A Little More Than Is Normal

Today was a lot of things thrown into one thing. It started out like a normal day. I went to the Center for class at 10 am, and then was finished with lecture at 12:15. We had another session at 4:00 so a large group of us decided to explore the Centre Georges Pompidou during out long break. We took the metro to Châtelet. At this stop there is a massive mall. The mall is actually underground, which we didn't realize at first. We at lunch at a fast food place that was way too overpriced. I spent 3,50 euro and all I got was a small drink and small fries. If you convert that to American it would be like 5 bucks! You could do that on the dollar menu at McDonald's for two bucks, easy. I'm sure the French designed the prices at these places because they know that its difficult for Americans to find food they like, so they figure we'll spend a lot. We had to ask directions a few times but we found a way out of the mall, and towards the Centre Pompidou.

The Centre Pompidou is a very large building. It's also designed to look inside out, so when you walk up to it you can see all of the outside pipes exposed, and the escalators are on the outside too. The museum houses a lot of contemporary work, leaving off where the impressionists that are displayed at the Musée d'Orsay (another museum I'd like to see, maybe next week?). My favorite part of the museum was the fauvism display. Fauvism was a movement that grew out of the impressionist movement. Fauvists utilized bright colors and strong, yet small brush strokes. My favorite fauvist is Henri Matisse, and they had two early Matisse paintings on display. My favorite of the two was of the Pont St Michel which is near Notre Dame Cathedral. There is a lot of other stuff in the Centre that is really cool. They have a lot of Picassos and a lot of very interesting, and baffling sculptures created from some of the strangest things you'd ever see.

After the Centre Pompidou we had to head back to the Chicago Center. We had a wine and cheese tasting that the Center had organized for the french language students. The tasting was conducted by a real connoisseur. He taught us how to look at, smell, and taste different types of wine. He also taught us about the importance of the pairings of cheese he selected. Most of the pairings were based on similar region, although some were more reliant on taste. Overall I preferred the white wines that we tasted over the reds, but I'm not a big fan in general. I loved all of the cheeses, but I've been tasting weird cheeses at Whole Foods since it first opened in Madison forever ago. It was fun, and it was nice to meet with some of the other french language students.

The last thing on the agenda for the evening was to meet with our conversation assistants. This is something that our Center has set up for us as an opportunity to practice speaking french in a non-academic setting. My conversation assistant, Marie-Christine, took my small group (me, Caroline and Benna) to a small cafe not far from the Centre Pompidou. It was called Carpe Diem, and it was very cozy with a jazzy influence. I had a coffee (decaf, it was after 7 by then). It was quaint, and it was fun to talk with Marie-Christine and learn about growing up in Paris. She was also very interested in what its like to live in the States, so it was fun to try and explain the differences. Next week she is going to take us out for tapas at a Spanish restaurant she knows, it should be great.

Tomorrow I have to wake up at 5:40 to go to Poitiers! I'm super stoked, we're going to go see a lot of old stuff, and I get to ride the high-speed train.