Musée D'Orsay and more.

Yesterday I didn't have class, so when I finally dragged myself out of bed, I went to the Musée D'Orsay. Words can't describe how amazing it was. It's wayyy smaller than the Louvre (obv), so it was a lot more manageable and less overwhelming. They didn't allow pictures anywhere in the museum, though, so that was a huge bummer because even the architecture of the building was art. The ceiling was so beautiful! I took a lot of notes on the paintings so I could go find pictures of the works online and look at them more haha. One of my favorite parts was the van Gogh stuff. I was never a huge fan, but when I actually saw the paintings in person it hit me on a whole other level. His style is so interesting, and the paint is applied so thick in some places, the paintings are slightly 3-D. I think I was the only one there who was looking at some of them from the side (head against the wall it was hanging on to see the physical depth, who cares if I looked weird, I call it perspective haha). I just really loved all the colors he used. They're really deep and really draw you in. Another part of the museum I really liked was the Honoré Daumier room. There was a huge glass case that had a display of 36 busts he had sculpted, each of which was a satirical representation of prominent figures in the 1830s, all of which were entertaining, and none of which were very flattering. After that, I saw some Manet, which was so cool. Learning about all these works of art is one thing, but actually getting to see it is unreal. I saw "Dejeuner sur l'herbe" (Luncheon on the Grass), and the only thing I can remember from class is that the nude woman in the foreground is WAY out of proportion compared to the men she's sitting next to (aka she's huge). I also saw Olympia, which fun since we learned about that one via Sister Wendy. That's the one with the cat in the corner which no one really notices. I have to say it was kind of a weird looking cat. I'm sure that's what Manet was really concerned about. I saw some Cezanne, too, which was kind of cooler than the exhibit I saw at the Phoenix Art Museum before I left. I overheard someone talking about him, though, and they pronounced it "suh-zanne" (more like Suzanne than Cezanne) and I was like, really?? I also saw Courbet's Origin of the World. I saw a tour group go into the room where it's hanging, and heard 50+ year old women giggling. I'm not going to include a picture because it makes me uncomfortable, but you can Google at your own risk for the full understanding of their laughter. I also saw Seurat, Gaugin, Coubert, Rodin, Matisse, Delacroix, Monet, Cassat, Degas, and Renoir. I recognized a Renoir painting as such before I looked at the info card, which I was excited about haha. Upstairs they had a lot of sculptures and then, randomly, some furniture. That was kind of weird, I thought. I think I made it to every room, but it is also free so I can go back whenever! In the middle of walking around, I wanted to sit down and eat the lunch I had packed, so I went and found a table in the café. But apparently in order to even sit in there you have to wait in line and then buy something, so, yes, I was kicked out of the Musée D'Orsay café. We had a happy hour later that night with everyone in the program, but I had some spare time after I left the museum and before I had to meet everyone. I finally bought a French-English dictionary (for less than 3 euro thank you very much) and then I took the RER closer to where we were meeting for drinks. It was super crowded, though, so I got off a stop early and walked. I had about an hour and a half to kill, so I found a crepe place. When I pushed the door, though, it was locked. The guy came and opened the door for me and made me a delicious crepe and gave me coffee (well, not "gave," I paid for it, but still), which was really nice. I don't know if they were closed or what, and it was kind of weird being the only one in there, but I was hungry so I didn't care. I was sitting there reading an article (in French!) about Despicable Me (here, "Moi, moche et méchant) and the guy was like "Sorry, I have to leave." So that was awkward lol clearly I overstayed my welcome. I continued my streak of being early for everything with being early for happy hour, but once everyone got there it was really fun! We got two free drinks each (I only used one of my tickets, though, because I couldn't decide what else I wanted haha). I tried a Kir Peche, which was white wine with peach flavoring. It was interesting. I'm just not a huge fan of wine, I guess, which is unfortunate since I'm in Paris. I'll keep working on that. I went home around 9 because I had homework to do. Again I avoided the "staying out til 3am" group, which I don't mind missing out on for now. Especially when I have class the next day at 9am.

Today was a very long day. I was tired before I even rolled out of bed. Then I had three hours of French, followed by a two hour lunch break, and then another 3 hour class in French (art history). The second class was brutal. We had to discuss a few paintings in French (2 of which I saw in person yesterday at the Musée D'Orsay!!), and one guy in my group was using all these technical terms that I've never even heard before. Also, he's from Ukraine, and I have a hard enough time trying to understand French in a French accent. The Ukranian accent definitely does not help. Then we watched this super boring video about an artist, and it was in French so I didn't really follow very well. Also, to convey that the artist's father was a baker, it showed someone cutting a giant piece of bread for a solid 3o seconds. I was like, "Wow, thanks for that visual because that just really ties his whole life together and I understand so much better now...." (I hope you all detected sass and sarcasm in that last sentence.) They also showed a few works by artists other than the one they were focusing on, and I recognized a few. For one, they were showing how different artists paint eyes, and one of them in my head I was like "that's Rembrandt" and it totally was. And then they showed a small portion of Guernica and I was like "Picasso. Guernica." I was really proud of myself haha. I thought that class would never end. I came home and watched Glee (and cried haha) and Raising Hope (it's kind of dumb, but it makes me laugh out loud every episode). Then I watched Chris Rock's documentary Good Hair, which was one of the most fascinating movies I've ever seen. And THEN, I got a postcard from Allie!! It seriously made my day (but made me miss everyone even more). Oh, I learned a (potentially untrue) fun fact today. The light in the bathroom at school is a blacklight, and some of us were talking about it today because that's kind of weird. Then one girl said it's because you can't see your veins under blacklights, so it prevents people from shooting up. Which I bet is a huge problem at L'Institut Catholique de Paris. So I have no idea if that is true/why she knows it, but if anyone else has any info on the subject, please let me know haha. That's all I can think of for now, not quite sure why I'm still awake, either.

Bisous!