Last Post

This is my last post for the 2013 Business of Culture class.  Before the class I wasn't sure if I really wanted to go, it was right after school ended, I never really dreamt of traveling to Paris, and I had already taken a FYSM class that had to do with my major.  After and during the trip I realized that it had been a great experience and completely worth it.  I have told my sister that if she ever gets the chance, to take this class.  I will definitely try to study abroad during college because if it is half as fun and educational as this it will be worth it.  So to everyone who made this trip possible, Merci.

Another Day Home

Today the weather is great again, and I have been doing a lot of things since I returned home that I couldn't do in Paris like going to the beach and watching TV in english.  Although I thankfully never had to drive in Paris I am so glad that Americans are more cautious drivers on the roads than the French.  When I went to France I realized that there was no way I could have done half the stuff we did without speaking French.  Without the planning and Professor D and Victoria translating, I would have eaten at McDonalds most of the time and might have made it to the Eiffel tower and Versailles within the ten days of the trip.  The next country I travel to probably will speak English or Spanish because I like being able to speak english and not just point to things I want.  The trip was great and luckily my lack of French caused no difficulties, but now I know that I definitely need to learn a second language.

Great Weather Again

Yesterday we finally had some good weather, I was able to go to the beach.  By living in Charleston I have become used to the sunny weather.  The Parisians are probably used to the weather they have, but I prefer Charleston weather.  I have been catching up on things that have been going on while I was away and saw a couple of movies in theatres.

Home again

I was sad to leave Paris but ready to go back to Charleston and the great weather.  Unfortunately the weather here was worse than it was in Paris and I had to stay inside the most of the day.  My family was excite to receive the souvenirs I had brought them and have asked me questions all day about the trip.  I still kinda wish I was still in Paris and could have woken up to great bread and orange juice and have a fulfilling day, but am glad to be back home to relax.  Though after all the activity in Paris I feel like I didn't do much today, especially when compared to touring world famous monuments and museums.  Home is kinda boring compared to Paris and hopefully I can readjust.

Leaving Paris

Today we left Paris, we left at around 4:10 at terminal K31.  I bought a few more souvenirs before I left on the long flight to Atlanta.  At Atlanta I had an hour long flight back to Charleston where I was picked up by my parents and the Paris trip ended.

Paris to Atlanta Flight

Lazy Sunday

Today I woke up at around eleven and then went to the outdoor market to look f some food.  I couldn't find anything so I ate ate McDonalds, and had a double cheeseburger and fries.  It reminded me of home and that Im going back tomorrow.  Afterwards I didn't feel well and went to bed for a few hours

Market

The Louvre

Outside Market

Today we went to visit the large outdoor market in Paris.  There was so much stuff it was like a Walmart was hit by a tornado.  I was going to buy a new wallet but I wasn't paying more than 5 euros and it was worth 35.  I probably could have reduced the price by half but that would still be three times as much as I wanted to spend so I didn't.

The Lourve

Next we went to the Lourve and I didn't expect it to be so huge.  The above image is only half of the above ground area and there must have been miles of artwork in it.  We were told to identify four different eras of artwork for the first 1.5 hours and explore the next 1.5 hours.  

Medieval 

This picture is of Jesus carrying the Cross.  Religion was a very large part of people's lives in the Medieval era due to the recent fall of the Roman Empire and increased power of the Catholic Church.  

Mona Lisa

Renaissance 

This is the most famous painting in the world, the Mona Lisa by daVinci .  It is from the Renaissance era and reflects the more secular society of the time. there are many rumors of who this painting is of and even more conspiracy theories.  This was probably my favorite just because it was the most famous and well known, I think it was important to see this painting because the Mona Lisa is the probably the most priceless art in the Louvre.

Egyptian

The Egyptian Era was very interesting and I liked seeing the Spinx first.  The sculptures and hieroglyphics are thousands of years old and show proof of a rich and powerful civilization that still influences us today.

Greek

The Greeks are known as the Founders of Western Civilization because of democracy and learning but they also left us works of art.  The pot above is in excellent condition due to the excellent craftsmanship and the statues below show a culture that believed in trying to create perfection.

More Geek, statues

Napoleon's apartment

The above three photos show the apartments of Napoleon.  There are many practical part and many parts created for art.

Dinner

Dinner was excellent, I had salmon that I chose to not eat, and steak that tasted great.  The desert was great and ended the one of the last great days of the Paris trip

Biologie Recherche and Museums

Today we woke up and were driven to the Biologique Recherche factory.  They are a cosmetic company that specializes in facial care.  I learned a lot about their company and how it works.  They don't advertise at all and their growth has been over 100% since 2007.

Next we went to the Invention museum called Musee des Arts et Metiers and saw all the inventions that the French had created.

Cray 2

This was a invention I remember reading about a few months back, and is a supercomputer that was the fastest in 1985.  The laptop I am using is about ten times more powerful than this and I think it is really interesting to see how processing speeds have increased in just a few decades.

The Statue of Liberty replica

This is a scaled down replica of the Statue of Liberty that the French made for the United States for the centennial anniversary of the US.  It is interesting to know that one of the major monuments and symbols of the United States was made in France

Afterwards we traveled to Musee D'Orsay which had a lot of art works from many famous authors.  The first wing of the museum had a few morbid artworks of the end of the world and hell, but the remainder was regular classic paintings and sculptures.

Then I went into the museum across the street which was filled with medals and awards of the French.  In English I think it was called the Legion of Honor, and the White House was modeled after it.

I can kinda see how it looks like the White House

After the museum we went to eat at a nice restaurant and I have three portions of steak, a lot of bread and an excellent desert.  It was a great way to end a great day.

Where we ate

A French market and Modern Art

This morning we visited a French market and saw all the fresh food it had to offer.  It was unlike the Farmer's Market in that there was more food to choose from and it was more of an open air grocery store.  Next we went to a cafe called Les Deux Magot and had really hot chocolate that was really rich and thick.








Next up was the Baubourg-Pompidou, which is a huge modern art museum.  This was my first time at a modern art museum and it was really cool.  I never realized how interesting some of the things were.  I really liked the optical illusion works of art, though they mess with my head, and it is interesting how creative some people are.  Some art I wondered why I didn't come up with and others I wondered how anyone could think it up. 

Ten Lizes

This piece was made by Andy Warhol of Elizabeth Taylor in 1963 and was the first piece of art I saw at the museum.  Andy Warhol is one of the only modern artist I know of and I have seen similar works done by him with soup cans.  I liked this one because it was made by someone I know of and was a good way to start off the tour.

Agam

This room was made by Irsrali artist Agam for President Georges Pompidou's apartment.  It would probably be hard to be inside for long though because there is so much color and shapes.  This is an abstract geometric work that looks really interesting and seems to change due to the colored glass and wall paint.

Demakersvan-Panneau Lace Fence

This piece of modern art is called Demakersvan and it is a fence that has intricate designs on it.  It was made by three people, Judith de Graauw, Joep and Jeroen Verhoeven.  I like this one because it made me think of how fences usually are for security and not art and it was interesting to see how nice a chain link fence could look.

Living Sculpture-Sofa

This piece was made by Danish artist Verner Panton in 1970-1971 and it reminded me of a jumping castle.  I was surprised to learn that he actually has this in his house because it doesn't seem that pragmatic or functional.  Also it is really big, though I guess an artist would like to keep thier own work.

Versailles and Notre Dame

Versailles

Yesterday we had woke up early to visit the Chateau de Versailles though there were problems with the train    that caused us to lose some of that time.  When we got to Versailles I couldn't believe that there was so much gold.  I was amazed that the French people hadn't tore it down during one of their many revolutions, or just to take the gold.

The Battle of Austerlitz 

I saw the Hall of Mirrors, the King's bedchamber, the Hall of Battles and many other rooms filled with luxurious items.  The Hall of Mirrors was one that I had heard about before, it was were the Peace of Versailles was signed that ended World War I.  Also the Kings bedchamber where the nobles of the day fought and payed each other to get a chance to help him dress in the morning.  I hadn't heard of the Hall of Battles before though and was glad that I got to see it.  Many famous works of art are housed in it and I recognized some of the battles and some of the paintings.

Next I visited the gardens which were huge, at first we only visited the smallest section and though that that was it because that itself was huge, but the we saw the main part and it looked so huge.  I can't imagine the time it would take to maintain let alone design and build all of Versailles and its gardens.  

After we went to the American Embassy to learn about what they do for Americans in a foreign country.  I found it really interesting that they would have to deny giving assistance to an American company wishing to invest in France or any action that would not bring money into the United States.  Also any company wanting to expand into France either has to create a niche or be able to directly compete with the large established companies.

Next we visited Notre Dame which was really cool and really huge.  It took over a hundred years to build and was the height of architectural engineering of its time in Europe, with its flying buttresses to allow it to be as high a it is and the shape of a cross when viewed from the sky.  Today it is still awe inspiring and incredible.  Also while there I ate some bread from the Festival going on and it tasted great.

 Then we went to Professor D's sister's house and had dinner.  After we saw the Eiffel tower light up and sparkle on the hour.

At the Arc de Triumph

Today I had another excellent breakfast at the hotel then traveled to Montmarte, which was a huge old church on a hill.  It over looked the rest of Paris and had beautiful sculptures made of marble, gold, and other rocks and metals.  After the group had hot chocolate and coffee at a small cafe near Montmarte.

Afterwards we went to Atelier des Chef and made a meal of rice and shrimp, instructed by a French lady.  It wasn't as good as the previous meals I had eaten but since I made the meal and not a professional chef I can't complain, plus I learned how to make a new dish.

After the class we toured the Arc de Triumph, which had a long spiral staircase that had started to make me dizzy by the end of the climb.  The top had a great view of Paris though not as high as the Eiffel Tower. At the bottom we saw the eternal flame that marked the burial of four unknown soldiers.

Tomb of 4 unknown soldiers

After the Arc de Triumph we went to the different shops in Paris including Louis Vitton.  The prices were so high that I don't think I would shop there if I had just won the lottery.  Everything looked nice and luxurious but I could never use something that I spent thousands of dollars for without being paranoid about it being stolen, broken or lost.  We also saw a few cars that looked nice in another store, the average cost of a car there was probably thousands less than the average price of jewelry at Louis Vitton.  Afterwards we ate and drank at a small cafe/bar that had very good food for a bar.
After the bar we headed to see the show How to become a parision in one hour which was a comedy about the differences of culture between the French and others.  It was all in English which helped a lot because I probably would not have been able to understand any of the references if it was in French.  That was the last activity of the day and since I had been really tired the entire day I was nice to go to bed at ten for an early morning breakfast tomorrow.

Eiffel Tower and other Monuments

The Hotel in the early morning

Today I woke up really early and couldn't fall back asleep so I walked around some to get a feeling for the location of the hotel.  Breakfast at 7:30 was excellent, especially the bread rolls, and afterwards we walked around Paris.

One of many monuments in Paris

 We saw monuments while walking, the one above was the first one and was next to a bridge.  The fence around it had locks on it that symbolized couples' love and how it was forever.  After a walking tour we got on  tour bus to see more monuments and architecture.

The National Assembly, a major government center in Paris

This is the National Assembly, which helped to start the French Revolution by signing the Tennis Court Oath and making a French Constitution called The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen.

An obelisk with hieroglyphs transported from Egypt

Next up on the tour was this obelisk that looked really out of place in Paris.

Arc de Triumph

I also got to see the Arc de Triumph, a monument dedicated to the military victories of France.  Victorious armies would march underneath the Arch in a big military parade.  It's building began with Napoleon laying the first stone on its foundation, and was originally built to celebrate the French victory at Austerlitz.  It is so big that planes used to fly under it in shows.

The Eiffel Tower

While on the bus we saw the Eiffel Tower which was made by Gustave Eiffel during the 1989 world fair.  It was made to be the tallest structure in the world and is now a famous landmark and symbol of France.  though when it was built artist in France protested against it for being ugly.  I got to go to the top of the tower and see Paris from one of the tallest buildings in the world.

A photo from the top of the Eiffel Tower

Another one

It was really high

After the Eiffel tower we visited Napoleon's tomb, it was housed in St. Jerome's Chapel which was a beautiful church with many monuments.  His Tomb was surrounded by the names of his victories and marble statues.

Napoleon's Tomb in St Jerome's Chapel

So far I have seen a lot in Paris and it is still the beginning of the class.  I can't wit to see more of the city.