Temple University Athletics
Veronica Radice Blog-July 6
7.6.09 | Field Hockey
July 6, 2009
Bonjour!
I have began to settle into my life in Paris, though the French keyboards are quite different and have taken some time to get used to!
My first night here we had a small orientation and afterwards all the students went out to dinner to get to know one another. The next day, we took our placement exams so we can enroll in appropriate courses according to our current comprehension of the language. Afterwards, I strolled through the Fifth arrondisement which is a lovely neighborhood in Paris. My favorite street in that quarter is Rue Mouffetard, a tiny winding street on a hill that is covered in restaurants, crêperies, boulangeries, shops, and open-air markets. At the bottom of the hill there is an old church and a playground, which is a perfect spot to rest a bit and take it all in.
The first day that I arrived it was so hot and people were desperately trying to seek refuge from the heat. It was pretty difficult to escape because there is practically no air-conditioning except in some stores and libraries. Luckily the heat has broken so it has been warm but much more bearable than before.
I am so happy to have the chance to stay with my family. I have been enjoying late dinners by the window of their apartment looking out onto the city of Paris. The view is incredible at night when everything is lit up. Also, I went with my cousin one afternoon to pick up her daughter on her last day of school and had the chance to see her elementary school. The little boys and girls running around the playground playing and speaking in French was
absolutely adorable.
On Saturday, we traveled to Normandy to visit the towns of Giverny and Rouen. In Giverny, we visited the famous French impressionist Claude Monet's, house. We saw the enchanting gardens where he painted all his famous paintings of the Japanese bridges and water lillies. The little town was what you would imagine as a quaint countryside town in France with its old cottages and gorgeous scenery. Next we headed to Rouen, which is where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake. The town was conquered by the Nords centuries ago so the buildings show evidence of Nordic influence in their style. We visited the Cathedral Notre-Dame, which was a grand cathedral built in the 15th century that unfortunately suffered a lot of damage during World War II.
Since today is the first Sunday of the month and many of the museums are free to the public, I went back to the Louvre because I wasn't able to see everything the museum contains in one visit. Since I'm mostly interested in sculptures, I focused on seeing all the rooms in the museum with sculputures of various centuries and countries. I also explored the rooms containing ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian artifacts, including the Code de Hammurabi.
Tomorrow is my first day of class! I'm eager to meet my professor and see what French classes are like in comparison to classes at Temple.
À bientôt!
Veronica
