Saturday in Paris

I'm doing a conversation exchage with a French student. The concept is actually really cool, and it could be a great experience for me. The plan is that I go over to this French student's house once a week, and we go over whatever work he has for his English class for about an hour. After that I am invited to whatever meal it is, and I sit with whoever from the family is how and speak French with them. I had my first exchange on Saturday and it was really fun. The student is named Thibault, and he is finishing up prep school to go on to study economics (the French education system is so different I can't even explain it). On Saturday I went over at 11 and I helped him do some translations. It was even sort of hard for me, but it was fun to try to explain in a mix of english and french what "shade" or "gesticulating" are. After working for about an hour I ate lunch with Thibault and his sister Charlotte. We talked in French about Chicago and what I like about France. They offered to take me around, and give me advice about cool stuff to do in Paris.

After lunch I took the train to the Musée d'Orsay. This museum hosts a lot of the turn of the century art, including some of the most famous impressionist pieces in the world. It is housed in an old train station, and when you go inside you can tell quite clearly. There is a massive clock that is absolutely gorgeous. The first two levels of the museum also open into this incredibly huge room. The ceilings are so high, and there is a certain natural light that filters in on the sculptures on the main level that is stunning. I wandered around for about an hour. I have a Student ID card that says I study Art History (UChicago made it for me...) so I can get into just about every art museum in Paris and the vicinity for free. I figured that I'd be back to the Orsay, so I didn't try to be overly thorough in my visit. I just wandered around a bit. I did make sure I went to the attics to see the impressionist stuff. It was crawling with people (because it was Saturday afternoon) but I managed to see Van Gogh's self-portrait, and some of Monet's most famous paintings of Notre Dame. I was a bit disappointed by the lack of Matisse stuff they had (I only saw one), but the Gaugin collection almost made up for it. I'm going to try to get back there in the next few weeks, on a weekday afternoon after class, so I can really get a good look at the impressionist stuff, as it is my favorite.