Harry Potter

Yesterday I finished reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in french! Or should I say, Harry Potter à l'école des sorciers. I like to read when I'm on the bus and the metro in order to pass the time and after reading Bossypants for a second time and then Mindy Kaling's amazing Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, I felt like I should read something in french. I didn't want to pick something I didn't already know because I would be stopping and starting every time I got on and off public transportation, so I decided to re-read Harry Potter!

It was really easy to follow and the great thing about reading it on my Kindle was that when I didn't recognize a word I could put my cursor on top of it and the dictionary would tell me what I was missing! Thank you Amazon. But it was rare that that would happen. I'm sure that knowing the story first helped, but the translation was amazing. It was also hysterical at some points. Take for example Oliver Wood, the captain of the quidditch team (but you should already know that). In the french version, his name is Olivier Dubois. In french, bois means wood so his name translates to Oliver of wood. Cracks me up. 

They did change a lot of words though to frenchify (there has to be a better way to say that) the language. I kept a list while I was reading of all of the differences cause I'm super cool:

Moldus - Muggles

Poudlard - Hogwarts (That was the toughest to come to terms with - how can you change Hogwarts?!)

Croutard - Scabbers

Drago Malefoy - Draco Malfoy

Gryffondor, Serdaigle, Serpentard, Poursouffle - Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, Hufflepuff

Severus Rogue - Severus Snape (Another tough one for me)

Argus Rusard - Argus Filch

Madame Bibine - Madame Hooch

Miss Teigne - Mrs Norris

Professor Chourave - Professor Sprout

Crockdur - Fang

Touffu - Fluffy

Neville Londubat - Neville Longbottom

The title is also different in french. It translates to Harry Potter at the school of wizards (roughly). I guess I can't be too mad about that one because the american title is different from the british title, but at least those are along the same lines. This one is just lame. It could be the title of any of the books. Now it's time to start the chamber of secrets!

In unrelated news, if you haven't seen Captain Phillps yet, GO SEE IT. I saw it tonight and it is by far the best movie I have seen all year. And I'm not just saying that because Tom Hanks is in it. I have never felt so proud to be an american than I did when I left the theater. Maybe it's because I saw the movie in a theater filled with french people. Nevertheless, it was incredible and you need to stop reading this blog and go see it. NOW.

Gaudí + Tapas + The Worst Map Ever = Barcelona

It was an incredible weekend to say the least. Ayse and I left a snowy (yes that's right there were flurries here) Toulouse on Friday and headed to Barcelona via bus. It took about 6.5 hours but it passed really quickly. Plus I don't think I could ever get tired of staring at the Mediterranean coast or the Pyrenees, both of which we passed en route. We got to our hostel, dropped our stuff, and were pointed in the direction of tapas and sangria. We went to a place recommended by one of the guys working at the hostel and it did not disappoint. There's something about drinking sangria in Spain that just makes it taste better. We finished dinner around midnight (how spanish of us!) and went back to rest up for Saturday.

Our hostel was located basically on the upper east side of Barcelona so we were really close to the famous Gaudí buildings Casa Mila and Casa Botlló. We took an early morning stroll to see those two and then grabbed Starbucks (I might be going through withdrawals again). It was incredible to see those buildings up close. I talked about them a lot last semester in one of my classes and seeing them in person did not disappoint. The contrast between a Gaudí building and a non-Gaudí building is incredible.

Casa Mila

Casa Mila

Casa Mila

Casa Batlló

Casa Batlló

Our next stop was Park Güell, another Gaudí-designed locale. It's located on a hill in the northern part of the city and to get there you have to take escalators up a giant hill. Thank god for the escalators. The park was amazing. Not only is the view of Barcelona incredible, but the park itself is a work of art. I couldn't even put in to words how truly amazing it was to be there. There are so many little details that just make you want to explore every nook and cranny. I could've stayed there all day but there was so much more to see!

View from Park Güell - Sagrada Familia on the left

Park Güell

Park Güell

Park Güell

Park Güell

After seeing the Sagrada Familia from afar in the park, we took the metro to visit it up close and personal. Luckily we bought our tickets ahead of time because the line to get in was hours-long. I have been to many, many, many churches and I can honestly say that this is my favorite. Maybe it's because it's unlike anything I have ever seen. Maybe it's because it almost felt like a church of art rather than a church of god. Whatever it was, I was overcome. The space is a total work of art and I completely understand why it has never been finished. One of the most amazing parts of the visit was being able to go up into the towers and really see the architecture up close and personal. Plus, the view of the city and the Mediterranean wasn't too shabby either. I could've stayed there all day too. Gaudí should just be synonymous with genius.

Sagrada Familia

Sagrada Familia

Sagrada Familia

View from one of the towers

Up close and personal with the architecture

Loving this view

Sagrada Familia

Sagrada Familia

After a quick lunch, we headed up to the Castell Montjuic, an old fortress situated on top of Montjuic hill. Another amazing view of Barcelona from up there. The Mediterranean looked so clear and so blue from the top of the hill, it was truly beautiful. One of my favorite parts about Barcelona was that there are so many different vantage points from which you can see the city and get a lay of the land.

View from Montjuic of the Mediterranean

View from Montjuic of the Mediterranean

Not sure what I'm doing here but I'm super happy and that's what counts

View from Montjuic of Barcelona and the Mediterranean

After another Gaudí pit stop - this time at Palau Güell, we headed to the beach! What's that you say? Why go to the beach at the end of November? Well I say to you, because I was in Barcelona and I could. Sheesh. It was, like the rest of the city, beautiful. People were surfing! The sun started to set as we left and the combination of the sky and the Mediterranean was a view that I won't soon forget.

Palau Güell

Mediterranean

Barceloneta Beach

We headed in to town, stopping along the way at the Arc de Triomf before heading to Las Ramblas for dinner, a tree-lined avenue filled with shopping and restaurants. We had delicious paella and the most massive glasses of sangria that I have ever seen in my entire life. When the waiter asked if we wanted normal or large sized sangrias we never thought that large would be that large. Ah well. When in Spain.

Arc de Triomf

Paella

Our final stop of the day was the magic fountain of Montjuic. It's a gorgeous fountain in front of the even more impressive Palau Nacional on Montjuic hill. Every half hour there's a special water show where the fountain is synchronized to music and lights. It's was really fun and a great way to end an incredibly long, but extremely fulfilling day.

Palau Nacional

Magic Fountain

Sunday morning started with Gaudí once again, though this time with two of his lesser known buildings - Casa Vicens and Casa Calvet. From there we walked to that other church in Barcelona - the Barcelona Cathedral. It was a beautiful gothic church that for whatever reason felt much more warm and welcoming than gothic churches in France. I think it had to do with the way it was lit. There was a mass going on during our visit so it was really interesting to explore the church and hear the priest speaking at the same time. I couldn't tell if he was speaking in spanish or catalan but it was still nice to listen as I walked around.

Casa Vicens

Casa Calvet

Barcelona Cathedral

Barcelona Cathedral

Barcelona Cathedral

Our final stop before grabbing our last tapas meal was the Picasso Museum. I wasn't sure that I wanted  to go at first but I'm really glad that we did. The museum is known for two things: having Picasso's early works and having his Las Meninas series. The latter was particularly incredible to see in person. He took all of the elements of Velazquez's painting, broke them down into individual parts, then put them back together to make a cubist-esque Las Meninas. He analyzed every part of the painting to make his series. It was fascinating.

All in all, Barcelona was an amazing experience and I'm so glad that we went. I learned so much about Gaudí, got to see the beautiful Meditteranean, ate delicious tapas and sangria, and got to check off one of the cities on my list of must-see places while abroad. Plus, escaping the cold of Toulouse for a sunny, spring-like weekend was an added bonus. Gracias, Barcelona! See I can speak spanish too (jokes).

If you want to see more of my photos check out Facebook. If you don't have Facebook (Ian I'm talking to you) find a friend who does and stalk me!

L'Automne, le dernier sourire de l'année, le plus beau

Translates to William Cullen Bryant's quote: "Autumn, the year's last, loveliest smile." It finally feels like fall here in Toulouse. I hesitate to say that because I'm sure that once I acknowledge that it is actually cold, the weird southern french heat will re-appear. Nonetheless, it is true. The leaves are falling, the christmas lights are going up all over the city (because remember folks Thanksgiving is not a thing in France), and I have to wear gloves! This is my favorite time of the year and it's rough to be away from the US in the fall. Apple cider and pumpkin flavored anything are not exaaaactly popular over here in France. And by not exactly I mean not at all. But it's ok. Next fall when I'm back home, pumpkin flavored things will taste that much sweeter!

I realize that I haven't blogged in about two weeks (sorry mom!) but it's because nothing too, too exciting has happened and I don't want to bore my tens of readers with stories about my classes. The past two weeks have been spent recuperating from London and Paris, homework, and planning out the rest of the semester. Barcelona, Lyon, Italy, and skiing in the french alps? Sounds pretty good to me, no?

Today was fun because a few of us went to the Marché au Gras in a town just outside of Toulouse. We set up a Dickinson table and sold american desserts that we each had made. I of course made Ina Garten's insane oatmeal raisin cookies. Love me some Barefoot Contessa. But we also sold sugar cookies, brownies, homemade oreos, and other delicious treats. The French were at first a bit apprehensive about all of the sugary treats but once we encouraged them to try a piece or two or three, we sold lots of treats! It's tough to explain what a marché au gras is in english but I guess it's a market where lots of meat products are sold, there's wine, they're held at this time of year, and there is little to no fruit or veggie action going on. The literal translation is a fat or fatty market. Lots of duck products. But anyway, despite the fact that it was freezing and rainy, it was a fun opportunity to interact with French people and taste some local foods. Fried pig skin, anyone?

Thank you Ina

(Most) of our lovely crew

The market

On a completely unrelated note, yesterday I got my first My Little Box! So exciting. If you're familiar with Birchbox it's basically the french version. For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, it's a french company that sends you a box filled with beauty products and fun little items once a month. Each box has a different theme and this month was My Little Automne Box (My Little Fall Box). When I opened the box there was a drawing with the title of this post written underneath the image. I got a to-go mug, some tea, hand cream, body lotion, mascara, and a mug cozy. It's pretty much the most adorable thing ever. My host sister showed it to me and I cannot wait to get next month's box!

Paris: Art, Art, & More Art

First of all, I have now lived in France for two months. That's just insane. Fastest two months of my life? Yes. Second of all, I have now been to Paris twice. Also insane. There are people who would love to go to Paris but will never get the chance to get there and I can say that I have been to that city two times. I feel beyond lucky. Maybe that's why I felt like I really had to soak up all that Paris had to offer me in such a short period of time. Needless to say I'm still recovering from all of the walking, stairs in the metro (because the Parisians apparently don't believe in escalators - no wonder they're all so damn skinny), ART, sites, and everything else I did in Paris.

We took the train to Paris from Toulouse which was lovely. The French countryside is beautiful and I have zero complaints about traveling first class. Thank you Dickinson (slash parents who pay Dickinson). After arriving and settling in, we set off to visit the Panthéon. Loads of famous French people are entombed here. It was quite fitting I'd say to see Victor Hugo's grave after seeing Les Mis in London, no? We got our first macarons from Ladurée, the best macarons in town/the world, then took a night time cruise along the Seine. I took the exact same cruise when I was in Paris with Abbey Road (shout out!) but I did it then during the day, so it was fun to see Paris all lit up at night. We had group dinner after that where I tried escargot for the first time. Surprisingly delicious. It reminded me of mussels.

Panthéon

Macarons from Ladurée

Tour Eiffel

The remainder

Thursday morning we got a tour of the Hôtel de Ville, where the mayor of Paris works. It's this gorgeous palace in the middle of Paris right along the Seine. I could've stayed there all day. After that I went to see the plaque dedicated to Rose Valland (a curator who was essential in finding all of the looted artwork taken by the nazis in WWII - if that is at all interesting to you, go read the Monuments Men), then I saw an incredible, albeit insanely suffocatingly crowded, Frida Kahlo/Diego Rivera show at the Musée de l'Orangerie, and then went to the Rodin Museum. The museum comprises both a garden and a gorgeous château and is absolutely breathtaking. We had a group tour of the exhibition "Masculin/Masculin" at the Musée d'Orsay in the afternoon. The show examines how the male nude is represented in art and it was fascinating, though in my opinion, could have been vastly edited. Kathleen and I stayed in the museum for a couple of hours, seeing Manet's Olympia and Monet's Bal de Moulin de la Galette, to name a few. The latter was amazing for me to see (for a second time) because last semester I wrote five papers about it. We had a great dinner with Matt Rose that evening. Shout out to Uncle Geoff for having cool friends!

Hôtel de Ville

Rose Valland

The Thinker

Musée Rodin

Love me some Musée d'Orsay

Dinner with Matt!

Friday began at the Louvre. I have a love hate relationship with that wondrous place. It's so goddamn crowded all of the time so it's impossible to appreciate anything, and yet the collection is so amazing that it's imperative to visit it. Maybe one day I'll be a famous curator and I can walk through the museum when it's closed. That's the dream. After seeing everything from the Mona Lisa, to Ingres' Grande Odalisque, to the Islamic Art Wing (approximately three hours of exploring) we headed to the Trocadero to get an iconic view of the Eiffel Tower. Even in the rain (because Cardrizzle follows me wherever I go) it was beautiful. We walked all the way to the end of the Champ de Mars (the huge garden next to the Eiffel Tower) and then headed to Île de la Cité, one of the islands in the Seine. I tried to go up to the top of Notre Dame but even with our Paris Museum Pass (which got us in to almost every museum in Paris for free and let us cut lines) there was still a massive line, so I skipped that and instead went to Sainte Chapelle and the Conciergerie. A gothic chapel and the first royal palace of Paris that was later turned into a prison, respectively. Starbucks (I miss it so much already), dinner at a café, and a quick visit to the Arc de Triomphe filled the time until we saw a show at the Comédie Française. It was hilarious and I could actually understand what was going on. Progress!

Lovin the Louvre

Frenzy around Venus de Milo

From the Trocadero

Tour Eiffel et Champ de Mars

Sainte Chapelle

Arc de Triomphe

Our last full day in Paris started with a tour of the Centre Pompidou before it opened. It would've been great if our guide wasn't so lackluster but nonetheless it was incredible to see the building, and I gave myself a proper tour of the collection after our guide left anyway. The building was designed so that all of the internal structures (heating, water, air, etc.) are on the outside, leaving the inside completely free and open for gallery space. It's fascinating. The colors of the pipes correspond to their functions. I visited the famous cemetery Père Lachaise after that. I saw the graves of Edith Piaf, Delacroix, Jim Morrison, Caillebotte, Modigliani, and others. I'm not usually one for cemeteries but something about the crisp fall air and the silence of the cemetery made it an excellent couple of hours. Before meeting Sarah and Kathleen in Montmartre, I quickly visited the Jardin du Luxembourg, Galeries Lafayette (wanted to buy all the things), and the place that Renoir depicted in his painting Bal du Moulin de la Gallete. Really bringing last semester's work full circle. We made reservations at the fondue restaurant I ate at with Abbey Road last time I was in Paris and then explored the area a bit. Dinner was incredible. The restaurant has such a great vibe plus the food is delicious. I really only need bread, wine, and cheese to be happy. After a quick stop at Ladurée on the Champs Elysées for some farewell macarons, we said au revoir to Paris. (Technically we said it the next day as we left on the train but whatever, you get the point.)

Centre Pompidou

Centre Pompidou
 

View from the Centre

Edith Piaf 

Jardin du Luxembourg

Galeries Lafayette

Moulin de la Galette

Abbey Road '09!

Nom. And yes the wine is served in baby bottles. No idea why.

And in case any of you were keeping track, that's about 5.25 museums in 3 full days. I count the plaque to Rose Valland at .25 because it was at a museum, though I didn't visit that museum's collection.