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!!
Thursday, January 25, 2007
bienvenue!
hello everyone! as you can see, i've created a blog to recount my adventures in europe over the next few months. my homebase is paris, in the quartier known as st-germain-des-prés - my building is right near two beautiful churches, three métro stations, and innumerable cafés. c'est vraiment la vie en rose!
there is so much to write about!
first, my lodgings. i live in what's called a "chambre de bonne" or a "chambre de service" - essentially, a nineteenth-century maid's room updated with some modern conveniences. it's in a normal apartment building, way up top on the sixth floor above the real apartments. and there's no elevator for us!
trop des escaliers!
there are seven or eight other chambres, all relatively small and intended for one person. one could compare them to college dorms - mostly inhabited by students, they are far cheaper than other parisian living options.
the chambre comes furnished, with a bed, linen, a mini-fridge, dishes, hot plate, sink, and a shower. (the water closet (ie the potty) is in the hallway; to be honest it's sort of disgusting as it's shared between everyone living on this floor.) i lucked out and got a "big" room! i also have a wonderful view of the quartier - i can see saint sulpice, le tour de montparnasse, and of course the beautiful haussman buildings that compose this city.
the tower in the back is one of the turrets of saint sulpice (currently under construction)...
looking down on rue du four!
the nearby rue de rennes. the skyscraper in the back is the tour de montparnasse; after it was built the city passed a law banning new buildings over six stories. paris is not, and should not be, manhattan.
as for the quartier itself, i truly feel i'm in the best part of paris. st germain has a long history as one of the city's intellectual centers. i live steps from some of the famous (now touristy) cafés where sartre wrote being and nothingness and where hemingway spent hours over coffee and cigarettes. these restaurants still have a philosophical air, but have sort of devolved into tourist traps. still, i love being so close to some of the places that have inspired change and shaped history! i'll write more on my neighborhood as i continue to discover its charms and its history.
some other random things about french life: boulangeries (bakeries) are everywhere and they are all amazing...
french drivers are insane. they speed up to fifty miles an hour on these tiny four hundred year old streets, and somehow manage to slow down enough to avoid hitting pedestrians.
many people ride vespas or motorcyles, which are driven with equal abandon. i do wonder why the moped hasn't become popular in american cities; it's so efficient and SO COOL. of course, new york can't even handle bicyclists, so one can hardly expect vespas to be the next trend. one day america WILL have reliable public transit!
la station de métro st-germain. ahh yes, the métro system - perhaps the best in the world. i hate to say it, but paris may have new york beat on this one (with a few decidedly french exceptions). there are stations everywhere, the maps are clear and easy to use even for tourists, trains come on average every two minutes (and many stations have monitors that tell you when the next train will arrive), and most incredibly, it's CLEAN!!! aboveground, there may be merde covering the sidewalks, but you will never see litter in a parisian subway car.
some of you may know of my enthusiasm for urban wildlife. as it's been cold outside lately, i haven't spent much time getting to know the animal inhabitants of paris, but i can say a couple things about pigeons. 1) they are FAT. whether it's due to the enormous amount of bread consumed in this country or the small area paris covers, these birds are enormous. 2) they are not as friendly as new york pigeons. they don't coo outside my window in the morning, and they're too shy to follow me around to ask for crumbs.
i haven't taken very many good pictures yet, and paris is dreary, so i will write a more interesting post soon. this weekend i'm going to normandie with my family, and next week i'm going to besançon and switzerland. so there's more to come!
there is so much to write about!
first, my lodgings. i live in what's called a "chambre de bonne" or a "chambre de service" - essentially, a nineteenth-century maid's room updated with some modern conveniences. it's in a normal apartment building, way up top on the sixth floor above the real apartments. and there's no elevator for us!
trop des escaliers!
there are seven or eight other chambres, all relatively small and intended for one person. one could compare them to college dorms - mostly inhabited by students, they are far cheaper than other parisian living options.
the chambre comes furnished, with a bed, linen, a mini-fridge, dishes, hot plate, sink, and a shower. (the water closet (ie the potty) is in the hallway; to be honest it's sort of disgusting as it's shared between everyone living on this floor.) i lucked out and got a "big" room! i also have a wonderful view of the quartier - i can see saint sulpice, le tour de montparnasse, and of course the beautiful haussman buildings that compose this city.
the tower in the back is one of the turrets of saint sulpice (currently under construction)...
looking down on rue du four!
the nearby rue de rennes. the skyscraper in the back is the tour de montparnasse; after it was built the city passed a law banning new buildings over six stories. paris is not, and should not be, manhattan.
as for the quartier itself, i truly feel i'm in the best part of paris. st germain has a long history as one of the city's intellectual centers. i live steps from some of the famous (now touristy) cafés where sartre wrote being and nothingness and where hemingway spent hours over coffee and cigarettes. these restaurants still have a philosophical air, but have sort of devolved into tourist traps. still, i love being so close to some of the places that have inspired change and shaped history! i'll write more on my neighborhood as i continue to discover its charms and its history.
some other random things about french life: boulangeries (bakeries) are everywhere and they are all amazing...
french drivers are insane. they speed up to fifty miles an hour on these tiny four hundred year old streets, and somehow manage to slow down enough to avoid hitting pedestrians.
many people ride vespas or motorcyles, which are driven with equal abandon. i do wonder why the moped hasn't become popular in american cities; it's so efficient and SO COOL. of course, new york can't even handle bicyclists, so one can hardly expect vespas to be the next trend. one day america WILL have reliable public transit!
la station de métro st-germain. ahh yes, the métro system - perhaps the best in the world. i hate to say it, but paris may have new york beat on this one (with a few decidedly french exceptions). there are stations everywhere, the maps are clear and easy to use even for tourists, trains come on average every two minutes (and many stations have monitors that tell you when the next train will arrive), and most incredibly, it's CLEAN!!! aboveground, there may be merde covering the sidewalks, but you will never see litter in a parisian subway car.
some of you may know of my enthusiasm for urban wildlife. as it's been cold outside lately, i haven't spent much time getting to know the animal inhabitants of paris, but i can say a couple things about pigeons. 1) they are FAT. whether it's due to the enormous amount of bread consumed in this country or the small area paris covers, these birds are enormous. 2) they are not as friendly as new york pigeons. they don't coo outside my window in the morning, and they're too shy to follow me around to ask for crumbs.
i haven't taken very many good pictures yet, and paris is dreary, so i will write a more interesting post soon. this weekend i'm going to normandie with my family, and next week i'm going to besançon and switzerland. so there's more to come!
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
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