The adventure begins

Bonjour Tout le monde! I begin recounting the story of my study abroad journey in Paris, more specifically the coffee shop/bar next to the lounge of our hotel (the FIAP Jean Monet.) This is our third day in the ville d’amour (city of love), which so far has been a whirlwind of fatigue, excitement, and nostalgia. We have the morning to ourselves and I have decided to have a low key few hours with my thoughts.

My mother, Kevin (my boyfriend) and myself drove to Chicago the evening of January 2nd. We had a beautiful dinner with Kevin’s family and family friends the Alde’s. It was a fun festive last night in the U.S, and a great way to keep my mind off of leaving everyone (especially Kevin) for the seemingly endless period of 5 months. We stayed at Kevin’s grandmother’s house, and left very early for a flight to New York, where I would meet the group that night. Kevin, very kindly accompanied me on the Journey to the big apple to keep me company and help me pass the almost 11 hours in the airport before my flight to Paris. It was a tiring journey both physically and emotionally, because the thought being apart from Kevin was a dark cloud in the prospect of studying abroad.

At about 6 pm the group started to arrive and I began chatting with the people who would become my friends and colleagues over the next five months. I then saw the emergence of Erin Bacon, (who is about my height) walking towards the Air France Kiosk pushing a full luggage cart and carrying a cello on her back. She was a colleague and friend at Interlochen, and we hadn’t seen each other since I graduated, so needless to say it was exciting to discover that she would be one of my study abroad colleagues. The flight itself was long, but I slept most of the way (it was an overnight flight.)

We arrived at the Charles De Gaulle airport stumbling with grogginess and looking slightly disheveled from the flight. After going through customs, claiming our bags, we headed to the bus. We loaded some of our bags onto our bus headed into Paris, and the rest on a bus going directly to Strasbourg.

There are 45 people in this Syracuse University program in Strasbourg, and I am one of 10 musicians, and the only one not from Syracuse. (Most conservatory students don’t study about, due to the lack of support form the institution and their private teachers.) We began our semester together in Paris, and after 4 days, myself (and the rest of the musicians) will travel to Strasbourg to begin the orientation at the Conservatoire National de Strasbourg. The rest of the group will travel to several cities in the next two weeks as part of their signature seminar.

Immediately after loading our luggage we boarded the bus and Pierre, our driver drove us to our hotel. We are stayed in a hotel/nice youth hostel, which specializes in travel/study abroad groups. It has a very dorm like feel, but the lobby is a modern style, which is spacious and bright. Our rooms came equipped with blankets, sheets and towels but didn’t come with soap and shampoo. It was nice to be around everyone, and meet other student groups traveling to Paris. However, the difficulty of communication has been probably the most frustrating first “puzzle”. Most of us did not have international calling capabilities, and wouldn’t have a chance to get an international cell phone until our arrival in Strasbourg. My calling card was incompatible with the pay phones, and the Internet access came with an hourly charge. With help from professor Bach (the leader of the main seminar) I figured out how to make a credit card call to my parents and Kevin. It’s a more expensive option, but at least I could tell them I made it safely. I am now delicately rationing my Internet time with e-mail checking and Kevin skypeing. I look forward to more predicable Internet access and a cell phone. Simple things like not being able to send text messages, call someone anywhere, or have free wireless is difficult to get accustomed to. I guess that is one of the luxuries of the U.S.

The first night we took a boat tour of the Seine, seeing from the water sights such as the Eiffel tower, Notre Dame and the Musee D’Orsay. It was quite cold, but nice to run to the outside deck to take pictures and see Paris lit up at night. We came back for a dinner and an orientation meeting. It was a bit longwinded and very difficult to stay awake under the influence of intense jetlag.

The next day (Monday January 5th), we woke up to a light snow covering, which apparently is pretty unusual in Paris. We (the larger group) were supposed to take a walk through the Luxemburg gardens, but it was closed due to the snow. Ironically it would be a lovely way to view it. After that, we went to the Mosque for lunch and then the groups split and we (the music students) headed to the Opera de la Bastille. We had a very entertaining backstage tour from a very animated Frenchman. He smelled like wine, so I’m guessing that had a lot to do with it. This was a new, and quite incredible opera house. It is modern, with comfortable seats and very little view obstruction (versus many of the old buildings.) The backstage is enormous and has an extra rehearsal area. Because of a four inch thick, three story tall retractable panel, a performance and a rehearsal, with full cast and orchestra can be happening simultaneously.

That night we had a little free time, so Erin and I decided to try some Parisian food. We stumbled across a little restaurant that was very small and intimate. We ate a leisurely dinner, and I did most of the ordering and French speaking (stumbling really). When we left we first went to a metro station right next to the restaurant, but upon realizing that the station wasn’t on the line we needed we came out again to go to a different one. I began walking quickly (it was cold) and then our waiter from the restaurant approached Erin. I kept walking, not noticing she was stopped until I hear my name called “LINDSAY”, she yelled “What is he saying” then she pointed to me telling our waiter (and his friend) to talk to me. He asked me in French if we wanted to go with him, and pointed to the metro stop we just came from. I thought he was trying to lead us in the right direction, however little did I know before I turned around he said “Drinks” to Erin in English. She was just a bit too panicked to put the puzzle together at that point. So I said in French “No thanks, we have to go to the other metro.” It was probably the smoothest moment of my existence. I feel a little bad for them.

We visited the Musee D’Orsay the next day. We saw some masks, a Picasso exhibit, some Monet and many others. The Picasso exhibit was interesting, because it was based on a Manet painting titled “Le Dejeuner sur l’herbe” (lunch on the lawn). It was a controversial painting because a woman was nude eating with clothed men. Picasso painted a bunch of “practice paintings” emphasizing different aspects of the work. It was fascinating to see Picasso’s impression of another artist’s work, and gave new meaning to both Manet’s work and Picasso’s.



On Wednesday January 7th: we had another morning off, and instead of visiting the Louvre with some of the group, I opted to stay back at the FIAP and relax. I wasn’t feeling too well and was still very tired. I asked directions to a pharmacy from a man at the front desk, made it there, told them my ailment and returned. All in French! It was a much needed confidence boost. After a nap, some vitamin C, and some homeopathic remedies I was ready for an afternoon adventure.

After lunch, our group went to a museum of modern art, called “Centre Pompidou”; the building is absolutely crazy and makes no sense. It resembles a combination of a gerbil cage and a madhouse. Some of the art was interesting, but it became a bit disturbing after a while. However things picked up when Erin and I went to dinner at this really cute restaurant called "verre luissant" (glow worm) recommended by our professors and had this amazing roasted organic chicken with steamed spinach and good wine. The street was really tiny and cute, a wonderful discovery!

We went back to the hotel to change and the group left for the concert. (I am actually getting pretty good navigating the Paris metros). The concert was good, and a very interesting cultural experience. It is interesting listening to a European orchestra. The oboist was bright, but pretty, and surprisingly reserved (not at all like my teacher or Katherine Needleman-the principle oboist of the Baltimore Symphony). The flute was the most prominent woodwind player, and was absolutely beautiful, with a gorgeous vibrato and very musical. The clarinets were cute, they moved together during an exposed part. The brass was very proper, and not huge like the stereotypical "Chicago symphony" brass section. The orchestra itself sounded together, yet each section was distinguishable within the overall timbre. Much like a puzzle in which you easily see each piece. I liked this style for this particular program, which was modern (two Stravinsky pieces, the Prosodies piano concerto no.2 and a late Debussy piece), it was nice to hear what was going on (each section being distinguishable) it makes modern music make a bit more sense at times. The concert was almost 2.5 hours; the European audiences must have much more patience than we do in general. There were a range of ages there, and a good amount of non-elderly people. All of this was comforting. My seat was the second balcony, but I could see the orchestra in its entirety. I heard that we get to hear the Berlin philharmonic at the end of the semester; it will be interesting to compare the orchestral differences.