Where in the world is Val?

In the summer of 2008, I spent eight weeks living in Paris through the Boston University Paris Summer Internship Program .  I completed an internship at the Galerie Eric Mircher, a small contemporary art gallery in the Marais in the 3rd arrondissement, and I took a class that looked at the development of Paris as a city between 1750-1950 through the examination of contemporary literary and historical texts, and through organized visits to different parts of the city.  You can read about my experiences in the previous entries to this blog. Rue de Turenne, 3e arrondissement, Paris I had an incredible time and learned so much about Paris and about myself, but with the exception of a couple of day trips (one to Chartres, and one to Ecouen), I never really made it out of Paris - and in any case, I certainly never made it out of Ile de France.  Getting to really live la vie quotidienne was an excellent way to get an insider's view of Paris, but restricted the time I had a...

For you, mom, because you asked for it. Lundi, 14 Juillet Happy Bastille day! On July 14, 1789, the French stormed the Bastille, effectively spending a day in bloody battle to free.... six prisoners. But more importantly, the event sparked the beginning of the French Revolution. My last day in Paris was on this significant day, which was on the one hand exciting, as all of France turned its eyes to Paris as the site of this monumental event as well as the site of the heart of modern celebrations. However, the holiday also created several difficulties in accomplishing all I hoped to - with stores and metro stations closed, and roads blocked off. Regardless of the importance of the date for modern history, there were a few things I wanted to do that could have happened on any date. After hearing a few friends talk about watching the sunrise over the city, I decided I wanted to see it for myself. But just as the sun didn't set until about 10:30 pm, it also rose far, far too earl...

Saturday, 12 July On my last Saturday in Paris, I headed out South towards the Louvre. I had visited my first time a few weeks earlier with the intention of returning, and now that it was almost time to leave and I had never made it back again, it seemed like time to finally get back and see the rest of the collection. However, on my way I visited a few other sites, such as this building : I had seen this before - it is the round building right in front of the round courtyard by the parks at les Halles, but I had never seen it from this side - it is the Bourse de Commerce - the stock exchange. Who knew? Continuing on my way, I passed this passage : This was one of the passages we visited with my class, but as I had been taking notes I didn't get the chance to take any pictures. Unlike the galerie Vivienne, which I had returned to for lunch and pictures a few weeks earlier, this passage is a little older and less ornate. That is not to say, however, it is undecorated. As you ca...

Friday, 11 July First thing in the morning, I had my final exam for my class. The exam was pretty straight-forward, just like the midterm was. Lionel, my fabulous professor, wasn't there, as he was already on vacation with his daughter in the south of France. I'm pretty sure the whole class missed him. After the exam, I walked across the 7e, passing through the champ de Mars, where I saw this : The trees in Paris (as well as surrounding areas - I noticed this in Chartres also), when they are in important, monumental sites, are all uniformly square. It really makes the perspective they create that much more powerful. While they might have you believe that the trees just grow this way, I finally saw someone trimming them - just as you would a topiary. After passing through the champ, I made my way to another restaurant recommended by my patisserie book - les deux abeilles. The decor felt like a new England beach house - worn wood floors, white walls... My table was right u...

Thursday, 10 July I ate very well the last week, and Thursday was possibly the best of all. However, my fine dining experiences would have to wait until lunch, because in the morning I had the oral defense for my rapport de stage - a five minute oral presentation presenting my internship, followed by about 10 minutes of questions from a panel of 4 professors and internship coordinators. I got the grade for my stage a few days later - an A- overall, which is completely irrelevant because I am not bothering to transfer the credit to Hopkins, since I have enough credits to graduate and it won't count towards my major.... OH WELL, too bad I spent so many hours on the rapport... I'll get over it. After the presentation, I went to the Marché de la Bastille, just like every Thursday. My friend Julie came with me, and we got fruit and wandered for quite a while. It's interesting, I hadn't noticed before how many more clothing and non-edible wares are at the market on Thursd...