Avignon and Paris 3/5-3/13

Avignon: 3/5-3/7

We arrived at our hostel, and my roommates were Devon, Kellie, and Colleen.  We did a walking tour of the windy city.  We were guided through the Cardinals’ monastery and cloister.  We went to the Popes’ Palace the next day and got a guided tour via headphones on foot.  It was a very large museum of the past Catholic history of Avignon.  Great place to overlook the city.  After that, we went to the Doucet Museum.  There was a collection of many well-known artists.  Avignon is famous for the Pont de Avignon which is a bridge that used to have 22 arches, but now it only stretches half way across the river with six arches. This was Avignon, and we were all excited to experience Paris!

Paris: 3/7-3/12

“Flânerie”

Wed. 7^th: upon arrival, checked into hostel and then jumped on metro from Glacier to Passy and had our first walking tour by night.  We were welcomed into the city with accordion street performers to set the scene and offer us a soundtrack for life.  We arrived at the Eiffel Tower.  At every hour it twinkles and puts on a beautiful show. 
Thurs. 8^th: Musee d’Orsay, Louvre (Delacroix, Michelangelo, Monet, Manet, etc.).  Then we went to Gerry’s friend’s exhibition gallery.
Fri. 9^th: Birthday! Eiffel Tower with Olivia for a beautiful lookout flat.  We had time for shopping and then Olivia took us to a little Chinese lunch.  We then, went to La Defense de Paris with its famous arch.  There, we had Sophie’s class.  Next was the Arc de Triomphe!  We got to be in the ceremony of the Unknown Soldier, and as a birthday present to me, I got to lead the processional by carrying the flowers with Joe.  That night, we went to the Piano Bar.  Awesome live music in a great setting.
Sat. 10^th: Today we had time to go out on our own to visit some assigned museums.  Kellie and I were paired up, so we took advantage of the metro pass and went to the other side of the city and found some flea markets.  From there we went to the Museum of Modern Art.  We broke off and I walked to the muse of Rodin to see one of my favorite displays of art: sculpture.  Found that it was closed for renovation:( So, I jumped back on the metro and went toward Petit Palais and Grand Palais.  I walked around for a bit looking at the golden monuments.  I grabbed some lunch at a patisserie and kept walking.  Next, we met up again, and Gerry took us to another artist-friend’s gallery.  This artist used wood chips and a dripping method.  After a long day of walking, I took a load off my feet and rested the rest of the night.
Sunday 11^th: Colleen , Kellie and I went vintage flea market shopping.  It was exactly what we were looking for!  We gathered again for mass at Notre Dame de Paris.  Even without Eric, our professor, we were able to identify that it was the epitome of a perfect Gothic pilgrimage church.  We had lunch at a Moroccan place after mass, and we enjoyed couscous stew and mint tea .  A few of us then went to Shakespeare and Company book store!  I plopped down on a couch and read a book for a while, and then I ventured out again to do some more flanerie!  I went back to the Louvre to waltz around the Tuilierie gardens (ponds and sailboats).  Then I found my way to Champs-Elyses.  I loved seeing in person what you usually only see in movies.  I was able to stand at the places shown in Midnight in Paris, in The Devil Wears Prada, and so many more!  I loved it!
Monday 12^th: We went to Montmontre which looks more like a mosque  temple.  We heard harp playing.  Next, we had flafful.  It was so yummy:  chick pea pita thing.  I had carrot juice to go along with it!  Gerry took us to a small basement venue to see Annick Cisaruk.  The accordion playing and her voice was wonderful! I absolutely loved this experience. 
Tues. 13^th: Last day in Paris:  We went to Versaille and walked around the palace and gardens.  Colleen and I went back to pick up our luggage and then walked around the opera house in Paris before heading out to start our spring break plans.   We arrived at the airport for the most lovely airport experience all by ourselves.  It was so incredibly easy and painless. 
Overall, Paris was brilliant! I loved every minute of it, and I will be going back one day! 

Andorra Adventure

    I don’t know if it was just me, but February flew by, which is why I’m finally updating my blog about February in the month of March! It was one of the most eventful, but also busy months of my life! The first week in February went to my travels through Carcassonne and Barcelona, and then a week after returning, I took an eventful trip to the tiny country between France and Spain: Andorra.  Mixed in with the trains and buses, I was studying for my anatomy and physiology exams and attempting to keep up with French, art history, and all my others classes.  All in all, life is good, and I finally have a minute to update my blog! So, here it is:

 

    I took a train  from Albi to Toulouse and from Toulouse to a little stop near Andorra, L'Hospitalet.  While in Toulouse, I made note of the fact that I'd never thought I'd ever be studying the lymphatic system in a station waiting for a train on my way to Andorra (odd)!  As we arrived at our stop, we watched the last bus depart right before our very eyes.  However, a very nice Andorran couple who spoke some French offered us a ride!  They took us across the border, and drove us to a nearby town. They refused to take money from us.  So sweet!  They had dropped us off just in time for us to jump on a bus to take us to the hotel.  We walked around for a bit, and once we were finally directed in the right direction, made our way to our little place (which had the funniest little elevator I'd ever seen).  Next, was a little walking tour of Andorra la Vella by night.  We found a playground, and we also found a stone path up an extremely beautiful scenic route.  We could overlook the whole expanse of the city from there!  It was absolutely beautiful! In the morning we headed for the slopes!
    Breakfast was included, so we ate big before facing the day.  We eventually caught our bus, which was a task, found an equipment rental, bought our lift tickets, and headed to the mountains.  It was the single most perfect day to ski! It was absolutely remarkable!  It took me just a couple of runs to get back into the swing of things, but by the time we reached a black diamond, I was ready to face that gut wrenching feeling of looking over the edge to pure euphoria.  Every single run was incredible, and the entire time it took to ride up the next lift, I was just trying to soak in what had just happened moments before. 
    Once it was time to return our skis and boots to catch our bus to the train station, I had had my fill of adrenaline rushes for the day. However, it didn't end there.  We soon found out that the next bus would not arrive until after the time we had to be ON the train to head back to Toulouse.  Shoot! So, we called for a taxi, no luck.  We tried the police station, no luck. So, we stuck out our bottom lips and sad/lost puppy eyes and tried our thumbs at hitchhiking! ... to avail! A very nice couple took it upon themselves to safely transport us to the train station across the border with 20 minutes to spare.  Again, they refused the money.  We jumped on our train, and had a good long while to really let everything sink in.  Talk about traveler's luck! ... or the grace of God!
     We met three lovely French young ladies on the train, and my French was tested.  -Comprehension skills: check!, -Conversational skills: not so much.  With only severe wind burn as a negative, I'd say it was a pretty fantastic trip, and nothing compares thus far!

Barcelona Experience

    Here's a collection of some of the videos I took while in Barcelona.  The videos are, by no means, good quality, but they represent the culture well, and they are little bits and pieces of my experiences in this beautiful city.

Steel drums street performance.

I love this sound!

Parc Guelle inspired by Gaudi

Parc Guelle performer on a windy day.

Interesting fountain room in the Gaudi house, Barcelona

Flamenco!

Flamenco! Such a rich sound of the Barcelona culture!

Carcassonne & Barcelona

The first weekend of February, we left for Carcassonne:

 

While in Carcassonne we visited the beautiful pilgrimage church, and then we escaped the extreme cold and wind by eating at a little cafe.  I had a dish called cassoulet which is a Languedoc region specialty.  After spending the day there, we continued on our bus ride toward Barcelona.  We stopped in Narbonne to spend the night in a hotel.  The next morning we arrived in Barcelona and checked into our hostel.  For the duration of the time in Barcelona we did a lot of walking around the beautiful city.  

 Parc Guell

Barcelona by night

 We visited Gaudi's Sagrada Familia
My favorite aspect of this church was that Gaudi built it just under the height of the tallest mountain in Barcelona suggesting that man's creation can never measure up to God's creation.

 This is the view off the balcony of the Miro museum.

 We attended a flamenco dance which was an experience of the rich culture.

 Paella in Barcelona... how appropriate!

Gaudi house

 

 

 We visited the Dali museum!

Barcelona is such a beautiful city, and every day was filled with adventure.  The city was so alive at night, and the streets were wonderful to stroll around in.  Street performers, markets, artists, etc. etc.  Tapas in the early evening and dinner around 10.  It was so memorable, and I will post videos next!  It cannot be summed up, and I absolutely loved every minute of it!