Quel sentiment!

Balcony view from my bedroom

Today one was of those "Oh my god" moments -- like a split second of surrealism in which my body and my mind SIMULTANEOUSLY acknowledged that I am in Paris, France, presque (almost) 6,000 miles away from home (if one can call L.A. that :/).

I started the day with high hopes, waking up at 9am and making a list of things to do, places to go. But before I knew it, it was already 1pm after taking a shower, cleaning my room, eating breakfast, and catching up on some news (any more coverage on Octo-mom and I will shoot myself). Finally, après-midi (afternoon), I packed a textbook I needed to read for class, my lunch (reg ol' sandwich, yogurt, and h2o), my mp3 player, and headed out.

The weather was gray and breezy, but nothing requiring more than a nice coat and boots. I took the mètro to the American Library in Paris (Mètro Ecole Militaire), and there I searched for books on France's Second Empire & Third République, because je suis perdue (I am lost) in my Institut Catholique class which is on just that. I also perused the library to get a feel of the "studying potential" the place can offer-- a little stuffy, but ça marche (it works). Oh! My hold on Barack Obama's "Dreams From My Father" came in -- my primary reason for having to change two metro lines and walk 20 min on foot to the library! :D

Six hardback books, a bagged lunch and a Mary Poppins purse in tow, I trekked back to the Mètro and headed to Musée de L'Orangerie, a small, but famous art gallery for Impressionism. I forgot to mention that today was the first time I brought my mp3 player out.

TANGENT: Traveling all the way to Paris with the sole intent of learning French, I feel like a cop-out if I ever have headphones on, blasting music that I basically can listen to anytime, anywhere. [Although a slip of some Neyo or Jack Johnson would be awesome.] I'd miss out on great conversations on the metro: old women bantering on the price of butter rising, mothers babbling with their children, teens joking around with their slurred speech and slang. What a great resource for vocab, n'est-ce pas (don't you think)? A mon avis (in my opinion), wearing headphones is simply cheating yourself.

ANYWAY, today I went against that because I was dying to listen to some Débussy before going to the museum. Clair de Lune, 1st Arabesque, Prélude to the Afternoon of the Faun... The perfect melodies and harmonies to accompany the styles of Monet, Cézanne and Derain just to name a few.

With my faux Art History student card, I got in free but paid 5euros for an English audioguide. The first and main exhibit was Claude Monet's Nymphéas display which was in the museum's two main oblong-shaped salons. The eight paintings are supposed to represent the Impressionists' idea of continuum & infinity, with one painting connected to the next as if "one was taking an imaginary stroll next to them." Viewing them under natural skylight was beautiful but not as impressionant (impressive) as his Water Lilies collection in the Musée D'Orsay.




Next was art aficianado Paul Guillaume's collection of Impressionist paintings -- Cézanne (I loved this section most --both visually and auditorially), Laurencin, Rousseau, Modigliani, Picasso, Matisse, Utrillo and Derain. I listened to all the paintings with audio numbers, took my time analyzing the brushstrokes , soaked in the colors of each, looked up words I didn't know in my petite Dico (dictionary), and took notes if I saw/read/heard something profound. l have never felt so happy being here. I felt It. Maybe "It" is what the French call "Joie de Vivre" (joy of living). It was this sense of near-acclimation, solitude, slight apprehension but excitement as well, and this quasi-ease. After so many years of playing the violin, being a part of a symphony, and taking art lessons, everything just culminated to this synergy of "Wow, everything is connected." What a day.



Cezanne

Picasso

More Picasso (discussed in AHIS w/Stoicos !)





Gotta love the Odalisques



MUSEUM PHOTOS, CLICK HERE.

I was kicked out cuz they were closing, but was embraced by a nice Parisian sunset and a packed lunch when I got outside. Connected to the museum is the Jardin de Tuileries, a bare fountain-park with vestiges of worn ancient sculptures in every corner. I sat in a green lawn chair and joyfully ate my sandwich of ham, tomatoes, lettuce and a dash of mustard. (I actually have this story about a man who was trying to hit on me and then it turns out he is some crazy con-artist. Story upon request.) I then took beautiful snapshots of the sunset with the Eiffel Tower in the back ground, Rue de Champs-Elysées, Place de la Concorde, and a 44-meter "Victory Column," commemorating Napoléon's battle at Austerlitz. Check out the scenic photos...


Napoleon's Victory Column; Eiffel Tower




Champs-Elysees, and in the far back is the Arc de Triomphe

I was thinking about going to the Centre Pompidou since it is open late, but fatigue got the best of me. The library books were also a pain to haul. That was my day. Props if you read all the way until here.

Tomorrow is homework day and going to wander Paris with a new friend. As Borat says, "Exciiiiite." Bonne nuit! Bis.