Bordeaux

Yesterday, Meri and I took a day trip to the lovely city of Bordeaux. I wasn't sure what to expect from the city because I knew that there was a fierce rivalry between Toulouse and Bordeaux. The Toulousains feel that the people from Bordeaux (no idea if there is a better word to describe them) are too bourgeois and think they're better than everyone. I'm sure that the Bordelais (I just googled what they're called) think that the Toulousains are way too "southern." Nonetheless, I was ready to explore the city and make my own decision!

After a two-hour train ride we arrived in Bordeaux. The city has an extensive tram network, so we hopped on and went towards the centre ville. The architecture of Bordeaux is definitely on the bourgeois side - but in a good way. It's SO beautiful. Bordeaux is a pristine example of French architecture. Despite the bipolar rain, the city still looked gorgeous and we had an awesome time exploring all of the different areas. We even climbed up (231 steps) to the top of a tower to get a panoramic view of the city. The best part about it was that we got to come face to face with some pretty gnarly gargoyles. Did I just say gnarly? Oh well it fits.

We climbed to the top of that thing!

We had an amazing lunch at a café that Meri's semi-helpful guidebook recommended. If you're ever in Bordeaux definitely go to it: Le Cheverus Café. We spent the afternoon really just wandering around the city. We didn't have a plan, which for once in my life I actually enjoyed! We shopped, had a coffee break (another great place in Bordeaux: Books & Coffee), explored the cathedral, and drank a ton of wine. What else are you supposed to do in Bordeaux? After eating lots of delicious food, we got on the train and headed back to Toulouse. What we thought would be a relaxing two hour trip ended up being ridiculous because there were homeless people trying to hitch a ride on our train.. They almost made it to Toulouse and then were kicked off. After an hour and a half. Oh France.

In Bruges

First things first. If you haven't seen the movie "In Bruges" well stop reading and go see it.

Back? Wasn't it amazing? Told you.

So this past Sunday, Ayse and I were supposed to go to Normandy to see the beaches and the cemetery and learn all about D-Day. We were so excited that we even watched Saving Private Ryan on the way up to Paris. Alas, we did not make it to Normandy. It was unclear where we were supposed to meet our bus Sunday morning in Paris and so we were one place and the bus was somewhere else. When we finally realized where we should be, the bus had been gone for about 3 minutes. The ONE GODDAMN TIME that the French are on time. Ugh. I was really upset not only because I was so looking forward to going to Normandy but because it is so so so unlike me to do something like that. I think it's the first time I've ever missed some sort of transportation. After speaking with the woman in the office of the bus company, we learned that our two other choices for trips that day were the Loire Valley and Bruges. We decided on Bruges because the gardens at all of the chateaux wouldn't be in bloom. Plus, I got to add another country to my list! (Bringing my grand total to 8... it's lame I know). So we got on the bus and off we went to Belgium!

We had the most hilarious tour guide ever. And by most hilarious I mean worst person ever. He was giving the tour in both English and Spanish so it took him twice as long to explain things plus he forgot our maps in the bus. Cool, guy. After our "tour" we were free to explore the city on our own! Bruges is BEAUTIFUL. It's known as the Venice of the north because it too is a canal-filled city. The architecture is medieval and yet really interesting. We had a traditional belgian lunch of moules frites (mussels and fries) and delicious beer. That was followed up by an INCREDIBLE chocolate covered waffle served by my new best friend out of an adorable little van.

We spent the afternoon wondering around, buying chocolate, visiting churches - I got to see one of Michelangelo's few works that is outside of Italy! - and being generally perplexed by Bruges weather. It would rain for five minutes, then be so windy you couldn't walk without the fear of being blown away, and then the sun would come out and it was gorgeous. Confusion. The whole time we were in Bruges I kept quoting the movie and waiting for Colin Farrell or Brendan Gleeson to pop up. Sadly there were no celeb sightings.

We took the bus back to Paris and had a drink at the café where Amelie works in the movie, which just happened to be right next to our hostel! Paris for the win.

Despite the fact that we didn't end up in our intended destination, the weekend was still a success and I'm so happy we got to see Bruges! I guess that whole it being more about the journey than the destination has some truth to it, right? I'll get to Normandy eventually.

Villa Savoye

During the Spring 2013 semester at Dickinson, I took a Modern Architecture class and it ended up being one of my favorite classes that I have ever taken at Dickinson. As with any art history class, we made a pilgrimage to see Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater house, because there is no way to study something completely without going to see it in person. It's the same principle for a painting or sculpture. Everything looks the same size and has the same feeling when it's shown up on a screen in a classroom. This past weekend, I made another trip to see a building I had studied during this class, Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye.

In my element

Le Corbusier was one of the founders of what would later be known as the International Style of architecture, effectively introducing modern architecture to the rest of the world. He was famously quoted as saying that the house should be a machine for living. Villa Savoye, one of the free-standing residences that he built is located just outside of Paris in a town called Poissy. It's one of the most important buildings in the history of architecture because it perfectly sums up Le Corbusier's 5 points of architecture. Getting a picture yet of what this guy was like? Architects.

I was really nervous that I wasn't going to be able to get to Villa Savoye because our train got in to Paris around 2:30 and I had to take another train and a bus to get out to Poissy. Plus, the house/grounds are only open until 5:00 and they stop letting people in around 4:40. I'm pretty sure that's when I got there, but I did in fact make it! The visit was a bit rushed but I still got to experience an actual Le Corbusier house in the flesh and see the differences between what I saw on a powerpoint and what it's like in person.

The house is located back in that park type place

When Le Corbusier built Villa Savoye, it was built to be a private residence. Thus, the surrounding grounds were private property. It was essentially in the woods and really secluded. Today it's in basically a public park and you can see office buildings when you look up at the trees. Kind of depressing. The entrance still retains some of Le Corbusier's famed "promenade architecturale" - a long drive up to a house that creates an element of surprise when you round that last corner, allowing you to take in all aspects of the exterior of the house.

Through the trees

Rounding the corner

The big reveal

The first thing I noticed when I went inside was that it is SO much smaller in person than I thought it would be. Fallingwater felt the same way. The ground floor was used as the servant's quarters so there's a sink in the hallway and there are a bunch of rooms that are now used as offices. There are two ways to get up to the second floor (Also it just took me 10 minutes to figure out if it would be the second or first floor because in France the ground floor is 0 and then the floor above that is 1 whereas in the US the ground floor is 1 and the floor above that is 2.. I think. Still not sure what it is back home anymore. This makes me feel weird..), either a staircase or a ramp. One was used for the servants while the other was used for the family and their guests.

Up on the floor above the ground floor (see what I did there?) there are bedrooms, a living area, a kitchen, bathrooms, and an outdoor space leading to the rooftop garden. When we studied the house we learned all about how Le Corbusier wanted free-flowing space. I assumed the whole house would feel that way but it really didn't. Other than the main living room and outdoor garden area, every other room is small and closed off and the hallways are really cramped. Things you learn by going in person! What was really cool was seeing some of the original furniture in the house. Though it's not decorated in any way shape or form. It's more like a museum.

Original furniture

Flowing space

The kitchen - a bit cramped I'd say

Upstairs hallway

Bedroom
 

Part of a bedroom

Bathroom in a bedroom literally

Outdoor terrace

The glass can be opened really allowing for space to flow

The rooftop garden was pretty amazing, mainly because of all of the weird forms Le Corbusier employed. He was fascinated by machinery and ships and a lot of those influences come through in his buildings. There's also this amazing "frame" detail in one of the walls that is supposed to frame nature. It worked quite well as I walked up the ramp to the roof but once at eye level all you see is an office building. Lovely view.

Looks like a ship right?

They started kicking us out of the inside so I walked around the outside of the house in the gardens. It's really hard to get a good view of the house because the "woods" are pretty much right next to the house now. It needs much more green space in order to be fully appreciated. Though from the outside you really can see almost all of Le Corbusier's 5 principles. In case you were wondering (for those of you who actually made it through this art nerdy post - thanks!) they are:

1. Pilotis

2. Roof gardens

3. Free-flowing plan

4. Free façade

5. Horizontal windows

Pilotis

Pilotis

Horizontal windows

Horizontal windows and the rooftop garden

Free façade

Free façade

Loving the "windows"

I'll be writing another post about this weekend later - I also went to Belgium!