Paris during a Transportation Strike

No Metro for us in Paris!

Well, we had to take the bus to Paris instead of the "Fast Train" because most of the transportation workers in Paris were on strike in a standoff with President Sarkozy. We left Strasbourg at about 1:00pm on Thursday and arrived in Paris in time for our dinner reservation at 8:30. Unfortunately for us, however, the Milan group had the earlier dinner reservation at the same restaurant and due to the transportation strike, they did not arrive on time for their time slot. We had to walk around outside and see some Parisian night life while we waited for them to finish dining at the Fondue restaurant.

Friday morning we did a bus tour and our masterful bus driver Patrick proved just how amazing he was! Driving in Paris is tricky on a good day, but during a transportation strike it is downright dangerous. Patrick manuevered the bus like it was a Smart Car! He dropped us off at the Musee D'Orsay and we had a lot of fun looking at the amazing collection of Impressionists and Post Impressionists. Through the famous clocks at the Musee that used to be a train station I took a picture of Sacre Coeur which we would visit Saturday morning.

My 3030 class and a few others with an interest in Modern Art then walked across town to the Pompidou. We walked past the Louvre and took some pictures of the Pyramid and front facade.

We made our way to the Pompidou where I was able to get everyone in as a group for 20 euro. I had to ping pong around several different desks and then we hopped on the escalators in the tubes that are visible from the outside and we all explored the collections.

From the window at the Pompidou, I saw the sun setting over Paris and I was able to get this picture of the iconic Eiffel tower and other landmarks of the "City of Love" at dusk.

Several of us found a place for dinner and then we took a cab back to our hotel.

Saturday we went to Sacre Coeur of Montmarte for a tour. About half of the students went with Alan Hing on a walking "Interior Design" tour of the city of Paris. The other half came with me to Sacre Coeur. We walked up the steep hill to arrive at this late 19th - early 20th century Neo-Byzantine structure built for the French people. It is an impresive structure and a wonderful nun showed us around the church and gave us a lot of insight on this Pillgrimage church in Paris.

After Sacre Coeur we had about 5 or so hours to enjoy the city before we met up at 6:15-6:30 to cue for the ride to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Many students walked up and around the Arch de Triumph. I was with a group and we made our way up to the Arch but decided not to wait in line and climb it. We walked around and took pictures and then went back through the underground passage to the other side of the street. The circle around the Arch is notorious for accidents and terrifying traffic. Several of the students ignored my warning NOT to attempt to cross the street (there is an underground walkway) and did just that. I am thankful they were not squashed like bugs by the insane traffic!

In a previous visit to Paris I took the boat tour around the river and the Ile de la Cite. It was fun and offered wonderful photo opportunities so we timed it around sunset and hopped on the hour boat tour for a mere 10 euro. Below is a photo of Notre Dame with the sun setting over it from the boat. After the boat we had hot chocolate and a snack before the Eiffel Tower experience.

I am consistently baffled by the information that I 'need' to provide to college students! Everyone made their way to the Eiffel Tower close to the time they were supposed to be there but many had not "taken precautions," as they say here in France. I am unsure why I need to tell people when to use the facilities but many seem not to comprehend that I cannot magically make bathrooms appear at will when they personally need them. Alas, group travel has its ups and its downs.

The Eiffel Tower sparkled and after a lot of pictures we took the elevators down and returned to the hotel. Many of us found a wonderful Sushi restaurant right next to the hotel and we ate there and fell into bed exhausted from a wonderful day in Paris.
Sunday, I loaded the bus and we went to Versailles. It was very cold and VERY crowded. We had to jostle for position to see anything let alone pay for souvenirs. It was good to see it but it would be better to come on a day with LESS tourists if that is possible. The bus dropped us off and our guide Celine helped us get into St. Chappelle free of charge since we are History of Art students studying in Europe.

I had told my students that they would LOVE St. Chappelle and that it is a magical place but many filed that in the same place they file most things they hear in Art History class. Several students were absolutely "blown away" by the beauty of this little stained glass masterpiece.

After spending some quality time "taking it all in" we walked over to Notre Dame.
We went immeadiately because we were unsure they would close to tourists. There ended up being a special service at 3pm and many of us really enjoyed walking around this beautiful cathedral while the choir sung heavenly sounding music.

The students I was with needed to eat and so did I as we finished and were ready to climb up the tower they closed the line and ended any thoughts for that adventure. We walked around until we were frozen and I went back into Notre Dame and visited the Treasury to see the sights and warm back up.

The most eventful part of the day was when I had to attempt to speak french to the Police to facilitate our bus pulling over and loading us onto it. The policeman understood enough of what I was saying to flag the bus over and Patrick pulled the half of the bus up onto the curb. We loaded in less than 2 minutes while the Policeman held traffic and we were off! It was very impressive!

Monday we went to the Louvre. It was great but too short! We loaded the bus and headed back to our little castle we call home in Strasbourg! : )

Adventures in Basel, Switzerland

The students have several "Open Weekends" where they are permitted to travel around Europe with at least one of their classmates. My colleague had a trip planned to Copenhagen and I was thouroughly exhausted so I stayed close to the Chateau with the remaining students and did a quick trip back to Basel Switerland. The public transportation system is fantastic in Europe and you can really get almost anywhere you need to go on it!

We visited Basel as a group early in the quarter and saw the Vitra Museum and then had a brief walk about town. Basel is the third largest city in Switerland and is about 37 kilometers but it has more than 40 museums! One of the AiP students, Kate Reynolds, travelled with me and we bought the "Basel Card" which gave us entry or discounts to numerous attractions.

It was rather cold during our visit but there were plenty of indoor activities to keep us busy. We did almost become popsicles on the city walking tour but we did enjoy it thouroughly.

The one thing that we did have trouble with in Basel was eating. Everything was outrageously expensive. The Swiss use the Swiss Franc and it was trading almost equal to the dollar. A bowl of soup was 10-12 CF (Swiss Franc), Pasta 15-20 CF, a "value meal" at a fast food chain 10-12 CF. Breakfast was unavailable to anyone who did not stay at a hotel that offered it for a mere 12-15 CF. I hate to admit it, but starving and cold, we ate at the Burger King : (

I really wanted to check out an excavated Roman village a bit outside of town called Austica Raurica. We took the bus and then walked up to the site. It was overcast and very cold, there seemed to be some sort of a race going on and thus we walked quickly around the outdoor parts and spent time in the museum which housed treasures found at the site. I would highly recommend a visit in the spring, summer, or early fall.

We took the bus back into town and then went to an incredible place in Basel that I am guessing a lot of tourists miss. Kate does graphic design, and I love etchings, engravings, and prints in general. In our museum guide of Basel we found a museum called Basler Papiermuhle. It is a restored medieval Gallician mill house dedicated to the history of paper, writing, and printing. We made paper, learned how letters for typesetting were made, typeset our names, printed them, had our names done in Chinese calligraphy, pressed a wax seal, and pressed an image from a stamp. It was very informative and interactive and I HIGHLY recommend a visit to anyone that has any interest in paper! Below are a few images of what we saw and did.

Other than eating, Basel was a Big Hit with us! I will definately do another day trip to Basel in that there are SEVERAL more musuems that I would really like to see. : )

Early November in Strasbourg

November 4th my Art History classes went to the museums which are free every first Sunday of the month. In nice, small groups we walked around the collections of the Museum of Archeology and the Museum of Beaux Arts and talked about the real works of art in front of us that corresponded to the time periods we have covered in class.

I met my Modern class at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art to do the same, unfortunately, there was a strike and we had to leave after only covering about half of the museum. The French really enjoy striking and protesting. It can be inconveinent but at least you can tell that the citizenship cares about issues. (more on strikes when I report on Paris)

Several students had people visiting them and they came to the museums with us.

After the adventures a small group of us went to the local Chocolate shop which specializes in Hot Chocolate - for 6 euro (about $10. at the current exchange rate). Thankfully, at those prices, it really was exceptional hot chocolate and we had a little snack and some wonderful conversation. A lovely day in France!

The Stork is the symbol of the Alsace, until November 8th I had not seen the real bird, only numerous likenesses in every tourist shop in Strasbourg and every other town in the Alsace we visited. The story of the stork delivering babies has significance here in Strasbourg. There is a legend that if you leave 3 sugar cubes on your window sill and they are gone in the morning the stork will visit you with a baby in about 9 months. Further, there is supposed to be a special underground lake under the Strasbourg cathedral from which the storks get the souls of the babies to deliver... - I need to have someone clarify these for me before I leave so I am sure about all of it. Thus far, thankfully, none of the students has left any sugar cubes on the window sill!

Notre Dame du Haut, Ronchamp France

Well, it has been awhile since I have had a free moment to add my thoughts and pictures to this site! Things are hectic here in Strasbourg but winding down, and now that half of the students have left for a free weekend I can catch up with my notes on all of our adventures.

On the 3rd of November, our little group made a pilgrimage to Notre Dame du Haut by the famous architect Le Corbusier. Alan Hing, the interior design instrutor, arranged a private bus to take us to see this architectural masterpiece of the 20th century. All of the interior design students and a few others and myself spent a couple hours enjoying this modern cathedral.

After looking all around the interior and exterior of the church, the grounds in general, and making friends with some architecture students from Virginia Tech, we hopped back on the bus and returned home to the Chateau.

Frankfurt, Friday 2 November

The morning after the Halloween party, NO ONE was in the mood to ride on the bus for 3 hours to Frankfurt, but after the visit to the gkk Dialog Group (Graphic Design company) and a presentation from the Executive Creative Director himself - EVERYONE was happy to have come. Wow! what an opportunity for all of the students. They heard from, spoke with, and had questions answered by the one of the top creative directors in Frankfurt.

Travelling with 40 people is always challenging. We had to break up into two groups to visit the design house and some of us had little time to go to museums or do anything cultural afterwords. I made it to the Modern Museum and begged my way in - since there was only about 40 minutes to browse the collection. It was well worth it!

The architecture of the building that housed the modern art was almost as interesting as the art itself. The view below is from the top floor looking down to the middle and lowest level. If you think the horse coming out of the wall is strange, before I left the musuem I used the restroom. As I walked in to choose one of the three available stalls I heard strange noises and then observed a very unique film being projected into the middle stall. Despite the obvious novlety, I did NOT use that one!

Overall, Frankfurt was a blur, we got stuck in horrendous traffic, we saw a strike/rally/parade, and several of us were even "lucky" enough to see middle age man stroll down a busy Frankfurt avenue naked as if it was totally normal.

We left Frankfurt and went to Baden Baden for dinner and returned to the Chateau at around 11:15 pm.

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth - I have just been working 24/7

Hello, to all that are reading faithfully, it has been awhile. : (

It is not that I have nothing to say, it is that I haven't had a second to sit down and "say it" here on the blog, or on the phone, or via email!

For those of you wondering - My schedule last week went like this: class, yoga, class, class, class, carve a pumpkin, do a treasure hunt, dress for Halloween party, attend Halloween party, sleep, get up at 6:45 for a 7:45 am departure to Frankfurt, return from Frankfurt at 11:30 pm, sleep, get up at 8:00 am for a (9:00 am departure) to Ronchamp to see Notre Dame du Haut, return, grade mid-terms, sleep, get up at 8:00 am to leave to go to the museums in Strasbourg and to teach 2 more classes, museum suddenly closes for a strike at 2pm, return to Chateau, grade, eat at the BBQ, grade until 12:00-12:30 am and send in Mid-Term grades.

Monday, class from 1-7, deal with a crisis all day and early evening, got to sleep, up again, crisis continuing, more class from 1-7 with a stern lecture to all the students to "grow up" and "be happy" because WE ARE IN FRANCE!

On to happier thoughts: the Halloween Festivities were Wonderful!

I am still looking for a photograph that will do my outfit justice. I came as an obnoxiously dressed tourist. I must say it was something to behold!

The Mummy wrap was a lot of fun to watch. We wondered where all the toilet paper was and then we found it! We all had a great time at the Halloween Party! : )

Here's the whole herd all dressed up!

More details from Strasbourg soon!