Out-of-Paris Adventures

As wonderful as Paris is, getting the occasional break from the city of lights is always necessary. Recently I have had two opportunities to leave Paris behind and explore somewhere new. One was a day trip out to Normandy with some fellow Arcadia survivors and the other was a three-day trip to Berlin. My trip to Normandy included my friends Chris and Stephen (Chris is part of the same dual Arcadia-AGS program I am in and Stephen went to Arcadia with us and just happens to live in Paris right now). We decided to go to Monet's gardens and then up to the city of Rouen. I had been to Monet's gardens the month before with my family but it was amazing to see the transformation from end of summer into the heart of fall. The trees surrounding the Japanese Water Lilies Pond were on fire with bright yellow, orange and red leaves. Even though nearly all the flowers in the gardens had expired the brilliance of the fall colors made the place even more beautiful than it had previously been. After exploring the gardens we had a picnic and got back in the car headed to Rouen. (Stephen was able to use one of the cars belonging to the organization he works for, it was a really interesting experience navigating around the French country-side - this involved the rule that all things were to be said with a thick Anglo accent so we all knew what we were looking for.) Rouen is the city where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake and there are several things of the city paying tribute to her. The most odd is a modern church at the site of her death, which from the outside looks like some bizarrely shaped Buddhist temple and on the inside has the most beautiful wall of stained glass. The other truly wonderful thing about Rouen is this pedestrian street that cuts through the heart of the city. It looks like something out of the middle ages and you feel like you stepped back in time when you walk down the street (if you ignore the H&M, C&A and other modern shops). We had a wonderful time exploring the Normandy and it was the perfect day trip out of the city.

(Monet's Gardens in autumn) (Rouen)

I also recently went to Berlin for three days. The trip was organized by the Graduate Student Association at AGS and only cost me 20 euros! We flew out late on Monday night and arrived at our hostel just after midnight. My first full day in Berlin was chilly and I spent it exploring the neighborhood where we were staying, visiting the Germany History Museum where they had an interesting exhibit on Hitler and his relationship with the German people, and walking along the East Side Gallery. The East Side Gallery is a section of the Berlin Wall that remains (it is along the river) and 40 artists were commissioned to paint murals on the wall. It is unbelievably incredible. The artists must have had free reign because the styles, messages and content of the murals are incredibly different. Some reflect events that happened in Berlin during the time of the wall (such as a car driving through the wall) and some are messages of hope and renewal. The second day in Berlin was a bit warmer and I went on a free 3 1/2-4 hour walking tour. On the tour I learned more about the history of Berlin, particularly during WWII and the Cold War, saw more remnants of the wall, saw checkpoint Charlie, the holocaust memorial, and various other historical, cultural and religious sites of the city. After the tour I went back to the East Side Gallery with some classmates because I wanted to see the murals again. Finally on my third day in Berlin I went to Reichstag, the Berlin parliament, and went up to the glass dome at the top to get a 365 degree view of the city. You can also look down into the parliament from up top so all in all it was an amazing view. Aside from the site-seeing I had some amazing German beers (served in pint minimums unlike France where they looked at you in horror if you order a pint), great cheap German food (everything in Germany was like 1/5 of the price of things in Paris, it was wonderful), and experienced some of Berlin's infamous nightlife. Overall it was a wonderful trip and and a much needed break from Paris. Now I am back in Paris, slaving over my thesis proposal and eagerly looking forward to going to back to the States for the holidays (22 days, but who is counting?).

(East Side Gallery - Berlin Wall) (Brandenburg Gate)