Before we do...I saw this in Lacoste and found it to be the best use of acorns. Yes those are indeed acorns, and I intend to do this somewhere in my room once I get home!
This will be my third Vernissage piece, but here is a picture of it for now! This is in Lacoste right below the bell tower (which does go off every hour and half hour : ) It's kind of charming, though a bit late sometimes)
Alright, Paris! So, we woke up ungodly early (not really, only around 6:30am, which for me is not that early...it was very difficult for some people, though). We got a quick breakfast and hit the road on a bus to the Avignon train station. Then we just stood around waiting anxiously for the train for quite a while. Here is us waiting. Very exciting! (We all packed fairly light too)
The inside of the Avignon train station! It actually looked very sleek and clean...I would love it if we had train stations like this in America! Oh, and all of those people? That's SCAD- completely blocking the way of course, haha.
At last the TGV, or Bullet Train as it is better known, arrived! We had three, THREE, minutes for all 64 students and all faculty to get on the train with our luggage. .... We sat in car 5, but I think I entered car 1 and had to walk over to 5 because there were too many people crowded around the entrance and not everyone would have made it on...that would have been scary. But we made it! I found a seat. All was well. And thankfully I did not fall directly on anyone! Though the train feels smooth, it jerks side to side quite a bit, so it is deceptively smooth but then you try to walk and you will look drunk because you cannot walk in a straight line...I think I ran into a few seats and *almost* fell onto quite a few people, almost.
Lindsay and I on the TGV! This is for those of you who wanted pictures of me. : )
Arrival at the Gare de Lyon- one of the train stations in Paris!!!!! This is the inside with a palm tree (yes they had them there) on the right and my Treasures' professor on the left.
A view of where the trains pull in. That is not a bullet train on the right...it's not all sleek and fast-moving-looking. That is, however, where we got off!
The clock tower of the Gare de Lyon outside!
We had the choice to catch a bus, try the Metro (bad idea with luggage), take a taxi, or walk to our Hotel Home Latin...most of us walked, myself included. It was about 30 minutes, and we walked passed Notre Dame! We stayed only a few blocks away from it!
The beds...were right next to each other. I was not kidding when I said that! At first I thought we had gotten a queen bed! I guess they like to sleep close together o.o Lindsay (my Paris roommate) moved hers against the wall in the corner, so we were both happy. Oh, and that's my luggage and my coat- everything I brought for 5 days in Paris!
Once we dropped our stuff off in the rooms, a small group and I went exploring before our first required field trip! (Travel Portfolio went to an Agent, someone who finds jobs for and represents illustrators...or actors, there are agents for a lot of things- this one was only representing illustrators though).I'm not sure what this was, I can't recall, but it was pretty!
We rounded a corner and found ourselves facing the Pantheon!!! We were literally 7-8 minutes away! This is the "square" or "place" (pl-ah-ss) in front of the Pantheon.
The Pantheon!!!!!! I studied this in Latin in 6th grade! It was amazing to get to see it in person! It IS a real thing, it does not just exist in the textbooks!
For those of you who want me to wear a dress, find me one like this and I shall wear it! I will curl my hair and put on make up and the whole lot if you are able to find me a dress like this! And then I shall attend a ball and waltz...and learn the Viennese Waltz (which I am dying to learn!) This was a statue in the gardens of Luxembourg.
And Luxembourg itself! It was gigantic, as were the gardens in front of and behind me from this picture. Quite breathtaking!
More of the gardens (it might as well be a giant park) of Luxembourg. Look at how vibrant the green is! 
I cannot recall what this was, but I know why I took a picture of it! It is beautiful!
Back at the hotel. We were on the 5th and highest floor, and thus were the only floor that had a balcony! This is our view of Paris from our balcony.
Also from our Balcony!
It was a very, very thin balcony, and sitting in that chair was rather difficult, but hey! It's a balcony looking out over Paris! I'm not complaining!
Just another view of our room. It was so tiny, but cozy. I don't think hotels in America need all of the space that they give- Lindsay and I were perfectly comfortable in this and it was about half the size of the Motels I'm used to staying at! We also had a bathroom and cute, tiny shower, so at least we didn't have to leave our rooms for that!
Day Two!This is the St. Eustache Cathedral! The Travel Portfolio and Book Illustration classes did a sweet project that involved everyone (from those classes) to draw one section of the cathedral, two versions of that section to be precise- one in black and white line and one in the medium of our choice- and then we would combine them all to create a poster! The poster looks amazing, just so you know!
The entrance was amazing and so detailed! I'm glad I wasn't drawing that! We were randomly assigned sections...however I got a section that was basically only trees and not even a tiny bit of architecture....and though I am absolutely horrible at drawing anything symmetrical or architectural, I am worse at foliage! So I traded.
That is my section, minus the windows on the right! Pretty plain and simple, yeah?NO! It was SO difficult!!! Why must I have such a hard time drawing these things? I don't know. I am happy with both of my finished drawings, though!
It's not easy to tell, but this was a statue of a head (in back) with a hand (in front) that was randomly in front of St. Eustache....so a few of us climbed on it and took a picture!
Then we got the whole group of illustrators! Everyone you see here did a section of the amazing poster! My professor is just off center to the left of my friend in the red-maroon sweatshirt. He's kind of hard to see in this one.
After that four of us broke off and went exploring again! (This could very well be the next day, but I can't remember, so I'm lumping it in here! We did so much, it's all getting jumbled together- I did organize these photos right after Paris, though, so it's not just because I'm four weeks late in updating this!)That being said, I want a gate like that!!! It's beautiful...as is almost everything I saw in Paris!
A view over the Seine (pronounced "send" without the "d").
Castles!!!! ....Or not, but whatever they are the pretty much lined the Siene river and were gorgeous! I will live there, thank you!
Again, living situation solved- I shall stay there. Done. : ) Money? That's not a problem at all!
My first view of the Eiffel Tower!!!!!!!!!!!!! I did my Paris Presentation on the Eiffel Tower, so I was slightly obsessed.
This is one of the many entrances to the courtyard and gardens in front of the Louvre. So beautiful!!!!! Again!
This is in front of the Louvre. It is SO ....gorgeous, lovely, detailed, amazing, breathtaking, I need more words for beautiful. I wish people were more into the detail and intricate designs of this era again. While I respect more simplistic artistic design and architecture...I'm sick of it already and I like when everything (spoons, lights, anything and everything you saw) was pretty!Simple is sometimes more functional...but not as pretty!
The infamous (or famous...people either love it or hate it) Pyramid entrance! I, personally, think it is a wonderful design and is ingenious....but does NOT fit with such a building. It is too modern and triangular! There are no triangles in the design of the Louvre! It does not fit. Were it in front of a modern building it would be absolutely perfect!But anyway, there is me posing in front of the triangle and the Louvre!
The Arch de Triomphe...one of them anyway, not "THE" triumphal arch. If you simply turn around from the above picture this is what you'll see.
It was windy, but I posed nonetheless!
Walk through that arch and this is what you see!! An Egyptian obelisk way down the way, and waaaay further down is THE Triumphal Arch of Paris. Before all of that are the gardens!
I'm telling you, the colors, the light, the AIR, everything is different in France than in America.I like it better....
Remember that obelisk? I don't remember the story behind this, but I did learn about it in Survey of Western Art...
This was a fountain off to the right of the obelisk. It is so beautiful!!!! Like everything else.
And there you have it. The Triumphal Arch! It really took a while to get there from the obelisk, and we shopped along the way since we were on one of the famously expensive streets in Paris (I bought nothing....but then I didn't see much I wanted or needed), but I decided to spare you the details of that long and tiring journey here!
And I leave you with this...interesting marble sculpture. Everything is marble- so the wings of that butterfly are less than an inch thick and made of marble! If that does not impress you, I cannot think of a thing that will!!!
So I apologize for the incredible tardiness of this update!! (and all of the rest to come) But I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless! Even if I have to wait until I get home to update more, because once I leave Lacoste I won't be able to do so until I get home, I WILL update this through my entire trip! I promise!Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed your visit through my first two days in Paris!
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