I've been a little remiss in posting...and now I'm a few more days behind! I think I'll attribute it to the confusion of being in a German (and not French) speaking locale! We flew from Paris to Vienna (or Wien in German) on Wednesday of last week - June 22nd. We arrived late at night after a long day of travel (train from Amboise to Paris with three "layovers"/train switches and then the plane ride) and took a taxi to the apartment we were renting for our stay in Vienna. Our "renter" Kateryna met us with keys to help us get in and settled. After a good night's sleep and a delicious breakfast of cereal, joghurt (yogurt German-style!) and fresh fruit, we set out on our first day of exploring the city. What our tour was lacking in structure (we got rather lost a few times...) it made up for in beauty! We saw some incredible buildings, including the Rathaus (town hall), several amazing churches (including the Votivskirche and Steffensdom), the Parliament building, and the Hofburg Palace museums. We even had laberkase sandwiches from a street vendor for lunch! Our second day in Vienna we went to see the Schonbrunn Palace, and then climbed up the hill behind it to eat at the Gloriette pavilion and take pictures of the gardens down below.
Then we took the trolley/bus/tram (it's quite a system!) back to the main center to try to see the interior of Steffensdom that had been closed the day before. Sadly, we arrived in time for the English tour they had told us about the day before, but it was cancelled for some kind of extreme high mass complete with a whole parade of priests, altar boys, and even a bishop! So we missed out on the interior, but Shannon, Dad, and I climbed up the tower (353 very narrow spiral stairway steps!) for the view of the city. It was beautiful, but not sure if it was worth the climb. We had dinner at a typical beer garden where Mom and I both had delicious peach wine spritzers and Shannon and Dad ordered the house beer vom fass (on tap). Shannon's meal was ENORMOUS - we all had to pitch in and still didn't finish it. After a good (but short) night's sleep, we were picked up by Claudia (Mom's father's cousin's daughter - yeah, yikes) and her husband Martin and their son Florian.
We drove and chatted (well Mom did...we only got in a few words since we couldn't understand most of the rapid-fire German being spoken) until we arrived in St. Florian on our way to Steyr. We stopped in St. Florian for lunch at a restaurant with Martin, Claudia, and Florian, and then Martin showed us the church. We learned that he had lived in the attached (former) monastery for a year when he was in the St. Florian's boys' choir. After exploring the church, we got back in the car and drove farther along the route towards Steyr.
We stopped at the former Malthausen Concentration camp - a sobering but very interesting experience. The audioguide was full of so much information we weren't able to listen to it all, but what we were able to hear was both disturbing and fascinating. Learning about the Holocaust in school and then actually walking the ground where the victims walked and seeing the bunkers they lived in are totally different - it was very eerie and almost unreal. My favorite part was the variety of memorials on the grounds - especially the personal ones for family members who were victims that were in the two preserved crematorium chambers. There was also a garden between the camp and the quarry where prisoners worked with art and monuments from every country that had lost people in the camp.
Next, we shifted moods completely, and headed back to St. Florian to meet up with Claudia's parents Lisi and Pepi and her aunt and uncle (Lisi's brother and his wife) Daniel and Monika. Luckily we had a table reserved since there were 11 of us for dinner! Everything was delicious, and even when we didn't understand everything that was being said we still got the gist of most of it. Plus, since the relatives were all so sweet and very funny, we had a great time - even when we were laughing but didn't know why! Mom had the most fun, and the more time we spent with them, the more her German speaking improved. By the end of our time in Austria, she could genau with the best! After dinner (and a lot of hugging and cheek kissing), we headed back to our gasthaus (part bar, part hotel) to unpack and fall exhausted into bed.
Our first full day in Steyr started with buffet-style breakfast at the hotel with the manager serving as wait staff - a very interesting man who spoke 7-9 languages! So we ordered and conversed in French (for me and Shannon), in German (for Mom) and in English (for Dad). Then Pepi came to pick us up, and we joined up with Daniel, Monika, and Lisi for an insider tour of the old portion of Steyr. What a beautiful and historic city! It was such an incredible experience to have a tour from actual residents - especially such knowledgeable ones! We also got to see a 5k footrace that was being held that morning - they had all the streets blocked off and people were everywhere! We met up with Martin, Claudia, Florian, and their daughter Julia and her boyfriend Manuel for lunch - an even bigger table this time! After lunch, we carpooled to the highest point in the city - well to the base of the hill. Then we climbed it - even Claudia in her high heels! At the top was a cute little yellow chapel and an amazing view over the city. After climbing/falling down the hill, we went to dinner! (We thought we were going to explode with all the food we'd been eating - but we all survived!). For dinner, we went zum Heurigen - to a farmhouse/restaurant where we were able to sample their wines, beer, and moast (an alcholic cider) as well as different cold cuts of meat and cheese. For dessert? A "farmer's donut" bauern krapfen - a donut topped with apricot jelly and powedered sugar still hot from the oven - yum! After dinner (and some emotional goodbyes to the family), we went back to the hotel to pack and get some sleep before Martin picked us up in the morning.
He drove us to Salzburg via the scenic route - we were able to stop in a tiny (very touristy but still adorable) Austrian town called St. Wolfgang on Wolfgangsee (the Wolfgang Lake). Between the adorable alpine houses and the amazing view of the crystal-clear water, we never wanted to leave!
Then we arrived in Salzburg, where we said goodbye and thank you to Martin and found some lunch before officially checking into our hotel room. We did some exploring and then came back for a quick nap before Edgar came to pick us up! (Edgar is the son of my Opa's - Mom's dad's - best friend). He showed us around the old town of Salzburg with it's narrow medieval streets, intricate hanging signs, and beautiful old buildings. For dinner, we met up with his wife Evelyn (who also, bless her, spoke English wonderfully), and their two sons - Alex (14) and Benny (6). We had delicious food, great wine and beer, and amazing conversation!
Our second day in Salzburg, we met up with Edgar and Stefen (Edgar's sister Birgit's husband) and carpooled over to Schloss Helbrunn - a castle built by archibishop Markus Sitticus. The castle was very interesting, but what we really came to see was the vasser spiele - or "trick fountains." We found out on our tour of the gardens that the prince arcbishop had a sense of humor, and had hidden fountains installed throughout his gardens running on a complicated system powered (originally) just by water! For our first demonstration, our tour guide called volunteers to come sit at the stools around the table that the archbishop had used for entertaining his guests. All of a sudden, water started squirting out over the table from either side, from the middle of the table, and even from the seats of the stools! Everyone except the woman sitting in the archbishop's chair and the spectators who were far enough away got sopping wet! We missed out this time, but throughout the course of our tour we all got squirted a little here or there. I, however, was the only one who got really soaked! We had just finished touring one of the decorated cave grottos when our tricky guide started playing with the fountains by the entrance so that in order to get out you had to run through the water. At that point, the two streams from either side of the path crossed high enough that I could run under so I decided to chance it. Unfortunately, I forgot that he could adjust the height and as soon as I and another girl made a run for it he lowered the streams so I got blasted in the face. Thankfully, I survived and it was warm enough that I dried off rather quickly.
After Helbrunn, we drove back to Salzburg for "light" lunch. Dad ordered knodel and roast - but when it arrived he saw that the knodel (a ball tasting similar to a bready pasta) was the size of a large softball! He ate a little more than half, and was feeling a little green around the gills all afternoon. Shannon's food was the only reasonable sized one, and the rest of us really struggled trying to eat enough to be polite. It was delicious - just way too big! After lunch, we took the funicular train up to Hohen Salzburg - the castle overlooking the city - and explored before climbing/falling back down. By the time we got down, we were ready for some "snicky snacks" and stopped for sorbet and some juice and water. Then we walked back to our hotel for a quick nap before heading out to find something to eat. We finally settled on an Italian restaurant, since we were craving something other than traditional Austrian meat and potatoes, where we had a lovely dinner just as a family before heading back to get some sleep.
Our second full day in Salzburg (Wednesday) was our designated Sound of Music Tour day! We were able to finagle a private minibus tour with Edgar's friend Didi (Dieter) who, as Shannon said, "was so Austrian I could die." We saw it all - from Nonnberg Abbey where Maria was a nun-in-training to the festival hall where the Von Trapp family sang before escaping over the mountains to freedom. It was so much fun retracing the steps from scenes from one of our favorite movies (well the girls at least, if not Dad), especially with Didi blasting the soundtrack in the car! My favorite part was probably hopping up and down the steps in the Mirabell gardens where they sang "Doe, a Deer."
After the SOM tour, we left Didi and Stefen drove us to Obersalzburg (actually across the border in Bavaria) to see the Eagle's Nest. It was built for Hitler by one of his generals for his 50th birthday in 1938, but he never actually went there because he was afraid of heights. After the end of the war, the mayor from the neighboring town fought to keep it as a historical monument. We took the bus shuttle up from the parking lot along winding, very narrow, mountain roads, and then an elevator up to the actual house. While we didn't go into the house (it cost extra) we did climb all over the rocks like mountain goats while admiring the breathtaking views into the different valleys - we could see all the way back to Salzburg! Absolutely gorgeous.
After our mountain goat climbing, we headed back down and Stefen drove us to dinner where we met up with Edgar and his family and with Stefen's wife Birgit. While Birgit was nervous about her English, between Mom's German, Edgar and Evelyn's English, and his son Alex's translation help, we did just fine. We had a lot of fun, and a VERY long dinner (over 3 hours) before saying goodbye to everyone and driving back to the hotel to pack before taking a taxi to the airport the next morning, and flying back to Paris.
Phew! I think that's as updated as we can be for now - I'll upload a new post about our Paris adventures hopefully sometime soon...I can't believe our trip is almost at an end - yikes! In the meantime, we'll make the most of it and keep taking a ton of pictures. A bientôt!
I've been a little remiss in posting...and now I'm a few more days behind! I think I'll attribute it to the confusion of being in a German (and not French) speaking locale! We flew from Paris to Vienna (or Wien in German) on Wednesday of last week - June 22nd. We arrived late at night after a long day of travel (train from Amboise to Paris with three "layovers"/train switches and then the plane ride) and took a taxi to the apartment we were renting for our stay in Vienna. Our "renter" Kateryna met us with keys to help us get in and settled. After a good night's sleep and a delicious breakfast of cereal, joghurt (yogurt German-style!) and fresh fruit, we set out on our first day of exploring the city. What our tour was lacking in structure (we got rather lost a few times...) it made up for in beauty! We saw some incredible buildings, including the Rathaus (town hall), several amazing churches (including the Votivskirche and Steffensdom), the Parliament building, and the Hofburg Palace museums. We even had laberkase sandwiches from a street vendor for lunch! Our second day in Vienna we went to see the Schonbrunn Palace, and then climbed up the hill behind it to eat at the Gloriette pavilion and take pictures of the gardens down below.
Then we took the trolley/bus/tram (it's quite a system!) back to the main center to try to see the interior of Steffensdom that had been closed the day before. Sadly, we arrived in time for the English tour they had told us about the day before, but it was cancelled for some kind of extreme high mass complete with a whole parade of priests, altar boys, and even a bishop! So we missed out on the interior, but Shannon, Dad, and I climbed up the tower (353 very narrow spiral stairway steps!) for the view of the city. It was beautiful, but not sure if it was worth the climb. We had dinner at a typical beer garden where Mom and I both had delicious peach wine spritzers and Shannon and Dad ordered the house beer vom fass (on tap). Shannon's meal was ENORMOUS - we all had to pitch in and still didn't finish it. After a good (but short) night's sleep, we were picked up by Claudia (Mom's father's cousin's daughter - yeah, yikes) and her husband Martin and their son Florian.
We drove and chatted (well Mom did...we only got in a few words since we couldn't understand most of the rapid-fire German being spoken) until we arrived in St. Florian on our way to Steyr. We stopped in St. Florian for lunch at a restaurant with Martin, Claudia, and Florian, and then Martin showed us the church. We learned that he had lived in the attached (former) monastery for a year when he was in the St. Florian's boys' choir. After exploring the church, we got back in the car and drove farther along the route towards Steyr.
We stopped at the former Malthausen Concentration camp - a sobering but very interesting experience. The audioguide was full of so much information we weren't able to listen to it all, but what we were able to hear was both disturbing and fascinating. Learning about the Holocaust in school and then actually walking the ground where the victims walked and seeing the bunkers they lived in are totally different - it was very eerie and almost unreal. My favorite part was the variety of memorials on the grounds - especially the personal ones for family members who were victims that were in the two preserved crematorium chambers. There was also a garden between the camp and the quarry where prisoners worked with art and monuments from every country that had lost people in the camp.
Next, we shifted moods completely, and headed back to St. Florian to meet up with Claudia's parents Lisi and Pepi and her aunt and uncle (Lisi's brother and his wife) Daniel and Monika. Luckily we had a table reserved since there were 11 of us for dinner! Everything was delicious, and even when we didn't understand everything that was being said we still got the gist of most of it. Plus, since the relatives were all so sweet and very funny, we had a great time - even when we were laughing but didn't know why! Mom had the most fun, and the more time we spent with them, the more her German speaking improved. By the end of our time in Austria, she could genau with the best! After dinner (and a lot of hugging and cheek kissing), we headed back to our gasthaus (part bar, part hotel) to unpack and fall exhausted into bed.
Our first full day in Steyr started with buffet-style breakfast at the hotel with the manager serving as wait staff - a very interesting man who spoke 7-9 languages! So we ordered and conversed in French (for me and Shannon), in German (for Mom) and in English (for Dad). Then Pepi came to pick us up, and we joined up with Daniel, Monika, and Lisi for an insider tour of the old portion of Steyr. What a beautiful and historic city! It was such an incredible experience to have a tour from actual residents - especially such knowledgeable ones! We also got to see a 5k footrace that was being held that morning - they had all the streets blocked off and people were everywhere! We met up with Martin, Claudia, Florian, and their daughter Julia and her boyfriend Manuel for lunch - an even bigger table this time! After lunch, we carpooled to the highest point in the city - well to the base of the hill. Then we climbed it - even Claudia in her high heels! At the top was a cute little yellow chapel and an amazing view over the city. After climbing/falling down the hill, we went to dinner! (We thought we were going to explode with all the food we'd been eating - but we all survived!). For dinner, we went zum Heurigen - to a farmhouse/restaurant where we were able to sample their wines, beer, and moast (an alcholic cider) as well as different cold cuts of meat and cheese. For dessert? A "farmer's donut" bauern krapfen - a donut topped with apricot jelly and powedered sugar still hot from the oven - yum! After dinner (and some emotional goodbyes to the family), we went back to the hotel to pack and get some sleep before Martin picked us up in the morning.
He drove us to Salzburg via the scenic route - we were able to stop in a tiny (very touristy but still adorable) Austrian town called St. Wolfgang on Wolfgangsee (the Wolfgang Lake). Between the adorable alpine houses and the amazing view of the crystal-clear water, we never wanted to leave!
Then we arrived in Salzburg, where we said goodbye and thank you to Martin and found some lunch before officially checking into our hotel room. We did some exploring and then came back for a quick nap before Edgar came to pick us up! (Edgar is the son of my Opa's - Mom's dad's - best friend). He showed us around the old town of Salzburg with it's narrow medieval streets, intricate hanging signs, and beautiful old buildings. For dinner, we met up with his wife Evelyn (who also, bless her, spoke English wonderfully), and their two sons - Alex (14) and Benny (6). We had delicious food, great wine and beer, and amazing conversation!
Our second day in Salzburg, we met up with Edgar and Stefen (Edgar's sister Birgit's husband) and carpooled over to Schloss Helbrunn - a castle built by archibishop Markus Sitticus. The castle was very interesting, but what we really came to see was the vasser spiele - or "trick fountains." We found out on our tour of the gardens that the prince arcbishop had a sense of humor, and had hidden fountains installed throughout his gardens running on a complicated system powered (originally) just by water! For our first demonstration, our tour guide called volunteers to come sit at the stools around the table that the archbishop had used for entertaining his guests. All of a sudden, water started squirting out over the table from either side, from the middle of the table, and even from the seats of the stools! Everyone except the woman sitting in the archbishop's chair and the spectators who were far enough away got sopping wet! We missed out this time, but throughout the course of our tour we all got squirted a little here or there. I, however, was the only one who got really soaked! We had just finished touring one of the decorated cave grottos when our tricky guide started playing with the fountains by the entrance so that in order to get out you had to run through the water. At that point, the two streams from either side of the path crossed high enough that I could run under so I decided to chance it. Unfortunately, I forgot that he could adjust the height and as soon as I and another girl made a run for it he lowered the streams so I got blasted in the face. Thankfully, I survived and it was warm enough that I dried off rather quickly.
After Helbrunn, we drove back to Salzburg for "light" lunch. Dad ordered knodel and roast - but when it arrived he saw that the knodel (a ball tasting similar to a bready pasta) was the size of a large softball! He ate a little more than half, and was feeling a little green around the gills all afternoon. Shannon's food was the only reasonable sized one, and the rest of us really struggled trying to eat enough to be polite. It was delicious - just way too big! After lunch, we took the funicular train up to Hohen Salzburg - the castle overlooking the city - and explored before climbing/falling back down. By the time we got down, we were ready for some "snicky snacks" and stopped for sorbet and some juice and water. Then we walked back to our hotel for a quick nap before heading out to find something to eat. We finally settled on an Italian restaurant, since we were craving something other than traditional Austrian meat and potatoes, where we had a lovely dinner just as a family before heading back to get some sleep.
Our second full day in Salzburg (Wednesday) was our designated Sound of Music Tour day! We were able to finagle a private minibus tour with Edgar's friend Didi (Dieter) who, as Shannon said, "was so Austrian I could die." We saw it all - from Nonnberg Abbey where Maria was a nun-in-training to the festival hall where the Von Trapp family sang before escaping over the mountains to freedom. It was so much fun retracing the steps from scenes from one of our favorite movies (well the girls at least, if not Dad), especially with Didi blasting the soundtrack in the car! My favorite part was probably hopping up and down the steps in the Mirabell gardens where they sang "Doe, a Deer."
After the SOM tour, we left Didi and Stefen drove us to Obersalzburg (actually across the border in Bavaria) to see the Eagle's Nest. It was built for Hitler by one of his generals for his 50th birthday in 1938, but he never actually went there because he was afraid of heights. After the end of the war, the mayor from the neighboring town fought to keep it as a historical monument. We took the bus shuttle up from the parking lot along winding, very narrow, mountain roads, and then an elevator up to the actual house. While we didn't go into the house (it cost extra) we did climb all over the rocks like mountain goats while admiring the breathtaking views into the different valleys - we could see all the way back to Salzburg! Absolutely gorgeous.
After our mountain goat climbing, we headed back down and Stefen drove us to dinner where we met up with Edgar and his family and with Stefen's wife Birgit. While Birgit was nervous about her English, between Mom's German, Edgar and Evelyn's English, and his son Alex's translation help, we did just fine. We had a lot of fun, and a VERY long dinner (over 3 hours) before saying goodbye to everyone and driving back to the hotel to pack before taking a taxi to the airport the next morning, and flying back to Paris.
Phew! I think that's as updated as we can be for now - I'll upload a new post about our Paris adventures hopefully sometime soon...I can't believe our trip is almost at an end - yikes! In the meantime, we'll make the most of it and keep taking a ton of pictures. A bientôt!
Saturday, June 25, 2011
The Rooneys take Europe by storm: Loire Valley edition
Bonjour et bienvenue dans la Vallée de la Loire!
Our journey began on Monday morning when we got to navigate morning rush-hour on the metro with all our luggage! After we survived that endeavor, we found our train at Gare d'Austerlitz and headed out to Amboise. When we got off at the train station in Amboise, we gathered round the map for a family meeting. Mom was in favor of calling a cab, but Dad and Shannon determined it "didn't look that far" and they were sure we could walk it.
We all survived the trek, but the second bridge took some of us by surprise! We eventually found our hotel, Le Blason, and settled into our adorable (though slightly miniature) room complete with wooden beams coming out of the stucco walls in a very traditional style. Our first task after unpacking was lunch, and we headed to a cute café just at the base of the castle (Château d'Amboise) walls where we planned out our next day and a half. After sorting through our numerous brochures and several phone calls to different mini-bus tour companies, our schedule was determined. Monday night, we explored the town and the Château d'Amboise, before having dinner nearby at a delicious Italian restaurant.
Day two in Amboise was our "Chateaux tour" day - and on the docket? Count them, FOUR different chateaux. Due to the whirlwind nature of the tour, our stops at each castle were limited to around an hour each. Even so, we saw a lot and took A LOT of pictures! Our first stop was Villandry and its exquisite gardens with our tour guide Aline driving. Even better, we lucked out and the other four people in our tour group were two older British couples with outrageous accents who were altogether adorable. The Villandry chateau itself wasn't much to look at, but the gardens were incredible! There were several different themes, including the sun gardens, the mirror lake, the vegetable and fruit gardens, and several others. I think Dad had the most fun, stopping to identify all of the different plants as we passed by.
Our second stop with Aline was the Chateau Azay-le-Rideau. Out of all of the castles we saw, it was probably one of the smallest. The most interesting part, for me, was the outside of the castle. It was surrounded by a moat...well not in the typical sense of the word. It was purely decorative, and served more as a reflection pool than as a real moat. While the castle looks as if it were built in the middle of a pond, it's actually an illusion. The nearby river (not the Loire, but a smaller tributary) was diverted after construction of the castle was completed to flow around it. What a beautiful view!
After a brief, hastily consumed lunch of sandwiches and Orangina, we found our second tour bus driven by Valentin and started our afternoon castle tours. Our first castle of the afternoon (third that day, and and fourth overall), was the Chateau Chambord. Chambord was one of the favorite hunting estates of Francois I, and since he usually came there in winter, the castle had to be equipped with many fireplaces. One for every day of the year, in fact! And with 365 fireplaces, there naturally have to be 365 chimneys! As a result, the view of the roof was mostly obscured by chimneys in several different styles all stacked practically on top of each other. The other main "claim to fame" of this castle is it's central staircase. It was designed by Leonardo da Vinci and is actually two staircases wound together in a double helix, such that the person going up the stairs can't see the person going down the other stairs! We had a lot of fun going up and down and looking across the center at each other through little windows. Even Mom, who always told us "not to play on the stairs!" participated.
Our fourth and final castle of the day was by far my favorite, the Chateau Chenonceau. This castle, which is actually both a castle and a bridge as it spans the Cher River, is known as the Ladies' castle because all of it's design, decoration, and the majority of it's owners were women. The two most famous women associated with it are Diane de Poitou, the favorite mistress of King Henry II (she was 20 years his senior), and Catherine de Medicis, his wife. Diane was responsible for most of its construction, as well as a good portion of the gardens, since the castle was built as a gift to her from the king. When Henry died in a jousting accident, his wife Catherine finally got her revenge on her rival Diane, and she banished her to a different, much darker and gloomier castle. As soon as Diane left, Catherine set about changing a lot of what she (Diane) had constructed to erase the memory of her from the chateau. Between the efforts of these two strong women, the combination is absolutely breathtaking. In addition, it is also well known for its enormous kitchen, which included special windows and a winch to bring up food deliveries brought in by boat on the river!
After a long day of a lot of walking and a lot of castles, we headed back to Amboise for dinner (topped off with an amazingly delicious banana split!) and early bed before packing for Vienna in the morning. As I write this (I'm a bit behind) we've already arrived safely in Austria and are enjoying our time with Mom's relatives in Steyr. I'll try to update soon with an Austrian edition! A la prochain - tchus!
Our journey began on Monday morning when we got to navigate morning rush-hour on the metro with all our luggage! After we survived that endeavor, we found our train at Gare d'Austerlitz and headed out to Amboise. When we got off at the train station in Amboise, we gathered round the map for a family meeting. Mom was in favor of calling a cab, but Dad and Shannon determined it "didn't look that far" and they were sure we could walk it.
We all survived the trek, but the second bridge took some of us by surprise! We eventually found our hotel, Le Blason, and settled into our adorable (though slightly miniature) room complete with wooden beams coming out of the stucco walls in a very traditional style. Our first task after unpacking was lunch, and we headed to a cute café just at the base of the castle (Château d'Amboise) walls where we planned out our next day and a half. After sorting through our numerous brochures and several phone calls to different mini-bus tour companies, our schedule was determined. Monday night, we explored the town and the Château d'Amboise, before having dinner nearby at a delicious Italian restaurant.
Day two in Amboise was our "Chateaux tour" day - and on the docket? Count them, FOUR different chateaux. Due to the whirlwind nature of the tour, our stops at each castle were limited to around an hour each. Even so, we saw a lot and took A LOT of pictures! Our first stop was Villandry and its exquisite gardens with our tour guide Aline driving. Even better, we lucked out and the other four people in our tour group were two older British couples with outrageous accents who were altogether adorable. The Villandry chateau itself wasn't much to look at, but the gardens were incredible! There were several different themes, including the sun gardens, the mirror lake, the vegetable and fruit gardens, and several others. I think Dad had the most fun, stopping to identify all of the different plants as we passed by.
Our second stop with Aline was the Chateau Azay-le-Rideau. Out of all of the castles we saw, it was probably one of the smallest. The most interesting part, for me, was the outside of the castle. It was surrounded by a moat...well not in the typical sense of the word. It was purely decorative, and served more as a reflection pool than as a real moat. While the castle looks as if it were built in the middle of a pond, it's actually an illusion. The nearby river (not the Loire, but a smaller tributary) was diverted after construction of the castle was completed to flow around it. What a beautiful view!
After a brief, hastily consumed lunch of sandwiches and Orangina, we found our second tour bus driven by Valentin and started our afternoon castle tours. Our first castle of the afternoon (third that day, and and fourth overall), was the Chateau Chambord. Chambord was one of the favorite hunting estates of Francois I, and since he usually came there in winter, the castle had to be equipped with many fireplaces. One for every day of the year, in fact! And with 365 fireplaces, there naturally have to be 365 chimneys! As a result, the view of the roof was mostly obscured by chimneys in several different styles all stacked practically on top of each other. The other main "claim to fame" of this castle is it's central staircase. It was designed by Leonardo da Vinci and is actually two staircases wound together in a double helix, such that the person going up the stairs can't see the person going down the other stairs! We had a lot of fun going up and down and looking across the center at each other through little windows. Even Mom, who always told us "not to play on the stairs!" participated.
Our fourth and final castle of the day was by far my favorite, the Chateau Chenonceau. This castle, which is actually both a castle and a bridge as it spans the Cher River, is known as the Ladies' castle because all of it's design, decoration, and the majority of it's owners were women. The two most famous women associated with it are Diane de Poitou, the favorite mistress of King Henry II (she was 20 years his senior), and Catherine de Medicis, his wife. Diane was responsible for most of its construction, as well as a good portion of the gardens, since the castle was built as a gift to her from the king. When Henry died in a jousting accident, his wife Catherine finally got her revenge on her rival Diane, and she banished her to a different, much darker and gloomier castle. As soon as Diane left, Catherine set about changing a lot of what she (Diane) had constructed to erase the memory of her from the chateau. Between the efforts of these two strong women, the combination is absolutely breathtaking. In addition, it is also well known for its enormous kitchen, which included special windows and a winch to bring up food deliveries brought in by boat on the river!
After a long day of a lot of walking and a lot of castles, we headed back to Amboise for dinner (topped off with an amazingly delicious banana split!) and early bed before packing for Vienna in the morning. As I write this (I'm a bit behind) we've already arrived safely in Austria and are enjoying our time with Mom's relatives in Steyr. I'll try to update soon with an Austrian edition! A la prochain - tchus!
Monday, June 20, 2011
The Rooneys take Europe by storm: Paris edition
Bonjour tout le monde!
On Thursday morning, my family arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport with lots of luggage, very few hours of sleep, and enormous smiles to greet me! I, in turn, ditched my last two classes of the semester (if you warn your teachers in advance that you're not going to be there does it count as ditching?) and took an early RER train out to the airport with a sign (pretty much just 'Rooney' written on a sheet of paper in sharpie marker) to meet them. I don't know who was more excited to see who! I do know there was a lot of hugging all around before we schlepped their stuff down to the train to get to the metro to get to the apartment we rented from a nice man named Stephane for the weekend.
After a prolonged struggle and a lot of sweating on all of our parts, we successfully navigated from one side of the Montparnasse Bienvenue metro station to the other and located our new home for the weekend. After unpacking and using the bathroom, we stopped for their first real French meal - delicious crêpes and cidre! We spent the rest of Thursday exploring the 6th arrondissement from the Fontaine St. Michel all the way to the Jardin de Luxembourg. I was also able to show them my school buildings where I've been spending so much of my time while in Paris. For dinner, we stopped at a nearby cafe and enjoyed some more delicious French cuisine. After a long day (for me) and a very long day (for them), we made our way back to the apartment for an early night.
On Friday, we left early to head to the train station and meet up with my Australian friend Steph and her mom Marina (who was also visiting her) for a day trip out to Giverny - Monet's estate. It had been recommended by a friend, and knowing my father's predilection for all things pond I thought it would be a great place to take them! Unfortunately, the weather was less than cooperative and it drizzled or rained most of the day. Despite the weather, we had a lovely lunch with Steph and her mom in the town of Giverny and were completely blown away by the beauty of the gardens (even in the drizzle!). Monet himself designed the gardens, and the estate stayed in his family until the mid 20th century when it started falling to ruin before being restored more recently. After so many years of capturing beauty in nature, Monet decided to design the gardens as he wished to paint them, rather than painting what he saw. Startlingly beautiful!
Saturday, we slept in and got a bit of a late start, but also some much needed rest. We started by going to my neighborhood, where I showed them the very eccentric Centre Pompidou and we ate some delcious (and beautiful!) Amorino's gelato.
Next, we wandered through the quaint medieval streets of the Marais and took shelter from the persistent drizzle in the Musee Carnavalet - the museum about the history of Paris. Shannon loved the Revolution exhibit and kept exclaiming "I know him - I read about this!" as we walked through it. The rest of us were done and ready to go long before she was - as neither parent understood since all the plaques were in French and I had already seen it! But she got her picture by the painting of Danton and Robespierre, so she was happy. After that, we found lunch at a cafe near the Place des Vosges - which they agreed was as beautiful "live" as the pictures I had taken and shown them. Then after a quick glance at the Place de la Bastille (essentially a roundabout with a statue in the middle...) we headed over to the Jardin des Plantes where we enjoyed the fauna (especially dad...typical Dr. Rooney nature spotting hike) and climbed up the "Labrynthe" to a gazebo overlooking the rest of the park. From there, we took the metro up to Montmartre where we ogled the Sacre Coeur (they were less impressed than I was the first time I saw it) and then walked over to the Moulin Rouge. The building itself was a little anti-climactic, but definitely something you have to check off the list! We were more than a little shocked and appalled by some of the nearby "shops." Shannon was the only one who felt the need to photo-document the products...
Sunday, we started the day off right with worship at Hillsong. The sermon was themed around Father's Day - the grace and favor of the father's blessing. Dad (and all the men in the congregation) got a Twix bar just for showing up - and since he loves us he decided to share. After church, we had lunch with Steph and her mom at a cute little crêpe place near church before heading back to the apartment to reconnoiteur. We changed, grabbed sweaters and rain gear (this weather, honestly!) and headed to Ile de la Cite. My plan was take them to see Notre Dame first, but there was some kind of protest going on and with the large police presence we opted to just walk around the outside of the cathedral. Next, we crossed over to the Ile Saint Louis and had some of the famous Berthillon ice cream. After some more walking and exploring, we took the metro to the Trocadero for their initial encounter with the Tour Eiffel! Many pictures later, we took a break for dinner and ate at a nearby Italian place with delicious food and a surprisingly Jewish wait staff. After dinner, we headed back to the Trocadero to gaze, ogle, and take more pictures, before returning to the apartment to pack and prepare for our trip to Amboise and our explorations of the Loire Valley chateaux.
Our first stage now complete, we're off by train to Amboise to explore, walk, and eat some more! A la prochain!
On Thursday morning, my family arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport with lots of luggage, very few hours of sleep, and enormous smiles to greet me! I, in turn, ditched my last two classes of the semester (if you warn your teachers in advance that you're not going to be there does it count as ditching?) and took an early RER train out to the airport with a sign (pretty much just 'Rooney' written on a sheet of paper in sharpie marker) to meet them. I don't know who was more excited to see who! I do know there was a lot of hugging all around before we schlepped their stuff down to the train to get to the metro to get to the apartment we rented from a nice man named Stephane for the weekend.
After a prolonged struggle and a lot of sweating on all of our parts, we successfully navigated from one side of the Montparnasse Bienvenue metro station to the other and located our new home for the weekend. After unpacking and using the bathroom, we stopped for their first real French meal - delicious crêpes and cidre! We spent the rest of Thursday exploring the 6th arrondissement from the Fontaine St. Michel all the way to the Jardin de Luxembourg. I was also able to show them my school buildings where I've been spending so much of my time while in Paris. For dinner, we stopped at a nearby cafe and enjoyed some more delicious French cuisine. After a long day (for me) and a very long day (for them), we made our way back to the apartment for an early night.
On Friday, we left early to head to the train station and meet up with my Australian friend Steph and her mom Marina (who was also visiting her) for a day trip out to Giverny - Monet's estate. It had been recommended by a friend, and knowing my father's predilection for all things pond I thought it would be a great place to take them! Unfortunately, the weather was less than cooperative and it drizzled or rained most of the day. Despite the weather, we had a lovely lunch with Steph and her mom in the town of Giverny and were completely blown away by the beauty of the gardens (even in the drizzle!). Monet himself designed the gardens, and the estate stayed in his family until the mid 20th century when it started falling to ruin before being restored more recently. After so many years of capturing beauty in nature, Monet decided to design the gardens as he wished to paint them, rather than painting what he saw. Startlingly beautiful!
Saturday, we slept in and got a bit of a late start, but also some much needed rest. We started by going to my neighborhood, where I showed them the very eccentric Centre Pompidou and we ate some delcious (and beautiful!) Amorino's gelato.
Next, we wandered through the quaint medieval streets of the Marais and took shelter from the persistent drizzle in the Musee Carnavalet - the museum about the history of Paris. Shannon loved the Revolution exhibit and kept exclaiming "I know him - I read about this!" as we walked through it. The rest of us were done and ready to go long before she was - as neither parent understood since all the plaques were in French and I had already seen it! But she got her picture by the painting of Danton and Robespierre, so she was happy. After that, we found lunch at a cafe near the Place des Vosges - which they agreed was as beautiful "live" as the pictures I had taken and shown them. Then after a quick glance at the Place de la Bastille (essentially a roundabout with a statue in the middle...) we headed over to the Jardin des Plantes where we enjoyed the fauna (especially dad...typical Dr. Rooney nature spotting hike) and climbed up the "Labrynthe" to a gazebo overlooking the rest of the park. From there, we took the metro up to Montmartre where we ogled the Sacre Coeur (they were less impressed than I was the first time I saw it) and then walked over to the Moulin Rouge. The building itself was a little anti-climactic, but definitely something you have to check off the list! We were more than a little shocked and appalled by some of the nearby "shops." Shannon was the only one who felt the need to photo-document the products...
Sunday, we started the day off right with worship at Hillsong. The sermon was themed around Father's Day - the grace and favor of the father's blessing. Dad (and all the men in the congregation) got a Twix bar just for showing up - and since he loves us he decided to share. After church, we had lunch with Steph and her mom at a cute little crêpe place near church before heading back to the apartment to reconnoiteur. We changed, grabbed sweaters and rain gear (this weather, honestly!) and headed to Ile de la Cite. My plan was take them to see Notre Dame first, but there was some kind of protest going on and with the large police presence we opted to just walk around the outside of the cathedral. Next, we crossed over to the Ile Saint Louis and had some of the famous Berthillon ice cream. After some more walking and exploring, we took the metro to the Trocadero for their initial encounter with the Tour Eiffel! Many pictures later, we took a break for dinner and ate at a nearby Italian place with delicious food and a surprisingly Jewish wait staff. After dinner, we headed back to the Trocadero to gaze, ogle, and take more pictures, before returning to the apartment to pack and prepare for our trip to Amboise and our explorations of the Loire Valley chateaux.
Our first stage now complete, we're off by train to Amboise to explore, walk, and eat some more! A la prochain!
Monday, June 13, 2011
My Paris List - Part 2
Bonjour tous!
I have been very busy since I last wrote - trying to squeeze in everything I can into my remaining time here in Paris. In addition to my usual activities, I've also been working my way through the items left on my Paris list I wrote about before...so here's the updated version!
Le Panthéon
My first stop was to visit the Panthéon - named for and designed after the Pantheon in Rome. It is an absolutely beautiful building containing paintings documenting the lives of Clovis (the first king of the Francs), Jeanne d'Arc, St. Louis (aka King Louis IX), St. Genevieve (patron saint of Paris), and others, the famous Foucault's pendulum, and a memorial for all of the writers who died fighting in the World Wars. What it's most known for, however, is the crypt underneath the building. Some of the most famous men and women of France are buried there including philosophers Voltaire and Rousseau, Louis Braille, Pierre & Marie Curie, and authors Emile Zola, Alexandre Dumas, and Victor Hugo.
l'Opéra Garnier
Stop number two was the Garnier Opera house - an incredibly beautiful building both inside and outside! The rich decorations rivaled (and I though surpassed) the glamour and beauty of the Chateau de Versailles, and I could easily imagine sweeping up it's grand staircases in a fancy gown on my way to see an opera! The building is an architectural marvel with seemingly unending mechanisms beneath (and above) the stage used to change the levels and move the floor of the stage around. It was also the opera house that inspired the famous Phantom of the Opera which was supposed to take place there. I would have loved to see an opera there, but unfortunately they don't have student pricing!
Chateau de Vincennes
My next stop was the Château de Vincennes - just outside the main borders of the city. Not only did I get in for free as a student, but I arrived just in time to catch a free walking tour! Quel chance! Although I didn't understand all of the medieaval vocabulary, our guide was very knowledgeable and I was able to follow most of his talk. It's a beautiful fortress with a very long and rich history. I especially enjoyed being able to walk the battlements of the dungeon or castle keep and our tour of the Sainte Chapelle - modeled after the Sainte Chapelle of the Conciergerie in Paris. It was really interesting to follow how the castle had changed and modified during each of the periods of history and by each separate owner. My all-time favorite part of the tour, however, was when we learned that the outer fortress had a separate drawbridge for foot traffic and one for larger carts and people on horseback, both working on a revolutionary (for the time period) counterweight system. Definitely a trip back to the middle ages!
Musée de Cluny
Speaking of the Middle Ages...on Friday (since it was raining) I decided to do my own museum tour. My first museum of the day was the Musée de Cluny de Moyen-Age - or the museum of the Middle Ages. The museum itself spans two buildings - one constructed in the ruins of an ancient Roman bath-house, and the other a hotel constructed in a truly Gothic style. The museum had a special exhibit on the sword - everything from the history of it, the art of making swords, education in swordplay, and even current cultural representations. Seeing swords from all over the world and from different time periods was very interesting, especially some of the more famous swords like Joyeuse the sword of Charlemagne and the famous sword of Roland from the ballad. My favorite part of the exhibit, however, was the ancient books with beautiful illustrations used to teach the young nobles how to use a sword. Oh, and the translated clip from Monty Python of the sword fight between King Arthur and the Black Knight. The rest of the museum was equally interesting, with beautifully preserved and restored stained glass, some of the original statues from the facade of Notre Dame de Paris, and a set of exquisite tapestries called La Dame à la Licorne - The woman and the unicorn.
Musée du Louvre
My second stop on my museum day was the famous Louvre museum - formerly the Royal Palace. I had been putting off my visit because I was so intimidated by the sheer scope of the place...I heard on a tour that if you were to spend only 3 seconds in front of each piece of art, it would take you a full 3 weeks of doing nothing else to see the whole museum! Finally, however, I gave in. I knew there was no way I could live in Paris for 5 months and never go into the Louvre! So there I went. I saw most of the "main" œuvres that it's known for, as well as the furnished Napoleonic apartments and part of the gallery of Italian painters. It was an enjoyable (but exhausting!) trip, but definitely not my favorite museum that I've seen here in Paris.
Palais Royal & Jardin
Today, I decided to use my jour fériée (country-wide day off for Pentecost) to hit up a few of the other items on my list. My first stop was the Palais Royal - just across from the Louvre - and it's beautiful garden. The main courtyard houses the famous (and controversial) artwork of Daniel Buren - originally detested by the French people. The gardens are much more traditional, but still completely gorgeous. After visiting a little, I came back to eat my lunch in one of the shady tree-lined passages.
l'Eglise Américaine
Next, I went over to the American Church in Paris - a lovely and well-known building that's easy to find with it's green steeple. The church is the first officially American church constructed outside the states and has played host to many famous American visitors who worshiped there during their stay in Paris, including President Woodrow Wilson and Martin Luther King Jr. It's a non-denominational protestant church, and sadly was not open because of the holiday of Pentecost that was yesterday. So while I was able to take pictures of the outside, I was unable to go in. We'll call this one half checked-off. Hopefully I can go back sometime this week and see the interior!
Parc de la Vilette
My final stop of my adventures today was to the Parc de la Vilette. Despite some off-putting construction and a sad lack of fountain activity, it was a lovely park and I really enjoyed it. In addition to rich lawns (that you can actually sit and walk on!), it also has the Cité de Science et de l'Industrie museum building, la Géode (a beautiful round sculpture with an I-MAX theater on the inside), some strange modern sculpture, and the very futuristic-looking Grande Halle and Cité de la Musique. After an afternoon of touristing, it was nice to sit down in a chair and enjoy the view, relax, and read a book.
That concludes this second edition of my Paris List adventures...from now until Thursday my time will be spent doing laundry, packing, planning, and just generally preparing for the imminent arrival of my family! Then, who knows what adventures we'll have together! I promise to keep everyone updated as well as I can as we go along! A plus!
I have been very busy since I last wrote - trying to squeeze in everything I can into my remaining time here in Paris. In addition to my usual activities, I've also been working my way through the items left on my Paris list I wrote about before...so here's the updated version!
Le Panthéon
My first stop was to visit the Panthéon - named for and designed after the Pantheon in Rome. It is an absolutely beautiful building containing paintings documenting the lives of Clovis (the first king of the Francs), Jeanne d'Arc, St. Louis (aka King Louis IX), St. Genevieve (patron saint of Paris), and others, the famous Foucault's pendulum, and a memorial for all of the writers who died fighting in the World Wars. What it's most known for, however, is the crypt underneath the building. Some of the most famous men and women of France are buried there including philosophers Voltaire and Rousseau, Louis Braille, Pierre & Marie Curie, and authors Emile Zola, Alexandre Dumas, and Victor Hugo.
l'Opéra Garnier
Stop number two was the Garnier Opera house - an incredibly beautiful building both inside and outside! The rich decorations rivaled (and I though surpassed) the glamour and beauty of the Chateau de Versailles, and I could easily imagine sweeping up it's grand staircases in a fancy gown on my way to see an opera! The building is an architectural marvel with seemingly unending mechanisms beneath (and above) the stage used to change the levels and move the floor of the stage around. It was also the opera house that inspired the famous Phantom of the Opera which was supposed to take place there. I would have loved to see an opera there, but unfortunately they don't have student pricing!
Chateau de Vincennes
My next stop was the Château de Vincennes - just outside the main borders of the city. Not only did I get in for free as a student, but I arrived just in time to catch a free walking tour! Quel chance! Although I didn't understand all of the medieaval vocabulary, our guide was very knowledgeable and I was able to follow most of his talk. It's a beautiful fortress with a very long and rich history. I especially enjoyed being able to walk the battlements of the dungeon or castle keep and our tour of the Sainte Chapelle - modeled after the Sainte Chapelle of the Conciergerie in Paris. It was really interesting to follow how the castle had changed and modified during each of the periods of history and by each separate owner. My all-time favorite part of the tour, however, was when we learned that the outer fortress had a separate drawbridge for foot traffic and one for larger carts and people on horseback, both working on a revolutionary (for the time period) counterweight system. Definitely a trip back to the middle ages!
Musée de Cluny
Speaking of the Middle Ages...on Friday (since it was raining) I decided to do my own museum tour. My first museum of the day was the Musée de Cluny de Moyen-Age - or the museum of the Middle Ages. The museum itself spans two buildings - one constructed in the ruins of an ancient Roman bath-house, and the other a hotel constructed in a truly Gothic style. The museum had a special exhibit on the sword - everything from the history of it, the art of making swords, education in swordplay, and even current cultural representations. Seeing swords from all over the world and from different time periods was very interesting, especially some of the more famous swords like Joyeuse the sword of Charlemagne and the famous sword of Roland from the ballad. My favorite part of the exhibit, however, was the ancient books with beautiful illustrations used to teach the young nobles how to use a sword. Oh, and the translated clip from Monty Python of the sword fight between King Arthur and the Black Knight. The rest of the museum was equally interesting, with beautifully preserved and restored stained glass, some of the original statues from the facade of Notre Dame de Paris, and a set of exquisite tapestries called La Dame à la Licorne - The woman and the unicorn.
Musée du Louvre
My second stop on my museum day was the famous Louvre museum - formerly the Royal Palace. I had been putting off my visit because I was so intimidated by the sheer scope of the place...I heard on a tour that if you were to spend only 3 seconds in front of each piece of art, it would take you a full 3 weeks of doing nothing else to see the whole museum! Finally, however, I gave in. I knew there was no way I could live in Paris for 5 months and never go into the Louvre! So there I went. I saw most of the "main" œuvres that it's known for, as well as the furnished Napoleonic apartments and part of the gallery of Italian painters. It was an enjoyable (but exhausting!) trip, but definitely not my favorite museum that I've seen here in Paris.
Palais Royal & Jardin
Today, I decided to use my jour fériée (country-wide day off for Pentecost) to hit up a few of the other items on my list. My first stop was the Palais Royal - just across from the Louvre - and it's beautiful garden. The main courtyard houses the famous (and controversial) artwork of Daniel Buren - originally detested by the French people. The gardens are much more traditional, but still completely gorgeous. After visiting a little, I came back to eat my lunch in one of the shady tree-lined passages.
l'Eglise Américaine
Next, I went over to the American Church in Paris - a lovely and well-known building that's easy to find with it's green steeple. The church is the first officially American church constructed outside the states and has played host to many famous American visitors who worshiped there during their stay in Paris, including President Woodrow Wilson and Martin Luther King Jr. It's a non-denominational protestant church, and sadly was not open because of the holiday of Pentecost that was yesterday. So while I was able to take pictures of the outside, I was unable to go in. We'll call this one half checked-off. Hopefully I can go back sometime this week and see the interior!
Parc de la Vilette
My final stop of my adventures today was to the Parc de la Vilette. Despite some off-putting construction and a sad lack of fountain activity, it was a lovely park and I really enjoyed it. In addition to rich lawns (that you can actually sit and walk on!), it also has the Cité de Science et de l'Industrie museum building, la Géode (a beautiful round sculpture with an I-MAX theater on the inside), some strange modern sculpture, and the very futuristic-looking Grande Halle and Cité de la Musique. After an afternoon of touristing, it was nice to sit down in a chair and enjoy the view, relax, and read a book.
That concludes this second edition of my Paris List adventures...from now until Thursday my time will be spent doing laundry, packing, planning, and just generally preparing for the imminent arrival of my family! Then, who knows what adventures we'll have together! I promise to keep everyone updated as well as I can as we go along! A plus!
Thursday, June 2, 2011
My time as an unofficial tour guide...
Bonjour mes amis!
Since I last posted, I've been very busy. For one thing, the end of the semester (much like at home) also means final exams and projects. As of today, I have completed three exams, one group exposé, and a dissertation...and I only have one more group exposé to go! I have to say, I'm a lot sadder than I usually am at the end of the semester. I expected to learn a lot in my classes at I.C. Paris, but I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I have. I was really blessed in terms of teachers, and learned as much (or more) from my interactions with them and with the other international students in my classes as I did from the actual academic work. It's been an amazing growth and learning experience, and I'll be sad to leave ICP with it's beautiful old buildings.
In addition, there has been a lot of coming and going of friends - both sad and happy. Starting with the sad...I've already had several friends leave Paris to return home. My friends Becca, Jessica, and Susanna from Hillsong have all headed back to their respective cities, as has my friend Kaellen from Marquette, and, most recently, my friend Kimmie from home with whom I traveled to Italy. With Kaellen, I was able to go with her to the airport to help her with her luggage and to see her off - since she was so much help for me when I first arrived. Even though I know I'm going to see her when I get back to Milwaukee, it was still very strange and sad to see her go when I've gotten so used to seeing her around! Kimmie was my most recent departure - I met her at the train station this morning to help her make her way from train to metro to the RER that would take her to the airport. Despite her excitement to see her family and to sleep in her own bed, Kimmie was as sad to go as I was sad to see her go! Talking to her about how's she's going to miss France, her friends, and her host family was very surreal for me because that's where I'm going to be in just a few short weeks. I can't believe it!
Now for the happy! These last two weekends I've been able to welcome friends from Marquette who are also studying abroad and who wanted to come visit Paris. (Who wouldn't?) Two weekends ago, my friend Sarah who's studying in Spain and her friend Kasey who was visiting her came to Paris for the weekend. I met them at the bus station, found them delcious French breakfast (consisting, of course, of pastries and yogurt), and gave them tips for navigating the city that have really helped me. After finding their hostel, we went to St. Michel via the scenic route along the Seine where we had delicious lunch crêpes before they went on the guided tour they had checked out. I wasn't able to see them after that - but Sarah told me they loved their time here in Paris and were able to check out some of the sites I had recommended.
This past weekend, my friend Will from Marquette who is studying in Munich came in for the weekend. Despite some hiccups trying to find his hostel - which turned out to be two rented rooms filled with bunkbeds in a house owned by a lovely Korean family that wasn't actually inside the city limits of Paris - we had a lovely time. To conserve metro tickets, and because the weather was so lovely, we did a lot of walking...so by Monday I was exhausted! We packed a lot of sight-seeing into a very short amount of time, working our way through all of the main sights and through some typical French experiences I have enjoyed and wanted to share with him. We gawked at the Eiffel Tower, climbed up the Arc de Triomphe, walked the Champs-Elysees, walked along a good amount of the Seine, took pictures of the Louvre pyramids, ate a picnic in the Jardin de Luxembourg, and checked out the Musée Rodin and the Musée d'Orsay, among other things. We were also able to take a night-time boat cruise on the Seine like I had just done with my host family - and we both agreed that was one of the best parts of the trip. Paris is so beautiful at night - truly the city of lights! It was also nice to enjoy the sights while seated!
After 4 months and at least 3 lengthy, individual tours of Paris...I think I'm finally ready to show my family around! I hope they're ready for my Paris Tour 2.0 - it's new and improved! I also hope I'm ready...I can't believe that they'll be here exactly two weeks from today...and then my trip will be over! I'm definitely not ready to leave yet, even though I miss my family and friends from back home. Well, I have at least two weeks and then travel time on the Rooney Family European Tour to prepare myself...we'll see how that goes! In the meantime, I'm off to see some more sights and cross them off my list since it's the Ascension - a Catholic (and apparently French?) holiday where no one has to work or go to school. Time to go enjoy and make the most of my day off! Much love and à plus! Just so eveyone is jealous of me (if you're not already...) I'll leave you with a picture of the sun setting over the Seine.
Since I last posted, I've been very busy. For one thing, the end of the semester (much like at home) also means final exams and projects. As of today, I have completed three exams, one group exposé, and a dissertation...and I only have one more group exposé to go! I have to say, I'm a lot sadder than I usually am at the end of the semester. I expected to learn a lot in my classes at I.C. Paris, but I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I have. I was really blessed in terms of teachers, and learned as much (or more) from my interactions with them and with the other international students in my classes as I did from the actual academic work. It's been an amazing growth and learning experience, and I'll be sad to leave ICP with it's beautiful old buildings.
In addition, there has been a lot of coming and going of friends - both sad and happy. Starting with the sad...I've already had several friends leave Paris to return home. My friends Becca, Jessica, and Susanna from Hillsong have all headed back to their respective cities, as has my friend Kaellen from Marquette, and, most recently, my friend Kimmie from home with whom I traveled to Italy. With Kaellen, I was able to go with her to the airport to help her with her luggage and to see her off - since she was so much help for me when I first arrived. Even though I know I'm going to see her when I get back to Milwaukee, it was still very strange and sad to see her go when I've gotten so used to seeing her around! Kimmie was my most recent departure - I met her at the train station this morning to help her make her way from train to metro to the RER that would take her to the airport. Despite her excitement to see her family and to sleep in her own bed, Kimmie was as sad to go as I was sad to see her go! Talking to her about how's she's going to miss France, her friends, and her host family was very surreal for me because that's where I'm going to be in just a few short weeks. I can't believe it!
Now for the happy! These last two weekends I've been able to welcome friends from Marquette who are also studying abroad and who wanted to come visit Paris. (Who wouldn't?) Two weekends ago, my friend Sarah who's studying in Spain and her friend Kasey who was visiting her came to Paris for the weekend. I met them at the bus station, found them delcious French breakfast (consisting, of course, of pastries and yogurt), and gave them tips for navigating the city that have really helped me. After finding their hostel, we went to St. Michel via the scenic route along the Seine where we had delicious lunch crêpes before they went on the guided tour they had checked out. I wasn't able to see them after that - but Sarah told me they loved their time here in Paris and were able to check out some of the sites I had recommended.
This past weekend, my friend Will from Marquette who is studying in Munich came in for the weekend. Despite some hiccups trying to find his hostel - which turned out to be two rented rooms filled with bunkbeds in a house owned by a lovely Korean family that wasn't actually inside the city limits of Paris - we had a lovely time. To conserve metro tickets, and because the weather was so lovely, we did a lot of walking...so by Monday I was exhausted! We packed a lot of sight-seeing into a very short amount of time, working our way through all of the main sights and through some typical French experiences I have enjoyed and wanted to share with him. We gawked at the Eiffel Tower, climbed up the Arc de Triomphe, walked the Champs-Elysees, walked along a good amount of the Seine, took pictures of the Louvre pyramids, ate a picnic in the Jardin de Luxembourg, and checked out the Musée Rodin and the Musée d'Orsay, among other things. We were also able to take a night-time boat cruise on the Seine like I had just done with my host family - and we both agreed that was one of the best parts of the trip. Paris is so beautiful at night - truly the city of lights! It was also nice to enjoy the sights while seated!
After 4 months and at least 3 lengthy, individual tours of Paris...I think I'm finally ready to show my family around! I hope they're ready for my Paris Tour 2.0 - it's new and improved! I also hope I'm ready...I can't believe that they'll be here exactly two weeks from today...and then my trip will be over! I'm definitely not ready to leave yet, even though I miss my family and friends from back home. Well, I have at least two weeks and then travel time on the Rooney Family European Tour to prepare myself...we'll see how that goes! In the meantime, I'm off to see some more sights and cross them off my list since it's the Ascension - a Catholic (and apparently French?) holiday where no one has to work or go to school. Time to go enjoy and make the most of my day off! Much love and à plus! Just so eveyone is jealous of me (if you're not already...) I'll leave you with a picture of the sun setting over the Seine.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)