To Future Students

Dear future study abroad student,

I want to tell you a little about my experience in Paris this summer. I’ll start by explaining where it all started and i’ll try and give you pointers along the way. I hope that you have a wonderful time on your own trip to Paris and that what I say here can be helpful to you!

Since freshman year I have attended maybe 3 or 4 of the travel abroad meetings. I have wanted to go every time but just couldn’t see it through. Every year my desire to travel continued to grow until sometime last summer when it bubbled over and I just decided it had to be done. I had just finished watching Midnight in Paris and consequently had my sights set on Paris all year. My initial intent was to spend a semester abroad and so I started looking into that right away. When that fell through I was pretty awfully disappointed until I heard that this trip was being offered. I was going to Paris. No if’s and’s or but’s. 

Upon arriving in Paris I quickly realized that it was both exactly and nothing like I had expected. Coming over on the train from the airport I saw out the window graffiti, buildings in ruins, and something much less glamorous than I had always imagined. I was pretty worried that this would be my experience from then on out. Coming up out of the metro stop near out hostel didn’t help that feeling much either. It certainly wasn’t the most glamorous of locations though i’m not sure what I was expecting, it was a hostel after all. Now don’t let my initial evaluation of the area deter you, that was just my face value judgement of the place. It turned out to be a pretty nice area.  The hostel itself though had some issues, more on that later...maybe.

Note to future students, don’t eat at Belushi’s. Just don’t. Except for the free breakfast of course. 

Moving on.

In the 2 weeks I was in Paris I experienced everything I had always wanted to see and be near and so much more. Going with this program meant experiencing places I would never have thought to have gone and getting to view things that very few people in the world get to see. As a design major I’m not terribly into museums and galleries and I certainly wouldn’t have known how much I would love the Musée Rodin or the Pompidou. Without the art historical expertise of Chris and the architectural knowledge of Eric  I never would have looked twice at the Saint Séverin Church, which turned out to be one of my favorite places that we visited. 

Without the guidance of professors who knew where the hidden gems were I would have only experienced half of Paris, and remained ignorant to its true beauty. 

Note to future students, when the professors recommend an area to go on your free day, or a restaurant, or just take you somewhere you don’t think you want to go, give it a chance first. I think you’ll end up liking it more than you think. 

This happened to me countless times during the trip. Whenever I heard we were going to another museum I felt a little disappointed because, as I mentioned, i’m not the biggest fan of museums, However when we got to each museum I always ended up really interested in what was there. I think I might be a museum person now...weird.

Now about the course work...if you’re like me and you don’t journal, and you can’t really draw, hearing that you have to keep a journal with detailed drawings in it makes you want to give up almost immediately. That’s exactly how I felt the first few days trying to write all of these ridiculous scales (you’ll find out about the scales). I couldn’t imagine wasting time writing in a journal instead of experiencing the place that I was in. I’m a person who is profoundly driven by experience and not very good at sitting still so for the first couple of days, this journal was my nightmare. But it got better.

Note to future students, just keep writing. Even if they are seemingly tiny, stupid little observations, write them down. Write along the side of your journal, make crazy diagrams with arrows all over the place and notes squished in the margins because you forgot to write it down initially. Just keep writing, and go ahead and attempt to draw too. Though it may not be pretty, you’ll feel more accomplished later. Promise. 

Now to some more practical things.

Take photos. Bring your big clunky nice camera and take thousands of photos. You’ll regret it later if you don’t! Also bring a power strip! This was never something I had considered until I saw it sitting there in the hostel and I thought...”What an ingenious idea! How did I not think of something so simple?!”. 

If anything is playing while you’re in France or traveling elsewhere afterwards, see a show! See the Opera, go to a musical, etc. it will be a night to remember for sure! Speaking of traveling elsewhere...do that! It doesn't cost that much to travel afterwards and it will be so good to relax after the course and experience another part of Europe. 

This trip to Paris was one I will never forget and will keep with me. It has given me the drive I needed to be a world traveler. I’ve gotten a taste, and I want more. I’m sure the same will happen to you. I wish you the best of luck on your own trip to Paris and hope you get as much out of it as I did. 

Sincerely,

Andrea

Maison de Verre

Maison de Verre 

All I can say is that this house was probably one of the most beautiful modern houses I have ever seen. I love that the house was both meticulously planned out and full of sporadic decisions influenced by the clients. Our tour guide was a true gem too. I loved all of the background he was able to give us about the house and I thought the role playing was amusing. I thought it was a bit funny though that he definitely was under the assumption that we were all architecture students. 

Back to the house though, I really wish we would have been able to take pictures. I could have sat in it for hours just taking in the gardens and the light coming in from the glass brick wall. I think what I loved so much about it was that it definitely was a very modern home but you could definitely still feel and as weird as this sounds smell that it was a home, and a place that you could feel comfortable living. It wasn’t a cold building like you might

expect it to be. 

I unfortunately didn’t get to take too many notes because I was far too busy listening to our tour guide and trying not to miss any detail of the house because it had so many hidden details to it. 

Foundation Cartier

Today we went to the Foundation Cartier which was another lovely building designed by  Jean Nouvel. Once again I had no idea what to expect when we got there, no surprise there i’m sure. The Foundation was displaying work by Ron Muek, whose work I had stumbled upon while online at some point online. I remember being really awe struck by the pieces and especially creeped out when seeing the pieces with a scaled comparison. 

I think his work at a surface level really taps into the fear instinct in people. They’re size and life likeness makes them seem that at any moment these sculptures could come to life and haunt you. While I was there I heard a lot of people saying that they swore they saw them moving in the corner of their eyes or breathing. It really hits a nerve with people. 

For the exercise I was responsible for both neighborhood and site for “Woman with Sticks” and “The Couple” and I think for the first time I really understood and could decipher the curatorial perspective. I really liked being able to pick out all of the different intentions and messages that were conveyed through the positioning. 

For “Woman with Sticks” what I found striking about her was that everything about her positioning brought you back around to see her in front of the window and consequently in context. I would go into more detail but I don’t want this blog post to be too long and I think the curation of “The Couple” ends up being a lot more interesting. 

On to “The Couple” then. The position of this sculpture in the space makes it the fourth thing that a person would see upon entering the space. The sculpture is also situated in a room that encourages circulation around the sculpture which is an imperative part of the experience. If you don’t circle around the piece, you aren’t able to see the violent gesture of the boy gripping the girl’s arm. 

I also noted that if you happen to stand in front of the piece looking at it and the people behind it the sculpture sort of melds into crowd, which is huge for the message of the piece. It sort of explains that domestic abuse is something that can easily go unnoticed and it’s happening in every crowd.

I even noticed a couple of people taking the same stance as the couple. The woman leaning in to sort of hear what the man has to say about the piece, creates that same effect.

Over all the day was just a really wonderful experience that I couldn’t possible completely summarize.

      

The Opera in Images

I’m so so so glad that we ended up going to the opera. I just adored being in the building and would have absolutely loved to have seen an actual performance there. Everything about the Opera was ornate and beautiful and decadent. One of my very favorite corners of the Opera was just a little portion meant as a connecting point between two rooms. 

What struck me about the room was the contrast between the light and darks and the rich golds! 

The style of this room seemed really similar to the style of the graphics used for the new Great Gatsby movie, which is absolutely amazing by the way,  that I have fallen in love with. I spent a ton of time in these little corners looking at the detail and just taking in the beauty of it all and thinking about the way it could translate to design, and how well the designers behind The Great Gatsby actually had managed to translate it. Now obviously this wasn't the exact inspiration they used, it was likely something more modern than this building, but just thinking about how they modernized an older style and made it great while still staying true to what it originally was. Anyway...that was a bit of a tangent...back to the Opera.

I think what struck me most about the whole building was how huge the exterior is compared to the actual theater. The theater is actually very small. I expected it to be this large, grand masterpiece, and it still was a masterpiece, but it sure wasn’t as large as anticipated. 

I also think that it would be quite possible for me to do my final project just with the number of pictures i’ve taken of chandeliers!  I apparently have a previously unknown love of lighting structures.

I didn’t realize this until Natalie said something about it but I found out while I was there that this is the opera that The Phantom of the Opera takes place in! They even had his door marked. I was incredibly jazzed about that! Again, because i’m a narrative person, actually seeing a place I have only imagined or seen in movies or shows is thrilling. I love putting stories and their settings together, actually being able to say that i’ve been there that I’ve walked up those stairs and seen that stage.

The main hallway was just beautiful! Everything was so ornate it was impossible to take a picture that wasn't "jumbly". I hope you have enjoyed this photographic exploration of the Opera!

Pompidou

Day 9

Today we went to the Pompidou, and I honestly had no idea what that was until we got there. When I realized it was the contemporary museum at first I was a little skeptical because normally when someone says contemporary the things that are shown are something similar to what we saw at Palais de Tokyo, which I know a lot of people liked, so I mean no disrespect to them, I just don’t normally care for that sort of artwork. To put this into context ill talk about that first day we went to Palais de Tokyo. 

As I walked into the gallery nearest the strange music happening in the basement, I noticed what looked like torn pieces of cardboard boxes on the wall. Upon closer inspection it turned out that they were in fact torn cardboard boxes on the wall. Just... torn cardboard boxes. Granted I couldn’t read the description that went with it, but it’s just not the kind of work I can easily get into. It doesn’t seem to have an obvious purpose and I just didn’t get it. Things like that just don’t hold my attention.

Upon entering the Pompidou, and more particularly, the floor we had been on I felt more comfortable. It felt a little familiar and like home. My grandma had been an artist and much of her work had a similar aesthetic to some of the works in the gallery. Abstracted and more geometric representations of regular objects was something she quite enjoyed. I realized that I liked it too, and this was the museum I would have liked to have spent much more time in. 

For my assignment I chose 2 pieces that I now realize are reminiscent of the sort of abstraction that my grandma liked so much. 

Vassily Kandinsky’s “Bleu de ciel” (Sky Blue) and a piece that I think it is made my someone names César called “Esturgeon” (Sturgeon). 

What initially attracted me to the Kandinsky painting was that from a distance you see the painting and you think that it’s a painting of tiny little creatures. As you approach the painting you realize that “Oh” it’s just a bunch of abstract pattern blobs. But then...as you stand there and look at it, the creatures start to re-emerge and you realize that the blobs are actually abstracted versions of animals!

I was able to find a fish, jellyfish, duck, and turtle. The rest are a little too abstracted to figure out. This got me thinking and I wanted to find another animal in the museum which was also abstracted but in a much more representational way to compare them. 

This is how I ended up finding “Estugeon”.

Which is an enormous sculpture of a sturgeon fish made of rusty, welded metal pieces. The piece is however much more recognizable as a fish, than any of the animals in the previous painting. 

I think what ended up tying these two together for me was that though the Kandinsky painting was of animals associated with the water those animals were out of their element and put into the sky. The same is true of the sturgeon fish. It was literally a fish out of water. I think between the two there is a theme of displacement or change and moving from one space that is comfortable to another. 

Overall, it was a very good experience but I was very sad that I didn’t have more time to spend in the museum. I spent most of the time on my assignment and couldn’t truly experience the museum to it’s fullest extent which seemed so full of pieces that I would have loved. 

NOTE: I would also like to clarify that I had both this blog and the next blog done before today but refrained from posting it because we had yet to do the presentations.

Also I added the conclusion today after thinking more about it. 

Water Lillies

Day 8:

I had no preconceptions about the Musée De L’Orangerie going into it, mostly because I didn’t know what it was. I didn’t know of any artist that might be there or what type of work I would encounter, so I wasn’t particularly over excited about going there. Realizing that this was where the Monet lily pond paintings where housed was a great surprise. Upon seeing them and actually sitting down with them I found that for the first time on the trip I was truly overwhelmed by the beauty of the painting. The soft peace that the painting, and the construction and color of the room offered was something i’d never felt so strongly from a painting before. I willingly sat in front of the Monet lily paintings for well over an hour and for the first time since the beginning of the trip had a real desire to sketch the piece. Normally I only sketch because I feel like I should. Though it wasn’t the greatest representation of the painting, I loved the time I spent sketching in front of it and taking it in. 

I think what made the experience so powerful was the shear scale of the paintings. They were enormous and so long that you could truly become lost in the painting. You can visit and visualize his lily pond through the painting, and for a narrative thinker like me, I really engaged with that imaginative and experiential aspect of the painting. 

I was however, frustrated by the amount of people in the room, and where they chose to stand. As many of us were sitting trying to take in the grand beauty of the paintings, some chose to stand in front of the paintings while looking at their maps or phones. I just so badly wanted to experience the room and the paintings as they were intended, or maybe not so much intended even as implied. I’m sure they knew that there would be an abundance of people coming to the museum but they still wanted to create a space where one could have an intimate moment with the paintings. 

The noise level and the shear volume of people turned a peaceful painting and potential experience into a stressful situation, which I found to be counter productive to what I saw as part of the motive of the painting. 

Towards the end though, as the museum was closing, I finally got my one on one experience with the paintings. It was a little rushed, but seeing the paintings free of any inconveniently placed extremities, butts, hats, bags, maps or anything of the like was such a liberating feeling. It was quiet, and peaceful, and somewhat intimate, the way I imagine it ought to be. 

Also, I secretly took some pictures of the Monet paintings but i’m not sure if i’m allowed to post them. So all you get are my terrible sketches and one poor attempt at water color. 

Latin Quarter Church Adventures

Day 4:

I love the Latin Quarter. Though it's now filled with shops and restaurants and tons of people, you can still see the medieval era that it came from in its tiny streets and architecture. I would love to have had more time to walk down the streets and wander through the shops but I did have a great time going through the churches. Saint Severn Chapel, a post Notre Dame church was easily one of my favorite churches that we’ve been to so far, including Notre Dame. This church was a tiny more enclosed version of the Notre Dame which allowed me to really see the architecture and feel the impact of the vaults. The fan vaults (not 100% sure that this is the correct term at all) in the chapel were so beautiful, they wrapped around the columns and intertwined, to create a sort of movement. It was as though they were alive, the veins of the church. I believe Notre Dame has something similar, but they were so high up it was almost impossible to really and experience them. The vaults paired with the modern stained glass created a truly spiritual experience, bringing the place to life. 

Turning around you were confronted by an organ the size of which I had never previously seen. The scale of it was almost something out of a fairytale. 

Though the organ was covering some of the original stained glass, and some saw it as a burden and a shame to have covered the glass, I loved it. The glass was beautiful, but how often do you see an organ that large and beautiful?!

Musée Rodin

Musée Rodin was an absolutely beautiful place. I was told that I may be offended by the sculptures that I saw, either religiously or otherwise, but I have to say I found most of the pieces to be wonderful. Despite expecting to be a little off put coming into it based on what had been said, I really wasn’t offended by anything at all. I thought “The Hand of God” was a beautiful depiction of God’s hand in the creation of the world, and I loved “The Gates of Hell”. I have always had a fascination with the supernatural, in the narrative form, and I saw this piece as another expression of that. Also, as a believer, it was incredibly interesting to see someone’s depiction of what the gates of hell may actually be like. It’s chilling.

I somehow always end up spending time with the less famous works in museums regardless of how close I am to say, “The Thinker” this was no exception. I spent most of my time journaling with “Cathedral”. Which is a sculpture of two hands coming together. The sculpture is quite oversized which is what initially brought me to it because I love things that are either oversized or too small. My initial draw was definitely the oversized hands but what kept me there was my confusion about the piece. 

It seems to be a very romantic and sensual piece with the fingers just brushing the skin, and the angle of the arms too strange to be that of one person. This of course made me question the name, Cathedral. How could a name like Cathedral, which by definition is a religious gathering place, be put to something so sensual? It doesn’t seem to fit. 

Sorry I draw so poorly

As I was thinking about this I realized something else about the hands, both are certainly female and so appear to be from the same person despite the odd angle their arms would have to be at to make this work. Believe me, I tried. I left the statue still not 100% sure what the piece was about, but with every intent of finding out. 

I also happened to notice a very interesting pattern in the visitors by age. The path they used to move through the room seemed to change with their ages. You can see this in my lovely diagram below.

I spent the remainder of my time at Musée Rodin in the gardens. I think the gardens are easily my favorite part of most of the places that we go. I just love being outside and seeing the unique and ornate landscaping, experiencing the integration of sculpture and nature, and taking in the fresh parisian air. 

3 Days Down

Despite having been here for almost 5 days now, I find myself still having a hard time believing that i’m actually in Paris. The past couple of days have been a flurry of all the things i’ve always wanted to do or see and the daunting task of trying to adjust to the time change, the metro system, and taking everything in while half asleep. I have already faced many unexpected surprises and some disappointments, but the experience is no doubt a positive one over all, and one i’m glad to be a part of. 

On day 1, we made our way to Notre Dame. At first I was supremely peeved by the giant blue mass that sat in front of the Notre Dame thinking that it would ruin any chance I had of taking a good photo or seeing the building in it’s entirety, however, upon entering the big blue frustration I came to realize that it was offering a unique opportunity to get close to the pieces of the building that you might never get to see so close on a regular basis.   

It’s hard to tell what surrounds it besides cafe’s due to the droves of people that flood the grounds at all times. This is actually one of my continuing great disappointments in Paris, the number of tourists. Of course it is to be expected but it’s still sad to see that the church can’t even run a proper mass due to the amount of people flooding in and out of the church. We will never again be able to see the Notre Dame as it was originally.

Despite this small moment of gloom, the Notre Dame was magnificent and climbing the tower to the very top was as rewarding as it was difficult. Seeing the gargoyles close up and taking in Paris as a whole from the top was breathtaking. As ridiculous as it sounds one of my first thoughts while wandering around the top, was how many things Disney’s Hunchback of Notre Dame got right in their depiction of the Notre Dame and particularly this rooftop-ish area, as it's rarely seen in images. 

The arrival of day 2 meant a couple of things things, one, I would be very tired, and two, I would be seeing one of the sites I had most been looking forward to since signing up for the trip. Versailles, and more particularly, the gardens were awe inspiring. I could easily spend hours upon hours in the gardens and never get tired of it. In fact what captured me most wasn’t the palaces or the statues but simply the landscaping. The square trees, the labyrinth of bushes. It felt as if I had stumbled into Wonderland without realizing it.

Besides the landscaping I was drawn to the Petit Trianon and the Hamlet that Marie Antoinette had revamped for herself. Marie Antoinette has always interested me, but interests me profoundly more after having read the article on her and visiting her palace. It was such a great experience to be able to physically see all the places that I had been imagining while reading the article, seeing how different or similar they were to what I had dreamt up in my head. I was pleased to see that the Petit Trianon was, in fact, petit.    

Saint Louis, King of France and a Page

Day 3 I was initially a little skeptical about just because i’m not much of an art analytical sort of person. What I enjoy more is looking at the art and what it depicts and then thinking about the time period and the people and what it would have been like to live in that time period with those customs, particularly of course with historical artwork. So I was nervous about how I was going to have to approach the assignment. I certainly can't articulate myself as well as my peers in this area, so i'm hoping to grow in that while i'm here.

  I ended up choosing 2 of what I thought were portrait paintings. I chose “ A Teacher of the Law” by Jean Barbault and “Saint Louis King of France and a Page” by Domenico Theotocopolous El Greco. 

Analyzing them ended up not being quite as difficult as I would have imagined but I still feel like there has got more to the paintings that I just don't see.

Easily one of my favorite pieces though was this piece whose name plate image I somehow deleted. :(

If you happen to know who this is by I would not be at all opposed to finding out!