Like a Fairytale - Val de Loire Pt. 2

As if Chambord wasn't cool enough, we had a jam-packed sunday touring the other 3 chateaux and learning about their history while enjoying their lasting beauty. We found a service at the airport that did different packages of chateaux, combinations of 2-4 usually. All they did was transportation, but it was nice not to have to plan trains and taxis to each one.

We started with Amboise, which is built on a hill overlooking the Loire. It has a long history and changed hands many times, but one of its more famous inhabitants was King François I, who grew up there. Much of it is destroyed, but what is left is really beautiful. You can tell that the location was chosen for easy defense, unlike the other chateaux. The chateau had an amazing view of the city below; I could have spent hours just sitting in the gardens up there and looking out over the river and the city. Unfortunately, a large part of it was destroyed through wars and conflicts, leaving only a fraction of the actual building standing.

Also up on the hill is a little but beautiful chapel. Inside are amazing ceilings and nice stained glass, along with Leonardo da Vinci's tomb.

After touring around the chateau, our chauffeur took us to the base of it, back on city streets, to a wine caveau to taste some local wines. They were very good, and we bought a few bottles. I love that tasting the wine is free, and the hosts are always very eager to let you try as much as you want. Our chauffeur laughed at us for not only bringing 4 bottles, but buying an additional 3. He asked why we were so thirsty.

The next stop on our trip was actually just about 1km down the road to the house where Leonardo da Vinci lived. He was a favorite guest of François I. In fact, François gave him this awesome house down the road, Le Clos Lucé. He would invite Leo over to Amboise to talk, debate, or help with a problem on a daily basis. There is even an underground passageway connecting Amboise to Clos Lucé.

Clos Lucé was filled with drawings, paintings, schematics, quotes, and models of Leo's. It was really cool to see. Seriously, it should be on cribz (for those of you that don't know, a program on MTV where you get tours of rappers/nba players houses). I could just imagine Leonardo walking around the little gardens and rooms, figuring something out in his head. So many of the things he thought of are in use today, but were only put to use centuries after he died. Many of the models he made worked in theory, but needed more energy than they had at the time. Then when things like steam power came along, many of his more elaborate inventions could be used. There was also a drawing of the modern bicycle, I mean, it looked EXACTLY like what we use today. And he drew it in the early 1500s. Crazy.

There was a terribly cheesy cardboard cutout of da Vinci at the bottom of a staircase inside. I was like....really? Completely unnecessary. Funny though.

After that it was time for our last stop. The Chateau de Chenonceaux was perhaps the most elegant of them all. It's formal gardens were by far the best, and the Chateau itself has a very interesting setup. Most of it is on the river. I don't mean on the banks, I mean it is on the river, like a bridge that doesn't reach the other side. The one downside of Chenonceaux was that they were doing some restoration of the outside, so a part of the Chateau was marred by ugly scaffolding. That's okay though, it was amazing still.

The inside was adorned with huge fireplaces, decorated with lavish paintings, and covered in velvet. I could imagine some awesome parties there in the 18th century...it would be a good place for it. Lots of gardens for scandalous midnight encounters, and plenty of room inside to dance and drink! Perfect. The part that spans the river is a long hall. It's so cool to look down from the windows and just see water. You kind of feel like you're in a boat.

To top it off, a bunch of hot air baloons started landing right on the other side of the river from the Chateau. They got so close to the Chateau when they crossed the river. I can only imagine what the view would be like from up there. The gardens would look like drawings and the house would look like a 1/8 scale model. That would be cool. I enjoyed going inside it and exploring though.

We finished a good deal of our wine in the Gardens at Chenonceaux, and we thoroughly enjoyed our tour of the Loire Valley. Unfortunately, it's back to class and routine for us. Can't complain about coming home to Paris though, can you?

Chateau d'Amboise

The Chateau and Grounds

Looking at part of Amboise from one of the defensive towers sticking out of the hill. You can tell how hight up it is by looking down on the city in the background.

The view of the bridge over the river Loire. When the Chateau was built it was just a strategic ford.

The boys. Victor, myself, and Eddy. We're on a defensive tower of Amboise.

Jessica contemplates the complexity of the local red wine we tasted after seeing Amboise. The wine was named François I, after Amboise's famous resident. Our Driver in the background.

Clos Lucé

View of Da Vinci's residence, le Clos Lucé


Gardens at Clos Lucé, in the background to the left of the two pinetrees you can see the little chapel on the hill at Amboise.

Little did you know, Leonardi da Vinci also foresaw and invented the Bowflex. Sadly though, until the infomercial, there was no way to mass publicize it.


Chenonceaux

Hedge "Labyrinthe" in the woods at Chenonceaux


Formal Gardens


Painting of Louis XIV with characteristic ridiculous frame.

Typical ceilings at Chenonceaux. Exposed, gilded timbers in shades of gold and scarlet.

Interior of the part of Chenonceaux that spans the water. During WWI, it was used as a hospital.


View of the formal gardens from the Chateau windows.


The first hot air balloon landing! You can see the scaffolding on the left side of the front face of the Chateau.


The Chateau itself. It looks like there is just a flood, but I promise, it's supposed to be like that. Cool, huh?

Same view, with landing balloon. I got so many pictures of those balloons. It was surreal!

Like a Fairytale - Val de Loire Pt. 1

We went to the Loire Valley this weekend. It was way cooler than I thought it would be. We saw 4 chateaux, tasted local wine, and got an idea of what the nightlife is like in Tours, the city we stayed in. The group was Amy, Eddy, Samantha, Jessica, Victor, and Carly from Australia. Carly is also an ESCP student. We were glad she could come along!

We took the train there Friday afternoon. A couple bottles of wine helped pass the time during the 2 hour ride. Thankfully, our hotel was basically the first thing you could see after exiting the train station.

There was so much to see and do there. But, the first thing we did after checking into our hotel in Tours was go to the grocery store and stock up on wine and some beer. Typical...

That first day really didn't consist of much other than drinking and planning Saturday. After hearing that the Chateau de Chambord was the most magnificent of the Loire Chateaux, we found train tickets to Blois, the city nearest to Chambord. After that was settled, it was time to get some food and walk around Tours. The city hall was nice, and in general the city is fairly clean. Good food, too. I had pizza that had bacon bits, crème fraîche, and a fried egg on it. Strange, but delicious.

On Saturday we woke up and got right down to business. We got on the train and enjoyed a 40 minute ride to Blois. From Blois we got a taxi minibus to Chambord, another 20 minutes. Walking up to Chambord was breath-taking and humbling. You see its densely-packed spires between the trees, and as more of it comes into view, you begin to wonder when the building ends. It's just HUGE. This thing was a house. François I, King of France, went there to hunt when he was tired of being couped up inside. Even though he brough 3000 people with him, it's still a single house...

The inside is intricate in many spots, but also seems vast and empty in others. One cool feature is the central double-helix spiral staircase. It's a spiral stair with two entrance points, and if you take one and your friend takes the other, you'll see each other through windows across to the other side, and it seems like if you walk around about a half rotation you'll find them, but if you've taken different entrances, you won't find them until the top. It's a very strange thing.

After we toured the inside, we rented bikes and circled the Chateau and its grounds. It's a very pretty, very large place. The bikes were really fun, too.

That night we went out to a club in Tours. It was pretty cool, but it was no Paris. Nightlife in the big city spoils me.

The trip was great. We got extremely lucky with the weater both days - crystal skies and warm temperatures. I'll talk about the other 3 Chateaux (that we did earlier today) in my next entry. For now, I need to get to bed, as I've been walking around cities and castles all day, and have just gotten off the train.

Astonishingly enough Chambord, despite its grandeur and sheer scale, was my least favorite of the Chateaux. Isn't that crazy? So get excited to hear about the other three: Amboise, Clos de Lucé, and Chenonceaux.

The takings from the nearby grocery in Tours. Note the proportion of food to alcohol.

City Hall in Tours. Very Pretty, cool sculptures near the top of the ground floor appear to support the upper floors.

Me in front of the enormous Chateau de Chambord. It's overwhelming.

Bedroom of François I at Chambord. Many rooms were elaborate like this, but some were vast, cold, and empty.

The front view from the balconies of Chambord. Notice how far the path goes and how straight it is. Typical French design showing dominance over nature. Very cool to stand there and look all the way down the path.

Detail shot of the painstakingly-carved and decorated central spire of Chambord.

New angle of Chambord after cycling a little bit around the property.

Tour of Tours

This is going to be a relatively short entry, because we're leaving the residences for the train station in about 30 minutes and I need to finish packing.

Things have been going well. I'm getting more used to classes, and meeting a lot of people through Handball and class as well. Yesterday in my Organizational Consulting class, the professor did a short lecture on business communication and presentation skills, and then we had to break into groups of 5, read an article, and prepare a presentation of the article's message to be given that same class period. We did and it was fine, but it was terrifying. I gave my part of the presentation in French, obviously, in front of a whole classroom of native French-speakers. That's something I've never done, and hadn't anticipated doing so soon!

Very weird coincidence involving a girl in my presentation group, Antonia. She is French, although that's not a French name. She asked me where in the US I was from, so I drew a little map of it with Chicago labeled, and then I showed where St. Louis is in relation to Chicago. She said great, and then drew a dot a little above Chicago and labeled it Madison. I hadn't told her where I go to school or anything, so I was like, YES! but...why do you know that? It turns out that she will be studying there next semester! Isn't that fun? We exchanged info.

Handball practice was good yesterday. It's such a fun game. We practiced running into the attacker when you're on defense yesterday. You just run up to the guy with the ball, and hit him. Not punch him, but run into him with your body and use your hands to try to control his arms and prevent him from getting a shot off. That's fun.

So yeah, we're going to Tours, a city in the Loire Valley. The area is known for its numerous chateaux and vineyards. We plan on doing some biking, seeing some chateaux, some relaxing, some going out. It's our first trip away from Paris! And the FIRST time I'm travelling in Europe with only a very small duffel bag. That's the best part.

We're coming back on Sunday, not sure if I'll be able to post any pictures, but I'll try to at least update the blog while I'm there. Alright, gotta catch my train!

The French Connection

My first week of classes ended well enough. It's going to be a real challenge to keep up, but it's going to improve my French so much. I'm completely pumped to get into a routine here. I continue to search for a boulangerie/patisserie that I will frequent.

I joined the handball team at school. I decided it would be better to do something I wouldn't do in the states. I know no one on the team, and nothing about the game, so it's be a real learning experience. It turns out that I love it! It's played on something like a basketball court, with small soccer-like goals. The handball is like a smaller, heaver soccer ball covered with a resin that makes it slighty sticky. You can't take more than 3 steps without bouncing the ball on the ground (a bit like dribbling) or passing it. Then you try to throw it in the goal, or bounce it off the ground into the goal, etc, staying behind a line. Although unlike basketball, it's pretty much full contact! You can hold, shove, disrupt, bear-hug, etc., although you can't just full-out tackle anyone. I'm excited to get better at the sport.

My friends studying in London came to Paris this weekend to visit me and see the city. Needless to say, we had lots of fun. Probably too much fun. It was a big success though. I'm going to try to remember what happened each day. Here it goes...

Thursday Night:

• Party sponsored by my school. Heard they were amazing, was not let down. 17 Euro cover, but free drinks, rave-like light show, music with bass so strong you could feel it move through you...
• Took metro home when it re-opened at 5:30 am

Friday:

• Visited Eiffel Tower as reality check: yes, you really are in Paris
• Enjoyed lunch of crèpes, sandwhiches, croque monsieur, etc. near place Trocadéro
  
• Saw Arc de Triomphe and beheld the hurricane of traffic of which it is the eye
• Strolled down Avénue Champs Elysées, and browsed in some stores, got reprimanded for picking up the 2000 Euro gem-encrusted high heels (whoops)
  
• Crossed into Tuileries gardens and got intimidated by the size of the Louvre, put it off until Saturday
• Saw Notre Dame, went inside and was put into a trance by organ music and duet of chanters

Love the Arc; me in foreground

Beautiful, vaulted interior of Notre Dame

Friday Night:

• Hopped from bar to club to bar in St. Michel, a chic area in the Latin Quarter
• Decided to actually catch the last metro around 12:30
• Parted ways with Londoners, except that when I got home, I realized my friends were going to a house (actually apartment) party nearby
• Joined them
• Left house party, girls (Sam, Amy, Jessica) move on to second house party, guys (Michael, Victor, Eddy) go to find a bar in Bastille area
• Guys find a bar after several attempts, and meet group of French people. Made friends with Chloe the Business student at HEC (another biz school)
• Go to another bar with Chloe and crew, meet over-enthusiastic Rugby Afficianado who rambles for 30 minutes about how team spirit differs in America and France, complete with pokes in the chest for emphasis and showers of saliva from poorly-pronounced english.
• Leave the bar, finally go home to find girls debriefing in Amy's room over champagne, join them
• Stumble/crawl/roll down the hall and into bed, realizing that I wouldn't wake up in time for the next day if I went to sleep, and so conversed with Victor and Eddy from 8:30 until 9:30 or so

Saturday:

• Acknowledge that it was an unbelievably poor decision not to sleep
• Meet girls near their hostel to see Sacre Coeur Basilica, went inside, saw the view from the hilltop there
  
• Take the metro to shopping area near Havre-Caumartin
• Browse in Galerie Lafayette and about 8 shoe stores, then noticed great Techno music being played for a huge crowd in front of the Opéra as part of the "TechnoParade"
  
• Walk in circles around the Opéra trying to get bearings
• Finally found way to Louvre, entered, made B-line for Mona Lisa (fr. "La Jaconde")
• Saw Mona Lisa
• Unimpressed, went to see crown jewels, awesome ceilings, Winged Victory, spectacular ceilings, Vénus de Milo, great ceilings
• Acknowledged that we were impressed
• Starting walking back home, got escargot and wine from a café with a view of the Seine, loved it
  
• Got baguettes, brie, goat cheese, and champagne from grocery near home as a snack, ate it immediately thereafter
• Boat ride down the Seine at night, saw eiffel tower lit up blue, and on every hour for 10 minutes sparkle like millions of camera flashes
• Saw the colors f Paris reflect on the rippling Seine like a living Monet painting

Basilique du Sacre Coeur

Louvre and Glass Pyramid

Awesome ceilings in Louvre

My favorite thing in the Louvre, The Winged Victory of Samothrace

Fantastic ceilings

Snack on the Seine

I really do think the water looks like a painting, especially since it's a little blurred

When the sparkles are going, it's almost undescribable. So cool.

Saturday night:

• Debarked the boat, went to a bar and had a round of Pastis 51, an awful licorice-flavored liquor that one mixes with water, and is obligated to drink it from time to time while in France
• Took metro to Left bank, and my favorite bar so far in Paris: The Hideout (a.k.a. the Irish bar)
• Ordered round of beers, agreeing that the Paulaner was outrageously tasty
• Went to settle bet with bartender over whether he would remember my name
• Lost bet, bought bartender a Jaegerbomb, friends joined in
• More Beer
• Went to Bastille area to get food and by chance ran into the rest of Team Texas in generic sandwhich grec restaurant at like 5:00 am, exchanged stories of the day over pita and french fries
• Realizing lack of sleep lately, decided to get at least a few hours

Sunday

• Went to Eiffel Tower to go up before Londoners' train
• Got really disappointed that the lines were going to take too long
• Left, dejected, for train station
• Got pastry and coffee at train station, bid friends farewell
• Got home, realizing that a few hours of sleep in as many days is completely unreasonable
• Slept until 7 pm
• Deciding to relax, got dinner of pizza and red wine at a place near the Eiffel

So, that's just about everything. It's been a long weekend, especially considering the lack of sleep. Tomorrow, I'm meeting Eddy and Victor at school to plan out some trips we want to take (Brussels might be happening next weekend). I also have Handball practice tomorrow, so I'll need to rest up tonight and tomorrow during the day.

Bars, People, Boat, Pope

Paris Hôtel de Ville: City hall

How nice it is to be a student when you don't have to go to school!

We've really enjoyed our time in Paris as students without classes. We've done some shopping, seen some sights, and met some people.

On Friday, Amy and I thought it would be a good idea to take a stroll to Notre Dame, which we hadn't seen yet. As we approach île de la cité, where Notre Dame so nobly sits, it became clear to us that this was no ordinary day. There were police and military everywhere, people collecting behind barricades on the bridges, and a lot of people with signs. The reason for all the commotion was the Pope - he was in town for the weekend and doing services at Notre Dame. We didn't have tickets to get in, so we didn't get to see him, but it was interesting to be around all of it.

There were all kinds of different security - Police Nationale, Gendarmes, Garde Republicaine, etc. I was talking to some friendly Gendarmes, who are in the picutre, who said that 3,500 of them were in Paris for the weekend that usually weren't. Wow.

Friendly Gendarmes

We also took a boat ride down the Seine with our Texas friends, whom I endearingly call Team Texas Toast. It was fantastic; we went right around sunset, and by the end of the boat ride the Paris sky was on fire with colors. Unfortunately, my camera died for the best part...but I still got a lot of great pictures on the boat ride. Really cool, definitely recommend it. You can also do it at night to see the city lit up, which I've heard is awesome.

Beginning of the Boat tour of the Seine

End of the boat tour on the Seine, with Eiffel tower silhouetted in background.

We've been meeting some other people, too. Eddy is back from Greece, where he never ended up going since his plane got cancelled. He and his cousin went to Madrid instead. We also met some friends of Jessica and Sam's roomate. They were Germans. We sat in a park and drank wine and ate bread. For 5 hours.

Last night we returned to an Irish bar we had been to on Friday and talked to the Scottish Bartender, Scott (a little too appropriate, I think). He was really nice, the drinks are cheap there (the cheapest in Paris, Scott says), and Scott explained that they like Americans and other Anglophones to be there, and he has some leeway to give us deals, etc. Like he said that if we bought 3 Jaegerbombs, he would make them for all 6 of us (including himself, of course). We took him up on that.

On Thursdays, the Irish Pub, called the Hideout, has pints of something for 2.50 and Mojitos for 3.50. For those of you who haven't experienced Parisian nightlife, this is DIRT CHEAP. We got excited. I'll be there on Thursday, since I don't have class on Friday. We got along with Scott so well that I told him if he remembers all our names the next time we come in, I'll buy him a shot.

Our little group: Starting in the front, Victor, Sam, Jessica, Eddy, Amy. I'm taking the picture.

Jaeger Bombs getting set up.

Jaeger Bombs happening. You can see the two fires traveling to the front to complete the ring, and if you look closely, you can even see the splashes where the shots of Jaeger fell into the energy drink. That's Scott the Bartender.

Classes at ESCP start today, although I don't have any until tomorrow. I'm all ready to go, all I need is a notebook and pens, which we're picking up tomorrow in the morning. I've got debit cards for the café and the cafeteria. Yes, they use separate cards. Dumb, but whatever. The food there is pretty cheap, a meal is like 2.50. Definitely the cheapest food option for us except maybe the grocery store. I'm a little nervous for classes, but the weeks of anticipation have been worse than the classes will actually be, I'm sure.

l'Embuscade

The french have a word that roughly translates to "Ambush" in English. The idea is that you start from high ground and surprise attack something below. I feel like Paris is now my "high ground" and Europe is my "below." Not that everything is worse than Paris, it's just that I feel like Paris is now my home base, and I can decide how to attack Europe strategically.

My first embuscade is coming up this weekend: London. I'm leaving Paris from Gare du Nord at 6:43 am. It sounds really early but...okay it's really early. It was cheaper though! The metro starts at 5:00 so I have plenty of time to get there. I'll be in London for basically all of Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and I'll leave Monday afternoon. That's okay too, since I don't have class until Tuesday. I think it's going to be really fun. I'm also pretty excited for the train ride - it's supposed to be quite cool.

Last night we went out with our ESCP friends again. Jessica met a French guy named Morgan earlier in the week, and we met him in the Montparnasse area. It's far into the left bank, and aside from the numerous strip clubs and XXX video stores, it has a lot of cool bars. We went to one and had a few beers, and also ate the best french fries I've had in Paris so far. They even brought us ketchup!

Today we skipped the orientation lectures at the ESCP to go shopping. That sounds terrible. There is a test at the end of the week on the lectures, and if you pass you get 2.5 ECTS credits (about 1 credit at Madison). However, the test is entirely optional, and I really don't need elective credits anymore. So we went shopping with the Texas people. I got a warm coat that I really needed for the coming cold and damp Paris winter. I also got a Diesel messenger bag for class. I really can't use my Eagle creek travel backpack for school: I'll stick out like a sore thumb!

Shopping was really fun though, we went to a store called Zara, which is Spanish, and had really great deals on very nice coats. I did a lot of browsing before I made any purchases, and Zara was definitely the best coat for the money. The bag I got in a very well-known department store (actually the first ever) called Galerie Lafayette. It's huge, and awesome. One floor has all kinds of pastries, coffee, and gelatto. The rest are like a department store, similar to a Nieman Marcus, but actually less expenisve I think.

So I've had fun lately, but I look forward to getting into schoolwork. I can't wait to see what it's like, and I'm a little anxious about classes all in French about techincal topics. I'll make do though. And I'm super pumped for London!

A sweet old mini cooper near our friend Jessica's apartment

The gargantuan Tour Montparnasse, the only thing taller than 8 stories for miles. Quite the anomaly.

The bar in Montparnasse. It had a cool atmosphere.

Exploring

These past few days in Paris have been fantastic! I've been trying to explore new areas of the city. I want to make sure I see it all before I pick a favorite place to hang out.

A couple days ago we went to two famous markets. The first was the marché Bastille which has mostly food items. There were heaps of vegetables, seafood stands, boucheries with whole rabbits (fur included), organic wine stalls and honey in little jars, fromageries with huge wheels of white cheese, shopkeepers of boulangeries poking their heads out from between mountains of bread to talk to customers...

There was a lot going on. I bought some bananas, a bottle of pure organic apple juice, and a pain au chocolat (rectangular croissant with chocolate inside). All this is happening only a 5 minute walk from my house on tuesdays and sundays.

The other was the "Puces de St. Ouen," probably the most famous flea market in the world. You can find almost anything there. Silver tea services? Got 'em. Store with thousands of keychains? Done. Need a 150 year old armoire? You guessed it. Just dying for a full suit of samurai armor? Got that too.

We wandered there for an hour or so. The famous part of it is actually tucked behind a barrier of stores and street vendors sporting knockoff Louis Vuitton, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, etc. products. There are also men with shopping carts containing fiery charcoal over which their roasting corn. They sell it to passerby. It didn't look clean; I didn't eat it.

Marché Bastille

Les Puces de Saint Ouen

Yesterday we started our ESCP-EAP orientation! We got a little tour of the school and its facilities. They have all the necessities obviously. Computer labs, a café and a cafeteria that's really really cheap (we're talking 2.50 Euros for a full meal with drink and everything, and the food isn't even that bad), and a bar where you can get beers for 1.5 Euros. So that's great, I'll be spending time there. We also got our French medical coverage sorted out and paid for, so that's done.

The school also has many different sports, and we were (again) encouraged to participate in them for the opportunity to integrate with French students. I think I will, although I'll have to look through the handbook at the times and descriptions to make a decision. It seems like a really good way to meet locals.

The rest of the week is lectures given by ESCP professors on topics such as French culture, European Institutions, great French figures, etc. They are unbelievably dull. Lasting anywhere from 2-2.5 hours, the professors are so monotoned that it's hard to stay awake. I think classes will be better since they will be in French and I'll have to be paying attention. This week of orientation has an optional test at the end, and if you pass the test you get 1 credit. I don't need anymore elective credits (in fact I have too many), and I really don't think it's worth the time, so some new American friends and I are not going tomorrow, and we're going to explore the city instead. I think we will all go on Thursday though since the topics sound more interesting: "Current Debates in France" and "Paris."

Courtyard of ESCP - surrounded by the 5 buildings that make up the ESCP-EAP campus

Yesterday after Lectures, Amy and I went to see the Jardin du Luxembourg, which is a favorite of Parisians when the weather is nice. It was beautiful, and the gardens around the Palais especially where very nice, but it was also jam-packed. Who can blame thousands of Parisians for enjoying the rare glimmer of sunshine though?

Jardin du Luxembourg

Then, last night we went out into a very fashionable district of Paris with our new friends from the ESCP-EAP. They're American, from the University of Texas - Austin. They're really fun. Their names are Jessica, Samantha, Victor, and Chip. We went to Saint Germain des Prés, which is a very chic and expensive area of the Left Bank. Just tonight we went to the Montparnasse area, also on the left bank. It was also quite cool, but you could tell it didn't have the same prestige and Saint Germain des Prés.

Now I believe it's time for bed. Although we won't be attending the lectures tomorrow, we do have a day of exploring and shopping before us. My mission for tomorrow: a coat. Sometime in the near future: a haircut. I'll let you know how that goes!