Comedy, Catacombs, and Chateaus

My second week in Paris led me to Parc de la Villette, home of architect Bernard Tschumi's architectural folies. However, perhaps my favorite part of the park was a bamboo park done by Alexandre Chemetoff that engulfed people in another, almost jurassic park-like environment. Also within the park was a small exhibit of films about cities, one of which, an animation by Esteban Azuela was a dynamic visualization of telephone poles that morph into birds and extend across cities. On Sunday we ran into the Bastille outdoor market-pretty much the only thing open on Sundays which was an array of every food you can find-there's multiple specialists for everything: roast chickens, oysters, and of course cheese just to name a few. Later that evening we took a quick ride on the bikes to the Architecture center in Paris where we found an extensive history of the architecture in Paris, as well as many architectural competitions in and around Paris. There was so much to see, well just have to make it back later.

For a quick day trip, I went to Fontainebleau, a small town just outside of

Paris known for its Chateau or castle inhabited by many French kings as well as Napoleon. The interior of the castle was absolutely extravagant, much like a mini Versailles, and the gardens around it vast and sprawling, but not as manicured as Versailles' gardens for example. The town around the castle was very quaint, nestled among

national forests, in which one of my favorite things I found was a green-walled natural foods store...

That wednesday we took another walk along the abandoned train line, La Petite Ceinture, this time on a portion that was sunk below street level. Funnily enough, on the same day was some sort of celebration of the train line and so an actual train was running on it, mind you, very slowly, so slowly that we just walked in front of it and it never caught up until the end. Our walk took us through a pretty long, dark tunnel, past abandoned station stops, as well as pieces of the train line that someone had converted to a home. Towards the end, the train caught up to us and many french photographers, who came to photograph the celebratory train, urged us to get off the tracks as the train was coming (!!)...and they were right...it was, at a whopping two miles an hour.

That same day, took a visit to the Hotel de Ville of Paris for a Sempe exhibit, a french cartoonist who did a lot of work for The New Yorker, that was an absolute joy. His social commentary has such a fun, light sense of humor, very reminiscent of Tati, the french filmmaker, who it turns out he was good friends with. That night, the three of us met up with some American expats to go to a comedy show, that was all in french, but due to its very exaggerated performance, was completely understandable in English.

For class the next day we took a walk through the Parisian passages or indoor streets, some of which were absolutely gorgeous and all filled with shops for some of the most random and specific things, like one just for stamps and another just for designer canes. Some of my favorites though were the ethnic passages, like the middle eastern and indian ones, conveniently located right near our apartment...i will be going back.

On Friday we met some french people that studied at IIT for beer at perhaps the only french brewery called the frog, whose beer was nothing special, but decent. The next day two of the Parisians joined us for a walk through the French Catacombs, about 130 steps below ground where they deposited a lot of the bones of Parisians from the overflowing cemeteries in the 17th century. It was fairly creepy

as it was just rows and rows of bones, placed very particularly creating a design out of skulls that someone had to design and lay out.

The last few days has been great for catching up with family and family friends. First, treated to a wonderful dinner at Raoul's place on Montmartre overlooking the Eiffel Tower and today spending the day with Carol and Mika, paying a second visit to the Sempe exhibit and dinner on the town. Tomorrow begins our traipse through Italy...au revoir Paris, a bientot!

Bonjour Paris

My first week in Paris has been exhausting, but satisfyingly so. Walking non-stop every day to see as much as possible can really take it out of you...Upon arrival, Gregory, a gregarious French man told us all about these amazing macarons made by Pierre Hermes and told us of the many places to visit in Paris. Upon arrival back at the apartment that day we found 3 of the very macarons with a note, "Parce qu'en parler c'est bien, mais en manger c'est mieux," or for non French speakers, "Because to speak of them is good, but to eat them is better." Well put.

Exploring Paris the first few days, I was intrigued by the Passages or indoor/outdoor markets that run through buildings as well as the little courtyards just behind every door. It's like the city is whispering in your ear, playing little games, teasing you with its secrets. There are so many little nooks and crannies, little streets that go seemingly nowhere, but take you off the main street only to spit you right back out...it's impossible to see it all. I love too the lack of a grid system here, so that every time you turn a corner, you don't know what your view will be, sometimes it's a huge monument, sometimes a small courtyard, and sometimes the back of a building. One thing is for sure, Paris is a city of surprises.

Luckily, being a student in Paris means you get access to any museum or attraction for free. So far we've visited Pompidou, where there was a huge collection of Modern Art and architecture, Cite which is a center for architecture through the ages, climbed to the top of the Arc de Triomphe and visited countless churches including Notre Dame and

Sacre Coeur. (Seen right is a man playing soccer at Sacre Coeur, or Soccer Coeur...) Pompidou was probably my favorite as a kind of experiment for social interaction and interaction with the city. It felt like much more than a museum: the slightly sloped plaza and fountain nearby were a constant hub of activity of people meeting, performing, etc. And the organization of circulation on the outside of the

building, weaving through the "innards of the building" (mechanical systems, plumbing, etc.) Was a fascinating way of moving in space.

Despite the controversy surrounding it when it was first built, it's easy

to see why this building has become an icon and beloved space of the

city, although I am sure there are those that would still disagree.

Our first assignment for class had us read Perec's attempt at exhausting a space and sent us out into the city to do the same. We picked spaces both traditional and nontraditional, indoor and outdoor, to sit and just observe and record exactly what we see. As an exercise, it helps us be more aware of our environment and got us to visit places we might not have. Among the places I went I observed a clown performing for kids in the Mayor's office of the 10th arrondisement (seen left), trains running every 3 minutes in the Metro, a man who worked in construction who came up and talked to us about architecture and the Pythagorean theorem, and lots and lots of scooters, bikes, buses, zipping every which way.

Today in class we took a walk along the Promenade Plantee, an elevated train line converted into park, the prequel to the High Line. This elevated train line intersects with another abandoned line, known as La Petite Ceinture, literally the little railway belt, only this one has not been converted into anything and is the site for our studio project this semester. We are challenged to come up with an urban plan for said train line which is 32 km long and then to take a piece of the urban plan and test it with an architectural intervention. Our first visit to the site was fascinating and not completely legal, but amazingly, in Paris, there aren't many people to shoo you away, or who care to. The abandoned rail line is beautiful in how it weaves through the city, cutting through some of people most personal spaces, sometimes lifting many feet off the ground, sometimes sinking 50 feet below. We only walked a portion of it but no doubt we will be seeing more of it as the studio progresses

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