Wine Wednesdays

My new favorite place to go on Wednesday nights. The bars don't really play French music very often. I mostly hear American pop or rock songs, which is somewhat reverse culture shock, but hey, it's fun to dance to and drunkenly belt out.

Soundtrack to my night:

...and then of course the random one.

La Mode en France: Chaussures

Chic. Sleek. Classique.

Some words that come to mind when I think of French fashion. On a day to day basis, women here generally look more "dressed up" by American standards, although the level of dress is comparable to that of the business casual look found in New York and Boston. The one big difference, I would say, is the lack of pants. I rarely see black slacks paired with heels. The French love wearing skirts and dresses over sheer or semi-opaque tights and tall fitted boots. Zippered, calf-hugging boots are everywhere, whether they be flat riding boots with buckles or heeled boots with studs.

Little ankle booties are popular, too, dressed down with skinny jeans or dressed up with tights and a dress. Heeled or not, booties are all the rage in France. Leather, suede, tight, loose, grey, or black - it doesn't matter. You can wear them with any outfit as long as you maintain a complimentary color scheme. One of my favorite outfits consists of a striped boatneck tee, cuffed denim shorts over sheer tights, and little grey booties. Pair with a knitted beret, thick cable scarf, and classic black peacoat for optimal effect.

Lace-up military boots (or pilgrim boots) had their moment, but they were really more in vogue last season. With the period of les soldes right now in France, you see stores replenishing their sales racks with these shoes. Lace-ups will make a slight comeback in the spring, though, as sundresses reemerge from the closets just in time for the warmer weather.

I see heels in the boutiques but not as much on the streets. Even when I go to bars and clubs, it seems like the winter heel of choice is the heeled boot. Occasionally I do see black stilettos, but my theory is, the French women are naturally taller, so therefore, they don't need to wear heels for height purposes. Also...it's cold. This winter, I've been a huge fan of the oxford boot. No skin exposed, yet with all the functionality of a heel and the casualness of a lace-up.

What's next? Thick, chunky heels. Crisscrossing straps. Platforms.

Swiss Miss

A trip of many firsts:

(Pont de Mont-Blanc)

First time in Switzerland.

Sally, Jackie, and I arrived at Gare Cornavin around 9AM after a two hour train ride from Grenoble. We stepped off the train and immediately were shocked by how cold the wind felt. I was wearing my thin leather jacket, ill-prepared as usual. So instead of setting out to see all the places on our checklist, we spent the first half of the day going into all the shopping centers and stores we passed on our way to the hostel. We did make it to the Lake Geneva boardwalk, but the winds were so brutal that we couldn't even bring ourselves to walk along it for more than five minutes. If it had been just a little bit warmer, we would've been able to walk around everywhere. Geneva is a lot smaller than I expected, but the problem for us was that everything is across the lake, whereas the train station and hostel are on the northern side of the lake. This is a picture of the bridge that connects the two sides of Geneva.

(Auberge de Jeunesse de Genève)

 First time staying in a hostel.

I was a little skeptical at first about hostels, but this one was really clean, and it seemed very secure with its card-access system and locker storage units. We were in a room with six beds, and the hostel was fully booked for the night, so we knew other roommates were coming. I was afraid some creepy older man traveling alone would be put with us, and I was going to have to sleep with one eye open, but two other girls ended up staying in the room. The hostel gave us free transportation passes to use for all the buses and tram lines, which is exactly what we needed so we didn't have to walk everywhere.

(Cathédrale Saint-Pierre - John Calvin and the Reformation)

First time in a Protestant church.

After trying to read the crazy tram line maps, we decided to just wing it and attempt to get over to the other side of the lake. I knew that Place Neuve is close to the Reformation Wall, and line 36 ended there, so we took that line. It worked out perfectly because its route ran along the smaller streets of the Old City, and it ended up taking us to the St. Pierre Cathedral. Geneva was one of the centers of the Protestant Reformation, back in the day when the Catholic Church dominated Europe. One of the main Reformation leaders, John Calvin, based his work out of this church.

(Parc des Bastions)

First life-sized chess game.

Bastions Park ended up being my favorite place in Geneva, although I'm sure I would've loved the boardwalk and Jet d'Eau water fountain had it not been so cold and the fountain was actually turned on. Some beautiful buildings belonging to the University of Geneva spanned along the center of the park, and the Reformation Wall stood across from the school. There were intricate sculptures scattered around the park, and at the northern gate, there was a whole area of giant chess boards that you could play on (definitely Sally's favorite part).

 (Confédération Centre)

First time eating real chocolate.

Milk, dark, white, truffles, nougat, mousse, almonds, mocha, ganache, hazelnut, marzipan, caramel...every kind of chocolate you could ever dream of.

Planning Trip #1: Geneva, Switzerland

Places to visit:
1. Lake Geneva
2. Jet d'Eau
3. Stettler Chocolates Factory
4. Cathedrale de St. Pierre
5. Reformation Wall
6. United Nations/Palais des Nations
7. Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art
8. Museum of Natural History

Nightlife:
1. L'Usine - factory converted into a nightclub
2. Gold & Platinum
3. Au Chat Noir

No Night at the Nox

Jackie and I only made it to the Nox for five minutes before we already got in trouble. I was standing at the bar, waiting to order a drink, and I saw these champagne flutes sitting on the counter beside a bottle chilling on ice. I figured that they were for anyone, since it cost 13€ to get into the club, and they were just sitting on the counter! I ran over to Jackie, and she asked me where I got the champagne. When I pointed to the bar and said they were free, she wanted one, too. I got her a glass, and within 30 seconds, I sketchy 40-year-old man approached us. "Do you like my champagne? Oh, you speak English. You need to pay me 20€ for each of those. My brother owns this club, and if you don't pay, you're finished." Oops. I guess nothing in life is free. It wasn't even good champagne.

Checklist

Orientation: done.

Wine and cheese tasting: check.

Night at the Nox Club?

This is where I live.

Today, I hiked up to the top of the Bastille in the mountains of Grenoble. The views from the top were amazing, especially with the snow-capped Alps in the not-so-far distance. You could see the entire city down below divided by the river winding around it and Cours Jean Jaurès running through the center. Truly a spectacular place to be living.

Centre Ville Grenoble

I was really nervous about meeting my host family today, especially because speaking French in Paris had been a struggle for the last three days. But once I unpacked my bags and downed a few glasses of wine, I was ready to start learning some real French. Sabine and Joel are fantastic. They have a really charming house decorated with all of their sculptures, and they only listen to American classic rock and indie/alternative. I was appreciative of their patience with me as I stuttered and stammered, trying to string together the right words. Fortunately, they are really understanding and hospitable Frenchies. I can already sense my level of proficiency with the language increasing the more I speak to them.

Grenoble is gorgeous. Nestled in a valley along the French Alps, there's no other place quite like it. I'm living right in the city center where all of the fun happens. There's something like 60,000 college students in Grenoble, and they all go out where I live. I step outside my house and I can choose between atleast fifteen bars within a minute's walking distance. I'm excited to start hitting up the bars and clubs with everyone from the program. Hopefully we can meet some locals, too. It's going to be a fun semester. Weekend starts tomorrow. I'm ready to take on Europe.

Paris

Paris. Amazing.

 Notre Dame

 La Seine

 View from top of Notre Dame

 Sainte Chapelle

Le Louvre

And the nightlife...

Bye Bye Miss American Pie

Sitting; Waiting

 

More tears were shed at the French Consulate today. I was first in line to pick up my visa, but when I went up to the service window, the consulate employee could not find my application nor my passport. She ran around frantically amongst the filing cabinets and stacks of paperwork trying to locate my packet. Twenty other students came and went after me, all spending about thirty seconds there because their visas had been neatly placed in an organized pile on the desk. After half an hour I asked her if she could tell me what was going on. She responded, "Take a seat. We are the rules around here, not you. I don't have to answer your questions. Now sit down." How rude.

I sat around for another half an hour, and at this point, I had lost all hope that I would be able to catch my flight. Then, miraculously, she called me up to the window and handed me my passport with the visa, stating that she just needed time to find it. My dad rushed me to the airport, and it took me all of twenty minutes to check my bags and go through security. Why do people recommend you get here three hours early? Now I'm sitting waiting at Gate B1 for flight 7687 to board. I can't believe I made it!

Finally Leaving Today

After some mishaps with the French Consulate on Friday, hopefully I will be able to get my visa today and actually take off on my 5:30PM flight. Air Canada. "Enjoy a complimentary selection of spirits and non-alcoholic beverages." Definitely cashing in on that.

It's too bad I'll miss out on the Eiffel Tower tonight...luckily, Kendra, Catherine, and I (and whoever else decides to come with us!) will be back in Paris for my birthday in March to wine and dine au Tour Eiffel. Offer will be on the table for any and all takers. Weekend of March 4th. See you there.