Bordeaux

As the spring brak comes, I have one question to you: fancy a trip? Today, we’re gonna move about 372,82 miles from Paris, to Bordeaux where I spent few days last November. 

What was I doing there in the middle of the semester? Well, I decided to benefit from the cheapest fly tickets I’ve ever seen and visited Ania, my friend from studies in Toruń who had been living in Bordeaux during her Erasmus.  And I swear, we had absolutely wonderful time! I am not going to tell you everything about my stay there, it’s probably the subject for another blog but I’ll shear with you some of the best memories.

Place de la Bourse – one of the symbols of Bordeaux built in 1730. Here, you can admire a colossal fountain inspired by Corinthian’s art. With the perfectly symmetrical buildings and mirror (made from flat water pool) the Place de la Bourse is absolutely unique and worth to visit, specially at night. Take a look at photos!

Cathedral of Saint Andrew of Bordeaux – I must admit that I’m really not into any religion. However, I love visiting churches, cathedrals and basilicas. They are the crowning achievement in human’s architecture skill. This one isn’t an exception. The seat of the Archbishop was consecrated in 1096 so about 100 years after the Mont Saint-Michel, one of the eldest churches in France! I assure you, the Cathedral of Saint Andrew is as beautiful as Notre Dame de Paris!

Rue Sainte-Catherine – If you don’t like visiting museum and churches, you’re probably one of those people who prefer shopping! In this case, you should definitely take a walk along the Tue Sainte-Catherine, almost one-mile-long pedestrian street. You’ll find here all kinds of shops and boutiques (except of souvenirs shops which I needed the  most…). But brace yourself – the crowd is so big that sometimes I was losing my patience for all those people who walk with speed of turtles!

Tour Pey Berland – one of my favorites! This belltower is located next to the Cathedral of Saint Andrew and offers you an unforgettable view of Bordeaux. It is a free-standing tower, called campanile in the language of art’s historians ;) It comes from 15^th century. To reach the top, you’ll need to pit against 229 steps which will put you physical condition to the test. But the view is worth every single drop of sweat. We were lucky because the roofs of Bordeaux were decorated with the double-rainbow!

Musée du Vin – the association Bordeaux Historia Vini opened the wine’s museum in 2008. It is small but contains everything you might want to know about famous brand of French alcohol from the history to production and storage systems. At the end of your sightseeing, you’ll be invited for the wine tasting (the best part ;)). The museum’s workers will explain you what makes the wine sweet or dry and how the weather and soil can change the flavor of the speciality of Bordeaux. I hope your head is strong enough to handle all that information ;)

Remember then, France doesn’t end in Paris (contrary to Parisians’ point of view) and there are a lot of interesting places to visit! Maybe you can benefit from our spring break and go for some amazing trip to France?

Le temps des fleurs

So the spring has finally come. I’m gonna take the opportunity and invite you to benefit from this amazing weather in the gardens of Paris. You may think that the City of Light consists of museums, huge fashion galleries and some cathedrals hidden at the end of narrow streets but in fact, it is far from true. Ok, I must admit that Paris was never on the top place in the ranking of the Greenest cities worldwide (click here for more information) but trust me, if you are into taking walks in the green shadow you won’t be disappointed for choosing the capital of France as a destination of your next trip. Here are some irrefutable proofs:

Jardin du Luxemvourg (credits)

Jardin du Luxembourg

This is one of the most amazing places I’ve visited in Paris. It is situated at the center of the city, between Saint-Germain-des-Prés and the Latin Quarter. Created by Marie de Medici’s order in 1612, the garden is one of the favorite places to rest of Parisians’ choice. Just imagine 25 hectares of trees, paths and benches in the middle of the city center! Do you know the concept of French and English gardens? I’m sure you do. You probably prefer either one of them. However, there’s no need to make a choice because Jardin du Luxembourg combines both of the mentioned styles! While walking around you can feel the spirit from the Secret Garden – the book for kids you might remember from your childhood. In the North you can admire The Luxembourg Palace – nowadays it is a seat of The Senate. In front of the building lays a big pond with a fountain which is great for kids to play with paper boats. Children can also play on many different, yet well-equipped playgrounds with slides, swings, monkey bars and merry-go-rounds. Adults can play tennis, chess or Pétanque (which is considered as fancy activity loved by French elderly-class). For those who are more into art, Jardin du Luxembourg prepared 106 statues spread across the park – try to find them all :) You can be sure that the boredom never strikes you within this garden when the spring comes.

Parc Monceau

credits

It may be less likely to be visited by tourists, but it’s still really beautiful, the park is situated in the 8th district. I used to spend a lot of time there during the lunch breaks because it was located three minutes away on foot from my university’s department. The garden was designed by Louis Carrogis Carmontelle at the end of eighteenth century. Here you can find a lot of curved paths, as it is a true English garden. At the entrance you are being welcomed by rotunda which is quite unusual for places like this. Parc Monceau became particularly famous because of follies – the buildings made for decorational purposes only that look like normal-sized objects designated for a specific purpose. Given that you can find an Egyptian pyramid, a Chinese fort or a Dutch windmill – and yes, all of them hidden within one park!

Jardin des Plantes

We came to the 5th district of the city to visit the main botanical garden in Paris which was founded in 1626. Jardin des Plantes is one part of the biggest park complex which has a scientific purpose. Next to the park there is the French National Museum of Natural History, the Gallery of Mineralogy and Geology, the Gallery of Evolution or the Gallery of Mineralogy and Geology – all of them are worth booking the tickets, even if just for a few hours! What’s special about this garden is its variety - thanks to recreating the different climate zones, it is possible to admire a huge number of exotic plants. In the maze of flowers and trees you can let your nose guide you through the garden. Do you prefer the sweetness of the orchids or maybe the fresh fragrance of herbals? Search for the lovely scents and try to let them lead the way!

Jardin des Tuileries

credits

Well, this one obviously couldn’t be forgotten in this ranking! Let’s begin with explaining the origin of its name. When Queen Catherine de Medici built her palace in 1564 it wasn’t named Tuileries just like that. In fact, the mystery of the unusual name is quite simple. Before the royal house, the big tile factory had been established there and, as you can guess, tuile rhymes with tile and the meaning is exactly the same. I’m sure you don’t think about factory when you cross the thousands of square meters of grass, fancy-trimmed bushes, white paths and Rodin’s (and many others’) sculptures. In the very middle of it, the Arc de Triomphe is right upon you and invites you to visit the Louvre Museum. If you want to catch some suntan, you can follow the Parisians’ footsteps and use the green, very characteristic chairs at the edge of a huge basin to sit (or lie) and read a book or just observe the surroundings. But if you have a traveler’s spirit, you can benefit from free guided tours organized each day from March to December (unfortunately they’re carried in French only as far as I know).

Bois de Boulogne

Last but not the least, it is time to go into the wild to discover the enormous park called forest created by the Emperor Napoleon III himself (I like to believe that it was the only thing that he achieved with one hundred percent of success rate). In this area the nature had been ruling for a long time before people decided to bring this terrain into cultivation and prepare it for the higher-class Parisians who desired a place for picnics after Sunday’s masses. Over the next centuries, The Bois de Boulogne have been considered as a dangerous place (which started during the Hundred Years' War when local bandits happened to like the forest so much they decided to wander around it for longer) and even today it’s not safe to walk around after the twilight. But in the middle of the day the Bois de Boulogne can offer you a beautiful view of Paris, a lot of space for cycling, rollerblading or sitting on the blanket and eating a baguette with Camembert ;)

Bang Bang

credits

Do you recognize the women at the photo? Probably, you do. Last Wednesday, the 17^th of January, she would have celebrated her 85^th birthday. Unfortunately, she passed away at the age of 54.

Today, I would love to present you the Paris of Iolanda, knows as Dalida, one of my favorites singers. I’m going to tell you, where it is possible to find the signs of this artist in the City of Lights.

Dalida used to live in the beautiful house at rue d'Orchampt, located at Montmartre. She used to give parties for her friends in the huge living room, where they were singing, playing roles and eating delicacies from all around the world. Also, in this house Dalida committed suicide in May 1987. She had overdosed the barbiturate and washed it down with whiskey. She died peacefully in sleep.

You can find the bust of Dalida in the place that is called after her. It is located also at Montmartre. To visit her now, you’d need to go to the Montmartre Cemetery, she is burried in the division 18^th. Her tomb is very remarkable because Dalida is presented as Saint Mary.

Another trace of Dalida in Paris was presented in Museum of Fashion (Galliera) from April to August 2017. You could have gone there to admire the scenes dresses of the singer – perfectly made and ideally matched to the type of her beauty: a bit exotic and stunning in every aspect. We can read about this exhibition: 

Dalida, with her perfect body, model size, and glamorous movements, was a fashion icon. Her look was sexy, fifties, swinging London, candy-coloured, theatrical… Dalida didn’t leave anything to chance, she loved fashion and fashion designers loved her. She was dressed by the biggest names both on stage and off, in haute couture or prêt-à-porter. (credits)

What is more, to commemorate 30^th anniversary of the death of Iolanda, Lisa Azuelos directed a movie telling a tragic story of the Dalidas life (all emphasis is put at the fact, that three men of her had commited suicide before she killed herself). The production uses the original songs of the artist and the main characters are so realistic! OK, the movie has some defects but if you are interested of Dalida I strongly recommend you to watch it. Here is the trailer:

Personally, I regret so much that I was born too late to hear her voice at concert...

Court of the Crimson King

source (clic)

Recently, we celebrated All Saints' Day (fr. La Toussaint). In France, the celebrations aren’t so solemn as in our country. Still, All Saints’ Day is a good opportunity to become engrossed in meditation and think for a while about those who passed away.

            For this reason I would like to propose a trip to the one of the quietest places in Paris. Built on order of King Louis XV in the Latin Quarter at the end of XVIII century, the Panthéon became an eternal shelter for the greatest personalities of Republic since the French Revolution.

source: midnights-in-paris

            I can’t tell you how many times I went there. Every time I had to think, I choose chill and gloom of Panthéon. I simply love the way how the art of Greek architecture was applied to the French taste for monumentality. As the building had been a temple before the French Revolution (and then became a mausoleum and again a church, and… the French can’t decide what do they want!), you can find there large paintings covering all the walls and telling you the story of St Genevieve – the patron of Paris.

            Panthéon has been enrapturing me with its eclecticism. Just beside St Genevieve you can find the sculpture named Autel de la Convention nationale ¬¬prepared by François-Léon Sicard to commemorate The National Convention – first republic government of France. And next to politics and religion, there is the Foucault pendulum hanging from the roof and providing a tangible proof of the rotation of the Earth. This is how Panthéon works – it gives place for each domain of human being. And when you leave the ground floor and go down, you will find (almost) all those people who covered the France with glory.

source (clic)

I can't stop thinking about the pattern for choosing those greatest of the greatest. Why, for example, I can meet in the Panthéon Hugo, Zola and Dumas but to meet Molier I need to go to Père Lachaise Cemetery? Why I can put the flowers on the grave of Maria Curie-Skłodowska here and to do the same thing for Frédéric Chopin I have to cover a pretty long distance to the cemetery? I do not deny the greatness of the people who are buried in the Panthéon (Voltaire, Rousseau…) but I simply like to puzzle over it, trying to find an explanation, it can be absorbing and helps me to memorize the biographies of French intellectuals, artists and politicians.

I strongly recommend you to visit the Panthéon when the opportunity will come. You will find there the calmness and silence. The mausoleum will give you also an idea how the French perceive the concept of nation and its leaders. What is more, standing so close to the personalities like Victor Hugo or Jean-Jacques Rousseau gives a shiver and assures you that they really existed.

 

source (clic)

As an addition to this post, I suggest watching the ceremony of transfer of Dumas’ remains to the Panthéon. It was in 2002, the day of 200^th birthday of the writer. Jacques Chirac, who leaded the funeral service, said: "With you, we were D'Artagnan, Monte Cristo, or Balsamo, riding along the roads of France, touring battlefields, visiting palaces and castles—with you, we dream". Just look, who carried the Dumas’ coffin and how the procession looked like! 

Alaminadura

Source: RTL.fr

            What is your very first thought when you think about the beginnings of your one-year stay in Paris? Is it the Eiffel Tower? Or is it a very long walk alongside the Seine? Well, it didn’t happen to me. My adventure started from a distant corner of the City of Lights: Porte de Clignancourt, the very last station of the line 4, the 18th district. What was I doing over there on the 5th of September? Well, people responsible for preparing the French classes for the Erasmus students were thinking that it could have been the great place for the very first metro trip, so I had to sacrifice over 40 minutes of walking each day for two weeks to reach the centre of Clignancourt (one of the buildings of the Sorbonne University) and another 40 minutes to get back.

            Don’t worry, I don’t intend to bore you with the reports on my French classes. I would like to invite you to join me for a walk to one of the most known flea markets…

            Narrow streets and old market stalls – it’s probably the only right reason to visit Porte de Clignancourt. The flea market in this district had been highly influenced by the oriental cultures. You can get an original (or almost…) saree which looks like it’s hand woven, but yeah, it costs 15€ so you can be sure that the only thing that has really been “handmade” was to dress the dummies with those fabulous clothes.

Apart from the dresses, you can find there a dozen of stands with spices. Cumin, harissa, anise, black-caraway – imagine all those smells and colours! But the Clignancourt Market isn’t really food-centered (I will tell you later about the place with the most delicious fruits in the entire Paris). You can literally be a Treasure Hunter in this place. Digging in bric-à-brac can be amazingly fun. I used to spend a couple of minutes each day after my French classes to discover the most interesting objects of the whole marketplace: the kettle which seemed to be created for Alice in Wonderland, the watch with the Kama Sutra scenes instead of hours, carving-letters openers with a fancy edge – you can have them all if you are patient enough to find them among the pile of pieces of various, completely unpredictable things.

When you’re not interested in old things, you can simply walk around, talk with people and discover the diversity of cultures which came from across the seas. Arabs are the most noisy of the mall, they are great to practice with them the art of haggling and they let you win (sometimes…). Algerians, on another hand, are really helpful and polite, they love to tell the stories (and I will mention them some more in the next note). When it come to Moroccans, they are short-tempered (much more than I could possibly think) but at the same time they are sociable (and we’ll get back to them again in another post). It might sound like a bit of generalization but that’s what my very first impression was like when I’ve met all those nations in one place. After some time I started to distinguish them by the accents and single words in their dialects. And I fell in love with the diversity of Paris from the first visit at one of the stalls in Clignancourt.

Source: https://www.airbnb.pl

Source: https://www.airbnb.pl

I guess you wonder what could possibly this post’s title mean. Well, I remember one song which I used to hear every single day during those two weeks of my French classes. One man had a stand with this really old record player. All he did was listen all day long to this one particular song. Alaminadura sung by Bi Kidude – the oldest singer in the world who died in 2013. Her birth date remains unknown. You can read about this extraordinary woman here, as I believe her story is trurly heart-touching. 

At the beginning

Let’s begin…

So, you may think that this is just an another blog about Paris. And maybe you’re right. But when I asked myself about what I would be able to write during the whole semester, that was my very first thought.

I spent last year in Paris, studying at Paris-Sorbonne University. And let’s be honest: the studies weren’t in the centre of my life over there…

I made the effort to see as many interesting places as it was possible. I tried to get to know both people and town. I would like to tell you about the process of exploration of the City of Lights. It won’t be a guide blog, nothing like that. But I will try to smuggle some facts about Paris and its history. And, above all, I will try to enthuse you with my adoration to the City of Love.