Notre Dame!

In our new grail-like quest to do all of the best touristy things in Paris, we knocked off Notre Dame today.

Ground was broken on the essence of gothic architecture, in 1163. The amount of labor required to build the church was amazing because there were no machines to help with the construction.

The first draft of the church was built without the belltowers or the spire which were added later. It is a extremely intimidating church with its exoskeletal flying buttresses and spine-like spire on the outside and the dimly lit inside adorned with stained glass from almost 1000 years ago.

The buildings in the neighborhood outside the church are almost comical with narrow windy streets and buildings that lean all directions. The area is a fantastic place to visit. More photos at...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/59007731@N00/sets/72157594306175672/detail/ 

George Pompidou Museum of Modern Art

Visited the Pompidou Museum of Modern Art today. It is named after the French president of the same name whose administration lasted during the late 1960's and early 1970's.

One thing I've learned is that it is very typcal for a French president to try to leave 'his mark' on Paris. For instance, take this museum built by Pompidou and the newest Paris museum, The Museum of Prehistoric Art, which was built under the auspices of the current president, Jaques Chirac.

The museum itself is fantastic, it looks like a giant, colorful erector set (think blast furnace in the morning) so it is very non-Parisian and is no doubt the scorn of many Parisians due to its nontraditional architecture.

The actual art exhibit is relatively small but has some great pieces by Man Ray, Matisse, Salvador Dali, Picasso, Jackson Pollock and others. The focus of the museum is, of course, modern art so there is some very different and interesting works done with film and photography.

The views from the top floor cafe and the famous escalator are fantastic. The link below has some more pictures from the museum. Class starts tomorrow...boo. Enjoy the photos!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/59007731@N00/sets/72157594299038503/detail/ 

Obligatory Eiffel Tower Photo

We took a cruise on the Seine River on Friday, I have added some photos from the river cruise of some of the scenery and the international student gang. Here is the Flickr link to the photos, Enjoy!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/59007731@N00/

Nick 

Observations from my classmates

So as and engineer and a business person, I am not a big fan of politics, but I have fun talking with a bunch of my classmates from all over the world and getting their views of what is going on in the world and the US.

First off, the scandinavians and the other students from the states are by far the most critical of the US. The norwegians go so far as to say they prefer to try to speak english with a UK accent because they are so disenchanted with the US. I expected some of this, they are really cool and nice people but they make some pretty brutal generalizations about the US community.

My counterparts from London feel a little sympathetic to the US public because so of them genuinely think the US population is being snowed and mislead by the government. I found that really interesting. One instance they brought up was how it was painfully clear how generally democratic jurisdictions in the US were not given the same resources during the election (read not enough machines, changes in voting locations etc.) as the republican areas. Just short of telling me the election was rigged, they told me that the general UK population believed the election was rigged.

My Canadian friend is an interesting case, he said he kind of admired the US for at least taking a stand. He said that in Canada the government doesn't ever seem to take a stand for or against anything and that really frustrated him.

What really bakes my noodle is the europeans. The thing they seemed most bent about is the fact that there was no consistent EU message about the Iraq war. The differing stances that Germany, France and the UK took were a real frustration to them.

I get into a lot of good discussions about US politics especially because most of my classmates just assume I am a republican so they like to go on the attack. I have to remind them that I am a greenie at heart and explain to them that I'm a dem. Still doesn't stop them from wanting me to start a revolution. French and their revolutions, its almost like if they aren't revolting against something, something is wrong.

Anyway, I'm off to have lunch with my new German friends Venzel and Bruno. They are very big and scary but I think they are good guys.

More later...

The Commute

This post is dedicated to my buddy Aaron, he'd be prod of me. My commute consists of a 40min walk through Paris and it is pretty interesting. Today was a big day because today is the first day I didn't almost get hit by a very small French car. All of the usual Paris stuff applies, lots of new smells (Paul would love it), you have to avoid dog poop and the boulangeries (bakeries) smell great! 

Hey all! Here are a couple of photos of the campus, the courtyard is very nice, many of the buildings in Paris have courtyards in them. It is really nice in the afternoon because there is a bar on campus (just like Mike's school, you can check out his blog from 'My Links') get a beer for 1E (about $1.30) and chill in the courtyard and listen to French students talk way to quickly in French or hear the international students tell you all of their adventures so it is pretty cool. More later! 

Trouble with the internets...

so I'm having some trouble with the internets, i actually had to dig into the wall socket of the ethernet plug (no wifi, that would be WAY too easy) and fix a bunch of the plug wires in there. Enginerd strikes again... seems to be working ok but you'd think that I was trying to get internet on the damned moon instead of Paris... I'm almost sure I rhinoed it somehow though.

NK

30 hour travel day...

My Christ today has been long. It started at 9am in Seattle (midnight Paris time) on the 16th. 4 metro rides and an insane hunt for the internets later, I am still up and kicking at 6pm on the 17th. By my watch that is 30 straight hours I have been traveling and I am a whole lot worse for the wear. Plane rides were good, just long and I had to repack a bunch of my stuff because one of my bags (the monster I bought in Shanghai) was too heavy.

After that it was smooth sailing until the train ride. I got lucky there and rode the coattails of a couple from Portland who knew where to go. They got off at a different stop and that is when the adventure began. I had to catch another train to the school, ESCP-EAP where I’ll be studying to get the keys to my place. That is another long story that ends with Nicky Neutron Bomb here further crippling already tenuous French-American relations. I got to ESCP-EAP and in my best French (Goldy I can hear you laughing now) I tried to explain to the guard that a nice lady should have left me a key. He totally stonewalled me, wouldn’t touch me with a ten foot pole. So at me bleakest hour at about the 22 hour mark, I had no where to go and I had my 1st real French encounter. Again, being more lucky than good, a student that works part time at ESCP rode up on her bike, asked me what the hell I was doing, rattled the guard’s cage a little and then, quite literally, voila, a key appeared.

So it is back underground for the Nickbo sound and I am in the metro again. 2 more rides and I arrive at my apartment which you can see in the photo ain’t too shabby. Actually it is piss poor shabby but I’m in no shape to go to war over it yet.

Things are settling down a little so I am off to look for a nice café au lait and some internet to email my beautiful sweetness and the rest of the good time gang. Turns out they really roll up the streets in Paris on Sundays. Nothing is open and I walked for blocks trying to find an internet café. No such critter. After trying to jack free internet everywhere I could, I resigned and actually went down the hall and in real creepy American guy style asked two French gals if I could send a quick email off. While uncomfortable, it was kind of funny. I guess I’ll be getting an internet connection in the room here soon enough.

School starts tomorrow so I’ll post more then. Au Revoir! 

My Life in a Box

Here's me getting ready to fly out tomorrow, I have all of the necessities, hawks coozie, huskies antenna balls, coffee cups. I think I am ready! I fly out tomorrow morning and I'm really excited to head to Paris! 

 

Welcome!

This is our blog for our trip to Paris! We'll have lots of posts and pictures soon enough! I'll be arriving in Paris on the 17th of September and Jess will arrive about a week later. More soon! Keep it tuned to...THE DAILY HEADBUTT