A Morbid Sunday: Le Père Lachaise

Bonjour tout le monde!

Chopin's tomb

Today, we visited Le Père Lachaise, Paris's most well-known cemetery that is home to the graves of greats like Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, and Edith Piaf. To be honest, it wasn't my favorite Parisian outing, but it was definitely interesting to simply walk around. It was definitely a very eerie atmosphere- lots of large tombstones and somewhat creepy sculptures everywhere. What makes the cemetery a truly eerie environment, however, is how the entire place is slowly coming apart.



Many of the large tombstones now lean over and are slowly crumbling. In the right photo above, a tree has fallen on top of many of the graves. The area was roped off because it was unsafe to walk in. (Don't worry Mom and Dad- I didn't!)

The last tomb that I visited there was the one of Jim Morrison. Though I really don't know anything about him or his music, the tomb was neat to visit because of all of the flowers around it. Even though the tombstone itself is much smaller than many of the others close by, it gets lots of attention from his fans and visitors as a whole. About 10 other people were there when we arrived, and some devout fans even brought with them a small record player with his music playing. It was interesting to see how much he meant so his fans.

Overall, as I said, the cemetery really wasn't a particular favorite of mine. The highlight of my day was probably the cheeseburger that I had for lunch at a café nearby. Better than most of the cheeseburgers that I've had in the U.S.!

But there is definitely much more in store soon! Bonsoir!


 

The Night I Fell in Love with Paris, and the Day After

Hello! Sorry that this post is late! I've been really tired recently and got in late last night and didn't have the time. I'll try to be more consistent!

Last night was great. Even though I've definitely enjoyed all the time that I've spend here in Paris so far, last night was the icing on the cake. Or the Nutella on the crepe. (I hope you see what I did there. By the way, I've had a crepe with Nutella and nuts almost every day that I've been here.) After taking a sort-of scary placement test for my French course at the Sorbonne, I went to dinner with a few friends at this quaint restaurant in the Saint-Michel area. The food was great- I had roasted chicken, and the manager could not have been more friendly. He even gave us his autograph! We sat on the top floor with a gorgeous view of the street outside. That was my first sit-down meal in Paris, and I could have not felt more Parisian!

After dinner, the three of us met up with a few Argentinians that the others had met on the day that I had missed because of my cancelled flight. Even though two of them only spoke Spanish, we still managed to have a great time walking on the Seine and getting delicious ice cream at Amorino's, where they serve you a scoop of ice cream in shape of a rose. Beautiful and yummy! I would have a photo to post, but my phone unfortunately started recording video instead. Whoops. Anyway, after we devoured our ice cream, my UNC friends and I realized that we had to get back to our hotel quickly before they lock up for the night. We cut it really close- a man was putting a lock on the doors when we arrived! Even though almost not having a place to sleep for the night was a little scary, running back to our hotel in Paris at 1:30 am just made the night that much greater. And that was the night that I fell in love with Paris :)

Today has been a great day as well. This morning, we all visited 2 different markets in the city: Marché Déjean and Marché Barbés.

Marché Déjean was much smaller than we had expected, so it didn't take us long to walk through. Still, walking through and seeing the meat vendors with whole pigs and different cuts of meat hanging above their stands was pretty interesting- I had seen similar pictures on Travel Channel, but seeing it in person was actually really cool. Also, a bunch of men selling counterfeit designer bags were caught by the cops and ran right by us in the street! Pretty exciting stuff!

Then, we visited Marché Barbés, which much larger and definitely more chaotic. The venders were constantly yelling for people to sample and buy their products. I sampled some cherries, oranges, and melon, and they were all so juicy and delicious! Way better than any fruit that I've had in the U.S. I didn't even think that I liked oranges or cherries! There, I bought some honey and apricot preserves from this really kind and quieter merchant, who said that the apricot preserves were his favorite! Visiting Marché Barbés was really spectacular- I'm sure that I could visit at another time and have a completely different experience that would be just as interesting.

After visiting the markets, a bunch of us ventured to Sacre Coeur and Montmartre. Even though every sight in Paris is absolutely beautiful, Sacre Coeur and Montmartre rank near the top. The view of the Parisian skyline from Sacre Coeur is gorgeous, and even though walking up so many stairs was really exhausting, the views were surely worth it. Walking through the small streets in Montmartre full of artisans and small shops was great as well- definitely what people envision when they think of Paris.

I think that's what I've got so far! I'm sure that I'm missing some details, but so much has happened! It's hard to keep track of it all!

A Frenchified Layover and Parisian Arrival

 

 

 
 

Hello! So much has happened in the last 24 hours. I knew that I wouldn't be able to predict how my first day (or days in different time zones) would end up, but my mind is still blown from everything that's happened so quickly. I was supposed to arrive in Paris yesterday, but because my flight was cancelled, I had to rebook everything and miss the first day there. But, in the meantime, I got the chance to experience everything that historic Grapevine, Texas has to offer during my layover in Dallas! Look at this fancy pastry that I had- it's not even Parisian! That's right, it's from Texas! Who would have thought?!

The flight to Paris from Dallas was very long and tough on my stomach, but I was lucky enough to sit beside a professor from France who could not have been kinder. We spoke in French for most of the way, meaning that it was my first French conversation of the experience! I'll be honest- it made me feel really good. After that positive experience, I began to believe that other French interactions would be the same, but of course I was wrong. Just ordering a ham sandwich and a bottle of water can be tougher than you think.

After arriving in Paris, all of us biked through the city at sunset. It was truly beautiful. It's amazing how a city can look so different during the daytime versus at night. Seeing the restaurants and landmarks light up was magical. And biking really showed me how fast-paced Paris is- and how vespas and bikes can fit into ridiculously small spaces. They seem to have their own rules. Afterwards, I and a few others got crepes and ate them beside Fontaine Saint-Michel, which was great. Nutella + walnuts + crepe = yum.

                                                 I'm tired. Time for bed. A demain!

 

Day 1: Packing and Preparation

A sample of my reading for the summer

Hello Readers!

I'm Olivia Perry, and I am a rising junior at UNC-CH. I am double majoring in History and Public Policy and minoring in Education. Even though I want to pursue education policy after I graduate, I really enjoy taking French classes and have always wanted to study abroad. So, today I leave for Paris for 5 weeks! Ahhh! As someone who has only been out of the country once (and that was in 3rd grade), this is a huge deal, and I could not be more excited. I'll be going with 12 other UNC students and a faculty member and grad student as well. I'll be taking one French language course at the Sorbonne, and I'll be taking a French culture class with UNC professor Martine Antle. So, if you want to see what I'm up to, you can check on my adventures here!

I did almost all of my packing last night- yay for procrastination. But I think I've got everything! I was at the beach with my family for the last few days, so I had quite a bit of preparation to do last night! I actually had to leave the beach a few hours early because I thought that I may have an ear infection, but the doctor yesterday said that I'm good to go. Visiting the doctor the day before going abroad was not exactly what I had planned, but life happens, and I'm sure that I have much more of the unexpected to come my way very soon.

My flight leaves at 5:15 tonight, so since I'm packed and good to go, I'm not really sure about what I should be doing right now. Watch TV? But I'm too excited! I will be flying with another girl from my study abroad program, which is reassuring because I am not the best at navigation. So I think that I'll be able to find my way to the Opera bus stop when I arrive at Charles De Gaulle airport.

I think that that's all for now! Bon Voyage to me! Let the adventures begin!