Dunes and Beaux Arts

This weekend was like a fun French vacation! After going to the Musée d'Aquitaine, a history museum that focuses on Bordeaux and the surrounding region (think replicas of ancient drawings from the caves of Lascaux, lots of cool and well-preserved Gallo-Roman artifacts, and models of trading ships) on Friday, my friend Vivian and I wandered around until we found a little café that wasn't too expensive, and we sat at a little table on the street and ate dinner and people-watched. I had my first crocque-monsieur, which is toasted bread, butter sauce, ham, and Gruyère cheese, grilled until it's melty. I thought it would be like a grilled cheese, but pas du tout! It was much MUCH better. There was a bike race with the winner of the Tour de France going on right near the restaurant, so it was pretty busy and we could hear the commentator  (speaking in fast French). On our walk home, we went right past the race (unfortunately, I keep forgetting my camera, so I have no pictures).

Saturday morning all of us had to get up bright and early and convene in front of the giant Virgin Megastore in the center of the city to meet the bus for our group trip to the Dune du Pyla, the biggest sand dune in Europe. We were tired, and grumpy, and climbing up a sand dune did not seem particularly fascinating until we got there and actually saw it. It is HUGE. It took us about 15 minutes, and lots of breaks, to climb up the dune (there are stairs, but we didn't want to be lame), and the view from the top was completely surreal. It felt like we were in the Caribbean, with white sand stretching out and then abruptly meeting the tree-line on one side and really clear blue water on the other. This might give an idea of size:

(This random French lady walked into my picture) 

Unfortunately, we didn't have much time to spend on the Dune, because we our trip also included a trip to Arcachon, a touristy town a bit further south. We arrived around noon and picnicked on the beach (it's more like a lake beach because it's part of the bassin, and so there are no waves--but there are tons of motorboats) and people-watched. Restaurants and carnival-type rides lined the beach, and there was also (of course) lots of shopping going on. Of course, being students, we prioritized--gelato! And after looking in some stores (which are often awkward because my French is still pretty halting and salespeople speak really quickly), we returned to the beach to "bronzer" and wade in the water; with the breeze it was a little too chilly for swimming. Unfortunately, I have no pictures of us on the beach, because I am bad at remembering to play photographer. 

Today (Monday), I had class in the morning and then a free afternoon, so I did a little window shopping with some other students (and a lot of walking), then headed to the Musée des Beaux Arts, probably the smallest fine art museum I've ever seen (but still interesting!) Like everything in Bordeaux, it's in an old building that's been renovated, and one of the wings was under construction, so I only got to see half of the displayed collection. The half I did see was almost exclusively oil paintings--portraits and depictions of Bible scenes, mostly, with some landscapes and a small room of 1900s art, which was really interesting and different from everything else--much more colorful! 

Tomorrow is class, and then maybe the visiting circus?! Nous verrons! 

Bienvenue!

Hi everyone! I've finally caved--I'll be making my best effort to update this blog regularly with photos and news from Paris. Right now, I have a week left in Bordeaux before we fly back to Charles de Gaulle, and I'm planning on spending it visiting museums and churches and wandering around in the streets. Bordeaux is exactly what I thought of when I thought of French cities--all the buildings are ornate and beautiful, and the streets are small and filled with tiny little cars (SmartCars don't look that small here, but I saw a Jeep once and it looked like a tank). Since pictures are worth a thousand words:

This is the street I walk down every day to go from l'Alliance Français, where I'm taking classes, to the Jardin Publique, the park where I eat lunch. 

And this is the really cool building in the Jardin Publique

And this is the center of Bordeaux, the Grand Théâtre, which is right in the heart of the historic downtown where the merchants lived in the 18th century (Bordeaux was a major port). I think this artist in the picture must have been painting the theater, but I didn't get a good look.