france!

this was my first time traveling since i've been in glasgow, and was lucky to find myself in very good company. my friend tilla met me the first night with our friend max, who has been living in denmark. we immediately went to a lebanese party at a very fancy restuaruant and had a classy but very fun time. our hosts were trilingual and very talkative, they were all so quick to touch and make eye contact with me, a very human feeling that i don't ever feel in glasgow. we retired to tilla's flat. the next day tilla told me how to use the metro and i took off to figure it out. to get to the heart of the city took about an hour and two trains, but only cost maybe 1,50 euro a trip. once there i walked around the hotel de ville, saw the notre dame, ordered myself some lunch, visited the latin quarter, toured two gardens... it all happened leisurly. i met tilla around 20:00 and we had a fantastic french dinner of stuffed peppers and tagliatelli. then we went and watched a portugese film with french subtitles. it was good. but i did not understand.
the next day i found gorceries so i could feed myself my usual huge breakfasts on the cheap. from then on for eight days (on the ninth i rested) i began my whirlwind of tourist and just lively french activity. i can't hardly speak a word of french, but was never in a jam or unable to get what i needed. i find i can read french without any trouble at all, read and understand! but pronounciation just isn't happening. i did keep a full journal as i went and saw and learned, but here i only have the space for a synopsis-style narrative.

do know that i take more pictures then i post and plan to have a book printed once my trip is complete so that i will never forget this amazing ongoing experiance.

also, i want to thank everyone who has helped and sponsored me on this trip. it means a lot to feel supported. i hope you know your actions inspire me to pay it forward in the future.


paris




i found this place as i was wondering the halls- i couldn't figure out what it was until i was inside. it is a yarn shop! all hand dyed organic fibres that you buy not by skein but by weight. you always have the right amount. the craftsmen inside knew their stuff too, i felt like a total amature in there.






the louvre! the louvre was the longest day i had. i knew it would be, as i love museums and i love to go through them slowly, but i was still unprepared. i got there at ten, when it opened, and was literally kicked out when it closed at seven. there is so much in there. so much that i have studied, near seen before! it blew me away. it is the pyrimid's 20th birthday, so there was always some commemorative activity happening everyday this month.






this photograph is of an exhibit at the museum of decorative arts, showing the work of antonio and manuel. (this is attached to the louvre.) these designers are so hip and smart and genuine and so trendy! i was defiantly impressed. i love classical art, but this show was just so refreshing afterwards. it reminded m that maybe it is ok that i am not a portrait painter or bronze caster. whew. that's inspiration for you.






boats seen on the bastille canal- i spent a day in bastille to visit monuments. like most days in paris i didn't have much of a plan (that way i can't be 'lost' and can't be 'disappointed'. who's to say i am not a clever traveller?) i found myself in a very modern shopping district at one point in the day, and at a contemporary art festival at another. the only truly historical find i had was this boat launch. the pier was a part of the bastille memorial walk and garden, which was beautiful but not informational.




the pompidue! a modern art gallery that was built inside out! you can see all pipes for heating, water, everything. this huge tube you see is what you travel up to the various levels in, giving you fantastic views of the city beneath you as you rise up and up. it was one of few places i saw contemporary art at, and was absolutely stunned by the work. Alexander Calder's circus. a very famous collection and performace that i have gone back to time and again through my artistic education to remind myself of humour, form, and craftsmanship. absolutely the best.






this is a detail shot of one of my favorite sculptures by the sculptor Augustus Rodin. he is famous for his 'thinking man' which we all know. his museum, and it was all his, was an interesting type of exhibit, in which all bronze pieces were outside in a formal, colonial french garden. it was a very peaceful place for figures tortured and strained. i was glad to see it.









these images are of the petit palais, one of the museums to see as it houses many of the historically famous works. it was a beautiful, true palace, which astounded me as much as the work inside of it did. it was one place that allowed photography, but i felt some sort of guilt taking images of actual work. i ate lunch in a gilded courtyard and watched this french girl play.





the basilica! i did not climb the eiffel tower, as the line was long and my legs were tired, but this cathedral in monmarte inspired me. it was on the top of the biggest hill in paris, and then the topmost point is three hundred steps up. beautiful! it was perhaps the most touristy thing i have done, but the throngs of people consisted mostly of italians and french catholics, which was nice. this structure is featured in the film 'amelie'.
this shrouded sculpture was in the basilica's' crypt. i do not know who it is, but there is a crown...
this is what you see at the top of the basilica... dizzying. paris is so unbelievably huge. it is easy to forget as the metro zips you around underground.
inside a personal crypt at the monmarte cemetery. it is one of the largest in paris, and one of the oldest. part of it is underground, as the city and roads have been built over it. small cats ran through it, some people visited it like a park, many were there to groom the plots of their relatives. i watched a gentleman repaint the letters on a stone. i drew icons and relief symbologies. i made jokes with a couple groundsmen. i got caught in a funeral. it was a long day, but one that was enlightening and positive.
the east side of the cemetery.
tilla's house!
tilla's town! tilla is a friend from cornish. she graduated last year, and had been working for a french artist. her flat was a remodeled dance studio, which had very unique rooms built into it by the architects that lived there. she also lived with a lovely mom cat and her four new babies! tilla went out of town to help her family move, so i essentially house sit for her. this made my stay quite a lot cheaper and a bit homier.
a picture of bits of me and my junker bicycle pal in marie du montreil: tilla's flat mates lent it to me for country time perusal. it had half a brake, a bent fender, a lot of rust, and was a pinch to big. it was so fun! it was the first time in a long time that i have done any cycling, and the town had very little traffic and was very friendly. this bench is in front of the african church.

the seine river. walk along it in the sun and watch people kiss and read and rest- best friends drinking beer, families eating ice cream, individuals watch the boats slowly go by. i spent some time off my feet here.
this little boy and i enjoyed the notre dame quite a lot. i fell into a very spiritual mindset, which surprised and relaxed me. it was so beautiful, and felt so important, so big.

pictures from the shakespeare book co. on the edge of the latin quarter behind the notre dame. you can sit and read as long as you want: it has a large selection of ancient books that you can't buy but are asked to read. there is also the best children's selection i have ever seen! and a secret stairwell that houses a typewriter for your novella. lovely. friends who have visited have seen the upstairs- a series of writers lofts that have been rented by famous writers for the past two hundred years or so! no such luck for me, but i am satisfied.


chamberly


the founders house
the path through the park.
stephanie's shared kitchen. we spent a lot of time with very good food on our trip: i was able to cook her one of my favorite vegetarian meals, she took me out for fabulous fondue. we spent a long morning at the market and then spent some four hours lovingly cooking and dining in the middle of the day. she knew all the best regional cheeses and wine, for which i and my tastebuds thank her!

seeing stephanie was the highlight of my trip. we had so much to catch up on, having not had much contact in the last five years. it felt like no time had passed. we were so comfortable with each other.
the alps! we were in them! chambery is a tiny tiny town in the north of france. see stephanie's blog to learn what life is like there. she is 'followng' this blog. i thought it to be quaint and sweet: paris is to seattle what chambery is to le conner.


stephanie, two of her fellow exchange student friends, and i took a bike ride to the largest and deepest natural lake in france. the ride was beautiful, and very comfy on chambery's rental bicylces. they were fully adjustable and sky blue. we spent a long time talking and sleeping there. i saw rabbits, ducks, swans, some interesting loons and buffleheads i have not seen before, a raptor, and lizards! it was a very natural spot, well populated with people but still clean.

this experience was not one i ever expected to have. if you asked me even a year ago if i thought i would go to france, go to the french alps, or even travel alone, i would say no. i can't believe i did it/it happened. brilliant. i am excited for this experience to turn into many.