I'm getting worse at this updating thing. I'll do a quick recap.

Bastille Day- I'm glad I was here for this. Bastille Day is most closely related to our fourth of July. Anyhow, the two main events were the morning parade and the fireworks at night. The parade was held on the Champs Elysees. THe French government is required to show its citizens all the military has to offer, and that's what the parade is for. They bring out portions of every branch of the military, all the trucks, guns, and even the tanks. The grand finale is a flyover of every single type of airplane they have. It was really pretty cool to see. Unfortunately, this was the first day we had really bad weather. It started raining toward the end of the parade, and when it started to pour we left. The rain kind of prevented us from enjoying the holiday, but it stopped raining just in time for us to head to the Eiffel Tower and grab a good spot for the fireworks, which were fantastic. They were choreographed to music, and were a backdrop for the eiffel tower. There couldn't be a better place to see fireworks.

Bibliotheque St Genvevieve- This was the first public building using exposed iron. Very pretty, a cool space to be in. It's a nice reminder that iron can still be elegant.

The Pantheon- although not quite as awe inspiring as the Pantheon in Rome, the Pantheon in Paris is larger and very cool. We got to go up to the dome, which gives an awesome view of the city.

Opera Garnier- I had really been looking forward to seeing this, because of my love of Phantom of the Opera. The building is extravagant and beautiful. The entry staircase is especially spectacular, full of color and grandeur. It was a bit disappointing that the underground river doesn't flow through the opera house, but instead the foundations of the house are kind of boat-shaped, and the entire building sort of floats, which means there is no problems of structural shifting and settling due to the ground moving under the foundations. That's pretty cool.

Fondation le Corbusier- and so begins the Corb stuff, with Villa laroche. Turns out I like Corb more than I thought. We also happen to have two buildings on our campus that he worked on.

Villa Savoye- more Corbu. I really loved this house, more than I thought I would. It's this clean, modern building, set away in the corner of a little French town. My favorite part of it was the roof garden, Corbu's "5th facade."

Centra Pompidou- the modern art museum, where the mechanical and electrical systems are exposed as part of the facade. The museum is kind of a run-down of the history of modern art, and has a lot of the super modern stuff that I really don't know how to understand. There was also some performance art piece going on the the entry, with 6 or 7 women dressed as snow white with a banquet table and machine guns. I won't pretend that I understood it, but it was interesting.

Maison de Verre- a modern house built into the existing buildings, with its exterior walls made completely of glass block infilling the steel structure. The house was amazing, every little aspect of it was considered and designed. All the stairs were different, designed for the space, the doors changed with function, it was like a designer's dream. Unfortunately, they didn't allow cameras, so I have no pictures to show.

Ok, so that's the quick recap. Last weekend I went to London. We only had about a day and a half to sightsee, but we made the most of it, walking all around town. We started with the millenium bridge, then went to Norman Foster's egg/gherkin building, the tower bridge, Big Ben, Parliament, Wesminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, War Rooms, British Museum, King's Cross (for a platform 9 3/4 Harry Potter geek-out), the London Eye, and Tate Modern. London was great, especially since I got to speak English for a weekend. The city struck me as a cooler version of Milwaukee, with better architecture. It didn't feel very European , not like Paris anyways.

Ok, so that was the really quick version, but that's what I've been up to!

It's been a while since my last post, I have a lot to recap. The busy schedule of class continues as usual, and I've been seeing so much every day.

Last week we took a two-day trip to the Loire Valley to see some chateaus. The first day we saw Chambord, Chaumont and Blois, then we stayed overnight in the city of Blois and went to see Azay-le-Rideau and Chenonceau the next day. The castles were all fabulous, of course. Its hard to find a castle that is not fabulous. Chambord was a good castle to start with, it was one of the biggest, even though it was never fully completed. One of its features was a central double-helix staircase, which was designed (I believe) by Da Vinci himself. It was surprisingly graceful and airy for a stone staircase. Another wow-factor of Chambord was the fact that you can go on the roof and walk around between all the towers. The views from the roof were fantastic, nothing but French wilderness. Chambourg has a cool history too: during the German occupation of France in WWII, it was used to hide art evacuated from French museums. There was a resistance against Hitler's destruction of any art that contradicted his ideals. There were images of the castle rooms filled up with boxes and canvasses. I'm a little surprised that it was never discovered, since the castle isn't exactly discreet, but it successfully hid and protected artwork from destruction.

Chaumont was even more beautiful, it sat on a cliff overlooking a river, it the view went on for miles. In front of the castle was an enormous garden, and even the stables were picturesque. The castle itself was considerably smaller than Chambourg, but it was still rather large. It felt much cozier than Chambourg, because the rooms were mostly wood, not stone, and the grounds were covered in trees and flowers, not just green lawn. It was a more intimate version of grandeur.

Blois was....confused. That's really the best way I can describe it. It is a castle that was added on to over the centuries, and each addition was done in the latest style, so they don't go together at all. It was pretty big, and ornately decorated. The evening we spent in Blois was night, it is a relatively smaller town, much quieter than Paris and quite relaxing. We didn't have much time to spend there, but I got the impression that outside of the castle there isn't much to see.

The next morning we went to Azay-le-Rideau. This castle had a full moat, which was kind of fun. It was like something out of a fairy tale. As far as the actual castle goes, it was more along the lines of Chaumont.

Finally, my favorite, Chenonceau. This castle is actually built over a river. Perhaps not as secure as a full moat, but way cooler and much more beautiful. It also had two huge gardens, one which belonged to the queen, the other which belonged to the queen's mistress. The two gardens were sort of a competition between the two women, they both tried to one-up the other's garden (whoever decided it was a good idea for them to share a getaway castle was seriously deluded). There was also a hedge maze in the grounds, but the heges were only about 5 feet tall, so it wasn't much of a challenge. I suppose it may have been designed for kids though....

Back in Paris, my favorite thing I've seen in the past week in Parc Citroen. It's a large public park on the site of what used to be the factory for Citroen cars. A bunch of landscape architects collaborated on the project, so there are a lot of different types of spaces, from grassy fields to pruned gardens, to nature-like forests and bamboo groves. The main feature of this park are greenhouses. There are two large ones in a prominent space that are more public, and 6 smaller private greenhouses. The private ones are really cool. They are raised up one story, and are reached by a long ramp that slopes up between the various gardens. Despite the fact that they are glass boxes, they feel private due to the fact that they are obscured by foliage and relatively secluded by hight and the long ramp. It's a simple and brilliant idea. The park is also full of water features, most of them very subtle and elegant. However, when I was there they were all off, either due to construction or the current heat advisory. I'd like to go back sometime when they are on again.

Today was our day trip to Versailles. I didn't get to see the interior today (though I will definitely return to see it). The grounds were large enough to keep us busy all day. They're enormous of course. At the time of his ruling Louis XIV was the wealthiest man on the planet, and his gardens reflect it. We rented bikes so we could see more of it in the short time. It was like we were all kids again, cruising around the grounds on bikes and using our little bells way too much. After biking we went to the petit trianon, which is best known as the home of Marie Antoinette. Le petit trianon is much more intimate and pleasant that the rather ostentatious palace. We finished off the day with a soccer game on the grounds. It was so much fun to play soccer again, and really cool to play at a place like versailles. We'll get a few more games in over the course of the summer.

Tomorrow is Bastille Day, which should be fun. We'll get up early for the parade and spend the day enjoying the festivities, which will end with fireworks at the eiffel tower. I am really excited, this seems to be the be-all and end-all of French holidays. The entire city closes down so everyone can celebrate. I'm glad I'll be here to experience it!

Venice, Seville, and Paris once more

Well, I am back after a busy, exhausting and amazing 10 days. Venice did not fall short of expectations. It was beautiful and relaxing, which was appreciated after hectic Rome. There were a lot of cool shops. Murano blown glass is really popular in Venice, and there were many stores full of beautiful hand-made glassware. There is so much I would of bought, but it was so expensive. Some of the vases and sculptures I saw were over 600 euros. Venetian masks were also very popular, and very cool.

Our hotel in Venice was cool but not very hotel-y. People looking for a continental breakfast and a concierge may have been disappointed, but I loved it. It was basically an apartment, but very clean and very cute. We had a key to the outside door so we came and went with no interaction with hotel staff.

After Venice we went to Seville. This also is not a touristy town, but it was fun to visit. It felt at times like a smaller, Spanish Paris. It was also very very hot, somewhere between 90 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit every day. To make the streets more walkable in the heat, any kind of shade was a must. Since the streets are relatively narrow and the buildings usually 4-5 stories high, the most common solution was to stretch strips of fabric from one building to another across the street, which created a very nice, unique atmosphere. This was done the most on shopping streets, and in courtyards. Another neat way they created shade was to grow vines on metal frames, they grew thickly enough that they created a solid green roof that was really pretty. Usually they completely hid the frames, so it looked like the trees and vines just grew that way.

The only really touristy thing we did in Seville was go see the Cathedral. I was told it was the 3rd largest cathedral in Europe, but I'm not 100% sure that is true. It was very very big though. It used to me a mosque, and was converted into a cathedral in the 1500s. The only part of the mosque that it retained was an orange tree courtyard, which was really cool. The courtyard was paved, with the trees placed in a grid and a big fountain in the middle. The trees were watered by an irrigation system sunk into the courtyard, which brought rainwater straight to the trees, and created a cool pattern in the stone pavers. The Cathedral itself was really impressive. It didn't have statues like Notre Dame or Chartres, but it had lots of intricate, curly ornamentation. The organ was particularly cool: the pipes stretched almost floor to ceiling, and they were encased in intricately carved wood. It was all incredibly beautiful. Another neat thing about the Cathedral: Christopher Colombus's tomb was there. It was very big, a 4-high rectangular base with four larger-than-life statues carrying what was either a chest or a coffin.

One cool thing I forgot to mention about Rome: Raphael is buried at the Pantheon. I had no idea until I went there, so that was a cool surprise. Also, the engraving on this tomb translates to "here lies Raphael, by whom the mother of all things (Nature) feared to be overcome while he was living, and while he was dying, feared herself to die."I wonder if he chose those words himself...

Anyhow, back to Seville. We only had one full day there, but by that point in our travels we were getting pretty burned out. Aside from the stress of travel itself, it was kind of exhausting to switch languages every few days. I went from France, where I spoke a little French, to Italy where I only know a handful of Italian words, to Spain, where I know a little Spanish but mostly got it confused with Italian, which is very similar. Today I was relieved to return to Paris, where I can at least say and understand a little.

All the places I traveled to had their own claim to fame, and a unique appeal, but I didn't in fall in love with any of them the way I fell in love with Paris. I was happy to return, and I still think Paris is my favorite city.

When in Rome...go to Venice!!

I am about halfway through my first independent study break. I took off for Italy with my friends Ben, Becky and Sam. First stop was Rome. I am very glad I got to see it, but it was definitely not my favorite place. The Colosseum was awesome, as was the Pantheon. I loved the fact that ruins were everywhere. However, it was too tourist-y, the people too aggressive, and the city too dirty. Everything was very crowded and very expensive. Lots of waiting in lines, lots of pushing and shoving. The street vendors were everywhere, and even pushier than in Paris. The most unpleasant change was the restaurants. The waiters would stand outside, waiting to shove a menu in your hands and try to convince you to come in. That got old fast. Also, the Vatican was a huge tourist trap.

But I complain too much. It was Rome, and that in itself is very cool. It is the source of classical architecture, "the epicenter of a structural revolution." Classical architectural language was everywhere, even on the most mundane buildings. We stayed in a less fanc corner or town, which actually wasnt too far from the Colisseum. We made reservations at a Bed and Breakfast, which turned out to be an apartment that a couple rented out rooms in. It was clean and had plenty of space, and the people who owned it were nice and obviously tried very hard to make our stay pleasant. The woman who was there to greet us the first day was fun to talk to. The funniest part when she was telling us about her sister in California, who she keeps in touch with through facebook. She asked us if we used Facebook, and then said "do you know Farm Ville?!?!!" in a thick Italian accent. We all just laughed.

Anyhow, we spent three days walking around Rome, but were very ready to leave by the end of three days. Next stop, Venice. I was inlove with the city before the plane had touched down. Its still touristy, but much more relaxed and pleasant than Rome. We are staying in a hotel that is truly a diamond in the rough. Its small and quaint, but cozy. I love all the water in Venice. In Paris we used the metro, in Rome we walked, in venice we take boats everywhere. The shopping is great too, tons of shops with blown glass, and lots of shops with Venetian masks. We visited the beach, which was awesome except for the stellar sunburn I got. SPF 50 is no match for mediterranean sun.

And in closing, a brief shout out to my dear friend Liz, who just turned 21 while I was away. Miss you Liz!! I hope you had fun!

Travel, travel, travel

So, where I last left off was the day before our trip to Chartres. We took the train out to Chartres, which is really just a little village but is also one of the most visited places in France, due to the Cathedral. The town was cute, still retaining some of its medieval organization and buildings. The Cathedral is the biggest gothic cathedral, which definitely says something. Fun fact: Chartres Cathedral's stained glass windows use a lot of blue, which other cathedrals do not. Also, that color of blue glass has never been able to be replicated. When we visited, they were in the process of cleaning the cathedral. The dirt and pollution over hundreds of years clings to the stone and glass, making it dingy and dirty. The cleaned portion of the church was absolutely amazing! The stone was clean and bright, almost white, and the glass was brilliantly colorful. The entire church will be cleaned and restored in 5 or 6 years, and I definitely want to revisit it then. It totally changed my perception of gothic cathedrals. I always imagined them to be kind of dark and dingy, when really they were built to be taller and let in more light. When they are clean and sparkling, I can only imagine how much more beautiful they will be.

Also at Chartres, we got to climb the bell tower, which was fun. However, the long and narrow spiral staircase made me a bit claustrophobic. It was cool to see the cathedral and town from such a high vantage point.

The first weekend in Paris gave us a taste of just how many tourists visit the city. I happened to pass Notre Dame on Saturday, and the entire area was packed. I certainly didn't feel like a tourist after I saw the hordes of truly touristy tourists.

Monday we began a two day trip, first stopping in Normandy. We saw Arromanches beach, where in WWII the British sunk all of their damaged ships to create an artificial harbor. Next we went to Omaha Beach, the site of the d-day invasion. The beach was absolutely beautiful, which was kind of weird. It was hard to imagine the invasion taking place there. There were the remains of sum bunkers and gun turrets that we got to see, and there was a memorial museum and cemetery. I'm really glad we got to stop there, it was very cool to see.

We finished up our travels on Monday by going to San Malo, which quickly became my favorite place. It is an old walled town, and has the greatest tidal change of anywhere in the world. At high tide the water rises 40 feet, and San Malo becomes an island. At low tide it exposes awesome beaches and creates tide pools. We arrived during low tide and explored the beaches and climbed on the rocks. That night we went up on the wall that surrounds the city to watch the sun set.

The city itself is pretty quiet, and very cute. My friends and I all agree it would be the perfect place for a vacation home.

On Tuesday we were sad to leave San Malo, but we headed out for le Mont St Michel. Like San Malo, Mont St Michel is sometimes an island. When the tide is out it creates vast expanses of sandy flats, which are absolutely surreal. As for St Michel itself, it looks like something straight out of a Tolkien novel. Its a town on a steep hill, with the church on top and the city spread out below it and a wall around the perimeter for protection. A little narrow main street winds counter-clockwise around the island all the way to the church at the top. It was really very cool, but the ambiance was ruined by all the people packed into the tiny island.

Tomorrow is the beginning of independent study break #1. I am taking off to Rome for 5 days, then Venice and Seville for two days each. I am so excited to see Spain and Italy!

Falling in love with Paris...

It's been a busy but exciting couple of days. Our very first class was at Notre Dame, which was absolutely mind-blowing. For one thing, the cathedral is much bigger than I realized, and far more ornate. The entire thing is covered in statues and carving and stained glass. I particularly love the gargoyles. I don't know exactly how to describe what it was like to be inside the cathedral. I think my jaw literally dropped. The ceiling is over 100 feet high, and the stained glass lights the entire place beautifully. I will probably overuse the word "beautiful" in my descriptions of my summer. Everything in Paris is beautiful. And Notre Dame is the most beautiful thing I've seen so far. It is truly spectacular. Pictures could never do it justice, but I will post them anyways, hopefully soon. I want to go back to climb the bell tower (check out Quasimodo's hang-out) and my professor recommended that even the non-religious attend an organ mass on Sunday. I can't imagine what Notre Dame will be like when it is filled with music.

I feel like I've walked all over Paris. Our classes start at 8 or 9 am and we usually alternate between walking and drawing all the way up until around 5 pm. I'm starting to call it my Paris diet: walk all day and don't eat much. By the end of the day we are all exhausted, but we get to see so much. We also visited Eglise Sainte-Clotilde and Saint Denis, although they were not quite as beautiful as Notre Dame. We have seen the Grand Palais, the Petit Palais, Les Invalides, the Champs Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe, the Tuilleries, the Palais Royal, Place des Vosges, Place de la Bastille, l'Arsenal, the Eiffel Tower (and probably much more that I can't think of right now) on our walking tours. I also ended up inside the Louvre by accident for a little bit (the metro station exited into it, I didn't realize until I turned a corner and saw I.M.Pei's inverted pyramid. That was quite the surprise!)

Speaking of the metro, we are all becoming pros at navigating the city's public transit system. The metro and the RER and the tram are all very convenient and well organized. I think I have heard Paris's transit system described as the best in the world and I wouldn't be surprised it if were true. We use it all the time, and it is great, although sometimes I feel a bite guilty spending time under ground in such a beautiful city.

Last night while using the communal kitchen I got to meet some other students in my building that were from Japan. They were all fluent in Japanese and French, and most of them spoke some English. I was impressed that they were tri-lingual. Being here really makes me wish I was at least bi-lingual. I'm not learning much new French, but perhaps that will come slowly. It would be great to take a class while I'm here. When I go home I will try to learn more so that when I come back some day I can actually carry on a conversation. I'm certainly not the worst French speaker here, I frequently see Americans who don't even try to use a little French, and it bothers me. I feel like you should at least try to learn the language of the country that you are in, rather than expect the world to know your language. No wonder Americans get a bad reputation.

Aside from simple manners, I feel there is a lot that America can learn from Paris (and probably the rest of Europe) in terms of design. One thing I really love about the city is that it's very dense, but it never feels too dense. The buildings are attractive, and there are plenty of gardens. Since all the buildings here are built wall-to-wall, there are often central courtyards that allow light in and cross-ventilation for the air. Simple, attractive, and an intelligent use of space. Why didn't America carry these ideas over? Also, things are small in Paris, but they are still comfortable. The dorm room that I share with one other girl is about 90-100 square feet, with maybe 40 square feet for the closet, sink and entry, and a little closet of a bathroom. Still, it is comfortable. Perhaps a permanent home could be a little bigger, but we don't need homes as big as we have in America.

Ok, that's all the ranting I will do for now on the flaws of American living.

Tomorrow we take the train out to see Chartres Cathedral. My professor says it is more impressive than Notre Dame (I can't even imagine!). It is located in a typical medieval town, which will be very cool to see. It will be a very early morning though, so I am off to bed. I'll try to post pictures soon!

Finally in Paris!

I'm officially here now! When I got off the plane yesterday I had a hard time comprehending that I was actually in Paris, but waking up today it seemed a little more real.

The flight was good, but very disorienting. We left the US at 6 pm CST and landed in Dublin at 1 am, or 7am Dublin time. It was really weird, since we were flying toward the sunrise we only had about two hours of darkness. We were only in Dublin for 4 hours, but that didn't stop the group from getting an 8am beer at the airport pub (because you have to go to a pub in Ireland, and we were on Milwaukee time and it was right about bar close there). From Ireland it was a short flight to Paris. Flying in over the city I could see the Eiffel Tower, and I freaked out a little bit. It was pretty exciting.

My friend Petronille met me at the airport which was nice. She also ended up being incredibly helpful, since I was so overwhelmed with everything. The new country, foreign language, and complete lack of a sense of time made everything so confusing.

Paris looks a lot like I imagined it to, which shouldn't be weird, but is. The whole city is picturesque and always busy. We stayed in a little hotel the first night. Based on that one hotel, Paris hotels are very different from American hotels. The room was tiny, just large enough for the beds with about 2 feet to walk around them and 3 feet where the door was. Also, the showers here don't have fixed heads, you have to use one hand to hold it. But, one thing I love about the buildings in Paris is that they all have tall skinny windows that open like doors. They let so much light into the room, and in the hotel there was a little ledge so you could step out and look up and down the street. Also, there are never screens on the windows in Paris, but bugs don't seem to be a problem.

After wandering a little bit and getting food, we went to bed early and slept through the night. I think staying awake through the flights and until the evening helped me skip jet lag, because I really didn't have any problem. Today I checked into my dorm. I'm at the Cite Universitaire, which is a collection of dorms for study abroad students. They are set up a lot like a typical American college campus, with large beautiful buildings and lots of green space. The dorms are pretty nice, and like the hotel, small. But who needs to stay inside when there is Paris to see?

I just can't get over how beautiful everything is. It feels like everything I've seen is gorgeous. I saw Notre Dame today, and it was more spectacular than I realized. So intricate and very very very big. I also saw Place des Vosges, which is also beautiful. It's so crazy to actually be in the places we've learned about!

I've been trying to use my French. There are a lot of gaps in my knowledge, but I've been doing ok for the most part. It's getting less intimidating as time goes on, and hopefully I'll get better.

I don't have any photos uploaded yet, but I'll work on it. Tomorrow we start classes!

Two days to go!

I just wanted to let you know that I'll be putting pictures up on shutterfly (allisonsheamastel.shutterfly.com).

Also, turns out I'm living in a different place than I thought, but that's ok. I'll be at Cite Universitaire, which will also be home to many other study abroad students from all over the world. Hopefully I will get to meet some interesting people that way! It is still in Paris, but not in the 11eme.

That's all for now. One more day in Milwaukee, then off to the airport on Saturday!

Two weeks to go!

Bonjour tout le monde! I decided to create a blog as a record of my study abroad in Europe this summer, and also as a way for you all back home to see what I am up to. I'll do my very best to keep it updates, I have never blogged before so we'll see how it goes!

In just 14 days I will be leaving for Paris, France. I will get to live in the 11eme arroindessement, where the Place de la Bastille and the New Opera are located. I can't wait to get a feel for Parisian life, and I hope that in the two months I spend here I will be able to improve my terrible French and hopefully not stick out too badly as a tourist (although I'm sure my excessive picture-taking will give me away). And, of course, it goes without saying that I am beyond excited to visit all of beautiful architectural precedents in France and any other countries I manage to get to. Needless to say, no other time in my life will I get to have class in places like Notre Dame de Paris. (Also, my professor says that we only need to walk a few blocks from our apartment to get a view of the cathedral. Unbelievable!)

As of now, I have a hard time believing that I will actually be in Europe in just a few weeks. Anyhow, I will do my best to keep this updated with pictures and such, and I promise my next post will be more interesting.