Article Foreign: February 2012

After returning from a weekend in Marseille (which now feels so very distant to me), we finished a group urban design project. We made our presentations on Tuesday; collectively they went very well. The very next day we had a class field trip to Paris. It was up to us to get tickets there and back from Paris, fortunately I had gotten my tickets over a week before. I got up at seven a.m. to catch my train at eight, and I arrived in Paris just after nine. It took me a few minutes get find a map and get my bearings, since I had forgotten my map from my previous trip to Paris (See “The Louvre”). I had to meet with my class at Notre-Dame Cathedral at 10 and I was still at the station with about 30 minutes to get there. I completely misread the map of the Paris metro system and couldn't figure out a way to get there, so I decided to run (I would later discover that there was a metro line that ran straight between the Cathedral and the Station). It wasn’t an unpleasant run as I got to see a bit of Paris on the way. However, one street I went down was full of night clubs and sex shops, which would’ve been more disturbing if I had the time to pay them any mind. I made it to Notre-Dame Cathedral at about 10:10 a.m. and our professor was just beginning to talk about the Cathedral. After a brief speech we moved inside to explore the architecture. It was a grand place, but I have seen many grand places. I wasn’t underwhelmed, but I also wasn’t overwhelmed. There was a rather obtrusive gift stand of to the north side of the church. I understand the Cathedral’s need to support itself financially, but I always think of the story of Jesus cleansing the Temple of the money changers and livestock.It left a bad taste in my mouth.

After we spent some time exploring the inside and outside of the Cathedral, we made our way through the city over to the Louvre. It was nice seeing the courtyard in daylight and without snow. We didn’t go inside as that would have been an all day tour. We left the Louvre and made our way through Paris to the Arc de Triomphe. On the way we saw a lot of historic things. I got to see the Grand Palais for a few brief moments. The Grand Palais is a large exhibition center built in the early 1900’s with an awesome metal and glass atrium. I have plans to visit it at the end of March when the Grand Palais will play host to an art exhibition. Along the way to the Arc, we could see the Eiffel Tower in the distance. Eventually we made it to the Arc de Triomphe and got to climb to the top of it (which I didn’t know you could do). The view of the city was fantastic, all the streets moved outward from that central point. I could see clear across the city. Along the way, my camera was running severely low on batteries. It seems that Paris and my camera do not get along, as I had the same problem when I went to the Louvre.

After the Arc, we to the metro to the end of the street at La Defense, the city’s high-rise district. We saw the Grande Arche, a modernist government building that frames the end of the street. It was at this point that my camera ran out of batteries. I had some time to kill so I walked back to the Arc de Triomphe, which took longer than I expected. After that I headed back to the train station and then back to Lille.

Come Thursday, the class traveled to the site of our new project in Lille. It’s an urban renewal project that involves rejuvenating an unsuccessful park. That night my roommates, along with a few others, headed off to a place called Chamonix. I was unable to attend this trip as there were not enough train tickets for everyone. I also could not travel elsewhere as the last two weeks in February are a vacation time for many in France and I couldn’t get tickets anywhere that I wanted to go. Defeated, I decided to enjoy my weekend off and relax. I also got my tickets for the next three weeks of traveling, just so I don’t run into this problem again. I spent Friday with Josh and Lisa, who happened to be left behind as well. We explored the city pondered our coming assignment. We later made dinner and watched a few episodes of Dr. Who to top off the evening. On Saturday (yesterday) I had to find something to do on my own since Josh and Lisa were going to Rotterdam for the rest of the weekend. So, I went to the Palais de Beaux Arts de Lille, a large Art Museum in Lille. I had been meaning to visit for a while but never found the chance. On my way there I ran into a sort of street performance by a group of loudly dressed musicians playing some upbeat and whimsical songs. Seeing them reminded me that it’s a good to get outside, you never know what you’ll see. After watching them for a bit I made my way to the museum. It was a very nice museum, but it was nothing when compared to the Louvre (an unfair comparison I know). My favorite part of the museum was a collection of models that were built in the 1700’s. These were massive models of entire cities and landscapes, used for strategic planning. They even had a model for Lille. I spent most of my time wishing there wasn’t a wall of glass between me and these models. After exploring the museum a little more, I left to explore more of the city. I came across the Lille cathedral. The structure is a Frankensteinian combination for different architectural styles that may not work terribly well together, but are still very interesting. The front façade is a wall of translucent marble sheets held in place by a wire structure. From the inside the sun shines through the marble, revealing every vein. The space itself is quite moving. My day was concluded by downloading some new songs and watching some episodes of the Simpsons in French.

Today I went to a street market that takes place in Lille every Sunday. It was a bustling place with stands that sold everything from food and clothes to brand name deodorant and batteries. I did not buy anything mostly because I didn’t know how to ask how much something was in French, nor what the answer would mean. It was still fun to watch all of the activity.