Paris: Blvd. Raspail, Le Panthéon, St. Etienne du Mont, L'ile Saint-Louis

Aujourd'hui j'ai rencontré une copine who went to Mt. Holyoke last year. C'était très sympa de se ballader in the sun. Paris in May is quite perfect because the summer heat hasn't arrived and neither have the masses of tourists.

J'ai rencontré Sarah a la station de metro Rennes. I get out and lo and behold a market is happening! A typical French market with fish, meats, cheese, produce, clothes, jewelry.. all making me wish I had a camera to go around with taking pictures sens stress. There were a couple of colorful large hats that I'm contemplating treating myself to. The smell of chicken and roast potatoes, vendors yelling out their little sales pitch. There is something so nice about walking in a market. I'm going to have a great time in Bologna!

We decide to head towards Le Luxembourg, so we grab a sandwich and stop by L'Eglise St. Sulpice which I had never seen before. (I discovered a lot of places I had never really been to). It's a striking church with two towers and two stories of arches. It recently was renovated so it looked lovely, with the fountain in the square and les jeunes* lounging around eating lunch.

Luxembourg was great as usual. We sat in the shade and talked about DSK and the differences between the US and France concerning matters of rape. I know not a very jovial topic for lunch, but interesting all the same since it really shows how each country has progressed. While the French have equal pay as a law, it's still ok to harass women at work. When obviously in the States, harassment is taken a lot more seriously (Thank God! I mean can you imagine? The way people discuss the DSK affair here-they literally blame it all on the woman!). It's always fascinating to do comparisons of France and the States, or any other country for that matter, because la mentalité is so different. People walk down the street with a different point of view.

Après le Luxe :), direction Panthéon. I don't have any recollection of ever having been even close to La Sorbonne. Le quartier is really nice, with its vigorous, stone buildings (Can you tell I'm trying to come up with art history lingo? Vigorous really? I can't seem to come up with anything better that describes the clean, creme facades of this quartier...). I did not go into the Panthéon, which is colossal, that will be for another day.  All the students were lounging around, enjoying the sunshine and livening up the square.

To the side of the Panthéon there is a Jesuit Church (at least I think it is) called St. Etienne du Mont, where the remains of Blaise Pascal et Jean Racine can be found.  It's been rebuilt a couple of times so it has a conglomeration of styles. The inside has this amazing jubé, a sort of rood-screen, that one could theoretically walk around the perimeter of the church. Further back in la gallerie du cloitre, one can find detailed and gorgeous stained class windows. "Ce sont des peintures sure verre avec des émaux recuits au four, à la différence des autres vitreax de l'église où le verre est coloré dans la masses." It's definitely a church to go visit. I walked into a lot of churches today. It probably has to do with the fact that they are free, beautiful pieces of architecture and I've looked a Baroque churches all this past semester in my art history class. 

My friend and I had to part ways, shortly thereafter and I went off to Notre Dame de Paris always gives me the shivers. What I do not like is that it's always so crowded!Then I walked around L'Ile St. Louis where I got myself an ice cream cone (which I ate sur la seine) and a blister. Le sorbet à la framboise était délicieux, l'ampoule très chiant. After all that I was tired and went back home to St. Cloud. Maison et jardin is always so nice. Paris is lovely, but it is a city and cities drain so much of my energy. I always feel plein de poussière et fatiguée. 

Paris in Springtime

Je suis à Paris, more precisely St. Cloud and Sèvres on days that I hang out with Abigail. I'm getting over jet-lag and accepting the fact that my French is rusty and I don't know how to express myself in flawless, flowing sentences. Va bene, non è un problema. I'm having a great time with family and meeting my little nephews.
Unfortunately, I don't have a camera so my accounts will be a bit bare...

Things to do in Paris-
Musée Bourdelle: There is an exhibit on Mme. Grès
Versailles: After having taken Building Baroque Europe at Smith I'm walking around Paris et les alentours spotting serliana motifs everywhere. An afternoon at Versailles walking around in Les Jardins-or maybe biking since you can get more places that way-is indispensable.

Musée Cluny: I have yet to see la Tapisserie de Bayeux, I think it's about time :)
Fontainebleau is having Festival d'Histoire d'Art at the end of May which is free and would be a lot of fun to go to.

Hats

It's springtime! I know April has passed but with Easter and a Royal Wedding this can only mean HATS! Hats are fantastic, especially large headpieces. The 'royal toppers' were quite impressive and made me yearn for hat boxes, white gloves and a 1930s trunk like you see in the movies (The Gay Divorcee, 1934). A couple weeks following the Royal Weekend, Bill Cunningham did a Street Style on the chapeaux in Central Park. These creations were even more elaborate and I have to say a lot more fun and spring-like than the elegant hats worn by royal guests.

Diane Walker's Poems and Photos: Dove in the Stone

Diane Walker's Poems and Photos: Dove in the Stone: "Death was never meant to be the opposite of life; it is instead the opposite of birth, and life becomes the time between two doors, each swi..."

Diane Walker's Poems and Photos: You sleigh me

Diane Walker's Poems and Photos: You sleigh me: "You have to laugh, you know -- when some part of you gets so ridiculously caught up in all those shoulds and oughtas: that old goat, ego, is..."

She said, She said

15 Rules for Us Girls to Live By -by Marion Roach on August 18, 2009. The first rule is so true and is one that I absolutely live by. Red shoes are essential to add spunk, gumption, un peu de geule to life. Rule # 3 is to wear lipstick. My grandmother, as the story goes, would always "put her face on" and wear white gloves before leaving the house. My younger sister follows this rule when she's dancing or doing anything where she needs confidence.
Mount Holyoke posted this on their facebook page. what a great blog!

Google Maps

The other day I explored Google Maps. In Italian class our TA has shown us Milano and her apartment. I didn't know this but you can actually walk along some streets of the world just sitting in front of your computer. So I revisited 63 Avenue Douglas Haig and it was surreal. Here I was, in front of my computer screen, scrolling down a familiar street of my childhood that I hadn't been on for close to 10 years until suddenly I see Mme. Usson's house and la court. Weird.

"Civil Rights, Black Power, and Social Justice: The Courage to Act"

That was the title of tonight's panel discussion featuring civil rights leader Dr. Bernard LaFayette, Jr.,  civil rights scholar Dr. Peniel Joseph, Professor of History at Tufts University and moderated by our very own President Lynn Pasquerella. I just love these panel discussions because they are so inspiring. The conversations and dialogues they spark keep me thinking and excited for the rest of the week. This was the first time I actually stayed after the panel to go up to the speakers to thank them for their time and discuss further issues of social justice and the need for change. 


You can find an article about the evening from the Mount Holyoke News as well as from the New Hampshire Gazette here. 

Nooma

This is exactly what I needed to hear this weekend. I've been struggling to come to terms with me declaring a major. I've talked to professors, friends, family, mentors and all I seem to feel is pulled in different directions, tempted to please one person or the other. I have yet to make a decision because I need to see how I like my classes this semester, but I think it is important to ask yourself the question, "What is it that I have said yes to?"Rob Bell also states in the video something really profound: Do not do anything out of obligation.

• "We need to examine the rhythms of our lives if we are ever going to will the one thing in our life..."
• "Being busy is a drug that a lot of people are addicted to."
• Focus your energies
• What's my path?
• Withdraw, listen to God/myself
• "May you drop your shells in the pursuit of a simple, disciplined, focused life in which you pursue the few things God has for you."

Nooma- where Rob Bell posts his videos

East Coast Weather

I'm back in two feet of snow, below freezing weather and blue skies. I got back to my room late at night and realized what a luxury it is to live on quiet Bainbridge Island-no noise from fans or lights outside, no 5:30 am wake up by beeping trucks coming to take out garbage or deposit food for the dining hall. The weather here is so cold and dry that it took me a total of perhaps 30 minutes for my skin to dry out and my hair to flatten out. At least there is sunshine.
My friend and I went on a walk around Upper Lake and stomped around in the snow, which was quite deep.

Italian Politics

"Whatever it is, it is very Italian. This is, after all, the culture that invented the Baroque, with its trompe l’oeil ceilings, false doors, facades that disguise multiple layers and facades that disguise nothing at all. In his years in public life, Mr. Berlusconi has blurred the line between image and reality. Or rather, he has made a brilliant career on the fundamental Italian truth that image is reality." -Donadio, Rachel. Surreal-A Soap Opera Starring Berlusconi, New York Times

Merchant Ivory and E.M. Forster

I absolutely adore Merchant Ivory's adaptations of E.M. Forster's novels. A Room with a View is breathtaking. I've recently viewed Maurice with Hugh Grant, James Wilby and Rupert Graves and it is another masterpiece. One aspect that I like about these two films is the familiar faces of characters interpreted by Patrick Godfrey, Simon Callow, Denholm Eliott and Helena Bonham-Carter (who is uncredited in Maurice, but appears for a brief scene as a guest).

Keli Carender: "The New Discontent: The Tea Party Movement from the Ground Up"

Tonight, as part of the Weissman Leadership Series, Keli Carender, Seattle resident and Tea Party Organizer came to Mount Holyoke College. I walked over to Chapin like most people curious to see what she had to say about the Tea Party Movement. A little rally with amusing signs was outside-in the freezing cold I might add, which is dedication in itself. One of my favorite was "I like tea but now you've ruined it for me".
           I have to say I was impressed by Keli's integrity, calm demeanor and emphasis on freedom of speech and dialogue about common issues rather than personal attacks. The questions were the most interesting part of the whole evening since she really got to answer some pointed questions. She made a couple things very clear: Keli Carender is part of the Tea Party Patriots which is a faction of the tea party. This is confusing because there are many Tea Party groups-some more radical, religious, or racist. The Tea Party Patriots are concerned with three main issues: 1. Fiscal issues 2. Constitutionality and 3. Free Markets. The majority of her beliefs I don't agree with her at all on the policy changes, but the way she approaches dialogue and how she is motivated for change to happen is admirable. Her blog can be found here. Its so frustrating--my current plan is to move to Scandinavia or Switzerland for part of the year. Hopefully, it will depress me less to be surrounded by socialists.
         It blows my mind (and she mentioned this in her talk) that a Seattlite, with liberal parents, fiancee and friends is so conservative in her principles. She is a pleasant, smart, engaging woman who is fiscally conservative. How her policy writings will differ from Republican policies? That she still has to prove.

Temple Grandin

I just finished watching Temple Grandin's talk when she came to Mount Holyoke this past week. I highly recommend you watch it. It's absolutely fascinating. She talked about autism, animals and the need to fight overly abstract thinking because often enough it doesn't relate at all to the field of study in practical terms. I kept thinking about Waldorf Education and how it really gives a strong foundation in all types of different fields. Temple Grandin supports hands-on learning and is really concerned about the  decrease of these classrooms in schools.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-Almost the End

With all the Harry Potter hype surrounding me this Thanksgiving, it's impossible not to write a post talking about how Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-Part 1 is amazing. I thought it was the best movie of the series excluding the first two movies. I absolutely adored it. It was smart, funny, quick-paced, sad, and scary and left you, unlike other of the films, satisfied that the director and the film team had accomplished their goal of telling a story. I didn't leave wishing this line had been added or that scene added. The film was concise, poignant and a brilliant finish to a wonderful Harry Potter era. I cannot wait to see the final installment in July. David Yates outshone himself and the way the characters were represented really illustrated their complexity.

Let it Go

Enough
by Jeffrey Harrison

It's a gift, this cloudless November morning
warm enough for you to walk without a jacket
along your favorite path. The rhythmic shushing
of your feet through fallen leaves should be 
enough to quiet the mind, so it surprises you 
when you catch yourself telling off your boss
for a decade of accumulated injustices,
all the things you've never said circling inside you.

It's the rising wind that pulls you out of it,
and you look up to see a cloud of leaves
swirling in sunlight, flickering against the blue
and rising above the treetops, as if the whole day
were sighing, Let it go, let it go,
for this moment at least, let it all go.

MHC Archives

The Mount Holyoke Archives are pretty amazing and fascinating, even though haven't visited them yet. It's on my to do list--I wish the college would do more classes that involved archival research on Mt. Holyoke because right now there is an exhibit in the library atrium that chronicles the use of food at MHC. Upon clicking the pictures I find that we have a growing digital collections of images. Here is a picture of a senior dance in 1941 and Chapin is packed to the brim.

Halloween

This morning at breakfast, on All Hallow's Eve, a black cat came up to me in the dining hall. Somehow, the cutie pie had sneaked in and wanted some attention. It was quickly put outside since cats cannot stay in dining halls and the dining workers were all talking how bizarre that a black cat on Halloween came into the building.

New York, New York

For fall break, I went for the first time to New York City! I stayed with my friend at Sarah Lawrence College and then one night in Brooklyn with a MHC friend. It was a fantastic weekend-taking in the feel of New York in all of its sunshine, fall glory. I absolutely loved it! The energy on the street is unique and Paris does not at all have the same feel. I felt actually more comfortable in NYC. There was a feeling of movement, change, everybody was transitory yet people were united in that transition from place to place. Also, there is a myth that New York people are quite unfriendly and I didn't find that the case at all. It felt easy to strike up conversations or ask questions to people right next to you because, hey, you will most likely never see them again!
      The weekend was spent hanging out with friends/cousin, walking around the city, standing in-line to get a discounted broadway ticket (we ended up going to see Mamma Mia!) and eating a lot of gyros. I also acquired some new pashminas--adding new color to my life parce que je le vaux bien!

Fall Colors

It's time for another fall update here on the beautiful campus of Mount Holyoke. The colors are spectacular. I love fall in New England. You wake up one day to sunny, blue skies and vibrant colors of leaves. Breath taking! I went up Mt. Norwottuck the other day with the outing club. It was a short hike up through the yellow trees. At the top was this view of autumn colors that stretched on for miles. It was a carpet of reds, yellow, orange, greens and browns.
I'm so glad I chose a room with a view of the lake. It makes all the difference.