and i return!!

i highly doubt if anyone is still reading my little blog but...i've put a sampling of paris photos onto my flickr site: www.flickr.com/photos/noninny

i'm also going to start doing this blog thing again while i job search and make my transition to nyc life. doesn't that sound fun!!

last post from paris

jackie just left this morning and i am all ready to leave tomorrow morning. i'm going to rest and get a lot of sleep for tomorrow. i feel like i've done a lot here. last night jackie, arnaud, and i had some wine in the park next to the eiffel tower to "say goodbye." it was really nice. every night at 10 and 12 they light up the tower with these strobe lights for about 10 minutes and all of the tourists ooh and ahh. we saw both lightings, so we were there for a while.

i can't wait to get back and put together a scrapbook of everything!

as far as packing i have one small bag full of books. its got to be 50 lbs. we'll see. and the other big bag with my clothes and stuff in it is heavy too. i may be paying some overweight charges. but i've managed to fit everything.

au revoir to paris!

everyone is sick

except for me. jackie is sick still with her cold. and in french class today we had issues during the listening comprehension part of the test because everyone was coughing and we couldn't hear. my teacher is even sick! something is obviously going around.

so i had a very traumatic experience yesterday with a peach. i'm a little afraid to share. i took a bite out of it and then wrote joe a text message. when i went to take another bite...there was...a worm...crawling out of my peach!!!!!!!!!!!! i keep telling myself that i would rather have that than fruit covered in pesticides and hormones. but i think it will be a while before i have another peach.

jackie had a similarly devastating experience recently with a bunch of grapes. they had a giant giant spider in them. but that was in canada, not here.

lets hope i don't get sick everyone!

more random photos

this is the entrance to school from the street. i go through this gate, past the church, through a little tunnel, and then there's a little courtyard and the school building.


and this is for you dad! near school there is this place called invalides. its a place napoleon built to house wounded war veterans. outside it they have tons of old cannons!! and in this picture if you look in the distance, on the left, thats the grand palais, its all glass on the top. and the gold in the distance before the grand palais is the alexander III bridge, the one thas really fancy and big.

jackie and i just had lunch at a little restaurant near school. i had a great ham and cheese open faced sandwich (with an egg on top megan!!). it was really good. jackie is sick. boo. she has a cold. so we had some hot tea with lunch.

its kind of funny because she went to the pharmacy and they gave her this throat spray with this long tube thing that the spray comes out of. you can't just like, go to the store and get some tylenol here, you have to go to a pharmacy where everything in in french, and no tylenol products are in sight. they also have her a chest decongestant pill. and the throat spray inspires a numbing feeling. lets all hope she doesn't get me sick for my flight back to ohio!! that would be miserable. there are other people at school who are sick though.

today i'm writing my paper. thats all. just writing my paper.

4 weeks in Paris = physical exhaustion

its as if my body is saying "enough, we can't go anymore!!" i've been really tired since last thursday and have slept a lot. but i still managed to squeeze in some activity. on friday i took a nap all day, but then went to the orangery in the evening. and i walked around the tuilery gardens. at the orangery there are two oval shaped rooms with monet water lilies all the way around. its really spectacular. its a new museum just opened in 2006 that has these awesome water lilies and then a small collection of other impressionist paintings. it was a wonderful visit!

friday night i went back to sleep. then saturday was spent at versailles. oh boy. words cannot describe versailles. here are some of the many many photos i took:







(just to give you an idea of the distance here: it took 20 minutes to walk to the start of the lake/water thing from where this photo was taken)



then saturday night was laurie's last night here, she is jackie's friend from canada who was here working. we went to dinner at a greek restaurant in the very popular st. michel area.

sunday i slept some more and did my laundry. my laundry got locked into the laundry room!!! oh no!!! it closes at 10pm and i went to get it at 10:15 and it was locked! i had to go down to the main desk and ask them to let me in to get my clothes. the guy radioed to another guy and they laughed at me. boo them. but the guy with the keys who let me in to get my clothes was really cute, so i guess it all turned out well.

my paper for my fashion class is technically due tomorrow, although i can hand it in as late as thursday. i may not finish it by tomorrow. but i feel good about it. i'm hoping the exhaustion wears off and i can finish it asap.

all about eve

so last night we went to this park where they show free movies every week in the summer. it was amazing. we got there early to get a good seat. then we had a little picnic with bread, cheese, and wine (surprise, surprise). by the time the movie was about to start i bet there were like, 300-500 people there, all doing the picnic thing. the screen was this gigantic blow up thing. so at first it was just deflated on the ground and then then they blew it up. it was pretty cool. it was also amazing just laying there beforehand with all of the people around and it was absolutely amazing weather. the perfect temperature and breeze.

so the movie was 'all about eve' which i have never seen before but its jackie's favorite movie. it has bette davis as the main character. oh, and it was in english with french subtitles. i may buy it when i get home--it was so good! but i didn't see the end. so i'm even more excited to buy it. we had to leave early to catch the last metro train home. they stop running between 12 and 1. needless to say i had a late night, i didn't finish my homework until about 3:30. but thats okay, the movie thing was worth it.

yesterday in my fashion class we discussed our research papers (which are due tuesday, ahhh!) and when i told her about my topic she got so excited!! she had never heard of etsy.com before and was excited to take a look. so i think i'm definitely on the right track for the paper. i've done some research and found some articles that i can reference, and she said to just talk about my own ideas because there aren't articles written specifically about modern handmade fashion. so that is all good. yay.

jackie and i are starting to feel a little sad about how we're leaving next week. she's been writing on her calendar what she's done every day. i'm going to copy our mutual events and try to remember what i've done everyday and incorporate that into my scrapbook i make with my photos. we've done a lot!! and there's still more. this saturday we go to versailles. let me tell ya, its a really rough life over here, haha.

some photos of the weekend

view from the top of the right tower of Notre Dame


a path leading up to Monet's house


Monet's water lily garden


the look from the inside of the restaurant we ate at on the top floor of the Pompidou Center


Jackie walking along in front of the Pompidou Center

oops

i forgot to bring to school my wires and things to download photos from my camera. so tomorrow i'll have photos of my excursions of the weekend. here's a preview:

friday i went to the louvre. it was amazing of course. i'm definitely going back though. probably wednesday night when they are open late. then friday night a girl from school planned this dinner at the restaurant on the top floor of the pompidou center: i'll have photos. after that we all went to a jazz club, i was approached to dance several times but refused.

then saturday was my van gogh/monet/giverny trip. i have amazing photos of the lily pond and a little country village. sunday i went to an organ concert at notre dame, and then climbed the narrow spiral stairs all the way to the top of the towers.

today i'm starting research for my fashion research paper. i'm going to go with the etsy.com and homemade fashions topic and see if i find enough information for a 10 page paper. we'll see how it goes.

some new pics

a little panorama of my view while enjoying my lunch yesterday.


this is where i had my lunch yesterday.


little car, little boat. there are tons of these little guys driving around. they're so cute. i took this when it was still light out during my boat cruise down the seine.


i've been spending some time in the library for my presentation and now for my research paper. its on this street. ya know. right by the eiffel tower. no biggy.


the most art deco buiding ever!

i'm going to the palais garnier and the petit palais today. the palais garnier is with the museum tours i signed up for and the petit palais has a fashion related exhibit. today is jackie's birthday and tonight we're going to a nice dinner with a big group that this girl from school(she's from japan and you pronounce her name 'jew ee' but i don't know how its actually spelled). she knows about all of these great places to eat. after that we're going to a jazz club and then i have to get up bright and early tomorrow for my trip to giverny! busy busy

touristy boat tour

my presentation for my communicating fashion class went really well. yeah!!

however, my professor's father died and she had to go back to england right away. so the professor who teaches the course during the regular school year is taking over for the rest of the term. and boy, does she like dishing out the reading assignments!! yesterday she gave us 7 big readings to do over the next two weeks and she has more to give us next week. my classmates and i were all looking around at each other like "what the heck!"

she's very knowledgeable and a good professor though. so now i get to start focusing on what i'm going to write my 10 page research paper about. any ideas?? its due next tuesday!! basically it can be about anything related to fashion. i was thinking something about fashion blogs since they are a newer thing, and looking at how they have affected the industry. another idea i have is something about the recent trend towards things that are handmade and why that has come about. and looking at how the website i love, etsy.com is enabling crafters and people who make handmade fashion items to market their products to a wider audience. what do you guys think?? i haven't done a research paper since like, i don't remember when. i'm a little nervous.

last night jackie and i went on a touristy boat tour down the seine. it was so fantastic!! when it gets dark and all of the street lights and bridge lights come on it is really beautiful. we're going to do it again when there is a full moon! and i'll try to take pictures then but i'm not making any promises--night pictures on a boat are a bit tricky. they'll probably be all blurry.

boo rain

its rainy again, and cold. it makes me really tired.

wish me luck on my mid-term presentation for my fashion class that's tomorrow!

weekend #2

so this weekend was the one weekend that i didn't have anything planned. but i think i filled it pretty well. on friday i went to 3 museums! 3 in one day.

first was the Musée Rodin with my French class:

(still haven't figured out the rotating thing--its a mystery to me.)

then i went to the Musée Marmatton Monet for one of the Friday museum visits i signed up for. they had a fabulous exhibit of monet's work. lots of big water lilies. and i bought a great book there too.

then with Jackie, her friend Laurie, and Laurie's coworker Arnou, (he's french) i went to the Palais de Tokyo. its was a really modern art gallery. like, really modern. scary weird modern. but they had a great bookstore and i got another book!

on Saturday i went with Jackie and Laurie to the Magdelaine area. we did some shopping and walking around. it was a really nice day. then on sunday i did laundry and went to the Louvre with Jackie. we had planned on actually going into the Louvre. but we got a little caught up in the museum shops. needless to say, i got more books. one of which is a guide to the museum. so now i can plan out where i want to go. the Louvre is open late on Wednesdays and its free for students on Friday nights, so i'm going to try to go then.


this is Jackie and i in front of the Magdalaine church? i guess its a church. really small between our heads is the egyptian obelisk that's in the place du concorde, which is in between the louvre and the arc du triomphe. and yes, we indulged with starbucks. there aren't many over here ya know.

later on sunday we met up with Laurie and enjoyed a bottle of wine in the park. where we saw some cute guys goofing around in a fountain. then we went to Laurie's hotel room which has a stunning view of the eiffel tower and ate cheese and bread and watched the office.

this coming weekend is my trip to Giverny. i am so excited!!! but before i can really prepare for that i have a presentation to prepare with my partner Emma (she's from Tennessee) for my fashion class. we had to choose an item or an image and present it. we chose this image from the movie Funny Face:

so thats what i'm doing tonight and tomorrow night. we have to talk about what she's wearing (givenchy) and about her pose and of course about the dog (her own dog Mr. Famous). its kind of a neat project but its a bit of work to prepare a presentation.

the latest thing...

so yesterday i went to Chanel and Hérmés with my fashion class. i was definitely more impressed with the latter. Chanel's focus is definitely on the accessory items that tourists can afford and their store was sort of boring. i'm getting ready to finish my paper now and i may post it so anyone can read who's interested.

so last night was really hoppin' at the fiap. a new pack of 14 year old girls arrived from Greece, as well as another group from America--you could tell my the loud yelling and cursing at midnight. also, the room below mine must have been a drinking rendevous point. i heard things like "get me a shot!" and "aaaah, get some water get some water...oh god, water water...its in my hair, aaaah...#@*%...put it out put it out." i can only assume they were smoking something illegal.

the two highlights of the evening i would say were that i heard a bit of a scuffle and looked out to see policeman interviewing people. an american guy was involved and so i came to understand there was some sort of fight. then they left.

the second highlight is the best...there were these guys that were stalking the building for over an hour. don't know what they were doing. but the best is that the one guy was playing music...from his cell phone. like, hispanic pop music. from the cell phone. Jackie says, "oh my god, they're playing music from their car," and i said, "um, no, that's from his phone." we couldn't believe it.

eventually they left. no harm done.

another funny anecdote. on the metro Jackie heard these girls say "oh, i like her shoes...oh, they're okay...i like her shirt" while they were looking right at her. so she realized they were talking about her, and thought she didn't understand english. but to illustrate how stupid they must be she also heard one girl say that her name is brittney, with a diamond over the i. not a heart even...a diamond.

my monday evening

(sorry, i couln't figure out how to rotate the image)
last night i went to a violin concert held in the chapel of saint-chapelle. its an amazing building with stained glass windows all the way around. and the violin music was nice too. jackie says that i'm getting a well-rounded paris experience.

so i have my first paper due wednesday comparing different articles written about chanel with our visit to the chanel headquarters. i'm a little nervous. this computer lab that has the macs is only open until 7pm. so i think i'm going to write it at home tonight and then type it up tomorrow afternoon before class. but that means i need to do any internet research for the paper now. so i'm off to do that...

the weekend

really quickly here's a link to an updated slideshow. i made notes on the photos. http://www.flickr.com/photos/10057941@N08/sets/72157600775444789/show/


and this is a photo of my lunch today.

friday, yeah

i know i will be attacked for this but...i totally slept through dinner last night. its from 6:30-8:30 and i woke up from a nap at 8:45. but i sort of have an excuse because i was walking around all day.

my french class did a tour of the palais royal which is right next to the louvre. its the oldest shopping area for high fashion. we went into Marc Jacobs there and then at this other shopping "mall" area (old mall, not new) we went into gaultier. there aren't too many high fashion shops there anymore, but in the late 18th century it was the place to shop for the world's royalty. i'm learning a lot of very interesting things from this professor too. you can tell she's very knowledgeable and passionate about fashion.

this class experience so far feels very surreal. i know that a lot of the fashion students i knew in college would absolutely die to be doing this. on tuesday we're going to the headquarters of chanel!! i'm just realizing that what i'm doing is sort of a big deal. its amazing really.

so after the class was over i hung around and went into some of the more reasonably priced looking shops that we passed. there was one really old book shop that was way cool. so when i got home at 6:15 i was tired and took a nap. so all i ate was a smooshed granola bar and a few leftover m&ms.


this is inside the palais royal area. these gray and white striped columns are an art installation in place of what used to be in this space -- a car park. when the guy who built it needed money he started renting out parts of it. straight ahead and behind me are apartments above and the shops below.


in the middle used to be a big open courtyard but now its a park type area with a fountain, a public sand box for kids, a flower garden, and these long avenues of trees.


jackie took this of me during our walk from the metro to school. yes, this is the street i go down to go to school. yes, that is the eiffel tower up there.

aaah

i'm trying to figure out how to do things on this blog and its pretty impossible because, for me, everything is in french. i wanted to make the link in the previous post an active link, that you just click on and it just goes to it. but, not yet. maybe i'll figure it out soon. and just so everyone who makes a comment knows: sometimes after you leave a comment i'll leave a comment in that same section that responds to your comment. so go look to see if i responded if you left a comment.

its still rainy and cold here. what the heck. i'm avoiding breaking down and buying another jacket type thing.

i found out something rather devastating. my french class does, in fact ,meet on fridays. so my friday mornings are not free. oh well. i found a place to get toiletries yesterday. but they didn't have conditioner for my hair?? or hand soap?? so many mysteries.

other students are complaining about the dorm and food situation but i think its just great! i get two meals every day that i don't even have to think about. there is variety too. in the mornings i've been having a kix type cereal, apple juice, and coffee. last night for dinner i had a chickpea salad, rice/olive salad, cheese tortellini with mushroom sauce, and an awesome banana tart. i'll try to take some pictures of my dinner so you get an idea. cause the food is a little different.

i'm feeling much more settled and less tired than yesterday even. and i've got a big weekend ahead!! on friday afternoon is the first museum tour with a professor, i don't remember the museum. then saturday is the visit to the champagne region, followed by Bastille Day festivities. i'm pretty excited!!

photos finally

I've finally uploaded some photos


this is me in front of the eiffel tower obviously. and this is a link to a slideshow of more.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10057941@N08/sets/72157600775444789/show/


and this is my bed in my awesome room at the fiap. and this is a link to a slideshow of more.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10057941@N08/sets/72157600775054504/show/

weird things

1. there aren't many carry out restaurants. so if i want lunch right now i have to go sit down and be waited on somewhere.

2. the shower situation: the water temperature fluctuates the entire time, the water pressure is extremely sub par, and you have to press in the knob about once a minute or the water turns off.

3. there is no pillowcase on the pillow. they like, fold the bottom sheet up over and then under the pillow. but they do make the bed everyday. so i'm like, making sure there is nothing on the bed when i leave.

4. the orange juice is like, radioactive orange color. more of a red-orange not our usual yellow-orange. i have no idea why, it tastes like normal orange juice.

5. the "pharmacie" only sells like, medicine. where do i buy my shampoo?? there aren't like, CVS type places. i'm figuring this out today, i need q-tips and stuff.

about my classes

right now its the second day of class, after french but before fashion. the first day of french class i was like "whoa buddy, am i in the wrong class here??" there are only 4 people in the class and the other 3 know some french already. i don't even know how to say numbers. but today was better and i think it will be okay. i'm just not going to get an A in there, ya know.

and the fashion class was awesome. the professor is from england and i love the accent. she freelance teaches at parson's school of design too and she seems really interesting. it seems like its going to be about french fashion mostly. and we're going to talk about all of the roles of the different people involved in the fashion industry. the reading i had to do last night was about how the definition of culture has changed in relation to fashion since the 1600s. i'm going to like this class.

day two

so far my roomate is my favorite person here. she's a special ed teacher from alberta canada. i am soooo glad because some of the other people are just a tad immature and young. like young college kids who are under under 21 and can't wait to go out and get "wasted." but thats okay.

i can't wait to get started with class tomorrow. today is the french placement test and dinner and drinks afterward.

oh, and its overcast and rainy and i'm typing this on a french keyboard, some of the letters are in different places.

i haven't figured out yet how to upload photos but i will, i promise.

Testing

so this is my first post from Paris.

i'm utterly exhausted!! i have done so much already. i didn't have any trouble really getting to my dorm building. i met an american couple in front of the map in the airport who were going on the train into paris also. i chatted. and i was very proud of myself.

then when i first got to the dorm building we were getting ready to get into the van to go to the school and this girl, Mariya, didn't want to ride in the car. she's from new york and avoids cars at all costs!! so i was like, hey, i'll walk with you. so we walked to the school building. and we didn't get lost. and i was proud of myself again for having a great sense of direction, even here with all of the crooked streets.

so as we were walking i got to get a glimse of the city a bit. and so far its like, really nice. in parts its similar to new york but in french, but then you come upon huge old golden dome buildings and when you look up there are french doors opening onto balconies and lots of flowers.

now its raining. and i'm going as we speak into a meeting about living here at the FIAP.

til next time.

i'm leaving for the airport now.

oh boy.

my day

i think it will take me a while to get used to this "blog" thing. when i get here to write something i find myself staring at the screen. so i'm going to practice.

right now i'm watching the best movie ever. the a&e version of pride & prejudice, of course. she's currently strolling down the lane at pemberly with mr. darcy. it is so wonderful. i just finished coat one of nail polish. and i'm almost finished printing megan's wedding programs.

i'm very proud of myself for what i accomplished today. let's make a list of my stellar accomplishments:

1. i woke up before noon. perhaps due to my excitement about my upcoming travels.

2. i got a new battery for my nike watch from mt. washington jewelers

3. i called my credit card company and alerted them to overseas charges.

4. i tried to change my return flight from paris to be two days earlier, but to no avail. it would have cost a ghastly amount to change. so i will have to stay in a hotel or something for two days. and i won't get to see joe in new york at all. boo hoo to that.

5. i gave my mother some hint of what it will be like to work with me. her office is getting a complete makeover. nothing is labeled and there are things strewn about everywhere. very unacceptable.

6. i bought some paper and envelopes for megan's programs and for erica's shower invitations.

7. i renewed my driver's license.

8. i got my glasses tightened so they aren't falling off my face.

9. i took a whole box of stuff to goodwill.

10. i visited my grandma to inspect her new couch. it looks very similar to the previous couch which she despised. hmmm.

11. i got my oil changed and brakes fixed.

12. oh, and somewhere in there i took a nap. i heart naps.

until tomorrow...

Prep Day

today i'm running errands to get ready to go to PARIS!!!

this is the only photo i found online of the place where i'm staying: FIAP. i'm so excited about so many things i don't really know what to do.

First Post

OMG. in exactly one week i will be arriving in PARIS!