First of all, sorry
everybody for writing this a month late, but as the first semester just came to
an end, I was overwhelmed with studying for finals and writing my memoir. A few stressful nights and 20 pages later, my
memoir is complete, turned in, and I have already received me grade (which I’m
happy about!). This week I have been on
holiday, work free, so finally I have the chance to update you on my last
holiday (Christmas and New Year’s). Get
ready. Here it goes:
During the month of
December, Angers was lit up with Christmas lights and Christmas music played as
you walked down the street. Most of the decorations
were pink and gold, which are apparently their Christmas colors. The center of town held a Christmas market
with several red and blue shacks selling all sorts of things, including the
best apple cider I’ve ever had (or as they call it here, “hot apple juice”). We didn’t have a Christmas tree at home, but
there was a huge decorated one in town. One night a few friends and I spent the night
in town wandering around, eating churros and pretzels, drinking hot cider or
hot wine, watching a lady dance with giant Russian dolls, listening to guys
play Christmas music with a horn and bells, observing the people on stilts all
dressed in white, and finished the night by escaping the cold and eating a 10pm
dinner in a cozy café.
December 21st was the last day of classes before break, and that night I hopped on a train to Paris to spend two weeks with my friend Romain and his family. Even though I had my memoir to write, which of course stressed me out, I was still able to have fun and visit places.
We visited Château de Fontainebleau, which was the château of François I
during the Renaissance when Italian artists came to France and influenced the
French art of that period.
It was a neat experience to go to this château because I had studied it
during the semester in my Art History class.
For me, art and architecture is always more fascinating when I know its
history.
One night we went to
the Christmas market along the Champs-Élysées.
It was similar to the one in Angers, but of course a lot bigger! The
whole street was lit up with Christmas lights…
I also got to go to the Edward Hopper art
exhibition, which was held in the Grand Palais in Paris. It was interesting to see the works of an American
painter, while in France – paintings that reflected my culture, American
culture. Another day, we went to the Salvador
Dali exhibition at Centre Pompidou. Unlike
Hopper who was a realist painter, Dali was a surrealist. Yes, his paintings are a bit bizarre, but I
found them extremely fascinating. No
doubt, Dali was a crazy and egotistical man, yet a brilliant artist. A different afternoon, Romain and I went to Musée Grévin,
which is a wax museum. They had movie stars,
famous singers, cartoon characters, artists, history figures, and athletes. We had
a fun time taking pictures of each other imitating the poses or expressions of
the people. Next to some of the figures
there were even accessories that you could put on to be more like that person;
so of course we took advantage of that. It was pretty hilarious!
One night we went into
Paris to see the Eiffel Tower lit up (something I’ve always wanted to see, but
never have). Every hour, it sparkles for
five minutes. Magical. It was a rainy night, but I didn’t mind. For those of you who have seen the film “Midnight in
Paris,” Owen Wilson is right – Paris is beautiful in the rain, especially at
night.
I thought it would be
hard being away from home during Christmas and New Year’s, but actually, I
think I was lucky to be able to experience these holidays in another
culture. On Christmas Eve, family came over to their
house for a huge delicious dinner. We
spent the night playing video games, and at midnight we opened presents. I guess that was the major difference –
opening presents at midnight instead of Christmas morning, going to bed at 3am
and sleeping in on Christmas, and not getting woken up early by my brother to go
open our gifts. ;) Christmas day we went into Paris to see the
display windows (Dior, Louis Vuitton).
New Year’s Eve, they
had family and friends over for a party.
I again got to try a lot of new and delicious food. We played video games, cards, and danced. The biggest difference here was that there
wasn’t really a countdown, and once the clock strikes midnight everyone goes
around and kisses each other. Later that
night we had a dance competition – Girls vs. Boys vs. Dads. Each group choreographed their own dance to
their song of choice, and then once everyone was ready and had practiced
enough, the performances began. The moms were the judges who voted for the
best group. After the votes were tallied,
the dads ended up winning. I went to bed
around 4am, content and ready for whatever this new year would have in store for me.
I had a great two weeks
because it was like being home for the holidays, but without actually leaving
France. No, I can’t say that I spent two
weeks traveling around Europe like some people did, but I can say that I got
the opportunity to celebrate the holidays with French and participate in their
traditions. On top of that, I got introduced to new TV series and got to learn
some new games; I got to try foie gras, and got to hear pretty much every slang
word that I had learned in my Français Familier class used in real conversation. What more could I ask for?
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