Wednesday, September 17th
We started off the day with a bus tour all around Paris. It was nice to see a lot of things and get an idea of some other places that I did not know of already. I was really happy that I had talked so much with my dad about the layout of the city and different sites to see, as well as the fact that we had walked around last night as well, because it was very easy to get turned around going in circles and down all kinds of crazy streets on the tour.
I felt bad though, because a lot of people just fell asleep on the tour and missed the entire thing. I would feel terrible sleeping through anything on this trip. I don’t want to miss a thing. I told myself that I would not sleep in Paris at all because there is so much I want to do, and so far it looks like I’m doing a good job of that!
The tour guide was a nice, animated little lady, and was funny because she was making jokes about the French and the English… oh the rivalry…
The tour ended at the Musee d’Orsay. I was really excited about this because my dad has raved on and on about it. It was everything he said and more. The interior is beautiful, and it was so exciting seeing some of the pieces in there. I got to see my first Picasso, in addition to some Mondrion, Renoir, Gauguin, Seurat, Cezanne, Monet, Pissarro, Degas, Manet & Whistler, Latoure, Toulouse-Lautrec, Ingres, Delacroix, Delaunay, and Daumier.
A few things that really stuck out were the Mondrion pieces for sure. I have always identified him with his gridded piece with the primary colors (I forget the name of it). In the pieces displayed here, it was all genre or scenic paintings, nothing abstract in thought. You can see him starting to sway away from the realist views with the thicker lines and different style, but for the most part, everything was recognizable. Later he goes on to explore more about space and the relationships of color and open space- how the eye perceives things.
That would make sense why he was right next to the other impressionistic painters, pointillism specifically. It was really cool seeing some of the studies that Seurat had done for the huge piece that is hanging in the Art Institute of Chicago. Also, seeing other pieces similar to that, looking at them close up and farther away, seeing the varying space between the dots, layers verses none, and color usage all made each piece unique.
I walked around the rest of the museum with Cody, and then we ended up meeting Chad and Mike at the San Michelle Fountain. We walked down that street for a bit shopping and looking at other stores, got some Starbucks (my only time so far… im sorry… I am an American….) and then continued on to the Pantheon.
Walking into the building was incredible. There were paintings everywhere, all over the walls and ceilings, and the vaulting, the domes, and the “wedding cake frosting” decoration everywhere was so beautiful. There were also glittering gold mosaics on the walls as well. Statues all around the inside were huge and impressive. The columns were so tall and so wide that we tried hugging them, but didn’t even make it halfway around. We stopped this soon after however, to avoid getting yelled at by the guards….
In the middle of the building was a pendulum and I am not completely sure the specifics of how it works, but Mike explained to me that this specific one actually never moves, and that the rotation of it is actually the earth rotating around it. Looking at the different gages and markings, you can tell the date, and time as well.
We went down into the crypts and were able to see the tombs of many famous individuals. Among them were Victor Hugo, J.J. Rousseau, Marie Curie and her husband.
We ran into Shawn and decided all to walk back to go get dinner, and shop a bit on San Michelle on the way out. On our way out we ran into some huge parade of young people in ethnic outfits chanting something. We determined it was some sort of cultural celebration judging by their flags and appearance.
We started off the day with a bus tour all around Paris. It was nice to see a lot of things and get an idea of some other places that I did not know of already. I was really happy that I had talked so much with my dad about the layout of the city and different sites to see, as well as the fact that we had walked around last night as well, because it was very easy to get turned around going in circles and down all kinds of crazy streets on the tour.
I felt bad though, because a lot of people just fell asleep on the tour and missed the entire thing. I would feel terrible sleeping through anything on this trip. I don’t want to miss a thing. I told myself that I would not sleep in Paris at all because there is so much I want to do, and so far it looks like I’m doing a good job of that!
The tour guide was a nice, animated little lady, and was funny because she was making jokes about the French and the English… oh the rivalry…
The tour ended at the Musee d’Orsay. I was really excited about this because my dad has raved on and on about it. It was everything he said and more. The interior is beautiful, and it was so exciting seeing some of the pieces in there. I got to see my first Picasso, in addition to some Mondrion, Renoir, Gauguin, Seurat, Cezanne, Monet, Pissarro, Degas, Manet & Whistler, Latoure, Toulouse-Lautrec, Ingres, Delacroix, Delaunay, and Daumier.
A few things that really stuck out were the Mondrion pieces for sure. I have always identified him with his gridded piece with the primary colors (I forget the name of it). In the pieces displayed here, it was all genre or scenic paintings, nothing abstract in thought. You can see him starting to sway away from the realist views with the thicker lines and different style, but for the most part, everything was recognizable. Later he goes on to explore more about space and the relationships of color and open space- how the eye perceives things.
That would make sense why he was right next to the other impressionistic painters, pointillism specifically. It was really cool seeing some of the studies that Seurat had done for the huge piece that is hanging in the Art Institute of Chicago. Also, seeing other pieces similar to that, looking at them close up and farther away, seeing the varying space between the dots, layers verses none, and color usage all made each piece unique.
I walked around the rest of the museum with Cody, and then we ended up meeting Chad and Mike at the San Michelle Fountain. We walked down that street for a bit shopping and looking at other stores, got some Starbucks (my only time so far… im sorry… I am an American….) and then continued on to the Pantheon.
Walking into the building was incredible. There were paintings everywhere, all over the walls and ceilings, and the vaulting, the domes, and the “wedding cake frosting” decoration everywhere was so beautiful. There were also glittering gold mosaics on the walls as well. Statues all around the inside were huge and impressive. The columns were so tall and so wide that we tried hugging them, but didn’t even make it halfway around. We stopped this soon after however, to avoid getting yelled at by the guards….
In the middle of the building was a pendulum and I am not completely sure the specifics of how it works, but Mike explained to me that this specific one actually never moves, and that the rotation of it is actually the earth rotating around it. Looking at the different gages and markings, you can tell the date, and time as well.
We went down into the crypts and were able to see the tombs of many famous individuals. Among them were Victor Hugo, J.J. Rousseau, Marie Curie and her husband.
We ran into Shawn and decided all to walk back to go get dinner, and shop a bit on San Michelle on the way out. On our way out we ran into some huge parade of young people in ethnic outfits chanting something. We determined it was some sort of cultural celebration judging by their flags and appearance.
When shopping, I bought a winter coat, as did Mike and Chad, and looked in a store called “Jennyfer.” I thought that was kinda funny cuz that is what my cousin always calls me, as if spelled like that, because my real name isn’t actually “Jennifer.” Lame, but yea…
Anyway,somehow we got separated so me and Cody just went back toward the hostel to go get dinner. The guys ended up showing up only a few minutes after we did, so we all ate together and then went across the street to drink some wine at a café. We ended up getting into a discussion about politics with the Deb and Rupert who had joined up with us as well. I HATE talking about politics, because everyone is always going to be so opinionated, and nothing will ever be resolved no matter how much you have supported your argument. I believe what I believe, and try my best to be educated on many matters, and it bothers me when someone says flat out “No, you are wrong,” but fails to present you an argument- just simply their bias, close-minded views… however, that is a completely separate issue… moving on…
The discussion wasn’t all that bad, just a lot of people talking about their thoughts on certain concepts. That is another thing I noticed here: all of Europe LOVES Obama. I guess it makes sense with the health care and other generally democratic ideals.
It was Chad’s birthday tonite at midnight, so we decided to go out and celebrate somehow. We all wandered around the city again, and ended up sitting in a cafe drinking wine for the night. It was a great time! :)
Anyway,somehow we got separated so me and Cody just went back toward the hostel to go get dinner. The guys ended up showing up only a few minutes after we did, so we all ate together and then went across the street to drink some wine at a café. We ended up getting into a discussion about politics with the Deb and Rupert who had joined up with us as well. I HATE talking about politics, because everyone is always going to be so opinionated, and nothing will ever be resolved no matter how much you have supported your argument. I believe what I believe, and try my best to be educated on many matters, and it bothers me when someone says flat out “No, you are wrong,” but fails to present you an argument- just simply their bias, close-minded views… however, that is a completely separate issue… moving on…
The discussion wasn’t all that bad, just a lot of people talking about their thoughts on certain concepts. That is another thing I noticed here: all of Europe LOVES Obama. I guess it makes sense with the health care and other generally democratic ideals.
It was Chad’s birthday tonite at midnight, so we decided to go out and celebrate somehow. We all wandered around the city again, and ended up sitting in a cafe drinking wine for the night. It was a great time! :)
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