This past weekend I was blessed to visit Paris yet again. This was my free trip with Greene's Travel Service, generously bestowed due to the plethora of mishaps that plagued the first. This past weekend flashed by with no such catastrophes. On Saturday we took the Eurostar (Chunnel) from the new departure station of King's Cross St. Pancras and were in the heart of Paris in just over 2.5 hours. That afternoon I ditched the tour and went to the Musee D'Orsay, which I have since nominated for my favorite art museum. Who knew that so many of my favorite paintings/artists were collected in one place? It was incredible. My favorite moment was turning a corner and suddenly finding myself facing Olympia by Manet, one of my favorite paintings. It was pretty incredible. And their collection of Degas is superb! His pastels! But if you haven't seen them or even reproductions, then it is no use elaborating.
Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera on this trip. It was a blessing and a curse as it forced me to concentrate more on absorbing the moment at hand (and I am an extremely visual person) but ... I have no pictures! Greg and Veronica (two of my flatmates who also came) have promised to share, and Veronica was a gem in loaning her camera.
On Sunday I went to Versailles. The gardens were incredible! It takes an hour to walk through them one way, yet the parts that I saw were all quite well-kept. The palace itself still has such a long way to go in terms of restoration, but one can readily imagine the original opulence. I do have to say that it was smaller than anticipated, but I think that was only in comparison to the Louvre.
Equaling my pleasure/excitement/awe of the Musee D'Orsay was climbing to the top of Notre Dame and viewing Paris from the vantage point of the gargoyles. They are not uniformly hideous, by the way. Some of them are even a bit endearing. Personally, I liked the elephant.
Random Paris Fact:
The metro has a stop named "Franklin D. Roosevelt."
And just prior to leaving, I bought a beret. :) Oh, Paris!
November 29, 2007
November 23, 2007
Dear Diary
This morning my alarm failed to rouse me, and I awoke to the sound of my roommate blow-drying her hair. This was 45 min. later than scheduled, but strangely I was only 10 min. late to work. Somehow that extra 15 min. delay meant that the Tube was empty. Spent 3.5 hours trying to figure out Adobe applications at work, and then wondered how I was helping the Afghan people. I felt quite unproductive and unprofessional, though for once I was actually concentrating steadily on the task at hand.
Thankfully, this was my short day at internship, and I proceeded straight to Bible study afterwards. This is the best Bible study of which I have ever been a part. We are a group of students from my church purposefully proceeding through Romans, one of my two favorite Bible books. And we always have tea (or coffee!) and biscuits.
My friend Judith came home with me after Bible study and we had pesto and telephone cord pasta and visited for a couple of hours. Now I am procrastinating on packing for Paris, but I really should be more responsible as I have to awake at 4:30am to catch the bus to the Eurostar station. (That would be the Chunnel.)
Random London trivia:
Dr. Watson evidently had his medical practice in Kensington - my neighborhood!
Sorry that this post is rather mundane. Paris deserves more from me than procrastination. I plan on buying a beret ASAP.
Thankfully, this was my short day at internship, and I proceeded straight to Bible study afterwards. This is the best Bible study of which I have ever been a part. We are a group of students from my church purposefully proceeding through Romans, one of my two favorite Bible books. And we always have tea (or coffee!) and biscuits.
My friend Judith came home with me after Bible study and we had pesto and telephone cord pasta and visited for a couple of hours. Now I am procrastinating on packing for Paris, but I really should be more responsible as I have to awake at 4:30am to catch the bus to the Eurostar station. (That would be the Chunnel.)
Random London trivia:
Dr. Watson evidently had his medical practice in Kensington - my neighborhood!
Sorry that this post is rather mundane. Paris deserves more from me than procrastination. I plan on buying a beret ASAP.
November 22, 2007
8.) Brad Pitt (from a purely aesthetic point of view)
Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! 2 Corinthians 9:15
In the absence of family, I joined my new American friend Shelley for Thanksgiving dinner. She and her two flatmates work for Campus Crusade in London. We were joined by four other Crusade staffers and two additional guests. CCC is actually called Agape (but pronounced a as in mad - ga as in gash - pay)in Europe as the word "crusade" has a terribly negative connotation, especially in relation to the church. It was a blessing to be with Christians and Americans on this day of giving thanks. Also, the dinner on Tuesday with the flatmates was indeed a resounding success. Not only did we conjure up a feast out of our tiny kitchen(and I do not exaggerate on either count), but we actually very much enjoyed being together. Fourteen of us participated: good times.
Yesterday I went to the National Gallery for the second time. It's free, as are most museums in Britain. Thank you social welfare state. This time I saw the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings. Degas is incredible! I also really liked Picasso's Child with a Dove, which was painted before he became too blue for my tastes.
6.5 Things for Which I am Thankful
(specifically, the first 6.5 that popped in my head)
1.) See's candy
2.) My comfy plush blanket from Korie that makes me feel like my London room is cozy
3.) British theatre
4.) My family
5.) My friends
6.) Being literate
7.) Not living in Afghanistan
Oops, I got carried away with the half. If you ever want to know about Afghanistan, I still don't know that much about it but I'm learning about the average families and their struggles.
6.5) My one rose earring that is still intact even though the other one was tragically parted from its stud. And what a terrible calamity, to be parted from one's stud.
In the absence of family, I joined my new American friend Shelley for Thanksgiving dinner. She and her two flatmates work for Campus Crusade in London. We were joined by four other Crusade staffers and two additional guests. CCC is actually called Agape (but pronounced a as in mad - ga as in gash - pay)in Europe as the word "crusade" has a terribly negative connotation, especially in relation to the church. It was a blessing to be with Christians and Americans on this day of giving thanks. Also, the dinner on Tuesday with the flatmates was indeed a resounding success. Not only did we conjure up a feast out of our tiny kitchen(and I do not exaggerate on either count), but we actually very much enjoyed being together. Fourteen of us participated: good times.
Yesterday I went to the National Gallery for the second time. It's free, as are most museums in Britain. Thank you social welfare state. This time I saw the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings. Degas is incredible! I also really liked Picasso's Child with a Dove, which was painted before he became too blue for my tastes.
6.5 Things for Which I am Thankful
(specifically, the first 6.5 that popped in my head)
1.) See's candy
2.) My comfy plush blanket from Korie that makes me feel like my London room is cozy
3.) British theatre
4.) My family
5.) My friends
6.) Being literate
7.) Not living in Afghanistan
Oops, I got carried away with the half. If you ever want to know about Afghanistan, I still don't know that much about it but I'm learning about the average families and their struggles.
6.5) My one rose earring that is still intact even though the other one was tragically parted from its stud. And what a terrible calamity, to be parted from one's stud.
November 20, 2007
Let us return to Murad
Currently reading: Turkish Gambit by Boris Akunin (originally published in Russia). It's an adventure/detective story.
"However, let us return to Murad. He was a handsome youth, by no means stupid and actually extremely well read, although he had a tendency to drink to excess and suffered from an entirely justified persecution mania."
Highlights of today:
My delightful, artsy professor (who is unfortunately - or fortunately - married, thus preventing my being in love with him) said that he is an ardent feminist. (Okay, ardent was my word, but that was the gist of it.)
Thanksgiving dinner with the roomies. Actually, this is an anticipatory highlight. I am avoiding our tiny kitchen for the next two hours, as I have already made my contribution. Thus, I am reading and blogging and avoiding looking up info on London NGOs because that constitutes research, which I generally abhor.
And don't worry, I seriously doubt that I will be posting with this frequency in the future. :)
"However, let us return to Murad. He was a handsome youth, by no means stupid and actually extremely well read, although he had a tendency to drink to excess and suffered from an entirely justified persecution mania."
Highlights of today:
My delightful, artsy professor (who is unfortunately - or fortunately - married, thus preventing my being in love with him) said that he is an ardent feminist. (Okay, ardent was my word, but that was the gist of it.)
Thanksgiving dinner with the roomies. Actually, this is an anticipatory highlight. I am avoiding our tiny kitchen for the next two hours, as I have already made my contribution. Thus, I am reading and blogging and avoiding looking up info on London NGOs because that constitutes research, which I generally abhor.
And don't worry, I seriously doubt that I will be posting with this frequency in the future. :)
Reader, be warned
Once upon a time I started a blog.
The template was green, reminiscent of frogs.
A happy alternative to work of the home
With pics, contemplations, and stories from Rome.
Expectations come with this deed,
But if you want something brilliant to read,
May I suggest Wodehouse or Lewis
And I can't think of anything off-hand that rhymes with Lewis except, "view this" or "few miss," both of which have potential that I do not currently have the energy to explore. That in itself should paint an accurate picture of posts to come.
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