Montmartre & the Salvador Dalí Museum

Montmartre used to be a village on the outskirts of Paris, but as the city grew, this charming, hilly, cobble-stoned area was eventually integrated into Paris. “Back in the day,” so to speak, starving artists and bohemians frequented this area. At the base of the Montmartre hill lies the famous Moulin Rouge and Pigalle, the red light district of Paris.

Lucky for me, the metro line I live close to takes me directly to Montmartre! I surfaced from the metro at Abbesses (TAKE THE ELEVATOR UP – I made the mistake of using the stairs, and I think I hiked up about 10 floors-worth of stairs) and the first thing I saw was a vintage clothing store. I immediately went inside to see what they offered, and was extremely happy to see dresses priced at 10 euros and skirts at 5! I didn’t end up buying anything, but I will definitely return someday.

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Marché aux Fleurs

This is the second half of my Ile-de-la-Cité trip!

The Metro station Cité dropped me right on the edge of the flower market, and directly in front of St. Chapelle. I was pleasantly surprised by the flower market because I had forgotten about its existence, and because I love anything to do with flowers.

Not only were there flowers neatly arranged in rows and bunches, but also pots, lanterns, and garden accessories strewn about in the most charmingly chaotic way. I’ve heard that this area also becomes a bird market on certain days… I’ll definitely have to see what that’s all about. I mean, how many people can there possibly be who buy birds every week? In any case, here are the photos:

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Notre Dame

I’m back with some more pictures!

This was my second excursion of the semester. This trip particularly will remain in my mind because it was the first moment of authentic enjoyment I felt in Paris after the dismal loneliness of the first few days. It was the first time I felt myself relax and thoroughly enjoy being in Paris. I didn’t think I’d enjoy seeing Notre Dame as much as I did, but it was beautiful! I was able to leisurely stroll through the streets taking pictures. The entirety of Ile-de-la-Cité had such a charming ambiance. One of these days I’m gonna go back and see St. Chapelle and wait in line to go inside Notre Dame.

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First Few Days in Paris

I’ve been here in Paris for one week! That feels a little surreal to say. My first few days were… how can I put this… actually quite horrible. I had multiple anxiety attacks, cried everyday, and seriously thought that coming to Paris was a SERIOUS mistake. Anybody who says that studying abroad is amazing and wonderful has left out a big part: culture shock, missing home, and feeling seriously overwhelmed. Apparently, though, feeling all of this is completely normal. Anybody who is considering studying abroad, listen up! Organize as many things as possible before your departure! Any decrease in stress is well worth the effort!! Even after a week I still find myself wondering if I should have just stayed home and instead saved up money and gone on a long vacation to Paris. Seriously consider if you want to take the enormous time and effort it requires to live in a foreign country, it is not for the faint of heart.

I’m happy to say, however, that within 3 more days, the anxiety has almost disappeared, and I am happy to be here!

I’ve been so busy the past week I haven’t had time to come to Starbucks (Free Wifi), and upload photos. I have a feeling that blogging from now on will consist of 3 posts in one day covering my previous week, because of wifi (it’s a loooong, boring story).

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Pondering Paris

The last week and a half I can’t stop thinking, pondering, and obsessing about Paris in the Fall. I lay awake at night, as I’m supposed to be getting much-needed sleep, coming up with scenarios in my head, such as – searching for an apartment, ordering a crepe, finding my favorite boulangerie, taking art history classes in French, and the list goes on. I’ve even spent a significant amount of time exploring the streets of Paris via Google Maps street view. I’ve been researching like crazy for advice on studying abroad, and brainstorming ways to save up money. If you’re wondering where in the world I’ve been the last two weeks – this is what I’ve been doing.

This Fall, I will have the chance to live in a new country. I’ll be there for five months, I’ll rent a tiny closet-sized apartment (shared toilet down the hall), I’ll be an English tutor part time, and I’ll study art history in the company of the best museums in the world. I almost can’t believe it’s going to happen – It still feels surreal.

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Art History is Cool – Art Nouveau

What makes Art Nouveau so unique, is that it was created for a very simple purpose: to beautify. To make cities, homes, posters, advertisements – in short, the world around us – beautiful. (you might know the famous curvy green Metro station in Paris) This isn’t a typical “fine art” movement, found only in painting or sculpture, this was a movement found within everyday objects of upper-middle class people.

Inspired by the curving lines and floral patterns found in nature, Art Nouveau is popularized today by the work of Alphonse Mucha. Almost all of his work seems to feature nymph-like women, usually with really long hair. There is a flatness to his work, which gives it a graphic design aspect, but that doesn’t mean it lacks in detail and sophistication. The colors he uses are so harmonious!

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