In France, college students do a lot of oral presentations. Today I had to present a commentary on La Peste by Albert Camus in the only class that I couldn't find a way out of doing this horrible practice. I stuttered; I spoke too fast; and I couldn't stop kicking my feet or sweating. And here comes the part where all the worrying was for nothing and I'm commended for my outstanding work, right?
Wrong. I was told by my professor that my commentaire was typically American.
Whatever that means.
Hey, at least I never have to do one of those ever again in my life...at least in French in front of a room of 20 french intellectuals.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Sitings at the Louvre
Last weekend my friend Sarah's mom was in town and they were doing a bunch of touristy stuff. I felt like I hadn't taken advantage of the touristy part of Paris so I decided to tag along to the Louvre on Friday. We spent five hours on one floor...that museum is so huge. I took some pictures and here are some for you to enjoy. I'll try to give some commentaries on the pictures because I've gotten some complaints that I don't do that.
Here is a picture of a not famous statue of Venus. I bet it's because she doesn't have arms.
I took this picture because I liked how detailed all the decorations are. I have no idea what it is though, beyond furniture that is.
The Louvre has an entire Egyptian wing and I thought it was very cool. These are some statues of Egyptian gods. There were also really cool mummies, but I didn't get any cool pictures of them because there were school groups crowding those areas.
I think this is a statue of Athena, but I could be wrong.
Instead of taking a pic of the mona lisa, I took a pic of all the people taking a pic of her. the security guard looked at me weird, but I think it's a cool shot.
The coronation of napoleon. He's a badass and crowning himself...not so badass in the years to come when he tries to conquer Russia. What were you thinking, Napoleon? French people don't like cold weather...or vodka.
I loved this painting because the woman in the middle is so badass. Pacifism is way better than fighting naked.
The arch at the louvre with the statue on top that is a replication of the one Napoleon stole from Berlin when he conquered Germany. Germany eventually got it back, so it had to be replaced here. Also, notice the buds on the trees...in the first week of march!
A view of the tuileries from the arch at the Louvre. The Tuileries is a statue garden by the Louvre.
The Louvre and the Arch.
La Seine. At this point we just started walking along the river looking for someplace to eat.
The Porte des Lions at the Louvre.
Pont Neuf, a famous bridge in Paris.
Hope you enjoy the photos!
Here is a picture of a not famous statue of Venus. I bet it's because she doesn't have arms.
I took this picture because I liked how detailed all the decorations are. I have no idea what it is though, beyond furniture that is.
The Louvre has an entire Egyptian wing and I thought it was very cool. These are some statues of Egyptian gods. There were also really cool mummies, but I didn't get any cool pictures of them because there were school groups crowding those areas.
I think this is a statue of Athena, but I could be wrong.
Instead of taking a pic of the mona lisa, I took a pic of all the people taking a pic of her. the security guard looked at me weird, but I think it's a cool shot.
The coronation of napoleon. He's a badass and crowning himself...not so badass in the years to come when he tries to conquer Russia. What were you thinking, Napoleon? French people don't like cold weather...or vodka.
I loved this painting because the woman in the middle is so badass. Pacifism is way better than fighting naked.
The arch at the louvre with the statue on top that is a replication of the one Napoleon stole from Berlin when he conquered Germany. Germany eventually got it back, so it had to be replaced here. Also, notice the buds on the trees...in the first week of march!
A view of the tuileries from the arch at the Louvre. The Tuileries is a statue garden by the Louvre.
The Louvre and the Arch.
La Seine. At this point we just started walking along the river looking for someplace to eat.
The Porte des Lions at the Louvre.
Pont Neuf, a famous bridge in Paris.
Hope you enjoy the photos!
Praha, haha.
The second part of my spring break started after a very uncomfortable overnight bus ride that plopped us in the middle of a sleeping Prague at 4:30 in the morning. We found it difficult to even take the subway system because you need coins of their currency to buy the tickets. To say the least, we were pretty much stranded until a 24 hour McDonalds saved us. We ended up going to a bar until 7 am when our hostel opened...a very very bad idea.
The first day was relaxing because it was cold and rainy and we hadn't really slept. We went to the National Museum which ended up being a natural history museum and went out for dinner with Cameron's friend from Prague. Here are some pictures I took on the first day:
The second day of our trip we decided to see some sights, but on account of my broken knee we had to take a bus tour, which is a bit more difficult (and expensive) to do in Prague. We did manage to see some cool sights, however, like the Opera, the Charles Bridge, Saint Wenceslas Square, and the Prague Castle. After the tour, we met with Cameron's friend, Betka, again and she walked with us around Charles Bridge and surrounding areas. We ended the night, like all good nights, in a bar drinking very cheap and very large glasses of beer. Here are some pictures from that second day:
The third day we traveled to Kutna Hora, a medieval town in Bohemia. I'll save those photos for another entry because there are a lot. After being in Prague for three days already, we decided to take it easy and just wander on the fourth day (our last day in Prague and my last day of vacation). Here are some pictures of the last day when we saw things like the old mill and the John Lennon Wall:
There you go! Images of Kutna Hora, more pictures of Paris, and more blog entries in general are coming soon! Cheers.
The first day was relaxing because it was cold and rainy and we hadn't really slept. We went to the National Museum which ended up being a natural history museum and went out for dinner with Cameron's friend from Prague. Here are some pictures I took on the first day:
The second day of our trip we decided to see some sights, but on account of my broken knee we had to take a bus tour, which is a bit more difficult (and expensive) to do in Prague. We did manage to see some cool sights, however, like the Opera, the Charles Bridge, Saint Wenceslas Square, and the Prague Castle. After the tour, we met with Cameron's friend, Betka, again and she walked with us around Charles Bridge and surrounding areas. We ended the night, like all good nights, in a bar drinking very cheap and very large glasses of beer. Here are some pictures from that second day:
The third day we traveled to Kutna Hora, a medieval town in Bohemia. I'll save those photos for another entry because there are a lot. After being in Prague for three days already, we decided to take it easy and just wander on the fourth day (our last day in Prague and my last day of vacation). Here are some pictures of the last day when we saw things like the old mill and the John Lennon Wall:
There you go! Images of Kutna Hora, more pictures of Paris, and more blog entries in general are coming soon! Cheers.
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