Second Visit to Spain

I returned late last night from my second visit to Spain. My first visit was last weekend, when my host parents took me to the beach in Bayonne for the afternoon, followed by an evening spent drinking and eating in Irun, just across the border (five minutes by boat, the fastest route) from France. This time, however, I went with my USAC group on a two-day excursion to visit Bayonne, St. Sébastien and Saint-Jean-de-Luz.

We spent the night, Friday night, in Saint Sébastien. It was a very enjoyable experience. In both France and Spain, much of the government's revenue comes from sales taxes; in France, the sales tax is considerably higher than in Spain (20% as compared to around 7%), so I spent much of Friday afternoon shopping. In the evening, I went out with several friends to the different bars in the old part of Saint Sébastien. The custom in that part of Spain is to go from bar to bar, eating small hors d'oeuvres called "las pinchas" before finally eating dinner around 10:30. It was a very fun. We ended the night by walking along the beach, the famous Playa de la Concha, back to our hotel at about 2:00 am. The view of the ocean, the lights of the boats moored offshore, and the large, illuminated statue of Jesus that stands on a hill above the city were all spectacular at that hour. We spent about 45 minutes on the beach, taking our time in returning to go to bed.

The downside to the trip was that it rained all weekend. During our four hour stop in Bayonne, it rained so much that streets were flooded in several parts of the city by the time we tried to return to the bus. The rain was so miserable that my friends and I all elected to spend most of that time hiding in a cafe rather than exploring what is a very old and beautiful Basque city.

Nevertheless, it was a beautiful area to visit. The Basque country is very quiet and relaxed. I have every intention of going back again during better weather for a relaxing escape.

in pau

i arrived in pau about two hours ago. my host family is very nice; it is just a man and wife here with me because their two sons are university students who study away from home. my host mother is a spanish teacher at the middle school in pau and my host father is a gendarme (a form of police). even though i have only known them for a couple of hours, i feel very comfortable in their home and i am sure i will be quite well taken care of.

but for the past few days, i have been paris. i am not quite sure how to describe paris other than "amazing." those people that have been there will understand, but for those of you who have not, it is a completely different world. our group stayed in a small hotel in the 14th arrondisement (south of the seine, between the latin quarter and the porte d'orlèans). the amazing thing about central paris is that all of the buildings are old, as are most of the institutions within them. there are beautiful shops everywhere, and everything for sale is amazing: small boutiques everywhere that sell beautiful clothes, shoes, bags, food, &c. as such, everyone incredibly well-dressed. it is rather difficult to describe parisian fashion; everyone dresses rather formally and all the clothes fit impeccably, but there is a certain nonchalance about their fashion. it is almost like every man in the city simply woke up and happened to throw on a beautiful shirt, a perfect pair of jeans, a well-worn pair of dress shoes and a sport coat while every woman pulled a beautiful skirt, pair of slacks or jeans out of her closet and put on a well-fitting shirt, a colorful scarf and a pair of shoes that you can only find in paris.

however, fashion is not the only reason people come to paris. the monuments were amazing as well. walking in paris, i constantly felt the weight of a thousand years of history hanging over the city. i saw many of the famous sites in paris: la tour eiffel, l'arc de triomph, les champs elysèes, st. chapelle, notre dame, le palais de la justice, le musèe du louvre, le musèe d'orsay, versailles, la sorbonne, le café procope, l'hôtel de ville. i also saw a substantial amount of la rive gauche and le faubourg st. germain simply by walking through the city. being in such a place was amazing and it is impossible to attempt to describe here the full array of emotions each of those buildings evokes; suffice it to say that that building has its own unique sense of awe appropriate to its own unique history and characteristics. to be honest, however, the traditional "tourist destinations," in particular, l'arc de triomph and la tour eiffel were the least interesting. for example, when our group went to la tour eiffel, i spent 45 minutes going to the top and back down (most of that time spent waiting in line for elevators) and another hour or so walking on le champs de mars and thinking about the activities that took place there during the revolution.

the museums in paris, on the other hand are amazing. i spent a total of eight hours in le musée d'orsay and le musée du louvre, and i feel like only just scratched the surface. despite that, i still got to see some amazing pieces of art. and the buildings themselves can be just as fascinating as the art. i did see da vinci's mona lisa while at le louvre, but i was more impressed by some of the other paintings in the room, and i certainly did not think it was as interesting as the works of david. i have been impressed with the works of david for historical reasons since taking history 350, but after seeing them in person, i have a new appreciation for them artistically because they are all truly are masterful pieces of work.

to preempt the inevitable question of "what was my favorite thing to see in paris," i think i will say that my favorite thing about the city is the city itself. if i were going to give advice to someone going to paris, i would tell them to put on a dress shirt, jeans and light jacket, step into their most comfortable pair of dress shoes, and go out and walk around the city. my favorite place was le faubourg st. germain, and i would recommend walking from their towards l'île de la cité. if you are only going to be there for a short time, do not waste money on museums, guided tours or access to famous locations. walk around the city, rest in cafes, appreciate the beauty and history of one of the oldest areas of the city and visit whatever sites you can get into for free. that in itself makes for a day you will never forget.

as tired as i am now, i already want to return to paris for another visit. i think i will wait for a while until my french improves, but there is still much that i would like to see or see again. until then, i look forward to getting settled in pau and struggling to communicate with my host family.

attached to the bottom are a few of the pictures that i took while in paris. if you would like to see more, and in particular, if there is anything you think you might like to see a picture of, email me and i will send you a return email with as many photos as you wish (assuming of course, that i have said photo).

la sorbonne:

st. chapelle:

le café procope:

near pont neuf:

pantheon:

palais de la justice:

notre dame:

denis diderot:

l'opera garnier:

jardin du luxembourg:

versailles:

oath of the horatii by david:

dejeuner sur l'herbe by Manet:

napoléon sur le trône impérial by ingres:

champs de mars:

le tour eiffel:

Visa

After yet another long wait, my visa arrived this morning. I am now legally prepared to go to France. My flight to Paris begins in Los Angeles on 2 September; I will arrive in Paris at Charles De Gaulle Airport early in the morning on 3 September. But first I need to get to Los Angeles, so I will leave Deary on 30 August and stay with family friends there for a couple of days. I am now inside of two weeks until I begin my journey to France.

One Month Until I Arrive In France

As the title indicates, I have just less than a month until I leave for France. I am still very nervous, but it finally feels as though things are coming together; this trip is finally beginning to feel very real.

For those that have not already heard, obtaining my visa has been a difficult process, and I still do not have it in my hands. For the sake of keeping this first entry short, I will simplify my experience to the biggest points:

To get a student visa for France, the first step is to create an account with a program called campusfrance.org. The organization is meant to simplify the visa application process for students. Once you have an account created, you fill out an application online and mail them a money order and a copy of your acceptance letter to the school where you will be studying. After that is completed, the expected wait to be accepted by CampusFrance is two to four weeks. After six weeks without hearing anything, I called the French Embassy in Washington, D.C. (where CampusFrance is located). After a brief conversation, I was told that if I gave them the number for my money order they would attempt to track it down. An hour later, I received a call from CampusFrance telling me that they had found the the envelope; it had been sitting on someone's desk, probably for the past five weeks.. Fortunately, I was accepted that afternoon.

The next step to obtaining a French student visa is to make an appointment with the French consulate in your region to formally apply for your visa. France does not issue same day visas; the forecasted wait time on the website is two to six weeks. This left me in a bit of a panic when I logged on to the website to find the earliest appointment available was 10 August. I decided to check back later and felt incredibly lucky when an appointment on 21 July opened up. So, after two days of difficulties in trying to arrange travel to San Francisco where the consulate for the Northwest is located, I arrived at le Consulat Gènèral à San Francisco with my application packet. About an hour later, my appointment was complete and I was told to expect my passport with my visa to be mailed to me in two to three weeks. I will begin to look for my visa to arrive either next or the following week.

On a different note, Maren left Friday for Ecuador. To say I already miss her seems to be an understatement since I have felt her absence since I left Boise last week. But it is at least a small consolation that she is safe in Quito and that she is getting along well with her host family.

So, for the next month or so, I expect to be keeping myself quite busy with work, last-minute travels and packing. Well, that and experiencing waves of excitement and terror...