the city government has started a new campaign to try to get people to drive, you know, reasonably. i like this poster because it says "a license to drive is not a license to kill."
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
les catacombes de paris
last week we went to the paris catacombs. running for 186 miles underneath the city, the catacombs are the final resting place for thousands and thousands of french citizens. in the late seventeenth century, several parisian cemeteries had become dangerously overcrowded - coffins would emerge from the ground, leading to epidemics in several quartiers. what to do? in 1786, authorities decided to move the bodies into the former roman quarries which run beneath the streets of paris. the result?
the bodies are obviously not intact. it's strange to think about the workers who disassembled thousands of corpses to create the bone-lined hallways under the city. perhaps to amuse themselves during their labor, some of the remains have been creatively arranged.
throughout the caves, one finds poetic carvings, graffiti, and somewhat disconcerting memorials. for instance, this is one of the entrances to the grave (today the only legal entrance, part of the musée des catacombes):
("stop! here is the empire of death.")
what i wonder is why the city chose to dispose of the bodies in this way. wouldn't it have been more economical (and sanitary) to cremate them? it's not like the corpses were respectfully kept intact; for the most part, it seems like only arm and leg bones and skulls compose the walls.
the tunnels were originally limestone mines built and used by the romans, but people have long been going underground for other purposes - many of the walls are covered in graffiti. aristocrats would hold parties in the crypts before the revolution. during world war two, the germans set up a secret bunker, while the french resistance used the catacombes as their headquarters.
today, one can legally reach the catacombes only through the museum, but the crypts available for viewing are a tiny part of the system. of course, there are lots of illegal tours you can risk, but they can be dangerous...
the bodies are obviously not intact. it's strange to think about the workers who disassembled thousands of corpses to create the bone-lined hallways under the city. perhaps to amuse themselves during their labor, some of the remains have been creatively arranged.
throughout the caves, one finds poetic carvings, graffiti, and somewhat disconcerting memorials. for instance, this is one of the entrances to the grave (today the only legal entrance, part of the musée des catacombes):
("stop! here is the empire of death.")
what i wonder is why the city chose to dispose of the bodies in this way. wouldn't it have been more economical (and sanitary) to cremate them? it's not like the corpses were respectfully kept intact; for the most part, it seems like only arm and leg bones and skulls compose the walls.
the tunnels were originally limestone mines built and used by the romans, but people have long been going underground for other purposes - many of the walls are covered in graffiti. aristocrats would hold parties in the crypts before the revolution. during world war two, the germans set up a secret bunker, while the french resistance used the catacombes as their headquarters.
today, one can legally reach the catacombes only through the museum, but the crypts available for viewing are a tiny part of the system. of course, there are lots of illegal tours you can risk, but they can be dangerous...
Sunday, February 11, 2007
sèjour en besançon
last week i did a "homestay" in besançon, a small city in franche-comte (eastern france, near switzerland). these were my "parents:"
i was with a group of american students from my program. we did all sorts of fun things, like:
exploring the beautiful city of besançon...
visiting a run-down chateau...
eating delicious cheese (the regional specialty is called conté and it is amazing!)...
visiting a smokehouse...
going to neuchatel in switzerland!!
seeing seventeenth-century robots... they were amazing.
that was a fun week!
i was with a group of american students from my program. we did all sorts of fun things, like:
exploring the beautiful city of besançon...
visiting a run-down chateau...
eating delicious cheese (the regional specialty is called conté and it is amazing!)...
visiting a smokehouse...
going to neuchatel in switzerland!!
seeing seventeenth-century robots... they were amazing.
that was a fun week!
Thursday, February 1, 2007
un sejour en normandie
i passed this weekend in normandie with my french family.
who, exactly, are my french family? why am i so blessed as to have real parisian relatives?
my grandmother, madeleine, was born and raised in paris. she came to the states with my grandfather in the 1950s, and now lives in newton, massachusetts. her sister, jeannette, continues to live in france, right outside paris in a town called levallois. her daughter, micheline, would be my mother's first cousin. micheline also lives in levallois, not far from HER daughter, nathalie, and her family. nathalie and her husband roger (who is from martinique) have a twelve-year-old daughter, mathilde. (and an obese cat named cacaouette). that's four generations of the same family, all within walking distance of each other!
these wonderful (somewhat distant) relations have adopted me as another member of their family. that's how i ended up spending a glorious weekend in the french countryside.
late friday night, i arrived with nathalie, roger, mathilde and a distraught cacaouette chez eux. they own a typical norman house in a tiny village called beaumont-le-roger (the closest city is rouen - where joan d'arc was burned at the stake). this architectural style is typical of norman houses.
on saturday, we went to "balader" (walk around) in the area. our destination? the sixteenth-century abbaye notre dame du bec-hellouin.
the man in white is a monk giving a tour; obviously the monastery is still in use.
some family photos in front of the abbey...
the village was très mignonne aussi!!
the next morning, mathilde and i made quiches and other delicious things!
(then my camera battery ran out, so no more pictures.)
some neighbours came over for lunch, and i practiced my french with them. this weekend did amazing things for my fluency and comprehension. i also ate escargot for the first time!
tonight i'm leaving to visit another part of france, a small city called besançon. my program is doing a week-long homestay with a family. more updates next week!!
who, exactly, are my french family? why am i so blessed as to have real parisian relatives?
my grandmother, madeleine, was born and raised in paris. she came to the states with my grandfather in the 1950s, and now lives in newton, massachusetts. her sister, jeannette, continues to live in france, right outside paris in a town called levallois. her daughter, micheline, would be my mother's first cousin. micheline also lives in levallois, not far from HER daughter, nathalie, and her family. nathalie and her husband roger (who is from martinique) have a twelve-year-old daughter, mathilde. (and an obese cat named cacaouette). that's four generations of the same family, all within walking distance of each other!
these wonderful (somewhat distant) relations have adopted me as another member of their family. that's how i ended up spending a glorious weekend in the french countryside.
late friday night, i arrived with nathalie, roger, mathilde and a distraught cacaouette chez eux. they own a typical norman house in a tiny village called beaumont-le-roger (the closest city is rouen - where joan d'arc was burned at the stake). this architectural style is typical of norman houses.
on saturday, we went to "balader" (walk around) in the area. our destination? the sixteenth-century abbaye notre dame du bec-hellouin.
the man in white is a monk giving a tour; obviously the monastery is still in use.
some family photos in front of the abbey...
the village was très mignonne aussi!!
the next morning, mathilde and i made quiches and other delicious things!
(then my camera battery ran out, so no more pictures.)
some neighbours came over for lunch, and i practiced my french with them. this weekend did amazing things for my fluency and comprehension. i also ate escargot for the first time!
tonight i'm leaving to visit another part of france, a small city called besançon. my program is doing a week-long homestay with a family. more updates next week!!
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