Paris Visit #4

Last weekend I took another day trip to Paris, this time with Sarah, Yirah, and Matteo. We went to a part of Paris I haven't been to before, where we visited the Natural History Museum and took a long afternoon walk. The museum was impressive, and the rest of the day was sunny and perfect for a meandering stroll through the Jardin du Luxembourg, past the Pantheon, and finishing up by the Seine.

~ Inside the Natural History Museum ~

~ Fish! ~

  

~ Chillin ~

~ Pantheon in Paris ~

~ Jardin du Luxembourg ~

~ Springtime at Notre Dame ~

Louvre-Lens

Last weekend Daniele and I drove to Lens, a city about an hour north of Saint-Quentin. We wanted to visit Lens's art museum, which is run by the Louvre in Paris (called Louvre-Lens). The museum was cool, with a super modern architectural design. The main gallery, called the Galerie du temps (the Gallery of Time), is organized by chronology, and not by subject. The result is that art from many traditions is displayed in the same space, so visitors can directly compare art that was created at the same time in different places in the world. The gallery is one long room, with a timeline along one wall that corresponds to the art on display. It was a neat way to organize an exhibit, and the works on display were great.

***

***

  

***

***

***

***

***

Berlin: Monuments, Museums, and Everything Else

My favorite site in Berlin was the East Side Gallery, but Harry and I saw a lot of other interesting things during our visit.  The Reichstag, Brandenburg Gate, and the Holocaust Memorial were all near our hotel and very impressive. We also stopped by the Sony Center in Potsdamer Platz, which contains a large array of shiny modern buildings filled with offices, movie theaters, malls, and chic restaurants.

The Charlottenburg Palace was another cool site, featuring amazingly decorated rooms (the porcelain room was especially impressive). Our final stop during the trip was Berlin's Museum Island, where we visited several museums and saw an impressive variety of ancient artifacts.

~ At the Reichstag and Brandenburg Gate ~

~ Charlottenburg Palace ~

~ Staircase inside the palace ~

~ Fun scarf displays on the main shopping street ~

~ Potsdamer Platz, near our hotel ~

~  Holocaust Memorial ~

~ Ishtar Gate ~

~ Islamic art ~

~ Islamic art ~

Amiens: Orientation

The first official part of my job was attending a program orientation in Amiens last week. Amiens is the capital of the academie I’m working in (kind of like a county in the US).  It’s much bigger than Saint-Quentin, so I decided to stay a few extra days and turn my visit into a mini-vacation.

The orientation itself was a mix of standard administrative things (forms, forms, forms) and learning a few strategies that will help everyone in the program be effective teaching assistants. I’ll have to see if I end up implementing any of them once I get into the swing of things over the next few weeks.

During the rest of my stay in Amiens, I had a nice time exploring the city with a few other assistants. The city has a beautiful network of canals throughout (it’s called “La Petite Venise du Nord” – the Little Venice of the North) which made for scenic views at every turn. Below are some snapshots of the city’s streets, plus a few images from the Musee de Picardie (an art museum in Amiens).

   

~ Picturesque cobblestone streets and old buildings ~

 

~ I really hope creepy statues won't be a theme this year ~

~ Glimpse of the cathedral ~

~ Musee de Picardie; Egyptian artifacts ~

~ Dinner spot on Friday night - I even fed some bread to a swan family that swam by ~

~ By day and by night ~