Saturday Snapshot

To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post on Alyce's blog At Home With Books.Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. how much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don't post random photos that you find online.

This week's picture comes from a freezing but beautiful tour of the old French town of Briancon in the Alps. We spent a week here and it was just one fabulous day after another, excepting the day it snowed and we couldn't go anywhere because of the ice. It all melted the next day so it turned out fine. I've never been so at peace and calm in one place for so long, the whole experience was absolutely incredible.

And yet another week of two pictures, because I couldn't pass up this one. This is a view from the front yard of the house in the mountains, which features the beautiful ancient town of Briancon with it's fortifications. If you're ever thinking about a trip to the Alps, I can't recommend this little town enough. It's the most beautiful place I've been to date, and unlike some Parisians (please forgive me and let me back into your town!) everyone I met there was very nice and understanding of language difficulties, and the younger folks were more than willing to try out their English to help you along.

I know I sound like a tourists advertisement, and I have a French market to get to, so I'll wrap it up by telling you that the castle like building you see is the Collegiale cathedrale which doesn't look like much from the outside due to fortifications and such, but inside it is all marble and paintings and colors and gold. Well worth the trip.

Saturday Snapshot

To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post on Alyce's blog At Home With Books.Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. how much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don't post random photos that you find online.

This week was a tough choice. I've been so many places and gotten so many wonderful days worth of shots, it wasn't easy to pick just one. So I decided to narrow it down to two.

They come from the same location, just facing different directions. I probably should have done my research concerning the locks on the bridge by Notre Dame de Paris, but if I had to guess by the names written on them with little hearts I'd say it's something that's supposed to keep couples together forever.

Just across the bridge on the island by Notre Dame, something about the light and water called to me. Water's been calling to me a lot these days, my pictures have been a bit obsessed with it. Anyway, it's a beautiful little boat house/restaurant with an adorable black lab on the deck somewhere, let's call him Waldo, I'll think of a prize if you can find him.

Lazy excuses

I know it's been nearly a week since you've heard from me, and I'm sure it's torn some worlds apart, but don't worry. I'll be gone for yet another week as we head to the Alps and I'm without internet, but all the while I'll be collecting little stories, pictures and tidbits to give you all as a reward for your patience.

Once November hits, my goal is not only to complete NaNoWriMo, but to post in the blog at least once a day. Oh yes, a post a day plus however many words I need to write a story. Got any ideas for me?

Saturday Snapshot

To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post on Alyce's blog At Home With Books. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. how much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don't post random photos that you find online.

Today's photo comes from yesterday's traipse along the Champs Elysees because it was a beautiful day, and hey, why not. I started at the Arch de Triomphe and meandered my way down the rue, pausing to take a postcard writing break in one of the lovely little parks that litter the way as you approach the Jardins de Tuileries. As I crossed the street to the Place de la Concorde at the end of the way, these fountains caught my eye with their gold detailing against the dark metal. Apparently, this was the fountain that can be seen in the movie The Devil Wears Prada, in the scene where Anne Hathaway's character decides she's done with the fashion industry and tosses her phone into the fountain.

How DVDs have ruined Disney

This doesn't have much to do with France in particular. It's just a plea to bring back for some purposes the trusty old VHS.

Perhaps I'm just prejudiced because I grew up in a VHS household, and some of my best and earliest memories are accompanied by the whirring sound of a tape being played, rewound, or fast-forwarded. It's not that I spent my entire childhood planted in front of the TV watching movies, I was practicing for my future.

With Lumiere I rehearsed the kickline from Beauty and the Beast in that eternal classic song, "Be Our Guest". About twelve years later, there I was onstage doing it. Michael Flatley and my little brother had tap-off show downs during Riverdance and Lord of the Dance. I learned my love of Celtic music, singing, and dancing from those same shows. The Tin Soldier convinced me that I wanted to be a ballerina. Without The Snow Queen, I never would have learned to perfect my icy glare when I performed the title role, forcing my father to guess who I was before I would say hello to him when he came home from work.

But back to the original purpose of the story.

Yesterday in lieu of wandering off to visit the wonderful sites of Paris, I was asked to keep watch over the three-year-old daughter of my host family. What's the best way to entertain children? Disney.

She selected that old classic Bambi. I myself have never been a huge fan, the mother dies, humans are horrible to animals, there's fire, and death, and it just doesn't seem like a kids movie. Anyway, she chose it so we popped in the DVD, she also selected the English version so bonus points for her and more difficulty tuning it out for me. The movie rolled along like it should, perhaps with slightly better picture and less fuzzy sound, Bambi's mother got shot and the little girl turned around to explain it to me in French. Just in case I didn't get the gist just from watching, or the fact that it was the English version.

Still bumping along, I'd managed to hold back my tears and I'm still proud of myself. Then came the climax of the movie, young adult Bambi runs away from the hunters and has just heroically saved love interest Faline from a pack of hunting dogs. He runs, jumps a ravine and we hear the bang of a gun as he spasms in midair and then falls unable to stand on the other side of the ravine. At this point, the DVD froze and then took us back to the main menu. Worst place ever to freeze, now this poor little girl thinks Bambi is dead! She won't know the ending! I tried to go fix it, but the little girl just stood up and walked away, humming a song to herself. When I asked if she wanted to see the end, she just gave me a look that told me I was crazy, though that might have been due to my poor attempts at French.

So as far as I can tell, this child thinks that the movie ends with Bambi getting shot by hunters. Bang, he's dead, end of story. While I'm sure it's much more realistic, since when has classic Disney been realistic? I'm disturbed by this outcome and it just proves that we should all go back to VHS. They could never take you back to the menu to make you think it was the beginning, you have to rewind it, and you'd fee the film wasn't run out, and you'd know there was more of the story to be had once your dad got home and fixed it.

And just to prove my point about Disney not being realistic, I give you this.

The Disney photo had to be doctored color-wise to make it fit.

Musee de Cluny

Three days ago, I took a trip to the Musee de Cluny. My goal was to find a cross stitch tapestry that I could do, and it was a trip that had been put off for several days. The day before I'd been sent to the Musee d'Orsay with the grandmother of my host family. It was a lovely museum, but the Impressionists exhibit was closed and therefore, I didn't get to see what I really wanted to. There will be a post coming about that later.

So to the middle ages museum I went. I'm a big fan of all things to do with the middle ages in case you didn't know, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table and all that jazz. Also, I promised my youngest brother that I would get him a sword and it seemed like the most likely place to get one.

Musee de Cluny is in an old medieval castle that's been somewhat rehabilitated for use. It's probably the coolest old building I've seen in a while except for Mont St. Michel. As a museum, it doesn't have the grandeur and gilt of the Musee d'Orsay or the Louvre, but the stonework in the courtyard alone is probably more intricate than anything on either of those buildings. What really shocked me the most about all of the art and sculpture in this museum was the sheer amount of detail that everything had. Even the tiniest image on a medallion had a complete face and detailed outfit.

I'm not entirely sure what that is, but it blew me away with the sheer amount of detail. To give you a sense of scale, the entire thing from base to highest turret is only about the size of an average wine glass. Every roof tile, every window is drawn in exquisite detail. It's like a church sculpted on top of a cup. It reminded me a bit of Mont St. Michel, although I'm sure many other churches have such a level of intricacy and pointed spires.

Another thing I noticed about the middle ages based on the things displayed in the museum was this: unicorns are everywhere.

In every tapestry, every large sculpture or group painting, I guarantee if you look hard enough, there's a unicorn. The Musee de Cluny is of course the home of the famous tapestry Lady with a Unicorn which I discovered is actually part of a series of tapestries that depict women with unicorns. There was even an actual "unicorn horn" on display, with a description below explaining that it was actually just the tusk of a narwhal that had been given to some king sometime long ago and called a unicorn horn. Still, it was very impressive.

There were also chambers that housed stained glass windows taken from various churches and castles around Paris. Dark rooms with the windows lined up and backlit, spilling their multi-colored pictures onto the floor. Saints, kings, hunts, animals, more unicorns, all are the various subjects depicted in the vibrant windows. The detail in these windows too is absolutely incredible.

The whole museum in itself only took about an hour and a half to get through, and the gift shop didn't have my tapestry. It did have a sword for my brother, but as much as I love him I'm not willing to spend the 111 euros it would take, plus awkward questions in custums, to bring it home. Sorry bud, maybe next time.

Saturday Snapshot

To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post on Alyce's blog At Home With Books. photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. how much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don't post random photos that you find online.

This past Wednesday I took a trip to the Musee d'Orsay. Afterwards, I walked to the nearby bridge over the Seine to take a few photos. I don't know what I like about this particular picture so much, but something about how the clouds and the river and the towers of Notre Dame are visible in the background catches my attention.

The Myth of "Free" Wifi

When it became certain that I would be heading to Paris, the first thing that I immediately wanted to know was: will there be wifi? I'm something of an internet junkie, but keeping in touch with my family via facebook, skype, and twitter, and of course the writing of this blog, were all important factors. Therefore I felt reassured when I looked on several sites back home and was assured by all that wifi would be everywhere and free with the purchase of a coffee or pastry, something that I would buy anyway.

Ladies and gentlemen, after a day searching the Louvre Carousel, I can now tell you that this it a lie. If truly free wifi exists in Paris, I've yet to find it and in such a place as this, rife with cafes and shops and a popular tourist attraction lacks it, then where on earth are we expected to find it?

I started my mission from the apartment early this morning. Computed packed with the cord and adapter just in case battery power ran low. Complicated metro stops later I was beneath the Louvre in the underground shopping center/miniature Paris with its many restaurants, cafes, boutiques and gift shops. Starbucks was my first choice and the sign in the window advertising free wifi seemed promising so I bought breakfast and a coffee to get me started. The barista handed me a card with a username and password in order to fetch the wifi. Three cards later, my computer and the wifi network were still having none of each other. So instead I sat with the paperback I thought to bring ahead while I finished my muffin and coffee.

A comfy padded bench in the middle of an underground sort of museum looked like a fantastic place to situate myself two hours later after I'd given up on my old standby for good. A plethora of free networks presented themselves to me and none required a password. Overjoyed, I tried connecting to the first only to be taken to a page that declared it would need my credit card number. Not happening. So I flipped to the next one which took me to another page that cheerfully stated in bright bold lettering that I needed to put in a username and password that could be purchased from a nearby restaurant. Great.

Five attempts at connecting and countless more tries at hacking into a network later, I gave up until a familiar glowing yellow sign caught my eye.

McDonalds. It was one o'clock, I'd been traversing the Louvre Carousel searching for wifi for a long time and the muffin of the morning seemed so far away. I'd sworn to myself I wouldn't stoop to eating in McDonalds while I was surrounded by so many fantastic little cafes, but I'm an American at heart and by this time was desperate. So I mounted the escalator and the first thing I saw was the little card standing by the cash register: wifi gratuit. Free wifi.

A chicken wrap is sitting comfortably in my stomach as I sit in one of the incredibly more stylish than the American version seats, connected to free wifi as I write this. And all I had to do was enter my name and email. And for the record, French McDonalds tastes better than the American version.

A Wonderful Day

Today, I had a wonderful day.

That's right, I spent my day at the Louvre.

It started with taking the metro from my host family's apartment. There are two metro stations within close walking distance, one required only one transfer but was much harder to get to with the twisty turny streets of Pairs, so I chose the much more straightforward way from the house, but difficult metro routes. Two transfers later, I was at the Louvre.

I traipsed blindly through the Rochefort wing, looking for the few works I knew would be hidden away somewhere in the immensity that is the old palace. For three hours, I was surrounded by statues, the works of French painters and medieval carvings and illuminations. It was all very beautiful, but the smell of coffee and the lunch hour drew me away from the beauty.

Let me just say that to an American girl who spent the summer becoming addicted to coffee, Starbucks is almost as good as any work of art. That melusine/mermaid logo starts to look like an angel if a system used to a caffeine fix hasn't had any since the plane ride over to Europe more than a week ago. So one white mocha and a sandwich later, I was rejuvenated and ready to hit the galleries again.

Winged Victory is one of my favorite sculptures, perhaps my favorite though its not like I have extensive knowledge on art of any kind. Maybe it's the way they have it positioned, it's the largest piece of art in a sparsely decorated grand room located just at the top of a staircase and directly between two others. It is absolutely magnificent and I was lucky enough to get a clear picture of it as seen above.

A helpful security guard later, I was standing in front of my second favorite statue, the Venus de Milo. For something so famous, it was in a room shockingly crowded with other pieces and not so many tourists. Either that or I just got really lucky that hardly anyone was there because I was able to get another really clear and uncrowded picture.

Leonardo DaVinci might be the most famous Italian artist, but my heart belongs to another. Oh I made the walk by of the Mona Lisa, but I didn't wait in the line to see her up close, I snapped a photo from afar. No, in my opinion the best Italian artist of the Renaissance was Alessandro Boticelli. His settings, his colors, his models and poses, and just everything about his art makes me happy. I absolutely adore La Primavera, though sadly it and most of his works are in Italy. Still, the Louvre does have another of his paintings that I spent time getting acquainted with.

Venus and the Three Graces

After the Mona Lisa, I was tired and ready to see some sunshine. Stopping once more at the Starbucks, I got an iced version of my earlier mocha and headed to the Tuileries. Just a small side note: those grates in the ground? Yeah, they blow air out of them. I wasn't aware of that until I walked over one and my skirt did a Marilyn Monroe much to the appreciation of the construction workers nearby. Thank goodness for leggings.

The Tuileries were absolutely amazing, and though I've only ever been to Paris before in the spring, I've decided that fall is the best time to come out of those two seasons. The changing colors of the leaves, the late blooming roses and other flowers, birds chirping their last songs before winter, incomparable.

So that was my fantastic day. I'm nursing sore feet and a new, though significantly smaller blister than the last one, but it was all worth it.

Saturday Snapshot

To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post on Alyce's blog At Home With Books. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don’t post random photos that you find online.

France is full of beautiful scenes, even this late in a year. When my father dropped me off last week, we spent an entire day wandering the beautiful Luxembourg Gardens in Paris' 5th arrondisment. It houses a children's playground, and various splendid gardens as well as the beautiful Palace Luxembourg.